Mending Fences [Rade]

Cato
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Mending Fences [Rade] Feb 2, 2016 0:29:27 GMT -5

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Post by Cato on Feb 2, 2016 0:29:27 GMT -5

Harbinger Rhodes
Nineteen | Male | District Eleven

I know Carrita and Iain will need help. There's no reason for me to abandon them to their potential deaths due to not looking the part of being able to survive the hell hole. Kirito survived an arena with more careers than anyone else alive. I lost a leg and went on to survive. Caritta and Iain need my help. I want to do whatever I am able to. I leave my room to head for the dining area only to remember that both Carrita and Iain are awake. They might be waiting for me to give them advice. I grab some wine and pour myself a glass. I'll help mentor, but I don't know what to do. I'm not even sure what help I could offer. Betray their allies like I betrayed my friend? Survive on blood lust alone? Eat as much as they can before going into the arena so the weight loss isn't nearly as bad? Shrugging my shoulders I realize there's not much I can do.

I touch the koala carving of Chloe's. I got it back in district twelve. Chloe's family gave it to me to remind me of what I did. The betrayal. There are still several nights I wake up screaming in the middle of the night. I regret attaching her. I regret turning against her, and knowing that it was the last thing she ever lived to see destroys me. I've worn this koala carving here to the Capitol in order to remind myself the price of survival. I take one last look at the carving before sitting down to wait the arrival of my mentees. Only after several minutes have gone by do I realize they may have went down to the training center. After all training is very important for them right now.

I hear footsteps, so I turn around to see Katelyn arrive. I'm on my feet immediately. Already I'm considering leaving the room. Her mere presence brings up the terrifying few days in the arena that I know I'd been alone. I consider leaving for a moment before sighing. Part of me wants to leave her and throw her to the dogs because I feel she did that to me, but hearing her talk on the train about how she begged for sponsorships made me question myself a lot more. I sit back down and gesture to the seat next to me. "I think its past due that we talk." An apology to her is a start. If I'm to give my all in mentoring Carrita and Iain, I'll need her help. "I owe you an apology. For this past year of giving you and Kirito the cold shoulder."

Victor Of The 71st Hunger Games

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charade
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Mending Fences [Rade] Feb 2, 2016 4:54:33 GMT -5

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Post by charade on Feb 2, 2016 4:54:33 GMT -5

KATELYN PERSIMMON

Staring at her tattoos in the mirror, Katelyn brooded about the very real possibility of having two names etched on her skin before the games were over. Three years ago, she had thought she’d be writing Kirito’s name in ink, thought that her single quell mentee was doomed from the start; that he’d be the first in a long line of coffins as she joined the ranks of the sullen, broken mentors. She’d been wrong. He’d survived and it had given her strength, enough strength to see another tribute come home so to speak. In the media’s eyes she was a tactical genius, putting the career mentors to shame. In reality, Harbinger had largely done everything by himself, and while she had found sponsors for Kirito, he’d made it through the fights and had paid for every inch of progress in flesh and blood.

They hadn’t won because of Katelyn though perhaps she'd steered them in the right direction, they’d won because they refused to die. They were survivors, like her. After leaving the floor and heading down to the dining area, with the intention of finding Mace or Opal, to her dismay, she found Harbinger staring dully at her, though she didn’t see a bottle. That was a small relief. She didn’t want to see him go down the road that Arbor Halt had. She figured that her presence meant he wasn’t going to stick around, but instead of leaving, he declared that they needed to have a talk. She tensed, ready for him to deride her again, ready to feel helpless because there was nothing she could do.

Go ahead and hate me. She wanted to say. It won’t come close to the hate I’m feeling for myself. But of all the things that could have come out of his mouth, she never expected to hear an apology for rebuffing her and Kirito’s attempts to reconcile with him. Katelyn fixed her eyes on him and drew her mouth into a thin line. Had being faced with the two tributes done something to his opinion of his mentors? Did he get it now? She thought about what Arbor had said, and wondered if Harbinger had just died in the arena, then the Miristioma’s wouldn’t be paying the price for his victory. But Harbinger was worth it, she chided herself, Even if he was being an insufferable ass while he healed.

A long drawn out sigh blew out from her like a gust of wind, accompanied by the wave of a hand. “Apology accepted. We’ve got more important things to deal with anyhow.” Since bidding Arbor farewell, Katelyn had felt emotionally drained, worry becoming annoyance, fear becoming anger. She was still extremely anguished for Kirito, but she made a herculean effort to push her worry for Iain and Carrita down. Whatever happened would happen, but until then, she could do her best to help them. It was all she could do while she waited for the hammer to fall. It took a minute, but she slid onto the chair he was offering. She was quiet, unsure of what needed to be said. She settled for a simple question. “How are you holding up?”

