Hello everyone :) Good to see some people have glanced at this story but I kinda wish more people took an interest to it. This chapter focuses more on the other characters this story has to offer. I'll admit, they're a little silly but they're my little silly characters :) I would have uploaded this a little earlier but I went to North Carolina for a week. Now I'm going to Houston Texas soon. I have chapter 4 already typed up but I need to proofread it like I have the others, then after that I'll be exceptionally slow cause I have to write everything up. Anyway-
I don't own the Hunger Games or else Cato would have been the winner and I don't own Black by Kari Kimmel which is a pretty kickass song. But, I do own my characters :)
Black by Kari Kimmel
-Logan: District 7 Tribute
I'm woken from my unconsciousness by sunlight and I give a lazy smile, my eyes still closed. I roll over, my arms outstretched but to my surprise I find no body to hug, no trace of Marilyn in sight. That's when I open my eyes and remember that just yesterday I had been Reaped for the Hunger Games, where I have a 1 in 24 chance of ever coming out alive again. I groan but reluctantly drag my naked self to the bathroom, a nice hot shower awaiting me. Just like I expected, the buttons are a lot more numerous and complicated than the train's. After minutes of trial and error I get it working, finding the same pine-mint mixture I had adored on the train.
Once I'm dried off I get on some stretchy pants and a simple grey shirt along with some good looking leather shoes that I can't help but envy. They would be really nice in Distirct 7, but I can tell it's a luxury no one there could afford. Deeming myself ready I head out, sitting down at the table and picking out food from the breakfast buffet.
Elissa Banks, Britannia Meyer, Clarissa Merope, Janus, and Clarissa's stylist soon join me. "Okay, do you guys wanna be trained separately or together?" Elissa questions us, glancing back and forth. "Seperately," Clarissa informs, much to me and Elissa's surprise. Elissa quickly smooth's out her expression and nods, beckoning Clarissa to follow her into a more secluded spot for their talk. Clarissa gets up with the help of Janus and Britannia then the two disappear down some passageway on our floor.
"How did I look?" I ask my stylist as I took a bite of egg, wondering what they thought of our chariot ride. Janus gives a lazy shrug, "It was okay. Nothing special." I give the curtest of nods and finish up my food. Elissa did say she got sponsors, but of course she could just be saying that and trying to boost our morale…
Clarissa comes out soon and informs me Elissa is waiting for me. I get up, cracking my back in the process, and lumber over, the food having filled me up comfortably. As soon as I enter Elissa starts assaulting me with questions.
"Okay, tell me what you can do," she spits out, her expression serious.
Pausing, I think for a moment before answering. "I can handle axes well, I can read the sun and recognize a few plants. Um… I work out a lot so I'm strong and I have good stamina," I tell her. Elissa gives a nod, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Not bad, but what if there is no axes in the area? Hmmm, what will you do then?" she questions, looking almost smug.
I frown. For some bizarre reason that thought did not cross my mind. "Uh, use my fists?"
Elissa smirks and makes a harsh buzzing sound, "Wrong answer. I want you to practice on snares, other weapons, and learn to identify as many plants as possible. Some camoflauge wouldn't hurt either, your height makes you stick out like a sore thumb. Learn how to make fire too, it's important to cook food and purify water."
I nod, my mind sifting through it all so I can remember it. Elissa gives me a smile, "Now go with Britannia, she'll take you and Clarissa up to the Training Center. Don't get into any fights, don't antagonize anyone, and tell me about your day when you get back. And I mean tell me everything- stations you visited, weapons you used, tributes you interacted with. Now scat."
I send her a grin and get up, hurrying after Britannia and Clarissa who are already stepping into the elevator which had at some point gone down to our floor. "Be on time every day at 10 AM sharp. Elissa also told me to tell you two not to show off any special skills you may possess. Make yourself a surprise when you get to the Gamemakers and the Hunger Games! Now good luck!" Britannia squeals good-naturedly at us.
It's a little bit before 10 but we still find ourselves the last tributes to arrive. The room is a giant gym, filled with all sorts of equipment and survival stations, dummies and trainers within easy reach.
Seeing the rest of the tributes staring over at us I quickly jog over, finding myself standing by the stocky brown haired District 11 guy. Clarissa joins shortly after, having paused at the entrance for some reason. I start listening to the head instructor, Atlas, as he gives off the list of rules in the Training Center.
-Peri, District 4 Tribute
I can't help but roll my eyes at the District 7 tributes. While the knocked up one had waited patiently to get her district number pinned to her outfit the idiotic hulk of a human being bypassed it, probably not even noticing it. I can't help but smirk as a trainer notices the mishap and quickly slaps a 7 on his back, the tribute finally noticing and sheepishly apologizing.
