Back again with another chapter :) ~ w&c
A large blinding light shines into my eyes as our chariot arrived into the stadium. I feel the pulse of a roar emanate from a large crowd but I couldn't see. The dazzling lights that shine from above reflect on my gold armor, all the way up to my winged cap to my gladiator styled sandals.
A loud voice booms overhead as my eyes clear up.
"This years tributes from District 2, Clove Carione and Cato Fortis!"
Finally the blinding lights disappear from my vision as I get a glimpse of the crowd. There is a huge amount of people, an over populated amount of people, but they came to see me and Cato. They bang their boot heavy feet against the everlasting bleachers, screaming and pounding their fists with our names spilling out of their tongue's. It's only for us.
District 2 has always been a favorite. Every year they've gotten the most sponsors, or even the highest score, but this year is an outrage.
People I never knew started to shriek my name in all directions.
"CLOVE!" One side seems to pick up, while the other the other battled with Cato. Slowly it melted into a roaring 'Clato' that seemed to shake the earth itself.
Then, finally, Cato became more prominent and I started to worry. Why do they like him more?
Sneeking a peak at him, I soon realise why.
Cato looked like an unearthly god risen from the heavens with his fist beating the air. In the armor you can see every huge and bulging muscle that was a nice even bronze. His face looked handsome in the sort of way teenage girls squeal over some heroic guy. I can't say that he looks bad, but what can I do for myself.?All I am doing is standing around and staring off into space while my district partner, a huge massive beast, is fist pumping the air and navigating the crowd with ease. I have to do something memorable before they announce District 3.
Before I even have the guts to do what I am about to do and free myself from this frozen stance my eyes unwillingly found my face on the screens over head. I hope I look half as gorgeous as Cato does.
I gasp as I see my reflection. I don't look half as good as Cato does. I look two times as better. My mossy eyes sparkle under a tan smoky eye while my cheek bones look sky high. My natural coral colored lips are in an almost a nude shade, but they are too symmetrical to be mine. My perfectly arched eyebrows create a trail to my small nose and my light body fully clothed in a sparkling suit of armor. No one would dare look this beautiful as I do tonight. No girls or guys hair looks so enticing pulled back in a winged cap.
While Cato is playing up the crowd I have to think the opposite of him. I can't exactly not please the crowd, but what I can do is the opposite of every thing that people try to do in the games. Instead of being good, I can be bad.
I pull my lips back to create a snarl-like smile. The crowd moves it's attention from a clueless Cato to me. Finally.
I snarl again, but more slyly. Even though it is feels like I look ugly, I can't, my prep stylist tried too hard for that.
My lips settle on a secretive smirk. The crowd goes wild and Cato finally notices. I don't think he'll be too pleased to see me take all of his attention but hey, the games in my book have already started.
I growl now and the crowd screams on ecstasy. I'm unstoppable. Cato tries to steal my thunder by making animal-like sounds but he's not as nearly as graceful as me.
The crowd gets a few kicks out of that but I made a bigger bang. As we roll back into the building I gave a big smoochy sarcastic kiss to one of the main camera's. Panem goes wild and rouge for one last time then our chariot slowly decreases in speed and come's back into the Welcoming Center.
As we stroll in my body is still stiff from standing. I spot Enobaria and Brutus. Enobaria's fangs glint dully in comparison to our gold getup but all I see is her two dainty thumbs stuck up in a mocking style.
"Great job Clove, I thought you were about to sabotage President Snow himself" Enobaria drawled in her sarcastic voice.
I smiled, a bit more sadistically then planned and counteracted despite the butterflies from the Chariot ride, and being in the same room a her.
"Hey all I wanted is to make an impression."
"And you did, Kudos on that, girl, but look at what the boy did, I practically thought he was going to throw kisses at the audience." Brutus interrupted, his deep voice piercing through the room as District 5 or 6 strolled in.
This earned a worried glare as the other tributes scrambled away from us. District 2 is always feared, and If they just seen my vicious snarling, Cato's hulking body, and Enorbaria along with Brutus in the same room, I'm pretty sure I would want to scuttle away as far as I can too if I weren't myself.
"Hilarious Brutus" Cato remarked, his light eyes blazing from either spite or the thrill of this all.
