Chapter Seven

Effie got the two tributes up nice and early for them to make their way down to the Training Centre. She made sure they ate a big meal and had seconds, gave them their clothes to wear and then sent them down on the elevator to their first day of training.

The next few days would see the tributes having their training, and eventually being scored on it, while Effie and Haymitch were expected to attend more sponsor functions and strategize about how to look after their tributes.

After Iris and Cinder headed down, Haymitch finally appeared, looking very dishevelled and as per usual, smelling like alcohol. Effie huffed disapprovingly and told him to go get changed.

He gave her a look of incomprehension. Clearly the last escort had let him get away with his behaviour- he wasn't used to being scolded.

"Sorry sweetheart," he replied sarcastically, before dragging himself back down the hallway towards his room. When he reappeared, he looked somewhat better, and reeked of some sort of perfume. It was a step up from the alcohol, however, and so Effie didn't comment on it.

They headed down the elevator to the main floor, at first not even speaking to each other. The elevators were very quick, and it took almost until they were at the final level for Effie to break the silence.

"So, a couple of very interesting tributes District 12 has this year," Effie offered.

"The boy looks big and tough. He might have a fighting chance," Haymitch replied.

Effie felt anger surge up inside her. "What about Iris?"

"What about her?"

"Well- don't you think she has a chance too?"

Haymitch fixed her with a wild stare. "Honestly sweetheart, no I don't. She can't fish," he ticked it off on his fingers as he listed, "she can't hunt, she can't light a fire, she's very small and scrawny." His lips pursed down. "I'm sorry, but I don't think she'll get past the first day."

Effie resisted the urge to tell him that he was wrong- that Iris was stronger than she looked. That she would be able to surprise them all and conquer the arena. But something about the way he said it made Effie knew he was probably right. He had been involved in the Games his whole life- watching it, competing, then winning, and now mentoring for over two decades. He had more first-hand knowledge of the Games than most.

Effie fixed her eyes down and was silent for the rest of their journey together. When they reached the final floor they had were escorted to a carriage, where they were taken to a building inside the City Circle for their function.

Effie did as she had the previous day, talking up her tributes, trying to advocate on behalf of Iris even though what Haymitch had said was weighing on her mind.

Haymitch was being more social this time, although in all the conversations she overheard he was only talking about Cinder. She figured it made sense, typically he would only be responsible for the boy anyway. It was only District 12's unique lack of a female victor that left him completing the job for both.

The function ended after copious amounts of food, gossip, and some very expensive bottles of champagne. This event was all paid for by the sponsors themselves. They liked to show off their wealth at every possible opportunity. All of them want the glory of being the sponsor to donate to the victor of the games.

Effie and Haymitch piled back into the carriage, Effie a little light-headed from the bubbly, Haymitch much more visibly intoxicated.

"Thank-you for today," Effie said in the carriage.

"What for?"

"You were much more social today- I heard what you said about Cinder. It was good of you to vouch for him like that."

"I heard what you were saying about Iris. She's lucky she's got someone looking out for her. The last escort would have never done something like that."

Effie felt herself shudder. Had she given herself away by being too hands-on?

Haymitch must have felt her worry, because he added, "No, no, it's a good thing. They need someone other than just me."

It would be a nice sentiment if it hadn't been said through slurred speech.

They arrived back at the Tribute Centre about fifteen minutes before the kids did. Haymitch and Effie cleaned themselves up a bit, and were watching Capitol TV when the kids came in.

"Hello!" Effie said invitingly, "How did today go?"

Cinder and Iris surprisingly started laughing, talking about their attempts to learn some of the skills that were offered in the Training Centre. They had had a go with making snares, starting fires, even using some of the weapons. Apparently Cinder had shown Iris how to use some of the knives that he was familiar with, and she had managed to throw one of them and get a bullseye on the target.

"Oh! Well done," Effie said, mustering up all the enthusiasm she could. She couldn't quite bring herself to look Iris right in the eyes yet.

