thearena | Struggle to the end

Entry tags:

✘ shion

Struggle to the end

Who| Shion and open, then Shion, Shepard and Homura
What| Shion shenanigans for week two and then his death
Where| In the jungle and around, pretty much wherever, nearer the ocean for part 2
When| Early part of the week for part one. Mid week for death
Warnings/Notes| Death

[Open] Shion was starving, things were not going well but he was still alive. However his one actual skill in the arena, of being able to find edible plants, had been negated by the fact everything seemed to be artificially poisonous.

It would have interested him if he wasn't hating it for the fact he hadn't eaten in far too long, he was practically delirious with hunger. He tried to stay hidden though, stay in the trees as much as he could. He knew he wasn't being interesting, and he knew that was why he had no sponsors. But he couldn't think of any way to be interesting.

He moved around the jungle, trying not to stay still except to drink in the rivers and sleep as high in the trees as he could manage.

[Death] Sometime by mid week he found his way out of the jungle and saw the ocean for the first time. The first time ever. He was taken aback by just how much water there was though he knew of such things and even seen pictures.

Still it was nothing to seeing it in person, staring out at the endless water in a mix of fear and awe. Forgetting for a moment to pay attention to his surroundings.

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Homura was getting slightly desperate.

Oh, not for herself; she'd done quite fine, actually. Someone had rather kindly sent her supplies, food and drink, which had served her well so far. Rather, it was one of her allies, growing ever sicker, and her, against her better judgement, looking for more supplies to benefit him. This was what brought her to the place she was now, quietly following, quietly stalking.

There were quite the likelihood this boy had supplies. Even if it was just a case of ripping his clothing off.

Waste not, want not.

The more R thinks about his missing jaw, the more he wonders if he should've approached Perry Kelvin differently. There had to be a non-violent, non-creepy to do it. Something less awkward than shambling up to him like he wasn't still caught red-handed with Perry's own blood.

One day he bumps into Shion: he stumbles around a thick tree trunk, gnats buzzing the new hole gaping in his face and his eyes on the ground. He looks up in time to see a flash of limp white hair, his groan of warning lost because he can't even get a proper zombie groan out with half a face.

R's on a crash course with his District 4 mate. The questionable news is his scent of decomposition might either drive any raptors in the area away...or draw them in because they might think it's a free meal. For Shion, hopefully it's the former.

Edited 2013-10-30 08:45 (UTC)

There were easy pickings and then there was this. Shion was pale as death, and his hair looked like a white flag amid all the green. He was a target, loud and stumbling, easily spotted, easily killed. And he wasn't aware of anything so much as...the sea?

Christ. She'd gone on this little jog for recon, but this was low-hanging fruit. It wasn't about the supplies, of course. If he'd had anything useful, he wouldn't look like he had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. This kid was dead either way; better, then, to do it quick. Blood on her hands would be dramatic, and it might just keep them all alive.

Shepard drew her knife and crept forward through the low brush, careful, and silent. It wasn't until she was almost on top of him that she saw to her left, a second target: the girl.

Shion realised too late that he was about to crash into someone, the smell making him aware at the very last moment, he tried to pull back and ended up falling backwards, scrambling quickly up to avoid the vines, which were all to happy to slide towards him.

"R?" He blinked, his eyes widening as he saw his face. "You're hurt!"

Shion might be a bit useless when it came to the games but he had the advantage of being aware, if only by merit of being able to remember how things should be. His problem was that he was distracted by the sea. He blinked, turning to the side as he tried to work out what was different, had he heard a noise?

R gave a slow flinch of surprise backward as Shion did the same (but, you know, way faster in comparison). A vine began to curl around his ankle, tightening like a boa constrictor trying to squeeze the air out of its victim.

He opened the mouth he didn't have, realized he couldn't even say hi, and instead settled for raising his hand in a wobbly wave. He liked that Shion did a very good job not looking away. Could be a friend thing.

Homura also drew her knife, quietly, quickly. To her right she saw Shepard approach; of course, she wouldn't allow the grown woman to kill her. So she made a quick gesture, pointing the knife first at Shepard, but then pointing to Shion.

She didn't have to say a word, when her proposal was quite clear.

No need to fight each other. Let us do this together.

Edited 2013-10-31 14:44 (UTC)

Shion noticed the vine and rushed forward, reaching down to take R's hand to help him. "You have to be careful!" He examined R's face, not seeming sickened by it at all.

He wished he had a first aid kit of some kind though, he squeezed R's hand. "I'm sorry..."

The vine slipped reluctantly off his ankle, R having to be tugged bodily out of its grasp. He didn't seem to look back on the near miss and breathe holy shit like he should've.

R squeezed back It's life at Shion, aware of the small bones in his hand, the frailty in being Alive in an Arena that was determined to suck it out of you.

