District 10
The square was nearly empty, I rare sight in District 10. Most of the time it was swarming with people. Ranchers, come to sell meat to the butchers, or trade with the baker or apothecary for bread. Children running about between the stalls and people's legs, determined to stop being "it". Groups of teenagers sharing stories, or merging with other groups and acting friendly, even though everyone knew they were plotting which farm they were going to beat the brains out of each other at.
Ariel couldn't count how many times her father had been forced to run those groups off of their small horse ranch. He would return, spitting about how stupid they were being and Ariel would laugh, which would cause his face to soften. Their father had always had a soft spot for his children, but ever since Nathaniel and Sariel's deaths three years before, he just couldn't stand to see them unhappy anymore. He would do anything for them, and they could get away with anything. But they didn't ask for much because they didn't want to cause trouble for their father, and they didn't have much that they could use to get things.
Today, however, they had something. A very big something, wrapped in an old shirt and placed carefully in Ariel's bag. Cassiel had found it, cowering in the back of one of the horses stalls. The Roams weren't cruel people, mind you, bu rabbit was rare in District 10, the coyotes usually ate a majority of them while stalking the ranches for an opportunity to get at the better meat. The butcher could make a small fortune off of the things, selling the meat to the public, the fur to the Capitol, who would have it shipped to District 8, and the feet o the crazy old shaman on the edge the square, because she insisted they brought good luck. No, her family was not cruel, only desperate.
Gracen, her best friend, glanced around the streets nervously. "Where do you suppose everyone is?"
Ariel shrugged. "I don't really care as long as the butcher's in his shop. That just means less trouble."
Gracen smiled. "I guess you're right."
Ariel rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm right. Jeez..."
Gracen laughed as he followed the small, dark-haired girl across the street to the street to the butcher's shop. The bell tinkled softly when they came in, but other then that, the shop was silent. "Hello?" Ariel called into the silence.
"We're closed," a voice informed, and from the back emerged a tall girl with coal colored hair and eyes.
"Why?" Ariel wondered, despite knowing that interrogating a shop owner's kid is usually bad idea.
"My father's off at the train station to see the Capitol's arrive, and I don't mess with customers," she replied quite simply.
"Capitolites?" Gracen's brow knit up. "Here in District 10?"
"Yeah, weird huh?"
"Yeah...weird," Gracen mumbled, folding into his own world of thought.
His friend dug into her bag as he contemplated this new information, pulling out the wrapped animal, and lying out on the counter. "Well, I think you're dad'll want you to make an exception for this."
The girl raised her eyebrow, and unwrapped the bundle. "Where did you find this?" She wondered, surprise edging her voice.
"We found it in one of our horses stalls," Ariel replied. "Exception time?"
The butcher's daughter raised an eyebrow. "Hang on, my dad keeps an emergency list of what he pays for certain meats around here somewhere."
She found the paper, and agreed to trade a good price, more than They had ever received for one of the cows they raised. She moved to the back of the store to put away the rabbit, and collect Ariel's money. While she was gone, the door to the shop opened again, and in entered two, young children, that struck Ariel as peculiar. One was a girl, with short, pink hair, and ears to match. Whiskers stuck out under her nose, and a tail flicked cautiously around her ankles. Ariel raised an eyebrow, and examined the boy, with black hair, the ends clearly designed to resemble flames. Burning coal, she mused.
The girl noticed them, and smiled. "Hi!"
Ariel waved uncertainly, and Gracen offered a shy smile.
"I'm Kat," she introduced, although it wasn't really necessary. Ariel knew who she was, anyone who lived in Panem knew the Capitol's Sweetheart when they saw her. "And this is Slader."
Ariel wondered if she realized how silly she sounded, introducing the two most infamous children in Panem, but she didn't say anything, no use agitating the Capitol's Sweetheart, and the Head Gamemakers son, that would be like poking a sleeping bear, just stupid. So instead, she introduced herself. "I'm Ariel, and this is Gracen, my best friend. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise." Kat grinned.
"Here you are," the butcher's daughter said, coming back with a bag of money. She handed it to Ariel, noticing the Capitolites. "Hello."
"Hi!"
"A Capitol citizen, especially one of such high respect, in this shop was an honor I never thought I would get," The girl commented.
"Happy to oblige."
Ariel took her money, and said, "Well, I have to go. Nice meeting you." She waved to the Capitols as she left, who returned the motion, with smiles. Well, at least all Capitolites were bloodthirsty psychopaths.
