As you can see, I did a fantastic job of "posting weekly" given that it's been about two days. Still, hopefully someone out there enjoys reading this because I've got too many chapters written to just keep it to myself. Please enjoy!

River had, in all honesty, never really paid much mind to what was outside Twelve before. Not until she was boarded onto a train that dragged her away from everything she had ever known. After all, why would she? It wasn't as though she was one of those that hunted, she had never had any reason to believe that she would so much as see beyond the fence, so she had paid no mind to imagining what may have lay across it.

She couldn't help but stare right out of the window as they shot away from her home. She, Effie and Carter were sat somewhat together, though not really, around a small coffee table. Effie, just like always, was babbling away about the Capitol. She told the two poor kids about her lavish home. She told the poor kids who were off to their deaths about her wealth and loves which they would never so much as dare to imagine. Carter, unbenownsed to River and Effie, was slowly but surely working himself into a panic attack. With his mind stuck on being impaled and his hands shaking worse that leaves in a storm, he was, before long, hyperventilating. Now River, well, she was almost okay.

What a strange concept, right? She was okay on her way to the Hunger Games. The thing was, she had no idea how to act. What she should being doing, what she should be saying, even what she should be thinking. So, not really knowing much of anything, she breathed. She didn't think about where she was going, only about how even the trees looked healthier outside of Twelve. She wondered, did all the smoke in the air and the dust from the mines stunt their growth? Would these seemingly superior trees yeild more wood, or were they simply trees and not actually of much importance to her?

Sadly, she was certain that she would never know. She would never get to chop one of these trees down, nor would she get to sell its wood. In fact, she doubted that she would ever get to chop any tree down ever again, no matter where its roots lay. Was it possible to depress herself over trees, she wondered?

"Oh my! You simply have to try the hog! Now, I'm not much for meat these days, what with the light that's been shed on the industry and all, but good Lord, it would be simply criminal to avoid it! They serve it with the most exquisit dip- you both must try it!" She snapped quickly out of her own head, looking at Effie who, excitedly, had stood up to greet someone pushing a cart. The cart in question, to the shock of the two, starving kids, held an entire pig. River eyed it for a second, mouth agape. There were only four of them, right? She didn't dare look at Carter and question it though just in case it was gone when she looked back.

For a good minute or so, River and Carter watched as Effie trilled on and on about this freaking pig, neither able to look away from it. It wasn't until the stench of liquour itself fell through the cart door in the form of Haymitch Abernathy. The thud he made, any other day, would have been hilarious if not for the situation. Stunned, River almost laughed. It was, after all, ridiculous.

No one moved to help the drunk fool to his feet, but Effie stopped raving about the pig for long enough to shoot Haymitch a look of utter disgust.

He stumbled around for a long second, hazy eyes scanning the room, before settling on collapsing into Effie's still warm chair, raising a dismissive hand when she barked something at him over it. He didn't seem to have time for her, but the decanter in the middle of the table? Now that, that he had time for. It wasn't as though anyone was shocked, least of all River.

Once a month, she would drag a cart of logs all the way up to Victors' Village and pound on his door. He was the only person in Twelve who chose to pay her in cash. More often than not, he'd just leave a pile of coins outside, much more than he owed, but River didn't take more than her share. Instead, she would push the rest back through the gold letterbox and tie his wood down onto the deck outside his home with twine, covering it with the same crusty tarp each time.

Then, seemingly shocked for a second, their eyes met. Deep silver to pained, suffering blue. River wondered what he was looking at. What in her had caught his eye? Could he see potential that he could hone? "Shit." He grumbled, filling his glass for the second time since sittin down.

"Haymitch!" Effie hissed, outraged by his profanity.

River and Carter were noticable taken aback, too. They jolted a little in their seats, chancing glances at one another with confused faces before looking back and their booze soaked mentor. "You, uh... help me out here, kid. You sell something, huh?" Of course he recognised her. He wasn't seeing any damn potential, he just couldn't place her in his hazy mind.

