Princess of the Sea
By: CyanideMuffins7
Chapter 16: Prodigy
Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Hunger Games, the trilogy or any of the characters Suzanne Collins has created. I only take credit for the characters I have created and the plot I have made.
My eyes couldn't leave Valentine. I feel every single doubt and thought leave my body once I saw her. She was smiling and laughing as she slowly begins to walk towards me. I drop the net from my hands and keep my eyes on my incoming sister. I can't quite explain what was going on with me, but for a moment I feel bliss knowing my sister was here with me.
Suddenly I feel something pull me away from Valentine. I struggle as much as I could until whatever was holding me on my left side squeezed me so tightly I feel like it was going to come off my torso. I stop moving and look around frantically to my captors. But it was only Bachus on my left and Canon on my right.
I then look back at Valentine who seemed like she was about to cry. I try to struggle again but Bachus tightens his grip on me so I couldn't move. Soon the image of Valentine blurs and becomes a pretty woman with brown colored hair, tanned skin and light brown eyes. It blurs again and turns to Wren, then back to Valentine.
"Get her out of here!" Bachus shouts as he unsheathes his axe and lets go of my arm which left a lingering pain.
Canon tosses me over his shoulder while Bachus was keeping a stern gaze on the creature. I was in some sort of hysteric state since I don't seem to understand what was going on, besides being on Canon's shoulder and that he can run pretty fast. The two run until we make it back to camp. As Canon put me down, Bachus made sure the creature weren't following us.
Wren and Coda dash to my side to make sure I was ok. The feeling of bliss and hysteria had escaped me, but I feel so confused and lost as I return back to reality. I don't know what had just happened, more importantly what I just saw.
"Pandora, what you saw was a Keiner. It was using you to lure you to kill you." Wren explained as she looked at me straight in the eyes to calm me down.
What I saw was a lie. What I saw was a Keiner. It tricked me to let go of everything and give up my life. I can't believe it. I feel like an idiot for struggling around. I can't believe that I actually thought Valentine would be in the Games anyway.
Just when I pull myself together and get myself on my feet, Bachus approaches me enraged, "What the hell were you doing out there by yourself!"
"I just went out to hunt." I retort as I crossed my arms. I don't see why Bachus is making a big deal about it. I can defend myself.
Wren and Canon had step into the argument as well, "Leave her alone Bachus." Wren said fearlessly to Bachus. "It's not her fault. How was she supposed to know if a Keiner was out there?" Canon said as he places his hand on Bachus's shoulder.
Bachus jerks Canon's hand off his shoulder, "She wasn't prepared!" He turns to me, "You could have died if Canon and I weren't there to take you away!" Bachus objects as he glared at me. I could see in Bachus's eyes that there was something else to this, did he actually begin to care about my safety or was it something else?
Bachus sighs heavily through his nose, and then walks away from me. I wasn't done arguing, "Where do you think you're going?" Wren said as she stopped Bachus. He avoids eye contact with Wren, "Hunt." After that, Bachus storms off into the woods.
How dare Bachus be a hypocrite and storm off like that! Who does he think he is? I restrain the feeling to punch everything around me until I walk over to a tree and just punch it. Some bark chipped off and stabbed itself in my knuckles and fingers, but the pain doesn't return until I pull my hand from the puncture I made in the tree. I just let the blood trickle from my hand and onto the grass. I don't want to talk to anyone so I sit behind the tree I just punched to avoid any worried eyes.
Bachus had no right to order me around like that and claim I wasn't prepared, because I was. It was my first time I encountered a Keiner, and now I know what to do. Bachus doesn't need to be pissed about it.
By the time the stars were in the dark sky, Coda comes to sit next to me with a roll of bandages and some sort of crushed up powder. She wasn't speaking, for the sake of my temper. But she looked up at me with the two items and I hold out my hand and she began to pluck out the pieces of bark stuck in my flesh.
While that process isn't as painful as I think, Coda decides to attempt small talk, "Wren says this powder stuff is ground up St. John Wort. It supposed to prevent infections and help heal the wounds." Coda said as she tossed a few of the splinters into the grass. I don't want to speak since I'm not interested in conversation. It was a while until the only sound she made was a sigh. "Bachus hasn't come back yet. He must be really angry." Coda mentioned as she pulls out the last piece of bark from my knuckle. I don't want to talk about Bachus so I remain silent. I know Coda is trying to calm me down, but it isn't going to work if she keeps bringing up Bachus.
