The Bloodbath

mat
Retired Staff

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The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 16:13:37 GMT -5

Quote

Post by mat on Sept 16, 2020 16:13:37 GMT -5

Almost on cue, the gates flew open once again, revealing a second feline rushing out and into the mix of tributes. It sprung every which way, as if hunting through a buffet line for which piece of meat they had found most appetizing. One direction, the next, and another. Just as the lion ravaged towards the boy from Ten, the new character sprung swiftly towards Ander and his group. Its eyes were distinct and he could see that it charged towards him more than the others. It jumped out toward him, mouth slowly starting to widen. All Ander could do was drop his sword and stick his arms out, weather the blow if he could. He pressed up against the feline's chest, knocking him back a few stumbling paces. The cat quickly swept around the corner and began to charge elsewhere.

"Oh," his sighs of relief quickly turned into deep, nerve-filled breaths. Every few moments, it seemed as if there was another animal being released into the colosseum, some that he'd never even heard of or seen pictures of before. It seemed that they were more excited to be around human beings than bloodthirsty to rip them to shreds, but communication had always appeared to be a human strength, not any other animal's.

It couldn't have been more than thirty seconds before another creature scuffed on the grainy floorboards in the direction of his group. Its fangs were pierced by the sunlight as it approached at a rapid speed. This creature was much smaller than the last cat, so Ander held his ground again, hands in the air as if he could catch it mid-pounce and send it back to where it had come from. He wasn't as fortunate as the last time, though, as the creature's white teeth snagged at his face, pulling and dragging on it for a brief moment before letting go and rushing to take on another target.

Everything seemed to stop at that time when his hand clutched at the wound. Somehow, it stung worse than the ointment that his peacekeeper treated him with all over the rest of his body. Someone had clearly forgotten to feed the animals today, but with twenty-four bodies in the arena, live and in flesh, they'd get their fill soon.

His eyes squinted as tight as they could and he bit down on his cheek. But nothing could distract from the sickening pain that brewed on the side of his face. The cut from his hand met the bites on his cheek like two hurricanes locking eyes, with one consuming the other and only growing stronger. Don't be a wimp. He forced himself to grow thick skin as young as ten years old, but his tolerance struggled like a balloon meeting with a needle.

Ander's mind wandered to his past dreams, ones of Luca's demise, his death. In the dream, they'd left Luca to rot in the pit, but threw down chunks of meat to keep him company. Ander's head peered halfway around a tree trunk as he watched wolves and bears crawl down into the pit, one by one. The dream went on for nights at a time, and the screams echoed as constantly as crickets calling out in the nighttime or birds chirping in the day. The dream left Luca in the pit to be eaten alive, a never ending cycle that a Drifter feared when they closed their eyes for the night. Animals in the wilderness had a wicked sense of smell, and it wasn't exactly rare for them to pick up camp and make a move if there were bears or wolves rumored to be lurking around their part of the woods.

"Yall with me? Let's give them hell." The words felt like a distracted mutter in comparison to the swamping pain on his face and vivid recollections of his dreams, blood squirting in the air like geysers and a twitching fingertip, barely visible to the human eye, begging to get out of the pit. He still couldn't open his eyes. Luca could have been eaten alive, and you can't even open up to fight?

"You, come on!" The words were directed to his ears, and he perked up, looking at the surroundings once more. The creatures within the arena seemed to double, with more and more sweeping towards their group. "Drifting away may have made things easier, but now isn’t the time. We need to stand up and fight!"

The animals were charging again, and their group of five seemed to spread out a bit. Mario and Séui Ngàhn were the two who seemed to be breached the most by the creatures. One by one, the group fell in line with the rest of the arena, taking their fists and blades up to challenge the monsters.

Ander looked to his left as the animal he'd once held off from tackling him turned up again, coming in his direction.

He took his sword up in his hands again as it grew closer and closer, the glistening yellow eyes once again promising conflict.

Sword raised, he did his best to swipe at the creature before it got to him. All he could do to drive him to swing was imagining that an animal like this sealed Luca De la Cruz's fate, too.

Bears, wolves, and bugs eating him alive in a pit. In an arena like this, it wouldn't be any different.

"Sorry. I'll be honest, I'm more bark than bite."

[post five; ander x-games majjati and thinks about his dead brother s'more]

[ander attacks majjati; sword]
Xiha9izcAnsword
[1025 -- Severed Left Hand at Wrist -- 9.0 damage]

sword

Last Edit: Sept 16, 2020 16:13:58 GMT -5 by mat

umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars]
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— 🥀 —

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 16:54:50 GMT -5

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Post by umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars] on Sept 16, 2020 16:54:50 GMT -5

These humans didn’t play right. They slashed at him, trying to make him weak. Grimsby the lion was not weak. He would never be weak. Grimsby the cat was a star! The sound of the whip cracked in his memory, right along with the cheers and the gasps. He stood on his front paws, back end flipping over onto his back, then back up onto his feet. He roared, loud and proud and power.

Not an ounce of weakness in him. Not a moment of fear.

He roared again. The first was a warning, a show. This was the next step in the game. If these humans were not afraid of him, he would make them be afraid. The best prey fought the hardest to survive, but Grimsby the lion was the all-time champ. He’d caught every rodent that wandered into his enclosure, ripped meat to shreds. He’d fought several other, bigger lions before, and even still it was Grimsby who’d made it to this point.

He’d never lost. And the humans had never played. How were they so good?

He invited the challenge.

filler for first attack

^{[ GRIMSBY ATTACKS SEUI ]}
3lDuaFeZicknife

^{[ RESULT ]}

filler for second attack

^{[ GRIMSBY ATTACKS COAL ]}
knife

^{[ RESULT ]}

filler for third attack

^{[ GRIMSBY ATTACKS CAT ]}
knife

^{[ RESULT ]}

filler for fourth attack.

