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No One Knows Who I Am	By : Marblez Category: G through L > The Hunger Games Trilogy Views: 4841 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games and I will make no profit from writing this story.

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Disclaimer: I don’t own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. The many OC’s, however, are mine. :-)
Summary: Adya knew the moment his name was picked out of the bowl that he would not be coming back from the 74^th Hunger Games…
WARNINGS: SLASH! (M/M) VIOLENCE! ANGST! CHARACTER DEATH!
IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE - IN ORDER TO STOP MY STORY FROM BEING PERMANENTLY DELETED I MUST WARN YOU THAT I WILL BE QUOTING FROM THE BOOK & MOVIE (HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins)

No One Knows Who I Am
The Capitol, Day One.
“W-We’re stopping…” Adya mumbled as the unsteady chariot cam to a graceful halt after having made a deviation from the previously straight path, swerving towards the left.
His hand ached from the tight grip that he’d had on the chariot and he longed to massage the stiffness from his fingers but her daren’t release his hold if they were going to be moving off again.
“Is…Is it over?” he asked hopefully as his other arm dropped down to his side.
“I don’t think so…” Una replied softly as a hush came over the large crowd that had gathered to watch the parade.
“Tributes, we welcome you. We salute your courage and your sacrifice. And we wish you a Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favour.”
Adya flinched, ducking his head as the large crowd erupted into screams once more, calling out to their favourites and clapping their hands as loudly as they could.
He couldn’t hear anyone cheering for them.
It seemed as though the crowd was unanimously in favour of District 12…
The chariot gave a sudden lurch as their horses stepped off once more, following what was obviously a well practised routine that finally took them off of the large parade ground and away from their hyperactive audience.
Their loud hyperactive audience…
Adya dreaded to think how large that crowd must have been.
Their horses came to a sudden stop, causing Adya to stumble into the side of the chariot and bounce back against the “safety strap.”
“Adya!”
He felt her gentle hands on his arm, her grip surprisingly firm as she helped him to regain his balance in the unsteady chariot.
“Are you ok?” she asked softly, one of her hands moving to slip into his, squeezing it tightly as he other hand rubbed up and down his arm.
“Yeah…yeah, I’m fine…” he answered softly, clearing his throat as his voice came out much too unsteady for his liking. “Of course I’ll be even better if you can tell me that this stupid thing is finally over…”
“Well…everyone else seems to be getting down from their chariots so…yeah; I think it’s over…” Una sighed deeply, her voice filled with relief. “I’ll…um…I’ll try and get this trap un-done so we can get down…”
“Ok…”
Her hands left his arm as she turned on the spot and he heard her fiddling with the safety strap, muttering to herself as she tried to undo one of the clasps.
Apparently it was being quite stubborn.
“So…” he mumbled, feeling the need to break the slightly awkward silence that had fallen over them as she worked. “…did we win the most stupid costumes award? Or is there someone worse than us?”
“Um…” Una hummed thoughtfully, her hands pausing for a moment before continuing to work on the clasp as she answered. “No…I think we most definitely won that particular title…although at least ours make sense…”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…District 6, for example…they’re Transportation right?”
“Yes…”
“You wouldn’t get that from their costumes – it looks like they’ve each got a crescent moon attached to their face,” Una explained, describing the other teams costumes as simply as possible. “And District 9, Grain…their costumes are silver with…like…dots or something all over them…”
“Huh…you’re right, at least ours makes sense.”
Una let out a cry of triumph as she finally managed to undo the clasp and flung the “safety strap” out of the way before stepping carefully down to the ground.
“Let me help you down…” Una murmured softly.
He felt her hands slip into his, squeezing tightly as she gave a gentle tug, urging him to take a step forwards towards the edge of the chariot.
“You’re at the edge…”
Placing his trust in another person was an unfortunate necessity with his disability but that didn’t make it any easier for him to take another step, his foot meeting with empty air before moving down…down…down…and then finally made contact with the ground.
He let out a sigh of relief.
“Great…here comes trouble…” Una muttered, gripping his arm tightly as he heard the distinct voice of their publicist getting closer and closer,
“…how did they do it?! I mean, come on – District Twelve?!”
“Why’s he making such a fuss about District Twelve?” Adya asked softly.
“They had the best costumes,” she told him softly, obviously trying not to let Hixas hear her. “They had these black suits that were actually on fire.”
Adya couldn’t suppress the violent shudder.
Fire.
The thing that had stolen his parents…
Had stolen his sight…
Had stolen his life…
He hated fire.
“They’re coal miners! Coal miners!” Hixas ranted angrily, pacing back and forth in front of the pair of them. “How can they be the stars of the parade?!?”
