Splitting Ways

[Seth Judkins]

Seth's legs were feeling much better after the massages and a shot of morphling he purchased from the sponsors. He made it up the stairs on his own into the dimly lit corridor on the 3rd level.

He could see the glow of the hovercrafts on the opposite side of the chamber and instantly knew what that meant. He scowled.

"They're forcing us to split up!"

[Arnie Thistle]

A feeling of dread began to fill Arnie as he noticed the hovercraft waiting on the other side.

"I suppose it had to happen sometime. To the north lie the careers as well as my district mate. I have a feeling they are teaming up, if anyone goes that way they need to be ready to fight. Olive is to the south along with a few others. I'm willing to go anywhere. Any strong opinions?"

[Derrick Voss]

Derrick looked at the hovercrafts. Glanced at the ones facing south. Then glanced at the couple of rabbits he saw darting around.

"Whoever goes north definitely should get some weapons. I'm prepared for that, but if the option is currently available for everyone, who knows who is going to be there when we arrive?" He thought briefly of Olive and how she might try to find him. "I suppose that means a weapon any way you look at it..." he trailed off, continuing to think of other things.

His stomach rumbled. He stuck a thumb out in the direction of the rabbits, "Should that be on the list of things to figure out as well? I could probably last another day, but after that I'll be relying on the sponsors if I can't get anything."

[Jorn Oxen]

Ox sat down, they were being split up, he knew it would happen eventually but he had hoped that it would be later rather than sooner.

"Three up. Two North and then Two South..." Ox said solemnly. He thought long and hard about what should be done. He was loath to leave Alicia but it would be best if she went up and away from any potential killers in the other towers.

"I'll volunteer to go to another of the towers, I have food and my axe, I can ask for something from my sponsors too to help me fight, who knows maybe Ill get rid of some of them for you guys." Ox finished a little sadly. He knew that what he was doing was probably a suicide mission, but if it meant the others living longer then he was going to fight as hard as he could.

[Ayla Farrow]

Ayla somehow found her way into the circle of her friends who were discussing what to do. "Well shit." She was so confused by the drama of the jay's that she barely knew what was going on. "Split up? Those fuckers."

She tried to think of the best plan. Ox was willing to fight. Ayla was very impressed by his selflessness. What should she do? Her mind turned immediately to Seth. She dreaded the thought of leaving him. She wanted to stay with him no matter where she went. If she did leave, she absolutely needed a weapon - and probably some morphling to be safe. The jabberjays had taken a serious toll on her.

[Arnie Thistle]

"Ox, I feel a strong bond with you brother. Why don't we make a go of it on one of the other towers, I think we can equip up and use one of those jabberjays to get a good idea of what we are going to be jumping into." Though Arnie wasn't as skilled in combat as Ox, it was becoming clear that a decision had to be made sometime. "I can get a solid weapon and some supplies from the sponsors and I have food for two more days still."

[Jorn Oxen]

Ox held out a strong hand to Arnie looking for a hardy embrace.

"Mah Man." Ox said with a grin. He wasn't alone and it felt good. He hefted his axe in his opposite hand and shook it above his head.

"Lets go fuck 'em up!" Ox looked for Alicia and gave her a sad look, he was glad to have Arnie with him, but he was going to worry deeply about her.

"Now where should Arnie and I head to? Who is going to take the other tower and who will we send up?"

[Derrick Voss]

Derrick was a bit disappointed in himself for not speaking up quick enough to go with Ox. He put a hand on Ox's shoulder. "Man, I wish I could go with you. You were the first friend I made here in the games. I'll protect Alicia for you until we meet up again."

[Ayla Farrow]

Ayla considered for a moment. "I supposed Seth and I could try to take on of the new towers... Seth what do you think? We are both well skilled in combat."

"Arnie, how is your relationship with Rosie? I think we need to consider that it's entirely possible that she has teamed up with the careers. She's managed to survive amongst them, but that might be just because they haven't gotten to her yet."

"Olive is to the south. We could try to get her to join our side... but then again she might have teamed up with Fortune, Kiki and Ashton." So far they all seem to have managed to keep each other alive. There doesn't seem to be any foul play going on there.

