So when they said prison planet... [Open]

[hi_there_aliens]

Who| Daniel Jackson and you! [Open]
What| Daniel arrives at the Capitol, after thinking he and SG-1 were going to be sent off for "justice" after inadvertently aiding a criminal. This isn't what he expected. He begins to poke around.
Where| Close to the Tribute Training Center, wandering around outside.
When| Evening - he's arrived sometime after curfew is over.
Warnings/Notes| I'd like to avoid Daniel getting spoiled on the part where death isn't permanent in the Arena please.

It still hadn't quite set in. The horror that is, Daniel thought. He wandered out from the building that had been marked as a Training Center in a daze. The shock was probably stage one. Or was it denial? Both? He was definitely going for both right now.  Daniel was sure the sheer horror of it would eventually strike - it had to-  and hit him hard when it did, but he was still working on the part where the Taldor had made this their judgement for SG-1. Tributes, Districts, Hunger Games, gladiatorial combat. That's what you got for trespassing, carrying arms to defend yourself, and accidentally aiding a criminal. He hated to see what they did if you jaywalked. Maybe that was average prison material.

To think, all Daniel had been worried about this morning was whether Sha're would be on the other side of the gate this time, followed by getting Jack to see that the current planet might just have more to offer than trees and moss.

"And here I was expecting Botany Bay," he muttered under his breath. A woman strolled past Daniel. Her heels even gave that little click on the ground that seemed pretty universal; very classy, very smart it said. It was also the only familiarity about her. She was dressed to what he suspected was supposed to be to the nines in this place. It made his eyes want to tear up; orange, purple and green had no business mixing like that, topped off with a mix of feathers and fur.  Daniel looked around. No one else seemed to find it glaring; she looked as much at home as the other people wandering the pathways. She gave him a mildly interested look, but passed on. Certainly no criminal herself.

It was this that set off the chill that started to spread through his stomach.  This woman and people like her were going to  tune in and watch them die one by one. Only one could survive. He had no idea where the rest of SG-1 were; for all he knew, he'd ended up here alone.  Daniel licked at his lips nervously.  "I think I'd rather have the prison planet..."

Comments

[originalgaangster]

"I've been to prison. It's nicer than this." Sokka eases up next to Daniel, surveying the crowd and the garishly dressed citizens with obvious unease and distaste.

"At least there they didn't ooh and ahh over you before sending you out to fight to the death for them."

[hi_there_aliens]

The teenager seemed to come out of nowhere, and for a moment, he thought he was one of them. It was the hair. Compared to the rest of the crowd, he was almost dressed modestly.

"Prison would be nicer than this," not that Daniel had had a long and personal experience with jail. Chulak hadn't quite counted. "I can't believe people actually tune in and watch this."

[originalgaangster]

"It's sick. It's not like pro-Earthbending or something like that where no one actually gets hurt. They want people--kids to kill each other for giggles." He pauses, eyes Daniel a moment.

"What's that mean, tune in?"

[hi_there_aliens]

"Tell me about it. This isn't some show where the cast and crew get to walk off at the end of the day."

"Earth-bending?" he echoed after a moment. "Oh, tune in. It means to watch a show; maybe it had to do with the old televisions and how they worked, or radios.

[originalgaangster]

"Yeah. Earthbending. Manipulating earth through bending." He says the words rather matter-of-factly, not really thinking about the fact that some people don't have bending on their worlds.

"...People keep explaining stuff to me using more words I don't know," Sokka rubs his chin.

"What's a television?"

[hi_there_aliens]

"...Tell me about it," Daniel muttered under his breath. He still wasn't sure what bending was. "How about this, we'll exchange knowledge. You tell me what bending is, I'll tell you what a TV is."

[originalgaangster]

"Sounds fair," Sokka smiles at Daniel, crossing his arms.

"I'm not a bender myself, though, so my explanation is not gonna be the best."

[hi_there_aliens]

"I'm not either. I think. So anything will do," Daniel pointed out. "What does bending mean, in context of your world?"

[originalgaangster]

"Basically it means manipulating the elements. It's kind of a spiritual thing, but it's also a physical discipline. An earthbender could, like, hurl boulders or shoot pillars or earth out of the ground or something." Sokka explains, gesturing in imitation of a few earthbending moves.

[hi_there_aliens]

That sounded incredible. What he wouldn't give to see one of these earthbenders at work! Daniel watched the kid demonstrate, taking a step back just in case. It looked a lot like a martial art.

"And how do they do that? Are they telekinetic?" Daniel had to ask. Telepathy and telekinesis sounded like things that, at best, were theoretical at best, and he was certain there were scientists out there with their eye and papers on it for years, and at worst, belonged in a sci-fi story. After everything he had seen since coming through the gate, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before they saw proof of telekinetic powers.

[originalgaangster]

"Tele-what? What's that?" Sokka cocks an eyebrow.

"It's bending. It just is. I dunno where it comes from. Earthbenders learned from badger-moles, or so the story goes. And then waterbenders learned from the moon..." He trails off.

"I'm not sure where airbenders and firebenders got it from, though."

[hi_there_aliens]

Daniel held up a finger. "It's based on Greek: it literally means 'distant-movement' - 'tele' to indicate distance and 'kinesis' to indicate movement. Telekinesis is a word used to describe the power to move things with your thoughts."

He really wished he had a notebook and pencil on him. This sounded very interesting, and the waterbenders having an affinity to the moon, or a maybe spirituality based around it, was especially interesting, considering a moon's affects on tides. "Maybe the firebenders get it from the sun?"

[originalgaangster]

"Greek?" This guy keeps using words Sokka doesn't quite get, but hey.

"The sun? Maybe. I know that during that big solar eclipse they couldn't use their firebending." Sokka rubs his chin. Hmmm.