[CLOSED] 50/50 Fugitive

[Yoki]

"Hey! Hey, calm down." Jason held out his palm, to rest the other on so that he wasn't hurting him, but kept hold of his wing. "I don't really wanna rip your wings off by accident buddy." He grinned, looking down at the little homoculus. "Yellow team, right? Hmph. Nice." It was obvious that Jason didn't see the male in his hand as a threat, without his teammates around, he wasn't...and his teammates had just been disabled by the red team. "Y'know, my friend over there quite enjoys shooting, she'd greatly appreciate it if you just didn't touch her weapon, that sound about right Becca?" He looked up and over at the girl, smiling. 


"Y-Yeah, That's...right!" She smiled back, holding her head up, although she had to remove one hand from her gun to adjust her glasses again. Jason chuckled at Becca's reaction, nodding in approval at her enthusiasm. 


"You're up here without your team. That's a little dangerous. Imagine if I was actually an enemy," The brunet looked up, "I would have ripped you apart by now. You have to be more cautious. Hey...I know you probably want to be let go, but...what if we made a-" 


"JASON!" Suddenly Becca's worried voice rang out as someone flew up and sent her flying to the ground, feathers gracefully fluttering to the ground as her gun clattered to the floor and slid away. Lilyah had landed on top of the girl, flicking her hair off behind her shoulder. 


"Hey, Becca. Sorry about that, I kinda want to win." With a smile, Lilyah stood up and grabbed her friend's arm, throwing her into a wall, albeit not as hard as she would have any other enemy. She'd apologise for that later, she felt bad already. 


"Oh. Well look who's here to join the party." Jason's looked up, removing his hand from Warren's wing, "Ma'am." He mockingly bowed, earning a grin from the girl who was now dusting herself off. 


"Sir." Lilyah's eyes danced, "I'm afraid I'm here to reclaim my castle if you don't mind." 


"Oh? Well, I can't guarantee your success, but you can go ahead and try...Princess." 


*


Upon hearing the flash bang hit the enemies that had backed away from them, Vinn skipped backwards and threw the gun over his shoulder again. He'd noticed Edel moving to paddle through the moat and had dived in in seconds, taking her over easily. Being a nymph had its advantages. He was more than used to water, swimming was his strong suit for sure, he'd have crossed in no time, but as he got to the other side he decided to come up out of the water to check where exactly they were heading to, and what was going to be there waiting. It had definitely been the smart choice, as he noticed two figures blocking their entrance to the tower. 


A large, centaur-like male with dark hair and ice blue eyes stood in the doorway, his front right hoof scraping along the ground and watching the water with a calm expression. However, the ears on the top of his head and the sharp fangs that were shown when he grinned proved that he was a little more than just your average centaur. Sitting on his back was a much smaller individual, she had long, grey hair tied back in a pony tail, her large orange eyes staring out towards the water. On her back she fluttered two small, black wings, and long, curled horns grew from the top of her head. She was another individual with hooves, clearly shown as she swung her legs backwards and forwards, anticipating the other team's arrival. 


"Hey Harriet." The male spoke to his comrade, but never took his eyes off of the water, "Seems Jason was right, we have visitors." 


"Right!" The girl echoed, her head snapping from side to side in search of her opponents coming up to land, her eyes slowly became more bored and tired looking than before as she looked around, "You'd think they'd be quicker." 


"I agree." 

 

[yaint]

Warren wanted to trust Jason more than anything else in the world, but the instant he even brought up the idea of tearing off his wings, the boy's mind spun into a frenzy. He remembered suddenly why Oscar had helped apply wax: protection. He was in some real danger, and he needed to get out before this big clumsy-looking kid made any awful mistakes.


Crash! went Lilyah, who he remembered from the previous evening spent with cabin eleven. Some part of him wanted to stop and say hi, but no! He couldn't do that - he was finally free again, and this was his opportunity to escape.


"I'm sorry, uh - Jason!" Warren called out last minute after remembering what Becca had called the boy not a moment ago. He flexed his sore, aching wings and took off into a rather dazed path of flight. He might have wanted to win the match, but at least he had brains enough to know he stood no chance of victory outnumbered by two people twenty times his own size. So he flew aw far as he could before his little wings hurt too much to bear, which took him all the way to the edge of the tower. There he pressed himself up against the roof pillar and hoped that his brown pattern would conceal his location for a while.


*


"Ah, crap. Look at that!" Edel could not help but tut as she found her footing in the mud once more. Dark, dirty water streamed from her normally-light fur, and suddenly with all of that fluff plastered to her skin the girl looked awfully thin from the waist down. But it didn't do much to lessen the intimidation - a little bedraggling was often healthy for the 'scare factor', and in fact she looked something like a swamp monster after emerging.


Oscar did not react quite as well to the sight of this enhanced centaur and his impish companion. He pushed off from Edel, landed firmly between her and Vinn and glared upwards with his mean little black eyes.


If there had ever been a plan, it was now all but forgotten. Edel grabbed Oscar, threw him up in the air (which triggered a large amount of swearing and complaining) and let him ascend through the tower whilst she and Vinn were left on the ground.


"Cover your mouth, I'm smoking them," she whispered into her microphone after making sure to cover her own lips with a palm. A second later, the smoke grenade was off her belt, in her hand and then pinless on the floor.


It took only a few seconds for the grenade to blow and send a choking black cloud billowing through the room, and in that time Edel had rushed forwards towards the enemy, her arms outstretched like she were about to hit them with a baton. That was when it had all turned black, for everyone.

 

[Yoki]

The two were just about to fight by the looks of things when they heard something below them go off, it took a second, but soon enough smoke started to seep up towards them, however, it wasn't too much. Jason couldn't help but grin, that was fine, if they wanted to waste their grenades then let them. It was too early for that. 


"Hey!" Lilyah's voice could clearly be heard calling him back to the fight, "Eyes up here." Upon speaking the words she'd launched herself towards the male, aiming for his stomach with her clawed foot. If he didn't want to pay attention then she'd make him. 
 


