Fic: The Wolf and the Mockingjay, Part 1, Chapter 2
Title: The Wolf and the Mockingjay, Part 1
Fandoms: Doctor Who/The Hunger Games fusion
Rating: Teen+ for violence
Pairings: Rose-Martha friendship; Jack/everyone
Characters: Rose, Martha, Ninth Doctor, Donna, Reinette (expy), Jack Harkness, Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith, River Song, loads more; HG characters come in more in Part 2, but Cinna, Caesar Flickerman, Claudius Templesmith, Plutarch Heavensbee, Finnick Odair and President Snow appear in this part; OCs Nokia, Lace, Gem, Sulla and Livia.
Summary: Rose Tyler is chosen for the Hunger Games. Martha Jones volunteers to save her little sister. When they meet in the arena, something happens that will change the world.
Chapter 1: The Reaping
The next morning, Rose was surprised to find that she’d slept all night. She had been wrung out after dinner, too tired to even cry.
A knock on her door startled her. She opened it to find Reina outside.
“Breakfast is on,” she said. “Wash up and get ready, because we’ll be arriving at the station in less than an hour.”
Rose took as long and hot a shower as she felt she could and put on a pair of soft pants and a hooded sweatshirt. Before she left the room, memory sparked, and she took the wolf’s-head pin off her reaping dress and put it on her sweatshirt.
Breakfast was laid out on a long table in the dining car. Rose’s stomach rumbled, and she happily piled her plate with fruit, eggs, sausage and bread. Adam was already there, munching on a plate of pancakes. They ate in silence for a few minutes, and then, to Rose’s surprise, the Doctor spoke.
“The opening ceremony is tonight, of course,” he said. “You’ll be going to the Remake Center as soon as we arrive. I’d advise you not to fight your stylists, even if you think they deserve it. They’re here to help you make a good impression on the Capitol. You want to do that. Reina and Donna are good at lining up sponsors - Reina makes them want to sponsor you, and Donna makes them scared not to - but it’ll help if they like what they see. Understood?”
“The Hunger Games isn’t exactly a beauty contest,” Adam pointed out.
The Doctor’s customary glare locked on him. “Did you just miss my entire point? Sponsors can be the difference between life and death in the arena. They like pretty. You’ve got a bit of that naturally, not as much as Rose, and the stylists will play that up.”
Adam crossed his arms. “I’m more interested in what’ll happen inside the arena. What about the Cornucopia?”
“Never mind that. You’ve got a week between now and then,” said the Doctor. “My advice is to use it. Neither of you knows how to survive off the land. Most of the other tributes will head for the weapons at the Training Center first thing. You two should go to the wilderness survival trainers first. Weapons are only as useful as the hand that holds them.”
Rose nodded. “Makes sense. All I know about hunting is from watching Dusty the shop cat kill mice and shrews.”
There was more conversation after that, with Donna chipping in some and Reina mostly staying out of it and watching with that almost-amused expression of hers. What Rose began to notice was that Adam seemed determined to have an answer for everything, even the stuff he couldn’t know anything about.
Pride, she thought, and fear. He was so used to knowing more than everyone around him that he wasn’t adjusting well to a situation in which his good grades meant precisely squat. He was clinging to the idea that he could think himself out of this. That he could plan ahead and cover all contingencies.
Rose, raised on the mean streets, knew better. You couldn’t plan your way around chaos. You could prepare, to a certain degree, but once it hit, your plans went out the window. All you could do was respond.
The meal wrapped up as the train slowed, and Adam stalked off. As Rose was leaving, the Doctor called her over.
“What is it?” she asked.
He was fiddling with a pen of some sort. Must have been a Capitol one, as it lit up on one end. “When you go to the Training Center, find a woman named River Song. She’s tall and has curly hair, and she’ll be somewhere around the bows. Tell her I sent you. River Song.”
“River Song,” Rose repeated. “Okay, I will.”
The Doctor nodded. “Good girl. Now, get to the Remake Center. And remember: Be cooperative.”
***
Be cooperative. Rose repeated it to herself as her body hair was ripped out, the hair on her head was exclaimed over in horror, and the three strangest people she’d ever met generally manhandled her. Currently, she was sitting, wrapped up like a mummy over a generous slathering of pink-smelling cream, in a chair while they worked on her head and her feet.
Aurelius, a tall, thin, dark-skinned man with lime-green locks springing from his head, finished rinsing out her hair. “There!” he declared. “You look human now. I don’t know who dyed your hair before, darling, but it was like straw. Like straw!”
Rose gritted her teeth to stop herself from wringing his skinny neck. In fact, her mother dyed her hair. Jackie found it paid to advertise, and her daughter’s head was as good a billboard as any. Some of the wealthier women of District 9 were willing to part with a good deal of money to have their hair colored. So what if the dye was a bit harsh? One dye job could put dinner on the table for a week.
Priscilla, a woman with silver and blue tattoos in intricate patterns all over her face, proclaimed her feet done, and Rose was unwrapped, wiped down, and inspected from head to literal toe. Once the prep team was satisfied, the youngest, a short teenager named Marcus, was dispatched to find the stylist.
When he entered, a few minutes later, Rose was struck dumb by how very good-looking he was. He had no obvious alterations save for a single, stylized-flame tattoo on one temple. He didn’t need any more, not with his striking blue eyes and sensual mouth. He looked her over, smiled, and stuck out his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Rose,” he said. “My name’s Junius, but we all agree that doesn’t suit me, so please call me Jack.”
Rose found her tongue. “Hello, Jack.”
Jack handed her a robe, which she put on gratefully, and took her over to a mirror. She had to admit (grudgingly) that her hair did look a lot better. It was a softer shade of blonde, more like Reina’s, and her eyebrows had been lightened to match. “You are a very pretty girl,” said Jack from behind her, hands on her shoulders. Rose couldn’t help but smile at his words. “And now, you’re beautiful. That smile, Rose, is going to win hearts all over the Capitol.”
“It’s nothing on yours,” said Rose, almost automatically.
