Read and Review please.
No tengo 'Maximum Ride' o 'Hunger Games. Gracias.
The attention seemed to be focused whollely on the first few chariots but as the camera's moved slightly over our chariot, there was an uproar in the crowd. Our faces were illuminated by the lights from our feet. The air whipped my hair upwards, giving it what Valencia called a 'wind tossed' look. I snuck a glance at the TV screen to see that we were the main focus. With my new hair, striking make up and interesting attire, I really did look on fire. While the camera was focused on me, I blew a kiss to the camera and gave a cheeky wink, which caused the crowd to go wild.
The whole hour ride, I conversed with the crowd, throwing red roses that I found at my feet to them and blowing kisses. Fang remained impassive, but the effect still made the girls swoon. He was literally the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. People cheered and called our names and it seemed we hogged the majority of the camera's attention. When we reached the president Snow IV's mansion, Hans Gunther Hagen, head game maker and announcer gave the traditional speech. When he was done and just before we started to move, Fang brushed my hand in a 'it's time gesture'. Wordlessly, I turned to him and he forced his lips down onto mine. I'm ashamed to admit, we both got really into the kiss, my hand found his hair and i grabbed huge fistfuls of it. His hands roamed to my hips and the audience screamed when they worked their way towards my bottom, making my dress ride up in the process. After a long two minutes, our chariot started to move and so we pulled away. The whole ride back to the training centre we again hogged the majority of the camera- causing my blush and Fang's obnoxious smirk to be posted for all Panem to see.
After I had showered and eaten a ridiculous amount of food, we sat down on sofa's to watch the replays of events. Valencia and Jeb managed to get the idea of passion across perfectly. The announcers talked non stop of two fiersome and graceful tributes from district twelve whose sexual tension you could 'cut with a knife.' Nudge and Chloe were talking fanatically about how mad the Capitol was for us and how many potential sponsors they already had lined up. Apparently, you could see the fiery potential we have. Neither Fang nor I said a word.
That night, Fang and I were walking back to our rooms. Both of us were still tense from the kiss and possibly nervous about training but neither of us said a word until we reeached my room.
'About the kiss-' Fang begun. I had a feeling he wasn't just talking about the one on the chariot.
'Listen, don't. It's all part of the game Fang. It's cool.'
In training, Nudge advised us to hold back and not let our true potential show so I stuck to learning new traits such as the edible fruit station (I was fairly good at this station but as all the fruit and plants were from forests and not jungles and swamps, it gave me an idea of where the games were to be held) and knot tying. I was fairly decent at camoflague, weaponry, obviously, medicinal plants and snare making so I stayed away from them but I did spend some time at woodwork, learning how to make a bow and spear incase I didn't find one in the cornucopia. I managed to make a fairly decent bow, fashioning a bow string out of my own hair but I couldnt sharpen rocks very well to make arrows- I was, apparently too aggressive and impatient. I managed decently at the fire making station, managing to light a fire with wood and a splint. Fang got targeted by the careers, seeming to get cosy with District one tribute, Maya. Contradictorily, Gozen from District one stayed clear of the careers, something which rarely happened;it was an unspoken rule that the careers form a pack, take out the weaker opponents before turning on each other.
Nudge and I talked a lot about what I wanted to do in my private session. I always liked to have a plan and Nudge seemed to think that shoking them was the best way to get the gamemakers attention. Usually, by District twelve, the gamemakers were drunk and payed no attention to the tribute. I was certain my best points were archery but she told me to incorporate everything- creatiity always scored high with the Judges. Each and everytime we sat down, neither of us could agree on a plan. By the final day of training, Nudge gave up, declaring I was on my own.
My dispute with Nudge caused me to sit in the cafeteria shaking while Fang took his time in the training room. His plan was to simply fight with all the trainers, demonstrating an ability to survive the initial bloodbath at the cornucopia. It was a pretty sound plan, it would also tell his future with the careers- if he scored high, he was dead set to be in with a chance. Finally, a wiry male gamemaker came in and showed me to the training centre. Plans were formulating in my mind and as soon as stepped foot in the arena, I knew what to do.
