Textures and Such..

Chapter 18

When the tributes rose the next day, a good portion of them were tired. Several begged to go back to sleep, yet at their mentors wise words they complied and got up. Most got up for their own reasons, some selfish whilst others deemed not.

Crimson awoke to the sight of bright sun shining in her eyes. Her eyes already were accustomed to the darkness from the night before, and the sun just burned into her sockets. She quickly squeezed her eyes tight, waiting for her eyes to get used to the light behind her eyelids, and cautiously opened one eye.

The possibly artificial sun was still burning into her cornea, yet it was getting better. Groggy, she sat up. The plush confines of her bed moved with weight, causing her butt to sink further into the mattress. So, as any normal person would, she scootched her butt across the mattress until she got to the side.

Her fair skinned foot stepped tentatasiously on the cool maroon carpet. Her other foot joined in, following the one befores example and soon she was standing up-right.

She let out a stifled yawn, and stretched her arms skyward. A sharp stinging pain shot through her nerves, causing her to grimace.

'Training.' a dull thought echoed.

She nodded slightly to herself as she opened the door, remembering the day before's training. What she had done was the obstacle course, which probably resulted in her aching muscles. As her bare feet padded along the ground, she reached a hand to her thigh. Her muscles felt the most tense there, and a shooting pain crawled up when she applied to much pressure to it.

Soon she had reached the breakfast table. Her escort, Tivvy, was sitting there chomping on a honey drizzled turkey leg. His mouth hung agape when she pulled back a chair and sat down.

'God, he really is fat!' she snickers mentally to herself.

"What are you wearing?!" he practically screeches, abusing his food even more by thrusting it on his plate. A hollowed sound echoes silently.

"What do you mean?" she asks in a naive tone, leaning across the able to grab a leg of her own.

"I mean, that outfit is atrocious! Just look at it! Red shirt with green pants! Just... ughh!" he says, his lips curling up in disgust. "District peasants." he mutters, unheard by Crimson.

She had looked down to her clothes and found nothing wrong with them. All she was going to do was train anyways.

"I believe it's fine. Could you get me an avox? I'd like some apple juice." she says, dragging a bowl of steaming greens close to her. Digging the spoon deep into the bowl, she placed a bit on her plate.

"Sure!" Tivvy says, picking up a bell that seemed to appear out of thin air. With a two shakes of his gelatinous hand, a make-up caked avox stepped out. The avox's slicked back brown hair shined beneath the light.

It was a male, with it's hands held curtly in front of him. He gave Tivvy a short nod and looked expectantly at Crimson.

"Get me some apple juice, will you?" she asks, raising her eyebrows as if it was her way of acknowledging.

The avox nodded and scurried away like a frightened mouse.

"Those avoxes.. they sure are helpful!" Tivvy begins. "Crimson, don't you find them to be odd creatures? With all of that make-up, I swear they look like a clown!"

Crimson gave a short snort before she was able to contain herself. "Reminds me of someone.." she drawls, glancing knowingly at her escort.

"Yes! I know this one lady, she has al-"

She had soon blocked out the squeaky noise, and was now focusing on the person who had just walked in. The avox fetching her beverage and an aged man. Though the man was only in his twenties, his face just screamed elderly. Not that there was anything wrong with such a thing.

The man's hips seemed to sashay back and forth as he neared the table, his eyes firmly set upon the platter of colorful eggs. His eyes seemed mesmerized by the color, dilating themselves in the presence. On his naked arms you could see needle marks, showing where the syringe was inserted.

"Oh great, a possible morphling." Crimson mutters to herself. Her gaze was still on the man as he gently stroked an egg, dragging a free lethargic hand across his cheek as if to wipe something away.

A sudden noise drew Crimson's attention to her side, as an avox had plopped down beside her.

The Avox stared intently at her for a moment, before cracking a rare smile.

"Here you go." the avox whispers, nudging the apple juice toward her.

