[center][b][size=6]Placements[/size][/b]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/Y1Zyrln.jpeg[/img]
[size=5]The Story:[/size]
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/6#post_55705775]The Bloodbath[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-12 04:17:17" ]
The tributes are hoist into the arena once more, wings bound, trackers injected, and sweat glands working overtime. A new arena constructed just for them falls around the Cornucopia. Surrounding the central area was a light forest in full bloom, but everything about it came off a bit... odd.
Each tock of the countdown sends each tribute's heart rate up a pace.
[i]10... 9... 8...[/i]
This is the Bloodbath. Although, the Bloodbaths of these games are never particularly bloody as most of the tributes have too much sense than to fight over the limited supplies that were specifically placed there for them to fight over.
[i]3... 2... 1...[/i]
The starting horn screams, knocking some dragons off their podiums. Those with enough sense to run fro their lives this year are [b]Murasaki, Glacier, Zagreus, Ichor, Saffron, Foliar, Penny, Hiraeth, Clay[/b] and [b]Hunger[/b].
[b]Soldier[/b] screams "ATTAaAAAACK!" and intends to charge into the Cornucopia, but he misses it and storms into the treeline on the opposite side because he can't see past his helmet. [b]Laurel[/b] intended to run away with everyone else, but he happens to have a backpack right in front of his podium, so how could he resist? He snatches the bag and turns tail, not noticing how weightless it is. While [b]Penny[/b] thinks she'll survive by running, [b]Foliar[/b] has other plans. She chases her down and bashes her face in with a rock.
[b]Miles[/b] gets as close to the Cornucopia as his will can take him, he grabs a sickle off the ground and flees in terror. He escapes, running past [b]Zagreus[/b] as he too gets away with a lighter and a small spool of rope. [b]Idalia, Starfall, Blizzard[/b] and [b]Petra[/b] are the first to actually get inside the Cornucopia. [b]Idalia[/b] grabs a sword and holds everyone at sword-point to get out. The only thing [b]Blizzard[/b] can grab is a first aid kit. [b]Petra[/b] grabs some sais. [b]Starfall[/b] is too small to carry any of the full backpacks, so star grabs the lightest one she can find and makes of with not, unaware that it only contains a claw-full of rare coins. [b]Alexei[/b] gets in next and grabs as many throwing knives as his little arms can carry. [b]Chrysochus[/b] slips a trident of the rack and gets out of there. [b]Kurama[/b] shuts the crate full of food rations and takes the whole thing with him, while [b]Nettlebane[/b] only grabs some rope and a lighter. He goes for a second helping of rope, but [b]Fuge[/b] gets to it first. [b]Bird[/b] hesitates too long while deciding what to take, so [b]Fuge[/b] takes her life. With the rope.
with that, the dust clears and the surviving tributes are nowhere to be seen. The Games have begun, and may the odds ever be in your favour.
[/quote]
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/7#post_55710628]Day 1[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-12 17:45:18" ]
[b]Soldier[/b] keeps charging until he hits a tree, calls it a maggot, and spots [b]Foliar[/b]. He starts spouting incorrect Sun Tzu quotes at her and they team up to find 'the ememy team' even though The Hunger Games are a free for all and there are no teams. [b]Glacier[/b] immediately gets to work on sharpening branch into spears with a sharp rock. He was trying and failing to attach the rock to the end of a spear when [b]Nettlebane[/b] approaches him with the offer of an alliance. [b]Glacier[/b] at first turns him down, but [b]Nettlebane[/b] convinces him that he would survive long without his lighter. Elsewhere, [b]Bolkando[/b] seems to have gotten the furthest away from the Cornucopia, so as a reward, an unknown sponsor send him a pipe bomb kit. [b]Fuge[/b] has also pleased a sponsor with her actions this early in the Games, and is sent a medical kit. [b]Saffron[/b] begins to set fires everywhere he can, hoping to cause a blaze large enough to engulf most of the other tributes. While giggling maniacally, he hears a sickening click beneath his foot. He glances down to see that he has unfortunately stepped on a landmine. He blows up in a fiery explosion, lighting the rest of the woods in a wild blaze. The light summer breeze picks up into a gale and carries the flames across the land. [b]Hunger, Hiraeth, Clay[/b] and [b]Miles[/b] get caught in this blaze and run for their lives. [b]Miles[/b] foolishly climbs a tree to escape the heat, but eventually it's trunk burns through and collapses, sending [b]Miles[/b] to a fiery death. The rest keep running, [b]Clay[/b] falls and gets severely burned, but [b]Hiraeth[/b] diverts his path to go pick him up. He begs [b]Hiraeth[/b] to kill him, but he doesn't seem to hear. [b]Hunger[/b] reaches a river where [b]Ichor[/b] was already spear fishing with a stick forked into three prongs. [b]Ichor[/b] hadn't noticed the forest fire at first, but they both look up to see that it's still rapidly approaching, so they each high-tail it out of there.
Meanwhile, [b]Laurel[/b] assaults [b]Blizzard[/b] for her first aid kit, but [b]Blizzard[/b] argues that the supplies inside will be no use to him without her, as only [b]Blizzard[/b] knows how to use them properly. This works, somehow. [b]Idalia[/b] uses her sword to make various carved wooden tools, she sets them down and gets up to stretch for a bit, which is when [b]Kurama[/b] swoops in to steal them. [b]Idalia[/b] sees this just in time to scare him away, causing him to drop some of her possessions, so at least she didn't lose everything. [b]Starfall[/b] has only now realised that her bag only contained collectable coins, completely useless for the Hunger Games. Or are they? She remembers something about falling coins being fatal, so star waits in a tree for another tribute to come along. That tribute is [b]Petra[/b], who was hunting. [b]Starfall[/b] throws a coin at her, enraging [b]Petra[/b] enough to chase her out of star's tree and through the underbrush for an hour. [b]Zagreus, Chrysochus, Murasaki[/b] and [b]Alexei[/b] also temporarily team up to hunt down and over power other tributes. They turn sly eyes to each other, attempting to silently organise a mutiny against one of their own, but non-verbal communication is too confusing for them and they can't decide on who to betray.
[/quote]
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/8#post_55719943]Arena Event[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-14 04:32:19" ]
Just over an hour later, [b]Zagreus, Chrysochus, Alexei[/b] and [b]Murasaki[/b] happen across the river, upstream from where [b]Ichor[/b] was fishing. They stop for a drink and to see if they could catch anything for themselves. [b]Chrysochus, Murasaki[/b] and [b]Zagreus[/b] wade out while [b]Alexei[/b] stays on the river bank. [b]Chrysochus[/b] spots movement under the ripples, but it's a giant shark! He only just manages to dodge it's attack as it tries to tear into his face. [b]Chrysochus[/b] whips around in time to grab it's tail and fling it into some rocks, where he jumps on top and beats it's head to a pulp. It finally stops moving, and he turns to the others to playfully announce that he has dinner sorted, but his joyous expression is only returned with pure, pale-faced horror. Confused, he looks back at the shark, but in it's place, he finds [b]Zagreus[/b], beaten to a pulp. A second ago, [b]Chrysochus[/b] could've sworn his life away that it was a shark. Now, he couldn't trust a single thought his brain churned up. He felt sick.
Elsewhere, other tributes also mysteriously have unexplainable experiences. One moment, [b]Clay[/b] could confidently see two dragons, the next, all he saw was a lone bear. The bear charges at him, [b]Clay[/b] panics and punches it, causing the bear to topple over and fracture it's skull on a rock, killing it instantly. [b]Clay[/b] blinks, and the bear reveals itself to have actually been [b]Glacier[/b], dead on the ground, holding burn cream. [b]Laurel[/b]'s shocked yells grab his attention, apparently [b]Glacier[/b] had approached [b]Clay[/b] with treatment for his burns in exchange for an alliance, and he killed him unprompted. [b]Clay[/b] freaks out and runs away screaming. Meanwhile, [b]Soldier[/b] and [b]Foliar[/b] are constructing a camp, [b]Soldier[/b] insists there is a spy in the base, but [b]Foliar[/b] has no idea what he's talking about. [b]Soldier[/b] goes off to hunt down the spy, but shortly comes back with the fluffiest, softest looking pillow that either of them had ever seen in their goddamn lives. They are both instantly infatuated with the thing, so they bring it inside and immediately begin cuddling with it. It's so warm and soft... and tingly... and writhing... oh god oH GO[I]D IT'S A [B]TRACKER JACKER NEST[/B][/I]
[B]Petra[/b] is still chasing [b]Starfall[/b] through some fallen trees, when before her very eyes, [b]Starfall[/b] duplicates. And duplicates again. She skids to a halt, too surprised to know what to do, but they're all getting away! [b]Petra[/b] rapidly makes up her mind and decides to chase the only [b]Starfall[/b] that was running in an obstacle free path. That was not, however, the real [b]Starfall[/b]. The real [b]Starfall[/b] was shocked that shine had shaken her off so easily, so she climbs up into a tree hollow to hide out until star could be sure so was gone. She settles down and allows her heart rate to slow, but star loses her breath once again when she looks up to find a pristine lemon curd tart sitting on an ornate plate directly in front of her. Assuming it to be a gift from a sponsor, shine chows down without a second's hesitation, and promptly gets stung in the face, star flinches, opening her eyes to find she has just bitten the head off a still-wriggling scorpion. This isn't too gross for a bug-eating nocturne like herself, but [b]Starfall[/b]'s heart literally stops when she recognises that shine had just been stung by the fourth most toxic scorpion in Sornieth. [b]Kurama[/b] stops by a pond and contemplates whether or not to risk drinking it's stagnant water. He inexplicably sees another pair of eyes peering back at him from the murky depths, so he panics and stomps on it repeatedly to kill whatever it is. It was just his reflection. [b]Kurama[/b] lets out a sigh of relief but looks up to see a shark flying directly at his face. This time he is able to fight a pond monster for real, he stomps the shark's head into the pond, killing it. [b]Kurama[/b] feels strange about it though, so he looks again and notices it was actually [b]Nettlebane[/b], whose life he'd just ended. [b]Fuge[/b] feels something warm and wet drip on her forehead. She cautiously extends a claw to wipe it up and taste it, finding that it's chocolate syrup! Terribly confused, she wisely takes out one of the branded 'Reality Clarity P!lls(TM): Incredible For Clearing Up Confusion Capitalising on Inconspicous Incongruities!' from her sponsor's medical kit. Just for insurance that what she was experiencing was real. After swallowing, [b]Fuge[/b] looks at the "chocolate syrup"'s origin, and finds that it was the dripping venom of a giant scorpion. It's toxic sting cuts [b]Fuge[/b]'s scream short. [b]Hunger[/b] returns to the river after the blaze had burned away and spots a sword jutting out of the waves. She is intent on claiming such a valuable tool for herself, so she wades into the water with a branch to help unlodge it, but suddenly, that sword speeds away and disappears into the water. It reappears, being wielded by a ninja shark! [b]Hunger[/b] is shocked that they decided to include shark ninjas with swords in this arena, but she knows it's best to rolls with the blows as the come. Using her branch, [b]Hunger[/b] fends off the sword-wielding shark ninja long enough to climb back onto land, but the shark follows her. Falling back on plan B, [b]Hunger[/b] grabs the shark and digs her claws into it's masked gills, repeatedly slamming it on the rocky river bank. Finally, it's dead and [b]Hunger[/b] is safe again. She loots the sword and continues on her journey, never looking back to learn that the supposed ninja shark was actually a normal [b]Idalia[/b].