Shion smiled sadly at him and pulled him a bit further. "Can you climb?" He asked pointing at a nearby tree, it was safer up there. They could deal with anything else after they were safe from the vines.

The question earned Shion a stare. Did he look like he could climb? R decided to show him, stumping over to a tree with the vines twitching, tempted, because he was slower prey than most.

R grabbed onto the tree, tried to remember how to climb - left hand goes here, foot goes...not there - and didn't have much to show for it, except pulling at wet bark and maybe gaining an inch or two off the ground.

Climbing's more Shion's thing. R wheezed, sounding distinctly put-out despite missing a chunk of his face.

Edited 2013-11-02 23:07 (UTC)

Shion shrugged sheepishly. Alright, so climbing was out. It wasn't like Shion was really a good climber himself, not good enough to carry R up or anything. Really Shion wasn't much use at all, he had no food or water he could give his friend, nor could he defend him if anyone attacked. But he wouldn't abandon him either. So he took his hand again. "We can keep walking then, they won't get us if we keep moving."

This was a stupid idea. There were any number of ways it could go wrong; many of them eventually if not immediately fatal. And Shepard, like an idiot, was here without backup.

Well, that was kind of sad, really. Commander Shepard in the jungle versus two half-dehydrated kids and she was worried about backup. But it wasn't a matter of winning a fight, there was the long term to think about, and— shit, the kid was moving. Had he heard something?

Screw it. The girl got a brief nod, and Shepard moved, creeping silently to circle on the right. Together they could flank him, which would eliminate the danger of a runner. All that remained was to get close enough to pounce.

Wait for it...wait...now!

Shion hadn't spotted them yet but he frowned as he looked around. Something was different, there were many creatures here, not to mention other tributes. He should probably move...

"Guh-good...plan," R said. He shrugged - he was easy like that - and started walking, the sleeping bag full of Cornucopia supplies rattling on the ground after him. He glanced down at Shion, trying to ignore that hunger grumbling away. It wasn't bad enough he'd turned his District 4 teammate before, was it?

He tried to force it away, picturing curling it in a ball and throwing it in a dark, dusty corner.

"Don't...look so...good," R commented.

Shion squeezed his hand again, "None of us look good." Shion told him with a small smile. "Hav... Have you eaten?" Not that Shion was exactly sure what he was going to do if R hadn't eaten and was hungry. But he couldn't let his friend starve when he was so injured. So he would think of something, hopefully.

One moment, there was nothing but open sky and cliffs. The next?

Purple eyes staring, boring into him, mere inches from his face.

"Hello...Shion."

~~Considering he was too young to be Sigma, from her viewings of the Arenas there was really only one person this could be.~~

Edited 2013-11-04 13:56 (UTC)

R wouldn't have blamed Shion if his voice had quavered. Most people wouldn't get infected and then come back to hang out with their effective murderer - obviously Shion wasn't most people.

"No. Am...little...hungry," R mumbled as they plodded along. They reached a small clearing - what passed as a clearing in the jungle - the zombie pausing to look around.

On one hand, he was proud to say he hadn't killed anyone. On the other, he knew he was a ticking timebomb. All the control he had learned from Julie, Maximus and Joan only could go so far. At least he was giving Shion the head's up.

"Okay... we can find a way round that." Hopefully. "Not sure if I can find any rattlesnakes here though..." He squeezed his hand again. "But I'll do my best."

R's grunt at the idea of more rattlesnakes says all it needs to. "What's...that...?"

It takes a moment to pinpoint what he's spotted - something glinting silver through the trees, coming at them in a way that if he was a proper Tribute with decent life-preservation skills, he would've been immediately on guard. It could've been someone with a weapon for all they knew. Instead R just watches curiously as the parachute comes at them, settling with a soft tink at Shion's feet.

Shion being a sort of proper tribute with better life-preservation skills that R was on his guard, but he blinked as the parachute came down and picked it up. "It's for you." He said after reading the note and handed it over.

Really? R held the container in his hands, peering down at it curiously. He'd seen them before. Was this Maximus trying to help him? R reviewed the last few hours and he didn't recall collapsing or fake-collapsing - you know, the "signal" - at all. Maybe there was a hardcore fan of District 4 out there?

He had to struggle to open it because of his dead man's hands slipping and sliding. After a moment, the canister clicked open, R peering at the lump of white stuff inside. Spongy, leaking a little liquid. He sniffed. Smelled...good? Like not life-smell, but way better than beer and cereal and pad thai.

"Food," R held the canister out to Shion, showing it to him.

Shion peered into the jar trying to not wrinkle his nose up at the smell. "Food! Someone must like you!"

He was glad that people sponsored R, and for something useful especially if it was helping him not bite other tributes. He smiled.

The problem was he didn't see another parachute coming down. R stared at the "food", a thought chugging in his head - after a moment, he held out the canister.

