Forum Thread

Faye shrugs. "I have a sister. You probably have heard of her, as she only won last year. Moriah Small." she says. "I fought to get back to my sister. I did what I had to do. I suppose there is one thing that makes me a career, in that I believe I did what I had to do. I may have killed a bunch of people, but..." she trails off, shaking her head angrily. "I was mocked at the beginning, because I was afraid of water. Isn't that ridiculous? A victor from 4 who's scared of water. How laughable. And then I killed the careers who taunted me with a trident. And that amused people. The rest of the careers died at my hands through less laughable ways. One, my final kill, which you must have heard of at one point, was through a tree branch. I am as vicious as any career 'should be.' I have my games a name. And there is not a day since where I haven't been reminded of that in some way." she says.

Orchid wouldn't talk. She was angry, and she wanted the world to know. "But how to do that?" she wonders. She had a deal, and it was broken, and that thought made her more angry. "Stupid quarter quell." she thinks, frustration coursing through her veins and threatening to show on her face. But she kept her face an emotionless mask. Like always. Like when peacekeeper's show up dead. Like when officials call her a murderer. Like when the president compliments her on her magic. Of course it wasn't real magic, but then again, it was. Undetectable magic. Undetectable crimes. Undetectable deaths. She liked the word undetectable, as it described her perfectly. "Undetectable, untraceable, unproveable." her mind sang whenever she was accused of something. Record kills? More like record crimes.

---

"I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. But anyone who mocks you for your fear of water is a fool. Never underestimate your enemies and never piss them off either. They learned their lesson far too late" Kayda wanted to share her story. What was the saying? 'Misery loved company.' But that would mean getting close with Faye. She already knows from experience that she should never get close get with others. So she holds her tongue. She is once again distracted by the same boy. She watched in shock as the boy gets tased and barely reacts to it. Who was this guy and just how strong was he? She wonders. "Faye, who is he?" She asks, gesturing to Ryan. Once again, she kicks herself for not taking more interest in the other Victors.

All the talk about their past experiences made Seitem sick. She had nearly gagged listening to the gruesome stories of the events that happened long ago. It reminded her of the pain she went through herself, what she had to do in order to return home again. Wait... that wasn’t even her objective. As soon as she entered the arena she realized that she didn’t want to go back. She didn’t want to be forever changed by her actions here. She didn’t want to go home a completely different person, a murderer. Stop. Within an instant those depressing thoughts had left her mind, allowing it to be clear. She still couldn’t think straight, her hands still shook, but at least she wasn’t stuck in the past. At least, not for a while. Maybe she should try and lighten up the mood a little. Whether it was her own decision or Sorrento’s influence, it didn’t matter to her. “Hey... It’s great that everyone is getting to know each other, it really is, but this isn’t helping at all... We’re supposed to live our days to the fullest, right? I don’t know how we can do that now but... At least try to be happy, please?” She realized that it was pretty stupid to say something like that in a situation like this, but maybe, just maybe it would help.

Amonei had already had enough of the pep talk after the first few words. He was also annoyed by all the yelling, he hated such a loud environment. “Look, I don’t know what you’re trying to do but shut the hell up... No amount of sugar coating will be enough to mask a situation like this. I don’t give a damn if you hate such a gloomy mood, you’re just gonna have to deal with it...” and with the final word he raised his heavy, hatred filled head to look at the woman who had spoke previously. His glare stared right into her fearful eyes, only breaking contact after he lowered his head again and continued to drain all other conversations out.

---

"Taking an interest in Ryan Speirs eh?" she says with a smile. Faye squints, trying to remember. "He's from 7. He's 23, no wait 22 I think. I can't remember what games he won. All I remember is he is a tank. Sorry, my area in tribute expertise happens to be careers and anyone who I've encountered in the capitol." she says, sounding apologetic. "If I'm correct, he's also a bit stubborn...." she says with a smile. "Why don't you tell me your story? You seem quite... hesitant to talk to me." she murmurs.