[/quote]
[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/9#post_55729818]Night 1[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-15 14:31:45" ]
The sun finally sets on a very eventful day, and the forest in enveloped in dark. [b]Kurama[/b] goes for a long walk to make sense of what he'd experienced with [b]Nettlebane[/b]. [b]Clay[/b], too, is struggling to wrap his own head around how he could've mistaken a large, shining, ice blue dragon for a little brown bear. He goes for a walk to clear his mind. [b]Petra[/b] uncovers dragon tracks in the detritus, even though they're clearly not [b]Starfall[/b]'s, she follows them anyway. Somewhere along the way, her path crosses with [b]Hunger[/b]'s, and they agree on a temporary truce to take down whoever they're tracking. Later, [b]Clay[/b] also bumps into them and is included in their little murder party. Eventually, they follow the tracks all the way up to their source, [b]Kurama[/b]. They jump on him, [b]Clay[/b] and [b]Hunger[/b] restrain their victim while [b]Petra[/b] takes him out with her sais. Elsewhere, still freaking out over [b]Glacier[/b]'s abrupt murder, [b]Laurel[/b] gets lost. [b]Ichor[/b] sharpens his makeshift trident and heads back to the river to finish fishing. [b]Bolkando[/b] was also there, having set up a camp and successfully constructed a pipe bomb. He spots [b]Ichor[/b] through the dark, and debates whether or not to use the bomb on her, or to save it for a larger group. He decides to use [b]Ichor[/b] as bomb practice, as there are enough materials left in the kit to make a second bomb. She's too focused on fishing to notice him. [b]Bolkando[/b] sneaks down the shoreline, careful not to break his target's concentration. Once he gets close enough, he prepares to arm the bomb, but [b]Ichor[/b] hears him. She swings around and smacks the bomb out of his talons with her trident. [b]Bolkando[/b] fumbles after it and [b]Ichor[/b] takes the opportunity to stab him in the back, forcing him underwater. She does not let go until he stops struggling. Elsewhere, [b]Chrysochus[/b] has been exiled from [b]Alexei[/b] and [b]Murasaki[/b]'s group, even though they had initially intended to kill him. They were too scared to try. [b]Chrysochus[/b] finds himself all alone in the dark forest, he climbs a tree and looks up at the stars as he drifts off to sleep. He sorrowfully thinks about home. [b]Alexei[/b] and [b]Murasaki[/b] have absorbed [b]Blizzard[/b] and [b]Hiraeth[/b] into their group to replace [b]Chrysochus[/b] and [b]Zagreus[/b]. This time, [b]Alexei[/b] and [b]Murasaki[/b] are a bit closer to each other and are now able to more effectively plan a betrayal. However, they still can't agree on a target, [b]Marasaki[/b] wants to kill [b]Hiraeth[/b], but [b]Alexei[/b] is dead set on killing [b]Blizzard[/b]. They agree to leave it until morning.
[/quote]
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/10#post_55732620]Day 2[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-15 23:38:49" ]
At the crack of dawn the very next day, [b]Alexei[/b] decides to break his agreement with [b]Murasaki[/b] and kill [b]Blizzard[/b] in her sleep. He selects a few blades from his collection of throwing knives and threateningly stands over her as she peacefully rests. He readies his blades to strike, but accidentally breaths on her too hard, waking [b]Blizzard[/b]. Her eyes burst open and she immediately tackles him to the ground, wrestling the knives from his claws. The commotion wakes the others. [b]Murasaki[/b] and [b]Hiraeth[/b] groggily bolt upright in time to watch [b]Blizzard[/b] repeatedly and violently stab [b]Alexei[/b] to death with his own weapons. They stumble to their feet, shrieking and yelling in horror at this sudden betrayal. [b]Murasaki[/b] knows that this is [b]Alexei[/b]'s fault, she's less horrified and more furious at him for breaking their agreement, but can't help being satisfied by his immediate and retributive karma. [b]Hiraeth[/b] knows he isn't safe around them, so he backs away without a mention, leaving [b]Murasaki[/b] to voyeuristically watch [b]Alexei[/b] get minced. When [b]Blizzard[/b] calms down enough to catch her breath, [b]Murasaki[/b] comments that [b]Alexei[/b] brought that fate on himself for not talking to her about it first, accidentally letting on that she had intended to betray one or both of the District 10 tributes anyway. Offended, [b]Blizzard[/b] chases [b]Murasaki[/b] while screaming about how she's going to kill her. Filled with genuine fear, [b]Murasaki[/b] runs for her life, falling down a ledge, scraping her shins and twisting her ankle in the process. Meanwhile, [b]Hiraeth[/b] stumbles into [b]Petra[/b]'s territory. She, [b]Clay[/b] and [b]Hunger[/b] had separated after conquering [b]Kurama[/b]. Too tired to interact with [b]Hiraeth[/b] in any way, [b]Petra[/b] chucks a distraction at him and runs. Elsewhere, [b]Hunger[/b] witnesses [b]Chrysochus[/b] fall out of his tree in his sleep, so she proposes an alliance out of pity. They go hunting for food and other tributes while [b]Hunger[/b] tells him about this crazy encounter she had with a sword-wielding ninja shark. Shocked, [b]Chrysochus[/b] tells her about what happened with [b]Zagreus[/b], causing [b]Hunger[/b] to, for the first time since it happened, wonder if not all was as it seemed in that moment. [b]Laurel[/b] wakes up after getting lost the night before, and believes that he has found himself in a place that he did not fall asleep in. He questions his sanity. [b]Clay[/b] is walking up the riverbanks, scavenging for food and rocks or sticks he could weaponise. He unwitting gets too close to [b]Ichor[/b]'s beachside camp, and only knows when she yells at him to get away while waving her now blood-stained trident in the air. [b]Clay[/b] is successfully frightened away.
[/quote]
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/11#post_55738374]Night 2[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-16 20:27:18" ]
The sun sets on another day and stars fill the sky once more. [b]Clay[/b] takes a minute to look up at them in awe. A small glimpse of beauty while he's locked in a death match. After having lost [b]Murasaki[/b], [b]Blizzard[/b] elects to stalk through the forest with a mean look on her face. A twig snaps, alerting her to [b]Petra[/b]'s presence, neither of them have the energy to fight, so they decide to truce for the night. [b]Hunger[/b] and [b]Chrysochus[/b] have built a camp and obtained a decent stockpile of food. They're about to begin sleeping in shifts, when they hear an agonising scream echo amongst the trees. [b]Chrysochus[/b] stays behind while [b]Hunger[/b] goes to investigate. She finds [b]Hiraeth[/b], rolling in the leaves, grappling with the pressure and stress of having to fend for himself with the threat of death looming over his head at all times. He sees [b]Hunger[/b], crawls up to her, grabs her by the arms and begs her to put him out of his misery. This just makes her really uncomfortable, so [b]Hunger[/b] refuses. She shakes him off and leaves, unable to take the sight of him any longer. She returns to [b]Chrysochus[/b], who gets up to greet her and learn what it was, leaving the supplies unattended in the process. this split moment of inattentiveness allows [b]Laurel[/b] to come and smash up all their food with a big rock before making a getaway. [b]Hunger[/b] and [b]Chrysochus[/b] both witness this, they yell and chase after him, demanding him to stop, but it's too late. As quickly as he appeared, [b]Laurel[/b] was gone. They drop to their knees in despair and mourn the loss of their hard-gathered food. Meanwhile, [b]Murasaki[/b] is all alone, but at least she successfully builds a campfire. [b]Ichor[/b] proudly sits next to the pile of fish she'd caught through the day and notices her leg is bleeding. Fortunately for her, one of the fish she had caught has antibacterial properties, so she harvests it's oil and uses that to disinfect her wound.
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/11#post_55745030]The Feast[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-17 15:49:14" ]
All the remaining tributes are rudely awoken by a booming announcement that the Cornucopia has been restocked and everyone is invited for a Feast! At this point everyone knows that it's just a ruse to get more deaths, so one wants to go. Except for [b]Murasaki[/b] and [b]Clay[/b]. [b]Murasaki[/b] expects there to be most of the remaining tributes at this Feast, so she spends an hour preparing wooden spears before heading off. But no more than eight minutes into her forty-five minute walk to the Cornucopia, she falls into a concealed pit and dies. [b]Clay[/b] spent a lot longer preparing than [b]Murasaki[/b], most of his energy put into calculating how many other tributes are likely to show up. He knows that everyone knows the Feast will be a bloodbath, so they won't go, except it's very likely that the others will expect no one to go, so they'll go to take everything for themselves. But then again, maybe everyone else also thinks that, so they know that everyone will actually go, so they won't go. This is giving [b]Clay[/b] a headache. He gathers his tools, and begins the trek. He arrives at the Cornucopia and finds it completely silent. Perhaps he was right, no ones is coming. But just to be safe, he rushes in, collects the memoirs from his District and family, shoves as much food into a bag and gets away from the Cornucopia as quickly as possible. But before he leaves, [b]Clay[/b]'s eye is caught on an ornately engraved scimitar. Having no weapons of his own this late into the Games is a death sentence, so he takes the blade with him. Meanwhile, [b]Petra[/b] is sleeping in and [b]Blizzard[/b] notifies her that she's leaving now. [b]Petra[/b] gives the go-ahead, and [b]Blizzard[/b] sets off. She considers going to the Feast later in the afternoon to pickup the leftovers. So lost in thought, she doesn't notice how the ground ahead looks... uncanny... somehow. She walks straight into it, learning too late that it was actually a thick mat of forest detritus floating on a very still lake. She falls through the ground and into the water. A layer of branches, leaves, roots, dirt and other debris keeps her from resurfacing, so [b]Blizzard[/b] drowns.
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/11#post_55745867]Day 3[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-17 17:37:57" ]
Excited to try out his now scimitar, [b]Clay[/b] goes hunting for other tributes. He doesn't find anyone. [b]Hunger[/b] and [b]Chrysochus[/b] get to discussing their tactics for winning the Games. [b]Chrysochus[/b] laments that he is too clumsy and unskilled to win, and is shocked that he's even made it this far. [b]Hunger[/b] comforts him and offers to teach him a few tricks. He brightens up and happily agrees. [b]Hunger[/b] even conducts a few practical lessons, using herself as a test dummy to see how well [b]Chrysochus[/b] can hide from and stalk another dragon. [b]Chrysochus[/b] genuinely improves his skills and comes out of the lesson feeling much more confident in his chances. He just dreads having to confront [b]Hunger[/b] as competition if they both make it to the finals tributes. [b]Petra[/b] awakens, still tired and with a sore back. She misses having an actual bed. [b]Laurel[/b] wanders around, trying to get his bearings, when a heavenly chiming can be hear from above. A gift from a sponsor floats down to his feet, and he excitedly opens it. The canister consists of various medicines, which he gladly stockpiles. [b]Ichor[/b] notices that fat, grey storm clouds have formed over the mountains far upstream and the river water is rising. This could only mean that a flood was immanent, so she packs up her camp and heads for higher ground. Without [b]Ichor[/b] patrolling the banks, [b]Hiraeth[/b] was able to follow the river without being harassed. He was feeling much better after his episode last night, and had a renewed sense of hope that was only strengthen when he stumbled across the bomb kit that [b]Bolcando[/b] had left behind the day before last. It still contained enough materials for another pipe bomb and the instructions were still inside. He eagerly follows the steps and builds a bomb for himself, but does something wrong by accident and blows himself up.
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/12#post_55754199]Night 3[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-18 16:33:57" ]
The fat rain clouds from earlier have rolled over the arena, and rain is immanent. [b]Clay[/b] is disappointed that he wasn't able to use his scimitar, he feels a bit like a failure, but the day is not over yet. A sponsor has sent a gift, to brighten his mood, of medical supplies. [b]Petra[/b] weighs up the chances of her winning the games at this point. She's only interacted with six other tributes and most of them are dead now, and the only two survivors were eager to help her kill [b]Kurama[/b]. She has competition. [b]Ichor[/b] was about to settle in for the night when she spots [b]Laurel[/b] stalking along the edges of her campsite. She grabs her trident and confronts him with the intent to kill. She stabs at his neck, but he deflects the attack, hops backwards and picks up a branch which he then uses to beat [b]Ichor[/b] to the ground. She isn't defeat yet, so she tangles the branch with her trident and tries yanking it out of [b]Laurel[/b]'s grasp, but his grip is too strong. Eventually, [b]Laurel[/b] lets go and the force of [b]Ichor[/b]'s tugging causes her to topple over. He picks up another branch and wacks her a bit more to keep her down. As a final signifier of victory, [b]Laurel[/b] steps on her chest, but decides not to kill her. He just leaves without a word while [b]Ichor[/b] regains her breath. Meanwhile, [b]Chrysochus[/b] and [b]Hunger[/b] build a shelter and a campfire together. [b]Chrysochus[/b] looks up at the night sky and sees that the stars and moon have been blotted out by rain clouds. A single fat droplet hits his face, so they get up again and build an extended shelter to protect the fire. It begins to rain on the arena.
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/13#post_55766720]Day 4[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-20 03:24:13" ]
It's raining. A completely miserable day. Everyone's stuck under shelter waiting for it to clear up, even a little. The Gamemakers honestly did not expect the remaining tributes, who have been through so much already, to be so fearful of a little rain. Instead of being patient, they want results, here and now. So they trigger a mechanism inside each tribute's tracker, unleashing an irritant into their blood streams. Every single tribute is suddenly overcome with the most agonising, insanity enducing, stinging itch imaginable. Once they have everyone writhing on the floor, they turn it down a little so they'll have enough sanity to here their booming announcement over the loud speakers, "All remaining Tributes are invited to meet at the Cornucopia if they would like some relief." Itchy and sodden, they begrudgingly march to the Cornucopia.
[b]Hunger[/b] and [b]Chrysochus[/b] are practically clawing their scales off when their old podiums enter their sights. [b]Petra[/b] and [b]Clay[/b] arrive around the same too, and a tension pr!cks the air as none of them are sure if the Gamemakers want them to fight or not. [b]Laurel[/b] is the last to arrive a few minutes later, but none of them catch a break from their trackers. [b]Laurel[/b] climbs on top of the Cornucopia and yells at the rain clouds, demanding the Gamemakers do something since they're here now. The Gamemakers correct him over the speaker, there's still one tribute unaccounted for, and they [i]all[/i] have to be present. [b]Ichor[/b] is taking the irritants like a champ and remains in her own shelter. She knows how this forced drama is going to end, and she wants no part of it. [b]Laurel[/b]'s pretty furious about this, and tells the Gamemakers to smite her or something, given that they're basically Gods. But the Gamemakers have a better idea, they instead command the tributes at the Cornucopia to hunt down [b]Ichor[/b], and [i]then[/i] they'll dispel the irritants. Of course, [b]Ichor[/b] hears this announcement. Her heart drops and she scrambles to her feet, panicking and trying to rapidly think of a plan. The other tributes moan and groan at how unnecessary this all is, but they hop to it regardless. [b]Laurel[/b] takes up the lead as he actually knows were [b]Ichor[/b] is, followed closely by [b]Hunger[/b] and [b]Petra[/b], while [b]Clay[/b] trails behind, furiously scratching at his tracker, and [b]Chrysochus[/b] brings up the rear so that they don't lose [b]Clay[/b] and have to search for him too. They arrive at [b]Ichor[/b]'s campsite. [b]Laurel[/b] marches into her shelter to strangle her, regretting that he spared her life the previous night. He finds that no one is home. This causes him to fly into a rage and tear down her whole shelter while screaming. [b]Petra[/b] restrains him and [b]Chrysochus[/b] grabs his face so he can look into his eyes. He speaks softly to calm him down, causing [b]Laurel[/b] to break down over how damn itchy he is. [b]Chrysochus[/b] gently reminds him that he's itchy too, They're all itchy, and they're all going to find [b]Ichor[/b], and they'll all find relief.
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/13#post_55781519]Night 4[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-21 19:13:43" ]
The rain clouds persist and the is sky getting darker. [b]Petra[/b] spots [b]Ichor[/b]'s tracks in the mud and they follow them with her in the lead and [b]Laurel[/b] close behind. The tracks lead them through the forest, around some rocks, through a thicket, and down to the river, which is now bursting it's banks. This is where the trail goes cold as the tracks get swallowed by the water without any evidence of reentry onto land. [b]Petra[/b]'s stumped here, and passes the torch onto the others. [b]Laurel[/b] wants to jump into the river, but [b]Chrysochus[/b] suggests they look extra closely for any disturbed sediment or plants where [b]Ichor[/b] could be hiding. [b]Hunger[/b] calls him stupid, citing that there is absolutely nothing that hints that [b]Ichor[/b] is still around. Instead, they need to head downstream. [b]Clay[/b] suggests there's no recovering her. A fight breaks out. With no one to tell him not to, [b]Laurel[/b] jumps into the river. The others notice him thrashing around as he gets swept away by the muddy torrents and chase him downstream. They do not know how far the Gamemaker's will move the goal posts if they lose him. His head begins to dip under the waves and the other tributes tear up the river banks trying to keep pace. they're all too focused on [b]Laurel[/b] to see where they're going, when [b]Clay[/b] trips over [b]Ichor[/b] hiding in some reeds. At least they've found her. She's hurt by the collision and limps to her feet, fleeing up the slope into the forest. [b]Clay, Petra[/b] and [b]Hunger[/b] want to sink their claws into [b]Ichor[/b], while [b]Chrysochus[/b] can see the unfairness in the Gamemakers forcing absolutely everyone else to gang up on her for merely trying to do exactly what she was supposed to; survive. He butts through the mob chasing her and runs with [b]Ichor[/b] to help her escape. As for [b]Laurel[/b], luckily he's able to catch himself on a large fallen tree, but he gets left behind. The Gamemakers turn off the irritant dispensers and announce that the tributes have completed their task and are free to go. [b]Laurel[/b] hauls himself onto stable ground and feels ripped off. What was even the point of all this?
