etcircenses: (Default)
Panem Events ([personal profile] etcircenses) wrote in [community profile] thearena2015-05-25 01:44 pm

Arena 14: A Grimm Age

The morning breaks to a familiar routine for most of you. Bright and early the Tributes are roused by their escorts and stylists, escorted from their rooms and to the waiting hovercraft. The flight takes them a few hours out from the Capitol and after landing they are escorted quickly into an underground complex to be prepped. Tributes will find to their dismay that their outfits are a little less practical and a little more costume this time around, the ratio of which depends entirely on the whims of their stylist. Peacekeepers will appear almost immediately after they've finished dressing to put them in the waiting launch tubes.

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They rise up from the ground and -- phew, what's that smell? The Tribute's look around them to see a full-on medieval village, constructed entirely from wood and thatch. There are empty pens that might have once held pigs and chickens attached to the houses and a well is visible down the street. What commands attention though is what's in the centre of the village square where the Tribute's are standing; a pyre built around a tall wooden stake. Those who look amongst the piles of twigs and wood will see the gleam of weapons, as well as backpacks containing survival supplies. This is your Cornucopia, Tributes.

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Anyone who tries to look further afield, over the roofs of the houses, will see the main feature of this arena looming above them. The castle stands tall and forbidding, a monstrous sized building of stone with flags bearing the emblem of the Capitol flying from its parapets. From here, if they squint, they can see the drawbridge is down and the portcullis is open. For now.

3

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1


A triumphant sounding of trumpets is what signals this arena's beginning and with it those Tribute's with powers may feel a sudden tingling in their bones, a rush of energy as those powers are restored to them. Any with constantly active abilities will find a light illuminates immediately over their head, signalling that something about this powered arena is going to be a little different from the last. For those who try to use their powers right off the bat... well, they'll be in for a nasty shock.


[[OOC: A mod reminder that this arena is designed to punish Tribute's for using powers. If your character will attempt to use powers at any time in week 1 of the arena it needs to be reported here to be RNG'd by the mods for chances of success or injury.

There will be a thread on Death Roll posts for subsequent weeks power usage to be reported.]]
wizardplease: (Leaning In)

[personal profile] wizardplease 2015-05-28 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
It's less of a run and more of a thrash, from Haruto's current perspective, and he almost loses his grip on Gary in the process. The metaphorical Jenga tower is wobbling on the donut wizard side. He's determined to stay upright, to keep going, to fix this all somehow... and well, he can manage upright, even if he has no idea how the rest will happen. There's a stumble back before he manages to get moving forward again, making quick eye contact with Nitou and nodding towards one of the houses. Just straight out the alley and around, and maybe there's a door there.

"Yeah. Yeah, I bet we could." And then Gary is latching on to that bit of the conversation, and then Haruto feels his mouth go dry. "...somewhere safe. We're going somewhere safe." It's not as much of a lie as what first leapt to mind to say. 'Yes, Gary. We're going home.' Because if he's dying, if this is going to be it for his go-around this time, then what's a little lie in the name of giving someone a moment of hope? But he doesn't know for sure that the guy's going to kick the bucket. So no lies like that yet. "...if we've got to kick a door in, how're your legs doing, Mayo?" Because he's got one leg that is not up for the task of any Rider Kicks at the moment, sorry.
infinitemayonnaise: (waaaaaaah)

[personal profile] infinitemayonnaise 2015-05-28 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
Nitou winces. It's partially because of the pitiful way Gary wants to go home--he wouldn't mind going home, either--and partially because he hurts all over. Holding Gary like this is making him realize he's done something to one of his shoulders, but he's sort of able to use their forward momentum to supplement his own. "Yeah. Safe at home..." Oh, man, he feels horrible helping Haruto lie like this, but it's that or to tell Chimera to shut up, they can't eat Gary.

"My legs? My legs are fine! Just fine!" He thinks. Maybe. Burned, but fine. "I can so kick any doors in."
a_minute_younger: (huh)

[personal profile] a_minute_younger 2015-05-28 04:39 pm (UTC)(link)
There's no harm in either lie, it seems; as soon as Nitou chips in, Gary has already settled back into a state of distant, amazed but also mortified staring. He hasn't understood what their answers were and he won't remember this later. Nothing gained, nothing lost. Everything's fine.

This state of delirium lasts a bit longer than the others. Gary calms, at least, eager to follow the mechanical motions of walking and looking around. His naturally heightened adrenaline levels are helping in the recovery, steadying his legs. There are enough toes on his bloodied foot to support his weight, so that's a plus. Gary isn't thinking straight enough to appreciate this, but he's getting there.

