Chapter 9: Tribute Training and Scores
Tribute Training
I awoke from the same dream of the previous night about my brothers and the perfect life I could only dream of. I came to the dining room to yet another glorious breakfast filled with pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs and biscuits. Michael told Lindsey and I of the practice and then showing off our skills to the judges to hope for sponsors in the games (If we survive that long of course). After breakfast it was to the training hall where I saw all the other tributes all ready to practice with a verity of swords, bows, axes, knifes, spears and anything else you can think of. It was a race to get what you wanted first so I knew I needed to start with what I was good at so I got a bow and a quiver with several arrows. I saw Mitch grab an iron sword, Jerome had a big axe, Rob also had a bow with arrows and Preston had a spear with throwing knifes, Mitch and Jerome started sparring together and it looked as if they were the only ones who knew what to do. I stood around shooting target after target and I had run out of arrows when I was tapped on the shoulder by Jordan with Nick behind him, Jordan asked if he wanted to spar with me so I could see his skills. I agreed and he handed me a wooden sword and we stepped onto one of the many mats. I stood unsure what to do, distracted by what the minecrafters were doing, Jordan hit me in my side, neck, legs, arms and finished with a fake stab through the heart. "What was that?!" he exclaimed "I don't... know.." I muttered "I was distracted"... After Jordan and I finished sparring he and Nick started sparring, Nick was a small kid probably only 14 but he was skinny. I walked over to where Mitch, Jerome, Preston and Rob were doing a four person sparring with each other. I walked onto the mat and stepped into the middle of them and said "this fight right now will decide weather or not I will team with you in the games." I stepped out of the way and watched them go at it, Jerome dodging and swinging his heavy axe, Mitch expertly maneuvering his sword left and right, Preston using a broken spear as a shield while he threw knifes (blunt, fake ones of course) and Rob had his bow on the ground and he was fighting with a broken part of Preston's spear and a knife he had grabbed. I knew that I needed to team with them, it was the only way i could win but, if I crossed paths with Lindsey, Jordan or Nick I knew I couldn't kill them. After their sparring match Jerome asked me "So how about now?" "are you ready to team with us?". I just said "sure but no betraying at least until deathmatch." Jerome cheered, Mitch gave me a high five, Rob and Preston just seemed kinda happy but not really enthusiastic.
After the training we were told to wait inside the hallway while the districts went to preform one by one. Mitch was up first, he went to grab the iron sword and a couple throwing knifes. He started with the first dummy showing off his throwing skills with the knifes. He hit the first dummy in the heart with three knifes and finished with a throw to the head which surprisingly knocked the dummy's head off with the final knife then rushed the remaining dummies and swiftly stabbed, shanked, spun and sliced the dummies into many wooden pieces. One or two people clapped for him and others just talked among themselves. I kinda zoned out in the chair waiting for my turn when Rob got up next to me and started walking towards the door, he said "wish me luck!" as he stepped into the room. I looked at the T.V and saw he immediately picked up a bow and multiple arrows, He stood and turned towards the potential sponsors and just grinned. He turned towards the dummies and quickly shot five arrows into the dummies stomach and ended with a scalper, then he turned to the dummies and threw his knife at the dummy (kinda slow which surprised me because I knew he had more strength in him) then Rob pulled out his bow and shot the knife in mid air and it shot faster into the dummy through the wood and out the out the other side into the wall behind the dummy. Everyone was surprised at that feat, even the sponsors were on the edge of their seat staring in awe. Rob just bowed and left. Preston was after Susan, Rob's districts female. Preston kinda was hesitating on what to grab but ended up grabbing a spear and a sword. He did the basics and threw the spear and tried to imitate Mitch's action, he did well but not what Mitch did. I was next after Jessica I wasn't sure what to grab but I instinctively grabbed a bow and a sword. I shot some arrows stabbed a few dummies just the usual stuff you would do with a bow and sword, but the judges seemed to like it. It may have been the fact that I wasn't trying my hardest or the fact that I could wield both well. I didn't care I was ready for bed. After I finished I was hurried back to my room unable to see what Lindsey, Jordan or Jerome did... I was sure Lindsey was gonna grab a knife or two and some hand to hand combat, Jordan would go for the sword and Jerome was going for an axe. I was sitting on the couch watching the T.V waiting for the score which really didn't matter because one year I saw a hunger games where a guy gave himself a a low score to throw people off and think he was bad but he ended up winning it all. As the capitol announcer came on the screen Mitch was up first... He scored a 10, Rob scored 11, Preston scored 9, I scored 10, Jordan scored a 8 and Jerome scored an 8. I was ready for bed then the hunger games after the next day.