We actually get to see some real interaction with Haymitch here!
We are woken in the morning by Velora singing about it being breakfast. She knocks on the door and continues down the hall. Sky looks at me with big eyes. "Go get dressed." I tell him. He smiles, and quickly nods before running out of my room and across the hall to his.
I sigh and stand. Training starts today. I see they have some clothes laid out for us, so I put them on. Comfortable clothes. Finally, we have something comfortable to wear in the Capitol. I tie my hair back and make my way down to breakfast.
When I enter the room, Velora is nowhere to be seen. Good, I won't have to deal with her high-pitched voice this early. Haymitch sits at the table and Sky is not here yet. I walk along the tables at the edge of the room, and pile food onto a plate.
Once I'm satisfied I have enough food, I take a seat across from Haymitch. I start eating, and Haymitch is staring at me.
"What?" I ask him after swallowing my food.
"I saw the boy go to your room last night. Isn't he a little young for you?" Haymitch asks with a smirk.
"Uhm, eww." I roll my eyes at him. "He was scared and couldn't sleep."
"You might want to be careful. He isn't going to make it out, Darling." Haymitch says, his eyes sad. "You won't want to be any closer to him than you need to be."
"We are already close." I tell him. "He's my little sisters' best friend. He is at my house all the time." And he was, every day after school. Birch and he would play for hours.
"Well, isn't that just peachy." Haymitch grumbles, his eyes still sad. He continues, quieter, "I hate when the tributes know each other. It just makes it worse."
I can only nod as Sky enters the room and stops at the serious looks on our faces. "Is something wrong?" He asks.
"No more than last night." I say to him.
He gives a small smile and nods before getting his breakfast. He brings his full plate and plops down next to me at the table.
"Now, you two will try to learn useful skills at training. Do not show what you can already do." He looks at me. "Do not let them see that you're good with knives or archery. Save that for private lessons." Haymitch looks to Sky, "You, stay away from Raven. You need to be seen as independent. If the other tributes see you following her around, you are the first one they'll hunt down."
Sky gulps, his eyes wide, and nods.
"Now," Haymitch continues, "you could also see if there are any tributes you might want as an ally. Up to you."
"Why?" I ask. "We would just have to kill each other later."
"But it would help you survive the first days." Haymitch explains.
"That is just more mouths to feed." I tell him.
"Just consider it, Darling." Haymitch lifts his hands in the air in defeat, done with the topic.
Velora claps, making her very loud presence known. "Time to go!" She cheers.
We climb into the elevator. "We aren't coming down." Haymitch grabs Velora's arm and pulls her back into the apartment. "You can't be seen as weak, and having babysitters makes you look weak."
I nod and see Velora pout, which makes me smirk. Haymitch smirks at me, seeming to know that the Capitol woman's unhappiness is the cause of my mirth, and the elevator doors shut.
We arrive at the training center and look around. Its huge, with all sorts of training areas around for the tributes to use. Most of the other tributes are already here, and sending glares my way, trying to intimidate. I decide that I am just going to smile. Kill them with kindness.
I grin and wave at all of the Careers. A confused look crosses their faces, and they turn away from me.
"What are you doing?" Sky asks, his eyes wide.
"Not letting them intimidate me." I tell him. "They are bullies. Take a bullies power away by not being afraid of them."
He nods. "Well, I should go over there. Haymitch said to stay away from you." His voice is quiet.
"I'll see you later." I promise him. He smiles and walks away to the far side of the group.
A lady steps up and explains how training will go and reminds everyone that the elements will kill you just as fast as a blade.
We are released to begin training, and I work on knot tying. The instructor sees that I already know some basic snares, the snares that Forest had taught me, so he starts showing me some more advanced traps.
I continue to work on basic survival skills before lunch. I ace the medicinal and edible plants test. I learn to start a fire. Not too bad since I had watched Forest light fires all the time.
At lunch, I sit alone. The girl tribute from Seven keeps looking at me. I smile at her, and she looks away. Whatever.
