The vast open fields were dotted with daisies. There were little gold flowers, and roses, a few light willows, and a small patch of forest. There were marigolds, pea blossoms, zinia's and other flowers that just seemed to come out of someone's imagination.
God, everything looks like it's from a fairy tale. I would puke if I could. Can you puke for me?
No, thanks. The Cornucopia was situated between a patch of daisies and a patch of marigolds. There was a brook and very little cover. The wind hummed and the countdown began. All of the Tributes were horrified at what was in the Cornucopia.
Aside from bright backpacks with survival tools, there were waterbottles, canteens, and packages of dried meat. Then there were the weapons. I finally understood what Father had meant when he told me about the Games being more interesting.
"Oh my goodness." Effie gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Around the Cornucopia was a superfluous amount of spiked maces. The wooden ones were the closest to the Tributes' stands, but the solid metal ones were inside the Cornucopia. There were maces with chains and some had two heads. There was one that looked like a knife and went long distance, but it only had a blunt end. There were some with massive spikes, and all of the hideous weapons were in festive colors. There were ones with pink handles, red, green, and blue. Some had sparkly heads and some had blinking lights in them.
Your father is a deranged psychopath. It's official.
No, President Snow is. The gong rang out and Mira and Koltos raced to reach to interior of the Cornucopia. They each grabbed a backpack and I groaned.
"No! You're going to die!" Haymitch spluttered at the TV and we watched as Hermes slammed a mace into a tribute's face. Mira and Koltos each had a weapon on hand and they were running. All of a sudden, Mira stopped and smiled at Koltos. He continued to run, but was stopped by Hermes.
"Good-bye." And then Koltos was gone. His head and chest now had large craters within. I held my head in my hands and yelled in frustration. Little did I know, that was the exact moment Hermes and Mira decided to kiss. Effie gasped and I looked up as they broke apart.
Shit. Shit Shit! What the hell was that?! The little bitch!
"Cato, she took you seriously. When you said to seduce..." Haymitch's eyes were wide and Efffie looked like she was about to faint. I groaned and watched as the Careers dominated the Bloodbath once more. They massacred the Tributes and in the end, there were only 12 Tributes remaining. Half had been slaughtered and the other half were now even more terrified at the prospect of the Games.
The Career pack celebrated by eating and drinking their fill. I glared at the screen while Mira and Hermes kissed.
That little...
I shook my head. She was digging a hole too deep for her to get out of. We watched as the arena grew darker and darker by the minute. Crickets chirped and an owl hooted. While Mira and Hermes went off to do some "business", the others spoke on how to best get rid of the other players.
"We need to hunt them first thing tomorrow morning." Gracelyn said and they agreed. She and Titania would both take first shift, and when Hermes and Slut came back, the would switch off.
They don't trust each other. Good. Let's hope this alliance lasts as long as the one last year.
The Cornucopia was nicely packed with sleeping bags and blankets, so everyone was warm and comfortable. There were no muttations that night. The Capitol's thirst for blood had, for the moment, been satisfied.
I stood up and began to pace.
"Sit down, Monster Boy! It's not like she's going to make it! If it goes down to her and Hermes, he'll kill her in a second."
"Haymitch!"
Effie!
"Goodness, woman, have a drink! Put on some sweatpants and take your wig and makeup off, you'll feel much better." He chided and Effie indignantly crossed her legs. I looked back at the screen. We had been sitting in front of the TV for so long, I had to get moving.
"I'll have you know that this is my natural hair." Effie sniffed and Haymitch laughed.
"Sure, and I'm sober." He joked. Effie sighed and gave her locks one last fluffing and stood up.
The world would be a better place if one was sober and the other had real hair. Imagine how long it takes to get it styled.
"Well, I expect both of you to be bright faced and pretty for tomorrow. You realize the Victor's Banquet is tomorrow, right?" I raised an eyebrow and Haymitch shook his head.
"No it's not. It's every two years. The last-"
"The last one was two years ago. I expect nice suits and nice hair from both of you, good night." Her high heels clicked as she walked away.
Haymitch is right. She needs to get a pair of sweatpants and lie down.
"Not gonna go train with the other Careers? Is it true they skip the Bloodbath because they're so sure their Tributes will survive it?" Haymitch asked and I nodded.
"It's true. Enobaria and some others are probably already down there."
"You gonna go?"
"Probably not." I looked back at the TV and saw my reflection in the shining glass. Haymitch groaned and stood up.
"I'm gonna take a nap. Shout if someone important dies!" He ambled into the hallway and turned to enter his room. I thought about going to the training floor, but decided not to. Instead, I decided to take the stairs to the roof.
