Chapter 4: Training
When she returned to her room, Tansy found an outfit had been left for her at the front of the closet. Tight pants, a formfitting long-sleeved top, and leather shoes. It was athletic wear similar to what had been given to Sean, but in different colors. Hers were black and sea-foam. She put her hair in two braids, tucked and pined the ends in so they wouldn't get caught on anything or slap her in the face. This was the first time since the morning of the reaping that she resembled herself. No fancy hair and clothes, no makeup and glowing body powder. Just her.
She was nervous about the training. There would be three days in which all the tributes practiced together. On the last afternoon, they would each get a chance to perform in private before the Gamemakers. The thought of meeting the other tributes, particularly Pepper and Root, face-to-face made her queasy. She turned away from the mirror and headed back to the dinning room.
"All right, let's get down to business," Finnick said when she returned. "Training. First off, if you like, we can coach you separately. Decide now."
"Why would you coach us separately?" Tansy asked.
"In case you have a secret skill you might not want the other to know about," he replied.
Tansy looked at Sean. Did she have any secret skills? She didn't think so, but then again, they didn't know anything about each other aside from the fact that one of them was a Career and the other wasn't.
"I want to be trained alone," said Sean, turning to Tansy. "I decided to take your advice. I'm done playing around."
He was dead serious. It was obvious he was thinking about the best way to kill her now. Tansy made a mental note that maybe she should keep her mouth shut next time.
"Well, this always happens at some point," Finnick said. He was concerned for Tansy, but it was probably better this way in the long run. "In that case, we can discuss your individual skills and strategies later. For now, the plan is the same for both of you. You go to group training. Spend the time trying to learn something you don't know. Throw some knives. Learn some snares. Light a fire without matches. Save showing what you're best at until your private sessions. Are we clear?"
Tansy and Sean nodded.
"All right. Tansy, you go over your skills with Mags. Sean, you'll be with me. Then the two of you will meet Pricilla at the elevator in ten minutes. Training officially starts at ten, but it's better to be early."
Sean smirked at Tansy as if he had won some kind of victory over her. Tansy rolled her eyes. If he was underestimating Mags' value as a mentor because she was old, then the joke was on him. Who did he think taught Finnick everything he knew?
Tansy and Mags retreated to her room for privacy while they made a list of Tansy's skills and the areas she could use improvement in. The good news was, Tansy should have no trouble where food was concerned. She already had a wide variety of knowledge and experience with distinguishing between edible, medicinal, and poisonous plants in two different types of environments. And she was stealthy enough to be able to sneak up on small birds like doves and quails and catch them with her bare hands before they had a chance to fly away. She could also stun squirrels and rabbits with a slingshot and catch them while they couldn't move. And, of course, she could fish. She had already learned from Mags how to make fishhooks from virtually anything as well as every kind of knot known to man and how to weave mats and baskets so tight they could hold water. If there was nothing else, she even knew how to eat certain insects. Her life in Districts 11 and 4 had prepared her well for those areas of survival.
She also knew how to make temporary shelters. It had been early winter when she hid in that thicket to avoid the community house and she had run off without a chance to get much more than the clothes on her back, so she had learned how to insulate herself using dry leaves, moss, and other materials found in the wild fast. She had also made herself a temporary shelter that was camouflaged to blend in with its surroundings. Fire was another thing she would have no trouble with. Since matches cost money they needed for food and other essential goods, most people in 11 used simple tools that could easily be made using wood and thin shavings to get it going.
As for fighting, Tansy could use a trident, but she and Mags agreed she was better with a spear. Her aim was perfect with the spear when used for fishing, and she could hurl one a fair distance to catch fleeing prey. She usually carried a knife while diving to open shells and in the event she might need to fend off predators. But she had no experience using either in a fight against a human opponent. However, Tansy did have experience cutting and cleaning fish and animals to prepare them for cooking, and this could theoretically translate over to humans if she remembered to target vital areas like the neck, veins, and soft organs. Same with the spear.
