A/N Hi! Guess what? It's an update! That's amazing considering how slow it has been. So sorry about that. "You, with your words like knives and swords and weapons that you use against me
You have knocked me off my feet again, got me feeling like a nothing
You with your voice like nails on a chalkboard calling me out when I'm wounded
You, picking on the weaker man"
From "Mean" by Taylor Swift
You'll know who this is talking about once you read this chapter. Enjoy and review s'il vous plait
This is the last disclaimer I'm going to do. DISCLAIMER: Sanctuaria and I do NOT own the Hunger Games which means we are not Susanne Collin(s) Lol. There are two! jk
By the way, my story is the cleaner version (language wise. I will beep everything out) If you want the not so bad version (it's not really bad, I just prefer to not have it) then go read Sanctuaria's posted story called Reunion. It's the exact same story except she doesn't beep everything out.
~Training Day 1- Part 2~
"Hi," I whisper when I join Teribia from District 6 at the fire-making station. The girl, who looks to be around 12, stares at me wide-eyed. I gulp and look down. She continues to watch me closely as I quickly manage to light a fire. She stares down at her rocks and piles of sticks. I hand over a few leaves that produce a slight oiliness and put them into her pile. She looks at me and back down at the rocks in her hands. "Try it." She looks up at me again and then strikes the rocks together. A spark flies, but nothing catches on fire.
"Again," I prompt.
Teribia strikes the rocks together and once again a spark flies, but does not light anything. She makes a concentrated face and strikes the rocks together once more. A spark hits the leaves and a tiny flame glows for a moment. Soon enough, the whole pile was on fire. Teribia smiles and looks up at me. "Thank you," she says quietly, and runs quickly away.
I watch her for a little bit, thinking how nice it would be to have a little sister. Mya interrupts me from my thoughts.
"Daydreaming?" she asks, a hint of laughter laced in her voice.
I shrug. "Maybe."
Kobe chuckles. "At least our terrible girl seems to be able to make a nice shelter," he says, pointing over at the shelter station.
Puzzled, Mya and I follow his gaze and see Teribia inside a nice looking shelter complete with a roof and a door. I watch the Gamemakers pointing at her and making notes in their tiny notebooks.
"I suppose so," Mya answers, not really caring. She looks at the fire she was building and blows it out. "So how's it going?"
"Fine." I shrug again. We work in silence for a little bit, Kobe making a lame joke here and there.
"If you asked how I was doing, I would say 'nicely' and talk about the Careers' strategy." She glances over at me expectantly.
I sigh. "I think I'm going to go to take a nap and maybe have a little bit of ice cream. I'm going to go." I wave at them as I head out and think about Mya's offer to join the Careers as I press the 4 button on the elevator.
ooOoo
~Training Day 2: Part 1~
"Allies are something you should never obtain. They will betray you and you will be broken. Then there will be no chance for you to come back." That was what Irinead, my mentor, had said to me when I told her I was associating with Mya and Kobe. Why she doesn't like that, I'm not exactly sure. I think back to her games. I believe that was the 47th Hunger Games. She had joined an alliance with some tributes that died in the bloodbath and was left one ally. That ally left her and she felt like she was betrayed by the whole group. She's probably paranoid, though. I mean, everyone who goes into the Games and comes out are always changed. And I mean ALWAYS.
But, of course, I'm not going to listen to Irinead. She is so annoying and paranoid just like my parents. And this time I SO don't love her. I wish I had chosen Alyeska. She looked a lot nicer and wasn't as violent in the Games. But I heard she can be a little cuckoo in the head sometimes. I wonder if I made the right choice. Even that old Mags would be nice compared to Irinead. I guess I was wrong about Irinead. I thought she was the youngest and the most likely able to give good advice.
Anyways, I guess I'll just do my own thing and won't do a thing if Mya or Kobe stay with me. I mean, they're nice people, I guess. So why not? I don't really believe they'd betray me. And anyways, I think I want Mya or Kobe as my allies. I know it looks like they're leaning towards the careers, but they'd be great allies. I'm sure of it. Why wouldn't they be? They're talented, nice, and I really don't think they'd betray me.
ooOoo
CRACK! I stare, horrified with the result of me throwing the ax. The steel ax had sliced through the air... landing in the camouflage table. It had snapped in two. But one thing I'm glad that didn't happen was that no one was hurt..., or killed. Then I'd already be a murderer and a killer before even the Games started. Well, that is only if you don't consider when I kill a spider of an ant that I accidentally step on. 'Cause who knows how many times that's happened? And besides, I don't think anyone would be considered innocent of not murdering something if that is the definition of murder with the peacekeepers. Just imagine a little kid tattling on someone for stepping on a beetle. Now, imagine an adult instead of the little kid. That'd just be insane.
