tear you apart // j v. s v. v

[pogue]

It's the face of Lucia that greets him first in the midnight sky, with legs pulled up to his chest and dark sand making is way into every open and closed wound on flesh and soul- rotting him from the inside out. His sleep schedule has been turned into something foreign, flipped over and reversed until the only time he can sleep is when the morning sun begins to rise from slumber, bisecting he night in two and leaving him helpless to whatever comes with the heat. 

Exhaustion rings out from muscle and bone, wounds open and closed screaming in soreness as the anthem continues to blare above him. Broken and bent, bruised and stumbling- alive nonetheless. His ghosts go from shadow to sky, and it takes all of his willpower and more to force himself to stare up into the sky and swallow both sin and pride, taste the bitterness of victory and let it poison his veins once more. Stoic in life, stoic in death, Lucia stares into and through him, and he feels what's left of his humanity bleed out into the black, the arena savoring every last drop until there is nothing left.

It's easier that way- to be cold, angry, strings on limbs, controlled by adrenaline and higher powers.

It's why he bends, but does not break, when Circe Murdock's face appears in the sky, punctuating the anthem with one final stolen kill. His eyes widen slightly, only caught by the closest of cameras, as he sees an adversary's gaze rain down on him one last time before she too disappears into the evening clouds, red and orange highlighting a massacre, fading blue and white calling for more.

In his own pity he rises, the wind turning from blistering heat into something a bit more bitter, cold, uninviting and desperate. It carves into him as he begins his descent down the side of the black sands and into something more sinister, knowing what comes next and pulling his mechanic's goggles down over his eyes to avoid the way the sands bluster against flesh, carving away any decency he had remainining.

He is a boy, broken and bent and bruised and wallowing in something dangerous.

He is a killer, beast and mutt and feral against whatever is thrown at him.

The dichotomy tugs at what is left of his heart strings before severing them entirely, letting them fall into the wind and finally the sands- into an arena as unforgiving as it is opportunistic. Hand on blade and chain wrapped around forearm, an extension of himself designed to be deadly, to take him into territories he's told himself he was ready and willing to step into for eighteen years of his life.

All for one kill to make him wish he could turn back around, all for one kill to cement the fact that he never truly had that luxury.

There's movement in the distance, sensed by the hairs on his arms standing to attention and the chill that runs down his spine. He moves in silence, crouches low and drags his feet against the sand to avoid any sound coming from a kid turned weapon, turned hollow.

It's only when the flames finally light themselves on the end of his blade that he sees their faces- Safina and Vera, and swallows a breath caught in his throat. Gaze looking between the two of them, following a smile that traces their jugulars, begging for blood. Ready and unwilling, he feels that same red bubble up from his gut once more as he readies himself to launch the weapon.

He doesn't fight the rage this time.
But then again, he never has.

The last memory he has before the blade finds air and skin is of Lucia's corpse, hand still wrapped around glaive, blood still warm. He'd bury the two of them in the shadows of the sands-

Then, he'd bury what is left of himself, too.

[Jupiter lights throwing scorpion striker on fire]

[Jupiter attacks Vera ; scorpion striker]
0gGTUX7vt6throwing knife
[6.0 - +1 TP +1 bloodlust + 0.5 rainbow lanyard]

[fire roll - 1/3]
1-50
[8]

[Jupiter attacks Safina ; scorpion striker]
throwing knife
[6.0 - +1 TP +1 bloodlust +0.5 rainbow lanyard]

[fire roll - 1/3]
1-50
[2]

throwing knife·1-50·throwing knife·1-50

[andromache s. ⚔️ [d1] sucy]

I sit under my parasol with bated breath, whole body tense as Panem's national anthem blares through the arena. I can't stand this song; I'd rather they played more tracks from that stupid animatronic band from the main stage. I'm ready to see Circe Murdock looking down at me, with her sullen face, wearing her pretty perma pout. She must've been popular on the outside. I wonder how much bet money went down the drain when Tide cracked her head open. Then there's the other two faces. The ones before hers, which I see, I do see, but my brain lags on registering. The faces of my friends look down at me, strangely angelic in the way they wrap around the sky. After the anthem ends, I sit and stare into the void. Without the anthem lighting up the sky, the black sands nearly meld into the dark sky above me, giving the darkness a depth I'd never known could exist before. Back home, the night was polluted by factory smog and blinking street lights. The whole of Eight seemed determined, in a way, to stay awake, just in case opportunity passed it by, just in case the powers that be decided to reroute all the luxury production away from us again. The night here, artificial as it is, wants nothing from us. Its unique darkness provides me with a sense of comfort despite its unfamiliarity.

