when the sky turns black { death thread }

[k!ah]

For days now you had thought you would die, you have felt the kiss of death against your cheek but somehow you had managed to pull away, not becoming seduced by his gentle touch, or his soothing words; telling you that it would all be okay if you were to follow him, if you were to fall victim to him. But you never did, fighting him with everything you had because you thought that their was a purpose in fighting, you thought that if you fought on that you would be helping protect Potato and Ingrid but how wrong could one soul be? By fighting on you had only gotten yourself to live threw nights of pain and suffering only to have it end by one of the people that you cared about, one of the people you were fighting for. 

Once again metal kisses your skin, its cold surface painting a deep red smile into your body. What if you were to die by fire? Would your death be more pure? Metal was a man made object, thus you were being killed by the capitol, if you were to burn mother nature would have been the decider, it wouldn't have mattered that potato would have been the one influencing it. 

You don't scream as you fall to your knees, your sword falling from your hands for the last time. You wouldn't pick it up again- you couldn't. It hurt, everything hurt and this time you wouldn't fight it. You would let the pain surge through you, eating you, devouring your every being because you deserved it. Thats why he had turned on you- wasn't it? There was no other answer, you deserved what was coming for you and that was death. 

You were scared to. You had told yourself that you wouldn't be scared, that by leaving this world you would be entering a new one where your family would be waiting for you with open arms and smiling faces. Faces that you couldn't even remember. They would speak your name and tell you that they love you and you would not recognise their voices because they had been gone from your life for so long now. But that was no what you feared the most, you feared that they wouldn't be there. That nothing would be their and your new life would be an ever ending darkness where you would be trapped in your thoughts forever.

Every single hour, minute, of the day you would be reminded of their screams, you would be reminded of the way you thrusted your blade into the bodies of living people with intent to kill, you would be reminded of the way you tried to end the life of Potato. Kind gentle Potato. 

Kind gentle Potato... Where was he know? 

You look up and your eyes connect with eyes which are as cold as steel and you feel your heart squeeze because it was not a killers eyes that you last wanted to see your your last breath escaped your lips. With a shaking hand, one covered in layer upon layer of blood, you reach out to him, your shaking fingers grabbing a bunch of his shirt, covering it with blood. "Potato- Potato come back," to viewers, to Opal, your words may have seemed crazy but to you they did not. He had to come back, the Potato who you cared about had to come back. 

A new wave of tears being to well in your eyes and you stumble forwards, your hand which clung to Potato's shirt the only thing keeping you up right. "Please, I don't want to die like this, please look at me... look at me with those eyes that care. Please." You beg and let go of his shirt, your body falling into the sand, your life slipping away from you, deaths hand closing in around your own. 

[gamemaker kelsier]

[presto][/presto]

He stood in silence, a sentinel to her pain but a stony, uncaring one it seemed. He was more interested in cleaning the blood from his blade than he was in her story and her pain. He wasn't sure why he waited around after pulling the sword from her stomach like she were a stone and he were a king. In fact, he'd thought of leaving already, the enemy in front of him definitely vanquished but though the body willed it, something was holding him back. Someone was holding him back.

It couldn't be the girl kneeling in front of him, dying so slowly that it was almost cruel of him to stick his sword into her again and end it. However, once again there was something holding him back from doing so, an urgency in his brain, telling him to wait, to wait for him. He did so, sticking the sword into the ground and resting his arms on it, regarding the girl in front of him with the coldest set of eyes he had and it's because he had never gone so far away before, he had never needed to. The other days, he could kill while holding on by his fingertips.

To kill a friend, to kill one of his only friends, he'd needed to leave his body entirely on it's own and for the first time he was not finding it so very easy to return. The eyes that stared at Sonja now were emotionless, empty of everything. There was no love in them, not hatred nor pity. There was nothing but frost and though he had been from a district that was known for being dry, winter had finally come. He was away for it.

"Potato- Potato come back,"

He blinked slowly at her, as if his attention had been caught. Like a wild animal, he cocked his head to the side. He knew the name that she was calling for but he was not certain if Potato was inside of the shell that he had become anymore. He wasn't a boy anymore. He had killed people, he wasn't even loved by Ripred because she couldn't protect a sinner like him. He was lost, broken, just a test subject that had invented it's own self destruction and now here he was; a mass of muscle and tissue, a jumble of wires and veins running on automatic. The name was meaningless.

