It was almost a relief to leave for the Training Room. There was still a tenseness in the air that wasn't there prior to the incident as I am privately calling it, and it had made for silted breakfast conversation. Paragon had quickly swept over the game plan with me while Chardonnay spoke in a clipped tone to Rarity before Tatiana sent us off, our bellies full of delicious food and jumbled nerves. To say I was surprised to feel nervous was an understatement. Had the looks, the training, and all the support I could possibly need. What did I have to be nervous about?
The unknown a teasing voice whispered in my mind, and I brushed it away like I would a spiderweb without much thought.
Glancing at Rarity who was standing solemnly, I turned my gaze back to the doors, seeing our reflections mirrored back at me. I had to admit, we looked great. Our outfit was simple, but effective, with me in a pair of black fitted but not tight joggers with a gold stripe down the sides and a black singlet with the matching gold stripe down the sides. Rarity wore similar but her pants were tight and stretchy, reaching mid-calf and her singlet was tighter, and I caught a glimpse of her gold sports bra under it. I forced my mind to move on from all thoughts of her bra, and instead focused on the black tennis shoes we wore, the golden laces standing out. I didn't think we were allowed to look so individualistic, but I didn't question it too much. It wasn't my place.
A ding announced our arrival, and I was thankful we only had one floor to go. I had always thought we'd be on the ground floor, but I guess with all the other things they needed to put in this place, like the dining area, prep rooms, and the Training Centre, it made sense.
I followed Rarity as she exited the small foyer and took a left into a hallway and then a right to enter the room. The lack of clanging surprised me, but since we were the first ones here, it made sense. A woman stood in the centre, her dark skin gleaming and her hair designed in a slight wave pattern on her forehead. For a Capitolite she looked… normal, and I had to push down the curiosity as to what her story was. Instead, I look in the room, taking it all in.
There was a balcony behind us housing the game makers, their gazes on us scrutinizing, making me feel less like an honoured Tribute and more like a tiny ant. Either side of the balcony were two doors, one with the word POOL written on it, and the other saying entrance. To my left was a space with a clear glass, presumably for training. The survival sections clumped, each in their own little section. There was an acrobatics area with nettings draped over it like tapestries, simulating a forest canopy. Weapons hung on the walls and in racks like pieces of arts, and everything was so shiny and new, so much sleeker than the slightly decrepit building we trained in.
Everyone assumed our academies were the state of the art, but they were wrong. We had all the things we needed, including a murky pond out the back that had a glaze of frost over it in winter, but it was no where near this level. All the weapons were slightly rusted, not like these beauties. My handles tingled when I looked at the throwing knives and I had to slip them behind me and interlink my fingers to stop myself from giving into my impulses. This entire place was sleek, everything placed with surgical position. It was everything I had imagined and more.
"Remember the plan?" I whispered to Rarity, my mouth barely moving.
"Yea. Can we have an agreement that we go with what the others does? That way we won't risk looking like frauds."
I pursed my lips, in thought. On one hand, this could be good for me, but on the other, she had the smarts to turn this against me. Still, I wasn't stupid, and I doubted she'd do anything to risk me being in the alliance, the outcome isn't pretty for a lone Career. I remembered back in the 52nd Games, only the Male Tribute from one made it into the alliance, and the Two's killed him as soon as his use didn't outweigh his threat. The Victor, Lyme Bismuth was the one to kill him, and she sure made a show of it.
"Hello, big boy, you in there somewhere behind the walls of muscle?"
I jolted back into focus, seeing her smirking teasingly as she waved her hand in front of my face.
"Uh yea sorry was just out of it. That sounds like a good idea, lets do it." I finally said, rubbing the back of my neck as I forced my voice to stay steady.
She shot me a weird look but didn't push it, still a little out of sorts after Chardonnay I'd imagine. Instead, we stood in near silence, looking around the room like kids in the Capitol when they get taken toy shopping. I glanced at the clock above the Game makers, feeling myself frown when I saw we still had 10 minutes left.
"Why did we have to come so early?" I muttered under my breath, crossing my arms.