Meanwhile, [b]Chrysochus[/b] has helped [b]Ichor[/b] hide in a cave from the others. [b]Hunger[/b] finds them and he pleads with her not to hurt [b]Ichor[/b] or tell the others, since he firmly believes the Gamemakers forcefully pitting [b]Ichor[/b] at a disadvantage against five blood-thirsty dragons defeats the core value of the Hunger Games, and [b]Ichor[/b] deserves better. [b]Hunger[/b] looks at him funny, as she know that the core values of the games are control, division and fearmongering, but she just rolls with it because it really doesn't matter at this stage. Later, [b]Clay[/b] manages to find them too. Finally, he gets to use his scimitar. [b]Ichor[/b] was sitting at the mouth of the cave to have a moment to herself, when [b]Clay[/b] charges in. He strikes at her, not noticing [b]Hunger[/b] and [b]Chrysochus[/b] deeper in the cave. [b]Ichor[/b] yelps in shock and [b]Hunger[/b] comes running to her defense. She punches [b]Clay[/b] to the ground, causing him to snap his neck on some jagged rocks. However, he's still alive and paralyzed. [b]Hunger[/b] pities him while she picks up his scimitar and puts him out of his misery. [b]Hunger[/b] and [b]Ichor[/b] head to the back of the cave where they huddle for warmth with [b]Chrysochus[/b]. Elsewhere, [b]Petra[/b] has built a new camp for herself impressively quickly. She has even lit a fire despite everything being soaked through by the rain. [b]Laurel[/b] is left all alone. He coldly trudges through the forest to find shelter, and he spots the light of [b]Petra[/b]'s fire in the distance. He considers approaching and asking for shelter, but he assumes that everyone is back to wanting everyone else dead now that their temporary team up has come to an end. [b]Laurel[/b] trudges on.
[/quote]
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/13#post_55782393]Day 5[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-21 21:43:19" ]
The sun rises on the next day. The rain has stopped, but the clouds are still hanging around. [b]Hunger, Ichor[/b] and [b]Chrysochus[/b] decide to continue their alliance as long at they can. [b]Ichor[/b] suggest they return to her old camp where she abandoned her tools and shelter, and the others agree to do so. They pass [b]Petra[/b]'s came on the way, and a decision is made. Since the Games are getting tight, it's best that [b]Petra[/b] is dealt with as soon as possible. [b]Hunger[/b] is designated to do it, so she takes the scimitar, enters [b]Petra[/b]'s shelter and slices her throat while she sleeps. [b]Petra[/b] wakes up in shock, just in time to watch the blood pour from her neck with [b]Hunger[/b] standing over her. She tries to scream, but can only manage a small gurgle. Later, they make it to [b]Ichor[/b]'s old camp and rebuild her shelter, this time with enough room to fit all of them. [b]Ichor[/b] digs her trident out of a pile of leaves and going back to fishing. With not much else around to do, [b]Chrysochus[/b] climbs a tree to see where they are. He spots a column of smoke rising not too far away. He makes sure to tell [b]Hunger[/b] and [b]Ichor[/b], but none of them go to investigate. The smoke is coming from [b]Laurel[/b]'s fire. He had scrapped together just enough dry wood to start it, and now he is crafting spears.
[/quote]
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/14#post_55789006]Night 5[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-22 18:06:19" ]
The sun sets on the fifth day. There are only four tributes left and three of them are in an alliance. If [b]Laurel[/b] stands any chance of winning, he will have to somehow isolate them. Of course they will eventually tear themselves apart, but this is likely to only happen once he's out of the game too. He'll have to pick them off separately, somehow. [b]Laurel[/b] waits on the edge of their camp for the perfect opportunity. He taps his wooden spear on the ground, thinking. [b]Ichor, Hunger[/b] and [b]Chrysochus[/b] are inside the shelter, arranging the shifts they'll sleep in. [b]Ichor[/b] is consumed with dread. This alliance can't last much longer. [b]Chrysochus[/b] is the first to be sent out to guard his friends while they sleep. He spots [b]Laurel[/b] poorly hiding behind some shrubs very quickly and alerts [b]Ichor[/b] and [b]Hunger[/b]. They stay behind [b]Chrysochus[/b] but keep themselves prepared for any conflict. He demands [b]Laurel[/b] leave them be for the night. Unsure how to respond, [b]Laurel[/b] stays silent and still. [b]Chrysochus[/b] continues trying to convince [b]Laurel[/b] to leave, but his threats fall on deaf ears. He knows he really shouldn't leave [b]Hunger[/b] and [b]Ichor[/b] on their own since [b]Laurel[/b] is definitely planning something, but he also knows they're capable of defending themselves. [b]Chrysochus[/b] picks up his own trident, which he'd had with him since the Bloodbath and I totally didn't forget about that, goes to confront [b]Laurel[/b]. The others beg him to stay, but assures them it'll be fine. He charges, [b]Laurel[/b] scrambles to his feet and tries to run, but he doesn't get very far before [b]Chrysochus[/b] pins him to the ground. He holds him down with one foot while he raises hisweapon to kill him, but [b]Laurel[/b] begs him not to do it, because he can get all of them out alive. [b]Chrysochus[/b] holds the central point of his trident against [b]Laurel[/b]'s throat and implores him to go on. [b]Laurel[/b] explains that he has a friend on the inside that told him of a secret way to reverse the elevating platform in one of the podiums, which they can use to get out. It'll be a treacherous journey, fighting the Gamemaker's goons to escape, but they stand a chance. [b]Chrysochus[/b] starts to believe him, so he removes the trident from his throat. This could be the only chance he gets, so [b]Laurel[/b] plunges his spear into his adversary's chest immediately. [b]Chrysochus[/b] manages to cough a few curses at him before toppling over, spending his last moment feeling like a fool. [b]Laurel[/b] takes the trident and runs away to prepare for his next attack. He cannot believe that [b]Chrysochus[/b] actually fell for that.
This confrontation was a bit too far away for [b]Hunger[/b] and [b]Ichor[/b] to properly make out what went down, but the one thing they can be certain of is that [b]Chrysochus[/b] is gone. [b]Ichor[/b] turns to [b]Hunger[/b] untrustingly. There's only three of them left now, and they're all so close to winning. [b]Ichor[/b] accuses [b]Hunger[/b] of plotting to kill her in her sleep, and [b]Hunger[/b] denies it. She assures her that she would not try anything until they were the last two left. This does not restore any hope in [b]Ichor[/b], who refuses to spend the night with her old friend. She tells [b]Hunger[/b] that she can keep the shelter for herself, because she's not staying anymore. [b]Hunger[/b] accepts her friend's decision and lets her go. All alone, [b]Hunger[/b] settles herself down for sleep, but leaves a large pile of sticks barricading the door so no one can enter without waking her. [b]Ichor[/b] goes to sleep in a tree, but keeps waking up from nightmares of [b]Hunger[/b] and [b]Laurel[/b] coming to kill her.
[/quote]
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/14#post_55790688]Day 6[/url][/size][/center]
[quote name="SockPuppet010" date="2023-12-22 22:37:32" ]
The next morning, the forest is quiet. [b]Ichor[/b] opts to stay in her tree all day. [b]Hunger[/b] is woken by gentle tapping sound. She sleepily turns her head to take a look. It's [b]Laurel[/b]. Her heart lurches and she bolts upright, headbutting the shelter's roof and knocking the whole thing down. [b]Laurel[/b] stands back in surprise while [b]Hunger[/b] thrashes around. She finally gets her footing and holds him back with her scimitar. [b]Laurel[/b] begs her to calm down as he means no harm, and has come with a proposition. Slightly interested, [b]Hunger[/b] lets him speak. [b]Laurel[/b] claims, again, that he has a friend on the inside who told him how he can escape the arena by reversing the elevating platform in one of the podiums, but he can only take one other tribute with him. [b]Hunger[/b] stays silent. He promises he can get both of them out, but they'll have to take down [b]Ichor[/b] first. She ponders for a second, before asking why they can't escape now and leave [b]Ichor[/b] to win the games on her own. Thinking quickly, [b]Laurel[/b] makes up an excuse that by breaking the rules like this, the Gamemaker's will kill [b]Ichor[/b] away in a far more grizzly manner than either of them could ever manage, but not before humiliating her and her whole district as punishment for not winning the correct way. It'll be far more humane to kill her now. Knowing what the Gamemaker's did to [b]Ichor[/b] before, [b]Hunger[/b] doesn't doubt for a second that they'd do that too. She agrees, and they go track her down.
[b]Laurel[/b] and [b]Hunger[/b] soon arrive at [b]Ichor[/b]'s tree and devise a plan to coax her out. They agree to lie and convince her that they'll be be able to take her with them. They present [b]Ichor[/b] with the propesct of escaping, but she does not believe them. [b]Hunger[/b] relays to her the awful fate that [b]Laurel[/b] said she'll meet if she's left behind. [b]Laurel[/b] glances at [b]Hunger[/b] with a mixture of pride and appreciation of the irony of her situation. [b]Ichor[/b] is slightly swayed, but still doesn't believe them. [b]Laurel[/b] and [b]Hunger[/b] resort to laying it on thick about how they're telling the truth, she'll suffer the worst fate imaginable, and how much they want her to survive with them. Eventually, [b]Ichor[/b] begins to believe them and she cautiously climbs down the tree. As soon as she's within reach, [b]Hunger[/b] grabs her and yanks her to the ground. Having already expected some sort of betrayal, [b]Ichor[/b] bites her as hard as she can and wriggles free. She almost escapes, but [b]Laurel[/b] impales her with his trident, pinning her to the ground. She tries whacking him with her own make-shift trident, but she doesn't have the strength. [b]Hunger[/b] puts [b]Ichor[/b] out of her misery. They dislodge the trident and head off, but [b]Hunger[/b] hesitates. She runs back to close [b]Ichor[/b]'s eyes. She mourns her friend for a moment, before making off with [b]Laurel[/b] back to where it all began.
