thearena | Let's all haze the newbie.

Entry tags:

Let's all haze the newbie.

Who: Ruffnut and you!
What: Viking girl is having a hard time adjusting to the arena.
When: Week 2
Where: near the end of main street.
Notes: None yet but give it some time, I'm sure some monsters will show up or something.

Sometimes, it was the little things that got you through the night.

It had been a long week without proper food, a proper bed or a proper argument with her brother. Ruffnut found she kept turning to say something to him only to remember he wasn't there. And for the first time in a long time she had the strangest feeling in her guts.

Could she actually be missing him?

No of course not! That was stupid!

And so as the morning mist settled over the street, the eerie silence would be broken by the sound of metal on metal clanging together in an irritating fashion that was sure to draw someone (Or something's attention.)

The source of that noise was Ruffnut, sitting on the front stoop of one of the abandoned houses as she tried to pound a hole in the side of an old rusty pot.

CLANG CLANK CLONK!

Her mouth twisted into a crooked look of satisfaction as the nail she'd been hitting with a hung of broken brick pierced the worn and rusty metal. Turning the pot around she resumed her work on the other side.

Next to her say an over sized serving fork and a bent piece of pipe. Whatever purpose they served in the project would become apparent in time.

Because sometimes when nothing in the world made sense anymore you grasped for the familiar. And so in desperation she sought to at least replace a lost item that would make her feel a little less off balance.

Ruffnut was making herself a helmet.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Generally in the arena, it was best to run away from strange noises. Or any noises. But as much as Ian was happy to hide for as long as possible, that wasn't going to get him anywhere. So he went to investigate, albeit quietly, as he might not want to disturb whatever was making the noise.

When he peered around the house it turned out to be a girl.

"What are you doing?" Ian asked, incredulous that someone would want to draw attention to themselves like that.

The noise is what had drawn her attention. Just who decided to make such a racket, and was it meant to lead a person into a trap? Either way, Sonja stayed on her guard. There was no telling what kind of vial, twisted person could be making that noise.

As it turns out, that "vile, twisted person" was just a young girl. What was with this place and bringing in youths?

Not that it phased her too much. But perhaps it should be more than a little worrisome? "What is it that you are doing?"

"Huh?" Ruffnut stopped mid swing and looked up to see the woman who had spoke. Setting down the broken brick and held up the half completed helmet to show.

"When I woke up in that place before they sent us here I didn't have my helmet, and my head feels weird without it so I figured I'd ya know...improvise."

Placing the pot on her head she held up the substitute horns on either side to give an idea of what she was going for.

"It's not a real helmet, but I figured it was better then nothing."

Ruffnut glanced up from her project to see an unfamiliar face. Not finding him threatening she held up her half finished makeshift helmet.

"Making a helmet. My head feels naked." she explained. "It's not a proper helmet but it should work." She turned to sit on the stairs so she could watch him carefully.

"Perhaps not." Well that was kind of adorable, admittedly. Moving to kneel down beside the girl with an eyebrow raised. Protection from armor was most certainly important, yes. However protection called for proper armor, not an imitation. And from the looks of that metal there was no way that helmet would do anything for her. Granted that Sonja had no clue what the metal was, so that did remain to be seen.

"What possessed you to make such an imitation?"

Putting the "horns" back down she took the pot off her head and began working the ends of the horns into the holes she had pierced.

"Well my head kinda feels naked without a helmet." She confessed "I wear one every day back home. And since it's bad enough I'm wearing these weird clothes I might as well feel a little better about what's going on...whatever is going on." She reasoned in her own roundabout way.

It wasn't the most helpful of reasons for doing this, but it would make her feel better hopefully.

"I'm Ruffnut." She added in introduction.

"Right." Ian's tone was sceptical. A helmet might well turn out to be useful, especially given that they didn't know what might be thrown at them. It was the making of it that was bound to attract attention. "Just a helmet or do you have plans for armour too?"

"Nah, not unless there's any leather already around here." Ruffnut did not wear particularly heavy armor back home, but she had to admit she missed the familiar scent of leather and the give that her well work fabrics had.

"This metal's already pretty weak so it won't protect much. But it'll make me feel better." She determined in a rare moment of letting her guard down and admitting she actually had feelings.

Ian raised an eyebrow. If she knew it wasn't going to be that much protection he didn't quite understand why she was making one. "In that case, do you think it's wise to draw so much attention to yourself with all the noise?"

"Huh?" She looked up from her work puzzled and considered his words for a moment.