But if she was pitted against Sean or one of the other Careers in close combat, there was no question that they would have the advantage. Tansy was tall for her age, and she was healthy and athletic from all the swimming and diving she did, but Careers were trained to be deadly. Mags suggested she avoid the initial bloodbath at the cornucopia and make finding cover her first priority.
They decided she should focus on learning some hand-to-had combat techniques and methods to disarm opponents, since there was no guarantee she would be able to get her hands on a weapon right away. Practicing knife throwing, wielding a bow and arrows, and any other weapon she wasn't familiar with would be a good idea too. She should also learn how to find and treat water. There wasn't going to be a manmade tap on the side of a house that she could sneak out of the woods and use like she did while hiding in the thicket. Camouflage was always useful. And checking out each station that dealt with flora and fauna, even if she didn't use them, might give her a clue about what kind of environment they could be using for the arena.
The actual training rooms were below ground level of their building. With the elevators, the ride was less than a minute. The doors opened into an enormous gymnasium filled with various weapons and obstacle courses. Although it's not yet ten, Tansy and Sean were almost the last to arrive. They were still missing the boy and girl from 12. The other tributes were already gathered in a tense circle. They each had a cloth square with their district number on it pinned to their shirts. While someone pinned the number 4 on her back, Tansy did a quick assessment. Her attention was naturally focused most on Pepper and Root. They were dressed in matching green tunics, brown pants, and soft leather shoes. They looked so much more like themselves, like the old friends she remembered, that she was tempted to give them a smile. But then she remembered why they were there. Her stomach dropped when their eyes met. It was painfully awkward, and she didn't know what to do.
Fortunately, the arrival of the tributes from 12 drew everyone's attention. As soon as they had their numbers and everyone had joined the circle, the head trainer, a tall, athletic woman named Atala stepped up and began to explain the training schedule. Experts in each skill would remain at their stations. The tributes would be free to travel from area to area as they chose, per their mentor's instructions. Some of the stations taught survival skills, others fighting techniques. They were forbidden to engage in any combative exercise with another tribute. There were assistants on hand if they wanted to practice with a partner.
When Atala began to read down the list of the skill stations, Tansy's eyes couldn't help flitting around to the other tributes again. It was the first time they had been assembled, on level ground, in simple clothes. Her heart sank. Almost all of the boys and a fair amount of the girls were bigger than she was. Tansy was tall for a fourteen-year-old, and she had been hoping that would be an advantage, even though most of the tributes had never been fed properly. Like poor Pepper and Root. You could see it in their bones, their skin, the hollow look in their eyes. Being transferred to 4 had given her an advantage in that area. Tansy stood straight, and while she was thin, she was fairly strong. The fish, occasional meat, and plants from the market and the wild combined with the exertion it took to get them and her work as a diver had given her a healthier body than most of those she saw around her. But it hurt to see that Pepper and Root were still so small and thin, even if they had become her opponents. It was an obvious sign of how hard their lives had been.
The exceptions were, of course, the kids from the wealthier districts, the volunteers like Sean, the ones who had been fed and trained throughout their lives for this moment. The tributes from 1, 2, and 4 traditionally had this look about them. It was technically against the rules to train tributes before they reached the Capitol but it happened every year. And like as not, the winner would be one of them.
The slight advantage Tansy held coming into the Training Center, her glowing entrance as a goddess the previous night, seemed to vanish in the presence of her competition. The other tributes were jealous of her, yes, but not because she was amazing, because her stylist was. Now she saw nothing but contempt in the glances of the Career Tributes. Each must have had fifty to a hundred pounds on her. They projected arrogance and brutality. Even Sean. When Atala released them, they headed straight for the deadliest-looking weapons in the gym and handled them with ease.
She was thinking it was lucky she was a fast runner, when she felt someone's eyes on her. Pepper and Root were still standing there, staring at her. They looked like they were waiting for her to say something. Tansy still didn't know how she should treat them, but she felt she should at least speak to them.
