Training day 1 before lunch
District Twelve's Evanlyn "Eve" Scott's POV
My last two days was a mixture of both bless and dread.
I had gotten reaped, and that was something that should explain the dread. I was going into the games, and there was a chance that I wasn't going to be going back to District Twelve. Back to my family and having to go through whatever awaited in the arena. It was that source of panic that seemed to hover over me with each passing moment. Almost like those moments before I'm about to commit a robbery. The thought that I wasn't going to make it out of the situation, the thought that my family would be forced to witness my demise, the aftermath that was to come from my failure. Those thoughts were born of fear, death, and abandonment.
I was used to this kind of sensation, but that didn't mean that I liked it. It didn't feel good having fear being held in my mind for so long. It would normally be gone by now. A day, maybe two, but I was on my third day of this feeling, and it was no where close to gone. It probably had something to do with the fact that I wasn't done my job. Back home, when I finished a robbery, the fear was that peacekeepers would break into my home and say that I had done the stealing. I only had to wait for a day or two before I was sure that that wasn't going to happen.
Right now however, it wasn't like that. My task wasn't over. The threat of defeat was still strong. My fear wouldn't be gone until this event was over. It wouldn't be over until I returned back home.
On the opposing side, there was the bless that came in the form of food and a kind of homely comfort that couldn't be offered back home.
The food was really wonderful, but I could barely keep it down due to it being so rich and flavourful. But at the same time, it was horrible food because it was so rich and flavourful. It tasted good, but I wanted to spit out every third or fourth bite because it was so overwhelming.
It was nothing like the food back home, and like my mentor, James Ashfall, had told us, it would take us time to get used to the type of food that the Capitol would feed us with.
Even though I was hungry, I just couldn't choke down a lot of food before I started to feel sick. James told me not to force myself, but as I looked at Colin, my district partner, downing his food with little trouble, I couldn't help but feel as if fate was slapping me in the face.
I found a source of food that could prevent me from being hungry, but it was so good that my mouth and body couldn't tolerate it.
Still, it was better than what my average District Twelve meal would be, so I was grateful for that. And given time, I would probably be able to eat the Capitol food without feeling like I needed to release the food from my mouth a fourth of the time.
I looked forward to that day. But until then, I was practically throwing up almost as much food as I was eating. Eating it was easy, it was keeping it down that seemed to be the hard part.
And while the beds were of superior quality compared to the ones back home, they were just as uncomfortable, if not more uncomfortable than the ones back home.
They were too soft and lacked the feeling of District Twelve sheets. It was just like the food. Good in small douses, but until I got used to them, they would be a pain in the ass.
Besides getting reaped, the worst part was the physical agony of the pre-chariot treatment.
My prep team scrubbed me down with hard brushes that felt like they were going to rip my skin from my body as they rinsed by hair with hot water and a comb so fine that made my hair tug my scalp with every tiny knot. They ripped out every inappropriate hair that they could find on me and would shave my nails into smooth ovals.
What I hated the most was that they injected me with some sort of substances that would put a halt to my reproductive system. Stop me from having periods. They told me that it was help comfort me while I was in the arena. I couldn't tell if they were lying or not.
They tried to perfect me, and I knew that every other prep team was doing the same.
It was a horrific progress, and one that I never wanted to go through again. I was glad when it was time to board the chariots, even if the costumes were less than original.
Now I was in for the next step of my journey. The training days. A chance to learn some skills that might be able to save you in the arena.
With only three days to learn as much as I could, I had to put those days to use.
As Colin and I got lead to the elevator that would lead us to the training center, I thought of what I had to work on. What did I want to improve on to give me better odds in the arena?
I wasn't going to be like Colin who arrogantly thought that he knew everything that was worth knowing. I was going to actually try and learn something, because I knew that there were things that I did not know. That, and I valued my life.
I knew what I had. I had speed and agility. That could help me get away from any hostile tributes or mutts that come after me. People always told me that I was smart, and having some of the best scores at school sure helped people think that way, but would it help me any in the arena? Perhaps. There were always things that someone could do that others couldn't see or think of. Maybe I could put my smarts to use.
Another thing I was good at was hiding. Being a thief, I learned how to hide in the smallest spaces while using the shadows and lighting to my advantage. I should see how to improve on that, because while I was good at it, I don't think I'm perfect. There have been times that had been way too close for comfort.
Maybe I could take up camouflage. And later, take some foliage identification courses. Those could help me survive in the arena, assuming that there would be edible foliage in the arena. I sure hoped that this year's arena wasn't going to be a barren wasteland of nothing, or some arena where everything was poisonous. If life came in the form of sponsors, I had to hope that I'd make a good impression on them while doing the interviews, and maybe get a half decent training score. My fearful reaction during the reapings might not have gotten many sponsors, so I had to make this count. If not for sponsors, than for me.
