5: Training

Katniss POV

I wake up in the morning and look around me, forgetting where I am for a second. Then it all comes back to me: volunteering, Gale, the games, everything. I groan slightly, that moment where I just forgot everything is probably going to be the best moment for at least the next month. I go to to breakfast; Gale and Haymitch are already sitting there.

The table is loaded with different food. There is bread from each District. I rather like the District 4 bread, we never have fish back home and I eat a lot of a salty meat which tastes very good. Gale is also stuffing his face, for years we've been surviving on not quite enough, now we are making up for it.

"You start training today," Haymitch says. "Gale told me about your plan to join the careers. Just make sure to learn new stuff as well. And don't ignore the survival skills, more tributes die from starvation than weapons, you know." Yes, I do know that. Like every other person in Panem, I watch the Hunger Games every year. I decide not to say it though, Haymitch is just trying to help, and besides, it's not often that he is sober.

Gale and I finish breakfast and follow Haymitch to the training room. Rather impressive. It's very large with all types of weapons at one side of the room. In another corner is a climbing wall, weights and even a swimming pool. In the other part are survival skills such as snares and fire-making. Gale and I look at each other, and I can see that he is excited to learn a new skill.

We both head to the weapons side. Splitting our paths, I go to the archery section and he goes to knife-throwing. The girl from District 1 is here already. Her arrow hits the edge of a target and she looks annoyed. I pick up a bow close to the size of the one I have at home and test it, getting used to the feel. Here, bows are more taut and powerful. Loading my bow, I point it at the centre of one of the targets and let my arrow fly. It embeds itself in the place where a heart would be were it real.

The other girl looks interested as I do it again and again. The Capitol trainer notices and eventually sets up some moving targets. Letting myself fall into a trance, I instinctively load my bow and shoot until I run out of arrows. The targets have all been hit. The blonde girl is looking at me with slight fear now. She extends her hand.

"I'm Glimmer, from District 1," she introduces.

"Katniss, District 12," I respond.

"I couldn't help but notice that you shoot very well."

"Yes?" I ask impatiently, wondering if this is leading somewhere.

"I think your skills might make a good addition to the career alliance."

I swallow. Moment of fate, do I accept. "I accept your offer," I mutter guiltily.

"I thought you would," she says smiling.

No turning back now, I guess. Now all I need to worry about is Gale getting into the career alliance. Looking over to him, he is at the knives station with the District 2 girl. Now that I am closer she looks more dangerous, and I can see her accurately impaling dummies with knives. Gale is doing the same, though not as quickly. He is a bit above my level at knife-throwing.

xXx-X-xXx

Gale POV

My knife impales the target lit up, nearly at the very centre. I throw another, the same happens and I continue, though I keep my eye on the other girl. Around fifteen, she is from District 2. An expert at throwing knives, she seems to have the same skill with knives as Katniss does with a bow and arrow. I hope my knife throwing skills impress her enough to get into the careers. And I'm eighteen and strong, yes, I should get in fine.

I see Katniss talking to the blonde District 1 girl. Looks like she has a place in the careers, not surprising really, after seeing her shoot all of those targets I would be asking for an alliance as well. I can shoot a bow and arrow pretty well too, but I've decided to keep that secret, like Katniss seems to have with her knife-throwing ability. I will show off with snares though, and if I don't get into the careers then I guess I'll have to show that I can shoot nearly as well as her.

"I'm Clove," the District 2 girl says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Gale, District 12," I reply.

"I have decided that you are good enough to join our alliance," she says haughtily. "Do you have any other skills?"

I shrug. "I'm good with snares, I can identify berries and all that," I answer, keeping the bow and arrow a secret.

"Good," she responds. "I'll tell the others, meet us after the Bloodbath. If you're still alive that is," she says smiling.

"I'll try."

She walks away leaving me here. Shrugging, I wander over to the swords section. Swords are probably the most common weapons in the arena and besides, I need something for killing up close. A bow and arrow is useless when you have a career in front of you with an axe.

A huge boy, Clove's partner is already here, slicing up dummies. Sword is definitely his weapon of choice by the looks of it. I go up to the Capitol trainer and ask if she can teach me to use a sword. She nods and leads me over to a rack where a number of different blades hang. Some are curved, some are straight, long, short, thin and wide. I never knew there were this many swords. I begin to wonder if I should have chosen to learn about spears instead, but I'm here now.

