The Darkest Night Will End... right?

[gardienne]

 Who: Eponine and OPEN to ARENA 2 people
What: Eponine's gone a-wandering in the desert
Where: Somewhere in arena 2
When: Some time during the night time 
Warnings: Unless you guys want to bring any?

It's night time in the arena and now Eponine is glad for her long sleeves and her velvet dress.  It's been strangely okay so far, this arena. Not too many deaths. Not too little food - or perhaps she just hadn't got used to the sumptuous luxury of the Capitol. Either way, between her bottle of water and the horrible cacti, she's okay. Just a little bored. 

Whilst her friends sleep, Eponine wanders. She's on the look out really, for food, for weapons - anything that will keep her alive for a little longer. And, of course, she is on the look out for danger.

But tonight, Eponine hasn't found danger, or weapons, or even food. What she has found is one of the screens, projecting images from the first arena. She stands for a minute, watching the other tributes in wonder. And then a face so familiar, so dear to her, flashes onscreen. Howard.

At once, Eponine is closer to the screen, pawing at Howard's face magnified as it is. But then she steps back because Howard has suddenly somehow burst into flames before her very eyes. Startled, she lets out a yelp and scrambles back, settling cross legged in the sand as she watches him trying to put out the fire, knowing she can do nothing to help him.

"HOWARD, YOU ARE A SILLY!"

Her shout of despair echoes in the still night, and Eponine claps a hand over her mouth in horror. She hopes nobody heard that.

Comments

[polyturtle]

Unfortunately for her? Someone did hear. And it was someone who didn't have much of a problem with attacking her. Not anymore.

And so Don was in the shadows, weapons in hand, inching and creeping closer like a creeping wind. If she was that foolish to reveal her position, she had to accept the consequences. Even if it meant her death.

[gardienne]

Completely oblivious to the impending danger now, Eponine continues to watch the screen. Watch Howard trying to put out the flames that were consuming his body. Every now and again, she looks around anxiously, but there is naught to be seen, and she's more interested in making sure that Howard is alive.

Under her breath, she keeps up a steady mumble of,
"You silly boy. What do you do? Put it out, Howard. Find some water. Come Howard and save yourself."

[polyturtle]

One moment, there was nothing there. Nothing and no one. Eponine was alone. And then, suddenly, he leaped. And with a satisfying thud, he landed feet first, scythe in hand, like a shadow made material.

He was right behind her. If she didn't care to hear his landing to dodge, his swing towards her neck would be most true indeed.

[gardienne]

Luckily, sheHAD heard the thud, and immediately throws herself face firtst into the sand. In that fashion, she crawls a little, so she can scramble round to look at her attacker. And when she sees Don, even Eponine actually has to admit her fear.

He is a monster - and had she not seen footage of him EATING other Tributes in one arena? That is not a nice death.
But right now, Eponine has nowhere to run. Except - there is one chance. She grabs for handfuls of sand and flings them, as hard as she can at Don, hoping to blind him long enough so that she can run. She does at least have speed and agility onside.

[polyturtle]

He was a monster. Fully and truly. Even without the blood on his hands, and he could no longer escape that. Or the anger, or the horror, or-

In any case. Eponine was fast, but Don was quicker, having learned his lesson from his encounter with Joan. He leans to the side, avoiding most of the sand with ease.

And if she ran? Well, shell, he was going after her. He had to kill her, after all.

[gardienne]

She ran. She ran and she ran and she ran, as fast as she could, skittering over sand tripping up over her stupid high stiletto boots.

And eventually, she fell. She was up again in a flash, but the moment it took for her to do that would perhaps be enough for Don to catch her.

But this time - this time, she was not going to scream for help. She was not going to cry. She was going to stand her ground and fight. She started to shimmy out of her high boots - her only weapon to hand. Maybe, if she could just knock Dom onto his back... maybe she stood a chance of staying alive.

[polyturtle]

Unfortunately it was enough time. Too much time. And with that, he was on her, and he didn't bother swinging the scythe again. At least not yet. He didn't want to give her the time to dodge him again.

So he merely lunged forward and, scythe crooked away, threw a nice, hard, roundhouse punch at her head. A move he intended to repeat until she collapsed from the force or her face became a bloody pulp. Both were preferable.

[whosalicewhite]

"A silly what?"

Parker tries to ignore the screens, and she's rather good at ignoring what she doesn't want to see.

[gardienne]

Eponine jumps violently.

"Madame! I thought you were asleep!"

She jerks her head back to the screen. "You see, he has set himself on fire. He is a stupid boy sometimes."

[whosalicewhite]

"Sometimes just look that way."

Parker looks at the screen like she has to decide on an answer. Eventually, she comes up with, "Ew."

"No cause to do that."

[gardienne]

"I do not think he did it on purpose... he is a stupid boy, but I do not think he wants to kill himself. That is not Howard's way. He is stupid, but he is brave too."

She shrugged.

"I hope he puts himself out. He is supposed to win, you know."

[whosalicewhite]

"Supposed to win? How do you know that?"

Is there some sort of secret plot?

[gardienne]

"Yes."

She is quite firm on the point.

"I have asked everyone to help him win, you know. He HAS to win - he will go mad if he is murdered again. He is brave, but I do not think he is strong." She taps her head, in a blatant 'up there' gesture.
There is no secret plot - just Eponine's desperate desire to see her oldest friend win.

