don't be crabby! // just friends vs latch crabs. day 2.

[d1b. xylia fray ♕ kaяi]

The gentle sounds of the trickling stream that leads into the koi pond is quite relaxing in the morning. The sweet smell of blossoms on the air and the storm appears to have dispersed slightly. Even in an arena of death, you seem to find a moment of peace.

But you should know better, the Gamemakers have much more planned.

It begins with a quiet scuttling noise that barely reaches your ears. It seems harmless at first, but slowly it begins to crescendo. You look towards the pond and all the koi have seemed to disappear. This can not be a good sign. Shortly after, you are overwhelmed with the sound of scuttling legs and the click click of claws being mashed together. It's mere seconds before they surround you. A large group of crabs, some standing on the backs of others, some inching closer. The appear to be relatively normal crabs, but the sheer number makes them overwhelming.

And they look hungry.


latch crabs attack mirage ; claws (knife)

GiiJ8ttTM3knife
( miss - 0 )


latch crabs attack itzal ; claws (knife)

knife
( sc - 4.5 )

knife·knife

[Python]

﹙   m i r a g e   v i g i l  ﹚

She wore her confidence on her sleeve. The pieces were falling into place, and every expectation had been met thus far. After her successful conquering of the Training Center tasks, she knew there would be gifts arriving from the heavens. Parachutes with her name engraved descended from the sky, landing in the patches of rice plants in front of her. She earned a drinking canister, purifying tablets, sturdy boots, a backpack, and an armored helmet. A useful haul of supplies.

Their scavenging also produced satisfactory results. Mirage was pleased to have been right about conserving their energy. There was no reason to run around the Bloodbath like headless chickens when she could find their loot elsewhere. There, sitting atop stones, were a pair of katanas. Beautiful violet hilts, and craftsmanship that made District Nine's blades look like butter knives. She tested it with a few swipes across foliage. It was light, sharp, but easy to misuse. She needed the right amount of force at the most precise angle to do any real damage. Her red seelie danced in circles around the severed plants. "A fan of violence, are you?" she teased. What a strange creature. She hoped it understood her, or at the very least, her body language.

They sought shelter at an abandoned shrine. The fields of rice were a boring place to camp, and too far out in the open for her comfort. There was that lingering smell of ozone, and strange gatherings of fog and clouds that loomed near the edges of the fish ponds. The area was vibrant, dotted with oranges and reds that resembled nothing from her home District. She liked it this way; seeing new parts of the world, even if this was inside a dome. She planned to see more of it when she took her crown.

Silence passes time slowly, so Mirage decided to break it. She wanted to know what was going through Itzal's head. "Earlier, you said don’t have to feel bad for what you're going to do here," she said, leaning against one of the shrine's pillars, "I hope that means you have a plan for handling tributes?"

He said they all have a time limit, which was true. He didn't want to think about them if it meant he lasted longer. She agreed with such a sentiment, though she had no issues thinking about tributes with the absence of guilt. She purposely watched them to learn more about them - not in order to make friends, but in order to find their weaknesses. The best ways to outmaneuver them, and kill them.

"Good. I don't want there to be any second thoughts when it's time to start killing them."

Otherwise, he was useless.

She patted her seelie on its head (if you can call it a head), and went to sleep disappointed. Not a single canon yet. How dull.

In the morning, the smell of ozone was overwhelming. The mysterious storm's edge pressed closer to their shrine, forcing them to abandon it and move closer to the fish ponds. Mirage felt a jolt of pain as she crossed one of the bridges, and lighting danced across the sky. It was a nuisance, but she didn't let the pain stop her. Annoyed, Mirage barely had time to react when crabs emerged from the water and surrounded her tingling ankles.

"Pests," she spat.

[attacks crabs - katana]
IAk_I19SJ|sword
Shallow Cut on Left Shoulder -- 3.5 damage

sword

[marguerite harvard d2a (zori)]

I t z a l

You look hopeful
Like we're supposed to work somehow
Can't you tell our light burned out?
Got a lot to cry about

The katana in my hand hung heavier than I thought it would.

