Annabeth Gordon,13, District 12 female
My eyes slowly open and I'm still groggy but I can hear chatter between my two mentors Caleb and Dearica and I rub my eyes for a moment before yawning. I then sit up on the sofa I fell asleep on and I'm right in the middle of the both of them.
"Hey Annabeth, enjoyed your nap!" Caleb pats my shoulder and I look across at him to see him smiling and I can't help but smile back.
"Caleb, you're ok. " I mumble.
"Of course I am Annabeth, He was honestly a lot stronger than I expected, but he's gone now and you won't have to worry about him bothering you or anyone else again." He assures me.
"That guy was too tough for his own good, after that beating it'll be a miracle for him to regain consciousness again." Dearica adds and I breath a sigh of relief, Caleb beat him, he took down this monster and everything feels so much better…I even made an ally.
"I'm glad…I'm so glad." I sniff.
"It's ok Annabeth, I know it was a scary experience, terrifying but for now let's have ourselves a good night! You fell asleep part way through the movie, so let's restart it shall we?" Caleb grabs the remote and my frown begins to turn to a smile and I nod.
"You better not fall asleep this time either cause I'll pour cold water on you!" Dearica jokes and I laugh.
"I'll try not to!" I promise her and Caleb smirks and nods before flicking on the television but to my horror, it's Hunter on the television screen, who is repeatedly stomping on the head of the already unconscious Caleb over and over and I gasp aloud as I cover my mouth.
"Annabeth what's wrong?" I hear Caleb worriedly ask and I turn around to face him but there's now a large dent on the side of his head and his entire face is drenched in blood.
"I thought you liked this movie, what happened?" He turns up the volume, this is such a horrifying site!
"Yeah Annabeth, what's gotten into you?" I hear Dearcia but I look over at her and her head is also dented in!
"No…no…" I fall off the sofa and I can hear ominous chuckling that gets louder and louder and my eyes shoot open as I can hear Hunter's chuckles and I'm on the sofa but Dearica and Caleb are nowhere near me! I peek my head over the sofa however and there's Hunter next to the entrance door, he must've just walked in…
"Heh heh! Guess who's back home! Did you miss me!?" He grins and walks towards me but I gasp and fall off of the sofa crawling away from him.
"Stop! Please, leave me alone!" I plead but he only cackles as he stands over me.
"Oh look at you, as helpless as ever! There's no one left to save you and I can do whatever the hell I want to you right now!" he grabs me by my hair and I squeal aloud.
"Stop, don't hurt me, p-please!" I beg but he spits a glob of saliva in my face before effortlessly throwing me against the sofa and tears immediately begin running down my eyes as I recall the events that happened after I left Caleb to fend for himself, I called for help as quickly as possible, but Caleb…he didn't stand a chance. Hunter only brutally beat him down more and the last thing I saw before 5 peacekeepers managed to drag him away was him just stomping on the head of the unconscious Caleb over and over. He's in the ICU right now and there's a good chance he won't wake up...
Hunter…who can bring this monster down? Caleb killed two careers and he still wasn't any match for Hunter…is he unstoppable?
"You know how boring it was!? Being locked in that stupid room and having to read and watch the 'rules and regulations' time and time again!? I should beat your little ass for that!" he hollers at me but I curl into a corner and cover my entire body as I tremble, Dearica isn't here either…she's regained consciousness but she still needs to be evaluated.
He steps towards me and my whimpering gets louder.
"And make no mistake, I am going to beat your ass! I missed an entire day of training, an entire day of beating the shit out of some dumbass tributes.Today is going to be a fun day though, gonna make sure I have a fucking blast to make up for lost time, now why don't you take your little skinny ass downstairs and make some friends so I can beat the shit out of them too!!" he cracks his knuckles and I think of Elsie, my district partner, no I can't let him hurt her…I can't!
He's giving me a chance to run away though, for now at least so I stagger to my feet and speed away from him as quickly as possible as he continues taunting me, I'll…I'll never feel safe, not as long as he draws breath…
Acer Deluca,17, District 3 male
My hands move at almost inhumane speed as they gather and mix together different herbs to create various kinds of medicines and antidotes. Just by looking at the herbs, I can assess what they are and what to mix them with to get the best results, it's only natural that I'd have the hang of this I guess, being in the medical field of study and all but I know this won't be enough, I am going to have to use a weapon of some sort if I hope to stand any chance, its just those…careers.
