Away into the great unknown

[laphae8ash]

Huffing and puffing, I couldn't even believe what just happened. My body is still throbbing with the cuts and bruises, but I was out alive. ALIVE...My feet just kept moving faster and faster til I colapse on the ground. My body trembling and heaving as I feel the soft sand stick against my sweaty cheeks and legs. I can't keep doing this. I can't keep running...but I have to.

Forcing myself up to my feet I look around and grab several bunches of plants that I know are good for healing and eat a some myself, I stuff the other two bundles into my backpack for later. For a few moments I actually feel safe. Like I might have gotten far enough away that I can try to catch my breath. Bending over, placing my hands on my knees I inhale deeply and work on quelling the burning in my lungs.

Behind me I hear something and before I wait to see what it is I take off running again the sand causing my legs to seize up as I fall forward. With a scream I lay there in agony trying to stuff my hands in my mouth to calm the sounds.





[Nonnie has a pike, a backpack, and a water jug from the blood bath which she fills unpurified. She collects 3 sets of medicinal plants (used 1 herself) and saved the other two, She also used first aid on herself.]

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[cyrus]

There was something to the air that had enlivened Cyrus Malloc. He was not the boy that had entered the arena. This patient, mousy boy that had been fearful to even raise his harpoon at anyone had started to transform into something different. Something had gotten under his skin, something that made his heart beat a little faster and his back a little straighter. He was a man—could he say such things—he was a man that had seen death and lived to tell about it. And he had not liked what he saw. He had not liked what he saw one bit.

His fellow tributes had been callous in their attacks. They sucked the life out of so many the number was beginning to grow. He reasoned—because this was all Cyrus ever did—that they were doing this to survive. And yet he could not forgive this powerful urge to kill, this desire to take the lives of others for personal gain. He had decided before entering that he would attack only when necessary, not for the thrill of it. He was certain that there were many now that had tasted blood and only wanted more upon their lips. But Cyrus was not going to bend to the will of the arena in such a way.

For what courage was there is attacking the weak and innocent? What courage was there in a life looking back at the faces of souls you’d stolen? There could be nothing gained from this, other than one’ s own life. And how much was a life worth that took destroying those of others? There is no value in living through the death of others. Every man dies. Not every man lives.

[/i] Cyrus could be certain that he would live, and he would face the truth of his crimes, should he commit any. He would be proud of who he was. I will have honor.

-----
Hear me, heathens and wizards
And serpents of sin!
All your dastardly doings are past,
For a holy endeavor is now to begin
And virtue shall triumph at last!
-----

[/color]

It was then that he heard the rustling sound that signaled that of a tribute. Another person to face—How I hope it is Fawn, or another—he was still looking for his ally, who had run off after their last battle. He would find her again, he was sure of it. But for now he was on his own, and ducked behind a tree to see just who was causing the commotion. He rushed them, hoping to push them to the ground before they could attack him.

[Cyrus attacks Noreen, unarmed]
[dice=200+5000]

[Thrown to ground 0.5 damage]

In a moment he spied Noreen, the girl who had been so friendly to him at the party before the games. The one that had picked him up when he had fallen during training. A good woman. A woman with children. A woman who needs protection.[/i] He looked into her eyes painfully, hoping she would not struggle and that she would listen to him.

“Noreen… please, it’s not safe here… please, please don’t fight me. Please…” Cyrus was practically begging her to stop, to just run with him and not to tarry in this place. They could be so much stronger and be good together rather than evil. He sat up and stared at her, awaiting her choice.

-----
My destiny calls and I go,
And the wild winds of fortune
Will carry me onward,
Oh whithersoever they blow!
-----

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[laphae8ash]

The sudden attack takes me by surprise and before I can reach for my spear thing I realize its Cyrus, my friend from the Training Center. He was a calm and gentle man who even stood up for me at the party when Jae Moreno tried to make a move on me. As much as I knew I should fight back I couldn't. It wasn't right to attack someone like this who was begging me to come with him for safety.

Suddenly I hear something above us and I notice a large parachute dropping before me. Inside are things I could only imagine being as lucky to have. I hope Jack didn't spend all the money they had saved on our cabin on these things, he's going to need it for our children, but with a silent thank you I toss the medical kit and small bottle of antivenom in by bag. Securing my objects in my back pack I take off running again. This time following Cyrus praying that our sounds hadn't brought on a crowd.

[Noreen Flees using First Aid on herself. She has also recieved a med kit and a bottle of antivenom]

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[cyrus]

-----
Hear me, heathens and wizards
And serpents of sin!
All your dastardly doings are past,
For a holy endeavor is now to begin
And virtue shall triumph at last!
-----

[/color]

Her decision could not have made this boy happier. Perhaps there was a goodness in people that went unseen in the arena. Perhaps not all had to be blood and entrails spilled upon the ground? He knew this much for certain, they could not waste time sitting here, where so many could attack and kill them. They could then find Fawn, and the three of them could regroup from their wounds. He could only hope that this wouldn’t anger the gamemakers—he wasn’t so stupid to think that he could go forever without having to kill—but at the least he was doing things on his own terms.

Perhaps his strategy was short sighted. Wouldn’t all of them have to die for one of them to live? But he could think no further than the setting sun. As the afternoon faded into dusk, he could only think a few steps ahead. There was no use in predicting a future so uncertain. For now, he would content himself with the relative comfort he was providing for himself. And he could be hope that his mother would see—here is her little darling, her little boy, her joy—he was not a cold blooded killer. He was not a man without honor.

“Hurry. We have to move,[/i]” Was all that Cyrus said, monotone as usual, pushing upward and rushing back through the trees toward the babbling brook nearby. Fawn had taken off in the direction of the stream, and he knew that she would be somewhere nearby. He could only hope that they got to her before anyone else. He didn’t look back—it was something that he was learning here in the games—trusting that Nonnie would follow. I would rather die with honor than have lived meaninglessly. And so he flew from this place.

[Cyrus Malloc uses first aid on Nonnie (-3). Cyrus gathers one bundle edible plants, two bundles medicinal plants. Cyrus collects firewood and boils water in his jug.]

[Cyrus Malloc flees]

-----
And the wild winds of fortune
Will carry me onward,
Onward to glory I we go!
-----

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