"Okay you two," Our escort said to us, talking so quickly that I could barley understand her rushed words mixed in with her weird accent. "Push the button marked negative one and you could get to where you need to be. Okay. Bye." The elevator doors then closed on us, separating her from us.
Wasn't she supposed to bring us to the training center? She is our escort after all. Maybe she's still mad about getting hit in the face with that rock back during the reapings. Or maybe she didn't like District Twelve in general, just like our previous escort. Either way, I guess it doesn't really matter why she hates our district, we're going down by ourselves.
I looked over to Colin, who was the closest to the elevator buttons, and nudged my head toward the buttons. He turned towards me and looked at me dumbly. Maybe he didn't see me nudge my head, so I did it again. Again, he just looked at me dumbly.
For someone that thought he knew everything about everything, he sure couldn't take a hint. Deciding that I should try just one more time, just because the buttons were on his side, I nudged my head again, to see if he could understand me. He didn't.
I felt myself give out a light sigh before I reached over and pushed the button myself. The button marked negative one lit up a second before I felt the elevator swiftly start making its way down.
All of a sudden, before I could get back on my side of the elevator, I felt something start to play with my hair. I quickly turned around to see that it was Colin's large fingers fiddling around with my hair. Not liking what I was feeling, I swatted his hands away from me before I looked at him with a glare.
He didn't seem to notice my glare as he continued to smile his stupid smile. Because of that, I couldn't wait to get out of this trapped room and get into the training center.
"You know you like it." Colin smugly said to me.
"No, I didn't." I told him, thinking how he could have possibly thought that.
"You just don't know it yet." He then leaned in closer to me, in which I retreated away from him. "Here," He continued as he stepped forwards with every step that I took back. I didn't like where this was heading, not one bit. I felt as if something bad was going to happen, and there was no place that I could hide. "Let me show you."
A shockwave went through my entire body as I felt my back hit the wall of the elevator. Colin was right in front of me and advancing. I quickly dived to the right, his arm got in my way. I ran to the left, his other arm got in the way.
I tried to go under the arm, but his leg blocked my path. I didn't have to look to see that he did the same with his other leg.
I looked up at him and saw that he was smiling even wider now. I didn't even have time to process my worry when he quickly leaned forward in an attempt to kiss me.
Upon reflex, I blocked his head with my arms, preventing his head from getting any closer to me. At the same time, I started to lash out at him, kicking my right leg at his body. I started my attacks as his head touched my arms.
Kicking blindly, I couldn't see where I was kicking him, but I felt the impact of shoes against bone, and knew that I was hitting something, which was better than nothing. I just hoped that it was enough to stop this guy, or at least stop him long enough for the doors to open so that I could make a get away. It was hard though as it seemed as if he was pressing all his weight against my arms.
My kicking didn't seem to be affecting him as he kept on trying to push past my arms, until he unexpectedly pulled his body away from me, causing me to stumble forwards in surprise. Colin was growling loudly in pain, and I considered that a good thing. That is, until he reached forwards and placed his hands tightly around my neck.
That's when things started to get really scary. "Bitch!" He shouted as I felt him squeeze his hands around my throat, cutting off my air supply. I reached forwards and tried to hit his face, but I couldn't reach him. I was too small and he was too big.
I then reached over to his hands and tried to pry them loose, but I couldn't seem to get a grip, or get them to loosen.
I couldn't breathe! I couldn't fight back! I was going to die before I even entered the arena! No. I can't die. I have to go back home and help my family. I can't leave them! It took things from people like him all the time, I took things from peacekeepers for God's sake, things couldn't go downhill like this this fast! Colin was nothing compared to the peacekeepers!
The world seemed to haze when I heard a female voice shout out.
"What do you think you're doing!"
I then felt Colin's grip relax a little, allowing me to draw breath, but only enough for the world to clear and to know that I was going to live a little bit longer. I could breathe, but only just barely. It hurt breathing in almost as much as it hurt breathing out. But at least I was alive.
I continued to pull at Colin's hands, which I now saw was just a single hand around my throat, and saw a ginger headed girl swinging at Colin. She fought like a mad woman, but her body was even thinner than my own. My body was thin from near starvation, her's looked like everything had been sucked out of her.
My district partner, who never knew a life of hunger, had a body that was larger than the two of us combined, and used it to his advantage. Colin simply slammed the left side of his body against the ginger haired girl, and proceeded to crush her. His body so wide that he nearly covered her entire body.
Colin was stupid, but he was large, and stronger than he seemed for someone that was as overweight as he was.
