#loc: cornucopia

[slate-skylar]

The plan was to go to what looked like another shipwreck. It wasn't too far, but he wasn't a very good swimmer, and it took him longer than he'd thought it would to round the Cornucopia. He tried to give it a wide berth, having no desire to participate in the Bloodbath, hoping his allies would avoid it as well... But then his eyes found Bramble.

She was in the shallows on the sandbar, grappled in a fight with a girl, and he didn't hesitate. He changed his course, swimming more quickly now until his feet found purchase on the sand. When he looked up again, she was still in the fight, but there was someone else emerging from the water on the opposite side of her. The boy from Six. His name came to Slate's mind unbidden: Buster. They had spoken only briefly, just once, in the training center. Slate had complimented him on his knots, and Buster had snapped at him to mind his fucking business, and Slate had snapped back that this all was his fucking business, and Buster had said he wasn't impressed by Slate, by the way, he thought the zine was stupid, and Slate had made himself walk away before he did or said something he regretted.

Now Buster didn't notice him, his eyes locked on Bramble. The girl Bramble was fighting with, Slate recognized too -- Call, from Ten. He remembered seeing her with Buster quite a lot, in the training center and in the cafeteria. Now Buster approached Bramble from behind, and it was about to be two on one.

And that just wasn't fair.

Slate ran through the shallow water, kicking it up as his feet struggled to find purchase, and something hit his shin as he went. He paused only for a moment to look down, see what it was. A bit of sail, which was hanging onto a broken mast that had fallen onto the ground. He grabbed the fabric, pulling it from the mast, more action than thought, and took a wide berth to approach Buster from behind. The boy was now within just a few feet of Bramble, and while Buster had no weapon, he was large. Larger than Slate.

But that didn't stop Slate from jumping up onto his back, surprising him, the sail clutched in his fist.

@bramble--berry

[gemmarosewater]

Caspian had emerged from the tunnels with blood on his hands, placed now in an unfamiliar world. He had spent the hours before dawn exploring, in awe at how much the Gamemakers had managed to change the Arena overnight, grateful not to be underground anymore. He had found a gas mask lying in the street, and remembering past Arenas, he picked it up and tossed it into his backpack, knowing that this might become useful later on. Watching all of the old Arenas had come in handy, after all.

Mostly he was on the hunt. He wanted to find and kill Ripley, first and foremost, but he didn't find her first. No, first he found Mason and Augusta. Just as he spotted both of them across the plaza, past the Cornucopia which had been so pristine on the first day, a siren blared out, causing him to jump. It warned of a contagion, and Caspian acted quickly, putting the mask over his head and sealing it tight to his face.

@masonxxbrick

[maverick-montana]

Juliana looked for the light green shorts that matched hers, as they all stood atop their own platforms. In fact, she spent more of the countdown looking for Victor than she did looking at her surroundings. She registered birdsong, saw grass, but right now, all she could focus on was the fact that she needed to take out her biggest competition as soon as she could. Taking out Victor would also mean that she wouldn't have any expectations on her to team up with him or to join a Career alliance. She felt certain he wouldn't actually help her, and after her poor score in training, she knew she needed to earn respect.

As soon as the countdown ended, she went running straight towards him; he was across from her, on the opposite side of the Cornucopia, and she skirted the platforms to get to him -- the path of least resistance. She had her eyes on him so much so that she didn't see the boy from Twelve until she'd run into him. He'd been standing motionless by his own platform, still and scared like a deer in headlights, and when her body collided with his, his fell backwards and he hit his head on the edge of his platform. Juliana was several feet ahead before she glanced back and saw the blood. It was a few feet after that that she realized what she'd done.

This was the adrenaline boost she needed. She could do this. She could meet expectations; perhaps even surpass them. She was capable and she knew it; time for everyone else to see it too.

A few yards in front of Victor was a knife. It seemed to be what he was going for, and Juliana increased her pace, running full-tilt towards it, towards him, so that her intentions couldn't possibly be missed.

