"Looking good Red."
Merida tries to hide her blush as Jack Frost strides past her in his icy blue tux. She turns her face away, with an eye roll.
She feels self conscious in her glittering, blue ball gown. The 'sleeves' are hardly sleeves at all. They are made of transparent fabric and hangs off of her shoulder, loosely. She had been spending most of the time tugging at them to keep them from falling further.
The waistline of the gown is trimmed with some kind of golden lace, that lines the bottom as well. It's a beautiful dress that shimmers as she walks but she hates the constant stares she gets from the other tributes. Jack was the worst. He continuously makes little remarks about her different features each time he walks past, each more annoying than the last. She eventually finds it easier to drown them out by focusing her attention on the noise of the crowd that lies beyond the curtains of the stage that the tributes had gathered behind. They each wait for their turn to take the hot seat with a rather pompous announcer called Hans, and start their interview. There is a large screen on the front wall that Merida assumes will allow them to watch each other's interviews.
She is seated next to Hiccup, who has been dressed in some strange, brown tux that, although seems to fit him well enough, does not look that great. He doesn't speak to her, or anyone really. He just keeps his eyes fixed on his hands as he twiddles his thumbs, nervously. Merida lets out a heavy breath and leans back in her chair.
"You look nice," she mutters. His eyes flick over to her for a brief moment before he sighs.
"Thanks, you too."
And that's that.
The lights are suddenly dimmed and Merida can hear the crowd of people hush. That's when the music starts to play and everything shakes. The ground trembles from the explosive sound of screaming spectators. For a moment, Merida wonders if they were experiencing an Earthquake, rather than the start of the interviews.
"Good evening Pamen!" A loud, charismatic voice rings through the air. The screen on the wall in front of where the tributes are seated lights up and the announcer, Hans, is suddenly visible. He has a brilliant smile pasted on his perfectly pale face. He is handsome, no doubt, but something about his features just screams "arrogant".
"This is a special evening," he laughs hardly, as the crowd settles down a bit. "Tonight, we get to meet the tributes of the 72nd, Annual, Hunger Games!"
The crowd erupts again and Merida feels her hands begin to shake.
"Let's meet out first Tribute, shall we?" Hans smiles brightly. "Jack Frost, of District 1!" He calls over the screaming crowd. Jack leaps out of his seat, after receiving a reassuring smile from Elsa, and heads through the doorway onto the stage. Merida sits up in her chair and narrows her eyes at the screen. There is something different about the Jack that she sees on the screen than the Jack she had seen in training. He looks almost angry, like he was above the whole situation. His usual smirk has been replaced with refined indigence. Merida sits on the edge of her seat.
"Welcome, welcome Jack!" Hans says, more to the audience than to him. "How are you this evening?" Jack shrugs and flicks his powdery, white hair out of his eyes.
"Fine, I guess." He doesn't say anything else on the matter. There are uneasy mutters coming from the crowd. Hans clears his throat and nods slowly.
"Just fine?" He urges him to say something else. But Jack only shrugs. Merida smirks in amusement. Hans clears his throat again.
"Well then...uh," he says to the crowd. They give hardy chuckles.
"So lets talk about the reaping shall we?" Jack's face falls noticeably and the crowd hushes.
"What is there to talk about?" He shrugs. Merida notices Elsa leaning forward in her chair, smirking at the screen.
"Well, I saw how boldly you volunteered to be a part of these games. Tell me, what was going through your mind when you decided to step up? The fight? The fame? The fans?"
Merida's eyes widen in surprise.
He volunteered?
Although she isn't really all that surprised.
He's a career after all.
But Jack doesn't look proud, or star struck. He actually looks kind of distraught.
"None of that shit." Jack spits venomously. "Not at all."
There is a collective gasp from the crowd. Elsa laughs, triumphantly clapping her hands together.
"Oh, uh..." Hans seems to be at a loss for words. He looks around and tries to regain control of the conversation. "Why did you volunteer then?"
Jack looks out at the crowd and frowns.
"I volunteered for my little brother."
The crowd lets out a unified "aw!". Merida gasps slightly. She notices that Hiccup looks up at the screen for the first time.
"Well, that is something!" Hans shakes his head. "But look on the bright side," he smiles
Oh no...
"At least he won't have the bragging rights that you will if you win." The crowd laughs, merrily
Merida clenches her fists tightly, enraged.
Now you've done it.
"Bragging rights!?" Jack explodes. "Who the Hell do you think you are?" He turns to the audience. "All of you! Treating this like it's all just some big game!? Splitting up families by ripping children from their homes!? It's disgusting! You're all disgusting!" He leaps out of his seat and the entire first few rows slink back into their chairs. Merida doesn't realize that she is standing until Hiccup pulls at her dress.
"Merida, what are you doing?" He whispers through clenched teeth. Her face turns bright pink as she looks around at the other tributes. Elsa is standing as well, shouting at the screen. She is livid with anger as she shakes her fist. Merida notices that Rapunzel looks aggravated too, but Pan sits beside her with his hand on her knee.