Still, that girl clawed at Colin with all the strength that she could muster. Kicking and screaming all the way. She was fighting so hard that Colin seemed to have trouble containing her, trying to protect his body the best he could, looking worried, even fearful. I was a little amazed by that.
Still, it wasn't getting me any closer to freedom. I was still in Colin's grip, and he wasn't letting go. He wasn't squeezing as hard, but I could still die, and I didn't want that to happen.
"Hey you!" A male voice suddenly shouted out before I felt the entire world around me shake as Colin let me go. I felt myself fall onto my butt as I gasped for air, breathing in sweet sweet air as I wrapped my hands gently around my neck due to the pain that was lingering there. Neck seeming to of contracted a few moments ago now expanded, causing me to cough out.
Grateful for whatever happened, I looked for the source that had freed me, and that other girl, from Colin's heavy weight, and saw a tall and stocky boy with dark brown skin beating on my district partner.
In contrast to what had been happening just seconds ago, Colin now seemed helpless against the boy that was beating the living hell out of him. Punching his face in as well as slamming it against the elevator wall with audible hollow thunks.
Colin, probably never being in a situation like this before in his life, was reduced to a blubbering mess as tears ran down his face. The fight was so unfair that I almost felt sorry for Colin.
The dark skinned boy, who I now recognized as Aerin Sevani, released Colin from his grip and let him fall to the ground as the overweight boy wailed in pain and misery. His knees on the floor as his head hung down, almost like he was bowing down to the District Eleven boy. "Not so fun now that the situation's reversed, now is it?" Aerin shouted aggressively to the crying mess of a boy. "Is it!"
Aerin then lifted his right leg up, and smashed the underside of his shoe across the side of Colin's face, causing a spray of blood to escape his mouth as he was forced to the ground.
But even that didn't stop the aggression of Aerin Sevani, as he continued to pulverize his helpless victim. Thinking back to his reapings, wasn't he the one that looked happy and helped his escort say his name correctly, even though he had gotten reaped?
Looking at him now, he was no longer smiles and kindness. Instead, he was replaced by a twisted rage that seemed to hunger for suffering. This boy looked like he was trying to crush everyone bone in Colin's body. The only thing that that girl and I could seem to do was stare at the shock of all this.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" A voice called out an instant before an arm reached out and grabbed the back of Aerin's shirt, yanking him away from Colin's downed body. The man that had pulled Aerin away continued to hold onto him, all the while continuing to shout at him, telling him to calm down.
Then as quickly as this whole thing began, it seemed to end just as quickly as silence, save for Colin's crying, engulfed the area. It was pretty surprising. Not only did someone come to help me, but two came to help me. I couldn't help but feel bitter towards myself. Aerin quickly got pushed away by the older man before he walked up to us.
"You two all right?" I heard Aerin ask as I saw him extend an arm towards me.
I looked up at him and saw that his face was no longer a mask of rage, but of something that was calmer. From calm, to angry, to calm again. I couldn't tell if he was a good person or not.
"Yeah." I told him, taking his hand.
"Same here." I heard the other girl say before Aerin lifted the both of us to our feet. His grip was strong and steady.
"Thanks." We both said to our savoir, only for Aerin to smile a little at us.
"Couldn't just let him g-"
"Out of the way." I heard someone yell at us before the three of us quickly stepped away from the incoming bodies of three Capitol personal. One looked to be an athletic type of person, the same person that stopped Aerin from harming my district partner more than he already had, while the other two had pure white outfits on with red medical symbols on the front and back of their clothes. Medical personal.
The three of them swarmed Colin before the athletic one kneeled down and looked at Colin, listening to him crying. "Injured," He said calmly. "But alive and conscious." He then turned towards the medical duo as they unfolded a stretcher. The three of them then lifted up the large boy before placing on the stretcher and picking him up. "Patch him up you two."
As they medical team left, the athletic guy turned towards us and said. "The rest of you, file out. Training's about to begin." The three of us nodded at him before we walked out of the elevator and towards our destination. Myself one way, Aerin another, and the girl, Life Lee, another.
As I walked towards the District Twelve standing area, I noticed that even though my escort had hurried us down here, we weren't the last ones here. Only the careers from Districts One, Two, and Four, along with Districts Six, Eight, Ten, Eleven, and my district, were here.
As someone pinned the number twelve onto my back and shirt sleeve, I saw that everyone else had their district number attached to their sleeves and backs.
Looking at the tributes in the simple clothes that the Capitol gave us, I saw that most were even thinner than when they had first appeared. For instance, the girl from Six, Rayne I think her name was, had a really thin body despite being tall. She wasn't too bad compared to Life however. Her district partner was the same as well. Thin, tall, but very pale.
