Forum Thread

19. 18. 17. 16. 15.

Derek looked poised to lunge forwards, but his eyes kept slipping off of the center of the area, and landing on the boy next to him. He stood up straight, then popped his knuckles and neck, then stretched his back. He went into his lung position again. He spotted Eve, then saw she was with Kanata. She was in good hands. Looking around, he spotted Natsume, quivering in his water shoes. Poor boy... At last he spotted Shiloh. Too late to get her attention now... He rolled his shoulders, then watched the clock hit fifteen.

---

Taking his marks, Kanata focused on the cornucopia. He could propel himself quite far just by jumping and he could use his powers to push himself the rest of the way, but in all honesty he wanted to stay in the waters. Going out to actually fight sounded like a chore but last night, one of his district mates had made a wish to him, for him to stand and fight along the careers today. As a god, he would grant the wishes of those who seek his miracles, no matter how much they went against what he personally wanted to do. Thus his focus shifted from the water to the cornucopia and picked out a few items he could use to his advantage.

Swallowing heavily, Natsume prepared to dive into the water, glancing at the girl he was partnered with. She seemed to be getting ready to lunge right at him, a barbaric grin spreading over her face. He decided on simply jumping into the water and letting fate take control of his life. The cards said he would be betrayed, and his faith in his readings led him to believe that he would at least survive this particular encounter. Hopefully. But surviving the bloodbath wouldn't do anything but delay the inevitable as he swallowed down his fear and tried to focus on his goal, the red star behind the cornucopia

---

13. 12. 11. 10.

Eve took a final look around before getting ready to jump it, they had a small water park in Three, so she had some swimming underher belt, but no where near as Kanata, who had been swimming about the same time he could tot, probably.

As the last few seconds tick by, most of the other tributes try to get their plans on what they plan on doing. The gong sounds.

Everyone jumped in, Roxy and Aurora both dived in somewhat gracefully where Eve just did something along the lines of either a cannonball and a belly flop, beign startled from the sudden cannon blast that was the gong.

Roxy swam with the grace of a mermaid (if they exixted) and got to the strip of land, which was as hard and slipery as concrete. She hoisted herelf up and broke into a run.

Aurora had also made it to teh strip of land, another tribute, a boy from 8, had also reached it. She pulled herself up and didnt slow down as she heard his footsteps right behind her.

Eve was about half way to the strip of land, she was, amung all other things, doggy paddling to the strip of land.

---

Derek lunged sideways as soon as the countdown hit zero, leaping across the gap between the platforms and wrapping one arm around the boy's waist. The boy had barely started his jump, and a loud "UMPH" echoed around the area. Derek leapt towards one of the strips of land, throwing the boy in front of him and placing a foot in the middle of his back. The boy hit the water hard, forced down fast by Derek's leg. Pushing off of the boy as soon as he impacted, Derek leapt again, his target now within range. Landing, he turned to look for the boy, not seeing him. He felt somebody grab his foot, and he looked down. The boy was there, snarling. Derek lifted the foot the boy had grabbed, and propelled it into his face, a loud crack and a shout of pain sounding off. Derek shook off the hand, then started sprinting towards the center.

---

Leaping into the water the moment the bell sounded, Kanata didn't even try and make for the strip of land, instead swimming towards the cornucopia itself. It was a bit of an embarrassing secret that Kanata didn't know how to swim at all, without his powers he would sink like a rock and drown, but he was lucky that his powers allowed him to cut through the water like a shark. Reaching his destination, he hauled himself up but slipped on the slippery metal, falling into the water. Trying again, he managed to scramble against the odds and heave himself up onto land as he stood up trying to figure out what to go for first. Grabbing the first weapon that he could, a staff, he flicked wet hair from his eyes and leveled his weapon at the first person he saw, a poor kid from a district he didn't know. "Sorry~" He sang before he got to work, bringing his staff down upon the poor kid's head with a ugly crack.

