AUGH. More reviewers~! You're all so lurvley :L
Writers block sucks Equius's sweaty *hit with a brick* Ow.
Thanks to Neks for the positive feedback. Let us get married and have forty-billion kids and name them all after Homestuck and Hunger Games characters. :D *hit with a brick again* AUGH I WAS KIDDING.
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You're having another nightmare. Your skin is that same gray color, and you reach up and feel nubby horns atop your head. You frown curiously, wondering about your strange dream-appearance as you cautiously poke a sharp tooth with your tongue. Once more you passed through that inky black nothingness, but the whispers were not present. You walk forward, tense, nearing the door ever so slowly.
Electricity seems to course through you as you grip the handle, but you open the door anyways. You gasp at the sight before you.
Bodies are strewn everywhere. You recognize the eleven that now began to haunt your dreams relentlessly. Body parts have been thrown carelessly across the room, mutilated beyond any recognition. You gag, covering your mouth, leaning against a wall stained with rainbow blood splatters. You feel like you're about to be sick.
You look up, and gasp. Standing in the center of the room is a solid black figure. You can see half of a katana blade jutting out of its midsection. Huge wings sprout from its back, and one of its arms is missing.
It turns, and reveals its wolfish face to you. Its lips pull back into a snarl, baring bloodstained teeth. It reaches out its right hand, stained with cherry red blood, with a golden ring glowing upon it.
It growls lowly under its breath. You take two steps backwards, watching it wearily as it pulls the bleeding sword out of its midsection. It swipes, and you feel a stinging pain. You tremble, clutching at your throat as cherry red blood pours onto the ground. You try and scream, but only succeed in releasing a frightened gurgle. Your vision is blurring, and you finally fall forward-
You hit the floor with a gasp, your head pounding hard. You sit up quickly, your legs falling off the bed and onto the floor with a heavy thunk. You grasp frantically for your throat, and are relieved to find it fine. It was only a dream, after all. A hauntingly realistic dream...
You shake your head to clear it, glancing at your alarm clock. It's 6 in the morning. The sun isn't even up yet. You sigh, stretching, going to your shower to wash off the sweat and the remaining blood that still flickers in your mind's eye.
You stare blankly at the mass of buttons and switches on your shower, scratching your head. You're grateful for something to distract your brain from past drama, but is this really necessary? You sigh, and push a random button. That button happens to shoot a combination of freezing water and pink-colored foam that smells like flowers. Horrified, you step away from the blast, not wanting to smell like a girl.
Eventually you pick a soap that smells minty and figure out how to set the water to a reasonable temperature. You scowl at how much of a hassle that was.
When you exit the shower, perfectly dry due to a vent that activates due to the simple press of a button, you see an outfit resting on your bed. A long-sleeved black tunic, with tight black pants and leather shoes. You shrug, slipping the outfit on, pleased on how well it fits your thin frame. Portia and Cinna must have made it, no matter how simple. You clip your Cancer symbol and crab claw onto your belt buckle, and examine yourself in the mirror.
This is an outfit that you would be happy to wear in the woods. It allows your limber body full movement, unlike the constricting tan pants that you wear hunting. The thought relaxes you for a small moment. You straighten up. You doubt anyone will be down for breakfast, since neither Katniss, Haymitch, or Effie has given you a time to be down there. You just hope that there will be food. You need something to distract you (again) from the nightmares.
You are not disappointed. A long table is laden with at least twenty dishes. Stomach rumbling, you load a plate with food and sit down, watching the sun rise over the Capitol absently. When you finish your food, you lean back, sipping absently at a cup of coffee.
Your thoughts stray to your family, what they will be doing. Sollux will be up at about the same time as you, hunting and trading before he has to go work in the mines. It agitated you when he received the letter that he had to go work there, because you didn't want him to die like your father.
Nepeta would help Terezi pick out her clothes before they got all slobbery. Your sister had this insane idea that she could taste colors. You find yourself smiling before you can stop yourself. Has it only been two days since you last seen your family? It seems like a lifetime to you. You've never been away from them for more than a few hours.
Haymitch, Katniss, and Vriska come in, giving you a good morning. Or, a smirk and an annoying hair ruffle from Vriska, which is met with a glare and several choice swears. It only irritates you further when you see Vriska is wearing the same outfit as you. You growl at her under her breath, and she cackles.
