Chapter 7 – Training

Afterwards, Effie comes to collect us from the chariots in order to escort us to our apartment. We step into the lift and as we rise upwards, we're told by Effie that each district has its own floor; therefore, we're situated on floor twelve. "The penthouse!" She adds. The sensation of being in an elevator is not a pleasant experience, it's made entirely out of glass and so whenever I look down, I feel a wave of vertigo. When I'm in the forest back home, I love climbing the trees and looking down, it gives me a rush of adrenaline, however, I'm worried that if Effie's heels are too sharp, it'll break the glass and we'll be sent hurtling to our deaths so I grip onto the railing out of my irrational fear. Perhaps it's the sensation of moving that's off-putting? Reuben seems to be enjoying it as he excitedly looks down at the ground that's gradually getting further and further away. Thankfully, the ride only lasts about a minute and we step into the apartment. Effie tells us to go look around and choose a room each. We'll need to get washed up for dinner which is in an hour, she adds. We walk through the apartment at a leisurely pace, taking in the strange interior, before choosing our bedrooms. There are more bedrooms than needed in the apartment which makes me wonder if they use the building for anything other than a tribute centre whilst The Hunger Games is dormant; it would be a waste of space otherwise. Exhausted from the events of the day, I remove my clothing, leaving it in a heap on the floor and I enter the ensuite bathroom, grateful to be climbing into a hot shower. I gamble and select a random button out of the many and I come out smelling like vanilla and coconut. It's a relief to have all of the makeup off of my face as I don't have to worry about rubbing my eye by mistake and looking like a Panda. The Capitol technology genuinely impresses me and I imagine I'd be very lazy if I lived in the Capitol. I don't even have to brush my own hair as a brisk gush of air is blown at me, drying and detangling my hair, leaving it flowing behind me. If I were at home, I'd never be able to make my hair look this perfect in such a short amount of time. I go back into the bedroom and see that my tribute parade outfit has been taken away, I assume, by an Avox. I raid the wardrobe for some more comfortable clothes and manage to find some silk garments. I exit the room and I can smell food the minute I step out of the door.

We feast on the Capitol's fine cuisine and I eat till I feel like a stuffed Turkey, and that was before they had even brought out the desserts. Growing up in the Mellark household, you're bound to have a sweet tooth, after all, my father is a baker. Our family motto may as well be: there's always room for desert! I didn't recognise any of the desserts set in front of me but looked delicious all the same.
"What do you call this?" I ask, trying to savour the taste instead of wolfing it down.
"Gooseberry and ginger tart my dear!" Replies Effie as she delicately pops a chocolate covered fruit into her mouth.
"What the hell is a Gooseberry?" Asks Reuben.
Effie furrows her brows in confusion. "I'm not actually quite sure. All I know is that it tastes fabulous with a scoop of pear and blue cheese ice cream on top!" She replies.

Soon, we're all finished with our food and discussing strategies around the table. "First things first, would you like to be trained together or separately?" Asks my dad. I look at Reuben, allowing him to make the decision.
"Together." He says.
My father starts to scribble some words on a piece of paper and it's my mother's turn to talk.
"Okay so we know Willow is handy with a bow and knives, and she knows a thing or two about hunting, but what can you do Reuben?" She asks.
"What can't I do?" He says with an air of confidence about him.
My mum raises her eyebrow. I can tell she has no patience to put up with his nonsense. "I'm being serious Reuben. You want to continue treating this as a joke, then maybe I should too. We'll see how funny this moment will be in the Games when you're wishing you'd been given advice on how to apply your skills then shall we?"
His expression changes and he sighs. "I'm the son of a Blacksmith. I help my father out. I can make a fire, I can hit things really hard and spit on it after. I hope you weren't expecting too much from me because that's all I've got."
"I think you've got a good set of skills Reuben." Says my father.
"How so?"
"Making a fire will keep you from freezing to death. You could also make your own weapon if you really needed to. All that muscle you've built up while hammering metal, you'll be good in combat. I bet you can run fast too."
Reuben just looks at his hands and shrugs.
"Oh, don't tell me you're giving up already!" Says Haymitch, "You're not dead yet, pretty boy."
"I think I'm done for today." He says, standing. "Goodnight." And with that, he leaves and locks himself in his room for the night.
"Well that could've gone smoother..." Haymitch says, sipping his drink.
"Shut up Haymitch." My mum says sharply.
"I think I'll hit the hay too." I say. "Today's been a long day..."
No one objects and I say goodnight, before snuggling into my satin bedsheets and dozing off.

I wake up feeling disorientated. It's weird waking up somewhere other than your own room. I groan as I shift myself out of bed and I throw open the curtains. My eyes scrunch up as I gradually adjust to the light. I walk sleepily to the bathroom and take a quick shower before putting on the clothes left out for me to wear for the training centre. The outfits are different every year; this year we have a white short sleeved t-shirt with my district number in light blue on the back. We have white sporty leggings with another light blue line running down the side and lastly, a basic pair of white trainers. I can't decide whether to have my hair down or to tie it up but I eventually just tie my hair back into sleek ponytail.
We quickly eat breakfast and my mum fusses over me the whole time. She even insists on braiding my hair, so I let her.

Another quick ride in those awful lifts and we step out into the training room, and thankfully we're one of the first to arrive. I would hate to walk in late and have all the tributes stare.
So far it's just district 12, 3, 5 and 8 but the other districts soon arrive. We gather round Atala, who's getting rather old, the head trainer as she delivers us information about the rules and tells us to make sure we visit every station. During the talk, I take some time to glance around the tributes.
District 1, the two 18 year olds. Cicely, I think her name is, has tanned skin and mid-length brown hair. The first thing I notice about her face is her long protruding nose. The male tribute next to her is literally huge. He has jet black hair that's been slicked back with gel, he looks greasy and disgusting. His eyes seem to always look droopy as if he's been snacking on sugar berries. The girl from district 2, has shimmering golden hair that falls in ringlets down her back, she's pretty and she knows it. The boy from district 2 is a tall, skinny guy and his face looks like it's frozen into a frown.

