Sagittarius "Sage" Ryans (19) Victor of 72nd Games
It had been three months since our forces stormed into the Capitol to rescue our captive fellow rebels, and they were all in hiding. But Regal, who had traded himself in exchange for the rebels (the promise was not carried out and we had to carry out a rescue mission), had escaped Vice President Nerissa's clutches. Everyone had been looking for him all through the country, friend and foe, but none found him.
There was no news from the rebels since a month, except that Haley, another victor from Four and my friend, visited often, but never mentioned anything about our allies. Tensions were high in Panem, with every victor under suspicion of being associated with the underground rebellion that was going on. There had been numerous bombings in the Capitol that were never reported by the media. Capitolites were disappearing, and yet they did not know what to do. The rebels whom they had captured earlier were all into hiding, and so was the only victor whom they knew was a rebel- Cress Woods Junior. I missed him, and hadn't heard anything from him ever since he escaped.
The lack of news was beyond frustrating. Haley never said anything for the fear of being heard, and the Victor's Village in Four had become a place full of people who were too frightened to say anything. Nobody wanted to be suspected, nobody wanted their families to be punished. I didn't either. But I was against their tyranny, the fact that they exercised so much control, the fact that they had brainwashed the Career Districts into loving everything wrong with this country, and the fact that the love of my life died right in front of my eyes in the Games. I wished it was Kitty who was alive right now, instead of me. She would have handled everything well.
As I stared at her painting on the wall of my room, her cat ears still making me grin like an idiot, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at Haley, who was smiling at me sadly. Her long hair brushed against my arm and I sighed.
"I'm not ready for this," I said, trying to keep my voice composed.
"I know," she whispered, "But you know how it is. A new victor has to mentor the tributes, unless somebody volunteers to do so instead. Had Cress been here, I'm sure he would have done so himself. But…"
"But Cress isn't here," I sighed, "Look, Haley, is nobody ready to take my place? One of the older victors?"
"I talked to them Sage," she replied, her voice even lower than before, "But they refused. Nobody wants to do anything about it."
"But I'm not ready!" I screamed, jumping to my feet. Rage boiled inside my heart as I looked at my friend, my breath heaving, my heart beating fast. Why didn't anyone get it?! I was not ready to mentor kids! I was a kid! I couldn't erase the images from my mind, images that gave me nightmares even a year after the horror. I didn't even know what I had to do in order to mentor anyone! Why did nobody get that I was too young to take the burden on my heart if I couldn't bring my tributes home?! Even if I had a victor, I would still lose another kid! Why didn't anyone understand?!
"You are ready, Sage," Haley said firmly, looking at me hard, "You've seen enough, know enough, to be invaluable to any tribute who volunteers. Have some faith in yourself."
"But-" I whispered, sinking back into my bed, "But… I'm so alone in this Haley. How will I manage?"
"I'll be there with you silly!" she exclaimed, putting her arms around me, "We're in this together Sage. You always have me."
I hugged her back, burying my face in her shoulders as tears started trickling down my eyes. She and Cress had certainly done all they could to bring me back, and I was glad that I would at least have my friend with me on this horrible journey.
"Thanks Haley, means a lot."
She stroked my cheek soothingly, before wiping away my tears. Smiling, she patted my back, before standing up.
"Come on Sage, I'll cook something delicious for you today."
Hello my friends, and welcome to the sequel of Dawn of Light! It's really good to have you all here! I hope you all consider participating, and if things aren't very clear, I suggest reading the last four chapters of Dawn of Light to understand what's going on. The details will be on my profile, and I request you to please adhere to the rules and guidelines.
Have a great day!