emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2

D1f Jade Morin - Alyssaimagine
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last seen Sept 27, 2020 3:02:25 GMT -5

emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 20, 2020 15:33:58 GMT -5

Quote

Post by D1f Jade Morin - Alyssaimagine on Jun 20, 2020 15:33:58 GMT -5

J A D E .

"you are weak
but not foolish
you have learned
how to die."

Jade misses her bed back in the Capitol. It had been the most comfortable bed she'd ever slept on, and was a million times better than roughing it on a field of petals. Granted, at least the petals were pretty and more comfortable looking than some of the past arenas. That still didn't mean that she liked it. Even though her home life was far from envious, her living conditions were better than most. She had, after all, grown up rich in an already rich District and she was not used to anything like roughing it. She thought that should be remedied if she ever returned home: she should ensure that more people take survival courses like Ruby had. The thought of her sister made her roll her eyes and grunt. She rolled over, as if that was going to protect her from those memories of her spoiled brat of a sister. Ruby was only good at being a manipulative child and survival, so why should Jade think survival important? That's what alliances were for, and she could learn to sleep on a bed made of petals. She didn't need to think about that rotten girl!

Tossing and turning, Jade was restless. She knew instinctively that the anthem was going to start soon, and she'd been adamant earlier about not seeing it. She preferred to believe Zenia had never existed, and the last thing she needed was proof that she had. However, she could not sleep and a part of her was aware that it was because she needed to see the anthem. The music that played before the pictures began, and despite herself Jade had bolted up and stared right into the sky. Her hands curled around various flower petals, and if she could have seen better in the moonlight she would see how white her knuckles were.

Nothing happened. Just the usual announcement, and no faces in the sky. Twenty four were left and only one could live, and her brain felt cloudy and dull. Then, suddenly her thoughts were so fast that she found it hard to keep up. She had died. Jade had seen her. She had gone to grab her, to rescue her, but they had been on her before Jade could reach her and she had known that she could do nothing, nothing at all and then she died, there was a cannon shot, and what was this supposed to mean?! She had seen her teammate die! There had been nothing at all she could have done to save her, and yet there was no face up in the sky!

Slowly, the realization dawned on her: it was because Zenia wasn't real. It wasn't just something she'd been telling herself to get over it. This was absolute proof that Zenia had never been real in the first place. Even her alliance members were thinking about a fake person! A mutt put in her group by the Gamemakers, no doubt! That's all had it been, and the proof had been up there in the sky! She wondered why there had been a cannon shot to begin with, but she immediately pushed that thought away. It was worthless to think these sorts of things through. It was best to accept the fact that she had been correct all along: Zenia had never existed. She had not watched as her teammate had been killed.

A smile crossed her features and she felt perfectly at peace with the world. She had not witnessed her alliance member die, because she hadn't been real and she'd seen the truth painted in the sky. She bunched up the flower petals in order to make herself a better bed and pillow, and she fell instantly asleep, clinging to the Dragon Plushie she'd found that day. All was perfect.

-----

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Jade was startled awake by the noise, her hand reaching out for her sword and poised to attack the threat coming her way. Her heart began to race against her chest as she took in the surroundings, trying her best to find the mutt or person responsible for the beeping noise. Instead, she saw the little parachute and she filled with instant relief. It wasn't a threat. Nothing was here to kill her...yet. A smile crossed her features when it went to her: that meant her acting skills had really been up to par. This was already her second sponsorship gift!

Not hesitating, she revealed the contents and her smile grew bigger. This gift wasn't from just anyone: it was from Sampson. Sure, that meant her acting skills were still unproven, but it made her face flush with glee. She didn't receive much warmth and love growing up, and had no one to look after her. For the first time, she felt something similar. It wasn't a mother, a father, or even someone she'd known all her life, but it didn't have to be. She wasn't even sure how sincere Sampson was. They could very well be thinking she'd die in the arena, but she'd rather pretend they thought she'd make it back out. She'd like to think they were a friend she would have forever, because she so desperately needed to be loved and she still didn't realize just how much she craved it.

"Thanks, Sampson!" Jade grins at what she hopes are the cameras and lifts up the gifts for all to see. "I'm going to look gorgeous and deadly!"

Jade gives Sampson and the cameras another of her now trademark winks, and puts the belt on over the reaper outfit she'd been given, then posed for the cameras to show it off. Then she placed the jewellery on: a necklace with jades, diamonds, and rubies, a ring with jade, and another ring with diamond. For a moment, she was a little disappointed that she hadn't been given earrings, but that quickly went away. Sampson had obviously been thinking about her: the arena was no place for earrings. They could have been tugged off her earlobe and that would hurt! She poses one more time for the cameras. Many would likely think this was an act she was pulling for sponsors and it would be partly true. She would do this for sponsors, that was certain. However, her time in the arena was already affecting her. This wasn't purely an act for the cameras. It was her attempt to push the despair aside, and play in a world of make believe, because that was so much better than the real one.

