draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man {day four}

[pogue]

C  O  Y  O  T  E

He pulls back with blood on his fingertips, feels the twinge of hunger hit his tongue and salivates at the thought, the taste. But he's quick to snap back his sharpened senses forwards back to the fight, sees a shallow wound rip and curl underneath his opponent's skin, hones in on the way the blood drips out from the cut-

slowly, ever so slowly. It's not enough.

Cantara exists as the yin to his yang, the karma to his dead morality. He steps backwards towards the shadows once more, gaze darting between his own allies and enemies, himself and his sins. The veil between all of it thins out, so rapidly bleeding into the dead soil. Cantara's claw finds his chin and traces out a stoic jaw, rests short of carving a smile into his neck like he knows she wants to- "wake up,". 

Her words carve daggers into his skin, fire at his heart with deadly precision and his eyes widen in response as he glances towards her, feels his own game unravel and dissolve into the dust and the dirt. Muscles tense, tongue ties and unties itself as he steels his gaze back towards their opponents. "Only if you do the same." He mocks her tone like it's worth anything, as if a chill hasn't clawed its way down his spine at the prospect of Cantara dousing his movements in gasoline and lighting it ablaze for the world to see.

He burns in the overcast sun, flesh peeled back to expose nothing but lies underneath. Cantara and him need each other, he made that clear the night after they'd heard their names called. Her the brawn masquerading as brains, him the latter with faux puppet strings sewn into his skin. Cut loose and watch him swing, watch her swing back. They'd destroy each other.

Eventually, at least.

"I will wait for you on the other side. Even you."

His words dance in the dead air before Cash swats them away, wiping blood from his lips and snakes tongue licking up the liquid that is slowly coating his claws. "It is a place where sins are forgiven." He bites back the laugh that threatens to claw its way up his throat as he looks forwards, blood dripping from his chin to the soil. "Sounds like heaven." He says plainly, ice laced into the words, tracing the shallow wounds that litter his opponent's skin. "Maybe it's selfish..."

His senses roar into effect, muscles tense and gaze narrows. "...but I hope I keep you waitin' for a while."

[attacks nicoli ; knife]

nSDsMIIBlqknife

[3.5]

knife

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

Suddenly they are tangled up in one another: Cantara's claws sunk into Elle's bicep, Elle's axe resting across Cant's shoulders, slowly drawing blood. If she tries to pull away she'll chop her own head off. And if she leans in...

Her lips curl back into a grin.

"now get your hands off of me before i chop them off myself."

A furry brow lifts. "I'd like to see you try," she challenges. And it's all fun and games for a split second, caught up in the halo of Elle's blonde hair. Then the wind she shifts and she scents and senses Damion's imminent demise. She wants to trade claws for claws but that will have to wait. She makes the only move she can:

she drops down, raking golden blades along Elle's thigh.

Cash's command is a sobering echo. "Only if you do the same." He's right. She can feel how little she's doing, how useless she is as a savior. Distracting Elle won't save Damion.

But damn it all, she is not going to tell Cash Humboldt he'd gotten the better of her. Cantara retreats to his side, snarling, "if you won't wake up at least try to guard my flank!" Because somehow even though they are both kids from Five, both equally untaught in the many ways to kill and be killed, she still believes herself to be the better fighter.

And she needs Cash alive to help them find an exit route.

[Cantara attacks Elle; claws (knife)]

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[Shallow Cut on Right Thigh -- 3.5 damage]

knife

[Cait]

“I will wait for you on the other side.”

“Nicoli, please,” I grunt out, eyes pleading, voice strained, “stop talking.”

I don’t want to hear him put his faith in something I can’t see, or feel, or relate to. He’s strong enough to look after himself without needing protection from anyone or anything else – let alone me. The nights of prayers and candlelight come flooding back, a memory of anger burning brightly with them. What was any of it for?

The words are on the tip of my tongue: there is no other side. I don’t want to hear him talk about his death, because I know when he goes, I won’t see him again. And the thought of being alone again, alone forever, hurts too much to bear. It makes me want to wreak havoc on the whole world and make everyone in the way of my impending path of destruction hurt like I do.

Mother’s voice echoes in my head, then, “be better,” and the double, triple meanings behind her looping chant might be enough to stop me saying something I could live to regret, but it paints a new picture. A new reality – I don’t know how to be anything more than ordinary.

My weapon trembles in my hand. I keep Nicoli in the corner of my peripheral as I swing, desperately, already knowing the war is over.

ace attacks damion – glaive

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shallow cut on left calf – 3.5

glaive

[thompson harvard - d2b - arc]

soz babes! out tonight with all of my coworkers and i work tomorrow uwu. filler to preserve time!

[attacks nicoli, knife]
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[result]“knife”

[d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel]

The talk of building our own family paradise faded when I grew up. I guess the realization that the business was decaying quickly hit, in the end it was just all about surviving. The Rasoios were brought down from the high shelves in the polished glass cabinet to be stored away in a locked dusty chest in a rarely adventured attic. Nobody cares anymore. We are just a history for The Games and the peacekeeper’s wanted list.

Will my death revive my family?

Hopefully for the good, the criminal enterprise is dead and buried but there are some aspirations floating in the minds of the young ones. Good can blossom amongst the rotting shrubs.

Ripred has the door wide open now, there is a hand extended out from the light but there are a few obstacles blocking my way.

The mighty fight between Elle and her opponents and the plea from Ace who has more luck than I at leaving a mark on the boy from Ten, Damion I think his name is.

My list is quickly depleting, there is only one agenda item and that is retract my claws and make my way to the departure point. As my blood mixes with the moist turf, the once heightened senses are beginning to flow with it. Even my claws look duller and duller. There is a neat collection of weapons in the satchel on my back but the energy to reach round and rummage is just not simply there. I only have my bare fists now.