"...look at me with those eyes that care. Please."

It's a struggle to do so.

He catches her as she falls, body moving downwards in a motion too fast for the wounds he carries from her blade. Confusion grips him as he holds her steady and moves her closer, cradling her head against his chest. Her laboured breathing gives him the strongest fear he's felt in a long time. This isn't like the other times, when the girl he holds now was weak. This is worse than those times. This time the serious sounds of her lungs emptying and filling make his breath quicken as well. She rattles like a tin can half filled with rusting bolts being shaken.

Why is she bleeding like this.

"Why's you bleedin' so hard Miss Sonja?" I ask 'a her, voice sof' 'n fuller fear. I'm more full 'a it than I ever been 'afore. I c'ain't recall ther las' time I seen someone lookin' so poorly but it has gotter be when Pa finally left me all on my own. Fear bleeds inter my words as fas' as her blood goes poorin' outta a deep stab woun' on her stomach. "Miss Sonja, who did this ter yer?" I says but I reckon that I knows already who done it. I reckon I knows who done this ter her, I reckon I coud poin' him out in any room 'caus eI reckon I ther one who did this thin' ter her 'cause I reckon I remember ther momen' I slipped myself away.

I hol' her tight ter me, supportin' her weight as I kneel in ther san' in fronter her. My hands are wet with her blood on 'em an' it's sluggin slow from her back, like ther woun' that's open there knows that soon there won' be nothin' left fer ter come out. "Who did this thin' ter yer?" I ask agin', not needin' no answer 'er nothin' but I c'ain't stop askin'. My voice gits harsher, gits more feared every time that I do. I kiss ther toppa her head an' ignore the taste 'a sweat an' blood an' san' an' I hol' her tight.

"Please Ripred, please," I say, voice breakin' somethin' awful as I pull her 'way from me an' see that she ain't entirely 'wakeful. I take ther sword outter ther groun' an' I pick her up, wrappin' her arms roun' my neck so's I can carry her. I ain't sure what I'm doin' but panic got me tight in her grip an' I can feel her closin' in 'roun' my throat, makin' breathin' awful hard. I gotter git her ter ther river. I's gotter git her there an' maybe I kin heal her, maybe I kin clean her up an' she's survived agin' an' agin' an agin' so's maybe she kin do it agin'.

"Let her live."

[presto][/presto]

[k!ah]

Your falling.

Your falling into darkness, your falling away from life.

But than you stop, the strong arms of Potato catching you before you hit the sandy earth, before death takes you away for good. He wobbles slightly, his balance not as good as it could have been if you hadn't of hurt him. You wanted to appologise, you wanted to tell him that you were sorry and that you should have not turned your sword on him because what good did it do? Nothing, because now you were the won who was bleeding past the point of return. 

Your head against his chest he holds you tight and when you look up at his eyes you can see the ice melting, he was coming back. A smile plays on your lips and the pain you are in almost seems like an after thought, the pain numbing out the pain leaving your body numb to every touch. 

It was hard to breathe, as though someone had placed an iron block on your chest, making your breath become less frequent and more uneven. But you were still alive, your body still fighting even though death was at your side now, his eyes waiting patiently because this time he knew that you were his. But you don't take any notice of him, your full attention focused on the raising and falling of your chest and the way that Potato's body begins to shake against yours.  

"Why's you bleedin' so hard Miss Sonja?"  

His voice is filled with a fear that you had never heard before and it makes your heart squeeze. You look into his eyes and they are no longer as hard as stone, but soft and full of fear and concern and worry. You try to smile at him, but your lips only twitch, your body not able to summon the energy required for the simple movement. This really was the end. 

"Miss Sonja, who did this ter yer?"

Dont worry Potato, it wasn't you, not really, you wanted to say but instead of words a cough shakes your body. You mouth fills with blood which dribbles from the corner of your mouth. You much have looked disgusting, blood dripping from the corner of your mouth, splatter across your body, coating your arms and legs. 

