Dependent (Dice/Noelle vs. Pitfall Lizard)
Aug 3, 2011 20:01:30 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2011 20:01:30 GMT -5
[/color][/justify]The scent of life lingered. Noelle could smell it, burning into her senses. Although she could see nothing, it was obvious that life was buzzing around her. She smiled as she felt humidity weighing her down. She smiled even wider as she heard the gentle brush of the plants as the wind whipped them softly. Hadn’t she been curious to know where the mutt that she and Dice was getting its water, its life? Well, now she knew. She could feel the presence of water nearby. She wanted to jump in, sink herself in its luxury, and let all her other worries fall away. The thought reminded her of her days at the creek, when she used to swim without worry, without sadness biting at her mind. However, Noelle knew better; she couldn’t let herself fall into the temptations of this place, however relieving it was. There were still dangers here, she knew. This was still the arena; and she had to keep moving on.
If it hadn’t been for their persistence on thinking the desert had to end somewhere, or at least open out into something else…then they never would have gotten here. They probably would have run into more tributes back near the marsh. Noelle sighed; would they find tributes here? She hoped not. Then again, it was a frail hope. The less tributes they faced, she realized, the more obstacles the Gamemakers would throw at them. She didn’t want to think about that yet, not until they came, not until she had to face danger. So, she tried her best to relax.
Noelle knelt down on the ground, letting her hands guide her as she crawled slowly. She felt grass, filling in the gaps between her fingers. The feeling made her grin. It was a nice change from the dense sand that spread across the desert. She felt the ground becoming a bit moister in areas, and moved forward a bit more. She knew that to Dice, she probably looked silly. Though, she didn’t want to have to depend on him for this. She wanted to feel the water for herself. She finally felt her hands hit the edge of the solid ground, where it caved into a pool of water. Noelle stopped crawling, and knelt on her knees. She let her hands fall into the water, gently circling each other as the sensation brought goose bumps to Noelle’s skin.
Noelle then took a handful of water, and gently splashed it on her sweaty, sunburned face. The sensation made her giggle softly. In the blazing heat, the feeling of water on her face was absolutely stunning. Quickly, Noelle stumbled to take off her shoes. Once they were off, she turned and let her legs gently into the water, so that she was sitting at the very edge of the large oasis. A shiver ran through her body. She wanted to jump in, as risky as it could be, but she knew better. They didn’t have time for that now. Noelle heard Dice as he took a step towards her, standing almost directly beside her. She grabbed his hand, urging him to sit down and feel the water. She heard him taking a scoop of water, letting it fall over his face too. Noelle desperately wanted to drink it. Thirst had consumed her all since they had entered the desert. The heat only made it worse. It would be risky to drink the water directly from the pool. She knew it had to be purified.
“Dice, we should probably start a fire.” We? Noelle thought. Dice was the only one who was doing any real work here, Noelle knew. Though, she shrugged the thought off. It had haunted her enough while they were stuck in the desert. She didn’t need it haunting her right now. Noelle dried her feet off swiftly and as best as she could and then put her shoes back on. She listened and heard Dice striking his sword against some rocks as he had done two days before, when they had been at the marsh. Then, a few seconds later, Noelle heard the crackling of fire, its scent filling the air. As Dice tended to the fire, Noelle took the two unfilled water jugs and felt her way towards the water again. Once she found it, she knelt down and filled the water jugs to the rim. Then, she stood back up and slowly walked back towards the direction she had come from. She didn’t want to end up stumbling right into the fire, so she made sure to keep awareness of the change in heat and scent. She felt the heat of the fire nearby, so she took a step back.
“Dice,” she said. “Here’s the water.” She stood and waited until he walked over to her, to retrieve the water jugs. She sat down as he boiled them over the fire. After he finished, she took one and stored it away, knowing she would most likely need it later, especially if they were going to go back through that desert again. She sat on the ground, listening as Dice put out the fire. She wanted so much to help him; she wanted the ability to do things on her own. Though, it was hopeless. She finally needed to convince herself to stop thinking about it: to just let Dice help her and to not get so frustrated over being dependent.
Noelle sighed; well, there were still a few things she could do. She could crawl around and pick plants, right? Noelle nodded, knowing that finding food for both of them would be the only thing she would be able to do to keep her mind off of disturbing thoughts. Noelle began crawling slowly across the greenery, feeling for everything and anything. She finally came across a small patch of berries. She began picking as many as she could, trying to recognize them by touch. She frowned, wishing she knew what color they were. Color was important. She brought them back with her as she returned to where she had been before, next to Dice. She held them out, hoping he was there.
“Are these dark red?” She asked. When he told her that they were, she put a thicket of them in his hands. “They’re edible. Keep them.” Noelle took her own thicket of berries, and stashed them away in her satchel. Suddenly, she heard a noise faintly, but present. It was the noise of movement, almost like a snake slipping across the ground. Quickly, Noelle stumbled backwards, running into Dice. She pointed towards the sound. “Something’s there…isn’t it?” Noelle wished she knew what it was; she wished she was able to spot it. As a precaution, she pulled out her whip, readying herself for whatever would come. She wasn’t afraid of getting hurt. Fate told her she would die soon anyways; however she was more afraid of Dice getting hurt…especially when she had so much left to tell him. Inside, she hoped she had miscomprehended this noise, and that it was something else, nothing dangerous. Please, nothing dangerous. Was this the end, or was it only the beginning?