The training center

Next chapter contains swearing.

"Faye focus on survival skills and maybe learn how to use a knife but don't try learn anything that you could hurt yourself by doing." Tallie lectured me as we walked down into the training center.

It was very early so I assume we will be the first ones down there. I was wearing shorts and a tank top and I tied my hair back in a pony tail. Jelame is walking beside me talking to Evan. I decide to listen in so I can understand what they are talking about; I don't make it obvious that I am listening.

"Evan the careers will definitely ask you to join them so you should." Jelame tells him.

"What if they realize that I don't really know how to use any weapons." He replies.

"It's the hunger games it is more of a game of size if you can lift an axe then that is better than years of training with a smaller weapon." Jelame says with a short laugh. This makes me feel like my odds of winning have just been halved, not that I had any to begin with.

"What should I learn in training?" Evan asks, he really should make his decisions for himself instead of letting Jelame decide his every movement. I really appreciate Tallies help but at least she doesn't tell me what I have to do she just gives me advice.

"Learn about weapons don't bother with survival skills you can just feed of the cornucopia." Jelame replies as if they are no other option.

It's funny how I and Evans training will be polar opposites. I hope that I don't run into him in the arena in fact I hope I don't run into anyone.

"You got that Faye." Tallie asks, I feel guilty for tuning out.

"I guess but maybe I might try learning how to use a axe with the girl from seven she said she would show me." I reply once again trying to fool people with my acting.

"Okay Faye, just don't hurt yourself." Tallie replies with a grin. I am surprised that she didn't notice I wasn't listening. I can hear Finches voice in my ear."You are a better actor then you thought Faye." She said that to me when a peacekeeper interrogated us when I was eight and she was thirteen.

When we reach the doors to the training center me and Evan can't help but gasp. I have never seen so many weapons in my life. They are knives, tridents, swords, axes, spheres and bows, so many bows. They are also loads of exercise machines, dummies, ropes and walls to climb, survival skill stations. At each station they are a trainer who would teach us about that station.

When I and Evan look behind us we see that Tallie and Jelame have disappeared. Now they are gone we are suspected to train. Me and Evans glances catch one another. This is very awkward he use to come around to our house a lot and I guess I do know him a bit. He is Frank's best friend and use to get along with Finch. I wonder if Frank visited him after he visited me before I was sent away to the capital? I wonder if Evan visited Finch. I wish I knew the answers to all of these questions but I don't want to ask.

He walks away to the weapons and I run of in the opposite direction towards survival skills. I look around at the numerous different stations. I decide to choose navigation as I believe that is vital in the arena.

After half a hour of learning about navigation I have decide to finish. I am glad I choose navigation I learnt how to tell which direction is north, south east and west, I also learnt how to navigate through a snow storm and I learnt about how to memorize your soundings.

I look around the training center and see that more tributes have arrived. The tributes from district one, three, eight and eleven. I am disappointed when I see that Beatrix has not arrived yet.

I choose tracking next. It is quite simple but I am glad I took it. I have learnt how to track tributes and other animals. I was just starting to learn how to cover up your own traces when I feel the presence of someone behind me.

"Hey, Faye." It was Beatrix; I flinch at the unexpected noise and presence of a person.

"Are you okay?" She asks with a slight laugh.

"I guess I am already in the games." I reply. This makes us both laugh. That is a lie I have always been like that but maybe I have always been in the games.

When I was younger everything scared me if it surprised me. My brothers found it hilarious and would always creep up behind me to try scare me. Finch always told me it is better to always be on guard then not to be because the more aware you are the better you will be.

I find if I can apply myself to the situation present I can do anything.

Those words at the interview meant much more to me then you would think.

Eventually when I turned eight my brothers had come up with a nickname for me and Finch. Finch and flinch they would call us. They were very proud of the nickname and soon the whole school caught on. This name annoyed me so much that I learnt to be always on my guard like Finch had taught me to be. By age nine whenever someone tried to scare me always knew what was coming before it happened. That's how I learnt to apply myself to the situation present.

"What are we learning?" Beatrix asked which cut of my train of thought.

"We are learning how to cover up your tracks in the arena, if you want you can wait another ten minutes and I will be done with Faye or you can join in." The kind lady at the station told us.

