Chapter 33:
Kora Flickerman, Host for the Hunger Games
Kora keeps her eyes shut as she listens to the muted sound of the hovercraft as they fly towards their next District. This day has already exhausted her and she's only halfway through the interviews. She had thought the first group would be happy, lighthearted interviews, given that three of them were in career Districts.
Instead, she met a dying girl dependent on her sister's victory, a bitchy stepmom, and a family she couldn't even talk about out of fear for her job. The fact that District Three's interview was the most exciting one says a lot.
And it's only going to get more depressing from here.
Kora opens her eyes when she feels the hovercraft starting to slow and sees a vast sea of green below her, signaling their arrival in District Seven. Kora takes a deep breath, trying to get ready to interview the family of the youngest tribute remaining. She can only hope that Oakland's family is going to be supportive.
Her phone suddenly buzzes in her pocket and she takes it out, not recognizing the number on the screen. Curiously, she opens the message, and nearly drops the phone out of her hand as she reads it.
'We know you're blocking information about Velmour's family. Better watch yourself, we have people everywhere.'
Kora's hands are shaking as she stares down at the phone as she receives another message from the person, this time a picture of the hovercraft that she's in as it lands in Seven. Kora slowly glances up from her phone, staring around at the people around her with wide, terrified eyes. Velmour's interview won't air for another half hour as they're still editing it. The only people who could have known about her avoiding talking about his family are Seraphim and the other Gamemakers, and the people surrounding her…
Oh my God, is someone trying to kill her?
Her breathing starts to quicken in panic when the hovercraft comes to a stop. She's terrified to step foot out in Seven after receiving that picture of her hovercraft. Is someone going to target her as soon as she steps foot outside?
"Kora? Are you okay?" Milos asks her and she snaps her attention over to him.
She forces herself to smile over at him, even if she has no clue if he's the one working with whoever sent her the message. "Yeah, just a little nervous about this next group," she quickly lies, her voice betraying her nervousness.
"You'll do great," Milos puts a hand on her shoulder to reassure her, but only makes her tense up in fear. "Well, we best get moving."
Kora nods her head as she stands up, her legs threatening to give out under her. With very shaky fingers, she starts to send a screenshot of the message to the only person that she knows she can trust. The one person who has always been able to help her with her problems.
'Mom, I need help.'
District Seven
The moment Kora steps into the small but cozy house in Seven, her nerves start to dissipate slowly. It would be hard not to when she's welcomed immediately with a hug by Oakland's father. "Welcome to Seven!" He says and Kora lets out a tiny squeak when he hugs her tightly. He starts laughing and let's her go, giving her a goofy grin. "You have no idea how happy we are to be welcoming you here."
"Why is that?" Kora asks carefully as the man leads her to a small sitting room, cozily lit with the bright afternoon sun. He motions for her to sit down on a small armchair, a knitted blanket drapped along the back of it.
"Because it means Oakland is still alive," a woman says and Kora turns around in her chair to see Oakland's mother entering the room, giving Kora a kind smile despite the dark circles. "I just got all of his friends rounded up and put them in Oakland's room for now. Hopefully they'll keep quiet until it's their turn."
Oakland's dad starts laughing at this as the crew gets set up around them. His wife joins him on the couch across from Kora and he puts his arm around her, pulling him close. "You're in for quite the interview with that group. Even with Oakland home, they still managed to find ways to get in trouble."
"I'm looking forward to it," Kora genuinely answers, needing something lighthearted to get her to cheer up. She gets the signal from Milos that they're ready to go so she smiles at Oakland's parents before turning to the camera, just hoping she can pretend for this interview that everything is alright. "Okay Panem, we're back and now in the home of our youngest tribute, beautiful District Seven! Let's start with a recap of Oakland Bradshaw's journey before talking to his parents!"
The video starts playing and Kora has to prepare herself for the sadness of Oakland's journey, mainly from the loss of his oldest ally. At the start of the games, Oakland starts to run towards his allies, crying out for Cutter when he sees Velmour approaching the other twelve-year-old. The boy from Ten grins at Oakland, just before hit in the neck with a knife. Oakland screams at this, running towards his fallen ally, but is quickly picked up by Jarvis and dragged away from the bloodbath. Later that night, Jarvis calms him down by reassuring him that they will find Clark. A short montage of them looking for the remaining member of their alliance is shown, before they finally find him on day four. Their happy reunion is shortlived as Vida and Nyra run towards them, with Vida throwing a knife into Jarvis's back. Oakland watches in fear as Jarvis yells at them to run and he's the first one to listen to his ally. But he turns back, watching through tears as Clark runs towards Nyra, hitting her in the leg with his sword before following after Oakland. Clark drags him away before he can watch Jarvis be killed, but he still lets out a sob at the cannon. The conversation from that night is shown, with Clark reassuring him that he would protect both of them, for Jarvis. The video ends with showing Oakland sitting now with Clark, the older boy listening to him talk about District Seven as they sit up in the trees.
