Red Sand (Noelle & Dice Vs a Sphinx)

Sand. She knew it was sand. The feeling was burning into the soles of her shoes. Even though Noelle could see nothing whatsoever, she could still feel the silkiness of the ground, the insecurity in each of her steps; and of course, she felt the blazing heat, surrounding her, overwhelming her. Though, Noelle wasn’t sure whether she should have been thankful for the small bouts of wind, or if she very much wished them away. Each bout of wind, although refreshing it was, brought a large portion of sand, swirling through the air. Noelle felt it as it stung her face, causing her to cough, sometimes uncontrollably.

There were a few positive things about walking through the desert, though. For one, at least she didn’t necessarily need her eyes for anything: there weren’t any trees to bump into, no water to fall in, no wildlife to trip over. The desert was merely open land. Noelle gripped Dice’s hand, hard. Her worst fear was losing him, becoming completely incompetent, and dying alone without any way to understand what was going on around her.

It was a miracle she was still alive, she thought. No, actually it wasn’t a miracle; or if it was, Dice was the miracle. Without Dice, she would be dead already. She would have never made it this far: not without vision. Losing Dice was losing everything Noelle had left. Then again, she would lose him sometime; or he would lose her. Either way, staying together was not an option; and it frightened Noelle. What would she do without him? She realized, the more likely case was that she wouldn’t even last that long. In some ways that thought was relieving: that she probably wouldn’t have to leave him, but in many ways, the thought of death frightened her too.

She remembered the moment when she stood on the metal plate, telling herself to keep her sanity, to keep her nobility and die an honorable death. She remembered that moment when she knew being Victor had no worth, for it was only a pleasant-sounding name for a murderer. She remembered that moment when she had shown more than bravery, when she had shown fearlessness and determination. And she recalled this moment, when she was too afraid to give herself to death.

So many words, so many thoughts that she hadn’t yet expressed, words that would never be heard, thoughts that would forever remain hidden. Noelle sighed.

Once upon a time, long long ago, in a faraway land, Noelle Pines had been strong.

But now, all she felt, withering in her mind, coursing through her thoughts, was weakness.

“Why didn’t I refill the jugs after we drank them?” Noelle’s thoughts were interrupted by Dice’s words. Noelle shrugged, unfocused. We’ll be dead soon anyways, she thought. Though, she responded with a much more positive answer. “Hopefully we’ll find water somewhere else…Or we can always go back. Maybe.” Noelle knew if they went back, there was probably a larger chance that they’d run into tributes; she doubted they would find many tributes wandering through the desert. In some ways that was probably a good thing, but in other ways, not so much. Noelle wondered what they would run into: there had to be something out here, knowing the Capitol’s methods.

“Noelle! Stay behind me! Get your whip ready!” This was the next thing Noelle heard. Stay behind me? No, she wouldn’t do that. She was less use than Dice was; she wasn’t going to let him protect her just because she was blind, just because she was a girl, and just because she was practically incompetent on her own. Just because she couldn’t see, didn’t mean she couldn’t fight. If only Dice could understand this…if only he could understand that he was the one who needed to get back home. He was the better person here: he had protected Noelle, and in return, she had tried to attack him. She shivered as she remembered her wake-up attack, the one that had led to the death of Larae.

Quickly, though, Noelle pulled herself out of her thoughts and grabbed her whip, raising it. She kept her ears as alert as possible, trying to understand what was going on. Was a tribute approaching? Who could it be? Noelle gripped Dice’s hand even tighter. She knew, sooner or later, she would have to let go. She would be forced to test her own independence, when it came down to it. She didn’t want to lose herself this time, though, and worse, she didn’t want to lose Dice. Worse than anything, she didn’t want to end up hurting Dice by accident if whatever this was, turned into a fight. She knew it was a possibility if she didn’t know what she was doing. If only she could see him; she needed to sense him.

Before she let go of Dice’s protection, and before she even thought of anything else, Noelle said, “If I let go of your hand, don’t let me forget where you are.”

