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When dinner came around, where we were joined also by Tanya and Martha, Cian asked us how we got on. Loki explained how he mastered how to use many of the weapons and how to tie a noose, which surprise, surprise, Cian praised him for greatly. Loki didn't seem fazed, although he did take on a smug look. When Cian saw me roll my eyes dismissively, he demanded what I did.

"Research." I said simply.

"Care to elaborate?" he pressed, a crease forming in his brow. Martha, Tanya and Evey all watched me, surveying me, and I felt put on the spot. Did they really think so low of me, that I couldn't do anything useful? Way to make me feel self assured. I simply shrugged towards them all and told them about memorizing plant types, camouflaging and making fires. To my surprise, Cian looked satisfied.

"Thinking outside the box, I like it." he said. "Now, how about the ally suggestion?" I thought of my conversation with Dominic, how he wanted to team up. I still hoped I would lose him once in the arena, just to save the job of getting to friendly with the enemy. He had gone off to work with a sword, but our eyes met continuously throughout the two hours we had remaining. Stanley had accompanied him again, and I noticed his eyes travel in my direction when he was spoken to. Had he been dragged into our agreement, or were they teaming up against me? it was hard to determine, as both seemed to have good motives, but Stanley never approached me during training.

"I don't know about allies, but an enemy seems like a good word." Loki said, referring to Star, of course. All eyes instantly fell on me, much to my annoyance.

"What?" I snapped darkly through a mouth full of chocolate cake.

"Who, Foxy?" Cian said, eying me with an annoyance of his own. Oh, what did he care if I gained an enemy or not? He'd probably enjoy watching me being hunted.

"A Career, the girl from District 1." Loki said before I could, and I shot him a cold look. Thanks, thanks a lot.

"Why would you go and do that?" Evey burst out, horrified.

"She was mocking us!" I retorted, my voice rising in a defensive manner.

"Then you ignore it! Not label yourself as their first victim!" Martha said harshly.

"What do you lot care anyway?" I burst, rising to my feet and slamming my palms on the table. All went silent for a moment, all eyes on my face and murderous eyes. Loki went to reach for my arm, but thought better of it. Evey pushed a piece of apple crumble down her throat loudly. Martha cleared her throat with a cough but said nothing. Tanya ran a hand through her hair nervously. Cian only watched me, calculating me, trying to figure me out. Finally, the silence broke.

"Getting a bit hostile, aren't we, Foxy?" he said, his voice guarded.

"I wonder why." I snarled back. I was suffocating with the pressure of these events, drowning with the low expectations. The looks of doubt, the appalled responses, the pointless comments of reason. They all knew what was going to happen to me, and seemed content on reminding me with every chance they got. Even Loki saw me as weak and unable to contain myself. It was like he saw that every action I portrayed, the more trouble I was going to be in. Loki, my sister's boyfriend, my family, had his own doubts about my fate. He didn't have to say it; the looks of worries told me enough. And that thought made me feel like I was being choked. They named me for the games, transformed me into a pawn, and now they were regretting it, because I wasn't going to put on a show.

"Please sit down, we can help sort this out. Give you advice. We're here to help you." Martha said gently, gesturing to my seat with her hand.

"None of you care about what happens to me!" I shouted. "You think lowly enough of me as it is!"

"You keeping blocking us." Tanya said.

"I did what you told me to at the parade, I'm learning about the best ways to survive! What more do you want from me?"

"Control." Cian answered, his eyes locking onto mine.

"You people are throwing us into an arena of death. I'm surprised I haven't had a mental breakdown yet!" and with that, hearing the gasps of shock, I stormed away and ran into the hallway, pacing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, feel the heat of my blood as my anger tried to break me. I found myself pacing by running, tiring myself out, but helping to drain away the anger. No one came for me, and I wasn't surprised. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Up and down, up and down, up and down.

Finally, after what must have been half an hour of pacing/sprinting, I collapsed at the doors of the floor's elevator. I hugged my legs to my chest and hid my face in my knees, trembling. Pain, horrendous pain. My chest felt like it weighed a tonne, the back of my throat seemed to be swelling. The Games crushed me, the expectations broke me. These people of the Capitol were going to watch me thrive here, and then, once the bloodshed begins, see me break into a million little pieces. The emotional wreck. The weakling. The first kill. Or maybe they'd have the pleasure of seeing a chase scene, involving me and Star, or better yet, Loki. That's what they wanted, the fox and the wolf to battle it out. To see who came out triumphant, and see who would be the blood mess in the dirt. If only Dominic could see me now.

I had told Martha that a wolf had attacked our cattle back home on my first day here in the Capitol. I hadn't said much about it, but it was brought up. I failed to mention that I had seen the attack. It happened the previous year, and I watched it by accident. Ash and Myth were in the middle of a heated argument, yelling and screaming for reasons I could no longer remember. Mother started yelling at them to be quite, and amongst the noise, I fled to escape it. I hated noise, it always gave me a headache. So I ran from the house and into the district, towards the horse stables.

The animals of our district were to the North, close to the fence that trapped us there. Knowing that animals couldn't scream and yell, they were the company I longed for when family life got to be too much. There was one horse, Scarlet, who I was very fond of. She was a beautiful creature, her fur a chestnut colour and she had a single white stripe on her face, along with two white socks on her front legs. I had seen her birth take place three years earlier, and the owner let me ride her once she got strong enough and let me name her. So the night of the argument, I snuck into her stable and petted her, wrapping my arms around her strong neck. She'd sensed my distress and rubbed her hooves against the hay on the ground, nuzzling her nose into the crook of my neck.

