The thirteenth day
-Lonan Fodor, 18, District 10-
Lonan was in a daze when he finally came to his senses. He looked around the area, trying to gather where he was. He recognized the areas well, surrounded by tatbles covered in green felt. At least he knew somewhat where he was.
Lonan took a deep breath, looking around for any sign of another tribute, but saw nothing. He was frustrated, sure, but mostly relieved. He wasn't ready to jump into another fight so soon. Lonan got to his feet, the horror of watching Ceru spin paralysis filling his chest once again after the initial shock of being moved wore off. As far as Lonan knew, someone could have landed next to him and taking advantage of what they saw. That thought was enough to get Lonan up and moving. After all, he had an advantage that nobody else did, and that was the elevator. He certainly wasn't expecting the Gamemakers to change up the rules about who got the elevator, but he was certainly glad. He was going to use it to his advantage and find Ceru so he could protect him.
First, he had to make sure that the Gamemakers weren't playing a trick on him. Lonan searched the surround area. "Ceru?" he called, before realizing that was foolish for him to do. Even if Ceru could hear, he couldn't answer at this point. Lonan bit his lip nervously as he jogged around the perimeter of the giant area. It was a lot of ground to cover, but Lonan was determined to search the floor as well as he could for his allies before using his advantage.
Suddenly, Lonan noticed something out of the ordinary… A shoe sticking out from under the table. Lonan slowly crouched down to look. As soon as he saw the weapons, bright yellow, he stood back up. It wasn't Ceru after all. But Lonan had just found another tribute.
His grip tightened on the slim, light sword in his hand, heart pounding. Jace could never see him coming.
"Who's there?!" the tribute called out, and Lonan jumped out of his skin. Jace couldn't know it was him. Not after what he'd done to his ally. Lonan's arms wouldn't move. He couldn't make himself thrust the weapon forward. "Reveal yourself!" Jace called, stumbling to get out from under the table.
Lonan let the ko-naginata drop, and instead, turned and stumbled off in the other direction, away from there. He couldn't do it.
He wanted to move fast, but Lonan felt like he was waddling towards the elevator. The clown suit he wore was so damn bulky, it was impossible to be agile like this. Not to mention the shoes, those were definitely the worst part. They were way too big and he couldn't stop tripping over them, not to mention the ice floor was more like a slip n' slide than a floor. He felt like he was running, but he was more accurately inching forward and flailing around. He wanted to get as much distance between himself and Jace as possible, but he couldn't move fast enough thanks to this stupid costume.
Lonan hurriedly put the elevator card in the slot and hurried in as soon as the doors were open enough to fit the bulky clown costume. He barely even thought about a strategy, just hurriedly hitting the button for the fourth floor. He wanted to be away from there.
Why? Well, that didn't matter. He was focused on finding Ceru, not on picking a fight. Yes, there would be plenty else to focus on as he searched for his ally. The elevator started up, and Lonan relaxed a little bit. He ran through his plan in his head, survey the floors from the top down looking for Cerulean. That was a good plan. He would try to stay out of trouble. Hopefully everyone else had a twist just as bad as his. At least that would level the playing field, right?
Lonan's thoughts were interrupted by the elevator stopping. He braced himself to face the outside world.
Why aren't the doors opening? Lonan worriedly hit the door open button. When he did, the light suddenly blew in the elevator, causing him to yell. He heard metal grinding outside, and a loud crack sounded as an eerie red light came on above him. What was going on!? Lonan mashed buttons, trying to get the elevator to work again, but nothing he did seemed to work…
Lonan's heart sunk as he realized that his good luck wasn't actually very good at all. Did anyone know that he was stuck in here?! Not that it mattered. He doubted that any of the remaining tributes actually knew how to fix an elevator. He certainly didn't.