^{[ GRIMSBY ATTACKS NANETTE ]}
knife

^{[ RESULT ]}

filler for fifth attack

^{[ GRIMSBY ATTACKS LUMI ]}
knife

^{[ RESULT ]}

knife·knife·knife·knife·knife

^{I AM A GARDEN OF BLACK AND RED AGONIES}

marguerite harvard d2a (zori)
Veteran Member

1,258 POSTS

last seen Apr 5, 2024 7:56:12 GMT -5

🌻

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 17:12:02 GMT -5

Quote

Post by marguerite harvard d2a (zori) on Sept 16, 2020 17:12:02 GMT -5

For a second he stared up at the crowd, blood crusted underneath his nose, missing tooth on full display for the crowd of fascists above. So what if they’d condemned him to death? The people up in those seats had been condemning boys like Mario for time immemorial. At this point they’d grown so gleeful they threw literal food at them as though some of the boys and girls hadn’t seen famine take some of their friends or family. Mario lowered his sword, the roar of the crowd circling his ears as he stood.

He was ready to burn in hell for whatever sins they thought a boy like him owed. For whatever heaven they’d created for themselves, he’d never want to be a part.

The scream of gates sounded, and Mario turned to face the coming storm. A flood of animals erupted across the arena, and along with them, a set of screams from the various children. Hands grabbing one another as a set toward the wall, as though there was some sort of escape there. Another pair pinned down by the lion, some faced with the face of the bird, animals set on them as though they were the prey to be cut to pieces.

Mario had to believe that this all had already been planned; it cut deeper thinking that even if they had been at each other’s throats, they’d still have released the animals across the stadium. Not because they were set on flushing all of them out but because they had always intended to add another level to all of the bullshit to make it even more barbaric. They’d already debased them as children of war, creatures that were their playthings to discard when their bodies had hit the ground. Now too were they animals to be slaughtered. No more worthy than the beasts they’d been keeping in cages down below.

He had to bet that at least the animals hadn’t had the shit beat out of them before being tossed out onto the sand.

It’s in all the chaos that Stranger revealed his name as Drifter, and Mario imagined the moniker had been picked up along the way, less a gift from his family and more a designation. “Nice to meet you Drifty-baby,” Mario spat out. His heart thumped a thousand beats in a minute at the sight of the lion charging, and the sound of the animals scattering their feet across the sand.

“Fuck fuck fuck, shiiit,” Mario stumbled through the sand at Grimsby’s approach, but it’s his friend Séui Ngàhn that took claws to flesh.

“Dude?!” Mario slipped out an octave higher than he intended, “Y’all all right?”

Coal reacted, up from his spot and calling them to action. The one he’d sneered at for a half-second implored them to attack, and Mario couldn’t have been happier to have been proven wrong. At least someone hadn’t hesitated. He could feed off that strength, especially as the rest of them set about attacking the lion as though it hadn’t just tried to rip them to shreds.

A terrible grumble followed, screams echoing across the arena, giving Mario enough time not to be trampled by the hog-beast-thing that plowed through the sand. He caught a glancing tusk across his leather chest plate, ripped off and exposing his torn flesh, blood scattering at the ground in front of his feet. He hissed as the thing galloped on, not losing focus on the fact that he had this group to cling to, for however long they could hold out.

Séui Ngàhn fought back but Mario could see from the damage done that he was soon to be overwhelmed. They were tearing the boy apart faster than almost any of the others, hard scrabbled against the gnashing beaks and sharp claws.

Paloma and Drifter stood their ground even as the sands shifted. They were united in this task, perhaps less that they cared for one another but because of each other. They would survive so long as they refused to die, in particular, for the people in the stands above.

“Hold the fucking line!” Mario snapped as he came up behind Séui Ngàhn, sword drawn. He angled closer, taking a position to cover the boy’s back and keep him from any more sneak attacks (as if his own body would stop an animal rushing full tilt). Still, he’d be damned if they were getting their names etched in that wall just yet.

“C’mon kids.” Mario growled. He put both hands on his sword’s grip and held it forward. “No holding back against these assholes. Let’s make death proud to take us¹!”

¹Antony & Cleopatra, Shakespeare

Mario Mario attacks majjati with his sword
gQ7fH7fTPasword
result:1101 -- Shallow Cut on Left Hip -- 3.5 damageknife

Last Edit: Sept 16, 2020 17:37:19 GMT -5 by L△LIA

[nyte]
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oof

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 17:14:48 GMT -5

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Post by [nyte] on Sept 16, 2020 17:14:48 GMT -5

lumi cartwright

Altruism is payed in blood. "T-thank you." She stutters out, knees nearly buckling as an older girl makes her way toward them. It's nice to know you're not alone. Even when she's weaponless, foolishly placing herself in the middle of the massacre. It's not just the lion, there's a hoard of strange beasts picking away at her fellow tributes. The hazy scent of bloodlust overwhelms her, even as she stubbornly trudges through it in her attempts to help Nanette. She's bleeding so bad and it looks like it must hurt so much and it won't kill her to be brave a little longer-

"Lumi-"

Oh no.

She stops in her tracks, almost reluctant to turn toward her new friend. Gruesome fairy tales fill her vision, fears to fill a thousand blood stained pages playing in her mind's eye. Why would Finn sound like that? So panicked, so pained. If something had hurt him while she left him there she'd as good as killed him-

No. No. It's fine.

They'll be okay. She pastes a smile to her lips and turns to tell him as much.

And, of course, she sees it just a second too late. "Finn!"

She calls out before they overwhelm her. It's a haze of rough skin and scratchy fur, hot breaths panted against the skin of her cheeks as they knock her off balance. She hits the ground with a scream she didn't know she was capable of. It's visceral, bloodstained like her nails as they dig into the dirt in an attempt to drag herself in the direction of her helpless friend.

She's supposed to protect him. She promised and promises have to mean something in a place like this. "I got you."

