Trainers Tournament '87 | Round 1: Bradford vs Holloway

[✨ zozo.]

Lights, camera, action! The people of Panem were no strangers to watching combat on their television screens, but this year they'd have the pleasure of watching Capitolites battle it out for glory and status - just without the death!

The Plinth Munitions Annual Trainers Tournament, proudly brought to your screens by Fenwick Broadcasting Inc. would see the best of the Capitol's best go head to head for the honour of being crowned Head Trainer in the Capitol and the Career Districts. Fans from all over the country gathered around to watch the publicly broadcasted event, with some of the Capitol's elite and their friends taking seats on the bleachers in the Training Centre to watch the action right before their eyes. The High Council, of course, sat front and center to admire their handiwork or took to viewing the action behind the camera, putting their expertise in broadcasting to work. No rest for the wicked!

The question on everyone's mind was the same: Who would come out on top and be offered one of the most prestigious new jobs in the Capitol since the announcement of the High Council? Only time would tell.

----

Welcome to Round One, trainers! In this round, we'll be using hand to hand combat only! These rolls are: unarmed.

The rules are simple: Everyone starts at 25HP. First come, first post. You have 24 hours to complete your fights - if no trainer has reached 25HP, we will determine the winner based on current damages and activity. Blitz posts are encouraged for the sake of speed.

Any questions pls head to #trainers-tournament in Slack.

Good luck trainers - may the odds be ever in your favour!

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Zara Bradford (pearl mcclain d4 [ryan] ) vs Jemma Holloway (gamemaker tallis 🌱 kaitlin. )

[gamemaker tallis 🌱 kaitlin.]

I can feel everyone staring.

I know that that's the whole goddamned point of these things, to have all eyes on you, but there's something different about there being stakes involved or whatever. I've lived my entire life in the spotlight, am no stranger to walking into a room and having at least one person think they know exactly who I am. Decorated peacekeeper for a father and a dead socialite preserved perfectly in everyone's TV screen for a mother, I never stood a chance at having any sort of privacy in my life.

But this is different. This is eyes on me because I made a choice, because I made a decision to be something that I'm not. To fight in a place that I'm only barely qualified to fight in. I graduated from the trainers academy maybe five minutes ago, feel like some kind of brown-noser fighting for attention and brownie points in a system that I'm not even sure I believe in.

But Dad wanted this.

Dad who hid my mother from me my entire life becuase it was too hard for him to talk about her. Dad who never knew how to love me right because I looked too much like her. Dad who I loved with everything I had and was never able to tell him because no one ever taught me how.

I stand in this ring now with everything in the world to prove.

"Don't hold back," I say, something that I know I probably shouldn't, but I have to. I have to, I have to, I have to.

I will not be made small.

jem attacks

YXw_hpIm78unarmed

pushed back, 0.5

hp 25/25

unarmed

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

She had never been told that she was anything less than who she knew she could be. Confusing? Right? Zara had been the type of person to ignore things like that. She was her own woman, one that had been raised to do things that she was sure no one else could do. Did that make her special?

Hell no.

In the capitol, everything had to do with the games, and this was no different. When she had heard about a tournament to get a coveted spot for a career academy position, she knew what she had to do. She had a different mindset, crush everyone and look good while doing it. Her parents were very clear about her future. She would need to be poised, put together, and always ready to strike.

Sometimes she hated having everything thrown on top of her shoulders. But she did it, and she never complained, because cry babies never got far in life. Zara would get that tattooed somewhere if she could. It wasnt groundbreaking, but it was true, at least in the facets she had dealt with going through the motions.

Her rough and tough exterior is what would probably win her favor with the crowd. Thought she wasnt trying to impress them, she was just another thing to cheer for. A fighter with a cause, but not one with a safety net. She knew that they did not care what happened to them here, because at the end of the day, it was all about entertainment.

And who was Zara to not give a good show?

Hand to hand, simple enough, in walks a girl that she has seen a couple times before, but the name escapes her. She looked young, but that did not mean anything. Zara knew to never oversize her opponents. Even a mouse could take down an elephant with the right tactics.

Shes thrown back by her in the first few seconds. "Wasnt planning on it." Zara said as she regained her footing and launched herself towards the girl. She had a lion heart, a fighters courage, and her own pride. "You too." as she extended into her first of many punches.

She would show her everything she had.

And wanted.

[Zara Bradford attacks Jemma Holloway with fists] | [unarmed]
fiIj6gpwglunarmed
[5196 -- Thrown to Ground -- 0.5 damage
(Unarmed)]
24.5/25

unarmed

[gamemaker tallis 🌱 kaitlin.]