"Hey… How's everyone in 11 doing?" she asked a bit awkwardly, signing with her hands so Root wouldn't have to read her lips. "It's about time to plant the melons, sew the potatoes, and harvest the spinach, right? It's kind of awkward to say now, but I've really missed you guys. I bet baby Finch must be giving your momma all sorts of trouble now that she's gotten bigger."
Pepper and Root blinked and stared at her, surprised. The two siblings exchanged a look. Then they both threw their arms around Tansy and pulled her into a tight hug.
"We've missed you too," Pepper said, struggling to keep her voice steady. Tansy felt Root nod in agreement, and she had to struggle really hard not to cry as she returned their hug.
Their reunion was interrupted by a small voice.
"What are you all doing? Do you realize how weird you look?"
Tansy, Pepper, and Root lifted their heads and saw the small girl from 7 was staring up at them as if they had all grown a second head.
"We're friends," Tansy said.
"Oh," the small girl said, taken aback. "That sucks." With that she turned on her heel and walked away.
"What a strange kid," Pepper said with a frown.
"We're probably the strange ones in this situation," Root signed with a smile. The girls smiled back. They were used to being strange.
They looked around at the Career Tributes who were showing off, clearly trying to intimidate the field. Sean was with them. Apparently he had decided to ignore Finnick's advice to wait to show off their best skills. They saw the boy from 2 send a spear through a dummy's heart from fifteen yards. Tansy had thrown that far before, but she doubted there had been enough power behind it to be able to skewer a human through the chest like that. It was obvious the three of them would stand a much better chance of surviving if they teamed up.
"Where do you want to start?" Tansy asked.
"I'm thinking snares," said Pepper.
"I think we should learn how to use a weapon," Root signed.
"Either is fine with me," Tansy said. "Why don't we try both?"
Since the stations for snares and fighting were already full, they ended up crossing to an empty station where the trainer seemed pleased to have students. They got the feeling that knot-tying class was not the Hunger Games hot spot. But it was an important skill and Pepper and Root could use the practice. He started them off with a few basic knots, but when he learned they were interested in snares, he showed them a simple, excellent trap that would leave a human competitor dangling by a leg from a tree. They concentrated on this one skill for an hour until all three of them had mastered it. Then they moved on to camouflage since their first two choices were still full. Root genuinely seemed to enjoy that station, swirling the combination of mud and clay and berry juices around on his dark skin. He always had been creative. Tansy showed her friends how to weave disguises from vines and leaves. The trainer who ran the camouflage station was full of enthusiasm at their work. Tansy was better at weaving, but Root and Pepper were better at painting. Somewhere along the way, her friends stopped weaving disguises and started painting Tansy's paler skin. The alternating pattern of light and dark gave the appearance that she was covered in more leaves. When Tansy put on the disguise she weaved, she seemed to disappear, blending in with the bushes in the wooded set near the station completely. The trainer praised them so much they began to draw the attention of the other tributes, and a few decided to try it out for themselves. This freed up some spots at the station for snares. They spent another hour learning how to make an easy snare called a noose. Just as the name suggested, it was designed to tighten around the prey as it ran through it and could be just as easily be made using plants instead of wire or string.
Despite having been apart for four years, it felt so much like old times that they began to forget they were there to kill each other. Since none of them wanted to think about it, they all made a silent agreement to continue ignoring the issue for as long as possible and tried to enjoy their limited time together.
So the next three days passed with Tansy, Pepper, and Root going quietly from station to station. They did pick up some valuable skills, from hand-to-hand combat, to tracking, to how to find and purify water. Despite Finnick's advice to appear mediocre, Tansy excelled at knife throwing, as did Pepper. Root discovered he had a talent for tracking. Tansy stayed clear of the spears and tridents though, wanting to save those for her private sessions. Root and Pepper's mentor, Chaff, had advised them to hide their strengths until then too, so they avoided showing off their stealth and knowledge of edible plants. That suited Tansy just fine since no one other than those two knew she possessed those strengths, and she wanted to keep it that way.
