03-19-2009, 12:44 AM
Sophia sighed deeply. Things hadn’t exactly gone her way.
Of course, that could hardly be expected. Not much good can come from being kidnapped in your own home, getting knocked out by chloroform, getting stranded in the middle of nowhere, being chased by scorpions…you get the point. The priestess hardly had the time to even sit down and think about all that had transpired, and if she were to sit down and think about it at this point, there was always the chance that she would sit on a mine, and consequently, her fiery death. At least she had people there to support her.
…or maybe not. Juno was completely pissed off at her—and rightly so—while the other two people that she had just met remained locked into what Sophia thought to be a lover’s quarrel, though further listening (or actually paying attention) provided different information. The priestess shook her head; for the first time in the competition, she truly felt alone. As the group proceeded, Sophia began to lag behind, more to distance herself than anything. This was much to their chagrin, as she had already held them back once to rest.
“I’m sorry if we’re moving too fast for you, princess,” Juno rolled his eyes coldly.
“What?” Zena, who was in the front of the pack, stopped and turned around to give him a confused look.
“Oh…uhh…I was talking to Soph…” Juno hesitated. “I was talking to the blonde over there.”
Was he always on? Sophia felt awful for what she did, and if they had the time, she would be doing everything she could to make it up to him. But they didn’t have time—with every wasted step, their pursuers came that much closer to catching them, and in all likelihood, killing them. She knew that they didn’t have the time to exchange harsh words, but she caved in anyway.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” Sophia closed her eyes. “I got caught up. Overwhelmed. I…”
“I answered friend. You didn’t,” Juno responded, cutting her off with a blank expression plastered on his face. “You knew what was at stake, and you said foe anyway. Excuse me if I’m a little upset about it.”
“I don’t recall you being very quick on the trigger,” Sophia retorted, almost indignantly.
Juno stopped altogether. Whipping his head around, his eyes locked with hers in a cold stare. “What did you say!?”
“I…” Sophia shook her head again. Too late to go back now. “I just mean that you considered foe just as much as I did. I even saw you mumbling it to yourself.”
“But I didn’t say it, and that’s all that matters,” Juno’s voice lowered, hinting of rage.
“Oh?” Sophia was feeling bold now. “And why didn’t you? Because I’m a woman?”
Juno hesitated.
“Ahh,” the priestess started to laugh bitterly. “Trying to sweep me off my feet, I see.”
The air was filled with a very negative tension. Ares and Zena looked at each other with their eyebrows furrowed; they had been fighting with each other, but even they seemed to be thinking that the arguing pair needed to chill out. Before Juno could even respond, she sighed. “Look…the ordeal was hard on me, too. Let’s just…focus on escaping, okay?”
Juno merely scoffed and ran past her. Ares scratched his head. “Bad history, eh?”
“You have no idea.”
*
The group had reconciled—at least to the point where no words were exchanged, and nobody looked as though they wanted to tear out each other’s throats, anyway. There were so many things for Sophia to worry about that she didn’t know what to place a priority on—first of all, they were running in a cave with as many twists and turns as one could expect from a maze. Add to that several randomly-placed mines and a few menacing, gun-toting grunts chasing them, and the events of last round started to take its place in the back of the priestess’ mind.
It seemed as though they had been running for a while now--it was hilariously ironic that their pursuit of the very same cave in the sandtrap seemed to take just as long. It was hard to tell where they had been and where they were going, as the interior of the place looked the same no matter where they ran. Something told Sophia that they weren’t getting anywhere very quickly; fears which were confirmed when their path was cut off by a soldier.
“Son of a—…” Zena scoffed. “Must have taken a side-passage.”
“Makes sense. They know this place a lot better than we do,” Sophia commented, jumping out of the way of the ki blast that rang out of the soldier’s shotgun. She narrowly avoided a large part of the attack, but part of it singed her arm. She cried out in pain as smoke rose off of her body, clutching her arm. She looked up at Juno, apparently unaffected by her ailment—something that was unsurprising. Ares took the window of opportunity that had opened when the soldier’s focus shifted by lunging at him, decking him square across the jaw. The soldier stumbled backward, falling towards the priestess. Reacting purely on instinct, she reached out and caught the man by the shoulders.
She felt something that she had never felt before. Ki, in Sophia’s limited understanding of it, seemed to be leaving the man’s body and flowing into hers. The pain in her arm began to fade. However, the odd feeling made her jump and shove the soldier away. Her foe, weakened but still strong enough, turned around and raised his gun. He took a step back and was about to pull the trigger.
A small click sounded as his heel touched the earth beneath him, followed by a beep.
“…shit. Move!” Juno shouted, apparently aware of what was about to happen. The group began to run once more, leaving the loud sound of the explosion behind.
“The rest are sure to catch up to us, lady,” Ares pulled her by the arm, ushering her to continue running. Sophia looked at her hands through tear-soaked eyes as she ran. What was this game doing to her?
