A/N: Today we're going back to the lovely District 8 to continue meeting Gaia and Calico! I split Gaia's POV because I already had a couple hundred words for her, but then I realized I so should have had Calico been the goodbye tribute, but Gaia's part was really good for her character, so Gaia gets to stand on the stage for several hundred words and then she gets the train rides after they meet everyone XD Sorry for the confusion! Enjoy reading everyone, I hope this is a good New Year's Eve present!
P.S. Yes a song from Wicked. Sue me. XD
Trigger warnings: profanity
'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs
From ten thousand lightning bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance
A foxtrot above my head
A sock hop beneath my bed
The disco ball is just hanging by a thread
(Thread, thread...)
I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems
(When I fall asleep)
Gaia Imani, 15
District Eight Female
Standing on the stage, I can't breathe. Tears drip down my face, and I'm shivering. I need to be presentable, I need to tip my chin up and smile and think of Bobbin and Mom and Satin and slow my breathing and steady my hands and stop these tears cascading down my face. Gaia Imani, you're alive still. And if you want to keep your heart beating, you need to find a way to survive these Games, and the first step in doing that is looking presentable and sponsorable. You're a fifteen year old girl from Eight. You have your work cut out for you. So many options. Fade into the background or stand out? Alliance or solo? Thoughts and decisions start to cloud my mind and the tears stop. My breaths are still too quick and there's a slight tremor in my hands, but I don't care. I've settled down enough to make myself not definite Bloodbath material in the Capitol's eyes. I wonder if I'll be able to say the same for my District Partner.
"CALICO D'AMBOISE!" Alexandrius hollers, his fake golden crown wobbling on his head. I feel like I want to roll my eyes at his ridiculous costume, but my eyes are occupied at the moment with not manufacturing and releasing more tears, so I leave it be. I hear shouts and screams of protest, and my head swivels out to the crowd where I see the Peacekeepers dragging a boy out of the fourteen year old section.
"I AM CALICO D'AMBOISE! I AM MAYOR TAMMI D'AMBOISE OF BUTTON'S GRANDSON! UNHAND ME!"
I don't think I'll be able to say the same for my District Partner. Not at all.
Follow my lead
And yes, indeed
You will be...
Popular!
You're gonna be popular!
I'll teach you the proper poise
When you talk to boys
Little ways to flirt and flounce
I'll show you what shoes to wear
How to fix your hair
Everything that really counts
To be popular!
I'll help you be popular!
Calico D'Amboise, 14
District Eight Male
I struggle after I make my proclamation, but it's no use. I'm a weak fourteen year old, no matter my social status, and they're two strong adult men trained to deal with spastic kids like myself in times of trouble. It doesn't matter, I don't care, I will still fight until they knock me out, because this isn't happening, this will never happen, it never has happened, it never- you know what, repeating verb tenses gets tiring. Tears are rolling down my cheeks, as big as marbles, and they feel glossy, smooth, and wet against my face. I don't register sobbing and I don't register falling still and letting the Peacekeepers lift me onto the stage. I barely manage to stand next to Gaia, still crying involuntarily. This. Cannot. Happen. I need the last day. Throw me in the slammer or blow me up or damn me to my demise in a death match between twenty three other kids tomorrow. Not today. Just not today!
My pudgy hands ball into fists, and they're sweating, and there's nothing I can do to stop everything that's happening around me. I don't have control any more. My body convulses and the tears keep coming and I want everything to be black and white when it's just gray. My breath is like a rattlesnake's tail when it's scared, and my pallid features are drenched with sweat. Gaia was crying before but she's stopped and she looks somewhat presentable. She looks put together and regal compared to me, although there's still tear tracts on her face and her nose is starting to run. We shake hands, and it's loose and weak and sweaty and I pull away quickly, wiping my hands on my nice dress pants. I try to wipe away the tears, but there's a limitless supply of them. One, two, three, four, leaking out no matter how tight I shut my eyes. One, two, three, four no matter how many happy things and happy times I think of. Alexandrius waves farewell to the crowd, announcing our names once more before pulling us back stage. Once we're out of the public eye he lets us out of the tight, seemingly caring embrace, snorting and strutting away like he's hot stuff. No he didn't. He did not just dis me like that. Sorry that I'm crying, I sort of am about to go die! Fucker.
The two Peacekeepers are rough as they drag me down the hall, jostling me around and making too much noise scuffing their boots against the tile and clanking their helmets around and crap like that. They shove me into my room and slam the door, and I just roll my eyes and the tears stop for a moment. I stare at the ceiling, and while the tears still wind their way down my face, they come slower. Water collects in my eyes until everything's blurry and I can't see, but I don't want to see anything any more, I don't need to. Why would I? Why would I want to see the extravagant, prissy Capitol fools and the kids who will kill me and then my own blood spraying everywhere after the gong?! The pain and the smells and the sounds will be enough. I can just gouge out my eyes, I'll be fine. Maybe if I'm blind they'll spare me. Maybe when they realize how sickly and disgusting I am they won't want me to go to the Capitol. Ah. I wish.