"Who did this thin' ter yer?" He asks again but this time it is more insistent, fear dominating is words. Your try to speak but once again you cant, your lips moving but no sound coming out. Potato holds you tighter and leans down, placing a light kiss on the top of your forehead, making tears well in your eyes because that is what your mother used to do before tucking you in to bed for the night. You would then tap her noose with your finger before smiling and whispering he words goodnight. But this wasn't a good night- or was it? Weren't finally getting an escape? Wont it all finally end? You should be thanking Potato, you should be telling him how thankful you are because you really were thankful.

"Please Ripred, please, let her live." He picks you up now, your body leaving the sand, your legs limp as he tucks one arm underneath them, the other one round your back. What was he doing? Why didn't he just leave you to die? why wasn't he looking for Ingrid because it was all over for you now. 

"Po... Potato what-what are you...doing? Just... ju-just leave me. Go find Ingri-Ingrid." Your words are broken because each time you speak you feel your life draining from your body faster and faster. You wanted to say so much more, you wanted to beg him just to go because taking you with him was just wasting time and energy. "You know I-I was... I was really surprised at... first... but I see now, I see-see why you did it and... and I am sorry. Sorry I should- sh-should not have attacked... you back.... I just made things worse..." You close your eyes, tears slowly leaking from the corners like the blood and that was pouring from your body. 

[gamemaker kelsier]

[presto][/presto]

"I ain't leavin' you ter die alone like this, Miss Sonja, we're gonner fin' us Miss Ingrid an' we are gonner heal you up an' we are gonner be fine," I say, unable to stop ther uncertain shake ter my voice. I ain't knowin' what ther hell I'm doin' righ' now. I c'ain't say fer sure what ther heck I should be doin' is. What der you do when things like this happen, what der you do. I kin rememmer Opal tellin' me that she kill' her bes' frien' once an' tha' it hur' her real bad ter do so but she weren't tellin' me jus' how painful it were, she weren' tellin' me jus' how much it made yer wanna lay down in ther dir' an' die urself.

I giss I still got some hope lef' an' that's why I'm walkin t'wards ther edge 'a ther river in search of a girl who I ain't sure is alive or not, uncertain if ther girl on my back still breaths. "Don' go just-i-fy-un what I done, jus' don'," I says, voice angry bu' no' fer her, fer me. Why I done this I c'ain't say now. I thought what I were doin' were righ' but lookin' at her now, I ain' never wanted ter take somethin' back so badly. Regret grips me tight an' I can feel Ripred's disapproving glare on ther back 'a my neck.

An' I wish I knew how to go back to before an' live there, in ther time when I weren't killin' no one an' all I did were plant fields an' fields 'a potatoes an' flowers. There were a time when I weren't killin' no one, when alls I knew how ter do was give live. An' I know the Lady taketh an' I know she giveth too but it seems ter me that in recent years all's she done is taketh from me. An' I wonner if it's the paymen' fer the treasure I wear 'roun' my finger an' ther person who is attached ter it. I wonner if all this is rep-are-ay-shuns fer ther good things, if it's a balance.

"Yea, though I walk through ther valley 'a ther shadow 'a death, I will fear no evil," I begin, mumblin' unner my breath, but I c'ain't finish it. 'For thou art with me'. I ain't thinkin' that she is. An' I do fear evil anyhow, I am evil, how do I not fear that. I fear it so much that my hands are shakin' as I hol' my frien' in my arms.

I reach the river's edge an' I stumble ter my knees, layin' her down on the san', tryin' not ter notice ther way her bleedin' is comin' too sluggish ter still be lifelike. "Oh Ripred, please....deliver us from this evil," I whisper ter the san'. I ain't knowin' waht ter do, I c'ain't do nothin' correc' an' I gotta feelin' that Ripred has turned her gaze 'way from us.

[presto][/presto]

[k!ah]

Words escape his lips but you don't understand them, your mind fuzzy making each syllable more jumbled up than the next. You sense some frustration and anger in the way he speaks but you dont say anything because just clinging on to the small amount of life you have left is tiresome. Maybe you should let go now? Maybe your should close your hand arounds death, and smile at him and allowing him to guide you away from this world? God, you have been through enough. You didn't need to hold on any longer... But something held you back and It wasn't exactly Potato and more that you felt like you still had to say something to him.  

He places you on the sand and you open your eyes, a smile dancing at the corner of your lips. There was so much you wanted to say to him, but you knew you didn't have time. You could feel the darkness clawing at your limbs making it almost impossible for you to move them. You look down at yourself an you see that your whole front was soaked in blood.There was no turning back for you know. You knew that Potato wanted to try and patch you up, your could tell by his frantic eyes that he couldn't quite believe that it was the end, but it was. Deep down you knew that he knew it too.