"Everyone please, just calm down..." Hans says into the microphone shakily. "Mr. Frost, if you could please take your seat..."
"Why don't you take your seat!" Elsa yells at the screen.
"He's already sitting!" Tenney groans, rolling his eyes.
Back on stage, Jack remains standing as he faces the audience.
"You're all buying into this corrupt and cruel way of keeping the districts in their places, but what if it were you and your children being thrown into some Godforsaken arena? Would you be here cheering? Oohing? Gossiping?" He raises his voice. "You're all animals! Disgusting, brain dead, animals!"
Merida gasps as she sees two men in black suits come up from behind Jack and restrain him, without warning. He struggles against them, until a third comes rushing out onto the stage and jams a needle into his neck.
"No!"
All eyes are on Merida now. She feels her face turn red as she realizes that it was she who had shouted at the screen that time, not Elsa. Hiccup buries his face in his hands in embarrassment. Merida shrinks back into her seat and rubs her temples.
"Smooth, Mer," Hiccup mutters. She knits her eyebrows together and scowls.
"Don't call me 'Mer'," she spits quietly. "I don't need another nickname.
'Red' is bad enough.
The men in the black suits drag a sedated Jack off the stage and into a desperate room. The crowd applauds them and Hans continues the show, cracking a joke about Capitol punishment.
Elsa is still distraught when she hears Hans summon her out onto the stage.
"Elsa Winterun!" He calls out. She clenches her fists and takes short steps through the little doorway, her white gown, draping behind her. She looks lovely and Merida notices, for the first time, that she has the word "free" inked onto the back of her shoulder blade. Merida tilts her head in confusion.
She's a career. She doesn't care about freedom. She just wants to win...right?
Elsa's interview goes much more smoothly than Jack's. She tells Hans that she had expected to be reaped, because she's 18 and her name was in the large glass bowls almost a hundred times. She is very relaxed about answering his questions, although when she talks about her little sister back in District 1, her face gets noticeably sunken. Merida frowns.
I'm not the only one here who left behind little siblings...who would die for their safety.
She thinks of Jack, who put his life at risk by standing up and expressing his discomfort in the Capitol. Would she have done the same?
Next up are the District 2 tributes, Catarina and Carter, who basically did the opposite of what Merida and Jack had done. They had deliberately volunteered so that they could kill each other. Both of them talk about how much they want to win. Catarina smiles and laughs at almost everything that Hans says and it makes Merida's skin crawl. Carter, however, is much more to the point. He answers all of Hans' questions precisely and says nothing else.
District 3 is almost the exact opposite. Alodia and Tenney both crack jokes at any chance that they get. Alodia is more reserved with her humor, but Tenney spouts out joke after joke. After only a few short minutes, the entire crowd is roaring with laughter. He smirks and waves to them as he's exiting the stage. As he rejoins his friends in the holding room, Merida notices that his entire demeanor shifts. He goes from light and funny to sullen and serious in a matter of seconds, snapping at Catarina when she laughs a bit loudly at something Carter says.
It was all an act...
Merida hears Hiccup holds his breath as Hans calls out to the District 4 tributes.
"Oceana Night!"
Oceana jumps up and smiles cooly, brushing past all of them in her sea-green dress. Merida notices Pan watch her with longing in his eyes as she walks. She doesn't blame him; she looks stunning. Her dress is very wispy, almost like sea foam. Her hair is adorned with a single starfish pendant. She looks like a walking ocean.
Hans compliments her immediately when she steps onto the stage to which she smiles warmly at him. The two of them chat idly about the Games and about her choice in weapon. She replies that she wishes it to be a surprise and that's basically the entire interview.
Fawn is standing and walking out onto the stage before Hans even finishes reciting her name. The District 5 tribute wears a bright orange dress that cuts off at her knees and puffs out like a tutu at the bottom. She wears her murderous smirk through the entire interview. The audience applauds loudly when she explains how she volunteered to be a tribute because its her last year to be eligible for the Games and she considered it blasphemous to miss out on such a "glorious opportunity". Merida snorts in disgust.
She doesn't pay much attention to the other interviews, until it's Pan's turn. He squeezes Rapunzel's hand as he stands to walk out onto the stage. Hiccup glares at him with perfect loathing and averts his gaze away from the screen.
"Welcome, Peter Pan!" Hans smiles and shakes his hand.
"Good to be here," Pan replies with a smile. He sits in his seat beside the announcer and folds his hands on his lap, leaning forward.
The two of them make friendly banter about nothing of importance until Hans asks him about his potential allies. Pan chuckles.
"Oh, well see, now that's a surprise." The audience protests his reply with murmurs of displeasure. Pan only smirks. "But I will say one thing..." Everyone gets quiet in their seats. "There is this one, really special girl here that I'd do almost anything for. She's brilliant and beautiful and..." He smiles dumbly. "That's all I'll say." He looks at the camera and waves to it.
Merida grinds her teeth in irritation. She sees Rapunzel start to blush and look at her feet.
