[M] The 46th Annual Hunger Games {Jannah x Zulera301}

[Nachthexe]

Rated M for violence, strong language, and other mature themes

It was the day that children all across Panem dreaded. Reaping Day. This especially didn't please one girl in particular who was trying with all her effort to block it out. "Shitballs! I knew this day was coming again. The damn Capitol just doesn't know when to give us a break. You'd think that sooner or later they would worry about their entire system collapsing down on them." Paige moaned as she finally forced herself out of bed. Hanna was clearly already up, likely preparing a breakfast of some sort. This managed to please the intimidating looking dark haired girl as she began dressing herself.

Several moments managed to pass with Paige just examining herself in the makeshift mirror that managed to occupy one part of her wall. She was truly an unusual looking girl, even by her own district's standards, but it didn't bother her. If anything, it allowed her to stand out. It allowed her to leave an impression. Whenever anybody came across the "woman with the backwards hair" they almost immediately knew who it was. Paige Alwin, only one of the most outspoken citizens in all of District 8. Of course the girl didn't often think of the grave consequences of her words, but she didn't care as long as she managed to ignite that spark of rebellion that lingered within nearly every citizen in her district.

"Good morning." Paige greeted Hanna, her girlfriend as she walked into the kitchen of their small rundown house. It certainly wasn't much, but Paige felt it right to take over the place once her parents disappeared. She figured that with nowhere else to go there was nothing to lose, after all. "You're damn lucky today. I wish I was twenty-two. I bet that entire lottery is rigged. I wouldn't put it past that asswipe Snow to do something like that." Paige ranted as Hanna took a place at the table with breakfast. Almost immediately she began devouring the sausage. A rare treat in an impoverished district like 8.

"I decided to save it for today. Eat up. We don't have much time otherwise the Peacekeepers will come here for you." Hanna responded, even letting out a chuckle at the last part much to the dismay of the bitter woman beside her. Her feelings about such "jokes" were made very clear too as she just rolled her eyes and began munching on the sausages in front of her. Very soon two more children were going to be selected to go to their death in Panem's Annual Hunger Games, something Paige definitely didn't feel made appropriate humour material despite what past victors thought. The victor of the 44th games, Sagittaria Svenja, immediately came to mind in that regard.

Almost immediately after finishing their food Hanna found herself ushering her girlfriend to the door. She hated the thought of either of them having to go to the Reaping, but she knew there was no way out of it. Paige was still eighteen, thus eligible for one last year. Hopefully she could avoid the sadistic lottery one last time, although Hanna knew the chances were slim if what Paige consistently said about rigging was true. It was no mystery, after all, that Snow didn't like competition and competition to him was anybody who had a spark of rebellion. Paige very much fit that bill which rightfully left Hanna with plenty of fear for the day's outcome.

The walk to the Justice Building where the Reaping took place annually was quite short, only taking a few minutes. Paige naturally felt uneasy living that close to the place, but it was something she had grown quite used to over the years. Besides, one couldn't be too selective in where they lived in a place like District 8 as it was so large. That was a trait that really showed too as she glanced into the crowd of all the eligible children. All those between the ages of 12 and 18, in fact. She couldn't help but to feel sorry for them as they all stood there, awaiting to find out if they get to live another year or not. Coming out a victor in District 8 was relatively slim and everybody knew it. Being an urban district naturally gave District 8 a disadvantage nearly every year. Of course, there were exceptions such as the 45th games, but how often did that sort of ruined city environment occur? The natural environments tended to be the more popular ones. "I suppose I will see you later? Just give it a bit and this will be all over for another year." Paige let out a sigh as she left Hanna to go join the other eighteen year old females that were all lined up.

Once everybody was present Paige glanced up towards the front and noticed a few lone figures on stage. The district's Capitol escort and behind her sat the mentors. Each had their role to play, even if they were just more Capitol puppet roles in the rebellious girl's mind. It only took a few seconds before the escort woman, who Paige knew as Augusta, to begin speaking. It was the usual Capitol spiel, followed by a propaganda film, that Paige didn't believe a single word of. It was, of course, something she wanted to shout out right then and there, but instead of attracting the attention to herself she just rolled her eyes. It was really the only selection of tributes she payed any attention to anyway.

"It's time to select our tributes for the 46th Annual Hunger Games! As always...ladies first!" Once the propaganda film ended Augusta bellowed out with her flowing purple hair billowing through the air. It was rare for any of the Capitol citizens to wear their hair down, but clearly Augusta had. It didn't seem to bother the woman either as she finally placed her hand inside one of the transparent orbs in front of her. She then raised her arm and proceeded to read out the name on the small slip of paper. "Our female tribute for the 46th annual Hunger Games is...Paige Alwin!" Paige almost immediately let out a gasp upon realizing who it was. There was only one Paige Alwin in all of District 8, certainly.

"Shit!" Paige cursed out as her first instinctive reaction. This had all eyes on her as the Peacekeepers proceeded to make their way towards her. It was definitely going to be a long day.

[Zulera301]

Reaping Day... In some districts, this was an exciting time for them to lunge forward to volunteer for the 'games, putting their lives on the line for a single shot at what could only be described as fame and glory. Sure, volunteering for fame and glory did not sound like a terrible idea until you took into account that losing meant death--literally. That kind of put a damper on things if you asked Alice DeSiete. On the other hand, the notion intrigued him, but he would not be volunteering any time soon. He knew enough about his district, himself, and a lot of other tributes that he would rather not tempt fate and going to die. Besides, he was only 14. his name was in there a few times because of the tessarae he took out, but such an action was fairly common here in District 8, so it wasn't like his name was just begging to be picked or anything.

The boy's name was not the only unusual thing about him though. he might have looked like an ordinary boy, but he acted... well, uniquely, for better or for worse. He had been up a few hours already, just idling his time away in his room, sketching an image of a girl from District 12 named Hazel Prezelin, in great detail. He knew what time he had to be there at the Justice Building, and was not in any rush to get there, nor would he need to be escorted. Heck, his parents probably didn't even realize it was today. They of course, did not need to attend, being well over the age of 18 themselves.

Perhaps it was something of a tragedy, but there were two separate entities that lived under this roof--one was the entity of Mr. and Mrs. De Siete, and the other was their son Alice, whose very existence they hardly acknowledged. This was fine in his eyes, because he was fairly capable of taking care of himself, although every now and again, he would long for someone else's company. Sometimes, volunteering for a death match didn't sound like a horrible thing.

Alice played by his own rules though. He dressed himself to go attend the reapings, looking fairly decent in his black getup, although almost as if to be defiant, he did not wear any shoes. District 8 might not have been as dirt poor as '11 and '12, but most people could afford a decent pair of shoes, and Alice was one of them. That did not mean he cared though. As long as he was physically present, he felt that there was no reason for anyone to get their panties in a wad.

He finished the drawing, which had Hazel ducking as an axe flew over her head and striking a girl behind her, signing it before tossing it back into his pile. he slung the light bag over his shoulder and made his way for the square. The Peacekeepers could inspect the bag all they wanted--all they would find would be pencils and paper. Considering that it was of no consequence and that even his pencils were not exactly weapon material, they decided to let the little boy with the paper get away with it. He was no threat.

During most of the opening moments and propaganda and such, he began drawing, occasionally glancing up as if expecting to see a boy and a girl walk up to the stage. He did see the bubbly escort lady from the Capitol appear, as well as another woman that he recognized as Challis, a victor from a decade or so ago. He'd have to look it up again when he could, so he could remember what 'games she was from. For the moment though... he heard the usual phrase "Ladies first".

Paige Alwin... that name rang a bell... as he saw the girl get escorted up to the stage, he couldn't help but express his thoughts aloud. he remembered something that had been said 6 months ago during the last victor's tour--a girl from District 6. She had been really cute, if Alice recalled correctly.
"Oh shit! she jinxed it!" he uttered aloud. it was not like he had shouted it on the mountaintops or anything, but he did get a few perplexed looks. A moment later--he had almost missed it, the boy's name was called.
"Alice DeSiete!"

"Oh shit!" he exclaimed, this time much louder. "*I* jinxed it!" with a shrug though, he weaved his way through the crowds to walk up to the stage. There were hushed whispers along the crowds, some of which were even snickering at the notion of a boy having a girl's name, while others just knew him as "the kid who draws really well". Still... his mind was then diverted from it, as he heard the escort's announcement:

"Ladies and Gentlemen... This year's tributes..." Augusta announced, "Paige Alwin and Alice DeSiete!"

[Nachthexe]

Once Paige was dragged onto stage by the Peacekeepers, very much against her will, she began impatiently awaiting the second victim. Alice DeSiete. She definitely recognized the name from just six months earlier and clearly fate wasn't kind today. Certainly the younger boy who then joined Paige on stage was well-known as many eyes were on him. Paige also glanced towards him and could feel nothing but anger. Anger towards Panem, anger towards Snow, and anger towards the Reaping. There was truly no winning against either of them, sentiment that Paige wanted to acknowledge the world about right then and there. But she was merely a pawn now. Another pawn who was sure to face certain death as she was truly convinced now that Reapings were rigged to eliminate the undesirables.

The reception of the two latest tributes was met with mere silence from the rest of the crowds, despite the enthusiasm from Augusta. Nearly all of District 8 knew what getting reaped into the Hunger Games meant: certain death. That was hardly something to celebrate and Paige knew it more than anybody. "That fucking thing is rigged! Remember that!" She bellowed into the crowds, much to their surprise, as she finally found herself being taken inside the Justice Building. It was there that the reality truly sank in. She was actually a tribute and somehow she suspected there was no way out of this. Certainly people were allowed to volunteer, but it rarely occurred in the poor districts. Besides, who would even put their life on the line for somebody who was probably destined to be reaped anyway? Paige just knew that somewhere deep in the Capitol Snow had been watching the entire thing with a smirk of approval on his face.

"Damn, you have some serious balls, girl. I heard you. Hell, all of Panem heard you." Hanna commented as she entered the room. All tributes were at least offered the chance to say final goodbyes to their families, although Paige knew she didn't have anybody. Except Hanna. She was the one woman who seemed to always be there for her regardless of circumstances and, hell, even tolerated her wild and gutsy antics. It was certainly the least Paige could have asked for in a friend and companion.

Paige shrugged. "You know how I feel about this shit. I think Snow just wants me eliminated. I wouldn't be surprised after my last stunt with his dicksucking Peacekeepers. They could have just shot me there, yet they didn't. I suppose since they knew they can just reap me instead. It's all a farce." She explained before letting out a sigh. "If I'm going to die then I might as well make myself remembered. Maybe my ideas will even inspire others to free themselves from their chains." The Peacekeepers. Certainly just one bane of Paige's entire existence. She found herself thinking long and hard about their last words as she confronted them with plenty of intention to subconsciously take them out; "Watch your back, bitch. Snow knows. Snow always knows, and he always gets his way."

"I'm not really in a position to comment on such things as I just don't know enough, but I feel like I can trust you on this. Certainly your parents hadn't died for nothing so I just can't help but to think that maybe you're right. All I can really do now though is wish you luck. You have some skills so regardless of what happens you have a bit of a chance I suppose." Hanna responded, shedding a few tears as reality began to sink in her for too. As much as she didn't want to admit it to herself she already had strong suspicions she wouldn't see Paige again. Realizing this, she placed her arms about the girl and began embracing her tightly. This was followed by a passionate kiss on the lips which Paige whole-heartedly returned. "I love you." Hanna uttered as she finished up the kiss several seconds later, then stuffing her hand inside her pocket to pull out a small object. Almost immediately, Paige realized what it was. Just one of many rings Hanna had self-crafted. They were simple, yet beautiful.

"For me?" Paige asked as she examined the ring more closely. It was definitely one of Hanna's more intricate works and it was very possible that some had even made it to the Capitol. Everybody knew they had a passion for flair, after all. Acknowledging her, Hanna just nodded before slipping the ring onto Paige's finger. Shortly after, it began shimmering under the light. The girl had definitely outdid herself.

"I wanted to give it to you on your birthday, but instead I brought it along today. You know, just in case the unthinkable happened." Hanna explained, wiping away her tears she had been shedding. Much to the woman's surprise Paige managed to remain relatively calm about the whole thing, but perhaps it was just a show. Certainly she was filled with plenty of angry she was just waiting to unleash. "The Peacekeepers are just outside the door though and I'd rather you not mess with them today." Hanna added, noting thuds on the door from the Peacekeepers. It was obvious to any tribute and their loved ones what that meant. Their time was up and now both had to prepare for the inevitable. Hanna knew she was powerless to resist so just left the room peacefully just as the Peacekeepers stormed in to escort Paige to her death.

Anger. Sadness. Pity. All were emotions that Paige found herself shifting between as she finally found herself being taken to a car and then finally to the train that would ultimately escort her to the Capitol. "Do shut up, I have enough to deal with already!" She snapped as Augusta began showing her typical escort excitement over the whole endeavour. Paige quickly came to be reaffirmed just how much she disliked the Capitol. Certainly Snow and his inner circle she despised, but the rest she couldn't help but to feel a sense of pity for. Perhaps so many of them didn't even realize they were being manipulated and controlled by what was marketed to them as entertainment? Augusta served as a nearly flawless example of that in Paige's eyes. Of course, there was also the anger she felt about the games themselves and the sadness she felt at having to leave behind Hanna. Most of all though she quickly found herself pitying the young boy who now sat near her, also to be taken to his death. He was generally a boy who kept to himself and absorbed himself in art so certainly he was about the last person to deserve the fate he got.

[Zulera301]

For someone who likely had a snowball's chance in hell to win the Hunger Games, Alice seemed very calm about it the entire thing, shoving his hands into his pockets and watching the crowds with a neutral expression. Unsurprisingly, no one volunteered for him--not so much because no one knew him or no one liked him; simply that the crowds of District 8 knew better. Last year had been a lucky shot, for the urban environment had helped the tributes Markus and Haide get reasonably far, even if they did end up getting killed off by the beautiful Glimmer and the massive Valendria. This year, he figured they would not be so fortunate, for the Capitol never had the same (or even similar) kinds of arenas two years in a row.

Alice had done his research though... in similarly rebellious Districts such as 11 and 12, they would raise three fingers to their mouth and then to the air. It had apparently originated in District 12, although District 11 understood it and caught on. While no one in District 8 was terribly familiar with it, it did not stop Alice from doing it towards the crowds as he was taken inside the Justice Building. He was admittedly surprised that Paige had not gone on some hateful tirade towards the Capitol, like she would so often do. If nothing else, he knew that she was safe for at least another week or so, because now that she was a tribute, she was valuable up until the moment the arena countdown reached zero. After that though, therte was no saying that the Capitol could not just "accidentally" kill tributes. He did not know too many times when it happened, but there was a certain District 6 boy that had been a promising tribute until he went berzerk and started trying to eat the dead tributes. He had been killed in a freak avalanche, and Alice knew that that was no accident.

"I half expected something longer," Alice quipped, although once inside the Justice Building, he simply reached into his bad, pulled out a pencil and paper, and began sketching, swinging his bare feet back and forth as he listened to the conversation between Paige and Hanna. Even if they didn't respond to his remark, it was still there. He often spoke his opinions aloud even if no one heard or reacted to them. He seemed unfazed by the fact that he was alone, although Hanna might have noticed that she had been the only one to come in to say goodbye to the District 8 tributes. Alice had nobody, so he was just passing the time by doing what he did best. Besides... 15 minutes was more than enough time to whip up a really good sketch.

Also present in the bag was a small, transparent capsule-like ball around the same size as a golf ball. This would be Alice's tribute token--or rather, the two small, red dice that were in it would be. these were hardly larger than dimes, so it was not like he could theoretically throw them at other tributes' pedestals or something. They were not weapons at all--just ordinary dice. He looked at them for a moment, muttering "seven" before throwing them onto his paper. a 5 and a 4 showed up. He shook his head and put them back away, and continued his sketch. Eccentricity was one of this boy's strong points, after all.

He continued listening to Paige and Hanna's conversation as the image on his paper began taking the form of a woman in a gown. He cracked a smile at the conversation, remembering that the girl next to him had always seemed to have these run-ins with Peacekeepers around the district. If nothing else though, any Peacekeeper that came to District 8 would have his or her work cut out for them--they were a troublesome bunch, and the Capitol knew it. Perhaps if it had been a less crucial industry to their well-being, they would have bombed them already, but the Capitol was too attached to their fashion to let it go--like a monkey with his hand in a jar.

Alice's sketching continued, and the woman in question was making obscene gestures towards the viewers. He spared no expense on adding the details to his work, and the woman's gown was long and flowy, especially considering how tall the woman in question was. He did look up when Hanna mentioned that she was giving something to Paige though. He saw the ring, and the artist inside of him couldn't help but compliment it, even if the two much older women didn't give a shit what some little 14-year-old boy had to say.

"that's very beautiful." he commented before returning to finish up his work by adding details to the woman's hairstyle and the makeup to her face. He might have just been a fashion designer himself, but he appreciated fine art, fine products, and fine crasftsmanship. That had been part of why he had admired the tributes from District 6 from the previous year's games--they had crafted their own weapons in the arena, and in dim or poor lighting, at best, and the amount of effort and craftsmanship that had gone into Dezna's crossbow in particular, had not been lost on him.

Soon however, he heard a knock at the door, and knew it was time to leave. Quietly, he finished his sketch by adding thick, bold letters to the top of it before posting it on the walls. It would probably not last more than a few hours or days at most, but his work was done. It depicted Valendria, that enormous girl from District 4 last year, in her interview gown, except her arms were out passing obscene gestures to her audience, and the expression of anger on her face seemed to match it. The large, bold letters atop the image were simple, but powerful.
"The odds are NEVER in our favor."

He knew that woman's story, and despite everything the Capitol thought she stood for, he knew better. Alice was an observer first, and then a doer. He watched the Peacekeepers semi-regularly, knowing which ones would react to what kinds of things. There was one that he nicknamed "Blacky", for example, that reacted very dramatically to anyone out after curfew. Luckily for Alice, this guy was usually in a different part of the district far from where Alice lived, so he seldom ever crossed paths with him. He knew the mannerisms of other important people such as the mayor and a few others in his inner circle, and knew that any sucking up done to the Capitol was all just an illusion. He had recognized these traits in Sagittaria Svenja, victor of the 44th Hunger Games, when she had stopped in District 8 too. No wonder she and the mayor had clicked well.

He was not even sure if Paige had noticed the image of Valendria that he had posted on the wall, but either way, he shoved the pencils and paper back into his bag, and followed. Unsurprisingly, the small bag was inspected before they were escorted, but Alice kept his cool. He did not bring any actual drawings, so all they would see were a few harmless pencils and paper, as well as the dice, which he explained briefly were his token for the games. Whatever the case, it checked out enough that they let him pass. It seemed one of them knew Alice as "the kid with the drawings" anyways, and either pitied him, or figured that he was about as dangerous as a butterfly, both to the Capitol and in the 'games, and so he was let through.
Once in the car heading towards the train, he barely said two words to anyone. He did glance over at Paige for a moment before... sure enough, whipping out another paper and beginning to sketch again. "did you catch it in the Justice Building?" he asked curiously, nodding towards his drawing as if to suggest what he was talking about.

[Nachthexe]

Paige had been contemplating about everything that was to come just when she found her thoughts being interrupted by Alice. He clearly wasn't a talkative boy, but certainly when he intended to speak it was probably something important. Besides, Paige was admittedly intrigued by the young artist boy who sat beside her as they both prepared to meet their ends. With some luck the next weeks would be an opportunity to learn more about him, despite their circumstances. "The picture? Yea. Valendria, right? The Capitol would have offed her too..." Paige nodded, notifying the boy that she had, in fact, saw his picture. It soon reminded her of the night just six months earlier during the Victory Tour when Kiva had been in the district. She too had been intrigued by the boy's artwork. Hell, everybody was.

It was only a few minutes later before Paige and Alice found themselves then loaded onto the train. That was truly the point of no return for at least one of them, although Paige didn't exactly have high hopes for a District 8 victor this year. She knew how polarizing her viewpoints in particular were so she knew the Capitol would have plenty of incentive to "accidentally" kill her. It was known to happen in the past and suddenly it was a fate she found herself fearing. Alice, on the other hand, didn't look like he could even harm a fly. District 8 truly was getting the short end of the stick, unless the younger boy's looks were deceitful and hiding something much more lethal? Only time would tell.

"To the Capitol we go! Once there you will both get to meet your stylist team! Exciting, right?" Augusta bellowed once the train began moving, much to Paige's dismay. In her eyes there was no sugar coating a death match and not even fancy costumes could change that. Challis, their mentor, didn't seem to care about anything going on at the moment as she was clearly lost in her own thoughts.

"Yea, exciting for Capitol puppets. Who knew? The only time we ever get to wear any of this stuff we make is when we're being dragged to our deaths. Figures. Look at District 11. They're fucking starving and have all the food in the world." Paige responded to Augusta, rolling her eyes. Almost immediately Augusta gasped before glaring at Paige as if to scold her. The escort woman knew very well she was now working with somebody who was bound to be incredibly difficult. "Look shocked all you want, but it's the truth. The truth that Snow and all his lackeys are afraid to face." Paige continued, shrugging before sitting back in her chair. It was much fancier than anything in District 8, yet was surely the work of one of the district's many upholsterers. Another not so subtle symbol of the Capitol's decadence.

Several more minutes passed before Paige finally approached Challis. Being the tributes' mentor, she intended to get the the most out of her as possible. Fortunately for both Paige and Alice the woman had survived the games once before so was bound to be the expert. "How about just getting down to business. Only one of us can make it out of that hellhole and I'd be damned if it's not District 8." Paige explained to the mentor woman, finally taking a seat directly across from her. She looked exhausted, but clearly it was just a result of having mentored for so long. That alone stood as testament that the woman needed replacing, even if to Paige victors were merely just Capitol puppets. At least they seemed to be transformed into such and at least some were going down that path willingly. Districts 1 and 2 immediately came to Paige's mind, probably her two least favourite things after the Capitol itself.

[Zulera301]

"offed her?" He tilted his head. "Nah... I think they woulda just kept using her. They liked her too much to want to accidentally kill her. You though..." He was not exactly the kind of boy to sugar-coat things, but he knew that the Capitol tended to silence rebellious folks. A lot of people in Districts 8 and 11 went missing because of things like this. Nonetheless, his statement was true. The odds were never in their favor--not just never in District 8's favor--just never in anyone's favor but the Capitol's. He wondered who would see that image first, and wondered how they would react. To ensure that everyone who saw the picture knew it was Valendria, he had added the number 4 to the front of her gown.

As they boarded the train, Paige would notice Alice looking in every direction--something he seemed to do a lot when he was in front of something or someone new. As they boarded the train, an odd serial number caught his eye: DZN-414-RZA-413. Blinking, he wondered what the RZA-413 stood for, but DZN reminded him of Dezna, that District 6 tribute boy from last year. It was no mystery, after all, that District 6 was responsible for building trains and planes and cars and hovercraft and whatever other machines and vehicles the Capitol used. "interesting coincidence." he chuckled, before hopping aboard and getting comfortable.

Despite Paige's remarks, Alice actually nodded. As Paige turned away to find and speak to Challis, Alice shifted over to speak to Augusta more subtly. "Sorry about her... long day..." he whispered, "and if it's any consolation... I'm excited." This was not him trying to butter her up either. If there was one thing that he was excited about regarding the Hunger Games, it was the stylists. It was an odd thing, perhaps, for a boy to like, but on the other hand, it was what he did as a profession back home, and so it was one of the few aspects that dominated his life

Alice was also very well-aware that while it was the mentor that decided when a tribute received sponsor gifts, it was the escorts that usually helped set these sponsorships up. His hopes were low of ever getting such prizes in the arena, but on the other hand, his hopes of emerging from the arena in one piece were much lower even than that, and so if he was going to die, he didn't want it to be said that he went down without trying. No, he'd help butter up the escorts and the Capitol, but not in the way Districts 1 or 2 might do so. No, Alice was going to butter them up by being himself. His passion for colors, fashion, and designs was not something he was feigning. If nothing else, that was the single thing that he could say he had in common with the Capitol, and so he was going to play on it for everything he was worth. The realization that hew as on his way to his death had dawned upon him quickly, and while no one else in the world might have cared about his loss... he wasn't ready to go yet, and so was going to try and do everything in his power to get himself out alive. Paige... well, he figured that even if he put all his energy into her winning the way Valendria had done for Glimmer... it'd still be in vain (A right shame too, because Alice had been hoping Glimmer would have won last year). The Capitol was probably out for her blood after what she had just said to Augusta.

"nice hair by the way." he chuckled up at the flambouyant woman, before instantly pulling out a pencil and paper and getting to work on another sketch. Now and again, he looked at Augusta, who still seemed a bit horrified at the girl that she would have to deal with. Alice could tell that this was going to be a losing battle for this Capitol woman, and that Paige was just going to be a nuisance all the way to her death. On the other hand, he smirked, finding that the gall this girl had was impressive, and amusing. A few moments later, he put his pencil away, but left the paper on the table for Augusta to see. It was an (unsurprisingly) incredibly detailed image of the woman herself--nothing exaggerated, not even the hair. He did not often caption his images (the Valendria one was a rare exception), but this one had one simple word in large letters near the bottom: "FASHION".

He'd let her make of it what she would. His attention was now on Challis as well, although the woman seemed uninterested in either of them, perhaps sick of mentoring tributes who would just end up dying anyways.
"What do you want to know?" She looked up nonchalantly, as Alice instantly was back to being crouched over, sketching again. The kid never stopped drawing, it seemed, and thus he did not answer Challis' question. "It ain't like there's any one path to survival, and shit if I'm gonna waste my breath bitching to you about stuff that doesn't mean shit in the arena." She was usually not this harsh; but it had been a long night for her, and she was running on very little sleep at the moment--that was enough to make even the peppiest escort grumpy, really.
Either way, Alice did not seem to care about her plight either, and was much more interested in his newest drawing, which was already taking the form of two individuals.

[Nachthexe]

"Did you see the way she acted? That screamed rebel to me. The whole thing seemed fishy to me the moment she surrendered herself to that District 6 girl." Paige explained, realizing her feelings about Valendria were truly mixed. On the surface the girl had seemed like a typical Capitol suck-up, but further into the games she had shown herself to seemingly have little interest in winning. Certainly such a thing was bound to be contrary to what the Capitol wanted since they had loved her; Paige wasn't quick to forget all the attention the girl had gotten both in the pre-games and while in the arena. Of course in a twisted sense of irony the girl had instead decided to end it all, certainly to the dismay of her Capitol admirers. Anything that peeved the Capitol certainly got Paige's approval.

Augusta smiled as Alice complimented her hair. Despite being unusually plain by Capitol standards the woman clearly cared for it well, managing to leave it surprisingly smooth. That in itself was a wonder, considering the amount of dye it likely possessed. "Thank you. I'm glad at least one of you is enthusiastic." She responded to Alice, chuckling. Ordinarily the woman enjoyed District 8 as they were often some of the most eager to try on the various Capitol fashions their stylists designed for them. Many of them were budding designers and fashionistas themselves, after all. Of course their resources were usually limited, being much poorer than the Capitol but they were resourceful. That in itself managed to give District 8 fashion its own unique charm and even Augusta found herself fascinated by some of their designs.

Challis seemed slightly annoyed by Paige's presence, but the girl was determined to get tips from her. It was just a little over a week, after all, until they were to be thrown into the arena. "Hmm...well let's see. Knowing how to stay alive would be helpful. My parents didn't bother teaching me any of that shit. I suppose they just never thought I'd ever need it. Bastards. So...anyway. Survival. How does all that work?" Paige began, very quickly finding herself annoyed by the mentor woman's demeanour. Paige wasn't sure if the woman genuinely didn't want to help the two tributes in front of her or if she was just drained. Either way, she wasn't about to inquire. Only the games mattered at this point and proving to Snow she could survive was bound to be the ultimate gesture of disdain towards the man, even if she knew how unlikely it was to survive. A girl could dream though, but alas the Reaping was probably rigged and she was going to die.

Unsurprisingly, Alice was once again immersed in his drawings. He was unmistakeably the same boy she had met just months earlier and it made Paige feel good that the boy's art was still going strong. He was passionate and a part of Paige wished the boy had chosen to channel that passion into rebellion. Nobody deserved to suffer, after all, even if just the thought of revolution was incredibly distant and unrealistic. The Capitol had strength even if the districts had manpower. Still, the boy had talent that certainly couldn't be overlooked so Paige suddenly found herself feeling incredibly disappointed that the boy was probably going to die unless he miraculously picked up a skill in the following week.

[Zulera301]

"course I did... I'm pretty sure they cut stuff from the footage too... no one suddenly starts crying like that..." It was the small things, although apparently it had been enough to satisfy most people. "Besides... do you really think that they would have given her a moment's peace? She'd probably just end up living right in the Capitol or something. There's a reason I chose her as the subject of my drawing in the Justice Building."
If there was one thing that Alice could be counted on to know... it was people. He may not have interacted with them very often, but he seemed to possess an uncanny ability to read between the lines.
"On the other hand... they did get her parents..." he indicated, remembering seeing them during the Reapings but not during Kiva's victory speech, "wonder what those poor bastards did."

"You're welcome." he smiled. "this is for you, by the way." he indicated the picture that he had left on the table. Rebellion was a touchy subject for obvious reasons, but at the same time, even if the districts managed to go on a genocidal spree and wipe out the Capitol, what would it accomplish? He glanced back up at Augusta, as if trying to imagine her as a military commander giving out orders from the Capitol to attack the various districts, as had supposedly happened during the Dark Days, or whatever they were called 46 years ago. Nope... he couldn't see it. the escorts and probably the stylists, were probably about as harmful as children. He couldn't really see them being trained in the art of combat and military the way Peacekeepers were. you tear their clothes or something and they'd stop what they were doing just to flip a lid at you before running home to get changed or whatnot. He mentally chuckled at the thought.

Challis still did not look up, instead with her feet on an unoccupied chair across from her, and her arms crossed. One oddity Alice noticed about her was that she had a Capitol pin on her breast. He wondered why this was...
"Staying alive is the art of not getting hit when another tribute strikes at you." Challis quipped, finding the idea of the question annoyingly broad. Surely she had been asked it by every set of tributes since her own victory years ago. "and the art of not letting the Gamemakers do you in. There's no real secret to it, especially without knowing the arena or the other tributes. I will say this much--if you know your enemy, and know yourself, you won't need to worry about any fight you get into. If you know yourself without knowing the enemy, then you're basically a toss-up, and are as likely to die as you are to live. If you don't even know yourself, let alone the enemy... you're fucked, plain and simple."
She paused for a moment, lifting her head a moment. "However... at the same time... remember who the real enemy is." She muttered slowly, thumbing that Capitol pin on her chest. Had she worn it for that sole purpose?

Alice nodded before returning to the drawing at hand, which seemed to be taking the form of Paige Alwin. Challis' words, while simple, gave him a spark of hope. Knowing the enemy was half the battle? Perhaps he really could be himself and get pretty far. He knew there would have to be more to it though. He'd have to observe everyone, including Paige--learn their strengths and weaknesses, and more importantly, learn how to deal with or counter them.
Alice's pattern with captioning pictures was usually if it was a single subject, or was not a Hunger Games setting. Any picture with words on it (apart from his signature), was one that lacked a background, and so there was a pattern to his works.
The subject image in question though was definitely Paige, with an angry, almost shouting expression on her face, and the caption "FUCK THE CAPITOL" at the top as if that was what she was shouting. Considering the vulgar gestures she was making with her hands and body, it was clear that this was his intent. He had collections of anti-Capitol stuff that never saw the light of day, so it was a good thing no one ever searched his house or his library.
"shhhh..." he whispered, sliding the sheet off the table and passing it to her underneath the table. Augusta was off doing ehr own thing and Challis didn't seem to be paying attention anymore, and so the move was stealth, as far as Alice was concerned.

[Nachthexe]

Paige nodded. "I know damn well they cut footage. Snow is afraid of his entire regime collapsing and I can imagine him squealing like a little bitch whenever any of us says or does something he dislikes." Paige couldn't help but to wonder what exactly had occurred that had prompted the censors to act. The fact that anything had been cut at all served as a huge hint to her that clearly the Capitol hadn't approved of Valendria's actions. Naturally, that brought her to the conclusion that the massive District 4 girl had had a rebellious streak of her own. Paige also found it especially curious that the girl hadn't explicitly spoken during her interview about wanting to win, unlike most of the others. Had the girl been intending to defy them and their game all along? There were so many questions Paige had in her head about the girl that surely only a few others knew the answers to.

Valendria's parents. So clearly Alice hadn't been the only one to notice it. They had indeed been absent during Kiva's speech and Paige had been quick to point it out to Hanna as the two sat together watching the footage. Naturally, the older girl hadn't thought too much of it, but Paige had of course been raging. She knew exactly what it meant. The girl had rebelled and her parents suffered the consequences for it. Snow's tactics were all too predictable by now and certainly Paige dreamed to be able to defeat him at his own game. "That's what Snow does. He subdues people through fear. What better way to do so than by killing their loved ones?" Paige explained, eying Alice intently. She hadn't been slow to notice that at the Reaping he had been alone. Had his parents been killed also? The boy certainly showed some rebellious tendencies through his art, as Paige now knew. She didn't dare inquiring about the subject, however, instead focusing on the frustrated mentor.

"Well I was hoping you would be helpful, but I suppose this works. Know your enemy? Alright. Can I please then go burn down the entire Capitol? That Kiva girl showed us the proper way to deal with those cuntmuffins." Paige responded to the mentor, shrugging. By this point she felt fortunate that Augusta was no longer paying much attention, but Challis managed to chuckle at Paige's words. "Right, but this is about my survival. I know I can fight. My parents ensured it, but I'm admittedly rusty." Paige confessed, shifting the topic to what was most important. This immediately had Challis examining Paige with intrigue before proceeding to speak. She knew she'd have to derive more information from the girl later on, but in the meantime she shooed her away.

Several moments later Alice proceeded to pass Paige his drawing which she accepted. Upon first glance she found herself chuckling. The boy definitely saw everything the rebellious young woman aspired to be and more. Now if only it could translate into actual revolution... "Careful. You might get flogged for that." Paige advised the boy as she examined the drawing a second time. It was funny really as the treat of punishment probably didn't even scare him anymore. He was already being subjected to one of the worst punishments of them all and technically tributes had immunity until the timer in the arena hit zero, after all. Certainly with that in mind there was little that could faze the boy now, even if he did seem like the delicate timid type on the surface.

[Zulera301]

Alice chuckled. "Of that I have no doubt... I actually heard that Valendria's parents were super-loyalists to the CApitol or something, and that Snow thought they had raised her up to be a rebel all along or something... so maybe their deaths aren't exactly a tragedy after what they did to that poor kid." He did have some considerable sympathy for the mighty Valendria, despite what many people thought. Someone that strong and cunning and deadly was not usually the type to be sympathized with, but instead feared and respected. Alice had definitely respected her, but had also respected the notion that she did not want to win. So in theory, the fact that he was rooting for Glimmer to win had also meant that he was hoping Valendria would get her wish. Luckily, it seemed that that Kiva girl had fulfilled that much at least.

"So I guess everyone wins." he shrugged, "none of those other kids have to deal with trying to get molded into that killer mindset that they pushed Valendria through, and Snow got his wish of killing all rebels or something."
Lowering his voice, he looked up at the taller girl again, and added: "I guess that's where I have an advantage. My parents barely acknowledge that I exist, let alone that I do stuff. If Snow wants to go after 'em... I say go right ahead. They probably wouldn't even notice that." It wasn't that the boy hated his parents, per se; just that he didn't care about them anymore than they cared about him. Unless they killed him outright or bombed the hell out of District 8, there was nothing the Capitol could really do to him. He knew this, and took full advantage of it, even if he was usually subtle about it.

"Well... just make you don't get too sassy with me, woman, or I'll go give District 1 all the proper tips on how to lacerate you in the bloodbath." Challis retorted--clearly she had as sharp a tongue as Paige.
"No," Alice piped up, "you won't. I can see it in your eyes--you're just as sick as anyone else is of this mentoring gig. I've seen you enough."
"So you actually think you can do it then..." Challis looked up, almost approvingly, both at Alice and at Paige. "well then let me put it to you this way... at this point in time... there's really not a whole lot I can tell you, even if I wasn't feeling like straight up shit right now. Tell you what--once we get to the Capitol and we get to catch a glimpse of the other tributes, I'll be able to do the whole mentoring thing a lot better. They are the largest variable in the 'games besides the arena itself, and I'll see if I've got any contacts that can tip me off--though chances are it's gonna be rural.
"So basically, you promise that once we get to the Capitol, you'll be useful again?" Alice quipped. Young as he was, he wasn't stupid. He had a sharp tongue of his own--it seemed to be a thing in District 8, after all.
Challis narrowed her eyes. "Kid, if that's the way you want to put it... then let's go with that. I'll do what I can to keep y'all from becoming District 2's next meal once I get to see the other tributes."

Immediately, Alice began expressing his feelings towards Challis on paper, right after handing Paige the image he had drawn of her. "Flogging a tribute?" he smirked, "they wouldn't dare... but if there are Peacekeepers waiting for me in the arena, I think you and I could have some fun."
He was starting to make it clear to Paige (or at least he hoped he was) that he didn't have any strong feelings towards the Capitol either. He might have been smooth-talking with Augusta earlier, but he had a plan all laid out anyways. He was a very analytical thinker.
"Anything I missed?" he glanced from the drawing to Paige and then back a few times, as if seeing if there were any minor details of the girl he had not put into the paper. He felt he had captured her expression and personality quite well, and was now aiming to do the same for Challis.

[Nachthexe]

There were many mysteries about Valendria that remained even after her death and her parents' intentions was just one more. As long as much of the footage of the 45th game's final moments was kept from the public these mysteries would only persist. Paige knew that well and the one person who truly knew what had gone on in the arena, Kiva Rivnay, didn't seem like the type who would share it openly. Certainly she was going to be in the Capitol, but tributes never interacted with the mentors of other districts. That was incentive enough for Paige to just drop the subject, knowing she would never obtain answers.

"So you do have parents? There I was thinking yours were dead also..." Paige listened intently as Alice proceeded to explain his own situation. He definitely wasn't an orphan, but in his case he might as well had been. Paige couldn't really decide which was worse; having loving parents who disappeared or being ignored by them. "I was close to mine, but then one day they just disappeared and never returned. I was only fourteen at the time so since then have kind of just taken over their home, but to this day I'm still convinced Snow and his dicksuckers had something to do with their disappearance. Nobody just fucking disappears and never returns, y'know?" Paige explained with a hint of melancholy in her voice.

Paige immediately became surprise as Alice confronted Challis. The boy certainly had a sharp tongue himself, perhaps another trait he had been hiding. The boy was quickly revealing himself to be full of surprises, but maybe it was a strategy he had quickly developed himself for the games? There were no explicit rules, after all, that tributes had to share everything with their District partners. Hell, there were not even rules they had to be allies at all and the 44th games stood out in Paige's mind as testament to that. Krystal had clearly held her district partner in disdain, even willing to sacrifice herself against him. Perhaps there were even deeper undertones and that Krystal had actually been a rebel, but Paige thought that incredibly unlikely considering her district. "He's right, you know. You don't want to be here and neither do we. That means you and all your friends in the Capitol need to get one of us the hell out of here." Paige commented, interjecting. It certainly didn't take any deep analysis to inquire that Challis was tired of mentoring, having done so for at least a decade. Fortunately, examining the other tributes seemed like pretty sound advice in itself and as far as Paige knew they all trained together in the same room.

"Yea, you got me there, kid. We're like precious gems to the Capitol until that timer runs down. It's a sense of irony that sickens me." Paige responded to Alice, once again examining the drawing. Certainly tributes wouldn't face floggings anytime soon, but they were bound to face everything worse and the irony wasn't lost on Paige. "By the way, I think you have this pretty dead on. All it's missing is a knife through Snow's forehead." She then added, noting the drawing's distinct lack of anybody but herself. Truly the kid had fantasies of his own, however, about a Snow-free Panem.

[Zulera301]

Alice remembered something in Valendria's interview that had vaguely referenced that her parents were behind her 'dedication' to the 'games, although it was not enough to answer the question of where their allegiances had been. If they were in fact Capitol loyalists, maybe she had purposely tried to get them killed by saying that they had raised her exactly to turn out this way, only for her to turn out to be a rebel. That would certainly do them in, for sure. Either way, the Capitol's hold on Valendria was gone now, since she was dead, and never to return. It was a very interesting subject for Alice, but most of the information that was obtainable about her was stuff he already knew. The rest would have to be patched up by himself and educated guessing, and so he too dropped it.

Alice cracked an ironic smirk. "nah... people randomly disappear all the time... usually people who hate the Capitol too much or something." the sarcasm was clear in his voice, and therefore it was obvious that he understood exactly what Paige was complaining about. "I guess the good news is that they've got nothing they can really do to me... or are they gonna come in and burn my drawings? boo hoo. I'll make new ones." he chuckled. He was good at sharp comebacks, but he was not terribly charismatic or anything the way someone like Sagittaria was. He did seem quite pleased with the fact that he could not be threatened though. Well, getting killed would suck, and sure so would losing his artwork, but he was able to crank them out so quickly that he could probably regenerate most of his collection within a week or so if he dedicated that amount of time to it.

Challis nodded. "well then... I'll keep my word. You two let me have this afternoon off, and tonight and every day from then to the 'games, I promise I'll answer anything and everything about the 'games that your little hearts could desire. Deal?" Mentors could observe the tributes from afar, as well, whichi in turn could help them gauge who was dangerous and who was potential alliance material, or anything else in between.
"Sure," Alice nodded, turning to Paige as if to see what her response was.
"Oh, and one more thing, sweetie," she looked up at Paige. "them Capitol folk ain't my friends anymore than they'd be yours. Remember whose side most of us victors are on..." Most victors, after all (at least, most victors outside of Distrit 1 or District 2), were not tools of the Capitol because they loved them and wanted that to be their lot in life; most had no choice.

After finishing the picture of Challis and sliding it aside, Alice began work on yet another sketch. This one took the form of Zerviah, the District 6 mentor that had just been replaced last year. Shortly after seeing her, he had shuffled a few years back to watch footage of her interview. He saw her getting angry, but then there was a large, noticable portion cut out. He was pretty sure he knew what happened, so his sketch depicted Caesar next to Zerviah, who seemed to have a rage-face similar to the one he had given Paige, and a similar "fuck the Capitol" attitude.
"ooooh,:" he chuckled at Paige's suggestion, "give me that a second. I'll add it."
Snatching the paper, he sketched a tiny image of Snow in the background behind Paige, a knife through his forehead and a somewhat comical "dead-face" expression on his face. "better? or should I start over and make it a poster?" he laughed, handing it back so he could finish the Zerviah sketch.

[Nachthexe]

"I doubt they would really care since you're here now. The 'games' are a death sentence in themselves." Paige responded, shrugging. Certainly Alice was discreet about his own rebellious streak, but if the Capitol were to find out about it there was nothing they could do now. Except make his life hell in the arena, but that was pretty much a norm for anybody who ever reaped even if they weren't intentionally targeted. It certainly stood true for the previous year's victor who had been completely traumatized the moment Paige had spoken to her about the fire.

"Fine. I have plenty of thinking to do myself. I don't know about Alice, but I have somebody I care about to return home to." Paige then turned her attention back to Challis one last time before letting out a sigh. Her returning home? As if it was going to happen. She was almost positive the Reaping had been rigged against her and wouldn't even be surprised if Peacekeepers had gone after Hanna as well. It was well-known that none of them liked or tolerated vocal opposition, and not even families were safe.

Paige was becoming more and more surprised by Alice during each passing minute and his addition of dead President Snow to the drawing was no exception. The kid certainly had guts of his own, even if he had managed to conceal it which was likely for his own protection. This got Paige thinking about the various scars that ran down all sides of her back. Floggings clearly left more than just humiliation on a person and Alice hardly deserved the same fate. He had seemed so harmless back in the district, although Paige didn't bother inquiring about the sort of activities the boy may have engaged in back home. "Once we get to the Capitol let's go do that to that shitstain for real." She commented, once again glaring at the drawing before winking at Alice. Of course she hadn't been entirely serious as such a revolution was impossible, but it was a nice fantasy that continued lingering in the girl's head.

[Zulera301]

"I guess I'll have to win it then," he shrugged, "give 'em all a big "in your face" as I win and evade their ever-controlling hands. of course... everyone's already out to get us anyways though... I shouldn't have jinxed the Reaping..." he chuckled, thinking back to how he had exclaimed how Paige had jinxed the reaping, only for his own name to get called seconds later. He was fairly certain they had rigged at against Paige, but had they done the same for him? Did they really have a tab on him, or was he just misfortunate the way so many children usually were? He was inclined to try and challenge them though--if he was going to die, he was going to at least show them that they had no control over him--he was going to play this game on his terms, and die accordingly.

"Hopefully the Capitol doesn't get them too then." she warned, knowing of Paige's antics. Frankly, it was hard not to have at least heard of the overly-vocal young woman's tricks, and Challis, being one of District 8's two local celebrities, had heard of her. Lately she had sort of taken to keeping tabs on the eligible children, hoping to find any candidates that could potentially be victor material and thus replace her. She didn't exactly have high hopes of Alice, but she too had to at least admire his artistic talent.
"I don't exactly have anyone to return home to," he shrugged, "but I kinda want to live, y'know?"
he cracked a smile, as if his joke was somewhat cute and ironic, if nothing else.

The dead image of President Snow that he had added to Paige's drawing was small and only recognizable as him because of the beard and the rose on his chest, and so was not terribly detailed. On the other hand, there was a reason he was familiar with "Blacky" from back home, and propaganda was not a stranger to him. He was essentially a byproduct of shitty parenting, and there was no doubt about it.
"I can see it now," Alice laughed, "so here's the plan. Step 1: avoid Capitol traps. Step 2: Win the 46th Annual Hunger Games. Step 3: Get crowned the Victor. Step 4: pull a knife out of your costume and tackle Snow to the ground. Step 5: Stab him to death from your advantageous position. Step 6: Take one for the team as Panem explodes in a riot, and Peacekeepers swarm your ass and kill you on-sight. Step 7: Something. Step 8: Profit." He grinned proudly, knowing full well that it would never succeed, but at the same time, if there was any way for it to happen, that was it. Maybe he could use his passion for fashion to convince his stylists to plant something sharp in his victor outfit if he won the games. It was not reasonably realistic at all... but all of it did at least give him a good laugh.

[Nachthexe]

Paige let out one of her rare chuckles. "No, you didn't jinx it. Those shitstains certainly wanted to get me sooner or later." Despite having so little information at this point Paige's theory was pretty much in the bag. It would truly only take confirmation from Snow himself to place the final nail in the coffin, but since that wasn't going to happen the girl just stuck to what she already knew and drew her own conclusions: her parents' disappearance, her own outspokenness, the floggings, and the various warnings from the Peacekeepers as she left the District Square each time as a bloody pulp. Fact was that somebody was trying to make her life hell and certainly the Reaping was just the final step in that. It was the most discreet way to eliminate troublesome youth without anybody else batting an eye, after all.

"Oh, if they go after Hanna I'll personally wring all their damn throats." Paige assured Alice. Certainly that in itself was unrealistic, but was the girl even safe? Paige certainly couldn't put it past the Capitol to eliminate her too if the Reaping had indeed been rigged against her. If they were truly keeping tabs on her then certainly they knew Hanna was one of the few people left that she cared about. "Well if you intend to live you have 23 people to kill, including those ass kissing careers. Not exactly an easy task." Paige added, realizing Alice's own confidence towards the games. He certainly had nothing to lose by dying nor did his family if what he said was true so it intrigued Paige slightly the boy would even consider returning home to be an option.

Pulling a knife on Snow at the crowning ceremony? Now that was what Paige considered tact and it made her chuckle slightly. If somebody truly managed to pull off something of that scale they would no doubt become legendary all across Panem. Of course they wouldn't last long against the Peacekeeper forces once outed, but if anything they would be a martyr by that point. Paige could already imagine the rhetoric in her head; "We have a country to win, for the one who stabbed Snow." It left her with a smile on her face as she proceeded to retire to her room as nightfall came over the train. "I imagine we will be arriving in the Capitol tomorrow? Yay..." She uttered sarcastically, leaving the others behind.

Paige wasn't sure when she had dozed off the night before, but quickly she found herself awaking as light began flooding into her quarters. From this she managed to draw the conclusion it was sometime early in the morning, but regardless she just got up and went through her usual morning routines of washing up. Fortunately the train compartment featured a shower and a much more complex one than what was present at home to boot. Initially she had problems trying to operate it as so many past tributes surely did, but soon she found herself being soaked in pink liquid reminiscent of soap before finally being rinsed off. Interestingly enough, the drawers in the room also had several changes of clothes so Paige slipped in and put one of those on before finally going out to the dining compartment where the others were bound to be waiting. "Luxurious showers too? Figures the parasitic cunts back in the Capitol would have those." She uttered as she slouched down into one of the chairs.

Augusta quickly took notice of Paige's arrival. "You're quite the cheery one aren't you?" She responded to Paige's comment, chuckling and waving her hair out of her face. "Eat up. We will be arriving in the Capitol within a few hours." She continued, then taking a seat across from Paige. So far neither of the others were present so as she worked on ignoring Augusta, Paige instead just began filling her plate with food to eat away what sorrows she could. It was bound to be a long week in the Capitol and Augusta's presence very much seemed to confirm that for her.

[Zulera301]

he chuckled. "well, I meant that I jinxed it for myself... I figured you had jinxed it for you at least 6 years ago." This was not so much a mocking comment as much as just an observation. Unlike many, this one was more assumption-based, but perhaps it was also beside the point. He wondered when it had started--had it been before she was 12? If so... were there any tabs on him? He was not as unknown as he liked to think. Just because his idea of "being known" was him knowing someone's name and face, didn't make it so--people knew Alice DeSiete even if he didn't know them.

"They will. Without a shadow of a doubt." Alice 'reassured'. It just seemed like a likely scenario, and there was nothing Paige or Alice could do about it even if they tried.
"23 people to kill..." he nodded, "or 23 people to outsmart. I think if we played our cards right, I could get the careers to do most of the dirty work for me before outsmarting them. They're usually not a very intelligent bunch." It was true that most of the career tributes relied on brute strength, and were a usually few pawns short of a whole chess set, but more often than not, that was prevalent in District 1. District 2 tended to produce smarter tributes now and again--Alice had noticed a trend that any time District 2 produced a tiny female tribute, they had almost always proven to be one of the most cunning and deadly kids in the arena.

Alice grinned at her seeming approval of his "plan". Technically, if the stylists could provide him with a sharp or jagged piece on his costume, he could actually theoretically try that.On the other hand, Snow did seem to know everything, and so would probably catch him in the act. He wondered if the president could fight... surely he had his ways of outsmarting and outdoing his enemies without the help of armies and peacekeepers... it was a strange thought. "I'm mentally bracing myself," he quipped, "I might die from an overload of colors. Maybe those kids from District 6 and their Substance 21 or whatever had the right idea..."

Alice stayed up a bit longer, sketching a few more things as the train zipped along on its way to the Capitol. After Paige left, he started sketching a Hunger Games scene. Actually, it turned out to be something of a comic. It was an unspecified 'games, and 22 of the tributes were just faces that Alice had constructed himself. He put detail into each and every one of them, considering that these were not full-size images. His images were divided into various-sized panels more appropriate for comic-making.
All in all, the endeavor took about 3 hours from start to finish, and he left the stack of papers that were his "book" on the table. It depicted a Hunger Games scenario, except that the girl from District 4 was Valendria and the girl from District 12 was Kyla. Needless to say, they were the last two standing, and the last half of the comic was them in various fighitng moves and poses as they tried to do each other in. The last panels depicted Valendria announcing "Ladies and gentlemen... we have decided it is a draw!" with her and Kyla bowing, and then disappearing down the pedestals again. He chuckled at the last part, and then left them on the table as he crawled into bed to sleep.

Alice found the showers in his compartment the next morning to be rather amusing. He analyzed the colors for a while, letting them wash and caress his body before getting dressed in a loose, breezy tunic and a pair of baggy pants. He stayed barefoot again. Incidentally, Alice's papers from the night before were still resting on the co0rner of the table (Augusta had probably shifted them aside or something) where Paige was, before Alice appeared a few minutes later.

"Mornin'" he shrugged rather neutrally, sitting down and loading his plate once again. He had no qualms with eating his fill here, really. It might be one of the last meals he ever had. He didn't seem to be up for much conversation, although he did reach over and grab his loosely-made comic book to see if anything had been tampered with. It seemed that fortunately, nothing had.

[Nachthexe]

"Keep dreaming, kid. The careers train for this much of their lives just to show how much of a suck-up they truly are. You don't stand a chance, but for the sake of balance I don't either." Paige explained, finding herself rather skeptical of Alice's intentions to win the games. Certainly District 8 needed another victor, even if just to relieve Challis but it seemed about as likely to Paige as her parents returning. Urban districts usually had a disadvantage and that was only further cemented by the fact that few within them had any real combat skills. District 5 was perhaps the one exception due to their expertise with electricity, which served as a weapon in itself. Certainly the story about the District 5 girl electrocuting the District 4 boy in the water was now legendary, even if the girl in question had not won her respective games.

The next morning Paige wasn't slow to overlook Alice's pile of papers on the table. Out of pure curiosity she began flipping through it, noticing a comic of some sort. A fantasy battle between Valendria and Kyla appeared to be occurring within its pages. As much as Paige disapproved of the games that was admittedly one showdown she would have been fascinated by. Both had arguably been the most powerful tributes in their respective games, yet had both been struck down. That irony wasn't lost on Paige, although she was even more fascinated by the fact Kyla hadn't been struck down sooner. The girl was well-known for having been half-deaf, after all, which got Paige wondering if it was a common occurrence due to working around what was probably loud machinery in the District 12 mines.

"So I see you were busy last night." Paige commented once Alice took his seat at the table as she finished flipping through the last few pages of the makeshift comic. "Kyla Togisala. Probably all of Panem knows that name. If mining makes people into that sort of badass then it almost makes me want to go be a miner. I couldn't handle the starvation though. District 12 truly is treated like the asshole of Panem." She continued, as she set the papers back down on the table. Since Kyla's place in the games nearly two years ago Paige had developed a strange fascination with the place. Despite their oppression and poverty they still managed to hold their heads up high and fight on, but most of all Paige found herself greatly empathizing with them. They were clearly receiving the short end of the stick more than anybody else yet were powerless to stop it. This was a fact they had almost managed to adapt to. At least that was what it seemed like every time she saw footage of anybody from there.

What seemed like hours managed to go by as Paige just sat in silence glaring out the train windows. Naturally, she had no idea to determine exactly where they were, but if Augusta had been correct they were surely soon approaching the Capitol. Geography teachers back in District 8 certainly enjoyed emphasizing the fact that the Capitol was actually surrounded by a natural mountainous barrier. Upon seeing the mountains on all sides Paige quickly realized that perhaps they were currently travelling right through it and would come out on the other side to the massive Capitol city. Of course, the strategic purposes it must have served during the last rebellion weren't lost on her either. Simply it was difficult to penetrate mountain barriers and even that was a fact so often emphasized in the districts, even if just for propaganda purposes. "Yes, we will be arriving soon if that's what you're wondering!" Augusta soon took notice of Paige's keenness at watching everything pass by, and naturally the Capitol woman had a difficult time containing her excitement once again to the dismay of Paige.

[Zulera301]

Alice shook his head, keeping a somewhat straight face. "The only thing stronger than fear is hope." he warned. "I'm not gonna count myself as dead and gone till District 2's axe is through my chest or something. No point in just laying down and dying, right?" Right? was he so sure of this, or was he just looking for reassurance that might not even come? "we're already fighting against impossible odds," he reminded her, "all of our talks and dreams of rebellion? Never gonna happen. Does that stop us from trying or dreaming? Why should we dismiss the notion that one of us could survive this thing?"
He shrugged again, not trying to chastise or preach to her, really. "Just a thought."

There was no way anyone besides the inhabitants of District 12 would know it, but Kyla's hearing deterioration was actually caused by an explosion in a mine--the same one that had killed her father, no less. It had been near the end of the day, and she had been coming to meet him after a long day at work when it had happened. Long story short... it was part of why Kyla had become so desensitized to death. She was never the same after that.
Perhaps the most touching thing about the end of Alice's comic though, was that it showed Valendria and Kyla shaking hands and then embracing each other, as if they were friends. Obviously nothing in those sketches could ever happen since both tributes had not only never met, but were also now dead, but it was a nice little thing to read and to think about, at the very least.

Alice grinned. "I always am..." he nodded, eating some food and then... you guessed it: pulling out another sheet of paper and sketching again, this time taking the form of Valendria once again. "12 and 11 both... one gets overlooked because no one else cares about them, and the other gets crushed under the Capitol's iron fist because of their importance... I have to hand it to both of them--they are very alike, and very resilient. I might have rooted for Glimmer last year, but my money was all on Kyla the year before." Kyla's name was one that transcended District 12 and the Capitol, after all. It was extremely popular in District 11 as well (perhaps unsurprisingly), and also had a bit of popularity in '4, '5, and '6.
"As cool as Valendria was..." he continued, "I think what made Kyla so legendary was that no one expected it. That's why I'm so interested in her, at least." That was also something he hoped to emulate--he hoped to be someone significant in these games--the scrawny little artist boy from District 8 that everyone thought would die in the opening seconds... only for him to surprise them another way.
"I mean heck... even if I could surprise them the way Hazel did... that'd still be pretty cool. Everyone probably'd think I would die within 8 seconds or something, and then BOOM. I end up living for a couple weeks and taking 5th or something. I dunno." He seemed oddly optimistic about the games, but given his stance on not wanting to just lay down and accept his death, perhaps that was not so surprising.

As the train continued on, there was mostly silence. Challis did not seem to be up yet, but she had promised to mentor them more effectively once they were in the Capitol and able to meet the other tributes for the first time proper. Alice was going to make sure that she stuck to that promise.
In the meantime though, he finished his sketch of Valendria, all decked out with her various weapons, as well as the body armor, which had likely come from sponsor gifts. Once again, it had a caption, and it was the same as the one that he had put in the Justice Building.
"The odds are NEVER in our favor..."

Shortly after he finished, he took time to look out the window. "Welp... here we go..." he glanced back down at Valendria, wondering what had gone through the girl's mind as she looked up to see this very sight a year ago today. "the beginning of the end, I reckon."

[Nachthexe]

Paige's eyebrows rose as Alice spoke. The source of his quote certainly wasn't lost on her. Snow, of all people. Perhaps even a broken clock was right twice a day, although Paige saw little source of hope in the Hunger Games. It was nothing but a death match with only one survivor, after all, and plenty were surely to be more qualified than herself and Alice. Immediately the careers came to mind. Also the brilliant minds of District 3. What the pair had managed to pull off the previous year was certainly a force to be reckoned with. A rainbow lightning generator. It had been oddly fitting too, considering the District 6 pair's lightning and rainbow themes during the interviews. Coincidence perhaps? There was truly no way of knowing.

Paige nodded. "Yea, those in District 11 have quite the shitheads to deal with allegedly. Frankly they would be the ones rebelling first." She noted, recognizing that despite the similarities between Districts 11 and 12 that was where they stopped. There were certainly plenty of rumours about District 12's laid back Peacekeepers, but the same certainly couldn't be said for District 11. It made sense in Paige's mind though as food was clearly a much more important resource than coal was, or whatever it was that District 12 mined. Naturally, she wasn't entirely convinced the Capitol was being fully truthful about the coal thing, after all.

"You have a point though. Valendria acted exactly the way everybody expected her to. Kyla? Not so much. I could imagine Snow having a fucking heart attack as he watched the girl unleash her power for the first time." Paige commented, shifting the topic and realizing just how different the two girls' legacies had been. Of course it had Paige quickly wondering about what sort of threats they would be up against this year. The careers were the obvious one, but what about the outlying districts? Would they manage to produce some kind of unexpected powerhouse? If so, it was definitely bound to complicate things a lot, particularly for Alice who was actually convinced he had a chance to return home. At least the boy had managed to be discreet about his disdain for the Capitol, which would had given him no chance otherwise.

"Yea, the gates of hell themselves. Soon..." Paige found her thoughts soon being interrupted by Alice who despite being busy at work on another drawing, had managed to peer outside. They were still very much surrounded by mountainous landscape, but it had an odd sense of awe to it, especially considering that at least one of them was never going to see it again. This especially stood true for District 8 since it was an urban district seemingly distant from any mountains. "So our stylists. I'm admittedly curious about them. Apparently District 8 fashion even manages to inspire some in the Capitol, but I'm not surprised since they're all parasites." Paige confessed moments later just as she imagined finally seeing the end of the mountain range that seemingly gone on forever. The Capitol. It was much too close for any tribute's comfort.

[Zulera301]

That words that captioned so many of Alice's beautiful images of Valendria were striking, but seemed very relevant in so many ways. The odds were never in their favor. The odds were never in District 8's favor; or any district, really--even 1 and 2. The odds were never in Alice's favor, or Paige's. Perhaps most of all though, the odds were never in Valendria's favor to begin with. Despite what the data might have shown on the Capitol boards, the odds had been against that poor girl from the day she was brought into the world as a tiny, squealing infant. If she died, then there was death to deal with... never exactly a god thing. If she lived? She'd be back in the vicious cycle that she had struggled so desperately to escape during the 2 weeks of the games. Victors were never truly free. Still, he thought differently of them than Paige did, knowing better that they were not just Capitol puppets. honestly, Alice could simply cite the 37th victor alone as proof that they weren't. Zerviah Hawke was an outspoken bitch just like Paige was. Sure it had cost her dearly, but did Paige really think that she'd be getting off scot-free even if she won? Maybe Alice was overthinking this whole thing. He was very analytical, after all.

"Second," Alice corrected her, giving her a distinct look that said if any district was going to be the first to rebel, it'd be District 8. "though frankly, with someone like Sagittaria in their ranks, I'm surprised they haven't already tried..." He had seen through the girl's act, although that might have just been the shrewdness of a fellow rebel knowing what signs to look for. "Do you really still think she's an asskisser, Paige?" he elbowed her with a smirk on his face. He did not understand why she held the victors in such a disdain. Sure he could understand some, like the career tributes, and maybe the ones form the likes of Districts 4, 5, and 7, who didn't seem to care one way or another, but the victors from 3, 6, 8, 11, and 12, for example... they certainly didn't hold much sentiment for the Capitol, as far as Alice had seen anyways.

Alice chuckled. "District 12 against the Capitol. '12 sends in Kyla on a solo mission, ends up taking full control of the entire city." he paused, as if contemplating how wild that sounds, before answering with a surprise remark. "I could see that happening. The kid wasn't just skilled after all--I remember her being arguably the smartest tribute in the arena that year. Not to say Rye and Sagittaria were stupid, but he could not really imagine either of them choosing to slink into the shadows of the cornucopia from the get-go, or either of them to attack even when they were dangling a foot off the ground from the end of a spear sticking out of their gut. That final kill had probably been one of the most glorious moments in the games: where, mustering all of her remaining, dying strength, Kyla slashed Alexis and nearly decapitated her in a last furious bout of vengeance, before finally giving up the ghost. That had been one of many things that had turned the formerly insignificant Kyla Togisala into a legend that persisted to this day.

"The road to hell is paved with pretty-looking things." he joked, glancing towards the incoming Capitol landscape again. He tilted his head when she mentioned the stylists though. "If there's one thing that I could say qualifies as "looking forward to" when it comes to this death sentence... it's definitely the stylists. I wish I coulda shown you some of the drawings I had back home of the tributes and stuff... I'm definitely gonna do a lot after training some of these nights." some of his drawings were actual costumes that tributes had worn, while others had been of his own design, reflecting various districts and their industries. His favorite districts to do costume sketches of were 6, 5, 2, and 1, incidentally.
"Only a matter of time now..." the train had reached the mountains, and so within a few minutes, it would pass through them and reveal the glorious shimmering beacon of oppression that was Panem's grand Capitol city.

[Nachthexe]

"Well you got me there, but the Peacekeepers in our district certainly aren't as strict. At least not towards everybody..." Paige agreed, hinting at her own misfortune she had suffered at the hands of the Peacekeepers. Just weeks ago she had ultimately suffered her final flogging, even still having tender spots from the incident that were slowly forming into more scars. Naturally, that quickly brought her to the realization that the stylists would no doubt see them. What would they think of them? Would they condemn her for the troublemaker the Capitol thought she was? Fortunately, it was possible they had dealt with similar things before so likely wouldn't even think too much of it.

"Victors, even if they don't realize it are all puppets of the Capitol. Some clearly try to resist it, but they know they're powerless against Snow. If that wasn't the case they would have burned down the whole damn Capitol by now, or at least had taken out Snow and all his cuntmuffin followers." Paige retorted as Alice made a clear reference to the 44th victor, Sagittaria. If anything, Paige found herself pitying the girl as she was now clearly forced to entertain the Capitol. Many victors were used for Capitol aims, after all, and Sagittaria definitely had been one of the most charismatic victors. Frankly they had loved her and her entertaining storytelling methods. Admittedly, Paige had a soft spot as well for the stuff she had seen. None of that changed reality, however, that she was certainly being used like the rest.

Hiding in the Cornucopia. It had certainly been an effective strategy, despite being ironic. Somehow most tributes seemed to overlook it, as proven by both Kyla in the 44th games and the District 6 pair in the 45th games. Kyla's use of it had admittedly been more clever, but the District 6 pair had at least managed to get a few days of rest out of it while being safe from the District 3 pair's first deadly lightning attack. "Still think District 12 is a joke? Do you, Snow?" Paige responded, raising her voice to put extra emphasis on the second bit. District 12 was almost universally the laughing stock of Panem so certainly Snow wasn't exempt from that. At this point Paige was convinced it would take them getting many more victors before they would finally gain a respectable reputation. It also seemed to be a reality in Panem that districts tended to be judged based on the amount of Hunger Games victors they produced, sentiment she despised to the core.

"Pretty things we can't have until we're dragged into a death match, dammit. Fuck it all." Paige remarked at what had been intended to be a joke. "Those shitstains really know how to tease us." She then let out a sigh as she slouched further down into her chair, awaiting the inevitable. Having passed through the mountains, it had taken only a very short time to finally approach the legendary Capitol city where all tributes were to spend their final days in luxury. It was another set of irony not lost on Paige, but regardless she intended to embrace it since she realized she was bound to be dead soon. There was no getting out of this one. All her opposition had finally caught up with her.

"The Capitol! The grand city! We have arrived!" Augusta immediately announced excitedly as the train began pulling into the Capitol station. Paige rushed to the window to get one last glance before being forced to disembark and what she saw was breathtaking. Despite despising the oppression it was built on she certainly couldn't deny it was truly a sight to behold. Augusta quickly took note of this and gave a nod of approval in Paige's direction, believing the girl was finally coming around. "We're here! Remember, smiles on when you disembark! The Capitol is dying to see you both!" She instructed once the train finally screeched to a halt. Within seconds the train doors had also opened, leaving both tributes exposed to the Capitol crowd's frantic cheering. They were unmistakably excited about seeing the lineup for the 46th games for the first time and Paige hated it, feeling a lump forming in her throat. This was it. She was officially no more than a pawn in the Capitol's deadly game.

[Zulera301]

"They might not be... but there are plenty that are brutal. If they aren't watching us like hawks the way they supposedly do in '11, they're beating obedience into us. I'd take off my shirt right about now, but I wouldn't want you to lose your appetite..." He chuckled as if to imply it was a joke on his appearance, when in truth, he had been the victim of a few floggings of his own, which was why he had been able to relate when Paige had first brought them up. "Blacky" was one of the main reasons, although Alice made sure that the man knew that his disdain for the boy was reciprocated exactly.
"But I heard that stylists clean all that up... any scars, marks, deformities, body hair... y'know... shit that they don't like, which is basically everything short of their version of perfection... they get rid of it all. That's how they clean the victors up too. Not even I'm stupid enough to think that Kiva and Sagittaria and all the rest of them came out of the arena looking like they did in front of Caesar on TV that evening." It was sad to think about, but for the boy's extensive knowledge, it was either all concentrated in art, or in something surrounding the Hunger Games.

"So basically you're screwed either way." he tilted his head, "either you die a rebel, or you live long enough to become a puppet. Which do you choose? Which one did Zerviah choose?" Sagittaria was clearly on strings a bit, and Kiva, the most recent victor, was looking to be the same way. However, the same could not be said about Zerviah, for there were only two people who knew of the bouts between the 37th Victor and the President of Panem: Coriolanus Snow, and Zerviah Marian Hawke. He had always looked up to those kinds of victors, himself, and so he was admittedly trying to defend some of them: Sagittaria because she had the same type of underhanded rebelliousness that he had, and Zerviah because she was fairly blatant about where she stood on this whole loyalty/rebellion scale.
"I'll take a leaf out of her books if I win," he indicated, "See... Zerviah's actually got the upper hand, of you ask me..." Surely he did not know that she was being harassed and threatened at nearly every turn, and that Arza Meraxa's life was spared not because of Zerviah's bond with her, but because of Kiva's; but he knew that the woman had an edge. "Snow has nothing else he can take from her, and he knows he can't kill her without shit hitting the fan." he shrugged again. "I dunno about you... but if I somehow win... I'll be like Zerviah. bitches ain't got shit on her." If he had had a pair of dark sunglasses, he would have donned them now.

He snorted. "If anything, it's '9 and '10 that are the jokes. '11 downright destroyed the old notion a couple years ago with Rye and Saj; and '12 is on its way to knocking that bad rap down. A few more tributes like Hazel or Kyla and they'll get a victor soon, I reckon." he shrugged. He was no psychic or anything, but it seemed like the District 12 tributes were maintaining a clever streak--well, at least the girls were. "imagine all zero victors the Capitol would get if they participated in their own game." It was an interesting thought, and one that Alice would support if the option was ever on the table. It was purely fantasy, but then again, so was his battle between Kyla and Valendria, and that hadn't stopped him. He was hard to break because he had never really been built up.

"At least we'll look good before we die then. The uniforms of the games are also usually pretty stylish and practical if they work the way I think they do." He also knew his clothing, which was why he wasn't just skilled at human anatomy, but also skilled at how clothing worked, and in turn, how to draw it. Both uniforms for the 44th and 45th Hunger Games had been fairly simple but practical. Game 44 had consisted of various dark green-shaded garments: pants, a jacket, a lighter undershirt--likely things that would blend in with the dark, dense jungle foliage. Game 45 had been a bit more contrasting, with black pants, dark red and black undershirts and jackets, and long, black gloves that also had the tributes' district numbers, just like the straps that were around every tribute's shoulder year after year. Both outfits had black boots too. To Alice, both outfits looked rather cool and comfortable.
"Just make sure you spare the stylists your mad smack-talk." he nudged Paige playfully, "otherwise they might just throw you out there nude covered in cottonballs or something." The thought made him laugh for whatever reason.

Alice grew increasingly stoic as the Capitol came into view, and put the finishing touches on his Valendria poster. He grabbed his little bag, stuffing everything else into it, and followed Augusta when the train finally stopped. This was it--everything started feeling much more real at this point.
"may the odds make it true that when you're mortally wounded in an excruciatingly painful way, your body goes into shock and you don't feel anything when you die." he muttered as they walked form the train towards the massive Training Center building where they would spend the last week of their lives before being thrust into hell.He was not paying much attention to the cheering just yet, as this was practically obligatory. No, if Alice was going to start schmoozing, he was going to wait until he was in front of the right people.

[Nachthexe]

Paige was admittedly shocked upon discovering Alice had also been flogged. The boy had seemed so discreet about his own sense of rebellion, but certainly there was always more to people than what met the eye. It was something she didn't dare inquiring about, however. "So you too? That shit is all over my back. Tons of it. The first time about four years ago when my parents disappeared. Allegedly those dicksuckers wanted to beat me into submission so I wouldn't 'repeat the mistakes of my parents' or some shit like that." Paige ranted. Even if the Peacekeepers' words hadn't been that blunt Paige could certainly put two and two together. She was intuitive and perhaps it would even be a helpful skill in the arena, but only time could tell.

Perhaps Alice had a point about Districts 9 and 10. They had consistently lost both tributes in the bloodbath for years so it seemed odd to Paige that District 12 was generally considered the laughing. Certainly their impoverished status had more effect than originally anticipated. Still, Paige found herself hoping Districts 9 and 10 could produce something memorable, even if just for their own sake. However, Alice had another excellent point. Certainly they would do great if the Capitol competed in their own game. Paige was sure that most of those children wouldn't even be able to properly wield a weapon if it smacked them in the face.

Despite their differences, Paige was finding herself growing more tolerable of the much younger boy who had been selected as her district partner. Certainly at this point he seemed pretty harmless, but he was also clearly full of surprises. Maybe that applied to weaponry too? Training was bound to be interesting for that point alone as Paige quickly realized she wasn't sure what the boy was capable of. Then again, not even Challis was as she explicitly refused to do any mentoring until arriving in the Capitol. Paige knew she had her own basic combat skills as taught by her own rebellious parents, but would it be enough? She knew she was rusty compared to the more seasoned careers. Fortunately, it was only a minor issue quickly outshadowed by much more prominent things such as the arrival in the Capitol.

"Let's just get on with this shit. There's no sense delaying the inevitable any longer." Paige uttered as she finally braced herself to walk into the Capitol crowds. Almost immediately there was cheering, leaving Paige smiling lightly before retaining a stoic stance. Surprisingly, this seemed to intrigue the crowds also who perhaps viewed it as a mysterious silent persona. This brought some hope to Paige that perhaps it's something she could carry into the games. Every tribute adopted their own unique persona, after all, further cementing Paige's argument that they were indeed only Capitol puppets. However, if that was what it took to have a chance in the arena then she was prepared to embrace it. Survival always made people do funny things and this was no exception.

"Well shit, what a bunch of bloated airheads. I wasn't even trying anything there except for shutting the fuck up and they liked it. Present myself as a mysterious silent bitch, got it." Paige commented, chuckling slightly once she was securely inside the tribute apartment building. Augusta glanced towards her before offering a retort of her own.

"It's not acting in your case, sweetie." Augusta remarked, enraging Paige. However, the girl held in her anger through struggle, deciding it was probably not a good idea to physically attack her escort as tempting as it was.

"Hah, watch it or I'll have your damn head on a platter!" Paige replied instead, raising her voice once inside the elevator that was to take her up to the eighth floor. Augusta instead just chuckled and gave a sharp gaze as if to say "try me". This further annoyed the bitter Paige who instead just leaned back against the elevator wall to await the inevitable. The inevitable that she was about to enter what was to be her final home until meeting her untimely end. Certainly it was no coincidence that the Capitol bathed their tributes in luxury before sending them off to their deaths. They wanted loyal citizens, they wanted citizens that would look at it and ascribe to get there by winning the games. It was a vicious cycle, one that Paige had tried desperately to avoid.

[Zulera301]

"you've probably got me beat there..." he paused. "oh shit did I really make that pun?"
He shook his head, erasing the sheepish smile that had appeared on his face . "you've probably got more marks than I do... but it's been known to happen." he nodded with a shrug. "Of course they want to beat us into shape. They want to control us the way they control District 1 or District 2. I think that the bigger dickfaces the Peacekeepers are, the more rebellious the district is... 'cept maybe 6 where they're all high, and 12 where no one gives a shit about anything at all." he shrugged. "Even then, I've got my ways of getting back at 'em. The best way to win is to keep them from getting control of you, or something in life you love." He shrugged, seeing his lack of attachment to any living thing as a strength of sorts. Perhaps a sad philosophy for someone so young to have, but there was nothing that could be done about it at this point.

While Districts 9 and 10 had a history of being fodder for the last few years in a row, District 8 was not usually too hot either. the boy 2 years ago had died in the bloodbath, and while the girl, Maggie, had been much more elusive, she was killed within seconds of her first actual encounter with another tribute. Granted, she had run into probably the worst tribute to cross paths with--Kyla Togisala, so perhaps a swift death was a blessing after all, rather than slow and painful, like death by Flint might have been. Haide and Markus the year after (45) had done a bit better, but they had also been misfortunate enough to run right into Glimmer and Valendria, which essentially meant certain death--and sure enough, it did.

He was not sure if he had gotten through to her with his remarks about Zerviah, or if Paige was simply ignoring it on purpose from a lack of a good comeback, but on the other hand, maybe it wasn't a good idea to argue with perhaps his most promising ally. There was no rule that said District partners had to like each other, let alone team up, although in the lower districts, this was a fairly common practice. He might not have really had any combat skills, but he figured that some of his knowledge would prove useful in the 'games. For one, he knew the body's weak points, and if his art was anything to go by, Alice was very precise at the things he did. Maybe he could make something of that in the arena?

The crowds were doubly intrigued then, by both District 8 tributes, who remained calm and silent. Alice's expression was almost a smile, but it was a calm and emotionless expression that showed he was simply taking everything in stride for better or for worse. Cheerful as he might have been in other situations, here was his persona for the 46th Annual Hunger Games. Actually, "cheerful" wasn't even the right word for him. Calm and content were much better adjectives. He was no Dezna, but he did possess an uncanny ability to take things as they came at him. Besides... watching footage of that boy from last year showed that he was actually fairly enthusiastic when he first met the Capitol, smiling and waving, and occasionally flipping his mop of fluffy dark hair. Alice, by contrast, was just smiling calmly and glancing both ways to let people see his face.

Alice couldn't help but snort as he held in a laugh, which escaped anyways. Of all the things to expect from this escort lady, smartass remarks were not one of them. He had expected that she'd be as airheaded as the rest of them and get offended easily by Paige's crude remarks.
"Mysterious, sure." Alice quipped, cocking his head towards Augusta. "Silent? I don't think you've met Paige yet..." he laughed. "Still... I guess that means there are more than two smartasses in this year's District 8 Team after all." he meant it as a compliment, for like many boys his age, he was of the firm belief that smart and sarcastic remarks were among the highest forms of wit.

Once in the elevator, Alice crossed his arms and leaned back against a different side of the wall. He did not exactly use a lot of elevators in his life, so this was a fairly new experience for him, but he could handle it. The colors of everything around him were amusing too, so his eyes did not stay closed very long.
"So..." he tilted his head, "on a more serious note... what happens between now and the time we meet our stylists?" he didn't think they'd be waiting for them at the apartment, considering that it was still afternoon and that the chariot parade was not until later in the evening when flashy lights, displays, and costumes could be displayed for much better effect, and so he wondered what would be happening between then and now. If nothing else, he knew exactly what he'd be doing if there wasn't anything scheduled.

[Nachthexe]

"Districts 1 and 2 have wealth so I doubt they think too much of Capitol repression. You know, the whole pacifying the masses thing. I think the Capitol believes their game is supposed to do that to the rest of us or some shit. Nope, can't rebel when you have victor status to strive for. It's a damn farce." Paige responded to Alice, taking note of his comments about the strictness of Peacekeepers. It probably held some truth, although didn't do much to explain the overly rebellious nature of District 8 which was arguably less strict than District 11. Of course there was the question of victors too and in recent memory the most rebellious of victors had come from the least expected sources, most notably District 4 and District 6. "Nah, you know what? I don't fucking know. I'm not sure what the pattern of rebellion here is since there's Zerviah and she sure as hell isn't from our district."

Even Challis found herself chuckling at Augusta's remark that had clearly been at the expense of Paige, much to the girl's annoyance. "The Capitol might just value her silence, if she can maintain it." Challis remarked, noting that Paige's intended strategy was a sound one. The Capitol liked mysterious tributes, after all, always thirsting to learn more about them. Perhaps even speaking as little as possible during the interview would be beneficial Paige, even if it was so contrary to her true persona. Tributes had to accept that upon being reaped they were no longer their own person though, and this more than anything at the moment seemed to reflect it.

"Fuck, if I have to become a puppet just to get out of this mess then it seems I will just have to comply. Don't you asswipes be thinking for even one second I'm doing this willingly though." Paige responded, after weighing her options. It was looking pretty grim for her, but she wanted to at least have a chance in this game even if it was only a slim one. She wasn't quick to forget how the Reaping had probably been rigged against her, after all. That alone meant she was certainly destined to die, but at the very least she wanted people back in District 8 to remember her and perhaps be inspired to begin an uprising of their own. Certainly it was only idealism speaking though.

It didn't take long for the elevator to finally stop on the eighth floor, the team's destination. This immediately had Paige cluing into the fact that tributes were in fact housed by floor. It made sense really, but was perhaps just another way to keep them separated and distrustful towards each other. The Capitol was bound to not have much of a game, after all, if all tributes were finding themselves becoming friends and refusing to kill each other. Of course they would have to eventually regardless though as resources inside the arena definitely seemed limited. Due to that alone, Paige did not want to prolong it. "So we're housed by floor? Makes sense. I suppose all of Snow's dicksuckers don't want us getting too friendly with each other. There would be rebellion within days." She commented before taking a seat on one of the fancy couches.

The stylists. Naturally, they were one of the first things brought up by Alice. Admittedly, Paige began wondering about them too once again. When exactly would they meet their team? The parade was arguably one of the biggest events since it was the first time the Capitol got to see all the tributes together in one place, thus appearance was no doubt important. Certainly the costumes for the parade were much more outrageous than those worn throughout the rest of the games, but they served their purpose well; each district wanted their tributes to be flashy and stand out. Paige remembered a few particularly well, most notably the District 11 costume from the 44th games. Nearly everybody remembered that masterpiece. "Oh, I was just about to go get them soon actually. Hang tight, kids." Augusta responded to Alice just as Paige had been about to ask the same thing. "In the meantime I suggest you both just sit and take in your surroundings! This isn't District 8 anymore, this is luxury!"

It wasn't District 8? Paige found her face reddening with Augusta's latest remark that had surely been an jab at District 8. At least that was the way she had interpreted it. There could be luxury all across Panem, but instead you parasites prevent it from happening... Paige glared at the flamboyant Capitol woman as she attempted to contain her rage for a second time within minutes. Fortunately, the woman had soon taken off, leaving the two tributes alone with Challis who still appeared to have little interest in mentoring. "Shit, Alice. She just took an obvious jab at our district and you just sit there? She knows damn why District 8 isn't luxurious." Paige remarked, then turning her attention to the younger boy. "This is going to be a long week." She then continued, letting out a sigh as she leaned back into the well-cushioned piece of furniture.

[Zulera301]

Alice shook his head. "I don't think they care so much about pacifying the masses--they just kill 'em off instead. It's got me thinking though... maybe they do pacify the masses in some cases... is it any wonder that Districts 2 and 5 are some of the most well-cared for districts? If you cut District 2 off from the Capitol, they'd be defenseless. If you cut off District 5, you would cripple them completely, even if '2 was left intact." It was no mystery that Panem was powered by District 5 (perhaps that was where District 12's coal went?), and that District 2 "secretly" produced weapons for the Capitol. Apparently that had been District 13's job before the Dark Days, but obviously someone had to fill the voice after they were bombed into oblivion.

Alice couldn't help but let out another snort. "who, us? Maintain silence...? pffffft...." he flicked his hand dismissively, as if doubting Paige could shut up for that long. He didn't mind her bellicose words against the Capitol (he actually liked them), just that he didn't think that she had it in her to stay quiet. She was way too passionate. He trusted himself much more--not because of an ego in need of a stroking, but because he was genuinely a fairly quiet boy--letting his words and expressions show themselves through his vivid (and often provoking) artwork, rather than his mouth.

"Why become a puppet at all?" Alice suggested, "unless you want to pull a Valendria or something. Otherwise... be a Dezna. be a Kyla. They both got sponsors, even, if I recall..." Which he did recall; he just didn't want to make it seem like he was so certain of everything, because he knew that he was wrong sometimes. "that, and I'm pretty sure "Ruthless Killer" and "Lightning Boy" aren't exactly fading into oblivion anytime soon." The Capitol had actually liked both of these tributes, because they had put on quite a show. Dezna's speed and cunning (and his fluffy hair) always seemed to make for an interesting show (barring Valendria of course), and the year before, Kyla Togisala had stolen the show with her surprising comeback and her deadly skill. However, more than that, Alice noticed that they behaved the same way from the moment they first appeared to the moment they died. (Okay, so Dezna might have wiggled his hips seductively during his interview, but that didn't count).
"I'm just gonna be myself." he tied his earlier statements all together with this one simple one.

Alice nodded, leaning in towards her. "yeeeeuuuup." he muttered, "if the Districts could interact with each other outside the 'games, do you really think they'd be divided at all?" Maybe he was going out on a limb with that one, but it seemed like a fairly valid point. Evidence that the districts were not always hostile to each other was seen in the 'games itself. Districts 11 and 12 showed it in both of the recent games, with District 6 jumping in on the latter. Districts 4 and 5 had shown it in the 45th Games. Even District 1 had shown that it was not 100% hostile towards the outlying districts, when Krystal had allied with Rye from District 11. "'11, '8, and '12 would probably break apart right away, and then shit would REEEEALLY hit the fan." he chuckled.

"Works for me," Alice shrugged. He'd have kicked off his shoes and sat down, but he wasn't wearing any, so he just sat down instead, and almost predictably, started sketching again. This time it was another image of Augusta, since his formerly neutral opinions on her changed within the last day. This one was more for comedic effect though, especially with what the escort had just said.

glancing up and around him, Alice realized she had a point, considering that this was clearly much nicer than anything he had ever seen or experienced in his life though. He nodded at Paige's remark too as Augusta disappeared. "I woulda just said "Gee... you don't say", or something." he retorted, nodding before going back to his drawing. "You'll like this one then..."
Within about 7 minutes, he had sketched Augusta standing in the very room they were in now, and in front of her was Alice with his hands in his pockets, and Paige with her arms out. A little speech bubble above Augusta's head read "We're not in District 8 anymore, kids!", and Alice's sardonic expression made it almost clear what the speech bubble above his head was going to say."Wow, really?"
Paige's was even better, and her expression was even more stern and deadpan than Alice's, and her gestures matched it. The bubble above her head said "You don't. fucking. say..."
With a quite chuckle and a contented smirk, he wordlessly flicked his wrist, holding the paper out in front of Paige by the corner as he leaned back to see her reaction.

[Nachthexe]

"Well shit, in the case of a rebellion they can't just kill us all off. If they did that they'd have nobody left to slave away while they sit on their sweet little asses." Paige responded, disagreeing with Alice that the Capitol would just kill everybody off. It was really a curious case though as District 13 had certainly been bombed to oblivion, but there's had also been arguably a non-essential industry. The Capitol wouldn't last long if District 11, the main food provider, suffered the same fate. Certainly Snow knew that. As much as Paige disliked the man and all his supporters she did give him credit for one thing: he was clever and truly knew how to subdue people. That was in fact what made him so dangerous. At least in her eyes.

Paige shook her head. "The goal is to get sponsors and who gets sponsors? The well-liked tributes. I'm certainly not going to get that in this crowd as long as I bash Snow and all his asskissers on national television. Besides, those careers... They certainly suck up to him just as much as anybody here. What's the chance of us having another Valendria or Krystal? Not likely." Some tributes were fortunate in that they were able to be themselves and still be well-liked, but others? Not so much and Paige knew she wouldn't be among them. She was too outspoken and there was certainly nothing Snow hated more than outspokenness against his regime. "Point is, I'm an outspoken bitch and such a reputation won't do me good here." She assured the boy, noting that most had little choice but to become a puppet of sorts.

"Certainly they already know. You did shout at the Reaping, after all." Challis interjected, overhearing the conversation despite sitting over at the dining table. Paige froze on the spot. Certainly the woman had a point, but maybe that part of the Reaping footage had been cut? The Capitol censors did cut out anything that had potential to spark rebellion, after all. Of course the girl suddenly found herself curious about the footage, wanting to see it for herself even if just to confirm whether her outburst had been cut or not. It very likely was and now a part of her was hoping it had been.

"Would the Reaping footage be broadcast into here?" Paige asked Challis, knowing exactly how to confirm her theory. The mentor nodded before turning on the projector. Almost immediately she was greeted by the faces of two Capitol commentators who began going through the various tributes the 46th games had to offer. The career tributes appeared to be fairly standard stock for what they normally produced. It was truly not until District 7 where tributes began standing out as unusual. A volunteer. It was rare for any district besides the career districts to produce volunteers, yet the girl whose name was revealed as Keshet Elian had walked up onto that stage surprisingly calm about the whole thing. What stood out most for Paige, however, was the girl's small stature. Either she was incredibly crazy and had a death wish or she was hiding some sort of hidden power within that small body of her's. There was truly no way of knowing from the Reaping alone. Much to Paige's relief, the footage of her own Reaping had indeed been largely cut, having it just forwarding to Alice's Reaping before finally shifting into District 9 and then District 10. District 10, of all places, had also managed to produce another volunteer. This left Paige very surprised as the footage finally played through to the end without anything else too notable. Not yet anyway. "What I get from this is that the careers are still assholes, District 9 is still cannon fodder, I'm not actually an outspoken bitch, and that we may have some serious contenders this year." She commented, ushering for Challis to shut it off, which she did.

"Did you watch?" Paige turned her attention back towards Alice who unsurprisingly was immersed in another drawing. She examined it and managed to vaguely make it out as them alongside Augusta, giving some sort of witty retort to her. Paige couldn't help but to chuckle at this. "You don't say, yea." She uttered as she read the words, putting a smirk on her face as Alice finally held the drawing out in front of him. Augusta's timing of arrival back seemed to be quite impeccable too as she made an entrance just then, but with two additional people who Paige could only assume were the stylists. Introductions were bound to be next, but ironically enough Paige actually found herself becoming a bit excited by their presence. It really meant one thing in her mind: sporting fashion that was outrageous even by District 8's standards. That seemed to have an unusual charm to it, even if it was in preparation for a death match.

[Zulera301]

"well... there are even loyalist shits in our own district... kinda like the mayor of District 11 and his family." he indicated. "of course, that doesn't stop the Capitol treating them like shit. that bastard got his daughter reaped just like that," he snapped his fingers, "and she got offed like 2 days in." He did feel a little sorry for poor Daisy, although he gave much more sympathy out towards Leon, who had died so horrifically, and to little Hazel, who was so young and sweet, and had keeled over from the traumatic events she had witnessed on that horrifying night. "Fucken Snow's got this whole thing down to a science though, I swear." he shook his head. There was not a shadow of a doubt that the man knew more than anyone in Panem, and he was skilled at retaining his control.

