Princess Aquapussy

[Lord_Shadow]

No no no no no no no no no no oh no oh no no no no no no no no

"stop please stop" please stop please stop "please please stop" stop stop stop stop stop stop.

Her whole body trembled with fear and her voice was beginning to quiet into a scared and breathless whisper. Sophie said to run and did, Jeannette took off too, but Tania was too scared and too tired and the vest weighed like a million pounds and she was short of breath and her legs hurt and and and and and and and

She shut her eyes and shut out everything else but her own thoughts and breathing. If her eyes were closed she couldn't see anything and so she had nothing to fear.

She shut up other than a few soft sobs now.

It'll all be fine. It'll all be okay. It'll be over and everything will be like it never happened.

Safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe safe

Please whatever god of anything out there keep her safe

[Primrosette]

Simon just stayed where he was as everything was going down. Sophie and Jeanette had basically took off while he was left behind with psycho Bunny and sobbing Tania. He knew that he should bail as well. But for some reason, he thought that it would be better if he stayed. Yes, it was a strange thing for him to do. But he had a plan. A plan that might work if he played it right without acting like he was superior than the other two. He knew that Bunny had nothing now and she would no longer be a threat. He couldn't be too sure. And Tania.... Tania was just being Tania at the moment.

Simon got up to his feet with a bit of difficulty. Thanks, Blaine! But once he was up to his feet; he scanned the area with his eyes and then he squinted them as he spotted something that was a bit away from them. He started to limp into the direction with his bag hanging over his shoulder and then he felt a smug smile spread across his face. It was a bag. He had to take it.

He picked up the bag and then he noticed the weapon on the ground. Was that a sword or something? It looked like it was damaged; however, he had to take it. Finders keepers, right?

He took the weapon into his free hand, looked at the new bag in his other hand and he turned back to the others. Jeanette had taken Bunny's bag and now she had nothing. She could starve to death. But he wasn't going to let that happen. He had to put on his 'Mr. Nice Guy' act as much as he didn't want to. He had to be rational and smart.

He made his way over to where Bunny was and he leaned over her. "You might have threatened everyone's lives before, but you don't deserve to die, Bunny. So take this bag that I found for you and be grateful that I didn't do something worse than Jeanette...."

He paused for a few sounds.

"Don't make me regret this. Okay?" He said in a bitter, angry tone.

He then moved over to where Tania was and he kneeled down beside her. Holy fuck, his leg was still hurting but he had to ignore it. He had to calm her down. He couldn't have her continue to be an emotional wreck.

"Hey, Tania. Everything is going to be okay. We're going to be fine."

Lies.

"Just take a few breathes and calm yourself down. Alright?" He spoke in a gentle, calming way. "Come on now.... Breathe."

[Pippi]

Bunny looked up at the sky and focused her gaze on the solitary, tiny cloud that she could see through her one clear eye. She breathed in, and her lungs felt like they were being squeezed in a juice press. She breathed out, and softly groaned, as the sensation felt even worse. Her hand pulsed, some mysterious force pressing a button to slam a heavy weight into it every second. The cut on her forehead stung, and she could feel where her hair was matted with blood.

If she ignored the sickening feeling of humiliation layered on top of all of that, it was a perfectly lovely day to lie down by the lakeside.

She tried to pretend that was what she was doing for a few seconds, tried to imagine she was all alone and just trying to chill out and relax and catch some rays, but closing her eyes just brought Jeanette’s dumb, stupid, smug, ugly face into view, and her anger and self-doubts started to boil over. She wiped her face free of blood and spit, and slowly, groaning and hissing with pain as she did so, sat up.

Simon was standing over her, holding a bag that didn’t belong to her; even if she hadn’t caught a glimpse of Sophie running off with hers, the numbers were different. For a moment, she entertained the idea that it was Simon’s own bag, but that would probably be the most asinine thing to possibly do on this island, unless he’d already given up all hope, in which case, he could have just asked her to shoot him. And again, the bag gave the game away again, with a ‘G’ clearly stencilled onto it.

For a moment, she forgot herself, and fixed Simon with a hard stare. Then her expression softened, and she traced a cross over her heart with her right index finger. A smile slid onto her face as the boy went to console Tania, or put her out of her misery, whichever was easier. Well, it might not have been the most asinine move, but it sure as hell still wasn’t smart. Someone points a gun at you, threatens you, and actually shoots someone else, and what do you do? Give them the supplies they lost and give them a stern telling off, apparently.

