<| Descent of Fall |> [Team SOT vs. Sheepish]

.:.:.:.:.:.:.
i could buy myself a reason
i could sell myself a job
i could hang myself for treason
all the folks i know are gone
.:.:.:.:.:.:.

The wind whistled shrilly through the trees that resembled a painted picture, so perfect that Topaz doubted the scene was entirely real. Colors, everywhere. The overall look of the area gave her the odd feeling of being assaulted by an artist's abstract set of watercolors. How was it possible that anything could look so much like a fantasy, but be so damn real at the same time? It filled the District One tribute with unease, for beneath the beauty of the autumn landscape she was sure that something ominous was lying in wait.

But then again, something always was, right?

Her injuries from the previous day's massacre did not hurt as much as they had. She was a little sore, but not in pain. The blood had dried, but she hadn't exactly bothered to wipe it away so as a result she resembled a sort of zebra with stripes of red stroked across her at an irregular pattern. It wasn't particularly attractive, which bothered Topaz, but they'd been on the move for a while and she didn't exactly care much, shocking as that may sound. Her hair was still in good shape, though; they'd better get to water soon so she'd be able to wash it. She had removed the horrid green headband from it as soon as they'd left the Bloodbath, however unless she felt like stripping there was nothing she could do about the putrid orange shirt. Actually, it was such an awful shade that removing it was not a far off possibility--give the viewers something to look at, eh? But no, it was actually kind of cool out, and she suspected that walking around without a t-shirt would make her all the more prone to the dropping temperature.

For some reason (and she often wondered about the odd ways her mind connected things) her thoughts traveled to Nash after she was finished dwelling on her appearance. Her dark-haired ally didn't look so hot herself; though then again, none of them did. Though Topaz and Takeba had borne the brunt of the attack and Nash and Anani were virtually unscathed, the intense weight of their current situation had clearly taken its toll on the full alliance. They'd made it past the Bloodbath. They'd managed to get the wealth of items from the golden horn, seeing as they'd been the last ones left in the area. They were laden with bags full of vital supplies, deadly weapons clenched in their hands. But what was in store for them next?

They had shelter. They had weapons. They had iodine tablets for purifying water if they happened to come by it. They had duct tape and rope, [-suggestive eyebrow raise-] although she wasn't exactly sure what they would need them for yet. They had numerous pairs of sinister-looking pliers, though she didn't know what those could be used for, either. Maybe as a blunt weapon, or something. All in all, they were set to survive, with everything they had. But what if they were hunted down? Or worse, what if the four of them were the last tributes standing?

The seventeen-year-old was sure she'd be able to kill them if she had to, though. Well, Takeba and Anani, at least. Sure, it'd be disappointing. But that would be more like losing a useful alliance member, not like losing someone who actually meant something to her. On the other hand, she'd grudgingly come to accept that Nash Harvey was more than just an ally. She was a...friend? Was that right? For some reason it didn't seem so. She couldn't help but remember the electric shock sensation she'd experienced when briefly touching the other girl's hand...now that was something different. Something she had experienced before, but very, very rarely...

Oh, crap. Had she really gotten to the point when she was so hungry for any kind of romance that she automatically associated any kind of peculiar sensation with...something more? Was the dormant beast in her chest really so desperate for some kind of feeling that it would resort to that despicable brand of tomfoolery? No, it was stupid to think that there was anything of that sort going on between the two Career females. They were just...friends. Dammit, there was that word again. Why did it feel so wrong? Why didn't it fit?

Literally shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she slowed to a stop, knowing everyone else would as well. "Alright, it's time to start seriously thinking about tracking down some water. And foo--" Just as she finished speaking she caught sight of movement from within the colorful array of fall trees. Into view charged three fluffy orange creatures that she'd most certainly never seen before, ever. They had puffy coats of the precise same shade of her disgusting t-shirt, and long snouts with very vulpine features. They resembled a mixture of sheep and foxes...

Mixture.

The word triggered something in her mind, and Topaz suddenly knew what they were up against. "Mutts!"

Anani tossed his abundant supplies of life saving materials that were stuffed into various backpacks aside. His alliance had made it through the first day of the Hunger Games, and made it out of the Bloodbath while accruing only a few injuries to the group in total. He shuddered once again as he glanced over at his teammates to see the wounds they earned from the vicious discord that had occurred at the Cornucopia. Even though he was still grateful that he hadn't been scathed during the Bloodbath due to some burst of random luck, he knew that even the greatest of luck wouldn't ward off the wrath of the Capital on his head.

As he gently laid his head to rest on one of the sleeping bags they acquired from the Wealth, his eyes slowly closed as the images of the day's nightmares drifted into his mind. The images of the tributes his alliance had killed scrolled through his mind as he saw the looks of terror, fear and even determination in their faces. But one by one, each had been struck down by the fatal blow of Takeba who seemed just as shocked as the victims of their downfall.

