Tri-District Tournament Day Two: Morrisen vs. Fray

[lance]

The decision to hold each of the top 16 matches one at a time instead of simultaneously, while time consuming, proved to be a massive hit. Instead of splitting their attention eight ways, the spectators of three districts oohed and ahhed as one by one, more victors emerged and more combatants were eliminated. A forfeit, a decimation, even a severed leg that had to be quickly treated so that the afflicted girl wouldn't bleed out all over the stage - and there were still three rounds remaining.

The dawn of the next day started off, and with eight contestants remaining the stakes and tensions only rose. The noble families of One and the Games royalty of Four overwhelmingly won out the previous day, and Two of all places saw their hopes of a victory placed solely on a girl with no notable name to carry all the way to the end. With half the matches consisting solely of those with Victor's blood in them - a civil war in One between Fray and Le Roux (two families that had lost many to the Games but, interestingly, never at the same time) and a clash between the Fray dynasty and a relative of Four's own Annie Morrisen, the other matches seemed like they would pale in comparison.

Of all the high-stakes matches fought in the first half of today, it was this one that had the home town most excited. After all, Annisa Morrisen was the only member of any of their victor dynasties that had made it this far this year, with the Krigel triplets having long since grown out of eligibility, and the Frays had been the only dynasty from anywhere to have more than one of their scions advance to the Quarterfinals. As two warrior women readied themselves to carry not only their tournament aspirations but their family and district legacies onward as well, the denizens of two districts watched in rapt attention - this was going to be good.

This fight consists of Annisa Morrisen of District Four (Celestials) vs Syrena Fray of District One (Dars)

[umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars]]

At the very least, she's pretty. I size her up from across the ring, wondering if when they call out to everyone that her last name is Morrisen if she holds her chin up high or hangs it in shame. If she's anything other than pretty, she should know to scratch that part out before the tournament even begins.

I stare at her, uninterested and ready to go home. I made it through the first round. I cut off a girl's fucking leg, for christ sake. If that isn't enough to prove I'm worth keeping, then it's too damn bad. I don't care if Noel made it to the next round too. I don't care that the only reason I'm here at all is because Elvena is home sick. I don't care. Because I made it this far and that should be enough.

Half-lidded gaze, my lips part into a lazy smile.

"Charmed."

I blink at her. She's taller but I'm stronger. I have to be.

[00/25 hp]

ak0JHpbQIbsword
[3.5]

sword

[revel latimer, 11b 🔍 jay]

Fray. The name makes my eyebrow raise. I couldn't care less about what her actual name was, it's what was attached to the end of it that piqued my curiosity. She didn't look like much - a small frame and I could tell from across the mat that I had a few inches on her. Maybe this one will be quick, like a flash of lightning, blinding and burning brightly and it's gone the second you see it.

The spear feels heavier in my grasp this time. Fray moves into a lazy stance with an equally lazy smile, her eyes barely flicking open, and I can't tell if she's high or not. Maybe she heard that she was going to face me and decided if she was going to get her ass-kicked that it would be better if she was strung out. Or she's just bored, but I'd prefer the first option.

"Charmed."

Her words are breathy, and even they feel half-assed. She swings her sword, catching me off guard, and before I can move away from the blade, it nicks me in the shoulder. Eh, it was a flesh wound, I've felt worse.

"Wish I could say the same."

My upper lip curls and I swing.

annisa attacks syrena fray with [ spear ]

7YYQVpCdpuspear

[ 3.5 ]


[ 3.5/25 ]

spear

[umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars]]

"Wish I could say the same."

This time when I smile, it's genuine. I've found a new toy to play with.

I guess to start this, we need to know where it was coming from. Retaliatory? Possible, she seems like a follower like that. More likely though, she's somehow disillusioned enough to think we're equals. We're not. Regardless of who wins this fight, I go home a Fray and she doesn't.

My cheeks sting with the threat of Tarver's watchful gaze from the crowd.

"Why can't you?" I groan, "lips still sore from the injections?"

I pucker up my lips sensually at her, blowing a kiss for good measure.

