1…2…3, inhale

1…2...3, exhale

The young girl exhaled; the vapor of her icy breath dragged along in the air. It soon gave way to the great expanse of the forest in front of her. The forest stretched out in a pristine white, each branch blanketed in soft snow. The snowfall floated down. Finally, it reached the little 6-year-old lying on the floor. The weather had caused her to fidget, shifting her legs and shuffling her feet. The tips of her boots scrunched up against the snow. The girl finally began to feel the bite of the cold. She adjusted the stock up her rifle against her shoulder. The old etches and deep scratches of the wood pressed against her fingers. Due to the hulking weight of the gun, her father had helped make a mound of snow to support it. Snow and frost started to pile up on the top of the barrel. The little hunter used her non-shooting hand to brush it off as to get a clear view through the sights. She rested her cheek up against the bitter cold of the stock.

1...2...3, inhale

1...2…3, exhale

"Patience, Marina", a firm grizzled voice gave out to the left of the little girl. She shifted herself to look over her shoulder towards her dad. He must've noticed his daughter's constant fidgeting and adjustments. Her father had been hunting in these woods all his life. Gallia was known for its expansive forests, even more so the great winters that it brought to the more Northern provinces. She came out here as a promise by her dad to take her hunting the same age he first went hunting. Living on the edges of society made survival even more difficult, which meant never wasting a second when hunting. Despite being the first time for her, immense pressure and responsibility was put on her by these conditions. She continued her measured breathing.
" Remember" her father's words broke through the icy air again. "The snow makes everything denser, even the air. Your shot will also be slower compared to springtime, so it's best to wait till your target is stationary.". Marina simply gave him a small nod. Much like her father, she was a person of few words. She turned her head back towards where the rifle was looking down. In the distance between them and the dense forest was a break in the pattern, a small grazing area where animals most likely came to eat. By this time of the year the lush grass and shrubberies once here had been replaced by a caked layer of white, homogenous and uniform. The father had helped her make bait, cutting down a portion of tree and laying it down in the middle of the grazing area. The untouched leaves would make an irresistible breakfast for any of the prey in the forest.

A small crunch in the snow was soon heard not too far. A small snap of a dead twig or branch cracked out. The sounds kept coming closer to bait. The benefit for the father and daughter hunting in the winter was that animals had go to lower elevations to look for food, meaning the distance they would have to travel from the cabin was less than other seasons. Marina kept her sight on the source of sounds. Slowly but surely a hazed pattern that passed between trees became the shape of an adult sized doe. Marina kept herself steady, the cold which was earlier distracting her gave way to the focus on her prey. The animal made its way finally to the kill zone. The cut down portion of tree had lured the doe over, the mammal being clueless on how its food ended up there. Her father had trust in her to follow through and had to make no gestures nor any more commands to her.

Marina shifted her eyesight down towards the sights of the rifle. The peephole sight had made clear line between the end of her rifle towards the doe. She shifted the front post towards center-mass of the animal's body. Her fingers began sliding down from the wood to the icy cold metal of the trigger. In that moment the doe was none the wiser, and lowered its head down, feeding upon the fallen branches. It quickly lifted its head up, shifting its head towards the direction of where Marina was hiding. The animal then stared out into the distance elsewhere. This caused her to pause if only for a brief second. Despite her hesitation, she followed through.

1…2…3, inhale

1…2…3, exhale


Squad 7 had been sent out on a routine patrol through the forests of Kloden Wildwood. About a week has passed since they've been stationed there. Imperial army presence had forced the soldiers to scout out areas outside the usual trails that split across the region, forcing them to into the vast expanse of nature. The small detachment of militiamen was being led by their commanding officer, 2nd lieutenant Welkin Gunther. Despite Welkin usually commanding from inside his tank the Edelweiss, on occasions where he accompanies his men for patrols, he joins them on foot to not draw enemy attention. The sounds of the forest enveloped them as they stopped on their march. Chirping of birds, the hissing of cicadas and the swaying of the branches above accompanied to soldiers.

