WAR GAMES

[shinsengumi]

10...

9...

This year, you will be participating in teams. Your teams, as sponsored, are as follows:

Aeva and Ystelle; Ashleigh and Larsen; Aubrey and Kieran; Brigitte and Ellias; Cabel and Joss; Cyrel and Hollingworth; D'Ivann and Helene; Drael and Kristopher; Griffith and Xian; Fila and Lisette; Indra and Zacharius; Ivy and Reece; Kol and Laurence; Leonel and Solus; Lucinde and Visvaldis; Malis and Vox; Oberin and Odette; Shryke and Siegfried; Talbot and Thane.

Should both members of a team survive, you will both be permitted to leave the arena alive. May the odds be ever in your favour...

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1...

Comments

DEATH TOLL

[shinsengumi]

Comment with killer and manner of death.

TEAM EIGHTEEN

[secretkeeper]

Teams... [As he surfaces beneath a canopy of trees and hears the announcement, his gaze falls on the fellow player within sight—he assumes this 'Griffith'. Xian does not care for team play and says as much as soon as they're free to move.]

I'm not playing this with anyone. I'll survive on my own.

[And he makes to slip beneath the mantle of his power—only, he can still feel the other player's gaze on him. He frowns sharply, and looks down at his hands in disbelief.]

TEAM SIX

[enforcehiswill]

[A forest, and a young woman, and nothing else. Larsen doesn't waste a single moment, except to relay a sharp explanation.]

There are two here I protect. You can accompany me or take your own path, I won't contend your actions in either case. But I intend to find them, and if you stay with me I'll have co-operation in that.

[He makes a sharp motion for her to follow, then turns, striding through the trees in single-minded haste and giving no further consideration.]

TEAM FOUR

[darkvision]

Huh, you hear that, Zach? [Indra bounces excitedly on the balls of his feet so soon as he's able to, grinning ear to ear and cracking his knuckles with anticipation.] They want to take us both on at once. You think we can take it?

[evanesce]

[She lowers her chin as he speaks to her, thinking of her brother name and knowing that he'll need no help from her—she doesn't even know if he'd spare her, in this context. She has no weapons, and no means to defend herself, but it seems this man won't harm her, at least not yet... The decision is simple.]

I-I'll come with you, for now...

[She falls into pace behind him, eyes darting around for any potential threat.]

[fixations]

[It doesn't take long for shock to turn into indignation, Griffith's attention caught quite firmly on dismissive words rather than bemused actions.]

What-- well, fine! Fine with me! Why should I be dragging anyone else around anyway, you look half-fucking-dead already! You go try and survive, asshole, I've always been just fine alone before now!

[... not that he goes anywhere. Just glares, all offended pride and maybe shaking just a bit.]

[phantasms]

You just try and be grateful I don't have to kill you today, fuckhead. [And Zach grins back, punching Indra's arm to maybe express the sentiment behind those words - he won't have to face off against his closest friend, and no greater weight has ever been removed from his shoulders.]

[secretkeeper]

Oh, is that so? [Xian switches tacks, as it seems using his power is out of the question. A smirk stretches across his face; if he's going to die out here, he'd rather it happen quickly.] Big brave boy going to die all alone out here~ There's really no one in that slew of people who gives a fuck about you, no one you can run off to and ally with? Poor shaking thing~

[Xian stalks closer to Griffith, just making to invade his personal space and flick his wrist at Griffith's shoulder.]

[enforcehiswill]

[Larsen doesn't slow for a moment as he speaks, forcing his way through foliage with no particular consideration toward the girl following behind.]

Do you know who Laurence is?

[darkvision]

Yeah yeah, let's both be grateful for that and forget about it for now. [The appreciation in his tone is clear and, for the first time, he casts his gaze around their surroundings.] All trees and shit, as far as we can see. Do we want to find Xian? He'll probably sneak up on us, invisible little fuck, we should go find some weapons. Knives, at least.

[evanesce]

[She hesitates for only a moment, and replies almost too quietly to be heard over their trampling progress.]

H-he's the green-haired boy... with red eyes. [A beat.] I-if you want to save them, you s-should be more quiet...

[fixations]

[And Griffith stumbles back at that approach, face already hot and heart quite plainly on his sleeve - he is scared, and those words are humiliating and cruelly on point, and the whole thing just draws him up furious and taut.]

Shut up! You don't know the first thing about me!

[phantasms]

Ehhh, fuck Xian, he'll take care of himself. [The sky... isn't helping. Shouldn't you be able to figure out directions from the sun or some shit? Zach scowls upwards, clearly unimpressed.] Didn't they say there'd be stuff at the... Cornuwhat's-it-called? The horn?

[enforcehiswill]

[The green-haired boy with red eyes. Fine. Better than some. He's sure he recognised the other name, but Larsen speaks again, looking for that confirmation and apparently blanking Ashleigh's advice.]