Now looking both stunning, and deadly, Jade knew they couldn't take too long now. They were going to need to keep moving, or they would soon be targets. Besides, each time she looked out at the howling wind, deep down she knew that she didn't trust it one bit. A bigger storm was likely brewing and would come and claim them all, and Jade couldn't allow that: she was going home a Victor if she had a say in anything! Thankfully, she didn't really need to say anything: they all wanted to leave. It was quick to pack up there stuff and leave.

Leaving the Petal Storm behind was a little difficult. It wasn't exactly pleasant having flower petals in her face, making it hard to see, but they would eventually make it clear from the petal storm. Her feet found smooth rock, and suddenly she could see everything clearly. Almost too clearly. Everywhere she looked, there was no where to hide. No tactical advantages there! It was absolutely breathtaking, though. The smooth surface she would quickly come to see were made of jewels of every color. A part of her wanted to rush forward and dance on the jewels, and she found herself frowning. Where did that come from? That wasn't like her at all! She realized that she was feeling different, lately.

It didn't take long before she saw other figures in the distance and that set her on edge. She looked to her team, and pointed to the oncoming group in the distance. Hopefully they would get her point. She grasped onto her sword tightly, but out of the corner of her she saw something. She had seen it earlier, but had quickly put it out of her mind while trying on the new pretty things Sampson had sent to her. Besides, it had been crazy, right? This time, she saw it, though. A shadow figure, and she was almost positive it had been the nonexistent - right - zenia. Zenia, a ghost, she'd come to haunt her, hadn't she? It wasn't her fault, though! It wasn't! She hadn't killed Zenia! She hadn't wanted her to die! She hadn't! It was another girl! It was an alliance! It wasn't her!

Jade swung her blade forward, slashing through the ghost, but it would find a different target. The group of people had arrived when Jade had swung out her blade for the ghost. It would go through ghosts, but not people. Not like that anyway. It was time to put her deadly face back on and cause some blood to splatter for the Capitol watching her.

(Jade attacks Kestrel Volant with Sabre)
i6iV0wALDHsword
(1193 -- Severed Left Hand at Wrist -- 9.0(+1) damage
(Sword))

Table by both elegant and mahouho

sword

Last Edit: Jun 20, 2020 20:30:01 GMT -5 by D1f Jade Morin - Alyssaimagine

kap
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trans rights are human rights <3

emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 20, 2020 17:19:21 GMT -5

Quote

Post by kap on Jun 20, 2020 17:19:21 GMT -5

I can remember Jade's words from last night, having met up after the bloodbath.

"She's dead," she told us. "I went to grab her and take her out of the arena, but an alliance was left behind and they all had weapons and one after the other..." She shuddered when she said this. My heart started racing and it felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. They'd ripped her apart like wolves and I could have stopped it, had I stayed just a little bit longer, but I didn't. If I'd stayed, they probably would've done the same to me- killed me like they did to her. I'd survived, but at the expense of my friend.

What kind of terrible person was I, trading her life for mine? I had to be one of the worst. I knew that the goal being in this arena was survival, but I still felt guilt in trying to survive if it meant that others died.

After talking about what happened to Zenia, Jade and I switched weapons. She said she was better with a sword, so I trusted her skills and switched for her twisted dagger- a knife. The knife felt much lighter in my hand than the sword did, almost like an artist such as myself holding a paintbrush. I wondered how well I'd do with it when it came down to actually using it against an enemy tribute or mutt. I supposed I'd find out soon enough.

That night, to help one another fall asleep, Dominic and I cuddled up to one another. I rested my head on his chest, listening to his breathing and his heartbeat. It was soothing, in a way. I suppose it was giving me a sense of comfort, having someone I cared about so close to me as I closed my eyes and drifted off into slumber.

When we were all awake, we started to move to another part of the arena, knowing that staying in one place for too long could be potentially dangerous. As we moved, we arrived in an area of the arena where the ground was littered with gemstones. It was actually quite pretty, as if someone tried to paint a landscape and added their own flair to it. I suppose the flat expanse of land became our downfall, however, as there was nowhere to shelter ourselves, and we came across a trio of tributes.

Jade was the first to move, striking the girl I recognized as my District partner, Kestrel. She severed Kestrel's hand from her wrist, and I'm almost certain my mouth gaped open at the sight of it. I couldn't stand in shock for long, though. I had to assist Jade. If she fought on her own like we let Zenia do, it wouldn't end well, I was certain.

