A/N: It's a bit of a shorter chapter today. :) I'll be really busy this weekend, so the updates won't be coming as quickly. Thanks for reading, everyone; I hope you enjoy.
Matz and I agree to separate in the training center, but all our mentors have agreed that we are to appear mediocre. We are to save our skills until later. And Matz and I have agreed. It's what Haymitch chose to do, it's what my parents did, and it's what all three of them instructed every tribute afterward to do. I would go straight to the survival stations, but I have been more taught in that than most of the combat... I decide to go to the weight-lifting. It's nothing to learn, but I could still probably use the workout today. I don't want to be sore right before (or during) the Games, so today would be ideal.
Riegan and his district partner, however, find their way next to me. "Fancy seeing you again," says Riegan playfully.
I raise my eyebrows at him again.
"It's not a surprise to see her again, Riegan," says his partner harshly. "You'll be seeing her again pretty soon, in fact." I feel a shudder go down my spine. I know what she means by seeing me again pretty soon, and she doesn't mean tomorrow at training again.
Ignoring her, Riegan says, "This is my district partner, Nia Nitzan. We grew up together." He beams, and then motions to the station. "How are you at weight-lifting?"
No point in lying, since he's about to see... "I'm no good at it at all."
"So's Nia. Don't worry." He still smiles.
Nia glares at him. We take our places and begin lifting. Sure enough, Nia's not very good; she's strong, but not any stronger than me. Riegan, on the other hand, can lift my weight. Once this becomes a bit too weird for me, I move on to sword-fighting and immediately regret it. The two of them still follow me, and Nia looks right at home here. She runs her long, slender fingers along the blades, her eyes glinting. She immediately calls for an assistant, taking not one but two swords.
I know little about sword-fighting, but one thing I do know is: if Nia is so confident as to wield two swords at once, she's not only skilled, she's skilled with both hands. Nobody would train her to dual wield without her being completely competent wielding a sword with both her left and right hands. Among most swordsmen, wielding two swords is considered unnecessarily dangerous.
Sure enough, she is deadly. I cannot help but watch as I train with my own assistant. I feel like a child. I'm good with my right hand, but against Nia, I would be dead within seconds.
You would think I would learn, but even after watching Nia at the sword-fighting station, I go to another station I am incompetent in. It's a bit interesting, more of self-defense, but they have what are called nunchakus, and I have never touched them in my life.
Riegan, however, has.
He picks a sword-fighting assistant, and he swings the nunchakus like a child's toy. As a defensive weapon, the nunchakus make sure the sword never touches him. Nia watches, unimpressed: clearly she has seen it before. "What do you say we go swing a mace?" she asks. "He's just as good at that, but he won't be done here for a while longer. He loves the nunchakus."
I'm taken aback, because she's addressed me and doesn't seem to hate me—although "hate" might be the wrong word for it. I wonder if I've formed an alliance without knowing it. "Um, okay."
Nia and I swing maces for a bit. She clearly knows what she's doing, but she and I are about level in this department. Riegan follows us after he's done with the nunchakus, and he manages to silence the entire gymnasium with the mace in his hand.
Finally, I've had enough. Nia—though she may be addressing me—is still looking at me like I'm something to eat, so I head to the knife-throwing, which I am fairly decent at. I have my mother's reflexes and my father's skill with a knife, so they go hand in hand here. I hit all of the targets and miss the bulls-eye only a few times. Nia is not as good: though she hits the targets, she's way off the bulls-eye; a lot of it might be luck. Riegan can't do anything special.
The next station is the station I would avoid if I were trying to be mediocre, but I head to the hand-to-hand combat station, anyway.
I let Nia and Riegan go before me. They use brute force and no strategy, no skill or technique. So when I follow, I impress them. I feel more at home here, being able to analyze and think and attack. When I finish, I realize that there are a number of people watching, including Matzo, who is smiling but shaking his head.
Later, when I've finally shaken the Careers off my back, I eat lunch with my brother.
"You shouldn't have done that," he says, but he still sounds amused. "But that being said, it was pretty amazing, which is why you shouldn't have done it. You were absolutely destructive."
"I just got tired of them following me around, and Nia kept looking at me like she could chew my neck off, Enobaria-style," I say, exasperated. "I just had to make sure they have an idea about what I'm capable of."
Matz smiles. "It's okay. And anyway, it seems to have worked... but even before that, it was looking like that Riegan guy wanted you for an ally."
I shake my head, but I don't disagree out loud, because a part of me agrees. It is looking like that Riegan guy wants me for an ally. Instead, I murmur, "I have no idea why..."
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