Art Attack [OTA]

[designatedfreak]

Who: Max and You
What: Further exploration and more Tributes
Where: Second Floor
When: Week Two
Notes: Mask violence



Back on the second floor and hidden in a jungle-like display, Max swallowed one of the brown pills that had been handed to her prior to entering the tube to the Arena. She was told to take them when the shaking started. They helped and more than any supply she scavenged, these brown colored pills were going to help her keep surviving.

It took nearly five minutes before the tiny tremors stopped running through her body. She wanted to check for more food even though her body didn't really need too much, but it was still a hassle and concern to have to hunt for the little amount she did seem to need. Manticore had trained them to go long periods without food and water and now she found herself hungry within days of starting this "game."

Max found herself picking through empty bags; someone had searched this place thoroughly. She managed to find a few bags of chips and boxes of juice that were about to go bad. Satisfied she had found whatever was left to be found, Max slinked back into the exhibits were it was easy to keep an eye on the floor while remaining hidden. The strange displays still interested her. Were these really representations of the outside world?

Her small hand reached out to the mask of one of the dummies in the display she hid herself in. The mask was dark and frightening looking, but Max found it strangely transfixing. Manticore didn't have anything so distinctive and colorful. The mask easily came off the figure. Max turned it over to look at the back, and then slowly began to put it on, but a noise alerted her to someone arriving, and the mask was shoved in her bag as she pulled out her large knife and moved to intercept the other Tribute.

Comments

[libertin]

With Cosette safely in the company of her husband, Courfeyrac was free to explore without too much concern for their safety. He had nothing in the way of a weapon, but he did have a handy laser pointer, which was probably better than nothing. Arriving in the exhibit hall, he didn't immediately notice anyone, leading him to boldly wander through, scanning the walls for any types of weapons or materials that he could salvage as supplies.

[designatedfreak]

Max watched the man walk around without care. She didn't know if that meant he was dangerous or if he was simply a fool. There was one way to find out. From her bag she pulled out one of the smaller knives and threw it at his foot. It was a simply warning: this place is occupied by someone willing to kill you. The hunter that had been part of her make up wanted him to take the knife and show he was willing to fight. Too long she's been moving from floor to floor, easily hiding her small body in the many shadows. She was restless and ready for this game to begin to move.

[libertin]

He stopped in his tracks, expression unmoving as he stared at the weapon at his feet. This, he realized, was his wake up call. It was a sudden punch in the gut from reality. He was not alone and he was going to die in this place, and whoever had thrown that knife at him either wanted to kill him now or wanted to give him a chance to even things up.

He whispered a soft prayer in French as he stooped to pick up the knife. His eyes then moved to the direction from which it came.

"I'm going to keep this. You won't get it back from me."

[designatedfreak]

Max stepped out from the dark, her larger and sharper knife in hand.

"I don't need it." She was very aware of how unfrightening she might look, but she was a trained killer and even as weak as this world made her she was still deadly.

"You could run."

[libertin]

"I could," he answered back, knowing better than to underestimate someone simply because they were young and small. He'd witnessed cunning and bravery from a child her age or younger and he would never dismiss their capabilities based on appearance alone. "But I do not wish to run. Are you going to kill me?"

[designatedfreak]

"Perhaps. It's the mission." Nothing personal. Every she's met so far has been nice enough, but there were other killers here and doctors, who were just as dangerous. She wants him to run, she wants to chase and maybe kill because that would give her some small amount of familiarity.

[libertin]

Courfeyrac didn't budge one way or the other. He wasn't willing to kill anyone for no reason, and as she'd given him no real justification, he could not in good conscience attack her. That said, he was mildly worried that this confrontation would be his last. If this was to be his killer, it would make for a less glorious death than the one he'd had before. Thinking about it now made his stomach twist.

"It is not my mission. My goal today is one of protection." To show he meant business, he lowered his arms to his sides, though he still held the knife firmly.

[designatedfreak]

She tilted her head to the side as she took him in properly. He didn't seem as though he was a soldier, but there was fighter in him. Max wasn't sure if she wanted to attack that fighter or convince him to join her against others.

