Oh my love, I know you are the Candy Man

[gamemakers]

Although the mood in the Capitol is...taut, once the Tributes are in the transportation craft, things seem to lighten. The peacekeepers almost seem jovial - as jovial as peacekeepers ever seem. About half the Tributes are checked over and given an injection into their tracking device.

In the underground room, the stylists have all their prep teams running busy, dressing up the tributes in bright costumes, chatting with each other, clearly excited to have so much freedom over what their Tributes are wearing in. Each one is dressed in a personalized costume, elaborate, and entirely soft.

Finally the Tributes are placed on their pedestals and sent on up, all gussied up.

25 - 24 - 23

The light is blinding for a moment, before the candy-colored world around them comes into focus. And it's not just candy-colored - it is actually candy. Some Tributes might be reminded of the game Candy Land, if it was something in their home world. Music plays, scarily cute animals roam, and every thing just looks so gosh-darn happy.

20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16

The Cornucopia sits, candy-striped itself, and over-flowing with a generous bounty of food, weapons, and supplies. Even these all reflect the nature of the arena, brightly-colored, and cheerful-looking, just begging to be gathered up.

11- 10 - 9 - 8

They've all been warned not to step off their pedestal early. But as the final number ticks off, those Tributes that had their tracking devices adjusted in the transport suddenly feel a sting starting in their arms. A slightly diluted version of what Ariadne was given the day before is dumped in their veins.

The dilution doesn't help them, of course; it just causes the poison to take effect more slowly.

5 - 4

3

2

1

Go.

The burning is starting for half of them, spreading through their body, lighting their nerves on fire. Within 10 minutes it's effecting their motor skills, causing them to stagger, twitch, to move against their will.

Those who are small fall faster, barely lasting 15 minutes in the bloodbath. The stronger and bigger among them might make it 30 minutes at most.

By the time the bloodbath is over, the Cornucopia is surrounded by corpses. Half of the Tributes have fallen without even a single competitor having to touch them.


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

Those who were poisoned are anyone in group 2. You will have a second post up shortly.]

Comments

Doc Holiday

[doc_holi]

Holiday was scared. Just as scared as she was on the first arena, when they threw her to the Cornucopia by herself on that blizzard terrain right before she had met Aunamee. She was scared all over again and she knew it was stupid. They were going to make a show out of her before they finally killed her so why worry? She knew it would be this way from the start.

Why was she so scared?

5-4-3-

Dressed in some robes, Holiday took a deep breath before letting it out again. It was almost time and fear wouldn't matter anymore. She eyed the things scattered around the horn and picked out what she wanted. Running away from the Cornucopia was sure death, especially in an arena that looked like this. Nothing the Gamemakers gave to them on a silver platter was free.

2-

Rebecca closed her eyes and took a deep breath again. She thought of trees, moving trees, with giant monsters walking along beside her. She thought of a dark room lit by a single red light with only a piece of glass separating her from what used to be her life.

1

Her eyes flew open and she ran.

Re: Doc Holiday

[celebrityskinned]

It's when Holiday's finally running away from the Cornucopia that Venus, dressed like Catwoman without the mask, collides with her, in a graceless manner that isn't suited to how she normally moves. She's got good endurance, but she's exhausted now, frustrated by not scoring anything or making any kills at the Arena, and she chooses to look back over her shoulder at the exact moment that Holiday crosses her path.

Venus slams into Holiday and the two of them tumble over each other. Venus scrambles to get her hands and feet under her and looks in surprise at the woman next to her on the candy-coated ground.

[doc_holi]

Holiday lands hard against... what she supposes is earth. From her scuffle in the Cornucopia, her left arms is now gone and most of the white robes she had worn when entering the arena were stained a deep red. At least she managed to wrap a bit, but she would have to give it a proper tourniquet before she bled to death. Running into someone and falling on the ground wasn't in her plans, though, and it just jostled all of the pain right back at her with the added problem of trying to get up before this woman decided to kill her... or take another limb.

[celebrityskinned]

Venus only barely registers that Holiday's missing an arm. She lunges forward and grabs Holiday's shoulders, pinning her back against the ground.

"Hold still," she hisses.

[doc_holi]

The world goes white again and Holiday screams out in pain. It's the words that brings her back, though, and reminds her where she is. Rebecca snarls, suddenly bucking against Venus and doing anything but holding still.

[celebrityskinned]

"Stop it!" Venus is beyond witty one-liners or being calm and collected. She's desperate now. She shoves Holiday down against and starts to forcibly rummage through Holiday's outer clothing to see if there's something to take.

[doc_holi]

Holiday has absolutely nothing on her. The Cornucopia, if Venus couldn't tell, ended up going very badly for the doctor.

"Get off!" she growled, trying to move more. As much anger was in the moves, it was still pretty weak.

[celebrityskinned]

"Shoot," Venus says, because she doesn't want to swear on television. That doesn't get viewers unless it's well-placed.

