bloodflood pt.ii asa vs esme

[Knuckles]

[googlefont="Satisfy:400;"]

Esme Truus

How could this happen to me
I made my mistakes
I've got no where to run
The night goes on
As I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me

And like that I left leaving Asa behind. I ain't got time to stand around 'cause I gotta find Kirk, and there ain't much time left before the anthem. I wanna find him 'cause I feel it would make him proud knowing that I took on a monster with a career. But it's beyond my wildest imagination where he could possibly be, and I ain't able to see a thing. The light is gone, and I'm all alone trapped in the stupid arena. It's scary, and I don't wanna be alone anymore. I wanna just scream, but that would definitely alert people to where I am, and I don't wanna another fight. I wanna keep walking so I can find Kirk, and the others 'cause they are my friends. I ain't sure what I'd do without them 'cause since the training center that've been there for me, and I just walked away 'cause I'm a coward and I couldn't stand being near them knowing they helped kill my friend.

BANG!

BANG!

Two back to back cannons boom through the arena and my heart jumps into my throat. I gotta hurry and find them 'cause I ain't sure who died. It can't be them, but my entire body starts shaking. I've heard four cannons today. Four tributes have died today, and I ain't one of them. I wanna call out for Kirk hoping he can hear my voice and find me, but I don't. Not yet anyway. I ain't 'bout to let people find me. It's best just traveling alone in the dark with nothing else to worry 'bout except those mutts the Capitol creates. Oh please find me Kirk. I'm scared. I'm lost. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Please. I'm sorry. I look around trying to find my location, but I ain't had no luck. It's completely dark, and I ain't even sure what time it is 'cause I don't got no way of knowing. Not in an arena where the sun, stars, and moon hide.

I keep walking until I hear the anthem blast through the arena. I scoot back until I'm against a wall, and I fix my gaze on the ceiling. The first face is the girl from two. I can only imagine what Asa's going through losing a piece of home, but that also means only two more careers remain alive. I'm proud knowing I've out lasted most of them, and I only hope I can continue going farther. Her face flies away and is replaced with a face of someone I know, a friend, Animus from district nine. Tears start streaming down my face as I dread the next two faces that'll show. I don't wanna look. I can't look. I just wanna lay down and forget everything I just saw. Animus, my friend, he's dead. I killed a man trying to save him, and I wasn't there to save him this time. I left and he needed me. I was gone. It's my fault he's gone. It's all my fault. His face disappears, and the next face snaps every single thread holding me to sanity.

Kirk Marshall.

It feels like someone took a knife and sliced my heart in two, but someone wouldn't be able to guess that 'cause of the laughter coming from my own body. Tears stream down my face. Someone back home might think I'm happy he's dead, but I ain't happy. My eyes pour a river of tears down my face, and I ain't able to stop it. I can't stop laughing as I run my fingers through my blood stained hair. My heart drops into my stomach before my intestines twist around it choking the life outta my own body. "Kirk!" I scream at the top of my lungs mixed with the laughter that ain't stopping. This can't be real. It's gotta be fake, a nightmare, anything other than the truth. I wanna close my eyes and open them and be laying in my own bed, but I ain't. I'm trapped in the stupid arena where my brother just died. He's dead. He's gone. And I ain't sure what to say.

The next face doesn't matter to me. He's just another dead tribute, and I ain't even caring that he died 'cause someone is 'bout to pay.

I don't even think 'bout sleeping. I ain't got time for it 'cause I got some hunting to do. I'm gonna hunt down whoever killed them, and I'm gonna make sure they die the most painful death ever witnessed on the face of the earth. They won't be just a pig; they'll be a pig that's butchered alive 'cause I wanna hear them scream as I slowly tear them limb from limb. I am gonna make sure they pay.

My hand slides into my bag removing the torch from inside. I ain't gonna let anyone push me around anymore. Someone killed them, and I'm not gonna let them get away with it. Laughter keeps falling outta my mouth echoing off the walls surrounding me. I take a deep breath as I walk down through the maze twisting through the turns over and over again. Sometimes I run into a dead end, but I ain't letting that stop me from trying. Twelve other tributes are out there somewhere, and I hope to find every last one of them. This is my time to shine.

I've killed once, and I'm not afraid to do it again.

