opulence

Shiloh could see the other side. she could see it. there were green pastures, happy trails… a cotton candy cloud sky… it was ten but even better. there was a big river with no salt water… everything was beautiful, wild, and free. amazing. perfect. and there was beau! there was beau and he could see her and she was coming… but wait. there were people at home. people she needed to care for. people she loved. things she wanted to do.

kyanne. the woman had been so kind to her. so sweet, motherly. Shiloh had never had a mom, real or officially adopted. she’d just been a circus child, raised by the whole family. the night before her games when they’d cuddled on kyanne’s bed, Shiloh had felt special. like she alone was that woman’s priority. and she hoped Kyanne forgave  her for  losing. she hoped she understood. Shiloh had just been trying to help. a knife broke through her skin, and it severed that connection. where kyanne had touched her, held her… she had to let it go.

her future. all the things she wanted to do. she’d wanted to win, to see the capitol again. she’d wanted to go home, to remember things about her brother, to live on through him. she’d wanted to see ten again, to see the capitol again, to see everything and everything. and a victory tour had sounded cool. see all of panem… a knife went straight into her liver. she didn’t have a future anymore. she wouldn’t need the organ that would clean your blood and keep it alive longer. she hoped they just didn’t forget her.

‘mom’. ‘dad’. ‘auntie’. ‘uncle’. all the adults in the rodeo back home. her brother. home. and yeah, maybe they weren’t family. but weren’t they, though? she’d been sent into  the games under the pretense that they were. and beau had died getting something for her. she would’ve died for any of the people back home. family wasn’t something you were born into, she’d learned. she understood that, now. the knife hit an artery, and a particularly vicious spurt of blood came out. they were her blood, even if her real blood didn’t want her. she hoped they knew she loved the people who did.

the last thing she held onto was dumb as dirt. SC. a horse. her horse. they’d grown up together. Shiloh loved the horse so much she’d taken her name. they were partners in crime, partners in competing, and partners in life. the knife finally hit her heart. she hoped that the birth shiloh given name clementine was okay. she hoped she was well taken care of. and for the first time in her whole life, she hoped that she wouldn’t be able to understand what was going on with shiloh even though the horse always seemed to. she wanted her to be okay. not to miss her.

there was so much pain. so much pain. so. much. p a i n. Shiloh couldn’t do anything but lie still and groan, her eyes full of pain. she only had a minute left, but she was ready to go and it hurt. it hurt so bad. hurt. so. b a d. when Buckingham turned back, Shiloh internally winced. more pain? why? she’d done nothing wrong… nothing wrong. nothing. w r o n g. why… why?

but buckingham raised her sword high, and shiloh knew. it was time to climb that fence. they always said the grass was greener on the other side, didn’t they? time to find out. she tried to smile a little bit as the blood came pouring out of her mouth. the sword severed her head from her body as her feet touched down on greener. freer pastures. everyone she loved would be here someday, and she’d see them soon. then she could take them all by the hand the way she held beau’s now. didn’t know know? cowboys never die at the end. Shiloh took the games like a true cowgirl. she’d ride off into the sunset.

 Y E E H A W

BOOM

the cannon was a welcomed sound but one that didn’t bring as much relief as the blonde hoped it would. all buckingham’s mind could do was have what time she spent with shiloh flash before her eyes. the way the girl looked when she watched back the reapings, how she seemed to enjoy the capitol even more than some career tributes, how she helped her fix her tiara. that damned, stupid tiara. it was the only thing that tied her to the girl from te- shiloh. buckingham knew she should know the girl’s name; it was the least she could do after beheading her after the girl saved her. if her stylist had put the accessory on properly, none of this would’ve happened. she could’ve eliminated the girl with no second thought.

buckingham looked back towards shiloh and immediately looked away again. the sight was something she knew she didn’t want to see but felt like she had to look. it was as if something was telling her, forcing her, to look at what she had done. the sight made her sick, so much so that she had to stop herself from keeling over and embarrassing herself on national television. she could look at the body, but the head. in a sense, shiloh looked peaceful and buckingham tried to force herself to feel good about it all. could the girl have made it? would she be the next in line of charismatic victors? the answers were futile and she knew it.

it was as she looked away that she spotted a patch of flowers. roses? snowdrops? she didn’t know. impulsively, buckingham picked up shiloh’s severed head by the hair, making sure to look forward and focus on the flowers. she figured she looked a monster to most of panem, she knew that. with an inhale, she threw the girl’s head to the patch of flowers, letting it roll slightly before looking away. she brought a palm to her forehead, rubbing it slightly before shouting in frustration. she shouldn’t care this much. this is what outer tributes did. she wasn’t one of them. she was a career.

still, as stretched her legs to run away from the scene, she looked down. “i’m sorry,” she said under her breath, only just enough for panem to hear. “maybe you deserved to win.” 

looking around, she picked up her pace to a run, leaving the girl from district ten’s body behind her.