She then turned to Derrick, Rosa, and Alicia. "I don't think it's safe to assume that the three of you will be safe. I bet there will be some tributes coming over... possibly from the West, so make sure you're prepared for anything."

[Seth Judkins]

“Ayla has a good point,” said Seth. “We may not be the only ones being forced to switch towers, so we don’t know where the Careers will end up for sure. But it’s still likely that they will be in the North Tower. Perhaps Ayla and I should head that way since we are the most skilled in combat. Plus, I just bought a Smoke Bomb, so we are both able to create diversions if they try to attack first.”

"Derrick, Ox, I'm trusting you guys to be leaders. Keep our teammates alive. If possible, we should all try and meet back in West Tower since three of us will already be there. We can always use Jabberjays to communicate if we need to. Don't be afraid to spend your Sponsor Points if you get in trouble."

[Taylor Shorthorn]

Rosa sat quietly listening to the members of her alliance speak. She knew that of all the people in this discussion they probably knew her the least and that was no one's fault but her own. She would go where they thought it was best for all of them but she would miss the feeling of safety they provided. Rosa knew she had plenty of food and now a Jabberjay but she didn't want to take chances and she kinda wanted to get to know these other kids before they split ways...possibly forever.

"So," she ventured adjusting her wig absentmindedly as it had been thrown a touch askew by her attempt to catch a squirrel, "Where would you like me to go exactly?" She knew they had just been talking about it but she preferred the bluntness of the ranchers he had grown up with back home.

[Jorn Oxen]

Ox suddenly smacked himself in the forehead with his hand.

"Duh! What are we doing!?" He said excitedly, not nearly so grim as before

"Why don't we just ask our sponsors for one of those remote thingies like Arnie used to get to us earlier? We'll head back over from the towers we get to tight away without having to be split up for too long!" Ox said putting his axe back into his belt.

[Alicia Swather]

Alicia wanted to volunteer to go with Ox. She felt safest with him, no matter which enemies were waiting for them in the other towers. But Arnie had volunteered first. Alicia forced a smile to mask her concern. Derrick and Rosa would make for good company, she reassured herself.

“Looks like you’re with me!” Alicia said clapping Rosa hard on the back. “You guys better hurry back. The party’s just getting started in West Tower!”

[Arnie Thistle]

As a plan was being formed Arnie looked around and noticed that both Derrick and Alicia looked pained as they realized that Ox wouldn't be traveling with them. Being a bit of a free agent, Arnie had volunteered to leave because he didn't have serious personal ties with any one person. Not so with some of the other tributes. He really should have considered that before offering to head out with Ox.

"Any way I go, I'll be giving them hell but I don't want to separate anyone. Especially not since this may be the last time we are all together. I could reevaluate my choice if anyone feels strongly."

[Ayla Farrow]

Ayla had a lot on her mind. What was smartest... Buying a weapon, or saving that money for food and morphling. Ox had mentioned the remotes- which was an enticing option... But Ayla has the feeling that the game maker would continue to force them apart until they ran out of sponsor points.

Rosa had finally appeared to a team meeting for the first time since the games began. Ayla became distracted by this and asked the question that had been on her mind since the party. It had been so obvious to her that she was surprised no one else has brought it up, maybe thy were just being polite. "So Rosa, if you will, what's your real name? What made you decide to take your sister's place?"

[Taylor Shorthorn]

Rosa was enjoying actually being part of the team for once. Her thoughts were on Arnie and Alicia who she would now have to prove herself to so she answered without thinking, "Well she just had a chil-" She swallowed hard. "I mean," she laughed nervously, "Ah ha ha I have no clue what you mea..." But their eyes were probably already on her. It was too late... If they had noticed the game maker certainly had. Hopefully Rosa had just managed to get far enough away by now that it wouldn't matter.

"Is it really that obvious?" he said slowly. He reached for the wig and took it off in what felt like forever, "Well I guess I don't need this anymore..."

