May the odds be ever in your favor

[applesaucemod]

In the dream there is a jungle. In the jungle, there is an impossible inland sea, briny like the ocean but surrounded by land on all sides. Around the sea there is a beach, and in the sea there is an island. On the island, there is a a cornucopia, a great curled golden horn with an opening that yawns twenty feet high. Around the cornucopia, land bridges stretch like spokes of a wheel from the island to the beach.

Inside the cornucopia, there are weapons. Everywhere, hidden well enough to escape the attention of all but the most carefully observant, there are cameras. Above is a false sky, an electric dome that stretches over the round expanse of jungle and disguises itself as the illusion of more jungle where it touches the ground. To touch it is to be electrocuted.

Those who hike off into the jungle may not ever reach the edge of the dome and learn how thoroughly they are trapped. An invisible, almost always intangible line extends from each of the island's spokes to the edge of the dome, a barrier between dangers for which there is no warning. Viewed from above, this round jungle begins to resemble a clock with its face divided into twelve wedges that all converge on the cornucopia. Unfortunately for the dreamers, this clock keeps time.

At the stroke of twelve, lightning strikes in the segment toward which the tail of the cornucopia points. At the strike of one, catastrophe moves clockwise and the next segment rains blood. Disaster strikes at the beginning of each hour, moving slowly but inexorably all the way around the jungle until it comes back to the beginning and starts again. Some segments represent near-inevitable death for anyone caught in them at the wrong moment, while others simply torture their captives or twist their perceptions. The beach and the island might seem to represent safety and reprieve, but some threats, like the wall of saltwater that comes crashing through the jungle at ten o'clock, reach even that haven. And though the world outside the jungle may be watching, that world is beyond the dreamers' reach. No one may pass beyond the dome except by awakening from the dream and leaving this place entirely in favor of the waking world.

Welcome to the Quarter Quell.


[Mod note: Same drill as always. All players and characters are welcome, current members or no. Characters will remember or forget any and all dream events at players' discretion. Death in the dream does not result in real death. Post your tags under the header for the section of the clock in which your thread takes place (if the thread takes place in multiple sections, put it under the header for the section in which it begins). Threads can take place at any time; note what time your thread begins when starting a new one so other players know whether the section will be active. Multiple threads per header are allowed. Dream time passes more quickly than real time (and is kind of timey wimey anyway), so feel free to subject your characters to as many or few hours as you wish.]

Comments

[peeta_mellark]

It all feels so horribly familiar as Peeta runs downhill, Daine's hand in his, cutting down monkeys as they get too close. He can see the beach now, but with the monkeys closing in, pushing closer and closer against Daine's magic, he isn't sure they'll make it.

"C'mon!" he says, as much to himself as to Daine.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine feels every cut. There's no way for her to distance herself from the monkeys without also relinquishing her hold on them. Half-blinded by tears, she gathers up her magic into one great blast of power. GET BACK!

There are screeches of pain and fury on all sides as the monkeys closest to them fall back as if a small bomb had gone off. The ones a little farther off are less effected, but they pause and flinch, giving Daine and Peeta enough time to stumble out of the jungle and onto the beach.

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta doesn't stop until they're at the water. His last few steps are more like stumbles and he collapses, breathless, onto the sand, staring back at the jungle and the furious monkeys congregated at its edge.

"I told you so," he wheezes. It's without menace, but when he turns and sees Daine's face, he feels horrible. Crawling to her, he pulls her into his arms. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine leans against him, shaking with adrenaline and helpless fury. "They wouldn't listen to me," she sobs into his shoulder. "They're not right." And she couldn't help them. She couldn't even stop them without hurting them.

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta rubs Daine's back and tries to ignore the angry howls emanating from the jungle. "I know," he says. "I'm sorry."

[wildmage_daine]

After a few moments, Daine leans back and gives her cheeks an impatient swipe with her sleeve. There's nothing she can do, and she hates that, but it's a place she's been before. She can't save everyone.

"Sorry," she says, unable to meet Peeta's eyes. "You were right."

