1 ᴄ ʜ ᴀ ᴘ ᴛ ᴇ ʀ ᴏ ɴ ᴇ

Darius pulled a hard leather armour over his shoulders and against his chest, strapping it down tightly. Beneath it was a loose black cotton shirt. It helped make the uncomfortable armour bearable to wear. His pants weren't much different. Tucked away in a pocket on his belt where a few kitchen knifes. Sadly dull, but it was useful. After getting ready, the guards arrived. This was his fifth game, he was a petty thief, for awhile, it started when he was fourteen and his bother grew ill. He was going to be thrown in the next year anyway. So it didn't matter much to him that he was thrown in a year early.

"Come on kid." A familiar voice uttered as a firm grip took Darius' arm and yanked him out onto the streets with the rest of the children walking. The centre town was only a half an hours walk away, it was small, ideal for the program they where placed into.

He slowly moved closer to an old friend of his, slipping his hands into his pockets as he left out a soft sigh. "I caught word I'm a guide this year.. Honestly, if it where my choice, fuck these teams.. I'm better off on my own." He stated, looking around at all the the younger kids, screaming and kicking as they where being dragged out for the first time. It saddened Darius, but he ignored it for the most part. He couldn't let it get to him. "Let's hurry. I want to get this over with." He muttered, walking psst his friend. He hoped they got teamed together but likelihood of that was low. Wishful thinking.

There was another kid walking in the same direction, he name was Robbin. Robbin didn't know what was going to happen when they moved to this town. They grew up privileged. In a higher class of people who just sat around lazily all day. his parents loved them. They moved so their sons could see how others live could make them more grateful. But oh fuck, could they have not made a worse choice.

Thankfully, his older brother, Ryan was too old to fight. But Robbin was only seventeen. With little to no combat training, social anxiety, and withdrawals in progress.

He was one of the uncooperative ones at first. Fighting off guards, but soon realized it wasn't worth it. He wasn't going to get out of this. He was scrawny and the only thing he had going for him was his intelligence. Which wasn't very much. He had no idea what was going on.

The games tore Robbin away from his older brother, who would protect him with his life. And usually did everything for him. The poor kid was being thrown in head first, set up for death.

After a while of walking, he started to calm himself down, which didn't last long as his heart was pounding from fear. He had good armour, his parents gave him a dagger. So he had something going for him.

A few hours later, Darius yawned softly as he continued to walk, his sunken and dull blue eyes seeming to not focus on anything, he was stuck in thought. Clearly on how to run his team. He didn't plan to screw up that time, even with the youngest of his teammates, there was no place for empathy. They died, or they lived, and that was the cruel truth. He came to realise that overtime. His team was his unit, he upheld his unit.

The male sighed softly and ran his fingers through his silky white hair, his blue eyes shimmering a red as the setting sun hit them, he was closer to the center town then, but he still wasn't prepared for what was to come the next morning.

Within the town, he settled into the inn closest to the arena. It was payed for by the town for their town, they would stay there the night and leave in the morning. The people working the inn didn't mind. It was Christmas for them. The money intake was phenomenal.

Darius plopped onto an empty bed in an empty room and closed his eyes. His teammates would be joining him in that room soon. That's where they met up, their rooms. He wasn't too eager.

Robbin was the next person to walk into the room after Darius. He looked around, and out of habit, then took the bed right next to the only other person in the room. Which was what he did with Ryan.

When he sat on the bed he looked to the other white haired boy, his yellow eyes blinking and looking away. But he looked back at him after a few moments. "You have white hair too...." he said quietly, just trying to make conversation.

Darius slowly moved his eyes towards the door as it was opened, he could care less at that moment who was walking in. But of course, the moment didn't last long. His eyes locked onto theirs, but he attempted to move sway from his thoughts and remain expressionless, tired, and salty. He then closed his eyes again as he heard them walked towards the bed nearest to his, the movement unsettling, he was clear at that point they would be a problem moving forward, they looked weak, clueless, kind. Things that would get them killed.