Kora turns her attention back to his parents, fighting the pit of sadness at having to watch Jarvis sacrifice himself again. "Let's start with you two introducing yourselves."
"Sure," Oakland's father says with a smile. He shares a look with his wife, who motions for him to go first. "I'm Alon, Oakland's father."
"And I'm Ilana, his mother."
"Lovely to meet you two," Kora pauses as she feels her phone buzz in her pocket, but knows she can't check it yet. But it brings back the anxiousness inside her that she struggles to keep off her face as she smiles at Oakland's parents. "I think the big question is what do you think about Oakland making it this far?"
"We're so proud of him," Ilana lets out a nervous chuckle at this and shrugs at Kora before continuing. "Absolutely terrified, but still very proud of him."
"Yes," Alon continues, still smiling at Kora but his concern for his son is starting to show. "I told him before he left to not give up. He might be young, but he's made it farther than 14 other tributes, all of them older than him."
"But he hasn't done it alone," Kora starts, having to pause to collect herself as her phone buzzes once more. "He was part of the largest alliance after the careers."
Ilana suddenly looks sad at this and Kora understands her sadness perfectly. "Yes…I'm glad he had allies to look out for him. He's usually the one looking out for others. Jarvis was…"
"Jarvis was a good man," Alon finishes for Ilana, staring at his wife and rubbing her shoulder. "We owe him Oakland's life. So I guess…if Jarvis's family is watching, we'd just like to say thank you for your son."
Kora's smile finally falters at this as she's reminded of her conversation with Jarvis after his interview… "Yes, he was a good man… But he wasn't Oakland's only ally. What do you think about the recent development with Clark?"
The two are quiet for a few seconds, both clearly thinking over their response. Finally, Ilana is the one to speak up. "We certainly didn't expect it after how we saw Clark acting in his interview but…I'm glad Oakland has an ally – no, a friend – with him. I just worry that losing another friend will destroy him."
"He's definitely had to grow up a lot," Alon says slowly, his face suddenly heavy with sadness. "But I'm hoping if he makes it home…he'll be the happy, cheerful son we know. And if not, we're still going to love him. He's still our son, regardless of what might happen in that arena."
Kora smiles at this, just happy to see a family supporting their child so much, especially after the earlier interviews. "Anything else you would say to Oakland if you could?"
"I'd say everything Alon just said," Ilana trails off as she looks at the host. Finally, she lets out a heavy sigh as her eyes start to glisten with tears, "Just…keep fighting and make sure you don't ever give up."
Kora nods her head, trying to keep up a friendly and cheerful appearance, but struggling at the realization of how much these two love Oakland and how low his odds are of victory against the remaining tributes. "Thank you both for your time."
They smile over at her as the crew instructs them on where to go while bringing in Oakland's friends. Kora uses the time to quickly check her phone, thankfully only finding two messages from her mother. The first one fills her with a sense of relief. The second? It also makes her relieved, but also makes her laugh a little. 'Talked to the President. Peacekeepers are on their way,' the first message reads, followed by, 'Your father is also on his way.'
Her attention is quickly drawn back by the bustle and loud noise as five young kids are brought into the room, all talking excitedly and struggling to fit on the couch together. Kora quickly tucks her phone away, knowing this interview is going to be a lot for her to handle.
The five finally get situated, with only one boy needing to sit on the arm of the couch, the rest all crammed together. Kora tentatively smiles at them and clears her throat to get them to stop talking. "Alright, you're all friends with Oakland. Why don't you briefly introduce yourself and then tell me your favorite memory with Oakland?"
The others look towards the boy sitting on the arm of the couch, so he starts talking. "I'm Raul, Oakland's best friend. I've known him for practically our whole life! Then we have Jared – dude, you're eating right now?" Raul points at the boy next to him, huge compared to the others next to him and he pauses from taking a bite of a sandwich to wave at Kora while the others laugh. "Next up is Barth, kind of a nerd but we still love him," the skinny boy next to Jared smiles over at Kora, looking so tiny next to Jared. "Ashley is the backbone of our group, never hesitating to keep us in line. And then we have Carolynn, who is like, the smartest person we know."
The two girls smile at Kora and the host raises an eyebrow at the group, "And favorite memory?"
They all share a look amongst each other, starting to giggle before all answering, "Treehouse."
"Can you…elaborate on that?" Kora asks in confusion at them all agreeing.
"Yeah, last summer the six of us all built a treehouse together for the community," Raul says happily and the others nod their head in agreement. "Oakland is the one who organized the whole thing and kept us on schedule. Now it's an awesome place and it's all thanks to Oakland."
"That's very impressive," Kora says to them, finding herself genuinely smiling at Oakland's actions with his friends. "And very kind of him to do that!"
"He's a great friend," Raul answers and Kora watches as his smile slowly disappears. "We really miss him a lot and we're all rooting for him to win."
