Arena 15: In The Eye Of The Capitol

[etcircenses]

For the majority of you, this has become a familiar morning routine. Escorts come to pick up their Tributes and Stylists quickly see to setting them up with the bland and thin grey suits, much to most of their dismay. You'll not hear a word said in complaint though. The staff has gotten the threat to them loud and clear. Only the daring will be willing to offer even a mere "good luck". Peacekeepers quickly collect Tributes to send them off into the launch tubes. If you're from the Districts, it may be one of the last things you ever see.

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What everyone rises up to is not much better a sight. It's a war zone out here in every sense. Those native to Panem will recognize the sight before them, having seen it every year in a propaganda tape. The wreckage of District thirteen. The Cornucopia sits at the very center. Offworlders might recognize some of the weapons there, and if not, then they'll certainly be able to spot some familiar scenes far on the outer edges of the arena, perhaps even a beast or two they know well from their worlds.

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It's muddy and damp and there's plenty of wreckage to cut one's self upon no matter where it is Tributes run. The Cornucopia tempts the Tributes in for its bloodbath. Districter and Offworlder alike, there will only be one winner.

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The gong rings out and a voice announces; “The Arena is now open”. The Tributes are free to make their choice; to run or to fight. The Games have begun.

~~~

By the end of the night, one child from each District will have their face shone up into the sky, the first twelve killed at the Cornucopia. Only twelve to go...

Comments

[lockedinthechrysalis]

Hemlock doesn't wait a second longer than she has to. The adults on their podiums tower over her, and she knows they're stronger and more skilled than her. Her only hope is that they won't catch her. So she's away from the podium as soon as she hears the gong, turning on her toes and sprinting away.

The pessimistic voice at the back of her head is saying Oh, what's the use? You're done for anyway. But Hemlock's survival instinct has seen her through years of hard living, and it balks at surrender. So she runs, runs with her legs pumping and her heart pounding, until she gets to the water, and then she stops dead. She can swim, in a doggy-paddle kind of way, but she's not going to be able to swim out over all that unthinkable reach of water, if there even is another side to it. Swallowing hard on the lump in her throat, she steels herself and starts walking, wary as a hunted deer, looking for cover and high places.

Eventually, she'll make it to the forest. But she's got a long, long way to go.

[ruffntumblenut]

Ruffnut wasn't necessarily following Hemlock really, she just wound up going the same way, wandering away from the Cornucopia studying her new pistols curiously. She'd held guns before and even used them but they always seemed different. The weight, the balance she gave the barrel a lick and sure enough it even tasted different from the weapons the peacekeepers used or the rifle she had one once in an arena.

Glancing ahead she saw an vaguely familiar girl and opted to see where she was going. She seemed to have a pretty good direction in mind.

[lockedinthechrysalis]

It's a few moments before Hemlock realises she's being followed. At first, she just quickens her pace, glancing back behind her and wishing like hell she had a weapon. I'm going to die, she thinks, and the biggest shock is that the thought still shocks her at all: it's like a douse of cold water down the spine. Not even a day in and I'm going to die. I'm never going home, not ever, never going to smell the sap and watch the cicadas come out or hear the crickets singing or...

Without really realising it, she's broken into a run again, edging along the bank of the water, shooting panicked looks behind her at the Tribute, who she half-recognises.

[ruffntumblenut]

Ruffnut pouts and picks up the pace as well. Why is she chasing this girl? No reason really she's just reacting and not in the most intelligent of fashion.

At least she's put the gun back in it's holster now. Her braids bouncing with each long legged bounding step.

[lockedinthechrysalis]

Ruffnut has longer legs than Hemlock, and so when Hemlock risks another look back over her shoulder, she sees the gap between them closing. She grits her teeth, and keeps running, but there's no visible cover nearby, and after a moment, when it's clear Ruffnut could catch her at any moment, the District girl gives in and wheels around.

"Do you think this is funny? If you're gonna kill me, kill me already!"

[ruffntumblenut]

"Whoa!" She skids to a clumsy stop windmilling her arms to keep from falling over.

"Geeze relax would ya! It's no fun fighting someone who doesn't want to fight. I'm not just killing the first person I see. Look at you! You don't even have a weapon."

Still something hauntingly familiar about this girl, but Ruffnut has the observational skills of a turnip some days and right now is one of those moments.

[lockedinthechrysalis]