Crimson's eyes must of been as wide as saucer plates because the avox flashed her a toothy grin. Her eyes narrowed in on his mouth, trying to spot a tongue. But after a moment, he snapped it shut. The avox gave her a curt nod, and stood up.

"U-um.. Thanks." she stutters, still surprised at the boys speaking abilities.

The boy gave her a friendly smile and nodded again. She thought she saw a wink, yet she was unsure. As soon as the boy had come he had left.

Though, for God's sake the boy was an avox! A person doomed to wait hand and foot for tributes and other of the Capitol, never to speak again. They had no tongues, impairing their speech. Yet, this boy could speak.

'Maybe he has one..' she thinks thoughtfully.

'Probably not,' a voice interrupts; her own. 'Maybe he's pretending to be an avox.. Maybe.. you should go check. Why don't you hold him down and force open his mouth. Then.. you could bring some scissors and nip at it. Serves him right, he deserves it.'

'But it will be so bloody.' Crimson responds to her thoughts. It was a typical thing for her, talking with herself. Her thoughts were the only things there for her, bringing knowledge. They always thought of the most disturbing scenes, the ones Crimson wouldn't mind seeing.

'Yes, but won't it be worth it? Think about it.. a squirming organ fresh in your hand. It's own primatial struggle to survive, like all of the tributes in the arena. Why don't you save Snow the trouble and saw his tongue off? Just all of the blood, gushing at your finger tips..'

Crimson briefly fantasized about what it would be like, holding such flesh in your fingers. A familiar feeling of warmth cascaded over her,even bringing her short lived happiness.

"I'm gonna do that to someone one day.." she whispers to herself, more pleasant images flashing her mind. The struggle, the twitching muscle. What would it be like once it was detached? Would it still live a bit after-

"What?" Tivvy asks, intercepting her train of thought. She gave him a quick glare and nodded tersely.

"Shall we go?" she asks, a delicate anger lacing itself within her words.

"Sure, but what were you saying earlier? Something about.."

"Nothing." Crimson says quickly, stopping his own words. Her mouth pinched into a straight line as she stood up. Her knees groaned in protest yet she ignored them. "Shall we?" she asks, flashing her signature smile.

Tivvy nodded, her words still in his mind. He was curious as to what this tribute was speaking of, yet figured it may play out in the arena.

"Please dear, put some shoes on." he groans, catching sight of the bare limb.

Olive stood with a faux grin on her face. For minutes she had been staring at some unknown object. Her pointer finger twitched in anticipation, unraveling it's previously coiled spring.

For minutes she had been staring at the wall of swords, awaiting the chance to snatch one up and duel. Un-answered anger was still growing inside of her and was waiting for the cannon to say she could. Yet, as luck would have it a boy was manning the station.

The boy was rather oafish with the meager task of picking up a sword, his awkward hands shaking slightly. Olive watched for another moment, the longing still overtaking her.

With a quick childish groan she ran her fingers through her wavy hair. She watched as the boy tried to slice at the dummy, only for it to slip out of his obviously sweaty palms, and clatter to the ground in a loud protest. He looked around the room, as if to see if anyone saw him and squatted down. His fingers grasped the handle in an uncordinated angle as he quickly stood up.

Olive rolled her eyes, and before she could contain her pride she marched over to the swords. Her eyes located the sword they sometimes used to harvest with and greedily grabbed it.

Holding her head high she trotted over to the boy with utmost importance.

"You're doing it wrong." she says, startling the kid.

He jumped slightly, dropping his sword yet again. He bent down to pick it up, yet Olive kicked it away.

"I'm talking to you. Need help?" she asks , a slight feel of pity for the poor lad. The boy had turned around, his eyes as wide as saucers. His face was that of the D12 male, with his blonde hair spiked and ruffled in importance. She nearly wanted to ask what made his hair so amazing, since all her's could do was become frizzy. Yet, she cast aside the thought a awaited his response.

