thearena | [closed]

WHO | Ariadne and Alex Rider
WHAT | Alex is about to get taken out, but Ariadne has him covered.
WHEN | the sixth day or so
WHERE | S7
WARNINGS/ NOTES | death of an NPC (Oh'karra Valeer)

Without her previous allies around to keep her company, Ariadne had been going her own way. It was a bit more difficult now, but she had the skills to catch things enough to survive, and she had learned how to sleep safely in her first Arena. Those skills weren't anything she wanted for.

No, at this point, she was mostly trying to get out of the Arena. Not through her own death, of course - the fact that everyone she would have liked to win the Games was already out was reason enough for her to give it a go. And she was more determined than ever to achieve that. Spear in hand, ever-faithful rock in the other, she crept through the trees with a sort of practised silence, duckin beneath anything that might give away her position.

She heard a fight just around the corner. Just in the next clearing, she thought.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Focused wholly on the other Tribute, Ariadne made sure that the other woman went down - with a cry; apparently no one was too trained to not cry out when someone was beating them to death with a rock - and stayed there. She delivered a swift kick to the girl, ignoring the spray of blood from the recent head wound she'd dealt, ignored the sudden burst of warmth under the Tribute's hands where the other girl was scrambling against her for some hold. It was a nasty little fight, but most of it wasn't even registering in her mind.

With another grunt of effort, Ariadne pulled her spear from the back of the other nameless Tribute, driving it back down into her chest before she lost the opportunity. And then she hesitated, staring down at the woman as the cannon went off, and she let loose a soft breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

It was a messy scramble, very unlike the quick and neat deaths Alex was used to (other than that time in Africa with the crocodiles, but there was a simplicity to that too). A spatter of bullets and it was usually over. Using a rock took more time and effort.

Deciding that maybe he should make his get away while the woman was still savoring the kill, Alex started edging away as quietly as possible. Why thank someone who'll probably just turn around to kill him too?

She could turn around and kill the boy where he stood while she had the chance. God only knew she'd had opportunity enough in the past few days that she had squandered in the name of not being entirely sure. But she had to retain her humanity somehow.

Ariadne glanced back over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of Alex trying to disappear off somewhere else on the island. He wasn't much of a threat, though she knew better than to assume at this point.

"Hey. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Alex replied, keeping an eye on the woman while also trying to listen for anyone moving in the area around them. "Just fine." Which was a bit of a lie, as he wanted nothing more than to lay down and let his head rest for a while. He didn't think he had a concussion, but he knew he needed to be gentle with his head for a while all the same.

This wasn't a safe place to rest though, and Alex steeled himself for a possible attack.

He was too young to be in here, Ariadne thought to herself, knowing full well that it was typically children who came into the Arena. That wasn't a fair rule, turning children against each other. She was torn - she'd killed so many Tributes who didn't present a threat to her just because they were there, but she didn't want to kill him.

She sighed, lowering her weapon to tip her head at him. "You're in here, and you're actually fine?"

What was he supposed to say? 'No, I am not fine and I want to go home'? Or perhaps 'Compared to the past year, this is't so bad'? Then again, in the past year he hadn't been chucked into an arena with a bunch of strangers and told he has to kill them. So maybe the second statement wasn't that accurate.

"It's sort of like being on holiday, if you ignore the whole kill each other part. I could go for a bit more variety in the menu, but beggars can't be choosers."

She tipped her head the other way, considering that statement with a mild smile, her hair sweeping over her shoulder. "I suppose you have a point. The Capitol makes it a bit better; it's a slightly more welcoming atmosphere," she replied after a moment, dropping her gaze to examine the head of her spear. It was starting to get loose, though that was nothing that Don wouldn't be able to fix up somewhat.

"I'm not going to kill you here."

"But you might kill me later."

Despite the underlining meaning to her statement, if Alex hadn't been injured, he wouldn't have felt all that threatened by Ariadne. She didn't exude the aura of death he'd encountered with people like Yassen and Nile. Nor did he get the crazy psychopath vibe from her either.

"What's your name?" The question might seem innocuous, but Alex had an intent behind asking it. The more personal he made things here, the harder things would be for the other person... as long as she wasn't too far gone morally. "I'd at least like to know that much."

Ariadne merely looked at him, making no promises; this far into the Games, she couldn't promise anything. She hesitated slightly, having a general idea of what he was getting at. If the Tributes were nameless, they were easier to kill. But she had seen plenty of people die whom she had talked to by now, whom she had spent hours of her life chatting with.

"Ariadne," she finally replied, studying Alex a little. "What's yours?"

"Alex." Normally, he'd follow this up with 'nice to meet you' or some other pleasantry, but the present circumstances were just too strange. Right now he figured his best chances was to look as non-threatening as possible, without seeming like an easy target. Not an easy balance to achieve.

"Thanks. By the way. For helping me out."

Of course, he wasn't naive to the fact she could have simply taken out that other Tribute for the sake of taking out potentially dangerous competition when she was distracted.

She agreed: basic pleasantries didn't really have a place in the Arena. Perhaps when they were out, and trying to determine if they were holding grudges or not. Of course, even if people she had killed did happen to hold a grudge against her, she didn't care; it didn't bother her that much, considering she probably wouldn't see them again after she got out of the Capitol and went home.

"You're welcome," Ariadne replied lightly, tipping her head to one side. "It looked like you were having some trouble."

"I suppose you could say she caught me with my pants down," Alex quipped. It was embarrassingly close to the truth and his pride was still smarting some from the near fatal mistake. He might have been able to throw his assailant off of him, but they would never know now.

"The worst thing you can do out here is be alone. You'd have to be on your guard 24/7, and it's not possible," she told him, keeping her distance to some extent. As much as she could, eyes skimming the trees for any others. "It's your first Arena, isn't it?"

[closed]

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