Castle of Glass
"'Cause I'm only crack in this castle of glass, hardly anything else I need to be."
Cree stretched her limbs, hearing her bones creak in protest as she awoke. She wasn't used to sleeping in a sleeping bag on a hard stone floor. Then again, none of them were, so she couldn't complain. Gazing around, she found that the others were all awake. Porcelain's sleeping bag was deserted to her right, and Rubin was walking around, tending to the fire they started in the middle of the floor the previous day- the stone floors and high ceilings were just conducive enough to allow them to construct one safely. Alexis was sitting against the far wall, running her fingers along the edge of her axe and watching the rest of them. Vlad, like Porcelain, was also missing; and finally District Four was chatting away as they ate their breakfast.
Cree sighed, nobody had bothered to wake her up, and in a way that bothered her. She wanted her allies to need her, to want to hang out with her. Back when she lived in District One, she remembered having to dismiss some of her peers who weren't cool enough to be her friend. Now the situation was reversed though. The skill and origin of the all the others put them on a level of status above her, and so nobody valued her company enough to request her to join them in the morning. Then again, she supposed that she shouldn't have ever expected anything more from them. Her memories of District One were from a simpler time, when they weren't all competing for their lives.
"Where's did Porcelain go?" Cree asked, walking over to go talk to Rubin.
He shrugged. "She went off with Vlad. I think they're hunting," he said, a flash of annoyance in his eyes. He was probably just upset that Vlad was commanding his District partner around now too. The two hadn't relented in their power struggle since training.
"Well, there weren't any cannons were there?" Cree asked, already knowing the answer. He shook his head in confirmation.
Cree started about her morning routine, rolling up her sleeping bag and munching on a packaged biscuit for breakfast. About a half an hour later, the sound of footsteps echoed through the room. She glanced upwards, seeing Vlad enter through the door, his nose bloodied again. Over on the side, Alexis let out a laugh. "Really? Again?" she called over.
"It was the girl from Nine," he said unhappily. "I fought with her, District Seven and the girl from Eight all by myself. Maybe it wouldn't be so damaged if I had some help."
"Wait, isn't Porcelain with you?" Cree asked skeptically.
"I've never met such a useless excuse for a-" he began to boil.
"Now sugar, be nice," Porcelain appeared behind him, sauntering into the room. "We've already had this discussion. I do not chase, not at nine o' clock in the morning."
Rubin let out a laugh, looking all to happy about Vlad's failure. Cree frowned. This was why they were all failing so badly. Nobody in this alliance seemed to understand what was important at the moment. They were all too concerned with the District power struggle. Everyone except her of course. Sighing, she reminded herself of her home in District Eleven. At least they weren't dirty mongrels like those she knew from back there.
"You want me to fix it again or have you got it this time?" Alexis smirked hopping to her feet.
"I'm fine thanks," Vlad shook his head. "When I win, the Capitol can fix my nose. For now, I'll just deal with what it is. Just toss me the disinfectant."
Rubin glanced over at Porcelain, trying to get a read on her. Cree knew he was failing to get anything. Nobody really knew where that girl's head was at. It was one of the reasons Cree liked to be around her so much. The closer she was with the wild card in the alliance, the more leverage she had.
"Well now that you're all back, I think we should go out again," Rubin announced. "I think we're better off all going in a group. You're nose is actually exactly why we can't go wandering off in small groups. You're giving them too much of a chance. You can stay back and be on guard if you want to rest Vlad. It looks like this morning might have been a bit tiring for you. "
"No, I'm fine," Vlad said quickly, not wanting to be left behind on a hunting mission just because of his nose.
Alexis rolled her eyes. "I'll stay back then." The group nodded, everyone looking relieved that the topic of guard duty had passed without incident.
"I'll go get District Four," Rubin said, leaving for a moment to go talk to Rocio and Airin. The two of them where both used to things being decided for them at this point, and so they joined the group just ready to follow along.
