Forum Thread

Derek stalked over to the other side of the door, then drove his hand in a lang slash across it, enjoying the sound of the material splitting from his force, from his bladed hands. "You're going to be a machine of chaos, of pure murderous intensity." His father's voice rolled through his mind. He pulled his fingers together, then superheated the tips so that they left a long, frightening red trail. He waved has hand in a large circle, then pulled his fingers across the wall and watched the material glow with blue fire for a few seconds. The fires went out and he drew another set of slashes.

"Are... are you okay in there?" Shiloh asks. She looks incredibly nervous, almost ready to bolt any second. She defiantly heard the cracking of fire in there, she could kinda smell it too. She nervously glances down the hallway, half expecting Peacekeepers to be moving over here to stop Derek.

Fulminare's eyebrows went up at the response; most certainly not the one she was looking for. It would appear that he was seaerching for a different tribute, and upon coming into her own room, wore the face of a wolf looking for a sheep, only to find a leapord instead. Whoops. He stepped back, frowning as he asked for her knowledge of his name. "Your name - the TV. It's easy." She cast a good look at the hall of the other Career tributes, before asking, "Who are you looking for?"

Derek stopped slashing at the wall with his flames. He tilted his head and heard a snippet of a voice, Shiloh's by the sound of it. He gritted his teeth. The lights were dim from the amount of dark smoke in the room, but he dimmed them nonetheless. Best to be safe and make sure she assumes nothing. He drove his foot into the pile of furniture items in front of the door, shattering most of them and sending the others flying to the wall. He cracked open the door a bit, smoke pouring from the new escape route. He had his mask off, but he only looked out the door with one eye. The only thing he had kept on was the shorts from the straining outfit. His grey fingers wrapped around the edge of the door, gripping the wood tightly. "What is it that you want?" His voice was completely neutral, monotone, robotic even. The one blue steel eye he showed was filled with rage, though.

"This isn't like you" Shiloh mumbles. "Is something wrong?" She tries to discreetly take a step back. She didn't miss the look of rage in his eye. Wind rises from the floor, forming a shield around herself to stop the smoke from reaching her.

*Short time skip to the next day.*

Everyone was practicing for their interviews tomorrow, their mentors/past victor(s) and escourt would coach them and hope that their tributes would be presentable enough for the Capital crowd. The male victor(s) and escourt would teach them their angle to go for when anwsering the questions and the female escourt/victor(s) would teach presentation (smiling, poster, more smiling, walking, sitting, even more smiling, ect). The male tributes start with the male escourt/victor(s) and the female tributes with the female escourt/victor(s).

Aurora's mentor helped Roxy dress in a full-length gown and a pair of high heeled shoes, not the ones she'd actually be wearing, and instructed Arurora to walk. In Aurora's opinoin the shoes were the worst, having never worn heels before Aurora couldn't get used to walking on the balls of her feet. The dress posed another issue. It kept getting tangled in shoes and when she goes to hitch it up her mentor swoops in and smacks her hand snapping, "not above the ankle!"

Eve was donned in full length gown but not the heels (mercifly), and was learning to use hand gestures as she spoke, which made the child feel incredbly stupid. Apperntly Eve had the tendancy to duck her head to avoid contact because her mentor was getting on Eve's case about that at least every five mintues.

Roxy and Shiloh were sitting next to eachother and learning a bout smiling, which was basicly about smiling more then what they were used to. The mentors of Ten make the girls say tons of banal phrases starting with a smile, with a smile, and ending in a smile. By lunch, Roxy's cheeks were twiching with over use.

"Well, that's the best i can do, just remember, you want the audenice to like you." One of the mentors sigh.

"And they wont because. . . ?" Roxy asked as her cheek twiched for teh umpteenth time.

"Because you keep glaring at them, save it for the arena and think of them as frineds."

"How? They're betting on how long I live! As far as I'm concerned they're no friends of mine!" Roxy burst out.

"Then just pretend!" The mentor took a breath to compose her self and looked at them with a smile. "See? Just like this. I'm smiling at you eeven though you're aggriavating me."

"Oh yes, it's very convincing. I'm going to eat." Roxy kicked off the heels and stomped off to the dining room, hiking the skirt to her hips.


A few of the boys had slowly found their angles through the practice Q&A/interview. One was humble. Another was feirce. Another humorous.

(I know I posted smiling more then once, that was the point.)

---

Derek refused to come out of his room, slamming it shut every time somebody tried to open it. He kept repeating, however, that he would not come out unless he was given the outfit for the interview. Upon getting it, he put it on, replaced his mask, and strode out. It was clear he had complaints about the light grey suit, covered in patterns that were apparently "technological". His mask was on again. He followed afterwards quickly and without hesitation to his destination.

Eve was starting get frusterated, threatening to wail out of frusteration and Lilith could see it. Lilith knew Eve well enough before the games and reconised the signs the child was getting stressed out.

---

"Maybe we should take a break?" Lilith suggests. Her tone was tight, giving no room for disagreement. "You are doing wonderful Eve, you just need a breather. We've been doing this for hours" she points out.
....
Shiloh rubs her cheek bones. "I don't think my face structure will return back to normal ever again after today" Shiloh whines. She decides to focus her interview on her love for Milo. It quickly becomes apparent that she won't be able to pretend being fierce or aggressive. One thing she can do, is openly show her love. She practices ways to naturally bring him up so that the discussion can turn to him, and hopefully have her gain sympathetic supporters.