It would have made sense to do something other than shove her from the get go, use my fist and try to uppercut her, maybe. Stepped into her space and tried to use her height against her, but instead I did the one thing that I should absolutely not have done, and that's put distance between her and me. It gave her all the advantage, and I end up thrown to the mat because of it.

I can't wait to read the headline in some c-list magazine tomorrow, Holloway girl ends up on her ass.

Wouldn't be the first time that was put out in size 24 print.

I know my strengths though and I know my weaknesses, and speed and dexterity has always, always been one of my strongest features, so I shift my weight around and flip back to my feet as quickly as I can. Between one breath and the next, I try and twist around her, maybe go to grab her around the neck and pull her to the ground, but the movement isn't quite right for her height and instead I just clock my elbow across her face, knock it into her eye before pulling back.

jem attacks zara

XDDYfO8QHNunarmed

black eye, 3

hp 24.5/25

unarmed

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

She had thrown her down, and Zara scolded herself. That would do nothing but give her time to plan. Zara had been told this was weakness, but as she grew up and learned on her own, she didnt think the same way. She thought it just kept things interesting, and honestly, Zara was in this for the thrill of it all.

She wasnt going to lighten up though, she was stronger than that.

However, the other, Jemma, as she heard the referee call out before the match started, had been thinking. She threw her elbow into her face, and Zara couldnt help but stumble back. Even she couldnt lie, that hurt. However, she had felt worse.

She had her heart broken way too many times.

"Cant tell whether I should think that was cheap or be impressed." Zara said to her opponent before taking a big step back and analyzing the space around them. It was a standard fight after all. Nothing special about it. However, judging from the others stance, Zara felt like there was just more than this fight on the line for her. Zara mentally shrugged, because it wasnt any of her business.

Zara Bradford was here to win.

And so she steps forward, face sore but still able to see clearly. She isnt afraid of what is going to come next, she only wants the results. And so she throws herself into the fight, her leg sweeping at the others.

X marks the spot.

[Zara Bradford attacks Jemma Holloway with fists] | [unarmed]
SHSfLAsNZyunarmed
[5125 -- Tripped -- 0.5 damage
(Unarmed)]
21.5/25

unarmed

[gamemaker tallis 🌱 kaitlin.]

I'm glad I don't have the chance to try and linger on thoughts of my elbow snapping into her eye.

I don't know if I'd be proud of myself if I had managed to make the move I had intended on happen, but I know I sure as shit was going to feel a whole lot of shame if I thought about how I'd failed at what was supposed to be a standard move in a fight, the kind of move a newbie trainer should have been able to pull of a decade ago.

That's what I get for joining the fray late, I guess.

Makes my stomach roll.

I'm on my hands and knees this time, have had my feet swept out from underneath of me and I can't help it when I hit the mat before standing back up, feel the mat under my fist as my jaw clenches and my gaze hardens.

"I don't give a shit if you're impressed or not," I say through my gritted teeth. "Who would?"

I dive for her this time, feel my shoulder crash into her chest and think surely that's going to hurt come the morning, even if I lose this fight. Maybe it'll even leave a mark on her, a small thing to remember this stupid fight I'm probably going to lose.

jem attacks zara

ib4Bv4p2|Qunarmed

bruised collar bone, 2

hp 24/25

unarmed

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

She felt the mat move a little once she saw Jemma fall over. Her leg hadnt done too much damage, she knew this. However, seeing her fall over had made her feel a little better. She was making her mark, and if that meant she was going to have to do it slowly.

She stood back up and kept the distance, waiting for her to get up and do something. Zara didnt care what it was. Keep it going, thats all she cared about. "You should give a shit." Zara shrugged. "Im not the one you have to impress. Im just the person you have to get past." Zara made it very clear that she was an obstacle. She was not here to be her friend, or give her the fight. However, she could see the rage in eyes, and the fire in her words.

She would have to be careful.

Zara felt Jemma punch her collar bone, but she didnt flinch. She had been in peak shape, and a light bruise was not going to stop her. She could say more, she wanted to say more, but she had a feeling that this girl did not care.

So she would speak with her fighting skills.

She looks forward and steps back before bringing her right leg up and trying to kick out the other girls knee. She just needed enough pressure to break something, then maybe she could get the upper hand.

[Zara Bradford attacks Jemma Holloway with fists] | [unarmed]
v77aYyCa5Nunarmed
[5116 -- Gash/Bruised Right Femur -- 4.0 damage
(Unarmed)]
19.5/25

unarmed

[gamemaker tallis 🌱 kaitlin.]

The knee to my thigh hurts a lot more than I want it to have.

