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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2

1

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

[porcelainandsteel]

She'd told herself over and over again that it was all just a nasty trial, like having the pox as a child, something unpleasant but unavoidable. When she'd put it like that to herself, in the strange and wonderful light of her room in the Capitol, it was easy to feel strong and in control. She'd survived Joffrey, after all, and Cersei, and Father's death. What more could they throw at her?

In the light of the Arena, though, it was harder to believe that. From the moment Sansa rose up onto her platform, her heart was fluttering in her chest like a bird, and she was going to faint, she just knew it. If she was wrong... if they didn't like her, or if something went wrong...

She swallowed down the urge to scream or be sick, and focused on the countdown. There's a split second of hesitation, and then she hears someone shout, and she's running, fuelled by sheer animal instinct. She doesn't care where she runs to, so long as it's away.

[jackiewashere]

The urge to scream is echoed within Maglev. The panic is in her chest, foreign and animal and she doesn't like it. She recognizes other from District 6 around her, and some she infers to be from her District simply by their proximity and what she vaguely remembers from the Caesar show recaps. There's a girl younger than her here and she still can't put on a brave face. Oh, but she must. She knows already she'll be running far from the Cornucopia. She can't kill anyone, a weapon is useless to her. She doesn't know that when the countdown ends and the gong rings out, she's going to cry out; "Wait!" The girl, Sansa, shouldn't get too close to the bloodbath.

[porcelainandsteel]

Sansa glances back, her heart pounding. She doesn't recognise the girl shouting after her, or see any reason she should wait - is she really so gullible, so childish, to risk death just because some stranger yells after her?

Apparently, she is. There's plenty of rationalisations she could make for her brief, automatic halt, but in her heart of hearts she knows none of them are true. She's stopped because instinct told her to. No more, no less. After everything she's been through, orders still cut right through to the frightened little girl inside her.

"Why? So you can kill me quicker?"

[jackiewashere]

She looks stunned, as though it's really so unbelievable that, in a murder game, she might call out just to murder someone. It pulls her to a halt, and a very dangerous one. "No!" She says. I'm District six! Like you--" At least she thinks. "You're going to close to the Cornucopia. You could be killed out there." They could be killed anywhere. The Cornucopia just happens to be a particularly gory scene. She throws her hands up like she's about to surrender. "I wouldn't kill you, I swear!" Maybe to defend herself. She's not sure.

[porcelainandsteel]

Sansa hesitates. Then, against her better judgement, she takes a step back towards the other girl, her eyes wide, looking her up and down.

"I don't know you," she says, at last, and her eyes flicker towards the Cornucopia. Her whole body trembles with the need to break and run, to be away. She forces herself to stay put. "Are you the District girl?"

[jackiewashere]

"I..." The District girl. It's a strange thing to hear when all her life she's known nothing but the Districts. It was the Districts and the Capitol and she hadn't thought she'd ever go there. Even there she wouldn't be distinguished like that. "I guess I am." She sees the way the young girl trembles. She simulataneously wonders at herself not doing the same and feels ashamed that she, so much older, should even consider being anything but brave. She wishes she could be. "I won't hurt you."

[porcelainandsteel]

"It's not you I'm worried about," Sansa says honestly, and looks back towards the Cornucopia. "We shouldn't linger around here. They won't be fighting each other forever."

[jackiewashere]

Good, she thinks. At least that's out of the way. She doesn't even bother to lament that if Sansa isn't worried about her, no one else is going to be. Maglev's pretty sure that's a given. There's not a bluff she could come up with to make anyone believe otherwise. "You're right," She agrees. "Lets go. Quick. Do you have any...allies?"

[porcelainandsteel]

"My sister. Arya." Sansa bites her lip, starting to walk, not quite capable of letting go of her manners enough to break into a run. Not yet. "And Luna, in my District. I said I'd keep her safe."

She has no idea how she can possibly keep anyone safe, including herself. But she promised, even if only to herself. Lannisters aren't the only ones who keep their promises.