Part 1: Preparation
Chapter 1: Panem
Day 1
Killian opens his eyes to still see that woman smiling at him. Euphemia had picked his name out of the container and acted like bringing him on this train was a treat. He was incredibly tired as he looked away from the sun. He was a night owl so he spent most of his days sleeping. He supposed that being someone who preferred to hunt at night might come in handy.
He turns his head toward the girl beside him. Robin hadn't stopped shaking since she was chosen. She had to be carried on to the train after saving her goodbyes. Euphemia was very excited about having this girl being the next tribute of District 12 for the 54th Hunger Games. Her older brother had won only a few years prior.
"I'll go fetch your mentor; he should be ready to see you now." Euphemia smiles and stands up. "I'm going to miss this." They both look up at her unsure of exactly what she means. She turns away with them and walks away in small steps. She barely has any leg room in that tight dress skirt she wore.
"Hey." Killian says to Robin and softly touches her shoulder. She screams and scoots away so much she falls out of her chair. "Calm down!" She gets up and puts his hands up. She looks up at him with her terrified eyes, she'd been so zoned out she hadn't noticed she was on the train.
"What's your name?" Killian asked her. He already knew her name from the drawing but it was a way to relax her.
"Robin… Robin Abernathy…" She answers.
"Abernathy…" He hadn't had a chance to think about it before. That name sounded so familiar.
"Robin!" A male voice enters the room. Robin looks to her side then shoots to her feet.
"Haymitch!" She runs to him and embraces him.
"I'm so sorry…" He says to her. He never imagined she would have to go through that hell. "It's going to be okay… alright?" Haymitch rubs her shoulders and arms.
"Haymitch." Killian recognized him from 4 years ago. Killian was 12 years old so it was his first drawing. He remembered Haymitch being the first boy he had seen called with another male and female tribute. He remembered it being special because there were a higher amount of tributes. "I remember when you were called as a tribute…"
"So do I." He says and offers his hand. "What's your name?"
"Killian Everdeen." He shakes his hand.
"You leave anyone behind?" Haymitch asked.
"My little sister." Killian answered. He didn't feel the need to get specific by saying her name.
"This is all I've got right here…" Haymitch puts his arm around Robin. "You can imagine what kind of spot this puts me in…"
"An understandable situation… I never planned to win." He said. "If it means anything… I can do what I can to help keep your sister alive." He offers.
"You mean that?" He says with surprise.
"It's about time District 12 had another winner. I couldn't return home with my head held high knowing I had to walk over an innocent from our own home." He says.
Haymitch pats his sister on the back. "Why don't you go into the next room? You can get something to eat and calm your nerves." She nods her head and turns to go back then turns back and hugs Killian first.
"Thank you…"
"You're welcome." He says and rubs her back a bit. She pulls away and goes into the next room.
"Let me ask you something…" Haymitch walks up to him then gets in his face. "You don't think I'm a fool do you? I sure hope not. If you're serious then we can be good friends. But if I think for a second you're doing this to get close to my sister for an easy kill… You'd better hope you don't come out of there alive. Because if you do, I'll spend every waking moment and every last breathe I've got trying to hunt you down and tear your throat out. Got that?" He asked.
Killian stands staring back at him not saying a word. Haymitch turns his back and walks back to the next room. Killian follows after a few moments and sits at the table. The attendants were putting out food for each of them. It had been a very long time since Killian had seen real food. The real meal he had was at Thanksgiving the previously year where they found a deer that had died of starvation.
"I hear you're a pretty good shot." Haymitch says to Killian.
"Who says that?" He asked.
"I did…" Robin says. "I see you going out and hunting sometimes… You usually always come back with something so I assumed…"
"It's good to show off skills like that. You'll want to get your hands on a bow." He says.
"The only bow I trust is the one I left at home…" Killian says. "I left it for my sister but I doubt she'll use it. Maybe my future niece or nephew can use it." He jokes.
"You'll need to start trusting yourselves. When you're out there you will need to impress the sponsors. You are going to need to make some friends. They're the way you're going to get help out there. Medicine, water, or in some cases items that can be used as weapons."
"What should I show off?" Robin asked.
"Your personality." He says. "That includes your fear."
"How does that help?" Killian asked as he eats.
