Raja Ali, 18
District One Female
Picking Barracuda to be the leader of the career pack was the most obvious decision Raja could have made. But Raja didn't simply judge based on appearances. In order to find out which of the careers was the most suitable leader, she invited each of them to a game. A game of chess. It was absurd how every single one of them played completely differently. They all had different strategies, some not even having one at all.
Many people would say that her approach is rather unconventional and she'd be the first to tell you otherwise. Chess is about understanding your situation, thinking ahead, making the best decision for your whole team, making sacrifices only when necessary. A good, proper leader needs to be able to accomplish these tasks
She began with Goud. She had played against him before but there was always room for growth. Sadly, in his case, there wasn't. He acted selfishly, moved all his pieces for the sole purpose of protecting his most prized piece. If Goud wasn't even willing to learn from their first match although having been devastated after the loss he surely won't be flexible when it comes to hearing the others out.
Then there was Dimitris. Dimitris who so heavily tried to pretend as if he knew what he was doing. By far, he was the easiest to beat. There was no real strategy that went into any of his moves. Sometimes he'd rest his chin on the base of his thumb to make it seem like he was entranced in his thoughts and it could have passed as believable had he not almost every time lost another one of his pieces right after. Not one time did Dimitris stop the game and admit that he doesn't actually know how to play. He was putting up a facade, he was being stubborn. Some people would call it perseverance but Raja calls it foolishness.
Zo was an interesting case. She seemed to be observing Raja. She cowered at first but the more pieces moved across the board the more Raja started understanding her tactic. When Raja captured the girl's pawn with a knight, Zo would capture one of Raja's pawns using her bishop. When Raja retreated to play a more defensive game so did Zo. She mimicked her every move. A leader is no leader if they have to rely on other people's strategies.
Finally, there was Barracuda. By no means did Barracuda play an excellent game. By far. In fact, he'd never be able to join her chess club in One. He wouldn't make it past the try-outs. However, out of everyone she played against he was the most… average. That would be the word she'd use to describe the District Four boy. Terribly average. He made a few good moves and a few bad ones. He adapted his strategy when things didn't go according to his plan, sometimes he even managed to figure out part of the plan that Raja was crafting in her head. Of course, she had about five different back-up plans but he showed adaptability, perseverance, willingness to learn, and a hint of strategic prowess. He was, by all means, fine.
'Do you now understand why I pushed for everyone to pick him?' Raja places her hands together, head held high. Nastya ties her pure blonde hair into a ponytail. She cocks her head from side to side, cracking her bones causing Raja to cringe a little.
'No, I understand but,' Nastya begins. Her face is so delicate. She looks like she belongs in a majestic castle that towers above all the rest of the civilians with her in the center, looking down on all of them. And yet when Raja stares into her eyes all she can see is an icy reflection. There's no real life in them. There's only one question that rages to reveal itself and Raja wants to find out sooner rather than later. 'You never played against me…' a slight smile appears on her porcelain face.
'I know.' Raja puts one of her legs over the other. 'But I also know that you are far superior than the rest of those baboons. I don't need chess to prove that to me. I've seen it in your analytical eyes, I've seen it in your carefully picked out words, I've seen it in the vulnerability you're trying to hide from everyone else.'
Nastya flinches a little, a hint of innocent rosiness taking over her cheeks. 'And, If I may ask, why was I not your choice?'
Raja smiles a little cockily. 'Because I want you all to myself, that's why.' Nastya still has a puzzled expression on her face which fades away quickly when the pieces begin to click in her mind.
'I see. So you're proposing an alliance of some sort between the two of us.'
'That's exactly what I'm suggesting. Barracuda is a decoy. He's a dog. His ego needs to be fed from time to time and I'll gladly extend my palm for him to eat from.'
Nastya takes a seat next to Raja on the bench. 'But you'll be the one pulling the strings.'
