Arena 01: Ready, set, go!

[gamemakers]

There's no word, before they arrive, of what the Arena will look like, what hazards and advantages it will give to the Tributes. It was a topic of interest in the news coverage beforehand, it always is, but as always, it's a closely guarded secret of the Gamemakers. They're gathered from the Training Center, individually, and taken into the hovercraft, where everyone is implanted with a tracking device, buried deep in the muscle of their forearm. It's harmless, but cutting it out would not be.

The hovercraft delivers them to an underground bunker, with only their stylists, and there they receive their one advance clue about the Arena; their clothing. Each Tribute is dressed in thick cloth pants and shirt, given sturdy hiking boots with thin neoprene socks, and a short, weather-proof jacket with deep pockets and a plastic hood. Nothing more.

There's just time to say goodbye to the stylists when the countdown starts. Each Tribute is directed into a glass and metal tube, which then ascends. And the countdown keeps going, a loud projected voice.

25 - 24 - 23 - 22 - 21

It's noon in the Arena, the sun brilliant on water, on cliffs, on the snow high above them. Twenty-four pedestals stand in the span of a wide tide-flat, surrounded by stony mud encrusted with oysters, cut through with rivulets of glistening water.

18 - 17 - 16 - 15

Through the middle of their circle runs a thigh-deep river, the run-off of the massive waterfall that stands a short ways back in the woods, and in the middle of that is the Cornucopia, blinding gold in the sunlight, reflecting the sea and the trees and the mountains.

9 - 8 - 7

They've all been warned, don't step off your pedestal early.

4 - 3

2

And then the gong, rolling out to echo off the cliffs and water, seeming to ring forever.


[OOC: Don't forget the OOC Arena post, especially those of you running for the Cornucopia. And here are your fellow tributes. Every single one of you ought to post to this post. There will be a Cornucopia thread, and anyone else feel free to post as you will. Please add a tag with your character's name.]

Comments

Cornucopia!

[gamemakers]

Getting anything here is going to be cold and risky. The water is almost waist-deep, and comes straight from those snowfields so high above you.

Good luck!

[needsaprince]

Lottie is trembling as the count down clicks away.

This can't be happening. It just can't. She should be warm in bed, or eating at Tia's cafe of doing anything besides...besides...

No. She can't even think about it.

When the count down ends, she stands there for a moment, wide eyed and shocked, before the sudden splash of vivid red blood arching through the air kicked in instinct.

Turning away from the cornucopia, she ran.

[forgetfulmind]

It's only the heat of running that keeps her warm. Thank god for all those evening games of basketball with the guys, because otherwise she'd be out of breath, gasping, ready to die.

When the Cornucopia is out of sight -- really out of sight -- she slows to a fast jog (well, as fast as she can go, anyway), slides the quiver of arrows over her shoulder, and starts criss-crossing her way up the mountain. Higher ground is better, right?

She hopes she dries out sooner rather than later, but given how humid this place is, she doesn't really expect it.

[c_sec]

You'd have to be insane to run for the Cornucopia from the start. It's a tactical nightmare-- an open space with 23 anxious and desperate humans? Insane. Garrus is no stranger to death, but he he wants to try and win this, so he runs the opposite way-- he doesn't even bother looking back.

He's pretty much screwed for food if his sponsors don't go through-- and his knowledge of earth fauna is absolutely zero, so he's not taking any chances with plants, either. First, he'd find some high ground, second, find a nearby source of freshwater. His running takes him into the forest-- if he can just climb up a cliff and stay there, he should be safe for the night, at least. That, and some water, but it looks like that won't be hard to find here.

Staying close to a water source was probably the best place to take people out, too. Even without a weapon, a well-aimed rock could do some damage. Humans may not have a lot of fashion sense, but at least his pockets should be good for something.

Lily

[cried]

Lily is unable to breathe while she listens to the countdown. Her stomach doing flips, her heart beating against her chest as she's grabbing on some kind of courage to keep herself from becoming afraid.

To keep the DOG as far away as she possibly could, though she knew this will prove to be useless later on.

Her eyes scan around the area, noticing the others have their eyes set on whatever weapons or escape possible. Once her eyes see both a bag and knife just calling out her name, Lily gulps as she listens to the final seconds of the countdown.

3 - 2 - 1.

She immediately kicks off the pedestal, heading straight for her bag while paying attention to the other tributes.

Her body is light, and she makes it to her ideal bag and weapon much quicker than she could imagine. Peaking over her shoulder, Lily pays attention to the other tributes movements before she decides to quickly make her way out of the water. The lower half of her body drenched due to the chilling water, Lily pushed herself to quickly sprint towards the woods in order to distance herself from the others.