Accidental Acrophobia

[ifnotwinter†]

The world did not feel right.

Winsome Clark, had woken partway through Danya's talk, head still reeling from the gas. It had obviously affected her more than planned, as she had no more than faint recollections, sparked through with gunfire and the memory of bloodspots on her fingers, curling like a red worm over the life lines of her palm. She'd drifted, though, in the peculiar fog of drugs until finally the darkness had swallowed her again.

And now, she was awake. She had opened her eyes only once, and almost instantly squeezed them shut again as the light stabbed painfully through her optic nerves. But it had been long enough to remind her that something didn't feel right about where she was lying. It was harder than ground, and scratchy, painful through her clothes. And maybe it was just the vertigo talking, but it felt almost like it was moving.

She shifted, trying painfully to roll over, but two things stopped her. One was the realization that her legs were slipping over the edge of something, with no reassuring ground beneath her toes. The other was a sudden stab of pain as something sliced into her midsection, through her pale blouse and biting into her belly.

Winnie let out an involuntary cry of pain, scrambling upright and opening her eyes. What she saw was enough to make her fling herself flat again, clutching at the surface with both arms regardless of the multitude of tiny scratches opening on her skin.

She was in a tree.

At least ten feet up, she rested on a massive, broad branch. Her pack was on the ground below her, but she had barely given it a glimpse before squeezing her eyes shut again. The branch was long enough that she could lie full-length on it, and only just wide enough for her body - the edges of her skirt floated out in the air around the tree. What was under her, though, and making her hold herself stiffly off the wood, was a massive blade.

The hook sword was nearly as long as her, and the edge had caught on a knot, rising just far enough to dig into her stomach. The cut wasn't particularly deep, but it was long, and even as she delicately eased herself off the steel blood began to drip down to the forest floor.

A desperate whimper escaped her throat, and she clenched her eyes shut. The slice burned with a dull, throbbing pain, the scratches on her arms and face echoing that, and already her arms and legs complained about her tight grasp. Shoulders heaving, she buried her face in the bark, and cried.

Far below, her pack sat in a solitary drift of leaves, red droplets of blood collecting over the zipper and soaking in, leaving a dark stain.

A single camera observed the scene, silent and unconcerned, while the red lights of others blinked from the trees.

For Winsome Clarke, Survival of the Fittest had just begun.

[D/N]

(B006 - Ricky Fortino Start)

Ricky Fortino was trying to make sense of all this, but it just wasn't coming together in his brain just yet. Yeah, he knew what Survival of the Fittest was. Who the hell didn't know? And sure, he'd watched a bit of it, there'd been this whole debate going on about whether it was real or fake or some kind of half-real, half-fake thing, but by now most people were pretty sure it was mostly real or something along those lines, like it really fuckin' mattered. But either way, he'd seen the show, he knew how it worked.

Ricky Fortino also knew that he'd been drugged on the bus or some shit, and that he'd woken up in this enormous room where some wacko had given a speech about how they were all going to kill each other. It had taken him a few seconds to remember it all after he'd woken up the second time, but yeah, Ricky remembered. How the hell could you forget that shit, unless you wanted to? No, there was nothing wrong with Ricky's memory.

And finally, Ricky knew that he was alone in the fucking woods, and that this sure as hell wasn't the school trip. He'd been given some other bag for one thing, one that had a bunch of food, a first aid kit, and one of those fucking tiny shovel things you dig in a garden with. Oh, and he also had this goddamn metal collar around his neck, and he knew that he hadn't been wearing THAT when he'd set out with everyone else. Not to mention that his pocketknife was gone, his watch was missing, and oh yeah, he'd woken up alone in the middle of the goddamn woods!

So Ricky knew that stuff was screwed up. You would have to be pretty fucking blind to think otherwise. But the pieces just hadn't solidified into a whole yet. The fact that he was going to almost certainly going to die in the next week or so hadn't really entered Ricky's mind. So that might explain why Ricky wasn't panicking just yet. No, he was just wandering through the woods, not calling out, not running, not screaming. He was just... there. Kind of like he always was.

