thearena | ARENA 02- let's get this party started

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ARENA 02- let's get this party started

There is a different tension in the air. This is the first time anyone has been returning to the arena, and it changes things. For the tributes that know, for those prepping them. It's all under the surface, waiting. The prep goes the same as before.

The tributes are taken from the Training Center, one by one, and placed into the hovercraft that will take them on a long, tense ride to the Arena. New tributes have a tracking device implants in their arm, old tributes have their's activated, a move so similar, so swift it would be hard to notice.

Left alone with their stylist, each tribute is dressed quickly, light colors, cotton fabric, sturdy boots. Nothing waterproof, and nothing that will help against cold, dark nights. Then they are set into the clear tubes, and go up to whatever waits above while the voice counts down.

25 - 24 - 23 - 22 - 21

It late evening, but the summer sun is still high and the day is hot over the ruined city that rises up around them. The air shimmers with it, hot, heavy, pressing down on the tributes.

18 - 17 - 16 - 15

The cornucopia, the only bright, new thing in sight besides the pedestals they stand on shimmer brilliantly in the sun, all the life saving supplies scattered around in, tempting and deadly.

9 - 8 - 7

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

4 - 3

2

The sound of the gong releasing them echos into the empty streets. Let the games begin.

[OOC: Don't forget the OOC Arena post, especially those of you running for the Cornucopia. 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.]

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Momoko had quickly found a perch on the second floor--she'd have preferred to be higher but the building barely looked trustworthy enough to enter, much less risk climbing to the top. She had a decent enough view, but unfortunately she was so focused on the Cornucopia, making only a mental note of the direction they went in when it came to the tributes who ran as Momoko had, she didn't realise she had company until she heard sounds coming from the floor below.

Though a large part of her wanted to simply stay huddled in her spot of relative safety, the thought of being cornered by some unknown foe forced her to move, slowly and softly to the top the stairs. There she peered towards the door. Upon recognizing not only one of the experienced tributes but the woman who had just recently bludgeoned a man to death, Momoko couldn't help the small, startled sound that escaped her. Slapping a hand over her mouth she drew back, out of sight again.

Ariadne didn't intend to cut any sort of intimidating figure; though all things considered, if she had been aware of it, she would have likely used it to her benefit. If that was what it took to get through the Arena alive, then so be it. But for now, she waited, listening carefully for any signs of people who might have followed her before she slumped down against the wall with a sigh.

And then she heard something.

Snapping her head back up, she began to glance around, scanning the room, the immediate area, the area just above her. "Hello?" She asked softly, trying to keep her voice as inviting as possible.

Eliot made his way to a nearby building. He licked his lips, despite how his dry mouth. He slipped quietly through the open doorway. He grimaced as the floorboard creaked under his feet.

"Hello?" he heard a young voice call.

Eliot froze and held his breath. The girl who had killed the man at the Cornucopia was young. He couldn't count on this girl's youth to deter her from trying to kill him.

Debating with herself for a split-second, Momoko decided impulsively that she shouldn't allow herself to look weak this early (her sprint away from the Cornucopia notwithstanding). Grabbing a board to hold behind her, just in case of sudden movements, she moved so that she and the other woman could see each other.

Before she could make any other movements or flimsy threats, however, she spotted someone else slipping into the building. She froze, panic making her thankfully silent. Oh god, why did she think hiding herself away somewhere without a a way out was a good plan? Not even in the Games an hour and she was already making possibly fatal mistakes.

Eliot gritted his teeth as he saw both the girl from the Cornucopia and another girl. He hefted a can, hoping that he wouldn't have to use it as a weapon. The thought of killing a child again after all these years nearly froze him.

He gasped quietly when he saw that the blond Asian girl had seen him. He shook his head, willing her to understand. He tucked a can under his arm and used his free hand to put a finger to his lips. Then he beckoned her to him.

Is the man stupid? Or does he think that Momoko's that stupid? The outrage at this thought breaks through her panic and Momoko can move again, adjusting her position to better keep both strangers in sight. She also shakes her head at the man, in case he was honestly expecting her to fall for that, and tightens her grip on her makeshift weapon.

Eliot sighed silently. He pointed at the dark-haired girl, drew a line across his throat, and pointed back at the Cornucopia. Then he held out his hand to her.

Ariadne had been about to speak again when Momoko came out, clearly defending herself, and held up both hands in a sign of being unarmed. She wasn't a threat.

But then she caught the other girl gesturing to someone else and turned towards the newcomer she hadn't heard in the scuffle of paying more attention to Momoko. A potentially dangerous game, she thought, tensing slightly.

"I don't want to hurt anyone."