Shiloh had hugged a lot of people in her fifteen years of life. she’d hugged capitolites in their scratchy outfits, her parents, her siblings, her horse… oh, the ammount of times she’d hugged SC. Shiloh Clementine was the best hugger, in Clementine Shiloh’s opinion. but in all her many, many years oh hugging, she’d never had one that h u r t.

a quiet groaning wail was the only noise she could muster. if it had been just a moment more that her neck had been snapped, she would be gone. as it was, she was panting on the ground, looking up at the career that had been her hopefully ally. she fell like a rag doll, unable to support herself. her gawky, long limbs were a tangled mess of noddles on the floor. she looked up at buckingham for the first time, and now she knew what small felt like. she would be dead. she would be dead. and beau would be forgotten, forever. so would she. they’d both promised that someone from ten would win… they’d hugged and promised each other that whichever won would remember the other, every tiny detail they’d shared the night before the arena.

and now she looked up, eyes glassy with fear and acceptance of the inevitable. she felt like a calf with her neck laid against the chopping block. there was no changing what was coming. so shiloh did what she did best. her brothers had always joked she must have two hearts beating inside her she loved so big.

looking at buckingham’s face, whimpering in pain, as the girl towered over her… Clementine ‘Shiloh’ Willams forgave.

the noise, that mix of a groan and wail, shook buckingham more than she would’ve liked to admit. she couldn’t put her finger on it, how that sound was so harrowing and why it shook her to her core. she wondered if it was because shiloh was her first kill away from the adrenaline of the bloodbath or maybe - and more likely - because shiloh had only ever been good to her. after all, the girl’s last words had been that she didn’t want to be alone anymore. i’ve helped her with that, buckingham tried to convince herself as she bent down and picked up her sword, she’s going back to her brother. 

it wasn’t until the girl’s eyes locked onto her that an ungodly sense of fear ran through buckingham’s body. she couldn’t explain it and had nothing in her memory to compare it against. she knew the fear was unjust - unneeded. shiloh was all but a dead girl and couldn’t hurt her, yet the blonde had a fear of her getting up and taking her out in a swift motion. it’s just the games, she told herself as she took a step back, ready to leave the girl as food for whatever other mutt would saunter into the area, they’re getting to you. pull yourself together.

the second groan, however, broke what little barrier buckingham had from unleashing all fears she had kept inside of her for the games thus far. the fears that, no matter how much she believed in herself, she’d be the first one the careers would pick off when it came to it. fears that she’d come in contact with another bear. fears of anything. she knew this was an inevitable part of the games, she just hoped it was over and done with. in any case, the groan caused buckingham’s breathing to pick up pace, nearing hyperventilation. unsure on what to do, buckingham let loose on the girl. she stabbed the poor girl’s abdomen a good few times, more than likely puncturing many organs and making it even more painful for the girl. she had, initially, planned to leave after that but something stopped her. shiloh had shown her mercy, the least she could do is try and make it up to the girl. standing over the girl, buckingham made sure to look away before bringing down her sword on shiloh’s neck, executioner-style. now, all she hoped to hear was the cannon.

Shiloh was about to ask why buckingham looked so mad about shaking her hand when a far more pressing question came up. how was she? “Um…” she looked at her feet. she didn’t want to start sobbing over her sweet brother of hers. not when she had an opportunity to not be alone anymore. if she played her cards right… she might have a friend. a psudo sister to help through the arena.

and then it all broke. because buckingham mentioned Beau. and she just looked over. despite the fact that she towered over buckingham, suddenly she felt small. “Ah… ah couldn’… ah should’ve… ah couldn’t save him.” a tear fell from her eyes, and she looked at buckingham, nervously. “but ah saved you… an’ that’s somethin. he said ah could win it, knew he couldn’t… he said…” he asked me to remember him, and I laughed it off. I didn’t know the weight of his memory… how do you remember such a good person? she sniffed, rubbing the eye that had betrayed her ferociously. “but ah saved you. ah saved you an’ tha’s all ah can do.”