--------

It was probably ten minutes later, that Ricky saw his first trace of human contact since he'd woken up. There was another pack thing on the ground. Well, thank Christ. Maybe now he could get some answers.

Or maybe not. Because as he moved forward, it looked like the pack was just sitting against a tree like a useless rock or something. What the hell, had some other kid just taken off and left it or something?

"Fuckin' hell," Ricky muttered. He moved towards the pack, prodding it with a foot. Were those bloodstains?

Something wet fell into his hair and Ricky glanced upwards.

"Fucking hell." There was a girl in a tree. A girl in a goddamn tree. What the hell was she doing in a tree, bleeding on him?

Well, only one way to find out.

"Hey, girl!"

[Ciel†]

James Mulzet had received a gun. There were many kids who could use a gun. There were plenty of kids who knew that they would never use a gun. However, when James felt the cold metal of the gun in his hand, the round bullets and the dead silence that surrounded him like a heavy fog, James had no idea what to think. He had a gun. They told him to kill or be killed. If he were back home and someone asked him "Oh hey James. You think YOU could kill your best friend?", he would say no. He was sure he would say no! And now, here, on the island where that question had much relevance, he could not come up with an answer. James always prided on having all the answers, but all he had now were questions.

So James just wandered. Seemed like the last thing for a smart boy like James would do. He was the kind of boy who knew what to do at all times. He had plans, he kept with plans. James just wandered, no plan, no goal. He looked down at the gun every now and again. What was he going to do? That was a good question.

James had been awake for a half hour when he stumbled across Ricky Fortino. Apparently the boy just called to someone. It seemed very obvious but his head was in such a state that he couldn't connect two and two. The drugs still hit him hard. He didn't really know Ricky that much, just that he was on the Soccer team. He held the gun tight to his side but he didn't raise it. He just stared at Ricky, lost, almost confused.

"Hey Ricky..."

He let that hello linger. What exactly was he supposed to say? His head was still numb. He turned to look towards the tree in front of him. What the heck was that bag doing on the ground? It took him a second to recognize exactly what it was. It was one of those dufflebags that everyone received. This made James looked down at the bag. The blood was still fresh and he could make out the letters on the bag.

Clark... Winsome? Where had he heard that name befo-

Oh no. He turned around. Winnie was around? Was that blood on her bag? Oh no. No no no no. James didn't know Winnie that well, but she was a nice girl and the thought of her bleeding to death... no, no, but who could do something like this?! James head was still getting a high off of the drugs in his system and this was definitely not helping. He forgot about Ricky. He forgot about everything. He pressed his palm against his forehead, rocking back on his toes. Shit, where could she-

Wait, what the heck? A tiny drop of... something splattered on his hand. It was a very small red drop, and James's hand not been have seen it. This seemed really strange. What if...

James looked up. Winnie was a frail girl, probably had little strength in her arms and she was stuck bleeding up in a tree, holding on for dear life. It was probably the last thing James had expected to see, but it nevertheless made him gasp when the realization hit. Winnie was in danger!

"Oh no! Winnie!" He stammered, dropping his pack on the ground. "Winnie?! Are you okay?!" He looked around, hoping that he would find something, anything that could help but other than the bag on the ground.

James was not a strong guy by any definition of the word but there was something he had to do! He kicked the bag away, pushed his gun into his pocket and held out his arms. "Winnie! Here! Just let go! I-I'll catch you! Just trust me!"

[chibinanashi†]

"Mommy? Mommy where are you? Why am I here? Please...Mommy!"

In her unconcious dreams, Raine chased after what she believed to be the silhouette of her mother. She ran and ran as fast as she could but to no avail. Her mother, dead, was simply far beyond her.

"Ow...That...What was...?"