Lonan let out a sigh and sunk down to the floor of the elevator. So much for his plan. He had no idea how long the Gamemakers were going to leave him stuck here. It could be all day. He hoped not… But then again, they were trying to make a nice show for the audience. Lonan certainly felt like a clown for believing that he could possibly have a little good luck. Especially on a day when everyone was getting bad luck. He'd tricked himself into believing that he could possibly be special. It was foolish of him to think that good fortune would ever smile down upon him. How could he possibly think that he of all people would have something good in his life?
Especially after what he'd done to Elliot…
How foolish did he look to the Capitol, running away from a tribute that's fucking blind? His trainers at Ruckrage Farms were probably ashamed of him. Running away from a battle he could have so easily won.
But would it have been easy? Perhaps it would have been a fight that Lonan could win, but that wouldn't have made it easy.
Killing Elliot seemed to be easy for you.
He could only hang his head in response. He had no argument. The voice in his head was right, it was easy. He was frustrated at losing supplies, and as soon as he saw the navy bowtie, it didn't matter to Lonan who was wearing it. He was suddenly a threat to Lonan, and he just acted out.
But that wasn't an excuse. He still had no idea how he was going to face that family back home. He had acted without thinking. He felt a little bit relieved when his allies were sent away from him, because he had no idea what to say to them. Lonan was perceptive enough that he could tell that the dynamic was different after that happened, even if they were trying to pretend it wasn't. He knew that Ceru had the chance to kill his District partner, and he didn't. Lonan envied him for his self-control. The other group obviously didn't want to fight. Even when she could have gotten revenge for Elliot, Camellia's focus was only getting him and Jace away to safety.
Lonan put his face in his hands, not wanting the cameras to pick up the tears that were forming in his eyes. He was an embarrassment to Ruckrage Farms, to his District, to his own pride. But that wasn't even the worst part.
He was an embarrassment to his son.
The only good thing that had come out of his embarrassment, his pain, his torment… And he was always just out of Lonan's reach. Because he had been accused falsely, he wasn't allowed to see his own son. All Lonan ever wanted was to see his son, and make him proud. He thought that maybe winning the Games would give him the chance to see the face of his offspring. But was it really worth it if along the way, he became a person his son would be ashamed of?
Lonan couldn't stop the tears from pouring out of his eyes and down his face. He was an embarrassment to the only good thing he had left. Why did he think that he could be someone's dad? Why did he think that he could be in his son's life? Hoping was futile. All it ever did was lead to disappointment. Lonan thought that the Games was his ticket to happiness, but it was a Catch-22. He had to give himself up to get the life he wanted. And, if that was the case, there really was no point at all to going into the Arena.
It wasn't your choice. You didn't volunteer for this. Sure, but he was going to volunteer for it. He was glad to be reaped. He figured that either he would get everything he ever wanted, or he would be released from his suffering. But now, there was no way to win. He didn't want to die, he was afraid, he was too young. But he would continue to suffer however long he lived. There was no such thing as happiness caused by the Games. He felt like an idiot for believing that there could be.
He couldn't kill Jace. He knew that he couldn't, even if it meant one step closer to home. He couldn't handle the thought of another life lost on his sword. He thought that he could get out of the Games shedding only the blood of the wicked, but the truth was that he was now among those that he would have previously called a target. That meant that he didn't deserve life. He already had a feeling that was true before, but now there was really no counterargument. There was no way to escape the Arena without making a hypocrite out of himself.
But maybe, just for a few years with his son, it would be worth it.
You aren't deserving of your son. Not after what you've done. Lonan couldn't believe that was true. He refused to. He hated the idea. That's only something that Manya would say to him. Not something that was actually true… That was what she wanted him to think. So that she could keep his child away from him and get away clean with what she'd done.
Lonan grit his teeth. She wasn't sorry for ruining his life.
But was killing others really the right way to spite her? He was only acting into the person she convinced everyone that he was. The person he was so sure he would never be, he's now become. Her statements aren't lies anymore.
