callistomeadowforge

[callistomeadowforge]

Helios didn't go into specifics, but perhaps there wasn't a need to. Perhaps it was impossible to truly prepare for the Games, to expect the unexpected, regardless of how much training they'd received. Cress had made all the preparation in the world and she'd still come out the other end changed. Helios still seemed himself, felt himself, at least for the moment, and maybe that was something to be valued before it inevitably changed, too.

When the question was turned back at Calli, embarrassment crept up, warming her cheeks, offering one reason to be grateful for the dark. Still, she answered honestly. "I don't know if I imagined anything." Her foolish indignation and envy hadn't made much room for that. "But this isn't all bad, right? I mean, worse than how it started, sure, but I suppose I should be grateful to still be standing." Her trainers and classmates back home probably hadn't expected her to go this far. Olivine likely hadn't.

The wind picked up, which was curious. They were still sheltered, protected from the rain, but it appeared that they might be close to an opening, to the other end of the cave. Calli was about to ask if Helios thought the same, but was distracted by something else; squeakings--like the ones she'd heard with Flora. Her hand gripped Helios' tighter as her steps drew to a halt.

"Guess this is as close as we can get to being dry and warm, for now." They were neither. As much as Calli wanted to maintain a positive outlook, this was far from ideal. That aside, Helios seemed to be handling everything just fine, the way he always did, of course, so she did not want to be the one complaining.

Her eyes squinted when she thought she saw flashes of light in the distance. They were gone before she could blink, though, so perhaps it was just her mind playing tricks in the shadows. "What about everything else?" Calli asked, tilting her head. Unlike her, Helios had had years of planning, had always wanted to be here. He must have had his own expectations of what being a tribute would be like. "Is this how you imagined it?" Were those expectations fulfilled? Now that she was in the arena, she couldn't imagine wanting this, but Helios was different. He was the better career.

[callistomeadowforge]

Somehow, her limbs felt limp and frozen solid all at once. She could crumple down onto the water at her feet or she could stand still until the water drowned her that way. Fortunately enough, she did neither in the end, and let herself be pulled. They ran the only way they could, back towards where they had come from. Perhaps there was a chance at a reward yet. Perhaps the reward was simply that they would be allowed to exit that way, allowed to live another day. But soon enough, it became apparent that wasn't the case.

The sound of metal hitting stone that she'd heard when they had first walked down the passageway, the one she had written off as something she might have imagined, turned out to have come from a very real source. Her hands gripped at the iron bars and shook them--to no avail. Slate had been right, of course, but she had hoped that the sacrifice would've changed that. "We have to--" Panic rose in her voice once again. "Your knife, do you think we could--" The blade couldn't possibly cut through the bars, but perhaps there was hope in wedging it somewhere and wrenching them loose. Maybe? She didn't know, but they couldn't die here. They couldn't.

He knew he wouldn't soon forget Callisto's scream, nor would he soon forget the rushing of water, how it seemed to come as if from nowhere. He had no words for her, nothing to say in response to her unspoken question, except for a scream of his own: "Fucking run!" He grabbed her hand and started to sprint, moving as quickly as he could, giving her no chance to hesitate, no chance to pause and think about what had just happened in quick succession. They needed out of here.

[callistomeadowforge]

"Guess this is as close as we can get to being dry and warm, for now." They were neither. As much as Calli wanted to maintain a positive outlook, this was far from ideal. That aside, Helios seemed to be handling everything just fine, the way he always did, of course, so she did not want to be the one complaining.

Her eyes squinted when she thought she saw flashes of light in the distance. They were gone before she could blink, though, so perhaps it was just her mind playing tricks in the shadows. "What about everything else?" Calli asked, tilting her head. Unlike her, Helios had had years of planning, had always wanted to be here. He must have had his own expectations of what being a tribute would be like. "Is this how you imagined it?" Were those expectations fulfilled? Now that she was in the arena, she couldn't imagine wanting this, but Helios was different. He was the better career.

