thearena | [closed]

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WHO | Ariadne, Donatello, and Revya
WHAT | Revya's untimely demise at the hands of an unlikely pair.
WHEN | day seven
WHERE | T7
WARNINGS/ NOTES | death

Somehow, with all of the movement of Ariadne and Don's camp after Eliot's death, they had never yet run into Revya. They had always been just a little bit away; just through that next clearing, or just over that next hillock. At any rate, they had slowed a little bit, but just for the time being: more and more Tributes were dying, leaving those remaining to take each other out. It was quite a bit more exciting than the last Arena, Ariadne thought to herself, taking a slow swig from her water bottle. Yet again, grateful that she had received a decent haul from the Cornucopia.

Things were hardly quieter with just her and Don. Considering their previous allies had all been fairly quiet to begin with. She was gradually getting used to the idea of being teamed up with a giant turtle, however that worked, but considering the Capitol itself, she wasn't that shocked by anything any more.

"Don," she called out quietly, glancing along the edges of their camp briefly to make sure she wasn't about to be taken off-guard, though the look was cursory rather than in-depth. "It's been too quiet around here. I'm going to take a look around."

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Don, meanwhile, had been working on making different weapons, while also making sure their coconut supply was relatively stable. He had not gotten a water bottle, but the coconut juice and the supply of shark's blood (gross as it probably was to his allies) had been keeping him well-nourished. At the moment, he was using some of the remaining shark's teeth to make a kanabo.

He hadn't slept at all, and it showed in the circles in his eyes. Still, if anything, he felt more alert than ever, especially after Eliot's death. Any noise could be a sign of something. And of course, there was the fact the Tributes were becoming an ever smaller group. It was possible that, soon, he and Ariadne could be the last two left. And--well, he'd cross that bridge when they got there , if that indeed became the case.

Hearing Ariadne voice, his head came up in a second, his muscles tightening slightly. However, as he processed what she said, he relaxed slightly.

"All right." He nodded. "If you need me, just shout."

He didn't have to remind her to be careful. They both knew.

She had to admit, between the pair of them, they were staying surprisingly nourished; it had been a problem for her to balance staying alive with staying fed and watered in the earlier Arena, but now it didn't seem like it was a problem.

"I will," she replied, smiling slightly in his direction before starting off through the brush, spear in hand. It wasn't too dense where they had set up, meaning she had very little to push aside as she got deeper into the trees. She didn't have that much faith that she'd run into anyone, but it really couldn't hurt; maybe they could take someone else out; the fewer people they had to deal with, the better it would be. Even if she didn't particularly want to deal with a fight to the death between herself and Don. She was starting to get attached to him.

A new dawn, and hopefully a new death. Her first few days in the arena were stables and calm... and very very boring. But starting after the fourth day when she got her first kill... It reminded her of the good old times. Fish or people, they were both the same worthless thing to her. And as she was wandering for anything to happen, spear and sharpened rib in hands, she spotted Ariadne. And it was just as likely Ariadne saw Revya, they were across from each other.

"A woman this time? Met a Thief and a pansy..." And then she noticed the spear the woman was holding. It was identical to the one Revya had now, salvaged from the trap that had wounded her right thigh. And that other spear there... looked like it had a relatively new spear-head.

"Oh, you're the one that set up the traps. Gonna kill you now." Revya had an annoyed look on her face rather than an angry or enraged one. She just started walking towards Ariadne, spear raised overhand. Her left hand, with the sharpened bone, was idle. A slight limp affected her unhurried strides.

She most certainly did see Revya. Admittedly, it was through the trees, not that there were many of them. All the same, it was fairly clear that this newcomer was a threat to her well-being - doubtless from the way she held out both weapons. Ariadne shifted her grip on the spear, lowering her centre of gravity slightly, moving onto the balls of her feet for a hasty dodge as necessary.

She could hear something in the distance, presumably the other girl talking, though Ariadne hadn't the slightest as to whom. She had a scream ready for Don, and knew he'd be there for her in a flash, but then she noticed that limp.

An injury in the Arena was as good as a death wish, really. Unless it was treated, you were no good to anyone. The clime tended to treat injuries poorly, making them fester quickly, and the general atmosphere of having to run for one's life constantly put a hold on being able to set anything and treat it nicely.