"Oh Karcrab, we're matching! Isn't that endeaaaaaaring?" she coos. You glare at her.
"Fuck off, you puss-filled dick blister. I'm not in the mood for your annoying shit this morning, so kindly leave me the hell alone until we have to kill each other in the arena," you snap, eyes twitching uncontrollably. Your insult stuns Katniss, but only make Haymitch and Vriska laugh.
Your frustration at Vriska helps distract you from the nervousness the idea of training in front of the other tributes gives you. For three days, the tributes will train together. On the afternoon on the final day, the tributes will perform privately in front of the Gamemakers, who will rate you on your performance. The thought makes you slightly queasy, and you stare at the now lukewarm coffee in your hand, wrinkling your nose in distaste.
Haymitch finishes his breakfast and leans back. Katniss is still absently picking at a roll of bread, a distant look in your eyes. You quirk your eyebrow, and she meets your gaze, but says nothing.
"So, about the training. Do you want to do this separately or together?" Haymitch asks. You glance at Vriska. You know that she's incredibly smart and manipulative, not to mention fast. Plus, she can throw knives like a pro.
"We can be trained together. As much as I fucking resent the idea of being in the same room as bitchtits for more than five minutes, I guess we don't have very many secret skills or anything," you say with a growl. Vriska leans back, nodding in agreement.
"Yep. Karkles over here has wicked talent with the sickles, and a bit with the bow and arrow," says Vriska with a grin. You stare at her oddly.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" you snap.
Vriska shrugs. "Nothing, my dear Karcrab~ I'm just giving you some subtle praise, no need to be rubbed the wrong way. And me, well, I don't have many skills at all." she chirps with a grin that you just want to punch right off her face, but tributes, sadly, aren't allowed to fight before the arena.
"Don't give me that shit. You're good with throwing knives. I know you can hit your target dead-on and you're really fast and smart," you retort, crossing your arms.
"Oh please, I'm definitely not as fast as you, Karkles," she snickers. Is that sarcasm you detect?
"Oh stop it, both of you," Katniss interjects. You turn and glare at her, surprised to see that she's grinning. "You both have your talents that can be useful in the arena."
Haymitch nods. "Karkat, there's no guarantee that there will be sickles in the arena. But until then, steer clear of that area in training." he says. You nod.
"Same with you, Vriska. You two need to hide your strengths. Patch up on your weaker areas, learn something you don't know. Throw a few spears, swing a few swords, learn how to set a good trap, how to make a nice fire, even some edible plants," says Katniss.
Vriska looks put off at the fact that she won't be showing off in the training center, but you would rather let your fellow tributes underestimate you. You, Vriska, and your mentors come to the agreement to save your strengths for the Gamemakers.
"One last thing before you go. Remain by each others' sides at all times." You and Vriska immediately begin to complain, and Katniss gives you both a stern look that ceases your whining.
"No complaints. You two need to show that District 12 is always united, even when faced with death in the arena. I don't care if you two hate each other," she says firmly. You growl under your breath.
"Fucking fine. I'll stay by the crazy spider-bitch's side like a fucking dung-beetle following a smelly animal ass," you snap. Vriska gives you an indignant look that fills you with satisfaction.
"Good to see we have that wrapped up. You will be at the elevator by ten for training." Haymitch says squarely, end of conversation. You stomp irritably out of the dining room, slamming your door behind you so that Vriska can hear it.
"What a fucking joke! Making me stick with that bitch like we're best-fucking-buddies, when we clearly want to tear out each other's throats!" you rant to yourself, pacing in your room, glaring at a spot in space. "At one point, that's going to fucking backfire once they see us going at each other's throats in the arena. 'Always united' my ass, I can't fucking stand her!" you rant, collapsing onto your bed and groaning. This is what you get for being fine with coaching with Vriska. You are immediately regretting that decision. You have two mentors, after all!
You lay in your bed for a long time. When you see its five minutes 'til, you go and freshen up, before walking irritably to the elevator, where you see Effie Trinket and Vriska waiting for you. You purposely avoid Vriska's gaze.
As you descend, you can feel your animosity at Vriska fading and your anxiety forcing back to the surface like an annoying Jack in the Box. You lick your lips nervously.