The Gamemakers appeared early on the first day. Twenty or so men and women dressed in deep purple robes. They sat in the elevated stands that surrounded the gymnasium, sometimes wandering about to watch the tributes, jotting down notes, other times eating at the endless banquet that has been set for them, ignoring the lot of them. But they did seem to be keeping their eyes on the District 4 tributes. Several times Tansy looked up to find one fixated on her. They consulted with the trainers during the tributes' meals as well. They could be seen all gathered together when they came back.
Breakfast and dinner were served on the tributes' floors, but at lunch the twenty-four of them ate in a dinning room off the gymnasium. Food was arranged on carts around the room and they served themselves. The Career Tributes tended to gather rowdily around one table, as if to prove their superiority, that they had no fear of one another and considered the rest of them beneath notice. Most of the other tributes sat alone, like lost sheep. Except for Tansy, Pepper, and Root, who sat together in a triangle. No one spoke a word to them. Tansy was tempted to invite the girl from seven to eat with them, since she was only twelve, but Pepper and Root didn't want to get too attached to anyone else. Tansy decided that was probably a wise decision. She really hated the Games.
Tansy and her friends spent lunch talking of home. Mostly District 11. She was very curious as to how everyone she used to know had been doing since she left. But also of 4, because Pepper and Root were very curious about her knew family. So she told them stories about her father and Annie, learning how to swim, her adventures diving with the strange creatures in the ocean, how the variety of plants that grew there differed from the ones in 11. They hung onto her every word, trying to understand and imagine what it must have been like. They tell her how glad they are hear how well she was doing. They took turns trying every kind of bread in the breadbasket. Those in charge of providing their lunch had been careful to include types from the districts along with the refined bread of the Capitol. The fish-shaped loaf tinted green with seaweed from District 4. The crescent moon roll dotted with seeds from District 11. They even tried the ugly drop biscuits from 12. Tansy's favorites were the breads from 11 and 4, which tasted like home, and the Capitol bread, which was always soft and fluffy.
Back on the District 4 floor, Mags and Finnick would grill Tansy and Sean throughout breakfast and dinner about every moment of the day. What they did, who watched them, how the other tributes sized up. They were full of endless directions about what they should do and not do in training. Priscilla would occasionally give some of her own input. Tansy did her best to be patient, but Sean tended to become fed up and surly. Especially during the times when Finnick was out and otherwise occupied. Tansy hoped it was because he was securing potential sponsors. But his disappearances unsettled her, too. Every time he would return smelling of an unfamiliar perfume or cologne. She didn't like it. Sean told her he was probably playing around with some new lovers. Tansy didn't want to believe that. Finnick had Annie. But the looks in his and Mags' eyes whenever it happened made it difficult to ask. Whatever was going on, he didn't look like he was having a good time. When he thought no one was watching he looked miserable.
When they finally escaped to bed on the second night, Tansy slipped back out of her room to have a talk with him. She found Finnick lounging on the window seat again in the dark.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
Finnick looked confused when he saw her there. She had caught him off guard. "What? Yeah, it's nothing. I'm fine."
Tansy stared at him. "I know you're not."
Finnick gave her a wan smile. "Annie always said you were perceptive. She talks about you a lot, you know."
Tansy frowned. "Don't try to change the subject. It's fine if you don't want to talk about it. I just want to know if there's anything I can do to help."
"I can't talk about it, and there isn't anything you can do," he answered soberly. "Don't worry about me. Just focus on winning."
"Fine," Tansy said, trying not to pout, as she prepared to head back to her room. "Feel free to let me know if you change you mind."
Finnick smiled again. "You're a special girl, Tansy."
Tansy's eyebrows knitted together when she felt a light flutter in her stomach. "You should go to bed, Finnick. You're sleep-talking."
He laughed, stood up and ruffled her hair, wished her sweet dreams, and headed for his room. Tansy shook her head and went back to bed.
