chunkwhite (chunkwhite) wrote in colosseum, @ 2014-04-08 17:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! 57th games, - arena, tribute: 57th aeneas quatermain, tribute: 57th pompeia clacher, tribute: 57th shad simmons, tribute: 57th shimmer flux |
WHO: Shimmer Flux [D1], Aeneas Quatermain and Pompeia Clacher [D2], and Shad Simmons [D4]
WHEN: Tuesday, Day 5
WHERE: Alto, the vineyard fields.
WHAT: Plot slot: Cicada attack
STATUS: Complete
ACT I: THE VINEYARD “You think they’re okay to eat?” Shad, Shimmer, and the tributes from District Two stood at the edge of a field of grapes. Ahead of them, rows and rows of grapevines snaked around trellises, green and bountiful. It might have been a happier sight if Shad hadn’t already ingested enough sugar to rot out the teeth of every tribute in the arena. Drinking fruit flavored water didn’t make grapes seem any more palatable, either. Still, it was actual fruit - with nutrients, even - and that alone had him wondering if he should stuff handfuls of them into the bag he carried. (He refused to refer to it as a purse, and he was only slightly disgruntled that he’d lost out on the most manly looking one to Pompeia, who didn't even appreciate it.) Shimmer eyed the grapes but they mystified her just as much as if she were trying to tell the difference between leafy plants which didn’t exist in her district. The only thing that was familiar about them was the lingering smell, which reminded her of the way Friday always smelt, the scent of juicing sharp in the air while she and her mates practiced soccer on an empty field next to one rife with life. Cheerfully, she hummed in reply, “If they’re not, we’re all going to starve.” She tilted her head slightly toward the sky and addressed an unknown entity that was surely watching them, “And where’s the fun in that?” Aeneas had been thinking for days that there had to be other sources of food in the arena, and was relieved to find out that he was right. Well, provided this tempting field of grapes wasn't poisoned. He remembered the Quarter Quell, where everything had been poisoned, more or less, and frowned. They all knew that not even the pack's mentors could afford to keep them all fed for the entirety of the Games. "We're way too interesting to just drop dead of starvation," he deadpanned, thoughtfully picking one of the grapes. He didn't eat it, instead smashing it between his fingertips. It looked and felt like a grape, but he still wasn't entirely sure he trusted it. "Well then." Shad began to pluck them off the vines and drop them into his bag. "We'll just let Fannie have first dibs, right?" Pompeia just answered with a laugh as she put on her gloves. Unfamiliar with grape vines -- and designer bags -- she tried using both hands to rip the entire bunch of grapes off their main stem. More grapes got crushed or fell to the ground than in her tote after the first two attempts. She was starting to get the hang of it when there was a loud sound. High-pitched, repeated clicks. ACT II: RISE OF THE CICADAS Shad had seen large waves before, but the cloud that rose up from the edge of the fields left him gawking and practically speechless. It moved strangely, too animated and wild to be some kind of weather phenomenon. By the time he realized it was a swarm of high-pitched singing, flying somethings, he'd dropped the grapes in his hand and had palmed his knife. "What the fuck." Each word was carefully enunciated as he backed away. The cloud was moving swiftly, though, and if the cicadas were vampiric or poisonous, he and the others were in big trouble. Aeneas frowned, mid-stowal of grapes, watching the swarm shambling up from the ground. The whatever they were -- bugs? -- and their eery clicking noise made goosebumps crawl up his flesh. He'd watched enough of the Hunger Games to know that the sudden appearance of wildlife almost never signaled anything good. His first instinct was to run, but he stood still, squinting blearily into the new-made fog of insects, trying not to betray that his heart had begun hammering in his chest. He did not want to go down devoured by bug mutts. "Do we leave?" He asked in a whisper, as if they were referring to a bear you weren't supposed to make eye contact with. While Pompeia didn't want to say yes, she did take a few steps away, too. Eyes wide, she made sure she was at least a few steps past Aeneas. Sure, she didn't want to be running from harmless bugs, but all of them had seen far less threatening things kill. The sound grew louder, and the insects were within throwing distance of the grapes. "Shit, why isn't he here right now?" she muttered, her body half-turning in preparation to run. Shimmer was staring at the wave of clicking bugs with passive interest. Her hand had stopped mid-grab and full of grapes which then fell to the ground: some making it into her bag and others dropping to the field. She was suddenly very aware of the sword she’d tied around her waist with another bag’s leather strap swaying against her leg but she wasn’t sure what could it would do against whatever those were. “No,” she responded calmly to Aeneas and Pompeia. The dark cloud they made was intimidating but she didn’t see a way through it. Frankly, she wasn’t going to be the first to try breaching it either. Then, without any change in expression, she asked, “Are they bugging you?” while drawing her sword. "I'm worried about them eating me," replied Shad. He was with the Twos on this one, and quite frankly, glad he wasn't the only one thinking about turning tail. Suddenly, a cicada hurtled out of the cloud like a bullet. Shad heard the rattle of its wings and tried to swat it away with his knife, but the thing zig-zagged around before pelting him on the shoulder. He hesitated. He didn't want to squish some kind of Gamemaker poison onto his shoulder or provoke it into biting him. When it started to crawl up for his neck, he decided to take his chances and flick it away. Using his knife, he sent the damn thing flying again. Yeah, it was time to go. While Pompeia kept herself from looking scared, she was regarding Shad like he was a dead man walking. Sheopened her mouth to shout that they should get out of there when one flew into her mouth before the rest of the swarm joined their brethren. As the cloud gathered around them, clicking loudly, she spat out the one in her mouth and coughed. She wasn't dying. And they weren't getting attacked otherwise. ACT III: HUNTER-GATHERERS “Lets eat them,” Shimmer said, once they had asserted the bugs weren’t dangerous. She hadn’t spent much time at the edible stations during training, but she had no qualms about feasting on these guys. “I don’t know about you guys, but these sound better than cake to me.” Any more sugar and she thought she might start convulsing. Shad had eaten a few bugs at the edible bugs station, but the cicadas were far uglier. He picked one up and plucked off its wings, letting them flutter to the ground. "They're big," he said. "And you're right, they can't be sweet." His lip curled a little. "Think I'm going to pretend they're grapes, anyway." Aeneas couldn't quite repress an expression of disgust at the idea of eating cicadas. He wasn't sure he'd be able to eat them without thinking of that noise they made. But he had to admit that it was better than the thought of forcing down another piece of cake. If he became the victor, he was never eating cake again. So he didn't voice that thought out loud, instead saying, "We need protein," and plucking one of the insects off a grape vine. It squirmed feebly before he mirrored Shad and plucked off its wings. "And I've seen tributes eat more disgusting things." Having spent no time at edible bugs, Pompeia was still expecting either her or Shad to start dying. Nonetheless, she said, "Yeah…" as she made a slight raspberry. With a sigh, she started picking another bunch of grapes -- with cicadas and all -- and sticking them into her tote. One started crawling back out when she flicked it in again. "Maybe they'll go well together." |