Hey everyone! So here is the next chapter :) Let me know if I can improve on anything or you have any ideas! Oh and I promise it will pick up later! :) Please review! I do not own Hunger Games.
We had to stay in the middle of a protective circle that the Peacekeepers made, seeing the whole District was furious about sending Jay to the Games. There had been kids sent in with disabilities before, but not as bad as sending in a deaf boy. Once I stepped on the train I stole a quick glance at the crowd. Most were screaming, some were pushing, and few were full out fighting. I felt tears brim my eyes as the two doors came together, shutting out my home. I put my hand on the door as the train pulled away. Tears ran down my face as I realized I would never see my home again, never see the horses again, or the rolling hills, or the river, or the barn.
I loved my home, we were one of the poorer Districts, but we were happy. Each of the 12 Districts has a different thing they supply the Capital with, ours being beef. Almost every family had a plot of land filled with a heard of cows, who raised and fed them, let them live in the fields until they were fat enough to send to the butcher house, where they were killed and sent to the Capital. Our field consisted of only ten cows, since that was all Sparrow could handle on his own, and it was enough to let us keep living in the house. So that's how District Ten worked. A lot of farm houses and huge and beautiful fields filled with cows that the men would work on from dawn until dusk, five days a week.
It would be a pretty sad life if we didn't have Saturday and Sunday off. Those were the two days everyone could agree are the best. Some people kicked back a chilled, while some just have some fun, which would be what my friends and I do. Some weekends we would have a bonfire and sing songs, or other weekends we would swim in the river, before my Mama died we would go on a trail ride with our horses around the empty land. Our District was full of homey and friendly people, we kept to old traditions and way of life and I loved it. Life was awfully nice in 10 as far as I was concerned, work during the week and have fun on weekends, it was a good life, besides the fact of the yearly reaping.
I finally decided the look around on the train, my feet gently stepping on the soft carpet, almost as if I was afraid if I stepped too hard I would get it dirty. I saw Jay sitting there, doodling in his notebook and still having a look of shock on his face from the days events. I gently sat down at the brown square table in the middle of the train car. It had a tall stand in the middle of it, and on the stand sat a beautiful assortment of tea sandwiches. I picked one up and bit into it, savoring the mix of flavors in my mouth.
My mind went through what would happen once the two day journey to the Capital was over. Jay and I would go our separate ways for the day and meet our stylists. They would make us look pretty for the chariot ride that evening, and then we would sleep. That was day one. Then all of the tributes would have three whole days of training. Three days to get a skill to murder other kids. Three days to gain something that will let me survive longer then I normally would. Only three days. I sighed and ran my finger through my now loose hair. The third day we would preform our skill in front of the Gamemakers, who would judge us and give us a number score, which would strongly determine if we would get sponsors or not. Finally, we would have a two minute interview with the famous, and very old, Cesear Flickerman. Then the Games start the next day.
It was a lot to take in, and a lot to worry about. Not only did I have to worry about my survival, but now I had to worry about Jay. As I continued to think about the next week, Mally stepped into our car. Her face scrunched up in pain as she took off her massive high heels, causing her wrinkle lines to show more. "Oh my, you know what I love the most about this District?" She said as she walked barefoot over to the window Jay sat by. "I love the rolling pastures, and the beautiful sunsets." Well, I can't argue with that. I thought and tried not to roll my eyes. I picked up another sandwich and took a small nibble as I tried to continue my thought process, but she interrupted me again. "You know, you will both love the capital, people are very nice there, why I bet they'll find a lot of interest in the two of you seeing, well… You know." She said and motioned towards Jay, who still sat in thought. I opened my mouth to say something but she kept talking. "Oh! I almost forgot! Your mentors are going to be in here in a few minutes, so be peppy!" I smiled and nodded, almost forgetting about the people who would be training us.
In the 99 years of Huger Games only 4 victors had been from District 10. One of them had won the 20th Games, and had died of old age a while ago. A girl had won the 96th Games, but that year was a bad one, the arena being only flat land that blizzard the whole time, sheer luck and nothing else is what made her come out as a victor. No one ever really heard from her, she never trained the new tributes and never came out of the victor village back in 10. That left the other two, Falllu and Kespen.
