Sniper in the Woods (Solo)

[Sigma]

Riding down the path towards Badon, Sigma wasn't paying that much attention to the path as he trusted Gambit to follow it without much guidance. The horse was pretty obdient in fact, much more than what a regular horse acted like. Not only that, but with how much they had travelled together, the horse was now used to have Sigma as his master so disobedience was near impossible considering the trust they had built.

He was going to Badon in search of work. Knowing how rampant the economy was in this region, he knew jobs for espionnage and investigating probably could be found as easily as a candle in a cave. WIth his skills, people would probably realise quickly he was a great spy for any kind of intel-gathering. May it be finding out more about your competitors or even stealing blueprints and equipment from others. Whatever he'd be doing, he knew it'd probably be more interesting than the jobs he did in Edessa. Not only that but he had never seen the ocean up close before, much less walked on a beach. Sure, he knew how to swim because of rivers and lakes, but he never dipped his toe into the salty water of the ocean. If he could find the time, he'd probably try to take a boat ride just to feel the sea breeze for the first time. Hey, who said you can't both work and enjoy yourself? He'd probably stay long enough to let him pile up some cash. At least enough to not have to worry about the essentials like food for a little while. Hm, maybe he'd even join some prates if it could let him travel the seas...

*TWANG*

Falling off of his horse as Gambit sudenlly got on his back legs in shock. Having heard an arrow being shot, Sigma knew that this was bad. A hidden archer could be a deadly one. Well, could DEFINITELY be a deadly one. Knowing that he was probably the only thing this archer wanted to shoot, he let Gambit run off a few meters away as he stayed behind a nearby tree. He was stopped dead in his tracks by another arrow grazing his cheek as he was peeking out from behind the oak tree. With the sun in his eyes, spotting the enemy was near damn impossible sadly. He'd have to either run away or move up to fight him. And with th accuracy this person had, running away would probably result in one big puncture wound in the back of the skull. Alright, wanna play this game? Cause there's no way I'm letting myself be killed by some dime a dozen archer hired by a nobody to take me down, no way sir. Taking out his two blades, he studied his environment to try to find a way to get closer to this hidden opponent. Sadly, the thicket only started to get denser a few meters up. Moving out from behind the tree would probably result in a pretty bad injury. DAMN! I let myself get caught like a simple crook! Suddenly, he heard a female voice call out from the woods.

"Well well, guess my employer exagerated your talents a tad... To think you're already at my mercy. Welp, might as well enjoy your last moments, Mister Wolfhart!"

[Sigma]

Ugh, he really didn't want to deal with another godamn bounty hunter. Most of them couldn't catch him anyways since he knew how to use cities to his advant-OH CRAP I'M NOT IN A CITY, I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS IN NOWHERESVILLE! Looking around frantically, he noticed some rocks which semmed high enough to give cover. They were also closer to the hidden sharpshooter which would help disable her. Now he just had to think of a way to actually get closer without being peppered with crossbow fire...

So? Who was this time? Is Reiner still pissed that I kept his cut of the money? Oh, maybe it's that sweet old Delilah who still feels angry that I discovered her shady deals with assassins in Illia? Please do tell me because I need to know what kind of money they were willing to put on you so I can gauge you skills."

You're a funny one, Greyhair. If I told you who hired me, it would ruin the surprise no? I wanna see the anguish in your eyes as you try to think who would want you dead enough to get a crack shot like me to take you down... Now come on, let's dance, my sweet little pet! the joy in her voice was definitely... not freaking normal, like completely insane to be more accurate. Who would even hire her? Ah crap, that probably means she's really good if people actually hire her...

FINE! I'll play your little game... He decided to go for it, running out from behind the tree, he used his top speed to avoid the crossbow bolt. After jumping behing the rocks, he could already hear his opponent finishing her reload. Well, I don't think I'll get lucky a second time... Gotta act smart or end up a pin cushion for this young woman's enjoyment. His heart was beating faster, he could feel beads of sweat rolling down his face. It surely had been a while since he was caught like this. What he wouldn't give just for a shield right about now... Or even just some hardened leather armor for god's sake! Something that could at least resist one of those lighting fast bolts!

