(Third assignment. hope y'all continue to enjoy and wish Vexare the best of luck for her cruel self)
Vexare allowed herself to be directed onto the train that would be taking them to the justice building. She had once again regained control of her mental state—no longer was she just waiting to burst, but instead, she had returned to the feeling of nothing—completely complacent to the situation. She was oblivious to her surroundings, the huge old-fashioned steam engine was nothing more than blurred colors passing by on the wind, though it was still stationary as she moved to board it. She shut her eyes momentarily, the array of colors giving her a minor headache.
Cursing, she grabbed the golden rail and hoisted herself up the stairs of the train. Once inside, she saw a table completed with a delectable selection of meats and pastries, but she ignored it as she spotted Aaron and Mayor Mayella entering from the cabin across. Instead, she ignored the rumbling in her stomach and crouched in the corner, her gaze menacing and an obvious threat to anyone passing by.
The other tribute, Avery, had been right behind her as she boarded, but she had chosen to continue to completely ignore him. She didn’t care who he was. She didn’t care about his sob story, and somehow she counted on him not wanting anything to do with her. If he even thought for one second that he would be able to prey on her rumored history now to find an ally in the games, he was sadly mistaken, and she would be sure to set him straight.
She was stone cold and faceless by the time the idiot finally got the chance to approach her. Instantly, she wished the encounter was over before he even had the chance to get his first words out.
“I don't think I’ve ever seen anyone this at peace about being sent to their death.”
Great icebreaker! Vexare thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. “Who said I was going to die?”
“Your confidence could very well be the one thing that sets you apart from the other tributes, but it could also be the thing that gets you killed.”
“If I were you, I’d spend more time worrying about yourself.” Vexare wouldn’t go as far as to say she was confident, more like she didn’t care if she lived or died, and she certainly wasn’t about to ignore certain obvious advantages she possessed. However, confidence was a nice cover up.
“I already tried that. It didn’t work, so now I’m here.”
“Well could you try being somewhere else?” she snapped.
“Why? Are you afraid that if you like me too much you’re going to have a harder time murdering me in the Games?” “What makes you think that I like you at all? Or anyone, for that matter?” she argued, immediately cursing herself for it afterward. Why was she even bothering wasting her time carrying on any sort of conversation? At least he’s talking to you, another side of her countered smugly.
“Well, the only reason people have to not like other people, is if they’ve been hurt by other people. So, logically speaking, you must have liked someone at some point.”
The boy had gone too far for her tastes. The people she had cared about… they were gone now, though the old scars were still deep wounds. “Don't think you know anything about me because I can assure you that you don't.”
Vex elected to tune out any sort of response the guy made to her reluctance. Something about claims and observations. She was in her own little world until he spoke again.
What is with this kid? Is it not obvious that his company is not welcome? She continued irritably. The only reason he’s even bothering is because he doesn’t want to be alone in all of it. Though she had to admit, his next question surprised her a little bit.
“Back in the district, when we were all gathered in front of the Justice Building and they were selecting the tributes—when they called your name—what did you feel?”
Vexare remained quiet for what seemed like a long while. As bad as it sounded, she knew exactly how she had felt. Finally, she dared to speak aloud, “Nothing, absolutely nothing.”
“That was the shock, I guess. But you must have felt something at some point. Unless of course you’re a sociopath...you’re not, are you?"
Shock! She scoffed. You keep telling yourself that. Once again, you know nothing. Instead though, she kept it more civilized. “If I were, would I tell you?”
“See, you’re not. Because if you were, then you would have just denied it.”
Now he was just being annoying with his pointless conversations. “Are you always this stupid?”
“Are you always this talkative?”
At this point, she was undoubtedly fed up with his smart-ass remarks. They were certainly nothing she needed to be dealing with right now. Her temper was fragile enough being in this sort of environment anyway. She elected to confirm his comeback with more determined silence. She scowled, just waiting for him to finally go away.
To her extreme dismay, he continued to press matters further. She didn’t even give him the benefit of looking at him as he spoke this time. “Look, you obviously aren’t interested in getting to know me, and that’s perfectly fine. But I just think that we’d have more of a chance out there if we stick together—at least just for a little while.”