The caves were damp, but it beat the wild gusts of wind, the harsh rains by a landslide. It was a small reprieve. But Calli, pressed to his side, was a balm for his soul. Missing an ear, but alive. Him, missing a toe but alive as well. Had it been Olivine here, Helios wasn't sure if he wouldn't have killed her already. With Callisto here, he had a hand to hold; to take comfort and give it back in turn. They continued their trek, wherever it might have been leading them.

Fingers tightly wound around hers, he glanced down at her when she spoke. He snorted. "Hey, I get it. It was beautiful. I'm usually partial to the rain, but from the inside. When I'm dry and warm."

[callistomeadowforge]

@helios-serpentine

In spite of her warning and reluctance, they had wandered deeper into the cave. It did seem to be the best course of action for the time being. They couldn't stay close to the mouth, given the storm raging on and the waves eating at the shore. Deeper inside, at least the wind couldn't sweep them away. At least the torrential downpour couldn't touch them.

Still, Calli hated it. She hated how dark it was, despite knowing that outside wasn't much brighter. She hated the dampness, the puddles of water on the ground, reminding her of the flood flushing Slate and her out the previous day. She hated the bats, which she couldn't see but knew to exist given what had happened when she'd explored the caves with Flora. Most of all, she hated how much the open wound on the side of her head still hurt.

But as terrible as everything was to her, she had to remember that she was not alone here. Helios was next to her, unfortunately in pain, too, unfortunately agonising right alongside her. Though she wished at least one of them could be doing better than they were, if everyone had to suffer, perhaps she should be grateful that they got to do it together rather than separately.

At this point, she had forgotten to be proud or to be shy, didn't care that she was pressing herself to his side. The last thing that she wanted was for them to get separated. She took care not to hang off of him, though, took care not to disturb his balance any more than it already was. "You know, I actually didn't completely hate the arena when we were first launched." The sandy beaches were beautiful, and so was the sparkling blue ocean stretching for miles and miles. "Now I'm beginning to change my mind."

[callistomeadowforge]

The contrast between the soft kiss at the top of her head and the sharp sting around her ear held her focus, but only for a short while. Afterwards, there was only pain pain pain, lacing across the side of her head, burning, and her own scream echoing in the tiny cavern. She thought the quake came from within, that the cave only looked like it was shaking because she was losing consciousness, but when the bowl slid off the table, she realised that wasn't the case. This was a quake similar to before. Fissured formed in the walls again, which brought on a sliver of hope. They had made their sacrifices, performed the gruesome deed, so perhaps another passageway would open to lead them to their reward.

But no viable passageway was revealed, no reward was offered, and not even a hint of sunlight. Instead, only water poured. The toe caps of her boots were soon enough completely underwater. Calli looked to Slate again. What do we do? she wanted to ask, but couldn't find her voice, her head still too dizzy with pain.

Looking down at her from above, with his vision swimming a bit from the pain, it was easy to see her as Cress. Their hair was the same, the curve of their faces the same gentle curve. Something central about them was similar, too, a delicacy. With a surge of love for her -- for Callisto, for Cress, for Calli as a sister-in-law that would never be, for the idea of what could have happened, meeting her at an awkward family dinner in One, teasing her for something stupid, watching that recital she had coming up -- he bent down and kissed the top of her head, her blonde hair. As he kissed her, softly, he brought the knife down, giving it force, as if he were attempting to cut into stone in the hopes of revealing a gem. Something fell onto the table with a thud and he stepped back, though just as he did so, the earth began to shake, a terrible sensation of unbalance taking over. He watched the table, the wall behind it -- would something happen, had their sacrifices been enough? The wall began to crack open, and fear flooded him just as water began to pour into the passageway.

[callistomeadowforge]

They had to go through with it. This couldn't be how they both died; stuck in a dingy cave with barely enough oxygen to breathe, surrounded by nothing but rocks, left to wait until the torches eventually died out. Calli couldn't disappoint her sisters like that. Slate clearly didn't want to die either. "Anything would hurt," Calli repeated in a mumble, like she needed to hear it in her own voice to believe it. A finger--and she would never play piano the same again. A toe--and she would never dance the same again. An ear--and she might never hear music the same again. There was no good alternative. But whichever it was, if she somehow survived the arena, the Capitol would be able to fix her. Right?