"Well he's in good shape right now. And he does have a friend to count on-"
"But we're still his cooler friends!" Raul interrupts her and his friends burst into laughter at this.
Kora smiles at their friendship, hoping that they'll stick together if Oakland doesn't make it out. "Unfortunately we're out of time, but thank you all for letting me interview you today!"
The kids all start talking excitedly as Kora stands up, turning towards the door. She slowly starts grinning at the man there, pulling back his long red hair that he still refuses to let Mom cut after all these years. On either side of him stand two Peacekeepers and Kora feels safe right away from whatever threat she might receive.
"Hi Dad," Kora says as she approaches Elliot, the former host pulling her into a hug.
"Hey pumpkin," he calls her, making her scoff at his old nickname, which only makes him start chuckling. "You couldn't stay out of trouble, huh?"
"And you couldn't stay back and let me be an adult and handle my job, huh?" Kora teasingly answers, although she's happy to have someone here to look out for her.
"Of course not," Elliot answers immediately, shaking his head at Kora. "I'm not leaving until we're back in the Capitol and I make sure Seraphim has plenty of guards watching over you."
Kora rolls her eyes a little at him, but still, she smiles up at him. "Thanks Dad…Now, shall we get going to Eight?"
District Eight
Kora couldn't be more relieved when the hovercraft landed in District Eight with no more ominous messages. Plus, she was put in a much better mood by having her dad around. With the stress and chaos of the weeks leading up to the games and then during, she barely had a break. And it had been even longer since she got to spend time with her family.
Too bad she had to get threatened to see her dad.
"You know," Elliot chuckles as he holds opens the door for Kora into Clark's home, grinning down at his daughter. "This is almost making me want to come out of retirement."
Kora jokingly groans at this, turning back in the nice foyer to look at him. "Dad, don't take my job. You had your time!"
"Kidding, dear," he answers before looking over at two people, making Kora turn her grin into a polite smile when she notices them.
"Hello," Clark's father quiet says, his wife partially standing behind him, her face clearly displaying her timidness at Kora. "Please, come this way."
He leads the way into a nice looking living room that shows clearly that his family has more wealth than some of the other tributes. But while Oakland's home had felt warm and welcoming, Clark's is cold and leaves Kora anxious to move on. Even Clark's parents don't look too thrilled about their son making it to the point of being interviewed, just staring at Kora with eyes filled with shame as they take a seat on a couch opposite Kora.
Milos approaches Kora as they finish getting the camera set up, leaning down to whisper to her. "We managed to get Stig to agree."
"Good," she answers him, feeling a bit of relief at that news. "The crowd would hate us if we didn't interview him after that conversation this morning."
"I agree," Milos responds before stepping back, glancing over at the camera crew. "Alright Kora, whenever you're ready."
Kora nods her head before politely smiling at Clark's family, their bizarre mood staying the same and only making her want to figure out why. "Hello Panem! We are now in the home of Clark Bot-wright," Kora makes sure to pronounce his name correctly this time, still remembering how the boy yelled at her after his interview when she messed up. "Here in District Eight! Now let's take a look at Clark's crazy journey and how he's changed!"
The video starts, focusing on Clark at the bloodbath as he foolishly decided to head towards the supplies to grab a knife. Viradie's death is shown in full, with Coeus grabbing her tiny frame, lifting her above the ground and she cries out, making Clark turn back and yell at Coeus, just before he snaps Viradie's neck. Clark screams in anger and throws the knife at Coeus, missing him completely, before he rus away, sobbing and trying to wipe away his tears as he escapes the bloodbath. Later that day, he's shown crying on the rocky shore, apologizing to Viradie for not being able to protect her, before his face starts to slowly show a new determination. He's next shown wandering around the arena, still crying over the loss of his friend. On the third day, he gets the first sponsor gift, a silly flower crown, that at first makes him start scowling before turning into a smile and a single laugh when he sees the note from Astrid. From that day, there was a new drive in him – still mixed in with stubbornness – especially when he received the sword the next day. But he had to use it very soon after, just after reuniting with Oakland and Jarvis. Clark bravely chases after Nyra, hitting her in the leg and declaring that he has the best mentor to get him his sword. Later that night, Clark admits that he's scared of being alone, solidifying his alliance with Oakland. And then Oakland is shown telling Clark he thinks of him as a friend, the cameras focusing on his face and showing the pain and happiness there. The video ends with the two sharing a light snack, still up in their tree and talking quietly.
"Clark has had quite the journey," Kora starts, feeling emotional once more at watching the deaths of Clark's allies, but keeping up the smile on her face. "Now I'm here with Clark's parents – please introduce yourself. But what do you think?"
"He's not the boy we raised anymore," Clark's mother says quietly, shaking her head at the host. "And I'm Sahara. This is my husband Carmichael."
"What do you mean by that?" Kora asks them, perplexed by Sahara's response.
