{The Game}

You've awoken in a strange place, alone. You don't know how you got there, or why it's so eerily quiet. There's a note beside you...


"Welcome to the game! You are among few others who have been selected in this match. Your goal is to demobilize all opponents and be the first one out of the ring. The ring is a vast area. To the North are large cliffs and caves. Northeast a white sandy beach. East ring is a jungle, South are bogs. Southwest are stony ruins of what was an ancient civilization. The West holds a wooded forest. In the center of our ring a small abandoned town still stands with a grocery store, apartments, clothing stores a single neighborhood, one car lot, and various other establishments such as bars, gas stations, etc. A river runs through the ring from the ocean in the North, through the town and to the ruins of the Southwest.

Throughout the ring you will find various hidden things to help you win the game; ropes, sleeping drinks, knives and other weapons/tools, first aid kits, blankets, flashlights, soap, etc. If you think it may be useful, we guarantee you'll find it hidden or strategically placed somewhere in the ring. To win the game you must be the first one to find your way out of the ring, we do suggest that you demobilize your opponents otherwise they stand the chance of finding it first. You may demobilize them by simply tying them up, or killing them, it's your choice as those who are not first out of the ring will all be executed. There are no rules, and there is only a single way out of the ring and it's nearly impossible to find. Good luck..."


Rules
-Follow Mene rules first and foremost.
-Romance and violence are encouraged, but keep it PG-13.
-Your character must be human, no special abilities are allowed aside form those that any normal human could have.
-When your character finds useful items they should not be right out there in the open, and they should not always be something your character immediately needs.
-You may have up to two characters.
-To join, PM me your character with the title, "I will win the game."
- I would like a fairly even amount of male and female characters. If we have too many of one gender and you would like to join with said gender, you will be put on hold until the gender gap closes.
-You must post at least once every other day, no exceptions aside from real life things that pop up. If you continue to have real life problems that prohibit you from playing every other day, please do not join/remove yourself as to not hold the other players back.

>> CLICK HERE FOR OOC <<

Profile Skeleton: Copy the text inside this box, fill in the information in the appropriate places and send me a personal message with the info. Wait for my response to begin the RP.

PHP Code:

[LEFT][SIZE="3"][FONT="Garamond"][B]INSERT USERNAME[/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/LEFT]

[CENTER][IMG]insert URL to your character's appearance. ANIME PICTURES ONLY NO DESCRIPTIONS[/IMG]
[COLOR="INSERT POST COLOR HERE"][FONT=" Garamond "][SIZE="5"][B]CHARACTER NAME[/B][/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR]

[B][SIZE="3"]‡[/SIZE][/B][size=1] People call me ____. [/size]
[B][SIZE="3"]‡[/SIZE][/B][size=1] I am ____ years old. [/size]
[B][SIZE="3"]‡[/SIZE][/B][size=1] I am male/female. [/size]
[B][SIZE="3"]‡[/SIZE][/B][size=1] I have ____. (Describe your characters appearance; eye color, hair color, height, birthmarks, piercings, etc.) [/size]

[/CENTER][JUSTIFY][INDENT][INDENT][INDENT][INDENT]
[B][SIZE="4"]‡ My story;[/SIZE][/B][INDENT][size=1]
Write everything you want us to know about your character here. Ideas: background, mission, scars, likes, hates, etc. 

[/size][/INDENT][/INDENT][/INDENT][/INDENT][/INDENT][/JUSTIFY][INDENT][INDENT][INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT][/INDENT][/INDENT][/INDENT] 


{Character Profiles}

Kya Katsumi

Alexa (Lexi) Brandt

‡ People call me Lexi.
‡ I am 20 years old.
‡ I am female.
‡ I have blue eyes and blonde hair to my mid-back. I'm 5'3" with no tattoos and no piercings. I have a birthmark on the front side of my left shoulder that looks like an imperfect heart. My skin is average, not too pale, not too tan.

‡ My story;

Lexi is your average 20 year old. She was attending her local community college and working as a waitress at her local cafe to pay her apartment rent. As a young girl her parents pushed her to be in dance, karate, take piano lessons and even to volunteer at her local animal and homeless shelters. Though she believes all of those things helped shape who she is today, all she really wants is a career designing video games. Having three older brothers did that to her she assumes.

She is friendly and funny but tends to make awkward first impressions. She's playful and sincere but isn't the kind of girl you want to cross as she tends to fly a little off the handle. Of course, she'll apologize as soon as she's over it which tends to happen fairly fast. She hates anything with more than two eyes and anything that slithers. She also hates tiny cramped spaces. Lexi loves the ocean and she loves video games. She also loves to dance and eat coconut on everything.

ChiNoMizuumi

Liliya Alexeinovich Kopytina

‡ People call me Liliya or Lily.
‡ I am 17 years old.
‡ I am female.
‡ I have emerald-colored eyes and red, waist-length hair that I usually tie up. My skin is very pale. I am 5'2", which is just so dreadfully short, and I am also very thin. I have no tattoos, piercings, or birthmarks.

‡ My story;

Liliya is a first generation Russian-American; her parents emigrated from Russia to the United States before she was born. Against her parents' wishes, she was attending a magnet high school devoted to art. Liliya's parents wanted her to pursue a career as anything but an artist, but the girl ended up getting her way. She focused on three-dimensional graphic design. Her dream is to help gaming companies design and/or perfect the 3D environment of their games.

Lily is a very rational person and tries not to take things too seriously. She feels that life is too short to be worrying over the little things. She takes every day one step at a time. Unfortunate for her, she has a tendency to be shy and quiet, especially when around new people for the first time. It may take a while, but she will open up to these people and put her trust in them. Lily loves sweet things almost as much as she loves art and 3D design. She spends her free time doodling and sketching.

Kry

Jade Delacroix

‡ People call me Jade.
‡ I am 22 years old.
‡ I am male.
‡ I have green eyes, short blonde hair, two piercings in my left ear. I am 5'8 and have no tattoos or birthmarks, but I do have a few scars on my shoulder blades, lower back, thighs and on both wrists.

‡ My story;

When Jade was very young his biological parents left him in the care of an orphanage. He lived in that orphanage for about three years before a rather wealthy French-American family adopted him. The husband wanting and needing an heir to his company. A young man that he could shape and mold to be the perfect businessman and executive.

