(no subject)

[needsaprince]

Who| Lottie and OPEN
What|  Hunting for food.
Where|  Near birds.
When|  Mid-days
Warnings| Death

She knew being out in broad daylight wasn't bright. But at night the birds were settled in their nest, and she was starving.

Not that she was really looking forward to egg sucking either, but it was better than nothing. Neither of her companions were planning to eat the way she ate, and so she hadn't wanted to push them into her food scrounging.

Which is why she was clinging, alone, to the slipper cliff face, praying she didn't fall and break something, as she gathered eggs from the nests here, batting away the birds that were not too happy to have her stealing their eggs.

"Oh bother off." She grumped as she felt another bird pecking at her parka. Thank god it was so thick.

The work was hard, taking a lot of her strength. And more than once she slipped free, finding herself in free fall, which was short, and ended painfully most every time.

Comments

[dieinpajamas]

Alpha had come to the cliffs with the intention of stealing more nests for fire wood and instead he's treated to the terribly amusing scene before him. Amusing enough that he simply waited at the bottom of the cliff for a short time, watching, before he called out, "Having a little trouble there, sweetheart?"

He ran a gloved finger carefully over the blade of the knife hidden from sight. His lovely Sponsors had been so generous as to gift him with it, not to mention the fire-starting materials, it's only polite he treat them to a show in gratitude, right?

[needsaprince]

Oh lordy.

Twisting to look down at him, her balance failed her. Her arms flew out, trying, and failing, to correct the mistake before it was too late. but it already was.

The distance was not so bad, but she went down it on her back. It was not a pleasant fall.

Finally, when she was flat on the ground, she moaned softly. "Yes. It's miserable here."

[dieinpajamas]

Even Alpha winced, though still with that condescending amusement on his face. "Ah," he said, strolling towards her as though this is a casual chat on the street. "It's not so bad. A little chilly, maybe, but there are worse places you could be."

[needsaprince]

"Well, my home town in New Orleans, so I am not really...disposed to cold temperature myself."

Picking herself up, she gave him what she hoped was a charming, sympathetic smile.

[dieinpajamas]

"Oh, well then I can see how the weather might not agree with a lady such as yourself," said Alpha agreeably, sticking out his empty hand, an offer to help her up.

[needsaprince]

"Thank you."

She smiled warmly, taking his hand and pulling herself up. No one else entailed 'I always rely on the kindness of strangers' as well as Lottie around these parts.

Even when she really should know better.

[dieinpajamas]

Alpha's smile was pleasant as he helped her up, remained pleasant as the time when a normal, helpful bystander would have let go, and continued on being pleasant as his grip tightened, sliding down until he was holding her by the wrist with an easy strength.

"My pleasure," he said, completely sincere.

[needsaprince]

Warning bells went off in her head as soon as he didn't let go, and she tried to politely detach herself.

And when his grip tighten, she outright yanked her hand back. Or tried to.

"You let go of me right this instant!" She said, trying to keep herself calm, but suddenly remembering where she was, remembering what the point of being here was.

[dieinpajamas]

"Now, now," he said, paying little attention to her struggle and in fact pulling to draw her closer. He bent over slightly so he was a little nearer to her as well. "Mustn't panic. This really isn't the kind of place to lose your head."

His smile turned suddenly terribly amused, as though he'd made the most marvelous, unintentional joke. "Well, except when it is."

[luckofthedevil]

Alex had more or less the same idea as Lottie. Eggs were relatively easy to scavenge, compared to the birds that laid them, and for their small size they packed a decent amount of protein. He had a feeling he'll be quite sick of eggs by the end of the Arena though.

He almost turned away when he realized there was someone else hunting around on the cliff, a little voice in the back of his head muttering something about it being a good location to bump off other Tributes. But then he sees the person falling, and he doesn't even stop to think about putting himself underneath them, trying to cushion the landing. He just does it.

[needsaprince]

She grunted as she hit the soft, unexpected shape under her.

Someone...someone who had just helped her.

"Oh...oh thank you so much." She said, gushing in thanks. Her flank was already sore as is, and even if this wasn't her first tumble, she was grateful for one less bruise.

[luckofthedevil]

"Are you all right?" he asked, despite his now rather sore stomach. She wasn't heavy really, but between the snow and the ice, he hadn't been able to keep a solid footing when he caught her. Even with the traction on his boots.