As the statement left the others mouth, Darius slowly sat up. He examined the other for a moment before humming softly to himself, "hmm.. Its a birth defect. Don't pay any mind to it." He claimed. His voice was gravely and cold, a tinted accent escaping, it was hard to tell if it was Dutch or German, but it didn't seem to be very dominant, not anymore at least.

"Well... It's cool that.. we have the same defect..." He trailed off as he silently watched the door. Panic flailed through his body and he stood up, feeling awkward for sitting down.

As the two exchanged their small conversation, more people began to enter the room, one by one. There was one underage child, and the rest where all one year older than the next. He ended up being the oldest there, which didn't surprise him. He wouldn't have been made captain otherwise, but he expected at least one other to be his age. As the team gathered in, he stood up, "I suppose its only proper to introduce myself." The male said, this was formally something that the group leaders would do when the teams where set up. It was required, but they never made it seem that way. The group began to line up a bit, they where quiet, the atmosphere was stiff, it wreaked of fear and salt. People where either afraid to die or have been in the games enough times to not give a shit, they died; great. They lived; well there was always next year. Although crime went down once the gamed started, the hospitals and police where never at a dull moment with the number of suicides and injuries sustained I'm sparing. The children weren't children anymore. They where soldiers.

"I am Darius, don't ask how to spell it, don't ask how to say it. You will use my name or address me as Sir." He claimed sternly, his hands behind his back as he stared at the group of people before him. "I have been informed that I will be leading this team. Questions and concerns will be directed towards me. I will select who fights in what category as we move forward, your abilities further depend on you. You can only have one step in, of you switch and require help, you will take your step in's place in the next game, there will be no telling how hard each is, so I would suggest sticking to where you're assigned. If I don't assign you, the system will, switches won't be allowed in those games, I apologise." He explained. Not that he needed to, but most team captains did, more as a reminder of how things worked on the inside. The first game was hell when no one knew what was coming. The survival rate was low, and only two people returned.

"Any questions will be addressed at breakfast before we enter, everyone sleep." He ordered, rolling his shoulders back as he walked towards where he was laying before. It was hard to tell if he himself was scared, concerned, or just honestly didn't care, but in truth; it was a mix of all.

When his speech was over, Robbin walked carefully back to his bed and sat down. He layed down, thinking if he got rest this would all go away. But after a minute or two, he just sat right back up. He couldn't wait for this question to be answered any longer. He built up some courage and spoke to Darius again. "What's happening..?" he asked with up most sincerity.

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Small gasps could be heard from the other children. As if a 'how dare you ask that'... 'are you dumb' kind of way. But he still persisted. He needed to know.

Darius looked up at the male and then shot glares to the gasping others as they where getting into bed. There where only four beds, people where boing forced to share, its something that bugged Darius a bit, in all honesty. He moved over a little and turned his gaze to the ceiling. "I said tomorrow. Sleep " he said pulling them down onto the bed, "Worrying won't do you any good tomorrow." He said closing his eyes again before swiftly dozing off.

With a small huff he decided it was best to leave well enough alone. He didn't know how he would manage to sleep that night, and he surely did not. Robbin did not sleep at all that night, every single time he was even close, he would have some horrible thought about what would happen the next day and it would keep him up.

Honestly can you blame the kid? I mean look at him. He is weak. He is scrawny. He was being essentially thrown to wolves but greeted by some hungry rabbits first.

When he did manage to fall asleep, his dreams were clouded by nightmares. And his body shook, he made squeaks and shivers. The man he shared a bed with eventually swung an arm around him in pity, attempting to comfort him.

Robbin was surprised by the action but needed it. He slept close to the other man for comfort, and the other had his arm resting on robbins back. It was pretty gay. But they were both scared. The other man was much larger than him, so it made Robbin feel safer.

