white sheets, bright lights [euley/bella]

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

Bella couldn’t happen but notice that there were wrong here. The whole premise of the games was shot, and for some reason, people still believed they were our only solution to peace. However, that also wasn’t Bella’s problem because she was now apart of the monster that everyone wanted abolished. However, instead of being a survivor of it, she knew that she would be torn open. She would be ripped from the waist and her innards splayed on the ground as it feasted on her blood. She would always be a micro chasm of shame and guilt even if she came back as the victor. Coming out alive meant that she had to kill to get there, and while there have been people who have tried the pacifist route in these games, it never really worked out for them. Bella though did dream sometimes to see a games where someone could go without killing someone.

However, that would continue to be an old wives’ tale for many years to come.

So Bella knew what she needed to keep on doing. She needed to keep on getting stronger here. She needed to survive somehow. She needed to make sure that what she learned was pertinent to what she was about to face. She knew that the Capitol would not give away all the secrets of what they were about to go into, however, that didn’t mean that Bella couldn’t try to piece it together for herself. The wide arrange of climbing exercises, the traps that are all decked out in white, and the emphasis on fire. Bella had her hunches, but she could honestly tell herself that this arena was going to be one of the most difficult ones yet.

So Bella decided that maybe refreshing her mind on trapping was probably a good idea at this point. She walked over to the station, grabbing some of the supplies as one of the trainers watched her carefully. There probably have been many people who have tried to use these to hurt them or their selves. However, Bella wasn’t here for that. Bella had already made peace with the fact that she was going into the arena. That didn’t scare her anymore. Dying did, but she thought that dying scared everyone. She tried to tell herself that she would be lucky and maybe make it far, but of course, that would only happen if she buckled down and learned everything that she could to survive in whatever terrain they are thrown in. Bella just wasn’t sure how the others were going to do just that. Survive.

And so that’s why Bella tried to learn a little bit from everyone. As much as the situation sucked, she was still curious as always. She was tenacious for a girl from ten, and while she is following in the steps of two Lowe sisters, she knows that she can set herself apart from them. Well, maybe not Emberly. Even Saffron could tell her that. In fact she did.

However, there wasn’t anyone at the trapping station, because most of the tributes were trying to learn the importance of combat. Bella always thought there was time for that later, seeing as survival skills are going to get you farther in the arena. Bella could spend the next couple hours on weapons training as long as she did this. That is what she told herself.

Never ignore the survival skills. That is what she kept telling herself.

There was a girl that wasn’t too far from her at the same station and Bella hoped that maybe she thought the same thing. She was from two, that much Bella knew. She didn’t know how to approach her though because most of the people here that were from career districts tended to be standoffish. Some people were different but Bella hadn’t experienced anything different. She hadn’t even seen the district one tributes yet. However, the twos seemed a little more, approachable. Well, at least reachable to Bella. Bella knew that she didn’t care about district numbers.

If there was something that she could learn from someone, then she was going to do just that.

Learn from them.

So she walked towards the girl and decided to see what she was doing over here. She looked like she was confident in what she was doing, and that was something that Bella needed. She needed to be confident, however, she wasn’t. She didn’t do this for a living. She didn’t live to be a career. She had Marley back home and a family that probably missed her so much. It was hard to be confident at a time when certain death was upon you.

So all Bella could do is watch her at work, as long as she didn’t mind.

[eulalie blake 1a 🍒 tris]

E U L E Y

A girl first,
witch-queen of wolves and ice second —
it's no surprise that Euley holds herself to such high standards.

Despite what her raised throat and cutting glare might suggest, she does not view her peers as being lesser than — nor has she ever claimed to be without fault. It is simply the self-given right of a woman to crown herself. No reason is needed for the coronation; to be feminine is enough. Let the god-empresses eat the world raw and leave only the bones behind. It's not that Euley's prejudice towards men, but the animal kingdom is akin to a ladder; she knows where women stand. All teeth and nails and empires crushed beneath their heels. No, she's not biased. She's not arrogant. Just right.

In that same vein, Euley is not one for being needlessly cruel to her sisters of the fairer sex. It's not that she's motherly, and it is known that her hands are more skilled at breaking than nurturing, but she never fails to show respect when in the presence of other girls. Enough to glance down from her pedestal, to widen her eyes and to offer a smile. It is in her nature to be sharp, to paint her lips red with blood and to sleep in the darkness of a forest without fear, but she has learned how to be ruthless without removing her heart. It's okay to be both human and beast. Rip a man's stomach open and kiss his scars.

Trapping is not her forte, hardly a skill she plans to master, but the station provides a small comfort. She appreciates the silence and the familiarity; the false earth beneath her boots and the fake trees sprawling out around her. They're smaller than the ones used to practice climbing, but it's still enough to create the illusion of a wooded valley. The scenery makes her feel like a huntress, takes her back to her mountain and reminds her of how she'd train her wolves to find their own meals. Rabbits caught in metal jaws and blood on the snow — she never flinched when she heard their bones crack.

Fingers twirl and a wire is pulled. The contraption she's made closes with a loud snap, the twig at its center splitting with a spray of sawdust. She smirks with pride. Leaves crunch nearby, a fellow tribute making herself known, and Euley rises to her feet to greet the stranger. She doesn't acknowledge the Ten plastered across the shirt in front of her, keeping her gaze steady and careful not to come across as an elitist. The status of districts mean little to her. Why should they? A career hasn't won the Games in five years. A lifetime of conditioning and strict training — and for what? Survivors are born. Wildflowers can't be grown in a garden.