An owner of a very large American based, but French tech company. Jade was home-schooled by his 'father'. Learning the ways of business and also how to cheat others out of their fair share of the stocks and what not. However, Jade's interests did not lie in the same place as his 'father' wished them to.

The man was very abusive, very strict. Jade did what he could to keep his 'father' happy, but it never seemed to be enough. For a long time Jade saved up what money he could get from doing odd jobs and from doing office work for his 'father'.

Finally with enough money saved up and now a grown man and able to actually go against his 'father', Jade moved away. Jade moved to a small town and opened up his own business, a nice little cafe called Jumping Jack's. A place of his own, out from under the thumb of his 'father'.

Jade is often quick to force a smile on his lips. He tries to always appear happy and optimistic even if he truly isn't feeling that way. Though sometimes he can be quick to cry, if given a good enough reason.

Kiyoto

Raven Nightengale

‡ People call me Raven.
‡ I am eighteen years old.
‡ I am male.
‡ I have black hair, and icy blue eyes. I am five foot nine inches, and slender built.

‡ My story;

Raven is a quiet male, he is often alone. Nothing is known about him, for he refuses to speak about his past or anything to any of the other people he has met inside of the Arena. He has a scar that is over his heart in the shape of an x, which leads people to believe an attempt was made on his life. When he is asked about it though, he falls quiet and seems to shut down. He often speaks about someone known as "Teddy" though, those he has spoken to have no idea who he is talking about, and at times he speaks about this person like they are still around and he is literally talking to them at the moment. He is seen as odd and standoffish in many ways. He is an expert in hand to hand combat/martial arts, as well as gymnastics. His agility and flexibility make him a valuable ally to many. He has made it one of his missions to learn as much about the area as possible, and the people within the game. He does not fear death, nor does he fear killing. He is willing to do whatever is necessary to get back out.

InsaneArtisticNerd

Jason Todd

‡ People call me Jason.
‡ I am 18 years old.
‡ I am male.
‡ I have black hair, brown eyes, 5'8", no birthmarks, piercings, etc.

‡ My story;

Jason's father was a good family man who looked after his wife and son. Unfortuneatly, he also happened to be a criminal, and he disappeared while Jason was still young. After weeks of searching, the police concluded that he either ran away, or was dead. The whole event took a terrible toll on his mother, who used pills to deal with her stress before she ultimately turned to heroin and OD'd. Jason returned home to discover his mother dead, and reluctantly reported it to the police. Seeing as the boy had no relatives that he knew of, he was given over to social workers and made a ward of the state.
After a few months in state care, Jason decided that there was no way that a decent family would open their home to him and that he would rather be on his own than to live on the charity and obvious pity of others. He slipped away from the state facility and wandered around Detroit. Sometimes dropping by a friend's house to crash for the night, sometimes breaking into a foreclosed and empty house to sleep in when it got too full at the shelter. He gets money by doing odd jobs and contacting an old friend of his mom's who runs a moving company to hire him.
Jason plans to save enough money to get out of the city. Maybe move to someplace sunnier. He doesn't have any set plan, but has decided that he'd take things step-by-step along the way. He likes good, hot food like chilidogs, the beautiful & crunchy leaves of fall and stray animals. He hates the eerie sound of silence and the sound of police sirens.

{Reserved}

Lexi groaned as water rose up around her legs and side and receded away again. She opened her mascara and eye shadow lined sapphire colored eyes, blinking up at open sky. She sat up and looked around. She was on a white sandy beach. The sun had begun it's descent in the sky and would soon be setting. The tide was coming in and that had been Lexi's wake-up call.

She looked down at herself, still in yesterday's clothes of shorts and a generic white tank top that she wore for work. She even still wore her waitress apron with it's notepad and pen still tucked inside. Her skin had begun to redden from the sun. How long had she been out for? And where in the world was she?

She couldn't remember anything after her shift at the cafe. Only walking to her car, and that was it. There was a note attached to the left breast of her shirt. She pulled it off and read it. Her heart raced and she looked around. Was this a joke? There wasn't a beach within 600 miles of where she lived... she dropped the note in the water and pushed herself up.

Sand clung to her bare legs and her clothes where they were wet from the salty water. The only thing she could hear was the crashing of the waves and the strong wind as it blew in from the sea messing her blonde hair as it blew around her face and shoulders. She pulled her apron off discarding it to the sand. Her eyes still scanned the area for forms of life. Was she hoping to find someone? Didn't she need to avoid everyone?

Lexi was confused and scared. She was unsure what to think or do, so she headed away from the beach towards the town. Maybe, if the town really existed, there would be a phone she could use to call for help.

There was this excruciating pain resonating from the very center of her being. It felt like she was being stabbed and crushed right in the chest. For a few moments, the darkness that shrouded her vision would not disappear no matter how strong her will to wake up was. However, the feeling quickly passed, and a pair of emerald orbs graced the world once again.

Emerald, meet bird. Bird, meet emerald.

Liliya screeched so loudly that an entire flock of tropical birds, including the sole one that had decided to romp around on her chest, flew up and away. The red-head shot upright, gasping as the fear stole her breath. She brought her knees into her chest, hugging them and burying her face between them. Calmly, she took slow, deliberate breaths, waiting for her body to relax before anything else.

It took several minutes, but Liliya managed to calm herself enough to stand and look at her surroundings. Wherever she was, she’s wasn’t home anymore. Nearby, there was an ocean. At the moment, she was in the middle of what looked like a forest.

Before she started to hyperventilate, Liliya put her head in her hands and tried to remember what she was last doing. All she could remember was leaving her school. If anything, she had barely made it to the parking lot. Her school’s uniform, though dirty and ruffled now, was still clinging to her skin, the synthetic material of the dress shirt making her feel hot and sweaty. At least she still had a skirt on and not pants.

To her surprise, there was a note stuck in her shoe. She reached down and carefully pried it out, only to gape at it. What the hell was this? A joke? A reality TV show? Liliya’s stomach churned. She wanted to vomit.

Taking several steps back, the Russian girl backed up against a tree, pushing her head back against it. She couldn’t tell which way led where in this place. Where was she even supposed to go?

