Song Suggestion: Placebo- "Running up that Hill"
A/N: Sorry about the two week wait. Life got the best of me last weekend.
Thank You: Lucy Greenhill, SergeantJohnston, 3vlee, Rachel, Bea, DHTDesty, SweetStarre123, HeyBirdy, and whooping total of eight Guests. Thanks so much for the reviews. I love all of you!
The Legacy of Joff Manato
It only took Kalta a few seconds to stew in her dark thoughts before she got to work. She seemed the hard-working, no-nonsense type. The type like Katniss, the type that survived. Prim's eyes clung to her in the same manner that she used to gaze at her sister, depending, hopeful. If Prim hated any part of herself, it was the trait to look to others to take care of her and solve all of her hard problems.
Katla reached out and pulled the snow to the mouth of the cave. She patted it into a solid mound, creating a bank.
"What are you doing?"
"Walling us in. Our only hope is to block out the winds. If we are enclosed, our body heat will warm up the space."
"Will that really work?"
She shrugged, still working. The poor girl's hands were an angry red, and she kept them stiff. Each movement brought a grunt of pain.
"The dogs do it. The smart ones at least. Some days you can see them digging themselves out in the mornings." She stopped working for a moment and placed her hands on her hips, "Now, are you going to help me or not? Or are you going to sit there like a lump?"
Despite what the girl may think, Prim was used to hard, strenuous work. A person could not grow up in a place like district 12 without gaining an almost severe work ethic, an ability to scrape by on almost nothing. She did her best to wrap her fingers in the cloth of her shirt before helping out with scraping the snow up and patting it until it created a wall. They couldn't close it up all the way, but it seemed enough to protect them from the worst of the storm.
"Now what?" Prim asked, when done, expecting her to have more of a plan.
Katla just sat back and hugged her knees to her chest. She could barely see her. In the cave, the white snow turned to darkness, almost complete. After such an adrenaline packed ordeal, Prim still felt as if she should do something.
"Now we wait."
"Wait for what?"
"For death or deliverance."
"Don't say that. We can't give up hope like that. We could get out of this okay."
Katla just gave her a long hard look, as if she was stupid, and scoffed in the back of her throat.
Prim refused to wait for death, and she didn't care much for the deliverance that awaited her. Her fingers searched their meager lodgings, fumbling in the dark. In her search, she found both a small cache of branches. She separated the wet ones from the dry. There wasn't much, but it might be enough. She also found several rocks. She spent several minutes rubbing over them with numb fingers, trying to figure out the type. It was odd not being able to rely on sight.
She found one rock, though. A rock she knew. She didn't wait, she slammed it into the ground, and she heard it crack in two. She did this several times, until the the once whole rock lay in several chunks and flakes.
"What are you doing?" Katla asked. She inched closer to Prim, their arms toughing. It was a mixture of cold and warmth and they stayed that way, knowing it would be their best chance for survival.
Prim brought a flake of rock in front of Katla's eyes so she could see it better.
"Making fire," She clutched the piece of flint in her hands as if it were gold, "hand me that necklace you have on. I saw it on you in the study. What's it made of?"
"Well the circle is made of steel. It was given to me by—"
"Perfect. Hand it over if you want to live past this night."
It took a few frustrating tries, but Prim finally succeeded in starting a small fire. She snapped the flint against the steel, a spark leaping in the air and gasping a piece of tinder. It quickly consumed, and Prim tended to it, until it crackled over several branches. The dangerous smoke leaked out of the cave through the part they weren't able to cover up, leaving just the warmth.
It wouldn't last long, maybe a couple of hours, but it bought them time.
The heat almost hurt as their fingers and toes defrosted, their blood vessels tingling with the rush of blood. Katla took off her shoes, revealing battered and torn feet, even worse than before. She hissed in pain, and Prim wished she could have made a salve. But they were stuck, and she could only stare at the offending wounds.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Katla asked, closing her eyes from the pain.
"A boy named Gale. He taught me many things. Much like your father, he expected the worst."
