What If? Stars of Spooky - Shinobi Games

Starring:

Date: November 11, 2013

Summary:

Summary: Based on the Hunger Games. What if Konoha was the tyrannical village? What if it forced children from other villages to fight and die in a sacrificial game every year? Watch as thirty children fight to the death. This is for the Stars of Spooky RP Challenge.

Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.

"What If? Stars of Spooky - Shinobi Games"

Deadly arena in the mountains

It's been two hundred years since the War went on between the shinobi

nations. And finally, Konoha came out as the victor. In many ways, people would have

expected that it would be the Mist and not the Leaf who would prove to be the tyrants.

But power, the darkness of the clan, and the wrong individuals in the opportune

positions of power had turned Konoha into something else, something more tyrannical.

After years of rebellions from the subjugated villages, however, Konoha saw it as

necessary to subdue them with a humiliating and deadly contest. They'd send their

children each year to fight and die in a broadcast spectacle known as the Hunger

Games. There'd be a boy and a girl from all fifteen countries on the continent,

whether it was the Land of Lightning or the Land of Hot Springs. Thirty children and

one survivor at the end.

Officially, training shinobi had been banned many years ago. But a few people

did it in secret, particularly the countries with shinobi villages. Perhaps Myouri

would have been one of them, but she'd barely begun her training in secret to control

her Third Eye, before she was Reaped. And on the first year it was possible to be

Reaped. And now she's standing in the prep room with a cursed seal placed on her. Move

too early and it destroys her. Try to run and the seal can track her. It's S-rank, she

has no hope of getting it off at her level. Every kid has the same one.

Her mentor who'd won the Hunger Games only last year said, "Do your best.

Be brave." Myouri resists rolling her eyes. As a shinobi he was top class, but as a

mentor he had the most idiotic, generic pieces of advice. She's dead for sure. No,

not yet. As she's forced out to wait in the Cornucopia, she's determined not to die.

Not until she kills the Tributes from Kusagakure. No children from Konoha are sent of

course, but Kusagakure is the closest thing to their ally, which will be almost as

good as taking down Konoha nin. That and maybe Kumogakure…they're so close, why did

they never attack, the cowards? Myouri's eyes range across the thirty other Tributes.

Maybe…oh jeez…maybe she should just run. For now, they have to wait until the

signal is given to begin.

Every year the competition comes about, each time it rears its ugly head,

only the unlucky few are chosen to face off against each other and fight for their

lives. Though the way Eremi viewed it, they were in fact the lucky ones. He has yet to

be chosen to fight in this contest, but has always secretly hoped to be one of the few

that are priveledge to do so. He had something to prove and considering that he wasn't

from Konoha, this was possibly his only chance of being able to do so.

Fingers crossed, head hung low like most of the others as the names of the

tributes were being called, but when Eremi's name was finally called after years of

waiting, he wasn't saddened or upset about the situation. He was overfilled with joy

and just couldn't help himself as he let out a shout, "Yes!" The others gathered about

would look at him as if he was crazy or just trying to act brave as he started to walk

forward with a smile from ear to ear.

Finally with the rest of the tributes, he'd look about the crowds, wondering

if there was anyone else gathered that he might recognize and have to kill or be

killed, but as of yet, it was just a bunch of faceless victims to fall before him when

the fighting started.

It still itched. The spot that the mark was set in place that is. However,

Rise dared not scratch at it around the others for fear that may take her actions as

an attempt to remove it. They had done so before, or so she had heard from her mentor.

Honestly, her mentor — some elder woman who survived through sheer luck more than any

specific skill — wasn't all that helpful.