Simon hadn’t just given Bunny a brand-new set of supplies, though. He’d also given her some dangerous confidence back. The confidence to try and get something out of her original plan. And if that worked? Maybe she could avoid another situation with Jeany Meany Bo Fucking Beany.

She was going to salvage something from this, and thank the Lord, there was somebody here more pathetic than her. Bunny attempted to pick herself up, and, after first wincing with pain when she pressed against the ground too hard with her injured hand, slowly got to her feet.

“Yeah, c’mon Tania!” Bunny said, injecting a booster shot of chirpiness into her voice. “We’re all friends here.”

She stepped closer to the stricken girl, and gave her a smile that showed just a few too many teeth.

“And, friend to friend, that vest really doesn’t go with your outfit! D’you mind if I borrow it from you?

She turned to face Simon and cocked her head to one side, smile still stuck to her face.

“Sharing is caring, after all!”

She mentally dared him to try and stop her. The guy had a bum leg. What was he gonna do, try and chase her down?

Oooh, she hoped he did, now she thought of it. She’d never beaten anyone in a footrace before.

[Lord_Shadow]

She felt someone go near her and she reflexively flinched. Tania tried to drown out their words by focusing on her thoughts. It didn't work, she knew she was going to die now and no one would care. She would just be killed for no—

Wait did someone say friends?

Her sobbing slowed and she opened her eyes. Simon was kneeling over her and Bunny was smiling standing next to her. She said something about being friends, Tania thought.

"We're friends?" She sniffed and wiped away a few tears. "You mean it?"

But she just tried to kill Jeanette and Sophie, but maybe not. It had to have been an accident. Surely that had to be it. Of course, no one here knew how to use a gun, Bunny must've accidentally triggered it.

It was all a misunderstanding. She was beginning to feel better, her breathing normalized. "I'm fine Simon, I'm okay now." She tried to get up and failed. "Maybe, you can help me up? This vest is really— oh!"

Wait Bunny asked to borrow it. If she did then it wouldn't be so heavy on Tania. Smart thinking, plus Bunny was already hurt. She could use the extra protection.

So could Tania for that matter. However, Bunny did say she only wanted to borrow it. Surely that could work for now.

"Umm okay Bunny. Help me up and you can use my vest." She wiped away some more tears.

Simon was right, everything was going to be okay now. Everything would be fine.

[Primrosette]

Sharing is caring, my ass, Bunny....

Simon opened his mouth to throw an insult at her but then he shut it again when Tania piped in. He raised an eyebrow when Tania was trusting the person who had just tried to kill all of them. Mostly Sophie and Jeanette. But still.... He wanted to tell Tania to not give Bunny her vest because Bunny didn't deserve to have it.

Or I can just leave these two idiots to do whatever they want.

Simon shook his head slightly. Did he really want to travel on his own with a crappy leg? Not really. Did he want to stay with a girl who had previously tried to kill others? Not really? Did he really want to stay with a girl who was too trustful of others for her good? Not really.

It's not like I have a choice in this matter much anyway.

Simon slowly got up to his feet which was a bit difficult after kneeling down like that. He then raised the katana and he pointed it towards Bunny. His frown had never left his face. He couldn't let Bunny take advantage of Tania. What he was doing was possibly a bad idea but he had to make sure that Bunny couldn't get what she wanted.

"Tania, Bunny is not your friend. She only wants your vest so that you won't have anything to protect yourself with. Don't forget that she attacked the others because she couldn't get what she wanted. You can't trust her. She is a poisonous human being who is trying to take advantage of you. Don't give her what she wants."

Simon then moved himself in front of Tania to make sure that Bunny could not help her up. He couldn't let Bunny steal, not borrow, Tania's protection. He didn't even think that he would be doing something like this. He was now trying to protect another girl from a harmful person. Why was he trying to be a hero? This wasn't what he had been planning to do.

"Bunny, I think that you should just leave. Now."

[Pippi]

Oh, that was another wonderful thing she could rely on Tania for; she was such an earnest, sweet girl. Kind, caring, lovely, and dumb as a sack of rocks. “Nice but dim” didn’t even scratch the surface. If Simon giving her a fresh set of rations was a bad idea, then giving your only weapon to the girl who’d shot the heck out of everyone, just because she called you a friend, was ‘invade Russia in the winter’ levels of insanity. Hell, Tania would probably be more than happy to give Bunny anything she asked for in the name of ‘friendship’; her own bag, the clothes off her back, the keys to a motorboat to escape the island, whatever!