I had to tell myself that Kestrel being from home meant nothing. I couldn't let that conflict with what I had to do right now. I had to fight her, so I took my knife in my hand and lunged in her direction, ready to strike and paint the ground red.

table by Rave!

[Pisces attacks Kestrel with twisted dagger (knife)]
U8qi2h27khknife
[2169 -- Miss -- 0.0 damage]

accuracy day 1

knife
[2037 -- Shallow Cut on Left Forearm -- 3.5 damage]

knife·knife

Last Edit: Jun 20, 2020 17:20:39 GMT -5 by kap

pogue
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Is she trying to interrupt our henna session?

emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 20, 2020 22:30:02 GMT -5

Quote

Post by pogue on Jun 20, 2020 22:30:02 GMT -5

C

A

L

L

U

M

___

Labored breaths and the soft melody of the wind are all he can hear now, arms underneath his head as he lays on the soft bed of pinks and reds. The soft moonlight dancing and scattering against the water of the lake. Something about the silence they lay in sends a chill running down his spine, or maybe it is the fact that the sky had not heralded their own deaths that night, no parting clouds no Capitol trumpets no faces of the damned.

"That's not possible, I heard her screams.. Kes, didn't you..?"

Questions into the void that would never be truly answered, when the night had fallen without a glimpse into their futures he had finally laid back, feeling the petals beneath his body shift and move as he shuffled. The journal tucked into his pocket feels heavier with every heartbeat, slowly burning its sins into his own flesh. He wonders if the pages will turn when he departs from this world, if his story will be written in ink or blood.

"Perhaps it will not be written at all." He thinks

"Perhaps that is better." His heart whispers back.

---

Ghosts greet them as soon as they open their eyes, murky and flickering shadows dancing within the storm that barricades them into silence. He clamors at first, fear entangled into his heart before he realizes what could very well happen, dried blood white knuckles wrapping around the hilt of his sword as he scrambles to his feet, nearly falling backwards in his rush. His eyes narrow and hands shake, his voice cutting through the soft silence as he speaks to his allies.

"Bird, Kes.. Please tell me you see them too."

It takes ten and a half heartbeats to recognize that the phantoms that haunt them have no means to attack - at least, not yet, but as they gather their belonging and depart once more into the wind he can't help but feel unease and its claws dig into his shoulders, threatening to crush him under its weight. Him and Bird help Kes along, sharing her weight as the wall of wind pushes back against them, swirling arrays of of pinks and reds dancing across his vision before the wind finally cracks and breaks, the petals that litter his vision finally grinding to a halt. As they stumble into the area a heavy hearted breath catches in his throat at the sights in front of him.

"Fuck..." He whispers under his breath, eyes struggling to take in the dazzling beauty of the fields of gems in front of them, stretching on as far as his eyes can see as they strain against the glare of the sunlight on the gems themselves.

Fuck. He repeats the word in his mind when he sees the other alliance making their way towards them. At first, he almost mistakes them for the same phantoms that lurk behind him and his allies, soft figures distorted and murky before slowly coming into view. A broken crown rests heavy on his head as, in his mind, he tries to formulate words of peace. He had seen other figures across the pond within the petal storm and they had managed to survive the night, perhaps this was no different. The figures become real as he manages to make out their faces, two of them recognized as he's slightly taken aback, careers. Dominic Merluccius, he had thrown venomous words at the boy, written in preconceived notions. Now, as he gulps down the thump of a heartbeat he remembers that he knows more about the boys life than he would care to admit, memories of their interactions dancing across his mind.

He nearly opens his mouth to offer peace, but instead he watches as Kes is once again attacked by the group that had crossed their paths, sickening displays of reds scattering across the gems that they stand on as Kestrel's hand falls to the ground below. He's shocked for a moment, breath caught and his stomach suddenly lurches, threatening to expel whatever was left within his own system.

"Leave her alone!"

It takes a heartbeat and a half for him to grab his own sword and swing it wildly at the boy in the middle, sunlight bouncing off its blade.

___

[Callum attacks Pisces Gem with Falcata (Sword)]

y6XrQLb7dssword

[Severed left ear - 8.0 damage]

sword

Last Edit: Jun 20, 2020 22:30:57 GMT -5 by pogue

fireflyz
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emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 20, 2020 22:51:16 GMT -5

Quote

Post by fireflyz on Jun 20, 2020 22:51:16 GMT -5

Memory was a strange thing.

It was strange that the thoughts he hadn't had in years bled into his mind at the slightest pinprick, nevermind the things that consumed his thoughts every day. Here he remembered the training center, and he remembered the tournament albeit without the sorrow, but he also remembered collecting seashells, cupping his hands to hold the sweets papa bought for him at the store, running free on the sand. He replayed the memories he hadn't thought to replay before now, when there was nothing at stake but someone else's approval.

