A bit late, but here is the next chapter :) And thank-you to all those who have reviewed so far, though it's not many, it is nice to know people are liking this story. Updates will be a bit slower from now on, but for now, I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 8
I honestly do not believe that the Careers are all they are hyped up to be. Not one of them are true victors. Do they not realize that brute force is useful, yet that is nothing without manipulations, cunning and intelligence? Careers are raised with one thought in mind; that if they are chosen for their district to compete they compete to win, and win they must. Many Careers win due only to luck and the incompetence of the many other tributes; aside from a couple there are not many that deserve the respect or praise that comes with being named victors. Fighting in the arena is a fight for survival, as much as I look forward to competing; it isn't a visit to the playground. It isn't a fight for the weak willed, as many tributes are these days the fools, it is a fight to the death and you cannot think as you would in a childish fight, you have to think like a snake, ready to kill at any moment. Only those who are strong enough, those who know how to work various skills together to survive and manipulate the competition and not rely only on brute force, are the only tributes worthy enough to become victor. And there is no truth in using your skills in the arena only, for they will not be as honed as when you use them in training before, leading to a greater chance of death. The Careers are making this mistake, and it shall lead to their deaths eventually.
Once I left the Careers behind, the evening was fortunately quiet, with no visits from bumbling, idiotic drunks or Loverboys. No need for me to listen to their tactics and restrain myself from carrying out some of my more… blood thirsty murders; it would be so quick and simple to kill them where they sat, if they think they are worthy competitors, victors or entourage, they are definitely touched in the head. A victor who turns to drink because he emerged as the victor from 48 tributes? A weak, simpering boy who has no desire to compete nor has the courage to carry out the deaths of all those who oppose him? And an entourage who chooses to hang on the every word of the drunk, and have no minds of their own? Oh, how I wish I could murder them all right here, at this moment in time. Yet the only one I actually get to murder is the Loverboy, and he won't prove much of a talent. In training today all he decided to do was paint patterns on his arm and sulk in my direction. His death is going to be glorious however, tormenting and torturing all the hope out of him until all he wants is death, and I won't grant it, letting him suffer as he runs; then I'll kill him in front of the remaining tributes and watch as they squirm and try to run. They'll be dead as well soon.
Careers, how stupid do you think I am? They believed I would turn down an official offer from Enobaria to become a Career apprentice, and train under her tonight? A once in a lifetime opportunity, and I am not going to see it go to waste on those who have no thirst for the deaths of their fellow tributes. Only Cato and Glimmer seemed unhappy over the offer issued to me. Fight for the bow and control of the Careers is on 1 and 2. You'll soon all answer to me and me alone. Puppets to do my bidding, and they won't realize it until it's too late.
It had been a surprise when Enobaria herself came to the floor demanding to talk to me; dragging me out of Floor 12 and down to her districts floor complex, she then proceeded to lay into her tributes, along a side Glimmer and Marvel, for being such failures that a female from 12 could hang about listen to their conversation without notice. A malicious smirk crept over my face as Enobaria exclaimed that it seemed she had no choice but to favour a tribute from a weaker district if this was how successful her own tributes had become. And that's to say, disgracefully like tributes that would lose easily. The Careers reactions were incredibly amusing, and perfect blackmail material, though I took great joy in the reaction of Cato Hadley, the supposed leader of this pack of Careers. His face grew steadily darker, until finally he snapped. Lashing out with a sliding side kick, Cato lunged towards where I was stood, shouting at how could he be a failure when there was a tribute who had no care over weaponry and more focussed on running away like a tribute who was being hunted down like prey. I chuckled, and avoided the kick easily, sidestepping his lunge and returning my own reverse crescent kick. It made contact with his head, catching him by surprise, and he fell. Though he got back up, he was restrained by Enobaria who whispered in his ear. Probably telling him to man up and try not to let Female 12 embarrass him, the so called Leader of the Careers. Enobaria then approached me and offered myself the opportunity to train with her the following evening. Oh, how I would enjoy the chance to humiliate these Careers even further, and doing it in front of the highest respected tribute would be an added bonus.
Clove followed me out as I took my leave, staying just behind while I waited for the elevator. "Katniss, I have some… plans… for some of the tributes which I think you might want to hear… mass silence will be fun won't it?"