Raine sat up and looked around the forest. Where was Ridley? This wasn't the school trip. This wasn't right at all. Raine groaned as she stood up and looked at the bruises on her arms and legs from the fall. "Ridley..." She whispered softly before she heard the voices. She seemed startled by a weight and looked as she had been given a speargun.

"You're kidding me..." Raine glared at the weapon. Keeping it pointed at the ground, Raine made her way over to the noise and hid behind a tree.

"E-Excuse me? F-F-Friendly people, ja?" Raine Schwarz, scared out of her mind, tried to communicate with the strangers who were her classmates. She looked up at the tree. "...Someone needs help?"

[ifnotwinter†]

Winnie hasn't relaxed her grip by the time Ricky Fortino - recognized only because she had occasionally entertained brief fantasies about him - wandered under the tree. She knew, in some far off and rational part of her brain, that she didn't have to be holding quite so tightly, but the rest of her brain was screaming at her that if she so much as moved a muscle, the tree would fling her off, down to the unforgiving forest floor. So she didn't respond, terror closing her throat more effectively than a gag.

And not moments after him came James. He didn't appear to notice her right away, but soon enough was calling out, generally sounding panicky. She ignored him, pressing herself a little closer into the branch. Terrifying as this was, she couldn't help but start to appreciate her precarious position. In the tree, no one could get her, right? Maybe she could just stay here. It was kind of peaceful.

James was saying something. She risked a tiny movement, allowing her head to come up, and realized....oh god, he wanted her to JUMP?

The thought startled her enough that she spoke without realizing it, voice shrill with stress, cracking in the middle. "You want me to what? Are you crazy? I am not doing that!"

Her grip tightened another iota, and she pressed her cheek into the rough bark, dull anger filling her at the ridiculousness of the request.

"There is no way - no way - that I am jumping. Go find a ladder or something!" Stress was shaking her usually painfully shy personality, letting her lash out without any embarrassment. She barely noticed Raine's arrival, preoccupied with securing herself firmly to the wood below her.

[Arscapi†]

((Thea Kairos G067 start))

Thea stalked through the woods totally pissed off at the whole situation. She'd awakened on the ground in the middle of the forest. Hello, this outfit is designer. Those dirt stains were going to need to be dry cleaned to get out. They couldn't be serious about this nonsense, this fighting to the death thing. Whatever! Didn't they know who she was, she had to be worth more to the alive then dead.

She stumbled and turned around and kicked the offending root as her internal rant continued. And this survival pack, how do they expect us to survive on this. I need to be able to moisturize. Who lives on just this stuff anyway? This is so lame. Thea was so caught up in her own thoughts that she almost missed the large group of her classmates that appeared to be staring up at a tree. What in the world are they doing? As she neared she realized that one of them was James.

Her eyes widened at the fact that he was stuck here with her hadn't crossed her mind and he'd been next to her on the bus. Thea shook her head at herself, where were her priorities seriously. She'd found James, but Charlene was still out on the island somewhere. Jogging over to him, she caught James from behind pulling him into a hug. "I'm glad you're okay," she said. Then her gaze followed his up the tree, where she was greeted with Winnie, who appeared to be stuck.

"There is no way - no way - that I am jumping. Go find a ladder or something," Winnie shouted.

Thea stepped back and hit James lightly on the shoulder. "What's wrong with the two of you? Climb up and get her. I would but," she motioned to the skirt she'd chosen to wear for the bus ride. She'd intended to change once they got to the camp or whatever it was, but now, now she was stuck in her skirt. Her suitcase was full of designer jeans. I wonder what happened to them?

"C'mon get a move on," she said pushing them gently towards the base of the tree. "Hand over hand lets go."

[D/N]

The girl hadn't answered him. Well OK, he could understand that, they were all obviously in some weird situation here, although Ricky was fucked if he had any idea what to do now. Thankfully, James Mulzet had shown up then, and he seemed to, well, actually James looked pretty fucking out of it too. Christ, wasn't he supposed to be some genius or something?

