The Tribute on Fire discussion

”Here is where you will train for the next few days. Most will want to head straight for the weapons, but I advise you to visit some of the other stations first. Many tributes die from lack of food or proper shelter.”

The training center is where you will form alliances, enemies and develop your tribute’s talents before the games begin. Inside, you will find a variety of stations which include…
-Knives
-Spears
-Swords
-Axes
-Hand-to-Hand
-Plant Knowledge
-Fire Building
-Knot Tying
-Climbing Wall
-Agility Course

Remember, the training center is only open until the arena begins. Once the arena opens, the training center shuts down. Make sure you are active to get the most out of the training center.

Sage Romulus walks through the huge glass doors, intimidated by their size and the Game Makers sitting right above her. The amazingly big room is empty, except for the exception of weapons and training stations. She is here first...

Malencia pushed the glass doors open, smiling at how early she was. Yes, there was one other person in the room, but she would have to accept that and move on. She pushed her glasses up so they rested on the very bridge of her nose. Breaking in to a run, she made her way towards the simulation chambers immediately. Her hands ran over the control panel, searching for any sign of a screw. There was nothing, nothing, nothing... There! Her finger fell into the tiny hole the screw was in. She memorized the placement, running over to get a knife from the weapons stand. Her eyes traced the long, thin blade, making mental calculations as she went. It would fit. She twirled the knife in her hand, walking back to the control panel. she would have to do it quickly, but she knew she could do it without getting caught. She stuck the knife into the screw, twisting it as if it were a screwdriver. The screw fell out, revealing a mess of wires beneath it. It was a lot like the panels she was used to in three. With a smile, she switched the red and blue wires before screwing the panel shut again. This time, when she tapped the screen, a light display showed up instead of what used to be a difficulty selection screen. She tapped several command buttons, and what used to be a simulation room lit up with a bunch of bright colors, which spread across the room. A few more swipes and taps, and the lights were flashing in a pattern that kept repeating itself over and over. Cia quickly stepped away from the panel and moved over to the fire building station, pretending she hadn't noticed what had happened.

Riva walked noiselessly into the training centre, looking over all the stations. She flinched almost imperceptibly as her eyes travelled over the spears. A muscular girl, screaming in rage as she hurled the spear, crowing as it found its mark. The life bleeding out of a sobbing girl. Riva forced own the memory and turned away, her gaze then being drawn to the simulation station. She stepped inside, tilting her head up to look at the flashing colours. Green, red, orange, red, purple, purple, white, green, red, orange, red, purple... Was it meant to do this? Riva looked towards the innocent looking girl at the next station.
Riva turned and left the station, wondering what she should do.

Mihr walks through the glass doors as she looks to where the GameMakers would be sitting. To the right. Oops. Wrong side. So she knew then to try to stick to the weaponry stations- she would know then that they could see her all the better, as she was not one to be ignored. Around her were three other female tributes- she recognized none. The simulator controls were shining and blinking on and off like bright fireworks and then there was the innocent seeming girl standing the next station over. Mihr walked over to the weapons, which happened to be next to the fire station. She settled with the throwing knives- hurtling one towards the heart of a dummy. It wasn't as though she could make a target go up in lights.

Riva watched the other girl walk confidently over to the knives. She tried not to watch as she threw the weapon, with obvious ease. Would the girl throw so surely if that dummy was a person? Riva knew much better than to suppose not. What should she do now? Riva went to a safe enough looking station: Knot tying. Sitting down, she picked up a piece of rope, not tying any knots, just looking around at the other tributes.

Sage sprints over to the fir making station and flops over next to Malenica. Other tributes are probably shocked by this; Careers are NOT supposed to hang out with District 3 tributes, that's scandalous! But Sage kept sitting there and soon asked for help from the mysterious red-head sitting next to her.