Sahara looks at her husband nervously and he lets out a sigh before answering Kora. "We did a poor job of raising Clark, gave him everything he ever wanted, never told him no. The child you interviewed is the one we raised. Not the one ready to protect Oakland." Carmichael lets out a another sigh, glancing down at the floor and wringing his hands together. "The games did a better job of turning him into a good kid than we did."
Kora just stares at them, unsure how to answer that admission from him. "Well…maybe you can still do a better job? Does he have any siblings?"
"No," Sahara says quickly, shaking her head and almost looking disgusted at the idea of having another kid. She mumbles to herself, Kora barely able to catch what she says, "Barely even wanted the first one."
Kora's heart breaks for Clark at that. Suddenly, the way he's acted before the games start to make a lot more sense. It's not justified, but…it makes sense. It's clear the two people in front of her never showed Clark love as he grew up. Kora can't imagine not having love from her parents… "Well, he's doing quite well so far…" she says slowly, trying to figure out how to keep this interview going. But luckily when she glances at the crew, she sees a new, tiny figure, and realizes she doesn't have to. "If you could say anything to Clark right now, what would you say?"
Sahara just shakes her head, refusing to answer the question. Carmichael thinks about it for a minute, staying quiet long enough that Kora starts thinking he won't answer the question. "I don't know…Just keeping fighting, I guess?"
Kora stares at them for a few seconds, waiting for them to say something, anything, else, but they stay silent. She finally sighs and forces a smile at them, "Thank you for letting me interview you."
The two stand up quickly, faces full of relief and a bit of shame for being so relieved that their interview is over. They move out of the way as Milos leads a small, lanky boy over to the couch opposite Kora. His eyes are wide with trepidation and his shoulders are tense as he sits down. "Hello there," Kora says gently, reaching over to put her hand on his, trying to reassure him. But he quickly pulls it away from her.
"I don't really want to be here," he answers honestly, voice shaking with his nerves. "I…don't really like talking about this."
"We won't talk for long," Kora responds to him and waits for him to slowly nod his head. "Why don't you just start by introducing yourself?"
The boy takes a deep breath and turns his gaze down to his fidgeting hands. "I'm Stig Hannigan…I was Clark's friend. Or, at least, I thought I was his friend…"
"What makes you think that?"
Stig shrugs his shoulders before looking back up at Kora. "I thought we had a friendship but after watching Clark in the arena…those are real friendships. Not what we had."
Kora hesitates, knowing she has to ask what Stig thinks about Clark's earlier confession, but doesn't want to push Stig too much. "So Clark earlier today mentioned you…"
Stig scoffs at this and shakes his head at Kora. "Yeah, I know. I was watching and even if I wasn't, everyone has been quick to tell me about it."
"But what do you think?" Kora presses on, wanting to hear Stig's response.
"He was right," Stig says simply and when Kora just stares at him, waiting for him to continue, he let's out another sigh. "He was a terrible friend and yeah, for a while, I did hate him."
"Did?" Kora asks, catching the past tense in what Stig said. "Do you not hate him anymore?"
Stig takes a while to respond to this, his face showing his internal turmoil as he figures out his response. "I don't know," he finally whispers, looking up at Kora with confused eyes. "I thought I did but…he's changed. He's not the person who didn't treat me right."
"If Clark wins," Kora says carefully, trying not to show any favoritism. And his odds really aren't great with three careers remaining. "Do you think you would forgive him?"
Stig once again thinks over his response, almost making Kora think he just won't answer her. "I would consider talking to him again."
Kora smiles gently at him, knowing that's a good step towards him hopefully forgiving Clark someday. Well…if he somehow manages to win. "Thank you Stig for agreeing to be interviewed today."
The boy nods his head at this and quickly gets up to leave, his face showing how uncomfortable he is about this interview.
Kora turns to her father as he approaches her, clearly making sure to be protective of her while she's doing this interviews. "I think he'll come around eventually," he says, watching Stig walk past Clark's parents, refusing to look at them.
"I don't know," Kora answers him, not wanting to say he will because that's dependent on if Clark can manage to win. "But we don't have time to speculate. We need to get going to Nine."
District Nine
If someone had told Kora at the start of the games that she would be heading to District Nine for a final eight interview, she wouldn't have believed it. But she's glad that she's here. It's a pleasant surprise to see someone who everyone was counting out and expecting to die in the bloodbath make it to the top eight. Someone who is blind has made it to the final eight. Kora is pretty damn impressed by how far Skye has made it.
The host smiles at the family sitting in front of her, already able to tell that they have the utmost belief in Skye and have not stopped rooting for her. She can see it on the faces of Skye's parents as her father Blaize makes some joke and her mother Daisy stubbornly fights off a smile. It's clear from the smiles on the faces of her three sisters as Zazinia, the oldest, fusses over the younger two, getting them situated in mismatched chairs pulled from other places in the house. The middle girl Mayzie – she wasted no time introducing herself – continuously looks over at Kora and letting out tiny little shrieks of excitement. It's so refreshing to see a family like this and she has no doubt these people are the reason why Skye has such stubborn determination.
