thearena | ARENA 10-Placid Hollow

ARENA 10-Placid Hollow

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.

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Nasir had his supplies. He had his weapon. So did Gannicus. While Nasir would have preferred to be out of the Cornucopia, his ally had other ideas and so they were prowling for another tribute. He stopped as he heard the sound of footsteps and motioned to Gannicus to halt and that someone was ahead. He then tapped his shoulder to make sure he got the message.

Adjusting his pack, Nasir readied the 2x4 with nails jutting out of it he held as a weapon. Then he stepped forward.

There was a reason why Nasir was so often called upon to act the look-out - for all the skills Gannicus lauded himself for, Gannicus could readily admit that Nasir was definitely sharper than he was. He stopped sharply at Nasir's tap and held his breath as he listened hard for the tell-tale swish of grass and the black shadow of movement that heralded Rock Lee's approach. With a grim smile of relish Gannicus nodded his understanding, jutting his chin forward in a signal for Nasir to move on ahead of him. Let the shorter, quicker man draw the attention first; Gannicus shifted his grip on the heavy lead pipe he held in one hand and tacked silently away to the left to skirt around their potential victim.

The best thing to do right now would be to close his eyes. And so he tried.

He couldn't though, he just couldn't. There were sounds of people in pain and people frantically moving past him. There was too much going on. His senses were on the overload, and the feeling of panic started to settle in. But why? Lee wanted to stand here and try to figure out how this could be different than the war he was fighting in now, but that would be stupid. It was like he wanted to be a sitting duck.

Being a sitting duck here could get you killed.

Lee was about to move…until he heard someone in front of him. It was hard to see through the fog, but the person was holding something tightly in his hands. "I do not want to fight you, but I will if I must!"

Nasir never opened his mouth to reply but his response was unmistakable. He was close enough to see where he was and he planned to take advantage of his opponent's hesitation. He lunged at him, swinging his heavy plank of wood at his chest, hoping that even if his fellow Tribute dodged, the nails would still rake across his flesh.

Gannicus drifted silently apart from Nasir and was immediately swallowed up in the dense fog. The noise drifting across the Cornucopia field were oddly disorientating - resounding and echoing in places, but dull and absorbed in others - but there was only one noise he needed to listen for.

He heard the target's warning - a threat, a promise maybe. Alone in the thick fog Gannicus smiled to himself, not expecting Nasir to make any reply that wasn't from one end of his crude weapon. He circles them silently, eyes narrowed against the pale wall of fog, and drew further around towards the victim's back as he awaited his moment to strike.

Lee could see the figure in front lurching forward, their weapon in hand. He hopped backward, his arms up to guard him. For a minute, he thought he made it away without any problems. But a stabbing pain down his arms told him a little otherwise.

That took his mind off of the fog, or the sixth sense telling him to look behind. He brought his injured arm to his chest, surprised to find blood seeping through his fingers. What kind of weapon was he wielding?

This wasn't home; this was a place where anything could be a weapon. Even the smallest of things could be deadly.

He didn't have any weapons, but that was okay. He didn't need them. Lee took a step or two backwards, ready to launch forwards towards the one in front...

Nasir couldn't see Gannicus. That wasn't an issue. He trusted that the former gladiator was in position by now, or would soon be. What troubled him more was the space that his opponent had put between him. But he could still see the outline of his body and moved to close the gap. He swung again, this time aiming a little higher to see if he could hit the neck.

A black shape moves in the fog and slowly solidifies in to Gannicus's dense silhouette as he looms at Lee's back. There's an intent, mirthless smile on his face that seems rather too satisfied with how seemingly easy this prey has been to corner so far - the man has the stature of a fighter, Gannicus supposes, but perhaps he has lost his nerve. The fog is terribly disorientating, after all.

Gannicus doesn't need to look at or signal to Nasir - he is more than confident that his surprise hunting partner knows exactly what to do. Nasir swings his improvised club and Gannicus matches him a beat later; with both hands clasped tightly on the reassuring weight of the lead pipe he brings it around in a low, fast arc - in the opposite direction to Nasir's swing - and aims at the side of his enemy's knees.

Fight back. He had to fight back!

Lee ignored the fresh cuts on his arms as he allowed the other to move in, ducking enough just for the attacker to miss. There was an opening; he could see it. If he could shoot up enough before the other could react, he could hit right for the chin. Lee braced himself, and was just about to pump off of the ground to try to make a hit-

-when something slammed into the back of his legs. And there went that idea.

He yelled as pain started to shoot through his legs, leaving him right on his back. When he looked up...Lee was surprised to see two men standing above him. If he wasn't in trouble, he'd mentally scold himself for not being vigilant enough. Lee tried to move, but his legs felt like lead. Not again...

"Who are you?!"

Nasir didn't answer. Right now, he was the man trying to murder Lee. His name didn't matter, only that he was a Tribute and determined to spill blood.

With Lee on the ground, Nasir brought his weapon down again, aiming for Lee's head, nails facing forward. Not a pleasant death but several hard hits and he'd either be unconscious or sent to the afterlife, however briefly before returning.

In the arenas of old there were very few rules. It was each man for himself, each beating heart against the rest. What delicate constructs of honour and dignity that the gladiators held amongst themselves were not universal; what applied to one man was never the same for another. But here Gannicus could afford a little more - this man, this Tribute, was Nasir's prey. Nasir had given the signal, Nasir would be the one to deal the fatal blow.

Gannicus held back, lingering a little rather than putting his own pipe to work. He let Nasir take his swing and, rather than steal his glory, he turned his attention on the swirling fog and what fresh threats the Cornucopia might hold for them.

There was a voice in his head that was demanding that he moved. And when Lee opened his eyes, he could get a good reason as to why.

The person had their weapon raised, and though the dim light, something shiny glistened. He couldn't see what, exactly, but if it were the things that cut his arm up before it probably wasn't anything good. This was going to be it for him. If he didn't get up and move now, everything he ever worked for would be lost.

Lee couldn't allow that to happen.

He waited until the last minute...and rolled away at the very last minute. Lee forced himself onto his knees, and up on his feet. His knees were absolutely screaming with pain, but he ignored it. This wasn't the first time he hurt himself pretty badly; if anything, this was normal. Pain was something he faced all the time, and it made him stronger!

Things were different here, though. Lee grit his teeth and tried to move forward as best as he could, settling into a jog. There was no way he'd be able to fight like this, and redeeming pride would be a fight that would be easily lost. He'd come back next time, maybe.

Nasir's weapon hit the ground and he had to jerk it back to dislodge it. Normally, he might not have pursued in this fog, but he was fighting with Gannicus. He wasn't going to let Lee get away when he'd ruined his opportunity to kill him.

He immediately set off in pursuit without so much as a backward glance at Gannicus. If he wanted him to stop he could tell him. Nasir was too determined to catch up quickly, reach out, and jerk back Lee by his suit-- which he attempted to do.

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ARENA 10-Placid Hollow

Team of two willing to provide lots of pain

let us know if this isn't ok!

WOW THIS IS PERFECT omg yes yesyeysyesys!!!

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I'M SORRY for the past few days i've had this stomach bug lafje i'm sorry

It's all right. I hope you're feeling better now

yes, hope you're feeling better dude! also sorry this is a bit of a 'skip me' tag

thank you guyyyyys and NAW don't be sorry ya silly!

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