The District Eight girl was thin was well, but not to the extreme that Life and District Six was. She looked healthy enough. The boy from Eight had more weight on him though. He wasn't as fat as my district partner, but that didn't mean that he was any better than the rest of us as he was still heavy and looked out of shape. Hopefully he wasn't as strong as Colin.
It didn't take much to figure out that the boy beside Life was also someone that was hungry. But he was really short, almost like was nine or ten years old.
Looking at the District Eleven pair, I could see Aerin with his muscular frame that made it look like he wasn't as bad off as the majority of us were, though there were still signs of poverty on him. His partner was something that I wasn't expecting from someone that lived in District Eleven. While she was thin she had huge curves, something that I thought was impossible to get while starving. Not only that, but she had light skin instead of the normal tanned, brown, or black of her district.
The careers on the other hand were a different story. They had bodies of kids that looked like they had rarely, if ever, been hungry in their lives. They all had fit and healthy bodies that gave off an aura of dangerous, if not at least an 'I'm able to handle myself' aura. Even the little twelve year old gave off the same vibe.
The District Four pair both had healthy and fit bodies, same with the little District Twelve girl. Her partner had a more muscular build, but still wasn't to the extent that Aerin's was. The District One girl looked more like the District Four pair while her partner was someone that was both taller and bigger than Aerin. He was so big that his clothes looked almost too small for him.
He looked like someone that Aerin might be if he were taller, stronger, better fed, and starting his adult life. He was defiantly someone to watch out for.
The tributes that came in after us mostly looked like the non-careers. A few looked better feed and stronger than most, but they were nowhere near the level of the careers. Especially the District One male, Griffin.
The only exception to all that was the District Three male. When I saw him come through those elevator doors, he was even scarier than he had been on T.V. His very presents screamed danger. His very muscular build rivalled, if not exceeded Griffin's. Not only that, but he was taller than him.
Behind him came the scared twelve year old girl from his district with five escorting peacekeepers. I wouldn't want to be in her shoes any day.
"Hello ladies!" He shouted just after he left the metal room before laughing crazily. It wasn't just a feeling, it was a fact that I had to stay away from him. Not even that red eyed kid from Five scared me as much as he did.
When all twenty four tributes were in the room, a man named Hannibal welcome us all before listing off the stations which we could try out. There were weapon stations, survival stations, and obstacle courses. He also told us not to try and kill each other before the games could begin. As he made that part of the speech, I could see him eyeing Aerin, who looked away like he was guilty or something.
Aerin shouldn't feel that way. He did the right thing.
I decided that I should start with a survival station first, weapons could come later. After all, James had said that he had won his games due to being able to survive out in the arena while other tributes simply starved to death, among other methods.
"Okay," Hannibal said, ready to release us, but seemed to be trying to find the next words to say. "Ummm, have fun." Yeah. I thought sarcastically. I'll try.
As the tributes headed every which way, I headed for the foliage identification station. There, I met a stunningly good looking girl that didn't look much older then most of the tributes here.
"Well well well," She said like she was teasing someone. "looke here, my first victim, ready to see if you can feed or poison yourself?" I shrugged like I couldn't care less. I just wanted to learn something useful, I didn't come here to play around.
The instructor then pulled out a whole hand full of plants from a table to her left before placing them out in front of me. I looked at the plants and saw that while I recognized some, a large number of them I had never seen before in my life. "Okay," My instructor said. "Sort through those and tell me which of those are edible and which ones aren't."
"Isn't there an easier way?" I asked wondering if I had to go through each of these plants, some of which were tangled to each other, making them harder to identify. I couldn't tell where some started and ended.
"We could use the book," She told me. "But you'd only see pictures of them, I think it's better if you see the plants first hand." She had a very good point. All right, I'll see which ones I think are edible. Let's see if I could survive the mock arena.
After this test, I'll look up the pictures in the book and try to memorize them.
District Two's Lucifer Despar's POV
"So what are you all good at?" I asked my fellow careers. Me and my district partner, along with the boys and girls of districts One and Four, stood facing each other. "I'm good with close range weapons such as knives and running."
"Running?" The District One male, Griffin snorted, like he thought it was a joke. "What good's running?"
"It's good to use when catching a coward tribute running away." I answered, knowing that it was both the right answer and true. Most of the non-career tributes tend to run away from us when they know that they're going to lose to us. That's where my skills come in. To finish them off. "So, what are you good at doing Griffin?" I wondered what his skills were other than being big and strong looking were.
I then saw Griffin calmly walk to the mace weapon station. Pick up a heavy mace with both of his hands, and powerfully swing it at a combat dummy. As soon as he struck the combat dummy, I saw it leave the ground and do a back flip before it landed on its face, if it had a face, with a loud thud. I was impressed. "Okay," I said nodding my head in approval. "Strong. Close range. Mace." I looked to Griffin's district partner. "What's your skills?"
