thearena | By default, Frozen spoilers are possible

Who| Elsa and whoever stumbles upon her
What| Elsa has just arrived and is exploring
Where| The second floor
When| Week 2
Warnings/Notes| Nothing I can think of

Everything was a blur. Elsa still didn't know what was going on or how any of this was even possible- but despite that? Despite her fear and confusion? She was... relieved. For the first time in forever, her powers weren't going crazy. In fact, they weren't even there. After her meeting with Anna, she'd been so afraid and so worried about what would happen, that suddenly being powerless felt good. For once, no one was in danger of getting hurt.

It was strange- no matter how afraid she felt, nothing happened. That realization was oddly calming and after the first hour, she'd pretty much calmed down completely, save for the obvious confusion she felt at being sent into this strange, foreign place. Despite her calm, she still tried avoiding everyone she could. When you live your life under the fear of hurting people, it was hard to convince yourself that you wouldn't hurt them even if your powers were gone.

Despite that, curiosity was overwhelming. All of this stuff around her were things she'd never seen- all her life she had been sheltered mainly in the one room of the castle and suddenly there was so much to explore, so many strange things to be seen. At the moment, clad in her icy blue pajamas with snowflakes all over them, she could be found walking cautiously through the wax replicas. They were so lifelike, it was almost scary and after a few moments of perusing them, Elsa could feel the edge creeping up on her.

When she turned to face one in particular, she couldn't help but let out a gasp. He was tall, with grey skin and long, jagged shaped horns. It was a creature unlike anything Elsa had seen before and she brought a hand up to stifle her gasp, eyes widening in alarm, despite realizing it was fake after a few moments. The creature was just so... alien. After a few seconds of nervous staring, she tentatively reached out to touch the life-like statue of the creature, only to stop as she caught movement out of the corner of her eye-

"Who's there?" she asked, hand paused in mid-air as she turned her head in the direction of the disturbance.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If she expected any kind of reaction besides bemused indifference to her little Queen announcement, she was in for a shock. Joel just sniffed faintly and glanced around them at the wax figures.

"I'm pretty sure nobody cares what kinda title you wanna call yourself. We're all here to kill and die, regardless." He sighed, and softened a little. "You must be new, huh."

Elsa tried not to let her expression fall. It had been a long shot and she knew it. Of course no one would care if she were queen here. Titles didn't seem to matter much, but she had still hoped that it might.

Ignoring his first statement, she gave him a nod. "I arrived no more than an hour ago, two at most," she said. A moment later, she found herself blurting out the question that had been on her mind since she had gotten there. "Why is this happening?"

Why. Joel's mouth twisted a little at the question. She sounded so young, to be asking that. Adults, in his experience, rarely asked why, because they quickly learned that terrible things happened for no good reason, most of the time.

The why often didn't exist, and when it did, it was usually not a good reason.

"Far as I know, because rich folks in the Capitol think it's fun," he said honestly. That was his perspective on it, though he'd only been here maybe a week, tops, and hadn't actually seen the Capitol for himself, yet. All he knew so far was the arena, and what Ellie and the others told him. "And because they can."

Elsa hadn't learned just yet how awful the world could be. She'd lived her entire life in the castle, isolated from everyone else. The worst that had ever happened to her were her parents dying. So she was very much naive to the ways of the world- especially when it came to stuff like this.

Her brows furrowed in a mixture of confusion and anger. How could they think this was fun? She almost asked, but she had the feeling he wouldn't really have a satisfying answer. No one could, really.

"I...I see." It wasn't a satisfactory answer, but she would take it anyway. People who ruled over other people were supposed to be benevolent, not this. That was how she had been taught- to be kind and caring, even in her isolation. Not to rule with an iron fist. Oh, how very, very far away from home she felt.

After a moment, she felt the need to ask another question. "What do you suggest I do now, then?"

It was so strange, being asked advice from a young woman who was clearly an adult, who should clearly have some notion how to take care of herself, even if she came from a much nicer place than this.

"Find allies," he finally said with a shrug. "Be careful, but find some you can trust. Stick together."

Allies... who could be an ally here, when it sounded like everyone was out for blood? Elsa wanted to argue, but at the same time it seemed like it was the only advice that could be offered. It might have been difficult, but she was starting to get the sense that nothing here would be easy.

So she nodded. "Alright, I'll try. Thank you for your help, Joel. I really do appreciate it."

"Yeah," he said by way of accepting the thanks. He wasn't very good at the niceties. After a moment, though, he reached around to his backpack with a sigh and dug around for a moment, eventually producing a rather stale sweet roll.

He offered it to her.

Elsa was set on edge when he started rummaging in his backpack. Of course he had been fairly nice this entire time, but for all she knew he was about to get some sort of weapon out. So when he revealed the sweet roll, surprise showed in her face.

Hesitantly, she stepped forward and took it from him. "Thank you..." She gave him a smile. "I'll make this up to you, you have my word."

Joel couldn't imagine how this woman could possibly be of help to him, so he just shrugged it off. "Just... pay it forward, or somethin'," he said with a wave of his hand. "Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet. Stay away from the elevators, that's a kill zone."

By default, Frozen spoilers are possible

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject