(no subject)

[justoutrunyou]

Who: Sandy and anyone interested in her.
What: Spying on others, trying to stay out of trouble and hopefully finding Pruna.
Where: Starting at The Platform Station
when: week two
Warnings/notes: Since Sandy will be using the TVs in the Platform Station, feel free to pop in with a little bit about what she might see you doing wherever you are on the island.

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As far as partners go, Sandy was pretty sure she must be the worst one to have.

As soon as the game had begun she was off like a shot, gathering up supplies and trying to vanish into the forest. Her size was her advantage as once she dove for cover under some bushes more then a few larger tributes had trampled past her not noticing her as she heaved to catch her breath and protect her goodies.

Once things had calmed down, Sandy lay still in her bush for what felt like hours. She wanted to be absolutely sure that everyone was gone. This was rewarded when she heard a few stragglers come back to pick over the area for anything left behind.

Finally, when she was sure the area was clear she rose up out of the leaves and vines, and went over what she had managed to grab in her frantic flight from the starting position. An impressive haul to say the least. Much better then last time.

Slinking along the edge of the clearing she was alert, listening for any signs of trouble. It was in this slow and methodical fashion she traveled until she found the door.

It was on the south side of the platform where the Cornucopia had been. A rusted door that looked like it had been forgotten in the madness that accompanied every arena opening.

Scurrying through the grass Sandy's glances darted all around for other tributes, as well as frequently to the grass to make sure she wasn't about to step into a trap. Just the thought was enough to make Sandy's leg throb with memories of her mangling from the last arena.

It took some effort, alot of effort actually but the pain in her fingers and shoulders from wrestling with the door would be forgotten as she slipped inside and discovered what secrets this station held.

Televisions! So many and they were functional! She could see all around the arena with these things. Nothing behind the scenes but one by one she picked out faces she knew before the screens could flick to another view.

Was this supposed to be here? Had she stumbled across some forgotten gamemaker station on accident?

 

No...she couldn't possibly be so lucky.

Still she was alone and with all these screens she was likely to see attackers coming before they found her. Time to crack open a can of tuna and see what was on TV.
***************************************

That was a full week ago. Her food supplies dwindling Sandy knows she can't stay here forever. She needs to use the bow and arrows that she won in the cornucopia and try to hunt down some more food.

...or other tributes.

Guilt gnawed at her guts as she scanned the TVs again. Pruna had been hurt...badly. And she hadn't been able to leave to go after her because...much to Sandy's conflicted feelings, the door appeared to lock tight every so often. By the time it was open again Sandy had lost sight of Pruna on the cameras.

And so here she sat, desperate for a plan that didn't involve losing her very easy to defend hiding place but also allowed for her to get food, water, and Pruna. There was no doubt about it. She was going to have to leave soon.
 

Comments

[hit_girl_mindy]

Right. So she was hungry. Her hair was matted. Her fingers red and swollen from near misses of knives when she managed to nick some food. Oh, and every now and then she exploded into swear words because no one was around and this situation was, of course, complete and utter bullshit.

From getting ready to go to school to being dropped into games where she had virtually no food and had to survive off scraps? Yeah, that was a shitty game changer. She was glad not to be freeing, but starving slowly was no great fun either. Dying, of course, was right off the table.

[justoutrunyou]

As Sandy debated an attempt at sneaking out (In fear of being locked out of her safehouse among other things) Sandy noticed a familiar case lurking closer to the edge of the clearing.

She didn't know anything really about Mindy except that at some point she and Pruna had crossed paths and that the girl seemed to have some kind of skill. Just how much skill was still up in the air but she didn't move like a normal kid. She moved like...

...well like Pruna.

She could be a useful ally. Or she could be the one to send Sandy back to the Capitol and once again prove to the world Sandy was in no way a fighter.

Curiosity would be her boon or her downfall in this case. She was too bored and lonely to keep hiding when someone near her age was around.

Gathering up her supplies she tiptoed to the entrance and slipped out cautiously, closing it behind her. Here she paused and held her breath trying to open it again.

It opened.

flush with relief she closed the door again and she began to trot around the edge of the cornucopia's platform scanning the forest for Mindy, and waiting for Mindy to spot her. She had a bow and arrow in hand and had no idea how to use them. But worse came to worse she reasoned she could try and stab someone with the arrows or beat them with the bow maybe...

[hit_girl_mindy]

One thing Mindy had left was wits, enough to know that now, someone was here, and she was not about to be caught unawares. She lowered herself to the ground, cracking her fingers together. Ok, she had enough strength to get the drop, grab a weapon and let them have it: she hadn't had to defend her life, but if someone so much as got the hint she was suffering malnutrition, they would try to pick her off like so much fruit.

