;;SUGAR~we're\\goin'\~!Down (SS vs Daniella)

Each step, even with the fortunate help of Nadene, sent shocks of pain through her legs. A shattered shin and a broken foot, each something that she needed in these games. Every now and then, hisses of annoyance and frustration would escape her cracked lips. Her arm's grip around Nadene's shoulders was beginning to loosen as they continued, her energy draining out of her like a stream of water. Tears were threatening to spill once again, but she continued to remind herself that the old Zuka would never cry, for she knew that she was drifting into a whole new world, a world full of unknown emotions and fear.

Zuka quickly noticed as Nadene's weight fell from under her. There was no more support, and soon she was falling herself. She had no thought to move as she fell, so she ended up collapsing right next to her ally, her head landing on Nadene's arm. Her sweat that trickled quickly down her face began to turn direction, landing on the grass beneath her. The day was hotter than ever before in the arena, or at least it seemed that way to the thirsty and hungry tribute.

"Zuka, we need to watch our backs here." The words for a few moments made no sense to her slow mind, until finally it processed into her thoughts. She simply nodded and forced herself to roll over onto her back, so her eyes found the gray sky. But that didn't make sense... why wuold the sky be gray? Then it hit her, her gaze quickly turning to the distant mound, a even darker cloud hovering above it. The volcano had erupted, that much she knew. Fortunatly she and Nadene hadn't been near it.

As much as Zuka tried, she couldn't bring herself to say "thank you" to Nadene for helping her escape the mutts. Something was refraining her from saying the simple words, as always. She never remembered ever saying those words, not to anyone. Without her ally, she would've been lying back at the Geyser, being helplessly eaten by those mutts. She would have died long ago in a fight with other tributes, and the thoughts were just now processing to her. Yes, she could still feel the coldness inside of her, how she had been all of her life, but she could feel no chance of that ever changing.

Zuka sighed, sitting up just in time to hear Nadene's yell cut into the quiet air. She jerked her head around, her eyes landing on the green liquid before her that her ally had pointed out. She glanced at it, slowly inching herself closer. Hearing about acid was one thing, but to see it was another...especially in lake form. An entire lake, filled with the acid that (as Nadene had pointed out) could kill her in seconds. "If anyone comes, we can just throw them in the lake" she said, attempting at making a joke, but the amusement in her voice was thin and barely there. She was never one to joke, especially in the cruel arena where laughs were rarely heard.

Look at that lake Zuka. You know what would be a great idea? Just push your ally, Nadene, into it. One down, and just a few more to go. It'll be easy, and she'll never know what happened. Well, it might be painful and everything, but like she said, it'll kill her in a few seconds

The voices tempted her, the sound of them crisp and edgy, never being more than a whisper, but still so loud. They echoed through her head, ceasing any other thought so she was forced to listen. And the bad thing was, she was actually tempted to do what they told her, like always. But there was still some sense left in the insane tribute, maybe small but still enough. "No, she helped me and I'm not killing her. She might have saved my life, and I'm not repaying her by murdering her" Zuka said firmly. Her eyes slightly traveled to Nadene, still no warmth in her brown gaze, but there was a gleam that showed that maybe she could actually be nice to her.

I hear them talking about me. One of the voices is weak, the other stong and harsh. Fear climbs into my heart like it's a bathtub and soaks there, waiting for me to fight and die. One of the girls cries out and falls, her face is suddenly inches away from mine. I stare at her, now fully aware that this is the first living person I have seen in nearly three days. My stomach does a weird backflip as she speaks to me and her ally. Zuka, the girl from eleven. I am about to face of with them, and hopefully kill them.

Hopefully kill them?! The thought steals all the breath from my lungs. How can I even consider killing someone. Maybe these two are like Evan and I were, two souls who are friends because of their circumstances. Only fighting to survive. I touch the cross on my neck and think of Nick. He wants me to come home, at all costs. I clench my fists and let out a snarl. I can do this. Just think of this a a hunt.


