Shake It Out
Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play
And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn
And I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around
Our love is questioned, such a mournful sound
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground
So I like to keep my issues drawn
But it's always darkest before the dawn
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back So shake him off, oh whoa
~Shake It Out, Florence + The Machine
There's a place that I know
It's not pretty there and few have ever gone
If I show it to you now Will it make you run away
Or will you stay
Even if it hurts
Even if I try to push you out
Will you return?
And remind me who I really am
Please remind me who I really am
Everybody's got a dark side
Do you love me?
Can you love mine?
Nobody's a picture perfect
But we're worth it
You know that we're worth it
Will you love me?
Even with my dark side?
~Dark Side, Kelly Clarkson
Shake It Out
Chapter 14: Dark Side
The fifteen-year-old boy lies on a metal table in the Remake Centre, hoping the annoying prep team can just be finished with him and leave. The morning he got off of the train was rather uneventful, apart from when he almost hit Haymitch in the face with a knife. Cato could say it was an accident, but even he knows that's not true. After Dawn started shouting at Haymitch about wanting to be able to live for as long as possible, Cato threw the knife so that it would slide past Haymitch's head to get them to stop shouting.
Shouting causes stress, and he already has enough of that for his age.
For the last two and half hours, his body has been stripped of hair. Apart from the hair on his head and his eyebrows. He doesn't feel like himself; he's always covered in hair and dirt, he is never clean. Cato doesn't normally smell clean, he doesn't usually look clean, and he's pretty sure he hasn't felt clean. However, no matter how much he dislikes it he has to go through it, just like the rest of the tributes do.
Venia, a member of his Prep Team, rips the last strip of material from his legs. Goodbye hair. Octavia, a pea green woman, and Flavius, with corkscrew orange curls for hair, help him up off of the table. They walk around Cato, removing any unwanted hairs with some tweezers. Once they are done, they smile proudly. Then they all scramble out of the room, calling back to tell Cato that his stylist will arrive soon to dress him.
Cato sits down, with the thin robe hanging over his shoulders, and waits for his stylist to arrive. Cato can't help his curiosity, and wonders what his stylist will look like. They will probably be a color that isn't suitable for skin, and clothes so bright it will end up blinding him. That sounds about right.
All of a sudden, the door swings open and Cato looks to see his stylist. He's the last thing Cato expected. He has dark skin, and plain black clothes. There isn't anything about him that makes him look like he's from the Capitol, apart from the gold eyeliner he has on.
"You must be Cato, I'm Cinna your stylist." He greets Cato, expression blank. Cato has never seen this man before, so Cato wonders what he's doing here. Cinna must be new to styling the tributes for the games, due to the fact that he has never seen him before.
"Are you new? I don't think I've seen you before." Cato states, looking at the man in front of him.
"This is my first year in the games."
Cato snorts. "Join the club."
Cinna raises an eyebrow but then just shakes his head. "Would you like to come into the other room to talk?"
Hesitantly, Cato nods and then raps the robe tightly around him then following Cinna into a room Cato didn't even notice was there. The room is small; but it manages to fit two red couches facing each other. Swiftly, Cato claims his place on one of the seats. Cinna sits in the one opposite him.
The blond boy glances around the room, pure disgust running through his veins. He still can't figure out why this would be a good punishment for a rebellion. If anything, it's much more of a mistake because it only gives the districts of Panem more of a reason to once again rebel against the Capitol. Cato believes that one day, he doesn't know when but he knows it will happen, the Capitol will regret doing this. They will.
"We must disgust you. All of us." Cinna suddenly speaks up.
Cato glances at the man, a blank expression masking his true fury. Of course the Capitol disgusts him, with what they do and get away with, how could they not disgust him? There is probably no way that he will ever stop hating the Capitol, but he could learn to like Cinna. The look in Cinna's eyes says he wouldn't be afraid to set him on fire. But he won't set him on fire.
"I have your outfit for the Opening Ceremonies. Very fitting." Cinna says, after an hour of chit chat.
"What is it?" Curiosity gets the better of him.
"It's bright, but dark at first." Cinna states, attempting to make Cato puzzled.
"What?" Cato questions.
"You'll have to wait and see. But don't be alarmed if you hear a loud noise." Cinna smirks at Cato, but he just starts to become confused. Cato has a feeling that Cinna is putting on a mask in front of the Capitol, and revealing his true nature to the ones he feels comfortable with.
"So, it's ready?" Cato asks, generally interested.
"Yes." Cinna nods.
Cato smirks, "Then what are we waiting for?"
Later on, Cato is standing next to his chariot waiting for Dawn to arrive. He's wearing a jumpsuit of an unknown color, which is coated in a powder that replicates coal dust. The fake dust spreads across his entire body, including his face. His back feels heavy, and Cinna told him that the thing on his back would open after the chariot started rolling out. The chariot is rather large; larger than what Cato expected.
