Luke (
burningdaylight) wrote in
thearena2015-06-15 09:58 pm
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Entry tags:
zombie ghosts / wasps are nature's assholes [closed]
Who| Luke and Sam; Luke n' Rochelle
What| Luke meets up with Sam, who's been giving him first aid refreshers back in the capitol. The week after, Luke gets familiar with the wonderful world of tracker jacker stings, Rochelle pays him back for his help by dragging his ass out of harm's way.
When| Week 2, Week 3
Where| The forest
WARNINGS| Gore, hallucinations, more added as they come
Sam Wilson:
The night deepens, alive with sounds.
The rustlings of little creatures in the brush and a careless twig-snap somewhere, frogs from the Biblical rain-plague dumped over their heads humming endlessly. The distant rumble of the cannon, too, few and far between.
Luke scrubs at his face, glancing back as someone ducks out of their hut-like shelter to relieve him of his post. He murmurs a quiet ‘thanks’, standing to stretch the kinks out of his legs, axe at his hip. After the better half of the day spent helping to expand their temporary shelter, an effort supported by supply run punctuated by close calls and supply runs, he’s as exhausted as the others. But wired, too. Always aware of the low hum of tension in his gut. Always waiting for that goddamn shoe to drop. Such is the price of survival, he supposes.
Though he’s familiar enough with the surrounding area, he has the sense not to wander all too far from camp. Being armed doesn’t guarantee much in a place perpetually on the cusp of change, on a gamemakers’ whim. To say nothing of the threat other tributes could pose.
Wouldn't matter who or what attacked him if he was already dead.
He breathes and breathes, sides drenched in anxious sweat, carefully reaching for the axe hilt at his hip. Going still when his fingers brush something slick and sinuous -- and very much alive. That’s when he sees it dangling from the sheath-strap at his waist. A long, shimmering snake raising its head, studying him through slitted pupils. Then it rears back.
fuckfuckFUCK
It’s wicked-fast, uncocking like a spring -- but so is Luke when he’s wired with just about enough raw adrenaline to jump-start a car battery. Hissing out a curse, he manages to snap his hand from its hooked fangs, blinking the sweat out of his eyes.
And then it’s gone. Not slithering deep into the brush or winding up a tree but full blown faded-out-of-existence gonea magical asshole snake -- and all he can do is stare stunned into empty space, pulse racing in his throat. His axe is there, on him where it always was. Why wouldn't it be?
What| Luke meets up with Sam, who's been giving him first aid refreshers back in the capitol. The week after, Luke gets familiar with the wonderful world of tracker jacker stings, Rochelle pays him back for his help by dragging his ass out of harm's way.
When| Week 2, Week 3
Where| The forest
WARNINGS| Gore, hallucinations, more added as they come
Sam Wilson:
The night deepens, alive with sounds.
The rustlings of little creatures in the brush and a careless twig-snap somewhere, frogs from the Biblical rain-plague dumped over their heads humming endlessly. The distant rumble of the cannon, too, few and far between.
Luke scrubs at his face, glancing back as someone ducks out of their hut-like shelter to relieve him of his post. He murmurs a quiet ‘thanks’, standing to stretch the kinks out of his legs, axe at his hip. After the better half of the day spent helping to expand their temporary shelter, an effort supported by supply run punctuated by close calls and supply runs, he’s as exhausted as the others. But wired, too. Always aware of the low hum of tension in his gut. Always waiting for that goddamn shoe to drop. Such is the price of survival, he supposes.
Though he’s familiar enough with the surrounding area, he has the sense not to wander all too far from camp. Being armed doesn’t guarantee much in a place perpetually on the cusp of change, on a gamemakers’ whim. To say nothing of the threat other tributes could pose.
Rochelle:
He never sees it coming.
Barely hears it with the wind battering his skull, whistling in his ears. There's no gunshot rolling across the woods, swallowed up by the mist hanging low and heavy over the arena like a blanket. Just a whining hum, a furious, high-pitched thing like a dentist's drill, before what feels like a bullet rips through his shoulder and again through meat above his armpit, barely missing his collarbone. He gasps, staggering sideways while his brainpan erupts into frenzied starbursts of lights and colours. But even half-blind with pain and panic he has the sense to scramble for cover, pressing his back against the trunk. The bark scrapes his shoulderblades.Wouldn't matter who or what attacked him if he was already dead.
He breathes and breathes, sides drenched in anxious sweat, carefully reaching for the axe hilt at his hip. Going still when his fingers brush something slick and sinuous -- and very much alive. That’s when he sees it dangling from the sheath-strap at his waist. A long, shimmering snake raising its head, studying him through slitted pupils. Then it rears back.
fuckfuckFUCK
It’s wicked-fast, uncocking like a spring -- but so is Luke when he’s wired with just about enough raw adrenaline to jump-start a car battery. Hissing out a curse, he manages to snap his hand from its hooked fangs, blinking the sweat out of his eyes.
And then it’s gone. Not slithering deep into the brush or winding up a tree but full blown faded-out-of-existence gone
no subject
Glancing around, once she's sure it's safe, she steps into the clearing, clutching onto her mace tightly.
"Luke...? Luke, you doing okay? I heard you making a racket, you're lucky I'm the only one that showed up." She told him, though she's still glancing nervously around, because she'd been running fast, and others may be taking their time. She hurries over to him, reaching to grab his elbow. "What happened to you? We need to get out of here." She hissed. He'd been good enough to help her, take her to a safe place. Probably saved her life, all in all. And the last thing she was going to do was abandon him here, even when he looked like hell warmed over. Even when they had people potentially crashing down on them.
Besides, if anything happened to Luke, would the others believe her? Or would they assume she'd gone traitor? If he died, she'd have to just leave. Leave all her stuff and run for it.
She really hoped that he was okay.
no subject
"I, I don' know what got me..." He rasps out, looking down at himself and expecting to find a chewed-up mess. Bloodied holes torn into him. But his skin has bubbled up with boils that have swollen in size from grapes to ping-pong balls in seconds, ripe with blood or pus or god-knows-what. A boyhood spent on a farm and a tireless, adventurous spirit (which often went hand in hand with landing himself into all sorts of trouble) made bug stings and the odd non-venomous snakebite no unfamiliar thing. But he's never seen anything like this. Never felt anything like it either.
It has taken no time at all for the pain to hit a near-blinding pitch, so all-consuming that he can't remember a time it wasn't like this, when his nerves weren't spitting fire. It pushes and pulls his thoughts to crazy places and suddenly it doesn't seem so nuts, the idea of clawing at himself, digging and digging, until he's dug all the hurt out of him. Dug out the burning thing burrowing deeper into his body.
He clutches his arm fiercely, knuckles white.
"Mighta been a bug or...nnghfuck, I don’ know…" He shakes his head, glancing to the hand on his elbow. "We need to --" A beat. His eyebrows go up. "...oh shit..."
There they are: small dashes gouged into her arm just past the wrist, ones very different from the scars she had shown him before. The flesh around them blackening fast. His breath comes harder and faster, thoughts racing in dizzying circles. Wasn't she supposed to be immune? What if it were only to the corpses of her own world?
The implications sink in.
Oh. No.
nonono
He tears his gaze away, looking up at her. His lips parting before he knows what to say. Maybe he's wrong. It could be something else. An animal bite or one from an uninfected tribute. Maybe his people are okay too. "Your arm..." He's blinking again like he's gotten sand in his eyes, rubbing at them.
no subject
She watches him carefully--He isn't screaming, he isn't trying to hurt himself, but he looks close to it. Those things must itch, they got to, and if she'd ever learned anything camping, it's that you don't scratch bug bites. She quickly reaches for that hand that's clutching his arm so tightly, trying to get him to hold her hand instead, where she can make sure he doesn't hurt himself.