Both were now older men, Fallu was older, he had won the 56th Games, in an arena that was high up in mountains, rocky ledges caused the death of many tributes, making them fall to their deaths. Fallu had won because he was strong and fast and coordinated in the rocky ledges. Kespen, however, was not only strong, but was a fast thinker. He had won the 87th Games, the arena being a normal forest, he had only made two kills the entire Game, and in the end he won by leading a boy from District 2 out in the lake, who ended up drowning himself. It was an impressive year. I hadn't ever really seen much of the two, but I longed for them to be at least slightly friendly, for Jays sake.
I sat up straighter in my seat when I heard the door open, and I held my chin high in hopes of looking stronger and more determined when there was obviously little hope in the two of us.
Fallu stepped in first. He was older, his hair and beard were white and long, his face had wrinkles and sagged in his older days, and he walked slowly with a slight limp, but his eyes still had a small sparkle to them. I could tell that getting along with him would be easy. Next stepped in Kespen. he was much younger then Fallu, but still older in age. He had dark hair that was styled messy, he still had a strong build and was the tallest in the room by a lot. He looked me up and down, not being discrete at all. I didn't look away when his brown eyes locked into my green ones, and I gave him a friendly smile in hopes of starting out on the right page. He gave a huff of annoyance and plopped down next to me as Fallu introduced himself and Kespen to us. He talked in a friendly old man voice, and I was suddenly very glad he was there.
"Hello, Wren and young Jay." He smiled as he said it but his voice dripped with pity as his eyes landed on Jay, who still sat by the window.
I smiled back. "Nice to meet you both."
"We'll be here to help train you and give you advice on how to live, any questions?" Kespen said as if he didn't want to be here.
"Um, yeah I have a few." I said awkwardly.
He raised his eye brows, wanting to get it over quick.
"Well, I mean, we only have one week so shouldn't you be giving us as much advice as possible with what little time we have?"
Kespen stood up. "Get back to me when you actually have a legit question."
Anger bubbled up in my chest and he walked out of the car. Wasn't he supposed to be mentoring me? Fallu walked over and patted my shoulder. "He'll warm up to you, he just… doesn't want to…"
I smiled in understanding as I finished his sentence for him. "Get attached before we're brutally killed?" I laughed despite how horrible it was. "I understand. Do you have any advice for me?"
"My advice: watch some old videos of past games and pick up as much information as you can on past victors, it helps I promise."
I smiled and nodded before making my way out of the car. Just as I was leaving I heard him say behind me, "May I talk to Jay?" I smiled and nodded. "His notebook is with him." With that the door shut.
OoOoOoOoO
I sat alone in the dark for two hours, watching a few famous clips from past Games. It was obvious that the Games became less popular as the years progressed. In the first few years they would on average last more then three weeks. In the past few years they had only been lasting around five days. No one in my District watched them anymore, and I'm sure in other Districts as well. I watched the ending of last year, as the boy from three finished off the girl from five, stabbing a sharp stick into her chest. She screamed and lay there twitching for a few moments, blood spilling from the wound in her heart, the light faded from her eyes and a canon sounded.
I used the remote to quickly shut of the monitor, a sick feeling in my stomach. I stood up and ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. How could no one see the sickness of what the Capital was doing? How could they not understand that everyone who fought in the Games had a life they wanted to go home to? It disgusted me. I looked at the clock and decided to meet up with everyone in the dining car for dinner. I stepped out of the dark room, trying to forget about all the dying children.
I was the last one to sit down for dinner, taking the last chair between Jay and
Kespen, both looking to not be in the mood to eat. I tried to give Jay a reassuring smile as I picked up my glass, taking a large swig of something sweet and cold. I liked it, and didn't bother asking what it was. Someone sat a large plate of salad in front of me, and I mixed it around while the other started chowing down on the leafy greens. I made eye contact with Fallu from across the table and he smiled. I returned the smile, grateful for at least one kind heart to help get us through. Kespen used the white napkin on his lap to wipe his face before speaking.
"Alright, now would be a good time to tell me what your strengths are so I can give you the best advice as possible." He said in an almost grouchy tone.
"Um, I don't think I have anything that will help me in the arena." I said and looked down at my plate.
"Nothing? Any weapons you know how to use? Any skills?" He said and picked out a black olive with his fork.