Apparently, I hadn't been as quiet as I'd hope because Rarity's tinkling laugh drew my attention like animals to a savannah, at last what I gathered from watching the Games. "What's the matter big boy? Don't you want to spend some quality time with me." Rarity practically purred, standing up on her tiptoes and teasingly moving her hand down my taunt bicep.
I opened my mouth to comment, but the whoosh of the doors drew my attention. "What did I say Marcella, I knew they'd be here. Ones are so predictable."
I turned, purposefully making Rarity let go of me. I could see her pout out of the corner of my eye but ignored her, giving the newcomers my attention. Garrison was as big as he looked on screen, all corded muscle compacted into a single body and his hair was cut short, allowing the malice in his eyes to stand out. Next to him, Marcella seemed almost angelic, her choppy dark red almost brown hair fell around the sharp angles of her face, making me quickly retract my 'almost angelic' analysis.
"You Ones are so easy to find."
I raised a brow but kept silent, letting Rarity handle it. And as usual, she didn't disappoint.
Armed with a disarmingly flirtatious smile she sauntered up to him, getting into his spaced and pressing her body against his. She cocked her head and played with the neckline of his black singlet, tracing the red panels in the front. "Oh yea? Wanna tell me exactly how we are so predictable." She flirted, fluttering her lashes and making the big brute smirk at her touch, his gaze practically undressing her.
"Because One. You are either training or in someone's bed, sometimes both." He teased, wrapping his arms around her slender waist.
Giggling, Rarity half-heartedly tried to dissuade him, only making herself seem like a bobble head. I stayed silent, not bothering to say anything. "And I suppose you think you are immune to my charms, do you Two?" She teased, giving him a lustful smile.
"I guess we will just have to wait and see, won't we, One." He replied, his voice gravelly with a husky quality that was missing before she engaged him.
I rolled my eyes and turned my gaze to Marcella, seeing her with a disgruntled expression and eyes zeroed in on the place my partner was touching hers. I raised a brow and filed that away for later, knowing that Paragon would be interested. For now, I pushed away the emotion and walked up to her, putting my hand in-between us. She looked at me with an expression of mild annoyance before it melted away when she saw my hand.
"I'm Gloss from District One, and you are?" I asked politely, ensuring I didn't lay the charm on too thick.
She raised a brow and slowly reached to take my hand, giving it a few firm shakes before withdrawing it like I burnt her. "Marcella. Surprised you aren't going to flirt with me shamelessly like your District Partner is." She said, a tinge of something in her voice.
Keeping my expression blank so she didn't know I caught it I just shrugged, watching the spectacle. "I'm not really one for flirting. I believe women should be respected and aren't toys to ne played with." I said, speaking with enough conviction that she wouldn't question it, hopefully.
She raised a brow at me, and I was draw into the rich dark brown of her eyes. "I noticed you were a gentleman but assumed you were playing a role. What, you going to let me win because of your morals?" She asked, a whisper of a smile on her face.
I let myself smile slightly before shaking my head. "Gentleman to a point." I joked, earning a flicker of smile back.
We stayed in relative silence as the other Tributes tailed in, nodding at District Four when they came and stood by us. The russet head boys' hair had a more even shave to it, and the girl that annoyingly reminded me of Cash looked good in her black singlet with blue accents matched with her black tight pants with blue lining. Her golden hair was up in a high ponytail and both of them had a magnetism to them that I knew would be a threat.
"Albright Tributes, gather around."
We all did as the woman commanded, us Careers adopting a more relaxed posture than the Bloodbaths around us.
"Welcome Tributes. In two weeks, 23 of you will be dead, with only one of you alive and able to claim the coveted title of Victor." I had to bite my tongue to stop from cheering like a first year at the academy. "Who that is will depend on whether you listen carefully to what I am about to say." She paused to scan us, her eyes serious.
"There are four compulsory stations, namely Edible Insects, Edible plans, Fire-starting and Shelter making, as they are the ones key to surviving. The rest is individual choice." She paused; all traces of approachability gone. "My advice is to not ignore the survival station. They may not be flashy but can kill just as easily as any sword. 10% from infection, 20% from dehydration. Exposure to the elements can kill as easily as any weapon. Make the most of your time here, and remember there is no fighting other tributes, there will be trainers next to stations if you want a partner."
