CHAPTER FOUR: TRAINING
Katniss's POV:
When I wake, Effie is knocking on my bedroom door. Today is the first day of training. My stomach swirls at the thought of seeing what my competitors are capable of.
"Wake up! We have a big, big, big day ahead of us!" Effie calls through the door.
I throw a pillow over my face and lay there for a minute, then walk into the bathroom and take a quick shower.
In about 10 minutes, I'm sitting in front of a plate of eggs while the adults go on and on about last night's events.
"When you get into the Training Center, stay away from stations you know about. You shouldn't show the others what weapons you're handy with. They'll make sure they keep them away from you in the arena. And…stick together. Understood?" Haymitch says.
Gale and I nod.
"Come! Let's go! Don't want to be late now do we?" Effie says in her overly cheerful tone.
Effie, Gale and I step into the elevator and we shoot downwards under the ground, into the Training Center.
Even though we are ten minutes early, we are the last pair to arrive. The other tributes stand around a lady in a circle. Someone pins the number "12" to my and Gale's back. Then we stand side by side in the circle.
"Welcome to the Training Center. My name is Atala, one of the trainers. There are many stations for you to visit and learn from. You may move to them freely. You have three days to work in the Training Center. Let's begin." Atala says.
Immediately, the careers run to the most deadly looking weapons. Gale looks over at me.
"Where do you want to go first?" he asks me.
"Let's start with something simple…knot tying?" I respond
He nods and we walk over to the station where the trainer looks excited to have someone at their station. We stay there for about an hour. Gale easily masters the stuff, being a genius with snares.
"Can we try something with weapons? Knife throwing maybe?" Gale asks.
"Sure…I guess." I say.
The girl from 2 is already at the station. She never misses the target. I gulp at the thought of her knives shooting through my or Gale's body. I shake my head to erase the image and pick up a knife.
I let Gale throw his first. Un-expectantly, he hits the target almost perfectly and I watch the girl grimace while hiding my smile. Now it's my turn. I grip the knife, and throw it as hard as I can. It lands to the right of the target. The girl smirks and continues throwing her knives.
I frown. I grab another knife and throw it, this time, landing even farther from the target. Gale pats me on the back and whispers "It's fine. The only weapon you'll need is your bow." I give him a small smile.
My hands itch for a bow, as I'm obviously much better with it. But I can't. Not with many pairs of eyes watching.
I watch Gale keep throwing knives, never missing the target. This makes the girl from 2 annoyed so she storms off to another station. I smirk.
After 30 minutes we leave the station and walk around to others until lunch is called.
Gale's POV:
I sit down at a table with Katniss and we both sip our soup.
"Didn't know you were so good with a knife." She says
"I honestly didn't either…" I respond
"I thought I would have good aim with those knives….but I'm terrible. " she continues.
"You're not terrible! And what does it matter? I told you, the only weapon you'll need." I tell her.
"Wait! The girl from 2 saw how good you are. You don't think they'll keep them away from you like Haymitch said do you?" Katniss asks.
"Hopefully not. But there's usually a ton. They can't have them all can they?" I tell her
"The careers always collect almost every weapon…" she persists.
"Hey! District 12!" a voice calls.
Katniss and I both look over towards the direction of the voice. The boy from 2 is standing a few feet behind me. He's about half a head taller than me but otherwise, we're built similarly. He points to me and says motions for me to come over to him.
I look over at Katniss who shrugs. I walk over to the boy and stand in front of him, folding my arms.
"We saw you with the knives. And you look pretty strong. To say it short, we want you in our group." He tells me.
I raise an eyebrow at him.
"Tributes from 1,2, and 4 rarely let district 12 in. It's a one in a lifetime chance. Literally. You'll actually stand a chance." He continues.
"No. Katniss and I are a team. I don't want to be part of your group." I say walking away.
"You're loss, 12." He says.
I sit down again and Katniss raises her eyebrows.
"They want me in their stupid career group." I explain
"Oh". She says.
We finish eating and get back to training, mostly staying away from the weapons. For the next 2 days, we work on our aim with the knives and trying to improve our survival skills. Although after hunting in the woods together for 5 years to keep our families alive, it's not too easy.
On the last day of training we wait in the lunch room to be called for our private sessions with the Gamemakers. By the time they call the girl from 11, Rue, Katniss and I are left alone. I can see she's nervous. I grab her hand and give her a reassuring smile.
"You'll be perfectly fine Catnip. I'm sure of it." I tell her.
She smiles at me and we sit like that until I am called. I stand up.
Then, without thinking, I pluck a kiss on her cheek and walk out the door. Leaving her frozen.
When I walk into the Training Center, I immediately notice the little attention I get. I pick up a some knives and throw them at the target around the room, not missing a target once. A few Gamemakers are nodding in approval but most are paying attention to the food and wine around them.
This angers me. A lot. I grab about 20 knives and quickly throw them, one by one, into the giant hanging light above the Gamemakers' heads. Each knife makes a small dent in the light, making it swing wildly and sending a shower of sparks onto the floor below. Each one bounces back and lands near my feet. This gets there attention. I narrow my eyes at them and walk out of the room.
Perfect. Now I've really done it. And knowing Katniss, she'll do the same if she gets as little attention as I did.
Katniss's POV:
I walk into the Training Center as they call my name. About 3 Gamemakers are actually looking down at me. Even though it angers me, I try to appear calm and grab a bow. The string on it is much tighter than the one I use, making my arrow miss the target completely. Great. I pick up another bow and shoot it into the target. It hits the red circle perfectly and accurately.
That's when I notice that no one cared enough to watch. They're all paying attention to their roast pig that just arrived.
Without stopping to think, I pick up another bow. This time, not shooting it at the target, but at another red dot: the apple in their stupid pig's mouth. My arrow spears it through the center and sticks in the wall. One of the Gamemakers falls into a bowl of punch.
I drop my bow and say, "Thank you for your consideration" before walking out.
I feel like I'm on the verge of tears. Now I've done it. Because of my hot head, I sent an arrow at the Gamemakers. No, not at them. I shot their pig's apple. I just hope they don't punish my family for my foolishness.
When I reach the 12th floor, I see Effie, Haymitch, Cinna, Portia, and Gale all waiting for me.
"So, how did it go?" Cinna asks me.
"Um…I…shot an arrow at the Gamemakers….' I respond
"You did WHAT!" Effie screams.
"Well, not exactly AT them. I shot it at their stupid roast pig! Haymitch, they won't punish me or my family for this right?" I yell
Haymitch chuckles, "No, sweetheart. They probably won't. It'll be hard to replace you."
"Oh…good." I reply.
"And Gale, what did you do?" Haymitch asks.
"Threw a bunch of knives at the light above their heads. You would have thought it was about to fall on them." He answers simply.
"What? Oh you two have got to think before you do something stupid!" Effie shrieks.
"That'll be pretty hard" I mumble.
Later that night, I sit curled up on the couch along with Haymitch, Effie, Cinna, Portia, and Gale. This is when we will get our training scores. 12 is the best score you can get. 1 is obviously the worst. The careers usually get 8-10's.
When they finally reach District 12, I hold my breath. Gale and I will be lucky to get a 6. His picture pops up with an 11.
"Oooh! An 11! Yes!" Effie yells. It's obviously been a very long time since someone from 12 got an 11.
Then I see my picture and yet another 11. I grin spreads on my face and I fling myself into Gale's arms.
"An eleven! Good job." I say.
"You too, Catnip." He whispers.