I felt a lump rise in my throat. "Nothing, I've never hurt a fly. I play guitar and ride horses." For the first time since my name was drawn I felt myself slip into complete hopelessness. I stood up from my seat in anger, my glass spilling over. "I can't do anything! Heck, I can do the complete opposite of what I'm supposed to do! I save lives, I couldn't imagine taking one!" Tears welled in my eyes. "I can't keep myself alive, nevertheless Jay! No matter what I tell myself we're both dead!" I didn't bother holding back my words, seeing Jay couldn't hear me anyway.
My eyes met the concerned ones of everyone else's. I turned away and left before anyone else could see me cry.
I went to my room on the train. It was bigger then mine back home, and a lot cleaner and nicer, but I wanted nothing more then to sleep in my own bed. I sat down on the corner, and the bed seemed to swallow me whole. I crossed my legs and tried to stay calm. I can do this. I can find a way to get me and Jay out, maybe we could jump the train and run. No, we wouldn't make it a mile. I balled my hands into fists and cringed when there was a knock on my door. I was surprised to see Kespen enter.
"Listen, it hurts me to see anyone go into the arena, nevertheless a pair of siblings who love each other, and Jay, who is, well…" I tried to hide my shock at his sudden affection. "Look, I'll help you. I'll teach you survival skills and some basic fighting moves. I want to see you get out of this. You have a chance, Wren. So I'll help you."
I let the tears fall freely down my face. I had lost so much, and now the weight of my life and my brothers sat on my shoulders. It was so much to cary. Kespen put an arm around my shoulder and I let him. He knew how bad my situation was, but he wasn't giving me pity like everyone else, he was giving me encouragement. I felt a surge of gratefulness for my mentor, who I had just met. I spluttered out "Thank you," Before letting out another sob.
He nodded. "Look, I'll help Jay with going to sleep so you can get some sleep now, tomorrow afternoon we'll get to the Capital, a lot of eyes will be on you because you and Jay will be the more popular tributes, so cry yourself out tonight and then I don't want to see this again. Put on a brave face, it'll help get sponsors, too." I nodded as he left my room. "Oh, and don't take this whole thing too personally, I'm only being nice because I see something in you I haven't seen in any tributes I've had before."
"What's that?" I asked and whipped my nose.
"Determination… and hope." With that the door shut.
I sat in silence for a few moments, breathing. I didn't even bother using the shower or even washing my face. I just lay there and cried. I cried for Jay, I cried for Sparrow back at home, who was all alone, I cried for my friends who must be having a bad night too, I cried for my mom and dad who left me, I cried for the other tributes, and I for what seemed to be the first time, I cried for myself. For the pressure I was carrying, for the next few days of worry before the Games, for how I would handle the Games. Finally I was done crying. I was done being selfish. Kespen said he saw hope and determination in me, and he was right. I will fight until my dying breath, that was for sure. Maybe I do only have a few days to live, but I'll fight and fight. I finished that thought with pride, and I then drifted to a heavy sleep.
OoOoOoOoO
It was at breakfast when Kespen told me I should go watch the videos of the other tributes getting reaped, to take in my competition. I agreed on the idea and walked back to the train car that had the television and sat on the soft sofa. Kespen sat next to me, eating a bowl of cherries. I picked one up and after I swallowed the fruit part I chewed on the pit. We started with District 12, and watched as the 17 year boy stepped up with his brother, both looking underfed and terrified. They wouldn't be too much of a threat.
We went through the Districts, one by one, a few tributes standing out to me. A pair of female twins from 7, both only 15 years old. Another brother and sister pair were only 11 and 12, they were from District 7. We made it to District 6. I spat out my cherry pit as I watched the escort pull out a slip of paper, her green lips parted and read the name. The name that didn't register in my head.
I watched as a tall and muscular boy stepped up with his sister, his face familiar but different. Scared but brave. I stood up. No, no this was just a bad dream. That's not him, it can't be. No this can't be happening. I stood up and walked to the screen, as if getting a closer look would make it go away.
He stepped up on stage and I got a clear view of his face. I heard Kespen say my name but all I could say was, "No, this isn't real, this isn't happening."
The face of the glowing screen belonged to no other then my childhood best friend.
"Sam." I whispered.
The Jones boy seemed to look at my through the television.
I felt my knees buckle and I passed out.