|
|
Post by William Mandela on Jul 26, 2013 17:18:48 GMT -6
William approaches the pool a while after leaving the common room. He's dressed in the slacks and button up he wore upon entry to the tribute's suite, he carrys a grey knapsack which appears to have a length of rope and several pairs of old shoes in it.
He inches towards the edge and stares wistfully at the glassine surface of the water.
Memories of home begin to fill his mind.
With a huff, he straightens up... and leaps into the pool!
Taking no pause he immediately begins sprinting to the other side without coming up for air. He takes one lap, then another, and another. Every instinct in his body tells him to stop, tells his to just lift his head and take that easy breath. His lungs burn, his veins pump battery acid.
After his third pass he slows and allows himself a raked gasp.
His motion slows to near torpidity, he sets in for a distance swim. The gent lapping and wet slap of cloth on water belie the graceful and flexuous motion etched into his muscle memory...
The lone boy swims on.
|
|
|
|
Post by Decimus Augusta on Jul 26, 2013 21:52:10 GMT -6
William glides to the end of the pool finally exhausted by the sprints. He looks up to see a long haired boy sitting in sun chair nearby watching him. "That was quite a performance you just gave." he says, "You must be from District 4. Well let me introduce myself, my name is Decimus." he says reaching out a hand.
|
|
|
|
Post by William Mandela on Jul 26, 2013 22:05:18 GMT -6
Taking the offered hand, William introduces himself. "Indeed I am." With a firm tug he sends Decimus tumbling into the pool. "And you be from district One, thinking you can't be bested." Sliding out of the pool he adds, "Never confront a man in his element." He turns toward a bench and pulls a sealed bag out of his knapsack, retrieving the micro-fiber towel contained therein.
"Stay on your toes."
|
|
|
|
Post by Decimus Augusta on Jul 26, 2013 22:31:58 GMT -6
Decimus burst up from the water laughing, "I'm liking you better by the second", he says swimming to the side of the pool and effortlessly jumping out. "You know though this is a brand new silver spun shirt from Gem and Pearl. I'm sure you wouldn't understand it's value." he says wringing out his clothes. "Let's just say it's worth more mackerel then your daddy could ever fish in a week!", he says lunging at William. Decimus' Grecco-Roman wrestling kicks in and he grabs William by the legs arching his back to bring his opponent to the ground. "Whoa you still have some fight in you!" he laughs scrambling with the boy for position. "You know if you keep this up they'll only have 23 tributes. The Game Maker might get a little overwrought if that happens." Decimus takes an opportunity and jostled out of the fray. "Can't wait to see what you do in training," he smirks and leaves, his clothes still dripping.
|
|
|
|
Post by William Mandela on Jul 26, 2013 23:09:46 GMT -6
William shakes his head as he turn back to his bag. Placing his towel back he withdraws a three barreled metal item from his sack. A Konig-Straut flute, common in port cities and the Navy...
He hums himself a jaunty, maritime cadre and sings the line, "...hurrah for the Black Ball Line..." as he dives in and keep swimming.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dolan Tawt on Jul 27, 2013 7:20:40 GMT -6
Dolan stays out of sight as the boy from 1 leaves sopping wet.
Quite the display on either end Dolan thinks to himself
That will definitely be worth some points for both of them
Dolan had been feeling anxious about these games but he was beginning to reach the point of becoming the coldblooded calculating strategist that he knew lurked beneath his normally gentle nature. Dolan would typically attempt to suppress this, but he was letting it grow rampant, it would help him survive.
Training hadn't even started yet and already certain strengths were becoming apparent. The monster from 1 was an extremely capable hand to hand fighter, best not to try and contest that one without a weapon and a plan of action. Dolan expected the boy from 4 to be a good swimmer, but not to this extent, he must be something of a marvel even amongst his district.
Dolan was beginning to like the boy from 4 more and more.
Dolan takes out the pencil and pad that he requested from his mentor and makes his notes. This boy from 1 was making a name for himself already for sure, and he seemed the most dangerous.
Placing his pencil and small pad of paper into his pocket Dolan makes his exit.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dolan Tawt on Jul 29, 2013 18:52:00 GMT -6
Dolan returns to the pool after his hard day at training. He had embarrassed himself and he had begun to wonder if it was worth learning to scout at the cost of sponsor points. Knowing what's in an area could really save his life, but so could supplies from sponsors. He was conflicted and none of the notes he had taken seemed to point him in any direction for tomorrow. Except for the pool, he could doggie paddle and keep afloat but that was about it for him. He wondered if he should try and learn a few strokes tomorrow.
For now though he just wanted to cool off, so he sat down at the edge of the pool and removed his shoes and socks as well as rolling up his pants. Dolan sighed with pleasure as he leaned back onto his palms and lowered his feet into the cool water of the pool. The sound of lapping water and nothing else was soothing to Dolan and he reveled in the calm and comfort he was feeling. For it would not last, and he knew it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Adriana "Age" Leaf on Jul 29, 2013 19:17:03 GMT -6
Age enters from the large archway leading to the courtyards. She walks across the length of the pool and spots Dolan.
"Hey, you're Dolan from District 12, right? I think someone was looking for you."
|
|
|
|
Post by Dolan Tawt on Jul 29, 2013 19:37:17 GMT -6
Dolan looks back at the call of his name
"Oh? Uh, well, do you know where they are?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Adriana "Age" Leaf on Jul 29, 2013 19:42:22 GMT -6
"I just saw him and he ran off somewhere. And by 'him' I mean..." Age trailed off. She had no idea what his name was. "The singing guy?" She paused. "The black ball line!" she sang in a mock deep voice.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dolan Tawt on Jul 29, 2013 19:50:54 GMT -6
"The singing guy? I'm not sure who that is." Dolan laughed a little bit.
