Parrot, D4 — — — “Parrot Eko,” the loudspeaker crackled. Parrot’s ears flicked upwards, tensing. Every tribute looked at him. /I don’t want this!/ he thought to himself. /Stop looking at me!/ He shrank himself as much as he could, crouched to the ground slightly and ears flattened to the sides of his head. “Good luck,” Truffle called to him. Parrot blinked gratefully to the other tom. . . . . . . . . . The door slammed behind him. Parrot explored his surroundings. The room was dark, looking like a forest, trees all around. He walked forward, only to put his paw down and realize how easy it was to slip. This was going to be a challenge. The canopy was so thick, he couldn’t see the sun, it was so dim. Was this even the outside, or just another engineering amalgamation of the Capitol? Suddenly, Parrot’s ears caught onto a clicking sound. He looked around, creeping towards the sound. He was shaking. If this was based on a jungle, it could be a terrifying mutt. A giant snake with 20 heads. A genetically modified tiger able to turn invisible. A swarm of bees that would leave him debilitated before even reaching the arena. He carefully stepped forward, pulling back the bush to reveal… A bird. Just a bird on a branch. Parrot breathed a quiet sigh of relief and eyed the bird curiously. It had a beautiful yellow-and-white chest, and strikingly long white and black striped feathers drooping down next to its wings. The bird opened its mouth and began to chirp for a short while, a sound Parrot found reminiscent of marbles clacking and scraping against each other as they rolled around. He noted the striking blue-green inside of the bird’s mouth. He watched its gorgeous, antenna-like feathers flow behind it like ribbons being carried by a dancer. Suddenly, he felt his back paws get wet. Looking down, he noticed the moist moss underpaw filling up with water. A quiet bubbling of the newfound stream moving from his right to his left was quickly growing into a pshhh. Parrot frowned, muscles immediately tensing. His mind started going back to his past. His father had been teaching him how to swim. “The beach is a fun place, but you have to know the warning signs,” his father told him with a serious expression. Parrot knew he had to listen. “The ocean is a dangerous place. We can pay attention to what it is telling us, we cannot control it.” Parrot had nodded. “Currents can change at any moment. You must either swim to the side of the current, or stay above water until you’re out of it, but they can drag you for miles. Don’t fight it.” (Cont. in Notes and Credits)
(scroll down for continued) Parrot felt himself start to lose his balance with the water, scrabbling in vain with his claws. He was confused. What were they supposed to do now? He stumbled forward, the bird flying away. It stopped a short distance after that, looking at Parrot expectantly. Ah, he was supposed to catch it. He looked behind him, watching the water in the back slowly growing into a monstrous rapid. His heart sank and his eyes widened. He grabbed onto a tree, pulling himself up. He was lucky to have such strong upper body strength, something handling the heavy fishing nets of District Four helped him with. He breathed out a puff of air, the bird completely gone from his mind. For a cat from the fishing district to be so terrified of water spoke great lengths about how terrifying the water looked. It was murky and bubbling and roaring, a type of aquatic maw wanting to swallow him whole. His stomach dropped as the tree began to shake. He shouldn’t have looked down. His breathing quickened as he realized he was so high up. He saw the trees behind him slowly be torn off their roots and washed into the current, one by one by one. He began to shake so badly he almost slipped off the branch. Suddenly, he felt the roots give way. The tree tipped, and Parrot fell in. The water grabbed him with so much ferocity, he felt like a rag doll being tossed around. Swim forwards. Swim forwards. Parrot knew how to swim, this was his element. Calm down. Calm down. One paw forwards, one paw forwards, one paw forwards, head above water, breathe. Kick with the back legs, don’t stop. Don’t stop. Walking in water, running in water. That’s what swimming is. Parrot swam perpendicular to the current until once again, he was at the water’s edge. He dashed deep into the forest, heart racing, grateful for the downy fur many District 4 cats got from so much exposure to the water. He shook the water off, breathing heavily. Parrot swiveled their ears again, searching for the clacking sound again. His eyes darted to the ribbony white feathers in his peripheral vision. Suddenly, an idea came to him. He unraveled his necklace, tying it to a branch, and ducked into the bush. It glimmered in the dim light, compared to the rest of the forest. He heard the water coming closer, and prayed that his idea would work. The bird looked down at the light, flying down to it. It pecked at the beads curiously. It barely had time to turn around to see Parrot’s outstretched claws swiping at its neck. . . . . . . . . . The roaring stopped. The water sank back into the moss. The trees slid back into place. As if it was never there in the first place. Parrot grabbed his necklace and slipped it back on. He dropped the unmoving bird onto the ground and dragged himself outside the room. He didn’t know how he’d done. Honestly, he didn’t really care anymore. . . . . . . . . . Outside of the room, Parrot trembled, on the verge of tears. The adrenaline had finally worn off. Was this what the Games were going to be like? Parrot went to his room, got into the shower, and dried off. He stuck his head into his pillow and did his best to sleep. Thankfully for him, sleep was merciful, and it came quickly. — — —