"Wood." She croaked, hearing the crack in her voice. "I sell wood." She spoke again, more confidently this time. Still, her voice wobbled, but in all honestly she was in far too much shock to be bothered.

Haymitch clicked his fingers somewhat violently, seeming amused and he spat a laugh into the air. "Wood!" He barked, taking a long sip of his drink before spinning to look at Effie. "She sells wood." He cackled, making River feel small, but when he spun back, she saw what almost looked like concern on his face. "I have a question." She could see the cogs in his head working away.

Ready to answer questions about her strengths, River nodded and sat a little closer in her chair.

"Who the hell is gonna bring me my damn logs when I get home?" And there it was. His question. His expectation of her in the Games. Everything.

"Wh-what?" River muttered, feeling a fog in her head as her stomach dropped. She worried in that moment that she would throw up, but she didn't dare move to look for the bathroom.

No one spoke for a long second. They all seemed to be trying desperately to digest what the hell Haymitch had just said, but he wasn't done there. "Well," He started, scooting forward a little so he could lean across the table. River, against her better instincts, leaned too. "I just mean that since you're here, who the hell will bring my firewood when you inevitably die a slow, grusome death in the initial bloodbath? You know, like they do every year." And just like that, he was gone, stumbling away with the whole damn bottle and amber liquid, leaving River and Carter stunned while Effie turned her attention back to the fucking pig. River was sure that the loud woman had scolded Haymitch, maybe had even offered some empty apologies, but that damn pig had her fickle attention so very quickly again that none of it really meant a thing.

Later that evening, long after Effie had shown both River and Carter to their respective rooms, River sat up on the hardwood floor in her room, cross legged with her head in her hands. To say that she was exhausted would have been an understatement, but she simply couldn't sleep. Instead, she was thinking about her family. She was hoping above all else that the chicken from Rooba wasn't going to waste. She hoped that, unlike her, they were still able to eat.

Effie had lectured her for what felt like an eternity when she had refused food, but the simple fact was that she couldn't stomach anything, no matter how insanely starving she knew she was. Even as her stomach wrestled with itself and made the most desperate sounds, she couldn't eat for fear that it would leave the same way it entered.

She wondered, was Skylar eating right now? She hoped that she was, even if it was just with her parents. She hoped that they were happily embracing one another each time their eyes met and that they were filling their bellies, feasting on the lavish food around them.

Just as quickly as she had thought about that though, she found herself thinking about Carter's family. His parents were good folk, but how were they faring? Their sweet boy, kind to all, was gone. Did they expect him back or had they already begun to mourn him? Had she been braver, River would have wondered the same of her own family, but she didn't have the stomach for that. Instead, she simply hoped that they had eaten the chicken and stayed warm with a fire. At the very least, she knew that their own wood stores were full.

Her thoughts carried her through the night and before long the sun was shining through her room, urging her to ready herself for the day.

.

.

.

.

.

Sitting back in that same damn seat as the evening before, River found herself beside Carter yet again, this time with plates before them both. When Effie had told them to "come on in" and to "help yourselves", they had both toed their way to the new cart of food only to have Effie laugh and tell them that they didn't have to serve themselves. As if that really was the most hilarious thought in the world. As if those two kids wouldn't have dived in face first if that's what was asked. Neither of them may have been explicitely skin and bones like some of their home district, but they sure were starving.

So, there they sat as two women clad in extravigant white pantsuits piled their plates high for them. The women, River decided, scared her. Their was something sinister about the way they held themselves, but not in the way that she felt threatened by them. No, instead she felt as though she was in the presence of a wild animal scared for its life.

Alas, she was too hungry to pay them any real mind. As soon as the plate was left alone before them, the two kids dug right in. They battled mountains of eggs, sausages, cheeses, mystery meats, potatoes and even fruits. Though both of them could see the looks of utter horror on Effie's face, neither could seem to slow down for even a second until they had stuffed themselves. It wasn't until they both sucked the greases from their fingertips that they greedily drank whatever the sweet juice was in the center of the table and actually stopped to listen to Effie.

