Have you ever been on an elevator?
I would assume so. Sorry for asking.
It's just that the strange contraption isn't exactly common where I come from. Not to sound like some kind of whining peasant or anything, but in District 12 we don't have the luxury of riding it up and down all day. We walk up the stairs, thank you very much.
The only reason why I'm even thinking about elevators is because the one in the Training Center is a wonder. It's made of pure crystal so as we step inside and shoot upwards, the ground shrinks in a matter of seconds. My stomach flops nauseously, but in a sort of fun, goofy way. I can't help the wide smile that spreads across my muzzle.
Because every pair of tributes gets their own level in the Training Center as their sleeping quarters, ours is at the very top so I get to watch them each step off at their destinations until it's our turn. Now that we have arrived, I ask Tooth if we can go for another round without even thinking about it. Gia, surprisingly, agrees with me enthusiastically. I honestly expect the woman to scoff at how immature we are and that if we do, the other contestants would think that we are too childish. But she doesn't. Instead she grins broadly, showing her blinding pearly white teeth, and presses a button with the number 1 on it and we fall back down and up again.
I feel like laughing at my flopping innards and the slight dizziness I receive when we step off. To even chuckle when I lean against the wall for support, but I can't bring myself to laugh. I can smile, barely, but I can't laugh. The Games have already twisted my humor.
As we walk to our designated rooms, my mind reels back to when Tooth let us go on the elevator again like it was some kind of fair ride. But as I try to rationalize why exactly she agreed to it, I can't bring myself to come up with a viable reason. I ask Tooth once we drop off Gia and she simply replies, "It's the least I can do." She leaves me in my new bedroom with a weak, sad smile and tells me that dinner is in an hour and flutters away. Her words befuddle me the moment they fall out of her mouth, but I decide to think about it later. I will have plenty of time to mull over a lot of subjects when I'm left alone tonight.
I have a full hour to myself, so I decide to wash up. I shower in an even more tech savvy bathroom than the one on the train. The mounds of makeup that was applied to my body trickles down the drain in orange and crimson hues. Once out, I walk up to the closet which I discover is a machine that picks out your outfit for you. I end up wearing a pale blue sweatshirt and black cotton pants. I then lay on my bed that could easily be mistaken for a giant cloud stuffed into a mattress if it weren't for the forest green sheets and comforter. What either has to be a full forty five minutes or thirty seconds later, I really can't tell the difference, I'm called to come and eat.
Finally! I'm starving.
Everyone is already at the table, even Megamind and Minion. I sit in between Gia and Tooth as we dine on a marinated chicken spread over white rice with slices of oranges and green onions sprinkled in cheese. It is absolutely delicious, especially when I have my seconds and thirds.
What? I did say I was hungry. And I could use the extra pounds if I'm going to have some fleeting chance at winning the Hunger Games.
I'll admit it, that's just a cheap excuse for me to gorge myself on such delicious foods, but hey, I've never been one to turn down a meal. Why stop now?
I realize that everyone around me sips a red liquid from tall, elegant glasses. Wine. And considering the fact that I probably will never get another chance to try it, I order myself some. It's incredibly tart and runs down my throat thickly. I figure out that I don't like it when my head begins to throb after the fourth drink and exchange it for water.
I look over at Gobber, who has an entire bottle of wine to himself, chugging it down like a toddler with a juice box, practically sucking out the contents with large, loud gulps. How can he go around drinking that kind of stuff all the time? With his head foggy and feeling sick to his stomach? I couldn't do it even if I wanted to.
When our plates are cleared away for desert, a giant, three-teared cake coated in a blazing red frosting appears. It is intricately painted with white, yellow, orange, and purple edible paint that makes it look like it's made of fire. When we slice it up and eat it, we discover that it is a vanilla cake with hunks of strawberries inside. I absolutely love strawberries!
Everyone babbles on and on about what a hit we were, rambling how we sure showed those other districts that we were no to be over looked, not this year. That we were going to rise up from the ashes and give it our all to claim victory like some prodigal legend. As if. I don't care to listen, my mind is on the food.
A black hand appears before me and reaches for my empty plate. From the yellow cuff of the sleeve, it's a servant. I turn to the side to thank him but suddenly stop short. Standing in front of me in a servant's uniform is a short mammal with fur the color of a dried orange peel and bulging, intelligent eyes and ears that stick out of his round head. He stands low on his feet and his long arms curl at his sides, his slender tail swaying behind his hunched back. It is a monkey, but he looks vaguely familiar.
"Hey, don't I know you?" I ask him. His already all too wide eyes impossibly become even bigger, threatening to fall out of his skull. He shakes his head vigorously and walks away with his head bowed low. Although the action insists that he does not know me, something clicks in my head like a missing puzzle piece. I do know him, and the thought of where and how has my gut wrenching painfully. I manage to keep my dinner down when I meet the others' ogling gazes. They look at me as if I had sprouted a second head.