After lunch, I work a little with hand-to-hand combat. I'm not very good, but the instructor says I have potential, and shows me more defensive moves. Moves that will help me to run.
After day 1, Sky and I return to our apartment for dinner. "Well, how did it go?" Haymitch asks before taking a drink of his whiskey.
"Fine, focused on survival skills. I did go to the hand-to-hand area." I tell him.
He nods, "Good. What about you, kid?"
"I learned about plants. And I looked at the camouflage station." He tells our mentor.
"Not bad. You should learn how to use a knife tomorrow." Haymitch tells him, and Sky nods.
The second day of training goes much like the first. The girl from Seven waves to me and holds my gaze as I smile back. This girl is going to be the death of me.
I watch as she struggles with a fire. I sigh and walk over to her. Haymitch did say to consider allies.
"Put more force on the stick when you push down." I tell her and show her with my hands.
She does what I tell her and a flame blazes to life and she quickly puts some dry grass and twigs on it, and it becomes a full-fledged fire.
"Thanks." She smiles up at me. "I'm Ivy."
"I'm Raven." I smile at her. "I saw you looking at the weapons station. Do you know how to use a weapon?"
"I'm good with an axe. District 7." She shrugs. "I wanted to try to throw one at the target, but my mentor says I shouldn't show any strengths in front of the others."
"Mine says the same." I tell her. I want to find something that we can try together, but there isn't much. I take her over to the plants section.
"Do you know your edible plants?" I ask her.
"Not really." She looks down. "Grandma always said she would take me out to the plain, but she never did, now she can't remember."
"You're sixteen, right?" I ask her.
She nods. "You're eighteen?" I nod in response. "That sucks. You almost made it." She gives me a sad smile.
"Almost." I tell her.
I show her all I can about edible plants, and how to tell the difference between the edible plants and poisonous ones that look similar.
I end up eating lunch with both tributes from Seven. They are both so nice, and its neat to hear about life in another district.
I show them both how to set simple snares until it is about time to leave for dinner.
"See you tomorrow!" Ivy smiles and waves, grabbing her partners hand. His name's Barker.
At dinner, Haymitch asks how things went and I tell him about the kids from Seven. He lifts an eyebrow at me but doesn't say anything.
After dinner, I am in my room pacing. I can't relax. We are days away from going to the arena. I make my way out to the living area and sit by the window. I pull my knees to my chest and rest my head on them. I am staring out the window, lost in thoughts of my family, when I hear a voice behind me.
"You should be sleeping."
"Yeah, well," I laugh, "you should be sober, but here we are." I smile, looking over to Haymitch who is taking a seat in the chair near the window.
"Here we are." He lifts his glass and downs the contents. He lifts a bottle and refills the glass immediately. "What's on your mind?"
"Oh, nothing and everything." I tell him, shrugging.
He chuckles, "I know the feeling, Darling." He takes another drink and leans back into the chair. "Do you want to talk about the nothing or the everything? Afraid we don't have time for both."
"How do you do it?" I ask, looking over at him. "Make friends with these kids who are going to die? I might die. How do you keep going through it?"
He stares at me for a minute before answering. "You retreat into yourself." He nods, his eyes looking past me. "You won't be the same person once you're in the arena. You might walk out of there, but Raven is going to die." He looks back to me and shrugs, "If you even walk out, that is."
"I nod, resting my head on my knees again. "I can't be around Sky in there."
"I know." He says, taking another drink. "I'll have a talk with him about finding other people to rely on."
"That sounds terrible." I say, grabbing the glass from his hand and taking a long, burning drink. I down the rest of his glass and wince as the alcohol burns its way to my stomach.
"Easy, Darling." He laughs. "You aren't used to this stuff like I am." He takes the glass back from me and stands. "Time for bed."
"I guess." I stand and he leads me back to my room. I look at him before opening my door. "Thanks, Haymitch." I smile at him.
"Anytime, Darling."
I go into my room and climb into bed. Before too long, I feel the alcohol grab ahold of me and I finally drift off to sleep.
