Live In Color

Marina smiled at the girl.  “That’s good.  I’d hate to see you embarrass yourself.  It’s important to shine during training.”  Surely the District Two trainers had told her as much.  “You should try it though, just take it slow.  It could be a good way to get a feel for the unexpected.”

She paused for a brief moment, her gaze momentarily searching for her tributes.  “I’ve spoken with them some,” she admitted.  “They’re good kids.”  All tributes were good kids, at least for the most part.  There were a few exceptions in recent memory that Marina didn’t want to dwell on.   “What about you?  I’m interested to see what you all are thinking about a pack this year.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be sure to do that.” Briella wasn’t worry about that. She had been told time and time again that the training center wasn’t a place for taking risks. “I’ll shine even more once training scores come out.” Though she wasn’t quite sure yet what she wanted to do for her training. Thankfully they had a few days left to figure it out.

Briella couldn’t help but shrug at Marina’s question. “I am keeping my options open.” It wasn’t much of an answer, but it was where she was right now too. There wasn’t any situation she would flat out tell the District Four mentor no. It wasn’t like Four’s tributes weren’t worth considering. “Not impressed with the guy from One though...” She told her to see Marina’s response. The kid was lackluster to say the least. A District One robot.

Lincoln often gravitated toward various types of tributes during training. He observed the younger tributes to see inside their heads and offer some advice. He watched the older tributes from the outlying districts that attempted to chance fate by learning all they could in training. Most of all, the young man felt inclined toward watch the Career tributes from Districts One and Two. Often lethal like Four’s own tributes, they also had their own quirks that could be both deadly and opportunities for his tributes to benefit.

So when he saw Briella Carrick by the weapons, he slipped into the empty space by her side. “Thanks, but I’ll pass. Archery has never been my strongest skill.” He chuckled softly. The spear seemed to find him in the Academy, and he spent copious hours training with his favorite weapon. “I always thought the bow was less common, but they seem to be making a comeback over the past couple years.” Lincoln recalled Leon de Castanheira preferring a bow to other weapons. Perhaps adoring bows was a District Two trait.

“Which one is more your style? A strait-laced target like that one or a simulator?” He asked, turning the question back on her. As someone who didn’t practice archery, he felt rather interested by her impending answer.

“Lincoln Conway, admitting he’s bad at something? Didn’t you learn anything at the academy?” Briella teased lightly as she reached for another arrow. Her teachers had always told her not to show weakness, even if the weakness was there. Other tributes would pounce on it given the chance. Then again, Lincoln had already won the Hunger Games, maybe it didn’t matter anymore. A few days ago, she had been so certain she would follow in his footsteps.

She shrugged. “Both. Simulator though if I had to pick. Nothing like having to think fast on your feet.” A stationary target didn’t pose much challenge for her anymore and hadn’t since she was a kid. “Gets a little dull after a while hitting the same mark over and over, but don’t tell anyone I said that. I am half tempted to try and get an arrow through those rings...” She pointed to the rings hanging from the ceiling across the training center. They were meant to be used for crossing the pit, but what was life without some challenge?

“Sure you don’t want to try? I bet you I can do it.” Briella told him because now she wanted to try it.

Max tried to cover up the apprehension on his face. He could run, but spar against Ares? Not something he was particularly good at. Even when he was in the Academy, he was not good at sparring. And it wasn’t even a blood thing - as long as no one hit the nose. It was just too personal, too close. He was happy standing incredibly far away and shooting at something he couldn’t see the face of. 

“If there was anything to motivate me, that would be it,” he muttered under his breath, so only Briella could hear. He moved to position himself to race against Briella. It was something they had done a lot when they were younger and together and it brought back some good memories. As soon as Briella uttered the word, he took off after her. 

His feet slapped against the track as they sped to the end of the mats to turn around. He very much did not want to go up against Ares first and at least he wanted to look good at something. But, Briella having the win would put a lot of focus on her and that’s what he wanted too. So, he just let the race take care of the decision, putting in his all. 