"Um.. Is this m-mandatory?" he asks, not batting an eye. With a shaky step he brought himself upright. Casting a glance at the forgotten sword, he turned to reach it again.

"Hey!" she says, watching him freeze in place. "What do you think you're doing? I thought I just said I was talking to you and stuff. That was really rude and it hurt my feelings." she adds, a spark of amusement tinting her hazel eyes.

He slowly turned around, still in the same position and replied. "Yeah.. I know."

The amusement faded and she walked up to him, her steps amplified in his ears.

"Don't kill me!" he blurts suddenly, holding up his hands in surrender.

With her expression quickly void, she says. "But.. Then I can't be awesome." She giggles suddenly, her face growing red. "What does that even mean?" she asks no one in particular.

The boy just shrugged and fixated his gaze on her hand. "Drop the weapon..."

Olive looks down to the machete firmly grasped in her hand and back to the boy's face. Adhering to his wishes she sighs and rolls her hazel eyes. Dropping the sword with a loud clank, she brought her foot upon it.

"Good.." the boy says, swallowing. His adams apple bobbed and pushed itself forward in anxiousness. "Umm... The name's Sage I guess."

"You guess?" she says, a small laugh slipping past her lips. "Haha, I'm Olive."

"Nice to meet you." another gulp, with eyes cast downward. "Um.. Sorry for this sudden question, but will you be my partner for life?" he asks, his blues eyes staring at hers.

Olive looked at him quizzically for a moment, trying to figure out what he said exactly. Suddenly a light bulb appeared and she actually snapped her fingers. "You mean an alliance?" she asks, her head bobbing slightly.

"Sure, if you say so." he says, a visible smirk on his lips. His voice echoed a forced innocent tone.

Olive's face puckered in annoyance and she gave a terse nod. "Shake my hand." he says sternly, holding out a clenched fist.

"But that's a punching hand." he says.

She glares at him. "Stop being so awkward. I- you just suddenly suggested a alliance and-"

"An." he corrects.

"What?" she breathes, her eyes scrunching. "Whatever, anyways I need some sealed deal. My District partner may join but for now, shake my hand."

"But thats a fist.. You could punch me at any moment. For all I know this is a ploy for my trickery."

"Shake it." she growls, her back growing straight. Her fist bobbed for a moment, and Olive felt a familiar numb feeling dotting the folds of her skin. She shook and quickly and waited.

With a tentative fist he bumped hers, his eyes still on her face. "Happy birthday.." he gulps, stretching his fingers as if his sudden formation of a fist rendered all of it's moving ability.

She just looked at him to see if he was serious and gave another terse nod. "I dearly hope it's happy." she mutters, looking away from him, her fist still hanging in the air.

"I'm not going to betray you if that's what you're thinking." Elm says, as clear as day. For the past hour she had tried warming up her district partner up for the idea, yet he had shot her down every time. He didn't do it in a rude way as some may be thinking. No, he did it in a way that might keep her asking.

Part of the reason why he wanted her to continue to ask yet said no was easy; He didn't trust her yet. Sure, he knew he needed an alliance, and his district partner was his best bet. He just wanted to know she was indeed trust worthy and needed to figure her out.

Grey gave a slight sigh. He hadn't expected her to be that persistent. "I know, yet are you really sure you want to ally with me?" he asks.

"Why wouldn't I?" she asks,with a sight ting of amusement. "You do live in my district after all."

Grey gave another sigh. "Why don't you find another person? I have things I should be doing."

"Like what?" Elm pips, bouncing slightly.

Another sigh. "Stuff I should be doing. Now, will you please find someone else?" he asks, feeling agitated. It was about time..

"For our alliance? Sure!" she chirps, giving a hearty smile. "You know, I'm going to find someone who suits our fancy."

"Our?" Grey interrupts, taking a seat on a near by tarp.

"Hey, get off the merchandise!" a voice yells behind Grey.

"Sorry." he mumbles, rising to his feet. He held his hands in front of him as if to steady himself.

