Chapter Two - Destiny

"This is your life

Is everything you've dreamed that it would be

When the world was younger

And you had everything to lose?" - This is your life, Switchfoot

I wake up from the blinding light of the sun. I look over at Finnick, who is sleeping peacefully. I suddenly jolt up and hiss, "Finnick wake up!" He yawns and opens his eyes and looks startled when he sees me. "Rae, what are you doing here?" He enquires with a confused expression. I open my mouth to answer him but he realises where we are.

"We need to go," he states. I nod in agreement then we both rush back inside, still holding hands. Finnick looks down at them and I feel a blush creep on my face. He smiles, lets go then heads off towards his own room.

I take a huge breath then go off to my own room. "Rae!" Anja's singsong voice calls out. I groan and sit up, my head spinning. "Mm? Yeah coming," I yawn as I get up. I open the wardrobe and scowl. The only clothing in there is a training outfit. I force myself into it and slip on a pair of trainers that were left by the door. Walking out of my room, I notice that Finnick is absent from the table but I make no comment. "Rae dearie, eat up your breakfast quickly! It is quarter to nine and you have to be at the training centre by ten!" Anja tells me.

I scowl again and eat some cereal. I can't eat much in mornings, my stomach won't take lots of food. After Benjamin finishes Anja pushes us towards the elevator, complaining about how she doesn't want to be late. We get in and stand there for a few seconds of awkward silence. We arrive just on time and half the other tributes seem to be there. When everybody arrives our instructor, Atala, gives us a briefing.

I zone out and look around at my opponents. Being from 4, I am expected to pair up with 1 and 2. They are all strong and ferocious looking unlike me. I am toned but not a muscular wonder like some here. Atala tells us to go and do our thing so I immediately walk over to the tributes from 2.

The girl is as tall as me but she has thick black hair and a murderous glint in her brown eyes. She snarls at me and Benjamin, obviously expecting us to be talentless. The boy however looms over me and looks, well, I can't put my finger on it. He looks like he doesn't really want to be here.

He doesn't look like most Careers, he seems quite nice so I decide to chat to him for a bit. District 1 joins us and they are both tall muscular wonders. We all introduce ourselves. Alisa is the female from one and she is 18. Dominic is the boy and he's 17, like me. Catrin is the girl from 2 and she is 16. Lester is the boy from 2 and he's 18. They all seem accepting of me but keep glaring at Benjamin. They look slightly disappointed.

His eyes well up and they all roll their eyes and walk away from him. I follow them reluctantly and give him a look to say that I am sorry. He nods in acceptance then goes off to another boy who looks his age.

Alisa shows off in front of the boys, striking stupid poses while shooting arrows across the room. They ignore her and wander off to the sword-fighting station which they are both obviously skilled in. Catrin gives me a crooked smile and grabs a spear which she hits perfectly in the heart of a dummy. Ouch. I'm glad I'm on their side.

Sighing, I pick up a trident and start throwing it around, not getting amazing results in where it lands like the others but I don't miss, I generally get shoulders and the legs. Fortunately they are impressed with how far I can throw it and Catrin gives me some tips on aiming. After a few hours of work, I can get the trident just next to the heart of each dummy. We all start teaching each other our skills, trying to widen our range of weaponry. It is good to be able to use more than one weapon.

Throughout the whole day, my fingers are itching to grab the axes but I can't give away my skill, that's for the gamemakers to know about. If I hide my talent, I can use it to kill the Careers if I need to as they won't be expecting it. At the end of our training time I go over what I can do in my head. I am awful with bow and arrows, alright with a sword, quite good with a spear and very good with a trident, and obviously I excel at axe throwing, but I didn't do any.

I get into the elevator with Benjamin and he looks happy. He has a huge smile stretching over his face and he seems to have been laughing. "How did it go?" I ask him. "Well, I made two new friends. Rory from 8 and Diane from 3. Rory is 12 and Diane is 14 but we have already made an alliance! They are so funny!" He tells me with a beaming smile. I smile back, glad that he is happy.

We arrive back at the suite and Anja fusses over us, asking for details. I give her monotonic answers then retire to my room where I have a shower and change into a dark red dress. I stare out of the window and watch as the tiny Capitol people go about their business. They look like funny little multicoloured ants. I rake my hands through my hair and start subconsciously braiding it, making intricate patterns.

I suddenly realise what I am doing then stop. I pulls the braids apart, tugging my hair loose then lie back on the bed. I am so bored. I would never imagine myself saying that but I am really bored. I walk into the lounge and see Tigress and Anja chatting. I sit down across from them. "Hey," I smile politely and Tigress says, "Hello Rae, as you know, tomorrow you have your session with the Gamemakers.. do you know what you are going to do?"

I pause for a second. Should I tell them? "Yeah, I'll probably just chuck a few tridents around and maybe a spear or two," I reply. She looks impressed and asks, "Are you good with tridents then?" I pause again. "Yeah, I hit most of the dummies in the heart when I got the hang of it properly," I tell her with a proud grin. I am quite proud of my talent with tridents but I can't get them far into the dummies, and I have to be quite close up. Luckily the Careers don't seem to be the cleverest bunch so they didn't realise that I am not majorly skilled at using tridents.

