Hello there and thank you for reading! If this isn't your first time reading, I encourage you to take another glance and if this is your first time reading, I hope you enjoy! I am currently going to a major renovation of this trilogy which means better writing, deleted scenes (if you want to call them that), and much stronger plot points. Overall, this is going to be an almost complete makeover by the time I'm done. I also have another project in the works, one I will talk about more as I hash it out. Anyways, I'll let you get on to the actual reading. Reviews are strongly encouraged and appreciated.

As always, thank you, and enjoy

- Fell_and_Fallen -

"So this is where you've been all this time."

I jump, sending my knife veering far off course and startling the deer I was aiming for. It darts off into the bushes as I turn slowly, heart pounding, wondering who just spoke to me.

Standing a few feet away is a tall, young-looking man wearing dark fighting garb similar to mine. His face is shrouded completely in a thick black hood. His voice tells me he's smiling, but I can't know for sure.

"Are you surprised to see me?" he asks, taking a few steps closer to me. "How long has it been since you've talked to anyone? It's a shame, really, to hide someone like you from the world."

My hand closes around another of the knives at my side and I raise it up in half a second. The man stops, the point of my knife just a centimeter from his throat.

"Who are you?" I demand, my voice solid and strong despite the pounding in my ears. "Why are you here?"

"I'm a friend," the man raises his hands to show me he's unarmed, though I'm sure he's hiding a weapon somewhere in his loose clothes. "Just here for a visit."

"As if," I scoff, not moving my blade. "Did someone send you to finish me off?"

"So untrusting," the man clicks his tongue disapprovingly. "Actually, I came to get you out of here. You just have to do me a quick favor."

I can't help but laugh. "Favor?" I chuckle. "I think I know what your favor is. Sorry, but I don't do things like that anymore. Especially not for creeps I find in the woods."

"Then how about for your father? You've been looking for him for a very long time, haven't you?"

My knife wavers. "What do you know about my father?" I demand in a voice that quivers despite myself. A face flashes behind my eyes- a dark caring gaze, a warm contagious smile that split his face evenly. My father…

"I have some information about where he might be," the man scooches closer and I catch a glimpse of a bright white smile, "and I would love to share it with you, but only if you do what I ask."

I drop my hand completely. "Alright. Speak."

"I knew you'd be interested," the man grins as he walks behind me and slides his hands onto my shoulders. I can't hold back a shudder as he whispers the next words in my ear. "All you have to do to find your father is kill a few ninja."

"Why?" I turn in his arms, recoiling a little at his closeness.

"Personal vendetta, I guess you could call it," he shrugs. "It's really no consequence to you. It should be very easy. All you have to do is kill a few complete strangers and I can reunite you with your father."

My eyes narrow. "If it's so easy, then why don't you do it yourself?"

"I have a… vested interest in having this done quickly and well. Unfortunately, I don't have your… skill or experience," the corner of his lips turn up in a smile. "For you, it'll be easy as swatting a fly. And don't you think that your father is worth more than them? The man who raised you and loved you over a few strangers?"

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" I ask. "What proof do you have that my father is even alive?"

The man smiles predatorily. "Plenty," he grins as he pulls something out from his pocket. I gasp as he offers me my father's necklace, something I've never seen him go a day without. The man loops the thick chain around my neck, fastening it so the glistening gold sun nestles comfortably against my sternum. He laughs little at my stunned reaction. "Is that good enough for you?"

I lift my face to meet his eyes, but all I see is darkness under the fabric of his hood. "How will I know you'll lead me to him once I… finish the job?"

"I'm glad you asked," he reaches to pull something from his jacket and my hand falls to one of the knives on my belt. Before I unsheathe it though, he pulls out a tightly bound scroll that he unrolls and holds out to me.

"All you need to do is sign this and you will have your insurance," he says as I stare down at small spidery handwriting. "You dispose of a few ninja and I'll show you where your father is. Simple as that."

He pulls a quill pen from the folds of his jacket and offers it to me. I hesitate.

"Think about it," he continues. "All of this this can be over with. No more running and hiding, no more looking over your shoulder. Just a happy life back with your father. All you have to do is sign and… exterminate."

I close my eyes and try to slow my pounding heart. It's been four years since I've seen my father, though I've never forgotten a detail of his face. I remember his laugh and his voice whispering loving words to me. I'd do anything to have him back, but killing people…

"Whose life matters more to you, princess?" the man says as if he's heard my thoughts. "Your father or a few strangers? If you don't do this for me… they're both dead."

My eyes fly open. "What?"

"You heard me," dark grey eyes glisten from beneath the hood. "I'm giving you the choice. One or the other. If you refuse… well, I'll just have to find someone else to do the dirty work and Daddy will disappear forever."

I snatch the pen from his hand without a second's thought, scrawling my name on the scroll in crooked handwriting before meeting his eyes, a dark determination starting to spread through my chest.

The smile flashes again. "I knew you'd agree," he smirks. "Now Ir-"

"My name is Ash," I say before he can finish. "Not… that."

The smile flickers a little, but returns. "Alright then, Ash," he says the name almost like it's a bitter taste in his mouth. "You can call me Fang. I'll be the one keeping an eye on you from now on, just to make sure you don't… break contract. Which I'm sure you won't, but then again you have been known to… lose control."

A hot flash of anger bolts through my body, but I take a deep breath and force it back down.

"Just tell me where the ninja are."