On the third day of training, they started to call the tributes out of lunch for their private sessions with the Gamemakers. District by district, first the boy, then the girl tribute. They all lingered in the dinning room, unsure where else to go. No one came back once they had left. Mags had told her and Sean to return to their floor after they were done, so maybe the others were doing that, too. Tansy knew it was almost her turn when they called for Sean.
"Remember to show them your skills with a slingshot, your knowledge of plants, and how fast you can climb." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
Root and Pepper nodded. "You, too," Pepper said. "Show them what you can really do."
Tansy nodded. She had promised Annie and Mags and Finnick that she would try to win. But if she was going to lose, she would rather Pepper or Root won than the others. From what they had told her about District 11, nothing much had changed. They still needed all the help they could get.
After about fifteen minutes, they called her name. Tansy smoothed her hair, set her shoulders back, and walked into the gymnasium. The Gamemakers were waiting for her to begin. Her heart was in her throat, but she quickly swallowed it, steeling her nerves.
Tansy walked to the weapons station and picked up a spear. She took a moment to get used to the difference in its weight compared to the one back home. She picked a dummy, stood ten yards away from it, and threw. She speared it right through the heart and it stuck. Then she grabbed a trident and stabbed another dummy in the gut with a sharp trust. She moved onto the dummy used for knife throwing next. She selected a handful of knives and aimed for the vital points. She missed a few, but none of the knives missed the dummy. She crossed from the weapon range to the obstacle course and showed them how swiftly and silently she could move. She demonstrated her agility by climbing the equipment and leaping from one piece to another like a monkey swinging from tree to tree. Then she made the snare the knot trainer showed them, purposefully caught herself in it to show that it worked, then deftly untied the knot and escaped in less than a minute. She completed the test for knowledge on edible plants in record time with a perfect score. They still weren't dismissing her, so she went back to the weapons range and attacked more dummies with the spear and trident a few more times. Then she gave them a slight bow to indicate that she was done. Some of the Gamemakers were still scribbling furiously when they dismissed her.
Since the training wasn't open to viewers, the Gamemakers would announce a score for each player later that night. It gave the audience a starting place for the betting that would continue throughout the Games. The number, which was between one and twelve, one being irredeemably bad and twelve being unattainably high, signified the promise of the tribute. The mark was not a guarantee of which person would win. It was only an indication of the potential a tribute showed in training. Often, because of the variables in the actual arena, high-scoring tributes went down almost immediately. Still, the scores can help or hurt an individual tribute in terms of sponsorship. Without a sponsor, a tribute's odds of staying alive could decrease to zero.
On her way up to the 4th floor, Tansy was wondering what kind of score she would get when Finnick entered the elevator on the ground floor. She hadn't seen him since last night. She was relieved when she noticed he didn't smell like perfume. Before she had a chance to say anything, they were at their floor.
"Finished your private session?" he asked as they exited the elevator.
She nodded.
"So how did it go?"
"Well," she said with a small smile, "I didn't miss any of the targets and I didn't maim anyone, so I think it went pretty well."
"Good to hear," said Finnick with a smirk. "Good news, Mags!" he said as they joined her in the sitting room. "Tansy says she managed not to maim anyone."
"Also, based on the stuff at the stations, I'm pretty sure we're going to be somewhere with red clay, pine trees, and possibly snow," Tansy added.
Mags smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.
Tansy looked around and realized someone was missing. "Where's Sean?" She liked to know where he was at all times now that he'd officially put her name on his 'to kill' list.
"Shower," Mags replied.
"You should get ready, too," Finnick told Tansy. "The stylists are coming to watch them give out the scores with us. But first, how about you give us a few more details about your session?"
Taking a warm shower made Tansy feel sleepy, so she decided to take a nap before dinner. She knew Finnick and Mags were using the time to compare notes on her and Sean's progress. They had seemed impressed with her account of how she displayed her skills. That was a relief. Cocooned in the warm comforter, Tansy quickly drifted off to sleep.