I wince and look away to see Sapphire right next to me.
"How's the ax going, sweetheart," she asked, smirking, and looking perfect like always.
I closed my eyes to not lash at her. But if this kept on going, I was going to snap some time.
"Oh wait, I see..." She laughed. It was definitely fake, and it was a little like she was scoffing at me. I glare at her and walk away to the plants station. If I didn't, she for sure would have been hurt. Or perhaps me. The instructor seemed a little surprised that someone would stop by. She quickly showed me what was edible and what was poisonous.
"This one is deadly. Don't eat it or you'll die just about instantly once you swallow." She wouldn't even let me touch the berries. It's not like I plan to kill myself or anything.
"Hi! Can I join you ladies? You seem to be a bit lonely." I look behind my shoulder to see Mya behind me with Kobe behind her. I smile. Kobe seems to be glued to her side these days. I wonder how that'll work in the arena, though.
"Sure. I'd love your company. And... you too, Kobe."
She smiles and Kobe doesn't make a joke for once in his whole life. I guess he's not paying attention. If only he didn't make a joke and was sincere for a moment.
We work in silence for a little while.
"So," she begins, "have you rethought about joining the careers? Personally I think you should. We would be a great and mighty pack." She tastes a mint leaf and makes a disgusted face.
I would normally laugh, but I'm busy biting my lip. "Well... sort of. I had actually been thinking..." I pause, unsure if I should go on. "Do you like the Careers?" I ask suddenly.
Mya looks at me sharply. "Of course…" she whispers slowly.
I'm betting she actually doesn't, but I won't say anything. "Well," I bite my lip again. "Sapphire is the leader, right?"
"Yeah… I guess so. No one else seems to be taking the leader spot, and trust me. Being leader is a tough job." She looks at me in the eye and I stare into her gray eyes.
"Well…" My heart is racing and I'm really unsure if I should go on. I look down.
"Yes?"
"I really don't like Sapphire. And, since she'd be the leader, I don't think being in her group would work out for me. I'm sure she'd murder me in my sleep sometime soon since she doesn't really like me. She won't hesitate to kill anyone either." I don't think I should have said my last opinion. It wouldn't have any effect on Mya since she probably won't hesitate to kill either. "She's mean, cruel, brutal, and selfish. I don't think you should join her either." I pause. "Would you be my ally?"
Mya pokes at a plant, obviously trying to look occupied. I gaze at her steadily until she starts to squirm a little under my gaze.
"Well," I prompted.
Mya freezes and looks over her shoulder, wide-eyed. She looks back at me and her stony face is masking her real emotions. "No… my allegiance is with the Careers." She stares down at her feet and drops the plant she's holding. She walks away. I stare after her and look down at my shoes. My fingers stop moving over the leaf I've been holding when I feel a feathery-light breathing on me. I blink and don't move.
"Well, well. I see where you stand. Don't worry. I plan to kill you in your sleep. That, or make a particularly bloody death for you. You need to behave, sweetheart, and then fate may not bring death upon you so soon." Her whispering makes my skin tingle in a bad way, and my neck hair is standing on its end. I can feel a slow, creepy smile making its way on her face. My heart starts beating faster again. She moves away and I turn around slowly to watch Sapphire retreat to the combat station.
I look up at the expert at the station and apologize. Then I walk away to sit in the corner by myself. I watch Lethalissima and Quistor at the spear station. Lethalissima seems to be doing well, always hitting the target close to the middle. On the other hand, Quistor does not seem to be doing as well. At all. He, in fact, could be the total opposite. There's a ghost of a smile on my face as I see the expert of the spear station dive underneath a spear which narrowly missed him.
Throwing spears doesn't seem quite that difficult, considering it looks like just a dagger, sort of, on the end of a stick. Not much. It should be just like throwing knives. I consider going over there when I see a spear being thrown towards me. I duck with a grimace. Quistor must've had a wild throw there. Maybe I shouldn't go there after all. I might get skewered before it's lunch time and then I'll have no luck in the arena at all. All the odds would not be in my favor. Maybe I'll have barbecued skewered meat for lunch, I muse to myself. No, no. No time for jokes.
