AN~ So here's Chapter 3! Hope you enjoy it! Disclaimer: I am NOT Suzanne Collins; if I were, I wouldn't be on here.
Chapter 3
We arrive at the Train station and numerous camera crews are there. Bright lights bloom before my eyes, disorienting me. Stupid desperate media, picking on us at the worst time.
I grab Lachlan's arm and drag him to the train. No way am I going to break down in front of Panem.
I drag us inside and the doors close. There went the only exit. Our mentors greet us.
I never paid that close attention to them on stage. One of them is only 19 years old. I believe her name is Marlene Proxima. She won the 71st Games with a rope in one hand and a knife in the other. Her 5'7 wiry frame and long bronze hair sway, even though the train hasn't even started moving yet. Marlene's stormy grey eyes meet us with fierceness. "You must be our tributes," she says.
Then a tall handsome man with tan skin, and bronze hair and beautiful sea-green eyes comes from a compartment.
Finnick Odair.
He won his Games with a trident and fishing net. His looks have made him very popular with everyone in the Capital. I believe he won the 65th Games and is 23 but I don't quite remember because I was eight and was not allowed to watch. "Finnick, come and meet our tributes we're training," Marlene says, her voice is light and hopeful. "Hello," he says. "How old are you?" he asks us.
"I'm sixteen," I say.
"Sixteen," Lachlan says.
"Hm." Finnick looks like he's in deep thought. But he snaps out of it and the train begins to move.
"Let's show them their rooms, shall we?" Finnick says.
Marlene shows me my room while Finnick shows Lachlan his. We're given our own rooms with a dressing area and a private bathroom with running water-hot and cold. The room is huge and is more elaborate and fancy than the Justice Building with two dressers on either side of the king-size bed. Marlene leaves me for a few minutes to look around the room and to get ready for dinner.
Before she leaves she tells me the dinning room is to the left of my compartment. As soon as she leaves I'm opening one of the dressers' drawers and examining its contents. There are beautiful, fine clothes with blues, greens, and whites-symbolizing the sea. I pick out a soft blue blouse and white pants and go to the bathroom to change. The bathroom is half as big as the bedroom, with a mirror extending the length of the wall which is about ten feet. I look in the mirror after changing and see that my brown-red hair is a tad messed up from the events I endured today. I open one of the many drawers and find an entire box full of combs and brushes and pick a fine-haired brush out. I brush my hair a few times, making a messy bun, and head down the hall, following the instructions of Marlene.
I round the corner, steadying myself on the walls as the super sonic train moves. There's a room with a table set for five people. Polished silverware and glasses are displayed in cabinets behind glass. A wide, large window gives a blurred panoramic view of the sea and then the distant buildings of District Three- the district of electronics.
Walking over to the window, I put my hands on the clear glass and sigh. I wish I could be out in the sea right now, living in peace and calm. "Miss it, huh?" a voice says behind me. I turn around at the noise. It's Finnick.
"Oh, Finnick, I didn't hear you come in. And yeah I do miss it. A lot," I say.
"I make it my first priority to go to the water when I've been away from District Four."
"But don't you live in Victor's Village?" I ask.
"No. I'm in the Capital most of the time when the Games aren't in order."
"Well, if you don't mind me asking," I say, "What do you do there?"
He looks at me and answers, "Business."
I don't say anything more because Marlene and Lachlan join us in the room. Sander follows behind them "I take it you found everything fine," Marlene asks me. I nod and we all take a seat.
The Avoxes, who were in suits and cocktail dresses, come from the kitchen holding silver platters in one hand. One by one they set extravagantly luxurious food on the table: lamb seasoned with numerous spices, stews filled to the brim with exotic meats and vegetables, perfectly cooked steak with truffles, and many more.
My mouth waters as each platter is set on the table. When the Avoxes are finally done, I take whatever I see into my plate. The food is indescribably amazing. We may live in a Career district, but I have never seen this much luxury, even when I lived in Victor's Village. I spot Lachlan beside me shoveling food into his mouth. Sander is shaking his head at our savage eating, and Finnick is chuckling at Sander's dismay.
"These Tributes never learn manners!" Sander exclaims in his high Capitol accent.
Lachlan tried to counter Sander, but his words came out in a garbled mess of flying seasoned chicken.
Sander appalled by the sight of us, marches out of the room.
"Well that was longer than last time," Marlene says.
Finnick smirked. "It's a new world record!"
We can still see Sander from the hallway. An Avox hands Sander a piece of paper and reads it.
"WHAT?" Sander screeches, made worse by his high Capitol accent. "We're delayed because of a stupid slightly worn out piece of track?" He throws his hand up in the air and mumbles something about how is horoscope was completely wrong.
Once Sander is out of earshot, Marlene and Finnick burst out laughing. "Does this happen often? Him becoming angry?" I ask. Marlene nods her head.
"His outbursts get funnier and funnier each year!" Lachlan and I smile at each other before joining in their laughter.
Maybe being here won't be that bad after all. "Last year we were delayed for about a day," Finnick adds. "He went berserk! Good thing we're only delayed for a few hours," he says, reading off the paper the Avox just gave him. "You'll be staying here on the train all night, though."
Marlene and Finnick finally eat some food, but not with our savagery. We slow down, trying to save at least some of our dignity.
"So got a plan?" Finnick asks us. Lachlan and I look at each other. Hadn't thought about that.
Marlene and Finnick look at both of us, expecting an answer.
"Well," Lachlan begins, obviously ad- libbing.
"I hadn't thought about it," I confess.
Lachlan's face falls, since he wanted me to play along. "It's fine," Marlene reassures. "We have over an hour to discuss your strategies." "So what are you good at?" Finnick asks Lachlan.
"Fishing." he says. "And swimming."
Everyone in District Four has basic training in that. It's almost always useful in the Games. All children also received basic Career training, which was mandatory. Some took it seriously, and some just wanted to get it over with. I was forced by my dad to take it seriously.
"Any special weapons?" Finnick asks, crashing my train of thought. Lachlan shrugs. "Spears, I guess." I guess he wanted to get his training over with. Finnick simply nods. It's common for a Tribute from District Four to specialize in spears, tridents, and nets. Hey, it's better than a sewing needle from District 8.
"Alright we'll start on that." Marlene says
"Ally with the Careers for now," she says. "Kill them off one by one, with Aura the only person you can trust." She turns to me next. "What can you do, Aura?"
"I can swim, sprint, wield a sword, use nets, camouflage alright and use a set of bows and arrows pretty well."
Finnick and Marlene stare at me wide- eyed. I'm guessing I'm the first one who took his or her training "seriously" amongst all their other Tributes. I'm not surprised, though. They've only been mentoring for a few years and only a few master as much weapons as I do. Even those who take their training seriously only focus on a single weapon.
No one says anything. "Wow. That's amazing," Lachlan says staring at me like I'm the last girl in Panem.
I stare anywhere but at the group at the table. I didn't think I'd get this much attention over my skills. Even if I am a former Victor's daughter.
I play around with the vegetables on my plate, secretly taking pride in all of the compliments. I shrug. "It's nothing," I whisper. "NOTHING?" Marlene screeches, damaging my eardrums.
"You have a great chance at winning!" Lachlan lets out a sigh, and I put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Here's what you do," Finnick starts. "Join the Careers and learn something new in the Training Center. Don't show any of your skills."
I decide in an instant that I will train with knives. The knives station was always crowded in our Training Center, so I never really got a chance to practice with them. I'm a fast learner though, so I can disguise it as my main skill.
"Only confide in Lachlan and kill the Career pack one by one. Kill any remaining Tributes after that." I gulp. Lachlan seems like a nice guy, and I really didn't want to slit his throat.
My eyes flick over to Lachlan. Maybe someone else will kill him first.
AN~ Hey everyone! So sorry if there's any grammatical errors in this; when SignoraBelikova and I wrote this, we weren't in the same room. Anyway, please review and if you have any feedback please don't hesitate to contact either me or SignoraBelikova! Up next chapter 4!