A/N: ARE YOU EXCITED? I AM! Please review. (:
Sorry for the long wait, we have family over for Christmas for 4 days and we've been to Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky for Christmas so. Merry late CHRISTmas!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Hunger Games, though I wish I did.
I look around at the faces of people I might have to kill as we eat dinner with all the tributes and their mentors. I, of course, am sitting next to Haymitch. I haven't said a word to him since he injured Alex. The only way I listen to what he says is when he tells Felix and Felix tells me. Basically, Felix is our little messenger.
We were currently eating my favorite meal here in the Capitol, it's a mushroom soup, greens, peas, rare roast beef sliced as thin as paper, noodles in green sauce, cheese, blue grapes and a cake afterwards.
I easily bark down the meal before the others. I look around, only to see many playing with their food. They all look depressed, which doesn't surprise me. I mean, they should be. I am too, but I'm going to put on a few pounds so I can last longer in the arena.
Haymitch makes a feeble attempt to talk to me; I just ignore him and focus on the conversations of those around me. There's not much to listen to, just quiet whispered conversations between districts. I can't talk to anyone, considering Alex is in the hospital and Haymitch and I aren't exactly on speaking terms.
The lunch just seems to drag on and drag on. I never really thought that eating lunch could be so boring. At our house it would be Finnick screaming and throwing food at us. Mom would be laughing at one of Dad's cheesy jokes. We would all smile, laugh, and joke around.
But here, in this horrible place, there's none of that. There was absolutely none.
"C'mon hurry, hurry, hurry!" Felix pushed me into the elevator leading to the Training Center. We stepped in to a huge dome-shaped room. All the other district tributes must be on their way because it's just Felix and I. Well, it was until the door opens and Alex walks in looking unharmed.
"Alex!" I scream, running over to him. "You're all better!"
He just laughs and nods, "So, when do we start?"
"Right now, actually." Haymitch comes behind us and I can almost feel the tension in the room. Felix walks over to us, probably just to make sure nothing happens.
"Haymitch, I think you should leave." Felix stands in front of Alex and me.
"I would love to. But, I can't," He smirks at us. "I'm not allowed to leave; I have to be here for the training."
I groan and walk away towards the knot tying booth. The man's eyes immediately light up as if he's seeing an old friend. "You're Rue! You're Rue Mellark!"
I beam; I try to think if I know this man, but conclude I don't know anyone from the Capitol. "Yes, I am. Do I know you?" I ask shyly, cocking my head to the side.
"Oh no, you don't. But I know your parents, Katniss and Peeta. You're a spitting image of your mom, Rue. Plus, no one before your parents actually came to this station." The man smiles down at me.
"Oh." I giggle. "So, I know the basics from my mom, but can you show me some that I might actually need to know?"
He shows me how to tie a noose, which is very basic and I could already do that before he showed me. He shows me an angler's loop - knot which forms a fixed loop. Usually useful for fine or slippery line, it is one of the few loop knots which holds well in bungee cord. I really don't know why I might need it but I put it I memorize it and store it in my brain.
Once I turn around after learning a few more knots, I notice almost all the tributes have gotten here. I didn't even here them. I take note of which tributes are at which station and spot Alex throwing knifes at dummies, I walk over to him.
"We should stay together." I say as I steer Alex towards the nearest station.
Based on what I could see, the different stations were archery, axes, boxing, climbing, camouflage, edible plants and insects, fires, hand-to-hand combat, knives, knots, shelters, spears, sling shots, tridents, and lastly weightlifting. Great, we have a lot to cover. I make sure we hit every station for at least 15-20 minutes. Let me tell you, you can't act like you know what you're doing, unless you want to give away what you're good at.
After we cover all the stations we have an hour left, I decide that the three stations we'll probably need the most are edible plants, shelter, and hand-to-hand combat.
We plan on spending about 20 minutes at each of those three stations.
The shelter station was pretty basic, he showed us how to use various types of branches, plants, and grasses for cover, he showed us how to keep warm from different types of grasses and I immediately remember that we need to spend more time at the fire station. I tell Alex and we cut the rest of the stations 5 minutes short so we have extra time to work on starting a fire without matches. It's not as easy as it looks. After 15 minutes of rubbing the sticks together I finally get a little puff of smoke, almost getting it, but Alex pulls me away to go to the next station quickly.
I notice Alana, the girl from District 2, and her partner are throwing knifes directly at the dummy, hitting the heart with every throw. I nudge Alex and point to the pair, we continue to watch and I notice we're not the only one's watching. Now we know to watch out for them when they have knifes, of course, it doesn't come as much of surprise considering they're career tributes.
Felix explained to me that the Career tributes are the tributes who actually train there whole life for the Hunger Games. Even though it is illegal to train before, they usually get away with it. They're a threat mainly based on how they already know how to play the game and what is their strategy. They now how to defend themselves, know how to handle deadly weapons, and they're usually in good shape. They have practiced for it. It just isn't fair.
But, I do have one thing in mind, one thing that is a weakness to the Careers. It's lack of food. They're raised around food and meals, never going hungry. My mom told me since I was little that we're very lucky that we don't have to hunt for food. She told me that she had to hunt her whole life to keep her family from falling into starvation. So, one day she took me out into the woods just beyond our house, she showed me how to use a bow and arrow, not that I'm any good. I almost shot mom in the , fortunately I can hunt and skin almost any type of animal, rabbits, birds, squirrels, and chipmunks. I'm a least I'm smart enough to know how to properly cook an animal when I have the correct supplies. Alex gives me a funny look when he sees me daydreaming; I snap out of it and see the timer above us reach 0:00 and it buzzes loudly.
"Okay kids, times up!" Screams a game maker. "Now, it's time for your separate training!"
I take a deep breath, preparing myself for what's coming. What am I going to do? What can I do well? How can I impress them?
A/N: IT'S GETTING CLOSER! AHHH! (: Review? Love Love Love, Lauren.