As they turned back towards where Ares was standing, Max looked at Briella and grinned. He hadn’t ran like this in a while, only secretly training the things he could when he had decided to volunteer with Briella. “I’m going to beat you,” he mouthed with a smile. // @ares-carnahan​

Ares watched as the two took off running for the other end of the track. He crossed his arms, watching like a hawk to see their forms, whether or not they were paying attention to their surroundings, if they were simply goofing off. Ares was all about preparedness, attempting to instill in these kids that it didn’t matter how prepared someone was for what they were about to endure, but if they weren’t aware of what was happening around them and the skills of the other people in the room, they were as good as dead. 

As they turned around to come back to the starting point, Ares unfurled his arms and watched their bodies to see who would be pulling ahead and who would get to spar him. He stood far enough back to where they wouldn’t suspect him to do anything, but close enough that his long body would be able to interject when he needed to. So he stood in a relaxed position, but at the ready.

Waiting for three… two…

They grew closer. 

…one… 

@gemofpanem​

Briella simply shook her head and laughed at Max’s comment. Their races were typically pretty close, so she was certain he would give her a good race at least. It didn’t matter if his legs were longer, because she liked to run. There was just something about feeling the wind in your hair and just running. It was a good release for whatever was plaguing your mind.

He chuckled a little before answering. “I think there’s plenty of people that don’t like me. The other Careers are wary and think I’m soft and our mentors hate me. I think the other tributes don’t mind me, but they look at me like a Career so I think there’s a little bit of sizing me up in their eyes.” Max smiled at her, shaking his head. “I think it’s because I’m sweet and from District Two people don’t like me.”

Max knew how much sass Briella could have. He admired the fire she had and the determination. He really admired most of her, if he was being honest. “I think sass here is respected,” he added.

“I do, but so do they. So do you. I don’t think we can count any of them out if they want to go home.” Max didn’t want to think too far ahead in the future. He knew somewhere down the line there would be something painful. He didn’t want to dwell on it or talk about it. He wanted to ignore it for now. “We can do this,” he repeated, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, so we should come up with a game plan, just you and me. What should we do? Have you heard anything about what the Arena could be?”

“But I like you,” Briella told him as if that was the only thing that mattered. Maybe it did. They didn’t need the Pack to be successful. “You know we could do this, just us two.” District One seemed a little intense, but Briella hadn’t seen anything that was so great they couldn’t make do without. District Four hadn’t said anything about the Pack yet so maybe it wasn’t a thing. “We make a pretty good team if I do say so myself.”

Briella sighed. “No, but I am going to wager inside. They’ve been alternating them.” She pointed out thinking of the past few games: a haunted house, highlands, a mall, an island. “I am not sure if that comforts me or not. Outside there’s more space. More food...” She thought about it a moment. “I mean we could get things from the Cornucopia? What do you think? I could cover you.” Long as she got her hands on a weapon first, she wouldn’t let anyone near Max.

She remembered faces, mostly from the Parade and the Reapings, but the names she was still wrapping her head around. Based on where the Tributes went during Training had been a tell for her on what District they were from; most of the Careers went for the combat and weapon stations, while the other Tributes went where they were most comfortable. 

Ashten nodded, taking up the arrow. “Maybe we should head to the simulator. Less witnesses to how horrible I’m gonna be with this thing,” she teased, though she was sure she wasn’t going to nail her first shot. That and it was less likely for her to accidentally take someone’s eye out, or kill them.

Briella shrugged because she didn’t really expect the girl to be great at it if she hadn’t used a bow before. Then again, there was no better way than to just dive in and see how it goes. “Deal. I’ll even go first if you want?” Briella was half tempted to use one of the lower settings so she looked better than she actually was. Though, the bow was her chosen weapon so she would never look horrible.

“Just remember, your arrow will go wherever your eyes are.” Briella told the girl as she handed over the bow and quiver to her.

Max followed Briella’s advice and they had came down at a normal time to the Training Centre. It made sense to him that they weren’t overly intimidating (because he wasn’t) and maybe a little arrogant (which he wasn’t), so they showed up as the bulk of the other tributes were entering the Centre. He nodded at her words, agreeing with the sentiment. 