I peek over at the weapon's stations where all the careers are and Ryena is having an intense spar with an instructor but she seems to be getting the better of him as Caspian happily cheers her on, wow he's really happy. Hyperion is beheading some dummies , Blyana is landing throwing knives into her targets with ease, Nyx manages to throw a spear through two targets which shows just how much strength she has, she seems to be breathing pretty heavy though, she shouldn't over exert herself, wait why am I talking about? Her twin brother Nox isn't training at all though, he only has his arms crossed as he scans the entire facility like he's searching for someone, I hope it isn't me! Harlan the guy I haven't seen yesterday is here today and is practicing with a sickle that he seems rather skilled with but he seems distracted as he keeps looking over at his district partner Elsie who is trying to cheer up Annabeth who looks absolutely terrified at the camouflage station.
I gather up another assortment of herbs and brew them together to create a medicine that reduces swelling and can reduce fever and I create another batch that can fight off infections.
"Wow…he's a fucking ace at this…" I hear a voice behind me and I'm startled as I let out a loud gasp and spin around to see it's the two tributes from 8, Genevieve and Christmas who both look rather amazed.
"Oh sorry about that glasses guy, didn't mean to startle you." Genevieve pulls out a chocolate bar and downs the whole thing in one bite, I didn't think that was even scientifically possible!
"Its uh…it's ok…I think." I mumble.
"Seems like you know your stuff! You're like a doctor or something?" Genevieve pulls out yet another candy bar from her pocket, how many of those things she even has in there?
"Uhmm s-s-something like that." I stutter.
"Aww that was cute, right Christmas!" she grins at him but he only gives me a shy look. This Christmas guy is pretty big, but he looks so gentle, like he wouldn't even harm a fly.
"Uh…I'm not sure what to say…" he nervously scratches his head.
"Yeah Christmas is a shy one, I can tell you are too though right!?" She kneels down next to me and I tremble a bit.
"N…No…" I stammer, twitching my fingers together and she laughs more.
"Ok ok, let's ease up a bit, I'm Genevieve." She finally introduces herself and extends her hand.
"Acer…" I mumble and her eyes light up.
"Acer, the ace huh? A very fitting name I must say." She compliments me while doing some very exaggerated and awful imitation of an accent.
"I don't think I'm that good honestly…" I admit and she only rolls her eyes.
"A modest one, what's new?" She pulls out yet another candy bar, she should probably check her blood sugar…
"Well uhmm…Acer my name is Christmas, if you don't mind can we watch you a little longer? It's pretty amazing how you can put together so many different medicinal combinations with ease." He shyly asks but I'm a bit hesitant, we are technically enemies so why would I let them learn new skills off of me?
"And no we're not going to leech off of you either, I've been training with a few weapons like a needle sword. I can teach you how to use one a little later if you want." She reaches into her pocket again for presumably another candy bar but realizes it's empty and seems pretty disappointed.
"Well uh…ok I guess." I accept this 'deal' of theirs, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to learn something new from each other, right?
"Well alright then, it's decided, let's get comfortable Chris!" she shifts next to me and my hearts skips a beat and Christmas happily nods and sits next to her as they look at my hands waiting for my next move, I just hope they don't get their expectations too high…
Harlan Ryeson,17, District 9 male
After cutting up a dummy's torso I proceed to slash it's neck with my sickle causing it's head to roll off and I kick it's head away in frustration as I think about what a moron I am. I'm finally feeling a little better, I'm not sure what was put in that juice I drank but it had me on the toilet almost nonstop, and it was so bad that i couldn't even come down to training yesterday but that's why I need to train as hard as ever today, Elsie hates me and look I get it, I'm not a good person but I'll protect her and not because she's my girlfriend's sister but because I care about her as well. I see she made a ally with the girl from district 12 and I'm proud of her for that, me and Hunter are assholes so it's only fitting that these two found each other.