Regardless of what anyone might've said while he was asleep, Darius ignored them, only officially waking up around six in the morning to set up and get his instructions to leave. He had left the hotel room for nearly two hours before returning. When he got back he was tightening his armour and pulling people out of bed if they weren't awake already, "We're leaving for breakfast, get your asses our of bed." He demanded.

Robbin had been awake for quite a while before he called everyone to get the heck up. He slowly dragged himself out of bed, standing and looking at Darius "Are you gonna explain what's happening yet...?"

Darius slowly looked over to the smaller male and nodded a bit, "Sit with me at breakfast and I'll go over things in greater detail." He then turned to the rest if his team and waved them towards the door, "Dismissed to breakfast. Meet back here before we leave, or follow me. Die otherwise." He said shooting glares again before leaving the room.

Robbin nodded slowly and left a little after Darius. He didn't wanna seem like he was piggybacking him, so he staggered their leaving. He walked into the cafe and only grabbed a small yoghurt and a juice. He hesitantly sat down in front of darius.

After Darius made his way to the cafeteria, he picked up some food, mainly a muffin and juice. He then sat down at a table alone and began eating, waiting for the other to join him if they still planned to.

"So..." Robbin started, planting himself beside Darius, opening his yogurt in a sort of hushed and slow way. "What is this... Why won't these people let me go home.." he wasn't really going to eat much but he knew he needed to. So he dipped his spoon into the yogurt and licked it. The coldness was beautiful on his dry mouth.

The male stare towards the other for awhile, he was confused, but quickly caught on. "This game.. Its devised to stop crime and reduce the population. People are forced unto the game at the age of fifteen, we get out when we are twenty five. Any older or younger will not be added unless they commit a felony of any length. I got thrown in early for committing a petty theft as a child. There's no way to tell how each game will turn out. This is my fifth and I've never had the same problems. But some are similar... We enter a plane. If we don't board on time, we are killed. If we hide, we are killed. In the end.. If you don't participate, you are killed." He said. Pausing as he ate a bit, "We are them injected with something on the plane, in what feels like minuets, we all wake up in the game. Each team will be placed on several different places all across the inner town. Its huge, you won't be able to find them easily. The thing is.. Where we are, it isn't real. We're in a programmed system. The only things real there are us. You can't break anything, we never run out of food, and you can't kill people who aren't players. They're just for show. Of course though, things do break, and food does run low. But it resets at midnight. If that makes sense.. Anyway, while we train, we also select who is going to fight that day, we roam our area for weapons and armour. They have chests and traps everywhere. You won't always die in battle." He claimed, trying to think. It was hard to explain the game, "And there's not edge. You can walk as far as you want and you will always return to the same place, the game starts at 18:00. If you don't go by military time, that's six in the afternoon. The battle will be between eight fighters. Some may team up, I wouldn't. Suggest it. The game ends when there are four or less standing. But don't turn your back to anyone, when it says to stop fighting, don't. Not until the blue barrier goes down. If you teammate calls switch, its anyone's game, you must hurry and switch before someone else gets into the area, or someone leaves. If someone leaves, its not counted as a death, four still have to die. Only one team can call switch per game. Use it wisely." He stopped speaking for a moment and turned to look at the wall clock. He finished his food and stood up. "We're leaving early. I don't want anyone late." He said towards Robbin before leaving the room. Shortly after, his team followed.

As the man spoke, Robbins face cycled through emotions. Confusion, fear, realization, more fear, sadness and anger. Who's idea was this.. who's sick and twisted idea was it to do this. When he was left alone he began to cry. He didn't want to die. He didn't wanna be the one who dies first even more so.

Quickly, as not to be late, he followed after them, wiping his tears. He didn't wanna be seen crying and risk being killed by a teammate. He didn't even know if that was possible. But Darius made it seem so.

Darius pushed his team ahead as he slowly fell back to give the slower ones a kick. He might not seem the type, but he does wish for the dying to at least take place in game. He can protect them outside, so he plans to do just that. However, like the rest, he still had his fears. Regardless if he lived through this game, he would just train through what seemed like a shirt brake till the next. The games where longer than staying with your family after all. Some didn't end for months. Some passed quickly due to suicides or other casualties, but the more likely time span of not being in a game is five months. But on the first of November, they where always dragged back, even if they weren't ready.