Instead, as they approach the house, he starts to put together other things--little, random things, like how they all smell like smoke. Why do they smell like smoke? Gary's head slumps and he realizes that the maid dress he coerced his Stylist into designing is patchily burnt and falling off in places. He whines in disappointment. "They're gonna be pissed..." Gary murmurs to himself, apparently without realizing that he's said it.
wizardplease: (Hard Glare)

[personal profile] wizardplease 2015-06-07 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"Great. You're on door-kicking duty." It's nice to have Nitou to count on, when things are bad. And more and more of a rarity as of late, given their mutual bad luck, but it's an easy thing to slip back into. There's no time to angst and panic and be afraid and avoid him, now that they're in here and it's life or death.

"You've got it, you're doing good, Gary, good job..." Haruto is damn impressed at how much of an effort the guy is managing to make. That's his power, isn't it? His ignorance as to when he's beaten or in over his head transcends into the physical, it seems. Good for him. That's just what they need right now, no sarcasm. "No one's pissed. It's fine! It's... it's fine."

Aah, and there they are, at the back door to a rickety house. His gaze darts to Nitou and he makes a wordless, questioning sound. Care to do the honors?
infinitemayonnaise: (meh)

[personal profile] infinitemayonnaise 2015-06-08 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
"It is totally fine," Nitou chimes in with easy reassurance. He doesn't care what the Stylists think; this is a deathmatch arena. Clothes should be the least of their worries, even if he's glad they're not in this naked. He wouldn't put it past the Capitol to decide to chuck them in there naked, and he does not want to see some of these dudes without any pants on.

But hey, door duty, he's got this. He's so got this. "Alright, stand back!" Not that he's moving particularly quickly, but he's moving better than Haruto and Gary are. Still, it takes several kicking attempts before the door finally caves, and Nitou's breathing like he's just run a marathon. "See? Piece of cake..."
a_minute_younger: (uh)

[personal profile] a_minute_younger 2015-06-08 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Finally, these reassurances seem to stick. Gary even goes one step past registering that they've been said and responds. He looks up between Haruto and Nitou, then zeroes in on Haruto with a wide, mournful eye.

"But...but my..." The word escapes him and he trails off. What else can he think of? His surroundings are all too complex and muddy to describe, that's out of the picture. Eventually he settles on the pain. The pain is very easy to focus on, and is even starting to resolve itself into manageable portions, rather than the global, unidentifiable ache of several minutes ago. "...my head," Gary groans instead. "Head hurts..."

Any further insights will have to wait, because now he's thoroughly distracted by the loud whump of Nitou's foot striking the door they're standing in front of. Gary didn't even notice they'd stopped walking until just now. He winces away.

"Ahh--loud," Gary whines. "Why're you so loud?..." And so on and so forth. It's all gibberish, he's clearly not directing this at anyone.
wizardplease: (Overwhelmed)

[personal profile] wizardplease 2015-06-29 06:20 am (UTC)(link)
That is an uncomfortable look to be getting. It might be good that Gary's able to focus somewhat better, but it's not doing anything for Haruto's own morale. "We'll rest up, and it'll feel better. Alright? It'll be alright."

More lies. Or what he's pretty damn sure, in the moment, is not a very good version of the truth. They will all probably hurt less once they've had some time to rest, but pain of this sort takes a while to go away. At least it seems that the shack of a house that they have broken into seems... safe is a bit strong of a word to use, but maybe not hazardous is the way to put it. He gives a thankful nod to Nitou, and starts forward again, hauling Gary on inside.

Everything is broken and overturned, and there's probably nothing worth salvaging, but maybe they can stay out of sight of any windows and hunker down and wait for the chaos of the Cornucopia to blow over.
infinitemayonnaise: (thoughtful)

[personal profile] infinitemayonnaise 2015-07-03 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
"It's so gonna be alright." Nitou doesn't really know what to do except to back Haruto up here, because he has no idea what else to do for poor Gary. "Come on, we'll just...rest! Yeah, we'll rest. And I'll stop being loud."
a_minute_younger: (huh)

[personal profile] a_minute_younger 2015-07-03 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
This is all working out much better than it probably should. Unsurprisingly, Gary doesn't think about that--but he is starting to think about more grand, abstract concepts. Memories are coming together again. He has a vague idea of where he is now. It's the Arena, right? It only just started. They dressed him up, put him on the platform, there was a lot of running, some fire, more running and shoving then...a fuzzy gap of movement and pain and confusion, leading up to this. Gary is conscious enough now to be concerned about the lack of details. Whether or not he'll remember filling in any of the blanks is anyone's guess.

