sentiment; lpb v. ctju v. ml, day 4

m a g i

Gas, out of time, out of money
You're doing what you can, just makin' it run
(There's only so much I can)

There had been too many voices as Magi crowded into the dark wood. Making heads or tails of all the faces was beyond him at this point. He could only hope to keep his focus on Lara and push forward, though that appeared easier said than done. Two young men tore into her through the darkness and as Magis eyes adjusted, he began to make out who the perpetrators were.

Not that it did him much good. They weren’t people he recognized. Though he supposed this made it easier to raise his sword when his heart couldn’t be tainted by their hardships or hard luck stories.

The adrenaline helped, too, pushing back against the chaos of bodies now surrounding them. A group of three, then four, maybe seven? Was he counting right? Made their way through personal slights and petty observations to lay waste to one another.

In his experience, that’s all teenage violence toward one another had ever been. Maybe capitolites just never outgrew seeing teenagers harangue one another for little grievances. Maybe they just had a penchant for blood.

Whatever their reason, Magi had to step through the mud and focus on the boy who kept hammering Lara. He’d gotten a good slice across his before and redoubled, shifting his footing as he gripped his sword in both hands.

Caspian mewled out having to protect his ally but it hasn’t met much to Magi. He’d already numbed to it yesterday when the boy had growled about Olete. The first taste of blood has run cold through his veins. Now, as the world exploded around him, Magi would focus on his breathing, on Lara, on the few things he had any control over.

He couldn’t focus on how his heart might’ve felt one way or another. Not if he wanted to keep holding his sword tight in his grip.

He couldn’t care about who or what Caspian was protecting.

Magi submitted to the whirlwind of force, the regressive pull of their teenage hearts as he stepped forward. Something about Caspian’s words cut into him - a boy who already recognized he should be dead but dared to try to take another life - drawing out his ire.

“If you were supposed to die let us give the opportunity.”

[Magi Karp attacks Caspian with his sword]

U L Y S S E S.

Everything falls apart in an instant. My sword bends down to Perry's foot, cutting through bone entirely. I could've aimed anywhere else, given the intensity of the moment. I almost tore her leg down just a day ago, then I backed off of the leg pun today, and here we are. Just can't resist the irony, can you, Uly boy? Frustrated looks from both of us with Jayson stuffed in between fall silent with an even more guttural sound. A slice. A thud. An air of quiet, without the faltering breaths and sniffles. Unmistakeable sounds.

The fight halts now, on our side at least, to see what's happened on the other end.

It's Caspian. What's left, anyway. I can't think to do anything else but stare in his direction. His body falls to the ground, a few paces away from his head. "Caspian!" I shout over to the other side, where Lara and her friend, as well as Torian, Caspian, and Larissa were fighting. Now, Larissa's moving in our direction, leaving Torian two-on-one.

I grab Jayson's arm, rubbing my fingers against him gently to know I'm talking to him. "Stay alive, okay? I'll help Torian." I slide out from behind him and sprint to the other side of the forest. Torian isn't a fighter… you can't put a stuffed shark tail on a cat and call it a shark. But he's got no choice defending himself against Lara. Put a sword in a scientist's hand and you still don't have a killer. And considering what the boy from Three had done to Caspian, I can't leave him fighting on his own. I wave back to Perry as I run toward the other fight, "Another time!"

I brush up against some of the trees as I sprint toward Torian and the other two. An arrow flies by, piercing a tree trunk as I pass by it. Heels slide against the dirt and grass as I reach Torian. Caspian looks worse up close. There's a long, disappointed breath as I lift my blade(s). Dead in the eye, I speak to her. "Dick move, whichever one of you did that." But I follow Torian's lead, taking to the more damaged of the two. To Lara.

m a g i

Gas, out of time, out of money
You're doing what you can, just makin' it run
(There's only so much I can)

This is a filler. Magi stumbles, freaks out a bit, then turns to swing at Torian, still freaked out.

“Just get out of here!”

[Magi Karp attacks Torian with his sword]