"I'm Euley," she starts, holding out a slender hand and not wasting time with pleasantries. She can assume the reason for the intrusion. "Are you hoping for pointers?" She looks down at the trap she created with an honest frown, shrugging. "There's not much I can teach here. I only know the basics." She circles her companion, silver hair falling over her shoulders. "How would you like to learn a few combat techniques? Do you have a weapon of preference?" She doesn't laugh, doesn't display any physical warmth, but her voice is calm and inviting. "I don't bite very hard."

table: fox

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

Bella was drowning in this new world where she knew nothing about. She never saw the world though, so how was she supposed to know what it looked like. This was the first time she was out of ten, her forgotten sanctuary, where she was technically the queen, but treated more like Cinderella before the prince. She would wonder about days where she would find her prince, but those are cut short now. You don’t find princes here. You kill them.

Bella wasn’t sure if she was ready for that, taking a life that is. She was sweet and caring by nature. Reserved. Quiet. She didn’t try to draw attention to herself, and she always was told that she is a watcher. Her foster mother told her that it was a motherly instinct that she wouldn’t understand until she had kids of her own. However, Bella was sure that she was never going to make it past the first day of the arena. She would never have the opportunity to have kids. She would never have the opportunity to find love. She would never be able to live the rest of her life.

Well, unless she fought for it.

And won.

But what were the chances of that?

She was a girl from ten that didn’t know how to care for herself. She always took care of those that she considered more important than herself. A true mother’s calling is what her sister called it when she would want to poke fun at the fact that Bella worked hard for them. Bella always put others first even when she knew that she should take time for herself. She always claimed that was her way of taking care of herself, by making sure that others were able to breathe and live just as much as Bella was. There were days where she couldn’t pull herself out of bed, and those were the days where the roles were reversed, and as much as she hated watching her sister take care of her, it reminded her that she was human.

However, the girl that she was watching seemed more than human. She was ethereal in presence and worked meticulously. Her hands moving across the pile of leaves effortlessly to create something vicious. Maybe that was what it meant to be a career. Everything you did was perfectly vicious, a word combination that would never sound whole together. However, to Bella, it seemed like it was the best descriptor for the girl that seemed to pay no mind that she was watching her. That was the essence of confidence that Bella thought she had, but she didn’t. Bella could feign it until the day she died, but in reality, she had no clue what she was doing. She knew that she was lost here. Which is why she is hiding behind platitudes. She was comfortable behind the stone wall of silence.

However, she was different. She noticed that Bella was watching, but Bella stood her ground. If she was already discovered, then it wouldn’t be wise to run away. Deep down, she was done running from things that she had no control over. She needed to give herself into the situation, and maybe then she could find peace in the soon blood ridden arena. There were days where she imagined her blood being streaked across the effervescent green grass. However, her vision wouldn’t go black. Instead, her lifeless body would continue to view the world as she watched it crumble around her. Locked in her body more than she already was. Screaming. Crying. And then when it was all done, her vision would go black, and white, and any other color until she woke up in a new body.

However, she was here now, and the girl that she was watching was standing right in front of her. Up close, she seemed like the embodiment of perfection. Bella couldn’t stop looking at her eyes, a first, seeing as she would always be looking down or around. It was like the girl’s confidence was oozing out of her and into Bella. She felt at ease, like she didn’t have ten thousand nails in her lungs. However, she did feel cemented to the ground. As much as she wanted to lift a limb, it just wouldn’t move.

She was statuesque, until the girl said her name.

Now there was some familiarity there. Bella was dumbfounded by her openness to introduce herself without even a sneer. Most people from higher districts didn’t think twice about the lower districts, but she seemed to not care about that. After moments of being lost in thought, Bella knew that she needed to speak up. ”Sorry…” she said, which she was saying a lot of lately. ”Sorry for watching you like that.” Bella was sweet in her intentions, but she knew better than to stare. Above all things, it was rude. ”Bella.” she said to her as she extended out a hand it what seemed to be cordial. Bella could smell her own fear, a sour smell that seemed to come out even more pungent as the minutes passed. ”Looks like more than I can do.” Bella said rather quickly, paying attention to the trap and then back to Euley, who was now circling her like she was sizing her up.

Bella could admit that she wasn’t scared.

No. She was terrified. This was the closest she had been to a career since she got here, and she didn’t want to fuck this up.

Like she always did.

But then Bella’s head perked up at the mention of weapons. Something that might have been a little more important than learning how to ensnare something. ”The sharpest item Ive ever held was a knife.” Bella was trying to think if that was the right weapon for her. ”I couldn’t imagine holding anything sharper, but, I don’t think a knife is gonna help me much here.” She was confident in that statement. ”So maybe a sword?” she questioned herself. She would always question herself, even into death. ”A sword.” She said again, to reaffirm that was going to be her weapon of choice. ”Where I come from, I am no stranger to a bite. Or a bark.” Bella held her head up and made crucial eye contact that she knew she needed. If she was going to prove to her that she could handle Euley’s bite, then she needed to show her the bark that Bella knew she had inside her.

Low and rustic, but confident.

Confidence was everything here.

A true determinate of life and death.