Coral Starling

## bio

*Coral Starling (she/her). District Four Mentor. 117 Victor. Twenty-six. Davika Hoorne.*

* What was their childhood like?

Her memories from District four were something she looked back to fondly. Growing up swimming around and playing on the beach all day while her father went off fishing, or having competitions with her brother on who could hold their breath for longer. Her childhood was filled with positive memories, but it hadn't been perfect. There had been long weeks of her father being out at sea, needing to meet the quota of fish the capitol set. Whenever he'd been gone too long she had trouble sleeping, spending the whole day looking out at the water waiting for him to return. Her brother was a couple of years older than her and enrolled in the Career academy, always showing her what he'd learnt in the hopes of preparing her in case she got reaped in her first year. Being from District four, they knew it was rare, getting reaped at twelve and no one volunteering, but their parents always said it was better to be safe than sorry. So even though she grumbled and moaned they practiced swimming, throwing knives and holding their breaths. They quizzed each other on edible plants and other necessities for survival.

* How did they feel about the games before being reaped?

As a child, she didn't take preparing for the games very serious, but when her best friend got reaped when they were 14 and she watched her die on the first day of the games, that had stopped. She vowed to do everything she could to be as prepared as possible if she'd have the misfortune of being chosen. Coral didn't plan on volunteering and had been unable to sleep for the whole night every year before the mornings of the Reapings, due to the fear of having her name being the one that was called.

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

The Arena she had been in was a small island surrounded by deep water with the cornucopia set in the middle of the island. While everyone ran towards the cornucopia and a third of the people died in the bloodbath, she ran into the other direction towards the water. Her endurance and training had paid off quickly, with most of the tributes being unable to swim and meeting their demise soon after. Coral knew all she had to do was hold out long enough and swim far enough for the other tributes to be unable to catch up with her. Her tactic had worked pretty well for a long time until the game makers forced her on land when it came to the final four tributes. As she'd made her way towards the shore she was met with a dying tribute, taking his weapon without a second thought and letting him drown in front of her. The other tributes had forgotten she was still alive until that point and had been so focused on killing each other, all of them battered and bruised that two of them ended up killing each other. The battle between her and the other tribute had been gruelling and only due to her steering them towards the water and finishing the fight there she had managed to get the upper hand and come out victorious.

* How were they affected by their experiences in the game?

Her experiences in the games still haunt her and while the open water used to be her safe space, she has trouble looking at it or stepping a foot into the ocean. Coral tries to avoid going home as the shores in front of her house are too reminiscent of the arena for her. She pretends to like living in the capitol more than she did living in district four, only because it's too painful for her to return home. She hates that her safe space was taken from her and she wants to be able to return home without being plagued by panic attacks and nightmares, but so far all the hours of therapy she has been in after her win have yielded no results.

* What are they like as a mentor?

Coral does her best to prepare her tributes for the arena as well as possible given the short time frame she had mentoring them. She wants to do her best in giving them a shot to return home, biting her lip as she pretends to be interested in what sponsors have to say in order to receive gifts for her tributes. It makes her feel cheap, selling herself out like this, but if it gives her tributes more of a fighting chance she's willing to swallow down her pride and flutter her eyelashes for these capitol citizens.

* What is their personality?

Her personality has definitely changed since she won the games, she used to be a lot more fun-loving and easygoing, but after everything she's seen and been through, she's lost some of that spark. She puts up this mask as if nothing has changed, only permitting a few people to look behind the curtain.

* Three strengths and three weaknesses.

+++: resourceful, adaptable, charming

---: withdrawn, manipulative, restrained

*PENNED BY: Lynn*