Well, no one seemed to notice us at the opening ceremonies, which is expected, the opening ceremonies are just one of the many things catered towards the career districts, but I don't mind. Some Capitol citizens might have noticed me and think about betting for long odds.
After the ceremony, we feast on rich food that ends up making me nauseous and watch a recap of the ceremony while Athena tries to reassure us that we were memorable, but honestly she really needs a wake up call. Then I think it's really time to talk with the mentors of district 9.
Our youngest victor is Greta Banner, Victor of the Fortieth Hunger Games, and let me just make this clear. She is insane, and not the kind of insane that you think the games made her, she was plain, old fashioned crazy before she was even reaped. She is constantly biting her hair and talking aloud to the voices in her head that make her unbelievably paranoid and scream randomly, which I guess worked to her advantage in the arena. Her arena was a tropical. She was able to avoid all other tributes and almost every muttation until the final four tributes were left and she jumped down from the top of a building onto two opponents that were fighting each other to win the games. Of course, she is wildly unpopular in the capitol before and after the games. Not exactly the picture of the healthy victor they like to parade around the districts. I don't think they even had a victory tour that year because of the things I imagine she'd scream on live television. However, she does give me a couple of ideas.
Jem Thatcher tells me he is the oldest to ever win the games, turning nineteen the day he won. At 53, Jem is still attractive and he's still district nine's favorite victor, the Capitol even likes him to this day and shows his games on television during the top twenty countdown to the games. He was amazing with a slingshot and was able to knockout his opponents and leave them like gifts for the Careers to kill and he was amazing at slipping in and out the shadows undetected. He tells me not to go too far into the cornucopia and to just grab what I won't be able to do without for the first couple of nights. He's alright and seems to have a few tips for us. He's the best with sponsors apparently, so I really need to get him to like me more than my district partner.
And then there's Jane Tittle, winner of the sixteenth hunger games, won them at fifteen, and I honestly have no idea how because she just sleeps all the time. She slept the entire time we were on the train. She slept on the dinner table. And she is currently sleeping on the couch across from me next to Greta who won't stop yelling about how the pixies keep plucking her eyelashes and stealing her eyelash wishes.
"You know, you can learn a lot from old Janey over there," Jem says fondly, while he downs yet another glass of wine. "Sleep when you can, while you can. Cause trust me, kid, there won't be much time to sleep while you're in there."
"Of course, Jem," I laugh, but take those thoughts to heart. " So, what should be my angle going into training tomorrow?"
"Winning," he laughs. "Do you know how to fight or wrestle or any type hand to hand combat or sword fighting or archery?"
"Not really," for the first time I'm starting to feel unsure.
"Well what do you do back home? You have decent upper body strength for a female," Jem remarks while Greta screams out, "No you can't have my fingernails!"
"I know!" Jem shouts back.
I'm actually quite pleased to tell him what I did at home. Back home you either work inside the granaries all day long or out in the fields growing and harvesting the wheat and corn. I have been harvesting in the eastern fields since I turned ten. But I'm most proud to tell him about my second job, the reason I stopped going to school. "Three times a week I'm with the trapping crew."
Jem seems exceptionally pleased with this and leans forward.
There's a lot of wilderness in District Nine and even with the fence a lot of wildlife gets in through. Too much during harvest season, and the Peacekeepers have no desire put in a little effort to stop the citizens getting attacked by wild dogs and bears. So they hire a lucky few towns people to do the work of trapping the animals. I don't really get any weapons, just a few foothold traps and snares, but they can be very effective.
"This is amazing not only can you immobilize your opponents, but you can kill them too," Jem says absolutely delighted.
"I don't really think an animal trap or snare will kill someone. I could lure a Career to finish them off like you did," I suggest and then it dawns on me that I'm forgetting about my main job.
"Yeah, but you know how to use a scythe."
