sleepwalking x askywalker

[rey skywalker]

alien sounds filled the night. growls, hisses and whistles whispered to the unconsious female who laid partially in a hidden shallow lake. what parts weren't covered or protected by the over growth of the polluted forest couldn't keep her hidden for long. but a trickle of blood seeped across her cheek, dripping from the curve of her jaw, escaping into the water which was muddy. her semi-long rich brown hair was no longer it's natural curls. the atmosphere was nearly all toxin and seemed to kill nearly everything that breathed. the night had become a survival zone. and it was her responsiblity to kill him. but even with a clear shot at living, it seemed even that slipped through her bloody fingers. poor coordination and scouting of her surrounding resulted in her slipping and bashing her head on the rocks. he was near. and he was lethal.

[sleepwalking]

This night, Ash was walking alone. His group was about half and hour behind him and it was his job to eliminate all possible danger sources. He was dressed all black, his face partly covered in mud. His feet silently rushed over the ground which texture was changing from sand and stone into oozing moss.
Ash let out a silent sigh as he saw the foot prints in the moss. Whoever left these isn't bad at hiding since there were no tracks left on any texture before the moss but certainly is not that experienced with this terrain or was in an urgent hurry. Moss is one of the worst textures alongside plants in terms of trying not to leave any tracks.
Nevertheless this moisture meant that a water source is near and Ash's job was to look out for one too since the group had just passed the dead zone which only obtains sand, some tiny bugs and once more sand.
Indeed, Ash ended up at a shallow lake connected to a forest as he only placed his foot in the tracks of the other human being. It was kind of a disappointing to Ash since the water only reached up to his ankles, this wasn't a water source worth to tell his group. Ash reached a hand into the water which reflected the moon and pulled some of it closer to his face. Mud and stones, this water was way too dirty to drink it. Ash let out a sigh.
The footprints he followed earlier lead him right to this place he was standing at. Whoever left them must have been running through this puddle. Ash's eyes traced the whole place but there were no further signs of a human so he assumed that the person is still nearby, possibly on the other side and hidden.
Ash grabbed one of his many small throwing knifes which were hidden all over his body in his clothes. "I think you messed up," he whispered with a small grin in the hope to make his victim more nervous while making his way right through the shallow lake, not caring about the noise. His strategy had succeeded a ton of times, the victims panic most of the time but this one did surprisingly not jump out of it's hiding spot yet. "Do you want to hide all night?" Ash hissed excited since he didn't have a real fight in some weeks because the dead zone was, just like the name suggests, pretty dead.

[rey skywalker]

kill. kill. kill. these were just words. cold meaningless words that echoed in jupiter's mind. the muddy brunette with the chestnut skin tone swore when her bare leg seemed to slip from it's propped position on the rough yet slick, darkened by the lack of light provided by the thick canopy above, slanted rock that jutted up from the ground with a vicious apeparance that seemed to scar the earth it had risen from. the vicious forest around jupiter seemed the farthest thing from paradise, comparing it to the gates of hell was much more appropriate. more so when she was being hunted. excitment seeped from the hissing tone of her hunter, ash miller. she didn't know him by name but his reputation preceeded him quite honorably. she never wanted to be alone with him for longer than two seconds. it was remarkable her sore legs had carried her exhausted body this far. the water while not suitable for consumption was doing an excellent job at soothing her wounds, cuts, scrapes and bruises that marked her body like a canvas. the predator and victim had crossed paths before. now, their non-fated meeting / hunting was a repetative cycle. unable to kill the other it seemed their paths were a scarred. jupiter half conscious, half unconcious could barley acknowledge the danger that was appraoching her. she prayed that ash would loose his footing and allow her to run away but it seemed all the energy that she once had was spent. she inhaled sharply, the sound a clear wheeze. her heart beat like a drum, echoing throughout her body. she was certain he could hear her.

the dead zone was never a place that she went willingly. if driven there by the deranged wolves or the infected creatures of the night, she ran there for her life. but otherwise, jupiter tried to remain in familiar territory. there was nothing left for her except survival. and even that seemed to come with quite a price. a price she wasn't willing to pay. he had lost sanity, she was certain. ash's jabs, his strikes, his calculated movements. he was no longer human but a predator. she tried to keep as still as possible once she heard more people behind him. the blood seemed to rush out of her body, leaving her to slump lifelessly against the rock she pressed her body on.