Jade groaned lightly, raising a hand to cover his closed eyes with it. Why was it so bright? Had he left the curtains open? Come to think of it, why did his bed feel so hard? Maybe he'd fallen out of it. No. Wait. It felt like grass and smelled like dirt. Slowly those green eyes opened and he lowered his hand from his face, to blink at the sky. Jade sat up slowly, looking around just as slowly. This was definitely unfamiliar territory. How in the world had he gotten here? Wherever here was. He bit his bottom lip and slowly stood. Something fluttered from his lap to the ground, Jade picked up the note, his brow creasing as he read it and then reread it.

Now he remembered what had happened, or what must have happened. He had just been taking the garbage out when everything had gone black. His cafe. It couldn't run without him, and surely the employees would be worried about the disappearance of their boss. Jade crumpled the note up, shoved it into his pocket while simultaneously searching that pocket for his cell phone. Did he have it with him? Or had 'they' taken it from him? Or maybe he had simply left it in the cafe. Jade didn't know, but it seemed like it certainly wasn't in any of his pockets. With a sigh he pulled the note from his pocket so he could read it a third time.

Perhaps he had been kidnapped by angry business partners of his 'father'. Or, what if his 'father' was staging this kind of thing? Jade doubted both of those options, but honestly wouldn't be surprised if either one was true. He shook his head, shoving the note into his pocket again and looked this way and that. He seemed to be in the wooded area the note mentioned. Which way should he go? Maybe towards the town that was mentioned in the note? Jade sighed, he had no idea which way to go.

East, West, those directions meant nothing to him. He didn't have a compass, he couldn't point out the north star. He had never learned anything about discerning north from the way the moss or lichens grew on trees. So Jade picked a direction and started walking. Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

Avril rolled over, expecting her usual pile of pillows to be there, but instead was welcomed by a crunching of leaves in her hair and soil in her mouth. "Ugh.. wha..?" Rubbing her eyes dazed and confused, Avril sat up and looked around her. As her vision cleared she found that she was somewhere that had a ton of trees. Maybe a forest? "The hell?" Avril swore under her breath as she came to the realization that she wasn't there on her own intentions. She pressed her forefinger and thumb to her temples and groaned. Her head fealt like someone had set it on fire.

Avril stood up and dusted herself off. Had someone left her here? She couldn't remember anything. Wait, thats not true. Avril could remeber yelling. Angry yelling. It was probobly her gradnmother yelling at her step father again. Suddenly a huge wave of understanding hit her. Avril could sightly remeber whar had happend. Her step father had come by hoping to get some money. Avril had raised enough for a few courses of collage. It seemed like everytime she got close enough to pay for another, her step father would stop by so he could mooch off her and use her hard earned money for his drinking problem. Her grandmother had likely stepped up and given him a pice of her mind. She was fiercer than she looked. Avril couldn't stand her step father. She remeberd taking the back door out into the alley. Once she got to the alley she couldn't remeber anything else. Everything had just gone dark.

Avril fished in the pockets of her jeans for her cell phone. Withdrawing her had, all she had come up with was a crumpled pice of paper. Avril unfolded it, slightly irritated, and read it.

"What? No! Come on.." With a huff, Avril shoved the note back into her pocket. What exactly was she supposed to do now? The note had told her she was in some sort of game where she was required to either win or die. Avril supposed she would most likely have no problem killing off the competition. But mybe she should stratigize instead.

"Okay.. what way?" Avril turned slowly, looking in every direction. "Wish I had some sort of map. Maybe even a dagger." She mumbled to herself. Avril took off in the direction the sun was rising, keeping close to the trees and making sure she wasn't too exposed. She had no idea how hostile the other 'players' would be.

((I'm going to post again, and then I'll try to push the play to get another charrie or two. I think it will be better with one or two more anyway. Feel free to share it with your friends so we can get this ball on a roll, or whatever the saying is....))

A hundred miles, Lexi thought. I must have walked a hundred miles by now... The sun had less than an hour left in the sky. It was setting to the right of her but already ahead of her lingered darkness. She'd been walking for a couple of hours now though at a slow and cautious pace while maneuvering over, through and around obstacles in the jungle. There was no telling how far the town was from here or if she was even still going in the right direction. Though she'd remembered from Girl Scouts that the sun set in the West. She'd come from the North so as long as she kept the sun at her right she would come across the town. She needed to get as far as she could before the sun went down or she'd end up lost.

Her stomach grumbled. She'd not eaten since the end of her shift yesterday. Her throat was dry, too. At least the temperature still sat in the upper 80's. With the sun gone, it wasn't too hot, and thankfully it wasn't going to be too cold either. She was off in her own world thinking of food and keeping the sun at her right when she tripped over something.

She fell into dirt and rocks scraping both knees and the butts of both hands. The motion had jolted her back to reality. Her heart was racing and she was more pissed off than anything. She rolled to sit on her butt. Her left knee was bleeding and her hands were scraped enough that they were oozing. Fucking fabulous, she thought. Normally Lexi wasn't one to curse, but she was starving, lost, alone, pretty sure dragged into some twisted game, and now her hands a knee stung and the sun was going down. She also wasn't normally one to be in such a messed up situation.

Lexi looked over to the place she tripped, assuming it to be a rock or tree root protruding from the jungle soil, but instead she saw a box. That was strange. A box just sitting out here randomly in the jungle. She looked around. She didn't see anyone. She leaned over the box. Maybe it was a bomb. Probably not though. Who would put a bomb in the middle of the jungle like this? Whoever drug her to this place maybe.

Carefully Lexi pulled the top off the box to reveal a set of keys. How strange. She recalled the note she'd found saying that there would be hidden but helpful, things, scattered about the "ring". Lexi shuddered. So this wasn't a joke. Suddenly she wasn't as hungry as she had been. She picked up the keys and attached them to a loop on her shorts. Surely they opened something inside the town right? She looked towards the sun, almost entirely hidden now beyond the jungle trees.

The lighting was awful now. Just enough light around her area that there wasn't enough light in her immediate area to see with. She continued forward anyway. Better to try and make it to a shelter than be stuck out here in the open she guessed. By now her clothes had dried completely. The sunburn was at it's worst on her cheeks, at the bends of her arms and just above her knees; a nice shade of lobster. Everywhere else would be tan by morning.

She pulled the elastic hair band from her wrist and pulled her blonde hair back in an attempt to see without obstruction. Stray sections of hair fell anyway, not quite long enough for the pony tail. Blonde hair fell over her right eye annoyingly as she walked. From time to time she'd push the hair back, swat at some ridiculously large jungle bug or trip on her own feet causing her keys to jingle.

