Harsh sunlight poured through the broken blinds and torn curtains onto Gilbert's face. The Prussian groaned in protest, rolling over to shield his face.
Today was the reaping, there was no school, no work. So why not sleep in?
Minutes later, there was someone knocking at the door. He knew exactly who it was, his friend Elizabeta. "Come in!" He called groggily, sitting up rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
The door opened and he heard quick footsteps. "Are you still asleep? Dear god, get up!" She said.
Gilbert didn't see what the rush was, until he glanced over at the clock.
One-thirty...and the reaping was at two.
"Shit!" He rushed off into the house to find something nice to wear, wash up get some food.
Elizabeta simply sat down, she wore a beautiful green dress, Gilbert had to admit, she looked quite nice.
Once he finally got ready, they headed for the town square and found they're places.
After the longest ten minutes of Gilbert's life, for the anthem and introductions, they called names.
It seemed to take the lady an hour to pick out a small slip of paper and come back across the stage to the podium. After a few more moments, she read aloud the name of the poor soul who was chosen.
"Elizabeta Hedervary!"
Gilbert's eyes widened in shock, he watched in horror as Elizabeta made her way to the stage, she looked almost emotionless, but Gilbert knew how terrified she was.
He jumped when the next name was called. "Alexander Mercedes!"
The man with his gray hair and blue eyes started to step up, but Gilbert did something that even shocked himself. "I volunteer!" He called. Elizabeta's previously emotionless face switched immediately to shock, and a hint of fear.
Gilbert made his way to the stage taking place of the strange man on the stage.
Elizabeta glanced over at him uneasily. The anthem ended and they were taken into custody, each of them brought to separate rooms. Not surprisingly, people didn't really want to talk to Gilbert. Besides the few willing to come say their goodbyes, Gilbert sat alone in silence.
Finally, they came to escort them to the train. He could tell Elizabeta was holding back tears, but she couldn't cry, for fear of being seen as weak, and she wouldn't be able to hide it. It was absolutely certain the cameras would be waiting at the station to get a view of the pair.
Sure enough, a large crowd and the beady eyes of the cameras, waiting for them. Gilbert was thankful for the shelter of the train.
The color drained from Elizabeta's face, her hands began to tremble.
Gilbert almost turned to say something comforting. But they were interrupted.
Each were taken to separate rooms, where there was a change of clothes.
Gilbert thankfully changed, and sat down on the bed.
It seemed so long ago that Elizabeta came rushing to wake him up, everything had happened in a flash. Why had he really taken that strange man's place? It wasn't the fame and glory, there wasn't any of that in district 13. Maybe it was to protect Elizabeta... Even thought subconsciously, he knew she'd be alright. After about 15 minutes, they were called for dinner.
Gilbert had never seen so much food in his life; Elizabeta looked to be in as much shock as he was.
What sat in front of them, was what Elizabeta and Gilbert might collect in a month, combined.
Elizabeta seemed to hesitate, but Gilbert wasted no time. To her, he looked like eh thought he would never see food again. Then again...he might not.
Elizabeta tried to push those thoughts out of her mind. He would live, Elizabeta would make sure of that.
After they finished, the watched the replays. A chance to observe their opponents.
District 1: Roderich Eldestein and a girl named Liechtenstein.
District 2: Huang Yao and Kiku Honda
District 3: Natalia, Heracles Karpusi
District 4: Alfred F. Jones and Ivan Braginiski
District 5: Toris Lauranaitis and Estonia
District 6: Arthur Kirkland and Feliks Lukasiewcz
District 7: Lovino Vargas and Antonio Fernandez
District 8: Basch Zwingli and Peter Kirkland
District 9: Ludwig Belischmidt and Feliciano Vargas
District 10: Denmark and Iceland
District 11: Matthew Williams and Francis Bonnefoy
District 12: Korea, Ukraine
District 13: Gilbert Belischmidt and Elizabeta Hedervary
"...What's with all the Country names?" Gilbert asked.
Rome – Who had a "country" name himself shrugged. "I guess it was popular." Rome was their sponsor...he was an idiot.
Gilbert sighed and grabbed another roll. He slathered it in butter then drowned it in the rich warm stew in front of him. He ate quickly, stuffing himself, as if the food were going to disappear at any moment.
Elizabeta watched him in amazement, she couldn't eat anymore. Elizabeta also knew why he was so upset, both of them, knew at least half those people.
One of the was his brother.
Gilbert ate until he was fit to pop, than sat back. "So where's this thing headed to?"
"What? You don't know?" Elizabeta asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We're headed to the capitol." Rome answered.
"Figured, I didn't know if there would be stops in between."
Elizabeta was confused by his strange question. "Nope, once you're there, you're in the hands of your stylists." At this Elizabeta shuddered. Fear settled in, thinking of what the stylists might have thought of this year.
"Stylists?" Gilbert asked in a monotone voice. "I don't think so."
"I think so." Rome answered, laughing at him.
Gilbert snorted. "So what now?" He asked. Elizabeta waited for an answer from the sponsor, she didn't know either. "Why don't you get some sleep?" He suggested. "We'll be at the capitol tomorrow...then...like I said, you'll be in the hands of your stylists."
