thearena | (no subject)

Who| Cuthbert and Kain, Cuthbert and Marius, Cuthbert and YOU
What| Violence, violence and possibly violence
Where| Mostly fourth floor
When| Week 4
Warnings/Notes| Violence!

Cuthbert stalked on his own looking for fresh prey. He hadn't been in a good mood for a bit, hunger and a lack of anything productive to do had started to get to him. He was just full of the impotent anger of youth and stress all rolled up into six feet of Gunslinger minus the gun. It won't take much to get him riled up and by the time he ran across Kain he was already itching for some action.

After his run in with Kain earlier, Cuthbert was less in the mood for action, but still more aware of his surroundings than he really wanted to be. This time the edge was more of the short fused sort and he was jumping at shadows. He had stopped to catch his breath and his bearings in the dark shadowy corners of one of the halls and that was where he caught sight of Marius.

He had seen the other man in passing, but didn't know his name or anything more about him. Still, after a round of fighting that accomplished little and may have cost him energy and tactical advantage, Cuthbert was eager to make up for it. He waited until he could control the quick beating of his heart and snuck closer. If he wasn't careful, however, the glint from the edge of his knife would catch one of the display lights and he would be a lot less stealthy than he thought.

Everywhere Cuthbert went (with or without his two sidekicks) he moved carefully and quietly. He had died so badly in the last arena and he swore to himself he wouldn't let the same thing happen again. More than wanting to hunt down and kill everything in his path, Cuthbert was attempting to gather information and maybe scare a few people away from their supplies.

This was primarily accomplished by getting as close as he could and shining his flashlight into their eyes before running toward them and attempting to knock the wind out of them. It might not be the most successful strategy he'd ever come up with.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Marius gasped and whirled around, the grip on his crowbar tightening. His vision blurred and his head spun at the sudden movement, but he could still vaguely pinpoint the origin of the voice.

He took a shaky step back and raised his weapon in front of him with both hands. "I-I do not wish to fight you."

There was a tremble in his voice, mostly from weakness. But he held his ground, nonetheless, considering whether to lead the man away from the camp or to draw him in there, at the risk of exposing Cosette and the location of their hide-away but also where Courfeyrac could assist him.

If Courfeyrac was even there, of course.

The tremble was juts what Bert was hoping to hear, or at least, it was a good sign. This man was easy prey.

"You're damn right you don't. This isn't a fight you can win."

Bert contemplated how best to attack Marius. He was still wary that his prey wasn't trying to flee, because chasing him down and stabbing him would be a good way to end this. He turned his knife over several times in his hand and finally decided he should get this over with. He stepped closer, revealing himself.

"You brought a staff to a knife fight, friend. Terrible way to die, that."

Marius's tired eyes lingered briefly on the man's face—someone he had seen once or twice, likely, but had never spoken to—then drifted down to the knife in his hand. His grip on the crowbar instantly tightened, his knuckles growing white.

So this was it. This man was to be his death. He minded it little, even if he wished the Fates had given him a day longer to protect his beloved.

Still, he was ready, as he had always been ever since he had decided to join the barricades at Paris. Wordlessly, he took a step back, in the opposite direction of the camp. He raised his eyes to the man with a challenge in them. His shoulders tensed, ready for the attack that would come.

Edited 2014-03-08 06:15 (UTC)

"Very well. At least you'll die on your feet."

Cuthbert had enough of teasing his new prey. If this stranger was prepared to die, then Bert would happily oblige. He started forward, quick and sure of himself, lashing out with his knife. All he could do was hope to be enough stabbing this stranger in the shoulder before he got hit with the crowbar. If he was lucky enough he could disable this man without any kind of head trauma.

Marius kept his stance until the knife stabbed through his shoulder. A short cry of pain escaped him, but all he did was stagger back several feet more.

It was only then that it occurred to him to fight back; it might become too obvious that he was protecting the location of the camp if he refused to dodge, or at least put up some pretension of fighting back.

He transferred the crowbar to one hand. The wound in his side burned at the movement, but he ignored it as he swung the weapon at Cuthbert's arm, wildly, neither caring if it hit his opponent at all, nor that it left himself open for a counter-attack.

Bert could see the hit coming, it was obvious enough, but he couldn't get out of the way fast enough despite knowing what he was in for. The block wasn't enough to do anything but spread out the eventual bruise he would get from being hit.

With one huge effort he pulled his knife free from Marius's shoulder and staggered back a couple of steps.

"You've more fight in you than I expected. You're going to make me look back."