Arena 03 - Paradise

[gamemakers]

For some, this is the third visit to the arena. They know the tension by now, the electricity to the air as they're taken from the Capitol by hovercraft, the windows blacked out to preserve the element of surprise. Perhaps they are beginning to form rituals of anticipation or dread on these quiet, somber flights. New tributes have a tracking device implanted in their arm while old ones have theirs reactivated, both in movements so swift they'd be easy to miss or to mistake for each other.

After the craft, left alone in a cold, steel-lined underground space with their stylists, each tribute is dressed quickly; This time, the costume is a lightweight body-suit, pale green and mesh-like, with a thickly padded belt for flotation. By the time they are dispatched into the clear tubes, perhaps they will have noticed the sound. Quiet but steady, a regular booming like timed, distant explosions, the sound penetrates the underground station like a heartbeat as the tubes all rise up.

25 - 24 - 23

The steady thunder crescendos as they reach the surface, rise into the dawning light of a blinding equatorial day, and as the tubes drop from around them, the source, the unending waves of open ocean fling salt spray into their faces, chilling skin right through the thin body-suits.

20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16

The Cornucopia lies half-buried in white sand between outcroppings of reddish rock on the small island, barely big enough for the wide circle of tributes. Scattered around it are the weapons, the supplies, the brightly-colored bags they've been told to expect. Beyond the sandy islet, the reef stretches out, low-tide baring long stretches of it like a path through the sea, arching around to the other islands.

11- 10 - 9 - 8

They've all been warned, don't step off your pedestal early.

5 - 4

3

2

The sound of the gong, long and clear, rolls out above the roar of the waves. Let the games begin.

[OOC: Don't forget the OOC Arena post, especially those of you running for the Cornucopia. Every single one of you needs to post to this post. There will be a Cornucopia thread, and anyone else feel free to post as you will. Please add a tag with your character's name.

Characters on reserve have until Wednesday, August 8th to be eligible to tag into this arena and this post, but anyone who did not sign up for the Cornucopia by Saturday, August 4th will be handwaved as having not not been part of the Cornucopia battle.]

Comments

Cornucopia

[gamemakers]

Re: Cornucopia

[the_marshal]

The tube-ride to the surface felt like a lifetime - an eternity of dark uncertainty crammed into what was more likely only a few moments.

He felt the heat of the sun first, beating down on his head, the back of his neck. Next came the sound of the water, the thunderous rush of it. Then the lift was whispering to a stop and he was in the sand, blinking against the chilling spray showering over his face.

Well. Wasn't this just a daisy.

Wyatt lifted hand to shield his eyes and squinted across the ring of tributes - some he recognized, even more he didn't - to the glittering Cornucopia. Elias had warned him of the dangers of its treasures, and he certainly remembered his last encounter with the great horn of plenty...but that was then.

He hadn't understood then, now he did. He hadn't been ready, now he was.

Or at least, as ready as he could be.

He scanned the ground, taking the last few seconds of the countdown to plan - there were some unmarked cans ahead, halfway between himself and next tribute, and there, a little further in, the handle of a partially buried knife - as he shifted on his feet, his muscles tensing and readying.

3...2...

And with the gong he was off, a spray of warm sand kicking up behind him.

OOC: Wyatt is slated to miss the cans and the first knife, but goes on to survive. Please feel free to come snatch his goods!

Re: Cornucopia

[retrieverchef]

Eliot looked around the circle of Tributes, noting the locations of his allies. He smiled at the sight of this Arena. He might not be happy about killing again, but at least it wasn't not another ghost city. This kind of environment was more what he was used to.

He tried to catch Ariadne's eyes before the gong went off, shaking his head. He'd grab weapons and supplies for both of them. Not that he expected her to actually listen to him.

Finally, the gong sounded. He ran, a spray of sand in his wake.

Re: Cornucopia

[greymatter]

He doesn't know how they've done it. Brought all of the tributes back to life after the last Hunger Games. At least, it certainly seems as if that's what they've done, unless something else is at play here. But he knows, now, that death in the arena is not permanent. That the Games are truly just that. Games. And he fully intends to win this one.

The steady rumble above puzzles him as the tube rises, and he's left to squint into the sudden, blinding light as the launch pad reaches the surface, the sides of the clear, plastic tube falling away around him. The scientist flinches as the icy spray of the ocean hits him, clearing his eyes to get a good look at this arena's tributes before laying them on the Cornucopia.

The Cornucopia. It didn't gift him with much last time, but something is better than nothing. Perhaps he'll fair better this time. With the sound of the gong he's off his plate, kicking up hot, white sand in his stead as he tries to make there before the best items are gone. He has his eye on a machete already.

[OOC: Grey's got himself a deathroll. Eliot and Wyatt are set to take him out.]