"Shit, I ain't ever seen bugs like this, Luke." She murmurs, shaking her head, and trying to pull him up. But something about her arm catches his eye. She turns to look at it. Most of the scars have worn away at this point, though a few new ones from trees and rats and lord knows what else have taken their place. But nothing stands out.
That worries her. What did he think was the problem?
"My arm's fine, don't worry." She decides to focus him on getting back to camp, putting one of his arms around her shoulder. "Come on, can you walk? I don't know if I can carry you, Luke." She could always drag him, but no one would like that option. Upper body strength wasn't her strong suit, after all, and she didn't want to hurt him by pulling him over a rock or something.
She was now very worried. Zombies she could handle. Squatting in this shithole of an arena, she could handle. Mysterious crazy bugbites that were kind of making people freak out was something entirely new to her. But they had medkits at camp, and maybe Jane or Clem would have a better idea of what was going on, and what to do. She squeezes Luke's hand reassuringly. "Come on, let's get you to camp, we'll fix you up, okay?"
no subject
He’s aware, distantly, that the fact ought to be reassuring. But realization drops like a rock into the pit of his stomach as she turns her arm over and he gives it another look, so fiercely convinced only seconds ago of what he had seen and now left staring like he’s never noticed the impressions of hungry teeth marking her skin like a dental mold. He reaches to touch her - to touch the place where the raw, open wound had been - with unsure fingers but reconsiders.
"Jesus Christ..." He pants, his body heavy and unresisting when she slings his arm around her. The warmth of her hand is faint, barely felt while his world spins on its own axis and every scrambling thought comes together, pointing to a single fact: he can't trust his senses. Can't trust himself. Even less so while nausea rolls through him and leaves fresh trails of cold, sticky sweat. He closes his eyes a moment. His lids feel so heavy. "We gotta get."
You're losing it, kid, a voice whispers at the back of his mind -- and it takes more effort than it should to shake it off and take his first step with her. One foot in front of the other, left and right. He could do this. He could make it without slowing her down and putting her more at risk. Just a short while and he'd be back at camp.
"M'fine... I jus', jus' have to--" The ground seems to lurch under his feet and he stumbles, leaning hard against her.
no subject
She stumbles back--Luke doesn't weigh as much as he probably should, he was already on the skinny side, but the arena had made them all underweight. But she's not exactly the strongest person out there, just as underfed as he was. But she stays up at least, wrapping her arms around him, and holding him tightly. Once she's sure that he's not falling to the ground and taking her with him, she straightens up a little, loosening her grip.
"I can't carry you Luke. If you can't walk, we're going to have to park it here." She told him quietly, wrapping his arm around her neck, and trying to take as much of his weight as she could. "Christ, you look like shit. Maybe we should just stop here."
no subject
“Sorry, I… I jus’ moved faster than, than I should’ve”.
He’s sure he could’ve laughed wryly at her comment any other day since he still has the presence of mind, while dipping in and out of consciousness, to figure he looks every bit as sick as he is, feeling like ten pounds of shit in a five pound sack. Her suggestion’s sound – but it’s one he has a knee-jerk urge to keep challenging. There’s a time to resign oneself to one’s injuries, and while safety’s not guaranteed back at camp, at least there were more of them to watch over each other there. It’s a different story while out in the thick of the woods with imagined threats jumping out at him and his mind so scrambled that he can’t tell his axe from a snake or vines creeping their way up to his throat, strangling him.
When his leg suddenly gives on him and he slumps forward, his choice is gone, his body like an old jalopy that’s run out of fumes. He slides free from her grip, hands snapping out to brace a tree. His pulse hammers his skull.