she took a hiccuping breath, before quietly wrapping her arms around the career in a solace-seeking hug. “ah got a nice hut.” she offered, quietly. her neck was bent down to put her head on Buckingham’s chest. “y’all could stay with me. jus’… please… don’ leave me all alone no more. ah can’t… ”

perhaps it was the fact that buckingham couldn’t imagine a good relationship with her siblings, having been the one that had to fight for attention, or just the raw emotion she felt from shiloh in that moment but the career never knew someone could care so much when a sibling died. in any case, it warmed the cold heart the blonde had slightly and made her feel a little... weird about fantasising seeing her brother’s portrait in the sky.

she could do without the tears, sure, but even buckingham knew that this was something emotional for the girl. part of her felt like she had a duty to protect the taller, to make sure that she made it a little further but the other part, the majority, told her that was a bad idea. if the girl had in her head she could win, that made her a problem to take out later. she contemplated letting the girl go and hoping, begging to a higher being, that someone else could finish her off so she didn’t need to. though she couldn’t stand preppy tributes, there was something endearing about shiloh. maybe it was the way the girl had helped her twice?

and then it happened. in a matter of seconds buckingham found herself enveloped by the younger girl in what, to anyone else, would be a heartwarming hug. the blonde’s mind scrambled to make sense of it. was she being nice? did shiloh have another ally and this was a trap? was the girl going to crush her? her head barely registered the pleas from the other girl to not leave her alone and, as if on autopilot, the blonde dropped her weapon. hands came up to the girl’s neck, being placed squarely on the side and began to move. buckingham had the neck snapping trick up her sleeve for a while, she just hadn’t thought the sweet girl that fixed her tiara would be the one to fall victim to it. 

it was when it was too late, enough for damage to have been done, that buckingham retreated and stopped her action. she pushed the girl away and let her fall like a rag-doll. she didn’t know how much damage she had done - only shiloh’s movements could tell her that - but she knew she had messed up. the girl just wanted a hug. why couldn’t she have just abandoned her? the look of shock and confusion was evident on buckingham’s face as her gaze was fixed on the brunette’s body.

Shiloh rode the bear until it was down for the count. it was just as wild as any rodeo back home. she was focused, but whooping and hollering the whole time. part of her wanted to count, to see if she’d made the whole eight seconds. she could feel her family back home counting it. ONE. TWO. THREE. FOUR. FIVE. SIX. SEVEN. EIGHT. NINE. TEN. a better than perfect time. not that she knew. but as she slid off the bear’s back, dusting herself off, ten went wild with her time. it was a record for shiloh. and her family back home knew it. they didn’t know why she’d decided to do  that, but they were smiling at her, hooked onto the screens.

“yeah, ah’m from ten.” she said, still breathing hard. but the smile on her face was unmistakable. the beach was thin, and soon they were walking out of the slice they’d been in, towards the 4-5 slice of beach. “and you’s from one, yeah? ah helped with your crown.” she nodded. this was the same girl. “ya still look mighty pretty.” she assured the girl. when she’d first met Buckingham, she’d been nervous before the interview. Shiloh had showed her a quick shake off your jitters technique she liked. she didn’t know if Buckingham had used it or not, but shiloh was always there to offer a helping hand. if she couldn’t save her brother, she’d just have to save as many other sisters and brothers as she could.

there was a reason she would never win these games.

“ah’m shiloh.” she said, a soft smile on her face as she held a hand for Buckingham to shake. “you ain’t hurt… right?”

buckingham looked around as shiloh spoke to her. she knew that there were cameras watching them and that, no doubt, panem was getting a front row seat at their conversation. after all, a district ten saving someone from district one? that was something to watch. she was sure she could hear people in district one telling her to take the girl out there and then but, at the same time, she could just see the look of horror on those in ten’s faces. 

“i’m fine,” buckingham said as her gaze snapped back to the girl, still too aware about their situation. she looked at the outstretched hand, the look of disdain unmissable on the blonde’s face. though she didn’t think shiloh - the girl that just called her pretty - would be the type to kill, buckingham knew not to trust any appearance in the hunger games.

she took the other girl’s hand and shook it softly before pulling away.  “how are you doing?” she asked. buckingham didn’t want to make small talk but the girl had just saved her life; she could at least speak to her for a few seconds. “i’m sorry about your brother.” she didn’t know how the boy died, she just knew that he hadn’t made it far.

shiloh had lost beau. beau was gone. and now she was in search of water. she’d paid attention during training. she knew that saltwater was bad and undrinkable from experience, and she knew boiling it (the usual method of dealing with saltwater) would only result in leading a tribute right to you. so when she woke up that morning, she set out, determined to find a pond. there had to be one somewhere, right? they couldn’t just let everyone die of thirst.

