Chapter 2: When Smoke Meets Ocean
The thumping of her heart echos the clattering of the hooves as the horses pulls their chariot through the city. The rapid beats are almost enough to drown out the cheers from the sea of people, almost. It's deafening. Katniss has never seen that many people in her entire life. District 12 and the entirety of its population seem so minuscule compared to the screaming boisterous crowd in the stadium above her. And perhaps they were, that's what the game is supposed to instill in them, that they were minuscule, insignificant and powerless compared to the Capital. Thus, they must bow to the iron fist that lord over them, must submit two children each year to be slaughtered, and must never think, about fighting back as they did before. That is the point of the Game, and it downs her just then, that she is only part of a message, her blood will be nothing more than the message that's repeated over and over again in the blood of all the already forgotten tributes.
"Smile Katniss" a whisper comes from her left, a quiet reminder from Peeta that she couldn't allow herself to be distracted, every moment counts since her arrival in Capital. So she does just as the whisper told her to and begins smiling the best she could, the crowd seems to roar even louder than before, so she adds in a little wave and blows a few kisses here and there. She could perhaps understand why people fight for it all, glory and fame. It's impossible for her to focus on any one of the individuals in the crowd. Before her eyes could settle on one color, another seems to always pop in and diverts her attention. So she gives up trying and instead let her eyes take in everything and nothing at the same time, only the sound of cheers as she moves through the plaza.
The moment didn't last long as the chariots pull to a stop in front of the high balcony where the President of Panem, Coriolanus Snow, is due to make the customary speech that marks the start of another year's Hunger Game. Katniss tries to focus on his words, but couldn't help letting her eyes wander from the aging man to the other tributes around her. Each district is supposed to wear costumes that match their primary function. She feels bad for the district 4 tributes, whose skins were painted blue and body wrapped in fishnets to reflect the fishing district. Her eyes wander again, but before she could really focus on any other tributes, they were sucked into a sea of blue. The male tribute from 2, what was his name again? She could remember his first name, Cato, from the reaping. He looked even larger than she remembered, the gladiator costume certainly suits him well, emphasizing the muscles on his well-trained body. The body of a warrior, no she thought silently, the body of a murderer. The intensity behind those eyes seizes her heart for a second, before letting it race at an even more rapid pace than before. She couldn't quite place her finger on the emotions hidden in those eyes, it wasn't threatening as she would've expected. No, it was a freezing coldness, like a wall of ice exists behind his eyes, hiding his thoughts, but at the same time, seems to set the air between them ablaze.
She turns her sight away just in time to hear President Snow finishes the speech with "and may the odds, be ever in your favor." The crowd cheers as the chariots move again, pulling the tributes inside the Training Center where they are due to spend the rest of their time before the game starts. Katniss could feel the heat of his gaze, trained to her back, but feigns ignorance as she gets off the chariot to meet her team.
"Good job sweetheart" Haymitch congratulates her as she got off the chariot, using the nickname that seems to have stuck since she stabbed a knife into the table between his fingers earlier in the morning.
"Yes, wonderful job you two! They loved you out there!" Gushes Effie excitingly, "That smile wasn't so hard now was it Katniss, you really need to do it more often for people to like you!"
Well, that was insulting, Katniss thought, but Effie really didn't know better. Katniss concluded that even before their train got to Capital, Effie is just such a simple-minded, superficial and excitable creature that she could rub you the wrong way even when she means well.
"Ahem," Cinna coughs before subtly jerking his chain to point at somewhere behind the group. Haymitch notices immediately the source of his attention and rounds the group up to exit the scene from the elevator in the back
She tells herself that the reason she hasn't dared to meet his eyes since they were out in the city Plaza is not that she is scared. No, the game hasn't even begun yet, he couldn't possibly do anything to her. She hasn't turned around because she doesn't want to attract any unnecessary attention to herself. Staying low on the radar is what she's good at, it's what kept her alive all these years in district 12 when her actions were anything but low on the peacekeeper's radar. Keep your eyes down, walk at a brisk but not too brisk pace, don't look up unless you have to, don't talk unless you are being addressed. That was the way everyone acts around the peacekeepers back in 12. Oh, and guess where did most peacekeepers came from? District 2. But it seems that for her to win the game, she can't be anything but memorable to the people here.
Just as she turns to face the closing doors of the elevator, she caught another glimpse of the deep ocean blue, sending shivers down her spine before the doors shut. They begin their ascend to the tallest floor in the building, reserved for the poorest district and the scrawniest tributes.