Raja shakes her head. 'No. We will be the ones pulling the strings.' Raja knew from the beginning when she watched the reapings in the train next to Goud that she wanted to have Nastya as her number one. And as long as it seems like she and Barracuda are a tight pair and no one suspects that she's got another accomplice in the mix then everything's fine.
'Then I have a question to ask you.' Nastya's expression turns serious. 'What do you think of the outlier situation?' Of course, Raja has noticed the little duo of outliers that managed to sneak its way into the pack. They are an error in her data, something that shouldn't be there. A pest. But she can't panic. Perhaps the old her would have left scratch marks on her arms from all the stress but Raja's learned to stay calm when things don't go her way. Physically at least. Deep down, of course, she's panicking because it would be foolish to get too comfortable with Colin and Pamela dangling their shadowy daggers above her.
'We have to remain calm about it.'
'They shouldn't be in the pack. They're intruders.' Nastya coils her fists in frustration.
'I know, I know. And to make it worse look at them now.' Raja's head twitches to her right. Nastya turns her head very carefully so as not to attract too much attention. Pamela and Colin are standing together near the brawling ring, laughing. But it's not the two of them that are worrying Raja. It's the third member of their little rendez-vous.
'What the hell… why is Goud there with them?' Nastya crosses her arms.
'Isn't it obvious, He's still hurt that I undermined him. Men are always so sensitive when it comes to their pride. He's assembling his troops. He was the one who initiated Pamela into the pack, remember?'
'Shouldn't we be more worried, perhaps?'
'We have each other. I have Barracuda in my back pocket. Zo will definitely go with us girls and Dimitris will follow his little crush wherever she goes. When and if it comes down to it we will have the numbers. Goud and his little group of outliers have nothing on us.'
The truth is, Raja's a lot more worried than she's letting on but Nastya doesn't need to know that. If it were true and she is, in fact, sure that she has Barracuda wrapped completely around her finger then everything would be according to plan but more she begins to notice little cracks in their pack. Cracks that might already have been there from the beginning but are starting to become bigger. Whenever she sees Pamela and Barracuda talking one-on-one, she putting her crooked hands on his shoulder playfully her heart freezes for a few seconds.
It's only a matter of time until everything implodes.
Voxel Phong, 13
District Three Female
This was so exciting.
When Voxel peeks up, she notices all the tributes working their butts off at the various stations. Goud teaches Pamela how to use a bow and arrow, Cecilia struggles to free her axe from a target she had previously attacked, Alpha seems to be lecturing Colin about forrest cuisine, and Aditya disappears into one of the private training chambers. And these are just a few of the people Voxel took note of.
Voxel smiles to herself, squeezing one of the many books that swarm her little desk against her chest. It's a strange feeling when you're happy in a situation where you're not supposed to be. She still remembers vividly how her parents drowned in their own tears, hugging and kissing her goodbye before the peacekeepers jolted in. Back then, Voxel was still in shock. She thought it was the end of everything, that she'd never get to live long enough to watch her legs develop into a fairly normal functioning pair.
But the moment she got into the train, expecting to find a cold and gloomy interior, she was greeted by divine magic. A word Voxel would usually never dare to use, especially in front of her parents, but that was the way it felt. The food was strange yet had so many interesting layers to it, the pillows she slept one had superb cushioning, nothing like back home, and everyone treated her with delicate hands and comforting warmth. She really didn't expect all these Capitolites to be so kind. Often times she'd hear her parents call them words like 'little cockalorums' or 'snollygosters'. She didn't know what the words meant but they sounded funny so she wrote them down for her to remember when she's a tad bit older.
On the first day of training they offered her a highly functioning wheelchair with a seat warmer and everything which got Voxel very excited. They escorted her to the laboratory and asked if she needed anything. For some reason when Voxel asked for a cup of hot chocolate they looked perplexed but fulfilled her request nonetheless. The scientists waited patiently for Voxel to finish sipping her warm drink. Voxel drove out of the room with an ability she was extremely happy with. Once they told her it involved materialization and voxelization she didn't need to know more. That was all she wanted to hear from them.
