thecapitol | [OPEN] What you see isn't always what you'll get

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[OPEN] What you see isn't always what you'll get

Who| Cinderella and OPEN
What| Getting to know her fellow tributes.
Where| In the District 11 Suites and The Training Room
When| After her network post.
Warnings/Notes| There are two parts to this log, so you can reply to whatever floats your boat! Warnings about possible arena talk, should be it.

So she'd woken up on a cot, stripped of her possessions that seemed even the least bit dangerous, and now she was... here. Cindy couldn't even care about them taking her things. C'est la vie for the gun and the knife, but that was standard spy protocol. You relieved anything of value from your enemy when you had the chance, and you checked and double-checked about the state of any weapons, and then you figured you had the upper hand.

In this case, they did have the upper hand. Cindy had never heard of the Capitol before, but this place was...pretty crazy, but in an almost pleasing way to her. Lavish parties, having everything you wear and look like picked out by a stylist, who's only job it is is to make you look your best? If she stayed here, she'd never have to go out and get her nails done again.

Anyone in the District 11 suites could see her wandering around with a slightly dazed expression. She needed to figure out what was needed here. Did they want ditzy blonde? Did they want pretty princess? Did they want snarky bitch? She'll have to figure it out soon, though.

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God, if she had any training rooms that looked like this, Cindy would have become the best spy in half the time it took her. While that was still hundreds of years on any mundy, Cindy still would have killed to get to this pile of weapons and other training supplies. Ah, but killing. That's what they were supposed to do in a little bit, wasn't it? They were supposed to start killing each other. And Cindy had seen a lot of kids running around, along with a lot of killers and other such... people. She might be one of the best assassin's in the business, but she didn't do it for money. She did it for Fabletown. So what was she going to do it for, if they weren't here?

But first to start out. All of her real training, she decided, would take place when no one else was around; before most people had woken up, in fact, maybe around six am or so. She could sleep in all she wanted after, because when she came back down for some training, maybe a little after noon, she got to put on her act.

She'd go around and as people questions, she'd flirt a little (and a lot), and she'd try to learn something she didn't actually know. Like knot tying. She could do with learning how to tie some better knots. Maybe throwing a trident or two. But that was what she did when she was in the training room: mornings were spent doing what she needed to do, and afternoons were spent checking out the people she went to for help.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yes," He nodded, he had had sponsors explained to him. "I'm not sure how I could convince anyone I'm worth supporting though." He didn't think just being friendly would do it somehow.

"But all we can do is try."

"Well, I think you're worth supporting," Cindy smiled as she turned back to him, reaching over and patting him on the shoulder. "Chin up. Really, look, you've already got one person on your side, and I'm actually in the arena with you. All you have to do is be yourself."

It had to be obvious, right? The people here, as much as they loved crazy, they liked realism. They liked knowing who the people were. From what Cindy saw, being real was what people wanted.

Shion blushed and smiled gratefully at her words. He wasn't sure about that, he wasn't sure if people would like him just for being him, he wasn't strong or brave. But he tried to take her words to heart.

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome," Cindy smiled. "Now, I'm gonna go train with that edible plant section over there, since I know nothing about plants. You can come along if you'd like? Otherwise, I'm sure I'll see you again, soon."

Shion smiled, "I studied ecology as a child." Of course the plants might be completely different here but he could probably work it out better than someone who knew nothing. "I can show you if you want."

"You studied ecology?" Cindy asked, raising an eyebrow. "I never studied ecology in school." actually, she'd never been to school. Not something they had back home for girls like her.

"If you want to. I don't want to take you away from anything else."

He nodded, "Until I was twelve." He hadn't quite graduated with his ecology degree, he had been kicked out and demoted instead, it was a long story.

"You taught me about daggers, I should teach what I know."

"Well, then, lead the way, good sir!" Cindy smiled. She'd wait for him to lead the way, if only because it was nice. The section they needed to go to was right there, anyway, it wasn't a long walk.

"How old are you now?"

He smiled back and led her to the table, it really wasn't far. "Sixteen. But I haven't forgotten anything."

"Really, you're sixteen? You look... well, a little younger. But that's good! Everyone wants to look younger these days." She didn't mind being led, and once they got to the table, she was glad she had him around. This was definitely not her forte, not one bit.

"Right. Huh. Okay."

He nodded, "I am." He guessed he did look a little younger than that, but not by much he hoped.

He sat down with a smile and looked at the notes and pictures. "Well I guess the important things are learning which plants are safe to eat and which are poison. I figure if you learn a few that are edible and learn the dangerous plants that look similar, then that will be a good start. The best rule is just not to eat anything that you are not sure is safe. It's better to go hungry then die of poison."

"Okay, smart guy. Learn the edible ones, and their evil doppelgangers. Seems easy enough," Cindy shrugged. Sure, it sounded easy, but now that they were actually surrounded by different plants, and pictures of plants, and all kinds of plants...

Well, shit. "Which one is the best to learn first?"

Shion glanced around, glad that he knew most of them and picked a few pictures of berries. "Plants have poisons as a defensive system, they don't want to be eaten by insects, they want to spread and populate just like any other living thing."

He began going through some pictures, explaining the differing berries though he had no idea what they would come across in the arena.

"As you can see some of the berries themselves look very similar, so it is important to study the leaves as well."

"And not be eaten by insects, like all human beings," Cindy joked, picking up a few as well, but looking at the pictures he was showing her.

"Okay... so if I find something that looks like a raspberry, but the leaves are different then raspberry leaves... then that's no good? Or maybe it's good? What if you can't find any leaves?"

"If you don't know exactly what it is then don't eat it. Or if you don't see the leaves, if you aren't completely sure it's a raspberry then leave it alone." He found some more pictures, "It might mean going a little hungrier but it's better than dying of poison."

"Have you ever been so hungry you'd eat anything on sight?" Cindy asked, glancing at him with her eyes, rather then turning her head. "Almost to the point of where you didn't care about what you were eating, so long as you could eat it?"

"Yeah." He stared at the plants for a moment before touching his hair subconsciously, "I have. I'd still prefer that than most poisons."

"Me too," Cindy laughed. "Okay. Let's save the poisons for last resorts, huh? Last resorts are always fun." Until you either had to take it, or no choice to take it.

"Let's try and avoid last resort until they become a last resort." He murmured looking sad all of a sudden.

Cindy nodded. "So what about eating? There's this myth thing back home that you can't eat the flower part of a dandelion, but you can eat the stem and leaves. Is that true?"

Shion shook his head, "You can eat the flower, but the stem whilst not deadly can make you sick. If you've ever split open a dandelion it's the sap you can see that could make you ill." He blinked at her, "Apparently they taste nicer before the flower has bloomed though, but they are very nutritious so if you find them in the arena, they will be a good food source."

"Whoever came up with that myth really messed things up," Cindy rolled her eyes. And she could never see any yellow underneath anyone's chin when they did that whole buttercup 'if you eat a lot of butter' trick.

"Okay. So just the flower, not the stem. Are most flowers like that? At least I know when to pick them so they taste better... not that I know how the usually taste, so."

"It depends on the flower really, some you can't eat at all, some are part poisonous." He frowned, "There are a lot you can eat though, but to be safe only eat the petals, not the middle part."

"Takes the whole 'he loves me, he loves me not' thing to a really twisted level if you only eat the petals," Cindy laughed. She could just imagine people doing that.

Shion blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"

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