'Sometimes I wish I died that day. It would have spared me all this trauma.'
In which Calla Forte wishes she wouldn't have made it through her games. A girl who never forgets, faces her worst memories every day.
She can't sleep at night without see...
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------- six -------
Katniss Everdeen was a miracle. By the end of the training everyone was gathered around her, watching in awe as she fend off every possible danger. Once again the girl on fire proved herself to the world. In that moment, Calla saw her as a reincarnation of none other than the Greek Goddess of the hunt, Artemis.
Katniss was no one to mess with. She could crush you in a second, if she wanted to. Maybe - just maybe - she was someone to befriend, someone to form an alliance with. After all, she seemed trustworthy and to do everything for you, once she grew to like you, which wasn't easy to achieve. The girls wasn't a social butterfly.
But from what Calla had gathered so far, Katniss Everdeen took a liking to the weakest links. During her Games, she had formed an alliance with a twelve year old girl, and now, she visibly adored Max and enjoyed the company of Wiress and Betee too. If the girl from 6 was really as bad as her friend liked to say, maybe she would have a chance with the girl on fire.
Tributes from 12 usually didn't make it through the Bloodbath and if they did they stuck to themselves, rarely ever forming any alliance outside their district. The same went for six. Just that this time Calla was less opposed to making any.
Though, one had to consider that she had known the people entering the Games with her for a few years already, different to the girl on fire whose trust was only reserved for Peeta. "Maybe, that was why she always chose to team up with the weaker tributes," the ocean eyed girl thought. "Even if they turned their back on her, she could easily end them."
Yet, Calla Forte's opinion of the fire girl changed vastly when she had her first conversation with her that lasted longer than mere seconds. Beforehand she had taken the girl to be quick-witted and calculated. Katniss Everdeen on the other hand was anything but that. She was a passionate person, led by her emotions most of the time. Her actions weren't long planned. She acted out of impulse.
Their encounter was rather uncomfortable. Both girls were waiting at elevator, wanting to escape the training centre after a long day of hard work. The few seconds they had to eat for it felt like hours as they stood there in silence, occasionally sneaking subtle glances in an attempt to figure the other out.
------- six -------
"I'm sorry for your loss," Euphoria Twist had told the brunette in that exact same elevator. After her Games Calla was only a shell of her old self. She had fallen into a deep depression and the Games had broken her. But no one from the capitol before the bubbly escort had ever cared about her feelings. Her stylists had gushed about how exciting the Games were for them, not considering how traumatic they must have been for the girl.
"Bentley was such a sweet boy. He deserved better, so did you," she added quietly. Sympathising with the tribute wasn't what she was supposed to, yet she couldn't keep herself from doing so. Under all of those heavy layers of fancy clothes and make-up was a human-being with a big heart. Due to this, the blue haired Lady had place in Calla's heart.
------- six -------
Something unexpected happened. To Calla's surprise the girl, standing next to her, opened her mouth to talk to her. "I'm sorry for your loss," she said. It were the exact same words that had left Euphoria Twist's lips three years ago. "Bentley, he was your brother, right?" she asked as they could finally enter the elevator.
At first, all she did was size up her opponent. "Why would she even bring that up? That happened three years ago." Calla's mind began to race, millions of thoughts were going through her head during that moment. The girl liked to overthink. Different to Katniss Everdeen, she thought too much rather than too little. "Cousin," she corrected shortly, her voice still steady.
"I don't know what I would do if anything bad ever happened to Prim," the girl on fire tried again. Katniss wasn't used to initiating conversations. That's why she was so terrible at it. Normally, she would stand alone, minding her own business, like Calla did. But she felt oddly connected to the quiet brunette.
Realising she was trapped in the crystal elevator until the door would finally open with the light bing, she was so desperately yearning for, she took a deep breath. "I think about him everyday. And I cry for him everyday. Sometimes I'm angry too, then I smash plates or all I can do is scream," Calla got herself to answer. "But everybody's reaction to grief is different, so I don't know what you'd do either. The only thing, I can say for sure is that the pain - although it gets more bearable with time - never completely goes away."
"I think about Rue everyday too," Katniss told her. "She reminded me a lot of my sister." Yes, Katniss Everdeen was definitely not good at smalltalk.
"I'm sorry for your loss." It was Calla's turn to say that now. She looked at the girl with sympathy. By that time, she had figured that fire girl did in fact have no ulterior motive behind her questions. She was just reaching out to another victor who'd understand her, much like Calla herself did when she first met Johanna. Maybe, she needed a friend at the Games as well.
With her realisation the bing came, her cue to leave the other girl behind. But Katniss wouldn't let her go without one last question. "Would you like to be mine and Peeta's ally in the arena?" she asked the brunette, having forgotten that she was supposed fill in Haymitch first, before proposing something as important as this.
The offer caused Calla to stop dead in her tracks. She stood right between the elevator and the sixth floor. Thus, she hindered the door from closing. There were many advantages that would come with being on the same team as the girl. She was an amazing archer and seemingly loyal. But still - just as Calla was about to accept - she thought of one determining thing.
"I'm sorry, but I'm with Johanna," she declined. She was the only person who would decline Katniss' proposal. Everyone else was fighting over an alliance with her. Decidedly, declining such an offer wasn't a smart thing to do, Calla knew that, but she would never in a million years choose Katniss over Johanna. "I promise though that neither me or Johanna will do you two any harm."
"Same goes for us," fire girl returned the favour, promising to not cause any harm to either of them, despite her dislike towards Johanna. By the end of their conversation, there was a mutual respect for the other on both side. Under different circumstances, the two girl may have been friends. But neither wanted to form any new relationships, knowing that only one can make it out in the end anyway.
------- six -------
"You won't believe what happened today," Calla begun as she visited Johanna in the evening. When rough nights came, they would sleep together in the same bed, just so they could comfort the other. It was the same that day.
Her introduction was only met by a question look Johanna, asking for the girl to continue with her story. "12 asked me if I would be her ally," she laughed. She herself could not quite believe that this truly happened to her.
"And you accepted?" Johanna assured.
At this, Calla shook her head, perplexed at the girl thinking she'd leave her just like that. "I said you were my ally. But we made a pact that we wouldn't hurt each other in there," she explained, squeezing Johanna's hand softly.
"That is very sweet of you, doll. But tomorrow I want you to go up to fire girl and tell her that you've changed your mind."