"Oh, don't worry." Jason's attention had been brought back to her in seconds, he skillfully and easily dodged the attack within the smoke, which was making it more difficult to see, "I didn't forget about you." 


"Good." Lilyah's foot hit the ground and she squinted in order to try and find her opponent again, "I'd hope not." 


---


The smoke grenade had definitely gone off, obscuring everyone's vision, however, upon seeing the explosive being thrown the centaur had backed the two of them up, and the imp girl had jumped off of his back, hooves hitting the ground with little clinks. She'd darted to one side and held a hand over her mouth, whilst the male had stood coughing for a moment. 


Just long enough to get hit in the forearm by Edel's baton, it was lucky, he'd had his hand over his front at the time and so hadn't felt the full force of the attack. 


"Heads up. They're coming in Harriet." He warned, thrashing his arm out forwards in hopes of hitting Edel's head. If that baton had hit him then she had to be close, it just depended on how fast she was. Still, he was fast too, and his senses keen... Which only made the sound of rushing footsteps very disturbing. 


After the smoke had gone off, Vinn had jumped out of the water and ran into it, feeling his foot against concrete he'd slid to the floor to get further into the building and hopefully past his opponents. His footsteps were light and quick, and soon he'd released a barrage of bullets into the area, hoping at least one of them would hit. It was a shot in the dark, but he'd calculated where his allies should be, so hitting them would be difficult, unless someone happened to be using them as a shield... 


"Bullets!" The girl called Harriet called, suddenly the sound of clattering and stumbling could be heard as three sets of hooves moved around. The two didn't seem too phased, if anything had hit either of them they sure weren't showing it... That didn't sit well with Vinn, but instead of firing another set he simply scrambled to his feet and gripped the gun, eyes darting around for a target to either shoot or smack. 

 

[yaint]

The good news for the blue team: that big, mean-looking centaur kid's arm made direct contact with Edel's head. The bad news for the blue team: most of the impact was lost on her tiny curled horns, so she was able to stumble backwards before another blow could properly daze her beyond a brief, striking moment of dizziness.


It was a lucky break for the girl to dive backwards out of the whirling black smoke just moments before Vinn unleashed a spray of bullets at their enemies. Again she landed in the water, further muddying her unclothed haunches, but with a quick roll she was on her two paws again.


"That was a good one, honey!" she yelled at Vinn from afar, forgetting that the headsets would turn her praise into a horrid electronic screech. 


Up above, Oscar flinched. "Goddamn it, will you shut up! That voice kills," he hissed back down between his little white teeth.


"Whoops, my bad." There was no time to blush or be truly sincere for that tiny hiccup in the mission. One of Edel's hands slipped to her belt, but neither of her grenades were still there to use. She had her hands, feet, head and baton to get her through this... And the chances weren't looking good, because that flashbang had not held off the yellow team for long.


One might have thought that having such spindly legs would hinder the ability to swim, but Robyn was coming up fast from behind. She dug her wings into the water like huge oars, sending up sprays of mud and obscuring the path of her small and lithe friend where the smoke had started to clear. 


However, those two girls weren't focused profusely on disrupting the ongoing fight. Someone else was. "Hey Harriet!" Philip called from afar. He winked one little slit-pupilled eye, swung a gun over his shoulder and took aim. He didn't fire until he had it pointed at Vinn. "You wouldn't do a guy a favour and team up to get rid of these reds, would you?"


"That's not polite, Philip," Edel reminded him, although she learned to shut her mouth when one of her ears was nicked bloody by a flying paintball.


***


It took Oscar far too long for his impatient liking to get up past those choking black clouds. He didn't like taking orders from a girl, and he liked not knowing what he was doing even less. Going in without a plan... Oh, he just had to get the cream of the crop in his cabin this time around, didn't he? If only they would just listen..!


Whatever the boy walked into when he got up there was utter chaos. It silenced him right away. There were soldiers, one with a gun and one without, Lilyah, and a little guy cowering in the corner who could only be Warren. What was he doing here alone? Idiot, Oscar thought.


A dark, fuzzy covered leg reached up over the edge of the tower. Warren wasn't looking in the right direction to see Robyn coming up to join him again from behind, but Oscar saw her plain as day. Then Ugly, the hunchback imp, came climbing up the other girl's shoulders too. If only they had another member, it could be a full yellow team reunion.


Great. Not great at all.


"Lilyah! Kick 'em off!" Oscar commanded. Oddly, the yellow team did not seem to be attacking Jason and his little posse like Warren had tried to do by himself. They actually looked almost as though they were siding with them against the reds, because a quick hop and and leap across the floor later, Ugly Hunchback had planted one foot hard in Lilyah's side, pushing her dangerously in the direction of the tower's unprotected edge. 

 

[Yoki]

"Hm?" Harriet had ran forwards upon seeing new attackers and had slid to a halt, noticing the lamia male named Phillip. She grinned, nodding once, "I thought you'd never ask." It seemed she wasn't the only one in agreement, since she looked to Gabe, who also raised an eyebrow and nodded. Both of them were up for teaming, for the time being at least. 


After having formed their new alliance, Harriet turned around, going for the male who had just been shot on the ground. Vinn was an easy target at that moment, surrounded by his enemies, completely cut off...and he was totally aware of it. He'd met the girl's eyes and jumped up almost immediately, she wasn't going to take him down easily. 


A kick was launched at his stomach and knocked away by his gun, making a loud clank, then a punch, which just skimmed his ear, a barrage of attacks were aimed at the boy, some connecting every now and then, however, she wasn't the only one attacking. With his gun, Vinn made attempts to jab at the female, hitting once or twice, but stumbling backwards after a kick to the ribs. His scowl showed that he was clearly unhappy with the situation, which only made Harriet grin. 


