You Know It's Thriller (Thriller Night) [Gilly vs. ZMahlah]
Feb 26, 2018 0:43:41 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 0:43:41 GMT -5
Blood flecked the ground around C'Rizz when he fell. Gabriel had finished him off (as much as you helped), and you couldn't help but stare at his vacant eyes. There lay the last bit of home, snuffed out and put away like he was nothing at all. Part of you didn't want to feel anything-he had tried to kill you, and fair was fair in the hunger games. Except real life didn't let you live outside of your choices; you knew that he had a family back home. What did your own parents think about you cutting into him, or your district that had watched you turn on your district partner? This wasn't easy (not that you ever expected it to be), but all of it swam through your head making it hard to run across the breaks in the snow away from the chittering chatterbox.
How happy were you to see Mercy, albeit worse for wear. You clucked your tongue and inspected her wounds. She was as much a leader as you were-always rushing into battle, ready to take on whatever was thrown her way. You settled down along an outcropping of rocks, and stared off at the horizon. The snow made it hard to see much of anything, though you desperately wanted to climb aboard the hanging gondolas that drifted up and down the side of the mountain.
Gabriel was next, not far behind you. He dragged some but looked no worse for wear than yesterday. Time passed, with snow drifting down and the wind picking up across the peak. You pressed the wood together and started a little fire, your teeth chattering as the two moons rose overhead. You had left Raven but-you imagined he was right behind you, that nothing could take him down so easily. You swallowed your heart and steadied yourself (please no cannon, no cannon, no-), and at last he came, trudging up through the snow dunes. You raced to give him a warm hug, your little arms wrapping him tightly. "I missed you," you whispered.
Night was quiet, save for the crackle of fire and a flash of embers in the air. The anthem pounded to reveal three faces. There was a girl you didn't recognize first, and you reasoned she was quite pretty. The next had tears spring to your eyes. Vesper was gone, and with her the only other child who could know what it meant to be so young and trapped here. You squeezed a handful of snow together until it formed a little ball of ice before dropping it to the ground. C'Rizz came last, but you wanted nothing to do with the memory of his death, not now.
And so you did what you could to stop feeling the guilt in your stomach-you turned to Mercy and started to braid her hair. She'd promised you, after all, that the next time you'd stopped, you would have a chance. Your tiny hands pushed back her curly brown locks and started to weave them together. It felt better having busy hands, and before long, breaking the silence.
"Did you have any brothers or sisters? They told my mom she couldn't have any but then she had me, and now it's just the three of us." You knew Mercy was from district eleven, just like Gabriel. From what you remembered from her video, she'd wandered up to the stage, almost as shocked as you had been.
I've got one. His name's Gabriel, if you can believe that. She laughs, and you smile.
"If he's anything like Gabriel I bet he's a good brother." You thought of how Gabriel took his spear to C'Rizz, and close your eyes for a moment. He was just protecting you, and Mercy, wasn't he? It scared you, that each of them took to fighting so easily (and so well). "I think it must be nice to have a brother. I think it's kind of lonely without one."
Yeah it is nice. She paused, and you watch her twiddle her fingers. He kinda kept me from going crazy sometimes.
They're people, like you. With a little house back in their district, and families, with stories, and maybe a dog (or a cat). They go to market on Sundays, and they don't like school (or they do). They didn't want to be here (even if they say they did), and there will come a time when it is either you or them, and now-
You breathed in, and breathed out.
"I guess that explains me. My dad calls me crazy 'cause I spend so much time in make believe. But then he also always told me I can be whoever I wanted, so I like being me." You twisted another few strands. Your mother always told you each morning that she loved you, but that she wanted to say it out loud because sometimes people never got the chance. And to not let someone know they were loved was criminal; not when it could only bring happiness. "I'm glad for you. And Gabe. And Raven." Was this brave, or stupid? You weren't supposed to make friends here, but then, you didn't seem to be living like the older kids did anyway. "I just want you to know that, because-you should know that, after all this. I really like who you are."
Thanks. I don't hear that a lot. You're not all that bad either, you know. You're very brave.
"I'm scared all the time here." You finished the braid, and stood. "But it helps if I think about helping my friends rather than just staying alive, especially when they're so brave."