Blood stained everything in sight as Anani recollected a miscellaneous head lying on the ground of some unfortunate tribute. Dead bodies were strewn around, sometimes in a small pile. Then he remembered the end of the Wealth as an immense dark hued hound bounded into the Cornucopia. Anani's instinct had screamed at him to run, turn around and hide somewhere, but his reflexes had not listened. He had stood there, firmly rooted to the ground in fear and awe as he tried to coerce his feet to move. Finally, and thankfully, he had managed to dive out of the way of the beast only to turn in time to see another tribute's neck be promptly snapped within the beast's massive jaws. Without a moment's delay, the beast took another victim in its grasp as it dragged this unfortunate victim into the dark abyss of the forest. His alliance had rejoiced that they had finally won the Wealth, but even so, his mind wouldn't stray from the hopelessness that had radiated from the tribute who had been dragged away by the beast...

Anani awoke with a startle as he heard the usual Capital anthem play, accompanied by the faces of the deceased tributes. As the pictures slowly faded, Anani was shaken by two things. First, he solemnly stared at the innocent face of Ocean Jones, his partner tribute from District 12. He knew that the deaf girl had way too much of a disadvantage with her disorder to get far... And for that purpose, he had stayed away from allying with her or even getting to know her better... And it looked as if he had made the right choice in doing so. He did not want to see or imagine how she died a terrible death, whether it was slow and painful or quick and painless. The other thing had shaken him a bit more for some odd reason. It wasn't the faces of the dead tributes themselves, but it was the absence of a face that surprised him. The same face that had looked out in despair as the hellhound had dragged him away had not been shown up in the sky. Anani pondered about how one would live through such a venture like that, but he quickly relegated that though to the back of his mind as he bundled up back again in his sleeping back to drift back asleep.

But before he could completely separate himself from the physical world, Anani heard Topaz mention something about food before she was abruptly cut off by some train of thought. He quickly looked over to see her jumping in action and alerting the alliance of the proximity of mutts. With swift, yet somewhat clumsy action, Anani clamored out of his sleeping back and pulled out his dagger, only to watch Topaz just graze one of the mutts leg, while Nash's attack just glanced off harmlessly. With a firm breath of his own, Anani lunged toward the same mutt with his glistening dagger, only to completely miss the agile mutt. Anani felt his heart rapidly throb as he slowly backed away in a defensive position. He knew that the first day had been too good to be true. The Capitol wouldn't let the brother of the last year's victor come out alive. They would kill him off quickly or at least bring much detriment onto him to build up the drama. With this in mind, Anani looked helplessly onto his teammates as he quickly checked with reassuring pats of the armor he had received from the Wealth.

[Attacks same Sheepish as Topaz]
[dice=200+2000]
[Miss - 0.0]

Takeba Suzumi

Concern from Takeba seemed to have been answered, for Topaz had almost stated about the means their food was to be obtained. Words of the District 1 girl were cut off, however, leaving the District 4 female Tribute to be quite curious. Purple orbs followed, spotting orange objects in the distance. Puffy-looking and appearing to be like cotton candy, Takeba stared at the strange phenomenon, tilting her head with a puzzled facial expression. Wool akin to a sheep's yet off by the pigmentation and the curious structure of a muzzle, the fifteen-year old girl was recalling anything about them that came to mind. She continued to gaze at the creatures. Eyes widened slightly.

In her observations, she had barely noticed that all three of her alliance members had left their spots and rushed to the animals. Takeba got on her feet post haste, shouting, "Desist offensive maneuvers--!" She closed her mouth, brows knit up, and a frown pressed. Topaz had managed to land a slash on the closest muttation's right back of the leg, a trickle of blood starting to dot the limb. When Nash had tried her own assault, the beast had deflected the blow successfully; Anani swung down but clearly missed. Fear was scrawled on Takeba's face. Real fear. Dread encompassed the heart, and she swallowed the emotion down.

Before Takeba could begin to pace to the fighting, one of the animals came up to her, snarling. Daggers were gripped hard, but she did not attempt to swing them when the creature leaped in attack. She stood still and somehow managed to come out unscathed, the muttation missing the target as much as Anani did earlier. Turning around, the purple-haired Tribute depressed the frown deeper. Sentiments were dipped in darkness, morbid displeasure in the notions of forced will. Creature fangs, human blades, they were no different from each other in nature. Such pondering incited internal malaise.

Smiles etched on Takeba's face as she took a quick moment to pat the creature on the head. Her action was swift, in case the muttation would attempt to snatch a finger or a hand. One of the assuring gestures, the girl gently petted the creature, ingraining in her head the softness of the fur. "I shall be fine in death or life, little one. We are both parties forced to pit against each other in the interest of the Capitol; and, may they have the best entertainment and happiness of their life, I so do wish this."

With her opinions stated, Takeba left the creature for her alliance members, her face tight and full of morose. Speed quick, the girl went to land a strike on the muttation they had all congregated to ambush on. Expended energy that felt awkward yesterday was still clumsy in intention and angle, but the District 4 Tribute was starting to adjust; and, her slowly-manifesting matching mentality cemented the notion that her fighting skills were improving, even though her emotional state had good metaphorical distance to catch up. She proceeded to do a sort of rushing attack on the critter, not desiring to stop and stabilize breathing levels at the moment.

[Takeba attacks Fay [Knife]]
[dice=200+2000]
Shallow Cut on Right Thigh - 3.5

Post coming right up. :3

[Attacks Sir]
[dice=200+2000]
[Shallow Cut on Neck - 4.0]