In-country with Fiona -- ambush

[song_tra_bong]

They head north for a while, finding nothing particular but silence and trees and room to wander. Soon enough, the light begins to fade and they head back towards the site of their earlier skirmish. For an ambush point, then end up settling on the set of trees their runner had made for earlier; they do make excellent cover.

Mary Anne leans back against a trunk, checking her knives in preparation. She is looking forward to using her newest.

Comments

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

Excellent cover, and they are even on a slight hill. Fi's knife is back in the sheath on her belt, her axe also looped there. In her hands, she has a looted rifle, and she's watching the clearing with almost cat-like green eyes.

[song_tra_bong]

Mary Anne's eyes wander over trees and bits of underbrush. They get a little help with light from a fraction of moon, but clouds linger and occasionally blot it out.

Her hands move from knives to rifle; she checks each part without ever having to look down.

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

Wait, wait, wait, the worst part of battle is the waiting. The second part is the aftermarth, of cleaning up the dead. The best part, naturally, is the fight of I am alive.

Wait, wait, wait, and then Fiona stills as she hears something.

[song_tra_bong]

Despite her love for ambush, Mary Anne detests waiting. But now that part might be over.

She cranes her neck, searching for the source of the noise.

"Where?" The word is the barest exhale.

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

"South-east"

[song_tra_bong]

"Ah."

A shadow of movement, aiming for stealth but too busy looking down. Looking for clues of men already dead.

And he's not alone.

"Two...I can see three. There might be more further out. What've you got?"

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

"Another three, closer to my right - single file."

[song_tra_bong]

She peers again into the dark and thinks she can see the men Fiona spotted.

"We'll let them get in a little closer, but not too close. They find their buddies, they'll be ready for us."

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

A little nod, and Fiona slowly slides down to land on one knee, moving the rifle up so she can aim.

[song_tra_bong]

She raises her own gun, picking a target.

Closer. Closer.

Almost.

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

There, him. In the middle, staring at the ground and watching for mines.

No mines, but she pulls the trigger.

[song_tra_bong]

The man in the lead turns his head at the sound.

And then he doesn't have much of a head left to turn.

The third man aims in their direction, opening his mouth to yell warning to the other cluster of soldiers.

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

All of Oberon's daughters know how to fight, with a sword and dagger and axe, with guns and grenades and men.

The man might aim, but it's hard to shout with a bullet in your throat.

[song_tra_bong]

The shouting, it seems, is unnecessary; the gunshots are enough. The remaining men fire in the girls' direction while they scramble for cover.

Mary Anne ducks behind a tree and swears. "We're gonna have to try and get behind them. Or this shit'll last all night."

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

"I can run far faster then you or them...I could just back up a bit and run."

[song_tra_bong]

"True enough..."

She considers a moment while bullets take chunks out of the tree.

"They're yours if you want them--" She flashes a grin. "--but think you can save one for me?"

Her knife needs blooding, after all.

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

She slips the gun off and puts it on the ground before flashing Mary Anne a grin.

"Only politeness, my dear." And with that, she backs up and fades into the dark.

[song_tra_bong]

Mary Anne waits a moment, slipping the punch knife into her hand, then circles around towards the soldiers.

She suspects by the time she gets there, Fiona will have done most of the dirty work.

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

After a few moments there is a scream, sharp and urgent, before it's cut off, the lack of sound followed by a dull thump.

[song_tra_bong]

Mary Anne tilts her head, smiling slightly at the sound.

She shifts her course, moving closer to Fiona's location.

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

Knowing that Mary Anne is out there, trying to find the fight, Fiona makes no effort to keep things silent. It's messier in the dark, messier and louder and the blood is warm on her skin. Blood on the ground, though, and she stumbles back into a soldier's arms.

[song_tra_bong]

Closer and closer and she can practically smell the blood when she arrives.

She can't stop Fiona from stumbling but she closes the distance before the soldier realizes what to do with the woman who's killed his friends. It's just as well he doesn't know about the woman standing behind him.


If you work in a medical aid station and you kill enough people, you learn something about anatomy. Like about the fourth lumbar down and the abdominal aorta. The punch knife slides in like a dream and she gives the blade a twist.

"Thanks for saving me one, dear," she says to Fiona over the dying man's shoulder.

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

"Pleasure," Fiona says in a voice husky with adrenaline and relief. She gets her balance again, and then lunges at the remaining soldier with her axe.

[song_tra_bong]

Meanwhile, Mary Anne still has her hands full of dying soldier. And blood--the abdominal aorta is nothing if not a bleeder.

She draws the knife out (will have to clean it quickly, or the hilt will stain) and slides it into the man's neck. A jerk of her arm opens his throat and she lets him fall to the ground.

In the dark, the blood on her hands looks black.

[scion-of-amber.livejournal.com]

The last soldier is on the ground, clutching his stomach in an attempt to keep the contents in. Messy, messy, axes were always such a messy weapon.

But it's Fiona's, and she brings it over then up and down to cut off the man's head. She tosses her braid back over her shoulder, her breath coming quick and deep from the fight.