Darius took in a soft breath and pushed on the back of the shoulders of the other white haired male. He was jogging a little as if to show them it was a bit of a distance, so they should hurry. A few others, quite a bit younger than the two of them, where already running out in front to join the huddle of their group, the large airport building coming into view.

The male slowed down after about fifteen minuets. At the entrance of the building where more stationed guards. They where handing everyone entering a small paper cup with a blue liquid. One by one the kids drank it and walked inside. The inside was a simple set up, arrows on the floor pointed in the direction for people to go. By the gates had the team captains name and picture and the stationed plane to board, then a list of names and seat so everyone knew where to sit. It made sure that when they where put into the game, they wouldn't added to the wrong team. Of course, even if you did switch places with someone. The system wouldn't know. But each team is the use number of people, having one too many will alert a guard to fix it. Teams with not enough players are different, it won't alert anything, either the team was made with less players due to the communities size, or someone was hiding. If that was the case, they would surely be found and killed.

After checking in and boarding, Darius was free to wait until take off. He was silent the whole wait, for the most part. He was trying to make his decisions on how to start things when they arrived, who would go first tonight. It was the worst feeling for him, to think he had to send a child off to their death on the first night in game.

Robbin boarded the plane with puffy eyes and a frown that could very well rival the others in there. He drank the blue liquid, making a face as it was something he had never tasted before.

He sat in a seat, repeating something his brother told him too when he was scared. It was a random jumble of words in different languages. It made absolutely no sense, but it sounded soothing. Another team mate heard him saying it and started laughing at him. He was older than him but only by months. "What's that crap? You think it's gonna save you? " He snorted. He was a real dick. You'd think people would be quiet with stuff like this.

Darius slowly stood as he heard shouting. From the distance, he was certain they where yelling at a teammate of his. The male exited his seat and made his way over. He pulled the shouting male up by the collar and glared with his dark red eyes, "Keep making a fuss like that and you'll be the first on my kill list. Bite your tongue." He hissed, his voice deep and bit monotone, yet it was still intimidating.

It wasn't long that he brushed the male off and gently backhanded the head of the teammate who sat beside him. The girl turned and he eyed for her to take Robbins seat. The two where in the same team, so it didn't matter much if they switched places.

She nodded slowly and stood, Darius grabbing Robbins shoulder and pulling him towards his row. He walked in first and took a seat, adjusting back into it as he waited for everyone else to get settled in. They where about to leave.

Robbin wouldn't of said anything if nobody noticed. The scared boy didn't wanna get anyone in trouble, not in this horrible situation. And honestly, He felt like he did something wrong he wasn't aware of. However, None of this was his fault..sadly, he didn't know that. Guilt washed over him As Darius grabbed his shoulder, pulling him towards has seat. He felt like he was piggybacking off of him, which felt wrong.

Robbin sat down where he was lead, head looking down and his hands neatly folded in his lap. "I'm sorry" he said quietly to the man next to him. "I didn't mean to start anything" he looked at Darius with a little frown. He brought his legs up into the seat. He was rather small so it worked quite well for him.

Darius looked over and loosened up a little, he moved towards the boy and moved his mouth against their ear, "keep talking like that and they'll eat you alive. Don't make me regret saving you." He said softly before moving away and slowly closing his eyes. It seemed he was starting to fall asleep, one by one, each of them where.

Robbins face couldn't help but turn a slight pink when he felt the others mouth speak against his ear. He was such an innocent boy. Well. Mostly innocent. "O.. okay.." he breathed out shakily, trying to calm himself. In and out for a few moments.

As he watched the others doze off, he figured since everyone else was asleep, it would be okay for him to sleep. Nobody would secretly attack and kill him, hopefully.

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, his small body leaning on Darius just slightly.