Chapter 2
As it turns out, we being late was just a bluff. We were actually five minutes early which gave Loni sufficient time to chew me out for making her run in her good heels. I, of course, don't see how four inch high death traps can be "good." But if those were her good heels then fine. I can't stop her. Besides, I still had some extra time on my hands. Being the oldest Humutt, I didn't actually start my training immediately. I just had to "oversee" the others while they were training.
So I took my place at my favorite window. It provided the most amazing view of the lake, woods, and mountains surrounding the Capitol. I pulled out a small silver tube out of my pocket, more out of habit than necessity. Pressing a small button on the side, the tube extended into a full-sized fighting staff. My favorite weapon. Father had designed it exclusively for me. It only responded to either my voice or fingerprint.
As I started cleaning my staff, my gaze drifted out the window, which for once was open. A warm breeze blew in, bringing with it the various artificial scents of Panem's Capitol. I sighed. Our tower was surrounded by an invisible force field that kept it hidden from the rest of the world. However, it allowed the wind and water to pass through it. Sometimes I would wander if the field ended at the lake's surface. I smiled, imagining a watery escape.
It would have to be at night. I know there is a door where the peacekeepers always fall asleep. I'd have to be my most silent if I was going to make it to the water. From there, I had two options: take a boat to the known edge of the field or swim there. Taking a boat would conserve energy but could leave an arrow to a search for me. Swimming would take more energy but it was easier to hide and covered my tracks. From there it was simply a deep breath away from sweet freed-
"HOPE!" I jumped, nearly losing my staff out the window. Royelle had far too loud a voice for her animal. "Wakey, wakey."
"What? What?" Royelle flipped her fiery curls over her shoulder, giving me a reprimanding look. Nothing I'm not used to.
"Seneca's Angels are wanted to give a demonstration." I rolled my eyes at the title. "Seneca's Angels" was a nickname almost everyone used in reference to me and my three best friends: Loni, Elli, and Royelle. We're the best team and the best fighters. Plus we were the oldest of the Humutts and therefore had more training and experience. Therefore, we were the ones to demonstrate new techniques.
"What are we doing?"
"Three against one defense. You're the one."
"But of course." I took my place between the mass of students and my three best friends, the girls behind me. "Offense or defense?"
"Defense," I heard our instructor call. Simple enough. The girls would throw their best attacks at me and all I had to do was block. However, they didn't all attack the same way. Three different attacks meant three different defenses.
I closed my eyes, focusing everything to my sense of hearing. A few of the younger girls were gossiping about a boy. Tune out. Air conditioning was humming annoyingly. Tune out. Whiz of a thrown knife. I ducked to the left, twisting and bringing my staff up to block. The knife bounced right off, clattering to the floor. A spin of my staff knocked Royelle's next two daggers. Royelle's down.
Elli's next. Her attack is head on, stiletto sharp sai aimed at me. The swipe was easily ducked. However, I ended up with a slight slash in my shirt from barely dodging her attack from below. Too close. Luckily, she never held her sai properly. All I had to do was hook my staff into the handles to completely throw her off. Elli hit the ground hard. Two down, one to go.
Loni was last to attack. Her method was vicious sword attacks. This would be the hardest. Loni was the least quiet, lunging with a high-pitched cry. The attempt to throw me off by hurting my ears didn't work like she planned. I didn't drop my staff when my hands flew up to protect my ears, creating an effective block. Her blade met my staff with a resounding CLANG! Loni was strong, pushing hard on my staff to try and knock my over. I felt my shoes sliding on the slick metal floor from the pressure. So much for non-skid. Finally getting a good grip on the floor, I was finally able to knock her off. Being the stronger of the two of us, I pushed a bit too hard, sending her skidding across the floor.
All three girls down. That went much faster than expected. Usually Loni and I take much longer in our battles. When she makes it easy, it means she's up to something. The question was should I be worried?
"Close." With a whoosh, my staff returned to pocket size. I tucked it into my pocket… as the hilt of Loni's sword made painful contact with my nose. This led to my very "graceful" fall onto my rear. That came out of nowhere! I definitely should have trusted that gut instinct. Well, too late for that. "Ow!" Note to self: don't touch a broken nose.
The bell sounded, heralding the end of training. Loni offered me a hand up. "Looks like you need a nurse."
"Feels like it too." I pinched my nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "How did you pull that off?" It wasn't impossible for anyone to catch me off-guard and clock me like that, but it wasn't exactly common either. Loni shrugged.
"Got lucky I guess." I rolled my eyes at that. "Or I just wanted to give you a bloody nose for your birthday. Either or."
"Oh thanks." My birthday was the day after Snow's visit. It would be like Loni to give me a bloody nose for my birthday though. She's the only one I would trust to bust my nose. I sound utterly ridiculous.
"Nice fighting with you, Hopey," Royelle chirped. Her face went from overly perky smile to grimace at my nose. "Eww. Loni, why did you break her nose?"
"Why would you assume it was me?" Loni asked, insulted.
"Because no one else can ever get that close to her," Elli chirped in. "So are we all converging on Hope's place?"
"Don't you always?" We all laughed.