We sat in silence for a while. We seemed to get along better when we didn't talk so, that's how we kept it. We had gone back to watching tapes of past Games to learn secrets.
"Oh good you're both here," Gren walked in and clapped his hands. Ryder and I both looked at him and then at each other. He raised his eyebrows and I understood exactly what he was saying. Here we go again. I was beginning to wonder if Gren was going to act as both our escort and our mentor. That would be a laugh. Just smile as you kill them and the audience will love you I could imagine him saying to us before the games.
"When do we meet our mentor, Gren?" Ryder had read my mind. The green haired man looked at the clock on the wall that read 4:45. He glanced worriedly at the door at the opposite end of the car.
"Actually, I don't know when-"
"I'm here." Gren was cut off by the sharp voice that cut the air. We all turned to see a tall woman with sleek black hair and piercing black eyes. She was dressed in a tight leather jacket and matching pants. At her waist hung a wicked looking six inch knife. She leaned against the wall and took us in, a look of disgust and contempt neatly hidden in her eyes.
"So this is what they give me now. An emaciated girl and a boy who looks like he's never worked a day in his life." She walked over to the table, flipped a chair around, and straddled it, "Bad enough I get saddled with district 12, now I've got to deal with you two!" She waves angrily at Ryder and me.
"You know, you could at least tell us your name before you start insulting us," Ryder stands and makes his way to the woman. She just glares and half laughs.
"Watch your mouth boy. I'm the one who will be saving your sorry ass when you're in the arena." She stands and looks Ryder in the eye. Despite being a few years older than him, the woman was only a few inches taller; and that, I think she got from the black combat boots she wore. She had a sharp tongue, an admirable trait in the correct environment. Too bad this wasn't it.
"Call me boy, one more time." Ryder's voice ad taken on an edge that I had never heard in another human's voice. It was somewhere between a snarl and a growl.
"Alright. You are nothing but a helpless, needy, pathetic, little boy." She had pushed close to him, so that she was only inches from his face. Then Ryder pushed her backwards, only causing her to stumble slightly. He lashed out with a kick that she caught and twisted, sending Ryder to the floor. The woman stood over him as he stood up. When he charged, she was ready. She side stepped him and pinned him to the wall. Quicker than I would have thought possible, the woman had flipped him so that he faced her and had her knife at his throat.
"Trust me boy, you don't want to do that. I've been to hell and back, and more importantly I survived. With any luck you'll last half as long. And a bit of advice," she spit the words at him as she threw him to the floor, "learn to control your anger. It will kill you." And then she sat down as if nothing had happened. Ryder lay where he was staring at the woman. I was still in the chair dumbfounded. Gren looked at both of us uneasily before talking.
"Trinity, Ryder, this is your mentor, Mara Gegor."
Dinner was both extravagant and awkward. The meal came in five courses, salad then soup then an appetizer then the main meal and lastly dessert. All were rich and I was careful to only nibble due to my half starvation. I didn't want to see such a pretty meal come back up. In between the courses that Avoxs served, we talked sparingly with Mara and Gren.
"So, how did you end up as mentor for our district?" I finally asked after Mara stopped yelling at a server for messing up her order. She had a really bad temper; no wonder she had won the Games. Mara shoved a forkful of chicken into her mouth and eyed me suspiciously. Was there ever going to be a day when someone trusted me?
"Well, I ask myself that same question every year," She looks at her plate as if it held the answer to my question, "I was assigned to you beautiful district because you don't have any victors. I was young and stupid and wanted my first mentoring job. So I signed up to teach the District 12 tributes until the time, if any, you have a proper victor. I'm actually from District 7." This was the most she had said without yelling all night. It also seemed to make her uncomfortable.
"And I take it you don't like District 12?" Ryder glared at her. He still hadn't forgiven her for almost slitting his throat.
"Personally I have nothing you and your district," Mara laughs and shakes her head, "I hate mentoring your tributes because I know the moment they walk in that they'll be lucky to survive the first few hours of the torture the Capitol plans. If for once they actually gave me two people who can handle themselves, I would be more than happy to teach them how to win." She glances at me, taking me in with her black eyes. "So what about you girl? Can you keep yourself alive?"
Can I keep myself alive! What, did she think I got bone thin from eating too much? Did she know that I had spent the last four years keeping myself alive? I think I could handle a few weeks. I wanted to scream all of this at her but I knew that would be a good way to get my throat slit. Mara was very handy with her knife. So, I settled for, "I know a few tricks." She nods and smiles for the first time. I notice how young and pretty she is when she's not wearing that death glare.
"I like you. Your name's Trinity right? Such a classy name. Too bad; I'm going to call you Trin, so get use to it." She shoved another forkful of food into her mouth and I nodded.
"Mara wants to go over your training and skills before we reach the Capitol," Gren pushes the food around on his plate. It was no secret that Mara scared him. And with her deadly looks and swift hand, who could blame him? I personally thought Mara was quite like a snake; beautiful from a distance, but get too close or rub her the wrong way and you get a painful, sometimes deadly, bite.
"Yes. I want to know what you're good at and what you're not. I want to know how long you can go without food and what your pain threshold is. I want to know how you think you measure up in the fight." She pushed her plate away and leaned onto the dark wood table, "Let's start with you, Ryder."
Ryder looked uneasily at the floor thinking about what to say. I could tell by the way he furrowed his brows that he was having a hard time thinking of some category. After what seemed like hours he spoke quietly. "I guess I can use a knife pretty well. And I'm not that bad with a bow, though I can't really hit a moving target. Yet." He added quickly as he saw Mara drop her head into her hands.
"Well, you're not a total loss. How about the other questions?"
"I can go without eating for a few days. I think the most I've ever gone is three or four. I can take somewhat large amounts of pain. Minor breaks and such. And personally I think I'm going to be dead in the first few days." His last statement surprised me, and by the way Mara's head shot up again, it surprised her too.
"And why do you think that?" Mara leans over as far as she can to Ryder and there is almost pity in her eyes; as if she almost didn't like the way Ryder ruled himself out.
"Because I don't know the first thing about survival. I get out there and I'm going to die from exposure." Mara seemed satisfied with his answer. She turned to me and raised her brows waiting for me to answer the same questions. I took a deep breath and started.
"I can hunt. I can kill when the occasion calls for it. I know how to find my way in the woods, track game, set snares. I'm most handy with my bow. I can throw a knife every once in a while." This made me drift off to thoughts about my dad. He was the one who had taught me everything I knew about survival. I guess you could say he was the reason I'm alive right now.
"Good," Mara's voice ripped me away from my daydream. She was about to say more but she was hushed by the blare of Panem's anthem followed by a high voice announcing that we had arrived in the Capitol.