third time's a charm [ s&a v b.o ]

When the anthem’s music began to play, Yuki remarked that of the four cannons they’d heard, two of them were obvious. He then went on to day that he hoped to see his district partner dead. There was no explanation for why, and Amelia didn’t press him. Killing one’s partner was generally considered bad form if done before the finale, not that it had stopped tributes from doing so. District six was the biggest repeat offender, if she was remembering her stats right.

“Anyone you hoping to see up there?”

Any faces were good if she was being honest. But some were more welcome than others. She thought about Shy and the girl that had killed Marsh. Andorra though; Her only link to home. If he hadn’t seemed so useless initially, she might’ve asked him to ally up. That ship had long since sailed, but she still struggled to find a reason to kill him. He’d stood with her instead of against the day before. Whether it was out of fear, practically or a sense of district loyalty was up for debate, but it didn’t matter.

She’d remember that. It wouldn't save him if the finale came down to the two of them, but she'd remember that.

Make it quick.

“Only good career is a dead one," she said after a moment. Hope the rest of them are up there.”

Yuki got his wish, and Vervain’s face was followed by Jac. A little surprising, but she supposed it was a good thing. Her gaze dropped to the fire when the image in the sky had faded away. She felt cold. Not physically. But numb, mentally. Like she’d spent too much time doing arithmetic. Except the math problems were people and the solution was watching the light leave their eyes. She wondered if she was cracking up, or if she was finally becoming the person she had always been meant to be.

Amelia turned towards her ally, wondering if there was anything he could teach her about killing. Or maybe about what came after. He’d said killing was fun. But she didn’t feel like celebrating. She chuckled quietly to herself and decided to mess with him, just for the hell of it. A little camaraderie to celebrate outliving half the arena.

“So,” she began, thinking about their conversation the other day and batting her eyelashes exaggeratedly. “I am crazy enough to be hot yet?” The grin on his face matched her own as he called her bluff by flirting back. Hotter every day.

Well something had to be, because the arena was cold as fuck.

***

The morning had brought with it a light flurry of snowflakes and a heavy flurry of cursing from Yuki. She’d learned to tune that out though. They walked for an indeterminate period of time through an area of the arena that was an even bigger wasteland than the places they’d already been. It was empty of anything other than shrubs poking through the snow.

She saw them a second before Yuki called out to them, and she cursed herself for forgetting to stay in front. She’d been playing fetch with her wolf instead of paying attention. Chill loved that little wolf plushie, but now for a third time, she was being dragged into a fight that one of her allies had started. Amelia steeled herself, pride smarting a little when Yuki commanded her to split up and take the girl on the left while he dealt with Andorra.

She was the one that did the planning back home. Sure, she would have suggested the same thing, but it would have been her suggestion. She walked menacingly toward Caleb, reminded that the girl had cut her up while she was in the process of killing Rene. Hard to shake these two, they just kept getting in the way. It was time to put an end to that.  

"Amelia, I don't even want to kill you, but I- I just need you to fuckin' go."

Didn’t want to kill her?

An odd thing to say, considering how quickly there'd been a knife sticking out of her chest. She'd gone straight for the heart. Amelia paused, confused about how deep the blade had gone, because she hadn’t felt it. Or felt the blade leave her chest either. 

“—yeah, next time I tell you to run, you outta do it!”

There was a sound like a bundle of twigs being stepped on as Andorra broke Yuki’s knee. Somewhere in the back her mind was a joke about Andorra being a leg man, since he’d busted Neysa’s knee the previous day as well. But she couldn’t focus on that because there was a hole in chest that didn’t hurt.

For a second she thought that her skin had grown so used to the cold that she couldn’t feel anything. Amelia looked down slowly, probing the gash in her jacket and slowly pulling out a flesh-toned lump of padding from the rent the knife had caused.

It was split almost in two and dribbling some sort of insulating fluid that looked almost but not quite like blood. Like the gel in those fancy icepacks if it were a bit darker and reddish brown instead of candy blue.

Interesting.

She’d thought her coat had looked thicker than most of the others and now she knew why.

An extra gift from the game-makers?