”When I fall. Just make sure I am the only one today.” I say, clenching my fist for one last push before I stumble through the exit. ”I say this to all of you.” I am a bodyguard, my income is from protecting people and high value objects. If Ace and Elle walk away today, I have earned my buck.

Nicoli attacks Damion | fists

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[5139 -- Broken Right Hand -- 6.0 damage]

unarmed

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

her axe hits the top of the girls head, but it does not lop it clean off. no. instead it causes trickles of blood to fall down her face and onto elle's shawl. she didnt flinch though, the sight and smell both invigorating her to keep on going. she would continue the onslaught until every last one of these tributes were dead anyway. her focus was on the girl from five though, and she could feel the tense air wafting past both of them.

maybe she did have some parallels with annie, seeing as she went toe to toe with the girl from five in her games as well. at the end of the day, she came out on top, and elle planned on doing the same thing here. she knew that it might be cocky of her, it might even be crazy. however, she knew she was destined for greater things.

the girl from five tells her to try, and elle was determined to do just that. however, nicoli was falling right before her eyes, and while they had just met, elle could tell that he was a fighter through and through. this moment, right here, was enough to make her realize that she needed to do more. she needed to trust in the process, otherwise, she wouldnt make it either. the goal now, protect ace, she knew that much.

she would never be the body guard, but the sentimental value was there, and elle could at least buy into that for just a moment. she takes a deep breath as she looked back to the girl from five, her claws scratching at her thigh. maybe if this was a different situation, elle would have been a little more excited, the thrill of it all making her feel like anything could happen. maybe in another life time, she would let her guard down and let the girl from five continue. however, her life was on the line.

"gladly." she smirked as she pushed the girl away and pulled her axe up to her chest. the blood was going everywhere and elle felt the rush of it all. "hang in there nicoli..." elle looked at the girl from five. "... ill make sure of it." and she swung.

[Elle Aye D4A attacks Cantara Kanansis D5 with her silver axe | (axe)]
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[4]

axe

[pogue]

C  O  Y  O  T  E

There's a certain thing that happens when the end draws near.

He's seen it reflected in the once star-studded eyes of a dog gone blind, a calf with sickness in the veins, an animal in the pasture that wouldn't make it through the night. Trigger finger itching, hovering at the pull point, time moving slower when you see the inevitable end. He sees it now, with the way Nicoli stumbles through every word and step forward, sways in a pool of his own blood and shadow, clings to the last of his words like they are all he has left. In some ways, they are.

He almost feels sympathy for him, for the way the end sits on his doorstep, hand in hand with death. It's familiar to him, foreign to him. Cash Humboldt has taken a life before, just never a humans. The poison in his veins makes that last part easier.

"Hang in there Nicoli..." The girl from yesterday calls, her voice defiant against the inevitable, stubborn and resistant even though he knows she knows. "I'll make sure of it." She says, even as she swings forwards towards Cantara and draws nothing but a spot of red and empty air. Will you? He wants to call to her, mock the very resilience that Five snuffed out of him long ago, through desperation and jealousy and everything in between.

They- Him, Cantara, Damion, they will survive for now.

In shadow and sin he throws back the very torments that have been embedded into his soul in Eighteen years of life, unfurls sharpened claws and bares fangs stained red, desperate for nothing but scarlet and rot.  He's grown used to being nothing but a speck in a crowd of spectacles, for the focus to dissipate when it casts its gaze over him, to be invisible and to suffer silently.

It is why he has survived, it is why he now stands close behind a dying boy, strained eyesight counting the droplets of crimson as they hit the ground.

"When I fall-" Cash stops his claws from trembling, focuses in on the back of his neck, traces the way his veins outline his own mortality. X marks the spot, his claws itch for nothing but red. "Just make sure I am the only one today." 

Humanity works its way through his veins, slowly and unsurely fighting back against the desire to kill, the desire to survive. He remembers, only for a moment, that he is a person looking at a person, tribute to tribute-

- victim to victim, his own defiance works at what must be done.
Only for a moment. 

"You will be." 

[attacks nicoli ; knife]

S7KaEZQv6bknife

[0]

--

[accuracy]

knife

[9.5]

knife·knife

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

Her claws are gold and blood, her teeth sharpened, her blood simmering. She's tracking Elle's every movement, every breath she inhales, Cantara takes one of her own. She can practically taste her scent. But through the pulsing bloodlust, she hears Nicoli speak softly. "When I fall. Just make sure I am the only one today.”

She hesitates.

Just long enough for Elle to mark her one last time. "Gladly."

In the end, the only thing that surprises her is that Cash is the one to fell the boy.

Her breath is coming so fast and hot it steams in front of her. She quirks a brow at Damion as though to say -- did you see that coming? -- and holds a breath just long enough for the mist to clear. Yellowed eyes drawn to slits catch Elle's gaze. Cantara winks.

And then she glides those bloodied claws down both of Cash's arms and grip his wrists. "That will do." She speaks in a voice she's almost forgotten, the voice of the teenage nerd she left somewhen before the arena.

Gently, she releases one wrist and lets her hands drop into Cash's, threading her fingers through. In other circumstances she might have guarded Alpha Damion while Cash finished... whatever he'd started with his sharp teeth. But looking into Elle's bright eyes and Ace's hollow ones, she knows that's a luxury they don't have.

"Grab his satchel. Maybe he's got something to eat," she murmurs and then draws her allies away.

[Cantara flees.]

[Cait]

quick flee filler, going to write later tonight!

ace flees, actions in maint

[thompson harvard - d2b - arc]

damion also flees with the pack ! filler final part.