Alexis walked down to the front exit with the rest of her alliance, pulling Vlad to the back of the group to talk with him quickly before they left. "If Porcelain can't pull her own weight again today, you tell me. I told you what she did yesterday with that kid right? I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad I got the kill, but the tone she used with me... She thinks she on a whole different level than us. I don't know how much longer I can deal with District One," she said quietly.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Vlad asked, raising a dark eyebrow, his face unreadable.
"I'm going to fix the problem, what else?" she said.
"We can't break the alliance yet. We haven't even killed half the competition," Vlad whispered.
"I said I was going to fix the problem, not break the alliance," Alexis scoffed. "Just let me know if she abandons you again. She did the same to me yesterday when we were chasing that Ghram kid. I'd rather get rid of her before she gets one of us killed." Vlad nodded wordlessly, not sure whether to believe her or not. His thoughts travelled back to the Capitol, when she had requested to be coached alone. How badly did she really want this alliance to last?
"Have fun on the hunt," Alexis smiled as they reached the door. Vlad nodded and ran to catch up with the others who were already crossing the bridge. Alexis slumped against the door frame, sitting down. She would be standing guard at the doorway today, not in the throne room. She figured this way she'd be more likely to spot another tribute, and increase her kill count.
In the town, Zea, Kan, and Avanna had returned to their house. Zea was sitting on the floor, looking wearily at her ankle while Kan wrapped it in pieces of torn bedding. He said that it was sprained. Obviously she wasn't happy. She could barely walk on the stupid thing, let alone fight. Across the room, Avanna was sitting with her feet drawn to her chest. She had a few cuts from her fall, but nothing too major. She had gotten lucky, and she knew it. It pained her to see the lengths Zea had gone through to protect her and Kan. She appreciated the gesture, sure. She just wished that she didn't need to be protected. Back at home, she had never felt like such a burden, it bothered her.
Kan had only instructed her to put some pressure on her injuries if they were bleeding. Other than that, she had to keep them clean. They shouldn't get infected, as they were so minor. His lack of worry only reassured her that she hadn't done enough. Maybe if she had fought harder, Zea wouldn't have twisted her ankle in the first place.
"Well, that wasn't so terrible," Kan sighed, as he propped Zea's foot up on top of a few logs. "Nobody died."
"Not yet," Zea corrected him cynically. "How long do you think it will take to heal?"
"Too long, my bet is that you won't be able to really walk on it for at least another week, and even at that point it will be painful. You need to keep off of it if you want any improvement. You're lucky. I don't think any of the ligaments were torn. Still, we don't have any ice or medicine," Kan mused.
Zea didn't say anything. Her face was a hardened, a mask of indifference. Inside she was assessing how badly this set them back. Kan and Avanna had impressed her earlier- she didn't expect them to fight Vlad at all. That didn't mean either of them were prepared to become killers though. Earlier, they were just protecting themselves in the heat of an adrenaline high. It wouldn't have lasted, not long enough to fend off their morales.
"I think I'm going to run out and try and get more water," Avanna spoke suddenly.
"What?" Zea said, surprised.
"The water, we never got it since we got attacked," Avanna persisted. There was a determined fire in her eyes that Zea hadn't seen in her before. Avanna, it seemed, had more guts than Zea had anticipated. Good.
"Are you kidding? We just got attacked earlier. They know where we go to the river now. You can't go back there," Kan started babbling, panic rising in his chest.
"No, I think it's a good idea," Zea spoke. Avanna's eyes lit up, happy that she could be of use. "Just don't go back to that same spot as earlier, and make sure you're careful. We're going to need some water anyways. Kan, weren't you the one complaining about how you needed some to wash Avanna's knees with?"
"Yeah, but it's not worth dying over," Kan said nervously.
"I'll be fine," Avanna insisted.
Kan didn't look happy, but he knew there was no use in arguing. He was outnumbered. Avanna jumped to her feet, and dusted herself off. "I'll grab a few extra pots from some of the other houses when I'm closer to the river. See you guys soon," she called over her shoulder as she walked out the front door.