She winces as one of the beasts tears into her calf, but she doesn't stop. Lumi throws out one hand further than the other, palm upturned and asking for relief. "Please, Finn..."

A shadow bears down upon her and suddenly all Lumi knows is pain. Teeth, not sharp enough to make it quick and painless, are splitting her skull in two. The sour scent of its mouth envelops her senses, and she wretches into her own screams. She bashes her free hand against it's muzzle, the other still reaching still begging for comfort.

Her own blood smells somehow sweeter than the others.

Lumi doesn't remember how it ends, only that she's left in a pool of her own blood. No strength in her limbs and eyes turned toward the heavens. It occurs to her she's stopped wearing a smile, that she probably looks stupid drowning in blood and tears like this.

Something's coming to pick her off, and it hurts to bad it almost doesn't hurt at all.

"Don't..." She searches for Finn's eyes, trying to shake her head.

try to save me.

Last Edit: Sept 16, 2020 17:16:46 GMT -5 by [nyte]

the m o o n controls the t i d e, it could cause you to d r o w n

*
Mentor

3,277 POSTS
last seen Apr 4, 2020 9:33:58 GMT -5

They'll either want to kill you, kiss you, or be you.

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 17:46:04 GMT -5

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Post by * on Sept 16, 2020 17:46:04 GMT -5

Majjati seemed to be overjoyed with the humans that she had been released to play with. Even though her fellow feline had started with a menacing act, it wasn't in her to compete with the king of the jungle. More brain then brawn, Majjati decided to play with her food. The first three she came around, only teased them with her paw, opening her jaw to expose her gnarly teeth and swiping at them with her massive paws. Their screams of terror. The fear that rose within their hearts.

She could hear it.

She could taste it in the air.

She could smell it as if it was an aphrodisiac to dilate her eyes the more she pawed with the idea of having one of these morsels for her own. She just couldn't seem to figure out which one though. One was too skinny. One's voice was not tantalizing enough to even bother with them again, and yet she tasted the blood of one with one quick swipe of her paw. They were sweet, but there were so many others to taunt.

Even the feathered creature running around like crazy caught her senses and she began to salivate at the thought of wrapping her teeth around it's scrawny neck, but it's speed was too much work, unlike the rest of these puny humans wandering around like a gazelle newly born. She dipped her head.

She had to show her mighty teeth to them all and yet, she howls suddenly when not only one, not two, but three of her morsel's fight back as if they had a chance. Though, one blade slices off her paw.

She yowls a hideous sound, backing off quickly before another attacks the same and the humans decide once again to make a mockery of her by taking another limb and adding insult to injury. Furious and fantasizing of their deaths, she bends down to pick up her own paw within her teeth and darts forward for another set of unsuspecting prey.

"One of you will pay." She roars a hefty roar. "One will be my plaything till you die."

Attacks Luella
g3E56stjUIknife
Miss 0.0

Attacks Paloma
knife
Stabbed in Back -- 9.0 damage

Attacks Ander
knife
Shallow Cut on Left Forearm -- 3.5 damage

Attacks Lumi
knife
DG on neck - 10.0

Attacks Seui
knife
Miss 0.0

knife·knife·knife·knife·knife

Last Edit: Sept 16, 2020 17:49:12 GMT -5 by *

cass
Retired Staff

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last seen Oct 24, 2021 18:11:43 GMT -5

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 17:54:36 GMT -5

Quote

Post by cass on Sept 16, 2020 17:54:36 GMT -5

F I N N

“Lumi!” You scream, the word tearing itself from your throat as you reach forwards. You scramble, fingers clawing at the dirt as you desperately try to drag your useless body forwards. Through gritted teeth you fight back every inch of you that screams in agony.

“Lumi-“ the words cut off as you gasp in pain, trying to push yourself upwards. A mutt is rushing towards her, paws clawing at the dirt as it charges. You don’t know how many times you’ve seen them swipe at her. Each and every time they miss or is it that she’s so small and quick that she manages to dodge out of the way?

How? How can she be so brave in the face of so much fear?

“Why am I so useless?” You scream, pounding a fist into the dirt. There are tears in your eyes, blood on your palms as you force yourself onto shaking legs. You take one step, slipping back into the dirt with a cry of anguish- pure defeated helplessness as your mouth opens in a silent scream.

When you were nine you said the same thing. The only differences were you hadn’t yet started blaming your own body for your failings. At that point, it was still the cancer's fault, it was the reason for your suffering and inability to play games with other kids. It wasn’t your fault. But when your mum stopped turning up, and the days grew longer and there was no one there to hold you when you screamed for their name- it became easier to blame it on something you’d done wrong. When you looked in the mirror it was your own reflection staring back, so, it must be your fault.

Another animal enters the arena, white scales flashing as it begins clawing its way through the dirt and towards your group. Your stomach drops as an alligator -a fucking alligator- opens its maw, teeth gleaming with ill intent.

“Lumi-“

It’s too late, the beast is already there, snapping at her before you can reach her. You’d never have reached her in time. It was a curse for you to stop and help her at the start. You’ve only sentenced her to die faster, unable to even protect herself because she’s too busy being distracted by you.

Selfish of you to think that maybe it was okay. Maybe you could feel hopeful that dying alone was enough of a dream. All that dream was doing was causing innocent people to suffer.

They overwhelm her, flesh and bone torn and ripped. For a moment, you can’t even see her beneath the mass of scales and fur that tries to kill her. You gasp, an ache building in your chest as you try and push harder, try and reach her with every bit of strength that you have inside you.

This is your fault. She could have run, she could have seen them coming but you distracted her by calling her name.

There’s a hand, stretching through the pulsating mess of blood and flesh, eyes made from warmth and honey now turned raw with agony. It makes your breath catch, fingers clawing at the dirt until you reach her, lacing them with hers as you try- try to miserably to pull her away from the animals.

