Won't You Wrap the Night Around Me // [ Argo's Last ]

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

I got my ticket for the long way round
Two bottles of whiskey for the way
And I sure would like some sweet company
And I'm leaving tomorrow, what do you say

The world was spinning. Not the way it should, round and round. Now it was over and under, over and under, with each labored breath. He could still see the sword coming at him, Ares' rage driving it straight and true. And now it was just flashes of sunlight over and under and through.

Argonite coughed, the ringing in his one good ear subsiding. He must have fallen back at some point, because the foliage was up and he was down. He touched his cheek, drawing his fingers through the river. Strangely, he didn't feel any pain. Just a distant knowing that this was the end. "I think, you know, I might be dying."

So much for the theory that Shores had to sacrifice themselves piece by piece. He'd given too much of himself at once, just like Emerald. It was strange, to know and still be tied to his earthly possessions. Maybe death wouldn't be so unlike living after all. He just needed to part with the little he had left.

"Cheska? A little louder and to my right, please. There you are." He smiled, his mouth still perfectly intact, except for the outline of blood. "My fedora, and - and Little Dude." He struggled to reach his head, fingers trembling on the edge of his hat. He left a bloody smear to join Hannah's as he knocked it from his skull. "Keep Little Dude safe, okay? And put some bandages over his eyes when you bathe. He can be such a creeper." He meant to laugh, to chuckle the way his sisters said made him attractive. Instead he winced, the blood from his eye filling up his mouth. He heaved, losing more than blood. He coughed. "The hat," he spit. "The hat needs to go to the little girl who helped me at the talent show. She was like half our size." For a second he forced himself to focus, to meet her gaze, to be sure the bits of him that were left continued on.

"Help me sit up. To my right. A little more. There." He blinked, felt phantom eyelashes rise and fall. But he was a one-eyed, one-eared sacrifice. He heard the cameras focusing, wondered if the Gamemakers would darken the red or try to turn the lens so that his good right side showed. "Good afternoon, Panem. I wanted to take this opportunity to say, I've missed you. Every one of you. And I'm -" he paused, adam's apple working up and down but no sound coming out. The world went under and over. It wasn't gratitude that filled him like a balloon, that kept him floating just above the ground. No, it was something else.

But he couldn't remember the word. He shuddered. "I'm not coming home to you." He touched the vibrant leaf on his chest, stamping a fingerprint to it. "And I'm not sorry about that. Not to anyone, except to my sisters. Opal, there's a letter in the training center, in my bedroom. It's for you."

It was only by the grace of Francesca that he did not collapse then. The tide of energy had finally turned away from him. There was no going back. Just over and under. "I'm not coming home to you, Panem. I'm coming home to Emerald."

He tapped Francesca then, letting her know it was okay to let him down. "Don't let me sleep. There's more." Desperation had crawled into his voice, making it smaller, weaker. He wiped his hand over his damaged eye, coating it in fresh blood. Argo raised it shakily to Francesca's cheek. "I'm going to miss you, Cheska. You are crazy, and I love it. My gift." He held up his hand, letting it slid from cheek to cover her mouth. Even he could smell the scent of copper mingling with their breaths. "I wish I had more to share with you."

When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

table (c) Stare

[Noah Vau - D2 (Cato)]

ARES PINE

"Dialogue"
"Hearing"
Thoughts
Narration

My anger fuels the fight inside me. Argonite betrayed me and for that death will meet him. As soon as I launch at Argo with my sword, I instantly knew this blow was fatal. My sword strikes right at his left eye. The first that registers is shock. Did I really want to kill Argo over leaving in the middle of the night? He wanted to get away from where Magenta died. How could I blame him for escaping the memory of her death. Why did I choose to pursue the course of vengeance? The path to forgiveness would have been an easier road to embark on. Instead I just killed no.... I murdered my ally, my friend, my brother Argonite Shore. What have I done? I hear my katana fall to the ground. I'm defenseless, but I no longer care. Something inside me told me to forgive him, but I didn't listen. Rage took over.

I look at Argo now a bloody mess from my wound. So much shame and regret wells up inside of me. I never meant to kill Argo. Forgiveness not vengeance should have been my path. Instead the moment I saw Argo enter my view, I immediately attacked him without even bothering to ask him the reasons for leaving. What kind of monster am I? I may be a career, but back home at the academy they do not train you for killing. Even if the instructors could somehow replicate the atmosphere of the games, I know they can't anticipate the bonds that could be forged. Such a bond formed between Argo and I. Being trapped in the vines would have been the end of me if not for him. I owe him my life and how do I repay him? By murdering him in cold blood. Up until this moment, I had been proud of being a career. No longer do I want to fight for pride and honor.