He snorted a little bit at her comment, hoping that Ares got that they weren’t really into advertising what they meant to each other. People could come to their own conclusions about why he had volunteered and when they were in the Arena everyone could get the idea of what was really happening. 

Max gave Ares a look, not really appreciating his attitude, but nodded at him and then turned to Briella. “You underestimate all the training I’ve done in secret. All the gummy bears and pastries I’ve eaten to fuel myself,” he teased, smiling, moving to the mats and doing a couple of leg stretches before shaking out everything and pointing to the end of the mats about 50m away. “There and back?” // @ares-carnahan​

To say the least, Ares wasn’t appreciative of the back talk or the snarky glances. 

He was the last person that this needed to be pulled on this year. He had to deal with it last year with Josiah and Ingrid and he wasn’t going to stand for it again. He was not happy with Max over this fiasco that he caused in District Two and he wasn’t going to let him off easy, in particular. The girl, however, wasn’t understanding the gravity of the situation as it seemed. 

He said nothing except stood there with his arms crossed, glowering at the two of them as he thought about what he could drill them with first. He wasn’t an easy trainer. There was no hope in a person who couldn’t be pushed to the breaking point. He listened to Max offer the fifty meter sprint and that’s when Ares piped up.

“Whoever loses the sprint gets to spar me first,” Ares piped in. Sparring wasn’t normally in his agenda first thing in the morning, but after this, he was going to make sure they left here with a bruise or two to be looked over by a medic and healed by morning. 

@gemofpanem​

Briella looked at Max and shrugged her shoulders. Losing wasn’t something she was planning on doing and if she did, well, she had sparred with plenty of trainers in the Academy. There had been many days she had come home feeling like she would never be able to move again. Not to mention she grew up in a family of Peacekeepers. Sparring was practically a Carrick family sport when they got together at the holidays. She may be a woman, but Briella was still a Carrick.

“The fuel of champions.” She teased Max as she got into a comfortable starting position. This sprint would allow for an all out attempt as it wasn’t really a distance race which was a shame really, Briella had always known if she was a normal teenager she would have wanted to run cross-country.

Delta loved archery. It was predictable. And she felt capable of reading people from a distance more accurately than up close. It helped that the person already standing at the station was someone she’d met before.

“Hello,” she said softly, picking up a bow. Delta turned her head to the girl next to her and gave her a small smile. “I know archery already, so I don’t think it’s much of a try.”

After a couple of strategic shots into a dummy, she nodded at Briella’s suggestion that they try the simulator and walked towards that end of the station. This one would be interesting: less predictable than a dummy, obviously, but people were still easier the further away they were. 

“Would you like to go first?” she asked.

“Hey,” Briella told the girl, Delta from District Four. The two of them had talked the other day, but that was about all she knew about the girl. It was hard to deduct anything from a simple conversation, a reaping, and the parade. This was more her style and she was curious as to what the girl could do. “Sure, I always did like going first.” Briella told her as she hit the setting for one of the intermediate settings. Baby steps, Briella told herself so she didn’t make a complete fool of herself.

Briella was relieved as the holographic cubes scattered across the floor as the stimulation came to an end. She counted her performance as a success. There had only been a couple of close calls and they had been that, close calls. None of the arrows had actually hit her. Her instructors would have been proud of her performance.

“So, are you going to match it or try to beat it?” She wasn’t sure if they were going to play the one up game, or simply just feel each other out. It was nice however to have someone to train with. Most of the other tributes had been too intimidated to speak with her let alone shoot.

“It depends on the settings you use,” she told her.  The simulator could be very difficult even for people like Glitter Rosseau, but it could also be a good way to practice.  “Honestly, I haven’t used the simulator in a long time.”  She wouldn’t be opposed to doing it again, but Marina spent most of her time during the training period working with her tributes on other skills, things they hadn’t covered during their time at the academy.

“If you want to give the simulator a chance, I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“I am not completely foolish. I would work my way up to the hardest setting.” At the very least, if Briella found one of the other setting difficult, she would never attempt it with other people around. No one, sponsor or tribute, needed to see her struggle with anything. It wasn’t a good message to send going into the arena. “I certainly do want to try it before I go.” There wouldn’t be another chance to try it if she didn’t.