Natsume shrieked as he was suddenly knocked over, body careening to the side as the girl from District 1 pounced on him, his head knocking against his platform as he slipped and fell into the water. Kicking off the career, Natsume surfaced with a gasp, trying to desperately swim towards shore, limbs flailing as he didn't know how to swim at all. His fear of the water only dragged him down as he crawled towards the strip of land

---

Lilith and Shiloh dive in at the same time. They were both okay swimmers, they at least had good enough form to make it fairly well. The two race against each other to reach the teleportation platform first. Lilith beats Shiloh to it, but instead of escaping she races away towards Eve, desperate to help her even though she was still a long distance away.
...
Shiloh heaves herself up onto the platform. For a moment, she is frozen in shock. People race around, either trying to escape or reach the Cornucopia, so they pay no mind to her. At least for now. She snaps out of it and steps onto one of the platforms, ready to be sent to a certain location in the arena. But something strange happens. Whenever it is a glitch or the Game makers intentionally trying to kill her is unknown. A burning smell hits her nose, it smells like wires short circuiting. Electricity fires through her body; miraculously, it doesn't kill her, it only momentarily paralyzes her. Clicking and buzzing sounds can be heard as the device registers her weight. She suddenly disappears. Instead of reappearing into the certain spot in the arena like she is supposed to, she ends up landing above it. Her paralyzed muscles making her incapable of catching herself as she falls. A tree limb snaps against her head and she lands heavily onto the ground, the air escaping her lungs as she tries to register what just happened. She was no longer in the Cornucopia, but now in the arena; alone and at the mercy of whoever may be nearby.

Hayden jumped into the water, and swam as fast as he could towards the cornucopia. He kicked away a tribute who tired to grab his leg.

Finn jumped into the air, and a small cloud of condensed gas carried him. It pushed him above the water and kept going. He passed some other tributes on the way.

Marshal jumped into the water and swam towards the cornucopia.

Hailey swam away from the cornucopia.

---

Blood drips out of a nasty wound on Shiloh's forehead. She winces and gently touches the wound. A mistake, she cries out in pain. She was bruised up from the fall, but there were no broken bones that she could visibly tell and feel. Suddenly, she hears a sound. It's the sound of feathers ruffling. She turns her head, noticing a falcon next to her. He looks real and alive, but something about the falcon looks odd. He looks slightly transparent, as if she weren't supposed to be able to see him, but somehow she can. He steps forward, glancing down at her exposed wrist. He touches the tattoo that sits on her wrist. A warm feeling moves through her. All of the pain disappears as she is lured off onto a daze-like state.
"Look at you! You think you are strong? No... And yet you still think you hold authority over us" the voice was familiar. The memory familiar. But this was from a different point of view. The person rounds the corner of the stone wall, peeking his head out to watch the sight. A younger version of Shiloh sits on the ground. Broken and bloody. Two boys stand over her, cash hanging from their bloodied hands.
"Give it back! That's mine!" Shiloh shouts. One boy steps forward and punches her.
"Don't tell us what to do!" The same boy shouts. Shiloh glares at them, in her eyes is something different from the regular her. There is fury, and a need to kill. She summons her powers, the wind that surrounded the two was red, evil and thin. Purposeful... She was intending on knocking them out at best, but she seemed much more inclined on killing them. But her powers were weak and underdeveloped, they easily escape it and punch her a final time. This one knocks her out.
"What is going on here!?" the voice comes out of Shiloh's mouth, but it's not hers, it's young Milo's and he sounds furious. She realizes that this is his memory. "Ohh, so you guys wanna fight? How about a little payback for her?" The two boys smile, ready to take on this newcomer. They leave young Shiloh behind and charge forward
The memory fades, but a new one begins. This was moments after the fight, one Milo had won quite easily. Young Shiloh lays on the old couch, the first piece of furniture he had gotten for his shack. He bandages up Shiloh's wounds, and he watches over her, waiting for her to wake up but also making sure that she was doing okay. Shiloh suddenly feels something, this was the first time Milo had felt love for her. Even in this broken state, he still loved Shiloh. He loved her from the moment he laid eyes on her.
Tears stream down Shiloh's face as both memories end. She opens her eyes, noticing that the falcon is gone. She glances down at her collarbone, noticing something. The moon in her snow leopard tattoo is gone, now replaced by a falcon. The snow leopard watches the fleeing falcon, her stance suddenly looking heartbroken. This is the last thing she sees before she is quite randomly knocked out for dramatic plot purposes

The girl from 5 dropped like a rock at the sickening CRACK from Kanata's staff as it made contact with her temple. Though she was a goner from the indent in her skull, there was still life in her now, the pained soft moan as her chest rapidly fell and rose.

Eve finally made it to land and ran down, quickly finding herself face to face with Kanata's staff. The two stared at eachother before another tribute from Four attempted to murder the child, but she ducked and grabed a small backapck before fleeing around the back of the cornucopia, where the other tributes were headed.

Roxy scooped up a bag and a pitch fork, botling to the back of the golden horn. There she breifly stopped, trying to see if she could find Shiloh in the mess of dying tributes.

Aurora also grabed a bag and a short sword, she, like the others, ran around to the back of the Cornucopia.