She learned of my darkest secret, something I hoped would never happen and I'm still pretty shaken up. I know it's my fault, yeah I'm a jerk or whatever you want to call me but dammit if I can just go back and turn the hand's of time. I don't deserve to be forgiven but…I just hope she can bring herself to try. She didn't want to hurt her sister, that's the only reason she didn't tell her and I'm glad she didn't because, this is something she'll never recover from.
"Hey…" I hear a deep voice and I turn around to see it's Hyperion from district 2 as he's giving me an analytical look, crap I should've known the careers would be scouting the tributes her for additional allies and I guess I just caught their attention.
"Hey there." I posture myself up to look confident and I am, he doesn't intimidate me and I want to show that.
"Hyperion Ben- I mean Corvinus." He corrects himself, he forgot his last name? Weird.
"Harlan Ryeson, nice to meet you." I shake his hand.
"You seem pretty skilled with that sickle, you had training back at home?" he asks.
"Guess you can sort of say that, I worked in a fields a lot and just became accustomed to it." I confidently say and he nods.
"I see, well as you probably already know, we're looking to recruit a tribute or two into our alliance. You seem to have the skill, is it something you'd be interested in?" He calmly asks, he seems calm and well mannered, but I can sense darkness underneath him, but still the careers are inviting me into their alliance…shit.
I look over at Elsie and she's still at the camouflage station trying to cheer up Annabeth by painting stuff over her own face.
"Ugghh." I choke, I can't just leave Elsie like that, hell fucking no but…
"You can take your time, we don't need an answer right now." He senses my hesitation.
"I'll consider joining you guys…but only if you allow me to bring my district partner." I state and his eyes narrow a little as he looks over at Elsie.
"That tiny little girl over there you mean? Does she posses any useful skills?" He asks seeming to lose some of his patience.
"She's…creative." I hesitate.
"We all are." He bluntly counters.
"Look…its kind of a long story, but I can't join you guys without her." I admit. Joining the careers, it sounds like a horrible idea on paper, but they can give us some much needed protection for the first couple of days and then we can break off in the middle of the night never to see them again, but when does things ever go according to plan? Still though, whatever it takes to keep her safe, I'll do it!
"I need some time to decide…" I change the subject.
"Hmmph fine, I'll give you until after the interviews, but if you really want to bring her along, she'll have to get a good training score or at least show us a useful skill, this isn't a daycare." He grumbles.
"We can both pull our weight. " I insist.
"Yeah, we'll see, talk to you soon Harlan." He walks off and I only take a deep breath, I hope I don't regret this but I'll just walk over to Elsie and see how she's doing
I make my way towards the camouflage station where the two girls are and I can already see Elsie glaring me, this makes me just want to turn back around but I need to tough this out.
"What do you want!" Elsie immediately snaps at me and she has a painted mustache and goatee on her face but I manage to catch myself from smirking.
"Hey girls, just wanted to see what you two were up to!" I scratch my head and try to seem bubbly but Elsie sees right through me.
"Well we're just fine! You can go get shat on by a giant Pterodactyl now!" she hisses and I only sigh but look over at Annabeth who's giving me a conflicted look, well I guess Elsie didn't waste any time making it clear I was a piece of crap.
"Hi, I'm Harlan." I extend my hand to Annabeth and she hesitates for a moment but slowly extends her hand and that's when Elsie stands in between us to intercept the handshake.
"Can you like fucking go away!?" she shouts at me and I only sigh again.
"Elsie…can we talk?" I practically plead to her
"Go a-fucking-way!" she snarls as she balls her fists, there's just no getting through to her right now, I'll just go away.
I only shake my head slightly and begin walking away but I see that giant guy from 12 with a huge grin on his face and we pass by each other as he shoves me with his shoulder and it causes me to stumble back a little and turn around to glare him but he's paying no mind as he seems to be walking towards the two girls. He's really nothing but trouble, that much is clear. I'll watch from where I'm standing and I'll intervene if things looks like they're getting intense.
"So what do we have here, see you made yourself a little friend!" I hear him taunt Annabeth and she begins trembling but Elsie stands up to this giant and she barley reaches his waist but she just has so much fire in her, I'm going to need to step in, I can't let this guy hurt her.
"Go away you ugly donkey balls fucking bully!" Elsie barks at him but he only laughs.