"Can I help you?" Cia asked, turning to face the tribute who had flipped down by her. She was muscular, well-fed, a career most definitely. However, she didn't appear to want to mock and make fun of her yet. Instead, she seemed like she was almost, dare she say, nice. It was worth a shot. Cia turned back to the fire she was about to make. She placed the firewood on the ground and grabbed a sharp stick, moving her hands up and down, twirling it back and forth. In only a minute or two, a sparks flew to the firewood and caught it on fire.

"Oh..." Sage sighs. Know she knows how to make a fire! That's the only thing she wasn't taught in District 2, how to make fire. She thanks this girl with a nod of her head and then asks the girl her name.

"I'm Cia. District Three," she said. "You are?" She looked the girl up and down again, almost as if sizing her up for a fight. But anyone who truly knew Cia would know that she was studying the girl more closely, looking for prior injuries, defects, anything of the sort. Her eyes flicked back up to the girl's face, looking at her eyes. Someone's eyes could tell you a lot about a person, their past experiences, social patterns, anything. She returned her gaze to the fire, remembering which plants would make it smoke and which plants would add to it.

"I am Sage. What did you do to that simulation station?" She whispers. Sage then smiles fiercely at the Game Makers, acknowledging their presence.

Cia allowed the tiniest of smiles to creep onto her face at the question. "What do you mean?" she asked innocently. She added a bit more force into her next words. "I didn't do anything." She stood up, feeling warm from the fire. She stepped over the bench she had been sitting on and stomped out the fire. Cia gave Sage a smile before she walked off towards the agility course, setting it up for a single player race. She stepped onto the plate, smiling as the countdown started.
3...
2...
1...
Cia was off in a flash, darting into the course. Her small size helped er get under obstacles quicker, and her coordination and agility helped her expertly maneuver through slaloms and around obstacles. Her heart pounding, she pushed herself to go even faster in the last stretch, but reserved her top speed for the arena and sessions. She crossed the finish line in an impressive 39.65 seconds. She smiled at her time before hopping off the platform and jogging towards the knot-tying station.

Sage was shocked that someone from District 3 could do that. Could be nice to her and then hurt her like that. She thought only Careers did that. She mumbled, "Better not start an alliance with her....". Sage goes over to the Agility course and sprints, her quickness helping her. On the clock her score come out as: 38.1 seconds.

Mihr had been about to talk to the girl who had made her way over to the knives as well first thing but she moved to sit down and spin around just as quickly. It was then that she noticed a tribute just looking at her and then going to the knot tying station. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she walked over to the same station as her, first just giving her a quick look over.

Riva watched the knife thrower arrive. She had noticed her looking. She saw that the girl seemed to be looking her over, and did the same. About the same size as herself. Thin, too, but in a way that was more from strength than starvation. Pretty in a fair, delicate yet self-assured way. Probably from an upper district. Riva turned away, not wanting to stare too long. What was she here for?
Riva realised she ought to look like she was at least trying to do something, and started fiddling with the rope in her hand, making patterns that looked somewhat like knots.

The girl had a dark skin color and equally a dark slightly frizzed up hair but carried a bit of an unsure attitude along with her. "You aren't bad at that." Mihr said. She decided it would be the easiest way to 'get to know' other tributes- pointing out stuff on their skills as her mentor had told her. And it wasn't even a lie, the patterns the girl was making were- didn't just look like- decent knots. It was a pretty decent Reef Knot that in four would be used for fishing nets- not that the girl would know that but anyways.

Riva just about stopped herself snorting in disbelief. Really? The knot she had invented would hardly be any use, she thought. This person was probably desperate for allies or something. Or just wanted to make conversation. Riva smiled, but without meaning. "You think? You weren't so bad at that yourself." She nodded towards the knife station, not quite disgust, but disdain in her words. She wasn't going to disguise her feelings on practising killing people.

((Is there anyone free to role-play with Ash?))