Still somewhat repulsed, Effie explained to them that they were a mere few hours from the Capitol and that they should both try to present themselves as well as possible. "You don't get a second chance at a first impression!" She sang as she sauntered out of the dining car, leaving River and Carter alone as she went in search of Haymitch.

"You think they'll mind if I take some for later?" Carter asked, shocking River when she looked up to find him standing beside the cart that was still piled high with food, looking bashful. The cart easily held more than their families combined ate in a whole damn week, but they both knew that it would probably go to waste if it wasn't eaten. Hell, stored right, there was a month of food there.

She thought for a moment before answering. "They brought out a whole pig last night for four people. They won't even notice." It was a good idea though. While they had both heard about the grand meals that everyone ate in the Capitol, neither of them knew when they would eat next. They didn't know the mealtimes of the Capitol, nor did they know what new foods would be placed before them.

Cautiously, she stood and approached both the cart and Carter. Any other time, she would have been amused that his name was almost Cart and that he was standing beside one, but she couldn't find the joy in such meaningless thoughts. "So, what's the plan? Paper towels?" She asked, wondering how long they would stay friendly. Carter, in spite of his sweet personality, had about a foot and maybe twenty or thirty pounds on her in spite of the muscle that she had built over the years during her work. She didn't want to have to go up against him, but wasn't that almost inevitable?

Inevitable. There it was again. That word. She heard Haymitch's voice in her head "when you inevitably die a slow, grusome death in the initial bloodbath" even as she tried desperately to just think about the food before her.

Entirely unaware of what was going on in her head, Carter shrugged and smiled just a half a smile. "I think so? Or maybe if we use some of this clear stuff? I think it's a plastic wrap, like plastic film maybe-" He carried on speaking, but River could hardly hear his voice. It felt as though the train walls were closing in on her, shrinking inward little by little, crushing her with the furniture and the stupid food cart. It was all just entirely too much, she needed out.

With no further words, she darted. She shot from the dining cart and let her feet carry her like hell along the train until she somehow found herself standing on a small balcony at the front of the train, raking in each desperate breath as her lungs burned and her skin froze between the sweat and the aggressive breeze.

Just as her breath began to slow, a hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back inside. Panicked, she readied herself to throw a punch only to be greeted by the exasperated face of Effie Trinket. "River!" She scolded harshly, all but throwing her down the hall. Jesus, Effie was strong. "There was a sign." She barked, seeminly unable to comprehend why River would pass a sign that clearly stated that no tributes should be near that door, let alone touch it.

River, however, still wasn't entirely out of her panic. So, instead of apologising to Effie or explaining herself, she shot off again, this time in specific search of her room. She found it quickly enough and, in her overwhelmed state, collapsed onto the enormous bed, eventually drifting into a fitful slumber.

It wasn't long before she rose from her sleep again, this time shooting up in annoyance. To put it mildly, she was tired of being tired. She realised a moment later when the sound of heels clicked away from her door that Effie had been the one to wake her. She also heard the insufferable woman gnattering on about how she hadn't ever had tributes so rude before now that would actually ignore her knocks on the door, something that River highly doubted.

River made a mental note to ignore Effie at every damn turn. That being said, she quickly left her room and found herself catching up to the woman of so many colours. Effie, upon noticing her, simply huffed and carried on trotting as River caught up to her. No words were spoken between them, not even as River wondered silently where they were going, but something in Effie changed as the train began to slowly ease to a stop.

Only then did River chance a glance out of one of the many windows that they passed. Then, almost comically, her mouth dropped open and she found herself stopping dead in her track. "Come now, Miss Nivalis." Effie sang, almost skipping at this point.

Alas, River couldn't move so much as a muscle.