"Aren't you the kid who's always outside in the free domes?" She asked, backing Vinn up towards a wall, "Yeah... You're real quiet..." With that she aimed another kick towards him, however, this time he was ready to use her balance to his advantage. As the kick was about to connect Vinn took a step forwards and batted it away with one of his hands, but he didn't make it easy for her, her batted it the opposite way to how she would have otherwise pulled it backwards once the attack had landed. Then he hoisted his gun up against his side with his left arm and wrapped his arm around the girl's throat, she was taller than him, but not by too much, allowing the move to be pulled off at least partially successfully. At that point he shot the gun, aiming directly at her back at point blank range. 


There was a shriek was the paintball connected with the girl's lower back and she struggled to free herself, but Vinn rammed the barrel of his gun into the side of her head. 


"Move and I'll shoot." He growled, obviously very serious. The guns weren't meant to be that close to them, if he shot from that range...it would definitely cause some damage, but he was done with their bullshit. He just wanted to win already. Harriet didn't make any more moves to protest and she'd quickly been kicked forwards by Vinn, forced to stay in the same position, but visible to the rest of her team. If they wanted to play dirty, he'd play dirty. 


---


"Oh hey," Noticing the yellow team's arrival, Jason crossed his arms and grinned, "Pawns." Of course the second part of his sentence was a joke, but it didn't seem like anyone was paying attention anyway. With a grin he took a step back, if these girls were going to fight Lilyah for him then there was no reason for him to get his hands dirty. "Hey Becca, why not watch the show for awhile." The girl had managed to pick herself up and slowly made her way around the other females to join Jason at the back. "We'll get involved if we need to."


"Working on it!" Lilyah yelled into her earpiece as her feet came up to the edge of the tower, she panicked for a moment, but managed to pull herself together enough to look at her attacker. "Alright, fine." Her arms wrapped around the area which had just been attacked, "I mean, we could have been friends, I could have helped you with..." She waved an arm, "That." 


It was all stalling, she needed time to recover from the attack and grab her attacker, once she'd got her bearings again she made a break for the hunchbacked girl. If she wanted to throw her off of the tower then Lilyah would just have to make sure that the other was the one off of the tower first. She'd grappled the other girl, pulling and pushing her in order to try and get her to fight closer to the edge. It was a four against one at the moment, and whilst two members weren't getting involved, she didn't really want to risk them doing so if they saw her becoming a potential threat to them. 

 

[yaint]

Edel only ducked out of the way in time to save getting hit between the eyes with Philip's next onslaught. Her ear was already leaving her lower locks of hair matted with sticky blood... A fantastic inconvenience. She would have to spend an hour waiting in line to get that patched up, and then even longer in the shower trying to wash out the ugly stain. 


Unfortunately, there was little time to worry about such trivial matters as one's flawed hairstyle. She had to dance to dodge more bullets, but as soon as she turned around she caught sight of something more serious.


Vinn was holding his rifle right up against Harriet's head.


Whoa, Edel thought, and then she said it out loud. "Whoa. Whoa, Vinn, hold up. You don't want to do that, honey, that's a little close."


"What's he doing?" Oscar's voice came through on the intercom, although by the hesitation in his monotone speech he seemed to be somewhat distracted.


"Nothing, just give me a moment." As soon as her hand dropped from the microphone she was holding closer to her lips, her arms were seized from behind. Philip had grabbed her just as he had before, and was busily winding his thick, snake-like body around her middle to squeeze out all of the air. "Ah, Christ. You again."


"Get stuffed, Edelweiss," said Philip with a sharp grin. He winked unsettlingly at Vinn, then at Harriet and the centaur-like boy. Then something heavy fell on the ground just outside the tower with a sickening crack.


From somewhere far away, a whistle was blown. It was a sharp, piercing, skull-rattling noise that rang out through the entire dome and seemed to echo off the he hexagonally-framed windows hanging above them. "Time's up!" came the accompanying voice through a newly-formed silence. "The blue team has been in possession for a total of three minutes. The round goes to them."


"Goddamn it!" a tiny voice hissed as Oscar floated down to the ground, Warren coming up close behind. The second boy was already tearing his arm-band off and stumbling after his friend in hope of an early truce, but Oscar continued ignoring his presence. He seemed quite shaken about the loss; within seconds he had ripped the headset from his face and thrown it angrily at his feet.


Philip loosened his grip on Edel. He slithered away and she dragged her paws along by his side. Oscar finally took Warren's hand, and the two tiny fairies fluttered awkwardly through the air whilst trying not to let their wings collide. Even Robyn, that spidery girl who had tried clubbing Vinn on the head, was leaping down onto her eight feet to make her way back.


It seemed like everyone except the hunchback girl was leaving. She had apparently been the source of that horrible noise from before - she lay flat on her curved back, completely motionless but for the rise and fall of her chest which signified her breathing until she started to grope at the muddy grass with clumsy, clawed fingers.

 

[Yoki]

Upon hearing Edel trying to reason him to take the gun away from Harriet's head, Vinn simply scowled and ignored her, he didn't need her to tell him what he should and shouldn't do. If Harriet wanted to get in his way then she'd pay the consequences for her actions, simple. She was a soldier, she could take it. 


Not even the thump from outside seemed to bother the boy, he just stood there, making Harriet move wherever he wanted her to and keeping the gun to her head. All he had to do was throw her out, and the tower was theirs. He was about to do so when suddenly a whistle went off. Vinn looked up, his tense body relaxing slightly, but not in a good way. Already? It couldn't be... 


Throwing the gun over his shoulder, he pushed Harriet forwards, but the girl only laughed and taunted him as she skipped over to the centaur boy and jumped onto his back as the two started to make their way out of the tower to follow everyone else. Vinn didn't care, he didn't even look at her, he just walked forwards, arms crossed, ignoring everyone. They...lost. He never lost, not ever. This was why people were a liability, they always got in the way, he should just be able to work alone. 


It didn't seem like he was even bothered about the thud, he just wanted to get back as quickly as possible. He needed to train more, train so much that he could take on tasks like this without anyone's help. That could be done, he just needed time, a lot of time. 


---


There was a squeal as Lilyah accidentally pushed the  wolf girl over the edge, she stumbled back immediately, keeping her own two feet on the top of the tower. Oh no. What did she just do? The girl's hands were over her mouth as she stood there for a moment, shocked and unable to react to what had just happened, was that girl okay?