"Potato," Your voice is no louder than a whisper, as your eyes flutter shut. You wanted to be able to look at him but you couldn't, it left like your eye lids were made of cement and just trying to keep them open was a task that you no longer could achieve. "Potato... please... please forgive me... please believe me... when I am I am sorry... Please... please forgive me for all the wrong I have done..." Your voice breaks and you are not even sure that he can hear you, but you keep speaking anyways, trying to tell hime everything you can before it was too late. "Not-not only for what I did to you... but to everyone... I need to know.. i need you to forgive me, please." you try to grab his hand in yours, your fingers weak. 

Your force your eyes open, everything is blurry but you can see him, his face feature less due to the suns glare which shines like a halo around his head. "Potato," your eyes close once again and this time they wont open again you knew that because even as you spoke his name you felt as though your whole body was suddenly being dunked in a box of cold water. "one... one last thing..." fear, relief, sadness, appreciation all ran threw your mind as your body feel into an eternal slumber. 

"thank..." you.

[gamemaker kelsier]

[presto][/presto]

She's lain like an angel on ther san' in fronter me an' I'm tryin' ter look at her an' I'm tryin' ter be strong an' be good an' brave but it's so hard. It's so hard ter be brave an' ter try an' no' feel anythin' when yer frien' is dyin' in ther san' in fronter yer 'cause 'a what you done with yer sword an' I wish I could be attonin' fer this by choppin' off my own hans an' dyin' in agony 'aside her but I'm the selfish bastard who attacked her in ther firs' place jus' so's I coul' live longer. An' I hate what I become but I wouldn' change thin's, I wouldn' change what happen' here 'cause it were hard, an's so's is this, but I need ter win.

An' I am a mutation, an en-jun-eared produc' created by ther Capitol ter be jus' this an's they have won, they have beaten me, they have broken my faith an' made me attack my own frien'. Ripred woul' surely rather spit on my gravestone than help me avoi' one now.

"'A course," I says, voice all panic as she asks me fer fergiveness. "I fergave you ther momen' we met, I knew you weren't wantin' ter hurt no one, not really," an' now I'm babblin' at her, not able ter know if she's hearin' me er not, "Yer gonna go ter heaven Miss Sonja, you didn't kill no one." An' I clutch at her han' like she's a lifeline, I clutch at her like I'm tryin' ter keep her from floatin' away. "Yer kin meet my Ma 'n Pa, they'll love you so much, 'cause yer speshul. An' I bet it's all fields 'a greens up there an' I bet no one kills anyone an' I bet, an' I bet, an' I bet...."

I press her han' ter my mouth, pressin' my lips 'gainst her lip flesh, tryin' ter convey my love fer her, tryin' ter explain through touch jus' how sorry I was that we weren't never really meant fer frien'ship. In some ways, I know we woulda been good ones. I know that ther three 'a us woulda spen' our days together happily if we coulda had ther choice, if Sonja weren't dead now an' if Ingrid 'er I weren't needin' ter die so's ther other coul' live.

"'A course, 'a course, 'a course," I mumble inter her han' when she says my name an' her voice comes out so Ripredamned weak, an' there ain't nothin' I kin do fer it. She's dyin' righ' in fronter me an' there ain't nothin' I kin do 'cause I'm ther one who pu' 'er there an she still wants ter hol' my han'.

"....thank...."

An' I wai' fer her ter finish, I wait fer her lips ter shu' an' open an' shu' an' open agin' but they ain't doin' tha', they're jus' open an' her eyes are open an' she lookin' somewhere else, an' her han' is so limp. I give it a kiss one las' time an res' it slow an' gentle on her stomach, restin' across ther gash I pu' there an' I si' back on my ankles an' I look at ther corpse I made for once in my fucking life, I look at ther mess I've made instead of runnin' off an' hidin' insider my own head.

She's broken all over, an' I done that. She's bloody, so much blood an' I know that it ain't all her's but most 'a it is, an' I know that I put that there, that it was from me. I cut inter her, an' I attacked her with ther intent ter kill an' I did that ter one of the braves' an' kindes' persons that I ever known. I hur' her. It were me.