It was casually dropped on the ground before she looked back up at Caleb.

Amelia tilted her head to the side and smiled wide, showing her teeth in a manner that was feral, knowing and unfriendly all at the same time. A favored tactic of hers during tense negotiations because it tended to unnerve people.

Sometimes it even got a discount.

“What did you get again? A five?” The question was rhetorical. She knew that was Caleb’s score. She took a step towards Caleb, bringing her weapon up to bear. The smile faded a little, but her eyebrows started to raise in amusement. She never ran from a fight, even when she should have. Audrey had had to physically drag her away that time she’d gotten shot, and that was only because she’d passed out from the pain.

“I got a ten,” she said, taking another step towards the girl and tensing her legs for the lunge. “So which one of us do you think should be running?”

She moved like lightning, churning up snow in her wake.

[Caleb’s attack deflected by Top 3 PTS score padding gift]
[attacks Caleb]

_yI4ctOcg9spear
3010 -- Block -- 0.0 damage

day6 accuracy re-roll
spear
3069 -- Miss -- 0.0 damage

"Will you stop squirming?!" she growled, somewhat surprised at how quick Caleb was. Maybe she really had managed to terrify the girl. Was she trying to get away? Amelia would chase her in a circle around the boys if necessary. "I was going to make it quick, but now you're starting to piss me off."

The girl was rattled, but Amelia had to give credit where credit was due. Caleb did a good job of trying to mask her fear. What did they teach kids in district five anyhow? She hadn’t gotten a chance to ask Marsh about his home before he died. The lower middle districts were rarely talked about in nine. They just weren’t that important.

“Y’know, Mona and Dom are dead in a ditch, your numbers mean jack shit.” Dom was the girl from two, an early death which had certainly surprised her. Mona too, considering her eleven. They’d died the same day, which was interesting considering their scores. Either one of their opponents had scored low on purpose or mutts had gotten them. Amelia kept the pace going and was thrown off balance when Caleb darted back and jammed the knife deep into her calf muscle.

Unlike the failed strike to her chest, she felt that one, crying out in anger and pain. She was livid, but also somewhat exhilarated. Finally, a real challenge.

“You’re right. They are both dead. But neither of them were me.” Amelia reached a hand into her satchel and pulled out the bunch of magical flowers. They weren’t magic, not really. But fuck if she understood the science behind them. All she knew was that they’d taken almost a full day to be filled full of bluish-white dust again.

Recharging or something.

“And we haven’t been chasing you,” she said through gritted teeth. it was true enough. Amelia had no intention of killing Andorra unless she had to, and Caleb, while irritating, had not climbed very high on her list of dangerous people. “There are bigger threats to deal with. Like the career that’s related to a victor. You morons just keep getting in the way.”

Amelia blew the dust like dandelion fluff in Caleb’s direction, watching idly as a sheen of frost formed and the girl was left unable to move. She’d hit her square in the back. Better this way, she mused. Perhaps catching a face full was why Shy had been unable to respond to her. Unless it caused all the nerve endings to seize up or something? Genetically weaponized flowers man, how the fuck did they work?

“Sit.” She hissed, limping towards Caleb’s paralyzed form and clutching the wound on her leg with her free hand. No time to staunch the bleeding, not until the immediate threat was dealt with. If Andorra died, Amelia was fairly certain that Caleb would run, and then she could attend to her leg. Running had been all the pair had been good for. Running while the fighters with a killer instinct did the real work in the arena.

“You saw what Yuki did right?”

It was a death sentence in of itself. Even if Caleb managed to cauterize the bleeding before Andorra died of blood loss, not being able to walk meant you were a sitting duck for mutts and other tributes.

If you didn’t die from exposure overnight that was.

Amelia clenched her teeth and put pressure on the wound. She had done it again, let her guard down because she was fighting like Audrey was by her side. Caleb should have never gotten close enough to stab her calf that deeply. It was lucky she hadn’t hit a vein.