---

Derek sprinted through the middle, the pathways there rather short. His hands flew out to grab anything they could touch. A bow, arrows in their quiver tied to it, a medical kit, an arm... An arm? He stopped, holding up a career by the arm. Dropping them, he turned, then got hit in the face by a staff. He knocked it away, then watched Kanata start to turn towards him. Wiping blood from his nose, Derek started moving again, hearing Kanata swing his staff at him again, the whish of air barely an inch from the back of his head. He felt the staff connect with his back leg, right at the knee. He felt his leg fold, his body curling to try and roll.

---

Kanata glanced at the dying girl but moved instead to protect Eve, facing his district mate. Shaking his head, he pointed to the still alive girl he had attacked. "Leave some. We'll have 'fun' later." He instructed, the words feeling heavy on his tongue. He glanced around, the bloodbath beginning to spill over and stain the clear waters pink. There was chaos around him as his staff spun and met another tribute who was sneaking up on him, this time breaking the tribute's neck cleanly and painlessly. He was a vortex, water flowing around him as he wielded the staff as if it was an extension of his arm, directing water through his arms and knocking tributes back with wounds that wouldn't kill them. He didn't even register hitting Derek, simply focused on batting away people and keeping his own form safe from harm. His arm moved to pick up more weapons as his staff cracked and splintered after a particularly heavy hit, throwing knives now nestled in his hands as he launched them with deadly accuracy to anyone who came near.

Finally hauling himself up from the water, Natusme coughed and sputtered as he got to his feet, trying to get away. The district 1 girl was stubborn, using any chance she got to try and kill Natsume as he stumbled towards the cornucopia. Blindly picking up a bag, he kept moving, sticking to the edges as he tried to escape the gaze of the combatants who were still there. His eyes met with Kanata's, as he froze in awe of the destruction he paved, elegant movements framed with the splatter of blood and water. It was like watching a hero swoop in and save the day, his admiration for the one he considered his brother only growing. And suddenly Kanata's sea green eyes meet his as a knife embedded itself in his shoulder. He screamed, slipping on the wet terrain and was sent sprawling as two more knives flew over his head, striking the Career who had her sights set on him. The district 1 girl fell into the water with a wet gurgle and Natsume sobbed, picking up his pace as he made for the red star, shoulder throbbing and heart broken.

---

Marshal grabbed a backpack and filled it with a bunch of supplies. He slung it over his shoulder and started to run away. A tribute tried to grab him and he ducked, grabbing the tributes head and exploding it.

Fin grabbed supplies and fleed.

Hayden has grabbed a bow and sword, along with some supplies in his backpack. He pushed away other Tributes and elbowed a girl in the jaw after she tried to take his sword.

---

Derek rolled successfully back to his feet, turning and facing Kanata. Immediately, he turned back around and ran towards the red star. He watched as Natsume reached it, a knife in his shoulder. The teleportation seemed fine for him. Derek still didn't trust it, after hearing the cry of pain earlier. He lunged, landing on the red star, then felt his body jolt. It is a trap? Electricity curled off of his body, then stopped, leaving him panting. He looked up, not knowing where he was. The bow and arrows were still safe, and so was the medical kit. He sighed, then stood up straight, slowly. His knees buckled, the combination of Kanata's staff and electricity temporarily disabling the piston. He looked up and around, panting. Pulling on the zipper of the wetsuit, he shed the tight artificial skin. Looking at his leg, he tried to move it, the pistons unresponsive. He sat down, fiddling with the pieces.

---

xxxxxxxxxYesterday had been eventful, to say the least for Fulminare; after being dragged back to the cramped backstage area, she'd thrown all four of the Peacekeepers off of her; their grips loosening after one mighty buck of her large wings. She and Derek had given them one hell of a headache for sure, judging by the faint angle of weariness that plagued their stance. Once again, pulling up her glamour to disguise herself as human, she warily scanned the backstage area. The disgruntled aura coming off of her was the twin to the one radiating off Derek. The two tributes were at a truce now, at least for the time being.
xxxxxxxxxNo saying whether or not later on in the arena they would be prepared to tear each other apart. The interviews it seems were wrapping up, most of the tributes being dismissed, having had a more pleasant experience with the whole business than Fulminare had. Some small part of her felt nothing but cold rage at their pleasure but was quickly stifled. Then, she was escorted towards the stage by her fellow tributes; they pressed together, holding hands, and joined together in their unity against President Snow. Some were more reluctant than others, but it went around nonetheless. The crowd's tumultuous roar pressed down on her senses, yet it filled her with a strange pleasure. And this would be the only time that they would ever be so closely joined in their dominance, for the fields of the arena would be run red with the tributes blood. The bloodbath was always the most dreaded hour; when Lady Death came to reap her fill. This was the only time that Fulminare had ever felt close to these people. Genuinely. And at this moment, time would surely stop.
xxxxxxxxxAnd who knows what Fulminare Constantius might do if she did see death. She had been groomed as Her mercenary, yet here she was, standing tall of her own volition. Perhaps she might roar in their faces?

