Private first class Drexhel stood gauging which direction he should make his first move, indulging for a few minutes in the briefing, something he scantly paid attention to. First he had to set up his flag, whispers began in the back of his mind saying “east, go east”.

He rolled his eyes and muttered to himself “west”.

Strolling casually in his self confirmed path he narrowed his eyes with hope it might make his sight clearer in this poorly lit arena, being just able to make out his surrounding to the point he could see objects around him but still left with uncertainty of  what they where. He came to a solid structure, a steep steel ramp with a small tunnel running underneath, “good cover, good escape rout” his thoughts where unusually calm for a situation such as this. Ducking his head into the tunnel he set down on his knees and relieved his back of his backpack as he dropped it in front of him, undoing the clips and sliding out his pale blue flag and some screw in leg attachments he made way with putting up his base. He felt open to attack while setting up his opinionatedly pointless flag, Drexhel shook his head and returned to his duty “someone, somewhere must be getting kicks from this”.

His flag stood  inside the tunnel, looking at it for a second Drex made thoughts toward his next task, finding a weapon. The ramp above him had walls on either side, this made sense as a way to remain undetected, he moved towards the start of his venture, as he reached the beginning of the ramp he pressed his back to the wall and moved his body down so his knees where at chest level. He quickened his pace realising he had no means of avoiding fire if it came his way. As he came to a fork on the elevated ground he stood upon, Drex moved to the centre of the walk way, followed by a sound he regretted dearly, a panel under his foot, he hurried forward and found he'd activated something naught two foot in his way as the ground fell from under him and Drex followed suit. He landed on his back in an even darker area than before, his hand felt round on a bumped surface something rocked under his palm, he shook it then lifted it to find his rifle “thank god for that”. He stood up and pointed himself in the direction flowing under the walkway he had fallen from.

He came to a wall after following the under side back through the way he came, feeling for a way out and that he found as the wall spun and he toppled through landing face first by his flag and back pack. Drexhels final task for now was to fire off his flare, he tipped his pack upside down, the flare fell at his feet and rolled a little way from him, quickly he grabbed it and loaded it into his newly acquired rifle he rushed from the tunnel and pulled his trigger into the air sending the pale blue flare skyward, he then moved back to his flag to contemplate his next move.

Vaulting over a fallen tree, Jori came to a complete stop and leaned back against it, trying to catch his breath. Moments before, he had been slouching against a tree, this one upright, when he had awoken to a lack of noise. Complete silence surrounded Jori and that made him uneasy. Something was wrong and he needed to be prepared. Only then did he remember what he was supposed to be doing.

Convicts. Fight for pardon. Got it.

Knowing that he had to find a safe house of sorts, he rose quickly and set off at a run through the forest, acutely aware that he held no weapons. He did have the pack that held the flag and its stand and that could be used as a weapon to provide some blunt force trauma to the head if he got a lucky hit. Pushing those thoughts away, he began looking for the high ground. Ideally, it would allow him to spot any approaching beings and would have protection for himself.

Soon enough, the ground began to slope upwards and the trees began to thin. Climbing over the top of the hill, he saw what looked to be an enclave of fallen trees, arranged in a semi-circle.

Odd. Can't be natural. Bears investigating.

Jori began a thourough lookover of the enclave, careful not to miss anything. He didn't want to set up his flag, only to be attacked from behind by an previously unseen enemy. Once satisfied, he took off his pack and began to remove the flag and stand components. Meticulously, he set up the stand and, once it was assembled, attached the blood red flag.

Now, he needed to find something to defend himself with, preferably a standard weapon, though he wouldn't pass down an ordinary stick if he didn't have anything else. He was planning on heading back down to the forest when something caught his eye. At the very top of the arranged stack of trees was a small shape, almost like a dagger. That fully engaged his interest and he walked over and began to climb, leaping deftly from tree trunk to tree trunk. At last, he reached the top and made his way over to where the dagger was stuck into the wood at what seemed to be the direct center of the semi-circle.

Bending down, he removed the dagger and examined it. With a wicked looking blade and hilt, the dagger may have looked purely decorative to an untrained eye, but Jori was far from that. With care, he looked it over and decided that it would make a fine weapon. Leaning over the edge, he aimed and released the dagger, letting it fly towards the bottom trunk. It hit its mark perfectly and dug itself into the soft wood. He started to descend when he remembered his flare gun. Taking it out, he pointed it upwards and pulled the trigger, sending a blood red beacon
arcing into the sky.

OOC:

I do believe that is 500 words. Also, This is what I had in mind for the look of the dagger. And its the middle one that I chose.

Drex crept from his low arched tunnel, his eyes had become accustomed to the darkness allowing the once blurry shapes to become solid structures, he stood readily observing his surroundings. The flare he had fired was fading quickly but not only his own signal was there, three others fired almost simultaneously with his own had cascaded through the blackened skyline and where, like his own, meeting the end of their burning span. The flesh on Drexhels knuckles became nearly transparent as his fingers took a vise like clasp around the butt of his pistol, his teeth clenched tighter still as he took his first steps out from the cover of his base.
After a few minutes of grudgingly forced thought he made a decision based upon what he already knew, the ramp he had previously climbed led to a floor trap, he knew that was there and he could now avoid it. Drex turned his head towards the inclining surface before making his way there.

To his surprise it had now changed, where it used to be a flat upward slope now presented a set of steps, he shrugged his shoulders and spat on the floor then took a first step up the stair way. He moved into a crouching jog, his toes landing softly before his heels to minimise the noise from his boots, he stopped shortly before the trap hole that caught him before and made a small leap to the left side turn then resumed pace. In his rushed sense of awareness he failed to see a second set of steps shortly after his landing and fell, tumbling downwards and crashing hard to the ground below with his legs sprawled straight in front of him sitting in an up right position.

What was that? he caught a glimpse of something humanoid in shape, it looked poised and waiting to strike, Drex shifted his weight forward and pushed himself up then rushed to hug the wall. Whatever it was it was not moving and the distance was only two apartment blocks away with only an ally and some trash canisters separating them. He ducked down low, moving slowly forward and trying to keep out of sight behind the various sized covers, he saw only brief visions of his potential adversary, enough to know it was still there. Feeling his heart pounding against his ribs he could take no more of this suspense, pouncing out of cover he found not a man or woman but a conveniently arranged trash pile. He cursed under his breath then moved backwards through the ally, thoroughly disappointed that he did not get the surprise attack he had hoped for.

His eyes were drawn to the shimmering ground a short while away, it called to him as he hated the cramped environment that was the city behind him. Drex stood enchanted by the glistening floor but one hundred meters away but his thoughts said no!, something was telling him this was either a trap or a bad idea. Contemplating the outcome of either diverting backwards or continuing towards the new area Drexhel decided he was in as much danger either way, he bound forward moving quickly, if this was a trap he would not make himself an easy target. A rough thirty seconds later he stood panting and feeling idiotic, with all that effort and for no reason at all, Breathing in deep he drew up to his full hight to see his surroundings once more.

Drex found his feet were planted on a low ridge, the shining surface he had seen was naught but water, a large clearing of it granted, it stretched an estimated two hundred and fifty meters north to south and possibly half that east to west. A small island lay north of him and around one hundred yards south was a bridge crossing the pool, straight ahead he could the edges of forest. Drexhels face contorted to one of confusion, concern and astonishment as he noticed the outskirts of the water were surrounded by a multitude of different terrains. As his narrowed eyes came more into focus he could see shapes,  moving shapes at the edges of the water, he gripped his pistol in his shaking hand uncertain of this being his mind playing tricks, not wanting to leave it to chance Drex readied his firing arm.