The actual training rooms are below the ground floor of your building. In this elevator, it takes less than a minute to get there. The doors open into an enormous gymnasium with various weapons and obstacle courses. Although it's not yet ten, you're the last one to arrive. The other tributes are gathered in a tense circle, glaring at each other. You squirm uncomfortably at the familiar faces, hardly noticing as someone pins the number 12 to your back.
As soon as you and Vriska join the circle, the head trainer, a tall, athletic woman named Atala steps up and begins to explain the training schedule. Experts in each skill will remain at their stations. You will be free to travel from station to station, per your mentors' instructions, blah blah blah.
You examine the tributes around you nervously. You realize most of your gender is larger than you are. You catch Gamzee's eye, and he smiles at you. You glare at him, quickly averting your gaze.
Atala releases you, and you watch them all scatter towards different areas. You quickly spot a place with miscellaneous weaponry, and your hands itch to snatch up the glistening sickles you see and lob off a dummy's head off, when Vriska firmly grips your arm and drags you off.
As you pass the archery station, you spot another familiar face, with a 7 pinned to her shirt. That would be Aradia. She meets your gaze with maroon eyes, the same color as her blood in your dream, as you pass and you turn away in embarrassment.
You and Vriska decide on the edible plants station. You pass this without batting an eyelash. After an incident when you were seven and you almost bit into a poisonous berry, Sollux decided to school you in the edible plants area.
You head over to the knot-tying station, and the instructor is eager to see you. Obviously knot-tying is not the most popular station in the training center.
The next three days pass with you and Vriska avoiding the weapons area. You perfect your bow handling, Vriska, you discover, is able to lob a thirty-pound weight halfway across the gym. You stare at her in surprise, sputtering out a "Holy shit", which is met with a grin.
The Gamemakers appeared early on the first day, wearing deep purple robes that gently tickle your memory, but you can't quite place it. They sit in the elevated stands that surround the gymnasium, observing us, jotting down notes, other times completely ignoring you and instead focusing on the enormous banquet that is set for them. You find that they're also keeping an eye on the District 12 tributes. More than once you look up and see one trained intently on you. When you eat, they consult with the trainers.
Breakfast and dinner are served on your floor, but you eat with the other tributes for lunch. The Career tributes tend to gather noisily around one table. Most of them eat by themselves, but the ones you are familiar with tend to stick with each other.
One day during lunch, you and Vriska attempt to keep up a painfully friendly conversation, when you sense another presence. You look up in suprise as Gamzee Makara and his fellow tribute, along with that girl from District 5 that reminds you painfully of Nepeta, and to your surprise, Kanaya from District 2 and Feferi from District 4, who is joined unhappily by Eridan.
You and Vriska stare blankly at them. Feferi grins, speaking up.
"District 12, right? Your opening ceremonies were fantastic! That smoky-thingy was so glubbing cool!" she exclaims. You feel your eyebrow twitch. Fish puns, seriously?
"I agree. That performance was quite stunning, but I would expect no less from the stylists of District 12. They work amazingly with fabrics," says Kanaya.
The tributes that joined you introduce themselves, but you already know them, and the eight of you proceed to make small talk. You're detached from the conversation, only speaking up to jab with an insult or yell at someone. You don't care if you offend them, you'll have to kill them anyways. But they pass this off as your natural attitude and ignore it. Gamzee even goes as far as laughing at your insults.
You learn a lot about their personalities fast, to your displeasure. Eridan Ampora is a stuck-up snob with the biggest ego you've ever seen. He also seems to have this thing for Feferi Peixes, who is insanely friendly and gets easily excited. You don't really give two flying fucks, since that star-crossed lovers act has already been played by Katniss and Peeta.
Gamzee Makara is a laid-back kind of guy, and half the time you think he's on drugs, even though he assures you he's not. Somehow you doubt that. His fellow tribute, Rose Lalonde, does not fail to creep you out by her insane ability to read someone and give them 'advice'.
Juniper Yanond is a shy little girl. She was very quite the whole time she sat with you, though it appeared Gamzee dragged her over to sit with your group.
Kanaya Maryam is a very intelligent girl, with an apparent love for fashion and books about mythological vampires. She kinda creeps you out too, but she also tends to ramble a lot about nothing in particular. Her fellow tribute, Equius Zahhak, is insanely strong.