"Alright we're ready to get started," Kora says when she gets the signal from Milos and she grins over at Skye's family, the atmosphere of their house making her not have to force her smile. The middle sister claps her hands in excitement, making Kora let out a little laugh as the camera light turns red. "Okay Panem! I'm now in District Nine with the family of Skye Miller! As always, we'll start by taking a look at Skye's journey in the arena!"
Kora motions Skye's family to the screen as the video starts with Skye calling out for Bristol before the countdown reaches zero and her relaxing slightly when she realizes her ally is only a few spots away from her. But when the countdown ends and the explosion happens to Hazel, only two pedestals away from her, Skye stumbles onto her plate, the blast reducing the sense she depends on the most and she turns her head around, trying to figure out the location of her allies. While still searching, the cameras show Marek making the decision to start running towards Skye, heading in the most dangerous path past the opening of the cornucopia. He yells at her to run as Beryl starts to head her way, trying to get away from the other careers, and Skye falls off her platform as Bristol gets over her own shock. Three tributes are running towards Skye until Marek tackles Beryl to the ground, letting Bristol start running away with Skye, leaving Marek behind to be killed by Beryl. Later that day, the two girls receive a small gift of water and bread as the two discuss the fate of their allies. They continue traveling north of the cornucopia into the mountain range and on day two, discover the entrance to a cave. It takes a while for Skye to convince Bristol to enter, the girl from Six in a near panic at the enclosed space. But Skye proves that her lack of sight is beneficial there and she leads Bristol through, keeping them safe and away from other tributes. But on day four, there's the sound of the mutt, making the pair frantically start running away from it. Once they start moving, they're gifted a knife from the sponsors, bringing out even more determination in Skye. But their happiness doesn't last as on the sixth day, they're still in the caves, with no food and barely any water, and the Gamemakers intervene, collapsing the cave. Bristol just barely pushes Skye out of the way, saving the blind girl from being crushed to death. Skye barely makes it out of the cave alive as the cave continues to collapse behind her, leaving her out on her own in the arena.
The video ends on Skye now, leaning against a tree with her eyes shut, face full of exhaustion as she's continued to wander around the arena, desperately searching for some food and water. But despite her weak state, she doesn't let this stop her and she gets moving again.
When Kora brings her attention back to Skye's family, their good mood has diminished slightly, surely from the sight of Skye so weakened from the lack of food. But her mother soon nods her head stubbornly at Kora, "She's not giving up because she hasn't found food. Just watch, she'll find something soon. That's just how she is."
"Extremely stubborn?" Zazinia speaks up, letting out a laugh at this. "I wonder where she gets that from."
"It wasn't me," Blaize jokes, making his three daughters start laughing. When his wife crosses his arms at his teasing, he puts an arm around her and kisses her cheek. "I'm kidding, dear."
Even Kora chuckles a little at the interaction before remembering that she has a job to do. "Well I think it's safe to say that Skye's stubbornness has kept her alive."
The family shares a look with each other before Blaize nods his head in agreement. "That and we always taught her to not let anything hold her back. Once she sets her mind on something, it's hard to stop her."
"Not even being blind?" Kora asks, knowing this is the topic the Capitol will want to hear about. They want to know how a blind girl has reached the final eight.
"Especially not that," Daisy shakes her head at the young host, looking disappointed that Kora even suggested that. "We never let her think there was anything she couldn't do because she was blind."
Kora smiles at them at this, happy to see that Skye's family raised her this way and didn't let her disability hinder her. "What do you think about her strategy in the games? Specifically, the fact that she's the last one of her allies alive."
To Kora's surprise, the one to answer is the youngest one there. "You could tell from the interviews that Marek was too good to make it far," Adita pauses at this, almost looking a little sad at the mention of Skye's District partner. "And Aero seemed smart but he messed up going on his own."
"And Bristol?" Kora prompts when Adita doesn't mention the third and final member of Skye's original alliance.
"Bristol…" Zazinia starts before letting out a heavy sigh. "Bristol saved Skye's life. I wish I could thank her for doing that."
Kora nods her head at this, watching Skye's family all show various levels of sadness on their faces at the death of Skye's closest ally. "She very much did save Skye's life by sacrificing her own. We don't see very many tributes who would do that…" Kora finds herself struggling to keep going, being reminded that there were actually several tributes this year that have sacrificed themselves for allies…Marek…Jarvis…Bristol…
Kora clears her throat, glancing at the time and knowing she needs to wrap things up so that she still has time to interview Skye's best friend. "One last question…If you could tell Skye anything right now, what would you say?"
"Keep kicking ass, honey," Blaize says before Daisy lightly smacks him in the arm for cussing on TV, only making him, Zazinia, and Mayzie laugh a bunch.