---

The Peacekeeper clearly had not been expecting the victor to simply brush off the electric attack. They were taken aback, nearly stumbling backwards as Ryan swung his fist at the guard. The guard was agile, sure. But Ryan was mad now. The swings kept coming, missing the Peacekeeper by a few centimeters each time. Eventually, the Peacekeeper saw an opening and struck, hitting Ryan square in the face. All the Tribute did was take a step back, spitting a bit of blood onto the floor. The Peacekeeper took the chance to attack, launching a series of brutal attacks on the other man. All Ryan did was raise his scratched up arms in front of his face, absorbing all the blows that targeting his head. A few kicks were sent at his legs, but he did not fall. A knee to the stomach should have put him out, but he stood stock still until the Peacekeeper was panting, too low on breath to keep going. Ryan started to chuckle, lowering his arms. "My turn." A solid kick to the belly sent the Peacekeeper toppling to the floor. Ryan grabbed a cloth from the ground, the same cloth he'd used to aggravate the Peacekeeper, and wiped his mouth with it. Tossing the cloth down to the Peacemaker, he spoke. "Catch your breath. Get back up and fight me. Just like the scum you are." He kicked the Peacemaker lightly on the leg, strolling back to his seat as if nothing had happened. The Peacemaker was still awake, still breathing.. Yet they did not move. Their weapon was on their back, forgotten in the scuffle. Ryan scoffed as he sat. "Too stupid to pull your gun on me?" He ran his tongue along his teeth. "Makes sense to me."

"It's fine, you know more than I ever will." She stays silent, seemingly ignoring Faye's question as she watches Ryan defeat the Peacemaker. He was an expierenced fighter, just like her. Only difference was the fact that he could take a hit. He would be a very dangerous foe. "Too risky" she answers Faye. "I can't go around spilling my heart to everyone, especially when these same people will either be dead in a few weeks or be the one trying to kill me." She points out.

"Relax, I'm not asking for your life story. I'm asking for your arena story, or why you hate careers." she says with a laugh. "And besides, what is there left for us to do? There really isn't anything that I could do to you, besides attempt to kill you in the arena." she points out. "And I don't go to the trouble to talk to be, to later try to kill them. I'm not that arrogant and backstabbing. Honestly, I don't think I'm backstabby at all but. I wasn't the one that sold people out to the careers." her words end in a scowl. It doesn't appear to be directed at Kayda.

---

𝒮𝑜𝓇𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝐸𝒹𝑒𝓁𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒾𝓃



The smile thinned ever so slightly yet didn't wane as Sorrento dipped his head in acknowledgement. "I see, that's a shame. Unfortunately, I like to talk in stressful situations such as these so if I have to endure the gloomy company, you will have to put up with my prattle. No offence to you, darling Seitem, thank you for trying to lighten the mood as well." He said lightly, a slightly mischievous tone slipping into the vexingly coy voice. The last time he had done this, he had excused himself to go comfort the other tributes, having swayed a majority of them to his side when he showed the frightened children even the smallest ounce of kindness and pity. But this time around, he figured that it would be different. He wasn't dealing with teenagers who were plucked from the warm embrace of their mothers, everyone on this train was a killer through and through. Everyone's hands were stained red with innocents, and it would be a challenge to wrap their blood slicked fingers around his. With a careless glance at the prone body on the carriage floor, Sorrento very conveniently ignored the sounds of a peacemaker getting roughed up. The career pack, like every year, were a bunch of mindless self-assured brutes, huh. How disappointing, Sorrento had hoped for a little more variety and fun. But it could also be that Sorrento's own skills were rusty, having long since retired from the business of toying with others through his words alone. After all, the capital had stripped that skill from him the moment he emerged from the arena, bleaching off all the nasty blemishes to present the perfect doll for the taking.

---

Kayda sighs and leans back into the seat, she stares up at the ceiling, her gaze distant. "Don't you know already?" Kayda asks. "It started out fairly easy. It wasn't hard to pit the Careers and opposing team against each other. I simply had to hide during the day and spread lies about my whereabouts at night and they always took the bait-" she winces, already reaching the terrible part. "The Careers were enraged and had gotten a tip from one of their sponsors. That's when they struck their attack-" she pauses again, her gaze turning cold. "I was unable to do anything, there was too many of them. They killed my teammates in front of me before attempting to kill me. Which, obviously failed." She shakes her head. "I snapped then. I shouldn't have. I should've kept my cool, and waited them out. But I didn't... The rest is history."

"Well I know this part. I was there when 'we' sent the tip-off. I said it was a bad idea, but what can I say? I'm not respected enough among career victors to do anything. I said you didn't deserve to see your teammates die in front of you... but obviously, I was ignored." she says, sounding frustrated and regretful. Apart from her appearance and her physique, you really wouldn't be able to tell that Faye was a career. Except for her eyes. She had the same battle-hardened, slightly vicious look that so many other careers have.