James at least seemed to get the girl in the tree's attention, that was something at least. Winnie? OK, it was Winnie Clark. He, uh, knew her name, sort of. Yeah, Ricky figured he'd let James handle her.

Pressing his forearm to his head to wipe off the blood, Ricky took a couple steps back and turned around, only to see Holy Fucking Joseph she just appeared like a fuckin' ghost some other girl standing there. It was that German girl from the swim team. Damn, what kind of weird group did he get stuck with out here? Where was the damn football team?

"Uh, yeah." he said. "Friendly enough I guess. I dunno if we need help but-"

And then Winnie was screaming about needing a ladder? A fucking what?

Ricky turned back around, and now Thea Kairos was here. Saints fucking christ, this was getting crazy. At least Thea was someone he actually KNEW.

"Hey Thea I uh--"

And speaking of knowing things, the next thing Ricky knew, Thea was pushing him and James towards the tree, telling them to climb it to get the Winnie girl out. Whoa, whoa whoa, James was the guy who knew this girl, how did he end up getting roped into this stuff?

Fine, whatever. Maybe if he managed to get James up there they could just lower her down. James was smaller than he was anyway.

Ricky bent down and laced his fingers together. "Yeah, OK. Uh, James, gimme your foot and let me give you a boost up."

[Ciel†]

(GM approved by DN)

Winnie was like a cat stuck in a tree. James thought that this whole situation should be hilarious, but he didn't feel like laughing. Instead he just sighed and looked over at Ricky. That was when he noticed Raine. She was a foreign girl, german James figured. A cute girl, like teddybear cute. This illusion wasn't just a simple one, she seemed very nervous. James didn't blame her. She had a speargun pointed at the ground but James didn't think she'd ever use it on him. James smiled at her.

"Oh. Hey Raine." James only remembered Raine's first name. He didn't really know all that much about her other than that. He scratched the back of his head. "No. Winnie Clark is stuck in a tree."

He didn't mention how Winnie was bleeding, as he felt a pair of arms hug him. It was Thea! She had snuck up on him, so he jumped a bit, but he eased into the hug.

"Oh my god, Thea!" He hugged her back, smiling. "Thank god! You're-"

Winnie screamed about getting a ladder. This annoyed James. What was she expecting?! For him to fly up and save her? They were trying their best to get her down!

"Well I'm sorry Winnie," he groaned, holding his hand to his head, "but it's not like I carry a ladder everywhere, just so I can save girls stuck in trees! You've got to work with me here! I know you're scared but you have to-"

Thea pushed him forward. Wait what? She wanted him to climb up there... no... James looked back at Thea, biting his lip. For once, he actually wished Thea hadn't stepped in. James figured he would be able to get Winnie down by just calling to her. He looked over at Ricky. Maybe if Ricky went up there? No luck, Ricky decided to be the guy on the bottom. Great, just great. James grew scared. He stared up at Winnie.

It wasn't that James didn't want to help Winnie. James didn't like heights. He had never told Thea that, hell he hadn't told anyone other than his family. So being lifted up so high to catch Winnie struck a cord in his head, a bad one.

"B-But-" James looked over at Thea, then back at Ricky. "B-But why-"

He looked back at Thea one last time. His mind wandered back to the day of the Senior trip. They sat together on the bus. He could remember a few things. Thea laughing, her hands pressed in between her knees. James smiling wide, looking over at the people sitting across from them. Thea's lips against his cheek. Her butterfly kisses always tingled and made him feel things that he never thought he could. Was it passion? Was it puppy love? James was never quite sure, but he liked being with her. Thea could be a little pushy, at times, like right now, but he could easily overlook that. He liked Thea.

James sighed. "Alright, alright, I'll do it. Ricky, stay there."

Ricky nodded as he sat there, his fingers laced. James let Ricky hold his one foot, though it was clear he was still nervous. Could Ricky hold him up? Ricky struggled but he managed to boost James up far enough. James braced himself against the tree with his one hand, stretching out his other for Winnie. He was up far enough so she could get off. James begged that Winnie would at least take the bait. He wasn't sure how long he'll be able to hold this.