Whereas with axes, I am a ferocious monster, I could slice the head off a dummy effortlessly. I know this because when my dad trained me, he would make 'dummies' for me to practice on, and after almost 10 years of it, I never miss. The thing is, slicing off heads of fake people is simple, but real people? I don't know if I would be able to do that. I sigh and sink down further into the couch. Tigress and Anja are back to their own conversation, something about their favourite soap brands. How fickle.

Benjamin comes in and falters. I wonder what his talents are. I go back through my mind and vaguely remember him throwing some knives quite decently but that's all. He sits next to me and looks nervous. "What's wrong Benjie sweetheart?" Anja asks. "Just worried," he mumbles. I see a tear drip down his cheek again. He's going to be dead within the first few minutes. Oh God did I just think that?

I shouldn't have spent all my time with the ruthless Careers. They comment on how long they think people will last, excluding our group. I guess they don't want to think about what it will come down to if we are the only people left. I shake all the thoughts from my head and try to join in the conversation.

Tigress leaves and Finnick and Chris come in. "How was the training?" Chris enquires. "Alright," I reply flatly and Benjamin doesn't reply. "Did you use the tridents at all?" Finnick pipes up with a glint of mischief in his eyes. "Yeah, I really improved," I tell him, trying to hold back laughter. "Aah, that's good," he grins.

"Hey Finnick, can I axe you a question?" I say and he gives in and bursts out laughing. I excuse myself so he others don't see my eyes welling up with tears of laughter. When I get into my room I explode into laughter myself then wipe my eyes. I stay in my room until Anja calls me for dinner. I sit down and take a smaller portion than yesterday.

I need to ready myself for the arena. I can't make eye contact with Finnick without giggling so I look over at Benjamin's stylist, who is called Farius. He is having a quiet conversation with Tigress, presumably about outfits for the interviews. We spend most of the meal in awkward silence. The moment I finish I get off my chair and go onto the balcony.

I sit in the same place as last night and feel the cool night breeze rush past my face. I can hear singing and shouting and music from down below. When I look into the streets, I see the Capitol people are partying. Partying over the fact that in a few days they get to watch children fight to the death. Their favourite entertainment.

I wrinkle my nose in disgust at them and try to resist the impulse to scream all sorts of profanities at them. I sigh as the wind blows through my hair. I gaze into the few stars that can be seen from the light pollution of the Capitol and close my eyes, wishing desperately to go home to my family. There are times where I hate them but I always love them deep down and feel such regret for not spending all my life with them. Now I will never see them again. Most likely. What if I die? What will it be like?

When I was younger the idea of death filled me with fear but now I am facing death, I accept it. Everybody dies one day. Some people just die when they are a child because the Capitol forces them to fight to the death. And some people like long happy lives surrounded by family and friends and money and food. Why do I have to be the child that the Capitol forced to fight to the death?

I wake up and see my training outfit hanging in the open wardrobe. Anja stops knocking when she hears my feet hit the floor and I listen to her ridiculous high heels tapping away. Today I am showing off my skills to the Gamemakers. I start shaking in fear then scratch my arm. I stop shaking. I look at the angry red marks and gulp. Sometimes I freak out and only pain will help me.

I run some cold water over my arm then change into my outfit. I eat a quick breakfast again and Anja escorts me and my partner to a room where we all sit and wait for our names. I tap my fingers on the bench, trying to keep myself occupied. Benjamin's name is called and he goes white and goes into the training centre to show off his skills. I look around the room at the other tributes. None of them are noteworthy. I sigh. The Careers will have no problem killing them off. I really don't like how unfair it is.

After twenty minutes I hear the overhead speakers say, "Rae, District 4," and I shakily stand up and head towards the doors. When I am inside I am greeted by the stares of the Gamemakers who are thankfully paying attention. I bet in the later districts they give up paying attention because they get bored. Luckily I am from a Career District so they know I should be skilled. Instead of heading towards the tridents like my fellow allies expected me to, I go over to the axes and grab two, weighing them in my hands.

I effortlessly throw one over to a dummy and slice it completely in half. I quickly run to retrieve my axe and spin around, lodging my other one in the chest of another fake person. I pull it out and swing it around, chucking it with all my strength and manage to hit it into a overhead light. Sparks fly all over the floor and when I look up I am content to see that the axe is firmly stuck there. That shows how strong the throw was. The Gamemakers look impressed and are mumbling to themselves.

I just go around like that for a bit, chucking axes around, destroying the dummies and even smashing the axes into the walls and floor. I don't care if I am damaging the room, I bet other people have done it. The Head Gamemaker coughs and I look up with a polite smile. "Your time is up Rae, you may go," he says with a pleased look.

I bow and thank them for their time then walk out of the doors after putting my axes back on the weapons rack. I bet the tribute going after me will be worried about the dents on the walls. I laugh a little to myself. I suddenly stop in my tracks. I am turning into a Career, a brutal killer. I know that inside I am not like that but the prospect makes me shiver.

