[D9 Plot Day One: Walker] Not Just a Game

Walker Liggens

Actions/Thoughts: 66acbd
Speaking: 1b8787
Thoughts of Paraphilia: 40a89f

Having heard that his life was on the line shook Walker in the deepest places of his body. All he could do was sit there, jaw wide-open, looking at the 'beastmaster' all covered in his lion. All of this was starting to become somewhat creepy. All in all, Walker was not quite sure that this was actually the 39th annual beastmaster competition, this obviously would not go well along the people of District Nine, having people killed without knowing. The Games were one thing, but this was another. Nobody knew what they were getting themselves into, yet they had no way of turning back at this point. It was actually unfair, but there was no reason for Walker to complain, it was not like he could do anything about it.

It was not that Walker had never killed animals in his life before, he was not worried about that. Normally, the circumstances were different. Normally, the animals were in their natural habitats, they were not expecting Walker to kill them. In this tournament - that was seemingly becoming more and more like the Hunger Games - who knew what the animals would be like. In all reality they would probably be vicious wolves, or some type of muttation meant to only kill. There was no predicting what Walker was going to face when he walked through the many doors into his own hunting area.

When the beastmaster said that they were using Bow & Arrow's today, Walker perked up a slight bit. That was his weapon, but it was also the weapon of every other person who used to hunt in District Nine. If he saw an animal he would have no problem killing it, but if he did not find any animal he would die, that was without a doubt. That had to be his first priority, not food, not water, but killing a cute - or vicious and scary - animal.

Picking up a wooden recurve bow that reminded Walker of the bow that he had used all of his life, Walker felt somewhat comfortable holding it in his hand. It was not the perfect size, but the weight felt just about right for Walker, and he would get used to it rather quickly. He then got up and looked around for the door that had his name on it, which he found rather quickly. He walked at a fair pace towards his door, not walking too fast to seem worried, but not too slow to look timid. Walker wanted to look cool and collected to scare the other competitors, though in reality he was quite scared on the inside.

As the guard, who Walker assumed was a Peacekeeper, opened the door, Walker gave him a sly smile. It was not a smile that was meant to mean that he knew what was going on, because he honestly had no clue. It was just one to say, 'do not be surprised if you see me walking out of here alive at the end of the competition'. Of course, Walker doubted that he would be the one to win, that was really all about luck, but he did think that he would be to go rather far in the competition, as long as the competition was not rigged.

As the door was shut and padlocked behind Walker, he muttered to himself, "And may the odds ever be in my favor!" in an almost dramatically ironic way. Just like in the Hunger Games, the odds were clearly not in his favor. He would, without a doubt, perish in this competition, barring a miracle of God. He would eventually just see an animal too cute for him to shoot, it would catch his eye just a little bit too much. He would succumb to the way it looked and then it would attack and kill him, simple as that.

Turning his brisk walk into a light jog that he could keep up for a few hours, Walker was almost in his element. With his bow over his shoulder and quiver full of arrows around his back, he was as close to relaxed as he would ever find himself in this competition. See, Walker had suffered from insomnia recently. He did not want to attempt to win this competition without telling his parents, but he did not think that he had a chance to die during it. He thought no matter what he was going to go back and see his parents, but instead he knew he would not. If only he was able to write them something to have his memory remain. It was the only nice thing that he could do for them now.

As Walker continued to run, he noticed the obvious melodic rthym of his feet hitting the ground. Any non-deaf animal would be able to hear Walker from miles and miles away. He was no longer close to any barbed wire walls of the cage, so he would probably be able to find the animals in his area close to where he was. Of course, the chances of him finding anything was probably less than the chances of him winning the Hunger Games. It was not going to happen, or at least that is what he thought. Walker also doubted that he could be heard by anyone at this moment, he would probably be okay to start yelling his anger out at the moment. But he quickly came to the realization that this would not be a good move. Most likely he was being watched, and even more likely he was on camera. If he was to win the officials would sure want to give him a tape to remember the hell that he had to go through to reach his stardom.

Slowing himself down into a walk, Walker crouched down and started with the walk that his father had taught him, a hunters walk. His knees always slightly bent, he started to creep forwards. He felt something wrong with his walk though. It took Walker a few minutes to realize the issue that he was having, his bow was around his neck still. Majestically, like a hunter, Walker took the bow off of his shoulder and drew an arrow from the quiver on his back. Silently he loaded the arrow, but he did not pull back on the string yet. Walker liked to be prepared, but he knew he did not have the strength to keep his arrow back for more than half a minute. He kept creeping forward, almost aimlessly, it was the only way he knew, the only way that he would be able to get back to where he started without getting lost, or reaching a place where he was no longer the predator, but the prey.

As Walker kept his eyes towards the ground he saw a discoloration in the undergrowth. Compared to the normal hues of green and brown, it was more of a white. Walker slowed his pace a little, thinking that what he was walking towards might be a type of fungi or other disgusting thing. Before he reached the point where he was about to turn away, he noticed the head of a rabbit moving. A snow white, completely clean, beauty of a rabbit. It was so tempting for Walker, he wanted nothing more than to take it home as his pet. He let his thoughts wander for a little and then realized that there was no home at the moment. His only way home way to survive this competition, and surviving the competition meant killing that he saw right in front of his eyes, only fifty some feet away.

But it was so hard for Walker to conjure up the strength to pull back his arrow. It was like his mind was having a sub-concious battle with itself, Walker thought that he wanted to shoot the snow white rabbit that he saw, but something in his mind was telling him not to. The show was easy, there was nothing in his way, the rabbit was not even looking at him, he just was not able to pull back on the string. Closing his eyes, Walker looked within himself. He was a fairly religious person, but when he heard that there was death in the beastmaster competition he had found some doubts within his religion. The God that he thought he knew was not one that would lead Walker into a situation like he was in now. It was, in truth, a very disconcerting thing. Maybe his God wanted Walker to die, possibly it was a type of test.

Possibly God wanted to show Walker the strength that he had within, and calling upon his strength. This thought was enough for Walker to open his eyes, aim his arrow, exhale, and then let it fly towards the hopeless, beautiful rabbit, sitting unknowingly in the undergrowth.

[Rabbit Bow & Arrow]
[dice=200+4000]
[4163 - Shallow Cut on Chest - Dead Rabbit]

Almost to the disappointment of Walker, his Arrow hit the rabbit right in the chest. Looking at the beast, which clearly had died upon impact, he pitied what he had did. He did it for himself and what he did mattered not to anyone else in the world. Nobody would care if he died, he would be forgotten quickly after his death, but the rabbit, based off of its size, probably had a family, it mattered to some animal somewhere. And it was gone, with the simple pull of a string. But the rabbit was loosing blood, and that meant it was loosing weight Walker doubted that anyone else was having his luck, so clearly he was in the lead at the moment, but that did not matter.

Walker was worried about the other predators in his area, not the other competitors. Quickly going into a run, Walker reached the rabbit in less than five seconds. Lifting the rabbit off the ground, Walker found that his arrow had pierced through the rabbit on two sides, it would be a pain for him to take out the arrow. Hopefully the people would clean it for him, but Walker planned on letting the blood clot one side at a time to reduce the bleeding. Wiggling the arrow out from what was the far side of the animal. Immediatly there was bleeding, but Walker turned the rabbit so the side with an open hole in it was now facing up. Walker knew how to hunt, even in the hardest circumstances. But for now, he was able to sit down. He had an a good fifteen or twenty minutes of time to relax before he had to go off to hunt some more.

OOC: Luna, if you do not want us attacking in our first post I would be fine with cutting it out, I was just not sure of what the rule was and that is what my muse told me to write.