I have to huff out my breath, breathe out from my chest and then suck back in the air to try and breathe through the pain. I know that admitting that must sound like weakness or something, but I feel like it shouldn't be strength to pretend that I don't feel pain, shouldn't be strength to pretend like I don't feel anything at all.

I'm strong because i breathe through it, because I see it, feel it, and make the conscious choice to move past it.

"Weren't you listening? I said I didn't care about you," I put my weight on the leg she hit, testing it, and find that the weight is still something that I can handle. Good to know it's nothing serious. I grab her hand, twist it up behind her back and say over her shoulder "I don't care to impress you."

jem attacks zara

NQIOA4rm5tunarmed

bruised hand, 2

hp 20/25

unarmed

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

She watched the girl fall a little bit, and Zara had been a little proud. She had been slowly ticking away at her opponent. She would find the right time to strike, and she took a moment to collect herself. Maybe she was becoming too invested in this fight.

It was clear that Jemma did not care about any of this. The girl pulled down on her hand and found a way to twist it around her. Zara gritted her teeth and looked up. "Youre point? Good for you?" She was not having any of it at this point. Jemma had a lot to learn if she was going to be taken seriously. "You still have to get past me."

She took a step back, trying to push off the other, but in a rash move, she pulled her head forward and tried to slam it back into Jemma's. She hoped it would be enought o create some distance between them again.

She needed to breathe.

[Zara Bradford attacks Jemma Holloway with fists] | [unarmed]
j44x|lGkarunarmed
[5180 -- Block -- 0.0 damage
(Unarmed)]
17.5/25

unarmed

[gamemaker tallis 🌱 kaitlin.]

She tries to swing her head at me, but I grab it between both of mine instead.

I hope she feels the tips of my fingers pressing into the soft of her skull, hope she feels strength there that I'm not sure I have, not sure I'll ever have. But my entire life thus far has been a damned performance, taught me how to play like I know what I'm doing.

This is a stage at the end of the day, after all.

I just need the right lines.

"Ripred," I say through my teeth, pulling her skull towards me. I don't do what I think maybe she'd expect me to do though, instead step around her and kick behind her knee to trip her up and make her lose her balance. I've had enough of being on my ass.

Her turn.

I think, maybe, I'd like to kick her while she's down, but I've never had a thought like that before, not in a real way at least. I've never been given the opportunity. I don't know what it says about me that it doesn't bother me, don't know what it says about me that as uncomfortable as I am to be in this tournament in the first place, that doesn't mean I don't belong.

"Don't you stop talking?"

jem attacks zara

WTviOEDaBEunarmed

tripped, 0.5

hp 20/25

unarmed

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

She felt her head caught between the others hands, and Zara froze for a moment. She wasnt sure what the other was going to do next, but she had known that at this moment, Jemma had the power. She wasnt going to try to fight it, she was going to be punished, and she could at least accept that.

She would take anything with grace after all.

However, when she was tripped over herself, she wondered if the girl couldnt think of anything else. Maybe she was thinking way too much about the words coming out of Zara's mouth. She wasnt confident. There was no bite behind her bark.

Zara was different, she was ready to bite.

"No. I dont." she looked up at her before getting off the ground and stand. She wasnt afraid of anything. She stretched for a moment and looked at her with menacing eyes.

"Neither should you." Zara said to the other, making it clear that her voice was the most important weapon she had at her disposal. She stepped forward and brought her heel up towards the girls abdomen. Hoping she would apply enough force to knock her over.

[Zara Bradford attacks Jemma Holloway with fists] | [unarmed]
KP8IAHaS5Yunarmed
[5168 -- Bruised Left Thigh -- 2.5 damage
(Unarmed)]
17/25

unarmed

[gamemaker tallis 🌱 kaitlin.]

This woman is making me angry.

I know that I shouldn't let her get to me, that I shouldn't let any of this get to me. I'm here for something that I never had any choice in, not really, here to honor a legacy that I don't believe in and will follow in all the same.

But here's the thing: if I am bound for this fate, for this path towards what I think hell must very possibly be like, training children for death, then I suppose I must grow out of this false belief in the softness of me. I am no angel, not empty-headed socialite with nothing to worry about ahead of her except for how to avoid getting photographed. That false heaven is dead, and I'm here to see who's best, here to see who can use their hate and their anger to their own advantage.

And I'm tired of hearing her voice.

She tries to kick me in the stomach I'm fairly certain, but it falls short, a weak and clumsy attempt not unlike the one I tried to pull earlier wrapping my arm around her neck. We are a closer match than I'd have expected, thought surely there was no way that I was going to beat someone who had experience, that I was going to beat someone who looked at this mat and knew they belonged. But as she kicks my leg, she's off-balance, her center of weight in the wrong place, and it makes it easier for me to leap towards her again, grab at her elbow and pop it just right until I hear something shift from where it belongs.