“Go…" He squeezes his eyes shut, fighting to swallow against bile rising into his throat. "S'too risky... I’ll, I’ll catch up.”
no subject
Rochelle's voice is sharp in tone, lecturing. It's the tone she uses with Ellis, when he gets reckless and self-sacrificing. Teamwork is the foundation of survival. You can't survive alone. Luke couldn't survive like this, alone, and to be cruelly practical, Rochelle couldn't return to camp without him. Jane wouldn't believe any excuses she tried peddling--Maybe she would, but she would suspect. Or at least, it was a risk Rochelle couldn't take.
And that was assuming Rochelle wanted to leave him. Self-sacrifice wasn't her style, it didn't suit survival situations. She didn't like doing it, didn't like seeing it.
He slumps, and she moves to hold him again, but he pulls away, leaning on a tree. She clucks her tongue like a mother with a negligent child, and moves away. But only a few feet, and Luke will be able to hear scraping noises as she starts to use her foot to slide leaves into a pile for him to sleep on. Look at me. And they said I didn't have any nurturing instincts. Except the only one who said that was herself.
She still snorted a little at the scenario, and kept an eye on Luke, until she had a decent pile of leaves.
"Alright, c'mon. Bunker down, or I'm dragging you down. I'll wait while you sleep, I ain't got anyplace better to be, any how."
no subject
He's still leaning his forehead against rough, scaly bark when she objects, barely hearing her above his screaming nerves and the blood rhythmically slamming his eardrums. Though what he is able to catch sounds an awful lot like something out of his old man’s mouth.
He's in no position to dig in his heels and pit his stubbornness against hers -- and warning her is impossible when his throat hitches and ropes of bile jet from his mouth, splashing the tree trunk. He gags helplessly on the vinegary tang of it, coughing wet until his throat burns and choking air back into his lungs, struggling to get a breath in edgewise. And once his legs go weak, the rest of him follows. Pain arcs through one knee as it cracks against a rock jutting from the ground but he barely feels it, throwing his hands forward to catch his fall. Pushing back to his feet is out of the question but his body tries, once, twice, wobbly and uncoordinated like a newborn foal before giving up and sinking into the bed of leaves she’s shuffled for him. Sunspots dance in the darkness behind his eyes.
“…no.”
It comes out as a weak moan like he’s trapped in a nightmare, his breathing fitful and shallow. He has seen this before. Seen someone stay back with him, someone try to save him, and then watched them crash through the ice, the both of them plunging in. “…s’gonna... kill us both…”
no subject
She gives a little sigh when he tries to put up a last resistance, and reaches forward, brushing the hair away from his eyes. She was a survivor, and she had told herself that she would be putting her own life in front of anyone else's, save her teammates. But they were gone, and for now, Luke and the others were her teammates.
If someone did show up, if she knew surely and truly that it was her life or his, maybe that would be put to the test. Maybe when having to make that choice was assured would she have to leave him. But she also had to think long term--This arena was just one arena in a series that would stretch as long as the gamemakers could. And that meant that she had to think about how her actions effected her in the long run. Would abandoning Luke make it harder for people to trust her in the future? Would Jane and the others hold it against her?
Things she should think about--But she can do that later. For now, she hushed Luke, running her fingers through his hair, and brushing the hair off his face. What little comforts she could give him.
"We all die anyway, Luke. Don't wanna do it looking a fool." She replied, unsure if he could even hear her. The audience would hear, at least, and it sounded good.
no subject
He knows they won’t.
But he lets himself buy into the reassurance the unexpected tenderness of her touch offers anyway, basking in it needily. So grateful for the smallest mercy it offers from the pain squeezing his brain in a vice-grip, reducing his existence to something miserable and barely human, living breath-by-breath and shuddering wave-by-shuddering wave.
Maybe it’s just wishful thinking or a trick of the light, maybe not. But after a while, between her hushed tones and the gentle stroking of his hair, he seems to breathe just a little easier.
no subject
Tonight is one of those occasions, and Sam's moving through the woods momentarily alone, eyes sharp for any signs of creatures that might be passable as food. Aside from the feast, it's pretty scarce this arena, and Sam's more than willing to make concessions when it comes to what's 'passable.'
