The bandit led Gwen down dark alleyways with cobblestone streets and hopped over a few barrels. She never caught his face because he hid it under his hood.

Sir Elwin rested in one of the alleyways. He sat on the back stoop of a store with a few of his musketeer co-workers who polished his boots.

"Make sure you get every inch of them, including the toes," he snapped while twirling his mustache. "The toes are the most important. I want to look my best for the prince."

"Yes, sir," said the musketeer working on his boots.

Gwen slid between the two musketeers like the bandit. She was so quick that Elwin's friend fell backward.

"Is that who I think it is?" Elwin questioned.

The bandit stumbled upon a platform and back gate in the alleyway. He hopped up on it and lugged himself over the gate.

Gwen was close behind him. "Thief!" she screamed, mimicking his every move. Before long, she and the bandit reached the alleyway's exit and the back end of the village.

Gwen tackled him. She wrapped her arms around his tummy and dragged him to the ground. Her sword stabbed the cobblestone behind them. She reached for the mirror, but the bandit pulled it away.

They wrestled with one another and rolled out of the alleyway, including Blacksmith Village. Together, they cannonballed down a hill. It led to the village's wood.

Gwen kicked the mirror out of the bandit's hands, and it soared into the sky. She trampolined off his belly and grabbed it in midair, landing feet-first. A new smile stretched across her face. "Yes! I did it!"

The bandit kicked Gwen's feet out from under her. Their tussle took them into the woods, right at the base of a waterfall. At the same time, they crashed into its pool.

The area was misty and cool. Gwen winded up in the pool's shallow section, but the bandit went flying and landed in the deeper section.

Gwen was no longer in Blacksmith Village; she was now wilderness with a bandit she wanted to hurt! First, the wolf stole her hat, and now somebody robbed her of her shield-like mirror—the Mural of King Arthur. What else was in store for her?

Soaked from head to toe, Gwen sat in the pool and felt around for her mirror. It took a few minutes, but her hand finally hit something hard. "Baby! You're okay!" Gwen yelled. Sure enough, it was her shield-like mirror.

Hugging it to her chest, Gwen kissed the glass center. She cuddled the mirror close but lowered it when she heard splashing not far from her.

The bandit free-styled to a small, sandy beach at the pool's edge and lugged himself out. Pulling off his hood, he coughed water out of his lungs.

Gwen could still not see him very well because of the mist. All she saw was a silhouette. Nevertheless, it was time for her to get her revenge.

She held her shield at the ready and crept toward the mysterious bandit. She considered the best punishment to give him: a nice beating on the head—yeah—and then a sleepover in the dungeon.

The bandit glanced at her. Slightly screaming, he crawled away.

Gwen wanted him to fear her. It was a message for him never to push her buttons!

She reached the beach and lunged for him but stopped because she saw who she was about to hurt—none other than a teenage boy.

He was a little younger than Gwen—about fifteen—and had emerald green eyes. A few inches shorter than her, he wore something that looked like a uniform: short brown boots, black pants, and a long-sleeved, white shirt with a leather tunic over it. Finally, he had medium-length blonde hair and was quite handsome.

Gwen despised the fact that she was attracted to a bandit.

"Please don't kill me!" he begged. He did not have a deep voice, but it did crack.

"Who do you think you are, little boy?" Gwen asked him.

"Do-Don't you recognize me?" The boy raised an eyebrow. He seemed to scan her.

"Recognize you?" Gwen snapped. "I've never seen you in my life, kid. Who are you? Why did you steal my shield?"

"That's not a shield. It's a mirror!" Boy, this kid liked to argue. Then again, so did Gwen.

"Don't you play dumb with me!" She threatened to whack her mirror across his head. "I'm not going to ask you again! Who are you? Why did you steal my shield?"

"It was for various reasons of my own!"

"What reasons?" Gwen hollered. "If you don't answer my questions, you can say goodbye to your pretty little head! Nobody steals from me!"

"I can't. It's too complicated."

"What's too complicated? All I asked for was a name. You're even dumber than a squirrel." At those words, Gwen brought back the hand holding her shield. She closed in on the boy, but he grabbed the souvenir with both hands.

"My name is Arthur! It's Arthur! Let me go!"

Gwen thought about it for a moment. It took some time, but she finally moved the mirror away from him.

"And who are you supposed to be?" he inquired.

"Guinevere—Gwen for short. Unlike you, Mr. Arthur, I don't steal."

"And unlike you, I don't try to kill somebody when I first meet them!"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't have killed you, kid."

Arthur cracked a small smile. In a sarcastic voice, he asked, "Aw, aren't you a doll? What do you even need that piece of junk for, anyway? I can probably put it to much better use than you." The strength in his legs returned, and he slowly stood. However, he remained a fair distance from Gwen.

Glaring, she said, "For your information, Arthur, I'm going to be a musketeer so I can protect people from hypocrites like you."

Arthur scoffed. He showed her his back and clenched his fist, mimicking in a rude voice, "'I'm going to be a musketeer!' Yeah, right." And just like that, he marched away from her and headed for the forest's clustered trees.

A volcano exploded from Gwen's head. "Come back here! You're not getting off that easily, Arthur!"

Arthur hopped over a log and continued his trek. "Blah, blah, blah! Just go back to the dishes! And it's Artie!"

A second volcano erupted over Gwen. What a jerk! The bandit was just as horrible as Sir Elwin! "Freaking teenagers," she mumbled. She still wanted retribution for his decision, so she followed him into the forest.