ellemora datum

It had been an accident, and she truly had not meant any harm to Ellemora. She just wanted to climb up past her and hide the damn flag as fast as possible so she could get the fuck away from her. She had no intentions of purposefully being on the offensive this Games, she'd promised herself as much, though she was sure the tribute whose mouth she'd stuffed with poison would disagree, were he still taking breaths to do so. When Mora reached for her shirt, Sawyer began to climb faster, using one leg to find footing and the other leg to kick at her, trying to push past her, not having too much of a mind for keeping the both of them safe enough to hide the flag. This was a one person job, after all. And Sawyer knew enough to know that only one person could win the Games, too. If Mora wanted a fucking fight, Sawyer would fight. "You don't know shit about me, Ellemora, so shut up."

Mora's hand grasped nothing but air as Sawyer pushed past her. The wind pushed her form, and she found herself swaying much more than she would have liked. With a grunt of frustration, she saw a foot coming towards her. It wouldn't hit, to be sure, but Mora instinctively threw a hand up to block it.

Being called an idiot was the worst thing for Sawyer. She knew she wasn't that smart, not book smart anyway, having not finished school and being barely able to read. So when she looked up at Mora with sharp eyes and anger in her throat to see that the other girl was clearly afraid, she rolled her eyes. "Or I could just go past you and get this shit done with." She quickened her climbing pace, not being careful as she attempted to climb up past Ellemora. A strong wind blew the entire structure just as she came up to her side, and the ropes swung a bit, pushing her into Mora.

Something about the combination of her jaw throbbing, the height of the structure, the obnoxiousness of her companion, and now the physical contact launched Mora into a fight or flight sequence.

"I mean, it feels like defying the Gamemakers like that would get you a swift kick to your death, but maybe I'm crazy," she said. "If the goal is destroying the flag let's just burn it, no need to climb all the way up here." Mora was going more slowly than Sawyer would have liked. "Yes, I still have it, I'm not an idiot." It was shoved through one of her belt loops. "We need to get way up there." She pointed. "Don't worry, I'll spot you." This was slightly sarcastic.

Mora found herself starting to lose her breath. "Defy the - ? No, to hide it, you idiot." She took a moment to throw her hair over her shoulder.

Sawyer wasn't thrilled with joining Ellemora for the hiding portion of the game, but she also wanted to be sure that it was hidden to her satisfaction. Mora didn't seem trustworthy one bit, and who knew if she'd somehow worked out a deal with the other team? It seemed like something a tribute like her would do, so Sawyer had piped up to join her.

"I'm just saying, the lake was a much better choice. Did you see it yet? Just like... throw the flag into the middle of the lake and let whatever those things were take it." Mora was struggling, immediately, to climb. Naturally. But no, she wouldn't let Sawyer get whatever was at the top.

Sawyer had stuffed the real orange flag into her bra. She and Ellemora had been walking for awhile, trying to find a good place to hide it. The team had agreed that somewhere up high would be good, a place that would be hard for the other tributes to reach, that would incur some risk for them. But of course, this meant that she or Ellemora would also need to incur risk.

The fight with Edison had left Ellemora more shaken than she had anticipated. Her jaw had swollen to the size of a small orange, and suddenly it seemed like there was danger everywhere. Perhaps there was - but it felt so here, so now. She had run after the fight, not looking behind her as Tributes fell left and right.

Edison's feet pounded on the earth beneath her. Grass, trees, little buildings-- she assessed her surroundings as they moved in a blur through her peripheral. The smell of the campfire would've been pleasant in any other scenario, but today, gusts of wind made tendrils of smoke curl in Edison's lungs, and there were moments where it was hard to breathe. She was like a child playing tag, desperately avoiding the hands that might try to claim her. Don't be it. Don't get caught.

Mora's blood rushed to her ears and suddenly it seemed like she couldn't hear anything but the pounding in her head. She hadn't perfected the approach - she had overshot. She skidded on the harsh gravel, instantly feeling it bite into the skin of her hands.

The suggestion of it made him go weak in the knees for a moment, enough so that he was very, very glad he was leaning on the chair for support. "Oh shit, really?" he asked, straightening to pivot on his heel as she practically glided past him. He didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially a very nice looking one, but it was hardly ever so simple. Normally he had to deliver at least a couple of facts about his abs first. "Where were you thinking?"

Did Mora have any clue what she was doing? Not particularly. Did that worry her? Again, not particularly. The fact of the matter was she had one the top contenders in the Games this year literally following her command. Now, would that extend into the Arena? Probably not. But for the moment, it was all Mora needed.

"What, like you're the only option for an alliance?" Sawyer asked. "I've got my own plans up my sleeve. You'll find out when we get there, it won't be so long now. Be patient." She had hardly connected with any other tributes in her first Games, good or bad, and this time she was certainly rolling the dice by doing so. Maybe it was stupid to be turning Ellemora down, maybe fake trust could be beneficial, but she already had that with Victor.

So she had plans. Whatever. Sawyer might have thought herself above the rest of them, here, now, just because she had done this before. But every Games was different - every round was a new set of Tributes, new grudges, new strengths.

A guilty laugh bubbled from Ren's mouth as the slop hit Ellemora's face. She almost couldn't believe she had done that, it was exciting, Ren rarely stood up against bullies, and even more rarely did she use physical means to get back at others, but she had!

HOW FUCKING DARE HE!! Still unable to form full, coherent words, Mora found her self scrambling over the top of the table to give chase.

"Okay, no worries then. I'll be scared of you." Collier said with a shrug as he walked through the training center. "I'll even say in the interviews that you're the one tribute I'm scared of it." He said looking at her, letting out a laugh. "How did you train in District Three?" Collier asked her, curious. "I heard you were a Career from Three."

A quiet rage started seething inside her chest. District Twelve was laughing at her. How fucking dare he. With gritted teeth, she pushed past him to take the lead, heading directly for the swords. After all - weren't swords just big knives?

It was becoming very, very difficult to keep his focus on strategy. He knew he should trust no one, but damn, this was rigged against him. "What exactly are you suggesting? I'm not sure it's considered Hunger Games standard to fraternize with the enemy poolside." But oh, how he'd love to, and there was no real hesitation in his voice. He adjusted himself, suddenly very self conscious of how he might look in that moment, whether this was working for Ellemora in the same way it was for him.

Mora took a deep breath, using the time to finally extricate her hand from her hair. She felt like she had Victor on a hook - what kind of hook, she hadn't quite figured out. But that would come soon enough.

It wasn't the first time she'd made a tribute cry, and it wouldn't be the last, she was too harsh, spoke first before thinking, a complete contrast to Link's kinder nature. Electra took a deep breath, ready for the onslaught of whatever Ellemora had for her, before realising it wasn't coming.

Lie, Mora heard. But Electra was right. Electra was a Mentor. She had done something that earned her way back. And sure - she wasn't Ariadne, or Everett, or Rio - who might all give fighting, biting, winning advice. But Electra had won, and for that Mora had to listen.

"Well, loyalty is important, as long as I'm the one doing the betraying in the end," Sawyer said, as if what she'd done at the end of her Games didn't haunt her every damn day. "The stakes are high though. For all of us. People's true colors get shown in these kinds of moments, whether they like it or not."

Mora let out a small harrumph. If that's how Sawyer wanted to play it, fine. It could be her loss if she so chose. "That's all fine and dandy, but with no one out there to betray, how will you make it to the top? By yourself?"