"Aww look at you hurting my feelings! Now get the fuck out of my way little runt!" he barley pushes her but she still goes flying back against the paintings her and Annabeth drew and she manages to catch her balance but I see some fear beginning to spread over her face as she realizes just how strong this guy is.
"Hey!" I shout as I stand In front of Elsie and Hunter only glares me but chuckles afterwards.
"And another wanna be hero!" he taunts me.
"You think it's ok bullying little girls? What if some jackass was bullying your little sister, would you be ok with that?" I stand up to him.
"Like I'd give a shit about that little bitch if I even had one, anyways white knight, you gonna get out of my way and mind your fucking business or do I have to send someone else to the ICU?" He cracks his knuckles, ICU, what is this guy talking about? His face does seem to be marked up a bit like he had a fight, but with who?
"You don't scare me." I look into his eyes.
"Heh heh, well you asked for it!" he throws a punch and I manage to weave it but his other hand grabs me by my neck and he quickly throws me into the paintings as I crash into them and can feel little splinters enter my back as I groan in pain. He was able to do this with one hand…what the hell is this guy!? I'm a bit disoriented as I try making my way back to my feet but Hunter stomps towards me and prepares to land a blow into my head but Elsie throws a bowl of paint into his face and he angrily glares her.
"Leave us alone you bastard!" She shouts at him, Elsie…
"You're going to fucking regret that!" he prepares to punch her and I try but can't get back up to my feet in time! His punch however stops midway through and I realize why now, the career Nox managed to grab Hunter's wrist before it can connect on Elsie. He must be pretty strong too, being able to stop Hunter's punch like that and it even seems to surprise Hunter a bit but he spins around and yanks his arm out of Nox's grasp and the two of them stand face to face with each other, Nox is notably shorter but he's also stockier.
"Looks like everyone wants to join the ass whipping express now!" Hunter gloats but Nox stands strong and firm, not even an ounce of fear on his face.
"So you like beating on people you know won't stand a chance against you huh? Typical cliché bully but at the same time I can't fucking stand them and hell if I'm just going to stand around and let you have your way with everyone here. I'm glad you decided to show up today cause I've been looking for you." Nox sternly says.
"Well apparently I'm quite popular it seems, let's clear one thing up though, I beat the shit out of anyone I please to, I don't have any preferences but i do enjoy fucking up little bitches like you who always want to come and try to save the day, so before I send you and your little clubhouse buddies walking with a stick shoved up your asses, I advise you leave now!" Hunter warns Nox but Nox isn't intimidated in the slightest. I notice the other careers are walking over here now and they all stand around him but Hunter only seems amused.
"Seeiously though, what did this little girl do to you to deserve that kind of treatment, that's pretty messed up man." Csspian speaks up.
"You're a special kind of waste of life but no worries, I'm going to make sure we put you down like the filthy fucking animal you are!" Nyx the other twin threatens him.
"The fact that you can do something as cruel as that and not even feel a little bad about it shows just how far gone you are, we'll put you out of your misery though." Hyperion says through gritted teeth.
"Which is kind of a shame since I was going to invite you into our alliance, but after that shit you pulled the other day, hell no!" Blyana spits at him and Ryena only has her arms crossed as she gives him a disgusted look.
Wow he has the whole career pack on his ass now, yeah he's a big strong guy obviously but there is no way In hell he's taking on an entire career pack by himself.
"Such touching words from the lot of you! But look at you tough guy, the calvary has arrived, you feeling tougher now!?" Hunter taunts him but Nox only smirks.
"Heh if only you knew, I don't need any back up to bring you down, and you'll soon learn that the hard way, so how about you savor the little bit of time you have left and learn a skill or two? I can bend your ass backwards with the current state you're in." Nox threatens him.
"Big talk, but why you don't actually fucking try, I dare you!" Hunter steps closer to Nox and and Nox looks like he's about to retaliate but several peacekeepers come in between them.
"We need to you to come with us sir." The lead peacekeeper Informs Hunter and he only sucks his teeth.
"I'll deal with you power rangers later!" Hunter says though gritted teeth to Nox before walking away with the peacekeepers and its pretty awkward now with just the careers, me, Elsie and Annabeth here.
