so scarlet it was maroon [e x c day 4]

[ryan]

she needed some time to think by herself. she waited for the right time to slip away. she found a good spot for them to camp out behind the waterfall. the water cascading down from above was rather stimulating, almost soothing and if elle wasnt so restless, she probably would have taken the time to take an actual nap.

however, she told ace that she would take first watch, because that only seemed fitting at this point. they were the one that was mourning more than elle was. after all, she only knew nicoli for a short period of time. she would not sit there and try to pretend that she knew everything about him. it was enough that they had to talk shop now that he was gone, and that part wasnt going to sting any less.

she lost track of ace for a moment, though not really distraught over this, seeing as she could tell that they were having a hard time sleeping. elle was restless, and while it wasnt the best decision to leave someone alone, elle figured the bloody waterfall would be just enough cover to at least decompress. she traversed away from the water and leaned herself against a tree. she looked up at the moon and sighed before using her claws to carve out little wood shaving from the trees. it wasnt much, but it was good enough to take her mind off of what just happened.

these tributes trusted elle enough to help them survive another day, and elle did not do that. in fact, someone could argue that elle was the reason why another one of them died. she knew it was mistake, but she still went along with it. she went against her own principles, and to make it even worse, she was approached by the same group that ended up being the downfall of nicoli. what if they were able to convince her? how would have all of this shaken out?

even worse would be elle's guess.

she walked a little further from the tree she had just carved a piece of wood out of. she left it on the ground moving to another tree. she had no clue how this was all going to shake out. she was starting to feel better from all the medical attention she gave herself. the sound of the water had started to dissipate a little, but then she heard a rumbling from the nearby bushes. elle's hand moved to the hilt of her axe, knowing well that it could just be a creature. "whose there?" she spoke into the ether, waiting for something to come out of the woodwork.

theyd have to meet her axe before anything else.

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

It wasn't difficult. After her outburst and the subsequent fallout they were all tired. No, exhausted. Overwrought. Emotions, as strange and fleeting as they were, had a sort of rhythm to them. Once they crescendo'd, a sort of static followed. The body could only tolerate pairing this hormone to that feeling to a certain extent. Once she'd pushed Cash beyond (and knowing Damion was already ailing), Cantara begged off.

She went to lick her wounds. Squeezing between boulders, leaving tufts of fur in crevices, she climbed. One of them would take first watch for the other. Or not. Tributes rarely attacked in the night. It was a weakness she meant to exploit if she ever caught a break. If someone else had the same intention their alliance was ripe for the picking: a weakened Alpha, a shellshocked nightcrawler, and their wayward packmate.

The Falls crashed at her back.

Blood dripped from rock to rock.

She sucked her nostrils closed. Breathed slowly, shallowly, through her mouth. Cantara took a gulp of her newly purified water to steel herself. She so wanted to run through the foliage and into -- whatever. Anything that wasn't the putrifying Falls. Instead she peeled leaf from leaf trying to move cautiously.

But of course, she was caught.

"who's there?"

Cantara had the advantage of the shadows, of the plinking Falls, of the approaching night. More than in the frenzy of the fight, she knew that if she struck true, she'd have the advantage. At least at first. Her heart leapt, threatening to break her hardened ribcage. She parted a few leaves, yellow eyes glinting the fading light.

She caught Elle's gaze.

And then in the shifting the sun and moon beams, Cantara stepped right to the edge of Elle's axe. "Cantara Kanansis," she purred as the celestials bodies crested, leaving them in the dark. She leaned into the axe. "Tell me who you are."

[ryan]

her eyes were fixated on the trees for a moment before her mind started to wander. she wondered what it was like back home in four right now. were the other girls still trying to prove to all the boys that they were far more deadlier than they were? was there some sort of contest to see who might be fit for the next reaping? were they living lives they thought were worth something. elle did not know, and that was probably a good thing. it might have pulled on her heartstrings, and while she always claimed that she was never attached to anyone back home, that did not mean that she did not think of home fondly.

this place was just too different to not miss it. in fact, it was probably the one thing that kept her sane enough to keep going. she wished she could spend one more day on the beach, and maybe that was enough to motivate her to win it all. she was still trying to find ways to make her name in all of this madness after all. there was nothing more she wanted from this experience. live or die.

she wanted to be remembered.

