trapping -| birdie&wonder

[Wonder]

robin keeni, district 6

Robin wished the Capitol were treating them more like prisoners.

He'd read somewhere in the olden days they'd kept the original tributes in the cages of the same coliseum they would end up fighting each other the next day. But the Games were different then, only a day long, quick and easy. Usually, the meek ones were picked off right out of the gate. Robin wished he could be so lucky. They just weren't designed that way anymore.

After the long trek in, Teddy had led their motley crew to the sixth floor of the training center and Robin saw the most beautiful home he'd ever seen in his life. He immediately took notice of the lighting and how soft it felt on the eyes. Most of Six was illuminated in harsh LED bulbs that whirred in the background every second of the day. The soft glow illuminated an open concept living room with a monitor just shy of the size of the wall. Red velvet couches stretched out surrounding the television which on prompting pulled out into large mattress-like surfaces.

The kitchen was chock-full of fresh fruits and vegetables. There was purified water from a bottle, this was the first time Robin had ever drunk water without a stinging aftertaste. All this food was readily available to him at any time, and he certainly took advantage of it. Hoarding loads of fruits in the rim of his shirt to carry as many with him as possible. After peeling an orange, he'd twist the peels under his nose to smell and experience the zest. The next morning, he'd put those peels in his water bottle, anxious to use every bit of fresh fruit he could get his hands on.

It'd only been a night, but by the time they'd arrived on the training center floor, Robin's stomach was noticeably larger to him. He lingered in the warmth of feeling full for the first time in a long time. Weaving in and out of the crowds of Peacekeepers and tributes, he once again took comfort in feeling as though he was invisible. Robin got to do what he liked to do best - watch.

The two from District One were deadly, siblings(?) of a previous winner, the girl from Four was silent but serious. Robin winced at the unblinking eyes of the Three girl as he passed her by the weapons, her very presence chilled Robin to the bone. Something was not right there. Whenever he had such a strong intuitive gut feeling, he followed it's discretion. The arena was full of deadly combatants this year. Robin had heard a television in passing predicting that this year may be one of the bloodiest yet - just his luck. Why couldn't he get that one arena where it flooded and everyone drowned quickly? Robin couldn't swim he'd have been a quick casualty there. Bloody? He couldn't help but roll his copper eyes. Robin couldn't get the image out of his head. The District Three Girl standing over him in some gaudy black leather suit that the Capitol would make her wear, with a giant spear - then she'd cut his cheek, and taste his blood - shudder. No thanks.

He'd fiddled with a couple of skills but not much was taking fancy with him. A quick stop at the swords station had left a fingerless dummy and a red-faced Robin who'd swung aimlessly for the head. The plants' station had proved a little too loud to read and concentrate through the exaggerated grunts and groans of the other working children (as if they had to make it any more clear that they were going to rip his heart out and eat it.) Flynn had pointed to a couple of resources back on their home floor for reading anyways, said it would do Robin better to concentrate on something more physical.

The trapping station seemed the most logical. If there was any way that Robin was going to get out of this arena alive, it wasn't by slashing or shooting like Teddy or Flynn, it was by taking advantage of the fact that he was good at hanging back in the shadows. All this relied on him, one: actually learning how to set any sort of trap that could be deadly in any way, and two: his somehow managing to scrape through the bloodbath collecting any semblance of items that he can improvise off the cuff to create something functioning.

And as Robin struggled at a basic hitch knot that the instructor was trying to teach him, he couldn't help but think again.. he was so fucked.

[Deleted]

Everyday that went by, Six wasn't able to focus on any of the training stations. They were two days in now and he hadn't started anything really. He was distracted. His thoughts were filled with his family. What were they doing right now? Did they take the day off after the reaping so they could cope with Six being reaped? Or did they still have to take care of the farm? Each morning did they say a prayer for him? He wanted to be there with them right now. He didn't care that his belly was full of good tasting food. He didn't care that he finally got his own bedroom. He didn't care this was the first time in his life that his clothes weren't handed down from his five older siblings. He would give anything to be woken up by one of his younger siblings jumping on the bed, working on the farm from sunrise to sunset, and to eat the meek rations given to them. He would give anything.

Maybe things would have been better if he had proper closure. The only one he got real closure with was Fly. He guessed the peacekeepers just didn't want to wait for sixteen people to say goodbye to him. After Fly was Lock. He hoped they didn't hurt Lock too bad. That scene had been giving him nightmares the last few days. The peacekeepers ripping Six away from his brother as he struggled to break free, another peacekeeper throwing Lock to the ground and pinning him down. Did they help him back up? Was he hurt with that? He regretted not yelling "goodbye" as they pulled him away. Instead he just shouted his brothers name over and over. Would he ever get the chance to say goodbye?

