Edith Lièvre

* Headmistress of Sebastian’s School for Heroes ( 1849-1851; her retirement—succeeded by Brian O’Rourke)
* Headmistress of the World Heroes' Society

## Chronology

### First Appearance

* *Guns and Swordplay* ( *Blazin’ Trails Redux*, season 2, episode 10, guest appearance)
* *Gloria Immortalis* ( *Blazin’ Trails Alter* episode 6)

### Last Appearance

* *Happy Trails, Sheriff* ( *Redux*, season 7, episode 32)

**Edith Lièvre** is a European brown hare who is one of Touché Turtle’s oldest companions. The only surviving daughter of the famous hero-for-hire Sebastian Lièvre, who was Touché’s mentor, her career as a hero-for-hire would be cut short when her beloved father was murdered. Not long after the fallout of his murder, she was asked to become the Headmistress of the World Heroes’ Society, a position that she has held for almost two decades. Due to her duties within the Society, she doesn’t get to accompany Touché and Dum-Dum on their adventures often, but often lends her knowledge and intel whenever she can. She often serves as the referee when Touché and Ricochet have their duels. As an associate of Touché Turtle’s, she is also an acquaintance of Ricochet and Droop-a-Long.

Debuting in *Blazin’ Trails Redux*, she makes sporadic appearances through seasons 2 through 6.

## Personality

Wise and mature, Edith is often nicknamed amongst the Heroes’ Society’s female members as their mom, as she takes the time to personally check in on the various branches of the organization and give them advice if needed. Though having many medals from her exploits and awards for her accomplishments, she often discourages people from outright idolizing her, wanting to be seen as a normal person, although her success rate in this varies. When Droop-a-Long was reading off her list of accomplishments, she stopped him before he could continue praising her, claiming “I’m not the queen, you know. And you know what France does to queens, don’t you?” A very involved leader, Edith is known for her interpersonal skills as well as her leadership skills, the latter of which is only bested by her second-in-command, Brian O’Rourke, who heads her father's school. Refusing to run from responsibility, she takes her duties as headmistress of the Society seriously, not wanting her father’s hard work to go to waste. She won’t hesitate to challenge the status quo, especially to the Society’s male-dominated, chauvinistic ways and their forgiveness clause, and her changes to allow more women and diverse species into the society (as it was originally closed to humans) is seen as a pioneering move.

In contrast to Touché, who can be hotheaded underneath his professional air, and Dum-Dum, who is an eternal optimist with panicky episodes, Edith remains coolheaded in even the worst of storms. She could stare down the barrel of a gun, or have a knife pressed to her throat, and would joke about it, often unnerving her enemies. Having to deal with people trying to assassinate her, and having seen the horrors of evil knights, magical artifacts and other gruesome things up close, hardly anything surprises her, even the horrible things that happen in the Western frontier; when asked why she had a lax reaction to the Daltons restarting the animal trade, she responded that she’d faced a few cases herself, even though the country had outlawed it as well, and that many heroes in training are people she personally rescued from it. The few things that unnerve her completely are rape, infanticide, and being in tight, silent, enclosed spaces—the latter stems from an incident where she was kidnapped and spent weeks in solitude after fighting off her kidnapper’s advances. This attitude led to a few people using her as a measurement for how bad a situation is—if Edith is panicky, then everyone should panic.

Similar to Clarissa, Edith does wear her heart on her sleeve, but unlike the mare can control her emotions and stay focused on the task when needed. While possessing an incredible sense of duty, she will take on more work than necessary, especially if it’s something she’s doing for someone, leading to burnout and not performing at her best. In her childhood, she was shy and had few friends, and until she enrolled in her father’s school, she worried often about how to present herself, which resulted in her having little to no love for herself. Though age would remove that shyness and give her an outlet to shine, this old fear creeps up at times, where she privately worries if people like her for what she is (a renowned heroine on par with her father), or who she is as a person, faults and all. She compares herself a lot to others, namely her father and Touché, the latter of whom was his successor in all but name, often disguising this as self-depreciating humor. For all her teasing on matters of the heart, she keeps her own feelings under lock and key, not wanting to risk the possibility to get hurt. Knowing that she’d eventually have to take up her father’s mantle, she put aside her dream to get married and settle down in favor of her work, as she felt it’d be unfair for her future mate to deal with the stresses that come with her job—the celebrity status and power dynamics, to name a few. This led to her being seen as unattainable for years, something that she secretly lamented. Her crush on Touché Turtle (which is mutual) was hard to deal with due to her worries that their statuses would complicate things; when they first met, he was set on becoming her father’s pupil and she was his senior and on her way to becoming a powerful heroine herself. For years, they were stuck in a perpetual “flirtationship”, that is, until Ricochet would spur Touché into actually admitting his feelings.