Briella paused for a moment wondering if she should even ask what was on her mind, but it didn’t hurt. Marina was one of the mentors for the District Four team. “Have you gotten to speak with your tributes much?”

Briella looked mighty majestic with the bow and arrow, but that was no news to her. She knew the careers were lethal and she was counting on them being at least competent in their positions. So she stood to the side giving the mandatory raised eyebrows.

“I don’t think any of this is my style really,” she told her honestly. “But you’re crazy talented.” She’d have to be sure to keep out of this archer’s focus. “It’s weird your partner doesn’t trust in that.”

“Yeah, then what’s more your style?” Briella asked the girl with raised eyebrows. A lot of things were her style, but the bow and arrow was one of her most preferred. She didn’t even care if people knew it. The bloodbath was surely likely to yield her some kind of weapon to wield against the competition and she had been trained on all of them. There would be no crazy slip ups like some of the other careers over the past couple games.

Briella paused a moment to look at the blonde girl beside her. “What makes you say that?” If anything, she was sure Max trusted her skills. Max’s problem was he wanted to guarantee something neither of them would be able to. “I’ve known Max a long time, he’s very well aware of my skills.”

Ashten glanced toward the target with a small frown. If it took a long time to build up her accuracy with the bow and arrow, she wondered if it would even be worth trying. They didn’t have forever, but maybe she knew a trick or two to make the lesson go faster. Which was still strange, relying on the competition, but if she was willing to teach, then why the hell not take advantage of that? 

“I’ve got some; working in the woods back home kind of helps with that.” But she figured it was still best to go for something more simple, especially starting out.

“If you’re willing to,” she replied, “thanks.” At least she was going to be getting some lessons in learning some archery, and it was better than solely relying on an axe being in the Arena. “I’m Ashten, by the way.”

“Briella,” she told the girl with a smile. Of course Briella knew who she was, she had spent what felt like forever on the train studying the reapings, but they weren’t here to talk about that. Now she was curious how fast the girl would catch on. That was if she could even pull the arrow back. She remembered her first time with a bow, she was pretty sure the arrow went ten feet... Behind her.

She handed the girl an arrow. “Give it a shot. Sometimes the best way to learn something is to just dive in and see how it goes. Go from there?”

“Situation like this I don’t really see the difference,” she noted. Her arms crossed as she stood there overlooking the career tribute. She didn’t intend to demonize the girl, simply turn her off sending her tribute into a panic attack. Her two were already seeing the end and if she couldn’t turn their thoughts toward survival she’d at least protect them from the worst of the fear. “You don’t need to sell your skills to this lot. They all know what you are.”

Briella looked at the mentor a moment as she plucked another arrow from the quiver and loaded it on the bow. “Whether or not you see it, the difference is there.” She pointed out. Briella knew exactly what she was doing and she couldn’t help how the other tributes felt; they were going to feel however they wanted to fear. Her trainers had always told her the first step to success was mastering your own feelings.

“I am not selling my skills to them,” she pointed out as she let the arrow go and watch it sink again into the heart of the dummy. “I am more concerned about the gamemakers who are watching.” All the world was a stage and Briella wanted it noted she wasn’t running scared. “Sponsors like high training scores and I intend to score the highest. I am sorry if you don’t like it. Maybe you should teach them survival skills or something if weapons are scaring them.”

Max nodded, listening intently to Briella lay out everything she had heard about the tributes so far. He looked down at the flower still in his hands and he was very close to identifying what it was. If this was a normal day, it wouldn’t have mattered what it was. He would have been on a hike with Briella in the mountains and he would have seen this flower and picked it to give to Briella. And they would’ve kissed and continued talking as they hiked. But, it wasn’t a normal day and they couldn’t hike in the mountains here. 

He looked up to Briella and felt a searing admiration for her. She was focused, determined, and extremely insightful. Maybe she would have been okay without him. A seed of guilt planted in his stomach, but he tried very hard to get it out. Just because she was incredible out here, didn’t mean surprises couldn’t crop up in the Arena. 

Still, he plucked a flower from the stem of the fireweed he had identified and placed it in Briella’s hair as she took a sip of water. He made sure that no one was looking as he made the moment and gave her a small smile. 