Lonan released a small sob into his hands. If he didn't kill, he would never get out of here, but if he continued to kill, his son would reject him. And now, Lonan was stuck here, in a fucking elevator, when he should be out there protecting his allies. Who knew where Owen was, and who he was handcuffed to? Lonan let out a small groan and buried his face in his hands. He wanted to protect them, but instead he scared them away, and now he was alone in a goddamn elevator trying and failing to make it up to them. They wouldn't even know that he was trying to help them. All they would know was that they were alone. Or, in Owen's case, unwillingly tied to someone that could kill him for all Lonan knew. At least there hadn't been any cannons so far today… All Lonan could do now was sit and hope that he didn't hear one. He was just barely able to keep himself from spiraling as it was already…
Lonan opened the small canteen he had with him and took a small sip from it to try and stop the ache in the back of his throat from tears. He couldn't afford any more waste of water this way. Not to mention how ridiculous he looked, not only because he was crying, but also because of the clown suit. What a disgrace…
He refused to believe that he would remain a disgrace forever.
Surely, there was a way to cheat the system. A way for him to make his family proud and get out of here with his life.
Lonan was going to keep on kicking until he figured out what that could be.
Hopefully, though, he wouldn't be wearing these clown shoes forever.
~.~.
-Owen O'Connor, 18, District 5-
The boys sat next to each other on the ground, asses freezing, cuffed arms hanging down on the ground. They hadn't really gotten off to a good start…
Owen's heart hadn't stopped pounding since he'd realized who he was with. Surely Kelwyn knew who he was… His color was cyan! And he had been on the other side of a dirty trick like that, so Owen knew what it looked like. The tension hasn't left his body since he was relocated and cuffed.
"I have to pee."
Owen jumped when Kelwyn spoke at first.
"W-What?!" he asked.
"Chill man, I just have to pee."
Owen didn't realize how much he had to go until Kelwyn mentioned it. He tried not to focus on it because he didn't want to anger the Career any more than he already had… They weren't going to be red-stringed together forever. It was going to end in a day. Kelwyn could kill him as soon as their tie ended… Owen didn't want to make any more enemies… He already felt like Lonan saw him as dead weight after what happened the other day… Owen didn't know what happened. He couldn't make himself move. He didn't want to kill anyone. He didn't want to see his allies fall, or put them in danger. He didn't want to fight anyone. Owen never thought he'd have to kill a person…
"Owen?" Oh no. He sounded annoyed. Owen looked over, but his eyes were assaulted by the glowing of Kelwyn's outfit.
His face was almost impossible to read, which made Owen even more nervous as he quickly scrambled to his feet. Or, well, he tried. He scrambled up, was pulled back by his hand cuffed to Kelwyn's, slipped on the ice, and crashed back down right next to Kelwyn.
Owen groaned, but Kelwyn laughed. "Let's get up together," he said.
"Right." Even though his ass cheeks were frozen together, his face heated up with a blush at looking foolish in front of the Career.
"Alright, we'll get up to a squat on our feet. Ready? One… Two… Three." Owen shifted on his feet to a squat. Kelwyn next to him slipped and slid around the icy floor, eventually tugging out Owen's heels from under him and sending his ass back to the icy ground with a great, "Oof!"
Kelwyn laughed a little next to him. "Sorry, I think my ass stuck to the ground a little bit."
Owen laughed back at that, some of the tension in his body relaxing. "That's okay."
"One more time. Ready… One, two, three." This time, both boys were able to get up to their feet in a squat, and together with another countdown they were able to stand, very slowly. Even so, this wasn't the hardest part.
"Okay, we have to be very careful now…" Kelwyn said thoughtfully.
"Right," Owen said, and together the boys focused on walking. Owen's glowing costume reflected off of the shiny surface of the ice and made it more challenging for the boys to step. They made it three steps before Owen slipped on the ice, falling back on his ass with a great grunt and pulling Kelwyn down to the ground next to him with another great groan.
"I'm so sorry!" Owen said, blushing once again. Kelwyn gave him a wide, handsome smile.
