Ebon Furial (12), District Nine Male-POV
I knew I was dreaming, but it didn't really matter, since Emeryus was there. He's my best friend at the orphanage, the only friend I have really, and we like to call ourselves family sometimes. The worst thing about this Hunger Games thingy, which I'm still not all too sure on the details on, is that they said I probably wouldn't get to see him ever again. When they told me that, tears started pouring from my eyes, though I kept on smiling. If I was smiling, then other people wouldn't be sad, too, and maybe I might not be sad anymore. Plus, people appeared to be happy when I joked around in the Justice Building, so they'd be all right, right?
Anyways, in my dream I was back at the Orphanage in District Nine. This seemed awfully familiar to me, and I knew just what was going to happen when my best friend, looking almost identical to me except he had blonde hair, handed me a small orange pebble. The horrible thing is that I woke up right before he could hand it to me, jolting myself into the reality of the slightly noisy train. Bending over me, a really pretty lady, named Sophaphina, was shaking my shoulder gently. And when I say really pretty, I mean really pretty; Sophaphina had curly blonde hair, big blue eyes, and ruby red lipstick, combined with a spotless white gown.
"Wake up, sweetie," Sophaphina soothed, "We've got a big, big day at the Capitol!"
Sitting up in my bed, the covers shifted underneath me. Glancing into the mirror, my curly hair looked even messier than usual, probably because I had just slept longer than I would have been allowed to back home. Also, they had some sort of all you can eat buffet! It's almost better than that tesserae stuff they let me get for free! Some of the older kids tried to tell me you had to pay for it, but they couldn't tell me exactly what I'd have to pay. Well, I suppose I'll be finding out soon enough.
"What are we doing in the Capitol, Miss?" I asked curiously.
Sophaphina's smile faded for a second, "You don't really know…," the lady, my Escort I think, sat down on the bed, "Well…You understand what the Hunger Games is, right? You watched it with the other kids?"
Straining my memory, I did remember how sometimes everyone would crowd around the screens. However, Emeryus and I didn't do that, since no one was playing with the toy dinosaurs at that time. You see, we love the toy dinosaurs, and most of the time, the older kids have already taken them. So yeah, why would we watch television when we could play with dinosaurs? Really, it seemed like a no brainer to me, and this lady should understand that. And if she didn't, then Chrissie, a fourteen year old in the Orphanage, was right about the Capitol; they're all a bunch of morons. Though, the Capitol people look pretty nice to me! They've already given me tons of free stuff!
"Yeah," I answered, trying to think of a game to play with my friendship pebble, "Miss Sandes said that they took twenty six kids and we had to fight in a weird place called the…the arena. And we gotta dress up and stuff before we do it because the Capitol thinks we're cute and cuddly…no…cute and pretty? Yeah, cute and pretty."
Sophaphina muttered something, then nodding and smiling brightly at me, "Well, I hope you gave Miss Sandes a big, big thank you! She's absolutely right!" the pretty lady pinched my cheeks, which a lot of people do, "Today, we're going to dress you up! And then you're going to be in a grand parade! Would you like that, Ebon?"
A big parade? Oh! I think I knew what those looked like! Some weird kids sat in these cart things that were pulled by these really, really pretty horses. Horses were almost as cool as dinosaurs, except I don't think that they breathe fire or anything. When I play with dinosaurs, they can breathe fire, fly, and juggle all at the same time! It's really cool, and if you hadn't done it, then you surely haven't lived. Which, I guess, it means it's okay that I'm going into the arena thingy, since I've already lived by playing with the dinosaurs! Hopefully Emeryus takes good care of them and doesn't let the really little kids slobber all over them, as I'm sure the dinosaurs wouldn't like that. If I were a toy, I know I wouldn't like it if whiney little kids shoved me in their mouths all day long.
"Yeah!" I replied, my eyes wide with excitement, "I love the parade! It's my favorite show that they put on the television every year! My favorite part is the horses! I love the horses!"
"You know what, Ebon? I'll make you a deal: I'll let you ride the horses during the parade! You like that?"
"Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Of course I would, Miss!" I squealed, wiggling and jumping on the bed.
She smiled prettily at me, "Then get washed up! Shower's in there! And meet me and the others for breakfast out in the dining area, sweetie!" she exclaimed, brushing her hair over her shoulder and exiting my room.