“How could our costumes be beaten by Twelve of all people? They’re supposed to be dressed as coal miners, that’s what they’ve always done in the past!” Willow complained loudly.
“We’re going to have to go all out on their interview outfits,” Oscar murmured thoughtfully.
The two stylists dissolved into a rather critical conversation about face shapes, skin tones, hair shades, clothing cuts and styles…
Meanwhile Hixas was still busy throwing his toys out of the pram.
Loudly.
“Hixas? Maybe we should take Adya and Una upstairs and get them settled into their suite?” Cecelia suggested.
“Ugh! This is a complete and utter disaster!” Hixas cried out melodramatically before storming away from them.
Someone slipped their arm through his.
“Come on, the lifts are this way,” Cecelia told him as she stepped off, their linked arms giving Adya no choice but to follow. “The suites are arranged by District so we’re up on the eighth floor.”
“Fantastic…” Adya muttered sarcastically. “Was the Parade really as bad as he’s making it out to be?” he found himself asking.
“No,” Cecelia answered quickly…too quickly. “No. It wasn’t bad, not really. And it wasn’t anything you did. You both did exactly what we asked of you and put on a very good show as a result. It’s just…”
“District Twelve put on an even better one?”
“Yeah…”
They arrived at the lifts and Cecelia pulled him close to her side as they stepped inside a small room where the air was somewhat stuffy and the floor seemed to echo beneath their feel like it was hollow.
“I don’t like this…” Una murmured.
Adya didn’t think he did either.
“District Eight.”
“Doors Closing.”
For a moment Adya was confused by the monotonous voice that responded to Cecelia’s request and then he realised that the lift had actually replied.
Weird.
“Whoa!”
All of a sudden it felt like the whole world had suddenly rushed upwards, hurtling towards the top of the building whilst his stomach remained on the ground.
Una whimpered loudly.
“Oh, stop making such a fuss!” Hixas snapped, huffing loudly as he muttered derisively, “Anyone would think you’d never ridden in a lift before.”
“Um…we haven’t…” Adya pointed out as calmly as he could manage whilst clinging to Cecelia’s arm for all he was worth.
Nope, he definitely didn’t like this!
“District Eight. Doors opening.”
Once the doors had opened with the familiar hiss Adya found himself being urged gently forwards by his motherly mentor.
“Whoa…” Una gasped softly.
“This will be your suite for the duration of your stay in the Capitol,” Hixas announced calmly as they were led into the room.
It smelled odd, like…like fake flowers.
“Of course most of your time will be spent in the Training Centre downstairs but in the evenings you will have private lessons with your mentors and of course, some desperately needed sessions with me and your stylists,” he told them calmly, as if he were reciting a well rehearsed speech. “Take to their rooms and help them get washed and changed for dinner which will be served in precisely one hour.”
A gentle hand touched his other arm, pulling his hand away from his body.
H-E-L-L-O-A-G-A-I-N.
Oh!
It was the Avox that had helped him on the train ride to the Capitol.
“Hel–”
“What on earth are you doing girl?!” Hixas demanded angrily.
A hand slapped the Avox’s hands away from his own, causing him to cry out in defence of the kind slave,
“Don’t! She was just saying hello!”
“…just saying hello?” Hixas repeated slowly, his voice tinged with disbelief. “Fondling your hand like a cheap slut is just saying hello?”
“Yes!” Adya answered sharply, his anger rising on behalf of the slave. “She was spelling out the words on the back of my hand! How else do you expect a slave who can’t speak to communicate with a tribute who can’t see?!?”
Hixas huffed, obviously annoyed by his logical if slightly heated answer.
The gentle hands returned to his.
T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U.
Adya allowed himself to be pulled away from Cecelia who patted his arm comfortingly before releasing her hold on him.
Following the Avox he soon found himself being led around the many obstacles littering the main room before heading down a wide corridor, eventually stopping at what felt like the far end.
Y-O-U-R-R-O-O-M.
T-H-I-R-D-O-N-R-I-G-H-T.
“Thanks,” he said, hearing the door hiss open in front of him.
S-H-O-W-U-R-O-U-N-D?
“That might be a good idea – don’t wanna break my neck falling over in my own room, do I?” he agreed with a wry chuckle. “Apparently it’s much more sporting to let one of the other Tributes do it.”
The first thing she did was place his hand on the wall to the right of the door. She then led him along the wall until they came to the first obstacle.
D-R-E-S-S-E-R.
Feeling his way round the dresser they continued to follow the wall until they found the first corner of the room.
Only a couple of paces along the second wall she stopped him and made him crouch down, placing his hand on what felt like the edge of a step.
Odd.
B-E-D-O-N-A-P-L-A-T-F-O-R-M.
“Oh, I see…” he mumbled softly, feeling along the ledge until he felt the soft fabric of the bed sheets. “That’s a bit…weird…”
T-H-A-T-S-T-H-E-C-A-P-I-T-O-L.
Adya let out a bark of laughter.
They followed the platform around the bed, Adya counting his paces so as to remember how big it was, and soon they were back at the wall.