Dominic didn't question Jade any further when she told them - or rather, told the ground - what happened to Zenia. The cannon had obviously been Zenia's, and the girl from One clearly didn't want to discuss it. But no matter how she tried to pretend like things were normal, Dominic saw no use in doing the same. He would mourn the girl, even and especially if no one else did. And as he rest his chin atop Pisces' head that night, fingers curling into the cloth silhouette of his body, Dominic knew that he and Zenia would be permanently etched into his memory - the girl he couldn't protect and the boy he wanted to.

He had fallen asleep sometime before the anthem and awoke in the early hours of the morning, a pale light creeping over the plains. Every now and then he'd spot a gray blur out of the corner of his eye, and as he blinked it vanished into thin air. C'mon, Dominic. You can't be going mad yet. Entering the field of emeralds did him no favors, either, for the light glinted off the stones in spades and it was almost dizzing.

The sight of tributes moving across the plain should not have startled him, but the way his heart pounded reminded him that muscle memory would always win out over logic. As they came closer, Dominic could make out the features of the boy from Twelve, the one who he had briefly made acquaintance with at the training center. Once the initial disgust at Dominic being a Career had subsided, he had taught Callum some of the skills he gained back home.

"Self-defense is pretty simple, but it's one of the most important skills you can have," he had said, guarding his face with his forearms. "You don't have to be the strongest when you're the best at protecting yourself."

Now, as weapons glowed under the sun, Dominic had come to the painful realization that he would know all of Callum's moves, and Callum would know his. Jade wasted no time going on the attack, hacking off the hand of Pisces' district partner. Dominic's eyes darted to him in alarm, but he seemed not to mind, taking a hit at the girl himself.

Callum reacted first, shouting to leave the girl alone, and then he sliced off Pisces' ear. The motion sent a jolt through Dominic's own body, and he instinctively stepped forward.

"Dude! Not cool," Dominic shouted, slicing through the air with his knife.

[dominic attacks callum leare with misericorde (knife)]
|47N7bypmZknife
2103 - shallow cut on stomach - 4.0 damage

knife

Last Edit: Jun 20, 2020 22:52:07 GMT -5 by fireflyz

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D6f Carmen Cantelou [aza]
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emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 21, 2020 8:54:19 GMT -5

Quote

Post by D6f Carmen Cantelou [aza] on Jun 21, 2020 8:54:19 GMT -5

bird ivy

The night takes forever to fade. An endless sky is enough for another to get lost in, but it's easy to do so when there's so much empty space that is perfect for an empty girl like me. My breathing becomes a pulse, a rhythm that is impossible to ignore and once I start to think about it, it becomes something of a chore. Forcing myself to breathe, as if staying alive is something that I have to think about more than I should - each rise and fall of my chest eclipses the view of the broken arms of the sky, its grip around me fading in and out of existence like a ghost that is too frightened of itself to haunt.

I look over towards Callum and Kestrel. Sleeping. Soft and gentle. Easy breathing. But I doubt the dreaming is as easy; the scenes endured only hours ago feel like they have been etched into the wrinkles of my brain, a tattoo to remind me permanently of how normal people are capable of extraordinary things. Perhaps this is the beginning of my own story - my Mom writing the chapters from beyond the grave through the only medium upon which we are still connected. Her handwriting cutting and carving into my once delicate head, her words like poetry that narrate the build-up to an inevitable funeral.

I wanted to get lost. I'd always wanted to run away from Twelve and become a whisper in between the rustling of leaves on evergreen trees. I've always wanted the liberty - to care and to not care, to cry and to not cry.

The liberty to live and to let die.

Acceptance is easy. Realisation is hard. I am not scared, just growing.

-

Callum is already awake in the morning. He's in the distance, a shaded silhouette of the detail I am used to, he flickers like a light that has a dodgy connection, like a candle by an open window. His voice becomes intangible, I desperately try to listen and focus on his tone but the words fall short of existence. As if his ghostly figure is matched by equally ghostly words, his tongue tied by the effort it takes to illuminate for a second and fade the next. Maybe I've died in my sleep and this is what comes next.

But I turn and see Callum and it's a different Callum, a real Callum, and when I locate the gloomy figure in the distance, I realise it isn't Callum at all. It's an illusion. It edges closer but stays distant like a heart that loves but is too scared of loss.

"I see it," I tell him, trying to offer some kind of reassurance that this wasn't a lucid dream he was now living. "It's trying to be a person, I think, it's trying so hard," but its efforts to reach the light are put to rest by the darkness we have continued to create in the world. Our bloodied hands, our broken noses, our mangled legs are just as dark as our words. The speaking in violent tongues in the bloodbath, words that are loaded into our mouths like bullets and when the tongue is the trigger, we fire just to feel something other than our own hurt.