They had dinner and even some dessert, and Effie made sure the kids ate more than their fair share. It didn't really take much convincing, but Effie was hell-bent on making sure they gained weight before going into the arena.

She congratulated them again on a great first day and sent them to bed to get rested to do it all again tomorrow.

The next two days spelt out more of the same: the two tributes practising their skills, and Effie and Haymitch trying to convince people to sponsor them. Effie and Haymitch still barely spoke to each other, whereas Cinder and Iris seemed to be building up quite a friendship. Everyday they came home sharing about something knew they learnt, or how Iris was improving with the knives, or that Cinder had started training with swords and bows.

On the fourth day, the two were to report down to the Training Centre to be assessed individually and given a rating out of 12. From what Effie knew, no one had ever achieved a 12, with most Careers averaging around a 9 or 10.

That day Effie and Haymitch stayed back in the apartment. They were meant to discuss how best to approach the interviews the following evening, but Haymitch was off somewhere getting drunk, and avoiding him suited Effie just fine.

She was watching Capitol TV again, absorbing more about life in Panem, wondering how the Tributes downstairs were going. Haymitch appeared a couple of hours later, his shirt untucked, collar crooked and hair a mess. He disappeared to his room and came back out when the tributes came back, looking somewhat more presentable.

"Hello darlings! How did you go?" Effie asked.

Cinder looked disappointed. "I went alright overall I think. But because we went last I think the Gamemakers were over it by then. I missed my first shot with the knife and then they lost interest. I got the rest in, but I don't even know if they saw."

Effie gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder and felt a mixed emotion of guilt and happiness. Maybe if Cinder got a bad training score, sponsors wouldn't overlook Iris and might give her a chance.

Iris looked in complete contrast to Cinder, beaming from ear to ear. She rambled about how she missed a couple of the shots, but she got more in the bullseye than she expected to. "It might not be great, but it was much better than I was doing a few days ago." She squeezed Cinder's arm. "Thank-you for all your training."

That evening was buzzing with energy from around the room, with Effie, Haymitch, the tributes and the stylists all sitting on the couch, waiting for the announcement of the training scores.

Caesar Flickerman appeared on the screen, explaining about the process and how everyone is given a score from one to twelve. After all the boring preamble, he finally gets into the nitty-gritty that everyone was waiting for.

The Careers, as expected, all scored either a nine or 10. A couple of boys from the other districts looked bulky and were scoring high too. One little girl, who couldn't have been older than 12 or 13, scored a 3. Over and over, numbers and pictures flashed on the screens, with Iris and Cinder looking at each other every so often in shock or amazement.

Finally, the time came for District 12's tributes to be given their score.

Caesar's voice silenced the room. "Cinder Fairsmith, from District 12, with a score of… 7!"

"Well done, kid!" Haymitch gave him a big thump on the back. Iris gave him a smile, and Cinder's smile returned for the first time that day.

"And finally, Iris Riverhorn, from District 12, with a score of…6!"

Cheers erupted for the two tributes, who had the highest scores from District 12 in years. They dined on luxurious dinner and fine desserts, and Effie allowed them a glass of champagne each. "No more than that though," she said, "as you have a big, big day tomorrow!"

The next day came too quickly, and it was time for the tributes to meet with Effie and Haymitch to prepare for their interviews with Caesar. Effie was to help them with proper etiquette, and Haymitch was to help them work on their personas- how they would present themselves to the audience.

When Effie had the tributes, she showed them how to bow and curtsey, shake hands properly, how to walk, speak, anything she felt might make them stand out more to an audience.

Haymitch helped them work on their personas by asking them questions about themselves and seeing how they would go about answering. He determined that Iris would be more shy and friendly, hopefully playing on the audience's need to protect her. Cinder would contrast, playing on his size and relative strength to seem like more of a warrior.

