The Rapid Sparks of the Cord; A Hunger Games Novel

CHAPTER 3

As the morning sun shone through the window of the room, Lith rubbed his eyes. Despite the circumstances, he received the best sleep of his life that night.

He got up to put his slippers on, which were laying at the front door. Their color seemed unnatural, being a dark emerald green. Lith felt almost embarrassed to be so fascinated with a pair of slippers, but this luxury was something unheard of in District 11.

He slipped his foot into the slippers, put on a bathrobe, and headed to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror, and about jumped back in horror. His eyes were as puffy as could be, of course from crying all last night. He hadn't even left his room to go get dinner. Bean had to bring him a plate at nearly 9 PM.

He hopped in the shower, and the first time in his life, the water was warm. He took an extra 20 minutes to finish, and now understood why Capitol people often valued showers as a favorite activity.

He stepped out, and was surprised when his feet were met with soft fabric, instead of hard wood planks. He brushed his hair, and found a tool labeled "blow-dryer" on the counter. He didn't know what it did, but was willing to find out. He plugged it in to an outlet, of which looked fancier and cleaner than the ones back home, and was immediately met with a gust of hot air. He figured pretty quickly that it was used to dry his hair, and after about 5 minutes, it was mostly dried.

As he opened the bathroom door to head towards the dining cabin, Bean jumped out from the doorway with a loud "BOO!" He felt his heart stop for a second, and held his chest after giving her the bird. How she was able to make jokes in these times was a mystery to him, but he did appreciate her trying to keep things semi-okay.

"If no one else was awake, they sure are now after that scream." Bean laughed, as they walked down to the dining cabin. Their mentor nor their escort was there, so they decided to help themselves to whatever. In District 11, there were no set breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods, but at the table, there were tons of dishes they'd never seen before. A soft square with mini squares inside of it, seemingly made from grain, with syrup on top, called a waffle. A bowl of hardened grain, with a sweet under-taste, in a bowl with milk. Pieces of bread toasted to a golden brown, with slices of butter on top. They almost didn't want to eat it, until they heard their stomachs grumbling. They didn't feel like facing their mentor or the escort, so they took a few plates of food down to Bean's room.

They sat in silence on Bean's bed for a few minutes. "What's your plan?" Bean said, breaking the silence, with mouthfuls of bread. Lith raised his eyebrow, not sure what she meant. "For the games, stupid." She smiled, hitting his shoulder. "Oh, I don't know. I don't think I'm winning anyway." Lith muttered, cutting up a piece of toast with his fork and knife. "Come on, you're not even gonna try?" Bean asked, and Lith couldn't tell if she was teasing or being serious.

Lith swallowed the toast. "Maybe I would if you hadn't been reaped with me. But I don't want to have to kill you or watch you die, so you have to be the one to win." Lith said, with an expression so blank on his face that Bean was off put. "Whatever dude. If you think I'm winning, you're funny. I'm still gonna try and survive for as long as possible, but...." Bean trailed off, not quite sure of her own plan.

"Regardless. Let's come up with one. What if we grab stuff at the cornucopia and head for the trees?" Bean suggested. Lith rolled his eyes. "That's only if the arena is in a forest. For all we know, it could be a desert, the arctic, who knows what." Said Lith, shutting her down.

The train came to a stop, signifying that they had reached the Capitol. The escort and mentor led Bean and Lith to the Avenue of Tributes, where they would be staying for the next few days as they trained.

The building wasn't too big, probably fitting only about 6 people at most. However, the lobby clearly took up most of the space, being lined with marble tiling, gold strips, and the brightest white lights that could give them 4 migraines at a time. Up a curved staircase were the rooms they'd be staying in for the next few nights.

The days of training passed by slowly to Lith. Lith was better off strength wise than a majority of District 11, and looking at the competition in the training centers told him he that he could very well have a chance. This didn't matter though; this was Bean's win.

Lith practiced with archery, camouflage, and rope tying. He didn't want to focus on anything upper strength wise, he thought he was trained enough in that department. Regardless, Bean made him participate in the lifting portion.

Bean herself was busy. Climbing, archery, setting traps, and camouflage was all just day one. Spear throwing, recognizing wild growing food, sword battling, and crafting soon followed. She even convinced a district 4 boy named Ocean to teach her how to make fish hooks.

Eventually, the day came that they would be sent into the arena to fight to their deaths. The District 11 mentor, who Lith would only find out's name was as he entered the hovercraft traveling to the arena, Cheesecake, offered no help whatsoever, with Bean remarking that she was "utterly useless".

Lith entered the room that held the platform he would rise into the arena on. Diamond plate across the entire floor, according to Cheesecake. Dark, metal walls, with one stray wire poking out from a bunch of cords on the ceiling, shooting sparks into a corner. Cheesecake waved him goodbye, but all Lith could do was roll his eyes as he stepped onto the platform.

The door behind him closed, and after a few seconds, he felt the platform start to move up under his feet. After what he predicted to be about 20 seconds, sunlight started shining in through the top. 5 seconds after, he felt a large gust of wind, almost freezing him to his core.

12 seconds later, he had made it to the top. He couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. A snow covered rocky landscape. Rocks, around 7 feet tall, surrounded the cornucopia, with entry ways in between. He turned to the cornucopia. Its silver metal was coated in small chunks of snow, sliding down the sides gradually. To his left was a District 7 boy named Tou. To his right, a blonde girl from either district 8 or 9, who he couldn't recall their name.

Above the cornucopia, a hologram of the Panem seal shined above it in a bright blue shade. It suddenly swapped to the number 60. 59.
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Lith looks around until he can find Bean. About 7 tributes away to his right, there she is. He can tell she's got her eyes set on something, but from his distance, can't tell what. He decides that he needs to do that too, and spots a sickle that he thinks will work.

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He spots a girl 4 tributes from his left eyeballing him. She looks like she's going to go after him first. Judging by the uniform color, she's district 3.

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As time dwindles down, his heart rate goes up increasingly higher. He spots a girl directly across from him, who looks scared and unprepared. He remembers her from training. She didn't do anything besides camouflage. If he remembers correctly, she's District 12.

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Despite how cold the icy air surrounding him is, he feels sweat start dripping down his forehead.

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