Waiting for the gong / arena reactions
As her ascent came to an end Regina's body tensed. Her hands clenched into fists at her side. And were you to look at the palms of her hands you'd see the crescent shaped indents being made by her nails. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the lighting in the arena. Though you could hardly call it lighting by modern standards. The room was dimly lit by torches. There was shallow water standing before them and the cornucopia. And from what she could see there bags littered around. In them there were weapons or other supplies most likely. Or so Regina assumed. The only way to know was to get one. And so she contemplated the risk of grabbing one before following through with her plan.
The air surrounding them was humid. If this were any other time she'd be worried about what this humidity would do to her hair. But now was not the time for vanity. Now was the time to stick to her plan.
Regina took a glance to her left and right and made note of who was near her. The lighting made it hard to see who was where but she was able to make out that Helena was to her right. Getting to her shouldn't prove too difficult. Regina would wait to see what direction she moved in and then follow behind. And while she wasn't certain where he was, Regina, was certain that the raccoon was somewhere to her left. Though she didn't expect him to risk coming their way once the timer ran out. That would be suicidal and she got the impression he was anything but.
When a voice began counting down, Regina, loosened her muscles. Prepared them to be able move quickly the moment they could leave their platforms. As the voice got closer to one she thought of Robin and her friends for one moment more and then turned off all thoughts of them. They were now in the farthest recesses of her mind; unable to distract her from what needed to be done. Regina had no intention of initiating a fight but if attacked she would do what was necessary to survive. Even if it meant adding another life to the countless thousands of deaths that she ordered years ago. The guilt of taking another life could be dealt with later.
As the voice reached two Regina quietly said to herself, "here we go" and readied herself to run.