Beatrix decides to join in and after we finished tracking we moved on to the knot tying station. After that we were trying to decide between climbing or fishing when one of the careers began to talk.

"Hey red!" He shouted and I knew he was talking to me. He held something in his hand I looked at it and realized what it was. "Look nighlock you better not accidently eat this." He said laughing. He mimics eating them. "Faye I-" He says before dramatically falling to the ground. Some of the careers are laughing while others look at him with disgust because even for them careers that is an awful thing to do.

"What the fuck Marcus!" The sixteen year old from district four screams at the laughing career on the floor.

"Calm down Lilly." He says rolling his eyes and getting back up.

What happens next surprises me. Evan walks over to Marcus and punches him in the face. It takes a second for Marcus to respond and he does so by punching him back with some difficulty eventually peacekeepers prize them apart.

"What was that for?!" Marcus shouts at the currently restrained Evan.

"That girl you just mimicked was my best friend's twin sister!" Evan yells back.

They were silence in the training center as this dawned on everyone, even the peacekeepers looked a little shocked I really didn't want to have to explain this. I hope Beatrix doesn't ask.

"So wait if Finch was your best friends twin sister then this is your best friends little sister?" Marcus asked dumb struck and voicing everyone else's thoughts.

"Yes." Evan replied his eyes still locked on Marcus, he was watching him like a halk.

"That sucks." Is the only thing Marcus can manage to say.

I am so angry for one thing Marcus mocked my sister's death and the fact that this Marcus mocked my sister's death is being ignored. I have a very short temper and often so I won't explode at people I will punch something or throw knives. I walk over to the knife throwing station, I can feel everyone's eyes turn away from Evan and Marcus and onto me.

I would usually have been embarrassed but I didn't care I would be dead in a week, I just wanted to show Marcus what I could do. I grabbed a knife and threw it at the target that was very far away, it hit the bull's eye. They were a small gasp it was surprising that someone my size could do that. I looked up to where the game makers were seated most of them had their mouths hanging open and where in complete shock but the head game maker shushed them all.

"Again." He demanded looking at me with extreme interest.

I didn't need to me told twice, I grabbed a knife and threw it at a different target and it hit the bull's eye again. I threw another knife with all of my rage for Marcus in it, I wasn't aiming for the knife targets I was aiming for a target half way across the gym. It was ridicules the fact that I thought I could make it, this is further than anyone can shoot an arrow and knives where much harder to throw that far I kept expecting for the knife to fall to the ground but it didn't, it kept souring threw the air until it hit the target, it didn't just hit the target it hit right in the center. This shot would have been impossible for even a career let alone a thirteen year old from district five. But yet the knife was in the center of the target.

I picked up another knife. "Would you like to repeat that little act again Marcus?" I said staring him dead in the eye. "I think everyone would enjoy that don't you?"

He scowled and walked away it might not have seemed that he was that scared but he was because normally of someone said that to him he would try beat them up, but he wouldn't try that to me if I had a knife in my hand. No one will insult my sister. I turned around and walked towards a stunned Beatrix.

"What should we do next?" I asked her casually.

I feel guilty because I expected her to just stand there lost for words but instead she smiled. "I think climbing." She said.

I grinned and walked away with her. I looked over to where the mentors sat most of them were shocked or confused. I found Tallie and she grinned at me. I smiled back.

I am very happy that Beatrix for not being a total mess in front of the other tributes. We climbed for an hour and I said that I wanted to watch the other tributes. Beatrix was confused by this but went away to try and learn how to swim, I already knew how to swim so I wasn't at a disadvantage.

I knew some people where still staring at me since the incident that happened an hour ago and I didn't want people to know I was watching so I hid behind some boxes with supplies in them. I took out my notebook which I had used for the reaping and I try to observed everything.

