Chapter 2 already? Shit, Starpelt, calm yourself! *smacksself*
Well, you know. I can't ignore that little writer inside of me that talks in Kanye West's voice. v_v
Don't ask. Enjoy!
/
You are faintly aware of four voices shouting above the rest, in shock, in fear. Son of a bitch, they're just making this worse. Effie Trinket beams at the audience. You don't think you've ever hated anyone else in your whole life.
There's one or two clappers, the fuckers, but everyone stares up at you with the same mixture of shock and pity on their faces. Someone so young, and so well-known for their skill with the sickle. Fuck that, you don't want their pity.
You glance at Sollux. He takes off his glasses, looking at you with a mixture of shock and sadness. He jerks his head, and you can hear his voice, ringing in your ears. Chin up, KK.
You oblige, walking straight forward with your head up high, erasing any expression as you stand beside Vriska. You glance purposefully at the cameras, giving your look a darkness that pretty much screams I'm not afraid, I'm fucking pissed off!
"Let's hear it for the tributes of District 12!" exclaims Effie. Vriska gives you this smile that irks you so much you just want to wipe it from her annoying face. You shake hands, and the Peacekeepers lead you off.
You don't pay attention as the Peacekeepers lead you through the corridors of the Justice Building. You enter a room, and they leave you there. It's so... rich. It feels wrong when you sit on the velvet couch and run your shoes through the fluffy carpet.
You dwell upon the past events. That morning up in the tree seemed like years ago. You scowl heavily. Just your fucking luck. Maybe you did jinx it, and this was the universe's way of laughing at you and saying 'I told you so!'
For a long time you just sit there, glaring and swearing under your breath, at the Capitol, their unfairness, how you didn't deserve this. You look up as you hear the door open and closed, and you're suddenly engulfed in a mass of bodies.
"No, no, you can't go Karkitty!" you hear Nepeta wail. You feel her arms around her, feel a wetness seeping into your red shirt, and you know she's bawling her pathetic little eyes out. You stand there for a few moments, before wrapping your arms around your sister.
"It'll be okay, Nepeta. I'll win, for all of us. I'll get us a big house in the Victor's Village, and Katniss and Haymitch can be our neighbors, and none of this will fucking happen again," you bite out. Unless your sisters get picked for the Hunger Games, which you hope will never happen.
You feel Nepeta nod, her sobs muffled against your shoulder. You look up, watching the tears leak from Terezi's eyes, though she's grinning at you, as always. You can't bring yourself to say how fucking infuriating that grin is.
Sollux is blinking his eyes rapidly. He approaches you, and drops something into your lap. You look at him, then at the sign of the Cancer zodiac and a preserved crab claw attached to a clip.
"They thay you're allowed to wear one object in the arena to remind you of home," he says. You stare at him blankly, before rolling your eyes and holding out your arms. Your whole family hugs you, crushing the air out of your lungs, and you feel yourself cry. Just a little bit. You're not some kind of fucking unfeeling monster. You feel your mother kiss your head as the Peacekeepers take them away, but Sollux stays behind. There's still another five minutes for you to talk.
"Lithten, if you can, get your handth on a thickle. It's your best chance of thurvival," he says.
You grimace. You don't want to think of killing anyone yet, but you nod anyways.
"They don't fucking always have sickles. I've only seen sickles once, and nobody used them," you snap. Yes, your weapon was fairly unique, but it suited you.
"If not, uthe a bow. You're not fucking perfect, but you aren't terrible. And don't be afraid to kill a few bathtardth, for uth," he sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Jutht... thurvive. I'm exthpecting you to come home thafe and thound," he says with a weak smile.
He hugs you, then he's taken away. You don't realize you're crying until the Peacekeepers come and herd you out to the train station, where you persistently wipe your eyes.
You're met with flashing cameras and persistent reporters. You give them a scowl, not caring if your eyes are a little red and puffy. Your hand is clenched so tightly around the clip that your knuckles hurt. You attach the clip to your belt-loop and ignore any reporter's questions, letting the Peacekeepers guide you onto the train, 9before the sound of the cameras drowns out.
You just barely manage to hold in a gasp at the sight of the train. It's very luxurious, with soft carpets and furniture. You absently stare around, and the train gives a lurch. You peer out a window, watching the landscape whisk past as you start the journey to the Capitol. At this speed, it would take only a day.
You head down the train, walking absently, then you're stopped by Effie Trinket. "Oh, there you are!" she says in that annoying accent. You grimace, glaring at her. She doesn't seem put off by the look.
"Come with me, I'll show you to the dining car, then you can go to your room if you wish," she says.
