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"Right!" Charlie replies. She glances over at Rui, wondering if she can hold her own ground against the Ox Man before quickly deciding that she doesn't have time to think about that. She raises a hand in the air, and ice follows her path. She creates a bridge over the steel spikes that are boxing the three in and climbs on the top.
She gasps, not expecting to see that the two were pinned. She leaps onto the ground and glares at the Ox Man. "Hm, Echo remember when I said if we ever crossed paths the fight wouldn't be fair?" She stands up and icicles form behind her. "This is what I was threatening to do-" the icicles follow her gaze, shooting at the Ox Man and painfully burying itself into his skin. She aims a kick at his face and drags Echo out from under him. "Ready for round two?" She asks while taking a defensive stance. "I'm sure he'll be getting back up."

Even as the Ox man righted himself up he was grinning. It wasn't until Charlie heard a panicked "Wahmey!" did she understand why. Looking over to where Bella had been she watched as the scared Octoling attempted to escape, but the steel cage was lowering itself into the ground and for the Purple Ocotling there was no way out, her Octoshot was only a few meters away. Charlie tried to help but by the time she got there, it was mostly covered in the earth, catching one last glimpse of the terrified look in Bella's eyes before she was swallowed up.

The Ox man managed to land a final blow on Echo before high tailing it out, he had gotten what he wanted.

---

Rui was about to run to Echo’s aid like she requested, but she had noticed Charlie beat her to it. She watched as she used her power to momentarily overpower the weird Ox man to take Echo, bringing her to her side to fight him. Charlie had said some things Rui didn’t really understand, but she brushed it off and ran over to help them if needed. She stopped whenever she heard one of the other tributes say something she didn’t understand either in panic. She looked over to see that a cage was being lowered into the ground, and the o tooling was helpless. Her attention then went to the blow Ox man delivered to Echo, worry building up inside of her. What was she supposed to do...? She looked back to the cage and tried to rescue them, but she was too late too. She couldn’t do anything, even if she did something with her power

---

Echo smiled at Charlie and Rui, before standing up on wobbly legs. Blood was dripping from several wounds, but none were overly severe. “Fanks” she mumbled, before standing up, and cracking her own bones back into place with a loud snap. “Ouch” Echo stated, before walking it off, cursing is Russian. She took out some salt, and began rubbing it into the wounds, ignoring the pain. “It’s late, come on in. I need to tell the others Bella has been taken.” Echo invited them into their hideout, calling for Coraline and the others, as she searched for bandages and drinks for the pair. She tore off a piece of her flesh, offering it to Rui. “It’s the best I can do, you hungry?” She asked.

---

Coraline had been the first to arrive at Echo's call. It only took her moments to see that Bella wasn't there and she began to panic, in that panic she started speaking her native Inkling tongue rather than English, so no one really understood what she was saying, but it was clear that she was very scared for Bella's safety.

---

Everything seemed to hit her all at once. For a moment, she felt powerless. She couldn't save Bella, not without risking Bella's life. But before she could even begin to help defend Echo, the Ox Man was already rushing off. She aims another icicle at his fleeing form, hoping but not looking back to see whenever or not it hit him. She crouches by the dirt where Bella disappeared, her face was a deadly calm. "Are you okay?" She asks both Rui and Echo without looking at them. Her voice was calm, steady, measured. But her hands were trembling slightly as she rests them on the dirt where Bella vanished.
She didn't register Echo's earlier words, but she got the important bit. "Taken? What do you mean? How do you know!?" Charlie asks. She glances down at Echo's salted wound and tsks. "There are better ways to heal yourself." She tells Echo. She gently places a hand out, "allow me to help." She pauses. "Actually help." She adds regretfully. How could she have failed against one tribute?

Rui tried to offer herself as a support for Echo as she walked inside, but after seeing her walk it off, she stopped and hesitantly followed her. She wasn’t really sure about the hideout, everyone here except the inklings posed as someone very dangerous, someone she didn’t think she could trust all that much. Could she trust them enough to follow them into a very easy killing spot? She tried pushing those thoughts away and went inside, standing near the walls close to the door. She was looking at the floor while Echo did her thing and Coraline spoke in, yet again, a language she couldn’t understand, until the sound of ripping flesh caught her attention. She immediately felt unsafe, so she tensed up and tried looking for the source. She was only greeted by Echo offering her own flesh to her, which surprised her. She almost immediately began to question how she knew that until she remembered her interview, where she pretty much revealed everything. Rui looked at Echo in confusion and guilt, not yet accepting her offer. Why would she do that? Well... she already had what she could today, so she would just feel terrible taking anymore. She slowly shook her head and turned it away from them, continuing to stare at the floor