Right now, I really wanted to make Sophaphina happy, so I bounced off of my bed. Following her directions, the way to the shower was quickly found. Stripping my clothes on the floor, the nice fuzzy pajamas I found in the dresser last night, I looked at the shower in awe. There must have been a hundred, no, a thousand, no, a million buttons on it!
"Wow," I whispered, hopping into the pearly tub immediately, "This place has everything!"
Pulling on random knobs and buttons, trying to use each one in turn, so none of them would feel left out. Out of the nozzle thing came a steamy jet of water, apple scented too, which made me jump when it hit me. As soon as I had gotten used to the temperature of it, a sudsy liquid plopped all over me, smelling like cinnamon; I hated cinnamon. Frowning a bit, not wanting to yell at the nice Capitol people, I tried to the best I could to scrub it off of me, but only more seemed to be coming out.
"What do I what do I do what do I do?" I mumbled, panicked, as I pressed a whole other row of buttons.
Sadly enough, it only seemed to increase the amount of cinnamon stuff, mixed in with a slight whiff of cherry soap. By the time my entire body was covered in it, and I was sneezing like mad, since cinnamon always did that kind of thing to me, I remembered all about the nozzle. Looking up at it, I might have been able to jump up and grab it, just like we had to do at the Orphanage. Motivating myself with the encouragement of an invisible friend, my legs sprung up, and I managed to grab the shower nozzle. However, that didn't guarantee that I'd be able to come back down, so I ended up dangling, a good five feet off of the ground. But I didn't mind it, since the sudsy stuff had been eradicated from me in the process, my dark skin looking inflamed from the shower water.
"Uhh…Miss?" I called out, hoping that Sophaphina was still out there, waiting, "I'm gonna need some help…I think I'm…stuck…"
Cedar Tremaine (14), District Nine Female-POV
Taking in deep breaths, my beating heartbeat finally slowed down to one that was normal. I've always been a bit paranoid, not nearly as bad as people said though. And for most of the night, I'd been able to convince myself that the train was going to crash, making me die sooner than I would have liked. Those same types of thoughts had sprouted from the Reaping, where the Peacekeepers had made me stand up, since I'd fallen to the ground in tears. Sophaphina, the sweet natured Escort, had already come in to check on me, only to find that I had not received a single wink of sleep at night. She just sighed, and said I might be able to sleep while they were doing my makeup in Remake center. Timidly, nodding in reply, Sophaphina left to wake up Ebon.
I shrieked, hearing a loud thud come from Ebon's room, "WE'RE GOING TO DIE!"
Crawling under the bed, I curled into a ball, rocking myself back and forth. We were going to die; I knew it, but all so soon? There must have been some kind of murderer on the train with us, probably from the Capitol, too. How could the Mockingjay have lived with herself, knowing that they people either wanted to kiss her, kill her, or be her? If I was Katniss Everdeen, no one would have ever heard my name, as I certainly wouldn't have Volunteered for this horror. Even if I had a little sister, of if my brother Corvus had been a girl, I don't think I would have wanted to take their place. Yes, I loved my family, but I must admit I'm a bit of a coward; at least I'm not the only one, though, as Ebon looked like he had a brother.
"That was fun! It hurt, but fun!" Ebon's voice came from down the hall, followed by Sophaphina scolding him.
Hesitantly, I peeked out from underneath the bed, in case it was some kind of ploy. It must have been the jabberjays, I concluded, making me think that everything was all right. But those foolish jabberjays wouldn't be getting the best of me, sliding back underneath the bed once more. Whoever was trying to kill me right now wouldn't be getting away from it, not in the arena either, as paranoia is a healthy thing, when taken in small doses. There was no questioning in my mind that I wasn't doing the exactly right thin, even as the jabberjays started up again.
"Cedar! Cedar! Get out here right now!" the jabberjays screeched, sounding like Sophaphina.
Part me of felt like it might have been her, but it wasn't, it was the jabberjays just trying to trick me. They must have remembered the sound of Sophaphina's shoes click clacking on the floor, recreating it perfectly down to the smallest details. Whoever it was probably wouldn't see my brown eyes, filled with nervousness, as I peeked out from under the bed. Two six inch heels stood in the doorway of the room; curiously, suds seemed to cover a bit of the hairless ankle. It might have been Sophaphina, but still, I could not deny the high likely hood, in my mind, of it being a trap. The only way to know for sure is if the person walked in here themselves, and then, and only then, would I be positive or doubting my initial reaction.
