Accepting a False Fate • Finnick Odair

Train and Tips

04 July 70PD

A few minutes after Finnick left her room, Luna raises from her seated position and slowly walks through the train, partly to explore/get her bearings, and partly to find Finnick to apologise for being rude.

As she makes her way towards the dining cart, she notices one of the side doors has been left slightly ajar. She assumes this was accidental, however, her curiosity peaks and she decides to take a look in. The first thing she notices is the elaborate set up of the security monitors. There must be at least twenty different screens displaying the activity in different areas of Panem. The one that draws her eye is also the one that the peacekeeper is currently looking at, a screen displaying what she can only assume is the training yard of the District 2 training academy. There are about fifteen girls, who look to be in their first year of reaping eligibility, practicing different moves with knives to excel their skills. Luna cannot help but think of the clear contrast between their District and hers. Although they're both considered 'career Districts', the classes in 4's training academy are maximum five students, and they only ever learn basic survival skills, never has anyone in 4 been trained with weapons. Another irony that infuriates Luna is that training for the Hunger Games prior to being reaped is illegal. The Capitol turns a blind eye to both 1 and 2's training academies as they provide the most valuable items to the Capitol out of all the Districts. The clear favouritism towards 1 and 2 is vile, they enter the games with a huge advantage, which is made even more evident by the fact they win almost every year. The camera that was briefly displaying 2's training centre has now moved. The camera appears to be moving to display different areas of the district, most likely to cover up the fact that the centre is being used for training.

Luna leans forward to get a better view when the floor creaks. The Peacekeeper, having been alerted to her presence, swiftly presses a button and the door closes fully, preventing Luna from viewing the other cameras. Taking the defeat, she continues her journey towards the dining cart and as the door opens and she enters, she sees Finnick, with Mags, Jonah, and Ophelia, sitting at the table.

"Luna, sweetheart, come sit. We were just going to discuss some basics over food." Mags smiles sweetly in the girl's direction. Luna nods and sits with the group, beside Finnick.

She turns to him, "Finnick, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for snapping at you. You were trying to be kind and I was rude in return. I'm sorry." The girl's voice is quiet and full of shame.

"Luna, it's fine. You're under a huge amount of stress right now, don't apologise." He hugs her gently. She smiles and hugs him back, then turns back to facing forward. She notices that there is now food on her plate, presumably placed there by an avox. There is a small cluster of what she can only assume is roasted potatoes, as well as a small portion of meat, and a variety of vegetables. Typically, as soon as food is placed in front of the girl, she is no longer hungry. She knows that the food provided is just one of the many tactics used to keep her complacent until she's dead. Not wanting to exude rude traits, she picks up her knife and fork, and cuts a small piece of meat, then places it in her mouth. She chews gently as Finnick begins to talk.

"I won't lie to you both, so many basic survival tips are very contradictory. You need heat to stay alive, but lighting a fire will more than likely attract other tributes and get you killed. You need food, however, you have to be so careful with what you choose to eat in the arena. You need shelter, but finding a cave means you're cornered, and if you are found you're an easy target." Luna can't help but scrunch her face up. He was right, many things you need to survive can cause you to be killed, and the thought of that alone terrifies her.

"Paying attention during your two weeks of training is crucial. You can't go back in time to relearn something, so if you miss it, that could be the one thing that causes your death." Mags states. "Neither myself nor Finnick are going to sugarcoat anything in our mentoring. Sugarcoating things is pointless; it won't help you in surviving, and it will simply place you at a disadvantage. Now, do either of you have any skills?" She questions.

"I've recently been learning spear fishing." Jonah states, with no confidence in his voice. "I won't lie I don't have the best accuracy, but the force is there, and that's a risk I'm willing to take." He explains. Luna feels disheartened at this, she can't help but question if she will be the only one with no skill to utilise in the games.

"That's good, we can work with that." Mags smiles and places her hand on top of Jonah's. "What about you, Luna? Anything we can use?"

"Uh..." Luna stutters slightly, and quickly clears her throat to regain her composure. "No, I'm sorry I don't."

"That's fine, we can find something, there's a lot you can learn in two weeks." Mags says in an attempt to reassure the girl. In all honesty, it didn't reassure her at all, in fact it had the exact opposite effect. Luna's nerves are now high, and so she pushes the food about on her plate to distract herself.

"Luna, you need to eat. You're going to need your strength in the games." Ophelia scolds the girl, having noticed her having one bite of food. Luna simply places her utensils on the plate and pushes it forward, not wanting to consume anymore.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just not hungry." The girl responds. "I promise I'll eat once we're in the Capitol, my nerves are just too high at the moment."

"Don't push her, Ophelia." Finnick steps in, defending the tribute. He feels protective over the girl that he's grown up with. He'd never admit it, but he had started to develop feelings for the girl. He first noticed his feelings when he was 14 and was reaped for his games. His heart had sunk when his name was called, not because he was nervous for the game, but because he was filled with the fear that he would never see Luna again.

"Thank you, Finnick." Luna mumbles in appreciation of the boy defending her. If there's one thing that baffles Luna the most about her experience so far, it's the amount of money that has been spent on pointless things on this train, that realistically could have gone towards feeding the Districts. For example, the giant, solid mahogany tables, of which there is at least one in every cart. Or the crystal chandeliers with solid gold accents that decorate the ceiling. No person needs this many chandeliers, yet they are in every room and are well over four feet across. And the worst by far in Luna's mind, the stupid platinum doorknobs. Any doorknob would have been just fine, especially for the train which is rarely used, yet the Capitol have made a point of adding to make everything seem more grand, or rather to make the Districts seem poorer.

"You know something?" The words leave Luna's mouth before she even has time to process it, "if the Capitol spent even half the money they've spent on these trains on the Districts, they wouldn't have to worry about a second uprising, or these blasted Games because everyone would be happy and have enough food to survive."

"Luna." Mags scolds the girl, "that is quite enough." She follows this up by mouthing the words 'they are always listening.'. Luna hadn't even thought about that- the fact that all eyes in the Capitol were now on her and the other twenty three tributes, and that every single thing they do and say is being seen and scrutinised, especially by Snow. Even if she does win, of which the likelihood is low, her life would never be normal again. She would only live to please and serve Snow and the Capitol. Every year following she'd be marched back to the city to be a mentor and paraded around like a show pony to the citizens who would see her as nothing but a good looking victor. Luna could shudder at the thought; the idea of people looking at her in a form of admiration and lust. Someone they could look at but not touch.

"Well, it's getting late. I think it's time you two tributes head off to bed. We should be arriving in the Capitol later tomorrow, so in the morning you can go over more advice with Finnick and Mags." Ophelia gives the pair a soft smile as she ushers them off. The two tributes bid their goodbyes and good nights to everyone before heading off to their dedicated rooms. Luna takes her time to shower, more so because she is very confused by all the buttons, but she did enjoy her time getting clean. Once out, she towel dries her hair and puts it into two braids, then changes into a plain grey t-shirt and a pair of shorts. She makes her way to the bed and slides her way into the silk sheets that adorned it.