blur [4 v 3 + 1] (Day 2)

Ellexias Verisity

The diversion was working. She was vulnerable, chest out and weapon raised, and all eyes were on her. Behind her Katelyn was leading Marchello away from the danger. His blood trail would signal their location, but she didn’t expect these careers and their ally to pursue. She anticipated two possibilities; one, they plunged their weapons into her torso and proved her threats empty, or two, they decided to prioritize the mournful loss of their ally and abandon the fight. Her hopes were not high. After running her mouth, she expected an onslaught.

What she received was a resemblance of that.

Her eyes were on the blonde, movements swift. She was the career who crushed Velocity’s skull with a mighty blow, yet Ellexias predicted the path her knife would take and countered it with her ice pick. She grunted and shoved the glimmering steel away from her, stepping backwards into the slush as the other career charged her from a different direction. This one she wasn’t prepared for; she tried to duck, but nothing obstructed the edge of the axe from the side of her neck. She yelped at the initial sting and flinched away, eyes locked on his scurrying form. She was out of her league, of course, but it didn’t stop her from voicing her thoughts.

”You need to improve your listening skills,” she said, dabbing at the cut with her finger. The blood was practically steaming in comparison to the snow by her ankles. I told you to get lost. Careers wouldn’t listen to her, she was too low status. Not to mention she had just killed their ally. It wasn’t entirely unjustified, but she figured it didn’t matter to them. They were blinded by biased rage.

”Out of my way, Quartz!”

He was barreling toward her. A clash was inevitable, so instead of backing down she aimed the tip of her ice pick and prepared to meet his force. No such encounter occurred. Instead, he approached the corpse and hoisted her up by the armpits, all while spitting a threat like venom at her feet. ”You best hope I don't catch you alive here again...” he said. She didn’t feel afraid, only defiant. She stood her ground and locked her gaze with his. Meanwhile, she listened to her surroundings, waiting for the crunch of snow to earn her attention. She expected the careers or the other strange boy to steal the opportunity. They didn’t.

There was no purpose in lingering. She needed to attend to Marchello, and if the careers were finished venting their rage, she would let them mourn their beloved ally in peace. She didn’t want to dwell on it. Two corpses caused by her own hands, so bloody and gruesome, nothing like the things she had seen in Six. Fate was testing her abilities, wasn’t it? How far could Ellexias go to survive? Evidently, farther than she had ever imagined.

She gathered wood on her hasty trek to camp. Igniting a fire in conditions like this would be a challenge, perhaps with devastating consequences if it took too long, but it was the only option. As she crouched in the snow creating friction with the palms of her hands, another cannon sounded from the skies. She knew it wasn’t Marchello because his chest was still rising. Part of him was fading, however, but now that there was a warmth near their knees her hopes were rekindled. When she dipped her weapon into the flames, Marc understood what was coming. ”You got a stick I could bite?" She nodded and handed him one.

Her flesh was still marred from the hot metal’s kiss. The scar tissue was pink and puckered, the itches long gone. Memories of the pain haunted her, numbing the sensations along her bleeding neck – or perhaps that was just the cold. ”Are you ready?”

She couldn’t imagine the agony she was inflicting on his torn tissue, fresh and white hot like magma from a volcano. It was a necessary torture. She was grateful to have had some recent practice, but now that they were in a natural setting there was higher risk of infection. There was also his newfound, handicapped condition. Travel would not be easy, and nothing would be painless.

After she left him with a few plants to chew on, she tended to Katelyn’s wounds then to her own – one on her shoulder, and one on her neck. As she applied the bandages, a parachute greeted them from the canopy. Attached to a string was a wooden cane and a roll of duct tape. She pursed her lips and thought it impractical, but it was better than nothing. Marchello taped it to his hip. She finished her wrappings and slipped the roll of bandages back into her bag.

”Lexi, I’m cold.”

She was idly reorganizing her stuff, and didn’t look up. ”We’re all cold.” It was true.

”Please, Lexi, I'm so cold, and I'm really tired.

He reached out a hand and she grabbed it. She couldn’t blame him; the blood loss would exhaust his heat and his stamina. As a nurse and a friend, it was her duty to comfort him.

[Lexi flees]
[give 1 med plant to Marchello]
[gives 1 med plant to Katelyn]
[uses F/A on Katelyn]
[uses N/T on herself for -5]
[uses bandages on herself for -1]
[collects firewood]
[makes a fire, fills jug with purified water]
[receives 3 bundles of med plants from Katelyn]