"This is the second time you mentioned this boy," Katla paused for a moment, and then added quietly, "Did you love him?"
Prim's breath caught in her throat. She didn't want to talk about it, but found that she answered the girl anyway. Katla had a bluntness about her that demanded a response.
"Yes. I loved him." She made sure to put it in past tense.
"Do you love Cato?" She must have seen my grimace, "I mean obviously you are running from him, but did you ever start to care for him?"
"Sometimes... almost... I guess I began to pity him."
They sat in silence for a while.
"He wasn't always cruel," Katla said, "I mean, he obviously can be now, but he wasn't like that until after the games. They changed him."
"Cato?" Prim asked.
"Yeah," Katla said, "Of course he wouldn't remember me because I was so much younger. But I remember him from school. Nearly every girl was in love with him.
Prim couldn't help but smile, "That would explain plenty. His cocky personality, for one."
Katla gave a brief smile in response.
"There was this one girl named Gemma who used to get picked on," Katla continued, "She had a hideous birthmark on her forehead withthe ugliest teeth you have ever seen" She placed her hands behind her and uncrossed her legs. Now that the heat was getting stronger she no longer felt the need to protect the warmth of her core, "Anyway, one day some of the boys surrounded her, calling her names, and she began to cry. Cato came barging in with his chest puffed out like he usually does, roughed up some of the guys a little bit. Then he bent down and gave her a kiss, right on her birthmark, and told her not to listen to the little fucks and that she was beautiful. I've never seen a girl look so happy."
"It's hard to imagine."
It really was. Somehow that young boy who made that girl feel good about herself resided in the same body as the monster, the person who murdered without remorse, the person who kidnapped her, the person who ignored his daughter.
"Do you love Hannibal?" Prim asked, tired of thinking about Cato and his confusing personality.
Katla snorted.
"Of course."
That surprised Prim. She thought she would say the opposite.
"But he kidnapped you. He stole you from your boyfriend. He—"
"I never said it wasn't complicated."
Prim eyed her as if she came from outer space. She couldn't help it. Her mouth was slightly agape in confusion.
"Look," Katla explained, "We've known each other since we were kids. We used to run naked in the woods with a horde of other children when we were just out of diapers. There's barely a memory of mine without his annoying grin in it."
Prim thought about that for a moment.
"I guess I did overhear him saying he's loved you since primary school."
Katla grinned, "Did he? He would say that. He's such a fucking romantic. Here's what really happened: when we were seven, he stole my candy. Us quarry kids barely saw the stuff, while Hannibal, being a rich Club boy, ate mounds of it every day. I guess he probably didn't realize how awful he was being." She tapped her chin in a thoughtful gesture, "But I got so mad at him, I punched him in the nose. I think I might have broken it. The next day he kissed me on the cheek and declared that one day he'd take me as his Manato. I always thought he'd grow out of it, but well…here I am." She outstretched her arm, showing her their makeshift cave. "I guess by the time we turned into teenagers I should have realized that it wasn't a stage. If you haven't noticed, the Carthage boys tend to be single-minded and determined."
The scene she painted spoke of innocence, but his actions were no longer the stuff of children. He stole her, not her candy, and she could tell just by looking at her that Katla was ready, once again, to punch him in the nose.
"What exactly is a Manato?"
Prim finally found someone she felt safe posing the question to. If anybody would tell her the truth, Katla would.
"You mean you don't know what you are?"
Katla's look was a little disdainful, as if she was ignorant. And maybe she was. The culture of District 2 belonged to another planet.
"We don't have them in my district."
Katla considered that.
"Well, let me just tell you that it's not supposed to be us."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean originally maybe, when the code was first instated, but now Manato is just another word for victors wanting an easy fuck and little rich girls wanting to stay rich. Our situations are pretty a-typical."
"I have no idea what you are talking about." She pressed the bridge of her nose with her fingers. A tension headache was beginning to form behind her eyes."Can you start at the beginning?"
"Well, to do that I'd have to go back years and years, and it will take more time than I'm willing to talk."