As time went by, he was losing hope of winning. He was one of the youngest tributes there. And a lot of the tributes scared him. The girl from district three. Something about her... something about her really frightened him. The two people from district one... they were definitely people to worry about as well. And the other lower district tributes. He was pretty sure he was the only one who didn't volunteer, though he thought that perhaps maybe one or two others might have been picked as well. He felt like a coward compared to them. Even his district partner volunteered. Estelle. She probably didn't have to be ripped apart from her big brother as she cried out.

Then there was the guy from district six. He seemed like someone Six could get along with. He was quiet, like Six. He appeared to be nice and stuck to the outside. He was currently watching him. Six had decided on the blades station, but as he was walking over to it he passed the trapping one. The kid was struggling to say the least. After eavesdropping a little he found out the particular knot he was struggling with was a hitch knot - something he used all the time on the farm. Lock had told him to try to make friends. So, he decided to try. The idea of making friends sort of scared him - after all growing up his only friends were his siblings. He went behind Robin and tapped on his shoulder. He tried to pretend to be confident, but his voice was still quiet, he was sill Six.

"Hey, if you want I can help you out with that."

[Wonder]

robin keeni, district 6

Useless.

Every fiber of Robin knew that this was the moment to concentrate and not glaze over. But the droning of the trapping teacher with basic knots was perhaps a bit too much to add on to the very basic knowledge that sometime in the next couple weeks, it was incredibly likely that he would die. It felt as though his hazel brown eyes were covered in a hazy sheen, unable to focus on what was directly in front of him - the rope. It probably didn't help that in every imaginable direction was a cacophony of grunting children trying to outperform each other every single step of the day. It was constant. From first-in-line at the cafeteria, to first at the weapons station - it was all just annoying.

Robin rolled his eyes in a fit of frustration, letting his once tight grip on the rope loose. With an audible grunt, the lanky boy heeled back, letting his body fall into a more relaxed position. What was the point of this anyway? The training? If it was meant to be some sort of balancer for the years of training the Careers had, one quick week of trying to figure out how to get a kid up a tree wasn't going to level the playing field by any means. If anything, this just ended up being a public display of the one-thousand ways half the kids in this room could kill Robin within a flash of a second. In a quick glance, Robin could see at least five ways the beautiful girl from One could slash his throat with one slash in his direction.

"Hey,"

God, was she hot? Was Robin attracted to her? No - definitely not. Maybe? No. Possibly? Yes? She was cute.. he scratched aimlessly at the corners of his mouth. Think she'd kiss him before she slit his throat? That could be nice. Like a quick little send-off? Later days!

"if you want I can help you out with that."

Robin had barely registered the first hello. It was just sort of background noise to him, figuring that no one wanted to be around him. Even Willa had ditched him the second they got to the center. A girl in a coma had better social development skills than him, go figure. But the meek voice persisted. Robin turned to see a skeletal boy, almost pitch white to the touch. From.. Eleven? Robin remembered the loud gasps from several red-headed children as this boy walked up to the stage harmlessly. His face was warmer in person, a nice change from the new cruel smirks that seemed to awaken the second weapons came into play.

Robin blinked twice rapidly, trying to reabsorb what the young boy had said, rewinding the voice in his mind. Re-registering it back into the forefront. Oh. Help. Yeah. Robin looked down at his sad rope which instantly had unknotted the second he'd let go. Limp and dead it didn't look like much of a trap anymore. Had it ever?

"It was supposed to be a noose." Robin stared dumbly at the Eleven boy, hoping he was on the same field of joking about the inevitability. His albino skin was almost radiant from the fluorescent lighting of the training center. "Don't think it worked out so well, did it?" Robin smirked with his thin, slicing lips, hopefully disengaging any momentary tension from ignoring the boy. Hopefully. Look alive, kid.

[Deleted]

Six didn't really mind how long it took Robin to acknowledge his presence. Six was usually someone who flew under the radar and got ignored - even sometimes within his own family. At home he wasn't as talkative as Lock or as excited as Fly or as loud as Prop. At home he was just the quiet big brother. And here? Here it wasn't much different. He was surrounded by careers and rich kids and people twice his size and years older than him. Here he was the useless farmboy - and maybe the first to die.

The O'Malley name didn't draw as much attention here as a name like Le Roux. Which made since, 82 Hunger Games have happened since Winger O'Malley died. And she wasn't even in the top 12 when she died. Why would they randomly remember her name out of every tribute? So many tributes have died since she had. He was sort of grateful for the fact she was mostly forgotten to time. People didn't see him as a threat because of her. Though, he sort of wished they did. The looks some people gave him - namely the girl from three - made him feel like they were just waiting to see how much he'd scream as they slaughtered him.

