Mantis
“You want to make her eyes bigger?” One of the stylists was asking, looking rather confused by this. “But they’re already so big!”
“They’re her best feature!” One of the other stylists argued. “We need to enhance them!”
“They don’t need to be enhanced! Come on, just help me figure out which lip color to give her!”
Mantis looked between the two of them, one finger drumming a nervous beat on her leg. Neither of them was paying her any attention anymore, and the parade was in two hours.
Then again, two hours was a long time… Mantis stood up from her chair and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her.
She’d made it almost all the way down the hall before stopping. What was she doing? This was the Capitol, she couldn’t be wandering around aimlessly. There were cameras and Peacekeepers and… and… and… other tributes?
She frowned. But no, he was definitely right there. A boy about her age, although he had muscles like a bodybuilder, was leaning against the wall outside of one of the styling rooms.
“Um… hello.” She greeted him hesitantly. He was big, and therefore he was scary, but she needed to make friends. That was what her escort had told her- if she didn’t make friends, she was going to die on the first day.
He looked over at her, and for the first time Mantis was struck by just how grumpy he looked. He took a step away from the wall, and she drew back.
“Hello.” He replied gruffly. “I’m going to the cafeteria.”
With that, he turned and marched away. Mantis paused. Had that been an invitation, or was he just letting her know? After a brief hesitation, she hurried to catch up.
He was the first to break the silence. “I am going to win.” He told her.
She blinked, looking up at him with wide black eyes. “Oh.”
“It will be very good.” He assured her. “The other tributes will not stand a chance.”
They had reached the cafeteria. “The… others?” Mantis asked hopefully, sliding into a chair across from the boy’s.
“Yes.”
“My name is Mantis.” She offered. “I’m thirteen.”
“Drax.” He replied simply. He then poked at an item on the menu, looking absolutely delighted when it lit up and a waiter immediately began carrying something over to them.
Mantis looked up at the waiter to thank him. She didn’t recognize the dish in his hand, but it was only polite to thank people, after all. However, she stopped short of speaking.
The boy’s eyes were sunken in, like he hadn’t slept for weeks. His black hair was cropped short, revealing a still-fading bruise on his temple. And, perhaps most alarming of all, his tongue was dangling out of his mouth, reaching almost to the bottom of his chin. It looked strangely deformed, and the entire thing was the dark purple of a bruise.
She swallowed. “Thank you.” She managed to say. He said nothing in response, just nodded once and walked away. She turned back to Drax.
He was busy nibbling on a piece of the strange food, and didn’t seem to have noticed the boy. When it became clear that Drax wasn’t going to say anything, Mantis leaned forward. “That boy.” She whispered. “What was wrong with him?”
Drax just frowned at her.
“He looked like he hadn’t slept, and his tongue…” She trailed off with a shudder.
“He is one of the Brood.” Drax explained to her before popping an entire shrimp into his mouth.
“Oh,” she said quietly. She had heard of the Brood. They were slaves of the Capitol, people from the districts who had tried to run away or rebel. Usually the Capitol cut out the tongues, but apparently this time they’d tried something new. “Do you… do you want to be in an alliance?”
He scoffed. “With a child like you? I won’t need any allies to win. I can do it all on my own.”
Mantis flinched at his words. Then she stood up, pushing the bowl of shrimp over to his side of the table. “Fine.” She snapped. “I’ll find my own way. And you know what? I bet I’m gonna outlast you.”
And with that, she stalked out of the room. Of course, she’d barely made it to the hallway by the time she practically collapsed against the wall, gasping for air like her life depended on it. Had she really just done that? Not only had she been brave enough to seek out an alliance on her own, but she’d also yelled at him and made an enemy when he rejected her? Oh, god, she was going to die on the first day.
“That was brave, what you said in there.” A quiet voice came from beside her. Mantis tensed up, slowly turning to look. The blonde tribute from Six was there, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She was so much taller than Mantis, but there was something about her demeanor that made Mantis relax.
“He’s right, though.” She said miserably. “I can’t hunt, I can’t fight, I can barely even talk to people without messing up. I’ll be lucky to make it past the bloodbath.”
“You won’t be in the bloodbath.” The older girl corrected her. “The sooner you can get away from the Cornucopia, the better. Those supplies won’t do anything for you if you’re too dead to use them.”
Mantis looked up at her with wide, dark eyes. “Why are you helping me?” She asked tentatively.
The girl knelt down so they were at the same height. “Because,” she told Mantis with a reassuring smile, “we’re going to be allies. And I’m not about to let my newest ally die all alone.”
Unsure of herself, Mantis nodded.
“I’m Carol, by the way.” The blonde girl told her. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Mantis.”
Carol smiled at her. “Nice to meet you, Mantis. Now, come on, I’m sure your stylists must be looking for you.”