"Eh." Shrugging her shoulders "What's the worst that could happen." Still given her introduction into the arena that might not have been the best question to ask.

"Something or someone could come along and kill you," he said matter-of-factly. "There's no guarantee it would be fast or painless either."

That was quite the reasoning she gave. But hey, so long as it does not become too much of a burden for the child, then let her have the comfort. It's not as though she was doing anything to offend or harm Sonja, or anyone else. If anything the red headed woman was more worried about the girl. The world is a dangerous place, and while there are those who would help -there are also those who may take advantage of one so young.

"And I am Red Sonja."

"Oh...yeah I guess I didn't think about that." She paused and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Some bruising around her neck became visible as she sat back to think.

"Yeah some guy tried that already. Knocked me through a wall. It was totally cool." A crooked grin crossed her features as she thought back to the pain that had been inflicted upon her on her first day.

"I think he was eaten by some bugs. I dunno I was outta there."

"Been here long?" Ruffnut continued her work finding it nice to have someone to talk to after so long. "I just got here when everyone else popped up and some guy smacked me around and put me through a wall." She explained tugging on her collar to show off some dark bruising around her neck.

"It was pretty awesome." She added with an unstable smile.

"To be injured before a battle is not "awesome" it is a drawback." Even the smallest wound could prove to be a great distraction. Who knows, a simple cut could turn infectious with puss. And before you know it, you are running a fever and you are one arm less. Not exactly something you wish to happen in a match to survive.

Ruffnut looked puzzled as though she hadn't considered that.

"Well I just meant like, he hit me really hard and I got back up again. This whole idea of ya know, fighting people forever. That's awesome! Who wouldn't want to do that?"

The point having been missed entirely.

A sigh, such innocence. "That was not the point."

"There are a few who would prefer to not fight forever. Though for a warrior to be granted entry to Crom's palace is a great honor." Granted that the god himself probably could care less, add to that he was not exactly one who was really worshiped, much less by Sonja. But at least others considered the notion pleasing.

"Crom?" Ruffnut tilted her head in further confusion and abandoned her helmet project for now. "I don't know Crom. I know Odin, Thor, Loki, is Crom like a cousin?"

Theology had never been Ruffnut's strong suit but she had the important ones down.

"Perhaps?" Neither has it been to Sonja either. But sometimes faith was nice. Especially when they actually stopped to listen -an event that was typically few and far between from her experiences. "He is an uncaring god who sits upon his mountain in the clouds, looking down on all. However he did give man courage and tenacity to overcome any obstical."

That was the only thing that he gifted man as well.

He blinked. "Right," he said slowly. Despite first appearances, perhaps she was not someone to tangle with. It was probably just as well he hadn't come too close. "Well, be careful anyway."

"Huh...well I guess you work with what you've got." She reasoned. An uncaring god didn't sound like the most comforting type of god but it was better then not knowing what lay beyond this world.

"Either way this place sounds like something the gods would enjoy. So it's like...I don't want to complain but at the same time I wish I'd gotten to keep my clothes...and my dragon. And I guess my brother to fly half the dragon." She sounded less enthusiastic about the last part.

"Careful still isn't much fun, neither is safe." She sighed. "I was hoping a big arena where we fight forever would be more...you know? Fast and loud! Big and explosive and action!"

It seemed self preservation was far from her natural instincts.

Ian shook his head. "That's the sort of thing that'll get you killed, so I'll stick to quiet, thank you very much. Somewhere else," he added, because someone with that sort of attitude wasn't going to be the safest person to be around. "Good luck with the helmet." He left her to it and vanished back around the corner of the house.

It's been an eerie calm for Thor thus far. He'd split up a fight, won a weapon and found his friends. He'd stayed with them, keeping guard and pooling their sponsor gifts in order to survive. Stark was up to something, but he couldn't say specifically what it was. He was awaiting a bigger threat than what they'd experienced, he was constantly on alert for the signs. So, loud, unidentifiable banging noises? Definitely a threat as far as he's concerned.

He approaches the sounds with caution, wrench raised in defense as he rounds the corner to see.. a girl. A young girl. Banging away at a pot. Instantly, he lowers his weapon, but his gaze is wary as he watches what she's working on. He puts two and two together quickly, a small smile tugging at his lips when he does.

"Clever." He observes. "I've seen stranger helmets in my time."

Ruffnut watched him go and considered his words for a minute.

On the one hand she didn't want to die...but on the other hand she was supposed to be getting into fights right?

CLUNK CLONK CLUNK!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 3

Let's all haze the newbie.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

sorry for how late this was

no subject