The first girl who noticed I was there whips out a knife before I can fully process the movement. I try to dodge away, but too late and the blade slices across my back. I hiss in pain and stagger to my feet, touching the blood now running down my back. I can tell already the the cut isn't deep, but it stings like a bitch and could certainly slow me down.

"Ow!" I snap indignantly, tossing my backpack off to the side. I can pick it up later when they're dead. The second girl, Zuka lunges for me too, but I am alert now. I dodge left her blade missing me entirely. It seems she is slower than the other girl or perhaps more seriously injured. I'll take care of her first, and then worry about the real threat.

I lock my eyes with Zuka's watching her slightly hobbling movement. I am like a wildcat stalking it's prey in the forest. I fall into the instincts I learnt as a hunter in Nine. Shift, watch, attack, tease, repeat. Like a dance, easy and familiar. When the moment is right I lunge out, smashing my mace sideways with all of my might.
[attacks Zuka]
[dice=200+7000]
Broken Left Femur 7.5

The satisfying crunch of bone reaches my ear and I wait for the scream of pain that should follow. I watch Zuka take in the pain and a small flicker of remorse climbs up my stomach. I shove it down. There will be time for remorse when they are dead. I take a step back and smile, keeping my mace aimed at them carefully.

"Hello ladies, fine day we are having no?" I say, my voice slightly rough from underusage. I clear my throat and tilt my head, watching the allies watch me.

Give 'em a show...

Zuka cursed loudly into the still air as her knife missed by several inches. Coldness and frustration were spilling into her gaze, replacing the pain that had filled it since the day she entered the arena. It was the look she gained when faced with a fight, like back in District Eleven. All the fights she picked to quiet the voices, the attempts at killing innocent people, the look before she actually killed someone. It was a bloodthirsty expression, despite how much more sinister it looked right then, with all the blood and dirt covering her tan face.

Her eyes stayed trained on Daniella, lifting her switchblade to strike again, and hopefully see her fall to the ground, but she was too slow. The girl's weapon came flying towards her, everything seeming to move in slow motion as she made an attempt to avoid the blow. The sickening crack that met the air convinced her that somehow, she hadn't managed to jump out of the way. Pain followed, pain that was worse that her broken shin and foot. A loud cry of pain met the air, and she had a peculiar feeling that it had come from her own lips.

Zuka felt herself falling to the ground, for probably the tenth time in one day. And as always...there was no one there to catch her. Images flashed in her head of everytime she had fallen. Each time her mother striked her with something, everytime someone knocked her down in the streets without a glance back to see if she was okay, and many other times that she preferred to not remember. She hit the ground, her left hand gripping the spot in her thigh that was burning like hell. "You're going...to pay...for that bitch she mumbled, though her voice was not audible, for it was muffled by the ground, and her voice was shaky.

Zuka forced herself to atleast pull herself up onto the rock, sitting down on the top with low hisses of pain. Her eyes were hardened with hatred and coldness, directed directly at the girl before her. She didn't even remember which district she was from, and truthfully didn't even care. All that mattered was how much she wanted to kill her. Kill her for all the pain she had just inflicted upon her, kill her for all the pain that everyone in her whole entire life had caused. The poor girl's face was taking the form of every face that had caused her pain, the one that was last causing much anger to spill into her and fill her up entirely. The image of her mother took form before her, the hollow look that she had always had, and the drunk gaze that her eyes always contained.

Ah. That's a good thing to get you fired up, just a thought of your mother and your ready to go. Remember all the pain she inflicted on you? All the times she came home high. Yes, I helped you through all those hard moments, I ended them for you. I can end this too, and you know it. All you have to do...is kill this girl, and you'll be one step closer to winning.

Zuka nodded with the smallest shape of a smirk forming on her lips "I already know this, but this time... I'm acting on my own. I want her dead too." The meaning of her words could go both ways, either she wanted to kill her mother once again, or Daniella. Either way, it was the same person...but that didn't occur to her. She lifted her switchblade and slashed it towards the girl, putting at much power as she could handle behind the blow.

Zuka's eyes met Daniella's, knowing full well that her next blow would be to her. She was already weak from the many broken bones, and she knew that it would be the best move on the other tribute's part to finish her off. Her gaze traveled to the mace that was gripped firmly in the tribute's hand, tensing as she saw it being lifted to lash out towards her. She closed her eyes tightly as she heard the air whistle out from behind the weapon, knowing that she was dead the minute she heard the sickening crack...but no pain followed.

Her eyes flew open, trying to process why there was no pain, and she felt nothing. Was dying that easy? Her confusion ceased when her eyes fell on Nadene's limp form crashing towards the ground, most likely already gone. Dead. Lifeless. No sound escaped Zuka as she heard the thud of her body hitting the hard ground, the sound ringing in her silent ears. For once, the voices in her head were silent, them too being completely surprised by the image before them.

Zuka's chest felt like it was tightening, something pressuring down on her and threatening to suffocate her. She continued to stare at the limp form, expecting for her ally to jump up and say that it was just some trick to catch their opponet off gaurd...but the cannon that fired swiped the small hope away. Her ally was officially gone, the moment when she had the smallest hope that she might have a friend.

She went all of her life without knowing the full bond of friendship, for everyone thought of her as insane or a bitch. No one stopped to talk to her, and she actually preferred it that way, for it gave her time to think. But the past few days, in the arena where every minute might've been her last, she began to notice how much she longed for the needed emotion. Zuka, despite how she never showed it, began to find a friend in Nadene. Her ally had probably saved her several times. Helping her in all of the fights, practically carrying her despite how tired she was, and many other things she hadn't even bothered to think about until that moment. She hadn't even said thank you, for she was too stubborn.

Zuka shook her head quickly, her sweaty hair sticking to her forehead in the process. She found that she was on her hands and knees, her head just above Nadene, even though she didn't even remember moving over to her."Nadene..no. No, no, no, no, no!" she yelled, her voice containing much grief that she always used to keep hidden. "You can't leave me...not now" she whispered, tears streaming in a perfect line down her dirt cheeks and curling around her tan lips. Zuka closed her eyes tightly, for the first time ever, allowing herself to let out all of the grief that she had kept hidden for so long. Quiet and shaky breaths escaped her as she gripped Nadene's hand tightly, finding it to be colder already. She carefully took the switchblade out of her cold grip, tucking it safely away in her satchel. Slowly but carefully, she also took the sword out of Nadene's backpack, placing it in her belt. As much as she disliked taking them, something in her mind told her it was the right thing to do if she wanted to survive. Surviving...it was a horrible thing to think about when sitting before someone who no longer even had the hope to live.

She's gone Zuka. Stop making such a fool of yourself, you're making yourself appear weak in front of millions of faces. And anyways...why are you so sad about this? You barely even knew the girl, and you treated her like crap. So get off of the ground and kill that girl, Daniella, behind you. This is the perfect moment...she's surprised and caught off gaurd, and she killed your ally. Come on ju-

"Shut up!" Zuka yelled, the sound finally ceasing the voices for once. She let go of Nadene's hand, forcing her gaze to leave her dead ally's. Her eyes fell upon Daniella, the tears still leaking down her cheeks. "You killed her...and you expect me to not kill you?" she whispered, the words barely traveling to the girl. Not attacking. It went far away from what the old Zuka would do, but she knew it was the smarter thing. Attacking would mean death for her too, and she knew Nadene wouldn't want that. But how would she knoew what her ally would want? She was dead, and before that she barely even spoke to her, except to complain and curse.

Zuka stood up, a loud shaky gasp escaping her as pressure was put on all of her broken bones. But this time, she needed to stick it out, for there was no Nadene to help her anymore. Her quick walk to Daniella was wobbly, but she had enough strength to grip the front the girl's shirt. "Don't think I'm pitying you. You're just like anyone else in these games, and I'm looking forward to the night I see your face in that anthem" she said, her voice holding a strong roughness to it. Anger and grief flashed in her gaze as she let go of the front of the shirt and looked away from Daniella and Nadene. She would now be alone, like she used to be, with no one to watch her back in a fight and no one to help her walk. There were many unknown things waiting out there for her, but one things was for sure, it would definitely be hard.