9Hello! Here is chapter three. Location requested by, KBerry!
Shout outs To KBerry and Cat Attack 411! Thanks for reviewing!
p.s Haven't read this series in a year or so, so some names may be spelled wrong!
"The World of Hunger"
We spun through the portal and landed with the normal crash. There was a loud rumbling noise, as if we were in some sort of a vehicle. I stood up, and inhaled deeply. I regretted my actions instantly, because I was forced into a hacking cough. Through my watering eyes, I managed to make out the figures of several people, who were staring at the three of us as if… well, as if we had just appeared out of nowhere. I took a cautious breath. Yuck. It smelled like someone had bathed in disgustingly sweet perfume. My eyes cleared some and I could see the people around me better. My jaw dropped.
I'd seen purple skinned vampaneze, but that still didn't prepare me for this. These people had purple blue, red, green, yellow, and even orange skin. Their hair was just as colorful. I turned to Mr. Crepsley.
"Mr. Crepsley?"
"Yes. Darren?"
"I think it just got stranger."
After a few minutes of the strange… people staring at us, a few official looking officers came in, holding high-tech guns.
"State your names," said one of the white uniformed men, with a weird, lilting accent.
"Vur Horston."
"Darren Horston."
"Vancha Harst."
If these people were a threat, it was best not to give them our real names. Except for Vancha. His fake name was his real name, which was a bit confusing.
"What is your business here?" he asked, after writing the names down. "Plutarch said that you fell from some sort of vortex. Is this true?"
"Well," said Vancha, taking charge. "We're not sure what our business is here, and yeah we fell out of the stupid portal…" he trailed off, murmuring curses about yellow suits and rain boots.
A man stepped forward and pushed away the officer's gun.
"What's this about yellow suits and rain boots?" he asked, stepping closer to Vancha.
"That meddler Desmond Tiny sent us here, god knows why. Ever seen the guy? Short and fat, with little round glasses? Looks like a kind old man, but would bite your hand off before shaking it?"
"Vancha, please," said Mr. Crepsley, glaring at the prince.
"As a matter of fact I have," he said. "He gave me this watch."
He seemed to go into a sort of trance, swaying in time to the second hand on the watch. Vancha snatched the man's arm, with the intent of examining the watch. However, the officers did not seem to like this. One sent a tazer at Vancha, who fell to the ground. The other officers trained their guns on Mr. Crepsley and me. We held our hands up. Suddenly a drunken man staggered forward, out of the crowd.
"I luh-ike these guyss," he slurred wrapping an arm around me and Mr. Crepsley, smelling strongly of booze. "Wuh-y don't you sennnd them up with meh and I'll bring em back to the Dist–"
He didn't get to finish his sentence, because he promptly passed out. I stepped backwards –this man smelled almost as bad as Spritz did. The man with the watch seemed to think about this for a minute.
"Alright," he said finally. "They can stay with District Twelve until we reach the Capital."
"But sir–"began the man who tazed Vancha
"He was not going to hurt me," said the man, ending the conversation. "Take them to their compartment.
We had followed the man to the end of the train, where he led us to some high tech looking compartment. The furniture was strange, but looked comfortable. I didn't know how wide this train was, but it had doors leading to the sides, which presumably led to bed rooms. The man left and locked the door with a resounding, click.
We lounged on the couches (well… Vancha sat on the floor) and waited for someone to explain where we were. We were taking guesses ourselves, but we couldn't be sure.
"Maybe we're in Japan," suggested Vancha.
"None of these people look Asian," I pointed out.
"Who's here!" yelled a girl, who had just come into the room. "I hear voices!"
She was average looking, with long braided hair. There were several cats sitting at her feet, who were currently hissing at us.
"I am Vancha," Vancha said to the scared girl. "This is Vur, and this is Darren."
"Hello," Mr. Crepsley and I said in unison.
"Hi," said the girl, still looking petrified. "I'm Catnip- I mean, Katniss."
Another person walked into the room, this one was a boy. He was holding a cake that was disguised as tree bark in one arm, and several loaves of burnt bread in the other.
"And I'm Peeta."
Katniss seemed startled by his appearance too. She ran to the corner of the room screaming. She hit the wall and went down. The drunk guy from earlier stumbled out of another door, holding a large bottle of some kind of spirits.
"Whads all thee screaman foorr?" he asked, rubbing his temple with his free hand.
"Katniss got scared again," explained Peeta. "Just go back to your room Haybit- I mean, Haymitch. I know how to handle this."
He then proceeded to tear the burnt parts of the bread off and threw them at Katniss. She ate them like a duck would; her arms waving like strange wings.
She eventually ate her fill and set herself on fire.
"I'M THE GIRL ON FIRE!" she screamed happily. "I'M THE GIRL ON FIRE!"
Haymitch walked in, drawn by the noise, and stared at the burning girl.
"I'LL SAVE YOU KATNISS!" yelled Peeta, who took Haymitch's bottle of spirits.