[sleepwalking]

"Yo Ash, why did you slow down?" an old female voice questioned as silent as possible behind him. Somehow the group had been fast than expected, they probably eanted to get the hell out of the death zone, seeking for water and shadows to relax in. The woman was one of the oldest in ghe group but everyone respected her. Eventhough she didn't look like it, she was a solide fighter. "Just to play in this mud, you fool?" a male voice laughed loudly and broke the tension. Ash hated Gus, one of the other hunters thinking he is the strongest eventhough he just recently joined the group. "You are the fool to start shouting when on a hunt. So inexperienced," Ash spit out in disgust. Gus got excited and moved into the lake towards Ash. "Hell no you are getting my finding." Ash hissed and turned his knife towards Gus who didn't take the warning seriously. "Gus, step off. It's neither your fight, nor your league," another one of the adults stepped in. "I will show you what good of a hunter I am," he said challenging and pulled out a gun. Ash knew that he was a solid shooter and punched his hand so he dropped that weapon. "Whoever you are, hiding from us, come out and run away," Ash shouted. "You are not getting this fight, i will safe it up for another time."
Gus tried to run past Ash but he boxed him into the stomach so he would stop, bending from pain. Gus spit some blood already, making the water even more dirty than it had already been. He tried to find the gun in the water but Ash had already made the dirt swirl around so Gus couldn't see through. "First, you gotta try and get past me," Ash smiled intimidating, proud to get another fight and defend his victim, just, to end it's life at some time later. Sometimes he turned into a real animal.

[rey skywalker]

gus was an ugly human. plain and simple. his face was ugly. the way his voice rasped was ugly. though unable to visually lay her eyes upon this mysterious indivudal's unique face, jupiter already hated him. the boy was clearly more arrogant than ash and that struck a clear nerve in jupiter who seemed to have snapped out of her heavy daze. her eyes zeroed in on the dark stone beneath her skin. she reached out to touch it, to remind herself that she was alive.
the brunette with the high pony tail shifted in the water, the dark ripples barley appearing on the surface of the shallow lake. she emerged from the hidden sections of her hiding spot, the leather of her outfit flashing against whatever moonlight filtered through the dense canopy above. there were two figures near her. approaching, her shoulder grazed across the cotton pants that gus wore. his repenting tone triggered her animalistic behavior. searching for a sharp object under the water, she gripped a sharpened rock and lifted it swiftly, smashing it against his calf, slicing it open. his howl wouldn't be contained. she felt his blood rush quickly from the wound, coating her muddy hand in a shiny red liquid. there was a rustle from behind her, causing jupiter to gasp and then lash out again. in a flash, the pair, gus and jupiter were running. and jupiter was on the chase. the commotion that ash brought with him died down as the distance became further from her and the dead zone. beyond the shallow lake, there was virtually no cover. they were in the open and nothing stirred. not even a breeze filtered through the open dead meadow.

[sleepwalking]

Ash wasn't only surprised that the person he was searching for was a girl but even about the fact that she decided to attack rather than run how Ash had suggested. Now she was running after Gus who had no idea what he was doing anymore. Poor Gus. On the other hand he deserved to learn a lesson. But wasn't this lesson too hard already? Ash sprinted after the two who ran back into the dead zone. Bad choice Gus, bad choice. The younger male wasn't that experienced and it was clearly shown by how he had spontaneously reacted to the situation while Ashs brain thought more intense. On the one side not many people would run into the dead zone just for a fight since there was a huge risk to get lost. On the downside there are no covers to hide, if whatever is chasing you doesn't scare away from the dead zone, they will not stop chasing the other until one of them drops from exhaust. Considering that Gus was already injured, the dead zone was literally his death.
Running through sand was extra hard but Ash could easily folliw the two since, as already mentioned, they couldn't get out of his sight. Ash wasn't even sure what to so once he had outeun one or both of them. Who deserved the help? Or should he just turn around and leave? The dead zone was a danger for him too.