I lean forward an' I shut her eyes, runnin' my han' over her lashes, tryin' ter ignore ther way that even though she's gone, she tickles me. Runnin' my fingers up, I push her blood encrust' hair off 'a her forehead an' then I si' back agin', watchin' her.

Her cannon wen' off ages back, when I made that final cut an' I iss they knew that she were a goner but I giss they fergot jus' how long it takes ter die from a stomach woun' an' fer her it were slowly. I miss her smile already. I miss my frien' an' I miss myself as I were 'afore this, an' I ain't knowin' 'bout Miss Ingrid, if she's alive an' I ain't knowin' nothin' 'bout Opal. I ain't knowin' what she's thinkin' righ' now, but I know what I'm thinkin'.

I seen them with their flyin' ships, comin' in here ter git ther bodies that we drop as if it's there righ' ter take 'em. I know what Miss Sonja wanted 'cause she was tellin' me 'bout it one nigh' whens we were watchin' ther faces in ther sky. It jus' so happens that I got me ther tools ter make it possible. An' I c'ain't be cryin' now 'cause I ain't ther type ter do that, ter degrade ther death 'a ther person I jus' killed by cryin' over their dead body in regret.

I did what I did an' nows I gotter live with it an' that's my personal hell on Earth, an I giss that's what ther Father were sayin' when he were tellin' us that every man gota his own demons insider him. Now's I do too, I got me too many ter coun' an' I ain' got no one ter blame but myself.

I buil' her a pyre outter ther firewood that she had stocked in her bag. There ain't much but there are enough ter get ther job done. She'll burn fine, an' she'll become what she wanted ter be in ther firs' place an' I giss some 'er us weren't made ter drown an' some 'er us weren't made ter return ter no Earth. Some 'a us were born beautiful an' were made ter dance on ther air an' travel ther globe on ther win' an' become somethin' new in every place she landed.

'Afore I do anythin', I take ther metal bracele' offer her wrist real careful, knowin' that it's got some importan' things 'bout her on it but I ain't able to read. Even so, it were her's an' it were speshul ter her so it's speshul ter me. I put it on my own wrist.

I stack ther wood aroun' her an' I light one 'er my two matches up, carefully coaxin' a flame outer ther kindlin', nearly burnin' me own fingers off in an attemp' ter make sure she catches.

She does an' she's beautiful, I wish I coul' tell her how beautiful she were in death, how she was in life too. I wish she hadn't had ter come here an' that neither had I. I wish fer so much but as ther flames grow higher it ain't fixin' nothin'. "Earth ter earth," I says, watchin' ther flames eat her dead body up, "Ashes ter ashes, dust to dust." Her clothes is meltin' inter her skin an' ther hair is singed away from her face an' shes comin' undone bit by bit, like a sweater bein' unravelled ter become somethin' else. "Ripred bless Miss Sonja an' keep her an' give her peace," I says an' I thinker when we was in church fer the firs' roun' 'a drough' deaths, how we was still hopin' it were gonna git better. How we still though' so, even after all tha' dyin', all them two years 'a takin', how we still believed in God.

Hows do I still believe.

"Amen."

my knees hit ther san' 'afore I can recall fallen ter them an' my head is in my han's an' I am sheildin' me from none an' everyone all at once an' I don' want ter die here an' I don't want ter live neither.

Why do I still believe in a god who don't believe in me.

An' Sonja burns in front er me an soon she will be ashes an' I'll still be here, waitin' fer her smile agin'.

[presto][/presto]

[potato uses one match and one bundle of firewood]
[potato takes sonja's token]

[Python]

Ingrid Elwyn

One blow sent her head spinning.

The helmet was a brittle shell collapsed beneath Leon’s blade. Stars flashed in and out of her hazy vision, and she blinked rapidly to make them disappear. Suddenly the world was upside down, sky posing as the ocean and the desert sands as a yellow horizon, and her body was dropping like an anchor until two limbs of support kept her dangling above her death. She trembled in pain as Leon carried her to dry land, neck limp and too weak to shake her head in protest. ”I was going to say something,” he interrupted the melody of her harsh breathing. She longed for silence but heard his voice instead. ”But there's nothing I could have said that would change what's done." She smiled at that, feeling warm grains of sand nestled behind her back. He understands.