What about D'Ivann?

[secretkeeper]

I know enough to tell I'm right. [Xian sneers, keeping that distance between them ever tight and uncomfortable. He leers in Griffith's direction, despite being just slightly shorter than him and clearly less built than he is.] Besides, kid, you just told me the first thing about you—you're an unlikeable little shit that no one can stand. I'm not going to put up with you, and you're not about to make friends with me.

So what do you say we settle this right now? Come on. I'll even give you the first shot. [He steps back, spreads his arms to either side of himself, and settles into position. He holds Griffith's gaze, challenging the other boy with his own sharp eyes.]

[darkvision]

Oh yeah, they did say that! Yesterday, right, when they were telling us about this... [Apparently at a loss for words, he waves his hand in a noncommittal direction. Instead, he adopts a pose gazing upward as Zach does, his arms akimbo.] Where the hell do you think that is?

[evanesce]

He's the angel... [She's spent several of the past nights wondering about him, and finds her fingers tracing lightly over the scar on her face as her thoughts drift again. A strange creature, that one, and she wonders why he's been involved in this game at all... She mumbles next, slowing her pace enough to leave several steps between herself and Larsen.]

S-someone's going to h-hear you...

[fixations]

[Griffith very almost does strike, right up until he's outright challenged to. Then he freezes, caught by Xian's gaze, one fist half-raised and his eyes already feeling the first dangerous prickling of angry frightened tears.

It's pathetic just how quickly his resolve has crumbled. He's supposed to be reconciled to this by now, and here's someone damn deserving of it, and yet, yet...]

I don't... I don't want to.

[phantasms]

How the fuck should I know? [Now he glares around their tiny patch of clearing, which of course offers nothing to indicate which way they should head. Fuck it...] Is this their idea of fun, really? Come on! I'm not a fucking explorer!

[enforcehiswill]

[The angel, right. Larsen files the knowledge away, her answer correlating with his own, and only then does he respond to her repeated concern, strides not faltering for an instant.]

I don't have time to be cautious. [She would be able to defend herself, but Kol...] Every second I'm not with them is a second I'm not defending them. There is nothing I value more than seeing myself to their protection. Anybody who tries to come between us will soon learn the error of such a choice.

[But her concern for herself isn't wrong, and so he says it again;] You can go any way you wish, miss.

[secretkeeper]

You don't want to~ [Xian sneers further, turning away from Griffith with a dismissive motion. His back to the other man, he bites his lip; he's not going to take part in this any longer than he has to, and he won't give up on his ticket out just yet. The question is which direction to take it in... prompt the kid to self-defense, or prick at his pride further.

Xian takes the second option, promising himself he'll strike at Griffith's face if it doesn't work.] You fucking brat, you've never done anything worthwhile in your life, have you? Never had to defend yourself, just had all these people who ~don't even like you~ to keep your ass alive. What a pathetic show. I don't know why they'd bring you here—you're boring as hell to watch. Going to cry now, boy? Cry until someone kills you, and still, no one will even care.

[darkvision]

[Indra tuts, scuffing the toe of one boot in the dirt beneath his feet and looking around again.] Well, what do you want to do, then? We can't just stay here, that's boring.

[evanesce]

Y-you can't protect anyone if you're dead... [She speaks ever softly, slowing to a cautious halt. She does not expect Larsen to wait for her explanation, but she offers it anyone, quick and quiet.] I'll f-find something. A weapon. A-and watch your back. I-I'll follow you from a distance...

[And, hopefully, if he attracted to much attention, vanish into the woods before it could come her way. She catches herself glancing over her shoulder for fear of Thane's presence, and starts to move again, away from Larsen on a perpendicular route.]

[fixations]

[Xian speaks, and he snaps.

Griffith lunges forward, fingers digging hard into Xian's arm and jerking him around to meet the strike of his clenched fist. It's hardly the first time he's ever hit somebody, hardly the first time he's heard the brutal sound of knuckles connecting to flesh, but it is the first time he's seen someone truly staggered by it, and Griffith doesn't pause to consider the adrenaline-fueled rush of pleasure that fills him with, only brings his hands together as one tight ball and hits Xian again. It's a vicious blow to the side of his head, and this time the other man is floored, and Griffith screams at him with no sense at all toward who else might be around.]

You fucking shit! You don't know anything! [And then he kicks, his boot connecting with Xian's already satisfyingly bloodied face, and that sight - that sound - should surely horrify him but he's just too furious to know or care. He is worth more than this skinny carcass of a man. He's worth more than any of this, and he'll fucking make them know it.]

[phantasms]

Oh fucking hell no! Fuck, no, let's go... [As if another quick glance around will make any difference. Zach points directly behind Indra, speaking with disinterested finality.] That way.