OPEN

[mediumdrip]

Who| Blaine and OPEN
What| A confused and terrified Blaine arrives in the Arena
Where| Starting area
When| Arena Five
Warnings| It's highly likely there will be panicking here, if reading about that triggers actual panic attacks in you please proceed with caution.
Notes| None yet.



Blaine had woken up in a strange room, on a strange cot. He had been kidnapped and then threatened, though the threats had been more implied that outright. There had been a small summary of what he was expected to do and, honestly, he had thought the whole thing was some kind of joke at first.

How could such a thing be possible? It was something out of a science fiction movie, nothing to do with reality. He was almost certain it was a dream and kept trying to pinch himself as they pushed him into the clear tube and handed him his sunglasses.

Then there was cold biting at his skin and waking him up a bit more. The glare, forcing him to shove the glasses over his head. His dark hair would have stood out obviously against this blinding white landscape. The covered eyes took in the scene around him only for a moment before he remembered...

People here were going to try to kill him. He had to survive. Somehow.

Without any real thought, he started off, trying to find somewhere to hide. That was all he could really think. Find a place to hide, to protect himself. He wasn't even sure where to start. He was shivering, but no matter how much he pulled his clothes close it didn't help. The shivering had nothing to do with the cold, though it certainly didn't help. He knew, deep down, that the shivering had to do with the terrified pressure building up in his stomach.

He had to focus. Find a place to hide Anderson, he told himself. That was at least a place to start.

Comments

[dieinpajamas]

Alpha squinted out over the scenery. He's been wandering for most of this Arena, not wanting to fall into the habit of squirreling himself away to plot. The nature of the Arenas don't lend themselves to his usual long-term planning, so he's forced (for the sake of the viewers of course) to wing it, for the most part.

Actually spotting other Tributes has been a rarer event than expected, so he was pleased to see the flash of dark hair in the snowy expanse, and he grinned, gave a shout, and waved. No point in trying to sneak up on anyone here, and he was curious to see if this one would give him a chase.

[mediumdrip]

The sound of the shot made Blaine jerk a bit. He wanted to believe that this person who was waving at him would be friendly but he had to remember the way that the Gamemakers had so causally explained that everyone would be looking to kill him.

Instead of going up to Alpha, Blaine turned and tried to run.

[dieinpajamas]

Alpha smiled even wider and gave chase. He was used to the environment after several days, accustomed to struggling with the snowy ground and keeping an eye for crevasses, not to mention the experienced outdoorsman in his head. Regardless, he pushes himself a bit to catch up with the new guy, since he doesn't know the other's skills.

He ran upon seeing Alpha, after all. Got to have some sense.

[mediumdrip]

Blaine slipped and ended up falling on the uneven terrain. The ice carried a bit, as he found him self sliding down a slope, tumbling as his heart started to hammer hard in his chest. He could hear the beat of it in his head but he didn't have time to think about it.

As soon as he found footing again all he could think was run, run, run.

Falling and sliding a bit had actually given him a little bit more distance, gravity carrying him farther away from whoever had been chasing him. It had also managed to bang up his leg, but the pain was something he had to ignore.

God, he was going to die. Whoever that was was going to catch him and kill him, just like the Gamemakers had said.

[dieinpajamas]

Alpha was starting to wish he'd gone to the trouble of trying to construct some crude snowshoes. It'd just been so long since he's had to chase someone.

Still, he can't help but enjoy this, and while the other Tribute stayed ahead a decent distance, Alpha kept him in sight and, more importantly, paced himself. Even when he slipped and stumbled Alpha resisted the urge to sprint forward. The way the guy was going, he was going to wear himself out long before Alpha got tired, and Alpha wasn't in any hurry.

[mediumdrip]

It happened exactly as Alpha though, of course. Blaine gave into the sore ache in his legs, the pain in his chest, the inability to keep his breath.

He was in shape, of course, because he had to be to keep on top of his game, but dancing on stage was different than running for your life while desperately clinging to your sanity.

It wasn't that long until Alpha caught him.

[dieinpajamas]

Alpha had drawn his knife as soon as he saw that the kid--he thought it was the kid from the new faces on the Arena sky, judging from the height and the hair--start to slow, to succumb to his exhaustion. Blaine, someone in his head supplied, the name was Blaine.

"Hello, Blaine," said Alpha, grabbing the kid's shoulder with his free hand to try and twist him to face Alpha. The blade visible in his other hand flashed in the sunlight.

[mediumdrip]

Blaine made a soft, strangled sound at the grab. Terrified as he was grabbed. All he could was throw a punch to hit and stun Alpha. His fist was strong, training at boxing had actually given him a decent enough punch, but it was still his empty hand against Alpha's blade.

[dieinpajamas]

Alpha stumbled back a step, his grip on Blaine's arm broken> He was taken more off guard by the strength behind the hit than he should have been. He's let himself grow overconfident and the thought made him scowl.