After getting over the initial shock, she scrambled to the edge, dropped to her knees, and looked over. The other was on the floor, but she couldn't tell whether she was okay or not from where she was. She wasn't moving. She wasn't getting up. 


Lilyah swallowed and shook her head, getting up quickly and spinning around. She locked eyes with the brunet boy that was standing and watching with a raised eyebrow, her mouth opened as if to say something, but then the whistle went off, completely cutting her off. Time was up. Blue team had won. Of course they had, their team leader seemed good, their shooter was too accurate, they were just...perfect. 


"Well done..." With a sigh, the girl crossed her arms and smiled. That was it. "I guess." She wasn't angry, just teasing, they'd get them next time, "Don't expect it to stay this way though." 


"Yeah, sure." Her opponent chuckled and grinned, "We'll see." His hand slapped the back of the girl with the glasses who stood next to him, "Good job Becs. Glad to have you on the team. See you back at camp." After winking at her and giving Lilyah a salute, he spun on his heel and headed down towards the bottom floor to catch up with everyone else. 


"A-Ah- um...Y-Yeah, thanks." Becca smiled, her cheeks a bright red as her eyes darted around. For a moment she caught Lilyah's eye and the other girl raised and eyebrow and grinned at her, giggling afterwards. She was so sweet. Once the boy left, the two girls stood there in silence for a minute, until Lilyah chose to speak. 


"We need to get the girl down there." Her smile had dissipated, "I think I might have hurt her." 


"Um, yeah," Removing her gun from her shoulder, Becca nodded, "I'll help." 


"Okay, c'mon. Let's go quickly."

 

[yaint]

In the beginning, almost everyone's chests had swelled with some level of excitement at the prospect of the first games with their new teams. They had all marched to the pitch with their heads held high. Now, however, after having been bruised, battered and in some cases bloodied, the mud-covered child soldiers had to trudge over swampland and thick waters to find the one place they were not complaining about.


Among the more vocal complainers was Oscar. "There's no way those bastards kept the hill for the whole game. What were the greens even doing!?" he tutted, one arm swinging by his side as he and Warren fluttered hand-in-hand back to the lines.


"They were just being careful," the brown-haired boy reasoned. "I know their leader, Oscar. He likes to be cautious with everything."


"You know 'em?"


Warren's face turned red again. He followed his friend's lead and they both touched down a few metres away from the others. "Of course," he mumbled in an unusually quiet voice. "That boy with the floppy blue hair-"


"Trevor!" Oscar yelled in interruption. "Yeah, nevermind. I know who he is. Actually, that prick's at the top of my fuck-up list. He's going down next game."


If it was possible for the younger soldier's freckled face to turn a deeper red, the colour of his skin darkened again. "He's not so bad..."


"'Not so bad'? 'Not so bad'? Mate, isn't he the guy who boiled you in a kettle?"


"W-well, he didn't actually manage to-"


"Boys!" Another sharp whistle from the instructor sent both Oscar and Warren scuttling to their places in the front row. Oscar went to stand with his team, keeping close to the front where he could see, and then noticed... Edel was here, and that Vinn guy was definitely around. So what the hell was Lilyah doing?


***


The ugly hunchback girl did not spend too long touching at the ground with a pout of confusion scrubbed on her face. Her unfocused eyes still betraying how deeply that fall had dazed her, she stretched and then sat up. A pair of girls from different teams were apparently the first to greet her, one of which she immediately recognised as the one who had pushed her.


"Thanks a lot," she muttered towards Lilyah, although she made sure to avoid scowling at the other girl. "You come to scrape me up off the floor? Go ahead, you'll get yelled at." 

 

[Yoki]

Vinn had already started walking back, arms crossed, muttering something to himself. He couldn't believe this. Jason couldn't have won, that guy always had to one up other people...didn't he? Talent ran through the guy's veins, something Vinn had always been jealous of, plus he had a good team, which only made it that much easier for the guy. He hated him for it. 


"Well someone's in a mood." Two hands slapped down on Vinn's shoulders, making the boy tense slightly. Jason. The taller male removed his hands and moved to walk beside Vinn, grinning like a shot fox. That only made the younger of the two scowl and turn his golden eyes away from the other, he was so smug about this, he'd totally rub it in Vinn's face when he got the chance. "Hey." Feeling a finger poke his cheek, the male whipped his head around and lashed out, grabbing hold of Jason's finger as his golden eyes moved up to stare him down. All he got was a contrite smile and a slight laugh as Jason removed Vinn's hand from around his finger. "Don't worry so much about it Vinn, you'll get it next time. Nothing to beat yourself up over." He nudged the boy with his elbow, before placing his hands in his pockets and looking forwards. 


Just as expected he got no reply, Vinn just turned his head away once again, but he looked a little less aggravated than before. With another smile, Jason moved his hands to behind his head, "Let's see if I can read your mind." His crimson gaze moved to stare at the back of Vinn's head, "'Why won't this guy just fuck off already, he's suck a nuisance, I hate him so much.'" The voice Jason made as he spoke each of the quotes he imagined were running through Vinn's head was teasing, but definitely not in a mean way, he was just trying to get the other to smile. 


For a few moments he continued staring as he walked, but eventually he just sighed and looked forwards again, "I bet your also thinking 'Damn, but Jason is just so hot, he's a goddamn God...I can't even look in his direction, I'm so embarrassed.'" The words were practically mumbled, but definitely loud enough for Vinn to hear them. 


For a moment there was nothing, but then suddenly Jason felt a stabbing pain in his gut and had stopped in place, doubling over. Vinn had struck him in the stomach, he'd looked up just in time to notice the boy's arm retract back towards his body as he continued to walk away. Jason coughed, staying still for a moment as a large grin crossed his face. "Gotcha!" He yelled after his friend, Vinn didn't even turn around. 


