#soac82a1

I had just finished gathering all of my items when I hear the oh-so familiar beeping that meant that a sponsor gift was coming for me. Turning to greet my newest present, my eyes widen and my mouth forms an “O” shape. A simple package is not what floated down on a silver parachute, but a long, gleaming, beautiful, amazing... halberd.

Arena Day 1

Location: A Clearing in the Forest (15)

Allies: Gvenna Hawthorne

Inventory

Weapons: Axe, Dagger Food: None Other: A half carved branch, a backpack, a lighter, an bottle of kerosene, a parachute with pod attached

Injuries: Scratches and bites from the swarm of bats (cleaned and healing)

Notable Events

I killed the Ryder at the Bloodbath when he tried to take the axe Gattin had left for me. I hadn’t intended on murdering anyone so soon, but he tried to take my axe and the hell I was going in to the arena empty handed.

I met up with Gvenna and we formed a tentative alliance. We made our way to the edge of the arena a were shortly after attacked by a swarm of bats. We managed to take them down and decided to move location for the time being.

After we stopped and cleaned ourselves up at the crossroads, we made our way down the right path. Thankfully nothing jumped out to attack us and we didn’t encounter any other Tributes.

Once we make it back to the intersection where they had started, I finally deemed us far enough away from the bat tree to stop. While I wasn’t really scared, per se, I was pretty shaken up from the whole thing, and now that the adrenaline had stopped pumping, I became more aware of the gashes on my face, neck and hands that were somehow still oozing. 

Sitting down, I pulled out my water bottle, pouring only a bit into my cupped hand to clean off the dried blood. It seemed to help and I handed the bottle over to Gvenna to do the same, accepting the disinfecting creme and using the bare minimum on the worst cuts. 

There didn't have a whole lot of bats in Seven, but every now and again some could be spotted hanging from the rafters in the paper mills. That said, bats had never really interested Rowan, she rarely ever saw any anyway. Now as a swarm of bats suddenly swooped down upon them- apparently they didn’t like that she had taken a branch from their nesting tree- she was regretting not taking more of an interest in them.

“Let’s go, let’s GO!” Rowan shouted, stumbling to her feet, her axe held tightly in her right hand and her dagger and branch in her left. Beside her Gvenna was already up, and moving two small knives in her hands.

They didn’t make it far before the bats over came them, though, and the feeling of their sharp claws cutting into the exposed skin of Rowan’s face and neck and by the sounds of it, Gvenna was under siege as well. Skidding to a stop, she know that there was no way that they could outrun them all so she tries another response.

Raising her axe, she began swinging it wildly, but for every bat she send crashing to the ground with the blade of her axe, two more appeared. She could just make out Gvenna a few feet ahead, and it seemed that the din Rowan was causing pulled the bats away from her, giving her a chance to recover.

In the back of her mind, Rowan worried that Gvenna was just going to bolt, but with wings flapping and claws scratching, she shouldn’t spend any more time worrying. The leather jacket at least protected her from most of the onslaught and, despite how endless the swarm seemed, she was making at least some progress.

As Gvenna took down the last bat that still attacked her, she looked up to see Rowan completely surrounded. Knowing that her knives weren’t going to help much, she glanced around, looking for some other sort of weapon she could possibly use to help when suddenly it dawned on her.

Swinging the bag off her back as she ran to the edge of the forest, she cut down a thin but leafy looking branch as fast as she could. Her heart pounded as she finally pulled it down, half afraid another swarm would attack. Realizing that just one branch wouldn’t be enough, she got to work cutting down another.

“Rowan, just hold on!”

Rowan’s arms were getting tired as she took down bat after bat. Their claws cut into her, tangling in her hair and ripping at her jacket. She couldn’t see Gvenna and felt her heart sink. Had she left her? The attack didn’t seem like it would ever end, and she was on her last legs when she saw the flash of red through the wall of wings and heard the girl yell to her.