I look around at everyone else and Meryll from 8, the textiles district, catches my eye. She's at the traps and snares station with Icanya from 9. I watch them and notice Meryll instructing Icanya how to work with it. I walk over.
"Hi. I'm Ari," I offer.
"Icanya," the girl from 9 grunts. She walks away from us and starts at the camouflage station.
"Ok," I say, drawing out the O in the word.
Meryll finally turns to look at me after finishing up a complex looking trap. "Hi there! I'm Meryll. District 8." She holds out her hand and I shake it instantly. I smile as I remember yesterday when I had totally blanked when Mya was going to shake my hand.
Meryll smiles. "Glad to meet you. So how's it going?"
I shrug. "It's ok, I guess."
She looks at me closely and I guess she can tell I'm holding things back from her. But, I'm glad she gives me the benefit of the doubt. "I see. Can you make traps or snares?" She points to a picture of the most complicated one. I look at her trap and the one in the picture. It's exactly the same. Impressive.
"Not really." I point at her trap. "Does that work well?"
Meryll laughs. "I hope so!" The expert smiles and gives her a piece of rabbit fur. She lightly brushes it over her trap and it snaps shut instantly. The expert gives her a nod.
"Excellent! You're one of the best I've seen!" He winks at Meryll, but she doesn't notice.
"So?"
I sigh. "I really can't do anything."
"Then try it. Maybe you have a natural talent for it."
I look down at the picture of a snare and gather the materials I need. It looks like only a wire coiled around. I glance at her, a little puzzled by how to make one. Meryll takes my hands and guides them to help me make the snare. When it is finished, the expert hands me a piece of rabbit fur and I brush it along the snare. It catches it alright, but it is so loose that any live prey would easily slip out of it. The expert takes my snare and fiddles around with it for a moment. He sets it down, unsure of what to do. Meryll takes it and pokes around.
"There," she announces. "It's better." She takes the rabbit fur and brushes it against the snare once again. It traps it and Meryll tugs at it. It doesn't budge.
Meryll helps me make a new one and when we test it, it works wonderfully.
"Not a natural, but decent," the expert muses.
Meryll smiles at me and I beam. Being called decent from an expert is definitely a compliment.
I'm starting to like Meryll a lot. She's nice, helpful, and cheerful, too. I look at her closely. She's about to walk away from the station to probably join the girl from 9 at the camouflage station.
"Wait! Meryll!" Meryll stops and turns around, walking back to me slowly.
"Yes?" she asks.
"I, I really like you and your personality. Um…will you," I pause. "Will you be my ally?"
She looks at me and I blush. "No."
I stare at her, shocked. "No?"
"No." She stares at me with her big, brown eyes.
"W-why?" I manage to splutter.
"I don't trust you and I don't know you. So no." She doesn't lower her gaze and I feel uncomfortable standing by her. She finally lowers her gaze and walks away. She joins Icanya from 9 at the camouflage station and I can already hear them laughing together.
No? How could she just refuse an alliance with me simply by saying no? Just because she doesn't trust me and doesn't really know me doesn't mean I'm a bad person to ally with. I walk away from the station, hurt.
ooOoo
Before I walk over to the Career table I notice Etolia from 5 is sitting next to Sapphire again with Amethyst sitting across from them. Mya is sitting across from her brother who is on the other side of Sapphire. Kobe is sitting next to Mya and my district partner is sitting across from Kobe. On the other side of the table, sitting next to Amethyst is Pearanya, and sitting next to Pearanya is Velvito, the boy from 8.
"Hey, can I sit here?" I look down the table to see everyone spread out with plenty of room, but there was no way I could squeeze in between someone. No one responds. "Will you move over?"
Sapphire glances at me. "Can't you fit in? There's plenty of room over there." She points to the other table. I look down. I can take a hint that I'm not welcome here, but I am stubborn and I want to sit here. Why can't I, anyways? It's the Capitol's territory, not hers.
I frown. "No, there's plenty of room here."
Sapphire, for once, looks at me in the eye. "Are you too fat that you can't fit next to Etolia?"
I bite my lip and shake my head. "I can't sit there." Sapphire gives a huge sigh and scoots over very slowly. "There. Happy?" She glares at me.
I nod and take a seat after Etolia follows Sapphire's lead. Why does she have to make a big show of it? It's not like it's a big deal or anything. I look down at my sandwich and carefully place a tomato in between the two pieces of white bread.
ooOoo
~Training Day 2: Part 2~
I stare down at my shoes as all the tributes swarm to a station. As I think about Sapphire, I can slowly feel my stomach churning. I hold my breath, run out of the room, and slam the 4 button with my fist as I imagine Sapphire killing me in the most brutal and bloody death. I sink to the floor and bury my head in my hands when I feel hands on my shoulder and the woman in charge of the elevators helping me up. She steers me back into the training room and explains softly, but with a firm tone, that we have to stay there a bit longer before heading out for the day. I nod, barely able to comprehend what's happening.
Sighing, I head over to the knife station and throw a few at the targets. All of them make it to the target, but never close to the center. This is odd. Normally, back at home in District 4, every single of my knives that I threw at the targets made it, bulls-eye. I frown and throw another one, adjusting to the strangeness. It lands closer to the middle, but still way off. I growl in frustration when I hear a crack from the ax station.
When I turn around, I see Etolia on the floor with an ax still in her hands. I walk over and watch things play out. Nothing really interesting happened. Normally, I would've laughed, but I only have a ghost of a smile on my face. I feel a strike of sympathy for her until I remember her scooting WAY over during lunch like I had leprosy or something contagious like that. My smile fades and I turn back around and walk over to the spear station. I pick up a spear and the expert shows me how to hold it. It's a lot harder than I thought. When I finally throw it, I wince to see it bounce off the wall, yards away from the target. Yikes. I guess it's not like throwing knives or a trident. The trident is heavier and the knives… they're a completely different species. I grimace and try again, this time only missing by a few yards; not as much as before. I sigh and make a note to not use a spear in the arena. If I had a fight with another tribute in the arena with only a spear on hand, I know I'd be dead. There is no way I'd make it out of the fight alive, unless I use some randomly awesome hand-to-hand combat skills; which I don't have.
When I glance around to look at everyone else, I notice Etolia and Mya sparring together: knife against sword. I'm a little interested by how that'd work out, since I've never fought with someone using a sword. I run over, eager to see how it plays out. Etolia seems to be having a little bit of a problem attacking. She seems ok with defending herself, although it doesn't seem quite right. I think for a moment, but can't come up with a reason.
I watch, amused, when Mya hits Etolia with her sword butt. I'm glad Mya's winning the fight. I'm not sure why, but I laugh to myself as I turn away and choose a knife from the table, quickly balancing it in my hand and go back over to the pair. Etolia's in mid-swing when I speak.
"Let's show her how it's done," I say, a smirk on my face. I can't help but let the adrenaline take over everything I'm doing.
Etolia shoots me a look. "Actually, I'm going to go now. Thanks for the tips, Mya."
"You're welcome." Mya comes at me right away, but I'm prepared. After training for a long time in District 4, I'm just about always ready when there's a knife or a dagger in my hand. I bet I'd be ok with even a cleaver. You know, those huge rectangular hatchet things that cooks use. Even though I can fight with a knife, I bet I'd cut my hand off if I'm cooking. Cooks are talented. I shudder, giving Mya a little bit of an advantage to catch me slightly off guard. She's coming at me on my right side, but I quickly deflect it out of instinct. Using the knife makes me feel like home and it quickly becomes an extension of my arm. As she's withdrawing her sword back into a defensive position, I notice that she seems to like to play defensive a lot. Always attacks, and draws back to defensive. That's always a good strategy because your opponent has to know when you're about to attack so they can get in close and take a swipe at you. That's where tensing of the muscles come in. I remember when an instructor at our District training center showed me how the muscles tense and you can sort of predict where your opponent's going to end up next.
I keep my knife close. I fake to the left and right, but she doesn't move. I guess I'll just have to watch her body to see if anything happens. I thought for one moment that she was going to attack on my left, but the tensing stopped and she looked a little hesitant. I bet a glimpse of a frown entered my emotions, but I quickly mask them with a stony expression. Mya stares at me, narrowing her eyes. It doesn't make much of an effect on me, but it's still slightly intimidating if I ever have to end up fighting her.