As the train finally stopped, the flashing from outside cameras became somehwat blinding. It wasn't until a particularly bright flash snapped her out of it that River stumbled the rest of the way to the doors where Effie, Haymitch and Carter had already exited. She was only a few steps behind them, but it was enough that the photographers managed to swarm her alone.

As her words failed her, she couldn't help but simply gawk at everything around her. Unbeknownst to her, the world was already obsessed with the girl who had been the first ever in Distric Twelve to volunteer. They wanted to collect her story, to take her photo, to feel her skin. They wanted to consume her whole and know who she was.

What shocked her as she spun, looking at buildings, people and pets alike, was when a hand reached out and gently grabbed her, shocking her back to life. Haymitch? Frankly, she hadn't thought him possible of such a gentle touch, but there he stood, hand outstretched, a sad, nostalgic hint of a smile barely on his lips, almost hidden beneath the years of scruff that he didn't care to tame, as he did his best to guide her through the crowd.

For just a moment, she saw a glimpse of a man that truly did care, but all too soon they reached the others and he was gone.

They were past the photographers relatively quickly and into a huge building that River knew she could never had imagined on her own. The tallest building that she had ever seen before this was four stories high including an attic, but this? This colossus was so tall that the windows disappeared into nothingness long before she could finish counting them.

All too soon though, River's view of the grandure and majesty of the Capitol was stamped on by the giant boot that seemed to follow her district around. They had been inside for mere seconds before it was announced that she and Carter would be split up and "made presentable".

She didn't know exactly what that meant, but when a small group of people who put even Effie's flare to shame rounded her, she felt terror sink into the very pit of her stomach. They looked at her hungrily, eyeing every inch of her to the point of discomfort. What the hell did they want?

"What are we meant to even do with this?" One of them scoffed, not even trying to be quiet as he looked at her like she was the shit on the heel of his shoe.

Too stunned to speak, she stayed silent as she was directed by Effie into a chair.

She didn't even remember having left the lobby of the tributes' building, but there she found herself, sitting on a stool in a pristinely white room as the group of freaks circled her. They rounded her, poking, prodding, pulling and grabbing. She wanted to swat their hands away, to snap at them to stop, but she felt quite literally as though she couldn't move.

At some point, Effie did explain to River that this was her "prep team" and that they would get her ready for the chariot ride that would show her and Carter off to the world, but she scarcely heard a word as they told her to strip and all but threw her in a tub.

She didn't get a moment of peace to quietly clean herself. No, instead they grabbed her limbs and scrubbed her. She didn't have a moment to fight back as they swarmed, one grabbing at her legs while another desperately scraped the dirt from beneath her fingernails. As a young woman, naked, surrounded by strangers, submerged in a tub, she was terrified to say the least. Had she not been shocked stiff, she probably would have cried, but she felt as though she could only just breathe. Anything else was much too much.

Instead, she thought of Skylar. She closed her eyes and breathed, letting the blonde fill her mind. She tried her best to simply remember the good times. Their first kiss. Their first time. Their hugs. Teasing. Loving. Warmth. Alas, with each fresh attempt, all she could muster was that face of devastation as they were dragged apart. She wanted to silently pledge that she would find her way back to her, but seriously, what were her chances?

Just as she began to inwardly scold herself for such thoughts, she was dragged from the tub and dried by a number of towelled hands. Although they were the softest, most incredibly fluffy towels that she'd ever felt in her entire life, it still wasn't a welcome experience. She didn't even get to dry her own privates. She hoped at that point that it was all over, but no. Instead, she was told that she would now be "waxed", whatever the hell that meant.

She learned what that meant. Painfully.

By the end, the only hair left on her entire body was her brows and the hair on her head. They even waxed the tops of her feet "just in case". River decided there and then that she hated waxing. Was this really the standard of beauty for the Capitol? She would have rather be as hairy as a man than deal with that ever again. She had a dark thought though that, if Haymitch were right and she was to die so soon, she wouldn't deal with that ever again.

