Writers Games; Alliances

D10 Male - Tobias Haycraft - Task 3 [unobtrusive-]

As Mira released the button and the door slid shut again, everybody started walking. It was a struggle to keep Buck inside my jacket, I suppose he’d rather be running around at our feet, but with a new enigma and possible danger around every corner I couldn’t afford to just let him roam free.
    “Hey Mira, wait up.” I called to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed young girl. She hesitated in her steps, and smiled while I caught up to her.
   “Hey,” She spoke as I approached.
   “Hey, so, I was wondering, what do you think the chances are they’ll let Buck stay with me?” I questioned playfully. She let out a small laugh, it was a very beautiful laugh at that. To tell the truth, it was nice to hear someone laugh like that, after all the fear and anxiety I felt about entering the games, it felt nice to, just for a moment, relax.
    “Um, well, he is adorable. Hopefully the Gamemaker’s have a soft spot for tiny, adorable animals.” She laughed again, brushing a clump of hair out of her face. I smiled too, and gave Buck a little affection.
    “Hopefully, I mean I’d really hate to have to part from this guy, you know?” I gazed down at my dog for a few minutes. Mira didn’t respond. Perhaps my statement reminded her of the family which she left behind, the family which she also couldn’t stand to part with. I looked up to apologise, but the sight before me left me dumbstruck. Buck began yapping, I spun around to see if any others remained to fight along side me but they were all captured as well. My allies were being held by Peacekeepers, their mouths covered and hands behind their backs as they were tugged inside rooms we hadn’t noticed before. I shushed Buck and a hand was immediately clamped over my own mouth, while two others took my arms and dragged me into a separate room. Buck fell from my jacket as my hands which were supporting him were removed, and he began barking repeatedly. I felt a bit panicked, hoping that I wouldn’t have to leave my dog so soon. Thankfully he followed us, and made it in the room before the door had been slammed shut.
     The hands were removed, and I was thrust forward, stumbling as I lost my balance. When I regained my composure, and looked questioningly to my captors, I gazed over the room. A table sat in the centre, refreshments which looked inviting spread across it. A woman entered the room after a few minutes, and strode to the chair opposite me. She bore a striking resemblance to the Head Gamemaker, but how should I know after only seeing her once during the Feast?
     “Mr Haycraft.” She began, and I became aware there was a familiarity to her voice. Perhaps this was the Head Gamemaker, she sounded much like her as well.
    “Can I offer you anything?” Her delicate hands swept across the spread upon the table. I very cautiously approached the table and sat, looking over what refreshments she had to offer. Buck promptly scampered over and hopped up on my lap. Hoping she hadn’t seen, I sharply glanced up to Occisora. She showed no indication of having seen anything suspicious, so I could relax, for now. My eyes trailed over to a picture frame hung neatly on the blank wall behind Occisora’s head. My jaw nearly unhinged as it dropped in shock; I recognised the faces as those I loved, my mother, my father, and my friends. How did – oh, I felt I had no time for questioning. I had better just hold my tongue and wait for whatever conference this was to be over.
    Occisora noticed my jaw-dropping stare, and turned her head to look at the frame as well. “You like it? I thought the photo was very well done. These are all your friends, are they not?” I felt it was rude not to give an answer, no matter how little I wanted to give one, and nodded my head slowly. My eyes caught on something shiny hidden under the edge of my plate; I wanted to investigate further, but by now Occisora had returned her gaze to me. Surely she would have caught on to any suspicious movement I caused.
     “How is your family by the way? And your friends?” She suddenly questioned, catching me off guard.
     “Well, I – I –” She didn’t give me time to finish, and began talking over me.
     “Ah, never mind. I guess you woudn’t know anyway, considering that you are in here, and they, well, they’re not.” Her cruel eyes graced mine, and her lips peeled up into a smile. She pulled the chair out and took a seat in it, coming face-to-face with me.
    “Oh I know, dear, such a tragedy, you being reaped and all. But I guess it would be tragic no matter who was reaped, you or those poor friends of yours.” She gazed back to the picture hung on the wall, this was my chance, I snatched the shiny object from beside the plate and held it under the table. I nearly gasped upon discovering it was a deadly hunting knife. Why would this be here, I questioned. There was nothing on the table of refreshments that required slicing, and besides, the knife was a hunting knife – what was its purpose?
    Occisora shifted back until our eyes met again. She could tell I was distracted, and simply continued speaking.  “Oh, how is your dog?” I froze; she knew. Of course she knew, it was only a matter of time before everyone knew. And besides, it was no secret, was it?
    “You thought you could hide it from me?”
    “No ma’am.” I replied hastily. “It was no secret ma’am.”
   “Well,” she countered. “I knew he was with you and I allowed it – until now.” I gasped, gripping my dog and pressing him closer to my body. She couldn’t take him away; I would not allow it.
    “I am a very powerful woman, Mr Haycraft. The arena is no place for a helpless little animal. Mark my words, he will not last long.”
