thearena | insert a witty title here

Who| Mariko Shinobu & Sabriel
What| It's Mariko's first time in the arena!
Where| The town area
When| Beginning of the fifth week.
Warnings/Notes| To be added if necessary.

[When she entered into the arena Mariko didn't know what to do. For a minute or two she stood completely still and just breathed through her nose, fighting against the tears that were gathering in her wide eyes. She knew that she couldn't afford to panic now, she had stay focused! But more than anything she had to move if she wished to stay alive. Mariko counted to ten in her head before making herself to run towards the thick fog. She ran aimlessly without a goal, not daring to stop despite her feet feeling stiff and heavy like the iron and the sick twist in her stomach.

However, it didn't take a long until Mariko began to feel exhaustion catching up on her, forcing her to stop in middle of the street. As Mariko fell down on her knees and tried to catch her breath, she felt sudden hunger to twist her stomach and thirst to burn her throat. Tears threatened to come back to her eyes and Mariko bit down on her bottom lip to suffocate the miserable cries that tried to escape from her.

Oh! How horrible! She wanted to scream. She had been out there only for few hours and she was already in this bad shape. Why did the Gamemakers have to choose a girl like her to play their horrible game, as she clearly unfitted to take part to it?! Why did anyone have to play it? Why did it even have to exist! Mariko couldn't hold back her tears any longer as she thought of all people who had been subjected to the same fate as her. "So horrible--", she whispered quietly to herself, covering her face with her shaking hands.

Mariko's silent sobbing ceased as she suddenly heard faint foot steps coming from ahead. She couldn't recognize whether the steps belonged to human or something else and she didn't want to stay there to find out. Gathering all her remaining strength Mariko got up and staggered towards the nearest house. For a second she thought of trying go inside it but decided against it. That'd be too obvious and what if there wasn't a key around? Instead she crawled under the porch, hoping that whatever was coming towards would just pass by without noticing her]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Vigilance was a trait Sabriel had honed before she'd arrived in Panem. Spending weeks in a death arena had only sharpened it, and she had experience paying attention to her ears instead of her eyes.

Which was why she carefully knelt down next to the porch, her expression weary but not unkind.

A girl. One younger than her, and Sabriel felt that sudden protective feeling she'd often felt for the younger students during her time as a prefect.]

I'm not going to hurt you, but you're not as quiet as you could be.

[Mariko clasped her hand to cover her mouth to keep herself from screaming when the stranger suddenly appeared to her sight.

The mysterious woman didn't really look anything close to scary or hostile. But despite her looks and reassuring words, Mariko still couldn't bring herself to calm down.]

N-no! I-- ! Please! [She gasped while slowly shaking her head.]

[Sabriel sighed, then tried again, keeping her voice as calm as possible.]

I have some clean water, if you're thirsty. The water from the lake probably isn't safe to drink.

[The mention of water silenced Mariko. Her outburst and crying earlier had just worsened her thirst and she could see the signs of dehydration. Her mouth was dry and her throat felt like it was full of sand-- and on top of that Mariko had started to feel little dizzy. Even someone like Mariko could tell that if she didn't get something to drink soon things would end badly for her.]

I- [She swallowed air and studied Sabriel carefully.]

How can I be sure it's safe? Can you prove it to me? Can you drink it first?

Yes, I'm sure. [And Sabriel takes a sip from a bottle to prove it, before handing it to Mariko.]

Drink. You need your strength, and dehydration is not a good way to die.

[Mariko observed the other woman as she brought the bottle to her lips and drank from it. Then she slowly crawled out from her hiding place, but instead of accepting the offered bottle she threw herself into her arms.]

I- what? [Sabriel lets her arms drape around Mariko. The poor girl is obviously frightened, and she does her best to soothe her.]

It's quite all right, you're safe for now! How much did they tell you?

Nothing! [The tears threatened to come back to Mariko's eyes when she felt Sabriel's arms around her. But this time the tears were not from fear or sadness, but instead from a relief of finding someone who is willing to show such genuine kindness towards her.]

They didn't tell me anything! [She whimpered and tightened her grip on Sabriel's shirt] Just-- just that people were going to get hurt!

"We've been brought to this place to fight to the death- and every time we die, we're revived, and after a brief time in this country's Capitol, we will be sent into another Arena," Sabriel explained, "But I'm not going to hurt you. And there are plenty of other tributes who don't want to hurt you either, but you still need to be careful- and I promise, I will do my best to keep you safe."

"No no!" Mariko shook her head. "I-I don't understand! Any of this! I--" her words were cut off by sob that she couldn't hold back anymore. Despite being warned already once for being loud, she began to cry while still hiding in Sabriel's embrace.

"Shhhh," Sabriel murmured, wrapping her arms around Mariko, "Shhh."

The girl's shock and grief were understandable, but she needed to understand that survival meant keeping your head down and knowing how to avoid attracting attention.

Mariko cried in Sabriel's arms for a minute or two before the headache and dizzyness became almost too unbearable. She was still shaking when she lifted her head from other woman's chest and looked up miserably.

"I'm Mariko," she murmured and tried to wipe her tears to her sleeve. "C-Can I still have t.. that water?"

[I'm so so sorry for being late! do you mind if I throw a surprise monster in?]

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Sorry for the delay

it's ok <3

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