Once I close the door behind me, I take a seat on the edge of my bed and gaze out the window, simply content with watching the scenery fly past as we make our way to the Capitol and probably to my death. It dawns on me as I sit there, alone with my thoughts that this could well be the last week of my life. Surprisingly, the thought doesn't scare me as much as I thought it would; but I can't help but wonder how it will happen. Will I die in the bloodbath? Of dehydration? Maybe I will make it to the very end only to be killed by some horrible mutation or a fellow tribute.
I shake my head and jump to my feet. There's no point in dwelling on that now. Besides, it will be dinner time soon and I want to make up with Anya before that. I'm scared that I might have offended her when I pushed her away earlier. Hopefully she'll understand - she did go through all of this just last year, after all.
I step out into the hallway and walk down until I reach the door to her room. Quickly before I can change my mind, I knock on her door and wait patiently outside until she opens the door. She looks surprised to see me for a moment before she smiles.
"Hey," I say quietly. "Can I come in?"
"Umm yeah, of course," she says, still a little hesitantly.
I follow her into the room and notice that it is basically the same layout as mine except decorated in different colours.
"So what's up?" she asks.
"I just... wanted to apologise," I say. "For what I said earlier about wanting some time alone. I suppose I was just... getting used to the fact that this could be the very final week of my life. My entire life, Anya. You have to admit that's sort of scary."
She nods in understanding and if I'm not mistaken, her gaze softens in relief. Perhaps she thought I didn't want anything to do with her anymore; that I blamed her for the predicament we now have to face.
"I need you by my side, Anya. Please will you help me?"
"Of course I will!" she replies without hesitating for even a moment.
I smile at her before pulling her into my arms and holding her tight. She rests her head on my shoulder, relaxing into my embrace.
We stay there for what feels like forever before either of us speaks again.
"I was worried you blamed me for what happened..." she admits quietly.
"Of course I don't," I reply. "What could you do? Besides, it was my decision to help you in the arena last year."
"Yes but it was me that accepted your help. I could have just ignored you... I should have just ignored you."
"You know I wouldn't have let you-"
We break off our argument at a sharp knock on the door.
"Dinner's ready!" Sophia calls before heading back down the hall towards the dining car.
"Let's go then," Anya says after a moment of silence. "We don't want to keep Sophia waiting."
I nod before following her out of the room.
We are the last ones to arrive and Sophia gives us a scathing look as we enter the room together.
"Nice of you to turn up," she comments.
"Sorry..." I mumble.
"Come on Sophia! We're not really late! We did have to come the furthest, after all." Anya complains with a light gleam in her eye; the only indication that she's really only joking.
Sophia says nothing more as we take our places at the table and begin the first course of our meal.
I haven't seen this much food in my life. Ever. Not for such a small gathering, anyway. There's all sorts of exotic foods from the capitol which we never get back in the districts: lamb, oranges and a gooey brown pudding made of what Sophia and Anya call chocolate. It's all delicious!
Over dinner, we also have to talk tactics. How will we approach the next week of training? What strengths do we already have? What do we need to work on? I can't believe how many things there are to consider even before the games are mentioned!
"So Letitia," Sophia starts as we finish our first course. "What strengths do you have?"
"Umm..."
The young girl takes a while to consider the question. Obviously she's never been out into the woods before so she doesn't know how to use any weapons. I can't help but think that at least I have that as an advantage over most of the other tributes.
"You're quite pretty," Anya suggests gently. "Once you're dressed up in a beautiful costume the crowds in the Capitol will love you!"
Letitia smiles at this and seems to gain a little more confidence.
"I also know how to start a fire. Will that help?" she asks.
"Definitely," Sophia says confidently. "You can use fire to cook food and keep warm at night, though you'll have to stay very well hidden."
"Yes well, she's also small so it shouldn't be too hard to hide amongst small bushes and if you learn to climb, you're nice and light so you can hide up in trees!" Anya suggests and smiles at the girl.
Letitia nods and smiles gratefully at Anya. Clearly she too has noticed how hard Anya is trying to make her talents look more impressive and useful.
"In terms of weapons, I recommend you learn to use a knife. It's small enough to conceal and should be easy enough for you to learn to wield in the short amount of time that you have. The only issue is that you will have to be within close range to use it, unless you can throw with decent aim."
"But how will I get a knife?"
"Well, I don't recommend going into the bloodbath - you wouldn't stand a chance against those tributes from districts 1, 2 and 4 who have been training all their lives - but that's where appealing to the crowd comes in. If they like you, then they'll want to sponsor you and I can send you some knives and food, depending on how much money we receive.
"Right. That should work. What about you, Thorne?" Sophia asks.
"Well, I can hunt, like Anya," I say and she nods.
"He can also make his own bow and arrows," Anya interjects which causes Sophia to raise her eyebrows in surprise.
I've never told anyone about my ability to craft my own bow and arrow, and for obvious reasons. It is dangerous enough for me to be sneaking out of the District under the Peacekeepers' noses but to proclaim my ability to create my own weapons would be suicide. My father used to craft them too, and it was he who taught my older brother, Theo and I. Theo has always been better than me, making bows of that were both stronger and more flexible. My attempts on the other hand work reasonably well, however they aren't perfect and I have often found they are prone to snapping.
I look up at Sophia nervously though really there is no need to worry. Here, it doesn't matter who knows. Especially since it's highly unlikely I'll come out of the games alive, no matter how hard I try. Besides, my ability to craft a bow may mean the difference between life and death so I may as well use the skills I have.
"Well you certainly sound like you'll be fine in the arena Thorne," Sophia says after a rather long pause. "Still, I don't recommend attempting the bloodbath. After all, your goal is to get out alive, not to kill the most tributes."
I nod, accepting her counsel. Attempting the bloodbath would be suicide, but if I can I'll try grab some supplies from the very edge before I head into the wilderness.
Letitia yawns loudly and we all suddenly realise how tired we are. Anya quickly ushers us off to bed, telling us we need to be refreshed for the parade tomorrow evening. She follows me down the corridor and says a quick goodnight to me as we reach my door.
"Will you stay with me?" I ask quietly before she can leave to her own room.
She turns to look at me and her gaze softens. "Of course I will," she says. "I just need to get changed, okay?"
I nod briefly before watching her retreat down the corridor to her own room.
Before long, Anya returns and snuggles down next to me in the large double bed.
"Goodnight Thorne," she says and I smile as I too settle down and drift off to sleep.
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Hey guys!
I'm soooooo sorry it's been so long! Uni is super busy and I'm not gonna lie, I haven't had much motivation to write lately... but I managed to finish another chapter today yay! It's pretty boring but I hope you enjoy it anyway :)
As always, thanks for reading and don't forget to vote/comment if you liked it or if you have any tips for me to improve!
TTM