She waited in misery until he finished looting her belongings. I don’t have much time. Her vessels were drained, energy sparse and diminishing still, her limbs like damaged pipelines leaking into the dirt. She belonged in the water – in her element – so before she was sucked dry of blood she had to return to the murky mud pit. With a strained grunt she rolled to her stomach and crawled, reaching for the silky waters with bloodstained gloves. Somewhere along the short journey she had lost her helmet and her hat, most likely when she tipped over into Leon’s grasp. The sweat gathered at the nape of her neck started to evaporate, but her body was too distracted by pain to acknowledge the gentle soothing of her sunburnt skin.

The water reached her waist when she paused. A cannon startled her out of a trance – she had already started to nod off from the exhaustion, but the ringing sounds of death reminded her that this was not just a dip in the pond. It was her turn. Drawing in careful breaths she withdrew the knife from her belt and glanced over her shoulder in search of Leon in case he had decided to linger. A plume of smoke caught her eye, but it was the figure that appeared in front of it that made her turn around completely. ”Potato,” she breathed, relieved to see his face despite how battered and bloody he appeared. But where was Sonja? Was the cannon for her?

She wobbled on her knees, the edges of her vision turning black and blurry. There was no time for questions, she had only a few seconds to waste. ”I’m dying,” she said, angling the knife toward the skin beneath her ribcage. She gripped the hilt in both hands, unwilling to make an error when it was her eternity at stake. She couldn’t register anything in his eyes from this distance; her vision was tunneling, and everything was a collage of blurring colors. Yellow and red was what she saw most – the color of this nightmare arena, and the color of blood. The Capitol’s deadly painting.

”I’m glad we could be friends.” She smiled at him, teeth peeking out from behind chapped lips. She was reminded of their train ride, how awkward and quiet their conversation was, and how so little the differences were even now. She could at least say that she wouldn’t drown alone. Potato would be here, her first friend. The first friend that didn’t stem from her own twisted family. ”It’s been fun.”

She thrust the knife into her chest. A groan of pain followed, and she inhaled her first drop of blood.

[gamemaker kelsier]

[presto][/presto]

Her voice is nothin' more'n a whisper on ther win'. I ain't in ther knowin' 'a jus' how I heard Miss ingrid a'callin' fer me, but Nightshade said that soun' carries o're water. Could it carry, could it be floatin' ther whisper 'a a frien's voice? An' I ain't knowin' what she's seein',I ain't knowin' how she is an' I turn my head to find her, to sort ou' where she is but I'm lookin' fer someone tall, lean, lovely. I ain't seein' no one an' fr a secon' I reckon tha' I were jus' hearin' things. Fer a secon', I turn my head back away ter be in my silen' misery o're ther ashes of Miss Sonja but then my eyes snag themselves on somethin'.

No.

"NO," I shout, voice frannic' with fear fer ther way her body is, fer ther way she's in ther shallows but barely holdin' her head above water. She ain't alright like I were hopin' fer, she's lookin mangled an' ther helmet I gave unter her only yesterday is missin', as if it weren't useful at all, as if it hadn't done one thin'. She's kneelin' there, in ther shallows a little 'a way up stream an' she got herself a knife aimed righ' a' where her lungs are at buneath her skin. I scream at my muscles ter move, ter stan' up, ter do somethin' but I ain't gonner make it in time, no matter what. I ain't got no more time an' neither does she.

An' she is sayin' that she's glad we was frien's, like she's tellin' me goodbye but it ain't time yet, she c'ain't leave me too, no' both at once, it ain't fair. I c'ain't do this withou' them, I c'ain't. I stan' stumblin' ter my feet, grabbing fistfuls of san' offer ther floor as if I kin pull myself up tha' way. Truth is, my whole entire body hurts all over, like I been hi' by er train but I c'ain't stop now, I c'ain't stop never.

My feet get themselves tangled up in themselves as I try an' get down ther bank 'afore she plunges that knife inter her. I keep my eyes on her, my only wish ter git ter her 'afore she does it, 'afore she leaves. I watch, eyes wide as she pushes ther knife inter herself an' as ther red forms across her stomach, paintin' it damper, deader than I were thinkin' it could ever be.