"There you are!" Sophaphina exclaimed, relieved I allowed myself to be dragged out from under the bed.
Never before had I been so glad to see someone, and lagging behind her, Ebon grinned up at me. His hair looked extremely unkempt, a bit soapy, which probably explained the banging noise that had frightened me half to death. The side of his face appeared to be swelling, a dark hint of a bruise, which hopefully wouldn't bother him all too long. We'd be in the arena soon enough, and that wouldn't help him in the slightest; it would only hinder him. Nervously, I wondered if the cruel girl- Leah Dagger- would be using that to her advantage in the arena. All I really wanted was to ensure I wouldn't have to face the dreaded Careers, as fear pumps through my veins at the very mentioning of their name.
"Ye-yeah. Here I am…," I stuttered, trying to seem confident, though my acting skills were lacking, "Breakfast now, right?"
Sophaphina was about to answer, when Ebon leaped forward, "Yep! And then to the Capitol!"
Timidly, I nodded, walking over the mirror. I had an average face, one which I won't bother to describe again. Raking my fingers through it, a part in the brown locks was somehow made, just enough that it wouldn't look all too bad for the cameras. Even now, a sort of haunted look was clearly evident in my eyes, yet when I smiled, it seemed to vanish and just fall away, replaced with heavenly warmth. Peradventure I'd act giggly, happy really, in my interview, and just pretend to be someone that I wasn't. After all, it's better to pretend then for it to actually happen.
Ebon and Sophaphina walked out of my room, allowing me privacy to change out of my nightgown. A cotton blouse, a light pretty blue color, was the very first thing I stumbled upon the mahogany drawers. At that thought, an old joke about a lady named Effie Trinket came to mind, causing the smallest of smiles to grace my nervous looking face. It was a rather overused one, originating in the Seventy Sixth Hunger Games, so I won't bother to mention it. Partnering the top with denim jeans, the only material they seem to make jeans out of, I walked out of my room, heading towards the dining area. Thankfully, District Nine had two Mentors, one for Ebon, and one for me. Some of the Districts only had one, and I believe that District Six, and perhaps another, didn't have a Mentor at all. Maybe they were worse off than I was, I thought, though dismissed it quickly as with my luck, I'll be killed in the Bloodbath.
The Mentor who'd be working with me was a proud yet sweet lady named Clo. She had wispy brown hair, sparkling hazel eyes, and strong arms, no doubt from helping her cousins out daily. Here in District Nine, the Grain District, it usually takes an entire team of people to get the crops collected; no doubt my family would be feeling my absence soon enough. Not for a second did I wonder why Clo didn't just give her cousins some of the spoils of winning the Hunger Games; since it wasn't the type of thing you ask your last hope of living. And Ebon's Mentor, a strong and silent chap, was named Davie, after some famous pioneer from ages ago. It didn't make much sense to me, as that name seems to be more suiting for someone in District Ten, yet I, once again, held my tongue.
"Sit, sit!" Sophaphina, actually, Sophaphina Malone beckoned, "We'll be there in just fifteen precious minutes!"
Not arguing with her, my place at the table was soon filled with a large assortment of what they called pastries. Biting into a yellow covered one, a sensation of the coolest lemon soon filled my mouth. The Capitol people must be living wonderful lives, I concluded, how could they not? Though, as soon as I finished that thought, I hastily dropped the pastry. What if someone had poisoned it? What if, what if it had been Ebon, his cuteness merely being an act to get my guard down? Hopefully I hadn't bitten into the poison, as I'd be a goner for sure if I had done that.
"Hey Cedar!" Ebon chirped, causing me to shake violently, the plate clattering to the ground and splitting in two, "The funny people are looking at us!"
"G-G-Good to know," I replied, making no intention of leaving my seat until I could claim Ebon innocent of his possible crime.
Just as he had said, an entire crowd had gathered outside, cheering and waving. Only I remained out of their view, leaving only Ebon to fulfill their sadistic desires.