---

“Taken, yes. By Ox jerk, no doubt. To his little hideout I suppose. He only got a 7....if only I wasn’t acting so stupid.....” Echo grumbled, allowing Charlie to help her. “Coraline, we’re all scared and worried, but you’re speaking inkling, so mind converting that to english?” She asked, before stretching to pull out a seat for Rui, and handing Charlie the medical bag. “I have no clue why they would want Bella, though. It’s not treatment, in the world of assassins, wounds shouldn’t hinder us, so this is just to prevent infection. I can’t be bothered to treat it properly, now that it won’t be affected, I needn’t worry. It’ll heal eventually. The pain is simply part of the process. Another day, another scar” Echo started, bluntly, and without emotion

---

As Mare took charge of Lesia, he couldn't make her to take rest. She didn't look very tired either, and they both knew Lesia needed care right now. So he left her be and went out for guard. Flare was awake and ready by now, but was awaiting his instructions. As he stood up and whinnied, Flare sort of beckoned Suvansh to get into him. And so he did. Flare took off, circling a bit over the tent, and then flying in the direction where Akiro was, puzzled as he looked around for the source of movement. As Suvansh spotted him from above, having a clearer view, he warned Flare, and then jumped off him, not realising he had his jacket on and not the elytra. As quick as he understood, he switched them off, but it was too late to fly, but he managed to make a cusion of air before falling onto the tree under him. Though the fall was soft, Akiro would've definately heard, and maybe even seen him falling onto the tree. Suvansh quickly regained stature and started walking in the direction where he saw Akiro was, but he stopped shortly before. He realised, even though they had made that sort of a pact thingy, he couldn't really trust him. Akiro only allowed him to do so...was because he was all emotional, and alone then. Suvansh wasn't alone anymore...and realised how making a wrong move could threaten not only his life, but even Mare and Lesia. Thus, he stood away from Akiro, while having an eye on him, and greeted him with a "Hey!"

---

The exhaustion had been getting to Akiro. Leaning against the pillar, he had forgotten about Rui, about investigating, he had forgotten about evreything, including mobs. He was lucky that the snowstorm had masked his scent, leaving him barely alive in a snowdrift. There was still a part of him, alive and awake, that cursed his stupidity once more. It was always the derogatory thoughts, never his logic. He should've been smarter about his enterance. Now he was tired, freezing to death, and because of his desicon to make no real allies, alone and about to die. But then, he registered Suvansh's voice. His nearly frozen eyelids blinked open. It was hard to tell, but he swore he saw Suvansh, the boy from the train with the strange fire creautre. Wether he was friend or enemy, Akiro didn't know, but still, he tried to scramble to his feet, evrey part of him seeming to be frozen solid.

---

As he heard no reply, and instead noticed a tired Akiro limping on the floor, he decidedly moved forward, though still maintaining a safe distance. He was just in distance for any range weapons to hit him, but Akiro didn't look like he could do much, and even if he tried, Suvansh had the high ground sort of. "Are you fine?" he called out to him, slight concern in his voice.

---

"Are you fine?" That was not a question that Akiro was prepared to answer. No, he was most certainly not fine, and was going to die soon if he didn't get out of the tundra. But now that they were in the Hunger Games, Suvansh could not be trusted. Who knew what his ulterior motive was? Of course, it could be that all this was was concern for him, since he had, until this point, been unmoving in the middle of a snowstorm, but he wasn't about to take that chance. He managed to say into the wind, "Yeah," while reaching down for his pack, not taking his eyes off of the blur in the storm that was Suvansh. His stiff, frozen fingers were reaching for the knife, he was almost there..

---

Suvansh narrows his eyes at his response, because he was clearly anything but fine. He notices his sudden movements, and takes an instinctive step back, saying, mildly teasingly, "You sure? Cause you look anything but fine-" If Akiro- if he did anything, Suvansh could take out his dagger from his pocket in a moment's notice, but he did not take it out already, just for that small chance of having an alliance-

---

Taking Echo's arm she begins to patch the worst of Echo's wound. She relaxes slightly at the realization that Echo won't need any stitches. "Well, I'm sorry to tell you that in the world of gangs we prefer to patch our wounds up before going back out to fight again" Charlie informs while delicately cleaning off the salt and patching up her deeper wounds. "Ever heard of a death by a thousand wounds? How do you plan on fighting the Ox Man with a few open wounds? One wrong hit and you'll risk bleeding to death. You aren't any use to us if you're dead!" Charlie scolds. She doesn't speak until she finally bandages up Echo's last wound and washes the blood off her fingers. She doesn't try to comfort Caroline, especially now that Echo had said something. Anyway, comforting others isn't her greatest skill. She is all about planning and fighting! There'll be time to cry when the fight is officially over! "Now, here is the problem- we still have no idea why the Ox Man would take her- my guess is he wants to use her as a hostage to lure is over. It's smart, he can easily trap us in his hometurf." she shakes her head. "But that's the problem- does anybody know where his base is?"