She woke up when Priscilla tapped on the door to call her to dinner. Everyone was waiting at the table, even Vita and Felix. Vita was pleased to see her again and greeted her with a hug before she sat down.
The adults began some chitchat about the weather forecast, and Tansy let her eyes meet Sean's. He was wearing a superior smirk on his face. He must have done well in his session, too. Tansy focused on taking tiny spoonfuls of her fish soup. Then, as they were serving the main course, she heard Felix say, "All right, enough small talk. What I really want to know is how our favorite boy and girl did today."
Tansy wasn't sure she wanted to answer that in front of Sean, but he didn't seem to care whether she heard or not. "I showed them my skills with a trident and spear," he said cockily.
"And you, Tansy?" Vita asked curiously.
"I did a little of the same," Tansy answered with a small shrug after a quick glance at Mags and Finnick. "The rest is a surprise."
Sean snorted. "What did you do? Show them your knot-making?"
"As a matter of fact, I did," Tansy replied smartly.
"Wow, I'm so intimidated," he said, rolling his eyes at her.
"Arrogance can be dangerous," Mags warned him. Underestimating your opponents was a sure way to get yourself killed fast in the arena.
After dinner, they went to the sitting room to watch the scores announced on television. First they showed a photo of the tribute, then flashed their score below it. The Career Tributes naturally get in the eight-to-ten range. Most of the other players averaged a five. Sean scored a 10. Everyone cheered and congratulated him. He was beaming with pride until they saw that Tansy had also been given a 10. Then he looked insulted. Priscilla Lush and Felix let out a pair of squeals, and everyone was slapping her on the back and cheering. Tansy hoped the other Careers didn't feel the same or she might end up on all their lists. Most of the other players averaged a five. She was delighted when Root scored a six and Pepper pulled a seven. She suspected Root's score had been affected by his deafness and Pepper's by her small and wiry frame. Even after days of gorging herself on Capitol food, she still didn't weigh more than eighty pounds soaking wet. Either way, they had all done well. Sean stomped off to his room. Mags shook her head at him. Finnick continued to smile as he patted Tansy on the head, but he was worried. There was no question Sean would be gunning for her now. He had been concerned when she formed an alliance with her former friends, because he knew it would make it even harder for her to kill them, but now he was glad she had. Tansy could use someone to watch her back. He just hoped it held in the chaos of the arena.
The stress of the day and the energy she had spent in her private session had worn Tansy out. When she retired to her room, she drifted off, reprieved, relieved, and with the number ten still flashing behind her eyelids. She wasn't out of the Games yet. For once, Tansy slept the whole night through.
At dawn, she lied in bed for a while, watching the sun come up on a beautiful morning. It was Sunday. A day off at home. Tansy wondered if her father had gone out in the boat, if Annie had started making breakfast yet. She wondered if Annie would go foraging. Usually they devoted all of Sunday to stocking up for the week. Rising early, fishing and gathering, buying what they couldn't find in the wild at the market. She thought of Annie on her own, searching high and low for figs because she forgot they weren't in season again. A pang of longing and loneliness shot through her chest. She missed her family. She hated that Pepper and Root had to be here. As the deadline for the start of the Games drew closer, her anxiety increased. The peace she felt the previous evening evaporated.
She thought of the ten flashing under her name last night. She knew exactly what her father would say to her. "Well, there's room for improvement there." And then Annie would nudge him in the side with her elbow, he'd give them a smile to let them know he'd been joking, she and Annie would return it, and they'd all have a laugh.
She couldn't help comparing what she had with Annie with what she had with Pepper and Root. How she never questioned Annie's motives, while now, even though she had never questioned them in the past, a sick feeling of doubt would sometimes creep over her about the latter's. It wasn't a fair comparison, really. Her relationships with Annie and the Pepper and Root she used to know had been based on a mutual need to survive as well as affection. In the present, Pepper, Root, and Tansy knew the other's survival meant their death. How do you sidestep that? Especially when the other was a sibling, like with Pepper and Root. A brother and sister pitted against each other like that. Their situation was the most despicable of all.
