Quick Heads Up! A character seen in this chapter, Vikus, has appeared in several Hunger Games fanfiction. I was first introduced to his in Caisha702's story Love is a Battlefield, an amazing story about Cato and Clove. Typically, he's portrayed as Clove trainer (of whom will also be making an appearance in the story) but I wanted to examine him as Enobaria's former mentor. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy this new chapter!
Enobaria I: The Bite of Dawn
District 2
"I'm not sure you're as ready as you think you are..." I trail of, my voice filled with uncertainty. My face is buried in her dark hair and I inhale her scent as if she might disappear from my touch at any moment. I hear her let out a groan as she turns around and looks at me, her face twisted in annoyance.
"Do you have that little faith in me?" She asks, more irritated than hurt. I feel her legs untangle from mine as she begins to sit up as if she means to leave.
I quickly grab her wrist, "It isn't about a lack of faith in you. It's my lack of faith in everyone else."
This earns me a laugh. Airy and light, but a laugh nonetheless. She flops back down next to me looking up at the ceiling.
"What's the Capitol like?" She questions with a smile across her face. It's a rarity. A nice replacement from the scowl that usually lives there.
"I've already told you twenty times."
"Then a twenty-first shouldn't hurt." She laughs as she closes her eyes, "I just want to know exactly what I'm in store for."
I roll my eyes, "Purple wigs, green skin, shiny teeth, grating accents."
"I mean the actual city. What's it look like? Is it really as perfect as they say?"
I sigh, "It's beautiful, I guess, but it's artificial. It's surrounded by mountains but none like the one's here. It barely rains or snows. Never to hot or too cold. Everything is always just right."
"Sounds like a paradise."
I give a grunt in response, suppressing my true feelings. The urge to bite is setting in again. It's coming back to me now. The rain. Rain as thick as blood. It's everywhere. My arms, my legs, my mouth. My mouth. It's filling with the taste of iron again. Skin in between my teeth. My teeth, no longer are they my own! My body's no longer my own! Nothing belongs to me anymore!
"Enobaria!" A shout shakes me from my thoughts and I suddenly remember where I am. In District 2, in Victor's Village, with Pomena. I feel her hands caressing my face, wiping blood from my lips. I didn't realize I was biting at them again.
"I'm sorry." I say as I brush her hands away and turn to face the wall. I hear her sigh and scoot closer to me. She places a kiss to my neck, soft and light, and I resist the urge to jerk away. I feel my skin breakout in goosebumps as she trails her fingers down my arm.
"Maybe I'll understand better after I win." She whispers and I fight the urge to bite again. I want to tell her. Tell her what the Capitol would do to a girl like her. Beautiful, strong, and born to be broken. But I don't. Privacy is an illusion. There's no telling who may or may no be listening in unbeknownst to us. So, instead, I accept her touch. Calloused fingers that still manage to somehow be as soft as the rain.
It's still dark out but we both have to be at the Training Centre soon. It's her final evaluation. They want to make sure she's ready to volunteer later today especially after last year's fiasco a.k.a the Shaming of District 2.
Both of our tributes perished in the Bloodbath at the hands of Finnick Odair and his district partner. Never before had that happened in the history of the entire games. I remember as we watched the kills occur on the big TV in the Centre's main gymnasium. The tense silence that had settled over the room lasted for a few seconds that seemed longer than an eternity before all hell broke loose.
Vikus, the Centre's head trainer and Victor of the 39th Hunger Games, went on a rampage.
Countless hours of training like never before took place with the weaker prospects being expelled and the weakest being killed in the ring.
It was rare for a trainer to order for the death of trainees in the sparring ring. Death usually only occurred during the one of the last examination of prospective tributes. However, it was clear that Vikus, nor myself or any other trainer, couldn't care less. The strong live and the weak die. Such is the way of District 2.
I feel Pomena begin to rise from her spot in the bed and soon hear the rustling of clothes. She's not suppose to be here. Mentor and trainee relationships, while not forbidden, are incredibly taboo. If people were to find out about ours, they would accuse me of favoritism. As if Pomena's ability wasn't abundantly clear.
'Don't let lust cloud your thinking.' Vikus had told me once he found out. I hadn't told him, of course, but it was difficult to sneak anything past my old mentor.
"I'll see you at the Centre in a few." She tells me before she goes. I say nothing as she leaves.