You're not really in the mood to talk to Vriska, and you voice this, but she just grabs your wrist with a surprisingly firm grip and leads you down the hall.
"Hey, Trinket, I don't fucking appreciate being manhandled!" you snarl, trying to wrench your hand away. She gives you a surprised look, her lips pursing.
"Now see here, young man, I will not tolerate such language. You need to make yourself seem dignified if you want sponsors," she scolds. You roll your eyes.
"Sponsors, right. Because I'm so fucking incapable of surviving on my own, never mind the fact that I've done just that and helped support a family of four, not including myself, for thir-damn-teen years! It's like the universe is constantly vomiting bad mojo onto me. Oh, Karma, what have I done to upset you in the past? Heaven forbid mean Karkat uses naughty language around the overgrown babies!" you snap. Effie seems a bit stunned.
"Hah, that was good, kid, I like you," you hear. You turn, seeing Haymitch and Katniss standing in the doorway. Haymitch is grinning like he just spotted a juicy bit of meat. Katniss looks amused and indignant.
"Go easy on Effie, okay? I know this is bad, but don't be so negative about it," Katniss says. You glance at her, and shake your head.
"Right, forgive me for being a tad bit pissed off about this hole shitty ordeal. I'll just go wallow in a pool of my own bile, spewed from my esophagus by large amounts of self-pity," you grumble, stalking past Katniss and Haymitch.
You stare at the large banquet in front of you. Hell, this right here was enough to feed your family for years, and this only serves to piss you off even more. You sit down at the table, not glancing at Vriska as she gives you an annoying smirk.
"Don't. Say. A word. I'm not in the mood for your cocky-ass bitchiness," you snap. With a snort, you notice how much... nicer you are when around your family.
Vriska ignores you. "Well well, Vantas. Never thought I'd have to go against you in the Hunger Games. At least you aren't twelve, then I would feel bad about killing you," Vriska smirks. You shoot her a dirty look, busying yourself by digging into a plate of chicken with creamy orange sauce on it. It tastes good, citrus-y, and you want to shovel your face with it, but you don't want to make yourself sick. Effie stares at you critically, watching you eat. She makes some remark on your table manners that you don't listen to, but she says to go slowly, because there's more to come.
A course of fruit and cheese, rich chocolate cake, and lamb chops and mashed potatoes later, you're starting to feel a little sick due to all the rich foods. Vriska handles this all like a pro, because she lives in the richer part of the District, even though she looks a little green around the edges too.
You go into a separate room to watch the rest of the Reapings on a big television. You try hard to remember all the tributes from the districts. In District 1, a girl with very vibrant red hair- you find yourself scowling at the color- named Sheila and a boy with unnaturally green hair are chosen. You pay attention as they call names for this District. His name is Abel.
In District 2, a very buff looking, sweaty guy named Equius and a finely dressed chick named Kanaya are chosen. You size up the buff guy wearily. He looks strong as hell. In District 3, a guy with glasses and a shock of bright orange hair joins a girl with long, wavy blond hair. You don't pay much attention to them, only remembering the girl's name to be Meeka. In District 4, a pompous looking guy with a streak of purple hair named Eridan and a bubbly girl- not so bubbly as she walked up to the stage- named Feferi were chosen.
The District 5 girl is young and looks so much like Nepeta you find yourself biting
hard upon your lip as her name- Juniper- is called. Another large male tribute is called, which makes you wary, again. You don't pay very much attention for the rest, knowing that the more threatening tributes were from the upper Districts 1, 2, and 4. These were the Careers. They hunted in packs, like wild dogs, of which you were very wary of.
You don't pay attention for Districts 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are called. You feel like dosing off when District 11 comes by, and they just called up a girl with short, almost white hair, when Katniss swats you and you sit straight up.
They called the name of a boy who had no use of his legs. He was in a wheelchair. You watch with rapt attention as he fights back tears, wheeling up to the stage, when another boy steps up and throws his arms protectively in front of him and volunteers.
Your jaw has dropped. Katniss's face was grim. Of course, she volunteered for her sister six years ago. The camera zooms close into the volunteer's face, and you can see that it's painted to resemble a clown's. His hair is long and wild, and he has this grin on his face as he walks into the Justice Building of his District that doesn't fail to irritate and shock you. His name is Gamzee Makara.
Your District plays, then the television blares the national anthem, then the program ends. The room is silent. Katniss has a distant look in her eyes, and you can tell she's remembering.
"That was very heroic of that kid. Like you, Katniss," chuckles Haymitch. Katniss nods without humor.
"Too bad. That cripple boy was cute," giggles Vriska. You snarl at her.
