IC - District 6

[Comissar]

Before Antogg gets a chance to answer Adleine, the door slides open behind him and Liss enters the car. Adleine looks over to the newest arrival and asks "You must be the other tribute?"

Her voice is still unsteady. The carriage lurches as the train begins its journey to the Capital, taking you to what may be your final destination.

There was some support for a shared district thread, so here it is! You can post anything that involves both of your characters here, anything you want to keep private can still go in your own personal IC. We'll use this thread so long as you're both using the same space, so for the train journey and the time at your shared accommodation at the capital.

[Ajadea]

Liss looks from Antogg to Adleine to the food on the table, head swiveling like an owl. There is a damp spot on the shoulder of her faded green print dress. Hints of stitching and creases show where it has been taken in, taken out, and taken down so many times it really should just be taken away. Her eyes are dry and her face is pale and freckled, not blotchy. If she has been crying, she certainly does a good job of hiding it. "I am Liss," she replies flatly. With that, she walks to the table, dragging up a stool so she can see what is there. She grabs a plate and soon seems to be entirely absorbed in picking and choosing the most complicated and strange looking foods available. Little squishy baby birds that turn out to be sweets, star-shaped fruit slices, steaming bits of dark meat and bright vegetables in an alarmingly red sauce, stripy pieces of candy, medallions of black-speckled white fruit. She spends some time arranging a nest of spindly greens, then places two minuscule eggs on it. The finishing touch seems to be some sort of tiny sparrow, plucked and roasted, still with its head attached, sitting on the eggs like a mother hen.

The plate is sized for a much larger person than herself, and she carries it down somewhat precariously, setting it on a big chair and pulling a small one up for herself. Liss seems to be somewhat indecisive when it comes to actually eating the delicacies she has picked, taking a bit of this one and that one, setting it down half-eaten and moving on to the next.

[Comissar]

Sorry to keep you waiting so long, I was hoping Antogg's player would post sooner. Hopefully he's not dropped, I'm allowing him a little longer to respond, but I'll try and keep things moving without him for now.

"Liss..." Adleine seems to be deep in thought as she says the young Halfling's name, "Tell me a bit about yourself, Liss."

She joins the halfling at the table, carefully putting together her own meal from the assorted foods. Notably, she avoids anything sweet, whilst also avoiding anything tough, mainly putting together a meal of fruit and vegetables.

[omnitricks]

The fact that Antogg was chosen to be the tribute for his district, it still has not registered to him. About being the tribute a nod was all the half orc would allow himself to do as if saying it out would be bad for him. After all wouldn't a tribute mean offering up something to something stronger like the Capitol? The Capitol, being superior in every aspect and being able to take whatever they wanted from the districts and used the games to remind the districts about that fact with the most valuable thing they could give...

Their lives. But of course Antogg did not see much value in his own life although he would very much prefer it if he was able to live for as long as his natural life would allow him.

With a sigh, he followed the halfling's lead filling his plate with whatever he could get his hands on. If he was going to die he was going to milk out everything for its worth and food like this, not even if he worked his entire life would he have a chance to taste them back in district 6. "Mmmmm..." a sound he made to express his satisfaction for the delicacies before him. "Maybe becoming a tribute wouldn't be so bad after all" he thought to himself. As long as he could come to terms with his inevitable death that is.

"Antogg" he said his name as Adleine repeated his counterparts before gourging on his food.

[Ajadea]

Liss shrugs, twisting the head off one of the confectionery birds and popping it in her mouth. She hmms thoughtfully, carefully dismembering the sweet into individual limbs. "I believe the other districts will be surprised at District 6's showing this year," she replies noncommittally. She could be talking about the weather, for all the inflection in her voice. Something shifts under her dress, and she smooths it over without missing a beat. She looks up (and up - she is very small) at Adleine. "You have competed before." It is not a question. "How did you win?"

[Comissar]

The dismemberment of Liss' treat doesn't go unnoticed by Adleine. "My games..." her face falls for a moment, a poor memory perhaps, "I won my games because I knew people. It's... Not just about fighting. You need to know who you can trust, who you can get on your side," she sighs before continuing, "Use the training time, get to know people."

She turns her attention to Antogg, "Antogg... Tell me about you."

[omnitricks]

Antogg stopped eating for a moment in contemplation as Adleine talked about other people. And then continued until she was done talking to Liss before asking "any other way to win besides other people? I wasn't the most popular person in back in the district." Actually he saw some of the games before. That was all the showed so he knew it was true that there were tributes that worked with people. Still he also knew some of them didn't. Like the real strong ones. Those tributes in the end seemed a lot more...pure than the other tributes since "aren't we supposed to kill each other in the end anyway?"

