Hi! Thank you so much for reading :) 

I'm so sorry for the time between updates. 

I knew what I wanted to write, but not how I wanted it to go. I know this is a very short chapter, but more will come soon. Promise!

As always, Stay safe and take care! ~CANGEL

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Scarlet Wolfe

     Scarlet sat on the hard wooden chair in the dining car of the train, that was now moving full steam ahead away from District 4 and toward District 3. Scarlet was ready for the train to turn around and go back home. Unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards today.

     They would be stopping briefly in District 3. Then 2 and 1. And then, the Capitol. There would be a final feast there. Then Scarlet would head back to District 14, where she would stay for the next six months until the next reaping where she would escort the new tributes to the Capitol and hopefully bring one home.

     Scarlet ate chicken broth soup that had a number of different vegetables in it. Carrots, celery, onions, with small pieces of chicken. Scarlet rather liked this particular dish. It was a little salty, but light and filling at the same time. She never felt very bloated after eating it all, which was what she felt like when eating many of the foods made of grain here at the Capitol. She assumed it was because it wasn't what she was used to eating grains back home, but even if it was better, she couldn't stand the feeling of being so heavy. It made her feel slow and sluggish and tired.

     She paused mid bite as Penelope sat down across from her, between the food and her musings, Scarlet had not noticed her coming into the train car. It was unsettling, but Scarlet continued eating as if she hadn't been taken unaware.

     Penelope's back was perfectly straight, and Scarlet fought the sudden desire to match, instead, intentionally keeping her back slouched and her elbows on the table as she hovered over her bowl.

     Scarlet noted that Penelope's face had been returned to full 'Capitol Garb', caked in scarlet red power, with even redder lips. Her wig had been replaced with a new one, black powdered hair in careful curls stacked high up on her head. Like a tower? Or perhaps one of those fancy Capitol cakes that stacked high layer upon layer?

     Scarlet would never understand fads or the fashion of the Capitol. Penelope hadn't been at the feast in District 4—which she had only vaguely noted at the time. Now though, Scarlet wondered if that had been her choice, or it had been a sort of punishment for not keeping Scarlet on a tight enough leash.

     "You know you looked better without all the make-up on." Scarlet said abruptly with no inflection. She wasn't trying to be mean, but she wasn't trying to be nice either. It probably sounded mean.

     Normally, Scarlet would look away, letting whatever response Penelope had in store for her fall on deaf ears, but this time, she kept her eyes on Penelope, willing to engage in a conversation. Scarlet's face didn't hurt anymore, but she could still feel the echo of pain on her cheek where Penelope had slapped her.

     Whatever needed to be said between them should just be said. Scarlet didn't like feeling guilty for pulling her into the sea. And maybe Penelope felt bad about slapping her. Scarlet didn't know. She just would rather it go back to how it was before. Mutual hatred and nothing grey about it.

     "You know I never liked you." Penelope said back finally. Her puckered lips, purse more as her chin tilted up. One thing about Penelope that Scarlet didn't exactly hate—well, one thing that she could appreciate about Penelope, was that she wasn't one to hold her tongue when she had opinions to voice.

     "I know that." Scarlet answered, still neutral. Penelope's words didn't shock her or hurt her feelings. It was just a simple fact. "I know you liked Crimson. I know you wanted him to win. I know you hate that you got stuck with me as your Districts Victor."

     "That's all true." Penelope agreed, her chin lowering some with the lack of a fight. "If I'd have gotten to choose, I'd have chosen him." Her shoulders dropped some, but her spine remained still stiff as a rod as she sat in her seat. "But I'm no quitter."

     Scarlet blinked across the table at the woman. That...wasn't what she was expecting.

     "What?"

     Penelope huffed over at her with an exaggerated eyeroll. "I have been the District 14 Escort for over twenty years, watching my tributes die one after the other, hearing the jokes and vulgar comments they make about the impending deaths of the tributes from District 14. No one thought District 14 could win. No one thought they would ever win. Do you know how that made me feel?" Scarlet frowned as Penelope wiped an actual tear away from her cheek. Did she actually feel bad about—"Do you know the shame I felt representing that District?"

     Scarlet's eye twitched as she fought to stop an eye roll. Right. Not sad for the deaths of her tributes, but how it made her look to the Capitol. Got it.

     Penelope sniffed, getting herself even more worked up as she recalled the past twenty years. "Until the 67th Hunger Games. First there was the Reaping of Twin's that volunteered. Just twelve years old. A boy and a girl. What are the odds? Everyone in the Capitol was up in a tizzy. I just knew the moment you both shook hands that they were already in love with the both of you. And then we got to the Capitol. The tragedy. The sadness. The excitement. The thrill as everyone tried to guess how it would play out in the Arena. You and Crimson were the favorites but also the least likely to win, and that was something special. Something new. Everyone was impressed. Alliances were being made, lines were being drawn. One was the most hated. One was the most loved. Both of you were the favorites, but not a single person thought either of you could win. Do you know how quickly their opinions of me changed?" Penelope asked through tears.

     Scarlet could guess the answer to her last question, but kept quiet, choosing instead to shake her head no. It seemed like Penelope needed to vent.

     Penelope let out a shuttering breath. "They couldn't be beat off of me! They all wanted to know about both of you. About your skills and if I thought either of you stood a chance in the Arena. Do you know what I said?"

