say so [charade]

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

I know well that survival is not something to take lightly. I try to keep this in mind as I look through the training center and make notes of people that I know I should avoid. The problem is, I am not afraid of most people. Some of them are gruff and I can already tell that this is an interesting group of people.

I keep my distance because that is the easiest thing for me to do while I get to know what it is like to train to save my own life.

The foresty area of the training center is the first thing to pull me in, and I waste no time realizing that this is where you made fires. Or at least tried to practice it. I know my way around a fire, seeing as that is what I did back home. Needed them to cook obviously, so I think about how good of a refresher it might be for me. I sit on one of the logs that had been laid around. I notice that only a few trainers had been scattered around. When they asked me if I needed a tutorial, I wave them off. I had known how to do this pretty well, seeing as we didnt really have gas stoves back home. I walked around a gathered some sticks and twigs and leaves and piled them up.

I noticed a couple pieces of flint nearby, and I picked them up too. Finally a sturdy stick acquired I placed the materials in a circle before taking a deep breath and go over the technique in my head. I dont even notice that there was someone watching me in the distance. I dont panic because I have a feeling that no harm will come to me in a place like this.

Though that might be an assumption I shouldnt make right away.

[charade]

A M E L I A

The survival skill stations had called to her. Mainly because they were interesting. Something new. Amelia supposed that if she had been born somewhere like seven, she might have picked up a couple things going camping. As it was, she had difficulty telling the difference between different breeds of plant and couldn’t even begin to fathom how to start a fire without matches, gasoline or a lighter.

At least climbing trees was easy. She’d hopped enough fences and scaled enough air conditioning units, gutters and electrical poles that shimmying up a tree was real easy. So of course, the universe being what it was, she figured that any trees in the arena would probably be infested with flesh-eating beetles, rash causing bark or worse, the trees would simply be mutts themselves. With that happy thought in mind, she looked down to see a tribute building a campfire.

He moved with ease, with a confidence that said he’d done it before. Interesting. And with that, she hopped down out of the tree she was hiding in and landed next to him with a thump. She could tell a lot about how a person handled stress by gauging how they handled surprise. Middle district for sure. Five or six, though all the reapings she’d watched had kind of blended together over time. He didn’t have the arrogant air that wafted off the careers, but neither did he seem as hard edged as a lower district kid.

“Making a fire eh? What’re the rocks for? Bashing your brains out when the fire doesn’t light?” 

H A L E

kaitlin

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

I start to lose myself as I am building everything that I needed in order to create a decent fire. I am not worried about this task if I am being honest. Its a refresher if anything, and though I did not have a sparker on me, that was not my worry. Instead I could use the flint that I held in my hand, and that would probably do enough to at least cause a couple embers.

I start taking the rather large stick I found and begin to rotate it, causing friction to build. I dont let up, and I can already smell the smoke. It helped that I had core strength here. I continue to push down and rotate, that was until I heard a large thud right next to me. Usually, I would have jumped, but I am focused on my task, it was just like a recipe after all, and I would follow it through, no distraction could stop me.

However, I do look over to see a girl that looked a couple years younger than me. I give her a light smile, before processing the question that she had asked about the rocks I had in my hand. "No. These couldnt cause that much damage even if you stood over the person and threw them directly at them." Flint had never been used to be a bludgeoning weapon. They were brittle in foundation, but also rough and course, which made them perfect for me to do this.

"Watch." I say with a little flutter in my voice. I see the smoke building up from the stump, and begin to place some of the twigs and leaves around it. With a deep breath, I take both of the rocks and strike them against each other. Some sparks come flying out, and it is enough to catch the area on fire. I place more of the fodder onto the fire and I watch it grow into something suitable to at least keep for a couple hours. "Thats what this is used for." I give a small smile before looking back to her. "Though I guess if you were desperate for damage, you could hold them in your hand and reinforce a punch..." I say, not sure why I even added that.