"What's the plan tonight for Thresh?" Brutus asks.
I flip open my other notebook for someone to read.
"Practice things already know. Start with a few laps swimming then a few laps running around the track. Then Marvel teaches fighting with spear. We then all hang out and give different tips we think he might need. Enobaria reads out loud.
"That sounds like a good plan," Brutus tells me.
"Of course, it is. Aqua came up with it." Finn boasts.
"And how could I forget Aqua's plans are always perfect," Brutus says rolling his eyes.
"Well, she has yet to be wrong," Cato tells them.
"I can't argue with that," Brutus finally admits.
The tributes break for lunch. Thresh quickly eats then heads back to the center. Cato hands me my muffin so I eat some. I pick off a few pieces and eat them then hand it back to him. He puts it back on the table. I see Thresh practicing knife throwing and then he practices with a sickle. He is good with it. Lunch comes to an end and people start to come back in. The careers being the last and the loudest/ Thresh heads to trap making station so he can practice the traps Finn and I taught him yesterday.
"That boy is insanely smart. Got some weapons practice in during the day. Not many tributes think to do what he did." Gloss says.
"I told him to do that during lunch because everyone generally took their whole lunch break." Seeder explains. "I took that from Aqua's lesson plans."
"Was it originally in Thresh's plan or did you pull it from someone else's?" Enobaria asks.
"She had him scheduled for lunch this year. But I did also use it for previous years as well." Seeder explains.
I see Thresh fumble with one of the knots. I to it down to practice that tonight. He moves on to fire making. He successfully gets fire quickly a few times. He only uses flint and a knife. That's good he won't need matches. They re more expensive. He moves on to identify plants. He struggles a bit with it. We can work on that on his day off. He might not know all the medical needs, but he will know poisons and edible. I'll try to get him to know the most nutritious as well.
I look to watch my tributes. I see Dirk trying to fight with a trident. He will need more upper body strength for that. I see Cora practicing fishing. I really do wish she would practice things she doesn't know. Dirk moves on to making fire. He struggles without matches. The make three is with him but he seems to be getting fire with flint. That's good. I see eleven female tries her hand at fishing. She throws the line behind her into a peacekeeper.
"Ooo, ouch," I look up to see Duncan walk in. "That's gonna hurt. Thanking Panem that, that isn't me."
"Holy shit, he just pulled that hook out didn't even flinch of say ouch." Peeta says shocked.
"Yeah, peacekeepers are taught that showing pain doesn't help anything," Brutus says.
"Was he supped to leave the hook in? It has to come out, so he just pulled it out. So, no fuss was made." Duncan says.
"So, peacekeepers don't feel pain?" Peeta asks.
"I didn't say that. I said they don't show it. It's what they are taught. He is probably in tons of pain because surface cuts hurt more. I'm just saying I'm glad I'm not him." Duncan explains.
Eleven female then gets coaching for different types of knots. She clearly has a lot of trouble following along. She will definitely make It past the bloodbath, but not to the end unless her and Thresh have an alliance. That's won't help Thresh though. He will have no use for her.
I watch twelve and they try to fight with knives doing horribly. They will definitely dive in the bloodbath. Using knives with careers around id a sure way to get targeted by them in the bloodbath.
I look at the careers. They are being cocky as ever. They are showing off their weapon skills. I write that they need to practice survival skills in my notebook. The girl from one picks up the biggest sword. Cato's sword/ She struggles to move it. She should have gone with a smaller sword.
"Cato, it's your sword." Duncan says pointing at the girl I was looking at.
"She does not know how to fight with a sworn at all." Cato says.
"Your sword is the biggest therefore the hardest to move. If she were to try to actually slice with it she would go with the sword. Her technique is absolutely horrible with it as well. If she had any training at all with swords, she would know to take a smaller one." Brutus says.
"Does the size of the sword actually matter?" Peeta asks.
"Yes, depending on how you use it. It also depends on your weight as well," Enobaria says. "Generally, the boys love swords. It allows them to show off. Cato's favourite weapon is a sword. He taught Aqua to use one. It was very cute, wrapped around her teaching her. He taught her with a lighter sword though. So, she didn't hurt herself."
"I remember watching that. That was the first big move he did to show her that he had a crush on her." Finn says. "It was before the games. Everyday of the games she would write him a letter and have it delivered with a sponsor gift."
"Really? She was allowed to do that?" Peeta asks.
"Yes, the capital citizens loved their love story and watching it unfold. It was extremely sweet." Cashmere says.
"What all did she send?" Peeta asks.
"First gift was flint and a backpack for all the stuff she would send and her letters. It was slash proof and had amour so it couldn't be stabbed. He still uses that backpack. The flint worked a lot like a match, so it was all he needed to make fire. It remined him to keep safe and warm." Gloss says. "I still want a backpack like that," he says looking at me. I nod remember that.
"Day two was a hunting knife and a large spool of rope. The rope was to help him with traps and nets. The knife could have been used for skinning. Killing, cutting the rope. A knife is very useful in the games. She was sending him things he would need when the career pack broke off," Brutus says. "She was thinking ahead which he wasn't. He was avoiding thinking about the careers dissolving."