[/quote]
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[center][size=4][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/forga/3293755/15#post_55791578]Night 6[/url][/size][/center]
[b]Laurel[/b] and [b]Hunger[/b] arrive at the Cornucopia. The clouds have cleared in time for the sunset. Long shadows drag behind each of the twenty-four podiums, standing solemnly like grave stones. Monuments to lives needlessly taken for the sake for entertainment. [b]Laurel[/b] explains that there is a hidden panel you can open on a few of the podiums which he can then insert a key into to send the platform back down, but only a few have this feature. He instructs [b]Hunger[/b] to find the panel on the nearest podium, and move on to the next one if she can't find it, while he goes to retrieve the hidden skeleton key from inside the Cornucopia. [b]Hunger[/b] doesn't question any of this. Truth it, there is no panel and there is no skeleton key. [b]Laurel[/b] has really gone into the Cornucopia to see if there are still weapons left over from The Feast. He finds it empty, except for a lone hatchet sitting on a custom pedestal practically glowing, illuminated by a harsh, warm spotlight. The Gamemakers had put it there for him. [b]Hunger[/b] is on her fifth podium and still can't find the panel, it would help if she had a more detailed description than just 'panel'. She wonders for a second why the Gamemakers haven't done anything to stop them yet. Perhaps [b]Laurel[/b]'s friend has tricked him. Perhaps [b]Laurel[/b] has tricked her. She pauses, [b]Laurel[/b] has tricked her, hadn't he? She casts her gaze to the Cornucopia, bathed in golden light, and sees [b]Laurel[/b] running back to her. While she can only see his silhouette, she knows that he is not holding the skeleton key. She takes a few steps back shaking her head at him. She knows. [b]Laurel[/b] knows she knows. [b]Hunger[/b] grips her scimitar. Only one will leave this arena after all, just as it's supposed to be. [b]Laurel[/b] does not slow down, he readies his trident to impale her. Frightened, [b]Hunger[/b] jumps behind the nearest podium and puts it between them. They do a little dance chasing each other around the obstacle, before [b]Laurel[/b] manages to poke her tail with his trident. This is when she swings around and slashes him with the scimitar. He falls backwards but rolls out of the way before [b]Hunger[/b]'s next strike. He stabs at her face with his trident, getting her in the eye. She yells in pain and falls back. She touches her palm to her eye to learn that it is bleeding and she cannot see out of it anymore. She presses her hand against it and jumps on top of [b]Laurel[/b], bringing down her scimitar with the rage of a thousand vengeful gods. He moves his head out of the way, so it hits his shoulder, bringing all her weight onto his body with it. He screams and slices her arm with his hatchet, [b]Hunger[/b] doesn't budge. He repeatedly pummels her ribs with kicks. This causes her to recoil back, giving [b]Laurel[/b] enough room to maneuver his trident into place and finally fork her off him entirely. He stabs her in the chest and tosses her aside. She tries to jump back on him, but he stabs out her other eye. Blinded, [b]Hunger[/b] swings her scimitar wildly, which [b]Laurel[/b] is able to knock out of her hand, but not without great difficulty. He tackles her to the ground, where he tosses his trident aside and focuses all his energy on hacking off her head with his hatchet. [b]Hunger[/b] struggles beneath him, but it's no use. [b]Laurel[/b] succeeds. Her body still writhing, he gets up and stands back, watching what he has done to her. He is the last one breathing.
[b]Laurel[/b] has won the 9th Dragon Hunger Games.
[/quote]
Placements
The Story:
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-12 04:17:17:
The tributes are hoist into the arena once more, wings bound, trackers injected, and sweat glands working overtime. A new arena constructed just for them falls around the Cornucopia. Surrounding the central area was a light forest in full bloom, but everything about it came off a bit... odd.
Each tock of the countdown sends each tribute's heart rate up a pace.
10... 9... 8...
This is the Bloodbath. Although, the Bloodbaths of these games are never particularly bloody as most of the tributes have too much sense than to fight over the limited supplies that were specifically placed there for them to fight over.
3... 2... 1...
The starting horn screams, knocking some dragons off their podiums. Those with enough sense to run fro their lives this year are Murasaki, Glacier, Zagreus, Ichor, Saffron, Foliar, Penny, Hiraeth, Clay and Hunger.
Soldier screams "ATTAaAAAACK!" and intends to charge into the Cornucopia, but he misses it and storms into the treeline on the opposite side because he can't see past his helmet. Laurel intended to run away with everyone else, but he happens to have a backpack right in front of his podium, so how could he resist? He snatches the bag and turns tail, not noticing how weightless it is. While Penny thinks she'll survive by running, Foliar has other plans. She chases her down and bashes her face in with a rock.
Miles gets as close to the Cornucopia as his will can take him, he grabs a sickle off the ground and flees in terror. He escapes, running past Zagreus as he too gets away with a lighter and a small spool of rope. Idalia, Starfall, Blizzard and Petra are the first to actually get inside the Cornucopia. Idalia grabs a sword and holds everyone at sword-point to get out. The only thing Blizzard can grab is a first aid kit. Petra grabs some sais. Starfall is too small to carry any of the full backpacks, so star grabs the lightest one she can find and makes of with not, unaware that it only contains a claw-full of rare coins. Alexei gets in next and grabs as many throwing knives as his little arms can carry. Chrysochus slips a trident of the rack and gets out of there. Kurama shuts the crate full of food rations and takes the whole thing with him, while Nettlebane only grabs some rope and a lighter. He goes for a second helping of rope, but Fuge gets to it first. Bird hesitates too long while deciding what to take, so Fuge takes her life. With the rope.
with that, the dust clears and the surviving tributes are nowhere to be seen. The Games have begun, and may the odds ever be in your favour.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-12 17:45:18:
Soldier keeps charging until he hits a tree, calls it a maggot, and spots Foliar. He starts spouting incorrect Sun Tzu quotes at her and they team up to find 'the ememy team' even though The Hunger Games are a free for all and there are no teams. Glacier immediately gets to work on sharpening branch into spears with a sharp rock. He was trying and failing to attach the rock to the end of a spear when Nettlebane approaches him with the offer of an alliance. Glacier at first turns him down, but Nettlebane convinces him that he would survive long without his lighter. Elsewhere, Bolkando seems to have gotten the furthest away from the Cornucopia, so as a reward, an unknown sponsor send him a pipe bomb kit. Fuge has also pleased a sponsor with her actions this early in the Games, and is sent a medical kit. Saffron begins to set fires everywhere he can, hoping to cause a blaze large enough to engulf most of the other tributes. While giggling maniacally, he hears a sickening click beneath his foot. He glances down to see that he has unfortunately stepped on a landmine. He blows up in a fiery explosion, lighting the rest of the woods in a wild blaze. The light summer breeze picks up into a gale and carries the flames across the land. Hunger, Hiraeth, Clay and Miles get caught in this blaze and run for their lives. Miles foolishly climbs a tree to escape the heat, but eventually it's trunk burns through and collapses, sending Miles to a fiery death. The rest keep running, Clay falls and gets severely burned, but Hiraeth diverts his path to go pick him up. He begs Hiraeth to kill him, but he doesn't seem to hear. Hunger reaches a river where Ichor was already spear fishing with a stick forked into three prongs. Ichor hadn't noticed the forest fire at first, but they both look up to see that it's still rapidly approaching, so they each high-tail it out of there.
Meanwhile, Laurel assaults Blizzard for her first aid kit, but Blizzard argues that the supplies inside will be no use to him without her, as only Blizzard knows how to use them properly. This works, somehow. Idalia uses her sword to make various carved wooden tools, she sets them down and gets up to stretch for a bit, which is when Kurama swoops in to steal them. Idalia sees this just in time to scare him away, causing him to drop some of her possessions, so at least she didn't lose everything. Starfall has only now realised that her bag only contained collectable coins, completely useless for the Hunger Games. Or are they? She remembers something about falling coins being fatal, so star waits in a tree for another tribute to come along. That tribute is Petra, who was hunting. Starfall throws a coin at her, enraging Petra enough to chase her out of star's tree and through the underbrush for an hour. Zagreus, Chrysochus, Murasaki and Alexei also temporarily team up to hunt down and over power other tributes. They turn sly eyes to each other, attempting to silently organise a mutiny against one of their own, but non-verbal communication is too confusing for them and they can't decide on who to betray.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-14 04:32:19:
Just over an hour later, Zagreus, Chrysochus, Alexei and Murasaki happen across the river, upstream from where Ichor was fishing. They stop for a drink and to see if they could catch anything for themselves. Chrysochus, Murasaki and Zagreus wade out while Alexei stays on the river bank. Chrysochus spots movement under the ripples, but it's a giant shark! He only just manages to dodge it's attack as it tries to tear into his face. Chrysochus whips around in time to grab it's tail and fling it into some rocks, where he jumps on top and beats it's head to a pulp. It finally stops moving, and he turns to the others to playfully announce that he has dinner sorted, but his joyous expression is only returned with pure, pale-faced horror. Confused, he looks back at the shark, but in it's place, he finds Zagreus, beaten to a pulp. A second ago, Chrysochus could've sworn his life away that it was a shark. Now, he couldn't trust a single thought his brain churned up. He felt sick.