[Ajadea]

Liss nibbles at a crunchy slice of fruit. "With your height? I suppose you could try breaking the necks as many people as possible before they can reach the cornucopia and get weapons," she says lightly. "It might even work." She sets the fruit down, half-eaten, and finishes off her marzipan bird instead, one limb at a time. "Perhaps you should try that, if you do not believe in alliances." Her blank expression twitches. You could call it a smile, if you were desperate.

She licks each finger carefully, removing every last trace of sweet flavoring from them. "There is also knowledge, of course. They do show the Reapings on these trains as well, yes? Or is that only for the Districts to know and not the tributes?"

[Comissar]

Adleine looks to be uncomfortable at Antogg's question. "Yes... Ultimately, only... One of you's going to survive." She shifts in her chair, "You'll want to do everything you can to make sure it's you, that includes getting on well with the others. It's all a big show, if you want to get sponsors, you need to be likeable..."

Adleine turns her attention back to Liss, considering the question carefully, "They do show the reapings, though you won't be seeing them live. For some reason they're taking a little longer than usual. Hannock's keeping an eye on that, he'll come and get us when it's time."

[Comissar]

Adleine's words prove to be prophetic. A burly looking man enters the car, recognisable as another of District 6's victor's. "Adleine, it's time."

Nodding, Adleine follows the man to the next train car. The Panem anthem greets the tributes and mentors as they enter the room, the screen at one end of the car displays the familiar faces of Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith. Taking their seats, the two mentor's prepare to watch the reapings.

________________________________________

Once the programme concludes, Adleine shoots Hannock a concerned look. Hannock shrugs non-committaly, but doesn't meet the tributes eyes. Hannock mutters, barely audibly, "Going to be a tough one..."

Hunger Games Channel (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?357260-The-Hunger-Games-Channel)

[omnitricks]

As Antogg was eating he watched the Reapings at the corner of his eyes. The Careers, they were expected and the worrisome part is they volunteered without any hesitation. And then there were the other districts. Some looked really...promising. The half orc did not like those odds.

"Looks like we're screwed" the half orc admitted before taking another bite. "Might as well enjoy all these while it lasts" he declared before going on to refill his plate.

[Ajadea]

Liss watches the Reapings with a blank, unreadable expression. It is only when Hannock speaks that she removes her eyes from the screen, fixing him with a Look. A second later, her eyebrows come down and her lips press together, like she's only just remembering to have facial expressions. "I see I am the only one here who believes that District 6 can win. Or cares if it does." There is an edge to her words now - and was that a hiss underlying it? She straightens her dress again, rather pointedly, and folds her arms. "There are always volunteers as tribute. Knowing people is victory. Sponsors is victory. Befriending the right people is victory. If there are lots of right people, it can't be that hard to make friends with some of them. This could be fun. I like making friends," she says brightly. There is a smile on her face now, the first real emotion she's shown all day. It would have been almost sweet, if it reached her eyes. She bends down to her plate again, and twists the head off her roasted sparrow before dismembering it as she had the marzipan. Exactly the same, in fact - the movements so smooth it seems almost practiced. She sucks the meat off each bone in turn, laying the cleaned bones in a neat pile on the side of her plate.

[omnitricks]

Watching the halfling being so spirited and optimistic, Antogg gave a scoff and said sarcastically "sureeeeee, District 6 can win just as much as an ant can fly. The problem being only a tiny amount of special ants get to fly" and like the, ants the half orc did not believe that this year District 6 had any of that ants. Nope, "its just not District 6's year."

It was not that Antogg did not want to win, he wanted to live sure but the halfling made it sound so easy and he was just going to state the facts adding "and its the volunteers that win most of the time, the ones that people want to know and the ones the sponsors want to give their money to." They've all seen it in the past games and if that wasn't enough, "the more friends you make, the more guilty you will be when you have to kill them."

Ever the pessimist Antogg finally asked "do you still think its fun? Because I don't"

Oh just putting it out here, I will be on vacation for 3 weeks. Not sure if I will have access to internet then so don't wait up and set me on autopilot or something. If I get a chance then I'll reply.

[Ajadea]

Liss shrugs. The smile is gone, or at least reduced in intensity, replaced by that blank, innocent, look that seems to be her default expression. "Guilty? No, not at all. I will make it quick. Just like going to sleep. Pop!" She licks her fingers and makes a poking gesture, like popping a balloon, then leans back, head tilting up in a thoughtful sort of pose. "Much nicer than... ooh, having your head bashed in, like that one boy a few years back. Or being eating by mutts. And then I will go home and bake cookies for Tilla. You see? It is all in the way you look at things." After a bit of fidgeting, her expression slowly shifts into a frown. "I am not supposed to say it like that, am I? Please don't get all shifty and stare. People always do that. I was just trying to cheer you up. Mother always said if you say you will lose you have already lost. And I do want District 6 to win. I would prefer surviving myself, of course, but if I were to die, then I would rather you win than someone from some other District." Throughout her explanation, her voice remains the same - high, bright, and almost casual, even when she's talking about bashing heads or her own potential death.

