In the desert, you can remember your name.

[gamemakers]

Who| Group 2
What| Waking up in the desert arena
Where| Scattered around
When| Several hours after the Candy Cornucopia
Warnings/Notes| Deathroll will be coming soon to check out this arena's cornucopia and find out who dies between now and next week.

Make no mistake about it. The bloodbath of this Arena's Cornucopia was brutal. Half of the Tributes fell, a jerking, painful death. It is the highest death count in one day that recent memory can ascertain. It is shocking and unexpected, certainly a twist as far as those watching from the safety of the Capitol are concerned.

But it doesn't compare to what happens next. Because the Tributes that fell in in the bright candy hell don't wake up.

At least, not in the Capitol.

Not this time.

The fallen Tributes' eyes open, one by one, as the trackers in their arms let out an uncharacteristic jolt to bring them back to consciousness. They are not in their soft beds in the Training Center. They are not even in the Capitol. Instead, there is heat, more intense than that in the strange candy land that they had been in. A wind picks up, swirling dust and sand around them, stinging eyes and skin.

Everyone who was cut down is spread far and wide throughout this arena, still in their costumes, perhaps a little worse for wear.

"Good afternoon, Tributes." Claudius Templesmith's voice echoes through the air once all of the Tributes have been unceremoniously awoken. "And welcome to the second half of the Seventh Arena of the 75th Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favor."

And with that, they're on their own....

Comments

[shambler]

He kept getting the feeling he was losing track of the conversation here. R struggled gamely along. The fact was he didn't really feel like jumping Orc and Orc hadn't clobbered his head in, so they were basically at a stand-off.

"Why...hurt him?" R didn't jump to saying you should stop because he was the last person to start regurgitating stuff like that out. He'd almost taken a bite out of Howard himself, after all.

[paidinbeer]

That was a perfectly reasonable question. And Orc knew what the answer was.

I was drunk.

But there was a level of shame that made his stomach twist and flip before sinking to his knees.

"He was...bugging me. Wouldn't leave me alone." And so he had with a very heavy stone covered hand backhanded Howard forgetting his own strength. Things had changed between them after that.

Each step Orc took felt heavier, but he began to fear if he stopped walking he might sink to the ground and just lay there forever.

[shambler]

Even to a zombie, that didn't seem entirely cool there, R's face starting to scrunch up into confused dislike. The idea of hurting Howard just because he was, uh, prickly around the edges sometime didn't jive with him, R wondering if Orc was one of those other friends he'd mentioned in the last Arena. The ones that hurt him.

"Hope...you said...sorry," R grunt. "Keep...friends."

[paidinbeer]

Orc stopped once again, at this rate it'd be a wonder if he got anywhere.

"I...don't remember." he confessed straining his memory to think back to that moment. It was all a blur to begin with.

"Least I didn't kill him." He added with a mix of dark humor and self loathing.

Maybe could wrap it up soon? Trying to close some backtags if that is cool

[shambler]

That seemed like at least it was something, although knowing Howard, R wasn't sure if he'd be satisfied with that "at least". Considering how tiny Howard was, he was almost surprised Orc hadn't sat on him by accident. R stared up at Orc, then shrugged.

"Howard...will forgive," R said, thinking about how they'd somehow smoothed things over since the last Arena.

Sure! Sorry I'm so slow ^_^;;

[paidinbeer]

Orc didn't look so sure about that but he continued on trudging along in silence for a solid minute.

"He shouldn't." He muttered, "I'm not worth it."

But Howard would. Howard did. Howard always did.

And Orc continued as he always did with or without Howard.