The Betting Ring

[Neon]

Anya continued to remain completely motionless, like a statue of a corpse.

[Raven]

Nikola tried shaking her.

[Neon]

She didn't move, her skin firm and unyielding even to the shake.

[Raven]

"Anya, what the hell's going on?" Nikola demanded.

[Neon]

Anya just didn't respond. In all honesty, this was actually a defense and coping mechanism she had since she was a baby. In all likelihood, Jeremiah knew about this, and certainly her father. However, she had never done this in front of her boyfriend's daughter.

[Raven]

Nikola sighed in frustration and stormed out, going on to her next task. She had to go visit Joan Wenkeling again. She entered the next room with a tray, explaining the rules as soon as the door shut.

[Gifted]

Joan didn't fight. She seemed to have resigned herself to being thrown into this arena. "Why?" She demanded hopelessly. "Why me? Haven't I been through enough?"

[Raven]

"You were among the top on our lists - it's ranked on people we can take without repercussions and who are still classy enough to not disgust our betters," Nikola responded, with a sigh. "I brought you a meal."

[Gifted]

"For crying out loud, I'm trying to make up for my past!" She sighed. "Thanks, I guess." She took it and began to eat glumly.

[Raven]

"I am aware, I followed you for a week, but you aren't the person I pity taking the most," Nikola said. "There are teams of three, chosen by the betters. Only that set team can get out together alive. You can figure out who your team is based on clues you're given in the arena."

[Gifted]

"Ok, fine." Joan nodded. At least there were two people she didn't have to kill.

[Raven]

"Good luck, Miss Wenkeling," Nikola said. She and Conner finished telling people, and then it was time to take them to the arena. The contestants had all passed out by then, and when they woke, they were in various areas of wilderness.

[Gifted]

Joan groaned as she awoke on the scratchy forest floor. "Just like old times." She muttered gloomily, and looked around the area around her.

Isobel awoke on top of a tall hill, lying in the grass. Fear seared her heart like a knife when she realized the fight must have started. She was too exposed up here. This wasn't right. She had to hide, hide and pray she'd be lost for good... and then what? Starve out here forever? It didn't matter. She had to keep moving.

Cody Clark felt pain in his back andsat up. He'd been left at the top of a cliff, rocks digging into his back. From here he could see an areial view of a large portion of the arena. "Well, we know where most of the fighting's gonna be." He said aloud to himself, looking to the lake and rive, probably the only source of fresh water in the whole arena. It'd do him good to get down there and have a drink before the other fighters found it. But first he had to get down the cliff.

"Why's it so damn dark?" Olivia groaned and she put her hand on a wall. Rough. Too rough. As her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, she found she was not in the room anymore, but in a pitch-black, rocky cave. One hand instinctively went to the sheath at her belt and she was pleasantly surprised to find her knife had been returned to her. She pulled it out and help it up, on the defensive, as she walked through the cave looking for a way out.

Rick awoke on the soft grass. Looking up, he saw two hills rose on either side of him, with himself in the valley. The hills were bare of trees and he immediately realized the tactical disadvantage of the place. "Well." He said, getting up with a smile. "Time to find me some allies."

Stephanie smiled as she felt the wind playing across her face, awaking her without discomfort. She heard a rushing sound in her ears and at first couldn't identify what it would be. It was quiet in the room... but there was no wind in the room...
She opened her eyes to find herself lying alongside a rushing river lying in the grass. She felt an unpleasant jolt in her stomach. Had they started? Was this where they were fighting? She crawled to the water, wanting to get a drink before all hell broke loose At least she'd gotten a good starting location.

Roseanne felt the sand shift around her as she moved her hands up to rub her eyes. She knew the moment she'd awoken she was outside, and the ocean made a soothing sound as it lapped against the beach. Having not been in a dangerous situation since she was a teenager, she knew she'd be at a disadvantage out here, so the beach probably wasn't a great spot to set up camp. She looked behind her and saw something slightly more inviting - a ways off was a line of thick trees, the beginning of a dense forest. She began to jog towards it.

Leia's eyes flicked open as she saw the dense trees all around her. If those assholes had taken her cards... She checked her pockets. Nope, she still had a full deck. still, that was only twelve of each suit and her queens, that didn't give her whole lot of ammunition if she was in this for the long haul... she wasn't even sure if she'd kill anyone yet... She looked up. She wasn't safe on the ground. It was slower, but it would be safer to travel by trees. Long as she wasn't stupid and fell out.

[Neon]

Vlad was in a random cave when he woke up. He sighed, and examined his surroundings. Finding nothing he began to walk out and down the hill the cave opened onto.

Nicholas woke with a grin, looking around and finding he was by a river. He thought about what to do for a bit before deciding to do nothing and see what would come, sharpening some sticks for good measure.

Eryk found he was in a forest that opened onto a very nice beach. He grinned, feeling the adrenaline beginning to course through him. He found several small rocks and made a simple sling from one of his sleeves before setting off into the forest. With any luck he would find Vladimir, and then the real fun could begin.

Edrin was lying on a beach when he awoke. He decided he like it there and continued to lay there blissfully, playing and splashing about in the water a bit.

