The Living Games
A/N Hello, guys! This chapter goes a bit more into depth about Aubrey and Josh's relationship. They love each other like siblings, not partners, so don't get any ideas. Josh is fun, lovable, and funny, but he can be very serious and wise at times. Aubrey can also be a great person to console other people if she wanted to be. She's not just some heartless stone, you know. She just thinks she is. But don't worry, she's only this way to set up the plot for what's coming up in what I plan for the next part of this story. If I do follow through with a sequel, it'll show more of Aubrey's emotional side, and more of the cold, heartless side to cover that up, but don't worry. Aubrey will be plentiful emotional and just a teensy tiny bit broken. Nothing too serious. And Zane will be there to comfort her all the way. There will be a lot more Zubrey fluff too. Yay! That's great news for me. But they still won't get too intimate, because they'll only be like 16 or so, so the most they'll do is making out in weird places or something. Well, that turned depressing and weird, no pun intended, so enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Fifteen: Training Day
Aubrey woke up to knocking on her door again. She had to resist the urge to throw her pillow at the door.
"Time for breakfast! Oh, your first day of training! Up, up!"
Aubrey groaned. She would never get used to that.
She quickly ran her fingers through her hair to get out the tangles (not like it helped), and didn't bother to change. She would just have to change again at ten, when it was time for training. She was still tired. It was early, and she went to bed late last night.
When she went out to breakfast, Josh was there. She was shocked, and it must have shown on her face, because when she sat down, Josh said, "They never told me I had to wake up for breakfast. If they would've just said that, I would've gotten up a lot quicker. And not have had ice cubes down my shirt."
Aubrey snickered. It was still funny to her.
Josh glared.
Kerri walked in a few minuted later, decked out in light blue.
"Okay," she said as she sat down. "Today is training. I trust you know what happens there. You'll have an outfit provided for you in your room when you return. It's what you'll wear to training. We'll leave at ten o'clock sharp, so be ready."
Aubrey shrugged and kept eating her pancakes.
After breakfast, she went back to her room. It was only nine, so she still about an hour. The training outfit was on her bed when she came back. She didn't know what to expect. If it was anything like her opening ceremonies outfit, she had a right to be worried. But, to her surprise, it was just a black tank top with black jeans that went just below her knees. She sighed of relief and put it on. Then she went to bed. She might as well get as much sleep as she could before training, seeing as she would have to be around the other tributes.
She woke up to Josh shaking her awake.
"Get up. Training."
"Mmm," she turned over.
He shook her harder.
She stuck up her hand and put it over his mouth.
"'M up," she mumbled.
Josh grabbed the pillow from under her head and hit her with it. "Get up!"
Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Yeah, nice way to wake me up."
He raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so you want me to throw water on you? I considered it, but then I realized you were in your training outfit. I didn't want you to be wet all day."
Aubrey was impressed. "Wow. You actually thought for once, and you were smart. I'm scared."
Josh rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Get. Up. Training."
Aubrey sighed and got up, grumbling about how rude he was being.
Kerri was no where to be seen. Aubrey looked at the clock. It was 9:58.
"What? Does she expect us to leave on our own? I don't even know where the training room is!" Aubrey exclaimed. It's not that she wanted Kerri to come, it's just that she was their escort for a reason.
Josh shrugged.
"I don't know. I don't wanna be late, either. Let's just go."
They stepped into the elevator. Turns out, it was pretty easy to get to the training center. They just pressed the button labeled Training Center.
When they walked in, almost everyone was there, except District Eleven and Six. Everyone was wearing different clothes, with their District numbers pinned on their backs.
"Why the fuck is everyone already here? It's not even ten yet," Aubrey whispered in Josh's ear.
"Why are we here?"
"Touche."
Someone came over to them to do theirs, and when that was done, Aubrey stood next to Josh.
After waiting a few seconds, Eleven came in, with Six trailing behind them. They got pinned, and the trainer, Letitia, started explaining all of the stations, and reminding them that all of them are important, and not to skip one just because it seemed like they didn't need it.
When she was done, Josh looked at her.
"What station first?"
Aubrey looked around, and saw everyone crowding around the weapons section.
"How about . . . plant identification? We'll ace that."
And they did. Josh was better than Aubrey because he spent years more in the woods, but she did pretty good to.
They went to camouflage next, and utterly failed.
Josh attempted to make Aubrey's arm look like a field grass, but it ended up looking like a green sky.
"You're supposed to make the grass different heights," The trainer suggested. "All of the blades of grass are going to the right. Try making some go to the left."
Josh did as he said.
"The other left," The trainer winced and suggested.
Aubrey stifled a laugh, but her lake didn't turn out any better.
"It looks like a blue circle. Just a blue circle. You should add some ripples."
Aubrey tried what he said.
"That's an r, not an n." The trainer blushed, and Aubrey did too. She had thought it was a weird request.
Josh laughed at her.
"Oh, shut up."
"You can't paint."
"Tell that to your field."
He scowled.
"Shut up."
