Mini-Grand 5106 [SUDDEN DEATH]

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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Mattilus watched Atasha from his vantage in the treetops. Despite being without his book he felt he could handle a solitary chik, especially one whose hands had been conveniently bound behind her back. He climbed down from his perch and across the muddy riverside. The chik had managed to get to her feet and was looking decidedly worse for wear. She looked more pale than usual and was heavily sweating, her eyes barely remained open. She groaned in pain and was mumbling to herself, as soon as he was close enough to make out what she might have been saying she stopped. Atasha looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and silently mouthed the words 'help me', before collapsing to the muddy ground.

...

"The woman said not to drink the water." Mattilus said, kicking Atasha's body onto her back. He crouched down next to her, careful not to get as covered in mud as she was. Though he had a good medical knowledge it was not necessary, even before he placed his fingers to her neck to check her pulse he knew the chik was dead. If anything this development worried him. It demonstrated a fundamental lack of self-preservation skills among the chix. They might have survived okay in the previous round because they had the android to protect them, but no longer. Add to that that this round had the potential to be much more dangerous than the preceding round, and he was forced to conclude that they were not going to last long. This wouldn't have been a problem but for the fact that he was without his book, and if they moved to a new round before he found it then it would be lost forever. He had to act, and quickly.

Mattilus straightened up and returned to the tree he had been atop when he had been interrupted by Atasha's presence. He glanced out over the thick canopy, hoping to see some clue as to where his book was. With his back to the river, something drew his eye; smoke rising from a clearing in the forest. Of course, the tribe that the voice had mentioned. If he went up against them as he was-

Mattilus' thoughts were interrupted as he became aware of a wordless song twisting through the trees. He spun around, as best as is possible when precariously balanced atop a tree, to see that Atasha's body was missing. In it's place there was a pile of her clothes and a scrap of metal, her handcuffs, twisted almost beyond recognition. His attention was not drawn to this however, but to Atasha herself, bathing in the river. She was singing to herself. It was not a cheesy pop number like Mattilus had been forced to endure at the end of the previous round, but rather a melodious tune. It was pure, it was innocent, it was beautiful.

Before he knew it he had climbed down the tree and was standing on the riverbank, staring at Atasha's naked form. She was beautiful. Her skin was perfectly smooth, without a single blemish upon it. Her long brown hair practically shone in the crystal clear waters of the river. Her eyes were a dazzling blue that Mattilus didn't know how he had not noticed before.

Mattilus became aware that he had been staring at the chik, but she didn't seem to mind, never having stopped singing for a moment. She cupped her hands together gathering a mouthful of river water, and walked out of the river and up to Mattilus. For a moment she just stood there, her azure eyes fixed onto his. Then she raised the water to him, momentarily pausing her beautiful song to instruct him to

"Drink."