Nori is dead. Lucia is dead. I know this, logically. I feel the reality of their deaths settling inside of me, feel the way it eats at the air in my lungs. But in the deep, pitch black night, I can nearly see them emerging from beyond a sand dune, waving their arms at me, with matching heart sunglasses propped up on their heads. I never really had girl friends before this. I probably won't ever again either, no matter if I get out of here or not. I'll always have them though. Two more sisters to add to the tally. 

I settle down to sleep, safe under my sponsored shelter from the steadily rising sun. Two more sisters to add to the tally, two more sisters that I'm fighting for, and never have to fight against. Small mercies, huh?

...

In the evening, which is the morning, I crawl out from under my parasol and get moving, once I've fixed my two long braids. My hair is greasy, and I'm splattered in viscera from head to toe, but to keep myself sane, I allow myself the few minutes it takes to take down my hair and do it back up again. It clears my mind; allows me to peer through the blood dyed grief clouding my vision for a brief moment. Doing the math, I realise that there's only six of us left. I smile, despite myself, knowing I managed to beat Marceline. I bet she's raging, wherever she is, silently stewing with a serious face on even in the afterlife.

I cross the dunes. My white clothes don't stand out against the black sand as much as they would've a few days ago. I move as stealthily as I can regardless. I can't help thinking about the other five left, can't help trying to pinpoint which ones took my allies from me. I could rule out Tide. Had Safina Roy finally snapped? Maybe she ran back on Lucia and Nori for what we did to her district partner. Were they together when they died? 

Had they broken our oath?

Possibilities went round and around my head as I moved, and each one made me angrier.

By the time I see Jupiter Graves' flaming weapon, I'm ready for anything, or anyone, which makes him and Safina Roy the luckiest tributes in here as far as I'm concerned. Their odds aren't even that bad; I'm not even sure I want to win. The only thing for certain is that I want to hurt.

[kaitlin]

vera uses poison plants to coat her spiked blunt!

vera attacks jupiter graves with spiked blunt

j622zwbQVespiked blunt

result: 9.0 +1 bloodlust, +1 poison (1/3)

vera attacks safina roy with spiked blunt

spiked blunt

result: 7.0 +1 bloodlust, +1 poison (1/3)

vera rolls lightstep against jupiter's attack 9033

1-10

success!

spiked blunt·spiked blunt·1-10

[D'Arcy Mason d6b [Tyler]]

[googlefont="Cinzel Decorative"]

Safina Roy

tear you apart - I

My heart is colder than ever as the faces shine in the receding darkness of the dawn sky. Circe Murdock from Four comes first, and a deep sense of something stirs in me. A foggy familiarity of a girl toying with me, seeing what limits I could push. If she could see me now, pushed far beyond any limits I've ever known. Would she have stayed her distance if she knew the beast I turned out to be?

Lucia Valentine lights up the sky next, and vindication starts to burn under all of my simmering rage. Two of the three girls now down for the count, crimes paid for with their lives. I could try and tell myself it was still the need for vengeance after what they did to Serelis. Attach some sort of noble meaning to the bloodlust, the marks I had placed on all three of their heads. But the beast was no longer a secret to be hidden away, a burden in need of denial. All I'd be now is a liar.

