#pre arena

[callistomeadowforge]

@linkcache

That was Link Cache. Calli recognised the victor from District 3 just as well as she did any other. It had been 5 years since the 124th, during which Calli had admittedly rooted for Hades, but Link's victory had inspired her all the same. Link's story especially heartened her, because of course it did. The tribute who had volunteered for her sibling got to win and got to go home. Calli thought it a beautiful ending.

She was a little nervous, but that hadn't stopped her before, so why should it stop her this time? Maybe Link would appreciate the company. There wasn't anyone else sitting at her table. "Hi! Is this seat taken?" Calli asked, both to be polite and to make sure that she wasn't bothering Link or interrupting anything. She would not set her tray down unless Link gave her the go-ahead.

[callistomeadowforge]

@slate-skylar

Surely nobody could blame her for being curious about him. He stood out among the other tributes that had arrived in the tower, if only because he was all everyone talked about. Meta something, or Slate something, who also happened to be someone Cress had been seeing, apparently. It didn't make sense to Calli, but she supposed it didn't have to. After all, she hardly knew who her sister was. It had been a long while since the last time she'd felt like she did.

"Slate, right? I'm Calli," the introduction tumbled out of her in a rush, but her smile was warm and bright as ever. "Just thought I'd say hi. I know you've been in the building before," she gestured around the expansive lobby, "so tell me; what's your favourite feature here? What should I spend my first day on?"

[callistomeadowforge]

@cress-meadowforge

Her fingers wrung together as her legs carried her towards the compartment her sister was in. Calli knew she was in trouble, so much trouble, and she wasn't even thinking about the arena yet. At this point, there was a good chance she wouldn't even get to see the arena. One of her sisters might very well kill her before launch.

But she knew she had to face Cress sooner or later, so she did, despite every jittery nerve in her body telling her to turn around and leave. Maybe, just maybe, by some miracle, they could find a way to move past this. "Are you mad?" Calli started with the obvious, already knowing the answer.

[callistomeadowforge]

@smithbrick

There did not seem to be very many things for the tributes to do in the evenings. Perhaps strategising with the mentors over dessert might be smart, but it did not particularly appeal to River tonight--not that it had any night so far. If she were to be completely honest, she might say she found it all a little frightening, but of course she wasn't. Not that it mattered. Nobody was paying her that much attention anyway.

The rooftop was her choice of escape this time. When a gust of wind blew a fallen leaf over the railing, a childish idea struck her. River extracted several of the bills of money she had left in her pocket, and one by one, began to release them from between pinched fingers, letting the wind take them. It took no time at all to get rid of an amount that could've fed her and Perry for an entire month back home, if she could have just brought it home. She couldn't, though. She might never go back home.

Before her thoughts could wander further, the sound of footsteps pulled her back into the present. Her head whipped around, eyes narrowing to make out who had joined her in the semi-dark.

[callistomeadowforge]

@masonxxbrick

The throwing stars were apparently complex weapons to master. Because of that, the trainer manning the station did not recommend them for "tributes with no prior projectile-weapon experience" such as River. As if those with that kind of experience were the norm. Still, they looked kind of cool, and River found herself fixating on one of them, flipping it over and over in her hand. When she looked up again, she caught sight a familiar figure standing nearby; Mason. "Hey!" She held out her hand, showing him the throwing star. "They teach you how to throw these things at your murder school?" Since the trainer was reluctant to show her how the weapon worked, surely a career tribute could.

[callistomeadowforge]

@prairiefirequartz

"What's the strangest, most fucked up thing you've seen here so far? Something you don't have back home." Not that River had any idea who this girl was or where she came from. She was just one in a long list of people at the tower to whom River had gone up and asked random, generally inconsequential questions. She told herself that it was some sort of strategy, a means to gather information, but if she was being honest, she was mostly just doing her best to ground herself.

[callistomeadowforge]

@alder-reid

They hadn't spoken much, but Alder Reid was not entirely a stranger to her. Though if she was any good at what she did, which she was, he had to think he'd never seen her before the reaping. After all, he was only familiar to her because she had picked his pocket a couple times back home. Maybe more than a couple times. Surely no one was keeping count.

Of course, she'd never once thought that one day she would find herself eating a very fancy breakfast omelette with the victor. "How come you haven't told me what to do yet?" River opened without preamble, though it was more a question rather than a demand. "Or, like, offered any advice? I think Harlow said it's what you two are supposed to do."

[callistomeadowforge]

@augiementation

River was a girl of many talents. Well, not that many, actually. But her eyes were certainly her best assets, because they were trained--to detect motion, to spot opportunity, and to discern valuable things. So when she was met with this girl at the lobby, the gold necklace with the pearl pendants immediately caught her attention. "That's really pretty," River pointed out. Any other circumstances, she would already be thinking of ways to swipe it, but what good would that do her now? "Are you rich? Wait, are you a career?"