The horses are a coal black color, and stand proudly at the front of the chariot. He sees the Careers far away, somehow managing to glare at him. Trying to intimidate him. It won't work, due to the fact that the ones from Two are almost half his height, and the girl from One is throwing herself at the boy from One. Lux, Cato thinks his name is. Lux is probably his biggest competition going into the arena.
The others may be skilled with a weapon, but Cato is skilled with three weapons; a sword, knives, and bow and arrows. Katniss said he was as good as her at archery, and she was right. Over the years, Cato's skill with a bow and arrow grew as Katniss helped him learn how to use it. She was a great teacher.
Katniss, as it seems, has probably made his chances grow. If she hadn't taught him some edible plants, and archery he probably wouldn't last very long in the arena. Without the edible plants, he wouldn't survive a day in the arena. He would probably see some berries, and eat them without hesitation. He would die from berries.
"Cato, what did I tell you?" She inquires, hands on her hips. Katniss is teaching Cato edible plants, so that he can get different food for his family. And not get poisoned.
He sighs, then mumbles, "Don't go near plants or berries that I have no idea what they are."
"Exactly." Katniss nods.
"Fine. Then what are they? Are they edible?"
She shakes her head. "No, never these Cato, this is Nightlock. It'll kill you the moment it touches your tongue."
"Remind me to stay away from them." Cato requests.
"I will." She agrees.
"What about this?" He points towards a pink plant, standing alone, reaching his knee in height. It's flower is a dark shade of pink, and circling underneath the bright bloom, are some blood red berries. Cato can honestly say that he has no idea what it is.
"That... That is Dark Side. The Dark berries will kill you faster than Nightlock." Katniss explains, staring intently at the plant.
"That's a weird name." He states.
She shrugs. "Dark berries, Dark Side. I think it's fitting." He smiles, and she smiles back.
"Cato? Cato? Are you listening?" Cinna questions, waving one hand in front of Cato's face.
"What?" He replies, snapping back to reality.
"It's time to get on the chariot." Dawn explains, who has now turned up. She is wearing what Cato is wearing, and is completely covered in the black powder that resembles coal dust. Cato can see the feathers around her neck, down her arms and legs, and notices he too has feathers on him. But he doesn't know what color the feathers are.
He steps onto the chariot, along with Dawn, and gets prepared to face the large crowd of Capitol Citizens. Just as their chariot is about to roll out Cinna calls some words to them. "Remember, smile and wave. Don't worry when there's a sudden noise and the weight on your back will disappear. Got it?"
Cato nods, and then he is facing the Capitol. They move slowly, and just as they're are about to start waving, there is an incredibly loud noise which gains the attention of all of the citizens. All of a sudden, the weight on his back isn't as bad and Cato can feel the black powder sweeping off of him. Cato smiles and waves to the crowd, as does Dawn, and the attention is still homed in on them. Without warning, the crowd erupts into cheers and screams of "District 12!" Cato doesn't know why they're cheering until he catches sight of the large screen with him and Dawn on.
He has wings. He is bright yellow, and the feathers are also a bright yellow, and the wings are coated in these magnificent yellow feathers. Cato soon realizes what the wings symbolize, and he has to fight back tears because of it. He's a bird. He is a canary. They take the canary's into the mines to check if the air is poisonous. That was his fathers job; to take the canary down the mines to check the air.
They are throwing flowers and he catches one that filled one of his flashbacks earlier. It's the flower, Dark Side. He clutches it in his hand as he waves to the crowd with the other and soon they are in front of the president's mansion.
Cato sees President Snow - a thin, white-haired man - and ignores the welcome speech. He doesn't want to hear it.
Then they are being whisked off to the Training Centre, and Cato realizes that the flower he still holds in his hand means more than he thinks. He's going to have to show his dark side to the entire nation, and there's nothing he can do to stop it. Everybody's got a dark side, anyway.
A dark side doesn't seem too bad for him.
The fourteen-year-old girl sits in front of her television, watching Cato intently. Katniss saw the pain in his eyes when he realized what he was styled to be. A canary. How clueless his stylist must have been. And then she saw him holding the Dark Side, and she couldn't help but think that that is what she will be seeing. Cato's dark side. When he's in the arena he will have his dark side, because he can't be kind and gentle. The one thing he can use to survive.
His dark side.
That took a while. That took me almost four hours to write. I thought it would have took ten times longer. Anyway, MORE THAN 100 REVIEWS! That was one of the best moments of my life. I'm gonna thank catnissxforever for the coal dust idea. I just added the canary to make it more emotional, even though it didn't.
I'm surprised I even made it home today. I tripped over a chair at school, then when I got on the double decker bus to come home when I went down the stairs to get off, I fell down the stairs, so... yeah.
I was listening to dark side by Kelly Clarkson when I wrote this, and so the chapter was born!
THANK YOU FOR READING AND PLEASE REVIEW!