The nouveau riche are just... like that. You know? Untrained, that's all. They can't help themselves, you know? That's why the money's new, because they spend all on... you know. Tacky lawn ornaments and bad plastic surgery and... bakeries. Or so I'm told. When they could be spending it on oh, I don't know, better coaches so that your legacy doesn't die in the cornucopia and disgrace the title of career, for instance. But how would I know? Only half of my family has been reaped and, well... none of them were day one cannons.

Were they?

To be fair, there've been a lot.

[00/25 hp]

jAfJh_xriusword
[8.5]

sword

[revel latimer, 11b 🔍 jay]

"Why can't you?" she sighs, "lips still sore from the injections?"

Her words are like ice. Fray's lippy, I'll give her that, but nothing else. She puckers up her lips and blows a kiss at me, and I have half a mind to drop the spear and punch her instead. She wouldn't look as pretty when her nose is facing a different direction. Maybe I'll redecorate her face with a few bruises, I heard the smokey eye was making a comeback.

Fray's sword digs into my leg, right above the gauze wrapped around my wound from the last fight. That dirty bitch. A groan escapes from my lips when I try to move, a wild, burning sensation exploding from where she just stabbed me. I grit my teeth, gripping the spear tighter and looking her straight in her eyes. Her eyes look like mine, maybe we were sisters in another life. But even then, it wouldn't stop me from beating her.

I have to.

annisa attacks syrena fray with [ spear ]

4Y89ijrA2Sspear

[ miss rip ]


[ 12/25 ]

spear

[umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars]]

She's rattled now, and that's what I need her to be. Playing the mental game, just like Pillar did to Samira Hart and Sophie did to Beck Hailsham. I'm told Labyrinth was an expert at it too, but how would I know? She was too chickenshit to volunteer and now she's old. She stumbles through what I think was supposed to be an attack at me, and I'm laughing against my own will. I know combat isn't like my thing yet, but come on. Even I saw that one coming.

"Who taught you that one?" I ask, wondering if she might have a genuine answer. Wouldn't surprise me. For every iconic strategy I've been taught, there's been a failed one used as a lesson against me. Scout losing her entire fucking mind in the arena, if she'd ever had it to lose in the first place. Kaiser picking the wrong allies. Pillar losing to a Twelve tribute who had heart issues. Sophie leaving the person who carried her to the top eight without saying goodbye. Dumb. Stupid. Mistakes.

That's why they died.

I don't have to wonder what would get me if I were to be reaped: this. This exact thing: one on one combat without Elvena or Trylle there to carry the bulk of the weight. That's why Tarver and I have decided for now to implement the Sophie Strat: allying myself with people way stronger than me and letting them carry me to the end and then- and this is where it would stop being the Sophie Strat and start being the Syrena Strat- kill them before they see it coming. Never leave witnesses. Never let someone live if they can still hold a knife.

I step to the right because I'm ready to herd her where I need her to be, a charmer making the snake in front of me dance as I see fit.

When she doesn't follow my lead, I shove her forward by jabbing my sword at her head.

[3.5/25 hp]

UCcgsV3KfJsword
[4.5]

sword

[revel latimer, 11b 🔍 jay]

There's a moment when Fray's flies past my eye and I could see it glint in the sunlight in my peripheral before it cut into my skull, that I thought I was going to lose. A fire burns in her eyes that I didn't see before, that I didn't account for. She was stronger than I thought, smarter, faster. She wastes no time to swing, barely giving me a chance to recover.

Fray treats the battle as a dance, moving around me in fluid motions. Fine, I'll bite. It's the only option I have now, it's either that or lose. And that's something I can't afford to do. My lips are still curled and my eyes are narrowed. "Who taught you that one?" She asks and it makes my heart burn. I want to see her on the ground, bleeding, when the realization hits that she's lost. A few good hits and that's all she's good for. The Fray's weren't special no matter how hard they parade themselves to be, they never were. Their time in the spotlight is waning.

I don't answer her before I strike.

annisa attacks syrena fray with [ spear ]

hTigrmFQddspear

[ 8.0 ]


[ 16.5/25 ]

spear

[umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars]]

I’m not typically the type of person to be so vocal, but even so I can’t stop myself from gasping in pain from her latest and- so far- only effective attack. It’s white hot and somehow a frigid absence at once, a pit of something vile opening me from the ribs out and bleeding through the new opening on my waist.