"Get down boy, If your going to even fight with me, at least complain to my face" Brutus demanded as Cato started to climb down the chariot with the armor bouncing lightly. In fact, the armor must be nothing for him. For me it's like a thick heavy skin that weighs me down like an anchor.
"Um.." I shuffle my foot. I can move it but slowly, and BAM! My foot hits the ground, the gold is so heavy I can't even lift my leg. I think most of it s because of the five-inch heel attrached to the bottom (Enobaria apparently told my stylist I was too tiny). District 12 comes in and every one is staring at them with a certain vengeance.
They come in and stop by us, all the other slots taken were taken by the districts whom were too scared to get near us.
I stop trying to walk off, but stare at the girl with the same distaste as the others.
She certainly wasn't ugly, or pretty. It's hard to tell under the pounds of make-up her prep team put on her face. But the boy was good-looking despite being from district 12. But I can't find whats so special about them.
Until I see the smoke rising from their costumes.
I believe they were set on fire, now that explains the drilling screams outside. It's worse then Tatana's voice in the morning, and that's pretty bad.
They look rather uncomfortable in their tight black suits and from the harsh stairs everybody is giving them. But I don't see what's the deal!
I look around the large room to see the outer and filler districts (5-10) bustle out of their horribly decorated chariots. I feel like an idiot still standing but it does give me some time to see why Cato is the last one looking at her.
A drunken man who is the shell of a soul, encased in a person, stumbles his way over to to the shell-shocked girl, pointing fingers at my chariot. How dare he! How can he even muster the thought that her can just point us out in front of everyone. Or even speak our names! District 2 is the most honorable district in Panem. He is scum.
I quickly look back for guidance at my mentor, which surprises me. Enobaria shakes her head, along with her fangs. The light bounces off them just like Tatana's. Great, if she comes in too, we'll have a light show. Brilliant.
Why not? I ask myself. I am more then ready to hop off this chariot, armour and all, and start fighting. That is, if I ever manage to get off. I see her mouth move and say "Save it for the games." She's right If I'm going to fight and win, I'll do it honorably. I'll at least have class. Which is more than can be said for 12's mentor - the druken freak.
I glance down at Cato, who is still having a stare down with the old alocoholic and the girl. He looks annoyed that 12, of all Distircts, stole our thunder. Who can blame him?
"Girls! Ladies! Phu-lease let me through! I need to see her!"
Oh my, it's him. Just what we need. I heard a scuffling and a grunt and finally his voice again.
"Thank you ladies! Oh darling..." He squealed, his voice echoing through the near-silent room. He sounded deeply troubled, which probably meant sometign extremly trivial had just happened. Maybe he broke a nail?
I see him staring at one of the girls, and, consdiering the fact she's dressed as a tree, I presume she's from seven. Before the poor kid could even studder he completed his innocent injustice.
"Those shoes are past season!" The girl's stylist tuts, ushering the tree away from Rox. And so, he skips to me, his teal unitard as tight as ever. How can he move in it?
"Darling! Clove where are you! I need to see your beautiful face!" Rox sung to me. Despite his strangeness, I'm still mesmerized by him. Maybe it's all the smoke I'm inhaling from 12.
"Rox!" I chirp, probably sounding a bit too frilly and girly, but it's hard to be sad around this man. He clambers up onto my gold encrusted chariot and for the first time, I notice how far it is off the ground. Everyone is staring at us even more then they did at 12.
"Hi honey! Girl, you look good as a warrior! Now get you ass down, come on, I'll give you a hand..." Rox tries to drag me off, but we soon realise it's not going to happen. If I try to step off here, the armours going to send me crashing too the floor, not tto mentiomn the fact that even standing still in these monsterous shoes is a task.
Rox attempts to pick me up as I try to explain in hushed whispers my problem. The rest of the Ditricts stare as the sadistc girl form 2 struggles to get off her Chariot. I swear I hear someone laughing.
Cato rolls his eyes in a tense movement, preaching to Brutus.
"Not him again! I thought I was having a nightmare when I saw him for the first time!" He jerked his thumb backwards at Rox. "People say I'm streong, she's the tough one, dealing with him!"