Even in the Capitol, with it's excessive light pollution, the sky still managed to show a few stars at night. I laid down on the roof and gazed at the sky.
You're getting very distant.
I scoffed and closed my eyes.
No Cato, throwing yourself off this roof won't end your problems, it'll just make more. Geez.
"Knew this was a bad idea." I growled and walked back to the 12th floor. The lights had been dimmed and the TV was back on. I sat down and continued to watch.
"I see her!" Hermes shouted and everyone began running towards one of the remaining Tributes. Gracelyn was the first to the girl and she held her down as the others caught up. The two girls struggled on the ground and flattened a few flowers. Finally, Gracelyn overpowered her. The girl shrieked and screamed as she tried wiggling out of Gracelyn's grasp.
"Who wants to do the honors?" She asked, and Roland stepped forward. Gracelyn scooted to the side and Roland's giant mace came slamming down onto the girl's skull.
Boom.
Then, someone silently emerged from the ground behind the Careers and raised his weapon.
Plot twist huh. I think I like the sound of that.
The boy brought the metal down onto Roland's skull. The others turned to see him running away and began to chase after him. Mira was already tired and began to lag behind the rest of the group. Seeing this, Gracelyn and Hermes stopped, letting Titania go after the other tribute.
"You know this alliance isn't for the weak, right?" Gracelyn asked and Hermes rolled his eyes.
"Let her go this once." He pulled Mira onto his back and the two continued to run.
What's this? A Career giving up an easy kill? Strange strange.
This year is very different. I closed my eyes and turned the TV off. Time to battle more nightmares. I walked to my room and fell onto the bed. I felt the bed molding itself to fit my body temerature and size. I was out in a second.
I opened my eyes and saw the arena. Flowers swayed in the wind and corpses littered the area. They were very familiar faces as well. Mother, Father, Enobaria, and others. A very familiar female voice echoed through the area.
"Look, Cato. What will happen when you are alone? When everyone but you is dead, what will you do?" I swivelled around.
"Who are you?!" I yelled and the voice gave a breathy laugh.
"That's what you're most afraid of. Being alone. Being the only one." I felt a strange tugging at my stomach. "So, what happens when you finally become alone?"
"I don't know! Who are you?!" I yelled, and began to run.
"Catch me!" A shadow flitted around the trees and I bolted after it, leaping over bodies until the shadow stopped and I tripped. I fell face first into a pile of lace. Picking myself up, I looked into the frozen eyes of my little sister.
"J-Juna?" I trembled and held her cold, lifeless form close to me. Her hair was tangled and matted with blood.
"Now you're alone. So tell me, Cato, what. Will. You. Do?" There was so much blood. I called out and grabbed for her as a whirlwind ripped Juna from my arms. The bodies were cleared and all that remained was a girl with a braid and a gold pin. She raised three fingers to her lips and pointed them to the sky.
"The odds are never in our favor!" The girl's voice was hoarse and full of fury as she screamed this battle cry.
"Cato, dear! Wake up! My goodness, you sleep like a rock!" Effie's voice trilled through the door and I bolted up, sweating. Panting, I tried to return my heart rate to normal.
What on earth was that?
I don't know. I wiped my forehead and shakily stood up. I felt lightheaded and blinked a few times.
"Cato? If you want to sleep in, I suggest doing that another day!" Effie exclaimed and I took a few deep breaths.
"Just, give me a minute, okay Effie?" I called out and she sighed her consent.
"Ten minutes and you have to be out here for breakfast!"
Who was the girl? Where was that voice from?
I pulled my sweaty shirt off and tossed it to the side. I gasped for breath and coughed. After sitting around for a few minutes, I finally put a clean shirt on and exited the room.
"The dead awakens! Finally! Geez, Monster Boy, I was beginning to think you died!" Haymitch guffawed and I sat down.
"Now, I need you two dressed to be dressed and ready by 4 o'clock sharp. The Victor's Banquet awaits." Effie smiled and I frowned.
"That's like, six hours away." I stated and she nodded.
I need six hours to do my hair and get my eyebrows done!
"Yes, I do believe we can all do simple math." Effie smiled and turned the TV in the living room on. I watched from the Dining Room table as the tributes scouted along the areas and killed along their way. The remaining non-Careers had managed to find some of the hiding spots and were causing a lot of trouble. Once Roland had died, the alliance seemed to break, but they were back together and hunting. Mira was slowly beginning to fal behind. She was much smaller than them and was not trained to the point of death when she was younger.