@victorsvictor

[shilohgarner]

She stumbled away from Cherry, her heart pounding, as she realized that the girl was dead. Genuinely, truly dead; and it was her fault. She’d known this would have to happen, and yet somehow hadn’t been able to mentally face the reality of it.

Until now. She whirled around, ready to run, her eyesight growing cloudy with tears, but there was someone in the way. Someone familiar. Her arm throbbed, the painkillers she’d taken back at the Tower already wearing off, and she took a few steps back, seeing the murder in the other girl’s eyes. Fuck.

@medeaodair​

[hollandwestbrook]

Maize looked around as the countdown finished; she had expected for her mind to be running wild, her heart to be racing, and yet she found herself oddly calm now that it was happening. Perhaps it was because there was no alternative. She simply had to be calm.

She scanned the items around the room, looking for a weapon, but there were none. Fuck. Her stomach twisted. Calm, calm. There was no choice but to be calm.

She spotted Poppy, but Poppy wasn’t looking at her, not at the moment she glanced at her; she kept Poppy’s location in her mind, and as soon as the countdown finished, she sprung, going for the item that seemed the most useful, despite the fact that it was actually, perhaps, the opposite of a weapon.

A heel. A very tall one. She could easily break the heel off, sharpen it against something, a rock, metal, anything would do.

But as she ran for it, sticking her fist out to break through the glass, she locked eyes with someone else who was, unfortunately, going for the same item.

Something, then, sparked in her, a feeling that was wasn’t calm, but wasn’t fear, either. Was it... pleasure? Happiness? Some small pride, that she could finally show the boy from Four what she could do?

@caroleyre​

[everettlance]

In the darkness it was difficult to see, and he’d counted on the 60 minutes to allow him to grasp an understanding of his surroundings. The 60 seconds, though, had been taken up by the announcement; by his suit lighting up blue; he looked at the shadows around him, also ringing the Cornucopia, and he could hardly tell who they were, let alone where they were.

When the time was up, when they were released from the waiting, he jumped from his platform, sprinting at full-speed towards the Cornucopia, whose metal glinted in the moonlight. All around him were flashes of red and blue; the lights strobing in the darkness as some tributes scattered while others headed straight towards his own destination.

He scooped to grab a bag lying on the ground; it could have something in it, but it could also be nice just to have it. He remembered the bag he’d made in the last Games, how it had been difficult to hold his shit in it after awhile. He’d no sooner gotten his hand on it than another hand — a red suited hand — grabbed onto it as well. He looked up into Isabela’s face, his own fight, terror, panic hopefully masked at least somewhat by the darkness.

“Let go,” he hissed, “I got it first.”

@isabela-leond2​

[callioperhode]

After killing the career boy, Emmer stumbled backwards into another table, grabbing hold of a bit of thick material for support. She turned around, seeing that her hand was on a thick jacket, and yanked at it before realising she wasn't the only tribute who had found the clothing.

@highestfive

[gemmarosewater]

The city was sleek, quiet. He was sure he could hear his fellow tributes' breaths as the countdown commenced and they all looked around them. But he didn't waste too much time on his surroundings, only enough to see that it was a city with towering buildings. He could get his bearings later, but right now, the objective was the Cornucopia. Ideally the Careers could secure it, stay here rather than fleeing elsewhere, but he knew that hadn't happened in ages. The other tributes always swarmed and made it too difficult; easier just to find another home base with as much as you could grab and bring with you.

When the countdown ended, he hit the pavement running and was one of the first to splash his way through the fountain and jump up into the Cornucopia. Everyone could see everything, and it was a bit disconcerting for a moment. He spotted a hunting knife, just a small but extremely effective weapon to have, and he reached for it; but his slight distraction at the oddity of a glass Cornucopia meant that his movements were slow, he hadn't quite looked around him, and he felt someone else reaching for the same item. He looked up and locked eyes with Alecta.

There was a moment where he could have backed off. But this was a moment for power to be established and dynamics to be rehashed. He didn't want to be on the bottom of the Career Pack, and as the odd man out, he knew that he had to take a stand: now. So he snarled, "It's mine," and grabbed the knife.

@alecta-beckwourth