Quiet and Lonely Night ~Artemis Day 2~

That fight felt almost too easy for Artemis, easily cutting that work in half with only strokes. She’s taking a shine to this weapon, giving it an appreciative spin in her hands. She’s starting to think that she was right to distance herself from the other tributes. If she could take down a giant worm like this, the other tributes should be easy enough. Especially since she doesn’t have the context of their life stories. They’re just random strangers that she can almost dehumanize. Artemis doesn’t have to worry about their lives back home. Artemis thinks that these death pageants have been going on for almost a hundred years anyways; their families should have known that this would be a possibility by now.

The stars start to bloom as the last light of the sun die under the horizon. Artemis appreciates the new view without the neon lights and canopies assaulting her vision. The faint yellow glow is still visible on the horizon, but it’s no longer all encompassing. The stars and constellations are manmade, but still pretty nonetheless. She’s not used to these kinds of quiet nights, where the only audible sounds is faint music coming from the band at the cornucopia. She’s more likely to feel comfortable back at the stage, without the threat of imminent death. Granted she’s become all too familiar with a different kind of danger. The older girls she’s gone out with have been teaching her about the importance of looking out of not only looking out for herself, but looking out for each other at the bars and clubs.

Her older friends taught her about covering her drink, holding her cup by the rim of she’s not actively drinking it. If it does taste funny, stop drinking and have a code word for your friends for a quick exit. If another girl is clearly uncomfortable, act like she’s your friend to provide her an escape. When Artemis heard about dancing and clubbing for the first time, she thought it would be an escape for her. An excuse to dress as minimally as she wanted while losing herself in the lights, but men ruined the fantasy for her. She doesn’t feel human under their gaze, but only like a piece of meat to be used for momentarily pleasure. With the societal downfall of Two, she only feels like the men have become more aggressive in their willingness to take from unwilling girls and women. Artemis can’t help but wonder if death in the Games would be better than surviving an attack by a man who doesn’t even view her as human. If she died she wouldn’t have to remember the trauma.

Artemis doesn’t like where her thoughts are running to. She would rather be thinking about literally anything else, even if it’s not something that she can use to motivate herself, like thoughts of her family. She then remembers the tablet in her bag, and starts to fish it out when she hears chimes coming towards her. She looks up to see a few parachutes coming down towards her, carrying what appears to be a folded up tent. Clearly someone wishes for her to be comfortable, either that or they took pity on her. Either way, Artemis is grateful for the shelter; and after taking the time to set up the tent, she huddles inside, and watches as many seasons she can of that ALONE show before the sun rises, bringing a new Anthem with it.