This is the guy I have to watch out for? Christ. While the adult in charge, Atlas, tells us what to do I use this useless time to examine my competition.
I can't help but give out a soft sigh as I realize that its probably better to remember these guys names instead of referring them as that guy or that girl from that district. Most of the tributes are paying attention to the speech but I catch a few like myself checking out the other tributes. That crazy one, the District 5 boy who volunteered, catches my eye and sends me a large grin.
I can't suppress the shudder that runs through my body. That guy seriously freaks me out.
Now I may be a career but most of the guys here and a few of the girls have a lot more muscle mass on them than I do. Then again my brother calls me the human stick. Both District 2 could probably chop me in half, along with Mr Smiley from 5, Lumber Giant, and the quiet white kid from 11. They're all strong, something I am not without a weapon or even my wits.
Atlas dismisses us and I quickly find my way over to the tributes from Districts 1, 2, and my fellow partner from 4. Another tribute lingers though. "Hey, beat it," the tan District 2 male snarls at the loner. The mystery tribute is none other than Smiley, the creepy District 5 boy. Scarily enough, he seems to brighten at the career's threat. "Can I join you guys?" he asks hopefully, beaming.
This throws meat-head off, his wolfy amber eyes both cautious and pretentious. He glances back at the rest of us for confirmation but gets none. Shrugging, he turns to the boy, "Prove yourself in the arena and we'll think about it."
The boy beams and nods, walking off jovially to the nearest station. "Ugh, he totally creeps me out," the stunningly attractive bombshell from 1 voices, looking as unnerved as I feel. Her district partner shrugs, putting his hair up in a ponytail. God, his hair is longer than hers; is that some sort of District 1 fashion statement?
"Let's go find a station then we can introduce ourselves," he decides. It's a fair enough decision and we all agree, heading over to the weapons station. Thanks to the plan, I soon learn that tall, blonde, and bangable is named Nicole and that her young, long haired partner is named Jackson. The loud tanned boy with wolf eyes is Sparrow and his cold partner is Minerva, or Minnie for short. My own quiet partner is named Adele.
"So, what about you?" Sparrow leers, grinning mischievously at me. I can't help but notice his exceptionally sharp canine teeth, though unlike some of the Capitolites, his is natural. I send him a frown, leaning back away from his teeth, "Peri Sorenson, District 4." He gives a low whistle, "Wow, talk about formal. Get that stick out of your ass and lets go."
I send him an irritated look. Usually I'm a pretty happy, laid back guy. I may live in a career district, and even possibly have trained as a career, but it was more of a back-up policy, a plan B if something went wrong. Seeing how I got Reaped, it was the smart thing to do.
Sparrow grabs a large broadsword while Nicole takes a much thinner and lighter weighted sword. Minnie brushes by me, heading for the knives which leaves me, Jackson, and Adele unsure of what to do. Jackson bites his lip but darts after Minnie, muttering about how knife throwing must be similar to knife juggling. Wait, what….?
Before I can dwell on that much further I make a quick decision and follow Adele to the spears station. I grab one, making sure it's perfectly balanced for my taste. As I get familiar with the weapon I glance over at Adele. Its clear that both her and Jackson aren't true careers, though Jackson could've become one if he was given the right amount of time.
Shaking those thoughts away, I bring the spear back, my legs bringing me into a prancing skip. I arch forward and throw the spear like you would a javelin, watching it arch forward and embed itself into a dummy's chest, piercing it's ribcage from a good enough distance.
I end up spending a lengthy amount of time at the spear station, relearning the craft while at the same time sharpening my skills. As I pause to wipe my hair away I decide on checking on my fellow careers. Sparrow is joyfully hacking away at some dummies while Jackson is swinging around a sword and far off Nicole is trying her best at the archery station.
As I watch, I notice that she's terrible with a bow and arrow. The other tribute at the station, the District 11 guy, seems thoroughly amused at her efforts, finally getting tired of her pathetic attempts as he strings up a large wooden bow. He aims, pulling the feathered arrow back, and lets it go, sending the arrow directly into its forehead. Nicole fumes at the boy, clearly angry at the way he handled the weapon with ease, and she shoves the bow at him, stalking off to the snare station and passing the District 7 guy over by the gymnastics station who was currently doing chin ups.
I'm jolted back to my senses as Minnie places a tiny hand over my snow colored arm. "We're checking out the axes. Sparrow wants to try to get District 7 tribute to join us. He thinks it's better to have that guy as a friend instead of an enemy."
I can't help but agree and I put my spear back, following Minnie over to the other careers who have gathered around the gymnastics station. Watching him I note that this kid is absolutely massive. At 6'05 I'm considered pretty tall but this kid towers over even me. He also has about twice as much muscle as Sparrow who would be the heftiest guy here.