Quickly looking through his things, he quickly took out his thieves tools. He found the small miror he kept for situations like this and put in the direction of the hidden sniper. He quickly saw the shimmer of light on the crossbow's frame and the shiny white hair of the lady who was currently trying to kill him. Alright... At least now he knew exactly where she was... Still didn't answer the question about how he'd actually get up there...

OH WHAT THE HELL, EVERYBODY DIES ONE DAY IN THEIR LIFE RIGHT!?!? Getting up, he held his dagger to throw it at her. He hoped it'd be enough to stop her from shooting while he ran up to her. However, he stopped himself as he noticed something... A beehive! Quicklt ducking again, he sheated his dagger now that he had a much better plan. "Is Kitten scared of attacking the Big Bad Wolf perhaps?" he heard his maybe-crazy enemy shout. Grinning to himself, he decided to let silence be his answer now that he felt confident that he could beat her. Just had to not screw up this one throw...

[Sigma]

Well now that I have a method to take her down... Ah geez, how am I actually going to get her to back up enough so I can use that beehive to my advantage? As he sat behind the rock, making sure he wasn't in her sights, he continued to examine his surroundings for possible ways to make her retreat. Ugh, cities always had plenty of things to hide behind... This forest is emptier than a tavern without ale.

Guess it's time to play the waiting game... And so, Sigma go comfortable and opted to simply see which one would tire first. From what he could gather, she didn't seem like the very patient type. Not being in the action for so long would definitely push her to be more reckless. That beehive wasn't a definitive plan, considering the absurdly specific set of circumstances you needed to have to enact it. For now, he'd do what he does best, improvise.

Ugh! Why are you so boring Grey? I wanted to have fun today! Why you gotta ruin my fun times? Killing me is fun to her? Ok yeah, definitely something slightly strange about this one... Staying silent, he was at least happy she seemed to be getting impatient. It should only be a matter of minutes before she goes down there to take care of him by herself. Truly just like an impatient child. Although, this wasn,t too surprising considering her considerably childish behavior in all of this. Just who was this girl anyways? The mystery was almost makign Sigma forget she was the enemy...

A couple of tens of minutes had passed. He hadn't heard her speak for a while and no footsteps could be heard for now. Keeping a hand on his dagger, he continued to wait silently for her to come to him. He had lots of rations, staying there for the entire day would not bother him at all. He had done much more boring stuff in his line of work, this was nothing in comparison. He finally sawher jump over the rock he was hiding behind, going in to stab him with what looked like a hunting dagger. Rolling out of the way as she landed on the ground, Sigma got himself into a combat position. However he decided to keep his killing edge sheated for now. She had an employer, that was obvious... But to know who it was is another subject entirely which made the risk of fighting her without his sword worth it.

He was the first to move, going in to stab in a diagonal reverse grip. It was easily blocked and deflected by her as she went in with her own moves. Sigma was caught off guard as she was able to grab his leg and put his entire body to the ground with a lever effect. The thief caught her descending arm holding the knife with two crossed arms. Pushing her away as the blade skidded millimeters near his face, he quickly got back up by kicking her away with both legs as he laid on the ground. As she was still stunned by the powerful kick to the jaw, Sigma got closer to cut the strap holding her crossbow on her back, making the heavy weapon fall in the slightly humid grass and leaves. Let's dance, darling. Sigma said, in a cocky tone. Her mystery bounty hunter seemed to return the feeling as she got back into a fighting stance with her knife.