she’d awoken on what she didn’t know was the 12-1 section, having slept through the misty voices. it hadn’t been harmful, just feul for an odd dream. as she walked, she went towards the 11-12 section, working that way. she was all alone, and frightened, constantly looking over her shoulder. she missed kyanne…

suddenly, she heard a sound. a bear was growling. that didn’t sound good. and based on the sound… somebody was trying to fight them. Shiloh could’ve left them alone, left them to figure it out themselves, but then she paused. nobody helped beau. last night, she’d resolved to save someone. and anyone in here was somebody’s sister or brother. sister, by the sound of the surprised noise.

and so, without even caring who it was she was helping, Shiloh lept out of the treeline and onto the beach to face the bear, coming up behind it while buckingham held it’s focus, and jumping onto it’s back like it was a bronco. “yeehaw!!!” she screamed, finally feeling a bit more in her element in this arena. she held on tight, hoping that buckingham could use the distraction to finish the bear off. hopefully. because honestly, in all shiloh’s efforts to help, this was only a distraction.

@thebuckinghamdc·

buckingham was feeling good about the games so far. she had a few kills under her sleeve and was proving to be so much more than the seven she had given. she hoped her mentors could do something with that; she trusted diamond not to fail her. as expected, she had a few supplies and had managed to pick up a few things that her lessons at the training centre had taught her - berries and traps. she wasn’t good at those things but anything was a help. she was a little upset that champagne hadn’t fallen victim in the bloodbath but she knew she’d be naive to think that’d happen.

she’d lost track of what section of the arena she had been in, albeit not knowing what to look out for. she wondered if the divisions at the bloodbath meant anything but paid little mind to it - she could figure out what the gamemakers had planned out later. as she walked along, sword being swung at her side, her hair rose on the back of her neck as the distinct feeling of being watched happened. it was a primordial fear and she knew she was dealing with something worse than a tribute. playing it off, she continued to walk until the snap of a twig behind her made her look. suffice to say, being face to face with a bear was unnerving for the district one girl, as evidenced by the way she attempted to run; unaware she was breaking a cardinal rule when it came to the beasts. 

eventually falling onto her back by some sheer bad hand from luck, buckingham struggles to swipe the bear away with her sword. she’d nearly resigned herself to a subpar death in the games when she heard a familiar voice and then the bear being distracted. having closed her eyes, she opened them to see shiloh on the bear’s back, a rope around the thing. with adrenaline pumping, the blonde scrambled to her feet and stabbed mercilessly at the thing. perhaps she could’ve been more graceful but she was sure it didn’t matter right now. she didn’t stop until the bear had slumped on the floor and the only sounds near her were shiloh’s breath and her own pants. 

“ten, right?” buckingham eventually asked after a few seconds as she finally studied the other tribute’s face. the girl had saved her from a grizzly end, no doubt, and buckingham felt confused.

{Location: Tribute Tower - D1 Floor}

The commencement of the seventy-fifth annual hunger games was quickly approaching and Diamond felt like she hadn’t had much to do with either Buckingham or Champagne. She’d blame that on meetings with sponsors for now, but she knew that’d change the moment one of them died in the arena. For now, she’d live in her picture perfect world though. The button to the elevator was pressed as Diamond made her way back to District One’s floor from a meeting with a sponsor. The button for their floor was pressed as she stepped into the confined space and within seconds the doors opened back up with a ding to allow the blonde victor out. She stepped onto the floor and discarded her purse onto the table just inside the floor. 

She moved into the living area with the soft click of heels on polished marble to announce her arrival. Diamond paused when she saw Buckingham in the room and turned her full attention on the teenager. “It’s almost launch day.” As if Buckingham wouldn’t know that much. “Are you ready?” It was asked with a quirked brow.

@thebuckinghamdc·

with the games rapidly approaching, buckingham had spent her time diligently training. from the centre to just practising strokes with a branch she snapped off of one of the room’s many plants, buckingham wasn’t letting any opportunity pass her up. she hadn’t minded not seeing some of the mentors and victors, not as much as she thought she would. they were busy doing their thing to keep her alive whilst she was doing her thing to ensure she lived. someone, once, had told her that district one in the hunger games was a machine and buckingham very much intended to be a working part in that machine, doing her bit to make sure it never stopped working.

she initially took no notice of heels on marble, not wanting to get out of the zone. in her mind, three tributes had fallen at the hand of her sword and a fourth was next. raising the branch above her head, she was about to deliver the final blow before she turned to face diamond at the sound of the woman’s voice. “of course,” she said, a little smile tugging at her lips. “it’s boring waiting for something interesting to happen.”