Sparrow whispers something to Nicole and she reluctantly agrees, walking over to the boy with a sudden swagger in her step. She bats her eyes at him and smiles, saying in a low seductive voice, "Wow, you sure are strong."
Her flirting catches his attention and he glances down at us, muscles taut as his chin was kept above the bar. "Your name is Morgan, right?" Nicole asks sweetly. "Logan," he grunts out, lowering himself for another chin up.
Nicole smiles, her cobalt blue eyes half lidded. "Okay, Logan," she purrs out, tracing a well-manicured finger along his chest and down to his waist. He freezes, muscles rigid. Nicole gave off a high pitched giggle, "We all just wanna chat." Logan warily lets go, just now noticing the rest of us, and he drops down to our level. Even then, we still have to tip our heads up to meet him while he has to crane his neck down.
"Logan, certainly a man of your stance is one not to mess with. How would you like to join the careers?" Nicole asks, practically purring out his name. Logan seems surprised at the offer, his green eyes widening slightly. Or maybe it was just her tone of voice affecting him.
"Hey man, you don't have to decide now. We're also wondering if you could show us some tips on axes," Sparrow cuts in, lessoning the tension and pointing a finger over at the station. Logan seems to soften up at the offer, looking over to the station wistfully. "I haven't been to the axes yet….," he glanced back at the chin up bar but gave a reluctant nod. "Fine, I'll go with you guys."
It's just baby steps but it sure is something. With our new pal in tow, we head over to the axe station, letting him lead the way. Nicole and Sparrow are grinning like idiots over some plan of theirs while Jackson and Adele seem skittish about this. Minnie on the other hand just looks bored.
Logan grabs one of the huge axes with ease, examining the weapon which was longer than most of us, besides me and Sparrow. "I haven't used one as a weapon, but I have used it against trees," Logan told us, gently sliding his thumb across the blade. His thumb comes away bright red and he grins, satisfied.
Logan nods to us, "Plant your feet firmly on the ground, swing your body, and have the momentum connect with the tree. The real endurance and strength is having to swing it repeatedly in the same place. Beginners will get tired easily so don't get frustrated when you start huffing."
His earlier light grip turns firm and he turns to a block of wood, setting one out that is about as wide as my calves. He hefts the axe over his head, then with one fluid motion brings it down, slamming the blade into the middle of the wood. The lumber cracks easily and is send flying, almost hitting Adele who quickly jerks out of the way. "There," he said, kicking the other split piece of wood which didn't fly as far. Checking the axe he added, "You want to be careful that you don't dull the blade.
Seeing how easy he split some wood that was about the same thickness as my leg, I'm a lot more cautious of his abilities which seem to be strength and axes.
For a short amount of time our little group humors Logan as we try to handle the axes. It's clear that none of us can use them properly as we either don't have the strength to swing it with enough force or that we don't have the endurance to keep going. It takes Sparrow multiple whacks to cut down some wood the same size as Logan's demonstration piece, showing just how difficult it is. Luckily before we can humiliate ourselves further, Atlas declares it's a lunch break.
We all sit together, grabbing some chow which looked very delicious and protein filled. The rest of the tributes either sit it out alone or make small groups which usually consist of their district partner. Logan doesn't join us but we're still intimidating as the largest alliance out there. Sparrow playfully yanks on Jackson's strawberry blond hair, eliciting a hiss from the young man.
"Okay crew, assess the tributes," he commands, clearly the one in charge. Despite his rash demeanor, I'm finding him to be a good leader, one with the loyalties to stick with his friends no matter what- or at least till most of the tributes are gone.
Nicole huffs angrily, crossing her arms over her rather bountiful chest. She's glaring daggers over at the District 11 boy who had shown her up at the archer and was currently sitting with the District 6 tributes. "Him. Reece Griffiths. He's handy with a bow. Too handy," she growls out. "Logan's an obvious threat, along with all of us," Jackson adds. Minnie nods in agreement, "You can't trust anyone."
"I don't like that District 5 boy. He volunteered for godsake, that's just unnatural," I finally speak up, voicing my fears. Nicole quickly nods in strong agreement, hurriedly glancing around for said boy. Minnie gets some paper and a pencil from one of the trainers and starts jotting things down.
"What'cha doing?" Adele asks, just as befuddled as the rest of us. "It's the names and districts of the tributes so we can have an edge over them," Minnie informs, writing all of our names out. "Full names please," she orders, only having her own, mine, and Reece's names spelled out. Sparrow scowls, his wolf eyes narrowed on his district partner, "Why do we need last names? It's not gonna make a difference." Minnie sends a rare smirk at him, "Because I like hearing your ridiculous name." Sparrow growled out a warning for her but she had already piqued the rest of our interests.