Raven stood, dusting his pants off. A sigh escapped from his lips, and he fixed his hat. He looked up at the sky through the treebranches overhead. It was a good day out, but it only hid what was really going on. He had woke up not long ago to the note, but was not going to let it get to him or get him down. He had learned in life, there was no point in whining or crying over spilt milk.

He stuffed the note into his pocket, and began making his way along the line between the trees. He was going to scout the area, and learn what he could. His father had always said that knowledge was power. He needed to get his bounds and know what he was up against. So there were other people here to? He was ment to get rid of them in order to survive. It seemed simple enough, even though most would think him crazy for thinking that.

He sighed, and continued, pausing to look at a small stream flowing through the trees and moved to it. He kneeled by it, lightly dipping his hand into it. The land was easy to live off of if you knew how, but he figured they would not make it that simple for long. The letter had said there were things hidden all over the place that could be helpful. He glanced arouund a bit, tilting his head slightly to the side. Where could something be hiding?

The possibilities were endless, there were probrably hodden areas and such all over this area specifically for this kind of thing. He stands, and slowly hopped over the rocks in the river to the other side. His eyes running up and down it on this side, he wondered if there was any of the other people who he was competing against around here. He sighed, he was not looking forward to this at all.

It was a beautiful evening. A beautiful evening to meet a fine lady bird and lure her back to his lovely nest. A home that he carefully spent the whole season building and preening to perfection. The male kildeer rose from its home and took to the air, in search for a mate to perfect his little home.

He circled the forest before selecting a sturdy branch to alight upon. He stood there, twisting his head around as a quick security check for predators. Then he sang. He sang for a good ten minutes. Singing the most beautiful mating call to ever to hit your senses..if you were a female kildeer that is.

However, if you were, say, a human, then it would probably sound like nature's most annoying, high pitched alarm clock that went on an endless repeat of deet-deet-deet-deet-deet-deet-deet before growing into a long stuttering trill and returning to the deet-deet-deet-deet part.

WHA-PAM!

A dirty stone ricocheted off a tree branch near the startled bird, causing it to flee from the tree to continue its quest.

Now, around ten feet below the branches of the many trees that surrounded him, sat a cranky teenager who still had his arm outstretched from his earlier action. Jason had felt like yelling at the bird, but he deflated when it flew off."..I was pretty comfortable 'till you woke me up....stup'd bird," he muttered, though his words barely sounded harsh as it was still slurred by sleep and a dry mouth. I'm thirsty Jason thought, while blinking rapidly to bring himself out of his sleepy state. He was sitting up and his hand was absently reaching for something to his left before he suddenly froze. There was no water bottle where he'd left it. In fact, the vacated old house which he'd been staying in was gone as well. There was nothing but dirt and overgrown grass in its place.

Jason sat up straight, now fully awake and taking in his now not-so-urban surroundings. Well..I guess this all could be explained if I'd gotten wasted last night and forgot how I got here, Jason rubbed his eyes as he rationalized all this ..but my vice is smoking, not drinking, and I know myself well enough to know that nobody could've have gotten me this wasted....except maybe Sam, but the man's an alcoholic so that doesn't count. Jason then smoothly pulled himself to his feet. There was no noticeable swaying, nor dizziness and his surroundings definitely didn't twist around and lean in on him.

Yep. No hangover...which means I'm all out of ideas on how I got here. Jason knew he was going to start panicking, so he reached into his jacket to pull out a carton and lighter. When he took them out though, there was a note sandwiched in between them. It was crumpled since it wasn't folded before entering his pocket, so Jason tried his best to flatten it against his leg. He then stepped into a patch of light that had filtered through the trees, to focus on the fine print that was on the note. While his eyes quickly skimmed through the notice, Jason's face remained calm, aside from the part towards the end which he raised his eyebrows at.

When he was done reading, he took out a cigarette from the carton and lit it. Dragging in a breath, and exhaling, Jason slowly brushed off the dirt and leaves from his back, butt and legs. He couldn't help but smirk. Whatever this is, Jason had to admit that it was pretty crazy AND exciting. Well, I'll play this game he thought and I'll play to win it.

Jade did not find this exciting at all. It was rather insane though and he was most definitely lost. Of course the blonde had been lost before he had ever started moving, simply because he had no idea where he was or which way was out. All the trees looked the same to him, and the light was failing, soon it would be dark and Jade would be all alone in this forest in the dark.

His arms came up to hug himself lightly. What exactly was the rich boy supposed to do in a situation like this? If his phone were with him he would have called someone, most likely the police and told them he had been kidnapped or something like that.

He had no light, no idea if he was even heading the right direction, which for him the right direction would be the direction that took him out of this place and back to the city or maybe even to the little town the note had mentioned. There was no smile on Jade's lips, only a look of slight confusion that was slowly turning to one of fear and dread. Jade did not want to be out in this forest once the sun had fully set, there was no telling what kind of forest animals might come to eat him.

He tripped on a rock and let out a loud yelp as he fell and hit the ground. Scraping his chin a little, other than that he was rather unhurt. Of course falling always hurt in one way or another aside from being scraped, he pushed himself up, standing slowly and wiping his hands on his pants and then dabbing at his chin with the sleeve of his shirt. It wasn't a bad scrape, barely even a drop of blood had squeezed out of it, but it stung right now. Jade sighed, frowning deeply.

Jade started moving once more. He didn't call out to see if there was anyone at all nearby, because a certain line in that note made him somewhat fearful of other people. Although a part of him did wish that he could find someone, hopefully a friendly someone.

Of course, before he could get closer to winning, Jason had solve a few more important issues. First, there was water to be thought of. Jason was incredibly thirsty and if he didn't get some water to drink, things were going to get insufferable for him. With one hand holding his cigarette and the other gripping the note that he'd been given, Jason started hiking uphill. There were no clear hiking paths to go with, so he just went for what he thought would be the easiest footing for him.

The sun was setting, but he judged that there was still enough light to read with. Jason opened the note to reread it again. "..Okay, so there's a river that goes across this place..from the North to South-west...and I'm probably in the West, in the woods in all...So the fastest way to get to the river is traveling South to find this South-western location of the river. From there, I can follow the river up North until I find the town. I'll get whatever supplies I can get there and then head out to be the first one out of the ring."

