What are you fighting for?

2. The Forest

"Ares have been spotted right there" Keons finger flies down on the green space of the map, the forest.
Ares. Zana has always been unsure about that name for their rivals. Izora, a girl who died only a couple weeks back came up with that name. She ones heard about the god of war, Ares and thought it was fitting, since the other group was cruel and violent.

Zana on the other hand always referred to them as 'the others'. Why were they named after the god of war when both teams are at war and fight.

"Our aim is to just take out one of them" Keon continues presenting the plan.
"Probably Runyon or Soleil" Merce speaks up, his hands resting on his waist. He seems overconfident, never serious about anything. And while sometimes his playfulness and silliness were brightening up the mood, sometimes it was just inappropriate.

"Kaiora will stay here and the three of us will go into the woods" Zana crosses her arms and looks around for approval "Is everything clear?"
"Understood" Kaiora nods, rolling up the map
"Then we will start in an hour, everybody get ready" Keon dismisses the meeting.

Zana is standing in front of the cupboard with weapons. Over the time they've collected quite a big repertoire from deliveries or deceased people.

Silently she stares at the different weapons wondering what she should take. A sword may be impractical with all the trees but a gun would not help at a close combat. Moreover, you never know who you'll meet. After several minutes of playing scenarios in her head, Zana decides to take a sword and some knives, that she puts in the weapon holster on her thigh.

Usually it would not be a long walk from the city to the forest, just cross the circle in the middle. But they don't want to be seen so the group of three has to take a longer route through nearly the entire city, reaching the side of the forest after a long walk.

"We should part" Keon whispers, fearing the enemy might be nearer than expected.
"What? Why? We are stronger as a group" Merces eyebrows pull together
"And easier to spot" Zana explains "I'll go south, you'll go east and you west. Good luck" quickly she disappears into the forest.

She keeps wandering through the woods, only hearing her feet tread, hearing the cracking twigs and leaves underfoot. A smell of timidness hovers in the air... no clue of what is ahead! Clutching her fists tightly, she keeps moving forward.

The sky vanishes almost completely, only a few fragments of blue remain- like scattered pieces of an impossible jigsaw puzzle. The air is rich with the fragrance of leaves and loam, damp too. Even so many hours after the rains have passed, the soil remains wet, slowly releasing its heady fog.

Zana proceeds losing herself in the depth of the forest. The unnatural, choking mist that swirled and sprawled on the forest floor was the first thing that spoke of a strange sort of wrongness. The sickly white substance seemed to possess liquid properties ready to burst at the slightest touch. The smoke made no sound however and only parted to swallow up her feet as she marched upon the forest floor. The sound of mushy and dead leaves whispered from under the skin of the mist.

With a sudden movement somebody swings off a tree, hitting the back of Zanas head so hard, she felt like it would fall off. She lands on the leafy ground and quickly turns around to look at the attacker standing over her. Soleils mocking smile as deadly as the sword in her hand.

Her foot rises, trying to trap Zanas hand between her heavy boot and the misty ground. But Zana quickly pulls her arm away, grabbing the holster of her sword. Thank god she decided to take it instead of the gun. Swirling her legs around she brings Soleil down to the ground. Just the time Zana needed to get back up on her feet and prepare for the upcoming fight.

The two girls standing face to face, both covered in mud. Zana made brief eye contact with her opponent, who despite her smirk looked rather angry now.

Striking. This arcing shot sliced the fabric of Zanas shirt at the midsection, although she tried to dodge, turning her body sideways. It missed the flesh behind it by perhaps a centimetre.

Soleil staggered. Zana swung. Her broadsword missed, though not close enough to eat fabric. The opponent managed another cocky smile, this time of the spryness of her dodge. Zana had to admit it was impressive but this time the sight only made her angrier.

Soleil charges at her with the hooked blade upheld, going to her foreswing and following it with a backswing. Zana dodged the first and meets the second with her broadsword. The weight of the thing sends her opponent's blade back. Far enough to knock the blade free of her hands.

The sound of metal clanging together stops as the thin curved hookblade lands on the leaves. Soleil knows that if she was to grab her sword again, Zana would be faster, ending the fight easily. So instead she raises her leg and kicks the blade out of Zanas hands, before she can even think about reacting.

Sweaty and heavily breathing the two stand in front of eachother.
"Let's go" Soleil screams, her loose blonde hair clinging to her wet face.

Both girls square up, clenching their fists. A little hope arises in Zana, the scream could've alarmed Keon or Merce for backup. Or it could've been heard by Runyon or Adyn. She finds herself wishing again it was too quiet to be heard.

But the sound of her high voice still rings in her ears as if it never left the space between them.

"Come on, fight me!"

The first punch glances Soleils chin. She noticed too late that it was a feint, though, when the second punch doubled her over and expelled the last bit of choked air from her belly.

A cough escapes soleils mouth and she counters with a kick in her brown haired opponents stomach, causing her to stumble back. It was a heck of a shot. Outside of having the wind knocked from her she noticed a fair amount of pain with the gutshot, which is something she isn't used to.

But even being out of air is something Zana knows how to deal with. She stands straight, eyes bulging with rage and stares at her opponent, right in her shifty brown eyes.

"You will die today, Zana Burris" Soleil spits those deceitful words right in Zanas face and something about the mentioning of her full name sets her off.

They test each other, jabs and blocks. Zana feints and lands a good blow on Soleil's ribs, but the follow-up, a hook to Soleil's jaw, caught air as she astutely pulled her head back. A stupid mistake, Zana thought, but gone from her mind in a moment, Keon uses to say, dwell on the past, you'll die in the present.

The blonde keeps on spatting words out but Zana can't hear any of the threads. The sound of her own breath and the blood rushing through her head is too loud.

Soleil keeps landing punches and kicks, but Zana feels her opponent tiring, she'd lost a tick, as Merce said. Now was the time to pay attention, don't lose a tick, watch for that dropped guard, keep your eyes on the prize. Be patient, take your hits, she will make a mistake.

The blonde goes in for another shot "You... little..."
Zana shoves her off. Seeing Soleil scoot back so far against the weight of it gave her a second wind. Zana covers the distance between them. Throws three more punches that do land.
Soleil falls.

Then, she stands again.

Soleil throws a haymaker but Zana is able to duck but not parry. Then another that Zana swings under again and responds in term with an uppercut.

Click.
The sound of Soleils upper and lower row of teeth making unplanned contact is sickening.
She sinks to her knees.

For a second Zana just stands over her opponent, looking into that formerly cocky face that now is just contorted in pain.

She feels sorry. After all Soleil was just a kid, three years younger than herself, forced to participate in a war she never wanted to fight.

The rattling sound of leaves push her back into reality as she sees Soleil storming towards her, both girls crash down on the floor, grunting.

Soleil on top of her. Quickly Zana pulls out the knife she carries on her thigh and rams it into Soleils chest. Immediately, she starts dissolving around the puncture.
The weight lifts from Zanas body and she lays alone on the ground.