Jackson frowned, leaning in slightly, "What's so bad about your last name," then he quickly added to Minnie, "Smith." Nicole nodded in agreement, smiling at the silliness of it, "Yeah! What's up? Forbes." Adele gave her last name obediently which was Orson.
Nicole tipped Sparrow's chin up mischeviously, a smirk on her face. "Tell us your name! It can't be that bad, I mean my dad worked with a guy named Dick Balser," she said seriously. That name sends me and Jackson into immature hysterics, both of us biting our lips to keep from laughing. Jackson loses the fight and erupts into laughter, myself joining a second later.
Nicole sends us an annoyed look as Adele smiles, and even Minnie has lost most of her iciness as she rolls her eyes at us. Surprisingly, Sparrow's expression remains unbroken, wearing the ultimate poker-face.
"The Gamemakers are eventually going to call you out on the third day anyway so it's no use hiding it from the rest of us," she says frustratedly. Sparrow scowls and mutters something out none of us are able to hear though Minnie does have a small smirk on her face. Jackson gives a bold smile, "I'm sorry but I didn't catch that. Did you hear that, Adele?" Adele giggles and shakes her head no, playing along.
This is apparently all the stupidity Sparrow can take because he snarls out, "Byrd! My last name is Byrd." Sparrow Byrd…? Jackson slaps a hand over his mouth, navy blue eyes shining with unspoken laughter. I can't help but laugh too though unlike Jackson, I don't bother to hide it. "Sparrow Byrd," I tease, testing it on my tongue, "interesting family you have."
Sparrow bares his teeth, daring us to laugh again. There is a laugh but its from none of us. We all simultaneously turn around to see the District 5 boy doubled over with laughter. Now every tribute is staring, many of them looking rather intimidated. The boy's laughter sounds like one of those animals I read about in a school book before I dropped out. Hyenas.
Sparrow snarls and abruptly stands up. "What's so funny?" he growls, amber eyes flashing in anger. His knuckles are white, a stark contrast to his suntanned skin. The District 5 boy sends him a cheeky grin, "Your name, its ridiculous!" He bursts out into laughter and by now every tribute is watching the tense standoff between him and Sparrow. I tension is so thick, it practically feels like the rough sandpaper surface of a shark, brushing up against your leg. Unfortunately, a few of the tribute's fears of Sparrow and us seem to be melting, a few of them looking amused and interested in the conflict.
Sparrow evidently sensed it too for he stalked over to the tanned boy from 5. "Listen here—" he snarled, getting cut off by the boy who calmly replied, "Augustan." He shows no fear of us careers and Sparrow is stunned by it, looking at him blankly. "What?"
"My name is Augustan, not District 5 boy," he responded slowly, making sure his words are loud enough to hear and succeeding in making Sparrow look stupid.
Sparrow scowled, looking like he would like nothing more than to choke the life out of this kid. After a moment's hesitation, he leaves, ignoring the table completely and heading back to the training room. His food is only halfway finished and his departure leaves the rest of us in a surprised silence. Finally, someone breaks the tension. It's the annoying little brat from 12, Rudy or something.
"Well? What's his name?" he asks Augustan excitedly. Reese sends him a double take. "Wow, you've got some balls," he commented, looking flabbergasted. Augustan just smirked, clearly enjoying the attention he was suddenly getting, "His name is Sparrow Byrd."
The 12 year old bursts out laughing and is soon joined by Augustan. The child's laughter is cut off though as his district partner sharply smacks him in the back of the head. "Are you trying to get yourself killed!?" she hisses, practically shrieking. Augustan sends her a weird look, his head cocked to the side slightly in apparent confusion.
"Let's get back to Sparrow, we've all finished our meals," Jackson mutters. I glance around and see that most of the tributes have already eaten their meals. We get up and head back over to where Sparrow should be.
-Victoria, District 12 Tribute
I grab Ringo's ear, pinching it tightly as I dragged him along with the other tributes. Hissing, I ask him why he's so desperate for a death wish. Ringo scowls at me, slapping my hand away. "You're not my mom! Why do you care anyway!? I'm just having some fun before I die," he huffs, crossing his arms rebelliously.
I glare at him, my anger rising. "Remember this; when we get in the arena and we both manage to survive the Bloodbath, I'm not covering your ass out there. You're on your own. And if those careers or that district 7 guy or maybe even Augustan, if they get you, you're not coming out. Not alive at least."
Ringo gives me a wide eyed look, stunned at my outburst. His expression then hardens and he shoves past me. Sighing, I follow him and join the surprised crowd of tributes. While we were gone eating, they had blocked off the Training Center from us. I can see the career, Sparrow, pacing around annoyed like a caged animal, ready to strike out at anything that approached him. He must have been doing that the whole time, his pride not allowing him to come back to us.