Nori Halliday makes one final appearance in the arena, shining down unsmiling at the arena, at the tributes, at the demon who snuffed out her life. My eyes stare back up without seeing, my mind focused on the living rather than the dead. There were 5 souls left standing in my way now. Five keys locking me in this blasted cage. Chief among them is Vera Jeon. The last of the trio left to pay for what she's done. As the day makes it's appearance and the heat makes any sleep almost impossible, it is her occupying my thoughts, motivating me to keep going. I'm driven forward by the chance to confront her. Show her the beast she helped unleash herself. It may have been here all along, but the lock on it broke when she decided to chop an arm off.

The other Sera, too, has reason to fear me in this arena. We've already shed each other's blood, we might as well see whether one of us can finish the job we started. Jupiter has been almost an unknown in the arena, ever since that first night at the main stage. A brief memory of the boy with a plate full of food flashes behind my eyes. I make a mental note to thank him again for the meal when I'm swinging at his head.

I don't dare think of Artemis, the girl in the tent with her tablet and company. I don't think of Tide, my ally in here, brought together for survival and torn apart by the shifting sands. I will cross those bridges when I get to them.

As the sun descends beyond the horizon, I find myself once again trudging between torn canvas, feet heavy in the dark sands below. How different things had been when I was here last, battling skeletons like they were the enemies to fear. How foolish I had been. I know now who my enemies should have been all along. The living dead were a mere distraction from the dead still living.

The dusk is darker than usual, leaving the fire inside me to burn with a renewed brightness. In the last faint glimmers of light I can see the two tributes as they approach. The bald head of Jupiter, a mystery now revealed to me with the marks of his own battles faint on his skin. He strikes out and I feel the sting fresh. My fire burns brighter. Vera Jeon, a new look in her eye that pleases the beast. I know that she got my message loud and clear. Her strike comes out at me with a force ready to kill.

I ready a weapon of my own for a strike, a vicious grin on my lips. The beast will be fed well tonight.

[Safina attacks Jupiter | Spiked Blunt]
5Widbe02wIspiked blunt
[Result = 14002 Broken Left Shin 7.0]

[Safina attacks Vera | Spiked Blunt]
spiked blunt
[Result = Split Skull X]

[Safina attempts to light-step Vera's attack]
1-10
[Result = Success! Damage negated to 0]

spiked blunt·spiked blunt·1-10

[pogue]

He loses his sight within the flames of a weapon extending out from his wrist, blade arcing in a blaze of orange and red- blood of mutt and boy and girl coating the steel, burning up in tar and flint. The motion is fluid, eighteen years of practice etched into bones that come and go with their own mortality, ferociousness hidden in the shaky breaths of a boy too tired for his own good. 

Flicked wrist, blade cuts through the silence and fire follows so closely behind- teeth to teeth and grit to grit as both of his opponents dive out of the way in the nick of time, chain rattling in the air and flame spreading to nothing but the dust that settles between the three of them as weapons are drawn. Jupiter curses himself and his own luck, sharpened skills failing him in the time he needed them most.

But it's not the sight of his own failures, etched in black and red and orange that unnerves him most.

Instead, it's what comes next- hidden in the folds of a bloody affair, spilled out into the void between the three of them. Vera's blade swings out towards him and he does everything in his power to dodge, chained weapon turning into a burden as it catches on an exposed metal frame of his own vehicle. He tugs once, twice, knuckles turning white under the strain of his own adrenaline and attempts. It's no use, though- he realizes it within the seconds it takes for Safina to adjust her stance and look towards him- broken boy turned sitting duck.

Weapon meets flesh, just beneath his shin, something cracks- and he fucking howls. Years spent swallowing down his own pain erupts to the surface in one gasp and scream, bloody murder slipping out towards the night sky above. Fingers curl to fist and he swings out at her before falling into a half-stance, palming the side of the cycle he'd been using to steady himself for what he knows is coming next.

Instead, it's the body of Vera Jeon that greets his gaze- skull crushed under the pressure of her own mortality, Safina's weapon finding its way into the back of her head.

Something splatters out to the grounds in front of him, crimson and matter and everything in between staining the sands before being lost in the shadows. Jupiter's eyes widen as he follows the trail of blood and murder that now spills from a standing corpse for the few seconds that she clings to life before finally collapsing to the ground. Her cannon follows, every hair on his neck stands to attention and a chill follows close down his spine, mixing and melding with the waves of pain that shoot up from his leg.