"Winnie!" He called, staying as still as he could. "Here I am! Just wrap your arms around me and we'll lift you down!"

[chibinanashi†]

Raine slowly stepped into the gathering of people and laid the speargun on the grass. She looked around and listened to the discussion on how to get the girl out of the tree. Raine looked up and paled at the sight. Volunteering herself had been on her mind but what if she fell? What if she brought the girl down with her in the fall? Nobody would trust her and the girl would have been hurt bad. Raine tensed, biting her lower lip as she watched James venture up.

"Please be careful..." She clasped her hands together and looked up, nervous as ever. Raine didn't want anyone to be hurt. That thought made her think. Weren't the huge targets up there. Quickly, Raine looked around them. Hopefully she could catch whoever it was first if someone made them a target.

[ifnotwinter†]

James was shouting at her again. James was shouting at her, and there was a whole crowd of people, and she was in a - a gosh-darn tree on some disgusting sick idea of a game-show that had to be a joke, it had to, it couldn't be real, and she didn't understand anything that was going on apart from the fact that she really, really wanted to get down. She curled herself into her branch and did her best to ignore them, concentrating on improving her grip and keeping herself anchored securely to the tree.

But he was still talking to her. And then, oh, miracles of miracles, she opened her eyes enough to see a close up of the wood, rough, covered in tiny beads of sap, but just out of range, just enough for her to see was oh heavens, a hand. James' hand. He was reaching for her...she couldn't see what he was standing on but it had to be a ladder or some kind of thing like that. Carefully, she began to inch herself forwards, the motion dislodging the sword and sending it spinning down to earth.

The sudden slip of the steel startled her, and she bit back a shriek as it plummeted down. All she could do was cower deeper into the bark, all the bravado of fear deserting her as she desperately chanted "Oh god I'm sorry I'm so sorry are you okay please be okay I'm so sorry I didn't mean to..."

She probably would have continued speaking as well, if the feel of someone tickling at her hand hadn't started her. She glanced sideways, expecting to see moss or leaves.

She didn't.

"Oh. Oh no. Oh no, no no no nononono...."

The most gigantic spider she had ever come face to face with was sitting right in front of her, quietly clicking its pincers. It was massive, and hairy. It was black and brown and red and bizarre looking. Eight curious eyes stared glassily at her. One dark leg twitched. Six of the eight legs were resting on the branch, but two were resting delicately on the back of her hand.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"

Winnie didn't waste any time. Shrieking incoherently, she flung herself at James' hand, half shimmying down the tree, half using him as a ladder, wrapping her body around him as much as possible and gasping for breath as she tried to put as much space - and man - between her and the obviously carnivorous arachnid.

[Arscapi†]

Thea watched James bite his lip and wondered what he was suddenly so nervous about. It was only a tree. She glanced up at Winnie, who was still clinging to the branch and then back to James, in time to catch his glance over to her. She offered him a bright smile and blew him a kiss.

Thea watched approvingly as Ricky give James a boost and James stretched to help Winnie. She moved closer to the base of the tree, in case they needed some direction.

"Hey Ricky, glad to see you're okay," Thea said her eyes on the tree. The tip of the sword swinging wildly caught her attention and she jumped away from the falling sword, flinging herself to the ground. She looked around to see where the sword had landed and picked herself up dusting herself off and Winnie whined up in the tree. This was ridiculous why was she stuck up in the tree anyway, it wasn't even very high. Just look, look at this skirt. As if it wasn't bad enough I only have this, now there are stains on it. Thea huffed a sigh and worked on brushing as much of the dirt and debris off her skirt as possible.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"

She's head shot up as the scream pierced the air. What now? I thought the girls on the team were drama. This is getting like over the top. Thea watched, growing more annoyed, as Winnie wrapped herself around HER boyfriend. Seriously, what the hell is she doing up there, Thea wondered. She sat looking up at the new situation with her hand on her hip.