Walking into the training room like he owned the place, Ash's loud footsteps marked his appearance. Girls. All girls, everywhere. He snorted slightly and as his eyes set on the perfectly-made bow at the archery station and the slim arrows, his snort turned into an awed gasp. How much he wanted to hold one, to lay hands on one. He kept walking with his chest out slightly, his defined muscles bulging against the top's material. A small sigh left his lips as his hands ran along the bow's perfect structure. "Bullseye," Ash muttered, notching an arrow into the correct position, pulling the string back and aiming for the middle. He let his fingers spring open and the arrow pierced the target's middle. "Bullseye."

ρєω ρєω • ι'м α вυɴɴy • wrote: "squiggle1812 wrote: "Riva watched the knife thrower arrive. She had noticed her looking. She saw that the girl seemed to be looking her over, and did the same. About the same size as herself. Thin,..."

((No, about Mihr, who had come up to her. :)))

((Mel, have Ash come over and join the girls))

Aʟɪʏᴀ wrote: "((Mel, have Ash come over and join the girls))"

((Okay!))

A group of bickering girls soon caught Ash's attention and as much as he didn't want to leave the bow and arrows, he made his feet move himself over to the knot station. He picked up a length of rope and silently began to make knots, not really paying attention to what silly thing they were arguing about. Or whatever they were speaking about. He didn't even know if they were arguing.

squiggle1812 wrote: "Riva just about stopped herself snorting in disbelief. Really? The knot she had invented would hardly be any use, she thought. This person was probably desperate for allies or something. Or just wa..."

Mihr noticed the girl's smile of disdain- not everyone was a fan of aiming at dummies and such- but chose to simply ignore it. She shrugs at the half compliment half something else, "Practice." Was the only word she offered in a way of meaning. "You didn't seem to enjoy my knife throwing over there- you're not big on the whole idea of killing people, huh?"

((How do you pronounce "Mihr"?))

Not big on the idea of killing people? Riva thought that anyone who was was despicable. She wasn't about to draw attention to herself by arguing about this. And maybe Riva was being unreasonable, anyway. There were some people who hoped to get out of these games, who only killed to survive. Riva would always have rather died than kill someone, though. That was why she was here. She had as good as killed her sister, and had realised that she couldn't live with it. She shook her head to clear the memories, and as a weak sort of response. Her attention was brought to the boy who had joined them. It was her district partner, Ash, the tall one with drawings covering his arms. Those ink drawings the Capitol people had, tattoos, Riva now remembered. Exactly where Ash had got them, she had no idea. "Ash." Riva obviously diverted the conversation from killing, wanting to talk about something else.

((Sorry Sora! I'll bring Ash over after he's spoken to the girls, or bring Linadel over to them?))

A fake smile he had mastered years ago landed on Ash's face. No-one knew it was fake. Not even his family. "Why, hello! So lovely to be speaking with my fellow tributes, which I know will soon be dead in less than seventy-two hours." He narrowed his eyes in a threatening way, glaring at the two girls individually. He tied several more knots then placed his rope down, bored with the weapon, which isn't a weapon, more of a piece of material. His district partner was such a bore. She liked to drone. On. And on. And on. She droned until anyone would listen! Not that it was a bad thing for her. It was good for him. She would be speaking for so long she wouldn't notice that he had slit her throat with her knife. The joys.

((Aha. Perfect! :D Okay, I'll wait for them to have a few conversations.))

Hmm. Maybe a conversation with Ash wouldn't be better than talking with the knife thrower. What was his aim? He had come over here, but he didn't seem very pleased about being addressed. In fact, he was glaring at her and knife-thrower viciously. Not sure what she had done wrong, and definitely not sure what knife-thrower had done to offend him, Riva looked down at her "knot". "Soon be dead in less than seventy two hours." He didn't even make sense. Probably trying to scare them. "Good to see you. Nobody asked you to come here; you don't need to act like anybody's challenging you," Riva told Ash, no venom or sarcasm in her soft voice. She was going to die anyway, she might as well do all the good she could. That started with Ash, and working out what he wanted.