Rox gasps while shaking his index finger in the air. "Uh uh girlfriend! That is not how you speak about me! I don't see you trying to pick her up!" His thick capitol accent becoming very clipped.
Brutus mumbles something to a very still Enobaria. dount he meant for me to hear, but I just about catch it.
"That boy must have a frightening imagination to even think he thought of something like that!" Enobaria and Brutus howl with laughter whilst and Cato grins.
Rox is less impressed, and, to be honest, I agree with him.
"Ehem!" I start to speak up while the other districts are starting to disperse and find their floors, bored with watching me struggle. Either that, or they've spied the venom in my eyes.
"Well, Rox is right! You guys aren't helping, you big, burly men! Atleast he knows how to treat a lady!" I use the word 'lady' loosley, of course. Most ladies don't carry knives in theor socks. Cato and Brutus exchange glances, their manliness insulted. Ten, Brutus steps forward, his voice gruff.
"I'll get you down girl! "Brutus started to walk over to the chariot with masculine ambition, obviosuly trying to prove at point.
"No!" I cry. I don't want im picking me up, that is something to be very, and very afraid of. The last person he picked up was in his Games, and they ended up being thrown off the edge of a cliff and into a selection of very pointy rocks.
Cato lunges forward, forcing Brutus back. I think Brutus is more shocked with Cato's action to be angry with him this time.
"I'll get her." Cato's blond hair is ruffled under the cap as he starts to climb up to get me. I suddenly want to object and say that I could easily just stomp my way and use gravity to drag me down, despite the fact it'll destory my feet. But then I think of the crippled boy from 10, and decide against it.
Rox looks flabbergasted as Cato pushes past him. He puts a manicured hand up to his wide open mouth, fanning himself with a peice of paper.
"Oh, you deserve this princess!"
I barely notice Cato when he grunts my name, eye casted downward in an awkward stance.
"Clove? Ready?" I nod.
Cato twists his body to the side and grabs me, lifting me up as I were nothing but a rag doll. If this were the Games, he could easily snap me in half, or at least crush my bones.
I barely feel anything on the way down, it's like Cato has halted gravity and I'm all of a sudden as light as air in his arms. My legs dangle down but the shoes don't seem to add any weigth, it literally feels as though my whole mass has jsut vanished.
"Down we are." Cato uttered as he flipped me to stand. I land funny on the killer-heels, making my vision and balnce swoon. I grab Cato for support, almost instantly regretting it. Rox hopped down like a little bunny, still fawning over Cato.
"I wish a sexy guy who would pick me up and carry me away like that. It's like a fairytale!" I laugh, which caused me to wobble again as an Avox scuttles over and asks to take my shoes off, using movements of the lips and hands. I gladly prop my foot up on a crate as she delicately slips the solid gold off my foot.
"YOU. HAVE. THE. MOST. BEAUTIFULL. FEET. EVER." I hear a nasal voice echo across the room. I see a flash of crystal teeth, then a puff of yellow.
Tatana.
I try to hobble away from her, but due to the eminence imbalance in both weight and height, I don't make it that far before I have tos top and kick the other shoe off. I can jsut about jog with all the armour still on.
Rox yells after me. "Clove, honey I want you to meet my bff!" I wave my hand in his direction, spluttering something about already knowing her, before slipping round the corner. I notice Enobaria is already babbling on a earpiece with Brutus commenting now and again, a clipboard in his hand and pen in his hand. He taps Enobaria's arm, pointing to something on the paper and she nods happily.
Sponsors.
The girl on fire must have had gotten some, but I'm positive we've gotten more. We've have made a big splash just being our evil selves. Fire Girl can keep her flames going forever.
Smacking the elevator button, tap my now naked foot, waiting for it to come down. at first, it looks as if I'll be travelling alone, but I'm soon joined by Rox and Tatana, who, fortunaley, are too busy gossiping to pay me any mind.
Brutus and Cato follow suit, having a small quarrel, yet again. Enobaria is the last one standing in the Chariot room, amogst the horses and Avox's, her fangs moving so fast she even scratches herself on her chin a few times.
Tatana ushered her hand for Enobaria to come into the small elevator but she simply puts her hand to make her pause for a second. The elevator is jsut opening when Enobaria races over, scribbling out some of Brutus' handwriting on the clipboard.