I watch how they throw a knife, their choices of what to learn to do, the way each tribute looks at the careers, I see how some are hiding their skills and others are showing of, I watch how each districts skills come in handy, I watch their reactions, I see if some are friends, I watch how the mentors look at each other every time there tributes do something, I closely watch the game makers expressions and conversations while viewing these tributes, I see how many try to blend in and others try to stick out, I watch as enemies are made and alliances formed, I watch the look in each tributes eyes to see if they think they can win, I note how some look like they would throw up at the sight of a paper cut while others would want to rip the cut open more, I see some people who can mask there fear and others who try but fail and I watch and wonder why would the capital kill twenty three of these tributes every year because they are all so interesting and unique each with their own stories and secrets, I wish I knew what they where. I wonder and watch for three hours although I enjoy it so much it feels like I have only been sitting there for a few minutes before we are all called for lunch.

When I stepped out from behind the boxes they were a few gasped, no knew I was hiding and watching. They assumed I had hid there because I was upset but after they saw the notebook in my hand they pieced everything together.

"She's just like her sister isn't she." Cathy from district ten whispered to her district partner, Simon who nodded.

"Watch out for that one the smart and sly ones are always the most deadly." Finnick said to his two tributes, Lilly and Logan.

"Foxface did that." Peeta said to Katniss his voice was so quiet I had to read his lips. Had they not even learnt to use her real name? Was it always going to be Foxface to them?

"District five has always been like that." The district nine mentors said sternly to his tributes. (Harry and Noel)

I looked up and saw the head game maker smile the broadest smile I ever seen. He had a cunning look in his eye. Finley's words rung in my ears.

"It's not the other tributes that decide if you win it's the game makers."

The kid had no idea how right he was.

I walked over to Beatrix who had changed from her wet clothes she swam in and her hair was still wet from swimming. She grinned at me like a proud parent would after a child did something particularly noteable.

"So Faye Crossley tell me everything you saw." Beatrix says.

I grin back at her and open my notebook. We don't spend much time eating at lunch we just look through my notes.

"How do you know all of the tributes names already?"Beatrix asks me flicking trough the pages.

"When the tributes from district twelve where on their victory tour in are district they called my sister Foxface the whole time they didn't even bother to get to know her name." I say just loud enough for them to hear me as they where only a few meters away from me. I look around at them and I am slightly satisfied by there embarrassed expressions.

"Wow, that's cold." Beatrix says also turning to glare at them.

After a few minutes of just me and Beatrix glaring at them we break are stare and return to looking trough the notes.

"That's the only non ridicules name I have heard from district one!" Beatrix exclaims.

"Yeah, Rosegold is actually a pretty name." I reply. Sometimes the district one tributes have the most ridicules names. Beauty, Glimmer, Diamond and Gorgeous are just some of them.

When lunch is over we spend the next three hours training. I learn about edible roots, how to tend to wounds in the wilderness, fire starting, how to build a shelter, camouflage, hunting and Beatrix started to teach how to throw and how to manage a axe.

After training we went back to are rooms. I am very grateful nobody brought up my knife throwing incident because I had a secret about that.

I was good at throwing knives but I never planned to use it because I could never kill.

I WILL NEVER KILL.

After dinner we watch old hunger games tapes and then go to sleep. When I am in my bed all I can think about is my family. Little Faith never was able to go to sleep without me there and now I realize that I can't go to sleep without her. Finnley is so smart but I don't think he will ever say any of his smart statements again because of the trauma of losing two sisters. I think of Fiona, she is probably sick with worry. Finn and Fion are careful watching everything that happens on the T.V observing everything to see if their sister will ever come home I wish I could tell them that they are no hope because I had hope with Finch and it made everything worse. My three older brothers are all probably trying to distract themselves by doing whatever they can, that's how they deal with grief. I think of poor Frank his twin sister, his younger sister and his best friend all probably going to be dead in the next fortnight. My parents I know they care but they won't show it they have never shown any emotions since Finch because that's when it dawned on them that having so many children would probably result in one being entered in the games. They are numb of all feeling. My parents never hug us anymore, they just get up go to work cook, eat dinner, sleep and repeat. The cycle scares me that every day is the same and I often fear that that may one day happen to me.

I know I won't be able to sleep if I think of my family back at home so instead I think of what makes me happy. What I keep my mind on is a funny little phrase Finch use to use before we would rob houses.

As sneaky as a fox but as quiet as an Avox.

I had no idea at the time what these words would truly come to mean.