Disclaimer: Yeah. Not owning the Hunger Games.
Just so you know, now we start moving into the future. This is six months after the games.
I was on a train, the train, headed for District 11. I had just visited 12 on my Victory Tour, the torturous social event created by the Capitol to ensure the people stay in line; by making them praise those who killed their children. The only people accompany me is Fortinbras and Mayle. That is, not including all of the Avoxs and guards. The train is rather boring. I almost feel sorry for Fortinbras; he has to stay in the train until we reach the Capitol. He is not allowed in the districts, the reason I think is to make sure he doesn't realize their status. But at least time passes quickly if you have a lot on your mind, and I for one surely fit into that category.
The past six months I had spent being a kid; climbing trees, hanging out with Quill, my new best friend, making some new friends, and getting into all sorts of trouble. Almost how I was before I lost Hayven. Almost like one calamity was needed to reverse the other. I've also seen my district drowned in riches. Mainly food. It is good that something good came out of this whole thing. I no longer had to attend school, but I chose to go anyway. I still had to choose a talent to take up my free time. I chose to practice video editing. I would take the video of the Games, freeze certain frames, and put them on special paper. It was like taking a picture.
I was surprisingly good at it. I had a really cool one of Mason fixing my arm, while Tannor looked like he was going to get sick. I looked at that one when I was sad or lonely. It always made me laugh. Some question why I chose to reflect on the Games. Wasn't it something terrible that you wanted to forget? Yes, I do want to forget. But I can't. So I might as well preserve my memories. I've also gotten pictures from other Hunger Games. I have a picture of Hayven. I rest my hand protectively on the bag that lays by my side.
I looked out the window. There were fields of green rushing by. It was winter, but it was still warm here. We should be there soon; we have been traveling the past day. We left District 9 five days ago. The day before yesterday we were in 12.
Suddenly, a huge gate appears over the horizon. District 11, agriculture. Here, I would get to meet the families of Tannor and Glitch. That was one of the things that they make the Victors do. Maybe I can see what the big deal is about alligator tasting like chicken. I get to meet the Victor of District 11. They also throw a feast in my honor.
Ten minutes later we reach the station. Stepping off the train, I almost gag. The air was so different. Like the swamp. It was humid. The air was saturated with water. It felt like drowning, like water was pouring into my lungs. I try to take a deep breath, regulate my breathing so I would no longer be gasping for air. Mayle takes no mind to my struggle and rushes me forward.
First thing we do is visit the families of the tributes. We do this in the Justice Center. That is what they call their town hall. Mayle and I are loaded into a car with tinted glass and driven there. Along the way, I see the giant area of District 11. There are people working in fields. District 11 is one of the larger districts. It takes fifteen minutes of travel to get to the Justice Building. Once we exit, we have Peacekeepers surround us. They lead us up the steps and to the door. There are Peacekeepers all around. Mayle goes to sit in a chair by the door, and preoccupies herself with her nails.
I look to the end of the room, I see them standing there. Lime, grin present just as Glitch's had always been, with her mother and father, who have gloomy looks shadowing over them. And what I think to be Tannor's father, filled with rage. Was that Tannor's only family? Maybe we weren't so different.
Lime runs forward and hugs me. At first my muscles tense, but they latter relax when I remember there is no threat. "I knew you would win! I knew it! You are fast, smart and amazing. And you proved that alligator does taste like chicken!" She laughed, but not a forced laugh like Blake's mom. I look at her puzzled. "Oh, no. I don't blame you for Glitchy's death. Not your fault." She waves it off with her hand, "Anyway, you tried to save her, so I should be thankful for that."
I smile, tentatively as I did with Blake's mom. I look behind her where the adults lay at bay. They had unforgiving looks etched on their faces. I looked down to my feet. "Thanks. I'm sorry. Should have tried harder." I swallow, wanting so desperately to change the subject. " What is the big deal about alligator tasting like chicken?" I glance up, wanting to see her expression.
Lime grinned. She really was the mini version of Glitch. Except that her right arm is in a bandage. I wonder what happened, but as many things that I have learned, I know better than to ask. "Inside joke. Can't tell. It is sorta like a secret. You can't tell nobody but those who already know." I laugh. We continue our weird and random conversation, laughing and joking around like friends that had known each other for years. After a while, it is like we have known each other for years.
