Chapter 12

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We wait for the blizzard outside to be over but it won't be for a while, I can tell. All I can do is stay inside the Cave with Vincentio and eat. I'm even down to my last piece of bread from yesterday's sponsor gift.

"There's no more food, and I'm hungry," I complain like a child, as I pick on and chew the last little bit on the bread.

"That's what my sister does," Vincentio says.

"Does what?" I ask. That's somewhat random how he brings up his sister.

"Nibble and pick on the little bit of food before she finishes, it always annoys me," he says. Maybe he's feeling homesick, since I never even asked about his family today. This would be a good time to start a conversation. Maybe a decent one can land us some food and save us from being victims of the Capitol's boredom.

"I didn't know you have a sister," I say, as if I'm actually interested.

"Two actually. Jodine and Vasla, they're both younger," he explains. "Do you have siblings?"

"Yes, actually. An older brother, his name is Nole. He's only a bit older, and he's working in the District Industries already. He's really funny but sometimes he takes things way too seriously and he's overly protective," I say, giving far too much information than I would ever think of giving. Why did I just give him so many details? Am I homesick too? Or maybe I'm just really desperate to talk about home since I've been gone for the longest time I can imagine.

"It's tough being the oldest kid in the family. You have to take care of your younger siblings, do more chores, and take the tesserae…Especially if you're an older brother. I get it, I really do," Vincentio says, in the most serious tone I've ever heard in his voice.

"Wow, you're really serious about this," I say. "You seem pretty protective over your family…"

"Pretty much. I remember there was this one bully who tried to hurt Jodine one time, I had to hurt him for him to back off," He says. The conversation between Vincentio and myself has been going bizarre today. I bet the Capitol audience loves it though, never wanting to miss out on any stories or gossip.

"That reminds me of Nole," I say, remember this one time when the winemaker's son tried to flirt with me while Nole and I were buying a gift with the money we saved for years for our father's birthday. I guess I'll just tell him and the whole nation the story. It's not that important. It'll entertain the Capitol people and hopefully the Gamemakers. I'll omit some parts to make it more television friendly. "We were buying some food one day and this random man tried to flirt with me. This happened, like, three years ago, when I was fourteen. Nole went, like, completely crazy and started threatening him!"

"What'd the guy do?" Vincentio asks. Is he actually interested or just playing along? Whatever it is, he should keep it going.

"He got scared and ran off, it was the funniest moment in my life," I say, desperate to make more conversation for the Capitol audiences and Gamemakers who will not be entertained if this conversation goes on boringly. "I can see you doing that for Luciana."

"Nah, no one would ever think about messing with the Head Peacekeeper's daughter. She doesn't need me to protect her," Vincentio says, somewhat shyly. "My proudest moment was probably… five years ago when I was thirteen. I took tesserae for my grandparents, parents, and siblings for two years straight. I guess that's what got me into the Games… I'm glad that it wasn't them who came in here though. I don't know what I would do if their names were picked…"

Again with the random topics. What's with him today?

"Don't you own a butcher shop or something?" I ask, actually curious. I always thought shop owners had nothing to worry about, unlike those of us employed in the District Industry that barely gives you much of a pay.

"Yes, but there are times when the money needs to be used for feeding the animals, paying for lighting, and feeding a family of eight," he makes clear. This only proves one thing. No one has it easy when they're living in the Districts. The Games already tells the whole story about how little our lives are worth.

"You made a lot of sacrifices for your family," I say. I actually respect him for that, unless he is lying. This does make sense though since he is in the Games with me, so he's likely to have more than seven entries.

This gives me a mixed feeling inside my chest. I'm supposed to hate everyone in this arena and attempt to kill them all! The problem is that what Vincentio said was so much like what Nole would say.I think back to the year when I was twelve. Apparently harvest was terrible in District 11 and the price of food doubled. The whole District was literally starving and even then Nole told me not to take tesserae and he took it all himself. At the end I had to, since it was the only way we could survive.

