What if Anise is killed by someone else? I was traveling up the mountain with Faendal and came across what looked like Anise fighting bandits. It seemed as if they killed her (or maybe it was Faendal). We then killed the bandits and I helped myself to her alchemy supplies. What does this mean for the game? Will there still be a "hit" on me? Did I lose anything by letting Anise die at someone else's hands?

As long as you did no damage to her no , if you did any amount of damage at all and were considered in combat with her then yes. Seems the hits themselves are kind of random though , also you get random inheritance deliveries of small amounts from certain NPCs dying. I suspect it's because you have a rather good standing with that particular NPC.

Anise? You mean there's a person associated with the cabin??!! I must have been by there at least once on every toon (15 and counting....) and I've never seen anyone!