[OPEN] Why don't you come to your senses?

[the_hit_list]

Who| Tim Drake and OPEN
What| Tim is making like Moses, only he’s lost his tribe.
Where| Anywhere in the desert arena! Dessert Arena Tributes are free to bump into him in the tunnels.
When| Week 5 (from the day after the start of the sandworms) through Week 6
Warnings/Notes| No warnings thus far. Big note: I’m not looking for death here, as Tim’s been bought out.



The desert is slipping into sameness. There was never much to differentiate one acre of open, baked ground to begin with, save for some areas being more sandy and others more packed and cracked, but Tim had been doing okay with recognizing this cactus as opposed to that one, using the boulders and rock formations as landmarks. Mnemonics helped. This one was the Keebler Elf, in profile, and that one reminded him of Red Tornado. He’s been losing his touch with directions, though. It started when they found AndrAIa’s body. Worsened when he watched Punchy pass away.

Then, he saw himself die. Swallowed by a sandworm that was there and gone in an instant. It had happened so close to him. One second, walking along as normally as they can, with the younger Tim Drake slightly ahead and to the side. . The rumbling again, nearer than it had ever been and bearing down on them. He thought that it was a flash flood. It had to be. Instinct said to run for the mountain.

Only one of them made it. Now, after spending days holed up in and on the mountain, Tim has been aimlessly wandering the Arena.

He can't think about it. It's not any easier to this time around, with no way to have saved any of them. It doesn't ease the guilt, regret, anger. Tim tries to keep himself occupied with other things, inventorying in his head what he had and what he’d lost over and over without brushing the reasons why. He had a sleeping bag, rolled up around two lidded containers that were watertight and a container with a smidgen of burn cream left in it. The bundle is tied up with rope and slung over his shoulders, cross body, like a yoga mat or a quiver – except for the curved scythe blade sticking dangerously up out of it. Tim had shoved what handle was still attached into the roll as snugly as it would go. The staff is ever in hand. Punchy’s mask, borrowed after the teen no longer needed it, is on under Tim’s sunglasses.

The tent, wire, most of the meat, and throwing knives are gone. What else is gone, besides the lunch that he hadn’t been able to keep down in this heat today? He can’t remember. He lost them… was it four days ago? It might have only been three. Another thing that he’s failing to keep track of. He’s got a few small comforts left: he hasn’t seen Steph, Damian, Barbara, Diana, or Howard in the night sky.

But he can’t find any of them.

Comments

[grandmas_gurl]

Ruby's been looking for Snow since day one. Not in the arena - she's convinced Snow is back where they first started out - but up in the sky. Not seeing that image is most of what's kept her sane, while her newer friends were disappearing. She had to keep alive, because someone out there was probably still watching the sky for her image, too. She couldn't afford to die out there.

She'd gone through her tank of water long since, having to rely on plants or what she found abandoned. Meat was easy enough, though, when you had a cross bow and a scythe. Rope for traps and snares, too, wound about her waist.

Unfortunately, what she lacks is sun glasses. Her hand shadowing her eyes can only do so much, and Tim - if he's paying attention - is likely to see Ruby long before she sees him. Not that she'd run away if she did see him... but she'd be more cautious than to amble blindly toward him.

[bratwonder]

The biggest reason Damian ends up going through the castle is mostly because it's something different. It's kind of hard for him to feel grateful to be alive because not dying isn't about luck, it's a necessity, a requirement. So he's mostly just bored as he wanders, looking for something to do. Anything to pass the time so he can get this stupid thing over with and deal with whatever's left in the end. What can possibly go wrong?

Of course, even exploring the castle is kind of boring, but discovering the connection to the desert—that's interesting. He's not surprised to find that the bars are immovable, but he still looks around anyway. Maybe there's something...

[blondevigilante]

She's tired and bordering on grouchy. It's been awhile since a sponsor came through with food and she's wondering if there's a reason for it. Maybe it was punishment for not killing. Well, if that was the case then too bad for them.

And too bad for her stomach.

She entered the caves hoping to spot someone she knew. Boredom had her walking deeper than she had before. The sudden appearance of metal bars caused her to stop. "What the...?" On the other side was a cave that looked less candy coated and more like an actual cave in a mountain. She gripped the bars and shook her arms, but the metal was strong and deep in the ground. It was her bet that somewhere over there were the other Tributes that had "died" that first day.

[edsidlemirth]

Several days prior, Eddie began to wander more, moving away from his initial base and its now wind-ravaged assortment of obstacles. The desert is large and featureless, and rarely has he crossed paths with his fellow tributes, but as he goes, he keeps a careful watch for the signs of their passage, and deliberately chooses the signs he leaves behind. Small symbols, easy to lose, made from pebbles pressed into the sand, arrows and directional indications, leading across the landscape to another marker. Wind and worms have done their good work; nothing stays intact for long, but Eddie keeps his circuit as measured as he can.

It's important to keep track, because he needs to find the best potential places for better traps, better ambush points, in relation to the survivors. But for that, he needs to find someone while avoiding becoming worm-chow, so he is skulking around near more rocky ground.

His left hand has, by now, gotten a little better, and the added dexterity is a help in maneuvering himself into hiding spots during the brighter hours, and he spends that time keeping watch.