Jason paused. There was a part of the note that had brought some gravity back into the situation. The note said "those who are not first out of the ring will all be executed. There are no rules, and there is only a single way out of the ring and it's nearly impossible to find. Good luck." Executed? Single way out? Nearly impossible to find? Looks like things are more difficult than he took them for. "This note better be giving me the right directions," he said, scrutinizing the note suspiciously. He'd be f#cked if he went off in the wrong direction and got nothing out of it. Tapping ash off of his cig, he also gave some thought to the game. This means that two things are the key to victory here. Speed and knowledge. Whoever is the fastest will be the one who gets out the quickest. However, speed is useless if you're just running around in circles. So a map for marking out things is crucial.

Jason looked up from the note. All around him were trees. Just what seemed to be an endless stretch of them. Jason knew that he literally couldn't tell North and South to save his ass. He felt stumped and frustrated. Also, adding to his worries was the fact that the sky was turning a dark red. "The Sun is setting, and I haven't got much time.." he muttered, "curses on that stupid bird for not waking me up sooner. I need more time to think some of this stuff out.." Jason stopped walking and wearily leaned into the nearest tree.

"There might be a map in town...but I'm going to have to find the town first. Ah, who am I kidding? I'll probably die in the forest from dehydration before I come close to finding my way to town," Jason said before stopping to take a long draw from his cigarette. He continued to slowly smoke. A cloud of smoke started to envelope him. More and more noises were rising out of the forest. Crickets, bull frogs and a plethora of other creatures were slowly starting up a racket. He listened to the strangely comforting symphony of animal calls. The only animals you heard at night in Detroit were screeching tom cats fighting over territory or a neighbor's mutt barking at some passing car. I wonder if there are creatures in this forest dangerous enough to poison or maul me..., Jason mused darkly.

He turned his face skywards to watch the light drain away from the sky and follow the ebbing sun, which sank into the West. Plumes of smoke floated into the air from his cigarette, as he continued to watch its inevitable descent. Then, his eyes suddenly widened. Thats it! How could he be so stupid? The Sun rises in the East and sets in the West! Forget a compass, he could travel just be checking in on the one most important star in his galaxy!

Jason stepped away from his tree, dropped his cig and stamped it out. "Okay, so the Sun is setting to the West here, so East should be there," Jason said fervently ",North should be to my back and South is this way!" Without any further thought, Jason broke out into a sprint, running downhill with all his might. So I was heading in the wrong direction in the beginning. Good thing I spent the time to think it through. Plus, there's no time to waste. I know I can still cover some ground. The Sun isn't completely gone yet! Besides, I already spent the whole day sleeping. I'm too full of energy to go to sleep so damn soon again, Jason thought as he ran full steam.

He wove around trees and leapt over roots, ferns and other fauna. The sun had officially set now. Everything was getting too dark to see, though his eyes were slowly trying to adjust themselves for the night-time. He was still pumped up and the ground appeared as a blur under his feet. Jason knew that its dangerous to keep running like this and tried to stop his downward descent on the forest slope. He started slowing down his run but he still had a decent momentum so he kept on running. Jason's vision seemed to have somewhat adjusted to the night. He could see a few feet of what laid ahead of him. Still nothing but endless trees. Then, in what seemed to be a flash of a second, a tree with a fatter trunk than the rest seemed to appear out of nowhere. Then Jason crashed into the tree before dragging the tree into a comedic roll with him as they tumbled down the forest slope. The tree shrieked and Jason realized that it wasn't some fat tree. Sh!t, he thought, I just attacked someone..aaand we're now stuck in a--OW! That branch almost took out my eye!

This situation was growing out of hand quickly. For the last twenty minutes or so, Liliya had not moved from her spot. Instead of scouting the area around her for food or for those ‘hidden things’, she stayed backed up against a tree trying to rationalize everything that was happening. However, there was no rational reasoning behind any of it. This was completely random. She was kidnapped for no reason and placed in this hell to fight for an unknown end goal. It wasn’t as if she was exceptionally intelligent or athletic. In fact, she was just another computer nerd who would prefer locking herself in her room than going outside for a run. Liliya was nothing special.

Rational, rational… She mumbled inwardly. “There’s nothing rational about this at all!” the girl screamed to the heavens, balling her fists so tightly that her knuckles shone white. “What’s the point!?” Uncontrollable tears of frustration streamed down her face as she wrapped her arms around herself, muttering the most heinous of all Russian curses. As if that would make a difference.

After a short while, the panic began to subside. The logic in her head commanded her to begin moving. If she remained in the same spot until nightfall, not only would she make no progress at all, but she would also run the risk of running into someone not so amicable. Thus, after taking a very deep breath, Liliya took off in a arbitrary direction, letting her feet be the guide through the winding forest. There was no watch to keep the time, only the position of the sun and the shadows, so she ran and ran until her muscles began to burn agonizingly. Yet, the red-head couldn’t bring herself to stop. No, she kept going – much slower, indeed – but she kept going.

What stopped her was the hushed echo of a yelp. Liliya froze. It could only mean one of two things: the maker of the sound was either an injured ally or a ruthless foe. No matter which he or she was, Liliya knew that this would be one of very few times she could make a friend in this Inferno before any violence or killing began. Carefully, she crept towards the noise, springing around on her tiptoes and hiding behind trees. For a moment, it felt like being in a video game. Of course it was nothing of the sort, but maybe Liliya would make the connection some day.

A few moments later, the girl’s pupils dilated, and she quickly crouched down behind a bunch of bushes. There was a man out there, tall and blonde, walking about with a frown and a hesitant step. There was no doubt that he was the one who yelped before. Peeking out of the bush, Liliya saw that his chin was red. The poor thing had tripped. It could have been much worse.

Now, the plan was to approach him. But how? Other people in this forest would most likely think that she’s up to no good, that she’s ready to pounce and kill. That’s how the note sounded, at least. As she was thinking about it, the girl hardly noticed a tiny, fuzzy creature sneak behind her.

A piercing scream resounded through the air. Liliya hobbled away from where she stood, her leg instinctively kicking forward to knock away whatever had just tried to crawl up her backside. It was nothing more than a tarantula, but hey. Spiders. Not exactly a girl’s best friend.