Prim sighed and gave a latent shiver. Her body attempted to exorcise the cold in spurts.
"It's not like we have anything else to do."
What else did they have besides a few rocks, some stick, fire, snow and each other? Sleeping didn't mesh with the adrenaline racing in her body, so talking was their only option. Katla seemed to sense this and her nose wrinkled up.
"Oh, all right. I'll give you the little history lesson." She paused and leaned back as if getting comfortable. "It was after one of the first games, a guy named Joff Manato won by sheer will. There were no careers then, not yet. At the time, he was given his house in Victor's Village, and he was allowed to ask for one wish to be granted. They don't do this anymore you see, because of the problems it caused."
Prim nodded, remembering in history class when they went over the one wish. The Capitol put a stop to it because people asked for things the Capitol wasn't keen on giving, like citizenship and immunity for their families from the games.
"Well, this was no different. You see, the thing Joff wanted more than anything was a woman. The capitol didn't deny his wish, but they didn't grant it either. It was sort of up in the air."
"Why didn't they grant his wish?"
She had never head of Joff or his wish. However, she never did pay too much attention during Captiol history. Most of it made her want to fall asleep, and it was all propaganda.
"The girl came from a rich family, one tied close to the capitol. And she was definitely not willing. At the time, so fresh after rebellion, they were a little wary of starting another one. The girl's father had enough power that if angered right could cause another war."
"I'm guessing Manato didn't heed any warnings."
The thicker branch in the fire crackled and snapped with the heat, sending little flurries of sparks into the air. One landed on her foot, but it didn't burn.
"Your damn right. He went and stole her in the middle of the night. Whisked her away to his house, and had his filthy way with her. By the time the family came to retrieve her, their little flower was despoiled. The family took Manato and threw him in prison, and tortured him, if rumors are to be true."
"They put a victor in jail?" She couldn't keep the shock out of her voice. Victors could get away with murder, and they were so popular with the people and the Capitol it would be almost a sin to rebuke one. "I'm sure that caused an uproar."
"Of course it did," she continued, "The Captiol was stuck in an awful predicament I'm sure they were resentful of. Do they punish the victor to keep tensions low, or do they please the people and keep their beloved victor alive?"
"So what happened?"
"They put it to trial. A very informal one. He plead his case on the steps of the city hall in front of all the people."
Prim huffed and crossed her arms on her chest. The story was starting to feel personal. Images flashed across her mind: Jace touching her cheek, the smell of cat piss, the mothy sheets pressed against her face. She could taste him still on her tongue, and it made her shiver in revulsion. For some reason, she didn't add Cato to any of the images. It wasn't on the same level as Jace.
"I'd love to have heard his reasons. There is no justifiable cause for rape."
"Actually, that's where you're wrong. His reasons were sound as impossible as it is to believe. I don't remember all of them, but he managed to convince the people saying that he was doing the girl a favor, since it was her future children going to be put into the games, and by the laws of evolution he had already proved to be superior of genes and would be able to pass them onto her children. He said that she ate his food, wore the gift of his clothes, and shared his bed-"
"But she was unwilling!"
"Yes, but that isn't the point. She was ruined. Even if she went back to her family, they would not be able to find a suitable match for her, especially in the upper echelon. And besides that, by the time the trial was running to a close, the poor girl found out she was pregnant."
Prim was disgusted. This was worse than the idea of the club. Training children to be murderers to survive the games was nothing compared to allowing, and even encouraging, kidnapping and rape.
"How did this end up a law or a code or whatever your district believed it to be?"
"Well, the funny thing was, it turns out he was right. At the beginning he was basically shunned by society as much as a victor can. The girl knocked out about four kids, and sixteen years later one of them was selected as tribute." Katla glanced into her eyes, "And he won."
"That's not evolution. That's luck."
Katla didn't believe her. She could tell by the way she wrinkled her nose when she talked as if her food smelled bad, but she'd eat it anyway.
"Maybe. But my district took the lesson to heart. The better the genetics, the more likely the child will survive. After that, it became legal."