I'd stayed in her company for hours, embracing her and grooming her. The moon was high up in the sky, putting the district under the influence of a silver gloom. I had been scraping dirt from Scarlet's hoof, and that was when I heard the digging of dirt and rocks. Curious, I had gone over to the door of the stable and opened the door an inch or so, peeking through and locating the sound. That was when I saw the glowing yellow eyes, pinned of the sheep that were fenced in a small yard and snoozing on the grass. The eyes were huge, mesmerizing, but the sound of it panting put me on edge. The horses got restless, including Scarlet who was nudging me with her nose, insisting I moved away. I ignored her and watched the wolf dig under the fence.

The animal was starved, that was easy to see. From what I could tell, it had fur that was black as night, the moon helping to indicate its location. Its ears twitched back and forth, its nose sniffing madly. It was starved to the point of madness. Alone meant it would have struggled to bring down a kill in the wild, so it had no choice but to risk making a kill here. It whined in frustration, poking its snout and head under the fence, snarling at the sheep. Even in the low light, its teeth were easy to see. Massive fangs, white against black lips. I noticed its tail sway in anger. I was aware of the fact that the fence was off, which was a bad peace of luck for the farmer.

The wolf kept digging, and finally, wriggled under the fence. The second fence was nothing. It ran and leapt over it, snarls ripping from its throat at it went to attack the sheep. I saw it all. The panic of the sheep, who scattered around the tiny space. Once sheep, the smallest and weakest, wailed with terror. The wolf lunged for it, its jaws breaking the poor things neck. And the wolf didn't stop there. Through the panicked herd, I saw it tear the sheep to shreds, its white coat stained with red, its limbs flimsy as the wolf tore out its intestines. The other sheep wailed louder, huddling in a corner furthest away from the animal. The horse were also crying, some rising to the hind legs in a panic of their own. Scarlet simply made a cry of warning. The wolf continued to mutilate the sheep. Flesh tearing, bones crunching, the jaws chewing. And then, as if to end the show, the wolf howled with joy. And that's when the shot came.

I'd ran for home as soon as the shot came, and by morning, all that remained was the blood and fur of the sheep. The tearing of flesh had haunted my dreams for months, the wails of the fellow animals deafening in my head when a room was silent. And that's what I related myself to now. I wasn't a fox, but a sheep, and the other tributes were the wolves. Even the Capitol. I would be targeted and torn to shreds in the arena, and no matter how much I would shout, no one would come to my aid.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, Loki had me cradled in his arms as he carried me to my room. He handed me over to Rose, who carefully undressed me and redressed me in my nightwear. She shushed me, and for a moment I was confused, and then a realized I was crying. She wiped the tears away and led me to my bed, tucking me in and then switching off the light. The door slid shut, and when sleep took me over, blood spattered behind my eyelids.


The next few days went by in a complete blur. It was a robotic routine. Get up, have breakfast, go to training, have lunch, back to training, go to dinner, have an overview and then go to bed. In training I mastered how to throw a knife over long distances, fight in physical combat and perfect my camouflage. I revised my knowledge of the plants and berries, herbs and spices, and possibly some nature elements that may be good for healing. Dominic would come and chat with me, give me updates on the Careers. He was like a spy for me when it came to Star, who never really bothered me again. A sneer here, a comment there, nothing major to get my nerves hyped. Stanley also gave me tips on how to climb effectively, although it consisted more of him hoisting me up the provided beams. The Gamemakers didn't like the interaction, but because were weren't actually fighting, there was nothing they could do to stop us.

Loki also joined me while I read, asking for the names of plants and helping to test me. he observed my knife skill and was very impressed.

"Almost as good as me with an axe." He'd said with a wink. I simply rolled my eyes. Cian was more observant of me after my outburst. He came to the gym and watched as me and Loki worked, but didn't interact. That was against the rules. We had to work with either ourselves or the tutors. But from the smiles I got when he saw me throw a knife and teach Loki about the plants, I felt a little more confident. He was extra pleased about my interactions with Stanley and Dominic, but kept the information between me and him. The two boys had made sure to approach me away from Loki's eye, knowing I didn't want him to think I was warming to the idea of allies. It was clear that these two were fascinated with me, and tried to help me in training as much as they were allowed.

Tomorrow would be the time to show the Gamemakers what we could do, where each tribute got a score for their skills. This was crucial, because once the audience knew what how strong we were, they would decided on who to sponsor. What followed was the interview, and then it was time for the Games. Everything was flashing by so quickly, only the term 'time flies when you're having fun' didn't imply. It was a terrifying revelation.

Cian told us that tomorrow was our last day to train, so perfect whatever we had learned. Use up what time we had left and don't waste it. We both nodded stiffly, absorbing whatever advice he could give us. We had a matter of days left, and we needed to use them wisely. He then grabbed the front of our training shirts and yanked us towards him, putting his face in ours to capture our attention.

"Show them everything you've got. I don't want to sit there watching you in the arena and receiving no gifts from sponsors to send to you." He said.

"You actually care?" I muttered, but he smiled more so than glared, and drew me in a little closer.

"I just don't want to look like a joke." He told me. Right. He didn't want us to get awfully low scores and make him look bad. Comforting.

"So you really don't care if I live or die?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. Loki kicked my foot, and Cian released our shirts. He smiled at us, and then looked directly at me.

"It's not about what I think." He said. "If you really want to live, then you'll fight and do the best you can. Get a high score, throw a great interview, and give the audience something worth watching. Pull that off, you may have a chance of winning." Even though he was meant to be speaking with both of us, I couldn't help but think he was speaking more so to me. He sent us to bed, and Loki grasped my hand.

"Do me a favour?" he asked and I nodded, meeting his eyes. "Give the Gamemakers something to enjoy. If I want anyone to get the best score, I want it to be you." And with that, he went to his room and closed to door, leaving me staring at where he had just stood.