When they reopen the doors to all of us a few minutes later, we're all stunned at the new addition. In one of the corners of the room over by the survival stations is a massive swimming pool. I can see a large panel of buttons right by it, controlling temperature and other things.
"Olympic sized," I hear the albino career mutter, his tone of voice sounding impressed with it. A moment later he was walking towards it but with each step his speed was increasing until he was sprinting towards it full speed which was rather fast. He tears his shirt off and tosses it over his shoulder, his feet carrying him the next few feet to the edge. His feet propel him off the edge and his body curves into a graceful dive, his arms outstretched before them before they come together, his feet strait and connected as he hit the water with a splash.
The rest of us hurry over impressed, wanting to see the tribute swim. We watch as he swims over to the other side, bubbles leaving a trail of his path bursting to the surface as he let out air. District 4 all know how to swim like fish with occurrences of tributes from other districts knowing how to swim too. From the bottom of the deep looking pool the boy twisted, looking up at us from his place under the water. He gives us a lazy wave, sitting cross legged on the floor and occasionally letting out great bubbles of air.
Sparrow scowls, annoyed at the interruption. "Someone get that idiot out." He turns his angry glare at Adele, the other District 4 tribute. She huffs, whipping her brown hair back and almost hitting the taller boy in the face. "I wasn't planning on taking a swim today," she sassily responds. The blonde from District 1 picks up the career's forgotten shirt.
"He has to come up for air eventually," she points out. The short girl from 2 frowns, "Let's just start practicing while Peri does his thing. No need to waste time on him, after all, we only get 3 days to practice."
With her words ringing through the air, most of the tributes walk away from the pool and its distracting tribute though I can see Ringo and a few other tributes watching the tribute under the water. I look around to see which stations are empty and I end up going over to the plants station, where I will learn to identify what's edible, what's helpful and herbal, and what can kill you. Thank god I learn quick because I know my cannon will be one of the first to be shot. Learning something will at least make me feel better. Hopefully.
After a few hours on that I move to the fire making station. This one sadly, I find myself struggling. I'm just about to ask the instructor for help when a pair of strong, tan hands enclose my own and direct the tools I am holding to spark the flame I have been desiring for the past minutes.
I spin around, finding myself inches away from Augustan's face. He smiles at me, his hazel eyes squinting slightly. With our closeness I realize with a jolt of surprise that he has nice lips and perfect white teeth. The only obvious imperfection was his nose which was crooked. Otherwise, he was overall a very handsome boy. The next thing I know, he's talking to me.
"You're so stupid!" he laughed. Wait, what?
"E-excuse me!?" I splutter out, taken aback at his sudden cruel words. He grins, his smile radiant enough to rival the sun's. "You're so stupid," he repeats, still grinning.
I can't help but stare back at him, stunned and hurt by this boy's words, a boy I haven't met until today. "You don't know me," I say defensively, sending him my best glare.
Instead of being intimidated, he just laughs again, the sound coming off as feral, wild, and a little bit insane. "I've been watching you. You're stupid and you will die," he promises me, his smile not wavering one bit.
My blood runs cold at his bold statement. Its creepy enough having him admit to watching me but then calling me stupid and being so sure about my death? That's not normal. Plus at the moment I'm alive and breathing.
He cocks his head to the side, leaning in with a look of concern. "You look faint. You should take a break of doing nothing," he advises, once again taking a jab at me. Before I know what I'm doing, I bring my hand across the side of his face. The smack is loud and everyone turns to us, curious to see what is happening. My brain processes what I did and I gasp at my actions, suddenly terrified.
Augustan gingerly touches his face, a red mark fast appearing where I struck him. He lightly winces at the pain and starts walking past me. Right before he leaves, he whispers to me, "You will die. I'm gonna make sure of it." With a dazzling smile that seemed more sinister than ever, he disappears, leaving me alone at last.
I collapse to my knees, shaking. I'm not a killer and I can't fight but I have someone who does appear to be able to kill and wants me dead. Oh god what am I going to do?
-Diego, District 9 Tribute
All around me, I can feel emotions. Hate, love, anger, fear, and the rare flash of happiness- it's all here. This place has only been used for the past 12 years and yet it threatens to overwhelm me.
I quickly change my direction and start heading over to the archery station, wanting to get away from this spot as quickly as possible. I am barely there when a feeling of intense regret and loss swamps me, completely filling my senses. This has happened to me before but never so many intense feelings in such a small place. I breathe out through my nose slowly, not willing to let these foreign feelings take control. If I show weakness the others will come and beg to tell me their stories.
Somehow I successfully reach the archery without trouble but then I realize with a curse that I have no knowledge of archery whatsoever. I need to focus on the things I can actually do! "Hey, mate, you alright?" the stocky guy from 11 asks me. I'm surprised by him but I quickly recover.