"DeltaQuinn, not DeltaQuo!" she snaps at him, covering the microphone. "No, no, I wasn't speaking to you, carry on..."
I have never felt this small. Cato and Brutus take up half of the elevator, and with this bulky armor Cato looks even bigger. Tatana and Rox are squished into a corner squealing about the new purse that came out yesterday and how elephant skin is supposed to respond to your touch. I just stare in confusion.
Enobaria is still spurted out words at a million miles an our, constantly looking back over at Brutus' notes. I barely have any time to lean my back against a wall when my ears pick up what she's saying about me.
"Yes... Mhm, 5'4... no, it's not too short... Yes... Yes I'm sure it's not fake! She almost killed me today with a knife... Mhm, I'll look those stats up, but I did page her instructor and she said she was the best she's seen in years... Yes... Mhm... Yes, even better then Linster" My jaw dropped. Linster was the legendary knife thrower from 2, who manged to kill everyone in the arena. All 23 other tributes died at his hand, no one even got a chance to kill each other. It was said when he threw a knife, it just found a person.
"Do I think she's promising? Ah, yes" Enobaria looks at me like I'm a turkey ready to be cooked in, and she was deciding just how to season me. I feel exposed.
Ding!
The elevator stops at floor 2. Myself and Cato squirm our way through the others, trying not to knock into anyone, but fail when Cato manages to elbow Rox in the head. However, Rox can't even react before the door are closing and the elevator continues to whizz upwards.
We stand and watch it go up, listening to the mechanics whirring around
My fingers fumble for the training center button as me and Cato descend. It's 6 o'clock in the morning and I'm as tense as ever because of last night. There is an awkward tension between me and Cato that you can cut with a butter knife. He's at one end at the elevator, craning his neck while my body is stiff but very alert.
As soon as the elevator door opens Cato rushes forward, not wanting to have anything to do with me.
Well guess what, drama queen, you're not the only one!
I walk behind him, a few paces away. While his are rough and rugged mine are sleek and feline.
Total polar opposites.
The training center leader is run by a middle-aged woman with chocolate skin and cold muddy eyes. Atala. Everyone who's ever dreamed of winning the Hunger Games wants to work with her.
She generally keeps moving, walks around and helps people. I'm not sure where she is right now.
Five minutes later the pair from one bursts out of an elevator, expecting to be the first ones here. Too bad. I notice them as the pair form District One, the pretty girl and the tall guy.
The girl's face washes with disappointment, but cheers up when she see's Cato. Crap. They've never met each other, and already she's taken a liking to him. I notice a smug smile in my direction as she makes her way to Cato, sitting down by him with her lovely hair in two stupid pigtails.
Cato says something flirtatiously back and of the conversation starts. Cato glances a satisfied smirk in my direction.
You know what Cato? Two can play at this game.
I walk over to the spear station, where the boy from one is standing, marveling the shaft of a long spear.
"What's your name?" I ask. The boy jumped, still sleepy and weary from yesterday. He spun around, his brown hair bouncing all over the place.
"Hi, I'm Marvel"
Marvel sticks out his hand and I graciously accept it.
I peak over to Cato and the girl. She's twirling her hair like some kind of idiot. Cato looks as smug as a kitten.
Stupid bastard.
"Oh hi! I'm Clove." My voice has such a seductive tone in it , it causes the newly arrived tributes from a filler district turn their head in my direction. Cato seems to be unfazed. I'll show him that he is jealous!
"Hi Clove" Marvel said, his back propped up against a wall. Marvel isn't that bad looking. He doesn't have face issues, nor too wimpy looking, but there is just some strength that is completely lacking behind his lean and lanky body.
This kind of bantering lasted for hours. Half the time I was thinking of taking the club over by the door and smacking it into his thick head.
Finally when twelve came Atala popped out behind her desk and strutted in front of all of the tributes.
"I know most of you will rush to get ax or a sword but most of you tributes will die from natural causes. 10 percent from infection..." Her voice drawled into statics as I eyed the knife throwing station. On a top of rack there lay an array of knifes. The knife's jut out of the rack like a broken bone. But I want to touch them. I want to grip one of the dainty knife's blade in my small palm. I want to feel the smooth ridges brush against my finger tips. I want to throw it.
