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“You are beautiful.” He muttered sitting by Their side. It was the first thing he had said which didn't relate to combat ever since the game started. His first piece of mind, quiet enough for only the ears of Bloodhound to register.
There was never a preferred spot pinged when the squad dropped out of the plane, not even a suggestion to where everyone should relocate once they had landed. Bloodhound simply picked up Their guns and armor to fire at the surrounding enemies as routine. After getting a few death-boxes to spawn the squad knew the area was clear to scavenge. Slowly but surely everyone decided to move over the Wetlands and into the Swamps for some high tier loot. They were close to the next zone which was scheduled to move in a couple of hours, they had plenty of time.
As routine they split up, claiming a house of their own in each direction to loot or ping items for the team on their open communication radio. Little did they know someone was waiting for them in the tree forts, traveled up there by a zip-line just moments before.
“Enemy traces, thirty seconds ago in this area,” Bloodhound informed and made the squad gathered on Their position. Out of the blue, The Hunter was quick to get a descending Peacekeeper in the back before anyone had arrived, knocking Them down, leaving them powerless and bleeding into the water. Their name appeared on the kill-feed as knees hit the ground, splashing water everywhere.
“Two more up ahead!” The enemy Lifeline shouted, making all three of them run over the swamped field. Bloodhound cowered over Their HUD anxiously, eyes fixed on the kill-feed inside the mask as They crawled desperately into cover. It was safe but not for long.
The kill-feed was turned off again when wet and sloppy footsteps made their way back. Too slow to be a teammate, too soon to be a different squad - someone had returned to finish Them off. The gunshots in the distance were still singing, no one had turned the radio on yet as it was difficult to talk and focus gunfire at the same time. No way someone would be as stupid as to perform a Finishing Move on Bloodhound in the midst of a team-fight. Alas, however there he was, Octane cracking his knuckles - ready to do a pretty dance and murder The Legend.
“Sorry about this, compadre. You’re nothing but loot and shield battery.”
“If it must be like this, finish quickly.”
Octane pulled a grenade out of his pocket, a special place for his special grenades to use on enemies and reset his shields. This was the end and The Tracker bowed Their head to accept Their fate placed in the hands of the gods. They trusted the old once, if Their work was done here then it was a pleasure serving them.
The loud explosion was different than what Bloodhound had expected, not from a grenade but a machine gun. Rapid fire into tick flesh and Octane fell onto his knees and into the water. A short moment after his death-box appeared and his corps glittered into dust-like light.
“There is a new kill-leader!” The Female announcer hummed from the speakers across the Kings Canyon. A new kill-leader? Who could it be? Before Bloodhound could turn their HUD and UI on, They were flipped over onto their back. The dirty water did not feel great seeping into their shoes and clothes but the gentle embrace they received made up for it. Caustic was fumbling in his pockets for the revive syringe they all wore on person. “Knock-down this early on is futile, I will relocate the syringe during late game.” he had claimed once Wraith gave them the pen during transport. Everyone knew he would surely misplace and forget about it until the moment of need arose.
Bloodhound waited patiently, bleeding out in dirty water was painful but making any noise or squirming would panic The Scientist - make the searching for the syringe pen even slower. They glanced up into his gas mask, eyes were strained and sweat drops already pooling on his forehead from the gun-fight he just returned from.
“Take your time, felagi fighter (companion). There is no one in the area.” The tracker said and place a hand on his chest. They called him a psychopath, a murder without sympathy and passion for evil. How does it explain his racing heart and fumbling hands?
“Jesus Christ” He exclaimed and hooked both arms under his teammate to carry Bloodhound into the closes building. They were placed on the ground next to a wall to lean on as the man dumped the contents of his many pouches and pockets on the floor. Bloodhound´s head wobbled to the side, losing consciousness rather quickly but was kicked back by a stab in the chest with the needle. The magical medicine was injected into Their bloodstream as fresh air was sharply inhaled. The world became clear again as the tiny heart pumped freshly filtered air to Their being.
“Wait.” The larger man ordered and threw a shield battery onto the floor. He quietly rose and left the building while Bloodhound happily accepted the battery to replenish Their shield body-armor. A few seconds later the armor was full and in working order above Their clothes. The technology buzzed up with life and began warming up The Hunter, drying the fabric to shed the mud and water off. Everything evaporated along with initiating the temperature balance controller - making it not too cold nor too warm but a perfect room-temperature all around Their body.