Pricilla knocked at the door, reminding her there was another "big, big, big day!" ahead. Tomorrow night would be their televised interviews. Tansy guessed the whole team would have their hands full readying them for that.
She got up, took a quick shower, and headed down to the dining room. Finnick, Mags, Priscilla, and Sean were huddled around the table talking in hushed voices. Finnick looked angry. That seemed odd, but hunger won out over curiosity and she loaded up her plate with breakfast before she joined them.
The stew smelled amazing. It was made with tender chunks of lamb, savory spices, and soft slices of quince today. Perfect on a bed of fragrant white rice. She had no idea the tough quince fruit could taste so amazing. The fruit was knobbly and ugly, with an irregular shape and often a gray fuzz. The ripest, nicest quince would have a golden tone and smooth skin. But even ripe quince didn't taste very good raw. Actually, it was completely inedible raw. She had discovered that the hard way she tried eating some she had found growing wild. Insects tasted better. Quince fruit also had an extremely tough and spongy flesh, which was difficult to cut up. She feared for her fingers every time she attacked the woody, oddly spongy yet unyielding interior of a quince. So you can imagine her surprise. The tough and inedible quince had become not just edible but delicious, sweet and fragrant. The cooked fruit had blossomed into an indescribably wonderful perfume of vanilla, citrus, and apple, and the fruit itself had magically turned from yellowed white to a deep rosy pink. Tansy couldn't get enough of it. She had shoveled about halfway through the mound when she realized no one was talking. She took a big gulp of hot chocolate and wiped her mouth. "So, what's going on? You're coaching us on interviews today, right?"
"That's right." Said Finnick, still grim.
"You don't have to wait for me to finish. I can listen and eat at the same time," she said.
"Except that we'll be coaching you separately," Finnick reminded her.
"Okay, so what's the schedule?"
"You'll each have four hours with Priscilla for presentation and four hours with me for content."
Tansy couldn't imagine what Priscilla would have to teach her that could take four hours, but she had her working down to the last minute. They went to Tansy's room and Priscilla put her in a full-length gown and high-heeled shoes, not the ones she would be wearing for the actual interview, and instructed her on walking. The shoes were the worst part. Tansy had never worn high-heeled shoes and couldn't get used to essentially wobbling around on the balls of her feet. It felt strange. But Priscilla ran around in them full-time, and Tansy was determined that if she could do it, so could she. The dress posed another problem. It kept tangling around her shoes so, of course, she hitched it up, and then Priscilla swooped down on her like a hawk, smacking her hands and yelling, "Not above the ankle!" When she finally conquered walking, there was still sitting, posture—apparently Tansy had the tendency to duck her head—eye contact, hand gestures, and smiling. Smiling was mostly about smiling more. Priscilla made her say a hundred banal phrases starting with a smile, while smiling, or ending with a smile. By lunch, the muscles in Tansy's cheeks were twitching from overuse.
"Well, that's the best I can do," Priscilla said with a sigh. "Just remember, Tansy, you want the audience to like you."
"And you don't think they will?" Tansy asked.
"Not if you glare at them the entire time. Why don't you save that for the arena? Instead, think of yourself among friends," said Priscilla.
Tansy scowled when she thought of Pepper and Root. She was among friends, that was the problem. Her patience had been wearing thin over the last four hours, and that was the last straw. "They're betting on how long we'll live!" she burst out.
"Well, try to forget about that for a moment! Pretend!" snapped Priscilla. Then she composed herself and beamed at her. "See, like this. I'm smiling at you even though you're aggravating me."
"Yes, it feels very convincing," Tansy said, beaming back at her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go unscrew my smile so I can eat." She kicked off her heels and stomped out of the room.
"That was much better!" she heard Priscilla call after her as she made her way to the dining room.
Tansy hiked her skirt up to her thighs.