[Sigma]

In one corner, the Illian wolf. On the other, the white panther. Both opponents eyed themselves as they were circling each other, knife drawn forward, almost liking the excitement to have found an opponent using the same fighting style. She was the first to go in with a diagonal slash going from top right to down left from Sigma's perspective. He jumped out of the way only for her to come closer and continue her swing in a figure eight, this time aiming for his other shoulder. The grey-haired thief was able to dodge at the last second with a quick side step to the left while deflecting her arm with a block. Quickly grabbing her wrist, he brought his forearm to try and break her elbow. Although the bone didn't break, the impact on top of Sigma's grip on her wrist made her lose her knife as it went and planted itself in the ground. That thing is sharp... Guess she's not playing around. Reacting immediatly, she turned herself to fold her now grappled arm and face Sigma. The momentum of her quick turn was transfered into a powerful roundhouse elbow to Sigma's cheek. Thank god she had missed the jaw by a few centimeters otherwise there would be a high chance he'd be sleeping with the fishes right now.

Both of them backing up slightly, they had both lost use of their knives. Sigma decided to ignore the hunting knife in the dirt as it would only give an attack of opportunity as he bent down to pull it. Putting most of his weight on his back leg, he remembered the basics of close quarters combat some of his friends in Edessa had showed him. Keeping his hands raised forward, he awaited her to come forward. She took the bait (really, this was most likely her biggest weakness) and was preparing to go in with a flurry of punchesm however she was stopped short as Sigma was already in a position made for preemptive strikes. Sashing forward ever so slightly, he used that energy to jump and perform two kicks in middair. Not carrying the most amount of force, alll it did was push her back. Despite that, he was still okay with keeping her at bay and biding his time until the right opportunity shwoed itself for him to finish her off.

Not giving up, thhe white-haired girl kicked towards Sigma's head with a side kick. Strangely, her aim was off and dodging it was easy as it went over his shoulder and next to his head. Trying to catch for a counterattack, Sigma was the one to be bamboozled as she turned her attac kinto a hook kick, bringing the man down on the ground and making him lose his balance. Sigma was only able to roll over to be on his back before he saw a knife pointed at him which he able to hold onto with both hands to stop it from descending further. "Checkmate. Grey." said the lady with a devilish smile forming on her face due to her eminent victory. The two were caught in a deadlock, the knife being as still as ever. Hanging on to dear life, Sigma tried desperatly to find a way to distract her so he could get the advantage in the fight. Sadly, he realised he'd probably have to against his rule to not use his killing edge on her. However, his survival was mroe important than knowing who was behind it all. Although, he'd have to be extremely quick about it. As fast as a wolf.

[Sigma]

The blade was inching ever so slowly to his throat as the white haired lady's face started showing a widening smile. It almost seemed as if she was making the moment last longer for her enjoyment... Realising he had to do something, Sigma took one deep breath before doing once again what he knew best, improvising!

Removing his left hand from her wrists, he could already feel the blade moving quicker. However he was able to stop it as he gave a pretty strong hook to the jaw thanks to the adrenaline that was coarsing through his veins. As her body went numb for a bit, Sigma was able to drag his feet from under her and push her away with two kicks to her belly. Finally being back on his feet, he pulled out his kodachi, deciding he had had enough of trying to subduing her without hurting her. This sword was going to mess her up but he started to think it was worth it considering the danger she represented, that woman was no joke. SHe was a top quality assassin and one who enjoyed doing it too. Her abilities must also branch out to other skillsets if he had to guess...

Seeing her laid on her side, unable to get up because of the strong blow to the jaw which had stunned her quite well, Sigma decided to turn the tables and dash towards her to kick her once again in the head. Now that she was on her back, Sigma dropped down on his knees on her to put his blades up to her neck. Finally, he was going to get some answers out of her.

"Who the hell ordered this assassination?!!?"

