FOUR – Rowan Miller, 16 years old, District 7
I was sat in the highest branches possible of the old apple tree in the Orchard. I'd been waiting about 15 minutes for Freya and Johan. I knew they had more risk coming here as they were bringing the weapons, but I had expected them to be vaguely punctual. There was a sweep of light that shone through the branches of the trees. I leant against the trunk praying it was Johan and Freya instead of a peacekeeper coming to find me. There was silence and then I heard Freya. "Rowan… Rowan where the heck are you?" she hissed angrily. I jumped down, bracing for the impact on the ground. The twins jumped, and I smiled. She shook her head and hit me in the arm. It sent pain shooting down towards my elbow and I grasped where she had hit me.
"Ouch," I said. She continued to glare. "What took you so long?" I asked Johan who had put his rucksack on the floor and was pulling out blades of different sizes.
"Peacekeepers. We went to the post office just before curfew, so the peacekeepers would see us head inside and assume we were there all night. Unfortunately, we missed curfew and then they came knocking," Johan explained as Freya walked over to join him. He saw my concerned face. "Its fine. It was Max on duty, so he gave us a slight slap on the wrist and then let us go." Freya pulled out a tangle of metal but within seconds she had assembled a spear and an axe from the tangle of metal. She also pulled out a sheath of arrows and a bow.
"Wow. How did you get your hand on this stuff?" I asked. Johan raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Oh right… Johanna." They nodded. I ran my hand over the shiny black metal weapons they had brought. "Where do we even start?" I asked. Freya shrugged and picked up the spear. She went over to a nearby tree and began stabbing it and retrieving it. Her arms were shaking with the effort of pulling it back. "Aren't you supposed to throw a spear?" Freya spun round and threw it with incredible accuracy towards me. I ducked, and it embedded in the tree behind me.
"It's both long range and short range. Can be used in hand to hand if needed. You just need to adjust where you hold it," a voice said from the darkness of the forest. We all spun towards the voice and Johanna appeared from behind a tree. "Good technique Freya. But you need to work on upper body strength before a spear becomes your go to weapon. The retrieving is weak." Johanna added as Freya walked over to retrieve the spear and had to put her foot on the tree to help her. "You on the other hand Rowan already have the upper body strength. Maybe you should give it a try," she said looking me in the eye, as if daring me to argue with a victor. Freya held the spear out to me. I took it reluctantly. The weight of the spear in my hand felt unnatural. "Just throw it Rowan," Johanna said bored now. I tightened my grip and ran two steps forward before throwing it. It whistled through the air and embedded into a tree. "Told you. Strength is your strength. Work on that aim though." She turned her attention to Freya. "100 push ups and no stopping girl. Johan pick a weapon let's see what you are good at." I went over to the tree to retrieve the spear. I was surprised to see how far it had embedded in. I felt a presence over my shoulder.
"Well done. It takes a lot to impress Johanna," Freya whispered.
"Did you know she was coming?" I asked. She shook her head and ducked to the ground to do her push-ups. I got down with her to join her. I'd seen her in PE lessons and knew she hated push ups. I could hear her deep breathing from next to me as she dug deep to complete them. I glanced sideways to see her fair skin had turned a deep red. She collapsed to the ground and I knew she had completed her push ups. Johanna appeared above us.
"Do you really think you have time for a lie down? Get up. Let's see which weapon your speciality would be." Freya rolled her eyes and trailed behind her cousin to the stack of weapons. "How often do you use an axe in the lumber yard?"
"Pretty much every day," I heard Freya respond. There was the sound of the metal axe being picked up and I turned back to my spear and began stabbing at the tree, much like Freya had been earlier. I was surprised by the power behind me as I stabbed and retrieved. I blocked out the sounds of the other two – the heavy thud of the axe, the swoosh of the loosened arrows, the dull thuds of the knives.
I don't know what time it was when Freya came over to me and prised the spear out of my hands. It was pitch black in the Orchard and they were starting to lose sight of the knives and arrows. We regathered around Johanna.
"You've got different strengths," Johanna said. "Which means you all need different strategies. Rowan your strength is your physically strength. You've taken away half of that tree, you've got the retrieving of the spear right. I reckon you'd be pretty good with an axe as well. But you need to work on speed and long-distance aim. Johan you've got the long-distance aim down well and are good with a bow and arrow. You are relatively quick to draw but in hand to hand you'll struggle with the stamina and strength. Freya, well you're a little pocket rocket with a real ear for threats. There's a lot more power behind your axe than your spear skills because you're more familiar with it but that upper strength to remove them both will let you down. You have incredible aim though with all the weapons. You tire easily though. I'll come up with the best training plans for the next few nights for you all and start prepping my support for each of you for the games."
I frowned. "Wait so you believe me?" I asked incredulously.
Johanna looked me dead in the eye and nodded. "How could I not? You saved them once before, now it's my turn to repay the favour. Without you I would not have any living family. That's a debt I can't fully repay Rowan," she told me seriously. She turned to the twins. "Keep this stuff hidden. We'll meet same time tomorrow night." We all nodded and began to make our way back to the town. I felt more confident creeping through the trees with my best friends by my side and a previous victor. In fact, I felt more alive than ever.
AN: thank you for the reviews. I'll try to keep the pace moving quickly.