Rules
Almost. You were lying on your side, but your fingers began to twitch. It had been about 5 minutes since the woman ran off with the girl. I can still catch them. You felt your foot begin to shift into position under you, and took a deep breath. Any second now. You took a few more breaths before you felt the tension in your body release. Finally. You quickly shot up, darting towards the cave entrance.
You realized as you exited the cave your previous guess had been right, it was no longer night, as your eyes were immediately blasted by sunlight. Dammit. You threw your hands up, shielding as much of the light as possible, and waited for your eyesight to adjust. They couldn’t have gotten far. As you shielded your eyes you focused on the area around you. The cave was set into a large hill and was covered by two large pine trees. The hill itself was spotted with trees becoming more crowded near the top. In front of the cave was an open field, with a stray tree here and there. There must be footprints or something. Your eyes scanned the snow. There were a few sets of tracks you could make out, but all of them lead toward the cave, not away. Shit. Tracking was in no way your expertise, you had always left that up to Sif, but over the years you had picked up a trick or two. With your eyes now fully adjusted to the sun, you looked closely at the tracks. There was a clear set directly in front of you, the footprints were small, most likely the girls, and behind them was a clean line as if she was dragging something. Wait? Did she drag me here? The fact that you couldn’t remember much after the fight coupled with you somehow arriving in the cave pointed heavily at that conclusion. She’s stronger than she looks. You pulled your eyes away from those tracks to the other set to your right. These were larger, and heavier, sinking even farther into the snow than the girls. This must be the woman’s. You quickly scanned the area for any more tracks but there was not a snowflake out of place. Shit. You quickly glanced up at the trees, attempting to gauge if they were strong enough to hold your weight. You casually reached an arm up, grabbing hold of a branch, before slowly adding pressure to it. With barely the weight of your arm applied to it, the branch snapped. Well that rules that out. You wandered around a bit, being careful not to step on the other tracks. They had to go somewhere, they didn’t disappear! You searched for any sign of them, but came up empty. Come on! In a fit of frustration, you kicked a pile of snow into the air. The wind quickly caught it and spread it throughout the field. Wait, no! You watched as the snow began to cover the tracks around you. No, no, no. You held your breath waiting for the snow to settle. Oh thank the gods. Luckily the snow merely dusted over the tracks, still leaving them quite visible. Wait… Your eyes traced over the tracks again, stopping at each set. The girls, the woman’s, mine. You stared at the new set of tracks you just made. The prints were roughly the same size as the woman’s, but they didn’t go nearly as deep. You carefully walked over to the woman’s tracks to inspect them further. Sure enough, your tracks only pressed into the snow about half as much as the woman’s. Either she weighs a lot more than she looks, or something is wrong with these footprints. It took you another minute for your brain to process what that meant when it finally dawned on you. She retraced her steps! Before your brain even completed the thought, your feet had taken off, following the single set of tracks. She must be carrying the girl. You prayed you were right as you dashed through the field then up the hill. She’s smart and a good fighter. She reminds me of Sif.
You followed the footprints for about a kilometer before they abruptly changed. The single pair of tracks morphed into two, the second one smaller than the first. So she was carrying the girl. You slowed your pace a bit, inspecting the tracks to make sure this was not another trick. But to you, they seemed like normal tracks, and based on their pacing, it seemed like they had slowed to a walk. She must have thought I wouldn’t catch her by this point. You picked up your pace to a light jog, you didn’t want to lose them, but at the same time, you didn’t want to get too close and blow your cover. You kept your eyes and ears peeled for any sign of movement, but everything was silent.
You had been following the tracks for about two hours now. At this point, you had travelled over the hill and were now just on the other side beginning your descent. The area around you was far denser with trees than the area before and the snow was not as deep. The sun was just beginning to dip behind the tree line casting long shadows over the snow. Shit! With less snow, the tracks were already hard enough to follow, without the sunlight it was going to be a lot harder. You were just about to pick up your pace when you heard a twig snap. You immediately threw yourself against the nearest tree and held your breath, waiting for another sound. 10.15.20. You counted each step that crunched in the snow. 2. No, 3 people. The footsteps stopped, and you waited. There were whispers in the distance, in the language you did not recognize, too low to make out any voices. You continued to wait, taking as quiet breaths as possible. There were another few moments of muted whispers, before more steps crunched through the snow, fading slowly into the distance. You remained frozen, plastered against the tree, waiting for more sound, but nothing came. I have to be close. You peeked your head around the tree, but there wasn’t a person in sight, just more trees, and snow. The safe house must be close. You slowly crept out from behind the tree.
“Honestly, I’m impressed.”
You froze. The voice came from behind you, and you instantly recognized it.
“That shot should have knocked you out for at least an hour. Yet here you are.”