"That's not the best way to say hello kid," he said, looking him over for any other surprises. Nothing appeared particularly concerning, not that it was easy to see anything with the winter gear in the way, but Alpha took a chance anyway, lunging forward in the hopes of slamming a fist into Blaine's stomach.

[warbleronsmythe]

After Sebastian had his encounter with previous tributes and was luckily still in the game, he decided to run, and find his own place. With the balaklava over his face, keeping himself warm, he was determined to find a hole, or somewhere he could dig.

Soon enough, he had gotten a fair distance, then all of a sudden he saw a figure. He wasn't sure if it was friend or foe, but hey... they looked cold.

Walking up to the figure, he spoke softly, "Hello? Are you okay?"

[mediumdrip]

"Seb-Sebastian?" Blaine asked at the sound of the voice. He stumbled only because he was so stunned to hear it. It was familiar and a wash of relief went over him. He was freezing and the gaping wound in his face was stinging with pain. His blood had dripped onto his clothes and still lined the edge of his hairline and ear. The cut on his face was deep and ugly, marking his face. It was still sticky and wet, still fresh from where he had been attacked by Alpha.

"What are you doing here? Are you okay?" Blaine's eyes were still red and swollen from the crying and screaming that left him at the cut but upon seeing Sebastian worry took over him. No matter what the two of them had done to each other back home, that didn't mean that he wanted the other boy to be here.

[warbleronsmythe]

Sebastian almost fell over. Blaine. Blaine was here, in this hell. "Blaine?!" As he walked closer, he started to be able to see the other boy, and he'd never been so happy to see someone in his life. The last time he saw Blaine was at the Lima Bean back home, and now he was here, freezing his ass off.

Looking at his head, "I'm fine. Are you okay?! What happened?!"

[mediumdrip]

"Some psychopath he... cut me." It stung painfully in the cold and Blaine just knew it was going to get infected while it wasn't properly treated but he didn't know what else he could do other than try to ignore it. He shook his head, slowly, because moving it too fast in the snow just stung it even more.

"Come on, let's get out of the open." He glanced around, not wanting to get caught by another crazy person with a blade.

[warbleronsmythe]

That gash looked horrid, and Seb wished he could help, but his pack didn't really have much to help with a wound. So he pulled of his balaklava and handed it to Blaine, "You need this more than I do. Keep it covered. It'll help."

"I know of a cave a little bit away. You up for a bit of a hike?"

[mediumdrip]

Blaine hesitated for a moment, uncertain about taking help from Sebastian, but he eventually gave into the desire to protect his wound. He thought that he should make some snarky comment about hoping that Sebastian had all of his shots, but he really couldn't in the face of this kindness. He just put it on with a thank you and then nodded a bit to Sebastian.

"Lead the way."

[warbleronsmythe]

Sebastian started towards the cave he saw a few days ago, before he ran into Blaine. "I'm surprised you're here, Blaine. Glad to see you, though."

[mediumdrip]

"How long have you been here?" he asked, because Sebastian seems to be a pro at this and Blaine feels like he's blindly trying to survive.

[justoutrunyou]

His exploration would come across a single figure standing in the snowy field. A child, she couldn't have been more then nine or ten yet. Wearing the same clothes he was. She held a tool in her hand with a wicked curved blade on it. An Ice Axe.

But her head was tilted back looking at the sky squinting. She hadn't noticed him yet.

[mediumdrip]

Blaine froze when he saw the figure in the distance. He was wary of that weapon, but... it was just a kid? Wasn't it?

Guilt wracked him as he seriously considered sneaking away from her while he didn't have his attention. "Hey," he called out before he could stop himself. He didn't get any closer as he was utterly unharmed and that axe was a little too dangerous to get any closer. "You should find some cover."

[justoutrunyou]

The girl gave a start at the sound and looked at him for a second before relaxing. He was still too far away to hurt her...

"Do you see that?" She pointed at the sky. There was a speck of something grey and silvery something in the sky. It was almost impossible to see but it was getting closer and bigger.

[mediumdrip]

Blaine looked up, still not getting closer to her. "Yeah, I do," he said, uncertain. He kept glancing down towards her axe, not wanting to be one of those people who got distracted and then got axed in the chest. "What is it?"

[justoutrunyou]

"I have no idea." the girl started walking towards where it looked like the item was falling. It floated on the breeze but curiosity drove her on.

...and a slip in the snow reminded her to look where she was going rather then focusing on the item. "But it's better then digging around in the snow for forgotten cans...probably."

[mediumdrip]

"Whoa, careful," Blaine said as she slipped and he almost went to her to help support her before he remembered where they were and stepped back again. "Did you want help to check it out?"

[justoutrunyou]

She paused thinking about it for a moment, then shrugged.

"Yeah OK, but if it's anything good I call dibs." She declared and started off at a brisk pace again. The item was getting closer to them now, it was some kind of orb on a parachute.

[mediumdrip]

"What is that?" Blaine asked, completed uncertain. Why would parachutes be here? Unless it was a kind of a slow moving bomb?