"And I don't wanna live like this again
I thought you said it would be so simple"

table coding (c) ghosty

16 Jul 12, 23:43
GB: I bet you just sit at your computer with a tea cup and a monocle

Cato
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I wish Cato didnt die

Mending Fences [Rade] Feb 2, 2016 23:42:26 GMT -5

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Post by Cato on Feb 2, 2016 23:42:26 GMT -5

Harbinger Rhodes
Nineteen | Male | District Eleven

A question. Such a simple question, yet I don't know how to answer it. Emotionally, I feel as okay as I'll get given the situation. I also feel sick to my stomach seeing such young tributes for eleven this year. No one wanted to volunteer in their place. The one thing I'm relieved about is no family members. I can only speculate about President Snow's actions with reaping two young tributes. While I'm glad none of my siblings were reaped, I feel terrible that Kirito has a family member in. We haven't gotten along all that well in the past year, but I know how much family can mean to someone. It could just as easily be one of my own family members in next year. I know the answer now to Katelyn's question.

"I'm not feeling well at all. I see this little kids reaped. That we have to mentor. I don't know what the hell I am doing. I don't even know how I can give advice on how to kill. It's wrong. I hate it." It wasn't easy turning on Chloe and taking her life, and to this very second it makes me feel horrible. Do I really want Carrita and Iain to go through that? Do I really want for them to kill? Yes I think to myself. If I want one to return home alive. But they don't deserve this. None of them do. Katelyn, Kirito, me. All the victors, the dead tributes. None of this is right.

I slam my fist down on the table as tears spring to my eyes. All I want is to live a normal life, but I can't now because every year tributes will rely on me for information. They'll come to me despite wanting help, but they don't know I'm not capable of doing it. "What do I say to him? Kirito? His own family is here. What can I do?" I ask more and more trying to do my best not to cry. Crying isn't worth it. I don't want to cry now and it makes me angry that I'm crying in front of her, but soon I take a drink and a few deep breaths allowing myself the chance to relax.

Victor Of The 71st Hunger Games

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charade
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Mending Fences [Rade] Feb 3, 2016 18:27:14 GMT -5

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Post by charade on Feb 3, 2016 18:27:14 GMT -5

KATELYN PERSIMMON

There was too much to think about and it kept going back to the image of two coffins being loaded in the train. Of how victor relatives of games past had fared in the past. Of Kirito snapping like he had in the arena, wounds reopened and bleeding freely. Of Iain and Carrita not standing a chance, of them getting swarmed in the bloodbath or being relentlessly hunted down by careers, mutts and gamemaker traps. She knew her fellow district eleven victors were thinking similar thoughts. How much would their help really matter this year? Would they be just as Arbor had said? Ferrymen, carrying their tributes to death, starting with Kirito’s cousin?

It was a dark thought, but it was a growing reality in her mind.It took him a moment to respond, but when he did, he was unflinchingly honest. He admitted that he didn’t know what to do. That all he could see was how young the tributes were and there was no good way to give advice on how to kill someone. She nodded understandingly. Killing was never a part of her curriculum. Survival was the key; the less fights a tribute got into, the better, the less lives on their conscience the better. Not for the first time, she was glad she never had to kill any of her allies, that they hadn’t had to turn on each other in order to go home. Where would her head have gone to if Marc had lain dead at her feet, if she had cut Lexi to pieces or stabbed Velocity in the heart?

Harbinger punched the table suddenly, causing Katelyn to jump a little in surprise. “What do I say to him? Kirito? His own family is here." I don’t know. I don’t have a fucking clue and it’s slowly killing me. "What can I do?” Katelyn stared at the table and drummed her fingers on it. She wanted to leave. She wanted to lock herself in her room and for once not be the rock that people were leaning on. She was falling, but she didn’t want them to fall with her. It hurt, God it hurt, but come hell or high water, she’d never turn her back on one of her tributes, whether they were in the arena or not.

She’d be there to pick them up, and she wasn’t ever letting go. Katelyn reached across the table slowly and wrapped her hands around the fist he had hit the table with; thinking of what the older mentors had reminded her of. What she had known, though never fully experienced just yet. “The best you can.” She said softly. "You do the best you can and you hope the tributes know that you gave a damn.”

Her own eyes started to water a little and she blinked it away. She was falling, and it was such a long way down.