"Grab what you can and run." No duh. "Find water first—" Uh-huh. "Stay

hidden until—" NO. PARCHEESI. Her father did a better job preparing her for the games

than her mentor for crying out loud! And that's sad considering he managed to avoid

entering the games until he passed the age bar. Hunting and Taijutsu are what was

passed on from Father to Daughter. Neither of which were things Konoha supported;

especially the latter given what most Kumogakurians brought to the war against the

leafers. One had to look small and weak, yet remain strong enough to work in the

mines or raise the goats the leafers wanted so badly. Odd taste they have, but none

questioned. It was already problematic enough just maintaining the balance that

wouldn't get picked on or even executed in suspicion for practicing Taijutsu.

The countdown snaps Rise out of reverie. 'Focus Rise. Mark'em and run.

Mark'em and run.' Not known for subtly (except when it came to her art), Rise eyed the

other Tributes. Kusagakure children are high on her list, but its those from Kiri that

maintain her attention. Fierce fighters, well kept compared to most tributes despite

what they employed during the wars prior, and a challenge. If she could just tag one

of them in the begining the odds would be more in her favor later on… Then again…

Again Rise needs to shake her head to refocus on the present. Heterochromatic eyes

lock on the Cornucopia. The ones in the back are a death sentence for the unprepared.

Same technically of those towards the outskirts, because only the desperate went for

those. Decisions, decisons.

The arena this time are mountains. There are woods on the rocky slopes and

tough, alpine grasses. But besides that it looks like an inhospitable and bitingly

cold place. Drifts of snow line the ground. Each Tribute was given a jacket but

not a thick one. Warmer ones are among the supplies arranged in the Cornucopia.

The Cornucopia-the initial gathering place with a ring of Tributes a mile around-
is a stone bowl of precarious ledges and jagged rocks. Arrayed among them are small

weapons, small backpacks, larger backpacks, warm weather gear, and weapons, all

respectively nearer the center since they go up in value and rarity. A huge cache is

in the middle for the taking, and many of the more able bodied Tributes are looking at

it hungrily.

Myouri purses her lips. She won't do too badly. She's light and climbed

plenty of trees. Mountain climbing can't be too different, right? And she's

surefooted. If only she'd learned Tree Walking in secret. Probably all the countries

closer to Konoha were allowed to learn those basics. She isn't looking at the stash in

the middle, or the weapons. She wants that rucksack before her. Then she'll run into

the woods, and let the rest of them kill each other.

It's then that the piercing whistle goes off, and the glowing cursed seals on

the children turn dull black again. It's time to begin!!! Myouri dashes for a small

backpack, but another kid is already converging on it. She stoops and picks up a rock,

hurling it at the kids head and hitting the mark. Then Myouri is snatching up the

backpack and considering her options for a second. Stay and get more items or run?

The whistle would go off and Eremi instantly reacted, but while others were

rushing for gear, items and weapons, he was chasing behind another individual. The kid

would stoop down to pick up a larger backpack, but the moment his hand reached for the

strap, Eremi was in the air with a flying kick that met with the kids head and sent

them flying off until crashing into the ground and rolling to a stop.

Eremi would grab the backpack and sling the strap of his shoulder as he

looked about for more items to gathered or fight against other tributes. His plan

for the beginning was to be one of the last hanging around until every last item was

gathered and he had all that he needed.

Rise explodes from the starting line. Never once looking back to see if the

male Kumo tribute is making a run for supplies or hitting the woods. She honestly

did not know him well despite being picked as tributes. Neither of them spoke to one

another that often, if at all, though they've seen and worked beside one another.

Granted, those times were all out of necessities. As kumo-nin there remain a certian

bond between them. After all, unlike the other villages, large or small, those from

Kumo have not forgotten the importance of bonds.

She growled, stoking her anger to the point that it cleared the fog in

her mind. Focus. She doesn't even recongize the feel of bone, cartillage, and flesh

being crushed until well after the fact. She just broke a bright-haired kid from the

Land of Hot Springs neck with a clothesline… And did not care a second later after

catching sight the metallic sheen of knife on the ground. A hunting and combat knife

combination. Not bad, but not the best either. She needed one more. A small backpack

next since a large one would only slow her down. She needed because she gave away too

much in that act. She needed… She searched, crouched low over her kill with a knife

in hand, seemingly unfazed by the carnage.