He chuckled and shook his head. "I won't argue with that one. I';m gonna try though, just to see if I can do it without sucking Capitol dick here. If a half-deaf girl and a druggie boy can both do it, then so can I, dammit." He was certainly not smack-talking Dezna or Kyla here, but both of them certainly were not what most people would have expected was the type of tribute that would receive sponsor gifts. Then again, he wondered what he would get sponsored anyways? Paper and pencils? He could see that being sponsored to him by an enemy district, and he mentally admitted to himself that it would absolutely work. It was kind of funny and also kind of sad that his biggest concern about the arena would be that he wouldn't be able to draw.

Alice couldn't help but chuckle, but rather than reply, he simply shuffled through his images till he found the one he had drawn of Paige flipping off the viewer and screaming "FUCK THE CAPITOL" (complete with the tiny image of Coriolanus Snow with a knife through his forehead in the background), and it made him chuckle.
"Blimey," he exclaimed, "Challis speaks!" Paige wasn't the only one that could make fun of people, after all.

Nonetheless, he dropped it after the reapings were brought up, and so he joined Paige and Challis as the projector came on and the reapings appeared. Nothing too out of the ordinary stood out for the first 6 districts (though the electronic lotteries they had in District 3 and District 5 were cool to watch), but District 7 did manage to produce a volunteer girl. The boy looked fairly tough as well, but of course, the only way to truly know would be to see his skills and fate in the arena itself. Most of Paige's bitching was cut out, flipping to Alice, who had not really even said anything other than "oh shit I jinxed it!" when his name was called.
District 9 was unsurprisingly unremarkable once again, but District 10 had something different about it this year. A young woman covered in blood (which made the escort cringe and step away towards her and towards the boy instead) volunteered, although it seemed more like an accident than anything, since she was shunted up to the stage, swearing it was a mistake. It actually made Alice chuckle, both for her antics and for how she was covered with blood and making the Capitol visitors cringe.
"I like that kid," Alice chuckled, "she's making the Capitol squirm."
District 11 and District 12 were no slouches either though. '11 produced a rather large pair of tributes, and the girl was nearly as big as the boy, and was punching her palms with her fists. The boy was a bit more reserved, but he was built just as solidly. District 12's tributes were both quiet, but unlike the shy Togisala children (even if Kyla turned out to actually be a ruthless killer), or the similarly timid pair from last year that had included Hazel, the silence that surrounded these District 12 kids seemed more like the quiet confidence that Alice had displayed during his own reaping. This intrigued him.

"A lot of outlying districts seem formidable this year," he pointed out, "so yeah... I watched." If there was one thing that could pull Alice away from his work, it was anything Hunger Games related. He had an odd interest and obsession with the games--although as a spectator only. He'd never willingly participate in them, for even with his various schemes and plans, he still figured he'd probably die. He chuckled with Paige at the drawing, before looking up and seeing Augusta return with a pair of nearly identical individuals whose wild appearances made it clear that they were probably the stylists. They were dressed in billowing, almost emperor/empress-like robes of red, gold, and black, with intricate jewelery around their foreheads, wrists, and ears. The irises of their eyes, most likely cosmetically altered or whatever, were red, but otherwise normal. Both of them had long, indigo hair, although the one with slightly shorter hair (down to the back instead of the hips) also seemed to look more like a male than the longer-haired one.

"Paige; Alice... meet Zobuta," she motioned to the shorter-haired individual, "and Nakrelu."
They both smiled and waved, and after a bit of blinking, Alice realized he could discern them without looking at their hair. There was a different way to how they walked and held themselves, and thus Zobuta was definitely male, while Nakrelu was definitely female.
"They do not say much, but I can assure you that they are just as excited as I am to see you dressed in your finest in front of everyone in the Capitol!" Augusta beamed, almost as if she was purposely trying to piss of Paige with her remarks. Alice caught this, but kept his lips sealed.

[Nachthexe]

Paige nodded. "That man can go burn in the fiery inferno with the rest of the Capitol asslickers. That girl Kiva, the victor from last year? As I said before, she had the right idea. I just wish it could have been more of them rather than that Leon boy. He didn't deserve that..." She was clearly referring to the mayor of District 11 who hardly seemed to flinch upon hearing his daughter's name called. The girl herself had clearly been horrified as she walked up onto that stage, not having a clue in the world as to how to handle herself. To Paige, that was a whole other form of evil. Not only was he loyal to the most oppressive parts of Panem, but he had been willing to surrender his daughter to prove it. This was one of the times where Paige truly wished the Capitol participated in their own games. She knew they wouldn't last long too so that much managed to bring a smirk to her face. "Get Snow into the arena and he wouldn't last five minutes." She retorted, realizing just how hopeless any of them would be in combat.

Sponsors. They were certainly a whole other beast altogether. Certainly they were the one aspect of the games that truly made personality matter and Paige wasn't feeling too confident her nor Alice could pull it off; take the outspoken route and she would be hated while the mysterious silent route had so much possibility to be overlooked. This was definitely an area Challis would have to offer advice in, but fortunately the interviews were still a week away. "Kyla and Dezna getting sponsors surprised me, but nobody truly knew what they were capable of until well into the games. Even Kiva was rather unimpressive as far as combat went. She managed to build that cool projectile launcher thingy, but other than that she only showed us the best way to deal with Snow and all his bitches." Paige admitted, realizing there was perhaps still a small chance of obtaining sponsorship. It hadn't even been intended as a jab at the previous year's victor, but Paige wasn't slow to notice that her victory had been quite unimpressive compared to others in recent years. There hadn't even really been a final showdown, after all, with Valendria practically surrendering herself to the girl. At least it managed to offer Paige reassurance that most tributes were only in it trying to save their own skin though.

"District 10? Yea, she had them squirming like the little bitches they are." Paige responded to Alice's mention of the District 10 who had been covered in blood. It was an interesting touch, but was hardly surprisingly considering her district. Clearly she was a butcher of some sort, but Paige couldn't help but to chuckle at the fact it almost seemed like an omen of sorts. The girl had definitely seemed eccentric and like the type who wouldn't hesitate to kill a human once thrust into the arena. Paige was admittedly interested to see how she would develop in the days to come. Certainly the other tributes from the outlying districts had a sense of intrigue to them as well. Would there be an outlying victor in the 46th games? Paige developed a gut feeling it was likely.

Paige found herself lost in thought regarding everything she had just seen in the reaping just when she was interrupted by the returning Augusta and the stylist pair who were introduced as Zobuta and Nakrelu. Augusta of course didn't miss the opportunity to take an obvious jab at Paige in which she just sneered at. Augusta was quick to pick this up, letting out a chuckle before leaving the tribute pair with their stylist team. "So Augusta tells us you two are quite the characters, you in particular." Zobuta was the first to speak, glaring directly at Paige.

"Shit, I suppose you can say that. Blame that rigged reaping for sending me here because trust me, I am not pleasant company for your lot in life." Paige retorted, putting her feet up on the table in front of her. This had both the stylists chuckling before glaring directly at her once again. "You have snark, this should be interesting. Now let's go get dressed." Nakrelu ushered Paige towards her while Alice was ushered towards Zobuta. Almost immediately the stylist woman led her out the door and subsequently down the corridors towards what Paige could only guess what a stylist studio of some sort. At least that was what Paige thought it was supposed to be, instead spotting something that resembled an operating table out of a clinic or hospital.

"This...is a studio? Shit, I wasn't expecting to be morphed into some freak atop...that." Paige uttered, pointing out the table, leaving Nakrelu chuckling once again.

[Zulera301]

Alice shook his head. "Even that asshole career dude didn't really deserve it. I've heard the Capitol actually brainwashes them there... makes 'em their REAL puppets and that's how he ensures loyalty from the two richest districts..." He was not 100% sure about this since he had never been there, but that was the only real thing he could come up with for why District 1 and District 2 so revered the chains of their oppression. "Still... that shit was fucked up... Oh what I'd give to set them and this whole place on fire." he quipped. If only I wasn't already drawing..."
His current image was of an older District 2 victor named Lyme. He didn't know much else about her other than that her victory was about 18 years ago, and that unlike all but one other District 2 victor, she did not seem to express very deep sentiments for the Capitol either. Things like this made him think there was hope of some kind of rebellion somewhere in the future after all.

"She was a lucky bastard, that's for sure." Alice nodded in agreement, "but heck... if they can get blitzed off their asses and act like total fucktards and STILL get sponsors... they must be doing something right!" he laughed as he remembered that scene. As dark as those games had been, there were scenes like that which were genuinely hilarious. There was no need to sugarcoat them. The way the boy from '11, the girl from '12, and both kids from '6 acted when they were on that high had Alice laughing hysterically. Even with that noise though, his parents didn't bother to check what had caused this insane laughter.
In truth, it was one of the highlights, since Kiva's victory was not terribly exciting. Sagittaria's had not been the most climactic thing ever either, but unlike Kiva's, where Valendria had surrendered, Sagittaria's coin toss was 5 eternal seconds where the entirety of Panem held its breath as she caught the coin and showed its face. Everyone tensed up as she slowly pulled back the bow as Rye submitted, and then seconds later, the arrow was released and it was over.

"Well maybe 10'll get out of that rut then. I'm almost rooting for that girl. Then again, if she manages to survive the bloodbath, that's probably enough to make her a legend back home anyways with how horrible they've done over the last few years." he chuckled. "Her face though... holy shit her face." The camera had zoomed into the girl's face, where she had been laughing slightly crazily, raising her fists into the air as if she had just won something huge. "I just want to know one thing... how the fuck do you "accidentally" volunteer?" he laughed. It had not been lost on her that the girl tried to make her volunteering seem like an accident. He wasn't sure he'd ever know the answer unless Caesar asked her about it during the interview though, so he crossed his fingers.

Alice leaned in towards Paige again after Augusta turned their back. "honestly... if she gets through this week without you strangling her, I will be surprised." he joked, thumbing towards Augusta. He actually liked the woman, but could tell that there was growing enmity between her and Paige, and that Paige clearly wanted to bring great amounts of pain and suffering to her for her smart mouth. On the other hand, Alice simply stayed neutral and found it all rather amusing. Despite all of this though, he liked Paige. She was not afraid to be herself regardless of the consequences. Alice was a little more of a schmoozer himself, but he had meant what he said--he was going to try and schmooze the Capitol without acting. Instead, he'd hope to play on the one thing that District 8 and the Capitol had in common--fashion and design.

"Yeah..." Alice added, "I guess there's no mystery to how we feel about all this." he quipped.
"There is also nothing prohibiting us from sending you both out naked." Nakrelu quipped, causing Alice's eyes to widen.
"Shit... Et tu, stylists?" he shook his head, almost chuckling out of surprise and embarrassment. He'd refrain from sassing them at this point--and hopefully for Paige's sake, she'd do the same. Now... after the parade? That was a different story.

Alice was surprised as well when he was led not to what he had envisioned as the studio, but to what looked more like an operating room.
"Well crap." he quipped, "First I get mutated, THEN I get paraded. Let's do this thing then, eh?"

[Nachthexe]

Paige shrugged. "Certainly they all buy it too. They're fed and taken care of while everybody else fucking starves." She wasn't sure if what Alice said was the truth, but it certainly made some sense. Perhaps Districts 1 and 2 were just the easiest to pacify and subdue since they had food and a decent standard of living. Of course then again, there didn't seem to be a consistent pattern as District 8 was clearly the most rebellious while not being the poorest. Paige knew that her parents would have had much clearer answers to all these questions that ran through her head, but they were gone. Never to be seen or heard from again, exactly what Snow clearly intended to do with Paige.

The Tracker Jacker incident of the 45th games had been one case where Paige had been genuinely laughing. It amazed her even to this day that despite their situation they still managed to enjoy themselves somewhat. Unless that had all been a show too? Somehow Paige doubted that due to the amount of effort it would have taken to stage. "Shit, that entire thing was just a clusterfuck of hilarity. Honestly, I'm surprised those District 6 kids lasted as long as they did." She admitted as District 6 tributes were rarely known for their prowess. If anything though, they still managed to do better than districts such as 9 and 10 who had been bloodbath fodder for years. That is one of the things that had Paige suddenly so intrigued by the District 10 volunteer. "If anything, I pity them. Their mentors are probably drunks or some shit. The games tend to do that I think." She shifted the topic, suddenly feeling fortunate that their own mentor didn't seem to be a drunk. Just perhaps a bit bitter as she aged.

"Watch it, kid. Don't give me ideas." Paige retorted, putting on a smirk as Alice spoke about Augusta being strangled. Paige found herself having mixed feelings about her. Certainly she was just the typical Capitol suck-up, but somehow she now also served as an important lifeline. That was something Paige would have ordinarily not considered in a lifetime had it not been for being reaped. Perhaps the games really did change people in more ways than one, but it had not even been a full day in the Capitol yet so there was really no way of knowing for sure. Still, she didn't intend to die as some puppet. She wanted to go out as herself and not submitting to Snow's rule.

Paige sneered at Nakrelu's remark. "Try me, bitch." She retorted, leading Nakrelu to give her a cold glare. That quickly served as warning to stop so instead Paige just continued on with the woman in silence. Once undressed in the studio she was led to the hot bath that all tributes were subjected to while getting their makeover. Initially, the water hadn't bothered Paige a lot, but once instructed to lie down she found herself bellowing in pain. The tender skin on her scarred back was overly sensitive. "Shitballs! Get me the fuck out of here!" She cursed as the stylist woman then leaned in to get a glance at her tribute's back. Almost immediately a frown formed on her face.

"This will take longer than I thought. That needs to be cleaned up." Nakrelu explained, ushering Paige out of the tub and onto the operating table. Nakrelu then ventured into the corner of the room and retrieved a syringe, filling it with some sort of formula. Before Paige could even ask what it was the woman injected it, knocking out Paige like a light within seconds. Whatever it was was powerful and it was time to get to work. Noting this, Nakrelu pushed the table(which apparently was wheeled) into another much more functional room for what was to come.

Paige wasn't sure how long she was out for, but almost immediately upon awaking Nakrelu was by her side, prompting her to get up. She was in the same room she had been just previous to being injected with the drugs, but now her back felt oddly smooth. Had the stylists actually taken the time to correct it? In addition, hair on nearly every inch of her body seemed to be non-existent too. The stylist woman and whoever she had worked with had definitely been busy. "I didn't want you going out there in the condition you were in. The marks of disobedience. The marks of being at odds with the nation's Peacekeepers. That can be our secret." Nakrelu explained, genuinely feeling like she had been doing her best to help the girl. It was partially their job to ensure tributes left an impression on potential sponsors, after all. Paige glanced into the woman's eyes and mouthed a silent "thank you" before being wrapped in a towel and escorted into another room.

"So this is where you dress me? Shit, it's happening." Paige stared on in awe once she was securely inside what was no doubt another section of the stylist's studio. Walls upon walls of fabrics and various costumes, certainly created by Nakrelu herself. Noting Paige's interest she smiled and nodded before leading her over into a corner of the room. This prompted the woman to pull out what she had prepared for Paige. At first it was unimpressive, appearing to just be a plain white set of undergarments. However, once she outfitted the tribute girl in these she unveiled the rest and gestured for her to raise her arms. At this point she began wrapping Paige from the neck down in blue shimmering ribbon, creating the illusion of a spool of thread. From the knees down it was left flared as if to create a flowing effect as she walked. The final touches included blue eye shadow and glitter, followed by a matching pair of heels. Most curiously, however, was the fact that instead of pinning Paige's hair back she instead opted to have it protruding out in front.

"It looks more fierce that way." Nakrelu advised, smiling as she gave her final approvals of the creation. She escorted Paige over to the mirror and much to her surprise she saw somebody beautiful. "Even what we perceive to be the ugliest can have a beautiful side." Nakrelu commented, chuckling at what had been an obvious jab at Paige's hostile antics towards nearly everybody. Surprisingly, Paige wasn't too bothered by this just nodding in agreement, although she had interpreted the woman's comment in her own way; the Capitol was ugly, but they knew how to dress to impress even if some of their fashions were on the more outrageous side. Still, Paige found herself developing a soft spot for the more modest of the Capitol fashions. This was something she continued thinking about before being escorted out to meet up with her district partner who surely had just undergone the same makeover.

[Zulera301]

"Wait... are we still talking about '1 and '2, or did you shift the subject back to the Capitol?" he made a jab at the Capitol's gluttony here, seriously doubting that '1 or '2 glutted themselves in an even remotely similar fashion. Their riches were inferior to those from the Capitol, after all. Everything from the districts except suffering and poverty was inferior to that of the Capitol. Perhaps Panem was a larger-scale version of Dezna's behavior--there was no patter to it; the good, the bad, or the ugly. Either that or it was like Valendria--meticulously planned and if so much as one element fell out of place the whole thing could come crashing down.

"That was pretty much the hilarious counterpart to say, Kyla's badassitude." Alice quipped, "I'm pretty sure that that is going to go down as some kind of legend." Tributes like Kyla, Rye, Dezna, Glimmer, and Valendria were not likely to quickly be forgotten considering their antics. He wondered if there would be any legendary tributes this year. "Honestly, if I die, I'm kind of hoping that kid from '10 ends up taking the crown," he chuckled, "if she's as funny as her reaping was, then maybe District 6 has some competition this year. Seriously:? I still want to know how the fuck you "accidentally" volunteer." he laughed, not expecting Paige to answer this for him. It was mostly rhetorical.

Alice chuckled at Paige's warning as well. He seemed to find a lot of things funny, or just had a very open-minded sense of humor. "honestly... if you do it, I'd just be cheering you on." the rebel in him seemed more than okay with the notion of mayhem, and while there was no way Paige would be able to do such a thing, let alone get away with it, it was still a funny thing to think about and laugh at. He was not as tactless in his rebelliousness as Paige was, but he had made up his mind as far back as the reaping that he was going to remain himself and not turn into a Capitol puppet, but instead was going to work his way into the system.

Nakrelu, unfortunately for Paige, was not one to be 1-upped. "Try you?" she raised an eyebrow after her glare, "Oh no, dear girl... I do not "try" tributes... I transform them." She gave Paige a very Augusta-like smirk, flashing a few fang-like teeth in the process--most likely just another cosmetic alteration rather than a sign of danger.
Zobuta on the other hand, definitely got the better end of the deal, because Alice, true to the way he had reacted when he was reaped, went rather quietly. Well, sort of.
"So do only the best smartasses get to be on the District 8 team?" he looked up with an innocent expression on his face.
"Only the best," Zobuta reassured him, acting like he got this question a lot. He led him into the studio instructing him to strip down and climb into what looked like a fancier version of the baths that were on the train. With a shrug, Alice did just that. He had a few freckles on his neck and shoulders (just like he did on his face, although for these to be noticeable, one had to look fairly closely), and most notably, his back was marked with lacerations as well.

Zobuta remained quiet as Alice climbed in and bathed/showered, and as Alice mentally observed this, he figured that perhaps these stylists were only quiet when they were observing or analyzing. If this was true, then perhaps he could relate. He'd worry about that later.
"aaaa!" he exclaimed, as the hot liquid felt no less sensitive against his back than Paige's one room over. In fact, he was fairly certain he heard her yell a time or two. He did not have nearly as many lacerations as Paige did, but he was still familiar with being on the receiving end of the whip.

Thus, there would have to be some magic done here. Procuring a syringe as he guided Alice to lay down on the table (something he did rather nonchalantly, despite that he was naked), Zobuta stuck it in Alice's arm, knocking the small boy out just like that.
When Alice awoke, he rolled over, and felt his arms. His whole body felt baby smooth, and while he was curious about what had happened, he didn't say much, but at the same time, Zobuta seemed to know what was on his mind.
"You and Paige aren't the first." was all he said, and all Alice could do was nod.

"On the other hand," he returned with a towel which he handed to the boy, "Let's got you dressed."
Alice, always being the one to express fondness of colors and designs, both on paper and for clothing, looked around in awe. He was first giving a pair of dark shorts to put on, and afterwards he began to be wrapped up from the chest down to his waist in elaborate, maroon-colored ribbons, which were tied in various places, leaving strands of the cloth hanging behind him. His legs were individually wrapped next, as were his arms and hands below the elbow, leaving his upper arms bare. On his arms and legs there was the occasional gap in the cloth, but this did not seem to even bother Alice a whole lot either. He was left barefoot unlike his partner, perhaps because there were no "ribbon" shoes, and they weren't about to put the boy in heels.

"This is kinda cool. Is there any chance it'll fall off?" he asked as Zobuta started doing Alice's hair and applying matching-colored makeup to his face. the stylist chuckled.
"If you're careless;" he chortled, "otherwise, it'll stay on." Half of Alice (the mischievous half of course) was hoping Paige was in something similar and it happened to her, but it wasn't like he figured anything would come from it. Alice swayed back and forth as if to test the costume, but it seemed just fine. The makeup was dark colored around his eyes in a rather intricate (and almost feminine) patter, but Alice found it rather cool-looking. his hair was spiked back and had been highlighted various dark shades of red and purple. Ultimately, he nodded in approval. Sure there were plenty of outrageous Capitol fashions, but there were also plenty that were cool.
"You do good work," he said sincerely, "Thanks."
Zobuta simply smiled, and soon Alice met back up with Paige, looking her over to take in the entirety of her costume. It was much more flowy than his, but hers was sort of a dress, while his were more like pants.
"Not bad," he nodded approvingly. "Totally drawing these tonight, unless you take it off too quickly." He left the remark open-ended, although had not really meant anything in particular with it (other than, of course, his genuine desire to sketch it).

[Nachthexe]

If there was something District 8 had no shortage of this year it was plenty of clever and witty comebacks by all members of the prep team. This was only further confirmed by even Nakrelu joining in on the trend, much to Paige's surprise. Even she had been left speechless by the woman's remarks. Realizing she had serious contenders in this department, she instead just decided to comply with the woman's requests. On the other side, she at least found the woman to be understanding, having expected her to freak out or condemn her upon seeing the various built up scars from the lashings she had endured back home.

"Who knew? One thing the Capitol doesn't fuck up. Fashion. We coordinate, in a rather interesting way." Paige once she was reunited with Alice. It was hard to imagine the mellow quiet boy in such a get-up, but here with the help of Capitol stylists he had certainly pulled it off. What intrigued Paige most was the seemingly matching makeup they wore, but she wasn't quick to forget that in the Capitol makeup wasn't exclusively a feminine product. Even by District 8 fashion standards it was extremely rare on males though. Unsurprisingly, Alice had also seemed to gain artistic inspiration from the costumes as well, something Paige completely didn't mind. If anything, it would serve to immortalize the costumes if anybody saw the boy's art long after he was gone. "This coming off? Not fucking likely. It's secure." Paige remarked to Alice, yanking on the ribbon, confirming it was in fact secure.

"Ribbon? Spools of thread, right?" Challis asked the stylists as she finally approached the group. Considering District 8's industry and the fact that the parade was supposed to reflect each district's industry, it hadn't taken the mentor woman long to put two and two together. Admittedly she found it quite clever while being simple and stylist to boot. Nakrelu and Zobuta only seemed to improve over the years, despite being younger than many of the other stylists. The pair weren't slow to acknowledge Challis either so nodded in response to her question before proceeding to escort the team down to the parade chariots.

Once down by the chariots Paige was immediately intrigued by the other tributes present. The two volunteer girls in particular had her interest and Paige wasn't at all surprised by the fact that still Keshet retained her calm demeanour that had been present during the Reaping. Certainly the girl was confident, making Paige question just what she was capable of. Clearly her volunteering wasn't without reason. Lyndis, on the other hand, was a more unique case in that she had claimed to "accidentally" volunteer. Paige naturally became curious of how far that would get the girl, but perhaps she wasn't right in the head as she bore a wide grin. If anything though, that gave the girl possibility to be even more deadly, especially if she lacked clear morality which was possible if she was indeed mentally ill. "Shit, I'm contemplating talking to some of these kids. Might as well start making allies." Paige confessed as she glanced around at the others as they continued arriving. Unsurprisingly, the career pack had begun glaring over at Keshet as if they were intrigued by her themselves. Certainly something like that had potential to turn dangerous very quickly, but it was something Paige thought little of at this point.

[Zulera301]

Alice was actually rather pleased with his team; escort and stylists alike. They were smart, skilled, and they dressed sharply and stylishly. The stylists might have been a tiny bit extravagant with their emperor-esque robes, but Alice found those to be totally cool, and would not have minded at all if he had been dressed in them. Maybe if he won they could do something like that for his victory costume if he somehow crawled out of this thing alive. He'd worry about that later. At the moment, he was surprised that Zobuta had not made a bigger deal about Alice's scars that would soon be gone. He expected them to be appalled at both the scars themselves and at the idea that District 8 was rebellious--thus, he figured either the stylists were clueless, or oddly, might have understood where they were coming from a bit. Given how shrewd they were with words, Alice was leaning towards the latter theory, actually.

"Pfft," Alice chortled, "the reason they don't bomb us into oblivion is because the last thing they'd ever want to lose was their fashion. They'd probably relinquish control of '11 or '4 first." he joked, having always heard that food-related districts were controlled more carefully than the other ones. As Paige yanked her ribbon, Alice fake-sighed. "Ah, dammit. here I was getting all hopeful." He couldn't exactly say he had an explicit attraction to Paige, but he was a straight boy. Besides, he knew about Hanna, and was saying this more to joke around and/or trigger a reaction rather than honestly hoping to see her lose the dress.

"Naww..." Alice quipped almost sarcastically towards Challis, as if teasing her for stating the painfully obvious, "this looks like cottonballs and ropes of twine to me." He put on a goofy smile, but was otherwise quite satisfied, and dare he say, impressed with the simplicity of the outfits. Simple as they might have been, they got the message across fairly nicely. They might not be oohing and ahhing the crowds the way District 11 had done with their agricultural deity costumes in the 44th games, or gaining catcalls the way that sexy District 6 pair last year had done, but he doubted they'd be met with silence. Their outfits were glitzy and easy on the eyes, and their district was all about fashion. Heck, Alice, by profession, was a budding clothing designer, and so he was very analytical about every article of clothing he saw on a person.

With the two volunteers from the outer districts, that meant the number of volunteers was probably six this year, considering that Districts 1 and 2 had volunteers almost every year. District 11 had something rather cool and colorful on that Alice took note on, and both of the tributes from there looked particularly strong this year. District 12 was much more subdued, but they had on some rather cool-looking black outfits that, while snug against the tributes' forms, were simple but effective. These tributes also seemed to look more like fighters than the usual fodder that 12 had been known for (prior to Kyla Togisala, anyways).

District 10 stuck out to Alice perhaps the most though. The boy's outfit looked like a rather fanciful rancher's getup, which was reasonable in its own way, but that girl's outfit was almost creepy. She was wearing a white gown with short sleeves and flowing skirts that dropped to her ankles. The top of the gown was white and fairly low-cut, but right below her breasts, dark red spots started appearing. they got denser and denser, till the bottom of the dress from the knees to the ankles, was entirely dark red. Alice could tell that it was supposed to imitate blood, but could tell that it was likely just dye, because blood on clothing looked much different than dye. Still... it was rather impressive, especially because the girl's hands and arms all the way to just above her elbows, were coated with red makeup, designed to also look like blood, presumably (without dripping though). The girl's feet were barely visible from under the flowy skirts and were bare (although having barefooted tributes in the parade was actually fairly common). The only reason Alice found this as odd was because he thought they'd be covered with that red stuff that the girl's hands were covered in.
Her face was covered in a cross between what looked like makeup and warpaint, and her hair was styled in a very wild fashion. Topping all of this off was that the girl was grinning ear to ear as if this was the most thrilling thing ever.

"Shit..." he laughed as he turned towards Paige, thumbing to the side of him at the girl, "District 10's got a serial killer, eh?" The girl was conversing with her partner, who seemed to be laughing at whatever she was saying, for the parade had not yet started.

[Nachthexe]

"If we were miners or some shit those cuntmuffins would have wiped us out ages ago with people like us. I suspect District 12 is treated as the asshole of Panem since I feel like coal is a non-essential resource. Although my parents were pretty sure the whole coal thing was merely a cover." Paige explained, giving her own observations on the subject. Certainly her parents had known too much and Snow had felt threatened by it. It was at least one of the girl's own theories anyway, even if much of what they had said was never actually truly confirmed. Still, Snow took no risks, certainly not in the rebellious districts.

"That girl from District 11 looks as if she could bash everybody's damn skull in." Paige commented as she continued examining the other tributes. District 11 was known for producing many well built tributes, but the girl this year definitely took the cake. Now it had Paige intrigued to see if she could live up to the image. It was entirely possible though as District 11 was notable for having plenty of physical laboue due to the nature of its industry. However, gazing once again over at Lyndis, Paige truly noticed something even more intriguing about her. Her costume. It almost appeared as it if was bloody. Her stylists playing off her entrance at the Reaping perhaps? It seemed oddly fitting and almost psychotic, considering the girl's grin. "I'm not even sure whether to be scared of her or just toss her off as a crazy girl." Paige remarked to Alice, point directly at Lyndis who didn't notice them.

Despite Paige's earlier contemplations to go converse with some of the tributes she had decided against it, instead waiting beside the chariot before Nakrelu and Zobuta gestured for them to get in. Certainly the parade was close to starting and unsurprisingly, the careers seemed entirely excited about it. It made Paige sick to think about how anybody could actually be that excited about a death match, but these were the wealthy districts. They didn't deal with poverty and oppression the same way most of the other districts did. Certainly that even made them oblivious to some extent. If anything though, it was a reason for Paige to pity the tributes since there was a good chance many of them didn't even realize what they were getting into. "Well I suppose this is it. It's time to suck up and sell our souls to the highest bidder. Neither of us is getting out of this shithole otherwise." She uttered as the first of the chariots began moving just moments later. Of course the parade was done in order, thus Paige and Alice were eighth to make their entrance.

Districts 1 through 6 passed by rather quickly until finally the District 7 chariots began moving. Naturally, the girl was greeted by frantic applause, no doubt as a result of her volunteering. Frankly the Capitol loved volunteers, especially outlying volunteers. Certainly District 7 wasn't as poor as some of the other districts, but even they rarely produced volunteers. Much to Paige's surprise, Keshet managed to get a few catcalls despite not being particularly good looking so she was convinced this stemmed from the girl's rather skimpy woodland vine costume more than anything. However, Paige didn't get to examine it for long before District 8 began on their way towards the Capitol Square where President Snow would no doubt be waiting on his balcony just as he did every year.

Almost immediately the two District 8 tributes were greeted with cheering just as everybody else had been. They didn't seem to particularly stand out like some of the others before them, but Paige actually preferred the modest attention. Modest by Hunger Games standards at least. However, retaining her same persona from her first entrance she didn't bother waving or interacting at all, instead just looking straight forward with a completely neutral expression on her face. Unsurprisingly, the Capitol still seemed to be intrigued by this. Naturally, she received at least a few catcalls as well as it was pretty much inevitable at this point for any of the female tributes and sometimes even the male ones if they were good looking. These catcalls, particularly the ones from the men in the crowds, annoyed Paige although she knew she couldn't think much of it as it was not exclusive to her. All they saw were young people they thought were desirable and/or attractive in some way.

Once closer to the Capitol Square all the chariots began forming a circle in front of Snow's balcony. They completed a few rotations before finally forming a straight line. At that, the man himself made his first appearance as the anthem of Panem blared. Paige naturally despised it and tried to block it out, but fortunately it hadn't lasted long before Snow easily managed to silence the crowds. "Welcome to the 46th Annual Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favour!" He bellowed before glancing over each of the chariots before locking his eyes onto Paige in particular. He had a very distinct look on his face as if to say "I always win" and almost immediately Paige knew what the man meant. This sent chills down her spine as she then attempted to lose eye contact with the most powerful man in Panem. By this point she was almost entirely positive she was indeed been reaped for a reason.

[Zulera301]

"It probably is," Alice nodded with a shrug. "I don't think any of the districts are ever as simple as they appear to outsiders." He certainly knew that District 8 was not, but knew that they weren't alone. No one outside of District 6, for example, seemed to understand the endemic that gripped the district tightly, and then of course, there was the mysterious District 5--quietly thriving and well-off, without much of a word on how rebellious or loyal they were--easily the most mysterious of the twelve districts in Alice's opinion-... although he also felt that there was more to even the simple districts like 11 and 12, than met the eye.

"well... she did shout "SMASH!" a few times during the reaping... I wonder if that's a nickname or something..." He knew that plenty of people had unusual names (usually the kids from District 1), although 'Smash' did not seem like an actual given name to him. Maybe it was her hobby or something?
He chuckled at Paige's remark about the District 10 girl though... Lyndis was her name, based on what Alice heard at the Reaping footage. He was good at remembering tribute names, though he, like anyone else, usually only paid attention to the remarkable ones. "Those are the ones you want to watch out for..." he quipped, "if nothing else, she'll make sure there's not a single dull moment in training."

Right as he said this, Lyndis had skipped right over to the District 11 tributes and done something rather surprising: She first grabbed the boy, Garrett's, cheeks and pulled him in for a prominent kiss. He stepped back, although Alice noticed his eyes darting up and down the wild girl's form a bit, before her partner Adrianna, that massive girl, was given the same treatment. She just laughed it off, bear-hugging Lyndis for a moment. Lyndis cast her eyes towards the District 12 pair, but right before she could move towards them, they were getting shunted to the chariots. So instead, Lyndis used this opportunity to give her district partner this same kiss, which made him actually chuckle. 'The Bloodstained Butcher' seemed to have cleaned up well, courtesy of the Capitol.
"Oh yes..." he laughed, "These tributes are batfuck insane. this should be fun."

Soon the tributes were boarding the chariots and entering out in front of the Capitol audiences. "Suck up? Nah... I'll just be awesome by myself. Everyone loves Alice DeSiete." He waved to the crowds as he finally appeared, although they were small, somewhat reserved waves, and his face, while a smile, did not show any teeth. the crowds cheered, intrigued by his calm silence, and by the tributes in front of them. District 7 got some interesting cheers, probably because of that volunteer girl, and while District 8 got a few cheers and chants of their own, it seemed that there were some intensely heavy cheers from behind them. Alice knew they weren't supposed to turn around, but he craned his neck anyways, and saw brief glimpses of Lyndis shouting and flexing her blood-soaked arms. Districts 11 and 12 both seemed to be going for the quiet and appealing stance that District 8 was trying, and it seemed to work well, especially with their costumes.

Moreover, the districts behind them were getting some serious catcalls. Older tributes obviously received these reactions much more than younger tributes, and Alice had a few theories as to why, most of which involved them looking more like adults, since even the Capitol did not seem to have sexual attractions to younger children, thank goodness. On the other hand, Alice had noticed before the parade had started, that the tributes from Districts 10, 11, and 12 this year were all fairly strapping youths that had been cleaned up and dressed up well by their stylists, and so it was hardly a surprise that they were being viewed as attractive and appealing now.

When the chariouts finally came to a stop in a semicircle around Snow's balcony, Alice was not slow to notice that Snow was glaring at him--or more likely, Paige. Still, since his face was less than 2 feet away from Paige's, he got the full view of the glare as well, raising his eyebrows innocently in reaction, as if Snow was glaring at him as well. Did he know Alice's secrets? Was he in trouble too? Or was he just receiving the aftereffects of the glare he was giving Paige? Oddly, while Paige broke the eye contact, Alice continued staring up at Snow, oddly and neutrally. Yes, he was the most dangerous and powerful man in all of Panem, but he was just that in Alice's eyes--a man. The kids all around him? Just boys and girls. The Peacekeepers back home? Assholes, but men and women as well--even Blacky, the fucker. They could hurt him; they could kill him... but what was death? He had never understood why people so feared it. Maybe he'd learn; maybe not. Time would tell, but he did not break his gaze with the President until the chariots started moving--and even then, he turned his head to follow Snow until it became impractical due to the limitations of his neck.

[Nachthexe]

If the Reapings and the parade proved anything it was that tributes were rarely what they appeared to be on the surface, and certainly the 46th games was bound to be no exception. Certainly the presence of powerful looking tributes from the outlying districts spoke for itself. At least Paige could only assume they were powerful, considering their demeanour. The District 10 girl in particular, if her image was anything to go by, especially didn't seem to have any qualms with killing. Tributes who went in with that sort of mentality were almost always among the deadliest kids in the arena as they were able to strike anybody down without a second thought.

Alice's observations about the tributes, despite there being more than first appearances, didn't seem that far off. "Well shit, it's a show the Capitol wants so it's a show they'll get." Paige commented in agreement to the boy. Stating that the outlying districts had produced crazy tributes this year was hardly an understatement. The kisses shared among them was further proof of that; either they were just overly affectionate or some had been friends previous to the Reaping. "Although the ultimate show for us would be throwing a few of those asslickers into an arena ourselves and watching them squeal like little bitches." Paige continuing, not quick to forget the sort of purpose the Hunger Games had in the Capitol these days and how it was much different in the districts.

As much as Paige had wished she could look back at the others during the parade she knew she couldn't. Most of the kids past the usually forgettable 9 were getting impressive receptions, likely because of the girls they had managed to produce. While the District 10 girl was clearly the most insane, some of the others didn't seem too far off themselves. Formidable opponents in the arena? Paige didn't want to find out the hard way, but fortunately there would be plenty of time to examine them in training. However, her focus on this was quickly interrupted by Snow's cold hard glares. The man didn't need to speak a single word to get his very clear message across to the girl. She was in the Capitol for a reason. Snow intended to silence dissent. Paige's original suspicions right from the beginning had been confirmed and perhaps Alice knew something too with the way he continued following the man's glance before the chariots were once again inside the gates.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! I knew it! I fucking knew it!" Paige shouted as the team was finally securely back in their apartment. Augusta along with both the stylists looked up at Paige with a puzzled expression before taking off to another room. This immediately got the girl wondering. Did prep teams not know when reapings were rigged or not? Somehow she suspected they didn't, but she immediately thought that perhaps it was for the better they didn't know. Challis glared directly at Paige though before frowning, hinting that perhaps she knew it was possible for reapings to be rigged. Victors were generally more aware though which is perhaps why rumours circulated about them being watched more closely by Snow and his inner circle. "Snow. He glanced right at me. I know you saw it too." Paige then turned directly to Alice and began whispering to him.

[Zulera301]

Whatever mentor it was that said "never underestimate a tribute", was right. It was much beter to assume everyone was dangerous and then learn that they weren't, than to think someone was harmless and then realize that they were actually deadly. 6 tributes during the 44th Hunger Games had done this to little Kyla from District 12, and she quickly proved how destructive she actually was. Crazy as some of these tributes might have been, it was clear that many of them looked promising. The kids from '12 looked cold and cunning almost as if they were following in Kyla's footsteps only without quite as much subtlety; while the kids from '11 seemed tough and confident, almost like careers (minus the fondness of the Capitol of course). That girl from '10 though... she was arguably at least some level of insane. Alice thought she was amusing.

Alice laughed. "I think that Lyndis girl could do it herself," he quipped, almost hoping that she'd find time during training to come up to him with one of those kisses. They had mostly been one-sided; though that giant girl from '11 had responded with a hug simply because she was a rather friendly individual. The boy, Garrett, as well as Lyndis' own district partner, had both been a little shocked by her actions, but had not felt a need to react adversely to them. Alice couldn't help but grin approvingly at Paige's words. "I've drawn that kind of shit before--or even better, having 20 or so of them against kids from the districts. I don't even need to tell you who was winning in most of the pictures." Nothing short of them using the training center for 18 years would gear up the Capitol for the sort of fierceness that could be seen from the youths of the districts.

Alice's glances at President Snow were not bellicose or harsh in any way--it was simply a neutral-faced stare that he often gave to certain people when they intrigued the boy. Needless to say, a variety of emotions were sparked in him as he looked upon the man responsible for all of this death and trickery. On the other hand, there was nothing he could do even if he wanted to, since he was armed with nothing but long, sash-like cloth wrapped around his body, showing off various sections of skin, no less. He was in no fighting condition, in other words.

"I don't even think he was trying to be subtle," Alice pointed out, noticing the almost panic on Paige's face. He was not even sure how to act about it. On one hand, it didn't even surprise him at all, but on the other, it also meant that she had a likely very cruel death lined up for her so that there was no way she could win the 'games. On the other hand, if the 44th Hunger Games taught him anything, it was that for him to come out of this thing alive, his district partner--AKA Paige--would have to die.
"I saw it," he nodded at Paige, "He's out for your blood... probably wants to drink it and then hide it with those roses or something." He had heard and believed those rumors about Snow smelling like an odd mixture of blood and roses (even if he didn't know that the blood smell was his own blood from the various mouth sores the man had), and the evilness of this man was part of what inspired this theory form Alice.

[Nachthexe]

As much as Paige wanted to know about the other tributes, and also her contenders, she knew she would have to wait until training. Fortunately(or unfortunately?) for her the training began the morning after the parade as the Capitol didn't want to waste any time between the Reaping and the games. Ironically, it almost seemed as most competition would be coming from the outlying districts rather than the careers, certainly a refreshing change for the Capitol audiences who were used to the standard career stock.

"Nevermind drawing it, it needs to happen. Shit, I would even participate and personally take out Snow myself." Paige responded as Alice made his confession about drawing an alternate reality of the Capitol instead participating in the Hunger Games. Naturally, it was something the girl often imagined, having twenty four of the Capitol's own children reaped into their own deadly game. It even seemed like an effective form of revenge to the girl if the districts ever took back Panem for themselves. Ironically, she knew none of them would last long in their own game either.

So blood and roses. The rumours about President Snow were definitely widespread. Paige had heard such a thing from her own parents years before, although it had been their parents who had allegedly briefly spoken to the man personally as he toured around the various districts upon his rise to power. At least that was how the story went and it was hard for Paige to even imagine, but they had lived in a different Panem. A Panem without 24 children slaughtering each other annually. It almost sounded like a utopia to Paige, but she knew she couldn't dwell on it due to the current reality being much more grim. "My parents spoke of that. The man's a fucking creep and even his scent proves it. Certainly he's out for me. He knows more than he should, but what can be done? He rules over us as if he's some sort of benevolent ruler. Riiiiiight, as if anybody except for the Capitol asslickers believe that." She explained, realizing just how grim the entire situation was. Even many people in the districts still believed in Snow's words, enabling the man to continue his Iron Fisted rule.

Paige went silent for several minutes contemplating her situation. So it was clear that Paige was always intended to be reaped. Certainly that meant it was very unlikely she would be returning to District 8. This immediately brought one thought to her mind. Alice. Had his been rigged too? It seemed unlikely as Snow hadn't glared at him so certainly he had just been the unlikely male to be selected. That meant he had a greater chance, by default, of returning home. This had Paige thinking of protecting the boy as best she could while in the arena, but at the same time she knew there was a chance the Capitol would even want to see her struck down right in the bloodbath. That was certainly not a pleasure she wanted to give them and with training beginning the next day there was bound to be more opportunities to discuss strategy with the boy.

[Zulera301]

"well, if I ever see any indicators that it's happening, I'll happily be the first in line." he quipped, "doesn't mean I can't draw it too." He sat down, pulling out his trusty notepad and pencil, at this, since he was just relaxing at this point. his costume didn't bother him at all, and was fairly comfortable, so he left it on. This image did not seem to be one that had any profound message, although he was sketching numerous people onto it, standing in what appeared to be a city square. He knew as well as anyone that outside of the military, most of the Capitol citizens wouldn't last 11 seconds against even an armed tribute youth; an ironic fact for sure, but there it was.

"Whoa... when did your parents meet Snow?" he looked sort of surprised at this. Obviously they had met him shortly before he had put them to death (or whatever had happened, but that was Alice's most dominant theory based on what Paige had told him... or maybe he had misunderstood her. Then again, a generation ago, Snow would have only been in his teens--old enough to be a Hunger Games tribute if the Capitol had been drafted into those games... It was fairly easy to keep track of Snow's age, after all. Panem's "Benevolent Ruler", was a year old when the Hunger Games had first began, and so that meant now he was 47. "heh... benevolent ruler... that reminds me of a public service announcement (http://www.majhost.com/gallery/Melundell/HungerGames/psa3.png) I once saw... give me a moment; I'll draw what I think it said..." he couldn't remember it in full detail, but he had the basic idea of it down.

As he sketched, he wondered what allowed this oppression to be perpetuated. There were so many loyalists in each district who did not know the sufferings of those below them, and the fact that there was no communication between districts meant that they were further divided against each other and united under the Capitol. It was easy to hold a grudge against a district when the only contact you had with them was their daughter killing your son or something like that. Whoever won these Hunger Games would just be turned into another something like that in some of the districts.
Eventually though, he did finish the drawing, before resuming his other one, where images of Hunger Games tributes including Alexis, Rye, Jason, Kyla, Maggie, Clemont, Glimmer, Dezna, Valendria, Leon, Victoria, Lyndis, Adrianna, Isikiro, and several others were cheering as a very charismatic-looking Sagittaria stood in front of them, probably giving an arousing speech. He was not sure if the girl was leader material or not, but he, like everyone else, knew she was extremely charismatic and talented with words.

"Here's that drawing of the PSA I was talking about" he chuckled a bit as he handed over an image of Snow with some captions over towards Paige. The simple phrase "Snow knows best" dominated the top of the image, although the phrases below seemed like his own personal touch.

[Nachthexe]

Paige could immediately tell that Alice was growing curious about her parents. It wasn't a story she told many people, but she figured since Alice was probably doomed to die anyway it was harmless. Besides, it almost felt comforting to get some of it off her shoulders. Truth was that Paige was full of secrets both about herself and her family and some even had potential to be dangerous. "They didn't. My grandparents did. They died before I was born, but both were allegedly loyal supporters of Snow during his rise to power." Paige began, letting out a sigh as she got comfortable in her chair. "Let's just say that later on their allegiances shifted. During the man's tour of all the districts they noticed his distinct smell. Blood and roses. The man was young at the time and apparently rather foolish so he shared some of his secrets when they asked, knowing they were loyal. It's shitty I don't know the details of exactly what went down in that conversation, but something changed in my grandparents that day. They suddenly...opposed everything Snow stood for. At least that was what my parents told me. They promised to give the full story once I was older, but alas it never happened. I'm afraid it's something they took to the grave." Paige finished up, truly feeling regret that her parents had been taken from her so soon. They had raised her to embody their own ideals, yet she knew she was far from truly fulfilling them.

"There's many things I regret in life, but one of the worst is losing my parents at only fourteen years old. Sometimes I blame myself, but I'm not so sure what to think anymore. A part of me wants to think they had it coming, but another part of me wants to think that they were innocent fucking victims. Hell, a part of me wants to think it's my fault I'm here." Paige found herself suddenly ranting before remembering just who was in the room with her. Alice. A boy she hardly knew, yet here she was spilling her feelings to him as if he was some sort of therapist. Realizing this, she just shifted away and stuffed her face into her arms. "I'm sorry. You don't need to be burdened with my problems while facing your own. Usually Hanna listens to me, but she's not here. Shitballs! I hate the games!"

Several minutes passed with Alice keep in concentration as he worked on yet another drawing. Paige peered up occasionally, hoping to see what he was drawing. Interestingly enough, he had reproduced a rather accurate portrayal of just one of the public service announcements that littered the district. Snow definitely liked to make it clear that his rule was absolute, something that most were never quick to forget anyway. Still, it reminded Paige once again of her grandparents who had allegedly initially saw something benevolent and genuine in the man, an image he still seemed to carry to this day. He clearly was manipulative and that alone made him a forced to be reckoned with, but it also made Paige realize that she was aware of many of the man's tricks even if others weren't. That alone certainly had been enough for the Capitol to target her. She knew Snow's tricks, therefore she was a threat.

[Zulera301]

Alice listened with considerable interest. He might have been staring down at his drawing for most of the time, but his strokes were slower, which was a sign that he was paying attention. So it had been her grandparents then... what an interesting philosophy.
"It sounds like they had a moment of clarity and an epiphany." he quipped after all was said and done, "My parents don't seem to give a shit either way. Hell if I know what they *do* actually care about, but it certainly isn't anything about the Capitol, and definitely doesn't have anything to do with me."
"I guess I just one day realized that this whole 'being oppressed' thing really kind of sucked, and here I am today, still with the same advantage I had 14 years ago. There's nothing short of killing me that they can do to me. I could run through the Capitol right now shouting about how horrible Snow and the Capitol are and all they'd be able to do would be shoot me down. Well, I guess they could bomb district 8, but I don't think any of Panem would take too well to an unprovoked attack. The higher-ups are too concerned with appearing benevolent and shit."

Alice simply shrugged at her remark regarding losing her parents. "At least you had them that long..." he said softly, still focused on his drawing, portraying Sagittaria as a charismatic leader of a band of rogue warriors which consisted of several tributes, from various districts banding together to fight something, it seemed.
"no, you're fine," he reassured her, "rant as much as you need to. I'm more attentive than I look, you know..."
Another thing the boy could perhaps use to his advantage. He always seemed to be so aloof and absorbed in his drawings that most people didn't worry what they said around the boy, figuring he wasn't listening. Well, he usually was listening, and was doing so very intently, no less. He reached over and touched her hand as if to hold it. "I know that we've probably only really known each other for a couple hours, but it seems we're more alike than I thought. If you want to express your hatred for the Capitol and every oppressive thing they stand for, WITHOUT getting flogged or glared at... maybe I can help ya there." he shrugged. "just a thought."
This was probably about as close to friendship as Alice would manage to get. It was certainly nothing compared to that of Dezna and Kiva from the previous year, let alone Rye and Sagittaria from the year before--but there it was. Alice had nothing really to gain from it, but his offer was sincere and heartfelt.

After the PSA image, he began sketching Glimmer in a beautiful conceptual gown that he had been cooking up on his free time. He was a designer when all was said and done, after all. It started to take the form of something simple and yet elegant and delightful and easy on the eyes, and welcoming to the surroundings. This had actually been why he had chosen Glimmer as the subject of this piece--she had been a simple girl; very elegant and beautiful, but also very modest and humble. She had also been his favorite tribute last year.
"Y'know..." he quipped, just trying to make conversation, "I'm torn between sleeping in this costume, or shedding it rather abruptly within a few minutes." he chuckled.

[Nachthexe]

"Certainly, but something changed in them. Then again, they lived in a Panem before these shitty death matches were even a thing. I've always wondered what life was like then, y'know. Was there freedom? It's hard to say, but regardless there had been some element causing people to rebel and now we're all suffering from it, dammit." Paige continued, genuinely being curious about so many things she knew she would never get answers to. Certainly Panem's history from up until about 46 years ago was repressed, leaving few actual facts about it. District 13 had allegedly even been prosperous then and now it was nothing more than a pile of smoldering rubble. Times truly were different now with only 12 districts.

Alice was perhaps at an advantage in that he simply didn't really fear dying. If what he said about his parents was indeed true then it made sense to Paige that the boy didn't really have anything to go back home to. Paige knew she did, but she also realized the Capitol would probably never allow it. Whether she died by natural causes, another tribute, or a Gamemaker engineered trap they probably wouldn't care as long as she was silenced. That was the reality of modern Panem; you spoke out against the government and you were silenced. Avoxes were a rather literal example of that and frankly it was one of the things that had bothered Paige since just arriving in the Capitol a few hours ago.

"Thanks. Honestly, I'm surprised you would listen to a bitter outspoken bitch like me, but I suppose we're kind of alone right now. Us against the Capitol, that won't end well. If it's any consolation though they couldn't touch our asses with a ten foot pole. The Capitol wants us to die in their way now, as ironic as it is." Paige confessed to Alice, feeling some comfort of the fact that the boy was actually willing to listen to her. It felt odd too. Just months earlier she hadn't thought much of the boy, but now she was becoming increasingly sympathetic of him and even perhaps clinging to him herself. If anything, he understood at least some of her struggles. That alone had managed to surprise her, especially the fact he had even experienced floggings of his own.

As the evening continued wearing on Paige and Alice found themselves able to converse without, surprisingly, many distractions. Clearly Challis still didn't have much interest in mentoring as she was still hidden deep in her room while Augusta and both stylists were likely off somewhere else entirely. Naturally, this didn't bother Paige and actually gave her some relief. Last thing she truly wanted was Capitol ears listening in on everything she had just told Alice. It was fragile information, perhaps much like the Capitol's political system itself. "I don't care what I fall asleep in, but it should be soon. We have training to begin and somehow I suspect it won't be easy on either of us. You best be picking up a combat skill in there too." Paige announced, realizing she was quickly growing tired after what had certainly been a long day. Of course, however, she knew she was only getting started. The next week right up until the moment of her imminent death was bound to be jam-packed.

[Zulera301]

"Yeah..." Alice nodded, "The oppressiveness of the Capitol has to outdate Snow... unless he was giving orders at age 1... I can see it now..." he laughed, imagining a baby Coriolanus Snow (who oddly, in Alice's mind, still had the rose and the beard) speaking and threatening people, and the districts bending under his iron-fisted rule). He wondered how Snow had risen to power... who had preceded him... had he conspired to gain this position? He wouldn't put it above the man. He wondered about District 13 as well... had they been the most oppressed of the districts? Something had caused them to rise up in rebellion, even if they were ultimately bombed into oblivion. Given that they supposedly mined graphite and built weapons, he didn't think they were a terribly poor district. Alas, more mysteries and unanswered questions that would probably never be answered in his lifetime.

The problem with neutrality was that while it prevented someone from experiencing the bad, it also prevented them from experiencing the good. Sure the boy might not have ever experienced true sorrow, but on the other hand, it was arguable that he had never experienced true joy either. He had fun and enjoyed himself now and again (such as when he drew a particularly good sketch of something or someone), and bad times (such as getting caught and/or flogged) but the passionate emotions he had seen in tributes such as Valendria, Kiva, Rye, Sagittaria, Flint, Blaze, Kyla, Daisy, Leon, Glimmer, Krystal, and even the likes of Dezna, Paige, and that Lyndis girl... he didn't feel it. He didn't really understand it either.

Alice chuckled. "well, I guess you make up for being hard on the ears by not being hard on the eyes," he joked, "but hey... if we've got temporary immunity... we should like start a riot or something." He was being entire non-serious, but that too was fairly funny to joke about. Perhaps he tried to laugh because it was one of the few emotions he could grasp properly. Alone... now there was a condition he was familiar with. It hadn't bothered him too much before, but perhaps that was simply because he knew nothing else. Now, he was starting to understand what it felt like to not be alone. Even if a short-tempered, outspoken bitch was the company he had... he did appreciate it, and felt (or at least hoped) that he was making it fairly clear.

Alice was as good a listener as he had professed to be, and occasionally spoke up himself, voicing his opinions or thoughts on a subject when necessary. The two tributes did seem to have very similar viewpoints, even if they expressed them in two very different ways.
Alice chuckled. "well, you pull that dress off quite well." He was fully aware that his statement could be interpretted in two ways, but frankly, he was just going to let Paige interpret it at face value however she pleased. "combat skill... yeah, I'll definitely have to look into that... even with all those tributes from '6 and '8 that have won by hiding... they still have to usually fight at least one other tribute to take the crown..."
he stretched his arms and legs, curling his bare toes. He still seemed to have at least a shred of confidence that he might be able to win--either that or he was just mercilessly optimistic, though that would be a surprise, given his past.

[Nachthexe]

Paige found herself chuckling, surprisingly. "A dictator toddler Snow? Shit, I could see him doing that just so nobody could kill him without feeling guilty up the ass. Like who would kill a baby?" It was an unusually funny thought, but it also brought up interesting points. Certainly Panem had to have been oppressive even before Snow if there were uprisings. Paige knew it was yet another thing her parents certainly would have known about but had taken to the grave or wherever they were(certainly it was safe to assume they were dead). "Also, Snow conspiring to reach his position? I wouldn't even be surprised. Shit, nothing surprises me about that asswipe anymore."

Even if Alice had initially been a quiet kid he was certainly proving himself to have a sense of humour while deep in the Capitol, soon to be thrown into a death match. Paige's consecutive chuckles at the kid's comments further confirmed it. "Perhaps a damn riot would even have those asslickers cancelling the games. I can see it now; 'game's cancelled, time to go home.'" As much as Paige truly wished for such a thing she and Alice both knew it wasn't going to happen. If there was anything else Alice had proven it was that he definitely wasn't naive, and especially not naive towards the Capitol's various tactics of repression.

There were many tactics to win the games as proven in previous years, but frankly Alice didn't look like the type who had it in him. Paige wasn't meaning to underestimate the boy, but his main expertise seemed to only be in art and fashion design. Those were hardly skills that had potential usefulness in the arena. Paige, on the other hand, had some knowledge of knives and they were definitely a popular weapon choice and certainly stable as far as actual weapons in the arena went. Even the previous year where tributes had mostly been killing each other with shards of metal managed to have an abundance of knives. That was a tactic Paige definitely had herself considering, despite being so rusty on anything combat related. "I feel like hiding will only get you so far. As soon as somebody discovers you they will come and bite you in the ass. Challis definitely knows a thing or two. We can ask her tomorrow."

Coming up with strategy for the games truly was tricky and Paige especially came to realize that in her fatigued state. Besides, she felt as if she would be better able to formulate strategy upon seeing the others in action. Challis definitely had a point there just as she had explained on the train. "Well shit, I'm done. Goodnight, kid. We have serious shit to do tomorrow." Paige announced as she got up to retire to her room. Once alone she almost immediately began thinking about home, but most of all, Hanna. What was on her mind as she likely laid in bed at this very same time? Was she already contemplating the fact that her girlfriend was unlikely to ever return? Certainly it was something the woman didn't want to imagine, but the nature of the games made it incredibly possible. Fact was that only one was ever coming out of that arena and there already appeared to be some serious contenders this year for the victor's crown.

[Zulera301]

"Snow's elite might," he quipped, taking a page or two of black humor out of Dezna's book. "and if he doesn't kill 'em as babies, he just waists 15 or 16 years or so. If you're older than 11 and younger than 19, Snow loves to kill you." This was an obvious jab at the Hunger Games, which, when Alice thought about it, was actually probably the cruelest time to do that to a child: The pivotal teenage years of their life where their bodies and personalities are making the largest transitions of their lives, and then to throw them into one of the most horrific activities imaginable... it was no wonder the victors were such isolated and distant individuals. Seeing Sagittaria on TV a few months ago reminded him of this. He could see it in the way that she carried herself that she was not nearly as stable as she had been during her pre-game interviews. Either she was falling apart, or perhaps more likely, the Capitol was trying to break her for some reason. he had no idea why, because to him, Sagittaria seemed like a harmless storyteller.

Alice chuckled, for Paige's creatively vulgar names amused him. "or better yet... Welcome to the REAL 46th Hunger Games... the tributes: The Capitol. The arena: The city... The Gamemakers: District 8, motherfuckas!" he threw his hands in the air as if making some sort of sign with his hands.
Alice's ability to quietly observe and remember details had served him well. Most people overlooked the quiet boy drawing his pictures (and sure enough, he was drawing another image of Valendria now), but any time he was around people, he was watching them. He kept people at a distance and observed them rather than interacted with them. He saw a great deal for someone so young and seemingly naive, but he was far from naive, as Paige had noticed. No, Alice was aware of the harsh reality he and Paige lived in, and was able to sympathize with the older girl on several different harsh aspects of it, no less.

He nodded. "well, there's more to hiding than just staying out of view. It's a matter of seeing them without them seeing you. How do you think I know so much about Capitol shit and every other atrocity that they get away with in District 8... I hide and see them even if they don't see me." he explained.
"okay, so that's only half true. I don't actually hide... I just stay out of the way in plain sight. I'll probably end up specializing in bows or throwing knives or some projectile..."
If there was one thing that Alice specialized in, it was precision and detail. If he could get his aiming skills to line up with his keen eyes, he could become lethal. He knew where to strike on a body to cripple, incapacitate or even kill someone, and this attentiveness to detail even showed in his artwork.
"Oh, I'm definitely talking to Challis tomorrow," Alice nodded in agreement, "and I'm gonna knock her senseless if she doesn't mentor us by then. She promised." They had an idea of the tributes now, after all, and so he expected something to come of it.

As Paige spoke, Alice was finishing up his drawing. This image of Valendria depicted her on her back, her eyes closed. She was dead, and the words he had written above and below her were rather striking.
"THE CAPITOL DOES NOT LOVE. THE CAPITOL ONLY TAKES."
Valendria was arguably one of his favorite subjects simply because of how controversial her very existence was. He really felt bad for the girl given what he knew of her story. It was like a much more horrible version of his own story. Neither Valendria nor Alice had ever received any actual love from their parents, but while Alice was simply ignored, Valendria was ruthlessly manipulated for her entire life until near the end of the 45th Hunger Games, she finally snapped and lost it, blurting out how she felt about her entire life's situation, before begging Kiva, the last remaining tribute, to take her life.
"Alright." he shrugged, "see ya tomorrow." He put the image of Valendria away, and shortly after Paige disappeared, he decided to make one more sketch. This one depicted sweet little Daisy from District 11. However, next to her, was one of those vicious and horrifying humanoid mutts that the Capitol had unreleased on Valendria all throughout the 'games. He made their poses almost identical, except emphasized the striking differences between the actual girl and the horrible creature they had made from her DNA. A product of the Districts versus a product of the Capitol.... he liked the contrast, and so as he usually did when he wanted to convey a message, he left this image lying out on the table before retiring to his room, falling asleep fairly quickly.

[Nachthexe]

"Unfortunately so..." Paige responded, immediately picking up Alice's point. The Hunger Games. Whoever had come up with the idea had certainly been as sadistic as Snow. Technically Snow had the power to end the whole thing, but clearly he got enjoyment from it as well as he didn't. Or he saw it as a weapon of sorts... Naturally, Paige leaned towards the latter, using her own reaping as an example. Still, even Alice seemed to have the right idea that perhaps pointed out hypocrisy of the whole thing. If the Capitol children had been forced to participate as well Paige was almost positive the games would be discontinued. "If anything, one of them would get killed in the arena and then the rest of them would run off, squealing like little bitches." She retorted as Alice spoke about throwing the Capitol in the game.

"Don't worry about it. She will mentor. You and I both know she wants out of here as badly as we do." Paige advised as Alice once again mentioned the so far unreliable mentor. As much as Paige wanted to blame her she knew she couldn't. The woman was tired and frankly it was hard to blame her. Mentoring seemed taxing, especially considering at least one of the children whose lives had been put in their hands wasn't coming out of the arena. That was perhaps something that had Paige fearing a District 8 victory this year, but at the same time striving for one to give Challis a break. The woman was perhaps even traumatized by both her mentoring and own experiences in the games.

Paige managed to briefly get a glance at Alice's drawing be fore finally retiring to her room. It was of dead Valendria, but it was the words underneath that managed to be most shocking. The Capitol only takes? It became quite obvious in Paige's mind what Alice had meant by that. Not all the details of Valendria's story were known, but various clips from the games that hadn't been cut had hinted at something Paige easily suspected: the girl's parents had trained from a young age to serve the Capitol while showing little actual love for the girl. They had only loved the Capitol. Sure it hadn't been explicitly stated in the footage shown in the Districts, but those with a rebellious mindset were able to read between the lines, unbeknownst to Snow. Regardless, between Valendria's story and her own it was sentiment she agreed with entirely. Children were even taken from their parents every year, most never to return.

Despite everything on her mind Paige managed to sleep surprisingly soundly, only awaking when it was finally morning. She could hear stirring outside her room so certainly some of the others were already up, awaiting to begin the first full day of training. This was something she shrugged off and instead headed to the shower to wash off everything from the previous night's parade. Once out, she slipped on the training uniform that had no doubt been left out during the night. It was definitely comfortable, much to her relief, but certainly the Capitol wanted their tributes to have the optimum experience during their stay before the games. "How cute that the Capitol even bothers allowing us to train before the games. Can't let those asslickers get bored when we all die quickly, after all." She uttered as she made her way to the dining table where breakfast was already set out. Fortunately for her, the others had been too absorbed in their own meals to catch her words as she definitely didn't feel like getting any witty remarks or lectures from any of them right now.

[Zulera301]

Alice chuckled. "well... then it would be a game of cat and mouse... a game of pursuit." he quipped, "which is fine and dandy, because I think you know as well as I do that if they were cornered they'd just piss themselves... unlike that girl from District 11 that one year who let the others chase her down, only to go ballistic on them..."
The girl had still died, but she had led on five career tributes until they cornered her, and she took three of them down with her in one last desperate struggle before the other two finally got her (and Alice was pretty sure one of them won, but he'd have to watch it again to make sure.)
He shrugged. "One day the districts are going to bite back... I dunno when, and I'll probably be long dead before it happens... but it'll happen." Naive optimism, or ominous foreshadowing... he'd let Paige decide.

He nodded. "yeah... I feel for her... I wonder how she feels about having a set of tributes like us..." he mused aloud, not even necessarily expecting the older girl to answer. "even the best mentors are only ever 50% successful... if they don't get a victor the year after, it just gets lower and lower..." he shrugged with a small sigh. It was just basic math really though. Perhaps to make matters worse, every mentor that was here right now had a 0% success rate. only one of them would change... one of the children in this tower right now was a victor... Alice always thought that if he died, that it would have at least been cool to see who won... but even taking 2nd place seemed like a stretch for him.

Alice was considerably proud of his Valendria series. It was where his Anti-Capitolism (not to be confused with Capitalism, mind you) showed the most (well, besides the blatant image of Paige and her vulgar gestures and the "FUCK THE CAPITOL" caption. That was just too damn blatant). One thing he did want to know if he did come out of this mess a victor, was the rest of that story. Perhaps because of this alone, he took a special interest in District 4. But, even little Alice had noticed that something was not right with Valendria's behavior throughout the games. It was established that she did not want to win, but more than that, she had been trying to get Glimmer to win first, and after she died, her focuses turned to Dezna, and then Kiva. She had fought with a ferocity unseen against those horrifying mutt-creatures to ensure the last tribute's safety. If Kiva had died, she would have won, and for whatever erason, Valendria seemed to be strongly aversive to that idea. Valendria... a lovely name... such a beautiful and mysterious woman. He wished he could have met her, but that was just fantasy now.

Alice woke sometime the next morning, showering and then getting dressed. A black uniform with dark red and grey stripes along the edges of the shirt and pants were laid out for him, and he donned the attire, boots and all. He suspected that the only thing different about his uniform from the others was the number 8 on both of his shoulders was likely their district numbers. As a designer himself though, it did not escape him that the Capitol always seemed to make every tribute's uniforms, both for training and for the 'games, fit them perfectly. They knew Alice's measurements, and apparently knew Paige's too as he stepped out and saw her there.
He loaded up some breakfast of his own and then began sketching another one of those feral humanoid mutts (this one resembling Markus from District 8 last year) as he ate.

"So... into the frying pan, eh?" he quipped. the 'out of the frying pan and into the fire' moment would obviously be the arena, hence his first remark. He was also curious to how Paige felt right now. Maybe it was because they saw so many things eye to eye, but he was actually interested in her feelings, and that was why he asked.

[Nachthexe]

"Yea, and they intend to fry us all to a crisp." Paige responded as Alice made his entrance. Unsurprisingly, he donned an identical uniform to hers making her confident that all the other tributes likely did as well. Of course the numbers on the others would vary, but the uniforms were the same. Surprisingly, they managed to even be somewhat stylist while not sacrificing comfort. "Soooooo...any last advice before we go into training, Challis? You're supposed to be mentoring us so buck up." Paige turned her attention to the mentor who had surprisingly gotten up before either of the tributes. Perhaps she was fully aware of what her duty now was.

Challis managed to let out a sigh before finally speaking. "All I can suggest at this point since I know what neither of you are capable of is to just not provoke the others. Oh, and don't be afraid to try things out. That's what you're there for." Paige listened intently, nodding her head as the woman spoke. The part about not provoking the others particularly stood out. Knowing how she was she suspected that bit was bound to be easier said than done. However, she understood why the woman had suggested it: within a week all of the children were going to be thrust into an arena where provocation would only lead to sure death. That was not a risk Paige was quite ready to take. Even if she was destined to die in that arena she knew she had to at least try to protect Alice so he could potentially make it home.

Paige didn't have much of her own to say in response to Challis' advice so instead just finished her breakfast in silence. She was beginning to develop a strategy, but it was subject to change depending on the others. Still, it was something she intended to discuss with Alice later when out of the earshot of the other tributes. Fortunately, the boy seemed perfectly satisfied with himself for the time being anyway as he began on yet another drawing, this time of what appeared to be one of the Mutts from the 45th games. Certainly the rat Mutts had been plenty freaky on their own, but for Paige the humanoid ones easily topped them. The girl did find it odd though that they were ever only unleashed on Valendria though. Perhaps it had been just another attempt to break the powerful girl? Even in the arena she seemingly hadn't had a break from Capitol manipulation. Her story, or what was known of it, had definitely been a tragic one.

Once finished breakfast Paige almost immediately got up to make her way to the training centre. "Let's get this started. Last one down there is a Capitol asskisser." She announced, sneering. At that, she took off out the door towards the elevators. Once inside she pressed the button marked with "T", no doubt signifying "training". The ride down certainly took longer than usual, leading Paige to suspect they were entering an underground facility of some sort. This was quickly confirmed as she exited the elevator and began examining her surroundings. It was definitely underground, but it was definitely an impressive set-up as she saw upon entering the main room. Only a few of the 24 tributes were present so far, but were already hard at work at several of the different stations that were situated around the room. Paige, of course, opted almost immediately to go for the knife station which was free for the time being.

[Zulera301]

"Course." he chuckled. "It wouldn't be the Capitol without that happening." Perhaps what pleased Alice the most about the training uniforms was that the colors went well together, and not only did they look nice, but they were quite comfortable, and didn't share the same connotation with death as the arena outfits did. Alice's attention also turned to Challis when his partner spoke up. "She's got a point y'know... you're out of excuses..." He just wanted to make sure that she actually did some mentoring instead of letting him and Paige fend for themselves. Mentors were something of a lifeline for their tributes, after all.

Challis added one more thing. "I'll be watching the tributes the way we mentors can, in the meantime." she pointed out, "and so I'll have a lot more to tell you tonight and tomorrow, I promise."
Alice nodded, seemingly content with this answer. He knew that the tributes were crazy, but perhaps Challis could pick up some extra info about them that they might not have noticed or something like that. It was an interesting thought., but there was a week to train and so Alice would definitely try to pick up some skills. Paige was right after all--there was only so much hiding he could do. Sooner or later, if he wanted to win, he would have to fight; have to kill. Only the former of the two really concerned him though.

During this sketch, he reached into his bag and pulled out another drawing as if for reference. It showed the Dezna mutt, although there was cramped, all-caps handwriting on it pointing to various areas and features of the creature's body, noting every detail down the clothes it had worn. Nodding approvingly, he slipped it away and finished his other one. Alice didn't know any more than Paige why the mutts had only been released on Valendria, but he figured it had something to do with her strength--as if the Capitol figured she was the only one that would be strong enough to take them down. They did behave like actual tributes for the most part, after all. He wondered if the Capitol would ever use things like that again. Surely if they had been as big a hit as the commentators said they were, then they would surely reappear one day.

"So District 1 then," Alice retorted as he jumped up and raced after her till they were in the elevators. It sure wouldn't be him, after all, and technically when they were in the elevator they'd arrive at the same time.
once in the training center, Alice took a good look around, noting the tributes that were present. He had to look a little harder at the tributes before recognizing them (since they were dressed differently, and were not styled and covered in makeup like they were last night), although he did see a girl with a number 10 on her shoulders spinning around and hacking away at moving targets with a pair of handaxes.
"Crazy tributes..." he grinned approvingly, walking towards the archery station to try his hand at a bow, "this is going to be fun..."

[Nachthexe]

Challis found herself growing slightly annoyed at Alice's remark, but fortunately it didn't last long. The boy definitely had a point though. She was a mentor so had a job to do. That was especially important for the woman's own well-being, being desperate to retire from the mentoring business. It was rather taxing watching their tributes die year after year, after all. "Great, because, you know, you're partially responsible for our well-being. If we die in the opening minutes it's on you." Paige reassured the woman on her way out to the training centre.

"Touche, kid. They're Capitol asskissers for sure." Paige responded as Alice joined her in the elevator. Naturally, this had them both arriving at the same time and Alice seemed to be initially just as intrigued by the training centre as she had. The Capitol definitely spared no expense when it came to preparing for the games and this was no exception. Paige was sure that just the equipment alone was surely expensive enough to feed much of District 12 alone, arguably Panem's poorest district. Naturally, this peeved Paige, but she was in little position to voice her concerns here, especially when the career pack began arriving. It didn't surprise her that the four tributes were already attempting to become acquainted with each other. It was pretty much expected every year with the one exception of the 44th games, which had certainly surprised all of Panem when Krystal had ultimately turned on her district partner and allies.

Alice almost immediately got down to business, but Paige found his weapon choice to be oddly fitting. Bows. Only those who mastered precision were able to fire them to the best of their ability, and certainly Alice had no shortage of that. He definitely proved it continuously through his art. However, as Paige attempted to hone her own skills she couldn't help but to watch some of the others. The District 10 girl was definitely crazy, but also displayed some degree of skill. Perhaps District 10 would actually have a tribute survive beyond the bloodbath? It was a prospect that was bound to be surprising for everybody watching. Of course, there was also the District 7 girl who had just arrived. Almost immediately she had begun swinging at a group of dummies with an axe, and she was damn good at it to boot. Even the careers found themselves mesmerized by the girl, pausing their own training in order to watch her.

The District 7 girl's "show" continued for several minutes until she finally found herself switching to other stations in the training centre. Paige was mainly practicing with the knives and unsurprisingly found herself beginning to pick up her old skills once again. If there was one thing her parents had done right it had been training her for self-defense in the case of Peacekeepers attacking or even an uprising. Certainly they had been idealistic about the whole thing, but for the first time in ages Paige actually found herself thankful about the whole thing. "So bow, eh? Interesting weapon choice." She then approached Alice, attempting to check up on the younger boy's progress and perhaps make conversation. Perhaps she would even convince him to try out some of the survival stations as well. Those skills were arguably even more important than combat, after all.

[Zulera301]

Alice nodded in agreement with Paige. "...and that means you're stuck here another year. I don't think any of us want that either now, right?" For Alice it was not so much District 8 pride as much as it would simply be the satisfaction that District 8, which had been at odds with the Capitol for years, had outsmarted the Gamemakers and the other tributes to produce a victor. Besides, Challis might like the liberation from mentordom. However, that was all that he said on the subject before bolting out to go follow Paige.

"No surprise there," he chuckled. "but hey... most we can do is make 'em panick in fear the same way Blaze and Victoria did when District 6 did them in." He glanced back over at the forming career alliance and shook his head. Similar to the outlying girls (and a couple of the boys), they looked big and strong and deadly. One oddity about Lyndis that he noticed was that the girl was still not wearing any shoes. He remembered that the Dezna and Hazel had been somewhat aversive to them in the 'games, but so far he had never seen anything covering the District 10 girl's feet. Was it a quirk? Was there a story behind it? or was it something he was distracting himself with that had no other real significance? He shook his head to dismiss the thoughts before getting to work.

Lyndis did not seem to mind her company at the axe station either. She was keeping up with that District 7 girl fairly well, in fact, although her movements were a little faster and more sporadic, and she used handaxes more than the other girl. However, a scene was caused the moment that girl put the axes down to move stations. Lyndis approached her, briefly grabbing her face and pulling her in for one of those smooches she had given District 11 (and her own partner) the night before. She then picked up her axes and went back to acting as if nothing happened (unless the girl was provoked. Well... then things could get interesting.)

While Paige was out and about though, there was something else that caught his eye among the other bows--a metallic and very finly crafted crossbow. It looked like it belonged there, with how much it matched the other weapons, although there was one telltale feature that made it stand out--it was unique. Every single other weapon had multiple "copies" in the training room so that tributes would not have to wait in line for a single type of weapon or whatnot. There was only one crossbow, let alone a mechanical one. Alice went to analyze it for a moment, looking over every square inch almost obsessively. Then he saw it, etched into the handle:
Dezna Kadi Meraxa, District 6
Everyone knew that the kid had made one of these things out of metal shards and a few sponsored materials in the arena, but he had never known that he had made one in the training center. The craftsmanship of this one looked even finer than the one he had built in the arena.
He knew at once that he had to analyze every micron of this weapon so he could draw it. It was one of the finest pieces of craftsmanship he had ever seen. Of course, he was not the mechanical expert that Dezna had been, but he also saw artistic value in this object, which was why he was admiring it.

Soon, he was approached by Paige. "yeah... I'm gonna need more practice. I kinda got distracted though... look at this!" His admiration for Dezna had just gone through the roof. The boy had crafted something so well that the Capitol had not even dismantled it a year later. Maybe Alice was biased, but there was more than just mechanical skill showing here. Dezna had crafted it to be visually appealing but still functional and practical, sparing no expense in either department. For Alice, this was like a dream come true.
"That Dezna kid from district 6 last year made it..." he showed her the name carved in the corner of the handle. "Man... I wish these things became standard issues... this is incredible!" he was almost drifting back into his own little world, but was still very aware of Paige's presence, hoping (even if vainly) that she'd like it as much as he did.

[Nachthexe]

Keshet immediately found herself growing uncomfortable from Lyndis' unexpected kiss. This prompted the girl to nearly lash out at her, only having the supervising Peacekeepers to intervene. "Do that again and I'll gut you." Keshet sneered at Lyndis, swinging her axe in front of the crazy District 10 girl as if to threaten her. At this point, the Peacekeepers took note and began restraining each of the girls, allowing them to calm down. This was a scene Paige found herself watching with great intrigue until the oldest man of the group of Peacekeepers glared directly at her. This immediately made her nervous. Did he know who she was and that Snow had essentially intentionally targeted her? It was unlikely, but she couldn't help, but to think of such a thing being possible even as she shifted her attention back to the knife training station.

Paige wasn't sure if Alice had witnessed the scene that just unfolded(although it was hard to overlook), but the boy's attention seemed to be elsewhere. A crossbow, but a unique crossbow. Either the Capitol was attempting to try something new and introduce crossbows into the games or a tribute had constructed it. Paige suspected the latter, which was quickly confirmed by Alice. He was definitely correct too. The craftsmanship of it was near flawless, having Paige realize that even the sturdy bow he had constructed in the arena last year had been far from his best work. "Shit, it's truly a shame he went the way he did. So many young people's talents...wasted. Then again, all of it goes to the Capitol parasites anyway." She explained, letting out a sigh as she picked up the device to examine it more closely. Had the Gamemakers left it as an example to follow? An example to aspire to that would never be reached? That in itself seemed like a torturous concept.

"Let's continue. I'd hate to end up like those two fuckwits. Challis had a point." Paige announced moments later as she set down the crossbow, glaring over at the two feuding tributes that the Peacekeepers had finally trusted enough to be left alone to continue their training. It was hard for Paige to believe, but it seemed that already hostilities were forming and it was still the first day. If there was anything that was obvious to the girl it was that hostilities formed here were bound to carry into the arena. However, these clearly went beyond childish playground rivalries for these were children training to become lethal killers. Even Alice seemed to appear as such, showing relative skill with the bow he was wielding. Any bit was valuable and realizing that, Paige shifted over to the swords and began attempting to swing them. She managed to have decent success even from her first few tries, realizing they were similar to the knives she had just wielded earlier.

Paige wasn't sure how much time had passed with her practicing with the swords and other bladed weapons, but soon she found herself moving onto survival skills. Plant identification. It was one she knew was bound to be among the most crucial as often arenas were diverse in plant life. Of course, one notable exception had been the previous year's arena that didn't appear to have a single patch of greenery anywhere. Frankly it had been pretty hard on the eyes so for that reason alone Paige was almost thankful they had kept it dark for much of the games. Still, she knew it was unlikely such a pattern would repeat twice in a row so she began working at identifying the various plants. Nightlock was, by far, the most recognizable for her, but it was one her parents had so cautiously spoke about. "Paige, dear. Those black berries? The ones we warned you about? It's said the Capitol uses them to execute dissidents." Used to execute dissidents. Those were the words that burned in the girl's mind even to this day. That in itself made the berries seem like something frightening, but at least they managed to kill their victim quickly and painlessly as had been seen in the 44th games.

[Zulera301]

Lyndis had actually only grabbed her axes because she had intended to go back and train, but when Keshet exploded on her, the barefooted girl just laughed. Alice noticed that the two were the same height, even.
"that's cute, kid." she leered, not even reacting to being restrained. She had not intended to fight the girl right here or now anyways. "y'wouldn't know th' first thing about guttin' someone even if it kissed y'on th' lips." she taunted. Alice actually snorted to hold back a laugh, but also realized that the District 10 girl had a point--District 7 was lumber--hacking and chopping wood. District 10 was livestock, and the rare butcher that became a tribute surely knew all about gutting and chopping up animals for meat.

Even as the Peacekeepers continued to restrain her though, it seemed that Lyndis was still making faces and mocking gestures towards Keshet for a bit longer before she finally let it go. Alice watched them with amusement, glancing up at them periodically as he analyzed that crossbow a bit more. He was good at this kind of observation--looking at one thing but taking in his surroundings out of the corner of his eyes, and using his ears. He was amused by that District 10 girl's antics.
"It's like I said..." he commented in response to Paige's disgusted remark, "the Capitol does not love--it only takes: lives, resources, talents... you name it. If it exists, they'll take it sooner or later." It was certainly not Alice throwing in the towel or giving up or anything; just that he knew there was little they could do against someone who would take anything that could be used to the districts' advantage. He wondered why then it had been left here... Was it just the Capitol showing that they appreciated taking beautiful things or something? Surely there was some symbolism here that might have gone over his 14-year-old head. Oh well.

Alice chuckled. "These tributes are crazy. I am not sure how to feel about this." he turned to her, watching that Lyndis girl skip away, where she intercepted a boy from District 4, and a girl from District 12 with the same kind of kiss. The boy ended up smirking as he watched Lyndis skip away, and the girl seemed slightly bothered by it, but that she started watching Lyndis practice with a pair of spiked maces.
"I wonder if Challis is seeing any of this." There was plenty more going on around them that they might have missed, but the mentors were usually given a better view of it all. As Paige moved to the swords, Alice moved over to the knives, trying his hand with them, even if he was nothing too fantastic with them. He wanted to focus on the bows (and maybe try out that crossbow a few times)... though he knew that a backup skill might be helpful if he couldn't get one.

After a while (Lyndis's kissing spree had continued, (where she had successfully gotten a boy from District 3, both tributes from District 5, and the boy from District 12) and there was another incident where she had to be restrained because of how the girl from District 2 reacted. Alice did not see this incident in as much detail as the other one, but he heard Lyndis produce some fairly solid logic. "Kissin' ain't never killed no one." Whether they realized that she had a point or if they just wanted her to mind their own business, Lyndis was left to her own devices again.
While he was curious as to what these devices were (or if he'd end up getting a Lyndis-kiss), he was more curious as to what Paige was doing, so he sniffed the girl out (not literally), locating her at the plant identification station.
"Whatcha got here?" he asked her curiously to see if she had learned anything new. He certainly knew no more about plants than she did, after all, and so he was sort of spectating her at this point.

[Nachthexe]

Having little to say in response to Lyndis, Keshet instead flipped the bird at the girl before once again retreating, not wanting the Peacekeepers intervening. Paige found herself chuckling at this as she continued examining the two girls. She didn't know much about Keshet besides the fact she was from District 7 and had volunteered, but in some ways she almost saw a reflection of herself in the girl. Her attitude and seeming bitterness proved it enough. Unfortunately, the two were destined to become enemies within days. It was the nature of the games, after all.

Paige could only nod in agreement to Alice. As much as the boy had appeared naive upon their first meeting she was beginning to see much more to him. He was clearly just as aware of Capitol repression as she was, but expressed it differently. Certainly he was dead on about them only taking as well. Paige knew she couldn't even count on one hand the amount of times the Capitol had actually provided something significant to the districts. That in her mind was reason enough to rebel and overthrow them, something that would surely have to discreetly develop over time. Truly though she had little actual hope of rebellion happening as the Capitol still managed to retain firm control through fear. However, the hope that seemed to linger in certain individuals often ignited into something greater. Paige now saw both herself and Alice as evidence of that.

"Shit, were we reaped to go to the fucking looney bin or to the arena? Nah, hell with it. They're the exact same damn thing." Paige responded once Alice mentioned the crazy tributes. Compared to other games the tributes this year definitely seemed insane unless it was just because they were in training? There was truly no way for Paige to know what had occurred in the training centre in previous games. Judging by the mentalities they had carried in the arena she suspected it was nothing like this though, except perhaps for the exception of the sadistic Difronzos. Those two brothers were bound to be remembered for a long time by their antics alone, a fact that made Paige feel incredibly relieved that neither of them had won.

"Plant identification. It's bound to be important. This one here, Nightlock, is allegedly used by the Capitol parasites to execute dissidents. At least those they decide not to turn into Avoxes. I'd say those sons of bitches are pretty damn fortunate since they die quickly. I think being an Avox would be a fate worse than death." Paige explained to Alice as he approached, pointing out the most recognizable of the plants for her. The others were a lot more ambiguous so she knew she would need plenty of work on them. Somehow she doubted Alice had much knowledge about them though as District 8 was an urban district. This was one area that Paige quickly found herself envying District 11. They definitely knew their plants, growing up around them and practically breathing them.

[Zulera301]

When Lyndis received the finger, she simply cackled, not needing a response for that. In a way, there was something that reminded him of himself in her--nothing seemed to get to this girl, just like nothing seemed to get to Alice. If nothing else, he liked her because she obviously had a wicked sense of humor, and had made Alice laugh a few times. He couldn't imagine that Lyndis kissing him would upset him too much, unless there was something rotten in her mouth or more to the kiss than met the eye. However, given that some of the tributes seemed to have reacted to it with a smirk, perhaps it was just a kiss and the tributes were reacting as they saw fit.

Rebellion though. that was one thing that Paige Alwin and Alice DeSiete both agreed on, whether silently or vocally. They displayed and voiced it differently, but they were still the same. It was like saying that one was a 14-year-old boy and the other was an 18-year-old girl. It might have outwardly seemed different, but both of them were District 8 tributes trying to find a way to survive the upcoming weeks. Different as their actions might have been, they saw almost eye-to-eye on anything Capitol-related.

"If you ask me, I'd say those fucks only ever reap the crazy ones to begin with... keep the boring-ass normal ones there to perpetuate their orderly utopia or whatnot. Maybe they were right to call them "games" after all..."
Alice could actually see the logic behind it. They were indeed games, but shit if they weren't some of the most twisted, cruel, and sadistic games ever conjured up. "It's true what they say... if the 'games don't get you... the trauma will." While this sounded like something right out of Sagittaria's books, this one was actually an Alice original. "Then again... there doesn't seem to be any set rules on what gets you remembered..." Krystal's short-lived heroism 2 years ago had done it for her. For Kyla, it had been her sheer badassery--the kind of stuff that turned her into one of the most legendary tributes of all time. For the DiFronzo brothers? their sadism. Rye Grove? His honesty and truthfulness to who he was. Dezna? his speed, craftsmanship, and good looks. Leon? his bold and daring sacrifice. Glimmer? Her friendliness and pretty face. Valendria?

As much as Alice had liked Glimmer for her attitude and appearance, or as much as he admired Dezna for his weird sense of humor, fluffy hair, and amazing craftsmanship, the legacy that had become his favorite was Valendria's. Valendria had been remembered for her controversy. So few people, even in District 4, knew the real story, and Nephi was hesitant to share it with just anyone. Even the Capitol was not too happy with her, but they couldn't do anything to the girl since she was dead. Instead, they had to try and cover it up... the statue in front of the District 4 Justice Building, as beautiful and grand as it might have been, was one of these attempts, where they had carved an inscription as if indicating that Varsha was a strong and loyal tribute that others should aspire to. Needless to say, the rebellious side of that massive woman was not even mentioned. Yet, that particular side was why Alice was so fascinated with that poor girl.

"Nightlock, uh?" he had heard vaguely of it, but up until seeing it in front of him now, he would have never in a hundred years been able to identify it on his own. "That does seem subtle like Snow, actually. poisons? Although part of me also is surprised that there isn't more torture involved... or is there?" He was wondering, but didn't necessarily expect Paige to know either. "I guess they have a limit as to how many Avoxes they can take in... that seems like a far worse fate to me too..." He knew easily that Paige would be the most miserable girl in Panem if she was an Avox--being forced to silently serve her very oppressors, and not even have her vocal outlet methods? Alice might not be as heavily affected since he didn't need to speak to be able to sketch, but he would still much rather take even Blaze's fiery death in the arena than become an Avox.

"Mind if I join you then?" he asked, half-chuckling. Technically even if Paige didn't want him anywhere near her, she couldn't shoo him away if this was where he chose to work (much like how the careers had been unable to shoo Lyndis away when she had kissed the District 2 girl). But, he didn't think Paige would do that to him.
"I mean... if it's observing and memorizing... I think I can be useful here." he chuckled. This sot of thing was one of his strong suits. He wasn't exactly about to learn all however many hundred plants there were, but he'd be able to catch onto at least the more common ones fairly quickly.

[Nachthexe]

"Shit, you bloody genius. They probably rigged all the fucking Reapings." Sure Paige was only being half serious, but it did make her wonder if the Capitol did indeed tweak the Reapings in order to produce more interesting tributes. It seemed unlikely, however, as the games were supposed to provide a sense of hope even if they didn't on face value. Paige knew without a doubt that her own reaping had been rigged, however, but certainly hers was an exception in order to eliminate who Snow perceived as a particularly troublesome youth. She could only hope that she at least lived long enough to make an impression, but perhaps that was just another form of idealism.

Paige nodded when Alice took in the information about the Nightlock. She was admittedly surprised the kid didn't seem to know much about it, but then again he seemed to have had a much different upbringing. His parents certainly didn't acknowledge his existence, let alone train him for a revolution that was unlikely to ever come. However, his point about Snow was rather interesting. Poisons? It almost seemed like something the man would use to take out his opposition, but of course there was no way to prove nor confirm the theory. Paige's parents had truly taken many secrets with them the day they disappeared. "Shit, if I was an Avox I would probably end up doing something stupid just to get my ass offed." She responded, thinking deeper about the whole Avox issue. Getting your tongue removed, being rendered speechless while being forced to serve the Capitol elite. It truly was a thing of nightmares.

Paige quickly realized Alice was right. He was observant and recognizing different plants seemed to be all about observation. Some of the more similar looking ones had managed to throw her off so she hoped Alice would have better luck with them. Nature was tricky, producing something perfectly harmless and then producing something else similar but much more deadly. It was surely something that had probably killed tributes in the past. For Paige though it seemed like a rather embarrassing fate and not one she wanted to endure. No, she intended to at least go down with a fight, show the Capitol they can't control everybody. Her parents had certainly believed it, regardless of how dangerous an ideology it was under Snow's iron fist. Alice of course held onto a similar ideology so Paige was sure he didn't want to suffer such an anti-climatic death either. "Some of them look similar to the edible ones so watch your ass, kid." She warned as he attempted to identify them.

