'there is happiness
past the blood and bruise
past the cursed and cries
beyond the terror in the nightfall'
• where olwyn laurier
will do anything to protect
...
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chapter eight
"THEY'RE GOING TOeat you alive, twelve", a voice whispered from behind Olwyn as her back rested against her district's chariot before the start of the tribute parade. The fourteen year old turned her head, her eyes automatically narrowing at the girl who intruded her solitude. Olwyn immediately recognised the smirking, snarky girl as district nine's, Flora Tawny; a mouthy little thing with enough ego to rattle even the career tributes.
Flora wasn't tall, standing only an inch taller than the Laurier girl. She donned a withered look and a shaved head, something that made her appear even more terrifying. Her arms were crossed, her eyes cataloging Olwyn as prey, not a predator. "Seriously, I wonder why you all even send tributes anymore? I mean, when has twelve ever won?", she sneered, an action that caused Olwyn's blood to boil. The Laurier girl's mouth opened to retort, only to be cut off by her own district partner, Ares Mallor.
"When has anyone from district nine ever won?", Ares asked, the older boy walking to stand in support of Olwyn. "I'd scram if I were you, twelve is on the up and up. I wouldn't want to make enemies of us before the games even start." Ares dazzled with his magnetic smirk before waving Flora goodbye with a devilish smirk. The Tawny girl scoffed, rolling her eyes but clearly reading the message and wandered off to intimidate another poor soul.
It was silent between the district twelve tributes for a while, and Olwyn wasn't fond of small talk enough to start conversing with the Mallor boy. From the reaping to the train to this moment, barely any words were exchanged between the two and now that they were alone, the shared memories of home and same ideas of familiarity hung between them, making it known that only one would return home, if any.
"Your brother is Atlas Laurier, right?", Ares suddenly asked, deep brown eyes looking down at the smaller girl. Olwyn attempted not to roll her eyes; obviously her brother was Atlas, everyone knew that. District twelve knew the Lauriers, knew their story as if it was their own; dead mother, abandoned by their father, the older sister turning down every single suitor, the middle brother throwing away his intelligence in order to provide for his family and now the baby sister, soon to be dead in the throes of the brutal hunger games. In all, the Lauriers looked to have a pretty bleak fate, something all of the district knew.
Olwyn stiffly nodded, avoiding Ares' eyes like the plague. Clearing his throat, the teen boy clicked his tongue, kissing his teeth. "Okay. What's your plan?", the boy questioned, hiding any ulterior motive under pure curiosity; that was his game. Pulling any information through sly smiles and appealing gestures. Ares was better at manipulation than any Career.
Olwyn hummed, copying his actions by clicking her own tongue. "Hoping to be killed quickly so I won't have to decide which Career looks the deadliest", the girl deadpanned, reaching her hand up to adjust the stupid headband on her head. With a pained sigh of frustration, Olwyn realised that the tribute outfits were even more ridiculous when you're the one wearing them. The huge headband, disguised as a hard hat, paired with the scratchy, woollen, dirt brown overalls were definitely not what coal miners wore, and looked silly and childish beside the likes of district one and two. Glamorous dresses of shimmering peacock, ebony, burgundy and gold truly put the rest to shame, as if they weren't embarrassed enough already.
