The Train:
I hear the deafening roar of the crowd and see the faces of my fans screaming up at me. I see Craven in the background pulling Silver along by her hair. I focus my attention back on the stage. I can't bear to look at him though. I can feel his eyes on me, burning holes in my back. I don't acknowledge him but instead follow the peacekeepers into the citadel. I have to stay strong now. What would my potential capitol sponsors think if they saw this supposedly terrifying career breakdown on stage? And if I do look at him I will breakdown.
The peacekeepers lead me down a hall and into a small room. I hear him calling my name as he is led into a similar room. I don't even turn around as he demands I look at him. No one will come to say goodbye to me. I have no family. My half-brother died in the honour trials three years ago and both of my parents have been long dead. The only person I had expected to see on this day would have been Cato, but that was when I thought this would happen in a years' time. I know only one of us can win and it will take everything I have to make sure that one is him. I know he will just as easily die for me as I would for him, but I won't let him. He has protected me all these years and now it's my turn. Cato never needed protecting. The most I ever did was talk reason into him when he was about to do something stupid. Like when Craven had finally had enough of me and had beat me to a bloody pulp. Cato was convinced that sneaking into his room and slitting his throat was the only possible course of action to take. Apparently that was more rational than taking him on in public as he knew he wouldn't stand a chance in a fair fight. As for the sneaking into his room, I knew he wouldn't even get close enough to try. Craven was too strong and too smart. It had taken a lot of convincing to talk him out of that one, and it would take a lot of convincing now to make sure he didn't sacrifice himself for me or something as equally stupid as that.
I can hear screams from the next room. Glasses smashing, doors breaking and frightened peacekeepers begging for mercy. If silver thinks she has a chance with him after this then she's delusional. He's more likely to strangle her than succumb to her. That is if Craven hasn't already killed her by the time Cato gets back. The door opens and I expect to see Cato, but it's Craven instead.
"Your boyfriend has made quite the mess out there, that's some temper he has". "I know" I reply. "I need you to do something for me" he crones in that velvety poisonous voice of his. "I need you to make sure that one of you comes home, now I know that Cato isn't the rational one in this relationship and I know there will be no reasoning with him now so I'm going to let you figure this one out. If he wins you need to take measures (before you die) to make sure he doesn't do something stupid such as killing himself, and if you win you need to promise me you won't do anything stupid either." "I promise you'll get your victor Craven, but it won't be me I reply, like hell I'm going to let him die for me after everything we've been through". "That's my girl" he says as he pets my shoulder. He turns and leaves without another word. My conformation was all he needed. As the door opens I can see a peacekeeper being carted out by a stretcher. His leg twisted at a weird angle and I smirk to myself at the familiarity of the situation. This isn't the first time Cato has hurt people for simply being in his way when he's in one of his tempers.
I don't see him again until we are on the train. Now we are in the presence of Scarlett and our mentors I guess I have to finally acknowledge him, but now it's Cato who has chosen to ignore me.
He's obviously hurt that I wouldn't even look at him before and now he's sulking like a schoolboy who broke his favourite toy. Cato? I ask timidly "Oh so now you're speaking to me? Well I am honoured your highness". "Don't be a prick Cato, you know this is hard" I respond. "Well whatever you had before the games are over now so you're just going to have to forget about each other Enobria chimes in. You are allies now and nothing more". "Shut up Enobria before I rip you throat" out snarls Cato as he storms from the room.
The rest of the day is a blur as I absent mindedly pick at a single cup of sorbet at the table. Scarlett chatters on about some rubbish in the capitol. Apparently miniature pet potbellied pigs are all the rage now and hers (named Felix) is getting his hair dyed gold today. Why on earth you would want a spray painted pig is beyond me. Capitol people disgust me. The fact that their ludicrous outfits make them look extra-terrestrial isn't even the worst of it. They are so shallow and self-absorbed I sometimes what to cut off their tongues for some of the things they say. I decide to scare Scarlett with my fantasy. "Scarlett darling I purr. She spins around with a big grin on her face thinking I'm going to have "girl talk" with her. If you don't shut up I am going to climb over this table and cut your tongue out with this steak knife. Ok?" I say in the sweetest most innocent voice I can conjure up. She stares at me dumbfounded before she spins on her heels and runs from the room, tripping a few times as she goes." I thought she'd never shut up "Enobria stupidly throws in her 2 cents. "Just shut up, everyone just shut up!" I scream and take my lovers lead by storming into my own room just as he did. Cato's way of dealing with this feels pretty good right about now.
I stay in my room for the rest of the trip. As we arrive at the capitol I can hear Scarlett starting up again trying to convince Enobria and Brutus that the capitol is by far the most magical place in the world. She's calling us to come and look at the sights and wave at the capitol citizens. I bury my head in my pillow. I don't think I could stand another minute of her whiney voice and her blind naivety. The train comes to a halt. We must be here I think. The bright colours and flashing lights of the people and the city confirm my suspicions. I leave my room to see Cato waving and blowing kisses from the window. Well that's one hell of a transformation I think. Apparently, according to Cato, the crowd already loves us. As they should. District 2 is the crowd favourite every year. We are the obvious choice for sponsors because we are the strongest fighters by far. "You missed the recap of the reaping last night" Scarlett pipes up. "None of them will be any competition for either of us so I couldn't care less to be honest" I reply. Scarlett gives me her best frown and Cato grins at me as if to say he completely agrees. Maybe we can finally talk about what to do once where in our suites. I know I wasn't ready to last night. No matter how many times he knocked on my door begging me to talk to him. I just needed some time to myself, but now that where here I know I have to spring into action and take control before it's too late. As we leave the train I hold my head high and give the crowd my best look of confidence and superiority. I then work at pushing my way through the crowd and glaring at anyone who stands in my way. Eventually people are moving out of the way for me just as they would at home. They seem almost scared of me and I love it. I grin smugly at the looks on their faces. This act only makes them cheer louder. The capitol loves arrogant district 2 careers. Give the crowd what they want Clove I think to myself. Cato follows in my lead and shoves the capitol spectators out of the way as he joins me at my side. I come to the conclusion that where definitely going to have no trouble with sponsors.
