[OPEN]

[isthistheregion]

Who| The Creature and OPEN (after the thread with John Watson)
What| (Finally) seeing some action
Where| Starting on the 2nd floor, can be anywhere for the Open section
When| Week 4
Warnings/Notes| Violence, no death (yet). In the Open section, Creature's going to be highly keyed-up and ready to jump at shadows, so it'll be easy to send him back into fighting mode. He may be able to be talked down, though -- if there's a particular direction you'd like the thread to go in, ping me. Otherwise we'll play it by ear. Thread starters in the comments.

Comments

[Closed to John Watson]

[isthistheregion]

He was hungry.

There had been no more food or water from whatever benefactor had decided to back him. And while he was used to living on little, hiding in secluded corners while the Arena became consumed in destruction around him was proving untenable. He needed to find something.

He arrived on the third floor only to find it a ruin. Once, there had been food for the taking here. Now there was only the bubbling tar pit and a massive hole looking down on the next floor below.

No hope here. But he didn't need to look for stairs or get back on the noisy elevator to get down to the next level: there was a pile of broken pieces of floor and solidified lava that reached high enough for him to leap down onto without harm. The Creature dropped off the edge and landed, proceeding to nimbly and quickly pick his way over the rubble.

Another small pile was in his way. He launched himself over, on his way to the stairwell.

[drpsychosomatic]

Heading out of the gift shop with a few bits and pieces slung over his shoulder and towards the stairwell, John only caught sight of the creature by virtue of one of the better hold-overs from his injury- his hyper-vigilance. The moment he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, everything kicked in. His whole body tensed and poised with anticipation, he drew out his knife and picked his way into a more defensible position almost automatically, a solid wall behind his back and just out of the light. Adrenalin surged, bright and sharp.

The shape of the thing moving was human, or at least it had seemed that way- but a second glance told him it was large and definitely moving towards him. Possibly simply because he was between it and the stairwell, he reasoned quickly- but wouldn't that be lucky? Too lucky, probably. He wet his lips and watched, as still, steady and quiet as he could.

[isthistheregion]

The terrain was uneven. So much so that even the Creature, who was accustomed to traversing mountains and glaciers, couldn't keep an even footing for the entire time. The last mound was steeper than anticipated on the way down, and as he leapt over, his foot landed on a loose piece of rubble, which slipped, causing him to slide and stumble somewhat before he caught his balance, though it was still fast going toward the end.

That's when he caught sight of the figure in the shadows. Standing, watching. There was a faint glint of light off of a weapon.

The tributes he'd met thus far had been more interested in talking than fighting, but there was no reason to suspect that all of them would be, especially when a weapon was already drawn. The Creature reached for his own, a bit of broken bone from one of the skeletons upstairs, as long as his forearm jagged and sharp at one end.

He slid to the bottom of the hill, crouching to slow himself down.

[drpsychosomatic]

For a moment, John couldn't tell if the creature approaching him was carrying the bone as a weapon, or whether it was stitched onto it- his mind was still reeling in horror from the sight of its face. Had the Capitol made use of the bodies left behind in the wake of the previous Games? He couldn't discount it, and something about the shape of this thing's eyes...

His stance lowered, his knees taking his weight easily now he needed them, and he lunged forwards with the knife. "Get back," he hissed- though usually, the horrors the capitol dreamt up weren't capable of reasoning.

[isthistheregion]

He had a second to examine the man as he slowed to a stop near him. Raised the bone shard and stepped back with one foot. The stance was nothing like a trained fighter's, but spoke to a raw, ingrained talent. His free arm splayed out behind him, the fingers bent spastically.

He needed to at least try to get past.

"I will not harm you, sir, if you lower your weapon."

Even though he wasn't about to lower his. And his eyes shifted, for a moment, toward the other items John was carrying. An instinctive reaction to a thought. He might have food.

[drpsychosomatic]

"Not bloody likely," he hit back, heart racing. He kept his knife very firmly pointed towards the creature, his knees just bent enough to provide him with a quick lunge forwards if necessary. "How about you lower yours, first."

[OPEN]

[isthistheregion]

He had never felt cold like this. Snow and ice had never been a detriment to him. But this -- the cold cut so deeply that it burned on the spots where the liquid had touched his scalp, his neck, his hands. He flung himself into a stairwell and crashed into the wall.

His screams were inhuman.

It took some time for the pain to become a dull, throbbing ache under his skin, and that was when he began to move again. Slowly making his way, wary whenever he stood on the threshold of another level. Fearful that the rain would start again.