Here's chapter 5! This is when training begins. :D hopefully next chapter would be when they do their private sessions. But it obviously won't. :P

And thank you all for the reviews! It keeps me motivated to writing this story. :D

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games!

Rue

Effie is knocking on the door telling me to wake up. I groan and go straight into the shower. I press a random button and cold water comes out. I instantly freeze when I step into it. I press another button and the water turns warmer. After taking a quick shower, I change into my training outfit. I put my hair into a high ponytail and walk outside. I see mom, dad and Dave already at the table eating breakfast. I walk over and greet them, "Morning!" Mom smiles, "How was your sleep?" I freeze as I remember my dream. I put on my brightest smile, "It was great!" Itake a seat next to Dave and I start putting food on my plate.

Effie takes a seat next to dad and she blabbers something about training. I don't really think she cares. She just wants to make a conversation. "You guys will go down at 10." Mom says. "Don't go to the areas that you already know." Dad says. Dave looks at me and I roll my eyes. He laughs which makes mom and dad confused, "What's so funny?" mom asks, confused. "It's nothing, mom." I can see that she's getting quite suspicious. I give her a reassuring smile and she calms down a bit but her suspicion stays in her eyes. I check the time. It's around 9:30 so I still have time to rest for a while. I finish my breakfast around 10 minutes later and go back to my room.

I think of which station I'll go first. I won't go to the archery station but I wish I could. I miss hunting in the woods but this is for my own good. I could go to the edible plants station first. Or maybe where the knives are. If I'm good with a bow & arrow, I could be good with a knife, right?I may also try and go to the knots station. I can make snares as good as Dave can make them. Also try the camouflage station as well.

I go back outside after 10 minutes of thinking and head down to the bottom of the training centre with Dave and 'meet' the other tributes. The head trainer tells us things to remember in the games and what to do in the area. She reminds us that not only are the weapons important, but the survival skills as well. I glance at the careers as she says this. Rain rolls his eyes and Shine snickers. Deanne and Mason, from District 2, aren't paying attention at all. The trainer dismisses us and we go to where we want to go. I go to the edible plants station first and I must say I'm pretty good with this.

"Wow, you're really good." Someone says. I turn around and see a girl with dark brown hair like mine but with sea green eyes. I smiles and thank her. "I'm Camille, District 4." she says. "I'm Rue, District 12." I say and she smiles, "I know. You basically stole the show at the tribute parade." I smile at this, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Camille." "It was nice meeting you as well." she says. I smile and she walks away. I notice the girl from District 8, Andrea, was smiling. She walks over to the rope climbing station. I watch her intently as she hnags on to the rope and perfectly makes it to the other side. I wish I could do that, I thought. I notice dave is in the knots station and I walk over to him.

"Hey." I say as I reach him. "Hey." he replies as he's tying a knot. He finishes it within seconds and my face gives away the fact that I'm really impressed. Dave chuckles, "Want me to teach you?" I nod and he losens the knot. After a few minutes of ttrying, I finally knot how to make a simple but strong knot, "Well done!" Dave says. I laugh and everyone stares at us. I shot them a glare and they go back to their own business. I look back at Dave, "I'm going over to the knives." He seems shocked by this, "You could make a fool of yourself." I huff and he laughs, "Okay, give it a go." he says. I smile and walk over to the knives' station.

Deanne is right in front of me, throwing knives but missing every single target. She scowls and tries again but still fails, "Give it up, Deanne. Face it, I can do it better than you!" Shine says. Deanne scowls at her, "You could be better than me but your personality is bulls-" "Ladies!" Rain begins, "Let's go to another stations, shall we?" Shine smils at him while Deanne rolls her eyes. I can tell she likes Rain but Shine is what he's interested in. They walk away to the hand to hand combat station while I take a knife. Most people are staring at me. What is a thirteen year old little girl playing with knives? They're thinking. I roll my eyes at them and aim the knife in place.

Just think it's archery, I tell myself. I throw the knife and it lands exactly on the center of the heart. I glance at the gamemakers and they seem to be impressed. I glance at the tributes and some of them have their jaw dropped. Igrab another knife and throw it at another dummy. Another perfect shot. I smile to myself and I glance at the tributes again. Now, everybody is looking at me. Just one more, I say to myself. I grab one last knife and throw it at the last dummy. Three perfect shots from Rue Mellark. I smile and walk away like nothing happened. Dave walks over to me and gives me a high five.