      『  MISDIRECTION . 』 –––––––  a tactic that had been invented centuries ago that still held relevance today .  divert an opponent’s attention for long enough ,  and they tend to overlook the minor details .  and sometimes ,  those minor details were the key to victories .  even if luna were born in district eleven ,  her father wasn’t ;  and his willingness to teach her standard history made her privy to such knowledge .  

the blonde spoke ,  and luna almost felt the need to laugh .  no insecurities ?  everyone had them .  whether or not they decided to show them was a different story altogether .  and so far , luna had a hard time seeing what the female tribute from district three saw in buckingham de clare .  ❝ naturally ,  because we’re empathetic human beings with souls .  i can’t imagine that feeling being mutual on the careers’ floors . ❞  luna responded .  it wasn’t the best comeback that she could retort ,  but pushing it further would have exposed how upset she’d been by the comment . 

❝ yeah ,  it felt good to score as well as a career tribute . ❞. the blonde could hide behind her words but she couldn’t hide behind her micro-expressions .  in fact ,  no one could unless they’d been specially trained .  luna was willing to couch on the other’s quickness to respond as a sign of discomfort .  ❝ but i’m willing to bet that the other career tributes don’t think too highly of me .  or you for that matter .  after all ,  seven is a pretty low number to them . ❞  she continued .  

❝ it’s beginning to look like district two and your brother might have this one in the bag . ❞

buckingham let herself smile slightly as she listened to the other girl talk. it was intriguing, to say the least. she’d never stuck around long enough to hear someone from the outer districts speak, let alone engage in conversation with them. part of her wondered what was going through the other girl’s mind. did she consider the blonde a threat? was she worried that buckingham would kill her? was she wondering what buckingham was thinking? buckingham didn’t like how much the girl interested her on a basic level; it gave her a little too much power, in buckingham’s opinion.

“the careers have a better idea of the games than anyone else here,” buckingham replied with a shrug. was it true? most definitely not. just one move away from the arrogance they all had and one could see how unprepared the careers were in certain aspects. or, at least, that was what buckingham had heard from overhearing the tributes from five and six say. “our conversations are about creating strategies.” buckingham hadn’t allowed for sentiments to happen on the district one floor. she abhorred champagne and didn’t want to let him live in her mind rent free any more than she had done.

buckingham stiffened at mention of her talk. truthfully she cared little about it, more so focusing on how her brother outperformed her, but to hear the girl from eleven say those things... well, it didn’t fail to agitate buckingham. “district two are idiots,” she said simply, “gonna get themselves killed for chasing the risks.” she paused as she looked luna up and down. “and my brother? please, there’s no way he won’t die in the arena.” she’d leave the girl to deduce what she meant by that. “your willingness to bet is going to be your downfall. maybe don’t your second losing bet here be your life, yeah?”

There were few locations in the Capitol where Lincoln Conway felt comfortable. He found some solace behind the closed doors of District Four’s floor in the Tower. The young man also felt at ease in the training center, as robust exercise lessened the numerous worries he held close. Sadly, the training period meant the latter was crowded with tributes, trainers, or Gamemakers. District Four’s floor was also still buzzing from the announcement of training scores. Thus, these commotions prompted Lincoln to search for peace in an unusual place.

He decided to explore the garden oasis he often neglected.

Lincoln entered the enclosed garden only to realize someone else beat him to it. His brow rose in curiosity at the girl’s words, and he attempted to recall her name. Fortunately, it took little time, as the mentor watched Reaping footage from One and Two more frequently than the rest. It seemed like the finest method to assess the other Career tributes before meeting them in the flesh. This habit also helped at times, considering he remembered the girl as One’s tribute when he sauntered toward the bench.

“Don’t let me stop you then. Actually, feel free to share what’s on your mind if it helps my tributes.” Lincoln smirked softly. “It’s good to know what alliances could happen.” 

buckingham raised an eyebrow as lincoln walked towards the bench, smiling slightly at his words. it was an honesty she wasn’t sure if he’d hold up or not. she had said before and she’d continue to say it; district four was lucky they had someone like lincoln. otherwise the tributes would have to rely on annie for help and, if you’d forgive buckingham’s beliefs, she didn’t believe the woman seemed fit for it.