“I’m- I’m not strong enough-“

The alligator swipes at you and you want to scream at it-

“Stop hurting her! Please, you stupid dumb animals- please hurt-“ me.

Because your life isn’t worth that much, balancing already with one foot in a grave, the grim reaper’s hand already resting on your shoulder. She’s worth more, they all are.

Why? Why aren’t they killing weak, useless you? Why must you watch more people die? Why does it hurt so much to fear being alone?

“Lumi, please don’t die. Not yet, please.” She’s telling you to leave her, you never had anyone to teach you how to listen to others.

So, you’ll try and save her.

“I’m coming,” There’s a false sense of bravado in your voice, a shakiness that is determined to make you waver. You scream, feeling the way your body protests the movement as you throw your free fist at the first thing you can reach.

O L S E N

kaitlin

[ finn attacks Majjati ]
vmwlR|px9Lunarmed
[ trip -- 0.5 damage ]

unarmed

Last Edit: Sept 16, 2020 17:55:44 GMT -5 by cass

kap
Retired Staff

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trans rights are human rights <3

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 18:02:35 GMT -5

Quote

Post by kap on Sept 16, 2020 18:02:35 GMT -5

"This is a revolution.
We are rising up."

The animal- or perhaps it was a Capitol muttation, she couldn't be sure (she'd never seen such a thing)- attacked more tributes, and Vanya actually, truly started to feel anger rise inside of her. It was such a rare occurrence for Vanya to actually feel angry at someone or something. She was always the one to try to calm others down from being angry that she never had much time for the feeling herself, but she wanted to protect these people.

That's why, as the tusked beast struck again, she moved to follow it, eyeing the sword she'd left behind at the start of her time in this colosseum, and eventually getting so that it was in her reach once more. She picked it up off the ground and held it firmly in her grasp.

A lot of the tributes were badly hurt, and although she knew it was inevitable, she hoped it wouldn't get to the point of her having to see any of them die.

"Hey, you stupid beast!" she yelled at the creature. "Leave them alone!"

The weapon was heavier that she'd expected, but she still managed to hold it. She just hoped she could actually make efficient use of it. Lifting her sword, she swung it at the beast, and hoped she'd connect.

elegant & UNSECRET
graphic by mahouho

[9F VANYA MCALISTER attacks BAAL THE BABIRUSA with SWORD]
t6r7PyjBpOsword
[1140 -- Deep Gash on Left Calf -- 8.0 damage]

sword

Last Edit: Sept 16, 2020 18:03:29 GMT -5 by kap

pogue
Graphics

1,890 POSTS

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Is she trying to interrupt our henna session?

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 19:26:44 GMT -5

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Post by pogue on Sept 16, 2020 19:26:44 GMT -5

Calder’s blood is like the ocean waves, crashing and swirling against your skin as you stumble forward with him. Its warmth makes your stomach rage against the adrenaline that courses through your veins, twisting and turning and itching to send vomit rising up and out of your mouth at the sight and the smell of death and decay. You cast a wary glance behind you, catching the blurring shapes of the beasts as they tear through flesh and bone alike, settling your gaze on Cypria as she trails along behind the two of you. Her sword hangs limply by her sword, drawing a line through the bloody trail Calder leaves as the two of you hobble along. ”Cypria-“, you begin, anxious to yell at her to watch out, to help the two of you, to do anything but let herself go easily into the maw of the beast.

You’re cut off as a shadow drapes itself over you, and you turn to stare at the walls of the stadium, your vision traveling up and up the stone and finding only screaming spectators looking back at you. Slowly, your vision travels back down, desperately counting the little lines that mark the fallen as you do so, feeling your heart sink into hopelessness. You wonder how long it will take before you’re etched on that wall, a number of war just like you’d always counted.

“N—No,” His bravery betrays your own hopelessness and you think, as he pulls himself from your shoulder and you feel the warmth of his blood stop hitting your skin, that this must be what the waves of Four end up forging their citizens into. It makes you wish you had stayed.

His hand finds your shoulder, and with surprising strength for a boy wearing his own blood like a blanket he forces you away from him. You stumble backwards, just as a mutt brings its beak down where you were standing only to find air where there was once flesh. Fuck, you think as you look back at him, at Cypria, your sword heavy in your hands as the beast darts away towards its next target.

In that moment, as the crowd jeers and yells for your deaths in celebration, as Cypria presses herself up to the wall with shock pasted on her face, you think that Calder might be the bravest person you’ve ever met, the bravest face that you’ll ever remember.

Either that, or the most foolish. But you don’t think those are that different anymore.

The beasts are nothing if not greedy, and even though you’d found your footing and found your spirit and found the handle of your sword you watch, helplessly, as a creature makes its way at him too fast for you to react, for him to react, for Cypria’s screams to cover up the sound of tearing flesh and for you to choke back the bile that rises in your throat at the sight of fresh blood coating the sand. Calder’s voice is raspy when it finally finds its way into the air, and you can hear the smoldering embers in his throat, quickly finding their way into the cold forever.

Run,

“Please, please, please, run – l-leave me.”

He begs you both and your first instinct, crashing inside your heart your head your mind your body like a raging wave, is to listen to Calder, to grab Cypria’s hand and sprint to somewhere, anywhere other than where the boy in blonde might drown in the red waves that leak from his body. After all, you were born in the trembling waters of a broken handshake, taught that the only way to make a deal was to make sure it was broken before it’s even agreed upon. And there’s no forests here to dance into, leaving a life half sewed into the grains of the earth where you once stood, uprooted violently in the name of the numbers, in the name of war and the benefits it can bring.

But there’s shadows, from the walls from the mutts from yourself, rooted where you stand like a tree in the night, listening to Calder beg. And you’ve always been good at hiding in the shadows, drowning yourself in the murky waters and letting whatever danger swarms around you move on by, passing the risk into the hands of some other unfortunate soul.

