Is it just me or should Medusa Tiofa meet Daenerys Atreides? Even though they are from different generations, I have a feeling it might be the most badass tea party ever.

And... SYOTS! FreeInk is doing one that looks very promising. I mean any writer who invents Rose Windgarden Lulia Flower Blossom is definitely someone to pay attention to.

And of course, Happiness and Hamsters is doing hers! I know I have messaged half of you saying "SUBMIT!SUBMIT!SUBMIT!" but in case I missed you, it looks interesting so check out!

No Sue is ever a late sleeper, so at six o'clock every tribute got up, showered, dressed did some yoga/meditation/whale singing or whatever they do to get in touch with their inner Sue, I really don't want to know and were promptly down for breakfast by seven, fresh-faced and dewy-eyed as if 23 were not about to meet their deaths in the space of a few short weeks.

Atala looked around the gymnasium, and sighed. Really, why would the Sues need supervising? They wouldn't try to break out or anything. They all believed they would win anyway, none of them would misbehave. Really, she thought. She was superfluous. She didn't want to be here this year, she wanted to stay at home and eat pizza instead. Everything would all be much better when the Games were all over. Only one Sue left, and then back to business the next year.

She surveyed the tributes before her, guessing heights, scanning postures and judging muscles. As expected, all pretty much fit and healthy, almost of all them with the kind of expression that proved they knew what they wanted to do, what they planned.

"In two weeks twenty-three of you will be dead, and I can't say I'll be crying much when you do. One of you will be alive, who that is depends on how well you listen over the next four days, especially to what I am about to say. First off, no fighting with other tributes, though my guess is you won't fight each other anyway even in the arena. My advice is don't ignore the survival skills. Everyone wants to grab a sword but most of you will die of natural causes. Ten percent from infection. Twenty percent from dehydration. Exposure can kill you as easily as a knife. And another thing: everyone here may look like a fairy princess, or a knight in shining armour, but don't bank on them maintaining fairy princess ethics in the arena. Don't make their good will the only thing that keeps you alive. You have been warned."

And with that, she stepped to the buffet at the side of the room and dug into some pizza.


"So where do you want to go first?"

The moment those words had come out of Lindley's mouth, Saffy's eyes light up as they roved over shelves of axes. Her hands itched to hold them, to feel them fly from her hands- but no. The "Johanna Mason" strategy (because almost every tribute's strategy in this Hunger Games is a complete rip-off of another Games) did not permit any display of physical talent.

"Can we, like, do something easy?" she said in a jittery nervous whine that sounded like a combination of "I'm really anxious and unsure of myself" and "I need the toilet."

"OK then... there's the fire starting station? Want to go there?"

"OK then." She shuffled off with him and cast an envious glance at the tributes making their way over to the axe station.

Just you wait. In the arena I'm going straight for the axes.


Diamond curled her fingers around a fine silver bow, elegantly raised it and notched an arrow onto the string cutely.

Cutely? How can you notch an arrow cutely?

Anyway, after "cutely" notching the arrow she aimed at a dummy 30 paces away and released the string.

Never mind the fact that she had never used a bow and arrow before.

Never mind the fact she had not seen a demonstration/explanation.

Never mind that she hadn't even held a bow before; or the fact that it requires serious talent to be able to hit something that far away. (The sharpshooter Annie Oakley could hit the thin edge of a playing card with a bullet from 30 paces).

Besides all that inconvinient boring old stuff called FACTUAL INFORMATION and BEING REALISTIC, Diamond gave a satisfied sigh as the arrow skewered the dummy through the heart.

She turned to Lady Rihanna, would have been watching her "to see if she was Career material" (the cheek!) and smiled.

"Don't worry," she said kindly. "It's easy when you know how. I'm sure you'll pick it up real quick."

To her, it was a friendly reassurance. To Lady Rihanna, it was a patronising insult of the worst kind.

Wearing an expression which I think many of you are wearing now (ie. totally unimpressed), Rihanna strode confidently over to the murdered dummy, completely ignoring all warnings from Atala that she was in the firing range.

She pulled the dummy up off the ground and trapped it in a headlock, while with one hand she pulled off both of her gloves.

Diamond's gasp turned all eyes in the gymnasium on Rihanna.

The word nails is a puny, insignificant word compared with the monstrosities that hang off of Rihanna's fingernails. They were four times as long as any other tribute's, polished to a sheen and filed to a point that could only be compared with the arrowhead that hung limply at Diamond's side. They did not chip, or tear, or bend like normal nails. For these were nails, they were more like talons.

At this point I admit to being completely OOC with Lady Rihanna. nb1998 said quite clearly in the tribute form: "she has extremely long nails which she could claw people's faces with" and I have exaggerated it. Quite a lot.

Rihanna flexed her fingers, and using her nails, dug the arrow out of the dummy using only one finger. She then clawed at the dummy's chest, her fingers making long grooves, and ripped out a lump of dummy-flesh the size of her hand. She pointed at Diamond's shocked face and laughed out loud, twirling the arrow around and around in her fingers.

Diamond looked down at her recently nibbled nails, painted pearly pink and so short they were pathetically harmless. She gulped.

Katrue looked her district partner up and down and began to take the short mad girl a little more seriously. She decided that this was not a partner, but a rival.

Not that she would ever say that.

Seeking a distraction, she turned to face Dawn thingy thingy mabob something something René, who was hanging off a climbing rope upside down and simultaneously throwing knives at targets blindfold.

"Hey, Dawn, want to join the Careers?"

Dawn paused mid-throw, and the cogs turned in her strategic mind. Joining meant: a) more supplies b) protection in the bloodbath c) potentially more sponsors d) protection from other tributes in general- and you know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer...

"Sure." She shrugged and went back to knife chucking.


Thud!

The clashing sound of axe on dummy head brought Pollyanna out of her reverie. She jumped; and the complicated rope-and-wood snare she was working on clattered to the ground. Her eyes widened as Tallyu sent a second axe hurtling into the chest of another dummy. So that was why she had volunteered...

"Hey" Polly looked around to see Chase Marlow smiling his easy-going smile-

Whoa whoa. Wait a second. I don't care if I just ended that bit mid-sentence. How can you smile an easy-going smile? A smile can't go anywhere, can it? It doesn't exactly pack up its bags and waltz off your face does it?

Anyway. Back to this non-story.

So, Chase was smiling his - smile and holding the fallen snare in his arms. He sat down beside her and instinctively untangled and retied her snare.

"Here," he pointed to a sheet bend knot he had tied at the corner. "Now you can trap them in two ways, see?"

"Thanks."

"Sooo... want to be allies?" he said casually, in the same kind of voice as if he were asking her out for dinner.

She blushed. Of course she did. "I'm flattered, really." she stammered. "But I'm already in an alliance with Diamond."

"The girl from District One? The friendly one?"

"That's her."

He shrugged. "Fair enough. She must be getting all the good rope skills are impressive."

Oh dear. It's bad enough writing Sues. When they start flirting they are insufferable.

"Thanks." And like that, he was gone.


Okaay... Alliances so far:

The Careers: Katrue (leader)/Rihanna/Dawn,

Diamond/Pollyanna, Saffron/Lindley, Arbella (loner), Tallyu (loner)