Ash rolled his eyes. "Of course not, dimwit. I came of my own accord. I thought I would check in on my district partner and make sure she's behaving." He linked a tattooed arm around Riva's neck, placing a fist on the top of her head and lightly moving it side to side, as a sort of headlock but not quite as painful, more playful. He didn't intend it to be playful. Letting go, Ash looked at Riva's knot. Pathetic.

Riva didn't react to Ash trying to irritate her. She didn't seem to be getting her point across, which was that there was no need for him to look so threatening, like someone dragged him here and was forcing him to speak. As if he didn't come here to speak to them. Riva didn't get him. Anyway, talking to her district partner wasn't going so well. She watched as a Peacekeeper took a half step forward, then stepped back as Ash let go of her. She saw him surveying her rope, and picked it up again, thinking he was wondering why she wasn't making proper knots. Yes, Ash was trying to scare her. And get on her nerves. So she shouldn't let him. Riva calmly started to tie knots in her rope, so that it became more of a ball.

Mel wrote: "((How do you pronounce "Mihr"?))"

((Um...I think 'Meer'...why?))

Cia watched the threesome of tributes from only a yard or two away. She stepped forward to grab a piece of rope before stepping back and going around to the other side of the bench. It was then that she sat down and began to fiddle with the rope. Her fingers ran across it's surface, her mind whirring with every knot she had read about in books before. Finally, she decided on a deceptively hard noose. Her mind displayed the steps, and her fingers went about following them. When she had finished, she had a virtually undoable noose with plenty of room for a human neck. She held her work up, examining it for potential flaws in design or craftsmanship.

Sage walks over to the knife station. She picks the sharpest dagger available at throws it at the board, it hits an eyeball. Looking back up at the Game Makers, she seems them acknowledge your skill. After getting their attention she runs over to the camoflauge station. She smears 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 on her arms, almost like a tattoo. Then she crosses out all of the numbers but 2. Sage picks up another knife and circles "2", blood circling the number. She holds that number up to the other tributes, proud, hoping they understand it's meaning.

Sage watches as the girl, the slightly odd one with dyed hair, who she vaguely remembered as being the famed pianist, easily catching the Game Makers attention. Sage had always disliked the instrument, feeling that it was petty, and almost as if that made the girl petty. Sage believes that the Game Maker's easily captured attention was unfair. Unjust. How the girl could easily communicate with them because she was adored. She stares at the girl, "piercing" her with her eyes, seeing inside the girl. While doing this, she realizes that the girl is unconfident but very outgoing, which Sage is jealous of.

((Just wondered. And squiggle, Ash never took hold of her?))

Ash watched as he saw an expression of discomfort slightly spread across Riva's face. He looked over at another girl he hadn't spoken to yet and noted that she wasn't scared at all. This pleased him. Ash leaned forward slightly, pressing his palms flat against the table, the letters M I S C placed on his fingers, each one individually of his right hand, on the other, the letters H I E F were visible. Ash was two years older than his district partner, and obviously liked to speak more. He looked inquisitively at the silent girl and said, "You don't talk much, do you?"

((Oh right I just meant he put his arm around her and fist on head or something and the Peacekeepers might have seen it as threatening. Did he talk to Mihr or Riva just then?))

((Oh yeah, sorry, I'm not thinking. Mihr. Either. I want to roleplay. It was intended to Mihr but Riva can speak too?))

((Um I won't be able to rp until the evening so we can say it was Mihr if she answers before?))

((Alright! c: I can't be on from 2:00pm GMT xD ))

((Guys, I'll post in a minute but won't be on for most of the afternoon))

Mihr shrugged. "You could say that, I guess." In truth, she wasn't quiet at all, but she just hadn't gotten a good chance where she could actually say something that fit the conversation. "And you talk a lot." She said, purely out of observation. If he took offense- and she didn't see why he would- then...it really sucked to be her.

