SUAW Assignments

Survival of the Fittest: Round 1

Strolling through the luscious forest, Adeline smiled to herself. Quietly humming a sweet tune she had heard long ago in the local tavern, this was one of the few places she let down her defences. Usually incredibly cautious, she rode with the peaceful facade that the woodlands presented to her as she wandered between the trees to find somewhere to camp as the sky took on a pinkish hue.

Soon, the soft hum of the insects and wind were disturbed by a loud 'CRACK.' Spinning on her heels, Adeline turned towards the sound and tilted her head in surprise when she saw what stood there. 

Thomas Hayfields, assassin in 53rd place. Adeline didn't consider him a threat, and he wasn't one who she usually took notice of, having only a few words exchanged between them, and yet, she wondered why he was out in the woodlands so near to dusk. Although it was nearing sundown, Adeline's curiosity took the better of her as she abandoned her search for a campsite, instead following her fellow assassin.

She didn't have a clue of how long they wandered through the forest for. It could have been hours, for all she knew. Only the ever darkening sky accompanied them on their journey. Suddenly, Thomas turned around, and Adeline opened her mouth to say 'Hello', but shut it once she saw his appearance. Only that morning, he'd had a slight tan, but now he was as pale as a ghost. However, her eyes only skimmed over that aspect of his appearance, for his eyes took much more of her notice. So different from the soft brown of once before, they now contained a harsh red hue, the colour mirroring that of the two scars on the right side of his neck.

It felt like a million eyes were staring her down, Adeline could sense they weren't alone. Glancing around, Adeline soon noticed other familiar faces. And yet, they weren't. Others from the Third Rank of Assassins surrounded them, and she soon counted that there were four. Five, if she included Thomas. Their faces devoid of emotions, eyes scarlet, Adeline knew they weren't there to be friends. And she wasn't stupid. So she ran.

She could hear them following her, although she was gaining ground, she knew she wouldn't be able to run forever. Once they were out of hearing range, she scaled a tree, sitting on a high branch, for once her light weight and size giving her an advantage in a fight.

Swinging her backpack off her shoulders, she opened it up to be immediately met by a foul smell. Peering into it, she found the poles and canvas to build up her tent, and the tin containing her night's dinner, as well as the role hempen rope she brought with her on each of her verdant escapades. But along with those; some stranger items lay in the bottom of the bag.

In spite of the situation, the red-head snickered at her friend's antics. Kasper didn't know where she wandered off to, but he often packed the most random things into her bag. When she questioned him about it, he always gave her the same excuse, 'Well, if I don't know where you're going, I don't know what to give you!' Today, a head of hair sat in the bag, along with... poo of some sort?

She turned up her nose at the sight of the dark faeces, then looked away, glancing across the forest, attempting to evaluate her situation. She'd heard of red-eyed, pale people in stories as a young child, and she tried to remember of all that those tales told. It took only a few more seconds for her to finally recognise it. Vampires. They sucked blood, had inhuman strength and speed, along with their incredible sense of smell.

Smell. They'd smell her blood, she wouldn't have a chance to sneak up on them, unless... She grimaced as she reached into her bag, picking up the animal poo. She could only hope that it was from an animal in the forest, as to mask her scent. Rubbing it into her skin, she tried to hold her breath as not to get a whiff of the dung. Glancing into the bag once more, she sighed as she grabbed for the wig, another sacrifice she must make.

Massaging the poo into the hair of the wig, she then slipped it on, pushing her own hair underneath.  She supposed it was better than shovelling the poo into her own hair, as that would be next to impossible to wash out. She shook her head at her past self's idiotic choice to go without a weapon as not to disturb the peacefulness of the woodland. Fishing through her backpack once more, she couldn't find anything of interest, until her gaze fell upon the poles of her shelter.

The tent poles were made of a heavy iron of which many peasants could never afford. Adeline could, and she didn't see why she couldn't spare some extra coin for comfort. Clutching a sturdy pole, she took it out, along with the role of rope, and then swung the bag back over her shoulder.

Tying one end of the rope to the branch, the other to her waist, Adeline patiently waited as she heard footsteps soon approaching.  The man was alone, the others nowhere to be seen. She could only presume that the others had split up in their search for her. She internally sighed of relief, knowing that the first stage of her plan had been successful.

Swinging her legs as she sat on the edge of the branch, she watched as Thomas began to near. She wiggled closer and closer to the edge until she was directly underneath her.

Then, pushing forward, she leapt off the edge.

Swinging through the air, Adeline felt like she was flying. Her heart pounding, adrenaline rushing through her veins. Bringing the iron pole back, she readied herself as she neared the unknowing vampire.

As Thomas turned around, even his inhuman reflexes were too slow as Adeline hit him, hard and fast with the iron tentpole, knowing him clean to the ground. She didn't need to hear his breath to know that he was dead.

Slowing to a stop, she untied the knot around her waist, dropping to the ground with a slight 'Thud'. One down, four to go. 

#SUAWSurvival - ShutUpAndWriteClub