She opens the slip of paper agonizingly slow, "Destine Mourir." Silvia says, I see a tall girl a few steps in front of me with short blonde hair blue pants and a long-sleeve top start to make her way toward the stage. I have to volunteer, it's expected, no matter if I want to or not.
"I volunteer as tribute!" I shout, before stepping into the middle of the two sections(TW for the following paragraph).
"No, you can't!" She yells and starts to quicken her pace as she moves to the stage. I pull out my knives, I have to stop her somehow so why not make it a tad more entertaining for both me and the crowd? I need to pin her down somehow and injure her enough that she can't compete. The Capitol doesn't care about a cut or a black eye, so it has to be more impactful. I throw the knife, I hear a few gasps as the blade slices her calf, she yells out and collapses onto the ground. This might be easier than I thought, but it's still not good enough for the Capitol or me. I throw another, it cuts right through the material of her sleeve, slightly cutting her arm, and pinning it to the ground. I quicken my pace, and move so that I'm standing right above her, I smile down at her as she continues to try to get away. I pin her down, digging my knees into her side so she can't get away. No one is coming to help her or stop me from continuing, I take the knife by her calf and trace her face with the blade. I'm stalling, I can't kill her, how do I injure her enough? I take the knife and slice from her eyebrow to her cheek, causing her to scream and cry. Still, no one is stopping me, I'll only secure my spot as tribute when I'm pulled off of her. I yank and twist her arm and it makes a sickening crack, she lets out an ear-piercing scream, and I feel two pairs of arms yank me off of her (end of TW). Finally, the girl is taken away and I'm led up the steps and to the center of the stage. The peacekeepers back away, and I look out at the crowd. I don't know what I expected to see, but I'm met with a huge variety of emotions. A few people look scared, others look almost excited I guess if I want to win over the crowd and survive I should play into it, so I lift my head and smirk slightly.
"Well, that was quite the show wasn't it." Silvia says into the microphone
"What is your name?" She asks me.
"Clove Kentwell." I respond.
"Well, that's the spirit of the games." She replies, before moving towards the pool of names containing the boys. She selects one, but before she can read it, someone volunteers. I look up to see Cato walking down the path and onto the stage.
"Well two volunteers, isn't that wonderful, and what is your name?" She asks.
"Cato Hadley." He replies, I knew I was going enter with him, but I guess I wasn't fully ready for it to happen.
"Our tributes for the 74th annual Hunger Games, Cato Hadley, and Clove Kentwell! Alright you two, shake hands." She says excitedly. I turn to Cato and he smiles slightly as we shake hands. Silvia gives us a little nudge telling us to let go, and we are escorted off stage. I feel a hand grip my arm, and I'm taken to a building to wait and I assume say goodbye to my family. I walk into the room, there isn't really anything interesting to look at. I saw two peacekeepers take Cato to a room on the opposite side. There is a window, three chairs, and two doors. It's kind of cold, I don't think my parents or anyone else will come. I don't like waiting, I find it incredibly boring, I move towards one of the doors, both are now locked. Great, I'm stuck in the dullest room imaginable maybe if I pound repeatedly someone will become annoyed and let me out. I debate doing that but decide against it since most likely I'll just be ignored. I hear footsteps, and the other door clicks and opens. I turn around to see Tasha, she walks over to where I'm standing, I don't really know what to say. I could say a simple hi, or am I past that since I might be riding to my death? I feel her arms wrap around me pulling me into a tight hug. Oh, I wasn't expecting that, I awkwardly pat her shoulder, I wasn't really great with these types of things. I guess she gets the message, and she pulls away opting instead for a smile.
"You'll be fine, you're fast, you can set traps and hunt, you know hand-to-hand combat, and you're wicked good with knives. As long as you don't let your feelings and emotions get in the way you'll survive." She says, I think I understand what she means. In the academy we were taught to think of the tributes as pesky animals, or prey. When I was younger, that didn't make sense to me, but now I understand. Typically when someone kills a rat or insect, you don't feel any remorse. When talking about a rodent, some say that it intruded and paid the price. I guess people use it is as a way to dehumanize the animal. Or in my case, dehumanize the competition and separate the person the tribute was before entering the arena. Supposedly, amounting the tribute to be equal to that of a rodent, it should be easier to murder them it.
"Okay." I say quietly, Tasha looks at me blankly, before rolling her eyes and scoffing. I mean what does she want me to say? If she had ended it earlier I would've said thanks, but she didn't and continued on.
"Don't just say okay and think you understand what I told you. I know you well enough, you don't get it, not yet. But when you do, ignore it and do whatever it takes to win." I nod my head and she opens her hand to reveal a woven bracelet with two charms attached, a four leaf clover and a knife.
"Here take this, unless you already have a token." She says,
"I don't, thanks." I say, she puts it on my wrist and the doors open. A peacekeeper starts to escort Tasha out. The door in front of me closes with a loud thud, and the one behind me creaks open. I turn around, Silvia and two peacekeepers are by the door.
"Are you ready to leave Clove?" Silvia asks me, it's not really a question I have to leave no matter if I'm ready or not. I suppose she said it to give me a sense of control over the situation, it didn't work.
"Yes." I respond, Silvia starts to head towards the room Cato was in, and the peacekeepers grab my arms to keep me from trying to run. I don't know why they still did that, I made a big show of volunteering and even if I didn't, I wouldn't get far if I tried to run. Silvia returns with Cato and the peacekeeper on my left moves to grab him. Silvia starts blabbing on about how wonderful the Capitol is, and how lucky we are. Cato and I are brought to some type of car, and are pushed inside, I start to ask Cato what he thought of all this, but I'm interrupted by a peacekeeper shushing me. Really, I didn't even get to say anything, I look at him to see if he found that as annoying as I did. Instead I see him trying not to laugh, I roll my eyes and he laughs quietly, I turn to look out the window watching as we pass by different buildings before eventually stopping at a train station.
YOU ARE READING
A Twist of Fate(Clato fanfic)
FanfictionI do not own any of the characters, Suzanne Collins wrote them. This is from Clove's perspective and follows her journey in the arena as well as if Clove and Cato won. This is my first fanfiction, so the flow of the story, as well as the grammar mig...
