🦋 The 20th Hunger Games ➵ Victor: Penny

[SunnyJustice]

➵ Eden Beauregard of District One
➵ Location: The Gauntlets
➵ Tagged: Fellow Careers
"It does seem designed to knock you down at the end," Eden agreed with Gloria. Maybe his experiences could help the other Careers do better on the course. He turned to Caspia, Killick and Madeline. "Chaska's right. I'd be cautious of the last trainer in particular. She keeps going even if you survive the first swing." He gestured to the trainer at the highest end.
"Thank you for sharing." Eden smiled as Gloria shared her facts, half of which were just sassy statements. He had to remain polite for the sake of the alliance's cohesion. It was his turn to sign his name anyway.
As he approached the plaque, he noticed past Careers would sign their initials in a cluster together. Only one stood alone, isolated from the other eighteen groups - the initials GS. Eden brushed his fingers over the First Career's faded signature before carving his own, a simple but elegant EB in the corner near Gloria's. He wondered if their successors would circle one of his allies' names next year. Only the victors' names were circled, sometimes with comments like "GO ADDIE" or "LOVE YOU MIA" etched beside them.



➵ Reyna Byrne of District Twelve
➵ Location: Edible plants station
➵ Tagged: Sharnaz
Reyna was loving this District Five tribute more and more. The fiery tribute chomped on a handful of black currants, enjoying the tart and earthy taste. She'd never eaten something so wild-tasting in District Twelve. Her sheltered, cozy life kept her away from exciting experiencies, trapping her behind walls that came to resemble a prison. She hated the quiet and mundane atmosphere that blanketed her parents' house. Only down at the abandoned lots of the Seam, a box of matches in her hand, did she feel alive.
"Wow, you're an expert on food huh? Exactly what I needed." A pleased grin spread across her face. If Reyna had one redeeming trait, it was her extreme honesty. She wore her heart on her sleeve and hid nothing from her expression. "That's it, I've made up my mind. I'm Reyna, your ally and new best friend. You're stuck with me now."

[a b c d e]

➵Zoe Marius
➵District 11
➵Location: Knot-tying station
➵Tagged: Sienna Mach-North
Zoe flinched and looked up as the District 7 female tribute joined her and said "That's one hell of a twitch-up snare you got there kid." Zoe smiled and said, "Thanks." She recognized her as Sienna. She'd bumped into one of the Careers earlier... she had beautiful amber eyes and freckles and she was sturdy. "I hope you don't mind if I join you... I need some company and some allies..." Sienna said casually. Zoe looked up in surprise. She didn't think anyone had seen her with the scythe, but maybe people were paying more attention than she had thought. "I'm definitely in need of some allies," Zoe said, a tiny smile appearing on her face. "Are you allied with anyone else? Or do you have any enemies yet? Do you have any special skills? District 7 is lumber, right? You must be strong." She turned back to her knot and said, "I could teach you a snare if you like. You probably don't do much of that in the lumber industry..." she stopped talking and waited for her to answer. She cursed herself. Whenever she got excited or nervous she talked WAY too fast.

[honeybee.]

Caspia Searobin | District 4 | Location: Guantlet | Tags: The Careers

Caspia watched Eden fly through the course and listened with great interest to Gloria & Eden's facts. Eden's were slightly more sincere than Gloria's but she didn't mind, at least now she knew a little more about her teammates.
“I can go next.” Caspia suggested."It seems unfair for me to suggest this and make you all go first." Plus, she was eager to try out the obstacle course, even if dexterity wasn’t really her thing.
She began the Guantlets with a strong start, the blows of the trainer’s padded clubs forced her back very little and the first few platforms she could as well have been strolling casually between. However, as they got further and further apart it began to fell more difficult and she began calling out the count for each stumble On her fifth stumble she slipped, her chin slamming on the platform as she gripped it with strong arms. Slowly she hauled herself up. This was the final jump now and Caspia took a second to prepare before jumping but... no, she wasn't going to make it. Her fingertips clung to the platform for a second before she dropped to a heap on the mats below the Gauntlet.
"And I guess that makes six." She stood and made her way back to the rest of the Careers.
"Okay so.." She put up six fingers on her hands and grinned. "My track record for this kind of stuff isn't great. I once broke my arm climbing a tree so hopefully we'll avoid that when we're in the games." She put down a finger for the first fact.
"I love seaweed crisps, I have a little brother called Ross, once I stayed awake all night to make sure a bunch of baby sea turtles didn't get eaten." Two facts left.
“I was always got stuck puking over the side whenever I had to help on the boats back home and... I first picked up a trident when I was learning how to spear-fish."
She put down her hands, looking unashamed. She wasn't embarrassed by the few less flattering facts she had shared or by her poor performance on the Gauntlets. She knew her strengths and her weaknesses, and being strong and powerful with her trident was good enough for her. She glanced cheerfully round at the last three as she waited to be handed the signature-carving knife. "So, who's next?"