It didn't take long for Voxel to realize that her abilities had limitations. When she tried to summon a pair of headphones it worked. It worked because she knew what they were made of from the time she deconstructed a pair in her parent's office for fun. They were a replica of the ones she owned back in Three so Voxel assumed that her power was also heavily linked to her memory and experience. To test that hypothesis she attempted to create something she was rather unfamiliar with. A crossbow came to mine. She read about them in medieval literature but she'd never actually held one in her hands before. Logically, she failed to materialize the weapon into existence because she lacked knowledge regarding its function.
Voxel was only able to create things so long she understood the logic behind her creations.
So, now, after having politely asked the staff to supply her with a wide arrange of books regarding machinery and weaponry, she's swimming in knowledge. They even led her to a small study chamber away from the noise of the other tribute's so that she could focus a little better. But the little fella who followed her all the way here thinking she didn't notice them was quite the curious one. Perhaps that's why she's so fond of them.
'Morse.' the moment she calls their name, they scatter around the room, causing things to stumble and tumble. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,' she laughs, putting one of her books down. 'Would you like to watch me work? You can come a bit closer if you want.' Morse stays frozen for a few seconds but gives in to temptation, approaching Voxel's desk warily.
They were quite shy. They seemed even more sheltered than Voxel herself which made her even more determined to get to know them.
They don't seem like they'll be the one to make the first step so Voxel shall try and initiate the conversation. Her mom always told her that she was terribly at social cues so Voxel has made it a definite goal of hers to work on that. 'Let me tell you what I'm doing, Morse. It's pretty cool actually.'
Voxel opens one of the books on weaponry and pages through it until reaching her designated goal. She holds the book up for Morse to get a better look. It's an image of a crossbow with little annotations attached to the various structural features of the weapon.
'I'm trying to understand how a crossbow is made so that I can replicate one myself. It's actually very interesting.' Voxel points at a circular structure at the far front of the crossbow. 'This is the stirrup. Stirrups are used to stabilize the bow while you pull the string back.' Voxel's finger drifts to the back. 'This here is the arrow retention spring. When you pull the trigger at the bottom the spring will release the arrow. So then when I-'
Voxel notices Morse's face filling up with boredom. Internally she starts to panic a little. 'O-okay and now since I know how a crossbow is essentially constructed I also know the logic behind it, meaning that I can create one on my own. Watch!' Voxel brings her crafty little hands together and shuts her eyes to rebuild the model in her head. Little pixels begin to form in the palm of her hands until she feels the formation of several solid particles. After a few seconds, Voxel wields a fully functioning crossbow.
But Morse still doesn't look too impressed. In fact, it seems like they're upset, more than anything else. 'Morse, I know what's missing!' Voxel lets a few more pixels cover the weapon in a smooth pink glaze. A little smile appears on Morse's face. 'It's a lot nicer that way, isn't it?' Voxel laughs. 'Oh! You know what else we can add?'
'What?' Morse finally speaks up with genuine excitement in their tone.
'I'll show you.' In an instant a glittery unicorn head, attached to a spring bounces left and right around the area of the scope. Morse covers their mouth with both of their hands.
'Can I hold it?'
'Of course buddy.' She hands them the weapon. 'But take care.' Although they were the same age for some reason Voxel felt like she needed to watch over them like an overly protective mother. Well, then again Voxel's always been different from other girls her age. Some might say more responsible and studious.
It made her feel warm inside, watching Morse with such happiness. Whenever she looks at them she just sees sadness. Sadness that she doesn't quite understand. Sadness that resonates inside Morse's head with pure tranquility. Voxel is determined to do whatever she can to make them happier. Even if it's just a little bit.
'We're going to get through this together.' Voxel's thoughts take over her mouth. That has happened more times than she can keep count of.
'I hope we will. I… I don't want to die… not like my sister.' And before Voxel had the opportunity to ask them what they meant with that, Morse clings to her awkwardly like a baby chimpanzee. She puts her arms around them and the two stay silent for a while.