Elsewhere, other tributes also mysteriously have unexplainable experiences. One moment, Clay could confidently see two dragons, the next, all he saw was a lone bear. The bear charges at him, Clay panics and punches it, causing the bear to topple over and fracture it's skull on a rock, killing it instantly. Clay blinks, and the bear reveals itself to have actually been Glacier, dead on the ground, holding burn cream. Laurel's shocked yells grab his attention, apparently Glacier had approached Clay with treatment for his burns in exchange for an alliance, and he killed him unprompted. Clay freaks out and runs away screaming. Meanwhile, Soldier and Foliar are constructing a camp, Soldier insists there is a spy in the base, but Foliar has no idea what he's talking about. Soldier goes off to hunt down the spy, but shortly comes back with the fluffiest, softest looking pillow that either of them had ever seen in their goddamn lives. They are both instantly infatuated with the thing, so they bring it inside and immediately begin cuddling with it. It's so warm and soft... and tingly... and writhing... oh god oH GOD IT'S A TRACKER JACKER NEST
Petra is still chasing Starfall through some fallen trees, when before her very eyes, Starfall duplicates. And duplicates again. She skids to a halt, too surprised to know what to do, but they're all getting away! Petra rapidly makes up her mind and decides to chase the only Starfall that was running in an obstacle free path. That was not, however, the real Starfall. The real Starfall was shocked that shine had shaken her off so easily, so she climbs up into a tree hollow to hide out until star could be sure so was gone. She settles down and allows her heart rate to slow, but star loses her breath once again when she looks up to find a pristine lemon curd tart sitting on an ornate plate directly in front of her. Assuming it to be a gift from a sponsor, shine chows down without a second's hesitation, and promptly gets stung in the face, star flinches, opening her eyes to find she has just bitten the head off a still-wriggling scorpion. This isn't too gross for a bug-eating nocturne like herself, but Starfall's heart literally stops when she recognises that shine had just been stung by the fourth most toxic scorpion in Sornieth. Kurama stops by a pond and contemplates whether or not to risk drinking it's stagnant water. He inexplicably sees another pair of eyes peering back at him from the murky depths, so he panics and stomps on it repeatedly to kill whatever it is. It was just his reflection. Kurama lets out a sigh of relief but looks up to see a shark flying directly at his face. This time he is able to fight a pond monster for real, he stomps the shark's head into the pond, killing it. Kurama feels strange about it though, so he looks again and notices it was actually Nettlebane, whose life he'd just ended. Fuge feels something warm and wet drip on her forehead. She cautiously extends a claw to wipe it up and taste it, finding that it's chocolate syrup! Terribly confused, she wisely takes out one of the branded 'Reality Clarity P!lls(TM): Incredible For Clearing Up Confusion Capitalising on Inconspicous Incongruities!' from her sponsor's medical kit. Just for insurance that what she was experiencing was real. After swallowing, Fuge looks at the "chocolate syrup"'s origin, and finds that it was the dripping venom of a giant scorpion. It's toxic sting cuts Fuge's scream short. Hunger returns to the river after the blaze had burned away and spots a sword jutting out of the waves. She is intent on claiming such a valuable tool for herself, so she wades into the water with a branch to help unlodge it, but suddenly, that sword speeds away and disappears into the water. It reappears, being wielded by a ninja shark! Hunger is shocked that they decided to include shark ninjas with swords in this arena, but she knows it's best to rolls with the blows as the come. Using her branch, Hunger fends off the sword-wielding shark ninja long enough to climb back onto land, but the shark follows her. Falling back on plan B, Hunger grabs the shark and digs her claws into it's masked gills, repeatedly slamming it on the rocky river bank. Finally, it's dead and Hunger is safe again. She loots the sword and continues on her journey, never looking back to learn that the supposed ninja shark was actually a normal Idalia.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-15 14:31:45:
The sun finally sets on a very eventful day, and the forest in enveloped in dark. Kurama goes for a long walk to make sense of what he'd experienced with Nettlebane. Clay, too, is struggling to wrap his own head around how he could've mistaken a large, shining, ice blue dragon for a little brown bear. He goes for a walk to clear his mind. Petra uncovers dragon tracks in the detritus, even though they're clearly not Starfall's, she follows them anyway. Somewhere along the way, her path crosses with Hunger's, and they agree on a temporary truce to take down whoever they're tracking. Later, Clay also bumps into them and is included in their little murder party. Eventually, they follow the tracks all the way up to their source, Kurama. They jump on him, Clay and Hunger restrain their victim while Petra takes him out with her sais. Elsewhere, still freaking out over Glacier's abrupt murder, Laurel gets lost. Ichor sharpens his makeshift trident and heads back to the river to finish fishing. Bolkando was also there, having set up a camp and successfully constructed a pipe bomb. He spots Ichor through the dark, and debates whether or not to use the bomb on her, or to save it for a larger group. He decides to use Ichor as bomb practice, as there are enough materials left in the kit to make a second bomb. She's too focused on fishing to notice him. Bolkando sneaks down the shoreline, careful not to break his target's concentration. Once he gets close enough, he prepares to arm the bomb, but Ichor hears him. She swings around and smacks the bomb out of his talons with her trident. Bolkando fumbles after it and Ichor takes the opportunity to stab him in the back, forcing him underwater. She does not let go until he stops struggling. Elsewhere, Chrysochus has been exiled from Alexei and Murasaki's group, even though they had initially intended to kill him. They were too scared to try. Chrysochus finds himself all alone in the dark forest, he climbs a tree and looks up at the stars as he drifts off to sleep. He sorrowfully thinks about home. Alexei and Murasaki have absorbed Blizzard and Hiraeth into their group to replace Chrysochus and Zagreus. This time, Alexei and Murasaki are a bit closer to each other and are now able to more effectively plan a betrayal. However, they still can't agree on a target, Marasaki wants to kill Hiraeth, but Alexei is dead set on killing Blizzard. They agree to leave it until morning.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-15 23:38:49:
At the crack of dawn the very next day, Alexei decides to break his agreement with Murasaki and kill Blizzard in her sleep. He selects a few blades from his collection of throwing knives and threateningly stands over her as she peacefully rests. He readies his blades to strike, but accidentally breaths on her too hard, waking Blizzard. Her eyes burst open and she immediately tackles him to the ground, wrestling the knives from his claws. The commotion wakes the others. Murasaki and Hiraeth groggily bolt upright in time to watch Blizzard repeatedly and violently stab Alexei to death with his own weapons. They stumble to their feet, shrieking and yelling in horror at this sudden betrayal. Murasaki knows that this is Alexei's fault, she's less horrified and more furious at him for breaking their agreement, but can't help being satisfied by his immediate and retributive karma. Hiraeth knows he isn't safe around them, so he backs away without a mention, leaving Murasaki to voyeuristically watch Alexei get minced. When Blizzard calms down enough to catch her breath, Murasaki comments that Alexei brought that fate on himself for not talking to her about it first, accidentally letting on that she had intended to betray one or both of the District 10 tributes anyway. Offended, Blizzard chases Murasaki while screaming about how she's going to kill her. Filled with genuine fear, Murasaki runs for her life, falling down a ledge, scraping her shins and twisting her ankle in the process. Meanwhile, Hiraeth stumbles into Petra's territory. She, Clay and Hunger had separated after conquering Kurama. Too tired to interact with Hiraeth in any way, Petra chucks a distraction at him and runs. Elsewhere, Hunger witnesses Chrysochus fall out of his tree in his sleep, so she proposes an alliance out of pity. They go hunting for food and other tributes while Hunger tells him about this crazy encounter she had with a sword-wielding ninja shark. Shocked, Chrysochus tells her about what happened with Zagreus, causing Hunger to, for the first time since it happened, wonder if not all was as it seemed in that moment. Laurel wakes up after getting lost the night before, and believes that he has found himself in a place that he did not fall asleep in. He questions his sanity. Clay is walking up the riverbanks, scavenging for food and rocks or sticks he could weaponise. He unwitting gets too close to Ichor's beachside camp, and only knows when she yells at him to get away while waving her now blood-stained trident in the air. Clay is successfully frightened away.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-16 20:27:18:
The sun sets on another day and stars fill the sky once more. Clay takes a minute to look up at them in awe. A small glimpse of beauty while he's locked in a death match. After having lost Murasaki, Blizzard elects to stalk through the forest with a mean look on her face. A twig snaps, alerting her to Petra's presence, neither of them have the energy to fight, so they decide to truce for the night. Hunger and Chrysochus have built a camp and obtained a decent stockpile of food. They're about to begin sleeping in shifts, when they hear an agonising scream echo amongst the trees. Chrysochus stays behind while Hunger goes to investigate. She finds Hiraeth, rolling in the leaves, grappling with the pressure and stress of having to fend for himself with the threat of death looming over his head at all times. He sees Hunger, crawls up to her, grabs her by the arms and begs her to put him out of his misery. This just makes her really uncomfortable, so Hunger refuses. She shakes him off and leaves, unable to take the sight of him any longer. She returns to Chrysochus, who gets up to greet her and learn what it was, leaving the supplies unattended in the process. this split moment of inattentiveness allows Laurel to come and smash up all their food with a big rock before making a getaway. Hunger and Chrysochus both witness this, they yell and chase after him, demanding him to stop, but it's too late. As quickly as he appeared, Laurel was gone. They drop to their knees in despair and mourn the loss of their hard-gathered food. Meanwhile, Murasaki is all alone, but at least she successfully builds a campfire. Ichor proudly sits next to the pile of fish she'd caught through the day and notices her leg is bleeding. Fortunately for her, one of the fish she had caught has antibacterial properties, so she harvests it's oil and uses that to disinfect her wound.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-17 15:49:14:
All the remaining tributes are rudely awoken by a booming announcement that the Cornucopia has been restocked and everyone is invited for a Feast! At this point everyone knows that it's just a ruse to get more deaths, so one wants to go. Except for Murasaki and Clay. Murasaki expects there to be most of the remaining tributes at this Feast, so she spends an hour preparing wooden spears before heading off. But no more than eight minutes into her forty-five minute walk to the Cornucopia, she falls into a concealed pit and dies. Clay spent a lot longer preparing than Murasaki, most of his energy put into calculating how many other tributes are likely to show up. He knows that everyone knows the Feast will be a bloodbath, so they won't go, except it's very likely that the others will expect no one to go, so they'll go to take everything for themselves. But then again, maybe everyone else also thinks that, so they know that everyone will actually go, so they won't go. This is giving Clay a headache. He gathers his tools, and begins the trek. He arrives at the Cornucopia and finds it completely silent. Perhaps he was right, no ones is coming. But just to be safe, he rushes in, collects the memoirs from his District and family, shoves as much food into a bag and gets away from the Cornucopia as quickly as possible. But before he leaves, Clay's eye is caught on an ornately engraved scimitar. Having no weapons of his own this late into the Games is a death sentence, so he takes the blade with him. Meanwhile, Petra is sleeping in and Blizzard notifies her that she's leaving now. Petra gives the go-ahead, and Blizzard sets off. She considers going to the Feast later in the afternoon to pickup the leftovers. So lost in thought, she doesn't notice how the ground ahead looks... uncanny... somehow. She walks straight into it, learning too late that it was actually a thick mat of forest detritus floating on a very still lake. She falls through the ground and into the water. A layer of branches, leaves, roots, dirt and other debris keeps her from resurfacing, so Blizzard drowns.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-17 17:37:57:
Excited to try out his now scimitar, Clay goes hunting for other tributes. He doesn't find anyone. Hunger and Chrysochus get to discussing their tactics for winning the Games. Chrysochus laments that he is too clumsy and unskilled to win, and is shocked that he's even made it this far. Hunger comforts him and offers to teach him a few tricks. He brightens up and happily agrees. Hunger even conducts a few practical lessons, using herself as a test dummy to see how well Chrysochus can hide from and stalk another dragon. Chrysochus genuinely improves his skills and comes out of the lesson feeling much more confident in his chances. He just dreads having to confront Hunger as competition if they both make it to the finals tributes. Petra awakens, still tired and with a sore back. She misses having an actual bed. Laurel wanders around, trying to get his bearings, when a heavenly chiming can be hear from above. A gift from a sponsor floats down to his feet, and he excitedly opens it. The canister consists of various medicines, which he gladly stockpiles. Ichor notices that fat, grey storm clouds have formed over the mountains far upstream and the river water is rising. This could only mean that a flood was immanent, so she packs up her camp and heads for higher ground. Without Ichor patrolling the banks, Hiraeth was able to follow the river without being harassed. He was feeling much better after his episode last night, and had a renewed sense of hope that was only strengthen when he stumbled across the bomb kit that Bolcando had left behind the day before last. It still contained enough materials for another pipe bomb and the instructions were still inside. He eagerly follows the steps and builds a bomb for himself, but does something wrong by accident and blows himself up.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-18 16:33:57:
The fat rain clouds from earlier have rolled over the arena, and rain is immanent. Clay is disappointed that he wasn't able to use his scimitar, he feels a bit like a failure, but the day is not over yet. A sponsor has sent a gift, to brighten his mood, of medical supplies. Petra weighs up the chances of her winning the games at this point. She's only interacted with six other tributes and most of them are dead now, and the only two survivors were eager to help her kill Kurama. She has competition. Ichor was about to settle in for the night when she spots Laurel stalking along the edges of her campsite. She grabs her trident and confronts him with the intent to kill. She stabs at his neck, but he deflects the attack, hops backwards and picks up a branch which he then uses to beat Ichor to the ground. She isn't defeat yet, so she tangles the branch with her trident and tries yanking it out of Laurel's grasp, but his grip is too strong. Eventually, Laurel lets go and the force of Ichor's tugging causes her to topple over. He picks up another branch and wacks her a bit more to keep her down. As a final signifier of victory, Laurel steps on her chest, but decides not to kill her. He just leaves without a word while Ichor regains her breath. Meanwhile, Chrysochus and Hunger build a shelter and a campfire together. Chrysochus looks up at the night sky and sees that the stars and moon have been blotted out by rain clouds. A single fat droplet hits his face, so they get up again and build an extended shelter to protect the fire. It begins to rain on the arena.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-20 03:24:13:
It's raining. A completely miserable day. Everyone's stuck under shelter waiting for it to clear up, even a little. The Gamemakers honestly did not expect the remaining tributes, who have been through so much already, to be so fearful of a little rain. Instead of being patient, they want results, here and now. So they trigger a mechanism inside each tribute's tracker, unleashing an irritant into their blood streams. Every single tribute is suddenly overcome with the most agonising, insanity enducing, stinging itch imaginable. Once they have everyone writhing on the floor, they turn it down a little so they'll have enough sanity to here their booming announcement over the loud speakers, "All remaining Tributes are invited to meet at the Cornucopia if they would like some relief." Itchy and sodden, they begrudgingly march to the Cornucopia.
Hunger and Chrysochus are practically clawing their scales off when their old podiums enter their sights. Petra and Clay arrive around the same too, and a tension pr!cks the air as none of them are sure if the Gamemakers want them to fight or not. Laurel is the last to arrive a few minutes later, but none of them catch a break from their trackers. Laurel climbs on top of the Cornucopia and yells at the rain clouds, demanding the Gamemakers do something since they're here now. The Gamemakers correct him over the speaker, there's still one tribute unaccounted for, and they all have to be present. Ichor is taking the irritants like a champ and remains in her own shelter. She knows how this forced drama is going to end, and she wants no part of it. Laurel's pretty furious about this, and tells the Gamemakers to smite her or something, given that they're basically Gods. But the Gamemakers have a better idea, they instead command the tributes at the Cornucopia to hunt down Ichor, and then they'll dispel the irritants. Of course, Ichor hears this announcement. Her heart drops and she scrambles to her feet, panicking and trying to rapidly think of a plan. The other tributes moan and groan at how unnecessary this all is, but they hop to it regardless. Laurel takes up the lead as he actually knows were Ichor is, followed closely by Hunger and Petra, while Clay trails behind, furiously scratching at his tracker, and Chrysochus brings up the rear so that they don't lose Clay and have to search for him too. They arrive at Ichor's campsite. Laurel marches into her shelter to strangle her, regretting that he spared her life the previous night. He finds that no one is home. This causes him to fly into a rage and tear down her whole shelter while screaming. Petra restrains him and Chrysochus grabs his face so he can look into his eyes. He speaks softly to calm him down, causing Laurel to break down over how damn itchy he is. Chrysochus gently reminds him that he's itchy too, They're all itchy, and they're all going to find Ichor, and they'll all find relief.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-21 19:13:43:
The rain clouds persist and the is sky getting darker. Petra spots Ichor's tracks in the mud and they follow them with her in the lead and Laurel close behind. The tracks lead them through the forest, around some rocks, through a thicket, and down to the river, which is now bursting it's banks. This is where the trail goes cold as the tracks get swallowed by the water without any evidence of reentry onto land. Petra's stumped here, and passes the torch onto the others. Laurel wants to jump into the river, but Chrysochus suggests they look extra closely for any disturbed sediment or plants where Ichor could be hiding. Hunger calls him stupid, citing that there is absolutely nothing that hints that Ichor is still around. Instead, they need to head downstream. Clay suggests there's no recovering her. A fight breaks out. With no one to tell him not to, Laurel jumps into the river. The others notice him thrashing around as he gets swept away by the muddy torrents and chase him downstream. They do not know how far the Gamemaker's will move the goal posts if they lose him. His head begins to dip under the waves and the other tributes tear up the river banks trying to keep pace. they're all too focused on Laurel to see where they're going, when Clay trips over Ichor hiding in some reeds. At least they've found her. She's hurt by the collision and limps to her feet, fleeing up the slope into the forest. Clay, Petra and Hunger want to sink their claws into Ichor, while Chrysochus can see the unfairness in the Gamemakers forcing absolutely everyone else to gang up on her for merely trying to do exactly what she was supposed to; survive. He butts through the mob chasing her and runs with Ichor to help her escape. As for Laurel, luckily he's able to catch himself on a large fallen tree, but he gets left behind. The Gamemakers turn off the irritant dispensers and announce that the tributes have completed their task and are free to go. Laurel hauls himself onto stable ground and feels ripped off. What was even the point of all this?