Zea nodded her goodbye, and leaned back against the wall silently. Seeing that he had done his best for the time being, Kan stopped fusing over her ankle, and walked to the other room, grabbing two tomatoes they had found out in the fields the previous day. He handed one to Zea, and the two began eating an early lunch. Zea frowned as she ate. Things definitely weren't going as smoothly as she had hoped. She knew that it wasn't going to be simple though. If winning was easy, maybe District Nine would have more than three victors.
"But it was the first time, you know?" Kan was saying.
Zea looked up at him, blinking. She hadn't even realized he had been talking. "Yeah," she said, pretending like she had heard him.
"Hey are you done with that?" he asked, pointing at her tomato.
"Um, yeah, I am," she said, handing him the green top remains of the tomato. He hopped up and walked over to the door to throw the trash outside. Just as he came in view of the window though, he threw himself noisily against the wall, holding his breath. Zea looked up at him alarmed. Who? she mouthed.
"The girl from Ten," he whispered back. Swallowing, Kan's eyes settled on Zea's leg. He had to handle this himself. He scurried along the wall to the cabinet, pulling his metal bar from the shadows. Zea could see the girl passing by the window, her eyes trained on the road ahead and a dangerous looking sword in her hands. She didn't seem to have seen them just yet though.
Meanwhile, Kan was approaching the door, ready to ambush her.
Knowing she had to stop this before it started, Zea jumped to her feet, ignoring the stabbing pain in her ankle, and dove towards him. She grabbed the boy's arm, pulling him away from the door. Kan, who was never that coordinated in the first place, fell back, hitting the floor with a thump. Zea held her breath, peering out the window at Ten. As the girl kept walking, Zea let out a pent up breath. They were still safe, at least for now.
"Are you okay?" Zea asked Kan quietly.
He pushed himself upright. "Yeah I'm fine... Geez, your ankle, you just stood on it," he said, hustling over and grabbing the logs to elevate it again.
"Next time, make sure they've seen you before you start attacking," Zea said wearily.
Kan sighed a light laugh. "Got it," he said with a smile. "No more attacking people who aren't threats."
The two laughed again, as a light pinging noise filled the air. Zea's eyes snapped up, thinking of the girl again. Kan made eye contact with her before, moving back towards the door, bar in hand. Outside, Ten was nowhere to be seen; however, a silver parachute was. He opened it, a smile quickly lighting up his face.
"Medicine," he announced, holding it up to Zea. "Looks like your ankle isn't going to be such a problem after all."
On the other side of the town, Avell crept closer to the castle. His small body was pressed against a house as he squinted at the entrance to the castle. He could see the District Two girl's blonde hair just inside the doorway as she peered out at the town. She looked bored and didn't seem to have any intention of moving from her spot. He grinned. This was perfect. He slipped back into the village, looping around and taking his time to make it all the way to the back of the castle. Across the river, he could see a spot of rock that clearly had been tampered with. A pile of grey dust speckled the ground around it.
Avell reached into his pocket and pulled out the bag of gunpowder. The moat was his first obstacle. Wading in, he took it one step at a time, holding the sack of powder high above his head so that it wouldn't get wet. They never taught him how to swim in District Three, but luckily the moat wasn't too deep. Just as he reached the point where he thought he was going to be submerged, the slope of the invisible ground changed, and he was exiting the water. His cloths were sopping wet now, and he'd have to be sure to do something about them later. That wasn't important now though. Before he could be seen, he ran to the rock and pulled it out, revealing a large hole in the wall, leading down to a dark room. Avell grinned and slipped through the crevice.
Operation kill the careers had begun.
Castle of Glass by Linkin Park
A/N Really short chapter here, and again, no deaths. It was mostly set up, but as you guys can see. The storm is coming. Get excited. I'm excited (thus two chapters in two days.) Anywho,
Until next time,
Tales.
