From District 13 everyone was up and wearing the drab gray
uniforoms of 13. Anyone older then 14 was atoumaticly given the
title "Soilder" and would be adressed by "Soilder *name here*" and
were being trained.
Harlow watched the large tv, as many others did, as it suddenly
flickered on with the Capital seal before showing the peacekeepers
and president with the taken tributes on either side of him. The
presdient then started to speak, and Harlow had to gasp when she
saw Leaf standing and looking beuatiful and healthy, almost to the
point of robust, this was beyond her wildest expectaions and
dreams, she drank in the sight. The calm lasted for a few moments
as suddenly the image on the screen changed to one of the brains of
13, a man Harlow didn't regconise. It was back and forth for awhile
before finally sticking the man from 13 as he stated that "The
Mockingjay was alive."
At that moment the doors behind them opened and Nova walked into
the room wearing a black and white jumpsuit that closely resembled
the mockingjays at repeated songs back to people.
The Captial:
The President just smiled small and closed his eyes and gave the
slightest nod. The camera feed had been cut before Tempest's sudden
outburst. One of the Peacekeeprs suddenly turned to Tempest and
smacked her with the butt of his gun before some of them suddenly
went to work on her, beating her senseless until she was reduced to
a bloody pulp and dragged out of room. Leaf gasped out and put a
hand over her mouth to keep from screaming, Azar jumped back in
shock.
Snow just smiled a little bit more. "Don't worry," his voice was
calm and collected as though talking about the weather. "You'll
each be given your dues in good time."
The Capital
Tempest, Emmie, Arelian, Adelaide, Leaf, Azar, and Gategaurd were
now back into their cells, small cubical things that had bars made
of electircy. Leaf and Azar were paired together, Tempest with
Gateguard and Emmei with Arelian. They were on edge after Tempest
had failed to reapear and it was assumed that she was either still
being tortured or was beign healed up, just to be tortured
again.
Distirct 13
The doors shut behind Nova and everyone stared. "Everyone, listen
up. Loved ones of the tributes who have arrived today will be
ariving soon. Please make them welcome."
Leaf's twins started fussing in Harlow's arms, they were hungry.
Emmie began coughing again. Her hacking cough echoed around the
cell block. Emmie groaned and curled up in a tight ball. She closes
her eyes but shakes, attempting, and failing, to conceal her
coughing. She had inhaled to much smoke, when the flaming tree
pinned her to the ground in the arena. The arena. The horrid place
she had been dreading for years seemed so far away, yet so close.
She looked miserably at her brown hair, the purple dye washed out.
Shivering alone, separated from anyone else, Gateguard wrapped his
arms around himself. Honestly, this was his worst nightmare, being
left alone to rot and die with no one around him to even remember
him by. Technically it wasn't true, there were other people
imprisoned as well but Gateguard couldn't see them, huddled in a
corner with his knees drawn up to his chest. Closing his eyes to
try and sleep off the fear did nothing, images of Tempest's blood
stained body replaying in his mind over and over again. Curling up
closer to himself, Gateguard let out a pathetic little whine,
hoping desperately for Tempest to come back
Emmie ignores Arelian's looks of disdain. Her body is wracked with
another fit of horrible, loud coughs. She moans slightly, looking
less like a teenager and more like a little girl.
The silence of just one person was stiffing as Gateguard struggled
to say something, words stuck in his throat. "I guess..." He
started off hoarsely, looking off to the side to avoid any pitying
looks. "I'm not used to being alone y'know? Big family, thrust into
the capital, even in the arena i wasn't alone. But here...."
Gesturing to the empty cell he was in was hard, feeling so
vulnerable just removing one arm from his cocoon of safety,
"There's no one else here."
Amari frowned, slightly shaking in the cell. Her eyes were tightly
clamped shut as she held back tears. She couldn't cry, she wouldn't
do anything. She couldn't risk Snow's anger.
Echo watched Rose, slightly bored. He had taken up the challenge to
be good for 24 hours. It had only been about half an hour, and he
was already feeling bored.
