thearena | [OPEN] If I stumble, they're gonna eat me alive....

Who | Zed and YOU!
What | There's a brand-new Tribute in the Arena, and she's...more than a little confused.
Where | The castle.
When | End of Week 3, early to mid-day.
Warnings/Notes | Nothing yet, possible gory visions depending on who she interacts with. If you want her to have psychic shenanigans with your character, please check out her permissions post here!

The last hour or so had been a blur. One moment, she was in the Mill House, trying to catch a bit of sleep - the next, she was waking up on a cot, getting scrubbed and forced into strange clothes. There was no breaking away, no matter how hard she tried...no escaping this kidnapping. She had then been thrown into yet another unfamiliar place, left to fend for herself and run from the wind and - were those GIANT BEES?

Stone walls seemed like a better bet in this weather, and so the moment she spotted the castle, she ran for it, diving in without looking back. Now she was catching her breath, brows knitted together as she tried to get a grip on herself. Survive. She could do that. John would be fine until she could get back to him (at least Chas was still with him). She just needed to get back to him in one piece. After being kidnapped. Again. And not get killed.

In a death match.

Blinking back tears, she turned her attentions to her surroundings. Getting upset wasn't going to do anything. Action was the only way to get through this, and crying was not the action she needed. Pushing her hair out of her eyes, she elected to walk the halls of the castle. Being unarmed was a risk, so the first order of business would be finding a weapon. She imagined that she probably wasn't alone...but she also imagined that if she ran into anyone, she had a 50/50 chance of them being friendly. And those were optimistic odds.

Of course, maybe an opponent could be made an ally with careful words.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

With Tess injured, Joel has to do most of the legwork - figuratively and literally. You'll hear no complaints from him, though, he'd rather keep busy. Tess is the one who has it tough, having to stay behind and keep quiet and hide while he's out scavenging for supplies.

He tries to make their way to the castle maybe once a week - it's a major target, of course, but also the only reliable shelter in this place, as well as a good place to find supplies and food if they need it in a pinch. So why not, right? And he knows how to deal with dangerous places infested with people who want to kill him. Just another day ending in "Y".

He slides around a corner, shield in hand like he's about to bludgeon someone with it - which he probably is, if anyone poses a threat. Joel, for the most part, only attacks when he's attacked first. But he's ready for anything.

"Who're you?"

The moment she sees that she has company, Zed's hands shoot up in front of her, palms open in a placating gesture. Quickly, she glances over Joel, trying to pick up details. He looks worn, jaded; but he doesn't have the look of an aggressor. Might even be able to play on his sympathy.

So she does her best to look scared, voice shaking through words that sound brave.

"...I could ask you the same question." Her hands remain up, shrouded in those thick gloves. "I was just...thrown in here. I don't really even know where I am."

Unfortunately for Zed, Joel doesn't have too much sympathy for grown-ass adults. They can mostly fend for themselves, in his experience, and he knows all the tricks in the book. He's used a few of them, himself. Maybe not the "helpless young girl" trick - he can't pull that one off, but he's suspicious enough not to let his guard down.

"Yeah, well, watch your back, chances are next person you meet won't be as nice as me," he mutters. "We're here to kill each other, not have tea parties."

But he's not particularly interested in killing her. Not unless she does something stupid.

All right, so the tears aren't going to do anything for this guy. She doesn't drop it - truth be told, she is frightened - keeping it up for a gradual, natural transition into an uneasy calm.

"Are we really here to kill each other?" She looks at him for a moment before turning away, pacing back and forth a little bit. "They...they told me that while they were dressing me, but it was all kind of a rush."

She turns back towards him. Not turning her back for long.

"I don't even know how long I've been in here. An hour, maybe two?"

There's something in the rafters. Bigger than a bat, but no less quiet. Up until he opens his mouth, at least.

"What are you doing?"

Aang doesn't recognize this person. That must mean they're new. Aang stays in the rafters, just in case the lady turns out to be a threat, but he would like to reach out anyway.

The sudden speech catches Zed off-guard - she jumps, snapping her head up to look at what she's dealing with. Her time with John has made her, when already frightened, expect the worst; when she looks up, it's with the expectation that she's going to see a demon, a monster, something waiting in the wings to pounce and try to eat her alive.

But it's none of those things. It's...a child. A child...in a deathmatch?

Her look of horror is now transparent for a completely different reason. It takes her a moment to find words.

"...I'm...looking for a weapon. I was...told this was a fight to the death."

"Oh, yeah, it is." The boy sounds far too cheerful, considering the things he's saying. "There are some weapons in the blacksmith's place, but all of them are too hot to touch. You'd need heat-resistant gloves or something to grab something. A sponsor might give you a knife, though, if they like you."

Despite his cheerful demeanor, he makes no motion to climb down from the ceiling. He's staying in the relative safety of the rafters, thank you. "You're new, right? I don't recognize your face."

"Oh. Thanks."

There's a long pause before she answers his question - mostly because, internally, she's trying to grapple with the thought that to win this, she would be expected to MURDER A CHILD. Once she processes the information enough to move away from it again, she shakes her head, curls bouncing.

"...I just got here. Maybe an hour or two ago. Who...who are you? How long have you been here?"

"Uh..." Aang has to think about it, tapping his fingers on the wood beam he's sitting on as he counts. "Almost... eleven months now."

Almost a year. It feels wrong that he's been here longer than he was traveling the world back home. It occurs to him that he has been away from his friends back home for longer than he knew them. His smile fades at the thought. He's not sure there's any going home for any of them.

"I'm Aang. I was brought in during an arena too. It was pretty confusing. It's okay if you're scared right now." He brings his knees up to hug as he keeps staring down at her. "What's your name?"

"That's...a long time."

The sadness on the boy's face is palpable, and it mirrors her own - but as his smile fades, she pushes a tenuous one across her own lips. An attempt to show that she means no harm to him, at least. "I am scared. I'm terrified. And if you knew what I've been living with before here, you'd know what that means."

Pushing her hair back away from her face, she more fully regards him, opening her body language a little.

"Zed. My name is Zed. It's...good to meet you, Aang."

[OPEN] If I stumble, they're gonna eat me alive....

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject