Thin Edge (SnowFeather, kaito9049)

[kaito9049]

Franz carefully laid the guard on the ground and raised his knife, though he knew it wouldn't save him. "Jade, you don't have to do this," he said in a calm voice. "If you let us go, I won't tell anyone who you are. Right, Pietro?"


"I-I have a wife and children," the guard stammered.


"He has a wife in children," Franz repeated, not knowing (or caring) whether this was true.

 

[Snowfeather]

Jade looked over at the guard. "Her name is Aura, and your youngest son, Philip? And the eldest son, Adam, am I right?" she asked gently. A lock of golden hair fell into her face and she brushed it away into her hood she always wore.

 

[kaito9049]

The guard's face turned pale, and he nodded. "That's...that's correct."


Franz gripped his knife tighter. Was Jade threatening the guard's family? If so, he'd have to make a move, even if he had no chance of victory. "What's it to you?" he demanded.

 

[Snowfeather]

Jade smiled under her mask. She looked up at Franz. "I met Adam once, while I was younger. I was practicing with my bow, and I almost shot and arrow straight into his head. Boy was he surprised, but then again, so was I. We started talking, and well, we became friends. But that was nine years ago, so I bet he wouldn't remember me," she explained, looking down at the ground, seeming a bit saddened.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz relaxed slightly. The children didn't seem to be in any immediate danger. "You never know," he offered gently, taking a single stride forward. "We could ask. I bet he'd love to see you." He motioned for the guard to agree, which he did. "After all, I think I'd remember if someone nearly put an arrow in my skull."

 

[Snowfeather]

Jade looked up and narrowed her eyes. "I don't go to the village," she replied coldly. She turned away and rose to her full length. She kept her mask on and walked over to a tree. "If you come at sunset, I won't kill you," she told them, before she climbed up, disappearing.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz collapsed in relief. They were safe...for now.


The constable was waiting for Franz and the guard when they arrived. "We were getting worried," he said. "Where's the other guard?" Franz explained the events that had occurred in the forest. When the constable asked for the assassin's name, Franz hesitated. He had felt that the woman carried a great deal of sadness with her, and so he pitied her...to an extent. For the sake of survival, however, he gave her name and description, though the constable admitted that he didn't remember knowing anyone matching it.


"And yet another good man has died to the Widow," the constable sighed. "But we know her rough location."


"If she hasn't already moved," Franz pointed out. "She wants me to come back at sundown. We could set up a trap, but if she senses anything, we'll lose her. Possibly for good." He paused, considering how to say what he was about to say. "Perhaps we should consider bringing the guard's son, Adam."


The constable furrowed his brow and shook his head. "Absolutely not!" he declared. "I will not put an innocent boy in danger!"


"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who could die at any second," Franz shot back. Perhaps his suggestion was a bit cold, but he wanted to live. Besides, he was certain that Adam wouldn't come any harm, and he told the constable as much.


"Even still," the other man replied angrily, "we will have to get the approval of Adam's father, and I am sure that we will not get it."


Franz leaned back, wisely deciding not to say what he was thinking: we don't need his approval. "Fine," he relented. "But I don't like the fact that she's the one who's picking the time and place. We need some sort of an edge. She'll be expecting more guards, and I doubt that they'll be able to stop her anyway. She's too fast."


The two men spent much of the day discussion strategy and traps. The workmen and blacksmith had finished crafting Franz's designs. All that was needed was to put them into place. They finally decided to send Franz and two workers with supplies into the forest just two hours before sundown. They would set up the traps in preparation for the meeting. Unbeknownst to the constable, however, Franz paid a visit to Adam...

 

[Snowfeather]

Jade spent the day in the forest, but as sundown neared, she heard men in the woods. She stayed in the canopy of the trees and watched as they set up traps. She narrowed her eyes and cupped her hands around her mouth, making an echoing sound, similar to that of a mockingbirds. A snow owl flew into the clearing and almost flew straight into the men, but rose just before.


