Harmonia Bigsby, the Capitol representative for District 11 (and woman who had chosen Lily and Ash's names from the reaping bowl...) woke Lily from a sound sleep with a series of knocks on the door.
"Breakfast will be in a half-hour!" she called in her Capitol voice. "Dress in the outfit outside of your closet door."
"All right," Lily replied, rubbing her eyes.
She took a shower, despite having done so the previous night. The lack of hair on her body was particularly noticeable. Lily hadn't enjoyed the process, but now, she had to admit the results had been worth it. If she survived-and that was extremely unlikely-it would be months before it grew back, thanks to Capitol advanced technology.
Well, she thought, ruefully, they could afford to develop such frippery, with every need and want being supplied by the districts.
It was something her family spoke about in hushed tones, alone in their house. The Capitol demanded goods from all of the districts, and gave nothing back in exchange. Food came from hers, of course. Lily ran through the list in her mind, from luxury goods from 1 to coal from 12. If it had been even half as bad before the rebellion, it was no wonder the districts had rebelled.
The Capitol claimed that they had saved the world after a series of earthly disasters, but who was to say such claims weren't highly exaggerated-if they'd happened at all?
Such reflections took up the duration of her shower, all the way to drying herself off. Yes, there were buttons that could do that for you, but Lily stuck to the basics. Now, standing in a soft robe outside of her closet, she glanced at the outfit on the door. It was a plain one, a long shirt and pants. Lily grimaced. She wore skirts and dresses at home, preferably to her ankles, just like every female in her family. Like all of the elite. Small girls wore dresses only to their knews, but before age eight, you didn't show your ankles. Even those who sometimes worked in the fields, like Lily, donned pants to their ankles, and only outside. It was indecent to do otherwise.
Clearly, the rules at home no longer mattered. Anyway, it wasn't as though she'd be able to practice fighting in a long skirt. Lily would have to dress like a boy until her interview, and then put in another pants outfit in the arena. Where she would certainly die. Still. She glared at the clothes before putting them on. The pants felt uncomfortable, even if the legs were reasonably wide. She didn't bother to look in the mirror before heading to the eating area.
Ash, Seeder, and Chaff were already there, serving themselves various foods, most of which Lily had never recognized, from a long table. Lily took her place in line, choosing carefully. She'd managed to handle the rich food so far, but she wasn't about to overdo it.
Once they were all seated, Chaff spoke first. "The next three days, you'll be training with the other tributes. Seeder and I have been up early, discussing your strategy for going into the training sessions." He paused, as though for effect. "It's best to hude whatever skills you already possess from the other tributes. Learn something new, instead."
As Lily's skills were nonexistent, this would be easy.
Ash nodded. "What do you have in mind?"
This time, Seeder answered. "Food identification. There will be a station where you learn about poisonous plants and berries. Knowing what's safe to eat will be essential."
"Isn't there food at the cornucopia?" Ash asked. Not aggressively, Lily noticed. He gave them the respect they deserved as victors.
"I wouldn't suggest it if you wish to survive the first hour," Seeder said, mildly. "That's how the early tributes die."
"Won't matter what you manage to get if you're not alive to enjoy it," Chaff put in, sending a shiver down Lily's back.
She'd seen the bodies, the faces, of the tributes who'd run for the cornucopia. What her mentor said wasn't an exaggeration. All the same..
"But there are often supplies outside of the cornocopia," Lily spoke up, hesitantly. That had been a pattern, over the years. The best things were at the horn, but lesser items were scattered around the pods. It would be foolish to ignore those, wouldn't it?
Chaff cast a glance at Seeder, who nodded, and he echoed the gesture. "Good point. If you can grab something near you and not lose sight of your competitors, go ahead. Can't hurt. But," he added, quickly, "the best items are closer to the mouth. And that's the best way to be killed quickly. So, my first point stands."
"All right," Ash agreed.
Lily thought that would be better than a slow death of starvation and thirst, but it could be horribly painful. Perhaps, she could get a Career tribute to promise a painless death in her sleep. But that relied on the tribute surviving long enough to find her-and go through with it. Capitol audiences didn't generally like those sorts of deaths. Not unless the tribute was especially young and small. Lily was fourteen, and not tiny. Not large, but hardly a waife.
Blame fourteen years of having plenty to eat.
"What else should we know?" Lily asked.
Surely, there had to be more than avoiding the initial bloodbath. If that was even possible for her. For Ash...he looked like a fast runner. He'd probably survive the first hour.
Chaff waved his hand. "We can discuss individual strategies on the last day. After you have picked up some more skills."