Leaf gave him a gentle smile. "I get that, one mintue I was with my
twins and my girlfriend now I'm here without them. Despite being
with everyone here I still feel lonely. I just hope they're
alright."
Azar looked at Leaf and Gategaurd. "At least you didn't watch your
loved one die in front of you."
Rose returned Echo's careful eye. "Why don't you go help clean up?"
she asked innocently. "It'd be a good deed after all." her
tone was light, almost teasing.
"It's true that I didn't, but I know the feeling of losing the one
person that you love more than yourself." He murmured, messing with
the ripped out holes on his lobes. His earrings had been missing
ever since he had woken up and he supposed it could have been used
as a makeshift weapon so it was natural to confiscate them. "I hope
everyone is alright..."
Echo stared at Rose, taking in a deep breath. He fought back a
frown, carefully pushing himself to his feet. "Of course, though it
would be rude of me to not invite you." He said, his voice
seeping with every amount of sweetness he could muster. Two could
play at that game.
Her eyes gleamed. "It'd be rude of me to decline, but alas,
I must." she says, with an innocent smile. Rose points her skin on
her leg. Charred, scratched and ruined. "The doctor ordered me to
stay here." she intones dramatically.
"If they're in 13 wouldn't they be safe from the Capital?" Leaf
asked. "I mean, they're the ones who're fighting the Capital right?
Would that mean they're jsut as strong as the Capital, if not
stronger?"
Azar attempted to summon a flame but it sputtered and died out.
"Maybe. But these cages are restricting us to use our powers."
Stress fills Harlow's gaze as she tries to bottle feed Sage while
Willow fusses from the crib. "Need a hand?" A voice asks. Harlow
glances up to see Gran enter the room. She grabs another bottle and
feeds Willow. For a moment the two are silent. Both are dying to
talk about Leaf, but both don't know how to bring it up
Tempest was swearing at the Peacekeepers as they dragged her away.
Months of rage being released in a sudden verbal assault. But after
a few hits to her already hurt body, she suddenly goes silent and
limp. Tears fall down her face, but not from the pain. She was
frustrated, why didn't they just kill her? Why were they keeping
her alive? Surly her survival meant she would be a threat to the
Capitol
Echo struggled to hold back a groan, though he was silently
screaming inside. "I see." He said, "Well then I hope you recover
soon." He then slipped out to help clean, much to his dismay.
Fern watched Harlow and Gran feed her nieces. She pulled her knees
to her chest and watched. "Do you think they're hurting Leaf?"
Tempest was thrown onto a bed and handed over to the Capital medics
where they could heal her up, once her wrists and ankles had been
retrained they went to work on healing her.
A few Peacekeepers suddenly entered the room and looked towards
Leaf and Azar's cage. "Which one are we taking now?" The one asked,
sounding confused. "Her." The other responded nodding at Leaf.
Emmie heard the peace keepers. "WAIT NO, TAKE ME INSTEAD!" she
shrieks, in a desperate attempt to prevent any damage being done to
Leaf. "Please!" she watched in horror as they stepped closer to
Leaf. She wailed again. "Take me instead of her! Save the best for
last!"
Harlow's eyes darken. "No, they wouldn't dare" she replies. "Leaf
is tough and cunning. She won't let anything happen to her" she
assures them. This doesn't change the fact that I want to storm
in there and save her myself Leaf thinks to herself. She shakes
her head. "Would you like to hold her?" Harlow asks Fern with a
smile.
Tempest glares at the medics. A few times she tries to lurch
forward and attack them. Mostly it was due to a reaction from them
healing a sore wound. "Just kill me already!" Tempest hisses. "Or
don't kill me, that'll be on you then.. I swear I will kill all of
you!" Tempest screams. It's all your fault... she lays back,
her teeth clenched so hard that her jaw pops. Was this humorous to
Snow? Get her district to turn on her, then take her in with open
arms?
Glancing at the commotion, Gateguard grimaced. His voice was still
rough and scratchy so his powers wouldn't be very effective here.
He didn't have much fight in him anyways, so he simply stayed
silent, watching and biding his time. he hoped that his own due
would come soon, he hated the mind numbing anticipation that came
with this