They found the small river four hours later. It flowed down the mountain, and Samantha carefully dipped her leg into it, washing off the sand and blood. She winced as the stream came into contact with her cut, but didn't utter a word.

Felix searched the forest for a stick. He was probably going to need to defend himself, and he preferred to have more than just his dagger. He found a suitable stick, and chopped all the side twigs off with his dagger, leaving him with a makeshift quarterstaff.

He went back to Sam, who was bandaging her leg.

"What's next?" She asked without looking up.

"Well, we'll need food."

He paused.

"Which leaves us with two options — hunting and foraging."

Samantha tried to stand up, and Felix gave her his quarterstaff to lean on.

"Nice stick," she commented, "I would prefer foraging, but we'll have to see what we come across."

Felix nodded.

"Then let's go on."

He walked a little while upstream, filling a bottle that had been in his backpack. It was the only container they had, and it wasn't much.

"We'll stick by the riverside," he decided, "animals have to drink, and plants need water too."

They followed the river upstream, hoping that a higher vantage point would help to find a town of some sort. It couldn't be entirely deserted... could it?

There was certainly life. Felix managed to catch several rabbits, which they had for lunch, after roasting them over a small fire. Samantha felt sorry for the poor animals, but seeing as how they didn't trust the majority of the berries and fruits they came across, they had little choice.

It was as the evening fell that they crossed the barrier. Nothing happened, nothing that they noticed anyway. But even so, they entered the field on which, over the following days, a war would take place.

A war for freedom.

A war for survival.

A war for honour.

A war that only one person could survive.

And Samantha and Felix walked into it before it had even started.

-

"We should set up camp," Samantha muttered, and Felix stood still.

"Is your leg bothering you again?"

There was an undertone of genuine concern in his voice, and Samantha smiled.

"It hasn't stopped bothering me Felix. But I think that we should build some sort shelter."

She pointed to the sky, which was rather dark, and Felix nodded.

"Agreed. Any suggestions?"

"We could drape the parachutes over a couple of branches to make a tent," Samantha suggested, "if you can manage that, I'll hunt."

"With that leg?" Felix gestured to her leg, which was bandaged in strips of her parachute. 

"I'll be fine, Felix," Sam teased, "my mother was Wanda Maximoff, remember?"

She took his quarterstaff to lean on and a small sling she'd made along the way and moved off into the shadows.

Felix watched her go with concern. Sam was injured, but that wasn't what bothered him the most.

It was her words. Not because she had been subtly trying to find out how he would react if she'd bring up his father again.

But because Samantha had used the past tense when speaking of her mother.

-

That evening, it rained.

Not just any old rain, but almost deafening downpours. Their little tent barely held, and they'd used both parachutes to ensure that it was waterproof, so that they had no blankets. Samantha shivered, and Felix gave her his jacket.

"Take this," he whispered.

"N-n-no," she chattered, "you n-need it."

He shook his head.

"No I don't. Anyway, you need it more."

She stopped struggeling, and took it gratefully. It was a warm jacket, and moments later she was asleep. Felix smiled a little, and then berated himself for getting fond of her. He couldn't afford that, could he?

The rain went on for hours, and Felix kept watch in silence, letting Samantha sleep. She awoke early, just as the rain stopped, to see Felix sitting right outside their tent.

"Why didn't you wake me?" She asked, coming to sit beside him.

Felix shrugged.

"You were tired."

"And you weren't?"

"Not as much."

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

Felix met her gaze.

"Am I not allowed to be?"

"Be honest Felix, it's not normal for you to be nice to me."

"We had a truce," he answered, "and besides, you're injured."

She sighed, and started sharpening her stick.

"And," Felix added thoughtfully, "if I'm nice to you you're less likely to read my mind."

That caught Sam's attention.

"You..."

He grinned.

"I'm better at hiding my thoughts than you might think, Maximoff."

Sam sighed.

"You're hopeless. I knew you'd have a relatively self-centred reason for your actions."

"Of course I do."

He hesitated for a moment, before continuing.

"Look... Sam."

She stopped sharpening her stick, and listened.

"If we're going to survive here, we need to know exactly what the other can do."

Sam nodded in agreement.

"True."

"So... Perhaps..."

"You want to know what I can do?" Samantha grinned mischieviously, and Felix should've recognized the danger in her eyes. But he missed it.

"Yes."

She closed her eyes for a moment, and then telekinetically shoved him at least a metre backwards. Felix caught the motion by somersaulting backwards and landing on his hands and feet. Sam grinned.

"That's one," she listed, before shooting a red energy blast at the tree behind him, causing it to crackle.

"Two."

She made a forcefield around herself, dropping it a moment later because it cost too much effort to keep it up.

"And three."

Felix got up slowly.

"Any more surprises?"

"Well, there's the mind reading, telepathy, mind... fogging, if you can call it that, and that's about it."

"Mind shtick."

"What?"

"Mind shtick," Felix repeated, "I read it somewhere in a fanfiction and looked up what it means. Anyway, if that's all I'd like my dagger back. You are clearly not defenceless, you liar."

Samantha smirked.

"Gosh, I'd think you all of all people would be able to recognize a lie when you saw one. Anyway, here you go."

She threw it at him, and he caught it by the hilt.

"Quick reflexes," Sam noted, "that would be the first of your abilities."

"I wouldn't call that an ability," Felix mumbled, "it's a... reflex."

Sam rolled her eyes.

"Right, of course. Now tell me what you can do, or I'll be forced to read your mind."

Felix glared at her.

"If you dare, I'll..."

"You'll what?" Samantha teased.

Felix opened his mouth to answer, but couldn't think of a suitable threat.

"Let's just get out of here."

Samantha watched as he started dismantling the tent.

He's good, she thought to herself, if I wasn't prepared for it, he would've just gotten away with not telling me what he can do.

She wanted to point it out to him, but was interrupted by a soft crackling noise. She turned around quickly, to see a wall rise up, made of sequences of hexagons, light blue and slightly transparent.

"Felix..." she warned, and Felix came to stand behind her. They watched, not knowing what to do, as the wall rose up, arcing over them. It extended far into the distance behind them, forming a ginormous semi-circle reaching who-knows how far.

"What is this?" Samantha asked questioningly, and Felix shook his head.

"I don't know. It's not Stark tech, that's all I can tell you. He reached out to touch it, but pulled his hand back quickly when an electric current ran through him.

"Don't touch that," he advised, sucking his fingers, and Sam couldn't help laughing.

"Stop laughing," Felix grumbled, "it's not like you're trying anything."

Sam aimed an energy blast at the forcefield-wall, and as it hit a sort of ripple spread over it, as if it was absorbing the impact. But the forcefield stayed up.

"Whatever it is, we can't do anything about it," she commented wisely, "and at least this means that there's people."

"It also means that we're their prisoners now," Felix pointed out.

"Well, I'm sure we can change their mind about that," Sam moved her fingers a little, and a small wisp of red lingered in the air. 

"Right," Felix raised his eyes to the sky, which was now tinted with the outlines of hexagons, "Mind shtick."