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta can tell that the fact that Daine couldn't help the monkeys is just as troubling as the fact that there is something wrong with them. Fury and bitterness surge through him at the unfairness of their situation. Daine isn't even from his world, but this arena could have been built for her, filled with animals she can't help, animals that only want to hurt her.

She shouldn't even be here, and the thought crosses his mind that if they are dreaming, this has to be his dream. Meaning it's his fault. The very idea makes him sick, but there isn't much he can do about it now except protect her the best he can.

Hauling himself to his feet, he offers a hand to Daine. "C'mon, we should keep moving. Staying in one place for very long isn't a good idea here."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine lets Peeta pull her to her feet, then casts a haunted look at the tree line. "Okay." Part of her hates the idea of turning her back on the creatures, but part of her is eager to put as much distance between herself and their misshapen minds as she can.

She follows Peeta along the beach in sober silence for a minute, then quietly asks, "Have you seen anyone else here?" She's not sure if they should be watching out for fellow dreamers or for fellow competitors - or both.

[peeta_mellark]

"No." He isn't sure whether that concerns him or pleases him. Could it be that there are other people here, and they're just waiting for the right time to strike, for him to relax? He hates the idea of having to fight for his life against other people, but even more than that he hates the idea that he might have drawn even more people into his dream, into this. "Have you?"

[wildmage_daine]

Daine shakes her head. "I haven't been here that long, but no." She eyes Peeta's machete, wondering if she's going to need a bow. "Where did you get that?" she asks.

[peeta_mellark]

This time, at least, Peeta doesn't feel the immediate urge to hide the machete. "The Cornucopia," he replies, pointing toward it.

[wildmage_daine]

She looks across the water at the giant structure. "Do you think there's a bow out there?" She doesn't like the thought of having to use one, either against another person or one of the People, but she can no longer take it for granted that she won't need a weapon of her own besides her magic.

[peeta_mellark]

The mention of a bow blindsides him for a moment, images of Katniss firing arrows swimming through his head, but he pulls himself together quickly enough and nods. "Probably. Want to go check?" he asks, stopping in line with the nearest land bridge.

[wildmage_daine]

It is Daine's weapon of choice, though her bow doubtless bears little resemblance to the ones on offer. "I expect we should," she says glumly as she starts across the land bridge. Even if it winds up not being needful, at least Peeta won't have to be the only one of them carrying a weapon.

There's no one in the cornucopia when they arrive, and Daine gapes at all the weaponry available. Plenty of folk back home have seen battle - her more than most - but the knowledge that all these weapons are intended to be used by unwilling participants in a fight to the death turns her stomach. There is a bow, though, prominently displayed as if it was waiting for her. She hurries over to it and picks it up, swinging a quiver of arrows over her shoulder with practiced ease. It's a fair strange bow, lighter than her own and made of a material that isn't wood, but she hefts it and decides the balance is good enough.

[peeta_mellark]

Though he's almost convinced that there isn't anyone here to put them in danger, Peeta still keeps an eye on the water and the surrounding area as the reach the weapons cache. He does turn back to Daine as she picks up the quiver and bow. The ease and familiarity with which she handles both further awakens his memories of Katniss, and he finds himself staring at her, all thought of keeping watch gone.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine draws it experimentally, a little surprised by the ease of it. Her longbow is far more difficult, and her expression darkens as it occurs to her that maybe they made the bow easier to use on purpose, so folk who weren't sure of themselves - or who didn't have the arm strength for a proper bow because they're barely more than children - could still fire it.

She turns to Peeta and blinks at the expression on his face. It takes her a moment to guess why he's looking at her like that, and then she flushes unhappily. Katniss used a bow, didn't she?

"It's not much like what I'm used to," she admits, breaking the silence.

[peeta_mellark]

Lost in his own thoughts, Peeta misses the change in Daine's expression as she tests the bow. He doesn't miss the flush when she turns back to catch him watching her, though. For a moment, she looks about as unhappy as he feels.