Aubrey smirked. "How about we go use some weapons? This is great and all, but those knives look super pointy."
Josh rolled his eyes, but agreed.
They walked over to the weapons section. District Two was throwing spears, and the girl from One was throwing knives, while the boy was sword fighting with a trainer.
Aubrey led Josh over to the knives. "Come on. It'll be fun."
Josh huffed, but joined her.
Aubrey had to admit, she was having a lot of fun. The knives were proper throwing knives, and the targets gave her a challenge.
She threw knife after knife, trying hard to hit the bulls eye each time. She had fun adjusting to the Capital-made knives. She cursed when she missed, but it was usually only by a few centimeters. You train for a year, and you get pretty good at what you do. The Careers were perfect examples of that.
She was picking up another knife when she heard a voice
"You're pretty good."
She turned around to see Andy leaning on the knife rack, smiling at her. She also noticed a few other kids sneaking inconspicuous glances over at her.
Aubrey smiled a bit.
"Thanks."
"How'd you get so good?" (A/N Seriously?! How'd isn't a word either? I will find a dictionary place and make them make this a word. How'd and how'll will conquer the world!)
And there. He finally asked her the one thing she can't tell him.
"Hmm. I'll tell you later. Can't exactly tell you here."
Andy nodded, like he understood. "Okay. Wanna join me at the spears? Those knife targets are pretty much annihilated."
Aubrey grinned at him, and grabbed Josh, whose targets were not nearly as good. "Come on. To the spears we go!"
They went over to find the Two's gone, and someone else, Aubrey forgot who they were, there.
It was pretty fun throwing spears with those two. They kept making her laugh, causing her to miss her target. She was still pretty good. She was good at throwing things, but spears were heavier than knives, so they were a bit more difficult to throw.
Her and Andy were both good at it, though he was better, and Josh wasn't too bad, just not as good.
Andy told them that he speared fish back in Four, and it was like breathing to him.
Next, they went over the the swords. Josh dominated there. He beat the trainer more than half of the time. Aubrey was okay. She barely won any of the spars, and she almost cut her own head off with the blade. She decided to stick with knives. Andy was between the two. He could hold the sword right, and he gave the trainer a run for his money, but he wasn't as good as Josh.
They called for lunch, and the three headed over to the cafeteria.
After sitting down with their lunch, they started noticing the looks they were getting.
"Must be because we're sitting together," Andy suggested. "Districts usually sit together, or away from each other. And your performances were good. It was unusual for District Twelve. No offense. "
Aubrey shook her head. "None taken. I know we suck."
Andy gave her a reassuring smile. "Now, about earlier . . . How are you so good with knives? And you so good with swords?"
Josh shrugged, and shoveled down some pasta.
Aubrey rolled her eyes, and said in a low voice, "We trained. Ever since the end of the last games. This idiot here is pretty good in hand to hand combat, and great in swords. I'm great with knives and hand to hand combat. Josh knows a lot about plants, and we both suck in camouflage, or so we figured out today."
Josh and Aubrey laughed.
Andy raised an eyebrow. "You can't be that bad."
Josh laughed harder. "Y . . . yeah. Tell that to her lake with nipples."
Andy blushed and exclaimed, "What?!"
Aubrey laughed a little. "What? That's what I thought he said. I knew it was weird . . . And his field of grass was just as bad. The trainer suggested he put his grass to the left, and Josh apparently doesn't know his left from his right, because the trainer had to say, "the other left"."
Josh blushed, and Aubrey and Andy laughed.
After lunch, they went to knot tying. Andy was a natural.
"We have to make our own nets for the fish," he explained.
They moved on to fire making. Josh and Andy could successfully start fires without using matches, and Aubrey could do it using coal.
Aubrey won most of the matches when they went to hand to hand combat, and Josh did too. Andy won about half.
They all sucked with building shelters. Archery was much better. Well, Josh couldn't shoot to save his life, and Andy wasn't much better. Aubrey was okay. She only hit the bulls-eye once because Andy accidentally bumped her arm and it moved the arrow, but she still counted it. She had relatively good accuracy, but not all weapons were the same. She didn't expect to kill anyone using a bow. She could injure them if they were standing still, but not kill.
When Aubrey went back to their floor, she was tired, and she just wanted to eat and go to bed. So she did. Dinner consisted of a lecture from Kerri about leaving her.
"I was so worried!" she squawked.
Aubrey rolled her eyes, but Kerri caught her, and that led to another lecture.
By the time dinner was over, Aubrey was bone tired. She collapsed in her bed and fell asleep.
The next three days passed by uneventfully. They woke up, ate breakfast, and trained. Aubrey didn't even notice the Gamemakers until the second day. They were watching them, and occasionally writing stuff down on clipboards.
When the private training day rolled around, Aubrey was conflicted. She didn't know what to do. Should she try for a high score? Or go for a low score?
While she was sitting in a room with the other tributes, she decided to ask Josh.
He looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Well," he started, "You've already shown your skills during training, so it wouldn't make any sense to go for a low score. The Careers would think you're being shady, or trying to hide something. I'd say to just go big or go home."