“He gets his hands on you, he’s going to chop you into dog food,” Amelia panted, catching her breath. She leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. “I think violence is his kink.” She backed up a step and let the volume of her voice return to normal. “I promise I’ll kill you a lot quicker.” Trying to sell someone on the idea of their own impending murder was ridiculous, and she knew that.

But she also needed to take her mind off of the fire in her leg, as good a reminder it was that she was still alive. She snickered bitterly, reminded of a phrase she had often used back home. Something she’d said whenever the client had to be reminded that while negotiating with her might hit their wallet, trying to negotiate with Audrey was going to end in violence.

“I’m the nice one.”

The snicker slowly turned into a giggle before becoming a full on cackle. Oh, if Audrey could only see her. Oh, wait. She could. The whole thing was being televised. She straightened up and turned to see Andorra flail with his club. Both of the boys only had one leg to stand on. There was a joke in there too, but her mind was too beleaguered to vocalize it.

She pointed the tip of her javelin at Caleb’s chest, then brought it up to her neck. It hung there a moment before she brought it up to eye level. Then she dropped it back down to her side, contemplating which vital area would kill Caleb the fastest once punctured. Besides, it was important to look people in the eyes when you were preparing to kill them.

“Nothing personal, kid. I have a sister I gotta get back to.”

[Amelia replaces her attack with one use of her flowers]
[Caleb is unable to attack next post]

The screams of district partner echoed around the empty wasteland. Amelia half-turned to see what the fuss was about. Was Yuki stepping on the stump? Her head almost started to shake in annoyance, but she resisted the urge.

It was terrible.

Terrible that he was being so inefficient. There were plenty of ways to kill someone that were quicker and cleaner. Bad luck for Andorra. What part of nine was he from again? They had only made small talk on the train; he'd seemed scared even then. Intimidated by what had laid before them.  He was from nine though. She'd expected more of a fighter's spirit. 

She turned back to her opponent. What was caleb? Just a girl, desperately trying to stay alive. Not a threat. Less than a threat. A cornered animal whimpering in fear as the steel jaws of the trap closed around her. She carried herself like a member of what passed as nine’s upper crust. Like she’d never gone to bed without a meal. Like every day wasn’t a fight for survival. Like before the arena her biggest concern had been what to wear to school the next day.

Caleb was a normal girl having a very bad week.

And normal people never made it home.

Amelia had always been the smart one. Never gave into more physical urges, always strove to keep a cool head. Many times she had had to guide Audrey away from the edge, from crossing lines that her hot-head and her unfiltered mouth could get her into. Amelia took a deep breath, inhaling the chill and the coppery tang of freshly spilled blood. The arena was liberating for her. She’d never thought herself capable of being strong like her sister.

But she could be. And she liked it.

The eye, maybe. She thought. Pierce the brain? Or the throat?

The girl in front of started to slide into despair, and Amelia couldn’t blame her. It was a bad position to be in.

Please don’t make me watch.

As far as requests went, it wasn’t out of the question. While Amelia had respected Rene and Neysa as opponents, she felt a measure of pity for Caleb. Not enough to stop trying to kill her, but pity all the same. She brought her weapon to bear once more.

“Okay,” she said, nodding curtly and interposing herself between the boys and Caleb’s line of sight. The way she screamed for Andy made it clear that Caleb cared about him. It would cost Amelia nothing to prevent her from watching Yuki continue to carve him up like a turkey at a holiday dinner. “There, you don’t have to watch what he’s doing.”

She paused for a moment, turning over something Caleb had said a minute ago in her head. Wondering where she’d filled her bag of tricks. “The flowers were in Rene’s satchel,” she said with a shrug. “And you might want to close your eyes for this next part.”

Just one quick jab, that was all that was needed.

The throat.

[Amelia attacks Caleb]

XIs|_ZniBYspear
3128 -- Shallow Cut on Neck -- 4.0

Amelia grunted in pain, dropping to one knee. She'd put too much weight on her injured leg when she stepped forward and the spear tip had only grazed Caleb's neck instead of impaling it. "Fuck," she swore, stabbing the short spear into the ground and trying to use it as leverage to get back up. "You got my leg, good you know that?" She grunted again and staggered back to a standing position. "Maybe I underestimated you."