we ter-might have a problem, here // woodsmen vs mutts

[dars]

[presto][/presto]

Silas realized with a sense of malice that this wasn't over yet, that it wasn't even close. He ground his teeth, his knee screaming in pain, his stomach churned and flipped upside down, the light blinding to his hollow eyes, spindly fingers exuding his weakness by shaking against his will as he clutched the axe in his hand. He was not himself, then. He'd lost himself so quickly, overtaken by the withdrawal, that all at once he wished he had more drugs and that he'd never touched them in the first place.

If he'd been himself, this would've been over by now. The spiders would've been reduced to over-sized torsos for him to watch dry out in the beaming sun. Hang on the wall like those creepy people who collected dead butterflies and beetles, put them on display as trophies so that when people asked he could say, Yeah, I fucking killed them.

But he wasn't himself and he willed that to change. He willed himself to get over it: mind over matter, them or me, live or die. He felt something solid lodged in his throat and forced himself to swallow it down. Not now.

Not again.

Not ever.

The sheen of sweat on his forehead glistened and he smiled despite the physical limitations put against him. He did not fear death. That was what made him strong. Just because he wasn't ready to die yet didn't make him afraid. He was many things: selfish, manic, maybe even brave, but he wasn't afraid. He'd seen worse, lived through worse, done worse, and all for less. Here, now, this was for something. For a future. For a chance he'd never gotten to option to have before.

To maybe, some day, find out how to feel again.

There was a part of him, though, that was resistant to that idea. If he felt, it wouldn't always be good. He pictured it as a piece of himself that he had been living apart from. It still felt everything he was supposed to feel, but it wasn't there to show him. Feeling again meant reuniting himself with that separated piece, and if that was true, then what if it meant feeling all of the things he'd been repressing this entire time?

He bit his bottom lip; he'd feel a lot worse before this was over so he had decided to just breathe through the pain of his knee because it was only an excuse for more pain to come his way. He was strong. He was angry.

And he wasn't fucking done.

[ silas attacks eenie, axe ]
SrItWriOD_axe
[ 11051 -- Shallow Cut on Left Bicep -- 3.5 damage ]

axe

[lance]

EENIE

Oh ho ho. Now the flesh things were fighting back against her. At least this one was. Or trying to, anyway.

A mere flesh wound on her shell wasn't going to stop her from setting about her duty. No, she would suffer through her punishment with dignity. It was the least she could do while that idiot was getting chopped up.

Sigh. She supposed she had better help him out before it became too late.

eenie attacks beck; body (blunt)

svZAZLsLD5blunt

7054 -- Miss -- 0.0 damage

---

MEANIE

Okay. For real. Losing a leg fucking hurt. And clearly, the meatbags weren't going to be satisfied with just that. Oh no. Of course not.

And now she has to come and help him too. Lovely. First it came from him helping her out, and now he needed to be saved from her? Like, how embarrassing was that?

He was quickly getting frustrated. And he needed to let it out somehow.

meanie attacks sophie; pincers (knife)

knife

2008 -- Shallow Cut on Left Forearm -- 3.5 damage

---

TINY

tiny is most definitely still perished. rip in rest in rip in pieces in rip.

---

MOE

Death.

blunt·knife

[eulalie blake 1a 🍒 tris]

[presto][/presto]

When the spider snaps at her arm, she's finished. Not in the bad way — she's far from dead — but she's furious. Her features twist slightly, jumping from emotionless to sad to angry in a span of mere seconds. It's hard not to show everything when her mask falls, but she manages to keep it down to one.

Rage.

"I'm going to end you." She says it so matter-of-factly, cutting her eyes at the creature and its partner. "You, too." She had managed to jerk her arm away quickly enough to avoid major damage, but the skin is still broken. There's blood pooling in her palms.

She still opens her bag, not caring about stains or other frivolous things — she removes the crossbow she took from Ikaros' corpse and plants her feet firmly on the ground. She has to remind herself not to shudder, to not think of the ghosts around her. The one that was from home, and the one she killed.

"Back up, boys." She takes aim, closing one eye and preparing two bolts. She holds the crossbow like she knows what she's doing, but Lady Luck is the one guiding her hand.

"I'm done playing nice."

( sophie attacks eenie ; crossbow bolt #1 )
1o6E27fHZnbow
( Shallow Cut on Left Calf -- 3.5 damage )

( sophie attacks meanie ; crossbow bolt #2 )
bow
( Shallow Cut on Left Calf -- 3.5 damage )

bow·bow

[[nyte]]

[presto][/presto]

The metallic tang of pain seeped between his teeth. Exhaustion threatened to overwhelm him, hands long gone shaky and numb. He could not pinpoint a single source if his pain, even his broken wrist offered little more than a continuous ache. The air smelled of desperation, whether that was due to Beck and his companions or the damned mutts who refused to fucking die he couldn't be sure.