[Zulera301]

Alice laughed, knowing that Paige was not fully serious. "Y'know... I think half of the fun of talking to you is listening to every 5th word or so being something vulgar." he finally made a comment about Paige's horrifically vulgar language. It didn't bother him at all, as words from someone's mouth meant little compared to the harsh realities of life in Panem, but it did mildly amuse him and he felt it was worth pointing out. "but I'm pretty sure they do rig 'em. You were probably not the first..." The Capitol had full control over the 'games, and so what better way to control the masses than through said games? They could end them if they wanted to, even, so their control really was absolute in every respect. He wondered how many kids had been in a rigged reaping, and if any of them had won.

Alice laughed. "That makes two of us then..." He had actually not thought of that, but it made sense suddenly. If he was condemned to be an Avox for whatever reason (unlikely, since they wouldn't do that to victors, and if Alice didn't win he'd be dead anyways), he'd probably go on that riot he mentioned the night before just so they could off him. Perhaps Valendria was right--dying was preferable to some things--such as being manipulated by the Capitol. Alice's lack of knowledge about Nightlock was simply from not being from a rural enough district to know about it. Sure he had seen the berries a few times in the 'games, but it wasn't like the cameras ever panned in too closely to that sort of thing.

Alice laughed at Paige's warning. "I've noticed that... minor details are key, as any artist should be able to tell you." He was always one for an art analogy. "I could even tell Dezna and Arza Meraxa apart just by their faces." He had never seen either of the twins except on TV (Dezna during the games, and Arza during Kiva's victory speech), but he knew that there was more differences between those fluffy-haired kids than met the eye.
"Still..." he added, digressing just a little. "it's kinda weird to think about it... 23 of us are tributes... doomed to die. One of us... one of these kids in this room right now... is a victor. I... honestly don't know how I feel about that, still." he admitted as he mentally noted the small but crucial differences between one plant that was rather delicious, and another that was a deadly poison.

[Nachthexe]

"Whacha gonna do 'bout it, kid? Tell Snow on me?" Paige responded to Alice, slightly mockingly. Certainly Paige was no stranger to vulgar language, but she was angry and to her it was just another form of self-expression that showed that. Fortunately for her though Alice quickly shifted the subject back to the reapings. He was probably right too. Certainly reapings had been rigged in the past for other tributes since Paige was almost positive she wasn't the only rebellious youth in all of Panem. Snow actually had opposition and certainly the very thought made him squirm in his own skin. That was imagery that managed to bring great joy to Paige.

Alice's next thought was rather interesting as well. Paige hadn't really thought of it before, but she was indeed currently sharing a room with a victor. Only time and certainly a bit of skill would ultimately have the victor revealing themselves, but Paige knew she wouldn't live to see it. This was something that, naturally, she had mixed feelings about; she was curious, yet at the same time she didn't want to see who would fall victim to becoming just another Capitol puppet. Very few victors tended to have full sovereignty, after all. "Shit, you're right. It's kind of weird to imagine that soon all but one person in this room will be dead." Paige responded, glancing around the room once again at all the others. Alice definitely was observant of the small details and that was only further confirmed upon his mention of the Meraxa twins. Naturally, Paige hadn't been able to tell them apart, but somehow Alice had. His artist's eye that was keen on detail perhaps?

Alice was quickly proving himself to be quite adept at plant identification as well due to the attention to detail it required. This was something Paige took notice of, complimenting the boy. "When we're both starving to death you're finding us food. Knowing me, I'd probably end up killing us with poison or some shit." It was hardly an exaggeration. Plant identification truly was risky unless one knew what they were doing and clearly Alice had an idea. Perhaps his powers of observation were bound to be more useful in the arena than initially anticipated. That was provided, of course, that he managed to stay alive long enough to be of use. The bloodbath was easily one of the deadliest moments in the arena, Paige knew that much.

The rest of the morning passed with decent success for Paige as she continued working on both survival skills and combat skills. Both swords and knives were proving to be promising for her, although Alice seemed to be most skilled at plant identification. Due to their differing skills Paige imagined them as a team that would compromise each other nicely, but certainly such a thing would depend on surviving the bloodbath. Still, it was a possibly Paige didn't overlook and she had her own intentions, which she knew she would have to discuss with the boy possibly over lunch or later up in their apartment. "I'm starved. Let's go have lunch. I have some ideas too. For the arena I mean." She announced, setting down the sword she had just been using and approaching Alice.

[Zulera301]

Alice laughed, shaking his head. "pfft... Snow probably already knows... he probably knows what you ate for breakfast three weeks ago, even." He wouldn't put it above the man to have and know every tab imaginable on anyone in Panem, although he was mostly joking with his remark. "nah... I getcha... you might have even rubbed off a bit. I dunno." It was not like Alice used crude language just to be "cool" or anything either; he simply found it effective at expressing himself sometimes. Alice was aware that order and control were very delicate things... so it was hardly a wonder to him why they had to be so carefully monitored. One slip-up and the whole thing could crumble. Still... easier said than done.

"Who knows..." he tilted his head with a shrug, "it might be you... imagine beating the Capitol at their own game... you'd be untouchable." Well, this was only a half-truth, for he had overheard some of Zerviah's stories during Kiva's victory tour last year. He tended to migrate towards whatever victor was touring through his district, almost to eavesdrop on them. "or me?" he joked, "I wonder if they'd try to kill me in the crossfire if I allied with you?" He gave her a smile--not a smirk or a grin; just a calm little smile, as if he was officially here and now proposing an alliance. But, the words didn't come. Instead, he simply shrugged. "shit, if they try that, I guess my work's cut out for me... but I'd rather side with a friend and die than survive just to kiss Capitol ass, right?" He was certainly not sucking up to Paige either. This was just Alice expressing himself when paper and pencil were not available.

Alice laughed. "that's be the sight. Although..." he paused, wondering if he should even say this, but he did anyways. "maybe that'd be a quick way out if the Gamemakers get you cornered. But if it was me, I'd say fight claw, tooth, and nail till you've flat-out exhausted your resources." with a shrug, he went back to identifying plants, managing to successfully tell the difference between a plant that could make a delicious tea, and one that would make a deadly poison that would cause blindness. On the other hand, observance could only do so much during the bloodbath. If Alice could observe the boy with the axe coming towards him, it wouldn't matter much if the weapon went through his skull. He'd either need to fight, dodge, or run. He kind of envied Dezna in that regard, remembering how the boy had whizzed past everyone into the cornucopia and then zoomed right back out.

Alice seemed to mostly go back and forth between plant identification and other survival tips, camouflage (he had to fight his impulses hard here; he was inclined to just sit down and paint), and the bows. A few of the other kids picked up Dezna's crossbow, and the little District 6 pair seemed awestruck by it, perhaps because it had been crafted by one of their own. Alice's aim improved, and he tried different bows to see which ones were suitable for a boy of his size and strength. Soon enough, Paige found him and pulled him aside. Alice was quite frankly okay with her being the "leader" of their little duo.
"sounds like a plan to me," he smiled. "so we're gonna be an alliance then?" He did kind of want confirmation and reassurance, that it was official. Not that he felt Paige would stab him in the back... maybe it was just a little OCD thing.

He followed her to the lunchroom as he waited for her answer, and perhaps a bit of conversation starter. When Alice got his food, he sat off by himself (figuring Paige would do the same), and glanced around. That girl from District 12 had leaned over and kissed Lyndis back, where the crazy girl had pulled her in for a full-on smooch. theatrics? revenge? Shit if he knew what that girl was up to, but he didn't care too much.
"So..." he turned to Paige as she sat down with him, "What are your ideas?"

[Nachthexe]

As frightening as it was Paige wouldn't ever put it past Snow to keep tabs on everybody in Panem. The man had plenty of incentive to, after all, in order to eliminate those who posed a threat to his power. Certainly in District 8 that was a rather common phenomenon as few submitted to the Capitol. Fortunately though, it was probably unlikely he dished out the resources for such a thing, allowing Paige to rest as easily as she could in her current situation. "That asswipe probably knows everything about me, but I'm not sure about you. Consider yourself lucky, kid." She assured Alice. Fortunately for him as well it was unlikely the Gamemakers would kill him simply for allying with her. As ruthless as they were it just didn't seem like their game. Besides, Alice had definitely not been targeted the same way she had.

"To be honest, I intend to fight to the end even if I'm already fucked. Why? Challis needs a victor. No, our district needs a victor." Paige confessed as the pair finished up and began making their way to the lunchroom. It was obvious Alice was keen on forming an alliance, but Paige already knew it was necessary if District 8 was going to win. "You know the record of our district. It will certainly take the two of us to get you out alive." She added, leaning in towards Alice as she took a seat. Fortunately, Alice had chosen a seat away from the others and out of earshot since any discussion of strategy had plenty of potential to be used against them if overheard.

Minutes later, Paige began eating and then let out a sigh before proceeding to speak once again. It was going to be hard, but she had to get it out. "Sooner or later this was bound to come up since you and I both know I'm not coming out of that shithole of an arena. So yes, if you propose any sort of alliance I might as well throw it out to you now. I intend to keep you alive, even at the cost of my own life. That's if, of course, the Gamemakers don't get me first." Paige took a single glance into Alice's eyes before spilling out the last of her feelings towards an alliance. "If we're attacked do not try to save me, just focus on getting yourself out. You'll be perceived as vulnerable the minute you step into that arena just like how I thought you to be a naive and innocent little shit when we first met." Paige continued, not intending the last bit as a jab at the kid. If anything, it was a compliment, but the others wouldn't know anything about Alice except that he would probably be an easy target.

Paige found herself being one of the last to eat lunch, having spent plenty of time discussing strategy with Alice. By the time she was finished most of the others had already returned to the training room, leaving the District 8 pair alone with a couple of the others and the few Peacekeepers who happened to be present. Paige quickly began to wonder what they had thought about Lyndis' antics over lunch as she had continued kissing many of the other tributes. Those from Districts 11 and 12 didn't seem to mind, although Paige suspected the girl wouldn't try what she had tried back in the training room. That District 7 girl, Keshet, was clearly vicious. At least here she was as it was said that most tributes didn't really show their true capabilities until in the arena. "So you know the conditions of an alliance with me. Now you just have to decide if you're willing to comply to them. Take your time if you have to." Paige soon turned her attention back towards Alice. He didn't have to decide immediately, but it would at least give the boy something to think about. Paige's intended fate was already in the bag, after all.

[Zulera301]

Alice chuckled. "I don't think anyone really knows about me other than whatever tabs the Capitol keeps on everyone, y'know?" he laughed, "my shithead parents don't even know me." that aspect did seem to bother him slightly, and he had decided the moment he had boarded the train, that if he somehow, through some miracle or divine prank, made it out of the arena as the victor, he would be living in the victor village alone. There was no reason for him to invite people he didn't even know to live with him. On the other hand, he still figured that the Capitol might just go after Paige regardless of Alice's actions, considering his death as collateral if he tried to protect her. Perhaps he'd have to find out.

"good." he nodded, "because lying down and accepting all of this like a little bitch would make you no better than the loyalists, if y'ask me." No, he had expected Paige to fight to the death and to her last breath, even if she was doomed. He planned to do the same, even though his odds were probably heavily stacked against him. The careers were fairly strong as always, but now there were also powerful and commanding tributes from the outlying districts that would be surefire competition to anyone. Alice knew that the odds were against them if even District 10 had produced a promising tribute. He had been about to open his mouth and ask why Paige had mentioned getting him out, as if she had already dismissed the idea that she could be a victor. It was odd in his eyes, but to him, Paige being a victor would be the ultimate show of flipping off the Capitol, and thus seemed appealing.

"I can't just run and cower all the time," he argued, "but... I'll do what I can to avoid getting caught in the heat of shit... they'd steamroller me."
He paused again though. "But you know what... you better damn well go down to every last claw, tooth, and nail, to try and win regardless of what fate the Capitol thinks they have in store for you. If, theoretically, it came down to me and you... I'd want you to win. Think about it... that'd be the ultimate 'fuck you' to the Capitol--the very tribute they tried to drag to the arena and kill, ends up outsmarting each and every one of those bastards and emerging as an untouchable victor. You'd be a legend in District 8. I'm not saying that I'm gonna try to throw myself in front of you or anything... cuz I'd probably just get snapped in half right then and there or something," he laughed, "but don't you dare give up till there's nothing else you can do. Be a Kyla."
Not only had Kyla Togisala from District 12 proven to be the most ruthless killer in the 44th arena, but she had also proven to be the most resilient, having fully killed another tribute while she was dangling off the ground with a spear through her abdomen. Not even that, actually--that spear had been what had been holding her up. Alice wanted Paige to go out like that if she had to die--not necessarily by spear, but at least fighting to the last breath even if she knew she was mortally wounded or something.

"Deal." Alice nodded after a moment of mulling it over. The odds were slim for both of them, but he was willing to fight those odds. "you better fight and survive like Kyla though. Shit... here we are talking as if we're gonna win or something... but hey. the odds are as against as as hell... but odds of 1 in 1000 are still odds. Surprises can still happen... even if the odds are never in our favor." his mind associated that phrase with Valendria now for numerous reasons. He had a whole collection of sketches of Valendria with this caption on them. If he won, he might try planting some in District 4 if he could. Time would tell though.
"So... you want to train some more, or should we see if Challis has a word or two for us?"

[Nachthexe]

Paige tried to imagine what it was like to have careless and apathetic parents, but couldn't. If anything, this had her sympathizing with Alice. He truly was alone, even if he won the games. Still, Alice knew he had to try even if just for Challis' sake. It was quite obvious she didn't want to mentor, but it was only bound to continue until a new victor arose. This was the inevitable truth. Even Paige wouldn't be able to help him in that situation, even if she was beginning to feel sorry for the boy and everything he had been dragged into. The groups of powerful tributes definitely wasn't helping either. Paige already knew this was bound to be a game to remember.

Alice, for one, didn't seem eager to let Paige go despite the odds being against her. This admittedly surprised the girl, although Alice's next response only surprised her further. "You and I both know I'm not winning this thing. Certainly you saw that asswipe at the parade. He's out for my blood." She reminded him, letting out a sigh. "Even if I somehow become a favourite of the Capitol asslickers I won't be making it out. The Gamemakers certainly take orders from Snow directly. This is all on you and I can't even pretend it's going to be easy." She continued, remembering briefly some of the dynamics behind the games. The Gamemakers. Certainly they acted like an independent entity at times with their control over the arena, but in reality they were serving an even greater master: Snow. If he wanted somebody dead then they complied.

Kyla. The ultimate tribute that even those beyond District 12 looked up to. She had been deadly, resilient, and everything in between all while having hearing loss. This was a difficult image for anybody else to live up to so when Alice mentioned it Paige was admittedly surprised yet again. "Me fighting like Kyla? Hah, fucking unlikely. If my parents had survived then certainly I would have been a powerhouse now. They genuinely believed revolution would occur, but we both know the odds of that..." She confessed, shrugging. Fortunately though, Alice did seem to be agreeing to her conditions though so she just nodded, before holding out her hand to shake his. "Then let's make that shit official. You're crawling out of there alive."

Once a sound strategy was decided Paige was beginning to feel as if little training was needed for the rest of the day, but she decided to continue anyway, even if just to prepare herself to defend Alice at all costs. She was older, larger, and certainly more experienced out of the two. At least when it came to weaponry. Alice's skills seemed to lie elsewhere, perhaps complimenting them as a team nicely; even if nobody else allied with the oft forgotten District 8 they would have each other. "We're not going anywhere, kid. We have less than a week until we're thrust into hell." Paige commanded, walking out of the lunch room and back into the training centre were most of the others were hard at work once again.

[Zulera301]

Alice tilted his head. "you don't think the Capitol..." he paused. If they liked her, they would use her. Perhaps death was truly the only way out. "shit. nevermind then... I guess I wouldn't want you to become a Valendria..."
Valendria--almost a foil to Kyla with how different they had been. One of them had been trained since birth for this moment, only to be used and manipulated all the way up to that point and then willingly embraced death. The other had had no formal training whatsoever, and had managed to remain true to exactly who she was all the way to the point where she felt the last breaths of life escape her. Both were still legends though. However, while one of them was an undisputed legend that even powerful and Capitol-loyal districts like 1 and 2 had some kind of (possibly grudging) respect for, the other one was surrounded by controversey that the Capitol was never able to fully quell, despite their attempts.

Alice simply snorted at Paige's doubts. "well if you're gonna sell yourself short like a pansy shit, then yeah. of course you won't ever amount to anything as badass as Kyla. Remember how much that girl trained before she was picked for the Hunger Games? Her routines were off the chain. No wonder she volunteered..."
He was dripping with so much sarcasm that he was this close to needing a mop for it. "Oh wait." he corrected himself, "She had no formal training of any kind, and was fucken' deaf in one ear and losing it in the other." Information on the former tributes was fairly open, given that they were dead. Maybe Kyla's reaping had been rigged as well... perhaps the Capitol targetted strong kids to prevent the districts from gaining anyone that cunning and deadly. This theory seemed unlikely though, so he dismissed it.
"Time to beat these fucks at their own game." He shook Paige's hand, smirking. "District 8. For. The. Win."

Back in the training room, Alice went back to almost single-mindedly focusing on learning how to use a bow. He was a bit slow in pulling off shots, but he was gaining in accuracy fairly quickly. During this time, he was joined by a girl with a 12 on her shoulders. She looked much older than him, and looked fairly serious. On the other hand, she had not screamed out death threats to that psychotic District 10 girl (who right now was swinging a rather large scythe around with surprising dexterity), so perhaps she was not as crazy as the District 7 girl. Still, Alice did not speak to her or even interact apart from a brief glance. Not that he was hostile towards her; just that he had nothing to say. He knew her name by this point though--Sacajawea. Similar to Valendria the year before though, she preferred to go by her middle name, Isikiro. (or rather, Isi). Alice had contemplated going by Koshu before, which was much more of a boy's name than "Alice" was, but then he decided that he didn't give a damn, and so he didn't. Isi though... a nickname then, kind of like Smash.

Speaking of Smash, she was over in a corner weilding a pair of two-handed swords, one in each hand. The girl's incredible strength honestly had Alice pause to watch her, for she made it all look so easy. During lunch she had arm-wrestled with a couple of the career tributes and beaten them, although they laughed it off. Perhaps another sign that the districts would not be at odds with each other if not for the Capitol.
But... he could not think about that too much. He had training to do if he was going to survive this thing, and both he and Paige seemed determined to do it.

[Nachthexe]

"Kyla and I are different. Certainly she didn't have her Reaping rigged, for one. She was also driven by will to survive, something I know I don't even have a chance in hell of doing. We both know asswipe Snow would never allow it." Paige once again reassured Alice as he seemed to continue pleading for her to try to win. Certainly she wished she could and would stay alive as long as possible, but she knew that sooner or later the Gamemakers were bound to "accidentally" kill her. She knew it was a tactic they occasionally used on less desirable tributes. The District 6 boy from several years back, Titus, immediately came to mind. Everybody knew he had gone savage and Paige knew his death had been no accident. There was definitely nothing stopping them from dishing out a similar fate to her.

Once Alice shook her hand Paige nodded. She intended to do everything in her power to get Alice out of the arena, even if it was bound to be one of the most difficult challenges of her life. Perhaps that even made it all the more fitting that it was to be the final challenge of her life. Still, she knew that neither of them could waste any time as they had skills to develop so the Capitol could get the show they so greatly desired. "Let's just give them their show and then get you the fuck out of there."

Once back in the training room Paige soon found herself joined by the District 11 girl who seemed to effortlessly be able to wield two swords. That alone was bound to make her a formidable opponent in the arena. Strength was almost always a valuable asset and people like Rye had proven it with the way he had beaten the final career tribute, Flint, to a bloody pulp. Admittedly, Paige had found herself rather entertained by it too, watching her most hated tribute from the 44th games finally get the sort of fate she believed he deserved. This particular girl, however, was likely more akin to Rye and Sagittaria in her attitude much to Paige's relief. It was unlikely that any tributes outside of Districts 1 and 2 truly were sadistic killers, after all. Most tended to realize that what they were doing was just business, thus Paige didn't find herself threatened by the District 11 girl just yet. This realization instead just had her focusing on her own training, moving to different stations from time to time.

As the day wore on Alice seemed to be making progress with the bow, but so was somebody else. The District 12 girl. She had spent much of her time there as well, but at least she didn't seem to be threatening Alice. Perhaps the outlying districts would not even be a threat to them at all in the early stages. Paige hoped as much, but of course there was truly no way of knowing until thrust into the arena in just about six day's time. I'd imagine it's getting a bit late. We should go." Paige approached Alice, advising him they needed a break until the next morning where they would surely wash, rinse, and repeat.

Paige wasn't sure if Alice was going to follow behind her, but she began making her way back up to the eighth floor where the rest of the team was bound to be waiting to hear about the rest of the day. This was something that was quickly confirmed as soon as she walked in. "Those other tributes are fucking crazy. I can't decide if this is the damn looney bin or the Hunger Games." She remarked, taking a seat at the dinner table with the others. Almost immediately, they let out chuckles at Paige's words. Somehow she suspected that tributes probably thought other tributes crazy all the time. However, Paige knew that some of these ones were definitely literally crazy, the District 10 girl in particular.

[Zulera301]

"Do you think she thought she had a chance? Especially against tributes like Flint with his perfect 12? Mason and Alexis? The District 11 pair and their 11s? That cunning District 3 duo? Her only ally was her useless shit brother, and she had no prospect of sponsors in the opening minutes. She was probably thinking the same things you did, except worrying that her death would be quick by another tribute instead of by Snow."
He paused. "Now, you might legitimately be screwed, but think of it this way--let yourself be motivated by the idea that if, like a snowball's chance in hell, you actually did win, that you would have just given the Capitol the biggest fuck you of all time sans an actual rebellion itself. I hate to quote the man like this, but Snow is right, Paige. Hope... Hope is the only thing stronger than fear. If you keep dwelling on the fact that you're fucked... then Snow has succeeded in controlling you with fear." It might have been a fool's hope, but Alice was still filled with a hope rather than a fear. Maybe there was some naive optimism here, but he really didn't see a reason not to be hopeful. Most likely, he'd end up dying within a day or two of the games starting and then it'd be over for him. This was his strength and one of the reasons why the Capitol had no control over him.

"Fair enough," he nodded. He was certainly going to try and win, and if it came down to him and Paige through some freak coincidence... well, he'd probably fight for his life or something. He doubted that she'd get that far, let alone that he would, but he decided to play on the minute possibility that he might actually win this thing, rather than the overwhelmingly high odds that he'd be killed. Was he that victor that was walking among these kids in this training center? That was a weird thought, but one that he thought of a lot. One of them was a victor... the question that the next few weeks would answer was simply "who?".

Districts 11 and 12 moved around to the various stations, with all of them showing promise. While Adrianna was good with the swords, she seemed to be the most proficient at warhammers, with big old metal plugs on the ends that were her weights. She was smashing and decimating targets left and right, striking with such strength that many of them were reduced to nothing. She left dents in some metal structures too. No wonder they called this girl "Smash". To make matters worse, she seemed to be fairly swift on her feet, with those long black dreadlocks of hers flying behind her as she twirled and swung her weapons to great effect.

Isi, by contrast, was more cold and cunning, and more importantly, seemed to have an uncanny ability to rein in not only Smash, but also that psychotic District 10 girl. Placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, she stopped Lyndis in her tracks, whispered something to her, and the girl nodded vigorously before grabbing Isi's face again and shoving her in for a smooch. Isi seemed bothered by this, but seemed to be willing to put up with it, likely because she was scoring what would probably be a powerful ally--Two powerful allies if Smash was siding with her too. That'd be a dangerous alliance if those three girls teamed up, and Alice was quite aware of this.

Alice nodded when Paige said they should go. Essentially, Paige had reined Alice in the same way Isi seemed to have done with Smash and Lyndis, although he did not mention this comparison. He followed her back to the elevator, making a fairly quick and otherwise eventless trip up 8 stories until they were at their own floor.
the boy laughed when Paige blurted out that the tributes were crazy. "That might be an understatement," he agreed, "Or is that normal? Challis? are all tributes this damn insane?"

Challis shook her head with a chuckle. "No... and I have mixed feelings about it." she admitted, "crazy tributes always bring an interesting dynamic to the games... the District 11 girl that won a couple years ago was one of them... I haven't seen someone that hilarious and optimistic about everything since Caesar Flickerman himself. Then of course, those kids the year before from District 6 were nuts... and they went and corrupted that boy form '11 and that little girl from '12..."
She paused. "and here I am stuck with a couple of vulgar and vocal shits who aren't afraid to be very frank with everything... you two might just have enough crazy to come out of this thing alive." She was being optimistic and definitely hopeful, wanting to bring home a victor to get herself out of this mess.

"Also," she turned to them, "I got a lot of information on these crazy tributes, speaking of which. Let it not be said I am not a woman of my word when I said that I would mentor you as much as you wanted after I got to know the tributes... Were there any in particular that you wanted to hear about first?" She offered. Alice turned to Paige, who would probably know who to ask about first.

[Nachthexe]

Even Paige and Alice had their differences and their attitudes towards the games and life in general was just won. While Paige was typically pessimistic, Alice was continually showing himself to be optimistic. This especially stood true when Paige had expressed her own doubt about winning the games. She knew Snow's tactics quite well and she was fairly confident there was no way out for her. Through fear or otherwise the man had various ways of controlling her, a fact that clearly Alice still had a difficult time grasping. However, this was something she wasn't going to worry about now. It was in the arena that such a thing would truly matter.

Fortunately, Challis was now doing her job as promised. That gave Paige a minor sense of hope, although more for Alice rather than herself. She seemed to be fully aware of the rather crazy batch of tributes too. Paige found herself nodding upon the mention of the previous year's District 6 tributes. Unless it was just the drugs addling their minds they had definitely had a few screws loose, although not quite to the same extent of the District 10 tribute this year. Kiva at least had seemed relatively normal during her tour except for her moments of unease upon mention of fire. It had Paige wondering if the girl indeed had a phobia of fire. It certainly seemed likely, even if Paige had personally approved of the girl's methods of execution towards Capitol suck-ups.

"I do want information actually. Besides the obvious such as the careers, who should be avoided? I suspect that District 7 girl, considering the way the careers were watching her intently. I have a feeling they want to recruit her ass." Paige responded to Challis, as she began filling up a plate of food. "Those District 10, 11, and 12 girls particularly interest me though. They're crazy so I'm hoping they're not out for our fucking blood. At least not yet as it's bound to happen eventually." She continued, between bites of food, awaiting a response from Challis. Instead of immediately speaking the woman just nodded in agreement, particularly to the points about the District 7 girl. She may have been fairly mysterious in many ways, but it had been quite obvious the careers had interest in her and most tributes often quickly jumped on the chance to have an alliance with who were usually the strongest tributes in the arena.

[Zulera301]

Alice had pulled out his sketchbook and was already back to drawing. He had removed his socks and shoes, but otherwise kept his training uniform on as he listened to Challis speak, and how he and the others had chuckled as they realized just how damn crazy these tributes were. There had been plenty of tributes that had been crazy or that had a few bolts loose, although this year seemed to top them in terms of numbers. Sure 44 had Flint, Kyla, Alexis, and Sagittaria, while 45 had Blaze, Kiva, Dezna, Hazel, and Valendria, this year had Isi, Smash, Lyndis, Keshet, Garrett, and arguably, Alice himself, and Paige even. Apparently crazy tributes were a key ingredient to a good Hunger Games.

"Ah... Keshet Elian... District 7." Challis nodded, "Volunteer tribute; vicious both with an axe and with her personality... she'll definitely score high and prove dangerous. I'm not sure her motive, but it looks to me like she's trying to take a leaf out of Kyla's book or something." Almost anyone knew exactly which "Kyla" was being mentioned. Any time the name came up in a Hunger Games conversation, it was that little girl from District 12 that had been one of the most legendary killers in Hunger Games history. "Definitely a threat though... her partner is pretty strong too it seems."

Alice nodded, although continued sketching, adding details to what looked like a crossbow. He was not going to try and build something like that, but he did want to sketch it. He'd have to bring paper and pencil next time to draw some things, including the details of Dezna's mechanical crossbow. Challis continued on to describe some of the other outlying tributes...
"District 12..." she began, "Joss Kolton... 15. Cunning little devil; more likely to try to outsmart you than engage in actual combat..." Alice seemed to agree with this, relaizing that he had not really seen the District 12 boy a whole lot during the training session that day. On the other hand, training was technically completely optional, and so if tributes wanted to waste their whole time in their apartment, they could. It would not do them any good in the arena though, and so it was a nice way to stave off death at least for a little bit.
"Isikiro Kwan..." Challis shifted the subject to the girl, "definitely one of the less crazy ones... but she seems to be building an alliance with the other ones. She's sort of their voice of reason, and she's an expert at the bow and survival. A threat if you're on her bad side, but otherwise seems to direct most of her hate at the Capitol loyalists.""

"Got it..." Alice nodded, and Challis moved on again.
"District 11... Garrett and Adrianna... Garrett is strong, smart, and elusive as well, kind of like Joss. A potential threat. It's his partner you want to watch out for though... Adrianna... "Smash", is what they call her. If you saw her at all, you'll see why. She's got more brute strength than any of the careers, and can easily break large objects with her bare hands. Definitely a threat, although she's otherwise very friendly."

She turned to the others, cracking a smile on what she was about so say next.
"District 10... the boy is not a threat. The girl though, is a big threat. She's batfuck insane... apparently is a regular drinker back home because of her parents... has been dropped a few times as a baby and child. She was a butcher by trade, so she knows all about killing and gutting things, and she's fast. You'll want to make sure you're not on her bad side either..."
Taking a drink of water, Challis turned to her tributes. "so... thoughts? or any others you wish to know about?"

[Nachthexe]

Paige listened intently as Challis began explaining about each of the tributes, or at least the ones that stood out. "Frankly I don't trust that little shit with the way the careers were eying her." She noted, remembering Keshet's tactics. Not only had she been vicious with an axe, but she clearly had decent agility as well due to her small size. Just from appearance alone she was definitely one of the smallest tributes this year, yet was very likely to be one of the deadliest. Looks were usually deceiving in the games, except for a few notable exceptions such as Daisy from the 45th games. Most of the tributes this year, however, seemed to be rather clear cut with what to expect from them.

Then there was Joss Kolton. Despite his being from District 12, Paige knew he couldn't be underestimated. He definitely seemed clever, almost too clever. Tributes of those sorts were always bound to be significant threats since their pursuer's chance of being led straight into a trap was quite high. Paige quickly recalled exactly that having occurred in past games so didn't put it past this boy to do something similar. If anything, he seemed to be adequate competition for the usually clever District 3 tributes as even they seemed to be taking interest in him. To form an alliance perhaps? If so, that was bound to be another potentially dangerous group to confront.

Paige didn't find herself having particularly strong feelings about any of the other outlying tributes, but then the Isikiro girl was mentioned. She didn't like the Capitol loyalists? Was she also a rebel? It was a theory that soon began running through Paige's head, although she didn't dare ask Challis this. Besides, it was unlikely she would have an answer, even if District 12 did make sense as a rebellious district. They were extremely poor, after all, with most citizens allegedly having experienced starvation at some point in their lives. If anything, it was truly a testament to how little the Capitol cared about the rest of Panem outside of their few "pet" districts.

"Isikiro could be a potential ally I think." Paige blurted out once Challis was finished going through all the outlying tributes. She somehow felt it unlikely that anybody else would be wanting to ally with her and Alice as District 8 was so often overlooked in the games, but if there was somebody she quickly found herself growing fond of the District 12 girl. She certainly looked as if she could hold her own in combat as well, a welcomed addition against the more powerful tributes, such as the careers, for sure. "Alice, what do you think? Do we even need allies or are those little shits going to overlook us yet again? At least we'll be in good company, right? District 6 is also usually looked over, but maybe not this year since last year's victor was from there." She continued, weighing her options.

"Ah...Martin Skala and Siiri La casce. I feel they're a lesser threat, but it was difficult to take anything from their actions in training. I suspect they're attempting to take on multiple specialties. Then again, they learn only from the best." Challis continued, noting Paige's interest in the District 6 pair. Both were rather young with the boy being thirteen while the girl was fourteen, but if there was anything she had learned in the past about the games it was that age was usually a pretty poor determination of one's skills. Kyla, although fifteen when she had died, almost single-handedly had proven that. "Either way, despite their ages, I don't think they should be overlooked entirely. Kiva, their mentor, was known for having a diverse skillset." Challis hinted, allowing Paige and Alice to finally finish their dinner in peace. Fortunately, it was still relatively early in the evening so both were bound to have plenty of time to discuss things further among themselves.

[Zulera301]

Alice chuckled. "I want to see a showdown between her and Lyndis." he quipped, "both of them are small and psychotic fuckers, and it seems that, as surprising as it is, '10 has a bit of fighting spirit this year." He had noticed during their bickering that Lyndis and the District 7 were actually the same height: 5'2", which was the same height as he was, actually. Granted, he knew that his strength didn't match up to theirs, and he was a different kind of crazy. Still... he knew better than to underestimate any tributes. Those rather slender District 3 tributes last year had been an example of this, and of course, so had Kyla Togisala the year before. Alice recalled at least one game where the victor had actually been the tiniest tribute that year. Sure, the girl in question had been from District 2, but fact remained that she had been about 5 inches shorter than the next-shortest tribute.

The boy from '12 and the boy from '11 seemed to be similar in their strategies, although did not necessarily seem independent of their partners, let alone on hostile terms with them. To Alice, they seemed like the type of people who wouldn't turn on their district partners till they had to or something, but maybe he was thinking too far ahead. He could not make that kind of judgment yet. Garrett seemed to be on good enough terms with Smash and even Isi from District 12, but Alice was not sure what to make of the alliance.

On the note of Isikiro... Paige made an interesting point. "Well... she managed to rein in Garrett, Smash, and even freakin' Lyndis..." Alice nodded, "but she seemed like a decent person when we were shooting bows together. She's definitely smart." It did not go over his head that if they allied with Isikiro that it would put the District 12 girl in an incredible position, where she would technically have 5 allies. Allying with her did not necessarily assure the friendship and allegiance of Lyndis, Smash, and Garrett, but if those three as well as Paige and Alice were all allied with Isi, she'd have a huge advantage. Then again, it seemed unlikely that she'd try to pit District 11 and District 8 against each other anyways though.

"District 6... there's a pair that we could almost surely get for allies if we wanted, I think... they get overlooked the same way we usually do." Alice quipped, "Not to say that Isi isn't worth giving a shot though--I definitely don't want her and her friends against me." District 11 had been on fire lately, with tributes ranging from decent to powerful, but at the same time, they had a history of having some of the best mentors.
"So I think we got this... Districts 1, 2, and 7 are dangerous; '6 seems like safe bet, '11 and '12 could go either way, and '10 is batfuck insane?"
Challis nodded. "that about sums it up." she shrugged. Alice continued eating and drawing as he usually did, and soon it was just him and Paige. Alice had stopped eating by now, and was mostly just sketching various images of the various tributes, with particular interest on that girl from District 10.
"so... what do you think about all these nut cases?" he chuckled. "thoughts? friends? foes? that sort of thing." It was clear that he was sort of looking to her as the "leader" of their alliance, because she was definitely the one more experienced in combat and such. She could be the leader and he'd be more of a strategist, in his own eyes anyways.

[Nachthexe]

Paige hadn't initially noticed it, but it appeared that both Lyndis and Keshet were rather short. However, that was bound to mean little as both clearly had potential to come out as lethal killers. Alice's mention of a showdown between the two only helped to confirm this. Suddenly Paige even found herself hoping for such a thing as it was bound to be a show to remember for whoever witnessed it. Besides, the two girls already seemed to hate each other. "Ask and you shall receive, boy. Maybe such a thing will just end up happening." Paige responded, even letting out a chuckle at the prospect regardless of how twisted it and anything else relating to the games was. The Capitol definitely didn't want each year to have a shortage of entertainment and such a showdown would hardly make anything else necessary, at least in Paige's eyes. She almost imagined them getting enough entertainment out of that alone that all other tributes were sent home.

Paige nodded as Alice then spoke about Isikiro. She definitely had no shortage of allies so attempting to side with her was bound to be tricky. Larger groups were actually, ironically, disadvantageous at times due to the fact they were usually easier to track down. They left more of a mark on the environment so usually only the strongest managed to thrive well in large groups. The careers immediately came to Paige's mind once again. However, there was also an obvious advantage to large groups such as having more manpower to fend off outside attacks. for the sake of herself and Alice though Paige felt they complimented each other quite nicely just on their own.

Fortunately, with a little help from Challis both Alice and Paige began to develop a decent idea of what exactly they were up against. This was something Paige acknowledged by just nodding once again before shifting to Alice's last point. "I'm not sure we need any official alliances at this point since we compliment each other quite nicely it seems, but I'm not opposed to it as a last resort. Besides, sooner or later asswipe Snow were expect us to turn on any allies we make along the way. Best to save us that heartbreak, especially after seeing what it did to people like Sagittaria." She advised, realizing that any alliance was always bound to be temporary.

For the rest of the evening Paige could only think about the tributes and the possible implications of forming alliances with any of them. So far the most favourable strategy seemed to contain only her and Alice, however; she had the combat skills while he was observant which was bound to be valuable while trying to survive. Six days was bound to be plenty to refine the finer points of this too, having Paige almost looking forward to the next few days of training. "Well shit, I'm fatigued. 'Night, kid." She knew that once she began dozing off it was perhaps time to finally go to bed, something she definitely didn't hesitate on. Once in her bed she didn't fall asleep immediately, having thoughts of all the various tributes, but surprisingly this enabled her to rest easily. She was ready to confront whatever the coming days were bound to bring.

[Zulera301]

Alice laughed. "sooner or later shit's gonna hit the fan. I feel bad for anyone else... they're gonna die gruesomely in the bloodbath, I'm pretty sure."
He was sketching image after image of the various tributes, sketching them with what he assumed their favorite weapons would be. One depicted Lyndis and Keshet clashing with each girl wielding a pair of axes. Keshet's face was contorted into an expression of single-minded fury, while Lyndis, who was also covered in blood, looked like she was cackling as usual.
Another image of his depicted Adrianna striking the ground with a perhaps purposely exaggerated large pair of fists, with cracks forming in the ground. If he had to call which tribute had the most raw physical strength, he would say her without a doubt. Even some of the others started calling her "Smash". Alice actually liked that they were surrounded by so many strong and otherwise crazy tributes with several screws loose (Lyndis was definitely the worst in this case though). It meant that much more attention would be focused on them while he would be able to slip into the shadows and get overlooked. He knew it was not a foolproof plan, but it might be able to get him out of some combat or whatnot.

On the other hand, he did kind of want to ally with Sacajawea (he personally liked that name more than Isikiro) because she'd be able to keep Garrett, Smash, and Lyndis under control unless it was an illusion. He could maybe see Garrett pulling a wool over Sacajawea's eyes, but doubted that Smash or Lyndis thought that deeply. Besides... maybe they could be like career alliances were many years: allied, even if they did not exactly follow each other around everywhere. It was something he would definitely keep on the table.

"Shit... no, I wouldn't want that to happen either," he shook his head, closing his eyes a moment, "but yeah. we should be fine for the time being then. But who knows... we've got 6 more days of this before we have to either suck up to the Capitol and hope for a high numbered score, or decide to do whatever we damn well please and get whatever number they damn well please at throwing at us. I heard you could just decide not to show up at all and you'd just get a score of 0." he chuckled. Sagittaria's tales had not been restricted to Districts 2, 6, 11, and 12, after all... they were making their way into Districts like 3, 5, and 8 as well at the very least.

Alice continued sketching tributes, also musing about who to watch out for and who might be safe. Paige was safe, it seemed, and Alice figured that if he could get out of the bloodbath, he'd be in the clear for a bit, and might end up outliving Paige simply for not being on the Capitol's bad side. "Night," he shrugged. He used to stay up fairly late and draw whatever filled his head, but he'd usually end up going to bed within 15 or 20 minutes of the time Paige left for her room ever sine they had been reaped. Thus, that was what he did this night, falling asleep fairly easily.

days passed, and soon they were right smack-dab in the middle of it: Day 4. 3 days of training down, 3 days left (okay, technically 2 since the 7th day was private sessions and then interviews). Alice woke up and prepared his morning ritual of not giving a damn, but then showering, flipping his lank brown hair as he donned his training uniform once again. To cut a long story short, he made quick work of breakfast (and a few more drawings, including another one of Valendria), before heading towards the elevator and glancing back at Paige. "you coming?" he stuck his tongue out at her. He was much more confident now, for while the boy had a very narrow set of interests, he seemed to learn quickly at something that he dedicated himself to. In this case, it was archery, while he kind of neglected anything else. He couldn't get good at anything else, but his skills with the bow were developing rapidly, so maybe he did have a hope after all.

[Nachthexe]

The private training sessions. Technically they were optional like the rest of the training, but not showing up never did anybody any good as they were often the difference between getting sponsors or not. At least in the early stages of the games. Those shown in training to be weak by getting a low score were often overlooked and certainly had to do a lot to prove themselves. This was not a trap Paige wanted to fall into, even if she had her own fears about the training. Technically it was evaluated by the Gamemakers themselves who allegedly took orders from Snow himself; would that give them incentive to score her low? Somehow it seemed like a possibility, but it wasn't one she intended to dwell on just yet. "Those numbers are more use to the Capitol than they are to us." She assured Alice who was clearly thinking about it.

The rest of that evening passed with Alice mostly sitting alone drawing while Paige laid in bed contemplating what was to come. She knew she was about to enter the fight of her life and that Snow was out for her blood. Either she would get slain by one of the other tributes or the Gamemakers would engineer some "natural" death for her. They often had many traps in the arena. If not, they were allegedly able to create them on the spot. The Gamemakers truly did have absolute power over the arena, ensuring the Capitol crowds were thoroughly entertained. Naturally, this made Paige uneasy as well, realizing that she wasn't about to die on her own terms, but as just another pawn in the Capitol's deadly game. Fortunately though as she dozed off her mind instead shifted to thoughts of the other tributes and how they alone would probably provide a reasonable show.

The next few days passed by rather uneventfully and without any new real revelations, but fortunately for both Paige and Alice they seemed to be improving at their chosen skills; Alice was becoming quite the archer while Paige instead focused on bladed weapons. That combined with her own techniques as taught by her parents managed to transform her into quite the seasoned fighter. Certainly something that was bound to get attention in the Capitol at least. Only time would tell with that though as there were still a couple days left of training. "You can bet your ass I'm coming. We need to skills if we intend to gut that asswipe ourselves." Paige responded, following Alice to the elevators while clearly referring to the one man that was probably almost universally hated across District 8: Coriolanus Snow. Of course it was just another fantasy of the girl's, but more and more she was beginning to realize Alice also agreed with the sentiment.

Once in the training centre Paige almost immediately noticed something that hardly surprised her. Just as in days earlier the careers were intently eying Keshet, but only this time one of them, the District 2 boy as Paige recalled, actually walked up to her and began talking to her. He was no doubt proposing an official alliance with the girl, one she wasn't slow to accept. They were the careers, after all, and most would be flattered to join them a fact that Paige was quick to point out to Alice. "Shit, that cuntmuffin is at it again. Watch, she's going to regret that the moment they stab her in the back, rather fucking literally in fact." She pointed towards the action, ensuring Alice had seen it. This, however, quickly got the career alliance's attention on the District 8 pair, but much to Paige's surprise it didn't appear to be any real look of hostility. At least not yet. That at least served as a sign they had probably not heard Paige bashing Keshet who was no doubt one of them now.

[Zulera301]

He shrugged. "they're just numbers, really. Valendria was supposed to get higher than a 12... Kyla got a 6... there was a victor one year that got a 3 or something. I think it's more for the Capitol's betting games rather than how strong or weak a tribute is... we get to choose what we show them, after all..."
Kyla clearly did, after all, which was just another way that she, in Alice's mind, had remained true to herself. She didn't try to impress them; she pulled the wool over their eyes, surprising not just Panem, but the Capitol too. Still, those who got weaker scores usually had much more to prove to the Capitol before they would get sponsors. Alice was also keeping this in mind, wondering how many tributes had won without a sponsor gift or two.

Alice's final picture that night was something that could definitely be seen as one hell of a controversey. It was another of his "controversial Valendria" images, this one depicting a seemingly innocent scene of the massive girl sitting atop a large tree, dangling her bare feet below, and Alice, being attentive to detail the way he was, had not even forgotten the bangles that the girl had been wearing. Her outfit, while simple, had been what she had worn to the Reaping when she had volunteered--one of the only times that she had been able to properly be herself.
In the tree with her though, were a handful of Mockingjays, a few perched on one of her arms and shoulders, and they, like Valendria, seemed to be engaged in the art of singing. Maybe if he won he'd have to ask District 4 if Valendria sang at all, but it just felt like something she would do.
The Mockingjays, as well as the caption of the image, were what made it have the potential to ruffle some feathers. It simply said"WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE TO BE FREE?", a clear reference to the fact that Valendria was so desperate to get out of this vicious cycle that she was willing to give her life to free herself from it. Still, it was after this that he stowed it away and hit the sack.

The only new things that Alice learned was that the District 2 girl was named Zak Aranai, and was the sister of last year's tribute, Roxanne. He also learned that Keshet's partner was a boy named Nesara Kumani, and that he was fairly skilled at what he did as well, even if he was not nearly as aggressive. When Lyndis had finally reached him to give him a smooch, he had surprised her by pulling her in for a 2nd kiss right after the first one, and the two almost looked like they were going to get heated with it before they pushed each other away with a wink and a laugh. Alice had watched this and found it hilariously amusing.
Alice laughed, both at Paige's language and her proposition. He knew as well as she did that it was just a fantasy, but it was a nice fantasy, dammit. This time, Alice brought his little bag that had his papers and pencils in it. If the boy wanted to spend/waste his time drawing, the Capitol just chalked it up as his loss. The only real "rules" of the training center were that tributes were not allowed to harm each other (or vandalize the training center, but that was much more obviously enforced.) Moments later they were back in the elevator.

Alice was not slow to notice that that District 7 girl was allying herself with the careers. Perhaps they wanted to find an ally to make up for the lack of gaining Smash, who had (rather politely) turned the District 1 boy's offer down. He didn't seem angry or threatening about it, but maybe he was just worried that Smash would punch his lights out. It was no wonder they had wanted her. Careers were usually quite fond of brute strength.
"I hope they do," Alice chuckled, "or that that District 10 girl gets her. That would just be the funniest irony ever." He had been hoping that the two girls would have fought, and he was rooting for Lyndis simply because Lyndis had a sense of humor and wasn't a conceited bitch. Sure she was arguably literally insane, but he would much rather deal with a maniac than a sadist.

He glanced around again to see what the others were doing. Lyndis was back to using axes with considerable speed and skill, while Smash was actually going and attacking things armed with nothing but a pair of iron knuckles (but not with spikes). Perhaps Seeder's sponsor gift to Rye a couple years ago had been an inspiration of sorts.
"So do you want to keep practicing, or should we start trying to devise ways to kill those fuckers?" he chuckled, nodding for a split-second towards the careers before turning back to Paige.

[Nachthexe]

Numbers. Even if that was all the training scores were they inevitably bore some importance. No sane sponsor bothered investing in tributes who were speculated to die quickly, after all. How were those statistics usually determined? Through training scores and performance in the arena. However, Paige knew that the latter was what truly mattered as it was what determined how well a tribute could fend off attackers and stay alive. The whole system was weird to her though so she knew it was something she couldn't think too deeply about. Still, her same concerns floated around in her mind as well. What if the Gamemakers intentionally scored her low? That would certainly make her a target in the arena, being perceived as "easy".

"So you're going to learn how to kill with pencils and paper, kid?" Paige asked the next morning as she noticed Alice bringing along his drawing paper to the training centre. As funny as it seemed she knew that if pencils were able to be used as a weapon that Alice probably would choose them; he could kill his enemies and then draw with their blood. Something like that. It was a rather twisted thought, but it made Paige chuckle slightly as she made her way over to the knife station to start the day.

The alliance between Keshet and the rest of the careers was cause of concern for Paige, but she was given some reassurance by the fact that, Smash, as the others called her, had refused to join them. Paige even began to gain assurance that the strong outlying tributes were not even going to hunt her down. At least not in the early stages in the games. It was likely she would even already be dead by the time they decided to turn on District 8, assuming Alice stayed alive that long of course. It was really a tough call to make since while he was clearly showing improvement with a boy he was still proving to be incredibly ineffective in other areas. Then again, Paige was very much taking her own background for granted. Her parents had trained her to fight, believing she would need it some day but perhaps even they hadn't anticipated it being used in the games. A part of her almost wished they were still alive to see that, yet another part felt relieved they were gone since it would mean less pain for them in the end.

"A bit of both perhaps? Shit, we need skills if we're going to kill these shitheads, after all." Paige responded to Alice, realizing the younger boy was still quite unsure what to do with himself. He had his paper and pencils so definitely drawing was still on his mind, but this arena stuff was a matter of life or death. Certainly Alice was aware of that? Frankly, either he would be slain or the others would have to be. There was only one winner, after all, and Paige wished it could be Alice if it couldn't be her. It was only natural that one was biased against their own district, surely. This especially stood true for the poorer districts which benefited greatly from the food prizes being a victor constituted.

[Zulera301]

Alice couldn't help but chuckle. "maybe for my private session I'll just paint a huge picture of Districts 8, 11, 6, 3, and 12 rebelling against the Capitol and say "you're next" or something... scare 'em shitless." he was completely joking, although the prospect was funny. "Nah... but there are some things I want to draw." that crossbow was one of them, and more ideas of the other tributes were another. memorizing the details just long enough to sketch them out was enough for him to analyze if something was abnormal. He pictured things in his head before just going at them. If drawing was a viable skill, Alice's training score would be astronomically high for sure. Since it wasn't, he'd have to decide if hew as going to just do whatever and play an unassuming potential bloodbath fodder kid, or if he'd actually try to prove himself deadly. time would well.

Alice did not have the running speed or lightning reflexes of Dezna from District 6, but the one other thing he seemed to enjoy doing was the obstacle courses, which included various dodges and maneuvers. He did seem to be trying to build himself into an evading type of player, since he knew that there was no way he'd magically grow to be as strong and fast as some of these other massive and/or crazy tributes. He would just need to learn how to try and predict their moves and react before they could connect with his flesh and put his life at an end.

"That's why I'm trying to learn to dodge." he chuckled at her remark. Either he was still painfully naive at the idea of fighting and killing and death, or he was just genuinely unconcerned. He had liked Dezna, but this was not Alice taking a leaf out of that boy's books. Dezna's seeming indifference came from a drug-addled mind and losses of his own. Alice, who had nevfer known any real joy with someone he loved, was indifferent to the idea of people dying or disappearing. He understood that it was a bad thing, but Paige was the closest thing he could see to losing someone. On the other hand, he was expecting her to die at this point, and so he was not terribly worried about it, which in turn fueled his unusual calm even further.
"I mean shit. learning to dodge is about as good as I can get now, unless I magically grow taller and faster and stronger or something." he shrugged. "I'm doing what I can." He wasn't so much trying to defend his lack of skills here; just explain it to Paige.

Part of him did want Paige to still win, but he also wanted to go home, because if nothing else, it would be a good "in your face" at the Capitol, for surely no one was banking on the scrawny boy from District 8 whose only real talent was drawing things in extremely great detail. No, if he won, it'd be a pride thing, and a way to continue Paige's legacy. To the boy who had never gained anything of this kind of glory, it was a motivating enough concept.

[Nachthexe]

"That will just have those shitstains offing you in the arena instead." Paige responded to Alice, even if his suggestion was slightly amusing. Realistically though, it was a massive risk and she didn't want him endangering himself also. Paige knew now she had already crossed that line years ago. It certainly seemed odd the Capitol had waited until she was eighteen, her final year of being eligible, before offing her though. Oh well. Even they had reasons for doing the things they did and Paige didn't overlook this. "Seriously though. If you want to draw instead of train then it's on you, kid." She then advised, realizing that the boy was no doubt wasting valuable training time. However, it was his choice, thus something she had little control over. There were no rules in the training centre, after all, except that fighting with the other tributes was forbidden as was any sort of vandalism.

If one was weak in offense then for them defense was the next best thing and Alice seemed to had picked up on this. Certainly it couldn't do damage in any way, but working on dodging techniques was valuable nonetheless; it was just one more of those things that was bound to be life-saving. "It's definitely something. Shit, if those asskissers come towards us with projectiles or some shit you'll be ready." Paige responded, admittedly relieved that Alice had decided to get some training in while he still had a chance. She knew it was a lesser issue for herself, however, realizing that she knew various disarming techniques, all in which she had been practicing in the past few days. Still, there were many variables to consider and many would not even come into fruition until they were already in the arena.

It was difficult for Paige to gauge how she truly felt about Alice. Certainly he was her district partner so she was banking on him to win based on that alone, but did he have it in him? It almost didn't seem likely since the boy was short, scrawny, and really didn't seem to have much interest in anything besides art. A victory from such a kid was bound to be a surprisingly outcome, but in a way Paige also saw it kind of as a "fuck you" to the Capitol. Certainly they never anticipated such a kind winning so Paige almost considered that perhaps they had rigged his reaping to ensure somebody small and weak got reaped just so District 8 wouldn't produce a victor in the 46th games. However, it seemed about as likely as Panem actually being engulfed in full-scale revolution. At least Paige liked to hope so. Perhaps the Capitol didn't have any reason to punish all of District 8 for the actions of one citizen. Then again, this was the Capitol and many of their tactics for retaining control were often outrageous.

"I think you know what I'm going to be practicing on." Paige uttered to Alice as she made her way over to the bladed weapons once again. Nearby the District 4 pair was practicing with tridents and spears, although despite their district industry they didn't seem to be very competent with either. Paige soon found herself suspecting that despite their powerful tribute just the year previous that District 4 was in for some serious disappointment this time around. However, she didn't think much of it as she was mostly worried about saving her own district's skin. If her skills were anything to go by she knew she would have had a decent chance of doing so too had it not been for the circumstances that got her into the games in the first place.

[Zulera301]

Alice laughed. "of course they would. Though if it comes down to dying or kissing ass, death is the easy way out, dammit. Valendria had the right idea." It was something that made him think, but he shifted subjects again. "But don't worry... I won't do anything so drastic... I won't spend all my time drawing either." If one accumulated all of the time Alice spent drawing in the training center, it would probably only amount to just over an hour or so. Considering that the place was open from dawn till dusk (or later, if the tributes so pleased), there was plenty of training time to be had for Alice DeSiete. He wasn't about to fully absorb himself in his art just yet.

He nodded at Paige when she complimented him for his defensive practices. "I've got my arrows for offense, since I can't exactly swing too many of those bigger weapons with much ease." He was scrawny, yes, and he could lift them; just that he knew that he would not be nearly as effective with them as some of the other tributes would--much like that time during the 44th Hunger Games when Bolt, the much smaller boy from District 3, had tried swinging Rye's mace, a weapon that the District 11 boy had wielded with considerable ease. Well, it had turned out bad for him, and Flint did the poor soul in. Alice did not want to end up like that. On the other hand, Paige did seem to be overlooking that hiding and outsmarting other tributes was a strategy that did hold some water. Victors did not have to be as combat-happy as Sagittaria, Rye, or Valendria, or even swift and ruthless the way Kyla and Dezna had been. sometimes the odds would shift into someone else's favor, such as Kiva from the year before.

"you know what I'll be practicing on too," Alice nodded as he walked back to get his bow again, which he was growing much more competent with.What Alice lacked in strength and speed, he made up for in stealth and precision. If he survived the bloodbath, he was going to go with a very evasive strategy that would involve hiding and sniping. He knew better than to engage in direct combat with most of these other tributes. besides, half of them were freaking insane. The District 3 pair were analyzing Dezna's crossbow and were perhaps trying to put things together to make machines like their predecessor counterparts had done. However, they were certainly no Clemont or Hikari, and ws would not likely be the threat that they were. Besides... if they could avoid most of the combat the way they did till Glimmer, Dezna, and Kiva encountered them, Alice figured it was possible for him, since he wouldn't even have a lightning machine to carry around.

he was growing confident, but certainly not arrogant. He was motivated by Paige, and by his own desire to emerge from these games alive. It was a fairly selfish motive, but at the same time, might have also been somewhat selfless. It was for District 8 as a whole. It was his way of giving the middle finger to the Capitol in all of their oppressive glory. This made victory seem even sweeter, especially since short of killing him outright, they had nothing they could do to the boy. He was untouchable, just as he had always known, and this had always been something he had used and would continue to use to his advantage.

[Nachthexe]

Arrows and precision. Alice seemed to have a sound strategy now, much to Paige's delight. Certainly it seemed to compliment her own skills too, just as she had been hoping. The heavier weapons. They were not exactly an option for Paige either and she attempted to point this out as Alice mentioned them. "The maces? It takes a special kind of person to use those I think." She pointed towards Smash who was showing off her strength as usual. Even the careers seemed impressed by this, but the girl had already made it quite clear where her loyalties lie. This gave Paige increased hope as everybody siding with the careers was guaranteed trouble for District 8, which rarely got much attention in the games along with District 6.

Knives and swords. They were definitely Paige's forte and it was only proven further as she continued practicing with both. She nearly effortlessly hit many of the targets which were present, even capturing minimal attention from the careers. However, she cared little and only continued. She knew it was common for many tributes to conceal their true skills during training in attempts to throw everybody else off, but District 8 couldn't afford to think like that; if Alice was to go home District 8 needed sponsors, which meant attracting attention. The private sessions and interviews were especially important for that. At this point Paige could only hope she didn't mess either of them up, but then again the Capitol was destined to mess her up one way or another. She was never intended to be a victor, but certainly Alice had that chance.

After spending nearly half the day on combat skills Paige then found herself once again shifting back over into the survival skills. Fire and shelter building. Both were skills often over-looked, but PAige found herself realizing they were just as important as knowing how to wield a sword. Exposure was definitely a known killer in the games and even if she knew she was destined to die she infinitely preferred for it to be in combat or perhaps even as a heroic sacrifice. The latter was definitely not unheard of in the games, with the past two years each having examples of that. She didn't bet on it though since she suspected the Capitol would want people forgetting her. Rebels, as far as Snow was concerned, were nobody. Nobody but a pest that had to be squashed.

After a bit of struggle Paige managed to light a small fire, even remembering some of the tips her parents had offered while they were alive. There was technique to it, that much was clear. Still, she found herself feeling satisfied with her effort before working on shelters which proved much easier. What she managed to produce offered protection from the elements, although it wasn't very sturdy. Fortunately though it seemed like a lesser issue as tributes usually kept moving in order to throw off any potential pursuers. It was an ingenious tactic really and definitely one Paige also intended to incorporate. Her parents at least had known what they were doing, even if it had never been anticipated by them that their daughter would actually be forced to participate in Panem's annual death match.

"So I think we've done enough." Paige finally approached Alice at the end of the day who also was making definite progress with his chosen skills. If anything, he would be able to injure a tribute enough to be able to flee. Sometimes even that was more important than actually killing them. One couldn't be pursued by a heavily bleeding or limping tribute, after all. "I think it was a pretty good day over all. Shit, Alice might actually become a vicious killer." Paige explained to Challis before the woman even had a chance to open her mouth once securely back in the District 8 quarters. This just had the woman forming a smile before getting up to join the rest of the team at the dining table which was now being filled with various food by the Avoxes. For Paige, it was a rather haunting sight, but she knew she was powerless to do anything about it. This was the heart of the Capitol and she knew she would never get her way here.

[Zulera301]

Alice nodded. "I've always found that ironic, especially since they're one of the only things that have been in every arena so far." there had only been one or two last year due to the overabundance of those weird metal shards that were everywhere. "but yeah... I haven't seen a good mace-user since Rye Grove a couple years ago." he had really liked that boy too. Sure he liked Sagittaria for her humor and cheerful attitude, but he held Rye in an almost unique method of respect. The boy had been easy to read and very clear and straightforward with who he was. The games had not changed that about him at all, and he, like Kyla, had died the same person they had been before they had been thrown into the arena. He hoped that he could do the same if he died, and that Paige would be able to experience the same fate rather than being twisted by the Capitol the way the careers always were, or how Valendria had been.

Lyndis, Smash, and Isi all continued to be rather impressive, and gained the attention of the careers a few more times--perhaps if nothing else, just to size them up and know what they were going against. It was around this time, that Lyndis targetted one of her final tributes, and Alice saw her approaching him. He was not sure what she was going to do, but she had put her weapons down and had a mischievous grin on her face. Alice stayed reserved, and as he watched the barefooted District 10 girl approach him, he knew at once what was going to happen. He set his bow down in preparation, no less.

Sure enough, he felt his cheeks getting grabbed as Lyndis yanked him into a kiss. It had been rather funny with the taller tributes, who she would pull down to her level, but since Alice was the exact same height as Lyndis, there was no difficulty at all. She gave him a long smooch before pulling back and grinning. Alice simply chuckled.
"I wouldn't mind that again," he quipped. Lyndis merely grinned, winking at him before walking away, swaying her hips his way. Alice shook his head. She was nuts for sure, but Alice couldn't help but find her charming--she was quirky and definitely a one-of-a-kind kid. She was also kind of cute (and maybe it had been something the Capitol showers had done to her, but she had smelled like peaches), but Alice saw that as something that'd be fun to draw rather than someone he'd want to try and get to know better. When he thought something or someone was pretty, it was usually for artistic purposes and little more.

After a bit longer, Alice shifted to the Camouflage station where he was able to paint himself to blend in almost perfectly with the surrounding fake foliage that was used in this training exercise. He did not think this would actually be terribly practical or easy to do in the arena, but it looked cool in theory. He learned how to make some of these colors though, and wondered if they would, somehow by chance come in handy. If not... well, he learned a new art form that day. He'd have to brush up (no pun intended) on painting if he crawled out of this mess alive. Perhaps he had more skills that would come in handy in a death match than he first thought.

Alice laughed. "I'll draw them to death!" he joked, making a stab at what was obviously his passion, considering how many thousands of amazingly details sketches he had made in his life. Hopefully Paige wouldn't think he was being serious. Once back in the 8th floor apartment, he chuckled again at Paige's remark. Otherwise, he was quiet as he decided to fill himself up with some dinner as he glanced around at Paige, Challis, and the rest of the team. It had been a good day, all things considering.

[Nachthexe]

Paige wasn't quick to overlook the irony once Alice pointed it out. It was true that maces were staple in nearly every arena, yet so few could even properly wield them. Perhaps it was simply the Capitol hoping somebody would pick them up out of pure desperation? Certainly somebody who was unarmed and under attack wouldn't hesitate to at least try wielding one. It seemed like one of the Capitol's crueler tactics to use in the games, but this was the Capitol and they didn't really seem to have any limit to the levels they would stoop to while ruling over Panem and the games. "Certainly the asslicking careers think they're all that and try to wield that shit." Paige responded as she took in Alice's comments.

Unsurprisingly, Lyndis only continued her antics, although this time Alice had been targeted. Much to Paige's surprise, he didn't even seem to mind as the girl's lips locked into his. This had her slightly annoyed though, only being able to glare at Lyndis even as she took off, swaying her hips. In some ways it almost reminded her of Kiva from the 45th games who had passionately swayed her hips during her interviews. Certainly it had been the girl's foolproof tactic in order to get attention from sponsors. It had clearly worked and even Paige had found herself getting turned on each time she spotted the gorgeous District 6 girl on screen. Obviously the same had applied to the similarly gorgeous Glimmer of District 5. There was truly no wonder in her mind that the mighty Valendria had chosen her as an ally. This District 10 girl, however... She was a special kind of crazy and it was becoming more and more clear with each passing day.

Once back in the District 8 quarters Alice was showing his sense of humour once again. Drawing tributes to death? Certainly if it was a tactic he would be excelling, just as the camouflage station had proven as well. It definitely wasn't a hugely effective tactic in the arena except as a last resort due to being time consuming, but clearly the various trainers within the training centre saw some use for it. "Shit, if these were the drawing games you would no doubt be the victor. I'm just guessing, but I suspect most of those other fuckwits couldn't draw a straight line. Lyndis especially." Paige quipped as she made her way over to the dining table. Very quickly she began filling a plate of food, not quick to forget all the Capitol privilege over the districts that made such a meal possible. It managed to anger and even disgust her, but it was sentiment she was beginning to feel was futile to voice in front of these people. Was the Capitol finally succeeding in taming the feral beast within? Perhaps. At least on the surface. Paige knew she was still Paige and didn't intend to submit to anybody.

Paige's own suspicions about herself were somewhat proving correct over the next few days of training, at least publicly. If there was anything she intended to say the arena was the place to do so. She had countless messages to get out to Panem, even with the risk of every last one being censored. However, she had one single speck of hope. Alice. If he survived then surely he could act as a mouthpiece of sorts for the fallen Paige. He shared many of the same views, but conveyed very different methods. That was still okay in her eyes though as only getting the messages out mattered at this point. Perhaps silencing her was going to be harder than anticipated. At least that was what she liked to hope. It was all she really had left, false hopes and dreams.

"I hope you're both ready since today are your private sessions. I presume you already know the routine? If not, you'll go down to the training centre and be called in individually. You can either show off your full potential and aim high or you can take the Kyla route and appear weak. Your call." Challis explained as Paige strolled into the dining room the morning of the final training day. It was, of course, non-conventional in that the tributes were finally ultimately being judged by the Gamemakers, but Paige was mostly nervous for Alice's sake. She already knew the Gamemakers would probably score her low to make her appear as an easy target, but Alice had a strong chance of actually scoring low. Despite all of his practice none of his arena skills were even close to being on par with his one expertise, art. Realizing this, Paige slouched down into one of the chairs and let out a sigh. It was bound to be a long day, having interviews shortly after the training sessions.

[Zulera301]

"they usually take up swords and spears... stuff that they can swing wildly like idiots and still shed the blood that they thirst for," he quipped, "not that they're the only ones that use swords or anything though." he was referring to her of course, not wanting to associate her as one of the careers. Not that he feared insulting the girl; just that he used his insults wisely, and only on people he thought deserved them. On the other hand, at least it wasn't like the year when weird-shaped maces were the only things at the cornucopia. Then again, the abundance of metal shards all over the arena was also an oddity that Alice remembered from last year. Details--he was good at remembering them.

Crazy as Lyndis might have been, she seemed very alert. Perhaps she, like the District 6 children the year before, had heightened senses or reflexes or something from something they took back home. But, he thought that alcohol dulled the senses rather than heightened them. Maybe there was more to this girl than met the eye. Maybe she really was just straight-up batfuck insane. In fact, when Lyndis noticed that Paige was glaring at her, she licked her finger, pretending to place it on a hot surface, complete with making the "tssss" sound and waggling her eyebrows. If Alice had been a bit older, he might have flirted back with her better, just to trigger more hilarious reactions from the girl, who almost appeared to have just flirted with Paige. In her defense, she was not too hard on the eyes ever since being cleaned up by the Capitol. Maybe it was just Alice that found her kind of cute, but the girl seemed to have a nice little flirty streak. Sure, she was no Glimmer, be it in looks or personality, but Alice found Lyndis' small size combined with her silly antics and playful expressions to be rather attractive. That was about all he could say about it though, knowing that the girl would have to die.

Alice laughed. "you don't seem too fond of her. She too crazy for your liking?" he quipped. She knew it was only a matter of time before Lyndis tried it on Paige, and he was honestly expecting her to react as fiercely to it as that girl from District 7 had done. Also, when he stopped to think about it, he realized that he had only ever "heard" Lyndis speak two words, and that was during the Reaping footage. Other than her volunteering, he could not remember her ever saying anything that he had been in earshot of. Could she talk at all? Obviously she knew at least two words, but how many more did she know?
When it came to dinner, Alice on the other hand, did not fight the notion of the food in front of him, and so was eating just fine (between sketches again, of course). There was no reason to bite the hand that fed them at this point, even if that hand also still held the chains of their oppression. It would accomplish nothing at this point.

One thing that Alice made subtly clear to Paige was that if he somehow managed to win this thing, he'd continue spreading the word that he had been spreading for a while, except that perhaps Paige would join Valendria in that kind of propaganda that he so often drew. They might be able to silence Paige, but if Alice survived, it would take nothing short of killing one of their beloved victors to silence him in all of his subtle and clever ways. If there was one kind of talent that Alice had going for him that was usually considerably useful in the arena, it was his smarts and cunning. He was certainly not the sweet, naive art-obsessed boy he portrayed himself as. (okay, so he loved art, but he knew that it had to take the back burner while survival was at stake. District 8 depended on it.)

"got it," he nodded, "or I can just not go and get an amazing score of zero." he joked. No, he was going to go, and he would probably score unremarkably. On the other hand, a lot of the smart or clever tributes had done this before, and so if any of the others had gotten the vibe that the boy was clever, they might have assumed he was holding back or something. however, he figured that more than that, they had just ignored him or something. He was easy to overlook; hew as small, thin, and apart from the occasional drawing that he left lying around, was not too remarkable at anything. He was oddly okay with this.
"You seem depressed," he shrugged,. being no psychologist or anything himself, "you worried about this? The arena's still a day away..." he saw no reason to be worried about the private sessions himself, although the interviews...
"or are you worried that they'll kill us on-sight for some vulgar shit we spew tonight at the interviews?" he chuckled.

[Nachthexe]

If there was something Paige admired about Alice it was his silent, yet devoted opposition to the Capitol. It was obvious the boy was constantly demeaning them through his art, yet they clearly had no idea. Either that or they didn't care about harmless artwork? It was truly hard to say since it didn't seem the boy had been targeted the same way she had. The Capitol definitely had many secrets that not even Paige knew and it bothered her at times. Regardless though, even if Alice won it didn't seem his interest in art would go away so it was also unlikely his opposition to the Capitol would go away. Those were usually mentalities that continued lingering in a person as far as she was concerned.

Challis chuckled. "I advise not scoring a 0." She warned even though the boy's comment had purely been an attempt at humour. Certainly it was technically possible to get a 0, but it was yet to happen as all tributes always made an appearance at their private sessions, perhaps on orders from their mentors. It was fair enough as it was inevitable that nobody ever wanted to mentor for more than a few years. There was of course the obvious exceptions of the career districts who seemed to actually enjoy the games, but it was definitely not a mentality District 8 shared. That alone was incentive enough for Challis to hope for a victor and she doubted it would happen with scores of 0 in training. Most sponsors never paid much attention to anything below mid-range as a general rule.

"Me depressed? Just a little." Paige admitted when Alice became curious. In reality she was nervous. Nervous about the private training, nervous about the interviews, and lastly, nervous about the arena. She soon found herself realizing it was only a day away until she and 23 others would be out for each other's blood. It was hard to comprehend really as just about a week ago she had been back in her tiny house with Hanna contemplating the downfall of President Snow. Now it was all clearly returning to bite her in the ass and it definitely stung. "Those interviews... If I say some stupid shit, or at least something the Capitol perceives as stupid, it all comes back to us both. Certainly asswipe Snow hasn't overlooked you. Shit, he probably thinks I'm attempting to turn you into some deranged rebel or something. Newsflash, Mr. Snow: he was rebellious before he even fucking knew me." Paige began ranting, even briefly waving her fist in the air. Certainly Snow could do whatever he wanted with her now, but she was prepared to go full renegade if he dared touch Alice. He especially didn't deserve any of this. None of Panem did.

"You could always play your silent mysterious persona. It's the only way to get you to shut up anyway." Augusta blurted out, listening in on the conversation. Once again the woman was making use of her razor sharp tongue, something that was so uncommon among escorts who were typically perceived to be airheaded. This, of course, had Paige's blood boiling once again as she attempted to prevent herself from snapping at the woman. Now was no doubt the worst time to be severing relations with her as tomorrow she was officially one of the few lifelines while in the arena. Realizing this, she instead just stuffed her mouth with food as she cheeks continued reddening, giving the rest something to laugh at.

Fortunately, all jokes at Paige's expense soon came to an end as Challis gestured for the tribute pair to soon begin making their way down to the training centre. The woman had managed to keep them behind longer in order to have them not waiting around as long as the lower numbered districts went through their sessions. The woman's timing was certainly impeccable too after so many years as Paige found herself entering the waiting room just as the District 7 girl was entering for her session. She quickly took a glance over at the new arrivals, the District 8 pair, before closing the door behind her. Paige could tell the girl meant serious business and was bound to be deadly once in the arena. This quickly had a lump forming in her throat as she realized it was very possible she would have to confront her.

[Zulera301]

The Capitol definitely knew the power of propaganda. However, they couldn't pin a graffiti image on him, because the boy was too skilled at hiding the evidence. Maybe Snow knew, but the Peacekeepers would paint over most of them or find other ways to destroy his work. Nonetheless, Valendria's face was still prominent in District 8 thanks to him. The Capitol could not silence an artist without killing him outright. He did not know how much of it had been exposed to Capitol eyes, however, so maybe they had their sights trained on him. Otherwise though... if he won, what would they do? He'd have their hands tied, and then he would truly be free from their control. Alice was dangerous to the Capitol because he had nothing that could be used against him. He was so ordinary and so unknown that there was no one he had ever really bonded with. Sad as it might have been, it was an advantage against a manipulative government.

Alice laughed. "Nah... I'll get at least a 1 for showing up." he chuckled. No, he figured he'd score about mid-range, around a 5 or 6 or something. He might not get sponsors, but if anything that would further drive his point home. If he won without any sponsors, that would not only mean he beat the Capitol's odds, but that he also did it without their help. He figured that kind of logic would make Paige proud, but he decided not to mention it when Augusta and the stylists were in the room. Even if they didn't rat him out, Augusta still had a sharp as hell tongue and Alice did not want to be reminded of that just yet.

However, their witty escort did not say anything, and instead Alice found himself concerned about Paige's low mood. Sure she wasn't ever in what Alice could gall a "happy" mood, but she had always seemed relatively stable. The interviews though... that was bound to be hard on Paige because she was bound to explode during them or something.
"If the Capitol comes up at all, I was just going to say stuff about fashion or design or something..." he shrugged, "it's not much, but it's certainly better than trying to bitch at them and expecting it to make a damn difference other than angering them further."
He put a hand on her back and shoulder, trying to rub it reassuringly. "But you're right... you didn't change me into this person--I've been this way for a while. You just helped remind me of it and to express it." He was not really one to complain about his lot in life, having never had a need to, though now that he was here and knowing that it was so horribly unfair what was happening, he couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated. Yeah it was obviously super unfair for them to be here at all, but for Paige top be brought here with a 0% chance of winning? that was just sick and wrong.

"Sometimes I wish she was an Avox." he grunted out of the corner of his lips towards Paige, hoping that it might cheer her up just a little. He actually didn't wish such a terrible misfortune on even that woman, but he did want to try and comfort Paige a little, since seeing the older girl that had sort of become his hero and role model over the last week, all down in the dumps did sadden him a bit. He shrugged and finished eating as well, ready for the day that lay ahead of them.

When they finally arrived at the training center, the first half of the tributes were gone already, and '7 was finishing up as that Keshet girl disappeared into the gamemakers' chambers.
"I guess I'm next," he quipped. They were mostly alone, and a few minutes later the final tributes filed in, which included Lyndis. As she stepped past District 8 to take her seat, she finally finished her goal, grabbing Paige and giving her the same trademark smooch that she had given the others. For a girl that was so batshit crazy and wicked-strong in the training center, it was a gentler kiss than it might have looked. That, and Lyndis smelled like rather pleasant cherries for some reason.
Alice bit his gums to keep from reacting, but wondering what Paige would do about it (as Lyndis went and sat down over in her District 10 seat), if anything at all.

[Nachthexe]

"They except us all to suck up to the Capitol. I cannot do that. You know I can't, Alice." Paige pleaded to Alice, hoping the younger boy would at least somewhat understand her point of view. It was well-known, after all, that much of what occurred at the interviews was last ditch attempts to gain sponsors. Gaining sponsors meant pleasing the audience. There really wasn't much more to it and that alone was enough to make Paige dread it. "At least if I do fuck this up we're both going into the same shithole anyway having low chances of survival. That alone will mean sponsors might not even save you. I know all the sponsors in the world couldn't save me, but you..." She continued, glancing straight into Alice's eyes. Considering the other tributes, it was quickly becoming fairly clear that Alice probably couldn't stand up to any of them. He was small, young, and inexperienced.

Augusta an Avox? With a sharp tongue such as her's it was admittedly difficult for Paige to imagine, but the thought at least brought a smile to her face. Despite the woman's job to help the tributes Paige still felt little sympathy for her due to her connections to the Capitol. Certainly she was loyal and viewed the games as entertainment just like the rest of the Capitol elite did. Certainly it was likely that some didn't know any different, but escorts played a more direct role with the tributes so they definitely knew the personal side of the games. This did briefly get Paige hopeful that perhaps some of the escorts realized what the games entailed, but were powerless to do anything about it. It was tragic really, but everything was bound to remain as if as long as Snow ruled over Panem with an iron fist.

It wasn't long after the arrival of Alice and Paige that the remaining districts began flocking in. 10 through 12 all seemed rather eager to try their hands at the private sessions, although 9 appeared nervous as ever. That was understandable, considering their record in recent games. "Yea... Good luck in there." Paige responded once Alice announced that he was probably next. She was becoming rather curious to see how his performance would score, but it was inevitable that nobody would know their scores until they were broadcast later that same evening a few hours before the interviews. Certainly that alone was bound to give the higher scoring tributes, such as the careers, something to brag about. Arrogance was always one of their most prominent traits.

Paige hadn't been thinking much of the other tributes that arrived, but then Lyndis, that crazy District 10 girl, grabbed her and landed the same smooch on the lips that she had given all the others. This was something she immediately found herself having mixed feelings about; she felt violated, yet at the same time the girl actually seemed to be quite beautiful while not covered in blood. Certainly that was bound to change by tomorrow, but surprisingly the smooch hadn't led to Paige blowing up. Instead she only gave the girl a cold hard glare before opening up her mouth to taunt her. "Why don't you try that in the arena, bitch?" They were definitely bound to confront each other in the arena sooner or later anyway.

[Zulera301]

Alice nodded. "I get it... I definitely get it. Just... try not to explode out there, 'kay? I'd rather you at least be able to survive the bloodbath rather than piss the Gamemakers off in the first few seconds and make them "accidentally"..." he waggled his fingers dramatically for effect, "...make your landmine go off and blow you to smithereens before anyone else can even move." He wouldn't put it above them to try that. That was something that could easily look like an accident, and many people would believe it. A couple of tribute tokens had been dropped and triggered them, and a few times opportunistic tributes had stupidly tried jumping the gun. Blowing a tribute to pieces and making it look accidental seemed fairly easy. That was the last way he wanted Paige to go.
"But hey..." he added, "if I won without a single sponsor, just imagine how much of a bigger "fuck you" to the Capitol that would be--winning their game without their help, and all the kids they DID help still lost..." he hoped to try and cheer her up, but he was no expert on that kind of ability. Not really at all.

Alice had mixed feelings on actually hoping Augusta turned into an Avox, especially as he remembered what that usually entailed. Becoming an Avox, he heard, was one of the few things that Capitol citizens could suffer like anyone else. If they dissented from the views of the highest elite, it was just as possible for it to happen to them, and that was suddenly discomforting to Alice. He shook his head, trying not to think about it.

Alice chuckled. "will do. May the odds make it true that when I'm mortally wounded in an excruciatingly painful manner, my body goes into shock so I don't feel anything as I die." he quipped before disappearing inside. Keshet was nowhere to be seen. the statement that Alice quoted of course, had come from that District 11 victor, and was popularized in '12, '6, and '2 as well as '11 now. It didn't seem to be going anywhere, that was for sure.

Similar to what she did after Keshet exploded at her, Lyndis simply chuckled, flashing her trademark grin. She waggled her eyebrows suggestively at Paige and then winked at her before sitting down between her partner and Garrett, swinging her feet and waiting for her turn in the training room. Oddly, even here, she was still barefooted. Perhaps this, just like her lack of ever saying very much, was just another of her many quirks. At this point, it was unanimously agreed between the other 23 tributes that Lyndis was insane and that her level of crazy exceeded all the others (which said something in and of itself, as this year had been full of crazy tributes).

Alice meanwhile, made his private session short and sweet. First, he demonstrated his skills with the bow, which, while he was not able to rapidly fire off arrows the way the likes of Sagittaria, he was a very accurate shot. He was not the speedy type, but definitely had sniper skills in him. Other than that, he practiced a few defensive maneuvers, and finished his time painting a pretty picture of Valendria's face on one of the walls.
"Thank you..." he took a bow, "for your consideration." he walked out as he was dismissed, hoping to meet back up with Paige after her session. He was honestly not expecting a very high score himself, and honestly, still couldn't bring himself to care. Not to say he wouldn't accept a sponsor gift, but he had decided that it was still not worth kissing ass for. He figured Paige was the same way.

[Nachthexe]

The landmines. Paige had admittedly nearly forgotten about them before Alice reminded her of them. It was well-known that they lined each pedestal and remained active right up until the moment the countdown reached zero. It served as a rather effective way to enforce arguably the only rule in the entire games: no stepping off your pedestal early. Of course, in some games they had managed to serve more useful purposes, especially when the District 3 tributes managed to get their hands on them. Paige obviously wasn't sure how they worked, but clearly District 3 kids usually did, often reactivating them and utilizing them to their advantage. The 44th games had served as a perfect example of that, nearly killing multiple tributes.

"Oh knowing the Capitol asslickers they'll no doubt ensure I die painfully." Paige responded as Alice threw out the now infamous District 11 slogan. She was admittedly surprised as it hadn't really taken off in District 8, but certainly the boy had heard it somewhere. Most likely in footage of the 45th games as both Kiva and Dezna had made use of it. Certainly Paige's concern was a real one though as the Capitol was known for being ruthless to their opposition. Avoxes alone stood as proof as that; it was a form of torture Paige couldn't even imagine wishing on anybody except for the worst scourges of humanity. Snow and his inner circle immediately came to the rebellious girl's mind.

Lyndis definitely had a flirtatious streak that Paige wasn't quick to overlook as the girl returned back to her seat beside her very nervous looking district partner. This was something Paige just tried to ignore, simply rolling her eyes before shifting her attention over to the other tributes. By this time Keshet was finishing up her own session and didn't even stick around with the others, instead making her way back up to the District 7 quarters. Almost immediately though Alice was finally called into the room, prompting Paige to wish him luck. It was definitely something he would need, after all. He was surely not the most skilled tribute and it especially showed this year which seemed to produce so many powerful tributes. "Good luck in there, may the odds be in your fucking favour."

After about a very tense fifteen minutes Alice was finally finishing up his session. Once he walked out of the training centre he didn't seem to feel very strongly either way about his performance so Paige could only assume it had been average. Still, average was enough and even mid-range scores managed to get sponsors. Paige even wanted to question him about it, but then she she heard her own name being called. It was time. Time to be sent into hell. "This is when the real shit begins to go down." She uttered as she glanced over at Alice before closing the door behind her. Once securely in the training centre she stared up at the group of Gamemakers who would no doubt be scoring her. An older man, who was no doubt the Head Gamemaker, approached the edge of the loft and gave Paige a cold hard glare. This sent shivers down her spine. Did he know about the rigged Reaping?

"Hello, Paige Alwin. You've made quite the name for yourself around Panem I hear. Let's see if it translates into anything while in the arena. You have fifteen minutes to present your chosen skill. Good luck." The Head Gamemaker announced, even further confirming Paige's suspicions. The man definitely knew something about her and it was certainly not positive. Perhaps the man was even willing to rig her training score? It was something she definitely didn't put past him. Still, knowing she had an impression to make and little time to do it she immediately went straight for the swords and began hacking at the dummies rather effortlessly. This had her forming a smirk on her face as many of the Gamemakers nodded in approval at her effort. Next, she combined the same slashes with some of the moves her parents had taught her. This only had them further impressed until she finally switched to knives. These allowed for a bit more freedom of movement as they were quite a bit lighter so she once again proceeded to make use of many of the similar moves.

Fifteen minutes. It had seemingly gone by in a breeze and before she knew it Paige was getting dismissed. "Good work, and may the odds be ever in your favour." The Head Gamemaker commented, surely attempting to rub salt in the wound. The odds were not in her favour and surely that had already been established back at the Reaping. This made Paige frustrated further, but it was sentiment she repressed until she was in the clear. Meeting back up with Alice, she gestured him towards the elevator. There was plenty she wanted to say to him, but not in the presence of the others.

[Zulera301]

Alice shook his head. "'course they will. Maybe there's a reason District 8 usually does shitty in these games. I wonder how many other rebels they've rounded up from these districts." he trailed off, although did find some ironic amusement in the District 11 slogan that was taking form in some of the other districts as well. He wondered how the heck it had become popular in District 2 of all places. It was clearly not intended to be an anti-Capitol statement if this was the case. Then again, he remembered hearing victors say that "there ain't no party like a District 2 party" as they passed through District 8, and so maybe there was a connection? He was probably just looking too deeply into it.

Incidentally, Lyndis put a hand on her partner's shoulder, as if to try and reassure him. He was actually only a year younger than her (and a few inches taller. Even the District 9 pair were not as small as they were last year), although seemed to be fine with his partner's comfort. Lyndis did not actually say anything, but did seem to make clicks and gestures towards him. She could definitely talk, as during her reaping, she had very clearly shouted "I Volunteer", and had not said that phrase (or really anything else) since then apart from a witty retort towards Keshet. The boy seemed a bit comforted, although naturally was a bit nervous, because no one liked being watched and judged like that. Perhaps it was another cruelty to do to children after all.

"damn right they will." Alice winked at her as he walked in. As he walked out and Paige walked towards the door, he gave her a regular smile and a few words of his own. "show 'em who's boss." he muttered, before disappearing to go wait for his partner. Lyndis was still swinging her feet idly, whistling a tune or some sort, although Alice did not stick around to try and identify it. Instead, he waited for Paige to come back out.

As they walked towards the elevator, the boy decided to try Lyndis' strategy a bit, putting her hand on Paige's back in an attempt to try and comfort her, as little as it might mean. "what happened..." he looked up at her (for she had 5 inches on him) "are they gonna kill you right off the bat or something?" He could tell that she was bothered, and while he was used to seeing her angry, this was not anger alone--this was genuine concern and discomfort that he saw in Paige's eyes. He knew her angry face; he knew her "fuck the Capitol" face (and liked drawing it), but this was the same sort of discomfort and worry that he had seen on her face before they had gone down to the private sessions. It intrigued him but also concerned him. What was on her mind? he had to know...

[Nachthexe]

Alice's point was a valid one, although Paige realized just how unlikely it probably was. Certainly District 8 was widely known for being rebellious, but it also seemed unlikely every tribute in the past few games had been forced in the same way Paige had. Maggie from the 44th games certainly seemed innocent enough to have just been a bad coincidence. Paige even recalled seeing her around the district just months before the reaping. She had been working on some sort of clothing design which Paige could only assume was cut short by her being reaped. It also wasn't quick to go over Paige's head that if Maggie had been alive today she would have been only about a year younger than herself. In many ways the games truly did hit home.

Once out of her session, Alice wasn't quick to overlook Paige's expression of uneasiness. This time it was certainly more than just the interviews, having whole new concerns on her mind. "When you walked into the training centre did the Head Gamemaker talk to you personally?" She asked the younger boy once both were securely inside the elevator. She even held off on pressing the button in order to give themselves more time to talk before being dragged off with the stylist pair for makeovers, as was bound to happen shortly after arriving back on the floor. "Certainly he gave you instructions, but I mean *really* talk to you." Paige clarified, hoping for a response from Alice. She feared that whatever had occurred had simply been her, but at least an answer from Alice would truly confirm it.

Once back up in the District 8 quarters, Paige held off on approaching the others, even if they were clearly anxious to see them back. Certainly they were anticipating the broadcasting of the training scores, but Paige knew it was bound to be awhile yet until she would discover her unusually low score. At least it was the first prediction she made based on the Head Gamemaker's words. Made quite a name for herself around Panem? What did that even mean? Were her ideas somehow catching on so the Capitol felt it appropriate to silence her? The former seemed unlikely so certainly the man was just trying to upstage her performance slightly in order to throw her off. The Capitol had all sorts of tricky tactics and certainly that was just one more.

[Zulera301]

Alice certainly didn't think that every District 8 kid was purposely reaped. He would not put it above the Capitol to say that a few actually were though. He also didn't think it was restricted to District 8. Perhaps it happened as well in '6, '3, or '11 or something. Then again, Markus, Haide, Basil, (for Rye had volunteered in that boy's place), Kiva, Dezna, Lethe, Stefan, and Leon all seemed fairly innocent. Daisy was the only other one he questioned--certainly not for anything the girl could have done, for she seemed completely harmless, which was an unfortunate trait in the Hunger Games. But... had the mayor of District 11 done something the Capitol had not liked? He would not put it above them to do something like that. He knew that when the Capitol wanted to punish someone, they rarely went after the person in question, but rather went after those they loved and/or cared about. That was why he feared for Hanna, but also why he felt he had a huge advantage--there was no one he worried about back home, and no one else in Panem would worry if he died.

"Yeah..." he tilted his head curiously, "He said something like..." he imitated the Gamemaker, "..."you have 15 minutes... begin", or somethi--" He paused when Paige asked about *really* talking to him. Had they given Paige a personal talk? he had heard that it happened sometimes, with the most recent one being Valendria. That one was much more public though, considering that it was fairly positive. They had complimented the girl's skills and contemplated giving her a score higher than 12 because it was that impressive. But... Alice was not stupid, and he was fairly certain that the Capitol was not contemplating bestowing that honor on Paige. "what did he say to you?"
He didn't even need to ask if the Gamemaker had spoken to Paige. Clearly he had.

