A/N: Here's the next chapter. We have some of Willow and Katniss's POV as well as the revealing of the third quell theme. Enjoy!
Chapter 2: The Truth of the Quell
I feel dizzy. For a moment I can only stand stiffly in place, swaying on the spot, my hand wound tightly with Holly's. Then I pry my hand from her grasp and walk towards the stage, dazed. It's like moving through a dream. My legs move of their own accord though my brain wants them to run as fast as they can away from here.
"Willow!" I hear Holly crying. "No! Willow!"
I force myself not to look back at her and I force myself not to start crying. I just glare ahead. I want to be defiant and strong, though this is hard when I'm shaking like I am.
As I mount the stage I see Katniss sigh and rub a hand over her face, like this pains her. She remembers me. She wished me luck just this morning. Haymitch's head kind of lolls to the side as he looks at me and he smirks.
Great. I think they both think I'm going to die. I don't exactly look like a picture of great strength.
"Let's give a hand for our new tribute!" Effie exclaims.
As per usual, no one in District 12 claps. That's one of the things that makes me proud of to live in District 12. Because in a way, none of us will accept the carnage of the games. We will always resist it just a little.
I'm confused as the peace keepers take me into custody. How are they going to choose the other tribute? There has to be another tribute doesn't there? How will they decide?
I'm put in a room of the District building so that my friends and family can say good bye. My mother comes in first, but she is alone.
"Where are Holly and Walter?" I ask.
"New protocol." She murmurs. "Only one person in at a time." Her eyes are red and I know she's been crying. "You can win dear."
"Right." I mutter. "I'm not exactly a front runner."
"But you have to try none the less." She insists. "I won't be able to live knowing that you gave up. Try. Try hard."
"I will." I nod. "I promise." I squeeze her hand in mine. Her skin is warm; comforting "And you promise that you'll keep going, that you'll make sure Walter and Holly don't starve."
"I will."
Moments later the peace keeper comes for my mom and I let go of her hand. The sudden lack of warmth makes me shiver. I'll never see her again. Even if I try to win, I know that I'll never see her again.
Next come Walter. His face is solemn and his lip quivers. He's fighting back tears. He's trying to be strong for me. The though almost makes me tear up myself.
He sits in my lap as we talk, and I stroke his curly dark hair.
"You're strong sissy." He murmurs. "You can win. And you're fast. And you can hunt animals! You can find a way."
"Sure." I mutter.
"You can."
"I'll try to."
He continues to assure me of how amazing I am, and how I can definitely win the games. I just nod and answer him in short sentences so that I don't start sobbing.
When the Peacekeepers summon him from the room I swallow hard. I will never see his cute smile again.
My other friends visit me, all of them crying and assuring me that I can win. Until finally the one person I really want to see enters.
Holly.
She hovers in the doorway of the room, biting her lip. I know that she has been crying but she's trying hard to hide it. We stare at each other for a split second, just looking, before she launches herself at me and crushes me in a hug. Now she is crying hard and a few tears manage to escape the confines of my eyes too. I blink them away.
"You have to win." Holly tells me when she's composed herself. She clasps both of my hands in hers in a death grip. "You have to."
"I can't" I whisper. "You know I can't." She's the only one I can really admit this too.
"Maybe not." Holly says. "Maybe it's all me dreaming and praying. All I know is you've been keeping us alive ever since dad died. All I know is that you're the fighter of the family. You're the strong one. So you can't just give up. If you do…" she glares at me. "If you do then I'll give up too. I'll give up on our family and I'll give up on life."
"You can't do that!" I exclaim. "Idiot, you can't kill yourself because I-"
"I won't if you go down fighting." She says. "But you. Will. Not. Give up."
"No." I murmur. "No, I won't."
"You're my sister." She says, staring down at our hands. "I've grown up with you my whole life. You're a part of me. I love you Willow. I do."
"I love you too."
The peace keepers burst into the room. I know that I'm about to lose sight of Holly forever. Then something strange happens. The head peace keeper looks from me too Holly and seems to come to a conclusion.
"Yes, she's the one."
"The one what?" I ask. "What are you talking about?"
The peacekeepers ignore my question and they steer both me and Holly from the room. I'm dazed when I find myself back up on stage. Holly is at my side, her hand still tightly enlaced in mine. Effie Trinket beams at us. "Ah! We have our second contestant everyone!"
There are murmurs of disbelief from the crowd.
"Yes," Effie continues. "For the third Quarter Quell, as a reminder of how many loved ones the Capital lost because of the rebels, the selected tribute will be accompanied by their closest companion to the games. Age and gender do not matter."