You feel your palm burning with a handshake that itches to be broken, laying your choices out on the bloody sand and ready to forge a deal for the damned.

Make your choice. You hear it muttered in between the screams and shouts of the spectators.

Make your choice. You hear it muttered in the sounds of crashing waves and spilled blood, at the forefront of your memory though you wish they weren’t.

Make your choice. You hear it muttered in the peeling back of a chainlink fence, in the sounds of District One in the dead of night, cementing your new home, your new tomb.

Make your-

"It’s Knox-" You finally hear yourself say, a breathless whisper quickly drowned out by the crowd, by Cypria’s screams, by your own raging heartbeat. "Knox", you repeat again, loud enough for the blonde boy no, for Calder to hear you. "Knox de Sol."

It still feels foreign on your tongue when you say it, sealing the deal and signing your name with your own demons and taking your place next to Calder, casting a glance back at Cypria as she melts into the wall, screams bellowing from her lungs. You trusted her too, just like you trusted Calder. Is this what it got you? A bloody, broken, heart barely beating boy digging silver into the body of a beast you’d only ever seen in nightmares, a screaming girl wishing for nothing more than the shadows to swallow her up, for her home to become One once more. Maybe it was trust that brought war, trust in each other, trust in the promise of peace, of change, trust in a promise that was always meant to be broken.

No. You hear your heart whisper, dead into the darkness of your mind. This had been inevitable. Trust did not get you here. But perhaps it could get you out.

You stand shoulder to bleeding shoulder with a boy you never knew and would never fully know beyond the district that didn’t want you, that didn’t want him. Trust. So foreign, so bloody, so powerful.

“If we’re stayin’ together, we got—gotta’ fight together.” He rasps, and you nod solemnly, trying to stop your teeth from chattering as you cast a lonely glance back at Cypria. You find her eyes and nod, begging her to help you both. Please, Cypria., you think. You hope, somehow, she hears you.

“Better to die tryin’ to fight back than leyin’ ourselves down for ‘em.” Calder says.

"Better to die together than to die alone." You echo.

Your sword cuts through the air as you swing towards the beast.

[ Knox attacks Jemma in the name of Tiffany New York Pollard ]

dBMdLQihWFsword

[ Shallow cut on right forearm -- 3.5 ]

sword

Last Edit: Sept 17, 2020 0:03:54 GMT -5 by pogue

Cato
Librarian

3,004 POSTS
last seen Nov 24, 2024 17:43:14 GMT -5

I wish Cato didnt die

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 19:41:54 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Cato on Sept 16, 2020 19:41:54 GMT -5

Andromache Audacia

The whole setting escalated quickly. Things were calm, and now they're not. These giant beasts are charging through the arena swiping at anything and everything. It's difficult, and my heart is racing, pounding rapidly inside my chest. All I can do is try to keep myself calm and steady. I want that kid to help me. I need the help, but I don't want to ask him, and I'm swinging the sword, and I feel it slicing through the bone. A paw lands on the ground, and I'm petrified of what I've done, but that thing, it wants to kill me. It wants to devour every last one of us in this arena. I will not let it devour me.

I barely hear the kid asking me a question, and I'm about to turn him on his way when I see him running towards the beast without a care in the world, his arms flailing wildly. It takes everything inside to not tell him to stop because selfishly I hope it turns on him and leaves me alone. That silly kid can become food for it while I escape with my life. But he's not the only one attacking it. Others are attacking it too, and it really helps me keep focused. These giant creatures will kill us all if we aren't careful. It'll ruin us. It'll completely knock us away, and I want to live.

"Keep up the good work!" I shout to the other guy who severed another paw, and I know that this thing is on the run. It's ours. We're going to destroy it the same way it came into this arena to destroy us. I will not let it out of here alive. I will not give it that chance. I don't know anyone's name, or where they came from, but it doesn't matter to me anymore. None of it matters because I'm not alone. Part of me wonders if the reason they're helping fight these things and not just run away is because they want all of us to stand together as one. I never thought of it that way, but people are still willing us on. They want us to fight these together, but I still don't need the help.

My mind is racing a million miles an hour, and I'm watching every thing that comes running my way. I'm sliding left and right and trying to keep my footing so I don't topple over. I'm okay. Everything is okay. I look at the sword, the blood dripping from the blade, and I want that kid to understand that he must use his. Just running into it isn't going to do any good. It isn't going to help him or me or anyone else. I look at him and then look at his sword hoping he understands. Hoping he'll pick it up and actually follow through. I want him to do as I do.

District Two

[googlefont="Oswald:400"]

Andromache attacks Majjati | Sword

LZYvQLIu1Lsword
1039 -- Shallow Cut on Right Shoulder -- 3.5 damagesword

Last Edit: Sept 16, 2020 19:42:35 GMT -5 by Cato

Lyn𝛿is
Capitol Resident

1,582 POSTS

Pronouns: ; DROP TABLE Gender;--
last seen Aug 25, 2023 23:48:21 GMT -5

does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker? ✯

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 20:15:40 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Lyn𝛿is on Sept 16, 2020 20:15:40 GMT -5

[attr="class","w460"]

BAAL THE BABIRUSA

The first of his opponents to strike lands no more than a glancing blow to his front hoof. His leg stings briefly, but Baal is no stranger to pain; his brothers' hooves held far more power behind their blows than the skinny, thin-skinned appendages the humans fought with.

Blood - not his, but that of the tiny girl-child he'd slammed full-force into - runs down his tusks and drips into his mouth, and he feels energized by the taste. Human blood had a certain subtle tinge to it of course, but it reminds him enough of licking his wounds or of gouging at a rival's fur with his teeth, and all he can think of is how powerful he's become. How the girl-child was weak, and it was his turn to tear ribbons across her flesh and pin her down with his powerful muscles until she was a whimpering mass beneath his hooves. That, after all, was his right -

The girl-child staggers, picks up a strange metal implement, and sends it surging into his flesh. For several moments, his entire world feels like it's been set on fire, and he slumps to the sand, losing control of his body as all his muscles give way under a searing pain that's like nothing he's ever felt before. Before he knows it, she's joined by more humans, lashing out with implements similar to the girl's, each blow carving easily through his flesh. With no teeth or claws to defend themselves with, the humans had crafted their own tusks, far sharper than those of any of his kin.