As much as she prayed for it all to be over, it never seemed to be. With each finished job, another arose. It took hours before finally, finally, they announced that they were done with her.

"Ekhus will see you now." One of the team announced as they turned and scurried from the room as a single unit.

River, somewhat traumatised, simply stood on shaky legs. "What?" She muttered, wondering what she was meant to do.

Without another moment to relax, another person entered the room. River wondered whether they were a man or a woman, but she couldn't tell at all. Nothing about the white being gave anything away. They had unnaturally frightfully pale skin that almost blended into the walls around them, translucent, showing their veins and lack of muscle. She also couldn't tell if they were wearing white clothes or if they were simply nude and as smooth all over as their shiny, bald head.

Whoever or whatever they were, River couldn't keep the look of confusion from her face.

Blue eyes looked back at her, but there seemed to be no iris or pupil, just the most crystal clear, frankly unnatural blue that she had ever seen before.

Erkus or whatever the hell their name was looked her over, reminding her that she was entirely naked, before approaching and speaking in the most melodic voice that had ever graced her ears, still without giving away if they were male or female. "Tributes. Each year you seem to be covered in more and more. Each year, one more layer of grime. Each year, more soot."

River tried not to convey how uncomfortable she was, but she knew they she wasn't hiding it well. "We don't all get fancy houses and daily baths." She growled back, noting that she was a foot or more shorter the being before her.

It chuckled lightly. Humourless. "Clearly." Without another word, they got to work. It wasn't long before the team of stylists were back, this time holding different fabrics up against River's still sore skin, none of which the pale creature liked.

River found herself helplessly doing as she was told, raising her hands on command like a performer, trying on different things, listening as they cursed her short hair. It almost broke her heart when they decided to cut it even shorter, this time shaving the sides right down to the skin around her ears, fading up to the short top that barely stood two inches. They agreed among them that it was the best that they could do after shaving some patterns with a razor blade into what was basically just stubble on her head. If not for the jagged, dangerous looking lines all but carved into her scalp, River would have actually liked the look, but it just felt a little too flashy. Not that her opinion mattered at all to those around her in that moment.

It felt as though it was hours later that she was taken from that room. She expected to feel relieved, but as she was lead through a door that opened to reveal Effie, Haymitch and Carter, she felt nothing short of terror. Not, of course, for seeing them, but when she saw the horses, carriages and other tributes? Well, those things scared her.

It seemed though that Carter was clearly more than a little intimidated, too. He was practically shaking beside Effie as his own team continued to work on him.

When River and her stylists reached the others, she couldn't help but smirk a little, trying to ignore the fear bubbling in her stomach as she noted mentally that, even after all that scrubbing and complaining about the soot, she and Carter were both stood there, dressed like miners, just like every damn year, covered in a fake soot. Really, what had been the point in cleaning them if this had been the plan all along?

Haymitch, ever himself, laughed loudly upon seeing River's head stylist. She couldn't blame him. She'd already seen a lot of odd looking people in the Capitol, but Ekhus? Well, they took the prize on that one. It wasn't necessarily the lack of gender, she knew there were some folk in Twelve who said they weren't the right gender, but the smooth, milky white skin that looked literally plastic? Terrifying. She couldn't even see creases under their arms or around their mouth. Nothing. Nothing at all.

Things seemed to move scarily quickly from there though. River felt as though she hadn't even had a second to relax before she and Carter were being handed fake pickaxes and shoved toward the final carriage in the line-up.

She made sure not to get too close to the horses, scared of what such huge beasts could do to her. "Don't worry, the horses know their job." Effie told them, almost shouting to be heard over the general fanfare from the crowd outside. They were deafening to say the least. River nodded in spite of not understanding what really was going on around her. "Just hold on, stand proud, show yourselves to the world!" And with that, she was turning away and trotting gently to Haymitch.

Haymitch, however, wasn't paying any of them any mind, still looking at Ekhus. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off them as he drank from a clear bottle, swigging the piss-yellow liquid, cackling to himself every so often.

