CWH 2

Escape

Sophie

Sophie was in the arena yet again, and she knew she must have been quite a sight. She had found a shard of glass during one of her fights, and had used it to turn her overalls into shortalls, using the excess fabric for bandages.

She had done everything she could to win against the mindless beasts that they had pitted her against. In any other circumstance, Sophie wouldn't have been proud of her fighting, but at least she was alive.

She hadn't ever killed, but several times a day she mentally apologized to the creatures who were, in all likelihood, just as scared and desperate as she was.

Vespera's hated voice broke through her thoughts, and Sophie swung her head towards the gate that would open, letting her opponent into the ring.

"And, on the red team, the leafy terror, who has won almost as many matches as her opponent, Oaky the nymph!" 

The creature who stumbled into the ring looked like a plant girl, wearing a leafy dress and leggings combo that looked much more cozy than the poofy dresses Biana preferred. The look on the nymph's face was what Sophie noticed, though. 

She looked reluctant to fight Sophie, so instead of her usual waiting move, she rushed the nymph, pinning her in a corner that was a bit sheltered from view.

Whispering, she said, "I don't want to hurt you. Throw me off, then we can continue to pretend to spar." The girl's eyes widened in recognition, and Sophie jumped back into a fighter's crouch.

The nymph rushed her, grappling with Sophie a little. Whispering, she said shyly, "My name is actually Pine." 

"Sophie," she replied, then realized, "Wait, do you have a pinecone or something?" The nymph nodded, and Sophie smiled in relief before backflipping away to sit in one of the shadowy corners.

Telepathically, she sent, Do you have any creatures nearby where they are holding you?

The nymph blinked in surprise, but thought back, Yes. You're the only one they keep separate.

Smiling, Sophie said to her, Tell the thinking ones of the truce. We can act out the battles against each other. That way, nobody gets hurt. Once we stop having to battle one another, we can find a way out.

Got it! Who should win here, though?

Smirking, Sophie said, Actually, I was thinking both sides knock each other unconscious every time. It will drive the Neverseen in-SANE.

Neverseen?

The people in cloaks who run this show.

Oh. I'm all for it, then!

Sophie jumped out of hiding, pretending to knock the nymph over the head just as she pretended to barrel Sophie over, causing both of them to fall over 'unconscious'. The cleanup people came over with the wheeled carts and levitated them away. 

Sophie winked at the nymph before she hit the cart, but the impact was enough to drive the pain of her still-raw wounds into hyperdrive, knocking her actually unconscious.

*****

Sophie blinked into the fluorescent lights, feeling rather odd. It had been several days, several fights since the truce had been called. Usually the flickering bulbs were just barely enough light for her to see by, but now even glancing in that direction caused her about as much pain as staring into the sun. 

A small torture for the unsatifying results, no doubt. Sophie curled into herself to block some more light, glad for the feathery shield between her eyes and the bright.

Feathery? She didn't have feathers. Sophie twisted to look back at herself, gasping when she saw the wings attached to her back. Definitely there, definitely real, definitely no idea why. But, the plans she suddenly had were much appreciated. 

She would have to move the escape timeline up now, since the wings would surely be noticed as soon as morning hit.

Her eyes adjusted, Sophie began to experiment, flapping them first tentatively, then with bold, near-silent strokes that lifted her over the smooth, spike-topped wall that had kept her from the rest of the captured menagerie. First, she went to free the intelligent creatures, then left them to unlock the other cages.

Soaring down the pathways, Sophie noticed a door labeled creatively 'Exit'. Slowing down by spreading her wings as wide as the hallway allowed, Sophie opened the door for the creatures behind her. As the alarm began to sound, the ferocious beasts she had fought many times before ran out, too interested in the outside to even think about her.

Several of the creatures that had been in the truce with her went next, including the nymph Pine (who turned out to have been from Camp Wildheart too), leaving her with the swarm of black cloaks. She threw her wings back out, shoving people away from her with their power. 

Five points for wings. Sophie felt something whizz past her, gashing her side and just missing one of her feathers. She opened her mouth in a wordless howl, reaching behind her for the first things she could find. When her hands landed on a pair of long silver daggers, Sophie wondered what exactly the beautiful weapons were doing there.

She didn't have much time, so she turned into a whirling tornado of blades, throwing the circle of cloaks away from her. Her feet kicked off of a boulder, dislodging it and causing the section of tunnel to collapse, likely squishing several... MENTAL REROUTE! She could hear music unlike any other calling her in that moment, and Sophie dove down, feeling it in her soul. 

Swooping back up, Sophie felt like singing along with the moonlit night. The daggers were gone now, but Sophie didn't care. Despite the pain that began to wash over her again, she would fly. She was almost back, almost landing near the grove when her wings gave out, sending her spiraling towards the ground. Her wings were gone by the time she hit the ground, her mind again fading into the dark. 

She's now in the zone where searchers could find her! Yay! 

Also, with the wings thing: This is not gonna become a Mary Jane fic. Her only new power are the disappearing wings :D