We waded along the steps of rice fields toward shelter when the winds had picked up. Still no cannons but then, maybe they were all as sheepish as I’d been. I’d been numb ever since we’d come up from the ground in those tubes. It had taken nightfall for me to feel the heat in my cheeks again. Maybe it was being reborn here, maybe just the panic attack passing, but the dark cerulean that had passed overhead had come into sharper focus.

I’d gotten a care package from the sky, but I don’t think it was for anything that I had done. Whoever was watching probably didn’t want Mirage to get overwhelmed by some group of tributes if we took the wrong step. Which meant they had to supply the dingus that’d tagged along with her to make sure he didn’t die too quickly. I mean, I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth or anything, anyway.

I still hadn’t named the creature that tittered and rolled along behind me. It still felt too early to give it a name considering how soon I could be dead. Wasn’t it better for him not to get a name if I wound up with my head on a spike?

Maybe I should just find somewhere to jump. Maybe we could get into a murder suicide pact. Maybe there will be a trap that kills us both. Maybe I should just try to hide somewhere. Maybe –

You ever have intrusive thoughts? Well, the circular firing squad in my head pretty much never turns off, and the walk to the shrines let my head run at full speed. At least, until Mirage spoke and let me stop disassociating for a half minute.

Handling tributes. Heh. That’s one way of putting it.

“Everyone’s got a time limit. Some people just have one that’s today and others tomorrow.” I shrugged my shoulders. It wasn’t going to be personal, not when they had to make the same choice about me. “Gut ‘em and leave them out in the sun. We’re all fish in a bucket aren’t we?”

Mirage went to sleep when the rain started, and I kept watch.

Which went about as well as you could expect. Me sitting there creeped the fuck out over the empty pedestals and wind howling, not paying a single lick to whatever might’ve been crawling around outside.

Were we supposed to pray here, or something? Maybe some ironic, tongue in cheek where we were had to get down on our hands and knees and pray to god that we wouldn’t get tortured to death. Well. Fuck that.

“Hail satan!” I said it to no one in particular, but to everyone, really. Felt like he probably was about the only one that was going to help me out of this mess.

He said nothing in return. Not a vision, weird dream, or haunting memory came to mind when my eyes finally closed. Though one might’ve argued the burning rain was probably an act of his.

'Pests…' Mirage spoke with my eyes still bleary. The tip tapping sound of a hundred crabs became more evident on their approach. I groaned as I got to my feet.

Just a horde of crabs bum rushing us. No big deal.

“Huh. They’re kind of making me hungry.” She didn’t wait before getting in a swing at one of them. They came from all sides and I turned my back. “Fuck. Get the fuck away from me, assholes!”

I kicked back with my foot and raised my sword. A cannon fired somewhere in the distance.

Man, I was going to fry the shit out of these after this if I didn’t get chopped into pieces.

[Izal Usoa D5a attacks the latch crabs with his katana (sword)]

ELEGANT

sJM6ei4c6Usword
[result: 4.5 damage]sword

[d1b. xylia fray ♕ kaяi]

Snip snip. Click click. We do not like swords, no no. The scuttling of the latch crabs legs and clacking of their claws seem to say in unison. They unskillfully avoid your first few swings, taking a bit of damage from each swipe. They weave and duck, dodge and dive, but the edge of your blade is much sharper than their claws. The scuttling grows louder, angrier, and they seem fed up with you pesky tributes.

One jumps on top of another, then another, until they are high enough to aim for your hand that holds those pesky swords. They attempt to latch on, not opposed to taking a finger or two if necessary.

latch crabs attack mirage ; claws (knife)

E7eqqqwHkDknife
( block - 0 )


latch crabs attack itzal ; claws (knife)

knife
( sc - 4.5 )

knife·knife

[Python]

﹙   m i r a g e   v i g i l  ﹚

Mirage had to roll her eyes at their predicament. There was nothing impressive or interesting about crabs. Monstrous crabs? Really? She wanted to know who approved such a ridiculous idea. If this was an attempt to humiliate her, she would dedicate what was left of her soul to preventing that fate. Mirage was not a punchline, she had molded her life in a way to make sure of that. At home, she was feared. People avoided her until they needed something from her, and she liked it that way. She liked having control.