'It's going to be alright, Morse. I promise.'
Aditya Fields, 18
District Ten Male
Making things explode got boring after a while. Aditya was excited at first when the scientists bestowed the gift of shameless destruction upon him. He didn't even need to ponder around and speculate as to why this ability was fitting for him. All Aditya needed to do was to point at something and watch it blow up into a thousand smithereens just the way he used to destroy the lives of hopeful virgins back in Ten.
'Shit…' Aditya rests his hands on his knees, sweat dripping down his face and shattering into smaller droplets on the ground beneath him. The smell of smoke and dust particles fills the air of the private training chamber. However, as soon as one of those dummies reinstalls itself Aditya's blood gets pumping again.
'Fuck off!' he shouts grabbing the air that separates him from his target forcefully. The inanimate figure facing him detonates in an instant sending a strong gust of air in Aditya's way. Aditya falls to the ground grabbing the arm with which he initiated the explosion and rolls on the floor in pain. Of course his ability had to have a drawback. Once he reaches his third consecutive explosion the blood soaring through his blood vessels begins to feel like actual acid.
Aditya rests his face against the cool metallic floor. His body is on fire. At least it feels that way. It's not his fault every time those dummies reappear all he can see his Pavlov's disgustingly beautiful face plastered against their blank, motionless heads.
Every time Aditya recalls what happened a few days ago when he woke up in a stranger's bed, unable to recollect any of his memories, he cringes. It was embarrassing. It was shameful. He felt powerless. How dare that boy take away his power. No one takes away Aditya Fields' power. Ever.
'Alright, calm down.' Aditya gives himself a small pep talk, getting to his feet again.
Right now he shouldn't be lingering on the past. He shouldn't dwell on what he can't change. He has to think ahead and prepare himself for the games. He has to figure out how he's going to track down Pavlov in the midst of all the chaos and put a knife in his back - no - shove a sword into that perfect, flat stomach of his and watch the life in his eyes dry out very, very slowly.
Or perhaps he could tie him up against a tree and let the tree explode, sending his innards flying. But that wouldn't be as satisfying as a slow death.
Obviously it wouldn't make him popular among the sponsors but as long as he pretends to be the rich and charming farm boy from Ten he'll conquer their hearts for the first couple of days and receive enough supplies to get him through the remainder of his stay in the arena after he brutally murders Pavlov.
Aditya wipes the sweat away from his face with the back of his hand. He scans his hand on the sensor next to the sliding door. When he steps out he can finally breathe without taking in all the dust from the explosions. His eyes immediately fall on Pavlov. Out of all the twenty-two other tributes here why is Pavlov always the first one he notices in every goddamn room? The only difference is that Pavlov usually spent his time alone but now he's joined by another girl, his District partner if Aditya remembers correctly. The two of them seem to be laughing.
And just like that, another idea pops into Aditya's devious head. Why take several days to hunt him down in the arena if he can just find an easy way of staying in close proximity to him at all times.
'Aditya, what a pleasure!' Pavlov chants as Aditya makes his way towards his suspecting prey. The girl next to him immediately drops her joyous expression, shutting down her emotions like a steel trap.
'The pleasure's all mine. I was wondering if I could borrow you for a second.' Pavlov stares up at him silently. Oh, how he wishes to simply shove Pavlov's face against a wall and bash it over and over again until he's nothing but a bloody mess.
'I mean, you can tell me now. Leven and I are working on a rather tedious task.' Aditya doesn't comprehend what kind of task he's talking about since there's not really anything the two of them could be doing right now but stand against a wall and converse in random banter. But he doesn't bother asking.
'Alright, I was wondering if I could join your alliance?' The boy from Five glances down at Leven who seems to have retreated even further behind Pavlov's back. She doesn't say a word but her eyes speak louder than anything else.
'We'll have to get back to you,' Pavlov says, his eyes still lingering on the untrusting girl. 'But we'll definitely take the proposal into consideration.' he smiles.