"I've felt like I've seen that tree three times by now", Rosie groaned. It's been to the point these walks became so routine she opted to have her submachinegun slung around her shoulder for most of these missions. "It's been what? 12 days since we pushed those imps out from their base here? I'm really doubting they'd waste any more time here.". Sergeant Alicia looked over her shoulder behind her. "It would be the case, but command has reported that troop movement was still active. Locals even confirmed it too.". Rosie chuckled to herself. "What locals? The squirrels?". Alicia simply rolled her eyes, and the squad trudged along. Between Rosie and the forest, the only thing that barely made a sound was Marina, kneeling as she scanned around. Aside from Welkin she was the only one who kept a keen eye on the nature around her. Her eye caught a break on the pattern of the forest floor. A stretch of grass had been repeatedly flattened. Marina touched the imprints with her fingers, the soil she saw was still wet. She simply turned her head toward her commanding officer. Welkin immediately understood. She was a woman of few words, but for Welkin and a few others her eyes expressed more than enough. "Hold your position here, Marina sees something.". Alicia cocked her eyebrow, leaning to the right to observe where both Welkin and the sniper were looking at. "Enemy scouts?", She asked as she adjusted the grip around her rifle. "Not exactly, you see the grass right there? Try and see what you notice about it". He pointed to guide Alicia's eyes. She squinted her eyes to see if anything was off on the blades. "There's mud on top of the grass", she said as her eyes widened. "Parts of that patch have been stepped on" said Welkin, "we haven't patrolled this section of the woods before, so its most likely imperial movement.". Alicia's eyebrows were now both raised. "Wow. Can't believe you and Marina can make something out like that out here.". Welkin smiled, "Well the forest is almost like an organized chaos, the second you spot anything uniform it usually means something made it here before you.". Alicia simply made a receptive nod, her thumb stroking her chin as she took in the information.

Marina lifted her head to scan outwards from the tracks. Her eye glanced from left to right, then back to in front of her toward the grass and soil. She pulled her knife out from its sheath, her eye tried to spot out any more distortions in the dirt. "What's the plan here ice queen? Trying to find a good camping spot?". Marina gave no attention to Rosie's heckling. "Don't tease her Rosie, she clearly sees something. I trust her more than others when it comes to being out here", Largo interjected. Rosie simply lowered her shoulders and sighed through her nose. Marina by this point was prodding at points in the soil. First two attempts the blade dug and stabbed through. The third attempt though, gave away to the distinct clank of metal meeting metal. The squad stopped any line of thought the second that happened. Marina simply looked back at Welkin, gave a nod, then shifted her eyes to Nadine. The engineer slowly made her way to her. Nadine lowered herself and began to slowly move the dirt away from the hidden object: An Imperial anti-personnel mine. "Jeez Marina" Nadine's eyes widened. "We're lucky enough to have your set of eyes around". The sniper made no comment. Both slowly stood up and backed away from the mine. "There's likely a whole lot more around sir." Nadine relayed to Welkin. He simply gave a nod in response back. Rosie unslung her gun, shifting it in her hands and undoing the safety. "So, what's the plan?". Her attention had shifted almost immediately to Marina who had approached the team, with her being closest. Sniper rifle in hand, Marina simply made one glance at her, then at everyone else. "Everyone single file. You walk where I walk. Step in my footprints and stay low". The squad kept silent, but in unison all followed along and got into a line behind Private Wulfstan.

Marina's instincts here kicked in. She wasn't raised in these woods, but it was no lying this was still her element. Her boots pushing down softly against the soil, with everyone behind her following along, every step shifting the shape of Marina's original footprint. The pace she walked was a crawl. Each step she made was with purpose. Her eyes occasionally darting the ground, then every 10 paces she gave a stop and scanned her surroundings. "Come on Marina", Rosie whispered, being the first in line behind her. "If they laid mines they'd probably be long gone by now." The shocktrooper scratched the back of her head. "They probably just wanted guys like us to waste our time here for as long as possible anyw- ". Her line of thought was broken up by the sudden stop the sniper made. Marina had come to a complete halt. "Be quiet.". She shifted her vision, from left to right. Everyone else in the squad kept silent. Then, Marina shifted her head and looked over her shoulder towards her squad-mates. "Keep put, and don't move an inch". Before anyone knew it the sniper creeped along forward. "Hey Marina you can't ju-"Alicia's words were quickly cut off by Welkin. "Let her". Alicia raised her eyebrows in both confusion and surprise. "It'd be dangerous to try to follow her, best to let her go ahead". Everyone else in the line kept a ready and a keen eye. Welkin scanned the forest, shifting his head left to right. In a brief glance Alicia noticed Welkin's expression. Concern, maybe a small bit of frustration was the best way she could describe it.