Not many of the judges were paying attention so i jogged up to the knot-tying station and grabbed as much rope as I could before going up to the woodwork station. There, I fashioned a hook and attached it to a long piece of rope. On either side of the training centre were ladders that carried you up to long metal poles screwed parallel to the wall with the ladder on. Above these poles were others that jutted out at 90 degree angles like gymnast's training bars. I climbed the ladder and tied one end of the rope to the metal pole parallel to the wall. I swung the other end around my arm while balncing on the ladder and threw it to the other side. The hook caught on the pole parallel to the wall on the other side. I tugged it and it remained strong. Satisfied, I did the same thing three times along the length of the training centre. I chose a bow and arrow and a spear (I had been practicing with one) and practiced a few shots on the target shot before calling to a helper at the side of the centre. I passed him five apples and asked him to throw them up one after the other in the air when I gave a bird call.
With everything set up, I climbed to the highest training bar and a did a few basket swings to gain momentum. Then, when I was paused in a sort of hand stand on the bars, I threw the spear to the light in the centre of the room, causing it to shatter and illuminate half the room in shadow and for several of the game makers to scream in shock. I back flipped off of the bar onto the rope in the middle of the room, grabbing it just before I went splat on the floor. Then grabbed my bow and arrow in full swing and gave a hawk cry to the training man. As he threw the first apple into the air, I let go of the rope, the momentum causing me to fly toward the rope on the far side of the room. Suspended in mid air, I shot two apples before grabbing onto the rope with one hand. I spun round it once before letting go and flying backwards, shooting a further two apples as I travelled through the air. I was now facing the wrong direction to once again grab onto the middle rope so I hooked my knee around it, dangling upside down to shoot the final apple out of the air. I let my knee drop so I started to fall on my hands. When they came into contact with the floor, I bounced off of them, doing a backflip that landed me on my feet. I turned around to face the Game makers, all who had looks of shock and awe plastered on their faces. Hans Gunther-Hagen looked positively gleeful. He dismissed me and I shot as fast as I could out of the room and climbed each and every stair to the twelfth floor where I collapsed on my bed in my room.
For the first time since Reaping day, I felt hopeful and giddy. Let the games begin...
After my brief state of ecstasy, I climbed into the shower before dressing in plain denim trousers and a white shirt. At dinner, Valencia, Jeb, Nudge and Chloe were all eager to know how Fang and I fared. In answer, Fang pointed to his now swollen left eye, indicating that he hadn't done so well in a fight. I hoped for his sake that the other guy looked worse. I tried to explain as best I could what I did in the training centre but Chloe and Nudge both looked confused so I must not have done it very well. Nudge went off on a tangent, the main gist of the conversation being 'I hope your scores represented your abilities better than you explained them' or something to that extent. I thing she was still slightly bitter as to my failing to come up with a plan before I entered. She was right, though, my spontanaity could ost me gravelly. A good trainin score could get you valuable sponsors who, in times of need, could save your life in the arena. Once again, we ate a lavish dinner before reconvening in the TV room.
I hadn't even realised I was shaking until Valencia squeezed my shoulder reassuringly, making me feel a hundred times better. The screen turned blue and then the face of Gozen from district one appeared on the screen. A '10' appeared below his picture before it changed to the girl tribute, Maya. Maya recieved a mediocre six, Star and Ratchett both recieved an eight. Kate from four recieved an eight also and the wiry boy from four, Holden surprised me by gaining a decent seven. Brigid from six only recieed a four but Ari from seven managed to land himself a colossal nine. The other tribute's score ranged from two to seven. A cute looking sixteen year old boy called Sam from district eleven and his twelve year old companion called Alissa both recieved sevens. The thought of the twelve year old girl having anything seven worth to show the Judges shocked me but obviously they saw potential- I was going to have to keep my eye on her. When Fang's impassive face filled the screen, everyone in the room took a deep breath and cheered when he got an amazing score of eight. He only grumbled that it was mediocre, but really, he match and beat most of the careers. Nerves caused me to jump up in anticipation when my picture filled the screen. When my score was posted for all of Panem to see, I glanced at it, did a double take and rocketed out of the room as fast as I could go.
I, Maximum Ride, recieved an Eleven. The highest score of any of the tributes. Ever.