Chapter 1
A deep exhale, and the appearance of smoke, left the lips of the archer. This frozen wasteland was making it hard to breathe, for every slow breath felt like a thousand needles pricking the inside of her lungs. It was difficult, but withstandable.
Suddenly movement caught those keen eyes, and stuck to the target as the compound bow was brought upright. Two fingers gripped the strings, and slowly withdrew back till resistance refused further pull. A deep breath, body stiffening as alignment was fixated on the man yards away from her position.
Hold… she told herself, eyes squinted slightly, and noticed two other men near her target. Not a problem.
The string snapped from her fingers, hand at her cheek, holding the bow still. The arrow flew fast, and silent, at least until it made contact. It broke through flesh, sticking out of the mans back, for a split second it was there, before it exploded of course. In that instant she exhaled, smoke appeared again as oxygen left her lips, but a small grin was on those slightly parted thin lines.
“Target down, Outrider out.” She spoke aloud, the same two fingers that pulled the arrow at her ear. Her left arm lowered the compound bow, and Alessandra took a moment to catch her breath as she listened over the coms.
“Quick work,” the voice said. “Guess you didnt need me, huh?” They sounded disappointed, and maybe a little annoyed.
“Like I said before, Battery, I can take care of myself. You didnt need to follow me on this mission.” Outrider said as she jumped down from the tree she was previously hidden in, causing fresh snow to puff into the air upon touching ground.
“Yeah, right.” Battery said off com, directly behind the smaller woman causing her to jump. “You need someone to get you out of an issue if it arrives.”
Outrider twitched, “Like I need explosions other than my own to get me out of a bad situation.”
“Sure you do,” she chuckled. “You cant be all stealth all the time, ruins the fun.”
“Maybe I like quiet sometimes, not a loud American thundering at my heels.” The smaller woman retorted, and took a step past the other woman only to stop short as the arm of the blonde smacked the tree in front of her face. “What is your problem?” Outrider scowled.
Erin had a blank expression, it caught Alessandra off guard well enough she gripped her compound tightly. She was ready to use it to deflect whatever may come next, because it felt like she was about to get punched.
Punched was an extreme, instead the archer was shoved into the tree vausing her to gasp in shock. Battery took the opportunity of those parted lips to seal them with her own, pressing Outrider into the tree.
Alessandra was surprised, embarassed, and maybe a little pissed off. She pushed back with her free hand, but she was unable to make the taller woman budge from her position. In turn she managed to move her face, out of the capture of Erin’s lips, and tried to hide behind her hood. “Wh-what are you thinking, Battery? You can’t just-”
Erin touched Alessandra’s cheek with the hand that had first touched the tree, turning the womans face to her own. And pushed back the hood, only to grin a bit when she saw those cheeks turn rosy pink. “I think I just confirmed you like this ‘noisy American’.”