She stood up straighter. Her hands gripped the edge of the table, bracing for what was to come. Tears still trickled down her face, but they now streamed out of closed eyes. "Yes." Calli conjured a song from memory, one of her favourite classical tunes, and let it flood her every thought. To her dismay, the feeling of suffocation remained. But there was no good alternative, so they had to do this, didn't they? Slate had done his share--his ear was on the table--and was still kind enough to agree to help with hers. They had to. "Please."

Slate was breathing heavily, the adrenaline masking the pain but only somewhat, his ear -- though it didn't look much like one now -- lying on the table in front of him. He allowed Calli to help with the blood, staying still, his teeth gritted. He didn't scream anymore, though, put on a brave face. Cress would want him to. Cress would want him to help Calli, to reassure her.

"I'd-- I'd say we should do something else, but... I think anything would hurt," he said, turning to her fully, the hand holding the dagger shaking. "Are you good? You're sure?" He didn't want to do this -- didn't want to cut off her fucking ear -- but if she couldn't do it herself, even if she didn't want to, then he would. For her, for Cress. For the hope that maybe, just maybe, they'd get some tiny gift from the Gamemakers for their sacrifice.

He put the dagger to her ear, his breath still ragged, but knowing that they didn't have long to act. He had to just... do it. But still, he waited for her to confirm, to tell him that she was sure.

[callistomeadowforge]

Her lips quirked into a gentle smile. Knowing that she was helping, even in small measures, made her feel just a little bit better about all this. Surely they had enough support between the two of them. If they could continue on like this, maybe they would be just fine--at least for some time. There would be enough water to go around.

"Look, I'll tell you all about it, but let's move for now? I don't like the look of the fish swimming around here." Calli scrunched up her nose. "Fair warning, though; it's possible I'm in the process of turning into a vampire, so watch yourself."

That had his eyes narrow in part confusion and part hesitation. "What on earth is in the caves?" His mind immediately began to ran a little wild with all the options he could think of, with all they had been teaching in the Academy. Nothing was ever a certain thing in the Arena.

He took a hold of the canteen as it was pressed to his chest. His uncertainty melted away a bit at her teasing remark. "Too late to change your mind now," he snorted, unscrewing the top and taking a sip. The water slid down his parched throat pleasantly, and momentarily, his eyes fluttered shut in appreciation. He took another sip, before closing the canteen again and handing it back to Calli. "Gods, thank you. I needed that."

[callistomeadowforge]

What was the right thing to do in the situation they were in? Was there a right thing at all? She didn't know. She couldn't know. The trainers back at the academy had lessons on emergency amputation, but even hearing those had been too much for her to stomach sometimes. They certainly never said anything about watching someone else do it to themselves. While Slate screamed, Calli remained frozen, barely breathing. She didn't dare move closer, didn't dare stumble back. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't.

Only once it was over that possession of her own body returned to her. There were tears in her eyes, which was stupid, considering nothing had been done to her yet. Nevertheless, she ran up to Slate, tried to wipe the blood trickling down his face with the sleeve of her shirt.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She wasn't entirely sure why she was apologising. Maybe it was because she regretted having suggested what she had. Maybe it was simply that she was sorry Slate had to go through that. But when it became clear that they weren't done here, she realised she was apologising for yet one more thing. "I can't--" Calli tried to swallow her sobs, but didn't entirely succeed. "I can't do it. Not on my own." Because she just couldn't. It was horrible to ask this of Slate, but was there another way?

"I guess we have to sacrifice something important enough that it'll be missed," Slate said, his tone a grumble, the anger still there but also knowing that they didn't have time for him to complain, yell, make his fucking points for the cameras. Things in the Arena typically had a ticking clock. When she suggested an ear, he balked, making a face, because an ear felt fucking significant to him.

But immediately, bile and the copper taste of blood came into his mouth, and he was back in the Bloodbath with Buster. Clinging to his back, desperate to make a move, and what had he done? Found Buster's ear with his teeth -- if Buster were still alive, moving around the Arena, he'd be less one ear.