———

Felix Prestman | District 12 | Location: Knives | Tags: Penny
Felix's eyes grew wide at Penny's compliment of his throw and following words. "Oh.. oh no, I would never. I wouldn't want to throw it at..." He trailed off, returning the knife to the trainer and putting his hands in his pockets. He didn't really want to think anymore about hitting people with knives.
"Your district partner does look a little intimidating," he agreed, "It's probably best if we avoid them both. But, do you maybe want to check out another station with me? I'm probably more likely to die from exposure or starvation than anything else at the moment."

[anathema]

(x𝐊 𝐈 𝐋 𝐋 𝐈 𝐂 𝐊x𝐀 𝐂 𝐐 𝐔 𝐀 𝐓 𝐈x)

( district 4 )x( location: the gauntlets )x( tags: caspia, eden, madeline, chaska, gloria )

Now that half of his allies had completed the course, Killick felt confident enough to try it out himself. "I'll go next," he piped up, trying to ignore his nerves as he briefly split from the other Careers and approached the starting line.
Before he began, Killick gave the Gauntlets a final once-over and imagined himself going through it successfully. He also kept in mind that the last trainer was particularly ruthless on purpose. With a deep breath, he leapt forward, dodging the a trainer's club as he landed on the first platform. The boy developed a nice rhythm, only having stumbled twice by the time he was halfway done. He almost felt like he was dancing through it, hopping over and sashaying around the trainer's eager jabs.
Three-quarters of the way through, Killick lost his footing a final time while he was standing on one of the last platforms, trying to figure out what his next move would be. He must've taken too long to make a decision, as a padded club nearly sent him flying off the entire blade-damned thing. Not looking back, Killick rushed through the rest of the course, successfully avoiding the last trainer as he dropped off into the mat. He stayed there for a bit, smiling and staring up at the ceiling as he caught his breath.
Killick then returned to the group, giving them a thumbs-up. "Three facts," he said, secretly glad that he didn't have to share too much about himself right now. He tilted his head and let some ideas come to him. "I love to surf, my eyes are two different colors, and I snore really, really loud... sorry in advance to anyone who ends up taking watch in the arena." He chuckled faintly.

[Runnersback]

➵Sienna Mach-North| D7 |17|Tags:Zoe
“See that ginger boy over there at the fire station chatting with the other boy from District Six. That’s Moses and Colby, one’s a district partner and the other is mine & Moses’s ally.” She said thickly with a grand smile though. Sienna felt better knowing she could protect the fourteen year old with hell of some scythe skills.“I do, Sadly... Firecracker from Twelve ruffled my feathers and well now she and I will be picking each other off at the blood bath..” Sienna said sadly.“I’ll let the others vouch for themselves for there enemies... but I could use some snare skills. Moses always was the better one thing the knots then me.” She said with a smile before nearing closer to the girl and getting her in stuff to be taught the twitch up snares.

➵Moses Grandy| D7 |18|Tags:Colby
“She has the spirit of a golden retriever and a german shepard.” He chuckled softly watching Colby with a grin.“She would have stayed longer to talk with you but she loves to protect Children from the future on slough of the games.” Moses explained with a soft grin.“I think she might be fixing us up with another ally though! I’m sure she will be back in a bit but mean while you gotta teach me the mad fire skills you have!”He laughed sheepishly before watching his district partner start to do twitch up snares. Soon Moses focused on his ally,“So Colby, what was your favorite thing before the games?” He asked trying to do some relationship building.