You took a breath and slowly turned towards the voice. The same woman from before stood about 3 meters away, one arm outstretched. You half expected her to shoot, but she remained still. You broke the silence.
“And yet you still felt the need to hide your tracks.”
“Let’s just say I’m a bit paranoid.”
There was a hint of amusement in her voice but she remained poised to attack.
“And apparently it is for good reason.”
You remained still.
“Now, tell me why I shouldn’t kill you here.”
For starters, you couldn’t. This woman had skill, you could give her that and she seemed strong enough, but there was no way she could kill you.
“I just wanted to make sure the girl was okay, but I’ll leave now.”
You tried to sound as sincere and harmless as possible, but the look the woman gave you told you she wasn’t buying it. You let out a short sigh.
“Fine, if you really want to rescue those girls, you shouldn’t try to kill me.”
The woman raised an eyebrow.
“Is that a threat?”
“No, it’s a fact. I can help rescue the girls. But if you try to kill me I guarantee, you won’t be able to save them.”
The statement came out a lot more threatening than you had intended. Shit. The now familiar blue light flashed around the woman’s wrist. You quickly dodged the shot, jumping to the side and rounding the tree for cover.
“I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant if you try to kill me you’ll get hurt!”
You half-shouted from behind the tree. There was no response. In fact, there was no sound at all. That’s not good. You peeked around the tree, but just as you thought, the woman was gone. Shit. You quickly glanced around, no footprints other than where the woman had been. This isn’t going to end well. You didn’t want to hurt her, but if she came at you with deadly intent, you knew you would defend yourself in kind. Focus, keep your powers in check, just tire her out so she’ll listen. The woman knew this area better than you, trying to find her was not going to work. Guess I’ll need to flush her out. You took a breath and stepped out from behind the tree to a more open area.
“I just want to say one last time. I do not want to hurt you, so please don’t make me.”
You barely got the words out when the first blow hit you from behind, knocking you to the ground. You half-expected what followed. You felt legs wrap around your torso flipping you onto your back and an arm tighten around your throat. Focus. Unlike the last time, you kept your panic in check. Just enough to make her let me go. You began building up power in your hands, you felt the heat begin to rise, but refused to let flames form. Perfect. You quickly brought your hands up grabbing the woman’s arm around your neck. The woman let out a small yelp, quickly releasing her arm from your neck and kicking you off of her with her legs. You caught yourself before hitting the ground landing awkwardly in a half kneel half push-up position, quickly turning towards the woman. She was looking at her arm, part of the fabric had melted creating a few small holes, but it didn’t look like you actually burned her.
“Will you listen now?”
Your voice was a bit hoarse but the woman’s head snapped back to you. She looked pissed. Crap. Her hand dropped to her thigh, quickly grabbing a gun you hadn’t noticed before. Seriously? You quickly jumped to the side, landing behind the tree once more. You heard the shot echo through the trees but felt no pain. Once again the area fell into silence.
“That won’t work.”
At least it didn’t work for the other guy.
“I don’t want to hurt you, but if you shoot me you leave me no choice.”
“Then what do you call this?”
The voice was directly beside you. How the hell does she move that fast? You cocked your head towards her, the feeling of cold metal landing on your forehead. She held the gun directly against you but did not take the shot. You took a short breath, trying to keep yourself calm. You caught her gaze as she gestured towards the fabric that had melted away.
“I said I would defend myself, that is all I did. Think back, if I really wanted to hurt you I had many options before.”
The woman let out a huff, tightening the grip on her gun before dropping it to her side and taking a step back.
“Who are you, why are you here?”
You kept your gaze locked on hers, trying to convey some sort of feeling of sincerity.
“My name is (Y/N). I meant what I said before, I am here looking for someone dear to me. However, I cannot and will not ignore the girls who have been captured and are terrified out of their minds right now.”
Your voice cracked in the last few words. You dropped your gaze, trying to keep your composure but you felt the rage and fear bubble up inside of you. You clenched your fists, the heat beginning to build in them again. There was a moment of silence before the woman spoke again.
“Wait here a moment.”
The woman’s voice had softened a bit but there was still a slight edge to it.
“Are you trying to escape again?”
You raised your head, your gaze meeting the woman’s. She let out a small laugh.
“If I do I’m sure you’ll just track me down again.”
She sidestepped a bit until the tree broke your eye line with her. You quickly circled around the tree but she was gone. I swear if I have to hunt you down again! You paced back and forth for a few minutes trying to decide how long to wait before chasing after her. I don’t have time for this, I’ll find the girls myself. You turned towards the direction you last heard the voices coming from intent on picking up the trail from there. When the woman’s voice once again crept in from behind you.
“If you want to help save the girls, there are rules.”