"You guys ok?" Caspian asks and actually seems concerned.
"Y-yeah, thanks guys." I brush off my pants.
"Don't get it twisted, we weren't helping you weaklings!" Blyana says with a real nasty attitude, geez what's her problem?
"Hmmph speak for yourself, as long as I'm here though, I won't let that guy hurt anyone else. I despise people like him with every ounce of my soul! See you guys around though." Nox dismisses us and begins walking away and the rest of the careers begin following him as Caspian gives us a thumbs up.
I look over at Elsie and she's also looking at me, she…actually tried to help me.
"You ok Elsie?" I ask but she turns away from me and grabs Annabeth's arm before they begin walking off but Annabeth still manages to turn around and utter a "Thank you."
Azazel Pinestone,16, District 7 male
Wow that was intense, looks like that big guy made a couple of 'friends' and not the kind of friends I'd want. Guess he dug himself into a hole and let's he honest, he can't expect a pleasant ending after that, he made an enemy in the careers and he's pretty much fucked now, good riddance though cause that Huntet guy will be a huge problem if he isn't dealt with by the careers, the big guy from 10 might have a chance too but whatever.
I look over at Beau who's in a pretty intense boxing match with one of the instructors and she's whooping his ass as I can see the anger behind her punches but she still manages to pull them back a little so the instructor doesn't have to leave on a stretcher.
"C'mon Beau you can do it! You can do it my girl!" I cheer her on clapping my hands and jumping up and down and that's when the instructor gets dropped by a body shot and I lose my mind.
"This is why I'm your biggest fan BeauBeau!" I cheer, she's looking even sharper after that run in with that career girl, these two obviously got some kind of rivalry going on buy I'm not worried, BeauBeau can handle anyone who comes her way! Blyana got a cheap shot in but that won't be happening again, I expect them to have another run in or two before their 'final showdown' but it's Beau who will stand at the top! Yeeeah!!!
"Looks like she packs quite a punch eh?" I hear a thick accented voice next to me as I'm dancing around and clapping and it catches me off guard so I spin around and it's big guy from 10, what the hell is he even doing here?
"Well yeah…obviously, you saw how she put that career down after all!" I remind him and he keeps his arms crossed as he nods.
"I'm sure everyone and their momma witnessed that, after seeing that sparring session though between these two folks, makes me wanna go in there and throw a couple of shots myself!" he chuckles but the thought of him punching someone is chilling, does he even realize how big he is? He's like the good twin brothet of Hunter.
"Really? Wow well don't break anyone's skull." I advise him.
"Heh, only the ones that deserve it!" He begins stretching his arm and Beau is still in the ring as she's taking a water break.
"Yeah BeauBeau! Put that guy on his behind again!" I cheer.
"Would you stop fucking calling me that!" She barks.
"Isn't she so adorable!?" I turn back to the giant Cortez.
"Not sure if the word 'adorable' is the right word, but she's a fierce one oh' right, there's no denying that." He nods.
"Well looks like you finally made a friend at least, why don't you leave me the hell alone and do some training!" She barks even more.
"Oh we're friends?" I sarcastically say to Cortez and he's pretty puzzled, i don't think he sensed my sarcasm...
"Wasn't aware of that boy, but heck why not go and train together a bit?" he shrugs his shoulders but I see Blyana arrogantly strutting over here and I sigh, oh boy here's comes trouble.
"So big guy, you changed your mind yet?" She puts her hands on her waist and I realize how thick her thighs are, like wow!
"What the fuck you looking at?" She immediately hisses at me and that's when I realize I've been staring at her for far too long.
"Your thighs…" I honestly say and there's an awkward silence as she only gawks at me.
"Fucking weirdo…" she eventually mumbles and turns back to Cortez.
"So big guy once again, did you reconsider?" gives him a firm look.
"How many times am I gonna have to tell ya' that I ain't interested?" he seems to be losing some of his patience.
"Because you're making a huge mistake and I'm sure you're quite aware of that so I'm giving you another chance to come to your senses!" she snaps at him.
"I mean come on, This is borderline harassment now, yeah he's a good looking guy but go find someone else to snuggle with….like me! I'm available after all!" I suggest to her and she pushes me into a cart of boxing gloves and I trip over them.
