The sparring match between Katniss and Johanna had quickly turned into a full blown fight, but Haymitch wasn't surprised by that. Since the two had met the night before in the elevator, it was obvious that the two women didn't like one another. It was a shame too because Haymitch thought that they had a lot to offer in their own respects and an alliance between them was something to reckon with. Although, he was the one who had encouraged Johanna to take Katniss up on her offer to spar, so in a way, it was his fault that the girl from District 12 was currently doubled over with the wind knocked out of her. She had handled a lot worse, though, and a punch to the stomach was nothing compared to nearly being killed by an explosion in the arena the year before.

As Katniss finally got Johanna on the ground, Haymitch cheered with the rest of the crowd. Fights between tributes weren't prohibited, as they were supposed to save their aggressions for the arena, but this was clearly something that needed to happen. Looking around, he saw both the Peacekeepers and the Capitol trainers exchanging worried glances as the fight between the women continued to become more intense. Katniss was already being watched by Snow and Haymitch was slightly worried about what kind of consequences she would face if anything happened to Johanna. The Capitol loved to paint people as something they weren't, and Haymitch knew that Snow was eager to sway public opinion about the girl who had the potential to change everything. 

Even with that in his mind, Haymitch was still proud of Katniss for not backing down. She was doing well, back on her feet and handling each punch Johanna delivered while throwing back some of her own. Anyone who said that Katniss Everdeen was useless without her bow and a quiver full of arrows could now eat their words, and it would be that much sweeter when she won. As Katniss finally got Johanna on the ground, Haymitch cheered again. The support for each girl was varied between the districts, but mostly, people just enjoyed a good show. That could be said for the Games themselves as well.

The various cheers of the crowd from the other side of the room were distracting and Prim broke form a few times to see what was going on. Through the many bodies gathered around Katniss and Johanna, there wasn't much to see but Prim assumed that if anything too bad happened, it would be broken up. Instead of worrying about whether or not Katniss could handle herself, Prim refocused her attention on Gale. She thought it was nice of him to help her with the weights when he could have been doing anything else and preparing himself further for the arena. “Are you sure about that?” she asked, laughing softly when Gale spoke of her surprising people. She didn't necessarily believe that he and Katniss had faith in her either, and she was still worried that she would slow the group down and possibly get them killed.

When they were done with the weights, Prim's arms felt sore but she had at least made a bit of progress. Cardio would be easier on her, and she agreed to a little friendly competition between she, Gale, Yelven and Iva. The small redhead seemed intimidated by Gale's assumption, but she wore a sunny smile and agreed to participate as well. “Yelven looks faster than all of us,” Iva said and began to stretch out her legs.

Prim began to stretch as well, loosening up her thigh and calf muscles before the race started. “I bet I'll bet you,” she said with a smirk, looking over at Gale. It wasn't likely, as he was much taller than her with longer legs and far more endurance, but Prim thought it might be fun to rile him up a little bit. She had never competed against Gale in anything, and the only time they had done anything that required athletics was the year before when he had been slowly teaching her how to hunt. Every so often she would bet him that he couldn't take down a certain bird on a tall branch, or that his traps would only catch one rabbit, but she had always been harmless teasing.

Johanna's back hit the mat with a hard thud, and her breath seemed to be caught in her chest for a moment, but she still managed to catch Katniss's punch. The two were now caught in a stalemate, but Johanna smirked as the girl on top of her thought to respond to her previous comments. “Is she stronger than my ax?” Johanna asked, a teasing edge to her voice. “I don't think her neck would hold up to that.” There was no humor to her voice, nothing that said the older woman was joking, or just trying to break the younger girl. In the games, threats were always to be taken seriously. 

Suddenly, Johanna jerked free of Katniss's grasp and threw a punch toward her face. Her aim was off and Johanna's fist ended up knocking against the younger girl's collar bone. She was still pinned beneath her, which hadn't been the plan. “And don't forget,” she went on to taunt Katniss further, “Haymitch isn't always going to be around to defend you.” 

The crowd had grown louder when Johanna was pinned, and it was impossible to hear what either woman was saying, but Haymitch knew that it couldn't have been anything friendly. He glanced back toward the guards and saw that they had changed their stance and were prepared to pull Katniss and Johanna apart if necessary, which it definitely seemed like it was going to be. There was still merit to the altercation, though and even if Katniss didn't win, it would boost her fearless and potentially unpredictable reputation and that would make the other tributes possibly think twice before messing with her in two weeks time. If no one wanted to take on Katniss directly, she had a greater chance of making it to the end.