Surviving

[knifewithnoname]

Who: Pruna, Sandy and Shepard
What: An ambush, a counter ambush and a counter counter ambush
Where: Sandy and Pruna's gingerbread house (yes they claimed it)
When: Week two, current
Warnings: General arena warnings apply.

Pruna ran, speed was essential when catching Doki Doki's, they were vicious and there was never just one. Killing them and then running didn't really work as you often ended up having to abandon your prey to the thousand other creatures that appeared with their sharp teeth.

So she had began catching them alive, in the bag she had gotten her supplies in, catching them, knocking them unconscious, hoping to get back to the hut before it woke up.

She wasn't alone though, someone or something was following her, and it wasn't a Doki Doki. She burst into the hut and threw the bag at the corner where Sandy rested before putting her hand to her lips and sinking back into the shadows, waiting.

Comments

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy hadn't heard Pruna's approach, a testament to the assassin's skill. So when the door opened Sandy fumbled the armored umbrella she had been left and held it defensively ready to open it as soon as whatever was on the other side of the door came through. The chain mail on the inside of the fabric should provide protection. And if she needed to use it as a club it was weighted down by that same metal.

At least the crippled girl was smarter then to ask Pruna what was after her. She simply remained still clutching the pink parasol tightly, eyes wide and focused on the door.

[earthborn]

Silent she certainly was that, but there were disadvantages to rushing headlong, regardless of how stealthy one might seem at the time. One of them was that you left a trail. Shepard could do silent creeping herself, when she cared to; but it wasn't often.

And it wasn't today.

Without a moment of hesitation, she walked up to the door of the little house the girls' had made into their base, and yanked it open, stepping aside the inevitable ambush as she did so.

[knifewithnoname]

The ambush still came, Pruna leaped at her from where she waited in shadow, knife out as she tried to tackle the intruder to the ground, stumbling a little at the side step, trying to still grab her.

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy's eyes went wide as the fighting broke out. Gripping the umbrella like a bat she tried to wriggle across the floor dragging her bum leg and with a terrified scream she swung the chain mail coated stick for Shepherd's leg.

[earthborn]

This, Shepard was expecting— she siezed Pruna's wrist as she lunged and gripped hard, twisting to try and break her hold, to turn with the momentum of the strike and drive her to the ground with Shepard on top. It was a bit awkward, but a classic maneuver, well known to those who commonly arrested rather than simply killed their targets. Alright, well— she was stretching a little.

Now the umbrella was a bit unexpected, and it would have caught her by surprised, except for the noise of it. Chainmail was heavy, dangerous as a blunt weapon, and surprisingly versatile. It wasn't stealthy, and her reaction time was as quick as ever.

Not bothering to dodge, she took the hit on her hip as she went down, and ended up lashing out with one foot, her hands occupied with her own blade and the prone Pruna.

"Hey!" she snarled, and there would be no mistaking the sword held to the kid's neck. Less than two inches of soft flesh stood between gaudy steel and a fatal spinal injury, "Ease up, you little brats, or I'll actually have to kill you."

[knifewithnoname]

Pruna knew it, knew the dangers and she froze, eyes wide as she watched Shepard. More annoyed with herself than anything, and embarrassed that she had gone down so easily in front of Shepard.

"Be leaving her alone." She told her glaring, "Sandy did no be doing nothing."

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy fell back trying to make a strong face, though she was clearly frightened.

"Well...I mean I did hit her. So not nothing." She pointed out adjusting her grip on the umbrella.

"Get off her." She added in a wavering voice that betrayed her lack of experience at making demands.

[earthborn]

"She smacked me with an umbrella. Drop the knife, Kid." Shepard replied, half in amusement, half outrage, and applied more pressure to Pruna, but when Sandy spoke over her, the steel came back into her tone. She, at least, was very used to making demands, and backing threats with killing, if need be.

"Put down the weapon and step back. Now," If Sandy had been at all experienced, she'd have already concussed Shepard, or at least tried to put a crack in her. But she knew one thing; this was Sandy. Good to know.