---

"Really?" Kayda asks in disbelief. If only they listened to her, how much heartache would Kayda have been saved from? Naturally, her instincts tell her to see Faye's words as a lie. It was mind-boggling to even imagine a Career siding with her. Especially when it meant turning on other Careers. But everything Faye was telling her was consistent to that point. If this was a lie, then it was thought out really well. Perhaps Kayda should lower her guard a bit. As she pointed out, what could Faye possibly get out of talking with Kayda if she were only going to turn against her? Kayda had nothing to offer but physical strength and fighting experience, but that could be rendered useless with a well thought out ambush or a simple arrow. Kayda only had one burning question remaining: "Why me?" Kayda asks. "You could've talked with anyone- tried to side with anyone. You have a whole group of Careers at your disposal. So why turn to me?"

Faye shrugged. She remains silent for a moment, thinking. "Because you remind me of Moriah." is the true answer, she thinks, but not the one she can give. "I...." she goes silent again. "Why am I going to her?" she wonders to herself. "The same reason I fought to be my sister's mentor." she says, hesitantly. This is a part of her she keeps locked up. "Human beings are horrible. That's our nature. Occasionally, you meet someone not like that. Someone who's first instinct isn't to laugh at the weaker person, who doesn't want to bully the weird kid. Those kind of people are rare." she says, struggling to sound indifferent.

---

That answer was acceptable. Kayda had been worried that others would've taken advantage of her kindness, which was exactly the reason why she had fought so hard to keep that side of her locked up. Although it was clear that her tactics weren't working. She can already feel herself reaching out to the older girl, suddenly desperate to take her under her wing and protect her. No, I said too much to her. Listened to her more than I should've! This was exactly what I was trying to avoid! She should leave, excuse herself and go hide somewhere else. But Faye was different. She wasn't like her old allies or her sister. She was stronger and smarter. More importantly, she could take care of herself. Just relax Kayda silently reminds herself.
She takes a moment to look around the train, once again sizing up her opponents. Ryan was her biggest concern right now since she has personally seen his strength. Still, he was going against a Peacemaker, who would shoot an opponent before fighting them- they didn't have the same experience that she had. Maybe if she struck the right spot she could defeat him. He took a blow to the face, he won't go down in one punch. It appeared that if they ever fought, she would have to save her energy as much as she could and every hit had to meet its mark. He would be tricky.
Everyone else seemed to be a wildcard. She knew that she couldn't look at a person to determine their strength. She would have to wait until she saw how they trained, maybe then she could think of hypothetical counter attacks.

Ryan twitched slightly, then scratched his neck. Turning his head, he looked at Kayda. Kayda Oak. Karma. She's analyzing me. His eye twitched ever so slightly as he thought about the other victor's abilities, how relentless she was in battle. Glancing away, Ryan gave the Peacekeeper one last glare. Then, he stood and stretched. gazing slowly around the train car, he chewed the inside of his cheek. After a moment, he sat back down. "S'no point." And there wasn't a point. To any of it. It wasn't logical either; bringing together some of the most violent and battle-hardened victors was a terrible idea. This was how revolts happened, the kind that you couldn't stop. This was how you stabbed yourself in the stomach. Taking the most dangerous people from all around and shoving them into a box. 'It's not for entertainment. It's to get rid of us.' The small voice in the back of his head whispered on. 'They'll shoot the last one standing.' That caused a sneer to form on the man's lip.

Faye watches Kayda. "She's trying to figure people out." she realizes. With a frown, it occurs to her. "She really didn't do any research on victors did she?" she shakes her head. "She's at a serious disadvantage isn't she?" she thinks. Faye looks concerned for a moment. "That's… not good." she murmurs. She cracks her wrist and flicks it slightly. She turns and stares at the other careers. "Would they go after her if I chose to protect her?" she wondered. Honestly, she didn't know. Not that Kayda needed protecting, but against the careers? No one's safe..

---

Neither Amonei nor Seitem bothered to try and analyze the others, but each for different reasons. Amonei would either wait until training or at the battlefield, either one was fine to him. He didn’t care if he won the fight with any of them anyways, he just did whatever he needed to in the moment and accepted the outcome. He never paid attention to the games that occurred after his, as he had no interest in them. Seitem just wanted to get this over with, either her luck saved her or her luck failed her, that’s all she could rely on at this point. She was weak from the start and she will be weak until the very end. And said end, she hoped, would arrive soon. Everyone else was strong in their own way, Ryan was one of the more noticeable ones. Good grief... it was all too brutal...