"Owww!" I let put an exaggerated groan.
"I don't remember asking for your fucking input, now shut the fuck up before I make sure you're the first to go!" she warns me.
"Hey that was quite unnecessary." Cortez stands up to her.
"Next time I'll snap his little neck, back to you though. I see you're wearing a ring, you must have someone special back at home." She gazes at his apparent engagement ring.
"Yup that obviously means you two can't hook up now!" I tease but she ignores me.
"Why does that matter to ya'?" Cortez questions her.
"Don't you want to see her…or him again? Wouldn't you want the best chances of winning and coming back home to them?
"Yeah…ya' right, absolutely right." He nods in agreement. Wait they poached him that easily? I was just about to invite him to the BeauBeau Squad!!
"Good, I see you're finally starting to see the bigger picture then." She grins.
"I do want the highest possibility of returning back home…and that's why there is absolutely no way I'm joining ya' alliance!" He grunts and her eyes widen in shock, oh yeah that was epic.
"Yeah bitch he doesn't want to join your trash ass alliance now getting the stepping!" Beau shouts from inside the ring and Blyana glares her.
"OK I see I'm going to have to whip your stank ass again!" Blyana begins climbing into the ring.
"Woooo, she got the cakey!" I compliment Blyana's ass-ets aloud as she has to bend over to get into the ring.
"Uhmm Ladies no fighting allowed!" the instructor tries to stand in between them but Blyana effortlessly shoves him out the way and that's when Beau throws an open bottle of water in Blyana's face and Blyana shrieks as she stumbles against the ropes giving Beau just enough time to closeline her over the ropes and she plops down hard on her booty.
"Ahhh! You mother-" Blyana jumps back to her feet but two peacekeepers begin pulling her away.
"Wait till I see you again! Just wait!!" Blyana threatens as she's pulled away and I start cheering for Beau again.
"Yeah my BeauBeau! That's 3-0 now!" I jump excitedly.
"Call me that one more time and I'll pull your asshole out from your mouth!" she threatens me, oh my…she actually means it too!
"Ya' might not want to call her that again…" Cortez whispers in my ear.
"Anyways boys, with that bitch gone for now. What we doing next?" Beau loosens her neck.
"We? So Cortez you're part of the squad now!?" I eye him and he's puzzled again.
"uh…what?" he raises an eyebrow.
"Squad, when the fuck did I ever say I was teaming with you? "Beau looks me up and down.
"All I gotta do Is make that Hunter guy fall right? I mean it won't be that hard so you might as well just ally with me now and get it over with.
"Hmmph, I'm going to swing an axe." She seems to ignore my suggestion and walks off.
"She's a bit shy!" I whisper to Cortez.
"Highly doubt that boy, but I'm listening." He crosses his arms again
"Anyways let's follow after her! She's a beast with that Axe, you can learn a thing or ten from her!: I practically tug at Cortez to follow after her and he sighs before coming along.
Nyx Nyctores,17, District 1 female
I only roll my eyes as Blyana is dragged away by two peacekeepers after getting knocked out of the ring by Beauregard, she really is such a joke.
"Well what's new right?" Ryena dismissively states while doing some stretches. The boys are training all hard and stuff. My brother is just doing the usual, smashing in skulls with his club, Hyperion is in an intense sparring session with the same instructor he got frustrated with yesterday but he seems to be much more composed now and as a result is fighting more efficiently. Caspian on the other hand is dodging every single attack an instructor is trying to land on him, his reflexes are pretty insane, the guy can't even come close to touching him and Caspian's having almost too much fun.
The ladies on the other hand are taking it easy, just doing some stretches and stuff, I honestly haven't been in the mood for any heavy training sessions for whatever reason and doesn't look like Ryena is either so that makes it better for me.
"That Caspian is really something huh? Guy can't be touched it seems." I nudge Ryena's shoulder and she looks over at him as he perfectly parry's the instructors attack and knocks him down.
"Yeah he is…The smiling ghost…" she mumbles, what the hell is she talking about?
"Smiling ghost? What?" I give her a confused look.