---


"That's fine." Lilyah sighed, kneeling down, her eyes apologetic. She couldn't say she didn't feel bad for knocking the girl off of the tower, but she had tried to push her off first. One of them was going to go, Lilyah just didn't want it to be her was all. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to get hurt. Here." She turned her head, motioning to Becca, who quickly came to join her. "We'll get you back, I'm sure they'll be able to help." 


The two girls got on either side of the imp cross on the ground and attempted to lift her, being as gentle as possible when doing so. They knew that everyone was probably already back, but...no man left behind, right? Even if they got yelled at, they couldn't just leave her out there. 


Becca looked nervous, probably because the girl hated getting shouted at in any capacity, but Lilyah just kept giving her reassuring smiles. She caused this, Becca was just helping. A few times she'd offered for the other girl to go ahead, but she said she wanted to stay and help, it was really kind of her, Lilyah knew she'd have to think of something to pay her back eventually. 


Soon enough the three started to approach the rest of the groups, a few had turned to look at them, but they were yet to get the attention of an instructor. 


"Let's move faster Becca, get her down somewhere." 


"G-Got it!" 

 

[yaint]

"Go."


"But I don't want-"


Whatever it was that Warren was about to say, Oscar was having none of it. He grabbed the boy's wrist, twisted it around and then shoved him away with a hand between the shoulder blades to send him off in the right direction again. Of course the younger, more timid member of their duo had hidden in Oscar's shadow instead of going back to the right place - he was terrified of his own squad. It was funny to an extent, but not so helpful when there was a sharp-eyed instructor staring down his nose at them.


Again, Warren spun around on his heels to shoot Oscar another terrified glance, but made the mistake of forgetting to stop walking. A second before he could speak, something soft and black seemed to almost swallow him whole.


With a start, the little moth soldier realised that he had just walked directly into one of Robyn's legs and that the black mass was her hair enveloping his tiny body. "Oh!" he cried out, and quickly scrambled back to the line, smearing mud across his palms as he stumbled forwards in his haste. "I'm sorry! I didn't see you, I..."


"Watch out," Robyn tutted. The stare she cast down seemed to pierce Warren more deeply than it should have, for it was rather mild, even sarcastic. But still he hunched his shoulders over as he stood in place, finally refusing to move in case he caused any further trouble.


***


Everyone else had settled by now, but the instructor and the soldiers assembled before him were all inclined in the direction of the little team carrying the hunchback girl over as she squirmed uncomfortably in their hold.


A whistle blew. The instructor stomped one hoof on the hardest part of ground he could find, making a great clapping noise. "Girls!" he yelled in his angriest voice, even though Oscar still thought it sounded like a screeching goat. "Just what in the hell are you doing?"


"Casualty, sir," the injured girl muttered as she wrestled her way out of the helpers' arms and dropped back to the ground. A pair of tiny leathery wings rose to ward off the strange looks from her peers, but when she caught sight of a couple of uniformed women rushing in from one corner her expression switched instantly from disgusted to horrified.


The paramedics arrived on scene, patted her down and then stood her up again as everyone watched. A little whimper came from Warren's direction as the girl was taken away and the scene cleared again.


Before anyone could start mumbling to one another, the instructor's eyes rolled over to glare in Lilyah's direction. "And that," he bleated, "Is the first reason you all failed. Zulu, Lilyah! That's an interesting tactic you used there, but maiming goes against our code. I thought that you would have known that. For that you can spend the next match scrubbing everyone's drool off the canteen floor, I'm sure Mrs Gumb would love the help."


"Jesus," Oscar hissed. That was a little harsh, especially seeing at the ugly hunchback girl totally deserved what she got. Lilyah had done them all a favour.


"Unless anyone would like to join her," he said pointedly with a quick glance at Oscar, "You'll all shut your mouths while I'm talking. Alfa, Jason! You tell me now what was wrong with your perfect winning strategy. Take your time, I'm sure it's hard to fault yourself."

 

[Yoki]

Of course they were mad at the two for being late, but it didn't count for much. Lilyah didn't care, she was just glad to get the girl back, either way she was going to get some form of punishment for this type of thing and she knew it. There was nothing she could do about it apart from accept it...might as well help the girl she'd hurt. 


"Sir, I-" She started, before the paramedics appeared and started to tend to the girl who had wormed her way out from between the other two. Lilyah's eyes flitted to Becca and she motioned with her head for the girl to stand back in line, the other hesitated for a moment, wondering where she was actually meant to be, before another nod of the head from her friend made her hastily fall into line next to Jason. 


Lilyah was slower, she watched the paramedics take the girl out, before walking over to stand with her own group just as their instructor started to speak again. This was just what she'd been waiting for. 


As her named was called, she jumped slightly, head darting up and hands moving to behind her back. "Sir!" Her gaze was focused on the man, but he stance relaxed a little and she sighed as she was told that she'd be scrubbing the canteen floor... "You've got to be kidding..." She mumbled to herself, gaze leaving the male satyr, "My nails are going to get ruined." It wasn't like it was entirely her fault, she hadn't planned to push the girl, it was just she was being pushed... If that was a real situation...it would have been the right thing to do. "Aw." 


It seemed she wasn't the only one getting called out however, since the next person to be called on was on the winning team. Lilyah turned to look at the boy, noticing it was the same one she'd fought upon the tower. He enjoyed a joke it seemed, but obviously they weren't happy with him for it...and now he had to fault himself in front of the whole group. For that, she couldn't help but smile, it was funny, despite how nice the guy seemed. Maybe she should feel a little more sorry for him. 


"Uh." Jason blew air into his cheeks, puffing them up as he kicked the ground once with the toe of his shoe. Of course, he got called out on the little game he was playing with everyone... He should have known that he was being watched. 


The male's eyes flitted to Vinn for a moment, who didn't even give him a second look, he grunted, turning his head back to the front. "Our...uh...strategy, well..." He let out a sharp breath, almost like a little laugh, and shook his head. In front of everyone? Okay, not that big of a deal. 