And the hell with that noise. Mindy Macready didn't do down easy.

She was silent, quiet, waiting for them in a nest of trees. Just a little closer now...

[justoutrunyou]

She wasn't coming out. The longer Sandy waited the more exposed she felt.

What to do, what to do? What would Pruna do? She found herself asking this question more and more in the last two arenas.

Pruna would probably attack her. Dive into the forest and track her like the skilled hunter that she was.

Sandy was no hunter, she was a gatherer at best. That was probably how she managed to snag so many potatoes...

It was as if a lightbulb went off over her head. Slowly she backed up from the trees and bushes till she felt the familiar bump of the raised platform on her back. Sliding to a knee she dug around in her bag and produced a single potato.

Standing up again she threw the potato as hard as she could...but not hard enough. It bounced just short of the edge of the woods.

She felt her stomach flip as she braced for this next move. This was taking a huge gamble. If it didn't work she'd have to rely on herself being able to outrun Mindy with all her supplies hanging off her.

She was the fastest girl she knew unencumbered. But she didn't know Mindy.

Taking a breath she tried to push away her fears like Pruna had taught her, and stashed the arrows in her bag. The bow was too big to fit with all her other things but without the arrows what good was it? She tied the bag closed, and waited.

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy blinked. She saw something fall near er and she was already moving out of the way: for all she knew, it could be a grenade, the way things were going. Once she didn't hear detonation, she dared to inspect it and found it to be...a potato.

A peace offering? It could be a trap, but why bother getting that close if it was when you could just make one in the forest? Mindy turned it over, wondering if it might be poisoned, then sighed. Trust, she figured, had to start somewhere.

"Hey," she said, potato in hand, "if you're aiming to kill me, your plan kinda sucks."

[justoutrunyou]

That actually made Sandy smirk in a dark sort of way.

"You're still new. You'll figure out sooner or later that I am probably one of the least capable at killing around here." She called from her position closer to the building.

"I've been here for three arenas and haven't even managed to kill a damn bird."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"That's good to know," Mindy said, sighing, "because I don't have shit to defend myself right now. If I get picked off it'll be my own damn-"

HOLD UP. "Wait. What do you mean, three arenas?"

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy blinked and then smirked nodding, "Yeah I guess no one's told you yet huh? So long as we stay entertaining? They'll bring us back to life after each arena. Good as new, no matter how mangled we get...most of the time anyway. Sometimes they can't fix stuff...or won't, I'm not sure yet." She mused starting to relax with the familiar feeling of knowing more then someone.

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy shook her head. "So basically, we train, we kill, reset? There's no end to it?"

Ok, still yourself. They were watching. You had to look like you were just gathering this info, which isn't a stretch. They watch EVERYTHING.

"When did it start?"

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy shrugged and relaxed in her seat for a moment. It looked like they'd be safe so long as she had information to share.

"A long time ago, longer then any of us have been here. It used to be that the games were permanent. Two kids get picked from each of the twelve districts. They fight. They die. One is left standing and that one becomes a mentor. But for whatever reason the Capitol decided it would be more fun to kidnap people from different worlds and use us instead."

[hit_girl_mindy]

What sort of level of fucked up were these people? Picking from different WORLDS?! Hell, the idea that the tech even existed was a frightening concept to begin with. Fight or die, then get brought back to fight again.

Whatever. She could boohoo about the bullshit later. Information first.

"What is this about districts though?"

[justoutrunyou]

"Oh they didn't tell you that either?"

Sandy shook her head and sighed, "Man they are getting lazy." Running dirty fingers through her unwashed hair she sorted out her thoughts before explaining.

"There are twelve districts surrounding the capitol. Each one does a different thing. Farming, Mining, power, transportation and so on. I represent district 12...and I'm pretty lousy at it but everyone promises me they don't blame me. Even if they probably ought to."

She shrugged again.

"If we win, then our district gets extra food, cash, all sorts of nice things. So to help us win they put their money together and try to send us items while we're in here. I've never gotten to visit the districts though so the only way I know they exist is because previous victors from there are training us."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Lazy was the last word that came in my mind," she said, her stomach churning unpleasantly. Raw potato was looking better and better now.

That was...barbaric in its simplicity, insane in others. "So you've never even been to your own district? So how do you know they're even the ones to send you things, or that they even like you?"

Man. What the hell.

"Oh, but I think I actually know my district. It's nine."

