thearena | Things you see in a Graveyard (open)

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Things you see in a Graveyard (open)

Who: Sandy, anyone who wants to visit or torment her.
What: Sandy's lurking in the graveyard.
Where: The Graveyard in NO Square
When: Second week, night time, after the tea party
Warnings: None yet, but let's roll those dice.

It was dark and musty in the graveyard, but in the days she had spent hiding out here Sandy had grown accustomed to it.

Even the scent of damp soil and moss was comforting to her as she idly sat beneath a fake stone statue of an angel. The same one she had seen the creepy man with glowing eyes under once upon a time.

Her skin was stiff and firm, the same color and pattern as the tombstones she took refuge in. An excellent way to hide when the shadows came creeping along the path just beyond the grass.

It was lonely in this part of the park. Most of the tributes were spending more time in the middle of the park or to the farther end. But Sandy had been lonely for a long time before being kidnapped to this awful living nightmare.

She had done some creeping about, but the more time she spent away from her territory the more she became convinced that it was safest where her powers still worked. But all this time alone had given her time to think. And she didn't like the thoughts lingering in her mind.

Maybe it really would just be best to throw herself into the river and see if she could sink to the bottom. Surely by the time she lost control and started clawing for the surface it would be too late and she would drown.

And then she'd be spirited away back to the capitol where she was...still miserable. But at least comfortable.

It made sense. But it gnawed at her guts and made her squirm. Why?

Her stomach grumbled and she slid off her seat to kneel down and dig through her bag and take out one of the teacakes she had snagged from the Tea party. Maybe she'd feel better after a snack.

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Ian had started off by hiding and then went exploring, but trying to avoid other people if he could. When he came to the graveyard he was glad to see Sandy was all right and he smiled as he approached her. "Where did you get that?" He'd been living on ducks and berries, nowhere had he come across anything like tea cakes.

She looked like a little stone statue, and the closer he got the more he would see it wasn't just a trick of the moonlight.

She tensed when she first heard his approach, and only relaxed a little when she saw who it was. "That feast they mentioned on the announcements? I went and grabbed a couple. I got lucky though. Not everyone made it back."

"Oh." He'd had a feeling that staying away from anything that was announced would be a good idea and he'd been right. "I'm glad I didn't go in that case."

He sat down beside her and realised there was something wrong with her skin. "What happened to you?" he asked, frowning at her.

"Huh?" She seemed confused and looked herself over for a wound or an injury. She had spent so much time in this form she'd actually forgotten that she was currently a living statue.

"Oh you mean this?" She tapped her cheek making a sharper sound then it would have made on flesh.

"Er, yes." He was startled to see that she didn't seem to be worried about it. It didn't look good or sound good and couldn't possibly be healthy.

"I'm a freak." She explained in a dull tone. Clearly she didn't like the term but it was the only one she could think of.

"I was born able to do this. I'm not supposed to at home but I figured it was safer this way."

Ian was still a bit lost. "Born to do what? Have skin like stone?" He couldn't see the use of that at all.

She just laughed bitterly and for a moment, just a moment let her skin fade back to normal. Concrete softened into flesh and hair once more.

"Everyone is born with something they can do. Something that comes naturally. Some people are really good at piano. Some people are really smart. I've got two things I do right. Running, and turning to stone."

She wasn't doing a great job of explaining it but that was OK. She wasn't in a hurry.

He was relieved for a moment to see her looking more normal. But he was confused at her explanation. "But turning to stone isn't natural." As soon as he said it he realised that she might be offended by that, so he quickly added, "I mean there's no biological way it's possible."

She simply shrugged her narrow shoulders "I don't understand how it works. I just know some people are born with special powers. And those people were called dangerous and unnatural so New York locked them all away." And they would have done the same to her if she'd ever gotten caught.

"I can understand why." At least at that part of it made sense. "People are afraid of what they don't understand."

"But it's dumb!" She complained, "Most of them weren't even doing anything wrong. And the ones like my dad..." She stopped herself and looked away, annoyed that she had been about to open up and share family issues with some stranger.

"I know," he said softly. "But that's just what people are like. Some of them." He wondered if he should change the subject to something happier - if there was a happier subject when they were stuck inside an arena designed for everyone to kill everyone else.

"Your ability must be an advantage here." He imagined her skin would be harder to penetrate.

She couldn't help but smirk at that.

"Yeah well...it only works on this side of the park. Whenever I leave I'm just as vulnerable." She explained shrugging her shoulders.

"But it beats having to live without them again."

He frowned. That didn't make sense, but then an awful lot about this place didn't. "Beats living without what?"

"The powers." She explained feeling a little wary of stepping back into her memories.

"I couldn't use my powers at home. If anyone saw me use them I'd be shot first and arrested if I survived."

He frowned, not liking the way it sounded like such a severe form of discrimination. "You have another ability you'd be shot for?"

Now it was Sandy's turn to look puzzled, "No, just this one. That's the only excuse they need." And honestly being shot was preferable to some of the horror stories she'd heard from kids who they'd caught.