In other words, Revya was as good as dead, and Ariadne had no doubt that it might be by her hand.

She held her ground, tipping her chin up slightly in invitation, her own spear at the ready to defend.

Oh goody goody, she's paying attention. Well, time to get to it then. Revya took longer strides then burst into a run at her enemy. Wounded or not, it was certainly fast for a human. The fresh flare of pain sent her blood pumping. Pain was nothing new, all it did was raise her desire to kill something. And soon enough she would... it was so great. Everything else in this world was pointless.

If she got close enough, Revya would slide to a halt with her good foot, grab the very bottom of her spear, then thrust it out along with her hand. Rather than being aimed at Ariadne, it was aimed to the side of her stomach to just scratch her. A probe attack to see how she reacted, then Revya could move in for the kill.

Ariadne told herself quickly that she couldn't be surprised at all by anything she saw in the Arenas - between the last few Tributes she'd seen, 'human' was all she could ask for by way of normalcy; modifications never even came into play. Her breath caught in her throat, her heart already thudding a tattoo against her chest, fuelled by adrenaline as she let Revya get closer to her.

Not too close, though; she refused to let herself die there.

She stepped back hastily when Revya began to get closer, moved to bring herself to a stop. The potential blow never landed, met instead with Ariadne's spear being whipped in a semi-circular motion horizontally to warn Revya to keep her distance.

Revya had to admit that Ariadne had some defensive skill. She made up her mind to just absolutely crush it and any hopes of winning. With a smirk, she held her spear out to the side, raised in an obvious attack. "Nice to meet you. Now go die." Revya lunged far into Ariadne's range and unleashed her attack. A fast and powerful horizontal swipe, using the spear as if it was a staff. The sharp creak of the shaft made it clear that the attack was going to break its own weapon on impact.

"Excuse me?"

She stumbled back another few steps at the next attack, bringing her spear up to block again; her heart is in her throat at the hard and fast attacks, one right after another. She didn't even have the opportunity to fight back.

"Don!" Ariadne shouted suddenly, hoping her voice would carry through the forest.

The spear broke, all right. Right on Don's unfinished - but infinitely sturdier in comparison - kanabo.

Don had gotten one of those funny feelings when Ariadne left - he generally didn't, that was usually Leo's thing - but when he did, he knew. He probably should try and check on Ariadne. He had actually taken a few steps before he heard her scream. After that, he didn't hesitate.

He was glad he didn't. Splinters flew up and about as he kept the mace-like weapon in place, one hand on each end, knees bent in a stance. The weapon didn't break as the spear did - which, Don noticed, was one of his own design. His eyes narrowed.

"I don't think so." He gave Revya a stare. "You're going to have to get through me first!"

The thing that shocked her more than the reverberations on her arm was the appearance of the newcomer. Or rather, Revya wasn't surprised by the turtle man himself, but that he was actually here. It was something that reminded her of home, even though there wasn't actually a race like that. And that reminder of home really pissed her off. "I don't think I need to." Well, that should give him enough of a warning. She whipped her hand, throwing the broken remains of the spear then starting forward after it. She doubted it would even hit Ariadne if it successfully missed Don. That damn broken thing wasn't meant to be thrown, and the tip was only splinters in any case.

But it had a chance of scaring her enemy, and that's what mattered. A real opponent for once. Her remaining weapon was the sharpened rib. The best bet was to wound his leg, then get him by going in out out of range. But for all her tactics she was awfully suicidal. After taking another stride to put her only a short distance away, Revya dropped down to her knees. The rib went for Don's shin, despite the looming Kanabo above her. It didn't matter if the turtle-man attacked, Revya reasoned. She had two arms, didn't she? One could be sacrificed to block.

Edited 2012-09-13 14:48 (UTC)

Don didn't even flinch as the spear was tossed, keeping his eye on Revya. It would have been one thing if the thing being thrown was a vial of acid or something that could genuinely hurt him. Not that the broken spear couldn't hurt him, but there was a way to do it. Whatever this person was trying to do, it didn't work too well. And once Rvya went down, Don knew what she planned to do.