Jade was minding his own business, lost in this place when a sudden scream, a very close, sudden scream pierced the air. He had jumped, whirling around to face the direction of the noise with a hand over his heart. Then he saw the girl, kicking at something. Was she being attacked by someone? Jade didn't see anyone else, but it was dark. The blonde rushed towards the girl and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back and stepping in front of her.

Jade did not know how to fight, but she had seemed to be in trouble. "Stay behind me. Where are they?" Green eyes rapidly moved this way and that, Jade really didn't see anyone else, no darker shadows in the darkness, nothing seemed to be moving and rustling leaves. He looked over his shoulder at her, feeling suddenly foolish. "You were being attacked, weren't you?" Now he didn't seem so certain, and never one to fight for himself, Jade was one that stood up for others.

Even if he knew he couldn't win the fight. Though, he was sure he couldn't win most fights. He'd never been in a physical fight before, well, he didn't think being beaten around by your father counted as an actual fight, he had never hit the man back in any case. His heart still pounded, though the thought that there was no one else there eased it some.

Lexi sighed. She was exhausted. She stopped and squinted into the darkness. There was no telling which direction she was headed now. She looked behind her, to her left, her right... everything looked the same. Her knee stung, her palms stung and she was hungry.

Suddenly Lexi heard something in the distance. It sounded like running. Someone was running. The sound was getting closer! Lexi's heart raced. Which way was it coming from!? She couldn't tell. Was it some kind of monstrous beast coming to eat her alive!?

Just as Lexi turned around again the thing plowed into her. She shrieked, falling to the ground in a tangled mess of, person. It was a person. A person was attacking her! Instinctively Lexi started flailing around, slapping and punching her attacker, whoever it may be.

Blonde hair fell from her pony tail and over her blue eyes keeping her from seeing what she could have in the darkness. "I... know... karate!" she managed through the wrestling. It was true actually, she did. Unfortunately she'd never learned any karate moves that started in the tangled two person disaster that she was currently in.

"I..know..karate!" cried out the surprisingly female voice. Her words were loud enough to not be swept away in the sound of bodies hitting the ground and rolling over a multitude of roots. Ow, ow, ow! This'll teach me to run around in the dark. And to add to his spinning torture, the girl who he is now entangled with has been slapping him and punching him nonstop along the way. How does she even do that?! Jason couldn't focus on anything as his world was still whirling as they tumbled a few more revolutions before his body hit the base of some pine tree. Correction. They hit the base of a pine tree. In fact, he was lying on top of the girl as well. Thank God...thank God we stopped, he thought. The idea that they could've rolled over the side of a cliff did spring to his mind during the trip down. It was not a comfortable thought.

The landing had stunned the both of them for a minute, and the girl had stopped her barrage of hits. They were both breathing hard from what had happened.
She then struck him on the ribs with the down side of her fist. "Get off of me!"

"Ow! Hey!" Jason opened his mouth to continue to complain, before realizing that he probably was crushing her and rolled himself off. ...Sh!t. What just happened? Who is this person? Jason used his elbow to push himself upright. Two thoughts flashed across his mind. Oh yeah..this is my fault..I knocked into her while I was running..and then we fell and rolled all the way down here.

He tried his best to sit up. "So there really are others," he said in a hushed tone. Jason tried to control his breathing and bring it back to normal. It was completely dark now. Despite the sparse rays of moonlight that made its way through the tree tops, Jason could still barely make out her blurry outline against the tree. Definitely a she. He wanted to feel on guard and against her, as Jason had been mentally preparing himself to kill or be killed, but his conscious kept nagging at him about the fact that he had already 'attacked' her. Plus, his body felt bruised and wasn't up for attacking her again. She could really land a mean punch. "You," he said to her in a scratchy",you're a part this, yeah?"

Jason also mentally thought Damn my throat is dry. His body was warm from the outburst of exercise that he had gotten, but the night air was rapidly turning from cool to cold. The noise of the forest's other inhabitants were coming back into focus, and the inky blackness of whatever laid beyond the sight of his bad night vision was slightly bothering him. What I need is a fire he thought, before training his eyes back on his neighbor But what should I do about her?

Finally the attacker moved off of her and she pushed herself to a sitting position. She was still breathing somewhat hard from the exertion and excitement, and her knee was bleeding again, as were the scrapes on her hands. Her whole body felt a little roughed up now though, so she wouldn't be surprised to find more cuts or bruises.

Lexi was watching him warily, the best she could in darkness. His question echoed in her ears. She'd been thinking the exact same thing. So there really are others... Then he was asking another question. Was he not going to attack her again? It didn't seem so for the moment, thank God, but Lexi wasn't just about to let her guard down.

"In the sense that I was unwillingly dragged to and left on the beach to die, yes," she responded in a rather smart-assed tone. She sighed. "Did you get the note, too?" she asked him curiously as she pulled her long blonde hair back into a pony tail once again. There were leaves and twigs tangled into the long wavy mess now, but she ignored them, they were the least of her problems.

She wanted to tell him her plan, to go to the city and find food and water and shelter, and maybe a phone, and ask him his. She almost desperately wanted to team up and help each other out, but she knew that was silly. Only one could win... But what if they all teamed up and just left together? Why not?

Because then they'd all be killed probably. Lexi said nothing as she watched Jason. Could she kill him? Yes probably, if she had to, which she did have to... No she couldn't. In self defense, definitely. Lexi shook her head. "This has to be a bad dream," she mumbled to no one in particular.

(not a lot of time for a post -- sorry!)


Liliya gasped when she saw that it was just a damn spider. A big spider, nonetheless, but still just a spider. She’d screamed and completely blown the little bit of cover she had. It was frustrating and almost pathetic. A spider… For god’s sake!

Truth be told, the red-head thought that the man had run away. When she felt a strong hand grip her arm, she couldn’t suppress a startled yelp. “Th-They?” Liliya stuttered. “There is no – Oh.” He thought she was being attacked. Made sense. No one would protect someone from a spider. “I was being attacked, yes, but merely by a tarantula half the size of my head,” she replied bitterly, turning her head away from the blonde as to not meet his eyes. Her face was burning with sheer embarrassment. “Sorry…” the Russian mumbled shortly after, voice laced with a hint of foreignness.

