Cornucopia: The Sequel

[x5452]

WHO| Everyone going back to the Cornucopia
WHAT| Picking on the leftovers. Who lives? Who dies? Who looks exceptionally smashing in their Tribute unforms?
WHEN| Two days in
WHERE| The Cornucopia.
WARNING/NOTES| Violence! Possible salty language!


Max made slow headway toward the Cornucopia. Even while her genetic enhancements were being suppressed, she still had sharp eyes and could move with great stealth. Pausing, she half turns while keeping her eyes on the area to murmur to the others with her.

"Lottie, you and Tony think you can manage to collect some things? Don and I will keep an eye on you both."

She sees a spot that looks like it might be clear for a snatch and grab and gestures that she intends to move forward unless her team tries to stop her.

Comments

[needsaprince]

So when the fighting started, Lottie did well to get her self twisted round.

Everything looked the same. And the same was awful. She gripped her bags, following similar logic as Momoko. Get out, meet up with everyone later. She nearly run into the other girl, before letting out a shriek and falling back, holding her bag of cans before her.

And then recognition sets in.

"Oh Momoko!"

sorry for the delete typos were bugging me

[cowardfacinghappiness]

Momoko spins, the fear at the shriek and being spotted quicker than the recognition. She stares at the woman before her for a blank moment before it hits her.

"Charlotte!"

Though she first knew of Charlotte from watching her in the last Arena, it's still jarring to see the woman in a set of dirty, drab clothing that matches Momoko's, so different from her usual style. She steps forward, then hesitates, not sure of the etiquette in this situation. For a brief moment she looks at the bag Charlotte holds and thinks of knocking her down and taking it. If there's anyone in the Arena Momoko has even a chance of taking out on her own...

But she doesn't. For whatever reason, instead, she looks past her at the Cornucopia, then reaches out for her hand. "Come on, we have to get out of sight."

[needsaprince]

"Oh thank God."

Lottie was worried for a moment there,because, really, you should be worried by everyone in this arena. But she grabbed Momoko's hand, moving quickly so they could get out of the open.

Maybe she could talk Momoko into joining them.

[cowardfacinghappiness]

Momoko let herself be dragged to a hiding spot, stopping them when she felt safe. And, frankly, tired. They're not all that far from the Cornucopia but Momoko's endurance has never been high even in the best of times, which these were certainly not. She tries to pull Charlotte down into a crouching position, holding a finger to her lips, and listening hard. Was the fighting over yet? Could they even hear it from here?

[theworsekind]

Tate crept up behind the two girls- finding them in sort of a crater caused by who knows what surrounded by chunks of whatever building used to be there. He knew if he startled them one or both of them would shriek, causing the others to come running, ending his fun prematurely. Evidently in his mind just walking up to them plain as day seemed like the better alternative.

He had been crouched until he was a mere 5 feet away from them when he revealed himself from behind part of a grey brick wall. "Hello ladies." The slight smile on his lips was rather disturbing when accompanied by a make-shift knife in his hand.

[cowardfacinghappiness]

Momoko moves quicker than she has in her entire life, springing to her feet and spinning to face--Tate. She swallows a shriek, schooling her expression from wide-eyed shock and fear to something flatter, deadpan. Tate, the boy she shares a meaningless District assignment with, the boy who promised to kill her when their time in the Arena came.

He's also the boy who thinks she was trained by her Yakuza hitman father. "Hello, boy," she says, injecting as much scorn as possible into her voice. This is not a situation where looking cute and helpless is a good idea.

[needsaprince]

"Tate!"

Lottie's voice was weak, a mixture of fear and guilt. The boy she had let died. Even if she had no option....but she had. She could have grabbed him. Helped him.

Taking a shaky step back, she stared up at him wide eyed.

[theworsekind]

"Sorta, you know funny finding both of you here." He smirks, eyeing them like two new toys he isn't sure which to pick up first. "What? Are you friends?" Tate could see the anger in Momoko's eyes and the fear in Lottie's- both just throw fuel into his fire. "That's cute."

"I think I owe you both-" He makes his shank visible. "A little...something."

[cowardfacinghappiness]

"We're allies," Momoko snaps, tightening her grip on the board in her hand to stop the trembling. It looks even flimsier in the face of Tate's own makeshift weapon. She glances at it and then Tate's face, not sure what she should keep her eyes on. "There's two of us and one of you," as far as she can tell, though she's too afraid to let Tate out of her sight to check properly, "And others coming." Probably. Maybe. If they haven't all killed each other yet, they'll at least want their hard-won bags and will follow. Right?

[needsaprince]

"Look, Tate, I'm sorry about before, but this isn't the way to handle things."

Although her words are diplomatic, her body is following Momoko's lead, feet planting apart, ready to use the bag in her hands as a weapon if need be.

Don was right. She should have trained herself.

[theworsekind]

"Allies. That is cute." he commented. "I've got allies." He decided to mention, without hinting to where this person was hiding or how many there were. "But they're not like me. I tend to kill people up close and personal, but they prefer to shoot them from afar." He paused to let that sink in. "So are you so sure that you've got me so outnumbered?"

"You're sorry?" He squinted when he turned to Lottie as if he couldn't believe she would say such a thing. "I died!" He had to be mindful to not raise his voice and be heard by anyone else, but felt reassured that Kevin had his back. His eyes went to her hands and watched them wielding the bag as if it were a weapon, only causing him to smirk in amusement.

He did just want to laugh at these girls with their "weapons." Granted he knew that if he went for one, the other would somehow strike him, but weighing what they held, that bag that Lottie had would do the least amount of damage. So he began to walk carefully, taking each step without a sound and appearing to be approaching them equally when really he had his target already.