And the Le Roux cousins? They scared him the most. They had something to prove, both of them. Honestly he wasn't sure which of them were more deadly. And he knew fighting either of them one-on-one would probably be a death sentence. He couldn't imagine fighting a complete stranger to the death - how did that family think of killing each other in such a casual way? That was insane to him. And if they were willing to kill each other, they were willing to rip him to shreds. He just hoped two O'Malleys never got reaped together. Hell, he hoped another O'Malley never got reaped again.

Six did get the joke Robin had made when he was finally acknowledged, letting out a small chuckle. This guy seemed friendly enough, plus he was pretty non-threatening. Maybe if Six helped him out with some knots he could find a way to pay Six back in the future. Maybe... Even without getting paid back, Six was happy to help. It's what Lock would've done. Plus, he had gotten plenty of help with pretty much everything since his first day in the Capitol. And he definitely needed it. In a way he was paying back his debt to the universe.

"Well if you're going to make one, make one for me too. But uh, on the farm we use all sorts of knots. I don't mind helping you out."

[Wonder]

robin keeni, district 6

The slender boy let out a heartfelt chuckle and Robin's tension immediately eased. A friend? Maybe. For now. Since you know, only one of them could - you know, live. But after the last couple of days of stonecold seriousness, it was nice to finally see someone around here have a little fun. After what seemed like near-hourly strategy sessions with Flynn, and all this - mentally motioning to the training center, it all just seemed like a drag from beginning to end. But a laugh? Thank God someone around here understood that there was comedy in all this.

Robin patted the floor next to him gently, motioning the taller boy to come to take a seat next to him. Hell, if they wanted to they could just choke each other right out here, congratulations final twenty-two! It'd been a while since a Keeni name had been in the Games, but they weren't particularly lucky in any sense. Given that no Keeni half-sibling had ever returned to the crabby shack they all slept in part-time, everything looked pretty grim at the moment. If anything it was just a running sport to kick the family out one by one. Hell, for all Robin knew, his "mother" had probably registered even more tesserae out in his name, doubling his chances of going in. Who knew how many times she'd used his name to some sort of gain?

"I don't think I know how to even finish my own, let alone make yours." Robin looked back to his disgrace on the floor, the teacher now paying attention elsewhere. Not a single loop had stuck together when he let go, and there were supposed to be several knots in this thing. If this was the best Robin could do, he was sure to get a low score on his training session. What a nightmare that would be. After all Flynn's coaching too, he'd be so disappointed. He needed a good score for sponsors, he needed to gain as much fan popularity as possible - somehow.

"I'm not really good at this.." Robin was shocked by his own candor. The words slipped his lips without a second thought. Showing weakness to the Eleven boy, that was certainly not in Flynn's guide on how to win this thing. But Six's disarming welcoming nature reminded Robin of warmth, he radiated an aura of positivity and inclusion that Robin was happy to have spread over him. "Some help would be nice." Again, he found himself admitting more than he should. Robin's knees clacked together out of nerves, bouncing up and down at the behest of his feet. It would take a mountain of a team to help Robin pull out a win, but if he could learn to ask for help then maybe? No.

All good things come in threes, for his last confession he smiled towards Six, a toothy, geeky smirk with jutted teeth. "I'm Robin."

[Deleted]

The jokes and everything was really reminding him of Lock. Just before he was torn from the room in the justice building after the reaping, Lock made him laugh. They both seemed to have that trait, lightening the mood in even the darkest of situations. Deep down part of him knew he shouldn't compare this boy to Lock - after all, it would only make it just that much harder to kill him if the time came in the Hunger Games. And even if they didn't kill each other, only one of them could live in the end. That similarity to Lock made him want to help even more, because if Robin were truly like Lock he would have helped Six if the roles were reversed.

When signaled to, Six sat down next to Robin. The gentle patting of the floor. That made him think of himself. Just before they had to leave for the reaping, his little sister Fly came in for advice. Six never got to figure out what she wanted as their parents were soon yelling it was time to go. But, he had done the exact same thing. He patted his bed, letting her know to sit down and chat. It seemed like he saw his family in everything. Six was truly homesick.

One of the things Six never learned how to do was make a noose. He could ask one of his mentors, but they were probably giving up on him already. Asking how to make a noose, even for just curiosity sake? They would probably totally lose hope in Six coming back alive. Honestly, he felt like he was wasting their time. They probably felt their time was being wasted too. Who would you rather help? The scrawny kid who almost vomited from fear on the train or the girl who was brave enough to volunteer?

Before Six could start helping him, the kid introduced himself. Robin. A nice name, a name that was actually a name. Six never really minded his name until the games. Tributes calling him Seven, the first thing his mentor asking him what it meant, it was really starting to make him wish he had a normal name. He wished he had a pretty name like Robin or Love or Evan. A name that was an actual name, not a number. It seemed like that's all his siblings were to his parents. Numbers. Numbers of chances they had in the Hunger Games. Number of workers they had for the farm.

"I'm Six O'Malley. I really like your name, Robin."