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

[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."