Merielle Sands

What was their childhood like?

Merielle’s birth mother passed away shortly after giving birth, and no one knew the father, but she was luckier than most as her mother had come from a large family that were more than happy to raise the newest addition. She was taken in by her aunt and uncle who were both deaf and had three older children already, and the only thing she new of her mother were stories she was told as she grew up. Not that she ever sat still long enough to listen to the whole story. As soon as she could walk, she was running. As soon as she could talk, she was singing. As she grew up she was definitely a jack of all trades, and though her family couldn’t afford to send her to the academy she would trade services in exchange for learning. Fixing a broken net for lessons in basic hand to hand combat, or teaching basic sign language in order to learn how to make a shelter, even creating fishing lures so that she could learn how to throw a trident with decent accuracy.

How did they feel about the games before being reaped?

Merielle’s family would gather to watch the games, she had a morbid fascination with them, and they would do their chores as they watched. It became a bonding moment for Merielle and all of her cousins to be weaving fishing nets as the games were shown, all of them increasingly aware that they could be reaped at any point.

When Merielle was reaped she was only 14 years old. There were no volunteers.

What was their trajectory in the arena & how did they win their game?

Underdog was an understatement. No one expected the girl from district 4 to have any hope against careers and those older than her. What they didn’t count on, however, was how easily she could endear herself to others. She knew that she would be underestimated and she knew that she was going to need support from sponsors if she was to have any chance of surviving. Merielle happily played the part of wide-eyed young girl, amazed at seeing the Capitol for the first time, and made sure that it was known just how much fun she was having making friends with the people of the Capitol. She laughed easily and sung songs wherever she walked. She watched everything.

In the arena the tributes were faced with an incredible sight. Their pedestals were placed in a large moat - a huge castle in front of them and a forest behind them. When the countdown finished everyone jumped from their pedestal, some headed for the forest, but most went swimming directly towards the cornucopia. In the frenzy, Merielle was able to swim around the moat more and pull herself up onto dry ground further around the castle wall.

Eventually she found a small hole in the wall, whether intentional or not, it was perfect for Merielle to squeeze through as she headed towards the building itself. Unfortunately, she was not the first tribute through, and she was spotted. She recognised him as one of the older tributes, from 10 she thought, and as he took a step towards her she took off in a sprint towards a door that was already slightly ajar. The door flew open as she hit it, and upon first glance what faced her was an empty hallway, but the whirr-click had Merielle immediately dropping to the ground.

After what felt like an eternity she glanced over her shoulder, and pinned to the wall by a wooden spear, was the tribute from 10. The dagger he had once wielded was now on the ground and as the cannon sounded she scrambled to grab it before carefully looking down the hallway. She tried to stop her breath from shaking as she crept down the hallway and eventually she made it to a narrow staircase. With her dagger in one hand and the other feeling along the cold stone, she came to the top of a tower that overlooked at least half of the forest. Deciding that this was about as safe as she would be for now, she curled up near the doorway and tried to get some rest, though she flinched at every small sound. Merielle managed to get some rest after watching the faces of the ten dead tributes flash up in the sky.

Day 2

She ventured back down the staircase, following the scent of food, and scooped some up into a napkin before creeping outside. She spotted a tribute that must have made her way out of the forest last night, though she looked to be half-dead in the grass.

Merielle gently nudged her with her toe and at the sudden movement they both jolted away from each other, the other girl looked deathly pale and close to dying, so Merielle carefully unfolded the napkin and wordlessly offered the food. *District 2. Career. She could kill me in seconds.* Were the thoughts that ran through Merielle’s head. But the other girl reached out with a shaking hand to take a handful of berries and some meat from the offered food, eating them so quickly anyone would think she had never eaten before. Merielle was almost sad that her suspicions were confirmed as she watched the girl choke to death, poisoned by the food left out for them, and once the cannon went off she slipped back inside, leaving the napkin of food on a small table in case anyone else wanted to try it. Another three cannons went off before she went to sleep.

Day 3

A gift floated towards her - bread, water, and wire. She could have wept but she ate half of the bread and sipped at the water, wondering if she should try her chances downstairs again. She decided against that for the moment, instead she set herself to the task of making a net out of the wire and set up a trap that once stepped in by someone trying to open the door to the tower would result in them being strung up by their feet. She flinched at the sound of two cannons, one after the other, and paused as if she would be able to hear anything from this high up. She wrapped her bread up and stashed it in her jacket before deciding that straying too far would be a bad idea. That was confirmed when there was rumble and trees started collapsing, like dominoes, more cannons among the noise and Merielle knew that the rest of the tributes were being hearded towards the castle.

Day 4

She was woken up to the sound of her trap being sprung, and immediately grabbed her dagger, dangling in front of her was a boy not much older than her but she still slit his throat. She was taken off guard by the person running up behind him to grab her, Merielle yelped and tried to swing at her attacker with her dagger but she was immediately overpowered, and soon she was being dangled over the edge of the tower with the cold waters of the moat below her. A cannon sounded as she hit the water and wondered briefly if it was hers. But it wasn’t, and she was still in the game, though cold and wet once more.

As another cannon went off Merielle crept back into the castle, and with the final cannon she realised that there was only one more tribute left. They met in the ballroom.

The boy from district 1 had donned some armour for himself - a helmet, breastplate, and sword. Compared to Merielle with the clothes she entered the arena with, a bloody dagger, and a spear, it looked as though the victor was obvious. So as he lunged at her she all but danced in comparison, and having more knowledge of the castle gave her a slight upper hand too. She watched as he stepped onto a pressure plate, obvious to her by the discolouration, and the electric shock debilitated him - only enhanced by the armour he had put on - and while he was frozen, Merielle delivered the final blow with her spear. Then she delivered it again and again and again, sobbing and screaming until she was hoarse and everything was over.

How were they affected by their experiences in the game?

Merielle had to slip back into being the happy young girl that had originally arrived in the Capitol, and she was able to sell that, dazzling with her smile and her infectious laughter. The people of the Capitol didn’t need to know that she was waking up in a cold sweat most nights, or that she could hardly eat out of fear of her food being poisoned, and they definitely didn’t need to know that the tribute from District 4 now had a fear of drowning so intense that being out in a thunderstorm made her panic.

Returning home to District 4, to her large family, was a blessing and a curse. They were glad that she had survived but there was no avoiding that she was irrevocably changed. She managed to smile her way through her victory tour, and it didn't feel like long before she was thrown into mentoring other tributes, the smile rarely faltered as she trained them to die. Behind closed doors she allowed the smile to fade, but it never got easier sending tributes into an arena.

What are they like as a mentor?

As a mentor, Merielle only wants the best for her tributes, and she knows what the odds are. She will give them all the time and advice that she can, but she makes it clear that until they are in the arena, any training they do is to make sure they can survive as well as possible. That said, if a tribute from any district comes to her for training or advice she will provide it, but no one is ever sure if she’s truly helping or if she is setting them up for failure - sometimes, neither is she.

What is their personality?

Merielle does not trust easily and prides herself on being able to read people very well. Those who don’t know her well know her as a bubbly young woman, always ready with a smile and a song, and as someone who doesn’t care for the tributes. Those who do know her well, know that she cares deeply for every tribute that she helps, and that the smile is so well practiced that sometimes she believes it herself.

Strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths - loyal, kind, resilient, charming

Weaknesses - calculating, restless, secretive, stubborn