He stumbles in as directed, a bit more stubbornly now that he's focusing on something other than moving his legs, and decides that now he has a good place to restart. For like, the fifth time. He's working on it. "...Fuck," Gary growls, knitting his teeth and squeezing his eye shut. "What happened?"
wizardplease: (Seeking)

[personal profile] wizardplease 2015-07-03 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Since resting seems to be the plan that two out of three of them have settled on, Haruto is finding a bare spot on the floor up next to one of the walls and attempting to set Gary down on it. With the way his one foot looks, sitting is going to have to be better than standing. "Lightning? Lightning. We all got hit by lightning." It all happened so quickly and unexpectedly that he has no way of knowing that this was Gary's 'fault'. These sorts of things just happen in arenas, right?
infinitemayonnaise: (thoughtful)

[personal profile] infinitemayonnaise 2015-07-08 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
"Lightning." Nitou nods in weary agreement. "Just walking along, and then BOOM! They hit us with lightning." Blaming the Gamemakers for that seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. "But we're safe now." He hopes. He would like to believe. There's a disappointed sigh. "Man, I was hoping to score something to eat out there."
a_minute_younger: (idle thoughts)

[personal profile] a_minute_younger 2015-07-11 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
"Lightning?" Gary frowns, as if deep in thought, but that's definitely not what he's doing because thinking hurts way too much for him to invest a lot of energy into it. He's mostly just very confused. This seems to be a constant for him. Gary has just enough awareness to offer Nitou a pained look of solidarity before he (very gently and awkwardly) slips his way down the wall to sit. "Was it...someone's powers?" he croaks. "They're...kinda on...?"
wizardplease: (Absent Thought)

[personal profile] wizardplease 2015-07-14 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
"....they are." That is a distraction from both wounds and talk of lightning. He holds up his hand, staring at the oversized ring on his finger, but he knows it's just a replica. That familiar feeling inside, though....

`Indeed they are, Haruto Soma.`

He starts, grimaces, groans, and closes his eyes and lets his head hang. "...would've been nice if they gave us belts and rings, eh, Mayo?"
Edited 2015-07-14 03:43 (UTC)
infinitemayonnaise: (wary)

[personal profile] infinitemayonnaise 2015-07-15 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
"No kidding!" Nitou groans. "How do they expect us to use powers and stuff if they don't give us everything? We could so win this if we had all our stuff."

He glances back down at his stomach. No, Chimera, now is not the time to point out that he'd have to fight Haruto and Gary in the end in that scenario. "But yeah, they're definitely back."
a_minute_younger: (huh)

[personal profile] a_minute_younger 2015-07-16 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Gary's head swings sluggishly between the two wizards as they commiserate on their abilities. He's never fully understood just what it is that these two are capable of--some kind of weird monster thing, based on what he's seen of the Arena 12 footage and what they've individually told him--but the purpose of the accessories escapes him. Especially now. Gary does not have the brainpower to really work out the details currently.

Instead, he focuses on his previous train of thought. "Yeah, but...not all the way," he says with an odd tilt of his head, then passes another quick look between Haruto and Nitou for confirmation. "Like, there's ah...a...I dunno..." Dammit, words. Gary gestures frantically with his hand to try and conjure them. "--barrier? I guess? Needed a lot of energy to get them to work all the way. It's really weird."
wizardplease: (Mild Surprise)

[personal profile] wizardplease 2015-08-02 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
Gary's assessment gets an odd look from Haruto. Is this him just being kind of lightning-stunned, still? He pats absently at his chest, as if it would give him some kind of understanding of what he means, then frowns and lets his hand drop away because it's futile. Nothing's going to happen. "I don't know. I can't feel anything like that. Mayo?"
infinitemayonnaise: (wary)

[personal profile] infinitemayonnaise 2015-08-03 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
"Only barrier I've got is the whole no belt and rings thing," Nitou groans, rubbing his stomach. "Chimera's ready to go, if you know what I'm saying."
a_minute_younger: (uh)

[personal profile] a_minute_younger 2015-08-04 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Gary frowns and slumps further into the wall with a pout. "...I don't get it," he mumbles, threading a baffled hand through his hair. Maybe he is still too lightning-stunned to work through this. "They've never done this before. Something's wrong with me."

