.origami -Lethe/Razor vs. Latch Crab-

Lethe Turner

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The faces in the sky passed over Lethe without her notice. Truthfully, she never cared who they were (if she could recognize them, that is), just that now they were gone, she didn’t have to worry about them. Her eyes were on Saskia and Razor, who’s feet had been taken care of, but she couldn’t imagine the pain they were in. Swallowing, she spread out on the warm ground, still heated from the hot day, to close her eyes.

Once more, she couldn’t find sleep. It was like a puzzle. She couldn’t find the answer, but that was because she was thinking too hard. She was thinking for sleep, sleep, but another thought wanted to penetrate, get itself over with. That thought was how grateful she was for Saskia. Sure, she was grateful for Razor, still wary of him, but grateful mostly for Saskia.

She remembered in the Training Center, when she’d first stumbled across Saskia and Anya. She thought she might have a deeper connection to Saskia, sensing Saskia’s disorder, as well. Instead, she found Anya rise above Saskia, the bond between herself and Anya much stronger, more powerful, eternal…

But, then of course, as fate had it, Anya was gone in a blink of an eye, Saskia stepping in to take her place.
Now, Lethe could feel the line between herself and Saskia, like a tugging at her naval, but it wasn’t as strong. There was something blocking it.

That something was Razor.

She eyed him, not angrily or annoyed, just…just…emotionless in the darkness as he slept. He liked Saskia a lot, and she respected that. She just simply couldn’t shake the feeling that he might hurt her. Well, of course, he might eventually have to, but she prayed not in cold blood, if that made any sense. Lethe knew she shouldn’t step between the two of them and she never would.

So, easily, could Lethe pledge to protect Saskia if Razor tried anything.

But, so, easily, she knew she couldn’t.

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It was the buzzing that woke her up. She hadn’t realized she’d been sleeping until she opened her eyes and saw them. A swarm. A dark, jittering swarm that was buzzing and darting around all over her. A swarm of what? Then one bit her. Mosquitoes. Big ones. She gasped out in pain and swatted it away, but there were more and more. Heart racing, she opened her mouth to scream, but a bug bit her lip and she hastily closed it. A fiery itch was spreading through her body in too many places for her to get to.

Gripping her bag, Lethe flailed around, her knife slashing through the air, wildly. It had no effect. She chanced shouting out, “SASKIA, RAZOR, FOLLOW ME!” and then took off in the night, beating away bugs as she went. Her feet beat hard against the ground, numb horror seeping over her in realization that this was some cruel trick of the Capitol.

Damn it! She hated them! She really did. Lethe, never one to hate anyone, truly, deeply hated the Capitol. The other tributes weren’t her enemy! They were! But, of course, they all had to pretend their enemies were each other, the ones locked away in this Hell, not the ones laughing up a storm back in the beautiful city.

She ran into she couldn’t anymore, until the horizon was rosy and the buzzing seemed to die away. Lethe collapsed onto the ground with exhaustion, chest heaving, a stitch in her side. Vibrations on the ground told her someone else near her. They’d followed her. She opened her eyes.

“Saskia, I-”

It was Razor.

“Razor!” She sat straight up, her hands clawing upward to scratch the bites all over her body. “Are you alright?” She frowned, scanning the area around them, finding no one else. “You got bit too, didn’t you? And Saskia…oh no…” Surely the blind girl hadn’t done well in the fray of the buzzing, the biting, the confusion. Lethe’s stomach lurched as she glanced around and saw not a grassy, shrubby area, but a river bank, where they had ended up. Lethe found that her exhaustion had completely melted away into panic, agony and fear. “We need to find her, Razor. She might be in trouble!”

She stood, her nails which had grown and were quite good at scratching, pulling forth blood from her cuts and it seeped down her bloated skin. She drew her knife and used the side to scratch a bite on her back that she couldn’t reach. She bled there too, but didn’t mind. Saskia’s safety was the only thing on her mind.

“Razor, let’s go-” she stopped short, eyes wide as something big and odd looking inched up out of the water. It looked like a crab…it looked like, those were the key words. Her heart skipped a beat, wondering what now could possibly go wrong. “Razor, don’t move,” she warned, eyes on the crab, raising her knife. “There’s a crab behind you and I don’t think it’s a nice normal one, either.”[/size][/blockquote][/color]