Gilbert nodded and stood, taking a plate of fruit and tidbits of meats and cheeses to snack on. "Lead the way."
They were lead to their rooms, both of them fell asleep, but not for long. Gilbert woke in the middle of the night, he got up and crept out of his room, silent. He went into the room next to his – Elizabeta's. He saw her sleeping and sighed, walking over to her bed. She was sleeping soundly. He brushed a hand over her pale cheek. In turn, Elizabeta jumped awake, pulling away from him quickly. She stared at him for a few seconds, and then shook her head. "Sorry, couldn't sleep." He sighed, and then stood and paced.
Elizabeta watched him, still sitting on the bed. "Oh..." Was all she said.
"Ugh!" He grunted. He felt like punching something...or crying...or both. Elizabeta could only watch and stay quiet, almost as if she was afraid to say anything. "I'm sorry...I should let you sleep." Gilbert said after a long silence, he stopped pacing and looked at her, then he looked away and turned to leave. But Elizabeta stopped him with a cry. "No...Don't!"
Gilbert turned back to her and walked over to the bed and sat down. "What's wrong?" He asked.
Elizabeta felt embarrassed, "Ah...sorry, you can go if you want. It's nothing."
"It's not nothing...I'm sorry." Gilbert replied, suddenly he reached out and pulled her to him, hugging her. "You know...it's okay to cry." He told her, he knew what she was holding back.
Elizabeta surprisingly didn't pull away, the tears she had been holding back since she stet foot upon the stage were threatening to show. Gilbert patted her back. "Come on...It helps." He murmured to her. Elizabeta surprised eve herself when she started to cry into his shoulder. She knew better than to be bringing her self closer to Gilbert, because within days she might be trying to kill him.
He rubbed her back soothingly, not minding the tears on his shirt. "It's okay Elizabeta..." He murmured.
As she cried, she kept wondering to herself how she was going to make herself kill him? As she calmed down, she pushed these thoughts out of her mind, pulling away from him.
"Feel better?" He asked her quietly.
Elizabeta nodded, and smiled weakly. "Yeah...thanks."
Gilbert nodded, smiling. Then, without thinking, he pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead. When he realized what he'd done, he stood and turned away. "I'm sorry...Oh, I almost forgot..." He turned, digging something out of his pocket. "Here." He tossed her a small wrapped gift. "I meant to give it to you earlier...but..." He sighed and turned to leave.
Elizabeta was blushing deeply, glad he couldn't see from the dark of the room. She watched him leave before turning to the small present in her hand. Elizabeta put it away, holding onto it, she found that she couldn't fall asleep again. She lay there, staring at the wall until the light of morning filtered through a small window.
Gilbert – Who had fallen asleep began to wake as light began to stream through his window, he stood and got changed, then walked over to the window to see the sights. Elizabeta too realized they were nearing the capitol and gasped, getting up to see them to. Gilbert went to Elizabeta's room and knocked, making Elizabeta jump. "Oh...What?"
"You up yet? Breakfast is waiting!" Gilbert called.
After hearing this Elizabeta jumped to her feet, changing and going to the door. She was starving. "Yeah!" Gilbert smiled upon seeing her smiling brightly. "Come on, I don't know about you, but I'm starving." She said.
Gilbert grinned. "You know me." He said, walking to the dining car.
They both sat down, looking at the array of food in front of them. It all looked so good. Elizabeta looked over to see Gilbert already eating and laughed. Gilbert was alternately stuffing his face and draining cups of milk, orange juice, and other drinks.
Elizabeta started to eat, much slower than Gilbert. "How long til we reach the capitol?" She asked no one in general. "Yeah, how long we got to be stuck in this ting?" Gilbert asked, repeating her question.
Rome, who had just entered the dinning car sat down. "Oh, who knows, another hour or so."
"Fun fun." Gilbert said sarcastically.
"Oh, isn't it?" Rome replied. Elizabeta tried not to laugh, while Rome was an idiot, he was funny. Gilbert gave a snort of laughter before he began to stuff himself again. Elizabeta soon finished off her plate and sat back, both Rome and herself watching the Prussia in amazement.
Gilbert kept wolfing down food til he was ready to burst. Then he sat back with a grin and patted his stomach. Elizabeta laughed at him, when Rome stood and nodded to the middle of the room. "Go stand over there" He told them. Elizabeta followed his instruction, going to stand by Gilbert. Rome walked to them, observing both of them. "Hm...Not too bad. You might live this year."
Gilbert snorted. "What do you mean 'might'? I'm Gilbert...I'm to awesome to die." He gloated.
Rome didn't seem amused by this at all. "That's what they all say." He said. "Everyone of them that dies."
Gilbert laughed and gilbird fluttered on his shoulder. "Maybe...but none of them have been as awesome as me."
Elizabeta elbowed him hard. "Shut up." She hissed. Rome only shook his head. Gilbert grunted in annoyance, he got quieter. Rome went and sat down "Were about to arrive at the Capitol, get ready to leave." He seemed awfully serious.
So, Co-op with a friend. We started this a couple of days ago. Tell us what you think Thanks for reading.