A Kusagakure tribute and one of his allies have reached the five weapons in

the middle and grabbed one each. The Kusa nin buries an axe in the neck of a screaming

child from Land of Waves. The Kusa nin's teammate who'd formed an alliance is about

to join them when Eremi takes him down from behind. Other children are attacking each

other, some clumsily and brutally, others with more finesse and training. Many are

fleeing the scene.

Tribute count: 23 alive. 7 slain.

Both Rise and Eremi's fellow villagers are still alive. Rise's teammate is

skillfully navigating the Arena, having grown up mountain climbing like most Kumo nin.

He already has some supplies, but he's running towards the rockier area of the arena

away from the Cornucopia after getting a large backpack. Eremi's fellow villager is

a girl who cries a lot. She cried so much that any time Eremi was around her, she'd

be soaking his shoulder. But she handled a kunai fairly well, and had managed to get

a few before sobbing, weeping, and bawling her way away from the bloodbath into the

woods.

Myouri has rushed to a pile of kunai, but once again someone reaches it at

the same time. He goes to grapple with Myouri, but she snatches up one of the kunai

and buries it in his chest. He reels back, his eyes going wide. Myouri lets out a

gasp. She just…just… no! She has to go! She snatches up the kunai, hefts her

backpack, and runs wildly towards the woods.

Tribute count: 22 alive. 8 slain.

"Crybaby-san!" Eremi would shout as he looked about for the one person in

this whole situation he could trust until the end of this contest, but it mattered not

if she was killed now or later for when the time comes and they end up being the only

two left alive, he'd have no hesitation in ending the girls life. Him or her…always

him.

Whatever, he thought while he looked around the area for those that were left

and any items he could make use of. Most were running away, but there were still a few

stragglers left, "Don't run and hide! You only prolong the inevitable! Let's finish

this now and be done with it!" Throwing his arms up into the air, challenging any and

all to come at him, but the smarter ones ignored the shouts of the mad man and went

into hiding.

Seeing a slower individual that had managed to scrounge up some warmer

gear than the flimsy and thin jacket they were given, Eremi would race over toward

the unfortunate kid before jumping into the air and landing in front of him only

to unleash a barrage of punches and kicks that allowed him to strip away the warm

gear. "Any one else!?"

It's only for a moment but a moment is enough for her. So long as at least

one of the dm survived then there was still hope for those back in Kumogakure. It'll

be harder later, to decided that is on who should carry on if only they remain. Truth

be told, she hoped that it was him. Tears later, fight now. The mantra meant to keep

her going and silence what her gut was telling her was just wrong. Speaking of guts.

The tribute going for the bag with Rise's name on it (not really) is not

given so much warning except some type of roar before getting knocked down. Rise's

small and light so by all accounts the tackle should've failed. But then again, a very

sharp piercing pain in the side from a combat knife does certianly help things along.

Ignoring whatever pained noise he makes, Rise quickly rolls the land of bears guy, a

boy more stout in frame compared to most of the other tributes, onto his back before

raising her knife up for the finishing blow. He'd probably die either way, wounded as

he is. She would be doing him a kindness compared to what the crazy yelling nin in the

distance might do.

She can't, not like this. Rise just cannot do it. Her first kill was on

instinct if nothing else. This… this is just outright murder of someone she didn't

even have a grudge against. A moment more of hesitating. A few seconds more of life

granted. And then, Rise's off of him and dashing down the path her comerade went down

with the small backpack in hand; hoping in spite of the odds that he'd agree to join

forces with her.

Her shirt is still covered in blood. Plenty of blood.

Tribute count: 20 alive. 10 dead.

Tributes have been dropping like flies, but most of the ones who are

alive have fled into the woods or network of caves. Some even went over the grassy

foothills. There are about eight tributes still located in the Cornucopia, and many

are about to flee. And now the group of six bullies who'd allied themselves are

standing around the supplies guarding it. Actually rather than six, there's only

four, as being in an alliance doesn't guarantee complete safety. But now they're a

formidable formation, waiting for an attack.