Viewers at home who are familiar with Gary are probably already making the 'it happens to everyone' joke that he would have made just then, but unfortunately Gary's mind is elsewhere right now. Get his powers back and instantly they're broken. He looks on the verge of tears.
wizardplease: (Mild Shock)

[personal profile] wizardplease 2015-08-06 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
This is the actual saddest and most vulnerable that he has seen Gary get. Haruto does not like it. As overdue as it is, it's... it's really uncomfortable to watch. "Hey, hey..." Even though it hurts, he starts sidling closer to Gary. There's hissing, and grimacing, but it ends in a hand lightly on the guy's upper arm.

"It's just the game makers. They're just messing with you. With us. You've done fine before without powers, right? You've done fine. You'll be fine."
infinitemayonnaise: (some consideration)

[personal profile] infinitemayonnaise 2015-08-08 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
Nitou isn't even going to try for any sort of physical contact, because Haruto's got that covered, and he is way too sore to even think about it. Still, he looks very concerned. "Hey! Hey, we are all going to be fine. We are going to be super fine." He pauses, struggling for a moment to think of something to. "We're all already super-fine, the ladies know what I mean by that."
a_minute_younger: (huh)

[personal profile] a_minute_younger 2015-08-11 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Goddammit Nitou. That wouldn't have worked on anyone else, and it might not have even gotten Gary's attention now if Haruto hadn't distracted him from his moping a few moments earlier--yet here Gary is, giggling weakly in spite of everything else. Fuck, this is so stupid. Precisely the type of diversion he needs.

"Yeah, well," Gary shrugs, mouth quirking into a lame half-smirk as he brushes away the hair from his swollen-shut eye, "maybe not so much anymore. You think I could still get 'em with the whole 'wounded puppy' aesthetic? Eh? I mean, look at this shit."

To emphasize what shit they should be looking at, Gary lifts up his calf and wiggles it, letting his bloodied, mostly-toeless foot flop around in demonstration. He accompanies this with appropriately grossed-out expressions and noises. Yeah, he's fine.
wizardplease: (Smiling Here)

[personal profile] wizardplease 2015-08-12 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
"...the ladies." Haruto gives his head a half-roll around, regarding the entirety of their little hideaway hovel, and then looks back to Nitou with a lift of his eyebrows. Yes, just look at all the ladies in here.

"Eeeehhhhh, I don't know..." Gary's leg-waggling is gross enough that it's funny. Or maybe he just really needs to laugh about what a mess this has become. So he waggles his burnt leg, and there's a chuckle somewhere in the pained sound he's making. "I think I can look much more pitiful than you." And then he groans and makes a production of letting his head fall back and rest against the wall. Surely all the Capitolite ladies at home are enjoying this? Surely.
infinitemayonnaise: (bad hair day ouch)

[personal profile] infinitemayonnaise 2015-08-16 08:43 pm (UTC)(link)
But Haruto, it's all about the ladies out there. The ones who might be wealthy Sponsors.

Nitou makes a horrified face at Gary's messed-up foot, and that only intensifies with Haruto's own showing off. "Oh, oh, if we're doing this, then..." He waves around the worst-burnt of his arms, kind of regrets the motion, and then sort of leans back, putting a hand to his forehead in the most obviously fake "woe is me" motion that he can muster. Look, if nothing else, this is keeping Gary grounded. Sort of. Kind of. Maybe.
a_minute_younger: (huffy child)

okay okay this is probably the part where we wrap this up, yes?

[personal profile] a_minute_younger 2015-08-22 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe. The three of them probably look ridiculous, something that Gary recognizes belatedly and only about Nitou and Haruto, so he recovers mostly to laugh at them and weakly shove Haruto's lolling head away from his personal wall space. "Hey! Stealing my ideas..." Gary huffs his exaggerated disapproval through a smile and lets his head fall back against the wall, but his expression is tranquil. His good eye narrows and slowly blinks shut.

"Besides," he murmurs, "one of you losers has to keep watch while I take a nap."
wizardplease: (Over Shoulder)

Yes I think we have reached a fine stopping point

[personal profile] wizardplease 2015-08-24 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
Haruto gives a weak "Hey" of protest when Gary shoves his head away, but he's grinning. Gary isn't panicking anymore, so... job well done, wizards. Hope has successfully been protected. "I suppose someone can..." And he gives Nitou a knowing look and a half smile. Then a slightly longer look-over, and he mouths quietly, "You okay? I can stay up." No need to let Gary catch on that things are suddenly a little more serious, no no.