"If this is a dream, then it is way too real," he laughed with no humor ",plus, I don't remember having dreams this dark either." He pulled out the contents of his right pocket. His lighter, cigarette carton and note came out. Jason took up the lighter and lit it to give off a little light as he held up the note with his other hand. "And yes, I got a note too. Can I see yours?"

Seems like she'd been abducted too and knew as much about this game as he did. But she has a note too. This means that she is in the Game. Maybe her note has a different set of directions? Or maybe even new clues. His heartbeat slowed as Jason grew calm. His luck was just getting better and better. He was able to find someone in less than an hour, and this person clearly isn't insane. It might be good to have her around, he thought. This would mean that he had to win her over and get her to team-up with him. Besides, Jason had the feeling that it wouldn't be safe to sleep in this Ring without someone watching his back.

Lexi watched him for a moment while the light from the flame danced over his face. He seemed to have dark hair, maybe black, and brown eyes. "My note?" she instinctively felt her pockets. She didn't have it. She'd thrown it down on the beach. "I, don't have it," she said. Not offering an explanation. For all he knew she didn't want to share it. For all she knew she shouldn't have even if she'd still had it.

Everything was just so confusing. The basic human instincts in her wanted to trust him and follow him around like the scared little puppy she felt like. Probably also the female instincts in her. Who wouldn't feel safer around a male counterpart while lost in God only knows where? But her rational side told her she needed to remain on high alert and never trust anyone. He could try and kill her at any second.

Lexi was too exhausted to think about it any more. She was getting cold, her brain was shutting down from lack of food and sleep and she felt like she'd been run over by a truck. She sighed a heavy sigh as she finally relaxed against the tree. The keys she'd found in a box still hung from a belt loop on her shorts and she glanced down at them. Two keys hung from the ring. What could they possibly open? Maybe the door to get out of this place?

She was off in her own world when the stinging in her knee brought her back to her situation. She assessed the scrape. It wasn't so bad. A little purple, a little dirty, and not an overly sickening amount of blood. She'd certainly live. Though, the stinging in it definitely out stung the stinging on her hands. If she'd acquired any knew scrapes or bruises when she'd been hit by the truck, whoever he was, they were minor compared to these.

Lexi laughed. She'd been bowled over by a person, but a box was what really did her in. Tripping over a stupid box. She laughed again. The laughter was soft at first, then grew louder and more uncontrollable. She was losing it. Completely losing it, and it was clear. In an instant, like the changing winds, tears began streaming down Lexi's face. Just like that she'd gone from hysterical laughter to alligator tears.

She stared down at her knee and through sobs managed to mumble something about a box trying to do her in. She laughed through the tears something about not having to worry about people, instead boxes, and she was crying again. She put her hands up to wipe at her face but only managed to get the salty tears in the scrapes on her palms.

As sure fire exhaustion set in the tears began to subside. Finally she took a breath. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I tripped over a box...". She was sure Jason probably thought she was a total loony by now. He was probably thinking about how easy it would be to just off her now. But, Lexi wasn't nearly as weak as it would appear at the time. It would certainly prove useful to have someone around who really did know karate as well as survival skills from being in Girl Scouts for nearly fifteen years. Though Jason might be in for a little whiplash with Lexi's mood swings.

She blinked out into the darkness and then back to Jason. If he didn't already want to kill her he'd probably just leave now. Fine, she thought. She'd made enough of a fool of herself in front of this guy. She wanted to keep moving anyway. She was squinting out into the darkness again. Was that the way she'd come from? No, that was the way she was going, wasn't it? She sighed again. "I just want to go home," she said, "this is ridiculous. It's crazy!" She lowered her voice, "I don't want to kill anybody..." she added in an almost helpless tone.

When the tears came, Jason's body froze in shock. He really, really didn't know what to do in response to this. Did I do something? Is it because I asked for her note? The fact that she was in clear discomfort somehow made him increadibly uneasy. Maybe its because of the tears that I feel uncomfortable. Is there anything I can do to fix this? Or will I just make things worse? His mind was scrambling to understand it all. The last time Jason had remembered crying was some time after his mother's death. When the reality that he was alone had finally hit him. Afterwards, Jason had hated himself for being so pathetic and did he could to make himself stronger since. It wasn't a pleasant thing to remember. He remembered that he had felt like a helpless, snotty little kid who cried until there was nothing but what felt like an aching cavity left inside of his chest. The worst part was that he already knew that the one person who had been able to comfort him couldn't be there to do so.

To see someone else being vulnerable, had initially left Jason at a loss of what to say or do. Its been a long time since someone else had been so open in front of him. Jason's mind kicked back into gear. It brought back other memories that he had tried to forget. Memories of staying up late at the kitchen table, sitting by his mom's side when his dad came home late from his job, waiting with her during that night where he didn't return. Remembering how he tried his best to be there for her when she couldn't handle the news of dad's disappearance. How it wasn't anywhere close to enough, though he had tried his best to support his mother just as she supported him. Something seemed to start to stir inside of him. Maybe my old instincts to this kind of stuff is coming back, he thought worriedly, if I had any to begin with, that is.

And while he couldn't make out anything visually, Jason was pretty sure that tears had stopped when she breathed deeply as if to control herself.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I tripped over a box...".
That comment caught Jason off-guard for a second. So..it wasn't the note that set her off? Wait, what box? Does this mean she found something in the Ring? Jason mind briefly wandered for a second before focusing back to attention at her next few words.
"I just want to go home," she said, "this is ridiculous. It's crazy!" She lowered her voice and added",I don't want to kill anybody...".

Jason almost hesitated, before reaching out a hand to lightly touch her arm. "Hey," he tried to say gently ",nobody here is asking anyone to kill.....well, except maybe the stupid note, but hey, we can disregard the silly thing, right?" He smiled, and let a bit of playfullness show in his voice ",'cuz we know better than to listen to some strange directions from evil, kidnapping terrorists."

He shook his head at the very idea, acting as though he had never been fine with killing others. When the reality was that he was prepared to do so the moment the note suggested it. Looking back on it, Jason realized that it was scary how easily he accepted the idea of killing as a major option. Earlier, in his mind, Jason had felt that there wouldn't be any real consequences to killing another participant....but now that he was truly thinking through it, Jason realized that it'd be a lot harder on him than he originally thought it would be. Not just the bare act of taking another person's life, but also the fact that he would be playing into the game and be acting as the willing pawn for some sick person's entertainment. This did not sit well with him. Nobody tries to manipulate Jason Todd and get away with it. These new convictions had solidified themselves the moment he shook his head.
"No. There's absolutely no need to kill. Because I know we can find some other way to win." he looked back up at her with renewed vigor. "And yes, we," Jason said decisively, a confident smile lighting up his face ",because I need a partner and I'm sure you need one too."