A blade is placed into my hands, but it feels wrong and I tell her. She removes it and gives me a different one. This feels better, more balanced. It is a straight, leaf-shaped blade of around medium to short length. Swinging it experimentally at a dummy, I see with satisfaction that it slices right through, beheading it. The sword is fairly light compared to the other one, but shorter.

The Capitol trainer seems happy as she corrects my grip. Apparently it is a one-handed sword. She then tells me to use less follow-through and so I can change direction with it faster. I do as she says and practice for a while, the movements slowly becoming more natural to me. It seems I have found a natural talent, but I'm definitely no Cato (District 2 boy). After all, he has probably been training for five years and I've been training for half an hour. But I can use the sword fine, which will be enough.

I spend the rest of the morning at the survival stations and when lunch comes I sit with Katniss. However Glimmer comes over and asks us to sit at the career table. Sitting around it are four others: two girls and two boys. I recognise Clove and Cato, but not the other two.

"I'm Gale from 12."

"I'm Glimmer from one and this is my partner Marvel," Glimmer says smiling. How she can be so cheerful, I don't know. Actually, I do know, she's been raised all her life for this and it is some sort of treat for her to be here. Sick bitch, even if this is what you've been raised for, how can you enjoy it? The District 1 names make me laugh though, I mean, Glimmer and Marvel? Seriously? What would I be called if I was from 1, I wonder. Sparkle maybe?

"Cato," Cato says. "And my partner: Clove." Well at least he's serious about it.

"Mara," the District 4 girl says. "And my District partner is not a career." I wonder about this for a second, District 4 tributes are generally careers. Then again, Finnick Odair from the sixty ninth games didn't volunteer, so maybe there are some years where there are no volunteers. Possibly District 4 isn't as heartless as 1 and 2, and they always kill quickly.

"I'm Katniss," my partner mutters. It is easy to tell that she is uncomfortable. For me at least, but then, I've known her for years. And I'm her boyfriend, I think proudly.

We start to share our skills. Katniss mentions the bow and arrow and that she can hunt and is good with snares. I mention snares and knives and say I started to train with a sword. Cato boasts about swords, but that he's good with spears too. Clove is knives. Marvel is spears. Glimmer says about a bow and arrow. Mara mentions a weapon I've never heard of called a polearm.

"What's a polearm?" Katniss asks.

"It's not that common," Mara replies. "It's a bit like a spear, but it has a sort of curved knife on the end. I had to request one."

"Oh."

The rest of lunch is eaten in silence; none of us want to give anything away and none of us want to get attached to other tributes. Too bad it's too late for that for me. Though it's best that I don't get attached to anyone else, especially a career, when it gets to the final eight they always backstab each other. This year I'm going to be the backstabber, I think miserably.

After lunch I go back to practising with swords and Katniss talks to Mara about polearms. I see her practising with one with some dummies with a Capitol instructor correcting her. She is fairly good with it, but her movements are clumsy, especially when compared to Mara's. Mara is lethal, it is clear that she has practised using a polearm for years. My sword skills are getting better, I can use a sword faster and for longer. To be honest, it isn't that difficult, I'll only need advanced skills is I'm against a career like Cato. Otherwise I can get by using reflexes. Still, I'd like to make myself as good as possible. And with the skills I have at the moment I can show off to the gamemakers in my private session.

At the end of the day of training I go back to my room with Katniss. "So how did you find training?" I ask her now that we are in private.

"Decent.. I guess," she says. "I learned to use a polearm, but seeing Mara.. She could kill me with one in two seconds."

"Don't worry," I murmur. "She won't be able to kill you if you get to her with a bow or knife first."

"I guess.. I saw you trying to learn to use a sword. How's that going for you?"

"Pretty much the same as you with the polearm. I'm good, but against Cato I'd be dead in a second. Still, I have the skills I need to show of for the training session. And in the games I'll probably be able to find some knives or a bow I can use. And I can set snares."

"What if the Games change me?" Katniss whispers. "It's just so scary.. Now we're using our hunting techniques to kill tributes and you're just so casual about setting snares for.. For humans."

"I'll love you no matter what Katniss. The Games won't change you that much," I reply determined. "And don't blame yourself for their deaths, it's the Capitol's fault. Not yours. Don't forget that," I continue.

"I guess," she whispers, unconvinced.

xXx-X-xXx

So, what do you guys think? Good? Bad? Feel free to leave a review. Only two or three chapters left before they go into the Games.

-MoonOfPluto