ARENA 10-Placid Hollow

[etcircenses]

The Tributes are taken early in the morning, most of their support teams seeming in good cheer as they dress them in warm clothes, getting them to their tubes. There is obvious comfort in the familiar for the prep teams, and they chatter with, or in some cases, over the heads of their Tributes as they get them ready and load them up.

20

19

18…

If the Tributes could see the area they are passed up into, they would see a deeply overgrown, dilapidated town green, with a large bandstand rotting away in the middle. The spoils of the cornucopia are not gathered in one spot, instead scattered throughout the thigh high grass and weeds around the town green.

Around the edge of the green, the old business stand a silent sentry, looming out of the fog as it thins and winds into them, providing much desired cover.

8

7

6…

But the Tributes cannot see the ground around them. The fog, thicker even than it will be in the rest of the arena, makes the world small around them. The sound of the count down echoes strangely, the tributes seeming too close as the fog brings sounds of their breath, their coughing, the snap of twigs under their feet right to ears of the other Tributes. But with the fog bringing visibility down to only a few feet, it's hard to tell what is a true danger, and what is only the fog playing tricks on them,.

3

2

1

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

Comments

[calledmenasir]

Nasir had his supplies, his weapon, and was searching for a way out. But this was an arena. He was determined to win and Brainiac 5 was attracting too much attention with his chatter. It was clear that he was not in his right mind and whoever had stepped in to protect him was putting themselves in a dangerous position. One that Nasir planned to take exploit.

He felt no guilt as he stepped forward. Whoever he killed would return. Even if they did not, he'd made a promise. He was going to live. He fully intended to keep that promise.

Slinging his bag of supplies over his shoulder, he grasped his weapon, a 2x4 piece of wood with nails sticking out of the end, with both hands and swung hard at one of the figures in front of him.

[googledox]

Brainiac stepped back in alarm as the man lurched out of the mist but Cosmic Boy was the one closer to him.

Which meant that he went back to muttering to himself, still clutching the bag, looking around in the grass.

"Unfeasible. Very unfeasible situation. No solution presents itself but it always does, there's always a swarm of ideas stinging all at once. Shadow, where's the shadow."

Though it didn't seem like it, he had taken Cosmic Boy's words to heart. Focus. He had to focus. There'd been a shadow in the grass.

[oredinary_hero]

Stupid, stupid! He'd been so caught up by the reminder of his own powerlessness he barely reacted in time. The board narrowly missed his head as Cos flung himself backwards. He was off-balance, both mentally and physically and this wasn't a fight he wanted, unarmed with a vulnerable team-mate to worry about.

"Damn it Brainy, run!" He snarled over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off of his attacker.

They had to get out of here and hope the other man wasn't so determined to kill them as to pursue. It meant whoever this was could target others instead but his first priority had to be getting Brainy to safety.

[calledmenasir]

Nasir hesitated. Whoever he was attacking was trying to help his friend, as Nasir would have helped his.

But it didn't matter. This was the arena. This was the arena. Only one would emerge alive and if anyone displayed any weakness they would be killed, if not by Nasir then someone else.

He ignored Brainiac, instead rushing toward Cos again, slower than he would have to make sure he didn't trip in the fog. He swung his weapon again, trying to hit him across the shoulder.

[googledox]

The shadow. The shadow in the grass. He found it and hefted up the pick axe, the shape that he'd been looking for.

He barely had control but one track of consciousness provided the fleeting thought of how he could use that.

"Primitive society, fearful attitudes towards the mentally ill," he muttered. "Exploitable."

He loomed out of the fog behind Cos, in Nasir's line of sight but with his team-mate between them and started at him with his uncannily bright green eyes.

"The gods hate you," he said in a voice that was distinctly...off. "149.59787 million kilometers away, the Earth circles the sun at an orbital speed of 108,000 kilometers per hour and the gods put you on it to spin as you suffer."

He was still moving towards Cos as he spoke.

[oredinary_hero]

Cos braced himself for the impact as he saw the man take another swing, raising his arm to block the blow like Val had taught him years ago. He may not be used to fighting with his fists alone but that doesn't mean he doesn't know how.

Rokk was peripherally aware of Brainiac 5 moving - moving, but not escaping like he should be. Just what did he think he was doing? Did he even realise what was going on here? From the words spewing from his mouth and the way he was doing the exact opposite of what Cos had told him to do it certainly didn't seem that way.

[calledmenasir]

Nasir was about to thrust his plank forward, nails first into his enemy. But he paused when Brainiac spoke. It was only a fraction of a second and, while his voice was unnerving, that wouldn't have been enough to throw him off. What did was the words uttered from his mouth. Nasir glanced at the madman to ensure that he wouldn't come at him.