I feel glad that I didn't attempt to kill Vincentio yesterday. He did save my life before and I wouldn't have gotten the axe without him. Who knows? If I was in that cave by myself, the Careers might've come and killed me. This train of thought tears me apart. What am I thinking? Vincentio is my enemy! I sound like a complete weakling at the moment! Vincentio is a guy who's very protective over his family. This means that deep inside his mind, he's dying to go home to his family and end their suffering of poverty by being victor and having endless cash. He would do whatever it takes, which definitely includes killing me, to go home and take care of them. I'm starting to associate him with my brother, which really can't happen. I remember my mentor Bertham's piece of advice of not getting emotionally attached to allies.

I stay silent for the rest of the time, trying to think my way out of Vincentio's friendliness. We wait another hour until it is much calmer outside.

"The blizzard stopped, let's go get some food," I propose. I'm starting to starve.

"Okay. We have to be careful when we go out. There might be some tributes out there who know we're in this cave," he reminds me.

We head out and do the usual of filling our water bottles and collecting firewood. We make our way to the berry bushes and on the way, maybe hunt an animal or two. But there are zero animals in sight and the berry bushes are burnt probably from last night. This is definitely one of the Gamemakers' little schemes. Pretty uncreative really.

"What happened?" I ask. "The berries were here yesterday!"

"I guess we aren't allowed to eat berries anymore," Vincentio responds indifferently.

We head back to our cave and notice a silver parachute sitting in front of the entrance. Of course the District 6 mentor and Bertham won't let us starve! We open it to find warm bread, except it's made from cheaper, less appetizing grain. I set up a fire and we gather around it to eat. Not only is there no food in this arena, it's extremely cold. Even these horribly thick jackets cannot protect us from this weather.

"I guess this means we're out of money," Vincentio comments while examining the bread.

"I'm sure it's just because the prices go up as the Games go on…" I say, unsure. I know Vincentio is right. "Maybe there will be new food sources tomorrow and we'll get more sponsors!"

"I think the message from our mentors is that they cannot afford to buy us food everyday. It's overly pricey. I'm worried that one day, we just won't have enough cash to afford a loaf of bread…" he says.

Suddenly out of nowhere, the trumpets start playing and we sit still for the message to come, not wanting to miss a single syllable of the announcement.

"Congratulations to all of you who still remain! I'm honoured to announce that it's time for the annual Feast of the Games! It will be held at the highest spot in this arena when the sun sets tomorrow, I hope to see you all there!" Claudius Templesmith announces and then it falls into complete silence.

"A feast? What is that suppose to mean? For what?" I ask dumbly, after a few moments of silence.

"It means we have to go. It's no coincidence that the Gamemakers are making it colder than usual and eliminating all our food sources. If we don't go, we either freeze or starve to death," he says impatiently. I understand why he's upset since feasts always result to casualties and a lot of injuries. "I knew the food was taken away for a reason…"

I offer to keep watch first so Vincentio can have a good night sleep for tomorrow and so will I. The anthem plays announcing the end of Day 7. No deaths today, but no worries. There's definitely some action tomorrow.

With the food sources eliminated and the cold weather, the Gamemakers can guarantee every tribute to be at the Feast. Therefore, there will be much more deaths than any other feast in the history of the Games. I look carefully at my axe that's sitting right next to me for the first time. All I can say it that, it's a deadly weapon. The blades are sharp and it's double bladed, even more powerful than the one I have back home. It is made lighter so the user can have so much more power, even if they do not have a lot of strength. I feel confident in defending myself from this point forward but Vincentio would be huge help for the Feast. I don't know what the Feast is providing, but whatever it is, I don't like sharing. I never liked sharing with anyone with the exception of my family and Andreev. Whatever the Feast is offering, I want 100% of what we get at the end, and I'm sharing zero with Vincentio. This is what I call the breaking of an alliance.