At her proclamation, he gives the machete in his hand a look caught somewhere between angry and sad. "It never is," he murmurs.

Turning his attention back to Daine, he nods at a collection of small knives to her left. "You should probably grab a knife, too." Even more than being a secondary weapon - which he hopes won't be needed here - they're useful for basic tasks, like cutting up food. Better to have one than not.

[wildmage_daine]

She'd meant more that her longbow is different, but after Peeta's response, she decides not to elaborate. Talk of her own weapons experience isn't going to make him feel any better, even if they are both safer now that she has a bow in her hands.

At his suggestion, she picks out a knife small enough to tuck into her belt. Most of the ones on display are wickedly large, but she'd rather have something practical than something that looks as if its primary function is just to scare folk.

She joins Peeta outside the cornucopia and nods back at the shoreline. "You said it was a big clock, right?" He's given her a rough overview of the arena before, but she wasn't about to press for details at the time. Now, though, she'd best hear them.

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta nods. "The jungle is split into sectors - the spokes of land that connect the island to the beach divide them. Each sector has a different trap."

Pointing to each in turn, he names the ones he knows: tidal wave, insects, lightning, blood rain, poisonous fog, monkeys, jabberjays, and some kind of animal. "I don't know what's in the others. The beach is safe for most of the areas, except the tidal wave. Each sector is active for an hour, starting with the lightning section."

Doing a quick count, he adds, "The monkeys are from three to four."

[wildmage_daine]

"So the birds will start up at four," Daine says slowly, wanting to make sure she understands what's going on, "and then at five, there's no telling." Lovely. She wonders if they ought to head into the five o'clock section now to see if they can figure out what's going to happen there before it actually does. Probably safest to stay on the beach, though.

She pulls out one of the arrows and examines it, turning it between her fingers and frowning. Much like the bow, the shape is more or less right - it's the materials that throw her. It's not even fletched with proper feathers, just with some sort of plastic - or it is metal? For a moment, she's reminded of stormwings, and she jerks her fingers back in sudden fear of being cut open by the not-feathers' edges.

"Back to the beach?" she asks as she carefully puts the arrow away.

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta's mixed feelings continue as he watches Daine inspect an arrow. He turns back to stare across the water, sorting through memories of his time in the arena and dreading what - and possibly who - might lay in wait for them. He knows from experience that the island is no refuge, so he nods at Daine's suggestion and leads the way back onto the sand.

As they restart their circuit, he glances over at her. "I'm sorry for pulling you into this."

[wildmage_daine]

As if he did it on purpose. Daine furrows her brow at him. "It's not your fault. It's just…" she sighs, shifting her gaze to the sand stretching out before them. "The rift does this sort of thing all the time. There's no controlling it."

Even as she says it, though, she knows how little comfort it will be. Accident or no, she's still privy to something personal that he'd rather she didn't see. She drifts closer to him and briefly rests a hand on his shoulder. "I've had folk drop in on my nightmares, too. It's not much fun, but it can only last so long before we wake up."

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta isn't comforted. If anything, he's even more upset. He dreams about the Games often enough, and if the rift draws people into dreams all the time - the odds of this happening again are high.

"Don't suppose you can wake yourself up, huh?" he asks Daine with a wry smile.

A short, but loud, rustle in the trees off to their left draws Peeta's attention, and he pauses for a moment to study the treeline.

[wildmage_daine]

"Haven't mastered that one, yet," Daine says, wrinkling her nose. This would all be so much easier if she could will herself awake. Back home, she usually did wake up shortly after realizing she was dreaming - when she realized it at all. She's getting better at recognizing dreams, now, but a fat lot of good it does her in terms of getting her to wake up.

Daine pauses when Peeta does. "It's all right," she says. "It's a tamarin - a normal one. They're primates, but very small." And this one is more scared of them than they are of it; they probably wouldn't have heard it at all if it wasn't in such a hurry to get away.

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta finds it hard to believe that any animal in the arena is completely normal, but he defers to Daine's abilities. With a nod of understanding, he sets off down the beach again.