"And with that you can go" Atala barely manages to escape as soon as Cato and Glimmer ( what I learn her name to be) make their way over to some station that involves mutual help. The short sword session. Cato is showing her how to hold it properly while trying to touch her as much as possible.
Stupid bastard.
This fuels my fire. I strut over to the knife station and shoo the tributes away. Some stupid girl from 9. One quick glance at the 2 pinned to my chest is enough.
I barely notice that Marvel is following me while I grab the most evil/ dangerous looking one. It's a thin knife with a weighted, straight blade that is around two feet long.
I notice Cato is watching me, so is Glimmer, so is Marvel, so are the Avoxes, so are the other tributes who even care to notice my little angry facade.
I steady my body to be completely level with my target, a small, small, target, far away and way back of the room. It's a bomb that's being undone by a boy. Probably from 3 or something.
The boy keeps fiddling with it. Good thin it has a steady hand.
What I do surprises me even. I cock my head to Cato, then give him a secretive smile. Ha! Let him take that!
I turn towards the target and throw my knife. It rotates a few times, then starts to spin faster and faster.
The knife lodge's it's self nicely in the middle of the device. The boy from three looks worried as the device starts to smoke.
Ha! Cato take that! I feel like dancing and stomping on his ashes.
I look approvingly at Atala and then look at the judges. Each scribbles something down in their notebooks and has a thoughtful face.
I spin around and face Marvel that I now remember about.
"Can you show me how to spear? I suck at that" I ask, my voice shrill off of a high.
I shot a look at Cato while Marvel is leading me to the spear station by my hand.
"So uh! Can you show me how to do this?" My voice is coming off scratchy.
Marvel smiled, it wasn't a nice thing but I returned it flirtatiously while he grabbed my waist.
" You have to bend your knees like this." Marvel bended down and put pressure on my knees to bend them. His touch isn't welcoming but it'll have to make do.
I fake stumble and fall flat on my ass on purpose. Marvel picked me back up. And I squealed with a girlish tone.
This earned a smile.
"Now just bend you knees. And your arms." He slid a very light spear into my hand.
"And then you..." Marvel came from behind me, and put his grabby hands on my waist, causing our bodies to concave to each other. How I would like to have that club right about now.
As Marvel stood behind me, I kept him at a respctable distance. I may have wanted Cato jealous, but that didn't mean I wanted this idiot touching me. I shot Cato a quick glance to see if he was looking, and what I saw horrified me. Him. And Glimmer. Training. Together. He had hs arms around her waist, hands on top of hers as they both gripped a sword. Glimmer was acting as if she was incompetent (though it was highly likely she was) as Cato directed her swings. Her girlish giggling was enough to make me sick. I had to try harder.
Trying not to think about who it was I was with, I thrust myself right against Marvel's chest. I grimaced as I felt him against me, so lean and weak. He disgusted me. But, if I had any chance of revenge on Glimmer, I needed to pretend he didn't.
"So, you just hold it here right here?" I asked, a little to loud. I saw Cato look up. Perfect.
Marvel whispered something into my ears and started to hold his arm around me in a more intimate position. I giggled feverishly, my voice penetrating the room without a warning.
Then he threw the spear at the target. My hand followed his, and, at the angle it was travelling, it would hit dead centre. I didn't want that. Pulling my arm slightly to the left, the spear jolted at an angle and it hit the dummy straight in the arm. It felt wrong to know that my shot had been so off, but I had to make it look as if I was pleased.
All I hear is "THAT IS NOT A PROPER SPEAR THROW!" Cato charges over, removing his hands so quickly from Glmmer that the sudden weight of the sword in her arms is enough to drag her to the floor. Marvel backs off as he gets closer.
I stare up innocently at Cato. "Why not? It hit the target." Cato follows my glare to the dummy. His lips form into a snarl as he sees it just barely in the arm. He flicks his gaze to Marvel.
"Go help her." he snaps, pointing at Glimmer, who is now even struggling to pick the sword up. What do they trian them in in District Two? Flirting? Then again, they can't even do that right apparently.
