Chapter 5- Arriving

The morning dawned bright and early and Sparrow awoke to someone rousing her for the first time that she could remember. She was always the first one up in her house with the occasional exception of her father.

"Up, up! Today is going to be such an exciting day!" The over exuberant voice of her escort filtered through her closed door as his knuckles hit against it repeatedly.

"Ok I'm awake, I'm awake," Sparrow called out, begging the loud sounds to stop.

She had finally fallen back into a, thankfully dreamless, sleep the night before after an hour or so of racing thoughts and a racing pulse. She felt absolutely exhausted and wasn't sure how well today would go for her. She had been told that they would arrive in the Capitol at around ten in the morning and it was seven thirty now. She wished they had let her sleep longer but she supposed they would want to make sure she was ready for their big reveal to the citizens of the Capitol.

Sparrow rolled out of bed and stood a bit unsteadily on her feet. She moved to her room's closet where she undressed and pulled out a plush blue towel that was softer than anything she had felt in her life. She wound it around her body and moved to the shower where she spent at least ten minutes trying to figure it out. Her house in Seven had only had a rudimentary bathtub with one option: cold water. Here, there were dozens of buttons, soaps, and anything else she could want. Once she had finished washing her hair with a lavender scented shampoo, she stepped in to her room and began the tedious task of sorting through the contents within. Once she had found the least flashy outfit she could, she moved out in to the main compartment of the train in search of food.

She found everyone gathered around the table in deep conversation. Or rather, Blight and Everest were in the midst of conversation while their district's escort admired his reflection in the back of a spoon. She sat down heavily in her seat next to Everest and began tiredly pulling juice and toast towards her. Under different circumstances she would find herself amazed by the types of food and drink that were available but apart from a brief feeling of shock, she couldn't bring herself to care.

"Sparrow good I'm glad you're here. We have a little less than two hours to talk about strategy and how you want to present yourself to the Capitol," Blight began.

"What do you mean 'how I want to present myself'? Can't I just act normal?" Sparrow looked around at everyone at the table. She noticed her escort half smirking, half grimacing in her direction while he appraised her from underneath his teal eyelashes.

"Dear, the Capitol will never sponsor you if you act 'normal'. No offense of course," he drawled at her.

"He's right Sparrow. You need to have an angle. Something that will make the Capitol feel sorry for you, love you, be in awe of you, whatever you want. You need to think about how you want to dress, look, and act to fit into the image that you choose. And above all, you must portray your angle during the interviews in a few days. Nothing makes or breaks a tribute more than that interview. Except for perhaps what you do in the arena," Blight continued, looking more anxious and serious by the minute.

Sparrow, in the mean time, was attempting to control her breathing because she was feeling as though she would pass out at any moment. How on earth would she pull off this interview? She hated being in front of people! Hated most people in general in fact. Besides the actual games themselves, this would be the worst experience of her life, she was sure of it.

0.0.0

In what seemed like no time at all, the train was beginning to slow down and Sparrow looked outside to see the most amazing sight she had ever seen. Huge buildings rose for as far as the eye could see and they were all made out of a shining silver material that reflected the sun back into her eyes. She had never in her wildest imagination seen anything like this. Even the wealthiest in District Seven only had two story wooden houses. She was sure that not even the affluent districts such as 1 and 2 could compare to what was seen here.

"Remember to wave and look friendly! This is your first stop in gaining sponsors for the games," Blight explained to them as they began slowing down even more.

Sparrow began waving and smiling as hundreds of Capitol faces swept past the window. Men, women, and children all decked out in the most bizarre attire she had ever seen. Golden hair a foot high, earrings dangling down to waists, skin dyed pink, and more. Their district escort was now the one who fit in and they were the outsiders. It was obvious that he was reveling in all of the attention from 'his people' as he pranced around in front of the window, blowing kisses.

The truth was, Sparrow would rather be spitting in the Capitolites' faces because of what they do to children every year. But she also knew that if she wanted any sort of shot at sponsors it would need to begin now. That way even if her interview didn't go so well she'd still hopefully have a few people that would care about her. Everest was smiling as well even though he looked extremely nervous. Sparrow put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and he nodded at her in thanks. She felt bad for him. Two years younger than she was and he had an even lower chance of making it out alive. No chance at all really. No thirteen year old had ever won the games after all.

After what felt like hours the train finally pulled in to the station and they were all escorted out on to the platform. They were flanked on all sides by Peacekeepers and even then reporters somehow found a way to shove their way through, shoving microphones in their faces.

"How do you think you'll do Sparrow? And sort of secret tactic you want to share with us? How about you Everest, feeling nervous yet? For a thirteen year old the games are a dangerous place to be!" A woman with pink hair and yellow eyes leered at them.

Sparrow simply grabbed Everest's arm and continued walking purposely forward. She agreed with trying to get sponsors but answering questions like that was impossible. She wanted to throttle the woman for what she had said to Everest. He was scared enough as it was! She glanced at him and saw that he looked like he was going to be sick or pass out. Maybe both.

They finally made it into the Training Center where they were peacefully left alone. They were shown where the main training area was along with the dining centers. They were then lead to an elevator and told that they would be on floor seven. The doors clanged shut and they all stayed silent, wrapped up in their own thoughts until they reached their home until the games would begin.

A/N: A big thank you to KS who was my first reviewer! Hopefully this will inspire some of you to follow his/her lead? Anyway, the story is starting to heat up and interactions with the other tributes will be coming shortly!