The adrenaline racing through her body helped block out Bunny’s thoughts, the reminder that they had been friends, they should still be friends, if something in her brain had clicked in the opposite direction after she’d woken up they could still be friends, but she hadn’t and now the path she’d chosen was crumbling away into nothingness behind her.

All the world’s a stage, and when you’re up there, performing, you lose track of everything but your role, and only when the curtain finally falls can you sit back, and let the buzz and the glow of what you’ve just done wash over you.

With a smile on her face that was a much better fit for her words, Bunny stepped forwards, even closer to Tania, stretching her hand out to help the stricken girl up.

Then Simon just had to poke his head in and try his gosh darn best to interfere, trying to be Tania’s little white knight or something. The smile on Bunny’s face became strained, as she lowered her hand. She brushed it against her pocket, the phantom weight of the gun misleading her momentarily. She bit the inside of her cheek, forcing herself to stick to her role just for a little longer, just until she got something more from Tania.

“Aw, c’mon!” Bunny said, putting on the tone of voice she reserved for making pouty faces to get what she wanted. “Like, I’m apparently supposed to be this ‘toxic person’ or whatever, but Simon’s the one who’s trying to stop us all being friends! Does that sound like the sorta guy you wanna stick with and listen to?”

She turned her gaze to Simon.

“So, I think I’m gonna stay around for just a little bit longer!”

Her smile was just a little too large, her eyes a little too wide, blood dying her eyebrows crimson, strands of hair falling in front of her face.

“And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

[Lord_Shadow]

Tania looked from one person to the other. She was confused, really confused, at all of this now. Bunny was being kind and friendly, but Simon said she was a liar and a bad person. Simon sounded like he was looking out for Tania and wanted to keep her safe, but Bunny made it sound like he was trying to keep Tania to himself.

Was he interested in her? Could that be it? Tania blushed at the thought. She was pretty, she knew that, but no one showed any real interest in her specifically. Unfortunately, she didn't feel the same toward Simon right now. Maybe if she wasn't stuck in some death game, but maybe not anyway.

She kept looking from Bunny to Simon and back. She didn't know who to trust or even why. It was all so confusing and scary right now. She had to find out the truth.

"Bunny" She tried to formulate her question right. "Were you going to hurt me?" She looked back into the girl's eyes. She knew Bunny was an actress and could play roles really well, but Tania felt confident that she could tell if Bunny was lying.

"It was all an accident right? Simon is just being paranoid right?" She was pleading now. Tania had to hear the right thing. She knew she was right.

She had to be, she HAD to be.

She couldn't deal with being wrong right now. She would believe whatever Bunny said, because Tania was sure she wasn't wrong about her. Not now, not ever.

"Please"

[Primrosette]

Paranoid....

Simon glanced back at Tania behind him for a few seconds with disbelief showing on his face. Tania really wanted to see the good in people. In someone like Bunny who threatened everyone with a freaking gun. Maybe in someone like Blaine who was possibly running around trying to kill anyone that came across him. It was too bad that she couldn't see how evil Bunny was right now. More so than him who is still willing to get his kill later on.

He looked back at Bunny and his lips curled into a frustrated frown. He wished that he could just swing at her. But then Tania would think that he is 'the bad guy' instead, right? He didn't know, but there was no way that he was letting Bunny come with them. She was definitely stab them in the back if they let her come with them.

"Tania, we should leave. Without Bunny. Okay? Don't fall for her act. She will definitely betray us if she comes with us." He said calmly, as he continued to hold the sword towards Bunny and he moved back a little, holding out his free hand towards Tania. "We have to go. Now. Tania, please.

[Pippi]

“Of course he’s being paranoid, sweetheart.”

This situation was balanced on a knife edge – or, more accurately, a katana’s – but Bunny felt as though she had the momentum to tip it in her favour. No, scratch that; she was certain of it. Simon, for all his well thought out points, his calm and rational attitude, and the fact that he was, well, right, she had something that he lacked; she knew how to captivate an audience.

Every audience was different; you had to play to what they liked and what they weren’t so keen on. You couldn’t just strut on stage and perform your role the exact same night after night. You had to look for the subtle intricacies of each crowd, find what made their laughs or gasps a little more pronounced.