Are you proud of me Ma? Pa? Are you proud of what I've become?

Esme Truus attacks Asa with sword
yQMJHKx1sword
1153 -- Miss -- 0.0 damage

template by Anzie

sword

[gamemaker kelsier]

A S A R E A U

He'd almost broken down and reached out a hand to tug at Esme's arm when they parted ways. He didn't want to be all alone in the darkness but just because they'd teamed up to kill the beast it didn't mean they could be friends. They both had alliances to get back to, they both had different intentions on what the outcome of this games should be. They couldn't stay together because the truth was that they were still enemies. He might have wrapped a bandage around the girl's arm and might have slayed the enormous mutt that had inhabited the pit before them but that would mean nothing tomorrow when they met in battle.

He'd wandered far that day, stairs taking him out of the beast pit even though his whole body ached and all he wanted to do was lay down and sleep. He needed to find them, his friends. He needed to find them and apologize for getting lost and tether himself to them so that it could never happen again. The problem was that it was so damned dark and he had no idea of where he was going. Retracing his steps did not work; he didn't know where he'd come from in the first place. This arena was hopeless, frustratingly confusing.

He was still searching when the anthem lit the ceiling up and announced a retinue of faces. He stood staring, sunglasses half slid down his nose as his heart stood still for long moments. The music faded and the rock went dark without showing hide nor hair of Pearl, Barnabas or Patricia. Valerie. They'd shared a train together and hardly spoken but she'd still been the only piece of home that he'd been able to align himself with. Careers usually lasted longer. He'd known that she'd have to die eventually if he wanted to meet his goal but eventually is such a loose term, he hadn't realized that it would come so soon.

He spent the night laid up against the tunnel wall, flicking his flashlight on and off, wishing that Barnabas would come around the corner and spot him there. He missed the familiar warmth of his friend and wondered how he fared, if he was going alright, if he'd hear a cannon go off in the middle of the night. He was sure that Pearl and Patricia would take care of him as best they could. He trusted Pearl to at least. Patricia was less certain. One night she had come to kill him, the next to heal and this night she was not in sight at all.

He moves off after a few hours of laying in the darkness but sleep has evaded him. Worry chews on him like an angry dog and somehow his fingers can't stay warm. The flashlight shakes in his grasp. He walks again but his feet shuffle somehow and an overwhelming sense of doom rests on his shoulders. He is going to die today.

His lantern has gone out. He has matches but he can't find the will to light it. He flicks off his flashlight too and the world is dark as night. His sunglasses are scratched and they hide tired eyes but somehow the exhaustion extends further than his muscles. His bones are weary.

He hears one set of footsteps in the darkness and somehow he reacts. His alliance has three sets. This is one set. He waits, silent as torchlight blinks at him but the form is too blurred behind the sunglasses to make out, his head is too blurred to slur out words and he is a machine. The lights go out, he waits. He moves.

He is a what those that enter the games are raised to fear.

He is a career.

[asa flicks off flashlight]
[ASA ATTACKS esme]
K7vuCNpDsword
[Severed Right Calf at Knee -- 9.0 damage]

sword

[Knuckles]

[googlefont="Satisfy:400;"]

Esme Truus

How could this happen to me
I made my mistakes
I've got no where to run
The night goes on
As I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me

Pain shoots through my leg like someone just set it on fire. Tears start pouring down my face as I tumble towards the ground. I ain't sure what just happened, but part of me is sick. I can feel a horrible substance flowing into my mouth as I place a hand where the blade struck. From the knee down nothing exists. I wanna light the torch up to show the face of the person or monster standing near me, but I don't wanna know. What if this person is Crusader? He ain't got no way of knowing I'm the one standing next to him, but whoever it is I'm gonna tear them limb from limb. I don't care who's standing in front of me right now. I wanna kill. I wanna feel the blood of another person running down my own skin. I wanna slice their neck open so the blood and spew everywhere. The feeling is amazing, and I'm never gonna forget it. I wanna cover myself in their blood, and the only way to do that is kill whatever is in front of me.

