Thin Edge (SnowFeather, kaito9049)

[Snowfeather]

Jade tied the scarf around her face and wrapped her hands in the gloves. She looked up at the roaring waterfall. She smiled under her mask.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz and the constable reviewed the plans over breakfast. After some discussion, they agreed on a scheme, though it would take at least twenty-four hours to set up. "In the meantime," the constable had said, "keep your head down."


"I'll be working on the traps," Franz had replied. "They'll be ready by tomorrow." After this, the two men departed.


---


A couple of hours later, Franz, once again accompanied by guards, went back to the forest to check on his trap. Unfortunately, his prey didn't seem to go for the bait, at least not yet. Franz would have waited for a few more hours, but with the constant noise that his guards were making, he doubted that any animal would approach. Instead, he decided to try his hand at fishing. Picking up his rod, he followed a stream that led to a pool of water. It was close to a waterfall, so it wasn't ideal, but Franz cast his lure anyway.

 

[Snowfeather]

Archer crouched behind the waterfall, feeling the presence of men. She looked out and saw them, hiding yet again. She took a passageway and came up behind the men. The first let out a shout as he was pulled away, and it was cut short as she snapped his neck. She hid.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz suddenly jolted and spun around, dropping his rod. The other guard drew his sword, calling for the other. Franz quickly strung his bow and signaled for the guard to slowly advance forward. The two men crept towards the source of the shout. The guard suddenly cursed. "He's here!" he shouted back to Franz. "Dead," Franz sighed heavily upon reaching the corpse. "We're not safe here," the guard said. Franz nodded. "I'll carry the body back to town," he agreed. The guard nodded and looked around nervously for the hidden attacker.

 

[Snowfeather]

Gtg


 
She his in the tree and narrowed her eyes. She grabbed a knife and aimed. The guard fell, with a knife in his arm. She didn't have to kill him, only hurt him. She dove out of the tree and landed on one knee. She looked up into Franz's eyes and tilted her head. The guard gasped and attempted to crawl away. Her head spun around and she hissed.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz stepped back in shock. He hadn't even seen the knife! Shaking himself out of his hesitation, he drew his bow and aimed it at the assassin's head. "D-don't move!" he shouted, trying to sound as authoritative as possible.

 

[Snowfeather]

She turned her head slowly to stare at the arrow pointed at her head. She narrowed her eyes and rose. She dropped her three knives to the ground, but her bow was fastened on her back, the string over her chest and her quiver on her back. She tilted her head and spoke. "Too slow," she echoed, and then she disappeared, in the blink of an eye. She appeared behind him and kicked his back, sending him forward. She drew her bow and took a white arrow, the tip a lime green. Poison.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz cursed as he was knocked to the ground. He looked back at the wounded guard. He didn't seem to be doing too well. The hunter reached into one of the pouches on his chest and pulled out a vial of oil, igniting it as he struck it against the flint in the pocket. He raised his arm, preparing to throw it. He stared down the woman in front of him, unflinching.

 

[Snowfeather]

She tilted her head at the object in his hand. "It's no use, by the time you have thrown that, I will have fired my arrow, and the poison will spread through your body," she said calmly. She blinked, and crouched, still aiming at him. She smiled under her mask.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz paused. "But then you'd be dead too," he noted coolly. "Or at the very least, severely burned." He slowly reached his other hand back for his hunting knife. Trying to buy time, he continued, "Why do you wear a mask? A disfigured face, perhaps? Crooked nose, uni-brow?" This was a most dangerous game Franz was playing, but he needed the woman to be more focused on his words than his actions.

 

[Snowfeather]

She followed his hand with her gaze, not interested in his words. She narrowed her eyes, and she kept an open ear for what he said. She looked up and hissed. She took a hand and ripped off her mask, revealing the beautiful face of a young woman. "It's called, preserving your identification," she snapped. She rose and aimed at him, her full lips pressed together in anger and her eyes shining. Her hair trailed down her back, shining in the evening sun.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz gaped at the woman, realizing who she was. He had gotten careless, sloppy. "What, you didn't want to kill me at breakfast?" he demanded. "Beauty is wasted on murderers. If you have to kill me, do it. But leave the guard alive." Franz gripped his weapons tightly, ready to attack.

 

[Snowfeather]

She was confused. "What do you mean?" She asked. "What do you mean by, beauty is wasted on murderers?" She asked. Her grip on her bow was firm, and her eyes seemed to glow.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz chuckled darkly. "I think you could be so much more, you know?" he sighed. "More than..." He motioned to the woman's bow. "...more than all of this." He attempted a weak smile. "You can still walk away...Jade."

 

[Snowfeather]

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't call me that?" She hissed, though her voice had a cracking edge, as if holding back tears. She tightened her grip on her bow and she bit her lip.


 
(Gtg)

 

[kaito9049]

"What's wrong, Jade?" Franz demanded, pressing his advantage. "Don't like your name?" He slowly stepped forward, closing in on the young woman.

 

[Snowfeather]

She hissed and took a step back. "My name is Archer!! Not J-Jade.." She mumbled. She bit her lower lip nervously.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz smirked, stepping close enough that he could reach out and grab the woman's bow. "But Jade is such an interesting name!" he insisted. "A gem of beauty. Too bad it only describes your outward appearance."

 

[Snowfeather]

At that, she snapped. She grabbed her knife and pushed him back against a tree, holding the knife to his throat. She had one knee in between his legs, while her other leg was planted firmly on the ground.

 

[kaito9049]

"OK OK TOO FAR!" Franz choked out. His heart beating, he slowly raised his left hand, holding the flaming vial, above Jade's hair. His other hand gripped his knife. "Y'know...," Franz coughed, "The flame is eating up the cloth stopper. Sooner or later the oil's going to ignite, and we'll both be burned." He chuckled weakly. "Ever been trapped in an inferno before? I've heard it hurts like hell."

 

[Snowfeather]

Jade glanced up at the flaming vial, the looked down at his hand as he grabbed his knife. She took her free hand and twisted the one holding the knife, making him drop it. She didn't want him to talk, it was irritating. "Shut up, and let me do my job," she hissed, though there was a gentle edge to it that she instantly regretted.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz yelped in pain. "There's a lot other jobs that you could take," he replied, wincing. "Jobs that don't require you stabbing me with a sai!" He held the vial dangerously close to Jade. "We don't have to die today," he said.

 

[Snowfeather]

Jade listened to him, but didn't look at his face, only looked down at the knife she held to his throat. She closed her eyes and loosened her grip on the knife, before she let her hand drop, taking the knife away from his throat. She whipped around and -with her free hand- grabbed the arm holding the vial. She then grabbed the vial as it was thrown into the air, and then rounded the tree, revealing the body of water that led to the falls. She dropped it into the water.

 

[kaito9049]

Franz, seizing the opportunity, bolted in the other direction, grabbing his hunting knife off the ground as he did so. He lifted the guard under one arm. He took a quick look at the other man's injury. The knife was still embedded in his arm, but it didn't look too bad. Franz helped the guard limp through the trees as fast as humanly possible, praying that Jade wouldn't follow.

 

[Snowfeather]

Jade appeared in front of the two, wearing the mask. Her eyes glowed and she aimed her arrow at his head. "Don't move," she hissed. She was crouching on the ground, but her aim was deadly, she would not miss.