Across the Tightrope [Jericho/Azure]

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Jorg
Merchant

237 POSTS

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last seen Apr 26, 2024 20:03:08 GMT -5

Wishing I was Ryan Gosling’s Ken, Knowing I’m Scott Evan’s Ken

Across the Tightrope [Jericho/Azure] Jan 31, 2024 9:39:00 GMT -5

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Post by Jorg on Jan 31, 2024 9:39:00 GMT -5

J E R I C H O

I’m relieved to be off the train. As much as those conversations needed to happen, it’s nice to have space to breathe. Just to be. I never realized how much I took the open air for granted until I got stuck in a tube with no fresh air. It didn’t help that the first thing we came across at the station was a mob of Capitolites wanting to get a first glance at us. Is this what it meant to be a celebrity, people wanting to encroach on your personal life with no space to be?

I could sense the confusion come off of Mace and Saffron when the van we rode in turned away from the old training center. Looking through the tinted back window as it grew smaller and smaller in the rear view. Trying to guess the grief that they’re going though, watching the last place their grandchild was killed. Did they want to retrace his steps? Did they want to go to the mechanical room where Nessa had killed him? I admit I looked at them longer than I probably should have, trying to figure out the emotions that stormed through them.

The new Training Center was nice though, and admittedly I’m glad to not have to look at the places where the tributes from last year died. I don’t think I would have been able to focus on my own training when I kept thinking about how beams of light might come down and try to disintegrate us in our sleep. After the first night of watching the other readings, and trying to formulate game plans of what our strengths are, it hit me just how real this this. There’s no running away, no going back. So here I stand in the new training area, seeing all of the different stations and feeling overwhelmed.

I gulp down though, remembering what my dad told me, choose the right place and time to show my emotions. Well if I can’t let everyone else see how I’m just a gentle giant, time for me to use my charm instead. And learn, learn as much as I can. The mentors said that my height and build will be good for being able to move around quickly, so I’m at a station called light step, where the trainers have me working on balancing tightropes and surprisingly enough dancing. Apparently certain dances when applied to fighting, should help me be evasive in fights.

I feel silly, though I’m trying to remember the game plan. Use my reach, use my strength, use my build to my advantage. So here I am, doing chaine turns on a thin wire, trying to keep the ball of my foot on it so I don’t drop the few inches I’m elevated. Who knew a simple turn would require so much core and balance? As I finish, flushed from the exertion that I’ve been doing, I notice that a girl has joined us, I go through my mental roladex, hoping I didn’t lose too much in the panic I felt before bed, and found her in 5, the girl who volunteered.

I decide to show off a little bit, try to intimidate the one who volunteered, by continuing to walk on the wire. I’m already in of the tallest here, and she clearly had a wish, try to figure out what that wish is my goal now.

“Hey I’m Jericho, Azure was it? How are you feeling after volunteering?”

ELEGANT

ryan
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last seen Apr 27, 2024 1:23:53 GMT -5

over the moon, where all the wild things are

Across the Tightrope [Jericho/Azure] Feb 2, 2024 10:56:49 GMT -5

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Post by ryan on Feb 2, 2024 10:56:49 GMT -5

i am horrifically confused as to the process of this whole endeavor. i got the answers that i needed from all those years ago, but the train ride was rather uneventful. nothing to really learn on there except for things about my district partner.

and even worse, the trauma that lysander had faced in the arena.

would have it been rude for me to tell her that i didnt really care about her trauma? sure, i knew the reality of the games, you had to kill everyone else to survive, that was a given. however, how long could you really hold onto that? ten years seems like such a long time.

then again, i would be a hypocrite.

i am willing to at least take the advice of others, and learning the stations as i go seem to be the better option. i watch other tributes as they work with various weapons or objects. each one seems like they are important. after all, i had no clue what was in store for me in the arena.

it all came back to what would amrin do.

so i walk up a staircase and realize that i am suspended high above the training floor. there seems to be a net that is covering the ground, though i do question how close it is. i am not completely bought in, but i knew they would be crazy to let the tributes maim themselves before they got into the arena.

so i just needed to trust it.

i watch as others try to balance themselves on the tightropes, the concentration needed was in fact, more than most thought. one wrong muscle twitch and you were probably going to fall. in fact, i watched that happen right before my eyes. they plopped right into the net, which made me feel better about the whole set up.

there is a boy that is holding it together quite well on the tightropes, and i am hesitant to believe that he is a tribute at first. but then i see the ten on his uniform and realize well that i am mistaken. i dont know if i am ready to mingle with others quite yet, seeing as this was only the first couple days. they barely gave us a chance to get our barings and they are already want us to figure out who are the weakest links.

i prefer to watch everything first, learn it, and then apply it. so i silently look onwards as i watch the other rotate on the heel of his foot. im slightly impressed, as ten is able to keep his balance quite well for his build. i could hear amrin in my mind right now. looks are always deceiving azure, never assume. i shake my head and take it all in.

he asks a question.

"just fine." i dont even quiver at the sentence that leaves my lips. "after what ive been through, something like volunteering doesnt scare me." i am just a tiny bit overzealous in my words, but being put on the spot would do that to anyone. "though i do find it impressive that you are able to hold your balance for this long." i am just taking the sight in, figuring out how i can mimic this and use it for later. "dont let me distract you too much though jericho..." i can see a trainer is lining up a ball within jericho's periphery. "or youll never see it coming." i am being coded in my words. its up to him to figure it out.

another thing to watch and learn.

Jorg
Merchant

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last seen Apr 26, 2024 20:03:08 GMT -5

Wishing I was Ryan Gosling’s Ken, Knowing I’m Scott Evan’s Ken

Across the Tightrope [Jericho/Azure] Feb 6, 2024 11:03:02 GMT -5

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Post by Jorg on Feb 6, 2024 11:03:02 GMT -5

J E R I C H O

“Just fine,” Azure says, her voice even in tone and cadence. “After what I’ve been through, something like volunteering doesn’t scare me.”

I admitted that I find myself nonplussed by the almost nonchalance in her attitude. I figure a volunteer would either be excited or even remorseful about their actions, but to act as if volunteering was just another fact of life? That’s astounding to me. What has she been through to where volunteering for the Games is just another fact other life? I can see her analyzing how I hold myself up, which I don’t fault her for. In such a situation, it only makes sense for your opponents to explore you. That anxious voice tells me I showed too much off too soon. People can guess that I’m strong based on my build, but I have the agility and strength that might have shown my hand.

“Though I do find it impressive that you can hold your balance for this long,” she tells me, her tone is, what I hope, approving. She’s still critiquing my stance, but her eyes no longer feel like they’re probing.

“Thank you,” I respond, still standing in my spot. I don’t need to show off any more than I already have.

“Don’t let me distract you too much, though, Jericho…” Her eyes flash over to the trainer who has been helping me for the past hour. “Or you’ll never see it coming.” She takes a step back, and it’s clear she’s trying to warn me of something. I turn to my trainer and see that his arm is cocked back, ready to though a ball right at me. This is something that I’m hoping that I’ll remember in the Arena, hopefully, something that I can pay back. I brace myself for the impact of the ball, not sure on how I can avoid it without jumping off.

“Thanks for the heads-up,” I tell her as the ball comes right for me. I know that a weapon thrown right at me differs from a ball, but that’s a lesson for later.