Slate wasn't sure if he believed in being even, in keeping score, but this was a Game and he supposed there were scores. There were odds, there were bets. There was a skewed right and wrong. And so Calli's suggestion made a kind of sick sense, didn't it? He wasn't proud of what he'd done to Buster, but could he make it right in the scorecard of the universe, which was the scorecard of this Arena? Was this a chance for absolution, one he should take before it was too late? Was there such a thing as a soul, an afterlife, a weighing of cards?

"Sure, sounds positively delightful," he said, and then, because overthinking was the enemy of action -- he should know -- he knelt down quickly so that his head was just above the table. "Let's see what the Gamemakers think." He shot her a devious little grin, one that was easy for his face to make, second nature. He wanted her to be calm, to really think it wouldn't hurt -- though it sure as fuck would, if he knew anything.

Later he'd look back on this and think I didn't have to cut off so fucking much. He'd regret starting where he had, he'd regret the swift movement of the blade, he'd regret the scream he let out as he lobbed his own ear off. He was supposed to be pretending this wasn't painful, wasn't he? But fuck. It was. Of course it was.

[callistomeadowforge]

"I don't think so either." The bats were still squeaking somewhere, but the sounds were growing distant. Silence settled soon enough. Calli rolled over onto her back, breathing in the clammy air. Flora, on the other hand, wasted no time, rustling around next to her, perhaps getting back onto two feet. That was what it sounded like anyway. Calli couldn't be certain until Flora loudly announced that they were leaving.

A sigh later, Calli finally followed, slowly getting back up, too. "But if we did get bitten, I hope we don't get turned into vampires." She was joking, but given the undead of the previous Games, it might not be out of the realm of possibility. Whatever the case, they would be better off out in the open again. Her hand reached out again, trying to find Flora in the dark as they began to walk. "Let's just try to find a way out that's not guarded by bats this time."

Flora had decided this whole wasn't so bad. The cave floor was actually pretty comfortable and the bats were creating a nice breeze within the cave. While laying there waiting for the bats to pass, she had almost fallen asleep. Though she was brought out of it as she felt Calli grab for her and heard her speak. "Hey." Flora repeated, softly. She waited a moment before picking her head up and looked around. Of course, it was still too dark to see anything but she tried her best to make out anything. "No.. I don't think so." She said as she let out a sigh. "Did you?" Flora asked before slowly standing up, brushing the dirt off of her. "I think we are good to go. Goodbye stinky caves. Goodbye cute little batty-bats but we out of here."

[callistomeadowforge]

The sight of the blade somehow brought both relief and also more dread, catching in her throat like a stunted cough. No other choice then. They would have to go through with this if they wanted to live. Calli flipped the bowl over, emptying it, and watched as their locks of hair floated down onto the table. "We don't have to sacrifice something so... significant, though, do we?" Slate was angry, which she understood. Perhaps she should be angry, too, but it felt a little too late for that. She had signed up for this. "I got my ears pierced before I turned one, or so I was told. Obviously I don't remember. But if I withstood that just fine as an infant, it couldn't have hurt that much, could it?" She set the bowl back down--and waited.

"No, they won't let us go back, they want to see us do something fucked up," Slate snapped, though his anger was not for her; it was for the Gamemakers, all of the people watching. He pulled his dagger from where it had been shoved inside his waistband; hidden away but easily accessible. He hadn't felt he needed it out around her. "They want us to use this -- a gift from Cress -- to, I don't know, lob off a fucking... hand or foot." Maybe something small would do; a finger or toe, rather. But he knew he wasn't skilled enough to get through this shit with any less coordination of his hands or his feet. He turned his attention back towards the cave ceiling. "Hope you're all enjoying this, fuckers!"

[callistomeadowforge]

That adventure was a little silly now in retrospect, but it was still plenty unnerving to think about or to recount. Calli shook her head. "Oh, it was a whole thing. Word of advice: stay away from the caves." Though Helios would probably know what to do should he ever find himself there. She shoved the canteen against his chest. "Enough, for now." The water wouldn't last the both of them for very long, but surely they would be able to find something else later. Either that, or another gift would be sent. She had to believe it. "Go ahead. Before I change my mind." It was the least she could do, after everything.

