Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 5- Training Begins

I slowly open my eyes as I hear a knocking on my door. For a moment, I allow myself to feel like it's just another normal day back home in 12, and its Mom waking me up for the day. However, that quickly passes, I allow myself to remember that I'm in the Capitol, and today is the day I and the other Tributes start training for the Games.

I slowly slide out of bed and stretch myself. Having showered last night, I feel no need to do so again this morning, so I understand head for the wardrobe and open it, going through the different outfits available. I may take after my mom in most ways, but I'm a little more fashionably minded than she ever has been. I'm not sure if that's because of my dad's genes, or because Cinna was in my life since my birth, but…

I finally pick out a pair of sweats and a blue T-shirt, knowing that before I head down for training, I'll be changing into the designated training outfit. After slipping on the outfit I chose, I leave my bedroom and make my way to the dining room.

As I enter the dining room, I see my mother and father talking with Effie, not really touching their food. Robin is eating some eggs while Tony is leaning back in his chair, tossing grapes into the air and catching them in his mouth.

As I walk up to the table, my father turns to me. "Ah, Willow. Glad you could make it," he says with a slight teasing tone. I roll my eyes in response, but take a seat.

"Where's Haymitch?" I ask.

"Sleeping off an almighty hangover," Mom replies. I chuckles in response.

"Alright. Here's how things are going to go. You two are going down in about half an hour. I want you two to stick together at least for today, and focus as much as you can on the survival skills. Tomorrow you can start on the combat skills. Also, I want you two to work as a team. No, we don't you going for the lover angle like me and Katniss did. But working as a team will make you more effective at training," dad explains to me and Tony. The two of us simply nod in return.

The rest of breakfast passes in relative silence. Finally, Dad looks up from his plate of eggs and says, "Alright. It's time for you guys to head down for training." The two of us nod and stand up, grabbing our training outfits from a nearby table. The outfits are somewhat tight-fitting workout pants and long sleeved shirts, covered almost entirely black with red stripes running down the arms, and a number 12 on the back of the collar. We step into the nearby bathrooms to change quickly, then head for the lifts.

The ride down to the Training Center is silent. Me and Tony are just looking out of the glass walls of the lift the whole time, not looking at each other and not speaking. Not because we don't like each other, but because neither of us really knows what to say in this moment. At least, that's why I'm staying quiet. As usual, I have no idea what's going on with Tony.

Finally, we reach the bottom and emerge into the Training Center. Most of the rest of the tributes have already arrived and are milling around in the center of the room, waiting for Atala, the Head Trainer, to make her opening presentation.

Tony and I hang out at the edge of the pack, watching the other Tributes as they wait, and watching the last few arrivals as they come in. Most of all, we're working on sizing up the Career Tributes.

As usual, the Career Tributes are a fiercesome pack. All of them are either 17 or 18, except for the District 1 boy, who is 16. All of them are volunteers this year. They're big too. All of them are over 5 foot 10. Of particular notice to me is the District 2 boy, whose name I remember from the Reaping recaps as being Tiberius. He's absolutely massive, and I can already tell he's probably going to be the biggest threat in the arena.

Finally, everybody has gathered, and Atalla begins her speech. She lists off some of the rules, emphasizing not fighting with the other Tributes. She then lists off the different stations available here in the Training Center, encouraging us to not forget the survival stations. Then, she releases us to begin training.

Of course, the Careers are the first people out of the circle, and they head straight for the most dangerous and effective weapons. The rest of the Tributes start to separate slowly and head for a station, most looking extremely nervous.

Tony and I look at each other for a moment before I say, my parents' experience coming to me, "Let's head to the knot tying station."

"Sounds good to me," Tony says, and we head off to the knot tying station, where the trainer seems pleased to have us there as students.

We start off just learning some basic knots. Then, he starts instructing us on snares for catching animals. I already know most of what he's teaching us, which he is very enthusiastic about. Tony, however, clearly doesn't know at the beginning. However, he is incredibly focused learning. With shocking speed, Tony is building snares that are virtually perfect. I look at Tony with interest and a bit of trepidation, wondering how on Earth he picked this up so fast. He had no knowledge of snares when we started, and is now perfectly building snares that took me days to learn. I just look at Tony, wondering what secrets this guy holds.

I look up from where I'm standing at the spear throwing station. This is the second day of training. The first day had gone rather well. Me and Tony had actually worked pretty well together. We had visited several of the survival stations, and had done very well. However, to my interest, Tony has continued to be an incredibly fast learner.

Today, we had separated to do our own things. I had spent some time on the climbing station, and then some time wrestling, and then to knife throwing. Now, I've been spending over an hour at the spear throwing station with the District 1 girl and the District 6 boy. The District 1 girl, whose name is Ruby, is surprisingly polite for a Career, but still not the most pleasant person ever.

I watch some of the other Tributes as they go about training. I particularly watch the District 1 boy, who's been using a bow most of training. I know he'll be a major competitor for me in the arena.

Finally, I look over to where Tony is. To my surprise, Tony hasn't been spending a minute at a combat station. All of his time has been at the survival stations. And that just confuses me, because it doesn't seem like Tony. Tony is a very athletic person, and he just seems like someone who would be very competent in combat. But he's completely avoiding the combat stations.

However, he suddenly moves from the station he's been at for a while and moves to another. To my surprise, I see that the station is the shield station.

I feel a bit confused. While shields are not unheard of in the Hunger Games, they're extremely rare. In the 39 Games I've seen either live or reruns or tapes, I've only seen shields twice. I find myself wondering why Tony is going to the shield station.

I watch as Tony picks up a shield and examines it, then walks over to the training area. The trainer starts shooting rubber balls at Tony. I watch in interest as Tony starts blocking everything shot at him, although the balls aren't coming very fast.

I stand there watching as Tony is working with his shield, only occasionally taking a break to throw a spear again. Tony clearly has some kind of plan in mind. But I have no idea what is going on in his head. I find myself wondering again what is going on in Tony's head.

And, I'll end there. Hope this chapter wasn't too bad. Next chapter will be up soon, and it'll feature the private sessions.

Until the next one is up, please leave a review and stay tuned!