"Shut your irritating mouth. It would suck if that kid was put into the hell-hole with us," you snap. Vriska scoffs and tosses her hair over her shoulder.
"Don't start fighting yet, children," mocks Haymitch. "Katniss here has forced me to remain as sober as possible for this." Katniss gave a very small roll of her eyes.
"Thank God. I don't want you collapsing all over us," you grumble. Vriska nods her agreement.
Effie and your mentors allow you to go to your rooms on the train. A Capitol member leads you into your room, and you blink at the luxury. The Capitol was quite flashy, wasn't it? You scowl, stripping yourself of your shirt, digging amongst the drawers for something warm to wear. You pull out very fluffy white pajamas, an eyebrow cocked, before you shrug and change into them.
You collapse unceremoniously onto the bed, running your fingers along the soft blankets. You just want to sink into them now, to disappear.
You imagine what your family is doing. The shutters are probably drawn closed, your family probably sleeping on the floor in a mass of blankets and pillows, clinging onto each other. Nepeta, Terezi, and your mother would be crying, and Sollux would try to console them, telling them that they would get by, that you would come home soon, safe and sound, even though the prospect was unlikely, and you all knew that.
The first time that tradition of comfort and lament happened was before Nepeta was born, you were one and your father had just died and Sollux had recieved the Medal of Valor for his father's death. The second time was when Nepeta's pet cat, Sir Pounce de Leon, died, two years ago. Nepeta had cried her eyes out, and your family had to lay on the floor with her until she fell asleep, holding her.
You shiver despite the fuzzy warm clothes clinging to your skin, and you crawl beneath the covers. You feel overwhelmed with a sense of loneliness, your bed feeling empty without the presence of one of your siblings. You clutch at yourself, feeling tears leaking down your face for the second time today. It doesn't matter, you can wash the damage away in the morning.
You slip slowly into a restless slumber, curled into a ball, hoping you would wake up in District 12 because Nepeta decided to pounce on you. Then you would go out hunting with Sollux, maybe take Nepeta with you, and then you would eat breakfast and Terezi would be annoying as usual...
/
It was so dark. Where are you? Why was it so dark?
You're vaguely aware of voices. You walk, blind to everything around you, due to the impenetrable darkness. The hushed whispers seem far away, but just ghost against your ear and your neck, with hot breath that sends chills up your body. You become frantic, wanting to get away from the voices, the taunting. You can't understand them, but you know they're malicious.
The darkness breaks, and you can see a door up ahead. You reach for it, limbs moving slower than a glacier, fingers outstretched. You feel the cold of the doorknob, and you wrench the door open, darting into the new room, hoping for sanctuary.
The room you entered is white. You blink your eyes, which are abused by the sudden switch from dark to light. The whispers are quiet.
You turn, panting, and your eyes lock onto something. It's a black mass, slowly approaching, traveling along the wall. A shadow, the figure of a man, with a mass of wild hair and curved goat horns pointing upwards. It stops right in front of you. Instincts scream wildly at you to run, to do something, but you can't move.
The shadow raises its hand, and waves at you once. It makes motions in the air, and you watch as a smiley face with a circle nose appears on the wall above its head. You at first think its paint, because it's purple, but then the metallic stench invades your nose and you gag. No, it was blood.
You're terrified now. You whip around, hearing laughter, echoing, echoing. You see a row of eleven people, familiar faces. They have gray skin, and sunset-colored horns. Some of them are tributes from other districts, and you know all their names.
Feferi, Eridan, Gamzee, Equius, Vriska, your stomach gives a sudden jolt, Terezi, Kanaya, Nepeta, Sollux, Tavros, Aradia.
They all have respective blood colors dribbling down their faces. Feferi has a gaping wound in her chest, leaking with magenta blood. Eridan is cut cleanly in half, deep purple blood leaking onto the floor, his glasses cracked. Gamzee has three claw marks running down his face. Equius has wire wrapped around his neck, blue blood dripping down his neck, staining his shirt. Vriska has a slash running cleanly down her chest. Terezi's glasses are gone, revealing scorched holes dripping with teal where her eyes should have been. Kanaya has a hole ripped through her midsection. Nepeta is bruised, one of her arms is at an awkward angle, her skull is dented and leaking with green. Sollux's eyes are black. Yellow blood is dribbling down his chin. Tavros has a hole ripped cleanly through his stomach, so you can see right through him. Aradia has a hole in her chest, where her heart should be.
And they're all grinning at you.
You lift your hands to your head to attempt to shut out the onslaught of persistent voices, but you freeze. You stare at the cherry red blood covering your hands, a brighter red than that of a traditional humans'. You look up, watching as rainbow leaks from the walls behind the row of grinning people. You take a step backwards, teeter, then fall into darkness, cherry red blood raining down upon you.