"I hope you're going to bleep that out," Daisy mutters, shaking her head but clearly fighting off a smile. "Skye, don't give up. You've made it this far so keep proving them all wrong and show them that being blind won't stop you from winning."
Kora turns her attention to the three sisters and Mayzie is the first to speak up, still looking thrilled at meeting Kora. "You look so cool on TV, sis!"
Adita rolls her eyes at this before giving a serious answer for both of them. "What she means is we better keep seeing you on TV."
Zazinia is the last one, thinking over her answer intensely. "Skye…I still wish you would have let me volunteer for you. Just make sure you get home."
Kora tries to smile at them, but the good mood she started with has disappeared as she's reminded of how low Skye's odds are of winning. "Thank you all for letting me interview you."
Skye's family gives various degrees of smiles and acknowledgement to Kora as they stand up, Mayzie lingering behind as the others leave the room. "Can I…" Mayzie gives her a nervous smile as Skye's friend Autumn is brought into the room and situated on the couch. "Maybe weird question but can I get your autograph?"
"Sure," Kora says with a light laugh, not expecting that question from the girl, but it's an easily answered one. Mayzie takes out a pen and paper from her pocket that Kora quickly signs as she notices Autumn smiling and shaking her head at the girl. Once done, Mayzie lets out something between a shriek and giggle before running out of the room, shouting for Adita.
"Well then," Kora says to Autumn, smiling politely at the girl before faltering at the sight of her missing her right hand. "So Autumn, how do you know Skye?"
"We met working in the fields," Autumn answers quietly, smiling fondly at the memories. "Someone decided it was a good idea to put the two 'disabled' girls together," she makes an air quote with her hand, showing just what she thinks about that. "We quickly became friends after that."
"Now on the day of the Reaping," Kora starts, pausing as Autumn's face falls at the memories, "You walked Skye up to the stage. Why?"
"Because that's what I do," Autumn gives a small shrug at this. "I'm there to help Skye, only when she needs it. She was scared – and for a good reason – so I helped her reach the stage."
"It sounds like you two are very close friends-"
"We are," Autumn interrupts, before smiling apologetically at interrupting the host. "I miss her so much."
"She's made it very far," Kora says carefully, not wanting to make any promises to the girl in front of her. "She could very well make it all the way."
"I know she has it in her to win," Autumn answers quietly, staring down at her lap for a few seconds. When she turns back to Kora, her eyes are fighting back tears. "She's going to win. She's proven time and time again to me that she can do anything. So why can't she win the Hunger Games?"
The girl has so much faith in Skye that even Kora finds herself believing that Skye can do it. And she also knows that this will remind the Capitol audience not to give up on Skye. "Thank you for taking the time for me to interview you today. And best of luck to Skye in the arena."
When the cameras shut off, Kora lets out a heavy sigh, shaking her head to herself. Only one more interview to get through today.
District Ten
When arriving in Ten, Kora wasn't quite sure what kind of reaction she was going to get from Nyra's family. Not after Nyra has gone from what seemed to be an innocent girl at the Reaping to a girl out for blood. And not just the careers, she wants to murder the least threatening tributes remaining.
But what she really wasn't expecting was the scene she walked into in Nyra's house.
Sitting on the couch are Nyra's parents and two brothers, and when they see Kora entering, the all pull out a piece of raw meat and jokingly start eating it in front of her, the youngest making ridiculous noises as he tears into it. Kora nearly starts gagging at the sight, being reminded of the chariot rides when Nyra ate a piece of meat off of the dress she was wearing.
"Stop," she shrieks, throwing her hand over her mouth as she feels some bile rising up. Nyra's family bursts into laughter at her reaction and Nyra's older brother takes the pieces of meat and gets up to go toss them out. But despite their laughter, Kora still feels like she's going to be sick. "Now I know where Nyra got that from."
"Come on, Kora, it was a joke!" They youngest brother keeps laughing at this as his parents get him sitting on the couch and the eldest brother returns.
Meanwhile, Kora still feels like she might be sick as she takes her seat on the opposite side of them. She's so glad that she ate lunch hours ago. "Now that you've thoroughly grossed me out, can you introduce yourself to me while we finish getting set up?"
"I'm Donna, Nyra's mother," the woman – bless her for putting up with all these boys right now – smiles at Kora before pointing a thumb at the man next to her. "This is my husband Jose and you can blame him for the meat idea."
"Guilty," Jose answers with a shrug and a chuckle, one his youngest son joins in with. "It was also Ryan's idea there."
"And I'm Aryn," the eldest son says quietly, holding out his hand politely for Kora to shake. She stares down at it for a few seconds, still remembering the meat, and he starts grinning at her. "I washed my hands, don't worry."
