#games 126

[gardien-du-secret]

Comfortable with a book in hand and feet propped up on a coffee table, Prue was oblivious to those that meandered around her through the lobby, nose buried in the book of the month for her book club. But, when she felt the cushion shift and settle next to her, she pulled her attention away from her book. “Can I help you, sugar?” 

[finis-ccronat-opus]

@havealittlefcith​

She was moving through the arena, flashlight and sponsor items stashed in the backpack slung over her shoulder. It may have been empty on day one, but she’d accumulated a few things. She had paused at the top of a ladder, sitting on the edge of the platform and then scooting further back so that she could safely take a drink of water without falling from the edge. Her backpack was in her lap as she pulled her canteen out and unwrapped. She raised the canteen to her lips but it didn’t make it before she paused at the sound of someone or something crashing down on the other side of the platform. She quickly recapped the water and scurried to a crouching position, peering through the lingering fog. “Shit.... Faith, you okay?” She hurried towards the girl as soon as she recognized her. 

[finis-ccronat-opus]

She sat a few feet away from the water, having moved away when a large animal (she couldn’t tell what) came entirely to close for comfort within the fog. At least she could thank the fog for her easy escape. But that had been a while ago. She simply hadn’t gone closer again. It had gotten darker though, and she was alone. Nothing moved around her, not that she could hear at least. So she played with her flashlight. She didn’t know how well it would work once on the move. sHe’d have to figure a way out to secure the wire, but for now she could tap the wires together and the bulb would light up. Take the wires apart and it’d go out. She’d just put the wires together again to see the light brighten the fog around her when she heard a noise. She quickly pulled the wires apart again, letting the light go out, eyes closed, hoping she hadn’t been seen. 

[finis-ccronat-opus]

She had watched, watched as Lawrence fell to his death. It had been so easy, just a shove and he was gone, just a shove and he was swallowed below the murky water. Nvidia blinked at the churning water as it continued to rise closer and closer to her platform. Just like that he was gone and she supposed she should be concerned by the apathy that lingered where… what else was she looking for… anything else should have been She’d just killed another person and yet she couldn’t find it in her to feel remorse. 

He had wanted to die. Wanted to reach Paradise. She had only helped him. 

That’s what she told herself as a canon sounded telling her he was gone, that officially she had taken a life. And she waited, eyes turning towards the pounding sky, waited for a hovercraft, or some sort of announcement. But none came and yet the water rushed up and over her toes and continued to climb. At least one more person was alive and Nvidia realized then that it was just a matter of time. Who could outlast the other. Who even was the other? She didn’t have to contemplate that the water reaching mid-calf now. She would die if she waited much longer, she couldn’t swim and those waters were unforgiving. So she climbed, adrenaline having taken over when she realized the waters were rising in the first place. She truly hoped this was the end as she shucked the bag she’d kept so dearly during the games and all the possessions within it.

Nvidia climbed as high as she could, stopping a few times along the way, gasping for air. The bridges and ladders were all failing and she had nearly fallen more than once. Who was the other person, or people? Were there more than one? Could whoever was left swim? If so she’d be toast. She didn’t see anyone, she realized, as she turned to look every which way from the platform in which it had all started. Someone had to be left though, or there’d be a hovercraft ready to take her to safety. Unless… a thought crossed her mind… were they going to let everyone die? There were two victors from six months prior, everyone could die and that’d right the wrong that was two victors in one games by no victors in the next. 

“Um… hello!” She shouted, throwing her gaze up to the skies again. Her face was pounded by the rain, her hair was sticking to her face, completely flattened against her scalp in the onslaught of water. The water crept over the platform and Nvidia threw her gaze every which way, trying to find another tribute or a place to escape. The only thing she could see higher than the platform was the plane and as she searched the plane, a cry rang out and Nvidia’s eyes widened. So she wasn’t alone, someone else was here. She crept closer splashing through the water, maybe if she could just… But the thought stopped when she saw the little body there, Faith. And a breath caught when she realized the reason for her bone chilling cry, but her eyes widened in fascination and she crept closer still. 

For Faith she was saddened, unlike for Lawrence. Faith was a child, misguided sure, but a child nonetheless and she didn’t deserve a death so brutal. She didn’t deserve to die at the hands - or rather jaws - of some gamemnaker created mutt. But wasn’t that what they were there for? The mutts? To ensure things ended sooner rather than later? They really were a work of wonder and awe for the girl who crept closer, staying just out of the reach of the blood tinged water. The animals were so lifelike, almost as if the game makers had taken them from their true habitat rather than created them. The way the alligator thrashed as it attacked in the murky water. 