“Ooh, and she flirts!” Jack rubbed her shoulders, sending a pleasant zing through Rose’s body. “Rose Tyler, we are going to make the whole world fall in love with you. Let’s get some lunch, and we’ll talk about your costume for the opening ceremonies.”
***
Factory, Jack had said. She and Adam were both Factory kids, so Jack and Adam’s stylist were breaking from the usual grain-themed costumes this year. Instead, they were going with the metal District 9 refined.
Rose had to admit her costume was both beautifully made and a lot of fun to look at. Not quite as much fun to wear, unfortunately; the top was a corset, and she was still getting used to breathing in it. It was made of some stiff, copper-colored material with “rivets” at every seam. The skirt was alternating strips of copper and steel-colored material falling to mid-thigh. Her knee-high boots looked like sections of pipe, as did the fingerless gloves on her hands. Jack had perched a small, coppery top hat on her head that had a pair of goggles attached to it and a bouquet of tiny cogwheels springing from one side. Her earrings and necklace looked like cogwheels, too.
Adam was wearing a suit along the same lines, though his was dominated by steel-colored material rather than copper, and he had a boutonniere of cogwheels that matched Rose’s jewelry. The effect was only marred by his sour expression. “I feel like I’m wearing a train car,” he groused, adjusting his jacket. Admittedly, it made a slightly-metallic shuffling noise as he moved.
“Well, I can’t breathe, so, consider yourself lucky,” said Rose.
“You look amazing, though,” Adam said. “You won’t have any trouble getting sponsors.”
Rose was startled. “Thanks,” she said, a little uncertainly.
“It’s the truth,” Adam insisted. “People like you. Everyone likes you. Even the Doctor, and he doesn’t like anybody.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. Fortunately, their chariot started moving at that moment, and she didn’t have to.
***
It wasn’t until later, when they were watching the recap at the Training Center, that it all began to sink in. All the noise and the lights and the crowds had been overwhelming. She’d clung to Jack’s advice to smile and wave and look confident, but the entire ceremony had been a blur.
On TV, it was different. There she was, in Jack’s stunning costume, giving her biggest smile to the citizens of the Capitol who’d cheer on her murderer. But the announcers loved her.
“Look at that smile!” said one.
“She’s a charmer, isn’t she?” said another.
They didn’t say anything about Adam. They went on and on about the costumes and Rose’s smile, but Adam might as well have not even been there.
Reina had been talking to someone on the telephone. She hung up, looking smug. “That was my couturier,” she said. “Since the ceremonies, he’s had a dozen calls from clients, and it appears that copper is the new gold.”
“Is that good?” Rose asked, having no idea what she was talking about.
Reina sat down, crossing one shapely leg over the other. “It’s excellent. It means you’ve made quite the splash tonight. You’re standing out already, which will make getting sponsors easier.”
“And what about me?” Adam asked quietly. He’d been very quiet indeed since the ceremony.
“What’s good for Rose is good for you right now,” Reina assured him. “As long as District 9 is in people’s minds, you’ll catch a lot of the same goodwill.”
“And what’s important for you right now is to train,” said the Doctor. “Work hard this week. Learn as much as you can. You say you’re smart; prove it.” He sat back in his chair. “Get some sleep, both of you. Tomorrow will be another long day.”
***
Next morning, all the tributes were gathered in the gymnasium for a briefing. While head trainer Atala was talking, Rose took a surreptitious look around.
So many of the tributes were bigger than she was. All of the boys except the thirteen-year-old from 12, and many of the girls as well. The Career tributes were positively hulking, save only from the girl from One, but she had such a nasty gleam in her eye Rose wasn’t any too eager to go up against her. But, at the same time, Rose knew she looked healthier than a lot of them. Most days, she and her mom could have both breakfast and dinner, and Old Man Henrick made sure she had something to eat at the shop. Combined with the physical labor she did every day, it had made her strong and robust.
A flash of golden hair caught her eye. Standing over by a rack of bows was a tall woman with curly hair and an expression that reminded Rose strongly of Reina - as if she knew something no one else did. Maybe they taught Capitol girls that in school. But there was no doubt in Rose’s mind that she’d found River Song.
As soon as the briefing was over, Rose made her way to the bows. River watched her, leaning casually against the wall.
“Are you River Song?” Rose asked when she was close enough to speak quietly.
“My reputation precedes me, I see.” River’s voice was low and husky, making even the affected Capitol accent sound appealing. “You’re the girl from District 9, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. The Doctor told me to talk to you.” Rose paused, then added, “My name’s Rose.”
River smirked. “Well, well, well. This is intriguing. He must like you. All right, Rose, what is it you’d like to know?”
“Everything,” she said. “But you can start by showing me how to use those bows.”
It turned into quite the education. Along with the longbows, there were a couple of crossbows (“You don’t see them much in the arenas, but they do turn up from time to time.”) and small pistol bows.
“They’re good for close quarters and bringing down small game,” River explained, showing Rose how to load one with slim titanium bolts. “They’re a bit more common than crossbows, and, I daresay, a lot more convenient. Let’s see how you aim.”
Rose at least hit the dummy on her first try, and, under River’s tutelage, was soon able to hit the target, if not the bull’s-eye, most of the time. She also tried the crossbow, which she thought was too heavy and cumbersome, before they moved on to the longbows.
By that time, two more tributes had turned up. One was a tribute from Five, a blond girl with pigtails, and one was Martha Jones. River taught all three without any apparent difficulty. Finally, when Rose’s hands and arms felt like they were going to fall off, River spoke quietly in her ear.
“Go and find something else to learn until lunch,” she said. “I’d recommend the foraging station. After lunch, come back here.”
Rose did as she was told. She spent a couple of hours learning about edible plants and how to recognize poisonous ones. At the end, she didn’t do badly on the test, but she decided to make it her business to drop by at least a few more times. Foraging could mean the difference between life and death in the arena, she knew, and, having grown up in an industrial area, she had no practical experience with it.
At lunch, she loaded up her plate with baked chicken, salad, slices of melon and fried potatoes. There were plenty of other dishes, which she decided she’d sample if what she had didn’t fill her up. She looked around for a table. Most of the Careers were sitting around one table, being loud and obnoxious and trying to intimidate the other tributes. Rose picked a seat at a table far away from them and ignored them as best she could.
“Do you mind if I sit here?” asked a breathless voice. Rose looked up. It was the pigtailed girl from Five. “Hi, my name’s Lynda. Lynda with a ‘y’. You were the girl in that beautiful copper costume, weren’t you? From Nine? I’m from Five. Well, it’s on my shirt, so I’m sure you know that, but, um, what’s your name?”
Rose introduced herself, trying to figure out what this girl was up to. It wasn’t unheard-of for a tribute to make herself seem harmless, even cowardly, to put the others off their guard. Or even to attempt to befriend others in order to stab them in the back later. At best, setting up alliances before entering the ring could be prudent.
As Lynda-with-a-y sat and talked, though, Rose rapidly came to the conclusion that she wasn’t playing at anything. She was genuinely as sweet and open as she seemed - and was, furthermore, so badly out of her depth she shouldn’t have been able to breathe.
Movement made Rose glance off to the left. Martha was sitting down at the same table, putting a little distance between herself and Lynda. That was interesting. There were plenty of empty tables away from the Careers, so the fact that Martha was sitting at Rose’s table meant she’d deliberately picked it.
In fact, Adam was sitting at an empty table. He’d brushed off Rose’s invitation to sit together and appeared to be sulking.
Rose nodded politely to Lynda’s nonstop chatter, but paid attention to Martha. The girl, small as she was, had piled her tray with a truly impressive amount of food, which she attacked with gusto.
“Hello, girls,” oozed a voice. The female tribute from Two, an Amazonian blonde, slid into the seat beside Lynda and nabbed a bread roll from her tray. “How are we doing today? I hope you’re having a good time in training. Makes you more fun to play with.” She tore a chunk of bread off with her teeth.
Lynda had gone white. Martha was glaring.
Rose knew this girl. Or, rather, she knew a dozen like her. Gang girls, bullies who got off on intimidating other kids, especially ones they saw as weaker. Rose had fought girls like her, both verbally and physically. She had the scars to prove it. And she had no time for playing games.
District 2 focused on Rose, who casually picked up a fried potato and munched it. They were good, expertly spiced and perfectly crispy on the outside, but Rose suddenly missed her mom’s fried potatoes seasoned simply with salt and just enough cayenne pepper to give them a bite. She wanted to be home, working for Old Man Henrick and living in the drafty old apartment she shared with her mom. Instead, she was living in luxury and eating gourmet food while being forced to deal with fools like this.
District 2 seemed irritated at Rose’s disregard. “How about you, Copper? Your cogwheels turning all right?”
“Save it for the arena, Number Two,” said Rose, letting a little weary exasperation into her tone.
The insult hit the mark. District 2 glared at her. “I’ll make you regret that.”
Rose gave her an incredulous look. “Seriously? You call that trash talk? The Career Farm must be very disappointed if that’s the best you can do. You sound like the villain from some horrid serial.” Martha snickered.
“You want to throw down?” hissed District 2. “You’ve got it, Copper. I’ll gut you at the Cornucopia.”
“Again with the serial villain. Have you got anything better? ‘Cause, if not, would you go away? We’re trying to eat here.” Rose made a brushing-off gesture, and District 2, eyes burning with hate, stalked away.
Martha grinned as Rose went back to her food. Lynda was goggling.
“Are you sure that was smart?” Lynda whispered. “She looks, um, big. And mean.”
Rose chewed thoughtfully. “Yes, but what’s really interesting is how easy it was to get under her skin. It’s like she’s not used to people fighting back. They’re trained in District 2, but I don’t think they’ve ever had to fight anyone who’s trying to kill them. Yeah, that’s interesting, all right.”
Lynda seemed shocked into silence, and they finished their meal quietly. Rose went back for seconds and discovered that the mashed squash was really very good, as was the spice cake. Finally, one of the trainers came roaring through to inform them that lunch break was over and they needed to get back to work.
As she cleared her tray from the table, Rose looked over at Martha, who was wolfing down the last of her meal.
“That was brave, what you did,” Rose told her, giving in to impulse. “Volunteering for your sister. It was really brave.”
Martha looked shocked at being spoken to directly, but she smiled as best she could around a mouthful of food. Rose noticed, for the first time, that she was wearing a necklace made of wooden beads with a little carved wooden bird at the center. Probably a district token, she thought.
The afternoon session was much like the earlier one. River taught her how to draw and shoot quickly, how to shoot while moving, hitting targets from different distances, even having Rose shoot from one of the climbing structures.
Rose liked those. They reminded her of the abandoned factory that had served as the neighborhood kids’ playground when she was younger. She’d been one of the best climbers, scurrying to the top ahead of the other kids. And these didn’t even come with the risk of tetanus.
There were also two actual trees to practice climbing on, and River sent her over to one of them wearing a bow and quiver. Climbing the trees was definitely different than climbing the metal structures, but Rose found the principle was the same. Stick to what looked strongest, mainly. She got about halfway up the taller of the trees before she decided it was too hazardous to go any farther.
There was a sudden shoosh and the tree rocked. Rose looked up to see Martha grinning down at her and realized the younger girl had leaped from the other tree to hers. District 7, she thought. I’ll bet she was climbing trees when she was still in diapers.
When Rose got back to River, the trainer touched a scar on Rose’s arm. “I’ve been meaning to ask where you got that.”
Rose rubbed at it self-consciously. “Knife fight. My ex-boyfriend’s psychotic new girlfriend had it in for me.” She pulled her shirt off one shoulder, revealing another scar. “She also gave me this. But I gave her something to remember me by, too.”
River nodded, expression inscrutable. “Did you call the Peacekeepers?”
Rose barked a laugh. “Why would I? They don’t care if a bunch of Factory kids are killing each other in the streets. You get in a fight, you do whatever you have to do to get out alive, go home, get patched up and don’t whine about it.”
There was silence for a moment. Then River said, “I can see why the Doctor thinks you’re worth my time. I’ll give you as much training as I realistically can, but you’ll have to practice shooting on your own every day, too. And I want you to hit every single wilderness-survival station here, including the knot-tying one. Understood?”
“Understood.” It made Rose feel better to have someone like River Song on her side.
She spent the rest of the afternoon learning to make useful strings from grasses and tie them into knots and snares. The trainer at the station was pleased to have such an attentive student and showed her how to improvise a fishing net, too.
Finally, training was over for the day and they were all more or less chased out of the gymnasium. Rose and Adam took an elevator with the District 10 tributes and a Peacekeeper. No one spoke.
Dinner was another quiet affair, partially because Rose was ravenous and couldn’t be bothered to answer anything Reina said to try to get conversation going. Adam was still sulking.
Then the Doctor asked, “Did anything happen worth noting at training?”
“Aside from Rose pissing off District 2? No,” said Adam.
The Doctor’s gaze immediately switched to Rose, who cursed Adam inwardly before explaining what had happened.
“She was being a bully,” Rose finished up. “I wasn’t going to just sit there and let her.”
“Hm,” grunted the Doctor. “She now knows you’re not a soft target, which means all the Careers will. There are good and bad things about that. What’s the sponsor situation?” He turned to Reina and Donna.
“We’ve a few strong prospects,” said Reina. “Depending on how these two do at the end of the week, I’m optimistic.”
Rose and Adam headed back to their rooms soon after. Rose grabbed him before he turned off toward his suite. “Why did you say that? It’s not your business.”
“You and the Doctor have your strategy, I have mine,” Adam said, and twisted his arm out of her grip.
Rose watched him go, not understanding what he was thinking. She went to her room and had a nice, long soak in her tub, which she thought might be the best thing about the Capitol. Afterward, she went to bed, but found herself unable to sleep. After over an hour, she gave it up and wandered back out to the common room.
Donna was sitting on the couch, reading and drinking a cup of tea. Rose was about to turn and leave when Donna’s voice reached her.
“Couldn’t sleep? I can’t blame you.” She set her book reader down. “Have a seat. Want some tea?”
Rose took a seat on the couch, curling up and hugging her knees. One of the white-clad attendants brought her a steaming cup.
“Thanks,” said Rose. “Hey, what’s your name?”
The girl looked startled and almost frightened. She looked over at Donna, who waved her away. Rose gave the older woman a confused look. “Is there something wrong with being friendly?”
“With them? Yes,” said Donna. “She’s an Avox. A criminal. Her tongue’s been mutilated so she can’t speak.”
Rose was horrified. “That’s-”
“-the way they do things here in the Capitol.” Donna’s look warned her off this line of conversation. “Don’t speak to them unless it’s to give an order.”
Rose heard the underlying message Donna was trying to get across, which was that some things weren’t safe to discuss. Not here. She swallowed what she thought of the Capitol’s criminal justice system and asked something else she’d been wondering about.
“Could you tell me about the Doctor? No one knows much about him. He just seems so . . .” she trailed off.
Donna nodded, though, as if she understood. “You might be able to get his story out of him someday, but it’s not mine to tell.”
“What about you, then?” Rose asked. “How did you win your Games?”
“Aren’t we inquisitive!” Donna chuckled, but there was an edge of disquiet to it. Nonetheless, she humored Rose. “I won because I had some help. She didn’t know she was helping me, and she certainly didn’t intend to help anyone but herself, but I’d have been dead if not for her.
“I didn’t find out until after the Games, watching the recap, what really happened. All I knew was that the Careers were dropping at an unusually fast rate. There was a big pack of them that year, the usual suspects from One, Two and Four, plus this giant from Ten and a ferocious girl from Five, of all places. Eight people running with the Career pack, one third of the field. More than that, really; they killed twelve tributes at the Cornucopia. So there were only four of us still in play who weren’t with them.
“We should’ve been goners. I was Field, did you know that? It gave me a bit of an edge with wilderness survival, and I was just trying to stay out of their way, but a funny thing kept happening. The cannon would blast, and I’d think it was the boy from Seven or the girls from Six and Eight. Then, at night, it would be the face of one of the Careers, and I couldn’t understand what was happening.
“Finally, at the end, with only four of us left, they flooded the arena with this thick mist that cameras could see through, but not the naked eye. There were all these noises, horrible screeches and growls. You couldn’t see what was making them, but they were forcing us all together. I heard the cannon go off twice, and I suddenly realized there was only one tribute left. Just one, and if I could get the drop on him or her, I’d win. I’d live.
“All I had as a weapon was this heavy mallet I’d picked up at the Cornucopia. Didn’t know how much good it would do me, but, suddenly, I could see something through the mist. It was the boy from Four, the only tribute left. He was short, but built like a brick. And he had his back turned to me.
“It took just one blow from my mallet to put him down. Just one. He had a knife, so I - I cut his throat, just to be sure. It was my only kill in the Games. Everyone else, I’d been able to avoid or chase off, but to win, I had to kill him.”
Donna fingered her teacup. “And it was only after that I found out how I’d won. It was the girl from One. She was a schemer. Manipulated the hell out of the other Careers. Killed one and blamed it on another tribute, played the two biggest boys against each other until they fought and one killed the other, poisoned the girl from Five by slipping nightlock berries into her food - you almost had to admire the way she went about it. Finally, the girl from Two got suspicious of her and slit her throat, but, by then, the Career alliance was shattered. They turned on each other like wild animals until there were only two of them left. The last four standing were me, the boys from Two and Four, and the girl from Eight. Four killed Two and Eight, and I killed him.
“And that was it,” she said. “If the girl from One hadn’t pulled all of her shenanigans, the Careers probably would’ve eventually slaughtered all of us. I held out as best I could, had a bit of luck and won. Remember that: The biggest, strongest and best-prepared aren’t always the winners. All it takes is for one thing to go wrong for them, and all their training won’t be able to help them.”
She patted Rose’s shoulder. “Go back to bed. Sleep deprivation does no one any good.”
“Thanks, Donna.” Rose set her empty teacup down and rose to leave. Just as she got to the hallway, Donna’s voice stopped her.
“Good for you, by the way.” Donna flipped her red hair. “Those bullies needed a bit of a takedown.”
Heart a bit lighter than before, Rose went off to bed.
Chapter 3
Fandoms: Doctor Who/The Hunger Games fusion
Rating: Teen+ for violence
Pairings: Rose-Martha friendship; Jack/everyone
Characters: Rose, Martha, Ninth Doctor, Donna, Reinette (expy), Jack Harkness, Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith, River Song, loads more; HG characters come in more in Part 2, but Cinna, Caesar Flickerman, Claudius Templesmith, Plutarch Heavensbee, Finnick Odair and President Snow appear in this part; OCs Nokia, Lace, Gem, Sulla and Livia.
Summary: Rose Tyler is chosen for the Hunger Games. Martha Jones volunteers to save her little sister. When they meet in the arena, something happens that will change the world.
Chapter 1: The Reaping
The next morning, Rose was surprised to find that she’d slept all night. She had been wrung out after dinner, too tired to even cry.
A knock on her door startled her. She opened it to find Reina outside.
“Breakfast is on,” she said. “Wash up and get ready, because we’ll be arriving at the station in less than an hour.”
Rose took as long and hot a shower as she felt she could and put on a pair of soft pants and a hooded sweatshirt. Before she left the room, memory sparked, and she took the wolf’s-head pin off her reaping dress and put it on her sweatshirt.
Breakfast was laid out on a long table in the dining car. Rose’s stomach rumbled, and she happily piled her plate with fruit, eggs, sausage and bread. Adam was already there, munching on a plate of pancakes. They ate in silence for a few minutes, and then, to Rose’s surprise, the Doctor spoke.
“The opening ceremony is tonight, of course,” he said. “You’ll be going to the Remake Center as soon as we arrive. I’d advise you not to fight your stylists, even if you think they deserve it. They’re here to help you make a good impression on the Capitol. You want to do that. Reina and Donna are good at lining up sponsors - Reina makes them want to sponsor you, and Donna makes them scared not to - but it’ll help if they like what they see. Understood?”
“The Hunger Games isn’t exactly a beauty contest,” Adam pointed out.
The Doctor’s customary glare locked on him. “Did you just miss my entire point? Sponsors can be the difference between life and death in the arena. They like pretty. You’ve got a bit of that naturally, not as much as Rose, and the stylists will play that up.”
Adam crossed his arms. “I’m more interested in what’ll happen inside the arena. What about the Cornucopia?”
“Never mind that. You’ve got a week between now and then,” said the Doctor. “My advice is to use it. Neither of you knows how to survive off the land. Most of the other tributes will head for the weapons at the Training Center first thing. You two should go to the wilderness survival trainers first. Weapons are only as useful as the hand that holds them.”
Rose nodded. “Makes sense. All I know about hunting is from watching Dusty the shop cat kill mice and shrews.”
There was more conversation after that, with Donna chipping in some and Reina mostly staying out of it and watching with that almost-amused expression of hers. What Rose began to notice was that Adam seemed determined to have an answer for everything, even the stuff he couldn’t know anything about.
Pride, she thought, and fear. He was so used to knowing more than everyone around him that he wasn’t adjusting well to a situation in which his good grades meant precisely squat. He was clinging to the idea that he could think himself out of this. That he could plan ahead and cover all contingencies.
Rose, raised on the mean streets, knew better. You couldn’t plan your way around chaos. You could prepare, to a certain degree, but once it hit, your plans went out the window. All you could do was respond.
The meal wrapped up as the train slowed, and Adam stalked off. As Rose was leaving, the Doctor called her over.
“What is it?” she asked.
He was fiddling with a pen of some sort. Must have been a Capitol one, as it lit up on one end. “When you go to the Training Center, find a woman named River Song. She’s tall and has curly hair, and she’ll be somewhere around the bows. Tell her I sent you. River Song.”
“River Song,” Rose repeated. “Okay, I will.”
The Doctor nodded. “Good girl. Now, get to the Remake Center. And remember: Be cooperative.”
***
Be cooperative. Rose repeated it to herself as her body hair was ripped out, the hair on her head was exclaimed over in horror, and the three strangest people she’d ever met generally manhandled her. Currently, she was sitting, wrapped up like a mummy over a generous slathering of pink-smelling cream, in a chair while they worked on her head and her feet.
Aurelius, a tall, thin, dark-skinned man with lime-green locks springing from his head, finished rinsing out her hair. “There!” he declared. “You look human now. I don’t know who dyed your hair before, darling, but it was like straw. Like straw!”
Rose gritted her teeth to stop herself from wringing his skinny neck. In fact, her mother dyed her hair. Jackie found it paid to advertise, and her daughter’s head was as good a billboard as any. Some of the wealthier women of District 9 were willing to part with a good deal of money to have their hair colored. So what if the dye was a bit harsh? One dye job could put dinner on the table for a week.
Priscilla, a woman with silver and blue tattoos in intricate patterns all over her face, proclaimed her feet done, and Rose was unwrapped, wiped down, and inspected from head to literal toe. Once the prep team was satisfied, the youngest, a short teenager named Marcus, was dispatched to find the stylist.
When he entered, a few minutes later, Rose was struck dumb by how very good-looking he was. He had no obvious alterations save for a single, stylized-flame tattoo on one temple. He didn’t need any more, not with his striking blue eyes and sensual mouth. He looked her over, smiled, and stuck out his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Rose,” he said. “My name’s Junius, but we all agree that doesn’t suit me, so please call me Jack.”
Rose found her tongue. “Hello, Jack.”
Jack handed her a robe, which she put on gratefully, and took her over to a mirror. She had to admit (grudgingly) that her hair did look a lot better. It was a softer shade of blonde, more like Reina’s, and her eyebrows had been lightened to match. “You are a very pretty girl,” said Jack from behind her, hands on her shoulders. Rose couldn’t help but smile at his words. “And now, you’re beautiful. That smile, Rose, is going to win hearts all over the Capitol.”
“It’s nothing on yours,” said Rose, almost automatically.
“Ooh, and she flirts!” Jack rubbed her shoulders, sending a pleasant zing through Rose’s body. “Rose Tyler, we are going to make the whole world fall in love with you. Let’s get some lunch, and we’ll talk about your costume for the opening ceremonies.”
***
Factory, Jack had said. She and Adam were both Factory kids, so Jack and Adam’s stylist were breaking from the usual grain-themed costumes this year. Instead, they were going with the metal District 9 refined.
Rose had to admit her costume was both beautifully made and a lot of fun to look at. Not quite as much fun to wear, unfortunately; the top was a corset, and she was still getting used to breathing in it. It was made of some stiff, copper-colored material with “rivets” at every seam. The skirt was alternating strips of copper and steel-colored material falling to mid-thigh. Her knee-high boots looked like sections of pipe, as did the fingerless gloves on her hands. Jack had perched a small, coppery top hat on her head that had a pair of goggles attached to it and a bouquet of tiny cogwheels springing from one side. Her earrings and necklace looked like cogwheels, too.
Adam was wearing a suit along the same lines, though his was dominated by steel-colored material rather than copper, and he had a boutonniere of cogwheels that matched Rose’s jewelry. The effect was only marred by his sour expression. “I feel like I’m wearing a train car,” he groused, adjusting his jacket. Admittedly, it made a slightly-metallic shuffling noise as he moved.
“Well, I can’t breathe, so, consider yourself lucky,” said Rose.
“You look amazing, though,” Adam said. “You won’t have any trouble getting sponsors.”
Rose was startled. “Thanks,” she said, a little uncertainly.
“It’s the truth,” Adam insisted. “People like you. Everyone likes you. Even the Doctor, and he doesn’t like anybody.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. Fortunately, their chariot started moving at that moment, and she didn’t have to.
***
It wasn’t until later, when they were watching the recap at the Training Center, that it all began to sink in. All the noise and the lights and the crowds had been overwhelming. She’d clung to Jack’s advice to smile and wave and look confident, but the entire ceremony had been a blur.
On TV, it was different. There she was, in Jack’s stunning costume, giving her biggest smile to the citizens of the Capitol who’d cheer on her murderer. But the announcers loved her.
“Look at that smile!” said one.
“She’s a charmer, isn’t she?” said another.
They didn’t say anything about Adam. They went on and on about the costumes and Rose’s smile, but Adam might as well have not even been there.
Reina had been talking to someone on the telephone. She hung up, looking smug. “That was my couturier,” she said. “Since the ceremonies, he’s had a dozen calls from clients, and it appears that copper is the new gold.”
“Is that good?” Rose asked, having no idea what she was talking about.
Reina sat down, crossing one shapely leg over the other. “It’s excellent. It means you’ve made quite the splash tonight. You’re standing out already, which will make getting sponsors easier.”
“And what about me?” Adam asked quietly. He’d been very quiet indeed since the ceremony.
“What’s good for Rose is good for you right now,” Reina assured him. “As long as District 9 is in people’s minds, you’ll catch a lot of the same goodwill.”
“And what’s important for you right now is to train,” said the Doctor. “Work hard this week. Learn as much as you can. You say you’re smart; prove it.” He sat back in his chair. “Get some sleep, both of you. Tomorrow will be another long day.”
***
Next morning, all the tributes were gathered in the gymnasium for a briefing. While head trainer Atala was talking, Rose took a surreptitious look around.
So many of the tributes were bigger than she was. All of the boys except the thirteen-year-old from 12, and many of the girls as well. The Career tributes were positively hulking, save only from the girl from One, but she had such a nasty gleam in her eye Rose wasn’t any too eager to go up against her. But, at the same time, Rose knew she looked healthier than a lot of them. Most days, she and her mom could have both breakfast and dinner, and Old Man Henrick made sure she had something to eat at the shop. Combined with the physical labor she did every day, it had made her strong and robust.
A flash of golden hair caught her eye. Standing over by a rack of bows was a tall woman with curly hair and an expression that reminded Rose strongly of Reina - as if she knew something no one else did. Maybe they taught Capitol girls that in school. But there was no doubt in Rose’s mind that she’d found River Song.
As soon as the briefing was over, Rose made her way to the bows. River watched her, leaning casually against the wall.
“Are you River Song?” Rose asked when she was close enough to speak quietly.
“My reputation precedes me, I see.” River’s voice was low and husky, making even the affected Capitol accent sound appealing. “You’re the girl from District 9, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. The Doctor told me to talk to you.” Rose paused, then added, “My name’s Rose.”
River smirked. “Well, well, well. This is intriguing. He must like you. All right, Rose, what is it you’d like to know?”
“Everything,” she said. “But you can start by showing me how to use those bows.”
It turned into quite the education. Along with the longbows, there were a couple of crossbows (“You don’t see them much in the arenas, but they do turn up from time to time.”) and small pistol bows.
“They’re good for close quarters and bringing down small game,” River explained, showing Rose how to load one with slim titanium bolts. “They’re a bit more common than crossbows, and, I daresay, a lot more convenient. Let’s see how you aim.”
Rose at least hit the dummy on her first try, and, under River’s tutelage, was soon able to hit the target, if not the bull’s-eye, most of the time. She also tried the crossbow, which she thought was too heavy and cumbersome, before they moved on to the longbows.
By that time, two more tributes had turned up. One was a tribute from Five, a blond girl with pigtails, and one was Martha Jones. River taught all three without any apparent difficulty. Finally, when Rose’s hands and arms felt like they were going to fall off, River spoke quietly in her ear.
“Go and find something else to learn until lunch,” she said. “I’d recommend the foraging station. After lunch, come back here.”
Rose did as she was told. She spent a couple of hours learning about edible plants and how to recognize poisonous ones. At the end, she didn’t do badly on the test, but she decided to make it her business to drop by at least a few more times. Foraging could mean the difference between life and death in the arena, she knew, and, having grown up in an industrial area, she had no practical experience with it.
At lunch, she loaded up her plate with baked chicken, salad, slices of melon and fried potatoes. There were plenty of other dishes, which she decided she’d sample if what she had didn’t fill her up. She looked around for a table. Most of the Careers were sitting around one table, being loud and obnoxious and trying to intimidate the other tributes. Rose picked a seat at a table far away from them and ignored them as best she could.
“Do you mind if I sit here?” asked a breathless voice. Rose looked up. It was the pigtailed girl from Five. “Hi, my name’s Lynda. Lynda with a ‘y’. You were the girl in that beautiful copper costume, weren’t you? From Nine? I’m from Five. Well, it’s on my shirt, so I’m sure you know that, but, um, what’s your name?”
Rose introduced herself, trying to figure out what this girl was up to. It wasn’t unheard-of for a tribute to make herself seem harmless, even cowardly, to put the others off their guard. Or even to attempt to befriend others in order to stab them in the back later. At best, setting up alliances before entering the ring could be prudent.
As Lynda-with-a-y sat and talked, though, Rose rapidly came to the conclusion that she wasn’t playing at anything. She was genuinely as sweet and open as she seemed - and was, furthermore, so badly out of her depth she shouldn’t have been able to breathe.
Movement made Rose glance off to the left. Martha was sitting down at the same table, putting a little distance between herself and Lynda. That was interesting. There were plenty of empty tables away from the Careers, so the fact that Martha was sitting at Rose’s table meant she’d deliberately picked it.
In fact, Adam was sitting at an empty table. He’d brushed off Rose’s invitation to sit together and appeared to be sulking.
Rose nodded politely to Lynda’s nonstop chatter, but paid attention to Martha. The girl, small as she was, had piled her tray with a truly impressive amount of food, which she attacked with gusto.
“Hello, girls,” oozed a voice. The female tribute from Two, an Amazonian blonde, slid into the seat beside Lynda and nabbed a bread roll from her tray. “How are we doing today? I hope you’re having a good time in training. Makes you more fun to play with.” She tore a chunk of bread off with her teeth.
Lynda had gone white. Martha was glaring.
Rose knew this girl. Or, rather, she knew a dozen like her. Gang girls, bullies who got off on intimidating other kids, especially ones they saw as weaker. Rose had fought girls like her, both verbally and physically. She had the scars to prove it. And she had no time for playing games.
District 2 focused on Rose, who casually picked up a fried potato and munched it. They were good, expertly spiced and perfectly crispy on the outside, but Rose suddenly missed her mom’s fried potatoes seasoned simply with salt and just enough cayenne pepper to give them a bite. She wanted to be home, working for Old Man Henrick and living in the drafty old apartment she shared with her mom. Instead, she was living in luxury and eating gourmet food while being forced to deal with fools like this.
District 2 seemed irritated at Rose’s disregard. “How about you, Copper? Your cogwheels turning all right?”
“Save it for the arena, Number Two,” said Rose, letting a little weary exasperation into her tone.
The insult hit the mark. District 2 glared at her. “I’ll make you regret that.”
Rose gave her an incredulous look. “Seriously? You call that trash talk? The Career Farm must be very disappointed if that’s the best you can do. You sound like the villain from some horrid serial.” Martha snickered.
“You want to throw down?” hissed District 2. “You’ve got it, Copper. I’ll gut you at the Cornucopia.”
“Again with the serial villain. Have you got anything better? ‘Cause, if not, would you go away? We’re trying to eat here.” Rose made a brushing-off gesture, and District 2, eyes burning with hate, stalked away.
Martha grinned as Rose went back to her food. Lynda was goggling.
“Are you sure that was smart?” Lynda whispered. “She looks, um, big. And mean.”
Rose chewed thoughtfully. “Yes, but what’s really interesting is how easy it was to get under her skin. It’s like she’s not used to people fighting back. They’re trained in District 2, but I don’t think they’ve ever had to fight anyone who’s trying to kill them. Yeah, that’s interesting, all right.”
Lynda seemed shocked into silence, and they finished their meal quietly. Rose went back for seconds and discovered that the mashed squash was really very good, as was the spice cake. Finally, one of the trainers came roaring through to inform them that lunch break was over and they needed to get back to work.
As she cleared her tray from the table, Rose looked over at Martha, who was wolfing down the last of her meal.
“That was brave, what you did,” Rose told her, giving in to impulse. “Volunteering for your sister. It was really brave.”
Martha looked shocked at being spoken to directly, but she smiled as best she could around a mouthful of food. Rose noticed, for the first time, that she was wearing a necklace made of wooden beads with a little carved wooden bird at the center. Probably a district token, she thought.
The afternoon session was much like the earlier one. River taught her how to draw and shoot quickly, how to shoot while moving, hitting targets from different distances, even having Rose shoot from one of the climbing structures.
Rose liked those. They reminded her of the abandoned factory that had served as the neighborhood kids’ playground when she was younger. She’d been one of the best climbers, scurrying to the top ahead of the other kids. And these didn’t even come with the risk of tetanus.
There were also two actual trees to practice climbing on, and River sent her over to one of them wearing a bow and quiver. Climbing the trees was definitely different than climbing the metal structures, but Rose found the principle was the same. Stick to what looked strongest, mainly. She got about halfway up the taller of the trees before she decided it was too hazardous to go any farther.
There was a sudden shoosh and the tree rocked. Rose looked up to see Martha grinning down at her and realized the younger girl had leaped from the other tree to hers. District 7, she thought. I’ll bet she was climbing trees when she was still in diapers.
When Rose got back to River, the trainer touched a scar on Rose’s arm. “I’ve been meaning to ask where you got that.”
Rose rubbed at it self-consciously. “Knife fight. My ex-boyfriend’s psychotic new girlfriend had it in for me.” She pulled her shirt off one shoulder, revealing another scar. “She also gave me this. But I gave her something to remember me by, too.”
River nodded, expression inscrutable. “Did you call the Peacekeepers?”
Rose barked a laugh. “Why would I? They don’t care if a bunch of Factory kids are killing each other in the streets. You get in a fight, you do whatever you have to do to get out alive, go home, get patched up and don’t whine about it.”
There was silence for a moment. Then River said, “I can see why the Doctor thinks you’re worth my time. I’ll give you as much training as I realistically can, but you’ll have to practice shooting on your own every day, too. And I want you to hit every single wilderness-survival station here, including the knot-tying one. Understood?”
“Understood.” It made Rose feel better to have someone like River Song on her side.
She spent the rest of the afternoon learning to make useful strings from grasses and tie them into knots and snares. The trainer at the station was pleased to have such an attentive student and showed her how to improvise a fishing net, too.
Finally, training was over for the day and they were all more or less chased out of the gymnasium. Rose and Adam took an elevator with the District 10 tributes and a Peacekeeper. No one spoke.
Dinner was another quiet affair, partially because Rose was ravenous and couldn’t be bothered to answer anything Reina said to try to get conversation going. Adam was still sulking.
Then the Doctor asked, “Did anything happen worth noting at training?”
“Aside from Rose pissing off District 2? No,” said Adam.
The Doctor’s gaze immediately switched to Rose, who cursed Adam inwardly before explaining what had happened.
“She was being a bully,” Rose finished up. “I wasn’t going to just sit there and let her.”
“Hm,” grunted the Doctor. “She now knows you’re not a soft target, which means all the Careers will. There are good and bad things about that. What’s the sponsor situation?” He turned to Reina and Donna.
“We’ve a few strong prospects,” said Reina. “Depending on how these two do at the end of the week, I’m optimistic.”
Rose and Adam headed back to their rooms soon after. Rose grabbed him before he turned off toward his suite. “Why did you say that? It’s not your business.”
“You and the Doctor have your strategy, I have mine,” Adam said, and twisted his arm out of her grip.
Rose watched him go, not understanding what he was thinking. She went to her room and had a nice, long soak in her tub, which she thought might be the best thing about the Capitol. Afterward, she went to bed, but found herself unable to sleep. After over an hour, she gave it up and wandered back out to the common room.
Donna was sitting on the couch, reading and drinking a cup of tea. Rose was about to turn and leave when Donna’s voice reached her.
“Couldn’t sleep? I can’t blame you.” She set her book reader down. “Have a seat. Want some tea?”
Rose took a seat on the couch, curling up and hugging her knees. One of the white-clad attendants brought her a steaming cup.
“Thanks,” said Rose. “Hey, what’s your name?”
The girl looked startled and almost frightened. She looked over at Donna, who waved her away. Rose gave the older woman a confused look. “Is there something wrong with being friendly?”
“With them? Yes,” said Donna. “She’s an Avox. A criminal. Her tongue’s been mutilated so she can’t speak.”
Rose was horrified. “That’s-”
“-the way they do things here in the Capitol.” Donna’s look warned her off this line of conversation. “Don’t speak to them unless it’s to give an order.”
Rose heard the underlying message Donna was trying to get across, which was that some things weren’t safe to discuss. Not here. She swallowed what she thought of the Capitol’s criminal justice system and asked something else she’d been wondering about.
“Could you tell me about the Doctor? No one knows much about him. He just seems so . . .” she trailed off.
Donna nodded, though, as if she understood. “You might be able to get his story out of him someday, but it’s not mine to tell.”
“What about you, then?” Rose asked. “How did you win your Games?”
“Aren’t we inquisitive!” Donna chuckled, but there was an edge of disquiet to it. Nonetheless, she humored Rose. “I won because I had some help. She didn’t know she was helping me, and she certainly didn’t intend to help anyone but herself, but I’d have been dead if not for her.
“I didn’t find out until after the Games, watching the recap, what really happened. All I knew was that the Careers were dropping at an unusually fast rate. There was a big pack of them that year, the usual suspects from One, Two and Four, plus this giant from Ten and a ferocious girl from Five, of all places. Eight people running with the Career pack, one third of the field. More than that, really; they killed twelve tributes at the Cornucopia. So there were only four of us still in play who weren’t with them.
“We should’ve been goners. I was Field, did you know that? It gave me a bit of an edge with wilderness survival, and I was just trying to stay out of their way, but a funny thing kept happening. The cannon would blast, and I’d think it was the boy from Seven or the girls from Six and Eight. Then, at night, it would be the face of one of the Careers, and I couldn’t understand what was happening.
“Finally, at the end, with only four of us left, they flooded the arena with this thick mist that cameras could see through, but not the naked eye. There were all these noises, horrible screeches and growls. You couldn’t see what was making them, but they were forcing us all together. I heard the cannon go off twice, and I suddenly realized there was only one tribute left. Just one, and if I could get the drop on him or her, I’d win. I’d live.
“All I had as a weapon was this heavy mallet I’d picked up at the Cornucopia. Didn’t know how much good it would do me, but, suddenly, I could see something through the mist. It was the boy from Four, the only tribute left. He was short, but built like a brick. And he had his back turned to me.
“It took just one blow from my mallet to put him down. Just one. He had a knife, so I - I cut his throat, just to be sure. It was my only kill in the Games. Everyone else, I’d been able to avoid or chase off, but to win, I had to kill him.”
Donna fingered her teacup. “And it was only after that I found out how I’d won. It was the girl from One. She was a schemer. Manipulated the hell out of the other Careers. Killed one and blamed it on another tribute, played the two biggest boys against each other until they fought and one killed the other, poisoned the girl from Five by slipping nightlock berries into her food - you almost had to admire the way she went about it. Finally, the girl from Two got suspicious of her and slit her throat, but, by then, the Career alliance was shattered. They turned on each other like wild animals until there were only two of them left. The last four standing were me, the boys from Two and Four, and the girl from Eight. Four killed Two and Eight, and I killed him.
“And that was it,” she said. “If the girl from One hadn’t pulled all of her shenanigans, the Careers probably would’ve eventually slaughtered all of us. I held out as best I could, had a bit of luck and won. Remember that: The biggest, strongest and best-prepared aren’t always the winners. All it takes is for one thing to go wrong for them, and all their training won’t be able to help them.”
She patted Rose’s shoulder. “Go back to bed. Sleep deprivation does no one any good.”
“Thanks, Donna.” Rose set her empty teacup down and rose to leave. Just as she got to the hallway, Donna’s voice stopped her.
“Good for you, by the way.” Donna flipped her red hair. “Those bullies needed a bit of a takedown.”
Heart a bit lighter than before, Rose went off to bed.
Chapter 3