She paused, zeroing in on our fledgling alliance. "Save that for the arena. I will be here if you need any help or advice."
With that she let us all branch off, with the Bloods heading to the survival stations and giving us a wide birth.
"Right, let's get the introductions out of the way. I'm Garrison Sallet, District Two, and this is my partner, Marcella Placket." He said, jamming a finger her way. "Your turn, One." He said, his dark eyes boring into mine.
"Ladies first," I said smiling slightly to Rarity with a small bow.
She shot me an amused smile, but Garrison snorted, giving me a disbelieving look, as if he couldn't believe I let a girl speak before me.
"Hi everyone, I'm Rarity Grace, female and more attractive tribute of D1, isn't that right, big boy," she said, winking at me.
I could practically hear Garrison grinding his teeth, but I ignored him, already knowing he and I would get along better if we never spoke.
"Well, I mean of course, everyone knows the girls are always prettier," I joked back, getting a smirk from Marcella and the D4 team, and a giggle from Rarity. "I'm Gloss Ametrine, pleasure to meet you all."
"After that I suppose I better let you go first, otherwise Gloss will make me look bad," the District Four male joked, earning chuckles from everyone except from Garrison.
"You are a fast learner," his partner joked, hip bumping him. "I'm Cordelia Abalone and look forward to getting to working with you all," she said, though her eyes trailed to me, languidly taking in my muscles.
"And I am Wade Hull, the slightly less attractive but much more entertaining half of the District Four dynamic duo." He said, puffing out his chest and wearing a joking expression of self-importance.
I was about to speak when Garrison jumped in, shooting both me and Wade scathing looks. "Right now, that we have that out of the way, we should hit the weaponry." He demanded, crossing his he arms across his chest.
"I was actually planning on hitting the survival skills first, get a feel for the competition and all that stuff," Wade said, rolling his shoulders and giving us a devil-may care smile.
"Well, I think we should do weapons." Garrison snapped back, leaving no room for argument. "I want to make sure you are all up to scratch." He tacked on, making my hackles raise/
"How about this, we hot the weapons for the first half then hit the compulsory ones after lunch." Cordelia said, her gaze darting around to gauge our reactions.
Various mutters greeted her and as a collective the group moved over to the ranged weaponry, Garrison, Rarity and Marcella in the lead, leaving District Four and I to take up the rare.
"Well, he is a barrel of laughs, isn't he?" Wade muttered, making sure our fearsome leader couldn't hear.
"Wade be nice, he might try and turn us into that yummy sushi stuff if we aren't careful." Cordelia joked, her eyes glittering with mischief.
"I'll be careful Del, don't worry. Would hate to make Mr manners grumpy." He said, rolling his eyes in amusement.
"Didn't you hear that District Two is the leader? I thought it was written in stone," I joked back, trying to wedge myself into the conversation.
Wade snorted, looking at me with clear amusement. "You'd think it was in the Treaty of Treason the way he acted." This time he made sure to mutter quietly, not wanting to aggravate anyone with power.
I couldn't stop myself from smirking at that, and he puffed up, grinning. "You know-:
"What are you three still doing? Hurry up it'll be time for the Games to start soon the way you guys are going." Garrison snapped, turning away to throw a spear into a dummy, the weapon just missing the dot by a millimetre.
The three of us exchanged looks but stayed silent, making our way over. Marcella had a bow and Arrow and was consistently hitting her target, only missing once. Rarity was throwing chakrams at hers, the serrated edge embedding themselves into the soft parts of the dummy. Grinning at each other, they stepped back to let District Four and I have a go, with Cordelia and Wade both choosing a strange, curved stick.
I decided to watch as they threw it in stick, barely remembering to keep my mouth shut it decapitated their dummy and returned neatly to their hand. Still in the flow, they threw it once again, this time aiming for the hand of the dummy where it sliced clean through, returning like an obedient dog.
"Ta da!" Wade said, as both turned and bowed.
"That was awesome, what weapon was that?" I asked, my eyes as wide as sauces.
"Hunting boomerangs, they have serrated edges." Wade said simply, passing it over for me to look at it.
I looked it over, tracing the rough edges, barely able to stop it from nicking myself. "Wicked," I breathed out, unable to hold back the little boy inside me.
