The Rain Games

Survivor was cautiously slinking through the cover of foliage, his tail held low with his little sister Monk in tow. Both were on-edge, fearing the violence that the two siblings found themselves stuck surrounded by. The only weapon Survivor had come across was a small spear, while Monk was left completely defenseless.

Survivor eventually found a small clearing in the midst of the forestry, a small river running through it. There was a tunnel leading to a shelter here too, so the two could stick around by rainfall. Before leaving the safety of their cover, Survivor turned to make sure Monk was still there. He wasn't about to let her leave his sight, not when it was his duty to protect his beloved sister. He'd never be able to forgive himself if something happened to her.

Cautiously, the two stepped into the small clearing. While Survivor busied himself with making sure their surroundings were safe, Monk trotted up to the small river, tail waving with a sense of misplaced security. She eyed the water with curiosity, trying to see if she could spot any fish. She then turned to look at her brother, pointing at the river with an innocent smile. "There might be fish in here! Can you teach me how to catch them? Then I can get our food!"

Survivor turned to look at Monk, distracted from his assessment of the area. He walked up next to her, eyeing the river with a look of doubt. "The water looks pretty deep, and it's flowing pretty fast... it's not safe for you. Besides, I can catch fish just fine." He cast a glance at Monk, seeing her start to pout at his rejection. He frowned slightly, his ears drooping. He felt bad for disappointing her, though he had to put his foot down when it's for her safety. "I'm your older brother. It's my responsibility to take care of and protect you."

A sudden noise echoing towards them immediately shut both the tense brother and his pouting sister up. Survivor started looking around frantically for it's source, spear held ready, while Monk looked moreso confused.

Hunter and Gourmand were both walking through the thick flora of a particularly forested area. For two strangers weilding spears walking side by side in the middle of a death match neither signed up for, they both looked pretty calm. Hunter stole a glance at her packmate, seeing the serious look on his face and the way his ears were pinned. She felt a bit awkward in all honesty, silently trekking along with him being so tense. She eventually decided to speak up in an attempt to lighten the mood, even if she didn't have much of an idea of what to say. "So... do you feel like sharing more about yourself, Gourmand? You said you were a colony leader. That's pretty cool."

Gourmand glanced at Hunter as she made an awkward attempt at small talk, and couldn't help but sigh. He couldn't get mad at her lighthearted attempt at dialog, but his mind was elsewhere. He had a colony to get back to. A colony that depended on his leadership.

"...yes, you've got that right," Gourmand decided to respond. The two had reached the edge of the forested area they'd been walking through, being met with a steep cliff. The two stopped there, deciding this seemed like a decent spot in which to camp. Gourmand's spear was held loosely in his paw as he continued. "It was a big colony, one I intend on returning to once this whole mess is over."

Watcher was quietly slinking through the forest, using it's cover and their quiet footsteps to get by undetected. There was a stream up ahead, it's quiet water cutting through the foliage. Watcher wanted to make their best attempt at going unnoticed. They'd already witnessed the violence of spears flying and tempers burning all throughout their life. All they wanted was peace.

They cautiously made their way to the water, looking around for any signs of danger. The coast looked clear, but before they could move, a sudden, ear-splitting BANG shook the leaves of the plants surrounding them. Watcher's ears immediately pinned back, slinking back into the shadows with a suprised gasp as their only exclamation.

Artificer hopped down from a nearby rock on the other side of the stream, laughing almost lightheadedly as she reveled in the destruction of her bombing test. The explosive had annihilated a poor lizard, the remains of it's large body now lying charred and dead on it's side. Artificer approached the corpse, sarcastically patting it's now burnt and crispy head. "Sorry, big guy. Someone had to let me know how good these new bombs are."

Artificer's ears suddenly perked up from the sound of bushes rustling. Watcher tensed up, afraid they'd somehow shifted in a way that disrupted the plants surrounding them. Fortunately for them, Artificer suddenly twisted around and shot her spear in the direction of the sound, which was completely opposite of where Watcher lay hidden. They felt relieved that their cover hadn't been blown, yet still uneasy that someone else might soon be met with the pyromaniac's wrath.

