RUBY ASHGROVE (26)
HEAD GAMEMAKER
The pages smelt strongly of rotten onions. Ruby could tell that it was a prank, probably at the hands of one of those mischievous Bellingham twins, two of the most gifted, creative Gamemakers in her team, but also renowned for their numerous, elaborate pranks. She wrinkled her nose as she flipped across the pages of her notebook, the one that she would spend hours upon hours revising, carefully examining the notes written in a beautiful style of cursive that she had been gathering ever since she was a young teenager.
Because Ruby Ashgrove wanted to have all the greatest ideas in the world.
She donned her blue mask, in an attempt to block out that putrid stench that emitted out of the old, yellowed pages. Old as they were, they were still beyond precious to her, the whole notebook itself being a priceless relic that she simply would not give up. Her eyes darted across a particular section detailing the notes that she had taken over the course of Cartier Cooper's Games, as she studiously pored through the notes on the arena's nooks and crannies, the tributes' tactics, and much, much more. The notebook contained around 700 pages, 500 of which were already used up.
"I'll have to purchase a new one in the near future," she thought to herself. People often commented about how she would always speak in a formal, professional tone, even in the most informal of friendly gatherings. It was a peculiar thing, they had commented, shooting her weird looks as they drank their alcohol, something that Ruby had vowed to steer clear from in order to keep her head clear and ready to conjure up fresh new ideas.
Ruby, however, never saw the problem with her tone.
Wouldn't it be better if she spoke in such a manner, carried herself with an air of dignity that befitted the nature of her position and bloodline, preserved the honour of her status? There was no way she would stoop down to the level of the common Capitolite citizen, using all those foul words of, what was the term that they used to describe it? Slang. No, Ruby Ashgrove would never utter a word of their slang.
In the corner of her room, a television screen was replaying a scene from the previous Hunger Games, one that could be described as the absolute pivotal moment of the Games, the moment that shifted the odds, and could have well defined the course of the rest of the Games.
It was none other than Morwenna Ito's death scene, being brutally stabbed with a pencil by her former ally, that girl from Five and the eventual Victor, Marie Meredith, the seemingly sweet and innocent young artist and author letting out a bloodcurdling scream as she thrust that harmless-looking pencil deep into Morwenna's gut as she lay fast asleep, causing blood to cascade out in a roar of sanguine red.
It would be the first of many betrayals.
The antics of Marie, as well as the design and concept of the arena itself, a school of terrors, one that appealed to the younger generation of Capitolites who despised school (Ruby herself shook her head in dismay at this pathetic generation, bemoaning their lack of thirst for knowledge), drew favour from all members of the Capitolite audience, receiving an exceptionally high rating from the Hunger Games critics, and the multitudes congratulated her on such a successful Games.
But Ruby wasn't satisfied at all.
She thought, wait no, knew, that she could do much, much, better. This year's Games would trump last year's Games by a mile and a half, and Ruby herself was confident that with her wits, she could break her own uncle's record and orchestrate the Games with the highest ever rating.
If anyone could achieve such a feat, it was Ruby Ashgrove.
She flipped the pages of the notebook, gagging as yet another malodorous stench was sent blowing onto her face.
"Ugh, those twins are going to feel the Ashgrove wrath," she vowed, holding back a curse as she gazed down with eager eyes at the page that she had flipped to: a sketch of the new arena for this year's Games. A crooked smile tugged at her lips as her eyes twinkled with a sly sort of malicious anticipation. Her visit to District Four shimmered into memory, and the look on that pathetic, terrified Victor's face clicked into place. Ruby let out a soft chuckle as she ran her fingers through the intricately-drawn sketch, whistling as she admired the setup and details, as well as the little bits that she had added as a special surprise for dear Iris Fisher.
But she wasn't merely satisfied with this simple arena sketch.
No, there was indeed more. A devious smirk spread across her lips as Ruby flipped the page again, revealing a second sketch, of something else.
Something that would be a life saver for the tributes or could end their misery in the arena in a heartbeat.
Either way, Ruby thought as she got up and walked across the lavish, luxurious bedroom that she resided in, her heels trampling the expensive blue rug like how she always trampled over the hopes and dreams of pathetic little tributes. It's going to be quite a show.
And when Ruby Ashgrove had a show in plan, she meant absolute business. And by absolute business, it meant that she had spent countless hours in the library poring over secret, prized, old books, written by authors whose names and identities were lost in the whirlwinds of time, that were restricted to the eyes of only the most prestigious of the elite, which included her, just to design this one arena.
Because Ruby knew that only through great knowledge could great perfection be achieved.
Sponsor questions:
1) What do you think the arena will look like?
2) What did you think of Ruby?
3) What's that something else that Ruby mentioned?
A/N: Boom, there we have it! The second prologue and our first real look at Head Gamemaker Ruby Ashgrove! Sorry this chapter is shorter than the last one, but I still hope that you enjoyed it! The sponsor system and blog are both now on my profile so you can check that out, also, all the female spots have either a sub or a reservation so if you're planning on subbing a female, err, maybe consider subbing a male instead to make all our lives easier lmao, I just wanna the spots all filled up before anyone subs more than one tribute to a particular slot xd. Thank you to Marie464, Remus98 and contemporarydancer2 for the reviews, I really appreciate them and reviews really do make my day so if you can pls do review (why do I sound like I'm begging for reviews lmao I'm not) And yeah, that's it, see you next time for the third prologue from the POV of a familiar character (if you read The Degenerates). Cheers :)