Both Prim and Peeta went to bed that night feeling at peace with the future. The coin had been tossed, and the decision was made. It was a fair outcome that both of them were trying to deal with and accept. At least now they knew who to fight for, and it was their goal to make the winner of the coin toss the ultimate winner of The 75th Hunger Games.
Neither of them slept much that night. Both were contemplating the concept of the next few days. They had three days of fighting and then they had to appear on the TV talk shows. The first show was after the second day of training, and the final TV show was held on the fourth day. That meant that five days from now, they would be fighting in the arena.
The next morning was filled with anxiety and eagerness. After breakfast, Peeta and Prim were dressed in their suits and Effie and Haymitch escorted them to the training hall. Leaving the lift, they walked into a fighting hall, and there Peeta and Prim saw their opponents for the first time. The contestants were lined up according to District, and everybody was studying the others intensely. It was a mixed crowd with mainly either weak-looking children or big ones, looking rather brainless. Just as Peeta had expected. There was no one like him and it was a comfort to him. As they were still lined up, he looked at the Careers, and there he saw something that he had not expected. From District 1 were a skinny, very blond girl with short hair and a chubby boy with a strong body. He seemed to be just as strong as Peeta, maybe even stronger since he was a lot taller. This was to be expected, but District 2 presented tributes that looked anything but weak: The girl looked like a model with long blond hair framing her beautiful face. Her lips were blood-red and her eyes highlighted by makeup. The boy was even more remarkable as he looked like any other Career from the previous years: He was a tall and muscular guy with half-long hair tied up in a ponytail. He had an ominous look in his eyes, closely taking notice of everyone as if he was rating them on his kill-list. His face could have been handsome if he was smiling of joy, but if he did smile, it was a devious one which made him look even more fearsome. Peeta really wondered how he had ended up here and it worried him. He felt that this guy, who was called Romain, was sizing him up right now, planning how to kill him. It gave him goose bumps.
Prim looked around to find potential allies, but she felt confused. She had told herself to look closely at the others while training to spot the talents that she and Peeta needed.
First, the Game Makers entered the room and explained the training. Each tribute had to choose what kind of training they wanted, and then it was up to them to excel to make the Game Makers impressed and gain sponsors. Then all the tributes were let into the training pits. The Careers went straight to the knives and boxing areas to intimidate the others.
"Don't take too much notice of them. They only do it to scare us", Peeta said as the Romain guy punched a hole in the wall while screaming like an animal. Prim was not the only one who was scared. A girl next to them with long reddish hair and an unfortunate look on her face almost seemed to cry.
"I bet you got some tricks up your sleeve too", Peeta then said to her with a smile, but the girl misunderstood his kindness and ran away quickly. So quickly that she almost disappeared, and when she appeared again, she was standing in the other part of the room.
"Wow", Peeta said. Prim nodded:
"I want her on our team".
While looking out for other allies, Peeta walked towards the boxing areas to show off his power. The other tributes assembled around him and watched him, and his strengths impressed all of them except the District 2 contestants, who looked at him with superior attitudes. The girl with the red lips, Celine, even frowned and laughed. Prim saw it and it made her angry. She decided that she wanted Celine eliminated as the first one. Prim watched her as she picked up a bow and took aim. With great force, the arrow hit the target perfectly, and she did it three times in a row before leaving the area with an annoying smile on her face. She met up with Romain and they shared a high-five. They would surely be the favourites; everybody would expect one of them to win the Games this year.
While Prim was practising her healing skills in the more mental part of the training hall, Peeta watched the people fighting. He was looking for someone who could use a knife or bow to join their team. Suddenly he saw the perfect choice: A slender obnoxiously looking boy from District 9 was fighting on his own with a knife and he showed great abilities with it. He had long blond hair, which was almost white and narrow eyes that made him look angry. He seemed to be alone, which made him easier to persuade into joining their team. His name was Cane.
Prim and Peeta joined up again at the part of the hall where the brains of the tributes were tested. A game was testing the memory, and a thin person with short white hair was busy playing it. First it looked like a boy, but it turned out to be the girl from District 1 named Elodie, and she was excelling at this test. She was concentrating hard, which made her face contort and made her look like a mad dog. Only her long, pointy nose was not moving, and the contraction of the face made the nose even more remarkable. After the memory test, she moved on to the other games that tested the brains, and she completed them all, seemingly without even having to do her best. After Elodie left the memory test, a boy sat down on her chair starting to try to do as good as her. While Prim was practising her combat skills, which she had to do even though it was not her strength, Peeta lingered and watched the boy. He looked almost sickly with yellowish skin and dark hair falling down his forehead into his eyes. He put his face close to the board as though that would strengthen his focus and ability to remember. After a while he finished and sat up almost yelling a loud "Yes!" out for everybody to hear. It did seem to Peeta that he, too, was good, and the boy's behaviour afterwards made him sure that this was the ego-person Haymitch wanted on the team as he stroked back his hair, left the chair and told the next tribute in line that he might as well give up now, as he was the master who was unbeatable.
After training, the District 12 tributes were eating dinner with Effie and Haymitch. This time, both Peeta and Prim were eager to discuss what had happened.
"Easy, children", Haymitch hushed, "I hear you, and I watched you today. Peeta, you did good showing off your strengths. Tomorrow you will train harder to master hand to hand combat while also learning the basics of how to fight with a knife. And you, Prim", Haymitch said. This time he looked at Prim with something that looked like a smile:
"You did well today too. The judges surely noticed your healing abilities, so tomorrow you also have to gain more experience in fighting". Prim smiled too, licking up the praise.
"And the potential team mates you found", Haymitch continued, putting a piece of juicy steak onto his fork, "I think they are good choices. The guy from 4, the pale kid with the almost yellow skin, he is a winner. His name is Bear, and without even noticing it himself, he will gain you a few favours".
"Okay, and then we have the disappearing girl from District 5", Peeta said.
"Yes, her name is Megan, and she is actually pretty nice, but she does not like people", Prim said.
"You talked to her already?", Haymitch asked with a surprised look on his face.
"Yes, I did. I needed to know if she would be a good fit for our team, and I really like her", Prim continued.
"Okay, sweetheart, it is good that you mingle with people, but don't get too attached to her, as you have to put a knife in her back if everything goes as planned", Haymitch then said, without turning a hair. Everybody went quiet after this and Prim looked down as in shame. Peeta quickly put his hand on hers, clearing his throat:
"We know that, and Prim is doing the right thing. She is a good person, and the Games won't change that. I really admire that". Prim looked at him, astonished, and he just smiled to her. His compliment warmed her heart.
"It did not change me either", Haymitch then defended himself.
"Clearly", Peeta instantly said, pointing at the knife that Haymitch was squeezing inside his hand out of habit.
"Anyway", Haymitch said to change the subject, "the guy from District 9, the one with the knife, who seems to be a mute; he seems to be a good choice too. Talk to them tomorrow, and after tomorrow's practice, we have to talk about the talk show. We have to spin it in our favour", he said and took his leave.
"Don't worry about the talk show. I will rehearse with you and make sure that we will be a smashing success. You see, fighting isn't all", Effie then said, putting her hand with her purple nails on Prim's hand.