"Okay, come down now," she said not bothering to cover the annoyance in her tone.

[chibinanashi†]

Raine watched the entire fiasco and backed up along with Thea when the sword came flying down. Her eyes widened and she lookes at the wicked blade. That thing could have hurt someone badly! Raine felt like she was in a horrible movie where people watch only to see people die. No...She was in a game show.

Shaking her head, Raine looked back up and yelled at them. "Is there anything else that is going to fall that we should know about?"

[D/N]

Ricky felt like he was in the fuckin' circus or something as he boosted James up the tree. He let James plant his feet on his shoulder on they way up, then just tried to keep a hold of James' legs as he reached for Winnie. This whole thing probably looked really gay.

"You almost got her?" he called up after a second. Damn, how long did they expect him to keep this whole thing balanced? Ricky glanced over at the rest of the party; Thea was too busy 'directing' the the process, and the German girl was barely five feet tall. Yeah, they wouldn't be helping. And now Thea was diving off to the side for some reason, what the hell was that? He tried turning his head around, before realizing that that might not be the best idea at the moment. How the hell did he get roped into these sort of things? All the fucking time, man. Hey Ricky, help us out, there's a girl in a fucking tree, do the goddamn grunt work.

Then Winnie started screaming her goddamn head off about something, and she was tossing herself at James like a freakin' cannonball. Ricky could feel the weight above him start lean backwards. "Hey man, you gotta hold her!"

Yeah, no one was listening to him. The German girl was screaming something, and Thea was sounding annoyed and yelling something too, and Ricky was just trying to keep everything steady, he was a fuckin' steady kind of guy, and that was when a giant fucking spider came flying out of the tree and landed on Ricky's head.

"JESUS FUCK WHAT THE HELL!!!!!"

Now, Ricky was no wimp. He didn't have any girly "EEEEEEEEK A SPIDER" phobias or something like that. But you know what? It's still a shock to the system to have a giant fucking spider come flying out of a tree and land on your head.

Ricky shook his head wildly, trying to get that insect out of his hair and back on the ground, and had totally forgotten about James and Winnie for just a second. That was all it took. Then he was losing his balance, and he could feel the weight above him swaying once, then twice, and he tried to shuffle his feet to the side to keep the weight above him, but all he did was bump into the German girl. It's Raine something, isn't it? he found himself thinking for some reason, and then he finally lost his footing and down he went.

Great fucking way to start this thing.

[Ciel†]

"Oof!" Was the only response James Mulzet gave as Winnie collided with him. James found himself teetering back as he wrapped his arms around Winnie, managing to balance himself out. He panted, clearly scared out of his wits. For christs sake, could you blame him for holding onto her for dear life? James hesitantly looked down as he tried to hold Winnie against him. Oh jesus he wanted to get down as quickly as possible. He didn't like this, oh no not one bit. Plus, Winnie's nails were digging into the back of his neck and it made James want to cry.

"Y-Yeah Ricky!" James called to his partner. "Ricky, I've got Winnie! All you have to do is let us down!"

And now Thea was getting annoyed. What the hell was she getting all worked up about?! She wasn't the friggin one in the tree, helping down a poor helpless girl and she definitely wasn't the one who had the fear of heights here. James grit his teeth. He was feeling the back of his neck going numb now. Great, just great.

"The-Thea, calm down! We're working as fast as we-"

Raine made a comment. It clearly made what little restraint James had left snap like a twig.

"Raine, not helping." James tried to turn his head but only managed just a tiny bit. Quite honestly Raine had every reason in the world to ask Winnie a sarcastic question, but it shifted James's attention away from holding onto Winnie. James wasn't a terribly good mood and sarcastic quips like that made him even more irate. "Thea, I love you, and this is going to be really rude but could you stop talking?! You're distracting meee-EEEeeaaaHHHHHH!"

The two-man ladder went tumbling and James had no idea until it was too late. Ricky tried to keep the balance but to no avail. Everything was dropping like a building filled with TNT and James did the only rational thing that he could think to do - he screamed!

