Chapter 12- Catalina Nightwind

The banging on the door wakes me up out of a sound sleep. I don't want to get up, don't want to go down to the Training Center today. I want to go home, but I can't. I want to ignore the knocking, but then there's Miri Pola talking, "Let's go, Catalina! It's a big day for you!"

I groan but I force myself out of bed. I'm so short that getting off the bed is a feat in itself, and I fall about a foot or so to the ground. I wonder what my family is doing, and what they thought of last night. Ornam and I were dressed in gold with a grain styled hat for the opening ceremonies. Solara, my stylist, and Jupiter, Ornam's stylist, were both very kind to us.

My father told me before I left to listen to my mentor, and she has turned out to be Arla Reaper, who won the sixth Hunger Games. She's older now, of course, but I haven't seen her without a drink in hand yet. She hasn't been very helpful so far. Ornam's mentor, Ripple, is a very tall and fierce man, and he scares me.

Thinking of my family hurts; of Challah who sleeps alone now, of my parents who are waiting for me to come back. It feels like a knife is thrust in my chest. I want to go home. But I can't, not now. Not yet.

I decide to head into the bathroom, since I still have some glitter on my face and in my hair from yesterday. One of the things I like about the Capitol is the shower buttons; I made it cover me in pink and purple bubbles and it made me laugh. With another button they were washed all away, leaving me dripping wet but clear of bubbles.

Once I get out, it dries me automatically and even detangles my hair like magic. On the wall hangs a fluffy white robe. Putting it on, I walk back out to the main room to find an outfit laid out for me; a black short sleeved shirt and black leggings. On the floor is a pair of lace up boots. I take the robe off and put on the outfit, which fits me perfectly.

Coming out and walking into the dining room, I see everyone gathered around the table already. Miri has a little mirror out and she's touching up her makeup here and there. Meanwhile, Arla isn't touching her breakfast, preferring to sip clear liquid from a small glass and stare unfocused out the window; Ripple is buttering a piece of toast beside Ornam, who is eating a fancy looking bun.

"Come, sit!" Miri says, clicking her mirror shut and patting the chair next to her. As I go to sit down, I see that Ornam is dressed almost the same as me; he's wearing a dark red top instead of black, though.

Everyone is pretty quiet, and the atmosphere is tense. I quietly take a bun and some eggs and put them on my plate. A girl in red pours a cup of tea for me, and I thank her. She nods and hurries off without a word.

"What's going to happen today?" I ask in a quiet voice. Arla keeps looking out the window.

"Arla?"

"What?" she snaps, finally turning to look at me. Her eyes are very, very unfocused.

"What do I do today?"

"I don't care. Go down and have fun," she snaps, taking another drink from the glass.

"Aren't you supposed to help me figure out strategies and stuff?" I ask.

"Why should I care? I don't want to be here any more than you do. Just, go off and let me alone," Arla says, slurring her words at the end.

"Go sleep it off, Arla," Ripple says, finally putting down his toast.

"Well if you're going to be so mean," Arla says, and stumbles away from the table, taking a bottle of clear liquid with her. Ornam and I both turn to watch her go. Somewhere a door slams. I look at Ripple.

"What do we do?" I ask him.

He takes a bite of his toast, chews a moment, then says, "I'll mentor you both. Arla isn't fit for the duty I don't think."

"Why is she like that?" I say, picking up my cup of tea and blowing on it.

"Her Games were rough," is all he says.

We all eat in an awkward silence before Ripple says, "When you go down, try to do some things you've never done before. Get some lessons in swordsmanship and archery, tie some knots. Got it?"

I nod. Miri says, "Well, eat up! We have to go down in ten minutes or you two will be late!" Ornam pushes his chair back from the table.

"I'm ready now. And we don't need you to come with us."

"But!" Miri starts, but Ripple chimes in.

"They're not babies. They can take an elevator down to the gymnasium without getting lost, can't you?" he says, looking pointedly at us. I nod quickly, not wanting to make anyone mad.

"Let's go," Ornam says. I'm not done my breakfast, but I take the bun with me and follow my partner to the elevator. As we leave I can hear Miri and Ripple start to argue.

"She's just a little girl!" Miri says, getting cut off by Ripple.

"If she's old enough to get reaped, she's old enough to go down an elevator. Just stop talking, Miri."

Then Ornam pulls me into the elevator and we drop down so fast it takes my breath away. Once we are alone together, he ignores me and looks out the clear windows of the elevator instead.

The doors open to a large gymnasium deep underground. Almost all the tributes are already assembled in the middle of the room; the girl from 1 gives me a nasty look. I'm trying to walk like I'm brave and strong, but the truth is that I'm terrified. Everyone is taller than me, even the other twelve-year old from 3.

Ornam and I take our places in the circle; I'm beside the boy from 10; he's dark and not that tall. Definitely not as tall as the boy from 5 with the red hair.

The last two tributes come in; the boy and girl from 6, the siblings. As they take their places in the circle, a man steps up, wearing all black and a serious expression.

"I am the head trainer, Titus. At each station here there is an expert in that field who will be willing to teach you. Fighting with other tributes is strictly prohibited; if you wish to practice with somebody, there are assistants on hand. You are free to go from station from station."

With that, everyone scatters. I don't go anywhere for a moment, just look at the other tributes. The girl from 2 goes right for the swords, laughing with her district partner and the girl from 4. An alliance is obviously being made there.

Meanwhile, the girl and boy from 7 go for the archery station, and the boy from 8 starts throwing knives at a target.

I turn my attention to the camouflage station; nobody else is there. I look around for Ornam, but he's gone straight for the knife station too. So I head over to the camouflage station, with all its paints and materials.

Twenty minutes later, the assistant and I have managed to paint my arm into a field of flowers that look real. I smile at him, my first real smile since I left home. "Thank you!" I say.

"You're welcome. Would you like to wash it off before you go to another station?"

"No thank you. I like the flowers."

I go over to the knot tying station next; I'm not ready to handle the weapons yet. The assistant helps me here too, and every once in a while, I look down at my arm and smile at the flowers.

After I've been practicing my knots for a while, I jump a little when I notice there's someone next to me. It's the girl from 3.

"Hi," she says shyly. "I'm Summer."

"I'm Cat," I say.

"Nice flowers," Summer says, gesturing to my arm. I smile a little.

"Thank you."

"I haven't been at any of the weapons stations yet, and I'm nervous to go by myself. Want to go with me?" she asks, tilting her head to where the bigger tributes are training. I nod. Summer breaks out into a smile.

"Let's go, then!" She offers me her hand and helps me up, and we walk over to the knives station together.

I think I might have an ally going in to the Games.