After a moment of recovery, Jason fixed his posture, standing straight with his head held high in the air, eyes locked with those of his instructor, and whilst there was a grin on his face, it was hardly noticeable. "I made a fool of myself, I should have taken it more seriously, sir." It killed him to say it, but he hardly even flinched when speaking the words, it was better to seem confident than weak. "And I made it too personal, sir." He would have apologised, but he knew that wasn't what they wanted to hear. They just wanted him to acknowledge his wrong doings, and he had, although he didn't see anything wrong with not getting involved in a fight he didn't need to. The yellows did all the defending work for them when they arrived anyway, they were practically handed the win at that point. 


The only reason the whole ordeal had even been made personal in the first place was because he wanted to mess with Vinn, see if he'd play the game, but obviously Vinn wasn't going to get scolded for reacting slightly Jason's taunts, really he only tried to get into the tower. "What a shame." He muttered to himself, relaxing his shoulders slightly. 

 

[yaint]

The satyr man smiled wickedly. Or perhaps it wasn't actually that wicked, but the mixture of his slit-thin eyes and vicious horns curled from his head made it seem all the more dangerous not to avert one's eyes. Oscar would have felt sorry to see Jason take everyone's attention, had he not acted like such an idiot on the field.


Luckily, the acknowledgement of a mistake seemed to please the instructor. He nodded and clapped his hooves at the ground again, which made a few of the soldiers jolt on the spot. He confirmed, his arm whipping out in a wide gesture, "That is correct. The blue team won that match, but I'd just put that down to everyone else's incompetence because these idiots thought it would be a good idea to play pretend on a battlefield. How would you like to try that game again and get dead in a real fight, Jason?"


Warren squirmed on the spot, and even Robyn started fidgeting behind him. One of her legs twitched and nearly kicked him into the mud.


The instructor tutted again. "On the bright side, there was some good sharp-shooting there. Philip, Vinn from the red team." That boy with the long, strangling snake-like tail stiffened and blushed from the praise. "And a hell of a lot of stupidity. You do not form truces with your enemy on the field. You do not yell out instructions where everyone else can hear them. You do not waste your grenades. And you do not let your guard down! This is basic stuff and you all ought to fix it before I see you again. Is that clear?"


"Yes, sir," came the chorus of response.


"What was that?"


"Yes, sir!" everyone chimed again in unison.


"Good. Now, I've had enough of you for one day. Get out of that stinkin' armour and get out of my sight. Lunch is in an hour. And Lilyah? I changed my mind. I want the floors sparkling by the time I walk in. Dismissed!"

 

[Yoki]

Jason couldn't help but sigh once the attention was off of him, he moved his arms, rubbing his wrist behind his back. Don't pay pretend Jason, don't have fun Jason. It was his job to be efficient, not energetic, he knew that, but teasing his opponents didn't exactly go badly... In fact it distracted them for awhile, it should have been more appreciated. 


Again, his eyes landed on Vinn just as the boy was praised for good sharp-shooting. It seemed that for once the younger of the two's gaze had darted to the brunet, but he didn't expect to see those crimson eyes staring back at him. Jason had taken him by surprise, causing him to speedily spin his head around to the front, after an awkward half a second of eye contact, and stand up straighter with his head held higher than before. He didn't even take another glance back at Jason to check if he was still looking, well...not as far as Jason knew anyway.


"Mph." The male grunted, grinning and shaking his head as he turned it back to the front to answer their instructor, that grin never leaving his face. Of course the other had managed to get praised, he always did. Instructors hardly ever saw Vinn step out of line...in fact, no, they'd never seen him do anything against their code. He followed their rules, he put extra effort into it, and he was good at it. That's just how it went. It wasn't often Vinn went very long without being praised for something. Not that that was a bad thing, he put the effort in, but...he followed them too...strictly for a teenager. 


"Aw! C'mon!" An exclamation could be heard from a girl in the back just as the group was dismissed, Lilyah. A few people turned to look in her direction, but all that could be seen was an annoyed looking female, flapping her wings as feathers fell to the ground. Her arms were crossed, her back slightly hunched, and her cheeks puffed out. Next to her Becca was attempting to do some form of consoling, or cheering up, one of the two. 


"Hey...i-it's okay...I'll help." The other girl offered, smiling and pushing her large glasses up the ridge of her nose as she pulled on Lilyah's arm. 


"No, it's fine. I can do it myself, don't waste your time on me." 


"R-Really, if you need the help...I-I-" 


"Becca," Lilyah turned, grabbing the girl's shoulders and shaking her slightly, causing the brunette to become slightly dazed, "It's really okay!" She smiled, abandoning her annoyed look from before, "This is my punishment not yours, I can handle it." 


"Sh-..Sure?" 


"Positive." 


"Mmn..." There was a moment of silence before Becca nodded and managed a sheepish smile towards her friend, "Okay, as long as it's really fine." 


"It really is." 


Jason chuckled to himself, quickly turning his head as he saw something zoom past from the corner of his eye. His eyes landed on the back of Vinn as the boy walked away from the rest of the group, it was expected of him, he didn't stick around anywhere he didn't have to for very long. 


"Hmph." He didn't make any attempt to go after him this time, not yet, it was too early. 


"Yo." A hand slapped down on to Jason's shoulder, taking his attention away from Vinn. Gabriel, the centaur boy, and Harriet had quickly appeared behind him, grinning. "You did a good job, pay no attention to that old shit." 


"Aye, thanks." Jason nodded once, grinning to his new friends. 


"So." The centaur trotted forwards, "Wanna grab lunch together in a bit?"
 


"Uh." For a moment he thought about it, but then he nodded, "Yeah sure, sounds good."


"Decent. Best we all get to know each other better." 


"Yeah. Of course." 

 

[yaint]

***


It was not like nobody had seen that instructor before. He was a familiar face to everyone, often cropping up here and there, seen trotting around on his ancient hooves to run little errands for the more important board members. Everyone knew his style. But, of course, that did not mean that everybody liked it. The praise and punishment received in that match had gone a long way. Lilyah had been sent off to scrub the floors. Jason had been let off with a warning for his passive stupidity. Everyone else had left and spent the rest of the day doing their usual drills and training regimens.


