burningdaylight: (hnnnghFUUU)
Luke ([personal profile] burningdaylight) wrote in [community profile] thearena2015-06-15 09:58 pm

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.

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 a 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?
somegrimshit: (I make this look good)

[personal profile] somegrimshit 2015-06-17 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
He was close enough for her to hear him, while she was collecting firewood. The noise of his distress is enough for her to throw the pile to the ground, and run at a nearly reckless speed, because she hadn't managed to save Ellis, or Nick, but damn, she wouldn't let anyone else die--And she emerged just in time to see him slapping at his axe. She hesitates for a few moments, staring bewildered at the situation.

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.
somegrimshit: (I make this look good)

[personal profile] somegrimshit 2015-06-19 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
Rochelle is used to seeing the human body do nasty shit. After the first time she saw a spitter, jaw unhinged and dangling, or saw a zombie, so close to a human, explode all over her, intestines flying past, she thought she could take anything. Wading in a sewer, getting vomited on. Rochelle's seen some of the worst the apocalypse can offer, but there was still something very, very wrong about those boils that swelled on his skin. Her first instinct was to cut them, but there were so many, all over his skin, he'd bleed to death before she even got halfway through.

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?"
somegrimshit: (Oh my god)

[personal profile] somegrimshit 2015-06-27 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
She frowns in concern, allowing him to reach out for her arm. Rochelle isn't sure what about her arm is bothering him so much, but whatever it is, she'll let him touch her if that helps him somehow. He doesn't touch her, though. Just as well. She needs to focus on carting him back to camp. Especially when his feet seem to fail him, and she's suddenly taking on his weight.

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."
somegrimshit: (clown school)

[personal profile] somegrimshit 2015-07-02 05:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"Boy, you must be dumber than you look, if you think I'm going to drop you and run."

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."
somegrimshit: (>:|)

[personal profile] somegrimshit 2015-07-07 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
She watches him spasm and vomit, a worried frown on his face as he more or less falls into the leaf pile. She touches him, grabbing his arm when she can, trying to make the fall as easy and painless as possible. But there isn't a lot she can do to help until he's settled in. Once he seems to be more or less where he's going to stay, she sinks to the ground, mace close by.

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.
sizeofyourbaggage: (what're you thinking now)

[personal profile] sizeofyourbaggage 2015-07-01 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
Sam's taken to using the night to go outside to hunt, these past few days. Not alone, of course, he rarely strays too far from one of his allies, but just because they're hunting together doesn't mean they don't split up on occasion.

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?"
sizeofyourbaggage: (let's do this then)

[personal profile] sizeofyourbaggage 2015-07-04 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
Sam doesn’t put his dagger away, either, even as he relaxes - but that’s mostly because even though he doesn’t think he needs to worry about Luke attacking him, that doesn’t mean they won’t get ambushed by something else out here.

“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?”
sizeofyourbaggage: (goggles)

[personal profile] sizeofyourbaggage 2015-07-12 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
There’s various levels of okay even in the arena, really, and Sam pretty much just assumes that’s what Luke’d been asking about.

“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?”