Teenie Guppy (![]() ![]() @ 2013-12-06 23:26:00 |
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
Entry tags: | ! 55th games, - arena, tribute: 55th gypsum twinning, tribute: 55th ritz diamandis |
WHO: Gypsum Twinning & Ritz Diamandis
WHAT: Career Lady Cuddles (aka plot challenge)
WHERE: The Arena; H4. (Frozen Side)
WHEN: Day 4.
STATUS: Complete Log/Plot prompt
Ripping a piece of fruit jerky free before shoving it back in her pack, she placed it into her mouth savouring the taste. Not tongue that was a relief. She was going to savour that as best she can. Pig feet and tongues did not appeal to her one bit. Soon she’d be asking for food from her mentors. But so far she was surviving just fine and limiting her intake of food as best she could. There had to be something edible out here right? Though as her feet crunched on the snow below, she was beginning to think this was unlikely. But water right? They could melt it down, drink that. She pulled the black beanie over her head and slipped the gloves back on looking over at Ritz. “Freezing over here. I’d wager most of the stupid tributes would die of cold.” She wondered if everywhere was cold. It couldn’t be though, not when they had packed in sunscreen. Of course the Meadow the sun never did go down. She appeared to be getting a nice tan while she was in the arena. Still equipped with her axe, she wished she could get those throwing knives. She was deadly with them and she knew it. But she hadn’t been so bad herself with the long axe as it was. She at least had a weapon. She was keeping her eye out for things she could use as weapons all the same. Gypsum looked up as she felt the chill cutting against her cheek a lot harder than before. Her brow furrowed, the wind was picking up. Snow began to fall and it swirled about in the heavy wind. “Uh, I think we might want to get a move on?” She offered to the idea of picking up speed. They were headed back to the Meadow after a less than successful scouting mission. She glanced over at Gypsum and resisted rolling her eyes at her and her fruit jerky. Sure, the tongues and feet made her want to gag (and actually had, once, but not where anyone could have noticed), but there was no reason to waste perfectly good supplies the way Gypsum was. Of course, Gypsum probably felt more secure in her sponsors than Ritz did. Fucking Two. “I don’t even know why we’re bothering,” Ritz grumbled. “We should just let them freeze, if any of them were even stupid enough to stay here. We can go after the ones who went through the other mountain pass.” Even with her knit facemask pulled over her head, her hair tucked inside for extra insulation and her gloves firmly on, Ritz was much colder than she’d ever like to be. True, she probably wasn’t doing as badly as Marlin and Dory would be if they were out here since their district was even farther south than One, but that didn’t stop the fact that Ritz was used to a nice, warm environment. Ritz sighed and shifted her sword to her left hand so she could adjust her the straps of her pack, which was heavy from all of her supplies and her spare axe. But no way was she leaving it behind. Ritz noticed the change too, just a few seconds after Gypsum did. She glanced at the falling snow nervously and nodded. “Yes. Please. I don’t want to be in this snow a second longer than I have to.” As she and Gypsum picked up their pace, the wind began to whip around them, snaking cold fingers against any bit of exposed skin, and the snow swirled furiously through the air in thick flakes and clumps. Before even a minute had passed, the air had turned into a near blinding wall of the stuff and the wind battered at them from every direction, bitingly cold. “Shit, shit, shit.” Ritz latched onto Gypsum’s arm so they wouldn’t get separated from each other in the storm, because that’s what it was: a Gamemaker storm. “We’ve gotta find somewhere to go until it’s over!” Picking up the pace she was half tempted to run full pelt, but it began to sink in that it would be useless. The flakes were bigger and more frequent. The world became a swirling dust of white. If Ritz had not been right next to her she doubted she could see a thing. Someone could come at them in this and that would be it. They’d be done. The only remote comfort was any opponent would be realizing the same horror, that you could see nothing. Gypsum could not even rely on her senses right now. The wind whipped and whistled, clouding her ears to any other sounds that could be approaching, be it mutt or tribute. The air smelled frozen, if that was even possible. It smelt of nothing and she feared this. Sight, hearing, smell, gone. Though as she felt Ritz cling to her, she knew she had one thing, touch. “Do you remember any of the layout? North or south? If we move west we get close to the Meadow.” She offered, but she could not remember much of the formations. All she knew it was a vast wasteland of white. They had to bunker down somewhere make cover. Survival skills, need to come into action. “Do we have a blanket or something? Maybe