Chapter Five
A/N: Thanks to my reviewers, Guest, a 2nd Guest, a 3rd Guest and my best friend, headinclouds123. I'm doing an extra update, however late, because my fore-mentioned best friend has been nagging me about it, so I hope this will satisfy both her and you other readers.
Abby lifted her head from her soft goose feather pillows to see the clock face etched into the wall. Eight-twenty five. Her eyes widened and she leapt from her bed, jumping into the shower and washing quickly, then pulling on a loose red tank top and some black trousers, slipping her feet into her shoes from the Tribute parade and ran from the room to the dining table.
Surprise, surprise, Effie was already there, sitting almost bolt upright in her chair, sipping coffee and picking at a small croissant. Haymitch was there as well, predictably more interested in the varied liquor bottles than in the food. The last one sitting was Alex, tucking in heartily to a varied supply of meats, eggs and vegetables.
"Ah, Abigail, so lovely to see you again. Now I must say, your hair looks absolutely lovely." smiled Effie, taking another small sip of her coffee.
"Thanks, Effie." she replied, putting some pancakes onto her plate, and some bread onto another, then pouring herself some hot chocolate. She cut a piece off the pancake and closed her eyes in bliss. Her mother was right, the food in the Capitol was absolutely gorgeous. She took another bite, then looked to Alex, who looked slightly nervous. She didn't know why.
"So, Haymitch, what are we doing today?"
"Well, you have to begin your training today, sweetheart. You'll get the chance to check out the other Tributes, but don't show your skills yet. Save that for the Gamemakers."
"And we get the chance to check out the Careers?" piped up Alex.
"Yeah, if you want. Just be careful of them. There's twice as many Careers as there were in your parents' days. There's One, Two, Three and Seven to be careful of now."
"Seven? But I've seen the girl from Seven, she's tiny." protested Abby
"Looks can be decieving, sweetheart." Haymitch shot back, refilling his glass from the wine bottle by Effie's side. "I thought you would've learnt that by now."
They finished the rest of their dinner in silence, before returning to their bedrooms to change. When she opened the door, she immediately saw that there was a black, red and silver shirt bearing the number 12 on each sleeve, with black trousers. She put them on and tied her hair up in a plait, before running down to the lift, where an identically dressed Alex was waiting.
They entered the Training Room to find the other twenty-two Tributes dressed identically to them, with their own District numbers on their sleeves. Seven of the Careers were standing together in a large group, the small girl from Seven standing across from them, her eyes directed to the floor. They were informed that there would be four compulsory exercises and the rest would be individual choices. The seven allied Careers naturally headed straight for the weapons, while the others spread around the survival skills. Abby immediately ran for the camouflage station, well away from where the majority of the Tributes were by the weapons. Abby reached for the paintbrush and was about to begin when a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind. She shrieked and turning, wrapping her arms around the boy when she recognised him.
"Harry! Oh, I wish you weren't here, I really do, but I'm glad you are, in a way. At least I'm not alone."
"Of course you're not, Ab. I just really wish you weren't here." Harry sighed.
"I know, but it'll be okay. I know it will." Abby reasoned, stopping when Harry sighed loudly once more, pulling away from their embrace, but leaving his hands resting on her upper arms.
"Oh, Abby, don't you understand? We're in a fight to the death, we can't both win!"
"Why not? My parents did it twice, once with your dad as well. If they can do it, why can't we?" Abby finished strongly, her statement shocking the elder boy into silence. They stayed like that for a few moments before Harry spoke again.
"Yeah, you're right." he finished, turning the pair of them around to watch the training going on elsewhere. The Tributes that they watched most carefully were, of course, the Careers. However, a few minutes later, Abby was starting to wish that they hadn't caught her eye.
True to their reputations, the Careers were vicious fighters. Four of them were duelling with swords, the Tributes of Districts Two and Three, while the Tributes from One and the boy from Seven were practicing spear throwing. The throwing knives were abandoned, none of the Careers choosing to use them, which suited Harry, as they were his chosen weapon, but when Abby went to collect a bow, also not in use by the Careers, she found that it was gone. 'That's strange.' Abby thought, but paid it no more heed, instead returning to the survival skills station.
At last, the end of the day came. The next day would consist of their presentation to the Gamemakers and their interviews with the Games' long-running commentator, Caesar Flickerman. He had interviewed her parents twice, which was one of the first things Abby had thought of when she realised who her interviewer would be, the same would be true of most of the Tributes. Still, from the videos she had seen of him, Caesar seemed a nice enough man and Abby was not fearing the interview at all.
What she was fearing, however, was what was to come in two days time. In two days, she would enter the arena, where her fight to the death would begin. Part of her wanted to be terrified, but she ignored that feeling concentrating instead on who she was. She was the only daughter of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, each twice a champion in the same Hunger Games.
If she couldn't win the Hunger Games, who could?!
A/N: Sorry for the late update, but here it is. Please review, I want to know your opinions!