T-W-O-S-T-E-P-S.
“Ok, thanks for the warning…”
The two steps in question weren’t all that big…in fact it felt like only the front half of his foot actually fitted on them.
Once again they reached a corner of the room and as they turned Adya felt the familiarly cool touch of glass beneath his fingertips.
B-I-G-W-I-N-D-O-W.
As he trailed his hand across the glass he realised that she wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest – the wall was the window.
All of it.
“Only in the Capitol…” he muttered with a shake of his head.
Together they easily navigated another corner and quickly came across a small door set into the wall.
B-A-T-H-R-O-O-M.
His hand brushed against the button that opened the door and together they stepped into the other room.
S-H-O-W-E-R?
“I-I’ve never had a shower before…” he told the Avox apologetically.
T-H-A-T-S-O-K.
I-C-A-N-H-E-L-P-Y-O-U.
“Um…I don’t know about that…” he muttered, biting his bottom lip as his cheeks flushed a deep red at the thought of yet another person seeing his naked body. “I’ll just…I’ll just…um…”
I-W-O-N-T-P-E-A-K.
I-P-R-O-M-I-S-E.
Adya let out a deep sigh, nodding his consent.
He quickly learned that “getting washed and changed for dinner” was a lot more complicated than it sounded.
Firstly the shower.
When the Avox had turned the thing on it had instantly reminded him of a thundering storm back home – droplets of water pounding away at the ground.
He was too nervous to ask whether or not the water would be cold.
Before he could even get into the shower though he had to stand very still as the Avox used a sweet smelling wipe to remove the make-up that had been applied to his face for the parade.
D-O-Y-O-U-N-E-E-D-H-E-L-P-T-O-T-A-K-E-Y-O-U-R-C-O-S-T-U-M-E-O-F-F?
He’d mumbled something, flushing red as he shook his head and set about removing what he imagined to be a truly hideous costume from his body, dropping it to the ground with little care.
He kept his underwear on.
Stepping under the powerful spray he was pleasantly surprised to find that the water was pleasantly warm, not too hot and not too cold.
It was perfect, actually.
As he stepped out from under the powerful spray a fluffy towel was pressed into his hands.
“Thank you.”
The water cut off as he began to rub the soft towel across his damp skin.
Wrapping the towel about his waist he held it tight around his body with one hand whilst he awkwardly removed his soaking wet underwear, allowing it to fall to the floor with a loud “plop!”
Drying his legs without removing the towel from about his waist was…interesting to sat the least but somehow he managed.
D-R-Y-U-N-D-E-R-W-E-A-R.
Blushing a deep red he just about managed to pull on the fresh underwear without exposing himself to the kind Avox and once everything was suitably hidden from view he held the towel out before him, smiling thankfully when a helpful hand removed it from his grip.
“Thanks.”
C-L-O-T-H-E-S-O-N-B-E-D.
Stepping back into the bedroom was like stepping through a wall of cold air, his skin immediately breaking out into goose-bumps.
With the Avox’s help he was soon dressed in a loose shirt and a pair of drawstring trousers. He refused the offer of socks and shoes, preferring to keep his feet as bare as he was used to.
B-R-U-S-H-Y-O-U-R-H-A-I-R?
“Er…sure…go ahead…”
He was half expecting the same rough treatment his hair had suffered through before but when the comb was applied to the damp strands it was done so gently and slowly.
“Mmm…”
His eyes went with and his cheeks flamed from the embarrassment coating through his system having just moaned…loudly.
T-I-M-E-F-O-R-D-I-N-N-E-R.
Great.
Yet another opportunity for him to humiliate himself.
They made their way back out to the main room of the suite, his arms clasped tightly in the Avox’s grip as they navigated their way to the dining table which, like his bed, was apparently situated on a raised platform.
How…pointless.
“Thanks…”
Slowly he took his seat, carefully feeling out with his hands first.
“Nice of you to join us,” Hixas muttered sarcastically before snapping loudly. “Where’s the girl? If the cripple can make it to the dinner table on time she should certainly be able to!”
Adya frowned, his opinion of Hixas dropping with each second that passed.
“Hurry up girl!”
“Sorry! I had trouble with the shower. I couldn’t…never mind,” Una trailed off, dropping down into the seat beside Adya.
She smelled really, really fruity.
“It got stuck on the soap function,” she explained softly, leaning across so that she could speak, leaning across so that she could speak only to him. “I looked like a cloud at one point; there were so many bubbles…”
Adya snorted.
“So…what do you fancy?” Una asked after a pause.
Adya turned back to face the table, inhaling deeply and searching through the multitude of smells for anything familiar.
“Is that cheese?” he asked softly.
“Um…yes. There’s a cheese loaf or cheese and crackers,” she told him, obviously searching through the food laid out before them.
“Could I have some of both, please?”
“Sure!” Una responded and Adya could tell from her voice alone that she was smiling brightly. “Anything else?”
“Um…is there any fruit?”
He had a feeling that it would probably be best to stick to finger foods – no need to humiliate himself any more than was absolutely necessary.
“Oh, there’s plenty of fruit!” she answered brightly. “I’ll grab you a selection.”