Amonei had to try and hide yet another cough, another stream of blood. His half covered eyes stared at the fist below them, covered in a small line of red. He wouldn’t doubt that there was another line on his cheek, but did it even matter... If people took advantage over his sickness, then so be it. He’ll either somehow manage to overpower them or let them win, either outcome was fine with him. Not even that fact that people took advantage over things like that startled him, he did the same thing. He took advantage over people and left them to die.

---

𒉔 ℒ𝒶𝓀𝓈𝒽𝓂𝒾

Lakshmi didn’t know what to expect for this batch of Careers, but it wasn’t this.

Having been among the first to approach the train station, she sat on the edge, analyzing the group that she had been landed with. Seamlessly ignoring the rest of the Career pack, she had been lounging within one of the private compartments for ages now, trying to avoid socialization at all costs. Yes, she knew that her overall reputation was more than a little camera-happy, but her charm-speaking was not on her agenda. Indeed, since talking about her previous years brought back memories she’d rather leave put back. The visions – of fire and ash and light burning away the woods with their bright, cruel fingers, the memories of the other tributes who’d been sent into to die screaming for mercy from fire’s merciless touch as they perished – left a cold tingling sensation that rushed up her spine, a bone deep chill that seemed to slip effortlessly past the fur lined jacket she currently wore.

Making allies was not Lakshmi’s strong suit. After all, charisma only got so far, and if anybody had been watching her games, they knew that she was definitely not someone you wanted to trust. There wasn’t, however, another way of looking at it, this time she was going to need allies, and not just the witless, pampered, warrior brutes that called themselves careers. Bright grass-green optics swayed ever so slightly from the window pane that she had been so intently perusing since she had boarded the locomotive, jerking herself from the stupor that she had been lulled into by the locomotive. "Go on, introduce yourself. A sweetheart like you should have no trouble making friends. You're going to need them this time around."

With a heavy sigh on her lips, escaping into the air like a mournful cloud of reluctance, Lakshmi swung her svelte sun-tanned legs from the ornate scarlet couch, prowling to the already open door. A blush colored her cheek rosy as several eyes immediately latched onto her. Reputation preceeds her clearly, yet she only had eyes for one singular siren, for whom she flashed a rather cheeky smile.

"You can't really blame them, Sorrento." Lakshmi soothed, her dulcet tones wrapping the air in vernal bliss, an aura of comfort that openly defied the dreariness hanging over the train car like a shroud. "The first hours are always the hardest. You on the other hand, seem to be doing splendid, huh. Like always."

𝒮𝑜𝓇𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝐸𝒹𝑒𝓁𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒾𝓃



Perking up at the familiar voice, Sorrento immediately cooed and cupped his face in his hands. "Lakshmi, I always knew you cared about me! You're such a dearie, cheering up little 'ol me." His giggle was sweet and only the slightest bit patronising. Skipping over by his "friend's" side, he gave the tribute a quick squeeze around the shoulders. "It's been way too long since we've talked, how are you? Are you still flirting your way across the capital?" His ribbing was gentle as he danced back to give her some personal space.

Between the two of them, it looked like twin divine beings had graced the cart, their combined appeal certainly a deadly force in of themselves. Although the words the two shared seemed friendly enough, there certainly was some element of poison coating their exchange. A conversation between two killers who still couldn't find it in themselves to enjoy the peace and let down their walls. Once upon a time, one of Sorrento's clients contacts had alikened him to the vixin of one, jokingly calling him her successor. Sorrento had been very sorely tempted to remove that man's family jewels from his possession. Regarless of what happened to that contact, it was undeniable that there were similarities between them. While Sorrento's relationship status had been kept vuage in the public, playing gay chicken and will-they-wont-they with his boyfriend for the entertainment of the masses, Lakshmi had always been the unattainable goal for many capital citizens. She had always taken center stage as the main attraction while he was the arm candy. Well, both positions had their flaws a merrits and he supposed that if the both of them were happy where they were, Sorrento would aquicit to this arrangement as long as no toes were being stepped on. And that was the problem. Being thrown into the arena once again but with one of his competitors outpacing him even in his area of expertise certainly counted as stepping on toes. With their respective strategies and personalities, it would become a race between the two of them to see who they could pull to their side. A much more personal death match in addition to the literal one they were place in

---

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Kallo Hadmer

District 1

---

Now that he had plans other than throwing in the towel, Kallo began to second-guess his conviction to keep everything to do with the Hunger Games at arm's length. Especially when it came to the other victors.