"Oh, Alex. You don't know him." Megamind says. "How could you possibly know an Avox?" He asks, running a napkin at the corners of his blue lips.
An Avox is a person who had somehow in some way committed a crime against the Capitol and was forced to work for them as a slave. As for punishment, they had also cut out their tongues so that no one could hear them and they couldn't talk for the rest of their lives. It's a cruel fate, and one I am not very fond of taking part in. Which is why poaching in any district is a dangerous task.
"No, it's just... I think I know him from somewhere." I say abruptly. I don't know how to explain something this monumental to these people. Not only would I be exposing myself to breaking the law, but I would also be admitting to witnessing an escape attempt.
"Maurice!" Gia exclaims with a snap of her fingers. "That's who he looks like. Maurice from the mill." Maurice is a stout, black and white lemur with a bottle-brush tail and yellow eyes. Although he is from a small island, he has already grown accustomed to the new environment when he was brought to District 12 and had become a manager at the coal mill within a matter of days. He mainly spends all of his time inside the mines, avoiding his previous ruler who walks the streets, drunk as a skunk. Maurice is the exact opposite of the exotic primate, and not just because of his species.
"Oh, yeah! You're right. That's exactly who he looks like. Must've been the ears." I say to her in an almost too willing tone.
"And possibly the tail." She says, shrugging her shoulders innocently. Everyone else gives a relieved sigh and resume their dull conversations like nothing had happened.
Later on, we are gathered into the living area to watch the Opening Ceremony reruns. The announcer lists off each district as they enter and the camera follows them suitably. Each pair waves to the crowds politely, some smile and some remain impassive. But when we come out, we completely throw over the competition. The speaker is fumbling with his words and the crowd's screams are almost deafening if it weren't for the t.v.'s audio controls. It's hard for me to believe that the two majestic creatures riding their blazing chariot of fire is actually me and Gia. I'm finally able to pry my eyes away from the dazzling scene when the anthem plays and Tooth ushers us to our rooms for the night.
"You'll need lots of rest. Training starts tomorrow and you'll need all the sleep you can get." She lectures. She leaves us with a flurry trail of green and violet feathers. My paw grabs the glass handle when Gia pipes up.
"So, Maurice." She says quietly. Shadows cast against her sharp jaw and ears, her golden fur a beacon of light in the bleak darkness.
"Yeah. Thought he somehow winded up here of all places. Guess not, though." I return. Gia was the one to suggest the idea that the servant was a for-real lookalike of the stout little creature we know back from our district, and from what I'm getting from her body language is that she's wanting to understand how I came to recognize the servant from earlier.
But not here. It may just be me being paranoid, but there could most likely be hidden cameras and microphones all over the place, especially if it means watching their precious tributes. And I don't want to spill out the truth if this rumor proves to be right.
The jaguar must've seen my unsettling nature show through because she speaks up again. "Have you seen the roof? Minion took me up there earlier today."
"Are we allowed?" I ask.
"Of course. Because we have the top floor all to ourselves, no other tributes are able to see it. And it gets pretty windy up there, so it's perfect for some fresh air."
I translate this as, "We'll be able to talk alone and no one will bother to disturb us." So with a nod of my head, we trek up a short set of stairs found at the end of the hallway and pass through a door where we enter a wide balcony.
For a place where literally no one visits, it looks as if quite a few have. Small palm trees and potted ferns dot the solid, cement floor and there is a mystical, tinkling noise that emits from the swaying trees. With closer inspection, I discover that they are silver wind chimes. The night sky is a smoky grey. Due to light pollution, we can't see any stars tonight and the sky looks bare without them. But that doesn't dim the sparkling splendor of the city, thrumming with electricity and artificial life.
True to her word, the wind is strong and fierce, perfect for blocking out a private conversation.
"So how do you know him?" Gia asks. I wouldn't have heard her if she wasn't so close, so I assure myself that I am safe to talk.
You may be wondering why I would be telling something so severe to an absolute stranger. But let's be honest, what do I have to lose? It's not like she could ever use this information for some sort of advantage in the Games. Might as well.
"One day, when a friend of mine and I were out, we suddenly heard rustling and immediately took cover." I venture, stealing a glance at the jaguar. She leans in slightly, ears erected to show that she's listening. "And from behind some bushes, we saw this bird and monkey. They were running because the bird's, I think it was a crane, wing looked to be injured.
"Then this hovercraft appeared and shot a net at the monkey and a spear through the bird." Gia gasps lightly, paw raising to her mouth. I turn to focus on my trembling paws and clasp them together immediately. I hate it when they shake. "Then they hauled the two into the air craft and flew away...I thought they were dead, until today."
To say that the memory was a little painful to recall would be the understatement of the century. It's practically a whole train wreck of guilt along with an atomic bomb of complete and utter shame, sprinkled with a dash of regret. You can imagine how I felt as the two flitted away, one screeching and writhing in bundle of knots and the other limp and lifeless. How many nights I spent wishing and thinking I could've done something, I could've saved them from some inhumane form of torture and barbaric death. But I didn't, I just hid in some bushes like a sniveling coward.