"Yep! I'll find him or her and bring them over here." she says, casting a slight wink. She gave a back-handed wave as she turned around.

'But we're not partners! Yet..' he thinks to himself as she skips over to a small boy with carrot red hair.

As soon as she had stepped into training, with Grey not too far behind, her sights were on this boy. It seemed strange, since the boy was nothing like she would look for. She normally went to find people who would fulfill her talking needs, laughing at her mediocre jokes. Yet, the boy was so small, an he was vastly preferable than the other small boy.

The other one always seemed to be glaring, and looking around like someone may attack at any given moment. The boy she was standing behind, he.. he was her best bet.

Sure, his hair color may be extremely different than brown! Sure his eyes were a different shade of brown even. Though, the boy reminded her so much of her younger brother Oak.

Oak was more talkative, yet he did try to blend in the shadows when he could. And Oak was very nervous all of the time, as this boy seemed.

'You'll be my new Oak!' she thought, a wave of nausea overwhelming her. She felt her face flush and her eyes prickle with burning characteristic salt water. A sudden memory plagued her mind yet she shook it away. 'Memories for when I really need them!'

"Hello!" she says, before her emotions could overtake her anymore then they already have.

The boy jumped slightly, a sigh escaping him. As of recently his mind was getting used to people sneaking up on him.

He turned around and gave a shy smile. "H-hey."

Elm smiled, patting the boy's head gently. "Hey! No need to be shy! Name's Elm!" she says, sticking out a friendly hand and watched as the boy's eyes glanced from her eyes to her hand until he finally shook it.

"Um... Yeah.. I'm Calico." he says, smile still present.

Thankfully this girl wasn't sniffing him.

"Cool. I know this is random but would you like to be in an alliance? I couldn't help but see you seemed slightly lonely."

Lonely? Did he really seem to be all that alone? Sure, in that very moment he was suspended in time by himself..But, really?

'I suppose I am.' he thinks to himself, thinking about how he normally spends his time by himself. More so just his boss and friend.

"Um.. My district.." he began, his mind flashing back to the fiery red head. She had before said they were in an alliance without consulting him, yet she may change her mind?

Then again, who was he kidding? In the short time he knew her he learned that she just does what she wants. Besides, she didn't really seem to have a thing for people.

"She can join us!" Elm responds chipperly. She gave another smile, her eyes crinkling in the corners. "My District partner will be joining us as well. Hey! Both D7 and D8! Look at that!" she smiles, her mind already imagining it.

'Umm... I can ask?" he says in a questioning tone.

Elm gave a good hearted chuckle and pushed her golden brown hair from her eye. "Sure. I'm going to take that as a yes for now."

Calico gave a curt nod and turned around, just to come face to face with Meleanda.

"Who's she?" she asks bitterly,crossing two pale arms over her chest. A strange sense of possesiveness washed over her as her eyes glared upon the boy.

"Elm." he gulps, looking to his feet like a child who has done a major wrong. His eyes managed to glance at hers for a millisecond before he looked upon his feet again.

"Oh, what was she doing over here?" she asks, looking behind him thoughtfully. Her hand snaked out of it's crossing and placed itself on her upper arm.

"Oh.. that." he says, emphasizing the 'that'. "Well, she wanted us to be in an alliance together."

Meleanda raised an eyebrow and looked back to Elm. Her upper lip twitched as her hand went back to the crossed formation. "Her?" she asks, trying to get her facts straight. She looked at a slightly guilty looking Calico and back to the district seven girl as she talked to some solemn boy.

"No." she speaks finally. "You and I are in an alliance. We don't need any prissies."

"But.." he began, finally looking up.

"But what?" she says icily, her cool eyes calculating. She smirked at him with an aura of importance. "We're in an alliance. Do you want to die? She's clearly going to kill you when you turn your back." she says smugly, raising her nose in the air.

'Who decided this alliance!?' his mind practically screams. 'Cause I don't remember this!' His brown eyes narrowed slightly as he looked back to Elm.