"I'm protecting myself. Some have died, but not enough. Peace doesn't last forever."

[libertin]

"We will all die. Each one of us will face that certainty, and we must ask ourselves if we are willing to aid the process or struggle against it." He was still not certain what to make of her, but the way she stared up at him made him sure that he should not let his guard down entirely. "If it will give you peace to kill me and instantly doom two more, then you should kill me now."

[designatedfreak]

If there was more meaning behind his words about dying, Max didn't understand them. She had seen Eva shot by Lydecker, had watched a brother being cut open because of his flaw; death simply was. "I don't know them. Like you said, we're all going to die anyway."

[libertin]

"Then you should kill me." He took a deep breath, waiting for that feeling of acceptance he'd felt at the barricade to wash back over him and embrace him like a mother. But it didn't. Instead, an idea formed. "Unless you would like to know them. If you knew them, you would not condemn them."

[designatedfreak]

Her grip on the knife loosened slightly. It was very likely a trap, but it wasn't as though she couldn't take this man down before they arrived at their destination, and then find the other pair herself. With a slight nod she indicated to him to lead the way.

[libertin]

He knew it was unwise to turn his back to her, but he took the leap of faith and prayed that she would not stab him. He kept his pace steady, leading her back the way he'd come from, toward the elevator bank. "We must take this... thing upstairs. That is where they are." With faked confidence, he pressed the call button.

[designatedfreak]

No, she wasn't going in that thing again. It may have sent her supplies, but she wasn't going to allow it to send her to her death because of that damn ding.

"Left. Stairs." She'd already picked the locks to this floor.

[libertin]

He stared at her for a long moment before moving quickly toward their stairwell. She was right, of course. If they waited for the elevator and the chimes, anyone else on the floor would know their location.

"Alright," he said, gesturing to her to follow. "We will go up to the fourth floor."

[designatedfreak]

Max let him lead the way until they reached the fourth floor where she stepped in front of him to quickly pick the lock on the gate. Again she stepped aside and let him lead her to his friends. Zac would be full of disapproval over her willingness to follow this unknown man.

She quickly swallowed down any thought of her brothers and sisters.

[libertin]

Courfeyrac said nothing when she darted out ahead of him. She'd trusted him to lead her this far, he felt no need to press her again. Once they were both out of the stairwell, he pointed toward the hallway leading into the fossil exhibit.

"Our camp is near the mammals. I will lead once we get to it. They will be frightened by you."

He takes a step out and away from her, stopping short a moment later.

"May I know your name?"

[designatedfreak]

"X5-452." She was yet to trust him enough to give him the name her brothers and sisters had given her. Don had proven that he knew her in a vague way and no one else had really asked.

[libertin]

"Lovely," Courfeyrac said, his tone absolutely convincing. Though he was troubled by that name (who would name their child that? Honestly!) he did not wish to alert her to his concerns. "My mother calls me Dominique. But my friends call me Courfeyrac."

And with that, he started for the hall of fossils, trusting she'd follow.

[designatedfreak]

"I don't...what is a mother?" In her mind she pictured a commander. Or maybe he meant the Blue Lady. Max wasn't stupid, she knew that outside people were born, but she didn't know their family designations.

[libertin]

He frowned, glancing back at her. Perhaps she was an orphan who knew no better. An unfortunate street child, like Gavroche. But didn't street children have names? Names other than XYZ-123...

"She is the woman who gave birth to me. She raised me." This was the first time since he'd arrived that he'd even thought of his mother. Honestly, it was the first time since the long night in the barricade that his mind had strayed to thoughts of family.

[designatedfreak]

Outside people were odd. She let him led her further while she skimmed the area; this was a floor she had yet to visit. There didn't seem to be much that would help, so she wondered why they would choose this area to hole up in.

[libertin]

They turned a corner which had signs in English indicating their proximity to the prehistoric mammals and he motioned for her to slow down. Staying close to the wall, he knocked out the same pattern that Marius and Cosette had developed for communication.