/
You wake up with a jolt, rolling out of bed with a loud "Fuck!" and belly-flopping onto the floor. You are covered with cold sweat, the grinning faces of the phantoms in your nightmare flashing in your mind.
That was the first time you've ever seen that. Normally your nightmares involve you running from something, but this was the first that involved people you've never seen before. Panting as if you ran a mile, you run a hand through your hair, eyes wide with fear. You've never wanted to puke at the sight of a rainbow more than you have now.
Speaking of puking... You get quickly to your feet, running into your bathroom, and release the contents of yesterday's dinner into the toilet, until all you're doing is retching with a bitter taste in your mouth. You look into the mirror, wiping your mouth with the sleeve of your white pajamas. You look green. Then you hear Effie knocking at your door.
"Up, up, up! It's going to be a big, big, big, day!" she says. You growl out a very colorful reply.
You climb shakily to your feet, stripping and leaping into the shower. The water is scalding hot, but you don't currently give a flying shit. When you finish bathing, you leap back out, drying in a rush, dressing into a plain long-black tee-shirt with gray pants. You're in a hurry to get out of that room. It was starting to feel overbearing.
You open your door, racing down the hall of the shaking train. You pause, panting, in front of a window. The sight of the outside world stuns you into reality. You calm down, your heartbeat slowing to its normal pace.
You continue into the dining car. Katniss, Haymitch, and Vriska are already present. You begrudgingly sit down. Immediately you're attacked by plates of eggs and bacon. There are rolls in a basket and fruits everywhere. Your mouth waters, but you don't have much of an appetite. You grimace at the bright colored fruits and turn back to your food, ripping apart a roll and meekly putting it into your mouth.
Haymitch is reaching for a glass of spirits, and Katniss instantly slaps his hand away, glaring at him ferociously. "These two are fighters. I can tell," she says, staring you right in the face. "You need to be on top of your game, Haymitch."
Haymitch chortles, reaching his hand away from the glass. "Fine. I don't want to be nearly stabbed again," he jokes. You and Vriska both arch an eyebrow.
"Right. Any advice for us surviving in the arena?" asks Vriska.
"Stay alive," says Haymitch and Katniss instantly, perfectly in sync. The looks on their faces say that they're dead serious. Honestly, it's the best advice that's the most simple.
Katniss and Haymitch examine you and Vriska. You feel like an animal, being checked for problems before being sent to slaughter. That's fairly close to the reality of it, after all.
"You're not the prettiest bunch, but you'll do," says Haymitch with a nod. "Plus, your stylists will make you look much prettier."
The second your mentors stop examining you, you and Vriska both launch into a barrage of questions. Haymitch puts up his hands to tell us to hold our horses. You growl at him under your breath. You're starting to get your old temper back, which had been subdued due to your night terrors.
"You may not like what Katniss or I say, or what your stylists decide to do, but you have to put up with it. Don't try to resist," Haymitch says.
"What? That's fucking stupid! I'm not some fucking primpy poodle-" you start angrily, but Katniss shuts you up with a firm glance.
"Don't resist," she repeats Haymitch. Then, the train is suddenly in darkness. A few lights are still on inside, but outside it was as if night decided to pop in earlier than normal. You must be traveling through the mountains that form a natural barrier between the Capitol and the Districts.
The darkness makes you freak out. You cling to the edge of the table tightly, gritting your teeth, your eyes wide in the darkness. You imagine the tons and tons of rock above you, and that does nothing to help ease you.
When the train finally begins to slow, eons later, bright light suddenly bursts through. You hiss, reminded painfully of your dream, and cover your eyes. When you open them, you gasp and run straight to a window, where Vriska joins you.
It's magnificent. The city is filled with glittering buildings the size of ten oak trees stacked on top of each other. Shiny cars roll down the street, people with unnatural hair and faces point and stare in revere as your train passes. All the bright, painful colors makes your meal threaten to come back up again. You shudder, trying to ignore it.
You step away from the window and the pointing, eager people, but Vriska remains. She's waving, smirking with her blue-painted lips. You distantly remember your dream, of the blue blood dripping out of those lips, the slash in her chest...
You snap out of it as the train jerks to a stop, making you stumble. Vriska laughs at you, and you watch her flounce away, a firm dislike making a bitter taste rise in your throat.
You're troubled to know you have to kill her, but it seems like she doesn't mind one bit. With that thought, you growl, following her to your eminent demise.
/
Hory sheet! Long chapter is long!
Honestly, I think this chapter sucks ass. Oh well. So sue me.