[justoutrunyou]

"You don't really...you just gotta trust your mentor, your stylist and your handler." Sandy sighed suddenly feeling her own stomach twist in a knot. She missed Effie very badly.

"Also, we're on camera like...all the time. But they edit the feed to make it more interesting for the people watching." She pointed out "I dunno much about district nine I'm afraid. But you'll all be wearing the same color."

[knifewithnoname]

Pruna had been traveling with Shepard and her alien friend for a few days now and though she couldn't get other the idea that Shepard would probably kill her the moment she figured she could- because lets face it who could believe Pruna a decent ally when she could hardly see never mind hunt or kill properly.

Today they were near to the site of the Cornucopia, there weren't any supplies left of course but there might still be traps and such that could be utilised in later days.

Pruna was walking along sullenly, knife out as she listened for danger, ready to attack anything coming near.

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy was about to crack open one of her last few cans of tuna when she saw the motion on the cameras.

Pruna!

Abandoning her food she grabbed up the bow and scrambled for the door, tripping just before it and crashing out the door with a loud "BANG!" Flipping onto her back and rolling in the grass. She was dazed but sat up instinctively and began looking around. The camera had been nearby right? She had to be here!

[earthborn]

Shepard had been, as was their habit, walking a careful distance from Pruna. Not much farther than the narrow line of sight, but far enough that one ambush was unlikely to take them both, and Pruna the more tempting target. Bait and trap, just as before, when—

BANG!

"Kid, you hear that?" It had come from the direction of the Cornucopia.

[knifewithnoname]

"I did be." Pruna nodded turning towards the noise, with her whole body. That made her hurt a bit less then just moving her head.

She took a step towards the noise, finding more cover as she did. After all better to find the source first before it found you and took you by surprise.

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy trotted around the starting area scanning the tree line for her friend. "I thought she was right here." She groaned.

Then out of the corner of her eye, a flash of movement.

"Ashley?" She called and approached slowly, bow in hand and wishing she was a decent shot with the arrows.

[earthborn]

Shepard crouched, more atop Pruna than behind her as they found dubious refuge behind the vegetation. For once, she was bigger than someone and more than happy to take advantage. All they had to do was wait.

The figure came on slowly, and in a moment he'd be in range. It was just a kid, maybe, but the silhouette said 'armed.' That bow could come in damn useful, and around here, supply was always in demand.

Ashley? That was...

"Wait," she stood, slowly, rising head and shoulders over the foliage, "Sandy?"

[knifewithnoname]

Pruna's eyes raised, because as far as she knew no one was called Ashley except her, and only Sandy called her that.

As Shepard stood up Pruna lept out of the bush, "Sandy!" She at least gave the area a good look, checking for danger with her good eye even as she ran towards her friend.

"You do be being awake." She had her weapon out, for anyone who might come towards them, or if Shepard decided Sandy was worth taking out anyways, because Pruna wouldn't let her hurt her friend.

[justoutrunyou]

Shepherd? And Pruna!

With an excited cheer Sandy waved to Pruna as she approached and hugged her close, paying attention to where the weapon was.

"Yeah I'm awake! I've been stuck inside that building." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at where the cornucopia had been. The hard platform that it sat on was actually the roof of a small building with a raised mound of land around it.

"There's TVs in there that show the whole arena. I've been seeing you guys on them!"

[earthborn]

Shepard followed the line of her thumb and frowned. Surveillance? That... Could be damn useful. And beyond that, it had a door. What couldn't be locked could be jammed, or barricaded, and it was good odds that the damn thing wouldn't flood, like the rest of the island seemed to be trying it's hardest to do every night.

"You're telling me that we have feed access in there?" Oh, Garrus has got to hear this one, "What do you mean, stuck?"

[knifewithnoname]

Pruna returned the hug and then drew back, looking Sandy over with her good eye, checking for any injuries. She didn't seem to have any. Good.

She looked over at the direction she was pointing, thinking along the same lines of Shepard, somewhere to shelter that was defensible could be wise. Especially if it had televisions in there, seeing the arena would be smart.

She didn't say anything, just waited for Sandy to answer Shepard's question.

[justoutrunyou]

"Stuck." Sandy reiterated. "Like once I was inside the door wouldn't open for a good long time. And whenever it did, you guys weren't anywhere near so I didn't want to risk it.

She waved with her hand and started leading them to the entrance. She trusted them both after all so it was OK right?

The door itself seemed closed tight and as Sandy curled her fingers around the handle she muttered "Oh please oh please oh please..."

It popped open easily.

"Score!"