Finally the training part of the games had finished, Onyx had gotten in trouble after the first day after she had had to explain to Haymitch why she was at the bow and arrow section after Dustin had told him that she was there during the day, the little snitch. Although part of her hated that the training part had finished because it meant that she was only moments away from being taken from her mentor and father for the rest of his life.
"I told you to stay away from that section Onyx!" Haymitch growled angrily, he didn't want his girl being targeted for her shooting skills, the fear that had run through him the moment Dustin had let spill that his daughter was at the archery range caused his heart to nearly stop in panic.
Onyx scowled in frustration as she spun around on her heel to face her father, she had only just walked into the room after visiting the quiet that the rooftop offered, and now she was being ambushed by her father, Dustin must of told on her because she knew no one else in that room would care if she was at any station. "These bows aren't like my ones at home Mitch, they're different, I needed to actually train with them before showing the game makers what I can do otherwise I'm just going to fail"
"What if they realised you were holding back huh? What then?" Haymitch demanded as he let his panic over rule him, she had logic in words but the panic was too strong, he couldn't lose her in the first bloodbath, he knew that she at least had a chance but if she was a target then he had to say goodbye to his hope.
Onyx glowered at him and then at Dustin who was watching the fight curiously and slightly guiltily, he didn't mean to cause this, he just thought that Haymitch needed to know that his tribute daughter had gone against his wishes.
"I can handle myself" Onyx growled through her teeth as she glared at her father annoyed, she had lived alone for years and kept herself alive when he was out and about during the games, when he left her alone just like the rest of her family had or when he was too far gone into his drink that he never registered her presence.
Haymitch glared at her and her attitude and was about to shout again when Effie and Cinna walked into the room interrupting them, he didn't need two of the Capitols gossips to find out that he was arguing with his daughter even if he did like their company, he looked at them then turned back to Onyx.
"Yeah, well, handle be grounded for the next three weeks Onyx, you're not to leave this floor expect for training, that means not up to the roof." He made his statement final and glares at her, he wasn't going to back down at this point, he refused, he had told her to stay away from it all, she should have listened to him not fought against him at every turn because she wanted to rebel.
"That's not fair" Onyx stated shocked at Haymitch's order, she knew that she was going to have trouble rebelling against his orders, Dustin proved that and the avoxes would most likely help him keep the order going.
"Life isn't fair" Haymitch shot back at her, then walked out of the living room towards his bedroom, away from his daughter and the argument, he was the adult in this relationship, he was the father and he couldn't lose her or his hope.
During the first week of her grounding Onyx rebelled as much as she could and avoided Haymitch as often as she could, she went to training, then went straight to her room only coming out for dinner in which she spent the hour ignoring Haymitch, eating little until she disappeared back into her room to study some books that she'd asked Effie and Cinna for to study the plants that may appear in the arena.
She had no idea if the books were allowed outside the training room but she honestly didn't care, they were useful reading and interesting reading too; one particular plant caught her attention, nightlock, something deadly but unassuming.
After the first week, Onyx found it very difficult ignoring him, she hated that she couldn't talk to him, guilt ate away at her causing her a number of sleepless nights, Effie could see that it was hurting the both of them so tried multiple times to get Onyx to talk the man, she watched as Haymitch tried to get Onyx to talk him but the young girl would turn her back on him, she could see both of their hearts breaking as she turned her back.
In the middle of the second week Onyx collided with Haymitch after training of the Monday night, throwing her arms around his waist as she buried her head into his chest, he held her tight as she kept apologising to him as tears of guilt soaked her father's shirt.
By the end of the third week, Onyx spent the majority of her free time with Haymitch, who stuck with her more as the days passed getting closer and closer to the time that she was due in the arena, that little aspect seemed to work for them though, every now and again he would catch a sponsor out of the corner of his eye as he accompanied her down to the traning room. He knew what everyone assumed but hopefully their interviews were going to set everything straight and help them all greatly.
Onyx sat silently outside the training room waiting for Dustin to finish his attempt at getting a good score, waiting for her time to go in to see the game makers and try to impress them so that in turn she can impress the sponsors to try and keep her alive in the arena.
"Onyx Rose, District Twelve" An automated voice called as the door to the room opened, Dustin gave her a reassuring smile as he walked out of the room but she could tell that he was slightly pale from having to try and perform at his best for the game makers.
Onyx took a deep breath and walked into the room that they had spent three weeks in trying to get better at their areas, it was where the game makers were all already half drunk and socializing with each other rather than paying attention to the new tribute in the room, maybe this was why Dustin was pale. She cleared her throat to try and gain their attention and once one of them saw her he signalled as best he could to his friends so they soon all quieted down as much as drunkards could; she nodded her head at the guy in thanks for the support then went straight for the bow. Many of them who had watched her in training rolled their eyes and muttered something to their friends which caused a small grumble of laughter to run through the group causing her to scowl at the floor, she was going to try and keep her temper. They turned away, which slowly started to ignite the anger within Onyx, she took a deep breath to calm herself down and then took a hold of the bow and arrow.
