Rosemary

She was utterly exhausted and the only thing keeping her going was that Rye had been physically training the whole day, compared to her measly two hours. Her sweet big brother looked like he was about to pass out, but he kept going for her.

The first thing that Rye taught her about the bystaff was how to properly hold it. Shorter than a quarterstaff–and therefore, a parchment tube–her right hand would be placed at near the end of the staff, about a quarter of the way in. Her left hand would rest only four or five inches away from the other end. Next she was taught the fighting stance that he had learned from the trainer at the gym. She would bring her left hand toward her left hip, stand shoulder-width apart, and take a step backward with her right foot.

The bystaff was drastically different from a parchment tube. It was made out of light steel but still managed to be at least five pounds heavier than the tube. She used more strength moving it around and therefore got tired more quickly. Rye had her redo her stance and beginning swing over and over again until both he and Haymitch–who was watching from the couch–agreed that she could move on.

From there, Rye taught her different defensive and offensive movements. These were very similar to the moves she used in Parchment Pike, but she still had to get used to the weight. The the next hour, she practiced the offensive movements against Rye and only stopped when Haymitch told them that enough was enough.

"Dinner's soon," he drawled. "Go shower. You both stink."

He held his hand out for the bystaff and Rosemary handed it over, allowing him to sneak it back to wherever he stole it from.

Dinner was quiet that night, both Rosemary and Rye ready for bed. The adults chatted about random things, mainly drama throughout the Capitol, and once in a while Haymitch would insert some snarky comment that had them all laughing except for Effie, who would always end up offended, even if the comment had nothing to do with her.

Rosemary forced herself to eat dessert, wanting to try the decadent chocolate cheesecake that was presented to them by the avox. It was delicious and though she almost fell asleep in it, she knew that it was her new favorite food from the Capitol.

When the siblings went to bed, they promptly fell asleep, having no trouble like the previous night.

-

On the second day of training, the male from District 4 approached her at the edible plants station. His name was Gully and Gully meant 'giant'. His name certainly suited him; the 18-year-old was massive, but not quite as big as Xavier from Seven. Still, his personality made him seem even bigger than his physical stature.

"Rosemary, right?"

Rosemary nodded and looked back at the screen beneath her fingertips, studying each plant that popped up. She memorized what they looked like, if they were edible, what they could do as far as healing and medicine, and how toxic they could be.

She didn't know what Gully wanted, but he unnerved her.

"I heard that you haven't even looked at a weapon yet," he stated casually, clasping his hands behind his back. "What's up with that?"

"Weapons aren't my thing, I guess," Rosemary replied quietly. "Are you good with a trident, being from Four?"

"Nah, my family aren't fishing merchants," Gully leaned against the large computer screen, watching as she continued her learning. "My dad's a butcher and Mom's a teacher. We take the fish and skin them and cut them up to sell."

"Do you like that work?"

"Well, it makes me good with a knife. I could teach you, if you want."

Rosemary froze, her mind racing as she started to panic. She didn't want to offend Gully and make an enemy out of him, but she couldn't go other there and throw knives with him, either. She only just had a lesson with Haymitch that morning and she was dreadful. He got so frustrated with her that he banned her from throwing knives at all and to stick with stabbing people. She would humiliate herself in front of the Careers and though she was playing weak, she didn't want to be laughed at.

"Maybe another time?" she smiled shyly at him. "I just got into a groove here. I can teach you what I've learned, if you want?"

Gully smirked back at her. "I'll take you up on that offer, sweetheart."

An hour later, at lunch Rye sat down at their table with his tray of food and hissed, "Are you befriending every Career? Because if you are, let me know so I can be buddy-buddy with them too."

"They keep coming up to me," she whispered back, making sure that neither Kyler or Gully could hear them. "And I don't want to be rude to them because then they'll go for us first."

Rye took a bite of his cheeseburger, chewed and swallowed, before nodding. "That's a good point, actually." Then he winked at her. "And you could never be rude to anyone, Rosie. Except maybe me."

"You're my brother, I'm contractually obligated to be rude to you."

"You're not rude to Peeta."

"Who could be rude to Peeta? He's an angel."

"Another good point. You're on a roll today!"