"If one of the careers don't get to him first, I'd like to be the one to wring his neck."
Hiccup's remark takes her by surprise. He is seething with anger as Rapunzel stands for her turn to be interviewed. Pan hugs her tightly on his way back in to his seat. As Rapunzel walks past, she throws Merida and Hiccup a look that seems to say, "see, I told you he was a good guy."
If only you knew...
Hans doesn't ask Rapunzel much about the Games at all. He remains fixated on the length of her hair and the craftsmanship of her dress. She answers all of his questions, happily and without much hesitation. It's like she is a completely different person on stage, so open and bold. Merida even smiles a few times at her clever and cheery remarks.
"You made this yourself!?" Hans exclaims and the crowd gasps in delight. Rapunzel nods.
"I did. I also made Peter's outfit for tonight." She smiles and looks at the camera, excitedly. But Pan is preoccupied with Oceana as they stand in the back of the holding room and chat. She laughs loudly at something he must have said.
When Hans is finished with Rapunzel, Merida waits eagerly for her return backstage, but she never comes back through the curtain like everyone else had. Merida is puzzled. Hiccup must be too because he wears a quizzical expression, although he doesn't say anything.
Before she knows it, Hans calls for Hiccup as Jane shuffles back into the holding room and takes her seat again. Merida bites her lip and grabs at his sleeve.
"Hiccup, wait!" She chokes out as the announcer starts to say his last name. "I'm sorry." She says with a slight shake of her head. Hiccup looks at her in surprise and his eyes dart to the TV screen.
"Merida, I have to-"
"No, I'm really sorry," Merida frowns. "We're supposed to be a team and I've been treating you like dirt...I- I'm sorry..."
"Hiccup Haddock?" Hans says his name again and looks out at the crowd in confusion.
"Merida, let go! They're waiting for me." Merida releases his sleeve and slumps back down in her chair, disappointed by her lack of tact in her approach there. Her apology had been wasted.
Hiccup dashes onto the stage, blushing a bright red and chuckles as he shakes Hans' hand.
"Sorry, I was, erm...caught up in a conversation backstage," he clears his throat and takes his seat.
"That's alright Hiccup!" Hans laughs. "You must be a pretty popular lad, am I right?"
The crowd hoots with laughter and Hiccup blushes even brighter. Merida can hardly watch. She looks down at the ground and runs a hand through her hair.
"It's hard to watch them up there, isn't it?"
Merida jumps, startled by her new company. Elsa stands with her hands folded in front of her, looking down at her. Her braid is falling out if its ties, but Merida thinks that it looks better that way. Merida clears her throat and sits up strait.
"Erm, yeah...it's tough." Merida scratches her neck awkwardly and looks up at Elsa, who only smiles.
"How long have you known him?" She asks, taking a seat beside her.
"Not long, really," Merida replies. "To be honest, we only just started talking after the Reaping."
Wait, why am I telling her this?
But for some reason, Merida doesn't mind sharing these things with Elsa, even if she had thrown a boulder at her head.
"It's unfortunate," Elsa sighs and shakes her head, sadly. "You two almost seem like brother and sister." Merida shrugs and twiddles her thumbs.
"Yeah?" She sighs as well. "He feels like my brother..." Elsa suddenly slams her fists against her knees.
"I hate this!" She growls. Merida is shocked at how her moods swing so quickly. "I hate that we're forcibly thrown into a situation with someone and spend all this time with them. We care about them and we grow to love them and then..." She shakes her head. "You know that only one of you can survive, but at that point..." She looks at Merida sadly, "you just can't imagine your life without them."
Merida thinks about what life would be like without Hiccup. Without Rapunzel, even. Elsa is right. It feels wrong.
"So you and Jack..." Merida clears her throat, trying to change the subject. "You're like... A thing?" Elsa's laughter catches her off guard. "What? What did I say?"
"Nothing, nothing!" Elsa laughs. "I just..." She takes a deep, calming breath and smiles. "Jack and I are just friends. We've know each other for years. We basically grew up together. I know him well enough by now to know that I could never see myself with someone as wild as him." Elsa chuckles to herself and shrugs. "He's a great guy, but just not for me."
Merida is so wrapped up in her talk with Elsa that she hardly notices that Hiccup has returned and it's finally time for her interview. He doesn't say anything to her as she stands to walk on stage. Elsa is the only one who wishes her luck.
"Just be yourself," she smiles. "It's really not bad at all!"
Myself? Merida scoffs as she pushes through the doorway. That's the fastest way to ensure that this interview will end up like Jack's.
Author's Notes:
THIS WEEK TOOK FOREVER LIKE DAMN.
This chapter is kinda slow at first so sorry bout it. I was planning on putting Merida's interview in here too but it would have been like 3,000 words and most of my chapters are only around 1,500-2,000. So that's next chapter.
Also I love Jack in this. That sexy little rebel. :3 Ok! I'll probably keep writing tonight and into tomorrow so the next chapter should be up and ready by or before next Friday? Yeah let's go with that.
In like 2 or 3 chapters... THE GAMES! :)