As they clawed at Itzal's skin, she decided to see the bright side of it all. "At least we'll have a nice dinner tonight," she boasted, hoping her enemies were listening. Perhaps they were looking out for her after all, sending a delicious meal her way. Hunting for food was not her strong suit, but the Games demanded that people be tested. So be it, then. She would pass their tests.

Her seelie was swirling in circles above their heads, as if trying to create a tornado out of nothing. She couldn't tell if it was panicked or excited. Hopefully it didn't need food, because she didn't plan on sharing her tasty meal. She hated sharing.

A simple side-step was enough to avoid their irksome claws. She aimed her katana carefully; she needed to end them in a way that didn't demolish the delicious parts of their disturbing forms. So, she aimed for the head.

[attacks crabs - katana]
y_bZEP5I3Fsword
Stabbed in Bicep -- 8.5 damage +1 Blades

sword

[marguerite harvard d2a (zori)]

I t z a l

You look hopeful
Like we're supposed to work somehow
Can't you tell our light burned out?
Got a lot to cry about

Mirage didn’t seem to have any trouble getting out of the way of the crustaceans, meanwhile I’m getting sliced up like I’m the one who’s the main course for dinner. I wanted to say that it would’ve helped to have paid more attention in the training center for a moment like this, but that’s a pretty big stretch. I wasn’t walking into the arena with more than a few things drilled into my head anyway, most of them boiling down to tuck and roll and don’t eat certain types of berries.

“Get it off!” I wagged my foot and ankle after another got too close. Mirage’s swing cut deep across a few of them, only reinforcing that I’d made a good choice of ally (and maybe she had made a suspect one?). I’d have to pull my weight. Things were only going to get harder from here, when we weren’t facing creatures with sand for brains. I angled my katana and tried to find an opening in the flank of creatures headed our way.

It had to be a trip seeing me on screen back in five. Then again, I could imagine the boys making fun of me, holding my sword like I knew what the fuck I was doing. They wouldn’t know any better, would they? Of course, the more scars I wound up getting the more obvious it became that I wasn’t the most adept at defending myself. I positioned the katana closer to my chest and tried to drive back any thought at all.

Better to just swing, wasn’t it?

I took a beat before raising my katana again. I’d try mirroring what Mirage had done and hope for the best.

“Back off crab-os!” I said as I readied the katana for a swing, “HNNNG!”

[Izal Usoa D5a attacks the latch crabs with his katana (sword)]

ELEGANT

zbbABh6rwrsword
[result:] -- accuracy day 2

sword
[result: +3.5]sword·sword

[d1b. xylia fray ♕ kaяi]

Snap snap. Snip snip. These stupid tributes were annoying. They kept swinging their stupid swords and all the Latch Crabs wanted was a hug! A painful one for the tributes but a hug none the less. They were so ungrateful. Did they ever stop to think that the Latch Crabs were just lonely?

Very rude.

Inconsiderate.

They deserved pain for that.

For a moment, you hear the scuttling stop as they reconvene. A silent click here, another snap here. They were thinking of a plan. You blink, and next thing you know they are stacking on top of each other. One by one it is no longer small crabs scuttling against the ground. But three giant stacks of crab.