"Hey thanks for trying to let me know at least, you didn't have to do that. My name's Dolan, what's yours?" Dolan wiggled his toes in the water a bit as he spoke.
|
|
|
|
Post by Adriana "Age" Leaf on Jul 29, 2013 20:02:18 GMT -6
"Age!" she replied brightly. "As in my name is Adriana, Age for short. I'm not demanding to know how old you are or something. Are you a swimmer? I mean, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. You probably want to keep your talents secret, right?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Dolan Tawt on Jul 29, 2013 20:21:23 GMT -6
Dolan shrugged
"I'm not concerned about people knowing my strengths, mostly about them knowing my weaknesses."
Dolan get's up lifting his feet from the water and picks up his shoes.
"I'm fifteen for your information, I really don't think that's something I really need to hide." Dolan says as he puts on his shoes.
|
|
|
|
Post by Alys Stout on Jul 29, 2013 20:27:58 GMT -6
Alys listened to Age and Dolan talking by the pool and belatedly piped in "His name's William... the singing guy that is."
She then hops into the pool, and attempts to swim, but has clearly spent little time in water. She hopes to practice her swimming tomorrow, thinking that perhaps William could teach her a little bit about swimming during the second training day.
|
|
|
|
Post by Adriana "Age" Leaf on Jul 29, 2013 20:31:01 GMT -6
"In that case, is one of your strengths hunting or scouting? I'm looking for a partner to help me out during skill training. If you're planning on showing off some strengths to the sponsors, would you mind teaching me a bit?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Dolan Tawt on Jul 29, 2013 20:37:03 GMT -6
Dolan laughed,
"If you could have seen me trying to learn scouting today you would not be asking me that" Dolan chuckled a bit more.
"Hunting I know a little of, but probably not enough to teach you better than the people at the stations." Dolan said sadly.
Dolan laughed again when Alys jumped into the pool, it looked fun. Dolan had forgotten that he shouldn't worry so much about people seeing his weakness, because odds were he would be dead in a few days anyway and he might as well live it up while he could. Taking a running start he cannon balled into the pool, clothes and all.
|
|
|
|
Post by William Mandela on Jul 29, 2013 21:38:35 GMT -6
"Good I've found you. Do... How did you guys get here before me? Never mind there isn't much time. Alliances are being drawn and power is shifting hands. I need to ask you for your compliance in tomorrow's training exercises and hopefully there after."
William glances about trying to read his company's expressions.
"We... my associates and I... have at our availability Masteries in Swimming, Fighting and Scouting. We're looking for people with expertise in Survival, Hunting and/or Gathering to skill swap. Frankly I think this is the exact mix of people I need to be talking to, am I right?"
His eyes continue to dart around, he hopes he hasn't just made a huge mistake.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dolan Tawt on Jul 29, 2013 21:42:42 GMT -6
" well uh, unfortunately my hunting and survival are not any better than anything the attendants can show you." Dolan says rubbing his head.
"I'm more versed in other things..." Dolan looks a little down trodden.
"I really wish I could have helped you."
|
|
|
|
Post by William Mandela on Jul 30, 2013 5:21:26 GMT -6
You seen like a guy who can get things, I remember those pastries on the first day. Is stealth more your thing?
|
|
|
|
Post by Dolan Tawt on Jul 30, 2013 7:21:50 GMT -6
Dolan nodded a bit at William.
"I know some stuff I can teach you about it yeah. I wouldn't mind working on it with you tomorrow if you want."
|
|
|
|
Post by William Mandela on Jul 30, 2013 7:25:32 GMT -6
Cool, since our submissions don't officially count until noon, would you like to head back and train in scouting together? At least we can work off each other to get better?
|
|
|
|
Post by Dolan Tawt on Jul 30, 2013 7:26:22 GMT -6
"Sounds good. I'll head over to the training center and I'll meet you there."
|
|
|
|
Post by Decimus Augusta on Jul 30, 2013 9:12:27 GMT -6
'Scouting?' Decimus repeats walking through the entrance to the pool. 'What could you scrubs possibly know about scouting?' he chuckles setting down his beach towel, and turns to William. 'You did ruin my shirt yesterday, but I might still have a soft spot in my heart for a pathetic brat. How about a teach show you some of the best practices for scouting? And in return... Well we'll discuss that at a later date' he grins.
|
|
|
|
Post by Millie Cartwright on Jul 30, 2013 9:30:36 GMT -6
"Decimus you rat bastard! Where are you?" Millie yelled as she raced out onto the pool side. Scanning the deck she quickly ran up to her fellow tribute and held one of her blades to his throat, "Thought you could ditch me THAT easily did you? Well if that's what you think then you have anoth-" she paused when she noticed the other tributes next to Decimus.
Slowly she removed the blade from across his throat. "I mean...um...uh..." a cute smile appeared on her face and her voice raised an octive to a cute pitch that matched the newly aquired smile, "how was that?" She cocked her head to the side and swished her hair. "Was that how I should make an entrance?"
She smiled at the other tributes, "You know being so young and cute Decimus was just ever so worried that I would be an easy target for other tributes once the game started so he has been teaching me how to seem more tough." Millie let out an exagerated sigh, "It's so hard but you know thats Decimus for you. He just never gives up on me."
"Anyway," Millie said adressing the other tributes, "The names Millie!"
|
|
|
|
Post by William Mandela on Jul 30, 2013 9:33:48 GMT -6
Reticently, William accepts the offer, on the condition that the girl from his district doesn't show.
At the sight of the new girl Millie, "well get out of my dreams and into my boat!" He swaggers up in the best manner his 13 years could afford. "Names William Mandela enchanted to meet you."
He reaches for her hand and puckers his lips...
|
|
