Hey Guys! Rose Hunter here! Anyway, I wanted to say that I'm going to get on with the interviews. I'm not really sure if the interviews came before or after the training, I think they came before that's why I'm doing them now. I don't have a copy of the Hunger Games, otherwise I would have checked. So don't get mad if its out of order. But if it is wrong, please tell me, though. And I really appreciate everyone whose reading this story. Also, please review and faavorite! Thanks guys :)
Her night was haunted with visions of Gavering and Ivy being lost to the same game that she was about to play. Memories of carnage from the other Hunger Games spilled across her nightmares. She was taken away by a river of blood and washed ashore on a riverbank of human bones. Someone screamed, it might have been herself, and she woke shivering and soaked in sweat. She sat up and made her way to the shower, which was growing on her, and took a long thirty-minute soak in its gentle grip. When she got out she put on a white long-sleeve shirt, blue pants and a pair of boots. When she emerged from her room she made her way to the dinning room where breakfast was already being served to everyone else. Even Kiena was there, sitting perfectly straight and lecturing an inattentive Merchan on the importance of proper etiquette.
"Hey, kid," Eve waved, her mouth stuffed with what she had learned were called marshmallows. She swallowed them all and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. Kiena looked disgusted. "We've been waiting for you."
"Why?" Feral asked, sitting down next to Merchan, although she wouldn't have if it hadn't been the last available chair.
"We wanted to ask you two," Becken continued. "If you two wanted to train together in your individual training, when the time comes?"
"Separately," Feral and Merchan both said at the same time. They glanced at each other.
"Well that settles that," Eve nodded, standing up and pushing her empty plate towards the center of the table. An Avox rushed in to take it out of the way. "Feral, when you're done, which I'm sure will be in a few seconds since you barely eat anything, come meet me in my room and we'll talk more about you're angle for the interview."
"She doesn't stay for long, does she?" Feral chuckled when she had left. "She's always leaving." Becken nodded and slightly smiled but no one said anything. Feral ate an unnaturally perfect apple and some sort of egg-shaped cake-like food that tasted slightly like pancakes, and she left to go talk to Eve. Eve's room was almost exactly like her own, just a bit larger and with a large window that let the sunlight filter in. Eve sat on the edge of her mattress, scribbling something on a notepad.
"Alright, kid," She said quietly, still writing. "I think I got this worked out. When you're in the interview be a little cleverer and a little less playful. As we get closer to the games you're gonna slowly want to get more… intense I guess. But always smile, like your positive you're going to win and everyone who disagrees with you are brainless fools. You got that?"
"Yep," Feral nodded.
"Alright, then go to Kiena and have her give you instructions on…" Eve scratched her head. "I don't know… walking, I guess. And sitting up straight and smiling and all that junk. She already knows about our angle, just go to her and do what she says."
"Okay," Feral nodded. She trotted out of the room and headed to Kiena's, which was heavily decorated with bright and shiny objects. Kiena herself wore a bright blue wig and some sort of sky blue robe with red flowers decorated on the lower half.
"Show me your walk," Kiena instructed. Feral walked along a straight line and Kiena shook her head. "No, no, no… When you walk, you have to keep your back perfectly straight, like there's a string connected to your spin and someone is pulling it up." Kiena demonstrated. "And with your angle, you're going to want to look as sure-footed as possible. No slip-ups or anything like that. You have to know exactly what you're doing and exactly when to do it… or at least look like you do." They had to run through it almost twenty times before Feral finally got Kiena's approval. Apparently Feral wasn't very good at walking.
"Alright," Kiena said, rubbing her hands together. "Now it's onto the smiles. Eve says you're great at it, which almost never happens, so you must be. And you did great on the chariot ride so all you have to do is make the same smiles again." They ran through the smiles, Kiena often giggling or clapping at her success.
"Are we done yet?" Feral asked after the third round of her grins. "My face hurts."
"Almost," Kiena replied. Feral groaned. "Don't do that. All we have to do now is work on the actual interviewing. So sit here," Kiena said, sitting down in a chair and pointing to one sitting next to it. Feral sat down gladly. "And pretend I'm Caesar."
"Okay," Feral nodded. This shouldn't be to hard… She thought.
"Feral," Kiena began. "You've been close to two people who have both competed in the Hunger Games, and both were killed, one by decapitation and one by an avalanche. Tell me, how do you think you stand on the possibility of winning the Hunger Games?"
"I think," Feral answered. "That since I've lost people to the Hunger Games before I have a better chance of winning. I mean to say, I have a few tricks up my sleeve." She put on a devilish smile at the end and Kiena nodded.
