Author's Note: GAAAAH. EXAMS. I cannot write for my Ouran stuff just yet, but I finished these chapters, like, 2 years ago, so it's safe to post. =))

Enjoy! ;)

III. Train

I watched out the window as the moon started to rise. Clearly, the odds weren't in my favor this morning. First, my sister, out of millions, gets picked for the Games and I do something that may end up as my death sentence. Second, I'll be competing against a guy who I know can kill me with a blink of an eye. And third, Peseta's last sentence, until now, is still ringing in my ear.

"... And remember Katniss, I..."

What was he going to say? Was he gonna wish me luck? Was he gonna give the peppermints back?

I guess I'll never know.

Effie calls me to watch a recap of the games. Turns out, the odds got even worse. The people who stood out for me were the brutish boy from 1, the fox faced girl from 5, the crippled boy from 10, and the giant and the 12-year-old from 11. Then Gale and I are called, the anthem plays, and the screen goes black. Everyone goes back into their train cars except me.

No, not only me. Somebody wants to introduce himself.

"Hey, I'm Gale." He reaches his hand out, but I pretend to ignore it. I don't trust him at all.

He gets the idea and puts his hand down. "Anyway, I saw you one time in the woods. Hunting. I think I was fourteen at the time. You were looking at one of my snares that had a rabbit."

He saw me? And more importantly, did he see the rabbit?

"And if you're wondering if I saw you take the rabbit out of the snare, yeah, I saw. I was wondering if I should come out and tell you that stealing was punishable by law." I managed to let out a sarcastic laugh. "But then I saw you looking at the rabbit, as if it was something sentimental, drop it and run away. I thought it was because you saw me or something."

Actually, I just tried to steal it. It really felt bad since I thought someone worked hard on catching it; somebody else's means of surviving. I thought, maybe this person also has a family to feed...I didn't want to be responsible for someone else's starving death. So I left it on the ground to make it look like it fell from the snare. It seemed believable enough, I hope.

I stared at the floor again, silent.

He tries to break the silence. "You took out the rabbit from that snare like you've been setting them up for a long time."

"My dad taught me... before he..." I didn't think he would hear me, but turns out he did.

"I'm sorry, about your dad." An awkward silence stepped in again. "I think my dad died in the same explosion that killed yours."

Oh, right. I remember his dad died then, too. He was also on stage when we both accepted our medals of valour. He was with his mother, Hazel from what the mayor said, and his two other brothers with another sibling on the way. I wonder how it was, handling all of those kids without a father. It must've been difficult.

"I'm sorry about your father too." I say in an almost clearer voice. "I guess we should be sleeping now. Effie said it's gonna be a 'big, big, big day!' " I tried to copy Effie, to cheer me up at least, but the sadness of the day caught on.

He smiled. "Okay, I'll just see you tomorrow then." I guess he got affected too.

Somehow, something doesn't seem to be right about him. I always thought he was the kind of person who can kill anything. Someone who thinks that killing a human in the arena will be just like killing an animal on its hind legs. Now, I don't trust him twice as much as when we boarded the train. If he thinks he'll let me get my guard down, he is sadly mistaken.

Haymitch seemed drunk as ever the next day. We were still on the train and Effie called us to eat breakfast. There were a bunch of plates with different breads, soups, and many other things that I don't know the name of, but all of it looks so good, I wanted to get ten of everything!

As I sat down, Gale asks "So Haymitch, what advice can you give us?"

"Here's one: Stay alive." He says with the inch of sobriety he has left and guffaws.

Gale gives a sarcastic version of the laugh. "That's nice advice..." He knocks the glass of wine in Haymitch's hand so hard that it falls of the table and shatters into pieces. "...but not nice enough"

Haymitch was about to hit Gale with a shard of glass when all of the sudden, instinct I guess, I threw a knife to his sleeve and it sticks on the wall with it. We were getting ready to strike again, but Haymitch seemed calm. "So we have a pair of fighters this year." I think he was waiting for us to reply, but he continued. "I'll make you two a deal. I'll be sober enough to help you, if you guys follow what I say."

"If we don't?" Gale asks.

"Then good luck finding a nice coffin in the arena." I agreed to it, Gale needed some convincing, but we both followed

We talked about what to do once we arrive, but I guess that wouldn't be long. Because right when we stopped planning, we were already docking. Everything was filled with tons of colours that my eyes hurt. If this weren't the city that plans to kill me, then I'd love it here. It's stunning. It's unbelievable.

It was the Capitol.

YES I KNOW IT'S FOLLOWING A BIT TOO CLOSE TO THE STORY. OTL It's gonna change in a bit, just you wait. ;)

Happy December 1st! I hope you're all in a foreign state, running late, but hopefully not alone. ;) -Bonus points for you if you get that referrence ;)-

See you next time! ;)