Out Of The Birdcage • Limited Life Fanfic

.°• Chapter 8: The Arrow •°.

"Oh don't look so down in the dumps"

Grian's body flew up and then dropped into a cloudy abyss as Martyn spoke.

"Grian's fine, but I bet he doesn't have much time left"

Jimmy's nails had dug so far into his hand that he has to wipe the blood away on the cuff of his sleeve.

"Here's what's going to happen," Martyn wrapped his headband around his ankle to ease the blood flow, "You're going to go back to base. We're going to follow you and then eliminate Grian. Okay?"

There's nothing he could do. No tricks he could play to save Grian's life as well as his own. Either they both died or Grian did. Martyn's conversational tone made his blood boil. There was nothing he could do. Nothing.

Scott stood behind Martyn, still holding the very crossbow he used to shoot Grian. Heartless, heartless, heartless.

"Is that alright with you, Jimmy?" Scott's voice was flat, and his eyes were soulless, not even meeting Jimmy's once. Coward.

Blood continued to trickle out of the four small indents in Jimmy's palm, his eyes were burning with tears, but he couldn't, he couldn't cry. Not in front of them. He couldn't show any more weakness than he had already. He needed the upper hand in something.

"Fine. But once it's done, you leave me be"

Martyn held out his hand to shake. His grip was firm, almost squeezing the life out of Jimmy's hand, especially considering they were already bleeding. This was Martyn's message, smiling as he forced Jimmy's blood onto his hands. He knew he was going to win.

Grian watched as Jimmy crossed the bread bridge, his head weighed down by shame.

"Tim! Tim!" Grian called out, flapping his arms widely, "I can't believe that didn't work, I've only got an hour left- Tim, why won't you look at me? Tim?"

Guilt was written all over Jimmy's face. He watched as Grian's hand went over his mouth.

"Tim, what- why are they here?"

Scott and Martyn walked just a bit behind Jimmy, emerging from the fog like killers. That's what they were, killers. They all were, every single one of them. But it wasn't their fault. That's by design.

"I know- I know you're not going to believe me, but I don't have a choice right now. We were cornered in a tight situation-"

"A tight situation? I don't understand, Tim. Why are you so wound up on winning? You were never like this" Grian choked out. His eyes travelled to the blood on Jimmy's sleeve, and then to Martyn.

You were never like this. Wasn't he? I mean, why not? Wasn't it clearly the- that was the wrong choice, the way he was before. He needed to stay strong, he needed to win. He needed to defy the odds and escape the cycle. But what even is the cycle? Shut up, Jimmy.

But Grian was there, and tears clouded his eyes, and he couldn't figure out what he wanted anymore.

Martyn hollered, "Oh Grian".

Grian adjusted his posture, standing up straight and drawing back his bow. "What do you want, Martyn?"

"From my understanding, you've only got an hour left, meaning, as soon as I ask him to, Scott will take the shot and you will be eliminated"

Jimmy faltered. Those fireworks were powerful. They've done this dance before, and it doesn't work unless Grian cooperates.

"And from my understanding, Martyn" Grian said bitterly, mocking his words, "You don't have a lot of health left from my sword attack earlier, meaning if I shoot you now, you'll respawn back at your base and next time you come over here you won't be getting out alive"

So this is how he wanted to play. Bluffing that he could kill Martyn in one shot. But whether or not it was true, it was a clever move that could give him the upper hand, and Martyn's face was already turning a ghostly white.

Lightning crackled in the distance.

Bigbst4tz2 ran out of time.

That could be Grian in a few short moments.

And then, Martyn laughed.

Jimmy could see Grian's face fall slightly.

"You have no idea how many hearts I have, Grian. That bow might not do anything. I think it'd be wise to put it down"

Time was ticking. Jimmy's nails re-opened the holes in his palm. He couldn't lose another bad boy, not so soon. But Scott had his bow, and he knew he could shoot it at him any second if he even tried anything. Jimmy was wrong about him, he didn't care about their heart-to-heart. But there was something unmistakable in his eyes that made him think otherwise, but that was probably all a lie too.

Grian's breathing carried across the wind.

"Oh, and, don't do what you did before. You know how that worked out" Martyn said nonchalantly.

"Fine" Grian said through gritted teeth, "I won't"

In one swift movement, he shot Scott instead of Martyn, knocking him off the bread bridge and letting him splatter below. He had bucketloads of time, but he'd be on the other side of the map. Martyn's advantage was gone, he only had a sword.

Grian lunged at Martyn, his sword swinging through the air. They began grappling at eachother, creating dents in eachother's armour.

Martyn's armour clattered to the ground long after Grian's, he already had a gaping wound across his shoulder blade.

"Tim" He gasped out, slamming the handle of his sword on Martyn's head, briefly stunning him, "A little- A little help here!"

Jimmy's eyes clouded up once more. He couldn't. His sword was long gone. But Grian was bleeding out. He had to do something, no matter how little.

Solidaritygaming: Grian needs help. Bread bridge. Quick.

There. It all depended on how Grian had treated everyone before, hopefully he'd have made some good decisions, because Jimmy was useless in this situation. Whatever he did meant nothing. He was just a canary.

An arrow flew into Martyn's back, causing him to slump over.

And behind him, bow still poised, was Pearl.

Word count: 1018

That was fun to write :) anyway, i hope you enjoyed, and prepare yourself for a cheeky bit of angst! And perhaps a cheeky plot twist (kind of) at the end. See you in the next one!