⚜
You let the night drift onward, and stared at the fire. A little white parachute fell sometime after dark, with a note For Gilly - pirates are better than knights and queens lol xoxo. A tiny black pirate hat with a skull and cross bones landed in your lap. It made you smile, and think about how as motley as you were, had managed to stay alive two whole days. Your crew had not yet run off course-though you reasoned that was because you had looked after one another.
"Are you feeling okay? Because I feel like my stomach's all squeezed up together." You peeped over at Gabriel, who looked white as a ghost. He muttered about a headache, and it was the reason none of you had trekked down the mountain (not that you had wanted to walk through the blinding snow to do so anyway). The peak gave a good view of the arena anyway, and a part of you was confident the tributes you'd just fought weren't coming back any time soon.
"Well if it makes you feel better, thank you. I don't think I ever had someone who'd..." You had wanted to tell him something, anything for what had happened back there. You didn't believe that there was a good way to feel about it, but at the least you could feel good about him helping you. He deserved to know that he wasn't a bad person-he was handsome, kind, and brave. And you liked the way his hair looked in the light of fire. "… do what you did, and even though I don't know how I'm supposed to feel... I'm glad you're here."
⚜
Morning comes just as soon as you closed your eyes. You're happy not to dream of anything, though you could have stood to imagined sailing in a big wooden ship on a hot summer's day. The morning is the same as it has been, with the addition of several inches of snow and howling winds (just what I wanted for breakfast you mutter). Gabriel gets you all together for a picture, and you're happy to oblige if only so you can wear your new hat and hold up your axe like a true rapscallion pirate.
Nature called after, and you sauntered away to tinkle behind an outcropping of rocks across the way. You shimmied back into your pants just as soon as you were done, and out of the corner of your eye spotted a long shadow cast across the snow. You half-expected Mercy to chide you for taking so long, or being so far away by yourself, but instead were met with the twisted small form of a girl trudging barefoot through the snow toward you. She had one a tee shirt with cargo shorts and a sailor's cap with an anchor. Her brown hair tossled down to her shoulders. She was young, and small, and very much like you.
"Ummm… hello?" You managed to say, because in searching your brain you could not remember a tribute that was anything like her. Was there someone added after the fact? But as she trudged closer, spear in hand, you noticed that her pale white skin was littered in scars; scratches from weapons, especially across her face. The wind picked up and blew back her hair to reveal the sunken brown eyes and pale blue lips.
"OH MY GOD SHE'S ALREADY DEAD!" You pulled up your pants and skittered backwards into the snow.
Your father had once told you a story about the dead rising up out of graves. He said that they searched for people's brains because they had none of their own, and would carve bad little girls and boys to pieces. This story had given you nightmares for weeks (and resulted in a few loud discussions between your mother and father), until he explained that there was a way not to be afraid of such ghoulish creations.
E…lon…
You heard it whisper out, a word that held no meaning for you. She reminds you too much of yourself, aside from the horrifying stench of death. Small hands, but firm eyes. A determination that belied a tiny body. You could feel that she had been someone (powerful?), and was not to be trifled with. No-this called for everything you had.
You heard it whisper out, a word that held no meaning for you. She reminds you too much of yourself, aside from the horrifying stench of death. Small hands, but firm eyes. A determination that belied a tiny body. You could feel that she had been someone (powerful?), and was not to be trifled with. No-this called for everything you had.
"Ummm… w-w-whoever you are? Er… whoever you were?" You twisted your pirate cap and held out your axe. "You're not taking any of these brains. Especially not when I can do something you can't."
You twisted one foot behind another, and started to shake your butt. You shimmied, twirled, and side-stepped. Your axe bounced in time to the rhythm.
You see, your father had quelled your fears with the simple fact that zombies could not dance.. Balzog, the king of the undead had challenged the good Pirate Captain to a dance off for her ship and crew. Except when he tried to outshimmy and outshake her, and break dance across the poop deck, he'd gone all the pieces. They were too clumsy, too embarrassed of their own moves (not to mention inflexible, their rotting bodies unable to keep up). You had proved spry enough yesterday to outmaneuver C'Rizz, now unnamed dead girl wanted to bite off more than she could chew.
Which wasn't to say that your heart wasn't thumping louder and louder in your ears.
You're very brave. You let it ring in your head, hands steady.
"My name is Captain Gilly Imberline! And I challenge you to a dance-off!"
[Gilly slices Zombie! Mahlah Shea with her axe]
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result:11039 -- Shallow Cut on Back -- 4.0 damage (Axe)