The evening assembly on that day was what sparked the interest of a few dull eyes.


'Two teams will be entering the survival domes at random,' is what the announcement had stated. In answer to all the murmurings, further detail was released.


In the coming weeks, two cabins would enter a wilderness survival area with the goal of retrieving a token. That token was hidden somewhere within the dome, and whichever team found it the most quickly would be crowned the winners of the long-running squad match. As usual, there was no real prize but for a chance to keep whatever trinkets could be found on the field, but competition was already raising riots in the crowd before night had fallen.


Everyone wanted to try their hand at living in the outdoors, with real weather and wildlife and things they would never have imagined if not for earlier missions. And funnily enough, cabin eleven was one of the first trams to have been picked, as decided by a slip of paper slid beneath their door in the evening.


They had all read the news before packing up to go to sleep.


***


Maybe, if the area outside were thick with long grass, Edel would have heard the song of crickets through the walls. Her sensitive ears had often picked up their chirps from her old cabin. Now, though, it was just the steadied breaths of the sleeping soldiers around her.


Ever since that letter had come through, she had not been able to clear her head. That mission was coming up, and the group had been told to get ready to leave for tomorrow. There was no time to plan or prepare, and they were the ones setting the bar for everyone else.


After a while, Edel shifted over. She pulled the sheets around her legs and wished that her blankets were thicker. Then something caught her attention.


Someone in the room was breathing differently to the others. To most, the change would be unnoticeable. But to Edel's ears, the difference was as plain as black and white. Lilyah, if she was still sleeping in the same bed, was not sleeping. 


"Hey, Lilyah," the girl dared to whisper. "You awake?"

 

[Yoki]

The day had not been a fun one, and when Lilyah finally got in, she was exhausted. She'd immediately taken a shower, since she was filthy from not only having to clean that awful floor, but all of the other activities too, and then she hadn't come out for around an hour or so. Although, when she did come out the others seemed to have appeared in their cabin once more. 


Just the same as the night before, Vinn had promptly walked to his bed and got to work on god knows what. He was in earlier than she'd expected, after all, he did seem to like to stay away from their little group. They'd have to warm him up to them, it'd happen eventually, some people were harder to become friend with that other. Vinn was just a tough nut to crack was all. 


Once everyone had settled, she'd tried to talk for a little bit, but ended up getting too tired and falling asleep whilst practically having a conversation with herself. It was strange being in a new place with new people, and she couldn't quite keep her mind off of the task that had been given to them for the next day... It was so soon to be giving them such exercises.... Were they even ready?


Lilyah didn't know the time, she just knew that it was still night time. Everyone around her was asleep, or so she assumed, when she woke up. She tried to sleep again, but her mind was whirring, ideas, worries, and plans buzzed around her head. What time was it? Could the others possibly be getting up soon? Should she get up? Hm... Maybe. Still, the girl just laid there, staring at the floor, even if she was supposed to get up in a moment...she just wanted to relax for a second. 


"Uh." A quiet whisper from beside her cause the female to turn over, "Hey." Edel was awake? At this sort of time? It made her smile, knowing she wasn't the only one who couldn't get to sleep. "Yeah... I'm awake. I can't stop thinking you know?" She tried to keep her voice down, not wanting to disturb the boys, "What're you doing awake?" Shifting her legs, she managed to sit up just a little bit, she wanted to be able to hear Edel better. 

 

[yaint]

When Edel's ears picked up Lilyah's hushed response, she turned over. The two discs of yellow in her eyes shone briefly as they caught the faint glimmer of the emergency lighting coming in from beneath the crack in the door, but when she leaned over into the darkness again her gaze disappeared.


"Same reason as you, honey," she mumbled, her voice so low that it was nearly a croak. At this time of night, whenever that might have been, talking was like treading thin ice. Judging by the occasional fluttering sounds coming from a nearby bunk, the noise was already disturbing Oscar's sleep, and by now anyone could guess that he would not be happy about being awoken. "Just thinking. Tomorrow's going to be heavy, if I'm remembering what that letter said right. What was it? We're going to be thrown in there at seven in the morning or something, and hell, we don't even know who we're up against."

 

[Yoki]

"Yeah." Lilyah shifted again, feeling uncomfortable just at the thought of it, "I don't know whether we're ready..." She admitted, trying to keep her voice was quiet and soft as possible. "After all...we're...not exactly the most...efficient team." It was true, they were still working on the teamwork thing...because teamwork had to span beyond just each activity... They were made to live together for a reason. 


For a few moments she stayed silent, thinking about the day ahead in a little more detail. "Do you..." This time her voice was a little louder, but upon realising it, she quietened down again, "Think we'll be okay?" That was quite the question, one she didn't even know if Edel would be able to answer...but she guess a part of her needed the reassurance. "I mean, it's so early to do something like this...we've hardly even got to grips with the place and I mean... I guess I would have liked a little more time is all." Getting to know these people a little better would promote teamwork, but they hadn't had the opportunity to truly bond when they'd been so busy. That was part of the challenge she guessed. 

 

[yaint]

For some reason, Edel could not help but laugh - or, rather, snort repeatedly with her fangs exposed. "Yeah," she breathed when the one-sided humour died down, "Yeah, we'll be fine. Teamwork's going to be a bitch, but it's not like we haven't been in there before. It's just... Well, it's a case of manning up and dealing with it. And finding the token, of course."


Again, the girl pulled the sheets around her legs, twisting it into a soft, white cocoon. Her face squashed up against the pillow.


"Hey. What do you think it looks like?"

 

[Yoki]

"Mmn...I suppose you're right." Lilyah nodded, they just had to brave it, whether they wanted to or not was a whole other ordeal. Surely they could learn to work together well inside a dome where they were fighting against conditions that could potentially be fatal if dealt with in the wrong way. It may worry her, but...she just had to believe that they could do it. 


