The Cloudy Games
A/N: I'm sorry I didn't have this out sooner. I've had projects to finish and finals to study for. By the way, if you hadn't inferred it already, but I decided this would be an AU, so there will be some traits and quirks to the characters that weren't there before, such as Flint's blank, nervous personality, and Sam's singing ability. So without further adieu, here's a new, long-anticipated chapter of The Cloudy Games. Enjoy!
Ch 3: First Day of Training and the Scenery
Flint sat on the bed in his room with an insecure look on his face. It almost scared him to know that this was his first morning waking up somewhere unfamiliar to him; not where his dad was or his sister.
Shrugging off slight fear, he removed his gray shirt, revealing an extremely thin torso an spine and walked over to the large walk-in closet on the other side of the abnormally large bedroom. All that was found on the inside were black shirts, red fabric/spandex jackets, and black flare-bottom sweat pants. The clothing looked a bit feminine for Flint, but it was probably uniform for everyone to wear during training.
As Flint applied his new clothing to himself, he overheard small humming coming from the room next to his. Whatever or whoever it was, it was probably that girl from last night. Sam, right?
Flint crept out of his room and turned the corner. The door to Sam's room (most likely the same size as his) was open just a crack. He pressed his ear to the door and heard more humming, melodious humming. It almost sounded like an instrument solo, mot meant for lyrics. Flint modestly knocked on the door.
The voice from last night called, not too loud, "Just a second." Flint saw the door swing open to a woman with a gorgeous complexion, strawberry-blond hair, and a slim body. She showed a small grin, despite the fact that the upcoming training sounded a bit intimidating. She wore the same clothes as Flint, but in his opinion, she looked WAY better than he did. "Are you ready to go?"
"Umm… Yeah. You?" Flint shrugged, gesturing toward Sam.
"M-hm." Sam walked with Flint to the elevator, which looked insanely fragile, even though they both managed to make it up to their floor alive and in one piece last night. "So what did you say your name was?" Sam asked pressing a button on the high-tech, glass elevator.
"Flint Lockwood." Flint stated blankly.
"Right, Flint. Didn't a man with the last name 'Lockwood' win the games a few years ago?" Sam looked over at Flint with an eyebrow raised in question.
"Uh… yeah. That was my dad." Flint shrugged again, staring down at the floor. He thought briefly about Sam's alliterated name. "Sparks. Was that your mom who won last year?"
"Correct-a-mundo. Seems like we both got this year in the bag, don't we?" Sam smiled at Flint, pushing a lock of hair behind her large ear.
"Wait, both of us?" Flint asked as the elevator arrived. "Doesn't only one person come out?"
"No, Flint." Sam shook her head with a funny grin. "The men and women are separated every year. There are two different domes: one for the men, one for the women." The two of them climbed into the elevator, which was covered in cracks and very faint blood stains. Sam cringed at the sight of the mess, barely there anymore. Her eyes then wandered over to Flint's feet. A purple, sparkly gelatin-like substance covered them. "What is that?"
"What?" Flint looked back over to Sam, snapping out of his thoughts about the Games and past years.
"Your feet. What's that?" Sam pointed with a slightly bent finger at the odd substance.
"Oh. Yeah, that. Those were Spray-On shoes. They don't come off, though. That's the bad part. Sometimes I wish they would." Flint looked a little embarrassed at the memory of a science experiment gone wrong, right in front of everyone he had to share a classroom with when he was little, including his 4th grade crush.
"Hm." Sam said nothing more of the topic and looked back up through the glass as the elevator came to a halt at the very bottom.
Many different colored jackets filled the insanely large dining room. "Well I guess we're not the only ones who are all matchy-matchy today." Flint whispered as he observed the pairs of roommates around them, all dressed in their own signature colors.
Sam giggled when Flint made that little comment and suggested they go get breakfast. Good thing it was that time, because the two of them thought they were going to starve to death.
XxX
While eating side by side, Flint and Sam didn't say a single word until Mayor Shelbourne marched around handing out files and papers for everyone to fill out. "These are for your Game records. It will contain all your personal and family information, so fill them out and hand them to the guards when you are finished." Mayor Shelbourne announced wearing his usual arrogant look.
The entire dining hall fell silent as they filled out the files after eating their morning nourishment. Flint looked over at Sam, her hair hanging in her face as she scribbled down everything she needed to on the file.