Re: Cornucopia

[the_marshal]

The first knife was snatched out from under his nose, but Wyatt wasn't discouraged. Without missing a step he kept right on runnin', head turning, eyes scanning until - there!

That there was another tribute, another weapon waiting in the sand, he didn't realize until they were nearly on top of one another.

Re: Cornucopia

[greymatter]

Grey's just gotten his hand wrapped around the handle of the machete when he notices Wyatt. He'd intended to grab a weapon, maybe a bag, and head for cover. But Wyatt's close. The opportunity to take out a competitor this early is too much to pass up.

Giving the other man an apologetic grin and shrug that holds no sincerity whatsoever, he lunges.

Re: Cornucopia

[the_marshal]

There was just enough time to see the grin, the glint of the long blade, then Wyatt's hand was closing around the handle of the short knife and he was twisting to avoid the strike, swinging out instinctively with his own weapon as he turned.

That it was already happening, that he was already in a fight to the death, didn't occur to him. That would come later.

For now it was all muscle memory. Pivot, steady, one hand up to block and defend, the other griping the knife sideways - blade out for slicing, fist curled for punching.

Re: Cornucopia

[retrieverchef]

Out of the corner of his eye, Eliot saw the man Ariadne had killed last Arena facing off with the man who had killed him. He reacted with barely a thought. Grabbing the first weapon he could reach, he swerved toward them, aiming for Grey.

Re: Cornucopia

[greymatter]

Grey tips his head back, narrowly avoiding Wyatt's swing, and tries to duck in, to find an opening. He blocks Wyatt's punches with his cybernetic left arm while slashing for the other man with the machete in his right, trying to avoid any deep slices of his own from Wyatt's knife.

Re: Cornucopia

[retrieverchef]

Eliot dives into the fight between the two men, spinning his weapon -- a spear, he realized. He can't use it as a spear yet. There's two men in front of him and he's only aiming to kill one. It'd be too easy to kill both of them. So he holds it as a staff, swinging it at his target.

Re: Cornucopia

[the_marshal]

They'd each landed a few blows, but where Wyatt's bounced off with a frustrating clink, the other man had drawn blood. Nothing serious, but the shallow cut sure as hell burned, stinging with the salty spray of the water.

Ducking a swing at his head, Wyatt tried to back away, looking for an opening, looking for someplace soft - and came face-to-face with a third contender who came, seemingly, out of nowhere.

Well, shit.

Mouth pulling into a grimace he jumped aside, trying to get both of them into sight.

Re: Cornucopia

[king_harmony]

Whatever's going on, it's completely beyond Kazma's understanding. Nevermind that he's somehow left the game and become real, or that he's been surrounded by strange humans dressing him up and pampering him oddly since it happened, or that he's not being told a single thing that helps him. A beach is strange. He's never been to a real one before, virtually or in reality as Kazuma.

Once the gong sounds, he speeds ahead of the others and snatches a bag, jumping up to reach for a spear. Speed is in his favor by far; it helps being largely a humanoid rabbit. But he doesn't try to run after he's gotten them; he pauses, checking the contents of the bag and watching the other tributes. It hasn't clicked yet that this is a dangerous environment.

Re: Cornucopia

[ssa_derekmorgan]

Derek could feel the adrenaline rushing though his veins as he was lifted to the surface.

Once he was at the surface, the blinding light from the sun caused him to squint and shield his eyes from it. Once he had adjusted to the light, the gong went off and he began running for the supplies and machetes.

Running through the water was taxing enough on its own but doing that while trying to fend off people trying to do anything they can to kill you only made it harder. He caught Emily's eye as they ran and silently agreed to fight for supplies before they leave Cornucopia.

OCC: Derek runs for the a machete but misses, he survives but doesn't survive when he goes for a bag. Feel free to try to kill him! </i?

[sameeyes]

He hadn't been put here willingly.

He'd only gone into the tube because he'd been eventually cornered and forced in. He screamed at them, but it was clear the men in the white uniforms either hadn't heard him, or hadn't cared once they'd done their job. Either way Sasuke was furious.

If he had his chakra they'd all be dead. Every last one of them. But it wasn't responding to him. It was still there. He could feel it. His rage burned more intensely as he finally came to the surface.

Hiss skin bristled as the countdown began. They warned him not to step off the platform, despite ever fiber of his being telling him to get away from that spot. Wild eyes darted around, the area unfamiliar and almost alien to him. Sand and water. And a giant structure and supplies scattered around the mouth.

His eyes immediately find the weapons and bags. Knives. Swords. That he could work with. His heart pounded in his ears, and he barely heard the loud canon over the sound. He ran through the shallow waters, cursing his lack of chakra once again. It was only then, that he realized there were others. Of course he'd been told what this was; a battle to the death where there was only one victor. But it was now he realized in his crazed anger they were all here with him, going after the same supplies he was.