xxxxxxxxxBut that wouldn't be the only surprise tonight.

xxxxxxxxxFor Fulminare's gown, the souffle and petticoats, and silk had started to burn away; roaring, voracious flames that devoured the whiteness. The color rapidly faded from a vivid flamethrower-red into the dark navy teal of the evening sky, the sight cresting over her arms. She was a phoenix, something ancient; she could've crowed from the elation and righteous fury building in her bones. Let her burn! And then Fulminare was not wearing her white gown any longer; her dress was now purely the night-kissed silk, with white undertones near her arms. The damper came off - from lack of restraint, who cares? - brilliant pure light cascading through her, racing down her body; light blessing her filling her. And not just her, but the Mockingjay itself.
xxxxxxxxxShe stared straight ahead to the Cameras, straining to see the old man, who'd surely looked up from his cup of poisoned tea. A slight chill breathed down the Career's neck as she envisioned the old president's snake-like eyes locking onto hers, boring into her soul beneath. But she did smile then, a smile filled with the bloodlust of a wolf.

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xxxxxxxxxDawn's light awoke her on the day of the Games. It was a kind sight to her lavish quarters, smoothing over butter-soft silk and even softer comforters. The light was as pure and as bright as the angel's light, yet she groaned softly, shying away. It was not in her nature to flinch from adversity, however, and the groggy Career forcibly hauled her ass out of bed. Her mentor, a cold and lethal brute by the name of Vega, waited silently nearby, her eyes unreadable. There was already a small breakfast brought up and the usual outfit of wetsuit and boots that met her dull blue-grey eyes.
xxxxxxxxxWait, wetsuit and boots? This was going to be an aquatic arena?
xxxxxxxxxFulminare ate sparingly, her appetite compromised by the usual pre-arena nerves. Her other mentor back home had already given her some mental exercises to work with it.
xxxxxxxxxHome. The very word brought a knot to her throat. Kardia would surely be home with her kids, preparing to send them to school, where they would surely be forced to watch the televised Games live. It wouldn't come as a shock to either of them; they had always stolen glances when she wasn't looking. But they would surely be worried sick. Fulminare knew she had to appear strong. For their sake at least. Surely Kardia's defiant flame would keep the family together.
xxxxxxxxxIt was almost time. Strolling in long and even strides toward the door, she followed Vega to the transporter. The morning chill breathed down both of her arms, leaving goosebumps in her wake as the Career shivered slightly.
xxxxxxxxxNot all of her tremors had to do with the cold, but Fulminare kept her head high and eyes set forward. Even as she boarded the plane that touched down to her launch site. The Career kept her eyes forward, precarious silence bringing calm to her senses. She jolted as she felt her mentor slide something onto her neck. A wolf bangle, the beasts hypnotic quartz-white eyes too aware; she could've sworn the thing was sentient, a haunted being observing its master. Vega gave her a firm hug, a tight one; neither of them found it necessary to fill the silence with words. Besides, it was better for her to go into the arena clear-minded.
xxxxxxxxxIt wasn't until the glass dome went down that she realized something was off the entire situation. And with the way Vega was staring somewhat sadly in her direction...the door opened to yield six peacekeepers. Their focus narrowed solely on Vegas. Which meant the glass was meant to keep her away from...Fulminare's shrieks of fury echoed loudly as they attacked Vegas with a vengeance; raining down hard, cold, blows, meant to break bones but not to kill. She pounded on the unyielding glass, bellowed Vegas's name until they dragged her out of the room. Even afterward, as the platform began to rise and Fulminare's voice cracked to silence and she was brought out into the sunlight to face the arena. She'd come out just in time for the last seconds of the countdown it seemed, but it took great effort to push down the hollow, dangerous rage that was going to consume her.
xxxxxxxxxShe was going to kill them all; she wanted to tear them apart, piece by piece for what they'd done to her.
xxxxxxxxxBut even so, she forced herself to focus on the Cornucopia, the promising gleam of the steel, that beckoned for her to shed blood with. She knew how to swim well enough; had trained extensively to develop an aquatic-based skill set.
xxxxxxxxxLet the 150th hunger games begin.