"That was awesome! Everybody was really impressed. Their jaws dropped!" He says. I laugh at his rant, "It wasn't that big of a deal, was it?" "Of course it was!" he replies. I laugh and we both reach the camouflage station. I look at the archery station and I immediately looked down. I want to shoot one so badly. Dave notices and starts to cheer me up, "It's okay, Rue! You just need to learn something new." I look up at him and smiled, slightly, "Don't worry about it. Let's just try some camouflage."

We tried and tried but we failed miserably at this. We laugh as we see our failed camouflage and just wipe it all off. They dismiss us all and we go back to our floors. "How was first day of training?" mom asks us. "It was good. I learned a new skill." I say. "It was so cool! She didn't even need to practice and she perfected it already!" Dave exclaims. Mom laughs, "What skill did you learn?" "Knives." I say. She looks impressed, "If you can show that in the private sessions, you can get a high score for sure." I smile and sit down on the couch.

Dad comes in and sits next to mom, "Hey, honey. How was training?" "It was good." I reply. Daves' eyes widened, "Good? You're kidding?" Mom laughs, "Dave, calm down." Dad laughs along with her, "What happened actually?" "Rue learned a new skill!" Dave exclaimed. I roll my eyes. Whenever Dave gets excited about something, he gets all giddy about it and won't stop talking, "It wasn't that big of a deal." I say to him. "Rue..." he says while putting his hand on my shoulder, "Sweet, little, innocent Rue." I laugh when he says this. Mom and dad start laughing as well. Sooner or later Dave will start laughing. And then he did. This was the most fun we ever had since the reaping. Dave was personally close with my mom and dad. They sometimes even consider him as one of us.

"I'm going to change." I said. Dave nods his head in agreement and both of us go inside our rooms. I feel lazy so I just lay on my bed and think about the games. They have been on my mind lately. I wanna focus on how to survive them but also try to have fun with my family since there is a high chance I won't see them again. I begin to think of strategies and ways to survive in the arena. In any kind of arena, hopefully.

After half an hour of thinking, I finally change into a patterned tank top and burgundy capri pants. I walk back outside and sat down next to mom and dad. I talk to them about what happened during training and Dave comes over half an hour later, "Why so long, Dave?" I ask. He scoots over with us, "I need to look pretty, don't I?" he says jokingly. We laugh and we talk about camouflage as well, "You should've seen our work. It was horrible." I say. Dad chuckles and mom rolls her eyes, "Your dad is a show off sometimes." she says. Dad pretends to be shocked and hits her lightly on the shoulder, "I am not." Mom rolls her eyes again, "Just because you're good at camouflage, doesn't mean your daughter and her friend is good at it as well."

After talking about our training, we talk more about the games. Sponsors, strategies, weapons, skills, etc. "Remember, in the arena, there could be anyone lurking for you." dad says. Dave and I just nod our heads and try to keep it in our minds. "What about weapons?" Dave asks. Mom and dad look at each other, "Rue has her knives." mom says. And my bow & arrows I thought. "Dave, what about you?" dad asks him. He shrugs and starts to think about it, "Maybe a sword?" I raise my eyeborw at him, "What?" he says as he sees my expression. "Maybe some weightlifting can do." I say. My parents nod when I say this. He thinks about it again and says, "I could do it." I smile, "I guess we're done here. I'll be in my room if you need me." I walk to my room and lay on my bed. I begin to close my eyes and fall into a deep sleep.

The next day

I didn't even wake up for dinner! I must have been pretty tired. I look at the clock. It's 9:30! I run to the bathroom and take a quick shower. I quickly change into my training outfit. I don't even bother to tie my hair up but I bring a hair tie with me. I go out to the dining table and grab a sandwich. I walk into the elevator and head down the building. I quickly finish my food and joined the other tributes. I did almost went to the same stations as I did yesterday. I didn't go to the knives station and I decided to go practice some more camouflage. Dave did hand to hand combat and joined me in camouflage. I got better at it but Dave still has his 'problems'.

The whole day went faster than I remember and little did I know, tomorrow would be, well, how do I say this, one of the GREATEST days of my life.

I hint the sarcasm at the end btw. Hope you like this! It's a bit boring actually. But I guess it'll do. :D SEE YA SOON. I'll write the next one write away! :)