"I was looking for my broThER, Kanata." Natsume mumbled, before rubbing the back of his head. "AppologIES. I'll leave NOW." He quickly jogged away, goosebumps rising on his arms at how intimidated he had been with Fulminare.

The next day came, and Natsume was shoved into training. His mentor noted that he was young and attempted the cute shy route which Natsume violently rejected. He wasn't going to bow his head and beg for sponsors like a dog. They tried different angels of presentation before they settled on one that Natsume was familiar with, an all knowing magician who would charm the audience with his magic, bringing smiles with his cute and strong personality.

Kanata.... Didn't even show up. In the end, his district mates had to drag the boy from the tub soaking wet to the session. Kanata was a handful, passive aggressively refusing to listen to his instructors and instead doing his own thing, answering their mock questions with his own unique eccentric personality instead of the ones his mentors tried to enforce upon him. By the time lunch rolled around, Kanata had made no progress and instead was floating in water that he had summoned, not really caring

---

"We're nearly finished." One of the other mentors told them. A few phrases later they were finished and ready to go take a breather, and by that it was more getting food to eat so they could swap with the male tributes. Once the girls finished filling their stomachs Even and Lilith were seated on the couch as one of the male victors looked them over, the others were sitting behind him as they looked over at him. "So, what we'll be practicing is what angle you'll be going for durring your interview tomorrow night. Are you humble? Are you witty? Maybe sexy or cocky?"

"That's something we can both agree on." Roxy admitted once Shiloh joins her at the dinner table to eat.

---

Derek brushed off all the complaints about his mask, instead trying to turn the situation onto the instructor. More than once did he point out a few flaws, although never enough to give the man a breakdown. Upon the man telling Derek to focus the interview on his love life, Derek threatened to focus the power of a falling chair on his head. Upon the man suggesting that Derek focus the interview on his ability and what his strategies might be, Derek nearly lunged at him and choked him out. And when the man suggested who his main targets might be, Derek simply chuckled. "You're no good at this, old man. You bring up stupid and pointless ideas. What good are you to me? What good are you at all?" He started on his way to leave, casting an annoyed glance over his shoulder. He made his way quickly to the dinner hall, sitting down and not touching any food. He tossed a glance around the room, taking in everything. His eyes landed on Shiloh, and he remembered how he'd simply closed the door when she asked him a question. He cursed himself silently.

"I don't think you'll give us much of a choice" Lilith says sarcastically. "This one" she puts a hand on Eve's head. "Should shoot for cute and innocent" she shrugs. "I can shoot for anything. Aggressive? Charming? Just name it"

Eve looks up at Lilith and gave a small smile. "Let's just see how you do asnwering questions and see what comes to you the most natrually." Their mentor told Lilith with a tight smile.

---

"I can do that" Lilith replies. She leans back into the sofa, but only slightly. Her muscles are tensed, set to jump at the moments notice. She haven't been able to relax since she came to the HG. She purposely volunteered to protect Eve, and she intends to do just that

Eve's nautral angle was as Lilith had guessed, cute and innocent, but almost to the point on being naive. Even after all the coaching Eve's gaze kept fliting around as if unable to focus on the questions as they went on. Lilith's angle was all over the place, pending on the question she awnsered as she saw fit, but over all it gave her a msyterious vibe, much to her liking. When they'd finished he dismissed them. Eve headed back to her room and picked up her plush cat Zippy and snuggled it close to her, burring her face into it. It smelled nice, like the violet fabric softener her mother used, it was very consoling.

Eve failed to notice Lilith had followed Eve in her room to check up on her, and Lilith got to watch as the child deeply inhaled the scent and flopped back on the bed.

---

Derek spent another useless chunk of time with the second trainer. He already thought he was plenty presentable. He flicked her hands when she tried to remove his mask, eventually getting fed up and simply leaving. He hadn't been dismissed, but he didn't care. The session had been almost over anyways. "Perditio Tempus," was all he said when he left, his eyes wandering around the area. He saw more than a few others, eventually spotting Shiloh. "Time to repent, I suppose..." He started walking towards her nervously.

"You ready for the interview?" Lilith asks as she leans by the doorway and crosses her arms. She was impressed that Eve had been so strong for so long. But she knew that this wouldn't last long.
...
Shiloh raises an eyebrow at Derek as she watches him move towards their table. She assumed that he was coming to apologize, but she still couldn't help but be worried. "Hey, what's up?" She asks nervously

After a long day of grooming and practice, Hayden sat down and ate dinner with some fellow career’s. He was going to be going for a charming approach.

Hailey had worked with some mentors, and she planned to try and be cute for the audience. She liked the idea but also disliked even the thought of having an audience.

Marshal didn’t want a part at all in being trained by a former victor, but he endured it. He basically didn’t have a choice, because the man was so stern. He taught him how to talk in front of an audience and how to use body language. He also made Marshal dress up, and comb his hair.

Finn made his mentor mad, because he straight up ignored him and fell asleep. The mentor just gave up.

---

"Do you have a moment?" His eyes seemed.. Strange, peering through the slits in his mask. "I need to show something. And apologize." His hands were now set gently on the table, his weight leaned forward slightly. "Nothing romantic, I promise! You have.. Milo, didn't you say? You have Milo, and I'd never wish to try and take somebody from their lover!" He spewed the last part like his life depended on it. He brought a hand up to his mask, his thumb and first finger going from one of his temples to the other. He muttered something quickly to himself, probably in a foreign language, Latin maybe.