The Hunger Games - Rebirth - book 2

Chapter 5

The next morning I was awaken by Haymitch who had taken charge in the 'mentoring' that Lexidous was supposed to be doing. Since the disagreement on taking Katniss on as my ally she had completely boycotted anything to do with her job. I didn't need her anyways I could do better without her, on my own. Lexidous was so far as useful as candle light for a blind person.

After I had gotten dressed in my training outfit I headed out and walked with Haymitch - who had been waiting for me outside my room - to the elevator. When we arrived on the appropriate floor I saw that we were one of the first 8 in the practice room. I looked around and sought out Katniss and joined her at her side. Haymitch was with us too giving us some advice here and there.

I taught Katniss how to do a bit of basic camouflage and the basics for edible plants. I even expressed to her the latest ones that I had come to know during my previous time in the arena. After an hour of working with identifying plants and painting one another to blend in with the awkward mismatch of the decor we took a break and headed out to eat lunch.

I introduced Katniss to one of my favorite dishes, lamb and dried plum stew. She didn't have the liking for plums in general so she naturally shrugged away from any dish with the name in it. After fifteen long minutes of badgering her into trying it she gave in. From the first bite she was hooked. Even her father was surprised because he had tried to get her to try the stew since she was three. After I finished my two bowls of the stew and Katniss' four bowls we finally had our filling and returned to the training.

"We need to start thinking about our strategy. What are our strengths and weakness'. What skill can we contribute that would make us as a whole stronger?" I expressed as we were working with knife throwing.

Moving over to Katniss I adjusted the degree of her elbow and her arch back and stood back a few steps while she threw it. The knife soared the fifteen feet across the hot zone and nailed the target dead center. Katniss dropped her knives and began jumping up and down before she hugged me. She told me in confidence that this was the first time she had hit a center target with a knife or sharp object.

After we trained for another hour and a half we turned into a sitting room and began discussing what strategy we used to win in our time during the arena. I explained about my large group of allies and the advantages I had with them and expressed the few kills I made with my bow. After I finished she explained how she won.

Katniss though having been pushed to train as a career was still limited in her abilities to be affective. She expressed that she found a nice spot and stayed there with the acception of leaving to get food or water. After 21 tributes were killed she set our carefully to move in towards the others. She said she found them fighting each other to death and she was unsure if they even knew she was still alive. Both the tributes had nasty life threatning wounds and were losing blood fast. One of the two tributes had thrown a spear missing the other and it hit her right her chest. Luckily she was smart enough to not try and remove the spear from her chest and the others bled out before she did and she won.

I was mortified. Now I knew why Cinna didn't want her back in the arena. I knew she had potential in her to survive and I needed to get her to unleash it. What she was good at though was finding shelter and even creating it from nothing, that would come in handy. By dinner time I had helped her improve in a few skills and even master throwing knives over long distances at targets.

We met Cinna and Ace who was sitting with Haymitch. Haymitch didn't bother showing up to any of the training sessions since they weren't exactly mandatory for the Champions. Those that were there were there because they wanted to practice up on their rusty skills. I sat beside Ace and on my other side was Katniss. We began eating but were soon joined by another person, she was tall deeply toned like Cinna and had long dark hair. This could only be one person, his wife.

Cinna rose to his feet immediately and smiled. Everyone around the table moved down one to make room for Mrs. Eamon. Cinna took her hand into his and kissed it before he pulled out her seat and pushed her in once she sat down. He then resumed his spot.

"Everyone this is my wife Minka and the wonderful mother to my children. She is the stylist for District 1." Cinna said proudly.

"Retired stylist." She corrected him gently. "I haven't been a stylist since the ending of the 74th Hunger Games. Once I married Cinna I turned into a home maker."

It was certain that Cinna's son Ace had inherited his knack for creating beautiful clothes from his father. From past videos of tributes from 1 and their coustumes and clothes she wasn't anywhere as good as Cinna himself was. Her creations whispered to people with its blandness while Cinna's told a story with its loud expression.

I was curious as to how she was able to come into the Capitol especially during the times of the Games and she explained that she had gotten permission directly from President Finnick himself. He seemed to sympathize the need for a mother to be with her child, and the fact that she had once been an employee in the Capitol gave her a foot in.

After dinner I said good night to everyone and made my way to the 12th floor. After I changed into a silk night gown I climbed into bed and fell asleep. My dreams were peaceful for the most part but they quickly turned into a nightmare of Cinna and Minka crying over their only daughters dead body which was in a casket.

I tried hard to wake myself from the nightmare but my mind kept it on replay, slowing it down, zooming in on Cinna and Minka's face and then even a disraught Ace appeared a few times.

Finally my mind released me from the hell of dreams and I snapped my eyes wide open and sat up quickly in my bed. I blinked several times trying to adjust to the darkness when someone clapped their hands and the lights came on.

In the corner sitting in a chair with a bottle in his hand was Haymitch. His face looked stressed and I could only guess that he had watched me having my nightmare. After conversating with him he told me that I had been continuously screaming and thrashing around in the bed. Haymitch said he was walking out of the elevator after getting a bottle of white liquor and heard it. He sat in that chair downing the bottle for 15 minutes watching and listening until I had finally gained my consciousness.

After he finished his bottle of liquor Haymitch moved the chair over to my bedside and began telling me about his nightmares and the reason he never slept during the night. He also told me the reason why he slept with a knife in his hand and even told me about the girl he loved that he lost in the arena. Since her death he hasn't been the same.

"Don't let the dreams create who you will be. Don't let them eat at you and tear you apart. They can't hurt you" He said to me. "I learned this all a little too late." Haymitch quickly gave me a hug before he left the room.

I lay in my bed for the remainder of the night thinking about what my life would be like when I returned home, if I did.