I am all out of words for her.

jem attacks zara

7vYHuCtde2unarmed

broken right arm, 6.5

hp 17.5/25

unarmed

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

She had only grazed her thigh and Zara had stepped back enough to at least create a little space. She had a chip on her shoulder, both of them really did. Zara had made it clear that she wanted to do this because she would be making her family proud. SHe didnt need to prove anything to anyone, but right now, in this moment, she did. She had to prove to herself that she could do this.

She could read the room, and Zara was not feeling any more openness out of Jemma. Which meant that everything needed end soon. Zara was not having fun, and even though she never openly said it, she did enjoy a good fight. She could tell that she was young, but Zara enjoyed the fight out of her. That chip would get her far, and even if she lost here, she would at least get to see this little girl become a woman in front of everyone.

Zara was too distracted, and when she went to block Jemma's punch, she felt the force of it snapping something under her skin. Zara whimpered for a moment, her arm feeling like it was on fire now. Now this was getting interesting, because Zara had known how to turn pain into power. She didnt get this far after all by tapping out. However, she also didnt have anything to add.

She sighed before letting her right arm hang. Luckily, she could still use her left, and instead of throwing her legs at the other, she twisted her body and swung her left arm at the others upper body in order to put her off balance.

Play time was over.

[Zara Bradford attacks Jemma Holloway with fists] | [unarmed]
qglRiKQJVLunarmed
[5085 -- Bruised Right Arm -- 2 damage
(Unarmed)]
11.5/25

unarmed

[gamemaker tallis 🌱 kaitlin.]

The whimper she lets out is a lot.

I'm not honestly exactly how to process putting someone in pain in front of a crowd, making her look weaker than I'm sure she probably actually is in front of a room full of their peers, on a screen in front of the rest of the Capitol. Fuck, this was probably being aired in the districts too, for all I knew. I hadn't been paying terribly close attention to where it was going to be shown, hadn't wanted to think about who was going to see me like this, see this other version of myself that I am trying really hard to be proud of.

It would be nice if I could stop falling short.

She swings her left fist at my face, but I bring my arms up in front of me to try and properly block her. It doesn't work as well as it's supposed to, and I feel another place where a bruise will form come the morning.

We shall be decorated in each other.

She's in close now, tighter than she ought to be if she wants the advantage, and it gives me opportunity to take one of those arms I held in front of my face and jam my fist right into her jaw. It's such a horribly satisfying thing, hearing bone crack, when things shatter that aren't supposed to because of someone you've done.

That's a fucked up thing to admit to.

Exactly the kind of thing I am terrified to think, and here I am anyway, thinking it all the same.

jem attacks zara

kDZ56kbjMvunarmed

broken jaw, 7.0

hp 15/25

unarmed

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

She only could do so much at this point. She had a fighting spirit, born with it, raised with it, but right now it was doing nothing for her. Her arm hurt, and she had been too focused on what made up the fighter that was Jemma. She wondered if there was more to the story, like a deep dive of information that could at least explain the type of person she was.

Jemma made it very clear that she didnt want to talk anymore. And so when she swung her hand forward and smacked Zara in the face, she felt her jaw become slightly unhindged.

If she wanted her to be quiet now, then that is exactly what she got. And Zara paused for a moment, trying to test the waters of how much pain she could tolerate. She had a feeling this was going to be over soon. Her face had hurt, her arm was killing her, but she had never been the person to throw in the towel. That was not like her. She had crushed many people before her that had the advantage, even when it was clear that Zara should give up the fight.

She was a warrior through and through because her father wouldnt accept anything less from his only child. Sometimes she didnt like being treated like one of the boys, which is why she learned to embrace her femininity as she learned to fight. She could lead the way in interesting ways, but her father also taught her how to be practical.

This fight was probably going to be an example of that.

She walks back again, this time holding her jaw, rating her pain levels in her head. She was still up for the fight, but she could tell that this was her last chance to turn the tides. She had always been able to work through pain, even when it seemed impossible. But she wasnt going to front about it, she hurt, and the cries coming from her made it very clear that she was not comfortable.

Thats when she needed to let the rage take over, and so she used her momentum to kick forward towards the others leg, hoping to knock her back again. If she won this, then so be it, at least Zara didnt go down with out a fight.

[Zara Bradford attacks Jemma Holloway with fists] | [unarmed]
BA3r0E1UuDunarmed
[5032 -- Gash/Bruised Left Femur -- 4.0 damage
(Unarmed)]
4.5/25

unarmed