[Comissar]

Adleine's face turns to a perfect picture of concern and worry following Liss' comments, she shoots Hannock a look, but his face has split into a broad grin. He laughs at what Liss said, commenting "Where on earth did they find you? Hold onto that attitude, with luck you can unnerve the other tributes enough that they'll do all they can to avoid you!"

Adleine scowls at Hannock's sudden bout of enthusiasm. She turns her attention to Antogg instead, "We're here to help you two any way we can, we want you to survive this just as much as you do." Though directed at Antogg, her words seem to be meant for them both equally, and they sound heartfelt.

[Ajadea]

"They found me in District 6, just - oh. Right. Humor." Liss rolls the word around in her mouth like something unfamiliar. She doesn't appear to notice Adleine's expression, or if she did, she does not seem to care. "But are we not supposed to make friends? I cannot make friends with the other tributes if they are avoiding me." She stops, lowers her gaze slightly, opens her mouth, and closes it again. Whatever she was about to say, she seems to have thought better of it.

She picks up a slice of star-shaped fruit, and dangles it between her thumb and index finger, making it swoop back and forth. She smiles, contented, at the simple movements. It seems normal, if rather childish. There is no indication she even had the last few minutes of conversation, or even remembers it. "Does everyone in the Capitol eat like this all the time?"

[Comissar]

"It is a bit much, isn't it?" Adleine, gives the table of food a long look.

Hannock gives a wry smile, "The Capital loves to put on a show, excesses of everything."

[Comissar]

The speeding train catches your attention as it suddenly begins to slow. For the last hour the train has been speeding along mountains and shooting through tunnels. Finally it comes out of a final tunnel and the sun shines down upon it. With it now slowing, the train track curves to the side and allows you to see in the distance the capital.

A gigantic metropolis, it is comprised of countless metal buildings that stretch into the sky towards the clouds. Never in your life have you seen such tall buildings. Scattered along the skyline are floating ships that hang in the sky.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Na6ePbPVYVc/UWH_BAxX2YI/AAAAAAAALgU/WvLuZokDrgk/s1600/The+capitol+Panem.jpg

The train continues to slow, and eventually closes into the city. People line the track, waving to you as the train enters the capital. The capital citizens are an odd bunch, all dressed in bright colors with bizarre hairstyles and some even have odd grafts on their bodies. The sheer number of them decorating the pristine streets is mind boggling to you.

_______________________

Once the train stops, your chaperone takes you to a nearby building. There a team of highly trained capital employees take over cleaning you. They scrub you clean on a level you've never felt before, removing a layer of skin from your body, thoroughly washing your hair, waxing body hair, and picking any specks of dirt that may be under your nails.

From here you'll be split up again, so back to your individual IC's for your descriptions of prep teams etc. You'll be back in this thread soon enough more or less straight after the parade, though. IC - Hunger Games Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?357262-IC-The-Hunger-Games)

[Comissar]

The District 6 chariot pulls away from the gathering, ferrying its occupants to their next stop. They soon arrive out the front of a vast skyscraper, Hannock waiting at the doors for them. "Nice show out there, come on, let's get you upstairs."

He leads the way into an elevator. The journey doesn't take too long and, when the doors open, a luxurious apartment is revealed. With mock ceremony, Hannock says "And now, my dear tributes, this is where you'll be spending your next few days."

A table laden with foods and drinks dominates the room, Adleine is seated there already, giving a soft smile to the two as they exit the elevator. "You both did very well, I'm proud of you." She gestures towards a corridor leading off from the main dining room, "You've each got a room to yourself, there's clothes there for you if you want to change before you eat, too."

Thankyou for your patience, we'll be getting going again with the individual IC's now. If there's anything you wanted to do privately with your PC, feel free to do so in your own individal thread.

[omnitricks]

A show. "I wonder how we are going to know how well we did in it?" Antogg asked, and more importantly how it was going to affect their chances in the games. Taking off the suffocating coat he had on him, the half orc continued on following his mentor into the elevator and up in silence. Yes, the apartment looked very nice but it was only going to be a few days and "I doubt that we are going to be able to enjoy it all. What exactly do you think we should be doing over the next few days to increase our survivability?"

After he gets his answer Antogg would declare that "yeah, I'm going to change out of this. It'll probably burst when I am done eating" and head to his room himself.