Mini Arena 2

[etcircenses]

Tributes are woken early, and the hovercraft ride is a long one. Not the longest some have experienced, but they are clearly going far.

25 - 24 - 23

They land on the deck of the boat, and are ushered underneath, to the lower levels, quickly. Their stylists go from cabin to cabin, decking them out in over the top finery, before loading them into the pods installed into the corners of the rooms.

20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16

The platforms lift them up, and they are all ringed around a grand buffet table, loaded with a grand feast looking ready to sag down from the weight. Among the food are supplies, plenty of them, all for the taking.

11- 10 - 9 - 8

They've all been warned, don't step off your pedestal early. They have also been warned to put on a good show. That's all this is about, a good show. None of them have been told that there can be multiple winners this time around.

5 - 4

3

2

The sound of the gong plays crystal clear across the opening. The games have begun.

Comments

[smarterthanthem]

Clementine feels warm hands grasp her wrists and tears her gaze away from the drop to meet Clara's eyes. The relief that floods her is undeniable, even as her fear for Dave escalates. She tries to help Clara pull her up, feet scrabbling without purchase, the muscles in her arms screaming with exhaustion but if she can just get this last burst of adrenaline to carry her through in time to save Dave then everything can be okay, they can make it up, all three of them.

If she can just --

"DAVE!" her voice carries above the wind as she turns her head sharply when he speaks, when his hand slips and Dave plummets downwards too fast for her to keep track of, just the echo of his final word left behind. "Dave, no! No!"

Stunned disbelief is all she can feel in those seconds, one moment he was there and the next gone.

[seestheman]

Someone once made a remark to Clara about how every mom wants to be supermom and find the best way to juggle everything and make sure their kids are always safe without feeling too intrusive and all that jazz. Right now, Clara wishes she were a literal supermom and could find a way to hold on to Clem and find a way to magically reach out and grab Dave and pull them both up.

Obviously that doesn't happen.

She doesn't care if she'll see him back in the Capitol, looking as if nothing happened. She'll still have nightmares about him falling when (if, really) she goes to bed tonight. And right now she can't even scream, the most that comes out is a small, strangled sound.

For a moment she almost forgets about what she has to do. How she needs to haul the girl up so they can climb to the top. It finally clicks in her head to pull, and she does, bringing the her back onto the platform.

Clara has to steel herself for a moment before she says anything, because right now she needs to focus on keeping this girl alive so she can win and Dave's sacrifice won't be in vain. "We need...we need to keep climbing. You can ride on my back if you want."

[smarterthanthem]

Clementine feels herself hauled up, collapsing onto the platform with a hiccup that betrays how close she is to crying right now. She wants to cry, she really does, wants to shout at how horrible it all is. It's probably only the shock of it that's stopping her.

Now's not the time to cry, she knows. That's later, if she survives this. Clementine hiccups again and her eyes are glistening in the dark with what she's holding back but her voice is firm and determined if strained.

"I can make it."

She's going to make it, she has to, for Dave and -- so she doesn't have to do this stupid thing all over again. "I can."

Her cold fingers flex and Clementine wishes she was bigger, stronger, that she didn't constantly have to have others worry over her.