"Ricky! Don- Ricky you son of a bitch, don't drop us! Don-"

The good news was that the distance between James and the ground was very small. The bad news was that James was the kind of boy who would scream like a little girl if it came to falling. He didn't like heights, and he especially hated falling from heights. Elevators made him nervous, skyscrapers doubly so. Don't even talk to him about mountain climbing, he may faint. Those few feet, those few, INSIGNIFICANT feet felt like miles to him and time slowed down to a crawl. Falling. Falllling. Fallllling. Faaallllliiin-

James landed on the ground with a loud thump. His whole body seized up and the pain of hitting the ground made his whole body numb with sheer pain. The fall knocked the wind out of him, and he coughed violently into his dirty sleeve as he gasped for what air he could muster. Every thought, every observation seemed to blow over his head, the only thing he knew was that he was alive. Was he alive? Yeah, he was alive. Maybe. James let out a jagged sigh as realization kicked in. Yeah. He was still alive, thank god. And Winnie! Yeah, she was okay! James had cushioned the fall so she-

That was when he saw the big picture. Winnie was still wrapped around him. On top of him. Draped over him.... no, not just draped. She was laid... ontop of him. Right in front of his girlfriend. The pain in his head roared, his cheeks bright red. Holy. Crap.

"Uhm." James blinked. "Uhh... h-hi?"

James laughed nervously.

[ifnotwinter†]

The only thought going through Winnie's head as she wrapped herself around James was the panicked, hysterical repetition of spider spider spider o god spider o god tree o god spider O GOD. Clinging as tightly as she could to the boy under her, she squeezed her eyes shut so as not to see either the massive height she was still dangling from, or the monsterous spider that she one-hundred-percent positively knew was still on her. Probably preparing to sink its massive fangs into her. Ignoring the various shouts and cries going on under her, Winnie tightened her hold, deciding in an instant that she was not letting go come hell or high water.

...which, as it turned out, was a good decision. Because the next second there was a fresh burst of screaming from below her and she felt James sway backwards, the force of gravity tugging at her human anchor. The scream bursting from James' mouth echoed her own as she felt them toppling, and for scanty half-seconds, saw her life flashing in front of her eyes. This was it. She was going to die on Survival of the Fittest, not from shooting, or stabbing, or being blown up, or even cannibalized - no, from falling out of a tree.

How lame was that?

Before further thoughts could be percolated, however, they reached the ground, James' body taking the brunt of the impact. He squirmed under her, coughing into his sleeve like the fall had knocked the wind out of him - which, she reminded herself, it probably had. But they were on the ground. And she was safe. Overcome with relief, she dropped her head back down onto his shoulder and relaxed her grip slightly, still loathe to completely relinquish her grip in case of unexpected falling.

At least, until she heard James stutter a hello, and realized just what she was doing.

She was on a boy.

She was on a boy.

She was lying on top of him like - like some common Jezebel, and - and they were touching and she could feel his skin and oh this was not good. Not good at all.

She barely had time to think about it, pure instinct making her leap up and push herself off of him, backing up until she hit the tree that, ironically, they had fallen from. Oh god she had been on him and she had been lying on him and her shirt was cut so he could see her underthings and-

-her shirt was cut?

Winnie looked down, and saw for the first time the long, shallow slice that ran across her belly and across her left breast. Although it had mostly stopped bleeding, there was still a sluggish oozing of bodily fluids, and her stomach was liberally streaked with red, much of it now on James as well.

Oh.

I'm bleeding.

What little colour had been in Winsome's cheeks drained in an instant, her eyes unfocusing as she leaned against the tree for support. Her breath was coming ever faster, in tiny hyperventilating gasps as she frantically tried to keep a hold of the situation - and unfortunately, failed miserably. Between the tree, the spider, the fall, and now the blood, her mind gave up trying to comprehend it all and simply shut down, sending her crumpling down to the base of the tree in a faint.