Baal lets out a great roar of anger. He had fought his way through each and every day till now, and today would be no different. If such a small and fragile human could deal him such a grievous injury, she would only grow more powerful with each day, just as he had, and he would be back to the life of suffering that one must endure for not being strong enough. Through a haze of rage and stubbornness, he staggers to his remaining feet, charging blindly forward out of a gap in the humans surrounding him.

[newclass=".w460"]width:460px;[/newclass]

Baal attacks with tusks (knife):

1m - Knox De Sol [ pogue ]
uJ2R56UXAJknife
2079 -- Shallow Cut on Left Shoulder -- 3.5 damage
(Knife)

12f - Piper Lacour [ Zoe ]
knife
2108 -- Block -- 0.0 damage
(Knife)

6x - Sage Sun [ Python ]
knife
2114 -- Shallow Cut on Right Bicep -- 3.5 damage
(Knife)

12m - Coal Stone [ Ryan ]
knife
2076 -- Shallow Cut on Left Hip -- 3.5 damage
(Knife)

6x - Sage Sun [ Python ]
knife
2089 -- Miss -- 0.0 damage
(Knife)knife·knife·knife·knife·knife

Last Edit: Sept 16, 2020 20:18:15 GMT -5 by Lyn𝛿is

"Yeah… You have to be careful when placing labels on good and evil, Celice. Never waste your anger on individuals. Always focus it on the evil within all of us."
- Lewyn, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Tom
Moderator

5,218 POSTS
Pronouns: He/Him
last seen Nov 23, 2024 23:11:53 GMT -5

OowoO

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 21:04:16 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Tom on Sept 16, 2020 21:04:16 GMT -5

I am not perfect.

There's only so much I can do for people, but I still try harder and harder to be something I am not. I am not a savior. I am not a hero. I am just a girl who stood in front of danger and never backed down, stared fear in the face and told it to fuck off. My mother and father didn't die for this. Their legacies were rotted with the failure of the rebellion which left us in this death pit, where the sand is mixed with blood and memories of the dead. My blade cuts deep into the cackling creature, red with blood, life pouring from it's wound. Innocent creatures thrown in a place just like us, but pushed to their instincts in order to kill.

Lover boy, Dusty runs at the lion, fist thrown into the large beast. Pointless in a sense, but I can admire a drive to protect those you love. Lover girl's shriek echoes from behind me, "Dusty!", her cry for him as if he were the one bleeding from wounds. Blood was being spilled here in the sand, casting aside a new tide of pain to remind us of our place. Push closer and closer to the sand where we'll rest for eternity if we're to die here. Lover boy, runs back with her name upon his lips, forgetting about the lion.

"Nan,"

Shuffling forward, stepping between the animals and the lovers, I hold the sword heavy in my hand. Feel the weight of it in my grip, leave their words for them and ignore the feeling of wanting to overhear like the years I would have done before with Analise and Amira. Laugh about how someone could fall in love like that, but I knew what love was like. Had one myself, ages ago before she disappeared like half of the people did during the rebellion. Never to see her again, but love fades. All wounds heal, but Nan and Dusty didn't deserve to go through that. There was enough pain in this world and I am tired of watching it come from the capitol's hands.

Maybe I've always been my mother's daughter.

I just didn't break as soon as she did.

I am not a savior, but I will pretend to be for as long as I can. Others are fighting just as hard as I am, blood of the animals being spilled onto the sand. I hope Joey was okay out there with beasts roaming. Protecting myself would have been better to do, but what more is there to give when the capitol's already decided that I was going to die. Was my name being pulled a coincidence or did my parents' work finally reach the top of the government and I was decided to pay for their crimes? I am going to die here, but I will not go down without a fight. Keep the spark of the message alive. I am not a savior, but I can be a guardian.

A bird rushes past, cutting my hip, blood trickles and it's too fast to keep up with. A gasp of pain leaves my lips, but I will not stagger, not when there's more important things to do. The lion roars loudly, breaking the calm as I know it's going to come for them. Claws come out with the roar, rushing past me and I can't keep up with the beast, watching it claw into Nan. The beast certainly was the king of the jungle, trying to take the life of a girl who didn't deserve it. Heavy is the sword who is sworn to protect others.

I am not a savior, but I can do what I can to give them a window of opportunity to escape.

Survive together, for as long as they can.

Analise and Amira could forgive me.

Nana will miss me.

The sound of the jaguar rings in my ears as it lunges. Stepping to the side as it charges forward, leaving me behind. A deep breath in my throat as I look at where it runs to see two others. Their names ring in the air, muffled by the sound of animals striking and weapons clashing with flesh. Finn. Lumi. Names that I'll never truly know, but I can see the pain in the girl's eyes. I can feel the pain in Nan's form. Dusty and Nan still in their embrace of love, but I can't move from my spot. I can hear his voice ringing out from the Jaguar's strike.

"I’m- I’m not strong enough-"

Strength.

"Stop hurting her! Please, you stupid dumb animals- please hurt-"

There's a silent moment as I ponder what his word was going to be.

"Lumi, please don’t die. Not yet, please."

Death. It was looming over the two girls and I can only stand there and watch, keep my stance forward in a threat to animals nearby. I am not a savior. I am not a guardian. I can't protect them all. They're dying because I can't kill these beasts. A heavy breath in my throat as I pull the sword up. I stand heavy with the sun hanging over head. We are surrounded in a way that only prey can be. The capitol has us on the ropes, but I won't give up on them. They're unarmed, no weapons between them and I refuse to let them die for that.

