and in the halls, there are people looking through

Auralee was unnerved enough by the new presence as it was, but after Leon and the clown spoke, she felt chills run down her back. She didn't exactly want to have a tea party with this new guy, but killing him seemed a bit extreme. Auralee had almost let herself forget that she was in the Hunger Games. Death was the whole point. Killing one person to move on wasn't even the problem. You had to kill everyone, or die yourself. It was the basic premise of the Games she'd been in for days, even weeks now - she couldn't really tell how much time had passed - but it was still startling. She looked carefully at the newcomer. She would have been happier with herself if she'd found herself wondering if he deserved to die, though she knew the answer was no, than what she was currently pondering: could they take him? Auralee knew she wouldn't be much help, but she had a knife and she could sing along if that was a thing that was going to happen again. Would the clown and the girl fight with them, or stand aside? Auralee doubted they'd help, since their companionship had been won over through peace, sort of.

Auralee dug her fingernails into her palm, trying to steel her thoughts. She wanted to go home, not so much because she thought her life was that meaningful but because she didn't want to be here anymore. She didn't want to have to do this. As much as she knew some people would be ashamed to admit it, Auralee was scared of dying. Not just about whatever came after or because she didn't want to lose or because she had so much left to live for, but because death was scary. She didn't want to be in pain. She felt selfish and shallow for admitting it, but she figured that was human nature: the avoidance of pain, the pursuit of pleasure. It just usually wasn't this simple. Auralee didn't want to experience stabbing, shooting, starving, slashing, striking, slicing, disemboweling, beheading, quartering... she didn't even want to think about how many ways there were to die. She didn't want to kill this kid either, though. He was probably just as scared as she was. At least 24 kids go through this every year, she reminded herself. Their families move on, they die, they get forgotten. It should be easy. I'd have a right to complain, except for the frequency of it. If we kill this guy, nobody will remember him. Maybe his family, but they'll die out, and we'll all die out, and the earth with rise anew. Or be destroyed. Or something. I'll remember, but I'll probabaly die later on, and it won't matter. None of us really matter, but maybe we have to matter because of that. We have so little time, and so little affect. Do we use what we have to make our lives count as much as they can or give up and do whatever we want?

Auralee shook her head. She'd gotten way off track. Don't have to worry about that right now, not really. Just have to figure out how I can live with myself if we kill this kid. Not just because otherwise the Gamemakers won't let us out, but because obviously Leon's already ready for it. Or he thinks he is. His mirror rant would signify otherwise. He's willing, though, so there's already no chance for a trio of allies. I don't know this kid. He could be a jerk. At last Leon seems like a decent guy, and honestly, he's the closest thing I have to a friend right now. Closest thing to loyalty. I'd rather kill someone anonymous. Well, I'd rather not kill anyone. I shouldn't be thinking so simply about this, but I have to do something. I can't just keep standing here like a dazed rabbit. Auralee took a deep inhale of breath, imagining it filled her whole body up with courage and tucked her humanity deep under the corners of her skin so she wouldn't lose it in the coming battle. She took a final glance at her reflection, then pulled out the knife she'd found in her supplies earlier. That's symbolic, isn't it? From innocence - a toy, no less, a thing controlled and played with, a fake replica of a real thing - to murder. I guess you can explicate anything.

"That's a sign," she said quietly, referring to Leon's request. "So is being part of a game where the objective is literally to kill everyone else to survive." The words felt sharp and foreign in Auralee's mouth, and they left a bitter taste which she hoped wouldn't last. She was counting on the odd snappy tone of her voice as a result of her tumultuous mental state, not a sign that she was changing as a person. She muttered an apology and caught a glance of her reflection in the knife, as if there weren't enough mirrors already. Auralee looked away, unwilling to see herself reflected in something that would soon be used for attack with intent of murder. As she shifted her weight to her back leg to prepare to thrust forward, a song came to her mind. It was from a vastly different vein than the one they'd sung before, being a song that her mother used to sing to her when she was little and death valley wasn't exactly the stuff of lullabies. She didn't want to associate the song with something this dark, but sh felt she needed the comfort, and maybe it would help ease the process. Besides, if she died, she would have wanted it to be the last song she sang. She didn't know whether Leon knew it or not, or if he wanted to join in or sing his own song, and she wasn't sure how well the meaning of the song applied to their situation, but it had meaning to her, and as she lunged forward at the new tribute with her knife, she opened her lips and started singing anyway. "Down by the river by the boats, where everybody goes to be alone, where you won't see any rising sun, down to the river we will run."