THE GOLDEN AGE, sejanus plinth

006. arachne is dead

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
CHAPTER SIX
ARACHNE IS DEAD
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

ARACHNE AND AURORA walked through the zoo's entrance on their way to the monkey house. It was early evening already and the cousins were equipped with food for their tributes.

Arachne was talking non stop to which Aurora wasn't really listening to, she was thinking about Sol, the tribute who was just a young girl. She had a notebook and pencils in her school bag, maybe that would allow the two to communicate better.

The younger girl planned on meeting Coriolanus and Clemensia later to write the proposal, still mad that she was the one being stuck with it. She could really hold a grudge.

As they neared the monkey house, they could see families with their children surrounding the bars and also some of the other mentors, like the Ring twins.

"See you later," Aurora said with a soft smile to her cousin before she headed in the direction her tribute was in.

She made her way through the crowd and squatted down in front of the bars, waving Sol over to her. The young girl and her district partner walked over to Aurora and let themselves sink to the dirty ground.

"I brought you something to eat," she mumbled as she fumbled in her bag. She pulled out a little package and a cloth and laid the contentments on the cloth.

It wasn't that much, four sandwiches, two tiny blocks of cheese, and grapes. Because as expected, Dennis Fling, the mentor of District Five's boy, wasn't here.

"I also brought you this." She pulled out the notebook and pencils and handed them over to Sol with a smile.
"Maybe we get to know each other now."

The girl excepted her gifts and laid them besides her before grabbing one of the sandwiches.

Aurora saw the boy staring at the food and she could practically hear his stomach rumbling.
"Take it, I made enough for the both of you."

"Thanks," he said and it was the first time she had heard him talk.

"It's the least I can do," she replied and then sat down on the ground, not even worrying if her clothes would get dirty.

"It's Hy, right?" She asked the boy, remembering the name from the mentor-tribute meeting.

He nodded, his mouth full of his sandwich.

Aurora crept a little closer to the bars, looking if a camera was near her, which wasn't.
"There may be some adjustments to the Games," she told them quietly.

"We have discussed a way to send food and water in the arena in today's class. The details are to be determined, but it would be with the help of sponsors," she explained them.

She didn't dare tell them about the betting.

Hy swallowed.
"So?" He questioned her.

"The more sponsors you have, the more food and water you could get. Ergo, the more likely you are to win the Games and can go home." She smiled at the two, but they didn't seem to be convinced.

Sol opened her notebook and wrote something down.
But we need to fight to win, it said.

Aurora's smile vanished. The girl was right, of course. The arena was the same every year, their old amphitheater without a place to hide. Weapons were placed in the middle and the Games usually lasted a few hours. A bloodbath and it was over.

"Do you have any talents that you could maybe demonstrate during the interview? It will help get you sponsors if they are really planning on adding them." She didn't want to think about these two kids fighting in the arena.