Akiro couldn't read Suvansh's face, so this was going to be quite a difficult interaction. His fingers had reached the bag, and he disguised the motion by making it look as if he were picking up the bag next to him and bringing it closer. It allowed him to slide his fingers into the frost covered pocket and grip the handle of the knife. It would mostly be a bluff, he knew that with the wind, his exhaustion, and the fact that he could barely see, he wouldn't be killling him anytime soon. But, it could be useful. For a minute, he didn't say anything, and then, he spoke. "I am fine. What do you want?"

---

Needles. Of all things, those were what made Jacovin shiver the most. When he heard the, "Finished," from the Peacekeeper nearby, he shuddered. He'd needed to look away while the tracker was injected. And later, he'd shuddered after stepping into where he knew he'd likely die. The arena was a chilling thing, the scent of death hanging heavy throughout the vast expanse. Some had been brave enough to charge the center. He had not. As the starting chime rang out, he sprinted for the taiga. All would be well, assuming he remembered what he learned. He knew he did. Trees, woods, build, shelter. Food, stone, fire, heat, life. Optionally, due to the woods, he could try and dig up a few old bones to try and tame a wolf. Their howls and barks could be heard echoing throughout the area.


-=-


The tracker? Boring. The arena? Questionable. The center? An unwise idea. Chelsea hadn't been there for long, but she knew that Akiro and any of his allies were likely there. So, best case scenario, run. He power could kill all that were there, if she wanted it to do so. But the indiscriminate heat of the flames would more than likely cause pain to Akiro and his allies. So she ran. To the desert, nearly directly behind her. The sun was high in the sky and baked the sand, heat reflecting between the two. It wasn't until Blackheart stumbled upon a few colorful sandstone pieces that she realized she'd gotten lucky. A large temple was hidden in the sand. The only easy way to get in was to slip in through a hole in the roof. Laying down under the shade of the ancient tomb, Chelsea quickly felt the heat wick away, into the cool, hard sandstone beneath her. After a few minutes, she sat up. There was a hidden compartment in this place, wasn't there? She'd read about them in book. Beneath the insignia on the floor. Crawling over, Chelsea wiggled a few of the stones, then pulled a loose piece out. A long ladder hung down into the depths, darkness the only visible thing. Taking a deep breath, Chelsea started to climb down.

Suvansh saw the steeliness in his voice. Akiro clearly didn't trust him, and probably wanted to finish him the first opportunity he got, but Suvansh, could not return the feeling. Their first interaction in the corridor softened him, how Akiro offered to help, even if not by himself, seeing Suvansh's distress. He would not be able to kill Akiro, at least not at the very moment. Anyways- he was weak, and it won't be a fair fight if he attacked right now. Akiro would think otherwise under his exhaustion, but Suvansh could clearly make out his hands gripping around something similar to a knife under the fabric of his bag. "Keep the knife away, and I could let you rest in our camp for all you need." He said, not moving an inch, eyes keen on Akiro. He knew this could be a mistake, such that he drilled in his mind not to do, but he couldn't help but offer. And by keeping it away, he meant throwing it away...and he didn't think Akiro would do that...

---

This wouldn't mean making an ally. Akiro would still be able to depend on himself, and not risk the same trust that had gotten his dad killed. All it would be was resting for an hour, maybe two, and then setting out on his way. He would simply avoid them, and maybe if they ended up dead, it would be becuase of a mob, or another tribute. Once he rested up, he would head to the desert. Less places to hide, but as long as he had water, he would be fine there. Open room to spot mobs and tributes. Not what he had planned, but it was something. Suvansh wanted him to put away the knife. He could, there was still another in his bag. More chances of not getting killed if he built trust, after all. So, he dropped the knife at arms length, the snow quickly bettering to cover it.

---

Rui sat down in her chair, continuing to ignore all the commotion around her. She couldn’t be much help to them, she didn’t have their knowledge of skill, and doing something would probably get in their way. She had her head facing the door and her arms crossed, laying on her legs. She didn’t want to be around this many people at the moment, it was just overwhelming for her. Maybe... She sat up from the chair and headed to the door, right in the middle of their conversation. She opened it, and stepped outside, then walked away. Being in a group would help a lot, but... she couldn’t stand being around others in this state, it was unbearable.

Lesia watched as Flare and Suvansh walked out of the tent, tempted to follow them if it wasn’t for Mare. Sure, she could hold her own, but she didn’t want to risk it. They saved her life and she couldn’t just leave them only to fulfill her curiosity.

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Now that his hands were out of his bag and he was mostly unarmed, Suvansh moved forward, and beckoned him to his feet. "Follow me." He said, and signalled Flare to return to camp. He still had his pocket dagger with him, in case Akiro showed any sudden movements. "So how was your day?" He tried to strike up a conversation, starting to get bored. Suddenly, a zombie came out of the bushes from the right. The snow made it hard to guess if it was day or night, but he supposed it must be night now. He swiftly slashed his dagger through the zombie, leaving the rotten flesh be. There weren't any other mobs around, at least not visibly.

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