"Follow me." Lynsa told us. We then followed her to the archery station. When we got there, we saw the District Five female, Valerie, loading up an arrow into a bow, and letting of it before she put any tension on the string. The arrow, as expected, fell to the floor as the girl looked confused by the action.
Wow, she was lame. And that was putting it nicely.
"Do you even know how to use that?" I asked wondering if she even held a bow before. She was failing to do the most basic archery skills. It was pathetic.
"Guess not." She said looking at the fallen arrow. From the corner of my eye, I saw Lynsa pick up a long bow and swiftly place an arrow in it. She then pulled on the string and released the arrow and let it fly into the center of the bullseye target. Her accuracy was top notch. But if that wasn't enough, she fired off about six more arrows in the time it would have taken for me to fire off two good shots. And even better, she hit them in the eight to ten score. If it were a person she was shooting at, she'd either hit them in the head or the neck.
"Very impressive." I told her. And I was impressed, very. Now we had two close range and two long range fighters. A good balance if I say so myself.
"Yes," Valerie said also impressed. "Where'd you learn to get so well?" Lynsa looked like she was about to say something, but I wanted to have some fun with her.
"You don't learn how to do it," I told Valerie, obviously lying. "You have to be born with the skill, otherwise, it's impossible to get this well." Sadness seemed to flood her eyes as she started to walk away, defeated by the lie that I had feed her.
When she was out of ear shot, I started to laugh. And so did, Howl.
"I thought I wasn't going to make it." Howl laughed as she held her stomach and bend down.
"I know, man, she's dumber than I thought." She actually believed it. She actually believed a lie that even a child would have seen through. I wondered what other lies I could tell her in the future. What other source of entertainment we could get out of her.
"You have to be born with those skills otherwise you can't learn them." Howl said making a mock version of my voice, which only made it funnier. "What a laugh."
"That wasn't funny you two." Lynsa said to us seriously, giving us a look that she was not amused by what we had just done.
"Yeah, that wasn't very funny." Evaline added. Those two had no sense of humour. Howl and I laughed for a bit more before calming down. I wanted to say that it wasn't funny, that it was hilarious, but now wasn't the time for that. We still had some serious work ahead of us, and that was first priority.
"Okay fine," I said taking one last laugh before turning all serious again. "Okay Howl, what are you good at?" I then saw the little girl walk to the knife section where three other tributes were hanging out at, the boys from Districts Three, Six, and Eight. The boys from Six and Eight saw us and looked at us. They seemed to be thinking wither they should back out of the station or continue to stay. It wouldn't matter either way, we were probably only going to be here for a few moments.
The District Three male on the other hand didn't seem to notice us. He continued to look at the knife like it was a lost treasure. Good, I didn't want him to see us yet.
This was the station that most non-career tributes try out first as it was probably the easiest thing to learn. Not only that, but it was a good defensive and offensive weapon. But only at close range. But unlike a bow, or a sling, you didn't have to load the weapon or worry about it running out of ammo. That, and those weapons were practically useless at close range.
A knife. A perfect starter weapon for beginners. Even if the only thing they'll learn is slash and stab.
Howl went beside them before picking up a knife and throwing it at a bullseye target and hitting it dead center. I knew that she was a knife throwing, but I didn't think that she was this good. Better than any twelve year old I ever saw. She'd be a great threat in the arena despite how she looked. I was glad that she and District One were on my side.
"Satisfied?" Howl asked proudly as the District Six and Eight boys looked at her in surprise before turning to the knife she threw. It wasn't a proper throwing knife that she had used, but the target was close enough for her to use it. If she had the proper tools, she could launch them at longer distances. Useful for fleeing tributes and taking people out in general.
"Yes." I told her before I then turned to District Four's Shoney. "So Four, what are you good at?" It was probably going to be some kind of fishing skill or something.
"I'm good at swimming and I'm good at running." Shoney answered. Fast huh, well, we'll see how fast he was when we race each other.
"Anything else?" Lynsa asked "You must have a weapon you're good with." Shoney looked around with his eyes a bit before saying.
"Knives, I guess."
"You guess?" Howl said, unsatisfied with his answer. "You are or you aren't, so are you good with knives or not?"
"Maybe he sucks at using knifes and doesn't want to show us." I said, making a show of it.
"Lay off him okay," I heard his district partner say coming to defend what little needed to be defended. "He doesn't want to show I'm guessing. So just trust him when he says he's good with knives." I then looked at Evaline and gave her a look that told her to know her place.
