week 0 - training facility

[murdergame]

blood match week zero



week zero

When you first wake up in your room, an announcement will play on the television.

You’ll be spending your first week before the game officially starts at a vast facility that has been completely submerged underwater. This facility consists of a central hub surrounded by four smaller spherical buildings. You can get to each subsection by either taking a shuttle or walking across a long glass tunnel.

Setting
Competitors
Private Conversations

Comments

[onewith]

[Do you feel someone's eyes on you, Iceland? If the answer is "yes," good job! Because there's a young girl standing a few feet away, watching as he gets in some practice with the bow.

At first, she isn't too worried, but he's improving quickly - it makes her wonder just how many of the other people here already have the skill necessary to pick people off from a distance.]

...you're getting better at that.

[Well, at least she spoke up instead of just standing there silently like a creep all day...]

[volcanoes]

[Iceland startles a little when Mayu speaks up, but he immediately tries to play it off, shrugging.] I'm just out of practice.

[It makes him sound like he has more skill with the bow than he actually has, which is kind of the point. As far as he can tell, the only person here he knows is Norway, so that means no one will have any idea at what he's good or bad at.]

I mean, this is all really dumb, but I might as well practice.

[onewith]

Then... you really think you're going to have to use something like that against all of us?

[She indicates the longbow with a slightly nervous glance, bringing one hand up to anxiously fiddle with the bow on her shirt. "Are you really going to use that," she asks, like she isn't already making mental preparations to kill people if she has to.]

It's hard to believe that something like this is really happening...

[No it isn't. This isn't the first time she's been spirited away, but she hopes she can make it the last.]

[volcanoes]

[It's too awkward to say that yes, he's planning on using it if he has to, when this girl looks like--well, a girl. She can't be that old. She looks around his age, but he's a lot older than he looks.]

If there's some other way to get out of here I'll do that instead.

[onewith]

[That response isn't really comforting, and her expression contorts with what seems to be worry. She brings a hand up to her mouth as if to keep herself quiet.]

Do you think it's likely..?

[There is a very small part of her that hopes that it is, but past experience has taught her that when you're spirited away the chances of a safe escape are exceedingly slim. Even if it's not ghosts who are responsible for this, she doesn't think it will be any easier to run away.]

[volcanoes]

[Iceland looks off to one side; he's the most peaceful country in the world, and acting like this feels incredibly wrong. But what else can he do?]

I don't know. [He doesn't think it's likely at all.] Not being prepared for whatever might happen would be dumb, so I'm doing this, but it's not like I want to.

[onewith]

You're right about that...

[That it would be dumb, not to be prepared. Mayu bites her lip and looks from the boy who appears to be about her age to the longbow, and then back again.]

Do you think you could... [She fidgets.] I've never used one of those before. Do you think you could shoot it slowly so I can see how it's done?

[volcanoes]

[Iceland should probably say no. Norway would probably say no. But he doesn't know how to refuse. Maybe later on she'll have some hesitation about going after her if he helps her. If he tells himself that, his actions feel a bit more justified. He notches the bow and slowly gets into position so she can see.]

I guess. It takes practice, mostly. [Practice and some level of upper body strength. Iceland's form isn't perfect, but it gets the job done as far as getting arrows to hit a target.]

[onewith]

[She watches very carefully as he gets into position, and tries to mimic it herself - but a sharp pain throbs in her leg and she glances down at it quickly with a slight grimace. A moment later, she returns her attention back to Iceland.]

It looks... heavy. You must be very strong...

[volcanoes]

[Iceland's eyes flick down to her leg when she looks down, seeming to be in pain. He makes note of it, but doesn't comment on it, instead offering her the bow.]

It's not too bad. Pulling it back is the hardest part.

[onewith]

[When he offers her the bow, she takes it. It feels a little awkward in her hands, but she adjusts her grip on it and tries to pull the bowstring back.]

It's— [Yeah, he's right. It is the hardest part, and Mayu doesn't exactly have stellar upper body strength. She's struggling with it a little.] ...I don't think I was meant to be an archer.

[volcanoes]

[She doesn't look like she was meant to be on any sort of battlefield. Appearances can be deceiving, of course, but still.]

...I'd try everything once. If I were you, I mean. Then pick whichever one you think is best for you and practice that all week.

[He shouldn't be giving her advice, but he can already see her with a knife in between her eyes a week from now.]

[onewith]

That's good advice.

[She'll take it, definitely. And then she'll probably laugh when she hacks his head off in a few weeks. Sae, give her strength.

...okay, no, the only part of that I was serious about was that she'll be taking his advice.]

Thank you. Um... [She pauses.] ...thank you.

[volcanoes]

[Do not underestimate Iceland, and by that I mean do not underestimate Norway's ability to defend Iceland from his own dumb feelings and also crazy laughing girls.]

Don't worry about it. In exchange you can just not go after me right away next week. ...I'm Iceland, by the way.

[Names are probably bad, too. Norway will be upset. Oops.]

[onewith]

[Too bad Mayu's not an otome protag or maybe she could have won Norway over to her harem or whatever. In this case, she'll just have to hope he takes pity on her for being a scared, injured human.]

I don't want to go after anyone. [Okay, that's kind of a lie. She wants to go back home to her sister. But... it is a little easier to keep her thoughts straight, without a bunch of ghosts around. Maybe she can hold off from going completely maniacal for a week or two.] My name is Mayu... it's nice to meet you.

[She's not going to question the country name; she figures he's probably just using a pseudonym. Little does she know...]

[volcanoes]

[Should have played Chizuru.]

It'd be better if it wasn't here. [But that's kind of blunt.] ...But yeah, nice to meet you. Maybe there's a different way out of here.

[onewith]

[Mayu nods. Not much else she can say to that - almost anyone would prefer not to be here, she's sure.]

There probably is. The only way not to know is not to look. [Not that she's going to, but hey, it's no problem to her if someone else gets punished for trying to run away... it leaves her with less murder to commit on her own. Despite those less-than-friendly thoughts, she manages a small smile.] Try not to get discouraged. We all have to do our best.

[volcanoes]

Yeah. [Though with Norway here Iceland is pretty sure his best is going to involve murdering his way across the island.] ...I guess we'll find out.

[That's the least optimistic attempt at optimism possibly ever.]

[onewith]

[Poor Iceland. He's talking to the wrong sister if he was hoping for someone who wouldn't be getting their murdergloves on. Or maybe Mayu is just talking to the wrong brother...]

It's... a little frightening, when you say it like that.

[volcanoes]

[Iceland's murdergloves are uncomfortable and wearing them upsets him.]

Sorry. But it's not like we know what's really going to happen next week.

[onewith]

...some would say it's kind of you, not to lie. [Is Mayu one of those people? Who can say...] Thank you.

[volcanoes]

Usually I get called blunt. [Because that's what he is a lot of the time.] ...It might be nice to lie about things here but it'd be stupid to in the end, I think.

[onewith]

That just means you're honest even when people don't want to hear it... right? [She furrows her brows.] Lies won't help anyone here.

[volcanoes]

[Iceland nods, though it's not entirely true. Of course, he can pick and choose his lies, and he'll have to do more lying in the arena anyway.]

If people hide from reality here, they'll just get killed right away.

[onewith]

Yes. That's... very likely.

[Whether it's because they get killed by other contestants or because they get blown up for being boring...]

For everyone's sakes, I hope they come to face reality soon.