broken and callow, cautious and safe [open]

OOC: :O Minta... as in the Minta?!

IC: A noise like a sort of swishing-gush came from a foam dummy, but it wasn't really anything impressive. The blonde-haired 4 girl, called Liza, hung around the Careers, and was counted as an ally to them. Mainly because she'd showed good defence and that a male Career tribute had a particular 'liking' to her. Of course, there was little chance of her surviving, but hadn't most of the poor and starving tributes accepted their deaths already? Liza had. Sort of. Well, at long as she stuck with the best, she couldn't fail too badly.

Right?

One of them whispered something to the group as the allies stood together. The Careers split up for a break early. Wasn't like they exactly needed practice now, was it? One of them was going to be the winner, like it or not. Even though she was one of them, it was unlikely that a 14-year old would be so lucky. She perched herself on a wall near the Ether, studying him and other tributes, appearing almost bored.

[align=right][color=white][font=garamond]Silently, a tall blond, willowy blond girl stood at the edge of the room, nearly obscured by the spare dummies piled up in a heap of fake, shiny flesh. She gave a dry, sardonic chuckle as she saw that there were twenty three of the mannequins - each as lifeless as the next.

Just like twenty three of us will be in under two weeks., she thought, her blue eyes becoming steely as she watched the Careers, and the few other Tributes either hanging around with them, or trailing in their wake. A derisive murmur escaped her lips, as she watched them, before the girl lifted her head and scraped her hair back into a long high ponytail and slipped out from her vantage point.

From there, she walked over to the archery range, nodding to the boy who stood there, his fingers evidently in pain. "You okay?", she asked guardedly, her voice - usually light - icy as she observed him, though she gave him a tight smile to soften the harsh words slightly. She would not make friends, or enemies in these remaining two days of training. It would serve no purpose for any of them, after all.

[align=right][color=white][font=garamond]"Good."

That one word was all that slipped from Rebecca's mouth. But if she opened the floodgates, there would be no closing them. She wanted, so badly, to tell this boy…to tell this boy…something. Something., she thought with an internal swipe at herself, 'Real helpful. Synonymous with 'oh, I know a way to get you to stay alive', right.'

The bitterness of the thought sent her reeling back to the present. There was nothing any of them could do, but fight each other now. There would be no going back - not for twenty three of them. She herself, would probably not see her family again. What could you do, at this stage in the game?

A grim set to her jaw became apparent as she reached for a bow, slipping an arrow to the string fairly neatly. She wasn't great at archery - hell, she wasn't great at anything, besides a little woodcarving & the splitting of a few logs - but this was all she had. She lifted the bow, and sent the shot of, wincing as it grazed the side of the target, before flitting off to bury itself in a crash mat nearby.

'Nice.'

Again, she strung the bow, this time aiming a little more to the left, and hitting the target, a slightly offish blow to the right shoulder of the paper man, drooping after impact - showing that it had not penetrated the target well. With a sigh, she aimed, and let loose the last arrow she was going to fire, giving a little nod as the arrow stuck this time, more in the region where it could do some damage. At last, she lowered the bow, and let it drop back onto the stand.

'A girl from seven shooting a boy. Because you can tell that's going to work.'

With this, she looked around, searching for something else she could try to become semi-decent at - enough to keep her alive, at least.

OOC: We missed you Minta! xD

The District four girl turned around at the voice of her ally, perking up a little and returning the gaze with her sea-green eyes. "I think they went to the bow and arrow stand," she said, quietly wondering why the heavily-built Careers, who'd already been trained for this moment in their lives, had decided to go there. In all likelihood, not for practice; most of them had been chucking knives and swords around before they could toddle. Probably just to scare the wits out of everyone. Well, by the looks of that sullen boy that's busy slicing his hand open, it seems to be working.

"I would join 'em if I didn't have crap long-distance aim~" it's why she preferred a knife. Wasn't it better use if you were jumped close-up than an arrow? You could just plunge a knife anywhere and if you hear a squelchy-noise, run and nature'll take care of the wound. By which I mean kill the victim after hours of agony. Stab, stab, stabbity-stab stab~

[align=right][color=white][font=garamond]Finally moving, after a period of seeming like a statue, Rebecca left the archery range, and headed for one of the two places she could possibly be decent at. It was a small section of false trees, with the trainer standing, bored, beside it. Obviously, it wasn't deemed most worthwhile by the other tributes. But it made her smile to see the trees, and to be able to make something useful out of each branch. As survival skills went for her, this was right up there with finding shelter, water and making a fire. She knew what she needed to know for that, so this was just perfect.

Woodcraft was her 'talent' - if it even counted, if she was even good enough at it for it to count as a talent.

With a small, tight smile to the trainer, she ducked in amongst the trees, and began to pick up small branches & vines which she could use to create something. Still, it wasn't just useful for trees. It made her think out side the box, which would be useful, if she was to be dropped in a totally alien environment.

[justify][size=1]To be honest? He'd been training for this day since he'd been old enough to properly know how to wield a weapon, to realise when he was being attacked and not simply engaging in a play wrestle with another person, to know that he needed to survive. He was from district four, the fishing district. A small smile twisted the boy's lips as he observed the other tributes practising their skills. His attention lingered, just for a moment, on the gathered tributes near the archery range, before he looked away again. The girl, Liza, had caught his eye - he'd offered for her to join the Career pack. It might have been interpreted as a weakness, it might not have.