"That's what some people back at home call him, he's always smiling and his elusiveness earned him that nickname as attacks appear to phase right through him" She explains and I narrow my eyes at Caspian as the instructor finally gives up and the two shake hands and embrace. Thats a pretty lame nickname, but Is he really that good though? I mean surely my brother can beat him, there's a reason why Nox is considered a hero back at home.
"The smiling ghost huh?" I repeat what Ryena said and Caspian turns to me and smiles giving me a thumbs up, almost like he heard me.
"So anyone back at home was ever able to beat him?" I ask Ryena as she begins doing some soft crunches.
"I only saw him lose once, and the same guy that beat him, Caspian destroyed him in the next couple of spars they had." She answers. He seems so…kind though, is he really that strong? No of course he isn't, I can whip his fucking ass I bet!
"Hmm well enough about him, let's talk about us now! You got a boyfriend back at home?" I suddenly ask and her face starts turning flush, uh oh did I hit a nerve?
"N-no." she nervously answers and looks down at the floor for a moment.
"Why not? You're a pretty girl, seem sweet enough , you be playing hard to get or something?" I giggle.
"No i…honestly never thought about it. I was always training or just hanging out with my sister." She tells me and seems to be regaining some composure.
"Oh so you got a sister! She must be cute just like you!" I compliment her and she bites her lip for a moment seeming a little shy.
"I have two but I don't get along with one of them. It's my younger sister that I'm close with...I miss her." She sighs.
"Yeah I bet, I have my brother here with me and I try not to think about it too much, I'm happy he's close to me but at the same time…" I lament.
"Yeah I know…that's a tough situation, honestly both of you guys looked like you didn't want to be there." She gives me a sympathetic look, she was actually able to notice that? She has a good eye.
"It wasn't the plan, I lost the qualifying match cause I got too cocky, and I injured the actual volunteer after punching her in the boob out of frustration." I explain.
"Ouch…" Ryena mumbles.
"Nox won his match but he started having second thoughts about the whole volunteering thing, both of our friends ended up getting reaped though and we both volunteered for them." I clench my fists.
"I don't regret volunteering, like I'd do anything for that girl but Nox would also do anything for his best friend and that's why we're both here." I cross my legs and rest the palm of my hands on the floor and she nods as she continues listening.
"You two seem like good people, you and your brother I mean…" she brings her knees up to her chest.
"Nox is a big teddy bear, I'm the fire cracker though, but say let's lift the mood a bit and throw some knives?" I jump up to my feet and she shrugs her shoulders.
"Fine with me I guess." She agrees and we head over to the knives station where l start throwing knives into my targets and I'll admit that I'm showing off quite a bit. Ryena soon joins in on the fun and starts flinging knives at targets, she's not as good as me obviously, but I can tell she's had some training with them, she's a goddess with that trident however!
"So how do you think the alliance is going to decide who the leader will be?" Ryena brings up an interesting topic as she flings another knife at a target and it lands in their ear.
"That's a good question, to be honest, maybe we don't even need a leader." I suggest.
"I thought of that too, but I see the drive in everyone here, I doubt they'd all be okay with that." She flings another knife and it misses but I throw a knife at the same target and it lands in their skull.
"Honestly, I think you're spot on, we'll talk to the team at lunch though." I land another knife into a target's skull.
"Guess that's all we can do…" she mumbles.
"Wow, you girls have some great technique!" I hear an unrecognizable voice behind us and I jump a little which is pretty embarrassing. I spin around however and it's the built girl from 11, Verbena or something.
"Uhh thank you? How long you been here?" I raise an eyebrow at her.
"Just a few seconds, I was across on the other side marveling your skills and I wanted to get a closer look, I'm Verbena by the way!" she extends her hand.
"Well thanks I guess, I'm Nyx." I shake her hand and I'm relatively surprised by how firm her handshake is, this isn't some regular district 11 girl, she can fool anyone but me!
"Thank you, my name is Ryena," Ryena shakes her hand.
"So throwing knives interest me too, but I've never actually threw one, I'll try though." She grabs a knife, tries throwing it at a target and manages to hit it's arm but I'm not very impressed, she tries again and misses completely this time.
"You're holding the knife wrong for starters…" Ryena taps her foot on the floor in a rhythmic tune.
"Yeah I figured I was doing something wrong…would it be ok if you two gave me some tips?" She politely asks.