Though a warm soul, Edith is not to be mistaken for a pushover. Possessing a long fuse, when finally set off, she can make the most mouthy hothead shut up. She doesn’t hold back when telling people their flaws, which is especially evident in her relationship with Touché; when the latter blew up at Dum-Dum during the Black Knight case (the sheepdog, not knowing about the turtle’s history, had made a comment that insulted Touché—rather than explain, though, Touché insulted him right back), Edith called him out on it, telling him that he shouldn’t use her father’s death as a shield. Just like her father, she won't hesitate to do what's right, even if it causes ostracism or trouble in her field, which was evident when she managed to reinstate Touché into the Heroes' Society after he was exiled. Not for nothing is she renowned for her swordsmanship, and is one of the few people who can keep up with Touché. Anything happening to her loved ones immediately sets her on the warpath, and she believes that people who use their power to harm others are unforgivable monsters.

Outside of work, Edith possesses an outgoing, spontaneous and mischievous personality that can cause some misunderstandings when she’s not careful. Within her close circle, she especially enjoys making them flustered with her sly and occasionally morbid sense of humor, which is on par with Ricochet’s for how dirty it is. According to Touché, she could give a fox a run for their money with how conniving she is. She isn’t above being flustered herself, though, something that both the turtle and a few of her friends (even Ricochet) have used against her.

## History

### Early Life

Edith was born in Locronan, Brittany, on May 25th, 1830, in her mother’s childhood home. Her father, Sebastian Lièvre, was a renowned hero-for-hire who’d had numerous awards and accolades for his exploits. Her mother, Marguerite (née Abel), was a clothes maker. Her parents had lost all of her elder siblings at either infancy or in childhood, and Marguerite claimed that if she lost these two, then she would lose her will to live. According to Sebastian, it was difficult, lasting two days, and the moments before she arrived, he thought he was going to pass out. She was the only surviving half of a set of twins—her elder brother Edmond had died in the womb, which was discovered ten minutes before she was born. Initially, they had believed her fate had been sealed like her brother’s, and the doctor had advised Sebastian to prepare for a funeral, only for the attending nurse to discover a faint heartbeat. Sebastian, who was overwhelmed with sorrow at the time, didn’t believe her until she handed Marguerite their newborn leveret. It was a bittersweet occasion, as they still had to bury their son a day later, but for the remaining hours, her parents wept over her, relieved that they finally had a child who survived.

Aside from a small illness, Edith was healthy as a child, and grew up in a loving home, where her father, who made time to take her on a few of his safer missions, became her hero. Similar to her mother, she was initially shy, and had trouble making friends with the other students, believing that they wouldn’t like the young leveret who drew pictures and made up stories. As she approached puberty, that insecurity grew, where she believed that presenting a version of herself that people would like would get her friends.

When she was twelve, she learned of her parents’ losses through the village grapevine, as a few of Sebastian’s enemies were guessing as to what fate would befall her; one of them was a cantankerous neighbor who’d personally drew her father’s ire after he made rude comments about Marguerite’s last marriage. When she shared the news with her father, he immediately went out, dragged the gossiper into the street, and beat him to within an inch of his life, barely being stopped from killing him by the constable. He was spared jail time due to the populace hating the man as much as Sebastian did. That evening was the first time she’d ever seen her father cry, and the next day, her parents took her to her siblings’ plot, where they explained what had happened. It was one of the defining moments of Edith’s life, as up until that point she had thought so little of her own life. From then on, she vowed to never take life for granted. Although she had a few insecurities to deal with, she walked forward with more resolve. It was at fourteen that she decided to follow her father’s footsteps and become a hero-for-hire, determined to bring change to the world.

### Heroine’s Trails and Trials

After she graduated, Edith enrolled in her father’s school, under the condition that she wouldn’t receive any special treatment due to being his daughter—rather, she wanted to find her own footing and forge her own path. She charged straight into the “Hero’s Trials” and passed with flying colors, although her father’s enemies claimed foul play because Sebastian had been one of the judges. For several years, she started her own business with a few of her friends, and it was here that resulted in a stark transformation; no longer the shy wallflower as a child, she’d blossomed into a brilliant wild rose, commanding adoration, respect and taking no flack from others. She would become one of the most popular students in the class, a stark difference from when she first became a student. Though her join heroine business with her friends went south due to different pursuits and other challenges, Edith didn’t let this stop her, deciding to dedicate more time on her missions. When “rescue season” let up, she would join her father’s classes as an assistant teacher, or join other groups as their mentor. It was here that she first demonstrated her leadership ability, and it was also here that she became good friends with her senior, Brian O’Rourke, who would become her closest ally.