There is one lone tribute from the Land of Earth who takes up Eremi's

crazed challenge. He throws a barrage of shurikens at Eremi with deadly accuracy. At

Eremi's legs that is. Being wounded and slowed is almost as fatal as a mortal blow

in the arena, with no medical help to be had. However, Eremi will find this one is

a Murasame. The shurikens are changing trajectory bizarrely, hard to track, as the

Iwa nin uses his Metal Manipulation. It seems more than just the bullies had snuck

in shinobi training earlier in life. And now the bullies are looking at Eremi, as if

considering leaving the pile of supplies and converging on an obvious threat.

Rise is able to successfully track her fellow tribute. He leaves light

footprints, spaced his height and with his tread, leading into a cave. However,

as soon as she enters he lunges forward with a knife at her, only to come to a

halt. "Rise-san!" he gasps. "I almost stabbed you!" He recoils in horror, and licks

his lips nervously. "Are you here to try and take out a threat? We both have mountain

knowledge after all. But I'll fight even if you are from my village."

Tribute count: 17 alive. 13 dead.

Myouri looks in her pack. A few senbon. An empty flask. A blanket. Flint.

Rations. And a basic med kit.

Eremi would catch sight of a tribute taking up his challenge, sending forth

several shuriken that move this way and that. It was too difficult to figure out when

they would finally stop curving from one direction to the other, so he wouldn't try

to avoid them altogether, but instead wait until the last second and shift his feet

across the ground to avoid the shuriken from striking any vital spots. "And now I have

weapons." He'd chuckle as he started to reach down and pull the shuriken from his

flesh before standing up, positioning them in his hands and throwing them back. One

would head back toward the Earth Tribute, while two others soared across at the four

bullies gathered around some items.

Rise doesn't say anything during those first few moments they have with one

another, so things are tense if not awkward around them. Her knife hand never wavers

during this time, always at the ready for a quick jab. Then the moment passes and

she's on the verge of tears. The only thing keeping them contained at this point is

sheer force of will and the knowledge that anymore signs of weakness will probably end

back firing on them.

"I wasn't able to get much, but I'm hoping—" She kneels, back carelessly to

the cave entrance while she starts pulling out supplies one by one and sorting them.

Naturally there isn't a whole lot to go for but there's enough to work with. Senbons

are set closer her fellow Kumo nin. The rest, a safe distance between them. As a sign

of good faith she even places the rations and med kit closer to him, though for a Kumo

nin the later won't mean much unless game is scarce or of the highly dangerous nature.

Given last years games she wouldn't put it past Konoha to make it so again.

Once all the supplies are sorted and set aside (hopefully without incident),

Rise sits back on her haunches and looks up, gauging her 'allies' reaction. She didn't

know if she could kill him to, let alone take him, but she honestly hoped that she

wouldn't have to find out. She really, really hoped not. "So, what's the plan?" She

asks brightly with a smile. A smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes.

The Murasame is good. He dodges the shuriken with something close to

contempt. It's not likely it'll be a basic projectile that take him down. And the

bullies dodge as…nope, not quite. One lets out a yelp of pain as a shuriken is

lodged in his shoulder. He's wounded but not out. And he doesn't fall back as all four

of them advance. The two Kusa nin, a Kiri nin, and one from the Rain Country. Wielding

a spear, an axe, and two swords. Two for Eremi and two for the Land of Earth nin.

The Iwa nin looks nervous, as he's suddenly faced with Eremi and two of the bullies.

He shoots a quick look at Eremi. "This isn't the time to fight each other," he says

tersely. "Temporary truce?" He doesn't wait for an answer as the two bullies descend

on him. It'd be an excellent time for Eremi to kill him from behind without much

effort, but then he'd be facing four bullies instead of two.

