The Devil's Daughter // Annora vs. Harpy

[Sunrise Rainier D2 // [Thundy]]

Chop chop, we gonna build a cabin
Up top on a pretty little mountain
Fuck off, all you people on the ground

Someith Krearns isn’t gonna tell me what to do.

Today, I am a free woman – free of his tyranny over our alliance, free of the attitude, and most of all? Free from all the mindless chatter. I expect they’ll come after me, what with Someith thinking that he owns me and all, but they’ll have to find me first.

They’ll be back, unless they all start rotting.

In the dim light of the evening, it’s difficult to find a safer way to descend to the beach, but when I move along the cliffs I find a spot that’s closer to the ground. I am guided by my hawk and her little birds, my shining beacon in this hellhole of a place, and I walk slowly, surely, meandering over rocks and through the dirt until my feet collide with the rocky beach, safe and sound.

Truly, it looks like the edge of the world.

My birds start honking, flying far out over the water at the smell of fish. Their excitement makes me smile, and I let them go freely, knowing that they’ll always come back in the presence of the hawk. I find myself settling onto the rocks, resting on my back, taking in the cool moisture of the sea. This is a feeling I never would have had back in District Eleven, where the winters are hot and the summers are even hotter. Sometimes we would get cooler days – maybe a little frost here and there – but weather like this never lasted long. I revel in it, sinking my gloves off so I can run my fingers through the rock and sand, absorbing the cool comfort into my bones.

I could even sleep here, assured of the fact that the other tributes likely ignored the hazardous cliffs in favor of the spoils the rich green Earth provides.

Right now, this all belongs to me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the morning, I am woken by a terrifying sound. I sit up, staring forward into the eyes of a Beast with the body of woman and bird.

”Oh, aren’t you beautiful.”

[Annora attacks Harpy, throwing knife]
wXM4YqBHthrowing knife
9006 -- Deep Gash on Neck -- 10.0 damage
(Thrown Knife) + 1 Target Practice

throwing knife

[Python]

V E L A R A

She had a fondness for the beach; preening her feathers by lapping waves, soaring above a cerulean expanse, and perching herself upon the highest rocks. This wonderland of permanent winter and vacant land was paradise. There were no cages to bend her wings, no bright lights to blur her vision. The aches had left her joints, and she was free to stretch and wander as she pleased.

The last creature she had encountered was man, and there had not been sight of one for many sunsets. The worry of their grimy hands invading her privacy was extinct. This was a land of freedom. She strolled along the banks, feeling an oncoming gust of cold, sea wind. It made her feathers dance.

She stumbled upon an all-too familiar creature. It would be dead, if not for the rising and falling of its chest. A screech of protest rumbled inside her throat, and the creature stirred – only to assault with her with a sort of needle.

She hated needles.

Wings expanding, she took to the air and aimed her talons, screeching in rage as the blood soiled her feathers.

[Velara attacks Annora – talons]
OzmIFqxCknife
Stabbed in Thigh -- 8.5 damage

knife

[Sunrise Rainier D2 // [Thundy]]

Chop chop, we gonna build a cabin
Up top on a pretty little mountain
Fuck off, all you people on the ground

Sensing danger, my little birds turn their attention away from the quest for food and flock towards the beach, honking violently in a way that I haven’t heard from them before. For a moment, I glance up at the sky and watch them soar towards me. They stop when they’re above my head, but they won’t descend because they’re too frightened by the creature below with me.

My problem.

Reaching for another knife, I size up the muttation in front of me. The irony is not lost that this thing appears half human, half bird, but it doesn’t look anything like the silver hawk or my Words flying above. This thing is a demon, vile and beautiful at the same time, and in an odd way, I feel guilty that it has to die.

”Beautiful, I mumble, tightening the grip around my second knife. ”But fleeting.”

[Annora attacks Harpy, throwing knife]
iuOWsa_Wthrowing knife
9061 -- Knife in Forearm -- 5.5 damage
(Thrown Knife)

throwing knife

[Sunrise Rainier D2 // [Thundy]]

Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night

After two unfortunate collisions with my knives, the beast falls to the rock and sand, dead silent.

”Sorry, pretty thing,” I say, reaching down to yank my knives from her corpse. I take note of her feathers, dark and soft, and without thinking I pluck some from her wings, tying one into my hair. The rest I tuck into my belt for a bit of adornment, and they bump against my kilt as I walk along the beach, leaving the animal’s body behind.

With nothing else to do, I glance through my satchel to see if I can do anything of use to heal my wound, and I come across the bandages I took from the items leftover from the Cornucopia. I wrap up the spot where the beast’s talons hit, and when I drop my bandages back into the bag I come across is an odd stick-shaped thing that I’m not sure what to do with. I suppose if I lose all of my knives I could use it to beat someone over the head with.. but that doesn’t hardly seem elegant at all.

The knives.. now those are beautiful. They’ve got a color that’s silver like the hawk, with handles adorned with fine details, and they fit just perfectly in my hand.

We never had such fine things back in District Eleven. This Arena is spoiling me.

Now that the muttation has ceased its breathing, my birds are less hesitant to reach the ground, and a couple of them flutter and land on my shoulders while the others circle overhead. Every now and then I see another bird, drawn to the silver light of my hawk, and I’m tempted to reach my hand up in welcome. Surely if they see me with the others birds they won’t think of me as a threat..

[Word Attempt]
HfRekKiS”1-4”

[Dowsing Rod Attempt]
”1-3”

[Annora uses first aid for -3, 5 ft bandages for -1]

”1-4”�”1-3”