     “He’ll last as long as it takes. Ma’am, I assure you, I will do everything in my power to keep him alive. He and I will be walking out of here, just you wait and see. We’ll both be the Victors.” I felt a little strange speaking against someone who held so much power, but at the same time relieved and excited. She thought she could just come in here and scare me with a few threats, well, I felt confident her threats would never scare a person like me. I could be smarter than she was, I could. I felt confident nothing was going to stand between me and victory.
     “Ha.” She huffed. I lowered my smile. “Do you really want his death on your conscience, Mr Haycraft? Is that what you want, the blood of such a small creature on your hands?” I gulped, realising there were so many things that could go wrong in a place like this. Starvation for one thing, in most of the games I’d seen the tributes barely had enough food for themselves, let alone a pet that couldn’t hunt for itself. Then there were mutts, god knows how many tributes died from a single mutation. There were so many things that could go wrong, did I really want the responsibility of another life on my hands?
     Occisora pushed her chair out and stood up angrily.  “I will allow you to keep your dog with you, but try to defy me again and it won’t just be your pathetic animal who gets hurt.” My eyes flickered to the picture; she didn’t mean them, did she? She eyed me intensely for several seconds before marching out the door. All was silent. I had time to contemplate her last threat; she wouldn’t kill my friends and family all because I brought a dog to the arena, would she? There had to be some sort of ethical code the Gamemakers lived by, right?
   Buck, who was wanting for attention, licked my fingers until I looked to him. “Hi, little buddy. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.” I lifted him up and pressed my lips to his forehead. “I’ll keep you safe.” I repeated solemnly.
    A Peacekeeper approached from my left, slamming his hand on the table before me. Buck jumped, whimpering in the process. I held him close, trailing my eyes up the arm of the Peacekeeper and to his face. He looked stern, dark skinned and with cruel eyes.
   “Congratulations.” He said. “You passed.”
    “Passed?” I questioned, concern plaguing my tone. “It was a test?” I rose to my feet, caressing my dog’s ears. Without another word, the other Peacekeeper was summoned over. He held a few items wrapped in a cloth, and set them on the table right before me. I slowly sat back down and waited patiently. The Peacekeeper then removed the cloth, revealing three weapons; a pile of shurikens, one long-distance crossbow, and a dozen throwing knives. Excitement filled me up as I took turns holding each item.
    “All for me?” I asked, tone filled with pleasure.
     The two gentlemen on either side of me grinned, pleased with my reaction no doubt. The one to my left shook his head, saying: “You may pick one.”
    “Just one...” I contemplated, looking over each one. I picked up a shuriken with one hand, fingering each pointed edge that formed its star pattern. It wasn’t very heavy, but its size made up for that, and so did the level of sharpness on each peak. Attempting to test one out, I positioned it properly in my hand and tossed it at the wall. It lodged in the wall, travelling at a pleasing speed whilst maintaining perfect stealth. No one would hear this baby coming in the middle of the woods; but, I thought, they’re a bit small. To make a kill I’d have to throw almost all of them, maybe the shurikens were a bad idea.
    Next I fingered the knives, picking up a few to get a feel for their weight before also throwing one of them into the wall. Buck let out a tiny howl as it pierced the wall not far from the shuriken. I grinned, chuckling slightly. The throwing knives were good, but also not one of my favourites. I figured I’d test the bow out before making any decisions. So, I set Buck on the table and picked up the crossbow. It felt nice, perfect weight, nice structure, not too complicated when it came to loading and firing. Glancing at the two Peacekeepers, who nodded as if sanctioning my request, I lifted an arrow from the cloth. Placing my foot on the foot stirrup at the front of the bow, I grasped either side of the string using my bare hands, and pulled it up until it latched in the proper place. I felt a rush of excitement as I loaded the arrow; honestly I’d never used a crossbow before, because we hadn’t been allowed any type of weapons back home. So you can imagine how exciting this was for me, after years of dreaming about it, I finally had the chance to shoot one.
    After making sure Buck wasn’t going to jump right in my line of sight at the last minute, I grasped the foregrip and fingered the trigger. I took a deep breath and let it out slow, pulling the trigger just as I did so.  The arrow flew with lightning speed into the wall, lodging deep within it.
    “Nice shot,” A Peacekeeper said, while the other clapped me on the back. Buck was in an uproar, barking excitedly just as soon as I lowered my weapon.
    “Hey, boy, quiet down.” I scratched his ears and looked back at the Peacekeepers. “I’ll take the crossbow.” I said with determination.
    “Alright son, enjoy.” One of them said and took away the other weapons. I was practically beaming with pride as I held my weapon and received the quiver. I smiled as one of the men approached me once more.
     “I’m sorry to have to do this.” He sighed. Concern flooded me, erasing any other previous emotion; what did he mean by that? And that look on his face – it was definitely alarming. Before I could get one word out he’d pulled a syringe from out of nowhere and stuck it in my arm. I groaned and my vision grew blurry. I dropped to the ground, my mind was swirling and my ears just barely picking up the sounds of Buck yapping in my ear. Soon the room grew dark, and I fell unconscious.