He murmured his thanks, listening as she reached around the table to fill his plate before placing it down in front of him.
Trailing his fingertips across the tabletop he quickly found his plate and carefully selected the first piece of cheese.
He’d only had cheese once before in his life, a treat for good behaviour at school, but he remembered that it had been an unbelievably strong taste that had lingered in his mouth and had been absolutely delicious.
Popping the piece of cheese into his mouth he discovered, much to his relief, that it hadn’t changed one little bit.
Settling back in his seat he picked at the food on his plate as he listed to the different conversations going on around the large table.
Willow and Oscar were arguing about what colours would suit Una and himself for their all important interviews.
Adya hoped Willow didn’t win their argument…fuchsia pink might be the most eye catching colour around but he wouldn’t be caught dead in it.
Whoops.
Poor choice of words given the situation.
Hixas was, of course, moaning about how useless the pair of them were turning out to be and how completely unfair it was that he had to deal with them.
He was starting to get more than a little bit predictable.
Adya had a feeling that his next subject for “conversation” would be focused around his despair at being passed over for a “decent” District once again.
And down at the other end of the table Cecelia and Woof were…oh, trying to talk to their Tributes apparently.
Whoops.
“Sorry,” he apologised softly. “I was…um…thinking.”
Woof huffed loudly,
“Thinking could get you killed!”
“Um…I somehow think that being blind will get me killed long before thinking has anything to do with it…”
Silence descended on the table.
It was Oscar who broke the silence this time, announcing quite suddenly,
“We should dress them in black.”
“What? I thought you wanted to dress them in green,” Willow protested loudly. “You can’t change your mind mid-argument!”
“But listen…”
Adya tuned out their raised voices as a new argument began between them, focused this time on the pros and cons of dressing the two of them in black.
“Right…you’re blind…forgot about that for a moment…” Woof mumbled, his voice sounding a bit…dreamier than before.
“I still can’t see how you’re going to get away with hiding the fact that you’re a cripple,” Hixas grumbled loudly. “We’ll be a laughing stock by lunchtime tomorrow, you make my words. A complete and utter laughing stock.”
“At least they’ll have noticed us,” Una pointed out softly. “Surely even bad publicity is better than none at all. At least they’ll know who we are…”
Are you trying to tell me how to do my job, girl?” Hixas demanded angrily.
“Um…no…”
“Good, because let me tell you–”
“I reckon you’ll be a threat,” Woof announced suddenly, his words strong and confident once more…despite the fact that they didn’t appear to make any sense. “But the girl…no, she’ll be an easy target.”
“Come again?” Adya asked, his voice filled with surprise.
Him?
A threat?
Hardly…
“The Careers have a habit of judging people by their looks,” Cecelia explained, obviously understanding what her fellow victor was on about. “You’re at the older end of the scale so they’ll assume that you know at least something about fighting and surviving. Not to mention you’re reasonably tall and, although you are a little skinny it’s obvious that you aren’t a weakling. Plus you’re good looking, you’ll attract the sponsors that like the pretty boys. They’ll treat you as a threat and target you early on in the Games…”
“At least until they find out you’re really a cripple,” Woof added calmly. “Then you’ll be an easy kill, same as the girl and they’ll leave you to suffer for a while before hunting you down.”
“Now there’s a pleasant thought…” Adya muttered sarcastically.
“Unless of course either of you process any skills which would be helpful in the Arena. Hunting, trapping, knife work, sword play…those sorts of skills get you noticed in Training and may help you to make an alliance,” Woof told them.
“Er…I doubt very much that my only skill will be of any use at all to anyone in the Arena, especially me,” Adya responded calmly.
“And what skill is that?”
“I can sing.”
“…singing? That is not a skill,” Hixas scoffed loudly. “Anyone can sing.”
“Yes, that’s true…but not like me,” Adya announced softly, not sounding at all boastful. He was simply stating a fact. “I’ve never met anyone who sings like me.”
Hixas scoffed loudly once more.
“And what makes you so special?” he asked, disbelief plain in his voice.
“The songs that I sing,” Adya answered calmly. “My mother taught them to me before she died – they’re from before the Dark Days.”
“That’s impossible!”
“No, it’s not,” Adya answered simply. “My mothers family have always been very musical and the songs have been passed down over the years.”
“How many do you know?” Una asked, her voice filled with wonder.
“I honestly don’t know,” Adya replied.
“You’re lying!” Hixas accused him coldly.
“I am not!” Adya cried out indignantly. “The only reason I’ve managed to survive since loosing my sight by singing those very songs on the streets!”
“Will you sing one?” Una and Cecelia requested almost as one.
“Um…sure…”
But which one should he sing?
He didn’t think he could pull off one of the happier songs in his repertoire…not in his current emotional state anyway.
So one of the more sombre ones then…wait…he knew the perfect one.

