[open]

[mudbloodhater]

WHO | Draco and OPEN
WHAT | Draco's escaped the Cornucopia unscathed, but for how much longer?
WHEN | the day after the Cornucopia
WHERE | Q5, and thereabouts
WARNINGS | language. This is Draco, after all.

He'd gotten away from the Cornucopia, albeit empty-handed, but with his life still intact. Judging by the look of things over there, in that initial five minute span, he was lucky that way. Swimming across what felt like half of the entire Arena - not that he had any idea how big the bloody thing was, though it certainly felt huge - had taken up most of his stamina for the evening, and he had climbed the first tree that looked secure enough to hold him, and passed out for the night.

And now it was morning; Draco had very nearly fallen out of his temporary home when he'd forgotten where he was, the danger he was in. As he recovered, he sat there still, still clinging to the tree as he tried to think of just how he got there. Portkey? The Dark Lord wasn't much above that. Which meant that this could plausibly be a method of punishing him for not doing his job fast enough. But this was just cruel and unusual.

Comments

[fire_punk]

Kevin slumped against the tree trunk. He'd probably climb it if he knew how. He'd spent the whole night wandering, trying to find somewhere that felt safe, familiar. And trying to understand how he'd gotten here. He'd told Jonathan to take him to Las Vegas, said it while holding the Djinn's bottle. Jonathan had to obey him. So how had he come here, to that city that sent him to this place? He almost felt like crying, except he didn't cry. Ever. At least, not when anyone could see.

He slid to the ground only to look up and see another boy in the tree. Kevin jumped back to his feet with a startled yelp. Too bad his powers didn't seem to work here. He'd burn the tree. Or at least the branch that boy was sitting on. He didn't want to die. His hand found his neck. Was it really only yesterday that Yvette had made Jonathan kill him? Well, not quite kill him, but that had been the intent. He didn't want to feel that again.

[mudbloodhater]

His breath caught in his chest when he noticed the other boy nearing his tree. His tree. Not some other prick who's decided he's entitled to whatever the hell people thought they were entitled to in this place.

Which was nothing, as far as Draco was concerned. They were sorely mistaken if they believed otherwise. He glowered down at the other person below him, narrowing his eyes with murderous intent. He could do it. He could kill a person if he was so driven, if it got him that much closer to getting back home.

Immediately, Draco began scanning the immediate area for something he could use; he hadn't found any weapons, hadn't had the time to find anything proper after arriving on this new island. But there were still rocks, and water, and tree branches around. He could find something. For now, he merely drew his legs up to his chest, adjusting his position so he was a smaller, more stable target considering his height, and wore an expression that suggested he was not one to fuck with.

[fire_punk]

Kevin glared up at the other boy, raising his fists. He was tired and didn't really want to get into a fight with him right now. That didn't mean he wouldn't if the blond pushed it. He glanced around surreptitiously. There were a couple good sized rocks and some smaller branches lying around if he needed them. He could kill this kid now if he had to.

[mudbloodhater]

It was a bit pathetic, if anyone was to ask him. He doubted they much would, of course, but that didn't change the fact that he still thought it pathetic. This kid, apparently trying to trap him up in a tree. Like that was going to help him win.

"Oi. Don't you have better things to do?" Draco called down with a sneer.

[fire_punk]

It was just inconvenient. Apparently, the other boy wanted to fight now. Kevin scowled. Well, fine. He could deal with that. He looked around for the right size stone.

"Don't you?"

[mudbloodhater]

"No. I'm busy," Draco snapped back. "And even if I weren't busy, I wouldn't have any time to spend on the likes of you." With that, he twisted where he sat, legs wrapped tight around the branch like a wider, more comfortable broomstick, and retrieved himself a coconut.

Someone stop them before they kill each other!

[fire_punk]

Kevin's eyes narrowed as he saw the other boy reach for a coconut. He grabbed a rock the size of his fist and threw it as hard as he could at the blond. "Who said I wanted to spend time with you, anyway?" he spat.

that's Kevin's fault. completely his.

[mudbloodhater]

He threw up one hand to protect his face, hastily muttering repeatedly to himself a Shield Charm in hopes that it would work even without his wand. It did, thankfully, the rock bouncing away harmlessly. To Kevin, it likely would have seemed as though the rock hit a branch before it reached Draco.

"Fuck off, then!" Draco hissed, holding his coconut close to his chest. He wasn't about to let that thing go, and he wasn't deluding himself that he'd be able to do much magic at this point. It was lucky enough that he could use a Shield Charm, and it was a weak one at that.

He thought Draco was gonna brain him with a coconut!

[fire_punk]

"Why, so you can kill me as soon as my back's turned?"

Like Kevin would trust this stranger farther than he could throw him. Not when he'd already been nearly murdered once.

r u d e

[mudbloodhater]

"No, so I can eat my bloody breakfast without people bothering me every moment, and trying to throw rocks at my head!" Though judging by the look on his face, the blond was starting to think pitching the coconut at the other kid wasn't a half-bad idea. Maybe it would silence him, at the very least.

Pffft... Draco was ruder.

[fire_punk]

"I wasn't bothering you until you bothered me."

Kevin sneered as he picked up another stone in case the blond did decide to throw the coconut at him.

you sound like you expected something else.

[mudbloodhater]

Draco rolled his eyes, very much doubting it could be seen from that distance. "Please. I was sitting here. And then you decided that me sitting here was reason enough for fisticuffs. If I planned on killing you, I could have done it before you even knew I was here."

