scent of death [feylost, day 1, part 3]

[kap]

♛

As we were walking from the shelter of the canopy-like trees into another part of the arena, I was inspecting my reflection in the blade of my butterfly-hilted dagger*, and something was... off. Something seemed different about my eyes, and it was fucking weird. It was as if they were snake-like, or at the very least, reptilian. Thing is, they weren't a normal reptilian eye color from what I knew of reptiles, either. I mean granted, I didn't know a ton about lizards and snakes and shit, but I didn't think most of them had purple eyes.

My eyes were an almost iridescent purple, like the color of an amethyst or other dark purple gemstone, and my pupils appeared as threatening, dark black slits in the middle of my eyes**. I closed my eyes tight for a second, held them like that for a moment, and reopened them to look again. I was pretty sure at this point that I wasn't just imagining it. Had they been like this the whole time we were in the arena and my allies just had chosen not to say anything?

I put my knife away and looked at the others when we eventually stopped walking for a bit. The part of the arena we'd ended up in was interesting to say the least. It wasn't at all what I was expecting before we got into this place, but I suppose you never really know what the Gamemakers are going to throw at you. It's often unexpected things that they decide to present to the tributes, after all. I supposed we all just had to be prepared.

The forest we were in now was much different from the one before. It was most definitely a different section of the arena. The first thing I noticed, other than the very apparent darkness of the area, was the smell. It reeked of a smell mistakable as nothing other than what it most definitely had to be: death.

I'd smelled death once before, when I'd taken up an opportunity to do a 'job shadow' sort of experience at the local morgue, while the man who was doing his work in front of me was doing an embalming of a recently deceased woman. It had been horrendous. For some reason or another, though, this was that scent amplified to a level I'd never experienced before. I really didn't want to stay here for long.

The trees even seemed to leak a tar-like substance that made me think might've been the source of the smell. I wouldn't have been surprised if the Gamemakers had quite literally decided to use like, melted down bodies or something to make this shit that was coming out of the trees and surrounding us with that horrendous smell. They were crazy, after all, and the Gamemakers of the past had done some really fucked up stuff before. Maybe they were trying to one-up them.

The unsettling silence of the area was something I wasn't sure if I should break, but decided to.

"Is this smell supposed to be some sort of rotten joke?" I said aloud. I hadn't meant the 'rotten' part to be a pun, but I supposed it couldn't come out that way.

Rotting wood, fruit and fungus could be smelled all around, too. I didn't imagine there'd be signs of life besides tributes or maybe some fucked up muttations anywhere around here, unlike in the other forest we'd ventured through. So, I kept my guard up, pulling my knife out again and keeping it in my hand while I looked around the area to make sure we were alone.

I broke the silence again.

"Okay, so uhm... this is going to sound really weird, but have any of you noticed anything different about my eyes? I want to make sure I'm not going completely crazy, but I caught a reflection of them in my knife earlier and they just don't look right to me." I asked, looking at each member of the group in turn.

Hopefully I wasn't completely going insane. Not yet, at least. I wasn't ready for that.

-

[*The hilt of Quentin's dagger looks like this x with a shining silver blade]
[**Quentin's eyes look something like this: x]
[Quentin collects the following: a bundle of firewood, Fey Curse – Barkskin (+4 Torso), Chitin Helmet (+3 Head) and a Festerwood Spear]
[words: 678]

[credit to kaplan]

[knuckles]

♛

The arena is beautiful. That's all there is to it, and yet it's so sorrowful at the same time. It's scary knowing what can possibly lurk around any corner, but more importantly, it's terrifying knowing that all it takes is for one person to decide it's best to turn and betray without any sort of warning. All the strategy goes out the window, and even thinking in numbers, it can't prepare anyone for what might happen, and he's very aware of that knowing that he's roaming the arena with three other people. Being alone is probably for the best, yet here he is, walking around with people he doesn't even really care about.

"Is this smell supposed to be some sort of rotten joke?"

Quentin is right. It smells really bad, and all he can think about is the smell of death. It lingers in his nose more than he wants it to, yet before he can even begin processing what's going on around him, Quentin speaks again, this time asking if they notice anything different with his eyes.

Vallen stops in his tracks. For a moment, he thought he was seeing things, but that's when the realization become more of a reality than some figment of his imagination. Everything is stumbling around him, yet he can't take his eyes off Quentin. He's right, he does look different, and it's hard to pinpoint the reason behind it all.

"Your eyes do look different. They're very different actually. I'm not quite sure what it is." It's easy to get lost in the midst of the hunger games, but for now, he tries to stay focused.

"Are my eyes any different?" He asks raising his brow. "Are all our eyes different?"

Staying true to oneself is important, but it seems impossible because Vallen feels as though they're messing with him.

[credit to kaplan]

collects things that will be in trib!maint

[d4 tati pelotte [azalea]]

♛

Beyond the evergreen canopy lies a place much darker. Gone are the sights and sounds of a forest which has been magically enthused by a witches' spell, and they couldn't feel more distant because as soon as we step foot in these woods, there's something heavy in the air which is impossible to shake.

Quentin's right, it smells rotten, and I really hope it's some sort of joke. The trees ooze with a strange substance that I don't dare to get close to. They cry from their bark, as if this place was once like the last, beautiful and enchanting, but the secrets it held were spread. And so, to protect itself from whatever threatens to lighten the shadows, it wails and creates an aura that is sick: it's worse than anything I've smelt before because it smells like death.

Five is not the most pretty place, but I called those streets my home and would do anything to go back. I thought that the arena wouldn't be so dastardly, but as time goes by, I find myself slipping from the grip I had on myself and falling into the spells it casts. Rich and alluring, dark and dangerous - but this is a place for woes to call home, not a girl like me.

Quentin goes on again, talking about his eyes. I look at them and notice that they are different and it looks like he has taken some sort of drug to dilate his pupils to a point of being... a different shape. And the neutral tones of a human eye seem to be replaced by something more fantastical, as if this arena has enticed his body to let go of what he knew before in favour of falling into the mystery of these woods.

"Uh, I'm not trying to save your eyes look scary but... yeah, I don't think that's normal." I shuffle over to him to try and catch a glimpse of my own reflection in the blade of his knife and realise that I look the same I've always looked: tired. "Maybe it's a good thing. Can you breathe fire or something?"

[credit to kaplan]