"I'm fine, don't worry," I stutter out, glancing around for an escape route. He raises his brows, evidently not buying my hurried response. "Okay," he sighs, deciding not to pry. Instead, he changes tactics. "I'm Reece, who are you?"
"Diego Sanchez, from District 9," I answer quietly. He smiles and extends a hand, dropping the bow he had been using to his side. "Griffiths, Reece Griffiths," he informs, taking my hand and shaking it in a strong grip. I can just feel him studying my curly mop of black hair and caramel skin as he flips his own chestnut brown hair to the side. "So, what can ya do, Diego?" he questions, looking highly interested. God, I wish he would leave.
"Uh, I can recognize plants. Harvest grain," I answer simply. He nods, stroking his smooth chin in deep thought. "You're not as annoying as the careers and you're not intimidating either, but I'm sure if pressured you can fight," he muses. He snaps his fingers suddenly, his olive green eyes blazing. "Got it! Let's go give the weapons a visit," he decides, placing a hand on my shoulder and physically steering me towards the careers.
I try my hardest to squirm out of his grip but he has a strong hold on my shoulders and soon we're at the weapons station. I can tell immediately that we're not wanted there. The tall curvy blonde from 1 sends Reece a look that can kill and I can't help but wonder what he did to aggravate her. He just smiles back cheekily, "Don't worry honey, your looks will get you far enough in life but I can't say the same for your wits."
My jaw drops at his audacity. The girl growls and stalks over to the safety of the large District 2 boy.
Reece grins and quickly shoves me ahead to the edge of the weapons station, far enough away from the careers to give them a wide enough girth. "Okay, so you said you work outside a lot, right? And District 9 is grain?" he asks and I nod in confirmation. While Reece is busy searching the weapons, I send a nervous glance over to the careers. Blondie is telling Blockhead an interesting story, a lot of it involving pointing and complicated rude gestures in our direction. My throat goes dry and I try to swallow saliva but it doesn't help.
"Found it!" Reece declares, not noticing the crazy story being told back there. He shoves a scythe triumphantly in my hands. A scythe…! I resist the urge to face palm myself. How could I forget this as a possible weapon? I always use it out in the fields. Well, the ones I used were much smaller but scythes are pretty much the same.
I turn to Reece and send him a grateful smile, "Reece, thank you so much! I didn't even think of this." He gives a laugh, clapping me on the back a little too roughly. "No prob! Funny, but with that huge scythe you kinda remind me of some Grim Reaper." I'm about to say something back to him but a loud voice stops me before I can even start.
"Hey! What the hell is your problem?" the large District 2 guy barks, his amber eyes boring holes into Reece who stands there strong and unaffected. Reece points at himself and feigns surprise, his eyes widening, "Who, me?" Sparrow suddenly lunges and grabs Reece's collar, easily lifting him off the ground and slamming him roughly into the wall. His snarling face is inches from Reece, his sharp teeth bared, "Bullshit!"
Before things can get more serious, a lanky trainer starts running over, screeching for them to break it up. Sparrow lets out a low growl but obeys, roughly shoving Reece against the wall as he dropped him.
"You're too cocky for your own good. Watch it," he threatens as he turns his back on us and starts swaggering back to the rest of the careers. It's ironic to see the guy who probably is the most cocky one here insulting another for their cockiness.
Reece scoffs and rubs his neck, loosening up his collar which was now stretched. "Its not cockiness if I know I'm bloody right! Grow a brain and we can debate later!" he calls after Sparrow. Sparrow turns around and is about to yell something but his friends hold him back.
Reece turns to me, a grin on his face, "Wow, I'm never this much of a prick in 11. Must be the testosterone leaking out of that guy affecting me or something." Okay, this guy is nuts, I really need to get away.
"Uh, yeah, thanks but, uh I need to go and practice. With something- over there," I lie lamely, stuttering the whole time. Luckily Reece buys it and just nods, heading over to the archery station again.
With no one around me, I let out a sigh. Almost immediately though my feelings of isolation are brushed away as tendrils of forgotten emotions start to tug at me, wanting their stories to be heard. I wave a hand, dissipating them. The head instructors are telling everyone to clean up for the day and a moment later a bell rings, signaling that Day 1 of training is over.
As I head over to the elevator I feel drained, both mentally and physically. Today is only the first day of training, I still have two more to go.
-Logan, District 7 Tribute
I follow the crowd of tributes over to the elevator, politely stopping to let the others pass. As I wait I glance back over at the chin up bar and the other equipment that I only got a small amount of time to use. Tomorrow I will use them.
I enter the elevator and end up joining the District 9, 11, and 12 tributes which equals to a rather crowded ride up. I fail to suppress a sigh and I start rubbing the back of my neck which was sore from all the forced excursive. Sadly my thoughts to myself are rather limited at the moment.