“the career pack seems to be in full swing this year,” she said eventually, moving to pin her hair back in a ponytail. she felt awkward not doing something with her hands, as if she was already itching to have a weapon in her grasp. “i don’t know about the boy from your district - gus? jury’s still out on if he’ll join is.” buckingham didn’t care either way; she had no qualms with eliminating a twelve-year-old if they impeaded on her progress. “what about you? can you spill any secrets to a tribute looking to win?”

“Just because the cameras aren’t watching doesn’t mean others aren’t,” he pointed out with a casual shrug of his shoulders. As a gamemaker, it was his job to watch the tributes every second of their time there in the Capitol. Juilus shouldn’t decide which mutts appear when based on a tribute’s ability, but let’s be honest, it happened. Katniss Everdeen had been an annoyance and they had made sure she got exactly what she deserved.

Julius watched Buckingham a moment. “Yes, but that certainly earned her more sponsors than Glimmer, didn’t it?” Katniss Everdeen had been a favorite among the Capitol people and the Sponsors, there was no denying that. “I mean why climb a mountain when you can make it a molehill to climb? Perhaps you just like a little bit of a challenge, no? Or maybe you just weren’t up to snuff too…”

"no, but those who are watching appreciate a tribute who’s competent,” buckingham replied with a little smile. talking to gamemakers - assuming the man was one - seemed fun. they understood and seemed to like what the career tributes had to offer. she figured they were much more fun than outer district kids who usually floundered. 

“challenges can be fun,” buckingham said after a few moments of careful consideration. she didn’t want to give the man too much leverage over her; she could be asking for a much tougher times in the games than otherwise intended for herself. “true, but in the end she had her face smashed in. i doubt sponsors can save you from that.” buckingham wasn’t stupid - she knew sponsors were what had supplemented katniss’ skill with a bow and got her to the final two but, equally, she knew careers had a natural advantage for the games. the blonde intended to milk that advantage for everything it was worth. “maybe i got my score on purpose, nobody knows but myself.”

she shook her head. of course she wouldn’t understand. Buckingham, her name was… right? or was it buckingturkey? bucking-poultry-of-some-kind. whatever her name was, she didn’t have the personality to look beneaith Annie’s words, to try and actually find what Annie meant by them. she was kind of used to that, people thinking she was an idiot just because her words came at a different pace and in a more lively order than normal people. she hated it, but she was used to it. so she didn’t bother trying to explain. it would only dig a bigger hole.

when the name was introduced to annie, it was just as easily forgotten. that was something she’d lost in those bloody days of the arena. the ability to remember names. it had been somewhat of a halmark of Annie Cresta before she’d gone in. she’d ask your name firstly, and never ever forget it. she’d done that to every person in the capitol who she’d met, memorizing their names in that way that made everyone feel special and seen. an eclectic hobby? sure. but it was one she’d picked up at a very young age, wanting to ensure everyone felt like they were important while talking to her. and then, when her brother… she couldn’t even remember his name anymore, could she? he’d died, and his head had fallen onto her back… and Annie had lost his name from her memory. well, nobody’s names mattered as much as his had, so she’d stopped caring about them. sometimes she even forgot her own. like now. “I’m… A… um…” she’d forgotten about what she’d said just a moment prior, forgotten her own introduction. 

she just wanted to go back to bed, but the words to ask for that were escaping her too.

buckingham found herself, annoyingly, in an uncomfortable position. on the one hand she wanted to up and go, leaving the loony victor to her own devices. on the other hand, she knew that annie had some leverage in the capitol and that hold could be the difference between life and death for the blonde. of course, buckingham doubted the capitol took annie seriously but she wasn’t going to gamble her life to find out the answer to that.

“you’re a...?” buckingham raised an eyebrow as she tried to make sense of annie. there had to be something worthwhile to this encounter, otherwise she knew she wasted prime arena strategy planning time with talking to a wall, essentially. maybe she’d ask minnow what she thought of annie, see if the loony act was something the redhead put on. perhaps that was the ingenious of it all; get everyone to think you were insane and then be a kickass mentor. she hoped for annie’s sake that was at least somewhat true.

it was near the end of the designated training period and buckingham couldn’t help but notice communication between the traditional career tributes had been a bit... scarce. she attributed it to the quell; everyone had a surefire ally with them and the need to find some diminished slightly. still, the blonde knew enough about the games to know the career pack was an essential, integral part. without it... well, some outer district kids could win by a fluke. that was why she took it upon herself to try and rope districts two and four into her alliance with her brother, champagne. buckingham wasn’t dumb by any means - she hated her brother but he had proven himself to be a valuable asset. she’d ally with him and take advantage of him thinking the two of them to be close. 