Wade chuckled and took the weapon back, giving me a good-natured smile. "Your turn, Gloss ma 'boy." He said, gesturing grandly for me to take my turn.
I couldn't help but smile back, despite the nagging voice that he was acting to lull me into a false sense of security. Regardless, I took the proffered javelin and in one fluid motion sent it careening to my target, embedding it right in the centre of the dummy's chest. My blood sang as I threw a spear, sending it into the space where an eye would be, the force of my throw making the dummy fall over, with both the javelin and spear sticking out like a macabre pin cushion.
Immediately, both if the Tributes from Four congratulated me, wearing matching grins. Wade clapped me on the back before stepping back, his grin never leaving.
"That was amazing!" Cordelia gushed, flipping her hunting boomerang around.
I gave a small half smile and on reflex rubbed the back of my neck. "Thanks, spears are my speciality." I said, keeping it humble.
"We can see that," Cordelia teased, chuckling at my reaction.
"Not bad, for a One." Garrison said, sounding like he was having his fingernails pulled off and dipped in lava. "What else can you do?
I froze momentarily, before shrugging it off, not letting his abrasiveness get to me. "I'm okay with knives, better with using them in hand to hand than throwing-"
"Throw one." Garrison snapped, and I caught Rarity giving me a teasing smile.
"I mean, sure," I said, shrugging, taking the knife, and ignoring the daggers shooting out of his eyes.
I deliberately pushed away all the training that slammed into my mind, and deliberately skewed my aim. As a career, terrible aim wouldn't be accepted so I had to be careful. Throwing the knife, I had to fight the satisfied smile from crossing my face as it lodged itself in the shoulder, not in the most lethal spots. To push my performance, I screwed up my nose and pulled a face, leaving it there long enough to be noticed before smothering it quick enough to make it seem genuine.
Judging from the smirk on Garrison's face, I did a good job. I gave the others a sheepish smile and a shrugged, pulling on the age differences between us.
"Still better than the Bloods, so don't worry about it." Wade said, giving me an encouraging smile.
"Yea honestly, your skills with the spear and javelin make up for it tenfold." Cordelia added, tightening her ponytail.
"Thanks, guys." I said, stuffing the unease that the growing every time the District Four Tributes were nice to me.
I mean, I knew we'd be in an alliance, but I didn't expect to like these people. Throwing myself into the conversation, I ignored those feelings, and the growing… something that flickered in the back of my mind.
"Expected better from a Career, but still not terrible, I guess." Garrison said, a glimmer of superiority in eyes and a viciousness in his smirk.
I just shrugged, not really feeling the need to reply.
"So, shall we get to the close-up weaponry?" Rarity asked, fluttering her eyelashes expertly.
Not really seeing a reason not too, we all trailed over. I chatted with Cordelia and Wade and tried to ignore the feeling of Garrison's eyes drilling into my back.
Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know that the D4 tributes seemed a little too nice but I kind of modelled them off Finnick a little, being smooth. Everything is a game after all and making everyone like you is a prime strategy.
What's your thoughts on Gloss feeling a flicker of apprehension? He isn't questioning anything, but he does like these people, which surprises him. Would love to hear your thoughts so far and stay safe in the current climate.
TBP
Mentor and Tribute List
District One: Paragon Pelline (Victor of the 48th Games) And Chardonnay Figaro (Victor of the 54th Games)
Other Victors: Ambrosia Godling (Victor of the 36th Games) and Charisma Tarquin (Victor of the 42nd Games)
Tributes: Gloss Ametrine and Rarity Grace
District Two: Ajax Siege (Victor of the 55th Games) and Ballista Carronade (Victor of the 25th Games)
Other Victors: Brutus Cruisse (Victor of the 44th Games) and Lyme Bismuth (Victor of the 52nd Games)
Tributes: Garrison Sallet and Marcella Placket
District Four: Schnapper Lining (Victor of the 12th Games) and Netta Pearling (Victor of the 43rd Games)
Other Victors: Mags Flanagan (Victor of the 11th Games)
District Seven: Daphne Hardwood (Victor of the 34th Games) and Argan Vachellia (Victor of the 28th Games)
Tributes: Elaeis Silverling and Acacia Alnus