It would be so easy to just grab a blade from one of the racks and slit his throat open right now but Aditya needs to contain himself. Patience is key. He'll also have to be patient in the arena and wait a few days before making his move. It's all about waiting for the right moment.
'Understood. I'll see the two of you around.' Aditya raises his hand and winks before strutting away as smoothly as he possibly can. So there's a little bit of a wrench in the plan. That wrench being Leven.
Not only will Aditya have to plan Pavlov's death but he'll also need to get Leven out of the way first. But it'll be worth it when all hell breaks loose.
Mune Silk, 16
District Eight Male
Of course he was invited to Brycen's party. It would be bad on his part if he didn't invite the only mute kid in school. It would have absolutely shattered the perfect image of himself he's been trying to display for years now. So, Mune will take the sincerity of the invitation with a grain of salt.
Being a mute boy does come with its perks. There are always people around to help him when he's in need because no one dares to look the other way, he always gets invited to parties even though he might not be one of the most popular kids at his school, and the teachers tend to go easy on him and bump his grades up a bit. Sadly, however, all of these actions usually come from a place of pity.
All of these perks are tightly bound with the human need to feel good about oneself. It's like giving money to a homeless person which Mune does every chance he gets. Many people do good deeds not because it comes from the graciousness of their heart but because they want to feel like they've made an impact on someone's life or in general to prove to themselves that they are inherently a good person. And Mune is completely aware of his hypocrisy. The main reason why he'll bring food to the homeless is so that he can understand the way others feel when they help him. And, yes, it's an utmost selfish reason. But he has to admit that it's a pretty good feeling.
'Ey, Mune! Sick party, right?' Lamarque, one of the jocks, pats him on the back. Mune scrambles to find his phone to type a message. When he finally pulls the device out of his pocket Lamarque is nowhere to be seen. Of course…
There's a slight high pitched ringing in his ear from the volume of the music. Everyone smells like alcohol but Mune doesn't dare get drunk. No one will be able to get him back home if he's wasted because of the impenetrable speech barrier which is only worsened when he isn't in the right state of mind. Mune doesn't even know why he's here at this party. Perhaps it's just to feel like he's a part of something bigger. It's become a noticeable pattern, even for him. He'll always go to these big events, to these crazy festivals, in the hopes of someone genuinely wanting to spend time with him. And every single time he goes home, feeling worse than he did before.
So many people smile at him. They all wave at him with blissful eyes. And he smiles back the way he always does because that's the only way for him to respond without them losing interest.
Mune takes a seat on the front porch of the house and leans on the side against the railing. The darksome sky, decorated with bright little ornaments is especially pleasant to look at tonight. Mune shuts his eyes and forgets himself for a minute.
It's time to enter Neverland.
'Hilda, why did you have to invite so many people into our alliance?' Mune writes on a piece of paper. He was extremely mad at his District partner. When he finally found another person, a beautiful girl at that, who actually wanted to listen to his stories and spend time with him, he thought he had her all to himself. Mune didn't want other people to join their alliance. He just wanted to be alone with Hilda and leave the rest of the world behind.
'Because it's fun!' She laughs the way she always does. 'The more, the merrier!' Hilda raises her arms in exuberance. Sometimes Mune gets the feeling that she doesn't understand him. She listens to him but she doesn't always understand what he means.
'But I only want to spend time with you.'
'I don't want other people taking you away from me.'
'Please like me.'
That's what he wanted to say to her then and there. He'd never do it though. It would immediately ruin their friendship and push them away even further. 'Yeah... I guess you're right.' he signs forgetting that Hilda won't understand what he's trying to tell her. He realizes that by her puzzled expression and gives her a friendly thumbs up.
The two of them stand in silence for an eternity. Mune, about to excuse himself, grabs the piece of paper but lets it drop when Hilda wraps her arms around him and squeezes her chest against his. A fuzzy feeling warms his body from the inside, the blood rushing to his face. 'Don't worry, Mune. I want to hear all your stories,' she whispers gently before letting go.