I roll some petals into a ball and throw it at the trembling figure. "Bang," I say, watching as it goes right through.

Callum and I help Kes to her feet, the dried blood on her skin complimenting the vision of the dancing petals. The wind is just as cruel as it was yesterday: it starts shallow but builds into a storm, a crescendo of drama that only heightens as we make it closer to escape. The petals are launched into the air and twirl around us, unforgiving in their beauty as they still threaten to blind. We stay close together, I may be lost mentally but to be truly alone is something much worse. The storm burns into my thoughts of isolation, a feeling of impending doom and freedom washing over my thoughts as we spy a fracture in the rainbow flora and make a break for it.

"Fuck..." He's not wrong. Because when I cut my gaze from the petals, there is a field of brilliant gemstones before us. It seems endless, like the night sky I struggled to lose myself in, the edges seem to fade into one another, and it screams out for us to venture into its expanse as if it offers solace. It feels artificially flat when we start to enter, the ground incomparable to the hilly meadows just beyond Twelve that I've become so familiar with. The gemstones between my toes crunch slightly as they are pressed into the earth, light sparkling and darting between them like a secret they cannot keep. We follow, and when I turn around, so do the ghosts.

When I look forward once more, the ghosts follow. But this time, they don't flicker as if they are trying to be alive because I swear I can feel the air pulse with the beating of their hearts. As if this place only provides a thousand tiny but beautiful surfaces to echo adrenaline off of, amplifying it to a supersonic state until it drills into the space between my ears. Sharp. Stinging. The figures do not flicker, they linger and linger until they come closer and closer, and when they come closer, they burn.

I can feel my head spinning as my brain continues to be tattooed with whatever story is currently being written. Mom's curly handwriting cutting into me reminds me of the treachery that I have become so familiar with, the danger I've seemingly fallen in love with over the years because it's numbed the loss somehow.

Still, I always rooted for the ones I loved the most.

"Leave her alone!" Callum shouts as they take Kestrel's hand. The dried blood begins to burst its bank and flow like a raging river. It feels unstoppable, but the thought of her heartbeat stopping just because someone wants it to feels even more impossible.

My favourite stories are the ones where ordinary people do extraordinary things. Callum cuts off an ear.

"Dude, not cool!" Dominic from Four says, his knife landing on Callum's stomach. I can't speak for Callum, but I know that I lost my cool years ago.

I pull out my knives and the blades blend into the gemstones around us. Sharp. Stinging. And I hope, in a way, that they too can amplify the adrenaline they feel from my own pulse, I hope they can capture it and burn when they crash through an earless boy's surface.

This is the liberty I've always wanted. Life and death in my hands. I am not scared, I am just growing.

[ d12f bird ivy attacks d9m pisces gem ; throwing knife ]

bmMXxPjmubthrowing knife

[ 9031 -- shallow cut on forearm -- 3.0 damage ]

thrown knife

Last Edit: Jun 21, 2020 8:57:26 GMT -5 by D6f Carmen Cantelou [aza]

Stare
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emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 21, 2020 18:16:10 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Stare on Jun 21, 2020 18:16:10 GMT -5

Sometime in the middle of the night, Kestrel started to become delirious.

She dreamed that she was being swarmed and swallowed by colors, that a dark shadowy speared her through the chest, that Callum and Bird were corpses that kept coming to life and dying again. The line between awake and asleep became very blurry indeed. Kestrel woke up and heard herself playing the violin even though she knew she couldn't do anything with the instrument that she'd been gifted the night before. The pain dulled, then spiked, then dulled again. Sometimes she awoke and the burning of her chest felt so intense that she couldn't breathe. When that happened she simply dragged the stuffed turtle close, screwed her eyes shut, and felt a hint of gratitude that her allies wouldn't have to go through the struggle of watching her die. But then the breath came and she didn't die. She just remained sprawled out on the ground, shuddering, until she fell back asleep.

It was a night that felt like it lasted an eternity.

When her allies roused her she still heard the music, still had a dozen colors swimming in her eyes. Her body ached, but not as much as she suspected it should have. A part of her wondered if she had a fever. When she saw the flickering figures, ghosts always just out of her line of sight, she accepted them as another part of the insanity. But then Callum and Bird began to talk about them, and Bird threw something at them, and Kestrel wanted so badly to comment, too, but her mouth felt as if it was full of bloody glue.

They staggered along until the wind died down, until they entered somewhere even more colorful and glittering. It reminded Kestrel of those painted treasure chests that you would see in pirate stories.