Eliot's eyes narrowed at the brown-haired girl's words. "Tell that to the man you killed out there," he said quietly. "He was unarmed, completely disoriented. He wasn't a threat. But you killed him. And now you say you don't want to hurt anyone? I don't want to kill you, but I'm not gonna let you kill either her or me."

Momoko blinked, turning her full gaze to the man for the first time. He wanted to protect her? Was he forming some sort of alliance already?

"Darlin'," he said, holding his hand out to the Asian girl again. "I don't think you want to stay here with her. And I don't think you want to be one out there with no supplies."

"You don't know what supplies I have," said Momoko impulsively, and stupidly. Of course she didn't have any supplies, she'd ran like a frightened rabbit from the Cornucopia. She moves the board so she's holding at her side, like a bat but hopefully not threatening, just visible. "And I have no reason to trust you anymore than her."

Momoko stared at the man, genuinely confused at this point. Was he telling her he was going to kill the other woman? Because Momoko was fine with that, though she preferred not having to watch. Before she could react to his gestures the first intruder on Momoko's hiding spot spoke.

"Good," said Momoko in response, hoping she sounded tough and not--as she felt--terrified. She decided not to bring up the dead man at the Cornucopia. "I don't want to hurt anyone either right now."

"You've never been here before, have you?" She asked the man, staring him down warily. Ariadne was just as unarmed as the man she had killed, now face with two other Tributes who both had something to defend themselves with. She knew the answer to her question, of course; it was obvious. She hadn't seen either of them before.

"Everyone's a threat here. I couldn't say for sure if he wouldn't have killed me if I had helped him. And now I just want to catch my breath," she finally continued, glancing over to Momoko now, eyes imploring. She could tell that neither of them wanted to kill anyone. It was just this man who did. Fitting, she supposed, for the setting.

Eliot's eyes widened with comprehension. The girl was terrified and thought everyone was out to get her. Fair enough, considering the little bit he'd been told before he'd been thrown in here.

"If I wanted you dead kid, you'd be dead," he said calmly. "You're a kid, you're scared. I get that. And I don't want you dead. But I don't trust you not to stab me in the back."

"I've watched the videos," said Momoko. "I know how it works. Everything's kill or be killed at the Cornucopia." Which is why she'd avoided the whole massacre to begin with. She glanced at Ariadne's hard-won spoils. "Everything's kill or be killed everywhere else too. But sometimes you can work together. For a while," she adds, feeling horribly her age, a schoolgirl reciting rote lessons.

She glanced between the pair of them again, hoping that she didn't look as nervous as she felt; she'd always had a relatively good grasp on her emotions - a saving grace in the last Arena - but this one was already too different to make any kind of real comparisons.

Turning first to Eliot, Ariadne cracked a small smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I didn't plan on it. What would I have done so with?" A small waggle of tiny, delicate fingers, completely empty. She hadn't even had the chance to check her bag for what it held.

"Working together works better than paranoia. I know that much from experience."

Eliot nodded. "At least, for a while," he murmured. He pulled out the can tucked under his arm. He held it out to the blond girl. "Here. I know you don't have anything. You ran from that madness out there. There was no other way to get anything yet."

Momoko's outright staring now. She hadn't even offered anything in return yet, or agreed to work with him. She can't make herself move down the stairs just yet, he's acting so strangely she's half-certain it's a trap, half-certain he's simply an idiot, but she takes the risk of moving her makeshift weapon under her arm and holding out her hands, ready to catch the can if he gets the hint.

"For a while," she repeats, because stupid or setting a trap she can't really turn down an alliance at this point anyway. Besides, she's reasonably certain he could overpower easily, so there's no point in bothering with a trap.

He smiled at her, trying to reassure the tiny blond. He hadn't missed how skittish she was. "It'll give you something to drink, too," he said as he tossed it to her.

Those horrible hours in the Training Center apparently weren't a complete waste, as Momoko manages to catch the can on her. She's absurdly proud of this, as well as the fact that she's already made an ally in the Arena on the first day. Considering how she built it up in her head, things are going suspiciously well.

With only a moment's hesitation she starts moving down to the ground floor. Even if the other woman is lying about not wanting violence, she's outnumbered at the moment and apparently weaponless. Momoko feels secure enough to show some solidarity with her newfound ally, however temporary the situation turns out to be.

She still thinks he's kind of an idiot though.

Eliot moves to stand against a wall between the two girls, angling himself so he can see out the door.

He turns back to the brunette. "I'm not gonna harm you," he says softly. "You can stay until dark or go. But if you stay, I'm gonna be watching you. Just in case."

She isn't entirely certain if she can trust either of them, but she's willing to give it a try. "Until dark, and then I have to make my own way out there?" Ariadne asks, clarifying. She does need to find food, water, some kind of shelter that will make do for the time being.

Maybe someone she actually knows.

Eliot nods. "Yeah," he says, not trusting himself to say more.

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