Mune tries to hide his tomato expression by looking in the other direction. Only then he notices the tall and slender woman walking his way. She's dressed in some sort of lab coat. The click-clack of her heels attracts the attention of some other tributes like Colin and Raja.
'Hello, Mune,' she says. 'My name is Elissa Hagarty. I have been informed that you suffer from muteness.'
Mune nods hesitantly
'Well, you see, we try to accommodate every tribute here as best as possible and we want to make it an even playing field for all of you as much as we can.' One of the peacekeepers hands Elissa a small black box. She uncovers the lid with her skeleton fingers, revealing a small sphere cut in half. The flat surface of the sphere is covered with little suction-like structures.
'Do you mind if I install it on you quickly?'
Mune takes one step closer, looking back at Hilda who seems to be more excited than all the people in this room combined. Elissa brings the device to the center of Mune's chest and approaches the surface of his skin very carefully. When the device reaches a close proximity to his training suit the suction cups begin to activate attaching themselves to his body. Mune flinches a little but calms down when he feels Hilda's hand resting on his shoulder.
'You're doing fantastic, Mune. Thank you for trusting me.' Elissa offers him a subtle smile. 'Now comes the fun part. I want you to sign something but make sure your hands are facing the front of the device.' Elissa gets down on her knees.
Mune follows her instructions and signs something.
'I'm so confused. What's happening right now?' the device speaks out from Mune's chest in a monotone voice. Mune brings his hands to his mouth in shock. His eyes well up with ponds of tears. He can't control the waves of joy and excitement overwhelming him so carelessly. Mune would have never thought that he could find so much happiness mere days before his likely death.
'This is so cool, Mune! Now you can really talk to me!' Hilda squeals, running her hands frantically through his hair.
'Thank you, Miss Hagarty,' Mune says. The woman nods with satisfaction and click-clacks away in unison with her two peacekeepers.
'Say something else.' Hilda grabs his shoulders, her eyes wide open.
'I'm glad to have you in my life,' the machine says. And before Mune can sign something else Hilda gives him another hug. This time they stay that way for longer.
There it is. That warm, fuzzy feeling again.
ALLIANCES:
The Careers (but with superpowers!): Raja (D1F), Goud (D1M), Nastya (D2F), Dimitris (D2M), Zo (D4F), Barracuda (D4M), Colin (D6M), Pamela (D9F)
Little Shadows: Colin (D6M), Pamela (D9F)
The Deadly Sisterhood: Raja (D1F), Nastya (D2F)
Constrained Emotions: Dimitris (D2M), Zo (D4F)
Federation of the Beans: Voxel (D3F), Morse (D7M), Hilda (D8F), Mune (D8M), Johar (D9M)
A Master and his Scholar: Alpha (D3M), Colin (D6M)
Healing: Phoenix (D7F), Urid (D11M)
A Wolf Among Sheep: Sev (D12F), Diana (D12F), Dirk (D12M)
Chrono-Chameleokinesis: Leven (D5F), Pavlov (D5M)
Loners: Cecilia (D6F), Fayette (D10F), Aditya (D10M)
Alright, it's no surprise that I'm a sucker for alliances, especially sub-alliances. I just find the social aspect of the game very underrated and I love exploring intricate relationships between characters. So, yeah! We're done with the last training day and second cycle. Only two more cycles and we will get to the Games. Usually, at this stage, we'd still have the interviews and the private sessions and maybe a night before and then the games start but I'm doing things a little bit differently. I'm splitting the private sessions into three different chapters which will be the third cycle known as the examination period. The reason I'm doing this is so that we can get to see a little bit more of the non-POV tributes because I do really love them. It'll be more work for me but I think it'd going to be worth it when everything begins to unfold in the arena.
I'm taking my time with this Partial but I hope that everyone who is following is having just as much fun as I am with this. The next chapter will be a subplot chapter. It'll be significantly shorter than my usual chapters. And after that, we will start with the examinations :)
I'll see you next time!
