Even We Can Make Bets
I may have kept my cool when the blond bastard was hitting me, but as Master Rhys tries to help my wounds, nothing spots me from crying out. I'm glad no one looks at me as if I'm a babbling little kid, because I definitely feel like one. We've all been whipped at one point or another and the pain of it never seems to leave.
"Your rib is not broken, just bruised," Master Rhys tells me. I hastily wipe away whatever tears that might have left my eyes. No need to show the others that too. He places a gentle hand on my shoulder and I look up at him.
Master Rhys has always been something of a god amongst us. He was that all knowing being of the Avoxes, the hope that we could survive and be as successful as he was. But whenever I look in his eyes, whenever anyone looks in his eyes, it's hard to see him as anymore than what he is; and that is a dirty old Avox.
"That was very brave what you did," he tells me. I nod and smile a little bit.
"I don't get why everyone thinks I was being so noble. I mean, if I was some hero, then I would have helped her before she was whipped in the first place." Master Rhys sighs a little and wraps an arm around my shoulder.
"No one is perfect," he fingerspells so that he can keep his arm around me.
"You are." The curve of his lips scares me a little, though not because it is terrifying. There is something very human about the smile, something that would only be on someone with a bag full of regret.
"No, not nearly as perfect as people think I am."
"Master Rhys," I begin to sign, but he stops me by snapping his fingers in the "no" formation.
"We are equals now. I am no more your Master than I am your father." I blink a few times, not really understanding what he's saying.
"But Master-" His arm falls from my shoulder and he fully faces me.
"No Master. Just Rhys will do." Just Rhys? But he isn't Rhys. He's Master Rhys, the one who isn't afraid of anything, who saved me from the Peacekeepers' abuse, who reminds us that we aren't the Capitol's slaves. How could I ever be his equal? I can't.
"Is this only because of what I did for Lovely?" He shakes his head.
"You have done plenty of things over the years to have earned my trust." I try to think about what he could possibly be talking about, but I can't think of anything.
"I don't think so," I tell him shaking my head.
"I may not be perfect, but I know a good person when I see one." Something shadows over her face and I wonder if he has ever misjudged someone.
Isolde comes behind me and taps me on my shoulder. She bites the inside of her cheek as she tentatively makes the letter R with both hands and moves them from one side to the other; this is the sign for "ready". I am impressed by her initiative to learn it, though I have a feeling it's to prove that she could do it than anything else.
Master Rhys (I don't care what he says; he is still Master to me) smiles at her and nods his approval. "She may be better than you one day, Fire," he says before going toward his pile of hay and begins to read the only book we have.
Isolde looks at me with her intense blue eyes and it takes all of my man-power to not look away. She bites the inside of her cheek again and roughly signs out, "I have been practicing." I smile at her, even showing a little bit of teeth.
"I can see that," I fingerspell as slowly as I can. Her nose scrunches together and she glares at me. "What?" I ask her.
"You don't have to treat me like a baby." She tries to fingerspell this as quickly as she could, but she stumbles over many different letters in the process. What she actually spells out is: Yov fotn hake no nrean me live a baby. I get the gist of it though... I think.
"Stop trying to rush. You'll get it. Master Rhys and I have faith in you." She presses her lips together, but relaxes and looks at me with honest eyes. A ghost of a smile graces her lips, but I might be imagining it.
"Are you ready?" she asks me, this time slower so that she could get the letters right. I nod and gently lead her toward the Transfer.
Plenty of the others have already gone to the Training Building, but since Isolde and I are catering to the actual training room, we have a few extra minutes. The training room is one of the worst places to be. We hardly ever do anything, most of the time simply standing there to respond to a mess or get more supplies at a moment's notice (which is why there are only two of us). The only good part is that we get to see the tributes up close without them noticing. The first time I did this, I was with Swarley and he kept making stupid comments. At least this time I'm with Isolde, who can hardly speak.
The room is empty when we enter and I'm glad to have a few moments of quiet. I don't dare to whistle or hum, in case one of the trainers come in while I'm not looking. Isolde and I clean up the stations, making sure every place is filled with the proper supplies.
I try sweeping, but Isolde snatches the broom from me and begins to do it herself. I wanted to take it back, but as I leaned in to take it, my raw back began to burn. I settle in my place against the wall, content in watching Isolde's hips rock a little as she sweeps in her own bizarre rhythm.
She freezes a little when the first specialist walks in, not too sure what to do. When the trainer hardly gives her a glance, she tentatively begins her task again.
"Hey! Can you get me more rope?" the specialist says to no one in particular.
Isolde glances at me and then the broom. A second later she rushes to the door that leads to the supplies cabinet, abandoning the broom on the floor. I move to take her place, but just as I begin to sweep, Isolde is already back and takes it from me again. I glare at her, but she doesn't react.
By the time she finishes, the other specialists have already arrived, along with a few tributes. I recognize two of the four, one being the sickly looking girl Adeline and the other being the boy with the daughter, Dmitri. Both stand beside two young children. The little boy beside Adeline (his name was simple and started with a P, or maybe an F...) stares at Dmitri with wide eyes. The giant Eleven boy smiles at him.
District One comes in next. Allyn and Lycoris (I remember them because they had an L thing going on). District Ten follows suit (Dusty ox... Dustyn and Otillie!). Eventually the others come through, and I memorize most of them.
Last night, all of the Avoxes, even Master Rhys, gathered around to place our bets on the different tributes that we believed would win. District Two and One got the most, but Eleven got a few as well. We bet everything we had: extra shifts, found goods, different trading stuff, and sometimes money. Master Rhys never bets, since all he has is his book, but it's strange how everyone he picks ends up winning. He didn't make his choice yesterday, but it's bound to happen sometime.
I tense a little when I find Isolde's small hand creep into my own, giving it a harsh squeeze. When I get control of my body again, I follow her eyes to the Gamemaker's stands. I catch a few Avoxes there as well, though they don't do much more than bring food to them. Isolde's blue eyes, however, is glued on a Gamemaker, though it's hard to tell which one. She forces her eyes away and then notices that her hand is in mine. She jerks it away a little too roughly and tucks her arms behind her back. (I didn't realize touching me was that repulsive. Isolde really knows how to make a man feel better about themselves.)
When the tributes disperse, I watch them with as much focus I can give while also searching for a mess to clean. The station closest to me is the poisonous plants station. Adeline goes there immediately, her district partner following behind her.
The kid talks nonstop. I swear I didn't hear him take one breath, and he's talking nonsense too. "You know that the people in District Ten has to wake up years earlier. I mean hours earlier. And then in District Eight, I met this kid who woke up before the sun even rose so that he could get a good start at work and go home early, but then he would just go home and sleep so that he could wake up, which I think defeats the purpose of waking up early. I tried doing that, but then I fell asleep and then my cousin Weave hit me hours later to get up, and then..."
"Geez, Weft," Adeline mutters. (Weft! That's his name! What was I thinking with the "P"s and the "F"s.)
"Sorry, I just talk a lot whenever I'm nervous. What do you do when you're nervous? Weave used to play with his fingers a lot and then he..." He continues this for a while, until Dmitri and his own district partner join him at the station.
"Why are we here?" the little Eleven girl asks. "I know poisonous plants better than anyone else here."
"I don't think so, Freya." (So she was the one with the "F" name.) "I mean, it's not like you were ever in the fields much."
"Big deal," she says glancing through the book with a bored expression on her face. "I still know plenty."
"Really?" He turns to a random picture and shows it to her. "What's this then?"
The girl stares at the picture for a long time and purses her lips. "I don't know what it's called, but I know that it's bad." Dmitri chuckles and shakes his head.
"That isn't poisonous. That is the counterpart to a nightlock." Freya glares at him then kicks the book and stomps away. Dmitri shakes his head and turns his attention back to the book.
"She'll come back," he mutters to himself. He looks up and notices Adeline and Weft (who was silenced by Freya's conversation). "Hey, I'm Dmitri, and you are?"
"I'm Weft and this is Adeline. You're the kid with the kid right. I remember my mentor talking about you and he said something about being irresponsible. I don't remember much, I don't really like him." Dmitri smiles at the boy and begins to talk to the two tributes easily, even getting Adeline to say a few words. He was right about Freya. She eventually comes back and talks to Weft as well.
I force my eyes elsewhere. (The perks of being an Avox is that you learn how to read lips well. Before Rhys began to teach the language, we used to have to read lips and it is a skill most of the Avoxes still possess.) I note the large group around the weapons area, no doubt Careers. Allyn, Lycoris (District 1), Ares, Alana (District 2), and Leeum talk to each other, easily getting into the grove of being allies. Ares appears to be the leader, much to Lycoris's dismay. Leeum glances at where Avery is with Peri every so often. Allyn has her eyes glued to the two bold boys in the weapons station.
I think their names are Dustyn and Ashton (or something that has to do with Ash). The Ash kid is from District Seven, that much is clear for his easiness with the ax as he swings it around. The boy spars with the specialist, beating him easily. Allyn taps her partner and points him out to the other Careers. Ares goes to him, though with his back to me, I don't know what he's saying. The other kid, Dustyn, was playing with the whip. He had great accuracy with it, even though you could tell he wasn't aiming for anything. Ares doesn't speak to him, but I can tell that they will be keeping an eye on him.
For a moment, I glance at Isolde. She bites the inside of her cheek, her eyes darting from every which way so she could react at a moment's notice if something happens. I breathe a chuckle and she turns to glare at me.
"Relax," I spell out in her palm so that we don't bring attention to ourselves (not like anyone's looking anyway). She takes many deep breaths, but I can still feel her tense body beside me.
Just then, the District Twelve and Nine girls (Angelica and Galena) tip over a huge bowl of camouflage paint on the floor. Angelica's eyes are wide as she stares at the mess. Galena simply walks away, not caring what happens there anymore.
Isolde jumps into action, rushing to the scene of the crime in long, quick strides. I follow her at a more even pace, and help her clean the paint with the rags at our waist.
"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to do that. I'm so sorry!" I nod at her words so she knows that I understand. I just know that if we didn't acknowledge her, then she would continue to throw apologies at us. As Isolde goes to get more paint, I am left to finish up the cleaning.
"Really nice job," Peri from District Seven says to Angelica. The Twelve girl turns and glares at the other.
"It was an accident," she spits out. Peri holds her gaze equally, jutting her chin out.
"It didn't look like an accident, but whatever you say." I don't like where this is going.
"How would you know? But with those bug eyes, I wouldn't be too surprised." This hit a nerve in Peri and part of me wonders if I'm responsible for breaking up girl fights as well.
"You little bitch! You think that just because there's pink in your hair that you can be like a Capitol and treat the rest of us like shit!"
"It was an accident!" The specialists decide to break it up them, bringing the girls onto different sides of the gym. I hold the messy bowl in my hands which Isolde take from me in exchange for a new one. I place the paint where it belongs and rush to my place as I watch everyone go back to what they were doing.
The other tributes blend in with everything around them, trying to focus on what they were doing. Jersey from Nine is at the knives station beside well trained Allyn and Alana. The girls hardly glance at him as he fumbles with the different knives. His accuracy isn't that bad, but it's nothing compared to the girls'. The metal girl from Three (her name is Platinum or something like that) sits at the knot tying area, her legs crossed, and eyes focused on the rope in her hands.
The camouflage station is quickly filled by three tributes (Both Fives and the Six girl). The three ignore each other, all of their attention on the swirls of the patterns the specialist shows them through the book. It's strange how much focus they are putting into what their doing. When I was a kid, I could never focus on anything. My mind jumped from one thought to the other so naturally this concentration is a foreign concept for me. Even now, it's difficult for me to focus on one thing for too long.
The bell that tells them that the first part of training is over doesn't come fast enough. I skipped breakfast this morning so Master Rhys could take care of my wounds. I was used to skipping meals, but never breakfast. I always had something to eat in the morning, whether it be small or large. I'm nervous that my stomach will make a noise large enough to bring attention to myself.
Isolde and I follow behind the tributes as they go to the cafeteria. A few other Avoxes are there already, food laid out on carts. The smell of it makes my mouth water. I have to wait though.
The tributes grab different things on the carts then move to the tables. The Careers sit together which consist of Allyn, Lycoris, Allana, Ares, Leeum, and surprisingly enough the Ash boy from seven. (I think the Careers have turned into a cult of names that start with the letters "A" and "L".) Everyone is very scattered with only two alliances seeming to be forming (the one with Peri and Avery and then the District 11 and 8 tributes).
It's strangely quiet with everyone spread out. I can vaguely hear Freya from Eleven argue with Dmitri and the mumbles and grumbles from the Careers.
The Avoxes and I keep the food on the carts full, but I already know that they will not grab anymore. They are not as greedy as the Capitol. The remains of the food is supposed to be thrown away, but we always take some for ourselves. It's the only time in the year where we get a proper meal.
I slyly slip a small carrot off of the cart and push it into my mouth. I glance at Isolde, her eyes wide. I elbow her a little, and she forces herself to relax, though her eyes are still pretty big. I force myself not to chew on the vegetable. The sound wouldn't bring attention to myself, but I know the cameras would notice if my jaw suddenly begins to move. Instead, I absorb the flavor of the carrot in my mouth, softening it with my saliva. Very slowly, I begin to chew on the softened vegetable. If Swarley were here, he would purposely make a scene to get me nervous.
As the tributes go back to training, Isolde and I swap positions with Shiver and Birdie (Those are their nicknames. They have been here for a longer time than I have, so I don't know their names as well as the newer ones.) We clean up after the tributes, then leave to throw out the food.
By the dumpsters, we feast. There are no cameras here and we take advantage of the fact. We talk openly to each other, with food in our hands. We make sure to bag some and hide it so we can take it back for the others. There are over one hundred Avoxes in Master Rhys's care, all of them with starving stomachs.
"How long have you been here?" Isolde asks me.
"Seven years." She nods, her eyes going distant.
"Did you really kill a Peacekeeper like they said?" I nod.
"He was killing my friend's little brother." I force myself not to remember that day.
"So you stood up for him like what you did for Beatrice." I never thought of it that way. It's not the same though. I wouldn't have stood up for the boy if my friend didn't ask me to, like how Rhys asked me to watch out for the others. Wow. I guess it is the same.
"It wasn't anything so grand," I decide to tell her. That's a lie though. The entire district was there then, not because of me, but because of what they were doing to my friend's brother.
"We all know that Lovely could have died if she went under the same thing you did. Even I know that she isn't as strong as you." My eyebrows scrunch together.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Nothing," she signs with a quick shake of her head. "I've heard a lot of talk about how cruel you are, but I have yet to see anything from you that was bad."
I did have a reputation, but mainly from the first few months as an Avox. Back then I was still pissed about what happened to me, and Master Rhys didn't have the influence that he has now. Yeah, I caused trouble, quite a lot of it, but that was before. The minute I began to really talk to Master Rhys, all of that changed. Still, the trouble marker rep stays with me, and I like it. It shows people to not try to fuck with me.
I didn't know Isolde knew this about me. No one would dare talk about it as a normal conversation which meant that she asked about me. A coy smile graces my lips as I wonder why she would be asking about me. Probably just to make sure her mentor is not a complete freak, which I am.
Still, there is something about Isolde questioning people about me that makes me smile. Maybe it's the genuine curiosity about it, or the fact that she thinks I'm a good person (which I'm not... well not really). No, I know what it is. I've never had a girl ask about me before. The thought makes me smile.
A.N. So I intended this to be a full on tribute chapter, but then this happened, and well, if I fixed it or changed it, it would take another week to get out to you, and you guys don't deserve that. So, there it is. I'm think about doing another Training day, but I might just skip to the interviews so that we can start the actual Games.
I have decided how I will be judging who wins. This will be through skills alone. (I'm a die hard realist and I like to bring things that would likely happen in a certain situation or whatever.) I will determine who wins and dies through what their weaknesses are and strengths as well as the arena. In which case, don't be mad when (or if) I kill your character. It's nothing personal, they just couldn't survive.
Sorry it took me a while to finish this. I get sidetracked easily.
*Finz*