Of course, that could hardly be expected. Not much good can come from being kidnapped in your own home, getting knocked out by chloroform, getting stranded in the middle of nowhere, being chased by scorpions…you get the point. The priestess hardly had the time to even sit down and think about all that had transpired, and if she were to sit down and think about it at this point, there was always the chance that she would sit on a mine, and consequently, her fiery death. At least she had people there to support her.
…or maybe not. Juno was completely pissed off at her—and rightly so—while the other two people that she had just met remained locked into what Sophia thought to be a lover’s quarrel, though further listening (or actually paying attention) provided different information. The priestess shook her head; for the first time in the competition, she truly felt alone. As the group proceeded, Sophia began to lag behind, more to distance herself than anything. This was much to their chagrin, as she had already held them back once to rest.
“I’m sorry if we’re moving too fast for you, princess,” Juno rolled his eyes coldly.
“What?” Zena, who was in the front of the pack, stopped and turned around to give him a confused look.
“Oh…uhh…I was talking to Soph…” Juno hesitated. “I was talking to the blonde over there.”
Was he always on? Sophia felt awful for what she did, and if they had the time, she would be doing everything she could to make it up to him. But they didn’t have time—with every wasted step, their pursuers came that much closer to catching them, and in all likelihood, killing them. She knew that they didn’t have the time to exchange harsh words, but she caved in anyway.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” Sophia closed her eyes. “I got caught up. Overwhelmed. I…”
“I answered friend. You didn’t,” Juno responded, cutting her off with a blank expression plastered on his face. “You knew what was at stake, and you said foe anyway. Excuse me if I’m a little upset about it.”
“I don’t recall you being very quick on the trigger,” Sophia retorted, almost indignantly.
Juno stopped altogether. Whipping his head around, his eyes locked with hers in a cold stare. “What did you say!?”
“I…” Sophia shook her head again. Too late to go back now. “I just mean that you considered foe just as much as I did. I even saw you mumbling it to yourself.”
“But I didn’t say it, and that’s all that matters,” Juno’s voice lowered, hinting of rage.
“Oh?” Sophia was feeling bold now. “And why didn’t you? Because I’m a woman?”
Juno hesitated.
“Ahh,” the priestess started to laugh bitterly. “Trying to sweep me off my feet, I see.”
The air was filled with a very negative tension. Ares and Zena looked at each other with their eyebrows furrowed; they had been fighting with each other, but even they seemed to be thinking that the arguing pair needed to chill out. Before Juno could even respond, she sighed. “Look…the ordeal was hard on me, too. Let’s just…focus on escaping, okay?”
Juno merely scoffed and ran past her. Ares scratched his head. “Bad history, eh?”
“You have no idea.”
*
The group had reconciled—at least to the point where no words were exchanged, and nobody looked as though they wanted to tear out each other’s throats, anyway. There were so many things for Sophia to worry about that she didn’t know what to place a priority on—first of all, they were running in a cave with as many twists and turns as one could expect from a maze. Add to that several randomly-placed mines and a few menacing, gun-toting grunts chasing them, and the events of last round started to take its place in the back of the priestess’ mind.
It seemed as though they had been running for a while now--it was hilariously ironic that their pursuit of the very same cave in the sandtrap seemed to take just as long. It was hard to tell where they had been and where they were going, as the interior of the place looked the same no matter where they ran. Something told Sophia that they weren’t getting anywhere very quickly; fears which were confirmed when their path was cut off by a soldier.
“Son of a—…” Zena scoffed. “Must have taken a side-passage.”
“Makes sense. They know this place a lot better than we do,” Sophia commented, jumping out of the way of the ki blast that rang out of the soldier’s shotgun. She narrowly avoided a large part of the attack, but part of it singed her arm. She cried out in pain as smoke rose off of her body, clutching her arm. She looked up at Juno, apparently unaffected by her ailment—something that was unsurprising. Ares took the window of opportunity that had opened when the soldier’s focus shifted by lunging at him, decking him square across the jaw. The soldier stumbled backward, falling towards the priestess. Reacting purely on instinct, she reached out and caught the man by the shoulders.
She felt something that she had never felt before. Ki, in Sophia’s limited understanding of it, seemed to be leaving the man’s body and flowing into hers. The pain in her arm began to fade. However, the odd feeling made her jump and shove the soldier away. Her foe, weakened but still strong enough, turned around and raised his gun. He took a step back and was about to pull the trigger.
A small click sounded as his heel touched the earth beneath him, followed by a beep.
“…shit. Move!” Juno shouted, apparently aware of what was about to happen. The group began to run once more, leaving the loud sound of the explosion behind.
“The rest are sure to catch up to us, lady,” Ares pulled her by the arm, ushering her to continue running. Sophia looked at her hands through tear-soaked eyes as she ran. What was this game doing to her?