[needsaprince]

"Better than I could be."

She got herself steady, before giving him her most thankful and, hopefully charming smile.

"Are you darling? That was an armful of girl to catch."

[luckofthedevil]

"I'm fine. You barely weigh a thing."

American from the accent. Smooth warm drawl pointed to the South. That was about as close as Alex could pinpoint though. He'd mostly visited the East and West coasts of the States.

He pushed himself to his feet and brushed the snow off his pants.

"Trying to get to the eggs?" he asked, tilting his head back to peer up at the cliff.

[needsaprince]

"Yeah. Neither of my companions eat like regular people, so I've been fending for myself."

She knew Some would help, if she asked. And she had a feeling Adel would to.

But she felt to darn guilty asking them to help when it was only for her.

"You? They're..." Tasty was too much. "Better than nothing."

[luckofthedevil]

"Hah. They're food. I probably won't want to eat them for a month after this."

He scanned the cliff for good handholds. The climb wasn't very difficult for him, except for the iciness.

"If I climbed and tossed them down, do you think you could catch them?"

[needsaprince]

"At least." She said, making a face of disgust.

Yes, eggs were banished from her diet for the foreseeable future.

Hmmm. She eyed the nests, and the distance, coming up with a chilling, but doable plan.

"I can catch them in my coat."

[itsananimalthing]

One of those free falls resulted in not a painful landing, but one into a pair of rather large arms. Apparently Riddick had found her, and, anticipating a slip from a cliffside like that, happened to be in just the right place to catch her when the inevitable occurred.

"Havin' fun, there?" he asked, smirking a bit, and not quite putting her down yet. Share heat when you could, in a place like this, right? Besides, he wanted to see how she reacted to being held off the ground. Could be funny.

[needsaprince]

She went from a squeal of surprise, to a grunt...to a giggle.

"Hey, handsome."

A friendly face, and a strong man to catch her when she fell? Lottie wasn't complaining.

[itsananimalthing]

Riddick managed not to laugh at her. Just barely. It wasn't often he found adults charming, but she was admittedly kind of cute, even if she was probably the most naive thing he'd come across since that kid from the Cornucopia.

He did drop her feet down, though kept an arm around her shoulders bracingly. "Handsome. I could get used t'that. Havin' any luck up on that cliff, or is falling all yer coming up with?"

[needsaprince]

She certainly didn't mind leaning into that shoulder. Not just for the balance; even in broad day light, it was colder the a cow's tit in January.

Probably colder.

"I've been eatin' them as I go, but I have a few, assuming they didn't..."

She had been tucking them into her pockets, and just praying none cracked. Sticking her hand in her pocket, she made a face as it sank into goo.

"Well...some of them made it. Here, doll."

[itsananimalthing]

He chuckled at her. "Wasn't askin' for you to share. But thanks." He wasn't going to turn down help that was offered, even if it did come from the gal who wasn't really likely to do much killing in here. With a practiced ease, he pulled his glove off with his teeth and tossed it aside, cracked the offering with a thumbnail, pried the shell open enough to get at the inside, and dropped the yolk into his mouth. He'd had harder meals to crack, in his time.

And all without dropping that arm around her. It was at that point, he asked: "You got any left for you?"

[needsaprince]

That was impressive, and she watched. Some people were much better at this than she was ever going to be.

"Oh, I've been eatin' them as I go. First arena I think I've had a full belly. Even if it's full of...well, that."

Her nose wrinkled a little. But really, it could be worse.

[itsananimalthing]

"Here's hopin' it don't make everybody sick," Riddick commented, ever the pessimist. He tossed the shell aside, pretty sure eating it wouldn't actually give any more nuitrients, and would more likely slash up his teeth. If he had more tools, maybe he could manage something edible, but a mashed tin from the Cornucopia wasn't going to cut it.

"You got a place?" he asked, turning his gaze back to Lottie.

[needsaprince]

"Some and Adel....they are not doing well here, either of 'em."

She shook her head, sadly. She didn't know how long she'd be able to help them.

"Adel has hooves, and Some is scared of ice. Our lovely hosts couldn't have made a better arena for them." Her scowl was deep. If she ever got the chance, she wanted to give the people who made this a piece of her mind.