"You're aims perfect." Cato snarls. "You're faking."
"So what if I am. Jealous?" My teasing tone seems to grind against Cato, his face burns red with either anger or enbarrassment or both, but before he can come up with a responble response, two people are approaching us, eyes locked on both of our faces.
One of them, a boy with spiked up jet black hair, has a harpoon in his large, tanned hand. His blue eyes survey me as his thin lips curl up. He must be around seventeen or eigthteen due to the sheer size of him, even Cato only has a couple of inches on him height-wise, and their muscle is rather evely matched. The girl is smaller, but still taller than I am. She's slim and slender, delicate looking in a way, her mahogany coloured hair is scraped back off her face in a tight bun and her hazel eyes are flashing with deadliness. I know instatnly they're from District Four. Fellow Careers.
The girl speaks first. She must have watched a lot of television over the years, either that or had imensely rich parents, because her voice lacks the distinctive district four accent, but instead posses elements of the Capitol's whiney voices. Not enough to be deathly annoying, but still.
"Disticrt 2!" she says bluntly, but with a little too much enthuasiasm. "I'm Alea and this is..."
"Posidian. District Four. Fishing." he says, offering a hand. Both myself and Cato just look at it until he takes it down awkwardly. Cato nods to the harpoon in his left hand.
"Can you use it?" he asks. It takes a moment for Posidian to register what he's talking about but as soon as he relaises he means the weapon he smirks.
"Watch this." Tyring the string aorund his hand, he lanches the spear end of the harpoon halfway across the trainging hall. It hits the gut of a sword trainging dummy and with one quick flick of his wrist he's dragging it back over to us. When it gets their, he yanks the spear harpoon out then stabs the dummy in the chest. If it was a person, it'd have definatly drawn it's last breath.
"Impressive." Cato says. "But can you do it one someone who's breathing?" Posidian grins back, his incisor teeth starngley pointed, as if they've been sharpened. I instantly think of Enobaria in the arena. Deadly.
"You'll see soon enough." he says.
"What about the girl?" I spit, looking Alea up and down. She doesn't look like much to be honest. She smiles at me.
"Got a mace?" she asks. Reaching over to the rack behind me, I pass her the heaviest thing on their. It takes most of my strenght to even lift it, but when it reaches her hands it's like it's suddenly become as light as a feather. She stands the dummy her partner had dragged over up before lifting the mace way above her head. She swings it round like a mad woman for half a minute, striking the dummy again and again, barely ever missing, until there's nothing left of it. Then, she throws the mace down by my feet.
"Don't judge a book by it's it cover." she says simply.
"Nice." he says. Posidina nods expencantly.
"Go on then. What can you two do?"
I hiss. "I don't need to prove myself to you, District Four." I spit the name as thoug it's dirt. District Four only ever made it as Careers due to the fact that the Capitol buys their stupid fish for almost anything. Eating, spa treatments, weight loss programs, ingredients for their stupid dies and makeups, pet food, almost anyhtign made in the Capitol has somehting from a fish in it.
Posidian's face drops into fustration. I can tell he's a short fuse. Just like Cato then, I muse.
"Ok, pipsquek, how about I just..." Alea stops him before he can go any further. The apperance of her hand on his chest halts him dead in his tracks.
"It's ok Posidian." she says. "If she can't do anything, it's fine. She does look a little young." I know she's only taunting me, but I can't help but respond. Ripping five knives of a nearby table, I throw them all in quick succession at the spear targets. Two hit the chests of the tragets, and the other three hit the heads. Not a single one misses.
I turn to Alea, and even thoug I have to stand on my tiptoes, I stare her straight in the eye. "Don't judge a book by it's cover." I mimic. Suprisingly, she grins. Posidian looks at her and her glares back screams: 'I told you so'. I can tell who really wants to be in this alliance, and it's not Posidian.
"District 2, Clove Carione." a robotic voice spurted out in the hallway. It's been two days since training has started and it's time for scores. I hope I just throw straight.
I jump off of my seat, pat my tight leather pants, and start walking twoards the training center. Enobaria told me to throw my knives and so I will.
I look back for one last time and see Cato's eyes linger on mine.
I'll throw straight.