gamemakers: (capitol seal.)
The Gamemakers ([personal profile] gamemakers) wrote in [community profile] thearena2013-10-19 03:07 pm

Welcome To Arena 08



Today begins particularly early by normal standards. Long before the sun, or even a hint of dawn arrives. When the world is still and black and quiet, save for the parties still raging on from the night before. Night owls still have not gone to sleep. Everyone knows what today is, even if you've only just arrived.

There is a palpable tension in the air as everyone is ushered out under the cover of darkness to board the hovercrafts. A stream of faces both familiar and unknown filter in and take their seats, and very little is said as tributes are strapped in and attendants make their rounds, activating tracking devices. There are no windows, no openings no view of the outside world as it passes silently, below. The journey takes hours. And when everyone finally arrives, there is no hint of sky or grass or cloud or tree. Just long concrete hallways and rows of uniformed peacekeepers that remind everyone to keep in line in the underbelly of the unknown.

One by one, each tribute is lead into a small concrete room where stylists outfit tributes in their only bit of protection for the next coming weeks. Little is given away by the clothing each stylists put their tribute in. No flair or flourish or costumed monstrosity this time. Just simple, functional mundane civilian clothing. Khakis, cotton shirts, boots.

There is little time to dress and say goodbyes. Only a few small moments left to gather your thoughts. And then, the countdown starts. A countdown displayed in holographic blue begins:

25. 24. 23. 22....

The smell of earth and grass and a general damp green fills your lungs as you rise, slowly into a large grass field. At first, its the only thing you can see in all directions until the pedestal locks in place.

20. 19. 18. 17....

In the near distance, the cornucopia looms. Massive. Copper. Even hidden by the grass you can see its spoils are plentiful, tempting anyone with even a mild curiosity streak to come explore. Some may see this as a warning sign already .

15. 14. 13...

You can see the others, around you. Their heads, maybe the shoulders of taller tributes, and very little else. If there is anything hidden in this field you would never know it. The grass is too tall and too thick to show what might be lurking near the ground.

10. 9. 8....

There is just a hint of a breeze and the lingering scent of recent rain. The humidity is more uncomfortable than the heat., its a thick, jungle-like warm. You can see a dense tangle of trees in the distance. Blue sky filled with towering white clouds. Its the sort of place where nothing ever truly seems to be dry. At least you might not have to worry about freezing to death.

6. 5. 4...

For just a moment, everything goes perfectly still. Perfectly silent.

The grass rustles.

You feel the breeze.

2.

1.

0.

You will have two hours until a short warning alarm will sound and the sonic fences turn on across the entire arena.
splendid_roman: (Mr Chesterton eats pens)

Re: Volanz | OTA

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-10-20 06:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Ian used the time to see what was around and decide where was best to hide out. There was no point in hanging around, so as soon as the countdown reached 0 he was away, running. He saw Volanz at the last minute, attempted to swerve round him. He put a hand out to steady himself, but unfortunately the only thing around was Volanz, which meant that Ian brought the young troll down with him.

"Sorry!" he said, rolling away and getting back up on his feet before anyone could use it as an opportunity to attack.
thebestoffense: (No eye contact you got it!)

[personal profile] thebestoffense 2013-10-21 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
Volanz scrabbled backward in an effort to get up.

"Sorry!" he yelped at almost the same time Ian spoke. "I wasn't looking where I was going are you okay?"

It was reflexive to apologize even if nobody was really at fault here. It didn't even cross Volanz's head that apologizing to someone who might kill you and asking if they were okay was kind of weird. He was too busy panicking about at least six different things, so making non-awkward words come out of his mouth had fallen by the wayside.
splendid_roman: (Thinking)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-10-21 08:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Ian relaxed a little when he wasn't immediately attacked - and that the other person also said sorry.

"I'm fine." Although he'd have said that anyway - this wasn't the place to broadcast injuries to anyone who'd use that information. "You should be careful," he added. "Anyone could have used that as an opportunity." He ignored the fact that he could have been paying more attention to his surroundings himself, instead of thinking. Twenty five seconds just wasn't long enough.
thebestoffense: (>_>)

[personal profile] thebestoffense 2013-10-26 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm trying!" Volanz squawked. He was the worst at this, he honestly had to wonder why they'd put him back in here at all. Maybe it was just because they really had nothing else to do with him. Even watching him flail around being a horrible contender for this sort of thing was better than nothing, he'd guess.

"I'm getting out of here before anyone comes down with a weapon? You should maybe do that too."

He was up again, knees a little bent in preparation to charge off for the jungle.
splendid_roman: (Default)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-10-27 10:57 am (UTC)(link)
"Yes, that's my plan." He might have offered to stick together and look out for him, but Ian wasn't the best person to be around, and he wasn't planning on living that long either.

So he just said, "Be careful," and ran off in the opposite direction.