Fiore's Games

Dragon's Poison

The rain was chased away by the morning sun. Gajeel woke up Levy quietly, telling her they should leave. She nodded blearily, and they packed up some of their things. They agreed to leave some things in the cave, as they fully planned on returning to it for the next night, but take the more important things with them. Levy's pack was a little lighter than Gajeel's, because he worried the weight would be bad for her with her leg, which was still mostly on the mend. He lead the way to a part of the forest where he would often hunt or gather. Her leg caused her to limp, which made a lot of noice. It scared away game, to the point he got frustrated with her. "Shrimp." He growled out. "Could ya please try to not make so much noise?"

"I'm sorry Gajeel." She muttered. "What if we split up? I can gather berries and roots. I know some edible plants." She offered. He seemed hesitant, so she continued. "There are birds here, they'll carry sound. I did it with... with Wendy." She whistled a short tune, listening as it was carried through the trees. "We can use the birds to keep in contact. If I don't answer, or if you don't answer, then likely something happened." She crossed her arms, not taking no for an answer.

"Fine. Meet back at the cave, in an hour at most." He finally gave in with a sigh. She grinned and left him be, so he could hunt in quiet. Without her loud leg, he was able to hunt down a couple of small animals. Levy had found her way to the stream, washing off berries she had picked and roots she had dug up. She left piles of each on a small tarp, then went to find more. She kept in contact with Gajeel through the birds, though it got quiet after a while. She wondered briefly if he was alright, but was too delighted by the discovery of what looked like a large blueberry bush to think on it as much as she probably should have. She picked as many as she could carry, because she really liked blueberries, and went to the tarp, dropping off half of them so she could wash the other half.

Gajeel worried when she didn't answer his last whistle, and hurried back towards the cave. He came across the tarp, which looks disturbed, like someone had eaten what berries and roots lay there. "Shrimp!" Nothing. "Levy!" He shouted, using her given name for once. "Levy where-" he stopped short when she walked up, carrying berries that were wet.

"Gajeel. I was washing off these berries in the stream." She held them up with a proud smile, only to have them smacked out of her hand. "Gajeel!" She shouted. "Why did you do that?!"

"Those aren't edible, Levy! Those are Dragon's Poison, you'll be dead before they hit your stomach!" His eyes were frantic and wide. "Don't you know a damn Dragon's Poison from a blueberry?!"

"I didn't know, I thought they were blueberries..." She looked confused and apologetic, when the sound of cannonfire interrupted them. They looked around, hoping to see who it was. A hovercraft came and lifted a girl up, her white hair dangling down from her dead body. "Lyon must be close." She whispered. Gajeel shook his head, staring at the berries with a somber realization.

"The berries looked like someone had taken some. She must have taken them, thinking they were edible, and eaten them." Gajeel sighed, looking to the sky. "Dead before they hit your stomach."

Levy stared at the berries, almost surprised she had inadvertently killed a girl. She had already killed once, but this was different for some reason. "So there's only one person left." She realized suddenly, looking at Gajeel.

"Lyon." They both said. Gajeel's expression was hard. Levy's was thoughtful. "Lets cook what we have, then find him. I'm done spending time here." Gajeel spat out. "Grab the rest of those berries, just in case." He added, almost like an afterthought. She scooped them up and carefully packed them away in her pack.

Gajeel practically stomped back to the cave, snatching up sticks as he went so he could make a fire. He wasted little time in cooking the squirrels and one rabbit he killed. He couldn't care less if Lyon saw their fire and came for them. He was ready for this to end. Levy watched as he cooked the animals in near silence, wondering what was going on through his mind. She pushed her blue hair out of her eyes, wondering if this would be the last night in the Arena. "What'll you do if Lyon shows up?" She asked, finally breaking the tense silence.

"I'll kill 'im. What do you think I'm gonna do?" He answered gruffly. Gone was the almost-sweet man from the couple of days in the cave. In his place was the gruff bully she remembered, except he wasn't picking on her. He was surviving. She knew all the sweet-talk and kisses were just an act on his part, but being faced with the reality of it was almost like a slap to the face.

"Right." She muttered. "I'm going to get some water." She stood up carefully, wincing a little on her leg. She walked the short distance down to the stream, a bottle in hand. Her eyes widened as she crouched by the riverbed. This can't be real... "Gajeel." She called softly, but loud enough for him to hear her. He came over, grumbling about her being helpless, until he, too, saw the stream.

Before the two tired tributes from District Twelve was an empty stream, as dry as a desert. The ground didn't hold a single sign of having once been filled with water. It was as if it never was a stream to begin with.