I quickly glance over the rest of the group just to see if there's anyone that stands out in particular and a boy from district 8 catches my eye, I can't quite remember his name. He looks about my age and he has soft looking dirty blonde hair, it's quite curly. He has grey eyes and pale skin; you would think he's from the seam. Suddenly he looks back at me and my eyes instantly dart away. I can feel my cheeks getting hot and I just hope I'm not going red, which would be embarrassing.
"Any questions?" Asks Atala.
Rueben raises his hand. "With all those cameras watching, what am I supposed to do if I wanna take a shi-"
"I think you'll figure it out." Interrupts Atala, clearly disgusted by his question.

The careers snigger at Rueben's comment but the rest of us remain quiet. We are dismissed to go and work at stations. I decided to just start off with basic survival skills like starting fires. I find it's not hard at all and I move straight into tying knots, which I manage to pick up quickly. I skip the plant knowledge as I know enough about plants because I hunt, plus I use my Grandfather's plant book a lot. I may as well move on with the physical stuff. Hand to hand combat seems like a good place to start and so I take my place on a platform with a trainer and they show me some techniques I could use to suit my body type. I learnt that I need to strike first because I'm fast, a jab straight to the throat would be most effective. Also, a hit to the shins and kneecaps are a good way to really hurt your opponent. I need to use my elbows a lot as I'm not that strong. I need to use my speed to my advantage. I spent at least 45 minutes practising on the trainer and I finally manage to knock them down. My knuckles are bruised already and I'm covered in sweat, I'm stood there, panting like a dog. The trainer tells me to take a rest and drink some water, and that I'm ready to move on to another station.

I flop onto a nearby bench guzzling a bottle of water when Ruben comes and takes a seat next to me.
"I must say, the sweat dripping from your forehead really gives you a shimmering finish." Says Reuben, as he sits himself next to me.
"Clearly, you haven't been training hard enough if you haven't worked up a sweat." I say.
"It's not all about physical training. I see you flew through those survival skills like it was second nature to you and didn't even attempt the plants and herbs section?"
"I already know about plants and herbs, why would I need to be taught all over again?"
"Maybe because you only know plants and herbs for one type of climate?"
I groan. "Prepare yourself, Reuben, for I'm about to say something you may never hear again."
"Call me intrigued."
"You're right."
"I never thought this day would come!" He says, pretending to wipe away a tear. "But on a serious note, why don't you come with me, we can work on that station together?"
I scrunch up my nose. "Uhm..."
"C'mon, you could do with a rest from all the physical stuff, give your brain a workout. When I suggested to Haymitch that we work together, I heard no objection." He says, pulling me up.
"Fine." I grumble.
We work on the plants and climate sections up until lunch and I must say, I'm beginning to find Reuben more tolerable.

At lunch, the Careers invite me to sit with them, however, I politely decline.
"Come on Willow, we just want to get to know you better!" Says Sille, the girl from district 2, trying to seem sweet and innocent.
"No." I say bluntly and I start out to walk to another seat. However, Cicely and Sille, the girls from Districts 1 and 2, go to block my path.
"Well, why not?" Questions Sille, clearly taken aback by my direct response.
I let out an exasperated sigh, "You just want to see if I'd be a valuable ally or perhaps even a threat. I have no interest in having any sort of connection to a career because it's the same every year. Those who trust the careers usually end up regretting it later, and I'm not willing to take that chance. So thanks for the offer, but no thanks."
I try to walk away but Cicely grabs my shoulder. "In the arena, when I'm pressing my sword to your throat, you're going to wish you had accepted our offer." she says, whispering into my ear.
I shake her arm off of me and scoff. "I'll look forward to it, be sure to invite the others."
They give me one last icy glare before returning to the career pack. I take a seat next to Reuben with my lunch.
"Well, aren't you popular." Says Reuben.
"I couldn't get away quick enough, compared to them, you're a joy to be around!" I slump into the chair and start poking at my food with my fork. "One small conversation with them and already I'm at the top of their kill list."
"Well, they haven't met me yet."
"True!" I laugh.
Reuben drops his fork onto his plate in surprise. "Did I just make you laugh, again?"
"Don't get used to it."

Lunch ends and we're back to training. I stick with Reuben for the rest of the day, moving from station to station. It is only when we're stepping into the elevator at the end of the day that I realise what's happening. I'm somewhat befriending Reuben and I can't let that happen. I can't afford to trust him, especially if we're going to have to kill each other. It'll only make the experience more painful. I tell myself to think of Reuben as an elevator. I must use him to get to the top, despite how stomach lurching it maybe. But that's exactly what the Capitol wants. They want you to turn on each other, betray each other...they want us to suffer.

Author's note:

Hey! Aren't career tributes just delightful? (not)
Looks like Willow is starting to think strategically, and I don't blame her since it's a fight for survival.

So the last week I had my first ever acting audition (because yeah I act n stuff) and I'm waiting to hear whether or not I booked it! The wait is AGONIZING. But yeah I thought I'd share a little bit about me because I think it's nice to know I'm not just some mystical creature behind a screen lol. I'd love to get to know my readers too so please do say hi or tell me a little fact about you!

I hope you somewhat enjoyed this chapter, I always appreciate any comments or recommendations, etc.!

-Olivia