A cry goes up among the crowd. They all recognize how cruel this is. Even Katniss has dropped her bored demeanor to stare in horror at Effie.
"You've got to be kidding…" I hear Haymitch mutter.
Holly can only stand in shock at this announcement.
"You can't do this." I hiss. "Not this. This is an all time low!" My hiss has turned to a snarl. "What is wrong with you people?"
"Willow." Holly says. "Willow don't… we'll only get in trouble."
"What do you mean don't?" I growl.
"Because you said you'd try to win. This will only get us more trouble in the arena. You still have to try" She looks at me firmly. "We have to try."
This makes me stop. Because she's right. We did promise. And the Capital won't stop this game because of some girl telling them it's wrong. So I press my lips together and stem all the curses I want to throw at them from exiting my mouth.
"Well then" Effie says. "Our tributes are Willow and Holly Catridge!"
The silence is welcoming. Then Holly and I are swept away by the Peacekeepers.
And she didn't even get a chance to say her goodbyes.
The station swarms with cameras. Holly looks dazed by this whole thing. I just feel really, really pissed off. My whole body is burning with rage and I want to lash out at someone. They are putting me in the arena with my sister and that means one or both of us will die. It means I might even have to kill her. How can they put us in the arena with the one we love most? It's bad enough killing strangers.
After a torturous five minutes of allowing the cameras to take our pictures and document our arrival to the train station we are allowed on the train. I've never felt so relieved in my life.
The luxury of the train rooms takes my breath away. Despite how much I hate the style of the Capital, I have to admit that it's beautiful. Holly looks around in awe. She's always had more of an eye for beauty than me. Anything beautiful makes her gawk. This absolutely entrances her.
We are given separate quarters on the train. I part with Holly, promising to see her at dinner. She gives me a small smile and staggers to her room.
For a brief moment I fear for my sister. She's never killed a thing in her life. She's a soft heart. She's not particularly strong. And if I were to die, I don't think she would keep on trying to win.
I brush the thought quickly from my mind. I don't want to think about it. I don't want to think about a time when I will go to grab Holly's hand and it won't grab mine back.
Katniss's POV
Haymitch is drinking when I enter his room. It's only now, after surviving the games, that I can understand why he became such a drunk. I would do anything to take the pain away as well.
I wonder if I should leave but before I can, he glances over his shoulder, noticing me "Need something sweetheart?"
"A drink." I say after a pause.
He laughs a short, joyless laugh and motions me over, "Be my guest."
I sit next to him on the couch and grab an unopened bottle of liquor. The taste is bitter but I swallow it anyway. It burns my throat. The pain is almost comforting.
"So what do you think?" I ask.
"About what? The tributes or the quell?" He drawls.
I shrug "Both."
He sighs, "I think the Capital has reached an all time low, like the shrimp said. This is worse than the other quells. The first quell, they made the districts vote for their tributes, which was horrible, sure. The second quell they sent twice as many into the arena. That meant more deaths. But this." He shook his head.
"Yeah… this." I mutter, taking another swig from my bottle. "It's because of me and Peeta. I guess they figured the games would be more interesting if the contenders cared about each other."
Haymitch says nothing to contradict this. Instead he changes the subject "So we're coaching a set of twins." He muses. "They look nothing alike. The blonde one is bigger than her sister but…"
"But she's not a fighter." I finish. "I can tell the same. The other one, Willow, I've seen her in the Hob trading. She's a hunter. I've never seen her in the woods before which means she must be good at sneaking around. I don't know… she might have a chance."
"But her size will be a down fall." Haymitch says.
I shoot him a glare at his lack of confidence.
He shrugs and smirks at me a harsh tone creeping into his voice, "Get used to it sweetheart. Now that you're a mentor you'll be seeing a lot of kids go to the chopping block. I coached sixty six tributes before you. How many of them survived?"
"None." I murmur.
"Exactly." He says. "You'll learn not be optimistic after a few of them die. Even if you were to coach a kid to win every one of the games for the rest of your life, you'll still see just as many die."
I flinch because I know the words are true. Then I tilt my head back and drain the rest of the contents in my bottle in a few gulps. Haymitch gives me a look and a small smirk creeps onto my face "Liquid optimism, Haymitch."
He laughs once again "I'll drink to that."
So yeah, the Capital is evil. They just watch to see who the tribute was going to miss most and threw them in the arena with them. Bastards. Hope you liked it. REVIEW!
