(open) Could have gone better

[unjoined]

Who| Korra and whoever has the patience.
What| A not so great first day.
Where| Training Center, District 10 suite
When| After the arena
Warnings/Notes| Nothing yet!


(a - district 10 suite)

She's left in this strange room with just a vague explanation full of things like honor and luxury and battle to the death so it's no surprise that Korra doesn't really know where to start here. She's gotten to be around the wealthy enough to understand that decorating means having a lot of unnecessary stuff. What even is half of this?

Hesitantly she walks into the main living area, touching the surfaces of beautifully carved wood furniture or gleaming ornaments until she awkwardly settles down into a nice couch, not at all comforted by its softness.

Luxury. Right.

A television is on, reporting the latest updates and gossip about a recent game. A "mover", is what she thinks. Moving pictures had only just been revealed back home and were a hit but they were nothing like this. This had color, for one, and beautiful quality like she were seeing everything with her own eyes.

And see she does. Replaying clips of the latest game flicker every once in awhile, between emotional and delighted speculation. Bloody, violent pictures that left Korra pale and feeling sick. It's not fake. These people, some of them children, couldn't act this kind of horror.

Korra is looking physically ill and starts searching for the light projection, wherever it is. Kinda desperately want to turn this off.


( b - later, out and about )

Korra's first mistake is going to the Peacekeepers. They'd been the first people she'd seen and well, whatever they were they knew something, right?

It doesn't go so well.

Most attempts go poorly, where her question is either waved off or they tell her something that just really doesn't cut it. Getting frustrated, she huffs and tries again. From a distance anyone could hear her voice raising as she gets closer and points at them, saying something like why don't you just skip that and say something useful?

Her second mistake is making them mad. They move like they're going to pull out something and for a moment she enters a stance that shows she's ready for a fight if they are. Even if she did have her bending she could take them without it, probably.

But she remembers she doesn't and suddenly backs off, begrudgingly turning to leave with a halfhearted apology. The fact that she can't bend distresses her more than she'd like to admit. Enough to make her cautious and avoid trouble. Which says a lot.

Korra, looking dispirited and frazzled, slows a few yards away to slump against the wall. "This is the worst."

Comments

[unjoined]

Korra visibly cringes at this. "They... what?"

She really shouldn't be surprised that animal cruelty would be on their roster too- what with their cruelty to people being the biggest hit in town. But her stomach still feels sick. "What do you mean by use them in the arenas, exactly?"

[smarterthanthem]

"In the arena's it's not just the other tributes you have to worry about." her voice and expression has quickly turned serious at Korra's question. "The arena has other stuff that will try and kill you, like traps. Sometimes they put in dangerous animals as well that will attack if they find you. In my first arena there were bugs and giant spiders, before that they had an arena with dinosaurs."

[unjoined]

Korra doesn't know what a dinosaur is but it sounds dangerous as all get out.

That's some news. "I'd heard that they give you these- obstacles and traps sometimes. But it sounds like they mess around during the arena more than I'd thought."

She's looking down, seriously worried. "Do you know if people have recognized their own animals before? Would they use Naga?"

[smarterthanthem]

"A lot of the tributes here don't want to kill everyone else so they have other ways to make sure we die." It's horrible to say and no doubt to here. Clementine the vast majority of the tributes wouldn't play the Capitol's game and in the arena's never tried to start a fight, only attempted to survive as long as they could. It probably frustrated the Gamemaker's to a level.

"I don't know, sorry."

[unjoined]

For a moment, Korra lets her face show how worried she is. For the tributes, for her friend. And worse, what if Clementine had faced what happens when the Gamemakers get bored?

She swallows. "No, it's fine. I'm sure she's okay. She's really tough." Korra tries for a smile. "Thanks for telling me. I want to try and avoid hurting people if I go into one of these. So I need to be prepared for whatever else too."

[smarterthanthem]

"She's probably just at your home still. You probably don't need to worry for her." Clementine says reassuringly, Naga must be really, really important to Korra for her to be so worried. "Yeah, I don't want to hurt people either."

Sometimes though you just couldn't help it, not if you wanted to survive.

"Hey, there's some good stuff here though. I know a great ice-cream shop, and there's an arcade and laser tag, plus an ice-rink." Clem's just started learning to skate herself.

[unjoined]

"Yeah. Yeah, that'd be better. Thanks." That does help. Korra can't be sure but Clementine has been here longer than her and she'll trust her judgement on this. If she says Naga is still home, she'll just have to hope she's right.

She blinks and her smile grows. She'd heard from others of the good you can find here, but she didn't think they meant stuff like this. "Ice-cream sounds cool. Not so sure about that other stuff. Like, an ice-rink?"

To hold your ice?

[smarterthanthem]

"It's fun. Promise." she tells her, "An ice-rink's like a fake frozen lake, so you can go skating anytime you want. I've been learning how from my friend, Jet, he's really good at it."

Clementine's a kid despite everything, she might have a different definition of good from some of the other people here.

[unjoined]

Korra brightens suddenly. For once, something familiar. "Ice skating! Yeah, we have that at home. Most kids from my home learn how to at some point since we've got so much of it."

She's smiling despite herself. "It really does sound fun. I don't feel like relaxing here but... maybe that one, at least."