Asking to be smacked down.

latch crabs attack mirage ; claws (knife)

ZfPUmgL2ZUknife
( stabbed in bicep - 8.5 )


latch crabs attack itzal ; claws (knife)

knife
( sc on neck - 4.0 )

knife·knife

[Python]

﹙   m i r a g e   v i g i l  ﹚

Worked 11 hours and too exhausted to write


-Mirage hisses and glares at the crab that dared to stab her

-She's had plenty of knife wounds before, tis but a scratch

-Watches Itzal struggle a bit: it's a little funny, but this can become serious if he can't pull his weight

-For now, they're doing well enough

[attacks crabs - katana]
C2FIyt9hS2sword
Deep Gash on Left Bicep -- 8.0 damage +1 Blades

sword

[marguerite harvard d2a (zori)]

I t z a l

You look hopeful
Like we're supposed to work somehow
Can't you tell our light burned out?
Got a lot to cry about

Mirage didn’t even miss a beat after taking a claw deep. I knew she’d seen some shit, but anyone that didn’t even flinch from a hit like that? Was not anyone who’s shitlist I wanted to be on.

She sliced across yet another one of the crabs, meanwhile they had started to circle around me like they could taste all the blood I’d been spilling across the ground. Was that a thing? Did crabs taste? Man – I should’ve paid more attention in school.

Part of me thinks it’d be easier to focus on another person rather than a ton of creatures; they were faceless, a horde that was meant to draw out fear rather than anger. Killing one or two of them was an empty win. Killing someone else?

Not something that I wanted to do, but the weight of it was heavy enough to put more oomph into a swing. You’d embarrassed to die here, but nothing felt as tragic as if I was gonna die to some kid who’d had the year’s worst luck. No one was going to have a funeral for a crab.

“Okay, okay,” I muttered, blood now dripping down to my wrists from each arm. “I know I got to make this count.”


[Izal Usoa D5a attacks the latch crabs with his katana (sword)]

ELEGANT

B9rogno2apsword
[result: miss]sword

[d1b. xylia fray ♕ kaяi]

Ouch ouch! These tributes were not friendly, no not friendly one bit. The boy couldn't really seem to hit them, maybe he was confused by all of their scuttling noises. But the girl, she was good with her sword, too good. It was making them angry, and the clacking of their claws grew louder, more aggressive. There were less of them, but it seemed as if there were more at the same time. They managed to get a good chunk out of the girl and her blood tasted oh so good.

Their blood lust grew.

And they were hungry for more.

latch crabs attack mirage ; claws (knife)

LFl_7BWZIPknife
( dg - 8.0 )


latch crabs attack itzal ; claws (knife)

knife
( block - 0.0 )

knife·knife

[Python]

﹙   m i r a g e   v i g i l  ﹚

Most of the crabs were in pieces. Mirage and Itzal were making quick work of the pests, but it wasn't quick enough. They circled Itzal like a swarm of ants. Pesky little things, they were. And freakish. If she hadn't tasted crab in the Capitol, she would've considered them disgusting. Thankfully, tributes were spoiled rotten before the Games, and Mirage had been sure to try every type of food she could find. It provided that extra boost of motivation, knowing what was waiting for her when she returned to the Capitol. Knowing what she had been missing out on. She would stop at nothing to go back. She's been working so hard - she deserves it, doesn't she?

Pathetic that these crabs thought they could stop her. Even so, the claws were beginning to aggravate her. This wasn't supposed to feel like a real knife fight in dark alley. She had plenty of experience in that area already; the sting of a wound was almost nostalgic. Here, it was inconvenient. She didn't have all of the medical supplies she had at home. She needed to be careful here.

"Take your time," she said to Itzal. Her tone was steaming with a pleasant sarcasm. She was not yet angry with him, but this fight was becoming a hassle. It was worth less and less of her time by the second, even if she did get to cook the little bastards.

As she kicked one of the crabs away, she shouted a command to her Seelie. "Look for trespassers! I don't want to be interrupted." She didn't know if it listened to such orders, but it was worth a try. She didn't want any tributes thinking they could 'cleverly' make their way into her shadow and stab her in the back while she was busy.

[attacks crabs - katana]
rqxlY1C4bbsword
Shallow Cut on Back -- 4.0

sword

[marguerite harvard d2a (zori)]

I t z a l

You look hopeful
Like we're supposed to work somehow
Can't you tell our light burned out?
Got a lot to cry about

[Itzal flees to go do leisure things!]

ELEGANT