Game Changer

AN: Thank you to my wonderful friend. Without her, the story would not have motivation to go on and I would not be nearly as proud of it as I am. She has helped create some of the remarks in the story since she has a sassy mouth. Her input has meant a lot to me and I hope that I can help her practice for her future job. You know who you are. Thank you. -KMK

The train pulled away from the platform as I took my seat next to Kern. "You did good up there," I said complimenting his speech. I knew how hard it was to look into the faces of the dead tributes' families. In the poorer districts their faces were filled with complete sorrow. They had lost children in the Hunger Games, where they never wanted to be. The districts that produced career tributes, on the other hand, had a hint of disappointment with that sorrow. Their children were automatic favorites of each game. In district 2's case, the two tributes had volunteered and lost, leaving their families angry and disappointed in their choices.

"Thanks. Did you see the father of Ocala? He kept giving me this pissed off look," Kern replied.

"Well were you expecting him to hug you and congratulate you on killing his son?" Finnick chimed in as he strolled into the room from his and Annie's quarters.

"Well uh, no. I guess not," he replied trying to shrug it off a bit.

"You know you can use your head for thinking too. Not just bashing people's skulls in," Finnick said as he passed Kern, smacking him upside the head. I had to laugh, even through the truth of what he had said. Kern, in the arena, had taken a female tributes shoulders in his massive hands and smashed his head into her skull, subsequently knocking himself unconscious for several hours. His head, however was stronger than hers, and her canon sounded on impact. Thankfully, she didn't suffer. A string of profanity from Finnick brought me back to the train. Kern had Finnick pinned to the wall, probably antagonized by the jokes he made a Kern's expense. I rolled my eyes and got up. I don't want to be around these two when they fight. It's never that bad, but I didn't want to hear the commotion; I wanted some time alone in somewhat silence. Not being a people person, these few days of being on the victory tour as a mentor have not been very fun. I enjoyed seeing all the different districts, but the people I had to interact with weren't as enjoyable. There was nothing wrong with the people specifically; it was just having to be around so many of them and be out of my element back in District 4 that made it so difficult.

Walking to my room I thought about why I had become such a recluse. Well not recluse, that sounds psychotic. Loner sounded more like me. I wasn't used to solitude, but I craved it. I had no real family waiting for me at home: no boyfriends, no parents, no siblings. My mother died while giving birth to my younger brother eleven years ago. He didn't live a week when his heart gave in. My father, so distraught with loosing his wife and newborn son, turned to drinking. He was soon unable to control himself after several bottles and attacked a peace keeper, nearly killing the woman. The next day he was hung in the main square for a public execution. I held his hand as he died of asphyxiation.

I lived with my friend, Brittania, and her family after my father's death. They took me in as their own since, I was only fourteen when he died. Brittania had a younger brother, Skene and a younger sister, Chicory. Her mother and father, Wrenth and Ablelake, took me in as their own and cared for me. After my participation and victory in the 63rd Hunger Games, I moved into one of the Victor's Village homes. I was then able to get Brittania and her family to move in with me after convincing Mayor Phillps that as my guardians, they should be able to stay with me. He agreed and they were allowed to move in with me.

Since then, they had all lived with me in the mansion, which was too big for one person. Chicory would always bring home animals and try to keep them. Ablelake would always have to explain to her that wild animals couldn't live with humans. They didn't get along, he would tell her. He was right; wild animals didn't get along with humans.

When I got into my room, I kicked off my shoes and changed out of my clothes. I didn't put anything on over my underclothes and crawled into my bed, being exhausted from a long week of traveling. Laying on my back, the train felt like it was gently swishing back and forth, like waves in District 4. I closed my eyes and thought of floating in the ocean, the waves carrying me.

When I woke up, the sun was still down which meant we wern't in District 1 yet, the last stop before the Capitol. I always found the Capitol people creepy. They wore bizarre outfits, colored their hair unnatural colors, and dyed their skin to match. It was one of my least favorite stops just for that reason. I wasn't really into the city either, however the climate was my second favorite of Panem, District 7 being number one. I loved being in the cold mountains with the towering pine trees.

Although my mind had already been wide awake, I tried to get back to sleep to no avail. I didn't want to get out of my bed yet, but there was no point in laying here, so I got up and walked into the common area of the train. No one else was awake, so I flicked on a light, sat down and looked at the magazines on the table in front of me. Each time we traveled to a different part of Panem, the magazines changed. The magazines of the various districts showed past victors and their bios, products and uses of them specific to the region, and nothing but smiles of every face of the magazines. I knew, though, that those pictures were nothing but false. Sure, some of the districts could be depicted as smiling but most of the time they should have had frowns and less editing to show the gauntness of their faces. I picked up the District 1 magazine closest to me and examined the cover. Lots of jewels and jewelry were displayed with beautiful detail to each piece.

Distracting me, I heard a few foot steps behind me. I jumped up and threw the magazine back onto the table, quickly turning to see who was behind me. It was Annie. She was pouring herself a cup of tea at the breakfast bar with her back to me. Suddenly I felt self conscious. I didn't put anything over my undergarments when I got out of bed. I looked down to realize that I had a robe on. Relieved I calmed myself and walked over to her. "Good morning, Annie," I still had a hint of sleep left in my voice.

"Good morning, Maisy. DId you sleep okay? I heard you get up a few times during the night," she seemed a little concerened about my welfare.

"You must have heard someone else. I just got up ten minutes ago." She looked at me skeptically. Did she think I was lying?

"Well, um, Maisy, you came into our bedroom last night," she said sheepishly. "You walked in and told Finnick and I that you wanted to paint the trees with our blood." My jaw dropped. It was a nightmare that I used to have. It stemmed from the 63rd Hunger Games. The year I was told those words by a District 2 tribute.

"I'm so sorry, Annie. You know why I said that and that it wasn't against either of you, right?"

"Yes, of course. I just wanted you to know what happened." She was so sweet. Although she was six years younger than me, she looked out for me and I her. We had both been put through something horrible. She had Finnick though; I didn't have that one person to help me through it and probably never would. After all, I was coping pretty well. It had been nine years since I emerged victor from the Hunger Games and the nightmares had become minimal a few years ago.

Annie and I took a seat at the table and chatted while we waited for everyone else to wake up. We had to go to District 1 today and Kern would give his speech at the Justice Building. We then had dinner with the mayor and some other District 1 guests. Thankfully, everything went well. I was a little excited to go back to the Capitol again, however much the people creeped me out. The food was what made me so excited.

Another perk of going to the Capitol was how I messed with people. Knowing who the game makers, escorts, and other people involved in the Hunger Games were gave me an advantage. I would eye them up and give them slightly dirty looks when they looked at me. Give them a cold shoulder or a sarcastic remark when they tried to converse with me. Some I would lead on if they tried to flirt with me then crush them before the night ended. Nothing too horrible that would spark negative attention from the Capitol, but just enough to confuse them. All because Capitol citizens were wild animals to us. And wild animals, did not get along with humans.

AN: Comment with suggestions and criticism. I want to make this story as awesome as possible, although it probably won't reach that outside my mind. Thank you to everyone who is reading. Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon. Please keep in mind that it might start off a little slow, but Seneca will be in Chapter 3 at the latest! -KMK