A few months after this, she would meet another person who’d become a fixture of her life: a diamondback terrapin who’d become a huge fan of her father’s and wanted to sign up for his school. The terrapin, Toulouse, had snuck away from his uncle, trespassed on school grounds, and ended up being caught by Brian, if only so he could get a chance to talk to Sebastian. She found him adorable, and handed him the paperwork, telling him to hurry because spots were filling in quickly. A few weeks later, she ended up meeting that same turtle under the bridge of town, sleeping under a pile of newspaper to stay warm. When she learned that he had no money, she took him back to her father’s office, where Sebastian graciously allowed him to not only attend for free, but to also live in the boardinghouse on the school grounds.

Toulouse personally studied under her father, and though he’d had his own problems in the beginning—such as lying and even fighting with his father’s old pupil, Jean-Claude—Edith couldn’t deny her initial attraction to him. She continued her solo career and other duties, although towards the end of her tenure, she ended up sharing a lot of missions with Toulouse, now named Touché, after the latter had reformed after his punishment from Sebastian. The two would form a good friendship and rapport, and developed feelings for each other, but neither did anything about it because of their fear of Sebastian’s disapproval, and the dynamics between them. Unbeknownst to them, her parents knew that they liked each other, and Sebastian had tried in his own way to get them together for months.

The year before her father’s murder, Edith was on a mission that resulted in both being betrayed by a fellow peer and the development of one of her worst fears and her biggest hatred. She was knocked out and prepared to be shipped off for the animal trade, spending weeks inside a cold, confined space with just the bare minimum to keep her alive. Her kidnapper, a fellow hare, offered to let her out in exchange for sexual favors, which she refused, and she fought him off when he attempted to rape her. She was to be killed for her defiance, only for the heroes who’d been assigned to her case to stumble upon the scene and apprehend the jack. She was reunited with her family, and though still shaken from the attack and horrified by her ordeal, was still able to testify against the trader. Sebastian, who’d ordered the mission, wanted to kill him, but his wife, Marguerite, beat him to it; the day of the trial, she walked into the courthouse and shot her daughter’s attacker dead. Though she was scheduled to serve six months for it, she was released within two months after evidence proved that the trader had not only specifically targeted their village, but also had made off with many young girls and had killed them as well. As for Edith, she was ordered a month off of duty, and spent much of her time in the library, accompanied by either Brian or Touché, both of whom didn’t want to leave her alone after her kidnapping.

A year later, she returned to work, haunted by the memory, but refusing to allow that to keep her down—in fact, her experience would lead to her actively seeking to end the animal trades. She also became dissatisfied with the Heroes’ Society’s treatment of the women who worked there, and tried to bring change in her own way—first by starting a small chapter for women, and then advocating for proper education, preparedness training and even better insurance for them—only for her plans to be rebuffed by the current head of the organization, who’d kicked out her father for doing these exact things. These didn’t stop her, however, and she continued to rally the women together to issue change to the organization.

Summer of 1848 saw a horrible menace known as the Black Knight start to terrorize the people of the provinces of France, burning homes and killing several of the heroes sent to capture him. Edith was unable to go with her father, so Touché went with Sebastian to apprehend him. It would be the last time she saw her father—Sebastian was killed by the Black Knight on the field, although in his last dying moments, he not only managed to protect Touché, but also hand the Black Knight a wound of his own. His death devastated everyone—Edith considered quitting the hero business, and Touché was beside himself, blaming himself for not protecting the elder jack. Her mother Marguerite was inconsolable, and Edith had to personally hold her back from jumping into the grave with him. To add insult to injury, the head of the World Heroes’ Society exiled Touché for “failure to uphold his duty” a day after the funeral, citing him as a suspect and that he caused Sebastian’s death. Edith would not see Touché for at least two years, with their last contact being a week after his exile, and would soon end up taking up the mantle of being headmistress of her father’s school.