Honestly, the girl didn't know what else to say, and she wasn't going to speak, but then Edel asked what she thought the dome looked like.... That was a good question. "Um..." After a second of thinking, Lilyah sighed and pulled up her blanket, "I dunno, it could be anything, right? Rain...snow...dry land... I hope it's not too difficult terrain wise. What do you want it to be?" 

 

[yaint]

"Well, that's an interesting question," she tutted back, her words flicking off her tongue with clarity even though they were so close to silence. "I don't know if this is bias talking, but I'd love a good forest. You can get a good few squirrels out of those trees. They don't taste half bad, actually... But then again, it's probably not such a good idea. You won't have space to fly with trees growing up your butt every few inches. It would have to be somewhere nice and quiet, with these big open spaces. Some water for Vinn, maybe. And preferably no bugs, but that might be pushing my luck."

 

[Yoki]

"I've never had squirrel..." Lilyah mumbled, she'd never even thought about eating squirrel before...not like she really wanted to. She didn't eat meat, but if she was forced into a position where she was starving, she knew she'd take whatever she could get... There was no point killing herself over her eating preferences. "I mean, I could handle it... Maybe if there were a few open spaces." A forest didn't actually sound too bad, as long as she could get somewhere high up she was set. Everything Edel wanted did seem ideal, and they probably wouldn't get any of it, just the thought made Lilyah giggle. "Yeah...a little bit." She replied, a large smile on her face, "I hope it's somewhat like that though. It'd make it easier for sure...but knowing my luck we'll get one of the worst places... I'd hate a desert area..." 

 

[yaint]

"I'd have to agree with you there. Nobody wants a desert. Except the arachnes, but they can just burrow under the sand and wait the whole thing out." Edel snorted with laughter again. "Talk about cheating. But hear this, I heard they pick the environment based on what's most challenging for us. Think that changes for the mission? If we're looking for an object... Maybe a lake would be the hardest place to live."


It seemed as though Edel had forgotten herself with the excitement of the conversation. From somewhere nearby there was another bout of fluttering, and a tiny grunt. A mouse-sized silhouette sprouted from the mass of the covers, and it was holding a wad of bundled-up pyjamas like a pillow.


"Oh. Sorry, honey, did we wake you up?"


Oscar stood almost frighteningly still, and his tiny form started sinking into the duvet. Eventually he rubbed his eyes one by one. "I'm tired," he complained in a tone that did not suit his usual feisty self.


"Yeah. Okay." Edel shot Lilyah a glance. "Think we should go to sleep?"


Again, Oscar butted in, "Forget it. What are you even talking about at this time of night, anyway? Girly trash?"

 

[Yoki]

"A lake huh? Yeah..." Lilyah thought about it for a second, but apart from Vinn they didn't really have much man power within water, "I guess that would be quite difficult." She thought on that for a moment, but before she could speak again, Oscar had burst from his covers and mumbled something about being tired. With a giggle, the girl shook her head at the mention of 'girly trash', he was so cute. "That's not it Oscar." She shuffled her feet off of the edge of her bed so that she was sitting up, cover draped over her shoulders and pulled in tight around her front. "We're talking about tomorrow, right Edel?" She smiled towards the other girl's bed, but it was dark and whilst her eyes were adjusting, they weren't adjusting quick enough. 


There was a shuffling noise from the only person in the room who didn't seem to be awake at that moment, but when Lilyah looked over, Vinn was still sound asleep in his bed. It actually disappointed her slightly, he was the only one who wasn't joining in...again. Although sleep was important, and she didn't want to wake him for a conversation he likely wouldn't even want to be a part of anyway. 


"We were thinking about what the environment might be like." She clarified for Oscar, "And...well...if we'll be able to work together. I guess." 

 

[yaint]

Oscar's little arm swung to the side as he lugged the weight of his make-shift pyjama pillow to the edge of the bed. He had to raise his feet carefully with every step, like he was sinking into deep snow. Edel could not help but smile every time the boy disappeared into the folds of the duvet again.


"What are you laughing at?" came a sharp few words with a brief moment of direct, piercing eye contact which then went on to Lilyah.


Edel leaned away on her mattress. "I didn't laugh, honey," she sighed. "Just being friendly."


"Mmgh... Whatever." 


There was a moment of silence. Again, Edel listened for the crickets she could no longer hear from her new home, although she did pick up an impressive snore from a next-door neighbour. Clearly the others were not having trouble sleeping. Well, that was fair; they weren't the ones expected to survive in an artificial wilderness with no preparation whatsoever.


"So..." Edel began again. Admittedly, Oscar looked even less happy at night than when he was awake - the bags under his eyes and one bent antenna didn't help - but she was willing to take her chance with conversation. "Which biomes have you done before, Oscar?"


Oscar bit his lip and didn't reply, although by the way his lips were moving he was either mouthing an answer or a curse.


Nevermind then, the girl thought. She rolled over, faced towards Lilyah and did a very exaggerated shrug with rolling eyes. "You?"

 

[Yoki]

Lilyah was happy just listening to the dialogue between Oscar and Edel, it was obvious that Oscar still needed to sleep some more, since he was hardly awake enough to reply, but Edel looked fine. They were going out into a survival scenario tomorrow and were now wasting time by sitting awake, how silly. She smiled at the thought, swinging her legs off of the edge of her bed, the only sensible one of them was Vinn, he was actually getting some sleep. 


"Hm?" Upon being addressed, she looked up, "Oh...uh..." What biomes had she done before... Well...she'd never done many, she had been in a rather controlled group, they'd had to do practice in air space and on land. "Well...I know we did a mountain area once. That was interesting. Although, it was probably easier than this one is gonna be." She smiled, turning her head back towards Edel, "And then there was a snowy area that we were all deployed into for a little bit, but that was mostly just fun." Covering her hand with her mouth when she giggled, she glanced to Oscar and then back to Edel, "So what about you? What did you do in training?" 


Edel was a lycanthrope cross, Lilyah didn't exactly know the training the girl underwent, but she could imagine that it was probably a lot of front line combat rather than anything else. She could run fast and attack hard, perfect for close combat...right?