The crowd cheered. Family and friends cried. They were lead into the Justice building. Their new mentors studied them up and down. Eve said Feral had 'potential'. The male mentor, named Becken, said Merchan looked like a real killer. Feral couldn't help but laugh a little and agree. Merchan just stared at her like she was prey, which she had a feeling she soon would be.
Eve led her into a separate room and she knew from the stories that this was the room in which people would come to say their goodbyes to her in. She sat down on a leather coach, wishing she could just sink into the covers and never come out. That was usually what she did when things got hard for her. Hide. Wait out the storm, like a fox in its den. But there was no running. Not from the Capitol. Not from the Hunger Games.
"Good luck," Eve bid her, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder before heading out of the room. Feral's family were the first people who came in to visit her of course. Immediately she was bombarded with words that got tangled up in her mind. Encouragement, survival tips, reminders on ways to kill people… after a minute or two she just faded away, too lost in fear and helplessness to hear anything.
"Alright!" Her father's voice rose above the rest. The room fell silent and Feral was pulled back to reality. "Feral's… going through a lot right now; we all need to try to be understanding, okay?"
Sage was the first to walk up and embrace her. Sage had to be able to clearly remember the death of her older sister. It had to hurt so badly to remember Ivy so well, and how she died as well. Sage back up and looked her in the eyes. "Feral, whatever you do, you have to be strong."
"I can't kill anyone…" she whispered.
"We know," she nodded. "Do what you do whenever life gets hard for you. When you get in the arena we want you to get as far away from everyone else as possible. Build a den and stay there until there are only two of you left. Do you understand?" Feral nodded.
Willow ran over and embraced her so tightly she thought her eyes might pop out. "Please, Feral… be brave… be brave for us?"
"I will, Willow," She nodded, a tear racing down her cheek.
"And when it comes down to only two," Tier said, strong enough to say what no one else could. He didn't make eye contact with her, just staring intently at his feet like he thought his shoes had just been picked for the Hunger Games instead of his sister. "You have to kill the other. Poison their food. Stab them. Do whatever it takes."
"I…" The words caught in Feral's throat. "I will…"
Pinn walked over and embraced her, as did the rest of the family. They were taken out of the room and Feral was left alone again. She whipped her tears, trying to be ready for her next visitor. Sash came in next. She rushed into the room and, sobbing, hugged friend tightly. They didn't say anything to one another for the entire time. They just stood there, hugging and crying, until the Peacekeepers came and took her away.
Unpredictably, her next visitor was Tomm. He walked into the room with a grim expression on his face and held out his hand. At first, she thought he expected her to take it for some reason, but then noticed what was in his palm. It was the necklace she had given him earlier as payment for crossing into the forest, but all the rust had been removed somehow, leaving the silver necklace as beautiful as it had been the first time her mother had worn it. It was a simple silver chain, but on it was a silver leaf that gleamed in the sunlight. "Take'n as your token?" Feral nodded, tears welling up in her blue eyes from the sweetness of the gift. She reached out with a shaky hand and clipped it around her neck. Tomm left and she was once again alone.
Many others came in over the course of her goodbye hour. Friends. Distant relatives. She didn't realize how popular she was. When the hour was up they had barely gotten through everyone in time, according to Eve. They met up with Becken and Merchan, who didn't look at her, and they were herded onto the train by a group of Peacekeepers. The train was gorgeous, with expensive items strewn everywhere. There was an entire table covered with delicious-looking foods Feral had never seen before. It was so much more food then they had at home, and her family was doing better then many in District Seven. She bounded over to the table and sampled a small pink ball-shaded treat. It was hard on the outside, but the inside was melted chocolate, and the flavor exploded in her mouth. Eve rolled her eyes before joining Feral at the table while Merchan and Becken sat down on a couch and started talking quietly.
"They're talking strategy," Eve said, reading her mind.
"Should we be doing that, instead of pigging out at the food bar?" Feral asked, sliding a purple-tinted cookie into her mouth. It tasted like a mix between sugar, peanut butter and mint.
"No," Eve said. "Becken doesn't seem to understand it very well, but it's better to wait and see who your opponents are first."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Feral nodded. Eve studied her for a second. "What?"