Meanwhile, Chrysochus has helped Ichor hide in a cave from the others. Hunger finds them and he pleads with her not to hurt Ichor or tell the others, since he firmly believes the Gamemakers forcefully pitting Ichor at a disadvantage against five blood-thirsty dragons defeats the core value of the Hunger Games, and Ichor deserves better. Hunger looks at him funny, as she know that the core values of the games are control, division and fearmongering, but she just rolls with it because it really doesn't matter at this stage. Later, Clay manages to find them too. Finally, he gets to use his scimitar. Ichor was sitting at the mouth of the cave to have a moment to herself, when Clay charges in. He strikes at her, not noticing Hunger and Chrysochus deeper in the cave. Ichor yelps in shock and Hunger comes running to her defense. She punches Clay to the ground, causing him to snap his neck on some jagged rocks. However, he's still alive and paralyzed. Hunger pities him while she picks up his scimitar and puts him out of his misery. Hunger and Ichor head to the back of the cave where they huddle for warmth with Chrysochus. Elsewhere, Petra has built a new camp for herself impressively quickly. She has even lit a fire despite everything being soaked through by the rain. Laurel is left all alone. He coldly trudges through the forest to find shelter, and he spots the light of Petra's fire in the distance. He considers approaching and asking for shelter, but he assumes that everyone is back to wanting everyone else dead now that their temporary team up has come to an end. Laurel trudges on.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-21 21:43:19:
The sun rises on the next day. The rain has stopped, but the clouds are still hanging around. Hunger, Ichor and Chrysochus decide to continue their alliance as long at they can. Ichor suggest they return to her old camp where she abandoned her tools and shelter, and the others agree to do so. They pass Petra's came on the way, and a decision is made. Since the Games are getting tight, it's best that Petra is dealt with as soon as possible. Hunger is designated to do it, so she takes the scimitar, enters Petra's shelter and slices her throat while she sleeps. Petra wakes up in shock, just in time to watch the blood pour from her neck with Hunger standing over her. She tries to scream, but can only manage a small gurgle. Later, they make it to Ichor's old camp and rebuild her shelter, this time with enough room to fit all of them. Ichor digs her trident out of a pile of leaves and going back to fishing. With not much else around to do, Chrysochus climbs a tree to see where they are. He spots a column of smoke rising not too far away. He makes sure to tell Hunger and Ichor, but none of them go to investigate. The smoke is coming from Laurel's fire. He had scrapped together just enough dry wood to start it, and now he is crafting spears.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-22 18:06:19:
The sun sets on the fifth day. There are only four tributes left and three of them are in an alliance. If Laurel stands any chance of winning, he will have to somehow isolate them. Of course they will eventually tear themselves apart, but this is likely to only happen once he's out of the game too. He'll have to pick them off separately, somehow. Laurel waits on the edge of their camp for the perfect opportunity. He taps his wooden spear on the ground, thinking. Ichor, Hunger and Chrysochus are inside the shelter, arranging the shifts they'll sleep in. Ichor is consumed with dread. This alliance can't last much longer. Chrysochus is the first to be sent out to guard his friends while they sleep. He spots Laurel poorly hiding behind some shrubs very quickly and alerts Ichor and Hunger. They stay behind Chrysochus but keep themselves prepared for any conflict. He demands Laurel leave them be for the night. Unsure how to respond, Laurel stays silent and still. Chrysochus continues trying to convince Laurel to leave, but his threats fall on deaf ears. He knows he really shouldn't leave Hunger and Ichor on their own since Laurel is definitely planning something, but he also knows they're capable of defending themselves. Chrysochus picks up his own trident, which he'd had with him since the Bloodbath and I totally didn't forget about that, goes to confront Laurel. The others beg him to stay, but assures them it'll be fine. He charges, Laurel scrambles to his feet and tries to run, but he doesn't get very far before Chrysochus pins him to the ground. He holds him down with one foot while he raises hisweapon to kill him, but Laurel begs him not to do it, because he can get all of them out alive. Chrysochus holds the central point of his trident against Laurel's throat and implores him to go on. Laurel explains that he has a friend on the inside that told him of a secret way to reverse the elevating platform in one of the podiums, which they can use to get out. It'll be a treacherous journey, fighting the Gamemaker's goons to escape, but they stand a chance. Chrysochus starts to believe him, so he removes the trident from his throat. This could be the only chance he gets, so Laurel plunges his spear into his adversary's chest immediately. Chrysochus manages to cough a few curses at him before toppling over, spending his last moment feeling like a fool. Laurel takes the trident and runs away to prepare for his next attack. He cannot believe that Chrysochus actually fell for that.
This confrontation was a bit too far away for Hunger and Ichor to properly make out what went down, but the one thing they can be certain of is that Chrysochus is gone. Ichor turns to Hunger untrustingly. There's only three of them left now, and they're all so close to winning. Ichor accuses Hunger of plotting to kill her in her sleep, and Hunger denies it. She assures her that she would not try anything until they were the last two left. This does not restore any hope in Ichor, who refuses to spend the night with her old friend. She tells Hunger that she can keep the shelter for herself, because she's not staying anymore. Hunger accepts her friend's decision and lets her go. All alone, Hunger settles herself down for sleep, but leaves a large pile of sticks barricading the door so no one can enter without waking her. Ichor goes to sleep in a tree, but keeps waking up from nightmares of Hunger and Laurel coming to kill her.
SockPuppet010 wrote on 2023-12-22 22:37:32:
The next morning, the forest is quiet. Ichor opts to stay in her tree all day. Hunger is woken by gentle tapping sound. She sleepily turns her head to take a look. It's Laurel. Her heart lurches and she bolts upright, headbutting the shelter's roof and knocking the whole thing down. Laurel stands back in surprise while Hunger thrashes around. She finally gets her footing and holds him back with her scimitar. Laurel begs her to calm down as he means no harm, and has come with a proposition. Slightly interested, Hunger lets him speak. Laurel claims, again, that he has a friend on the inside who told him how he can escape the arena by reversing the elevating platform in one of the podiums, but he can only take one other tribute with him. Hunger stays silent. He promises he can get both of them out, but they'll have to take down Ichor first. She ponders for a second, before asking why they can't escape now and leave Ichor to win the games on her own. Thinking quickly, Laurel makes up an excuse that by breaking the rules like this, the Gamemaker's will kill Ichor away in a far more grizzly manner than either of them could ever manage, but not before humiliating her and her whole district as punishment for not winning the correct way. It'll be far more humane to kill her now. Knowing what the Gamemaker's did to Ichor before, Hunger doesn't doubt for a second that they'd do that too. She agrees, and they go track her down.
Laurel and Hunger soon arrive at Ichor's tree and devise a plan to coax her out. They agree to lie and convince her that they'll be be able to take her with them. They present Ichor with the propesct of escaping, but she does not believe them. Hunger relays to her the awful fate that Laurel said she'll meet if she's left behind. Laurel glances at Hunger with a mixture of pride and appreciation of the irony of her situation. Ichor is slightly swayed, but still doesn't believe them. Laurel and Hunger resort to laying it on thick about how they're telling the truth, she'll suffer the worst fate imaginable, and how much they want her to survive with them. Eventually, Ichor begins to believe them and she cautiously climbs down the tree. As soon as she's within reach, Hunger grabs her and yanks her to the ground. Having already expected some sort of betrayal, Ichor bites her as hard as she can and wriggles free. She almost escapes, but Laurel impales her with his trident, pinning her to the ground. She tries whacking him with her own make-shift trident, but she doesn't have the strength. Hunger puts Ichor out of her misery. They dislodge the trident and head off, but Hunger hesitates. She runs back to close Ichor's eyes. She mourns her friend for a moment, before making off with Laurel back to where it all began.
Laurel and
Hunger arrive at the Cornucopia. The clouds have cleared in time for the sunset. Long shadows drag behind each of the twenty-four podiums, standing solemnly like grave stones. Monuments to lives needlessly taken for the sake for entertainment.
Laurel explains that there is a hidden panel you can open on a few of the podiums which he can then insert a key into to send the platform back down, but only a few have this feature. He instructs
Hunger to find the panel on the nearest podium, and move on to the next one if she can't find it, while he goes to retrieve the hidden skeleton key from inside the Cornucopia.
Hunger doesn't question any of this. Truth it, there is no panel and there is no skeleton key.
Laurel has really gone into the Cornucopia to see if there are still weapons left over from The Feast. He finds it empty, except for a lone hatchet sitting on a custom pedestal practically glowing, illuminated by a harsh, warm spotlight. The Gamemakers had put it there for him.
Hunger is on her fifth podium and still can't find the panel, it would help if she had a more detailed description than just 'panel'. She wonders for a second why the Gamemakers haven't done anything to stop them yet. Perhaps
Laurel's friend has tricked him. Perhaps
Laurel has tricked her. She pauses,
Laurel has tricked her, hadn't he? She casts her gaze to the Cornucopia, bathed in golden light, and sees
Laurel running back to her. While she can only see his silhouette, she knows that he is not holding the skeleton key. She takes a few steps back shaking her head at him. She knows.
Laurel knows she knows.
Hunger grips her scimitar. Only one will leave this arena after all, just as it's supposed to be.
Laurel does not slow down, he readies his trident to impale her. Frightened,
Hunger jumps behind the nearest podium and puts it between them. They do a little dance chasing each other around the obstacle, before
Laurel manages to poke her tail with his trident. This is when she swings around and slashes him with the scimitar. He falls backwards but rolls out of the way before
Hunger's next strike. He stabs at her face with his trident, getting her in the eye. She yells in pain and falls back. She touches her palm to her eye to learn that it is bleeding and she cannot see out of it anymore. She presses her hand against it and jumps on top of
Laurel, bringing down her scimitar with the rage of a thousand vengeful gods. He moves his head out of the way, so it hits his shoulder, bringing all her weight onto his body with it. He screams and slices her arm with his hatchet,
Hunger doesn't budge. He repeatedly pummels her ribs with kicks. This causes her to recoil back, giving
Laurel enough room to maneuver his trident into place and finally fork her off him entirely. He stabs her in the chest and tosses her aside. She tries to jump back on him, but he stabs out her other eye. Blinded,
Hunger swings her scimitar wildly, which
Laurel is able to knock out of her hand, but not without great difficulty. He tackles her to the ground, where he tosses his trident aside and focuses all his energy on hacking off her head with his hatchet.
Hunger struggles beneath him, but it's no use.
Laurel succeeds. Her body still writhing, he gets up and stands back, watching what he has done to her. He is the last one breathing.
Laurel has won the 9th Dragon Hunger Games.
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