~District 10~
The butcher's daughter introduced herself as Ruthie, and answered Kat's questions with a half smile, happy to share her story as the butcher's daughter. At some point, her father arrived back at the shop, and he, too, answered a few questions, before leaving for the back of the shop. Kat and Slader left the shop with a neatly wrapped rabbit, which neither was very keen on eating themselves, but tricking Corda into eating it would prove to be very funny.
"So," Slader wondered lazily, kicking a rock. "Where to know? Should we go the farms and harass some of the families there, or should we go hit up the victors?"
"You're not funny," Kat replied, rolling her eyes.
"Wasn't trying to be." Slader shrugged, but the note of mischief in his voice gave him away.
"Whatever," Kat huffed, examining her map.
Slader mimicked her sound. "You know I hate it when you do that."
"When I do what?"
"When you 'whatever' me," Slader answered, sighing exasperatedly.
"Sorry," Kat muttered, not sounding very sincere.
Slader sighed again and decided against pressing the issue.
"I think we should go to the mayor's house," Kat went on, as though their previous conversation hadn't happened.
"Well, you're the boss." Slader shrugged and glanced at the map. "We're is it, oh Wise One?"
"Remember when I said you're not funny?"
"Yeah, whatever."
~District 10~
When they finally found their way to the mayor's house, they found a girl, maybe sixteen, outside, tending to a large flower garden. "Hello!" Kat called as they approached, looking curiously at the girl.
Her head snapped up, a look of surprise shining in her pretty azure eyes. She smiled at the sight of them. "Wow! I thought Capitolites her in Ten was just a rumor." She stood and made her way to greet them, careful not to smash any of her flowers.
"A gardener, huh?" Slader wondered, looking curiously at the patch of dirt. The girl looked back at is, smiling fondly.
"Yeah, a monument for all of the tributes who die in the games. I have a little stake with their names by the flowers for each. Oh! Be careful, please!"
Kat, who had come forward to get a closer looked, jumped slightly. She crouched cautiously to the ground,, and lifted up a petal. "I plant them every year, that way the families don't feel like nobody remembers their loved ones, you know. It hurts less when you don't feel like they were forgotten."
Bryson Steele. Five years prior, in the 95th Hunger Games. He had been sixteen, and had made it to the final four, before being attacked and killed by wolf mutts. That had been a particularly gruesome death, as Kat remembered it.
She continued to examine the flowers as Slader talked with the girl. She found the oldest dated back to when she was still a baby, only a year after she was born, the 89th Hunger Games. Hailey Brown a small twelve-year-old from a small farm, who didn't even make it past the blood bath, and Markus Rustie a strong eighteen-year-old whom everyone liked for a victory. He was taken down by the career back the third day in.
Silk Richards. The 98th Hunger Games.A daughter of one of the semi mayors, who watched over the small clusters of farms surrounding the districts, a practice only known to District 2, 10, and 11. She hadn't made it past the first day.
Jesse Tanner. The 94th Hunger Games. That one had been particularly horrible. He had been only twelve, but his district partner, Willow Bee, had taken pity on him, and agreed to ally with him. She got him all the way to the top five, before she sliced a knife in his throat. Kat knew she would not find Willow's name in the garden. She had won.
Sariel Roam. The 97th Hunger Games. She had been reaped with her brother, both fourteen, and together, they had made it to the top five, where Sariel was killed by the District 1 female.
Nathaniel Roam. The 97th Hunger Games. Sariel's twin brother, who killed the District 1 female in a fit of rage. While he was still mourning the death of his sister, the District 2 female had attacked, and given him a very brutal death. She had lost to the District 8 male, Patch Mills, the latest District eight victor.
And so many others. "This is amazing," commented, causing the other two to look at her. The girl practically glowed underneath the thin layer of dirt and sweat.
"Thank you." She then shook her head. "I'm being rude! I'm Alliuma Goldheart, but you can call me Allie if you like."
Kat smiled. "Nice to meet you."
Slader raised an eyebrow, and shrugged, unsure of what exactly he was getting at. "I'm Slader," he informed. "And Kat sometimes forgets that even though everyone knows her, they don't all know me."
Allie giggled. "You're funny."
What to feed the flame, Kat thought bitterly.
"Would the two of you like to come in? I can make some tea, and you can tell me what brings you here!"