The Society’s treatment of her friend led to her doing an investigation of her own, where it was discovered that he was a personal ally of the Black Knight. Though she went through her own hell for it—she was nearly beaten and attacked, and her mother was nearly murdered in order to pressure her into silence—she eventually exposed the head of the Society as the corrupt person he was, and forced him to give up the name of the Black Knight. It turned out to be none other than Jean-Claude, who’d been expelled a year earlier for killing a fellow peer and claiming it as self-defense; the tomcat, furious at his former mentor and the change he attempted to bring, used the chaos to kill Sebastian. While a nationwide manhunt was issued for Jean-Claude, the ex-head of the organization was put in jail, and sentenced to death. Brian personally recommended Edith for the role as Headmistress, stating that she’d do her father proud by bringing about the changes they both wanted. Shortly after Edith took up the position, the manhunt came to an end courtesy of Touché, who had encountered Jean-Claude and killed him in the field. The old rules stated that any exile who interfered in a manhunt would be executed, but Edith refused, instead deciding to reinstate him.

## Abilities

Edith is a proficient swordswoman, able to go toe-to-toe with several top duelists, and even beat her father in a practice round, something that only one other student--Sebastian's disgraced former pupil, Jean-Claude--had done. Though her father trained her in all three forms of swords arts, she is especially skilled in sabre, and specializes in offering private lessons in this area. She is skilled in memorizing her opponent's weaknesses, as well as feinting, which she uses to throw her opponents off guard. Unlike Touché, who focuses strictly on an offensive strategy, Edith often relies on a defensive tactic until her opponent shows their weakness, at which point she will switch up strategies.

## Relationships

### Touché Turtle

"*You know, you can be a bit troublesome sometimes."*

*"My own brand of trouble is too much to handle."*

*"And yet, I'm still here to handle it, aren't I? You haven't run me off yet, Touché. And you're not ever going to.*"

―Edith and Touché, *Blazin’ Trails Redux* season 4, episode 19, *Baptism By Fire*

Edith's relationship with Touché Turtle, her fellow peer and old companion, is best described as a rollercoaster. They met when Touché, then named Toulouse, was desperate to meet Sebastian and get into her father's school. She'd found him adorable, and handed him a pamphlet for her father's school, telling him to sign up for it. She would meet him again about a month later, when she drove off some of her fellow peers from throwing rocks at him. When she learned that he was destitute, she took him back to the office, where Sebastian took pity on him and allowed him to take refuge in the school's boardinghouse. Though he’d had his own problems in the beginning—such as lying and even fighting with his father’s old pupil, Jean-Claude—Edith couldn’t deny her initial attraction to him, which she described to Melissa as being "so incredibly unexpected", as the terrapin was the opposite of the men she liked. Her attraction to him intensified when his personality and outlook changed after his punishment from Sebastian, noting that the kind spirit he'd tried to erase was finally shining through, even with his occasional arrogance. She continued her solo career and other duties, although towards the end of her tenure, she ended up sharing a lot of missions with him. Although the two would form a good friendship and rapport, Edith did not confess her feelings for him because of her fear of her father's disapproval (as he had a habit of personally chasing off any suitors who came around her) and the dynamics between them: although Touché was older than her, her being his senior in the hero business and the daughter of the most popular heroes-for-hire practically made her off limits, not to mention her old fears made her worry she was simply imagining things. Such was her fear that she never revealed to anybody, not even her closest friend, Brian O'Rourke, that she liked the terrapin. Unbeknownst to them, everybody knew that they liked each other, and her father Sebastian had tried in his own way to get them together for months. Sebastian's death and Touché's subsequent expulsion would sever their contact, an event that broke Edith's heart. When Touché eventually killed the Black Knight two years later, she personally had him reinstated, stating that "certain people missed you" in her welcoming speech. Through this, things picked up from where they left off, although their relationship was filled with a bit more flirting now.

A turning point in their relationship happened a few years later, courtesy of Ricochet Rabbit, Touché's rival. The buck had noticed the two's affection for each other, and through some detective work, learned that they'd harbored feelings for each other for years, and never acted on it due to their concerns over the standards put in place. Ricochet, in his usual fashion, told them to get a move on: to Touché, he smacked him upside the head and told him to shoot his shot, and to Edith, he told her that if there's anything he's noticed about the terrapin, it's that occasionally, someone else will have to take the lead in regards to his feelings. When Touché still hesitated, Ricochet decided to make a ploy where it appeared that he was flirting with Edith, which triggered a jealous reaction in Touché and finally got him to admit everything. Although embarrassed by the situation, both were ultimately grateful to Ricochet's rather unorthodox solution, and that night, they went out on their first official date. They'd date for about a year before Touché ultimately popped the question, albeit in an unorthodox manner himself.