[cowardfacinghappiness]

Momoko was torn between a strong desire to keep her eyes on Tate and the sudden itching feeling on her back when he mentioned his own allies. It's possible he's lying, even probable he's lying, considering in their little interaction he seemed far too volatile to be able to work with others. But this is the arena, who knows who Tate's run into in here, and it's too dangerous to just assume he's truly outnumbered.

She turned her head slightly, towards Charlotte, and murmured, "Back to back," hoping she would understand and follow directions.

[needsaprince]

Lottie gave her the smallest nod of her head. The idea of someone out there, lurking...well, she didn't exactly like her back being unguarded either.

"Don't forget you were trying to kill me too, sugar." She said, voice low, sympathy starting to sap away. She hadn't wanted to be in that position either. "You're fine now, aren't you?"

[theworsekind]

Tate looked to Lottie like he despised her. He couldn't even respond to her calling him sugar. She didn't even need to know him to know he was anything but.

"Fine?" he looked puzzled repeating her words, making steps closer to them both, but locking his eyes on Lottie. "Do I look fine?" He pauses eyeing both of them before looking back to her. "Are you fine?"

He used this question as a distraction the second before he moved to the side to lunged at Momoko, shank in hand and taking a swing towards her.

Feel free to disarm her, Tate! :D

[cowardfacinghappiness]

Despite trying her hardest to be aware Momoko shrieked when Tate moved suddenly, dropping her own bag and bringing the long board up instinctively as a shield against the sharp metal coming towards her. With all her posturing before this, she'd never thought about how useless it was as a weapon in close range.

[needsaprince]

Lottie's answer was on her lips when he lunged and she let out a cry of her own.

Not sure what to do, she twisted, swinging her bag of can at him. It was heavy, and she prayed it would help.

[theworsekind]

Dumb bitches just have to scream! Tate growled as he suddenly made his moves quicken. Momoko's use of the board as a shield worked well when he was able to pull back and slash at her right hand in an effort to make her drop it.

He felt Lottie's bag smack him, but felt no pain as a result so he reacted and threw an arm her way in hopes to knock her down and out of the way.

[cowardfacinghappiness]

Momoko winced at the impact of the strike on the board and that combined with her efforts to dodge the next slash loosened her grip enough that it fell from her hands and clattered to the ground. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe.

This wasn't like staring down a couple dozen gullible, superstitious bikers, this was far too fast and terrifying and all she could do was throw her arms up in an even flimsier shield than the board and try to move out of range. Unfortunately this meant trying to move backwards through uneven terrain and it was only a step or two before her foot caught in a pothole and she stumbled, sprawling on the ground.

[needsaprince]

Lottie shrieked as she fell backward from his shove, thrown off balance. But she had to help Momoko anyway she could, and so she kicked out, trying to catch Tate, even a little.

She couldn't let him get her friend.

[theworsekind]

Tate followed Momoko to the ground, he wanted her dead more than Lottie right now. Acting tough and thinking she stood a chance- or at least that was how he was beginning to perceive her. However when he went down he felt Lottie's grip on his arm. It seemed like a confused grip, as if she really didn't have any idea what she was doing so he did his best to wiggle free.

He was suddenly surprised by the tightness of her grip, which took more effort than he had expected to get free from. As a result a hard yoink of his arm inward was needed, but it caused him to drop his shank. None the less he was already on the ground now and closer to Momoko. So with another swing towards Lottie to get her out of the way, he would turn back to Momoko and go straight for her throat with open hands.

[needsaprince]

Lottie stooped down with her, shifting the bags so that she could clutch them to her chest. It had not been easy to grab this, she wasn't going to let someone snatch it from her because she set it on the ground and wasn't paying attention. It was hers. And her teammates. But right now mainly hers.

Trying to get her heavy breathing under controls, she listened too. There were awful sounds, but they slower now.

"It's almost done." She finally whispered.

[cowardfacinghappiness]

Momoko shifts her own baggage, juggling for a moment before finally cracking open the bag slightly so she can slip the spare can inside, holding that in one hand and gripping the only weapon she has in the other. The long, thin board feels suddenly much flimsier now, without the sturdy Eliot or experienced Ariadne at her back. Or front, preferably.

"Yeah," she breathes, nodding but not moving. She doesn't want to risk going back, who knows who won anyway, but as exposed as they are outside she also doesn't want to leave this relative safety to sprint across the open to a better spot. She doesn't know what to do next and she hates it.

[theworsekind]

Spotting Lottie when she screams and calls out Momoko's name like an idiot Tate couldn't believe his eyes. He actually smiles and releases a silent chuckle. What luck to get the two tributes he's learned to hate the most in one place. Not to mention they both had bags. He knew Kevin had his back so he would creep around the dilapidated building, using the walls as cover while watching and waiting to see where they would be so stupid as to stop and have this dumb reunion.

[talkaboutme]

Kevin followed closely behind him, not bothering to say anything. The one tribute was the girl who had offed him (albeit by mistake) in the last round, and they both seemed weak and annoying enough to be worthy targets anyways. How did tributes like that even manage to make it beyond the Cornucopia? No doubt by cowering and running like frightened prey.

They were chatting so loudly, too. Survival instincts were obviously not gifted to these ones. Well, wherever there are predators, there has to be prey.

[theworsekind]

Tate only pauses for a moment looking back at Kevin, having a smirk on his face know the two of them were thinking the same thing - that this was ridiculously easy. Almost to the point of being a joke. However he nodded his head towards the others before he began to move towards the two girls, signaling to Kevin to watch his back because the rest of the tributes could notice them at any time. Regardless, Tate wasn't yet sure if he wanted to snatch the bags from the girls more or if he was in greater anticipation of offing them.