That Kanabo was coming down now, this time to slam into the ground right in front of the weapon coming towards his knee. If he was lucky, the rib would hit the kanabo and block the hit, but if he was especially lucky, the improvised weapon would get stuck in the wood, leaving his opponent with just her fists.

Her heart was in her throat when Don showed up, just in the nick of time. It was pure luck and reflexes that kept her up on her feet when Don stepped in to take the blow, and then Ariadne was back into the swing of things. What had thrown her about Revya was how completely reckless the other girl was: she didn't seem to care if she was killed, as long as she took someone out with her.

The splintered spear fluttered by her, a few small pieces of wood scraping her arm without much effect. At least she wouldn't have to worry about pulling them free later, and risking infection. She turned her own spear in her hands, snatching up the fallen spearhead as a secondary weapon for when she lunged at Revya's side, intent on catching her in the ribs with her own broken weapon.

Revya's bone weapon did indeed get stuck into the wood of the Kanabo. But she held on to it with brute force. She was close to her enemy. She could hinder his attacks. Like hell she'd let go! Ariadne struck her by surprise ad Revya rose from her crouching position. Gritting her teeth through the pain, she tried to smack the woman's face away with her free arm, then headbutt Don. For the first time she took the defensive, staggering backwards.

But she could already tell it was futile. She could feel the strength in her limbs getting weaker and weaker. The half-spear thrust to her ribs wouldn't kill her immediately, but it was clear she wouldn't be living to see another day. "What the hell... It's no fun being this weak..." She could taste blood in her mouth. Her breathing was wet. She ripped the spear out, flesh and blood flying. Like hell she'd die drowning in her own blood. "I killed friends..." She spoke up. Her voice was clear, the blood was flowing out of her rather than filling her. "I destroyed my family! I owned the world! Everyone feared me as the Devourlord! And you think... you assholes can kill me without paying the price?!?" Revya was growing pale now. Wiping her mouth free of blood, she charged forward for Don once more. The spurts of blood from her rib wound slowed down, but escaped with more pressure. Her body was taught as she moved forward. The speed she advanced was amazing for a wounded person, but still slower than her usual self. It warned that she could still fight, even if her strength wasn't as monstrous as before.

They always did say that a wounded animal was dangerous. Yet the boasts from the wounded tribute - and the headbutt, which only managed to smack his arm - did not seem to unnerve Donatello. Not because he doubted what it was she was saying. After all, he couldn't exactly dispute it. Hey, maybe she did kill everyone she loved and ruled the world where she came from.

But it was not fear which Donatello felt as he watched her charge, feeling everything slow down as he concentrated on the now. Maybe it was disgust. Maybe it was pity. Maybe it was both. And so he was silent, bending his knees slightly and waiting. He could have stepped aside, simply let the girl die in an agonizingly slow fashion, bleeding out for hours without even the comfort of a sponsor's gift to help them - not even the Capitol's technology could stem that kind of blood flow. Or he could have lured her back to the camp where Tate's machete was, make it slow and painful, and slice her up there.

But that wasn't how Don operated. He didn't take anything out of that kind of crudeness. Even if this girl tried to kill Ariadne, she didn't deserve to have the Capitol slo-mo Ariadne stabbing her (probably too late for that, he thought glumly) while millions of people cheered her death on, even took bets on how long she'd last through the night bleeding the way she was. Even as much as he despised Tate, he was secretly glad the crazed jerk's death had been quick. So in that split second, he made a decision and waited for the right moment.

When it came, he struck with a single blow. He was certain that if it hit, he would not need another one. He had to wonder how his master would feel about him doing such a move, though.

"First and foremost, a ninja's most important weapon is his own body. All other items you might possess - swords, knives or sticks, it doesn't matter - are merely advanced extensions of your arms, your legs, and your minds. In battle, your body is your best asset - and is your enemy's most fatal weakness. An enemy may have all of the knowledge of these other weapons, their strengths and weaknesses, and be able to disarm a sword, knife or stick, but of your body's strengths and weaknesses, they only know what you choose to show them! It is by wisely utilizing that which you and you alone are truly capable of wielding, that you can truly defeat an enemy which may threaten you."