The pair share a deep trust and respect for each other, and are so in tune that they don't have to ask what the other is thinking. Despite knowing that he can take care of himself, Edith often worries for Touché, as the terrapin has a habit of holding back his emotions and overworking himself for others' sakes, although she is just as guilty of doing the latter. Though she's used to his arrogance and posturing, she won't hesitate to call him out on it if he goes too far, as evidenced when Touché snapped at Dum-Dum and later at Punkin' Puss, telling him that just because he's the world's greatest hero doesn't mean he gets to be the world's biggest jerk. When he tells her that his own brand of trouble is hard to handle, Edith reminds him that she's been in his life long enough to handle it, and that she'd never leave him, not unless he did something truly heinous.

## Trivia

* Similar to Denise Falconeri, Edith underwent a lot of changes from her original appearance in the original For Love and Glory series:
	+ The first draft of *For Love and Glory* (when it was originally a one-shot) mentions her, albeit as a minor role. In the rewrite, she does appear in the fourth chapter, where it’s mentioned that she had lost contact with Touché after the Black Knight incident. Though she was not intended to have a large role, iheartgod175 liked the character enough to give her a role in the sequel to *For Love and Glory, The Dugan Crown Affair*. From then on, she was included as an integral member of the cast. *Relance* rectified this by including her as a supporting character early on.
	+ She was also not intended to be his love interest, but the idea of a turtle and a hare being a couple stuck with the author, and as such, she continued to write a few stories focusing on their reconnection and relationship—none of which have been posted. *For Love and Glory Relance* rectifies this by including hints at their mutual feelings for each other.
	+ Original drafts for her character featured her being more gentle and unassuming while dealing with both comparison issues in regards to her father and Touché, and emotional issues such as being unworthy of love and happiness. Revised editions of her character featured her being more spontaneous and confident, yet also professional and coolheaded while also removing this anxiety and giving her new faults (ie. Her tendency to overwork, her concerns with her self-image, and her tendency to be aloof to protect herself). Her comparison issues and her dream to get married and have a family (and her despair about not being able to do either because of her work) is carried over from the original version. She also had a teasing side that she used mostly on Touché in the original; Relance, and BT Redux, emphasizes her mischievous side, which she now extends to everyone and not just the terrapin.
	+ Her romance with Touché changed a lot, specifically the events where they get together. In the original *For Love and Glory* (or rather, the original planned and unposted sequels to the series), Touché and Edith get married shortly after confessing their feelings to each other and having a whirlwind romance. *Relance* features them getting married towards the end, after Touché rescues his father and ends the Dugan family curse. *BT Redux* features them getting hitched after the events of season 5, a year after they started dating.
	+ Her birthday was originally May 18th, but was recently changed to a later date to reflect her personality change.
* Her surname, Lièvre, is French for “hare”. iheartgod175's friend, Vulaan Kulaas, noted that until she came up with Edith's and Sebastian's designs, she had wondered what she and her father Sebastian were for the longest time.
* Her name, Edith, means “blessed”. Sebastian nicknamed her “Bénie” growing up, due to feeling that he was finally free of his "curse" (which was losing all of her older siblings, including her elder twin, in infancy/early childhood) and was allowed to feel happiness with his daughter.
* Similar to Melissa Starkweather, she has a childhood nickname that she only lets one person call her by, “Bénie”, which is French for blessed. Unlike Melissa, who disliked her nickname, Edith has bittersweet memories associated with it, as it reminds her of her father and how he doted on her because she was his only surviving daughter. After explaining everything to Touché Turtle, the terrapin asks if he can call her this, and she allows him to.
* She is one of two characters who lost all of her older siblings, with the other being Touché Turtle himself.
* Edith is one of two people that Ricochet doesn’t nickname outright, despite the fact that the two are good friends. The other person he doesn’t nickname is Serena. When asked by Droop-a-Long, Ricochet explained that it's out of respect for her position and his friendship with Touché, as he wouldn't feel right giving a friend's significant other a pet name.
* Edith is a Gemini (whose birthdays fall between May 21 and June 20).
* iheartgod175 cites Nozomi Tojo from Love Live as a basis for Edith’s new personality.
* Edith is one of iheartgod175’s favorite original characters.
* According to the author, her design was hard to come up with, as she wanted her to have resemblance to her father (whom she designed a month or so earlier) but still be recognizable as her own character.
* Edith is the oldest of the core female cast of characters, with Diane being a year younger than her. She shares a birth year with Ricochet's older sister, Rachel.
* Her headmistress garb was inspired by Kallen Kaslana’s dress—specifically, the one the character wears in Guns Girls Z. Her fencing costume is inspired by classical garb worn by female musketeers.