Chapter Text
Complete darkness.
That’s all I can see.
I try to move, but that’s when I realize that I’m floating.
I’m underwater.
I start to panic and try to get out, but that’s when I hear a voice.
“We’re the guardians of all life
We protect them small or high”
“Men came by and hunted us down
Four survived and hided out”
“Now their children are all back
To fix the order with all might”
“Go, my child, and help us all
Before the world comes to fall”
the world spins and it all ends.
~
I wake up covered in sweat. My heart is racing and the air is cold. The words are still ringing in my head as I try to calm down.
“What’s wrong?”
I turn around and see James standing at the door holding two plates filled with eggs, toast, and bacon.
“I woke up and went to get us some breakfast. Is everything alright?”
I hesitate for a moment before answering. “Y-yeah, I’m fine.”
James puts the plates on the bedside table and then sits next to me.
“Gwen, I know that look. What’s going on?”
He used my real name. oh, he meant business.
“It’s nothing. Just a bad dream.”
He doesn’t say anything, so I get out of bed and grab a plate. I then remember the thing with Abby.
“Hey, there’s talking.
“I met one of the other tributes last night, Abigail. Her reaping was messed up too. She said that this guy from three can hack into the capitol’s system and get the real footage of what happened. But they need backup, so they’re forming an alliance. What do you think?”
He stays silent for a moment.
“How are they planning to do that?”
“I’m not sure, but I think I’d be a good idea. I mean, if the footage gets out, maybe they’ll cancel the games.”
James looks indecisive. He thinks for a moment before answering.
“Look, I’m not going to force you to chose something you don’t want, so do whatever you want. For me, I’d have to meet this people first before deciding what to do.”
I nod. Good enough.
I finish my breakfast and leave my plate.
“I’m gonna take a shower. I’ll catch up later.”
He nods and walks out of the room.
~
I finish getting dressed and head to the dining room. James and Alex are sitting at the table.
“I’m ready.”
Alex points at the hallway and says Rachel is waiting for us to take us to the training rooms.
“What about Arthur?” I ask.
“He’s… never exactly around during the day.” Says Alex. I’m a bit curious about that, but I don’t ask anything else.
Not that I should care about that.
James and I head to the elevators, and, in fact, Rachel was standing by the elevators.
“Ready for day one?”
I nod and we get into the elevator.
The actual training rooms are below ground level of our building. With these elevators, the ride is less than a minute. The doors open into an enormous gymnasium filled with various weapons and obstacle courses. The other tributes are gathered in a tense circle. They each have a cloth square with their district number on it pinned to their shirts. While someone pins the number 12 on my back, I do a quick assessment and notice we’re not all of us here just yet. I can’t see Abigail anywhere and I think the kids from eleven are missing.
As soon as we join the circle, the head trainer, a tall, athletic woman named Karin steps up and begins to explain the training schedule. Experts in each skill will remain at their stations. We will be free to travel from area to area as we choose, per our mentor’s instructions. Some of the stations teach survival skills, others fighting techniques. We are forbidden to engage in any combative exercise with another tribute. There are assistants on hand if we want to practice with a partner.
We all scatter around the stations. James heads to the “toxic and non-toxic food” station and started chatting with the kids from district seven while I went to the fire-starting station with the ones from ten. They’re two small things, probably not older than thirteen or fourteen. But that’s not what catches my attention. The girls hair is an intense pink, hold together with a yellow headband.
This trip just keeps getting weirder.
But she one handed excels at the station and even lends the boy a helping hand.
At that moment, Abby comes strutting down at the station.
“Sorry. I overslept and Klaus got stuck in a closet.”
“It’s ok.” I say. “By the way, I’m in. But James needs to meet you guys first before deciding what to do.”
“Works for me.” Then she starts to work on her own fire. “Anyway, I’m gonna need you to get more help.”
I smile.
“When do we start?”