Infighting Week Two

[animusmods]

Characters: any character participating in the Infighting event
Setting: pods, week two of the event
Format: any
Summary: All week two Infighting event threads should go in here, to keep things organized.
Warnings: horror, trauma, experiment results, impossible geometry, cabin fever

[Week Two Information]
[Week One]
Dax's Pod
Riki's Pod
Jason's Pod
End of Week Two

Comments

[moontothetide]

W-Well...

[It does seem a bit silly, doesn't it?] You, y-you don't have to...it just, um, i-it didn't look like you were looking at anything else.

...w-we're still in the lead. It's okay, Urotsuki.

[chainsawn]

Jason won a lot too though, didn't he..?

[ She eyes some of the altered people walking around. That's right, they probably did their best to win too, right? Nobody.. would want to die. She's sure of that with how scary death seems when it's real. ]

.. That's.. a bad thing. And we still need to vote.. [ She nervously fiddles with her clothes as if she's trying to distract herself. ]

[moontothetide]

Th-That's only because, um, th-there were more challenges. There were only three, last week, a-and this time, there were six.

[Somebody would want to die. This particular somebody, in fact. But...]

...y-you don't have to vote, Urotsuki. Remember? They, th-they don't make us. We, um, w-we just have to stand in there for a bit. It's okay.

[Except, in a while, Tara might just be getting led off to die. Can she really make Urotsuki watch that?

...it doesn't matter. The vote is cast.]

[chainsawn]

I remember, but.. [ She remembers last week. Even though nobody voted in one of the other groups, someone still died, so.. ]

.. Someone.. has to die. That's for sure.. Even if I don't vote, someone might die, a-and.. it could be you or me too. [ She doesn't know how spot on she is about Tara on the last part.. ]

[moontothetide]

Four people don't. Because of how hard you worked...all of us worked...f-four people are going to be okay.

[...Tara pulls Urotsuki into a hug. She can't bear to do anything else, there and then.]

But I...I think it's going to be me, Urotsuki. [She can't say for certain. There's only the one vote she cast for herself. One vote was enough, last week, but the group might have learned since then. There might be more, for someone else.

For this poor, sweet girl that she's trying to keep together.]

I'm sick. [Even now, it would be so easy to just reach out and...

...just a little longer. Hold on just a little longer.]

I can't stay.

[chainsawn]

[ She's a little surprised when she's pulled into the hug. A little, but it's not even the bad kind of surprise. It's the kind of surprise that soon turns into a warm feeling instead just like last time, the feeling of being close to someone--

But then there's those words. And even though Tara's still presenting it as a possibility moreso than something that could pretty likely happen, her eyes go wide in an instant. ]

.. Huh..? [ She slowly speaks up, as if her brain can't handle anything about this idea yet. ]

N-.. no. It.. can't be you.. [ Not someone she knows, someone she got to know pretty well here-- ] W-what are you saying..?

[moontothetide]

I mean...

[Why is this so hard why are her eyes stinging why is she crying why why why why why can't she remember hurting this badly...]

...I mean, I, I voted for myself, Urotsuki. And...a-and I've asked some others to vote for me. That way, um, we know who it will be, a-and...and it's not you. Or Zelda, or...or anyone who can still help us win.

Besides...I'm, I-I'm sick. Getting sick. I just, I can't be around this many people, anymore, n-not until I'm better. I-It's not safe. And, and since we're a team...I have to keep you safe. So...it has to be me.

[chainsawn]

[ .. What is this..? Something she hasn't felt in quite some time, something that makes it feel difficult to breathe, that makes her choke on words she tries to force out, and all the girl can really do is shake her head uselessly, as if that in itself would already be enough to convey the sentiment. Even if some logical part of her does realise someone has to die, that it could have been her either way, but she selfishly refuses to listen to it, the idea that someone she cares about could just die. Even if it was temporarily in this place, even so.. ]

.. No.. [ It's been so long since she's lost someone. So long since she started withdrawing herself from people more back home after losing so many again and again, even if they weren't all as extreme as death.

