Various storms and saints [Lethal Quartet vs Kerfluffle]

"Soon enough you'll be on your own
Steady and straight
And if they drag you through the mud
It doesn't change what's in your blood"

~

"Let's finish this."

Just like the first time, my weapon's movement is jilted to the left. It had to have been the pain in my stomach that made me flinch at the last moment. It barely did anything to the tribute in front of me. They got off with barely a scratch, but I know Sarina will have my back. Xavier finally went to help River after I shoved him away and toward his district partner. A moment I still wish I could have had and wondered if the bird had ever found him in time this morning or if there would be any response. Maybe Bubba would stick around long enough for him to write back and maybe in the morning, I'll get a wake up call with a honk. Skittles must have flown off somewhere cause I've not seen him since the fight broke out but that's the last thing I should worry about.

I looked to Sarina to make sure she was safe as she would be attacking but something caught my attention. River's blade sliced right into her brother's leg and an emotion I've never felt before made the wound in my stomach tense up.

I froze.

"Al..fonzo -" I warned him. I told him to run while he had the chance, but he still stuck around. I tried to make sure Sarina still had her brother at the end of the day. River wasn't the sane type and I knew that from the get go. She was itching to bleed someone from their life and with Sarina and Xavier having one each, it was only a matter of time before she took it too far. Question is, which one of her allies would be next should there be no more tributes for her taking?

"Fuck!" The words mumble from my mouth as I see Alfonso still fighting for his life only moments later after his leg is gone. The strength that he has is more then I'd expect from him. Just like that - he swings, but not in a rounded fashion. A straight forward shot against Xavier and before I hear the canon, I see the look in his eyes.

"XAVIER!" My heart crumbles as he falls lifeless to the ground and just as my wound was, his was worse as he began to succumb to the attack.

My eyes fall upon Alfonso and then back to Xavier in disbelief. How could he do that to him and how could Xavier be dead. We've been together for four days. I've bandaged Xavier up. I stitched up his missing arm. I talked to him...

He was my friend, just as the guy was that dealt the deathly wound to his chest. My weapon drops from my hand and I want to go after Xavier, but I look at River. My mouth opens to say something, but I can't seem to formulate anything coherent as I grip my stomach in pain.

"Come on. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can patch up Angevin over here." Sarina suddenly tries to diffuse the situation because she sees something I don't but when I look at her, I see it too. The rage in her eyes. Something wasn't right and I knew it. The others began to flee, the small boy and the tribute who we doubled up on. They held onto Alfonso and started to take off.

"River - please" I limp in front of her, blocking her path from where the three left, mainly to protect the brother of our ally. "They are retreating. Leave them. It's over. Xavier is dead, we can't do anything else for him. We need to go. I'm hurt -"

I glance at Sarina, hoping she'd have my back.


[Amberly doesn't attack nor Flee]

~

"All is lost again
But I'm not giving in
I will not bow
I will not break"

~

Sarina had always been the kind of person that believed in mercy, in second chances, in the good of others. Even when she laid awake in the training center at night, consumed by fear, she tried to soothe herself with the idea that not everyone in the arena would be out to get her. There was Alfonso, there was Bill - grumpy as he was, there was Amberly, and there would be others that she would never even cross paths with. Un corazon amable puede tomarle lejo, she had told herself for the thousandth time. Alla, un corazon amable encontrarale.

Yet, ever since she had set foot in the Capitol, let alone the arena, it was like no one even bothered to pretend to care. There were no kind hearts to be found here, only those that lay still and those that cared only to keep themselves beating. Once upon a time, Sarina would wash her hands clean of either category, but now she found herself in the latter category while watching her brother succumb to the former, to someone who couldn't even take their opponent down without their back being turned.

Her veins ran cold for a moment, as if Alfonso's spirit had passed through her body, and then the feeling was gone. He was gone. She dropped her machete.

Her hands still shook as she took a step forward, but the longer she pondered, the more certain she was of what she would do. Instead of breathing smoke, there would be fire, and this time she didn't care in the slightest for what happened as a result.

She raised her hands and began swinging them wildly at River, not caring so much about where they landed as much as making sure she felt it. "You unhinged, psychotic bitch!" she screeched.

~

"I'm merciless
When will you learn
Set fires just to watch them burn"

~

My axe cut into Alfonso and he fell to the ground just like Xavier had, except instead of it all feeling like it was in slow motion to me, everything felt like it was going a million miles per minute. As soon as he fell, I felt the thrill of the kill. There was a euphoric sort of energy flowing through me now. This is what I'd wanted to do my whole life. This is what I needed my whole life. To kill.

Immediately after I had finished killing the boy, I heard Sarina screaming at me, calling me an 'unhinged psychotic bitch', which certainly wasn't inaccurate. It certainly wasn't anything new, though. She was just now learning this, whereas my family, along with most of the people back home in District Nine who knew me, knew this already.

Her fists were flailing as she charged me, but all she managed to do was knock me backwards a little bit. Then, I hear Angevin's voice, too. She's angry, for sure, but that wasn't unexpected.

“River - you went too far! You didn’t have to do that. I tried to warn you like I warned Alfonso and look what you did. He didn’t listen - and you didn’t either. Now I’m telling you - get away from us!” Her words were a threat, I knew that for sure. Although, it wasn't time to fight these two yet. That would come later, if at all. I wasn't going to kill them. Not here. Not now. Perhaps another time, but this wasn't it.

Angevin shot an arrow into my bicep and I cringed at the pain.

I cursed under my breath, but after that, I didn't speak another word. I then ran off, away from them. Away from the fighting and anger. For now.

~