There it was. The point she’d been dreading. “I don't need your help; you’d only slow me down.”
“Why? How would I slow you down?” he demanded before continuing on a rant of survival strategies she didn’t care to hear.
"I already know what I want.” She didn’t want to survive, but she didn’t want anybody else to survive either.
“Is it really that easy for you? You don't even remotely care that you’re about to enter a war against other children?”
“I am not a child.”
“What if some of them are younger? What if they’re twelve or thirteen? Would you still be so ready to take their lives?”
“Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard the stories?!” she found herself howling. Before she knew it, she had propelled herself forward. Her electrifying purple eyes piercing his as she stood barely an inch away from his face—a direct and necessary challenge. She could feel her body temperature skyrocketing, and her hands were white-knuckled fists.
“It’s not the first time I’ve killed, and it probably won’t be the last. None of those people mean a damn thing to me. Their lives are little more than ants in a field. One life is not going to make a difference,” she continued in her train of thought.
Afterward, Vexare didn’t wait to hear what Avery had to say to her. She was done. She shoved past him, deliberately dipping her shoulder and slamming into him as she stormed out of the cabin. She was careful to add a temper-mental slam of the door behind her as she crouched in between railcars.
They seemed to be passing through a colder part of the region as Vex observed snow all around her. Her breathing was slow and deep as she hugged her knees to her chest, leaving her mouth in dancing whisps of cold fog. If she stared hard enough, she swore she could see pictures in them. She saw Avriette’s sweet, innocent face and fought to blink back more tears. Then she saw herself stabbing her father, followed by the future gazes of the other girls who would look at her and either glare or giggle out of pure spite. Their gazes never seemed to leave her mind, and silently, she wished that it was them she was competing against in the games. She would have easily slaughtered every last one of those ditsy barbies!
She spat at the thought, and watched as the heat of it sizzled against the cold, iron links that held the two train cars together. Vexare could have jumped at any moment, but there was something that kept her from just releasing her body and letting herself fall. It wasn’t fear, and it wasn’t a sense of newfound purpose. It just felt wrong, like the timing wasn’t right. She sighed to herself, standing up. How nice it would have been to just disappear and be buried in piles of newly fallen snow.
Instead, she made her way indoors, preparing to face the next obstacle. Unfortunately, nothing could have prepared her for the bubbly surprise that was Nyx—one of the District 12 mentors. The girl had short black hair that stopped in a sort of bob-cut, and she appeared to be of Asian descent. She wore simple breeches and a loose red blouse, a sword dangling from her belt like she was some character from a pirate book. She hugged Vexare, giggling all the while with a peculiar excitement Vex didn’t understand.
“I’m so excited! I saw what you did at the Reaping today!” she exclaimed with delight. “You have so much raw potential!”
Vexare pushed away from her, remaining speechless. “Now we’ll just have to figure out a way to keep that temper in check now won’t we,” the girl continued, her hand lightly tapping Vexare on the cheek like she was some kind of obedient animal.
It was all too much for her. She didn’t know how to respond except for with the only thing she knew best. Her arm came flying in a loose fashion, swinging for the girl’s face. Vexare was stuck in shock as the girl’s hand moved with intense speed, grabbing her by the wrist before she could finish the blow. Nobody had ever managed to do that before.
“Too slow,” Nyx critiqued.
Feeling vulnerable and insulted, Vexare moved to swing with her other fist, this time trying something a little more short and compact, but once again, her assault was countered. She never even saw the girl’s leg kick out to catch her wrist and knock it away before she spun and somehow ripped Vexare’s feet out from underneath her.
Though she didn’t think it was possible, Vex felt her face turn scarlet and she glanced around, hoping nobody else had been around to see, especially not Aaron. Luckily, he had already left the train car, no doubt for some whores toward the front or a tasty drink. However, Avery was there, and she didn’t miss his knowing eyes looking over her with amusement.
“Good. We can use all of this energy you have going. There are things that are more important than some first realize. For example, speed and technique over brute force.”
Vexare found herself easily taking in the advice from this stranger, but she didn’t have time to learn any more, nor to acknowledge the other, more quiet mentor, that had been watching the mini training session as the colorful city lights of the capitol entered her view. And so it begins, she decided.