Callum wasn't weak. He knew how to throw his weight around and how to swim well, how to weave nets and simple but tight knots. Unfortunately that wasn't going to get him far enough, unless he mixed his skills with others, but even then he would have to kill them in order to be the best. Sponsors were vital in the Hunger Games, and he just hoped that he had scored a deep enough impression to be guaranteed enough. The other districts had been fairly impressive... He began to move towards the netting area. Hopefully they would have a fairly watery environment - he knew for a fact that it was the only area he would be useful in.

The boy huffed a sigh, attempting one of the finer knots. He wasn't quite as good at the more complicated knots as he was at the simple ones; he preferred to tie a knot that was easy enough for him to undo, but not the enemy, and one that would hold strong nonetheless. There weren't many intricate knots that would allow him to do as such. He was prepared for the Hunger Games, but was it enough?[/size][/justify]

OOC: I can't wait for the next thread <3

IC: She picked up an arrow, but left the arrays of flashy silver bows alone. The spears were too heavy for her, but the arrows weren't. Maybe with some adjustments, it could be a suitable weapon, and anyone with archery ability could be at a downfall. But what adjustments? She shrugged off the idea, finding herself next to Callum at the knot-tying station and whispering, "You know of the other's names? I know there's our pack, but I didn't really listen during the recaps... Anyway, any idea what you're doing for the private sessions?"

[justify][size=1]The boy's eyes flickered up to look at Liza, the girl who he'd offered to let join the Career pack. At her question, he shrugged lightly, his attention going back to weaving a net. "Doesn't really matter if we remember what they look like," was his reply as he insistently tugged at one of the knots that he'd messed up, a frown on his face. Actually, they were from the same district, but it didn't look like she would have joined the Pack without him asking first. They would have to kill each other. They would be killed by each other. Yet they might be the winner. Though District One, Two, Three and Four were the most favoured and it was likely that they would get more sponsors, it was tough. He'd been training for his death.

Callum's brow furrowed at Liza's next question. "Dunno," he said first, before adding semi-humorously, "I don't suppose there'd be an indoor swimming pool I can show off in." Unfortunately, only weaving nets and just basically swimming were his good points. He could manage a heavy weight, maybe, and handle a trident. Would there be a trident waiting for him, in one of the equipment packs? "What're you gonna do?" Truthfully, he wasn't all that curious, but it might be useful. Looking up, the brown-haired boy considered going to another table. There wasn't anything he could do or learn here, after all. But where? Archery was a lost cause, woodcraft... well. Let's just see.[/size][/justify]

[align=center][font=ariel]Raven-- male tribute from District 2-- Career

He gave a brisk nod to his green-eyed ally after she finished speaking, and jogged to the Archery Station. The Career picked up a shining silver bow and one of the arrows that came with it. He positioned the spear-like weapon on his bow, and aimed at the target-covered chest of a black dummy. He let go of the arrow, sending it on a swift flight across the room. For a grand finale, it pierced the dummy's heart area, which made Raven smile in pride.

[align=right][color=white][font=garamond]Rebecca looked up from the object being shaped in her hands as she heard footsteps over the crackling ground of the area. Her stance instantly changed defensively, shielding the half-finished thing in her hands from view, and clenching her jaw slightly, ready for the onslaught of insults if the footsteps belonged to a career, and already formulating sharp replies to the words that would surely come at her.

As she turned, she saw instead, that it was the boy from the archery stand. Ether, if she recalled, from eight. She was good with names & faces. Like that's going to help in the arena. Her jaw relaxed, and she rolled her shoulders back, relieving the tension that had been on them. Her face quickly returned to it's neutral mask as she took in the boy, a small, curt nod being the greeting that she gave him.

As it was one of the smaller stations, she moved over from the patch she had been on, to allow the boy some space where they wouldn't be brushing shoulders. She didn't particularly want that, and by the looks of things, he didn't either. She scooped up what she had been making, and returned to it in her new place, using a short serrated knife to cut, slice & bind the pieces of wood & vines together.

"Like you said, doesnt matter unless they remember us. Maybe poison the head Gamemaker's food early and pretend looks can kill," Liza smiled, probably the first since the opening night. "Still, let's hope they have a lake for us. With fish and everything. I don't wanna hang round the Cornucopia too long, there might be some sly ones hiding. Good thing we got Raven, though, who seems to be good with that bow.... Ugh. I'm rambling again."

[align=right][color=white][font=garamond]Rebecca's hands moved busily over the object in her hands, tying quick tight knots here, and making notches to help fit the pieces together. She looked up, startled, as Ether spoke, her eyebrows raised, and her eyes wide. She blinked a few times, unclenching the hand which had curled around her little project as she saw no deceit in the boy's eyes.

It still might be there, though, he might just be a good actor, was her snide conscious note to her own darting thoughts.

In reply, Rebecca gave a little self-depricating shake of her head, accompanied by a small, almost imperceptible sigh. "Probably because it's the only thing I know how to do.", she said, her mouth quirking up at one corner as she spoke.

The words hung there in silence for a moment, before she spoke again, "Do you know what you're going to make?", she asked, gesturing the the components to build in his hands, but not yet any indication of what was to be built within them. Almost subconsciously, she started to fiddle with her own creation as she waited for a reply.