Calm Before The Storm {Finnick Odair}

Enemies

Hebe rolled out of bed at 6:00 the next morning. She stared at the room for a minute before getting up, marvelling yet again at the Capitol's recurring displays of wealth. Finally standing up and looking in the mirror, she saw the smudged remnants of the makeup for the parade, her hair stuck up at several different angles. She sighed, making her way to the shower, grabbing the training outfit that had been hung in her wardrobe sometime between now and when she had passed out.

She stood in the warmth of the shower, yet again enjoying the feeling of scalding hot water running over her, as well as the welcome (and increasingly uncommon) silence. She stepped out after a while, rubbing a towel over her head to try and dry her hair as much as possible. She eventually gave up, leaving it damp and tying it up simply.

Hebe pulled on the training outfit, a tightly fitting jumpsuit cut at the shin and elbows. It had teal racing stripes across the shoulders and piping in the same colour down the seams of the arms and legs. She turned in the mirror catching a glimpse of the large '4' emblazoned on the back. At the bottom of the closet was a pair of cheap black plimsolls like the pair she wore at school as a child. She felt utterly ridiculous, but figured it was more for comfort than style.

Hebe took a breath to collect herself, fiddling with her father's wedding band before tucking it into her shirt. She hung her seashell necklace back up in the closet, figuring that someone would be back to collect it later. She was just about to leave to get breakfast when someone knocked at her door.

She opened it slightly, and then fully when she saw it was only Ambrosia, although she wasn't sure who else she could've been expecting.

This morning she was dressed in a long blue dress and tall platform heels. The dress was embroidered with silver dragons and trees. She had chosen a large pearly white wig and appeared to have added long extensions to her eyelashes that had silver attached at the end of them.

"Oh, hello Hebe! I didn't expect to see you all ready, in fact I was just coming to collect you for breakfast!" She said, punctuating her statement with a cheerful smile.

"Thanks Ambrosia. Is anyone else up yet?" Hebe asked, returning her smile and beginning to walk towards the

"Yes Finnick and Mags are already at the table, I'm just going to wake up Luca and then I'll join you." Hebe nodded appreciatively and made her way to the table.

"Well well well, look who finally decided to join us." Finnick remarked lazily. Hebe chose to ignore him.

"Good morning Mags, how did you sleep?"

"Very well, thank you dear." Mags replied, shooting Hebe a wry smile.

Hebe sat down at the table and began buttering a piece of toast and pouring herself a glass of juice. Soon Luca and Ambrosia came into sight, Luca having clearly been rudely awakened by their escort.

"Looks like you had a nice sleep." Hebe said, struggling to contain her laughter.

"Well I was..." Luca mumbled, glaring at Ambrosia over the top of a cereal box.

Finnick, as always, chose to break the silence, "So today. Training. What's your strategy?"

"Uhh, train?"

"Very descriptive Cross, that'll get you far. Luca? Any specifics?"

Luca pointed at his mouth full of cereal, quickly chewing through it and swallowing hastily.

"Shouldn't we try and find some allies? And focus on our weak points?"

"Very good. Luca, you should practise hand to hand. In the games, no matter how good you are with long range weapons, you won't be able to avoid close combat. Hebe, you seem to be good for combat, so focus on survival skills. Also make sure you both show off a bit. You already intimidated them at the tribute parade, so make sure you keep that going, but don't expose all of your talents, you want something special to show the game makers at the individual assessment. Mags, anything to add?"