With how messed up those two already are? Not really.

[fire_punk]

"I decided to fight you? You threatened me!"

Kevin was nearly pouting by this point. This whole thing wasn't fair. He wasn't even supposed to be here. He was supposed to safely in Vegas. "And you'd have had to climb out of the tree to kill me."

[luckofthedevil]

Alex had opted to stay out of the fighting at the Cornucopia as well, not wanting to measure up the other tributes just yet. Instead he'd immediately made for the ocean and swam for the nearby large island. The sooner he found a safe place to hide, the sooner he could take stock of what was going on.

Upon reaching land, Alex had searched for a safe place to sleep. He didn't like the looks of the palm trees, as he knew he was a restless sleeper and would likely fall out. Instead, he dug into the sand to make a shallow pit at the base of a cluster of palms, which he then covered over with palm fronds.

The next morning, he glanced around carefully before coming out from under his covering. He hadn't had anything to eat the night before, and he was feeling ravenous. He doubted anything had been left behind at the Cornucopia, which meant he had to find something here to eat. Relatively confident he could crack open a coconut, he started climbing the nearest tree.

As he reached the top though, he spotted someone about a dozen trees over, huddled in the fronds.

[mudbloodhater]

Thankfully, there were coconuts. Draco had had a similar thought early that morning, when he awoke to a terrible crick in his neck and more irritability than he knew what to actually do with. How to get it open was still evading him to some extent, though he had a feeling he could smash it well enough with a bit of trying, maybe pry it open with his fingernails.

He was cursing under his breath, though. He needed something more than just his hands for this to work to any real extent, and the blond began to glance around for some sign of a rock, or a stick, or anything sturdy; he'd heard noises before, someone nearby him, and had paused to let them pass. But now he continued to hear them, not too far away, but getting no closer. Only now did Draco spy another Tribute in another tree, and he froze, pressing himself closer to the trunk in an attempt to remain hidden for now.

[luckofthedevil]

Alex considered arming himself with a coconut. They were sort of like oversize rugby balls, a good size for throwing. But the other tribute made no move to attack him, so Alex decided to take a chance. Plus, he was hungry. Knocking loose a few coconuts, he dropped them to the ground, all the while he kept an eye on the guy in the other tree.

[mudbloodhater]

Grey eyes remained locked on the other boy, narrowing slightly in curiosity as time slowly passed between them. He felt marginally better about himself when it seemed he was going unnoticed, and his attention briefly turned back to his so-called breakfast, still sorting out how exactly he'd manage to crack it open. Periodically, he'd glance back to Alex, subtly trying to gain something by way of technique without actually asking.

[luckofthedevil]

Once he'd successfully dropped the coconuts to the ground (and waited a few minutes to make sure no one else in the vicinity had noticed), Alex climbed down from the tree to inspect his prizes. They were young coconuts, which meant there would be quite a bit of water inside. It'd been several years, but he'd once seen someone open a raw coconut while on vacation. Finding an outcropping of large rocks, Alex started whacking the end of one of the coconuts on a rock. After a couple of hard whacks the husk starts to split enough that he can tear it off with his fingers.

[mudbloodhater]

A smug smirk curved his mouth as he watched Alex bash the coconuts open, managing to keep most of the contents within them. Lucky for Draco, he was a quick study; though he didn't dare drop to the ground and risk a fight immediately, he spent another few moments considering his own coconut, trying to find a nice weak spot.

And then finally, he called down, voice a quiet hiss to keep anyone else from hearing: "Oi! You!"

[luckofthedevil]

Alex was carefully poking a hole through the soft 'eye' of the coconut when he heard the quiet hiss from above. Looking up at where the other boy was hiding, Alex arched an eyebrow.

"What do you want?"

[mudbloodhater]

Part of Draco wanted to not ask for help - he was more than capable of taking care of himself on his own, anyway - but the slightly more rational part of him decided that if Alex wasn't going to kill him now, he may as well ask at least one little favour.

"Pass me that rock," he stated, nodding his head towards a little one with a sharp enough point that it could be drilled through the coconut's husk. Or someone's head, given enough trying. But Draco didn't really plan on that.

[luckofthedevil]

Technically, Alex could refuse, or just demand the other boy climb down and get the rock himself. But was there really a need to antagonize each other? They'd already been told to off everyone else in the arena. Alex shrugged, then picked up the rock to toss it up into the tree toward Draco. His aim was rather good, and unless Draco was completely fumble-fingered, the rock passed within an arms length of him.

"Catch."

[mudbloodhater]

One thin hand darted out, snatching the rock out of mid-air with a sort of practised precision that came from years of playing Quidditch. Draco cracked a brief smirk - almost appreciative - and nodded to Alex before giving his coconut a tentative crack on the end with it.

[luckofthedevil]

So the other guy had good reflexes. Useful to know. Alex wondered how far those reflexes extended, but the only way to really gauge that was to either get in a fight with the guy himself, or watch someone else get into a fight with him.

"A bit harder," he called up quietly. "And it's easier if you're hitting the rock, rather than the other way around."

[mudbloodhater]

"Really? Why would it even make a difference?" Draco asked, sneering a little at the coconut as if it had personally offended him by not opening easily. All the same, he flipped it around with only minor difficulties, finding that Alex was indeed correct - the coconut split slightly after an additional crack against the rock, and Draco's sneer turned to a pleased smirk.