She tested the bow without an arrow and then smiled as she notched her arrow, she raised both the arrow and the box and released a breath as she released an arrow hitting the target dead on. Many whispers broke out behind her but it was only from a small group in the corner that had kept their eyes on the girl, hoping that for once they saw a bit of spark in district twelve whereas everyone else was too busy drinking and that was when she saw red.
A huge crash echoed around the training hall which caused silence to follow as the gamemakers looked away from their drinks and down at the stand of arrows and spears that she had kicked to the ground in fury, she glared up at them, every ounce of anger at the games and those in the capitol was put into her flare which caused a few of the gamemakers to flinch and look away from the young girl, Onyx grabbed a knife from beside her, throwing it at the dummy and splitting the arrow in half causing a small gasp of shock to come out of the mouths of some of the men, the small group who had watched from the beginning were definitely impressed, they had gotten the spark that they were hoping for.
"I get that you have seen twenty three other tributes" she snarled, fury and a small amount of hurt dripping from her words, her voice reaching the game makers who stared at her in shock "But you are sending twenty four children to their death and are too BUSY, drinking yourselves stupid instead of paying fucking attention to the tributes who would benefit from a good score, aiding them with sponsors"
Looking up she could see many of them frozen with shock while others were trying to avoid her gaze, looking down at the floor in guilt. Even though she had only spoken two sentences, she knew at least that she ad gotten her point across to a small number of them and that was all she could really ask for.
"Well thank you, my lords, thank you for paying attention to the fourteen year old who you are sending to her death" She finished her rant, bowing at them as she called them 'lords', she placed the bow on the floor carefully and left the room without anyway dismissal from them. Onyx was hoping that calling them lords would cause them to think, they had acted better than what they were and belittled people who needed their help, who they most likely chose, because she was sure that was what they did, the gamemakers and the Capitol would look at the list of potential tributes and them choose the ones they would think would make the biggest impact or best entertainment and then they would only put their name in the bowl, but she put a spanner in the works this time.
As she got into the elevator she leaned her head up against the cool metal wall and let out a groan before she moved back and slid down to the floor pulling her legs to her chest as she thought over everything that she had done and the trouble that it could cause for her and Haymitch, the elevator ride went far too quickly up to her floor but she didn't really want to leave the small space, she was safe in the small box. Sighing she got up and left the elevator slowly, she hesitantly enters the penthouse suite that they were situated in, where Cinna and Haymitch were waiting for her, waiting to hear if things went well or not.
"Where's Dustin, Portia and Effie?" she questioned quietly as she sat in the corner of the sofa away from the two men she had come to care for, the two who she knew she couldn't deal with if they were angry with her.
Haymitch looked at her worried as she moved away from Cinna and him, it was rare for her to move away from any of them in the past few days and yet she was openly distancing herself away from them, he sends a look over to Cinna who was also looking a little worried, "Dustin is in his room and Portia and Effie are trying to figure out what Dustin can wear for his interview, what happened darling?"
Onyx looked out the window, away from her father and designer, if she faced them at the admission of the screw up that she caused then she would probably break down, she couldn't handle the anger or disappointment that will appear in their eyes for her actions. "I lost my temper with them"
Haymitch groaned as he sat next to her with his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to reassure her that he wasn't angry or disappointed with her, in fact, he actually expected her to lose her temper at some point; he knew Onyx had a temper when something pushes her too far, she was good at holding back at times but when she let loose then all hell breaks loose. "What happened?"
"They were too busy drinking to pay attention, so I kicked a stand of spear and arrows over and split my arrow with a knife, while telling them that their sending kids who need sponsors to their death because they're too busy drinking themselves stupid. I said 'Thank you my lords, thank you for paying attention to the fourteen year old who you are sending to her death' and then I bowed and walked out" She explained simply but not leaving out any important details, she knew she wouldn't get away with leaving anything out "I'm sorry Mitch, I should have tried to control my temper more"
Haymitch snorted at his daughter, before he soon let out a deep amused chuckle and pulled her closer to make sure she didn't try and move away from him again; he then looked over at Cinna who was rather shocked at what had happened. "Darling, you made them remember you, that's what you needed to do"
"Don't worry Onyx, you should be okay, you made an impression on them" Cinna told the young girl with a smile as soon as he got over his shock and placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly
Onyx looked between them closely to see if they were just playing it off but when she saw that they weren't angry with her, she smiled at the two men in her life and curled up into her father's side as she let everything from the day catch up with her causing her to slowly drifted off to sleep in the protection of her father.
Just before the scores from the game makers were shown, Onyx was shaken awake by Effie who had her sit up to watch the scores, nine of them had told Effie what they she had done in the room, the woman would have freaked out. She smiled at the seven that little Rue got and congratulated Dustin at the seven that he received (for his hand to hand combat, since he often fought in school), they all watched as the commentator said Onyx's name, surprise evident in his voice and face as he looked at the number that was written down in front of him.
"A ten"
The whole of the gathering shouted out happily as Haymitch pulled his daughter into a hug, she had got a ten meaning there was a higher chance of her getting sponsors, they just needed to sort her interview technique out and she'd be okay. Haymitch had a small bit of doubt entering his mind as he lay in bed that night, a ten meant that his daughter was going to be a target, they both aided her in sponsors but also gave her a death wish in regards to the careers, he just hoped things would go alright for once.