The Iwa nin is nervous, and one of the attacks slips past his parry to hit

his arm. Fortunately not his main arm, but he's still a bit rattled and his attacks

are blocked.

Rise's fellow villager is named Saito. He has long hair tied back into a

ponytail and brown eyes that now look at the blood all over Rise with obvious unease.

But then, when she starts talking he gives her a smile and says, "We'll get some snow

and thaw it." He goes out to do just that and in a few minutes she'd have an icy flask

of water. "We'll have plenty of drinking water," he says. "And…and you can wash that

blood off." Is he actually blushing? He turns away and says, "I promise I won't look!"

Back turned, observing the niceties of female modesty, but also a very easy target for

Rise to kill. And have A LOT of supplies. But as he's facing away he says, "We'll keep

each other alive. Maybe even scope out the Cornucopia and steal some supplies, we're

better on the mountain than them. For now, we should maybe get some rocks and foliage

to shield this cave." But it's a little too late because another tribute has followed

the tracks as Rise did, and is sneaking quietly into the cave.

At the same time miles away another converges on Myouri who has a very good

technique. If only she could use it equally well, as she's surprise attacked from

behind. And struck. Myouri turns around to confront the person and then bolts straight

up a hillside, running for all she's worth. And leaving her supplies behind.

"You're absolutely right, this isn't the time to fight each other." Two of

the bullies would race toward Eremi, but instead of taking them head on, he'd dodge

from one attack and evade the other while running toward the Iwa nin, but instead of

coming to the others aid, there'd be a swift and powerful punch that meets the back of

the Iwa's unsuspecting neck dropping him in a crumbled heap. "I'm your opponent now!"

Shifting his feet beneath him while turning his head left and right, trying to keep an

eye on each of the other contestants facing against him.

They all looked dangerous and were capable of taking him down, this might be

where he dies a quick death or barely comes out of this a victor. He'd weigh out his

options, but there weren't many and he had to react fast. Slinging off his backpack,

he'd toss it to one of the boys as a distraction only to run toward the closest to

and jump into the air with a series of kicks, using the force of the last to send him

careening toward the last opponent with a take down tackle.

There's a snap as the Iwa nin's neck breaks. Maybe he died thinking the best

of humanity, or maybe he had time to realize just how terrible it really was. Now

instead of two bullies Eremi is taking on four bullies. But he fares well against

them, managing to land blows on two of them. But not fatal blows. They're bleeding but

determined to overwhelm him with numbers. They come in a flash of steel and murderous

shouts. If Eremi had time to look around he may realize it's just the four bullies,

him, and a pile of corpses.

Tribute count: 15 alive. 15 dead.

Myouri is bleeding. She feels it in her back, and she has no way to stem the

warm flow. Especially with the person behind her. But Myouri had gotten a good haul

along with a backpack, and that jerk hadn't gotten one. So now she's taking her stuff,

leaving the young girl to flee without so much as a scrap or a ration. The tears

start flowing. This is too much. No. No! "Stop crying," Myouri snarls at herself. She

brushes the idiotic tears away and starts to tread lightly, silently, to find a place

to, for now, hide.

"We could-oh god!" Saito shouts as Rise not only detects their opponent but

hacks him into bloody pieces. He comes out, and stares at her and the corpse. Then at

Rise. After a pause he asks, "Are…are you alright? Come on. We can't stay here with

this bloody body, let's pack and find another cave, okay?" He'd start doing just that,

avoiding Rise's gaze.

Tribute count: 14 alive. 16 dead.

After his last blow on one of the bullies, Eremi would rise to his

feet only to find a spear stick him in the side. He'd scream as he clutched the wound

while a sword swung for his neck. A quick reaction and he'd drop to his knees at the

same time an axe started to come down from above attempting to split him in half.

Eremi would roll away, nearly avoiding the deathly blow. He'd try to clamber to his

feet, but a strike from another sword catches one of his arms, cutting through the

flesh and keeping him on the ground.