Later on, when I'm about to leave, the adults come up to shake my hand, and do so with pure loathing pouring from their eyes. They weren't as forgiving as Lime. They would never look at me and see a human. Just a monster. I guess I am in a way. Tannor's father spoke "I can't believe I am to look into your face for the rest of my life as I watch the Games. You are a coward and know nothing of bravery and self-sacrifice. And you call Tannor the idiot." A Peacekeeper comes and takes his arm, and leads him away. I watch, not sure whether to be scarred or thankful. I shake it off. Time's up anyway. Then the rest have to leave, to go back to work.
I am escorted back to the car; it will take me to District 11's Victor's Village. Once we start to move, I ask Mayle a question that has been bothering me, "Will I ever be able to see Lime again, in the future?" I try to work it such a way that I don't sound too ignorant. It didn't work.
She looks at me, and after a while seems to register that Lime was one of the people I just met. "No, of course not. Travel between districts is forbidden, except on official business." I let out a sigh. The only way that I will see her is if she becomes a Victor. I sink into the seat. I hope that Lime doesn't enter the Games. That would suck to see Glitch die twice.
The ride to Victor's Village takes five minutes. Once there I'm unloaded, and allowed to meet the Victor without being spied on. Or as Mayle puts it, 'supervised'. It's a private meeting between the Victor and me. I walk up the steps, and shake the door handle, realizing that the door is unlocked. I step in.
The house is covered with wooden statues and carvings. I walk up and touch the one that is a butterfly resting on a flower. "Don't touch that!" A guy, about twenty-four, the victor of the third Hunger Games, yells from the top of the stairs. Rush Polar. He is fairly muscular, and has dark skin, brown eyes, and short cropped brown hair. He rushes down the stairs. "Kid, I don't think I let you in." Then why did you leave your door unlocked?
"I-"
"I know who you are. And sorry, didn't realize being Victor gave you the excuse to invade in personal property. Then again, the idiots in the Capitol have a retarded knack for producing ill-behaved children as victors." I look around in terror, scared that Peacekeepers will swarm in and take him away for saying such about the Capitol. He raises an eyebrow. "Don't worry. I've checked. The place isn't bugged. So what do you want?" I allow myself to relax just a little.
I reach into a bag on my side. I ruffle through the paper, and find the one that I want. It is a photo of Rush tripping backwards on a log. One of the things I've created with my talent. I hand it over to him. A grin spreads on his face. "Good times, good times." He chuckles.
I hand him a pen, my face expressionless. "I want you to sign it. And add something about the Capitol while you're at it. It is for my private collection." He nods, a devious look on his face, and signs.
"Did you get Siliana to sign, and write something?" Siliana was the Victor of the first Hunger Games. She is from District 12.
"Yeah." I take out a picture of Siliana sitting on the edge of the Cornucopia. Sunset behind her, glinting off of her long black hair. It was a beautiful picture from the first Hunger Games. I was going to frame all of the pictures later on. Rush read the caption that she wrote.
"Nice. Siliana is cool. Are you going to get everyone to sign one of those? For the other Victors in the future too?" I nod. "Cool. And you're going to show me what everyone writes for the Capitol, right?" I nod again. Hidden meaning. What he means to say is; tell who hates the Capitol and who doesn't.
"Great. Now get out of my house. See you next Games." With that he shoves me out the door. I hear a gunshot in the distance. I jump, and look around. It was too far away to be aimed for me. I spend about a half a second looking around before Mayle calls me. I don't have time to figure what that is from, and I know better than to ask during the feast.
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Each district had different customs. Some all you have to do is parade through the streets and meet previous Victors; that was all we did in my district. Others make you meet the families of those that you killed, and throw feast in your honor, and make you meet the Victors. Some even make you try a hand at working in their districts industry, and meet the Victors. No matter what other customs you must follow, you meet the Victors of the other districts. It is the one unwritten rule that everyone follows. That is to remind the others that the Games are ever present. There is no getting out of it.
So I made the best of it. I got the pictures signed and a comment about the Capitol was written by each Victor. Some laughed about the picture I got, others became angry. I made friends, and made some rivals. And I found what the other opinions on the Capitol where. Very few loved it, and most hated it. They knew that no one would ever look at my collection besides other Victors. So they wrote what they truly thought. Or at least some of them did.
I went through the districts, sometimes meeting families, sometimes not. Some that I met loathed me. Others were like Lime had been. Stella's family from eight was a group that loathed me. Mason's family from five was tolerant of my presence, but I knew that they would not hesitate if they had to kill me. I learned that Marvin really was Mason's twin. He was seemed pretty cool at first, then turned kind of arrogant, but he didn't stutter nearly as much. Things were ok so far. But four was up next. Allia and Alec's district. I was scared about that one. Mags and Alec's friend looked…scary.
