Anon once again wondered out into the forest in the thunderous rain. His coat kept him warm and his light blue pendent gided him back to the fountian. He approached the edge of the pond, when lightning crackled across the sky. Anon raised his head and searched around the clearing, it wasn't the the lightning that had worried him, such things no longer scared him. The clouds rolled back for the briefest of second and then Anon saw it, the shadow near the tree. The shadow noticed his reaction and readied a weapon. An object flew at Anon and he was barly prepared when he deflect the steel throwing star with his right gauntlet. He flicked out his hidden blade and readied himself.
"Identify yourself!" He yelled but the stars kept coming. In the pouring rain, he tried to delfect as many as he could but one caught his boots and the others were thrown in various places to pin him to a tree. His hood was still up, so he couldn't make out the figure approaching him. Apprehenshion gripped Anon, he knew who this person was, the reason he had to run from the last town but he still didn't know their identity.
"Ticondus..." Anon flicked out his hidden blade.
"DON'T finish that sentence if you want to live!" He yelled as he struggled to to move but the stars were in the right places to pin him. He could try cutting his cloak but he immediently dismissed that idea.
"Fine, have it your way. I know everything about you anyway." Anon could guess that the voice was female, early twenties and juding by the accent, somewhere from northen Europe. Although why she would chase him to a backwater town in America was beyond him. Also, Anon wondered why she used throwing stars and how she knew his true name.
"What do you want?" The woman feigned a laugh.
"You life of course." She pulled out a throwing star and deliberitly made sure Anon could the glare from the moon. He closed his eyes, resigning himself to fate.
"Amelia, I'm sorry." Anon expected something to hit him but it never came.
"Amelia? You've made a life here Ti?" The way she said his same the same way as Amelia made him cringe.
"Yeah, I found this girl back in the last town. An orhpan, I told her to walk 300km west to this town. You chased me east and then I made sure nothing hurt her while I was traveling back west. She's the only one in my life right now and I've only known her for a few weeks but I feel like she's my resposibility." Anon didn't know where this came from, it was unusual for him to spill his guts to his would-be killer.
"You mean that town futher east like this one? Grey Haven? This Amelia, she has red hair and blue eyes, right?"
"How do you know?" The lady paused for a few seconds.
"Well, let's just say, I'm the reason she bacame an orphan." This news shocked Anon.
"My job in Grey Haven before I was to hunt you was to kill her father. He was a dishonerable man but the mother got in the way. I made sure he paid for it and I tried to put her somewhere good but then you showed up and took her under your wing. " It all made sence to Anon now, the reason that Amelia wouldn't talk to him about what happened to her before she met Anon. He guessed she idolised her mother with such an abusive father.
"Well, what now?" He asked.
"I'm not going to kill you now for two reasons. The first is I enjoy the chase before the kill, it's the whole reason I do this job. I don't get the thrill if a target doesn't put up a fight."
Great, a psychopath. Anon thought to himself.
"The second reason is because of Amelia. I can tell she's important to you and taking her away from you now would be devastating for her. Now if you don't mind, I'll take my leave. Watch your back Ti."
"Wait!' Anon yelled. The woman didn't respond.
"I don't know why your chasing me and I don't care, but Amelia. Please, leave her out of this. It's between you and me and she's suffered enough in this life." The woman didn't respond for a few second.
"Very well, I agree. I'll leave her and any innocent out of this conflict. I promise on my honor." This statement confused Anon.
"What honor is their in a hired killer?"
"I'm a Taoist. I find honor and balance in what I can." Anon now understood where her choice of weapon came from. He nuged his blade between a few gaps in the stars and wiggled them out. He did this to a few more around his his body and he was finally free. Of course, the woman was nowhere to be scene. He gathered up the stars which had a strange symbol on them: A circle with two L's, the left one inverted and on it's side and the right one on it's side but normal.
"Interesting." Anon said as he left the clearing in the pouring rain, following the light of his pendent.