As much as Alice enjoyed fashion, he too was not in any hurry to meet the stylists again. Okay, so he was still kind of eager, but dealing with Paige was a bit more important to him right now. Seeing her like this... well, it unsettled him. From the reaping, he had kind of looked up to her as a sort of beacon--a vicious, passionate and stubborn thing with an iron resolve that was unshaken by whatever shit the Capitol threw her way. It made him wonder... was hope really stronger than fear, or was that just another of Snow's tricks and lies? He wanted to believe it, but it seemed that, much to Alice's chagrin, the Capitol were slowly bending and/or breaking Paige. The same could not be said about him, either for the Capitol's lack of trying, Alice's blissful lack of fears, or a combination of both.
"Are..." he started softly, looking up at the taller girl again. "...are you going to be okay?" he knew that she was nervous about the interviews, and probably for good reason. Tributes who were negative during their interviews never did well--ever. If Paige was going to die, Alice at least wanted her to do well and be remembered, like Glimmer or Kyla... not killed in the opening minutes, like District 9 or Kyla's brother.
He was not against the idea of conversing about it a little longer (for by this point, District 9 might have just finished, which meant 10, 11, and 12 still had to go), especially if he could find some way to ease Paige's fears and help calm her down again.

[Nachthexe]

"He...he told me...I've made quite the name for myself around Panem." Paige responded to Alice, even beginning to tremble just slightly in that it was hardly noticeable. For the first time since the Reaping she could genuinely admit she was afraid, but certainly that had been Snow's intentions all along. He definitely wanted a broken demoralized Paige who would fall in the arena quite quickly; the shorter she survived, the sooner she would be silenced. Words were arguably deadlier than any sword to such a delicate regime, after all. That was something Snow was bound to know better than anybody else. "You and I both know what that asslicker meant. He knows Snow wants me dead. I'm not fucking stupid, I'm sure of it." Paige continued, slamming her fists down onto the elevator walls. Fortunately for her, whatever had been used to construct it was quite sturdy so she managed to do little damage to it.

The Reaping had targeted her, Snow had targeted her, and now the Gamemakers had targeted her. Paige knew there was really no getting out of this one. Starting tomorrow she was in the fight of her life. Literally. It was one she was always intended to lose too, which brought a rather unsettling feeling to her stomach. Even if she couldn't save herself she at least hoped Snow would allow Hanna to live her life in peace, but she knew that anything that occurred between now and the arena would very likely reflect back to her. Certainly the older girl was less vocal about her opposition to the Capitol, but it did exist and through even a bit of interrogation it was bound to be easy to uncover. That was where Tracker Jackers came in. Rumours had it that the venom was a powerful mind-addling substance that would easily be used to extract nearly any information from even the most resistant of targets. At least that had been what Paige's parents told her, although neither of them had truly confirmed it. If the 45th games was anything to go by though it was true the venom was powerful and even that had been a weakened cooked variety.

"Shit, I never thought I would admit it, but I'm actually scared. Not only for my sake, but for Hanna's. We both saw during Kiva's victory speech that Valendria's parents were gone. If that asswipe Snow can orphan fourteen children like nothing then certainly he can kill Hanna and wipe out my legacy entirely." Paige finally admitted, glancing straight into the younger boy's eyes. He truly was at an advantage in that there was nothing really the Capitol could do to hurt him if they intended so. He clearly didn't care about his parents and didn't seem to have any prominent friends besides his trusty drawing pad. What could they do to him? Ban him from drawing? Certainly even that wouldn't stop him though.

After several moments Paige noticed a few tears flowing down her cheeks, although she promptly wiped them away when approaching the others. THey didn't need to know about her emotional breakdown or the fact that one of their tributes was essentially doomed. Unless it had already been established with them? Somehow it didn't seem likely as none had even hinted at such things. Besides, Augusta likely would have not taken such things seriously anyway, just imagining it as a way to hype up the games. No, certainly in the Capitol's eyes Snow could do little wrong. Even the Hunger Games was just a way to supposedly remind the districts they were in the wrong 46 years ago. Naturally, it was a story Paige knew better than to believe, but things were different in the Capitol.

Once Paige finally made her way to the dinner table the others were already preparing plates of food for themselves. "I was wondering when you would join us. We need to discuss outfits for tonight. Nakrelu and I have decided to stick with you two being mysterious. It definitely worked well during your entrance into the Capitol." Zobuta explained between sips of some kind of drink. Certainly the stylists were genuinely trying to help their tributes leave an impression, but Paige knew not even that could help her now so instead she just attempted to block out Zobuta and ate her own food.

[Zulera301]

Details, even minor ones, were things that had difficulty escaping Alice's keen eyes. Perhaps that was another of his strengths. He had hawk-like vision, which was also part of how he was always able to sketch and draw so precisely. He couldn't exactly show that in the training room though. Well, he could, but if he's all "hey gamemakers, I have really good eyes", they'd probably just laugh at him or something.. or at best, tell him that his emerald green eyes were actually rather pretty. He noticed that Paige was trembling, even if it was slight. He did not say anything about it though, not wanting to further remind her that she was scared.
"Hey, hey..." he looked up at her, "I'm on your side, Paige." it was rare enough for him to talk to people at all, but for him to actually use someone's name was a pretty big deal, given that he'd usually just look someone's way and start talking, rather than address them properly. "I know as well as you do that they're out to drink your blood. He's on Snow's side... and if he's not, he has no choice anyways. I'm pretty sure Snow has no problem offing his allies as well as he offs his enemies."

He shook his head when Paige mentioned the 14 orphaned children of District 4. "That was no coincidence." he explained. "I did a bit of digging. They were apparently Snow's allies--Capitol loyalists. Apparently they had been accused of "raising a rebel." But... if you watch her reaping, they were cheering and clapping... so proud of their daughter for volunteering. No rebel would be proud of that." he had not actually received the information directly, but the kid knew how to put 2 and 2 together, even if it took sometimes putting 4 and 4 together after the 2 and 2 was done. "Just goes to show... that fucker's relentless." referring to Snow of course. "But hey... Paige?"
There he was, using her name again, looking up into her eyes.
"Hey... if somehow I come out of this hellhole alive... I can't say that I'll have the ability or even capability to protect Hanna... but I promise you right now... I'll do what I can to keep your legacy from dying. I know it's probably a fairly flimsy promise given that I'm just some scrawny nobody who might end up dying in the opening minutes tomorrow... but I mean it. I promise, I really do."

These were truly heartfelt words coming from the bottom of an otherwise fairly indifferent heart. Alice DeSiete could not say that he felt this way about anyone, but his heart really went out to Paige here. He was not one to get emotional much, but when he saw someone that he had always perceived as tough, end up crying or getting emotionally shaky, it always struck him powerfully. The Capitol had left at least one such scene with Valendria and Glimmer in the games last year, no less. It had made Alice love Glimmer even more, and it piqued his interest in the mysterious Valendria even more. But... they were dead. It was time to focus on the young woman in front of him.

"Hey..." he seemed to say that a lot. "if I end up going back and Hanna isn't already gone... I'll do whatever I can as a victor to try and keep her safe. Well... safe as you CAN be in a world like this... just... please don't be scared." he seemed anxious about seeing her like this now. "that's probably a ridiculous thing to ask... it's just... well... I've kinda looked up to you ever since we boarded that train. You were always so brave... so forward. You didn't give a damn what anyone or even the Capitol though. I probably sound horribly unreasonable and shit right now... but... c'mon... I know you have it in you. If Snow's really out for your blood... then you've got nothing else to lose. Show them who is *really* in control of Paige Alwin." he forced an encouraging smile, hoping that his little speech had helped and not made things worse.

Soon enough though, the doors opened and they were back to being exposed to the individuals who were TRULY naive. Alice might have looked it, but he wasn't. Conversely, these sharp-dressed stylists and escort might have looked smart and all-knowing, but they were a bit airheaded and oblivious in terms of what they knew about the horrors of the 'games. (even if they did have razor sharp tongues--all of them)
"Duly noted." Alice nodded towards Zobuta as he ate. instead of drawing this time, he put his free hand behind Paige and ran it up and down her back a little bit. He was still terrible at this comforting thing, but he felt obligated to try. If nothing else, he'd just get pushed away and he'd stop. It certainly wasn't him trying to make a move, anyways. He just wanted to give a little emotional support for someone who had done the same for him.

[Nachthexe]

If there was only one person in all of Panem currently on Paige's side it was definitely Alice. Certainly he was inexperienced around people, but he quickly came to sense Paige's distress over her whole situation. This was something the girl was infinitely thankful for at that very moment. Snow was out for her blood and he hadn't even bothered to be discreet about it, buying into Paige's entire theory that the man was attempting to break her before forcing her into the arena. Unfortunately for Paige he was now very much succeeding. She was fairly confident now that within the first day she would be nothing but a bloodied corpse, forgotten by all of Panem. Bloodbath casualties were rarely remembered, after all, unless their pre-game entrances were spectacular.

Paige wasn't quite sure how Alice had figured it out, but his theory about Valendria's parents made quite a bit of sense. To the rebellious mind it was easy to distinguish that the mighty girl's actions had been out of rebellion rather than the official Capitol story of insanity, but that still left open the question of her parents. Had they been rebels too? Certainly it seemed likely, but yet they had been cheering when their daughter volunteered. Paige couldn't even pretend to understand the bond between mother and child, but somehow she doubted that even such a reaction could be faked well. Besides, no rebel would have volunteered to be in the games. Unless they were trying to escape from something? It suddenly made a lot more sense to Paige, although it wasn't very comparable to her own situation no matter how much she felt herself feeling sorry for Valendria.

Valendria had a legacy and Paige liked to believe she had one too. Alice at least believed it and his words promising to keep such a legacy alive managed to cheer her up somewhat. "I feel like not much of the district truly knew who I was, but at least some knew my words." She responded, assuring the boy. Certainly the odds weren't exactly high for him either, but Paige was determined to do everything in her power to protect him as long as she could. It was the least she could do for him after being thrown into such a tough situation. "It probably won't mean much since I will be dead, but thank you." She added once he included his promise to try to protect Hanna. Things didn't look good for her either, but perhaps there was a small chance she would survive this ordeal unless Snow perceived as a threat as well due to her close associations with Paige. For all she knew the older woman could have already been gone.

Even as the pair of tributes sat down at the table, Alice continued comforting Paige. It had some success, although she still couldn't get the Gamemaker's words out of her head. Made a name for herself? They truly thought she was that large of a threat? Certainly her ideas hadn't even spread beyond a few particularly disgruntled souls in District 8, let alone all of Panem. Communication between districts was usually restricted, after all. There was definitely a sense of irony attached to the fact that tributes learned more about each other's districts during the Hunger Games than they did in their entire lives. Even then the information was lost as each and every tribute was slain, leaving one lone victor who couldn't even travel between districts with the one exception of the Victory Tour. Of course, however, Paige's parents had spoken of a different Panem. One that her grandparents had known. One where citizens could travel between districts. Of course it had also been in a Panem before the Hunger Games, however. It seemed like an entirely different world for sure.

Paige had been just about to finally respond to Zobuta's outfit idea when Augusta got up and turned on the projector screen. Almost immediately the games' commentators came on discussing the nature of the tribute scoring. That could only mean one thing. Very soon the tribute scores were about to be broadcast for all of the Capitol to see. Naturally, that also marked the beginning of bidding on children's lives as if they were nothing more than pawns in the Capitol's game. Of course, as it was all they were. It was all they had been since being selected in the Reaping. "So 1 to 12, eh? I'm scoring low for sure." Paige uttered to herself as one of the commentators explained the scale, with 12 being the highest possible number a tribute could score.

[Zulera301]

Alice might not have had much control over who lived and died in the bloodbath, but he was determined to try and pull the two of them out of there alive. They may not be able to ascend to the legendary status that Kyla Togisala had not only in her home of District 12, but in literally all of Panem, but Alice would make sure that no one forgot the name Paige Alwin if he was the one somehow blessed or lucky enough to somehow make it out of the arena alive. If he didn't... well, then he was hoping that his fate would be the same as Paige's and that he'd at least make it out of the bloodbath so that he wasn't forgotten seconds later. At least most of the dead tributes had their parents to mourn them. Alice thought about it and figured that his folks probably didn't even realize their son was gone. He had not said goodbye to them, after all, for they had not come to the Reaping (and he obviously couldn't run home to go find them).

Alice had plenty more talents besides art--just that most of them did not translate well into a death match. He was really skilled at putting small details together, and putting 2 and 2 together in some cases to get to conclusions that the Capitol did not want him to realize, or similar things to that. Clearly the Tallaricos had been an embarrassment on the Capitol's name, so their story would never come out, and what could they do about the controversial Valendria other than try to transform her into something that could support their agenda? They seemed to be having limited success with this notion. Alice grinned at knowing this.

Alice actually did chuckle at Paige's remark. "pfft... you think no one knew you? my parents didn't even know I existed half the time..." he wasn't trying to turn this into a pity-party for Alice Desiete. This was genuinely just for an ironic laugh. "I think people knew you... or at least knew of you though. if you're as outspoken as you were... how could they miss you? Heck... we'll make sure that District 8 gets remembered this year..." He was about to finish with ...or die trying', but decided that would just be more painfully ironic and stuff. So, he left it at that.
"and hey..." he smiled again. "you're welcome..."

Soon enough though, it was time for the training scores. This would be an interesting thing for sure, especially with so many outlying districts producing such powerful tributes. "Yup," he nodded. "Scores range from 1, totally screwed, to 12, ruthless killer. Well... and zero: didn't show up. Either that or '44 is full of shit." he laughed, referring to Sagittaria. "ooooh... here goes!"

Unsurprisingly, the career districts all scored high, with 10s and an 11 all around. Districts 3, 4, 5, and 6 were not so fortunate, all of them scoring fairly low, with scores between 5 and 7 being the most common. They were certainly no Clemont and Hikari... or Glimmer... and certainly nothing close to Valendria. Alas... such things could not be helped, it seemed.
District 7, however, rose out from the shame that it had experienced the last two years. The boy, Nesara, scored a 9, and the girl, Keshet, scored a 12.
"Daaaaaaamn!" Alice exclaimed, "I knew that kid was dangerous, but 12... daaaaaaaaamn."
Then it was their turn. Alice was not even sure how he should feel.
Alice DeSiete, District 8; with a score of... 5."
"unremarkable." he shrugged nonchalantly. "nothing noteworthy, just like me."
Although while this seemed like him wallowing in self-pity, he actually smirked. "...just as planned."
He was not playing the weak-but-actually-strong card, but rather, was going to take advantage of his unremarkable score and wreak havoc in the arena if he could survive the bloodbath.
Paige Alwin, District 8; with a score of... 5."
Alice glanced at Paige, giving her a 'yup, it was rigged' look, without actually saying it. He remained quiet.
'9, however, scored lower than that, and the boy from '10 score a 6. However, the next score was also one to think about for a bit, letting the reality of what was there, sink in.
"Lyndis Montoya, District 10; with a score of... 12."
"Mother of fuck!" Alice shook his head. "what did she do? Kill a gamemaker? She scored higher than like... the last 3 kids from District 10 combined." this was not entirely true (for last year, the boy had scored a 6, and the girl the year before had scored a 5), but clearly, no one expected a district so well-known lately for its fodder tributes, to produce a perfect-scoring tribute. Then again, Lyndis was the primary reason people were saying that this year's tributes were insane or had a few screws loose, so maybe it was not a big surprise.

District 11 did not do too shabby either...
"Garrett Ramon, District 11; with a score of... 9."
"Adrianna Meyrick, District 11; with a score of... 11."
the symbolism was not lost here, and surely Sagittaria had high hopes for both of them.
District 12 certainly had nothing to sneeze at either.
"Joss Kolton, District 12; with a score of... 8."
"Isikiro Kwan, District 12; with a score of... 10."

after her name and face disappeared, Alice was silent, taking it all in.
"Shit... we really are in for it, aren't we?"

[Nachthexe]

"Well shit, if you make it home those fuckwits will have no choice, but to acknowledge you." Paige responded to Alice upon mention of his parents. The extent of their relationship was quite obvious, although she hoped her words would at least cheer the boy up somewhat. If anything, it would even give him something else to look forward to if he won. Unfortunately, it was likely just idealism though as the boy was pretty determined his parents never really would acknowledge his existence. It almost made Paige wonder why they had even bothered raising him only to all but outright abandon him later on. It was not a subject she intended to dive into during this sombre last evening, however.

Fortunately, there was no need to dive into Alice's personal life as soon the tribute scores were coming on. Paige didn't bother listening to the remainder of the commentators' spiel after explaining the rather straight forward scale; it was simple. Those who scored lower than 6 were typically screwed in terms of sponsorship while everybody else could usually manage a sponsor or two. Of course they probably weren't mandatory to win the games, but they definitely helped. Kiva and Dezna had especially proven that the previous year, having only been able to construct their weapons of choice through extra supplies sent by sponsors.

At last the scores finally began being displayed on the screen as the commentators read them out. The careers scored predictably high as always. An obvious threat. However, everything else after surprisingly turned out to be rather forgettable. Even District 4 was showing itself to be weak this year, a huge contrast from the mighty Valendria just the previous year. It was truly not until District 7 that tributes began to be interesting again. Keshet had scored unsurprisingly high, but even her less memorable partner had even gotten a 9. "I knew that girl was bad news. It's truly no wonder the careers allied with her." Paige commented upon seeing Keshet's score. She wasn't sure what to make of it just yet, but she suspected that she was bound to give her and Alice hell as there was no way the careers were on their side. However, those thoughts quickly got overshadowed as soon as District 8 came on screen. 5's for both her and Alice. So far they were some of the most unremarkable scorers in the 46th games, but Paige was hardly surprised. "I fucking knew it. What I did in there was worth at least a fucking 9, and I'm not just being a cocky little bitch either!" She shouted, shaking her fist at the screen as it switched into District 9. Both had predictably low scores as well.

Of all the surprises the 46th Annual Hunger Games was bound to bring Paige was convinced she had just witnessed the biggest one. Lyndis, District 10. She, of all people, had managed to score a perfect 12. "What. The. Fuck?" Paige commented, in slight shock as the rest of the scores continued cycling through. Even the other outlying tributes had not done half-bad, even if Lyndis was the one who truly stood out. "How the hell did that little shit outscore us all?" She continued once the commentators finished up, leaving the pair more time to absorb what they had just witnessed. However, it also had Paige realizing just how doomed she was. 5 was certainly a score sponsors were bound to look over and Alice hadn't exactly done much better. Perhaps the odds truly weren't in District 8's favour.

"This is bound to be an exciting games for sure!" Augusta announced excitedly once she finished absorbing everything she had just taken in, much to the annoyance of Paige. Clearly the woman was airheaded and was only in this for the entertainment value rather than the actual well-being of her tributes.

"Exciting? Certainly you know what this means for Alice and me, right?" Paige responded angrily, rolling her eyes at the escort woman. Paige tried to believe that somewhere deep down she had a heart, but even if she did she could never do more than truly pity the woman. Capitol citizens were very much brainwashed and the luxuries they enjoyed no doubt ensured it remained that way. That in a way definitely explained why it was often much harder for the Capitol to control the districts. Most experienced hardship and knew that much of what they produced went to the Capitol.

"Lighten up and just prepare yourselves for the upcoming interviews!" Augusta responded to Paige, glazing over her original point entirely. This managed to anger Paige further, leading her to even have to repress all the urges she had to punch the escort woman. Fighting. While she was itching to engage in it, she had much different targets in mind. The Capitolites. None of the tributes deserved any of what was about to come to them, but all those who were behind the games deserved to die in a fiery inferno as far as she was concerned.

[Zulera301]

Alice nodded. It had never really bothered him, per se, since he didn't know what it was like to lose them. As he grew older, his parents had just sort of faded out of his life, until now, they would sometimes go days at a time without talking to each other, even though they lived in the same house. It was not that either party purpsoely ignored the other; just that Alice usually had nothing to say to them, and vice-versa. It was a strange way to live, but Alice didn't mind it too much. He was used to it, at least. "well, if I did win, I don't think I'd invite them to come with me," he shrugged, "why should I acknowledge them if they don't acknowledge me?" Okay, so maybe he was a little upset about it, but it was truly not a big issue for him. Besides, all this talk about him winning was mostly jsut fantasy. He knew that he would not be scoring high.

When Paige exploded at seeing her score, alice couldn't help but agree. "They're out to get you after all then." he stated as if this was new revelation when he knew clearly that it wasn't. "The Capitol does not give. The Capitol does not love. It only ever takes." The image of Valendria's dead body that he had sketched was probably one of the most prominent reminders of this. Then again, so was Glimmer. So was Dezna. So was Krystal. So was Hazel. So were so many other tribute boys and girls whose lives were wasted and thrown away year after year. Over 1000 children had died this way, with Alice's calculations leading him to discover that Krystal had been the 1001st tribute to die. Hazel and Glimmer... those sweet, good-natured, kind young ladies... Hazel was cute; Glimmer was absolutely gorgeous. Krystal... an aspiring jeweler; clearly fine at crafting luxurious items and a producer of beautiful work. Dezna--the master craftsman of the ages. That sort of talent was extremely rare--and now it was gone, never to be seen or experienced again. Then of course, Valendria herself... the girl who could do it all, and what became of it? she threw it away to free herself from a vicious enslaving cycle that she refused to fall victim to. No, Alice and Paige had plenty of reason to be outraged at the Capitol. Worst of all, they were powerless to stop it.

On the other hand, he couldn't help but laugh and gawk some more when Paige reacted to Lyndis' score. "Maybe she climbed up there and smooched them?" he quipped, noting the girl's trademark action, which no tribute had escaped. Each of them, male or female, had been kissed by Lyndis sometime between the time they stepped off the train, and now. "hey... as much as you want to protect me, Paige..." he said softly, "remember. I'm trying to go into this thing the same way I lived back home. I don't want to draw attention to myself--I want them to overlook me so that no one worries when they can't find that little shrimp from District 8. Think about it... if Keshet or Lyndis are on the prowl and no one can locate them, they're going to stay alert and maybe even try to hunt them down. If some weak little shit who scored a 5 is unaccounted for, who's really going to care? those careers probably think they can pick up their swords and slash me apart quicker than I could strike anyways." Paige was doomed, as she clearly knew, but Alice wanted her to know that while it was looking bad for her, his situation was not as grim as it seemed. Perhaps his plan of outsmarting the others and winning without any sponsors was a good one after all.

"Lighten up?" Alice seemed disgusted by Augusta's words. Now he was getting angry, perhaps at the blatant indifference to Paige's somewhat obvious growing distress. "Look, I know you all glaze over the fact that 23 of us DIE every year in this thing... but try to bear with us here. sponsor gifts are some of the only things that can help us urban kids try to pull out of this shithole alive. scoring a 5 isn't exactly gonna help us do that. So... either at least try to understand where we're coming from, or go ahead and admit that you don't care if we both get messily slaughtered by District 10 tomorrow in the bloodbath." He was referencing Lyndis with that, although that was just to get his point across. He was frankly more worried about Keshet or the careers killing him, but that was another issue entirely.

Alice took a deep breath. "Challis," he turned to the mentor, but didn't even finish, and instead just sighed. Perhaps this was what District 9 felt like? or District 10 most years? Did their teams even care? It certainly seemed like Paige and Alice's teams didn't give a shit if either of them died. If it was just Alice alone, then sure, he could understand no one caring about his loss because no one knew or cared about him anyways. Paige though... she had things, both past and present. She was not unlucky the way Alice had been--she had been specifically targetted, and was almost certainly going to die. Seeing someone who, only a few weeks earlier, had been so bold and brash and brazen with everything she said and did, now in such an emotionally vulnerable state, did not sit well at all with Alice, and so here he was, pouring his feelings out in a rather blunt speech. He was already dealing with enough shit from the Capitol as well as fearing those crazy and powerful tributes that, in less than 24 hours, would be seeking to take his life--but he did not need this sort of flack from his team as well. They were supposed to be on his side.

"because Panem help me... if you cut off our last lifeline and condemn us to die..." he mused in his head, "then you've given me no reason not to be the most rebellious fuck this side of District Thirteen."
He glanced over at Paige, and then back at the others.
"In the meantime..." he took a deep breath, "...let's play dress-up."

[Nachthexe]

Alice's words truly were the gospel truth. Paige was doomed and the score had put the final nail in the coffin. This was a game that Alice would have to attempt to win on his own as there was bound to be no way the Capitol would allow her to live long. If she did somehow manage to make it into the final few she would only be able to attribute it to pure luck of her gaining popularity with the crowds. Certainly the Gamemakers knew better than to engineer an obvious death for a tribute that is liked by the crowds. No, it had to be discreet and Paige knew enough about the Capitol's inner workings by now to realize that. "The Capitol is like a parasitic body sucking all life out of its host until nothing is left. That is what is happening to me here. I'm as good as dead already." She responded to Alice, agreeing with him that the Capitol truly did only ever take from the districts. The games only represented an extreme form of that, taking countless innocent children from their parents every year to be slaughtered. It was sadistic and it was sick.

Apparently the sadism of the games seemed to go entirely over some people's heads, only serving as a further annoyance to both Paige and Alice. Augusta. She truly was still treating it all like a game, hardly realizing that her two tributes were very much in danger of losing all sponsor. It was doubtful that even the interviews could save them now since Paige already had fears of what was to happen once she went on stage. Alice might have an easier time, and fortunately the same probably stood true for him in the arena as well. He was small and probably easy to overlook and the boy's words only helped to further confirm this. "Well I have nothing to lose. That in a weird twisted way will actually put me at an advantage for a bit; while the others will all fear dying I already know my fate..." Paige responded, shedding a few more tears as she spoke. It was rare for the girl to genuinely break down, but she was in such an emotionally delicate state now that nothing else truly mattered. If Snow had been truly trying to break her then he had very much succeeded.

"Alice is right. You may not fucking care since this is all just a game to your lot, but I have loved ones to return home to. I never asked for any of this! Neither of us did!" Paige began her own rant at Augusta shortly after Alice gave his, although she avoided all hints of her true fate. Surprisingly, the sharped tongued woman was left silenced for once, instead just shrugging off their comments. Surprisingly, this was then followed by a much different reaction Paige did not initially expect. The woman glanced over at both her tributes before proceeding to speak.

"Alice pointed out the problem. There's nothing I can do for either of you now. Scores of 5 are tricky. I'm sorry." Augusta explained with genuine remorse in her voice, unless she was incredible at acting. Perhaps it was a simple case of Paige to make for herself, but for Alice's sake she knew she had to try to get through to the woman.

"We still have interviews. Certainly if Alice shines then people will gain interest in him? Besides, look at little Kyla from the 44th games. Everybody thought she was a fucking helpless little thing, yet she gained more kills than everybody else. She could have won too if it had not been for that asslicker Alexis." Paige explained to Augusta in which the woman just nodded. This gave her some hope, something that was truly a rarity for Paige. It was odd really. The unfortunate circumstances faced by nearly everybody in Panem only gave Paige all the more reason to feel sympathetic towards them, despite her own pessimism.

Challis only shrugged as she listened in on everything that was occurring, realizing that Paige was right. Her own victory had been up against unimaginable odds so certainly District 8 still had a chance this year. It truly wasn't over until it was over and if that was a creed to live by then Challis knew best. "She's right. Augusta may be a complete airhead, but do you really expect her to know any better? Remember, the Capitol doesn't experience these games in the same way we do." She explained as she eyed Alice before turning towards the stylists. "Alice is also right. It's time to hopefully make an impression out there. I might still be able to sell them both as something memorable, depending on how they do in their interviews." At this, the stylist pair nodded before gesturing for both Alice and a very emotionally unstable Paige to follow them.

[Zulera301]

Alice nodded. "see... the more I think about it, the more I realize that that is an edge that perhaps a lot of District 8 has. I think the only other ones that can truly compare to it would be District 12. You and I suddenly have an uncanny advantage. As terrible as it is to say... you and I really don't have anything left to lose at this point. Well, I never had anything to begin with, but you... well... it seems that you've landed on the same train." Alice was no Sagittaria, but he was much more aware of things than met the eye. He was one of those people that was likely to get exterminated for "knowing too much."

If Paige ever needed proof that Alice was not only on her side, but also just as resentful of Snow and the Capitol as she was, this little stunt had put the nail in the coffin. He was angry--or at least, he figured that this was what anger was like. Paige had broken, which in turn meant that Snow had won. He had somehow gotten to her and cracked her open, leaving her vulnerable and in an emotionally fragile state that irked Alice to see up close. It didn't quite make him cry, but there was definitely some sort of discontent visible in those bright eyes of his.

Augusta's words did help remind them of what a horrible position they were in at the moment though. He knew full well that neither of them would suck up to the Capitol, especially not Paige since she knew almost certainly that her death was imminent and was likely being planned or engineered right now as the Gamemakers worked on the final preparations for the arena that would see use and become the grave for 23 children starting tomorrow. It was a rather grim thing to think about, but on the other hand, it was not like even the most rebellious tribute could do anything about it.

Hope. Hope really was the only thing stronger than fear. Paige brought up Kyla, who had slipped Alice's mind in that brief moment, but she was right. No one had thought anything of that little half-deaf girl who couldn't even form complete sentences half the time. Then, the games started and she proved her true colors and became one of the deadliest tributes in years. She had not won, but she had become a legend, and Panem knew and remembered the name Kyla Togisala, either revering her as a legend, or at least grudgingly respecting her ability.

He turned back to Challis. "I know... I guess I just got a little upset about it all." he told her, "it's one thing to be blissfully unaware of everything, but to tell a pair of frightened tributes just to "get over it", didn't exactly sit well." Yes, he was frightened and knew Paige was too now, so he didn't think the older girl would take it the wrong way (and if she did... well oops). "but I guess I've bitched enough... let's get going."
With a nod at the stylists, he beckoned for Paige to follow them. "We can still salvage this thing, Paige." he whispered, "I... we..." he sighed. "hopefully we can think of something..."
he really wasn't too good at this, but he still insisted on giving it his all. That would be the story of his life the next several days--he was not too good at Hunger Games skills, but he'd have to give it his all if he was going to win this thing--for Paige, for himself, for District 8... for the rebellion.

[Nachthexe]

As Alice spoke Paige could only let out a sigh. Perhaps he was right. What did she have to lose at this point? Her parents were dead and Hanna was probably now in danger, a reality that didn't truly sink into the girl's head until recently. That alone was bound to be advantageous as far as the arena was concerned as she knew she truly wasn't losing much by dying. The Capitol really did do nothing but take, and it was clearer now more than ever. Augusta's words only further confirmed, but fortunately Challis had managed to step in and resolve the issue. Even if the woman hadn't initially been very helpful Paige couldn't help but to admire the fact she seemed to have a way with words.

"Yea, let's just go get dressed." Paige finally agreed with Alice, following Nakrelu out the door to her studio. Once there, the stylist woman began a similar routine as that which had occurred previous to the parade. She gestured for Paige to strip down, which she did before setting herself in the tub of hot water. Naturally, this time it was less painful as the scars on her back had been corrected. For that she was thankful at least. Even Nakrelu seemed to be thankful for having done it as she examined Paige's bare body before nodding in approval. Apparently the hair that had been removed before hadn't even grown back, although it was something Paige hadn't thought much of previously.

"Let's go. To the next room. You're still clean from last time." Nakrelu informed Paige, handing her a towel. Upon wrapping herself in it she followed the stylist woman to the dressing room. It wasn't long before she pulled out her intended outfit for Paige, which the tribute girl immediately began gazing at. It was plain black, but it shimmered under the light which gave it a sort of glamourous appearance. "We figured we wanted to still keep you both mysterious; we want the audiences itching to know more, information you shall provide to them through the tribute interviews!" Nakrelu began, noticing that Paige was already gazing over the outfit.

The outfit that Paige found herself clothed in just minutes later certainly served to prove that sometimes less is more. While the simple black dress that flowed down to her ankles stood out, it was truly the hooded shawl she was provided with that made the outfit. It was a more solid colour and didn't shimmer the same way the dress did, but it managed to bring out Paige's facial features which were also highlighted with a bit of makeup. There was, of course, then the irony that her hair was styled in such a way to cover one half of her face. Truly the mysterious and cunning look. "Well shit, I look like I could kill somebody right now." Paige commented once she got a full look at the outfit in one of the dressing room's many mirrors. Nakrelu only chuckled before letting out a simple nod. Since Paige was satisfied with the outfit it was time to reunite her with Alice who was certainly just finishing up his makeover.

[Zulera301]

Everything they had just experienced in the last week had all been an illusion that the Capitol was a giver. the food, the luxuries, even the skills... all of these would be taken away one by one as the children met the end of their lives in only a few short hours. Even the illusion that there were people that could help them was just that--an illusion. Either way, one of them would not be returning, and most likely, neither of them would be.

Alice simply nodded at Paige's remark as they followed the stylists and parted ways at the usual stop. He was familiar with this ritual form last time, except he didn't have to be put under to operate on, remembering that his back was still baby-smooth from last time. It was an odd feeling, and he figured that surely Paige was thinking simliar thoughts about it. The Capitol had all this power and ability, and even resources, to solve most of its own problems throughout the districts, but they did not do so, and instead took utmost advantage of them. This massive city was built on the bloodsoaked backs of 12 districts, and that was a fact that did not elude him.

After he had gotten into the weird-colored bath and cleaned up again, he was given a towel and taken into the next room. Unlike the garish chariot outfit, which had been a series of elaborate ribbons wrapped around him (he had actually found it to be fairly cool though), this was a silver-hemmed black suit--or so it appeared. The fabric was silky and, while black, it seemed to reflect dimly-colored rainbow light in various swirling patterns. The more he looked at it, the more he saw fine and intricate silver, prism-like lines all through the shirt and pants. these reflected light in a similar fashion. While it might have been a rainbow, it was nothing near what Kiva's stylists had done with her the year before. It was more of a mysterious show of colors and intricacies, with quiet blacks that surrounded otherwise elaborate and stylish talents. His shoes, whicih were actually more like slippers, were a simple black and were nothing too interesting. His hair was combed over a bit, but the final touch was perhaps the most interesting one.

"A mask, eh?" he nodded approvingly as an intricate little masquerade mask was put over his eyes. "So Nakrelu wasn't kidding when she said you two were going down the mysterious path. You had me wondering; if nothing else." he nodded approvingly.
"You yourself claimed that no one even knew you." Zobuta smirked. "We can keep it that way for just a little longer, if you wish."
"Oh, I'm definitely keeping it." he nodded approvingly. "it's a nice touch. Is there anything else?"
"I think that's about it." He did have a bit of eyeshadow on underneath it so that when he blinked it would appear black instead of the color of his eyelids. Satisfied, Zobuta and Alice left the studio, meeting back up with Paige.

"Hey..." he smirked at her. he figured the conversation would go from there.

[Nachthexe]

The mysterious silent assassin look. If it was what the stylists had been going for then they had definitely pulled it off. Paige found herself looking especially vicious with her hair covering half her face. That alone was bound to hopefully raise a few eyebrows in the crowd. If anything, it also meant sponsorship wasn't completely off the table. Certainly the same stood true for Alice as well who was even wearing a mask with his outfit, much to Paige's surprise. "Whoa, a mask? Shit, they really went all out on these." She exclaimed in surprise at seeing Alice in his new look. Both the stylists were quick to pick up on this, nodding in approval that both the tributes seemed to be fully satisfied with their creations.

"I suppose this is it then? Time to enter hell?" Paige soon realized that being dressed up the way she was entailed one thing. The interviews. They were literally just around the corner now and quickly found herself fearing for what was to come. At least the interview host, Caesar Flickerman, managed to highlight the positive traits of each tribute, but what if she said something wrong? What if she only served to upset the Capitol further? In her current broken and emotionally unstable state it seemed incredibly likely. Snow truly was winning at this point and his cold hard glare back at the parade only served as a reminder of it; "I always win."

Soon both Paige and Alice found themselves being escorted to the interview studios. Once arriving, District 7 was allegedly just finishing up leading Paige to believe that the prep team probably coordinated everything. Certainly the train's arrival in the Capitol had been some proof of that as all the others had apparently arrived around the same time. The interviews though. They were really something else entirely and the cheering from the crowds, despite being backstage, only served as an annoyance for Paige. "So they're cheering for kids who will be dead by tomorrow night. Good to know..." She uttered before letting out a sigh as the District 7 boy began returning from his interview. She knew that it meant she was next and suddenly she found herself feeling incredibly nervous. However, that was something she knew she had to quickly repress as soon as she received her cue to go on-stage. "Here it goes. The beginning of the fucking end." She commented just before she began making her way to the stage. Once in sight of the crowds she just glanced forward with a stoic expression on her face before finally approaching Caesar who was joyous as always.

"We know her as the mysterious girl from District 8, Paige Alwin!" Caesar announced, welcoming Paige to the stage who then took a seat in the chair across from her flamboyant host. "So welcome. How do you feel?" He proceeded to ask. It was a question Paige had to think about for a few seconds, but she managed to concoct an appropriate answer.

"Fine. As well as I could feel on the eve of the big event." Paige responded as Caesar nodded.

"That is great, but what about that training score? Tell us? Is there something you're trying to keep from us due to your nature?" Already Caesar was attempting to extract information from Paige to her slight annoyance. However, she somehow doubted the man had been in league with Snow's plot to eliminate her. He was just a lowly interview host, after all. Unless there was something else the Capitol wasn't saying? That was something Paige didn't want to think of just yet, however.

"If I told you it would just ruin the surprise now wouldn't it?" What was most surprising even to Paige herself was that so far throughout the interview she had managed to retain a straight face with a neutral expression and a calm demeanour. It was certainly ironic in many ways even.

"Hohohoho, a tricky one you are." Caesar chuckled. It was perhaps surprising to the entire prep team, but Paige was playing her part fairly well. The crowds certainly didn't see through it, although Caesar soon shifted the subject. "So how has your stay in the Capitol been? Have we've been treating you well?"

Paige froze. Caesar had just asked about the Capitol? Was his perhaps scripted after all? It seemed unlikely, but suddenly Paige found her blood boiling once again, clouding all her ability to think straight. The Capitol. Always a delicate subject for her. "It's been good, but I can't help but to be reminded just how much you take from us. It's take, take, take." Unsurprisingly, nearly the entire audience gasped. Were they actually hearing a tribute condemn the Capitol on-stage? It rarely happened, yet it had. Caesar quickly picked up on this himself and decided to cut the interview short.

"And that's everything. Let's hear it for Paige Alwin of District 8!" Caesar bellowed as he ushered the now panicky Paige off stage. Unbeknownst to her Snow had been watching. He had seen it all and had interpreted the words just as any tyrannical ruler would. This immediately prompted him to take desperate measures in order to eliminate the remainder of the threat. Hanna. The president knew of her connections to Paige and certainly she held similar views. At this very time back in District 8 a group of Peacekeepers had stormed into the woman's house. They had been about to shoot the woman on the spot, but orders were orders and Snow wanted the woman alive.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit! I screwed up! He asked about the Capitol and it just came out!" Paige immediately began panicking to the team. Alice and Challis seemed the least bothered by Paige's words, but she could tell that Augusta in particular was furious. Taking once glance at the purple haired women she felt a few tears flow down her own cheeks. "Why don't they just come kill me now? I deserve it, right?" She pleaded before Challis interjected.

"They won't. Besides, they need their tributes for tomorrow. If anything, they'll find other ways to break you until you're no more." Challis explained, having Paige quickly realize what exactly the woman had meant. Breaking her? Certainly they had already done plenty of that already, but there was still one pane of glass that had not yet been shattered: her heart. Hanna. Paige suddenly found herself fearing for the worst just as she heard Alice's cue to get up on stage.

[Zulera301]

Alice chuckled. "If there's one thing the Capitol deserves credit for, it's the visual appeal." he nodded, "you know damn well that I'm no suck-up, but I can't deny it when I see fine artistry or craftsmanship. 'sides... it probably mostly came from the districts anyways." he muttered the last part. It was true that Alice was an admirer of art, and it showed in his antics and opinions. He did like the mask, however, and he felt that inevitably, this would further work well for his Grand Design. While he might not have tried to remain unknown per se, during the private sessions, he was smart enough to know how to treat that 5. He was going to go into these games as just another nameless face. that "boy from '8", who would probably die in the bloodbath if Keshet, Zak, or the other careers had anything to say about it--not out of any personal vendetta the way District 1's Blaze had for District 11 (although in Blaze's defense, there were actual reasons behind this grudge), but simply because they always targetted the weaker tributes in the opening minutes.

"hell?" he tilted his head curiously. "I thought that was tomorr--" he paused, realizing what Paige meant. He was not nearly as worried for the interviews as she was. "--oh."
He leaned up next to her. "just stay calm... try to be generic; go for the mysterious plan... just don't blurt out the first thing that comes to your mind if Caesar says something provoking, alright?" That was the best advice he could give, and he was no mentor. Challis might know more about the 'games, but Alice felt that he knew more about Paige personally than perhaps anyone else in Panem except perhaps Hanna. His words, while simple, were directly for her, rather than scripted drivel.

The crowds did seem to like Nesara. He might not have scored perfectly like his partner, but his 9 was right up there with the careers, and he seemed fairly popular with the Capitol audiences, considering his grin as he passed Paige, Alice, and the others. Lyndis was there, dressed in a blood-red gown that was actually just... well, Alice didn't have any other word for it. It was downright magnificent. Clearly those stylists had outdone themselves on that dress, and he couldn't help but stare. The fact that Lyndis noticed him and bumped her hips in a horribly suggestive manner coupled with her traditional wink, did not help.

"Just keep it together, alright?" Alice requested, "don't lose your cool." Easier said than done, but it did concern him. What if she did mess up? what would that mean for her? For Hanna? for District 8?
He'd find out. He was listening to the interview, and so far it seemed to be going fairly well. There were a few times when Alice held his breath, but it seemed that Caesar took the positive road most of the time, which helped him heave small sighs of relief.
Then it happened. He heard Paige spout off the same things that he had told her--the same things that had been on his propaganda sketch of Valendria's dead body.
"no!" he cursed mentally. "no! no! no! no! no!" he clenched his fists, cringing as if he was struck in the chest.

Seeing Paige in such a panick did not help either, and he confronted her directly as the Capitol audiences recovered from the shock. He grabbed her hands. "Paige... calm down. calm down. I..." he paused, hearing his name.
"Dammit! we'll talk about this afterwards... just you and me... I promise."
He did not have time to explain what was on his mind, which was actually a mixed flurry of feelings and emotions that he was trying to rein in here. This would be trickier than he thought.
Luckily, Caesar helped by bringing in Alice in a positive light.

"And here is the boy... that boy from District 8 that some of us might have very well thought was another girl with that name... Ladies and Gentlemen... Alice DeSiete!"
Alice laughed as he was brought onstage, and sat down in a chair next to Caesar.
"Do you get that alot?" he leaned in and grinned. "Alice does sound like a lovely name for a young lady."
"Nah," Alice chuckled. "There's a reason that my stylists went for the mysterious look. You ask anyone about Alice Desiete and they'll simply say "who? never heard of her."

"Well... I think we here at the Capitol have certainly heard of you!" Caesar beamed, "and you've heard of us. How do you feel about all of this?"
"Me?" Alice tilted her head, "well, I feel that my partner was cut off a bit too early." he began, inciting a few gasps from the crowd. "The Capitol does take... I mean... did you see her dress? This is the last night she'll see it, because you take it away from us. I'm gonna miss this suit; even the mask." he chuckled.

This even made Caesar laughed. "The Capitol DOES take its fancy clothes back... but then throws you into an adventure of a lifetime..."
Heh. There was a pun if Alice ever saw one. "but I guess it makes sense. We can't have the tributes all fighting in clothes like these, can we? What if they got dirty?" jhe was playing the fashionesta side of himself very well at this point, he felt. It was a side that he never really had to reveal up until now, and it was working.

"But then... you got a training score of 5... a little below average, especially considering some of the turnouts this year... any secrets, or are you going to be just like your partner...?" Caesar grinned at Alice, waiting for an answer.
"Heh... nice try Caesar," the boy joked, "I'm not even showing you all my face right now... there's no way I can divulge all of my secrets to all of Panem. What if the other tributes hear me?"

"Ah... a clever one indeed then!" Caesar grinned at Alice before beaming at the audience. "Ladies and Gentlemen... Alice DeSiete! District 8!" the crowds did actually cheer for him. He might not have been able to quite patch up Paige's rocky encounter, but he felt he had done a little bit of justice, at least. Once he left the stage, he didn't even stick around to wait and hear Lyndis' interview, which he had originally planned on doing.
"Paige?" he called out the moment he was off the stage, glancing around to see if she was still there with the team, or if she had gone somewhere. He aimed to find her immediately--they had a lot of talking to do.

[Nachthexe]

Paige hardly had time to rant to Alice before he was sent out on stage. Surprisingly, he managed to remain calm during the whole ordeal though, even attempting to patch up Paige's flop. For this she was thankful, even if she did still know she was doomed. If she was lucky Alice's words would convince some of the more airheaded among the crowds, but it was Snow she was truly worried about. Such words were not about to fly over that man's head and it was well-known how he dealt with perceived threats. Loved ones. If he couldn't get at somebody he instead broke them until they were no more and certainly taking family members and friends was just all part of the process. There was exactly one person left who Paige was close to so automatically she began fearing for the worst.

Surprisingly, Augusta managed to remain silent only occasionally glaring at Paige. It was obvious the escort woman was angry with her, but perhaps she just didn't have the words to express it. If anything, this only managed to rub the salt into the wound as Paige awaited Alice to finally finish up with his own interview. It was certainly turning out to be the longest few minutes of her life. Fortunately, Challis managed to embrace her though, understanding some of her tribute's hardships somewhat. Certainly the older woman wasn't rebellious like Paige was, but she did understand where much of the sentiment stemmed from. Life in District 8 was often hard and that was no doubt enough to make anybody disgruntled.

It was difficult for Paige to even comprehend that just mere days previous she had been bold and outspoken, yet now she had been reduced to nothing more than a shell of her former self. Ironically, it almost made dying in the arena not even seem like that grisly of a fate. If anything, it would be liberation from Snow's grasp, but that was something Paige didn't want to think about just yet. Only Alice and Hanna managed to remain in her mind. There was still a chance of saving the former, but if Snow had done anything to Hanna she was entirely on her own. That was perhaps the worst part of it, that she risked dying alone and in pain as Capitol torture was bound to consist of something harsh.

Fortunately for Paige, Alice had promptly left the stage after his interview and immediately approached her while she was still in Challis' arms. She had been reduced to little more than a whimpering child, but Alice was at least understanding. "I fucked up. It's obvious what those cuntmuffins have been trying to do to me so now I can only fear they will go after Hanna. If I was doomed to die I only wanted her to be able to at least live in peace." Paige remarked, suddenly spilling her feelings out to the younger boy even as they remained backstage in front of the entire prep team. Fortunately, both the stylists and Augusta seemed to be more interested in the following interviews, serving as a sort of distraction.

[Zulera301]

"C'mon..." Alice took Paige's hand, "let's find somewhere private." he began leading her to the elevator, zipping them up to their floor. "we can talk about it up here... there's no one but you and me... the Capitol fucks don't watch you here... they assume their forcefields are enough to keep us in place." He knew about the forcefields from researching the Hunger Games, but didn't believe the Capitol story that they were "there for the protection and safety of the tributes." They were there for control--to keep some of the more frightened or hopeless tributes from simply casting themselves off the balcony.

More than anything, Alice just wanted them to be alone. The only ones that really understood them here were each other, and Alice was well-aware of this aspect at this point. He had seen Paige at her highest, such as during Kiva's victory tour, and was now seeing her at her absolute lowest, which pained even him, the aloof, indifferent boy, considerably. Perhaps his ability to sympathize was just a dormant one rather than non-existant. He had been right with his old phrase... "If the games don't get you... the trauma will..." and it wasn't even the actual games yet.

As they rode up, he finally responded to her earlier point. They are control-freaks." he indicated, not afraid to say it now that they are alone. "this regime would so easily topple if there was any leniency... and they know it. we're alone up here... let's go out onto the balcony... then we can talk about it to our hearts' content. What do you say?"
He was kind of not giving her a choice, knowing from how broken she was right now that there was a lot on her chest that she would probably want to unload. Alice wasn't sure if he was the best candidate for all of this, but he knew that he was basically the only one that would fully understand it at this point. They had not exactly been secretive about themselves around each other after they both realized that they were both rebellious as heck.

The night was almost ironically beautiful, but now they were for sure alone, with the moonlight shimmering off of their dezzling and mysteriously elegant clothing.
"I... I probably don't even hold a candle to what Hanna might have been able to do for you... but..." he looked down at his feet, "if it's any consolation... I'm here... I'll listen to whatever you need to say. There's no reason you should have to die without at least expressing yourself one last time." this was said both from an artistic point of view, and remembering how Valendria must have felt in her final moments. This was very different, and much more real to Alice, but the similarities still stood. He wanted to do what he could to try and comfort her one last time.

[Nachthexe]

Paige just nodded, proceeding to follow Alice. The younger boy was right. It was perhaps best to discuss these things in private away from prying of the prep team. Certainly they were about the last ones who would have any understanding of loss and Capitol repression. Unsurprisingly, they managed to stay behind too, watching the remainder of the interviews. That meant Paige and Alice truly were alone. "The balcony? Shit, why didn't I think of that?" Paige blurted out once it became obvious where Alice was leading her.

Of all the myths surrounding the Hunger Games there was at least one Paige found herself being able to confirm. The force fields. Allegedly they were placed to prevent suicidal tributes from taking drastic measures and almost immediately Paige found herself realizing why. Floor Eight. It was quite a drop and was sure to kill anybody instantly, leaving nothing but a splatter on the Capitol's clean pavement. It got her wondering about the career district floors as well. Did they have force fields too? Perhaps to keep bold tributes from running off into the city? Of all the things they would do that one certainly seemed the most likely; District 1 and 2 tributes had no reason to be suicidal. They had the arena for that.

"So look at that. Those fucking things are real. Figures." Paige commented moments later, raising out her arm in attempts to touch the force field. Almost immediately she felt the energy of the erected barrier surging through her body, forcing her to draw her arm back. Surely it wasn't as powerful as anything no doubt keeping tributes inside the arena, but it did have a bit of a kick. "Enough of that...I might as well just say the shit I came out here to say. Nobody else seems to understand. Surely Challis might, but I don't know. I am scared though. I have been since the night of the parade. It didn't really truly sink in until just a few days ago, but I can legitimately say I fear for myself, you, and Hanna. Apparently it wasn't enough for that asswipe to just send me into the fucking arena and be done with it." Paige soon found herself spilling her heart once again, managing to remain surprisingly calm for the time being.

"Shit, all this is truly making me understand why Valendria chose the fate she did. Living as a Capitol puppet for the rest of her life. I can't think of too many things worse than that. Surely she felt trapped, kind of like how I do. Except, I know I'm doomed to die in that arena. She perhaps had a chance to escape the endless cycle no matter how unlikely." Paige began glancing out into the Capitol city. Despite everything it represented even she could admit it looked rather stunning, especially at night. She didn't know it, but on this particular night the buildings were illuminated in much brighter colours than usual. It was a way of marking the eve of the biggest event of the year, amidst the celebrations in the streets below. It was also something that wasn't quick to go over her head. "Look at that, they truly do think this is all a game. They wouldn't be laughing and celebrating if it was their children going into that fucking arena tomorrow."

[Zulera301]

"everyone's got their moments," he shrugged, figuring that Paige hadn't thought of it because there were many other far worse things on her mind. He didn't think that reminding her of that would do anything productive, and would probably be counterproductive if anything. "I guess technically we could talk as much shit about them here as we wanted. I wanted us here to keep us out of hearing or vision range."

Alice almost chuckled. "you almost seemed surprised," he joked. He was certainly no Sagittaria with her positive spin on everything, nor was he a Dezna with his uncanny ability to make a joke even in the blackest of times. "The Capitol doesn't even want to give us the freedom to kill ourselves. We have to kill each other by their rules." Curiously, he reached his hand out as well, standing even on his tippytoes a little because he was shorter than Paige. He felt it too, although quickly reverted his focus to her when she started speaking.

"That's how the Capitol is..." he shook his head after she had spoken. "I suppose one advantage of paying attention to their propaganda is that they even say this sort of thing, if not directly. The districts were fed up with this kind of tyranny, so they rose up. The Capitol defeated them, and then destroyed District 13. Instead of just resuming the old subjugation, now 46 years later, they're still kicking us while we're down."
He looked up at her. "so are you saying you think they're targetting me too now?" He would not be surprised, for he knew for a surety that Paige was targetted, and surely Hanna was either for Paige's rebellious behavior in the days leading up to this one, or because of the incident during the interview itself. But he had not seen any reason for them to target him (although he had plenty of reasons to be), and if she did, he wanted to know of them--because that meant he'd have to step up his game and be more subtle.

"Same shit; different tribute." Alice nodded in agreement. He had definitely sympathized with Valendria, and was not sure which was worse--being loved by the ones who controlled her life, while being shown no love from her own parents... or the opposite. He could not really compare to either of them, having never really received that love himself. However, he was free from Capitol pressure, both positive and negative (for now at least), so he was not as fearful.
"I don't think she could have escaped." he shook his head. "Once the Capitol takes you... it owns you. we just gotta show them tomorrow... they don't own us.they might be able to force us into their game, but we can play it by our terms. Look at Kyla... Dezna... Valendria. None of them were exactly fond of the Capitol, and look at how they've changed Panem. We're not quick to forget things like that, you know. Hope... hope is the one thing stronger than fear." He took her hands, looking up into Page's slightly reddened face.
his words might not have been the most amazing ones ever, but it was more than obvious that they were utterly sincere.

[Nachthexe]

As ironic as it seemed the Capitol wanted many people dead, but only on their terms. Suicide was never an option, especially not for tributes. No, each one was just a piece of something greater. A piece of a public fight to the death and anything other than that killing them was unacceptable. Surely Paige was no exception as Snow and his followers could have stormed straight into the interview studio and dragged her off, yet he hadn't. That in itself was perhaps one of the most baffling aspects of Capitol rule.

"Some days I often like to imagine a different Panem. One that existed before any of us were born. Certainly life could have not been perfect as there was still rebellion, but I can't help but to wonder. What was life like before children had to worry right from their 12th birthday if they're going to make it to adulthood? Certainly after 46 years of that people are growing tired and want to rest. Shit, people were growing fucking tired of it even previous to that, yet were powerless to stop it. My parents gave their lives for that and now I have no choice, but to give up mine." Paige began rambling as she continued gazing off into the distance. Celebrations down below in the streets were still going strong and she quickly found herself growing sick from it.

Quickly Paige found herself growing concerned for Alice. He thought he was in danger now too? That was incredibly unlikely unless he was referring strictly to the arena where he was bound to be up against much stronger tributes. "Fuck no. You were surely just unfortunate and caught in the middle of all this. I'm only worried about you being slain in the opening moments. In the case of that happening I really have little else to live for; I know Snow is not letting me out of that arena and without you to protect so you can go home I wouldn't fucking know what to do with myself." Paige assured Alice, letting out a sigh as she proceeded to lean against the edge of the balcony. "You know those Gamemakers were full of shit when they scored me. You saw me in training; I have combat skills. That may just be enough to get you out of that arena alive, provided the Gamemakers don't get to me first." She reminded Alice. A deal was a deal and she did not intend to break it off until at least one of them was dead.

Valendria. Her's was a name that was bound to live on even years to come and tonight was no exception. Whether she was a loyalist, a revolutionary, or something in between was still a hotly debated subject within the districts, but Paige was fairly confident she already knew the truth Alice too. In reality, the girl had had to resort to death in order to free herself from a vicious cycle, a fact that Alice only reconfirmed. If anything, it truly served as a symbol of the Capitol's ruthless nature; they squeezed all life out of things until they shattered and now Paige just saw herself as the latest victim. "They've surely broken me and they're definitely trying to break Sagittaria. I don't know how closely you watch the Capitol broadcasts, but some of her comedy performances are broadcast and every damn time I swear there's something different about that girl. Kyla and Dezna? We will probably never know since they're dead, taken from this world just like the Capitol takes everything else!" Paige's frustration was showing once again, prompting her to slam her fist into the side of the wall. It was definitely not the smartest of moves, leaving her knuckles bruised slightly. Fortunately though beginning tomorrow nobody would no longer care how she looked, only that she could fight.

"Shit, I'm an idiot!" Paige cursed as her knuckles began throbbing. There was a slight bit of irony that she was already injuring herself, but even if it served as a hindrance she already knew her fate so it was something she didn't dwell on for long. "You can think they don't own us, but they have owned us since our names came out of that Reaping. From that day up until tomorrow they have been grooming us. Grooming us to hopefully because their 'perfect killer'." She continued as Alice took her hands in his. Certainly the boy wasn't Hanna, but she could tell that he was attempting to do everything he could to comfort her for the inevitable.

[Zulera301]

Alice nodded. "some days I like to imagine a different Panem too." he agreed, "one where all of Panem watches as the Capitol crumbles before the might of the districts. It'd begin with '8... then '11. It would follow-up with '12, '3, and '7. What I see, is a lot of people who are ruled by fear and unaware of the hope. All I know is if we ever overthrew the Capitol, I would be entirely in favor of continuing the Hunger Games... with the Capitol's children there and the rest of us placing our bets. We wouldn't even have to build them new facilities." It was a very black and perhaps sadistic thing to speak about, but the statement put it into very clear perspective just how much Alice actually despised Capitol rule. He was much more mellow about it, but when the kid got on a roll, he kept it.

"Fingers crossed then," he shrugged. He actually thought that they were after him. Then again, he figured the Capitol knew everything--not out of blind reverence or anything, but out of superstition. "still... you've got a point. If your fate is sealed... what difference would it make killing the others? They aren't even the real enemy--not even '1 and '2. Kyla was right." It had been something that had been spread via Sagittaria, but apparently sometime either during the games or during her life, the legendary Kyla Togisala had summed up the Hunger Games, even the Careers, with one simple phrase.
"They are all just innocent children whose minds have been warped with a killer's mindset."
"Damn... that sounds so selfish though, Paige. You're not the only one getting screwed though. It just doesn't feel right to make all these plans for my survival, as if yours means nothing. It's..." he closed his eyes. "It's hard. Not that I don't want to live and give the big 'fuck you' to the Capitol or anything... just the idea of already labelling you dead... I don't care how true it may be. I don't like thinking about it." he shook his head with a sigh.

His eyes widened a little bit as she mentioned Sagittaria. "so you've noticed it too? It's her eyes. She might seem as solid as ever... but her eyes tell the districts so much. they're dolling her up. She looks prettier and prettier each time she goes. They're subtle, and I'm not sure how Sagittaria is handling it, but I don't think she'll save too easily. District 11 deals with some of the most oppressive shits this world has to offer. If that was enough to break them, they'd never produce another victor again." Truth of the matter was that so far Sagittaria had not been threatened. She definitely looked more attractive than she did a few years ago (although that might have just been because she was physically maturing as well, making a transition from girl to woman that she had made emotionally no less than 2 years ago), but while Alice and Paige would have no way of knowing it, the girl had never been threatened with anything. It was technically still a "voluntary" thing Saj did, and she controlled the frequency of the trips.

Alice cracked a smile at Paige's swearing. "Hey... there's the Paige we know and love. Just... well, I guess be a vulgar, outspoken bitch again. Punch shit if that's what it takes... even if it's just an act... even if all of District 8 sees the desperation in your eyes... just be like you were before the 'games... it'll fool most of the Capitol, and Snow's not going to give a shit if he's really going to kill you anyways. He might know differently, but the districts won't. They'll see that despite the rocky starts during this last week... they'll think the Capitol failed to break you. That might just be the kind of motivation we need." he shrugged a little afterward. "Just a suggestion... I mean, you know yourself better than me, obviously." and he obviously didn't want to just say 'get over it', because he knew full well why she couldn't. Still... deception was one of Alice's fortes, and so it was a field that he could offer advice in.

[Nachthexe]

"A Hunger Games for the Capitol's children? After just one they would be pleading for it to end, yet they have forced us to do it for 46 fucking years." The irony of holding a Hunger Games for the Capitol's children wasn't quick to go over Paige's head. Certainly they supported such a death match now, it became intriguing to Paige very quickly to imagine how they would react on the other end of it. However, the main idea to come to Paige's mind was that of rebellion. Alice was probably dead on with his theory too. District 8 was bound to be the first to rise up against the Capitol, which also meant preserving the revolutionary spirit in many of its citizens. That was perhaps something Snow was targeting by removing outspoken Paige from the equation. Fortunately though it was sentiment Alice seemed to share and as far as she knew the Capitol couldn't do much to victors besides target their loved ones. Alice didn't have any loved ones, so...

Paige shrugged as Alice continued speaking. "That's exactly the point though. I have nothing to lose by charging into battle. They may not know it yet, but I feel like at least somebody is going to get quite a surprise from me tomorrow. With some luck, it might even have Snow squirming like a little bitch even if it doesn't ultimately change his mind about killing me." A squirming Snow. One of Paige's favourite images to imagine, especially with the arena so close. Alice had a point. She needed to show the Capitol they don't own her and that she has a powerful fighting spirit, but it was easier said than done. She was breaking down fast, even if the younger boy wasn't willing to accept it. "That's it though. I am fucked. I think the interview was the final straw. The asswipe himself was probably watching every minute of it, wishing he could shoot me on the spot."

So Paige hadn't been the only one to notice Sagittaria. Upon Alice's confirmation that the girl was indeed changing Paige couldn't help but to think about her own situation even further. The Capitol had those they didn't trust and no doubt Sagittaria was among them. Certainly she wasn't so blatant about it, but their was a spirit of rebellion within that girl. It made perfect sense for District 11 too, being arguably the strictest district in Panem. "Yes, Sagittaria too. That is why I can no longer be my old self. That is why I have these demons within me just fighting to take full control of my body. Snow's poison has infected me and now it won't leave until my dying breaths. Trying to cover that up? Not so simple. That is just one reason you must survive." She finally confessed, once again shedding a few tears. The once powerful and bold Paige. Once again reduced to nothing but an emotional wreck.

[Zulera301]

"While I'm fantasizing," he smirked, "maybe I should just become President of Panem. There'd be nothing the Capitol district could do against me. Shit if I care about power... I just want to see justice here." Maybe it was a warped perception of justice, or "lowering them to the Capitol's level" or something emotionally-moving like that, but he didn't really care. Still... it was not like the idea of revolution passed unnoticed over Alice's head--no, he knew that it would likely be headed by District 8 if it ever happened... and that District 11 would likely be their first ally. They were a strong-willed and resilient bunch that probably could overthrow their strict peacekeepers if they banded together.

Alice couldn't help but crack a smile. "now you're speaking my language. the mellow, naive little boy that the Capitol thinks they know is about as much me as this mask is." he lifted it to reveal his real face, which just had a bit of black eyeshadow on it, before putting it back on. It was fairly comfortable, after all, and he admired the Capitol for that. They could at least design things that were super-stylish, but also considerably comfortable. The arena uniforms usually also fell into this category. "There's still a bit of mystery to us, y'know." he added, "I say we surprise 'em with it. The Capitol usually hates surprises, and like you said--nothing's better than watching them squirm." He may not be able to save Paige, but he could save her legacy. Most of his reasons for wanting to win were for "the revolution", so to speak. He had nothing to really lose or gain by going in or coming out of these games, but if he won.. well, his undermining the Capitol could continue.

Alice sighed as Paige shed some tears, and he released her hands, looking up at her for a moment instead. "hey... the odds were stacked against everyone but Valendria last year... the odds were agianst Kyla... but I guess it's time for me to take a line out of her books. Don't count me out just yet, Paige." 2 years ago, when the half-deaf little Kyla Togisala stepped up onto the stage and gave that warning to the crowds, they probably just smiled and played along to keep her from pissing herself out of fear or something. the next day, they all ate their words as the girl turned into not only the most lethal killer of the 44th Annual Hunger Games, but also one of the most legendary fallen tributes of all time.
He stepped towards the larger girl, putting his arms around her. "don't count me out just yet, Paige. It won't end tomorrow... I promise."

[Nachthexe]

Paige rose her eyebrows. "You? President of Panem? One can dream, kid." While Paige was entirely unsurprisingly skeptical, it was at least a nice thing to imagine even if just for a little while. Certainly he would deal the justice they all deserved for ruining the lives of so many. She could already see it; Snow down on the ground begging for mercy. Even in her current state Paige nearly chuckled at the thought. "It's a nice dream, but the Capitol may never see the justice they deserve. All hope of that kind of died after the first rebellion those asslickers are always going on about in their propaganda videos. Certainly those little shits believe it too. I'm sure at least most of Districts 1 and 2 do, and we have to go up against them in less than twenty-four hours..." She confessed, realizing just how little hope there was for creating a better Panem. Certainly things had once been better, but that was now in a distant past all but forgotten. It was, of course, a distant past Paige's parents had tried to keep alive for people to strive for, but Snow had eventually taken that too.

Mystery. Perhaps there had been a method to the stylist's madness, but it had mostly been lost on Paige. After her outburst on stage surely everybody knew what she was all about by now. She was a rebellious little shit and that's all that mattered in Snow's eyes and the Capitol sucked it all up like a sponge. She was convinced that not even Alice's attempts to cover her would even reverse the damage done. She was out, with very little chance of even getting sponsorship. She was sure of it. If she wanted to help Alice win then she truly was all on her own about to have the most difficult challenge of her life complicated even further. "Shit, the damage has already been done. Caesar even cut me off the moment the audience gasped. They know damn well what my words meant and they were not happy." She assured Alice as the younger boy placed his arms around her.

Certainly Alice was no Hanna, but somehow he was managing to bring some comfort to her. Sure he was perhaps over-confident, but at least he wasn't ready to give up on her just yet. He believed there was hope for her, but was there? As far as Paige was concerned it was a pretty lost cause and the interview incident only served to further confirm it. It didn't help that she could only worry continuously about Hanna as well. Perhaps Snow had even stayed true to his methods and eliminated the older girl, or at the very least interrogated her for further information to use against her and other potential rebels. It was the latter that especially worried Paige as she knew Snow's methods of punishment were often ruthless. The Avoxes alone were proof of that, the worst possible fate Paige could imagine for anybody.

The throbbing in Paige's knuckles was beginning to recede, much to her relief. However, this only had her truly realize that the much greater pain wasn't physical at all, but mental. It really made Snow's methods make more sense. He didn't involve himself in much physical torture, clearly realizing that mental torture was much more effective. If that wasn't what he was putting Paige through then he wasn't sure what else to even call it. Still, the man had a streak of brilliance and was certainly cunning. She was sure it was that alone that made manage to keep him in power for so long, although all her thoughts of such things were soon cut short by the return of the rest of the team. "Look who's back." She commented, rolling her eyes as she heard them. She certainly hoped they didn't interrupt her and Alice as this was very possibly one of their last nights alone. The bloodbath. It was usually merciless if one was unprepared.

[Zulera301]

Alice laughed. "exactly. one can dream. it ain't gonna get better in our day; that's for sure." That certainly helped put a dash of realism into Alice's otherwise optimistic outlook. He found it ironic that Paige seemed more optimistic about that and not their current situation, while Alice was the opposite, figuring he could work out their current situation, even if nothing would change in the future. Ah well... it was certainly not worth getting into an argument over. "I'm ready for it." he nodded. "either we die tomorrow in the bloodbath and it's all over, or we survive it and strategize from there. I for one, don't intend to be just another victim."

Alice shook his head as Paige brought up the interviews. "well... how much more damage could you possibly do? Okay... I admit that it made me cringe a bit, and seeing you sobbing into Challis' shoulder didn't exactly do wonders for morale...but c'mon... I know you've got some fighting spirit left in you. If you're willing to believe that the people of Panem, who have accepted this form of slavery for over 46 years, can one day rise back up... you gotta have it start somewhere. Every revolution begins with a spark." He did not realize the potential profoundness of those words, but instead just went on. "besides... our time to please the Capitol is over. Tomorrow, we get our death sentence. I for one, propose we go out with a bang."

There were ideas and strategies that he had that he had not even told Paige or anyone else, not wanting anyone to get an idea of what he was doing. For once, remaining unnoticed might just end up saving his life. He was not about to try and work to subvert Paige's tactics or anything, but he did not want her to throw her life away so easily for him either. His biggest concern was the bloodbath. If he could grab a bow or something and then get out of there, he'd be okay (depending on the arena of course). If the odds were stacked against him, he might just run away from it altogether. Time would tell.

"mm." Alice noted, "probably means Joss and Isi have finished up and they're probably hoping to find us to show us recaps to scare you all over, or to remind us how goddamn crazy all of these tributes are." He actually would consider himself as much as well, considering that many of his plans could fall under the old "Crazy-enough-to-work" category. "you wanna go inside and meet 'em, or just pray that they don't walk out here and find us naked or something?" He joked, since both of them were fully dressed and most likely going to remain that way.

[Nachthexe]

It was becoming clear that Alice still had confidence in Paige. This warmed her heart slightly, but it felt like nothing more than false hope for a retribution that would never come. There was surely nothing that could happen in the arena that would change Snow's mind. His regime was a delicate one and Paige was nothing more than a splinter in his side now. "Shit, I like that you have confidence in me kid, but we both have a pretty good idea as to how Snow's mind works. Keeping that in mind though, we have already agreed that I'm not just going to lie down and die. Hell would freeze over before that shit happens. I at least wouldn't mind taking out those asslicking careers who every damn year think they're all that." She reminded Alice as she pulled herself out of his arms and once again began glancing down into the Capitol.

Parties and celebrations. It seemed to be truly all the Capitol knew while people in the districts were slaving away with hardly anything to eat. It was definitely enraging to Paige more than most other things. "If there's one thing I have learned in this week it was that these Capitolites live a pretty easy life while the rest of us slave away. I pretty much already knew that, but certainly not to this extent. Shit, poor Augusta here probably thinks she works so fucking hard taking us from place to place." Paige managed to let out a chuckle, although it was an annoyed chuckle more than anything. Her point was definitely solid though. Even the poorest of the Capitol citizens definitely had it easy compared to the districts. Not even District 1, arguably the wealthiest district, could compare to the Capitol in terms of wealth. It likely didn't matter much with most District 1 tributes being volunteers anyway, but certainly some children still took out Tessarae.

Despite everything it represented, peering down into the Capitol below was really quite mesmerizing. The lit-up buildings managed to illuminate the night sky, yet at the same time Paige and Alice were up high enough that the moon still managed to have prominence. A meeting of the artificial and natural. Only a powerful civilization could manage that, even if it was an oppressive one. Of course, it was that power that Panem had that only had Paige believing further that there was so much potential for it beyond Snow and his sadistic games. It was certainly a game she was forced to play too and already she found herself thinking over potential strategies to at least survive the bloodbath. So far she was feeling hopeful about that bit, but everything afterwards was only a countdown to her imminent death. THat was truly the bit that bothered her.

"I say we get our asses inside. They're probably wondering what we're up to by now. Besides, Challis survived this shit once before. She might have last minute advice for us." Paige soon shifted her attention to Alice, despite having been lost in thought about the Capitol, the games, and everything that was to come. She wasn't sure if Alice had been strategizing or not, but she figured the young observant boy would come up with something sooner or later. Certainly he had scored only a 5, but now more than never Paige realized the training scores were simply just numbers; she knew she was deadlier than a 5 and Kyla had definitely been deadlier than a 6.

[Zulera301]

Alice shrugged. "I guess it's the same way you've got confidence in Panem to one day rise up... 46 years and we haven't done a damn thing." There were just not enough revolutionaries with Paige or Alice's mindset in any of the districts, even '8 or '11. Maybe one day, when that mindset caught on a bit more, or when people realized that they were getting fed up with the Capitol's oppressive nature. Something like that. A boy could dream indeed. "There's a secret to my confidence... a method to my madness if you would, though." He trailed off, mentally weighing whether to reveal part of it or not. He'd hold that thought.

"It's called a cruel irony... like their dependence on us." he quipped, "they depend on their greatest enemies to provide them with... well, everything. imagine if '8 broke away... they'd flip their shit over losing their fashion. If '11 followed... 5 minutes without stuffing their faces and they'd be having seizures from not glutting out on food. Fantasy or not, it's still a nice thought. The richest in District 1 (Luxury, so obviously the richest district) did not even compare with the poorest of the Capitol. That was something Alice had learned while here, and figured he'd let that sink in a moment.

Alice chuckled, glancing at Paige's hips a moment before nodding in agreement. "Right behind you," although he was actually more alongside her than behind her. "but hey Paige?" he took her hand to stop her briefly. "just a thought..." it was that one he had been sitting on earlier. he wanted to let her know it. "I'm not worried about tomorrow morning. Think about it this way: When you're in a rut with nothing... just grab what you can and crawl yourself out." He meant that in two ways, actually--one was quite literal and explained itself, but the other was the story of Alice's life. He was in a rut and the boy had nothing really going for him, both in terms of family and friends. Sure he had a promising career as a budding fashion designer, but what then?
After being reaped for the games, his determination mindset had shifted significantly. Here he was in the Capitol--he was going to take what he could and haul his ass out of there if he could. If Paige had done one thing, it was that she had made him determined to win.

He let go of Paige's hand and the two of them walked back inside, where Challis was waiting for them.
"So..." she quipped, "we can watch interview footage if you want to see the personalities of some of the other tributes... The Capitol really banked on you, Alice, for saving Paige's ass. They twisted shit a bit like they did with Valendria, but I don't think I need to go into any more detail on that. Any requests?"
"District 10," Alice blurted out, "at least for starters. Were the careers arrogant bastards as always?"
"Yes." Challis replied bluntly. Most of them were at least very confident, if not outright arrogant. "anyways... District 10, coming right up."

unsurprisingly, the boy was nothing too spectacular, but Alice admittedly wanted to know how Lyndis held a conversation. When she kissed everyone, she usually just made provocative gestures or expressions at them without actually saying anything. An exception was Keshet, whom she had taunted.
Lyndis' voice was not at all what Alice expected it to be as far as regular conversation. It was very soft; gentle, almost. If she was a bit older, it might have sounded motherly. Caesar complimented her training score, her wild antics, and her breathtaking dress. Lyndis seemed fairly humble, although was also fairly bold. She announced that she didn't fear anyone, and was willing to face anyone who challenged her. She seemed fairly popular for what it was worth. She ended though, of all things, by even giving Caesar a kiss (this was just a light peck on the cheek rather than the full-on smooches she had given the tributes). Everyone, Caesar included, had just laughed and cheered her off the stage.

"She's as crazy as she looks." Challis shook her head, chuckling herself. "Any other suggestions?"

[Nachthexe]

Paige chuckled slightly at the thought of the Capitol losing their fashion. Somehow their reaction to that sort of thing seemed quite obvious too. "Take away their fashion and they would be the ones rioting." She noted just as Alice shifted the subject. Certainly he was determined to give the girl a final boost of confidence, but what he didn't know was that she was already broken beyond repair. The only thing she had to lose now was any chance at protecting Alice and ensuring he made it home, or at least having him die remembered well. Both were bound to be rather tricky, considering his training score. Certainly her own had been rigged, but she strongly doubted his was. The boy wasn't exactly built to be a fighter, but somehow it seemed being thrown into a desperate situation could quickly change him.

Once inside, Alice almost immediately requested to view the interview footage in which Paige just nodded in agreement to. If she was going to die then she at least wanted to know what the tributes had to say before they met their end as well. If anything, it was bound to give her ideas of who to side with in the case of Alice dying early. "Shit, I say watch the whole damn thing." She commanded in which Challis complied to. First up of course were the two career districts. Just as their training had indicated they were the pretty standard career stock, basking in all their arrogance. That was something Paige found herself shrugging off as it shifted into some of the other more forgettable tributes. Ironically, this year that seemed to be District 3 right through to District 5. The District 6 kids managed to be slightly interesting, but Paige suspected it was simply due to their young ages and their mentor being last year's victor. District 7, however, truly managed to stand out. Despite Keshet being one of the most powerful tributes this year she didn't seem to possess the same arrogance that Districts 1 and 2 did. Instead she remained quite calm, much like how she had at the Reaping. Once Keshet's partner finished up it of course shifted to District 8, which Paige found herself turning away from entirely. "I don't want to see my fuck up again." She commented.

"Most of it is edited. You won't." Challis responded as she glanced at the footage. Certainly the mentor woman was embarrassed from that incident, but she had a hard time holding it against Paige as she definitely understood what the girl was going through. Preparing for what could be one's death was certainly stressful. That fact went straight over Augusta's head of course who had been furious at the situation, but fortunately had since calm down. Turning back towards the screen though Paige was immediately relieved once District 8 ended. It then shifted into the once again quite forgettable District 9. They truly had the worst of luck in recent years, but it was definitely something she couldn't hold against them as there were rumours about their mentor being an unreliable drunk. District 10 managed to bring some excitement for once, perhaps making up for the lackluster show that was District 9. Lyndis. Her crazy antics even continued on stage, although he voice managed to surprise Paige. Lastly, District 11 and 12 both had promising tributes with the District 12 boy, Joss, appearing to be particularly cunning with the way he carried both himself and his words. He was one of those tributes Paige was genuinely interested to see in action.

"Well shit, most of this just reminds me of what we're truly up against tomorrow. I would be a filthy liar if I said I wasn't nervous." Paige commented once the footage ended with some extra commentary which was surely intended for the Capitol audiences rather than any of the districts or tributes. Of course, there was plenty of truth to her statement and certainly Alice certainly felt the same way. This was a death match, not a picnic in the park. At least half of those children would have their lives ended by tomorrow. The others? Well their end would come eventually too.

Challis nodded. "This is tricky. Perhaps you're both unfortunate this year in that you're up against probably some of the strongest tributes I've seen in years. Certainly previous games had their fair share of strong tributes, but nothing like this. Even District 10 is raising a few eyebrows across the Capitol. This is quantitatively a strong group for sure." She explained, shrugging before setting herself down at the dining table. Paige soon followed her, intending to have some food herself.

[Zulera301]

Alice laughed. "A Capitol riot... I'd pay to see that." he imagined drawing it, as he so often did with things, although he might have to get his fill of that tonight, because tomorrow there would be no time for drawing if he wanted to last more than 8 seconds. Maybe Alice could not understand the level of Paige's brokenness simply from his own invulnerability on the subject. That seemed like an odd word to use, but on the other hand, Alice felt that it seemed fitting. He really was invulnerable as far as Capitol politics went. If he died, he was just another nameless faceless boy tribute like the hundreds of others that had come before him. If he won, however, he would have successfully outsmarted the Capitol and taken from them when they could not take anything in return.

Challis shrugged. "whole thing it is." She didn't skip anything either. Alice watched through the arrogant careers, through the forgettable clans all the way to District 7. Both tributes seemed calm, even the boy, Nesara, who had scored lower than his partner. Based on his reactions though, he, unlike so many others, appeared to be anything but impressed with his partner's score, dismissing it as a "lucky fluke that happened to get the careers all hot and excited." Clearly he wouldn't be siding with his district partner in these games, but he seemed unfazed.

Alice cringed at Paige's controversial scene, but then it switched over to him, then '9, and then '10. Despite her quirks, Lyndis did seem to be very down-to-earth, possessing a similar mindset to Keshet, only playing more appealing to the crowds. They did like their killers, but they also liked victors and tributes who were personable. Lyndis was fairly easy to talk to, and they seemed to adore her forwardness and flirtiness.
District 11 was an interesting case, with the boy, Garrett, taking on a calm persona that almost reminded Alice of Rye Grove from two years ago. Well, except that he also seemed to have taken a bit of the "mysterious" persona, saying that there was more to the games than just strength--which said something, since he was pretty stacked himself.
Of course, so was his district partner, Adrianna, who unsurprisingly got questioned as to why they called her "Smash". She cracked her knuckles and simply said "because I smash things with my fists!" She seemed to be a very cheerful woman, and Alice noticed that her stylists had made her dress strapless to show off her broad, athletic shoulders and her muscular arms. No wonder Smash had gotten an 11.

Isi helped to wrap up the show, revealing that her name was actually Sacajawea, which Caesar complimented as a pretty name. She revealed that she had plenty of tricks up her sleeves, and that she was determined to go home and see her family again. Unlike most times, when Caesar would usually just smile and try to encourage them, he actually figured that this girl had a chance. Time would tell.

"I'm worried about the bloodbath," Alice confessed, "although I feel like if I can grab something form there and get out of there, I should be okay for at least a little bit."
"That obviously depends on what you see there and how quickly you think you can grab it." Challis warned, "don't go running in if there are stronger tributes heading for the same items. Hopefully they don't place you between two career tributes or something."
Every tribute might have been placed at a different position, but they were all equidistant from the cornucopia to prevent one tribute gaining an unfair advantage over another (in the opening minutes anyhoo).

"Crazy tributes that are strong, to boot..." Alice chuckled, seating himself to eat some food as well. He was still wearing that mask from his interview (though it only concealed his eyes and part of his nose; his mouth was still exposed). "well, I guess now we finally go out of the frying pan and into the inferno. May the odds be ever in our favor... or may the odds make it true that when you're mortally wounded in an excruciatingly painful way, your body goes into shock and you don't feel anything when you die." he shrugged, still finding amusement in the ironically morbid sentence.

after their last good meal probably of their lives, Alice stood up. "I guess I'll see you all tomorrow," he nodded at them as he went to start walking to his room, "'night, everyone. 'night, Paige."
He was not as nervous as he felt he should be, which was odd, in a way. Maybe he wasn't thinking about it hard enough? that didn't seem likely with how analytical he was. No... maybe he just wasn't aware of all the horrors that could go on in there. Maybe he was truly just that fearless. Time would tell...

[Nachthexe]

The interview footage only served as confirmation that Challis was right. What Alice and Paige were bound to be up against in the 46th Annual Hunger Games was truly no joke. Those tributes, especially the high scoring ones certainly meant business. Of course there was the possibility that it was all looks, but Paige supposed she would find out soon enough. Currently she just wanted some nourishment before being thrown into near-starvation conditions. "May the odds make it true that when you're mortally wounded in an excruciatingly painful way, your body goes into shock and you don't feel anything when you die." She responded to Alice, chuckling slightly. The infamous Sagittaria phrase. It truly was spreading like the plague and not even the Capitol could stop it. That was just one little thing that made Paige feel good. The Capitol thought they were omnipotent, but there was one thing they still didn't have control over: words.

Surprisingly, much of the meal was eaten in silence with only Alice finally breaking the awkward silence by announcing his departure to bed. "Goodnight. I'm not far behind you, kid. I figure that tonight might be the last decent sleep of our lives." She responded as she finished up the last of her glass of water. Just as Alice was, she was also still clothed in her interview outfit although she had little intention of changing. She was sure to take one last shower in the morning anyway. Despite some of the conditions back home she did like her hygiene and certainly that wasn't one of the arena's strong points.

Once in bed Paige was slow to doze off, but once sleep finally came to her she felt the most rested she had in ages even as Augusta barged into the room the next morning to wake her up. "It's the big daaaaaaaaay!" She bellowed as she yanked the covers off a very annoyed Paige.

"Shitballs! I was sleeping!" She responded, bolting into a sitting position. Augusta could only chuckle, getting slight amusement out of Paige's word choice before exiting the room. At that, Paige slowly made her way to the shower and proceeded to wash away all remainders of the Capitol's makeover. It almost seemed symbolic in a way in that she was now about to enter a new phrase a life. A rough one, which made the much plainer look all the more fitting. Even the uniform that had been placed in her room indicated such. It was definitely comfortable at least, as she noticed once outfitted in it. "So this truly is the end of the legacy of Paige Alwin and the rest of the Alwin family. May the odds be ever in my favour." She uttered as she examined the uniform briefly before exiting the room.

Unsurprisingly, all the others were already present and eating their breakfast. Paige only took a small plate herself, realizing just what was to come. Starvation. Something she figured she might as well begin now. Although, she did ensure to drink plenty of water, a fact that the others quickly took note of. Challis nodded in approval while Augusta could only add a demeaning remark of her own. "Preparing for the arena? you won't dehydrate within hours!" Paige just rolled her eyes at the escort woman, knowing full well she was implying that she was bound to be struck down in the first day.

"I suppose the last I can do for you is give you a final rundown of what is going to happen. After breakfast Peacekeepers are going to come for you both to escort you to the arena. Everything that happens up until the point you're in there isn't important, but just remember this: do not step off those pedestals before the timer expires. They are armed with mines, as you probably know. Oh, and be careful. If you find yourself in a situation at the Cornucopia where you feel you might be overpowered, don't even engage. Run. You'll surely thank me later for that." Challis began explaining, feeling it was her duty to give last minute advice, perhaps even as a way to make up for her lack of mentoring during the first day. Fortunately it seemed everything had worked out alright up to this point, although now the real games were about to begin. Surely everything else had just been child's play.

[Zulera301]

Alice still saw no reason not to be optimistic about his chances. Either he would be confident and die, or he would be afraid and die. He didn't figure it would make much of a difference.
He raised his glass when Sagittaria's phrase was repeated back to him, and he grinned. Whether or not anyone else realized it, they were pretty moving and powerful words--they were a reminder that the games were about death, and that 23 tributes each year could only hope that their deaths would be quick and painless. The Capitol could not stop it, and the humorous light that Sagittaria portrayed it in was one of the reasons no attempts had been made to thus far. That was even part of how it became rather rampant in District 2. If it could run rampant there, then perhaps there was still hope that there were sparks of rebellion somewhere nestled deep in the heart of the Capitol's most loyal district. Maybe change could happen one day, even if it would not happen overnight.

Having said his goodnights, Alice simple removed his socks and shoes before crawling into bed, suit, mask and all. He wasn't too worried about it, figuring that he'd get cleaned up tomorrow morning. He'd also be enjoying the last decent sleep he'd get in his life tonight, so he was determined to make it count. Oddly, considering that hew as not too nervous about death, he fell asleep fairly quickly.

The next morning he could hear someone shouting excitedly, and knew it was Augusta. Well, Alice was clearly not excited to go to his death, and no respectable human being ever was very happy about being woken up from a blissful slumber. Augusta's excitement for the games was not lost on him, and so frankly, this was about one of the worst combinations he could get at this hour.
"Get up!" the escort bellowed again excitedly. "get up! up! up! up! up!"
"Shut the fuck up." Alice grunted, rolling back over. "I'm awake and haven't murdered anyone. what more do you want from me?"

Rubbing his eyes and removing his clothes, Alice showered and found himself actually feeling fairly revitalized. he showered and soon found the uniform of the games this year, which was similar to the ones from the years before: cargo pants, jacket, boots, T-shirt... the usual layout, really. These ones were more of a brownish color though, which made him wonder if that said anything about the arena. The 44th outfits had been dark shades of green, and the arena had been a jungle, but the 45th ones had been black and red, which didn't really do much in a grey decrepit city. Okay, so maybe the black did, but the red just seemed to have been for giggles, unless it was supposed to be for blood, or for the eyes of those... those things...
The number 8 on his shoulders made him remember what he had resolved to do though. This was not for him--this was for District 8. As he pocketed the pair of dice serving as his tribute token, he went out to meet the others and grab some food and drink.

"Still not quite over Augusta's flack, Alice had a witty retort as he too loaded himself on water. "you wanna come with us and see how long it takes?" he 'offered'. The Capitol team had sharp tongues, but let it not be said that their tributes this year didn't have them as well.
He ate quietly as he listened to Challis. All of it sounded fairly routine, and the idea of peacekeepers here didn't seem to faze him as much unless they had brought Blacky, which seemed unlikely.
"Got it," he nodded when all was said and done. "When you're so far down... sometimes the only way from there is up." He took a deep breath. He was ready for the peacekeepers, whenever they came. He wasn't even drawing this time. This was literally--about to be do or die.

[Nachthexe]

"I can't even pretend to not get amusement from the prospect of one of those asslicking careers accidentally tripping and detonating their mines. Shit, I would pay to watch that replay over and over if I was alive after all this." Paige responded once Challis mentioned the mines. Certainly she didn't forget that her fate was already in the bag, it was another nice revenge fantasy of her's against the two most loyal districts of Panem. This unsurprising managed to produce a chuckle from Challis who was proceeding to finish up her breakfast. Mentoring. Truly the most intense part of it started the day of the games as they were the ones responsible for controlling the flow of sponsor gifts while the omnipresent reality of their tributes' deaths lingered over their heads. Realizing this, Challis soon let out a sigh. She didn't expect to get a replacement this year.

Alice had once again proven himself to have a sharp tongue and almost immediately it had the escort woman going silent. This managed to produce yet another chuckle from Paige. Yet another Capitol citizen silenced by a rebellious young boy. Life was pretty good for the time being. At least as good as it could be minutes before being escorted off to a death match. "Sorry Augusta. He has you beat there." Challis interjected, even taking attention of Alice's words. However, this only gave Paige the realization of something else. With breakfast finishing up the Peacekeepers were bound to arrive very soon and shortly a real winner would be determined. Not in a war of words, but in a war of strength, wits, resilience, and various other skills tributes had to offer.

"So I might as well say it. Most of you people are airheaded little shits, but I at least managed to enjoy interesting fashion for a bit while here. Certainly it's for the shittiest reasons possible, but perhaps that Valendria girl was right to just enjoy the small things in life." Paige finally announced as she finished up her breakfast, turning first to Augusta and then finally the stylist pair. It anything, the girl's words had only managed to prove that she was definitely outspoken and blunt in her words and perhaps that was truly her downfall. Still, the stylists smiled at her before nodding, appreciating the compliment even if she had managed to be one of the more "difficult" tributes they had worked with over the years. She didn't have much else to say, although Challis managed to read the girl's body language quite well that she appreciated all help that had been offered. That too was met with a simple nod just as the inevitable Peacekeepers came bursting into the room. Almost immediately they were gesturing for the tributes to follow them, but Paige soon realized something. Her district token. Her ring from Hanna. That was something she definitely didn't want to leave behind. "Shit! I'll be right back!" She announced before dashing into the room to place it on her finger.

Once back out Paige only braced herself for the inevitable and began following the Peacekeepers. They remained fairly stoic as usual, but perhaps it was just part of their job description. She didn't really know nor did she care, after all. The only aspect that mattered to her was how they oppressed all of Panem. None of their methods mattered and especially not now that she was being escorted off to a death match never to return. So it begins... She suddenly thought to herself as she began down the hallway and into the elevator that was to take her to whatever method of transportation the Capitol used to transport tributes to the arena.

[Zulera301]

"shoulda brought a rock or a wooden ball or something." he quipped, "toss it at their pedestal and hope for the best." He saw this as a glaring loophole, but the only real rule on tribute tokens was that they could not be used as practical weapons. small pins and trinkets were okay though. It wasn't like he'd be doing anything like that though. the dice he had were not very large, and would not do any damage. They were just genuinely a token. He noticed Challis' sigh, and wondered if it was because she'd actually miss her tributes or because she just wanted a replacement that she was probably not going to get. He decided not to ask her as a result of this thought.