“I’m following your lead Briella. You seem to know a little bit more about how this whole works. Besides, I think you’re a bit more likeable than I am.” He sighed, placing the fireweed on the surface of the table. “I’m out of my depth here. Right now, I just don’t trust any of them. They all have something to go home to.” And mine is here.

Briella couldn’t help but give Max a smile as he tucked the flower into her hair. He was always doing sweet things like that. It had been one of the many reasons she had fallen in love with him. There were so many things about Max, so much goodness, it wasn’t fair that he was there. The world needed more Max in it much more than it needed her strength. Being strong was easy, being kind and gentle was hard.

“Who doesn’t like you here?” She asked because she couldn’t see anyone not liking Max. Max was the definition of nice. “I am pretty sure you’re the sweet one in this pair. I certainly have always had a hold on the title of sass and diva queen in this relationship,” Briella joked with a laugh.

She looked at Max a moment. “You have things to home to too.” She told him gently knowing his parents and siblings would be heartbroken if he died in that arena. “But you know what we have that they don’t have? We have each other. We know our strengths, we know how to work together, we’re an unbreakable team. We can do this, okay?”

Ashten felt like she needed to expand her weapon skills apart from just using an axe. Using a bow & arrow was a bit of a leap from an axe, but she still wanted to at least give it a shot. No pun intended.

“Not really sure where to start,” she admitted, rubbing at the back of her neck anxiously. It would have been strange to ask for tips from the competition, but the girl from Two seemed to be nice– for now. Of course, that wouldn’t last once they were in the Arena, especially with the skills she seemed to already have. “Nice shot.”

“There’s a simulator?” she asked, brow raised. “I haven’t even used one of these before… but if there’s like a setting lower than beginner, sure, I’ll try it.”

“Well, a bow and an arrow is a good place to start.” Briella told the other tribute without giving it much thought. It should be obvious but she had seen some pretty clueless kids come through the Academy when they were young. “But thank you. I’ve spent forever it feels like learning how to hit the target every time.”

Briella nodded because there were simulators for everything. “I would suggest just shooting a few arrows to get the feel of it.” She motioned to the weapons hanging close to the station. “I wouldn’t pick anything with a high draw weight. You probably won’t be able to pull it unless you have a lot of upper body strength.” She told the girl.

“Would you like me to show you?” Briella knew she shouldn’t be helping the girl, but if she cut her off now, she wouldn’t be able to talk to her. You couldn’t get to know the competition if you scared them off right away. Besides, what was the chance the girl was going to pick up more than a few basic skills with a bow in a couple days.

@maxaroha & @gemofpanem

Ares had gotten up earlier than he wanted to be, and not for a reason that was kind to him either. Nightmares had been plaguing him every night for the last several months and alcohol was usually the way to squish it down. Except he told Fell and Serenity that he wouldn’t be drinking during training periods. That was a joke. He’d need to drown himself in it later tonight if he wanted to function tomorrow. 

Still, he got into the Training Center the moment it opened, working on his usual stretches and doing a mile around the Center on the track, sweat dripping down his body as he wore a hoodie to keep the heat in. Once he was done, he stripped it off and laid it down on the bench just as people began to file in. At that point, Ares checked the time, annoyed that they weren’t the first tributes in the building.

It wasn’t too far off though, but that didn’t alleviate his annoyance. Once they saw the two kids walk in the Training Center, he walked up to them with a stony expression, wearing nothing but a pair of black training trousers and boots and no shirt. 

“Why are you two not the first ones in here?” Ares asked them with a stringent tone to his voice. “Cuddled for too long?”

He motioned toward the combat floor. “Start doing your stretches. Fifteen minutes.”

“First day pointers,” Briella told Ares without missing a beat. District Two was lucky they had such a large team, but it always meant that there was someone giving you directions, tips, and informing you of your schedule for the day. Besides, best probably not to seem overly eager the first day. Other tributes would need the extra training, but Briella had been training for this for years. She could handle it. It wasn’t like they were late, they just weren’t early. On time as she was for everything in her life.