"Day three was my favourite. She sent him water purifying drops a whole bottle. She also sent him a small first aid kit. Things that were cheap. She started early because it would be cheaper then sending it all at once. Turns out she bought it all on the first day. She just delayed in sending it. So she could send a letter a day." Enobaria says.
"So, things are cheaper at the beginning of the games?" Peeta asks.
"Yes, they are cheapest on the first day. If you do what she did you can buy it all on the first day and pay very little." Gloss says "Smartest thing I've ever seen. I have never thought of doing that, but she did."
"Did you wonder why she was sending you all the stuff you already have?" Peeta asks Cato.
"Yeah, she said to put it all in the backpack. I wondered till closer to when the careers broke off. She told me to grab my pack and leave in her nightly letter. Female from one killed my district partner that night. I had already moved on and had the supplies I needed." Cato explains.
"She was watching out for you the whole time." Peeta says in awe.
"Yeah, even when I couldn't see why she made she I had what I needed." Cato says kissing the top on my head lovingly.
"Day four was a large empty bottle with dried food shoved into it filling it. She also sent him a sleeping bag," Gloss says. "He had one already, but he left it behind when he left the careers like she told him to. Turns out it bought him more time.
Our female tribute shredded it thinking he was in there. It gave him more time to get away and our male time to get out of there. She thought she killed both in two till that night. She was livid. She then started asking where he could have gone. She definitely fell off the deep end closer to the end of the games.
Those games were brutal. Cato and Aqua's love story added the soft touch. That's why the capital still love them together."
"Day five she sent him a cupcake and a fancy dinner for all the careers. It was his birthday. She wanted him to have the best birthday. She hid another knife in the feast and a tarp for him. It also had a pot too. So, he could cook later and stay dry. It was actually very smart. Because the careers were starting to inspect his gifts now. She added some extra dry food along with the cake as well." Cashmere says. "She did a very good job in hiding stuff. He now had everything she could send. After that she sent some more medical stuff, but that was it. The rest of the stuff was food and drinks for all the careers, so they didn't get too suspicious."
"Remember on the first night when one tried to share a sleeping bag with him. Aqua flipped out completely. The game makers were even upset. They practically cooked the cornucopia to get her to leave him alone. It was crazy seeing literally all but one person cheering for Cato and Aqua's love story." Finn says.
"One person?" Peeta asks.
"Snow, he didn't want them together originally, but he learned that keeping them together would be better for his image. Showing two victors from different district's that had they not won the games they would not have ever net. It was an advertisement for how good the games are." Brutus tells him.
"He really didn't want Cato with Aqua?" Peeta asks upset.
"Yeah, he would rather see Aqua, and Cato like us." Cashmere says.
"Sell?" Peeta asks getting more upset.
"Can't tell you here. We can meet on the roof later and tell you about it." Gloss says giving Cashmere a look.
We all look back at the screen. I see district five climbing a rope course. They are doing surprising well and using teamwork. They are for sure using an Alliance. District loyalty is a thing in the games, but that doesn't always mean an alliance. It was easy to tell Finn and I were in an alliance because we are brother and sister. But otherwise, all bets are off.
"What's your favourite part of two?" Peeta asks Cato.
"The tribute wall," Cato replies.
"The tribute wall? What's that?" Peeta asks.
"It's one piece of granite where every tributes name, year they went, and age are etched in. It's to help remember the sacrifice they made. Cato brings his students every year, so they get appreciation for it as well," Enobaria says.
"You're not scary. You're so adorable." Peeta jokes to Cato.
Cato gives him puppy eyes. We all laugh.
"What about Aqua?" Peeta asks.
"She loves her class," Cato says.
"She teaches a class?" Peeta asks.
"Yes, on plants," he says.
We watch one of the tributes walk up to the plant station district seven male.
"That plant is used for tracker stings." Gloss says.
"That one is nutrition." Cato says to the next plant.
"That one you can fashion Band-Aids with it you are bleeding out. It's good about sealing wounds." Johanna chimes in.
She must have finally woken from her nap. Seeder walks in.
"Oh plants, I bet they are all giving you all the answers Peeta." Seeder says.
"Yeah, that all know a lot," he says with a chuckle.
"That one is a painkiller," Finn says, "Aqua made sure we knew them all. She wanted us to be able to tell what ever plant is in front of us and be able to tell everything about it."
"But you guys are only saying what the plant does." Peeta comments.
"We can tell you how to grow it, where it's found naturally and what it's called," Cashmere says.
"Aqua's hobby it plants. So, she has a massive garden at her and Cato's home. That's how you know you are going to their house. You have to go through a ton of plants to get to the front door," Brutus says with a laugh.
"Yeah, bring a knife or you can't get to their front door." Enobaria says.
"She isn't that bad." Finn defends me.
"Have you seen the house recently," Cato asks.
"No!" Finn says.
"I rest my case," Cato says smugly.