-

Rye

That night, after practicing with the bystaff in their apartment, a quick shower, and meal, Rye and Rosemary headed up to the roof to relax. They weren't as tired as the day before and they used the rest of their energy to talk about the other Tributes.

While Rosemary had stuck to herself, with the exception of Kyler and Gully, Rye started speaking to Xavier. He had been right about the guy, he was a wizard with the ax and Rye knew he would be a great ally to have on their side. So, he introduced himself to Xavier and they started chatting. They got along pretty well and Rye was hopeful that Rosemary would be open to forming an alliance with him.

"I'm not opposed to it," Rosemary mused. "What if he turns on us, though? Would you be able to fight him off?"

"Hopefully it won't come to that," Rye avoided answering her second question because he knew that he was definitely not as strong as Xavier. He had a feeling that Rose knew that too. He quickly changed the subject. "Hey, have you and Haymitch started those lessons with the knives yet?"

"We had our first and last session this morning," Rosemary sighed, brushing away some of the hair that the wind blew in her face. "I was dreadful. He said I should just try stabbing people if there's nothing but a knife."

"Yikes," Rye tisked. "You know, you are kinda stabby."

Rosemary wrinkled her eyebrows and gave him a look. "What the hell does that even mean, Rye?"

"You almost stabbed Dad in the leg that one time."

"That was a complete accident," Rose huffed. "You tripped me."

"I don't recall that part, honestly," he snickered, remembering it quite fondly. "Anyway, the girl from District 1..."

"Shimmer."

"Yeah, she's pretty good with a bow." he had some run-ins with the careers as well, while they were sizing him up to see if he wanted in on their alliance. "Biff is into her, but she's not into him."

If Rosemary thought it was weird that he knew this information, she didn't show it. It was probably because she eavesdropped on people all the time and called it observation.

"What's Biff's weapon?"

"Spear."

"Okay, what about the girl from Two? Cleo, which means to celebrate."

"Huh, that's interesting. Well, Cleo is a jack-of-all-trades, if you will. I've seen her with a sword, throwing stars, knives, and even a sickle."

"A sickle?" Rosemary sat up in shock. Rye simply nodded. "Oh my stars."

"Yup. Okay, spill about Kyler, then."

"He told me about his little sister, she's dead," Rosemary frowned. "He said he felt bad for us because we're both in the same Games."

Rye hummed. "That's sad and somewhat thoughtful of him. I think he's a good guy. He helped me try out a sword real quick. The kid's a master at it."

"They must put something in the water at those training schools in District 1 and 2," Rosemary shook her head and looked up into the night sky. "I wish we could see the stars."

Rye found himself wishing that too. Due the the bright lights of the city, no stars could be seen. It was a shame, really. He knew that seeing the stars would have comforted Rosemary and he had to admit, they would help him too. Maybe if he looked at the stars hard enough he could pretend they were at home, on the roof with their little brother squished in between them.

When he drifted off to sleep that night, he dreamed that he was right back there, listening to Rosemary telling Peeta stories about random constellations in the night sky.

-

The last day of training passed by quickly now that it was their last day to learn. Rye spent the whole time with Hugo, the bystaff expert, and when he was forced to take breaks, he wandered over to the fire station and the edible plants. He continued growing his alliance with Xavier and stayed on the Careers' good side, just in case he and Rosemary were desperate in the arena and needed to ally with them to get through the day.

Sometimes, he watched Rosemary go station to station. She spent a lot of time trying to climb and after two hours of persistent work, she was actually pretty good. When all the Tributes gathered together to go through the obstacle course before lunch, he heard Arielle from Four and Cleo from Two lament that she was actually pretty decent at clearing the course in a short amount of time.

After lunch, Rye found himself standing by the knife throwing station. He was taking a break from the bystaff and was going to try learning about snares and traps, but he was distracted when he saw Rosemary throwing knives with a Career beside her.

Gully from Four was teaching her how to throw knives and really, Rose sucked just as much as she told him the night before. None of the knives pierced the target and Biff, Cleo, and Shimmer were hooting at her, making fun of her lack of skill. To Gully's credit, Rye saw that he really did want to teach Rose how to throw the knives, but he was getting caught up by the judgment of his fellow Careers and was quickly losing his patience.