"I am Luella."

I step back more, coming closer to the lovers and the two others, one of which is dying and the boy seems more frantic. Strength was never about pure muscle or brute force, but about being able to survive was the true strength. Fighting for things you believe in were a way to show your strength. Not backing down from fear was a strength. The boy, Finn was stronger than he believed himself to be. I could see that from here by the way he trips up the Jaguar, getting it off of Lumi who is looking worse for wear. I hold the sword heavy in my hand, pointed up towards the sun where it glitters with red blood of a cackling beast.

"I won't let you die."

The lion is too close, I can feel it's instinct to fight in the air. Tension in my arms as I swing the sword carefully, reminding myself that I am Luella Duval and I have faced things just as scary as this. An animal was nothing compared to the sick minds of Keepers who wanted to take children away for the things they have no control over.

"Not here, not now."

Pushing forward where my heart beats out of my chest, the sky is blue and the ground is littered red with sand. The silver of the sword glitters and I can feel the frustration at not being enough. The frustration of not being able to save them like I desperately wanted to. I can't let them die, just like the kids who I've failed over the years from getting taken away and never seen again. I swing at the lion, hoping to scare it off or kill it, hoping that we'll get a moment to breath.

"Don't give up yet."

I am not a savior.

"I will protect you."

I am a failure.

And it shows in the blood loss of two girls who didn't deserve this.

Panem truly was falling.

Falling in a free fall that will lead to the ruin of everything they knew.

[Luella is trying to defend as many of them as she can]

(Luella Duval attacks Grimsby the Lion; sword)
Hfj52DWpAhsword
(Shallow Cut on Right Shoulder 3.5)

sword

Last Edit: Sept 16, 2020 21:04:55 GMT -5 by Tom

Made by umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars]

aya
Administrator

6,261 POSTS
last seen Sept 15, 2024 22:06:23 GMT -5

"GUNNERRRRR~"

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 21:17:15 GMT -5

Quote

Post by aya on Sept 16, 2020 21:17:15 GMT -5

[attr="class","w460"]

cat stowe

You're so focused on the big cats that you lose track of the wild boar bounding towards you. Knocked off-balance, you lose your footing even on the sand, and land on your back. Something — a tusk? a hoof? — grazes your face and you feel blood running into your eye. It stings. Most of your popcorn is scattered around you; a few kernels landed in your mouth. The adrenaline in your veins convincing you that you'll never get another chance to snack, you chew them and swallow. They're too salty and a little stale; you're too distracted to think about how they taste. Of all the frivolous pities.

You could stay down forever, probably. That might be smart. Let the loose animals chase the kids who are screaming and shouting and flailing their swords around, just play dead for awhile. You wish you knew whether or not any of the strange herd were scavengers, because if they're liable to see a corpse as an easy meal you don't want to get your lily liver gobbled up. You don't know why you'd rather die on your feet a coward than die on your back a coward — maybe you've got some of your brother's swashbuckling bravado that you always swore you were too sensible for.

Sword clenched in your fist, you take a deep breath and —

The second you regain your feet, the lion leaps at you. Sharp claws dig into your chest and the wind is knocked full out of you the second you hit the ground again. "Good kitty," you groan, as though this will keep the overgrown cat from eating your face. "Nice kitty." Your fist clenches on sand, your sword thrown free when you were tackled. Guess you'll be eaten to death on your back, after all.

When at last the lion springs away, you wheeze, rolling over onto all fours to heave yourself up again. You don't look down on purpose, but the sand at your feet is red. You make a point of not looking at your chest; you know you have a heart, but you don't feel the need to look down and see it beating.

You breathe in; you breathe out. Sword clenched in your fist, you decide you don't want to be picked off as a straggler. Half your life hanging out of your chest, you stumble towards the nearest tributes. A girl takes one of the paws off the jaguar; your stomach clenches, glad not to be crossing blades with her, but not glad that this is the other option. You swallow all the memories of the half-stray cat that prowls the docks for dropped scraps of fish, who once traded you two minutes petting her new kittens in exchange for a whole herring. You can't think about their soft little heads and tiny mews and the baby spots between their tabby stripes. You can't think about how you and your brother had named them all: Cutlass with her needle-fangs, roly-poly Ballast, Calico Jack, and Minnow, the litter's runt.

The blood loss or the shock making you unsteady on the sand for the first time in your life, you bury your sword point-down and lean your weight on it while the girl swings her sword again. "You've got a mozzarella stick in your hair," you inform her, flashing a smart smile. This is obviously the most pressing concern for anyone at the moment, so you let it hang in the air for awhile before you decide to make yourself harder to root against. "I'm Cat, by the way." You point a thumb at your chest bleeding chest. "Like the thing that just mauled me."

[cat tries to bond with andromache over being pelted by food, and also wants grimsby to know he's a good boy]

[newclass=".w460"]width:460px;[/newclass]

{characters}

certified kindergartener
stranded in "beach" "city"
leader of the crystal gems

Deleted

0 POSTS
last seen Nov 24, 2024 18:07:28 GMT -5

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 21:17:42 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2020 21:17:42 GMT -5

"HECK!"

Oh no, the name's Gemma, babe. Before she can get a better grip on the remaining fingers, he keeps on screaming and she thinks it's a party! Grimsby seems to be enjoying himself, maybe, actually maybe not. Hmm, he seems to be bleeding pretty- oh what the fuck!

Talk about a messy break up, the blonde boy stabs at her sides and she releases his hand. Ugh, men. He runs off and she can't catch him again with her good eye -- the left one's done glossed over in her years. She roars in the way she dashes through the sand, trying to refind salad fingers and his quick sword.

It's always a good trait, a man who can fight!