"Regardless of how sick and twisted those idiots in Panem are… they're still human. They see a scared and frightened girl it makes them like her…. They want to root for her as an underdog. They will be more open to helping her survive if they feel sorry for her."
"If I'm helping her out there that could hurt, right?" Killian asked.
"Exactly… We are going to play a big sister and little sister card for the two of you. We make up a phony story about how close the two of you are. So if or when you die Killian, they will want to see your last wish fulfilled… Get your little sister home safe."
"I get it…" Killian says. "You're pretty good at this."
"Maybe… I'd be more inclined to believe it if I had mentored a winner yet." He puts his hand over his sister's. "This time it's different…"
After a while they finally arrive with the loud cheers of people outside. "It's show time…" Haymitch says. Killian and Robin get up to exit the train. The door opens with the peacekeepers waiting for them to exit. Robin shakes as she looks at all of them. In her eyes they were all just psychos hounding for her death.
Killian looks back at Haymitch in the plane. As bold as it was it was a good move to get start now. He reaches over and takes Robin's hand and walks forward. He scanned the crowd to see pictures taken and look of heartwarming delight on the faces of some of them. This was really going to work after all.
Their first stop was to get cleaned. Killian had never felt so violated in his life. He preferred scrubbing himself was dirty water than he did being scrubbed and hosed down. He spent so much time in the forest that he heard the mentioning that it took twice as long to clean him. After they finished cleaning him the left him alone in a room alone.
"Everdeen." A man steps inside. "I'm your stylist, call me Keller."
"Call me, Killian." He says.
"You even have kill in your name, is it not fate?" He asked.
"There's no such thing." He says. "So… You came here to fix me. What's your plan?"
"Your mentor filled me in on your situation with that girl. That opens up a lot of doors… We're going to play on that." He says.
"How?" Killian asked. Keller leads him back to his group with Haymitch and Robin.
Meanwhile in the newsroom Esperanza Lockhart was preparing for her segment. She takes a seat next to her colleague Rifton. They check their microphones and sets.
"Have you brushed up your resume lately?" Rifton asked.
"Excuse me?" Esper asked.
"Rumor has it that President Snow is going to replace you."
"Why would he ever do that?" She asked.
"You're too sentimental; you make these games uncomfortable for some people to watch. No one wants to know why these kids leave behind or anything like that. This is a game."
"Why should I believe you?" She asked him turning in his directions.
"Look at the ratings of each hunger games since you started and how they drop after your social commentary." He says without looking in her direction. She takes a deep breath then looks forward.
The Districts begin down the line in the middle of a roaring crowd. District 1 and 2 were given the most praise immediately. Scott Brimm, age 17 and Valerie Jepsen, age 15 were in the front with a crown and tiara made of diamonds. They showed their solidarity with their rich counter parts of Panem.
District 2 was Cole Mitchell, age 18 and Hael Reigns, age 16. Cole had on an old fashioned white suit with a red tie and white fedora. He was known in his home as a man of high fashion and class even in the District of fabrics. Hael wore a black garment like a black witch. She had 2 live crows on her shoulders that crowed at in each direction. Cole and Hael both having been trained their whole lives for this weren't worried about their competition.
The lineup continued:
District 3: Douglas Rimley and Annabelle Ruth.
District 4: Jensen Keyes and Max Larson.
District 5: David Knightingale and Kim Josie.
District 6: Raphael Tatum and Eleanor Banks.
"Here comes District 7." Rifton says. "They come from the home of lumber Jacks and Jills."
"I don't think there's enough soap in all of Panem to clean up that body odor." Esper makes a joke.
"If that's true then we should send Districts 9 and 10 back right now!" Rifton laughs heartily. Esper forces herself to laugh with him.
District 7: Henry Walker and Becky Rhodes.
District 8: Kael Helmsley and Melissia Justice.
District 9: Daniel Kingsley and April Jennings.
District 10: Andrew Rivers and Gwen Hailey.
District 11: Mito Lucaris and Abigail Upton.
"At the end is District 12. The coal miners, unless they can go groundhog I don't think those skills will be useful." Esper says.