"Well uh, we're technically enemies…why train you?" I question and theres an awkward silence.
"Well we don't have to be enemies yet. Maybe not even at all, besides I have some useful tips I can give you two as well!" She smiles and her eyes look so innocent like puppy eyes and I sigh before walking behind her fixing her posture and stance for her.
"Now, always lead with your dominant foot before throwing, and it helps when you slow your breath before throwing so you can steady your aim, try again." I instruct her and she throws the knife hitting the target in it's chest.
"It actually worked!" she seems pretty content.
"Well you were taught by the queen of throwing knives so you'd better had gotten it right! I joke with her and thankfully she notices my sense of humor and laughs along with me.
"Well looking at your skills certainly does make you look like a queen!" she smirks.
"Oh don't make me blush." I playfully roll my eyes at her.
"Haha, hey I know a lot about survival skills and I'll be happy to teach you two some, to thank you for teaching me how to use a throwing knife, I feel indebted." She offers and my survival skills suck, so why not?
"Well it's a fair trade I guess." I agree with her.
"Yeah I don't see why not, you can never know too much when it comes to survival." Ryena seems to agree as well.
"Well let's go then, the hell we're waiting for?" She laughs and starts speed walking towards the survival station.
"Geez, wait up!" Ryena chases after her and I try pursuing them but a sudden dizzy spell hits me and I stop in my tracks for a moment as everything starts spinning, this again? What the hell!?
I try to fight it off and walk after them but I stumble a bit and that's when Ryena turns around and sees me staggering like a drunkard.
"Nyx, are you ok?" she asks with some concern.
"Ye-" I start to answer but I start feeling incredibly nauseous as I feel a tight knot in my stomach and before I know it, I'm spewing out the contents of my morning breakfast all over the floor and I know everyone's eyes are on me at this point as I continue making pained wretching noises as more vomit refuses to leave my body and I'm feeling so incredibly weak now but Verbena grabs me before I lose my balance and she's so strong!
"I got you girl, I got you, you alright?" She puts my arm around her and holds my waist.
"My gosh what happened that quickly? We need to get you cleaned up." Ryena puts my other arm around her.
"I don't know…I don't know what's going on…" I breathe heavilly.
"Get away from my sister, get away from her! Nyx what did they do to you!?" Nox rushes towards us.
"I'm fine Nox…" I say in an almost inaudible tone.
"No you're not, did someone poison you? Was it you!?" he glares Verbena.
"What!?" Verbena gives him a shocked look.
"Nox..." I try to call him
"She was just fine until you showed up! Now get away from my sister!" he literally shoves Verbena and she falls to the floor.
"Nox what the hell!" Ryena lashes at him but he ignores her and tries to aid me but I use the last little bit of strength I have to push him off.
"Get the fuck off of me Nox…I'm fine…I'm fine, you didn't have to push her! She's only trying to help me and you're just making everything worse! So just go away! Go away and let them take me to the restroom, please!" I roar at him and he seems shocked at my outburst but does a small nod and gives Verbena an apologetic look before walking away.
"I'm sorry Verbena…I'm sorry." I apologize to Verbena as she stands back up and assists Ryena with escorting me to the ladies room.
"Its ok, he's your brother, just trying to protect you like a good brother will do, let's just get you cleaned up ok?" she gives me a calm smile and I nod as tears start coming down my eyes, I'm sorry Nox, I didn't mean to yell at you…I didn't.
This concludes the first part of training day number 2. I say first part because this day isn't quite done yet! Nope, we still got some things to do! Another very slow update and I'm hoping I can pick up the speed a bit but life has been pretty hectic as of late. Things should be slowing down soon however! I appreciate all of the reviews and the pms some of you sent me and I hope you all stick with me so we can get through this journey together, till next time!The Careers- Nox Nyctores, Nyx Nyctores, Hyperion Corvinus, Blyana Wellish, Reyena Shore, Caspian DelamarBig Girl's Club- Elsie Pengrove, Annabeth GordonTragic Masterpiece- Paisley Stitchell, Hayden TopperSnowy Rainbows- Genevieve Altruzara, Christmas MaloneySecured 24/7- Kade Jackson, Verbena Grazer