Mom and Grandma barrel into the room. Grandma is crying softly, and the tears come again once she's there. I hadn't realized they had ceased, but they had, and now they're back, and I almost want to be mad at my Grandma for making me cry again but I don't feel that way. I just feel rueful and lost. My mother stands near the door, and gives me a cursory hug. How could she not even care now, when I'm heading off to die?! I can't stand it any more.
"How are you being such a bitch?! You won't even kiss me anymore, Mom! I miss...I...I miss you!" Oh dammit Calico Tammin D'Amboise, real nice, that's just the way you want to come off to your mother who thinks you're a weak little punk who should go di-
"Calico, I'm so sorry," she whispers, and she begins to sob as she clings to me. Wh...what?! "I'm not that good...at emotions, I guess. With your father so sick and getting his surgery today I just haven't been able to separate my bad feelings from the good, honey. I'm so sorry. I love you so much, baby. Please try to come home to Mommy, okay Calico? Please, just try. I need you to come back. I can't lose both of my boys."
"Mom...I can't make that promise," I whisper. "I'm going to die."
Neither of them affirms my statement, but they don't object to it either. It's the honest truth, and we all know it. I could be a Uriah, I could be a Woof, but even then that's not going to work out. I've already had too much of an outburst to blend in like Uriah, and anyway his Victory was dumb luck in a time before Careers even existed. And Woof at least was really smart and crafty and pretty fast. He might've not been the most impressive but he did have some basic skills that bolstered him to Victory that I lack sadly. I'm going to die. I'm not going to let them dissuade me.
After I've hugged my mother and my grandma once more, I go to the door to welcome my friends inside. They're all going to be crying, I know it, begging me to come home and begging me to fight and begging me to not let go of hope and-
"There's no one else," the Peacekeeper grunts hoarsely. "You have two minutes."
I walk back into the goodbye, feeling dead, and I let my mother and my grandmother embrace me and support me as I cry even more, but not about the Games. I'm crying about my dad, I'm crying about the fact that all my supposed friends were just posers looking for popularity, I'm crying about how pitiful my life is and how hopeless my chances are, and I'm crying about the Games of course now because I will die and there is no way around it.
"Time to go," the Peacekeeper growls after he pulls open the door.
"Be good, Calico," Grandma whispers, kissing me on both cheeks. My mother embrace me wordlessly and kisses the top of my head before leaving with Grandma. Once they're gone, the Peacekeeper takes me by the right arm, the other by the left. I shake out of their grasp.
"I can fucking walk by myself," I hiss indignantly, wiping the tears from my eyes. They relax their arms at their sides as I walk between them. I have no intentions any longer of bolting or fighting my way free. I can't be like that any more. What's the point? I have no friends, and one third of my family is about to die. I have no chances in surviving. Why not try to be less of an asshole in my last days? Probably won't happen, 'cuz, you know, I'm Calico D'Amboise and I'm the king bee of the world and I used to have all these delusions of grandeur before they were shattered by the Reaping. Probably won't happen, 'cuz you know, people can change, but not this fast, and I've never liked change. I've never been good at it. That's just another reason why I'm going to die.
We walk out to the train platform. My last tears are wicked away when the train shoots past, gusts of wind around it nearly knocking me over. Gaia rushes up to the platform; she's a moment late. She brushes tears out of her eyes, and I bite my lip and restrain myself from making a comment. There's no need for me to make a comment, is there? No need, no need, no need. Be better, Calico. Be good, like grandma asked.
We walk into the train and into the dining car. The train starts up soon after we've sat down. Alexandrius is already pigging out on the cocktail weenies and is ignoring us, filling himself up. A sullen Uriah and a smiling Woof sit at the table as well.
"So, who gets who?" Gaia asks curiously, squeezing some book in her hands. Before Woof speaks, I cut in. I know this routine; I'm surprised Gaia doesn't know it, as it's common knowledge around the District. Or maybe she's just trying to be polite. The ones with a chance get Woof, while those without one get Uriah. They all look at me as I sigh and rest my head in my hands as I speak, staring at the tablecloth.
"I get Uriah. Gaia, you get Woof."
"And why do you think it's like that?" Uriah inquires.
"Because I'm the one who's going to die."
"You're right," Uriah chuckles. Woof slaps him on the shoulder angrily, but I don't care. I know he's right. There's no point in pretending he isn't. I'm going to die no matter what I do or say or see or hear or touch. I'm going to die no matter what anyone does. Time to tell the truth for once, so I'm going to tell it, and I'm not going to back down on it, not for one second, because I need to get over myself.
"It's fine, Mr. Parsons," I mumble, looking up at Woof. "We all already know. Now you go off with Gaia to talk real strategy and I'll spend some lovely quality time with Mr. Matherton and Mr. Hamis while you two are away. Goodbye, dears!"
"Prick," Uriah coughs into his elbow, and I just chuckle. This is going to be delightful.