Effie and Haymitch dropped off the two tributes to their stylists and had a few hours to wait before the show was to begin. They waited in the lobby of the hall where it was to be held, ate some food, and drank some wine. There were other mentors there, and Haymitch introduced them all, stating what District they were from and which Games they had won.

After a while those waiting in the lobby were encouraged to come in and take their seats, which Effie and Haymitch did. While they were sitting down, Effie fretted over whether they'd managed to attract any sponsors for her tributes.

"I think we've done all we can," Haymitch comforted. "You've been doing well at this for your first Games. The rest is now in their hands."

The anthem started and Caesar walked out on stage, wearing the same bright orange hair as the one in his interview with Effie. He had on his usual midnight blue suit, and Effie still couldn't really pinpoint how old he was, even now, seeing him in person for the second time.

He talked about how exciting the Games were to be this year and how he was looking forward to introducing the audience to this year's group of tributes. After his opening speech, he started calling the tributes on stage, with the girls from each district going first.

Each interview only goes for three minutes, which can make it hard to get people to like you. It seemed like Caesar made it easy though, by asking questions to draw out specific responses from each of the guests, filling in any awkwardness, and miraculously, putting some of these tributes at ease.

The tributes themselves were a mixed bag; some were charming, some were fierce, some were funny. The interview with the young girl from District 8 made Effie feel sick. She was still only a young child, yet here she was, resigned to her fate and speaking words of wisdom far beyond those of someone her age. Effie knew she couldn't let her disgust show, and so made her face relax.

Finally, it came time for Iris' interview. She came out dressed in a pink, satiny gown, paired with her hair in two braids down either side of her cheeks, and red blush. The effect made her look very girly, which was exactly as Haymitch and Effie had wanted. The stylist might not have done her any favours with the parade clothes, but this outfit was stunning.

"Welcome Iris," Caesar said, holding her hand to assist her in sitting down.

"Thank you Caesar," Iris replied, in a shy voice. She had practiced this with Haymitch yesterday, to make sure she got the right tone to not sound too timid. After sitting down, Iris crossed one of her legs over the other, and put her hands on her lap. She sat up straight, half facing the audience, half facing her host.

Caesar considered something for a moment and then spoke. "So, it's quite interesting to have you here, after only having your older sister here a few years ago."

Effie took a moment to process what Caesar said, and then shot a look of pure confusion towards Haymitch, who seemed to finally piece something together, and put his face in his hand.

"Yeah, the odds don't really seem to be in my family's favour," Iris chuckled meekly.

The corner of Caesar's mouth turned down. "You seem to be doing remarkably better than your sister at this stage though. A training score of 6- that's nothing to sneeze at!"

Iris paused for a moment, clearly not liking the comment about how her sister had done. "Yes," she finally said, "I've been training very hard since I got here."

Caesar nodded. "I'm glad you haven't given up. It would be easy for someone in your position to. Tell me what was going through your head when you heard your name get called."

"Well, at first I was obviously quite upset. For my parents to have both their children go off to the Games," she paused and sniffled, "I can't imagine what they're going through. But after being here a few days, I realised this was an opportunity. Cinder has been so helpful in helping me train, to hopefully be able to get back to my parents."

"You and Cinder must have become very close friends then since your arrival in the Capitol," Caesar probed.

"Yes, he's become a really close friend."

Iris was good at this. She was able to counter all of Caesar's questions with a good answer, making the audience sympathetic for her, but also advocating for her fellow tribute.

The conversation continued for another minute or so, though not talking about anything of any consequence. When the time was up, Iris uncrossed her legs, allowed Caesar to take her hand to help her stand up, which he kissed before wishing her good luck for the Games.

"Daisy," Haymitch muttered, barely audible.

"What?" Effie asked, whispering.

"Daisy Riverhorn. Iris' older sister. She was in the 70th Games."

"You didn't realise they were sisters?"

"No, I mean, everyone from the Seam looks really similar anyway… I never put together that their last names were the same."

Effie felt her heart sink. Poor Iris. No wonder she had been crying so heavily when she was reaped.

