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

[ka_sera_sera]

The look Roland gives her is, for a second, very tired. Watching eyes, of course. Got to give at least some pretense of a performance. But if he's tired, how must she feel? Susannah, who's spent so much longer in this than he? There's no sense in asking, especially not here.

"I'm not sure which side the water's coming in from," he says instead, considering the noise and heading for a flight of stairs. "But we'll probably hit it sooner rather than later. And if you've got your knife out, I'd keep it ready on this stairway."

[dividedgirlofmine]

Tired enough, if her returning glance means anything.

"Of course," she says. She's been holding it in the hand that isn't holding Roland's since they started walking together. "I don't intend to go out without a fight."

[ka_sera_sera]

He nods, unsurprised by the statement. Encouraged by it, too - it's not as if he isn't made to fight to the death, wouldn't do it no matter what. But with her beside him saying so it's easier to feel it, to feel that part of him that in spite of everything is still eager for it, hungry for the fight even if that fight ends in his death.

Though death, in this place, means something very different from what it used to. No point in thinking much on that now, and in the next moment he's distracted from it anyway. The light flickers, the engine noise stuttering for a moment, and the sparklight illuminating the stairwell dies. His memory, in some areas, isn't what it used to be, but the sight in front of him does strike a note. Hopefully not as many endless tunnels and huge, otherworldly creatures waiting below, but from here it looks the same. "Almost makes me wish we had some fire," he says over his shoulder at her, a corner of his mouth curling upward.

[dividedgirlofmine]

Her own mouth pulls into a returning smile. "If there were cans of sterno in that pile," she says, "I didn't see 'em."

She feels it too, the eagerness for a fight. You can take away the gun, but you can't take away the gunslinger. "But at least now I don't have to ride in that dratted sling."

[ka_sera_sera]

One corner of Roland's mouth twitches. "Not this time. I remember well enough how much you hated it." It's not the thing itself he's smiling at, but that brand of nostalgia where everything - even things you hadn't cared for at all at the time - seem to take on a special glow in your memory simply because you weren't here. Not that he'd go back there if he could, do it all again-

Just the thought makes him a little dizzy and he tilts, reaches out to grasp the railing next to the first few steps and turns his mind quickly away from it. Maybe that's enough nostalgia for now. "Did you get a look at the hallway before the light died?" Most of the warmth's gone from his voice, as if they'd spent the last few moments speaking of nothing at all. Back to business.

[dividedgirlofmine]

"Not for very long," she admits, her mouth drawing to a frown. "I didn't see any giant monster--but then, why would they bother puttin' the monsters inside the ship when they can just have 'em swimmin' around?"

Part of her wishes they could have spent a little longer in that moment. The rest of her knows it's just as well they didn't. Back to business, indeed.

[ka_sera_sera]

"Not all monsters are giants. Especially not when the Capitol's involved." It's more difficult to keep his steps as quiet as he'd like on the metal stairs. Especially in these shoes. Shining and fashionable and useless, like everything else the people of this place are so fascinated with. On that note, he spares a mental moment damning whoever had made the decision to put him in all this lace.

Nevermind. Too much trouble to get rid of it.

The sparklight flickers once before dying again. Not for long enough, though, and Roland isn't entirely certain whether he's just seen movement. "Something down there. Not sure what."

[dividedgirlofmine]

"True," Susannah says. "Some aren't any bigger than a person." She frowns and strains her ears to see if she can hear whatever it is that Roland is looking for. There's a creaking sound, but she can't tell if that's the ship itself or something--or someone--below them. "Whatever it is, I've got my knife out," she whispers.

[ka_sera_sera]

Nothing for it but to keep moving down, so he does. His knife is out, and his senses are on alert. Sight is difficult, though, as the light tends to flash on just as his eyes are beginning to adjust. Then there's a hiss, the click of multiple sets of nails on metal, and Roland feels movement in front of him just in time to stab at it. Teeth click as it snaps at him and he turns his head, still trying to see. "Another one," he guesses, warning Susannah in case his guess is right.

[dividedgirlofmine]

She stabs out with her knife in the direction of the noise. It hits something, anyway, if the squeal of pain and the impact of her knife on something that feels like flesh is any indication. "Found it."

[ka_sera_sera]

If this were a longer arena he'd suggest seeing about roasting and eating whatever these are. But it isn't so he leaves their bodies where they are, still heading down. Another one and he swipes at it, feeling teeth graze the back of his hand as it falls back into the wall and doesn't move.

"Rats, I think," he says after the next flash of the light. No more attacks while he says that - he's not sure if they're retreating or just waiting for the two of them to get closer. "Didn't see any obvious signs of mutation."

i think we're getting close to fading to black

[dividedgirlofmine]

She makes a face. "Good. If rats are all we'll have to face tonight, we'll be lucky."

how many more comments do you think?

[ka_sera_sera]

"Don't think either of us are that lucky, somehow." He's almost at the end of the stairs and he takes the last few carefully, still listening for the struggling sound of those engines.

why not now?

[dividedgirlofmine]

"No," she says, stepping just as carefully with him. "I don't think we are."