An observer could see twenty-four people with tense muscles and agile eyes sitting in an airship. They had just left a cargo bay atop a massive mountain...
.....
It was day outside but the ship lay in silence, and it was a silence of two parts...
People were making many sounds....scuffling of their feet, the rustling of clothes, and whispers. This noise made the first and largest silence hard to notice.....If you could listen for an hour, you might begin to feel it in the hidden vigilance of the passengers, the twitching of hands beneath sleeves, the dagger-like glares sent to rivals.
Inside the vessel were many people spread into groups of two, they whispered with quiet determination, avoiding discussions with outsiders...the troubling outsiders. In doing this they added a small, sullen silence to the larger one...
The two silences created friction, multiplying the effect of the other by more than two, causing theoretical sparks to fly and the air to smell of sulfur...
....
Just when the atmosphere felt like it couldn't take much more, a bell sound rang and a voice spoke over the speakers.
[Contestants, please grab a backpack from the wall and strap it on tightly, the cargo bay will open mid-flight soon and you will be clear to make your jump into the arena and after landing, the game will start. Good luck, and happy Survival Games. You have five minutes].
The once tense contestants were now surprised and apprehensive as this is the first they'd heard of jumping out of the airship...
...
Nobody moved at first but then, The Rook vice-guild leader quickly stepped forward and grabbed two of the packs. The others watched as she pulled her long robe behind her shoulders, showcasing The Rook's unique uniform in all of its glory. It was black from bottom to top with black metal plates and bracers where needed. Small spikes protruded from her shoulders and knuckles and the half-face mask (crow) allowed one to see only half of the wearer's beautifully carved face.
Understanding that time is running out, each of the contestants quickly shook their nervousness away and firmed their will, they were here to win and they can't even begin to do that if they can't jump out of an airship with a parachute...
....
With one minute left before the doors opened, each team was silent as rather than looking at their competition, they focused on the task at hand; jumping out of this plane and finding an advantageous place to land.
"Are you ready Rachel..." Timothy whispers quietly, so quiet that it seemed like he was excelling a small meek breath. Any normal person would never hear such a quiet sound, much less understand it but as if it was screamed aloud, the vice guild leader nodded firmly. The two were hyper-focused and knew that they had the best chance of winning, not because they were skilled and intelligent as these were the minimum for fighting in the Survival Games, but because they had advantages others did not...
While any of these teams could purchase (and have) various skills and abilities from the Pavillion in Altissa, very few Divers had the Raven Coins to buy them as the prices were high. Most bought what suited them the best and trained in it, mastering it to a higher level than what they purchased...
However, this only serves to further reinforce the need for information on enemies. The only reason The Rooks have been able to take out high-level targets was because of their few 'exclusive' unknown abilities in addition to the ones they bought from the Pavillion.
The members do not know how nor did they ask but after recruitment, their guild master presented them with uniforms they've never seen before and took them to a base that to them, seemed impossible to obtain. The only explanation was that Mr. Oscars created it but for what reason did he help their guild master? They didn't know...
After putting on their given masks, they noticed new information in their head, something that didn't belong there. It was a new ability....it felt just like when they purchased 'bending' from the TFNs section of the Pavillion.
The guild master satiated a bit of their curiosity by stating "that ability is given by the mask and came with the guild's base, each of you has a unique ability but as guild master, one of my masks functions it the ability to strip you of your Rook ability, and if you ever betray I will publish your personal information, so be warned..."
Each Rook was happy to be given a new hole card, the abilities were not all strong but were helpful in their new stations...
.....
The counter ticked down and the cargo door opened with wind whistling causing clothing to flutter and nerves to become tense...they all knew what was at stake here, they needed to win because if they die, they won't be able to return to Altissia for at least a year. While they've all made preparations for failure, none of them want to be sent back or experience death.
One by one, the participants jumped down in twos diving through the air towards the arena which had a noticeable fog lining the circumference of the battleground a deadly feeling coming from the mist...