"Share. You...need...food too."

Shion smiled, "It's okay... I don't think my body will let me eat that." He shrugged apologetically, "I'm not too hungry anyways."

R frowned at Shion. "Look...hungry. Need...mirror," he added.

Shrugging, he went back to trying to fish the floppy flesh substitute out of the canister, grunting with frustration once he realized he couldn't get a good hold on it. Annoyed, he held out the can to Shion. Give a corpse a hand?

Shion blushed and gave a small smile, he watched for a moment as R struggled, nodding when it was handed over, he hadn't wanted to offer help in case R got insulted.

Human hands were better for getting things out of cans it seemed and Shion tore a piece off, trying to keep his face neutral despite the smell and texture. He held the piece out to R. "Here you go."

R didn't flinch as something viscous and white oozed out of the piece of non-meat like pus. Trust him, he's seen just about every shade of body fluid - this stuff's so manufactured that he can tell just about feeling it jiggling in the palm of his hand.

Exchanging a last look with Shion, R brought it up to his mouth and shoveled the fake meat in. He chewed, white stuff dripping out the corner of his mouth. the fact he didn't melt into relief at eating, like if he'd been chewing up a human, spelled out all his opinions on its taste.

"Eh," R grunted at Shion after he gulped it down, and shrugged.

"Not good?" Shion asked, taking some more and handing it out to him, not wincing at the liquid or the smell. It was the least he could do to help R.

He wondered who had sent it, and was glad that they had. That as dissatisfying as R seemed to find it it was stopping him from attacking the other tributes.

Shepard rolled her eyes and stepped up, one hand open and reaching, the other filled with death. It wouldn't do to let skippy...Shion, rather, go for a knife of his own. Better by far to grab for a wrist and eliminate that threat.

"If there's anything you want to say to each other, say it."

Expediency was not inherently rude, but given the circumstances...

Shion took a step back, black-purple eyes blinking fearfully at the face that had appeared before him. "Hello..." He didn't know her, and hadn't seen her in the archives of the last arena. "Can I help y..."

He realised they weren't alone and span around, to be between this girl and the new threat. His hand was grabbed and instead of trying to grab a knife he tried to push the girl away.

"Not...the same..." R grumbles before he realized that might've been in bad taste around Shion. "But...help. Still. You...should eat."

Shion nodded, he still had enough memories of his time as a zombie, enough to know that this substitute just wouldn't be the same.

"I'm fine, I'm not too hungry." He told him again, "Anyways I don't want to eat your food, I can eat most food so it wouldn't be fair if I ate food that you could actually eat."

R paused to think about it. Made sense. He guessed. "Find...you some...then. After."

He knew instinctively this white, quivering, tasteless and lifeless flesh is only a stop-gap. But aware of his need to chew and Shion nearby made him shovel it into his mouth and practically gulp it down, his motions more like a dog than a man. A little bit of that white liquid drooled down the corner of his mouth as he turned back to Shion. Done.

Shion nodded and let R finish his meal, wondering about what to do next. Where to go. They couldn't stay still for long but it was hard to keep going without a purpose.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Look...buildings. Want to find...Howard. Julie," R said with a shrug. "Other...plans?"

Shion nodded, "They sound like good plans for starting." Better than any plans he had really which had not gotten further than trying not to die.

"Have you seen them yet?"

R nods up and down, the movement jerky, stiff. "Howard. Corn...ucopi....copia. Julie..."

He shrugs helplessly. No clue. Hopefully she's still alive back there. No offense to Shion, but if Shion could make it, then Julie definitely could.

"Okay, well we can look around there, though he has probably found somewhere to hide." He seemed sensible, and that was the sensible thing to do.

"We will find them both."

Howard's small enough to fit even in the space between the roots. R's not so sure of their chances of finding him - he'd even said he'd find him, not the other way around.

"Hope...so," R wheezed. "Maybe...sweep?"

He had a vague idea of perimeter patrols and two eyes are better than one. Clearly he hadn't seen the horror movie rule of Don't Split Up.

Shion had never seen a horror movie in his life, so this seemed like a good idea, they would cover more ground that way. He nodded. "We can go in zig zags, keep meeting in the middle, hopefully we can find them that way."

Cool, sounded like they had this down. Zig-zagging might be hard with a zombie's stiff legs, but trade that for "aimless wandering" and he so had this.

"See you...flip...side," R said. He turned to start toward the trees, the sleeping bag rattling after him.

They totally had this down, a perfect team. Shion grinned at R and nodded, "See you soon!" He waved and set off in the other direction to R.

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Struggle to the end

DEATH

Week 2 after Perry

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Did you have any plans for Shion?

Not really, he's just flailing and trying to stay alive and then dying

Gotcha. We could probably end the thread with them separating?

Yup!