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

[asklepian]

The heat is oppressive and miserable, and the darkness not altogether comforting to someone with Human senses, but Julian knows of at least one sentient that would be completely in his element.

His hearing is what serves him best now, as he removes himself from the inevitable chaos that everyone jockeying for supplies in the Cornucopia entails. He doesn't plan on needing any of it. He uses it to give most everyone a wide berth.

His eyes are sharp enough in the dark to pick out an extremely familiar silhouette. Not quite good enough to see the details within the general lines of Garak's frame at this distance, but he doesn't need to.

"Garak." If he sounds relieved, it's because he is.

[carsassian]

"Quiet, Doctor," he snapped, before thinking better of it. "I wouldn't want to ruin what little advantage we have." Noise would make them visible in its own way, and while Garak was confident he could take whatever threats lay ahead of them in the Arena, there was not reason to bring that burden upon them prematurely. Both he and Bashir were heavy hitters to anyone who had been watching them. There was no reason to call further attention to themselves.

"It's good to see you alive. There's a structure 30 meters from where we are now. You should walk to it."

[asklepian]

"I'm glad to see you safe as well," Julian retorts--softly, though, in deference to his command to be quiet. Already giving him commands. Julian can't quite help the smile.

Since he's also got the beginnings of a plan in mind, he doesn't try to hide it. Really, he's acting almost as unconcerned as if they were back on the station.

"Are you coming with me?" He looks imploring, to the cameras, but his eyes at least are cold and calculating, the sort of look he gets when he dispassionately quotes statistics pointing to everyone's imminent demise. He's fairly sure Garak will get the idea, that he has something in mind.

[carsassian]

The look Garak sends him in response probably reads as surprised, maybe a little bit confused, but to someone who knows Cardassian features, it's actually one of inquiry. He hasn't quite figured out what Bashir is playing at, and frankly, while it isn't a detriment entirely, the fog and the adrenaline of knowing that there are roughly a hundred people out there looking to kill them, isn't helping matters. "Ah-- no. I'm still looking for someone. A young woman I met in the Capitol. And anyone in my District, of course."

Regardless of how he knows this will end, it's better to play the ally game in the short term. "30 meters. You'll be fine, doctor. I have faith in you."

[asklepian]

"Right, then. We'll find each other later." Julian lets a hesitant look flit across his face, but he's fairly sure his message has been understood. At least enough for now.

And really, he doesn't need the reminder--he can see it himself. Not as well as Garak, but...

"Be careful, please."

[carsassian]

"Doctor, I am always careful." He smiles briefly, confident in spite of the thick fog, tall grass, and hazards that could be lurking in either or both of them. Neither of them are exactly new at running around blind in hazardous situations and that's something. Maybe Bashir's genetic engineering would even give him a fighting chance if his distinctly Starfleet sense of morality didn't get in the way of it.

"Now go," he commanded again, letting his tone take on an atypical level of seriousness. "Before someone really does hear us."