May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

Bale showed me a tuxedo that I was supposed to the introduction to the tributes. They just send out everyone dressed in fancy clothes and the crowd basically gets to see the tributes for the first time. There is an official name for it but I never bothered to learn it.

The tuxedo was shiny and silver. I didn't like the fact that it had sparkles on it but that is something I could get over if it meant I would get to live longer. Usually the best dressed ones get more sponsors that will get the tributes items that will be of help later on.

One year, I remember, a tribute got poison darts and he won the whole thing by sneaking up on tributes and shooting them. Most died before they knew what happened. From that point on, tributes couldn't get weapons from sponsors. They could only get food, water, medicine or other trinkets like a knife sharpener of a fishing rod.

I put on the tuxedo and when Bale saw me, he said, "That is simply marvelous!"

"Thanks," I said while I was looking in the mirror. I didn't look like James Viero. I looked like someone that the Capitol dreamed up. I always thought the fads in the Capitol were strange. At least they didn't dye my skin green.

"The gathering starts in an hour. Be at the entrance with Sophia by that time." He was it like it was a warning instead of a simple instruction.

I spent the hour deep in thought about how to win the games. I would have to get a lot of sponsors and probably be stealthy. Hide behind whatever cover is given in this years arena. Every year there is a different arena and it is always a surprise. Nobody knows until the games actually start. As long as it wasn't a desert or the ocean, I would be fine. It took me three hours, but I eventually got to sleep.

* * *

In an hour, I was standing beside Sophia who was wearing a simple sparkly silver dress. The prep team did a great job on her because she looked gorgeous. Too bad she would have to die soon.

We were in a huge dark room that had a large portcullis separating us from the large crowd of roaring Hunger Games fans. After waiting for a minute without any communication between Sophia and I, the portcullis slowly began to creak as it opened. We started to walk out like all the tributes did. We were first since we lived in District 1. The light from the sun seemed unrealistic by just how bright it was. It should have been night by now but the sun was still out and in the center of the sky. The capitol usually decided to spend funds on entertainment so it was very likely that the whole sun shining was just one of their illusions.

Once my eyes adjusted, I saw the crowd. It was enormous. Thousands standing, screaming, clapping. The whole thing was overwhelming. Those thousands, no, hundreds of thousands were cheering for me. I thought it was a dream come true but after a second of thinking, I realized that they were probably all thinking about how we would die.

"Give it up for the District 1 tributes!!!" Octavian said over the intercom. The crowd got twice a loud. He said the same thing for each District as the tributes came out. The applause died down as the numbers of the Districts got higher.

Once all of the tributes were out, Octavian yelled, "Cheer if you are going to sponsor one of these fine tributes!" the clapping grew again but I could only think that they were cheering for the really threatening boy from District 2.

That was mostly the end of that, Octavian gave a speech about the rules. I'm not sure how he stretched out "Don't die," into an hour but he managed. After, I was escorted to my "living quarters." They weren't really living quarters as much as sleeping quarters because from the second we wake up to the second we go to sleep, we have a full schedule.