"No worries. I was going to go down if you didn't." After another few tries, the boys managed to get back up on their feet and tried again. They slid slowly together, and Owen stayed focused on making sure he wouldn't cause them to fall another time. Both of their faces had eyebrows creased, total focus as they inched forward little by little, the lights on Kelwyn's outfit reflecting off of the ice into Owen's eyes.
Suddenly, a great force pulled Owen straight to the ground, and his hip slammed into the ice. "Fuck," he groaned. Kelwyn laughed it off, and Owen relaxed a little as they got back up to their feet.
"Okay, start with your right. Ready? Right, left, right, left…" Eventually, Kelwyn and Owen got into a good rhythm of ice skating together, until they made it to a wall where they could do their business in a somewhat private place. Although, they're handcuffed together, so what really is privacy anymore?
"You go first," Owen said. "I'll close your eyes."
"We can't both be left vulnerable," Kelwyn said. "You have to keep watch behind us."
Owen sighed, but Kelwyn knew best. "Right."
He looked back to the side, behind them, as Kelwyn undid the button, zipper, and clasp to pull down his dress pants. Owen tried not to listen for the sound of the pee splashing on the ice, but he couldn't really help it. He heard Kelwyn pull up his pants and zip them.
"Okay, you can go now."
Owen was feeling some pee anxiety. When he peed on the carpet, it didn't make a sound, nor did it splash like it did on the ice. This was less than pleasant, but Owen couldn't wait anymore, he had to go.
He had only his left hand to get the duty of unbuttoning done. He fumbled with the various objects keeping his pants up, but eventually he was able to get them undone. Owen slid a little bit, pulling Kelwyn a little bit, and both of them let out a "Woah!"
Did he see me in my underwear?! Owen thought, immediately becoming more embarrassed. Oh God. Owen tried to release the tension in his shoulders and just go… It took a moment for everything to get moving. It felt good to release it, but definitely weird to do it handcuffed to someone else. He pulled up his underwear and pants, zipping up the fly and working on the button… Owen tried and tried to button it up.
"Are you okay?" Kelwyn asked.
"Yes!" Owen said quickly, feeling completely embarrassed as he fumbled with the button, trying to pull the pants around his waist.
"Are you done?"
"Almost…" Owen grabbed the side with the hole, trying to maneuver it onto the button, but to no avail. "I don't want to ask this, but I can't get my button done."
Kelwyn looked over at him, giving him a grin that was just so hard to look away from.
"I didn't do mine either, I was too embarrassed to ask you for help because that's embarrassing."
"Wait, you're intimidated by me?!" Owen squeaked.
"You are my competition. You could kill me when our red string is done if you really wanted to."
"No, that's you! You're trained. I don't know how to use a weapon!" Owen laughed nervously.
"That really doesn't mean very much," Kelwyn said. "I could falter at any moment."
"But… That's crazy. I'm not intimidating."
"Yeah you are. You seem to have it together. I don't really think I have it together."
Owen was stunned. Kelwyn acted so comfortable all the time. He was a natural leader, he was smart and he was so strong…
"Who the hell are you talking about? The Capitolites are tripping over themselves for you. You were the leader of the Careers, you trained for this all your life. You're District Four's best."
Kelwyn let out a deep sigh. "Do we really have to have this conversation right next to our puddles of piss?"
Owen realized that wasn't the best place to have it. "Oh, right," he said. "Well, let's get away from here before we try to do our buttons. We don't have to slip into our own pee."
Kelwyn laughed." I agree. That would stink. Literally, and metaphorically."
Together, the boys got into their system of moving and thankfully they did not fall into their own pee.
"You go first."
Owen let his hand move with Kelwyn's cuffed hand as he did his button, and Owen just tried so hard not to accidentally touch his dick.
"I can't believe you would be scared of me," Owen said. "That's outrageous. You're the shoe-in to win."
"You think so?" Kelwyn asked, dropping their hands so that Owen could do his button. Oh God, his hand is so close to my crotch. Don't think about that right now Owen. Oh no… Owen quickly finished the deed and dropped his cuffed hand like a hot potato.