What.

A.

Bitch.

Like it’s my fault I’m right? Like, sorry your family isn’t as prolific as mine? Some people get so caught up on status… Not me, though… I’ve always been above it, you know?

My fingernails dig into the hilt of my sword so hard I can feel the ends threatening to snap. I stare at her, not angrily, not impressed, not anything: a void. A nothingness. The same white hot frigid absence I feel in my core, overfilling and pouring out from my near-vacant stare.

[11.5/25 hp]

wgHW97CUtHsword
[4.5]

sword

[revel latimer, 11b 🔍 jay]

Fray gasps when my spear digs into her skin, and I can't help but smile just a little. It's what she deserves, and I'll make sure she feels worse before this is over. I use my legs to pivot away from her blade, but I wince from the white-hot pain and freeze, giving her just enough room to cut a gash into my forehead. Blood dripped into my eyes and all I could see was red. She was red.

The spear felt heavy in my hands, but I still held it tight in my grip. There was not an inch of me that would've given up, especially not a Fray, especially not to this one. There's a rage building inside of me, burning, and it wants her to bleed. It wants her to hurt, to feel the pain that I do.

And I indulge that urge. I let it consume me. She will fall to my blade before this fight is over and the camera captures every second of it for her family to see.

annisa attacks syrena fray with [ spear ]

I5qj8prRxbspear

[ 4.0 ]


[ 21/25 ]

spear

[umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars]]

Homegirl is snapping. I see it in her eyes, how manic she is, how badly she wants to beat me. I keep my features as dead as they have been, closing her off to even an inch of what I might be thinking, what I might be feeling, what I might be wanting. Because that’s the trick: she’s let me inside her head and now I have free roam. Look at her squirming to keep up, at the desperation in her swing, which I’m able to shield the brunt of pardon the shock absorbed into my wrists. I step back to keep myself from toppling over, clench my jaw to shove past and right myself.

I’m out of breath, tongue absentmindedly wiping at my lips. I can feel Tarver’s gaze growing less and less sure by the second and I just- I keep telling myself that Noel got knocked out this round too, so if she’s meant to be my better replacement, he already failed. But I want to prove to him that not only did he fail, but that I can be better than her. I can be better than any of them if I could just-

If I only had the chance.

I swing and she parries, and I remain level. Defense. Play defense.

[15.5/25 hp]

3_Xk3OHZvksword
[0]

sword

[revel latimer, 11b 🔍 jay]

My blows are becoming desperate, wild, and I could tell that she sees it too. Her eyes held no information, no emotion, no giveaways, but they were watching. I could see them flickering from my hands to my feet to my face, observing and calculating. If she thinks she can beat me by reading my face then she's mistaken.

Fray's out of breath too, her chest heaves with each one she takes, her shoulders caving in and then filling back out. We're level here, both bleeding out onto the mat, almost at our breaking points, but I know I can outlast her there. All I have to do is push her further, to break her, shatter her like a diamond, and watch all the facets gleam when they fall.

When I swing, I remember to breathe, at this point, it's a waiting game.

annisa attacks syrena fray with [ spear ]

h1uR3N_vZ4spear

[ 3.5 ]


[ 21/25 ]

spear

[umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars]]

He looks away. I see it in the moments before she attacks. He looks away, because he thinks I’m going to lose. Because he expects me to. No, no, no, he can’t be right about that. I wince at the sting of her hit, now struggling to keep my features quite as level. I mean don’t get me wrong, I have a great talent of seeming uninterested, but it isn’t enough to shake the small nervous tics, the tremble on the corner of my mouth, the twitch of the fingers on my free hand. I force myself to breathe. He’s wrong. He’s wrong.

I roll my eyes.

“I’m done with you.”

I’m just as fucking good as the rest of them. I could be famous if I wanted to be. I could make fighting my whole life if that’s what it takes to finally feel fucking accepted by them. I won’t have a social life anymore if that’s what they want. I just. I need to feel needed. And seeing him look away after all the progress I thought I’ve been making- If there’s any emotion that leaks through to the surface, it’s rage.

“Tell the Morrisens a Fray sent your ass home.”

[19/25 hp]

VQtwtAO9B0sword
[8.0]

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