Kat nodded in acceptance, and followed her through the door to the mayor's house.
~District 10~
"All I'm saying, no one's that happy all the time!" Slader, who was convinced something was wrong with the ever-happy Alliuma Goldheart, went on. He paused thoughtfully, and Kat smiled, thankful for the silence, until: "You don't think she's on drugs or something do you?"
Kat sighed. "You amaze me, Slader."
"I'm being serious!"
"So am I."
"So you're saying you don't agree?"
"No! I really don't!" Kat snapped, feeling water seep into her shoes. She yelped leaping back, realizing that she had stopped to argue with Slader right in the middle of a large puddle. She cursed angrily at her now ruined shoes, and tugged them off, as well as the soaked socks. "Ugh! Do you know how long these took Cinna to make!?"
Slader just laughed, earning a glare from Kat.
"What is so funny?"
"You sounded like such a girl just then!" Slader laughed.
"I am a girl, you moron!" Kat growled, lobbing her shoe at him. It clipped his shoulder and he winced, gasping as mud splattered across the red fabric.
"You idiot! Your mom's going to kill me! And then you!"
"Well, she's not going to be thrilled about the ruined, million dollar shoes, either!"
Slader opened his mouth to counter, then closed it and stamped his foot. "Jeez, I hate it when you're right!"
"I thought playing around in the mud was a no-no for the Capitol," a voice called teasingly. The two kids turned to look, finding a large boy standing a ways off, grinning mischievously.
Kat looked at Slader, who was doing the same. "Who are you?"
"Just a lowly District 10 boy trying to get by."
"I'm being serious," Kat sighed.
"Me, too."
"Do you know what this is doing here?" Kat nodded towards the puddle of water. "I heard Ten hasn't had rain for weeks."
"It hasn't," the boy agreed. "I made this, to drown unsuspecting victims."
Kat huffed. "That's a serious admittance, I would be careful who you say it around, even if it is just a joke."
The boy shrugged. "What are you gonna do? Report me? You don't even know my name."
"I can tell them where to find this."
"Then I'll leave."
Kat didn't exactly feel like continuing the argument, so instead she said, "What is your name anyways?"
"Well, why would I tell you that now that I know you're gonna report me?"
"I'm not going to report you."
"Shimmer."
"Haha, you're hilarious."
He shrugged. "I try."
She rolled her eyes. "I don't have time to have a comeback battle with a guy who won't even tell me who he is. We've got to get back to the train and change."
"You do that. If you feel like you want to finish the comeback battle, you know where to find me."
"I thought you were leaving so I didn't report you."
He shrugged. "I don't think you're going to report me, really."
~District 10~
"A disaster! Why didn't you bring an extra pair of shoes? Just silly! Childish!" Corda was rambling on, but Kat wasn't exactly paying her any mind. She was staring miserably at her ruined shoes. "Are you going to answer me?"
"What?"
"Why didn't you bring another pair?"
"I only have one pair of these," she gestured to the kicks in frustration.
"So? Where something else! I know you have more shoes than that pair! You're mother is Cordelia Snow for Pete's sake!"
"My mother doesn't have the same style as me, everything she gets is too..." she was going to say Capitol-y, but thought better of it and finished lamely with, "fancy."
Corda made a sound like a hen, shaking her head. "There's no such thing as 'too fancy!'"
"You see? This is exactly what I'm talking about. My mother and I don't see eye-to-eye, which is why I only have one pair of shoes."
Corda snorted. "Well, that's just ridiculous!"
"Welcome to the club," Kat muttered under her breath.
"What?"
"Nothing," Kat grumbled. "What now?"
"Well," Corda said thoughtfully. "I can't lend you mine, they'd be to big. Plus, they may be 'too fancy'."
"Shouldn't have said anything."
"We could buy you some from the market," Slader put in, coming into the room with a new, clean, black shirt.
"Don't be silly!"
"That's actually not a bad idea." Kat shrugged. "I mean, it's not like we can call home and have them send me a pair, that would be wasting too much resources."
"Your mother would have my head if she knew I let you buy, and wear, District clothing!"
"Well, it's a good thing shoes aren't technically clothing."
"I second that motion," Slader put in, and Kat got the sneaking feeling that he merely wanted to see her mother's reaction when she came home wearing District shoes.
Corda sighed, defeated. "This just doesn't feel right."
Kat shrugged. "What else are we going to do?"