having conversed with magnus from two, buckingham was happy to see the career alliance was beefing up. four was better than two, obviously, but the usual six (or five, given how young gus was) would help the blonde feel secure in the games. if it all went according to the mental plan she had drafted up, she could coast through the games quite far with the careers. she spotted minnow from afar and made her way over. tucking some hair behind her ear, she offered minnow a smile. for career tributes, buckingham could be sweet; it was only the other districts that her intentions and tone became dubious and ambivalent. 

“you’re minnow, right?” buckingham knew the answer already. she had made it a point to learn the names of the career district tributes. “district four?”

Shiloh was adjuting her cowgirl hat, having redone her braids. she’d tried to explain to the stylist that  dutch braids weren’t the type the capitolites would recognize her in. one of them had even understood her points, having come to the rodeo. still, it was the braids they’d done on her, and shiloh’d had to redo it herself. now she felt more comfortable, and she’d just been coming to a mirror to check how she looked when she noticed buckingham fiddling with her tiara. it was very pretty, dimond encrusted. Shiloh’s own outfit was very sparkly itself, so she smiled, deciding that was enough of a common factor to determine this girl as friend.

“howdy!!” she said, the smile still on her face. “do y’all need some help? ah think ah put one of those in my momma’s hair once…” she could help buckingham adjust it. and why not? they were all about to do the same thing, weren’t they? Shiloh wasn’t scared, not even a little bit. she already knew how to do this, it was just like emceeing the old rodeos at home. except she wouldn’t need to hold a microphone, there was one taped to her face. and this one would be a lot better quality. thinking about it that way, Shiloh was downright thrilled, even though she knew beau’d been dreading this. she’d hold his hand before she went on. for now, she was going to help her new friend.

with the footsteps sounding like they were coming closer to her, buckingham made sure to look at the person. perhaps it was one of the girls from two or four, someone she’d feel less unsure of herself around. when she was it was the girl from ten - shiloh? all buckingham knew was she was bubbly - she felt some relief. the girl didn’t seem to pose her any threat so acting a little sub par wouldn’t kill the blonde. 

she was a little surprised when she was offered help. she supposed she shouldn’t have expected anything different; the girl seemed pleasant enough and had always extended a hand during the training days - why would now be any different? instinctively, buckingham looked her up and down before nodding, crouching slightly so the girl had better access to the headpiece. ideally buckingham would’ve sat down - something about kneeling somewhat to a girl from ten seemed wrong in her head - but with no chairs she had to eat up her pride slightly. “thank-you,” she said, voice low with the words sounding foreign from her mouth.

       『  NARCISSISM . 』 ––––––– that’d been the word that luna had been searching for .  if this was how all the children from the inner district spoke ,  then luna had certainly dodged a bullet .  in fact ,  it almost made her glad to have been born in district eleven .  they were poor ,  yes ,  but at least they knew the value of humility and character ;  none of which were present in buckingham de clare .  

❝ you’re a funny person ,  aren’t you ? ❞  luna chose her words carefully .  if her distaste for the other wasn’t evident by now ,  then the observer needed a reality check .  in that sense ,  luna didn’t feel the need to push it any further than she had to .  but then buckingham addressed her by her district rather than by her name .  how disrespectful .  how predictable .  luna wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing that she’d been offended .  but she wasn’t keen on raising her voice in her response either .

❝ you know ,  to find a place to get away from all the insecurities of the people upstairs . ❞  luna sighed ,  walking over the gaze at the flowers and not at the blonde .  ❝ but it looks like i’ve failed  ,  no ?  ❞

❝ nice score ,  by the way . ❞

from what buckingham could tell from watching years and years worth of footage from the hunger games, studying it for hours on end, was that outer district kids could be placed into two categories. tolerable and intolerable. she hadn’t concluded where she’d place luna but her gut feeling suggested the latter. 

“i’m hilarious,” buckingham replied, sarcasm dripping from her tone. if the girl from eleven would make her disdain evident then buckingham wouldn’t not do the same. sure the lack of reaction from luna just being called by her district number got under buckingham’s skin a little but she rationalised it was an act. nobody wanted to look weak before the games, especially in front of a career. the blonde knew that much.