The blood would flow from his open wounds and he'd breath heavily,

finding it hard to take in air. He would probably die soon, but if that's the case, he

plans on taking out a few more bullies. A smile would cross his face as he suddenly

vanished only to appear right underneath one of the bullies with a sharp kick to the

bullies chin with enough force to send the opponent into the air. He wouldn't follow

though as he spun about on his hands with a series of powerful kicks to whom ever is

in range.

The bullies surge forward when Eremi takes a few blows, sure of victory.

That arrogance costs them. One of the them takes a blow so forceful to the chin that

his neck snaps. He's dead before he hits the ground. The next bully takes a few solid

kicks to the ribs and staggers back, moaning in pain and clutching his ribs. The

others hesitate. Three left, all with wounds. What is this guy? But one of them, the

leader, snarls, "He's almost dead. Kill him!" And he'd charge forward with a bellow of

rage and anger. He swings his axe down at Eremi's skull with all his force, while the

two remaining allies break left and right to slash at his flank. From the look of it,

they've trained together before.

Rise and Saito are alone for now. But Saito is giving Rise uneasy glances,

and it's no wonder why. She's covered in blood. He produces some rope and they work

in silence. But as he stands by the dangling corpse, he turns to Rise. "Rise-san," he

says quietly. "I'm…I'm sorry. I can't do this. I tried to see you as some nice girl.

But you've murdered people. I can't let someone like you go back to the village. So

you should just…just have a good death!" His voice rises to a shout as he slashes

with a knife at her with startling speed.

Myouri managed to find a narrow crack and squeeze through. She'd be a sitting

duck if anyone found her, but it's all in shadows between two narrow shelves of rock.

Almost impossible to find. She looks at the damage. The blood is oozing, not rushing

forward in a deadly tide, which is good. So she takes off her jacket, and ties it

tightly around the wound to compress it, then just lays back and closes her eyes. For

now. Elsewhere, a few tributes have encountered each other. The battle is bloody and

terrible.

"Kill me? I'll kill you!" Eremi retorted as the axe came for him. Thinking

he saw an opening, he'd attempt to knock the blow away only to catch it into the

leg and smash him back into the ground. The wound cut deep, scratching against bone

sending a searing pain through his body. There was no time to dwell on the matter

though as another attack was barreling down on him. Contorting his body, he'd put the

weight of his body on his good leg and kick the bully with the other leg, sending

blood spraying about. Not having another one of those in him, as the last guy swung at

him, Eremi simply yet painfully leaped out of the way.

As he landed, Eremi spun back around aiming a single leg at the boss with an

axe before spinning about as he grabbed a bully with a sword, using that momentum to

throw him at the last remaining bully. ALl of the movements taking its toll on Eremi's

body as he was quickly losing blood and any energy to continue on. If he survived this

fight, he sure hoped there was a midget med-nin hiding within his large pack.

Rise does not take betrayal well. Betrayal made worse by the fact that they

had just got through the bonding exercise known as 'string up dat dead guy'. D: So

what does she think in that instance? Nothing. She catches his hand and attempts to

break his leg with a fierce stomping strike to it. If successful, Rise then drags his

sorry self back into the cave and toss carelessly into it. "A good death ain't a stab

in the back. Now sit there and stay quiet until this is over."

Did she intend to kill him after that threat? No. She simply walks away

after retrieving her own supplies, plus anything her former ally had to spare.

Something preferably small. After that, she takes off. Heedless of any cries for help

or curses thrown at her. It didn't matter. None of it did anymore.

Swiftly but quietly, Rise makes her way along the outer rim of the arena.

Scaling higher in hopes of a better view. Or prey. Be it of the bipedal kind or not.

It really did not matter to her anymore.

Nothing did.