Malencia set her knot down on the table and propped her chin up with her hands, watching the tributes across from her. They were an odd mix, a tribute from what must have been four, and district partners from... nine? Ten? She wasn't sure, but they obviously weren't careers. She remembered that the girl had been throwing knives earlier, and she also remembered that she was pretty good. Well, she must have been, seeing how the knives on the dummies were thrown well. She took note of how the boy seemed to like intimidation. Cia smiled at that. If he tried to get under her skin, she wouldn't allow it to happen. Instead, she would fire it right back at him.

((Can I have Cia jump in on their conversation since she's sitting right behind them?))

((Yup, she could join the conversation.))

((Do you want me to post? Or do you want to?))

((You post and she can talk to Riva.))

((Okay. But I have to go to school really soon.))

Cia leaned forward and tapped the smallest girl on the shoulder, noticing that the boy had turned his attention to the other girl. She had wanted to jump into their conversation somehow, and this seemed to be the best way. She smiled at her, and waved, hoping to appear as friendly as possible. Not that Cia was very menacing, but you never know exactly what people are like until you meet them.

"Hi," she whispered. "I'm Cia, from District Three. What's your name?" She instinctively pushed her glasses up as she learned back into her seat. She had guessed the girl was from either District Nine or Ten, but which she wasn't sure of. The girl seemed to be about 14 years old, two years younger than Malencia. She was small, but pretty in a very innocent way. It was a refreshing change from the type of girls society raved about. Cia knew she wasn't all that pretty, but she accepted it and focused on her personality instead. It was how she stayed out of most of the drama at school.

Riva turned, just noticing the girl who had arrived, not having really looked at her before. She was pale, with red hair and large glasses, about Riva's age, probably. Riva returned the smile. "I'm Riva, District ten." Cia had made a noose. It looked quite good, not that Riva would really know. "District three. What's it like there? Technology, right? That must be way more interesting than livestock." This girl seemed friendly enough, but Riva was always wary and not quick to judge for the better. Cia did seem genuinely nice, though.

"Well, if you don't like school in my district, you might as well shoot yourself," she said, only half joking. The reality of it was true, though perhaps shooting oneself would be a bit extreme. She remembered all she had learned about District Ten, which really wasn't all that much. They had covered the animals Ten raised more than the district itself. However, Cia did remember that the people of Ten were pretty free, with the exception of the hours required to work on the farm. Unlike at my home. There, all she did was study and do homework. She smiled, in light of her somewhat cruel joke. "Nice to meet you Riva. What's Ten like? We cover it a bit, but not very much."

Sage hunches her back like a turtle hiding, hoping not to be noticed by others and more importantly, the Game Makers. She was angry at herself for bringing attention to herself, that was definitely not her plan. She walks over to the bow and arrow station and pulls it back weakly (on purpose, of course). She holds it for longer than she should've (on purpose) and released. It hit the "tribute's" leg. Smiling to herself, Sage walks away, happy that she made herself "average".

"Depends how much money you have. Lots of animals. Lots of hard work to look after them. Lots of people, sometimes not enough room for them, often not enough food. Sometimes the animals had more to eat than us." Sounded pretty gloomy, Riva thought. "Did you have to work, apart from school? Everyone over 15 worked, younger in Spring and things, in district 10."

"Not really. School's your job until you turn 19, but a lot of the times you get internships at corporate firms and such. That's like having a job, but not getting paid. I have one for the biggest company in Three's control room," she looked around to make sure none of the Gamemakers or Peacekeepers were close enough to hear her. Her voice dropped to lower than a whisper. "Which, by the way, is where I picked up on a lot of things other than codes for that control room. I found the codes for the Captiol's control room... You know, the one that controls all of Panem?" She paused, thinking about whether to tell the girl the truth. Cia decided it would be best if she did not. "Well, I read through it a few times, but not much of it made sense. I learned a few hacks and stuff, but nothing really dangerous," she lied. Malencia had understood every word in that book and had used it to hack into the Capitol's systems many times. It was a lot like the manual she had found on the train and was reading now... But it wasn't the same.