"Doesn't want to show us? Fine, but I have more faith in his abilities than yours reaper, even if he didn't show his skills off, we'll see his in a bit. But you," I said jabbing her chest with my right index fingers. "You were the only one here that was reaped, you going to prove that you aren't useless to us?" Evaline then glared at me before picking up a knife beside her.
"This outa be good." Howl said as we followed her. I couldn't wait to see what she did. She'd probably mess up or something. It would show us that having her in the pack would only slow us down, and it would make Eva think twice before criticizing us.
Watching the reaped girl go towards a training dummy, I watched her breathe in and out softly before she swiftly slashed at the dummy's throat, spun around in a circle, stabbed the knife into the side of it's neck, and delivered a side kick hard enough for it to shake.
"Not bad. Not bad." Howl said shaking her head with a little approval.
"At least you aren't totally useless." I commented. She was good for a reaped career, I'll give her that. She may not be that good, but she was better than the other reapers.
"What about you, Lucifer," Evaline said smiling. "You haven't shown us your skills." Did she really think she could intimidate me?
"Yeah, well, for now, I think we should just split and see the different stations and see what other tributes we might want to recruit."
"Who should we watch out for?" Shoney asked, looking around the training center and at the non-career tributes.
"Griffin and I think that we should look at three tributes." Lynsa answered. "Arrowe Winter. Aerin Sevani. And Zap Philistone."
"Don't you mean Tharizdun?" Shoney told her. "He seemed to get quite pissed at his escort for saying Zap and stuff."
"Well whatever his name is, watch him." Howl commented, like it didn't matter what the hell we call the guy as long as we watch him. "And we were thinking the same people."
Like our female mentor, and Howl's sister, Elektra Draconix, had discussed with us. The ones that looked like they were our best bets were Arrowe Winter, and Aerin Sevani, with maybe Tharizdun. She also added in a very maybe Bo Heatherfield, but like our male mentor, Perseus Maddox, had said to us, Bo Heatherfield looked like a pussy. Howl and I couldn't help but agree. How could someone like that even be considered into our alliance? He looked weak and afraid.
It wasn't until Elektra reminded us that she was once a quiet soul and that District Seven tributes were almost guaranteed to be handy with axes and hatchets that the rest of us considered Bo. In the darkest parts in the back of our minds.
Arrowe was a volunteer, and didn't look like he had the sickly look of most of the tributes that came from District Nine. And Aerin, like the more often than not males that came from District Eleven, was steadily built. Not only that, but he could fight and wasn't afraid to.
But there was a difference from fighting a fat ass and a tribute that could actually move about properly. Still, he was worth considering.
"Yeah." I agreed. "Watch those three. Tell us if you see any other potential candidates." I then looked over at Shoney. "Shoney, with me." He quickly obeyed.
When he was beside me, I got in a running position. "Run with me. I want to see how fast you can run." I didn't expect him to keep up with me. I could run forty meters in four point two seconds. But from my running time, I could judge how fast he was.
Shoney took position beside me, and we began to run.
District Seven's Sami Lavisa's POV
Don't show what I'm good at, at least openly. That was my plan, and a simple enough one at that. I didn't want to draw attention to myself, the attention that would affect me in a bad way.
I looked over at the careers who were showing off their skills with their weapons and how strong they were, knowing that they had weren't as afraid as the rest of us. They knew that just like every year, they wouldn't be the targets of the bloodbath, but the hunters that chased after everyone. They wanted to show their strength, to show just how powerless we were against them.
My mentors told me that there were four ways to escape the career hit list. One was to join the careers, two was to not seem like a threat to them, and three was to kill all the careers, the fourth was to die. I didn't think that I could join the careers, not with my weak body and limited skill set. And I couldn't kill the careers, nor did I want to die.
That only left choice number two, to fall below their notice and be seen as someone that wasn't a threat.
It should be easy enough since I've been like that nearly my entire life.
Looking around the training stations, I saw that there was a slingshot section and a dart gun section. I was good with both of those because of the play sessions that I had had with Gracie and Jhono. Hours and hours of playing with those things, and neither of them were very good at them, but I guessed that was because they were young and couldn't get a hang of them. I on the other hand, learned how to use them properly, and eventually got better at them.
I decided to stay away from those stations.
So what did I want to try? Something new. I wanted to try something new.
I looked around the weapon stations and noticed that some of them were occupied by the careers.
The District Two and Four males were challenging each other at an agility station. The District One tributes were at the archery station. The District Four girl was at the whip station. The District Two girl was at the spear station.
I didn't want to go to any of those stations due to wanting the careers to not notice me. That, and I just didn't want to be next to them, they were scary the way that they handled those weapons.
I saw that the sword station was unoccupied, and thought of how that station was probably as good as any. I could learn to use a close range weapon, but while I did want to start at the knife station, I saw the District Three male there, and I did not want to be near him.