Pink toes pressed against the carpet
Show your face and finish what you started
The record spins down the alley late night
Be my friend, surround me like a satellite
Tiger on the prowl
East of Eden
Coming for you now
Keep me from the cages under the control
Running in the dark to find East of Eden
Keep me from the cages under the control
Running in the dark to find East of Eden
Gaia Imani, 15
District Eight Female
Calico's an interesting specimen. He goes from weeping uncontrollably when he was Reaped to being indignant and rude towards Alexnadrius we went backstage to however he dissolved in his goodbyes to being affirmative about his impending death to being sacrificial and sort of nice to me and Woof and deciding to stay with moody Uriah and preoccupied Alexandrius instead of tagging along with us like he could easily have. He's a strange concoction of a person, equal parts mature and immature but only one part shows at a time, so it's almost like being there with two different people.
Anyway, that reminds me of people acting differently. In my goodbye, of course my mother was a teary mess and Satin's too young to understand what was going on, but she still bawled because Mom was unhappy. But Bobbin refused to speak to me despite my mother's best efforts. He just cried into her skirt and refused to touch me or talk to me. I know he's just trying to make things hurt less for himself, but it made me start crying again when he refused to hug me and kiss me. He'd already grown up so much. He seemed like he almost jumped to the teenage phase there for a bit, being temperamental and ignorant. I patted him on the back and he jumped away from me as if I'd shocked him with a Taser. It hurt, but I'll get over it.
Woof and I sit down in a random car. I sit on a rigid wooden chair and put a pillow behind my back and I lean backwards, sighing. Woof lays down on a long tan colored couch that wraps around two walls and pulls a blanket over top of him.
"So, do you have anything you'd like to tell me before we start the strategy talks?" Woof questions.
"Um, well, I'm fifteen as you know. I'm closer to sixteen than fifteen, but that doesn't really matter."
"Yeah it does," Woof cuts in. "Someone who turns fifteen on the Reaping Day will be weaker and less experienced then they would be if they were a day away from sixteen. Sponsors and betters look at that; they look at everything. Keep going."
"Well, anyway, I'm really good with botany and I know my edible plants. I also know some other survival skills okay, but not really that well. I'll focus on those in training. I'm really good with details and I'm observant. No weapons skills unless you count a needle."
"Anything can be a weapon," Woof murmurs, staring at the ceiling. "But anyway, that's a good start, much better than a lot of kids that I get. You'll be able to live off of the wilderness if there's any vegetation, and you realize survival skills are more important for...tributes of your caliber, no offense, then weaponry skills. You're detail oriented which is a good skill to have in the Games. Anything else?"
"Oh! I don't know how to use one, but I've figured out how to make a blow pipe. I can't imagine it would be that hard to make."
"That's another good, unconventional skill. I'll be honest with you, I was scared at first that both you and Calico would be goners in the Bloodbath, but I'm happy to see that you have some skills that will be useful in the arena. How's your running?"
"Not that hot," I reply, looking at my hands absentmindedly.
"So, do we both agree you shouldn't go to the Bloodbath? You can survive off of the wilderness if you focus on finding water in training, and since you can't run very fast, going into the Bloodbath would be pure suicide and would be a dumb move. So, next important question: allies?"
"I don't know. If there's people that like me before the Games I'd consider it. If I make any friends, okay. But I wouldn't be afraid to leave them. I'm not going to get attached or anything. I'm...I'm more important than anyone else in these Games."
"Now that's the right mindset!" Woof applauds. "Now, for you angle..."
A/N: So here you have it! It was definitely fun to revisit Gaia and Calico, and I can't wait to develop these two more!
I just wanted to talk about something. So the tribute that spurred this comment is Ivy, but this applies to all of the tributes, but I'm just going to use Ivy as an example. Every tribute gets 2 Pre-Games POVs and at least one during the Games, definitely more if they survive the Bloodbath. There's lots of room for development. For example, with Ivy, I focused on her sexism because now we can put that behind us. She was spending a day with Harlow and knew he was going to propose soon. Her whole life is that at this point. But Ivy's men problems are just with the guys back home. She has a totally different side that I cannot wait to show you guys, but I needed to wait because she's been trapped for so long in her life, and now she can start exploring who she is. Bernie won't be constantly daydreaming about cats and Zirc won't be continuously mesmerized thinking about Tomas, just like Katniss was more focused on survival than thinking about Gale or Peeta or home. I'm not trying to be harsh here, just letting you know that the tributes will be changing, and none of them will be remotely the same when they die or go home Victor. :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 400 PLUS REVIEWS I CANNOT EVEN TELL Y'ALL HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU! BY THE END OF THIS WE WILL HAVE NEAR 1,000 OR SOMETHING SUPER INSANE AND I'M JUST GOING TO BREAK DOWN IN TEARS OF JOY!
Who did you like better here, Gaia or Calico? Have your thoughts on them changed?
Calico (1 pt.): What is Alexandrius eating in the dining car?
Gaia (1 pt., counting her 2 POVs as one): What weapon is Gaia considering using in the Games?
Happy New Years Eve! See you in 2017! ;)
Until Next Time,
Tracee