Thanks to all for reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games. Just Septa and her story

I wake up slowly. It's before dawn and I want to take as much time as I can to rest. These next three days are our training. I go through what stations may be available to us. There for sure is going to be one on plants that I will go to. But what else. I know how to use a staff. A sword shouldn't be much different. Maybe I will try my hand at a bow. If I prove to have natural skill, I'll leave the station. The rest is hard to plan out since I do not know what is there. I sigh as the sun hits my face and get out of bed. I take a quick shower and dress in the clothes that have been left for me, again tight pants and a loose shirt tinted with gold. I tie my hair back in its usual pony tail and then go out to have breakfast. I am alone for about an hour when an Avox comes in. I don't look at her. I ask her for some paper and a pencil which is brought quickly and then sit in the silence, drawing more designs to be cast. I begin to wonder if I can have a smith furnace at my home in Victor's Village. If I win, I'll have to remember to ask Lin.

It's getting close to nine when Joel finally walks in and serves himself some breakfast. I ignore him and keep drawing. I ate when I first got in here about seven thirty. He stays silent and then, "Do you think we'll live?"

"One of us has to die." I say and continue drawing.

"You know what I meant."

I look at him. "I can't say for certain. All that I am certain about is that you need to make sure you get killed by someone else if you decide die. I don't want to have to be the one to kill you." Whatever he was about to say falls into silence. I know he had not expected me to say this, but I mean it. I don't want to have to kill him. In the short time that I have gotten to know him, he has become a friend.

"Why?" He finally whispers. "Why do you care?"

"Because it would be betrayal and cruel to kill my fellow tribute from my district." Katniss and Lin walk in at that moment and I return to my design. The adults don't say anything, but I know they feel the weight in the air from my words. Lin and Katniss silently get their food and then sit down. Lin sits next to me while Katniss sits at the head of the table, closer to Joel and Lin.

"I have advice for both of you." She says. "I know you wanted to be mentored separately and we will get to that, but I don't want to have to repeat myself. I want you both to avoid showing what skills you do have until the last day of training. Those are the private sessions with the Gamemakers and they will be after lunch which you will have off to the side of the gymnasium. Now, training starts at ten and I want a chance to talk with both of you separately before Lin takes you down to the gym." I stand up and leave the room, Lin right behind me. He gently takes the paper from my hand and I look at him. He smiles as he puts it in a book.

"So I don't lose them." He says. I smile and wait with him in the common area while Katniss and Joel talk. "She showed you." He said and I know he is talking about Cinna's sketchbook. I nod. "What do you think?"

"I don't know what to think." I say honestly. "He made her the girl on fire for her Games. And then her Mockingjay became a symbol of rebellion and he made her into a Mockingjay for her second time in the Games and then her rebellion. Why?"

"I didn't know." Lin says. "But I barely know the Capitol either. I moved here during the Relocations that returned your family to your district, 14 I do believe it was called until the two rebellions forced it into the number twelve position. President Snow left you alone. It was this president that brought your district into this because he wants to punish Katniss. But that was his mistake. She had no idea about Cinna's family until she saw you on the train. But now, I feel he will leave Katniss alone aside from trying to make she her tributes always die. I can't help but feel that he wanted to punish Cinna as well. But I have no idea why." He puts an arm on my shoulder. "Make your family proud, Septa Águila."

"Septa," we turn and see Joel in the doorway. I leave Lin on the couch and go back into the dining room. Katniss is still sitting at the head of the table. I sit in my original seat.

"So, what can you do?"

"You'll see when I get in the arena." I say. I am determined not to tell anyone about my skills as a smith. Most of our smiths are male. Hima and I are only two of a small number of female smiths deemed strong enough to do what needs to be done.

"What do you know of plants?"

"Next to nothing." I say.

"Weapons?"

"Some"

"Traps?"

"Nothing." I am getting irritated. "We are not like you Katniss. We are not brave enough to defy the Capitol and to go beyond the fence so we could feed our families. After you, they made sure the fences were always on and guarded."

"I am going to give you some advice about where to go. Take it if you want. Go to the plants station. There is always something to be learned there. Also, go to the knot tying station. Traps may be of some use in the arena."

"And the weapons?"

"You said you knew some. What do you know?"

"A staff."

"That all?" I nod. "Try your hand at some other weapons. Maybe even a bow." Is she going to tell me what I already know? She looks at me and sighs. "You already know all this, don't you?" I don't answer. "All I can tell you then, don't be caught on the ground."

I listen as Atala explains the training schedule. We are not allowed to spar with another tribute. There are assistants for that. I take in my competition as she reads the list of stations. I can tell some of them have been readying themselves for this, but not many. Then again, looks are deceiving. Atala releases us and I look around, trying to decide where to go first. I decide to go to the plants station and begin studying the images that they have. I realize that I am lucky to have a photographic memory. Images have always been easier for me to memorize and then the names. I stay at the plants station for about an hour and then move onto the knots and learn some basic traps. Then it is time for lunch. We are herded into a room just off the gym and are left alone. I grab a plate and some food and go sit by myself, taking in my competition. As I expected, the tributes from the once Career Districts act like Careers and gather together. I know they are going to be a pack. I chew thoughtfully on my bread. Do I want an ally? We will have to break eventually and then what? What if we are the last two and I have to kill them? I think of my words to Joel and decide. I will win on my own.

I see Joel sitting with the two tributes from District 8 and I know what he is doing. It's a good thing he doesn't know my skills. Too bad for him that I know his just by looking at him. The tributes from 8 look well fed. They must be merchant children. They may get far. I look at the other tributes as well, especially the thinner ones, trying to figure out what skills they may have. Soon, we are called back into the gym and allowed to train some more. I decide to try hand-to-hand combat and find I can hold my own reasonably well. I stay at this station for a couple of hours, fighting against different weights until I am sure I can hold my own against any of the tributes, including the strongest.

Lin's POV"

"What is your plan for tomorrow?" He asked her while she lay on her bed, holding ice packs to her muscles.

"Not sure yet. Maybe camouflage in the morning. But I am not sure about what else to do."

"Test your skill with other weapons. I haven't told Katniss, but I know that you are a smith. I can tell by the way you hold yourself. Plus, I noticed the sadness in the eyes of all the smiths at the Reaping." She doesn't look at him. "I hate to ask, but what did you do after lunch?"

She looked at him, a puzzled look in her eyes. "Hand-to-hand combat and I lifted some weights." He held in a chuckle, knowing her pain. She took off the ice packs and sat up.

"What are you going to do for them?" He asked, knowing she knew who he was talking about.

"What I do best." She answered and turned over on her side. Lin stood and left, turning off the light on his way out. He walked to the common area to find Katniss sitting alone in the dark, watching old tapes.

"How did I miss it?" She asked him. He looked at the stack of tapes and noticed they were the ones from Septa's siblings' Games. "They never hinted at it. They don't even look at him."

"Do you think they knew?"

"No. I don't think that even Septa knew until I told her. The way she blew up afterwards, I think that she was told but she didn't remember until that moment."

"Why are you dwelling on the past?"

"I am trying to figure out how to save her."

"She doesn't want help from the past." She turned and looked at him. "She is fighting for herself. She knows not to dwell on the past. She knows that is the only way she is going to win. She is looking ahead. You should to." He left her in the dark with her thoughts.

Septa's POV:

I lift up the spear and test its weight in my hand. It's not gold like the swords and bows. The arrows aren't gold either. Gold doesn't fly as well as silver. I walk to a target and take aim. I throw. The spear goes halfway through the dummy. I walk away from that station and go to the swords. These I made, but I test the weight anyway. It's the same as I had made it. I swing it around a bit, but decline to train with it. Next, I go to the bows. I take a gold one, the familiar weight in my hand and take an arrow. I do the same thing with it as I did with the spear and the arrow goes halfway through the dummy. The same happens with the knife I try. It's no use. I will be able to handle any weapon they put out there. Then I catch something out of the corner of my eye that I had not noticed before. Hammers are lined up at a station. No other tribute has gone to them and neither do I. But I know what to do for the Gamemakers tomorrow afternoon. We are dismissed to lunch and I go back to studying my competition. I know more about them than they know about each other. I find one of the tributes from 4 looking at me. He has been watching me all day and especially when I was taking a try at the weapons. I decide to keep an eye on him in the arena. He could prove deadly.

After lunch, I go back to the weights and hand-to-hand combat. Might as well since there is not much else for me to learn. But I change my mind and go to the fire making station. It may be a stupid move, but, if I learned anything from my dad's lessons on Katniss's Games, fire can be used for many things.

I walk back into the gymnasium and look at the Gamemakers in their purple robes. I am second to last being from District 12. Joel is waiting in the lunch room. I spent all this morning with the weights and hand-to-hand. But I do neither of these. Instead, I find a sturdy enough weight and move it to the center of the room. I choose a hammer, similar to the one I use in the forge and then a sword. They are watching me intently. I test the blade on my finger and find the weakest point near the hilt. I hold the hilt and raise the hammer and bring it down. The blade falls from the weight with a clatter, the hilt is still in my hand. I look at them. They dismiss me, but not before I throw a knife into a dummy on my way out. I know I have made an impression.

So what did you guys think her skills. Before you flame me, it is not inherent skill. It's because she is able to tell the weight of something just by holding it. Thanks for reading and please review. I am open to all suggestions for future chapters.