promising young women [tati/arcadia.]

[Cait]

arcadia lumiere-fray

Today’s the day – I’ve pulled out my favourite mauve lipstick for this one!

Arguably, one of the most important parts of the Games was choosing which people to surround yourself with. I’ve always been of the belief that there’s strength in numbers – Storm Adroxis was a fluke, okay?! – but honestly? I don’t know if I’d have it in me to survive the perils of the Arena on my own anyway. Naturally extroverted, I’ve always felt the most myself surrounded by people, and that seemed as important as ever given the current circumstances.

As far as alliances go, stacking a group with Careers seemed like the best way to approach the Games. But recent times and patterns would show a worrying trend in lower district Victors, which means I’ve had to rethink my entire game plan. And really, when I think about it, it probably makes sense to have a mix of both experience and underdog – too many hot heads in one place would inevitably lead to disaster. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince the less experienced tributes to team up with someone like me – revered, trained and loyal, not to mention fun! It would be even harder to resist the offer with two Careers on board.

I’d already spent time trying to check in with the usual suspect districts for potential allies, but District Two’s offerings seemed as mediocre as usual, and Sacrifice was of course no more than an ordinary girl down on her luck. Honestly, it was a surprise no other Careers had volunteered for her at all – but stranger things have happened. That left the two girls from District Four, both of whom for the most part had managed to evade me. With so many recent Victors from Four, I was beginning to wonder if it was an intentional strategy to segregate the girls. Did they know something we didn’t? Did they have their own secret little murdering cult nobody else knew about? Maybe I’d been going about this all wrong.

Oh well. Too late for post-mortems. The plan was in motion: find another Career, gain their respect and trust, become besties, make it back home alive. With some other steps thrown in along the way, obviously, which I am pointedly choosing not to think about for the time being. If only I could find my target.

It’s pure luck – or maybe it’s fate – that finally aligns our paths. From the other end of the hallway, I recognise the dark hair immediately; the unmistakeable gloss of a namesake tribute.

She’s the one I’d been hoping to talk to. Call it naïve, but there was an undeniable tug at my heartstrings when I heard her name called. My mind goes fuzzy when I try to conjure an image of Lux Pelotte from all those years ago, but it doesn’t matter. There’s something deeper than surface level recognition that lets me immediately identify her sister.

A trauma bond shared is a burden halved.

I want her close.

“You’re a tricky girl to track down, Tati. But I guess you probably don’t need to waste time in the Training Centre when you’ve spent your whole life preparing for this, hey? I get it.” Her face is a mask I can’t read, but I continue to smile at her. This isn’t supposed to feel like an ambush, but I’m worried it’s coming off that way. “I’m Arcadia. I’ve been wanting to talk to you!” I turn around to look down the empty hall, only now noticing the secluded part of the building we’ve found ourselves in. How odd. “Where are you going? Wanna grab some food and bond over something sad?”