Rescue Me! (from a journalist) OPEN

[splendid_roman]

Who| Ian and open
What| Ian wakes up after his death in the arena and is reminded of what he did there
Where| Training centre - central commons
When| During the last week of the arena
Warnings/Notes| None so far

Ian woke up, which was a surprise in itself. An assessment of his injuries revealed he had none, which was the second surprise. After lying in bed for a while, looking up at the ceiling, he could only conclude that he'd been taken out of the arena before he died from blood loss. Either the technology here was very good or he'd been kept asleep for a long time. He hoped it wasn't the latter and was curious about the former.

He ventured out, feeling tired, but not feeling any of his former injuries. The central commons, it turned out, wasn't the best place to choose. He'd barely got through the door when a journalist shoved a microphone and camera in his face and asked, "We loved your sword fighting. Can you tell us where you learned it?"

A screen nearby was showing one of Ian's fights. One where he killed someone. He'd fought before and he killed before, but for good reason - generally because his or someone else's life was in danger. But there were people he'd killed in the arena for no good reason. There had felt like one at the time, but now those reasons seemed petty.

He went pale and shook his head, looking around in the hopes of seeing someone who could rescue him from this interview.

Comments

[thefemaleson]

"One of the traveling folk then?" Oscar asked, tracing an idle finger in the condensation on the bar. Traveling folk were usually thieves and liars, but Ian seemed trustworthy. Granted, she was no fool, and she had only just met him. Just another thing to watch out for here. It was growing more and more like court as the days passed. Court, writ large and twisted - where all the worst rumors of royal excesses were true. Well, at least she knew the shape of the game.
"From what little I have discovered of this place, I am not sure escaping here is much relief"

[splendid_roman]

"I suppose you could say that." They had been travelling and they took their home, if a temporary one for Ian and Barbara, with them.

"At least by escaping we'd be free. But it is best to do with a little knowledge and a plan." Neither of which Ian had at the moment. And escaping wouldn't take him back where he'd come from either and might mean he'd never get home.

[thefemaleson]

She nodded. "Very little is accomplished by rushing off without planning." She paused, a sudden thought occurring to her. "Planning and teamwork. And the latter seems to be exactly what the nature of these games seeks to destroy." She shook her head, feeling a sense of rising frustration. "I just wish I could figure out the point!"

[splendid_roman]

"It's difficult to plan when you don't know what you're going to be facing." And teamwork was hard to come by when there could only be one winner.

"The point is to keep us in line, I suppose." It didn't sound like a very good reason, though.

[thefemaleson]

It was something she'd thought of before, but she still nodded emphatically at Ian's words. "Of course. Keep people divided and at each others' throats, and they can not unite against the system."

[splendid_roman]

"Well, it's working." He sounded unhappy about that, but it wasn't as if it was something he could change either. "Maybe the solution is just to drink more." Saying so, he finished his drink. "Would you like another?"

[thefemaleson]

Oscar frowned at that, but nodded. "More wine if you please," she said, handing Ian her glass. She's hoped he would be the type to want to fight against what their hosts were trying to do, but it appeared not. Still, that was no reason not to be polite.

"Thank you," she said when he returned. "If nothing else we can use the time outside the Arena to have friendly chat like this one, no?"

[splendid_roman]

"Of course." He smiled and sipped at his wine. "The arena isn't the best place to chat, when you don't know if you might be attacked at any time."

[thefemaleson]

"Perhaps even by the one you're chatting with?" Her tone is light, but it is a serious question. After all, if there can only be one winner, even friends would have to turn on each other at some point.

[splendid_roman]

"Perhaps." He sounded sceptical, though. "But most people don't tend to chat casually with someone they're about to kill."