ARENA 09 - THE MUSEUM

[etcircenses]

The Tributes are woken up early for this Arena, and switched from whatever sleeping attire they're currently in to a set of pajamas, each designed for the individual in questions. Women wear onesies, and most of the men wear two-pieces, but other than that any similarities are at random - the outfits are in all sorts of colors and patterns.

The floor of the helicopter taking them to their Arena location, and of the underground entrance to the tubes that hoist them to the surface, will feel cold under their bare feet.

Rather than bringing them to sunlight, like the tubes have in the past, instead the Tributes are presented to a dark concrete ceiling in a badly-lit parking lot. Fluorescent lights do little to illuminate the cavernous space.

The countdown begins, announced as if from far away.

20

19

18…

The Cornucopia, a ghastly thing carved from stone and concrete, sits at the center of a pattern of white and yellow lines reminiscent of spots for parked cars. The painted lines create a sort of spoked wheel, providing lanes for the Tributes leading to the prizes at the center. Some of the more unfortunate Tributes will find the concrete architecture has placed pillars in their lanes.

8

7

6…

Six parked cars lie around the outskirts of the huge lot, barely visible in the dim lighting. Glowing exit signs on two opposite sides of the chamber announce where Tributes should go to escape the bloodbath. Elevator doors are perched beneath them.

3

2

1

The gong rings out, and the countdown's voice announces "the Arena is now open". The Games have begun.

Comments

[emptytrousers]

Kili glances back at the cornucopia and the bloodbath ensuing there, the sounds of Harley's screams, and he forces himself to focus on the task at hand. At least Hans didn't seem like he would skewer him here and now and the smile earns one of his own, albeit tempered by the situation.

"Long as we're the first ones out, they can use them all they like," he snorts in reply and as if on cue the double doors start to slowly slide open.

He carefully steps in, watching Hans the entire time.

[hanssome]

Hans truly has no intention of it, presently. Without a weapon there's only so much damage he can do, and he's really not interested in taking everyone down and exhausting himself trying. He'll just bide his time, make alliances and progress through this with as level a head as he can hope for.

He tenses ever so slightly as the door opens, wary about who could have been occupying it in his delay. It would be a clever trick to hide in their and poach out potential visitors, so he's certainly glad it doesn't come to pass.

Slinking in himself, he keeps his eyes forward for a moment before easing his gaze over to Kili and raising an eyebrow. "Is this your first?" He asks plainly, not seeing the harm in a little bit of resourceful small talk.

[emptytrousers]

There doesn't seem to be anyone else in the elevator, which does little to soothe Kili's nerves as he steps inside. Instead of pressing one button, he presses all of them in his fervor to get anywhere but here at the ground floor around the cornucopia. Sorry if you wanted to go to a higher floor, Hans, because it'll take forever and a lot of dinging. Once he's finished, though, the dwarf stays near the buttons and out of sight of anyone who might be in the cornucopia as the doors slide slowly closed.

" 's that obvious isn't it," Kili replies with a small smile. He knows he's never been good at hiding things but he's never really had a reason to either, unless it was to try and keep from getting in trouble with Thorin. Otherwise, though, he'd lived a relatively carefree life in the Blue Mountains until recently. "Is it yours, too?"

[hanssome]

Hans sputters as Kili attends to the buttons, holding out a hand as if meaning to stop him but letting it drop as he realises he's too late for that. He lets out a small sigh, but covers it up with a chuckle. He guesses he'll be getting out on the first floor, so his choice has been made easy for him.

He nods in response to the question, looking a little more solemn now that the weight of the situation is coming back to him. He heaves another sigh, giving Kili a morose look. "Unfortunately." He responds curtly, before adding more. "I've never seen anything like this. Not even the places they took us before they left us here."

[emptytrousers]

At Hans's words, Kili is almost immediately relieved that he might not be the only one who was struggling with things like these 'elevators' or 'fridgemators' or whatever else they called things. It's hard to think to smile when the screams from the cornucopia still echo through the steel carriage, but he does at least seem a bit more cheerful at having found something in common with someone else.

"Me too," he agrees enthusiastically. "Never seen anything like this in my life. You press the buttons and it takes you somewhere else. Couldn't imagine such a thing to be possible."

[hanssome]

It certainly makes for an unnerving decorum. As impressive as the museum is, it's unfortunate that there won't be much time to spare to appreciate it. At the very least, the setting seems to lend itself well to accessing advantages, but it all seems a little too easy. Even with the screams.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one." He seems to breathe out a small sigh of relief at the agreement. "I can't help but feel like it's a little unfair that we're so out of our depth." The worry settles back into his expression again before he shrugs his shoulders. "Maybe we can use it to our advantage."

[emptytrousers]

"To our advantage?" Kili parrots back, confused and unsure of how he could use an obvious weakness to his advantage. Dwarves rarely displayed any sort of weakness, much less those that Kili had spent a great deal of time around as he grew up.

"I can't imagine any way we could." But he's all ears, regardless. He knows he's not exactly the brightest bulb in the box.

[hanssome]

Maybe it's foolish of Hans to divulge one of his many plans, but he feels doing so may make him less suspicious in a sense. As if his thoughts are merely idle ideas he has no intention of putting into practice.

"I just seems like they rely on it far more than us." He's observed many district mates having hissy-fits over toasters and appliances. "When they don't work as intended, they don't have a lot to fall back on." He gives his shoulders a light shrug, stepping back against the wall as the elevator dings. "This is my stop."

[emptytrousers]

Oh, Kili hadn't thought of that. He'd considered them to be at a distinct disadvantage because they couldn't use such things in the first place, but if it came down to living without them, he and Hans would be much better off. When it hits him, his expression brightens and he grins over at Hans.

Unfortunately the doors open and the dwarf figures they should probably get to their own spaces before someone came around with a knife or sword of some kind.

"Good luck." The sentiment is at least genuine, even though it rings a little hollow against the sounds of screaming coming up the elevator shaft.