The Capital Games

CHAPTER 8 {Training Day 3}

How were they to make it to the end? How were they to leave the arena with weapon in hand and crimson blood soaking through their clothes and onto their pale fragile flesh? How were they to win a game- a game where innocent hands struggled to strangle and slaughter each other? How were Finnian Calibur and Hugh Wellben supposed to win the crowns. Crowns of blood and gold- ornamental symbols of oppression.
To them, and to many others, it seemed unfair. It was unfair that the pure children of the capital could be punished like this, forced to slay each other mercilessly as if they were nothing more than animals. But when had mercy ever saved one of the thousand dead children from the District? That had been the question ever since the Mockingjay had read that decree...

"... And hereby I declare in memories of the one-thousand seven-hundred and nineteen men and women killed in The Hunger Games, that a final Games will be hosted..."

It was those words that rung through Hugh's head hundreds of times in what felt like millennia long seconds.
"...hereby I declare..."
Hugh thought about those words a lot now. The nonchalant attitude that carried itself within the Mockingjay voice disturbed him. She was cold, so damn cold. How could she do that? How could she sentence 24 kids to death within a single sentence. It made no sense to him… What had they ever done? How could the Districts willingly condemn these 24 teenagers to death, a brutal death that would be used as nothing but a piece of entertainment… How could they do this to anyone, especially a child like Ruby Terrace or a boy like Finnian Calibur?
Hugh remembered the first time he met Finnian- or Finn for short. Hugh had just entered his quarters, tired and mentally in a state of pure exhaustion and agonizing anxiety- the type of worry in which every thought rips through your body curdling your stomach and making you grimace in pain. He entered his bedroom, a scowl smeared onto his thin pale face, to find a boy about his age wrapped in the golden cashmere comforter of Hugh's bed. The boy was crying, mascara running down his cheeks and his brunette hair matted against his small head. Hugh immediately recognized the boy- Finnian Calibur.
Hugh at first had no desire to befriend the boy. After all he was just a sympathetic character, a small boy, with nothing standing out about him. He wasn't immensely intelligent, he had never handled a weapon in his life, and despite his small demeanor he didn't fit the stereotypical bill for the innocent young boy who was guaranteed a bloodbath death.
But then something happened. Something Huge had not seen coming, an alliance. No... it was more than that, and that both knew it. Neither one could deny the fact that the moment they shared together after the chariots meant something...

A long yet gentle kiss, lips interlocked together as a soft dim light illuminated the back of Finn's head...

So there they treaded, through the mouth of the training center and into the obstacle course. Like the rest of the building, it's architecture could stun anyone; man, woman, young or old. To Finnian the ceiling seemed as high as the sky itself, and like the sky it glowed a soft baby blue, lightening the mood of the room. Of course not even the beautiful architecture of the technology titans of District 3 could truly null the feelings of pure brutality that hung about the building. It was as if negativity itself was integral to the structure of the center, and to the capital itself.
Finn looked over at Hugh, trying his best to force a smile that simply refused to appear. Hugh just looked at him, taking a hand and running it through his ink black locks.
"C'mon... let's just get some form of training in." Hugh retorted to Finn chuckling a bit as he picked up his speed and proceeded to jog to the beginning of the obstacle course. Finn followed in suit, not saying much, but emitting a subtle smile-that no-one in the room-besides himself-had noticed
Hugh approached a long silver ladder, it extending up the side of a large dull metal box- the beginning of the obstacle course. The box was about the size of a small room, large enough for a good amount of people to be able to stand on top, not that more than four people ever climbed onto it at a time. At the moment the room was quite empty. It was early in the morning and very few people were in the center, let alone awake.
Hugh looked behind him, at Finn, smiling a bit.
"I'll go first." Hugh tells Finn, in an almost commanding and quite serious tone. Finn nods in response before looking to his side, a small sound catching his attention. In the corner of the room was Pluto, one of the younger tributes in this year's games. Neither Hugh nor Finn had actually talked to the boy, they hadn't really talked to anyone but themselves. They couldn't trust the others, only each other.
Pluto looked at Finn, a blank expression that read of a stolid mind and fierce determination that could be found in his dark animal like eyes. Finn quickly looked away, to see Hugh already half way up the ladder, about to start on the obstacle course, but Finn gave one final glance at Pluto. The next time they would see each other, one would be dead, an arrow lodged into his throat...