"You got nothing." Venus pushes Holiday back to the ground, gets up and runs off.

[doc_holi]

Holiday could have told the woman that... Honestly, she should be grateful that she was just killed, because Venus had the perfect opportunity to do so. As it is, Holiday stays low for a minute, not really caring too much if someone randomly ran by and slit her throat.

After a hesitant moment, Holiday rises again with her good arm and starts to move into the more dense candy-coated foliage. She can't move fast, but maybe she didn't really have to...

[and_my_pickaxe]

In a dead sprint towards the Cornucopia, heels and all, Lin's eyes fell on a beautiful set of shortswords glistening pink in the light. She'd decided immediately those were hers, and it was just too fucking bad for everyone else.

Black wig whipping against her cheeks, Lin craned her neck to survey her competition, Tributes that ran neck and neck with her. A pedestal nearby had released a pretty young woman with black hair, her white robes trailing in the wind. The laywer looked ahead: where their trajectories met there laid a backpack of supplies.

Lin glared at the woman with an almost animal snarl, and picked up speed. She'd get the swords, then the bag, if she had to tear it out of the other woman's cold dead fingertips first.

[doc_holi]

In the last Cornucopia, Holiday had gotten very lucky. Back then, she had eyed the same pack that Wyatt had decided to go for and in his honorable nature he had given it to her rather than fight.

She didn't expect the same treatment in every arena from every tribute, of course, but she was still unused to how cruel the Cornucopia could really be. So in her brief moment of ignorance, Holiday ran for the same bag as the woman. She looked small enough. She could take her.

At least her long legs was seemingly allowing her to get there first.

[and_my_pickaxe]

Lin feigned that she was going for the bag, staring dead ahead at it while her peripheral vision was secretly following her true prize. The distance closed between them, the two of them were nearly upon the pack, when Lin decided to spook her competitor. She zigzagged, at first making a motion as if she were going to lunge onto the other woman and start a fight, when she turned on a dime and suddenly took off for the swords a few meters ahead. She hoped the woman would flinch, or would lose her balance trying to block a tackle that would never come.

[doc_holi]

Holiday did exactly what Lin expected. She flinched to protect her side and swerved to the side a bit, but her destination for the pack was still very much so in her line of sight. The other woman branching off and going in a different direction gives Rebecca a bit of hope.

[and_my_pickaxe]

Without slowing down to look back, Lin eventually reached the crystal swords before anyone else, seizing them with a triumphant laugh. Hers! Her confidence soared, relieved that she hadn't been struck down right out the gate. Now she felt as though she had nothing to fear.

Allowing only a second to catch her breath, Lin also took the opportunity to grab a quiver of arrows and their bow. Egged on her by freshly-inflated ego, Lin spun around to see if Holiday was still nearby, and began to pursue her. Mid-sprint she threw the quiver onto her back, hung the bow around her neck and grasped both shortswords in her hands. Like some Amazonian raider she charged forward, a crooked grin hanging on her face. She wanted that bag, needed it, and this prima donna would even kill to get it. She'd done it once before, she told herself... this time shouldn't be much different.

[doc_holi]

Holiday had already grabbed up the pack with her left hand. It was by chance that she looked back up to see Lin barreling after her again, armed this time.

She maybe had a breath of a moment to get away. Half of it was spent in hesitation and fear, unfortunately. The rest of her finally decided to move on the latter half. She hooked the handle of the pack on her elbow and started to run at a ninety degree angle from Lin. Thanks to the hulking Cornucopia and other fights breaking out, it was really the only route she could take.

Glancing around gave her a good picture of what was happening to about half of the tributes, though... Punchy. Wyatt. She couldn't stop right now. As soon as this woman was off her trail, she could help them.

AND THE SLOWEST RPER AWARD GOES TO...

[and_my_pickaxe]

Lin nearly fell over herself changing her angle to head Holiday off, trying to shorten the distance between them. But Lin was a moment too slow to cut her off and she soon found herself behind the woman - their speed nearly matched, a stalemate. The woman gasped involuntarily as she spoke, the springing just beginning to do her in. "Don't you run away from me...!"

She did her best to leap forward in a swipe, missing her target but perhaps threatening her: the blades broke through the wind in a loud thwap!. It seemed as though now it would come down to who ran out of stamina first - or tripped. "Did you hear me, bitch?!" Unwilling to take the risk that it might be her, Lin stuck a shortsword between her teeth and fumbled for her bow.

/CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP

[doc_holi]

Holiday had zero intentions of stopping. She wanted to actually stay in this place longer than a few seconds, as odd as that seemed. The sword missing her by mere inches was indeed horrifying. Taking a look back could be the end of her, so she had two options. Continue running and hope to lose the woman or turn and fight.

... Holiday was unarmed. Facing the woman would be a terrible call. She had to continue on, but dodging that blade had been only luck...