“Where are you, mær (maiden)?” Bloodhound asked over the radio, checking the scoreboard and map as the zone countdown was ticking.
“I'm just looting their boxes and scouting south.” Wraith chimed in. “The old man just gassed down two people and went running to your location. Did you check the score?”
“I did.”
Caustic had taken the position as the new kill leader - five kills within a few hours of dropping. A monster to some but impressive to Bloodhound.
“Fifteen squads left, watch your back out there, dear.”
“Will do, Hound. I´ll bring something good back too.”
She turned the communicator off just in time for the Kill-leader himself to enter the door. As ordered They waited in their seat as an enemy health drone was dropped by Bloodhound´s feet. It was half butchered and sparking but still in working condition from its sad position on the floor. It might have belonged to the Lifeline from earlier and been caught in the crossfire.
“Thank you.” Bloodhound patted the space next to Them when the health drone automatically plugged a cable into the closest body in need of healing.
“Rest, Caustic. We need you in the fight.”
He said nothing but obliged and seated himself by Hound´s side, head and back resting on the wooden wall behind him. He observed the drone pump medicine into his teammate, wounds healing over time, pain and soreness being eased, blood being copied and replenished back into The Tracker´s body. Medicine truly was like magic.
They sat in silence together with only the beeping of the drone and the distant waterfall to keep the ringing in their ears at bay. Bloodhound could not help but breath heavy, shift in position and groan while Their wounds and biology were being put back to normal. Gentle hicks interrupted Their even breathing to keep a steady heart rate going.
“You are beautiful,” Caustic muttered and broke the silence. The Tracker was so fixed on healing up the remark took Them by surprise.
“How so?”
He did not answer, merely looked on dead ahead out the window on the other wall. His hands clenched and released, remaining planted in his seat when the drone unplugged from Bloodhound´s body - its job finished and full HP. The machine shut down completely and disappeared into the same dust like glitter from earlier.
Bloodhound sighed and looked down into Their lap, braiding their fingers together and closed Their eyes. Caustic was rarely a man of few words, only around Bloodhound for some reason. Between taunting the enemy and making funny remarks about the different items they found he would talk a lot about his science. His life work, his sacrifices but with The Hunter he was quiet - merely an observer. Giving a penny for his thoughts was nearly impossible.
“Thank you, Týr. Thank you, Valkyrie and Thank you, Allfather for this gift you have sent me.”
They started praying, something which made Caustic tilt his head to the side and observe The Hunter like he always does.
“You have sent me a wonderful fighter which has saved me. My eyes are clear, my mind is safe and my life is spared. Thank you. Lo to life, Lo to Valhalla...Lo to Caustic.”
“Lo…” he repeated and Bloodhound found Their teammate staring more interested than expected when the prayer had ended.
“People still do that?”
“I pray quite often, however, rarely out loud. Including you in this one was the clearest outcome, should I not have?”
“No,” He sighed, braiding his fingers like Hound had done and twiddled his thumbs slowly around each other. “It was nice, strange but nice.”
The Hunter helped both of them onto their feet and they proceeded to the victory screen with Wraith occupying the press and interviewers. As usual, Caustic held himself in the background and awaited the announcements of the next game. His eyes were not even focused, most likely calculating and analyzing the data he received during the past few days the game had been running in the Kings Canyon. As an extra thank you, Bloodhound might have assisted getting some of the test results from the gas traps he would place in various places.
Both Legends stood proud for the camera, arms behind their back in a soldier stance with the flashing lights surrounding them and the announcer muffling something for the folks watching at home. Bloodhound carefully nudged The Scientist by the elbow and he glanced without movement down to his side. There was almost a smile on Bloodhound´s mask as They muttered quiet enough for only the ears of Caustic to register, not like anyone would hear anything over the deafening crowd anyway.
“You're beautiful too.”
The screens all around the stadium had their masks displayed, several meters tall as Wraith performed her victory speech for the squad's name. The drone cameras would fly back and forth, cutting between several angles of the three new legends of this season. They would definitely team up next season too.