"Rose." Rye called for her, voice flat with disapproval, not at her, but at the teenager beside her. He glared at Gully as Rose set down the throwing knives and walked toward him, fists clenched and cheeks flushed red from embarrassment.

"Come on," he wrapped his arm around her. "Let's go lift some weights."

Haymitch told her to stay away from the bystaff, but he didn't say another about showing off her strength.

Rosemary calmed down as they lifted some weights and so did he. He wished he was throwing around sacks of flour, though, rather than the lump of metal. It wasn't nearly as familiar, but at least the weight was close. Once he saw the Careers notice how strong Rosemary could be, he felt less angry. He was protective over Rose and he didn't protect her enough at home. He wasn't going to let a bunch of asshole kids make her feel bad about herself.

-

Rosemary

On the fourth day of training the Tributes' private sessions with the Gamemakers began. They had all the Tributes sit in a large waiting room, separated by district, and had them wait until their names were called. The people in the lower numbered districts were lucky, as they didn't have to wait long. Rosemary and Rye, on the other hand, had to wait for hours.

One by one, the siblings watched a male Tribute called forth and then fifteen minutes later, their district partner was called. None of them came back to the room.

The whole time they waited, Rosemary wanted to puke from the nerves taking up room in her stomach. She clutched at her knees, her palms already worn out, and dug her nails into her skin, trying to ground herself. Next to her, Rye seemed as cool as a cucumber. It didn't surprise her, honestly. When they had spoken about their sessions with the Gamemakers, he knew exactly what he was going to do and he was confident in his skills.

Rosemary on the other hand, did not know what she was going to do and she was not confident in her skills, especially with the bystaff. Rye had tried his best to teach her every evening after official training hours were over, but she never got to his level. She could defend herself, yes, but could she defend Rye if it came down to that?

"It's gonna be okay, Rosie," Rye's voice was low and soothing as he tried to calm her down, prying her hands off her knees and sighing when he saw the nail marks on her skin. Automatically, Rosemary's knee started bouncing, trying to release the anxiety from her body a different way. "Just show them all of your skills. The plants, the camouflage, the bystaff...Remember what Haymitch said this morning?"

That morning, while they were eating breakfast, Haymitch had given them tips for their sessions. He informed them that now was the time to show off their skills that they'd been holding back in training. Rosemary had felt dismayed at his advice; how was she going to impress the Gamemakers when they'd been watching her work her skills out at the stations for the last three days? The only thing she held back was learning the bystaff and she didn't know if that was enough to earn her a good score.

Nevertheless, she inhaled and exhaled over and over again for the next minute until some of her useless nerves calmed down. "Okay. Sorry."

"Don't apologize. Just show them what you're made of."

Claudius Templesmith's voice blared from the speakers in the ceiling. "District 12. Rye Mellark."

"Good luck," Rosemary whispered to her brother and he stood up and took a deep breath.

"You too," he gave her a big grin and walked from the room, oozing confidence.

Fifteen minutes later, her name was called.

"District 12. Rosemary Mellark."

Rosemary inhaled deeply and stood, her legs shaking as she walked out of the waiting room and into the gym where her session with the Gamemakers would take place. Whatever Rye had done during his session, there was no trace of him in the gym. They must clear it out between each Tribute.

Okay, Rose. You've got this, she encouraged herself.

All of the confidence she had managed to build up for herself fell flat when she saw that the Gamemakers were distracted. They'd had a long day of private sessions and they were bored, drunk, and yearning for home.

She decided to go with what she knew best. First, she stopped by the camouflage station, painting her hand like the decoy berry bush they had erected. When she was done with that, she moved onto the edible plants station, where she took a lightning fast quiz that they provided for Tributes. She aced each plant and then went onto snares and traps.

None of the Gamemakers were paying attention.

All at once, fury built in her stomach and ignited her veins. The audacity that these people had to uproot her from her life, sentence her to die, and be entertained by her death, and yet they couldn't pay attention to her for fifteen minutes while she tried to show off her survival skills.

Her fury destroyed whatever shyness she had in the moment. "Excuse me?!"

Her voice was shaky but loud and the anger was very audible. Misha Triplet was the first to turn to look at her, followed by more and more of the Gamemakers surrounding him.

"Can I have your attention for at least one moment?" she asked once all eyes were on her.

Misha Triplet cleared his throat, eyebrows so high on his forehead that they disappeared into his white fringe. "Go ahead, Miss Mellark."

Rosemary smiled tightly and redid the camouflage, plant quiz, and snares. In the two minutes she had left, she grabbed the bystaff from the weapon stand and went up to one of the instructors who were present so Tributes could show off their combat skills.

She took her starting stance, inhaled, and swung hard. The instructor had a surprised look on his face as he ducked away from her blow. She was fast, though, and pivoted, tapping him on his other side. When the instructor reached for her, she rolled onto her back through his long legs, popped up quickly, and hit his back. They went back and forth for a little while then, until the rest of her time was up.

She was breathing heavily and sweating buckets as she shook hands with the instructor and stuffed the bystaff back in its place on the weapon stand. She glanced at the Gamemakers; some of them were turning away now that her performance was done, but a few looked impressed with her. Misha Triplet was one of those people.

Rosemary clenched her teeth together, still angry, and left the gym.

-

Throughout the three training days, no one but the Gamemakers saw the Tributes. Viewers weren't allowed to see what they had been up to, and for the last few days they were mulled over by reruns of the Tribute Parade and Opening Ceremony with commentary from Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith. There were interviews with Victors from past years and the Tributes' stylists, but it still wasn't enough to curb the Capitolites' appetites. They wanted to know more about their Tributes.

The private session with the Gamemakers was created for that very reason. After the Gamemakers went over their notes from the week and the sessions, they'd enter an average score for each Tribute. A 1 was the lowest possible score and a 12 was the highest. The score let the audience know which Tributes were promising and gave them a starting place for placing their bets on who they thought would win the Games.

Now that her private session was over, Rosemary felt better. She wasn't that worried about her score. As long as it wasn't low enough that no one would sponsor her, she'd be fine with a mid-range score. Honestly, she was more concerned about Rye's score. He would do fine with a low score because he'd be able to charm the pants off sponsors, but he was genuinely good and would mostly score high. This was all that she was hoping for; Rye needed sponsors more than she did if he was going to make it out of the Games alive.

Still, she was sure that the skills she showed the Gamemakers would get her at least a six.

Waiting for the scores to be announced was unsettling. She paced in front of the couch where Rye and Haymitch sat watching some Capitol soap opera. Finally, when Haymitch got annoyed with her for interrupting his show, he forced her to sit down. This didn't calm her nerves at all, so she was banished to her room to take a hot shower before dinner.

The whole time she washed herself, she stressed about the Pre-Games Interview that would take place in two nights on stage, in front of the whole Capitol, with Caesar Flickerman. Everyone would be staring at her and she had absolutely no idea how she was going to present herself to Caesar and the audience. She didn't talk much even when she was with people she was comfortable with. How on earth was she going to get through a five-minute interview with a complete stranger?

By the time she got out of the shower, Cinna, Vina, and Larkin had arrived for dinner. The seven of them sat down to eat big, juicy steaks, roasted fingerling potatoes with garlic, fine rolls, and seared brussel sprouts. While they ate, they spoke about Rosemary and Rye's sessions.

Rye was animated as he retold his private session, speaking about how he bested the instructor even when he started to really fight back. According to him, Rye busted his face open, so Rosemary assumed that a new instructor was sent in for her session.

"Oh, and I yelled at the Gamemakers," he finished casually, sipping on his wine.

Rosemary slumped into her seat with relief. At least she wasn't the only one to yell at the Gamemakers to get their attention. Now there was less of a chance to get into trouble.

"You did what?" Effie gasped, appalled, while Haymitch chuckled under his breath. "Rye Mellark!"

"Well, they weren't paying attention to me!" Rye defended himself, his voice raising a little in volume. "I'm pretty sure they were playing some kind of drinking game!"

"I think they were finished when I came in," Rosemary reported before grimacing. "And I yelled at them, too."

Effie looked as if she could faint right then and there. "Rosemary, I expected better of you!"