"Adventure?" he quirked a brow, the ghost of a chuckle on his lips. "What do you mean adventure?" Calli was off before Helios could respond, but he was nonetheless grateful at the sight of the canteen. "You sure?" he asked, skeptical. "How much did you get?"

[callistomeadowforge]

Defeatedly, her eyes flicked down to the floor when Slate yelled. Of course the hair idea didn't work. Cutting off some hair couldn't be the sacrifice and gruesome deed that the note wanted them to perform. Still, Calli plucked out some of hers and added it onto the bowl, holding onto some thin tethers of quickly diminishing hope that there was a way out of this without getting themselves hurt. But the addition of her hair changed nothing, which didn't surprise her. The air remained still. The last of that hope died out.

"Do you think we could go back?" Was the question even worth asking at this point? She didn't even have the heart to look back towards the dark passageway. They couldn't give up, though. Calli had promised her sisters that she was going to do her best, that she was going to try. "Do you-- Do you have a weapon on you? Anything sharp at all?" A thought began to take shape, one that might develop into a plan, even if it terrified her.

Slate supposed that in the rule of fairness, and what goes around comes around, the Capitol using cryptic words against him was bound to happen sometime. He read through the note twice, leaning closer to where Calli held it, and after his second read, when the meaning was clear but he wished it weren't, he said quietly, "Don't guess they'll accept a lock of hair?" But no, of course they fucking didn't. This was a sacrificial altar created by the Gamemakers; a fingernail or piece of hair would not do.

Still, with a quick glance at Calli, he took a breath, said, "Well, let's give it a try," and yanked a clump of his own hair out. He set it on the table and... nothing happened. He slammed the table with his fist, angry at the sickness of the game, the gamemakers, everyone who was watching this shit right now. At the fact that Cress was watching, somewhere. The fact that he and Calli had been put together could be no accident; this was meant to hurt. "Fuck you!" he screamed to the ceiling, and a bit of sediment fell from the rock face. Anger swelled in him, anger at what he'd been made to do already -- Buster, the taste of his blood still in Slate's mouth.

[callistomeadowforge]

It was a while before the fluttering above them began to dwindle. All the while, Calli hardly made another sound, too afraid of attracting any more attention than they already had. Her arm reached out, fingers grasping at Flora in the dark. Only when the squeaking of the bats had seemed to peter out did she find her voice again. "Hey." The single syllable was whispered, hardly audible to her own ears, and uttered just to test the waters. No bat swooped down to take a bite off her face, though, which allayed her enough to speak again, even if still very softly. "Did you get bitten at all?" Calli couldn't even tell if she herself had got bitten amidst the frenzy.

Flora kept herself as small as possible. Keeping herself pushed up against the wall, tucking her face into her arms. The last thing she wanted was for one of the bats popping one of her eyeballs out. "I'm fine!" She yelled out to Calli, relived that she was at least well enough to talk. The bats created a gust from their flapping and their squeaking got louder the closer they were. Though Flora didn't panic, she tried her best to remain calm. "We can wait it out! They will go away." At least she hoped that was the case because when it came down to it, she really didn't know. What she did know for sure was they were trapped in the cave. "Maybe just stay as quiet and still as possible."

[callistomeadowforge]

There were flickers ahead of them, incandescent, like coming from a fire. Light itself was a reassuring promise, but nothing good could possibly come of this. Realistically, Calli knew that, but her steps quickened anyway, eager to reach the other side of the shadowy tunnel. She thought she heard the sound of metal hitting stone behind them, but hoped it was only her mind playing tricks in the dark. All the more reason for them to trudge ahead anyway.

The end finally revealed itself; a dead one, housing a couple torches, a table, a bowl, and another note. Calli reluctantly disentangled from Slate to reach for the note, then held it up near a torch for them both to see. Gruesome deed. Sacrifice. A piece of body each. Her heart dropped to her stomach. She didn't say anything, merely hoped that Slate would figure it out, figure something out, and tell her that the words weren't to be taken literally.