Kora lets out a single laugh before taking his hand, rough with tiny scars, and he shakes it gently. Once she lets go, she notices Milos ready to go so she sits back, putting on a grin as she gets ready to finish up the last interview. "Alright Panem, we're at our final interview already! We are in the home now of Nyra Caballero in District Ten! As always, we will start with a video recapping Nyra's crazy moments in the arena!"
Kora takes a deep breath as the video starts, knowing this is the last time today she has to keep watching the same deaths over and over. When the bloodbath begins, Nyra is stunned for a few seconds by the explosion before getting it together, seemingly unbothered by the early death of her ally as she darts forward to grab a bag and pair of knives seemingly placed nearby just for her. Shortly after she grabs them, Emerald tackles her to the ground and they start fighting, with the District One boy seemingly getting the upperhand. Then Vida arrives, kicking Emerald off of her ally and quickly killing him, allowing the pair to get away from the bloodbath. The next few days show Nyra and Vida following after Beryl, waiting until they can trap her. But when they finally succeed, the careers arrive, taking away their kill. Tension continues to grow between them, especially after they find Jarvis, Clark, and Oakland, leaving Nyra injured and only one of them dead. On day five, Vida seemingly has Nyra fully manipulated, but the crowd now knows that the next day is when Nyra loses it with her ally, no longer putting up with her and killing her rather brutally. The video then cuts to Nyra now, a sight that brings a chill down Kora's spine. The District Ten girl is wandering around the arena, still coated in the dried blood of her ally and holding a knife in both hands. She's scowling as she stomps through the arena, muttering to herself about finding the remaining tributes so she can 'gut them like a darned pig'.
When Kora brings her attention back to Nyra's family, the happy mood has disappeared, leaving behind a family filled with concerned and almost even slightly terrified expressions. Kora can't blame them as the sight of Nyra hunting for the remaining tributes also scares her a little. That girl is not the same person she interviewed just a little over a week ago. "I guess we'll start with…What do you think about Nyra's transformation in the games?"
The family shares a look with each other, but Kora is able to read the words they're not saying. They're scared of Nyra. Donna is finally the one to speak up for her family, her voice heavy with concern. "She's changed so much…I can't help but worry that it was our fault."
"What do you mean exactly?" Kora asks curiously, wondering how a set of parents could have had any involvement with pushing their daughter down a murderous path.
Jose lets out a sigh before responding, "We told her when we said goodbye that she was prepared. Everyone in our family is a butcher and for years she's killed animals…"
"We told her to pretend the people she kills are the animals that she butchers on a daily basis," Donna finishes for her husband, ignoring the pained look on her eldest son's face at this. "We thought if she did that, she would have no problem killing and making it out of there alive."
"I guess that explains the 'darned pigs' thing," Kora tries to joke with the family, but she only gets the slightest of smiles from Ryan. "Well, her behavior has clearly gotten her far. And she did get rid of her ally that was manipulating her from the start."
Aryn nods his head at this before timidly speaking up, "We're glad Vida's gone. That girl was not good for Nyra. But I'm worried that she won't realize what she's doing wrong if she wins…or she will and it destroys her after she wins."
"But you will be there for her," Kora states and when her family doesn't immediately give an acknowledgement, she raises her eyebrows at them. "Right?"
"Yes," Donna answers quietly before speaking up with a bit more confidence. "She's still our daughter and we're going to love her, no matter what happens."
"At the end of the day," Jose pauses to take a look at his family before turning back to the host, "We want our daughter or sister back home alive."
Kora smiles at this, happy to see they're still supporting her, even if they don't agree with her actions in the games. Because surely if she wins, she's going to need people supporting her… "Now is there anything else you would want to say to her if you could?"
Donna and Jose shake their heads at this and turn their gaze to their two sons. Aryn looks hesitant to speak up, opening and closing his mouth several times before finally answering Kora. "Just don't forget who you really are. You're not that person in the arena."
"And Ryan?" Kora asks, turning to the youngest sibling of Nyra, noticing he has fallen quiet ever since the video was shown of Nyra. But he just shakes his head at Kora, not wanting to answer her question. "Alright, thank you for your time!"
Her crew steps over, leading in four kids that all look close to Nyra's age that take the spots left by Nyra's family as soon as they stand up. One of the boys is joking around with the other, while the older girl puts a hand comfortingly on the youngest girl's shoulder. "So can you introduce yourselves and how you know Nyra?"
The boy who was joking around is the first to speak up, "I'm Rand and I work with Nyra's family. First impression of her was seeing her get knocked over by two pigs."
The other boy chuckles at this while the girls shake their heads at Rand. "Jose Romero. I don't work with Nyra but I know her from school."
"Same," the older girl says, smiling at Kora, "I'm Lisa and I'm the one who always saves Nyra from flunking exams."
"And you?" Kora asks the youngest girl while the others laugh at Lisa's commenting, noticing that the last one to speak up also seems to be showing the most concern for Nyra.
"I'm Huntress," she answers, giving a side eye look at Rand that gets him to shut up. "I'm dating Nyra but I met her at school."