"How do you think you've changed since the video of you sobbing over Gavering?" That question hit home and Feral felt her insides quiver.
"I think…" She said slowly. "I'm smarter and stronger then I was before. His… failure… just makes me more determined to win." Kiena looked unsatisfied so she kept going. "Besides, I don't think there's much competition this year. Well…" I-know-something-you-don't smirk. "at least not for me, anyway."
"Perfect!" Kiena cheered. "Be sure to do that in the interview, with that smile and everything! It makes you look like you've already won! It's exactly what we're going for!" They ran though more questions for an hour, Feral occasionally saying things that got Kiena's praise and the instructions to be sure to work it into the interview.
"Feral," One of the prep team said, sticking her purple-died head in the door. "It's time to start getting ready."
"Okay!" Feral said hopping up and following them out into the hallway. With so much time trying to be a fox, more then usual that is, she was really starting to act like one. Honestly, she didn't mind too much. She actually thought it was a good thing. Once she was in the arena she would have to act like that twenty-four-seven.
While the prep team worked to get her to Beauty Base Zero, Feral thought over what she had told Kiena while they were practicing. Had the deaths of Gavering and Ivy actually made her stronger? Ivy's death had sparked a need for a hobby to distract her from her sister's death which had then in turn driven her to learn about medicines and antidotes. Gavering's death had made her mentally stronger, giving her the power to be brave and courageous, unlike the small, helpless little girl who had been crying in the video before his death. She wondered if she would ever be able to live that down. She wondered if she would ever be able to live at all.
When Ollo came in he didn't waste time studying her up and down. He immediately held out a gorgeous silk dress. It was dark green and the neck, the ends of the sleeves and the bottom were dotted with black diamonds. When she put it on, the sleeves hung from her wrists and the fabric clung to her outline in a way that made her look slender and magnificent. There was an opening in the right side of the dress that ran up to her knees, showing her right leg. With it she wore a black diamond necklace, bracelet and three inch black heels. Ollo did her hair so it was in a sort of high ponytail on the top of her head using a black butterfly-shaped clip. He added mascara to make her eye lashes look longer and some blush to hide her few blemishes.
"I look beautiful," She whispered, admiring the dress in a body-length mirror. She turned to Ollo and hesitated before embracing him. He took a moment but eventually hugged her back.
"Feral," Eve said, impatiently. "It's time to go, come on!" She led Feral out of the room and down a long hallway. The other tributes were arriving as well, and when they were all there they stood in a single file line ordered by district. Feral was amazed by how great some of them looked. "Good luck," Eve murmured before dashing off with the other mentors.
Feral swallowed nervously as they were led onto the stage. Like in the chariot ride she was temporarily blinded by the flashing lights but eventually got her bearings. She sat down in her chair in between Merchan and Tinn and folded her hands in her lap. Caesar Flickerman introduced them as that year's Hunger Games constants. Spark from District One was up first. She was in a short, off-the-shoulder red dress that puffed out when it reached her rib cage. She wore bright red lipstick and scarlet five-inch heels.
"How are you Spark?" Caesar asked in a dark green wig and matching suit.
"I'm good, Caesar, thank you," Spark giggled. It was obvious what her angle was, so much so that it made Feral want to gag. She hated girls who tried to be sexy. "I suppose I'm just here to spark up the crowd for all the other tributes." Everyone in the audience laughed. Feral thought it was a horrible joke.
"So, Spark," He continued. "What were you thinking when you volunteered for the Hunger Games?"
"Well, that's simple," She beamed. "I was thinking, 'wow, if I volunteered I would meet Caesar Flickerman'" Feral rolled her eyes. What a kiss up, she thought, but then realized it was a decent strategy. If Spark got Caesar to like her, he would throw her easy questions that would make the audience go gaga over her. As the rest of the interview wore on, Feral found she was right. The audience cheered, clapped and laughed at almost everything Spark said.
Chance was up next, with a seductive-yet-intimidating tactic. Spark had already broken in the crowd with her performance, but Chance still won them over plenty with his 'well, I figure I'll lose when Caesar stops changing the color of his wig every year' comment.
Then came District Two, with the girl tribute, Bree, playing the victim-of-the-Games card. She seemed to have won much sympathy when she told the crowd of her two five-year-old twin sisters and how when she told them she was going to the Hunger Games they asked if they could play too, not realizing that it was the terrifying show they had to watch every year that gave them nightmares. The male tribute, Blade, acted smart, throwing out random facts about the past Games to show how good a chance he had.