"Don't be stupid, Sandy. If I wanted to kill the both of you, I'd do it. I'm trying to be your friend. You don't wanna be my enemy."

[knifewithnoname]

Pruna glared at her, but her eyes took in the details, the positions, the fact that her and Sandy couldn't win this. She gave Sandy a tiny nod and a look that meant trust me.

"I will no be stabbing you." She said, survival instincts not quite letting her let go of the knife altogether, but she did flip it, so the blade was pointed away from Shepard.

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy flopped onto her hip, on the side with the good leg and let out a breath of relief. She clearly had not been prepared for a fight let alone for having to kill someone with a blunt weapon.

"Why do you want to be our friend?" She added as she tried to ignore the blood pounding in her ears.

[earthborn]

"Because with these odds, I'm going to have to get some sleep before this is over, and you're about as unlikely to kill me in my sleep as anyone in this candy-coated shitheap."

But she let Pruna go— if slowly, a clear message of force and assurance written in her deliberate release. After all, it was now a choice between actually breaking her wrist to get the knife loose, or trusting her. And wasn't this about trust to begin with? Trust that she won't kill you, trust that Shepard would kill in response to a threat, trust that all the myriad ways in which this would inevitably fuck the three of them over would come to pass. Life's just full of compromises, and sometimes you have to choose between two barely distinguishable options, neither of which appeals. At least there is a choice.

But you, Sandy, you get a look, "Are you in the habit of questioning good fortune?"

[knifewithnoname]

Pruna glared at her the whole time, and moved to put herself between Shepard and Sandy the moment she could.

"We do be being in the habit of questioning threats." She told her with another glare. "What do you be wanting from us? And what do you be giving us in return?"

This was friendship right?

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy wilted under the gaze till Pruna stood up for her.

"To be fair, every time I let my guard down for good fortune I get killed."

A running theme so far in her last two arenas. She could survive a good long time by avoiding trouble...but the minute she started to relax...

[earthborn]

"Well, for one thing, I'm one more person who's not yet ready to throttle you to death," she drawled, somewhere between sardonic and genuinely amused, "For another, I don't think you or gimpy here can move very fast. You can't stay here forever, that's boring as hell."

The fact that the safe, sane strategy of wait and ambush was entertaining for no one involved was a factor. And although she agreed with the sentiment for it's own sake, it also made for bad TV, which could be fatal enough.

"We stick together, maybe she doesn't have to die when that gets infected and can't walk anymore, maybe I watch your back for a little while, and you watch mine," She gestured in the vague direction of the milkshake lake, a sweeping gesture that encompassed the castle beyond to the north, "Or maybe you want to sit out here in the open and talk about it some more until somebody better armed and less willing to put up with your bullshit makes me a better offer?"

[knifewithnoname]

Pruna wrinkled her nose, she wanted to argue that she could look after Sandy herself, infected leg or not. But she wasn't sure if she could, whilst also looking for food, and defending against threats.

She wished now more than ever that her sister was here, but she wasn't and so Pruna had to take what she could get. At least she knew Shepard was a good fighter, and ruthless, which was what was needed.

Of course it would probably mean she would turn on them the moment a better deal came along.

"Be coming in then." She went to shut the door behind Shepard, "And be being warned if you do be trying anything or hurting Sandy you do be being dead."

[justoutrunyou]

"Welcome to our humble home." Sandy muttered and drug herself back into one of the corners of the small barren candy house. Shepherd wasn't the least agreeable ally she'd made since these games started...that title still probably went to Howard, or Javert but at least as big of a jerk Javert was he still stood up for her.

She sat with her back to one of the walls and hands on her umbrella as if the minute the door were closed she expected Shepherd to lunge at her. Because really how useful was she in this situation? Sure she could come up with ideas to help Pruna but there were more then a few adults smarter then her in this arena. And if Pruna wasn't so loyal Sandy was sure she'd have better luck with them.