"Most people don't even need that much of an excuse. Throughout history people have always found a reason to hate one another." He shook his head. "I'd like to think the population grow more enlightened in the future, but I fear they won't."

"Not at the rate my world was going." She explained. "The last thing I remember, there were sludgy tar monsters falling from the sky. They were full of teeth and claws and tongues." And she had only barely outrun the monsters chasing her.

"Oh." He frowned. "Maybe they need people with abilities like yours to defeat the monsters, they just don't know it yet."

"pffft!" That made Sandy laugh. "Are you kidding? I'm just...well look at me. They're big huge hunks of muscle with all the high tech weapons. And the low tech ones. What could I do that hand grenades couldn't?"

He thought about that for a minute, trying to come up with a good answer, but he just didn't have one. "Maybe not," he admitted. "Perhaps you're better off here."

Sandy clearly wasn't sure about it either and resumed scanning the area for any shadows or beasts that might be sneaking up on them.

"Either way I'm gonna die. At least here there's more room to run and hide. And it's not always raining."

"You never know, you might not." He didn't sound that confident, though. Someone had to win, but he wasn't sure it was likely to be either of them.

She gave him a dry look.

"I'm not a kid...I mean...yeah OK I am but I'm not stupid." Or hopeful. Optimistic. Not even reasonably doubtful.

"All right." But he couldn't help but look on the bright side for other people's benefit. Especially a child's. "I hope you die quickly." That was all he could offer for reassuring and truthful.

At that she actually smiled. A shy half a smile, and she took one of her tea cakes breaking it in half and passing the half to him.

"That's the spirit. I hope the same for you."

He smiled back and took the half a tea cake. "Thank you."

Someone is watching from above. Parker's hiding in the eaves of the Haunted Mansion, busy killing spiders and making midnight runs for oranges.

She doesn't often see people, and she has no idea if this is a person she can tolerate, or foe.

Only one way to find out.

An orange drops from above, as though falling from some sort of invisible orange tree. There isn't any evidence of the tosser -- she's ducked back over the roof line.

Sandy heard the sound and froze, turning slowly and scanning the area nervously. Cautiously she rose and approached the orange, prodding it with her over sized hat pin.

When she determined it wasn't dangerous she stood up tall and scanned around again. "Who's there?" She called out trying not to sound as scared as she absolutely was.

"Hands up!" Parker shouts in her best FBI voice, without peeking over the edge of the roof.

She hasn't tossed down an orange with bits of metal in it. No, she's saving those for anyone who attempts anything.

If there's a loud sound, it's a spider getting stabbed before it has a chance to bite. Parker's already had one of those.

"Any weapons?!"

At the authoritative sound of the voice, Sandy instinctively did what she always did when police were shouting at her.

She bolted.

Moving like a hyperactive blur she sprang over a tombstone and scrambled around another to hide behind a larger statue vanishing from sight for the time being.

Then it dawned on her that she was likely not being chased by the police.

"Well yeah, but it's just a hatpin. Not exactly deadly. Especially in my hands." She wasn't sure she could effectively kill someone even if had a rocket launcher.

Parker can't blame the girl for running. It's Parker's default reaction as well. In a weird way, it makes her understand the girl more.

"And I tossed an orange. Not dangerous if it hit you on the head." Not entirely true. "Unless it has explosives." Hold on, one more thing. "I don't have explosives."

A little hand that appeared to be made of stone popped up from behind the statue giving her a thumbs up despite not knowing where Parker was.

"Good to know! I've got a folding knife too but seriously...I couldn't even catch one of these stupid ducks to eat." The knife had been an after thought. But if it made this person less likely to try and kill her she'd be honest. Besides what was the harm? She could still run for it.

A hatpin and a folding knife can be deadly. Parker knows this from experience, but if the other girl has no idea how that works, she's not going to be enlightened.

"Rats are easier, if you don't care they're rats."

But Parker, remembering what Sophie taught her, tosses down another orange, if the girl's that hungry.

For something called The Hunger Games, Parker's far more well fed in this arena than the last.

"Food is food I figure." She reasoned out loud. When the orange came back down she leaned out from her hiding space long enough to pluck it up before ducking back to the cover.

Finally she took a deep breath, let it out and stood up to scan the direction Parker's voice had come from.

"Have you been in there the whole time I've been out here?"

"No." Yes.

Parker's not telling the truth to someone she doesn't know.

Then again, throwing the orange felt like the right thing to do. Sometimes, Parker remembers she's supposed to do the right thing.

Well that made Sandy extra uncomfortable. She hadn't even noticed anyone going in or out of the house! How long had she been watching her?

"Well thanks for not like...coming out here to kill me while I sleep or whatever."

Parker's a little hard to spot. She's not one of the best thieves in the world for nothing. People don't see Parker unless she wants to be seen.

"Why do that? Sort of says hey person in here."

She thinks that sounds perfectly reassuring.

Sandy rolled her eyes.

"Obviously you'd hide the body, if ya know. The Capitol didn't snap up my body which they do."

"But I don't want to kill you."

Didn't she make that clear? In Parker's mind she did.

"I don't mind you there."

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Things you see in a Graveyard (open)

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