The Mockingjay Died: The Fourth Quarter Quell

Train: District 9/District 10

~District 9~

(Tori Windell's POV)

Storm doesn't seem to mind that I've latched onto his hand like a lifeline. I can't even make it to a chair before my legs give out and I sink to the floor, dragging Storm's hand down with me. Aryanna Toplit quickly pulls over a chair for me to sit on, and Storm gentle disengages his hand from my grasping clutch. He, Aryanna, and Elliot drag three more chairs over.

"Allies?" Storm asks quickly.

Aryanna shrugs. "Your choice. I don't know if you want to. I plan to make my death mean something, and it could put you guys in danger."

Storm glances at Elliot unsurely. Elliot shrugs, looking just as confused as I feel. Make her death mean something? Impossible.

"Um...Aryanna...the Games don't mean anything," Storm says slowly, like he's diffusing a bomb.

She rolls her eyes. "If I die in outright rebellion, it will mean everything. It could start another rebellion, Storm!" She has an excited light in her eyes as she speaks, and I don't know why. She's literally proposing she die for a rebellion that won't affect her. Because she'll be dead.

Storm frowns. "How?" Oh no. He looks like he's considering it.

"Well, I just need to take every opportunity to show how the Capitol is failing our country."

"Why?" The question pops out of my mouth before I realize I'm asking it. Storm and Aryanna both turn to look at me in surprise. I'm normally very shy, and I'm surprised at myself, really. I don't normally talk in front of people I don't know well. The interviews might kill me before I get to the Games.

"Why?" Ayanna repeats. "Well, to give them hope. None of the districts have had any since the Mockingjay Rebellion was quelled. If I can change things, I want to. The Capitol took away my family. I want to help take away their country."

"They took away your family?" Storm asks quietly, looking concerned.

Aryanna nods stiffly. "They were rebels. Somehow...I don't know...there was a Capitol spy in the group, and everyone was executed. Publicly. It was awful. Pointless. Like these stupid Games."

Storm frowns, concern filling his face. He's such a kind-hearted person, but I think he should be more wary of this girl. After all, she wasn't even alive during the Mockingjay Rebellion. Maybe her parents really were fighting for a lost cause. What if what I learned in school is right? What if the rebels back then were only terrorists trying to disrupt the peace of the Capitol's reign?

One look in Aryanna's passionate face convinces me. Her eyes are alight with a fire that I've never seen anywhere: the fire of hope. Hope that is now coursing through me, as I understand what she's fighting for. She wants other people to feel the same hope she does. She's laying down her life so that everyone she loves can walk free. It's so noble...I just don't know if I can give myself up for that.

"I can help too, right?" Elliot pipes up.

"Did you really need to ask?" Aryanna kids, poking him in the stomach. She quickly grows serious again as she turns to Storm. "So, it's up to you. Do you want to join us? Spark a revolution? Maybe someday they'll bring down the Capitol. Maybe it'll have started with us."

Storm glanced at me. "I need to talk to Tori about it."

"Right. Ok. Take as long as you want." Aryanna stands up and beckons for Elliot to follow her. "Let's give them some privacy."

As they leave the car, Storm raises his eyebrows at me. "What do you think?"

I shrug. "Is it worth it?"