[The words are even and clear. There is no fear... but there is no pride. The Career says them like anyone else would. Neutrality masking a horror at what it means. At what that date means.
She looks the part, today. What the video shows is exactly what the camera in District Two would have displayed for the Reaping: Clove has done her hair simply. Pulled it back, away from her face. Bound once near the skull and hanging down from there. Minimal make-up, but a little. Enough to draw attention to the brown of her eyes and a pale pink-ish red to her lips. Not provocative, just enough to give them a little color. And her cheeks are painted with blush to hide how pale she is today. She looks alive and alert. Not like the frightened girl she'd woken up as. She even wears the kind of clothes she would. A white shirt, perfectly clean and pressed, buttoned up fully and white pants. They're not uniform regulation, but it doesn't matter. She still looks like an Academy student, turned out for the Reaping.]
[Cato is still asleep. She thinks that he might still be disoriented enough with his arrival here to not know what day it is. Or perhaps he's trying to ignore it. Perhaps he'll even take pride in it. She doesn't think the latter will happen, but it's possible.
A girl from District Twelve who volunteered to save her sister won the Hunger Games with her district partner. Anything is possible.
He's still asleep, and Clove doesn't want to wake him. In the bed in the apartment, he seems like he's actually asleep, not haunted by nightmares like he was at the camp. Clove won't disturb that moment of peace. She knows how hard it is to find, even here. Even away from the Arena.
She remembers what she found in the item shop, what's fueled her nightmares recently. Seeing it glittering on District Twelve's jacket as Thresh hauled her up, fingers slipping across it when, in a moment of sheer panic, she tried to find some purchase. Something to hold onto to save herself. She retrieves the gold mockingjay pin from her dresser and heads outside.
Maybe Twelve will go to the forests. The treehouses? Or somewhere deep in them, not to be found until this day is over.
Clove travels by instinct, though. She heads to the heart of the village, to where the fountain is. Because of Luceti had a Justice Hall, that is where it would be.
She is very, very conscious of how she walks. It's an even pace, and her body is drawn up straight. As if she is entirely in control and unafraid. ...Tinged, at its very edges, with the gait of one walking to her death. Every child knows that feeling. The sinking fear of Reaping Day that leaves so many hollow inside as they stand and wait for their name. And if their name isn't called, they lunge forward. They demand to go instead. They call it an honor so they don't start screaming. And when they're chosen, they toss their heads and smile. Because that's what everyone from District Two wants. They all want to go to the Games.
Everything feels so normal in Luceti, and that's almost frightening. No stage, no seals of the Capitol, no representatives, no former Victors standing, no mayor giving a speech. Luceti doesn't know what day it is.
It feels so fake. And more frightening than the Reaping.]
video / action :
[The words are even and clear. There is no fear... but there is no pride. The Career says them like anyone else would. Neutrality masking a horror at what it means. At what that date means.
She looks the part, today. What the video shows is exactly what the camera in District Two would have displayed for the Reaping: Clove has done her hair simply. Pulled it back, away from her face. Bound once near the skull and hanging down from there. Minimal make-up, but a little. Enough to draw attention to the brown of her eyes and a pale pink-ish red to her lips. Not provocative, just enough to give them a little color. And her cheeks are painted with blush to hide how pale she is today. She looks alive and alert. Not like the frightened girl she'd woken up as. She even wears the kind of clothes she would. A white shirt, perfectly clean and pressed, buttoned up fully and white pants. They're not uniform regulation, but it doesn't matter. She still looks like an Academy student, turned out for the Reaping.]
[Cato is still asleep. She thinks that he might still be disoriented enough with his arrival here to not know what day it is. Or perhaps he's trying to ignore it. Perhaps he'll even take pride in it. She doesn't think the latter will happen, but it's possible.
A girl from District Twelve who volunteered to save her sister won the Hunger Games with her district partner.
Anything is possible.
He's still asleep, and Clove doesn't want to wake him. In the bed in the apartment, he seems like he's actually asleep, not haunted by nightmares like he was at the camp. Clove won't disturb that moment of peace. She knows how hard it is to find, even here. Even away from the Arena.
She remembers what she found in the item shop, what's fueled her nightmares recently. Seeing it glittering on District Twelve's jacket as Thresh hauled her up, fingers slipping across it when, in a moment of sheer panic, she tried to find some purchase. Something to hold onto to save herself. She retrieves the gold mockingjay pin from her dresser and heads outside.
Maybe Twelve will go to the forests. The treehouses? Or somewhere deep in them, not to be found until this day is over.
Clove travels by instinct, though. She heads to the heart of the village, to where the fountain is. Because of Luceti had a Justice Hall, that is where it would be.
She is very, very conscious of how she walks. It's an even pace, and her body is drawn up straight. As if she is entirely in control and unafraid. ...Tinged, at its very edges, with the gait of one walking to her death. Every child knows that feeling. The sinking fear of Reaping Day that leaves so many hollow inside as they stand and wait for their name. And if their name isn't called, they lunge forward. They demand to go instead. They call it an honor so they don't start screaming. And when they're chosen, they toss their heads and smile. Because that's what everyone from District Two wants. They all want to go to the Games.
Everything feels so normal in Luceti, and that's almost frightening. No stage, no seals of the Capitol, no representatives, no former Victors standing, no mayor giving a speech. Luceti doesn't know what day it is.
It feels so fake. And more frightening than the Reaping.]