Take Mr. Wanton Violence here for example.

Kallo eyed the beat up peacekeeper on the floor with some form of bewilderment, unsure of what to make of the scuffle that unfolded before their eyes. Shifting his gaze from the victim to the perpetrator as the man went about sitting down and being grumpy, Kallo eyed him for a moment with a puzzled frown. He wasn't sure if the younger man was crazy, stupid, or had a death wish bigger than his. Kallo himself had found himself treading on some thin ice at times and he had never gone so far as to lay a hand on a peacekeeper. For this man, his saving grace was probably their imminent demise as he doubted the Capitol would tolerate such behaviour at any other place in time. The troublemaker would most likely be dead soon anyway so they could save themselves the hassle.

The issue for him was that the display made it painfully clear he had very little idea what kind of unpredictable loose cannons he was sharing the train with and that made him even less useful than he already was. Scowling down at his hands, Kallo went back to dragging a nail across his palm.

He had to start paying attention.

So he relaxed his expression neutral and lifted his head to use his eyes. Not that there was much he could tell about the others by taking a look around. Besides Lakshmi, he did recognize at least the one guy who drew his attention by barking at another attempt to be positive from another tribute, Amonei Ferroth. He didn't know the female torch bearer of positivity but before his own go at the arena, Kallo had followed the Games closely and Amonei wasn't the victor easiest to forget. He had stuck out from the very beginning: A scrawny tribute with little promise from District 2 of all places? It had seemed like he was going to lay low and rely on an alliance with one of the District 1 tributes, but then turned around and killed him and proceeded to go on a rampage that even followed him home. Kallo had assumed the Capitol had gotten rid of the man after the whole family murder debacle but it appeared he had been wrong.

Which wasn't great news for him. That made another highly volatile wildcard alongside Mr. Wanton Violence. They even had matching white hair, how fitting. ...Though it seemed white was an unusually common hair color among the victors. Weird.

One of said bearers of white hair being another face Kallo somewhat recognized. The woman from District 4 who had an issue with water. The career who didn't like careers. It had been difficult to avoid hearing about her and her contradictions when she won, but that was pretty much as far as his knowledge went. Though it was at least something, the former a possible advantage and the latter something to be wary of. However, he didn't know the other woman she was talking to, she looked rather young so presumably one of the more recent victors.

Already forging alliances, eh?

Considering it was a budding alliance with at least one person with a guaranteed amount of zero sympathy for his District, it was most likely bad news for him.

As Miss Contradiction turned her attention away from her conversation partner to the direction where he was sitting, Kallo in turn shifted his gaze elsewhere. Back to Lakshmi and Mr Cheerleader she had decided to chat up. Whether she was trying to start a fledgling alliance of her own or just being Lakshmi was anyone's guess and Kallo raised a curious eyebrow as he observed the two. Their interactions seemed friendly but there was a hint of a hostile undertone so perhaps it wasn't a dream team in the making after all. Giving Mr. Cheerleader a once-over, Kallo was unable to pin down where he had seen him before. ...Well, not exactly unable, the guy was a victor so he undoubtedly looked familiar from whatever theatrics were cooked up for him afterward but that was far from helpful.

He made a mental note to ask Lakshmi about the guy later.

---

"Kallo." she thinks, staring at the young man who had just been staring at her. She glares at him once he turns away. "Insufferable piece of-" she takes a deep breath. "Calm down now Faye." she murmurs quietly. She shifts in her seat once more, looking out of her window. She thinks about Moriah. "How am I going to get back to her this time?" she whispers aloud. She fingers a streak of blue hair. "The only way I can do this, is by showing I'm stronger then last time." she thinks. "This time I'm against people I've considered friends, and people who...." she can't even finish the thought. "Hey, Kayda, I'll talk to you later. I'm going to go find Adelaide I think." she slowly stands up and leaves. She isn't really going to find Adelaide, she just needs to be away from the other tributes for a little while. She finds an empty room/carriage/whatever and presses her forehead against the window.

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