thearena | (no subject)

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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.
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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.

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"What I'm saying is, how long do you want to not be a fighter? Think about it, how many times have you done this? After awhile, people are gonna know that you won't kill, that you can't. So they'll know to expect that every time. Some people will try to kill you quickly, be merciful. But some just like to see the life drain out of you, how you lose your breath in the last precious fucking moments you have. So you tell me: even if you have the best intentions, how easily do you trust the people here to let you go nicely?"

There was suicide, and then there was this.

Sandy fell silent. She really couldn't argue with that. She'd been learning just a little from Pruna about combat but it had mostly been in defense. Could she really go on the offensive?

Could she kill someone out of self defense?

What would her father say?

Her gaze cast down feeling ashamed despite knowing that her morals were flying in the face of logic and reason.

Mindy watched the girl a moment.

"You never have, have you?"

No. And for the first time in her life Sandy felt somewhat ashamed of that fact.

"My dad used to tell me this joke before they took him away. He would say "These two campers were enjoying their night, when a bear came into camp. They both started running and the bear went after them. The first camper starts laughing and says "I just realized something. I don't need to outrun the bear. I just need to outrun you."

She shrugged.

"That's kind of how I've lived my life till now. Now even though I know better I keep running towards danger instead of away from it. I keep trying to help Pruna even if it puts me in danger."

Mindy sighed. "I don't know if we're speaking the same language. I'm not saying you should go run away like a pussy. If anything, now that you have a girlfriend you ought to be showing her exactly what you are now. I AM saying that to back that up, you need some fighting chops. Do you WANT to be that person that constantly outruns everyone to live another day?"

"Well no..." She pouted feeling like a child once more. It was funny how every time she started to feel more mature she'd meet someone who reminded her of her real age.

"I just, don't want to go down the path dad did. He wouldn't have wanted that for me. He was a bad man before I was born. A super villain you know? And that's why they took him away from me later."

"I don't want to kill..." She groaned and hid her face in her knees knowing what an impossible option that was here. "God I'm stupid."

"Killing people doesn't make you a supervillian," Mindy said. "You become a villain by intent. Before you ever even kill someone, you make a decision: how far you're going to go, what you're going to do and where it all ends. The truth no one tells you is that you decide that shit long before it happens."

She shrugged. "The choice has been staring you in the face anyway. That won't go away."

Mindy's words were tempting. It was like she was holding out a bottle of hope and Sandy's stomach was growling for a taste. Just one mouthful of that sweet hope sauce.

But a nagging voice in her head reminded her She's new. Give it time. She'll learn.

"What got you started?" She deflected having to give Mindy an answer by aiming more for Mindy's backstory. That would buy her some time.

"Revenge," she said, clasping her hands together. "Granted, I don't mind killing a bunch of evil motherfuckers anyway, but me and dad had a vendetta. Crooked cops imprisoned dad for not kowtowing, mom took her life after. So dad vowed we would never be used like that again, and we'd punish the people who made it happen. He took on the alter ego Big Daddy, and I became Hit Girl."

She shrugged. "But if I have to do this, I'm gonna stick to my scruples. I don't kill indiscriminately. That's not how I work. That doesn't mean I won't kill to survive."

Sandy looked taken aback by the story. Suddenly an extra level of respect in her expression and tone of voice. This girl really was like the superheroes her dad told her about...well one in particular.

"So you're like the Punisher. You actually kill the bad guys instead of arresting them and making them stand trail." That's what the best heroes did. That's what spider-man did.

Mindy grinned. See, now this girl was actually speaking her language. What was more, it was the smallest glimmer of something familiar from home.

"Yeah, which is much better. Do you really want to take the chance that some bastard winds up destroying more people just because there's no justice anymore? So we show them justice the way its best executed."

By execution, of course.

Sandy didn't look totally won over though.

"If Spider-man did that my Dad would have died before he could get his act together and become my dad." She reasoned suddenly having a better understanding of why her father had told her all the stories he did.

Mindy shrugged. "You start giving people what ifs, they take advantage of it. Code of law is supposed to protect people, and it fails. That's why people like me exist: you see through the bullshit and make a decision. I don't know if I would or wouldn't have killed someone like your dad. What I do know is that one misplaced point of trusting someone killed mine."

And that, really, was all she'd say about that. There was a look in Mindy's eyes that clearly showed how fresh that death had been. What was more, fulfilling their goal had left her stranded in this hell.

Karma was a flea bitten whore.

That all sounded so cold and crass, and when Mindy explained the second part Sandy could see why.

"So you're judge, jury and executioner." She reasoned. "Do you ever get it wrong?" Because Sandy knew herself. She knew that she made plenty of mistakes. And trusting her to figure out who deserved to live and who deserved to die? That was way more then Sandy thought herself capable of.

"Yeah, and not really. People can be more clear cut than you think, at least where I'm from. You watch 'em long enough, you know what they're gonna do, so you make sure that you take care of them, then and there, and you don't have to have dead people on your conscience."

Here might take a little longer though.

"Maybe where you're from." Sandy agreed. "But here? Not so much."

And back home?

"At least you're smart enough to be careful." Especially with all of Sandy's warnings. "Not everyone from the Capitol are bad...some of them are just..." She was grasping for a word she didn't have to describe Effie.

"It's how they were raised."

"We'll see," was Mindy answer. Sandy could be right, she could be wrong. Only time would tell, really.

Mindy shrugged. "It's a way of life. You don't want to die, you make extra special care that you don't. That's the extent of how much you really get to control things."

That would be interesting. She still hadn't met anyone but the people who were drafted to the games. What were actual Capitol citizens like?

Sandy hoped she would. The last thing she wanted was the few people she actually liked from the Capitol at the wrong end of one of Mindy's knives.

"In a world like this, even having that much control is lucky." Sandy muttered gloomily.

"I'll have to see how far that extends for myself," she said. "There's still a lot I have to get used to, not to mention see hwo long I can last out here."

Sandy shrugged her narrow shoulders, now distracting herself by tugging up blades of grass.

"People more skilled then I am have died before I did. So it's really anyone's game I guess so long as you don't just...kill yourself or whatever."

That had happened before and the crowd hated it.

Mindy snickered. "Kill myself? God, I do NOT wanna be at the point where I actually do that! I don't know about you but I want to fucking LIVE."

Yeah, Mindy honestly did not know how to say die, even if it was for her own good.

That at least earned a respectful nod from Sandy.

This girl's life may have sucked a little before, but no where near as bad as this. It sounded to Sandy like in her old world Mindy had at least held some sense of power and control about her fate.

Here...things were different.

But on the flip side clearly she was more capable then most who had come here. More capable then Sandy had been that was for sure. But if Mindy could hold onto hope after being dropped in a poisonous jungle for the first time, how could Sandy ever think about losing it?

She wanted to live just as badly. Didn't she?

The more she talked to this girl, against her better judgement she wanted to at least make sure that someone was training her. It was all well and good to go and kill your competition, but at the very least, there were people here who were just not meant for mindless slaughter, and then there were people like Sandy, who did not want to kill.

Which was why, of course, she killed in the first place. Protecting people like that who couldn't.

"Whatever happens, look me up after this. I can at least teach you how to handle yourself with a weapon. If people are trying to kill you, don't make it easier for them, you know?"

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Annnnd fade to black.

Re: Annnnd fade to black.