But they couldn't admire it for long. Kestrel could have sworn that they were alone, but suddenly there were people all around them and narrowing on her, the weak link, the one who was half dead already, and then -

The pain was blinding. Kestrel screamed. Then she saw it, bloody and pale on the ground, and screamed again. Blood splashed down her leg, hot and sticky. Kestrel staggered back, staring at the stump that was left, thinking of all the songs on her violin that she'd never gotten a chance to play.

"Leave her alone!"

Kestrel's head lifted like she was blind and following Callum's voice. Everything felt white-hot and angry and broken. She jerked and staggered forward like a rag doll, crimson liquid splattering with each step. She couldn't be a musician anymore. At this rate, she couldn't even be a Victor. But she could be a body. A shield of flesh and bone. "It's okay," she told her allies, but the words sounded like she was heaving them out, like she was drowning. She spat out some of the blood that had flooded into her mouth. "It's all going to be okay. You're going to - you're going to be just fine."

The colors still swarmed around her.

Kestrel stumbled toward the girl who had slaughtered her dreams and sobbed.

[d9f kestrel volant attacks d1f jade morin with sabre (sword)]
64hqDEHoI6sword
[miss, 0.0]

[accuracy reroll]
sword
[shallow cut on neck, 4.0]

sword·sword

Last Edit: Jun 21, 2020 18:18:45 GMT -5 by Stare

D1f Jade Morin - Alyssaimagine
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emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 21, 2020 21:10:48 GMT -5

Quote

Post by D1f Jade Morin - Alyssaimagine on Jun 21, 2020 21:10:48 GMT -5

J A D E .

"you are weak
but not foolish
you have learned
how to die."

When her blade meets flesh, her face is met with a splash of blood. At first, she is confused. She only remembered the shadow and her blade going through nothing - then, suddenly flesh. Briefly, she had forgotten all about the group of people that were on their way. Her eyes saw as the girl's hand fell from her body, but her brain hadn't processed the situation just yet. As a Career, she'd trained since she was able to walk, so Jade had been certain she could handle this. After all the Games reruns she'd watched, she figured it should have been a piece of cake. Instinctively, she took a step back, and felt her stomach's contents threaten to spew all over the fallen hand. She groaned, but managed to hold herself together.

Being there, witnessing it really happen, it was different than watching it from afar. When watching television, did she ever have to worry about the blood splashing her face? Was there any way to prepare herself for just how gross that was? She felt the blood on her lips, and made a mental note not to open her mouth. She wiped the blood from her mouth using the sleeve of her reaper outfit. There was no longer any use in protecting the cloth from blood, as the chopped off hand had seen to messing up her clothing. She grimaced at the way her thoughts were going, but was almost glad of it. If she allowed herself to feel the absolute horror of the situation, she knew that she wouldn't be able to react right now and she needed to react. Her allies needed her or they'd all end up like...no, that girl didn't exist. The skies had proven that to her!

Shaking her head, she cleared her mind and refocused. Right now, she needed to survive and if that meant chopping off other people's limbs, then that's just what she would do. Her allies weren't slow to react: she noted that somewhere in the back of her head, and she'd been proud of them. They weren't completely useless, even if neither of them had managed to cause the damage she had done. Jade raised her arm, poised to land another blow - but then she stumbled backward. Her eyes had just caught sight of another shadow phantom, and she was so very sure it was the girl who did not exist. Her eyes scanned the area, wild with desperation. Does not exist. She does not exist. There is no ghost! Jade scolded herself.

Jade hadn't been paying attention to the girl who had just lost her hand. In fact, she had long written the girl off this fight. Sure, many Victors did walk out of the arena alive with limbs gone, but that didn't mean they all did, and she was fairly sure this girl wasn't going to be one of them. Besides, she had more important things to worry about, didn't she? Like the ghost of Zenia haunting her in the arena? That was pretty high up there on her personal list of priorities. Unfortunately, that whole writing off the opponent caused her to earn a good slash. It wasn't bad - she'd earned worse in practice before thanks to her own brother - but it was enough to make her realize the girl hadn't given up.

With a slight wince, she turned around to face the other girl. She didn't glare, nor did she scowl. It wasn't nearly as fun as she had imagined, but it was something she had to do. She simply stared at the other girl and swung her sword. She needed to end this quickly, and go back to focusing on her ghost problem.

(Jade attacks Kestrel Volant with Sabre)
gdpY|A80eEsword
(1118 -- Deep Gash on Right Forearm -- 8.0(+1) damage)

Table by both elegant and mahouho

sword

Last Edit: Jun 21, 2020 21:20:44 GMT -5 by D1f Jade Morin - Alyssaimagine

kap
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trans rights are human rights <3

emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 21, 2020 21:34:44 GMT -5

Quote

Post by kap on Jun 21, 2020 21:34:44 GMT -5

The twisted dagger I hold in my hand cuts into my target's arm, but seconds later I feel a searing pain on the side of my head. I reach my free hand to where my ear was supposed to be, only to notice that it's gone. My whole fucking ear- it's gone! Oh my Ripred. Holy fuck. Shit. Damn it. Ow.