Slate stepped back as the wall began to move, but the whole cave was shaking as well and there was no escaping it, no finding solid ground, nowhere to grip onto to remain steady. When the shaking stopped, it left a hole in the wall big enough to walk through. He wrapped his arm around hers, locking their elbows, and swallowed heavily. Somehow, being with Cress's sister made him more nervous than he'd been in the Arena so far. "Don't think we have a choice," he said, glancing backward as if to spot a clear escape route. But the note had been quite clear, and the Gamemakers didn't make these things optional. "C'mon, let's get it over with." He stepped forward, passing through the entrance before her, playing some role of chivalry. Once they had taken a few steps, his eyes adjusted to the low light, and he could see flames in the distance. There was lots of ground to pass before getting to them, and the darkness seemed like it was pressing in on them; he couldn't tell how large or small this passageway was, and he kept glancing backwards to check their exit, see that it was still there.

[callistomeadowforge]

She followed his example, fitting her piece of sea glass into the space left in the yellow notch. If her hand trembled as she did so, it wasn't noticeable for long, but only because she flinched back the moment the wall began to shake. For a while, it was almost like the cave itself was moving. An earthquake, perhaps? It didn't last long, though, and the structure remained mostly solid, save for the crack in the wall that had widened into a whole opening.

"We have to go in there, don't we?" Calli whined, already hating this. She hated the dark and she'd hate to come across the bats from the previous day again. Her hands found Slate's arm, holding him, as if pressing herself to his side as they went through whatever this was would help keep them both safe.

Slate was worried that they'd been paired together for one of those 'only one can survive' type of events. That'd be cruel to Cress, and he liked to think she'd bought enough loyalty to avoid it, but the Capitol had no morals, no ethics. Still, he didn't voice it, sure they were both thinking it. "Yeah, guess we..." He held up his piece of glass, glancing at her as if for reassurance or confirmation before he pressed it into the notch. It fit, leaving the other half empty, presumably for her half. "Whatever's behind this, we're in it together," he said, searching for eye contact, wanting to make that promise not just for her but for Cress.

[callistomeadowforge]

That made sense. "I am, too. For now. I just hope we'll still be glad by the end of this." They didn't have much to go on, so Calli happily let Slate take the lead. Her gaze fixated on the skeleton, withered and forgotten, like it had sat there for decades when the arena probably hadn't existed for more than a year. Real or fake, it evoked a feeling of desolation, of abandonment. "That's a familiar yellow," she said once she'd finally torn her gaze away from the skeleton, pointing out one of the notches on the wall.

"Well..." Slate bit his lip, thinking, as he peered once again at the cryptic piece of paper with its directions. The next step of your adventure lies in the dark cave’s depth; find your stone within the hour or meet your certain death. They'd managed to find the cave, and now, he feared... "I guess we have to go inside. Right now we're at the cave's mouth; we gotta go to its depth, I guess." He started towards it, not interested in finding out anytime soon what certain death would involve. "Everybody has a partner, it seems like. Glad you're mine." He said it as a tentative offering, a truce, a hope that they could be partners, as they stepped inside the cave's opening and his eyes adjusted. There sat a skeleton against a wall, with colored notches scattered across the wall around it.

[callistomeadowforge]

Once her eyes zeroed in on a figure in the distance, her steps halted with a startle. Luckily, the figure turned out to be Slate, and that brought about some relief, even if she maintained some apprehension. They hadn't seen each other since launch, but he wouldn't hurt her, right? She hoped not. When he held up his piece of sea glass, her eyes widened. It was exactly the same as hers, colour and shape and all, and that had to mean something. She just hoped he was better with puzzles and riddles than she was.

"What do you think we're supposed to do with these?" Calli asked, moving to approach him with her own piece held out on her palm.

Slate, Mercuria, Bramble, and Nettle had all made their way to the cave, but it became clear that he and Nettle had to split off as Bramble and Mercuria's pieces of sea glass matched, but neither Nettle's nor his did.

He stood at the entrance of the cave, and spotted Callisto approaching. He hadn't seen her since the start, and he was glad that she was there, still alive and seemingly safe enough. He held up his half-oval, hoping that she had a matching one and then also hoping she didn't. If something bad would happen, he'd rather it not be both of them it happened to.

@callistomeadowforge