Then, she heard him shout, “Get ready!” She let go of his hand, suddenly feeling as though the world had turned on her. She had nothing to show her the way anymore, nothing to guide her, but her four remaining senses. She took a deep breath, wondering which tributes were about to attack them. Though, she suddenly heard an unfamiliar noise: something of a roar, yet also something much different. She gasped at the sound, realizing this was definitely no tribute. “What is it?” Noelle asked, trying to hide the fear in her voice. She didn’t dare take a step back: there was no point to that, so instead, she stood planted, unaware of where exactly this…thing was. She figured it was a Capitol mutt, like some of the others Noelle had seen in past games. Noelle waited for a signal from Dice to attack. She couldn’t see, so it was no use making the first move. She readied herself, sensing Dice nearby. She wanted to grab his hand again, latch onto his protection, but she knew she couldn’t. She cleared her mind, preparing for whatever was about to come.

Noelle shivered when she finally felt the whip make contact. She immediately knew it probably only resulted in a small amount of damage, but at least she hadn’t missed, like the past two attacks. She felt ashamed of herself at this point; she had barely injured this mutt, while Dice was probably in a terrible amount of pain, injured by this creature. Noelle had earlier been able to smell traces of blood; by now, the smell of blood was quite prominent. Yet, she felt no pain herself. Either this creature was close to death, Dice was badly injured, or both.

Noelle knew what she had to do: she had to stop this creature from taking any more life from Dice. She couldn’t just stand there and let the creature kill him. She needed balance, coordination, and most of all, a successful attack. She could attack right now, and get one more in, before the mutt went for Dice again; she needed to get its attention off Dice, and onto her, even if she didn’t successfully kill it. No, she needed it dead. That’s what she needed.

"Noelle! Strike towards where my voice is!" The words came from Dice, and swiftly, she turned towards the place from which his voice sounded. She realized, Dice had been shouting to her throughout the entire fight, helping her and guiding her. Yet, she had been completely silent, too concentrated on listening rather than speaking. Nerves, that's what it was, she realized. Usually she was very loquacious, but she knew, she didn't need words to win this. She needed her focus. Quickly, Noelle readied her whip once more. She concentrated more than ever on the sounds around her, trying to sense the exact position of the creature. She felt its presence slightly to the right, so she shifted. She had to depend on her own senses, just as much as she depended on Dice. Her own senses, however limited they were, still carried her life in their hands. She smiled as she realized, she was still that same stubborn person she had been weeks, months, even years ago. Heck, she couldn’t even remember how long she’d been stuck in this arena. It definitely seemed like years, at least.

She was stubborn enough to still listen to her own senses, even when they were almost completely unreliable. Well, she thought, at least I’ve got a bit of faith here… With almost the last of her mental strength, and quite a bit of physical strength too, Noelle took a step forward and brought down the whip, hope fluttering through her insides. She didn't know how close to death this creature was, and she didn't care. She attacked.

[attacks Sekhmet, whip]
[dice=200+6000]
[Miss - 0.0]

Noelle almost screamed in frustration when she realized her attack missed. How? How could she let that happen? Though, as she listened, she no longer heard any movement. Somehow, stillness rushed through the atmosphere. "Dice," she muttered. "It's....dead, right?" She took a few steps forward, trying to find Dice, unable to feel his prescene. Her heart was beating quickly. Finally she found him, and quickly embraced him. Both of them were still alive. It was okay. She felt blood, seeping from his cheek, his stomach, and even his thigh. She gasped, and quickly tried her best to help him. Even blind, she was able to do a fairly good job with what she knew in first aid. She was still able to feel the wounds, which was all she really needed. After she finished, Noelle quickly rumaged through Dice's pack, finding the herbs that she'd picked for him when they were in the marsh. It was a good thing she had stored them. She put them in his hands as an order for him to eat. She listened as he consumed the plants, and she felt herself still shaking slightly.