He attempts to shift his weight, stumble away from the fight but it's of no use- there are daggers in his skin and flesh hanging from where the spikes had embedded themselves, flaming chain still wrapped around the vehicle to his left. He's a shadow of the killer from the day before, stripped of a feral nature and a stones throw away from his own coffin.

Instead, he resorts to the only thing he has left.

There's a hand wrapped around a single throwing knife in his back pocket, obscured by the shadows as he looks at Safina's form and steadies himself, fighting against the waves of fire that seem to be rising and collapsing from his leg. Hardly standing, a heartbeat and a half from falling, he knows by the time he even launched the knife Safina would be able to cave him in, too. 

It's said with as much bravery and stoicism as he can muster, catching sharpened breaths in his throat as he finally speaks.

"First time?" He says softly, sharp and cold and melting from the inside out. His gaze shifts between Safina and the corpse of a girl he hardly knew, her cannon still ruminating in the sky. Blinks, sees Lucia, blinks back and sees himself.

Last time. He promises to himself as he looks back at her, half-hearted attempt to convince a boy of his own bravery.

[Light Step - Day Five ; Vera's attack #14004]

bp5Ujs4h6z1-10

1-10

[D'Arcy Mason d6b [Tyler]]

[googlefont="Cinzel Decorative"]

Safina Roy

tear you apart - II

My blunt cracks against Jupiter's leg and the boy's howls echo out into the open air, like a wounded beast calling out for some sort of help, a pack that will not arrive to save it. At the mercy of something fiercer encroaching on its meal. The Hunger Games have always been a dog eat dog world, after all. I just happened to be the dog with the bigger bite.

Perhaps hearing his screams, or the crack of bone in his leg, or the sight of the punch that carries Jupiter to a knee, but the fire inside me burns brighter than ever as I turn to the other wolf in the sand. Vera Jeon. Once backed by a ferocious pack of her own. I already know that her howls, should they come, will go unanswered. I already saw to half of that. Someone else gifted me the other half.

As my weapon comes down square on her head, I send her back to the pack that had left her behind.

It happened quick. So, so quick. I'm not even sure if she had even known it happened before it was already over. No time to let pain sink in, for her to feel that same pain that Serelis had felt. Nor the pain Nori endured, slow and bitter, with the time to see it's looming arrival. How strange death could be, sometimes.

I think that I should feel some sort of vindication. I had dished out the vengeance I had promised myself I'd take. Perhaps a few nights ago this would have been enough for the version of me that still grappled with control of the rage that now burned ferociously and uncontrollably. Maybe the humanity would've doused the flames, brought the girl back from the demon's clutches.

But it's too late. The demon rages on. It's not enough.

I turn back to Jupiter on the ground, his eyes taking in the whole gory sight in front of him. The knife still stuck in his side, a handful of spikes still sticking out of the useless leg. A fox caught in a thorny trap, now struggling to break free before this deadly beast decides its fate. He knows the trap he's found himself in. He knows there is no escape from me. So he stands there, unsteady, facing me with an air of confidence of a man preparing to meet death with his chest held high. He speaks what I plan to ensure are his final words.

"First time?"

It's so unexpected, even to the beast raging its bloody control, that for a moment that control slips. For the first time I can still feel the original version of myself under all of the anger and hurt and pain and fury and sadness. She is still in there, I am still in there. Then the lapse of control ends, the beast returns with its hunger. But this time I can still make out her faint presence, still fighting against the odds to not be extinguished completely.

It's enough that I can hold the beast back and think about the question. The boy's banter at a time like this. A reminder that there's more to these Games than the arena and the death. There is an audience watching, looking to be entertained. I laugh at his audacity, or maybe at the need for any theatrics at a time like this. "Nope, I've got two under my belt now. Nori Halliday was my first." I reply, a beast bantering with its prey. "You?" The interaction entertains the beastly part of me enough, that I decide I'm okay with letting the boy have a few more words.

[Safina flees the battle]