dig into the snow and cover ourselves. I don’t know.” Gypsum tired not to sound frantic. But her eyes stung for the wind and her cheeks felt raw with the cold. Already Ritz was beginning to shiver against the blizzard, and she knew it could only get worse from here. The snow and the wind drove at them and ripped at their clothing, as though trying to leave them exposed to the elements so they would die from the cold. The cold stung her eyes and mouth and throat, and the harder it blew, the more difficult it became to breathe. Inside of the storm, they were helpless. “I think there’s a hill that way we could use to protect us,” Ritz said, raising her voice to be heard as she pointed south of their position. Without waiting for Gypsum to respond, she began to lead the way there. Or, well, she hoped she was leading the way there. Only a few scant yards around them were visible, and even that bubble was shrinking around them as the storm blew itself into full life. Her grip on her ally’s arm grew tighter. “I have a sleeping bag, it’s thermal. It should be big enough for the both of us, and we can share heat.” Ritz was no expert on wilderness survival, especially in the cold, but at least she knew that much. With the two of them in the sleeping bag, they should be able to make it through the storm. Assuming, of course, it was only designed for entertainment. If the Gamemakers wanted them dead, there wasn’t anything they could do about it. She squinted as if that would help her see better, in the fact she wouldn’t get so much snow flying into her eyes. At this rate she’d probably do just as well with her eyes closed walking around in this. Her body ached from the cold. Her breath laboured as it ached to take in the cold air. Gypsum knew it was the gamemakers, a show. But if they sent something else in here then that was it. They’d be done for. She made sure to keep her axe in hand and her other gripped to her ally. If they parted they were screwed. In this moment they needed each other, and Gypsum really didn’t wish to admit that. “I guess the gamemakers had a plan then,” when she hears Ritz has a thermal sleeping bag. The very thought of climbing in it with her is unappealing, but live saving. “You walk forwards, I’ll walk backwards. Then if something comes at us I can strike and same with you?” Gypsum didn’t like the idea of having to trust someone so completely in a game when killing people was the main goal, but right now she had to. Gypsum turned her body but did not let go of Ritz. Her lifeline to safety. They were head for some hill that she hoped actually existed. If Ritz hadn’t been so cold and hadn’t been shivering already, Gypsum’s suggestion would have made her shudder then. She was meant to be keeping her back to Gypsum? A girl who, more likely than not, would sink that axe into her spine and end her before she’d even taken ten steps. But, no. Gypsum needed her alive. Sharing body heat was the best way to make it through this storm. Gypsum couldn’t kill her yet, and Ritz couldn’t kill her either. “Deal,” Ritz said as she adjusted her sword in her hand, trying to get the circulation going. A left handed strike would be weaker, but Ritz had trained to right with her left just in case, and she didn’t dare let go of Gypsum even for a second to switch around. As much as she distrusted the other girl, and as much as Ritz didn’t like her, she was the only thing standing between Ritz and death. The distance felt like miles as they plowed through the snow, though realistically Ritz knew they were only going a fraction of that. It was slower still with Gypsum walking backwards. Ritz’s hands were freezing, even through the gloves, and the handle of her sword had all but turned to ice in her grip. Every breath felt like inhaling needles, every step became more wooden as the cold numbed her limbs down into the muscle, every shiver was exhausting and not nearly enough to maintain even the illusion of warmth. It was like walking through the same ten feet over and over again and never getting anywhere. Just as Ritz was about to give up and tell Gypsum they should dig in, the side of the hill loomed in front of them, so close that Ritz yelped with surprise that she hadn’t seen it sooner. Walking in the snow was hard normally, but backwards was worse. Her legs ached as they neared the hill, not that she knew though. For all she knew they had ages to go. It felt like miles they had trudged through a wall of snow. The level rose against their legs, and the wind whipped hard against their bodies. Gypsum felt as if she would never be warm again. Her jacket stiff with ice as the snow had started to build. Her feet weighed down by the building snow with each step. She felt herself stumble a few times. But her eyes were peeled, waiting, watching, for the next attack. Trusting Ritz was uncomfortable, but she knew they were in this together. They’d die without one another and it was fact. The sound of a yelp or something caused Gypsum to turn. “What?” She was ready for a fight holding her axe up. But