     Scarlet frowned, finding herself drawn into the question. She'd never thought much about Penelope at all, much less what she thought of Crimson and Scarlet's chances or her role as an Escort and talking about Crimson and Scarlet to potential sponsors.

     Without waiting for an answer from Scarlet, Penelope dramatically continued, "I said one of them is definitely coming home!" Penelope wagged a finger in Scarlet's direction. "Even though I really did not like your manners or your attitude, I never let that affect my professional work. It was my job as your escort to enthrall the Capitol with both of you and make them love you."

     Scarlet sighed, ready to be done with this conversation. She knew the rest already. Penelope had succeeded with Crimson and failed with Scarlet. Scarlet was too unlikeable to make anyone love her.

     "And I succeeded with both of you—"

     Scarlet frowned. "—What?"

     Penelope looked back at Scarlet, almost looking startled to hear her voice, as if she'd forgotten for a moment who she was talking to. Then she smiled. Of course, it looked still like a sour little grimace, with her skin overly tight from all the intentional surgeries done to her face to fight ageing.

     "It took me a while to figure you out. I knew you'd never listen to anything I had to say. Cass—well...your first stylist was better at that, getting you to listen—but after you opened up to her about what you were trying to do, I realized that the Capitol didn't need to adore you to love you. The more outrageous you acted, the more unforgettable you were in their minds. You terrorized them and Crimson wooed them. Even working against each other, you both worked in such tandem."

     A sting went through her briefly with the mention of her first stylist and her brother together. But it was quickly overshadowed by the rest of Penelope's words. "So, you were okay with everything that I did? That I...do?"

     "Absolutely not!" Penelope retorted abruptly. "You really could do with some manners! And you really need to work on following directions! Do you know the scolding's I've gotten about what an abhorrent little girl you are?! Everyone thinks that I," She pressed her hand against her chest. "Let you behave that way."

     "Oh, no." Scarlet murmured drily, unbelievably finding a sliver of humor in her escorts dramatic ways.

     "Oh, yes." Penelope drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. "I don't like you and unless you undergo a drastic personality transplant—"

      "—same to you." Scarlet muttered under her breath.

     "—I don't see us liking each other in the future." Scarlet couldn't argue in the slightest with her. "Nonetheless. You are the Victor of District 14, Scarlet. You will be the mentor of all the following tributes from District 14. And I am the Escort of District 14. And I will continue to be the escort until the day I die." Penelope turned up her head, sticking her nose up in the air. "Like or not, we will just have to work together well enough to get more Victors, because I cannot be stuck with just you for the rest of my life."

     Scarlet felt her lips curl upward, as for the first time since she'd met the witch of an escort, Penelope's words resonated with her.

     She could not be stuck with just Penelope for the rest of her life.

     "Alright." Scarlet said. "Let's agree to work together despite our mutual dislike of each other. Perhaps there will be a more likeable Victor from District 14."

     Scarlet doubted it. The good ones would never make it out of the Arena. But hey, she wasn't going to burst Penelope's newly formed bubble of hope. More likely, the next Victor from 14 would be even more atrocious than Scarlet, and then Penelope would have two people to hate.

     That thought made Scarlet's lips curl even more.

     "Then we are in agreement." Penelope said with her back still upright. "And with that underway, let's talk about the rest of your tour. There will be absolutely NO more deviations—"

     Scarlet lowered her eyes to her bowl of rapidly cooling soup and began to eat, paying no mind to the words coming from Penelope's mouth.

     That was until a spoon tapped against the table in front of her. Scarlet forced her eyes from her food, back onto the woman sitting across from her. She raised a brow in silent question as if she didn't understand the problem.

     "Didn't we just agree to work together?" Penelope asked, her face screwing up under her confusion and distaste.

     Scarlet fought a small grin. Annoying as Penelope was, it was rather amusing to get under her skin. Poor Penelope.

     "No, I agreed to work with you as a mentor. I'm not a mentor yet." Scarlet was just trying to survive and play her part at the same time. She stood up, grabbing her bowl and spoon as she proceeded to walk out of the room, knowing that Penelope would never be able to leave it alone. "It's been fun. I'll talk to you again in 6 months, Penelope!" She tossed over her shoulder.

     Scarlet didn't know if she got a response or not. She couldn't imagine not getting one from her Escort who seemed to have something to say about everything, especially as if it revolved around anything unsavory or unsatisfactory.

     Scarlet was very unsavory and hardly ever satisfactory. But Scarlet didn't look back as she made her way to the train car with her assigned room.

     She didn't have long before they approached District 3, and she wanted to finish her soup in peace, before she was remade in the image of the Wicked Wolfe.

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I hope you enjoyed this very short chapter. More is coming but it's been so long since the last update. I haven't forgotten about you all, nor have I stopped thinking about this story. 

Let me know if you enjoyed the chapter or if it needs changed. I thinks it's good for Scarlet and Penelope to have this little talk after everything that happened in District 4. And although I don't think that they will ever be friends, I do think they will have to find some way to work together to accomplish their goals. Penelope wants to get more Victors to get more fame, and Scarlet wants to get more Victors home--because believe it or not, she doesn't want to see them die. 

Remember to like and vote if you enjoyed!

Stay safe and take care!~CANGEL