[rey skywalker]

as jupiter's legs carried her to the dead zone, it dawned on her that there was no virtual cover. while it appeared that she was no longer the hunted, she assumed that ash had abandoned his pursuit of his prey. her dark hair whipped behind her. there was no breeze to lift it off her shoulders, so the dark brown curls just bounced off of her skin like rain on an umbrella. her body was repelling the strands like a disease. the lone female was on her own once again. it wasn't a burden to look after herself, it was more simple than having a group. with her anxiety, being alone was the best thing for her. [ here you can have gus retaliate if u want ]

[sleepwalking]

Ash wasn't even sure who needed amd deserved his help more. Gus, because he was part of his group and one of the few hunters left since it's a risky task and many have already failed it? On the other hand he was egoistic and got himself into it eventhough Ash tried to stop him. He could easily turn into a risk for the group when making moves nobody expects and is able to stop. He could try and get attention of wild animals or other dangers and lead them to the always changing camp spot. Maybe Ash should help the girl? Only for this one time. But then what? Let her go or kill her himself? Probably Ash should do nothing but as Gus suddenly turned Ash could only see something shining in the sun from that wide distance: he had a knife. Why would they trust him more weapons than that gun? But then it clicked in Ashs head: nobody gave it to him, he stole it. Nearly all knifes belonged to Ash who stored them at all places on his body. He started to run quicker, anger building up as he could already guess where that knife was from. As he ran he checked the places on his body he could reach without the need of slowing down. No, everything was in place. Ash went through what had just happened before since he hadn't seen Gus the days before and he knew that his collection had been complete then.
The solution came at lightning speed and Ash was angry at Gus for stealing a weapon since it had always been a strict rule in ghe group. "Gus you bastard!" he screamed as loud as he could, only a few feet away. He was torally ready to jump onto Gus but the guy was already busy trying to attack the girl after a second of both of them looking at Ash who got their attention because of the scream.
The knife was out of Ashs shoe. Gus had grabbed it when he first started to search for his weapon under water. Now it's your end.

[rey skywalker]

Jupiter sprung into action shortly after gus whirled around, a knif in his hands. Jupiter's eyes widened in shock and surprise. She was a remarkable fighter but was caught off guard and slipped on a rock. Landing on her back, the breathe was kicked from her lungs swiftly. The dead air seemed to mock her. Griting her teeht, her heartbeat rushed through her head. Gus got only closer. Fighting to recover the oxygen she lost, she spun around and held up a rock to defend herself. Only she didn't manage to throw it because another person, her hunter collided into gus. the objects rolled away and into the water. jupiter took the opportunity presented and struck gus on the shoulder. with the two boys fighting she had a chance of survival. but did she want it? did she want them to live. they would only kill her after. without thinking, she caught ash's eye and froze. he was more terrifying up close. her body trembled. "kill him!" she shouted noticing how gus was about to have the upperhand.

[sleepwalking]

Ash totally jumped onto Gus which led to both landing in the rough sand. It didn't hurt any of the two and wasn't as effective as Ash had expected. Gus caught himself quick. "What the hell are you doing?" he screamed. "You stole something from me," Ash whispered into his ear, his voice clearly pissed. Gus wanted to push Ash off him but the guy resisted. Then suddenly Gus reached for the knife he had dropped into the sand as Ash had pushed him. He tried to hit Ash but the guy could barely dodge the attack. On the downside Gus was now the one who had the upper hand. Ash wasn't without a weapon for long, he was way more trained than Gus so he easily found a opportunity to pick one of his knifes out. Just then he heard the girl screaming. What am I even doing? Not only his attention went towards the girl but the one of Gus too, the only difference was the speed at which the two were back in action. Ash had clearly won over him again and was now pressing the knife onto his throat. "I give up," Gus could barely speak. Ash felt relieved, that's all he wanted. Gus used his remaining strength to give Ash the knife. He put it back into it's original place and dragged Gus up by his shirt. "Even fight," he told him while looking deeply into his eyes. "But how is that even?" Gus could barely speak, still too afraid of what just had happened and how close he escaped death. "She has no weapon, just like you. If she had one she would have already used it a while ago."
Ash threw one last glance over to the girl who seemed confused before he turned his back towards the two and left, going back to his group, while playing one of his knifes.