Spearmaster and Wanderer both were in the middle of a hunting session, taking turns launching spears at any wildlife they could come across. They'd worry about running out of ammo, but luckily Wanderer's sibling was an infinite spear machine. Even more conveniently, only Wanderer had to worry about harvesting and cooking any of the meat - Spearmaster could feed simply by stabbing. By the end of the day, the two siblings were sitting in the mouth of a cave. Wanderer had started a fire, plus there was a shelter built into the wall nearby, so neither of them had to worry about finding one come rainfall.

"Fun day, right Spears?" Wanderer had finally spoken up, leaning back on their paws as their sibling sat on the other side of the fire. Their tail tapped rhythmically against the ground. "Suns should've let us adventure together more often. Who knew we both made such a good team?"

Spearmaster sat opposite Wanderer with a much more refined posture, really only sharing Wanderer's enthusiasm in spirit. They lifted their hands to sign a response in slugsign. "-I agree. It was fun, but it's still hard to relax right now.-" They paused, seeing Wanderer nod in affirmation that they could see and understand their slugsign. Only then they continued. "-We're in the middle of a death match right now. One we didn't sign up for. No one here signed up for this. Do you not find that dark?-"

Wanderer didn't respond right away, their ears drooping slightly as Spearmaster's heavy signing reached them. "I guess... but we've still gotta make the most of this situation."

Saint was walking calmly through a feild within the arena. For a pacifist caught in the middle of a fight to the death, she looked completely unbothered and calm.

She stopped when she reached a large lake, the other side of the decently sized body of water housing a forest. Saint looked into the water, watching fish peacefully swim past her shadow. She was about to kneel down to wash off her paws and drink some when a loud, boisterous voice suddenly yelled out "geronimo!!"

Saint hardly moved as Rivulet suddenly jumped from a tree into the water, sending a crashing wave into her thick fur. Only when the water was starting to relax again, Saint straightened back up, only to find a blue furred slugcat swimming to shore next to her. Saint looked only mildly annoyed at Rivulet for soaking her long, green fur. "Did'ja see that!?" Rivulet's loud, energetic voice cut through Saint's air of mystique and calm. "That's probably the best splash I've gotten so far!"

Saint was not impressed, giving Rivulet the same blank stare she gave everyone else. "You again? I believe I said I had no intention of collaborating with others, packmates or not." Rivulet rolled her eyes, looking on the verge of responding when Saint decided to speak again, her tone somewhat firmer. "I do not care about your splashing, and I don't think you should, either. You, me, and a dozen other slugcats have been captured and forced to fight to the death for the entertainment of supercomputers. Your fellow slugcat is being slaughtered, yet you frolic in the water instead if concern yourself with the situation."

Rivulet only looked like she was partially listening, her tail lashing with a detached energy. "So what, ya pine-tree? It's just random strangers fighting random strangers. You're part of the death match too, yet you're just aimlessly wandering around!"

Saint wasn't bothered by Rivulet's nonchalant retort. It wasn't like she was actually trying to convince her to be more serious - her energy just annoyed her. Saint looked about ready to walk away when the bushes on the other side of the lake started to rustle. Saint glanced at the source of the noise only for a moment, before turning back to Rivulet. "There might be some 'random strangers' right over there. If you're so content with the situation, do whatever you want with the information."

Rivulet looked over at the bushes Saint had pointed out. Without a second thought the aquatic slugcat suddenly jumped into the water, gliding underneath it's surface like a torpedo before shooting out at the other side, leaping at whoever was there.

Nightcat walked silently through a rocky forest, spear held tightly and ears pinned back in annoyance. He didn't know how much longer now until the deadly rainstorms hit, but he was finding a shelter before then.

Enot followed behind them as they walked, his steps fast and hurried as to keep up with the burly black slugcat. He looked around with much more caution than his packmate, feeling the void of his paws lacking the grip of a weapon. He glanced at Nightcat again, deciding to hurry his pace momentarily as to walk beside him. "Where are we even going, big guy? You haven't been telling me anything, y'know. The more you ignore me the more I have to say!"

Nightcat growled irritably, looking back at Enot for a moment. "Cliff," he scoffed sarcastically. "So that I can push you off and be rid of your annoying ass."

Enot huffed in offense, crossing his arms and moving to walk behind Nightcat again. "Fine, keep your stupid secrets." He paused, ears perking up at the sound of rustling. The irritation in his voice was suddenly completely gone. "Hey, did you hear that?"