"Hey, treetops. Sore already?" Ringo sneers, finding some weird pleasure in getting away with dissing the rest of us older kids. This time his partner doesn't bother to protect him like she did earlier. "I'm tired," I say quietly, hating the feel of all the other tributes eyes set on me and Ringo. Ringo lets out a laugh, "Only old people get tired, like my parents."
"I wonder why," I reply dryly, in no mood for his shit. The District 11 tributes snicker and giggle at my reaction. Ringo puffs his tiny chest out, trying to look bigger than he really was. "What's that supposed to mean!?" he demands, but I'm already stepping off of my floor and walking away. The elevator closes with a satisfying ding and I head over to the dinner table, already starting to load up my plate.
Elissa, Britannia, and Clarissa are already sitting down, food laid out on their plates. Elissa starts off the conversation with asking us what we thought of the other tributes. I lean lazily back in my chair; at this point, pleasantries and manners are useless around these three.
"District 12 boy annoys the hell out of me, the District 1 girl and District 4 boy are already whoring themselves out, the District 2 guy is a loud mouthed egomaniac, and the District 5 guy has this creepy laugh," I report, taking a lazy bite of my food. It's probably not a proper report but I don't really care.
Elissa gives a strained sigh, "Clarissa, what about you?" Clarissa dabs at her mouth, thinking, "The District 1 boy and District 2 girl seem to think more into their actions than the others. Then there's the kind and scared kids who stay to themselves."
Elissa hums something out, processing our facts together to get an idea of the tributes. After a few minutes of silence, she speaks up again, "I have a list of the tributes if you want to look them up." I don't know how that's supposed to help us but I nod, my curiosity piqued. Elissa slides us the information and we hold it in-between us, looking at it. I quickly check out the tributes that have interest me.
District 1 has Nicole Forbes, 18 and Jackson Smith, only 14. Rather young for a career. District 2 has Minerva Anderson, 17 and Sparrow Byrd, 18. District 4 has Adele Orson, 17 and Peri Sorenson, 18. District 3 has Augustan Gonzales, 17. District 9 has the spacey boy, Diego Sanchez, 16. District 11 has the brave boy, Reece Griffiths who is 17. Then District 12 has annoying Ringo Hartman, 12 years old, and his fire-haired partner Victoria Lee, 15.
"What do you think?" Elissa asks curiously, wondering about our thoughts. "Interesting bunch, that's for sure," I say, glancing back over the tributes listed physical information. Not counting me, Sparrow is the heaviest one here at 186 and Peri would be the tallest at 6'05. I am the biggest physical threat here.
"So tell me about your day, what did you do?" Elissa asks us, sipping at her champagne bottle. Clarissa timidly fills Elissa in on what she did but I ignore her, my thoughts stuck on the tributes. Soon, Elissa asks me the same thing.
"Nothing much, I ended up exercising most of the time. Halfway through the careers asked me to join them but I declined. Ended up at the axe station with them then went over to the snare station. Learned some traps," I bragged nonchalantly. Instead of the proud expression I expect, Elissa looks horrified.
"You turned down the careers? That just painted a bull's-eye on your back. Mistake number two, going anywhere near the axe station with the careers. Now they have an idea of what you can do. Snares are good though. Work on fire and camouflage tomorrow, practice other weapons besides axes. Throw a knife, learn to handle a sword, learn the pressure points of the human body. Anything but axes." She then waves her hand, dismissing us.
I finish up the rest of my meal and head back for my room, going in the shower where I freshen up and cool down. I have a full stomach and a warm bed awaiting me. At the moment, I am content.
Day two of training passes by without much fuss. I ended up hanging out with Reece, Diego, and Victoria numerous times so now we're acquaintances. I learned how to spark a fire with different materials and I handled some new weapons and I can now adequately wield a knife and sword but nowhere near the grace with which the careers handle them. Speaking of careers, they have been surprisingly quiet.
Like my daily excersize routine, Peri does his laps in the pool and other stretches involving the water. Sparrow has been zoning himself out to everyone, only keeping his attention on the weapons. At one point there was some commotion when Peri invited him in for a swim but he vehemently refused. Instead, Adele ended up joining Peri and they had raced with Peri winning by a long shot every time.
I also noticed that Augustan has been sending Victoria these looks, where a smile is always on his face but his hazel eyes are dark with hidden emotion. I haven't seen him practice with weapons much and when I did he always seemed to half-ass it, never giving his all. He's an unpredictable wild card and Panem knows what he will do in the arena when given the chance.
Today marks the third day of training and everyone is on edge, running around to get some much needed practice squeezed in. Some, like Augustan and Reece, are calm, plans clearly in mind.