"Nothing personal," Alice reassured, "just that you were pretty much kicking us while we were down, which doesn't exactly do well for morale, y'know." He figured the woman at least deserved an explanation. Poor Paige in particular was about in the lowest trench one could be in, and still getting repeatedly kicked and tormented. He therefore, had tried to help. He thought back to Kyla's words:
"don't count... me out just yet..."
That would be his story this year--hopefully they wouldn't count him out just yet--he had a few tricks up hsi sleeve that he hoped to be able to try if he managed to escape the blood-stained pandemonium that was the cornucopia bloodbath. Time would tell.

"she's right, y'know..." Alice agreed, "you two made some pretty awesome outfits though. That was the kind of thing I aspired to be when I was older." he was not sucking up, but he had admittedly dreamed of becoming a designer, which he had shown quite promising skill at, especially considering how obscenely skilled her was at sketching out designs and concepts and other such things, both what the clothes would look like off of someone's body or on them. He gave Nakrelu and Zobuta a sincere smile as he spoke these words. "so yeah... thanks for the help. You too, Challis--and even you, Augusta. I'm kinda glad I had a sharp-tongued escort. Helped me keep my own skills honed." he chuckled. It was true that having someone that was usually swift to bite back against Alice's retort did provide a challenge, although that was trivial in comparison to the games he was about to jump into

Unlike Paige, Alice already had his tribute token, and so he rose to his feet and followed the peacekeepers, ambling slowly till Paige returned, where he picked up his pace. He turned back to his team, giving them one last wave before they were escorted away and down the elevator. Thankfully neither of these peacekeepers were that fucker Blacky, and so he was fine with this arrangement.
Soon they were escorted into a hovercraft, and they got to see the other tributes again as they were seated and trackers were stuck into their arms. Once again, Alice noticed an oddity--while 23 of the tributes had them, Lyndis was not wearing any shoes, and was wiggling her bare toes, no less, thus perpetuating the statement that no one had ever seen Lyndis wearing shoes. Otherwise though, he leaned back, closing his eyes and prepared for what was to come by taking a deep breath--after all, it could be his last.

[Nachthexe]

Paige chuckled. "That wouldn't work. Certainly those shitstains would blow you sky high just for that." She reminded Alice as he mentioned throwing small tokens onto the other tribute's pedestals. It was something she couldn't recall ever having been tried, but certainly nobody dared since it was likely to only affect them rather than the other tributes. Still, it was a slightly amusing thing to think about as it was bound to save trouble in the games later on, but she knew the careers usually were not stupid despite their arrogance. Certainly they knew better than to try anything that drastic just as Alice surely did.

Soon Alice was also giving his own goodbyes to the team he would probably never see again. Both Nakrelu and Zobuta seemed to be genuinely disappointed by this as they had enjoyed working with Alice. It was rare that any tributes were actually into fashion, after all, but his artwork alone had managed to show that side of him plenty. It was a side that Paige admittedly found fascinating about the boy, but now he would have to adopt another more non-existent side: a side that was going to fight. Art was meaningless in a death match. "Well holy shit, Alice. This is actually happening." Paige uttered to the boy as both began following the Peacekeepers.

Within a few minutes both Paige and Alice were escorted into an underground facility and then into a hovercraft. Upon admiring it, Paige couldn't help but to be somewhat fascinated by it. It was quite interesting engineering, even if she knew nothing about that. No, that was District 6's expertise and certainly they had really outdone themselves here. It wasn't long until the hovercraft was up in the air either, but once up Paige couldn't help but to examine the other tributes. It was hard to absorb the fact that very soon about half of them would be dead while the other half would be out for her blood. The tracker being placed into her arm only served to further confirm this. She truly was nothing more than a playing piece in the Capitol's game.

The ride in the hovercraft seemingly didn't last long before everybody was forced to disembark. Paige could only guess that now she was beneath the arena itself as tributes were typically raised up into it on pedestals. By examining her surroundings she did inquire that she was definitely in an underground facility of some sort. However, it was truly not until she was split up from the others and sent into a much smaller room on her own that reality began to sink in. The arena was unquestionably above her as a clear tube was situated directly in front of her. Curiously, there was also a small projector screen present in the otherwise simple room. She couldn't imagine anything that would be broadcast down there, unless it had been placed specifically for her? There was really no way of knowing, although soon it flicked on once she was firmly inside the tube.

The tributes weren't risen to the surface right away, but instead the Capitol had their own little surprise for Paige. She didn't realize it, but the screen had indeed been placed in the room specifically for her and almost immediately it shifted to an image of Hanna. It wasn't just any Hanna, however, but a beaten and bloodied Hanna. This was immediately followed by an image of a white rose and a single note allegedly penned by Snow himself. It bore the words "I always win." Almost immediately this had Paige once again in a state of panic, but she knew she was powerless to do anything about it now. "Shit, shit, shit! I fucked up!" She shouted as tears began flowing down her cheeks even as she began banging the sides of the transparent tube she was now trapped in.

Paige's emotional breakdown was only short-lived, however, as the tube then began rising to the surface. Almost immediately she was greeted by sunlight and what was to momentarily become the graveyard for several children. The arena. It was in plain sight and all around her were 23 other children who were either pumped up or nervous. Paige, however, seemed to be somewhere in between as she attempted to hide all hints of her breakdown just seconds earlier. This was truly a game she could not mess up. This had her examining the woodland environment around her before staring straight ahead. The countdown had begun and soon the place would be engulfed in chaos.

Chaos. It truly was within arm's reach as the countdown finally entered its final seconds. At that, a loudspeaker came on that projected the Head Gamemaker's voice. It was one she recognized well, still being haunted by it, but these words were different from what he had given her back in training. These ones truly marked the beginning of what was to come: "Let the 46th Annual Hunger Games begin! May the odds be ever in your favour!" At that, a cannon blared and the tributes were off.

[Zulera301]

Alice laughed. "I'm not that stupid either." he quipped, folding a paper and slipping it into his pocket. "I'll play by the rules... lucky for me there are so many different ways to interpret those rules." He didn't go into much other detail besides that though, as it was just another of his fantasies rather than anything realistic. No, if Alice did anything drastic, it would not be something stupid--just something crazy enough that it might work. Of course, he didn't think too much on it just yet--step 1 was surviving the bloodbath, which did not seem like an easy task. Welp... the best way to build the Capitol was one block at a time...

"This is it." Alice nodded, as they were escorted away, bringing his hand to his eye and then flicking it outward as if it was some kind of weird salute. "May the odds be ever in our favor..." he'd miss the stylists too... maybe even Augusta. Perhaps her sharp tongue was not nearly as bad as the sharp blades of weapons that would be probably killing him in a few days or maybe even hours. Yes, that was definitely a much lesser cruelty in his opinion. But, there was no turning back now. This was the beginning of the end.

As they entered the hovercraft, he wondered if it had been made by a District 6 tribute or something. He had not forgotten the DZN-414 he had seen on the train... maybe that was something completely different though? He didn't know how things worked there. He sat down, and noticed other tributes in various moods. Garrett and Adrianna were conversing, neither one seeming very afraid (Smash was even smiling), and Isi was nearby, her arms folded and a stoic expression on her face. Lyndis was swinging her feet idly, and chuckling as she glanced around, causing a few tributes to give her quite the glares. He even noticed the District 5 girl give Lyndis a look that clearly said she knew who she was targetting once they got into the arena, running a finger across her own throat as a warning. As always, Lyndis simply chuckled.

Alice's time in the underground facility was brief. Soemtimes a stylist could come down and add a few personal touches to the tribute if they wished, but perhaps Zobuta and Nakrelu had been satisfied with what they had done thus far, and so Alice was alone and quiet. He took the paper out of his pocket that he had smuggled in, but instead of drawing, he simply stuck it to the wall. It depicted Krystal Saffron from two years ago, glaring right at the viewer, and it bore the same caption as his images of Valendria so often did.
The odds are NEVER in our favor."

Satisfied, he stepped into the metal tube, and soon found himself exposed to sunlight again. A quick look around told him that they were in a wooded landscape. Nesara and Keshet were probably pissing themselves with cruel excitement right about now. This was their home turf. Sure enough, both of them seemed fairly confident. He glanced around the cornucopia, assessing the assortment of backpacks, weapons, and other such things that were scattered around him. He located several bows, and this served as another reminder that within minutes, or maybe days, he would either die innocent, or live long enough to become a killer.
He was briefly interrupted with a string of powerful words, however.
"Sixty. Fifty-Nine. Fifty-Eight..."

This was it. Some of the kdis ehre had less than a minute or two left of their lives. However, he could not lose his focus and think too much about that, otherwise he would be one of those poor unfortunate souls.
On the other hand, there was something else that was rather distracting. For one, the curious aspect that Lyndis was barefoot unlike anyone else, had not slipped his mind. On the other hand, she had somehow flipped into a handstand, lifting one of her arms off the pedestal as she clearly showed off, laughing.

"how the hell did she score a 12? Did they rate her for her insanity? the girl is psycho!"
She had drawn somewhat of an audience, and seemed to be showing off that she was both limber and nimble, despite her large hands and feet. If shew as in that position when the countdown finished... well, he was pretty sure she'd be in trouble. She was running out of time, no less.

"Nineteen. Eighteen. Seventeen..."
"Oh shit, I'm gonna fall!" Lyndis jeered, pretending to lose her balance. She flipped back onto one foot, leaning back and acting as if she was going to tumble right off of the pedestal, before skillfully catching herself and just chuckling. The others snapped out of watching the girl's curiosities, which seemed to have ended at almost the exact right time. Even Alcie had admittedly been distracted, but managed to cut her out of his mind as he focused back on the collection of tributes and weapons and supplies that were scattered all in front of him. Glancing to either side one last time, he saw that he was 2nd from the end, with the girl from District 5 on his left, and the boy from District 10 on his right--thankfully not the career tributes, or another high-scorer. Lyndis, despite being surrounded by Nesara to her left and Zak on her right, seemed unfazed.
Then, he heard those heart-pounding, life-ending, ever-so-dreaded words...

"Three.
Two.
One..."

[Nachthexe]

Between the countdown and the beginning of the bloodbath Paige only found herself briefly glancing at the other tributes out of the corner of her eye. They were arranged in such a way that it alternated between genders, although there didn't seem to be any set order between district. That left Paige baffled slightly, although she didn't think much of it once she spotted Lyndis' outrageous stunt. Taking one brief glance at the girl she shrugged it off. She is fucking crazy. She thought to herself just seconds before the timer expired.

Bam! This was it. The beginning of the 46th Annual Hunger Games. Almost immediately this had all the tributes dashing towards the Cornucopia, all desperate for some potentially life-saving equipment. Some managed to make it quite effortlessly too, particularly Keshet who had easily tripped the District 4 boy beside her as she continued speeding towards the traditional centre of the arena. Already Paige was beginning to get a sense of how the girl had scored so well in training. Her reflexes were clearly incredible judging by the way she had taken down the District 4 boy who was only now still struggling to get back up. Paige soon also found herself becoming cornered, but by one of the District 3 kids. Fortunately he was small so she managed to punch him in the face before continuing on. "Sorry, kid! Business!" She bellowed as the kid, now with a slightly bloodied nose, fled.

Most of the tributes seemed to have their pretty standard tactics of dashing for the first weapon they could get their hands on, although Paige bizarrely briefly noticed the District 12 boy, Joss, taking off in the entirely opposite direction. Clearly he was intending to play a very different game, which almost immediately got Paige on alert as she finally found herself approaching the Cornucopia. Much to her luck there were plenty of swords and knives, both of which she grabbed before another of the currently unarmed tributes came lunging towards her. Interestingly enough, it was the District 3 boy's partner, who had certainly saw her stunt against her partner just seconds earlier. However, due to her equally small size, Paige was able to off her easily, plunging her sword into her chest before pushing her body off her. With that, she grabbed a single backpack before seeking out Alice.

Of course, the bloodbath was far from over with the District 2 boy finally offing the District 4 boy from earlier just as his partner managed to obtain a double kill on both of the District 9 kids. At least it had seemed that way until Keshet was spotted beside her with a bloodied axe. At least one had been her's and then not soon afterwards she finally caught sight of the District 3 boy with the bloodied nose, effortlessly taking him down as well with a few swings of her axe. She was definitely deadly and even the careers nodding in approval confirmed it, although Paige knew she was somewhat in the clear as they began taking off after gathering supplies. Apparently they were being smart and wanted to conserve the rest of their energy for later encounters. Paige, of course, knew her work was far from over as she continue tracking down Alice within the pandemonium of the bloodbath. "Alice! Where the fuck are you?" She bellowed as she managed to dodge the flinging of weapons back and forth just as the smaller boy came into view.

[Zulera301]

As crazy as Lyndis' antics had been, the girl meant business the moment the shit hit the fan. She launched herself towards the cornucopia from her pedestal in what could only be described as a crazy long jump, bolting for the cornucopia just as fast as any of the other tributes, despite not wearing shoes.
On the way, she got viciously confronted by District 1, as well as the girl from District 5. However, if there was one thing that Alice was good at, it was keeping his focus on a single thing until he got it. He raced past Lyndis' partner as he scrambled for the bow, watching as the girl from '5 went straight for Lyndis, aiming for her blood. She was currently unarmed, but that didn't stop her.

BAM! target acquired. He had his bow... but now what? He was not much of a killer with it--if he was going to score kills with the weapon now on his back, it would be through stealth and sniping. He needed to grab some supplies and get out of there. He raced back out of the fray, in a southerly direction (at least, if the sun's position was anything to go by), snagging a fairly small backpack as he did so. Now he could look around a little bit as he tried to find Paige, or find anyone significant. He had to at least know a bit about who he was dealing with before running off.

As he ran though, he found himself struck to the ground by a boy from District 5. He was an older boy, who seemed to have plenty of meat on his bones. Alice shouted from suroprise, bracing himself for the inevitable death that was to come, but suddenly, the load was lifted. He opened his eyes, and saw the boy staggering back as a large, black-skinned girl stomped right over him, ignoring him completely--was this on purpose, or accidental?
Smash. Alice got to see firsthand why she had received that name. Still bare-handed, she grabbed the boy's shoulder with one hand, before slamming her fist so hard into the boy's chest that Alice heard a crunch, and the boy coughed up blood before collapsing. Adrianna had just literally killed a kid with her bare fists, and it made him slightly frightened at just how physically powerful this girl was.

Not wanting to take chances, Alice took off towards Paige's general direction, also grabbing a large dagger on the way in case he ever had a melee encounter. He did not really know how to use it, and so ended up just running forward with it out till he crossed paths with that District 10 boy again, stabbing him in the chest as the two nearly collided.
"Oops!" he exclaimed, almost acting like it was a genuine accident. "Uh... sor--nevermind..." he shook his head as the wide-eyed boy collapsed from the wound, his life now gone. Alice's hands and wrists were now stained with blood, but there was no time to stop for that.

He continued putting distance between himself and the bloodbath, watching the carnage unfold for a bit longer. Lyndis was still alive, dodging an onslaught of attacks, laughing and chucklign as she ducked, flipped, dodges, and otherwise completely avoided other attacks. She was dancing around the arena before she picked up a pair of handaxes, which she then turned the tides with, taking the offensive. She landed a good several lacerations on the District 1 pair, who pulled back, but the District 5 girl seemed persistent. This cost her dearly, for Lyndis' axes soon met her chest, freezing her where she stood. When she made the kill, she briefly released her weapons, pulling the girl in for one last smooch, before grinning malevolently as the larger girl crumpled. Retrieving her axes, she took an offensive again from a fleeing girl form District 4, throwing a club at her, which struck her in the back. An arrow hit her in the neck, killing her before she even fell. Alice glanced around to see Isi shoot it but then motion for Smash and Lyndis to follow her. Already, the latter was covered in blood.

"Paige!" he shouted, as the sounds of the bloodbath grew more distant. Smash, Lyndis, and Isi had done a little give-and-take with most of the careers, landing some hits and taking a few themselves. While he was running towards Paige, he was also running at an angle so that if they were to meet, she'd have to continue running a little bit too.

[Nachthexe]

If there was a master of acrobatics present in the arena it was no doubt Lyndis. Even within the inferno that was the bloodbath she fairly effortlessly dodged various attacks. Even the District 1 pair seemed to be perplexed as the girl managed to get a few good blows in on them before they fled to rejoin the rest of the career pack. None of them stuck around for much longer, soon dashing off into the forest that surrounded the Cornucopia. That managed to bring Paige slight ease, although her main concern was Alice.

Alice! He was in trouble! The District 5 boy was persistent on taking him down, a situation Paige intended to intervene in just as some of the others beat her to it. Smash. She had made and appearance and while thinking she was going to kill Alice she instead took out the District 5 boy with her bare fists. This shocked Paige, having her truly realize the girl's nickname was fitting. A formidable opponent for sure, although she definitely seemed to be on District 8's side for the time being. Fortunately. Lyndis and the rest of the outlying alliance was definitely on fire as well, together taking down both District 5 tributes and the second District 4 tribute. Paige didn't intend to stick around to see what else would happen, dashing towards Alice as he approached her.

"We need to get the hell out of here. Grab what you can and boot your ass out of here." Paige commanded, managing to get one last batch of supplies from the Cornucopia before bolting into the forest. "I think it's beginning to settle down. The career asslickers took off after getting a few kills of their own. They luckily didn't run into me, but I suspect they are not on our side." She explained once she and Alice were in the clear. She was admittedly surprised the careers had left the bloodbath so soon, but perhaps they were playing a slightly different angle this year? There was really no way of knowing this soon into the games. Besides, Paige had much more pressing issues on her mind. Hanna. That bastard had taken her out good. She was surely alive, but barely. Clearly the Capitol forces had done some interrogation of their own, unless they had beaten her specifically to demoralize Paige? Many questions surrounding that ran through her mind as she once again began panicking.

"Hanna! They have Hanna!" Paige bellowed, suddenly grasping to Alice's arms. "In that tube... They played a clip of her, and she was bloodied up..." She continued, attempting to lower her voice not wanting to draw attention to herself if others were nearby. This was the Hunger Games and now nearly anything had potential to kill her, a fact she quickly realized as she struggled to stand upwards in an attempt to continue the trek. Water and shelter. They seemed like two very desirable objectives, even if an unsatisfiable rage began running through her veins. Even in the games Snow truly showed her no mercy.

[Zulera301]

Alice wondered where Lyndis had learned such acrobatics, because the way she was dodging and weaving around attacks was actually quite a spectacle in and of itself, and surely her friends and family (or maybe even her entire district, who probably had reason to be excited for the first time in years) were quite amused and excited by her wild antics. One thing about that girl was certain though--as long as she was alive, there wouldn't be a dull moment wherever she was. Taking advantage of the retreating careers, she helped herself to more supplies, tossing some to Adrianna and Isikiro before disappearing into the woods in the opposite direction.

Luckily Alice was not anywhere near the mayhem anymore, and so was far away as Smash armed herself with a pair of heavy warhammers which she lifted and wielded with ease. If she could kill a kid with just her fists, he hated to think about how destructive she could be with the hammers. She might be able to even damage the golden cornucopia, something that was extremely difficult to do as previous games had indicated. (on the other hand, he didn't think she would because damaging or destroying it would literally serve no purpose at all.

"I think we're on our own." Alice shrugged, "Something tells me the Outliers had other plans and that Smash was just being merciful this once." As they fled, Alice began thinking about who was left. He saw no less than 9 deaths, one of which was his own doing, which meant there were 13 other tributes out there besides himself and Paige. The careers were five strong, then there were those three girls... that left District 6 and three other boys that had all gone in different directions (the little district 6 pair had fled together, much like they had last year), which in turn meant that there was no telling if or when two tributes would cross paths. If Alice intended to win, he certainly had his work cut out for him.

"Shhhh!" he lowered his voice, "not so loud... there were plenty of tributes that didn't stay around for the bloodbath, and I don't really want to attract their attention either..."
After a moment, he decided that wasn't a good way to leave off. "but then... well, that's all the more reason we need to bring home a victor from District 8. If you somehow win, it would be the upset of a century, and it'd probably cause Capitol riots. on a more realistic level... if I win... the legacy will continue. I'm right behind ya, Paige. Once we find a good place to settle down, maybe we can talk about stuff or whatnot... I've got your back." he glanced down at his bloodied hands, realizing that none of that blood was his own. He shook his head, managing to shrug this fact off, before following Paige into the woods.

[Nachthexe]

Paige nodded. She knew that the bloodbath was finally coming to an end as she finally heard various cannons go off. counting, she discovered there had been exactly nine of them. That was pretty reasonable for the first day and was surely bound to hold the Capitol off for awhile before demanding more action. Paige wasn't slow to forget that everybody present was literally at the mercy of the Gamemakers, after all. They had absolute control and could even kill tributes themselves, although it seemed to happen rarely. The Capitol audiences liked the tribute on tribute deaths, surely. "We might really be on our own. Those outlying kids? There's truly no way of knowing whose side they're on. The careers? They're definitely not on our side." Paige responded as Alice noted they were alone for the time being.

"I counted nine cannons. I got that District 3 girl and I saw Keshet get at least two of the others. Smash's performance definitely wasn't overlooked by me either." Paige then blurted out as she tried to decipher who was currently alive. The careers definitely were as were the members of the outlying alliance. Joss as well. That left a few more odd tributes out. Nesara and the District 6 pair. What were they up to? Paige couldn't recall having seen much of either of them during the bloodbath so she suspected they had escaped somehow. She also had no idea what sort of strategy they were playing so she intended to be wary of all of them.

Hanna only continued lingered in Paige's mind, although Alice understandably warned her to lower her voice. "Even here they're trying to continue breaking me. I don't stand a chance." She continued, now shedding tears as the two drove to continue on in search of shelter and water. However, Alice's words managed to give her a brief boost of hope. Her legacy? He intended to continue it? That was bound to be dangerous, but at least the boy had little sentimental connections to anybody. Still, him winning was only a huge if so it was something she didn't intend to dwell on as she attempting to concoct an action plan. "I'm not coming out of his fucking shithole, but you still can. If we find shelter and water, that is." She assured the boy as she glanced over into the distance of the dense forest that seemed to stretch for kilometres.

Keshet and Nesara. It didn't take Paige long to realize just the sort of advantage they were bound to have here. Woodland. It was no doubt their home turf and suddenly she found herself fearing them both, even if the boy's intentions were still unclear. It at least served as a slight assurance that he hadn't joined the careers, but how long would that even last? Surely in this environment they would see him as competent and possibly recruit. Still, Paige didn't think about it long before coming to a halt once again and having Alice lead the way for a bit. He was definitely the more observant one, considering his area of expertise.

[Zulera301]

"True enough," he shrugged, "shit if I have any idea what Lyndis is up to, but from the brief glimpses I saw of them, it seemed like Isi, that kid from '12, was the ringleader of their operation. I dunno if the careers have a leader or anything yet though. three other guys took off into the woods, and I have no idea where District 6 went, but I didn't see any of them get killed." he figured that they would find out tonight for sure who was dead and who was alive. Both of them seemed to have witnessed most of the deaths though, and so could put two and two together. it seemed that most of the tributes had died in pairs by district, apart from the obvious District 10, because Lyndis was very clearly still alive, and Alice had killed her partner himself.

"I got District 10, and I saw Isi snipe the girl from '4, and saw Lyndis do in the girl from '5. She fucken gave her one of those kisses she was giving everyone in the training center." he actually cracked a chuckle. "seriously... I'm 100% convinced that that girl is totally bonkers." 4 boys and a girl were unaccounted for: Garrett, Nesara, Joss, Martin, and Siiri. Even with the outliers killing tributes before departing, there was no really telling what else they were up to or what they had in mind. Sure Isi might have seemed like a leader, but he was pretty sure that if she was killed, Adrianna and Lyndis would not be left confused or anything.

"Hey..." he squeezed her hand, "then you can't let them get to you... not yet. I need you too, Paige. If you want me to get out of this place alive, I know that I can't do it alone unless I'm unrealistically lucky. We'll do this. For you; for me; for Hanna; for District 8..."
he paused, lowering his voice. "for the revolution."
"Let's find some shelter and water or something then... "it might rain, but I don't think we'll find neat little pockets of water like the kids did last year. Hopefully they don't make it an eternal night again either. Shit... it's already dark enough with all these trees around us."

For District 7, this was pretty much home. Districts 11 and 12 would probably do well in this kind of wilderness, for District 12 supposedly had lots of forests. No wonder both tributes survived the bloodbath. That was usually fairly rare for them. District 11 did not have as many woods, but they were very familiar with fruit trees obviously, and so were probably fairly decent climbers as well. Of course, year after year they had proven to be some of the most resilient tributes on the field, and so he figured that Garrett and Smash would go far this year, and maybe even win.
Alice seemed a little surprised and skeptical when Paige asked him to lead, but he did so, keeping his bow out just in case he saw something. Once they found a nice stopping spot, he'd check what was in his backpack.

Pausing to listen to his surroundings, like he so often did back home when he was quietly drawing, he heard nothing but the rustling of the leaves in the breeze, the singing of a few birds including at least three Mockingjays, and the faint sound of flowing water.
"Maybe there's a river up ahead?" he turned in the direction of the noise, "though if there is, then there might be other tributes nearby, so we should probably keep our guards up." this seemed like fairly obvious advice, but Alice continued to lead the little trek deeper into the dense forest, the sound of the rushing water growing nearer.

[Nachthexe]

Paige chuckled. "That girl is fucking insane. At least Keshet seems sane, even if she is allied with the worst scumbags. Either she's a fucking suck up or she has some other tactic in mind." She responded, having seem Lyndis in action. The girl truly did have a few screws loose, but most of all she was skilled. She was powerful. At least her training score had indicated as much. Fortunately though her and her allies didn't seem to have any animosities towards District 8 for the time being. Paige couldn't help but to be genuinely surprised that District 10 had actually produced a powerful tribute after years of being nothing but bloodbath fodder though.

Alice's next words truly brought Paige to another reminder to why a will to live remained in her. Despite her own fate she knew she had to aid Alice. District 8 needed a victor and it needed to be him, no matter how unlikely it seemed. Sure the boy was inexperienced in combat and surely just got lucky with the District 10 boy, it wasn't always the strongest tributes winning the games. Kiva, the last year's victor was a perfect example of that. She was far from strong and even her final encounter had been rather anti-climatic with Valendria essentially just surrendering at her knees. "Shit, kid. That's why I came back for you. If I didn't care about bringing home a District 8 victor I could have offed you pretty easily and you know it." Paige assured Alice as she continued following the boy who was acting as their guide for the time being. "I just can't help but to think about Hanna. She's being punished because of me..." She continued, shedding more tears as she waved her sword through the air.

Shelter and water. Alice was dead on as well and fortunately they seemed to be close as the boy pointed out the sound of a river. Paige stopped to listen and sure enough she heard it too. By following the sound she soon encountered it and fortunately nobody else seemed to be in the vicinity. Both Alice and Paige seemed pretty safe for the time being. "So what do you think? There's water here, which means possibly there's also food. I say we stay for a bit." Paige commented as she glanced down at the river. As far as she was concerned it was safe. The water probably wasn't contaminated as small water creatures even seemed to be thriving in it. Of course, however, sticking around also meant a greater risk of encountering the other tributes. That alone was almost guaranteed to make some sort of night watch mandatory. That was something she would discuss later though as currently she was mostly focused on resting. Already it had been a long day and the days to come were bound to be even more intense.

It was dusk by the time Alice and Paige had finally settled down in their camp by the river. Despite the arena having been filled with seemingly endless carnage just hours earlier it was surprisingly calm now. Certainly all the others had similar ideas to just settle down and rest. That alone gave Paige high hopes that nothing major was going to happen during the night. It was certainly still too early into the games for the Gamemakers to attempt anything too. It was pretty much common knowledge that they saved their tricks for much later on with only a few tributes remaining. With that in mind Paige took some of the water into her hands and began sipping it. It was surprisingly refreshing and definitely not dangerous. "So this is it. This is the beginning of the rest of our lives..." She uttered as she finally leaned back and peered up into the sky. Soon afterwards it became dark and the anthem of Panem played before revealing the faces of the dead tributes, information that Paige had been fairly correct on previously. At least four districts were surely already mourning. It was rare for so many districts to already be out so soon, but the Hunger Games were full of surprises. That was something that was not bound to change even as the days wasted away.

[Zulera301]

"I'll take an insane kid over a suck-up anyday." Alice stated, "I kinda want to see Lyndis gut Keshet. If we both die, I kinda hope she wins. I think having an insane victor might make the Capitol squirm." He wondered what the truth behind the girl's story was. There had to be an explanation for her mental instability, but the training score the girl had received was certainly not a fluke. Alice had seen the insane ways that the girl had evaded attacks, and he was pretty sure that most of the blood on the girl's clothes already was not her own. Perhaps his biggest question about Lyndis' skillset was where she learned to be so flexible. At least twice she had bent over backwards into a position that would have likely broken Alice's back if he tried it. At least one other dodge had had the girl doing full-180 splits. Where did that kind of flexibility and dexterity come from?

Alice chuckled. "and if I didn't care I wouldn't have ever offered my support," he shrugged, "but hey. no point in talking about what shit would be like if we were enemies. That's exactly the way the Capitol wants us to think. Why do you think they only allow one victor?" His mind immediately went back to Rye and Sagittaria from 2 years ago, where one had been forced to kill the other. Surely the Capitol had been hoping that they would pick up their weapons and fight in a desperate struggle to the death, but instead they had set it up to chance. Both Rye and Sagittaria were willing to stand there and allow the other to kill them if the coin landed against them. It had only happened to land in Sagittaria's favor, a notion that the girl had not forgotten, and that still haunted her to this day.

upon reaching the river without incident, Alice nodded. "Let's set up camp here then. your folks probably taught you more about survival than I've ever learned, but I'll do what I can." One of the first things he did do, however, was check the contents of his backpack. It held an empty container, a thing of rope, a few packages of dried food, and a pair of glasses that he would have been clueless about what they were used for if he had not seen them during the 45th Hunger Games.
"oh yes!" he exclaimed. "YES!" If he could have night vision, then perhaps he could stand a chance against the other tributes to come up against them in the night with his bow. He was not very fast, but he was deadly accurate, so if he could slip here or there unseen, he might have a chance at taking out a tribute or two. He didn't see a flawless victory being paved in front of him or anything, but it was a small thing that pushed against odds that were so heavily stacked against him.

Later that evening, Alice laid down beside Paige, gazing up at the stars above them. The trees were a little sparser here given the presence of the river, but there were still plenty of them. "I've never seen so many stars in my life." he exclaimed, "and now here we are... at the rather bitter and unpleasant end of our lives... there's a discomfortingly serene feeling I've got right now..." he trailed off as the anthem played and soon the faces of the tributes appeared. District 3, District 4, District 5, and District 9. All four of them had lost both tributes. As rare as that might have been, it also meant the opposite was true. Seven districts still had both of their tributes. The only district that only had 1 tribute left was District 10.
He glanced her way, his emerald green eyes shimmering in the moonlight, almost as if they held a childike innocence to them, even if Paige knew full well that the boy in front of her was anything but innocent to the horrors and malevolence of the world he was in. "so... you ready for this shit?" he raised an eyebrow.

[Nachthexe]

There were many mysteries surrounding Lyndis for sure, but if she did end up winning in some dramatic turn of events it was bound to surprise the Capitol for sure. Certainly it had been year since they've seen a District 10 victor, but the girl was also insane so many of the Capitol citizens were even bound to be afraid of her by the end. At least if Augusta was anything to go off of. The Capitol citizens just simply didn't enjoy getting their hands dirty. "Keshet is calm and determined. Plus she's at a fierce advantage here. Due to that alone my money's on her unfortunately. Shit, she got a double kill in the bloodbath alone, even outperforming the rest of her career buddies." Paige explained, despite the earlier badassery displayed by Lyndis. Surely she would make it far though.

"That's part of their fucking game. Eventually they will even force us to become enemies. If we're the last two standing, which is damn unlikely considering what those asslickers surely have in store for me, then you know what we have to do." Paige let out a sigh as Alice once again pointed out the inevitable ending to the games. He was right. There was only one victor and many before have even suffered from it; Sagittaria and Kiva were just two recent ones in an endless chain of suffering. That was something not quick to go over Paige's head. Hopefully if Alice won he could at least keep the spirit of rebellion alive. It was only full-on rebellion that had potential to discontinue the games, after all. It was a future that Paige knew her parents had believed in, being just as repulsed by the murder of children as she was.

Once at the river Alice began rummaging through his backpack, prompting Paige to do the same. So far he seemed to have some decent items such as the same sort of night vision glasses that had been present during the 45th games. Naturally, that got Paige concerned though. Was there going to be eternal night here or were they simply an item included to give tributes an extra edge? "Well shit, you're prepared. They better not be pulling that eternal night bullshit on us though. That got fucking tiresome." She commented, examining the glasses in Alice's hand. She then pulled out items from her own bag and found a set of matches(which there seemed to be in nearly every arena), an empty water bottle, dried food, and a set of throwing knives. That put a smirk on her face, figuring they would come in handy later if she was ever separated from her main weapons. "Lucky bitch I am, daring to venture so close to the Cornucopia." She commented as she stuffed everything back in.

Once the night's projection of dead tributes finished up Alice commented on how calm it supposedly was in her their location, but Paige couldn't relax. Not yet. Not when Hanna was so fresh on her mind. The Capitol was truly trying to break her before offing her and admittedly it even surprised her they had pulled that last stunt before sending her into the nightmarish arena. Clearly they had no limits, but she couldn't help but to think. Was the girl still alive? Had they finally killed her after showing the image in the small room under the arena? There were many possibilities and each one only seemed worse than the last. Certainly through some interrogation of the woman they had discovered something about her rebellious tendencies too. This was literally a fight for survival now, both for Paige and Hanna. Together she knew they would have been strong, but separated each one was greatly demoralized. That was a major weakness that Snow had easily managed to exploit already.

"This sky is nice, but too bad it's artificial shit. Hell, this entire shithole is." Paige commented as she continued gazing up at the night sky. It was something not often observed or even visible back in District 8 due to its urban nature so even she could admit this was a rare treat. Despite all the death and destruction the Hunger Games entailed perhaps past tributes were right that there could be genuinely happy moments too. At least Paige found herself becoming as happy as she could while Hanna still lingered in the back of her mind. If she managed to survive her endeavour in the Capitol Paige could only hope that if Alice won he would somehow look out for her. Being a rebel was dangerous, after all, but victors had a special sort of immunity. Alice especially if his distance from his family was real. She couldn't think of any reason the boy would lie about such a thing though so she quickly shrugged it off.

[Zulera301]

"she looks that way," Alice pointed out, "but remember how she exploded when Lyndis kissed her? If she's willing to lose cool over something so stupid and trivial, then that's a weakness to exploit right there." the strategist in Alice was starting to show itself. "Can you really see Lyndis exploding over... well anything? I'd ask if you could see her losing it, but I think she lost it years ago, so I guess it's moot." he laughed. Lyndis' brand of insanity was interesting though. It could not be said that she had anything in common with the savage and cannibalistic Titus from years ago who had tried eating the other tributes he had killed. Lyndis' insanity just had her doing over-the-top and crazy stunts, or just being all-around silly.

Alice shook his head. "if it somehow came down to the two of us, I'd let you just kill me up front." he admitted, "you've got someone to go home to, and you winning the games would leave a much bigger impact on Panem than mine would. If you won the games, you would have just solidified the ultimate "fuck you" the Capitol could ever get. I can see it now... Lean up and tell Snow "I won this time"." He left out that there really were no winners to the Hunger Games, but hell if that story still didn't sound cool. The coolness of Kyla Joanna Togisala's story was part of what kept it alive. She was arguably more popular even than Valendria--certainly not even remotely as controversial too.

"aw hall naw," Alice shook his head, "eternal dark in thick canopies of trees like this? they'd just be ASKING for tributes to wander around blindly and stupidly and nothing to actually happen. They're smarter than that... unfortunately." He was not fond of saying what he just did, but he knew it was true. He laughed at Paige's reaction to her own items. "lucky bitch indeed. you're not bloodbath fodder." he retorted, "and you're going to stay an alive bitch for a bit longer. If you get anything less than 10th you're a Capitol asslicker." he taunted. If nothing else, he knew that that would strike a note with Paige that would hopefully motivate her to... well, not die. Either that or it'd just make him look like an ass. Ah well... it was worth a shot, and this was literally the last time they would ever see each other, because only one of them could come out of this thing alive, and they both knew it.

"Nothing wrong with artificial," he retorted, gazing up at the picturesque sky. "it's the fact that it's an illusion that irks me... just like everything else the Capitol does. they give us an illusion of stability... fuck that. Snow's regime is balanced on the edge of a knife. They give us the illusion of luxury. It's taken off of the backs of 12 enslaved districts, and you're still under control of the Capitol in most circumstances. They give you the illusion that they are friendly and accommodating when the tributes first enter the Capitol. haha... I don't even think I need to explain how false that one is."

Having never really known the girl, Alice obviously wasn't thinking much about Hanna, especially since she was so far away from them now. It was not to say that he wouldn't listen to Paige's concerns if she voiced them, but he couldn't read minds or anything. if Paige ever brought it up though... he'd definitely consider it if he won (unless Hanna was like totally an insufferable bitch or something). He had heard stories of victors doing that kind of thing... "adopting" special people, or something like that. He had never given it much though considering that he wasn't even probably going to bring his parents in with him if he won... but that was all beside the point. It was far too early for him to be counting his chickens.

[Nachthexe]

Paige chuckled. "Maybe she just doesn't like being kissed? She doesn't seem like the affectionate type. Poor thing, was probably ignored as a child or something. Sort of like you in a way I guess." She explained, already building theories in her head about Keshet even if they were later proven to be incorrect. She did realize Alice had a point about the girl's seemingly short temper though. Perhaps it was prominent enough to be a significant weakness in the girl. That was something to explore later though as rest was crucial now.

Somebody to go home to? Suddenly Paige found herself being pained by Alice's words. She hinted at this by glancing straight into the boy's eyes. Not anymore, Alice. Not anymore... They got her too. She let out a sigh at Alice's next words, however. Winning the games? Certainly it would serve as a huge "fuck you" to Snow, but it was something the man would never allow and she had realized it long ago. She was baffled as to why Alice even believed it to still be an option. The boy was definitely way too optimistic, unless she was way too pessimistic? Really it all seemed like a matter of perspective, but Paige didn't bother dwelling on it any longer. She would play out each day of the games as it came towards her, only focusing on survival. Even Alice's joke about being a Capitol asslicker seemed to be strangely motivating for this, having her nod before shifting onto her side.

Paige had begun to doze off just when Alice had begun talking smack about the Capitol again. It was one of those small things that always managed to capture her attention, but this time it particularly hit her hard. Illusion. It truly was all they were good at and now Paige truly was trapped on the worst end of it along with plenty of other victims, nine of which had already lost. "You know, since this is all being recorded Snow is probably squirming like a little bitch as he proceeds to censor all our words out. Can't have the districts getting ideas from us." She realized as she let out another chuckle. Censorship. It was really way too obvious that it existed in the games, particularly in regards to more rebellious tributes. That too created an illusion, an illusion that all was well with Panem's tributes. It was of course just another point that fit well into Alice's analogy.

As it was nearly impossible to tell time in an artificially created environment Paige wasn't sure what time it was when she finally fell asleep, but she knew she had slept soundly as she awoke to sunlight erected high in the sky. If anything, it was a pleasant surprise, considering the last games. Now she only hoped it would continue. "Well shit, look at that. Sunlight. I suspect we should get moving while there's daylight though." She advised as she attempted to shake Alice awake who was still sound asleep. Perhaps he somehow still thought he was back in the Capitol? It was a nice thought as then there had been nobody trying to kill each other, but now they were in a death match and unless they moved around they were bound to be targeted eventually.

[Zulera301]

Alice chuckled. "I liked her kiss though. She smelled like cherries. Then again, I think plenty of tributes wanted to gut Lyndis... but most of them are dead now. I almost feel bad for the girl from '5." She had not taken too well to Lyndis' kiss, but after Lyndis had stabbed her, she ended the girl's life by giving her that very kiss that she had hated--adding insult to injury. "Damn, Lyndis is fucking crazy. I think she sort of cast a blanket reputation for all of us, and that's why they say all of these tributes are insane." he laughed. He'd worry about it later though. If he won he could go on tour to the other districts and maybe speak to all the mentors about the tributes they had taught this year. He had a long way to go till that happened though.

He noticed the look, and wasn't surprised to guess what it meant. "did they axe her?" he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. On the other hand, he kind of hoped that they had, because if that connection was severed, Paige would have nothing left to live for and then he figured that she'd go on an all-out rampage. He frankly wanted to see that happen. Either way, he rolled over, closing his eyes and falling asleep. The ground was softer than the floors at home he usually slept on, (though he did have a bed that he often slept on too), and the temperature was nice and comfortable, and so were the clothes he was wearing. he had washed the blood off of his hands and gloves, and so he began to doze off fairly easily.

Alice chuckled. "Exactly... he can't kill an idea whose time has come..." he said softly, since he was getting tired. It had been a long day, and Alice didn't even have anything to compare this to. All he knew was that somewhere in this arena, among the remaining 15 tributes, there was a victor lurking among them. He wondered who it would be. "but hey... they've got no control over me... so if I win the games... I *win* the Capitol's game." implying that he would be free of the Capitol's grasp. It was a bold maneuver, but there was nothing they could really do to him that he could think of that they could do to him. He cared nothing for power or money. He wasn't hard on the eyes, but was not exactly Capitol standard material, even if he was old enough to be such. He had no friends' no family... They could take him, but his mind would still be his own, and would be unbreakable.

Alice groaned a bit and stirred, rubbing his eyes. "holy shit. there's actually sunlight." he exclaimed just as well. "I guess they decided that two years of long arena nights was enough and decided to smarten up."
He sat up and stretched. "well... are we going to get going or something, or should we stick around a bit longer? This does seem a bit too open to linger around too longer, and now that the bloodbath is over, people aren't going to be trying to snuggle up for the night." He wondered where the others were, but figured he'd find out sooner or later--whether he liked it or not.

[Nachthexe]

The more Lyndis' antics got revealed the more Paige found herself growing intrigued by the girl. What was causing her to act the way she does? Was there some deeper reason she had volunteered for the games rather than it being a mere accident? Many questions about the girl ran through Paige's head even if she knew she would probably never get answers. This was a death match so somehow she doubted anybody was going to be willing to sit down and chat. It truly was a shame that children of Panem only ever had an opportunity to meet each other during a fight to the death. This was just one more heart-breaking reality to Paige.

Alice was clearly interested in Hanna, despite how uncomfortable it was bound to make Paige by discussing it. "No. She's fucking alive. It almost looked as if she was beaten by Peacekeepers. I think that asswipe is trying to keep her alive in order to demoralize me further. So far it seems to be working. Why live when I have nothing to return to? That man has taken every fucking thing I have. It's nothing but take, take, take. Those words in my interview? They were sincere and that asswipe definitely knows hence he was certainly squirming like a little bitch then too." She explained before once again rolling over onto her side. The reality truly began to sink in that she really was alone. Certainly she had Alice by her side, but even that was only bound to be temporary. Nothing in the Hunger Games lasted forever, surely yet another example of the Capitol only taking and never giving. At least Alice seemed to be somewhat immune to it though, having little connection to his family. That gave Paige just a tiny spark of hope, even if just for his sake, within a tunnel of darkness and despair.

"Yea, sunlight. I was hoping we would see that here. Now I can only hope that son of a bitch stays." Paige responded the next morning as Alice finally awoke. Much to her surprise their current location still seemed to be clear or the others. It made sense really as there definitely hadn't been any confrontation during the night, something Paige was thankful for; she had a full night's sleep and that was something she felt like would only be a rare luxury in this environment in the days to come. Gamemakers were known to essentially force action during slow parts, after all, although now it was only day two so anything of the sort was unlikely to happen now. Still, precautions were important.

"No, we need to boot our asses. We're in a vulnerable location. Water. Everybody will be seeking it out and remaining here is just asking for trouble." Paige advised as she topped off her water bottle to prepare for the journey ahead. She wasn't sure where they were going to end up in this mostly yet unexplored forest, but she could only hope it wasn't directly into the turf of the career pack. Certainly the others were bound to be a lesser threat, even if their true allegiances were still mostly unclear. "We should have enough water to last at least a few days, but we still need a food source. So far I haven't seen much of anything besides the minnows in this river. Hardly anything sizable enough to eat." She continued as she finished packing up the rest of her supplies. She then rinsed her sword which was surprisingly still coated in blood from the day before.

Naturally, Paige began leading the duo through the foliage. It seemed to get thicker the further away from the Cornucopia they travelled, but if anything that was bound to be advantageous; a few trees and bushes were excellent for providing cover. However, it was the sounds in the distance that seemed to capture Paige's attention. Other tributes or small critters lingering about? She easily hoped for the latter and began carefully following the sounds. "This may be exactly what we need. Meal time." She whispered over to Alice as she continued listening for the source of the sound. Whatever it was was getting closer, beginning to confirm her original suspicions. Those were unmistakeably animals of some sort.

[Zulera301]

Of all the tributes in the arena, Alice was the most intrigued by Lyndis, Smash, and Isi. He could understand how Lyndis and Smash could have become friends, given that both of them seemed to hold a certain degree of craziness, but Isi seemed much more level-headed and focused, and somehow she had managed to rein in those two wild girls into a solid alliance. Adrianna seemed fairly straightforward, and he was definitely worried about how destructive she would be now that she had a pair of heavy hammers to swing around. Lyndis though... there seemed to be no coherence to her actions. Valendria the year before had done some things that made people scratch their heads, but she had explained it all at the end. (publicly, it was only announced that she 'did not want to win the games'. the anti-Capitol sentiment that she had displayed had been censored) Lyndis on the other hand, seemed to have no method to her madness.

Alice was just confused. "I thought it was already established that you WEREN'T going to live." he gave her a somewhat skeptical look. Maybe he was just going about this thinking the wrong way, but was Paige going to try and live now, or had she already accepted that she was probably going to die? Heck, Alice figured that he was tribute bait from the start, but that didn't stop him. He was going to play this till the moment he was lying dead at the end of someone's sword.
"I see no reason to lie much," he shrugged, "the stuff I draw? everything I write on those images is what I think." It was actually a very clear image of Alice's personal viewpoints. The odds were never in their favor. The Capitol only takes. Benevolence from oppressors is just an illusion. Heck, even "FUCK THE CAPITOL" applied here.
Perhaps it would all end here. He was just a small boy surrounded by dense, mysterious woods and a dozen other deadly children that were out for blood. If he wanted a chance, he'd have to manipulate the odds pretty strongly.

Alice was fairly refreshed the next morning however, and the sunlight had denied one of his concerns--they weren't going to make it eternally dark like the last game, and they didn't seem to be extending the night the way that they did during the 44th Games. the sleep was actually not half bad considering that they had slept on the ground under the stars. It was a nice experience, even if everything around them was not even real. He had always wondered how the Capitol had the technology to do that, but didn't have time to think about it right now. First things first.

Alice nodded, drinking his fill before topping his own bottle off. The water was very refreshing, and he drank it rather amply. He did demolish one of his packs of meat strips, but he still had a few more left, and so that was just a little tide-me-over till they could get some actual food hopefully.
"so are you saying that we'll be checking back in in this river now and again or something?" he tilted his head curiously. It was obviously a reliable water source, although he also knew that that could change at any time. He remembered one year where the Gamemakers had drained every river in the arena, and then suddenly brought it all back. Some of the tributes had been walking in the riverbanks to find pockets of water, and so when the floods hit them, they were swept away and killed. It had otherwise been a fairly dull year.

As they walked, Alice gripped his bow, examining it as he walked. He tested the string a few times, and it almost seemed like it was made for him. Maybe it was, but probably not. He had tried several different bows in the training room, getting the feel of each of them in case he didn't get his "perfect fit".
As he heard the sound of something approaching, he went and nocked an arrow this time, pointing it out in front of him, taking a deep breath, and focusing. He positioned himself so that the source of the sound was directly in front of him, and took aim, hoping to soon catch a glimpse of something to put an arrow through.

[Nachthexe]

"Oh no, I'm not going to live. Snow would never allow it and would surely ensure I die here, but I'm not just going to lie down and surrender like a little bitch either." Paige assured Alice, noting his confusion. Her situation really was hopeless and certainly tragic too had it been public. His intentions were never made public. That was dangerous and definitely posed a serious risk to his delicate rule over Panem. The man knew better than to test that. "Honestly, it looks pretty grim for both of us unless you have some sort of asskicking badassery I don't know about." Paige continued, realizing further just how grim their situation truly was.

"I have a feeling this isn't the only water source in this shithole. There's little reason to stick around." Paige responded as Alice began questioning her intentions. He was definitely observant which was bound to be helpful in deciphering how exactly to take down powerful opposition, but that was to come later. Paige would remain satisfied if she didn't have an encounter with the others for days. Of course, such a thing was never guaranteed as there was really no way of knowing where they were lurking. These first few days were bound to be mostly survival rather than actual combat, something that Paige's parents had only briefly taught her. Certainly they had known to be prepared for the worst, but clearly they hadn't anticipating Snow eventually coming for them. Still, she was making use of what she did know. Alice had to win, or at least make it far enough to be remembered.

Animals. They were definitely present and soon enough they had revealed themselves between the layers of brush. They definitely looked to be edible too. However, Paige knew that attempting to kill any sort of animal with her throwing knives was bound to be risky so instead she turned towards Alice who seemed to have the more suitable weapon for the task: a bow. "Are you ready to put that shit to use?" She whispered in attempt to not startle the small creatures that were now only several metres away. "Ever hunted before? I haven't, but I suppose now it's time to learn." She added as attempted to position herself to have the creatures taken down. With some luck, there was bound to be a decent feast today. It did get Paige wondering if the others had caught on the fact that hunting was bound to be potentially life-saving as long as they remained in the arena. Certainly the outlying tributes usually did, but the careers may have not of, which managed to bring a large smirk to Paige's face as she awaited Alice to make the inevitable shot towards the creatures.

[Zulera301]

Alice nodded, as if this clarified things for him. "well then... looks like we've got to tweak the odds till they favor us." with 'us' he did kind of just mean himself given that Paige had accepted death now even if she wasn't going to just lie down and take it. He had mixed feelings on the matter, but he and Paige had a few things they disagreed on anyways, so this was not a terribly big deal to him at the moment. There were things that he was not going to convince her of, and there were things that she would have no success convincing him of.
"grim as it might be... don't count me out just yet." Alice reminded her.

"right behind ya then," he nodded as Paige decided that there were probably more water sources out there. On the other hand, Alice remembered one year where there were two sides to the arena--one side was absolutely majestic and breathtaking, and seemed to have shelter and lush green landscapes all around them. the other side of the opposite--barren-looking, hostile terrain that played with the sunlight in ways that made it look like not even tracker-jackers could survive there. However, when the tributes tested the arena, they found the opposite to be true. a vast majority of the tributes flocked towards the lush and dazzling jungle, only to find that the water was tainted and the plants were poisonous, and that mutts and tracker-jackers were everywhere. The few tributes brave or stupid enough to venture into the hostile lands found abundances of food and water, and while their shelter choices were not exactly stellar, they also did not have to deal with the monsters and mutts, which were absent from this part of the arena. A kid from District 3 had won that year, if he recalled correctly.

"Just once," he replied, in regards to her question about hunting. "right here; right now." Alice focused on the creatures, aiming at the larger one and letting fly. Perhaps there was hope for the kid after all, for his arrow rang true, striking the creature in the vitals, dropping it as its partner scampered away.
"well there you have it, bitch." he chuckled, using the vulgar term in a more endearing manner. "free food." He remained cautious as he approached it though, because for all he knew, it could be similar to Kyla how she died. She had been mortally wounded, but that had not stopped her from lashing out in one final strike that had slain her killer so quickly that Kyla ended up taking 3rd instead of 5th. He was fairly proud of his accomplishment, but wasn't going to let it get to his head. It was one thing to kill an animal, but killing a tribute would be a whole 'nother fish to fry.

[Nachthexe]

As far as self-confidence went it was clear that Paige and Alice were on opposite ends, despite their alliance. The boy, despite his inexperience, still believed he could win while Paige suspected the entire game was rigged against her from the start. It baffled her, but it was an attitude she likely couldn't bring herself to even question any further. The boy was determined and how far that got him, only time would tell. Besides, there were still many more tributes out there, nearly all of them having proved themselves superior in skill.

Unsurprisingly, Alice didn't seem to raise much opposition to Paige's plans to move to a new location. She wasn't sure where they were bound to end up as she had no way of realistically navigating, but she realized that most tributes in these games usually didn't. It was a skill rarely even emphasized in the training centre, but Paige quickly found herself realizing it was one that could have been useful. Alice was an observant one too so he would have likely mastered such a thing. "You know, I just realized something. Those cuntmuffins back in the training centre don't even teach us much about navigation. It's one of those things that would have come in handy right about now." Paige blurted out as she began walking, finally going silent as she approached the small animals.

Paige's jaw dropped once Alice shot his arrow at the creature in question. It had been a direct hit, seemingly killing the creature almost instantly. "Well shit, maybe I underestimated you, kid. Not bad. I'm sure everybody back in the Capitol is speculating right now about how us urban kids are bound to not last long here. Ready to prove those little shits wrong?" She complimented the younger boy as she picked up the small creature while pulling out Alice's arrow and handing it back to him. "This should be about enough to feed the both of us. Now we just need to find a place to set up camp, although lighting a fire will make us vulnerable since anybody could follow the smoke." She continued as she examined the creature.

Once the animal was packed up Paige prompted for Alice to follow her once again. Shelter. It was the next priority. Judging by the position of the sun she guessed it was only about early to mid afternoon. Plenty of time still for action to make an appearance. Fortunately, because it was still so early in the games there was bound to be no forced encounters so anything would be entirely by chance. Noting this, Paige prompted for Alice to remain quiet as he trekked through the woods alongside her. As a precaution she held her sword in her hand while occasionally checking her backside. She realized the various foliage was bound to be advantageous to the smaller tributes as it offered a place to hide and leap out at unsuspecting passerby. Strategically, it seemed like a long shot, but it wasn't something Paige was about to overlook. The Hunger Games always drove people to desperation.

"One thing I noticed about last year's arena is that shelters were much more obvious. This year? Not at all. What do you think of this sucker? Seems we could stay concealed for a bit." Paige finally spoke up after seemingly hours of exploring. The location she pointed out seemed ideal for a temporary shelter, staying longer than a couple days having its risks. Even attempting to light a fire was bound to be dangerous, but the trees surrounded by patches of foliage provided helpful cover. She wasn't sure about Alice just yet, but it was a risk she was willing to take, having grown desperate after several hours of exploring. She realized soon dusk would be approaching, seemingly the safest time to light a fire in order to cook the meat. "Fuck it, we're staying. Dusk will be approaching and if we intend to eat it will mask the smoke from our fire." She finally uttered throwing her supplies down onto the ground before slouching down herself against one of the trees. At that, she pulled out the creature from earlier and began skinning it while gesturing for Alice to go gather kindling. There seemed to be an abundance and so far no other tributes seemed to be nearby so she felt like it was going to be another decent night. One could at least hope.

[Zulera301]

Alice shrugged. "the only thing that they really had any advice on was how to tell which way was north or south or whatever." he indicated, "It had to do with the positions of the sun and moon or something. If the gamemakers mixed shit up though... I still remember what direction the cornucopia was pointing. the tail pointed that way." he turned around a bit, pointing his arm in a certain direction. How he had remembered this was anyone's guess, but it was another testament to the boy's keen attention to detail. It might not have been actually north, but it was a direction to go by.

Even after he shifted his position to get a good shot on the animals, it was still in his mind which way he was facing in relationship to "cornucopia north". When he heard Paige's question, he actually grinned ear to ear.
"Paige, my friend..." he said almost proudly, "I was ready to prove them wrong about District 8 the moment my name was called back on that stage a week and a half ago. Alice took the arrow, twirling it nimbly between his fingers a few times before stowing it back in his quiver. This was an otherwise completely useless skill, but had been one that he had picked up from twirling pencils, which he did sometimes when he contemplated what to draw next or something.

With a nod, Alice quietly followed Paige, his mind already wandering to the idea of fire and smoke, and he was already working on how he could potentially use that against the other tributes. "distraction. they see the fire but would they see the trap? It seems like an easy way to set an ambush up. No... still too early to make that conclusion. need more time to figure out how other tributes would react first..."
He shook his head, mentally muttering all of this to himself, and otherwise walking quietly. If there was one thing to be said about this small, unassuming boy, it was that he was very analytical--almost the kind of stock one might expect to find in District 3, minus the savviness with technology.
"mm." he nodded softly to acknowledge Paige's instruction, and he remained light on his feet. He was fairly stealthy due to his light steps and small frame, although at the same time, it wasn't like all 114 pounds of his physical girth would last much against the likes of Lyndis or Smash. He was fairly certain that the latter could probably literally rip him in half if she so desired. This in turn reminded him of other tributes, and so he took stayed wary, watching for anything in the trees that stood out or that he thought might be useful to know about.

"Seems like we need a bit of survival skills just to put together something decent," he quipped, "and hey, if we need to do any night wandering, I've got those glasses." The only way to find out if he'd be any good as some nighttime sniper and stealth expert was if he tried, but he wasn't too eager to go out on a hunt or anything like that just yet. No, he was hoping that the careers and the outliers would cross paths first and eliminate some of each other's numbers or something. It wasn't like Alice was going around as prominent threat #1 or anything like that.
"Let's do that then," he nodded, "I'll be back in a few."
Over the next several minutes, Alice would be zigzagging back and forth with small piles of kindling. He was not a very large boy and was not trained in physical labor. He was a designer, for crying out loud, so it wasn't like he could haul these huge logs with ease the way Smash probably could. In fact, part of him almost banked on seeing Smash rip a tree out of the ground or something. Still... he manged to produce a rather fine-sized pile of kindling by the time Paige was done skinning and gutting the creature.
"what are we doing with the shit we don't eat?" he asked, mostly referring to things like skin, bones, and such. "even if other tributes don't smell it, other animals might." This was just something that to him, made sense, and he wanted to voice that concern to ensure his and Paige's safety. The two of them were definitely out of their element, and so would need all the help they could get.

[Nachthexe]

Paige chuckled. District 8 proving the Capitol wrong? With her fate already sealed and Alice having little chance of even staying alive Paige knew it would be no easy task. As much as she doubted Alice's own reaping had been rigged, occasionally the thought did enter her mind that Snow was trying to prevent a District 8 victory in the 46th games. That alone gave Paige incentive enough to help get Alice out of the arena. "Well then you better fucking stay alive." She responded as the boy showed passion towards the idea of a District 8 victory, or at least District 8 being memorable.

"Yea, a lucky son of a bitch you were by finding those. Save them for if we ever need to flee quickly in the night." Paige found herself advising Alice once again as he mentioned the night vision glasses. She suddenly began wondering how many of the others had them, but she suspected they were sparse as they were bound to grant a significant advantage to anybody fortunate enough to pick them up. That also meant the careers had an extra edge if they had managed to pick up any, something Paige didn't even want to think about. They definitely seemed like the types who would strike others during the night now that the initial rest period after the bloodbath had come to an end. Fortunately, Paige felt they were safe for the time being, having not seen the careers since the bloodbath.

Once Alice returned from gathering kindling Paige proceeded to prepare a fire. She messily stacked the kindling and then finally pulled out the matches he had managed to retrieve at the Cornucopia. She struck one and almost immediately it lit up. She then worked her magic on the fire and soon both her and Alice were in the presence of radiant flames, ones she knew they couldn't keep going for long. Noting that, she then tossed the now skinned and gutted animal onto the fire. The first real meal in the arena. However, Alice had a valid concern of his own, one Paige hadn't thought of previously. Ah shit, bury it? Fortunately most animals are bound to be less dangerous than the other tributes, but we need to save our resources." She responded, shrugging.

Once the meal was finished and the fire was extinguished Paige once again leaned back and stared up at the night sky. Day two and still not a single cannon since the bloodbath. Certainly the Capitol was anxiously awaiting some action, although it was still much two early for them to force anything. Paige realized this even as the anthem of Panem played without a single face being shown in the sky. She truly wasn't sure whether to feel nervous or at ease about this, but in the meantime she intended to enjoy the current serenity as long as she could. "So this is what our second night out here feels like? Shit, it's surprisingly calm even. Certainly the career asslickers are just waiting to strike somebody down." She uttered shortly before finally dozing off.

The next morning came without a single cannon, although once up Paige peered out of her foliage barrier and noticed something else peculiar. "Blood. A trail of it. Somebody else was nearby. They still could be since I didn't hear a cannon." She notified Alice, proceeding to pack up supplies. She admittedly wasn't ready to leave yet, but with somebody else in the vicinity there was bound to be a risk. Fortunately, whoever it was was likely already injured pretty badly and the trail of blood was bound to lead right to them. "It might be time to take some of these bitches down so you're one step closer to home. We might have a chance here. What do you say?" She asked Alice with a part of her hoping it was one of the careers no matter how unlikely that was.

[Zulera301]

Alice smirked. "I plan to." While he was generally a fairly non-ambitious kid, when Alice put his mind to something, he did not stop until it was complete. About 99% of the time, this was just an artistic idea or something, but now and again it involved collecting information about someone, or something bigger. This was clearly his grandest and most ambitious plan that would probably ever happen in his short little life. He was literally going to win the Hunger Games or die trying. On the other hand, he didn't have a choice, but that still sounded like a cool last phrase or something.

"There's always luck in the Hunger Games. Kiva's win was luck, and so was Sagittaria's." he reminded her. There was also plenty of skill, and he did not look that over. most of Sagittaria's win had been skill, although the lucky part for her was that she won the coin toss, for if she had lost, she would have willingly submitted the same way Rye did. Kiva's win was luckier because unbeknownst to her or anyone in Panem except perhaps Glimmer, the most powerful tribute in the arena that everyone was banking on winning... did not intend to win. He wondered who would win this year... and would it be more luck, or skill?

"well, I guess if we're going to move on anyways, then who cares what we do with it. I just don't want some carnivorous mutt coming in on us while we sleep or something." he thought of those giant tiger-like mutts from the 44th Arena. "I mean... I can see the Capitol wanting you to not just be killed, but to be torn apart beyond recognition. What better way to do the dirty work than with some meat-sniffing mutts?" It was just a weird thought that had come into his head, and certainly not something he hoped would come to pass. The idea of tributes getting mutilated and disfigured, while often times a gruesome reality in the games, was something that never sat well with him. It was why he never drew Blaze or Leon's corpses, for example. [on the other hand, he did have a fair-sized collection of depictions of Rye, Kyla, Dezna, and Glimmer; and of course he had entire sketchbooks dedicated to Valendria.]

"It definitely feels serene." Alice couldn't help but agree. "I wonder if day 3 will hold any surprises. it's be tragically ironic if the Capitol had to force tributes together only three days into this mess." he took a drink of water. "hopefully Smash gets hold of the careers and bashes their skulls in or something. how awesome would it be to see the Capitol favorites and that District 7 suckup get punched to death?" he did definitely hold Adrianna in a higher respect than Keshet, for while the latter had scored higher than the former, Adrianna had declined the offer to join the career pack, which Alice figured took some serious guts to do. It was thoughts like these that wandered through his mind as he dozed off and fell asleep under the stars for the 2nd night in a row.

Alice was equally surprised to find blood so close to their little foliage shelter they had slept in. "you think it's a tribute?" he asked. he thought it was, "or an animal... or maybe Lyndis just getting too carried away?" he joked, referencing the fact that one of Lyndis' recurring traits was that she was so frequently covered in blood that was not her own.
Turning to Paige, he nodded fairly confidently. "Let's find whatever this is... and maybe we can get a good idea as to what did this to them..." he strapped his knife back to his waste, shouldered his bow and quiver, and followed Paige and the trail of blood.

[Nachthexe]

It did seem a bit bizarre to Paige that the games were already nearing Day Three with little action. Paige could only conclude that either the arena was very large or that the thick forest provided plenty of places to hide. She knew there were at least a few tributes out there probably relying on stealth. Joss' early departure from the Cornucopia made Paige inclined to believe he was one of them. Perhaps Nesara too as he was another mysterious face she hadn't seen since the bloodbath. The possibilities were endless and she could only hope that most of these people were currently not trying to hunt her down. Fortunately, District 8 was often overlooked in the games, perhaps even more so this year due to the low tribute scores.

"If anything happens tomorrow I'm putting my money on it involving the careers. They're usually the ruthless killers and also suck-ups. That alone is enough to make those asslickers hunt down everybody else. Lyndis is questionable since she took off with the District 11 and 12 girls." Paige explained as Alice made his own speculations of what was to come. That just perhaps another wonder of the Hunger Games for the Capitol audiences especially: it was unpredictable and Valendria's legacy alone helped to prove it. Still, it was a thought that only lingered briefly in Paige's mind before she finally dozed off under the night sky for the second time in a row.

Paige nodded when Alice agreed to follow the trail of blood. The absence of a cannon blast confirmed that it was either an injured animal or an injured tribute, but somehow the latter seemed more likely. It also seemed to be surprisingly fresh as well, leading Paige to the conclusion that whoever it was had only had a very recent confrontation somewhere within the forest. Noting that, she strapped a few knives to her waist and placed her backpack on her back while then gripping her sword. In the Hunger Games one always had to be ready for anything and this was no exception. Alice as well clearly had the same idea as he too prepared his weapons. Either they would get into a fight or one would come to them.

As Paige continued following the blood trail the sound of moaning got closer. There was unmistakably another human nearby. This had Paige quickly hushing Alice as she began slinking between the layers of foliage. She had been just about to raise her sword to take out the person who was slumped down on the ground just as he noticed who it was. Martin. The boy from District 6. Very quickly his partner came dashing towards him upon notice of Paige. "Leave him alone! He's injured!" She shouted as she draw a knife on Paige. There was a look of fear and desperation in her eyes as she spoke, just praying she wouldn't be offed by the larger girl. However, much to her surprise Paige began lowering her own weapon and glanced directly at the younger boy. His leg. It was definitely wounded and the injury appeared rather deep as well.

"What the hell happened? I figured I would have heard a scream or some shit. That looks pretty fucking bad." Paige commented as she then knelt down to get a closer glance. The boy continued moaning as he breathed heavily. Some form of first aid was what he needed, but resources for that were incredibly limited. Siiri, the boy's partner seemed to take note of this and began gathering leaves. It wasn't much, but it was surely the best the arena had to offer.

"T...the traps. The boy from 12 I think..." Martin finally spoke as he began growing faint. Paige quickly began panicking, even if she technically knew so little about the boy. "We struggled to get away..."

"Shit, shit, shit. Of course it would be him. That clever bastard. Alice, go help Siiri!" She responded, turning towards her own partner. She found it odd she was bothering to help the boy at all as he would have to die in order to get Alice home, but she oddly felt a form of sympathy for him. Perhaps his young age of thirteen had drawn her towards helping the boy? However, the nature of his injuries also brought her to realization of just what they were dealing with out there. If that District 12 boy was stealthily setting up traps then he had huge incentive to be dangerous. Wherever he was. That brought Paige to a further concern.

"Fuck these games, fuck President Snow! Stay with me, kid!" Paige bellowed as she attempted to patch the wound as Siiri returned with stacks of leaves. "We need to bandage it, but how? Shit, we only have damn twigs and leaves everywhere!" She slammed her fist into the ground as her face reddened with rage. Neither of these young kids deserved to be in this death match, surely being sentenced to death. A further reminder of that only came seconds later just as a parachute began floating down towards Siiri. Paige indicated this and the younger girl grabbed it, nodding. Clearly she was incredibly fortunate getting a sponsor at this time. Perhaps somebody in the Capitol had compassion for tributes so young? Unless they were just charmed by Kiva. It was no mystery that the previous year's victor was good-looking and certainly Capitol citizens were already attempting to take advantage of that. At least the girl herself may have found some some use for it as well. It didn't take long for Paige to realize that even as Siiri opened the gift which contained some of the Capitol's powerful medicine.

[Zulera301]

The more Alice thought about it, the more he realized that this might be a more tactical arena. The trees, unlike the ones from the 44th Games, were much more solid and less moist and wet, which in turn meant that the wood could be better utilized. the 45th Games were much more confrontational, since the ruined buildings provided shelter, but little else. The primary strategy in those games were the gas pockets, and whatever the tributes could make out of those metal shards. It was much easier to build traps out of wood and leaves than it was our of the damp jungle foliage, or out of the derelict building materials. This was a fact that did not go over Alice's head.

"Well..." Alice mused aloud, "the careers, Keshet included, don't exactly seem like the strategic type. This year they kind of seem like the kind of group that would try to overwhelm others with their strength and numbers... so I think we might be able to have a better chance if we avoided wide open spaces, and obviously avoided direct confrontation." That was easier said than done, and this was all frankly just a hunch anyways. Alice was speaking from his own strategic standpoint anyways, but he felt that if they stuck to the forest, they might stand a better chance.

Alice was surprised that the District 6 pair hadn't simply died in the bloodbath, but was also surprised to see the girl try to so boldly defend her injured partner against two other tributes, one of which was clearly much larger and stronger-looking than she was. He had not raised his bow, but kept a grip on it in case the girl with the knife made any movements. Siiri--yes, that was her name. However, it surprised him a little as to what happened. It had not been the careers (or Lyndis, which would have honestly been an equally valid theory in Alice's mind, considering the amount of blood), but had been traps.

"Traps?" he tilted his head. "What kind of traps?" It was certainly not that he doubted the girl's story--he just wanted to know what kind of traps so he could know what he was up against. He knew that District 12 sometimes produced hunters, and that forested arenas were sometimes their forte just as well as they were 7's. He'd find out, as he simply nodded and scampered off to gather leaves. He obviously did not need to venture far, but he did want to find some of the better-looking ones so that he didn't accidentally pick up one that might make the boy's injury worse.

He returned just in time to see the sponsor gift appear and watch it get opened. "well..." he muttered with an interested expression on his face, "someone's popular." It was a completely neutral remark, actually, since it was not like he was envious of their situation. District 6 was definitely as out of their element as District 8 was, and if someone sponsored him some powerful Capitol medicine, he wouldn't have any use for it right now, being in otherwise perfect condition. He recognized this stuff though, having seen Sagittaria and Rye use it during the 44th Games.

[Nachthexe]

Alice brought up an interesting point about the careers. It was very possible they were operating on brute strength and skill alone rather than through any sound strategy. Of course it was simply a theory, but it had Paige realizing that if they were to take them down they would have to outsmart them. Somehow. Fortunately, most careers had the same fatal flaw: arrogance. Districts 1 and 2 definitely did, although Keshet was a bit more of a wild card. That alone likely made her much more dangerous than the others. However, for now the District 6 pair needed them.

"I somehow feel a drive to have to help you guys, yet I could have easily killed you off." Paige admitted as she snatched the medicine from Siiri and began rubbing it into Martin's wounds. They were surprisingly quite small, although obviously deep due to the amount of blood loss the boy was experiencing. That prompted Paige to then coat them in the leaves that had been collected, but then she had an epiphany. What if they were poisonous? It seemed unlikely, but it was a very real risk in the Hunger Games she couldn't overlook. Fortunately, the boy didn't seem to be reacting negatively so she figured they were safe.

Traps. It suddenly became the next concern once Martin began feeling almost immediate relief from the powerful medicine. If it had indeed been the District 12 boy setting them then his method of gameplay was becoming quite clear. Unless they had been traps intended simply to catch wildlife? At this point there was really no way of knowing, but either way the boy was another possible threat and didn't seem like the type to engage in direct combat. "I think it was some kind of tripwire." Siiri explained once Alice expressed curiosity towards the subject. "It sent some kind of projectile into Martin's leg."

Tripwires. Paige's original suspicions were becoming confirmed and she wondered how the boy had managed to build such a contraption so easily. Perhaps he even had past experience, which only served to confirm many of the rumours about District 12 that oftentimes residents would hunt illegally due to the presence of lax Peacekeepers. It admittedly had her intrigued, but now was not the time to think about such things. "District 12. He may have been a hunter. Many of them supposedly do that. Of course we would never get away with it back home with those cuntmuffins, but eh. What would we hunt? Rodents or some shit?" Paige explained, chuckling as she took a jab at District 8's urban nature. Both Siiri and Martin managed to get a good laugh as well, having lived in a similar environment. It was also a sign that Martin's condition was definitely improving, although Paige felt concerned for them both. They were young and clearly rather inexperienced, especially in an unfamiliar environment, so she felt neither would have the potential to last long. THat was something she kept to herself, however.

"So Kiva. I met her once. During her Victory Tour. She freaked out when I brought up the fiery inferno she killed two kids in last year." Paige began, setting herself down on the ground and attempting to make conversation with the District 6 pair. It was still only afternoon, but suddenly she didn't much desire to move on just yet. She felt almost as if these kids needed to be protected. At least as long as they could be. The Hunger Games were harsh and anybody who was reaped was quickly made victim to one of the worst things imaginable. She felt sorry for all the tributes who had to play Snow's deadly game, she felt sorry for everybody who had been victimized by him ever. It truly was an endless cycle.

Both Martin and Siiri could only shrug. "That's a sensitive issue." Siiri explained as she huddled up to Martin who, despite showing vast improvement already, was shivering. She wasn't sure why Paige was delving into such issues, but somehow she knew she could trust the girl, even if temporarily. There was something about her that seemed to be driving her to help others and she could sense it. It was that alone that had the girl tempting to ask for an alliance, but she didn't in avoidance of breaking the current mood. Instead she shifted to memories of home which naturally soon had the girl confessing her new found fondness for Substance 21. This had Paige shrugging, believing it to be some District 6 thing but she didn't bother asking.

[Zulera301]

Everyone had a weakness of some sort--some were just more obvious than others. Even Valendria had had one significant flaw that Alice had noticed. As vicious as she was, her combat style was very close. She was not too big on the ranged weapons, but this was counterbalanced by her long legs (which in turn meant greater distance covered when running), her resilience (the girl was fucking massive), and her raw strength. She would eliminate the distance between herself and her enemy and kill them right up front. Alice had come to that conclusion after watching the final scheme with her against the last 7 of those tribute mutts. Instead of asking to borrow the crossbow or using Glimmer's bow, she had gone in with her trusty battleaxe for the kills. Alice would have tried to exploit that if he had been in Markus and Haide's position last year, though at the same time, he probably still would have died. It had been Valendria and Glimmer that had slain the District 8 pair the previous year, after all.

"Yeah, that's a comforting thing to say, Paige," Alice quipped. He felt that telling someone 'I could have killed you', was just more reason for them to try and stab you in the back at one point or another. "At least you're helping anyways though." he let her and Siiri do most of the work, since there was just not enough room around the boy for him to really get involved. He was ready to assist if anything else needed to be done though.

Tripwire... that had Alice getting to thinking. Would he be a sucker for that kind of thing? He doubted it simply because he tended to have a better eye for things out of the ordinary. Every time they walked, he would look around him and try to acquaint himself with his surroundings to know what was normal and what stood out. Alice laughed with Paige on the joke. "closest thing I ever did to hunting was find a good open wall to paint on." he quipped, "Peacekeepers never took too kindly to that, but fuck them. And fuck Blacky." Part of him also realized that he wanted to win just to rub it in Blacky's face that he would be untouchable. But, that was a far off fantasy at this point, as there were still 14 other kids that needed to die for this to happen, including the 3 that surrounded him currently.

Alice got comfortable and listened in on the conversation, taking his knife and a piece of wood, which he began carving. It wasn't sketching, but it would do in a pinch like this. Fire... he did know of Kiva's sensitivity to the subject, which had made him honestly wonder what it had been like when she had went to District 11 and spoken to Sagittaria, who, by contrast, loved fire, and seemed to be symbolized by it, no less. She was, after all, "The Girl on Fire." Kiva on the other hand, was apparently "The Girl Afraid of Fire."

Still... he couldn't help but make a retort of his own. He had seen the antics of her and her mentor on the District 6 victory tour last year, and he actually held Zerviah in a certain high respect. After seeing her, he went and rewatched footage of Zerviah's games, reading between the lines and realizing that she was definitely rebellious. It had been part of why he had stuck up for victors when speaking against Paige in that regard.
"Do the drugs do that?" he asked, honestly a bit curious, "because I heard that mentor woman, Zerviah, talk fondly of some 'Substance 21', and how she wished she had had some at the time." It had been one of a few stops where Zerviah had left the stuff in the train, since she had saved it for the most glorious of stops, such as 2, 5, 11, and 12. "it's got me curious as to what that stuff is... is "Substance 21" even its real name?"
He had curiosities he wanted sated, and if nothing else, it was conversation. He figured that District 6 would be much more open to talking about their drugs rather than their latest victor's weakness.

[Nachthexe]

"Then you try talking to them, you ass." Paige retorted, giving Alice a playful slap in the arm. "None of us deserve to be here. Those asslickers in the Capitol, on the other hand..." She continued with both Martin and Siiri slightly shocked that she was so open about her abhorrence towards the Capitol. She soon suspected that the two kids probably hadn't paid attention to the interview footage, although in their defense much of Paige's rant had been censored. She suspected that much of her dialogue in these games was also being censored, although only the victor would ever truly know. Alice also had a knack for similar comments so the same inevitably stood true for him. "Blacky? That curfew obsessed asswipe back home? Fuck him indeed. I went out after curfew once to get medicine for Hanna when she was ill and that shitstain flogged me for it." She began ranting, although she knew well that most of her floggings had been for much worse offenses.

Martin chuckled. "So you guys don't like your Peacekeepers? Ours are not so bad since they're easy to bribe. It's really only The Ghoul you have to look out for. Apparently Kiva likes to taunt him all the time now. You know, victor immunity and all that." He explained, noticing a perhaps a spark of rebellion in both Paige and Alice. To him, it made perfect sense as District 8 was widely rumoured to be the most rebellious district in Panem and if anything, the District 8 pair only served to confirm it. However, Martin found his eyes lighting up as soon as Alice asked about the Substance 21, shifting his mind away from the Peacekeepers. He hadn't actually tried the stuff himself, but story had it that Dezna Meraxa had perfected the stuff alongside his sister before being reaped into the games. Allegedly it was quickly becoming a District 6 favourite as well, having been taken up in large doses by Kiva after her victory. "Yep. Substance 21 is indeed its name. Both Zerviah and Kiva, our district's two most recent victors, are fond of the stuff. It gives you massive hallucinations and stuff. Siiri can confirm that bit." Martin explained to Alice even as he heard Siiri chuckling at the last bit.

"It's quite humourous really that our district is not known for much else except for drugs. Maybe one of these days they will even spread to other districts." Siiri interjected, still chuckling. That quickly gave Paige an idea of her own that admittedly had her chuckling too.

"Give them to the Capitol asswipes. They'll be too fucking blitzed to even give a shit once we all start rioting. Every revolution begins with a spark and that could be the key right there." Paige explained, glancing over at Alice. Somehow she knew the surprisingly rebellious boy would also get amusement from the idea.

Both Siiri and Martin began chuckling at Paige's last point. "I'm not so sure about that." Siiri responded as she glanced over at Paige. Despite the girl's obvious age difference she liked her. She was not afraid to express her true feelings of animosity, although she quickly suspected it had perhaps been what caused the girl to get in trouble in the first place. Not even in the less rebellious districts was it overlooked that Snow technically did have the power to rig reapings to his will. This suddenly put a frown on Siiri's face which Paige quickly caught onto, nodding. Siiri knew that somehow it perhaps explained Paige's willingness to help the others in the games such as themselves and Alice. Although the one victor rule was not lost on her and she knew that in the end Paige would ultimately have to choose her own district partner.

[Zulera301]

Alice laughed when Paige smacked his arm. "no shit, genius." he retorted, "but I'm sure that these kids want to spend their last minutes of life hearing you talk about how "oh you could have killed them", or something." he elbowed her. "oh, and yeah. fuck the Capitol, and fuck Blacky." if there was one thing to be said, it was that the Hunger Games definitely brought out some of the fouler language in a lot of tributes. Well, and it wasn't like Paige was the best of influences on the boy either, but he had certainly not been innocent prior to being reaped. No, if Alice was truly naive and innocent like a lot of people thought, he'd be crying in fetal position right now, and that would be only if he had survived the bloodbath.

"There's not a whole lot you can bribe them with in '8." Alice explained with a calm chuckle, "I'm sure we could probably bribe the Capitol with fashion designs or some shit, but that doesn't exactly work for a bunch of fucks who wear nothing but white suits and black helmets." Victor immunity... Alice smiled at the prospect, knowing full well that he would take utmost advantage of that if he won.
"oooh... so kinda like that whole thing that went down last year in the 'games?" Even outside of District 6, the event was sort of legendary, and the Capitol did put a lot of emphasis on it simply because of how the tributes reacted. Alice knew all the details. Th primary focus was on Dezna and Hazel's silly antics, although Kiva and Leon also got plenty of screen time. Daisy on the other hand, was hardly shown, due to the distraught attitude it gave her. The Capitol liked to focus on the moments when the tributes were happy, to twist the games into a more positive light. Perhaps it worked in the career districts, but Alice saw right through it. He didn't doubt that there might have been times when some of the tributes were genuinely happy (such as some of Rye and Sagittaria's conversations during the rainy days where Kyla was asleep and nothing was happening), but he knew that it didn't change the grimness of their situation any. It was still a fight to the death.

"All District 8 is known for," Alice quipped with a laugh at Paige's remark, "is hating the Capitol, but also making sure the Capitol has their precious fashion. I'm pretty sure that their obsession with fashion is the only reason they haven't bombed us all the way to some District 14 or something." There had never been a District 14 as far as he had known or ever been taught, but maybe there had been long long ago? He doubted it though. Even the maps of Panem showed only 13 districts and a Capitol, and they never hesitated to remind people that District 13 was destroyed and uninhabitable, still smouldering 46 years later.

"hah!" Alice certainly did get amusement from the idea, also getting comfortable since it didn't seem like they were going anywhere soon, "they'd probably be overwhelmed by the pretty colors or something." he was not sure about Substance 21's effect, but the way Dezna had spoken of hallucinations in the arena footage had him giggling and talking about colors and rainbows a lot, but maybe that had just been in reference to the rainbow nature of his partner. He wasn't entirely sure.

[Nachthexe]

"Touche, kid. But yea, fuck the Capitol." Paige responded, laughing before flipping the bird in the direction she predicted was towards the Capitol cameras. In reality she had no way of knowing, but the entire arena itself was essentially one huge camera realm. The Capitol did truly have superior technology to even that of easily the most technologically advanced district, District 3. Paige found herself even wanting to venture into District 3 just to see what sort of establishment they had there, although it was an impossibility. She did know from reaping footage, however, that their reapings were all computerized in contrast to the more traditional paper lotteries in the rest of the districts. Certainly that sort of technology had potential to do so much more, but was being limited to the demands of the Capitol.

Paige chuckled. "At least when revolution finally comes we can cut off the Capitol's fashion supply until they give in to our demands. Those cuntmuffins won't even know what hit them." By this point both Siiri and Martin were bursting out laughing. Paige noticed this and smiled at them both.

"I don't know if you realize it, but you're hilarious." Siiri's next words managed to catch Paige completely off-guard. Others actually found her funny? That surprised her as it was far from her true intentions, although she figured the girl also had a slightly drug-addled mind. It was very possible, after all, considering her district. Although drawing any sorts of conclusions about any tributes was risky as each seemed to have some sort of trick up their sleeves they were just waiting to unveil.

"Not my intentions, but okay." Paige responded, shrugging. Alice managed to lighten the mood once again though with further discussion of both Substance 21 and the incident during the 45th games. Tracker Jacker venom. Allegedly it was a double edged sword, being used for both torture and pleasure. It almost seemed ironic in a way, although Paige didn't dwell on it much. "Those kids last year? What a bunch of clowns. They even had me amused. Who the fuck would even think to ingest Tracker Jacker venom? Only a bunch of drug-addled kids from District 6." She admitted and surprisingly Martin and Siiri only laughed.

The day only continued wearing on as Paige, Alice, and the two District 6 tributes continued discussing the Capitol, the Peacekeepers, the games, and even Substance 21. It had made the whole group genuinely enjoy themselves in such a way that they didn't even realize the sun was beginning to set until Paige commented on it. "Well here we go. Day Three is almost over and there still hasn't been a kill. At least we're not in one of those eternal darkness shitholes like the kids last year were though. Anyway, I'm not concerned about that now as I have a feeling the Capitol asslickers will force action soon so be wary." She warned as she began to get settled in, realizing it was unlikely they would be moving anywhere now.

[Zulera301]

Alice laughed when Paige flipped the finger, reminding him of the obscene image he had drawn of her on the first day on the train. He was greatly devoted to detail, and at that moment, he suddenly realized something--he had left his sketchbooks at the apartment. Obviously such a thing was inevitable, although he hoped no one would find where he had hidden it. There was all kinds of nasty anti-Capitol stuff inside that could promote Snow to literally bomb the shit out of Alice right where he stood. He was definitely as vehement as Paige was, just that he expressed it artistically instead of vocally.

"that's a lot of technology to outsmart," he chuckled, "we could totally do it though." the Capitol
s technology ousted even District 3's, after all. It was kind of cool to watch the reapings from '3 and '5, because they were both fairly large districts and their reapings were done electronically (it seemed more appropriate than ever in a place like District 5, which was literally all about electricity production). Apparently, (at least according to Reaping footage he had watched), each tribute's name corresponded with a number or set of numbers, depending on how many times their name was entered. Then, on a large screen, the numbers were generated and appeared in sequence, surely to build suspense or such. once all 5 numbers had stopped, a tribute's name and face would appear on the screen as the escort bellowed their name. It was actually kind of cool, but then again, it might have just been Alice being mesmerized by something he was unfamiliar with.

"The kid's right, y'know." Alice quipped, "you're pretty damn funny." He was being honest. maybe it was how she swore so much (he had gotten a kick out of the "lucky bitch" thing the night before). On the other hand, the same could have been said about tributes like Dezna, Lyndis, and Sagittaria. There was nothing that said a funny tribute couldn't also be deadly. All three of them had proven this during their time in the 'games, and Sagittaria had even won hers, no less.

"Dezna was a genius then... either that or a brave madman." Alice laughed, "How did he know that that wouldn't just kill him?" Footage from the games revealed that he had tried them before, but how, where, and why, were things Alice would probably never know. "either way, I salute that young man. It takes a bold kid to suggest using the Capitol's own weapons as a source of entertainment like that."
That was what he had liked about Dezna. Whether the kid knew it or not, the fact that he was using the Capitol's weapons against him was something that Alice viewed as an act of rebellion, which of course, he approved of. He had not seen any signs of Capitol loyalty from the boy (or really anyone that year except the careers, and Valendria during some of her acts), and so perhaps he had been rebellious in his own way kind of like his mentor Zerviah was. Surely Kiva was similar.

More discussion proved one of Alice's theories, though it was still sort of a surprise to him. No wonder Dezna and his sister (who he learned was named Arza) were so closely associated with Substance 21. Dezna had been the boy who had created it, and so apparently he had a legacy of his own that his sister continued. It reminded him of the crossbow he had seen in the training center, and also of the "DZN-414" serial number that he had seen on the door of the train.
"yeah, that sounds like something he'd do," Siiri quipped, "but I couldn't say for sure."

"Wary as I'll ever be," Alice nodded, putting his hand on his bow for a moment as if to ensure it was there. Day 3 was over, and there were still no new deaths since the bloodbath.
"I'm not worried though..." he continued, "I mean hey. may the odds make it true that when you're mortally wounded in an excruciatingly painful way, your body goes into shock and you don't feel anything when you die." he laughed.

[Nachthexe]

It was an interesting scenario really. The Capitol had technology, but the districts had manpower. Could that alone overpower the Capitol? It was an intriguing thing to think about, although one that had Paige realizing that revolution would never arise as long as there were districts loyal to the Capitol. Districts 1 and 2 in particular came to her mind. What would it take to shatter their faith? Nothing less than a complete apocalyptic failure of their own system she was sure. There was definitely no way of knowing how such a thing would happen either, although it was a nice thought that continued lingering in Paige's mind.

"Me funny? Rebellion is serious business, kid. I speak nothing but the truth, but you already know that." Paige responded to Alice as he too returned the compliment. She did find it rather surprising, but wasn't really willing to contest it. Not now. If anything, it was a welcomed relief from the horrors that the Capitol's death match was bound to bring within days. They certainly wouldn't prolong action for much longer than they already have, after all. It did admittedly have Paige truly wondering what the others were up to though as she knew very well that most of her alliance's footage was being censored. Both Paige and Alice were two very rebellious kids and ideas were dangerous as Snow knew all so well.

Even many fallen tributes were remembered for years to come and Paige knew that Dezna would likely be no exception due to the way he handled the Tracker Jacker situation. Sure Kiva had been the one to set them on fire, but truly it had been Dezna coming up with the idea to eat them. "Eating Tracker Jackers? Shit, that alone probably had Snow squirming like a little bitch as he watched. Who knew his own weapon could be used against him, eh? Surely the only reason that footage wasn't cut was due to the entertainment value. Plus the tributes were happy as all hell at that time so it was easy propaganda opportunities." Paige explained, knowing very well how many of Snow's tactics worked although her word choice once again had Martin and Siiri chuckling.

"Admittedly I'm curious to know just what Kiva is thinking about all this right now. Maybe she's blitzed off her ass as she watches us." Martin confessed, unleashing more chuckles. She then followed up with apologies to his mentor whom he admittedly held in high regard. It had been her to win this game once before, after all, and arguably by a lot of luck as Valendria could have very easily taken her down. That was something the boy hadn't been quick to forget upon re-watching the last moments of the 45th games. It was admittedly obvious a lot had been cut out, but Valendria's intentions to be killed by Kiva had been made fairly clear, and left intact.

Both of the District 6 pair burst out laughing as Alice recited Sagittaria's infamous quote. Hearing it from a District 8 kid admittedly surprised them as they hadn't been previously aware of the extent of influence it had around Panem. Kiva had used it, but that had hardly been surprising to the pair. Alice, however? That was all new uncharted territory. "Kiva has said that. Didn't Sagittaria start it or something? Siiri glanced at Alice, slightly puzzled. However, her attention soon shifted to Paige whom she realized was right. As far as they were concerned the arena has had little action. Unless the others were up to something? It was possible, but obviously there hadn't been any deaths as a result. Still, the girl gripped her knife and could only hope nothing came to them during the night.