"You have a Capitol following of your own," Kelwyn said.
"Not after Rammie slandered me to everyone," Owen said. "I haven't done much of anything to win since I've gotten here."
"I mean… You did something."
Owen was uncomfortable. "Right… Well, um, anyways. I mean… I don't know if I have much of anything going for me." He wasn't really sure why he was going to have this conversation with Kelwyn of all people. He's a Career. Well, Kelwyn was vulnerable first, right? And he can't kill Owen right now even if he wanted to because his own life is on the line. Maybe it was just because Kelwyn was a person that Owen didn't have to try to impress, considering they were competition in a fight to the death. He felt like he needed to impress Lonan and Ceru because they became his allies at the last moment. He felt like he needed to impress Rammie, his mentors, Piccolo, the Gamemakers, his mother, so that people back home and in the Capitol would support him. But Kelwyn is just a random person that he's handcuffed to for a day. After this, they'll go their separate ways and they won't talk again… Unless they're the final two. Then they will meet again. But at least then they will be even. Besides, there was a form of cold understanding: not only because of the ice, but also because neither was interested in being best friends after this was over.
"Sure you do. You intimidated a Career. That means something, right?"
"I guess… But you have no reason to be intimidated by anyone."
Kelwyn looked at him and gave a little laugh. It hurt Owen's eyes to look over though. "We're just chasing each other in circles now."
"I guess you're right."
They drifted off into a silence.
"…Thanks," Kelwyn said, making Owen look up. "Being so far away from my family hasn't gone very well for me, so in a twisted way, I guess your fear helped me?"
"I guess your fear helped me too," Owen said. "In a really weird way."
"This is just a very weird situation in general," Kelwyn said.
"Right," Owen said, and suddenly both boys slipped and landed hard on the ground with a startled yelp.
"Ow," they both groaned, but soon both found it in them to laugh. As they get upon their butts, Owen could hear the sound of Kelwyn's stomach growling. Owen's stomach sunk at that, knowing that it's because of him…
"Let's have some lunch."
Owen opened his backpack and pulled out one of the bags of food with a stripe on it of Kelwyn's color. He took a handful of nuts out of it and passed the bag to Kelwyn, his hand pulling as Kelwyn opened the bag and poured a handful into his own hand, putting it into his mouth.
"Thanks," he said awkwardly.
Owen scratched the back of his neck with his free hand nervously. Then, he reached into his backpack, pulling out two bags of food and handing them over to Kelwyn's free hand. "Here. You take these."
"What?" Kelwyn asked. "No…"
"Yes. It was a dirty trick. I didn't really want to take it all. My allies had input into the choice. Just… Take it."
"Um... Okay. Thanks."
"Sure." Owen tried to give him a feeble smile, and Kelwyn returned it. Owen's arm contorted as Kelwyn tried to take off his backpack. It twisted unnaturally as Kelwyn tried again, and Owen yelped.
"Sorry," Kelwyn said. Owen was suddenly glad his backpack was sitting next to him when the cuff appeared on his hand. Kelwyn put the bags in his coat pocket instead.
Owen laughed a little bit and shook his head to tell Kelwyn not to worry about it. "It's okay. We'll learn eventually."
"I suppose so," Kelwyn said, and they exchanged another smile.
~.~.
A/N: We're back with another short chapter. In the midst of planning out this gimmicky chapter, I've planned this story down and made some tough decisions that honestly I was just procrastinating on making. That said, I'm finally ready to let go of some of these tributes and get the story moving forward. Expect more action from next chapter on, and buckle up! Until then, I hope you enjoyed this little taste of chaos and character development (in a clown suit).
Also, the SYOT Alliance forum is doing a special event for the month of April! We are hoping to boost comradery within the SYOT community! Feel free to come on and get involved in answering questions, guessing facts, sharing headcanons, and playing some games!
CQ: Will the groups of allies eventually find each other? Or will they not try?
