forum The Competition// one-on-one//Closed

Started February 18, 2019 by @gracehustle

tune

Another stick broke and she went silent, holding up her knife in front of herself. She was probably shaking from worry and adrenaline but she didn't notice it, focusing on the soft sound of footsteps coming closer.

"Who's there?" Griffin barked. "We know you're here! Show yourself or expect us to kill you on the spot!" He was intimidating, while, on the inside, he was scared for everyone's life.

The footsteps stopped, "Griffin?" A soft voice called out, "Is that you?" The sound of whoever it was walking closer began again, "Are the others with you? I've been looking for you guys forever, Adrian is hurt."

"Oh, my God," Griffin sighed in relief. "Yeah, we're here! Is Adrian alright?" Griffin's face almost resembled a smile. Almost.

Ari walked out from deeper in the woods and stopped a few feet away from the others, looking at them with a weak smile, "Thank goodness I found you guys, He's hurt pretty badly, that's all I know. He didn't let me look over his wounds before yelling at me to find you guys and then come back."
Dierra sighed in relief when she saw who it was and her dagger dropped out of her hand. She picked it back up and put it away before looking at Ari with a nod, "What happened to you guys."
"I'll explain when we get there," She said, pointing to the woods, "Let's just get back to Adrian right now."

"Okay. It wasn't wise to leave him alone, though." Griffin didn't want to tell her what happened to Felix, and he had suspicions, not letting his guard down.

"He yelled at me for a solid two minutes to find you guys, I couldn't get him to change his mind." She said, turning back to the woods and glancing at the others one more time, "Follow me."
Dierra hesitated for just a moment before nodding, following Ari into the woods, "Let's get going guys, we can't have anyone else injured." Cassian and Cosset followed her quietly, whispering fiercely between themselves.

Okay, this just feels… wrong. Very, very, very wrong. She's saying, 'follow me, follow me…' I don't trust her, at least, not right now… "Dierra, everyone, be careful. You never know when someone might attack us." It was the best he could offer without sounding suspicious.

"I know Griffin." She said softly, turning to look back at him. Her mind was still cloudy from Felix's death and she didn't realize what he was trying to tell her. She trusted Ari since she was her teammate, not even thinking about the fact that they could be walking into a trap.

"Okay." Griffin nodded towards her, keeping an eye on Ari while walking, close to Dierra. She's stealthy, quiet, and she portrays herself as weak. Clever, but maybe not clever enough. But why would she go rogue? Did she go insane? Has she lost it since she came? Was she paid? Or does she have a grudge against someone? Griffin's thoughts bounced about his head like a pinball machine.

(XD I'm enjoying writing the tenseness)
Ari led them through the woods silently, looking back at the others every once in a while to make sure they were following. She had a slightly worried look on her face and she glanced around at their surroundings before slowing down slightly.

(THE TENSENESS INTENSIFIES xD (oml I need caffeine or sugar or something…))
"You okay?" Griffin had a hand near his waist, ready to pull out his dagger. He had two ideas of what might be going on. 1, Ari is a complete and total psychopath who would betray her entire team, and 2, this was all some big huge coincidence. Griffin banked on the first one, remembering the phrase, 'Hope for the best and prepare for the worst,' a phrase that his mother told him often when he was nervous. And boy, was he nervous.

(XD)
"I'm fine, though you need to calm down." She said softly, pointing to his hand near his dagger, "I'm not going to hurt you."
Dierra looked at Griffin and frowned, slightly disappointed that he didn't trust Avi. Cossett and Cassian looked quite worried, though they didn't say anything, Cassian's hand resting lightly on his weapon as well.
"Stay right there guys, Adrian is around here somewhere, he said he was going to try to hide so that he wouldn't get caught, let me find him quick." She said, motioning around the and then motioning for them to stay where they were while she walked a few feet away and turned to look for Adrian.

(Night!)
I don't like this… Griffin looked in Ari's direction, keeping his eyes on her while listening around. She might have sided with the other team…

"Griffin," Cassian whispered quietly, glancing in his direction and motioning for him to come over to him. He tightened his grip on his weapon while he waited for Griffin, watching Ari like a hawk.
Ari still had her back turned and she started to look up in trees as well as on the ground, a minuscule smile tugging at her lips.

"Griffin," Cassian whispered quietly, glancing in his direction and motioning for him to come over to him. He tightened his grip on his weapon while he waited for Griffin, watching Ari like a hawk.
Ari still had her back turned and she started to look up in trees as well as on the ground, a minuscule smile tugging at her lips.

Griffin drifted over to Cas. "You seeing what I'm seeing?" He whispered, his hand on the handle of his dagger.

"Duh," He whispered back, glancing back at Cossett and Dierra for a moment before his head whipped back to watch Ari.
"Adrian?" She called out, her voice barely above a whisper, "The rest of the team is here, I brought them back like you said." She didn't turn to face them as she talked, seeming to know almost where he was but not quite.

"Do we call her out? She might not be alone." Griffin's whisper was as light as his breath. He kept a keen eye on Ari, and hoped that what he suspected didn't happen to Adrian.

"Give her a minute, she might actually be trying to help Adrian, even if she's trying to murder us or something," He whispered back, "But if she does do anything out of the ordinary…" Cassian trailed off, not wanting to think about what would happen.
"Adrian?" She called, a little louder this time as she stepped away from the group, her eyes darting up into the trees before focusing back on the ground.

"Ari, are you sure he's here?" Griffin asked her. And not dead? -a thought he didn't say aloud.

She frowned and looked back at them for a moment before wandering away from the group more, “I think he’s here, let’s split up, see if you can find him.”
Cassian glanced at Griffin skeptically, asking silently if hey should trust her and split up.