Occisora sat at the head of the great glass table. She had made sure this feat was grand even for Capitol standards. The piles of food in the middle of the table were so high you could barely look over them to the other side of the table. The table was long and wide enough for every one to have plenty of room to sit. There would be ample food to take back to the Districts and as a cherry on the cake there were twenty-four chests of supplies for each Tribute's family. They were filled with canned foods and new clothes. The chest for the richer Districts were smaller with less stuff in them. Occisora made sure they were placed in the Tributes rooms with a 'personal' note from her. She felt quite proud of herself. The words of her speech had been so well written she had almost believed them herself. She sat and watched her kingdom, cutting small amounts of food and chewing them thoughtfully. A young girl skipped over to her. The girl smiled widely at her and Occisora smiled pleasantly back.
“Hello, I am Mira Mathews, District 10 Tribute,” She said, holding out her hand. Occisora eyed it before lightly shaking it. “I'm Occisora Crudelis, Head Gamesmaker,” She said, trying to keep her tone and faceial expression as pleasant as possible.
“You look pretty and I like your dress,” She said batting her eyelashes. Occisora felt the urge to scowl and snap at her but smiled lightly.
“So do you, my dear,” She managed to say, “How are you liking the Capitol?”
“I love it. I just wanted to tell you that I'm something special,” She said, turning on her heel and walking off. Occisora looked down at her dress. Pink had been a good choice. It made her look younger, sweeter and more approachable. She continued to eat before a peacekeeper interrupted her. She shoot him a deadly look hoping none of the Tributes could see her face.
“What is it?” She snapped, so quietly that no one could hear over the other gamesmaker's chatter.
“Ms Crudelis, the District 6 escort has quit,” He stammered. Occisora hoped no one noticed how afraid this idiot was of her.
“Due to Vulcan causing a commotion and embarrassing hger on live television.”
“Is there anyway she will stick around,” Occisora said, guessing correctly that the escort is female. She frowned trying to remember who the escort for District 6 was.
“The only way she will stay is if you make sure Vulcan Shrine dies in the bloodbath.”
Occisora's eyes search the crowd for Vulcan. The look on his face when their eyes meet tell her he heard every word. She wanted to send him a reassuring smile but he was already looking at his plate as if it held the answers to the world. How dare this escort make demands of her. She, Occisora Crudelis, was the Head Gamesmaker. She and she alone decided the fate of these young people.
The feast broke up when everyone leaned back in their chairs gazing longingly at the half melted remnants of ice-cream on their plates. The tributes went to their rooms and Occisora stood up from her seat.
“Make sure the lower Districts get more food,” she said to the avox clearing the table.
“You were serious about that?” Morus asked.
“When I make a promise I keep it. I am a woman of my word.” She said striding from the room. Morus stared after her for a moment, perplexed.
“You also said you wanted to make the last moments before the games pleasant,” Morus said, hurrying after her.
“Beef tastes best when the cow has not seen the knife,” she muttered, “besides, they have enough unpleasant moment awaiting them in the arena.”
“You still have not told me what you have in store for them.”
“It is going to be very special,” Occisora murmured, “gather the others first thing tomorrow. We have a few thing to smooth over.”
Morus watched her as she strode to the elevator. Strange, her rooms were on this floor.
Occisora pressed the button for the sixth floor. She straightened her dress and made sure every hair was in place, curling around her face. She walked down the corridor and knocked. She smiled when the avox opened the door.
“I'm looking for Vulcan Shrine,” she said. Vulcan appeared in the doorway.
“What can I do for you, miss,” He asked. Occisora could tell he was doing his best to be nice and it was not easy for him.
“May I come in?” Occisora asked, finding it much easier to seem kind, “I would like to you about the little incident at the reaping ceremony.”
Vulcan grunted and walked over to the living room. He sat on the sofa and Occisora perched next to him.
“I assume you over heard the little conversation I had with the peacekeeper,” Occisora spoke lightly. Vulcan nodded.
“I just want to assure you that you are in no danger what so ever,” she continued, “your escort deserved what you gave her.”
Occisora had really enjoyed his little outburst at the reaping and agreed with what Vulcan had said. It may not be in her power to make that awful woman an avox but she could damn well make sure she never had anything to do with the Hunger Games ever again. Try getting a job after a public humiliation like that.
“Really?” Vulcan asked frowning at her. He must not know what to think about her and that was how she liked it.
“You are more valuable to me than she could ever be,” Occisora said getting to her feet and walking to the door, “I will personally make sure her irksome voice will never dampen a reaping ceremony ever again.”
She exited the room and made her way back to her rooms pulling the pins from her hair as she went.
~
Occisora was the first in the conference room the next morning. She had donned a dress of her preferred colour of silver and her hair was straight once more. She had clipped a few strands from the front at the back of her head to keep her hair out of her face.
Morus was the first to enter.
“Good morning, Occisora,” he said, cheerily.
“Good morning, Mr. Fortibus,” She answered, stiffly. She sat with her ankles crossed on the table before her. Morus had to admire that she could walk in the nine inch silver shoes.
“I am very interested in what you have in store for the Games,” Morus said taking the seat at her right. The others hurried in, took their seats and looked at Occisora expectantly.
“Good morning,” she said taking her feet from the table.
“Good morning, Ms Crudelis.” echoed through the room.
“This year I am going to do this very differently,” she said. Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath.
“Every year the Tributes rush to the cornucopia killing everyone in sight. It is a waste of lives. The bloodbath just means that the winner is not necessarily the best Tribute. It is chaotic making it hard to televise and I have never liked it,” Occisora muttered.
“Yes, you did say there was not going to be a cornucopia,” Morus said, leaning forward eager to hear more.
“Exactly, here will be not bloodbath. The Games will start by showing us who is to be trusted.”
~Sorry for the long intro...~
The Task:
Please add to the top of your entry: Character name, District, Username
You may start your entry anywhere after Occisora's speech.
Your family and friends will get to come to the arena with you and see you go into the tube. The tube will take you up to a strange arena unlike any you have ever seen. You (and the other Tributes) are inside in a strange silver and black room, that looks a bit like an office. There is no cornucopia just three metal doors at the other side. You and your allies will have to get to the door while the other Tributes are trying to kill you. (none of you have any weapons) On each side of the door there is a button, above which it says ‘press to open’. The buttons have to be pressed at the same time for the door to open. But, the buttons are too far apart for one person to reach. So, you are going to have to work together to open the door. When you (and your allies) go through the door you are in a small room made with one big glass door. There is a big red button to open the door but the door closes as soon as you release the button. Again, this requires team work. one of you will have to stay behind and keep the button pressed. On the other side of the door is another button but do you trust your ally enough to let them go through first? At the end of your entry put the name of the person you left behind. (if you didn't leave any one behind you don't need to write anything)
If you did not send in the first task you may participate in this task.
At the hand of the entries I will decide how many (if any) are put up for votes. (Don't worry if you hand something in you are not in danger of being put up for votes)
Please keep your entry under 5 pages.
Due Date: December 29th 11pm GMT