The men seemed spooked, so she made another sound, the sound of a raven, then, taking her sai knife, she made a mark on a tree, sounding like claws. She then disappeared. She knew what was going on, it was a trap. And she was ready.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz was just putting the finishing touches on a pressure-triggered snare trap when he heard the sounds. He grit his teeth as he looked around for any sign of the assassin. The workers, on the other hand, took the stimuli much worse, with both of them wanting to go back to the village. Franz had hoped that Jade wouldn't know that they were there, but it seemed that they had lost the element of surprise. In any case, they had made the terrain a bit more favorable to them. There were tripwires connected to hand cannons, spike traps, dart traps, even a pitfall. Plus, Franz also had his ace-in-the-hole on standby. He motioned for the workers to follow him back to town, much to their relief. Once there, he gathered the rest of the supplies that the needed: fire vials, a sharpened knife, plenty of arrows, even improvised smoke bombs. All they had to do now was wait for the sun to start to fall.

 

[Snowfeather]

Jade sat in the tree and fingered on her knife. She sharpened it on a rock and narrowed her eyes. She heard a sound and looked up. She wore her mask and crouched, looking out from the leaves. The sun was down, they'd be here, or no safe passage. "He won't come alone," she mumbled. "He's going to bring the guards, and he's going to forget the deal we had. Adam and him come at sunset, and I wouldn't kill him," she continued, looking down at the snow owl that rested on her shoulder.

 

[kaito9049]

"Ready?" the constable asked.


Franz simply nodded. Not really, he thought. He glanced at a hooded figure a good distance away from him. The figure nodded, signalling his readiness. Franz took a deep breath. "I want to make some last-minute alterations to the plan," he told the constable. "Hold back your guards until I signal them."


"By then you could already be dead," the constable pointed out.


"You don't show the deer the snare, you show it the fire, the rock," Franz replied. "In this case the snare is the fire. She knows that we have traps there, and she likely suspects that I'll bring guards. I don't want her to see the snare until it's too late."


"So the guards are the snare?" the constable questioned, a bit confused.


Franz smiled, a bit sadly. "That's right," he lied.


---


And thus Franz Trader went deep into the forest, accompanied by the constable and a dozen armed men, many of them with personal grudges against the assassin. Once they were about 75 feet away from the designated location, Franz stopped his entourage. "Don't go unless you hear a scream or I signal you," he instructed. "And don't set off the traps."


Franz took his time walking to the waterfall. He felt like a man about to be hanged. He thought back to his parents. Because of the deal he had made with the constable, they would be spared the heartbreak...at least for a while. When he was about 20 feet from the pond, he heard a short whistle to his left, from the brush. He nodded, acknowledging the sound, and went on, careful to avoid the traps he had laid.

 

[Snowfeather]

Jade watched as he made his way through the forest, and she kept silent as she climbed over him. She heard the whistling and took note of it. She watched him carefully make his way around the traps and narrowed her eyes.


She eventually climbed down into the tree she had disappeared up in earlier and her eyes shone in the moonlight. "Where's Adam?" She asked, an edge of sadness to her voice.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz faked a smile (it seemed like he had been lying a lot recently). "What? No greeting for me? I thought we were friends, Jade," he said with mock hurt. "He's around...somewhere," he said vaguely.

 

[Snowfeather]

She was quiet, and didn't show herself. "I know they're waiting for your signal," she told him, this time her voice coming from above him as she climbed in the canopy above. "I have to tell you, I'm quite hurt.. You broke the deal. I told you to bring Adam, and instead, you bring dozens of guards.." She added.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz sighed and stretched lazily. "Well I hate to hurt the feelings of such a lovely lady as yourself," he said, only half joking. "Don't worry. They're just there for show," he replied. "I know you could probably kill them all if you wanted to. But here's my question: why haven't you killed me?" He looked up to the canopy. "Here's my theory: you don't want to kill. I don't think you're meant for it."

 

[Snowfeather]

She listened to him, climbing around quietly. She stopped. She hesitated. She paused. "I.. Wanted to wait for the perfect moment," she replied. She appeared in the tree, her frame visible.