Okay, so, ‘subtle’ intricacies was a bad choice of words, considering Tania’s desires were as obvious as a polka dot hat with a neon sign pointing down saying ‘PLEASE LIKE ME’, as a MIDI version of “In The Hall of the Mountain King” played. Bunny had been a little… okay, a lot… okay, fine, incredibly fortunate to have stumbled upon that key word, but come on! Could you really say she didn’t deserve a freaking break at this point?

Bunny wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, a few drops of blood falling to the ground, the rest smearing against her skin, like she’d just been assaulted with a paintbrush. She attempted a sympathetic smile, and, to her delight, found it came easily. Now that there weren’t stupid, braindead, worthless whores doing everything in their power to disrupt her, she was finally getting back on track. She was gonna get something out of this encounter. Even if more blood had to be spilled before she did.

“I mean, gosh, look at him!” Bunny continued. “I don’t even have my gun out, and I don’t even plan on using it, and he’s still pointing a sword at me! I know I’ve got good looks on my side, but I really don’t think I have strength or muscles in my favour, so what threat do I pose?”

With any luck, Tania would have still been wallowing in the fetal position when Sophie had kicked the pistol into the shallows. Bunny’s sympathetic smile morphed into a concerned frown, and her voice grew lower.

“Maybe he’s trying to get you to go all by yourself with him cause he’s planning on turning that sword on you next…”

[Lord_Shadow]

She looked at Simon, she looked at Bunny, she looked at Simon again.

It was clear who was really looking out for her now.

"Simon, please leave. I don't feel safe around you." Tania tried to sound assertive, like she had seen so many other people be, but her voice was a little shaky. She knew who she could trust here, Bunny's smile made her feel completely secure while Simon's blade made her feel scared and uneasy.

Clearly she was making the right choice, but Simon didn't agree. How could she get him to just go away? She didn't want to go with him. She didn't exactly think Bunny was right and that he would hurt her, but she felt like something bad would happen if she went along with him.

She didn't have much to help out. Bunny said she didn't have her gun, nor did Tania see it anywhere. Even if Tania didn't want another accident to occur, the intimidating presence of a firearm could help make Simon see he wasn't wanted.

Wait she shouldn't be thinking that. Simon was a kinda reasonable guy, surely he could see what was happening. There was no need to resort to threats or violence, implicitly or explicitly. Tania knew Bunny would agree with her on that, she said she didn't even want to use her gun.

All just an accident. Tania was so glad she was right. She couldn't handle being wrong.

[Primrosette]

Tania wanted him to leave. Maybe he should have suspected that that was going to happen. Jeez, and he was trying to be the 'good guy' again. Maybe it wasn't for him to continuing trying. Although, it seemed that it was possibly because of the katana he was holding. He was being seen as the threat instead of Bunny. Which was a stupid thing to think.

Whatever, if Tania ends up dead because of Bunny. Then it was her own fault....

Simon lowered his hand without the katana and he let out a small sigh. What was the point in trying to help others if they act like you're the one who is trouble? Why trust Bunny of all people? He didn't get it.

"....Alright. I'll go. Just be careful and take care of yourself, Tania." He said to end on a good note with her and he turned to face Bunny away from Tania seeing the disgusted expression on his face, the most terrible actress of the world. Ugh. "Good luck, Bunny. You're going to need it."

He gave Bunny a death glare before he limped away, hoping that he would never run into those girls again.

((Simon Leroy continued elsewhere))

[Pippi]

Bunny waved at Simon’s departing figure, a charming little grin on her face.

“I don’t need luck! A little bit of charm and patience can get you a long way!”

Her voice was as sweet as syrup, and flowed from her mouth like a delightful babbling brook. It was so, so easy to recreate now, now that she was back in control. Jeanette could eat a dick; everything that bitch had done to mess with her and try and ruin her plans had been for nothing. Tania had chosen her, not Simon. She had messed up, she knew she had messed up, but she could still make people love her all the same.

The smile on her face was genuine, even if the tone of her voice was manufactured. How easy would it be to convince herself that she was doing the right thing? To convince herself just like she’d convinced Tania, that Simon was the bad guy, that she’d only be safe if she stuck with her and that she wouldn’t stand a chance if she wandered off on her own? Very easy. Too easy. If Bunny kept on telling herself that she was helping Tania, over and over, it’d probs take only a couple of days for her to believe her own lies.

Oh, it was tempting, because at some point Tania would figure out that she was being manipulated, and if there was anything she could do to soften the blow of crossing that bridge, she would take it.

Hmmm. She was mixing her metaphors a smidge. Oh well! Hopefully that’d be the only trouble she ran into from here on out!