However, she raised her eyebrow at Ares’ comment. So they were going to get personal? Two could play that game. “So how long did you spend last night cuddled up to your bottle?” Briella bounced back easily to prove her point that they weren’t here to talk about personal things. They were here to train and get ready for the games. “Because I am sure it’s more time than any of the cuddling I haven’t done.”

It had been a busy day and Max was over the moon when the tributes and other team members had decided to be done training for the day. He watched with interest from his corner at the edible plants station as each of their competition walked to the elevators and out of view. Most of the sponsors left and those that were left were preoccupied by their companions or the food that was left in the corner of their booths. 

Max was identifying a flower with purpley-pink petals and a long stem when Briella came up and began to talk to him. They had barely seen each other all day, agreeing that they shouldn’t be seen together too much lest people start to get some kind of idea of the nature of their relationship. 

“I’ve talked to a few, but you can only get so much from a first impression, you know?” he replied, twirling the stem of the flower in his hand. “The girl from One seems a little intense and very wary of me already. I think she wants the pack to be tight this year.” He let out a breath, beginning to realize how far behind he was on everything that Careers already knew. “Anyone stand out to you?”

Briella nodded because she got what Max was saying. Sure she had talked to a few of the tributes, but nothing could be for sure. People often hid what they were good at, exaggerated their skills, or some combination of the two. “Yeah, I’ve talked to her. She seems interested though. I don’t know if she would forsake both of us because she’s wary of you.” Briella wasn’t going to do something without Max and to be honest, his skills balanced out the typical Career skill set nicely. The other tributes were foolish if they didn’t see that.

“The girl from One. I haven’t talked to a lot of the others... The girl from Nine seems intense too.” Briella chewed her lip a moment knowing they would still have three more days to gleam insight to their competition. “The boy from One seems a little useless if I’m being honest. I think the picked him for his sheer strength not his brains.” Briella wasn’t sure he would be a great addition to the Pack.

“We don’t have to be a part of the Pack you know... If that’s what we decide is best.” Briella told him as she sipped her water a minute. It was nice to be able to talk away from the other tributes and their mentors.

Marina had always been good with a bow.  It had always been her weapon of choice, but it wasn’t something many realized about her since she didn’t get her hands on one in the arena.  So when she saw the girl from Two shooting she smiled.  “Nice shot,” Marina complimented as she approached.

“Simulator is fine, but I’ve always had a soft spot for archery ever since the Academy.”  She paused.  “I’d suggest going to the stations you need work on.”

“Thanks,” Briella told the Mentor from Four with a smile. It was nice to have her skills appreciated instead of marked up as attempts to be intimidating. Honestly she did want to be seen as a strong contender, but she wanted her skills to be appreciated too. Briella had spent many hours and hours honing her skills so they shined. Maybe too much so since it had landed her being chosen as the one that would volunteer for the games.

“Is it as hard as it’s rumored to be?” Briella asked because she knew she was going to try it, because she wanted to prove to herself she could do it. “I’ll get to them,” she promised because it was on her list of things to do. For the first training day, Briella needed to prove to the other Careers she was a worthy ally to have. “I know better than to ignore them. You never know what they’ll toss at you in the arena.”

Her tribute’s gaze was focused on the dummies, mouth slightly ajar. They were probably imagining those arrows sticking out of their own body and Sable knew they were in need of a rescue. She stepped up informing them, “Vesper’s looking for you on the rope’s course,” and then watched them scuttle away. Her thoughts automatically went to the idea that she’d be without tributes after the bloodbath. It was an unkind thought, but one brought out by experience. 

She looked to the career. “I think you’ve intimidated my tribute enough for the day.”

Briella turned her head a bit to look at the woman. “I wasn’t purposely trying to intimidate them.” She told her as she sank another arrow effortlessly in the knee of the dummy. If you couldn’t walk, you couldn’t out run your fate. “Impress maybe.” Then again, perhaps they were two peas in the same pod. Careers that weren’t impressive though were doomed to be buried alive by both the Capitol, the others in the Career Pack, and other tributes in general.

“Picking plants and stuff isn’t nearly impressive, wouldn’t you agree?”