Far From the Home I Love (open)
Oct 1, 2011 13:15:33 GMT -5
Post by Ashley (Ember, Wren, August) on Oct 1, 2011 13:15:33 GMT -5
As Ember's mentor had suggested, she got down to training fairly early. When she arrived there were only a couple of people wandering around, browsing the stations. Ember felt awfully intimidated. This year the tributes were all between the ages 15 and 18 for some reason. It wasn't that she wanted young children in the Games. Everyone always felt worse for them, including herself, but Ember was very thin and petite for sixteen. A lot of the tributes looked larger and stronger than her. Next to them she appeared fourteen, not sixteen.
The elevator took Ember from the 8th floor to the bottom floor where the training took place. It was amazing looking out of the pure glass elevator at the Capitol. The buildings were tall with inovative, glamourous designs looking shiny and new. The feeling of being in a pure glass elevator made Ember a bit apprehensive. Was it sturdy? If someone else came into it, would it brake? She tried to ignore the worry and just looked out to the sparkling city as she ascended to the ground floor. Even though it was awestriking, Ember felt she would enjoy it much more if she were here under different pretenses. It was hard to be excited, knowing the future events were approaching her, looming over her.
Finally, the elevator chimed, signaling that she was at her destination. The ground floor was just as extravagent as her floor. The carpets were soft and new and the paint was fresh and a ridiculously bright color. Furniture was brand new and in odd designs that must have been in style in the Capitol. Ember's bedroom had been absolutely spectacular. The bed was made of a soft maroon satin and felt like she was sleeping in mid air, she was so comfortable. There was a tub that had water that massaged you and a shower that had about a hundred different settings. Ember tried the tub and got a soap that smelled like cinnamon and other spices. She couldn't remember being that clean in her entire life.
The Capitol had provided her with dozens of different outfits she could wear. Since this was probably one of the last few weeks of her life, so she figured she would use the resources that were provided to her and try to enjoy them. Ember wore an olive shirt that somehow seemed to sparkle even though there were no sequins on it and the material was smooth. She put on a dark purple loose fitting pant that had a stretchy material that had gems in strategic places. It was comfortable though, able to train in. Lastly, she put on some fancy, glossy sport shoe that was able run in but looked glamourous. It was odd to dress up so much since she never did but pretending to dress like some silly Capitolite was some consolation and even a bit of entertainment. Ember wore her hair down and straight, not knowing what to do with it.
As she wandered throughout the training room, she took notice to the types of stations. Knive throwing, archery, hand-to-hand combat... never in her life had she done anything like that. Had the other tributes? Probably the Careers but who else would have any use for those things in their normal lives? Maybe she would try it but first, she would try something a bit more simple.
Ember walked to the first aid table. This would be important, right? She was bound to get hurt sometime, whether she would die or not, she wouldn't want to die from something completely preventable. The lady at the station was pretty nice for a Capitolite. They went over standard bandaging procedures, splinting, and other important things. Fortunately, Ember wasn't too bad at this. Injuries didn't make her nauseous like some people. She had four brothers who got injured all the time. Her two older ones worked picking cotton with their father so she was always cleaning cuts and scrapes at a basic level. The younger ones were boys and it wasn't too surprising that they would get hurt all the time. Her brother Lennor was extremely ill at the time she left him, so before she had been Reaped, her mother and herself were taking care of him in shifts with work.
How was he going to be taken care of now? Her mother would either have to quit her job or her younger brothers would have to drop out of school. Surely, both boys would be taking several tesserae after this. It sickened her to know her whole family was falling apart from one little piece of paper that read 'Ember Hilbrook'. Lennor could die or be dead by now, Ember was going to die soon, and one or both of her little brothers could be Reaped in the future. Her parents could only have one soon left in the years to come and he was already out of the house, married, and expecting his first child. How did the Hilbrook family go from a normal District 8 life to complete devistation. That's right, it was because of the Capitol.
[/justify]The elevator took Ember from the 8th floor to the bottom floor where the training took place. It was amazing looking out of the pure glass elevator at the Capitol. The buildings were tall with inovative, glamourous designs looking shiny and new. The feeling of being in a pure glass elevator made Ember a bit apprehensive. Was it sturdy? If someone else came into it, would it brake? She tried to ignore the worry and just looked out to the sparkling city as she ascended to the ground floor. Even though it was awestriking, Ember felt she would enjoy it much more if she were here under different pretenses. It was hard to be excited, knowing the future events were approaching her, looming over her.
Finally, the elevator chimed, signaling that she was at her destination. The ground floor was just as extravagent as her floor. The carpets were soft and new and the paint was fresh and a ridiculously bright color. Furniture was brand new and in odd designs that must have been in style in the Capitol. Ember's bedroom had been absolutely spectacular. The bed was made of a soft maroon satin and felt like she was sleeping in mid air, she was so comfortable. There was a tub that had water that massaged you and a shower that had about a hundred different settings. Ember tried the tub and got a soap that smelled like cinnamon and other spices. She couldn't remember being that clean in her entire life.
The Capitol had provided her with dozens of different outfits she could wear. Since this was probably one of the last few weeks of her life, so she figured she would use the resources that were provided to her and try to enjoy them. Ember wore an olive shirt that somehow seemed to sparkle even though there were no sequins on it and the material was smooth. She put on a dark purple loose fitting pant that had a stretchy material that had gems in strategic places. It was comfortable though, able to train in. Lastly, she put on some fancy, glossy sport shoe that was able run in but looked glamourous. It was odd to dress up so much since she never did but pretending to dress like some silly Capitolite was some consolation and even a bit of entertainment. Ember wore her hair down and straight, not knowing what to do with it.
As she wandered throughout the training room, she took notice to the types of stations. Knive throwing, archery, hand-to-hand combat... never in her life had she done anything like that. Had the other tributes? Probably the Careers but who else would have any use for those things in their normal lives? Maybe she would try it but first, she would try something a bit more simple.
Ember walked to the first aid table. This would be important, right? She was bound to get hurt sometime, whether she would die or not, she wouldn't want to die from something completely preventable. The lady at the station was pretty nice for a Capitolite. They went over standard bandaging procedures, splinting, and other important things. Fortunately, Ember wasn't too bad at this. Injuries didn't make her nauseous like some people. She had four brothers who got injured all the time. Her two older ones worked picking cotton with their father so she was always cleaning cuts and scrapes at a basic level. The younger ones were boys and it wasn't too surprising that they would get hurt all the time. Her brother Lennor was extremely ill at the time she left him, so before she had been Reaped, her mother and herself were taking care of him in shifts with work.
How was he going to be taken care of now? Her mother would either have to quit her job or her younger brothers would have to drop out of school. Surely, both boys would be taking several tesserae after this. It sickened her to know her whole family was falling apart from one little piece of paper that read 'Ember Hilbrook'. Lennor could die or be dead by now, Ember was going to die soon, and one or both of her little brothers could be Reaped in the future. Her parents could only have one soon left in the years to come and he was already out of the house, married, and expecting his first child. How did the Hilbrook family go from a normal District 8 life to complete devistation. That's right, it was because of the Capitol.