Mya attacks and I am totally unprepared for it. I had let my thoughts wander. Stupid, stupid, stupid! If I was in the arena, that wouldn't not be good! My head would probably impaled on the sword. Out of instinct, which is very good that I have one, I defend myself from the blow to my side, right below my ribs. I risk a glance at Mya and see she was surprised. I guess she expected more from me. Well, I will tell you something. I will give her more.
She takes a swing at me again and I duck, the sword nearly severing my head. That is, if the sword was not blunted. Not paying attention again! Have I lost my touch or something? I would swear if I was the swearing type, but I'm not. I know Mya has been watching me carefully and I hear her laugh. She knows I'm not focused. I glare at her sword and see her tense a muscle. I am finally prepared when she lunges at my left and I easily dodge her sword and swing my knife before stopping abruptly at her throat. She can feel the blunt blade there before she can bring her sword back into the defensive position. Knowing that if we were in the Games and I was willing to kill her, she would've been dead by now.
She sighs as if she is saddened by the thought that our fight is over. "You're good enough, although I doubt either of us fought to the best of our ability." She lets her sword fall to the floor with a clank. "You really should join the Careers," she whispers as I pass by her to return my knife to the table.
I pretend I didn't hear. No. No. There's no way I'm joining the Careers. Sapphire would kill me in my sleep. Not peacefully either. Brutally.
ooOoo
~Training Day 3: Part 1~
"You did WHAT?" Irinead screams. I flinch. I had not expected this reaction when I had told her about the Sapphire deal, my ally troubles with Mya and Meryll, and just plain not doing much over the past two days of training. Or maybe she was ticked off about me coming back early yesterday and the day before that.
Garilee walks into the room, probably to ask Irinead a question, to see Irinead clutching the wooden chair, her vein in her wrist popping out. He stares at me, Irinead, and then back at me.
Irinead seems to finally calm down and the vein in her wrist doesn't seem to pop out as much anymore. "The train is rolling. And you know where you are?" She stares me down. I look at my feet. "Under it! And the wheels are going to smash your face!" she screams at me. I won't cry. I can't cry. That just makes me look weaker. "You need to pick it up and get back into the train. I don't care if it's boxcar. I don't even care if it's in the bathroom! You just need to get back on before it crushes you and you get left behind. So tomorrow I expect you to try everything to the best of your –BEEP – ability! And if there's anything that's potentially easy for you, you –BEEP– better keep trying it! But don't waste your time daydreaming and talking to stupid people that aren't going to help you!" Irinead lets out a string of swearing and storms out of the room.
A tiny tear slips out and I quickly wipe it away before Garilee sees it. "I'm sorry." My lip trembles and I run out of the room. I guess I'm not going to tell Irinead about my private training session strategy.
ooOoo
Out of all the mentors, I chose Irinead. Why would I do that? There were four mentors for me to choose from: Mags (who I didn't choose 'cause she is kind of old), Jazzy (who I heard tends to be very unpredictable), Cam (who is insanely violent), and Irinead. Now, I wish I had chosen the old lady or Jazzy, or I suppose even Cam. But I had to choose Irinead because I thought she wouldn't be harsh. I thought she'd be more protective. Guess not. If I wanted that, I should've chosen Mags.
Garilee also got to choose his mentors. He had five choices: Branchon (a super duper old guy who is even older than Mags), Typho (the insanely violent victor from last year's games who is even worse than Cam), a morphling named Cha Cha (yeah, I know. It's a stupid name), and Hiast (a victor who has the habit of talking your ears off). He chose Hiast because he's probably the best mentor out of the lot. I would have chosen him too. But since Hiast tends to go into long stories (and I mean really long), Garilee sometimes comes to Irinead. I guess he views Irinead as the better mentor. I don't blame him. There are times at dinner or breakfast or lunch, that I just want to put super glue on Hiast's lips. It'd seal them shut for sure.
I push the 0 button on the elevator to take me down to the training center. As Garilee and I are going down, we avoid looking at each other. The silence seems a little bit overwhelming so I speak. "Have a plan for the Gamemakers?"
I can see out of the corner of my eye that he glances at me. He shrugs. I roll my eyes inwardly. I guess he doesn't want me to know a thing about him. It's not like I plan on telling everyone everything. But whatever. He can keep his secrets and I will definitely keep mine, although I'm not sure what secrets I have.
The elevator stops and the doors open. We walk in silence into the room and I look around. It's just slightly past ten. We're late and there's only two other people here. I swiftly glance at Atala, the woman in charge, and see she's not doing much. I catch a glimpse of one of the Gamemakers. I'm guessing he's the Head Gamemaker since he's sitting in the center of the table and has a little notepad out. He's scribbling something down and looks up to find me staring at him. I quickly look away. I'm planning on skipping out and going back to the elevator when I remember Irinead yelling at me about this train analogy thing. That's when I hear the tribute from District 5 calling me over.
"Hey Ariella, come over here!" I freeze, uncertainly, but eventually decide to make my way over there.
"He's not going to bite," says Etolia. I glare at her as I skip by. She had to bring up the Career joke about not biting. I'm starting to hate her. She thinks she's so good.
"District 4, right? You know how to use these?" the boy asks. I look down to what he's referencing to and realize they're tridents. I didn't know they had tridents here and I'm betting a ghost of a smile reaches my face.
"Yeah, sure." I pick one up and at the feel of having something familiar from home, can't resist the urge to twirl it around in my fingers. "Everyone in District 4 does, even if they weren't one of the ones using tridents on fishing boats. I wasn't," I state simply. I throw it at the target and it falls. I walk over, pick it up, and pull the trident out of it easily. "See? Nothing to it."
The boy, Dion I believe, picks one up and throws it. The expert at this station ducks; the trident narrowly missing his mohawk. "Oops."
I laugh. Throughout this whole trip, or whatever you want to call it, I haven't felt the home feeling until now. Then I notice Etolia come over. She picks up the trident and I glare at her again. She ruined the moment and is a jerk. Kissing up to the Careers and all.
"Come on, throw it, Etolia," he says. Etolia steps back and throws it. Somehow it flips in the air and the back sticks into the wall. She just demonstrated how NOT to throw a trident. I double over laughing when I remember teaching the first-graders how to throw them.
Back at home in District 4, it's traditional for the some of the best trident throwers in sixth grade (around age 11) to teach the first-graders how to throw tridents. I remember the smallest girl. She had mousy brown hair and the traditional green eyes. She, unfortunately, was not strong and ended up throwing it just like Etolia did. The end ended up in the wall (not the target) with the prongs extended our way. She had burst out laughing. Actually, I don't quite know why she had burst out laughing. I mean, if I was in her position, I would've started bawling. Being embarrassed in front of all your classmates was not fun.
When I finally look up, still laughing, I see Etolia giving me an icy glare. She doesn't look very happy. "Let's see you shoot an arrow, Ari!"
I don't move for a second. Then I turn to her slowly. All trace of laughter is gone. Thanks for ruining the best moment I've had since I got to the Capitol. I glare at her and then turn my gaze to see a small crowd that happened to be watching us.
Sapphire seems to be entertained by our little show and gives Etolia a thumbs up. I glare at Etolia once again and then go back to looking at our audience. I turn away and stalk off to have some fun knot-tying.
Eventually the rest of the tributes come in and join us. After Etolia's and my little argument or whatever you want to call it, I am in no mood to do what Irinead told me to. Sure, she can swear at me all she wants, but I'm not going to do a thing for her.
ooOoo
Once again, I'm the last one to leave the training center. Tying knots are so much fun and they remind me how I should've appreciated District 4. I pick up my plate of a traditional District 4 dish and walk over to the Career table. Once again, no room for me.
Sapphire sits on the end, Etolia next to her, and Mya occupies the seat next to Etolia. Then next to her is Kobe, across from him in order going towards Sapphire are Moliask, Garilee, Pearanya, Velvito, and Amethyst at the end.
I let out another sigh. "Can I sit here?"
Sapphire looks up at me straight in the eye. We stare at each other: blue eyes to green eyes. "No, I don't think so," she says evenly, "Shoo." I narrow my eyes at her and at her last words, a string of synonyms come at me.
"Vamoose," Etolia says, staring at me. She turns to look at Mya.
"Go away," Mya says quietly. I'm not sure if she regrets what she's saying.
"Scram," Kobe offers. He doesn't even seem to care who he's speaking to.
"Get lost," Moliask says. His icy stare bores into me before he returns back to his food. Then he looks at Garilee expectantly.
"Beat it." Garilee doesn't seem to care either. Well, thanks for being such a loyal district partner. Now you're on my kill list. As is everyone else at this table.
