first snare

[fanstheflame]

[everything was fire, and noise, and ash, and chaos. but still, he kept his head, making sure that everyone else was out of harm's way, first. his mother, Rory, Vick, Posy -- but he hears the sounds overhead and he knows it's coming - that this is it and he's got to move. Gale has only a few seconds notice as he breaks into a run down the road, trying not to trip over debris, and launches himself toward the only cover he can see.

behind him, it seems like the whole world erupts, and in a sense, it has. but somehow the flames don't touch Gale, and he lands face down, covering his head with his hands, hoping against hope that he'll make it out, too, and be able to join his family at their rendezvous point outside the Victor's Village. but for now, all he can do is wait for it to pass. he puts his head down, breathes in, expecting to smell the familiar peat-and-metal scent of the District's earth --]

[but the ground is sand. suddenly, inexplicably sand. warm, and fine, and smelling like sun and salt. he opens his eyes and sits up despite the protest in his ribcage, sand sticking to the undersides of his forearms, getting into his cuts and the wound on his cheek as he blinks against the sudden sun and looks around.

a beach. he's on a beach. sudden fear grips him]

No. They didn't.

[and then the fear is replaced by hot, familiar rage. he cranes his head up, searching for the skycams, and even as he starts to bellow, he's calculating what time it is, how long he has before the next horror he'd seen on the TV, how much time he's got to come up with a plan and find the others that are left. to find Katniss.]

LOOK AT YOU! YOU'RE SO DESPARATE THAT YOU BREAK YOUR OWN RULES? What do you think I'm honestly going to do? Scream for help? Break down and cry?

[he casts around in the sand with heat-blistered fingers until he finds a rock. it's the only thing he's got right now - as he hasn't noticed the journal just yet - but he'll sure as hell use it]

You picked the wrong guy, you know that? YOU PICKED THE WRONG GUY!


[sorry, Gale, this isn't the Quarter Quell arena. it's the Seasons Room. ... someone please, please tell the new guy to calm his shit down?]

Comments

[ino]

[.... so there's a pretty blonde girl in a bathing suit a couple of yards away who's kind of ... staring at you over her sunglasses, from her beach chair]

Um ... are you okay? [she'll get up to look, since it looks like he's hurt]

[fanstheflame]

[beach chairs? REALLY, you Capitol assholes? Gale's vaguely perplexed, but there's still so much surface rage that this doesn't cancel it out. he grips the rock tighter in his fist, ready to strike if she moves for him. he doesn't remember her from the coverage - but that doesn't mean anything since he'd mostly had his attention focused on Katniss]

Don't move.

[and then, as an afterthought] What time is it?

dictated

[triela]

There's no need to shout.

[fanstheflame]

[his head whips around, trying to find the source of the voice, gripping the rock more tightly. if someone's sneaking up on him, he's not going to let them snipe him, even if they ARE some Career]

Then get your ass out here and fight! That's what we're HERE for, isn't it? Let's get it over with so one of us can die and the other one can go --

[his voice catches. yeah, home. that's a joke now, isn't it. right. yeah, rage is comfortable right now]

GET OUT HERE!

[peeta_bread]

[Peeta had been walking along the beach, wearing shorts but no shirt or shoes, enjoying the nice weather in this strange room. He really looks as if he's on a vacation, holding a glass of iced tea.

But then he hears the screaming. That voice sounds so familiar, why does it sound so familiar? He hurries toward the source of the sound... and promptly drops his glass in shock.]

...Gale?!

[He tenses when his eyes fall on the rock. He and Gale weren't exactly friends...]

[fanstheflame]

[Peeta Mellark. well damn. Gale's instantly on his feet - and eyeing those shards of broken glass with a hunter's instinct. so this is it. they wanted more of a show so they brought in the "cousin", and now it's got to be one of them or none of them? disgust spirals up his spine, but he won't let them see him shudder]

Yeah. Small arena, isn't it. What time is it?

[demontobeloved]

[And have a demon shimmering into the season's room, pausing as he sees the newcomer.]

Damn it, Paradisa. You've got a thing for not letting me keep a secret, don't you?

[Guy seems to be talking to himself. Whatever, this dude appeared from nowhere. Have fun with that.]

[fanstheflame]

[hunter's instincts kick in instantly, and Gale hurls the rock at Cole's head. with amazing accuracy, actually.

hope he can shimmer out as fast as he can shimmer in]

Dictated

[just_monitoring]

And here I thought 'rules were made to be broken.' Inspiration and perseverance and all that. Although I guess desperation fits right in there too, doesn't it?

why are there not sufficiently angry pics of him yet. WHY.

[fanstheflame]

[a voice from nowhere, talking like that? gotta be from the Capitol. Gale scowls, looking up at the sky]

WELL, YOU'D KNOW, WOULDN'T YOU!