“on the contrary, you’ve come to someone who has no insecurities at all,” she said with a shrug, watching luna intently. she wondered if the girl would be a problem later on. she hoped not. if she was correct, they got the same score. no matter how much she thought district eleven was below her, buckingham knew better than to let herself ignore the obvious that luna was somewhere along the same level as her. “i don’t blame you for leaving your floor; district eleven’s floor must get so... despair-ridden during these days leading up to the games.”

the comment of her score made buckingham wonder if the girl knew how much she hated scoring less than her brother. she doubted it after a few seconds but still - she didn’t need her weakness getting out. “you too. seven’s a nice number, isn’t it?”

buckingham hadn’t anticipated how nervous she’d be before the interviews. she had never had an issue with talking to other people. in fact, back home in district one, she was known for being loud, charming and confident. this was, of course, to try and outshine her siblings with no avail. here should’ve been different. or at least that’s what buckingham had thought as she paced up and down the corridor. they were due to go soon and a stupid headpiece that acted like a crown or tiara of sorts in front of her ponytail just wasn’t cooperating. she’d call for her stylist but their time with them had come to a close. buckingham stopped pacing, partially to catch some breaths but also because she heard some high heels clacking from further up the hallway. the last thing she wanted was to embarrass herself in front of another tribute and be seen as easy pickings.

Buckingham wasn’t like june.

to an untrained reader, it might be shocking that it took annie this long to officially realize that. but thoughts and connections came to annie in different ways. so bare with her for just a moment, dear reader. the thought first came when annie heard the insistence in her voice, the harsh tones. she was getting fed up with annie. everyone was always fed up with annie. why should this tribute be any different? Annie didn’t talk in ways that made sense. she was loud, she was awkward…

she laughed. she laughed at the idea that buckingham was anything like june. “both.” she decided, simply, to the first two questions. “no… no. only… when the waves roll in. or when the thunder crashes.” when the waves of her imaginary world supplanted her grip on reality, she got like this. when thunder and lightning struck, annie was gone with the wind. “i am… Annie.” she introduced herself, holding out a hand. she was trying to meet Buckingham halfway, be as normal as she could be. focusing on the convorsation helped her forget what had happened.

“is that some district four metaphor that nobody else knows?” buckingham asked, an eyebrow raised. she couldn’t understand annie and, at the moment, she didn’t want to. she knew mental impairments weren’t the ones to be spread around but the last thing she wanted was annie’s mental state infecting her. was it harsh to think like that? undoubtedly. but, then again, buckingham was about to go into the arena and annie wasn’t. 

the blonde girl looked at annie’s hand as if it were something foreign or something that’d kill her if she touched it. after a few prolonged seconds, the girl took the woman’s hand tentatively, shaking it lightly before letting go. her mother had always taught her to be polite; it was one of the few things she had cared to do with her middle child. “buckingham,” she said, voice returning back to it’s poised self. “buckingham de clare, to be exact. of the de clare family.” she often wondered how far her family’s influence spread beyond district one and the capitol. did district four get the golden apples that came from her family’s orchard? she hoped so; her family’s ingenuity deserved to be experienced by panem as a whole.

Reed eyed the girl curiously before slowly lowering the axe to the ground. He noticed the cloth patch pinned to her training outfit, and his brows furrowed in curiosity. The young man had never met someone from a district so successful in comparison to his own. “I like a challenge. Doing things the easy way is boring.” He replied with a shrug and a chuckle. Reed frequently preferred risk to leading a conventional life. “That’s what this entire thing is, isn’t it? One big challenge?” The male tribute offered with a quirked brow.

“Hopping around would be an inconvenience, but it would earn me the sympathy card from some sponsors. Who knows, maybe that’s worth it?” He joked with a small smirk, wondering what the Capitol would think about a one legged tribute attempting to survive the perilous Quarter Quell arena. At least Reed would have his sister’s assistance.

district seven tributes had always intrigued buckingham. she always thought they could join the careers if they wanted. maybe in the future they would. perhaps she, as a mentor, could be the catalyst for that. “usually, true,” buckingham agreed with a nod, “but this is the hunger games? you want to win as easily as possible.” you didn’t want too easy of a win - buckingham had learnt that - otherwise people would see you as a weaker victor. “it is, but the challenge doesn’t need to get hard with one less foot to stand on.”

“maybe. perhaps if you won you could get one of the capitol’s best prosthetics,” she commented with a shrug. she had never looked into any of that; she didn’t plan to have any major failures during the games. the boy’s smile was infectious, to say the least, and buckingham found herself smiling slightly at the hoke. “that’d be one for the history books.”