Lucille was under a large tree in the densest forest that he had ever seen. It was so dense, only the brain of a fat, uneducated, racist American homophobe could even compare to the density. He liked this tree, and decided to climb it, and then drop large pinecones onto the heads of people that appeared threatening.

Anya was on the top of a large cliff. This could have been very very bad, but then she realized that she could feel her wings again. This brought great happiness and she shot into the sky, scouring the ridiculously dense and then off-puttingly open scenery below for some familiarity.

Fae awoke in a frighteningly open area on the top of a sparse hill. Her instincts kicked in and she darted into the forest, seeking better cover. Once in a reasonable area, she began to paint her face with mud and green stuff from the plants and grass, grateful her clothing was a nice dull tan colour for better camouflage.

Elizavetta was in a tiny clearing by a waterfall that emptied into a river. She frowned and searched her pockets, relieved at the familiar shapes of her various knives. She was even more relieved to find that they had not replaced the better hidden weapons she'd had about her person in the original hiding places, shoving those in pockets as well. She quickly sorted her things out and then set off to find the people she would either kill or save.

[Raven]

Adam pulled in a deep breath, wanting to sink back into his dream, but just as suddenly he surged awake. It wasn't air that filled his lungs. The salty taste filled his mouth and he started retching, kicking out to try to get out of the water, squeezing his eyes shut and feeling the bottom of the ocean. He surged to the surface and started stumbling in the direction that seemed to be inland, coughing from the inhaled water. He hadn't even been that deep, thankfully, but soon he fell into more water - but from the way it washed the salt away he could tell it was fresher. He sank down in the river, and rinsed his mouth out. He was still coughing periodically, but he was able to open his eyes. Luckily the sun beat down, which made being wet pleasant rather than miserable, like everything else so far. He should look around, find a better place for when people started coming. He didn't even have any idea how many people he'd be up against. Though, on the bright side, unless notes had already come, he hoped people would be less likely to attack. He sunk down into the water, not wanting to move until he had to.


Francis slowly came back to awakening, frowning at the stale air around him. He opened his eyes and was on his feet in seconds. He couldn't see. Why the hell couldn't he see? But as he stood up, his head hit the low roof and dirt cascaded around him. He froze, fear starting to nag at the edges of his mind. He tried to stay calm and put his hands out. Feeling the walls on three sides of him didn't help. What if he were trapped down here? What if he was just going to suffocate deep underground? His fist clenched, but he put his hand out so that he wouldn't run into the wall and started along the fourth direction in this retched tunnel. His eyes didn't adjust to the complete darkness. Fear kept building as he kept walking.


Ryan woke. It was nothing special. The ground beneath him was slightly softer than his bed ever was, there was a breeze, which didn't particularly alarm him, since he was still used to sleeping in the subways. He opened his eyes and looked around. The dense forest surrounded him. Vines drooped between the trees, but it wasn't so thick that the trees were bare near the ground. He got up and started to climb - he had to get a better look than the plants allowed. Height would be an advantage.


Katrina was almost fooled into believing she was back at home again, only the thing pressed against her back wasn't half as warm as Zach. She opened her eyes, and found herself in an indentation between the large roots of a larger tree. She was mostly hidden, unless someone looked directly in at her, and she decided to stay there.


The sound of rushing water made Kailen open his eyes. He stretched, his hands touching the roof of the stone cave, even though he was still sitting down. He looked up at it, then around. Towards the far end of the very deep impression, there was a short waterfall, which traveled farther through the stone in a river past the small pool that was found in the cave. At the other end, the cave opened up, and all he could see was the sky beyond. He headed to the opening, and found himself frightfully high up, though the cliff below him wasn't too steep, he might risk scaling down. Below, the waterfall from behind him poured out of the rock in another, longer waterfall that fed into a river. The stream went as far as he could see, far into the trees that he could make out not too far from the cliff face. He turned back to the pool of water. Hopefully, he wouldn't get some kind of disease for drinking this stuff. If he did... Well, hopefully he'd be out by the time he started to suffer for it. He dipped his hands into the water and poured it into his mouth, then splashed it on his face.


Mia woke to find a bright blue sky above her. She lay there, staring up at it for a while before finally forcing herself to focus on the problem at hand. She sat up and looked around, finding herself in a flowery meadow with trees on all sides. There wasn't any shelter, and she was glad there didn't seem to be anyone around. She headed for the trees nearest her, and after wandering through them for a moment, came out to find a bubbling river on the other side. She smiled and headed down to the water's edge, intending on a drink.


Kenny leaned his back against the cliff face, looking around. There were trees ahead of him, and not much else to speak of. He figured he should set off to find others, but since this seemed to be a good place to wait, with his back protected and the trees shockingly close to the rock, he figured he would wait for them to find him.


Ben woke up with rock on two sides, though really one of those sides was down, so it didn't really count. He was sitting on a ledge on a cliff face. He looked up, finding that he was only a few yards from the top, but deciding he didn't want to climb once he'd looked down and found quite a lot more than a few yards below him. It wasn't particularly steep, but he was still tired, and it wasn't something he was prepared to risk until he was fully awake.