[SunnyJustice]

➵ Eden Beauregard of District One
➵ Location: The Gauntlets
➵ Tagged: Fellow Careers
As he watched Caspia's debut, Eden clasped his hands tightly in anticipation. A strong attempt, but that unfairly-placed final platform claimed yet another victim. He offered Caspia a reassuring smile. "You did great!"
He spoke the truth, there was no dishonor when she was a good sport. No complaint or cuss word passed her lips. As she began to share six facts about herself, Eden listened with an eager ear. She sounded candid, even divulging unfavorable facts that made the powerful Career seem more human, more relatable. "We'll know to keep you away from trees and boats," He chuckled. "Good on you for standing up for those baby turtles. I've never seen one in real life - is it true they fit in the palm of your hand?"
Speaking of his hand, he realized he still had the carving knife. "Oh, sorry! Here you go." He handed the knife to Caspia, holding it by the blade. It was only good manners to present a knife as such.
Killick's turn soon arrived, and he flitted across the platforms beautifully. Eden's heart warmed with pride as the District Four boy finished with only a handful of stumbles. "Amazing, Killick!" He called out.
After Killick shared his three facts, Eden chuckled and imagined their smallest ally snoring like a grizzly bear. "Oh, that's quite alright. Maybe some chamomile tea would help?" He offered, giving his teammate a warm smile.

[Zyn]

☭ 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚊 𝚂𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚡 ☭
District 2 || Career || Male || Eighteen || The Mad Dog

◤xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx◥
☭ Location: Training Room
☭ Tags: Sienna, Zoe
xxxxxxxThe Careers
☭ Mood: Irritated, Confused
◣xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx◢

.
As Chaska watched Caspia start towards the obstacle course he felt a tingling in his gut, it was a familiar feeling. Usually it only happened when someone was using his all time favorite weapon, the scythe. The scythe was one of the few weapons that he could pick up and it just felt natural to use, like and extension of his own body. Swirling around with what might have been a bit to much enthusiasm his sharp gaze landed on a pair by the knot tying station. The first he noticed was a girl who couldn't have been much younger than his own sister back home, fourteen or fifteen. Giving her a once over with his usual irritated and angry expression he discovered no trace of a scythe and moved his attention to the older girl giving her a similar once over. Confusion flickered through him as realized that neither had a scythe. After staring at the pair a moment longer he returned his attention to the obstacle course. She was halfway through by the time he looked back. She stumbled quite a few times and ended up almost falling off once and completely falling the second time. Unfortunate but she hadn't seemed like the most agility based. Glancing over at Madeline he nodded towards the obstacle course. "Looks like your up, unless you would rather I go next."

[a b c d e]

➵Zoe Marius
➵District 11
➵Location: Knot-tying
➵Tagged: Sienna
"Oh," Zoe said. She looked over towards the tribute from twelve, who was angrily stomping out a blazing fire she'd created. "Yeah, she looks like she'd have a lot of enemies really quickly." She wasn't sure how she felt allying with the strange tributes that Sienna had pointed out. They were so tall and intimidating. She felt suddenly aware that she was one of the youngest there; at home, she towered over kids her age, but here, all but two were at least a head taller than her. But as she watched them, she thought that it might be a good idea to ally herself with them. Sure, they were big and tall, but on her own, she'd be virtually defenseless. With these people at her back, she might actually have a chance. She suddenly felt a crawling sensation on her back, as if someone was watching her. She shook it off and turned back to Sienna. She said, "Do you want me to teach you the twitch-up snare?" she offered. Zoe took the materials off the shelves and put some in front of Sienna. "Here, so you put this section right here..." she began. It took a bit, but eventually, they had two successful twitch-up snares with fake rabbits dangling from them. Zoe smiled a real smile for the first time in weeks. Maybe she had a real ally this time.

[DetectiveLunar]

Madeline Gomez//District 1//Female//A brat//Tagged; The Careers

Madeline watched the other Careers go. She cheered them on with a fake smile and complimented everyone after they finished the course or fell off. Everyone but Gloria. “Wow Eden! You did so well!” “Awww man! Those platforms sure are tricky! You did splendid though!” “Nice one, Killick!” She soon realized that others might notice that she “accidentally” missed Gloria, so she quickly added on to her compliments. “Oh. Gloria you did fine as well.” Did she actually want to compliment her? No. Did she wish Gloria had actually broken her neck on the course? Yes. It would make it a lot easier to deal with the other lowlifes if that Gloria girl was gone.