"So now just anybody can steal anybody? That's just absurd. It would cause more problems than it solved."
"Not anybody," Katla corrected, "just a victor... or a person of the victor's family. Or sometimes even someone that went far in training camps. They have to prove themselves somehow first. The night Cato won his games my entire grade was sitting in a room watching the games. Hannibal was goofing off trying not act nervous for his brother, especially at the end when your sister had him backed into a corner. But, as you know, Cato won, and when he did, Hannibal let himself hyperventilate for a moment, putting his face between his knees. When he finally looked up, he caught my eye and smiled. I knew then... "
Hearing about Hannibal's worry for his brother caused a twinge in Prim's heart. Could she really wish that Cato died instead of her sister anymore, knowing that he had a sibling also who would grieve him? No, she couldn't, and it left her empty. Prim didn't wish the pain she carried on anyone, even a spoiled brat like Hannibal.
"But I thought you said most Manato girls are rich." Prim brought the story back to the beginning, trying to understand Katla's veiled remarks.
"Oh, they are. I mean technically they can take anybody they want. But after a while, it was a trend for all the rich girls to be picked. I mean, why pick a dirty quarry girl when you can get the pampered princess. And the rich girls think it's such an honor, like it's their life's mission. They fall all over themselves for a victor. I believe the girls are even trained for their position. To be good wives, attract men, fit in with their society, or some idiotic thing like that. It's pathetic, but it works. Men do love to be fawned over."
The memory of her training flashed before her eyes. She also remembered the loathing in Mrs. Manniola's eyes. Was Mrs. Manniola a Manato reject? Prim was glad she wasn't the only one who thought it was pathetic that a girl's only purpose in life was to be stolen and carried off by a brute to be raped.
"I wonder why Cato went through the trouble when he could have eventually had someone who'd adore him."
Katla eyed her for a moment. "As much as Cato likes adoration, I think he likes a challenge even more."
Prim was brought back to the night of the Yulemass. After he kissed her, she slapped him, and he seemed almost… excited. Or at least surprised with the rejection. Was that why he took her? Was it her rejection? Her intention to marry someone else? Prim wished she could crawl into his mind for a moment to pick apart his secrets.
"That's why I tried to kick you, you know, when you tried untying me in the study." Katla changed the subject again, "I thought you were one of those Manato bitches come to tease me."
Katle gave her little nose wrinkle and they both started to giggle. They were close enough that went they bent over their shoulders and head touched. Prim, usually shy around strangers, felt at home with this sharp-tongued girl. She felt as if she knew her for a lifetime.
"So, basically you could sum this whole Manato thing up by saying it's bride kidnapping."
"Except, it's not a marriage, not really, though some morph into that." Katla sobered up a little, her face pulled back into a frown.
"Then what is it?"
"It's an order to fuck and have kids."
Prim sneered at the vulgarity of her language. She swore almost as much as the men and didn't seem the type to skip around uncomfortable truths.
"That's not so different from some marriages I've seen."
"Yeah," Katla nodded her head, "But you don't know the worst of it."
Something heavy weighed on her stomach, as if she swallowed a rock. She almost didn't want to ask the next question.
"And what's that?"
"Marriage has divorce," Katla said, "Manato is forever." She grabbed Prim, as if trying to impart the importance of her words by sheer strength. "You're his possession, and you have little to no rights. I'm sorry, but even if you hate him, in the end, he's the only one you'll be allowed to be with, at least as long as you're in my district. Marriage is an equal standing thing, something that's supposed to be about love. Both people have to agree in front of others. Not this, though. He can find another wife if he wants, and hell, he could get another Manato as well, but you can only be his, and his only. It's about breeding and ownership, not a declaration of love. And hell, he doesn't need your permission for anything. The victors get all the spoils: your life, your breath, your cunt, your heart, but you will own nothing of him. "
Prim disagreed.
A heart can't be owned. Can it?
"That sounds like an awful, sad existence."
That sobered both of them, and they stared into the fire, lost in their own thoughts.