Disclaimer: I do not own any characters mentioned in this story. They are all property of Marvel and Stan Lee (who is awesome). Enjoy
THAWMP!
The noise thundered through her skull, as the heavy stump of the tree missed her face by a matter of inches. Without having time to properly marvel at the fact that she was still intact, Natasha uncurled out of the foetal position she had adopted in an attempt to avoid as many parts of the tree as possible, and ran silently towards the large branch blocking her way. Vaulting over it, she heard the cry of a voice from behind her. She could have tried to focus on what was being said, but she already had a pretty good idea of the topic.
'Beeline for the treeline…'
She allowed a mental smirk for the thought, but pushed on, racing forwards for the cover of the foliage. The wind to the right of her head whistled, picking up her hair and blowing strands into her face as a weapon zoomed past.
'Bigger than a bullet, thankfully not another rocket though.'
She heard cursing from the shooter behind at the miss, but her feet didn't stop. A flurry of green leaves were suddenly whipping at her face as she broke into her cover. If she could pause, find somewhere safe to stop for thirty seconds, hell even fifteen, she might be able to decode where she was in this jungle. The furious sound of bullet fire from behind her right side ruled that option out. Her heart was pounding solidly in her throat from sprinting full pelt. A leaf branch bit snapped at her eyes, blinding her temporarily and causing her not to see the root snaking high out of the ground ahead of her. She hit the dirt, hard. Pain soared up her jaw from her chin, and she lifted a hand to protect her from inhaling the dust. Satisfied she hadn't been caught up with yet, she pushed on, swiftly back on her feet. The heat was almost claustrophobic in the shelter of the leaves, which; as useful as it was for hiding, was also not so great for trying to keep a calm head. Natasha chanced a glance upwards, and noted a monkey, clearly distressed by all the commotion, swinging North West from where she was stood.
'I really hope you know where you're going buddy.'
Ever conscious of the increasing volume of shouts around her, Natasha raced after the monkey, and soon enough, she could begin to feel the air cooling as she sped through it. The bright blue seared through her eyeballs as she finally broke free of the greenery. Squinting, she barely registered the drop past the rocks at her feet in time, and skidded to a halt, grazing through the knee of her suit. Gritting her teeth at the pain, the familiar metallic taste of blood filled Natasha's mouth. Peering over the edge of the rocks, Natasha noted she was atop a waterfall.
A burst of gunfire from behind the treeline stole her attention, but before she could move to ready herself, one of her pursuers soared out from the bushes and straight towards her. Instinctually rolling to the side, the man connected with an audible thud into the rock, but not before he managed to grab hold of Natasha's hair. A small growl of pain escaped from her lips as he tugged hard at her hair, pulling her back towards him. A sharp elbow into the gut caused him to release his grasp, and Natasha used the advantage to dive away from him, and back towards the treeline of the forest. He was quick behind her though, and, if the tomato shade and pulsing veins of his face were anything to go on, he was pretty mad. His right arm raised, his gun slowly making its way up to her face, but her leg was raised and slamming down into his wrist before he could get his finger onto the trigger. Acrobatically, Natasha lifted her other leg underneath his wrist, clamping his gun wielding hand between her feet, and arching her back, threw her bodyweight backwards, performing a backflip. The crunch of the man's arm was almost as satisfying as the girlish scream he let out. The man dropped the pistol, cradling his arm instead. A moment later he remembered that Natasha was still there, but it was too late. She had already begun her run full speed at the nearest tree trunk, and pounced of it, using the momentum to spin kick her opponent. The force of her blow knocked the man backwards, stumbling to his feet, and before he or Natasha could register what was happening, straight off the cliff. Letting out a deep sigh, Natasha crawled over to the edge, having used up all of her already severely depleted energy supply, and peered over. A red pool of water surrounded the figure of the fallen soldier, who was speared on one of the rocks down below.
'Okay, so maybe not the time for a dip then…'
Natasha scrutinized the cliff faces running either side of the waterfall. There were plenty of crevices, but most of the ones that were sizeable enough to potentially become a hand or foot hold were quite a distance below her. Twisting herself into a kneeling position for a better perspective, a suddenly crippling pain raged from the base of her right shoulder blade. The mild spray of water in the air lightly grazed her cheek as the world turned black.