"We'd assumed," Seeder added, "that I would work with you, Lily, and Chaff would train with Ash."
The two exchanged glances, then nodded.
The training area was on the first floor, so they took the elevator down. Lily was grateful for that. Walking down ten flights of stairs wouldn't be too bad, but walking up-at the end of a long day-would have been arduous. Ash remained silent during their ride, especially after some of the other tributes joined them. Lily tried not to stare too openly. She hadn't seen them, except on screens, until now.
Their faces were far paler than hers, even though Lily knew that the skin tone of the elite was generally lighter than those who worked in the fields year round. Because, while the harvest season might be for only a few month, there was work to do year round. Kids only worked during the harvest, but the adults were outside for long hours most days of the year.
Their hair color and length varied considerably. From black to blonde, and then, a few redheads. Everyone in her district had dark hair, except the very old with white hairs-or were entirely bald.
About half of the tributes were in the center when Lily and Ash arrived. She sized them up, feeling her heart sink. The Career tributes, all six of them, were at least a head taller than her. Perhaps as much as two. The girls looked fierce, even through their beauty. These districts trained and volunteered their strongest, so no one under sixteen would enter the arena. Often, the tributes were eighteen, to give them (and their district) the best odds.
She studied the others, next. The girl from 5 was blonde, but positively tiny. She must be twelve. The boy from her district stood a head taller, which would put him at about Lily's height. The girls from 7 and 8 looked young as well. Lily would have placed them at no older than 13. But the tributes from 12 stood out as the smallest and weakest. 12 was the poorest district, and from years of watching the Hunger Games, Lily had come to understand that the distinctions in appearance between classes were more than just skin tone. There was that, too, but anyone who was well to do had some sort of blonde hair. The rest had dark hair. These two kids were of the poorer class. It was hard to guess their age, because they were small, and (without staring, anyway), Lily couldn't move out any signs of development.
The teacher, or whatever she was considered, introduced herself as Atala. Then, she laid down the rules. No combat between two tributes was permitted. If anyone wished to improve their skills, the Capitol would provide aids. Each station contained an instructor for their benefit. You must remain the entire day, and meals would be served. You could eat with whoever you wished, as long as you stayed in the center. Finally, after three days, you would be given the chance to showcase your skills for the Gamemakers. Then, live on TV, you would be issued your scores.
The time was theirs to spend as they wished, but Atala recommended they spend part of it not merely developing existing skills, but adding new ones.
She made a motion for them to begin. Predictably, at least half of the kids wanted to do combat. Not Lily. Perhaps, later, she'd try her hand with knife-throwing. No, she headed to the station for edible plants. There was a computer test you could take, and she tried her hand at it.
It was more difficult than she could have imagined. The test alternated between simply having you guess whether a fruit or berry or plant was poisonous, to identifying the safe item in a group, to identifying the ones that were not safe. On her first attempt, Lily received less than 50. On her second, 62. But she kept at it until lunch, and by then, she'd scored 100 five consecutive times, and in shorter periods each time. She felt proud of herself, even though it was likely that there would be plants and berries in the arena (safe and unsafe) not covered here.
After lunch, she decided, she would try the knots station.
The Career tributes, of course, all sat together at a table. They had been well-fed throughout their lives, just like Lily, but for the purpose of volunteering for the Hunger Games. They were the favorites of the Capitol, too, so Lily supposed they earned more for their labor. She knew that the laborers in the harvest of her district earned almost nothing, despite working from before sunrise to past sunset. Lily saw that everyone else ate by themselves, plates heaped with food, but looking...well, like they'd been condemned to die.
Careers won far more often than not. It made sense for them to form an alliance. Pick off the weaker kids. But there were more from the outlying districts, like 11, than them. Why hadn't they teamed up during these years? Perhaps, they'd tried, and it had failed. Maybe, too many had died in the bloodbath to keep one up.
She rose, tentatively, and approached Ash. "Mind if I join you?"
He looked surprised, but shrugged.
They ate in silence for some time. Then, her district partner spoke up. "What were you planning for this afternoon?"
"Knots," Lily answered, surprised by the determination in her voice.
Ash nodded. "I'll join you. If you don't mind."
"I don't," Lily said, smiling a bit. "I don't expect there will be much competition."
Ash's face took on a grin. "Probably not. Their loss. You can make some good traps with the right knot, and it can't be too hard to find some kind of flexible material in the arena."
Of course. It wasn't just about skills to feed herself, to stay alive a little longer.
It was about killing your opponents.