Finnick and Sean seemed to be in pretty good moods, so she was thinking the content session should be an improvement over the morning. She couldn't be more wrong. After lunch, and a brief apology to Priscilla for the things she meant but still should not have said in her hunger-exacerbated-anger, Finnick took Tansy into the sitting room, directed her to the couch, and then just frowned at her for a while. This was the most serious she had ever seen him.
"What?" she finally asked.
"I'm trying to figure out what to do with you," he said. "How we're going to present you. Are you going to be charming? Aloof? Fierce? So far you're shining like a star. You volunteered to save Annie. Vita made you look unforgettable. You've got a top training score. People are intrigued, but no one knows who you are. The impression you make tomorrow will decide exactly what I can get you in terms of sponsors," said Finnick.
Having watched the tribute interviews all her life, Tansy knew there was truth to what he was saying. If you appealed to the crowd, either by being humorous or brutal or eccentric, you gained favor.
"I've never been very good at pretending to be something I'm not. Can't I just be myself?" she said. "What's Sean's approach? Or am I not allowed to ask?"
"Cocky. He's strong and brutal, and he's planning to exude it from every pore. He has no problem talking about himself," said Finnick. "Personally, I would rather see you be yourself, too. But your natural self is always quiet and reserved around strangers. You avoid physical contact, and when you finally do open your mouth, all that comes out of it is sarcasm and sass."
Tansy frowned, feeling defensive. That had clearly been based on his own personal experience. She wasn't like that with everyone. "That's because you always teased me."
"I teased you to get you to talk to me," he said pointedly.
Tansy opened her mouth to respond, but stopped and thought about it. "Oh," she said dumbly. It was true. Until he started teasing her, she spoke a minimum of three words to him the few times they met. It was only in the last three or four days that she had begun to engage in proper conversations with him.
"But you can be very charming once you open up," Finnick reassured her. "The problem is figuring out how to keep you from crawling back inside your shell once you get on that stage. I don't know where you pulled that cheery, wavy girl on the chariot from, but we need to find her again."
Tansy chewed her lip. That was going to be tough. Especially since she hated the Games and didn't want to be there. "Vita told me to pretend the only people in the audience were you, Mags, and everyone else I cared about."
Finnick leaned back, looking thoughtful. "Do you think that would work for the interview?"
"Maybe…" she said, "but I didn't have to do any talking last time."
"Would it help if you could pretend you were talking to me or Mags?" he asked.
"It would," she said, thinking carefully, "until I heard that Caesar guy's voice and remembered where I really was. Then I'll probably panic and go completely blank. Will you be sitting near the stage? I think it would really help if I could see you."
Finnick reached out and took one of her hands in his own. "If it was up to me, we'd be in the front row."
"I'm sensing a 'but'," said Tansy.
"But," Finnick said with a heavy sigh, "we're expected to stay back stage. We can only be with you right up until you go on."
"Showbiz sucks," Tansy pouted.
Finnick raised an eyebrow. That was the first time he heard her use that particular phrase.
Tansy shrugged. "I've been talking with the girl from 7. I like her spunk." She saw the look he was giving her. "I know, I know. Don't get attached."
"But she's right. Showbiz does suck when you're unprepared. So for now, let's just practice answering the types of questions they'll ask and building a rapport," Finnick suggested, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
Finnick took the role of interviewer and she tried to answer his questions in a winning fashion. He tried various approaches and attitudes to simulate a number of moods and circumstances she might encounter based on the different lines of questioning she might encounter. A little aggression came out sometimes about the nature of the Games. But talking with him was easier than she thought it might be, and that gave her a little more confidence. It was still only a practice run though.
Dinner was quiet. Everyone was thinking. Except Sean, who was confident he would ace his interview. Tansy was a little jealous. She wished she didn't have such a problem with public speaking, but she had spent so long guarding her words out of necessity for survival that she found it all the more difficult to overcome her anxiety.
It took a mug of warm milk and a lot of tossing and turning before she could fall asleep that night.