Rosemary just shrugged at her and shared a look with Rye, neither of them regretting their actions.

"You need to calm down, girly," Haymitch waved his napkin in Effie's face. She ripped it out of his hand and folded it neatly, setting it back by his plate. "They did the right thing. They're supposed to give each Tribute the same amount of attention, regardless of district number."

"They're already throwing us into the Games," Rye added on, encouraged by Haymitch's approval. "What else can they do to us?"

"If it helps, none of them looked angry," Rosemary piped up. "Granted, that could be because Rye had already yelled at them..."

Rye nodded thoughtfully. "Honestly, that's valid."

"Yelling at the Gamemakers or not, I'm sure you two did fantastic!" Vina agreed, giving the siblings a proud smile. "If they don't give their attention to you willingly, you take it for yourself. This isn't a game, it's life or death."

Touched by his comment, Rosemary sent him a warm smile. She truly appreciated how their stylists treated them like human beings instead of animals waiting to be slaughtered. Everyone made noises of agreement, even Effie who was still adjusting to being a nice person.

"But their scores..." Effie lamented, still musing their little acts of rebellion.

Larkin waved her off. "You know scores only matter if they're high or very low. Anything better than a five is good for sponsors. Remember that Morphling from a decade and a half back? She scored a two but still won."

Effie gave in. "Fine. At least you didn't throw your weapon at them."

Rye snickered and soon Rosemary and the others except for Effie joined in. They laughed for a couple of minutes, Haymitch making some jokes to spur on their amusement.

"Rosemary," Cinna spoke up, turning the attention to her when they finally calmed down. "What did you do during your session?"

"I had to redo my camouflage and edible plants test because they weren't paying attention, but I think I did really well with both of them. That took up most of my time. I made a couple of snares and then the last two minutes I used the bystaff to spar with an instructor."

"Sounds like you both did good," Haymitch nodded his approval as the avox served them dessert, a tall strawberry trifle filled with thick whipped cream, fresh strawberries, and soft sponge cake.

Rosemary smiled at him and dug into her cake. It was delicious, of course, just like all of the food served in the Capitol.

After they finished eating dessert, they gathered in the living room, spread out on the couch and the matching arm chairs, to watch Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith announce each Tributes' score.

Biff and Shimmer from District 1 both got tens, and so did Cleo from Two. When Kyler's promotional portrait–that they were all forced to take one morning before training had begun–popped up on the screen, Rosemary sat up straighter, smiling when she saw he got an eleven. Arielle received the lowest score of the Careers, bringing in a nine that was still fantastic.

The Tributes from the outlier districts did pretty well this year, which was out of the norm. Even the twelve year old boy from District 8 got a six, which was amazing for someone his age. There was a lot of competition this year, and neither Rosemary or Rye had realized it didn't all come from the Career districts until then.

Xavier, the tribute from District 7 that Rye had formed some sort of friendship with, received an eleven. That was the best score that a Tribute from Seven had ever gotten, according to Claudius. Rosemary smiled at Rye, knowing that he had picked well when it came to a potential alliance.

Finally, after Jesi from Eleven scored a five, Rye's name was called.

"Rye Mellark, from District 12 has scored a ten," Claudius announced.

Rye let out a shout of excitement, Rosemary beamed with pride, Effie gasped excitedly, and Haymitch sloppily punched Rye's shoulder in congratulations. Larkin gave Rye a hug, telling him how proud she was of him and Cinna and Vina gave their congratulations too.

"That's amazing, Rye," Rosemary wrapped an arm around him when he retook his seat on the couch next to her.

Then, it was her turn.

"And last but not least, Rosemary Mellark from District 12," Caesar paused dramatically and grinned. "Has scored an eight."

Rosemary was shocked but extremely pleased with the score he had received. Everyone surrounded her and gave her just as much love as they gave Rye. Rye picked her up and spun her around, Haymitch rubbed his knuckles on the crown of her head, making her hair staticky, Effie whooped and started crying about how proud she was of them, and Cinna, Vina, and Larkin all gave her tight hugs.

They had just earned the highest scores that District 12 had seen since the second Quarter Quell when Haymitch Abernathy emerged as Victor.