Raven had no idea really what to do at the moment. He herd a few sounds of confrentation in the distance, and was on the verge of going to check them out. He decided against it, and on staying on his current plot and idea. Knowledge was power, he needed to learn as much about this place as he could. The best thing right now, was to get the layout of the land. He needed to know the knicks and curves, every hiding spot and every potential advantage point. He paused, and looked up at the sky. Sighing slightly, he lowered his head to the point where his hat hid his face, as well as a few locks of his hair. He shook his head after standing there a moment, and kept walking. He counted his steps a bit as he walked, good for keeping his mind focused, and keeping him from freaking out. Oddly he was not scared or worried, did that make him odd? He had always told he was odd, so why should now be any different. He shook his head again, reminding himself to focus on the task at hand.

((Sorry if it's short or all over the place. Sunday's are my super busy days!))

So they were on the same page after all. He wanted a partner and wanted to find a way out without having to kill someone as well. Lexi smiled a smile of hope and sniffled. She nodded at his words. So game on then. Or off. But on, in the sense that they were going to get out.

Lexi pulled the keys from her belt loop. "I found these," she lowered her voice and scowled, "in the box...". Yes the infamous box. She sighed. "They must go to something, maybe the door out? If it's a door at all. Or something else useful anyway." She played with them in her hands. "I wish we could find a compass or something though. It would make it a lot easier to travel at night."

She thought back on her Girl Scout years. She'd learned that moss growth didn't in fact tell you which way was North, nor did it grow in the direction of water for a hundred factors. The sun was down and the moon was hidden behind the trees as were the stars, so they wouldn't help. "I really don't feel comfortable starting a fire, and I don't want to sleep out in the open either. I feel like a sitting duck," she said merely thinking out loud.

"I was heading towards the town. I had to be walking for hours, it has to be close," she said standing. "I don't know about you but I'm not staying here for the night, we should find some shelter." She felt comforted being able to use 'we'. Her stomach growled, "And food and water." She was squinting into the darkness again. She was almost sure which way to go, but she wouldn't bet her life on it, although she most certainly was. And where were her manners? "I'm Alexa." She paused, "Brandt," she added. You know, just in case she didn't make it or something and he did. Maybe he would tell her family she loved them, or something sentimental along those lines...

Jason decided to disregard the keys. Until they find a lock, the keys weren't important. He quietly listened to her voice her discomfort about sleeping out in the open and finding some shelter. To be honest, Jason would be find with sleeping in the forest, since it was easy for him to fall asleep on something so long as it had a flat surface. He initially wanted to convince Alexa to camp here for the night, since without the sun, they'd probably get lost. However, she did bring up the need for water(and shelter), which immediately changed his mind, since Jason desperately needed water. Besides, Jason had already slept the whole day away and knew he wouldn't be tired anytime soon. Plus, the sooner they reached town, the sooner they'd be out of the reach of wild animals and bad weather. Though there was danger in having another competitor arrive at the town before they did and attacking them there, it was still a risk that was worth taking.

"Its nice to meet you, Alexa," he said ",I'm Jason Todd, and as much as I want to keep moving, we're going to need some light if you don't want me to fall down a ditch." This was a forest, so there had to be some dead sticks and twigs around the area. He got down to his knees and felt around the ground. His hands came into contact with various things as he randomly felt about; dead, rotting leaves, patches of grass, packed dirt, several rocks..then he finally came across a stick. Jason ran his fingers along it. More like dead branch. He held it up and waved it. Judging by the resistance he met when it went about, it was longer than he'd originally thought. It was also a few inches thick, so it'd be hard to break in half..but not impossible. Jason dropped the branch onto the ground and stepped firmly on one end. He bent and pulled up the other end, twisting the branch in half. The wood gave a lot of resistance as it stretched backward, before ultimately starting to crack in half. Jason picked it up again, and while the branch had cracked, it hadn't yet cleaned broke apart. He brought it across his knee to make it a clean break.

He went back to Alexa and dropped the two pieces of wood onto the ground whilst fumbling inside his pocket(again) to pull out his lighter. Jason sat down and held out the lighter to Alexa. "Well, if we're not going to start a camp fire, I guess we should try to make some kind of torch," he said lightly ",though I'm not exactly sure how we're going to set fire to one end of the wood, without having the fire eat away at it, until it reaches the handle." Jason looked at Alexa. Not to mention starting a fire to light the torches in the first place, though Jason did have some vague idea of using the dead, dried leaves as some sort of kindling for a fire. "Any ideas?" he asked.

((Just an update, we lost mazur to school and are still looking for another character!))

Lexi picked up the sticks. Of course she knew how to start a fire. All those years of Girl Scouts she'd been in it for the social aspects and travel but here it was actually paying off. Heck, maybe it would even save her life. "Yeah," she responded, "but if you have a lighter all we really need to start one is..." he voice trailed off as she felt around the ground around her.

Finally she had a handful of dry leaves, plant parts, and tall grass. "This," she said. "The branches will be great torches but we'll need more sticks to start a fire if we're going to have enough to light them. A small pile of small sticks will do and we'll light this dry grass on top of it, it will catch the sticks and we should be able to light the torches then."

She felt the need to explain herself. "Girl scouts," she said simply. It certainly wasn't something she'd learned from her father. He was far too busy with his life as a lawyer to do anything with his family, like camping, or attending dance recitals or anything else. Momentarily she wondered if her family would be looking for her. It would probably be days before they even realized she was missing since she didn't live with them. Her job would call her emergency contact after no call no shows for more than two days... She sighed.

In no time there was a small pile of sticks at Lexi's feet. She placed the dried leaves and grass on top and held the torch branches in her other hand. "Okay," she said, "This should work easily." She waited for Jason to light the fire. Hopefully their torches would light soon and they could be on their way.

The quicker they got to the town the quicker they could find food and get rid of the torches. Lexi didn't like the idea of them sticking out like sore thumbs by carrying around the fire, but Jason was right. Without them they'd have to stay here until morning and they'd be sitting ducks.