"Poof," Pearanya says in a high voice. I wonder if that's her natural one.
"Hightail it," Velvito comments.
"Outta here." Amethyst points to the other table full of everyone else.
What did I expect? Of course everyone follows Sapphire's lead. She is the leader after all. I was just hoping that Mya and Kobe would actually act like friends and back me up. I guess not. We're enemies now.
Before I know what I'm doing, I push Sapphire's plate of food off the table and it shatters on the ground. Then I jump up, sit on the table right where her plate used to be, place my plate on the table and cross my arms. It is so quiet in the room and I bet everyone's looking at us now. Whatever. It just shows that I'm not to be pushed around.
Sapphire jabs me in my side and with a yelp, I hop off the table. That's when I smack her, hard, on her arm. It leaves a stinging red mark there. I walk calmly away after grabbing my plate again and sit down at the end of the table on the other side of where everyone else is sitting. I know everyone's still looking at me or Sapphire.
Because of the silence in the room, I can hear Sapphire whispering at the Career table. Obviously she's not trying to, since it's quite loud so everyone can hear it. "In the arena," she begins, "I kill her. My way. Anyone who doesn't bring her to me will face the wrath of the Career pack." I guess she's talking to basically everyone in the room. It's still silent. I jam my lips together, forcing myself to eat and not to react to her words.
Soon enough, a woman by the bread cart calls Amethyst over. I guess the private sessions are about to start. I'm not sure what I want to do. But I better figure out soon.
After about fifteen minutes, Sapphire gets called. Then Moliask. Then Mya. Normally I would give her a few words of encouragement, but after the "incident" there is no way I'm going to be nice to her.
Before I know it, it's my turn. I still have no idea what to do. The woman walks me over to the training room and opens the door for me, while telling me that I have 15 minutes with the Gamemakers.
When I enter the room, I notice that the Gamemakers are seated above the training center. Everyone but one is watching me. The one exception is refilling his goblet with wine. I wrinkle my nose in disgust when one of the Gamemakers reminds me that I'm supposed to be doing something. The first thing I do is drag a dummy across the room and position it perfectly. Then I pick out ten knives. I start to throw when I realize why I'm not hitting the target in the center. They're blunt. The fact that they are blunt affects their balance and how well they are thrown. I frown and mentally smack myself for not remembering this.
I continue to throw and eventually make the bulls-eye on my tenth throw. Gritting my teeth, I quickly arrange a place to start a fire around the dummy's feet. A few Gamemakers are looking at me strangely, but most look bored. Probably from my terrible throwing. I take the oil from the wrestling station and pour it over dummy, making sure it soaks it up. Then I start a fire. The fire quickly leaps up into the air, searing a bit of the ceiling. I hear a few yelps of surprise and possibly terror from the Gamemakers and frown. Something's missing… I need to do something more. I frown when the Head Gamemaker addresses me.
"Miss Pebblestep. You are dismissed."
Ouch. He said "you are dismissed" instead of "you may leave now". That's worse, isn't it? Giving the "option" to leave is better than being firmly dismissed.
I walk out and kick the wall in frustration. I probably got a 1. I deserve a 0. Ok, maybe not quite. But terrorizing the Gamemakers or setting a fire and just leaving it there? What was I thinking? I bang my head against the wall when I hear someone walking towards me. I turn around and see Mya walking towards me.
"Hey, Ari," she says uncertainly.
I look at her and that's when I remember the "incident" in the dining hall. "What?"
"I- I'm sorry about lunch." I glare at her. Mya swallows. "Really. I didn't really want you to go away. I just felt obligated to join in. Please. Can we be friends-"
I unleash my anger from lunch and from my private session. "No. You're just trying to get on my good side. Just shut up. Go away. And I mean it. Just leave me alone. If you were really my friend then you would've stuck up for me. I hate you," I hiss. I stalk into the waiting elevator and let the doors close before Mya can join me.
"I hate you," I repeat, sobbing into my arms as I slide to the floor of the elevator.
ooOoo
"So," Tillie Ash begins for the first conversation at dinner. I'm surprised Hiast hasn't spoken at all yet. I guess he senses that now is not the time to start jabbering away. "How was the private session?" Garilee and I don't reply.
"Oh, come on," she fusses. "Just tell me. How about you, Garilee? How were you?" Garilee looks up from his food and glances at me. "I think I did fine."
