Mei did not rush when the Elder gave the signal. While others stormed ahead like recklessly, she paced herself, saving energy because she knew if she wanted to win she had to be patient , her sharp eyes always scanning for Aspen. If she wanted to prove herself, it wouldn't be by defeating every one that crossed her path. Her true target was Aspen the moment he faltered, she would strike, because she knew if she can get him disqualified it can be done only during the 1st round .
She tracked him silently, keeping a safe distance, so she don't revel herself to him. Every step she took, she observed. When he brought down a goat with a clean throw of his axe, Mei slipped in after he left, removing its horns free, then she carefully put the curved horns into a pouch tied visibly at her waist, while the sharp tusks she later collected from fallen boars she hid into a secret lining of her cloak, that no one would see them unless she wished it. She kept the horns outside in a pouch because it was not worth much points, the tusks alone made 150 points so even if she gets robbed she will still have the tusks.
She was about to strike when Aspen was fighting the boars. Her heart quickened at the sight him surrounded from all sides, pressured and distracted it was like god had listened to her prayers. This is it, she told herself, crouching low. Her fingers tightened around her dagger's hilt. But then the ground shook as all the herd came rushing in, too many to count. To dive into this mess would've been suicide. Her jaw clenched, teeth grinding as the moment slip past through her fingers. "This time luck was on your side next time " she said . Rage burning in her eyes, but she swallowed it, took long breaths to calm herself because she knew the round had just started she will have more opportunities.
So instead, Mei started to find a place for her own base. She found a cave by the river, cloaked in vines. A perfect place to hide in the dark. A place where she can wait, unseen, unheard. But she wasn't just going to sit idle. She had her own plans.
AS she waited her first target came at dusk ,it was a boy , his clothes still neat but his movements too loud clearly a novice. He quickly went to the river and dropped to his knees and started gulping water . Mei crouched behind a boulder as she slowly closed the distance between them, she was about two meters away from him that was the moment.
Mei took out a stone from her pouch, smooth and flat, and tossed it far into the trees. The sound drew his attention his head snapped toward the sound, body tensed. He stood, drew his knives "I know you are there come out don't hide behind the trees" said the boy. That was when Mei slid behind him silently, as she reached the desired distance she pounced, she leapt onto his back, legs locking around his waist as her arm snaked around his neck in a crushing chokehold.
The boy gasped, his eyes widening in panic. He gripped her arm, trying to pry it loose, but Mei's grip only tightened. "Struggle as much as you want" she whispered in his ear.
He thrashed wildly, slamming his elbows back into her ribs, still not able to get her off his back he ran backward slamming her into a nearby tree. Mei's body jolted from the impact, her grip loosening for just a heartbeat. He surged forward again, as he felt the grip loose.
But Mei tightened the choke once more. Her forearm dug into his throat like an iron bar.
The boy staggered, his face turning red, veins bulging as he tried one last desperate slam. This time Mei braced her body so his weight only drove her choke deeper. His knees buckled. His movements weakened. And then with a choked gasp, his body went limp.
Mei release him some seconds later, she crouched beside him, though her heart hammered in her chest she quickly checked his belongings her hands still shivering, she took his daggers because that's all he had.
"Too reckless," she murmured under her breath, her eyes narrowing but suddenly she got a bold idea . She glanced at the unconscious boy at her feet, lips curving into a thin smile. Quickly, she tied his ankles with a strip of vine and dragged his limp body toward the riverbank. Propping him against a flat stone then she bent him forward just enough so it looked like he was kneeling, face lowered toward the river. From a distance, anyone would think he was drinking water, a perfect target to ambush .
Satisfied, Mei melted into the brushes again, her body pressed low, waiting.
The second prey came not too long after she had hidden herself. this time it was a girl cautious, every movement quiet and deliberate. She didn't rushed like the boy. Mei's pulse quickened "Finally, someone worth the effort" she thought.
The girl scanned the tree line with patience. Step by step, she crept closer to the river, her eyes flicking constantly .
Then she stopped as she spotted the boy and drew her blades, she crept closer, her muscles tense, ready for any attack from the opponent in front of her.
As she got closer she lunged and put her dagger on his nape and said "don't move".
"ok" the sound came from her back her pupils shrank startled she turned her face, that was when Mei struck her fist slamming into the girl's jaw before she could react, the sharp crack of bone rang through the trees Stunned, the girl stumbled back, her knife fall from her hand.
But Mei didn't let her breathe, she hit with another punch, then another, each blow fueled by precision and fury. The girl felt down her eyes dazed.
A final, savage kick smashed into her face, sending her to sleep. Blood falling from her nose and mouth as her body went limp.
"Sweet dreams" Mei said as stood over her fallen prey, chest rising and falling in steady rhythm, from exhaustion and thrill. She wiped the blood from her knuckles against the girl's clothes, her expression cold.
With calm efficiency, Mei took the girl's weapons, a pair of sharp twin knives, and her leather waterskin. She glanced once at the bodies slumped by the river happy with the results she moved back to the shadow hiding herself again.
Mei returned to her cave, heart pounding, hands trembling, she was totally exhausted, so she laid down in the cave, after 3-4 hours later she came out again and as she was climbing she saw someone coming towards her.
And by luck or by coincidence it was Aspen again. She followed him after reaching a clearing he sat down and started a fire
"what is this fool doing starting a fire in the middle of a clearing, did he lost his walnut brain" she thought.
Aspen sat by the fire, started cooking the meat. She crouched near the tree line, watching his every move. But still her gut told her that he wasn't being careless. He put the meat on fire, then retreated and started climbing a nearby tree, Mei smiled bitterly.
She knew Aspen had laid a trap "Good fight and exhaust yourself " and they both waited in silence and soon someone approached like a moth attracted to flame his mouth watered as he looked at the meat he looked around finding no one he tried to steal the food. as he bent down Aspen jumped startled by the sound he turned but Aspen struck him with butt of his axe knocking him down as if he were nothing. Mei's nails dug into her palms. Her mind filled with anger. "Why? Why does he always win so easily?" after sometime she saw him leave as it was already getting dark she slipped back into her cave.
Her chance will come if she waited long enough, Aspen would falter, and when he did, she will not.