As Pure As The Driven Snow - Coriolanus Snow

chapter three

Kara Fedora Breen's point of view.
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Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.

Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins.
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  Kara felt horribly at the second the images from the District One appeared on the big screen. You could see children aged 12 to 18, in lines as if they were soldiers part of an army, waiting for the Reaping to start. The worst thing probably was that the younger were on the front, which meant that they were the first thing everyone saw on camera. A small little girl was crying, absolutely terrified. Kara could feel Meliae becoming tense on her side, at this view. She took her hand in hers, trying to calm her down. Caecilia was paying attention closely, as she was going to be the girl's mentor. The Mayor of One started the ceremony by a long speech about the Games, stating how this was a punishment for their rebellion, standing on a scene, in front of the city hall, and walked to one of the two giant bowls put here for the drawing.

"Girls first." He said.

Hearing her name called by the mayor, the girl of District One, a called Velvereen, stepped outside the line and climbed the two steps leading to the stage. Caecilia looked closely at her tribute, Kara imitating her. She was not tall but not that little neither, her long dark hair were braided in two distinct french braids, and didn't looked like she was starving, in fact she looked pretty good nourished for a District girl. As every One citizen drawn before, she really did looked like she had a chance to win this game. Not that any of them three needed the Strabo Plinth Price, but Kara did enjoy to think the winner was going to be one of them three. It would mean that one of them would have achieved to save their tribute, traumatising one less of them, and more important, that Coriolanus Snow would have lost. If there was one thing Kara Breen wanted to see, it was snow falling to the ground.

"You're lucky!" said Meliae to Caecilia. "She looks quite healthy for a District girl."
"I know, right?" she smiled. "I may win!"
"Don't celebrate before the victory, Cae. We still don't know who will be the other twenty-three tributes." Kara sight, and at the same time the boy tribute of One, Facet, climbed the steps to stand next to her. "And still, she's a girl. I hate misogyny but she looks so small next to him, if a boy measuring 1m90 or even 1m80 is facing her, she's still dead."
"They're all dead. All twenty four."

The girls looked at themselves and turned to the voice, Sejanus', next to them. Kara raised her eyes to the sky internally. It couldn't have been someone else saying things like this, she would have known before seeing his black curls who was talking. She secretly agreed a little with him, why, she didn't quite knew, but her main preoccupation was to keep Meliae from saying anything that could have been dangerous for her. She grabbed her hand really thigh, but it did not kept Meliae from speaking at all.

"Why that? One will survive and come back home."
"Yes. He will come back traumatised, as a killer, and with the survivor guilt. I would prefer being dead, actually."

None of them answered, realising what he just said. Kara never thought about it this way, but indeed Sejanus was quite right on this point. She would never admit it, though. She just was a little anxious about Meliae, because she knew her best friend really well, and she will agree with Sejanus and will try to do something about it, as she hated injustice and violence more than everything else - almost more than the hate Kara felt toward Snow, so, it was a lot. At the exact moment when her friend was about to speak again, certainly putting herself in an awful situation, Casca Highbottom tried to gain their attention back, announcing that they will now assist to the Reaping of the District Two.