His master had always cautioned his students about how dangerous their fists and feet were - and that there were ways to immobilize and even kill a man without weapons. With the correct timing, and optimal momentum, one punch could stop the heart and stop breathing. Such a blow was not something to be used lightly - rashly attacking people without thinking of the consequences of using such moves was dishonorable.

Scientifically speaking, Donatello knew such blows were possible - a punch could disrupt the heart's electrical current and cause tachycardic arrhythmia - abnormal heartbeat, which could easily cause arrest and death. The stronger and more precise the punch, the more potentially lethal the resulting hit was. And with someone injured like this, the faster the heart would beat; a disruption in the heartbeat would almost invariably be fatal.

And that was precisely why his fist was aimed towards Revya's chest.

Edited 2012-09-14 04:15 (UTC)

Thump Thump. Thump. Revya's fist passed Don's own and ineffectively hit his chest... a punch as weak as the wounded girl before the two looked. "Whatever, It's been fun." Her arms swung to her sides and she stood up straight. One last heartbeat before her heart seized and stopped. "Guess I'll... die now." Her eyes closed and the feelings of her body left her. Her mind disappeared, and the cannon shot signaling a tribute's death was fired.

Still standing, it took a few moments for her body to crumple and fall to the ground, a puppet with its strings cut. Revya was dead.

Edited 2012-09-14 12:14 (UTC)

Ariadne had taken Revya's blow to the face, stumbling back again before readying her weapon; it seemed as though it wasn't much necessary, though. Her breath was in her throat, and she felt frozen as Don finally took her out with just a punch. She hadn't realised the power that just one fist had.

She stood there wobbling on unsteady legs before she finally let herself slip down to the ground to bring herself back together. It was rare that she was so affected by things, but all the deaths in the Arena were finally starting to take their toll on her.

All the more reason to get rid of the rest of them and get out of there.

Don was quick looking for anything that might be useful on Revya, but he was done quickly. He turned back towards Ariadne, seeing her on the ground.

"Ariadne! Are you ok?" He knelt next to her. "Are you injured anywhere?"

She paused, letting sensation catch up with her once again, instead of the relatively numb state that she had existed in through the attack; the ground was firm beneath her hands, and the dirt was starting to bring her back to reality. Glancing up, Ariadne nodded slowly. She was shaken, but far from injured, and grateful for it.

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"I'm ok." At this, Don stood up. "She didn't--"

And then suddenly the world started to tilt and twirl around him as he tried to get his balance. He nearly fell right back down on the body as a wave of pure exhaustion suddenly hit him.

"Oh." He grit his teeth as he tried to balance himself against a tree. "She-ell-"

He knew that feeling. The adrenaline from the kill was wearing off. So, too, was the effect of all of the coffee he'd drank before the Arena, several long days before. He was going to crash, and soon.

Not now-!

"Don?" Ariadne started, voice clearly tinged with concern as he joined her on the ground. She couldn't see any obvious injuries that would have just set in to cause this sort of thing. She pushed herself up, stumbling a little, her body tiring, and moved over to him, tentative about touching him in case he really was injured as she just couldn't see it. "What's wrong?"

"I-I'm ok, just...." Don gave her a reassuring smile, even as he fought to keep his twitching eyes open. "Just a bit tired all of a sudden..."

Twitch. Twitch.

"...I think the coffee's wearing off."

Edited 2012-09-25 20:26 (UTC)

"Coffee?"

It would have made sense if they were in the Capitol, or if they had that sort of technology, or the means, or any of that- But they hadn't had any of that in ages, unless Don had some kind of secret stash he just wasn't telling her about. Concern still knitted her brow. "Are you...falling asleep?" She asked, almost incredulous that this would happen now.

"Yeah...can you believe..." Yawn. "I've been awake for...almost seven days? Not....my best...re...co......."

And then he unceremoniously flopped to the ground. Two minutes later, an undignified snore began to come from Donatello's mouth.

Edited 2012-09-26 01:08 (UTC)

She bit her lip when he couldn't finish the statement, glancing around briefly. It was pure dumb luck that he had waited until they were no longer in danger to pass out; it was still worrying, since she had no idea exactly how long he might be out for, but for the time being, all she could do was get him back to the camp.

So that's what she did, slowly but surely.

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teal deers stampeding through watch it now

RE: teal deers stampeding through watch it now

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