"If you're so worried about him, then why are here helping me?" I say coldly, looking away from Coda. I just want to be left alone, but this was Coda. She wasn't going to walk away from me because I was being stubborn. She gently applies the powder on my hand and wraps the bandages around it. Once she was done she plopped right next to me.
"Do you want to hear something I've never told anyone about yet?" She said rather mysteriously. I knew she was just luring me to calm down and talk, and I was not going to have none of it. But Coda spoke anyway.
She told about her life in District 3. Everyone in that District is pretty intelligent and quick thinkers but are put under poor conditions. There are only few who are not put into factories to assemble computers and TVs, but are put into some type of job which requires you to program certain tech. Those who do so are not as poor as the ones who work in factories. Coda's family was one of those families.
Coda was an only child who played with other children who were her friends. At her age, she didn't have to start working and she only had to worry about school.
Her life seemed perfect, but her parents were the only problem. They were really strict with Coda. Coda could play with her friends, but only during school. If Coda came home late, then she would get scolded and with a few slaps here and there. If her grades come in and she doesn't get perfect As, she gets scolded with a few more slaps and is sent to her room without food for the rest of the day.
No matter how much Coda would try, her parents were never impressed with her even if she did come home on time, got perfect grades and never spoke back to her parents.
Her parents were just trying to buff her up to become a part of the Hunger Games. They wanted Coda to be well trained so that she could win the Hunger Games and they won't have to live in such a hovel. This displeased Coda much since it was hard work to be trained the way she was. She didn't love her parents, and she was sure they didn't love her either.
The only person she actually loved and loved her back was her Grandmother. Coda would visit her at the end of the week where she used to help her Grandmother make gelatin and read old books to her. Every single week, Coda couldn't wait until the end of the week when she could go see her Grandmother. But once she turned ten, her Grandmother was taken by the Peacekeepers and passed away. When her parents found out, they didn't even shed a single tear. They said that she had it coming. Apparently her Grandmother used to be a big time rebel in her glory years. Coda says her parents were big time Capitol loyalists. They even had a painted portrait of President Snow over their hearth. I find it strange for what the Capitol did to put District 3 with such poor living conditions, I'd imagine her parents would be rebels as well.
After her Grandmother died, her parents kept raising the bar for her to reach. By the time she turned twelve, she had a high grade average and was probably the smartest kid in the whole district.
But by that time, her name was put into a large glass bowl filled with the other children in the district. When Coda was picked, her parents didn't cry out for someone to volunteer for their child, they weren't being held back by Peacekeepers while crying hysterically. They were cheering. They were happy their daughter was picked to win, as Coda had put it.
Coda wasn't pleased when she was picked for the one reason that everyone thought when they were picked, you're going to die.
When Coda was heading to the Capitol, she grew close with her mentor, Beetee. He took her under his wing and taught her a few things about the arena, the Capitol and such. He also increased her vast knowledge by teaching her how to use her Tasers.
"He was probably the closest thing I have to family really." Coda said as she looks down at her muddy boots. I didn't ask for Coda's life story, but I listened and sympathized. I can't imagine my parents ever doing that to me. I'm lucky that Mom and Dad weren't Capitol loyalists, I don't know what I would be like if they were.
"He must feel the same why then." I say softly, feeling calmer.
Coda then looks up from her boots and up to the sky, "All my life my parents never asked me about what I wanted, or any of my opinions. But Beetee asked if I wanted to win. And I said no." Coda said with a slight smile.
I look over to Coda, shocked, "Why would you say no?" I ask with a slight raise in my tone. Coda keeps her eyes in the endless black abyss in the sky, "I want to get back at my parents. The only reason I didn't much oppose being in the Games was that if I die, I won't have to deal with my parents anymore. If I die, then they lose everything. I want them to feel hopeless and meaningless."
I don't know what I felt, was it sympathy? Whatever it was, I feel like I don't want Coda to carry this out. I want Coda to live, and if Coda has to live, then that means I have to die. What was it?
"No Coda. I will do whatever I can to make sure you win. I don't want you to die." I say as I turn slightly to face Coda.
Coda just smiles, closed her eyes and fell asleep without saying another word.