His refusal to learn how to braid hair was expected but she still thought he'd need to learn sooner or later. Of course, he had selected the "later" option and for now, she let him off the hook and would let Prim do it before they left. By now, both girls could braid hair pretty easily but somehow braiding their own hair did post more of a challenge as opposed to pleasure, like when they had the rare "girly" comment about boys or their lives. Katniss would give almost anything to go back in the past to when they barely got by every week, living on scraps. At least back then, no one was actively trying to murder them, and that their own survival was in their own hands, no one was seemingly pulling strings around their surroundings. 

She headed out and rubbed her eyes, trying to tell herself this wasn't a dream or even a nightmare, that it was just real and they had to get through it. The day they had been dreading, the one she had been dreading for months, had finally arrived and she wanted to be ready to give everything back that had been ripped from her hands. She was ready to show everyone that the Capitol couldn't control them, couldn't do whatever they wanted without their share of the consequences. And in Katniss's book, they had a lot of debt to collect and she was more than eager to throw it back in their faces. "Hey." She greeted the others and looked over at Prim, pleased to see her sister was also taking the final morning in stride.

Prim had come such a long way and Katniss owed it to Haymitch and Gale and even Effie. But most of all, it was Prim who picked herself up and kept moving forward when Katniss had been doubting her. But Prim was becoming tenacious and that would serve them well in a few hours. As her older sister, Katniss wanted to celebrate Prim's growth but knew their time was limited as it was, still she would do her best pass along her praise while they had time together. She sat next to her sister at the table and served herself a good portion of food but not any amount that would make her bloated or tired. "I am really proud of you Prim." She said as she set down the glass of orange juice she had just poured for herself. "You have done so much and I know you have the skills to make it to the end." She said.

Hearing Prim say those three words would give him the will to move any sort of mountains if need be. Gale knew their love would be put to the test very soon but he didn't worry about that. The plan was ambitious but now they had a better picture of how things would go. All they had to do was find each other and stick together. He got ready once Prim had taken her leave. He got showered in record time and got dressed in the regulated uniform and found it oddly comfortable. He would have thought they would have given them hardly anything and then drop them in some frozen wasteland. That would be too easy of course. 

As he headed out, he found he was the first to do so. He was about to get some breakfast when Effie stopped him and motioned him off towards where she and Peeta had their rooms. After some walking around the large suite, they got to her room and of course, it had ungodly amounts of make up and rigs and outfits, too many for the boy to bother counting. Effie went over to her dresser and pulled out a necklace. The chain was black and strudy, the links larger than most with a small steel falcon with golden eyes taking flight, both wings expanding. She then began to sniffle and he pulled her into a hug as the woman began to babble about how sorry she was for all of them and how she would do everything she could to keep everyone safe and how much she admired their District. Gale kissed her cheek and stepped back.

"Thank you, Effie." He said and put it on and slipped it under his tight black top. He grabbed a tissue and handed it to her and she said she'd fix her makeup and she'd be right out. Gale nodded and headed out and made it way up to the table. Soon Haymitch, Effie, Peeta and the ladies joined them. He couldn't ignore the nerves inside his stomach. It was as if little bugs were flying around, fighting to escape from within. He touched the small bump where the falcon was and tried to reassure himself. He looked at Prim who was sitting diagonally from him. "How much time do we have?" He asked and looked from Effie, to Peeta who set down his fork and swallowed his hash browns. He said they had less than an hour and suddenly the bugs sprang to life again. "Thanks."

"The hovercraft will take everyone at once, you'll have time with Peeta before take off." Effie said, trying to show the four that there wasn't anything to worry about.

But there was a lot to worry about.

"They'll put trackers in our arms." Katniss spoke up. "They did it last year." She remembered, it had hurt.

Probably on purpose.

Even though Peeta knew the general layout, he couldn't give much away, as much as he wanted to. "I know you're going to want to run straight for the weapons, don't." Peeta said, knowing every mentor would have a similar tactic, expect for those who were bloodthirsty and fine with killing. Peeta knew Gale and Primrose needed to be eased into that part, if possible. If they charged into the mess, they would surely be killed in the chaos. "Supplies are put closer to you than the weapons, if you can get a backpack, do it but it's not necessary." He said. "Run the other way, find someplace tall and get your bearings, try to find the other allies." He said and stopped himself, knowing Snow could be listening in. Shit. "The order everyone is in, is supposedly random but...you four need to meet up fast but don't let that give you tunnel vision either. You all can survive on your own if needed." He said firmly.

"If you can locate each other within the first day or two, that's good." He nodded. "But like I said, don't run around looking for them when you could be running into a trap or end up missing someone who is hiding and looking for Tributes who have one thing on their mind: shelter, fire, water, friends." He gave examples before continuing. "Those people die quick because they forget about their surroundings. Like I said, figure where you are and what and who is around you. Forage quickly, keep moving but be careful." 

Gale tried to take it all in but it was still a lot. "Alright..." He looked to Prim and Katniss, remembering the song they could use to signal each other. They couldn't tell Peeta know but it would surely come up and he'd get the idea.

"It's not as impossible as Peeta is making it sound." Katniss spoke up, knowing Haymitch would want to add his own two cents in now. She took a small bite of her toast and then a large drink.