"Please Grey, you know I can't do that... Hmm, but I can tell you he was a man with influence in the blacksmithing sector of Edessa if that pleases you. Look, I'm not a zealot when it comes to loyalt-"

"Salim! That badmouthed nimwit! Did he seriously call out a hit on me just because I was hired to steal his schematics and blueprints!?!? he tightened the grip on his swords as he thought about that idiot of a merchant who couldn't even keep his trade secrets stashed somewhere safe but still felt entitled to bitch and moan when people stole them... Considering his small wealth however, he must've really wanted him dead apparently to hire a mercenary of this caliber. Is business in Edessa harder now that competent blacksmiths are using your family's techniques? Should've thought about that and actually tried to protect your intellectual property instead of leaving it on the table of your workshop... Well I mean, a lock on your door hardly counts as a suitable fortification of your most prize posessions, especially when your weapons "used" to sell like hotcakes. Man, I'd pay to see your face right now.

"YOU MORONIC AND PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A BUSINESSMAN! I HOPE YOU LEARNED YOUR LESSON!"

He seemed to forget that there was still a woman under him which had all theskills necessary to kill him. The repressed anger he had for that man was coming out pretty powerfully... However he stopped when he noticed the woman starting to chuckle. However this time, she seemed genuinely amused, instead of beign strangely enticed by the thought of murder.

"Are you going to stop trying to kill me now or what?

[Sigma]

"You going to be cool if I sheath away my swords? Sigma still was weary about the woman. A person who seemed to enjoy fights like her could be a loose canon at times, lowering his guard too soon could be dangerous. However she didn't seem to be that stressed by the two blades at her throat. "Oh please Grey, you know me better than that! Anyways I had my fun already and Salim payed me half of the payment in advance, what a dumb merchant, that guy really..." she seemed to hit the right notes to make Sigma warm up to her somewhat. She at least wasn't crazy like he had first presumed. Something along the lines of "Occasional Homocide Enthusiat" seemed more appropriate for her. Pulling back his swords, he lifted himself off of her to sheath away the weapons. Reaching his hand out, he was surprised to see her accept it without much thought. Not scared of me, eh? At least she knew how to move on from things, although maybe a bit TOO quickly if we're being realistic...

She went to pick up her crossbow from the ground. Taking out the bolt to put it back in her quiver on her hip, she then tied back the cut strap to sling it over her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, she seemed to take a much mroe mellow and relaxed appearance now that the fighting was over. "Listen Grey, just to clarify. I don't feel liek fighting you anymore as it would probably end up with both of us badly hurt and I don't like when I'm the one bleeding. I just hope that you won't keep a grudge, business is business no?"

"That seemed more like you having your own personal party more than work in all honesty..."

"Who said you can't enjoy your job? Hehe... I like you Grey, come on, I'll show you a nice pub in Badon!"

"Going straight from wanting to kill me to then buying me a drink... Alright fine, I could use a nice pint of ale right about now anyways, whether it be with a possibly bloodlusty assassin or not. Oh, and could you please not call me Grey,
Sigma is much better. I might go as fair to say I'd prefer to be called Siggy..."

"Hmmm... sorry, no can do. When I pick a nickname it sticks, ya hear? Not only that but I find it a lot more cute than Sigma..."

Great, now he was "cute". Ugh, this woman felt like she'd be the unpredictable type. "Could I at the very least ask your name now that we've overcome our earlier dispute?"

She blinked a bit, realising that she still hadn't presented herself. "OH! Yes! My name's Melia, assassin for hire although you already knew that...

Melia. Well at least it was a start. Now he could call her by her name now. He was still vbery intrigued by her whole personnality which was the only reason he was okay with staying around her. He simply was too curious to let her go like that. To have such an adaptable personnality and to talk to targets like they were friends when they fail their contracts was definitely jarring to look at. Just who the hell was this girl?!?!

[Sigma]

Going to go grab Gambit who had run off a bit far away, he was able to calm down the horse quite quickly and bring it back where he saw that Melia herself also had her mount. "You didn't seriously expect that I accepted to assassinate you without Salim sweetening the deal with a free horse?" chuckling softly after saying those words, both of them agreed non verbally that Salim was definitely an idiot. An idiot with somehow large amounts of cash to throw around...