Now, Gemma, she's always been a primadonna, if you know you know. That boy's ran off somewhere with a croc's heart, but in the midst of it all, Gemma finds her. Short and chubby cheeks, white hair and pink eyes and stubby little fingers. Looks like family in a way, the way the girl from seven looks just as pale. So so damn cute, Gemma couldn't hurt a hair on that girl.

Just kidding. She doesn't think twice, but she does bite twice.

^{[ GEMMA RUBS ON NIEVE ]}
RKHYkrlgJcknife

^{[ x ]}

^{[ GEMMA NIBBLES CALDER ]}
knife

^{[ x ]}

^{[ GEMMA BITES CAT ]}
knife

^{[ x ]}

^{[ GEMMA ATTACKS SAGE ]}
knife

^{[ x ]}

^{[ GEMMA CHEWS ON NIEVE ]}
knife

^{[ x ]}
fff

knife·knife·knife·knife·knife

charade
Retired Staff

3,811 POSTS

last seen May 1, 2024 12:08:12 GMT -5

Thinking

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 22:05:48 GMT -5

Quote

Post by charade on Sept 16, 2020 22:05:48 GMT -5

nanette
emsworth

He runs back like he’s forgotten his keys and I don’t know what to say to him. I am rudderless. Spinning in circles, the illusion of motion. This is what he does to me. Leaves me out at sea and then breathes new life into the shell of the person I used to be. Nan he says, and I sob, leaning into him as he wraps me in an embrace.

How I’ve longed to feel the warmth of his body pressed against mine. To know that I’m safe in those strong arms. I can’t tear my eyes away from his. He is sorry. I am sorry too. Sorry that this is where we are, sorry that we never fed each other ice cream at the diner on the corner of 5th and Glenwood.

That we never slow danced under the stars. That I didn’t ask him to the Sadie Hawkins dance last year or that I never kissed his lips and showed him just how much he means to me. He calls himself a buffoon, says he’s a fool for not saying it sooner and the flickering spark in my heart shines just a little brighter, daring to hope for an infinitesimal moment.

“—loves you,”

A sob wracks my chest and I lean forward, pressing my lips tenderly against his. I waited too long, and now time is almost up. The girl that was trying to help me disappears in a flash of teeth and scales and red. I don’t have time to think about what hit her because the lion is back, and it is about to pounce. But Dustin’s back is towards it, he doesn’t, he can’t—

“Dustin, move!” I cry out, gripping his arm and shoving him to the side. I cannot bear the thought of cradling his empty shell.

The lion pounces and the claws tear open my chest as though the animal is searching for my heart. Foolish beast, I’ve already given it away. I scream, my free hand scratching futilely at the dust beneath me. Nothing in life prepared me for an animal of this size attacking me. The weight of it is too much and something gives.

I taste copper in the back of my throat when my sternum fractures. I can feel the lion’s hot breath on my face and I know this is it. Any second those teeth will descend and crack open my skull like an egg. I scream again.

Mercifully, it moves on, another tribute catching its attention. I thump my fist on the ground weakly. I need to get up. It was a mistake not getting to my feet after the blow to my cheek knocked me down. Looking down at the ruin of my chest was a mistake.

The weak point of the uniform that looked soldered on is gone, along with my skin, muscle exposed to the air, I am covered in blood. I can’t—I don’t know if it’s hard to breathe because of the wound or because I am hyperventilating in agony. I can’t think. I know I should get off the ground, but I don’t have the strength for it.

My head hits the sand and I stare dimly at the sky. I need to get up. Please. I’m sorry mom. I’m sorry dad I’m sorry dusty please god let me stand up. “I w-wahnted to—,” I choke out, spit and blood frothing at the corners of my mouth, mixing with the tears flowing freely down.

Marry you, I try to say. My hand finds his. I squeeze it, begging whatever gods are watching that it will make up for all the words unsaid, the time wasted. The time we’ll never have. I told myself that I’d die for him.

I just didn’t expect it to hurt so much.

[post 6]

Last Edit: Sept 16, 2020 22:12:15 GMT -5 by charade

16 Jul 12, 23:43
GB: I bet you just sit at your computer with a tea cup and a monocle

Knuckles
Librarian

4,984 POSTS
Pronouns: he/him
last seen Nov 24, 2024 15:57:41 GMT -5

probably flailing over something

The Bloodbath Sept 16, 2020 22:08:17 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Knuckles on Sept 16, 2020 22:08:17 GMT -5

Nocte Jay

Flailing around isn't enough. It doesn't do anything. It doesn't even knock the thing over. It's still standing and it's like nothing even mattered. Nocte looks around, eyes wide, fear crawling through his veins, hairs standing on end, he stops trying to catch his breath. Each breath lingers in the back of his throat refusing to leave the iron fist wrapping tightly around his throat.

A frantic heart claws at the cage it's in begging for an escape. Trying to leave the world it's in and find a way in life without a care in the world, and yet Nocte tries moving forward. His eyes locked on the giant cat as other creatures run about. All he wants is a chance to find himself, to bring himself out of this hellhole he's found himself in.

His eyes meet the girl's, and she's swinging about, eyes darting between him, the sword, and the creature. Nocte doesn't really understand, but then he watches her attack. Is she trying to tell him something? Does she want him to attack with the sword? He doesn't know.

But then before he gets the chance, someone else is sweeping in and slicing another paw straight to the ground. This creature is probably in a lot of pain, but it's trying to kill them. It's trying to show that this is what happens when people go against the Capitol and make a mockery out of them.

"I'll keep doing what I'm doing!" He cries out, but this time he lifts the sword into the air only to pause as another person walks into the show. Right now, Nocte wants to stay alive, and the not become cat food. He wants to go home, and he wants to see his family again. He wants to make it out of this mess, and he still doesn't understand what's going on. Shaking his head, he raises the sword into the air once more. This time he's prepared to strike. Maybe that's all the motivation he needs.

District 9 | 4th Hunger Games

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