Knives. Weapons. Anything. A pile of weapons and some bags. Surely he'd get something, looking to get the knives first.

He spotted Derek, and his survival instincts took over. He needed to kill him. He was far too close for comfort, and he wasn't about to be the first one that died here.

(OOC: Just for reference, Sasuke goes for the knives, misses/survives. He goes for the machete and gets it/survives. He goes for the bag and misses/survives :') )

Re: Cornucopia

[implant]

Kaidan hates everything about the Cornucopia-- always had, but he knows this round he has to get something, a weapon of sorts. His biotics held out only for so long last arena, knowledge of fauna and ability to hunt gets you only so far. He knows the Cornucopia is a blood bath, but it's one he has to attend.

The Arena this time is beautiful, Virmire beautiful and the correlation already sets Kaidan off, puts him out just for a split second as he remembers Ashley and Saren. He recovers quickly enough, and the counter rings down until it's final moments, the gong reverberating and setting Kaidan off, right into the slaughter house.

Re: Cornucopia

[retrieverchef]

Eliot charges back toward the Cornucopia, spear in one hand and newly aquired machete tucked in his belt to leave his other hand free. He and the others will need more than weapons in this Arena. And he has at least two allies who had avoided this chaos. Eliot knows Don can hold his own unarmed but Momoko will need something. He eyes the stone knives lying around the entrance to the metal monstrosity.

He sees Kaiden running toward the supplies from the opposite direction and smiles. Not slowing down, he changes his direction.

[buildingreality]

This isn't even new any more. She doesn't feel the same feeling in the pit of her stomach - the familiar sense of nerves getting to her and niggling with what ifs - and neither does she look around in awe as she comes up through the tube. Ariadne is prepared at this point; she feels the recent training she's done with Kaidan and on her own stilling her limbs and calming her through.

She can tell from the floatation device on the belt that this Arena is going to be severely different from the last. This feels like water, like she's going to have to literally stay afloat.

And sure enough.

She closes her eyes for a moment, calming herself further until the ten-second mark, then kicks off with practised agility. She has indeed worked on this for a day or two, making sure she had the push-off just so; she can feel Eliot's eyes burning into the side of her head, trying to catch her eye.

Of course, trust him she might, but that didn't mean she was going to let him get things for both of them the way he wanted to: there was too much of a chance that he'd just get himself killed right then and there. Ariadne knew as well as anyone that this game was everyone for themselves, even if alliances were formed.

The spray of sand behind her suggests she knows exactly what she's going for as she runs.

Meela will not make it past the bloodbath. Feel free to do with that what you will. :D

[thetributes]

She trembles as the tub lifts her into the air, but the smell of salt and the feel of the wind was almost calming. It reminds her of home and for what may very well be the first time since coming here, she feels slightly less afraid.

Something feels normal for once.

This will not be the same as the last arena. She can do this.

5...4...3...2...

She doesn't want to look around her. Doesn't want to watch the clock. There is a small stone knife so close. She's certain if she's fast enough she can grab it.

1.

A quick but deep breath and she makes a run for it.

Awww yeah. :D

[buildingreality]

She's seen the girl's face around before, presumably in the sky. The Cornucopia is normally such a blur to Ariadne that none of the other Tributes register properly. She remembers Wyatt's face because she remembers vividly the gaping stare he gave her in death.

This girl is less familiar, though; less familiar, and less driven, it seems. Ariadne doesn't like it any more this time around than last time, but she needs that knife - she tackles Meela at the waist, one hand groping for the stone knife and failing to catch it. But at the very least, it's the pair of them hand to hand for now.

Re: Cornucopia

[ssa_emilyprentiss]

Emily woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning...and she was in a horrible mood and it absolutely did not help that she was here once again. Though not really the killing type, right now she really thought she might kill someone if they so much as looked at her wrong.

She was really not looking forwards to this arena, she could already tell. She could swim well enough, in a pool. She was a land girl. Terra firma. The ground was her best friend. Open water and her did not mix.

Oh so late. /failure.

[bloodbrothers]

Loki appears deceptively calm throughout the process; he was not keen on a battle to the death amongst creatures he did not know-- but it would not be his first battle, nor his last. He would fight as a warrior should, and there was no fear involved in such things. Standing upon the platform he takes a moment to size up the others, most looked mortal, one familiar, and then a few odd. Nothing outside of the realm he had seen during the counsel in Asgard-- but not remotely familiar either.

The countdown ends.

