Prim in the games

Chapter three; the capitol

I wake to the gentle feeling of the train coming to a stop. I open my eyes, fearing that I will look into the bright candy world of the Capitol, but I don't. Instead I see only factories and bodies bustling at the start of the day. I see the white uniforms of the peacekeepers and my body tenses, but I let it relax, realising that we must be in district two. I rise from my bead and change into the same beige outfit that I wore yesterday. It is a little wrinkled from spending a night on the floor but it is not dirty, and I would feel more comfortable in my own clothes than I would in the capitols. I pull on my socks and boots and walk through the train to the dining car. There I sit down and pour myself a steaming mug of hot chocolate. I grab one of the soft Capitol rolls and tear a piece off with my teeth, feeling the warmth from the bread flow through me. I turn when I hear noise behind me, but it is only Peeta coming to join me. He pulls out a chair two spaces to my left and takes a seat, plucking one of the delicate fruits from an overflowing bowl and biting into it. It make a soft crunching noise and I can see the sweet juices running down his hand, his wrist. I smile to myself. If Effie was here she would have a fit. At the thought of Effie my stomach tightens somewhat. I should apologise for eating with my hands. I think that she will understand, what with me being from twelve and all, but I cannot be sure. All that I know is that I need to apologise. Not ten minutes into our meal, Haymitch walks in, a bottle of some sort of clear liquor clutched tightly in his hand. He has a dazed look in his eyes and walks in a dizzying zigzag patters, which makes me think that he is drunk despite the early hour. He sits down, and hiccups loudly before getting to work on a plate of food one of the servers on the train places before him. Peeta says something quietly, and neither of us can quite make out what he is saying until he repeats himself slightly louder.

"Haymitch." He says, his voice flat. "Did you hear me? I asked if you had any advice for us." 

I looked at Peeta incredulously. That was a stupid question. Of course Haymitch had advice for us. He was our mentor after all. But Haymitch only hiccuped again and mumbled. 

"Just try and stay alive, that's all." 

Peeta is obviously dissatisfied with the answer because he grabs one of the knives from a rack in the middle of the table and stabs in down near Haymitch's hand. Both Haymitch and I leap back in our seats, but he begins to chuckle softly. 

"Well I'll be." He says under his breath. "We might actually have a fighter this year." He turns and looks at me, and I shrink away under the intensity of his drunken stare. "And what about you sweetheart?" He asks and I recoil slightly at the name. It sound wrong coming from him. "What special skills do you have?" I look down and bite by bottom lip. 

"I can climb." I say quietly and he laughs. "But I can also do other things." i continue quickly, not wanting to lose his attention. "I-I learned how to throw a knife a few years back. I was never any good, but I know the basics. Haymitch raises one bushy eyebrow and slides a long blade across the table.

"Fine then." He says, "Let's see what you can do." 

I raise the knife in shaking hands and try to find a spot to throw it. I look to a place to his left, but as the knife is about to leave my hand I have another thought. I change my trajectory and launch the blade to a spot above Haymitch's right ear. He doesn't flinch as the knife whistled past him and turns to watch it stick in between two pieces of wood. He turns back to me, impressed. I think that it may be better not to tell him that the fact that it stuck in the wood was purely coincidental. Suddenly Effie pops into the room and looks first to the knife in the wall and then to the one in the table.

"My god!" She cries in her silly Capitol accent. "That is mahogany!"

I look at Haymitch quickly and mutter, "I can also heal wounds and treat illnesses."

I stand and run to Effie, throwing my arms around her and squeezing her tightly. 

"I'm so sorry Effie." I cry, and I feel tears spill from my eyes. Good, I think. Let me milk the innocent twelve year old act as much as I can. "I didn't mean to offend you. Could you forgive me?" When I look up, Effie looks absolutely bewildered by my teary apology. 

"Yes-Yes of course dear. It's quite alright." She says in that snooty, pompous Capitol drone, but she has accepted my apology, and I walk away from her before there is anything more I can do to upset her pretentious Capitol ways. Back in my train car I sit on my bed and ponder my options. Most of all I think of allies. I think that I can trust Peeta, but I can't be sure. I think back to the replay of the reapings. That girl Ru had stuck out particularly for me. She had seemed quite similar to me from what I had seen. Young and light, but she seemed to be someone who would be sharp, witty, and quick on her feet. She also came from district eleven, so maybe she had some experience with climbing. I knew from past games that despite the arena they almost aways had trees. If Ru could climb like I could, then we would be good to ally. I also remember the girl, Foxy. She had seemed interesting too. I had obviously only seen her for a short period of time but I remember her darting to the stage without so much as a sound. Effie had even been afraid that the television had been muted. So she was light on her feet. That didn't necessarily mean that I wanted her as an ally. But there was something about her that I trusted. 

Maybe I can talk to them at the training, I thought. The train came to a sudden stop and I heard Effie's voice ring through the train. 

"All right everyone, let's get a move on why don't we. It's going to be a big big big day!" 

I walked out of the train car, dreading what was ahead. Out of the clear windows I could see what looked like a fairy kingdom. It was made of bright stones and stained glass, and I felt sick to the stomach just looking at it. I stepped off of the train and immediately was engulfed in a tsunami of oddly dresses people and too loud noises. I tried to take in everything that I could, but could not seem to pull my eyes away from the people. I say ladies with horns, men with tails, puffed up lips, eyelids, cheeks. Piercings in places I didn't even know could be pierced. One man with magenta hair teased up to look like a spring leaned over to me, his breath smelling strongly of peppermints. I closed my eyes and stumbled through the crowd, feeling the constant steadiness of Peeta's hand on my spine. He didn't let go of me once, and only when we arrived at the place where we were to prepare for the Tribute parade did he dare to let go of me. Maybe I could trust him after all. But now was not the time for thought on allies. 

Now it was time to show the Capitol what I was made of.

A/N: This is the end of Chapter three of Prim in the games. This chapter was a bit shorter than the others, but you can expect the chapters to be this long or slightly longer from now on. If you enjoyed chapter three, make sure to check out chapter four; the tribute parade. Also please remember to leave a vote and a comment, and follow me at Inhospitable_author. Have a great day! Chapter four coming soon!