With District Three up, Portrait, a twelve-year-old girl, was absolutely adorable. She was dressed in an old-fashioned corset and light-pink dress and talked about how she had told her daddy that if she didn't come back from the Games to take care of her dolls for her. The crowd was absolutely ecstatic and Feral was positive that Portrait wouldn't have to want for anything in the arena; everything would just be delivered from lonely old people who wanted to get her home to her dolls. The male tribute, however, didn't match her personality at all. He was cold and calculating, and his responses seemed like ones you would get from a computer.
When it was District Four's turn, Rivera Troublewater came out in a silver dress that clung to her figure, bringing out her curves and letting her 'natural beauty' show, as she put it. Feral thought the term air-headed blonde bimbo would describe her perfectly. She giggled like a little school girl and forgot to answer Caesar's questions on several occasions.
"So, Rowan," Caesar said when Rowan came up. He was in a slimming black suit with dark blue cuffs and tie. "You're a handsome one."
"Thanks," Rowan smiled. "I try."
"There's got to be a love interest," Caesar prompted. "Who is she?"
"Well…" Rowan said thoughtfully. "You're going to have to be more specific and tell me which one because I have this list…" More laughter from the audience.
"Come on, Dennark," Caesar pressured, calling Rowan by his last name. "We got a tip from your mentor that you have a thing for Feral." Rowan was temporarily stunned silent, but lucky for him the cameras had flicked over to Feral who put on an I'm-pretending-to-be-surprised-for-you're-sake expression. It was enough to assure people that she had been clever enough to already have known this but also told them she was at least trying to make an attempt to cover for him. When the cameras went back to Rowan he looked thoroughly embarrassed.
"Well, um…" He said rubbing his neck. Several people in the crowd were making an awww noise. Some of the channels were focused back on Feral for a moment, so she decided to play a long and look embarrassed as well by avoiding looking in the direction of the audience. "It's a bit unfortunate… considering at least one of us is going to have to die next week." More sympathy from the crowd.
"Your mentor even sent in this picture…" Caesar said, holding up a small paper. The cameras zoomed in on it and the large screens above the stage revealed it to be a picture of Feral and Rowan before the chariot ride when he had brushed the strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. The audience was hysterical at that point.
"Call it love at first sight…" Rowan smiled gently. The buzzer rang and the crowd clapped loudly.
"Well, I certainly can't wait to get Feral up here for a reaction!" He laughed. The rest of the tributes seemed to pass by without Feral even noticing. She was to busy trying to decide how she should respond to Rowan's announcement of affection towards her. When she glanced at Eve she saw she was holding up her notepad which had a heart drawn on it. Feral gave her a small nod that thankfully no one else noticed.
All too soon, Tinn was sitting down and it was Feral's turn for the interview. She stood and smiled, giving a slight wave to the audience as she made her way over to the interview chair.
"Finally, the girl we've all been waiting for!" Caesar said, shaking her hand. "So Feral, we all want to know what you're response to Rowan is. Are you in love with this District Four tribute as he is with you?" The cameras were trained on her and she paused for dramatic effect. She didn't look up from her black heels when she nodded and the crowd broke out into shouts and cheers. It took Caesar ages to finally get them to calm down. They showed Rowan, who appeared to be overflowing with joy, before going back to the interview.
"Now that we have that out of the way," Caesar laughed, running his hand through his green wig. "Let's talk family. Feral, what's yours like?"
"Well," She said slowly. "My mom died when I was seven…" She gave the audience a chance for their odd sympathy sounds. "Since then it's my dad who's been taking care of us. My oldest sister and firstborn in the family, Ivy, died in the Hunger Games. Nothing's been the same since then. My older sister, Sage, works twelve hours a day in the paper factor, as does my older brother, Tier, in the fields cutting down trees. They're always so tired. My little brother, Pinn, is smart for his age. My dad always says he and I got that from our mother. My little sister, Willow, dreams of one day being a stylist in the Hunger Games, so that she could make beautiful outfits for people like our older sister. It's six of us in all in a small, two room house on the outskirts of District Seven. It's tough at times, but it's always worth it to have so many people to love."
"Very true," Caesar nodded solemnly. "So, Feral, what kind of chance do you think you have at actually winning the Hunger Games?" Feral was prepared for this question, but she'd have to change her reply a bit.
"Well, Caesar," she said slowly, giving herself time to look like she was thinking over what to say. "At first I thought it was going to be simple. But that was before I met Rowan. If it comes down to the two of us in the arena…" Feral trailed off, acting as if the idea was unthinkable. The buzzer thankfully rang and she made her way back to her seat.