"Don't make this hard." She hissed, a sad edge to her voice, as if on the verge of tears. But she was just hesitant, not sad. No, she was sad when she found out he lied to her, when Adam didn't come.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz was taken aback by the woman's sudden emotion. Had he truly upset her? "Look," he said gently, "I can tell that you're lonely. But you have to understand my plight. I'm the only son of my parents. If you kill me, they'll have no one to take care of them. I need to know that you won't kill me before I can let you see Adam."

 

[Snowfeather]

At the mention of his name, her eyes glowed. "If you bring me Adam... I won't kill you.." She replied. She came out from the tree, but did not touch the ground, instead crouched on a branch.


"You have my word," she promised, "but if you try to kill me, I will find you, and hunt you down.." She added with narrowed eyes. A tear fell down her cheek, but it was not visible due to her mask.

 

[kaito9049]

"I just want to keep on breathing," he assured the woman. "Thank you, Jade." He whistled, and the cloaked figure he had seen before stepped out of the brush. "I followed the path you told me about," the figure complained, dropping its hood. "But there's a bunch of brush. I tripped a few times."


"You'll get used to it, Adam," Franz told him. He nodded towards Jade.

 

[Snowfeather]

Jade was confused as he whistled, and tensed as she saw the figure. She tighetened her grip on her bow, but stopped as he lowered his hood. It was him. "Adam?" She whispered, barely audible.


She climbed out of the tree and crouched, bow at hand. She took off the scarf, but kept her hood on. She inspected him. He had grown, just like she had. He had longer and darker hair. But his eyes were just the same.

 

[kaito9049]

"H-hey, Jade," Adam said nervously.


Franz hadn't known how to approach the subject of "Hey, can you help me escape a murderous assassin that you might have known once as a boy", but Adam was surprisingly open to the idea. "Are you guys going to...get married, or something? Or do I have to stick around?" he asked impatiently. He didn't think Jade would suddenly attack, but he didn't want to take any chances. At his words, Adam blushed furiously.

 

[Snowfeather]

She only watched. "I'm Archer," she replied quietly. She hesitated. "But you can call me Jade," she told him. At Franz's words, she narrowed her eyes. She hissed and as she climbed up on the low branch, her hood fell off to reveal her face and her long, beautiful hair.


"You've grown," she told Adam, tilting her head as she appeared on a branch near his side. Her eyes shone and her leg hung off, while the other was bent up to her chest.

 

[kaito9049]

Adam chuckled. "So have you," he replied warmly. "Tell me...is what they're saying true? Did you kill those people?"


Franz scratched his awkwardly. He feared that if Adam left Jade, her heart would break. For some reason, that thought bothered Franz, but he chalked it up to the fact that he'd probably be dead if that happened.

 

[Snowfeather]

Jade hesitated. She looked down at her hands. "Yes, yes I did," she replied. She clenched her fists and looked out over the forest. "I'd do," she mumbled, this time actually on the verge of tears.


She closed her eyes and opened them, her long lashes framing her blue eyes, causing tears to fall down her cheeks, but not many.

 

[kaito9049]

Adam seemed unsure of how to respond, so he looked back to Franz for advice. Franz just shrugged and motioned towards Jade. His job was done. He had assumed that Adam would make everything better, but it was looking less likely by the second. Getting an idea, Franz quickly scribbled down an encouraging speech that he had read somewhere in a book and handed the parchment to Adam. "I-I'm not very good at reading," Adam whispered. Franz just groaned and pushed the paper into Adam's hand.


Adam quickly scanned the paper, mouthing words that he wasn't sure how to pronounce. Once he felt a bit more comfortable, he stowed the paper away in his pocket. "Jade, listen," he said, as kindly as he could muster. "I don't know what happened to you to make you like this. I can't imagine the guilt that you're feeling. But we can make it right. It won't be easy, but I'll be with you every step of the way, if you'll let me strangle--" Adam looked back at Franz. "Strangle?" he asked, looking at the parchment again.


"Strengthen!" Franz corrected him, his face turning pale.


"--strengthen you," Adam finished.