harenosum infernus [Fish & Fuses | Day 2]

[D'Arcy Mason d6b [Tyler]]

[googlefont="Cinzel Decorative"]

Safina Roy

harenosum infernus - I

As we continue to march our way between the shifting dunes of dark sand, I start to feel a bit of worry. It feels like hours now have passed since our ordeal with the undead came to an end. Night was out in full, the rolling horizon lit up in the faint light of the brilliant stars scattered throughout the sky. All in all, however, I can't help but feel the day has been too quiet.

Sure, there had been some action with the monstrosities we encountered, but it hadn't escaped my notice that there had been a lack of cannons. Nothing that I'd heard since the first day's chaos. I'm sure the remaining tributes had been facing their own hardships - I remember my brief interaction with Artemis in her tent - but a lack of our blood being spilled could only serve to build the bloodlust of our Capitol captors.

Tomorrow was sure to bring another challenge. The Gamemakers will be wanting to see some blood. I needed to be ready to face that new side of myself again if I wanted to stay alive.

The unknown of tomorrow wasn't the only thing on my mind, though. This desert seems to have no end to it, sprawling endlessly into light or dark sand on either side of that stage. So far that has meant no source of water, and thirst was starting to creep into the routine thoughts rotating their way through my mind. I had been careful to hold onto the canteen of the pure stuff, the sponsored gift to help keep me alive. I wanted to be certain I could find somewhere to replenish it before I drank the liquid gold within. Each hour that passed, however, made holding onto that mindset tougher to bear. I was getting sick of feeling my lips all chapped, my mouth bone dry. Even just a sip…

I snap myself out of it. I need to hold on, just a bit longer. I look over at Tide and Sera, both showing the same signs of thirst as myself. I can see the toll it's taken on us all in the subtle things. Compared to yesterday our pace is a lot slower, we take more frequent breaks to catch our breath, our feet drag a bit heavier in the sand. I know the heat has been more than anything Sera and I have had to deal with in Three, and I'm sure that compared to the waters of district Four this is the dryest Tide has ever been. None of us are built for this dry hell.

My eyes turn back to the front and catch glimpse of something on the horizon, shimmering in its opacity. I remember the glass structure I had seen floating hazily on the horizon when the games started. Could this be that very same structure?

"Hey, look!" I call out to the others, finger pointing towards the mysterious structure. "What do you guys think is over there?" The optimistic part of me imagines treasures may be lying in wait to help make me a winner. The thirst is wishing fountains of pure water are flowing. The realist in me warns that in the Games, it can be nothing good.

Then again, what in here is good?

[Safina attempts to trap small game w/ Trapping station]
BuYCmzy4981-2
[1 - Success! Yummmyyyyyy]

[WC: 550]

1-2

[Skiplaurel Hayjer - D7a]

The desert night had been brutal and unyielding. Travel during the daytime had simply been unfeasible, but Sera and her Alliance clung desperately to their reserves of food and water, particularly the latter. They did not know when they would encounter water again, if indeed, they would encounter any at all. Sera desperately wanted to take a sip from her own canteen, but she refused to let her allies or the people watching the games see her break first. She had turned it into almost a kind of mental competition, as long as Safina and Tide did not drink, neither would she.

That hardly made things easier. Even now Sera's mind drifted, like she had just gotten off of a particularly long shift at work. Her body needed sustenance, the dunes were beating her down, and she was wary of the moment she would begin to hallucinate. But pain is only in your head. Even as her legs quivered and her lungs felt scorched, she knew she could push herself just a little further past her limit.

Sera looks to where Safina has pointed.

"It looks like... I don't know, a maze?" Sera felt like she could come up with a better word for the structure but her higher faculties failed her.

"My guess, supplies and death, probably both, actually." Sera had seen enough Games to know where this was headed, but it was really one of the only landmarks they could discern.

"When the sun comes up again, really comes up, *pant* we're going to have to stop moving. That structure, *pant* it probably has shade." Sera reasons to her allies.

"Come on, it's not that much farther. We're too exposed out here."

table by tylerjames

[Knuckles]

❦

Every breath feels like it's setting his lungs on fire, and he tires his hardest to keep pushing forward, but this isn't what Tide is used to. It's horrible trying to prevent his parched tongue from sticking to the roof of his mouth, even then, his mouth is completely dry making it all feel worse than it already is. But this is part of it. It's the games. This has been his desire for as long as he can remember, and now he wishes to run away from it. He wishes to hold his breath and make everything make sense, yet he knows the prize at the end will be completely worth it.

Safina calls out first, and he rushes towards her. Sweat drips from his brow, and he places his hands on his knees as he looks at something in the distance, and she ask what it is. He simply shrugs his shoulders wondering if it's nothing, but nothing is here without a reason. Sera speaks next, and Tide leans on the glaive hoping to keep himself from falling over. It's important to stay alert and awake, but this is far worse than he ever could've imagined.

"Yeah, if it offers us some shelter even for the night, I think we should take it because that is incredibly important." It doesn't matter what it is, but he picks up the glaive and keeps pushing forward. "At this rate, they're trying to boil us alive. The least we can do is find ways to prevent it."

He looks ahead trying to keep his eyes and ears opening looking and listening for any sign of trouble. His performance today is leaving him struggling, but he knows he has a chance to make a difference as the games carry on. These two have to die, and it wouldn't be the end of the world if they fell over now. At least they offer him company to keep him from going insane.

"I just know we definitely need some water if we want any chance of survival."

credit to fox