"And I don't wanna live like this again
I thought you said it would be so simple"

table coding (c) ghosty

Last Edit: Feb 9, 2016 5:42:26 GMT -5 by charade

16 Jul 12, 23:43
GB: I bet you just sit at your computer with a tea cup and a monocle

Cato
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last seen Nov 22, 2024 3:06:19 GMT -5

I wish Cato didnt die

Mending Fences [Rade] Feb 5, 2016 20:47:27 GMT -5

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Post by Cato on Feb 5, 2016 20:47:27 GMT -5

Harbinger Rhodes
Nineteen | Male | District Eleven

Being reaped for the hunger games was the worse thing that could've happened to me. No, scratch that. Having one of my brothers be reaped for the games now that I'm a victor is the worse thing possible. I can't imagine what Kirito is going through right now. I can't imagine the pain he's facing of potentially losing his cousin. Iain is a bright kid, and it seems he knows much more than he ever lets on. Carrita is smart too, and they're both so young. Katelyn was seventeen in her games. Kirito was sixteen. I was eighteen. Iain is fourteen, and Carrita is thirteen. They're too young for this.

I sigh softly as Katelyn reaches across the table wrapping her hand around my fist. At first, I want to jerk it away from her because she has no right touching me. Deep inside I still want to believe her and Kirito left me for dead, but at the same time after hearing them talk to Iain and Carrita about having to beg for sponsorships made me realize they possibly tried. Yet it never answers my question, and I feel this game is going to be much more difficult to get sponsorships for my tributes. I don't want either of them to die. It sucks knowing that one has to. It sucks even worse knowing that it could easily be both of them.

President Snow picked a horrible time to rig the reaping, but in his eyes, I feel he wants this to happen. He wants to make sure an example is made of district eleven. "The best you can. You do the best you can and you hope the tributes know that you give a damn." Her words hit me harder than they should've, and my heart leaps into my throat before plummeting deep into my stomach. Sorrow and disgust flow through my veins. Caring about them is only going to cause me to grow attached, and being attached will only make it worse when one of them dies. Is it good enough to let them know that I care? Is it enough for them to rest in peace knowing I tried? I do care about them, and seeing them, Carrita and Iain, destroys me.

I take a deep breath before raising my free hand to my face. "I do care about them, Kate. I do. And I think that's what makes this situation grim." A single tear falls from my eyes, but my hand is there to catch it.

Victor Of The 71st Hunger Games

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charade
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Mending Fences [Rade] Feb 9, 2016 5:40:48 GMT -5

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Post by charade on Feb 9, 2016 5:40:48 GMT -5

KATELYN PERSIMMON

For a moment she was sitting in the district quarters alone, watching Kirito trudge through an oil-stained arena, not daring to hope that the first tribute in her care would come home in anything but a coffin. For a moment, Kirito and herself were watching Harbinger stab Daria in the face after losing his leg, and she only then allowed herself the barest glimmer of hope for him. Now, when hope was needed more than ever it seemed even farther away than it had before. Harbinger sat across from her like a statue, unreadable and unmoving. He claimed he was apologetic for his treatment of the other victors, the weight of the two lives in their hands too much for any of the three of them to bear alone.

“I do care about them Kate. I do. And I think that’s what makes this situation grim. His composure broke for a moment, letting a tear slide down his face, but he wiped it away almost immediately. Katelyn’s heart was heavy in her chest. She had known that one day she’d be burying two tributes, and she knew that that day had gotten closer over the past two years, but she’d never thought there’d be a Miristioma to account for. Or a thirteen year old girl. She had expected that she’d be sending two brash and strong eighteen year olds off, just like Annora and Harbinger. That their deaths would sting but they wouldn’t stab, that’d they’d fight hard, that they’ve do their best but it just wouldn’t be enough. This, this was throwing two lambs covered in steak sauce to a starving wolf pack.

Her hand slipped off of his and she kneaded her fingers together. Try as she might, she couldn’t help but see twenty-two of the tributes as potential threats. Deep in her heart she still believed that all of them equally deserved to go home, but then, Kirito hadn’t meant as much to her before; her first three tributes hadn’t hit so close to home. “I know.”She said quietly. “It’s been grim for me ever since I got this job. Older victors told me as much.” She stared at the table, too many things going through her head to say them all; unsure of how many of them needed to said, if any. What she wanted to say was that she just didn’t know what to do at this point except keep trying like she had before, but she doubted Harbinger would want to hear any uncertainty from her.

"But we three beat impossible odds. One of them could too. All we can do is hope.”

"And I don't wanna live like this again
I thought you said it would be so simple"

table coding (c) ghosty

Last Edit: Feb 9, 2016 6:19:54 GMT -5 by charade

16 Jul 12, 23:43
GB: I bet you just sit at your computer with a tea cup and a monocle