"I guess we'll find out." he says, a rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins. Just at the very sound of those words, goosebumps scattered themselves on his arm.

Meleanda glared at him for a minute before her lips parted. Ice already began sparking its way out as her condescending tone spoke. "No.. we won't. You're to young to be making such decisions." she scoffs abruptly, pawing at the air with elongated finger nails. "Again, you and I are in an alliance. Don't speak to her or you'll regret it."

"Jealous much?" he mumbles, his eyes avoiding hers.

"What?" she asks, leaning in slightly with her hand cupped around her ear. "I didn't hear you."

He looked at her face with disgust.

'I'm tired of people like this. Why do they treat some people one way and another person another? I.. just.. need to say something.' he thinks, his eyes beginning to shine with emotion. His mind wavered slightly as she stared at him greedily. His mind went through all of the possible things to say, anything that would make her die from shock.

Well... not really. Though, it was one way to get rid of competition.

"I.. never sai-. " he begins helplessly, his eyes widened. "I... Um.. Never really said...just..whatever."

Meleanda retreated to where she had been standing previously and gave a false smile. "Good. Now.. shall we go?" she asks, sticking out her arm for him to grab. Her eyebrows raised in amusement.

He looked to his feet one last time before extending his fingers. His hand gently touched her arm as he barely held on. As they walked, he looked back to Elm where she gave a real laugh. Her district partner had a faint smirk on his lips as she waved her arm.

'Nice job Calico..' he thinks sarcastically, still watching as Meleanda's arm dragged him.'Why can't everybody be like those two?'

Corneila Snow sat fitfully still in her pillow backed chair. Her colored nails dug effortlessly into the arm rests as she stared intently at the security footage.

Her fiery red finger nail tapped at the pause button. The footage stopping where the male tribute from 1 was throwing a javelin. The javelin was suspended in mid air, blurs of gray in silvery streaks backtracking its way behind.

Bringing her fingers to her temples, she softly dabbed them. A shock of pain erupted in her skull and she winced her teeth. It felt like somebody personally was squeezing her brain with all of their might, trying to knead pain into it. Her eyes fluttered closed as she leaned back in her chair, fingers rubbing softly at her temples.

She gave a sigh of relief as the pain lessened slightly. Her eyes opened again and she erected herself again. With another clack of her nail it began to play again. Soon it zoomed in on the head gamemaker, who was staring eerily at the camera. A small lady in the background was pacing about, seemingly glaring at the back of her Advisor's head.

"How rude." Corneila mumbles to herself, placing her thumb nail in between her teeth. She bit down on it slowly, flakes of red and orange paint poisoning her tongue.

A sudden knock came from the door, startling her slightly. Her azure eyes glanced to the double doors and she gave a sigh. Part of her thought about ignoring it, hoping it would go away. But she knew better. Especially when a series of urgent knocks came.

She gave another sigh. "Come in." she calls, craning her head to the crack forming. Soon the shape of a man came in. "Close it, will you?" she asks, turning on her cool and calculating eyes.

The man gave a meek nod, scratching at his abnormally arched eyebrow. "Um.. Can it just be you and I speaking?" he asks, glancing toward a peacekeeper in the corner.

Corneila gave yet another sigh and nodded. "Get me an avox, will you?" she asks the now leaving peacekeeper. He didn't respond, knowing how Corneila had to permit him to speak. He gave a nod and exited, grabbing the nearest avox and stuffing him in there.

The avox looked ahead blankly, their brown hair slicked back. "Now, now. Pull up a chair, will you?" she asks. Realizing her nail was still in her mouth, she yanked it out. The man before her didn't seem to notice, he was way to nervous about something.

"Um.. President.. I uh-"

"Please, call me Cornelia. President sounds... too formal." she says, letting her eyes dart around his face. She put up her intimidating shield and awaited a response.

"Sure.. Um, well.. you see.."

BANG!