[Zulera301]

Alice had actually thought the notion of rebellion fairly well through in his spare time. District 1 and District 2 were the loyal districts. Districts such as 4, 5, 9, and 10 were more neutral, while 3, 7, 8, 11, and 12 were rebellious. He couldn't ever really place District 6, and after meeting them the year before and now in the arena, he understood why. He thought about it though, and realized that if they wanted to truly cripple the Capitol, the first district they would need to capture would be District 5. Not only would it shut down the Capitol, but also District 1 and District 2 as well, throwing them into eternal darkness. Perhaps then District 12 would become critical, especially for powering the rebellious districts such as 3 and 11. Of course, taking down District 5 would be no easy task, considering that they were the 3rd-richest district, which meant that they clearly couldn't have been too hostile towards the Capitol. A boy could dream though, and one of Alice's wild fantasies involved breaking District 5 from Panem and beginning a revolution.

Alice chuckled again. "nowhere is it written that the truth can't be funny sometimes." he quipped, although in truth, it was mostly her word choices that made him laugh. "Lucky bitch." he winked at her, before calmly closing his eyes and getting comfortable. He felt safe, even though he didn't even know what the outlier alliance was up to. They had gone in their own direction, far to the east, and that would be exploring new frontiers should he and Paige elect to go that way. Perhaps the careers had returned to guard the cornucopia again and take advantage of the abundance of supplies it had this year. Alice calculated that the amount of supplies in year 44 were average, while year 45 was below average. By contrast, year 46 seemed to have a greatly above average number of supplies, and so it would make sense for the careers to do that since survival was usually not their thing... unless Keshet was carrying the team or something.

Alice nodded approvingly. "Dezna had style. I dunno if he was being rebellious on purpose or not, but that sort of underhanded kind of action is exactly the sort of thing I specialize in." he was not about to say it, but he didn't think that rebellion would be sparked by shouting it on the rooftops--well, not unless you wanted a riot. That would be interesting, and could definitely help spark a rebellion if done right. If a riot failed, however, the consequences would be drastic and terrible, he was sure. Perhaps first what would need to be done would be to invigorate and wake up the masses.

"She's that big of a junkie, huh?" Alice tilted his head a bit. "shit. Makes me wonder what Challis is up to..." or any of the other mentors as well. Clearly the ones from '3, '4, '5, and '9 were already bummed out and drinking like madmen (or women). Perhaps the one from '10 had something to cling to, given that Lyndis was alive and well, and any blood on her was probably someone else's anyways. It was an interesting thought, but Alice knew that at the end of the day (well, end of the games), 11 mentors would go home disappointed, and only 1 would be bringing home a victor.

"I heard Sagittaria started it," Alice chuckled, "heard it was popular in at least four other districts besides '11... well... it's moving into District 8 now... so if I somehow come out of this alive, make that five."
The lack of action was not lost on Alice either, although the most he could do at this point was sleep with his weapons close and hope to whatever entity was out there that nothing came and killed them in the night. He was dozing off again, after all.

[Nachthexe]

"The truth is funny? I suppose you have a point. Shit, look at that clown ruling over Panem." Paige responded with what was an obvious jab at the most powerful person in all of Panem. Certainly he hadn't taken it lightly either, having expected that being reaped would have silenced Paige. What he probably didn't know was that it did nothing but make her more bold in her statements and more convicted in her beliefs. Nothing short of death would silence the girl who intended to be vocal until the day she died. She was determined, even if in the end it wouldn't have the man paying for everything he had ever put Panem's citizens through. No, that was Alice's job if he made it out alive. At least it was something she could fantasize about.

"I wouldn't say District 6 is rebellious. I think most of them are too blitzed to usually care about what goes on around them. In a way it almost makes me envy them; I almost wish I could be that apathetic. Shit, it sure as hell would have not gotten me brought to this shithole. You know, my 19th birthday was only two weeks after the Reaping. Two fucking weeks! Now I won't even live to see it!" Paige responded to Alice, finding herself nearly bursting into tears upon realizing once again just how delicate her situation was. "This is why you need to win. You need to send a message to that asswipe directly." She shuffled over to Alice and whispered in his ear before finally shedding tears for real. The Capitol had truly broken her and the arena was only bound to escalate it.

Attempting to mask her distress, Paige flipped over only her side and attempted to doze off. The moon was high in the sky by this point anyway, although as usual there was truly no way of determining the real time. Almost immediately she began thinking about the newest tributes she and Alice had managed to befriend somewhat. They were clearly both young and relatively inexperienced in the arts of survival and combat so she felt the two wouldn't make it far. It was a reality the two would surely have to face soon. Unless they already had? Everybody knew the Hunger Games only had one victor, after all. Who that victor was going to be only a bit of luck and skill would tell. In the end there had been very few luck based victories and Paige realized this. However, she knew not even luck would save her now. There was truly no way out for her and this only further reminded her of Hanna who was surely still somewhere deep in the Capitol. Suddenly feeling a surge of fear coming over her as she dozed off, she bellowed out loudly. "HAAAAAANNA!"

Paige's uncontrollable shouting had managed to startle the District 6 pair, but something else off in the distance began stirring also. A large creature of some sort. A bear-like creature. A Capitol Mutt, and it was heading straight for the very target Snow himself wanted eliminated.

[Zulera301]

"Toldja so." he winked. "I tend to only ever make observations that are correct." he seemed a bit proud of that remark. On the other hand, while he was not bothered in the slightest by Paige's bold statements, perhaps Hanna back home might have been. She was at the Capitol's mercy, but like hell was Alice going to bring that up. He wanted Paige to remain like this--to remain bold and outspoken, all the way to the day she died. Alice on the other hand... well, there was hope for Alice. He knew that the odds were still heavily stacked against him though, and so it would require strategy. He might have expressed most of his feelings to his partner, but there was a lot of ideas that he held with him that he didn't feel the need to share now.

"two weeks after the Reaping?" Alice tilted her head. "Your birthday's in like 3 days or something then, innit?" Calculations--Alice knew them, even if this was elementary mathematics here. "Training lasted a week, and now here we are about to go into day 4 of the games. 2 weeks minus 1½ weeks is 3 or 4 days depending on perspective."
When Paige whispered in his ear, Alice nodded, before smirking just slightly. "If I win... I'll make the Capitol love me. I had Zobuta and Nakrelu trying to wrap themselves around my finger when they realized I was about as passionate about fashion as they are. most of the Capitol are just airheads. If they think I'm just some lucky boy that likes fashion, they'll gobble that all up, which in turn means it would spark CAPITOL outrage if Snow tried to off me. It's foolproof!"
he paused. "well... besides that "having to win these goddamn games" part." he chuckled. "but if I can do that... then Snow just lost his own game." It was a nice thought to think of, even if saying this sort of thing out loud could very well get him struck down on the spot. No, he was much more discreet than that.

Alice was fairly quick to doze off, although it had not lasted long and he had not been asleep--he had been quite comfortable and was falling asleep though, having curled up and removed his shoes for the night, even. Having the misfortune of being right next to Paige when she screamed, he jolted awake in a fury of stupor.
"goddammit bitch, what the hell was that about!?!" Now, Alice was not an easily angered boy, and he certainly did not have the attitude issues that Paige might have had. But, he was only human, and it was human nature to react adversely to rude awakenings. It was universal human behavior, kind of like how people recoiled when the touched a hot surface, or how their eyes closed when they sneezed.

"you dun goofed." Alice grunted, sitting up, grabbing his bow and ensuring his knife was in place as he saw the large bear-mutt approaching. Now, this might not have been anything to break a friendship over, but this was still technically Paige's fault.
"no... I take that back." he shook his head, slowly getting to his feet. "you dun fucked up real gud." He did not have any experience with bears, but as he slowly took a few steps to the side, he wanted to move away from Paige, and try to get a good shot, especially since the creature seemed to be going right for the girl. Nocking an arrow, he hoped that it continued that way long enough for him to get a good shot in.

[Nachthexe]

As Alice attempted to calculate Paige's birth date it brought her to a realization of her own. Sure she had been eighteen during the reaping, but were those turning nineteen during the games still eligible or was Snow pushing his own rules just a bit? It somehow seemed likely, but at the same time eighteen year olds were eligible seemingly regardless of birth date. Really it just made Paige's own situation seem all that much more tragic as she had almost made it through a Panem child's most horrifying stage of life unharmed by the games. Now that opportunity was lost without a single way out. "sHit, you're probably right, but it's hardly something celebratory now." She responded to Alice, realizing all that.

Paige proceeded to whisper in Alice's ear once again. "The Capitol loves their fashion. For that alone those cuntmuffins can't off you." She realized the boy was definitely onto something. Along with victor immunity he would also be granted another potential advantage. He definitely enjoyed fashion like so many other District 8 citizens and that alone would have the Capitol loving him, despite his rebellious nature. Besides, he definitely knew how to be discreet about it and that was arguably one of the traits that had kept the boy alive so far. However, victory was something she didn't want to think about just yet. There were many tributes still out there, almost all of them more powerful than Alice. That alone didn't exactly have the odds in his favour.

"Me goofed?" Initially Paige was puzzled by Alice's reaction upon jolting awake, but then she saw it. A massive bear Mutt and it was coming directly towards her, and seemingly only towards her. "Shitballs! This is when we run!" She bellowed gathering up her things and beelining it. Almost immediately the very startled and frightened looking District 6 kids followed behind, although it quickly became quite obvious that Martin's leg was still in delicate condition. His gradual slowing down was evidence of this, leaving the others in a panic.

"We can't leave him!" Siiri bellowed out to Paige who was aggressively gesturing for the younger girl to follow her. There was still some distance between them and the mighty creature, but the gap was closing. Quickly. This had Paige thinking fast and immediately she rose her sword and launched it towards the mighty creature. Not being intended as a projectile it only did minimal damage, being left greatly angered.

"We might not have a choice now!" Paige responded to a hesitant Siiri. She also wasn't sure where Alice was in all the fray so she called out to him as well. "Alice! Your bow! Use it!" This startled the creature who then immediately began swiping its elongated claws at Paige, with her dropping to the ground and rolling to the side, only being narrowly missed by the creature's attack. It had full intentions to gore her to death, taking a second swipe which just grazed her arm enough to have her cursing in long intervals. While vulnerable, she thought the creature was going to take a third swipe at her, but something stopped it. Something from behind. Within seconds it was weakened and nearly falling over when somebody retrieved Paige's sword and threw it back to her.

"Now is the time to attack!" The mysterious saviour bellowed before taking off. Due to the darkness Paige wasn't able to make out who it was, but it was definitely a female voice. However, heeding the girl's advice she then dashed up to the creature and began hacking at it while it was still vulnerable. After a few swipes at vulnerable regions of the creature's body she then prompted for Alice to finish it off with a few arrows.

[Zulera301]

to Alice, the age cutoff of a tribute made sense. If someone turned 19 a few weeks after the reaping, it also meant they turned 12 a few weeks after the reaping, and thankfully the Capitol didn't start rounding up 11-year-olds and asking them their birthdays. Well, as far as Alice knew anyways. He couldn't really see an outspoken 12-year-old Paige running around. Well... not that anyone would take her seriously at that age. Children were very rarely taken seriously for obvious reasons. "Maybe we can deliver Keshet's head on a plate that day or something." he joked, "or any of those suckups." clearly referring to the careers, although that was about the extent of his joke.

Alice smirked. "exactly." he didn't feel the need to dwell on his surely rather low odds, and decided to settle for the small fact that he had a chance. "the odds of rebellion are basically zero. If we can still believe that one day it'll happen... then I refuse to count myself out of the running till I'm 6 feet under." he reminded her. Paige had sunk so much faith into the idea that one day the districts could successfully rebel and thus break free of Panem's rule. Alice had sunk a bit of faith in his ability to come out of this mess alive. Really, the analogy between him and the other tributes was like the Districts and the Capitol. What mattered was that here and now, he was alive.

"yeah, that." he pointed to the mutt coming at them. He whipped out those glasses of his, putting them on before he let loose and hit the creature's leg. While it slightly reduced its speed, it was still gaining on them. Alice wouldn't have time for another shot, and so he took off running, snatching up the rest of his things as he did so. He wondered if the Capitol had sent that after her deliberately, or if her shout had lured it towards them. He certainly hoped it wasn't the latter, otherwise Alice might have to teach her a thing or two about shutting the hell up every now and again.

Alice did not respond to Siiri's panicked request, because in the end, it was either Martin or him, and he knew that his victory was no longer just a selfish motive. No, to be honest, he didn't really care if he lived or died personally. He just wanted to keep the morale and spirit of rebellion that lived in District 8, alive. After a moment, he turned around and began to focus again though. He was aware that the bear mutt was aiming for Paige, and because of this, it was much easier for it to ignore Alice, even has he nocked an arrow.
concentrate..." he told himself. "just like... on the field..."

As the creature started attacking Paige, Alice shot at it, instantly pulling out another arrow as the first one struck it. It made the swipe aimed at Paige miss its mark, but it quickly reacted by swiping at her again, this time actually getting her. It made for a third strike when suddenly it staggered. In an instant, Alice, who was more off to the creature's right, glanced behind the bear-mutt to try and see who--or what--had just attacked it. A moment later, he returned his focus to the staggered creature, before landing a well-placed arrow in its skull. It was down, and surely soon to be out. Just to be sure though, he went a few feet closer, ripped the first two arrows out of the beast before loading them both, and shooting its face at point-blank range.

"Well then..." he heaved a sigh of relief. "that was... something."

[Nachthexe]

As much as Alice's words made Paige want the careers' heads on a platter it quickly got overshadowed by the incoming beast. There was no doubt about it wanting her blood as it continued swiping at her, even getting a few hits of its own in. however, specializing in melee, she knew she stood little chance against it. "Shit, shit, shit! What did I do this time?!" She bellowed as she managed to pull her remaining knives off her waist. As long as her sword was out of commission it was the most she could do and as she continued attempting to take swipes at the creature it only flinched slightly. Realizing exactly what they were up against, both Siiri and Martin attempted to keep their distance.

Fortunately, Alice managed to get a few shots on the creature once it was seemingly effortlessly weakened by an external source. With sword in hand, Paige helped Alice to finish off the beast that then laid motionless. "Well shit. Enough of that." Paige sighed, exhausted as she began examining the creature's flesh. All across its body were various lacerations, but most curious were the wounds on its backside. They were unmistakably axe wounds and there were only two tributes known to currently be wielding axes, at least one of which she was sure wasn't on her side. "Keshet? Why would she be trying to help me? I know it was her as her district partner definitely doesn't have a female voice." She blurted out, puzzled at the entire situation. Clearly the girl, assuming it had been her, must have had past experiences with these sorts of creatures. This arena was essentially like District 7's home turf, after all.

Naturally, the District 6 pair upon returning were just as puzzled as the others. "So that girl, who has been sided with the careers since the beginning just tried to save us?" Siiri asked, raising her eyebrows in skepticism.

"That's what it looks like, although I suspect there's more to it. Surely she's just trying to impress the Capitol asslickers and her little bitch pack." Paige responded, smirking. Keshet was really beginning to come across as the true mysterious force in the arena, although Paige decided not to dwell on it for long. "Honestly, that girl is beginning to freak me out." She concluded as she left the bear Mutt corpse's side. Soon afterwards she began following the District 6 pair to what appeared to be a new safe space they've discovered nearby.

"It's not much, but it'll do. If anything, it gets us away from that nasty stench." Siiri explained as she settled down between a patch of foliage. Due to the extra strain, all improvement Martin had been showing previously was beginning to go downhill. Taking one look at the would Paige knew it was only a matter of time before it began bleeding again. However, another realization came to her mind. If the Capitol truly was trying to kill her then surely there would be plenty more bear Mutts with everybody else in the general vicinity being nothing more in their eyes than collateral damage.

[Zulera301]

"existed!" Alice called out to her, to answer her question as to what she might have done to piss off the Capitol. they already wanted her blood, and at this point, Paige's very existence was an excuse for them to go after her. Besides, that was about all the time he had for remarks, given the closeness of the encounter with the ravaging beast in front of them. This was one of Alice's first tests, he felt like. If he couldn't kill a mutt, he wouldn't be able to kill the more cunning tributes. Killing Kevin, that District 10 boy, had been more of an accident anyways. Hopefully Lyndis didn't hold a grudge. He would hate to see how crazy that girl was if she was angry.

With his night-vision glasses, Alice was able to see the lacerations on the mighty creature once they had vanquished it. Axe marks. The voice was not gentle enough to be Lyndis', and the career pack didn't seem like the type to split up. That really left only one other candidate, and it had Alice (metaphorically) scratching his head.
"Don't tell me." he quipped, both at Paige and at the inquiring District 6 pair. "We've got another Valendria on the fields. Hopefully she's more favorable of District 8 than the last Valendria." he quipped, knowing that if Siiri and Martin had remembered last year's games, they'd know that it had been Valendria (and Glimmer) that had offed the District 8 pair, while sparing the District 6 pair completely [since Dezna had died by Hikari's lightning machine].

"mm. that could be it..." Alice mused aloud, "but do you really think that they were just sitting here watching? Otherwise, who is going to go around bragging that they killed a mutt in an arena. Hey. I killed a tribute too. Big fucken whoopee-dee for me, eh?" He was surprised, although maybe in a streak of his own confidence or arrogance, he believed that he and Paige had had the situation fairly well under control.
"She's probably just trying to pick up sponsors or something so that she doesn't get overshadowed by the real Capitol suckups." he suggested, pulling out his arrows and wiping them off on the creature's fur before stowing them back in his quiver. "anyways... let's get out of here. the stench here is hardly friendly to the nose."

He was quite fine with following the District 6 pair as they went this way or that. He was not oblivious to Martin's injuries, which surely had gotten worse from the strains of running and panicking. He kept those glasses of his on, since it was still evening, after all. He more wondered if they would have to put the poor boy out of his misery or something like that. It was not a very pleasant thought. According to his calculations, they were heading in a northeasterly direction, although that was about all he knew. all the trees looked the same, but he hoped that they didn't stumble across any other tributes just yet. There were still too many questions, and he did not know enough about the whereabouts of the others for him to strategize the way he wanted to.

[Nachthexe]

"Another Valendria? Unlikely. Besides, this girl is different; Valendria, for one, didn't suck up to the career pack the way this little bitch seems to." Paige responded, suddenly having so many questions running through her own mind about the most recent encounter. Had the girl just happened to be nearby and intervened, or was there a greater motive at play? A part of Paige was fearful for what it could be due to the girl's obvious alliance with the careers, but worrying about them would come later.

Paige shrugged. "You would be surprised what people get worked up over. Maybe killing a Mutt is a big deal to Keshet. I doubt it, but it's worth considering as long as she remains on the field." She explained, realizing Alice had a point. It seemed odd though. Why would the girl be concerned about killing a Mutt while already having two tribute kills to her name? Paige been there so saw both of them quite clearly even as she struggled to stay alive herself. Clearly the girl had some strange sense of bloodlust, but Paige couldn't quite place her finger on it. Luckily, Alice seemed to have the right idea so both proceeded to follow the District 6 kids.

"This isn't much, but hell if we have time to be picky about where we stay." Paige uttered as she sat down in the new "shelter". Martin was once again groaning in pain, although Paige knew there wasn't much that could be done this time. A part of her wanted to off the boy now, but she knew it would never be an option as long as Siiri was still around. The girl was definitely aware of the boy's pain too, huddling up to him just as she had earlier. It seemed to provide him some comfort, although both seemed to be worried about the arrival of more Mutts or even the career pack. Due to the brief presence of Keshet it was very possible they were still nearby as well, after all.

"You two should rest. I have a feeling more Mutts will come around." Paige continued as she glanced over the District 6 pair. A part of her quickly realized that perhaps her very presence was endangering them. Noting this, she turned towards Alice and once again proceeded to whisper in his ear. "I feel like we will just lead danger to them." If anything, it was a hint to leave the two behind, but she knew it would be difficult now that she had helped them once already. She ultimately left it up to Alice. He was the intuitive and observant one, after all. In the meantime as she awaited an answer she did lie down her head to proceed to rest. The last encounter had been exhausting and she was sure future ones would be no different.

[Zulera301]

Alice chuckled. "true that... Varsha tried hunting them down. maybe their encounters with each other were why the careers didn't really amount to much last year when all was said and done." They had all placed fairly low, placing 12th/11th (it was arguable who between Blaze and Leon died first, although popular voice said Blaze did), 10th, 9th, and 8th in last year's games. "On the other hand, I have no clue what defines a "career tribute." The Capitol classified Glimmer and Valendria last year as such, and shit if I know why..." So maybe he could tell why Valendria, but had Glimmer just been lucky enough to get in the good graces of the massive girl? It was a mystery for the ages now.

Alice laughed. "she got hella worked over when Lyndis smooched her. I just thought it was funny when she did it to me." He wasn't going to deny that he had liked it, but that was probably just his hormones speaking. Well, and the girl had smelled oddly pretty. He had half expected her to smell like bullshit. (the literal kind; not the kind Sagittaria produced for great comedic effect.) "bloodlust maybe? Was she just envious of Lyndis?" if it was bloodlust, then Lyndis was definitely one to look to, given that being covered in blood seemed to be her trademark. It was unclear if the girl was actually bloodthirsty, or if she was just messy and didn't care what she looked like.He shrugged. He was honestly just throwing out random ideas rather than trying to come to a conclusion. Lyndis, while definitely a crazy kid, seemed much more straightforward in who she was and what she wanted, with the obvious exception of why she was so crazy to begin with.

Alice couldn't help but chuckle again at Paige's remark. "shit, if I had a choice right now I'd be back in the Capitol apartment drawing more of my "fuck the Capitol" series." he winked. If there was one thing Alice was really missing right now, it was pencil and paper. If he came out of this arena alive, one of the first things he wanted to do upon leaving, was draw again. Funny (and perhaps tragically) enough, if Paige had mentioned the idea of offing Martin, Alice might have agreed, simply because he knew that he was just going to hold them back at this point unless his leg got better. That Capitol medicine was powerful, but Alice remembered that it had taken even someone hardy and resilient like Rye several days before he could fully recover. Luckily, his and Sagittaria's tracking skills (and later Kyla's, when she joined them) had kept them out of harm's way. He didn't feel like they would be as lucky.

Alice nodded in agreement to Paige's suggestion, hoping they would take it. When Paige leaned in towards him, he paused, as if contemplating it. "that medicine would be useful to swipe," he whispered back, "but otherwise, I think you're right. No point in being the reason a tribute dies unless you kill 'em yourself, if that makes sense. Are you saying we should jet while we have the chance?" he seemed up for it; he just wanted to make sure that that was Paige's intention. strategically, it seemed that District6 6 might just impede them, while District 8 would just in turn endanger District 6 more than they already were, thanks to Paige and Alice's rebellious streaks.

[Nachthexe]

What exactly constituted a "career tribute"? Alice's confessions suddenly had Paige wondering the same thing. It was a label that had also been thrown on Keshet by the Capitol, after all, yet the girl was from a District considered far off from both 1 and 2. It only heightened the mystery further and Paige had a feeling that she wasn't about to get an answer to this one. Surely the Capitol would kill her before such things happened. She was already convinced the Mutt attack had been intended specifically for her. It could have easily been the end of her too had it not been for the surprisingly intervention from a surprising source which had done nothing but run off.

"Well we know for sure the girl isn't the affectionate type. Valendria, on the other hand, seemed kind. At least to those she considered allies." Paige pointed out upon Alice's mention of the kiss back in the training centre. There was obviously no way of her knowing how Keshet behaved towards her allies, but Paige recalled very well the more intimate scenes from the previous games. Kiva and Dezna had been cuddling together while Valendria and Glimmer had simply been enjoying the small pleasures of life. It had almost managed to bring a sense of genuine joy to the broken girl, even if just temporarily. That somehow didn't seem like the type of person Keshet was. She seemed much more questionable, if not downright menacing. Paige was no psychologist, but Keshet had almost seemed deeply troubled by something. "Bloodlust? Unlikely. Probably just troubled." She shared her theory about Keshet with Alice, hoping his observant and analytical mind could take something from it.

"If I had a choice I would be back home with Hanna as if none of this happened. Shit, that girl is probably just as worried about me as I am about her. Surely that asswipe is trying to break her too, but in different ways since he couldn't reap her." Paige responded to Alice once he shared his own desires to be out of the arena. It was surely one shared by everybody still currently alive, yet all of them only had a slim chance of it ever becoming reality. It suddenly got her thinking about the betting that was surely occurring back in the Capitol. what were the odds currently at? Paige easily suspected that her's were likely rigged, despite the surely exceptional show she had put on for the Capitol crowds so far. They did definitely know she could fight now, after all, considering the display at the bloodbath. However, it was seeming quite obvious that the odds truly favoured Keshet at this time.

Thoughts of leaving the District 6 pair to fend for themselves continued lingering in Paige's mind, although she found herself much too exhausted to even move. Instead she found herself dozing off and only waking once the sun was high in the sky. "The next day already? Shit, and still no cannons." She uttered as she sat up, rubbing her eyes in still a very much groggy state. More fortunately for her was the fact that no Mutts seemed to have came during the night and the District 6 pair seemed to still be safe. Well except for Martin's leg. It was still sure to impede the boy's efforts at staying alive, but fortunately every minute spent undisturbed was just another to allow him to rest. This didn't have Paige forgetting about her contemplations made just the night before though: as long as the boy was in a crippled state everybody was likely to be slowed down, including his district partner who didn't seem very willing to leave his side.

[Zulera301]

Alice had always just assumed that a career tribute was one who had volunteered, or who had trained their whole life for the games. The theories did not seem to hold much water though, because Sagittaria, Rye, Lyndis, and Keshet had all volunteered as well; and then of course Keshet and Glimmer had both been labelled as careers even if they had not trained for it the way Valendria and Districts 1 and 2 all had. It was an odd thing. Maybe it was how the Capitol showed their favorites? He was pretty sure they had probably liked Glimmer, what with how pretty and sweet she was. Then again, Alice felt like he probably would have liked her too if he had ever met her.

"that just makes it more confusing, if you ask me," he noted, "Valendria clearly liked people so it made sense for her to be that way. Keshet seems the opposite, so why the heck did she not attack us?" It didn't make sense. There were 4 tributes that she could have killed, and she didn't seem to have any bonds with District 6 or District 8.
"Y'know... it has me thinking. Maybe they only ever give 12s to tributes who are so goddamn weird or crazy that they end up surprising everyone. Look at the records: Flint? bloodthirsty sadistic motherfucker. Valendria? ruthless killing machine that turned out to have no desire to win the games. Keshet? this stunt here. Lyndis?..." he paused.
"eh, Lyndis is Lyndis. That sums her up easily enough."
He paused at Paige's suggestion though. "Troubled? Valendria was troubled too..." the idea that the poor girl had never been loved, despite her staggering popularity, was something that blew his mind. How could someone not actually love that woman for who she was, rather than what she was? Then again, what did he know about that? No one cared about him either way.
"I want to figure out what she wants to gain from this. Valendria wanted the sweet release of death... but Keshet? I'm at a loss..." he was putting his mind to work on theorizing and such though.

"I'd stay in the Capitol so I could break the place down from the inside out." he chuckled, fantasizing again. He had no real attachment to District 8 other than the rebellious aura that seemed to float over the place and such, but the idea of destroying the Capitol from the Capitol itself seemed like a hilariously appealing motion.
"Shit, Paige... if we're somehow able to get me out of this hellhole, I'll do everything I can to grant Hanna the same immunity that I've got. I dunno what that'd be like, having a 22-year-old "adopted" by a 14-year-old, but fuck it. I do what I want." Obviously this defiance was not directed at Paige, but at the Capitol. Alice was just being honest about how he felt about all of this.

Alice noticed that she didn't seem like moving, and so he sat down, making sure he had his boots within reach this time in case this happened again. He had run barefooted, but had managed to snatch them up before fleeing the bear-mutt (for he had taken them off in anticipation of going to sleep earlier). "looks like we're being lazy then." he chuckled to himself, dozing off as well.
He woke up sometime the next morning, a little groggy, but nothing too abnormal. Leaning over to Paige, he muttered a few things. "top of the mornin' to ya, you lucky bitch." it was clear that he found the phrase very amusing, and perhaps also very fitting. The Capitol had surely tried to kill her in the opening minutes, and here she was, 4 days in and still alive and well. "any particular plans today?" he darted his eyes towards the still dozing District 6 pair, wondering if Paige's mind had changed at all during the night. Well, that and he was seeing what her game plan would be.

[Nachthexe]

Surely there was a method to Keshet's madness. In so many ways she seemed to be opposite of Valendria, yet she hadn't explicitly expressed any desire to kill Districts 6 and 8. Certainly not yet anyway. Paige wasn't just going to overlook the girl entirely as certainly she was the type just awaiting the right time to strike. She did admittedly get a chuckle out of Alice's statement though. Only crazy tributes scoring 12's? Certainly she saw entertainment value in it for the Capitol, but she also doubted the scoring system was that rigged. Snow was cruel, not stupid or naive. Paige knew that much about the man.

"Well the girl remained relatively calm all throughout her interview so we can't really take much from that either." Paige responded, noting she was at a loss about Keshet arguably just as much as Alice was. Perhaps only time would reveal the girl's true intentions. Fortunately, Alice was out of ideas and shifted the topic and it admittedly had Paige chuckling. "Do what you want? I like your attitude, kid. Just weeks ago I would have never envisioned such words coming from a pipsqueak like you, but you definitely proved my ass wrong." Her words were sincere, although she wasn't sure Alice could truly uphold his promise. Hanna was trapped in the Capitol now, surely either to be tortured, killed, or given the one fate worse than death: being forced to serve the Capitol as an Avox. That was yet another scenario she wanted to try to avoid thinking about here.

Paige could only chuckle as Alice greeted her the next morning. She glanced over at the District 6 pair and found they were still both fast asleep and huddled up to each other. It was almost reminiscent of the times Kiva and Dezna had shared in the arena together, although Paige didn't dare mention that as long as she was in their presence. "Remember what I told you last night. Option's still open." She then turned back towards Alice and reminded him of the attempt to flee from the District 6 pair, feeling as if they were holding each other back. It was hard to tell now while the boy was still asleep, but Paige quickly suspected that his leg probably hadn't improved much since the strain of the night before.

"In the meantime I think we could use some water." Paige noted as she pulled out and examined her water bottle. As expected, it was nearly empty and there didn't seem to be another water source in sight so quenching their thirst would require a bit if trekking, something she didn't feel Martin would be in the proper condition for.

"Water? There's some not too far from here actually. We have lingered in this general area since the bloodbath actually." Siiri explained as she awoke, overhearing Paige's comments about water. She wasn't sure whether to grow extremely excited or praise the stroke of luck she had just received. Clearly the odds were in her favour for the time being and this was only further confirmed as Siiri pointed the direction towards the water. At that, Paige nodded at Alice and waited for feedback from him. Either this was simply a chance to obtain water or it was a chance to flee entirely, leaving the District 6 pair completely on their own. Paige felt guilty for even considering such actions, but this was survival and District 8 came first, for obvious reasons.

[Zulera301]

Arguably, Valendria had not been crazy at all anyways, and if the Capitol gave crazy tributes 12s, Kiva probably would have scored a 13, and Dezna would have scored a 14. No, there was strategy to the scores that were given, even if Snow did not alwyas care to have say in each and every tribute. Alice had a hunch that he had intervened with Paige's score, but he figured most of the others, including Keshet, Lyndis, and even the likes of Rye and Sagittaria, had all just been earned. Even Alice had felt like he earned his 5, similarly. He wasn't exactly a master of combat, and it was hard to show strategies in a training room where he was literally in no danger.

Alice laughed. "the interviews are usually just acts. Valendria was talking so fondly of everyone during hers, and even Lyndis managed to stay calm. Lyndis."
"That whole thing about you being funny, Paige?" Alice quipped, "yeah. 100% true." She was clearly not intending for it to be a joke the way Sagittaria or even Dezna might have, but her words amused Alice. Maybe the boy was just easily amused. This was the same kid who found his own name to be rather funny sometimes, given that it was technically a girl's name, so maybe that was it. Who knows? "but hey. I'm glad I was able to prove you wrong there. Can't have you dismissing me as some pipsqueak doomed to become lunch for District 2 or something."

"It's worth thinking about." he nodded, "you think they'd notice if we lifted that medicine? It seems useful." He died want to steal it, but at the same time didn't want to turn his only allies into enemies, even if they probably could pick them off fairly easily. Especially not since the careers were all still alive. When Paige tested her bottle, Alice pulled out his canteen and did the same. Deciding that he could take a drink if they were going to go look for water, he did just that. Now he sort of gave himself no choice, since he almost drained his water completely.

"well, which direction is it? No need to wake up Martin unless you two need water too or something." he shrugged. He was trying to play both sides here, not wanting to blatantly desert the District 6 pair, but also sort of wanting to. Maybe he could talk to Paige a little better if he and her went to the water source alone. That was what he was hoping for.

[Nachthexe]

THe tribute interviews were indeed mostly just acts and Alice's words only served to further confirm it. There were only a select few that were genuine while most of the rest of the game's tributes were simply attempting to adopt a likeable personality for the Capitol. In most cases it seemed to help them obtain sponsors, although some like Rye had managed to remain themselves right up until the end. That was just one trait of his that Paige found herself admiring. Had the boy been rebellious? That bit was hard to decipher, although she knew it was very possible since he had come from District 11. Anything of a rebellious nature he would have said would have been censored anyway.

Paige gave Alice a puzzled look. "Shit, kid. You want to take their medicine? Next thing we know you'll be taking everything just like that asswipe 'leader' of ours does." At this point she was feeling thankful that Siiri was still asleep, although just moments later the girl began stirring upon Paige's mention of water. She was groggy, but knew immediately what she was after, although Alice interjected with a question of his own.

"It's southwest from here." Siiri answered, pointing in the direction she vaguely remembered being in the first time she had found the water. Naturally, it quickly occurred to Paige there was a chance the girl was bluffing, but it was unlikely. One, as far as she was convinced this was an alliance, even if unofficial. Two, she definitely didn't seem like the clever type to pull such a ruse. It almost seemed more like Joss' game with the sort of strategy he had been taking so far. Realizing that, she just gathered her things and then began taking off in the indicated direction. She was suddenly beginning to feel thankful water was nearby too as it turning out to be a rather warm day. Surely the Gamemakers were finally tampering with the arena's weather patterns too. They did have absolute control, after all.

Paige wasn't sure how long she had been wandering when she finally found a stream, but almost immediately her face lit up. "Shit, this must be it. Some lucky sons of bitches we are. Drink up." She announced as she dashed over to it, cupping some of the water into her hands before finally filling up her empty bottle. Since they were also seemingly alone it was also a time to once again discuss the inevitable with Alice. Abandoning the District 6 pair. Sure it seemed cold, but they had an opportunity now that the two groups were separated. "Seriously now. I'm leaving it up to you. This is our opportunity if you truly feel the District 6 pair will just hinder our own efforts at staying alive. No offense to Kiva here, but she got herself kind of some shitty tributes in her first year. I'm baffled as to how they even made it out of the bloodbath." She confessed, surely hoping Kiva hadn't heard her words. At least she didn't really stand any chance of meeting her again though.

The idea of fleeing was feeling more and more desirable to Paige, but then she heard screams off in the distance in the exact direction they had come from. Somebody was under attack and she was pretty sure she already knew who it was. However, the screams were coming closer and very soon the very same tributes she had been contemplating escaping from had caught up. Siiri at least had, and was trembling in fear as she attempted to speak. "M...m...mutts... This...WAAAAAAY!" She stuttered before screaming as the mighty creature began honing in on the trio, Paige in particular. Martin very quickly took note of the bear Mutt creature and was beginning to catch up to the rest of the group, despite his leg. He then tripped, an action the creature wasn't about to overlook as it shifted its attention to the younger and vulnerable boy. It let out a mighty roar before effortlessly scraping him off the ground and tearing him apart in two, killing him almost instantly.

BOOM! That was one tribute down since the bloodbath. Paige hardly had time to react to the torn up corpse at the bear Mutt's feet before the same creature once again began honing in on her. This prompted her to pull out her sword and begin a charge towards the creature. This time she had the daylight advantage so was able to corner the creature, shoving her blade directly into its side. This angered it, prompting it to unleash yet another roar before swiping at Paige. She managed to drop down to the ground just as the creature's claws slashed her cheek. "SHITBALLS! DO THESE MOTHERFUCKERS EVER STOP?" She hollered as blood began flowing down her face. She then maneuvered on her stomach into a open space between the bear's claws and and its belly and plunged her sword into its chest, twisting it a few times to deepen the wound within what she knew were probably vital organs. Fortunately, this seemed to weaken it enough for her to crawl back out and begin taking the massive risk of slashing at its face. At that, it and a very exhausted Paige collapsed down to the ground. It was still breathing, but only just barely. It didn't take her long to realize it was very likely the Gamemakers' attempt number two to kill her.

[Zulera301]

There were many tributes who, based on their interviews, had remained themselves. Rye was a notable one of these individuals, and so were Kyla, Dezna, Hazel, and Glimmer. Valendria was one of the few actor-tributes that he admired, mostly because of her sudden turnaround. He, like most of District 8, saw through what scant footage the Capitol showed of her during those final moments, and knew what she was--she was a rebel, just like them. He knew that the Capitol could not have their crowd favorite being a rebellious individual though, and so most of that had been skillfully censored.

"Means to an end." he shrugged, "if you want to win the Capitol's game, you have to think like them. Knowing your enemy is half the battle." He was actually referring to the Capitol in this case, rather than the other tributes. Alice was trapped in their game, and he was going to trick his way out of it or die trying. This was essentially Alice versus the Capitol in his eyes. He was determined not to let his oppressors come out on top of this one.

Alice, having remained acutely aware of his sense of direction, did not even need to ask which way that was, though was surprised that Siiri had known it too. Most tributes didn't focus on that sort of thing, because Alice was fairly certain that the "sun" rose and set in different places besides east and west each day. When they reached the river, he didn't even need to be told by Paige was to do, and instead just threw his face in the water to cool off, before drinking his generous fill of the cool water, before loading his canteen up with some more for later.

Alice actually had a different approach to Paige's question, but his answer was somewhat expected at this point. "we need to split up from them." he agreed, "not for our sake, but for theirs. You're going to be attracting the worst kind of monsters the Gamemakers can come up with, and you and I both know it." Okay, so he didn't actually know if Paige was aware, but Alice knew that the mutt last night was no coincidence. It appeared much too early for the average mutt, and it had gone for Paige with an almost single-minded fury. "I'm sticking with you because someone's gotta show the Capitol that they can't take even take out a scrawny little 14-year-old fashion designer with their horrible monsters and traps. That's right." he glanced up, although didn't raise his voice. "fuck you, Gamemakers. You can't control me." He didn't feel the need to make it a scene. He was satisfied with what he had said.

"But yeah," he reverted back to the old subject. "Kiva's got a lot to learn about that whole mentoring thing, I reckon. Lucky victors get away with knowing less than the others. I'll probably be the same way if I win, but eh. shit if that's going to deter me from Operation: Legacy." Victors like Sagittaria were bound to be more experienced (three of Sagittaria's four tributes so far had been pretty decent, with one of them even taking out one of the strongest career tributes in a gruesome display the year before) simply because of how they won their games, but it wasn't like Alice was expecting to go that route. No, his win, if it should happen, would be strategizing, skill, and a dash of luck.

He was becoming more and more convinced that his words were being monitored, because no sooner had he said that little spiel against the Gamemakers when he heard screams, and he was fairly certain it was not another tribute that District 6 had just encountered or anything. Nope. the fact that Siiri was screaming about mutts meant that it was exactly what he planned. Sure it was probably honing in on Paige (okay, there was no maybe), but at the same time, surely they'd be happy to off that pesky boy that was travelling with her as a convenient piece of collateral. Alice was subtly trying to dig himself into the Capitol's side like a thorn. Maybe he had not been discreet enough?

His jaw dropped in significant surprise and shock as he watched the smaller boy get literally torn in half. He had imagined Smash with that kind of capability, although she didn't seem like the type that would be that violent. Then again, Smash had literally punched a kid so hard that he had coughed up blood before dying. He saw very clearly why that girl had that nickname. But that was all irrelevant right now. He whipped out his trusty bow and began focusing and firing at this monster. There would be no Keshet to save them this time, but at the same time, Paige's antics seemed to have made that unnecessary.

She had basically pulled a Lyndis and gone in for the bloodiest method of slaughter possible. Surely if the girl had been her to watch, she would be slowly clapping in approval. Once Paige seemed to have significantly injured the creature enough,. Alice raced towards it, drawing an arrow, aiming it right between the eyes of the creature at nearly point-blank range, and pout an arrow through its skull and thus its brain, where it finally stopped moving.
this hunch had Alice's mind already working on another grand design.

"You know what we need to do," he crouched down next to her. "we need to find the other tributes. We can't wait to let them come to us... the Gamemakers are going to try and skin you alive and rip me apart before they let that happen. No... we need to use their traps to go after the other tributes. We basically need to take an offensive here."
He paused for a moment to let the words sink in. "In other words... we need to manipulate their traps... use them to our benefit. If we can lead a rampaging bear mutt right into the career pack, or into Joss' lair or something, then it becomes their problem as well as ours. Why should we fight these monsters solo when we could force other tributes to help with the dirty work?"
It was a devious plan, although it was definitely one that was easier said than done. Still, Alice knew that they would get nowhere if they didn't find outer tributes. Seeing Martin get ripped apart meant that the Capitol didn't care about collateral. They were going to try and kill Paige by any means necessary, and Alice was going to exploit this hellbent obsession with all of his wit and cunning.

[Nachthexe]

It was not until several minutes after the Mutt was finally finished off by one of Alice's arrows that Paige managed to regain enough energy to sit up. She was certainly still slightly winded from the battle and definitely finally experiencing shock from Martin having been effortlessly torn in half by the creature, causing her to pay attention to little else around her. "Holy shit, just holy shit. I'm certain those fuckers just tried to kill me again." She finally spoke, crawling over to the flowing stream and rinsing off both her bloodied sword and bloodied face. It didn't take her long to realize that the gashes were rather deep and still very much bleeding. She was just feeling fortunate the creature hadn't taken out her eye or anything else drastic. She gestured towards Siiri, who was also very much in shock and unable to properly mourn, to pass her the remainder of her medicine although just seconds later she spotted a parachute emblazoned with the number 8 floating towards her.

"A sponsor gift? Open it. I bet it's medicine." Siiri advised before once again glancing over at both the Mutt corpse and the two halves of Martin which were nearly drowned in a pool of blood that had leaked from the boy's internal organs. She began pleading for the Capitol to soon drag it away. Paige heeded the girl's advice though and opened the package, revealing what was indeed some of the Capitol's powerful medicine. However, a single note also occupied the package: They've all been fooled. -C

Paige had a puzzled expression on her face as she read the note. "They've been fooled? Who? If she means the prep team and the Capitol then damn right! I was thrown into a goddamn rigged game and they just figured it out?" She began ranting as she applied the medicine to her face. It was definitely stinging as she applied it, but she knew it was only minor pain compared to what she just had just encountered--and was about to encounter in the future. This also had her remembering the inevitable so she turned and glared directly at Siiri. "You saw what those creatures did to Martin. I'm sure my very presence is endangering both you and Alice. You know what that means. Sorry, kid." She explained, following by a surprisingly understanding nod from Siiri. The younger girl only filled up her water bottle before setting out on her own, fearing another attack from one of the creatures or perhaps another tribute.

Did Siiri already suspect Paige was under attack? It soon had her wondering as soon as the girl was out of sight. She had left in a hurry, after all, not even bothering to ask for an explanation. In all fairness the Gamemakers weren't exactly making their disdain for Paige discreet though. That was one of the things that had her fearful more than ever, but also surprisingly confident as Alice shared his next idea with her. The boy was brilliant. Almost too brilliant. "You. You are a fucking brilliant little shit." She began, playfully slapping his arm. "Surely those asslickers will continue trying this shit until I stop breathing, but we can play this game too. That's right, Gamemakers! We can play your fucking game too!" She bellowed, flipping the bird just as she had before. She was angry and certainly had every right to be, hardly even experiencing a hint of shock anymore. Even being flogged countless times seemingly suddenly had advantages; desensitization to both violence and punishment. It was real.

After several moments Paige finally gestured for Alice to follow her as she finally began fleeing the stream that had been site of gruesome violence just minutes earlier. At that, a pair of hovercrafts came in to retrieve both the Mutt corpse and the two chunks of Martin's corpse. She now knew more than ever to stay on constant alert as the Gamemakers were sure to take another attempt in a matter of time. She couldn't help but to worry about Alice though. Surely if he stuck around he was bound to become just more collateral damage just as Martin likely had been. That was not a fate she wished upon the boy, or anybody for that matter.

[Zulera301]

Alice couldn't help but inject a little deadpan into the situation. "you don't say." he retorted. He was ready to offer his hand or something to help Paige back to her feet or at least a sitting position, but the girl handled it well enough herself. Surprised as he was about Martin's gruesome death, it didn't faze him. The loss of beloved tributes such as Dezna, Kyla, Krystal, Rye, and even Glimmer did not faze him. sure he was disappointed, but that was about the extent of his feelings on the subject. This was a boy who had never had anything to lose, and so other than the slightly chilling images in front fo him of a tribute torn in half and a corpse of a gigantic and frightening creature, he was for the most part, emotionally unscathed.

"who the hell would sponsor us..." he tilted his head at the curious parachute. "let alone you? Was this out of Challis' pocket?" Obviously he was not intending to demean Paige here; he just figured that no Capitol citizen in their right mind would want to sponsor such an unappealing tribute, or a nobody like himself. He glanced at the note, and he figured it out instantly--well, one of many ways to interpret it.

"More than that." Alice chirped in response to Paige's theory. "If the Capitol thinks they've all been fooled now... they haven't seen anything yet. I'll have those Gamemakers pissing themselves in frustration by the time I'm finished with them. Let's see... Gemma, Marcel, Myron, Zakura... probably Keshet too... Capitol favorites. Our new targets."
He paused as Paige glanced at Siiri, but he nodded to show that he was with Paige on that one.
"She's right, you know." he nodded, "whoever crosses path with Paige is going to end up getting attacked by mutts. The best thing for you to do to save yourself is to run. Ideally... Paige and I will go straight for the Keshet, Joss, and the careers and cut them off before their fun even begins."
Alice was no longer worried about his lack of strength. His ideas of manipulating the arena turned out to be somewhat plausible, and so he was going to milk those for all they were worth.

Alice chortled at Paige's increased enthusiasm for his idea. He was somewhat proud of himself now. "oh, but Paige, dear... that's why they're called the Hunger *Games*.... it's supposed to be fun. Play by their rules, and no one gets hurt." Needless to say, despite the lack of a sarcastic tone in his voice, it was clear that Alice was being so snarky that he didn't even feel a need to say so. He did not suddenly just turn around and suggest that they actually cooperate with the Capitol.
"May the odds make it true that when you're mortally wounded in an excruciatingly painful way, your body goes into shock and you don't feel anything as you die." he quipped. "that shit's messed up. I wonder if Martin felt anything..." he didn't want to think too much about it though.
The sound of hovercrafts, presumably to pick up Martin's remains, were soon heard from nearby as they walked away from the bloody sight. Without even looking back, he followed Paige, softly chanting as they walked.

"First we play dressup, and have lots of fun...
Then we start training, and playtime is done.
Soon we reap judgment, and scored 1s through 12s...
Then questioned by Caesar, to expose ourselves.
The next day begins the end of our lives...
a couple of tributes, who scored but mere 5s.
We fight for survival, through bloodshed and din...
the odds stacked against us. They say we won't win.
The Capitol thinks they're always in control...
that they own every tribute, both body and soul.
They gloatingly show off their power and malice...
But those fuckers don't stand a chance against Alice."

[Nachthexe]

Paige very quickly realized Alice had a point. Who the hell would be sponsoring her? Surely she had put on quite a show for the Capitol by nearly single-handedly taking down the Mutt, but they were bound to still be furious due to her much too blatant outburst during the interview. Almost all of the Capitol citizens probably couldn't even comprehend anybody speaking such defiance, yet it had happened in front of their very faces. "The hell would I know. Either there's a fucking rebel among them or Challis is feeling massive pity for me right now." She responded to Alice's obvious confusion.

"So you intend to beat them at their own game. Careful. You might have Snow shitting his pants by the end of this." Paige was of course being facetious, but she did realize the extent of what it was Alice was potentially going to carry out. It very quickly brought back Snow's continuous message to her since the parade: "I always win." She even managed to put on a smirk when she began realizing Alice potentially had what it took to outsmart them too. No Snow, you do not always win...

Alice's next comments were morbid, but they were somewhat fitting. It did get Paige suddenly wondering about her own death though when it finally came. Would the Gamemakers at least give her the privilege of dying quickly like Martin seemingly had? Somehow it seemed unlikely as the Capitol was ruthless and sadistic like that and would surely want maximum entertainment as they watched probably their least favourite tribute being torn apart. Even if most of her words were being censored out she was sure the vibe alone she was probably giving off was enough to make them dislike her; she was a rebel and there was truly no hiding it no matter how much the Capitol attempted to censor it.

As the pair walked Paige listened to Alice's chant and couldn't help but to be impressed. "Shit, come up with that just now?" She asked curiously as she examined her surroundings before taking further steps. It was pretty safe to say that now she was filled with paranoia due to all the previous encounters that had nearly resulted in her death. Perhaps the Gamemakers were even surprised they hadn't successfully taken her down yet? If anything, that was only incentive for her to carry on as it meant pissing off some of the Capitol elite. However, even ambitious rebels had their limits as she finally settled down in a patch of foliage as the sun began setting. She had a feeling it was bound to be another dangerous night.

"I can't help but to continue thinking about Siiri. Where did she run off to? I'm sure she's scared shitless right now and I admittedly feel bad for the kid." Paige confessed as she laid down staring at the night sky just as before. It was surprisingly soothing, although this time it was abruptly interrupted by the Panem anthem and then the image of Martin's face in the sky. That was exactly 10 tributes down with 14 remaining so Paige knew the challenge for both her and Alice was only just beginning.

[Zulera301]

"or both?" he tilted his head. He knew that mentors could pull money from their own pockets to sponsor tributes if they wanted to. Sagittaria had done this the previous year, using the opportunity of low prices in the early days of the 'games to send her gift in. It was odd, but then again, so was Keshet's behavior; so was the absence of the career pack, and heck... even the absence of Lyndis. He had half expected her to be wildly rampaging through the arena and killing or fighting people, leaving blood in her wake. 4 days now, and there wasn't a peep from her. Every now and again he'd hear a tree fall from this direction or that, but it always sounded very distant, and there did not seem to be a pattern as to when this would happen.

He nodded. "of course I do. we can't let him have all the fun." He did realize that he would have to be much more discreet about it though, and thankfully, he did appear to be calming down just a little. Not to say that venting out pent-up aggression Paige-style was not his thing or anything; just that he was going to have to play his cards extremely carefully otherwise he would be expendable and he knew damn well that Snow would not hesitate to off him just like that. "You need to know the rules fluently in order to break every one of them effectively."

For some reason, after witnessing Martin's death like that, Alice had a feeling that Paige was not going to get picked up by hovercraft in one piece. It was a gruesome kind of death that no one deserved except perhaps the Capitol elite, but he wouldn't put it above the sadistic Gamemakers. It was somewhat ironic--usually they encouraged more tribute-to-tribute action, and as the 44th Hunger Games had indicated, that could still lead to plenty of gruesome and very bloody results. Maybe it had just been the tributes' green uniforms, or that they were surrounded by lush shades of green that contrasted the dark red of their blood, but he recalled seeing so much blood in those games.

"Yup." he shrugged, I thought about it in my head a little to tweak it and make it roll off the tongue well... but I'm no Sagittaria; that's for sure." He was otherwise fairly quiet as they found a good shelter for the night. Alice was fairly confident in his abilities with his bow, and was so grateful that he had managed to snag it. He would have probably been dead if he had not grabbed it, in fact. "hey... 4 days down and those damn gamemakers still haven't gotta us. Clearly we're not as weak and stupid as they hoped." this was not a jab at any other tributes either; just a jab at the Capitol who was clearly trying to do them in.

"She's tribute-food now..." Alice shook his head grimly. "no alliances, no partner, and she's up against the career pack, the outliers, and those boys that ran into the woods. This is probably a terrible thing to say, but I'd be banking on her dying next at this rate. Hopefully it's quick, rather than gruesome." he closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of the forest, the occasional creaking noise, and the breeze through the leaves as the anthem played and Martin's face showed up in the sky. his expression was so calm and neutral--very much like Dezna's had been the previous year. Then again, that boy had proven that he was actually quite the lively fellow all things considering. Martin... well, he hadn't stood a chance. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep. They weren't even halfway done with the games yet.

[Nachthexe]

There were a lot of aspects of the 46th games leaving Paige rather puzzled thus far and the mysterious sponsor gift was no exception. It certainly didn't take a genius to decipher that she was no doubt the most unpopular tribute on the field right now. Even little Martin had received a sponsor before she had and he had clearly been far from a fighter. "If by some miracle you make it the fuck out of here you better ask Challis who the hell sponsored me." Paige commanded, even if just for Alice's sake since she knew that in a matter of days she would ultimately succumb to a Gamemaker trap or even less likely, another tribute.

Alice's idea to use the Gamemakers' traps against them, although dangerous in various ways, was quite brilliant. Certainly what Alice lacked in strength he made up for in wits and Paige was very quickly realizing that. The games were certainly not always a battle of brawn and these ones in particular hadn't shown much of that so far. Perhaps it meant the boy actually stood a chance? It was a slim chance, but he clearly didn't want to be counted out just yet. "Of course if you intend to lure Mutts and shit towards the others then you have to find them. They could be anywhere in this godforsaken shithole." Paige reminded the boy, realizing that besides Keshet and Siiri she hadn't really seen the others since the bloodbath. Either this was a massive arena or they were up to something and remained undercover in order to perfect it for the perfect moment. It at least seemed like a tactic a seemingly Capitol suck-up like Keshet would use. It prompted Paige to stay on alert for both Mutts and tributes.

Paige chuckled at Alice's next remarks. Four days in and she was still alive and well with only a few injuries. Clearly she was already beating the Gamemakers' own game in that they surely wanted her dead back at the bloodbath. Perhaps they had even been hoping the others would take advantage of her low score to attack her, yet all those who dared attack her ended up dead. It did get her wondering. What if by some stroke of luck she managed to outlive all the other tributes, despite all the Gamemaker traps? Would they kill her then and there, rather having no victor than a rebel victor? It was an interesting scenario that briefly entered her head, but she knew the Gamemakers were more powerful than that, having much more than simply Mutts. The arena itself could be surely used as a weapon and she quickly suspected that if the Mutts failed that would be next. Nobody forgot about Titus, the cannibalistic District 6 boy, after all.

Did Siiri really stand a chance on her own? It was the burning question that re-entered Paige's mind as soon as Alice gave his feedback on it. She was probably alone, with her only ally now being dead. Unless she was on good terms with some of the other tributes? Paige realized she didn't really know as she hadn't observed the District 6 pair much during actual training. Fortunately, she was unlikely to be an actual threat, unlike the stronger tributes like Keshet and Lyndis. Paige knew what would have to come eventually if the girl somehow managed to survive, even if it was simply business. "After seeing how her partner went I doubt she cares what happens to her as long as she's relatively intact." Intact. It was definitely Paige's preference, but she knew that while being under direct attack she couldn't afford to be fussy. Literally every minute was now a fight for survival in a game she knew she couldn't win. No, she couldn't win and only gained any will to fight at all simply for Alice's sake. Snow was truly not going to silence her until she took her last breaths.

Paige was slow to doze off to sleep that night, only being able to think about the District 6 pair, the last attack, and how every one had been a direct attempt on her. That factor of the games had at least been revealed, but Keshet's motives remained unclear. She had a striking suspicion that Lyndis' perfect score had merely been a stroke of luck, but Keshet? She was easily one of the most skilled tributes in the arena, judging by how easily she had weakened the first Mutt. Paige still wasn't even sure exactly what the girl had done to it, but it had clearly worked. Of course there was also the mystery of whose side she was truly on, but Paige could hardly think about that as she finally fell asleep. It was only when the next morning came that the other tributes re-entered her mind just as the blaring of a cannon went off. Another fallen tribute.

[Zulera301]

"deal." he agreed. He wanted to find out who it was just as much as Paige did, incidentally, and so it was definitely going to be something on his mind if he made it out. Neither of them were terribly popular right now, after all, and so it made him wonder who the heck would send a sponsor gift to an unpopular pair of tributes who had both scored very low? Perhaps it was all the more reason for him to make sure to win the games. The more he knew about his enemies, the more he could use it to his advantage. The Capitol was unwittingly showing their determined behavior against Paige right now, and thus Alice was already developing ways to exploit and take advantage of this.

"well we aren't going to find them by waiting around." he joked. "one bite at a time, Paige. one bite at a time." He was not suggesting that they form a continuous search or something; no, he was definitely keen on resting, understanding its importance. "This arena appears to be more of a strategic thing. If anyone here is good with woodworking, I'm sure that they could concoct something big and bad if they really wanted to. The games are not about being dealt a good hand—they're about using the cards you’ve been dealt at the right place and the right time." He reached into his pocket, pulling out the pair of dice he had brought with him. He rolled them a few times, as if for self-amusement, before stashing them again. "it ain't the size of the tribute; it's how they function that matters."

Honestly, if Paige and Alice came down to the last two tributes, Alice would sacrifice himself just to let Paige win and give the biggest "fuck you" to the Capitol he had ever done. He'd turn to the cameras one last time and say "we won this time." before letting Paige do him in. the probability of this actually happening was pretty much zero, but it was still a nice thought, and a cause that Alice wouldn't mind dying for. Of course, he didn't want to mention that and remind Paige of her nonexistant odds, and so he kept this one to himself.

"I'm not sure she has a choice though." Alice noted, "unless she's secretly a brilliant tactician and has us all wrapped around her little finger or something. But there can only be one tribute like that." He obviously was not in that position at the moment, but he did intend to do whatever he could to manipulate the battlefield so that he could slant the odds in his favor. It was definitely easier said than done, but here he was, 4 days in, and still relatively unscathed.

For Alice, Keshet might have been a threat, but at least they had seen her. He was much more worried about the tributes they had not seen yet, which was basically all of them. The careers, while strong, were usually predictable, and would probably be found back at the cornucopia guarding the abundance of supplies there instead of trying to stake out other claims in the arena. If nothing else, lingering around the cornucopia, especially towards the end of the games, was a surefire tactic that had always proved effective, because if there was an unwritten rule about the Hunger Games (other than not trying to jump the gun, which in turn would blow the tribute in question apart), it was that the cornucopia never was destroyed.
He wanted to know what was keeping Lyndis down though. The Gamemakers never just randomly gave out perfect scores, and so clearly the girl had done something to prove that she was among the deadliest tributes in the arena if they had scored her perfectly. It certainly wasn't like District 10 was a Capitol favorite or anything. He had half expected that he'd be hearing a cannon a day, and find Lyndis at the other end of the deed--or that he'd see her face in the sky from other tributes fed up with her shit. was Isi really that good at keeping her down, or was there something else at play?

He dreamed that he heard a cannon, except that it jolted him awake the next morning. Immediately, he assumed that it belonged to Siiri.

[Nachthexe]

Unless Siiri was fooling nearly everybody in the game Paige knew she didn't stand much of a chance and this was only further confirmed as soon as she heard the cannon blaring the next morning. Almost immediately she suspected it was her. It had very much startled Alice as well, jolting him awake. "Siiri. I bet that was her." Paige mused as glanced over at Alice. He seemed to have the same idea, judging by the expression on his face. "Poor thing. I suspected this would happen, but let's just hope she met her end more pleasantly than Martin had." She continued as she sipped water from her bottle. The incident suddenly had her worried. Who or what had taken down Siiri? She could only guess another tribute and she wasn't sure she wanted to know who.

The coming of this next day also had Paige realizing she was only one day closer to her own imminent death. Surely the Gamemakers were working on more traps, perhaps even deadlier than the last. One bear Mutt had surely already been proven to not be enough so what if they sent multiple? She wasn't about to put it past them and if fighting one had exhausted her the way it had then there was no way she could confront two. Alice's bow somehow didn't seem to be very effective against them either, which brought Paige to another speculation. Were these Mutts being created with invulnerability to arrows? It somehow seemed likely as surely the Capitol knew about Alice's bow and probably didn't want the boy aiding the very tribute they were trying to kill.

With Siiri out of the game it wasn't lost on Paige that nearly all of the remaining tributes were powerful and to make matters worse she didn't know what any of them were up to. The difficulty level for everybody in this game no doubt probably just went up, meanwhile in the Capitol each of the tribute's odds of winning were rapidly being altered. This had Paige going on alert once again and asking Alice for feedback. "We need a game plan. I think you might be right. We need to go on the offensive before the asslickers come for me again. We won't accomplish shit sitting here." Paige was quickly realizing that while she was the brawn Alice was the brains and she intended to take advantage of it.

[Zulera301]

"Well. either it was Keshet, or it was one of those boys and their traps or stealth." he shrugged as to wondering how the girl could have died. He didn't even need to wait for tonight to guess it was her. Everyone else was either in an alliance, or was skilled enough at survival and cunning that they didn't need to be. If it was not Siiri... well, he'd be pleasantly surprised. Other than Paige of course, he was literally okay with the idea of anyone else dying.

"one day closer to your birthday," he quipped as he got up and got his things together. Technically, Hunger Games or not, it was also one day closer to death, but he didn't feel a need to bring that up. death happened no matter what anyone said or did, and one day it would even claim President Snow and everyone else involved with these sadistic events. Even the gamemakers throwing all these mutts at them, would not live forever. He was not slow to notice that his arrows did not usually do a whole lot unless he hit them in the skull or something. He'd have to remember that, and work on bettering his aim or getting a better shot. Perhaps his notion of sidestepping and striking them from either side was not a good idea.

"Let me think about this for a moment." Alice sat down, not being sarcastic at all, as he tried to take a stab at what their best game plan might be. after a moment, he thought of something.
"you know what..." he looked Paige right in the eyes. "I think we need to go big or go home here. we should head straight for the cornucopia. If the careers are there, we obviously shouldn't rush there... just kind of saunter that direction. If they aren't... then we can go at whatever pace we please. Ideally, we'd want to lure the mutts there either way. If we get there and there's no mutts or careers, we've got supplies. If the mutts do follow us, then the supplies are destroyed and thus the careers will need a new camp. if both mutts and careers are there, then we can let them do the work. If it's just the careers... well, hopefully the mutts come."
It wasn't perfect, but it was the best thing he had at the moment.

[Nachthexe]

One day closer to her birthday? Paige was pleasantly surprised that Alice was even attempting to keep track. It only served to remind her of the grimness of her current situation, however. "Just you wait. Those asslickers will have a birthday surprise for me." She pointed out, suddenly wondering if the Gamemakers were aware her birthday was soon. It suddenly seemed incredibly likely since the Capitol appeared to have all sorts of information about their tributes. There was definitely a reason their clothing was always able to fit perfectly, after all. Paige hadn't really thought much of it previously, but both her training uniform and arena uniform fit well. Alice's seemed to be the same as well.

Alice seemed to have a plan forming in his head and Paige was willing to go along with it. If anything, it was a chance to potentially take down the careers. There was five of them and only two in their own alliance so luring Mutts to them suddenly seemed the most plausible, despite being risky. Besides, Keshet alone could probably take them on if she was really as powerful as she had been showing off. "It's worth a try. We will need to face those motherfuckers sooner or later." Paige agreed before leaning in towards the boy to whisper in his ear. "Let's see how well they fare against Mutts." It managed to bring a smirk to her face as she finally gathered her things and began on the way. Luckily she still had a vague idea as to where the Cornucopia was.

Paige wasn't sure how long the duo had been travelling, but fortunately the trip had managed to be relatively uneventful. She only proposed stopping along the way to hunt some small game and gather some water, both of which Alice didn't seem willing to contest. Survival was still important, after all, and it had been at least a couple days since their last meal. "I'd rather we not face the careers on an empty stomach." Paige commented as she suggested cooking up the game upon the arrival of dusk, which was quickly approaching as the two tributes continued their trek. She was no tracker, but she seemed to notice the trees growing sparser. It seemed to be one of the few directional indicators that the arena possessed; the closer one was to the Cornucopia the sparser the forest became. Surely due to that alone few tributes had dared to venture into the outer edges of the arena yet.

"I think we're nearly there. Either we will get lucky or we will meet our grisly end. Regardless, if we continue on now I think we can arrive by nightfall, thus having the element of surprise. Well unless those asslickers have those night vision glasses or something." Paige explained once she finished up her meal. She admittedly had nearly forgotten about the night vision glasses the Gamemakers seemed to be providing this year, but if the careers were indeed camping out at the Cornucopia there was a good chance they had plenty of them in their possession. Frankly there was only one way to find out and it was a chance Paige decided she was willing to take anyway, regardless of what Alice thought. Re-packing the remainder of her supplies she began dashing towards what she could only guess was open space leading into the designated centre of the arena.

Paige's original suspicions quickly proved correct as nightfall had indeed come just as she was arriving within sight of the Cornucopia. She wasn't awfully surprised to see that other tributes were indeed there, but something seemed off. There instead only appeared to be two, unless others were hiding out inside? Paige wasn't sure what to make of the situation just yet, but she proposed to retain her distance anyway, awaiting further advice from Alice who was very much the brains of the operation. She attempted to get a closer glance at who was present. Almost immediately she discounted the possibility of it being the outliers as one appeared to be a girl while the other was a boy. District 1 or 2 seemed the most likely.

[Zulera301]

Alice actually nodded. "You know what... I'd honestly not be surprised if that's what they're waiting for. this shit's probably just practice. Come your birthday, they're gonna send everything they've got at you just to bring you out of this world the same day you came into it." it would definitely be symbolic, and it almost seemed like the Capitol enjoyed that kind of symbolism. on the other hand. perhaps Rye and Sagittaria had really earned those 11s. They had both proven to be very powerful tributes back in the 44th games.
The notion that every tribute's arena uniform always fit them perfectly, from the shirt size to waist size, to even the shoe size (except Lyndis, whom Alice had never seen wearing footwear of any kind), was not lost on Alice either, and that was how he was fully convinced that the Capitol knew everything about every tribute. They probably had records on things and people they liked. It made him wonder what sort of things they would try to use as leverage against him. Challis? sure she was a decent woman, but Alice had no real attachment to her other than the bond between tribute and mentor. The stylists? He would be ashamed if such talent was wasted, but that happened every year with the tributes. Valendria? Dezna? even Rye and Kyla. It was nothing new to him. His parents? ha. good one.

"that's pretty much my logic," he finished up, "I mean, either we wait and let the mutts kill us, or we confront the careers and bring them down with us. I'd rather die by the careers and give them the glory rather than let the gamemakers fulfill the Capitol fantasy of doing us in. Ergo, if it's a choice between death by careers or death by Capitol, I'll choose death by careers." It was definitely a high-risk venture considering that he and Paige were not only outnumbered but also outmuscled, but he felt that they didn't have much of a choice in that regard.
Alice still remembered the direction the cornucopia was in, and so as the day wore on, he donned his glasses and continued heading in the direction he recalled it being it. It was back a bit to the northwest, away from the occasional sound of a falling tree. the trees got thicker the farther away from the cornucopia one was, and he wondered if Joss or one of the other tributes had taken advantage of that.

Each and any time Paige suggested they stop and find food or water, Alice would simply nod in agreement. To him, that was just a matter of common sense, and he wondered why anyone would purposely go without food if there were sources and/or means available (He understood that places like '11 and '12 were familiar with starvation, but that was different). "me neither. why waste the opportunity to eat if it arises?" His marksmanship had improved considerably since the day he first picked up a bow in the training center. He wished he could have constructed Dezna's crossbow or something like that, but that was far beyond his current level of expertise.

"well... it's already do or die time." Alice shrugged. "I guess you could say that's one of the themes of the 'games. I've got my glasses, so it's not like we have to get right up in their faces if we want to take them down." he packed his supplies up as well, following her towards the cornucopia area. His small frame and nimble legs enabled to him walk lightly on his feet. Perhaps there was more to this boy not being easily noticed than just his usual quiet demeanor.

Soon enough they arrives, and Alice squinted through his glasses to try and get a better view. He could see two tributes--a boy and a girl both with a 1 on their shoulders. So where was District 2? Where was Keshet? Gemma and Marcel didn't seem to be doing anything except perhaps keeping watch, so Alice stayed low in the foliage as he observed them. He pulled out his bow. "I can't see the others, and District 1 just seems to be keeping watch. I might be able to try and snipe one from here though..." he had an arrow nocked, but had not pulled the string back. "should I? and should I go for the boy or girl if I do...?"

[Nachthexe]

Alice was definitely onto something, even if it was difficult for Paige to accept. Would the Capitol really try to off her on the day of her birthday? The symbolism there definitely wasn't lost on her, but regardless of what happened she wasn't prepared to go down without a fight. That was a desire that only seemed to become more prominent in the girl on each passing day. She needed to send a message to the Capitol. She needed them to know that District 8 especially was not going to be pushed around. Perhaps not even all of the district believed such, but Paige was sincere in her own views which made the idea of perhaps becoming a martyr even more appealing. She did know that much of District 8 saw through the Capitol propaganda, after all, so if they tried to plead her death as insanity or something just as they had with Valendria then they wouldn't be convinced.

"So it's District 1? Shit, we've hit the jackpot. Almost. A part of me was hoping for Keshet." Paige responded once Alice examined the two tributes at the Cornucopia. He had the obvious advantage there, having the night vision glasses, and to add to that the two still seemed to be entirely oblivious that somebody was watching them. This was certainly a perfect opportunity for Alice, being the ranged fighter. "Shit, there's nothing to lose. Let that sucker fly. I don't care which you hit. Both need to die." She continued, watching as the two tributes even sat on the ground. This had her further wondering where the others were, hoping they wouldn't show up to intervene.

The careers. There they were in open space acting as if they owned the arena. It was an all too common pattern in the behaviour of career tributes that Paige easily picked up. Arrogance. Nearly all of them possessed it to some level and certainly these two were no exception, even believing they could guard the Cornucopia out in the open. Were they not aware there were at least other tributes who could probably single-handedly take them down? Paige had many questions running through her head, but she knew that getting answers was hardly viable so instead she just took the ultimate risk and gestured for Alice to unleash his arrow. With some luck it would hit its target or somebody else--or something, would intervene.

[Zulera301]

Alice's ambition to win the games was not at all for glory, or for fame, or even for the riches and immunity it would undoubtedly provide. It was not even for his own survival, really. He was technically expendable. No, his victory was about sending a message. The Capitol's first mistake was reaping him for the games. Of course, he had to survive in order to convey that message, and so far, he had a good ways to go before that happened. However, that did not deter him. It was the words of a tribute girl's interview that inspired him in that regard.
"a 1 in 1000 chance is still a chance. Don't sell yourself short just because the odds are against you."
the odds of a successful rebellion were certainly much less than that, and surely Alice's odds of winning were not that dismally low. Even when Valendria had existed, the odds of the weakest tribute had only been like 1 in 170 or something that that. It gave him hope... Hope was the only thing stronger than fear. Those were some more inspirational words, from perhaps one of the most ironic sources on Panem--President Snow himself.

"ha. if it was Keshet, I would have just shot her without even asking." Alice whispered in return. mysterious or not, he wanted her dead because she was a large threat, and didn't even seem to have an appealing personality the way Valendria or Glimmer had. Perhaps he was being overly judgmental, but in the Hunger Games, he was not one to care a whole lot. they'd all have to be dead anyways, and maybe he could go back afterwards and look up information on them if he won. Priorities and stuff, after all. He slowly lifted his bow, aiming it at Gemma as he pulled back the string, (for she had scored a 10 while Marcel had scored a 9). He was completely still, and clearly the boy was very focused. This was the kind of gameplay that he specialized in.

"welp..." he whispered, "may the odds be ever in my favor." Taking a deep but silent breath, he locked onto his target, letting his arrow fly. With a whistle through the air, he heard it strike something, and focusing back on his target with his eyes, he noticed the girl drop. Naturally, her partner jumped up in shock. The cannon had not blared yet, but he had struck her in the neck, so it was only a matter of seconds before...
BOOM.
Jackpot. Well... sort of. Now he had to deal with that boy, which in turn meant that he went to load another arrow. They might get seen within the next few moments, but if they didn't, he was going to damn well try to take out Marcel just as well.

[Nachthexe]

Odds were a funny thing. Even in a place like the Hunger Games they often carried little meaning as sometimes even the most unpredictable of tributes won. The 45th games were a perfect example of that so maybe there was still a chance, albeit a small one, that Alice would still win. As far as Paige went, she knew the Capitol already had their work cut out for her. Surely it was only a matter of time until they made another attempt on her life, or the careers she was currently watching, did. That was just one more risk, with nothing to lose, that Paige was willing to take in order to get Alice one step closer to home. The boy himself seemed to also pick up on it.

"I doubt Keshet would stay out in the open like these two. She may be powerful, but she's not arrogant. She just doesn't give off that vibe." Paige soon reminded Alice as he stood by hoping for Keshet to miraculously make an appearance. However, clearly the others seemed to be an acceptable substitute as Alice rose his bow with full intentions to take a shot. The night vision glasses clearly seemed to work in his favour as moments later Paige heard the arrow hit something. First there was silence, and then BOOM! A cannon, and it had unmistakably been for the target Alice had just downed. Upon closer glance, despite a lack of night vision glasses, she saw that it was Gemma. Her partner seemed to be startled as well, searching around for the source of the attack. This prompted Paige to get down within the foliage that was providing her cover. "Stay down and shut the fuck up." She pleaded to Alice as she kept her eyes locked on the career boy.

Paige was quickly confused. Very confused. Just in the nick of time Keshet had made another appearance, immediately noticing the dead tribute nearby. She approached Marcel almost angrily and began questioning him. Being at a distance Paige couldn't make out most of what the girl was saying, but she managed to pick out a few brief words. Something about a "show". A show? The girl was unmistakably talking about the Hunger Games and referring to them as a show nonetheless. It gave a rather interesting perspective that otherwise would have had Paige believing she was indeed a Capitol suck-up if it hadn't been for what came next. Despite the absence of the two District 2 tributes Keshet almost immediately began attacking Marcel. The boy managed to block the first few swipes until Keshet managed to corner him and launch her axe directly into his forehead, killing him almost instantly even as she finished him off with a single throwing knife she picked up from the Cornucopia's supplies. There was no mistaking his death either as by the time the girl retrieved her axe and ran off another cannon blared.

Keshet and the careers. After the most recent ideal, Paige was admittedly in shock. Why would the girl thought to be the biggest suck-up in the entire games suddenly turn on her similar allies? Had Marcel believed her to be the one to kill Gemma? Somehow that theory seemed unlikely as the arrow present made the answer obvious and Keshet was definitely wielding no bow. Now more than ever Paige suddenly wished she had had enhanced hearing, even if just to hear everything the girl had said before seemingly effortlessly taking down Marcel. It did leave her with the one concern that eventually they too would probably have to face who was arguably the most lethal tribute in the arena. Fortunately though with Keshet having fled the scene and the Cornucopia now seemingly vacant Paige developed a different idea for the meantime. "I don't know what the fuck that girl is up to, but now we have an opportunity. Stock up." She told Alice as she gestured towards the Cornucopia before dashing towards it herself. There was of course a small chance Keshet or possibly the other half of the career pack would return, but she realized that if they remained inside they probably had an edge for awhile. It was a strategy she remembered from the 44th games at least so it was worth a try, even if just temporarily.

[Zulera301]

If Alice ended up emerging as the victor of the 46th Annual Hunger Games, it would be an even larger upset than Kiva Rivnay from last year. Her odds had not been too bad herself. It was not her victory that was surprising. It was that Valendria did not win. Alice on the other hand, was being pitted against at least 4 tributes who had all scored very high and were proving to be either very clever, very dangerous, or both. In his case, it was that his odds were very bad. The fact that he was so loyally sticking next to the most targetted and hated tribute in the games was having a detrimental effect on the boy's odds, but that did not deter him. Backing down would just be submitting to the Capitol's demands. They could say "Alice, abandon Paige and we'll send you home" right now to his face and he would not back down. Once young Mr. DeSiete put his mind to something, he saw it through.

"me neither," Alice nodded, "in fact, I've got a theory about her that's starting to hold more and more water the more we see of her." It had started as far back as the incident with the first bear-mutt, although a few other clues had been dropped along the way.
Alice growled the moment Paige shoved him down, especially because he noticed the exact girl that he had wanted to kill from the get-go, and Paige had just straight-up thrown off his focus in such a rash, subversive manner that could have easily been avoided. If nothing else, he could have let loose on the boy as well, for he had plenty more arrows, considering that he retrieved them whenever possible.

The next set of events sealed Alice's theory, and he was confident now that he knew enough about Keshet's motives to pin down what she was aiming to do. He'd tell Paige in a moment or two unless the girl did something else stupid. Alice might not have been on an intellectual par with Coriolanus Snow or anything, but he was smart enough to realize that he was definitely the brains of this operation by a longshot. This was not something he was going to grudge against Paige, but it did sort of upset him that he had had a chance to nail Keshet that had been squandered.

"I think I know what she's up to, and it's actually fucking brilliant," Alice retorted as they raced to the cornucopia. It felt oddly reminiscent of those opening minutes, because even though there were not 22 other tributes heading after them, there were still 9 others on the loose and these were the dangerous ones. Incidentally, of the remaining tributes, he actually considered District 2 to be the least dangerous, because he could sort of guess or predict their behavior. The lack of seeing the outliers worried him, similar to how the District 6 pair the year before had been worried about District 3. Similarly, there was Joss, Garrett, and Nesara wandering about, and he didn't want to run into them.
He began snatching supplies up, using his glasses to see clearly what he did and did not want. "She's pulling a type of Valendria and putting on a show. More than that though... she's infiltrated the careers. I think her original intention was to get into their good graces and then tear their group inside out. It just explains so much. Siiri was a show. the mutt was a show. Sucking up to the careers was her show, and now her true colors show themselves."
Erratic as her actions might have seemed, Alice saw a pattern, and thus saw what he perceived as a method to her madness. That was enough for him to worry less about her and much more about the tributes that he had not seen anything of yet.
After nabbing a few more supplies, Alice sunk back towards the cornucopia, deciding to take a bit of shelter there for the time being. He very much liked Kyla's tactic from 2 years prior, and so the idea of sniping tributes by surprise was not something lost on him, and instead was something he wanted to try his hand at if District 2 or 7 came back this way.

[Nachthexe]

Paige glanced at Alice puzzled. "A theory? About Keshet? All I think is that she's fucking crazy. She's even turning on her allies now. You saw how she took down Marcel." She explained as the girl finished up her kill before taking off once again. She was beginning to care less about the girl's true intentions and just cared about avoiding her. If she had willingly turned on her allies so easily then there was no way of knowing what else she would pull off and Paige knew that even her own skills held no weight in comparison with the mysterious District 7 girl who effortlessly wielded her axe. So far she had at least three kills to her name and Paige did not want to be the fourth.

Once again small details didn't seem to go over Alice's head and the mystery of Keshet was just another. The boy was definitely beginning to develop a theory about her, which suddenly managed to get Paige interested again. "Shit kid, tell me at the Cornucopia." She responded as she positioned herself in the Cornucopia. There was unsurprisingly an abundance of supplies although it was obvious some had been looted since the bloodbath. Clearly somebody had been taking advantage of it, but fortunately if they managed to return Paige knew she and Alice now had the upper hand, being able to hide inside. It didn't seem like Keshet's game as that girl seemed more direct in her approaches so Paige could only guess it was one of the lone boys making use of the supplies. Surely the three outlying girls travelling together towards the Cornucopia would attract too much attention, after all.

Once firmly inside the Cornucopia Paige came to a realization of her own. Throughout the entirely of the games the Cornucopia was never damaged so would hiding inside it prevent the Gamemakers from sending more Mutts after her? It was an interesting theory, although she knew they could just as easily revert to other methods of slaughter if they were truly determined to take her out. They clearly were so it seemed futile to even think about attempting to beat them at their own game. Besides, dangerous tributes were still out there, such as Keshet. Alice's explained theory only seemed to make it seem even more so. "So you're trying to tell me she's simply putting on a show? And how do you know it was even her who killed Siiri? There's plenty of other tributes out there. Shit, we don't even know what most of these others are up to so they could have just as easily offed her ass. Still, Keshet attempting to put on a show hardly makes any sense unless she's trying to send a message of some sort." Paige responded, raising her eyebrows. The boy's theory seemed to hold some weight, although she found it odd how he so quickly jumped to conclusions about Siiri.

The Hunger Games. It was an odd thing really as even it seemed to provide moments where tributes felt genuinely relaxed. After all the attacks and chases in previous days Paige quickly found a feeling of ease flooding over her as she leaned against the inside of the Cornucopia. Something felt oddly safe about it, even if only temporary(which she felt it would be). The Gamemakers always insisted on leaving it intact and even during the 44th games the mines had left no more than a few dents. That immediately had Paige wondering what it was made of, but that was something even beyond most tributes' smarts. Somehow she suspected District 3 would know, but any chance she had at talking to anybody from District 3 were lost in the bloodbath. Business was sometimes harsh and the bloodbath was evident of that, marking the first time that many tributes turned from innocent children into murderers.

[Zulera301]

Alice just laughed. "now if only Lyndis would do the same." The enemy he did not know was far more intimidating than the enemy he knew, because there was no telling what they would do, and thus Alice could not come up with a method of reaction. It was always good to expect the worst from an enemy, because then you were prepared for their worst. If they were not as dangerous as you expected... well, that was for the better. At worst, Keshet would confront him and Paige directly and kill them. She did seem to take a very forward approach that he had been expecting from the likes of Lyndis, and so he doubted that they'd fall into a trap of hers or something. Joss, on the other hand...
but that meant that Alice knew something about the boy. He worked with traps, stealth, and cunning. All he knew about Lyndis, Smash, and Isi was what their favorite weapons were, and that they were strong. Similarly, he had no idea about anything related to Garrett, or Nesara. That worried him.

Alice got comfortable in the cornucopia, his eyes darting this way and that at the plundered supplies. Surely most of this had been the result of the bloodbath, but perhaps the careers had also been here just making use of whatever they wanted. If they were not occupying the cornucopia, then someone had duped Gemma and Marcel or something. Perhaps another one of those other boys had made use of it though... or maybe Isi. Lyndis and Smash might not have been stealth experts (as far as Alice knew, anyways), but Isi seemed like the type to. He had learned during training that she was a hunter (which also explained her use of the bow), and so surely some kind of stealth would be required for that.

"Process of elimination," he explained. "If it was the outliers we'd have heard something from them. The careers aren't exactly quiet, nor do they tend to stray far from the cornucopia. I suppose it could have been one of the boys, but I figured that Siiri learned a few things after Martin got booby-trapped, and so she'd probably not fall into one of Joss's traps. I guess it could be Nesara, but think of who the only tribute bold enough to go wandering around at night is. If the dead tribute isn't Siiri... well, then I'll recalculate. The anthem hasn't started playing yet though, so I guess we'll learn in a few minutes whether I'm right or wrong." His skills at educated guessing were fairly good, but otherwise it was just logic and deduction that had brought him to these conclusions. Of course, he could be wrong, but that was only a bad thing if it caused him to make a misstep that cost him his life or something.

They were safely in the cornucopia and finally able to relax though, and that was not something lost on Alice. For a moment, he jumped, seeing something outside moving, but whatever it had been, had scampered in, picked off some of the supplies farthest from the mouth, and then took off back eastward before Alice could even get up or grab his bow. However, it did give him an excuse to crawl outside, because no sooner had the boy ran away (it was a larger boy; he was thinking Garrett because Nesara had long hair in a ponytail, and Alice had not seen anything of the sort with his night vision glasses), than the anthem played.

"welp..." he chuckled. "time to find out if I was right or not." the boy stealing some supplies did not worry Alice. it wasn't like they were going to use all of these supplies, and it told him something about Garrett. He was flying solo and was fairly quick.
He looked up into the sky after the anthem stopped, and sure enough, it was Siiri. He had been hoping it was someone else, but was not terribly surprised.
He simply glanced at Paige, before crawling back into the safety of the golden horn.

[Nachthexe]

Paige wasn't slow to realize that at least half of the remaining tributes were relying on stealth in these games. That alone made them a huge risk as there was truly no way of knowing when they would snipe the others. Perhaps that was also Alice's game, but Paige knew where her expertise laid. She knew she would have to get in close to even stand a chance against any of the others. "From here you may be able to snipe the others, although once they spot us it becomes entirely my game. Perhaps we're at a greater advantage here than we realize." She explained, vaguely hinting that Alice was destined to be their eyes and ears for as long as they remained hidden inside the Cornucopia.

Alice was pretty sure it had been Siiri who was killed and it turned out he was right, as the image in the sky minutes later seemed to indicate. Paige Admittedly felt sorry for the kid, but she knew that she would have not gotten far anyway. At least she had likely avoided the fate of death by Mutt. Nobody deserved that, especially not the girl who had witnessed her district partner being torn in two by a fierce Mutt. "Shit, poor kid. Although she would have suffered a worse fate I'm sure by sticking with us." Paige uttered as she returned back to the inside of the Cornucopia. Despite all the supplies littered around it was surprisingly spacious. It was no wonder that sometimes tributes took advantage of it, just as the outlying alliance in the 44th games had. Kyla, however, was arguably the most efficient user of the Cornucopia in recent games; just from hiding out for days she managed to snipe at least a few tributes and now here Alice was possibly intending to do the very same.

Soon somebody else managed to make an appearance, confirming Paige's original suspicions that others were indeed using the supplies of the Cornucopia. Almost immediately she guessed one of the outlying boys, although she was surprised Alice hadn't tried to attack. Maybe he didn't spot the boy on time? Despite that, the boy seemed to have fled almost as quickly as he arrived anyway, giving Paige some idea as to the sort of game he was playing. "Well shit, seems we may have a few cunning stealth masters on our hands. We may have to alter our plans a bit to account for that since I don't see how we could lead Mutts into their fucking lairs." She noted, turning towards Alice before attempting to get comfortable for the night. she had a feeling they were going to be in the same place for awhile and it seemed to be getting late.

[Zulera301]

"I'll be able to snipe those damn mutts too. They don't take damage well from the sides; we'll have to hit them up front. Hopefully none of the others have too many of these glasses. If anything we should do what Kyla did last year and build a wall in front of the mouth so we don't just have a big wide opening screaming "mutts come this way" or something, y'know?" Otherwise, he definitely liked this notion, approving of the deviance it had. They might not have been able to rack up 6 or 7 kills the way Kyla and Valendria did (no, if anyone did that this year, it'd be Keshet), but Kyla had not just been an inspiration for lethal tributes. No, the girl had been cunning and fearless as well. These were traits that in particular, had some of District 2's numerous mentors warning their tributes not to get too cocky.

Alice shook his head grimly. "those poor bastards. I think it'd be less horrific if they had been older... but I certainly have no affectionate feelings for bears now." He felt bad for District 6, and it certainly must have been hard on that mentor girl to watch them both die so horrifically. (he assumed Siiri had died rather harshly, if his theory about her killer being Keshet held any water anyhoo). That made him think about something though. If he won, he'd be a mentor. Would he be able to watch his tributes die for several years? He knew full well that the odds of District 8--or any district besides '2 and maybe '1, winning twice in a row, was practically zero. Perhaps he could. He did not exactly have any close feelings to anyone at all, and so he could probably do it. It would not be a pleasant thing by any means, but he wouldn't become an emotional wreck over it, he didn't think. But, he would also have to try and show concern for them, because he didn't want their blood on his hands for being careless or something. He imagined how Kyla would have been as a mentor. Someone with that level of skill and cunning could probably make a mighty warrior even out of the smallest kids. Perhaps District 12 had lost one of their shining opportunities with her death. Then again, Kyla was already something of a legend in District 8, and if the last games had anything to say about it, Districts 4, 5, and 6 also had a certain respect for her. Of course, she was revered pretty heavily in District 11, and it went without saying that she had post-mortem become one of the most influential people of District 12.

Alice nodded at Paige's remarks as they slinked back into the cornucopia. "well, I figured that would have to happen eventually. I think the kids from '11 and '12 aren't in any rush to get here. Garrett probably just saw an opportunity and took it." He was fairly certain that if he had noticed any tributes, the District 11 boy might have been a bit warier on his approach, but he was long gone and out of Alice's reach now.
"True enough..." he turned to her, "although there's always still District 2." he'd sleep better at night knowing they weren't there, and after that, it was just a matter of strategizing against Joss, Nesara and Garrett. Lyndis, Adrianna, and Isikiro were another boat entirely.
He took a sleeping bag and made himself comfortable, sleeping on it for padding rather than in it. He realized how cushy the careers often had it (with the exception of those years, such as the previous one, where the cornucopia supplies had been scarce, and had mainly consisted of those weird metal shards. Then again, those had proven useful, for District 3 had somehow constructed lightning machines from them, and District 6 constructed a catapult and a repeating crossbow out of them. Alice slightly envied that talent, although he would consider taking up craftsmanship as his "hobby" that the Capitol encouraged victors to have.
"Hopefully we aren't ripped apart in our sleep," he chuckled as he laid down as Day 5 concluded, "may the odds be ever in our favor."

[Nachthexe]

Paige shrugged. If there was somebody who knew how to take down the Mutts it was her. "Their stomachs and backs seem to be the most vulnerable. Look how damn easily I managed to take that second fucker upon gaining access to its stomach area. Of course there was also Keshet and whatever sort of fucking stunt she pulled on that other creature's rear end." She confirmed, realizing was developing a theory. She also realized if that the first two didn't kill her that there was bound to be even more next time. Either that, or something entirely different. Only time could tell at this point. "I have a feeling that the Capitol's next attack will be much larger. Perhaps those asslickers are all cluing in now that I managed to take down two of their creatures already."

If there was a single argument to make about the cruelty of the Hunger Games it was the fact that so many young innocent children died as a result; Hazel, Daisy, Martin, and Siiri were only a few casualties in recent years, yet the Capitol clearly saw nothing wrong with it. That alone angered Paige, even if she really was powerless against them now. It didn't take her long to remember that now she truly was at their mercy and so far they hadn't been kind. She strongly suspected they would want her to suffer before she ultimately succumbed to whatever injuries she sustained too. Snow definitely wanted to reinforce the fact he truly was boss, one of the man's motive's that didn't go over Paige's head. "If it's any consolation at least Martin died pretty instantly. Shit, he got fortunate, even if his body didn't remain intact." Yet another dark truth of the games. Almost nobody died intact, leaving Hazel from the 45th games as truly a rarity. Those sorts of things were no doubt one of the toughest aspects for mentors to deal with year after year.