the leaves began to part and she saw a hairy figured walk through them. the moonlight illuminated the once shadow to reveal that it was the same girl from five that she had gone toe to toe with hours earlier. elles axe was now raised at chest height of the other, being ready to fight was the only real choice here after all. however, elle couldnt help but pause for just a moment. there was this weird air about her that did at least interest her. she was not like the other tributes, or at least, not what she thought.

maybe the serum had changed too much of her, or maybe elle was just starting to realize that it didnt matter where someone came from. all that mattered here was your willingness to survive.

the girl from five, cantara, is not afraid of elles silver axe. obviously because elle wasnt the most skilled at using it. she held it steady though, knowing well that she probably just led cantara into a false sense of security. she asked for elles name as she pressed her chest right up against the blade. "elle aye." she offered willingly. if she was going to have people remember her, then she needed to be comfortable with giving her name.

elle held the axe steady as she smirked, the moonlight refracting off the silver blade and illuminating just enough light for both of them to see each other clearly. "the moon keeping you up too?" she asked, not ready for a fight quite yet. the more answers she got, the better after all.

the more info she had on her future victims, the better.

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

"elle aye."

For a second, Cantara believes she's merely affirming Cantara Kanansis as her own identity. It's not so far fetched; right up until she was made to sign the waiver for the Games she hadn't registered a single Reaping with a valid surname. She had none. When the time came, rifles pointed at the floor at her delicate feet, she'd written down the only name other than her own that she gave a shit about: Kanan's.

So it did not, at first, seem odd to her that another tribute would ay ay such an assertion.

But then sense wound its beyond the lycanthropy, the instincts. Elle. That was her name. Short but not simple, a long syllable, something she'd like to roll over her tongue.

Elle kept her axe steady though it must have been heavy. Cantara rocked back into her heels taking a bit of pressure off of it. "the moon keeping you up too?"

The moon blaring white static above them. With a heavy sigh Cantara lets herself look skyward. For a moment her eyes weren't yellow but mere pools of the moon's reflection. And then she blinked and found herself still stuck to the earth, her mortal coil wound tightly. "It calls to me," she says, and it sounds suspiciously like magic.

Then, heart pulsing in her neck, she suddenly grips Elle's axe with her gold tipped claws. The axe's metal is stronger; there's no force Cantara could apply that would break it. But still, she tests its strength against her own, and gives Elle a little push. "Illogically, it tells me to trust you. To trust... all of us." Her slitted nostrils, long on her snout, flare. "The ones of us who transformed like we have. Into..." and here, so close to the truth, her throat closes around a primordial growl.

[ryan]

she counted the seconds that cantara had pushed herself against that axe. she knew that couldnt be comfortable. in fact, elle could remember a time in the academy when elle had been subjected to light torture ust so she knew what it was like to feel pain at the hands of the very weapons that she would use.

the amount of cuts they inflicted was just enough to not bring up any concern to their parents, but elle would remember the cuts for years to come. thats how she had to figure that cantara was not comfortable with pushing herself into the silver blade.

she felt catara move back off the axes hilt, and thats when elle figured that it might be time to lower it slightly. she is not interested in fighting, not right now at the least. she has already lost someone here, she doesnt not need to lose herself here. but cantara piqued her curiousity just enough. the girl stared up to the moon, and she noticed the silver reflection in her eyes replace the yellow hue. this moon was not like the one back in four. "well, we are creatures of the night now, arent we?" elle offered a sentiment as she looked up herself. the moon does not call for her like cantara claimed it did, but she does feel more at peace knowing that it is shining.

elle looked back down to meet cantara's gaze and she wondered just what made this girl tick. her story had to be interesting enough, and while they were enemies, elle had a feeling that if she was back in four, they would have been friends. there is enough fight in her to rival that of any career, and elle witnessed that herself a couple hours earlier. she is pushed by cantara, but elle is stoic and solid in her position, the axe now creating a barrier between both of them. "trusting here is hard to do, even if we are sharing this experience." elle is flat toned and purposeful with her words. "i dont think weve changed at all. weve simply become more truer versions of ourselves." elle knew all too well that this whole serum thing was purposeful by the game makers. monsters she thought to herself, figuring that cantara is smart enough to at least put all the pieces together.

even between howls at the moon.