(Untitled)

[lonewolflives]

Fear cuts deeper than swords.

Arya was running. Not because there was anything chasing her, although she'd had a couple of close calls already today. She wasn't running away, she was running to. It didn't take a genius to work out what was happening

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[flyboy_shepp]

Out of all the sounds surrounding them the entire morning and well into the day, stunner blasts stood out the most. From what John had seen and heard, most of the things showing up weren't all that interested in stunning their prey. There was just one thing he knew was here that used stunners.

With a quick look back and a wish that he hadn't separated from Teyla for a short while, John started running in the direction of the sound.

He double timed it when he heard what sounded like an animal yelping, and forced back the panic and rage when he saw Nymeria lying in a motionless heap on the ground. That could only mean Arya was nearby, and if she was anywhere near the Wraith, John knew she would try to take it on.

John would really love to have been wrong for once.

He stopped and shot at the Wraith's arm as it went for Arya, only needing to get it the hell away from her and have it's attention fixed on him.

[lonewolflives]

The force of the bullets hitting its arm spun the Wraith away, pulling up its stunner as it went for a wild shot at Sheppard.

Arya pressed one hand reflexively to the spot on her chest where it had so briefly done ... something, that had felt as if it had been sucking the life out of her for the few moments before the gunshots knocked it off her. She still felt cold, slightly numb. It was horrible.

Valar morghulis, but not like that. "Fahrbot motherfrakking," she coughed. An attempt to kip to her feet failed, so she rolled and pushed herself up instead, eyes flickering to try to spot the bastard again.

[flyboy_shepp]

John dove for cover behind the nearest tree, and while he couldn't really see Arya when he risked taking a look back in that direction - and shooting off a few rounds where he thought he saw the Wraith - he just had to laugh at her creative cursing. "I guess that means you're okay?" he called out.

Which ended up being a stupid idea when the tree took a few stunner blasts, one passing so close he could feel the energy and splintering wood pass him.

[lonewolflives]

"Fine," she shouted, now on her feet and darting behind a tree of her own. "What is that? It pulled a knife out of its arm like it was nothing."

Which limited her options some. Needle was on the ground near Nymeria somewhere. Romance wouldn't do significantly more damage. Which left the sword O-Ren had left her, the one that didn't have a name yet.

She really, really wished she had a gun.

Or better yet, a lightsaber. She'd kill for a lightsaber right now. Literally.

[flyboy_shepp]

This Wraith was really starting to piss John off after how easily he and Teyla had taken down the first one. He wished he had Teyla now, and he wished he had the stunner he'd taken off the first one, but he'd have to deal.

"It's a Wraith," he called back, dodging another blast as he rolled onto his knees and started running for where Arya was before the stunner could recharge.

He figured he got a little nearer to where her voice was coming from when he had to slide back down to the ground to duck another blast. Adrenaline was keeping John pumped right then, but he just knew he'd be feeling every single scrape and bruise in the next few days.

[lonewolflives]

"One of those things from Pegasus?" Arya said, listening, and then darting from tree to tree towards John. Swift as a deer. Quiet as a mouse.

She flattened herself against a tree, then sprinted across the gap, throwing herself into a slide as a blast filled the space she'd just vacated, skidding to a halt right beside John. "How do we kill it?"

[flyboy_shepp]

Arya made the whole running through the trees thing look better than John did, and he just shook his head, saving the admiration for later. "Lots of bullets aimed at the head," he replied, "although I'm pretty sure if you hack off an arm, it can't grow that back."

Were this any other time, John might have taken a few extra seconds to contemplate what he was going to do next. This wasn't any other time, though - there was a Wraith advancing on their position, and Arya was good with her swords, but that wasn't going to be enough.

John reached out, shooting around the side of the tree blindly to gain a few extra seconds, then quickly took his sidearm out of his holster, took the safety off and handed it Arya, butt first.

"Aim at the Wraith," - that much was obvious - "squeeze the trigger, brace for recoil. You've got 16 bullets in that round." It was pretty much all the advice John could fit in at the moment.

[lonewolflives]

"Aim, squeeze, brace," Arya repeated, taking the weapon with care and extending it once, to get a feel for it. "Right."

She closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds, took a breath. Calm as still water. "Just say when."

[flyboy_shepp]

"I'll go up the right and draw it's fire," John explained quickly, only wincing when another blast hit the tree. "Go up the left and stay low until you can get a clear shot."

It was insane, but the only real plan John had, and kept Arya out of the way for a little while longer. He waited just long enough to see she understood what he'd said, then waited for another blast before running out to the right and firing as he advanced on the Wraith.

Much like the first one, seeing the Wraith jerk around from the bullets like that was intensely satifsying. Seeing it stay upright wasn't.

[lonewolflives]

Swift as a deer, quiet as a shadow, fierce as a wolverine. Arya repeated the words in her head as she ducked up left, staying low, making her movements, her shape match her background. She was a bush, she was a log, she was a bird.

She skidded around a tree and found her clear shot. She was a wolf. She raised the gun, gripping it with both hands. Aim for the head, he'd said. She pointed at its head and squeezed.

The sidearm jumped in her hands, pushed backwards with more force than she'd been expected, as if the gun was trying to get away from the hot metal even before it had left the barrel. Arya could tell straight off she hadn't kept it anywhere near the Wraith when she'd fired.

She tried again, bracing harder this time. Again, she missed, and was firing again as soon as the gun had settled. Point and shoot, and three bullets down and she hadn't hit once. How many did it take? How many times could she afford to miss before she didn't have enough

[flyboy_shepp]

John heard Arya's shots, and so did the Wraith - it stopped trying to fire on his tree for a second as it turned to where the gunfire was coming from, which he couldn't let happen.

He shot the last two bullets in his magazine at the Wraith, and quickly reloaded. It wasn't facing him right now and he could use that, get those few extra moments to actually aim, not just fire and hope it hit something other than armor.

He heard the fourth bullet go off, saw the Wraith stagger, and allowed himself a moment of pride before starting to shoot.

[lonewolflives]

"She who aims with her hand has forgotten the face of her father. I aim with my eyes," Arya said. Of course. Of course that was how you did it. Look with your eyes. She fired again, stepping out from the trees to do so. The Wraith had started to turn, had even raised its weapon, but then John had reloaded and it was caught in the crossfire, whatever shots it managed going wild. "I do not shoot with my hand: she who shoots with her hand has forgotten the face of her father. I shoot with my mind." She stepped over a log without taking her eyes off the Wraith, methodically squeezing the trigger, putting bullet after bullet into it.

[flyboy_shepp]

John kept on shooting when the Wraith finally went down, until it stopped twitching - and even then, he fired a few more shots into it.

The silence after that was almost deafening, and all John could hear for a few moments was his own breathing loud in his ears.

"Arya?"

[lonewolflives]

Arya walked right up to the still body of the Wraith, temporarily ignoring John . It looked completely dead, but... I kill with my heart. She shot it once more in the head, anyway. "Valar morghulis."

Then she looked back at John and calmly spun the sidearm so that she was holding it out butt-first to him. "Do you want this back?"

[flyboy_shepp]

John had stopped feeling weirded out by Arya a long time ago, and he just accepted the sidearm with a nod. "Thanks."

He crouched down to pick up the Wraith's stunner, and gave it a small kick in the side. Just to make sure it was dead, of course.

"You did good," he said, finally relaxing enough to give Arya a small smile. "Happy Name Day, by the way."

[lonewolflives]

"....thanks," Arya said, the corner of her mouth twitching up very faintly in a wry, humourless way. He'd remembered, though, which was nice. "I think I liked the pink better."