"If that was indeed Garrett who showed up here he looked to be alone. I suspect all those boys are. Even Nesara is probably alone, but I can't really blame him, considering the crazy bitch he's partnered with. However, her aside, because those boys are alone we could probably take them down easier than the tributes who are in alliances." Paige shifted her attention back to the plan of action that Alice seemed to be creating. He was definitely the strategist of the duo, although she knew he was essentially powerless in direct combat. Based on that alone Paige was hoping she would not be offed until the latter stages of the games. Challis needed a victor. No, District 8 needed a victor. This year in particular it almost seemed like the perfect message to send to the Capitol.

Eventually Paige found herself dozing off alongside Alice. The site of the Cornucopia was surprising peaceful, despite having been the location of massive bloodshed just days earlier. It almost seemed ironic that now it had managed to become a place of refuge even as the hovercraft picked up each of the District 1 corpses. It wasn't quick to go over Paige's head either that nearly every year it was also the same location in which the Gamemakers ended the games. It almost seemed like a symbol of both death and sustenance of life. Was that intentional? There was no way of truly knowing, but it was something Paige found herself thinking about even as she dozed off soon to greet Day Six of the games.

[Zulera301]

"noted," Alice nodded, having not known that the stomachs and backs were vulnerable, although it made sense. "But hey, if they're going to try and step this up, they'll have to do a better job. So far I'm about as impressed as Nesara was with his partner's score." he remembered the boy's apathy, wondering what had been on his mind. He was one of the most curious cases, because he was the one tribute that Alice knew nothing about. Joss and Garrett were stealth experts. Isi was another strategist. Lyndis was psychotic. Adrianna had more physical strength than the rest of the others combined (okay, maybe not, but she was easily the most physically powerful by a considerable margin, it seemed). Zakura and Myron were your typical powerful but arrogant careers. Keshet was out for blood. Nesara? He had no real tabs on that boy other than that he had very long hair in a ponytail. "well... at least live to your birthday... or to find out where Smash and Isi ran off to." he quipped, "preferably whichever one is later."

He decided not to mention it here, but if Paige was mortally wounded, Alice was going to shoot her where she stood (or lay), to kill her outright rather than let the Capitol have their way with her. If they wanted to mangle and mutilate a dead corpse... well, perhaps that would be a nice reminder to the districts about how sadistic they were. He was not going to let her die slowly and painfully though. It was one thing to die with a lance wound, an arrow to the throat, or an axe to the chest, but at least those tributes had died with their bodies in one piece. "well, he probably definitely went into shock so that he didn't feel anything as he died." he quipped, bringing the gruesome reality of Sagittaria's humorous slogan to light.
Okay, so maybe he might mention it here after all.
"Hey..." he turned to her. "if the Capitol tries to torture you or rip you to shreds... I'll end it earlier. Y'know... like a mercy-kill or something. Because you know what... fuck the Capitol. if you're gonna die, you're gonna die on District 8's terms, not the Capitol's. I know that 'here I'll kill you' doesn't sound like a very nice offer to make... but if you're mortally wounded in an excruciatingly painful manner... I'll take you out so that the Capitol doesn't get to."
It was tragic that anyone ever had to have a conversation like that, but this shit was business.

He nodded. "aye... we can definitely pick off the single tributes much easier than the others. Shit... at this rate I'll be the only boy left in the arena surrounded by a bunch of wicked-powerful girls." he laughed. Keshet, Lyndis, Adrianna, and Isikiro all came to mind. "if we off Joss, Nesara, Garrett, and District 2... yeah. that'll do it." he shook his head. That aspect didn't bother him. Killing a girl was the same as killing a boy. Alice had done both in the last 5 days, and he had seen no difference. "Although I still think that ironically, our best targets while we're here is District 2. they're the most likely to come back here, and if we have to deal with mutts and shit... well, then so be it. Hopefully you're alive to face the outliers with me." They were the biggest threat to Alice now that Keshet had broken free of the career pack, which now only had 2 members. As powerful as she might have been, if she got in a fight with the outliers, they'd drop her rather than the other way around because of their numbers. Even Smash was not as slow as she looked, after all, and Lyndis had speeds reminiscent of Dezna Lightning if her reflexes during the bloodbath were anything to go by. Okay, so maybe not Dezna-fast, but definitely at least as fast as Glimmer or Valendria.

"It starts and ends at the cornucopia..." those were words to live by. When you had a massive arena designed for 15-24 tributes, and actually had 15-24 tributes using it (since a handful always died in the opening minutes), that was all fine and dandy. But, when you had an arena designed for 15 tributes and only 2-5 were left... it was time to downsize, or chase them together, both of which were core Capitol strategies. What better place to chase them to than the center? They never destroyed the cornucopia, after all. Alice was fairly certain that there was symbolism to be found here, or maybe it was just that it was a landmark for any Capitol citizens who toured these arenas after the fact.
Either way, these were the thoughts going through Alice's mind as he drifted off to sleep. 13 tributes down, and 6 days in (well, starting this next morning anyways). They might have been more than halfway done after all.

[Nachthexe]

"Well that's if the Gamemakers don't have a birthday surprise waiting for me." Paige responded, letting out a small chuckle. She soon realized there was bound to be plenty of incentive for them to strike on her birthday as a sort of symbolic gesture on their part. Snow definitely knew how to hit where it hurt and this was bound to be no exception. The Capitol had effortlessly abducted Hanna to use as a sort of weapon, after all. However, she was now so distant with no way to be saved so Paige tried to shift her focus to the more immediate problem: the other tributes. There were at least a few still she hadn't seen since the bloodbath. What exactly were they up to? She hated the thought of having to face something like the District 3 pair last year. She was still surprised Kiva and Dezna had managed to off them at all. "If they don't show up within a couple days we will have to go track them down ourselves. Sooner or later we will have to take the damn offensive. We have seen too much of that from Keshet and look how she's dropping tributes like fucking flies." She advised, realizing Alice probably agreed anyway.

Just when Paige found herself wanting to doze off Alice startled her. He wanted to off her? Sure it was bound to happen eventually, but by his hand? That hit her like a ton of bricks, even if it was him or the Gamemakers. However, she did see advantages in such a proposal. The boy had a point. Dying by the Gamemakers' hands meant dying on the Capitol's terms which just indirectly seemed like another form of submission. No, Paige intended to remain a rebel until her dying breaths and now she had just been presented an opportunity. "It's a decent offer, but don't fucking touch me unless I know for sure there's no way out. Say, for instance, we're ambushed and I'm near death already? End it quickly. I know we discussed this sort of thing back in the Capitol, but I intend to ensure you make it out of this shithole." She stared Alice straight in the eyes before proceeding to speak once again. "Rebel until I die. If there's one thing my parents taught me it's that rebels do not surrender. They died for the cause and I'm prepared to as well. Besides, what choice do I have now?"

The next morning managed to come rather undisturbed, although Paige almost immediately suspected somebody else had visited the Cornucopia during the night as more items were left disturbed. However, she didn't think much of it as whoever it was had clearly not spotted them, otherwise a fight would have definitely ensured. This was something she didn't mention to Alice, although she did want to find some water as she was running low. "How's your water, kid?" She asked, examining her own bottle. "Mine's low. We probably can't stick around here for long." She advised, realizing that now in the daylight and also out in the open they would have to extra cautious. Despite how hard it was to travel she was willing to admit that darkness was definitely advantageous in the Hunger Games arena.

[Zulera301]

Alice nodded. "well yeah. Frankly I'd be fine if Keshet did all that dirty work for us, but I suppose that not even she can last forever. we'll take the offensive when we get provoked enough." he was of course referring to the Capitol, but he figured that was a given.
The sadistic way that the Capitol was trying to toy with Paige was not lost on Alice, who had probably been one of only four people who had ever seen the girl cry (the others being Hanna, and Paige's parents). The former of these two was certainly receiving the brunt of the collateral damage, because she not only had to watch Paige's grizzly death whenever it came, but they were also torturing her to try and break Paige. On the other hand, he was much more worried about the here and the now rather than someone he had never really known. if the outliers--or anyone else for that matter--were shaping up to be like District 3 from last year, that was enough to bring concern.

Alice actually cracked a snort and a chuckle. "Paige, do I look stupid?" his tone was horribly deadpan. "of course not. I'm not going to off you if you're still on your feet. I'll just snipe you before the Capitol can send their mutts or tributes to do the job. When I said that I was going to outsmart the Capitol, I meant I was going to go allllll the way."
He nodded at her. "You want to know what our biggest strength is, Paige?" he asked her after a moment. "It's the idea. You cannot kill an idea, and neither can the Capitol. The best part is, is that they also cannot stop an idea whose time has come. Revolution will happen. It may not be in our day, but when it does, it's going to hit the Capitol like a ton of bricks, and they will be powerless to stop it. Just something to think about." Perhaps he was just fantasizing, but it was a nice thought. Maybe District 8's children or grandchildren would rise up against Capitol tyranny, instead of subjecting themselves to the Hunger Games. Only time would tell.

Alice woke up the next morning, taking a drink from his canteen first thing. His was about half full, but after his drink, it was down to about ¼. Paige asked about it, and he shook it. "I've got a bit left, but probably not enough to last me through the day. Are we going to venture out, or should we rummage through whatever supplies are left and hope someone left something?"
He kind of knew the answer already, but it was worth a shot. travelling during the day was more dangerous, but easier to see things. Those night vision glasses of his were prefect for travelling at night though, because he could see just fine with them, and he helped lead himself and Paige to safety.
Hearing the noise of a tree falling or something again off in the distance, he turned back to Paige. "so which way... north, south, east, or west?"

[Nachthexe]

Alice had a point. What if Keshet did just off all the others? It did admittedly save the District 8 duo some effort, but once forced to face Keshet they probably didn't stand much of a chance. Somehow she didn't seem like the type to just surrender like Valendria had either. That was something Paige knew both she and Alice would have to be prepared for when the time came. It didn't seem to take much to provoke the girl either. "Just provoke her and hopefully lead her into one of the Capitol traps." Paige explained, chuckling.

Initially Paige became annoyed, believing Alice to be mocking her but the boy had yet another solid point. Ideas. Nothing could stop them. Not even their perpetrator's death. Paige was sure she was bound to be no exception. If Alice really believed the stuff he spewed, after all, then the ideas of revolution were bound to live on. This brought her some comfort, even if she wasn't ready to die. She just nodded in agreement. "Sooner or later people will grow tired of that asswipe. I could already see it in their eyes before the Reaping. If you could just spread the idea further..." Paige was quick to remember that victors had a special sort of influence over their districts, being heroes of sorts. Surely if Alice made it out of the arena alive that was something he could use to his advantage.

Alice didn't seem hugely eager to wander out just yet, but water was important so Paige insisted. "Supplies here are plentiful, but there doesn't appear to be any water. We will need to find one of those streams again. Imagine that, the great rebellious little bitch dying from dehydration, of all things. Snow would wet his pants in excitement. We can't have that." She began packing up her things, taking a bit of extra food from the Cornucopia in order to hold off the need to hunt. She soon realized just how fortunate tributes were this year too, having so much supplies if they dared venture in for it. It definitely beat the metal shards of the 45th games.

"We go east." Paige commanded as Alice awaited instructions. She realized she didn't quite know what she was doing, but fortunately they were both armed if they ran into dangers. She had even retrieved a few more knives for that purpose as anything was bound to happen. Mutts immediately came to mind, but fortunately she had a better how to kill them now. "There's two potential threats now I think. Other tributes or those fucking Mutts. Or Tracker Jackers?" Paige looked up in front of her, stopping dead in her tracks somewhere in the forest. Almost directly in front of her was a tree with a massive nest. It was unmistakably a Tracker Jacker nest.

[Zulera301]

Alice nodded. "yup. pretty much something like that. or hopefully we catch her off guard before she does the same to us." He felt like that would be what it came down to, anyways, and frankly hoped for the former outcome rather than the latter one. He knew that he wouldn't last more than 11 seconds in a match of brute strength against that vicious individual, but in a battle of wits... he might have just stood a chance. Frankly, he was banking on her falling into some kind of trap from '10, '11, and '12. It was rare for District 12 to both have survivors this long, and rare for District 10 to have anyone alive this long. District 11 seemed to be on an upward streak lately, starting from the 44th games at least.

"I'd have to be subtle about it, but I could do that," he nodded. "I can't let them realize I'm trying to undermine them otherwise Snow will be able to easily convince the rest of the airheaded crowd that I'm a villain." He'd be having to play a two-pronged game here. On one hand he'd need to continue the spirit of rebellion, but on the other, he'd need to convince the Capitol crowds that he was one of them and that he'd never bring them any harm. Maybe he was just counting his chickens anyways, and would die within the next couple days or so. He definitely had the slimmest non-zero odds at the moment.

"I know," he chuckled, "just wanted to make sure we weren't missing anything. mouthy bitch has to stay alive at least till we take out District 2 or meet the outliers or something." In truth, he would probably keep adding events that he wanted Paige to be beside him at, but wouldn't say this, because he didn't need any more of her pessimism. Screw the odds; they were both alive and breathing right now, and were going to fight claw, tooth, and nail to keep it that way. He did take account of anything useful at the cornucopia though. He didn't want others using supplies that he himself could use. Selfish as that was, it was the name of the game.

"East it is..." he nodded. that seemed to be where most of the tree noises were coming from, but he had no idea if that was just the Gamemakers playing tricks on him, or if it was some rampaging mutts or something. "At least it isn't those things they had last year," he quipped, remembering those frightening humanoid creatures they had used. They had been a massive hit in the Capitol, which meant that surely they would be used again one of these years. He wondered if they'd do it two years in a row, but seriously hoped they didn't.
When Paige froze, Alice did too naturally, and looked up alongside her. Tracker-Jackers.
"I swear you jinxed that." he quipped softly, not wanting to get the attention of the vicious vespids. "but I'm no Dezna, or too familiar with these things other than that smoking them tends to work."
He paused, his eyes lighting up a second later. "Paige." he turned to her. "I can't exactly say how we'd reach them from here... but do you by chance still have those matches?"

[Nachthexe]

Paige nodded. "Fortunately that bitch seems distant for the time being. Besides, taking some of these others down first could be useful. We at least have an idea of what Keshet's up to. The others? Not so much." Paige felt relieved that even a vague plan seemed to be forming in both her's and Alice's heads. She didn't care what the Capitol. She intended to get Alice out of the arena or die trying. Even if it was a risky move a District 8 victor was bound to send a message. "Shit, even if you're not subtle about your rebellious tendencies what is that asswipe going to do? Kill your fucking family? Like you would give a shit." She responded, chuckling at the notion. It was hard for her to even comprehend, but here was a boy who truly had little attachment to his family and it was soon going to be advantageous.

As the duo continued trekking eastward through the forest Paige occasionally trees falling over just as she had in days previous, although she didn't think much of it. It seemed natural to her that trees would fall in a forest. Plus it was all artificial anyway. She wasn't quick to forget that the Gamemakers had absolute control over every single element in the arena. "Shit, those trees again. The Gamemakers must be growing bored since they still can't kill me. Motherfuckers." She commented shrugging it off just as she nearly walked into the Tracker Jacker nest. She began glancing at it before gesturing for Alice to stand back. "Stand back and do not make any sudden movements or sounds." She ordered as she examined many of the vicious vespids swarming around the nest as if to stand guard.

Matches. That was it. Matches. Almost immediately Paige remembered the stunt from the 45th games that the two tributes managed to pull off. Noting this, she slowly removed her backpack and proceeded to pull out her set of matches. So far they had been handy as far as fire-starting went, but she had never anticipated them being used as a weapon of any sort. "Time to burn, motherfuckers." She uttered as she put her backpack on and lit up one of the matches. Almost immediately it ignited into a radiant flame which she then threw onto the nest. "NOW IS WHERE WE FUCKING RUN!" She bellowed as the angered vespids began racing straight towards her.

"SHITBALLS! GET OFF ME YOU FUCKERS!" Paige continued screaming as the insects dug their abdomens into her flesh. Venom. It was entering her bloodstream fast, already quickly weakening her and filling her head with various nightmarish hallucinations. Hanna. She was right there. In front of her, but something was off. Upon closer glance Paige saw that her limbs were missing while the remainder of her body was bloodied from countless lacerations. Almost immediately this brought tears to Paige's eyes as she continued crying out for help. "HAAAAAAAAANNA! THEY...THEY...ATE YOU!" She finally bellowed as her pupils diluted before she finally collapsed to the ground, fully blacked out.

[Zulera301]

Alice chuckled as he nodded to acknowledge and agree with Paige. "so many bitches in this arena." he joked. "Luckily they're hard to mix up." he winked at her. Paige was definitely a bitch, but she was a likable bitch (at least to Alice). More importantly, she was a bitch that Alice wanted to keep alive as long as possible.
"I wonder if they heard that or not," he quipped, "hey mom... dad..." he called out satirically to some random camera. "your son's in the hunger games. Not sure if you were aware or not." So perhaps the subject did irritate him a bit, but he didn't explode or go on a rant over it. "but eh. maybe they'll do it anyways and think my remarks are an attempt at reverse psychology or something. I dunno." They weren't really though, because Alice lacked any real emotional attachment to his parents. It was rather sad, but nothing could be done about it now.

Alice tilted his head curiously. "you think they're bored?" he quipped, "so they're randomly smacking trees to make them fall over or something? If they're doing that, I'm half-surprised they didn't try that on us." he remembered one year that they had shot fireballs at a girl to chase her to a different part of the arena, but she had outsmarted and outsped them, getting out of the inferno that they would have otherwise created. Thus, if they wanted to chase Paige down, they easily could (unless these new Gamemakers were incompetent?). More of them seemed to be coming from the east now, but he wasn't sure what to make of that either.

Alice froze without even asking when instructed to do so. He might not have been as familiar with tracker-jackers as kids from '10, '11, or '12, but he had enough common sense to stand the fuck back when they were practically right in front of him. "Dezna and Kiva approve." he joked as Paige lit the matches and chucked them onto the nest. Like most bee nests, it was papery, which in turn meant it burst into flames fairly quickly. Of course, that was a two-edged sword, given that now there were hundreds of furious tracker-jackers coming their way. Needless to say, Alice started running the moment he heard the buzzing, keeping up with Paige in the process.

instantly, Alice realized that they were almost solely attacking Paige again. Anyone who thought the odds weren't rigged against the poor girl had another think coming. Alice was lucky to only receive a couple of stings, but he was able to retain consciousness. However, he wasn't just going to let the Capitol do her in like this, nor was he going to pull out his bow and finish her off. No, instead, he swiftly snatched up a dry branch, lighting it with one of Paige's matches. It burst into flames, and he was able to start fending most of the insects away form Paige, who by now was unconscious and covered with nasty swellings.

To make matters worse, he heard a yell from the trees as a girl came lunging down... wait. that voice had definitely been male, but it looked like a girl. No... this was Nesara, and he was coming for them with some kind of club or something. Alice braced himself, but in so doing, he let himself get exposed to more tracker-jacker stings. he staggered back a little bit,, throwing the burning branch towards Nesara, before his eyes glazed over and he dropped as well. Maybe his smaller body was just not as resilient as Paige's, but they were in trouble now.

...or were they? Alice stirred, finding himself around a large fire, and as he blinked, he realized that he was next to a campfire with a long-haired boy carving something out of wood. beside him and the fire was a pile of torched tracker-jackers, and they did not seem to be far from where their earlier encounter had been.
"PAIGE!" he bellowed, rather panicked. was that boy taking them hostage, waiting to kill them only after he saw the life in them.
"...is a lucky bitch." the boy softly replied. "she'll live... but she might be a bit hazy for a while. How do you feel?"
"...hazy." Alice rubbed his forehead. "what happened?"
"You both blacked out right as I came in," Nesara replied, "I torched the hive, killed the rest of the bugs, and then tended to your wounds. The swelling has mostly stopped, but the two of you might hallucinate or something... or if you want to actually hallucinate for fun, you can do what that Dezna kid last year did..." he picked up a single fried tracker-jacker, popping it into his mouth. Dezna and the others last year had eaten loads before they hallucinated, so one was not likely to do much.

"Let me know if it hurts or is swollen anywhere else." the boy calmly went back to his whittling. "I'm not about to take off yours or Paige's clothes unless y'all want to." he did have a bowl next to him, which Alice suspected was of some kind of medicine.
"So why did you save us?"
"I'll tell you when she wakes up," the boy replied calmly. "just know that I'm not going to kill you two tonight. Consider yourselves lucky."
Alice did so, but now was burning with curiosity. What was Nesara doing with them, and why had he saved them?

[Nachthexe]

Tracker Jackers. They were vicious little things and Joss knew that arguably more than most, but the most recent incident only served to confirm it further. Having been in the vicinity around the time of the attack on the District 8 pair he quickly retreated, despite all sorts of opportunities it could have provided him. No, instead he had a different target in mind. The one place in the entire arena that was filled with an abundance of different items. With some luck he knew there would even be ways to fend off Tracker Jackers in case of attack, not wanting to end up like the District 8 pair that was very quickly being overwhelmed by hallucinations and black-outs.

Paige wasn't sure where she was when she awoke. Was she dead? Was she in a better place? All those thoughts suddenly filled the girl's mind as she began opening her eyes, being nearly blinded by the sunlight. Alice was also present as was Nesara. Nesara? What was he doing? Almost immediately a red flag rose in the girl's head as she attempted to sit up. "What the fuck? Why is he here? I would have figured that little bitch would have killed us by now, but I won't allow it." She growled as she managed to pull out a knife on the boy despite still very much being in a groggy state of mind. This was something that had him immediately startled before opening his mouth to reassure the girl.

"Easy. I could have killed you both when you were out, but I didn't. I actually helped you." Nesara immediately explained, leaving Paige puzzled. Why would District 7, of all places, help them? Was it just another show just as Keshet's probably had been? There were so many questions running through Paige's mind as she finally placed down the knife, deciding to trust the boy, even if only temporarily. She did realize he was right, after all. He would have had plenty of opportunities to finish them off. Besides, Alice seemed to be friendly enough with the boy and it was very obvious by now he was the brains of the operation. The brains? Of course. That meant he had to hear of her next theory.

"I'm pretty sure the Capitol tried to kill me again. Those motherfuckers. They probably conveniently placed that shit right there so the bastards would go after me." Paige managed to explain before slumping down onto the ground. It was evident she was still experiencing a form of weakness and perhaps even minor hallucinations as further images of Hanna continued to enter her head. This time the girl was intact, but with a sharpened slab of metal through her chest. It was almost reminiscent of the death Daisy of District 11 had experienced in the 45th games and it had Paige unleashing a piercing scream before tears flowed down her face.

[Zulera301]

Incidentally, Joss and Nesara had not been the only ones to hear the racket from this incident. In their defense though, Paige had pretty much yelled and screamed several times during the whole ordeal. However, Joss disappeared back into the wilderness again, and the others that heard it did not react. Besides, Paige and Nesara were not the only ones with access to fire and/or ways to deflect the tracker-jackers. Either way, the only one to come to defend (or attack) District 8 was that District 7 boy.

Nesara actually also cracked a chuckle. "you have me confused for a show-offy suck-up." he quipped, and without hesitation, picked up a large one-handed axe, ready to smack the knife right out of Paige's weakened hand.
"Paige, not to take his side here," Alice retorted, "but in your condition? you wouldn't last 4 seconds. Relax." Nesara was a good 7 or 8 feet away from both Paige and Alice, who were resting on the ground in front of their fire. Nesara was sitting on a log (since he could not exactly prop two unconscious tributes up into sitting position.)

Nesara's eyes actually lit up when Paige mentioned the Capitol trying to kill her again. he turned to Alice, nodding before turning back to Paige.
"That's actually why I'm here, and why I saved your sorry ass. No offense, kid, but you were in a pretty sorry state. Luckily your friend had the guts to try fighting them off before I got there or you might have ended up like that kid a few years back who wasn't even identifiable after the wasps were done with him."
Alice covered his ears when Paige screamed, and Nesara snapped at her.
"SHHHH." he warned, "hallucinations or not, you two aren't the only ones in the area, and there's no telling when the outliers are going to come and strike." the way he said it made it sound like he knew where they were.

"Anyways... allow me to explain myself now that you both are awake." the boy took a deep breath. "To start... let's just say that you are not the only one aware, boy, that the Capitol is trying to kill your partner."
"Oh?" Alice tilted his head. "go on..."
"Well... I don't really have strong feelings for either of you either way," Nesara continued, "but, District 8 isn't the only place that harbors people who hate the Capitol. I'd much rather get the two of you on your feet than let them get the glory of killing you. 'sides... it might help in taking out my Capitol suck-up partner, or those menacing outliers, or something."

There was a pause that consisted of Alice's skepticism, but he was putting the pieces together.
"In other words," the older boy finished, "I hate the Capitol as much as you all do, and I'm willing to help you show them who's boss."

[Nachthexe]

So not even Nesara liked his own district partner? In Paige's mind that was suddenly indicating a lot about the girl. It certainly seemed like further incentive to somehow take her down as well. However, it was Nesara's next words that ultimately caught Paige's attention. He was a rebel? She found it a bit hard to believe as District 7 seemed to be more mixed on their opinions of the Capitol, but it was refreshing to have somebody on her side nonetheless. "Well shit, you too? Too bad we're powerless against those cuntmuffins while in here." She responded, still rather surprised by the boy as she set down the knife she had pulled on him. There was no need to attack him. Not now.

"So now that you have my attention, what's the plan?" Paige continued, lowering her voice and finally growing calm after the second set of hallucinations. Tracker Jackers seemed to have a lingering effect and Paige felt it wasn't going to go away anytime soon, especially when Hanna was still very much in the Capitol's custody. It was quite obvious they were attempting to use her as a psychological weapon to break down Paige even further. This was something she did not mention to Nesara, however. With him, whom she knew she would have to eventually kill it was to be strictly business. Alice was still her first priority, being from her district. "Have you seen the outliers? I haven't since the bloodbath so there's no knowing what they're up to."

Paige was admittedly surprised anybody was willing to help her at all, but even a temporary ally with the same goals was an ally nonetheless. This was something that almost immediately sunk in, but then she noticed her lack of water. "Oh shit, kids. I'm not getting far on dehydration. We need to fix this, and fast." She indicated, shaking her nearly empty bottle. She remembered that water had been the original plan of action, but then Tracker Jackers happened. The Capitol really was trying to kill her, yet they had failed yet again. Was it the third time? She really didn't want to give them the liberty of having a fourth either so she was intent on ending the games before then, which meant wiping out the opposition quickly. It was unlikely, considering the consistency of the Capitol, but one could dream.

[Zulera301]

District 7 was a mixed bag as far as rebels and loyalists, although they did tend to lean a bit more towards the former than the latter. "We can't stop the 'games... but we can still play 'em our way." These were the words spoken like a true rebel, and it instantly garnered Alice's approval. "That tracker-jacker nest wasn't there a few days either, actually." he added, "I've been roaming this part of the arena for days now, trying to find a way around Isi's defenses."
Alice made note to ask what "Isi's defenses" were, but decided for now to let the boy talk. He technically didn't know where they were anymore, since he had fallen unconscious and he was not sure if he was oriented the same way now as he had been before the incident.

"I don't have any plan just yet," Nesara shook her head, "but if it's the outliers you want to take out, then you're in for a real treat. I'm frankly kind of hoping their traps get Keshet first, but if that's who you think would make a better target than those asskissers like '2 and my partner... well... we should get to planning."
He paused. "the last time I saw them, they had a cabin and a small wooden wall to the east of here." he pointed the direction, which Alice memorized again, and thus regained his coordination. "but that was the 2nd morning, and I have not seen them since. All I know is that they're using trees to build something, because I've heard trees coming down from that direction since day 1."

Alice was suddenly rather concerned. if they were responsible for all the falling trees, then what the heck were they up to? it was something he put his mind to work on as Paige expressed her concern for lack of water. Nesara didn't seem fazed.
"I've got a bit if you kids need some," he tossed them both a couple of small bottles, "but there's also two sources nearby that I know of. One is east of here, and the other is south of that one. I can lead you to both, if you want, since you practically have to pass one to reach the other. what do you say?"
Alice seemed hesitant about going east if he knew the outliers were somewhere out there, but he figured a log cabin would be hard to miss. That, and they couldn't exactly survive without water.
"I'm down." he nodded. "Paige?"

[Nachthexe]

A Capitol asskisser? It seemed like the most likely explanation for Keshet, but Paige was still confused about some things. Sure Nesara was pretty well convinced she was a Capitol asskisser, but it still didn't explain the fact she hadn't killed Paige. If the girl truly was a Capitol loyalist then surely she would have taken down Paige upon the first opportunity to do so? Clearly the girl had all sorts of motives, perhaps some that didn't quite meet the eye. "Your partner had an opportunity to kill me, but instead she helped me when I was under attack by a Mutt." Paige noted, shrugging. The girl they all claimed to hate was not only dangerous, but also very much still shrouded in mystery.

Then there was the outliers. Nobody really seemed to know what they were up to, although Nesara luckily seemed to have a bit of an idea. "A log cabin? But why? That sort of thing hardly helps if they're trying to stay out of sight for the entire games. At least it seems they have been. Shit, I haven't seen those fuckers since the bloodbath." Paige could only think of one possible explanation for a log cabin: It had to be a ruse of some sort. Either they were trying to lure tributes there so they could kill them or the entire thing was rigged with booby traps. Due to that alone she wasn't prepared to approach it just yet. Regaining some strength was ideal. "I don't suggest we go after the outliers, or most of the tributes for that matter, until we regain some strength. Only thing I could see a log cabin here being used for is intentionally luring in tributes." She explained, sharing her theories with the others so a plan could be constructed.

Paige was almost instantly relieved once Nesara passed her a water bottle. Sure the boy was bound to turn on her eventually, but for now she felt thankful for him. That was especially important in a death match where she was surely the most unpopular tribute. Not even sponsors seemed interested in her with the exception of the one mystery gift she had received after the Mutt attack. "Shit, you're prepared. But now we will need more. I'm not opposed to you leading us." Paige spoke to Nesara in between sips. She was unsurprisingly thirsty, having been out like a light for an undetermined amount of time. Nesara probably knew how long it had been, but she didn't think to ask just yet. Regardless, she had a feeling it was at least a couple days.

"Out of all the tribute remaining, the District 2 pair is probably the least threatening. At least those little shits are predictable, like most careers. They could still be travelling with Keshet though. I'm not sure, but the last time I saw her she seemed to be alone." Paige proceeded to explain her own theory about the careers, breaking the silence that seemed to engulf the small group. Of course she had no idea where they were, but taking them down would likely prove only minimal challenge compared to the others. "Still, we're not going to make progress while cooped up here. Let's get going. Hopefully the walk will restore some of my strength." She continued as she gather up her things and proceeded to follow Nesara as he began leading the way. He seemed fairly confident in what he was doing so without second thought she followed closely behind, sword in hand.

[Zulera301]

"Districts 1 and 2 kiss Capitol ass and they turn on each other all the time," Nesara nodded, "Kesh seems to just want to put on a show for them. It's a good way for those from the more rebellious districts to gain Capitol favor. Remember Valendria from last year? there were several tributes that she could have killed at one point--including District 8, even--that she didn't end up killing forever. If she spared you once, she's probably just toying with you. That District 6 girl? she was part of that." Nesara got around, and while he may not have been involved in Siiri's death, he knew about it, and saw the girl die from the shadows. He was honestly just surprised that those kids hadn't died in the opening seconds.
This was new information to Alice--if it was true. It verified a theory he had had, but that just got him thinking more. Was Kesh just trying to make a show? Valendria had done the exact same thing the previous year to great effect, only to turn around in the final moments and give the Capitol the biggest 'fuck you' of all times by refusing to continue being their puppet. He only wished he could have seen their faces when she said this.

"I'm sure they rigged it," Nesara shrugged, "but if nothing else, it's good solid shelter. I saw them go in and out of it, so if there are traps, then those girls have good footing. I can see Isi doing something like that, but Lyndis doesn't seem too precise, and Smash's feet are enormous. Aye... it's not a good idea to go after them, but that was also about a week ago, so things might have changed by then. we'll find you some water and get you some rest. There are too many other fuckers alive for me to want to go all Kyla on you."
Little Kyla from the 44th Games had made it clear at least once that she had full intentions of murdering Rye and Sagittaria if it came down to them. the Capitol made sure to include these parts (it added suspense) in their footage, and thus Nesara had seen it. "so don't fret." he added, sheathing his weapons, to show he wasn't going to attack them any time soon.

Alice interrupted Nesara. "a week ago?" he realized. "how long were we out? what day is it?"
"9." Nesara replied. "you came around a few times, I think, but your partner was out of it. tracker-jacker stings can do that to you if you treat them. Luckily, unconsciousness for a few days is much better than the alternative." he chuckled, knowing that they knew what the alternative was. Death. Death by exploding pus-filled welts that maimed and disfigured the body to points where it was almost unrecognizable.
"Anyways," Nesara continued, "grab your things and follow my lead. I won't steer you wrong."

Alice gave Paige a look to show that he trusted this boy. It was certainly much better than trusting anyone else out there. Well... maybe the outliers were indeed not hostile, but they too would have to go if Alice wanted to crawl out of this mess alive. Soon, they began trekking eastward.
"We'll end up getting close to where their cabin was," Nesara told them along the way, "it slopes here..." he indicated that they were walking into a small depression in the land, "but the water supply is not far off--"
he froze. The trees had thinned in front of them, and they were no longer looking at a cabin. In front of them was a large clearing, complete with spiked wooden walls, and in the middle was a structure that could only be described as a fortress, complete with well... fortifications. Nesara's eyes darted this way and that, and noticed a small flag flying atop the fortress. it was just a white piece of tattered cloth, but it had the number 10, the number 11, and the number 12 on it.

"hooooooly shit." he whistled. "these girls have been busy." the outpost Nesara had seen was not a cabin anymore, but now a full-fledged fortress, complete with walls and turrets. Alice looked at it with awe, before Nesara pulled them down into the foliage. The girls appeared moments later. Lyndis was hacking at a tree to try and shape it the way they wanted to; Isi was behind her, cooking some kind of food, and Smash was carrying two large logs, one on each shoulder. "shit that girl is strong..." he thought to himself.

"Okay." nesara shook his head. "new plan. we head due south. the other water source is right here. if the outliers have taken control of the first one, it mean they're hardly likely to have claimed the other one as well."
He began leading them southward away from the fort, and down towards the other water supply (a small creek), which thankfully, was clean, unclaimed, and not booby-trapped.
"Well..." he sighed after a long drink. "we've got our work cut out for us. Keshet ain't got nothing on that." he did seem content with that, but maybe it was also him hoping that the girls were not loyal to the Capitol. he couldn't imagine why '11 or '12 would be, but he couldn't know unless he asked them--which was not something he was willing to do at this point.

[Nachthexe]

Paige shrugged. "Alright. So we know Keshet is likely putting on a show for somebody, probably the Capitol, but why? There could be any number of reasons and admittedly I'm more curious about it than anybody, but certainly for good reason." She explained, hinting at her disdain for the Capitol and the fact they were unmistakeably trying to kill her, only to fail every time so far. Nesara had pretty much confirmed that the Tracker Jacker nest had been a new addition, after all; those vespids had been yet another Capitol weapon, and a failed one at that. It did almost get her wondering what Kiva in particular thought about the whole thing though, considering her more positive experience with Tracker Jackers just the previous year.

If the log cabin shelter was indeed rigged then Paige had to hand it to the outliers. They were definitely brilliant, but soon at least two would certainly become victims of their very own creation as there could only be one victor. That was a sort of irony that was bound to even be remembered in the Capitol, especially considering no tributes ever went through that much effort to create something. Although Paige suddenly came to another realization. If they were indeed building steadily and she had been out for several days then there was no way of knowing what the outliers had now. Regardless, they were bound to be especially dangerous, certainly more dangerous than anticipated. "Too bad they can't build a fucking way out of here." She blurted out, managing a chuckle. Ah, escaping from the arena. Another of Paige's revenge fantasies that would never be.

Interestingly enough as Nesara continued leading the District 8 duo they came out right near the outlier's cabin. Or "cabin"? It was more like a fortified fort now, something the three girls had clearly been working on for a long time. The position seemed to be perfectly strategic too, being near a water source. THat was a fact that especially didn't escape Paige, although it made her wonder about Keshet. Certainly if the girl saw that it was enough to keep her away. Despite the girl's suspected motives she seemed to lack arrogance. She was clever and Paige knew it by the fact the girl had seemingly managed to split the career pack down the middle. Usually nothing split them up except for death, although it had Paige asking herself further questions. Was it just another of the girl's tactics to more easily take them down? She seemed to attempting to rack up quite a kill count at least.

"Well shit, I suggest staying the fuck away from there." Paige finally shifted her attention back to the fortress. It seemed to have everything so either the girls were extremely innovative or they had generous sponsors. Paige naturally suspected the latter since there didn't exactly seem to be much metal around. Certainly nothing like last year's arena that had had arguably nothing but metal. This is where those District 3 tributes and mines would have come in handy... She thought as she took one last glance at the mighty fortress. It seemed like nothing could penetrate it now, except for explosives and there was definitely only one set of tributes in the entire games who would have possibly known how to use the only explosives in the arena: the District 3 pair, but they were both long gone. Neither her nor Alice stood a chance against them now. Not even Keshet did as she was still only one single person.

Eventually Nesara managed to lead the group to the other water source and thankfully it was safe. Almost immediately Paige slumped down to the ground before shuffling over to get a drink. It may have not initially shown, but she was still very much weakened from the Tracker Jacker attack. Their venom was strong and it definitely seemed to linger, considering the hallucinations from earlier. Now Paige could only hope further ones didn't make an appearance, especially with the outliers not too far off from their current location. Last thing she wanted was to attract their attention.

[Zulera301]

"well, I've heard that not all victors are treated the same." Nesara suggested, "maybe she's just hoping for some really cushy treatment if she wins... not like that's gonna happen, but hey. If nothing else, she's just a damn good actress who wants to try and imitate Valendria. The world could definitely use more people like her."
It made sense to Alice that Nesara would like Valendria if he was indeed a rebel. The Capitol did not try too hard to censor her story, which might have gone to show just how much of a sway they had over the types of views and opinions people expressed in Panem.

Alice chuckled at Paige's witty comment. "well... if tributes ever find a way through the forcefields... it could be done." it was common knowledge that the Capitol used forcefields to confine tributes to specified locations, like their apartments during the training week, and the arena during the 'games. Surely the Capitol knew that tributes had tried before, and so this would be seen as nothing new. Then again, the forcefield either consumed whatever touched it, or just zapped and fried it so hard that it made no difference either way. That was something that would be the expertise of District 3, or perhaps moreso, District 5, since they dealt with electricity.

The fortress was a stroke of genius--surely Isi's idea. She seemed to have good control over Lyndis and Adrianna if she was able to get them to help her make this a reality. the girl wasn't a weakling herself, but Adrianna easily had more physical girth than any other tribute this year, and Lyndis was definitely fairly high up there as well. As they watched a moment, it definitely didn't seem like Isikiro was manipulating the others. he saw her work with them, and so clearly this was a very strong and trusting alliance for the three girls from different districts to be able to work so well together in such harmony. That was not something Alice would easily forget. District unity, he had always assumed, was one of the key factors in taking down the Capitol.

"agreed." Alice nodded. He did glance at the fortress, and while there were sharp sticks and logs everywhere, the amount of metalwork seemed very minimal, which in turn meant that most of the structures were probably made out of wood. He was formulating ideas, but honestly, he'd rather kill off Keshet, Joss, Keshet, Zakura, Keshet, Myron, and Keshet first. A few tributes holing themselves into a fortress could be smoked out sooner or later. As long as they were doing that, that meant they weren't on the prowl. If they were not on the prowl, then they were not coming for Paige's or Alice's skin. there had to be way into that fortress that wasn't rigged with booby traps.

the two boys refilled their bottles and drank their fill, watching on Paige.
"You wanna rest here, kid?" Nesara turned to Paige. He was a fairly tall individual, but he actually had a habit of calling everyone "kid", regardless of age. "you look pretty burnt out... tracker-jackers I'd assume."
Alice nodded, as if to very it, though he was just assuming as well.
"Damn... not even getting the cool high those District 6 kids did... or that little girl from '12 last year." It was not lost on him that sweet little Hazel had actively participated in getting blitzed, and she handled it as well as the District 6 kids. Leon seemed to tolerate it at least, and Daisy had reacted very negatively to it, by contrast.
"I'd say we're safe here..." Alice suggested. "The Citadel Sisters clearly know what they're doing, and understand that there is strength and safety in numbers... so I doubt that they'd send only one of them out to find us... and if they left their fort deserted... well not even an idiot would do that unless it was a trap or was exploding or something."
Nesara nodded. "that's what I was thinking... so if either of you two freak out again, I don't think we'll draw their attention. It's your call though, kid." he was referring to Paige again. "you're the one that seems the most out of it."
Alice was not offended by Nesara's straightforward type of speech, for he didn't seem to be purposely trying to upset or stir up anything. But, apparently Nesara cared enough for Paige's safety that their position for the night would be based on where (or if) the girl wanted to move.

[Nachthexe]

Paige chuckled. "I know if Alice here wins, which is unlikely, the Capitol asslickers are bound to give him hell." She explained before whispering something else to the younger boy while Nesara was out of eat shot. "Sorry, kid. You saw our opposition. It's true." Their opposition. It was truly nothing to be taken lightly and surely the odds of each of the outlying girls had skyrocketed back in the Capitol upon discovery of what it was they were building. It was bound to take purely a battle of wits to force them out now and that was Alice's game, not Paige's.

Keshet. Was she really trying to imitate Valendria? So far a lot of her actions made it seem likely, but the much larger girl from the 45th games still played a much different game. She had refused to join the careers, after all, while Keshet had whole-heartedly embraced their offer for alliance. The fact that the girl had betrayed this trust just a few days in didn't go over Paige's head either. She was playing a dangerous game. A deceptive game even. "Maybe with some luck Keshet will even reveal her intentions before somebody kills her. That's unlikely though." Paige commented, genuinely hoping the impossible would happen. Clearly the girl had kept her true intentions under wraps to the rest of the tributes so far and that wasn't about to change. Not even her own district partner seemed to know a lot about her.

Nesara's offer to rest was one Paige quickly picked up. "Yes, rest. Sounds good to me. I think it's safe to say that last encounter has been the closest the Capitol asslickers have gotten to killing me. In that case, fuck them and their stupid ass games! Maybe we ought to throw some of them in here!" She responded, raising her voice in anger slightly by the end. This was followed by a quick hushing from Nesara who didn't seem very intent on attracting any more attention. "Either way, those Tracker Jackers were nothing like what this kids from '6 experienced last year. These were live ones though." She continued, realizing that there seemed to be an incredible variance between the potency of Tracker Jacker venom. The cooked ones almost seemed like a drug of some sort, something that didn't seem half bad at this point in time. If anything, it was bound to bring temporary bliss to an otherwise grim situation. The District 6 kids had definitely been thinking straight there.

"So here we are, about to finish up Day Ten. Shit, we've been in here over a week, Alice." Paige uttered as she leaned back, attempting to get relaxed. Just as in the nights before she then proceeded to stare up at the night sky. Despite it all being artificial here it was still more of a view than what was offered back at home. The lack of light pollution certainly made a difference and Alice probably noticed it too. It seemed ironic really how something so deadly to so many could also be beautiful. It was a very similar impression Paige had gotten from the jungle arena of the 44th games. It was definitely one of the more beautiful ones in her opinion so she was at least glad that after the eyesore of the 45th games the Capitol opted to return to a more "natural" setting. Of all places to die, the middle of the forest certainly didn't seem like the worst option either.

[Zulera301]

Nesara nodded. "I know that... I actually wouldn't mind seeing that kid win. he's more likely to come out of this thing alive than any chance of a successful revolution." he quipped, and Alice chuckled. He was not sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult.
"Hey... even if my odds were zero, I wouldn't give up." Alice quipped, "giving up is just a nicer term for "submitting to the Capitol. there's a reason I didn't give up on you, Paige." he elbowed her. He was going to give her a hard time about her lack of faith till the day she died. She seemed to be very selective on what "slim odds" she was willing to believe in, and so Alice found it fun to play with those notions.

"Ha... she'd be more on track to imitate Valendria if she kept it a secret till the last minutes and then got it censored." Alice quipped, "Either way, I hope I can watch her die. It'd put her, her mysteries, and her Capitol-sucking attitude all to rest." Even trying to provide a show for the Capitol was basically sucking up to them in Alice's opinion--unless it was all a big damn ruse or something. He had been very dismissive (albeit intrigued) with Valendria, although after the final moments, his thoughts about her changed entirely, and he now sort of revered her as a powerful rebellious spirit that the Capitol could not contain. Maybe his opinions on Keshet would change that way too if he survived? it was too early to tell.

Nesara nodded as he silenced Paige. Alice simply nodded, not wanting to get too overly vocal. He was going to pull a Valendria-like ruse if he won these games as well, and so he'd have to pretend he was sucking up to the Capitol even if he was really just playing with them. "they aren't too bad if you cook them though. I got a pretty good blitz a couple nights ago when you two were out. I swear that Lyndis joined me even, but she might have been a hallucination. All I know is if that girl got blitzed, she would be invincible." It was something to say about Lyndis' character if so. She did seem like the type that would outright shrug off pain, if her interaction with the District 1 tributes during the bloodbath was any indicator. "I had a few cooked ones leftover from the other nights back at our old campsite."
Alice mentally noted that, but other than a chuckle, he did not bring it up. there were more important things to focus on right now, and survival, as well as strategizing, were among them.

"well, happy birthday then... give or take a day..." he chuckled. he didn't know exactly what day her birthday fell on, but wondered if she remembered or not. It seemed like a fairly difficult thing to forget.
Well... maybe. Alice sometimes forgot his until he got an ID card from starting to work in the designer studio. The Capitol knew though, and thus so did he.
"Isn't it strange..." he laid back, crossing his arms to support his head as he kicked off his shoes for the night. "...how things that are so malevolent can be so beautiful?" Snow's white roses came to mind. More than that though, were (most of) the Hunger Games arenas. Even the 45th arena had its charm--the ground might have been ugly and hard on the eyes, but the skies... those skies were some of the prettiest and brightest night skies Alice had ever seen. They seemed to have been purposely brighter than average so that the tributes wouldn't be groping around in the dark, and so the cameras would be showing more than just blackness.
Then of course, there was the Capitol city itself... a beautiful marvel of human capability, even if it housed the most malevolent entities in Panem. Such a strange world they lived in...
Alice didn't remember when he finally dozed off, but he was happy when he did.

[Nachthexe]

"Alice coming out of here alive? Not to doubt him or anything, but he's not exactly much of a fighter. Shit, he didn't even know how to use weaponry until just arriving in training. to give credit where it's due, however, he is smart. He has proven that multiple times as far as I'm concerned." Paige confessed to Nesara, somehow being doubtful that District 8 could produce a victor this year. Her own odds were pretty much null while Alice's weren't much better. She didn't know what sort of odds the Capitol was displaying for either of them, but she suspected they were probably much lower than most of the others. Certainly they would have even put a straight up zero for her, but such a move would have been more than obvious.

Then there was Keshet. Her presence alone was probably having an effect on everybody else's odds in the games. She didn't appear to be as powerful as Valendria, but she had surely single-handedly been the most lethal tribute in the 46th games thus far. That was not something that could be overlooked while taking her on. She was also bound to have some sort of weakness, but one had to discover what it was. Her seemingly short temper perhaps? Paige wasn't quick to overlook the fact the way the girl had seemingly blown up during training and then later on up against Marcel. Surely even Alice was thinking of a way to use that to his advantage when the time came. Fortunately though for the time being it was only a minor issue, especially with so many other threats still out there.

Paige turned towards Nesara puzzled. "Shit, you ate the Tracker Jackers? Are you trying to take a page out of Dezna's books now? How was it?" She asked, intrigued. It had definitely been one of the more memorable moments of the 45th games so naturally it piqued her curiosity. She was sure that Lyndis having appeared was nothing more than a hallucination though, and it certainly beat her nightmarish ones while the venom was at full strength. "All I saw was my girlfriend being brutally mutilated and killed..." She pointed out, although holding back any hints about her currently being in Capitol custody. She had definitely become a weapon, used to reveal her greatest fears while filled with Tracker Jacker venom.

On a more positive note, Paige found herself realizing her birthday had indeed come and passed upon Alice's mention of it. "Well shit, turns out the Capitol didn't succeed with killing me on my birthday. Fuck them." She blurted out shifting towards Alice as she the two stared up at the breathtaking artificial night sky. It really did portray a sense of irony in that beauty could be found in malevolence. That was something Paige would not be quick to forget. Even the Capitol had a sense of beauty to it in all their quality architecture and fashions. As Alice pointed this out she just nodded and continued staring up at the night sky until she finally dozed off.

The night passed without incident with Paige instead awaking to the morning sunlight beating down in her face. She was annoyed at being awaken, but seeing sunlight every morning certainly beat the Capitol's tactics the year before. Eternal darkness. It only seemed to add an extra obstacle to the Capitol's game, even if it did seem fitting for the arena's setting. In the meantime she just intended to enjoy what last days she could though before ultimately meeting her end. In her situation she knew she couldn't prolong death forever. Eventually the Capitol would get her and it was bound to be messy. That was a reality she felt even Alice had finally come to accept, despite his initial optimism before entering the arena. "So what's today's action plan? I definitely feel I've rested enough. We need to end this shit soon." Paige commented, feeling a slight spark of optimism herself; somebody was going home soon and she wanted it to be Alice if it wasn't going to be her.

[Zulera301]

Nesara chuckled. "I don't blame you if you're not big on watching the Hunger Games... but smarts can win you some battles sometimes. District 5 is one of the most successful non-career districts, and most of their victors win through smarts and cunning rather than raw physical force."
Alice nodded as if to reaffirm this. "they usually tend to play it rather mysteriously too... or maybe that's just the whole district being one big puzzling enigma. But hey... don't count me out just yet." he chuckled.
Truth of the matter was that Alice's odds were very low at the moment, and the Capitol was able to see Paige's odds as a straight-up zero. It was not like anyone would tell the districts this. They valued their lives, thank you very much.

Then there was Keshet, who in Alice's eyes was just Valendria 0.9--just as lethal, mysterious, and deceptive... controlling the arena with her powerful axe-wielding skills, but without the looks or the good attitude. Frankly, Alice wanted to try and find a way to provoke her to help find her detriment and thus her end. in retrospect, he wondered if anything would have made Valendria angry. Sure there had to be something, although since he had not seen the entirety of her emotional outburst against the Capitol in the final minutes, he did not even realize just how passionate she was about the subject. Then again, Alice certainly wouldn't have provoked it. He wasn't about to glorify the Capitol just to piss someone off, let alone someone as huge and mighty as Valendria.

Nesara smirked. "I did, actually. "Tasted a little ashy, but gave me a nice little high. Dezna was onto something with that, you know. Besides... if nothing else, now I can say that I used a Capitol weapon for my own entertainment. Sometimes it's about leaving a message." Dezna really had done a lot of things that could be considered rebellious, although his "whatever" kind of attitude made it clear that he was either not a rebel, or perhaps one of the stealthiest rebels Panem had ever seen. from doing things his way, to making his own rules to eating tracker-jackers to building weapons of his own in the arena and the training center (the latter of which still existed in the training center), to even dying on his terms and by his rules... Dezna was definitely someone for Alice to look to in terms of undermining the Capitol, even if that had not been his intention.
"but yeah," Nesara indicated, "if you cook 'em just right you see lots of pretty colors and stuff. I can sort of understand what those crazy kids last year were talking about." even though his hallucinations had not been nearly as elaborate as the ones Kiva and Dezna rambled on about.

"so you got to live to see 19 after all," Alice quipped, "the spirit lives on..."
Though he did not say much more than that, as soon it grew quiet and sleep overtook them.
The next morning they woke up, well-rested. Nesara was still there as well, and had not disappeared in the night and obviously had not killed them, so that was one thing to be grateful for.
"I say this time, we head right back to the cornucopia, and try to flush the rest of those careers right out" Nesara suggested, "unless either of you have a plan to try and flush one of those other boys out of the forest. I still need to think of something on how to drive the outliers from their fortress... unless you have any ideas?"
Alice shook his head. "I've got nothing right now, so let's go get the careers." they began walking unless Paige had any other suggestions. They did, after all, stop to ensure their water supplies were full.

[Nachthexe]

"Not all of them. That Glimmer girl last year came pretty close to winning." Paige reminded Alice. Sure District 5 tributes were not known for being strong, but some of them could definitely hold their own and Glimmer of the 45th games was just one example. Certainly she had been aided by the arguably the most powerful tribute in recent history, but there had been a few battles shown where she could have made a difference all on her own. That was a fact that wasn't about to go over Paige's head. "Poor District 5 this year though. They never really had a chance." She added, remembering how both tributes from that district had perished in the bloodbath this time. Ah well. Not every district could shine every year and it really showed.

"Shit, all I got was nightmarish images." Paige reminded Nesara when he confessed to having tried the Tracker Jackers. She was admittedly curious still even if she probably could never drive herself to try them. There was too much association with Hanna now, memories and incidents she did not want to be reminded of. Fortunately though Nesara had managed to make use of it as in her eyes it showed that even the Capitol's weapons could be used against them; certainly they never intended their infamous Tracker Jackers being used to entertain their games' audiences.

Paige managed to wear a small smile when Alice made his next point. She was alive and she was now nineteen. Certainly the Capitol had the day of her birthday on record, even if just for ID purposes. That alone had her feeling promising about the whole thing. She had outlived many of their attempts so far and now she was entering another year of life. Certainly it was bound to be her last, but the message it would send is what mattered. She had been right. Rebels remain rebels until their dying breaths and that's what Paige intended to do. "They're in for quite the fucking surprise once they realized I've outlived at least four of their attempts against me so far and even managed to enter another year of life." She reminded Alice as she began resting.

The next morning everybody was feeling rather confident, Paige included. Alice's suggestion to go hunt down the careers even made her face light up, although she stumbled into one problem. What if Keshet was still with them? There was a small chance of that, considering the game the girl was trying to play, but there was also the other possibility that she had abandoned the career pack altogether. It was even possible that she had single-handedly turned the District 2 tributes against the District 1 ones, thus making it easier for her to eventually eliminate them. It was a possibility Paige wasn't about to overlook although she didn't initially mention it, not wanting to ruin the current mood. "Yea... Let's get those fuckers. It's been long enough. The Capitol asslickers are probably just begging for action. Maybe Nesara knows... Where did they run off to? Any idea?"

[Zulera301]

Nesara nodded. "aye. granted, that took some smarts as well, to know exactly how to appeal to the most powerful tribute of the 'games. Then again, it did seem fairly genuine. Guess we'll never know now, eh?" he shrugged. He too had liked Glimmer (if nothing else, she was pretty and he was a boy), but it was fairly hard to hate her. She might not have been perfect, but the girl had apparently seemed quite genuine with her emotions. He shrugged. "ha... that's District 7's story the last two years. Jason was as far as we got till he tried to kill Kyla. Seriously... how the hell did he think that would work when Sagittaria was right there?" This seemed to be a rhetorical question that he was not seeking an answer to.

"I heard that's what happens if it's not diluted or cooked," he shrugged. that was fairly common knowledge though, so it was not like Nesara had access to some secret information about tracker-jackers. "I mean, I did heal any stings I could see on you without stripping either of you down, so if any 'of 'em crawled up your pants or something, there's no way I'd know."
Alice chuckled. "Not over here. I think I'd have noticed or hallucinated fairly badly by now." He glanced at Paige, honestly suspecting that she might have had a few stings that Nesara had not reached (he wasn't about to strip her down in her sleep or anything; the boy had much more decency than that). Besides, it wasn't like he was trying to sell tracker-jackers to her or anything. He was just stating what he knew about them, most of which was just common knowledge.

Alice laughed. "it's like the old saying goes." he quipped, "you can't kill an idea whose time has come..."
Nesara did have answers, but they were somewhat limited, given where he had been the last few days.
"Last I checked they were heading back to control the cornucopia, although anything could have happened within the last 4 days or so. Still... they aren't exactly big on survival, so they're going to go for the food that's in the neat little packages rather than the stuff they have to kill themselves. If Keshet's with 'em... well... then we put her in her rightful place in hell, or we die. I guess it's that simple. Either that, or we need to find a way to smoke Joss and Garrett out of the woods without setting the whole damn arena on fire..."

Already, Nesara was trekking westward back to the cornucopia. "I saw Garrett at the cornucopia for a few seconds once, but he just snatched something up and disappeared into the wilderness. He was heading east, so he must be long gone now or we would have seen him."
Nesara shook his head. "I guess at this point we should just take control of the cornucopia and wait. If the other tributes aren't going to find each other, the Capitol will flush them out, and guess where they'll tlead them?"
"The cornucopia." Alice grinned.
"Exactly." Nesara smirked. "they'll smoke out those stealthy little shits, and probably firebomb the outlier fortress if they don't get moving, or if they don't end up killing each other or something. Maybe Lyndis will do that for us." he chuckled.
"First step then," Alice declared, "cornucopia."

[Nachthexe]

"I seem to be fine now. Well as fine as I could be in this shithole." Paige responded to Nesara, denying she had other stings. Clearly Alice and Nesara had been able to fend the vespids off enough that they didn't cause more stings and ultimately kill her. That she was thankful for as it meant the Capitol winning. That was the last thing she wanted, intending to defy them until the end. "Shit, you got it easy though. You got the diluted shit while those fuckers gave it to me full strength." She continued, realizing that Nesara had been in a rather fortunate position being able to do what he wanted with the Tracker Jackers. Being chased and attacked by them was much different.

"The careers? Shit, I remember them bitching in past games about not having food. Take that away from them and they wouldn't last a day. So yes, they're definitely relying on the Cornucopia's food supply." Paige noted, chuckling. She knew she wasn't far off either. There were all sorts of incidents like that she could recall. There was one in particular that involved one of the girls frantically screaming in frustration because she couldn't find food. Ultimately it had been her downfall of course and surely a death that was remembered all across Panem as one of the most foolish. However, it did bring a sudden realization to Paige's mind. Were the District 1 pair actually just retrieving food just as she and Alice happened to show up? It didn't really matter much now that they were both dead, but it did remind her that the District 2 pair had the potential to do the same, with or without Keshet.

Paige nodded. "I saw Joss I'm pretty sure last time we were there." She reassured the others. "I suspect that besides the occasionally venturing out for resources he's trying to play the cunning 'remain hidden until everybody else is dead' game. Shit, it would certainly explain his lack of appearances since the bloodbath." Nesara took this information in and nodded, realizing that it was bound to be potentially useful if they were to take the boy down. District 12 was known for producing tributes who were masters at survival so the only way to kill him was bound to be in direct combat. A similar theory seemed to apply to Garrett. Fortunately, the Cornucopia had potential to lure in both them and the remaining careers. The outlying trio of girls seemed to be a bit more of a wild card, however.

"So Cornucopia it is." Paige agreed as the trio began on their way. She hoped they wouldn't run into anybody along the way, but if they did she was ready for combat this time. Despite the Tracker Jacker attack just days earlier she was feeling surprisingly re-energized, perhaps further evidence that the Capitol's attempts on her life truly failed yet again. She was sure that the Gamemakers had been exploding in fury upon discovering their one and only target had survived each attempt. This managed to bring a smirk to her face as she sought out the Cornucopia, the next point of refuge.

[Zulera301]

Nesara chuckled. "I got the diluted shit because I know how to build a fire, and because your little friend here had been about this close to starting the whole damn forest on fire." he quipped. Alice had, after all, been swinging around a burning branch before he passed out to deter the tracker-jackers. it had sort of worked, but it was not like it had magically gone out after the boy had fallen. "'sides... I didn't get to start cooking them till I trapped the hive. but that's another story. thank your lucky stars that the Capitol didn't want to kill you desperately enough that they resorted to killing you in your sleep." If anything, this was more proof that they wanted to kill Paige in a blaze of glory and give off one hell of a show rather than just off the girl entirely. No, they wanted to add insult to injury.

"that's all the more reason they'd be there then," Alice suggested. he figured that District 1 had not just been there to get food, if they had been standing around keeping watch. Career tributes might not have been the most cunning characters in the arena, but he knew that most of them would have more common sense than just sticking around if they were not trying to guard the cornucopia. Maybe District 1 was not very bright? He had definitely not forgotten District 1's more embarrassing moments throughout history, though on the other hand, they had produced many more victors than anywhere else except District 2, so maybe they were doing at least one thing right. Sadistic as they might have been, Alice would not have discounted the idea that either of the DiFronzo brothers could have won. Flint's biggest threat had been Sagittaria (and arguably Rye, although he could have bled the boy out if it were not for that Capitol medicine), while Blaze's [and basically everyone else that year] had been Valendria.

"well if you saw Joss and I saw Garrett, then that takes care of our problem here and now, eh?" Alice suggested, "we just need to wait it out. they'll come back, and so we need to be ready for them. Maybe the first few Hunger Games might have been more of survival matches while the tributes and the Capitol were still getting used to this twisted idea, but I don't think that would fly 46 years in." Really, it left just Keshet and the outliers as threats. Even with him as their ally, the relationship between Alice and Nesara was not like Sagittaria and Rye. Alice would have no qualms against backstabbing the boy, but figured that he might be good for weakening Keshet when that time came. She'd probably still take him out though. The outliers? well... they couldn't stay in there forever. Perhaps after Paige was dead, they'd get flushed out of their hiding spot to converge on the cornucopia for one last bloodbath or something. He didn't think about that one too hard.

Luckily for them, the trip to the cornucopia was fairly eventless, with Nesara leading them through a trail that he seemed to have blazed himself. By mid-afternoon, they found themselves at the currently deserted cornucopia. The supplies had definitely been plundered plentifully during their absence, but there was still a bit left. Perhaps the Capitol was being so generous this year to encourage tributes to get out of the forest and into the open. It was a logical little trick, and he didn't think that the Capitol would rig traps in place (since the mines under the pedestals were there to stay, given the lack of tributes from District 3 or District 5 that might have been able to use them.)

"Let's get settled then," Nesara ordered, "there's no telling when they'll get back."
"Let's pull a Kyla," Alice added, leaning in towards Paige on this one. For the time being, this meant to secure themselves in the safety of the horn, but also indicated that, if the time came, or the necessity arose, that he'd be willing to backstab Nesara. That wouldn't be for a while though--not while 8 other hostile tributes drew breath.

[Nachthexe]

"They will return eventually. All those little shits do so we're definitely heading to the right place." Paige Reminded the others as they sat waiting at the Cornucopia for their intended targets. She knew it would be a matter of hours, or even days before they returned but she was confident they would. It was fairly well-known that most careers relied on the food supplies offered at the Cornucopia, after all. Surely none of them would suspect that three of the game's tributes were hiding out within the very structure that was offering nourishment either. It was a sick sense of irony that stood out for Paige, one that she only hoped could somehow be used against the Capitol. Alas, a girl could dream. Right now her only target were the remaining tributes and she intended to do all she could to get Alice one step closer to home.

"Well I suppose we wait here now." Paige commented once the trio arrived and began settling into their new shelter. She knew that Kiva and Dezna just the year before had definitely had the right idea, although there had been less tributes alive by the time they entered the Cornucopia. Due to that alone she knew it was bound to be only a matter of time before the Capitol chased her out somehow. They couldn't have a rebel winning their games, after all. "Shit, supplies here have really been looted. I'm sure the others will be scrambling to retrieve what's left. Too bad they're in for quite the surprise." Paige smirked once again as she began examining the remaining supplies. There wasn't much, but it was at least a few day's worth in order to draw out the others. That was what really mattered.

Paige was sure that at least a couple days passed before anybody finally made an appearance at the Cornucopia. When they did, however, it had been during the night as the culprit had managed to escape. Almost immediately that had her suspecting it was either Joss or Garrett. Those two boys were definitely stealthy, but certainly it had been their game plan all along. Noticing that at least a few of the remaining weapons were missing as well, Paige knew that at least one of those boys had picked something up. As long as they were armed plans suddenly got slightly more complicated. However, that became the least of Paige's concerns as soon as she heard voices. A female and male voice. Unmistakeably the careers as surely they were the only remaining male-female alliance in these games. Unsurprisingly Keshet didn't seem to be with them either.

"Watch your step, Myron. Remember, the District 1 pair got killed here. We can't suffer the same fate as those imbeciles." Zakura, the female half of District 2 warned her partner as he slowly approached the seemingly vacant Cornucopia. Unsurprisingly, the girl wore a huge smirk as she spoke of the District 1 pair. It was strange. Despite their usual alliances during the games there was still a sense of rivalry between the two, both eager to bring glory to their respective districts. This was something Paige just shrugged off as she listened in silence from inside the Cornucopia.

"Oh please. I know what I'm doing. Besides, Keshet is probably nearby." Myron responded to his partner, chuckling.

"No, because we don't even know whose side she's on anymore." Zakura quipped.

"She was doing us a favour you know by wiping out that District 1 pair."

"She was trying to prove to her district that she's powerful, and there's nobody stopping her from taking us down as well in order to prove herself. She knows our districts are almost always the dominant force in these games." Zakura finally reminded her partner, knowing of the power the girl wielded. She knew that it was unlikely even she could take her down without Myron, thus she didn't intend on losing him.

"Shiiiiit, guys. I think I finally know what Keshet is up to. Did you hear any of that?" Paige turned towards her own allies in slight shock. One thing was now certain about the mysterious District 7 girl. She was indeed simply putting on a show, but not for the Capitol, but apparently for her district. It made some sense, considering the girl's demeanour, but why? What was so important about her proving herself? Despite some mysteries finally being solves there were only more questions raising in her head. However, she now saw an opportunity with the ever approaching District 2 pair. "What you all think? Time to put these knives of mine to the test?" She remarked as she pulled out the throwing knives she had been saving and began advancing on the District 2 pair.

Whoosh! That was one knife flying directly towards its target, embedding itself straight into Myron's back. This startled Zakura, turning her almost directly towards Paige just as her district partner was knocked straight to the ground by the knife. "Oh, hello. My partner may be an imbecile, but see you!" She said as she began fleeing the scene, still rather startled. Myron also began attempting to flee, but it became clear the knife had managed to hit him directly in the spine, rendering him paralyzed.

"Well thank you for informing me about Keshet, you putrid piece of shit! Now go join your other asslicking buddies!" Paige shouted as she finally flipped the struggling boy over and punctured his throat with another of her knives. Very quickly he began bleeding out as the girl fled back to the Cornucopia. Within a few minutes a cannon blared for the boy, but it left her with further concerns. Zakura had clearly been startled enough to flee, but where was she now? But most of all, would this move then draw Keshet in? Surely she would find out sooner or later that action was already occurring at the Cornucopia, something she would surely want to get in on if what Zakura said about the girl was true.

[Zulera301]

The fact that there was always ample amounts of death and bloodshed around a giant cornucopia, a symbol of life and giving, was not lost on Alice. And yet... there was always something safe about the place, and pretty much every year, good or bad, the games started and ended here. Sometimes it was a year of plenty (literally, considering that this was a yearly event, and that sometimes there was plenty of supplies, while other times there were almost none), and other times, such as the year before, the tributes struggled to find anything of use here. And yet... even that year, it had proven to be one of the last safe havens, successfully harboring Dezna and Kiva of District 6 for a couple of days, and ended up keeping the final tribute safe form harm so that Valendria could expose her nefarious deed (at least that's what the Capitol considered it after the fact, considering that the massive District 4 girl had duped them.)

"Well, we've got a bit of food left, and we can make this water last a few days, yeah?" Alice nodded. last time their bottles and canteens had not been full, but this time they were, considering that Alice had picked up at least one extra container last time they were here, and it was full just like his original canteen. From here, they could wait it out... and wait it out they did. To Alice's utmost surprise, the Capitol waited it out with them, and a couple days passed before anything happened. Their water supplies were okay, and Nesara seemed bold enough to venture out to try and get them filled--not just for himself, but for Paige and Alice too.

"as long as you stay here, the Capitol won't try blowing you off the map," he reasoned with them, "so please don't try to backstab me when I'm just coming back with your water."
Alice chuckled, and this was all fine and dandy for him. Apparently Nesara trusted District 8 enough that he'd keep them safe while he got them water. He was cautious the first time the District 7 boy suggested this, but Nesara tried a shot of each container (he even didn't put his mouth on it) to ensure that he had not in fact poisoned or tampered with them in any way. After that, Alice trusted him.

On one hand, Alice was worried when he saw one of the boys (presumably Joss, for Garrett was large, despite how seemingly stealthy he was)steal a few unneeded weapons. He figured the boy was better with traps than actual combat, and so if they could just directly confront him, that would be the way to take him down. District 12 was like that, in most cases. District 11 was similar, although there were two sides of the coin. Either they were survival experts who were good with traps and ranged weapons, the way Garett, Leon and Sagittaria were, or they were strong, melee experts such as Rye and Adrianna. given that the latter had produced 4 victors (which was not a bad run), they seemed to at least have a grip on things.

When Alice heard the male voice, he knew exactly who these two were--it had to be Myron, and he was pretty sure that the other was Zakura. Myron was the only other male tribute in an alliance, and so presumably, it was Zakura that was walking alongside him.
When Paige asked if he heard the whole conversation, he nodded (and so did Nesara, who was sitting behind and to the right of the smaller boy). "that actually makes sense..." he shrugged, "District 7 hasn't really done too spectacular the last few years. Even that kid who won 3 years back did not have the most spectacular of victories.

"Do it." Alice and Nesara chanted with a smirk. they didn't even bother being quiet this time, because it got the District 2 pair to freeze, with Zakura facing the horn and Myron with his back to it,. Zak saw the knife coming, and sidestepped it, causing it to strike Myron in the back. Well... there was one load off her back. She was pretty sure that the two were itching to turn on each other in the final moments of the games, but Zakura had wanted him alive because she was trying to prove that District 2 was worth something this year, and so perhaps ironically, if she died, he better damn well have been the one to go home.

But, if he died here... it was time for her to do that task. She had a pair of the night vision glasses too, and so she had noticed a little too late that there were two other boys in the cornucopia that she had noticed too late. three on one wasn't going to cut it for her, and so she took off in the direction the cornucopia's tail pointed in. the cannon fired, and Alice didn't even need to guess who it was for.
"Well..." Alice took a deep breath. "one down, one to go."
"And Keshet," Nesara reminded him, "and Joss, and Garrett, and Isi, and Smash, and Lyndis, and..." he trailed off on purpose, as if to keep going, but he was doubtful enough that they'd make it to the final three. On the other hand, he wouldn't hesitate to turn on them if that time came, but if Keshet and Zakura were still alive, he'd wait it out.
"so now we go back to the waiting game, eh?" Alice tilted his head, slinking back into the full recesses of the cornucopia once again.

[Nachthexe]

Was the Cornucopia safe? Paige liked to think it was, but she also wasn't quick to forget that the Capitol was still very much out for her blood. That truly had her realizing that nobody--or nothing could be trusted in the arena. Alice had definitely made the right move in demanding Nesara test the water to ensure it wasn't tampered with. Sure it was unlikely the kid would off her like that, but she was also surely still the most hated tribute in the games. It didn't exactly make her feel warm and fuzzy inside either that the Capitol would likely be cheering on her death once it came. However, as long as the other tributes were still out there she had larger concerns. It wasn't helping that the probability of the two outlying boys having picked up weapons was high either. She didn't know how well either of them could wield them, but she was sure it would become clear in time.

Paige nodded when Alice shared his own observations about Keshet. "Either she's after some sort of personal glory or she's fucking pissed that her district has been falling hard these past few years. A Capitol asskisser perhaps? It's hard to say since it almost seems she's in this more for herself." She explained, concocting further theories about the girl. However, Lyndis suddenly began lingering in her mind. What exactly had the girl from District 10, of all places, done to impress the Gamemakers enough to give her a perfect 12? At least some information about Keshet was now known, but almost nothing had been revealed yet about Lyndis except that she had been helping build a giant fortress of some sort. That alone was almost reason to fear her more than Keshet had it not been for the latter's lethal axe wielding skills.

"With Myron gone who is left? Keshet, Lyndis, Isi, Smash, Joss, Garrett, Zakura, and us. Those are the ones I can account for. That leaves seven, excluding us. Every time one of those fuckers dies, we're one step closer to being out of this shithole." Paige intended to leave her words as neutral as possible for Nesara's sake, but certainly the boy was already aware of what would have to happen eventually anyway. She wasn't sure herself what sort of expertise the District 7 boy had, but if it came down to it she was prepared to fight him to the death if that was the only way to get Alice home. It was definitely no hard feelings against him either, but business was business. Surely he understood that too.

Now with the trio still safely confined to the Cornucopia it was really just a waiting game. Sooner or later more tributes would show up for supplies and Paige now knew that was the opportune moment to take them out. Certainly it was bound to work on Joss and Garrett, but the others seemed to need the more direct approach, something Paige was also prepared to do, even if just for Alice's sake. She was definitely the fighter among their little trio, after all, even if the Capitol didn't want to admit it. A score of 5 was less than impressive, after all. "Yes, now we sit on our little asses and hope Joss or Garrett come crawling back here. That is when we strike, although the others will need to be driven out. I'm still convinced of that."

[Zulera301]

While Nesara did not hesitate to show them that all of the water he had returned with was completely safe, he understood as well that this was a temporary friendship/alliance. "so you understand that it's just business then," he replied as he tasted the water in front of them to show that it had no adverse effects. He was not expecting a response, but to Alice, Nesara had just made it clear that the alliance was temporary. It made sense, really though, so he decided not to press the subject any more. Surely Paige had caught the gist of it as well. Heck, even little Kyla, with how unwaveringly loyal she had been to District 11 the entire time they were together, had told them straight-up that if they were the last three standing, she would turn on them without hesitation. Her words were bold, but Sagittaria and Rye had been understanding of the notion (even if they had secretly hoped that someone killed her first. Kyla was not a tribute that either of them wanted to fight, because she'd probably win).

"Makes me wonder what Lyndis thinks then," Alice quipped--not so much becuase of Lyndis' extraordinarily high training score, but because District 10 had not been doing too spectacular for the last several years, while District 7 had actually earned a victor 3 years ago. "I kinda hope that those two duke it out." he had been saying this since the beginning of the games, so this was nothing new, really. That, and he hoped that they were weakened enough for him to pick off whichever one won. Hopefully Keshet's grudge against Lyndis was strong still, because he knew it would have to be her aggression to trigger a fight, rather than Lyndis'.

"well dang..." Alice had an epiphany. "with the exception of Zak, all of us are from the outer 6 districts..." it was an interesting observation, especially because there was a general trend in the districts: the higher the number, the poorer they were. There were a few discrepancies, such as 5 being richer than 3 and 4, and 7 being richer than 6, but the fact that most of the tributes that had probably been better fed and nourished for these games were dead, was not something Alice was quick to overlook.
Nesara nodded at the remark, and also elected not to go into detail as to who would be coming out. Obviously he wanted it to be himself, but there were some scores he wanted to settle before he turned on his allies. He kept his axes close, but Paige kept her knives and sword close, and Alice hardly ever let his bow out of his reach, so it wasn't paranoia or anything setting in either.

Alice nodded at Paige's remark. "hey. it worked for those cute kids from District 6 last year," he reminded her. He had thought Kiva was cute. he might have also been straight, but the fact that ladies were cheering and whistling over Dezna was a fact not lost on him. every guy liked having chicks dig him. It was natural.
"then again," he added, "the Outlier Fortress did seem to be pretty far away from here, and if the Capitol gets fed up with waiting, who do they attack first? the tributes closest to the edges of the arena. Keshet and Zakura are bound to run into each other eventually, I figure. May the odds favor us enough that we'll be there when this shit happens." he shrugged. he picked up his bow, but remained in the shadows, and simply watched from his vantage point as evening fell, waiting for Joss or Garrett (or both) to show up.
Sure enough, after a while of waiting in the darkness, he heard rustling, and so he kept his eyes peeled and his bow at the ready.

[Nachthexe]

Keshet and Lyndis duking it out? That was something Paige truly wished to see, although she felt she wouldn't live to see such a thing if it did indeed happen. A girl could dream though and certainly the Capitol could too. They too were probably anticipating such a showdown, but nothing was bound to happen until the outliers were forced out of their fortress. That was surely not going to happen until the Capitol forced them out or something. "Keshet and Lyndis? Admittedly it would be awesome to see that, but will it actually happen?" Paige admitted, realizing the two had probably not even interacted in any way since the beginning of the games. The fortress alone was probably enough to deter the lone District 7 girl.

It wasn't entirely relevant, but Paige had also noticed it too. Almost all of their current opponents were from outlying districts. It was an interesting contrast from previous years for sure. Surely the Capitol didn't overlook that either that the underdogs were actually doing exceptionally well this year. "You're right, but none of them matter. All of them will be fucking Mutt feed very soon. If anything though, District 10 had somebody to cheer on for once." Paige assured Alice, glancing into the boy's eyes. She didn't want to mention it in the presence of Nesara, but she was still determined as ever to get Alice home. Anything to ensure that would be nothing more than just business. Besides, even his victory would send a message to the Capitol due to his determination to stick beside his rebellious district partner.

Paige chuckled at Alice's remark. Kiva cute? Definitely. "Kiva and Glimmer. Both get bonus points in my books for being fucking gorgeous. Shit, Hanna saw it too." she confessed, realizing she had been genuinely upset when Glimmer finally met her end, although Kiva was definitely a suitable substitute as far as attractiveness went. That alone didn't have much darker thoughts about Kiva going through Paige's mind. She was well aware that many victors were exploited by the Capitol, after all, some even sexually. This was something she did not bring up though, not wanting to ruin the mood. fortunately, Alice managed to change the subject anyway to something much more relevant at this point in time. The fortress. It was fairly far off so Alice did have a point that eventually the Capitol would definitely force them out. The Cornucopia. It was exactly where the games began and was usually where the Capitol always wanted to end them as well.

Tributes being drawn to the Cornucopia. It seemed to be happening quicker than expected too just as Paige heard somebody--or something rustling the grass nearby. Somebody was on their way and Paige could only guess it was either Joss or Garrett. Surely whoever it was needed more supplies, but Paige wasn't about to allow that to happen. "Let's go. There's somebody out there." She whispered as she picked up her weapons. As she got closer to the edge of the Cornucopia she began to get a better view of the thing in question. Garrett. It was definitely Garrett, but just as Paige was about to advance on the boy herself a lone knife came swooping down out of seemingly nowhere, striking the boy directly. This almost immediately prompted Paige to retreat to the Cornucopia, knowing somebody else was nearby.

[Zulera301]

"well, if one of them dies before that happens, I'm okay with that. if both of them die before it happens... even better." He did kind of wish he and Lyndis could have met on better terms. She seemed like an exciting person that would never had a dull moment. "If I had to root for one though, I'd root for Lyndis. She's funnier, and she's hotter." It was easy to overlook because of the girl's outrageously crazy antics or the fact that she was so often covered in blood, but Lyndis was definitely not hard on the eyes. Either that, or maybe it was her voice--Alice remembered her at the interviews. She had a very soothing voice that sounded like it'd be wonderful at singing... though something told her that the girl couldn't carry a tune even if it was in a bucket.

Alice chuckled. "I think this is the best that '10 has done in its entire history apart from the years it actually won." it was rare for an outlying District to score so high, and this might have been District 10's first perfect score ever. victors were not always high-scorers, after all (let alone perfect ones). "but yeah... there can only be one victor." he gave her an understanding look, but didn't say more than that. There was no need to provoke Nesara. Maybe he wouldn't have been provoked by it, but there was also no point in taking that chance. There were still 10 tributes in the arena, at least 7 of which were hostile here and now. Those ones had to be worried about first.

"Glimmer..." Alice sighed, almost dreamily. Perhaps at least one perk of having a lesbian district partner was that they could both agree that girls were pretty. He was certainly not complaining about having someone to talk to about it, even if it was brief. Hearing her name alone made Alice smile though. It reminded him of the girl's smile, which, more than being physically attractive, just had had a very pleasant aura to it. Clearly, the girl had been a very friendly and kind-hearted person--frankly, another excuse and/or reason Alice could hate the Capitol. People like that did not deserve to die. A lot of different kinds of people didn't deserve to die. Most of the tributes fell under this category, but instead of thinking about that, he switched his mind to the here and now. He'd have plenty of time to worry about rebellion and anti-Capitol matters if he got out of this alive. Till then, he needed to focus.

"got it..." Alice nodded, drawing back his bow. He could see Garrett in plain sight, but right as he was about to let lose, he saw something glint in his night vision, and suddenly Garrett dropped without a word, and a cannon fired. He had seen the glint just briefly come almost from their angle, and so he spun around.
"Nesara?" he whispered. the boy shook his head, raising his hands. he had two axes in them, neither of which looked like they could be thrown.
Slightly concerned, he turned to Paige.
"Call it a hunch," he muttered, "but I think there's someone perched right on top of us... and I think I know who..."
process of elimination, really. it wasn't the outliers; Joss didn't seem like a knife person. Keshet was a melee fighter, and so that just left Zakura.

[Nachthexe]

"At least whoever makes it out of this shithole can actually have something significant to say about District 10 for once. That generic Pro-Capitol crap gets damn tiring. We know, cuntmuffins. You need somebody to stroke your egos so you make us do it." Paige responded, noting that Alice was probably correct in his theory about District 10. It was ironic really as they were definitely more familiar with knives and how to use them than most of the other districts. They were the resident butchers of Panem, after all. Even Lyndis' own appearance on stage while covered in blood was symbolic of that. Clearly the stylists of District 10 had found it amusing as well, even going as far as incorporating it into the girl's outfits.

So it was pretty much confirmed that Glimmer was indeed universally considered the most attractive tribute in the 45th games. That was something Paige chuckled at, knowing that in a game full of attractive people it was a pretty difficult honour to be given. She definitely even topped Kiva who was also undeniably attractive, being in Paige's opinion the most attractive victor in recent years. Certainly she wouldn't truly know if Alice was physically attractive, but his ideas were attractive and that was good enough to want him as victor. It was something she would be ensuring happened right up until her dying breaths. The Capitol still had plenty of opportunity to finish her off, after all.

Alice was also about to strike down Garrett just as the knife had. There was clearly somebody else in the vicinity and through process of elimination she came to the very same conclusion Alice seemed to have come to. "Zakura... That clever bitch. I think I know where she could be, and it's fucking brilliant; if she can't come in here then why not go on top?" Almost immediately this had Paige realizing what she had to do next. "We need to lure her down somehow. You're the ranged fighter, you might have a chance." She continued, turning towards Alice and nodding. She was about to also attempt to advance on the girl, but then another cannon went off. She wasn't yet sure who it was for, but she had some ideas.

"Look at that, positioned on top of the Cornucopia? Good going, Zakura! Nice throw too, and now Joss is out as well." Somebody shouted out from just behind the foliage surrounding the clear area that had the Cornucopia. As soon as Paige heard the voice she knew immediately who it was. Keshet. She had unmistakeably taken down Joss and then happened to come into the vicinity. This quickly gave Paige ideas, although the girl began fleeing before then. Her most recent intentions were rather confusing though. Was she simply trying to taunt Zakura or were her words genuine? Paige supposed they would find out in a matter of time if the girl showed up again.

"Well that pretty much confirms it for sure. Zakura is directly above us." Paige added as she listened in on Keshet's remarks before the girl fled. It was becoming very clear what they had to do next and Paige could only hope the Capitol wouldn't intervene. This was a game she was going to finish with a fight.

[Zulera301]

Alice laughed. "you can bet your ass I won't be doing any of that. Now I obviously can't go ranting about starting riots or burning down the Capitol or anything like that, since otherwise they'll probably just kill a bunch of people in front of me, and we've got enough innocent blood getting shed every year." It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was talking about, considering that they were all in a death arena. Hearing about District 10 again though made him curious as to why they didn't do better in the games. Even the seal showed a pair of knives, no less. Perhaps it was only the years where they reaped a butcher, for most of the rest of the district were ranchers or farmhands of some sort, he was pretty sure.

Alice realized that even Nesara was nodding in agreement about Glimmer being extremely attractive. Sure the Capitol makeover helped, but he recalled that girl's reaping footage from that year, and even before her makeover, she did seem to have a shimmering natural beauty to her. He wished there was a girl like that in District 8. On the other hand, he was kind of glad there wasn't. The price he would have to pay if he was the victor, would require him to live alone and to stay alone. It was the only way that he would retain his precious immunity to the Capitol, and the revolution was much more important than family of his own.

Alice listened to Paige's idea but shook his head. "She's got the upper hand--literally. She might just be waiting at the edge of the mouth. The moment I step out, she could just drop a rock on me or something if she decides to not use her knives." He was not a coward, but he realized that Zakura had them in a much better position than he had originally thought.
"Not to be the wet blanket here either," Nesara added, "but we're not going to do this democratically either." He could almost see it in Alice's eyes, and knew that he was outvoted. He was not about to walk out of the cornucopia and become bait for Zakura, who was surely waiting right near the mouth of the horn by now anyways. She would have to be in order to see Garrett, and was now surely waiting to try and strike Nesara or District 8. No wonder she had scored an 11. There was smarts to this girl that her older sister Roxanne last year had not had.

"Gotta give the Capitol their show, eh?" Zak might have meant it, but if Keshet was trying to taunt her, it was failing miserably. "Wait it out... our time will come..."
The idea of Zakura confronting Keshet was not a bad one in Alice's mind, as long as it was them and not him. With a 2nd cannon going off, now they were in trouble.
"The only thing I can think of is if we all burst out of the horn at once," Alice lowered his voice to a whisper. Sure enough, Zakura was on top of the cornucopia, whistling the anthem of Panem, as if taunting the tributes below. Truth of the matter was that she had two knives in her hand, waiting for one or two of them to come out.
"she'll inevitably aim for one of us, but she only has two hands, and there are three of us. We--"
he paused. Almost as if Zak had triggered it, the anthem started playing. They did not have to crawl out of the wide open mouth of the cornucopia to see the tributes in the sky, which naturally showed up after the anthem had finished.

Myron's face showed up first, and then Garrett's, and then Joss'. Shortly afterwards, even Zakura above them fell silent. Alice waited for a few moments, trying to hear what Zakura was up to, when suddenly, no more than about 5 or 10 minutes after the last face had disappeared, another cannon fired. Instead of waiting another 24 hours to reveal it, the face appeared in the sky instantly.
Isikiro Kwan, District 12...
"what!?!" Alice couldn't say it quietly, but managed to lower his voice again for the rest of his remarks. "there's no way Keshet could have gotten there that fast. Is the Capitol on a rampage?"
He was starting to think they were. About 30 seconds after Isi's face disappeared, anotehr cannon shot off, and another face apepared in the sky.
Adrianna Meyrick, District 11...
"Shit. oh shit. this is bad. this is really bad." He was half expecting to hear a cannon for Lyndis, but that girl did seem to have some incredible dodging skills. Was the Capitol finally raining fire down on their distant fortress? Alice kind of hoped so. He didn't know what to make of it right now though. There were too many questions, and Zakura, perched above them just out of sight, was preventing them from getting too many answers right now.

[Nachthexe]

"Well shit, kid. At least you would have immunity for the most part if you win." Paige quickly reminded Alice, chuckling as she let off an obvious hint to the boy. Surely every revolution began with a spark and a victor was exactly the spark needed. It was a fantasy that lingered in the girl's mind at least as victors were arguably the most influential people in the districts. Nearly everybody looked up to them and surely even rebellious District 8 would be no exception if their victors showed themselves to also be rebellious. Paige certainly hoped that if Alice made it out of the arena alive that his rebellious spirit wouldn't die. She was confident it wouldn't though, even if just for her sake.

Paige exactly what was up as soon as Alice and Nesara had their disagreement. Confronting Zakura. That was going to be a difficult move, considering her position. However, Paige wasn't discouraged yet and even concocted an idea of her own. A devious idea, but an idea nonetheless. "We're pretty much fucking sitting ducks here now, but remember. The Capitol wants my ass on a platter. Sooner or later they're going to force something else on me. I probably sound like a complete lunatic right now, but I can go out there and lure her out with whatever the Capitol forces on me. My odds were always zero anyway." She explained to both Alice and Nesara, hoping they would be understanding. "If she doesn't come down by tomorrow then it's worth a shot. I feel like as soon as I step out of here I'm fair game."

Zakura seemed to be taunting somebody, most likely Keshet. That admittedly didn't bother Paige as it meant one less powerful tribute alive, but could the District 2 girl confront her alone? Somehow it seemed unlikely even she could take out the powerful axe wielding girl from District 7. She wasn't sure anybody could at this point and the girl's latest kill appearing in the sky only further confirmed this. Joss. He had been cunning, but clearly not cunning enough to avoid an attack from Keshet and the girl even bragged about it to boot. She was definitely up to something and if it really did involve "proving herself" then she was doing a damn good job at. She did have the highest individual kill count, after all.

"What? What, what, what the fuck?! Them? How? Why?" Paige was clearly just as baffled as the others once both Isi and Smash appeared in the sky. Almost immediately Paige drew seemingly the most obvious conclusion: Lyndis. Either she had just backstabbed her own allies or there was a Capitol attack going on in some distant corner of the arena. Either way she was suddenly very afraid again for what was to come. Soon each tribute left in the arena was going to be no more than a corpse. "Lyndis. I think I know what happened. I certainly wouldn't put it pass that lunatic little shit to turn on her allies, unless the Capitol is for some reason targeting that little group. I bet to force them out into the open..." Paige remarked, noting both Alice's and Nesara's complete expressions of shock. She knew that very soon it was all going to be over and there could only be one victor...

[Zulera301]

Alice chuckled. "fair enough. You know the District 8 motto, right? Y'know... the 'other one'."
The "secret" District 8 "motto" was simply "FUCK THE CAPITOL". Paige would certainly know it well. Needless to say, Peacekeepers came down ruthlessly hard on anyone who dared speak this 'motto', but it still didn't stop some of the more audacious citizens from mouthing it now and again. If he wanted more reasons to hate the Capitol, he would, perhaps ironically, watch the Hunger Games. Heck, if he ever wanted to incite rioting, he might use the Hunger Games as propaganda. It would be so easy to display the deaths of several sweet and/or innocent children to arouse the ire of the citizens.

