The 125th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter 30

You know one day- with all of these people you will have met in this very short chapter of life, whether you hate them, or love them, only one of them will remain. Any happy memories Youve made, or people you've grown attached too, all of it will be destroyed in a matter of seconds.

With one sharp knife.
With one swing of an arm.
A mixture of blood and steel.

Only one will remain.

All the motherly characters
All the stubbornly headstrong characters
Even the sweetest will be tainted

Don't make any friends, they'll only betray you in the end and it will leave you more heartbroken than before you came.
The only way to survive, is to dominate.

So go in and dominate, don't give anyone a chance to even believe they're on your side, strike them hard and quick so they don't see it coming.

You want me to treat you like a man?
Then be a man.
And come back home a victor.
Only then will I be proud of you.

Everything you would have done in the past will become nothing if you loose. You will be nothing but a ridiculous girl who couldn't take her honor seriously.
And paid the ultimate price.
Death.

Victory or death.

Grey snapped awake, spitting out sand from his mouth as he had apparently moved his face in his sleep so that he accidentally inhaled a mouthful of the gravely dust.

He sat up coughing which in turn caught Lark's attention, and he looked towards him in concern. "Is everything okay?" He asked, his bright blue eyes sparking in the dull light.

There hadn't been much of a difference between the nighttime hours or the daytime hours, except now a person could tell that the new day was beginning because the light had started to soften.

Grey sneezed just then because of the sand that had gone up his nose, which for some reason made Lark grin and shake his head, looking away into the arena around them.

"Yeah- it's just a dream I think." Grey waved off the concern, granted, it had been an echo of what his father had told him in the justice building before Grey had come to the arena, though wouldn't let the other part of the subject drop. "Why do you smile at my sneeze?" Grey asked suddenly, wanting to know the answer, because he truly had no clue as to why.

"Because it's adorable, and because of that." Lark said, glancing back at him as Grey lifted his hand.

A spiral of glowing yellow dots like fireflies flew about Grey, and some had scattered the area, all floating in the air, some resting on his face like freckles or on his hair like snowflakes.

Grey froze, his shoulders tensing up as he resisted the urge to sneeze again, and also because a thought sprung up in his mind. "It's not dangerous is it?" He asked, a panicked expression overriding his face.

Lark chuckled, but also shrugged, scooting a bit closer so he could help Grey brush off the yellow sparkles. "They have been on you for a while now, I don't think so." He said with a small smile on his face as though he were disguising something that he thought which was amusing.

"How long- wait did you call me . . ." Grey suddenly flushed red in the cheeks. Part of him wished he could somehow not feel emotions as strongly again. It was almost as though he had lived prior to the games, having all of his emotions shut off, but then Lark had changed that, and made Grey rediscover happiness through laughter. Which then had brought an onslaught of emotions he didn't really know what to do with, other than what his father would want him to do with them.
His father would want him to shut them down again at all costs.
But if Grey was being honest, he liked being able to express what he was feeling openly without having to worry about his father noticing.