She just can't lose any more. ]

Y-you can't, I-.. [ she chokes on words again, and for the first time in a long while tears similarly well up in her eyes before falling. ] Tara, you ca-- [ a hic cuts off her words mid-sentence. ]

[moontothetide]

...it's like you said. S-Someone has to. Even if we all don't vote...s-someone has to.

[She's crying. She's really and truly crying - sobbing around her words - and she's made Urotsuki cry, and it's just like the moment where the bullet came through the window, just like when Dawn stepped between her and Andrew, that dawning moment of horror when it's really driven home that she cannot do anything right. She just breaks the people around her.

Being on a team had been nice, had made Tara feel better than she had in what felt like an eternity. But it couldn't have lasted, not before something like this happened.

At least this is all the pain she'll be causing the girl...]

If it's me...i-it's not you. And...and if it's me, when it's over, I'll f-find you. I p-promise. Th-This, this isn't goodbye. Y-You'll work hard, and Dax will win, a-and everything will be okay, and I'll find you.

Urotsuki, I promise.

[chainsawn]

[ 'I promise.' The words are all she can cling on to in a situation like this when everything else seems completely devoid of hope. She's always been much too dependant on other people, so even now when the person holding her might disappear - no, die - soon, it's much easier to try and believe in the words blindly. ]

.. You.. promise? [ she hics again, the tears not quite stopping, especially not as long as Tara is still crying too. ] So.. it'll be alright for sure..? N-.. nothing bad will happen anymore..?

[moontothetide]

[...]

Bad things will still happen, Urotsuki. Bad things are, are already happening.

But...it will be okay. It, um, m-might take a while, it m-might be hard...but the good guys will win, in the end, and th-then, we'll all be okay. Even if it's hard, that's, th-that's why we're a team. So, when it's hard, we can, um, help each other.

It...it will be okay, in the end, Urotsuki. You'll do your best, and, and you'll all win, and when they bring you back, I'll f-find you.

[Her heart hurts just as much at the idea of leaving Urotsuki alone. She runs a hand through the girl's hair, before reaching down to wipe a few tears away.]

I can promise that.

Okay?

[chainsawn]

[ Is this what 'helping each other' comes down to in the end? Tara sacrificing herself for what's supposed to be everyone else's good? It doesn't feel right, it's not the same as just working together, having teamwork in a more normal way, but.. there's nothing to be helped about it. ]

H-.. hmm. [ The sound is muffled, but she nods, longing for the touch, for the presence of someone near, to stay a little longer especially with the inevitable end approaching. ]

.. If you come find me.. t-then I'll do my best now. It's okay if we promise to see each other again.. [ she attempts to wipe away some of her own tears too. ]

[moontothetide]

[But it is, on some sad and broken level. If you're bad for someone, if you think you might hurt them...you owe it to that person to walk away. Willow hadn't done that, for Tara. She'd had to take that step herself, after Willow had taken one step too far.

She won't do that to Urotsuki.]

Then it's okay. [She kisses the girl lightly on the top of the head.] Because I do, a-and we will. As soon as I know you're back. Or, um, y-you can find me. I'm in room two oh seven. [And she'll have to go back there eventually. Maybe, by the time this is over, she'll have made peace with Kohaku. Somehow.]

S-So it's, it's not goodbye. Just...see you later.

[chainsawn]

[ She's practically stopped crying by now, even if her eyes are still watery - she's looking up at Tara with big eyes too before rubbing her sleeve against said eyes to try and make them fully try. A childish gesture, really, even for her age. Probably because she's so emotional right now. ]

I-.. I'll be waiting to see you again, Tara.. [ .. ] I hope it's soon.. I'd be.. r-really, really sad if I had to wait too long, and.. [ .. she can't say the next part out loud, since it's that she doesn't want Tara to have to die, but-- she's the one who decided to do it herself, so going against it now.. it wouldn't help anything, right..? ]