"What in the world is that?" Rifton gets up a bit to take a better look at the screen. Esper's jaw drops as well. At the back of the line Killian stands behind Robin. His arms having the wings of a mockingjay as slowly move down and surround Robin. Keller's idea was for him to look as her protector by putting her under his wings. For a moment Robin had forgotten about the people and laid back into his arms.
At the same time on podium President Snow was being contacted. "President Snow we have some urgent information for you." He continues to sit and waits for them to get it over with.
"The background checks on the competitors came back and we found something of great interest. It appears that someone in this year's games is a direct descendant of Jerell, the very last of his kin.
President Snow takes note of that and stands up. He walks up to the podium as District 12 finishes its ride down to the front. President Snow looks down upon them all.
"Tributes, welcome to the 54th Annual Hunger Games." He announces. The crowd cheers their approval. "We do this in remembrance of the Capitol's and my own generosity. 24 brave men and woman stand before me and last remaining will go down in history. The last of you remaining will be showered in riches beyond your wildest dreams."
The rest of the speech was a blur. He had made the same speech so many years in a row that after the first part many tributes stopped paying attention. They would instead turn their attention to the other tributes.
Haymitch sat in the back with a scotch in his hand. He had hearing this same tired speech. Now he was saying it to his sister. He was a fairly light drinker most of the year.
"You should get used to that." A familiar voice says to him as he sits.
"I should get used to what, Skylar?"
"Having a drink in your hand." He says and pours himself a glass. "If you see enough of your teams lose with no victories, you'll pound this down year around."
"Don't you have some puppies to drawn somewhere?" Haymitch asks and takes a sip.
"It's not Thursday." He laughs. "Your sister is in the lineup this year."
Haymitch grips his scotch in his hand then glares at Skylar. "What of it?"
"You should play nice. If you do that I'll be sure to let my mentees know to make her death slow and painless." He stands up. "If not then well… You saw what I did to my last opponent." He smiles and gulps down the rest of his scotch. He walks away leaving Haymitch there to ponder that.
Killian scanned his opponents. He saw at least two 12 year olds that seemed to be less afraid than Robin. He wasn't the only one surveying in secret. He saw a couple more heads move slightly. He knew the real competition was in the front. Districts 1 and 2 were going to be gunning for any and every one. There were many of occasions listed through history of them working together until the last few remained or until one betrayed the group.
He looks at District 1 and couldn't get a feed on them. They both had their attention on President Snow. There was no chance that he could get a good look from here and figured the same for District 2. He looks over and while Cole had his back turned, Hael did not. Hael caught eyes with Killian for a moment. Killian wasn't sure what was going to happen now.
It seemed certain that if District 1 or 2 caught you eyeing them down that they would probably start with you in the competition. They were notorious for using the skills and reputation to scare their opponents. He swallows down his dry throat. Hael's eyes stay on him for a moment before she smiles and turns back around not telling Cole or giving any signals that she showed aggression. Killian was more confused than ever now.
After it finished Haymitch met them at the hotel. Euphemia got them into the elevator and up to their rooms. "You're quite lucky. The tributes rooms are divided by floors so you get the penthouse. It's a lot different than life where you have to live under the ground, am I right?"
"You know coal miners don't live underground, right?" Haymitch asked.
"I do… now." She answers with a big smile and leads them inside. "This is your room."
Killian and Robin stop and stare in shock. They walk inside seeing the chrome covered walls and rugged floors. It was completely different than anything they were used to. They both get cleaned up and Killian goes into his room and falls down on his bed. He saw the city out to his left. It was big, beautiful and bright. He hated everything about it.
"Killian?" Robin says.
Killian turns her way. "What's up? Can't sleep?" He asked.
"No…" Robin steps inside slowly. "Would you mind if I laid down here with you? I'm sorry I just…"
"Don't want to be alone?" He asked. "I get it." He ushers her to come over. Robin steps over to the bed then lies on top of it before her head finds his arm.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it." He figures and decides to puts his arm around her neck to make her feel safe like she had before. After a few moments she closes her eyes and drifts to sleep. Haymitch returns to the penthouse and passes by the room and sees them together. Haymitch wasn't about to make a scene but now he trusted that boy even less. Killian looks down to see her sleeping then stares up at the ceiling thinking about their training to begin the next day. They had 2 long weeks ahead of them…
14 Days Until the Hunger Games Begins…
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