The Abyssal [ Bloodbath: Lower District Tributes ]
May 16, 2021 11:01:08 GMT -5
Post by brad bradford ★ d5 [arx] on May 16, 2021 11:01:08 GMT -5
Stray bits of sand settle between my toes as the water recedes with the passing of the ship. Salty Surprise. Okay, yeah, I'm definitely getting on that one, heh. Hard to hate whoever came up with that, even if they are sitting in the stands, watching, waiting, buzzing with anticipation as a scream rips me viciously from my awestruck daze and back to reality.
"Okay, okayyy," I mutter, glancing up the sides of the colleseum and into the eyes of a child peeking over the edge back at me. I blink, she blinks back. I'm about to curse at her when she lifts her hand and waves.
I can't explain why I do it, but I wave back until she's pulled away from the edge.
Bye, kid.
The sunlight burns my eyes, my neck begging to be at any other angle than the one I have it at. Artificial sea spray and sweat mix to keep the flimsy shirt they forced on me stuck to my skin. I watch a girl punch a shark in the face, others kick 'em in their sharp ass teeth—"Fuck me, fuck me fuck me, fuck this, holy fuck, okay, shit."—and I guess I don't have much of a fucking choice, but to imitate the kids who made it to the boats without becoming chum.
My limbs are heavy, my feet suddenly turning to weights as water fills my boots. I lunge for the sword in front of me, coughing up salt water as I splash around just beneath the surface like a toddler about to fucking drown.
I gasp, shivering as the sun warms my back. Someone whistles. Really whistles. Like a siren, like a beacon, like a language, like fucking home. I whistle softly back, idly singing the songs of my canary friends back home as I cling to the buoy, knuckles turning white around the hilt of the sword I'd grabbed as I watch for fins breaking through the water's surface.
Fuck. I force myself to let go, kicking hard and fast until I'm hugging the side of a boat with breaths drawn in spluttering, spitting, rushed curses as I jam the butt end of my sword into the puncture wounds in my hip until the pain is only heat. Sharks circle below—"You like the taste fuckheads?! Huh?!"—and I've half a mind to throw the sword in my hand through their stupid, bitch ass faces.
"I pissed in there, too, hope you enjoy that."
Fuck, I'm fucking terrified.[ saunders collection '05 - rave ]