"Did... Did he see you?" Gia ventures in a cautious manner. My claws sink into the palm of my paw pad, refusing to give into shuddering instinctively.
"Why did she have to ask? Why did she want to know? Or more importantly, why are you going to tell her?" A voice in my head bellowed. But of course, I ignored it and continued to blab on about my cowardice act.
"Yeah, he did." I mentally kick myself for my voice breaking and dig my claws deeper, not caring if I end up bleeding.
The monkey had in fact looked at me, and it was then that I realized that I had betrayed him. When he was ensnared in the net, he had looked up and stared straight at us. Tigress and I clung to each other in the shadows, but those stunning blue eyes seemed to be crying for help, pleading and begging without ever saying a word and I felt the urge to help him. A strong, pulsing urge to leap out of the shrubbery and slice through the knitting of thick twine and free the poor creature. But I didn't. Instead I sat, frozen to the spot, and watched those river-blue saucers continue to plead and beg. The net with its captive shot up and zipped through a single hole in the air craft and drifted away. As everything went back to normal, birds started singing again and I could feel sharp thorns piercing my thighs, it was as if the world had stopped. Like the primate had taken time itself and dashed away before he could even think about returning. The world slowing to a halt and I sat helplessly, drowning in my own fear.
"Don't tell her the rest of the story. She's heard enough." The same voice from earlier reprimands, but it does so in a more sympathetic tone. Great, I probably couldn't have handled a ranting spree from my own conscious at the moment, anyway.
"I'm sorry." Gia squeaks, her golden orbs for eyes brimming with unshed tears. The kind, caring shrapnel part of me wants to wipe those tears away and encase her into my arms, but the other, more pessimistic side wants to get the hell out of there and pretend that this never happened or that I just wanted to hug my enemy.
Seriously, Alex. What are you thinking? You somehow become best buds, take on the world, take part in a journey of discovery together?
Yeah, you are delusional.
"Don't be. It happened a long time ago, and there's nothing I can do about it now." I say with a bitter bite playing on my tongue.
A strong current of wind blows out of nowhere and a chill runs up my spine, fur bristling on the back of my neck. Gia shivers and unknowingly sidesteps towards me. I stiffen as her arm presses against mine, our shared body heat bouncing back and forth between the two of us. Her sudden touch is like being shocked with an electric rod; jarring and intoxicating. I absolutely do not feel grateful for the warmth she provides and I absolutely do not flush as she rubs her paws up and down her arms, her knuckles grazing my bicep. I wish I had brought a jacket. Why didn't I think to bring a jacket?
I scoot away from her the second I decide to actually obey my conscious for once and do not feel bad when she looks at me disappointedly.
"W-We should head back." I stutter out. Hopefully she took it that I was cold and my teeth were chattering and not the fact that I was having an inner turmoil that would make a hurricane proud.
"Okay." She whispers, the howling wind drowning her out so it looks as if she only mouthed out the words. Before we know it, we are back inside the warmth and comfort of shelter. Without a word, I walk her to her room and watch as she enters. Before she closes the door, she turns back around, features uncertain but smiling nonetheless.
"Thank you." She says quietly. The door shuts behind her before I can ask what she means, and not really wanting to over step my boundaries on this frenemy of mine, I trudge my way to my room and clamor into bed without changing.
Remember when I decided to stow away all of my thoughts in my brain for later so I could think about it when I was alone? Well, I'm doing just that.
Let's start with the earliest event; Tooth's reveal of her more fun side. One would usually expect someone, especially a resident of the Capitol, to treat their tributes with the least amount of disrespect if it came to the tributes themselves trying to take their minds off of the Games. But Tooth was lenient with us. With my rude eating habits on the train, my knife throwing performance, and even when we asked to take a second ride on the elevator. She had enjoyed my little stunts, and then she had said "It's the least I can do." Did she know that with the oncoming slaughter of twenty-three people would leave us with little to no enjoyment? She must have or else she wouldn't had let us do that.
Then there was the monkey servant at dinner and Gia's statement that was later followed with our rooftop discussion. Why is she so interested in what I do and why I do it? It's as if she's trying to gain my trust.
Holy Crap! She's trying to gain my trust! She wants to seem so friendly and understanding so that I fall into her little trap! Well, I saw through it! I saw through her little facade and I'm not going to fall for her little mind games! I won't!
As I come to the very last part of tonight's inner battle, my paws curl into fists, crumpling the lush comforter into balls of green fabric. I'm not going to lie, it felt good to finally get that story out and off of my chest. The only other person who was there was Tigress, and if anything she pretends that it never happened. And for good a reason, too. You see, the part I didn't tell Gia was the most important, most soul crushing fact of just how heartless I was in that moment. Those two creatures who were captured, Tigress knew them. They were her friends when she had lived in China, Monkey and Crane. And worst of all, I had known this and still I neglected to save them like the coward I am.