[shepherdsveritas]

[Connor picked a hell of a day to decide to venture into the Seasons Room, see it with his own eyes. Congratulations, Gale. You've just deterred the man from EVER setting foot in here again.

He stares at the man who'd appeared out of nowhere and started screaming at the sky. What the hell is this guy on about? Really? He narrows his eyes when he brandishes the rock.]

An' what if I didn't pick y'at all? Somethin' tells me yer not where y'think y'are.

[fanstheflame]

[the thing that gives Gale pause, makes him hesitate to attack, is the accent. seriously, what did this guy just say? he scowls, taking a moment to decipher it. it's nothing he's ever heard before, even when they broadcast the other Districts. it still doesn't mean he's dropping his guard OR his rock though]

Then where the hell AM I?

dictated

[shadow_immortal]

[there's a bit of a laugh coming from nowhere.]

It seems this place is fond of picking 'the wrong guy'. But you shouldn't worry. There are really no rules here to break.

[fanstheflame]

[instantly he's on his feet, looking for the source of the voice] Who's out there? ... [he'll keep him talking, track him by voice]

Dictated forever

[wastheexample]

[Well, damn. This went and threw a spanner in the works]

Scream louder. I'm sure any minute now they'll change their minds. 'Sorry, Gale', they'll say, 'Our bad. We'll let you go now, no harm done'.

yessssssss

[fanstheflame]

[Haymitch? how the hell is that drunken mess even talking to him? Gale's first thought is that he's hijacked the PA systems somehow, but that's ridiculous, Haymitch isn't smart enough - or, more aptly, sober enough for that. he knows the former Tribute is smart, or he wouldn't have survived. even so, this is a man who's dealt with the Capitol's tricks long enough to be able to know for sure....]

What the hell is going on?

[whether or not he'll TELL him is another story entirely]

[youhavebeenflynned]

[Harry had never been in the Four Seasons room before and when he finds it he's intrigued. He steps in and walks down to the water. He then hears the sound of a small thump and quickly turns around, with his hand on his gun, and stares at the strange man who's screaming to the sky. The 6' 5" tall man relaxes his stance slightly and looks at the new guy with weary eyes.]

Shouting won't help, mate. You're new around here I take it?

[fanstheflame]

[the gun is the first thing Gale notices. he knows he can't do a thing against a gun with a rock, that's not how it works. he lets it drop and raises his hands, though he doesn't have to look happy about it]

You'd know. Where have you brought me? Wouldn't it have been enough just to let me roast along with the rest of my home?!

[tyingknots]

[...You know what? NOT ANOTHER ONE GDI.

Finnick is just sighing over the journal, SIGHING. This is not cool Gale :/ Because he knows exactly when your from now and he doesn't like it.

Doesn't mean he's not going to be cheery though as he approaches him on the beach, grinning. Easier to grin away things, it really is.]

Gale, why don't you just relax, this isn't the arena of the Quarter Quell. [There lets get this out of the way first. Besides why not just enjoy a beach really?]

[fanstheflame]

[Finnick. Finnick Adair is walking up to him and telling him this isn't the -- no. Instantly, he knows what this means. Somehow, however he got here, the Games are over and Katniss is dead. He sets his jaw and grips the rock even tighter] … Who killed her, then? Was it you?

[fanstheflame]

.... [and no, I isn't registering that he shouldn't know him by name AND sight]

dictated;

[accidentalrebellion]

[As a general rule, Katniss has spent much of the past few days mostly ignoring the journals. Even if it had been some of her first proof that what was being said to her might have some truth to it, it's still something she'd rather avoid. An ugly reminder of this situation she's now been thrown in,

But there's one thing she can't ignore.

When it's that voice coming over the journals, she stops everything she's doing. Freezes in place. She'd know it anywhere, and it's absolutely unmistakable. Just one more thing to add to the list of ways this place is most likely fucking with her right now. It seems too soon, too... personal. But despite everything, she has to check.]

Gale?

[fanstheflame]

Katniss!! [he instantly curses himself for letting so much hope show in his voice. he's been watching the Quell, he knows there are Jabberjays here... it's all too easily a trick. but... he can't help it. not right now, not after what he last remembers]

Where are you?!

[peacockherald]

_{[He's noticed this seems to be par for the course on new people. He remembers himself being like this - to a point.]}

You need to calm down. Screaming will not help you.

_{[Not admonishing, but a captain talking his soldiers calm in battle.]}

[fanstheflame]

[he scowls, not liking these voices coming out of nowhere.] Then what will?! I need to get back to my family. They're in danger.

[wishmadeinfire]

_{[Oh the screaming. It's almost cliche now, though he understands the need for it.]}

Calm. Whoever was after you cannot touch you now.

_{{Maybe. He's not sure, but he's going for the most reassuring thing at the moment.]}

[fanstheflame]

I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about my sister and brothers. And the Everdeens.