Following the white haired woman, Sigma couldn't help but find this whole situation hilarious, he was now, in this very moment, going to go get a drink with somebody who had recently tried to kill him... Man, who knew life would get this exciting after leaving Edessa? That might've been the best decision in my whole life... I wonder if SHE even noticed I was gone...Meh, she's probably to busy being somebody's plaything to even care about her son. Ugh, why am I even thinking about her, it'll just make me angrier the longer I think about her crap eating grin she would have when letting me alone somewhere for a few days while she was having fun with her sugar daddies...

"Helloooo? Grey! Stop pacing out! I'm talking to you for gods sake! Ugh, and here I thought I'd be able to ask you some questions but noooo, Mister needs introspection as if he was an edgy teen in a rebellious phase."

Looking at her from behind while on his horse, Sigma decided to not take her too seriously and respond with a bit of sass behind his words:"Well excuuuse me, princess if I have hurt you deeply for being in deep thoughts for the equivalent of a couple seconds, I am truly sorry, but really, it's mostly about you for having that high and mighty tone. You do know that's how you get bad karma right?" She couldn't contain her laughter very long apparently...

"Haha! Well aren't you a riot! I can't wait to see how you are after a couple of drinks...


[...]

The both of them were seated at a table in the corner of some average tavern in Badon. The place was pretty lively, even for Badon standards. The two of them were drinking pretty calmly, talking about the contracts they had had in their lives. Honestly, Sigma found it fun to meet someone who worked in the seedy underbellies of cities like him. While she was more in the "disposing" sector while he was he simply in the spying business, they still had many points of interest.

"And that's how I was able to escape that band of drunken mercenaries... I mean, that kid simply couldn't handle the pressure I think. It did make me disapointed he had failed to steal that key, but at the same time I remember when i was jsut as bad as him, so it's not like I can blame him..."

"Sounds to me like you must prefer to work alone if that's how most of your teamwork ends like. Though I'd have to say-"

She was cut off by somebody coming from behind her who had put his arm over her shoulders. A drunken sailor by the looks of it.

Hmm? What's a pretty little fox like you doing with that half-pint? How about I buy you another round eh? *Hic* Let that boy have fun by himself..."

Melia didn't seem phased at all by the obnoxious man, within an instant she had lifted her chair and dropped her whole weight unto one leg of the chair which fell unto the man's foot. Recoiling in pain, he started to shout multiple insults at the woman. Both her and Sigma raised from their seat. "Don't worry Grey, I can take care of myself..." Sigma chuckled a bit before saying:

"Oh don't worry I'm not scared for you. However that doesn't mean I'm gonna let this guy go without apologising for what he said to me..." the pirate seemed to become quite furious towards the both of them.

"You'll both pay, you little punks!"

Going for Sigma first, the drunken sailor tried to sucker punch him straight in the jaw. However his sloppy movements made the attack easy to duck under. Grabbing a tankard that was on his table, Sigma clonked the man's head hard enough to make him fall backwards. The resonating sound of him fall to the ground made a lot of people in the taver nturn their head towards the duo...

crap was about to get real.

[Sigma]

"Didn't think that one through, now did you Grey?"

"I will admit this isn't one of my finest moments...Can I at least trust that you won't leave me alone against these guys?"

"Oh please, as if I'd abandon you when you were trying to help me...

The two of them got into position as three of the customers sarted to come closer. Probably that pervert's lackeys if they had to guess. The leader himself was still out like a light on the floor. As Sigma put his fists up, he noticed Melia who was standing in a pretty strange position. Her legs were spreaded apart, her left leg was pointed forward while her right was in a 90 degrees angle, lowering her entire torso. One of her hands was pulled backwards, held into a strange "halfist" with only the second knuckles of her fingers protuding. Finally she kept her other hand in front of her in an open palm. "What's that? Some kind of parlor trick?"


"Just you watch, my dear..."