I walked over to the sword training station where I was meet with a young, or at least young compared to most of the other trainers, girl that looked at me with interest. She had a smile on her face, so that was reassuring.
"Trying swords?" She asked curiously.
"Yes." I told her quietly.
"Well, we have a great selection of swords here." She said as she waved her hands slowly around the barrels full of swords. "Long, short, broad, thin, heavy, light, all kinds of swords that I'm sure we can get you. Whatever your preference."
I looked at all the swords, and noticed that some of them did look different from others. I didn't know the first thing from swords other than that they looked different, and probably weighed more than the next one. I didn't know which one to choose, so I picked the first one that was in front of me and pulled it out of the barrel.
I was surprised by the weight of the sword, having to use more strength to lift it than I thought I would have to. When I managed to get it up in the air, I felt my body start to lean backwards due to the weight of the thing.
As I fell onto my rear end, I couldn't help but give out a scream before the sword clanged on the floor.
Looking around, I noticed that people were looking in my direction. Most had surprised looks on their faces, others, like the District Two tributes had a look of amusement on their faces as they openly laughed and shook their heads. I felt a build up of heat in my face as more than twenty pairs of eyes were looking at me.
It didn't help that I heard my trainer chuckling as well. I felt like quitting. I was too weak to even lift up a sword and keep it up. "Wow." She said, her laughs calming down. "I didn't expect you to just pick up one of the heavier models." Suddenly, I felt less weak, but still felt the same amount of stupid. I had picked out a heavy sword! And got unwanted attention! At least it wasn't the bad kind of attention. I guess.
She then walked over to me and picked up the sword with one hand before placing it back in the barrel. "Sorry for laughing at you," She said as her laugher was nearly completely gone. "But that was a heavy practice sword. Weighing in at nearly twelve pounds, it weighs nearly three times more than a regular one."
I felt embarrassed about that. The first sword I pick up is one that weighs more than a normal one. Still, it was good to know that I wasn't so weak that I couldn't even lift up a sword.
She then handed me another sword that looked like it was the same length and width of the previous one. "Here." She said as she picked me up to my feet. "This one should be a better weight."
I reached out for the weapon, weary about the weight as the last one sent me crashing to the ground. But when I took hold of it, the weapon seemed to be much lighter. Still a little heavy, but a pretty good weight.
I swung that around a little, striking at the training dummies until my arms started to tire.
I looked at my trainer and wondered how I was with a sword. "I don't think a sword is suitable for you." She told me honestly. "You can't seem to swing it around for very long, or very effectively. I would tell you how you could try and improve, but I think you should try something that an't so long."
She then handed me a short bladed sword and told me to use that for a bit. "If you don't like this, there's always archery, or whips and hatchets." I took that advice, along with the weapon, and it felt much better. It was lighter and stressed my arms out less. I thought of how this weapon was one of the weapons that my female mentor, Amber Littlewood, used during the fifth quarter quell. Using her axes and her short sword, it proved to be a deadly combination.
I practiced with it some more until I saw the District One male come over to this station. That was when I decided to hightail it from this station and be away from the career presents.
Just like my strategy said. Don't get noticed by them. Well, I did get noticed, but at least it wasn't in a bad way. They probably thought of me as the girl that couldn't even lift a sword. Something that could be good in terms of not being seen as a threat.
Looking around some more, I noticed the weapon stations, something that was very important for non-career tributes that weren't in the career pack. Because unlike them and the careers, we didn't have a constant supply of food from the cornucopia to feed us.
Trying not to focus on the Griffin from District One who was swinging around one of the long swords faster, harder, more effectively than I had been, I headed towards the knot tying station. A station that had saved my male mentor during his game.
When I got to the knot tying station, I saw a girl around my age with wavy black hair trying to tie a knot with rope. She looked like she was struggling with it as beads of sweat were passing down her forehead.
"Ah. Another visitor." The trainer happily said to me with a smile on his face. "What would you like to learn today?" Something useful, I said to myself.
"Tr-traps." I told him. I couldn't help it, it just came out of me like that. I just, couldn't talk to people like others did. I could talk to my family better, but when I was with other people, it was a different story.
"Traps huh." He said, still smiling. "Some simple traps that can get you food, right?" I nodded, thankful that he understood. "All right, I'll show you what I'm showing this other girl here."
The trainer then handed me a long piece of thick rope, which I took from him, before he started to show me how to tie a trap line that could capture small animals and leave them suspended in the air. All that was required was rope, three sticks, something to throw the line over, and a counter weight.
From the way this guy acted and the way he explained how to tie and everything else, I think that he liked his job. That he might even be having fun with it. "And there you have it." He said, showing me the finished job. "Now you try."