I stan' still fer a momen', mesmerized by the red bloomin across her ches' an' fer a momen' all I kin hear is ther slow steadiness of ther river in the midday sun an' fer a momen, tha's all this is. It's jus' a noon swim in ther river as a break between workin' ther fields an' all ther other back breakin' jobs we complain' 'bout 'afore ther drough' an' we couldn't anymore. If I am real creative, I kin preten' tha' we're jus' back home, tha' she an' I were frien's 'afore all this, that ther red on her is jus' a swimmin' wear, nothin' more.

I breath deep, blinkin' slow, lettin' ther cool of ther water wash over me. I kin feel it up ter my wais' here an' I'm glad my bag is still on ther shore an no' gittin' all wet. If my eyes are shu' then this ain't real no more. I kin be jus' fifteen years ol', three years back, 'afore any of this ever had a glimpse of happenerin'. 'Afore Opal, 'afore ther drough', 'afore any of this. I kin be in ther river with Nightshade an' our neighbors an' I kin rememmer ther way ther sun hi' our backs an' our Mas were 'ahollerin' fer us, an' I kin imagine Miss Ingrid there with us, in ther water, no wouns, no bleedin' nowhere, jus' smilin'. Happy.

When I open my eyes, that ain't where we are an' Miss Ingrid is floatin' down stream t'wards me, an' Miss Sonja is burnin' up on tha' there hill, an' everythin' is as hossible as it is.

I blink too fas' as I hol' my arms out ter catch her, tryin' ter keep back ther tears tha' have been threatenin' since this whole day star'ed. "Please, Miss Ingrid, don' be leavin' me alone now, please don' leave me," I say, voice chokin' on ther wor's 'cause they are too har' ter say proper. Everythin' is too hard ter say proper now an' everythin' is too har' ter feel an' think an' I wish I could be dyin' righ' now too, it feels like I am.

[presto][/presto]

[Python]

Ingrid Elwyn

This was agony in its purest form.

It wasn’t just a stab wound or a jab to the nerves. It wasn’t the blood that haunted her. It was what she was losing, what she couldn’t grasp no matter how deeply she inhaled – air. Drawing a breath was a natural reflex, an involuntary reaction to living that humans didn’t think twice about until it was stolen from them. Ingrid had always known what it meant to lose it – she would spend minutes beneath ponds, soaking cold water like a frail sponge until the fire in her chest was too dangerous to bear. She had trained her lungs to withstand this burning for seconds and seconds longer, and then seconds edged closer to minutes. She wanted to spend an eternity underwater, but her body was limited. It would always return to its original state, gasping for the necessary air to sustain her short life. Now this freedom had been taken from her. Instead of controlling her own intake, she was helpless.

It was terrifying.

The power she had possessed in wielding the knife was strong, but the whole purpose was to reduce her to this fragile state. She couldn’t have what she wanted, and her soul was restless. It burned hotter than an iron brand against her tissue, making her chest writhe and her face contort. Her lung was twitching with desperate spasms as blood trickled inside. Her entire body hunched forward in some feeble attempt to curl herself into a ball of safety, knife still embedded in her chest because despite every bit of suffering she refused to abandon her life’s dream. Pain is part of death, and death is part of nature. Therefore pain is part of nature. This was the final challenge, the last battle. Spirit versus suffering. Drowning had always been an excruciating way to die, and she knew it. To experience it was making her heart wrench and her eyes water, tempting her into feelings of regret. Yet somehow it was gratifying, knowing that she was sturdy enough to endure it. It would all be worth it in the end.

Blood coated the inside of her throat and found its way between her teeth. She tasted the bitter iron and coughed it outside of her lips, wearing the life-force like lipstick. She tried to focus on squeezing her eyes shut as her body toppled forward into the water. She made no move to turn herself around. A lungful of water seized her sense of harmony and yanked a strangled groan from her lips. It bubbled into silence as her arm reached for the bottom of the river, needing to touch or hold something in order to anchor herself there. Determination alone wasn’t enough to keep her sinking for long. Her instinct to breathe fresh air and survive was overwhelming to a dangerous extent. I need to breathe.

Fortunately, the agony didn’t last long enough to change her mind.

The blood seeping from her wounds and the mixture churning inside of her ballooned lungs were enough to quiet her soul. The water tasted of mud when she died. All pain ceased, yet somehow she could still feel her own presence stirring. She inhaled again.

