Note; I do not own any part of the Hunger Games and all characters are purely fictional, so please do not consider this as a part of infringement or copyright, thank you! All reviews are welcome, and sorry if I am not entirely accurate in all aspects, so thanks for reading, and please review!
The semi- dangerous person kept his eyebrows raised; now seemingly expecting a response out of Clove. She now angrily stared him down, but her eyes soon failed as the twilight sun blinded her and forced her to look away. The burrowing animals and birds were now hushed; as if the moment needed silence to intensify the mood. The sun was now setting in a sky a deep shade of blue, and its position revealed to set the time at almost seven o'clock by her reckoning. Training had at least equipped her with that small benefit.
Now it's too late to meet up with another group. What's your brilliant plan c now, Clove? She was furious with her stoke of bad luck and with herself. She thought she was better trained for this. Or at least better trained to survive a measly day in the training field. Most of the training groups would be almost finished with their treks, and now she would be forced to wait till dawn to move out or to risk moving in the nighttime without the ability to see well. First though, she had to deal with her mysterious and maybe dangerous opponent.
It took Clove awhile to remember what the strange person had said, and she still remained confused until the man spoke again. "Well, who is 'he'?" he inquiringly asked again. To Clove the question was anything but inquiring. In fact, it infuriated her. His repetition of the question made her feel stupid, not to mention deaf and perhaps slow-witted. "Why should I tell you who 'him' is?" she snarled at him, trying to be as imposing and threatening as possible. The stray thought of a memory flickered by in her head, bouncing around and finally settling to put her into a more somber mood. The memory brought a hint of humor into her emotions, but it was quickly smothered out by grief and non-disclosure. The memory was almost too painful to comprehend, but she knew she had to face it one way or another. It inspired a feeling of peace, but the memory could also be mentally crippling. She winced as the past emotions and events played out through her mind again, each moment painful and precisely sharp.
The beautiful woman was braiding Cloves hair, each strand of hair seeming to exasperate her as it slipped out of its desired place. Clove giggled as the woman made another sad sigh, maybe a good sign for Clove. She never liked girly things, and braiding hair was especially on the not-wanted list in her childish mind. The lady smiled at the antsy but bright little girl in her lap, grateful that she had had the chance to spend this last day with her. "Can I leave now?" the impatient little Clove asked. The lady let out a slight titter of a laugh, the sound reminiscent of little bells. "No, little one, not yet. Soon, but not yet." Clove let out her exasperated sigh, now officially bored and tiresome. The lady's smile disappeared, but only for a second. Another smile alighted on her face when she asked Clove if she wanted to hear a story. When little Clove responded with a shy 'yes', the lady took a deep breath of air, as if needing it for a giant journey of some sort. Clove giggled again, loving the little things that the lady did in preparation of a good story. The lady's back straightened, and she tightened every muscle in her body; which unfortunately forced her fingers to pull on Cloves scrappy but tender hair. "Well little chickadee, let's see what I should tell you today..." the lady started. Clove smiled with a great goofy grin. The lady always knew what her story would be; there really was no need for consideration of what subject it would be on. "Hmm, maybe a story with fierce dragons and dainty princesses?" she teased at the little girl. Clove shook her head really fast, maybe hoping that her denial could possibly change the story. The lady gave out a little laugh again and started on her story. "Well then, how about the story how the mighty tiger got transformed into our tiny meek housecat?" Clove nodded now with great ferocity and sureness, even though she undoubtedly had almost no idea what the lady was talking about. "Alright then, let's begin. There once was a great and large tiger, who was king of the entire forest. He controlled each small ant to the largest antelope in the entire area of his domain. He hunted when he wanted to, and not even the other great tigers or lions were able to defeat him. He was the ultimate predator. When another animal posed a threat to him he growled or let out a giant roar and scared the other animals away!' the lady boasted and pretended to look mighty and scary. She tickled little Clove and set her into a giggling fit and said "And don't even let him bite you, because it's sure going to not be fun!" Clove giggling subsided and the lady then continued in a strong story-telling mantra. "Even the dear moon and stars were scared of him, which is why