And I did, but I quickly found out that it was easier said than done. I kept on getting it wrong and had to restart several times. He made it look so easy, and soon, I knew how the girl beside me was feeling, though I wasn't sweating. Yet. And she was grumbling under her breath, saying that she could never do it.
I wanted to tell her that if she kept on trying and just focused, that she just might be able to get it done. But I found myself too nervous to tell her that. "Want me to show you again?" The trainer asked. Say yes, I heard myself thinking. If he shows you he'd be showing me too.
"Can you do it for me?" The girl asked, throwing her half completed trap down in frustration. "I don't want to do this anymore."
For some reason, that reaction of her's reminded me of my siblings and their frustration when they couldn't get something right. Or if I hit more targets with a sling shot and they couldn't understand how they couldn't get the thing to aim properly.
"Oh come now." The trainer calmly said as he easily finished her trap. "It won't come immediately. It just takes practice."
"Practice." the girl half laughed half snorted. "I've never done this before. It could take all day for me to finish this, and I want to do other thing too you know."
As the girl kept on complaining, I started to try and remember the way the trainer had completed her trap. I started to try and copy his movements. If I tried to remember how he did it, put a picture in my head and did it step by step, I might just be able to do it.
I started to weave the knots, and soon, I couldn't even hear the sound of the girl beside me.
Through trial and error, I soon found my trap looking more and more proper. "Nobody just starting can-"
"Can we talk about something else?" My trainer asked, sighing with annoyance. I knew how he felt, so I could symphonise. "I've been hearing you complain for the better part the first three quarters of an hour."
As soon as he finished his words, I looked over at my finished trap, and was pleased with myself. It didn't look as good as his, but it looked close. I smiled at myself as it was my first accomplishment in the games. I wasn't in the arena yet, but this was still the games. I guess.
"I'm just saying that- Whoa, look at that." The girl called out. I looked up towards her and saw that she was looking at my trap. I looked back at my trap and didn't think that it was that impressive, but I still looked back at the trainer and wondered what he thought of it.
"Not bad." He told me kindly. "Not perfect though. It's close, but there are some problems with it. One is that you have too much slack here," He said while pointing to a section of my trap. "Here. And here." He then pointed to two other places. "Because of that, whatever you do manage to catch will only dangle three inches off the ground. Not bad for rabbits maybe, but anything bigger will escape."
Well, I didn't expect to get it perfect the first time, but I think I did really good for a first timer. "Another thing is your trigger."
My what?
He then knocked over the three connecting poles that I had placed together so carefully, and nothing happened. I was actually surprised that nothing happened. The rope didn't move, the trap didn't fly up. The counter weight, the rock, didn't fall. Nothing. "It's ineffective. So even if you had gotten those other things right, it wouldn't of mattered."
I felt my mood deflate with that being said. "It's okay." He assured me. "I wouldn't expect you to get this right the first time. With enough practice, you'll be able to get this done in no time."
He then went into talking about lines and lengths and triggers and different types of snares. Almost like he was speaking another language. I tried to wrap my head around what he was saying, but couldn't understand all of it. "Maybe two sticks would have been easier." He finished. "Probably would have been a simpler trigger. But then again, it wouldn't be as effective, or proper." I soon found out that he had a habit of talking to himself as he worked.
The trainer, the wavy haired girl, and I, then began practicing again. And while the other girl didn't seem to be doing so well with her traps, I seemed to get better and better. Until at last, I made the trap work.
When I saw the loop fly into the air, I couldn't but shriek out in delight. I felt like shouting out 'my first Hunger Games achievement!' Until I realized what I had done and quickly tried to look like I hadn't done that. I didn't look around just in case others were looking at me because of what I had just done.
I looked up slowly, and saw that the two people closest to me were also smiling. Though I didn't know wither it was because they were happy for me, or because they wanted to laugh at me. Please be happy with me.
"That was great." The girl said to me.
"Thanks." I quietly said to her, not wanting to look at her, just in case she was going to laugh.
"My name's Angel," The girl said as I saw her crouching down to my level. "What's yours?"
"S-" I started, nervousness getting to me as she got closer to me. "Sami."
"Well, you seem to have some useful skill Sami. I don't even know how you managed to do this." I smiled at her, but still couldn't look at her. "We could be allies you know. I'm pretty good with bows, so we won't have to worry about close combat." She was a long range fighter, just like me. That was reassuring. Having someone watching your back. "So yeah could be allies. If you'd like. Would you like that Sami?"
I nodded my head, telling her that I would like that.
Allies. "Allies."
A/N: Don't ask me about traps, I'm just as confused as a non-trapper kind of person.