I force myself to my feet as I grit my teeth fighting to stay calm 'cause there ain't nothing important here other than living. My blood boils through my veins. My hand balls into a fist around the sword. I move myself forward fighting to balance on one leg. I can do this. I know then it's a person. Ain't no creature other than that stupid monster capable of causing that much pain, that much damage in one setting. I know it ain't good, but I gotta keep trying. Not for me. Not for my family. Not for Mace or Saffron, but for Kirk, Animus, and Emery.

I tighten my grip on the giant blade before turning around. I ain't got no business here. I can feel my body getting tired from the lack of sleep. I can feel the blood leaving my body as I fight to remain standing. My legs feel like someone has stung me over and over again. I shake my stub of a leg trying to get them to work. I wanna move on. I gotta fight, but I ain't sure how much is left in me. I almost speak out, but I decide against it. I swing my arm. I'm gonna die, and there ain't nothing I can do 'bout it.

Esme Truus attacks Asa with sword
wgZEQSNIsword
1105 -- Deep Gash on Right Calf -- 8.0 damage

template by Anzie

sword

[gamemaker kelsier]

A S A R E A U

He is a mechanical man, a dancing monkey. Put a dime in the hat and he'll dance monkey, dance and if this were a movie rain would be coming down in sheets so thick that you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face. He can't see shit anyway because as it turns out, in case you're late to the show, it's dark as ditches where they are, even hell is brighter because at least hell has flames. He's doing it now, he's doing it. He's everything his father has ever wanted him to be.

He's a prodigy, a honed weapon, an emotionless dirt bag spilling soil and other poisonous things where ever he goes. He hears a screaming howl through the darkness and it turns out he's useless too because either there was more than one howling asshole or the beast that he 'killed' didn't die. Yet another thing he failed, yet another thing his father can hit him for, yet another thing he failed to protect Barney from, yet another time he was a waste of space with garbage for brains.

If there ever was one thing that Asa Reau was good at, he had yet to find it.

He was good at failing. There we go.

He felt savage as his sword dug into the flesh of his first real human victim, savage and angry and wild as he felt his prey's blade dig into his own in the darkness. There wasn't much for sound but the muffled breathing of two teenaged kids mauling each other to death in a place that was deeper than any grave there ever was. There wasn't much for feeling except for intense anger at all his failings, his failure to properly kill the beast, his failure to protect barnabas, his failure to find his friends, his failure to be anything that he was actually meant to be.

If only his father could see him now, see his blood spattered son and instead of smacking his head into the bathroom doorway where his mother is waiting for him with a roll of bandage and useless wishes than maybe he'd be proud for once of his 'waste of space'.

and he'd paint the town red with his blood or the other's.

[ASA ATTACKS esme]
nAeasjFWsword
[Shallow Cut on Right Hip -- 3.5 damage]

sword

[Knuckles]

[googlefont="Satisfy:400;"]

Esme Truus

How could this happen to me
I made my mistakes
I've got no where to run
The night goes on
As I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me

I don't got no idea what's going on. I killed a man a couple days ago, and now I ain't even able to fight. I wanna rip this person limb from limb, but it's hard when I can't see. I'm sick and tired of being in the dark. I wanna see the light again, to walk in the sun back home, to see the stars in the sky when the moon is shining, but there ain't none of that here. I can't believe how long it's been since I've been home. I miss laying in the grass at night next to my cow. I miss the fire pits Pa started. I wanna go home, but I can't 'cause I'm not sure I'll make it outta this alive. My stub of a leg feels like several thousand bees are stinging them, or someone's gone crazy and sticking me with all kinds of needles. It ain't supposed to feel like this. I was just fine before that blade slice my leg completely removing it from my body. Maybe it's capable of being fixed. I ain't sure, but I just gotta hope I can fix it.

The sword twirls in my hand as I fight to keep up. I wanna run away, but I can't now. I ain't got no idea who it could be. I don't got no clue what I'm suppose to do other than swing at the darkness hoping to make connection with something. I wanna scream at the person to show their face, but I don't truly wanna see it. I don't wanna look into the eyes of whoever's attacking me. I don't wanna speak words to them 'cause nothing ain't right. This games ain't right, but I still wanna avenge Kirk. I wanna find his killer and shred them to pieces. Ain't nothing right 'bout killing someone, but that's what I'm trying to do. I wanna kill. I wanna taste the blood, but I never expected it to be my own blood.

Blood pours from my leg burning everything around it with every heart beat. Anger rages inside me. Someone took my leg. Someone hurt me. Someone made my chances of winning nothing now, and I ain't gonna stand for it. Is this what it feels like? Is this what death feels like as it creeps up on a person? I ain't ready to die. I can't die. Not yet. I'm just fourteen years old. I hold the sword loosely as I struggle to stay on my feet, and this time I connect with something. It's more of luck than anything, but I know it ain't enough. I know I ain't leaving this place alive.

Esme Truus attacks Asa with sword
iDEdbBbWsword
1113 -- Deep Gash on Left Calf -- 8.0 damage

template by Anzie

sword

[gamemaker kelsier]

A S A R E A U

Anger drives him forward, blade swinging through the dark to meet the flesh of his invisible opponent. It's misplaced but it doesn't matter because it's there. He's never been so angry, it's blinding rage and he's become exactly what he never wanted to be, all those years spent being not good enough, all those years purposefully slipping up because he causing pain made him feel sick and it still does, he still might vomit. He took so many punches, so many cuts just because he was weaker but now he's the strong one, he's the one with strength.

He's a career and it's about time he lives up to it. He doesn't register the rushing air of where his victim's blade was meant to fall. It's like he's working through the body only, the mind has been shut off. He spins around the absence of air in the dark and swings his blade again, feeling it connect with skin and knowing that he's killing someone while not really knowing all at once.

He wishes he could go back to nights spent in caves, smoking cigarettes and being to shy to recite poetry. He's yet to have his first kiss. He's yet to have his first beer, his first love, but he has had his first, second, third, fourth friend.

He swings his blade for them.

[ASA ATTACKS esme]
l1fOO9qTsword
[Deep Gash on Right Thigh -- 8.0 damage]

sword

[Knuckles]

[googlefont="Satisfy:400;"]

Esme Truus

How could this happen to me
I made my mistakes
I've got no where to run
The night goes on
As I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me

Ain't nothing that hurts worse than losing a part of one's body. The only thing that might hurt worse than that would have to be losing someone I care 'bout. I lost Emery. I lost Kirk. I lost Animus, and they died 'cause of me. I ain't the one who killed Emery, but it might've well been me since I broke her arm. I had my arm broke, but that doesn't compare to the pain of having my leg ripped clean from my body. My arm ain't hurting bad now 'cause I've been fighting with it. I've been holding onto this oversize weapon 'cause it's all I got standing between me and death. I ain't gonna die if I can stop it, but that's not anything I might be able to stop. This is one of those moments I wanna be at home watching the games on the big screen in the town square cheering for district ten, but I can't 'cause I am district ten this year. I'm the only one standing from my district. Kirk died, and I ain't gonna stop until I find who took his life away from him, but first whatever is standing in front of me is blocking my way, and I ain't gonna stand for it. I'm gonna fight until this person drops. I'm gonna fight until there's nothing left to fight. Until Kirk's killer is dead.

That drives me forward as I balance myself on my only leg left. I ain't sure what I would do if I lost both of them 'cause then I ain't got nothing. As it is right now, I'm completely left at the mercy of anything that wonders my way, and that says the same to whatever I'm fighting. I wanna scream telling this thing to stop, but that ain't gonna do any good. Maybe if whoever this was helped me, we could find whoever killed Kirk and be done with it, but this is the games. Everyone here wants to live, but all but one has to die. They have to die if I'm gonna make it home to my family again. I ain't sure what to expect right now 'cause it ain't nothing more important than keeping my promise. I broke so many promises lately, and I ain't gonna make anymore. Pa told me never to make a promise I ain't gonna keep. I wanted to keep these, but I wasn't able. The games stood in my way.

I promised I'd stay true to myself, but I ain't even done that. Before the games I never dreamed of killing anyone, and now I wanna tear every last one of them limb from limb. I gotta make sure they pay for what they've done to me, to Kirk, to my family, to Animus. It ain't fair that we've been placed here just so we can die in the end. It ain't right that I gotta fight 'cause I don't wanna die, but now I ain't got no choice. I gotta kill. My lips curl up on my teeth as I hold onto the blade as tight as I can. I ain't never been a fighter until I took the life of the career boy from one. And even then I wasn't sure what I was doing. I ain't sure now, but I gotta do something. I gotta kill. I gotta make just one more kill.