"Oh…oh god!" the Kusa nin yells, as his fellow village tribute is killed

in an instant. But then his horror turns to blind rage. Actually, his rage is cold,

furious, not unfocused. He faces Eremi with death full on his face. "You're the one

who's going to die!" he roars. His remaining companion had been hesitating, but the

Kusa nin's fury seems to inspire him, and he comes in hard on his heels, determined to

take Eremi's head. Although the leader is bleeding heavily, and the other one looks

tired. They'd been fighting all along, ever since the starting bell rang. And they

weren't used to an opponent strong enough and insane enough to challenge them in a

pack.

It's a good blow on Saito's part, and he seems startled when Rise cancels

it out. So surprised that he doesn't have time to defend himself before his leg bone

is snapped. Saito howls in pain and collapses to the ground. "You…you hopscotch!" he

screams as she drags her back in the cave. "You murderer! You should just go die! I

don't want to die, I don't." He starts sobbing. "My leg…it huuuuurts!"

That's when everything goes wrong for Myouri. She hears someone shout, "I

know you're here, you yahtzee! Come out and die!" But Myouri doesn't want to. She

tries her best to stay still, as well as sense the exact location of that person up

top. And she pinpoints his exactly. Then she pops out and flings a shuriken at him

clumsily. He dodges it easily. Myouri sighs. She has utterly no attacking power. She

ducks back down like a prairie dog, after the guy comes after her to try and squeeze

in. "You…you bully," Myouri yelps, staring at his enraged face. "You pimply, ugly,

smelly, awful, stupid, greasy" It goes on. When actions fail, she resorts to words. It

doesn't help.

Heaving and panting, Eremi was clinging to life. He could give up now and

just die, but why go out that way. At this point there was no way he'd win the

competition, but at least…if it was at all possible, he could take out these two

and ensuring the change that his running mate from the same village didn't have to

face them later down on the road. "I'm going…" Wiping at his mouth, blood would be

smeared upon his arm. "To kill you both before I die."

His comments mostly voices on the wind as both bullies still come at him.

He's able to slightly shift out of the way from one strike, but the next one Eremi

thinks he has a chance to counter, only to end up knocked back and smashed into the

ground. There was only so much more the boy had left in him, but as he moved his hand

across the ground to regain his balance, it came across a sword from a fallen foe.

He'd clutch it tightly in his hand, take in a deep breath then spring to his feet

swinging wildly and blindly at the two remaining.

'He'll be fine so long as he doesn't remove the body'

Its thoughts like those that popped up in her head from time to time.

Strange how those were the only ones besides her basic survival instincts that pierce

the fog. Strange and unwanted. She was almost tempted to try and drive the voices out

with a sharp rock or a knife. She still had a decent two to do just that.

"Mmm.. ah.." The blade of her combat knife is pressed against her temple.

Not enough to draw blood but dangerously close to that point. Her breathing grows

erratic. She knows of easier and by far less painful methods. She needed pain. She

needed fury. Those two are what kept her alive all these years. They drove her on,

tempered her, and gave her a reason to live on in their own complicated little ways.

Finally, She pulls the blade away, and with the fog finally clears up a

little. Focus reaquired (to some degree), Rise can now search again and — then

there's a noise, indistinct yet familiar. She follows it quietly and careful of any

traps until the sound becomes clear. It's crybaby-san!

"Psst!"

A few seconds at most is what she gives her. A few seconds to realize that

the red-stuff covering rise ain't tomato sauce, mud, or anything else except blood.

Then she's pinned down and has her legs slitted, tendons and ligaments damaged beyond

repair within the arena. Crybaby is gonna have to crawl to freedom now. A false

freedom, because Rise is watching.

Always watching with those cold, twisted heterochromatic eyes of her.

Watching from the shadows and waiting for the others to come. She has the time to

wait. Crybaby was merciful patched up so that she wouldn't bleed to death anytime

soon.

Eremi takes out yet another tribute! The usual group of allies has been quite

literally cut down to one survivor. But though he looks tired he's not badly wounded,

and still moves with dexterity, handling the sword he wields skillfully. But he's

scared, you can see it in his eyes, he'd expected to go through the entire games with

a pack at his back. Now he's alone, and they're both nearing an end. But he's raising

his sword to attack.