I'm going to end you. Beck wanted to believe Sophie, he almost did. She was a Valkyrie, serene vengeance tearing through the insects as she attacked both at once. He pretended he didn't recognize the weapon she used, the cross bow once fit snugly upon Ikaros' hip. They weren't scavengers, they were better than these beasts.

He let out an appreciative whistle before advancing on the mutts once more. Not bad, Fray. He couldn't muster up the strength to speak, not when there were monsters to kill.

{beck attacks meanie ; axe}
u7SJCeGnGaaxe
{result}

axe

[dars]

[presto][/presto]

He'd had enough. His knee hurt. The light was invasive, made him squint, the gnats kept finding their way into his ears, the heat was stifling, and there were still two gigantic spiders who wanted nothing more than to eat them. And at the rate they were going, Silas was forced to face the reality that they might just get what they want if something didn't change.

He recognized that it was him who had to change. He had to be the same person he'd been before, the same person who saw this as a sport, a game. The person who was not just okay with killing, but the one who sought it out. It didn't matter if these creatures would disappear the moment this fight was over; they still had the ability to take his win and give it to someone else, and for some reason that ignited a fury within him, adrenaline picking up the slack of his failed knee and his sick stomach.

He screamed, loud, thunderous, and ran forward with his axe held over his head.

"FUCKING! DIE!"

He swung, true and angry and so full of the color red that it tinted his vision in its favor.

No sound came from it, Silas plunging his axe deep into its head, cutting and cutting and cutting until it was separated from the rest of its body. The spider crumbled, legs turning in like any other dead spider as it rolled over onto its back lifeless.

He grabbed the head by its pincers and tossed it at the remaining spider's feet, grinning, daring it, knowing that the thing could kill him just as quickly as he could kill it.

"All alone now aren't you, fucker?"

[ silas attacks eenie, axe ]
T|EHH7VhU2axe
[ 11146 -- Severed Head -- 40 damage ]

axe

[lance]

EENIE

Today, Eenie learned a valuable lesson about not getting ahead of herself.

---

MEANIE

meanie attacks beck, body (blunt)

7gtdGFYhcEblunt

7105 -- Miss -- 0.0 damage

---

TINY

tiny is absolutely probably most definitely still perished. rip in rest in rip in pieces in rip.

---

MOE

Death, but more.

blunt

[eulalie blake 1a 🍒 tris]

[presto][/presto]

She props the crossbow on her shoulder with a pout, disappointed that her attack hadn't been enough to kill both of the beasts. "Well, that's a shame." They are still standing, still clicking their pincers and crawling forward on terrible legs — but then Beck moves forward, and Silas follows after him.

A head rolls into view, and it's horrifying.

The color of the blood is not a shade she can name.

"Fuck, Silas." It's rare to hear her curse, but it's the first thing that comes to her mind. Something rolls in her stomach, and she presses a hand to her mouth. Her words are muffled. "I can't handle this. I want it to stop." She drops her bow dramatically, picking up the sword she placed aside.

"Back up, Beck." She closes her eyes, ready to swing recklessly.

"I'm finishing this."

( sophie attacks meanie ; sword )
PnBIuSgjmBsword
( Deep Gash on Left Forearm -- 8.0 damage | +1 blades [9] )

sword

[[nyte]]

[presto][/presto]

The spider's head rolled, eyes glinting in the sunlight as life slowly seeped from the mangled mess the monster had become. "Holy shit!" He didn't expect to hear Sophie's voice alongside his own, perhaps saturated with the same cocktail of fear and admiration. He couldn't tell which was stronger, he didn't have time to do anything but scramble backwards at Sophie's warning. He near tripped over his own feet in his haste to get away from her sword's arc as it dug into the remaining spider.

When it was over Beck felt his knees go weak. "Fuck. Fuck." With what little strength remained in heavy limbs he kicked the dismembered spider head, fighting the urge to make an obscene gesture at it as it tumbled away. His hand hurt, his other hand hurt, his legs weren't feeling too great either. His head was throbbing, lips gone numb from blood loss and maybe something a little more potent.

He wanted to get away, far away from these carcasses. From reapers that lingered not only in those whose hearts had stopped. "L-let's go. We're done."

He  knew they weren't.

{beck flees}

[dars]

[presto][/presto]

filler!

[silas receives sponsorship]
[silas flees]

[eulalie blake 1a 🍒 tris]

[presto][/presto]

filler.

( sophie flees the fight )