[googledox]

And that was when Brainiac smoothly reached around Cos to place the pick axe in his hands.

Just running wasn't going to work. Cos needed to be armed as he ran and that was Brainy's job. Even sick and barely able to function, it was his job to make sure the team had what they needed to get the job done and survive and he'd held himself together long enough to ensure Rokk wouldn't have to deal with anyone unarmed. He knew that he'd glimpsed a weapon.

"Employing evasive maneuvers," he said, and then he bolted into the fog, taking the waterproof bag with him.

He wanted to stay but he knew he'd be a liability if he stayed any longer. Orders were orders and it was second nature to follow Rokk's.

[oredinary_hero]

"Ah-" Huh. Well that explained a lot.

Rokk felt a surge of pride in his team-mate - even quite literally raving Brainy pulled it together enough to even the odds for him before getting himself to safety. Now it was up to him to finish this.

Gripping the handle of the weapon firmly, he turned his attention back on his opponent.

"Now where were we? Or do feel like running now that you're not facing someone who's unarmed? If you do I promise I'll even give you a head start."

He really hoped the other man decided it wasn't worth the effort. He didn't want to get into a fight with the other - it would be too easy to potentially do serious injury with the pick axe he held and he still needed to ensure his team's safety. Brainy seemed together enough for the moment to avoid danger but Cos didn't want to bank on that being the case and they still needed to find Lyle.

Giving the pick an experimental heft he waited to see what the man decided to do.

[calledmenasir]

This man people talked too much and even as he was speaking, Nasir was repositioning himself and bringing back his plank around for another strike.

Nasir aimed at Rokk's hands, hoping to hit him and knock the pick axe from his grip.

"I do not run," he said as he swung.

[oredinary_hero]

Catching the strike with the head of the pick, Rokk grunted as the impact jarred up his arms but his grip didn't slacken an inch. Bulling forward he tried to crowd the man, to give him less room to swing. At the same time he drove the top of the pick at his opponent's gut in an attempt to wind him.

"You sure you don't want to rethink that strategy?"

If he wasn't going to break off the Cos himself was going to have be the one to retreat. But he wanted to be sure he'd have a chance to get some distance between them when he did. The last thing he wanted was to lead this guy right to his team.

[calledmenasir]

No, he did not at the present.

Nasir darted back and away from the pick axe. He was accustomed to putting space between him and his opponent and did so easily as he stepped back, almost losing sight of Rokk in the fog. But he saw where his figure was, where the man held his arms, and he lunged forward to swing again at his chest.

Nasir was experienced, even if he didn't have his spear with him. He was also determined.

[oredinary_hero]

Gritting his teeth Rokk twisted away from the blow but he couldn't avoid it entirely. The board clipped his shoulder painfully, the nails drawing blood as they tore through the thick clothing he wore. The impact had unbalanced him so rather than struggle to keep his feet he let himself drop, the pick still clenched firmly in one hand as he attempted to sweep his assailant's legs out from under him.

[calledmenasir]

As soon as Nasir saw Rokk moving to drop, he knew what move he was planning and took steps to protect himself, literally. Backing away, he avoided the sweep.

He paused. He was not used to this weapon and close combat was not his favored method. But then he lunged forward to strike again.

[oredinary_hero]

Rolling to the side - not a lot of fun with his (hopefully) just bruised shoulder - Rokk was back on his feet in a heartbeat. He knew his chances were better if he could stay in close quarters so the other man didn't have room to swing his make-shift weapon around so he pressed forward even as the other swung at him.

Letting the pick slip down so his hand was wrapped around the head, Cos let the handle protect his arm as he deflected the next strike. Taking the opportunity to try and get in under the other man's guard, he aimed a kick at his opponent's mid-section. If he could just wind him it would give him a chance to get away before this dragged out too long.

[calledmenasir]

There was always a learning curve with a new weapon. Unfortunately, this was not training. This was the arena.

Having let his guard down, the kick connected and Nasir barely stopped himself from falling to the ground. He gasped, desperate to fill his lungs with air again, and brought up his plank for when his opponent would undoubtedly press his advantage.

[oredinary_hero]

Finally, the break he needed!

As soon as his opponent doubled over, Cos whirled away and took off after Brainy. There was no way he was going to continue to assault someone who'd been forced into this situation, even if they seemed willing enough to do just that themselves. If he moved fast enough he should be able to lose the stranger in the thick fog. Rokk had bigger concerns right now than brawling with a fellow captive.

[calledmenasir]

The attack he expected never came. Instead his opponent fled and Nasir made no move to follow. He was not going to risk it in this fog even though he'd been denied victory. He listened to his retreating footsteps and set off in another direction, careful to avoid the sounds of fights already in progress.

He didn't know who he had fought but if he found them again, he would resume their combat.