I have to focus. Dominic slices into the stomach of the boy who separated my ear from my head. I then feel the blade of another opposing tribute cutting into my arm in a similar way to how my blade harmed Kestrel's flesh. I have to keep fighting. More blades slice through the air, Kestrel cutting into Jade's neck and Jade in turn gashing open Kestrel's arm. I hold my knife tight. I need to do this. I need to land a hit on Kestrel if I want to survive.

Even if I do that, though, will I truly survive? Will they let me go that easily with what I've done to Kestrel- my own District partner? She was meant to be a piece of home, but I wasn't treating her as such.

The only pieces of home I had with my right now were my necklace that Sagittarius gave me in the Justice Building before I left, and a letter from my mother, found in the pocket of my tribute uniform.

The letter read:

Dearest Pisces,

I want to start off this letter by saying that I love you, and although I don't understand your choice to volunteer, I respect it, and I will never stop loving you. I hope that I will see you come home, into my arms again. I want to hold you tight, hold you close- I never want to have to let you go again. Hugging you in the Justice Building as we said goodbye, I hoped it wouldn't be the last time.

I will keep hoping, for your sake, and for the sake of those that love you.

Please, come home to us. We love you.

I will love you forever,
Mom

I'm fighting to go back to my mother, and to go back to the rest of those that I love. I'm not here to protect Kestrel. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to do things that might not seem right. I have to keep fighting. I have to strike again. I turn my blade to Kestrel again and strike.

table by Rave!

[Pisces attacks Kestrel with twisted dagger (knife)]
QeH9k9qZ7Fknife
[2081 -- Shallow Cut on Right Hip -- 3.5 damage]

knife

Last Edit: Jun 21, 2020 21:35:29 GMT -5 by kap

pogue
Graphics

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last seen Oct 19, 2024 11:07:44 GMT -5

Is she trying to interrupt our henna session?

emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 22, 2020 7:10:44 GMT -5

Quote

Post by pogue on Jun 22, 2020 7:10:44 GMT -5

C

A

L

L

U

M

___

Filler flee for now, will fill this in tonight but just for the sake of gettin these things movin’!! Cheers

- Catches Kes

- Drops his weapon (but like, he’s gonna pick it up again don’t put dis in the engine)

- ”Please.. please just go.” He says this to Pisces and crew because he’s a baby and is annoying

- More 2 come

[Callum flees current fight]

fireflyz
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emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 22, 2020 11:09:09 GMT -5

Quote

Post by fireflyz on Jun 22, 2020 11:09:09 GMT -5

The tears startled him more than the blood. Any vessel would burst when you hit it, but with people, there was no telling where the physical pain ended and the emotional pain began. For Dominic, they had once been separate, but it was apparent now that they were intertwined, and it had likely always been that way for the girl sobbing in front of him, betrayed by her own district partner.

Pisces was the last to strike, and it brought Dominic a mixed sense of relief and horror. He closed his eyes as Kestrel slumped into Callum's arms, as if pretending to not see it would make it any less real.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before the silence was broken. "Please... please just go."

Dominic opened his eyes, turned, and hurried away.

[dominic flees]

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D6f Carmen Cantelou [aza] Advertiser 2,132 POSTS last seen Nov 9, 2024 6:37:11 GMT -5	emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 23, 2020 7:42:21 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by D6f Carmen Cantelou [aza] on Jun 23, 2020 7:42:21 GMT -5 *bird ivy* This is a filler as my laptop is broken. New charger arriving tomorrow so let’s celebrate that! [ d12f *bird ivy* flees ]

D1f Jade Morin - Alyssaimagine
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emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 23, 2020 8:20:45 GMT -5

Quote

Post by D1f Jade Morin - Alyssaimagine on Jun 23, 2020 8:20:45 GMT -5

J A D E .

"you are weak
but not foolish
you have learned
how to die."

Was the world spinning or was it just her? Jade wasn't so sure. Everything felt wrong in a way she didn't know how to put into words. Her ally slashed out and attacked the girl on the opposing side and she slumped. At first, Jade hadn't registered it. Her sword had been lifted, a mechanical reflex, really, and she'd been ready to strike again. She was ready to strike all of those who stood before, because she knew they stood between her and home. She was so ready to make them die, but then she realized that one of them had died, and she came to the realization that it was so wrong. She stumbled backwards, almost completely losing her balance. Her sword almost fell from her sweaty palms, and it was only years of training that kept it in her grasp. Her eyes were wide and wild.

