#--- closed starter

[viikanders]

⋮⋮⋮  ✕ ˚ °  closed starter   |   @marinazale

        ‘    i need a drink   &   by the looks of things,     so do you.  ’         petra let out a sigh, sliding into a chair opposite her fellow victor.     in her hands,   were two glasses of clear liquid.  liquid that she   probably   shouldn’t be drinking due to her  addictive tendencies    yet   she lifted one to her lips to take a sip.    

yesterday had been a   disaster   for district four.     she couldn’t remember the last time they’d lost both tributes on the second day.    not in the past nine years.    before then it was entirely possible considering she remembered so little of that time period.    however it was quite a change from having the victor the previous year .    when you thought about it,     it was highly unlikely they’d have back-to-back victors     ( especially with the two they had )     so petra was fine with the outcome.   she shrugged it off,       ‘ there was no way in hell we were going to get to the end again --- we were dealt a raw hand. ’     as a thought came to her mind she smiled,    ‘ but hey!   that other twelve year old took out callaghan’s boy on day one.     swings  &  roundabouts.  ’

[taintedones]

CLOSED STARTER  | @mistyshoreofdistrict4

───── SHE KNEW WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE.    truthfully,   she’d known it from the minute she aligned with misty.   however,   until that point, she hadn’t had the means.  things were different now.   dahlia felt the handle of the swiss army knife leaving imprints in her skin as she clutched it tightly in her palm.   she would only have one chance at this. 

she took a bite out of the fruit for energy  & wrapped all her belongings up in the makeshift bag she’d fashioned out of the pirate flag.   in case she needed to make a quick getaway,  it all had to be together.    the deck creaked slightly under her feet as she moved closer to her prey. she pushed herself up onto her toes,   needing to be as quiet as the mouse misty thought she was.

asleep,   it was easy to forget misty was a career.  no matter what she tried to convince dahlia. that’s why it had to happen like this.    it made her feel like the lowest a person could be, to attack whilst someone was sleeping.    she had to do it.   that moon on the photo. she’d taken it to mean one thing  & one thing only.  

her shadow engulfed misty’s frame as dahlia stood over her,   bringing the knife up into the air, she took in a breath,    ‘ i’m sorry. ’ she whispered,    ‘ but i  HAVE  to see her.’ with all the force her body could muster,   she drove the knife down over misty’s chest.

[taintedones]

CLOSED STARTER  |  @nadyavasiliev

THE NIGHT SKY WAS BEAUTIFUL.    it was one of the only things that landon had found that was the same as it was back home.  darkness with small specs of light glistening every so often.  if he ignored the sound of the capitol below,  he could pretend he was in the woods of seven.   how many times had he  lost track of time  &  ended up staring at the stars?  too many. it was peaceful.  it was  EVERYTHING  landon needed.

seeing as it was his last night in the capitol, everyone on the seventh floor was rushing around trying to prepare for the inevitable.   everyone believed they knew what landon needed.  the reality was,   what he needed was peace.  time to process things without a ruckus around him.  the roof was the perfect place for that.   besides,   seeing as how it was the night before the games started, he’d expected it to be vacant.

a familiar silhouette proved him wrong.    he recognised her from the other day,   as she’d walked away from him to collect multiple axes.    nadya.

she might’ve been up here for the same reason as landon,   she he didn’t want to call out her name & disturb her.   instead,   he moved slowly towards her,  using all the stealth that he had.  he felt her small frame near him as he moved beside her.   his voice low,   as if her were wanting to distinguish it from the noise below.

‘ you still owe me a lesson.’ 

[taintedones]

--- CLOSED STARTER   |    @echohuxley

SHE THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A RUMOUR AT FIRST,   peacekeepers raiding the houses of everyone,   including victors.     then she’d seen the white clad men leaving a house in the east part of district three.      zosia was a logical person,    everyone knew that.     despite what her paranoid brain had tried to tell her,     she knew they     p r o b a b l y     weren’t after her.  but  logically,    it was only a matter of time before the capitol came looking for the little toy they’d asked her father to make.   especially if they were in the wake of a rebellion.

that was what she assumed was going on.    the high security levels were an obvious result.  didn’t take a genius to figure that out.   what she couldn’t understand was why they hadn’t raided three’s victors village.  biding their time perhaps,    her brain poked her as she caught the eye of a peacekeeper in the corner of the room.   well,   she thought she’d caught his eye.   who could tell under the helmets ...  trying to look inconspicuous,   she started stepping back.    why was she so on-edge?    she wasn’t afraid of the capitol getting there hands on the tech,    was she?  that would imply she cared about the lives of strangers.  should that be a natural occurrence?