"Don't you want to tell me more," she asks, making a puppy face.
Garilee shakes his head.
Tillie sighs resignedly. "Fine. How about you, Ari?"
I look up from my dish of meat and potatoes and shrug. "It was ok." She pouts again since she can't get anything more out of me. Tillie pushes her food away from her and gets up slowly.
"Well, do whatever you want. Just make sure you watch the training scores with us in the other room." Garilee, Hiast, and I stand up and put our napkins on the table. The avoxes quickly pull our chairs back so we can walk away. Irinead decided to skip out on dinner today.
ooOoo
Tillie, Hiast, Irinead, Garilee, and I are staring mesmerized at the TV screen in the sitting room. The Capitol anthem plays with their seal and Tillie pulls out two pieces of paper and two fountain pens. She gives one of each to me, and then Garilee.
First up is obviously District 1. Sapphire gets a 10 and Amethyst gets an 8. Mya and Moliask come next. Mya gets a 10 and Moliask gets a 9. Bermiath gets a 6 and Pearanya, 9. I'm up next. I hold my breath as I see my score appear. A 5. That's terrible. Careers are supposed to get the 8 to 10 range! Irinead looks at me sharply and I pretend not to notice her. Then Garilee gets an 8. Hiast tries to give him a high five but Garilee ignores him. Then Etolia gets a 9, Dion, 7, and Teribia a 1. A one? What? How is that possible? Next, Yassarith gets a 5. Then Lethalissima 8, and Quistor, 7. Next, District 8 Meryll gets an 8, and Velvito gets an 8. Icanya from 9 gets a 9, Hatmic gets a 5. Next, Atonia gets a 6, and Kobe a 9. I glare at his face on the screen. Then Blossom gets a 4 and Urness gets a 4. The last two, Tessaraea and Ore, both get a 4.
Then the Capitol anthem plays and the seal reappears. Tillie turns off the TV and looks at us. "Congratulations, Garilee." She doesn't say anything to me and walks out of the room. Irinead glares at me and Hiast just walks out of the room too. Just Garilee, Irinead, and me left. That's when we hear a little bit of screaming. We all look at each other, but Irinead's eyes are smoldering so I walk out of my room and go to my bedroom. I guess a 5 is ok. Not good, not terrible. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to get sponsors by my interview. Which reminds me. Interview prep tomorrow and then the actual interview in the evening. Awesome.
ooOoo
Nothing really happens the next day. First, I receive my interview dress which is splendid. It's the exact same shade as my reaping dress. There is black flowery lace over it on the skirt part. The short dress is strapless, but I'm okay with that. Then they apply a medium amount of makeup to match the dress. When I look in the mirror, I can barely recognize myself. For once, I understand what people mean when they say I have pretty eyes. The blue makeup and dress enhances the color and looks absolutely spectacular. I'm so pretty that I almost faint. Almost.
Then I spend 3 hours with Tillie Ash, and she doesn't seem unhappy with what I can do. I suppose it's decent since she isn't snubbing me or anything. Walking in high heels for 3 hours is tiring, but Tillie thinks I'm fine with them. Mainly, she's trying to have me keep my chin up. Then Garilee's up. Tillie fusses over him for apparently 4 hours. I guess he doesn't really know his proper manners well.
Around 6 o'clock, Garilee pops in to ask if I wanted anything to eat before the interviews. He says he's asking because Tillie wants to know. I frown in thought when I answer him no. I bet it'd all come up during the interview.
Then it's 6:30. Irinead barges in without knocking and just tells me to wing it. "Lie if you have to. I don't care. Just make yourself likeable. And make up an excuse for getting that –BEEP– 5."
I glare at her at 6:45 when she comes to get me for the interviews. "Best to arrive on time," she says.
My heart is pounding as I wait for Garilee to join us. I used to be hoping that I would get sponsors through this interview. Now, I just want to get it over with. I don't want to panic too much or I just might get a heart attack and die in front of all of Panem. Actually, that'd be a fairly good idea! But no, I'll take my chances in the arena and hope Sapphire doesn't get me. Basically, I hope I don't die anytime soon.
Wow. That was one long chapter. 16 pages on Microsoft Word. 16! Anyways, please review. Hope you liked it! I can't wait to get into the arena which will be in, what? 4 chapters? I think so.