He slows a little when he hears the sound of something moving up ahead, automatically checking for any signs of the light that follows powered Tributes around. Nothing, but that doesn't mean anything - Sam knows better than anyone that not having powers doesn't mean not being dangerous, and that's not even counting that it might be gamemaker related.
So he keeps a firm grip on his dagger as he moves towards the sound, until he gets close enough that he thinks he can make out who it is.
"Luke?"
no subject
Luke can’t claim to be the best judge of peoples’ characters. Trusting Carver to any extent had been a mistake he regrets every day. But Sam’s not in any way like him -- and that counts for something. At the sound of his voice Luke’s stance relaxes some, though he keeps a good grip on his axe.
“Sam…” He lets out a quiet breath, his shoulders dropping. “You okay?”
no subject
“As okay as I can be, in the arena. I’m holed back up at the castle with some people, we’re doing pretty good for supplies so far.” Normally, Sam’s not in the habit of telling other Tributes where he and his allies are hiding, but Sam trusts Luke with it. If Luke ever needed help, Sam’d want him to know where he could find some.
“What about you? You set up all right?”
no subject
“We’re... tryin’ to keep fluid." He throws a backwards glance, uneasy at the idea of standing still for too long. It seems inevitable that something would lunge from the shadows. "Not get too attached in case somethin' comes along an' we need to book it.” Their shelter - a small framework of branches and leaves draped by a poncho - is no castle, but the wide expanse of the woods, easy access to water and wood, and general lack of competition for space in the surrounding area makes it a decent place to camp for now.
His lips part to add to the thought but he pauses, distracted by a flicker of soundless movement at the edge of his vision. But there’s nothing to see when he turns his head to look. He stares long into the darkness before glancing to Sam, brow knitted as he mutely wonders if he had seen the same thing -- or if it's just the many sleepless hours stacking up since they had lost Nick.
no subject
“S’ a good strategy,” he replies, quirking a little smile. “Especially in this one. Feels like they’re throwing something new at us every five seconds, guess they wanted to make this exciting.” Or maybe that’s because all but two of Sam’s allies have powers, and this arena has so far been not very friendly towards them.
He’s debating asking who ‘we’ is, if Luke’s got himself some allies he can trust - Sam’s automatic thought had been ‘Nick,’ but he remembers seeing Nick up in the sky in the first few days, remembers the quiet pang of grief and sorrow at losing a friend this early.
The movement catches his eye, too, before he can ask, and he catches himself when he finds his gaze following Luke’s, snapping it back over in the opposite direction. Just in case something was trying to get their attention to sneak up on them. Maybe it’s paranoid, but in an arena? He’s taking no chances.
“Anything?”
I hope this gives you enough -- please let me know if you'd like me to add more
“Thought I'd –“
He breaks off, suddenly, when he hears stirring leaves and a shivering intake of breath in the brush behind him. His face stiffens, arms still at his sides. Eyes gleaming, alert, his throat clicking dry as he swallows.
Something’s wrong.
Either for them or for someone else who has yet to show themselves -- and when the breathing jerks, transforming into deep, retching sobs, he feels something tug at him despite the alarm pulsing through his brain.
‘Daddy! …Daddy, ple-ee-ase…!’ the voice chokes out and Luke goes cold, staring blank-eyed into empty space.
Oh Jesus.
A trill of adrenaline races up his spine, his mouth opening before he knows what to do, what to say. He blinks, scrabbling for sense and for his bearings. He needs to keep it together. His people need him to keep it together.
“…Sarah?” He manages, swallowing against a queasy, rising sense of dread while his own throat tries to close on him. It sounds less reassuring to him than it ought to -- and he can't imagine it being reassuring at all to a recently orphaned kid. For a long time he strains his ears, barely hearing her above the hammering of his own pulse in his ears. Her voice is so small and fearful, strangled with tears.
‘Luke?’
Luke glances to Sam with a blank, helpless look, searching his face, as if for permission.