‘ SHIT! ’    she cursed as her back collided with someone's front.    she turned swiftly,    panic settling in her eyes as she caught sight off the mystery guest.   echo.  ‘ didn’t your mama ever tell you not to sneak up on someone!     jeeee-sus,      you almost gave me a heart attack. ’

[taintedones]

        the trap had surprised her,     had she been running through the woods in a panic she would’ve ran straight into it.      it was small,    camouflaged well with the forest floor.    her eagle-eyes simply noticed a different shade of branch.     which said a lot about her if her main focus in the hunger games was the colour of the floor.    she may need a lesson in what was important.    like the fact that her ally was    (   as far as she was aware  )   facing off with a career.     though in that case,     what was important for vida was getting the    fuck   out of there so she didn’t become   collateral damage.

she lowered herself to the ground so that she could take a better look at the trap.    she’d been made aware that there were now animals in the arena earlier that day   &   though jules had done a very brief demonstration of how to set up a deadfall trap in training,     vida couldn’t set one up herself.    what she could do however,    was trigger one.     using another branch she activated the trap,     her eyes widened as it snapped hold of it.    ‘ IMPRESSIVE. ’        |       @hudstark

[taintedones]

closed starter for @judeproulx​

THERE WAS A LOUD THUD.    perhaps no one else had heard it,    perhaps no one else cared. the training centre was busy.   tributes,   mentors  & trainers alike were gathered around making the most of the time they had.   the  ruckus  of noise made one thud sound irrelevant.  however landon was quick to react.  he’d been standing by the navigation station listening to a trainer talk about tracking down water.  that was what he was supposed to do according to lark.  then he’d seen the boy take a tumble from the ropes course. he held up his index finger to signal to the trainer to wait a moment  & immediately headed off in the direction of the male.   

he didn’t recognise him from afar.    it didn’t look like a career --- even if it was he’d probably still lend a hand   (  he was too nice for his own good. )   all he knew was that he hadn’t met him yet.  approaching the male he towered above him,   concern on his face as he held out his hand so that he could use it to get up. 

there was concern in his voice that signalled that he genuinely cared as he spoke,  ‘ are you okay? ’    that was a stupid question. 

[taintedones]

closed starter  |   @glitterrosseau

‘ DID YOU THINK I WOULDN’T FIND OUT? ’    rubin tried to hide the excitement in his voice as he crept into the room,    heels pressed into the carpet with excitement as  he almost bit through his lip trying to keep a straight face.   glitter was a good friend --- neigh,  a great friend.  rubin took a real interest in her personal life.    almost as if it was a romantic tv show.  so of course,   when he heard the rumours,    he exploded.      

finally,   he let his smile shine,     ‘ tell me,    were wiresses lips soft?  did they taste of like... i don’t know,   what kind of food do they have in three? ’   his brain wandered off on a tangent as it often did.    he shook himself out of it,     ‘ whatever.   just give me all the JUICY deets.’

[taintedones]

// * CLOSED STARTER  |  @adrianafontaine

THE TRAINING CENTRE WAS DEAD --- actually,   that was probably a poor choice of words considering the hunger games were about to kick off.    thankfully,   zosia hadn’t said it out loud.    she’d been getting better about not doing that over the past six weeks.   as she walked through the room  &  spotted a few fellow trainers she was actually able to bite her tongue when it came to all the things she wanted to say.     that must’ve been a new record.   until she got over to the obstacle course that was.

the flash of red hair nearby told her it was adriana working away.   someone who zosia believed she had a good enough repertoire with to push her luck.    she was about to find out.   she waited to catch her when she slowed down,   then started speaking. 

‘ you’re putting all your weight on your left leg.   tut, tut! ’    she wagged her finger in the air in a teasing gesture,    ‘ even i  know that’ll slow you down --- tell me,   how are the tributes supposed to learn from you if they’re passing you on the course? ’