As Flint got to writing, Sam looked over from her paper at Flint. She giggled again silently at the sight of a young man as…fragile and skinny as he. It was almost cute in a sense.
The two of them were the first to finish, so when they turned in their completed files, Flint leaned over to Sam and whispered, "What do we do now, Sam?"
"We need to head over to Training Facility A113. That's where we'll both be for the next two weeks." Sam whispered back.
XxX
The training facility had two people, one man and one woman, and lots of large weapons and practice targets. Flint had never seen anything like it in his entire life! How could his dad have never told him about all this?
The trainers walked over to Flint and Sam and shook their hands. "Hello, my name's Bill."
"And my name's Anna. We'll be your Game trainers for the next two weeks." The woman said to Sam. "You'll be here for about 8 hours per day training with weapons of all sorts. Bows, knives, swords, spears-"
"Spears?" Flint interrupted, with a hint of willingness in his voice. However, he tried to retreat and retract his question.
"Yup! You can stick to the weapon you are most comfortable with or you can learn to use others. Why don't we get started?" Bill asked, gesturing over to the targets and assorted weapons.
"Sure!" the two trainees exclaimed in sync eagerly with smiles. Sure it was supposed to be a time of hardship for everyone, but Flint and Sam couldn't resist the fact that their two weeks was going surprisingly well so far.
XxX
Flint and Sam yawned lazily in the elevator up to their apartment. "Wow. What a day." Sam said, muffled by more yawning. She rubbed a small cut on her arm from a knife that grazed her the wrong way.
"Yeah. And I forgot to mention this to you earlier: Did you also notice that those trainers sounded like us?" Flint yawned again glancing back at Sam.
"Yeah, that WAS weird. Anywho, I've got something to show you." The elevator reached the top floor and the two got off, wanting to just lie down.
Sam forced herself to her room, practically dragging Flint along with her. "My mom told me she left something here for me just in case I ever got to compete in the Games, too." Sam wiggled her way under the bed and pulled out a dusty box, just as her mother had told her. Once out, she blew the gray fluffy coat off the box and read aloud the cursive writing on the top. "'Samantha: I discovered this at the back of your room's closet and saved it for you just in case you ever got this room like me. Keep it in a safe place, darling. Love, Mom.'"
The moonlight shone in finally through another hole in the wall where a window should have been. Sam removed the cover of the box and found an arched glass slab lined neatly with silver.
"What is that?" Flint moved in closer to get a better look at the gleaming object. Sam dug out a little paper note at the box's base and read it aloud. "'Swipe up or down on surface. Your choice. –M.' Hm. I guess we'll find out." Sam placed her finger gently on the glass and swiped down.
All the windows suddenly restored. Sam swiped her finger again and a hologram of a giant city appeared on all the windows.
Sam and Flint got up from the cold floor and stared around in awe. The scenery looked…real. "New York…" Sam muttered. Her eyes widened.
Flint's mouth hung open wide as he gasped in heavily for quite some time. "The city…" he finished. It was the most gorgeous thing he'd ever seen in his life.
Sam walked closer to the window, or the scenery, to her, and tried to reach out for it, but the window had disappeared and so sis the hologram. Sam furrowed her brow to a worried look, that sad. "That was my hometown, Flint." She whispered.
As if on cue, Flint walked up to her and touched shoulders with her. A chill ran up Flint's spine again. "Wow."
Sam walked out to the empty stone room outside her bedroom and sat down where they were the night before. She looked up at the moon and then proceeded to close her eyes. "Thank you, Mom." Sam said softly to the sky, as if the stars could deliver the message to her mother in an instant.
Flint could still feel the echo of Sam's shoulder on his. "Good night, Sam." He whispered to Sam.
Sam felt Flint's soft words glaze over her head, like fresh icing on a cake. "Good night…Flint." That name: Why did it sound so familiar?
A/N: Dun dun duuuuuuunnnn…. FORESHADOWING! I know it's a little cliché, but it's honestly worth a shot. I'm happy I finally got this done. It's actually been done, but I just had to type up my final copy on the computer from my iPod. It was originally on there Anyway, y'all know the drill! Please leave me a review for the story or the chapter so I know what y'all like! Thanks and God bless!