She stood there watching the others carve their initials into the sign, not really focused on what they were saying or their facts until Chaska spoke up. “No no! Don’t worry, hun. I’ll go next.” She wanted to gag. Ew, “hun”? That’s disgusting. Never say that again.

She made her way over to the course. Of course, she was very confident in her skills. She jumped from platform to platform, losing her footing a few times; but managing to catch herself before she fell or embarrassed herself, like that Gloria girl. She continued through the course, doing pretty well. Extremely well. She was almost perfect, just like she expected. She was the best after all! Unfortunately for her, she hadn’t listened to the others talking about the final trainer. She could see the end of the course, it was close. She hadn’t made any other mistakes other than a few slips here or there, she was getting cocky. Just as she neared the end, she grinned, she was going to prove she was the best. Suddenly, a club swung and hit her in the face, practically smacking that grin off her face.

“UGH YOU DISGUSTING MUTT FACED-“ Madeline screamed out at the poor trainer just doing her job. She hadn’t been knocked off but it wasn’t ideal to be hit with a club. She wanted to rip the club out of her hands and beat her with it. Still filled with rage at that stupid trainer, reached the end. She decided to show off a little, she did a little flip off the last platform and gracefully landed before doing a curtsy. She quickly gave a short apology to the trainer and made her way back to the other Careers.

“I’ll be taking that knife next, thank you! Also six facts! I like peacocks, everything I own is only the highest quality, I think reading is unimportant, I never met my mother, my face is flawless, and I have a lot of money! Also don’t worry about the mother thing! She said, getting back into her “polite” character.

(This is so long! Also Madeline said all hours are bully Gloria hours.)

Jay Fernandez//District 11//Male//Tagged; Reika

“Wow, you’re welcome! I knew your name was going to be pretty! It sounds really nice.” Jay decided to pause working on his little shelter for a while so he could properly talk with her. “Also thank you! I’m glad you like my name. So let’s start with, umm, the basics! Let me get you some supplies! He quickly got up from his spot of the floor and scurried over to the trainer.
After getting some more supplies, he sat back down on the floor and handed her the supplies. “Here you go! Now grab some sticks and you can tie them together with vines to make a box shape!” He started to explain to Reika how to build a shelter. Despite the fact that he wasn’t very good at explaining, he tried his best. “You said you didn’t know how to tie a knot, right? So let me show you!” He grabbed one of his own vines and demonstrated how to make a basic knot. “Like that! Now you try. Don’t worry if you don’t get it perfect on the first try!” Jay encouraged her and smiled, patiently waiting for her to try it herself.

[rose petals.]

GᒪOᖇIᗩ ᒪᗩᑕE
|female|2|career|tags: careers|

Gloria watched as Caspia went, also falling. It releived her a little that she wasn't the only one who failed, but got angry again after Killick's near perfect run. No fair. She grumbled in her mind. fine as well???????? Gloria snorted in response, not giving Madeline the satisfaction of a better reaction. Of course Madeline just had to one up her by completing the course. Not that it was personal or anything, but to Gloria, it felt it. As soon as they got into the arena Gloria would be coming for her, alliance or not,

ᑕOᒪᗷY ᗰᗩᖇKᔕ
|male|6|tribute|tags: Moses|

Colby nodded as he saw Sienna talk to another girl. The more the merrier, he thought, gaze shifting to the careers training on the gauntlet. They would be a tough pack to beat. "It's really simple." He said, demonstrating how he built the fire. "Leaves catch easily but produce a lot of smoke, oak trees and ash trees make less smoke too. Its better if you don't want to be found." An oak tree was about the only tree Colby could identify, but since Moses was from 7, he could probably identify every tree. He thought hard about Moses's question. Before being reaped he didn't appreciate his life in 6, now, all he wanted was to get back to it. "My younger siblings." He said at last. "They could always make me smile no matter what, I just wish I could see them grow up."

ᑭEᑎᑎY ᔕYᒪᐯEᔕTEᖇ
|female|8|tribute|tags: felix|

"Sure!" Penny exclaimed, glad that Felix seemed friendly enough. "Where to? Fires, shelters, knots, plants... there are so many options!" Maybe Felix would help protect her in the arena. Penny needed allies, she seemed good at the knife throwing but wasn't sure that she would use that skill, taking anyone's life seemed horrible! She wouldn't want to have that on her conscience.