The next morning, Haymitch is grinning at me as I enter the dining room. I load my plate and keep looking at him, still smiling. I plop down in my seat and finally ask "What?"
"You've got allies!" He is still grinning. "If you want em, of course."
"Who?" I question, eyebrows raised.
"The kids from Seven. They appreciated you helping them and think you can work together until a time comes to separate."
"I guess. It will be nice having someone watching my back for a while." I tell him.
"Alright. Ill let them know, Darling." Haymitch smirks at me before taking a swig of his liquor.
"Shouldn't you be sober?" I ask him with a smirk.
"Shouldn't you be kinder to your lifeline in the arena?" He smirks back.
"Maybe once he's sober and worth a damn." I grumble, still smirking at him.
"Hey now, I am actually pretty good at the whole 'getting sponsors' thing." He says, taking a bite of his food.
"Prove it. I expect a daily gift in the arena." I tell him, still smiling.
"Only if you earn it."
"How do I earn it? Shouldn't being in the arena at all be earning it?" I ask.
"Be smart. I will reward intelligence." Haymitch tells me.
"Oh, I see. Well, I plan on getting a ton of gifts from you, Haymitch." I laugh.
"Well see." He smirks.
"What will we see?" Sky asks, entering the room.
"Just how many sponsors Haymitch can get us." I tell him.
"Oh. Do you think it will be a lot?" He asks Haymitch.
"It depends." Haymitch tells him, sending a wink to Raven.
"On what?"
"The Capitol thinking you are worth putting their money on."
"Oh, well, I doubt I'll get many sponsors." Sky says quietly.
"Oh nonsense!" Raven tells him. "You're cute and everyone here is going to love you."
"Thanks Raven." He giggles a little before sitting down.
Everyone eats in silence for a little bit before Haymitch speaks up.
"Now, today is your individual sessions. Raven, show what you can do with knives and archery. Sky, show whatever it is you are best at."
"I can climb. They have things to climb in there." He tells Haymitch.
"Do that then." He nods.
~oOo~
We wait and wait. I wave at the District 7 kids before they go in and mouth 'good luck' to each of them. Finally, my name is called, and I enter the training center. The Gamemakers don't seem to be very alert. Half of them appear drunk.
I walk over to the knives and hold them and throw them between my hands to get a feel for them. Finally ready, I look over and see all the Gamemakers are looking at anything but me. Some are chatting, others are leaned back in chairs with their eyes closed.
I focus on the target and scream very loudly as I throw my first knife. There is a loud THWACK as the knife finds the center of the target and I look over at the Gamemakers.
"Good, now that I have your attention." I smile at the now alert and slightly pissed off group.
I turn to a different target and begin throwing knives in quick succession. Once I am done, I have thrown six knives, each of them are stuck in the best spots on the training dummies. I smile at the game makers.
One of them stands and speaks, "You are free to- "
"Actually- "I cut him off. "I have one more thing Id like you to see." I walk over to the archery area. I grab a bow and some arrows and quickly begin testing the tightness of the string. Finally comfortable, I begin shooting arrows, each one finding its mark just off center from the target. Not as accurate as the knives, but pretty good.
I set the bow and arrows down and smile at the Gamemakers. I am standing for a few seconds, just smiling at them, before one finally speaks. "You are free to go."
"Thank you for your time." I continue smiling as I leave the room.
I make my way back to the apartment and Haymitch and Velora are waiting.
"Well?" Haymitch asks, his hands extended slightly with the palms up.
"I think it went well. I hit everything I wanted to, with knives and arrows." I tell him, plopping down in a chair in the living area.
"Wonderful!" Velora grins and claps.
"They gave you enough time for both?" Haymitch asks, eyebrows raised.
"Well, they were trying to dismiss me, and I interrupted him. Told him I had something else he should see."
"You interrupted a Gamemaker?" Velora asks quietly.
Finally, she's quiet.
"Well, I needed to make sure they saw what I could do." I tell her.
