Welcome To Arena 08

[gamemakers]

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.

Comments

[akingalways]

Gee, thanks, Terezi.

There was hesitation, before there was a shake of the head in the negative. Just as long as she doesn't decide he tastes delicious enough to try eating, at the moment he's not exactly out for blood.

[pythianjudgment]

That bit of hesitation has her wondering. He would probably say no either way, but she has to wonder just what he was thinking in the split second before he gave his answer. She sniffs at him, trying to get a feel for the truthfulness of his response. As far as she can tell, he seems truthful, but she still lingers for a few seconds with her own hesitation.

Gradually, she moves, edging towards the far end of the branch he's on. She grabs onto the branch she's currently standing on and swing-drops herself onto his level. She's still tense, waiting for a moment to see what he does before standing up from the crouch she landed in.

"...How well do you know trees like this?" It's pretty obvious by her movements that she feels right at home in them, but she has no idea what sort of experience he's had.

[akingalways]

A shrug. He'd been thrust in a similar jungle-like well, jungle rainforest, but was there much differentiation really? setting before, after all. However, the trees were far sturdier and healthier here than they were in the Games he'd been in. They had to be, if they could hold a guy like him without bending much. So, true, he wasn't quite used to jumping around in the trees, but then again, probably anyone from his Games wouldn't have been jumping in the trees without breaking and falling.

However, after a moment of thought, he also pulled up a fistful of tree leaves, clenched them in his hands, and then went pfft as he let them fall out of his hands. If this was like the rainforest he'd been in, then a lot of the trees and bushes, if not poisonous themselves, probably had poisonous things lurking about them that weren't safe, frogs and lizards and such.

[pythianjudgment]

Terezi lifts a brow at his antics. The shrug, she figures accounts for a 'so-so'. That's probably reasonable, given that he was a victor before. She could deal with that.

The other motion, though... She really has no idea what he's trying to say with that. Some sort of disdain for the foliage? That was about as much as she could figure out. "If you're going to keep being vocally impaired, then we really need to work on your charades."

She relaxes a little. She's still not sure how far she can trust him, but this thing isn't going to get off the ground unless she gives it a shot. "That is, if you want me along."

[akingalways]

A slight huff of exasperation. How the hell was he--

He took a sec before making a slightly more drastic demonstration. He picked some more leaves, made some exaggerated eating grunts, followed by an equally exaggerated choking sound, and then finally a "uuugh I am poisoned and dying" bleeegh. Tongue sticking out and all.

After that, he huffs again, though its more of an affirmative huff.

Terezi can stay if she wants.

And if she liked beer, great! It would otherwise go to waste since he generally didn't drink it.

[pythianjudgment]

Oh. Yeah, she gets what he's trying to say now. Still, the ridiculousness of his attempts at charades is cringe-inducing. Terezi bravely endures this incredible production before holding up her hands. "Okay, okay. Point made! Which I was already aware of. And I'm officially banning you from any more of this shitty miming! We are going to find a more reasonable way for you to communicate, before I get the urge to dump my new partner out of the treetops."

What that new method is, she's not sure, but she's going to work on it... If only she had some chalk or something.