it was nothing but the hill. Wait! The Hill! Gypsum looked at Ritz, “Thank God!” It was as it it appeared out of thin air, but it was there all the time. The wall of white obstructing the view. When she saw a snow and ice covered Gypsum turn to her with her axe raised, Ritz jumped automatically, leaning away from her while still gripping her arm. Then she realized what was really going on and relaxed, or at least as best she could while standing so deep in snow that she could feel it pressing against her legs and sinking into her shoes. She all but dragged Gypsum the rest of the way to the hill, slipping and sinking into the drifts until they were standing a little way up the slope. Ritz could barely feel her own skin, let alone her fingers or feet, and she ached with the cold and exhaustion. But there was still work to do. “Start digging into the snow! We need to get out of the wind!” Finally, Ritz forced her fingers to let go of Gypsum’s arm, and gasped at the pain and stiffness in them. And then came the most frightening part of all of this--Ritz took her sword and plunged it tip down into the snow until it sank into the frozen earth. She couldn’t hold onto it while she worked, so she had to make herself vulnerable to Gypsum. Ritz slung her bag off of her back and, with barely moving fingers, pulled out the bundled up sleeping bag. The larger pack was then looped around the sword hilt by the strap; they could lean against it for protection. These actions, which should have taken mere seconds, took Ritz almost a full minute to accomplish. Only then could she start digging into the snow with Gypsum, trying to make a large pile to be a barrier between them and the howling wind. It soaked into her gloves and only made her fingers even number and oh God what if she lost her fingers? But she pressed on, because what else could she do? Gypsum put her axe down, the moment of truth. She had to think of everything but the fact Ritz could take her out if she wanted to. But they’d come this far, so what was the point in stopping now. She got down to her knees and started to dig. They needed a place to protect themselves and this was it. Her gloves soaked and heavy, but her fingers so numb that it was nothing. Nothing but the tingling pain of cold. Her fingers could barely function. Her arms pulling her hands back and up with each bit of snow. She wanted to stop, but stopping meant death. She could live without fingers, if it came to that. She hope it didn’t come to that. What felt like an hour passed, but it was definitely not that long. With the pair of them it was quick work, agony but quick. She turned to Ritz. “I think best we can do.” She mumbled. It hurt to speak. Her lips raw and cracked from the wind. Her cheeks and skin raw with the cold. Where as before the idea of moving into a sleeping bag with the girl from one was horrific, now it seemed like heaven. Warmth. Life. Survival. Gypsum tried not to think of the meadow with it’s warm, never ending, sun. They would be there soon, safe and alive. A story to tell and something to be proud of. Shockingly they had worked together in pinch. Gypsum had not expected this. Both weapons down, on their knees, working together for their survival. “Lets get in that sleeping bag.” She chattered, shaking from the cold. While she was digging, Ritz went on automatic. She didn’t pay attention to the snow and the ice piling up on her back as she crouched on her knees. She ignored the shivers that wracked her body, the lead numbness that gripped her hands, her feet, her limbs. She could taste salt on her lips from where they had cracked and bled, but paid it no mind. She could feel her arms moving more slowly with each handful of snow she shoved and scooped out of their ditch. There was only digging, only the snow, only Gypsum working next to her, only the knowledge that moving meant life and stopping meant death. It took her long seconds to realize what Gypsum had said to her; her voice was too soft, the wind too loud. Ritz nodded to her and then fumbled for the bag, grunting with frustration as she tried to move her fingers around the ties that kept it wrapped up tight. “Stupid, shitty little-” she cursed and scrabbled at it until finally they were off and the large sleeping bag was unrolled. If Ritz had had the energy, she might have sobbed with relief. As it was, all Ritz had the focus to do was to shove it into their hand dug ditch and clumsily pull down the zipper until their was a big enough opening for them to crawl in. She did not wait for Gypsum, but quickly shook as much snow off of her body as she could and then slid into it and pressed herself against the silvery fabric that she knew would make her warm again. “Come on!” She did not like Gypsum, maybe she never would, but right now they needed each other more than they needed to win. It was beyond strange, but Ritz didn’t care to even try thinking about it. Right now, there was only the need to survive. Watch Ritz fumble with the ties keeping the sleeping bag rolled was torture. She didn’t offer