He watches several of the tributes dash off with fervor, obviously eager to either fight or scavenge, his own progress is a bit slower. He's hardly afraid of being wounded-- even if he should be, the lack of his magic did not bode well for him-- and instead he aims for something to provide him with an advantage. An machete is stolen right from under him and he has to express a bit of surprise, perhaps he had underestimated the set of creatures assembled for this battle. It's enough to get him to pick up the pace, the heavy handled Leiomano plucked from the ground with one hand and a spear with the other. He jabs it through the loops of a bag and hefts it over his shoulder.

The trident appeals to him in the same way Gungnir always has, but through the thrash of people he's unable and decides that a hasty retreat is probably to his advantage. He has weaponry, for now that should offer him a suitable defense as well as an ability to hunt when the time comes.

ME TOO BUDDY. We can be late to this party together. Except I die.....

[nightlightheart]

He doesn't miss the headcount this time. The numbers keep growing and each situation seems so drastically different from the last. There are almost 50 of them this round and if he knows anything, it's numbers. And that more numbers just meant a higher chance of someone having his.

Tony's pretty sure he's going to enjoy the climate here more than the last time. Or maybe it's just the view that's better. At least it looks like paradise. Though, he's a bit afraid it might taint the prospect of weekend getaways to Fiji ever again. Laying on the sand and remembering what colour it turned when it was soaked in blood.... Yeah. That sounds relaxing.

The sky and the sun is blinding enough, and the glare of the cornucopia before him makes him squint his eyes and wrinkle his noes.

Haymitch told him not to run the first time, and he didn't listen and it seemed to work out in his benefit. Largely in his benefit in fact. So when they had argued the point just before this new arena, Haymitch was pretty resigned to the idea that Tony was going to do whatever the hell he wanted to do anyway, and well... if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Not that it's a motto he has ever lived by. But it was too tempting and Tony was too impulsive, and like hell if he was going to let anyone else get their hands on an advantage or two and just walk away from it all.

No. Of course Tony Stark was going to make a run for the cornucopia and take his chances.

It's probably the lack of the crazy evil gazelle hat doesn't put Loki on his radar right away. But Tony does see him. Out of the corner of his eye and he can't help himself. he has to do a double take.

Seriously? That guy? What the fuck is this....

Not much of a party for you then...

[bloodbrothers]

It's a brief moment of eye contact followed by recognition that causes that familiar smirk to spread his lips. A battle to the death and he happens upon Stark? Perhaps the fates were not as against him as he had previously thought. Making the best of an unpleasant situation, isn't that what he had always been lectured on? In any other instance he might have ignored him entirely; but the fact that his life depended on the death of others made it much harder to do so. Stark may have been mortal but he was quite aware of what he was capable of at this point, the man could prove a threat given time, a threat best eliminated.

Twisting the spear in his palm he casts a quick glance over his shoulder before he heads to the side of the cornucopia. A direct approach would end up in a chase and Loki wasn't about to run across the island after him-- though he supposes he has an advantage in his longer stride should it come to that. Instead he works his way around to the back, kicking a bit of sand out of the way and tucking his supplies there-- no need to let them interfere or get stolen in the process.

Another quick few steps around the side of the cornucopia to bring him around behind where he had seen Stark dashing, spear gripped with both hands as he moves to approach the man from behind. It'll be easier to trip him up if he hasn't been keeping tabs on the Asgardian.

oh hey look at this super late tag! ilu i am sorry! <3

[nightlightheart]

There is a sinking, dropping, worrying feeling in the pit of his stomach, and it's more than just nerves from being back for another round of good old-fashioned death matches in the arena. No. This is a very specific worry. And that worry's name is Loki.

Tony isn't stupid. There is a very short list of people among this crowd that he has any sort of confidence that, at the very least, they will ignore him and not try to crack open his skull at the first opportunity they get. On average, the others are just frantic and hoping not to die. Dangerous still, as they have literally no opinion on him whatsoever, and will so what they will. But Loki? No. Coo-coo for Coco Puffs as the guy might be, he's crafty. And Tony knows it's quite an understatement to say they aren't on the best of terms.

No. If Loki can take him out. Loki will. As soon as he can.

Probably for the fun of it.

He needs to get what he needs and he needs to get them fast. And then he needs to get as far away from him as possible. Running isn't usually the first option he likes to take. But then again... here? Tony's just a man in a flimsy body suit. And there are a lot of pointy objects around. And if he remembers right, Loki knows how to use them....

Re: Cornucopia

[theworsekind]

Tate hadn't been swimming since he was a child so the sight of all this water isn't thrilling. He waits, poised for take off when he hears the countdown. The trident catches his eye, but he doesn't see much use in it. His eyes scan the bags and weapons and he chooses his target. He scans the area to see where the other tributes eye's are

When the gong went off it was on and he launched towards the weapons. He looked around as he ran, watching the others as he ran for the closest machete.