“Where once was light

Now darkness falls.

Where once was love

Love is no more.

Don't say goodbye…

Don't say I didn't try…

These tears we cry

Are falling rain.

For all the lies

You told us,

The hurt, the blame!

And we will weep

To be so alone.

We are lost!

We can never go home.

So in the end

I will be what I will be.

No loyal friend

Was ever there for me.

Now we say goodbye…

We say you didn't try…

These tears you cry

Have come too late!

Take back the lies

The hurt, the blame!

And you will weep

When you face the end alone.

You are lost!

You can never go home.”
As the haunting melody drew to a close he became aware of the sounds around him once more…Cecelia and Una were crying.
“Sorry…” he mumbled, ducking his head.
“No, don’t apologise,” Cecelia ordered softly. “That was…that was…”
“Beautiful…” Una finished for the emotional woman. “You have…you have a beautiful voice…so full of emotion and…and…”
“Singing was the one thing that I could still do after I lost my sight,” he found himself explaining. “Plus…it helped me feel closer to my parents. Singing…kept me sane, I guess. It was something I was good at. It gave me a…a purpose…”
Hixas scoffed loudly once more.
He was getting good at that…
“Singing…how useless…why couldn’t I get just one decent Tribute?”
“That all you can do?” Woof asked gruffly.
“…yeah, it is,” Adya confirmed with a deep sigh.
“Well…that won’t be of any use to you in the Arena, will it?” the old man asked, pretty much giving voice to Adya’s own depressing thoughts.
“No…” he sighed deeply. “No, it won’t…”

A/N I was actually going to use a different song for Adya’s first “vocal appearance” but when I was writing this chapter this song popped up on my Playlist and it just fit so perfectly with what I had planned. (If you’re interested the song is ‘Gollum’s Song’ from LOTR: Two Towers.) Feedback would be greatly appreciated!
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No One Knows Who I Am