Bunny let out a gentle sigh, then placed her hand on Tania’s shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. Soft, slow movements, that was the key here. Wouldn’t be good to go startling Tania again. Again.

… Again.

“C’mon, Tanny, we should probs head off as well. I dunno about you, but I’m sick of this dumb lake.”

A bright smile and a chirpy giggle.

“Here, how’s about you look through your map to see where you wanna head next? I’m gonna see if Jeany-Beany dropped any of my stuff when she stole my bag.”

[Lord_Shadow]

"Sure thing." She wasn't scared or tired any more. Things were finally quiet and peaceful again. It almost made her sad that the others were gone too, but she had a friend now and that was more than enough to counter-balance the sadness.

She was entrusted with a job now and she had to do it right. Without all the pressure around her, it wasn't too hard to force herself up. She got to her feet, dusted off and took off the vest. She stretched her arms to the sky, closed her eyes and raised her face. This was what she needed right now.

"Tanny, sounds nice." She murmured with a smile. She opened her eyes and set about fetching her map. Geography wasn't her best subject, nor was map-reading really a skill she had, but she felt confident she could figure this out.

"Hmm, yeah maybe here. That might be a good place." She set her sights toward the woods. She had emerged from there on her way here, to encounter all this. No way could she go back. Time to move on.

"Bunny, I was thinking maybe we could move further south like to the shipping yard or parish or something." She smiled as she said her idea. "I'm gonna get moving first, get a look and see if we're safe. If you want to go somewhere else then let me know okay?"

She went back over to her vest. She looked it over for a moment. A heavy symbol of protection. Some reminder that she wasn't safe here.

Bunny could borrow it on the way, she decided. She picked it up and held it in her arms. It was a little less heavy that way.

The future looked bright, but she was still just a little unsure.

"I'm safe now, I made the right choice. I hope."

She put one foot in front of the other and moved on toward her next fateful encounter.

((Tania Chell continued in When There's Nothing Left to Burn, You Have to Set Yourself on Fire.))

[Pippi]

“That sounds good to me, Tanny!”

Bunny hadn’t paid a lick of attention to where Tania wanted to go. It didn’t matter, really, did it? She didn’t need to go anywhere in particular, unless there was, like, a fully-fuelled helicopter or speedboat just lying around. Or a hidden cache of machine guns or something! But, shockingly enough, that didn’t seem to be marked on the map. So, the priority remained the same; go somewhere that wasn’t this gosh darn lake.

If they bumped into any of her friends, then great, but if they didn’t, it really wasn’t any skin off her nose.

Bunny waited until Tania’s back was turned, then headed straight to the water’s edge. There were a couple of patches of algae dotted about on the surface, but for the most part, it was crystal clear. Heck, it looked good enough to drink, almost! Sorta. Maybe.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust. Partially due to that thought (there were probably a whole ton of gross bugs and viruses floating around in the lake, ew!), and partially since she could see her gun from where she was standing. Good, right?

No! Not good! The thing was visible, nestled comfortably between a couple of rocks, just far enough into the lake itself that Bunny couldn’t just reach in and grab it. She scuffed a pebble into the lake and scowled at the ripples. These were her favourite Converse! She had just bought these tights! If she had to run through a swamp to escape some chainsaw wielding headcase, then, fine, whatever, but if she could avoid ruining them, that’d be much preferable!

A drop of blood splattered into the mud next to her left foot. Her hand instinctively shot to her forehead, and came away damp and sticky. Right. She was kinda past that point already, wasn’t she?

Bunny sighed, and stepped into the lake, moving as quick as she could. It took two steps to each the gun, water splashing up to her thighs each time. One darting movement with her hand, like a heron spearing a fish, and a rush to the bank, and she had her pistol back. A shiver ran through her entire body as she shook each leg in turn, trying to fling as much water off as possible. It felt like someone had shoved ice cubes down her tights, and her shoes squelched with each footstep as started walking Tania-wards, and that was super gross, but she had her gunny back!

It would have been nice to sit down for some TLC; staunch the bleeding on her face and dry the pistol off, but Tania had already made some decent ground, and Bunny reaaaally didn’t wanna let her go so soon.

So with a quick roll of her shoulders, and a twirl of her gun to look cool, Bunny set off after Tania at a jog.

((Bunny Barlowe continued in When There's Nothing Left to Burn, You Have to Set Yourself on Fire.))