"Can I go home, then?"
Josh glared at her. "You know what I mean."
The first tribute got called in. The boy from District one.
Aubrey sighed and thought about home. She wondered how things were going back there. Was Arianna okay? Was Zane okay? How were they holding up? Was Cady still oblivious? Aubrey played with her fingers and nervously waited until Andy got called. Aubrey gave him a bright smile, and he shot a nervous one back. She held her thumbs up. She knew he'd do great. He was a Career, after all.
She watched as the room slowly trickled out, until it was just her and Josh. Then he got called.
"Wish me luck," he said.
Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Like you'll need it if you do the sword thing."
"Do the sword thing?"
"You know what I mean! Now go."
She shoved him towards the door.
She fingered her hands, and waited until she was called. She shakily stood up, and started towards the door.
When she walked in, it was quiet. All of the Gamemakers were looking a bit impressed, and guessed it had to do with Josh. She held back a smirk and walked into the room.
Some of the Gamemakers were holding drinks in their hands, and some had food, but they were mostly paying attention to her.
Good. She thought. they'll want to pay attention to this.
She didn't waste any time walking over to the knife rack. All of those beautifully crafted knives. She picked up the first one, steadying her hand, and threw it. It landed a centimeter away from the bulls-eye. She heard some murmurs of surprise, but that wasn't good enough for her.
She picked up the second one, eyeing the target like it was a meal, and threw it.
It hit the bulls-eye.
As did the next, and the next, until the fifteen minutes had run out.
"Dismissed."
Aubrey left the room, taking one last glance back. The Gamemakers were quite funny looking, with their shocked faces, and furious scribbling on their clip boards. Aubrey let her smirk show, and left the room.
When she got the her floor, no one was there. Aubrey didn't feel like being alone, so she went into Josh's room to wait until the scores got announced.
He was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Aubrey pushed him to the side and sat down on his bed next to him. He glared at her.
"I was there."
"Yeah? Well, now I'm here. Get over it."
Josh smiled. "There's my rude Aubrey. That nervous Aubrey was making me kind of scared. I'm glad you're back."
Aubrey scoffed. "Well, that smart Josh was making me scared."
Josh just sighed. That's how she knew something was wrong.
"Hey, what's up?"
He turned his head to look over at her, playing with his hands. "It's just . . . nerves. Memories. I keep thinking of home, about what's coming. We only have two more days of guaranteed safety, Aubrey. Two days. Reality has finally set it, and it hurts." His voice cracked and became lower. "I don't want to lose you, Aubrey. I don't want to win and come home just to find you gone. I don't. I already lost my father and my brother. I can't afford to lose you, too."
Aubrey turned towards him, and took his hand. She was usually terrible at consoling people, but this was Josh. He was family.
"I don't want to lose you either. I don't want to go back home without you. But I also don't want them, back home, to be saddened by us dying. One of us has to win, and if it comes down to it, I'll gladly die for you. And I know you'll do the same. We have to protect each other, and make sure one of us makes it home alive." She wiped a tear off of Josh's face, while trying not to cry herself. "I love you Josh, I really do, and I don't want to see you go, but we both know one of us has to."
Josh smiled sadly. "Never thought the day would come when you would admit you loved me. But I love you too. I wish this wasn't happening. But I know it has to. We have to become murders. We have to kill people. Even if it is for survival, does that make it any better?"
Aubrey sighed and they sat in comfortable silence, both staring at the ceiling, thinking of home.
Dinner that night was rough. Aubrey and Josh were morbid, and the table lacked their usual jokes. Kerri, of course, didn't notice, and blabbered on about how close the games were coming, making their nerves even worse. By the time dinner was over, both of them were practically shaking.
When they sat down for the training scores, Aubrey was thinking about the other tributes. As far as she knew, they were just obstacles. And they were in the way of her going home.
It was a bit off from the usual. The careers usually scored high, but not this year. District Two both got 9's, and District One's girl got an eight, while the boy got a 9. Andy got a 9, and the girl got a 8. The Careers usually got mostly nines or tens. The other districts were average, until the boy from Nine got a 8. She told herself to keep an eye on him.
Josh got a 8. Aubrey was so excited for him. He looked surprised.
"And last, but most definitely not least, we have Aubrey Oric with a score of . . . " Caesar paused for effect.
Oh, just get on with it, you lump! she wanted to yell at him.
" . . . Nine!"
Aubrey's mouth was wide open. A nine?! Not that she was complaining! She had expected a seven or something.
After a lot of congratulations, Aubrey and Josh set off towards their rooms.
Aubrey grabbed Josh's arm. "A good night's sleep will make this better," Aubrey told Josh, but she didn't let go of his arm.
"Let's hope." Neither of them moved.
Aubrey sighed. "I know we both really don't want to go to bed, but we have to."
They finally moved, saying goodbye. Aubrey was wary of going to sleep, because that would just make the dreaded day come by faster. But she knew she had to, and she fell fast asleep only moments after laying down.