april showers bring deadly encounters ; ch day 2

Getting comfortable is almost impossible. The ground is hard, and it's cold, yet the sound of the river is peaceful. It gives him the comfort needed to rest his head against the cold, hard ground long enough to close his eyes. Going to sleep in the arena isn't ideal, all it takes is being asleep for a bit too long for someone's life to end.

But as soon as Derecho finds a comfortable position to lay in, the anthem blares through the arena signaling the end of the day. So far five have died. He doesn't know who they are other than their names, and it's best to keep it that way because learning to trust someone and building friendships in the arena is something he swore against. Yet here he is being soft and helping someone in need.

Maybe I do care about others.

Once the anthem ends, he turns facing Quinn. Running away right now would be so easy. Just leaving her behind and letting her fend on her own, it's easy to do, yet for some reason, Derecho can't bring himself to do it because the idea of going at this arena alone is terrifying even though he'd never mention it to anyone.

Holding the hammer super close, he closes his eyes for just a moment which proves to be a mistake because soon he drifts away into a restless slumber.

In the morning, he sees Quinn stirring, and he quickly grabs his satchel and tosses it over his shoulder. Moving is important and figuring out where to go from here and what to do makes it even more urgent they leave this place at once. Sitting still too long is dangerous, it causes people to draw attention to themselves, and now Derecho looks over his shoulder, and it's then that something fell from his bagging landing near his feet.

What's this?

Inspecting the item that fell, he realizes very quickly that's it's something with ten sides with a note saying to create his own luck.

What could this be?

He has half the mind to toss it but decides against it for now.

"Hey, watch out!"

Derecho snaps his attention as a tribute is running towards them, and it takes every ounce of strength not to lash out and attack because within a moment he's attacking some sort of mutt.

"Let's go, Derecho!"

He didn't need told twice. His hand wraps around the hammer holding it even tighter. The others haven't made much of an impact on this beast just yet, and now it's time for him to show everyone how it's done.

"Coming!" He shouts running forward with the hammer in his hand. Fear crawls through his veins and it takes every ounce of strength to push it away while keeping his face clear and calm. He pulls the hood over his head.

These two will never outdo me for I am a career.

Kaius is almost scared at first. He keeps too much distance between himself and the mutts to make a deeper cut, only curling the tip of the axe onto their side. It makes contact, sure, but that won't be enough when a pack of doglike creatures are on the verge of pouncing. Quinn and Derecho heed his warnings well, taking to their own defenses. Kaius's eyes turn briefly as Derecho's hammer slams through one of the smaller mutts.

Each of the pack hisses, aware of battle but otherwise unphased by the combat. One lunges forward toward Kaius, with its teeth the size of mountains as it gets closer and closer to him. He lifts his axe up to defend himself and uses the blade to block his face and neck from taking any brunt of the damage. With a thud, the creature that pounced toward him now crashes down, blocked from any sort of contact with Kaius's skin.

With a closer look, the hound's eyes are much more intimidating. Before, they looked like pinpoint green lasers or jewels, but now, they appear like toxic waste radiating from within. His eyes turn momentarily to see the mutts applying much more pressure to Derecho and Quinn. He can see the blood on their neck and arms.

"Hold on, I just need to finish this one!"

If they can hold on long enough, that is. Kaius swings his axe again with more urgency knowing that the others may be in more danger if he doesn't act with more haste.

[kaius judge attacks The Warrior Displacer with his greataxe]

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[11065 -- Shallow Cut on Right Thigh -- 3.5 damage]

Hearing the bones splinter as the hammer makes impact brings a smile to his face. It's even better than he ever imagined, and right now Derecho wants nothing more than to make that happen again.

Yet he stood too close for too long and trying to back away proved futile as the mutt lashed out almost slitting his throat completely. Blood gushes from the wound pouring down his neck and onto his chest and stomach saturating the clothes the Gamemakers gave him. Thankfully blood doesn't bother him.

But it doesn't end here.

For a moment spots dance before his eyes and regaining his balance is difficult. All it takes is one wrong move to fall over completely, and then he'll turn into mutt food.

Taking a deep breath, he pushes the pain away trying to think of what will come. A crown awaits the person who wins, and Derecho wants nothing more than to wear that crown regardless of the weight it carries, but most important, he yearns to build a legacy. Sometimes that takes more effort than one can imagine, and right now, that's all the male desires.

"Hold on, I just need to finish this one!" Kaius shouts, and Derecho can't help but pivot around and look at him as the blood continues gushing rapidly from the laceration created by the claws of this horrible creature. Part of him wants to tell the others to run, that he'll hold them off for as long as he can, yet he knows doing that is suicide.

Nobody needs to die because of me.

All his life was spent with his parents telling him it's his fault bad things happen, but here in the arena, Derecho understands that bad things have to happen. Those bad things don't have to come from him, yet the bad in this godforsaken beautiful place outweighs the good. Only one person will have the good.

I want it to be me.

"Okay, I'm holding on."

Lifting his hammer, his eyes glance from one person to the next and then to the mutts. Pushing the fear away is important because all it will do is make him believe he's uncapable of doing anything. Even in danger, Derecho charges forward.

I am strong, brave, and I know what must be done to build my legacy.

Bones split and crackle once again. He had tuned it out the first time, focused only on the moment, but now it was too shocking to ignore. A second hound collapses at Derecho's hand. He's got a smile on his face as he holds the bloodied hammer up and away, ready to go again. Kaius had barely scathed the one pouncing for him while the career from Four already eliminated a portion of the pack. "Okay, I'm holding on."

The irony isn't missed on him that, as Kaius inches towards Quinn and Derecho, he'd called the pack to the pair's attention, but it's them who are landing hits deep into the mutations skins. Heroes do much more than just speak words and warnings. They act. The hound jumps high and their claws sink into his arm. Kaius grimaces for a second before shaking his arm free from the creature's weight. With two down, there's a manageable handful left to go. Hold on, he thinks, as much for himself as the others.

The burdened axe sways low for a moment, knocking petals and entire flowers from their stem to lie severed in the misty grass below. When the hound turns back to face him, Kaius leans forward, putting all his weight onto the front of his feet. This one is crafty and evasive, perhaps a bit more agile than the others, but that just means the pack won't stop unless the strongest of its kind fall.

Fights like this in the Hunger Games remind him of what he's spent most of his teenage life advocating for back in District Five. A place where individuals don't need to fight to be on top or be in serious danger if they find themselves near the bottom of the social ladder. The idea of desperation to survive should not exist in a world and in a government that promises the ideal and the utopia. That's not the reality in this arena, or in his district, or in the country.

There must be someone to fight for it.

[kaius judge attacks The Warrior Displacer with his greataxe]

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[11183 -- Severed Left Hand at Wrist -- 9.0 damage]

Before volunteering for the games, Derecho wanted nothing more than to prove his strength, to prove that he's not just some pathetic kid wearing the title of career. Building a legacy is important, it's something he desires more than anything in the world right now, and maybe showing off his strength on this pack of mutts is the way to do it. Of course, it's not the same as killing another human, but maybe this is enough to show all those who never believed in him that he's capable of amazing things.

Bones shatter and splinter again, and a smile spreads even further across his face. These horrific creatures were created with the sole purpose of destroying the tributes standing in their way, and right now Derecho wants nothing to do with them. None of them are kind or friendly. None of them deserve to live, even the youngest of them are killing machines.

Maybe it's his first mistake because before he knows it more blood is gushing from a gaping hole on his shoulder. They're trying to shred him limb from limb -

But I will not let them.

And then he watches Kaius spring into action again, and a paw lands on the ground with a deafening thud, and Derecho's smile grows even larger. These foul creatures are almost dead, and Quinn has a chance, but she misses completely.

How can you miss something that big?

Focusing on the failed efforts won't do anything, and instead Derecho steadies himself. It takes a moment, but soon he's ready, and the hammer is in the air moving, and part of him is afraid of what will happen if this doesn't go well, yet he tries as hard as he can to get it out of his mind. It's a terrifying thought, death is.

I wonder if the mutts are scared?

Shaking his head, he takes a deep breath and lunges into action using all his might and hoping they all fall down.