in the neon light | fish & fuses (day 1)

[D'Arcy Mason d6b [Tyler]]

[googlefont="Cinzel Decorative"]

Safina Roy

in the neon light - I

The dusk feels endless as the three of us continue onwards. I trudge through the sand, eyes trained ahead but my attention turned inwards into the question itching away at my brain, out of reach of my hands to relieve it with any scratch. I did not trust that the missing tributes were all out of the games, wouldn't believe it until I saw their photos light up the sky with the anthem. Something was amiss, and I wanted to find out what. If they were still in the game somehow, they were dangerous for the element of unknown they carry with them.

And if it turned out they were all truly dead already, without ever stepping foot inside this arena, it begs a further question: was it by design, or did something go wrong? Both options are terrifying. If it was a malfunction and the deaths were never meant to happen, how would the Gamemakers view this set of games? Would they already be panicking, trying to find the quickest and most gruesome way to end this year's iteration? I think back to the 10th Games, with the final 8 tributes running from mutts until only one person came out alive. Was this their way of warning us? It certainly shows they haven't been afraid of swift ends in the past.

On the other hand, I wouldn't put it past the Gamemakers to design the Games like this as well. Kill off half of the tributes right away to send a message. Perhaps the others all had some sort of ties that made them desirable to be killed off for Capitol gains? Or maybe it was a new form of Mutt, part of the conditions of the Games. Experimenting with how the rest of us would react with this sudden change from the norm? I mean look at me, the questions were already eroding away my brain like a sand dune in the wind. Worst of all, maybe it was simply a warning that they could do that to all of us, too. If they wished.

A cry out from behind me shook me from my stupor, and my attention turned now to the collection of neon lighted objects glowing out directly in front of us. A large sign indicated that we had made it to Black Rock City. It's clear to me that this was the truth behind the shadowy city I thought I had seen during the bloodbath - the heat distorting from the sand and playing visual tricks on me. The word mirage pops into my mind. Yet another deadly trick of this arena.

We begin to walk amongst the strange, lit-up structures that stand all around. A pair of figures locked in each other's arms, floats glowing atop bicycles in neon shades that make me feel right at home in my glowing fishnets. I strike a pose for Tide and Sera, trying to mimic the twists and turns of a metallic sculpture nearby. "What do you think?" I ask them, "Could I pass for one of these sculptures?"

As I laugh I turn my head to the side and see the giant block of canvas. It stands there stark in its blankness against the twisted metals and neon glows around it. The contrast draws me closer to it. "Woah, check it out!" As I come up next to it I notice the cans of paint placed all around. One can has a baby blue, another a deep green, a third I can see an orange the shade of a sun setting on the horizon. They sit open, waiting.

Suddenly I feel the urge to stick my hand in a can of crimson red, coating it like a glove. As I raise it back out the paint drips from it. It's like blood on my hands, the kind I know I'll need to get if I plan on leaving this place alive. I place my red-coated palm flat against the strange, plastic-like surface of the canvas and hold it there for a moment to try and let the paint sink in. I remove my hand and take a step back, looking at the handprint I've left behind. I turn to Tide and Sera. "There, now there'll be something to remember me by."

[WC: 715]

[Skiplaurel Hayjer - D7a]

Sera laughs as Safina strikes her pose. "These sculptures are a bit too interpretative for my tastes, I think." It felt good to laugh, they had largely traveled in silence, keeping what was said strictly mercenary. Sera scratches her chin curiously. "Makes you wonder what this part of the arena is supposed to represent... I'll admit, I don't have much of an eye for art myself."

It felt surreal making small talk as if they were not in a life and death situation, not all being hunted down right now by their fellow Tributes. She did not know what to expect when the anthem finally played tonight. How many faces would she see? And what of the Tributes who had not appeared in the Bloodbath?

Sera watches Safina make her handprint, and she sticks her own hand in the green paint and does likewise. "Yeah, might as well leave our mark on the arena, for when they turn this place into a museum or what have you. You think anybody ever visits the arena from the 10th Games?" The thought made Sera want to laugh again. Who would want to visit a sewer? And this was perhaps before anybody in the Capitol had gotten the idea of preserving the arenas to begin with.

Something in the night sky catches her attention, what is to be her very first sponsorship gift.

table by tylerjames

[Knuckles]

❦

Where is Diomedes?

Meeting up with him is important, and even though Tide is sticking with the duo from three for now, he knows he won't stay with them forever. His true allegiance lies with Diomedes, and even though they never specifically became an alliance, he gets him. His vibe, that's what Tide went off of, and now he's thinking about slipping away and seeing where he can find him.

But now, the important thing is sticking together as much as possible.

Especially with all the cannons sounding.

He offers a soft smile when Safina finds some paints and points them out. Tide wants nothing to do with it. Everything here has a reason, a purpose, and he wants to touch nothing, to do nothing. It's all a bunch of things designed to bring happiness in a place that doesn't exist. Yet his face remains neutral as he watching Safina.

It doesn't help with Serelis also joins in, and for a moment, Tide doesn't want to be left out. All he can do is try to pretend he remotely cares.

"I'm sure they do visit it." He shrugs his shoulders a little uncomfortably. "I'm sure this paint set and such will be memorialized forever too."

But it doesn't give him the satisfaction that he needs.

"You all paint. I'll be over here for a moment." He points off to the distance a bit. "Nature calls." Not that they needed to know this, but it gives him an excuse to walk away, to find peace with the world around him.

Diomedes, I'll find you soon.

After a bit he turns and walks back, and he plops himself down next to his allies. Whether he wants to admit it to himself or not, he's in this with them until it's time to separate, and then he hopes to never see them again.

credit to fox