Underneath was revealed a boy with the same auburn hair obviously much shorter but with the same slight swoop in it. It was obvious he was related to the person he had been pretending to be. He reached into the satchel containing his food and jabberjay and took out a pair of basic black rimmed glasses. As he put them on it became obvious that he had been squinting this entire time. "So, I guess you can call me Taylor," he said with a weak smile, "what was it you were asking me?"

[Derrick Voss]

Derrick smiled and held his hand out to Taylor, "Nice to finally meet you, Taylor."

[Ayla Farrow]

Ayla was satisfied that her assumptions had not been misled. "Hey, Taylor. I'd been wondering who was hiding under all of that hair! Nice to meet you." She said as she extended her hand.

She turned to Seth. "So are we doing this? Lets come up with a plan. Are we going to try and attack the other tributes? I mean we have to at some point, and I could use the extra sponsor points. I think if anyone encounters Olive, they should try to treat her as an ally. She will be useful adding to our numbers. Seth, if we go north, it's possible that it would be the three of them against the two of us. And they all have weapons. It's a dangerous situation for sure. I know they will attack, so we will likely need to as well."

"I think I'm going to have to buy both food and a weapon, which will majorly deplete my supply of sponsor points - but I don't see any other way around it. Seth, we're just going to have to fight our asses off."

[Seth Judkins]

"I don't think we have a choice," Seth said seriously. "I really believe they killed both Jessie and Mave so they're going to attack us on sight. I think our best option is to use our items tactically. We can blind them with the smoke bombs and then move into position for a counterattack. And yes, we'll have to fight to the death. We can't afford to leave them alive."

"But first I'm going to use the Jabberjay I just found to spy on them. Then we can know for sure if Rosie is in their alliance."

[Ayla Farrow]

"Excellent choice!" Ayla was beyond excited by this prospect. "Knowledge is one of the most valuable weapons." Knowing if Rosie was with the careers could certainly make or break the game. "I just don't know whether or not I should buy a weapon. I certainly need to buy morphling after that horrible experience with the jays," she shuttered "but I don't know what to do a about a weapon. It seems like the best option at times... because then we'll be better matched with the careers. But what I can't help but think about how I might not be able to get enough food. I'll be okay for one more day... but after that who knows. My survival skills are not strong. I just don't know what to do!"

[Taylor Shorthorn]

Taylor looked down at the smoke bomb he had just received from his sponsor. He wasn't much of a fighter at all but his survival and wit were well above average so if he could just stay alive her could help his alliance alive as well. "Look," he began, "I'm not much of a fighter ya know? But I can definitely keep you all alive from the things that are trying to kill us that don't involve having a sword swung in my face."

He grinned for the first time since getting into the arena which made him look somewhat akin to a Cheshire Cat. His eyes flashed with a spark that seemed to have been hidden under that wig all this time as well, "But...I have to admit I'd be much better at accomplishing that if we found a way to keep me alive. So lets strategize here."

Taylor looked over at Derick, "It seems like you also have a good handle on survival and a quick mind like I do but your other strengths don't lie in being quick on your feet like mine do. Are you handy with a weapon perhaps?" He looked over at Alicia before continuing, "And Alicia it seems like your mind is as sharp as Derick's but you don't have the fleetness of foot or survival sense of someone like me," he paused realizing that this could be construed as rude, "Which obviously means you are talented in other areas. Hopefully combat as well. Because if the three of us shoot on up to the next level of this tower without even one among us talented in knocking people on their asses we're walking into what could be our deaths."

He looked around at everyone sitting around planning with him realizing that this was the most he had talked since...ever, "I mean its a good plan and all but I want to make sure that we have some combat ready tributes in all three parties and that they are actually armed because I am pretty much useless with a sword and I have to admit I didn't get around enough during training to really know how all of you fare as well."

[Arnie Thistle]

Arnie listened to Taylor really speak for the first time and figured now would be a good time to show the group his new weapon, a nicely polished Scythe.

Looking to Seth, who always seemed to have his plans laid out Arnie spoke up. "I've got this shining beauty and the sponsors have been so kind as to provide me with Morphling so I am ready to roll. I can use it well and am a bit of a jack of all trades. Point me in the right direction and I will go where I am told." Arnie was used to being directed in his work on the farm and not having that here was out of his comfort zone.