I'm a killer. Are you proud of me? Are you proud of the murder I committed without thinking twice?

Doesn't matter if you are or not.

'Cause I'm proud, and I ain't afraid to show it.

Esme Truus attacks Asa with sword
UjrGRZzvsword
1112 -- Shallow Cut on Right Hip -- 3.5 damage

template by Anzie

sword

[gamemaker kelsier]

4th post

A S A R E A U

He swings his blade again and again, slashing and cutting away at anything and everything in his way in order to get back to Barnabas. Warm blood sprays over his skin and he becomes slick, sticky with it. The hilt of his blade however does not slip from his hand nor does he let go. The blood should horrify him but he feels nothing, just cold and empty and numb. The scream is registered but not heard, the blade sticking into his skin in such a shallow yet familiar way is felt but not registered.

wip

[ASA ATTACKS esme]
RC1X2RBJsword
[ Shallow Cut on Right Calf -- 3.5 damage]

sword

[Knuckles]

[googlefont="Satisfy:400;"]

Esme Truus

How could this happen to me
I made my mistakes
I've got no where to run
The night goes on
As I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me

This ain't nothing like slaughtering a pig, or a cow, or even a goat. I'm fighting another being, another human just like myself. An innocent soul died 'cause of me, and I ain't stupid enough to think it was easy. Every night, every second, when I close my eyes, I see his face. I can't get it outta my head no matter how many times I try. It's like he's staring at me, and I wish he'd just die, and leave this place forever. I killed him, and he ain't gotta stay here every single day. I wanna scream at him to tell him to run away, but I can't. I gotta stand here fighting. I gotta kill again so I can have another face haunting me every single night. It's just what a person needs. I don't know what my parents are thinking right now, and I don't even care. They can watch me kill over and over again. I'm a murderer. I'm a killer, and I'm gonna kill again. That is if this being doesn't kill me first.

It's impossible to know what's happening in the midst of the dark abyss. I wanna scream 'cause it's all I know, but knowing that something is near me stops me. The arena is loud. The water roaring on beside me is loud. Part of me wants to just jump inside it, and do nothing else 'bout this stupid games, but I can't. I promised Ma and Pa that I'd fight for them. That I'd try my hardest to make it home, and so far I've kept that promise, and in the process look at what it's made me. This ain't right. Ain't nothing right 'bout trying to kill others, but I wanna feel the blood running across my skin. I wanna watch the life leave their eyes like someone will do for me. I wanna watch as the pain surfaces as screams echo across the walls, and I know good and well it ain't gonna be my own scream. I don't got the time to lose my own life. I'm fourteen years old. I gotta life to live, but is it worth living the life of torment every single day?

Anything to return home from this horrible place is what I'm gonna do. I don't care how many people I gotta kill. My cow is waiting for me. Kraygon is waiting for me. Ma and Pa are waiting for me. Somewhere inside the Capitol now sits Mace and Saffron as they watch me fight through the games. Are they proud of what I've become? Do they want me to die 'cause of the man I killed? Both of them killed. Both of them went through the same thing, and I gotta show them I got what it takes to win. I can do this, and I will do it. I'll fight with all the strength remaining inside me 'cause I ain't 'bout to die. I ain't 'bout to let them carry me home in a box. Ain't nothing worse than dying when I've made it this far into the game.

I strike one last time with everything I got left inside me. Hoping and praying it's enough.

When I hit. I know it's done.

"W...wh...who's there?"

And my heart drops into my stomach as quick as I fall towards the ground as I wait for an answer hoping and praying it's not someone I care 'bout.

Esme Truus attacks Asa with sword
lOrAMlx2sword
1142 -- Shallow Cut on Right Shoulder -- 3.5 damage

template by Anzie

Esme used FA on self for -3
Esme used 5ft of bandages on self for -1
Esme used N/T on self for -5
Esme took Asa's gloves, 3 matches, antivenom, empty water jug, flashlight, medkit, 1 iodine tablet, & 10 ft of bandages
Esme takes her severed leg
Esme drops the trowel & poncho
Esme fills the empty water jug with water
Esme gives Asa her tiny wooden cow (token)sword