Still kickin' in Arena 1

[doc_holi]

Who: Doc Holiday and open
What: Killing doki-dokis, being scary, having one arm, etc. Open to all!
Where: Candy Arena, near or around Milkshake Lake
When: Early Week 4 at anytime
Warnings: possible violence and the other usual stuff


Holiday stayed motionless as the arena was plunged into total darkness again. Disorienting wasn't a good enough word for this. Not only did she not know how long she had been in this place (it felt like eternity) but she also had no handle on a sleeping pattern. The latter might have been a good thing, though... Still, going instantly from bright to dark was really annoying in a place where everything was trying to get the drop on you.

The heavy blood loss and shock was still wearing down on her, but Holiday had been doing considerably better since then. Her left arm was still gone, of course, but she was managing. Honestly, it was luck she was alive. A fight hadn't come her way since the Cornucopia decades ago.

She did make Chris go his separate way, but she had a feeling he didn't go too far. That was fine with her. So long as Holiday wasn't weighing him down, that was fine. Chris had a real chance of winning this one if he could last just a little longer. For now, she was just focusing on getting by. Her gifts of food and water had come at a surprising and thankful twist. Perhaps Jack saw something in her that she didn't. It was enough of a motivation to keep her moving.

Finally, her eyes had adjusted again. Soon enough, the blinding day would be back and it would be another panic attack of who was where, but it wasn't right now. Holiday let out a silent breath and continued to move. Migrating was key.

Comments

[doc_holi]

"I watched one for a little while, but I steered clear of the others. They attract too much attention." She took a small sip of the water she had received. Didn't want to waste it, after all.

"That's good to hear. Better than nothing... Still, I'm glad that they aren't... officially dead, you know."

[undercoverprincess]

"Yeah, that's what I should have done after two of them popped up." She looked down at her leg with a frown. She didn't make that mistake again, but it had still been made.

"Me too." When she looked up, she gave a crooked smile. "I've held enough hands of dying friends to last a life time, and that was just in a few minutes into this whole thing. So what happened to your arm?"

She paused. "Actually, what happened to you all around? How have you been getting around on your own like this?"

[doc_holi]

Ah, her arm. Holiday shrugged. "Just got it chopped off at the Cornucopia by someone who wanted the same bag as me. To be expected, I suppose. I've only lasted this long because I got it cauterized by a friend. The rest was my own medical know how.

"Getting around has been... an experience, so to say." She hoped between groups of friends like it was going out of style lately, but Holiday managed just fine on her own, more or less. "How have you been holding up?"

[undercoverprincess]

"Right off the bat at the cornucopia, or did you just wander on down there after the whole blood bath was over?" Cindy had to ask. She'd almost lost her pack, but all she'd gotten was a few good bruises and cuts from it. Almost been bitten, but wasn't, so she was good.

"I'm pretty amazed, I'll have you know. If I lost an arm, I probably wouldn't have made it this far." When she looked off to the side, she sighed. "Not too bad. I've had a partner every so often, but they keep dying, and not by my hand. So, mostly alone. Trying not to be seen. You know, doing what I have to, to survive without doing too much."

[doc_holi]

"Right off the bat," Holiday grumbled. This hasn't been a wonderful arena for her, but she takes the compliment with a nod at least. "Those three doctorates are finally paying off, I say."

Holiday nods again. "I've been alone for the most part, too. Seems better that way."

[undercoverprincess]

"Definitely paying off," Cindy laughed to laugh out loud with that. She didn't have three doctorates, but knowing someone who did? What was that saying, the wild was the great equalizer? It was both nice and terrible.

"It does. But it gets lonely. So, if we've got a truce going... maybe we could stick together for a little bit. I'd love someone to talk to besides myself, and a couple of doki-doki."

[doc_holi]

Holiday smiled at the request. "I would like that. Don't let me hold you back, though. I have a feeling I'm not Victor material this go around."

[undercoverprincess]

"Hey, don't talk like that," Cindy smiled. If they were friends, and now allies, she could give a little bit of a pep talk. "You never know. Everyone could get killed a giant, chocolate flood, and so long as you can paddle around with one arm, you're set for winning!"

[doc_holi]

Holiday laughed at the image. "That could be a victory that I would definitely earn. Oddly enough, the chances of something like that happening are actually pretty high considering our Gamemakers."

[undercoverprincess]

"They did come up with this whole big candy arena, so, you're right. They could probably come up with something like a giant chocolate flood. Or giant candy bunny rabbits that could come at us instead of the singing doki things," Cindy mused.

Oh. Wait. "They better not be getting any ideas from this conversation!"

[doc_holi]

She chuckled and glanced around. "Just in case, it may be in our best interest to find another topic."

[undercoverprincess]

Cindy blew out some air and laughed. "Good idea. Okay... uh... shit, I'm not good at this. Any family back home or anything? Dating? Anything? Where do you live? What's your favorite color?" She grinned.