Almost right as she had finished talking, her entire body moved faster than what Sigma thought somebody in her position could do. Getting in front of the first sailor, she stopped him in the middle of his sucker punch as she struck his armpit with her halfist. Sigma wondered what she was even doing until he saw the arm of the pirate fall limp on his torso, his other one grabbing it in pain. Now she's REALLY interesting... What was that? Magic? No... It's almost like she hit his nerves with perfect precision... How did she even learn to do that? Melia then followed by spinning to deliver an elbow strike to the man's head while also hitting with her knee his head a second time. That little combo was enough to send him crashing down into the wooden floor. Sadly, Sigma couldn't keep watching her elegant movements as he barely dodged an attack from another brute.

Rolling to the left, he was able to get a bit of distance to analyse his foe. The man was slightly shorter, however his tree trunks-like arms were more than enough to prove his strength. His opponent didn't seem scared at all as he rushed Sigma and grabbed him by the torso to push him into a wall. Almost feeling crushed as he felt air leave his lungs, Sigma quickly tried to find something to help him get out of his iron grip. As he felt the pirate's hands tighten around his neck, Sigma got ahold of some kind of empty bottle on a shelf on the wall, probably some kind of decoration. Anyways, it definitely smashed on his head nicely. Using the distraction, he grabbed the man's shoulder to push it down and bring his knee right in his chest. Hearing the satisfying sound of air being shot out of his lungs, Sigma was able to push him off before he'd recuperate. Seeing more of them enter through the door, Sigma looked over to Melia who definitely seemed in control of the situation. Running past her he shouted: "Get your crossbow, we need to get out of here!"

Breaking a window with the pommel of his sword, Sigma and Melia were able to escape in the poorly lighted streets of Badon.

[Sigma]

"You know we could have taken them on, right?"



"Melia, sometimes running is a better choice. What we were gonna do if we pissed off the entire pirate community of Badon? Right now we need to hide and let all of this blow out. I still want to be able to find job opportunities here after this."



Running through the streets, the two of them could hear shouts in the distance, probably a couple of drunken pirates trying to find the pair. However, the both of them were too experienced with stealth to be caught, using alleyways and shortcuts to lose them. After mayeb around 10 minutes later, the two of them were leaned on a stone wall behind a church, waiting a bit for the pirates to stop looking for them. Sigma was confused as he saw Melia starting to smile for apparently no reason.



"You doing ok there?"



"I'm... Actually happy, like seriously happy, not sarcastically or anything like that. I think it's been way too long that I haven't partnered up with someone."



"Partners? I don't do partners lady. I've had too many incompetent ones to want to team up again."



"So are you saying I'm not good enough? I think my crossbow has another thing to say about that Mister Grey..."



He looked at her with a puzzled look. She IS pretty damn good... But I mean, after all those other times, would it even be a good idea? Maybe it's me who can't work in a team...



"I'm not saying you're not a good mercenary, far from it. I mean heck, I could've very well died fighting you... Which is strange to think since we're almost acting like friends right now..."



She turned towards him, still smiling: "Well here's what I think. I think that you and me could make a great team. I mean, in that bar we only fought for a few seconds but I could feel that you weren't gonna ditch me. It takes a lot of dignity to stand by somebody you've just met like that. I mean, you didn't have to fight that man, all he did was talk to me after all. You also can handle yourself in a fight. Though I might teach you a trick or two soon, wouldn't want to see poor Grey getting hurt now! But anyways, teamwork isn't that hard. I feel like we could work well together. It would be nice to have someone a bit more grounded to keep my more... "enthusiatic" side under control. So what do you say, wanna team up and see what comes our way?"



As the streets got silent since most sailors had given up searching up for them, Sigma started to think about her proposal more seriously. I guess I could give it another shot... How bad would it be? A leap of faith once in a while is good after all. Can't just keep doing what I've been doing for my entire life...



As he was about to answer Melia, a strange figure approached them.





"Well well well, you two seem pretty competent at escaping the scene of the crime, eh?





And that's how things started.