Chapter Four

River

Although it was night when our train rumbled into the station next to the Tribute Building, the city was lit up with enough lights to make it feel like it was daytime. Faintly I could hear music and laughter from the hundreds of parties, which infuriated me. How dare they celebrate our deaths. Our becoming of murderers. Our pointless slaughters. I slammed my fist against the fogged glass, which did nothing but make my hand hurt.

I took a deep breath. Nothing I could say or do would change these silly Capitol people. I needed to save my anger for when I was in the arena. A knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts. It was Tjara and Brook.

"This is the Tribute building," Tjara said distantly, gesturing out the window.

"Let's go," Brook demanded. "I want to start training. We only have a few days."

I stood up and followed Tjara and Brook down the hall to the end of the train car. An Avox helped us down onto the platform, where we were shepherded indoors. It was cold inside the building and smelled sterile. Brook wrinkled her nose in distaste as our Avox guide pushed a button to call an elevator.

Our first stop was the Training Center, only one floor above the station. Tjara showed us around to all the different stations, though we weren't allowed to touch anything. The room was massive, with thirty-foot ceilings. There were several different sections, like fighting, climbing, shooting, or survival skills. A huge chunk of the wall had been carved away to create a ledge that the Gamemakers would sit at. The whole room was dark and cold and gave me the shivers. Brook was clearly excited at all the different things to try though and ran from station to station, oohing and aahing. I held back a little but secretly was impressed by all the stuff. The next stop was the floor reserved for the tributes from District Four. There was a massive sitting room, with several long couches and a huge screen for broadcast. Beyond the sitting room were a smaller kitchen and dining room, a fancy bathroom, and two bedrooms. It was bigger than ten homes back in Four combined, and three times as fancy. Our rooms were all complimentary colors and fancy glass sculptures and I couldn't help but admire it.

"What do you think?" Tjara asked. I wondered how many people she'd shown these rooms just weeks before they died.

"It's pretty sweet," I said, trying to take it all in. "If we're gonna die, at least we should have a nice last few days."

Tjara laughed sadly. "You must be tired. Why don't you two get some rest and tomorrow, bright and early, we'll head to the training center."

Brook and I nodded and headed to our respective rooms. I relaxed against the incredible softness of the bed and tried to fall asleep but to no avail. Eventually, I stood up and walked over to the double doors on the other side of my room. Pushing them open revealed a balcony with an amazing view of the Capitol. But it wasn't the sight that caught my eye, but Brook, sitting against the side of the building. She was shaking a little, and her head was buried in her hands. I realized she was crying, and just stood there shocked for a moment. Brook never cried. Never. Eventually, I walked over and soundlessly put my arm around her. Brook sniffed and leaned her head against my shoulder. Our silent tears fell together, creating wet spots on the sanded wood, as we hugged each other close all night long.

Brooklyn

After a quick breakfast of fruit and toast, Tjara, River, and I headed down to the Training Center. I couldn't help but think about what had happened last night, how River and I had both broken down, united in our misery. I knew we both hated the splendor and fanciness of the Capitol, preferring the rough sand and sea of home.

When we entered the Training Room, there were only a few other tributes milling around. Most were in small groups, clumping together around a station. My first order of business would be to find the other Careers and figure out what their strengths were. Yesterday, on the train ride here, I'd watched some of the Reapings so I had a general idea of who to look for. The two from One, Glory and Shade, were both definitely Careers, as was the girl for two. All three had volunteered so I knew they were in. The boy from Two I wasn't sure about because he was Reaped, not volunteered. He'd refused Two's chosen volunteer though, so I figured he was with us.

I spotted Shade, from One, over by the swords. He was viciously slashing away at a dummy with a huge double-edged sword, tearing away at its limbs, before stabbing it where its heart would've been.

"He's quite good, isn't he?" A voice said in my ear. I whirled around to see Glory standing there, smirking evilly. "You're Brooklyn, from Four, right?"

"Uh, yeah," I responded, still a little freaked out.

"Are you a Career?"

Be strong, I reminded myself. The Careers don't want wimpy, weak tributes. "What do you think?"

"Eh, you look a little shrimpy to be one," she said, still grinning her malicious smile.

I snarled at her. "Do you wanna fight?"
Her smile grew larger. "I'd thought you'd never ask." We both reached for our weapons at the same time. I grabbed a three-pronged trident; Glory yanked a spear from a rack. The other tributes stopped what they were doing and turned to watch. I saw Tjara in the corner of my eye, mouthing at me to stop but I ignored her. This girl thought I didn't belong with the Careers. I'd show her. I'd prove I'm not someone to be played with.

Glory lunged at me. I dodged easily and pushed my trident towards her side as she charged past. The tallest point caught on her shirt and tore it. While the practice weapons weren't sharp enough to cut her badly, I could tell from her grimace I'd hurt her.

"Brook! Stop!" I heard my brother yell. He too I ignored because Glory had sashayed forward and was engaging me with a series of parries and jabs. Using my trident, I defended myself but I could tell she was winning. A sharp smack of her spear sent me spinning sideways, so I almost fell. The next time she stabbed forward, I darted sideways and used my trident to twist her spear away from me. It threw her off balance and allowed me to get a hit in. We went back and forth like this for several minutes, sometimes Glory appeared to be winning and sometimes I did. Unfortunately, after a series of sparring, Glory pinned me down and held her spear to my throat. Her grin was like a viper'.

I heard people in the audience gasp, but I wasn't done yet. Spending so much time around fish, I'd learned a valuable trick. Pretending to give up, I allowed Glory to believe she'd won so she would put her guard down. Then I surged up with all my strength and before she knew it, had reversed our positions, except I didn't let my guard down. Glory choked and struggled, but we'd both knew I'd won.

There was a sharp rap at my shoulder. I looked up to see Rex, District Two's male tribute, glaring down at me. "Get off her," he ordered.

"Since when were you in charge?" I smirked.

"If you want to be a Career, that is," he answered smugly. He had a point.

I leaped from Glory's body, landing like a cat a few feet away. She scrambled to her feet, red-faced, and glared at me. "This isn't over. When we're in the arena, and I'm the only one who could save you, well, don't count on any help."

"Brave words," I said slyly. "But I'm not the one who's gonna need saving in the arena."

I'm starting a new Hunger Games story from the point of view of Head Gamemaker. I need tributes and Capitol names so if you're interested, please see my profile or the story, which you can find at 'SYOT OPEN: The Creator: Head Gamemaker's Hunger Games.' Thanks and be sure to review what you think of my story so far!