"I like you a lot better then all the other tributes I've mentored." Eve said, grinning slightly. "Hey, with any luck, you won't be brutally murdered!" With that, Eve walked off to go turn on the TV and wait for the replays of the Reaping to come on. Feral stopped for a minute to think about how she should take that comment before shrugging and returning to indulging herself in the food. "It's on!" Eve called out.
Feral trotted over to the coaches and sat cross-legged next to Eve. They played the District One Reaping first, of course, and Feral was suddenly set off by the realization that she was going to have to fight Spark and Chance, along with Merchan. She didn't stand a chance.
Next came District Two. Oddly enough there weren't any Careers from District Two that year, just a rather quiet eighteen year old girl named Bree and a jumpy looking boy named Blade. It was unusual but Feral decided to go along with the fact that it was a whole lot better for her.
Then was District Three with a twelve year old girl named Portrait and a fifteen year old Career named Teck. He was tall and pale with dusty brown hair and icy blue eyes. She swallowed nervously when she saw him volunteer, aware that although he wasn't as muscular as Merchan or Chance he was obviously going to be just as big a threat.
District Four came on and Feral sighed at the beauty of the fishing district. An airheaded Career named Rivera was the first of their tributes. She was tall, slender and fair with blonde hair and deep blue eyes that Feral knew would be useful in entrapping the audience. She couldn't help but notice how handsome the male tribute was. His name was Rowan Dennark. He was tall and tan with black hair and dark green eyes that made Feral's stomach flutter. He was muscular, but he wasn't a Career. Feral actually had to remind herself that she would have to kill him in a week or so.
"The stylists are going to have a good time with that one," Eve chuckled.
Next came District Five, with a mean looking Career named Hera and a short twelve year old boy named Jess. District Six wasn't anything special, either, except that their male tribute, named Tinn if Feral heard them right, was blind.
When District Seven came on, Feral could see the tears that welled up in her eyes as she walked on stage, but she didn't care. She cared more about how tiny and pathetic she looked next to Merchan, who was huge and intimidating. After the tears faded from her eyes, however, she looked clever and witty.
"Like a fox," Eve noticed.
District Eight's female tribute looked a little off. She was overly jittery with short, messy blond hair and wild bright blue eyes. The boy was tall, tan and handsome with wavy blonde hair and dark blue eyes. He looked unfocused, like he was off in his own little world.
"Multiples of four seem to be getting lucky this year," Becken observed. "I wonder who'll be picked in Twelve." Nine came with its usual, a sad looking male tribute and a rude looking female. Ten had two tributes named Robin and Stallio who both looked very fit. Eleven got a ferocious-looking eighteen year old boy named Wrath and an intelligent looking thirteen year old. Twelve got unfortunate with a very scraggly girl named Lill. They did, however, get a very tall and clever looking boy named Tariff. He looked strong, probably from all the days spent down in the coal mines. He wasn't bad looking, either.
"Told you so," Becken muttered, annoyed that Merchan didn't look at all amused. Eve flicked the TV off and stood up. She grabbed Feral by the arm and pulled her off down the hallway to a door. Inside, the room was simple, with a bed, a closet and another door that led to a bathroom.
"Is this my room?" Feral asked, curiously.
"No, it's a jabberjay's," she said seriously. Feral glanced at her. "Of course it's yours! Now we need to talk strategy."
"Okay," Feral said, going and sitting on the edge of her bed. She nervously ran her fingers through her hair, waiting for Eve to speak.
"You have a sort of… fox-like appearance about you," Eve stated. Feral, of course, already knew this. "You're small, and you kind of bound everywhere. And you look clever, but playful. Aha, that's our angle! Clever but playful, like a fox. Can you pull that of, sweet-cheeks?"
"Yeah, sure," Feral nodded. "But what about the arena? How should I play it in there?"
"We'll get to that when the time comes," Eve said. "For now, we just work on our angle for the interview. "Show me your best fox-like smile." Feral put on her usual smile, the one she wore every day. She didn't think it would be what Eve wanted but when she saw it she grinned. "Great. That's all I needed. You already act like a fox, clever and playful, just remember to look like one. Even when you're just around the other tributes, it's important that they see you that well just as much as the audience does. Tomorrow, we reach the Capitol!"