She stood on top of the roof, waiting for the hovercraft to come and pick her up so she could be taken away to the Hunger Games. Her entire team and Merchan stood with her. Feral still hated waiting. She tapped her foot on the ground and occasionally paced in a circle. Ollo and Eve would be going with them, but not Kiena or the prep team.
"Thank you, Kiena," Feral said. "For taking care of us here in the Capitol It's a really beautiful place."
"You are welcome," She nodded solemnly. Feral walked over to the prep team and thanked them for making her so beautiful when she needed them to. They still didn't say much, just nodded.
Tears were streaming down Feral's cheeks when the hovercraft appeared above them. She stepped onto a rope ladder and was instantly frozen. She almost panicked, not being able to move any muscle in her body. The ladders lifted them up into the hovercraft and Feral wasn't released until after a woman had injected the tracker into her arm.
When she could finally step off the ladder, she did so quickly. The other tributes waited in two rows of chairs that faced each other. Feral sat in one between Rowan and Zephyr, quietly twiddling her thumbs.
She hoped and prayed that there would be a bow and arrows in the arena. It would be her only chance. Eve hadn't said anything special about what to do at the cornucopia. When Feral had asked, she had just said "go with your gut" which Feral didn't find very helpful. If she could get to the cornucopia first and she could get her hands on a bow and a full quiver, then she had a chance of making it out of there alive.
She felt the eyes of the other tributes every once in a while, but when she looked over at them their gazes quickly flicked away. She knew why they were looking at her. She was the fox tribute who had scored an eleven. It was the highest among them.
The windows slowly darkened until nothing could be seen out of them. They were approaching the arena. The hovercraft stopped moving and they were all given blindfolds and we lowered down by the ladder. Feral wasn't able to move, but she knew that if she could she would be desperately clinging to the ladder. It was terrifying.
Finally, she could move again. She slowly extended her right foot and found the ground. She stepped off and Eve's voice sounded in the background. "You can take the blindfold off." Feral removed it from her face. They were in a small, quiet room with just Eve and Ollo, who sat in a chair next to a table.
"What do you want me to do about Rowan and Zephyr?" she blurted immediately. Eve thought for a moment.
"Do not go to them," she said slowly. "Their mentor's might have told them to give up the love-sick act the second they step foot in the arena. If they want to be an ally, they will go to you."
"Okay," Feral nodded after a couple minutes of thought. Ollo stood, holding something in his hand, and walked up to her. When she reached it, he opened his fist to reveal her mother's necklace. She had completely forgotten about it! She quickly reached out for it and secured the silver chain around her neck. "Thank you."
Ollo held out what Feral knew had to be that year's outfit for the tributes. She slid it on and looked at herself in a mirror. It was a pair of black and grey pants and a matching shirt that clung to her figure. It felt smooth and reminded her of the fabric Rowan had once described to her that was used in District Four to make bathing suits, except it was thick and much stronger-seeming then what he had said. Around her waist was a grey belt that she had to put on the smallest loop because her figure was so petite for her age. She slid on grey boots that she laced on over the pants.
Something overhead beeped and Eve stepped forward. "It's time," she said. Feral gave her one last huge. As she stepped onto the circle, her body was shaking horribly, her entire being looked like it was vibrating. As the glass tube fell down around her, she glanced back to look for Eve and Ollo, but they were already gone.