𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝑨𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑼𝒔

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 - 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒔 𝑺𝒏𝒐𝒘

Snow entered the Capitol, trying his best to stay composed as he hid behind a party of people entering through the gates. He had no identification, but when he made it through, he let out a sigh of relief. Snow walked across the fields, away from the cars laid out for the nobles he had come in with. He itched to jump into one and drive himself to his grandmother and Tigris. As he tried to snake himself out, a boy, perhaps 18 or 19, bumped into him.

Snow opened his mouth to say something but when he did, the boy was staring at him, mouth agape.

"Coriolanus Snow?" The boy said, almost in a whisper.

Snow narrowed his eyes, pointing to himself. "Me? No," he said, shaking his hands. "I'm in your class remember? In the academy? I'm..." Snow thought for a second. "Oh! I'm Ron, remember?" I'm the blonde that sits in the corner.

The boy studied Snow, and Snow knew right away that the boy was a quiet kid who wasn't aware of his surroundings.

Bingo.

"There aren't any-"

"Good meeting you on this fine evening," Snow said, trying to use his charm as he once had in the past. "But my grandmother is calling! I must get going with my-" SNow looked for signs of Lucy Gray, who had been against going through the walls when the sun was high, but she eventually agreed to go after SNow. He spotted her thick, wavy hair in between a group of people, sleeping her head down. "With my friend over there! We went out for an evening stroll!"

"But it's not evening yet?"The boy asked.

"What's your name?"

"Prong?" The boy said, confused.

"Listen, Prong, shouldn't you be in class, you're always the rule-follower, no?" Snow said, trying to stall for Lucy Gray.

"Yes but what about you?" Prong said, "I'm also taking a mid-day stroll. I need it for the art project."

Snow smiled "What would Dean Highbottom say?"

"Dean Highbottom? Do you mean Dean Dovecote?," Prong said, walking closer to Snow, suspicion in his eyes.

"All the deans are the same." Show said, trying to calm himself as the last name "Dovecote" sounded familiar.

Where have I heard that name?

"True," Prong said with a shrug He walked closer, looking him up and down as he leaned in. "How can I get to District 12? When do I get off the train?"

Snow's eyes widened. "Is it because of my shirt? It's because I got pecked by mockingbirds! I'm not a district!"

Lucy Gray walked closer, separating herself from the group. She tried to evaluate the situation, carefully studying both faces.

"You're not from Capitol. Are you a rebel?" Prong asked, hope glittering in his eyes.

Why does he look so happy? Snow thought, weirded out by the boy. Has the Capitol accepted kids like this into the academy nowadays? Betrayers?

"What if I was?" Snow asked carefully.

"I would need to follow you back to the districts. I have a mission you see."

"We're a little busy," Snow said, shaking his head. "We're visiting my grandmother, like I said."

"If you help me, I'll give you my house, my car, and my identification. It also looks like you want to go to the party in the academy, right?"

"You're pretty smart," Lucy Gray said, "what do you need help with?"

"Luсу-" Snow paused, reminding himself that he was in the Capitol.

"I'm going to join the rebels and I need to get to District 12."

Lucy Gray looked up at Snow, "And why would you give this up?"

"Because they killed my brother when he was one of them!" Prong said, anger flickering in his eyes. 

"Oh," Lucy Gray breathed out.

Snow put a hand on Prong's shoulder. "Did anything get bombed? Anyone?"

Prong nodded, meeting Snow's eyes. "Yes, the academy and a few apartments, over the past few days.

"Over the past few days." SNow echoced. His head snapped up in alarm. "What did you do in return? A car, identification, and a house? A penthouse right?"

"Yes, and for the identification, you can alter the picture, which is something you might want to do, Coriolanus Snow." He turned to Lucy Gray, "You too, Lucy Gray Baird. You aren't very hard to spot in a crowd." He said when Lucy Gray's mouth fell open. "So do we have a deal?"