𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚜
-𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗
𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜
"Caring too much for my allies had made the loss all the worse, caring too much made the nightmares more frequent. Caring too much would cost me my soul, in the end, I wou...
"Thorn Castellan." He replies sweeping his shaggy locks away from his face, the name rings a bell. He was in Addison's year at school, from what I'd heard he was a bit of a jokester. The Capitol will love him, with a sense of humour and his blue eyes- they'll eat him up. No doubt that if he dies someone will pay to have his eyes put in a jar or something horrific like that.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, your District Four tributes!" Sylvia's shrill voice makes it seem even sourer than it already is "Tributes, shake hands." She instructs us.
Thorn turns to me, a friendly smile on his face as he tries to keep us both calm, "Best of luck." He says, holding out his hand for me to shake. I don't take his hand, instead, I pull the boy into a bone-crushing hug.
***
The peacekeepers direct me into a large building where I'm placed into a room by myself. The furniture inside looks to be made of expensive fabrics a dark perfectly polished wood framing the outside of the two large sofas. I knew what I was waiting for, the Capitol allowed family and friends to visit for short periods of time to say our goodbyes to the people.
The first person to visit me is Mrs Driscoll, a kind elderly woman from the district's florist. In an accident several years ago, the woman lost her hearing leaving very few people to communicate with her. Finnick and I both learnt sign language to speak to her, she always gave me bouquets of the flowers she couldn't sell, I paid her with the occasional meal. The room is silent for a while but eventually, she signs to me, placing he fingertips on her lips and pushing her hand out in front of her, Thank you. I placed a kiss on her cheek as she tucks a delicate white flower with a yellow centre behind my ear. The fragrance of frangipani flowers was always my favourite, I had told her so many times. She leaves the room soon after the interaction, leaving me to wonder who my next visitor will be.
Next comes some of the girls from my class, the ones I was civil with. Other than Finnick I didn't have very many friends but it was nice of them to see me off. After hugging each of the girls I was left alone again only for the silence to be interrupted by a man with bright blue eyes. I had seen him in the marketplace a few times, he always sold his fish to the same people. It's Thorn Castellan's father, "I don't know why he volunteered for your brother," The man begins, handing me a pale pink conch seashell, "But promise me you'll try to look after him," He says. I don't say anything, promises such as that can't be guaranteed, but I nod- Thorn protected my brother, I owe him that much.
Then, my Mother, Father and sisters file in, pulling me into a variety of hugs. I don't need to say anything, I know what we're all thinking, I take my Father by the hand and look him directly in the eyes. "Promise me you won't dwell on what happens," I tell him, searching for any kind of emotion in his face, he's turned numb- the kind of numb I prayed he could be brought back from. "Promise me you'll keep looking after our family,
He places a gentle kiss on my forehead, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear, "I promise," He whispers.
The last person to visit me is Andante, who had also visited Thorn in separate, where the door closes, he charges straight at me taking me by the hand and talking at a hundred miles an hour, "Rory, you can win this," He says determinedly, "You've got your trident, you can fish with that,"
"They might not have an ocean environment, they might not even have a trident," I point out.
He cuts me off, "Then prove to them that they should, you're good with knives, take advantage of that. You should be able to find water in certain trees; I'll try and work up enough money to get you a spile. Don't light fires in open areas, make sure you learn about the plants-"
I cut him off by pulling him into a hug I know he's only rambling because he's afraid, I am too. I kiss him gently on the head as I hear him begin to sob into my shoulder, "You take care of Addison for me, ok?" I whispered, ruffling his hair.
"I can't lose you, Rory," He chokes out, sniffling as he spoke.
I stroke a thumb across his face, feeling my heart shatter as I see my usually confident brother fall to pieces in front of me. Finally, he seemed to understand the pure danger of these games, the way it rips families apart. Stroke his hair and pull him closer to me, "You won't lose me, Dante, I'll be back before you know it."
We both know I'm bluffing, the likelihood of me making it out of this competition alive is the same chance a snail has of outrunning a bear, impossible. Especially now that Thorn had thrown himself into the tournament in the place of my brother, he had sacrificed himself to keep at least a fragment of our family sane. I was in his debt, I had to let him win.
A peacekeeper escorts my brother out of the building, another two take me by the arms and lead me to the train. Crowds of people stood chattering to themselves and Thorn and I arm pulled towards the station, Sylvia smacks the peacekeeper's hands away from us with a fan, a disgusted noise leaving her throat, "Get your hands off my victors!" She chastises in her thick Capitol accent, placing one hand on the small of our backs and leading us onto the train.
The interior of the carriage is even more expensive than the building I had previously been standing in. The walls were painted a cream colour, the furniture was rich colours of navy and emerald, a mahogany table stood in the centre with fancy dining chairs surrounding it. Without any kind of warning the train doors closed, I watch as the scenery of District Four is whisked away from me and the Panem countryside blurs by.
Mags Flannagan enters the carriage wearing a sympathetic expression, without much warning she pulls both Thorn and me into a hug, "I'm so sorry," She says in a kind voice, I smile. She wasn't like any of the victors I had seen on TV. She was kind, almost humble, she takes care of Finnick when I can't and I'll forever be grateful for it.
It wasn't until I pulled out of the hug and glanced around the room that Irealised the only person I wanted to be here wasn't around, "Where's Finnick?"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
a/n
25% of me wants to dress like a cottage fairy. 25% of me wants to dress like a 19th-century scholar from Oxford. 25% a kindergarten teacher all the dads have a crush on and the other 25% an 18th-century pirate who's actually a princess hiding from her family.
Too bad I can't afford any of these styles, I'll just stick to homeless troll doll for now.