Effie felt scared to ask, but she was compelled to. "How did Daisy die?"

"She died in the initial bloodbath. Had a knife thrown into her head."

Caesar was starting to introduce Cinder, which stopped Effie from having any sort of reaction.

"…with the highest score for a District 12 tribute in 20 years, you know him as Cinder Fairsmith!"

Cinder came out in a blue blazer, with white shirt and black trousers. His hair had been gelled back and his face must have had make up on it as it wasn't usually that pale. While he had been tall and stocky before, Effie noticed that he seemed to have gained some weight in the last week. Come to think of it, Iris seemed to fill out her dress more than Effie would have expected her to.

His interview with Caesar went well, they touched on his budding friendship with Iris, how being a butcher had prepared him for the Games, whether he had a girlfriend back home. He said he did, and he was hoping to get back to her. "And to my mother," he added hastily. That got a laugh from the audience.

When the interview was over, Caesar wished him good luck as well. Cinder left the stage and Caesar concluded the event, wishing everyone a "Happy Hunger Games!"

That night back at the Tribute Centre, Effie could hear music, cheering, and fireworks coming from the City Centre. The kids were riding a high from their training scores and successful interviews but sobered up when Effie told them to go to bed to rest for the next day.

They trudged down the hall, into their separate bedrooms, and shut the doors behind them.

The next morning, Effie got them up super early to be ready for the Games. She made them eat extra, more food than they had even gotten used to eating in the last week. Who knows when they would get to eat again?

She transported them down the elevator, to the carriages, and then gave them each a huge hug. She said goodbye and wished them both luck for the Games. She waved goodbye as she saw them get on board the hovercrafts.

She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that she had done her duty of delivering them to the arena safely. Now she had to try to get them sponsors.

An hour or so later, Effie was with Haymitch in the Tribute Centre, where all the mentors had set up their base of operations. On a huge screen up the front, it showed the Capitol seal, but would show the Games when they began. On a smaller screen next to it, it showed the training scores of each tribute, along with the betting odds for each of them to win. Effie didn't even want to look at what Cinder and Iris' were.

The countdown under the seal said 5 minutes until the Games were to begin. She felt herself panicking for her tributes. She had worked so hard to help give them a fighting chance, she just hoped it was worth it.

When the seal got down to a minute, the screen changed to live footage of the arena. They appeared to be in some sort of desert, with a wide lake next to the Cornucopia. The Cornucopia itself was piled high with goodies, including swords and knives just inside the mouth. There were bags scattered all around the ground between the podiums the tributes were standing on.

To the east of the clearing was grassland, but it was extremely exposed for at least a kilometre until there was a woodland area. Anyone hoping to take shelter amongst the trees must first make it across the open field.

The counter was counting down, the tributes on their podiums looking around, taking in their environment just as Effie had done.

She saw Iris and Cinder, about 5 podiums apart, and saw where they were fixing their stares. Iris was looking at the grassland, whereas Cinder was looking at the Cornucopia.

It was the final 10 seconds, and all the tributes were readying their feet to leap off their platforms.

"3…2…1…"

The tributes all leap off in varying directions. Some tributes grab the bags closest to them and then head west, using the distraction of the bloodbath to put some space between them and their competitors. The careers make it to the Cornucopia, ransacking it for weapons. From then on everyone close became a target.

One of them throws a knife at Cinder, but he dodges it, picking it up from the ground behind him where it fell. He grabs a backpack and spins around, looking for something.

Iris had grabbed a bag from in front of her as she starts running across the field, towards the grass. She dodged other tributes, swung the backpack at one who tried to lunge at her, who fell to the ground next to her. She kept running, finally making it to the entrance of the field just as the careers acquired their weapons.

Cinder finally found what he had been looking for. He aims his newly acquired knife and releases it with all the strength he can muster. He tracks it through the air, watches as it sticks into the target, right in their back.

Iris falls forward, lifeless.