When in Rome - HG Competition Entry

Task 2: The Bloodbath

Casualties:
Fuse Satis (D3 Female)
Ula Coral (D4 Female)
Jax Williams (D7 Male)
Emerly Hale (D9 Female)
Jane Louis (D10 Female)
Loui Grove (D11 Male)

(A/N: Sorry to the deceased. They were randomly chosen.
I wasn't sure if the scores were normally given before or after the interview, but since we've gotten them now OOC I'm going to have Jaiden find out after the interview as well.)

After the interview they had eaten in relative peace. The two tributes and their trainer ate in silence only looking up to find the next course of their meal. Candice, on the other hand, chattered away on her end of the table reliving the interviews the various tributes had given with great gusto.

The main point of interest had been the unfortunate incident where the chair had been ruined by District 6's Nixie Adams. It was a poor move on her part, Candice asserted. Decidedly unbecoming for a young lady, indeed.

She expressed at length how fortunate Aspirea and Jaiden had been to have gone on before the chair debacle; it had set a tone which had not been very good for attracting sponsors. At least so she believed.

This was the one time that evening where their trainer spoke up. It was his belief that the opposite was actually true: The thing with the chair made people forget who had been on stage before hand.

For once Jaiden agreed with the man though he didn't say so out loud.

After dinner Jaiden wanted some alone time so he headed in to his bedroom and stared out the window. He wanted to see the Capitol's skyline but the floor they were on was too close to the ground to see it. So instead he studied the shifting colors of the heavens while formulating different plans for the Games.

A knock on the door drew him back to the vast, empty bedroom he was currently standing in. Not waiting for a reply Candice came bursting in, rushing over to where he was standing before grabbing his arm and dragging him along behind her.

"It's time!" she yelped excitedly as the duo made their way back across the room and out the door.

In a few minutes she had herded the two District 5 tributes together and sat them down on the couch in front of a gigantic television screen to watch their ratings. Their trainer sloughed on an arm chair off to Jaiden's right, not communicating much with anyone.

Jaiden had noticed that the closer the moment of the Games' start came the quieter their trainer had become; no doubt he didn't wish to be too attached to either of them as the chances of either Aspirea or himself making it out alive were slim. Aspirea's were better, but the competition was stiff.

On the far end of the couch to Jaiden's left sat Candice, hopping impatiently. In one hand she balanced an expensive looking glass containing some blueish liquid which sloshed around while she used the other hand to gesture wildly and occasionally tap Jaiden's shoulder when she felt he wasn't paying her enough attention.

"This is very important, boys and girls! Your score determines what others will think of you. A high score is a good thing!" she chirped excitedly.

For a brief moment Jaiden spotted motion in the corner of his eye. Turning to look he saw their trainer scowling and resettling himself in the plush chair.

Candice had noticed it too which surprised Jaiden who had thought the escort to be too busy being hyper about everything to notice other people.

She waved her free hand dismissively at the disgruntled victor.

"Yes, yes, I know. High scores can attract the attention of the career pack..." she said mockingly before hurriedly moving on.

"Still, potential sponsors like to pick a tribute who looks like they stand a good chance of winning. It's expensive to send a gift, you know. Therefore they like to see what the experts think of each tribute before settling on the tribute of their choice."