When I exited the train, I could smell the sea breeze. It smelled like salt and seafood. Or maybe it is just the food that smells like the sea. But that is the only way I knew to describe it. I was loaded into a car. They drove me to the town hall of four. Along the way I get a glimpse of the ocean. It was amazing, with water splashing over shell-encrusted rocks. Why would you want to volunteer to leave this place?
I don't have to do much hear. I meet the Victor, and I get to meet the family of Allia and Alec. I hope that they aren't as evil as the people I met in the arena.
When I walked through the door, I almost jumped. She was right there. The sixteen-year-old girl who posed striking resemblance to Allia. Mags. She was strong and looked like she could crush me in a second. I was scared. There was a scowl printed on her face. Then I remembered that even if she wanted to, she couldn't hurt me. It would mean death to her. But that reassurance didn't keep me from trembling. I looked to the back of the room. Four adults were standing there. Radiating fury. I suppose I should stay where I am. Better to face one than four. Mags scowl fades, and she looks at me with a puzzled expression, "Don't worry, I'm not insane."
"What?" I ask, my words quick, stuttering and quiet.
Mags rolled her eyes. "I'm not insane. I believe my sister was. Surely you got the impression? Trust, your friend Blake did a favor killing her. She is better off dead. Well, maybe not her, but everyone else is. She was the apple of my parent's eyes. Well I'll show them next year." This girl seemed rather insane to me.
"You're going to volunteer?" My voice seemed to slow a bit, but not by much. I was nervous to where this girl was going with this.
"Yeah. You probably wouldn't understand. I sure as hell don't. It's complicated, bragging rights I guess." I look at her and nod as if I understand what she just said. I didn't follow half of it. She held up her hands as if to show defense.
"So, you don't care that your sister is dead, as in killed, as in never ever going to come back?" I ask this more for my benefit. Just to know why she was acting this way.
"Um… Why should I? Anyway, once you're Victor, no one cares who you killed. At least no one who understands the Game. Doesn't matter District either: you're all Victors." She kept rambling on about her sister, the Capitol, and her becoming a Victor, me nodding in false understanding. Then the Peacekeepers came to say time was almost up. "See you in the Capitol next year. And the year after that. And the year after that. So on until I die. Or until you die" Yup. This girl was crazy. At least she wasn't trying to kill me. Could have turned out worse, knowing her sister. I wonder if I really will have to put up with her for the rest of my life.
Once the Peacekeepers came to collect me, everyone left. Mags nodded goodbye. I didn't even get within a fifty mile radius of the adults. That was probably for the best, remembering Tannor's dad. That was the weirdest encounter I had of all the districts.
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In the last three districts I was hated by everyone. They didn't even bother to pretend to tolerate me. I met Demetri's grandmother, and learned that her distraught state of mind was merely a ploy. She was really a cold-hearted evil old lady. She had an interesting vocabulary for someone of her age. The Peacekeepers had to take her away.
The girl Victor, the one that I attacked when I was nine, seemed to vaguely recognize me. She said that she was sorry if she had gotten me in trouble. I told her it wasn't her fault. Water under the bridge. I was glad when that uncomfortable visit was over. But unfortunately, I had one more stop before returning home. The last to go to was the Capitol.
The Capitol throws parties. That's all. They don't have Victors, or even people with human endeavors to talk to. It's like being filled in a room with hundreds of Mayles and Fortinbras. Which is why I found it the worst. I hate parties, especially ones that I have no one to talk to but complete idiots. It was so much like the one that I attended six months ago. There were mountains of foods; yet I still only ate what was familiar. Some habits and superstitions never die.
The worst of the party was this one drink. It would make you throw up so that you could eat more. I personally didn't experience it, but I knew plenty in District 9 were on the verge of starvation. And in other districts. So how could I throw up what I had eaten when I knew that some of my friends would beg for half of what I had consumed?
I didn't dance. Tons asked me to. But I said that I wasn't feeling well, and that I was dizzy. This worked for the majority of the night. I sat in a chair in the corner of the room, and fell asleep there. I didn't even feel someone pick me up, but when I woke up, I was back in the train car, headed back home where I would have my final celebration. Final focus on me until the tables turned. Then focus will move forth to the next Games, and the next Victor.
Hehe, this was fun to write. I try to match up personalities of characters created by other people (Mags), but sorry if it was a fail. Yeah. Sorry if there are any mistakes, but actually, I think that this is one of my better chapters. But that is my opinion. Feel free to leave yours. Thanks to all who have reviewed! Thanks to all who read! I still want to be Katniss in the movie! No, this is still not the end... yeah, three more chapters left. Hehe. Spoiler. Sort of. :D :D :D