Tribute count: 10 alive. 20 dead.

That's when the earthquake starts.

Perhaps it's the realization that 2/3 of the tributes are dead, but Konoha

doesn't want people thinking Eremi or any other tribute is controlling these games.

The Leaf is. And so they're sending in something that can be felt all across the

arena, that makes the loose earth and snow start shivering on the ground. Eremi and

the remaining tribute would see it at the same time. Pebbles clattering down into the

bowl. Then larger pebbles. Rocks. Larger chunks. And then the boulders are bouncing

down, crashing towards them like someone is pouring lethal cereal into a stone bowl.

That's when, as he's trying to flee, the bully is caught by a rock that smashes his

arm and pins him.

A moment after Rise finished carving up the girl is when the shaking begins.

And from the mountainous slope comes a rain of boulders, rolling, smashing trees to

splinters. SPLAT. So much for her bait, which has turned from a precisely cut person

to slime on a boulder. And she'd be facing an avalanche of rocks aimed to smash her.

As for Myouri, she feels it and hears it as pebbles rain down into her narrow

gap. Her attacker gets away in time, though not before taking a rock to the leg,

forced to flee a ways. Unfortunately, the rocks are plugging up the entrance…very

heavy rocks. And now instead of being killed by another tribute, Myouri finds herself

in danger of being crushed by the rocks now clattering into the narrow gap. Tribute

count: 9 alive. 21 dead.

Sword in hand, Eremi would eye the last opponent that stood in his way. There

wasn't much left in him to allow him to attack, so he'd wait for the other to come at

him first. Then something suddenly rained down upon his head, causing him to panic

and spin about thinking another had shown to take his life, but what he saw and felt

wasn't something he had expected at all. It was rocks, boulders even, coming down to

take their lives as if they were taking too long themselves to continue on.

The larger rocks started to come and he'd shift out the way and realizing he

had to get to cover. He'd turn about just in time to see his opponent being pinned by

a boulder, not dead, but no longer a threat. Not wanting to stick around any longer,

he'd drop the sword as he started sprinting for the cornucopia, grab his back pack and

make his way inside. Pinned in the building or not, he was safe and had his backpack

to look in to before he would fade away into nothingness if he didn't heal himself.

After the initial bloodbath, loud bangs that filled the entire arena would go off.

Each one would represent the death of a tribute. They usually went off as soon as

someone died, but in the initial bloodbath it was so difficult to keep track that they

waited. One…two…three…all the way up to twenty two. Everyone would know. There

were only eight Tributes left.

Konoha decides to shake things up for everyone. Utilizing those acrobatic

skills she honed in order to capture runaway goats, Rise jumps, leaps, tumbles, flips,

and weaves through the boulders raining down from further up the mountain. She even

takes a risk and grabs one of the boulders mid-flight, using it to catapult her high

into the trees as it spun the air.

Her landing is rough and painful. Yet, better to be up high and out of the

path of those rocks then be squashed like her bait just was. Poor, poor crybaby. Noone

would morn her death except her parents, watching from a distance like everyone else

was forced to. "Tch!" She move ons to more prey. Prey probably flushed out of hiding

thanks to that last event. If so… they'll be desperate. Desperate enough even to

flee closer to the what'cha-ma-call-it, horn thing-er-ma-jig. Not wishing to keep

her 'adoring' fans waiting, Rise makes her way there as well, though she makes it a

point to stay hidden in the trees towards the outskirts. Ready and more than willing

to bring these dreadful games to their conclusion. One way or another.

Konoha decides to shake things up for everyone. Utilizing those acrobatic skills she

honed in order to capture runaway goats, Rise jumps, leaps, tumbles, flips, and weaves

through the boulders raining down from further up the mountain. She even takes a risk

and grabs one of the boulders mid-flight, using it to catapult her high into the trees

as it spun the air.