he has his own constellation among the stars and his own paw-print on the moon! But then one day a new predator came into his domain, and tested the tiger. He said the tiger could lose everything mighty that he had if he failed this test. And do you know what? The tiger just laughed at him and mocked the new predator when he revealed the test." The lady paused at this to check if Clove had fallen asleep when an encouraging prod was forced into her side. She continued on with a bright knowing smile. "The test challenged the tiger to go a single day in humbleness without any pride ot terror-wreaking among every living thing in his domain. The tiger, already filled with pride and overconfidence, accepted the challenge. The tiger was wary at first, but then concluded that his challenge was nothing but a fake. So, the hour before his day was up the tiger went about his normal business and roared and terrified everything in his sight. The new predator revealed himself at the end of the day with a winged creature that looked like a human next to him. 'Since you have broken your promise upon the challenge, then you shall receive your punishment!' the new being hissed at the tiger. The tiger, still ignorant and overfilled with confidence scoffed at the new predator and the weird being."Nothing can ever defeat me!' he defiantly growled, and then he roared a mighty roar and swiped at the new beings with a giant paw. The action did nothing, of course, and the new predator exclaimed, 'be punished!' as the weird being called an angel grabbed onto the tigers paw. The tiger felt himself getting smaller and smaller, until he was no higher than a foot tall. His stripes slowly faded away and new dark patches of fur swirled into a new pattern that made him spotted like a giraffe. The tiger screamed and roared with great might as all of his great qualities faded away and he became a small undignified and meek creature, which the new predator named the cat. The cat, once the tiger, mourned all of his great and lost qualities and fell into a deep depressed sleep for years. He could never get over his loss, which is why all of the cats that came from him today have such malignant behavior." The lady peered down to see Clove staring with owl eyes, appearing to be very interested in the story. "AND that is why the cat always appears to make himself more imposing and fearful by fluffing up his hair and standing reallllly tall, because he still wants to be the tiger he once was." The lady commented as she finished braiding little Cloves hair. Clove happily hugged the lady and thanked her for the story before she ran out of the small house and into the forest. She couldn't help but notice the bit of sadness in the lady's eyes as she gracefully leaped down the small staircase to the landing below.
Clove was startled back into reality. What was it that had triggered that memory? After pondering over it for a couple of seconds, she realized that she had compared herself to the tiny cat. She was trying to be as imposing as possible because all of her great talents could not get her out of the predicament now. Clove glanced back at the waiting man, boredom now playing out in his eyes. Clove remembered a small lesson from one of her tutors in her younger days about the brain and how fast it truly functioned in the world. Thought processes and recalling/reliving of a memory could seem to take hours, but really only last the time span of mere minutes or even seconds. She hoped it was the same case here and that she hadn't been frozen there reminiscing for hours. The memory pricked at her conscious again, but she pushed it away. She had to deal with what was at hand first. The man, now seeing that Clove was at full attention, shoved a hand casually forward and apologized.
"The name's Thresh, sorry if I startled you or somethin'." His mood was very nonchalant and even casual from what Clove could infer. She looked at his hand, wondering if she should accept the gesture or not. Maybe it was time she should stop being the defensive and imposing cat for once. Clove gingerly smiled and grabbed the dark and moist hand that was offered to her. "I'm Clove." She answered. Thresh's dark hazel eyes lit up, and his smile grew to be even bigger than it had been before. "Nice to meet you Clove, would you care to come back with me to the main city or do you prefer the wilderness to yourself?" he asked with a glint of humor. Those dark eyes reminded her of the lady that had told her the story. The lady that had brought so much happiness that was eventually stripped away when she was tortured for the crime of rebellion that she had had no idea of. The lady that tried to keep Clove safe from the life she was living now. That lady, whose inspiring eyes and the inviting happiness that they offered and were also reminiscent of Thresh's, was everything to her. Clove couldn't help but to feel belittled and saddened by the mere reminder of a quality that the lady once had. That lady, who she dearly loved so much and from which the memory brought back such pain, was her mother.