"Jackson Smith!" the speakers suddenly announce. All of us watch him walk off to a separate room, never to return as Nicole's name is called a bit later.
I try to ease my mind off of it, remembering the plants I went over as I rhythmically swing an axe around several dummies. It helps settle my frayed nerves and the time quickly seems to fly by.
"Bellona Wells!" the speakers call out, and the 12 year old girl from District 6 nervously heads up. She's right before me so I know I'm next. I set the axe aside and sit down at the line of chairs, half of which are now empty. I can feel my nerves acting up again as my heart starts to race, adrenaline pumping through my system and I start breathing in and out.
"Well, good luck," Reece says suddenly, sitting in the empty chair besides me. I give him a half smile, "You too." Reece nods and fidgets with his shoelaces before finally getting up, resuming his careful pacing around the room. Within minutes, my name is called out and I get up, walking the same path the other tributes before me had taken. Right before I go though, I send Clarissa an assuring thumbs-up right before I enter the room.
The first thing I notice upon walking in here is the strong smell of wine. I glance up at the Gamemakers, not able to hide my surprise. Is this why the lower Districts usually had higher scores, because by the time the lower Districts get here the Gamemakers are too buzzed to tell faces apart let alone score tributes? At this point they're not too sloshes so I take that as I good sign.
I immediately dart over to the axes and grab two hatchets, unable to hide the small grin that creeps up on my face. I spin around, putting momentum into my arm as I chuck the first hatchet at a dummy. It buries itself into the dummy's ribcage but the second throw goes a little off course, instead hitting the manikin's shoulder. It seemed promising enough and I motion for a trainer to come over, explaining that I wanted to wrestle. I give him the signal and we quickly meet, my hands grappling with his. Twisting them to the side I get him to turn and I quickly press my whole weight against him, pinning him down. It was easy enough and I still have a trick up my sleeve. I grab an incredibly large axe that would be ridiculous for chopping wood but perfectly intimidating for tributes and start hacking away at dummies. Towards the end though, I got a little too excited and lost my grip, sending the axe into the padded wall where it ended up sticking there.
I bow sheepishly to the Gamemakers and before they can dismiss me I quickly exit the room, worrying about how much trouble I'll be in for the wayward axe. I jog to the elevators, wanting to get away as quickly as possible and I step inside the glass box, pressing the desired button that would send me up. A hot shower sounds like the perfect thing at the moment.
By the time I bother to come out fresh and clean, its dinnertime. Tonight they release our training scores, which gives us a chance to prove ourselves and gain invaluable sponsors.
I chow down on steak and salad, not paying much attention to the table talk. Instead, my mind is more focused on what Marilyn is feeling right now, how my family is taking this, and what my friends are thinking of the whole thing. They're all gonna have to either watch my death or me kill someone while they are in school, or at home watching their TV, or even perhaps walking down in the Town Square while the many Capitol screen's play the Hunger Games throughout the districts. The sad thing about the Hunger Games is that no matter how hard you try, no one can get away from them.
Soon, all of us are sitting on a soft, velvet felted grey couch that's in a crescent shape, surrounding the TV while a table is placed in front of us for our feet, drinks, or food. Or, at least I'm using it for my feet. All of us are here; Clarissa, Elissa, Britannia, Janus, and even Clarissa's stylist, and we all stare at the screen until finally the scores are being released.
District 1: Jackson- 8. Nicole- 9.
District 2: Sparrow- 10. Minnie- 10.
District 3: A 3 and a 4 are shown.
District 4: Peri- 9. Adele- 8.
District 5: Augustan- 8. His partner gets a 5.
District 6: A 6 for the guy and a 4 for the girl.
District 7: My face and name flash up on the screen right before my score. An 8! There are cheers around me and someone slaps me on the back. I can't help but grin, an 8! That's great! Clarissa's face pops up and her score is shown, a 3. Surprisingly, out of all of us, Britannia is the one who consoles Clarissa of her small score but she is accepting of it, but also grateful to Britannia.
District 8: Both 5's.
District 9: Diego- 6. His partner gets a 4.
District 10: A 6 and a 2.
District 11: I'm stunned when Reece lands an 11. That's the highest score of the games so far! The Careers are gonna be out for blood for sure, Sparrow and Nicole have been eagerly awaiting the chance to rip Reece to shreds ever since the first day he mouthed off to them. I can practically hear Sparrow throwing a fit right now. Reece's partner gets a 4.
District 12: Ringo gets a 6 and Victoria gets a 5. I'm surprised that he got a better score than my fiery headed friend, and I'm left intensely curious of what he did to get that.
I soon find myself in my cool satin sheets, already drifting off to sleep. My last thoughts are of Marilyn and my family's reactions to seeing my score. I hope they're proud…