Kora nods her head at this, trying to give the girl a comforting smile now that she understands more why she looks concerned for Nyra. "So, what do you four think about what Nyra has done in the arena?"
Rand starts chuckling and Jose rolls his eyes at the boy. "Oh boy, I sure would be terrified to run into her. She also needs a shower."
Huntress is the next one to roll her eyes at Rand. "Yes, because there's just an abundance of showers in the arena."
Lisa chuckles at her friends and smiles as she shakes her head. "Nyra is being smart for once, but don't tell her I said that. She had allies to balance out her own weaknesses and she got rid of them before she could get betrayed."
"But one of her allies didn't make it very long," Kora brings up, noticing that Lisa hadn't just said Vida.
Lisa shrugs at this before answering, "That was a shame but we all would rather see Nyra win than Hazel, or any of the other tributes."
"Yeah," Jose speaks up, face blushing when Kora turns her attention to him. He glances down at his hands fidgeting in his lap before continuing at a much softer volume. "We all know that 21 tributes have to die for Nyra to be victor."
"Do you think she'll become the victor?" Kora asks them all, getting varying degrees of head nods from all of them.
"Of course," Rand answers, finally starting to sound a bit serious. "One hundred percent, she's going to win."
Kora smiles at them, happy to see that her friends don't seem to have changed their opinions on Nyra based on her actions in the games. "Wonderful to hear that. And thank you for coming here today!"
When the camera is switched off, Kora lets out a huge sigh of relief. Finally, the interviews are all done. She hears footsteps approaching and looks over to see her father heading over. He puts a hand on her shoulder and squeezes it while grinning down at her. "You've done great pumpkin. Now let's get you back home."
"Yes please," she says and quickly jumps out of the seat, ready to be back in the Capitol and in relative safety. Because she knows she'll have more protection there against whoever made the threat than out here in the Districts.
And hopefully the President will catch whoever it is soon.
Kora had really been hoping that she could just go home and sleep once she arrived back in the Capitol. The interviews had take the entire day to complete with all the travel across the various Districts. She was just glad that there hadn't been any encounters with tributes throughout the day while she was out doing the interviews – be that sheer luck or Seraphim keeping them apart, she didn't know the answer.
But when it's the end of day seven in the arena and there are eight tributes remaining, Kora isn't allowed to get very much sleep.
"Did they say what is happening?" Kora says as she's rushed into the studio, her hair and makeup getting fixed as she walks, trying to talk to Milos as she's pushed unceremoniously into her seat.
"No," he shakes his head as he glances down at his tablet and Kora is able to see the current events in the arena on the screens around the studio. She couldn't detect what was going on. "Just something with Velmour…? They're telling us to pull up a clip from days ago of Decima…"
Kora scrunches her face as she watches the District Four pair sit by their campfire. Velmour rummages through his bag, face not quite showing the amusement it had previously before he killed Bart. He pulls out a bottle he had taken from the cornucopia as the anthem starts blasting through the arena and they turn up to the night sky to see Bart's face.
"Okay, all you," Milos says with a shrug before stepping aside, just as Kora puts an ear piece on and the cameras start recording live.
"Hello Panem, I'm back and in studio after our day interviewing the families of the final eight! Now, we're about to see something very interesting…"
Kora nearly jumps when she hears the voice of her friend and Gamemaker Laelia in her ear piece. "Keep a close eye on velmour. Decima poisoned the bottle he's about to drink."
Kora raises her eyebrows in shock as Velmour holds up the bottle, squinting his eyes at the wax seal. "I guess we should have a toast to getting another kill today and bringing District Four one step closer to victory…" Stormy just rolls her eyes at him as he pops the wax off the bottle, frowning at it. "Huh, the seal is damaged. Must have happened when we were walking around."
Stormy's eyes widen just as Velmour tips back the bottle, taking a huge sip of the alcohol. "No!" She jumps forward, smacking the bottle out of his hand and sending it smashing into a nearby tree. She grabs his face, trying to get him to spit it out but it's too late. He's already swallowed the drink.
Velmour stares at Stormy with wide eyes, hands shaking as his jaw drops open in fear. "What did I just drink?" He whispers as his breathing already starts to get raspy.
Stormy sits back, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head before looking up at Velmour. Her face is full of realization at what is happening and just the faintest hint of sadness for her District partner's fate. "Poison."
Ohoho I couldn't have the interviews end without something spicy happening, now could I? Just a reminder that until you see the eulogies here, the tributes aren't dead yet. So, other than Velmour drinking poison, what else did you find interesting about this chapter? What interview surprised you the most? And what's happening with Kora now?
Yeah this chapter got delayed a couple days because I'm still getting over a cold. But, I'm still going to work my butt off to get this story done by June 24th! We're almost there!
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Alright, hopefully the next chapter will be up in the next couple of days so I'll see you soon!