You honestly don't see the point in learning about your fellow tributes, but they you all seem to just be drawn together, like magnets. On the second day, Aradia joined you and Vriska at the mace station, but you two didn't talk at all. The maroon-blooded one still remains a mystery to you.
On the third and final day of the training, the Gamemakers call you in by District number to be assessed during lunch. Boy, then girl. Naturally, District 12 is destined to go last. You wait in silence, listening as Gamzee prattles on and on to you about clowns. He doesn't seem nervous in the least, and that unsettles you. All he did during training was avoid the weapons entirely.
As Gamzee's name is called, he gets up and doesn't come back. Rose is called after, and she wishes you luck before disappearing also. Then it's your turn.
You enter the gymnasium. Instantly, your temper spikes dangerously. Naturally, they had to sit through twenty-two other performances. They must be tired of watching you monkeys prod things with pointy objects.
You growl under your breath. You gain the attention of some other Gamemakers as you immediately snatch up the sickles. You twirl them in your hands, getting used to the feel of them.
You pause briefly, and immediately dart forward towards one of the unfortunate dummies. You hook it around the neck, the sickle's curved inner blade catching fast to the burlap sack's neck. You tug with no effort, twisting in a circle, and send the dummy flying halfway across the gym, where it hits two others with a crash, but you aren't done yet. Without skipping a beat, you run forward and leap over another dummy, displaying your agility, and kick it into the air. You immediately notice that some of the Gamemakers aren't paying attention, and your temper soars. You want to command total attention.
Acting on impulse, you slice upwards with both sickles, cutting the dummy cleanly in half, before leaping up and kicking the dummy towards the Gamemakers. It hits the bottom of their table, rattling it and making the ones who weren't paying attention glance up in shock. You land squarely on your feet, setting the sickles down. When they excuse you, you fast-walk out of the gym. Once you're out of earshot, you immediately start cursing and hitting yourself in the side of the head.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid! Kick a dummy at the Gamemakers, why don't you, Vantas? That was the smartest fucking idea I've ever come up with!" you snarl to yourself as you stalk to the elevator. You jab the button sharply and you shoot up.
Katniss and Haymitch watch you worriedly as you approach them. Katniss questions you, and you give a short recollection of how you screwed up. To your surprise, Katniss and Haymitch bust out laughing.
"Don't let it get to you! Katniss shot an arrow at the Gamemaker's pig when they weren't paying attention to her. You'll get good marks, don't worry, they love tributes with a little spunk," says Haymitch with a grin. Katniss is still laughing.
Not entirely assured, but feeling a bit better, you stalk on over to your room and close the door. You collapse onto your bed, beating your face into your pillow. God, you were so stupid.
Katniss comes over and calls you to dinner sometime later, and you answer with a groan and slowly climb to your feet, dragging yourself out of your room and past a smirking Katniss.
You introduce her smirk to your middle finger.
You see Vriska, Portia, and Cinna in the dining room, and she looks particularly smug, so you assume her session went well. You're too nervous to really eat, so you just pick at your beef stew absently.
After dinner, you go to the sitting room to watch the scores. You lick your lips, a nervous habit, watching as everyone's scores show up.
Equius got a ten, no surprise there. Kanaya got a nine, no surprise there, either. She works well with chainsaws. Ampora managed an eight. How, you don't know. He seems to have no athletic talent. Feferi gets a nine, and you aren't surprised. You've seen her handle a trident. Aradia got an eight, Gamzee got a ten, Rose got a nine, and little Juniper got an eight. You wonder what the hell she did to get that score, but it must have been impressive considering she's so quiet and tiny.
You lick your lips again as your picture comes up, and they flash a ten beneath your picture. You release a breath, feeling Katniss pat you on the shoulder. Vriska got a nine.
Everyone congratulates you, and you smile despite yourself. Vriska looks a bit peeved off that you did better than her, but she can deal with it.
You head to the room with a spring in your step, pleased by your results. You collapse onto your bed, sighing with satisfaction, as sleep takes you into its cold and unfriendly arms.
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Sorry this isn't on schedule, dears. I went to a friend's house yesterday. v_v
Onhonhon~ Sickles are hard to write with.