Hemlock narrows her eyes suspiciously. "If you don't want to kill me, why're you following me?" She doesn't move to run away again, though, which is something. She figures that if this girl - Ruffnut? Was that her name? - doesn't want to kill her, there's no point in running towards something else that does.

[ruffntumblenut]

A shrug of her narrow shoulders "I 'unno. Seemed like something to do." She looked unsure if this was the brightest choice now.

"You seemed to have a pretty good idea where you were going." she added sounding slightly less impulsive. "And it didn't look like you could kill me." There, that's three solid reasons. That should do.

[lockedinthechrysalis]

"I don't know where I'm going," Hemlock lied. She'd seen the woods over the water by now, and was determined to get there, where she would know the terrain better. But she wasn't going to tell that to someone whose entire role her was as a killer. She wanted to be alone when she got to the forest, to hide and wait out the fighting. "I just wanted to get away from the Cornucopia, is all."

[ruffntumblenut]

"Well you're off to a good start. We can double back later and see if anyone overlooked a can of food or something." She mused thoughtfully. "Honestly I never come into these arenas with much of a plan. Get stuff at cornucopia, run away. That's usually it." She explained glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was following.

"Used to also include "Find friends" but most of the friends I had are gone now. I figure I'll just look for my buddy Hemlock and he and I can go find some place to set up camp."

And there was the first indication that Ruffnut was every bit as thick as her letters might indicate.

[lockedinthechrysalis]

Hemlock almost laughed. "He? You think Hemlock's a he?" Well, at least that confirmed that she was right about this being Ruffnut. Even if it also meant she was left wondering whether maybe she'd overestimated the Viking's intelligence when they were only communicating through letters. "Anyway, what makes you think you're buddies?"

[ruffntumblenut]

"What? He's not?" She looks honestly puzzled by that and then brightens up. "Oh! That means you know Hemlock? That's great you can help me look for him...her...them...whatever." She shrugs "There's lots of women in the Capitol I thought were guys anyway so that's nothing new."

Crossdressers. Such an elegant mystery to Ruffnut.

"Anyway we've gotta be friends. I didn't waste all my time making macaroni stuff for someone I didn't like. They seem pretty cool and their letters were way more fun to read then Snow's letters."

[lockedinthechrysalis]

"You already did the looking. And the finding." She crosses her arms, looking less frightened and more irritated by the moment. "I mean, I liked the pasta and everything, really I did, but I kind of figured you'd know me when you saw me. Guess that was pretty dumb, really."

And we'll skim over the part where it took her a while to recognise Ruffnut, as well. At least she knew what gender her penpal was.

[ruffntumblenut]

She beams happily, ignoring the look of irritation. "Oh awesome! Well that's gonna save us lots of time won't it?"

Step one: Get some weapons. Done
Step two: Find a friend. Mission accomplished.

"Yeah I guess I got some pictures and stuff but there were lots of kids in those pictures." And she never bothered to look at the back to read which one was Hemlock.

"Anyway you want a weapon? I've got these throwing star things, or I can give you a pistol?"

[lockedinthechrysalis]

"You're just going to give me a gun?" Hemlock sounds thoroughly sceptical, but she puts her hand out anyway. If Ruffnut really is criminally stupid enough to arm someone who's here to kill her, well, far be it from Hemlock to turn down the advantage. "Pass it over, then."

[ruffntumblenut]

"Well...yeah. I mean I have two of them so it's cool." She passes one of the guns to her with the holster.

"You know how to use that thing right?" She added with an edge of uncertainty after it's too late to take the gun back.

[lockedinthechrysalis]

She doesn't, but she isn't going to admit that. Instead, she buckles the gun to her hip and starts walking again. "Point it and pull the trigger," she says, with more certainty than she feels. "How hard can it be?"

[ruffntumblenut]

"More or less." Ruffnut seemed satisfied with that and was currently examining one of her throwing stars. "But ya gotta aim. The closer you are the better so you don't waste any bullets. And try to hit em somewhere important." Putting the star back in it's case she grinned her crooked grin. "We should be fine with these. We'll have a look around. Find some food and water and try to make sure you don't die too quick."

Given Ruffnut's track record, her deaths ranged from idiotic, and unlucky to wild and foolish so Hemlock was in semi-experienced hands.

[lockedinthechrysalis]

"If we get to the woods," Hemlock says, relenting and pointing out over the water at the dimly-visible shore, "I can make it. I know woods. I guess you might as well come too, if you're coming." Which was, in her grudging way, the closest thing to thanks she was willing to give at the moment. The pistol could make a huge difference here. She was willing to trade a little trust for it.