I may still be in the hunt for winning the games. I haven't been harmed in two days. But what do I fight for now if not honor and glory? What will drive me to finish the games? Do I make it back home to my family? No not at all. My family didn't even have the decency to say goodbye to me. What then do I fight for. Forgiveness. I will fight to win the games not to bring home glory or even to live. Instead what I will fight for shall be to make it to district one. The Shores will surely despise me now, but I will fight to make it to Argonite's family. Let them be the ones to rain justice upon me. They deserve to be the ones to strangle the life out of me. No one hear in the arena can make me forgive myself. The Shores are the only ones who can do that for me. His family will want to kill me, but it's what I deserve at this point. My eyes fall upon Argo again.

"I never meant for this to happen...." My knees buckle. I find myself on the ground tears flowing from my eyes. I doubt Argo is even with me anymore. Just a bloody mess. Francesca could kill me. I almost want to shout out for her to do it, but I know what I want to fight for. Begging for the Shore's forgiveness is the only reason I shall continue to keep on living in this world. Back home I dreamed of being reaped for the games. Seeing death on the screen always looked enticing to me. I volunteered for the games. No longer could I handle being a bystander at home. My journey through the games happened to be exactly how I planned it to be until now. Seeing death and causing it are two different things. I always thought killing a tribute and watching the life drain out of their eyes would excite me. Why though do I feel nothing but contempt for myself. Glory and pride for the district. That motto had been drilled into my head. Shame and sorrow is all I feel right now.

[Deleted]

What the hell just happened? Francesca asks herself as she watches Ares completely betray not only Argo but herself as he stabs his sword into the eye of Argonite Shore and tear it clean out of its socket. A clean kill, too clean of one as he runs off with everything that Argo had. “RUN YOU FUCKING TRAITOR!! YOU’RE A FUCKING HYPOCRITE AND A TRIATOR; RUN ARES BECAUSE IT’S YOUR NECK THAT I’LL BE DRINKING FROM NEXT!!!” She screamed as the bitch from Two ran like the pussy that he is. She turns to her friend and brother as he falls to the ground. But this is different than Magenta’s death, hers was slow motion and beautiful as Francesca had braided seaweed in her hair before she was flown back home. But now it’s too fast, too improbable, too realistic for Cheska to comprehend as Argo collapses against the hard brown earth. Red flows from his body and stains the Mother red, and Francesca never realized that as we come into this earth bloodied and red, we return to her the same way.

She runs towards Argo, not quite catching him as he touches his cheek and simply says "I think, you know, I might be dying. She doesn’t believe that he just said that, as she can’t help but laugh.“Please don’t say that Argo, please you can’t die on me now, you can’t die.” She is fumbling over her words as she’s stuffing bandages down his eye socket. He starts to talk again but she chooses not to listen at first, choosing not to believe that these are his last words, yet he continues on, so she listens. "My fedora, and - and Little Dude. Keep Little Dude safe, okay? And put some bandages over his eyes when you bathe. He can be such a creeper." He says all of this as he reaches for his hat, stained with the blood of everyone and everything that they had encountered in the Arena. Tears fall down her face as she chuckles and he winces.

It hurts that as he’s taking his last breathes he can still bring light and humor into Francesca’s world. It’s not fair really that this wonderful beacon of light and love and happiness to be snuffed by oppression and resentment. He should be the one to win; he and Magenta should have been able to live happily ever after. Yet here they are, experiencing Argo’s last breaths as Argo goes on. "The hat, the hat needs to go to the little girl who helped me at the talent show. She was like half our size." Francesca can only assume that he means the girl from Five yet she doesn’t fully remember that night. She hopes that she can go back to that night where they all had fun with each other and weren’t out for blood. He tries to sit up and she helps as he gives directions, and they never break their gaze on each other.

He starts on his speech his goodbye speech, the final words that Argonite Shore will ever speak; and Francesca starts her torrential downpour as she cries, and cries. Argonite talks about home, and his family and his dead sister who died 3 years ago. It only adds to her depression because she has no family, she only has herself and being an only child sucks. She hates the fact that she only has herself and her parents. He is getting weaker and weaker as he goes on; and Francesca wishes that he could stop. “Argo please don’t talk like this,” she sobs “these aren’t your last words they can’t be It’s- it- its not possible.” Tears still roll down her face and cascade upon Argo’s beautiful face as she sobs.

Argo taps Francesca to let him down and she does. She starts to close his eyes when he responds, "Don't let me sleep. There's more." He’s weak now everyone can hear it in his voice as he cups his hand with blood and brings it up to her face, letting her drink his blood. "I'm going to miss you, Cheska. You are crazy, and I love it. My gift. I wish I had more to share with you." “Argo you already gave me so much more,” she says when she finishes drinking; her voice so much more calmer than she expected it to be. “You are a true friend to me and you will always be more to be than that. You are my brother; you gave me light and made everything about this so much more bearable and so much more fun. You will always be in my heart. I only wish I can be half the person that you are. Tell Magenta that I said hi, ok? Tell her that you two deserve to be happy wherever you go and that I’ll always be here for you two. And Hannah was well.” She finishes with a kiss, not the one she gave Moss for her blood. But a true kiss, her farewell gift to the one of the true friends that she will ever have. He’s one of the only people who acknowledge her craziness and she cries from a mix now. A mix of terrible happiness and terror, and Argo is the only person who can draw this cocktail out from her depths.

He finally releases his last breathe she closes his eyes. She grabs any plants that she can find and dresses him up, not in the same fashion. But in the fashion of a king as she weaves Baby’s Breath into his hair, taking the fedora upon his head as she continues to make him into the king he should have been. A bouquet of wild flowers is now in his hand as she turns to the sky and flips it off. “You’ll be the next I feast upon, Don’t think that you’re safe behind you screens and computers, because you’ve just pissed off the Queen.”

That's when she heard his voice. The voiced that betrayed not only them but the voice that tore her heart out. She turns to find the monster kneeling off in the distance. And he appears to be crying, crying over what he did. "You have no excuse to be back here. You have no excuse to be crying for what you did!! If you never meant for this to happen then why did you attack him?! Why Ares, would you attack the only person who saved your life on the first day? He is the only reason why you're alive and you repay the favor by fucking killing him?! You're disgusting Ares Pine and you don't deserve forgiveness. Especially from his family."

She swings her naginata out towards him, hoping that she would have the conviction to slay this beast. Tears swell in her eyes as she glares down upon her enemy; she knows that she has the opportunity to kill him now. To gain revenge and redemption for what he has done to Argo. She knows that Argo will be pissed about she's about to do and she knows that she will feel guilty later on; but she has to take this opportunity now, and she does.

Attacks Ares Pine (Naginata)
Bsy_dd1Uglaive
13074 -- Shallow Cut on Left Bicep -- 3.5 damage
(Pole Sword)


glaive

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my walk
You're gonna miss me talk, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

Over.

Under.

Through.

His breath was coming in stops and starts. Strangely, after everything, it was his lungs that bothered him the moment. It was torture to keep them working, in and out, in and out. He only heard snatches of what Francesca said, his lips curving into a smile. "Hi. Yes, I will say hi to Magenta and Hannah. And to Emerald." There was peace in that statement, a small bit of comfort as his body failed him, piece by piece.

He dropped his hand from Francesca's face, from memorizing the slope of her cheek and the curve of her jaw. He managed to turn his right eyes to see Ares. "Shit, man. None of us meant for any of this to happen." He shivered. "Except us. Stupid volunteers, am I right?" He blinked. Or, meant to blink. Instead his remaining eye closed. It was just too much effort, too much active concentration to see. He wanted to save his voice for last.

Shouting. Just voices, floating over him. Over and under.

He rasped in the dirt, clinging to roots. "Just leave it, Cheska. Let it go. I wanted to be here. Well not here, here. It's kind of dirty." He coughed, blood welling from his lips. "No more blood. Not today."

I got my ticket for the long way round
The one with the prettiest of views
It's got mountains
It's got rivers
It's got sights to give you shivers
But it sure would be prettier with you

[Noah Vau - D2 (Cato)]

ARES PINE

"Dialogue"
"Hearing"
Thoughts
Narration

So much confusion and pain. It just feels wrong to be in the arena now fighting for the simple task of winning the games. I always dreamt about killing someone to show off my worthiness as a tribute. Right now after bringing Argo to the brink of death it just doesn't feel like I thought it would have. I always thought killing someone would make me feel mighty and strong. Now all I feel about myself isn't really what I want to feel. That's when I feel a small cut on my left bicep. I turn around to see the girl from one standing there shouting at me about fatally wounding Argo.

"A little upset are we? Face it Francesca it's the nature of the games. You would have had to kill him to win." I raise my katana at her and charge. My stroke lasts true. I sever off the area of Francesca and a small smile forms on my face. No one messes with me and gets away with it. Henry Fleet from seven tried to kill me and what happened to him? He ended up dying eventually. Here I am four days later after the attempt on my life. The fact that Francesca could have killed me and didn't just proves how strong I really am. Of course I already knew the truth about my abilities, but now this half ass attack on me just further validates my strength.


-Ares attack Francesca-

fN6v1TSzsword
1175 -- Severed Left Ear -- 8.0 damagesword

[Deleted]

Francesca is so pissed off at the asshole from Two, she wants to end him right then and there. But then Argo is there, pleading with her to end it all. "Just leave it, Cheska. Let it go. I wanted to be here. Well not here, here. It's kind of dirty. No more blood. Not today.” He asks of Francesca and who is she to deny him his dying wish? She turns to Argo, her brother as he still lies on the ground. She is so focused on her anger and her pain that she doesn’t even feel the sword against ear, only the blood that pours out. She doesn’t care as she leans down and kisses Argo one last final time. “Ok sweetie, anything for you,” she whispers as she puts her blade away. “You’ll be home soon enough.”

She turns to the other boy as glares as she spits in his face. “I’ll be back, and I’ll bring others with me. You can bet that your death will be nothing less than torture.”
She run, leaving the only good thing about this place behind and she doesn’t look back.

[Francesca flees]