Gvenna hadn’t, in fact abandoned her. The sound of her voice, the promise of her message, gave her a second burst of energy and she began swinging her axe once more. Hold on. She could do that. She just needed to go a bit longer. She could do that. 

After what seemed like an eternity to Rowan, she felt, rather than saw the bats fly away. Gvenna, with her handful of branches ran up, swinging widely and knocking what was left of the swarm away. Panting heavily, Rowan stood in time to see the last of the bats start to come back around for a second assault. 

This time they were both prepared, though, and it took them little time to work out a system. Gvenna would scatter the swarm and Rowan would follow up by hacking down whichever bats were closest. 

With a final swing and hack combo, the last bat was dispatched and Gvenna dropped the branches in her hands, panting heavily. Though a little worse for wear, she felt okay. She was bleeding a bit from a deep scratch across her cheek and her jacket was a bit torn up.

Rowan, on the other hand, looked liked she had just been through a hurricane, which she had been, in a way. She had several open, bleeding scratches and her clothes were ripped all the way through in some areas. Still, she was up and standing, so at least she seemed relatively okay for the time being.

“I don’t think we should hang around here. They might want to regroup and go for a second attack.” Rowan said, picking up the branch that had caused the whole thing before sliding the dagger back in her boot and shouldering her axe.

Gvenna nodded in agreement, but the blood still seeping from her ally’s wounds were a bit worrying to her. “Are you, I have a first aid kit and your’e bleeding. We should stop a moment and get cleaned up.”

A bitch would toss his hair right about now, but a bitch is bald. If a sponsor could sponsor me a wig right now, that would be appreciated. But also I was a gigantic messy bitch in the Capitol, so there’s like a .2 percent chance that’ll happen. Oh well, I don’t need their pity gifts. I just dragged a bitch with like one useful item anyways. So I toss my bald head anyways as though I have hair. I still look beautiful. 

My body fucking hurts. How dare Tybalt do this to me. That cunt can fucking die. Oh, wait. I just killed him. So his corpse can just get eternally fucked up for this, so he can continue to pay even as some ugly pile of dusty ass bones in the ground. Meanwhile, I’m an immortal hoe. 

I limp as beautifully as ever down the path, back to the structure (E) that I was near earlier before the beast appeared and I slaughtered it. 

Location: Abandoned Blacksmith shop (Building D)

Allies: Colton and Kemena... 

Inventory: 3 throwing knives, 1 backpack (contains food, water, first-aid supplies, matches, 1 wooden stake, and chalk and charcoal... for some reason...) 

Injuries: None

Noteworthy events:

Bloodbath - snagged a survival pack, managed to avoid a confrontation with Vodka somehow. Missed out on the throwing knives but gained a sponsorship so it evens out. 

A Cautious Encounter - Ran into Mena after getting throwing knives from Vance. Decided to keep her around rather than attack, since I didn’t have time to prepare an effective offensive position. 

                                           Arena Update - Day 1

A Cautious Encounter: After the bloodbath, I ran into Gianna. We decided to ally, for the time being anyway, and continued on down the trail. We came a across an abandoned town square and decided to investigate one of the buildings.

Hiding in the Shadows: Gianna and I found Colton in the one of the old buildings. None of us attacked and so there is one more person in our alliance. We are all very wary of each other but it is a good tactical advantage. I just can’t decide if that advantage is worth it. 

Location: Abandoned town sqaure, building D

Allies: Colton Realight & Gianna Sutton

Injuries: a few minor scratches from running

 Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a feeble figure cowering behind one of the tombstones. Slowly, with a wide smile on my face, I turn to face the tombstone. As I do, I see the figure, a girl, I now realize, flinch and try to seek further into the shadows. Well, I didn’t find Dina like I had wanted, but this pathetic piece of trash will have to do.

Right before I’m about to move on over and take out the trash, I hear an ominous rattling sound coming from behind me. Slowly, I turn my head to see the source of the noise. Then, in that very instant, I see a boney hand speeding towards me before my head has fully turned.

Is this it for me...?