[doc_holi]

Holiday laughed. "Let's see here. Yes, my sister, mother, and friends. I... haven't really dated in awhile. Needless to say, I have bad luck with it. I live in Providence Head Quarters which is an organization that deals with a mutant plague sweeping over our planet. And... orange, I think.

"What about you?"

[undercoverprincess]

Cindy raised an eyebrow. "Jesus, a mutant plague? My world seems so much tamer in comparison," She laughed. "Okay... no family to speak of, except I have a cheating ex-husband still alive, but I try not to talk to him unless I have to. I have a couple of friends, but I... don't do the friend thing that well. I don't really 'date'." She made the little quotation fingers.

"I mean, plenty of everything else, I'm just not really a dating kind of girl. I have an apartment in New York City, but I'm rarely there anyway. I'm more of a traveler, then a sit down homebody." She shrugged. "Oh, and it's red. I love red."

[doc_holi]

"One learns to get used to it, then it's suddenly not all bad," she answered in response to the plague. It was still bad, but not completely... Not anymore.

She laughed. "I know what you mean. I don't date either, at least nothing serious. Not like the sponsor dates at all. But I think you're doing the friend thing well enough so far.

I love red, too. Where all have you been? My job demands I travel, but I hardly get to enjoy it."

[undercoverprincess]

"It still sounds bad." Cindy shook her head, but with a smile. There was so much out there that you never considered, but hey. If someone missing an arm right now could find the good in all of that?

Good for them. "Not like that at all," Cindy agreed. "I've stopped believing in happy endings a long time ago. But I'm glad! I don't have many friends, like I said, so maybe this is the start of something great?"

Might be nice, actually. "All over the world, really. Places in Germany, France, Italy. I was in Russia recently, not a big fan of that, however. I was in Baghdad, before I came here. They've really started to clean the place up from before, it's really nice."

[doc_holi]

Holiday shrugged. Her sister wasn't one of the monsters anymore, so it definitely wasn't all bad.

She almost gave a sad frown at not believing in happy endings. Holiday had begun to be that way, too, but she couldn't let it go, even here. It would hurt too much to just let go.

"I hope so. Having a few close friends trumps having a lot of friends that barley know you anyway."

Oh wait. "What happened in Baghdad?" Different timeline here. If Cindy's referring to the whole Iraq thing, that happened years ago.

[undercoverprincess]

Cindy no longer believed in them. She'd gotten what everyone assumed was a happy ending. But in the end, all her fairy godmother gave her was what she thought was going to make her happy. Maybe she would have been, with Prince Charming. If it hadn't been his third marriage, and he was a cheating bastard that she wished she had never met before.

Happy right now was all she could do, back home, and even here in the Capitol. No more happy endings.

Cindy raised an eyebrow. "What did... oh! Different timeline, things, whatever. Well, you know, that whole Gulf War ordeal, and the Invasion of Iraq thing. It's been years since then, so it's not like they haven't had time to rebuild. But they seem the best thing to help the city is to make glamorous hotels and lure people into being tourists. Not really a bad deal, the place is very pretty, and the rooms are really nice."

[doc_holi]

"Oh! That was such a long time ago where I'm from."

Holiday didn't realize the difference in timelines until just now... Then again, they are from different worlds. "I suppose our homes aren't all that different after all."

[undercoverprincess]

"This is kind of scary now, if your world is what mine is going to be. Maybe?" Cindy laughed, though it was a little more nervously then she wanted to convey. After all, she would still be alive when this whole thing came around. And it didn't sound pleasant.

[doc_holi]

Holiday gave a laugh and shrugged, trying to ease the tension. "I wouldn't worry about it. Sounds like there's a lot of different worlds and realities out there. There's a low chance that we're really from the same one. Just similar."

[undercoverprincess]

"That puts my mind at ease." Shaking her head with a laugh, she tried to relax. As best you could in this place.

"Okay, we need a change of subject. Know any good campfire stories? Fairy tales? Legends? Anything that means we don't have to think of here, or home?"

[doc_holi]

Campfire stories? Holiday shook her head. "Not really. I never did many things like this in my youth. Just... school. All I know is a few stories I used to sneak to Rex when he was younger."

[undercoverprincess]

Cindy hadn't done much of this in her... earlier years of living. When you were alive as long as she was, you tried not to really think about age as anything but a number. She looked damn good for being over three hundred years old!

"What about books, you read those in school, right? Fiction stuff?" Wait. "Who's Rex?"

[doc_holi]

"Yeah, some of them. I wonder if I can remember that far back..."

While she was trying to decide on which Mother Goose story to tell, she snapped back to reality. "Rex? Oh, well..." This was hard to explain to someone who didn't know much about her world. "He's this kid I know. I suppose I've helped raise him, considering his amnesia of before he and I met, but he's a little old to call my own."