As the tributes were teelported to diffrent parts of the arena, a large water park, they found that if they were in an allaince the tributes were teleported to the allied partner(s) wheres if they were alone they were teleported away from other tributes. Those at the Cornucopia were finishing off the blood bath, gathered what they wanted and followed the other non career tributes that had been teleported into the arena. Once the survivors of the blood bath were in the arena, the golden horn and everything on it blipped out of exixtance, bodies, weapons, supplies, everything. The weapons and supplies that hadn't been claimed were teleported to a shop run by a girl with long teal hair. (SHOP'S NOT OPEN YET)

Eve was teleported the second she reached the red star, suddenly jerked off her feet and landed in a large pool of water. The child's head broke surface as she coughed and sputtered, most of her hair was pulled up in twin buns on the back of her head but the whisps hung in her face. "Lilith? Fulminare?" The child flondered to the edge of eth wave pool, gasping and coughing as she waited for her teammates.

Roxy landed in a diffrent part of the arena then what Shiloh was in. With a frown she carefully started her way around.

Aurora landed near a large blue and yellow slide, getting a bit tangled in the bushes nearby.

---

Derek found himself asleep. "Well, that's one thing I've done wrong here..." He went to sit up, then heard a small screech of protest, the small owl from earlier having sat down on his metallic sternum. He looked down, the small bird a little less transparent now. He reached a hand up, then gently lifted it off his chest. Sitting up, He looked around. Trees in the distance, versus giant plastic and metal slides. He stood up, opting for the trees and starting towards them.

---

Natsume fell with a shriek, away from any other tributes. Crashing through the trees, he braced himself for impact, chanting under his breath a featherfall spell. It did little and the pain was enough for the poor boy to black out, eyes rolling to the back of his head as his uninjured shoulder slammed against the forest floor. When Natsume finally regained consciousness, he could see a shop beyond the trees, but he was too tired to try and do anything so he simply laid there, trying to catch his breath.

Dropping down with the rest of the careers, Kanata's face showed displeasure and uncertainty. He had heard Natsume scream but wasn't aware that he was the reason why he got injured in the first place. Worry gnawed away at him but it was all pushed aside as the other careers swarmed him, praising him for his skills in the bloodbath. It left a bad taste in his mouth but he smiled through it as he was once again hailed as a god. Unlike before where he would nod and not even question if he was a god or not, he found himself wondering if he really was as powerful as everyone said he was. He couldn't protect Natsume back in the bloodbath, and he couldn't make Shiloh's wish come true in the purest sense. Whenever he couldn't fulfill a wish, he had always rationalized that it was because he was young, he was new to being a god and granting wishes, it was only natural that he stumble in his first steps of godhood, but now he wondered if it was simply because he was human too.

---

The sounds from the water park's speakers were playing a lively, upbeat song though there were no vocals or lyrics to be heard. Considering that this was a death arena and not some happy joyous amusment park as the arena was masquerading, it was heavily ironic. The canon blastst started, on and on until Ten canonon blasts fired in total.

Somewhere near Natsume and Kanata the young woman with teal hair was almost lasily tending to a large stand with weapons and supplies with price tags sitting on shelves behind her openly on display. As she tended to her shop, an almost siren like vocals ushered from her as it beckoned any nearby tributes to come investigate.

Eve glanced up at the cannon blasts, ten dead and 38 left to play.

(Shop is now open!~)

---

xxxxxxxxxFulminare had disappeared into the water as soon as the cannon went off, the form-fitting wetsuit allowing her to cut through the water like a dolphin; like a shark after prey, the Careers deadly form laced through the water, charging at full speed. Her hands found land, and hauling herself on top of the rock, she broke into a full out sprint. Most of the other Careers were already ahead, tributes falling around them like rain as they were cut down. But she didn't focus on them; her gaze was focused on the tributes around her and the weapons awaiting her at the Horn. She , their comforting weight focusing her as she scanned the battleground.

WIP

With a groan, Natusme rolled onto his back and gripped the knife, tugging it out of his shoulder. The sudden pain made him whimper as he pressed his hand against the wound, blood spilling between his fingers. Getting to his feet, he supposed that the first order of business would be to check out the store he could see not too far off from where he was and slowly made his way over, his injured hand grasping the knife as if it would do anything to protect him. The blood rushing around him made it hard for him to hear the song she sang, but he eventually collapsed by her stall, breathing heavily as his eyes roamed the wares up for sale, woozy with blood loss.

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