An Outside Perspective [Open to one]
Jun 21, 2010 11:34:56 GMT -5
Post by aya on Jun 21, 2010 11:34:56 GMT -5
Halt, Arbor C.
He was lucky, infinitely lucky, Arbor realized, that he was drawn for the Hunger Games the year before, rather than for these current Games. Navigating the water would be impossible without sight, and the waves would have drowned out most of his hearing. He'd have been meat on a silver platter, especially with no alliance--because who would have him? Maybe that group that took this year's male from Twelve, that Kale kid, the group that got mauled and poisoned by a pair of colorful jungle cats. And he'd have been killed in an instant, for certain.
Wait a minute.
Correction: He was unlucky, infinitely unlucky, to have been drawn for the previous Hunger Games rather than the current ones.
If he were in these Games, he wouldn't be shuffling listlessly down the Capitol sidewalk, trying to ignore the masses of Capitolians that were flocking to him for questions, autographs, to shake his hand. He hated it, having to push through crowds of blue people to get to where he wanted to go, and continuing to be assailed by them when he got there. Why didn't they get that he just wanted to be left alone?!
Keeping his head down, eyes on the seams in the road, Arbor tried to pretend that the irksome hoards didn't exist all around him. He'd decided that he'd bolt down the next street and duck into an alley when he got the chance. They people here never knew a day's work in their life, and certainly were so out of shape that he'd be able to lose them with ease. Right?
The opportunity never presented itself, however. He'd reached the target building just fine, with the security guards stopping most of the flock at the door. Arbor was too exhausted to make it past the lobby. Slumping down in an over-stuffed armchair, he closed his eyes. He wasn't napping, of course, but merely thinking. He thought better when there was less sensory information to process, and he still hadn't fully gotten used to the whole seeing bit.
Being a mentor was taxing, sure, but it was worse for Arbor to be surrounded by the people he despised, the very infrastructure he'd sworn to take down. He hadn't figured out how exactly, which was all the worse. He needed to, he'd promised. And he'd made no headway. But the most horrible part was, in the meantime, he'd have to play along with their Games. And that was what was killing him.