Before River could turn to check on Carter though, the anthem began to ring loudly around them, ringing in every corner of the room, filling their ears and quite literally shaking the carriage with its sheer volume.

It was time.

She tried to remember what Effie had said, but as the horses all began to move in pace with one another, all her thoughts went out of the window. Instead, she clung to the front of the carriage when their horses jolted forward, clinging for her life. Chancing a glance at Carter, she saw that he too was doing the same. Their eyes met just as the carriage left the grand room that they had just been in and blinding lights consumed them for a moment as they picked up speed.

It was all so much; the lights, the sounds, the smells, even the taste in the air. Somehow, River knew that the taste was roses, though she wasn't sure why. It was sickly sweet as it coated her tongue. It even burned the back of her throat.

She could see the tributes in front of them, waving at the crowd, shouting, even catching roses, but she and Carter simply hung on. There were a few other tributes doing the same, but she still felt stupid for it. This was one of the first chances that they would get to wow potential sponsors, yet they were hanging back and practically looking at their own feet.

It wasn't until the horses stopped and President Snow himself began to speak that River dared to take a moment to stand a little straighter, feeling Carter do the same beside her.

He was an odd man, the president. River knew enough to fear him, but looking up at him, he didn't look like a strong, powerful man. No, he looked like he was old. Back home, he would have already been dead by his age. Almost no one in Twelve could afford to move back to live with their relatives when old age prevented them from working. In fact, many of the older people either froze in the night, starved, or even took their own lives to keep their loved ones from having to be burdened by them. River's paternal grandfather had been crushed in the mine that had collapsed a few years ago, but her grandmother? Well, she had been a woman full of pride. She had used the last of her coin to buy a huge bottle of liquor and had drank the whole thing, then simply lay on her husband's grave. By morning, she had joined him in death. Her parents and siblings had sobbed, but River had seen an oddly beautiful gesture in it. Romantic, even. She hadn't wanted to go on without her love and so she hadn't.

The president, though? Well, with all of his money and status, River knew that he would never do such a thing. Hell, she would have bet her entire plot of land on guessing that he probably had machines and medicines to preserve him like the foul roses he loved so much.

Before long, his speech was through and the anthem was ringing out again, louder than ever.

Haymitch and Effie greeted them when their carriage rolled back in. Haymitch simply stumbled from the room while Effie, with patriotic tears in her eyes, escorted them out of the room and back to the grand lobby that they had very first entered into.

From there, they were lead into an elevator, much like the ones used in the mines, though it was, of course, so much more impressive.

Much to River's dismay, they weren't the only ones in there. Oh no. Before the doors dared to close, other tributes muscled in with their escorts in tow.

River and Carter shrunk into the back wall. River even felt Carter's scared hand reach down and grab hers. She knew it meant nothing, so she grabbed it back and hid it behind their bodies as they were pressed together, side to side. She was just as terrified as he was, so she tried to take comfort from the warmth of his skin, but she couldn't. Instead, she watched each tribute exit as the elevator moved silently.

When they finally were the last three people left, she released a long breath. She didn't stand a chance against most of those kids, dammit.

As if he was having the same thought, Carter dropped her hand and stepped away somewhat awkwardly, silently reminding her that they weren't a team. Only one of them could survive, even if they beat all the odds and both made it to the end. Neither of them would just lie down and let the other go home. They had lives to get back to, each of them.

So no, as much as River had always liked Carter, they weren't a team. Hell, they weren't even friends anymore. They couldn't be.

I know things are moving a little slowly, I swear that bigger things are coming! I was so intent on making sure that I didn't just dive into the arena with this that I made sure to have written another five or so chapters before that, so hopefully they're all okay! I just wanted to try and look into things like training room dynamics, the other tributes I'll be introducing etc.

Thank you so much for reading, I really do appreciate this. Please feel free to let me know any thoughts of feelings, good or bad! Have a great day!