[saisamour]

Marius has tried to peel off the dried mud from his skin after his encounter with R in the waterhole, but he's obviously missed a few spots, and he simply gave up halfway on the muck sticking to his clothes and cape.

Aside from that, however, he still looks rather well. With no major injuries, some food, water, and other useful items from sponsors, and a trip to the Cornucopia that has provided him, among other things, with his crossbow, he wanders the desert, a little bit at a loss as to what to do next.

And then he hears Eponine's scream, and his eyes widen as he rushes to the sound of her voice. He doesn't stop until he's a few feet away from her, and a look of relief crosses his face upon observing that she seems fine so far, as well as a little concern at her sudden outburst.

"Eponine!"

[gardienne]

She Jumps violently when Marius comes from behind, and she's scrambling untidily to her feet and turning to see who is behind her immediately.

And at once her shoulders sag in relief to see that it is Marius and not an enemy that awaits her. For a minute, she smiles happily to see him, but then her expression clouds. He had said Cosette's name.

"I can wonder that you remember me, Monsieur."

She tries to speak frostily, to show her displeasure. But Eponine cannot sustain it, and she gives in, and moves closer.

"I am glad you do all the same."

But her attention is caught by the TV too and she turns her head from Marius to Howard and back again, unsure who to watch.

[saisamour]

His brows furrow at the obvious confusion from Eponine's initial coldness. What is it that he had done? "Of course I remember you."

But as her frosty tone dissipates as quickly as it came, he simply brushes the thought away as something inconsequential and glances at the TV, curious as to what she is looking at. "What might that be?"

[gardienne]

"I thought, perhaps, you would mix me up with another. It is no matter, Sir."

She shrugs it away, and stands, almost defensively, in front of the screen.

"It is one of the magic boxes I told you of. You remember? They call it a screen, and it shows the Games - I think this shows the other arena."

She says nothing of Howard, but she can't help but half turn back to the screen so that she can see Howard and reassure herself that he isn't dead.

[saisamour]

Sorry Eponine, but Marius is taller and can easily glance over her shoulder with only a slight tilt to one side. His eyebrows raise as he recognizes Howard on the screen.

"Is that not your...?" But he drifts off there, because he does not really know what Howard is to her. "Will he be fine?"

He realizes, soon after he says it in a slightly panicked tone, that it's a rather pointless question because even if Howard is not, there is nothing he can do to assist him. Still, he's a little more than concerned. Even if Howard had been unnecessarily rude to him, the boy still means something to Eponine.

[gardienne]

"He is my friend. JUST a friend, Sir." She speaks quickly, breathlessly almost. "He is the first friend I have made." She's quite unabashed, knowing what Marius might have thought, knowing herself that their love, if it had been love, had been innocent. Her only concern is that Marius might think that she is taken - a slim hope, but a hope she nurtures.

Eponine doesn't mind Marius looking, but she doesn't budge either. To his second question, she merely shrugs.

"I do not know. The screens do not work like those communicators where we can talk. Here, I can shout but he cannot hear me. He cannot see who is watching him. Perhaps he is watching us watch him? Or perhaps somebody else - maybe even the Capitol are watching us watch him burn. And they wait for me to scream and cry because they know... nothing. They know nothing."

[luckofthedevil]

Alex noticed the glow of the screen a little ways off. Thinking it was a lantern, or some other artificial light source, he made his way toward it cautiously, wondering who had been lucky enough to find one at the Cornucopia.

Until he heard someone yell.

Hitching his makeshift pack higher on his back, Alex broke into a run. He hadn't heard the words clearly, but he'd understood the tone well enough.

But when he arrived at the light, he realized it wasn't a lantern at all, and no one was attacking anyone else.

"Are you all right?"

[gardienne]

Eponine jumped violently at the sound of the man's voice behind her, and she turned hastily.

Was he going to kill her? She was unarmed, except for her precious water bottle and a handful of cactus flesh tucked under her hat (yes, in her hair, but she didn't have pockets, okay?).

"Monsieur? Am I alright? Well - that is on you. Am I okay, Sir? Or will you try to hurt me?"

[luckofthedevil]

Alex held up his hands to show that he was unarmed (there was the folding knife, but it was in his back pocket and not his hand).

"I'm not going to hurt you, I was just concerned because I heard someone ye--" And then he spotted the screen, and the clip of someone on fire. Ah. "Do you know that person?"

[gardienne]

"You do not know Howard?" Eponine didn't quite believe that. "And yet, you are noot new here, for I tried..." She had tried to pickpocket him all that time ago. She laughed her same old hoarse laugh.

"I do not think it is wise, Sir, to be concerned about anyone except yourself. What if I had shouted to lure you here so that I might kill you and steal your food and weapons?"

[luckofthedevil]

"I've seen him around," Alex replied. "I've just not spoken with him." There were still a few of the older Tributes he hadn't gotten to speaking with yet, for one reason or another. With Howard it was merely a matter of timing.

Alex sighed as Eponine suggested she might have tried to lure him there. "Then I suggest you get on with it. I haven't had a good fight in days."

[gardienne]

"Why do you want to fight? A good fight? There is no such thing, Sir." She looked back at Alex scornfully.
"I did not say that I wished to - it was merely a caution to keep you safe, Sir. There are people here who would trick you. Monsieur Malfoy tricked me; he made me eat Howard's face. It is a thing that can be done."

She shook her head. "I am sorry. That is not for polite conversation, is it, the last arenas?"