Rise From the Ashes

Chapter Seven

I walk into my room and strip my clothing off to shower. The sooner I'm out of this makeup the better. I scrub myself clean and when I'm out I carefully unbraid my hair. Since my hair was washed this morning, I left it alone and it's now dry in curls around my head. It frames my face in a way I haven't seen in years.

I walk out to join the others. Cinna smiles at me and I sit beside Gale. The reshowing of the parade starts and I can't help but keep my eyes on our chariot. We're breathtaking, like I thought we would be. Only Districts One and Two could hold a candle to us, and even then it would be a very dim candle. We really did outshine everyone. Everyone cheers for us. Our prep team is a flurry of congratulations. Cinna and Portia accept all of the congratulations with grace and try to pass it along to us.

"We should talk about tomorrow." Haymitch says. "If you want you could go early, get some practice in."

"That would be nice." I agree. "I need to get used to the bow here."

"Alright but don't do anything you're good at while around other tributes." Haymitch warns. "To the others make yourself seem weak."

"Alright." Gale agreed. I nod.

"Sounds easy enough." I answer.

"Get some rest. You'll need it." Haymitch says. We all stand and walk towards our rooms. I pause and hurry to a door that leads to the roof. I climb to the roof and pause. Cato is here.

"Cato." I say softly.

"Hey Ash." Cato says. I walk over to him and take a seat next to him. "Terra said this was her favourite place to be after the games. She felt free up here."

"You're scared." I say. He pauses then nods.

"Aren't you? I mean I'm one of the biggest threats in that arena but I might die." Cato says.

"Yeah but not cause I might die." I answer staring out over the city. "Death hasn't scared me for about two years. I'm scared of letting down the only people I have left."

"What happened two years ago?" He asks. I sigh.

"Terra." I say.

"Oh." Cato asks. I know I shouldn't but he can't use this against me. After all it didn't make me go numb, it woke me up. It gave me a reason to survive.

"My parents died in a mine accident when I was eleven. I had two sisters to protect and take care of, so I did. But then Terra got reaped. I was paralyzed and by the time I came around it was too late. I was 14 when she died and now I just have my youngest sister." I answer. He draws in a breath.

"Wow. My family had it easy. My parents are both victors. My sister is a victor, my brother is a victor. I'm the last one and it's expected of me to win." Cato says. I sigh.

"Well maybe you will. I mean hey maybe you'll win and find a pretty girl." I say.

"I found one. She's actually here with me. Clove. But we broke up. I guess I'm slowly moving on. Neither of us deserve to win." Cato says. "But you do."

"Nobody deserves to win the Games. Eventually we either lose the Games or we become killers." I answer. Cato nods.

"Maybe you won't have to become a killer." Cato says. I shrug.

"Maybe." I answer.

"I don't want to win this. Maybe you can. I can help you win this." Cato says. I look at him.

"But you have the best shot at winning." I answer. "Why would you want to help me?"

"Because you will give the districts hope." Cato answers.

"Alright. But promise me. Unless something changes you'll kill my district partner before I have to." I say.

"I promise I'll leave him to the end." Cato says. I nod.

"Thank you." I answer.

"So you got someone back home?" Cato asks. I smile.

"There's a girl. I've had the biggest crush on her since like I was ten. I think she likes me too." I answer smiling.

"Well then you've got someone to get home to." Cato smiles. "Friends?" He asks. I smile and nod.

"Friends." I agree.

"So you need to learn how to fight." Cato says. "How early can you get down?"

"I'll be up by five." I answer. Cato stands.

"We should get to bed then." He says. He starts towards the door.

"Hey Cato?" I say. He pauses and looks back at me. "Call me Phoenix."

"Alright Phoenix." He agrees smiling. He leaves and I sigh. I stand and start for the door. Maybe I could do this. I open the door and walk down to our level. I step into the hallway and walk towards my room.

"Phoenix!" Gale calls. I stop.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"What time should we go down tomorrow?" He asks. I think for a moment. Cato and I will have to head back up around nine for breakfast. Training officially starts at ten. If Cato and I go down at five we can be back up by seven.

"Nine?" I offer. Gale nods.

"Night Phoenix." He says. I slip into my room and slip into bed. Sleep welcomes me readily.

The next morning, true to my word, I get up before dawn and dress in the outfit already laid out for me. I slip down to the elevator and soon I'm flying down to floor two. Cato steps in with Terra.

"She's on our side. Besides she can help us get in. And she'll help get you ready." Cato says. I nod.

"Alright." I agree. I glance at them. She must be his sister. The doors open and we step into a training room. My eyes shift to the bows but Haymitch said not to show my strength in front of other tributes.

"Any weapons you're good with?" Terra asks sizing me up. "I'm guessing a bow."

I nod. "I'm also okay with throwing knives." I answer.

"Let's get to work." Terra says. By the time we reached seven when we agreed to go up we realized that I was useless with a sword and I was too small to be that good at hand to hand combat. While I was okay with spears I wasn't good enough to make any noticeable difference when it came to the Games. We walk back to the elevator and soon we're flying up to our rooms.

"Don't let the other careers know what you're doing." I tell Cato softly. He nods.

"Don't let your partner know either." He says. I nod.

"See you in a few hours." I answer as they leave. I fly up to my floor and I step out of the elevator. I walk to my room and sit down carefully braiding my hair into a single braid. It had been in a ponytail but it had kept getting tangled in Catos hands. In the arena it would be braided back into my normal braids so I would be free of that issue. I wait until I hear Effies tap on the door. I stand and walk out to the dining room.