Her time is coming. Hermes can protect her, but Gracelyn and Titania combined might do him in. That's not a good sign.
The canon fired. The four looked around and shrugged.
"Looks like the others are doing something useful!" Titania joked and the others laughed. I bit into an apple as they contined to walk around the arena. Then, Gracelyn tripped and fell into a hiding spot. She immediatly had her weapon in hand. A bright pink mace with blue blinking lights. The camera angles switched as the mace came down on a girl.
Boom. Titania and Hermes were both trying to get some action and hoisted Gracelyn out of the hiding spot. A boy managed 'to get a nasty swing at Hermes' calf and he howled in pain as blood erupted from the wound. In response to wounding Hermes, the boy was beaten bloody by Titania and Gracelyn. Mira was too busy fawning over her injured boyfriend to help.
Typical, useless thing.
A parachute floated down and inside was gauze and alcohol. The note said something about making a splint. Titania and Gracelyn made a splint from nearby branches and wrapped Hermes' leg in it. Then, acting as his crutch, Mira gently guided him back to the Cornucopia.
"It's alright. You're okay." She murmured and they walked together while Gracelyn watched the hovercraft swoop down. There were only 7 left in the arena. I knew the Games would end in one or two days. Mira and Hermes' days were numbered. Mira had finally reached the point where she could not seek refuge from anyone else.
Effie turned the TV off and looked at the clock.
"My, it's only four hours till! I want you two in crisp jackets and straight pants. We depart in an hour and thirty!" She smiled and walked off mumbling about getting her eyebrows redone.
~'~'~'~
"To hell with it! I'm not wearing a tie!" Haymitch roared and threw the piece of silk away. Callig bit his lip and sighed.
"Fine." He closed a box and I looked towards the door.
The fact that you didn't strangle Callig when he trie to put a tie on you is very interesting.
"Let's go, drunk." I calmly stated and he nodded. We entered the elevator and made three stops on the way down. The 8th floor, 6th, and 2nd. Allis and Kelsa were the last to board.
"Any bets on who's going to make it?" Allis asked. Silence. Kelsa scoffed and ran a hand through her black hair.
"Anyone think this party is a complete and utter waste of time?" Haymitch gladly raised his hand and the others murmured in assent. Allis rolled her eyes as the elevator stopped.
Kelsa and Allis are hiding something. I can feel it.
Allis hiked her long skirts and walked out while Kelsa used two fingers to raise the hem of her dress. The two were so different. Allis was bright and bubbly while Kelsa seemed to be a distant shadow.
The others entered their designated cars while Haymitch and I sat in ours. Effie was already inside and wedged between our seats.
She had an aqua dress on that flowed to the ground. The shoulders of the dress had massive feathers and Effie proudly anounced that she would definetly outshine Hyelle Fren.
"Now, I want both of you to mind your manners. I heard there are going to be many greats there. District 1 is bringing Royce, Silk, Cashmere, Gloss, and Dia! I heard Enobaria, Brutus, Harsk, and Kelsa would be there, and Finnik Odair!" She giggled and prattled more names from other districts.
That's a lot of Victors.
"So almost everyone who's anyone will be there." Haymitch muttered and she nodded.
"Yes!" The car stopped in front of a large building with flashing lights. "Oh, here we are! Chins up, smiles on!" Haymitch stepped out first. He let Effie out and then I stepped out. There were Victors, officials, and big name sponsors. Everyone clapped as the cars opened and more Victors appeared.
I walked into the building and passed two women talking about the newest styles.
"Cato!" Someone yelled and I turned to see Enobaria smirking in my direction. She motioned for me to come over and introduced me to the people from District 1."Nephew, meet Cashmere and Gloss. Siblings that won consecutive years!" She exclaimed over the music and I shook their hands.
"Cato Arckenson. Pleased to meet you." I stated and they both smiled. After talking for a while, Enobaria and I went to find food. There were tables laden with heaping plates and bowls. One table looked like it was going to collapse under the weight of the food it was carrying. I noticed an Avox setting small planks under the table so it would not fall.
I helped myself to a bowl of green soup with floating pieces of beef. The taste was uncomparable and I savored every spoonful.
The music was soft and I looked around at the Capitolites and Victors. Many of the Capitolites were trying to get something signed or a dance with the Victors, but none complied. Victors danced with Victors. Capitolites were used to the shunning and they never got the hint that we wanted to be left alone.
Who was the girl with the braid?
I don't know. I tried to see if any Victors had brown braids but there were none. No one looked remotely as close as the girl.
So who is she?