Bolt--young and geeky, but very intelligent and talented like most of District 3. He was brutally slashed apart by Flint before having to be put out of his misery.
Krystal--an exceptionally talented aspiring jeweler--also very easy on the eyes (although Alice had only been 12 at the time; otherwise he might have thought more of her). That girl was slashed apart brutally.
Hazel--a tiny little 13-year-old who wanted nothing more than to survive the games and go home... the several long, horrifying minutes of watching her convulse from her truama, before dying with wide eyes and a horrified expression on her little face.
Leon--a young, cheerful boy who kept a level head and a smile on his face--burned to death in one of the most gruesome and horrifying kills in Hunger Games history. Naturally, every angle had been taken on this one.
Rye--a tough, honest, hard-working young man who stayed true to himself and loyal to his friends and loved ones. Condemned to death at the toss of a coin, forcing his partner to end his life--and their loving relationship.
Dezna--a quirky, easy-going and extremely talented mechanic whose name, skills, and legacy were still everywhere today. He had had a peaceful death, but if Panem was really a nation about gathering the talents of citizens together, then why would they send so many talented individuals to go to waste like that?
Glimmer--one of the most beautiful young ladies Alice had ever seen... kind, sweet, caring; a talented and loyal fighter to the end; a girl who suffered a needless death. The world needed more Glimmers--if not by appearance, then at least by personality.
Kyla--the small, disabled little girl from District 12 that no one thought would amount to anything. Yet, she proved to be strong, loyal, resilient, and efficient. She was a legend across all of Panem. If Panem ever rebelled, the rebellion would definitely need lots of people like her...
...and like Valendria--the most controversial death in recent Hunger Games history. The girl had had it all, and had thrown it away rather than submit to the Capitol manipulation any longer. She was a true rebel, and Alice saluted her.

Then of course, there were many others before them and after them. Really, Alice was sopmewhat surprised that the Hunger Games had not already been used as anti-Capitol propaganda. that would not only be efficient at causing a riot, but it would be the biggest slap across the face the Capitol had ever received--using the very sadistic games that they used to subdue the districts--against them. A boy could dream, anyways.

"well... the only way Zak can reach us from up there is if she pokes her head down here, or jumps down to confront us face to face. Well... unless she has a boomerang or something." Alice might not have used one himself, but he knew what they were. They were pretty effective in some tributes' hands, although they were rare to appear in the cornucopia. "but if you want to try it..." he shrugged. "the cornucopia seems advantageous, because most mutts can't climb the top of it..." he thought of years where that had been the case. Even last year arguably counted, since even the clever humanoid mutts didn't scale the cornucopia to try and attack Kiva.

Alice tilted her head. "you think she backstabbed Smash and Isi?" he looked a bit surprised at the suggestion. "I'd have thought it was the Capitol trying to bring themk in. Maybe Lyndis will come bounding in followed by some gigantic mutt or something, which will see you in the dark, divert its course from Lyndis, and then try to tear you into thousands of pieces or something." It seemed logical, because almost 14 days in, and here Paige was, alive and mostly well. On the other hand, could he really say that Lyndis was above stabbing her own allies? no... no he really could not.

Speak of the devil, he saw her out in the distance. She approached a distant pile of crates, no longer running, and used one of her axes to open it. She jumped inside of it, wiggling her legs as if to force herself inside, and then suddenly, there was silence as the pile of crates stopped moving. She was about 200 yards from the cornucopia, and was hidden behind a pile of crates, and so attacking her from here was not exactly something they could do easily.
"so it's your call, Paige." Alice indicated, "you want to risk going out there, or are we going to try and wait a night?"
He was speaking quietly of course to prevent Zak from hearing them.

[Nachthexe]

Yes, the infamous District 8 motto. Paige was sure nearly everybody in District 8 knew that one and many had even been punished for it. "Of course I know, kid. Those are words that neither of us are bound to forget." She was quick to emphasize, even having spoken the words herself. She knew that at least a few of her floggings had been from that alone, but with Alice as victor rebels would suddenly have a new edge. The boy was clearly clever enough that he could potentially undermine the Capitol's own watchful eye and discreetly mobilize the masses. He certainly had an edge too in that he seemed to genuinely care little about his family. There was nothing Snow could even do to the boy short of killing him outright. Surely that alone even served as motivation for the boy already if he happened to make it out of the arena alive. However, with still several powerful tributes alive, only time would tell on that one.

Zakura. She seemed to be the cause for most concern, but for obvious reasons. Certainly nothing short of a Capitol attack would get her down off the Cornucopia and was what Paige intended to give her. Surely not even the Capitol had anticipated their very own devices being used as a weapon. To Paige, it seemed like the perfect most rebellious way out and she intended to even ensure her final words expressed great disdain towards the Capitol. It was bound to be censored out, but she knew her main target would see it: President Snow himself. He was the real enemy, after all, rather than Keshet, Zakura, Lyndis, or any other tributes who had ever been forced into the Capitol's sadistic games. Besides, It had been him who had doomed Paige right from the start so she wanted nothing more than to send a final message to the man. It was the least she could do in her dying breaths.

"Mutts? You think those shitheads would actually try that again? They surely saw what I did to that last fucker. They would either have to send multiples or send something else entirely. You and I both know the Gamemakers have absolute control over this arena." Paige knew that Alice had a valid theory, but she also had a gut feeling that whatever it was going to be it was going to be much more dangerous. The Gamemakers had a simple job: to kill Paige, and so far every attempt had failed. It didn't help their case that time was quickly running out for them either. That alone was enough to warrant a full assault on their part. "Either way...I suppose we find out tomorrow as I'm not stepping outside this Cornucopia yet. I'm a woman of my word."

Lyndis. Alice hadn't been the only one to see her approach. She was nearby, but clearly attempting to hide out to regain strength for what was to come. If anything, it gave time for the final unaccounted for tribute to arrive: Keshet. There was no knowing where she had fled to, but with all the other remaining tributes now in one place it was only a matter of time before the Capitol forced her to the Cornucopia as well. It almost began to make sense for Lyndis and it seemed to be Alice's theory about Isi and Smash. If it indeed proved correct it truly showed the Capitol had no mercy, even killing tributes themselves in order to progress their sadistic game. "I have a feeling she backstabbed them. I never trusted that little shit, but I suppose we will find out sooner or later." She explained to Alice as she noticed Lyndis hiding in a group of crates. In a surprisingly way it was bound to give the girl a slight edge against Keshet who was probably the only tribute who hadn't spotted the girl cracking them open. The forests surrounding the Cornucopia were large, after all.

"No. We wait here. For one more night. I'm sure all of you want time to recuperate from all the shit we had just witnessed. Besides, I might as well fucking enjoy what could very possibly be my last night on this earth." Paige sincerely responded to Alice. Surely the last bit was bound to be shocking, but it was very much true. Surely the boy had realized it by now too. In fact, she was even surprised she had managed to make it as far as she did. However, she was even more surprised Alice had made it as far as he did. Fate truly was a funny thing, but it was also something malevolent as Paige was quickly learning. "For when all goes to shit tomorrow...may the odds make it true that when you're mortally wounded in an excruciatingly painful way, your body goes into shock and you don't feel anything when you die."

[Zulera301]

Alice grinned as Paige reminded him that she was very well-aware of the "secret motto" of District 8. Nesara seemed a little confused, but he did not ask, assuming (correctly) that this was in fact a District 8 thing. Then again, the tracker-jacker high had totally been a District 6 thing, and that had not stopped the District 11 boy and the District 12 girl from getting in on it. Granted, these were very different notions. Instead of responding with words, Alice simply imitated Paige's angry expression and made two obscene hand gestures with his hands to imitate the first image of Paige that he had drawn on the train. He definitely missed drawing, and if he won, he was going to go right back to that for sure.

Alice couldn't help but chuckle at Paige's skepticism. "well... they've been trying to break our morale for the last 46 years with these yearly death tournaments..." he reminded her, "and I think all it's done is made a bunch of us really mad." He was definitely including himself in this statement, especially since his mind had just brushed over the notion of using Hunger Games footage as propaganda. Glimmer, Rye, Valendria, Kyla, Bolt, Hazel, Dezna, Krystal, Leon, Adrianna, Isikiro, and even Paige... these were some of the worst victims of these games. As dangerous as Isi and Smash might have been, their interviews told Alice enough of what they had wanted. Smash wanted to win so she could go back to work--clearly her muscular body was that of a hard-working girl who probably spent more time working than anything; and Isi had wished to win to return home so that she could better help support her family. He wasn't sure about Lyndis, but really, who the hell was sure about anything about that psychotic girl?

"It makes me wonder..." he nodded as he slinked back into the shadows with Paige upon hearing that the girl was not leaving the cornucopia tonight, "I wonder if Snow's gonna off these gamemakers for their incompetence... he's not exactly above killing his allies, y'know."
Even Nesara chuckled at this one. "yeah... you guys have been trying to kill this kid for like what. 2 weeks? You'd think that the all-powerful Capitol could do that in like 15 minutes or something, eh?" The boy wasn't yelling, or even raising his voice, but even if they had to turn against each other in a few hours or a day or something, he wanted them to know that it was only out of lack of another choice. Otherwise, he was still a fellow rebel.

"you still pissed about that kiss?" he chuckled. "I mean, I think it's official that Lyndis is bonkers. Like--Capitol official. I'm still convinced that she killed a Gamemaker to earn that 12. Alcie had no idea what she expected to do from those crates, but he figured he would find out sooner or later. It was not like he was going to try walking up to them and opening them or anything. If anyone was that stupid... well, then they deserved whatever fate Lyndis had in store for them. He did wonder if Lyndis had in fact killed Smash and Isi. It was growing more and more plausible with each passing second considering the absence of mutts or fireballs or whatever other sort of unholy contraptions the Gamemakers were willing to release.

Alice turned to her before sliding over to her and putting an arm around her, moving his hand lightly across her neck and back. It was not much, but he wanted her to know that he liked her--not in a romantic, or even hormonal way--but as a fellow rebel; as a district partner--as a friend.
"well shit..." he commented idly, "it may not mean much at this point, Paige... but I'll be with you every step of the way... and I'm a man of my word--I won't let the Capitol get you. They might kill you obviously..." he didn't feel bad saying that since Paige herself admitted that she was going to die, "...but I'll make sure that you go out on your terms, and not theirs."

[Nachthexe]

Paige chuckled when Alice imitated her hand gestures. She and Alice knew exactly what was going on, although Nesara definitely seemed confused about the whole thing. She didn't bother explaining nor did he even ask so Paige just let him be. Certainly it could have been an ideal opportunity to give him ideas about revolution for if he were to win, but then she quickly realized she knew so little about the boy. It was very possible he had loved ones he didn't want to put at risk. The lack of loved ones was once again just another advantage Alice had. As long as it remained that way Snow really couldn't do much to harm him.

"Mad? More like fucking pissed. People would have been rising up by now I'm sure, but they don't because they need a driving force; a leader. They need somebody--or something to ignite that final spark. Remember, right out of that fucking asswipe's mouth itself: hope is stronger than fear." Paige explained, making it rather clear what she was perhaps hinting. Alice as a leader? It was certainly a lot to put on the boy's shoulders, but with his sense of immunity he would gain upon winning he was a valuable asset. Snow couldn't really harm him in any way and Paige knew this. It did get her thinking though. What if Alice really did manage to spark revolution? Perhaps it wouldn't be for months, years even, but somewhere deep down she felt the boy could make a difference and wanted to. She had even seen it in his drawings that he too dreamt of another Panem. The same Panem that her grandparents had allegedly spoken so fondly of. "Once there was a peaceful Panem, a free Panem. It's possible to go back to that, but we cannot do it alone. We need a driving force; a leader. Alice DeSiete, our esteemed victor of the 46th Annual Hunger Games."

Snow offing the Gamemakers? As soon as Alice mentioned it she didn't put it pass the man. Technically he had the power to eliminate anybody in Panem and it meant eliminating allies that he somehow perceived as a threat then so be it. Surely incompetence in this case could be perceived as a threat by the man, considering Paige's very existence somehow threatened to tear him apart. "Shit, nobody was probably expecting me to make it further than the bloodbath, yet here I am. I have these slashes on my face from a Mutt, but otherwise I'm fine. Who are they trying to appease anyway? District 8 so they don't riot right then and there?" Paige responded, realizing there was perhaps likely a method to the Gamemaker's madness. Perhaps they had been attempting to off her more discreetly, knowing their control over District 8 was already fragile. She certainly wouldn't put it past them, although it did little to explain their incompetence. They even could have killed her in her sleep, yet here she was alive and well.

Lyndis was definitely nuts and even the kisses and her seemingly backstabbing her own allies seemed to show it. At this rate Paige really couldn't decide whether Lyndis or Keshet was more dangerous. At least Keshet seemed relatively sane, even if her axe wielding skills didn't show it. Naturally, Paige was hoping the two would face off and somehow end up killing each other. It was certainly likely to make Alice's own job easier as there was no way he could face off alone against two dangerous rampaging women. "Lyndis is nuts. I wonder what Snow thinks about that? Shit, I'm surprised he hadn't offed her by now, not wanting a victor who is completely batfuck insane."

With every minute that wore on Paige knew her impeding death was drawing closer. Alice's attempts to comfort her only served to further confirm this. It really was incredible how just hours earlier they had been discussing revolution and poking fun at the Gamemakers, yet now Paige was becoming little more than an emotional wreck once again. If the Capitol had truly been trying to break her before killing her it was becoming present once again as tears began flowing down her face. "I don't know what they intend to do to me nor do I look forward to finding out, but I have a feeling you won't have too much of a chance to even off me before they can. I doubt they want to take those sorts of risks, having their slave master to appease." She explained, realizing that there was bound to be countless different methods of execution in the arena. The Gamemakers had free reign over all aspects of it, after all. "However, as we had discussed earlier, if on the slim chance I'm somehow still alive and don't die instantly you know what you must do. Those cuntmuffins may have been trying to control me in life, but they sure as hell won't do it in death either."

[Zulera301]

Nesara did seem satisfied with understanding that whatever this "District 8 motto" was, that it was something vulgar, and it was most likely not harsh feelings towards one another, which in turn meant it was their feelings towards the Capitol. He could live with that.
Naturally, Alice couldn't help but nod in agreement to what Paige said. "I'd say that that Sagittaria girl has potential too." everyone knew that the girl was arguably one of the most charismatic individuals in Panem, and was a masterful liar to boot. "think of it this way--anywhere where they have strict laws and peacekeepers, means that they have a very delicate grip on the place. I think if they relaxed security even a little over there, that the whole District would riot and break free within minutes."

Words about a leader though... did Paige really think that Alice could be a leader? It was not that he was willing to discount the idea... but for him to be a leader, that meant that she actually thought he could win. The notion was pleasing, although was still a ways off. It was not like he could just ask Keshet, Nesara, Lyndis, and Zakura to lay down and die so that he could lead a revolution. Still... it was a weird thought. He remembered stating back in the training center that one of the kids in that room was a victor. Had he been unknowingly talking about himself there? was he that victor? Time would tell.

"maybe you're more popular than they think? Either that or you've won a soft spot in the Gamemakers. Either way... I think they're toast after these games or something. I'd almost put money on it." They had had one job. Just one job--annihilate District 8. And yet, here they were, 13 days in, and District 8 was one of only two districts that still had both of its tributes. "maybe killing tributes in their sleep makes a lame show? Even the Capitol and the Gamemakers need to sleep, so maybe they do that if all the tributes are asleep or something." he shrugged. He knew full well that they would never all fully abandon their posts, but maybe in the later hours of the evening there were only a few gamemakers awake for that shift. It was just a matter of logic, really, unless the Capitol had some kind of medicine that prevented a need for sleep. Surely District 6 might have heard about it though.

Alice chuckled. "well... she definitely puts on a show. Besides. She was pretty calm during her interview if I recall." Other than when she was fighting, Lyndis did appear to be fairly calm. She was definitely not a hyperactive child, but she did have lots of energy, which she skillfully channelled into her fighting skills. "I think she's kinda cute. Maybe it's 'cuz we're the same size or something though..." Alice was also aware that he, Lyndis, and Keshet were all the same height. Surely the Capitol had had a reason to allowing Lyndis to live. District 10 did not seem to be loyal but also did not seem to be rebellious, and so perhaps Lyndis' feelings on the Capitol would forever remain a mystery--just like so much more of that wild girl.

He nodded understandingly at Paige's concerns, finding it perhaps the most emotionally moving on his end to hear Paige cry again. It made him that much more dedicated to his cause... to saving her from the Capitol's clutches--to winning the games to slap the Capitol in the face.
"I don't think they would want to just kill you instantly," he shrugged, "they probably want to drag it out. Maybe they want to make it quick just so Snow doesn't hang them or something, but I dunno. just remember though--they're probably trembling in their boots right now. Let's get some rest so that we're ready to meet them first thing in the morning..."

With this, he moved away from Paige (simply to give her some room and/or privacy) before he curled up, his bow still within reach, and closed his eyes. Tomorrow, most likely, the games would have their victor, and, for Paige, for District 8, and for the revolution... Alice intended to make it him.

[Nachthexe]

Sagittaria leading a revolution? Certainly the girl had rebellious tendencies, but it was becoming clear that the Capitol had been trying to break her as well. Perhaps it had even been because they suspected exactly that, that the girl had rebellious tendencies? District 11 had plenty of reasons to dislike the Capitol, after all, being the most heavily repressed in daily life. Not even District 8 Peacekeepers could hold a candle to the District 11 ones. Food was an important resource and the Capitol knew it. Of course they liked their fashion as well, which District 8 provided, but when it really came down to it fashion definitely wasn't edible.

Paige chuckled. "Me popular? No fucking way. Those cuntmuffins have probably hated me since the first time I dissed their precious master. I can see it already, they're just begging for the bitchy girl from District 8 to finally be silenced forever." she explained, trying to concoct even a vague image of what was likely occurring in the Capitol as they spoke. Every games did have their favourites and Paige knew she wasn't bound to be among them. "You're right though. Whoever those Gamemakers are, their days are certainly numbered too. Shit, that asswipe probably already has replacements lined up for them." Naturally, Alice also had a point about sleep. It was definitely bound to be anti-climatic if anybody, especially Gamemakers, killed other tributes in their sleep. It was their responsibility to make an entertaining show and Paige's death was bound to be no exception.

Since Alice pointed it out Paige began remembering Lyndis' interview. She had indeed been calm, one of the only times she even remembered seeing the crazy girl like that. Maybe the whole insanity thing was even just an act in order to attract attention to District 10? It was a theory that briefly lingered in Paige's mind due to District 10's less than impressive performance in recent years, but at the same time it seemed unlikely. This girl definitely appeared to be genuinely insane. Paige could only guess that the next encounter with her was sure to shed some light on that. If she even lived to see it, of course. That alone seemed very unlikely.

As the night wore on Paige found herself growing more and more concerned about what was to come. Her continually escalating emotions managed to make it very clear as well. Alice thankfully was still keen on comforting her the best he could in his position, although she knew there was nothing that could save her and certainly Alice knew it too. "You're probably right, but if for some reason it does get drawn out, you know what to do. Do not fucking hesitate either. If I must die then it's how I'd prefer to go rather than giving those asslickers the liberty of stating they finished me off." Paige reminded Alice one last time before closing her eyes and eventually drifting off to sleep, resting up for what was to come.

The next morning. It had seemingly come rather uneventful, but Paige knew that was bound to change very quickly. She was sure Zakura was just waiting to strike whoever set foot outside the Cornucopia first while Lyndis was clearly still hiding out in her crates. Keshet was still somewhere unseen, but Paige knew it wouldn't be long before she too was forced to the Cornucopia. There was going to be a showdown, even a finale perhaps. She could sense it, but worst of all she knew she was bound to be just one of the main attractions of it. Truly nothing more than a pawn in the Capitol's sadistic game. However, she knew it could be prolonged no longer. "Ready for this, kid? You know what we must do." She turned towards her younger district partner and gave her cue, knowing the moment she stepped out of the Cornucopia she was fair game for the Gamemakers to work their destructive might.

[Zulera301]

Luckily for the districts, Sagittaria was a tough kid, and while they were trying to break her, they were going about doing it the wrong way. Sure she had her moments, but she still had control over when she was willing to take one of her many trips to the Capitol, because they didn't want to bring her in if she was distressed. It was further proof that the Capitol took the well-being of most of their victors rather seriously. Unfortunately, giving Sagittaria even that much control was all she needed to stay *in* control. They were inadvertently teaching her the ins and outs of the Capitol, and the girl had much more on her mind than met the eye.

"why do you think they're hoping you'll die?" he quipped, "those gamemakers are fearing for their own lives. If a couple of kids are this big a threat to the regime... then perhaps it can be taken down in an easier way than we thought. I suppose the biggest problem is preventing casualties. We could riot tomorrow and might win, but if there's only like 5 people that haven't been blasted into District 13... what's the point?" It was an idea whose time had not yet come, in Alice's mind. But, he would ensure that it would not die. If he was killed in this arena, he would give one last shout-out to the Capitol before he went, wondering if they could censor it in time. Hopefully it didn't come to that though.

Alice's mind could also not get off of Lyndis, especially since he had seen her disappear behind (or into?) a pile of crates earlier, and she had not moved since then. He wondered if there was a method to her madness or not. He would have thought that she was just playing a crazy and weak tribute, but she had scored a 12, and so she was clearly not trying to pretend she was weak. the Capitol didn't likely have anything against her either, and so taht score had almost certainly been earned fair and square.

He nodded at Paige. "of course. I'd rather kill you than let the Capitol get the privilege of torturing you. That'll be slap in the face #1. winning the games will be the huge-ass aftershock. From there... well, time will tell. but I guarantee that if I get out of here, the revolution will not die."
Sure he was easily the least strongest of the 6 remaining tributes, but that did not deter him. With the exception of perhaps Zakura and Nesara, the others did not exactly seem like the brightest candles in the room, and if he could, Alice was going to take advantage of this in the final minutes of the games. These next few hours would be tense sleep, but it was necessary so that he didn't wake up tired the next day.

Day 14. The last day. The day of reckoning, one could say. Now it was upon them, and both Paige and Alice knew it. Even Nesara seemed ready for it.
"Let's do this." Alice nodded at Paige. "grab your weapons. we're not going down without a fight." Alice gripped his bow, taking a few steps away from Paige. He did not want to be clustered too close to her in case the gamemakers did somethign drastic. Besides, even if they didn't, there was always a chance that Zakura could strike, and she'd have a much easier time killing them both if they were close together.

[Nachthexe]

Alice seemed to have confidence in the revolution and this brought a smile to Paige's face. Perhaps such a drastic move wouldn't happen right away, but having a sort of leader would definitely hasten the process. It was something Paige only wished she could see herself, but alas one couldn't have everything. Certainly not in Panem. At this point she only wanted to be able to die in the least painful way as possible. Alice seemed to be the only one able to ensure that too, sharing very similar values she likely would have not known about had it not been for the kid being reaped alongside her. In a strange sort of way that almost made her glad fate had brought them together.

Lyndis, Zakura, and Keshet. Arguably the three strongest tributes in the games and all three were surely just itching to return home. Due to that alone Paige knew that what was to come wasn't going to be pretty. There was going to be bloodshed and as it stood it seemed likely Alice would be just another of their casualties. However, that was something Paige didn't want to think about just yet. The boy still had a slim chance, after all. He had smarts which was something at least two of the remaining tributes seemed to lack. That still ignited a strange sense of confidence in Paige since smarts alone was sometimes enough to walk out of the Hunger Games alive. Realizing this, she went to sleep feeling both wrecked and confident.

The next morning a sense of confidence in Alice really seemed to show as well. "Great. It's time to give those asslickers the show of a lifetime." Paige responded, preparing her weapons. Knives holstered to her side and sword in hand, she was ready. Knowing what was likely to come, she even took the first few steps outside. Much to her relief the Gamemakers didn't strike immediately, but that was a sensation that was only short lived as soon as something seemed to be protruding from the sky above. Fireballs. The Gamemakers were creating a rain of fireballs! Clearly they had been waiting for their target to finally reveal herself, and this was something the others seemed to take notice of. Even Lyndis had finally left her crate shelter and attempted to dodge each of the fireballs as they rained down on the arena. "Shitballs! I fucking knew it! I fucking knew they would pull something like this!" Paige bellowed as she made attempts of her own to dodge them, with some success. Zakura fortunately had been sidetracked by the fireballs too, rendering her unable to even attack Alice or Nesara. "Now is your chance! Get out here while she's distracted!" Paige shouted to the others still inside the Cornucopia just as she slid down onto the ground to dodge a particularly large fireball that just managed to singe her shoulder blade. This once again had her projecting a colourful series of profanity just as she noticed an axe flying towards Lyndis, which the girl managed to dodge.

Keshet. She had arrived and appeared to be more pumped than ever. Judging by her current location, Paige could almost guess she had been hiding out in the foliage surrounding the centre of the arena. However, there was something more curious about the girl. She seemed to be wearing some sort of body armour. A sponsor gift perhaps? If so, Paige could only imagine it was probably one of the most expensive sponsor gifts in Hunger Games history, much comparable to some of Valendria's the year previous. The girl very obviously had fans that were determined to have her walk out of the arena alive. "Time to get this show started. Perhaps we may even have time for curtain call." She commented, smirking as she glanced at each of her remaining opponents upon retrieving her axe.

[Zulera301]

The Hunger Games were a very interesting event in Alice's eyes, because if nothing else, they seemed to powerfully impact the people that they brought together. Alice might not have mentioned it, but Paige had taught him how to understand what sharing bonds with people was like. It was something that part of him wanted to enjoy further, but he knew that the only way to keep his immunity from the Capitol was for him to remain alone. It was high-risk motive, and the return, while also high, had a slim to negligible chance of actually ever occurring.
On the other hand, he was surrounded by a handful of girls, all of whom were much stronger than him. Perhaps this was his first test. The districts would be way outgunned and outmuscled by the Capitol and the loyalists, and so they would have to break the odds. Perhaps if Alice crawled out of this thing alive, he could be a type for this sort of thing. It gave him hope.

"holy fireballs!" he exclaimed the next morning as Paige ran out and was instantly attacked by blazing balls of fire. It gave rise to his theory about how maybe Adrianna and Isikiro might have been smoked out by them, but on the other hand, maybe it was Lyndis. The girl was undoubtedly bonkers, and that might just further prove it.
Nesara and Alice took no chances, and raced out in opposite directions, to find that Zakura had jumped off the cornucopia, and was busy dodging the fireballs as well, which unsurprisingly seemed to mostly be targetting Paige. Alice and Nesara ran for it, dodging the pile of crates they had seen Lyndis disappear into the previous night, but this proved to be a mistake.

From a long crate to Nesara's right, Lyndis appeared. Apparently she had switched hiding places during the night, and she wasted no time attacking.
"boo." she grinned, axing Nesara in the chest before the boy could even react. Alice unsurprisingly jumped in surprise, and took off, trying to put distance between him and the psychotic girl so that he could get a good shot at her perhaps. Luckily, Zakura seemed to want to go after her first as well, for she was approaching Lyndis, and Lyndis decided to engage her in some combat. a cannon blared. Nesara was dead.

It was in this moment that Alice realized two things--1, that District 8 was now the only district that had not lost a tribute yet. Despite being the most targetted district by the Capitol this year, it had managed to pull out and survive with both of its tributes longer than any other district, including the powerful District 7.
Secondly, he also realized that he was now the only boy remaining. Surely the Capitol and most of Panem was now counting on another female victor. the odds were certainly against him.
A thrid thing, perhaps, was that now the whole party was here. Keshet had just shown up, and unsuccessfully had tried to kill Lyndis with an axe. Lyndis seemed touched by the action, and turned right there to leer at the other girl.
"I'll play your game, kiddo," Lyndis twirled her axes in her hands with considerable skill. Zakura seemed to try and take advantage of this, and puit a bit of distance between herself and Lyndis, as she still found herself dodging fireballs. Lyndis seemed to be dodging them effortlessly, much like how she had evaded most of District 1's attacks during the bloodbath.
Alice kept Paige in his sights, wanting to make sure that something else didn't come and try to do her in, but now his eyes kind of had to be everywhere, considering that the final showdown was now in place. He was pretty sure the overcast skies were no coincidence for this either.

[Nachthexe]

Despite still being on the ground, Paige wasn't slow to notice Lyndis' attack on Nesara as he attempted to leave the Cornucopia. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" She bellowed as his cannon finally blared. That was one ally down, leaving just Alice and Paige against the world. To make matters worse, however, Paige knew it was only matter of time until she was struck down as fireballs continued raining towards her, causing her to roll around in all directions in attempt to dodge them. The odds truly were not in Alice's favour so she could only hope that when he went it was quickly and painlessly. Sagittaria's infamous slogan immediately came to mind.

Noticing a gap in the fireballs, Paige managed to stand up once again on her own two feet. However, a chance to catch her breath was only short-lived once the fireballs began raining down just as steadily as before. Between nearly falling over while dodging the mighty elemental balls of death and various weapons flying across the arena as the remaining tributes duked it out, Paige managed to dash over to Zakura. She suddenly had an idea. It was absolutely nuts and there was little chance of it actually succeeding, but if Alice was to have a more likely chance of going home she had to try. Standing up firmly and straight she began taunting the girl. "Hey, Zakura! Why don't you come over here, you slimy little bitch! You always had the greater odds of going home so let's prove it, eh? Surely the Capitol wants their prized loyal District 2 victor!"

"It certainly beats a rebellious little shit like you! I hope Snow guts you himself!" Zakura was clearly growing angry, realizing very well who she was about to face. Surprisingly, the rebellious girl who had scored only a 5 in training was shaping up to be something formidable. However, Zakura wasn't slow to remember her own training score: 11. An excellent career score, even if it was inferior to the other two tribute's already duking it out. She was already becoming fairly confident that they would wipe each other out, leaving only puny Alice once Paige was eliminated. District 2 was about to have yet another victor.

"Oh really? Let's see. Looks can be very deceiving!" Paige retorted as Zakura finally approached her, weapon drawn. She attempted to jab one of her knives into Paige's head, which the older girl dodged before swinging her sword towards Zakura. It just barely grazed her side, causing the girl to smirk as she took another strike at Paige. This embedded the blade directly into her left arm, which had her once again cursing aloud. She knew she was fortunate though, being right handed, thus causing her to use a knife of her own. This embedded slightly into Zakura's side, also causing the girl to bellow in pain. "How does it feel, eh? Do you really think the Capitol gives a shit about your district, sending all of you into these games as well? Foolish. Fucking foolish you are!" Paige explained, then landing a punch directly on the girl's face. This startled her, causing her to retaliate before Paige finally dropped down to the ground again as she managed to grab hold of the girl's leg.

"You have no idea about my district!" Zakura replied as she found herself being dragged down to the ground along with Paige. The fireballs were still rapidly raining down, causing both to roll around in all directions in attempts to dodge them. Gradually, this had Zakura finally grasping onto Paige, prompting the two to engage in an all out brawl. As punch after punch was exchanged, bloodying up both girls Paige finally saw her opportunity. Yet another fireball, and a particularly large one. It was quickly making its way directly towards Paige just as she positioned the other girl directly beneath the fiery ball's path of destruction.

"FUCK THE CAPITOL! FUCK THE CAREERS! FUCK THE HUNGER GAMES! LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!" Paige finally bellowed as the fireball got a direct hit on both her and Zakura. The latter died nearly instantly, prompting yet another cannon while Paige laid on the ground bloodied, burnt, and barely clinging onto life. Hoping Alice would take notice and have something to remember her by she managed to utter a few more words. "May..the...odds...make...it...true...that...when.. .you're...mortally...wounded...in...an...excruciat ingly...painful...way, your...body...goes...into...shock...and...you...do n't...feel...anything...when...you...die."

[Zulera301]

Alice knew that if he got involved in these fights that he would be mincemeat within seconds. He might not have had such a blatant lack of faith as Paige did, but he was smart enough to realize when he was outmuscled. Instead, he mostly watched the fighting escalate. the sight of so much death did not deter him, the way it had with little Hazel the year before, but he was currently observing and strategizing. He was watching where the tributes were weakened, and where they were strong. Really, his trick right now was one of the oldest ones in the book: wait for the strong ones to kill each other, and after the last one was weakened from the fighting, come and pick them off. He was still mostly unhurt, and so all he really had to do was dodge the fireballs, which were mostly focused on Paige anyways.

The conversation between Zakura and Paige was much more interesting. The career girl had a point insomuch that Paige (and Alice) didn't know much about District 2. Lyndis and Keshet were jabbering about something that seemed trivial and unimportant in comparison. "you don't know what I did to get here..." Zakura countered, "and I'm not about to let you take from me what Glimmer took from my sister!" It was no mystery that she was related to last year's district 2 girl, Roxanne. they shared the same surname. He watched them get pulled to the ground, wrestling and punching each other, trying to gain the upper hand. Zakura might have been small, but she was strong. Paige seemed to have a good grip on her, though.

Alice could not help but grin as he heard Paige shout out phrases that would get anyone else killed. Perhaps she knew what was coming--a quick glance upward said that she did. The next thing that happened seemed to happen in slow-motion. Alice began racing towards them, right as a massive fireball came their way. "PAIGE WATCH OUT!" he shouted, although Paige seemed to be ahead of the game. She rolled onto her back with Zakura over top of her, as an unwitting human shield. Before Zakura could react, the fireball struck, and cannon went off. He was not sure if it was Zak or Paige, for a mew moments as the explosion settled, and for a moment, he was stunned and speechless. The noises of the two powerful girls behind him still brawling seemed to fade away, surrounding him with silence.

Then he heard it. Paige was alive! Zak was dead, and Paige's time in this world was swiftly drawing to a close. He raced over to him, even dropping his bow for a moment. He thrust Zakura's corpse off of her and looked for ehr hand. Her ring was still there, unscathed from the attack.
"Shit... you audacious bitch..." he was hardly more than whispering for a mixture of emotions he was feeling. "you got 'em... you got 'em good. Now I just need to kill those fuckers..."
He places his fingers on the ring on her finger to remove it. "The Capitol's not taking this." he said, hoping Paige was conscious enough to hear what he was saying. "I'll try to get it back to Hanna... if the Capitol hasn't gotten her. But they're not getting it..." he gently removed it, placing it upon his own finger for now, and drawing that knife out from his belt.
"...and they're not getting you!" his eyes were watering slightly, as he pulled out his knife and stabbed Paige in the throat. He had hardly done this when another fireball came out of nowhere, aimed right at them. Alice grabbed Paige's curnt corpse, flipping himself over and rolling a few feet away with it, letting the fireball strike where she had just been, but not actually hitting anything.

Slowly, he stood up, gazing briefly down at Paige's remains, and then to the ring on her finger. He looked up to the sky for a moment. "Sorry, gamemakers. Paige is mine." He smirked and gave an odd, Capitol-style salute, before turning his gaze to the two brawling girls. This was it--the time of reckoning had come.

[Nachthexe]

As Lyndis and Keshet continued duking it out, in which currently Keshet appeared to have the upper hand due to her body armour, they nearly forgot about the fireballs until they finally struck both Paige and Zakura. This briefly left both girls mesmerized and thankful they didn't suffer the same fate before going back to their own fight. Only one tribute was leaving the arena, after all, and Keshet knew it had to be her. She had to prove to her District that despite appearing small and weak that she was powerful. The Hunger Games had been that chance and now Lyndis was attempting to take it all away. That was something the girl utterly refused to allow.

Dying Paige managed only a small smile as Alice rushed to her side. Surely the boy knew what he had to do so she just braced herself for it. "I...was...always...doomed...anyway." She uttered as Alice seemed to be praising her efforts at taking down Zakura. It had been absolutely nuts, but at least it had worked. Perhaps now there was even a chance Alice would return home, after all. Surely Keshet and Lyndis could finish each other off, leaving only puny little forgotten Alice as the victor. Paige wanted nothing more in the world right now but for that to happen. The irony there was incredible, but even the irony of Paige's own situation was evident. There she was, the most hated tribute in the games that the Capitol had been hunting down since Day One, yet she had still managed to outlive most of the other tributes. The girl was a fighter and it seemed to show even in her final moments. If the girl was to be remembered around District 8 for anything it was bound to be that.

Paige managed to raise her hand only slightly as Alice attempted to take Hanna's ring from her. The last of her energy was leaving fast, prompting her to soon shut down forever. "The...Capitol...cannot...take...shit...for...longe r. Revolution...lives...on." She uttered as Alice made remarks of his own about the ring and the Capitol. They truly did nothing but take and perhaps Alice saw it now more than ever before. Everything from resources, talents, and even people's lives. It was all in the Capitol's hands and Hanna being in their custody only served to confirm it one last time. She even briefly contemplated that it was perhaps her fault that Hanna was currently in custody of the Capitol, prompting her to unleash her final words to Alice. "Tell...Hanna...I...am...sorry." At that, she went silent as Alice finally punctured her throat, leading to another cannon blast. The girl was dead, and by her own terms nonetheless.

Keshet had only managed to get brief glances at Paige and Alice as she continued her fight with Lyndis. "This show isn't over yet. Shall we dance?" She taunted Lyndis as the fireballs finally stopped, leaving the two girls with free reign. Spotting an opening, she began advancing towards Lyndis with full intent to cut her down. She knew the girl was probably expecting something of the sort so the fight was only bound to escalate as she drove all her passion into winning the 46th Annual Hunger Games. The odds were clearly looking to be very much in her favour, after all.

[Zulera301]

From a Capitol viewpoint, it was hard to tell who had an upper hand. Keshet was definitely better protected, but Lyndis appeared to be much faster. However, she seemed to have taken the defensive, but at the same time, remained calm and collected as if this was a dance routine. Keshet was not the only one with something to prove. Lyndis felt obligated to prove to the world that District 10 was not just bloodbath fodder like they had been for so many years. She was not about to let some asskisser take her down. No... she'd either kill herself first, or maybe that little boy from District 8 could finish her. She had far too much pride to let herself be killed by this girl of all people.

"The Capitol must have forgotten what a cornered beast can do." he chuckled weakly, although it was clearly difficult to smile at a time like this. Still... Paige was about to die on her own terms rather than the Capitol's, and so this was about as close to a victory as the doomed-from-the-start girl would get, it seemed. It was a horrible way to go, but Alice was at least there to ensure that her last wishes were fulfilled. "I'll kill 'em both." he whispered, thumbing towards Lyndis and Keshet. "I'm not through slapping the Capitol in the face, and you know it."
He wanted to give these words of reassurance. Hopefully Paige would die with the idea that Alice could win, rather than die worried that he was just going to get cut down in a few seconds.

as Paige made her final request, Alice's eyes almost welled up, but he took a deep breath and kept himself under control. "I will." he nodded. "I promise. I'm sorry too, Paige..." he felt bad for what he was about to do, although he had made a promise to do it if it came to that, and he was a boy of his word. He kept that promise, ending Paige's life before the Capitol could torture her more. It seemed that the fireballs slowed in their frequency after Paige's cannon went off. Speaking of which, there in the dim sky, was Nesara's face. Moments later, it showed Zakura's face, and then Paige's face. That was how Alice knew that the Capitol intended to end the games today. There was no running; there was very little hiding... it was do or die for real this time.

Speaking of hiding, Alice pulled a Lyndis and took refuge inside a crate--not just behind it--but inside of it. He was small just like Lyndis was, and if it worked for her, it could work for the boy with the bow. Cracking it open, he could shoot his bow sideways if he wanted, but for now, he was mostly just watching teh battle from the shadows, his head poking out of the crate from under the lid.
Lyndis couldn't help but taunt right back. The girl had shown considerable competence at this art during the training sessions as well.
"Don't even kid yourself, cutie," she winked, tossing one axe into the air, blowing a kiss, and catching the weapon as it fell again. "you weren't ever even a player. you want a kiss goodbye?"
"buuuuuuurn!" Alice cracked a smile as he heard that, but stayed quiet as to not draw attention to himself. He was a fly on the wall for this fight. Lyndis used her axes, her reflexes, and her own flexibility to play a rather cool and collected defensive game as she danced around, thus far successfully evading most attacks.
This could be a long fight.

[Nachthexe]

As soon as the remaining dead tributes' faces appeared in the sky Keshet knew this fight was about to get serious. This was it. This was the finale they had been setting up for all along. It was certainly Keshet's last chance to prove herself to everybody who had ever wronged her as well. Lyndis seemed to had realized it too, bracing herself for what was to come. She was nuts and the last thing Keshet wanted was to be struck down by a girl like her. "Just give it up, you weasel. You never had a chance here. I have the upper hand." Keshet responded, clearly referencing her set of body armour. So far it had managed to protect her relatively well, but if she was to truly prove herself she would have to take this girl down, unarmed.

Keshet wasn't slow to notice that Alice beelined it towards the same stack of crates Lyndis had hid in just hours earlier. She was tempted to take the boy down right then and there, but she knew what would happen the second she took her eyes off Lyndis. Fortunately, she knew he was bound to hardly be a challenge at all once Lyndis was dead. "It was amusing to watch those others brawl it out, but let's fight for real this time. You and I, what do you say?" Keshet taunted as she began charging towards Lyndis. Due to the girl's reflexes she knew she would have to attack her directly. Briefly it seemed to be working too as she attempted to plunge her axe into the girl's side. However, clearly the girl's reflexes were superior to her own as it only just grazed her side, forcing Keshet to withdraw slightly to rethink her strategy.

"So let's see. You have speed. I have strength and skill. You're one lucky bitch, being able to dodge nearly anything that comes towards you. However, I say we even these odds to see who truly is the more skilled one. I'm removing all my advantages, body armour and all. Whoever wins gets to kill Alice? Deal? Deal." Keshet knew that what she was doing was potentially risky, but a sense of adrenaline seemed to have overtaken her quickly. Was it district pride? Was it a drive to prove herself? There was plenty of theories floating around the Capitol audiences as they were anticipating to finally discover more about the mysterious, but powerful District 7 girl.

[Zulera301]

Lyndis laughed. "you think that *I* never had the upper hand?" she leered, "It's because of the 10 on my shoulders isn't it? It's a sign of bad luck, that's for sure. But come now, sweetie... let's put it into perspective. You're so desperate to win that you had to go lick the soles of the Capitol's boots just for them to notice you. You're not a player... you're a suckup, crying to the gamemakers for help, because you know just as well as I do, that you cannot take me down without help from big brother. You are nothing... and I'm going to ensure that you stay that way."

briefly, her eyes darted towards Alice as well, not even worried that the boy had his bow out, which was noticeable even if he had only just barely cracked the lid open. Lyndis was light on her toes, preventing her side from being on the receiving end of an axe to her flesh, which would have surely don her (or anyone else, really) in. "hmm? I thought that's what we were already doing, sugar. Well... unless you'd rather be doing me." she teased. Alice raised an eyebrow from his crate. Was Lyndis actually flirting? He had had a theory that the girl was bisexual from the get-go, but this might have just proved it if it was real.

"so... your strength, my speed, your assistance, my pure skill." She paused, keeping her axes up as a nice little defensive. "I could just silence you here and now... I already know that I'll be the talk of District 10 for years... and Panem too. Playing a psychotic bitch has its advantages, y'know." The main reason people believed Lyndis was crazy was because there was no order to her actions, many of which seemed so random or sporadic. Well, and her weird fondness of blood didn't help at all. however, was this truly a girl with screws loose, or was there something more that Lyndis was aiming to get from these games?
she stretched, cracking her knuckles before twirling her axesand throwing them into the ground in front of her. "fine. I'll play your game. 'sides... all the best meat gets tenderized before you eat it... or it gets minced."
She shifted her legs apart, crossing her arms over her chest. "At your ready, hot stuff." she batted her eyelashes.

Welp, any idea Alice had of Lyndis had just gone out the window now.

[Nachthexe]

"Me sucking up to the Capitol? I couldn't give a shit about any of them. This is for District 7, the same people who have done nothing but spat on me from a young age. They want to make fun of ugly old Keshet? Well they won't be once I win!" Keshet responded, actually growing slightly infuriated at any suggestions she was sucking up to the Capitol. Certainly there was some truth to it, considering her sponsor gifts, but she was obviously genuinely well-liked in the games. Even some of the notes from her mentor seemed to suggest such and they were words she was bound to not forget; Your skills are beautiful, don't forget it. -A

Lyndis nearly as much as Keshet seemed intent on taking down Alice, making him the ultimate prize of sorts. That alone made Keshet's deal seem to work out nicely. Fortunately, Lyndis seemed interested although Keshet couldn't help but to sulk at her latest comments. "Sorry, but I don't lean that way. Paige and Zakura's corpses are still here though since I could see you being the type to enjoy that." She retorted, noticing that the hovercrafts were staying away as usual when the final showdown was still progressing. however, Lyndis' next words had Keshet somewhat surprised. Was the psychotic bitch thing all an act? If it was then the girl was definitely quite the actor, even having had Keshet fooled. Still, psychotic bitch or not, this was to be a fight to the death. It had to be, after all. The Capitol would ensure it. However, there was just one last thing she intended to hopefully spill from the girl before taking her out. "Since you can't seem to stop yapping, tell me: what did your friends think when you finally killed them? They trusted you."

"You being the talk of District 10? Sure, I will give you that, but they clearly won't be about to forget me!" Keshet responded, finally tackling an unarmed Lyndis to the ground. "Let's get this show started! I'm sure everybody is on the edge of their seats! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 46th Annual Hunger Games!" She shouted as she began sucker punching Lyndis in all directions. Certainly her main expertise was with axes, but there was now proof she was definitely competent in fist-fighting as well. At least as much as she would need to be to have a chance against Lyndis, the psychotic bitch of District 10.

[Zulera301]

Lyndis couldn't help but crack a chuckle. "you got laughed at? ha. try being from one of the laughingstock districts of Panem that's produced nothing but shitty tributes and bloodbath fodder for nearly a decade. My place in the halls of history is already set. They aren't going to forget the psycho girl from District 10 anytime soon." Needless to say, there was not even a shred of sympathy for Keshet coming from Lyndis. She had not received any sponsor gifts, or really any support apart from Smash and Isi accepting her into their group. Their deaths were... tragic. It had to be done though, because it was either her life or theirs.

Lyndis laughed. "it's okay. I don't think anyone but a psycho bitch would want to hit on someone as ugly as you anyways. Luckily for your self-esteem, I just happened to fit the bill." Lyndis was an excitable woman. She was more than willing to do crazy and outright insane stunts for the sole purpose of making a scene. She liked attention, although also like the adrenaline that came from the audacity she had to actually do some of the things she had done. No one was about to forget the girl who kissed every tribute.
"funny you mention that," Lyndis flipped her hair. "it was actually when they broke that trust that I turned on them... they blamed me for something that wasn't my fault. So... I attacked them before they could do the same to me." there was truth to this story. Lyndis had been keeping watch, and then they had been attacked my mutts, which the Capitol had literally spawned out of nowhere, thus Lyndis had not seen them coming. They were able to destroy the creatures easily enough, but Smash and Isi accused Lyndis of purposely trying to let the mutts in, and so they planned on offing her. Welp... Lyndis got them first. It had actually been a pretty incredible fight.

"I wouldn't forget an ugly face like that either," she taunted again, letting herself get knocked to the ground while she bragged. "but let's start this with some training, eh?"
As Keshet bragged and punched Lyndis, Lyndis grabbed the younger girl's face, pulling her in for a kiss on the lips before smacking their foreheads together, and flipping Keshet off of her to get back to her feet. "and may the odds make it true," she caught her breath fairly quickly, "that when you're mortally wounded in an excruciatingly painful way... that the last thing you see is my lips meeting yours before I kill you."
Lyndis' steps were careful, and she seemed to be treading close to where the weapons were, but did not actually make moves to pick them up. "Let me know when you want me to start trying though. Warm-ups are important, but we've got to start sooner or later."

[Nachthexe]

"Does it look like my fault your district produces nothing but shitty tributes? Of course not. Blame your incompetent mentors. When I'm on my Victory Tour I might even be nice and give a promising word or two about you." Keshet responded, winking at Lyndis. Truth was that she envied Lyndis' decent appearance, but that was not something she was about to make public. She was currently more focused on the girl's fighting skills which definitely were significant, considering her origins. she wanted to question her about it, but figured it was best to not even delve into that territory when the girl was already very much in a position to potentially take her down.

There it was. More jabs at Keshet's appearance. This admittedly bothered the girl, but it was all coming from probably her biggest rival anyway so really it did nothing more but further pump her full of adrenaline to finally attack the girl. "Broke that trust? Hah, like they even trusted your crazy ass to begin with. Surely they were just being nice, unlike the careers who actually genuinely seemed to like me." She retorted, realizing just how advantageous it had been for her to join the career pack. Manipulation. Sometimes it truly was the difference between life and death and surely that had been no exception. These were the Hunger Games, after all, and everybody had to turn on allies eventually. For Keshet, it was better sooner than later. Now it seemed to be showing, leaving her with fewer enemies to pick off.

"They won't forget your face either once it's bashed in!" Keshet continued punching Lyndis until the girl finally got the upper hand and was able to stand on her own two feet. The kiss left her rather enraged as if she was trying to taunt her once again, but the angrier she got the more fierce she was becoming. Ss tempting as it was to pick up her weapons and finish the girl off she refrained from doing so, wanting to retain a sense of honour even if by some miracle either Lyndis or even Alice managed to finish her off. Besides, the older girl seemed just as interested in evening the odds just as they had been attempting to do. "Warm-ups? This is the real deal, sweetie." Keshet continued as she once again brutally took hits at Lyndis, even managing to bloody up her face.

[Zulera301]

"ja." Lyndis flipped her hair again. "just like it ain't my fault a couple of folks lookin' like roadkill decided to bump uglies. Normally this'd be the part where I'd mention that the Capitol can fix your looks and Carsar can make your personality somewhat bearable, but the only thing you're gonna be touring is 6 feet of dirt." Lyndis continued to play the defensive, though occasionally struck out in erratic patterns, because as skilled as her fighting style appeared to be, there was no real pattern to go off of. Landing hits on Lyndis was almost luck-based, similar to her ability to land hits on Keshet. It was clear that the light-skinned girl had good swinging arms though.

"the careers? liking you?" she laughed, "don't kid yourself, girl--they don't even like each other. they just wanted dumb muscle to do their dirty work. like 'n like attract, and the careers are never the brightest lights in the room." Lyndis continued to dodge strikes, swinging around wildly, sometimes with a punch, and other times contorting her body into various poses either to show off or more often to avoid getting struck. "you are nothing... and by volunteerin' for the games... you've elected to remain nothing. You're just another nameless career tribute that the Capitol'll fawn over for a year or two till the next Glimmer DeLosSantos or Flint DiFronzo swings by. You're no Valendria, no matter how hard you try to be."
Perhaps the similarities had not been lost on Lyndis? but how would she know? Maybe she was just making the comparison because they both used axes and were not what they seemed. Perhaps it was the fact that Keshet was shaping up to be the most lethal tribute this year, just as Valendria had been the year before. That seemed the most logical to Alice, anyways.

Lyndis laughed, even as she was slugged across the face. "HEY ALICE!" she shouted, "DO ME A FAVOR AND KICK THIS CUNT'S FACE IN WHEN WE'RE DONE, WILL YA!"
"you wanna dance? fine..." she lunged right at the girl, straight0up ignoring the hits she was taking, and she sunk her teeth into the other girl's shoulder, using her long(ish) fingernails to dig into any bit of skin, (be it her neck or her arms) that she could reach.
Retracting (primarily due to a punch to the eye) and falling on her backside, Lyndis grinned, blood dripping from her mouth, some of which was Keshet's. "there is no honor in the Hunger Games... we all come here to die."
Her hand was behind her back, and she was waiting for a strike. If Keshet was not observant enough, her next move would cost her dearly--for behind Lyndis was a knife, and her palm was wrapped around it.

[Nachthexe]

Keshet was quickly losing her temper just as she had in the training centre. "Don't bring my parents into this!" She snarled, getting another blow in on Lyndis. So far the two girls were seemingly pretty evenly matched in unarmed combat, although Keshet wasn't sure how long it would last. She wasn't quick to forget that Alice was probably still watching, perhaps even trying to distract the two. However, it was not a move she was about to fall for. Lyndis was her current target and as the girl continued yapping she managed to sucker punch her a few times despite taking a few blows herself. By this time both girl's bodies were getting relatively bloodied up.

"Me nothing? Hah, look at Rye Grove. Volunteer. Dead, but remembered. Valendria? Dead, but remembered." Keshet responded, realizing that Lyndis was only taunting her further. "Besides, I'm not Valendria nor am I trying to be! She had her motivations, I have mine!" She continued as the seemingly endless brawl continued. Definitely by now the Capitol was on the edge of their seats, waiting for an explosive finale where one girl would finally take down the other. Keshet at least seemed to be satisfied she was giving the show she had wanted. Certainly equally entertaining to them were Lyndis' tactics. Even as Keshet attempted to beat her to a pulp she continued laughing. This baffled Keshet, but she wasn't prepared to question it while she continued to have the upper hand.

"No! Don't even get him involved in this! He would backstab either of us without hesitation! These are the Hunger Games, remember that!" Keshet bellowed once Lyndis began attempting to bring Alice into their little fight. This was strictly one on one and she intended to keep it that way. Alice was bound to have his chance with whoever the loser was and he definitely seemed prepared to fire an arrow at either of the girls. Keshet's attention soon shifted, however, as soon as Lyndis jabbed her fingernails into her skin. Almost immediately the younger girl yelped in pain. Despite this though Keshet continued taking hits at the girl, without her seemingly hitting back. Was she finally deciding to surrender? This managed to put a smirk on her face as she finally unleashed brutal assault on the girl.

[Zulera301]

"then don't bring my district into this." Lyndis retorted without skipping a beat. "we can't all be as well off as District 7. You're in your element, while I'm out of mine. You'd think that would give the Capitol favorite an advantage... but I guess real skill overpowers skill augmented by familiar surroundings and sponsor gifts." This was not even an attempt at provoking Keshet; this was Lyndis' genuine belief that she was far more skilled than this other girl. There was not likely anything that would change her mind from this either, because most of the evidence that Lyndis had seen supported her claim anyways.

Lyndis let out a cackle. "don't insult the great ones by comparing yourself to them. Look at Mason. Look at Alexis. Look at Victoria. Look at Alan and Roxanne. Look at Gemma and Marcel. Look at Zakura and Myron. All volunteers. All remembered as nothing more than the same generic, faceless career tributes that the Capitol sees every year. See, kid... if you want to stand out, you gotta do something special. Appealing to the Capitol and getting all cozy with the careers just ain't gonna cut it." Lyndis blocked many of Keshet's strikes with her own fists, sometimes even aiming strikes directly at the girl's own wrists or hands. "You want to stand out? You gotta do something memorable. Be the District 11 kids that scored 11s and outlived everyone. Be the disabled girl from District 12 who was more powerful than you could ever dream of being. Be the druggie boy from District 6 who smoked tracker-jackers and ate them. Be the little District 12 girl who got a monument built to her by another tribute. Be the girl from District 11 who punched people's chests in. Be the psychotic bitch from District 10 whose spirit and body are unbreakable. Be the rebellious bitch from District 8 who defied the Capitol for 2 weeks before they finally bombed her. Be the beautiful girl from District 5 who--oh wait. you'd have to be pretty first. You want to be remembered? You don't need to kill--you need to find something that makes you stand out." Lyndis was indeed not attacking so much anymore, but defending herself so she could finish speaking. "Valendria did not get remembered solely for how powerful she was... she's remembered because she's selfless. There's no glory in killing a dozen innocent children in a death arena, and she knew that. Killing me accomplishes nothing, sweetie."

Lyndis chuckled, even after taking a strike to the other eye. "Oh, he's already involved. I'm not gonna tell you to look right now, but he's got his bow trained on us right now." It was true that Alice was aiming at them, just waiting for one of them to be weak enough to stop moving long enough for him to let fly.
Lyndis grabbed Keshet's hands to prevent the girl from striking her more. This of course meant that she couldn't strike her, but she didn't seem to want to. She had a speech to give.
"There's no glory in these games. You have nothing to prove, and you have nothing to gain. I volunteered out of nothing short of curiosity. I was standing in line with all the other little 17-year-old shits from District 10 and I thought to myself... "what would happen if I volunteered?' So I did. they dragged me to this stage, and that was where my adventures began. Once I realized there was no way out, I settled with my fate. I'd do something to make myself become remembered... I'd pull District 10 out of the rut of forgetful tributes just for a moment, so that they would remember Lyndis Jay Montoya/ You want your name remembered among the great ones? you should have earned it. now it's just a matter of what you're going to do when you kill me. Go ahead. do it. I'll die, and Alice will do you in before you can even turn around."

Alice couldn't help but be a little proud of the girl's confidence in him. His arrow was trained on Keshet, who seemed to have the upper hand, but the butcher had Keshet's hands locked in hers, preventing them from doing much at the moment. Considering that Lyndis might be waiting for something drastic, he didn't want to pull the string and shoot Keshet only to learn that Lyndis was raring for action--or vice-versa.

[Nachthexe]

"Being in my element? Irrelevant. I've trained for years to get here, knowing that someday I would have to prove myself to my entire district just so they would accept me! You know nothing about being an outcast within your own peer group! You're just a stupid bitch who got lucky!" Keshet retorted, realizing that this other was genuinely trying to break her down her morale. It was a rather smart tactic, but the powerful girl knew better than to fall for it. Her opponent was definitely cocky too and almost reminded her a lot of the careers, even if her own origins were much different.

Despite all of Lyndis' previous words it was the most recent ones that truly got to Keshet. The great ones? Almost immediately she knew who Lyndis had been referring to. "I can compare myself to them because I can still win this and I will. You? With time your laughingstock of a district will just return to obscurity." She responded, before realizing perhaps even briefly that maybe Lyndis was right. Anybody could kill in the Hunger Games considering it was the name of the game, but could they become memorable? That was another question entirely, one that Lyndis seemed to had pondered for awhile. Noting this, she even felt a few tears flowing down her bloodied face, but now was not the time to get emotional. Instead she just continued the fight, although in her brief moment of weakness Lyndis managed to grapple her. Now she had the upper hand.

Lyndis may have had the upper hand only briefly, but soon Keshet found herself struggling and even proceeding to kick Lyndis. This was literally going to be a fight to the death and Keshet was prepared to ensure it, despite her sudden change of heart. What if the girl's words had been correct? What if even if she wins she's forgotten? There were so many possible scenarios worth pondering, yet it was too late to turn back now. She was trapped in the Hunger Games, perhaps condemned to be forgotten whether she lived or died. Perhaps Lyndis would even be remembered due to making her less than impressive district propel far in these games. This was something Keshet was very quickly realizing and already it was eating her up inside as she continued to brawl with Lyndis.

[Zulera301]

Lyndis simply laughed and shook her head again. "I like you, kiddo. you've got guts and gusto. you make me laugh. To be honest, I was about a stone's throw away from just saying "hell with it" and accepting the careers' offer. I think it was Zak, even, that suggested it."
She paused, raising an eyebrow at Keshet's complaints about being an outcast. In fact, she actually guffawed.
"HA!" she called the bluff. "you wanna know why they call me crazy? You wanna know why they call me batfuck insane? It's because no one else had the balls or the ovaries to try the things I did. I was alone from the start. Why should I care though? What do I have to gain from getting the approval of people I hardly know or care about? I'm not here in these games to prove anything. I might give District 10 it's 30 seconds of fame, but what then? I pity you, girl. I knew better than to waste my life trying to get good at these games. I volunteered because I honestly had nothing better to do with my time. My curiosity has been sated."

Lyndis shook her head. "you just don't get it, do you? you preach to me about luck, and then think that becoming a victor automatically puts you among the great ones? Kiva Rivnay is not a great one. She is a lucky one. Blight, two years before is not a great one. He is a lucky one. Sagittaria... she might be a great one, but remember how the coin landed. She's a lucky one too. It could have very well been Rye who was a great one and a lucky one, with Sagittaria going into the ranks of the great ones instead. You kill me, then Alice shoots you... do you think that makes him a great one? no. it makes him a lucky one. You... the only way you will kill me will be because I will let you. You're too generic, Keshet Elian. You're jsut another strong, bloodthirsty career tribute itching to win glory for yourself and your district. I hate to break it to you, kid... but it's been done. That's the story of pretty much every victor from District 1 and District 2. They've got so many of those fucks lying around that no one even cares about them anymore."

When Lyndis felt herself being kicked, she struck right back using her knees and her own powerful feet. They might have been bare, but the girl had considerable force behind her solidly built legs and feet as well. "So what's it gonna be, 7?" the girl was still grinning, attempting to lock Keshet's legs in her own. "Are you going to secure my place among the great ones as the girl who always smiled... or are you going to find a way to make a name for yourself before you go? Does any of this really matter, or are you chasing after a fabricated fantasy for a set of hopes that aren't even there? Before I let you kill me, tell me this--you somehow dodge Alice's arrow and snap the boy's neck here and now. What do you do with yourself once you're a victor? Do you let them destroy your image and transform you into one of them? You'll be beautiful--more beautiful than even Glimmer could ever imagine... but would you still be yourself?"

Grinning again, and still attempting to hold Keshet in place, she had a few final words to say. "Rye and Sagittaria were remarkable killers. Dezna Meraxa was a lucky kid. Kyla was ruthless. Do you know why they are remembered in the districts? Do you know why these people also revere the innocent little Hazel Prezelin--the girl who didn't harm a single soul for the entirety of the games?"
She paused, if nothing else, for effect. Alice was listening keenly at this point.
"They're gonna be remembered for the same reason that I will be remembered--and for the same reason that mouthy bitch from '8 will be remembered. Panem remembers these kids because they did not let the Hunger Games change who they were. They were true to themselves from beginning to end--they did not try to be something they weren't. Me... I'm the same weird little shit inside and out, from my butcher shop back home to the death arena I'm lying on my back in. Tell me... can you, Keshet Elian... say the same?"

[Nachthexe]

Keshet wasn't sure whether to believe Lyndis about her reasoning for volunteering, but it was just something else she wasn't about to question. Regardless, she was probably right. District 10 probably wouldn't get much more than perhaps 30 minutes of fame until fading into obscurity once again. Regardless of her own bias she was convinced that District 10 wouldn't produce another victor for a long time if Lyndis didn't make it out of this arena. In the 47th games they were likely destined to return to being nothing more than bloodbath fodder, although it did get Keshet even further thinking about what made one great in the Hunger Games.

Luck. It was often exclusive from skill, having Keshet realize yet again that perhaps Lyndis was right. Sagittaria's victory had been based largely on luck while Kiva's had been based almost entirely on luck as Valendria could have offed her in a few seconds flat. However, it was Lyndis' next words that truly stung. Her a typical career tribute? No, she knew she wasn't arrogant. At least she hoped she wasn't. It certainly hadn't been her intentions. Power. It was a funny thing really, even often going to its wielder's head. Snow was even perhaps an example of that, using his power to abuse and repress others. Was Keshet just destined to go down that path? She didn't even want to imagine it. She simply had wanted to be noticed positively for once, a fact she didn't hesitate to inform Lyndis of as she continued grappling her. "All I wanted was to be noticed positively for once. Maybe I was wrong, but I was so obsessed with finally being respected I didn't even stop to think about the repercussions." She explained, shedding more tears, something Lyndis may have not even been able to notice due to her bloodied face.

"I never wanted to be something I'm not, just to be noticed for once. All I wanted was for people in my district to see me and think 'Oh, I'm sorry for ever mistreating that girl! She never deserved any of it!'" Keshet continued ranting, struggling to avoid completely breaking down at this point. She briefly got reminded of Paige who had seemed so distressed while up on the interview stage, perhaps even realizing the serious consequences were rebellious words could have had. However, Keshet wasn't distressed because she was a rebel about to be killed by the Capitol, she was distressed because she was beginning to see that perhaps she had chosen the wrong method to gain respect.

[Zulera301]

perhaps Lyndis was sealing District 10's fate by practically surrendering at this point. She seemed to no longer be trying to strike, but simply trying to hold Keshet back so she could finish speaking. She was aiming to strip Keshet's ego away, and she seemed to be succeeding in this endeavor. Alice had to tip his hat to Lyndis. She was much smarter than she looked, and it was showing. He wondered if she had been lying about Adrianna and Isikiro, but if he won, he'd be able to find out. He wouldn't blame Smash and Isi if they accused Lyndis of whatever she did, but wondered if there was something the Gamemakers knew that the other two outliers did not.

Incidentally, instead of producing more taunts and insults, Lyndis gave a much gentler smile. It might have looked a bit disfigured considering the state of her bruised and bloody face and body, but it was there. "my time in this arena is a success." she declared. "you want to be a career tribute who stands out... just show emotion. None of them ever do that enough. You can play the games however you damn well please, kid. My goal was simply to help remind you not to lose yourself in the process. That's why I pity the career tributes--they've been bred with a single mindset... and when they win, what then? They've spent and wasted their entire childhoods building up for a single moment, and then none of 'em have a damn clue what to do with themselves. I didn't know it before now, but you were different. Now I know."

Lyndis' smile persisted. "you can go ahead and let it out if you want to." Lyndis loosened her grip on the other girl's hands. "shit if I'm gonna judge you. What am I anyways? Just another nameless fuck from a nameless district that'll fall into obscurity a few minutes after I die. My work here is done. I give the remaining tributes permission to kill me."
She paused, releasing Keshet's limbs. "Just be wary--Alice is going to shoot us."
No sooner had she said this, than Alice's arrow let fly, sinking itself through Lyndis' throat. The girl choked up and a moment later stopped moving, causing a cannon to fire. Overhead, a familiar face floated in the sky.
Lyndis Montoya, District 10...

Alice readied another arrow, aiming it at Keshet. this was it. it was just him and her, and he had to do it. However, he needed to focus on her in order to get a good shot.

[Nachthexe]

It was interesting really how both Keshet and Lyndis seemed to have lost interest in fighting each other. Just minutes ago they had been convinced they were going to brawl with each other to the death, yet now here they were talking things out like any civilized people would. Keshet no longer even believed it was attempts to break her, but attempts to perhaps get through to her. At least the girl could hope, realizing she was still very much inside a death arena. That wasn't bound to change either until both Lyndis and Alice were dead.

Keshet was admittedly surprised that Lyndis smiled at her and attempted to show some kindness. She knew she deserved little of it, at least not from that girl. That was her being a genuine human being, and Keshet realized that now. Rye? Genuine. Sagittaria? Genuine. Hazel? Genuine. Leon? Genuine. The list really went on and on with Keshet only further realizing where she had gone wrong. "Maybe I wouldn't know what to do with myself upon returning home, but like I told you I was so obsessed with a single goal I didn't even think about that. Fortunately victors are encouraged to pick up a hobby of some sort." She confessed, once again realizing Lyndis had a point. Most careers didn't even learn their district industry, after all. Keshet was perhaps a rare exception though, having done much of her training while working in the forests. "All I wanted was a happy life away from ridicule, y'know?" She continued, letting out a smile of her own at Lyndis. It was really a strange moment, two tributes who were supposed to be fighting to the death suddenly reconciling with each other. Perhaps it was even a bit anti-climatic for the Capitol audiences.

Once Lyndis let go of her Keshet was admittedly surprised by her next words. She was just going to surrender? she wasn't even going to try to make it home to her family? Did she even have family or was she simply just struggling on her own? It was allegedly a common trend in many of the outlying districts, after all. "You're not even going to try to win this?" Keshet asked the girl, but before she even got a chance to answer she was struck down. An arrow. Alice really had been waiting for the right time to strike and she knew that she was next as Lyndis' cannon blared. However, instead of attempting to attack him she finally dropped to her knees and ultimately began breaking down.

Keshet knew what was to come and suddenly she felt her entire world turning upside down. She was now nothing but a bloodthirsty career tribute and would surely be remembered as such. It was hardly a label she wanted, yet it was one she was likely condemned to. Those who remained themselves throughout the games were the ones who were remembered and Lyndis, more than anybody helped to remind her of that. Alice and Paige were perhaps two perfect examples of it, even preferring to face death than submit to the Capitol. Of course they were a more extreme case, but it had stood true for tributes in past games. Rye of District 11 was definitely one of the more notable.

Alice. He was definitely still himself, and not even the arrow pointed in Keshet's face had her forgetting this. Arrow pointed in her face? It quickly occurred to her what that meant so she attempted to signal to the boy to stop. "No. Don't shoot. Not yet. I have one last request before either of us attempts to kill each other." She was still very much in tears at this point so she could only hope the boy believed her request to be sincere. If it was any consolation though she was still very much unarmed.

[Zulera301]

Hunger Games victors led interesting but very unusual lives. They were familiar with acts and horrors that only other victors could truly understand. It was one thing to see children act like this on TV, but to interact with them, after their minds had been so heavily impacted even by a mere couple of weeks in the arena. Alice was definitely aware that these tributes were insane, but wasn't he just as crazy? If one of them won, wouldn't he just be another wild boy who had done what he could to try and survive? Desperation did a lot of weird things to people. Alice was fairly certain that the psychological trauma that came from the games did not so much come from kids killing each other... but rather, being exposed to some of the wild and radical things that kids would do under that kind of pressure. It was a terrible thing, really, considering that these were children in the most emotionally fragile parts of their lives, and even for the victor, it was just a setup to screw with them in such horrifying ways. These children--these victors... none of them would ever lead normal lives. The Hunger Games alienated them from their old friends; their families; the rest of their district society.

Lyndis smiled. "that sounds like Valendria a bit... 'cept maybe a life outside of the spotlight of worship rather than the spotlight of ridicule. I feel for ya, kid. I really do. I'm done trying to piss you off. I'm okay with the notion of dying for the same reason that Dezna Meraxa kid last year was. I'm at peace with my actions. Even if that kid behind the crates sucker shots us both... if you can die as yourself... if you can die happy with who you are... then you've freed yourself from the awful cycle. no one wins in the Hunger Games... but if you can die on your own terms... that is what prevents you from becoming an unmemorable loser."

As Lyndis released Keshet, she simply smiled and shook her head, shortly before Alice's arrow pierced her throat. Lyndis Montoya died with a smile on her face. She was definitely at peace with herself. Alice could not say he had any idea about some of the girl's crazy motives or actions, but hell if that girl wasn't one of the most philosophical and brilliant creatures Alice had ever run into.
Alice climbed gingerly out of his crate, at a loss for words himself. He knew that this was something that had had had to be done, and he had purposely waited until Lyndis had finished explaining himself before letting the string go. He had his bow out, and was staying wary, to ensure that Keshet did not explode in him or something, and thus he also kept his distance.

Alice took comfort in Lyndis' words, and knew that the girl would definitely be remembered. If it was not her wild antics or her oddly motherly voice, it would be that she stayed true to who she was, regardless of what people thought of her. So she wasn't insane after all... just quirky, fearless, and willing to do what no one else had the guts to try. Seriously... who the hell would volunteer out of "curiosity"? It seemed a very Lyndis thing to do, but Alice was still skeptical at how the hell the kid could think like that. But... Lyndis had been true to herself, even dealing with ridicule like being called psychotic, insane, crazy, and all sorts of other colorful names.

But Keshet... she was still alive, and would be coming for his blood within moments. Was she mad that he had killed Lyndis? Had the tables so suddenly turned, and was he now the villain? That was an interesting thought, and it caused him to raise his bow again, in preparation to drop Keshet where she stood.
Thus, her words had him half a finger away form releasing his bowstring. Instead, he lowered it, but kept the arrow nocked.
"Sorry..." he paused. "...about Lyndis, I mean. What..." he shrugged. "what did you want?"
Paige might have been freaking out if she was still alive, and Alice almost chuckled as he imagined her voice.
"what the fuck are you doing, you stupid shit? why the fuck hasn't your fucking arrow gone through that cuntmuffin's face yet? SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOT!"
Although he didn't think that it would be from a hatred of Keshet--just from a fixated determination for the boy to win, which he was admittedly putting at risk right now. But... listening to Keshet felt like the right thing to do. If that vicious, ruthless girl could let Lyndis speak, he could at least offer her the same courtesy.

[Nachthexe]

As Lyndis died happy Keshet suddenly wondered if she could do the same if it came to that. She had just killed so many other people's children all in an attempt to prove herself, yet Lyndis words had somehow changed her. She suddenly felt...unsatisfied with everything she had done. Even if Lyndis had been crazy she had been brilliant, but also a happy and genuine individual. That was something Keshet suddenly found herself wishing she could be. Even if these next tense few moments in the arena were her last she wanted to leave some sort of impression. She still had a chance, after all, and was prepared to take it. Mostly though she wanted to be able to leave happily, something she suddenly envied Lyndis for.

"No one wins the Hunger Games. They become nothing but a shadow of their former selves." Keshet uttered as she glanced down at her own knees as she attempted to wipe away her tears. She had come to yet another realization that perhaps even Lyndis would have been concerned about: most victors were forced to adapt a new persona in order to appease their Capitol fans. Was that something she really wanted when really all she wanted was a chance at redemption among the people of her own district? Fame hardly even seemed appealing, yet it was something most victors were condemned to.

Keshet was prepared to retrieve her weapons, although surprisingly Alice complied to her request. At that, she managed a small smile before attempting to speak to the boy. "This obviously isn't over yet, but if I somehow die at the end of this I want you to have this." She began as she reached into her uniform pocket to retrieve what appeared to be a small rolled up piece of paper of some sort. "I think Ash, my mentor would appreciate having it in his hands again. I don't care what you do with it before the Victory Tour, but please just try to get it to him." She continued as she handed the item to Alice. She felt it was likely he would be the one dying, but she knew there would be a chance to retrieve it once the final showdown was complete.

"Also, I know what you're probably thinking. That I'm just trying to lure somebody into feeling sympathetic for me so I can have the upper hand. That's not it at all. I meant every word of what I said. Lyndis opened my eyes, y'know. Previously I was simply obsessed with redemption and getting positive attention I didn't even think about what it truly was that got tributes remembered in these games. Then again, what would I know? I'm just the runt who was perceived as helpless and weak all her life because of it. I could hardly even lift an axe, and that's a pretty big deal in my district." Keshet explained, hoping that Alice would at least hear her out and perhaps even think on her words. She didn't much count on it though as up until about a couple hours ago everybody in the arena thought of her as just a typical arrogant career.

[Zulera301]

Alice cast one more glance at Lyndis' corpse, glancing up at the sky as well, just as the girl's face was fading. It was funny... she had almost the same grin on her corpse that her photograph had had. Everyone had seen Valendria's breakdown in the final minutes of the year before, but Lyndis... he couldn't think of any time the girl was anything but calm or happy. even Dezna had gotten a bit teary-eyed before his death. Lyndis... Lyndis just seemed accepting of anything that came her way. She was fierce and ruthless, but under all of that, she had just been herself, and had died happily. Alice did not feel the same discomfort that Keshet felt, by virtue of the fact that he was just doing this to survive and to help continue the cause of revolution. He had made a promise and was a boy of his word. He felt almost like Rye suddenly. Both had been boys who had stayed true to their characters and had been honest almost to a fault. But, he knew that he was no Rye. Rye Grove was a good young man to aspire to, although Alice knew that his intentions were much darker than Rye's. He was contemplating revolution... contemplating war. Rye... Rye had just wanted to get home to fulfill his promise to whoever that Basil Haslett kid had been, and surely to his parents. He was a nobler young man than Alice could ever be.

Alice actually had a response for the girl's remark, since Lyndis' corpse was not likely to be opening her mouth again.
"If the games don't get you... the trauma will." he replied neutrally. Alice had not even wanted to be here. He had just been another of a couple dozen other kids who had been unlucky enough to get their name called. Granted, the Capitol made a mistake by choosing this small boy in the first place. They had turned him from a quiet, unassuming kid into a devious mastermind, who, now caught in the Capitol's web, was determined to undermine it.

Surprisingly, Alice took what was handed to him, although was admittedly a little skeptical of it. He knew it couldn't be dangerous--there was nothing like this in the arena or in sponsor gifts, and all tribute tokens were inspected before they were allowed. A few had been confiscated in history, if he recalled correctly. he felt his coat pocket, and felt the small pair of dice that he had brought for his. They were not terribly significant, but they were his. Paige's ring was beautiful though. He hoped to be able to give it back to Hanna, or at least show her and reassure her that he had it, and that it was not in the Capitol's clutches. He wondered what she would say about it. Would she be angry that this small and otherwise unknown boy was wearing the ring that she had crafted for her beloved? Or would she be at peace with the notion, knowing that Alice would take good care of it, and that the legacy of Paige Alwin would live on. Well... he had to find out. Another reason he had to win. He had to fined out what Hanna would have to say about all of this.
He nodded up at Keshet. "alright then." he didn't know what else to say or add, but he agreed, taking the small object and gently pocketing it before stepping back. he had to stay out of the reach of Keshet's fists or any of the axes that were nearby her.

Alice was willing to hear it out. "no, no." he shook his head. "I understand. I heard the conversation. I wasn't too far off." he thumbed behind him to the nearby pile of crates. "I alwyas thought that the girl was batfuck insane. Paige seemed fairly insistent on the idea too. Crazy bastard was a genius. a mad genius..." he shook his head, glancing at Lyndis and noticing something sticking out of her coat pocket. If he won, he'd have to see what it was. It looked like a piece of paper.
"heh..." he couldn't help chuckle at the word 'runt'. "I'm just the runt that no one even knows existed. If you win and pass through District 8... ask anyone what Alice DeSiete was like before the Hunger Games and they'd probably just say "Alice who? never heard of her?" he made a playful stab at his own feminine name.
"The games do that to people though," he sighed, "they try to bend and contort you and everyone else into what they want you to do. Just look at what they tried to do to Valendria. You wanna be remembered?" he was very aware of the tears in Keshet's eyes. "let it out. your everyday run-of-the-mill carer tribute never cries. They never show emotion. They just do what they've been raised their whole lives to do." he shrugged. He kind of hoped Keshet would spend a few moments venting, because he kind of wanted a moment too. He was not big on emotional loss, but glancing around, and seeing the mangled remains of Paige and Zakura, as well as Lyndis' bruised, bloody form, reminded him of just how horrible his current situation really was.

[Nachthexe]

Keshet could only nod as Alice spoke. Trauma. It was definitely a common thing for all tributes, but fortunately those who died in the arena were freed from it while the victors were condemned to live the rest of their lives with it. Keshet clearly remembered how the previous year's victor, Kiva, had almost immediately began regretting the fire incident. It was pretty gruesome, but surely the girl had simply viewed it as a means to an end. There was also a lot of that in the Hunger Games and Keshet knew she was no exception; training for years and then volunteering had simply been a means to an end for her, but suddenly she felt more like Kiva in that it was something perhaps regretful. At least she was feeling hopeful that these final minutes would get her some recognition.

Alice seemed to have hesitated for a few seconds before taking hold of the district token, but Keshet was understanding. The boy had little reason to trust her, after all. There were still technically enemies, even if they were at a temporary truce. "It's harmless. This isn't just some trick either. You can even take a look at it once I'm gone, I don't really care. Just make sure that if I die it gets to Ash." She reminded him as he pocketed it. On the outside it seemed like nothing significant, but inside there were curiosities that Ash would truly understand. That alone had Keshet hoping that if Alice won he would wait until the Victory Tour to take a peek.

Keshet managed another small smile when Alice assured her that he had heard her speak. So he knew what had motivated her? That bit was certainly comforting, although when Alice pointed out the bit about his own past she suddenly felt sympathetic towards him as well. "You a runt? Then you know how I feel, although if it's any consolation you're not an ugly runt." She responded, even letting out a chuckle. Her words were sincere. Despite Alice being a whole two years her junior he definitely wasn't hard on the eyes, at least that was her opinion of him. She was unsure if others felt the same.

Oddly enough, Alice was actually encouraging Keshet to cry. Realizing this, she finally broke down. It was finally time to unleash everything she had held back for so long. It almost felt...liberating. She did also realize the boy had a point too. Career tributes rarely showed emotion while in the arena, only caring about reaching the top and appearing powerful in the process. However, she couldn't help but to wonder if perhaps they were just huge softies on the inside. It was something she would unfortunately never know the answer to, even if she did walk out of the arena alive. There was even more she wanted to learn about the District 8 pair and Lyndis, but that too was bound to be impossible unless their mentors were willing to open up. Even that was no guarantee as she knew well that mentors were some of the last people tributes managed to confide in before being sent to their imminent deaths.

Keshet was sure several minutes passed before she finally calmed down and walked over to retrieve her axe. The games were not yet over and surely Alice was equally aware of this. "Enough of that. We have a show to finish, and may the odds be ever in your favour." She warned Alice, raising her axe as if to prepare to attack. She knew she had potential to easily take down the boy, but who knows? Maybe he would even get lucky? He was a ranged fighter, after all, while she was mostly melee. Currently, he had the advantage of distance as Keshet's axe retrieval opened up space between them.

[Zulera301]

Alice could suddenly understand why the Capitol liked their victors so much. They were all so dramatically different from each other, even if they were almost all able to relate to each other in one way or another. They all had their traumas and fears, and none of them were anything close to what they had been like before they entered the arena. A District 2 girl from a few years back had said that the Hunger Games were what turned a girl into a woman and a boy into a man. If Alice won, perhaps he'd see how that theory held up. He could totally understand that there was a lot of emotional maturity that came from being cast into such a dire situation. Kiva and Sagittaria were examples of this.

"I believe you," Alice shrugged. He was still fairly honest, even at this point, and so he wasn't trying to mock Keshet by sarcastically saying that he didn't believe a word she was saying or whatnot. "I'll do what I can." he also promised. There was always that wild chance that he'd misplace it or lose it or that somehow it would get lost or destroyed in the upcoming 6 months, but otherwise, he would do what he could to get this back to Ash, whoever he or she was. [hey. this was a boy with a girl's name. He wasn't sure of Ash was masculine, feminine, or both.] He would probably take a peek at it if he won, because he didn't think that he could wait 6 months. On the other hand, maybe it would be some crpytic puzzle or something that might not mean anything till it was deciphered. Eh... he'd probably still look, then he'd fold it back up if it was nothing he could discern on his own.

He couldn't help but chuckle at the remark. "Thanks. you're not too bad either." She was no Glimmer, and there was no trying to even pretend she was. But at the same time, the small, scrawny figure and the messy hair that covered parts of her face did have a charm to it. He had heard the things Lyndis had said, and he wasn't just trying to make the girl feel better. they were still enemies after all, but unlike Sagittaria, Alice had a reputation of being fairly honest. Not that he didn't have an odd sense of respect for someone who was so skilled at lying, such as that District 11 girl, for example. Maybe it was the Capitol makeover, but Alice wasn't exactly very hard on the eyes either. He was no Dezna, and certainly not one of those strapping careers, but he was a pretty good-lookin' dude.

When Keshet began crying, Alice simply sat down to give her the moment of silence that he felt the girl deserved. Sure it would have been an effective tactic to get her to do this and then shoot her down where she stood, but then what would that make him? Would he be any better than the rest of them? All of his kills had been either tactical, mercy-kills, or both. Kevin's death was an accident pretty much; Paige's was both tactical (to prevent the Capitol killing her) and merciful; Lyndis' had been tactical and also somewhat merciful, and Gemma's death was tactical. If he killed Keshet, it would be tactical--and perhaps merciful. He could probably give a good word about her to people. If nothing else, he could recruit Sagittaria to help him. Anyone that Sagittaria remembered was bound to go down in the halls of history, for that girl seemed to have all the best stories to spread across Panem.

But soon, the quiet moment of Keshet's gentle tears had ended, and it was time to finish what they started. "I concur." he nodded, "and may the best tribute win."
This was do or die, and time seemed to go in slow motion once again. Alice quickly grabbed his bow, which still had an arrow in it, and he pulled back, focusing as Keshet grabbed her axe and came for him.
"this is it..." he thought to himself, "I wish we could have met on better terms, Keshet... but I have to do this... this is not for me--this is for the hopes and dreams of a free Panem..."
With this, he let his arrow fly, where it rang true to its mark, striking Keshet right in the neck. The girl fell instantly, and a cannon fired. Keshet's face appeared in the sky for a moment, and Alice soon realized that he was alone. The hovercraft were coming to pick up the bodies of Nesara and the 4 girls that now surrounded him. Somehow, against all odds... he had won. It did not quite hit him just yet, until Keshet's face faded, and he saw his own face in the sky, followed by a fiery word underneath it.
VICTOR.

"Holy shit..." he muttered under his breath as he stared up in awe at his own face and the label he now wore. "I actually did it..."
Suddenly, he wished that Paige were here to see this, and as he saw the hovercraft take her remains away, he couldn't help but close his eyes, dropping his bow and quiver. He wouldn't need those anymore.
Instead, he rushed to Lyndis' side, picking off that piece of paper from her coat pocket to see what it was.
It turned out to be a playing card--an old Queen of Spades. he wondered what it meant, for other than looking a bit battered, it was unmarked. Welp, he was going to keep it anyways. Lyndis was not a tribute who should quickly be forgotten. She was a mad genius who seemed to have an excellent grip on reality and on the philosophy behind the Hunger Games. More people needed to think like her, and think outside the box.
At this point, he was ready to board the hovercraft. He was done with this arena. Hew as ready to face the Capitol head-on. Let them come at him. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

[Nachthexe]

Keshet fell almost instantly as the arrow pierced through her neck, paving way for possibly one of the greatest upsets in recent Hunger Games history. The young rebellious boy from District 8 who only scored a 5 in training. Certainly nobody had been expecting him to come out of the arena alive, yet he had managed to miraculously outlive 23 other tributes. Everybody had been banking on Keshet or Lyndis to win, yet now they were nothing more than bloodied corpses. Perhaps Lyndis' words had more relevance than ever; "You're not a great one, you're a lucky one." This was only made even clearer once Keshet's face appeared in the sky, followed by Alice's. That was it. The 46th Annual Hunger Games had drawn to a close and little Alice DeSiete of District 8 was victor.

"Ladies and gentlemen...the victor of the 46th Annual Hunger Games...Alice DeSiete! May the odds be ever in your favour!" Inevitably, loudspeakers blared all across the arena, announcing the the latest victory, followed shortly after by the arrival of a couple hovercrafts: one to retrieve the corpses and one to retrieve the latest victor. It was strange really how the Capitol could so easily kill so many children and then turn around and treat their victors with utmost care. In Alice's case especially it was bound to be ironic as certainly the boy's own rebellious tendencies were known now. Certainly the Capitol would likely twist his story of bashing the Capitol into him simply being manipulated by his rebellious district partner. That was, of course, if most of it hadn't been censored, which it likely had. The Capitol's propaganda machine was powerful, after all.

Once Alice retrieved Lyndis district token--an old playing card, he finally boarded the hovercraft. Once inside he was greeted by a seemingly silent and stoic set of Peacekeepers. However, this was only short lived as one of them finally proceeded to speak. "Have a seat and put out your arm." He commanded, sticking some sort of device up to Alice's arm, allegedly to remove his arena tracker that was no longer needed. This man was glad to see his latest victor, but what he perhaps didn't know was that the boy had much larger intents now that he had a sort of immunity. Perhaps even Snow knew that executing victors would do nothing but incite riots all over Panem. That was one reality that was very much set: if one wins the Hunger Games they are allowed to live in peace for the rest of their lives. Ironically that did not include the children of victors.

"Congratulations. Once we arrive back in the Capitol your prep team will be there to greet you and clean you up for tonight's ceremonies. You've earned it." The same Peacekeeper explained once the hovercraft was well on its way. He knew they could travel fast so it was bound to be only a matter of time until Alice was back into the heart of the very city that was now expected to nourish him. It was a surprisingly calm ride and even Alice may have been calm, or perhaps attempting to hold back both shock and sadness. Nobody had expected him to win, after all. It wasn't known to the boy, but excluding his own district partner who never had a chance of winning he had actually had the lowest odds out of all the tributes once Siiri and Martin were gone. It had remained that way right up until the moment the arrow pierced through Keshet's neck, leaving the Capitol audiences completely shocked. Certainly it was a cheap shot, but there were no rules in the Hunger Games; it was kill or be killed and Alice definitely knew that better than anybody.

[Zulera301]

Perhaps the funny thing about all of this was that even Alice was surprised that he had managed to pull it off. Most victors knew they were going to win by the time it happened. Sagittaria knew she had won after the coin had landed in her favor, and Kiva had won after Valendria had confessed her desire to die. Alice? he had been expecting Keshet or Lyndis to win just as much as everyone else. He wondered if the reruns would show his odds. He figured that they would have been abysmally low. He had scored a 5, and unlike Paige, his score had not been rigged. He did not have combat talents, but he did have smarts, which could not exactly be "shown" unless it was against other targets.

perhaps one of Alice's disadvantages was that he was not well-known, and so if the Capitol made up lies about him, they would probably fly. On the other hand, if the Capitol wanted to make him "likable" in their eyes, he would go with it. There was no point in being targetted, and while his plans of revolution were here to stay, he knew that he couldn't lead Panem against the Capitol at age 14. No one would take the small boy seriously. It would be tricky--he would need to make the districts take him seriously without letting the Capitol take him seriously. As long as they deemed him to not be a threat, he was safe.

As he glanced at and pocketed Lyndis' playing card, it made him think of her words. Was he not a great one? Was he just a lucky one? Perhaps he was. However, what the District 10 girl overlooked was the fact that victors could change that. Kiva Rivnay could become a great one. Alice DeSiete could become a great one in time. If he did actually lead this miraculous revolution... he would become a legend. If he was killed, he would become a martyr. People like Kyla and Valendria were further proof that someone would die and still be a legend. If Alice had to die, he would want to do nothing short of falling for his great and noble cause.
Once in the hovercraft, he sat down calmly and offered up his arm, pulling up his jacket sleeve as he felt the tracker removed. It pinched a little, just like when they had stuck it into her, but otherwise painless. He was no longer a tribute now--he was a victor.

Alice chuckled. "sweet." he'd go back to being the small boy that liked fashion that he had been in his interview and such. It was a fairly simple road to go by, but he'd rather the Capitol think that he was just a lucky ditz rather than a cunning and subtle revolutionary. Snow would be the judge though. He was never one to shy away from saying things to victors and tributes, and always had ways to give his warnings and get what he wanted. Well... if it was a battle of wits... consider the challenge accepted.
For the time being, however, Alice simply closed his eyes and enjoyed the ride. He was hungry, exhausted, and yet content with what had happened. There was a part of him that was mourning for Paige, and even for Keshet, the girl who had only wanted respect, and even for Lyndis, that crazy philosophical genius. But... he had an interesting way of mourning. moments alone and in silence were one of his methods.