Marina moved through the forest, alone. She lifted her heels up and shifted the weight of her walking to the balls of her feet. Each step was as silent as it was meticulous. For every 20 paces she turned around and kept a mental note of everything she passed. Scanning the forest floor frequently, she watched out for anything that resembled a possible hidden mine. She avoided any branch, twig, or grass that would give any sound when stepped on. At a certain point she stopped in her tracks. She was effectively motionless. The sounds of the forests surrounded her as the minutes passed. Around her were tracks unseen by the trained eye. Rabbit tracks pushed down into the soil, still fresh. Bushes on her way were shifted and split. A bird she observed was flying in the distance right to left, with a slight direction towards here. Marina judged the distance by eye. It was no farther than 400 meters away. Her rifle was more than effective under that range. All these small actions never escaped her and naturally deduced down what all these tracks left behind meant. She shifted down into a crouching position, moving as slowly and steadily as her body allowed. Her knee nudged itself into the wet soil. A small mound making way as it pressed into the earth. At this point, the sounds of the forest gave way to a deafening silence. Marina was far too experienced to be the cause of it and reduced it down to one possibility. She waited there, patiently. The silence passed as the trudging of boots echoed in the distance. Some 600 meters from her, her eyes darted towards the source of the sound. She began to position the butt of her stock up against her shoulder, the metal firmly pressing against her body. Viewing through the scope, she scanned across the forest. Eventually, the haze of a figure presented itself between the trees. Soon enough, two more figures followed. The haze gave way to imperial uniforms, their toolkits and backpacks giving away their identities of engineers. No doubt in Marina's mind the ones behind the minefield. She couldn't take the shot now, too many variables. It was best to wait till they were stationary. Eventually, one of the engineers kneeled and began digging into the soil. The other 2 standing beside him. The opportunity presented itself to Marina. It was now or never. She adjusted her arms, pushing the stock firmly in and her cheek rested back onto the wood of her rifle. The wind couldn't make it pass the dense trees to affect her shot, ideal conditions. She hovered her crosshairs over one of the standing engineers. It was nothing but muscle memory by this point.

1… 2 … 3, inhale.

1… 2 … 3, exhale.

She pulled the trigger.


The young girl shifted her feet once more. Whether it was from hesitation or discomfort, it caused a faint crunch of the snow digging into the tips of her boots. Immediately the doe shot its head up and towards the source of the sound. Here paced breathing had been broken and their eyes met. Just as quickly as glances met did the animal spring and flee back into the trees. All that remained was the little girl, her father, and an unfired rifle. Hip lips quivered and thoughts began to race through her head. Maybe she had been too distracted by the snow she thought. Was she counting too fast? Her stream of worry was broken by the sound of her father exhaling. Just as she was focused on the doe, her father was focused on her throughout the whole ordeal. He stared at her, and immediately the young Marina glanced down in shame. "Never forget Marina". His tone was flat, dry and unjudging. Her eyes lifted back up to meet him. By winter his beard was always grown out. Unkempt and straggly, the immediacy or survival outweighed hygiene. He rarely made strong expressions, but his eyes always told the world to Marina. She always listened to her father as best she could. "Everything in the forest is connected. They pick up on the slightest changes, the smallest of sounds. That's how they survive". She simply gave a nod; her father knew she took everything he said to heart. "Always be aware of everything you do in the moment". As she took in her father's words the icy wind began to bite her face again. Her father grabbed the rifle and slung it over his shoulder, and they made way back home. She'd have to eat some bread and soup for dinner, as all the smoked meat by this point had been eaten up. Hopefully it hadn't gotten stale by this point, she always liked to pair the pea soup with soft bread. During her walk back she wondered what stung more, the cold or the pain in her stomach.


Three shots in quick succession. The three engineers lay on the forest floor, dead. The other one standing had reacted too late before Marina dropped him as well. The engineer preparing to lay down the mine decided to dive to the ground instead of fleeing, making him an easy target. After confirming the casualties through her scope, she lowered her rifle. She stood up and adjusted herself. The rifle slung back over her shoulder. She took one more glance around, then proceeded to return to the rest of the squad. Marina followed in her own footsteps. The tracks were now inverted, with the prints of her boots facing the other way. On her way back the sounds of the forest returned. Birds chirped, the wind rustled the branches, and faint sounds of life surrounded her once again.

She made her way back to the rest of the patrol. All of them were anticipating combat after they heard the shooting. They all lowered their guard after they saw the sniper make her way through the brush and bushes. Welkin gestured a small nod towards her. "What's the situation Marina?". "Bother to leave any for us?" Rosie said, resting her gun over her shoulder. Marina gave the banter no mind. "Three engineers". Alicia looked over at Welkin. "What's our next move?". The young lieutenant paused for a moment to think. His feet stared down as he pondered, then shot back up to the rest of the squad. "We'll head back to camp, relay to command the info and wait till they say how they want us to proceed". The patrol then all spoke out in unison, "Yes sir". As they began trekking back, Welkin looked over once more to Marina, offering her a warm smile in approval. "Good Shooting out there today, we're glad to have you out here". She simply nodded. As they made their way back Marina's mind wandered. She wondered what'll be served today at the mess hall.