He poured the bottles contents onto her head. We watched in horror as the flames grew, feeding off the alcohol. The train's fire system decided to go off, drenching us all in ice cold water. I spluttered, not expecting the sudden rush of cold.
The water stopped after a second. The still smoldering Katniss stood up, and cursed the sprinkler system. Haymitch sobbed, the loss of his alcohol saddening him. Three people burst in. The first was green, with strange gold tattoos covering her body. The second had bright pink hair and violet markings across her face. The third seemed relatively normal. He had brown hair, and the only oddity about him was the gold eyeliner he wore.
"Like Oh-my-gawd Katniss. That's like the third time you've set yourself on fire this week," said the green skinned lady. "Oooh, who are your friends?"
"Octavia," said the normal-ish one, distracting her. "Come look at this."
He was inspecting Vancha. His platinum blond hair, red skin, leather jacket, and poodle skirit made him stand out in a crowd anywhere.
"Platinum blond hair?" asked the man. "That is like, soooo last millennia. We are giving you a makeover… In fact, let's give all three of them a makeover.
Octavia and pink-hair screamed in excitement. Pink hair grabbed Mr. Crepsley, Octavia grabbed Vancha, and the man grabbed me. I screamed in protest as the strange man dragged me off.
He led me to a room and sat me down in a chair.
"First," he said, prying my mouth open, "let's get these teeth fixed."
"Stick your hands in my mouth and I'll bite your fingers off," I warned.
"Fine," he said. "Then I guess I'll just have to wax your eyebrows."
"No!" I yelled. "I'm a prince; you can't do this to me!"
"A prince, eh?" he said. "That gives me an idea."
Ugh, I thought, scratching my arm for the zillionth time. What on earth is this clothes made out of? Cinna, the man who gave me my 'makeover,' took my words way too seriously. He had dressed me in a regal outfit; a coal black shirt, with leather pants, and a long flowing cape. Over the plain black shirt, he put a fancy looking chainmail shirt. Upon my head was a silver crown, with blue flames dancing across it. I had touched the flames once, and they didn't burn me, so they must be some sort of illusion. We were waiting in the dining compartment for Vancha and 'Vur' to return. Mr. Crepsley came back first. His face and hair seemed to be untouched. He had gotten new clothes though. They looked a lot like his old ones, but when he moved, the material seemed to ripple. The stylist kept looking at Mr. Crepsley with frightened eyes. I supposed threats worked on her. A few minutes later, Vancha walked in. His hair was back to its normal green, and he was wearing his customary animal skins. But they were from no animal I had ever seen. They were a brilliant purple and had strange designs across them. They didn't seem to be dyed either.
"Vur, Vancha," said. "I think I know where we are.
"The future?" said Vancha, extremely confused. "I thought you've been to the future before?"
"Maybe this is what happens to the humans that survive," I argued.
"It is possible," said Mr. Crepsley, scratching his scar. "We know that Tiny has the ability to maneuver through time. That is the most likely explanation."
"Well," I said. "There's one way to find out."
"Cinna," I said, getting the man's attention. "What year is it?"
"3016, why?" he asked, looking confused.
My jaw dropped. We were even farther in the future than when I had gone with Harkat.
"Just wondering," I said lamely.
A horn sounded, and I heard many footsteps heading our way. People filed in, taking random seats at the long table we were seated at. Many were taking discreet glances at us, muttering about our strange appearance on the train. A large man, wearing only a leaf over his privates, walked in. He had a trident in his hand, which he was spinning idly. He decided to sit next to Mr. Crepsley, who did not look pleased. Peeta decided to sit next to me. Katniss sat next to him and began lighting matches.
The food was brought out by silent servants. If I hadn't been able to see their faces, I would have thought they were little people. Peeta didn't eat his food; he was too busy camouflaging it. Katniss ate her food, but only after she had burnt it thoroughly. The man by Mr. Crepsley was using his trident as a fork, occasionally whacking other people in the head with it. I decided to eat. I didn't know if there would be food anytime soon. The next world could be a barren wasteland. The other two followed my lead, and scarfed down their meals.
As I was eating, I noticed a strange smell. It smelled like burning –burning table cloth. I smacked my forehead and looked to my right. Katniss had set the table on fire. The train's fire protection system hadn't had time to refill since the last fire, so only a few pitiful drops came out of the ceiling. The rest of the train's population seemed to have realized this too. They scrambled around in a frenzied panic. We vampires knew that panicking led to death, so we calmly made our way out of the compartment.
"So, what should we do?" I asked the two older vampires.
"We have to jump," said Vancha. "The fire will spread and engulf the train soon."
We all agreed and found the nearest exit. We found one, but there was one problem.. The train was going at about two hundred miles an hour. We looked at each other and a mutual understanding passed between us. I made the death's touch sign and jumped…
Right into another portal.
:D Costume change! How will the next world react to their strange get-ups?