The water tasted faintly of salt.

End of Ingrid Elwyn.

[gamemaker kelsier]

[presto][/presto]

I were wonderin' how long it really takes fer a hear' ter shatter.

When my Ma' lay dyin' I reckoned that were tough. At ther time it were ther mos' pain I ever fel' in my life. I were thinkin' that there weren't nothin' else that could be hurtin' as bad as watchin' my Ma breath her last. An' I giss at ther time I were right. It's still very much at ther time of my list, watchin' her die an' bein' helpless ter stop it. Since then there been some bad stuff, like when Pa followed her an' when I almos' did too, or now, watchin' my friends die, watchin' people I killed die.

Holdin' ther lifeless body 'a Miss Ingrid in my arms only momen's after holdin' Miss Sonja is life threatenin', it rocks me to ther soul. I c'ain't fathom how this happen', how las' nigh' we was sittin' there an' Miss Sonja were learnin' me my nummers an' my card suites, an' we were hurtin' but we was still laughin'. Now they're both gone an' here's me, alone. "Why," I whisper ter ther corpse I got a loose grip on, "Why y'all gotter leave me so alone in this here world?" It don't matter if I've got Opal waitin' fer me 'cause she ain't here righ' now an' as far as i kin tell, this is it, this is ther en' of ther worl', I migh' as well be all alone, I am.

Ther only ones lef' are strange enemies that I ain't knowin'. All's I got is me an' Ripred an' I ain't even sure I got Ripred no more, I ain't even sure if she's a watchin after me no more. Does a God still watch their sons, even when they've fallen? Could I still be worthy of anyone's love?

Ter Miss Ingrid, I mean' somethin'. She mean' heaps ter me. My han's shake somethin' awful as I reah inter her pockets, searchin' fer ther pendan' tha' she kept upon her person so careful. My han's wrap aroun' ther heart pendan' an' I pull it out, one han' wrapped tight 'roun' her wrist, anchorin' her ter me. An' she's dead, she's been dead fer a minute now, her eyes are starin' inter ther water an' I know jus' like how Miss Sonja wannered ter be eaten by ther flames, Miss Ingrid wants ter be left ter her watery grave.

An' I was sayin' that ther toughest thing I ever did were watch my Ma die but tryin' ter le' go 'a Miss Ingrid was near impossible. I couldn't unclasp my han', I weren't wantin' ter let her go, I weren't wantin' them ter leave me, an' I c'ain't be alone like this, I c'ain't jus' go on like this, like it's gonner be alrigh', 'cause it ain't.

I watch as her body sinks an' the lazy river takes her from me an' then I crawl onter ther shore, exhausted from ther day an' Miss Sonja's ashes are scatterin' already even as her body burns. An' I wan' this ter go 'way, all 'er this. I slip Miss Ingrid's hear' inter ther ches' pocke' 'a my shir' an' somehow ther weigh' of it helps me. An' fer a momen' I'm clam, expression neutral as I kick out ther embers 'a Miss Sonja's fire, an' when I look back at ther river, I ain't seein' Miss Ingrid no more.

I shu' my eyes then, lookin t'wards where ther sun is settin' an' fer jus' a small momen' I think I'm hearin' ther sighin', ther las' breaths 'a them girls on ther sun's warmth. An' somehow it feels warmer than I ever felt 'afore, even though I know I won' ever feel whole agin', no' after terday. My friens are dead, one by my han' an' I c'ain't be goin' back ter what I were, I c'ain't preten' no more tha' I'm gentle 'cause I got me a monster inside. I kin hear his roarin' even now.

I giss all's I kin do now is harness this beas' an' git myself home ter her, even if I gotta crawl home on bloody stumps, I'll git myself ter her, I'll hol' her in my love. An' I'll rememmer ther names 'a my friens.

I turn on my heal then, knowin' I bes' whole up somewhere good fer ther nigh'. Miss Ingrid's killer is still somewhere lurkin' after all. I ain't got no more energy ter figh' no one terday.

[presto][/presto]

[this is in extremely poor taste but]
[potato cooks mutt meat on the sonja fire]
[potato purifies one canteen of water on the sonja fire]
[I'M SORRY I'M BEING PRACTICAL]
[YOU CAN COOK THREE THINGS OK]

[potato flees]