Another loud knock emitted from the door, followed by another. "Who is it?" she calls, stretching her neck out as if she could see through the door better that way.

"It's Willus, open up please! I must speak with you!"

The man in the seat started biting his nails, his eyes darting from the president's face to his lap. His one hand was clenching itself tightly in it's own cocoon.

"I'm busy, Can it wait?" she asks, her neck still the same.

"Not really, something ba-"

"Excuse me? Um.. we can speak alone right?" the man before her squeaks, his eyes looking briefly to her face.

Corneila sighed yet again, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Head gamemaker! I'm in the middle of a meeting, please, just wait."

There was a pause from the other end of the door. "Fine." Willus responds, a squeak of shoes on the ground.

Corneila quickly brought up security footage of the outside of her office, and was pleased to see Willus had gone. She turned and face the man.

"Go on." she says, adding a bit of impatience to her tone.

"Well, as I was saying... Corneila. I um.. Well.. Uh, one of the tributes at my station-"

"And which station is that?" she interrupts, racking her brain to see if his face rung a bell.

"Um.. Plant knowledge." he says blandly, his adams apple bobbing in fear. He gulped noisily.

"Ah! Frompus! Go on." She says, snapping her fingers. Her eyes lit up in recognition as she leaned back.

"Yeah.. Well, Kalypso Trident ate a nightlock."

"She.. what?" she stutters, a strange emotion overcoming her. Sudden words began pounding at her head, asking to be free. The man's bluntness provided her with facts that brought slight fear within her eyes..

"Oh!" he begins quickly, holding both of his hands up in surrender. "She's fine! I should of said that first, huh? Anyways! I figured I should tell you before someone else did.."

Corneila breathed a small sigh of relief. The words were still pounding in her head, trying to crack an entrance somehow. "I.. see." she says, raising her eyebrows. She pursed her lips and picked up a random pen, tapping it on her chin. She seemed to be deep in thought as Frompus sat squirming before her.

Her heart which had begun accelerating had slowed down a bit, possibly saving her from a heart attack.

"Umm.. May I go now?" he asks daringly, adjusting his leg. His eyes still cast upon the floor as he scratched his eyebrow again.

"Erhm.. Sure." she says, lost in thought. "Don't let it happen again." she calls after the man.

Frompus left, still a bit shaken up. He was surprised in all honesty, the lady had just let him go! Normally, if such a thing where to happen the person would be a walking target. He gave a thick sigh of relief, and opened the door.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't little Frompus? Mind if I shimmy on in?" the head gamemaker asks, giving him a snaky smile. His eyes were an icy blue, bright with torturous amusement.

Frompus opened his puffed lips to speak, yet closed them slightly. A slow and steady air traced out of the opening as they just stared at one another. Frompus feeling even more frightened by the minute, and Willus just smirking.

"Uh.. Um, Y-yeah." he stutters, his eyes unblinking.

"Off with you, surprisingly there is a person at your unmanned station. Wouldn't want an accident resulting in someones demise happening? No? Well, I suggest you leave. Your face is making my breakfast return."

"Um.. yeah." Frompus gulps, giving a slight before shuffling off.

Willus watched him trot off, looking like a three legged mule as he stumbled around. Frompus looked back to see the intense gaze of Willus, and quickened his pace.

Soon he had veered a left.

"Ah, what a shame! He didn't fall and break his neck!" he whispers to himself, a smile present. Him shook his head slowly, a slight chuckle escaping his lips.

His hand quickly gripped the knob and he turned it. "Oooh Corneila!" he sings, lifting his head into the air slightly.

Well there we go! Another Training chapter. I'm not sure if anybody is still reading this, but whatever xD. I hope you enjoy and I'm proud of my details! Hehe. I um... will be doing more alliances or possible ones and so will Pika. Oh yes! OUR tenses aren't the best, so bear with us? :D. Erm.. review? Have a lovely day! As well! I hope we done did 'yo characters right! And stuff...

Anyways, thanks for reading and it is greatly appreciated :D