When I arrive back everybody is full of questions. I answer them all in one gesture. I tap the side of my nose. Anja looks upset that she didn't get the gossip. I see Finnick and he winks at me. I give him a small thumbs up to show everything went alright then we all go into the dining area for lunch. I have a light salad with some water. Finnick seems to have realised my tactic, to make sure I don't eat too much to disrupt my eating pattern for the Games. In fact, he looks slightly impressed that I am doing it, I guess most people with the option of as much free and amazing food as possible would eat it tonnes.

After lunch we all sit down and watch Caesar Flickerman announcing the scores. Dominic got 10, Alisa got 9, Lester got 9 and Catrin got 10. I don't really pay much attention to District 3 but Benjamin's friend managed a 7 which is quite good for his District. Benjamin got 6 but he looks pleased. I hold my breath when Caesar says, "Rae Larsan, 11." I feel my face go hot and everybody cheers.

I gape my mouth open. The most I expected was a 10 tops. 11's are rare and hard to get and few people have had them in the past. Finnick himself was one of them. He grins at me and I give him a beaming smile. Anja is still desperate to know what I did but I refrain from telling her. My allies will want answers though, as they know I am not that good with a trident. They will just have to discover it for themselves.

I toss and turn but it is no use. I just cannot sleep. I check the clock next to me and it says it is 3 in the morning. I sigh then go to the balcony and sit out there for a bit. Finnick joins me silently and I only notice him when he gets beside me. "Hey," I say gently. "Hello Rae," he replies, "I guess you did some axe work in the private session?" I turn to him. "Yeah," I tell him quietly, my voice distant. "Are you alright?" He asks with a concerned expression. "Honestly? Because honestly I'm not alright. I don't want to kill people, but I know that I will. The thing is, a few of the Careers are alright and one of them I'm friends with. How can I let them die? What if I have to kill one of my allies? I may not deeply care for them but we are a group. And Benjamin.." I feel tears welling up in my eyes.

"He's so young, he's one year older than my sister. How could I let him die? I barely know him but I feel like he is family, I know he isn't much, but he's from home and he is the only bit of home I will have in the arena. I don't want to go. I want to live. I know that I will probably die and I don't want to die. I want to see my family and friends, I want to swim in the ocean, I want to live but the Capitol is stopping me from living. I hate it!" The tears are falling freely and I hide my face in my hands.

Finnick gently touches my arm. "Rae, I can't promise you will win but I can say that you are strong enough to win, and you are able to, if you have enough determination," he tells me. I wipe the tears off my face and look into his beautiful sea-green eyes. "Ok," is all I can say. He looks upset himself.

"I'm sorry, did I upset you?" I say with fear in my voice. "No, it's just that it's hard to mentor people knowing that they may never come out of the arena alive. It's even harder with you because well... I don't know.." he trails off. "I like your eyes, they are a beautiful colour. They remind me of home," I say softly. He looks up at me and gives me a watery smile.

I laugh a little. Finnick gives me a questioning look. "Hm? Oh it's just that the girls back home would do anything to be sitting next to Finnick Odair at night on a balcony," I giggle. He laughs too and says, "Who wouldn't?" Then flexes his arms. I roll my eyes and lean up against him. He puts his arm over my shoulders and holds me close to him. I close my eyes and listen to his gentle breathing and the cool night breeze whistling past my ears.

"Raaaae... Raaaaeeeeee... RAE!" I jolt awake to see Finnick's face right in front of mine. I shriek and shove him away. He doubles up in laughter. I cross my arms and give him a pretend scowl but eventually succumb to his childish grin and laugh a little myself. It was pretty funny, my reaction. I look out into the sky to see the sun has just started rising.

Finnick smiles at the view and I look at my surroundings. I must have fallen asleep again on the balcony. I guess this time Finnick decided to wake me up. He turns around to me and looks into my eyes. He takes a hesitant step towards me. He puts his arms around my waist and pulls me in so my face is right in front of his. "Morning Rae," he whispers. "Hello Finnick," I reply. I desperately try to stop the blush coming to my cheeks but I feel them going hot anyway. He stares intently into my eyes and I try not to look away. He gives me a quickly gentle kiss on the mouth then pulls away.

"We should probably get inside before everybody else wakes up," he smiles sadly. "Yeah," I say, "Um, Finnick? Are there, um cameras or microphones on the balcony? It's just-" I start to say but Finnick cuts me off and tells me, "Don't worry, I understand, and no there aren't any. It's too windy for them to pick anything up so they don't bother." I nod and we both go back to our own rooms. As I get into bed I try to work out what just happened. My cheeks are still burning and I feel strange inside. I suddenly realise how tired I am so I drift off into a dreamless sleep.

End Of Chapter Two

Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate every single one of my
readers and reviewers, they help me keep going

Sorry about this being posted a day late, I completely forgot to post it
yesterday

A huge thanks to my reviewer: xenocanaan