to help, what was the point of having two numb sets of hands attempting it. She’d only get in the way. Gypsum put her hand to her face trying to calm herself. Stressed and cold. When the sleeping bag became free she was relieved. She had never been so exhausted. Not even after the trials to get here, and she thought that was tough. It did not compare to this. Gypsum scrambled towards her dusting off what snow she could. She crawled in after Ritz and zipped up the bag as best she could behind her. There they were two careers huddled up together in their hand dug protection. Seeking survival together, and not caring about the win. If they didn’t have each other, neither would survive. Gypsum’s teeth chattered and she closed her eyes. Feeling a sense of relief they were here finally. Protected from the wind as it rushed around their wall of snow. How long would this last? How long would the gamemakers torture them? The answer was an hour. For one long, agonizing hour, the wind whipped and rushed around them and their small shelter, pilling down snow and ripping it away again, driving the temperature down, down, down. After Gypsum had crawled into the sleeping back, Ritz had reached around her to finish zipping the bag up. There was no point to this if they couldn’t keep out as much of the elements as possible, after all. She left her arm there, draped over Gypsum’s shoulder, because damnit she wanted to be warm, and the only way to do that was by getting close. It wasn’t as though anyone could see them, anyways. So with a mumbled ‘sorry’ that was barely audible through the chattering of her teeth, Ritz pressed herself closer to Gypsum and tried to focus on the relief and the increased warmth. They could make it through this. The minutes ticked by with agonizing slowness. Their bodies heated up the space of the sleeping bag, but never enough for real comfort, only survival. More than once, Ritz reached up between them and shoved her left hand through the opening of the bag to clear away the snow so that they wouldn’t be completely buried and suffocated. If her left hand had to lose fingers, then fine, but Ritz wanted to live. She didn’t think much about the fact that only that morning she’d been wondering how best to kill the person she was sharing a sleeping bag with now. Finally, as quickly as it had started, the blizzard eased away into silence. The wind quieted into a breeze and the snow that had been falling stopped entirely. It was over. Gypsum never thought she would be in this situation, curled up with the girl whom she had thought killing (more than once). Her arms wrapped around her and cuddling up against one another. Right now nothing mattered but staying warm and surviving. But still, it was weird and awkward. That hour against her was agonizingly slow. There was nothing to say, or do. No point bonding, or discussing things. As nothing that could come to mind was suitable for being pressed up against some you had plans to kill. Finally as the blizzard ended with the same sudden effect it arrived with, she breathed a heavy side of relief. “Fuck.” She groaned and looked up at the dusky sky as it cleared of the clouds and the fact she could see beyond the length of her hand was a welcome realization. As soon as the safety factor set in and scrambled to remove herself from Ritz’ grasp. Nope, not going to let her snap her neck or something. She got up dusted herself off and looked at the expanse of white. It looked like nothing had happened. It was back to normal. It was an eerie sensation, but what do you expect when the Gamemakers had their way? Picking up her backpack and holding her axe low. She had no intentions of making it seem like she was going to strike Ritz down. “Let’s get the hell out of here and back to the group. Fucking snow.” She was done with it. Done. Bring on sun please and thank you. Seconds after Gypsum had scrambled away from her, Ritz was rolling out of the bag, desperate to get upright and grab her sword before Gypsum could take a swing at her. But when she got to her feet in the finally, beautifully, blessedly clear air, Gypsum wasn’t doing anything like that. She was just standing there, getting ready to leave. It took a few seconds for Ritz to really process this fact, still a little sluggish from the cold that felt like it was permanently seared into her bones. When it did, she let out a slow, careful breath of air and nodded. An unspoken truce, then. She supposed the situation called for it. Ritz would undoubtedly fight to kill Gypsum, and vice versa, but it wouldn’t be happening now. Quickly and unceremoniously, she shoved the sleeping bag into her pack and slung it over her shoulder and pulled her sword from the ground with an easy tug. “If I have to see another storm again, it’ll be too soon,” Ritz said, tromping off by Gypsum’s side and towards the promised warmth and safety and sun in the meadow. When she got back she was going to lie on the ground and not move for the rest of the day, she didn’t even care. “Stupid motherfucking goddamn snow.” |