Haymitch grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet and into a hug. "Great job, Darling!" He holds be out by my arms now, grinning at me. "I wish I could have seen their faces!"
"He was pretty insulted. He refused to be the one to dismiss me, so I just stood and smiled at them until someone else dismissed me." I am still smiling at Haymitch, my face a little warm at our proximity.
"Oh, that is great!" Haymitch laughs, and finally pulls away from me and plops down into a chair.
I sit back down on the couch nearest him, smiling.
"Well, I just hope that they don't try to punish her in some way." Velora admonishes, sitting on the opposite couch from me.
I turn to Haymitch, still smiling. "What are they going to do? Send me into a fight to the death?" I ask.
Haymitch begins laughing. Velora storms from the room.
There isn't as much excitement when Sky comes back. He showed them that he can climb and knows his bugs. There wasn't much else to show.
We have dinner, and Velora is unusually quiet. I catch Haymitch's eye and glance toward her with a smirk, causing Haymitch to start laughing. Velora seems confused, as does Sky, but neither comment on it.
We make our way into the living area to watch the scoring. Velora sits in a chair to herself across the room and I sit on the end of a couch, Sky right next to me. Haymitch enters, carrying a glass and a bottle of whiskey. He looks around before smirking at me and sitting in the chair next to me.
For Haymitch's sake, I'd better make it out alive. Could he handle losing someone that he seems to see as a friend?
The scoring begins. The Careers all pull 8s and 9s. District 3 gets a seven and a six. The kids from Seven both get 7s. Everyone seems right in that range, 7s and 8s. The kids from 8 get a 6 and a 7. Finally, they make it to District 12.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have made it to District 12! The female tribute, Raven Copperstone, with a score of- oh! A score of 10!"
My eyes go wide, and I look over to Haymitch. He is grinning and lifts his glass to me. Velora is screeching and saying, "I knew I pulled a winner this year!"
"Good job!" Sky whispers to me. I just smile at him as we look back at the TV.
"And the male tribute from District 12, Sky Eversole, with a score of 6. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, we will see you tomorrow for the interviews!" The TV shuts off as Cesar Flickerman begins to laugh.
"We can work with a 6." Velora smiles at Sky. Haymitch gives the kid a curtesy smile and then takes another drink.
"I think I'm going to go to bed." Sky states as he stands.
"Goodnight, Sky." I tell him. He smiles as he turns the corner.
Velora excuses herself, noting that we have a big day tomorrow and reminding me to get beauty sleep. I smile and thank her for the reminder before rolling my eyes at Haymitch.
"What happens now? I'll have the highest score in the arena." I look to Haymitch.
"Oh, they will come after you." He tells me. "But it will be much easier to get sponsors."
"Ooh, more gifts for me!" I smile at him.
"More gifts for you, if you're smart." He reminds me.
"I can be smart." I nod.
"What do you think my family is thinking?" I ask him.
"Best not to think about it." He says quietly.
"If I don't make it back- "I start.
"Don't say that."
"If I don't, would you try to get Birch to work for you? You offered it to me once, and they will need some income." I ask him.
"I'll say yes. But I won't need to."
I smile at him. "Thanks, Haymitch."
"Anytime, Darling." He takes another drink before holding it out toward me.
I take the glass from him and finish it off, giving it back. "Should a mentor be giving their tributes booze?" I ask him, smirking.
"Should the tributes be selling the booze?" He asks.
"That is not the same as drinking it." I snort.
"Close enough. You should go get that beauty sleep Velora mentioned. You could use it." Haymitch says, refilling his glass.
I stand and go to walk out the door. "Eh, how much more beautiful could I get?" I say, winking at him as I leave.
"Not much." He grumbles quietly, and my face flushes although I'm not sure that I actually heard it.
Let me know if I am writing Haymitch well. I am trying to keep his personality but taking into account that he is still younger and hasn't had to watch as many kids die, I feel like he would smile more and be a little more playful. Let me know what you think!