Nvidia had been so enthralled in the attack before her, a mixture of awe and disgust (Faith didn’t deserve this, she was a child, innocent and sweet, but Nvidia did nothing to stop the alligator), she had paid no mind to the water creeping further and further up her own body. What did it matter now? The games were almost over, unless someone had a snorkel and hid under the surface of the water at least which was unlikely. And by paying no mind to the water that crept up her body, she had missed the larger fish that had narrowed its attention in on her, missed it at least until its teeth sank into her own leg. She cried out, falling backwards into the water as she tried to shake her leg free. And suddenly she too was submerged in a sea of rust-colored waterShe kicked and smacked at the large fish, head reemerging from the water just in time to hear a canon sound. All she had to do now was last long enough until the hovercraft got to her. But her kicking and hitting only made the already angry fish even more angry and it trashed back, digging teeth deeper into her leg and she opened her mouth to cry out, to scream, but the fish had dragged her under the water again and instead she choked on water. The more she struggled the more the fish tore into flesh and muscle, the more the water resembled rust than mud. It took no more than twenty or thirty seconds from the time she was first pulled under the water for the claw to reach into the murk to retrieve her. But Nvidia wouldn’t be awake for it.

————————

When she woke it was to the sound of an air conditioner humming softly in the background and the sound of a steady beeping. The lights were dim when her eyes peaked open but they were still to bright and hurt her head. She closed them again before parting her eyelids once more, lifting her head to look around her surroundings. 

“Congratulations, Nvidia.” 

She startled at the sound of someone else in the room, her fight or flight quickly taking hold. She sat up, grabbing for the blankets that covered her and threw them to her side all in the seconds before the nurse could hurry to her side, shushing and carefully reaching to keep the newest victor where she was. 

“You really shouldn’t move so much.”

But Nvidia had already frozen, eyes cast on the stark wide wrapping around her right thigh, bandages hiding the damaged caused by an arowana. Her fingers drifted to the bandages, barely touching the white fabric before her gaze caught a similar bandage around the opposite calf. She remembered the pain of both wounds, the tearing of flesh with the pinchers of a beetle, the infection that had started, but also the pain of her thigh being torn open, by a fish she couldn’t even see. Both pains were fresh in her mind but absent now and that was when she noticed the IV in the fold of her elbow. 

“I’ll got get the doctor. She’ll be right in.” 

And after a handful of footsteps echoing in the clicks of heels, Nvidia was left alone. Alone and awake. Alone, awake, and alive…. She had done it. She had won. She’d have to tell Yuri, maybe fighting skills weren’t all they were cracked up to be. 

[finis-ccronat-opus]

It was so dark, so humid, but at least down here the bugs didn’t seem so bad. She still scratched at the bites left from the night before, scratching away at her arm as she walked along through the trees. She didn’t know where she was going, just that she was well... going. Limbs and leaves were pushed aside as she trudged on. 

When a step was taken and she found herself no longer surrounded by the trees, she froze, looked around. It looked like water, a small clearing. Was the water drinkable? She was parched. She hurried forward, kneeling on the ground by the pool of water and dipping her hands into it. It was cool, refreshing. She splashed some on her face to cool off before tasting a small drink. It tasted okay, didn’t burn her throat. long term effects were still to be seen however. She was pulling a second handful to her mouth when she heard the leaves rustle behind her. Eyes widened and she froze, only moving her head to look over her shoulder. It was hard to see in the early morning darkness, the sunlight not yet reaching the ground. Was she not alone? Was it tribute, or animal that watched her now? She remained otherwise motionless and silent, not wanting to draw attention to herself. 

@maiasolas​

[finis-ccronat-opus]

@junipercolt

Down. That was the only way to go once she’d finally managed to get out of the plane. Down. She didn’t want to be caught up here in the great wide open. She’d told Calix it would probably be a more nature lying arena. She wasn’t comfortable with this and she certainly wasn’t comfortable being on what appeared to be the tippy top of trees. Not with the wind. Not with the view as far as the eye could see. Not with the rest of the tributes. So down she’d gone. On the first thing her eyes had landed on - a bridge. The going down was hard. The bridge wiggled and waved in the wind and with each of her movements, but she made it to another platform and that one wasn’t on the ground either so down she went again this time by ladder. 

Her feet finally hit solid ground. Not dilapidated wood. Not the treacherous swinging of a bridge or ladder. But solid, even if squishy, ground. She took a deep breath of relief, looked around, wiped a hand over her brow only for it instantly to be covered in sweat again. This humidity was gross. Deciding not to stay anywhere for too long, at least not yet, Nvidia started off in one direction. Not a few minutes later she heard a noise and froze, eyes trying to catch the movement that must have caused it. She was defenseless. She might have grabbed a backpack that laid at her feet, but she hadn’t gone through it yet and it felt light if not empty. “Hello?” She called. She inched towards a tree that was wider than she was tall, ready to dart behind it if the need arose. 

[finis-ccronat-opus]

A silver parachute drifts slowly to the ground. A small container is attached with a note from Zero Linux. Inside are antiseptic wipes. The note reads: “Don't give up now. - Z.L.”

..

[finis-ccronat-opus]

A silver parachute drifts slowly to the ground. A large container is attached with a note from an anonymous sponsor. Inside is a medium meal, 3 bandages, and a rain poncho. The note reads: “Time to win this thing.”

..