Blood. There was so much blood. It smelled of iron. Her clothes, her face, they were all painted with red. It made her stomach sick, and she was clutching her stomach in momentary agony. This wasn't right. It wasn't right, it wasn't right, she wasn't supposed to be crumbling like this. She'd trained for this. People died, and she thought that she had known that. She'd watched the Games since she was kid. She could still remember her father watching her the first time. He'd told her not to look away, and no matter how horrible it had been, she had succeeded. Jade hadn't realized that facing it would be so different. None of those people on the screens had been real to her. Just actors on the screen. It's not like she'd known any of them and none of their deaths had impacted her.

Here she smelled it. Here she felt it. The blood dribbling down her lips, her eyes. How wet her clothes felt against her skin. Wet and warm and disgusting. She was tempted to rip her clothes off right here and now and be done with them. She wanted nothing to do with the bloody reminders. She didn't want to believe the girl had been living and breathing once. That she had a family, a name, and she had seen the girl before her death. Breathing. Full of life. A life that was now gone. Now she was pale and her eyes no longer held that light. Her chest was so still. So unnaturally still that it made her skin crawl. Her stomach was sick, so very sick.

The boy was telling her to leave. The instinct of a fighter made her feet stay glued to the spot. Her hand rigidly holding onto the sword. Instinct pressed her to attack, but she couldn't. She couldn't, because she had to run. She had to run, because she couldn't deal with this. A girl lay dying. Oh, she might not have had the final blow, but she'd cut the girl's hand clear off. The blood was all over her clothes as proof, and then she'd struck again and another stream of blood. So much blood. Her mind was spinning. The smell of iron.

Leave. She needed to leave. The boy was right. Yet, until her ally begun to run, she had stayed. Then, he ran and she felt her feet follow after him. Fleeing the crime scene. She needed to forget. If she was going to continue on, wasn't it better to believe Kestral never existed? Just like Zenia. Never existed. So much blood. Never existed. Her world wouldn't stop spinning, and she probably looked drunk swaying on her feet as she ran after her ally. Was Pisces behind her? She didn't know. All she knew was that Kestral couldn't exist.

D1F Jade Morin Flees

Table by both elegant and mahouho

Last Edit: Jun 24, 2020 19:12:26 GMT -5 by D1f Jade Morin - Alyssaimagine

kap
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trans rights are human rights <3

emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2 Jun 24, 2020 18:04:35 GMT -5

Quote

Post by kap on Jun 24, 2020 18:04:35 GMT -5

As Kestrel slumps into her ally's arms, everything feels like it slows down, and I feel a pang of guilt in my chest. My stomach churns and I feel like I'm going to be sick. What have I done?

”Please.. please just go,” the boy who caught his ally begs of my allies and I. People start to run away from the fight, and I start to feel dizzy- nauseous- lightheaded. I'm a horrible person. I know that now. I killed someone. I dug my blade into her, watched her body fall and heard her cannon sound. She was gone. Her life was over. I ended the life of the one person here other than myself that was a piece of my home, and there was no changing that.

Kestrel Volant was dead, and it was the doing of Pisces Gem.

What did Colgate, our mentor, think of this? How did he feel about one of his own tributes cutting down the other? He had to be furious with me for what I'd just done.

I couldn't focus on this, though. I had to get out of here.

I followed Dominic and Jade, and I ran.

table by Rave!

[Pisces flees]
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emerald dust (WNN vs The Troupe) Day 2

Post by D1f Jade Morin - Alyssaimagine on Jun 20, 2020 15:33:58 GMT -5

Post by kap on Jun 20, 2020 17:19:21 GMT -5

Post by pogue on Jun 20, 2020 22:30:02 GMT -5

Post by fireflyz on Jun 20, 2020 22:51:16 GMT -5

Post by D6f Carmen Cantelou [aza] on Jun 21, 2020 8:54:19 GMT -5

Post by Stare on Jun 21, 2020 18:16:10 GMT -5

Post by D1f Jade Morin - Alyssaimagine on Jun 21, 2020 21:10:48 GMT -5

Post by kap on Jun 21, 2020 21:34:44 GMT -5

Post by pogue on Jun 22, 2020 7:10:44 GMT -5

Post by fireflyz on Jun 22, 2020 11:09:09 GMT -5

Post by D6f Carmen Cantelou [aza] on Jun 23, 2020 7:42:21 GMT -5

Post by D1f Jade Morin - Alyssaimagine on Jun 23, 2020 8:20:45 GMT -5

Post by kap on Jun 24, 2020 18:04:35 GMT -5