He holds up his paper in answer. "9 in speed, 9 in accuracy, 10 in strength."
"Whoa that's awesome!" Noah exclaims in awe and he smiles.
"I guess it is pretty awesome," he agrees and high fives Noah.
I give him a fist bump, as does Sky, and then Nik and I turn to them.
"So how'd you do? What weapons?" Nik asks. Noah's face falls.
"I didn't want to learn any weapons…." He says.
Sky wraps her arms around his small shoulders. "He doesn't want to hurt anyone…."
"Well that's understandable, but you have to defend yourself, don't you?" I say.
He sighs, then nods. "All right, I'll use knives or something."
"Well I can help you out with knives," I point out and Sky smiles.
"Thanks for the offer, Kay," Sky pipes up, her eyes shining. "I like bows myself, but Noah didn't give me a chance to try any."
"Well why don't you go and I'll help out Noah?" I suggest. "Nik can go with you."
"Sure," Nik agrees and she smiles.
"Great, thanks guys!" Then she runs off, Nik running after her.
…..
"Okay so first, you should pick one," I say to Noah with a small smile, showing him the row of beautiful knives. He looks them over.
"I like this one," he replies after a minute and chooses one with a sharp silver blade, and a dark blue leather handle with sapphires making indentations for your fingers. As he picks it up, I see that it seems to fit right in his hand.
"Okay Noah, so let's start a little closer than I did," I say and stand about 15 feet away from a target. He follows me and stands next to me.
"Okay so now, make sure that it's comfortable in your hand," I say and he turns it over, then turns it back, finding a comfortable position after a few seconds. I smile; it's the same position I use, fingers curled over it, pointing in, thumb tucked, blade pointing forward.
"Okay so bend your knees a little," I say and he does, but too much.
"A little less," I say and he gets in the right position.
"Okay so now bend back a little," he does and I smile.
"Okay so now you're about to throw it, listen to my instructions first, then try, okay?" He nods and I look at the target then back at him, making sure that he is aligned.
"Okay so put your left foot back because you're throwing with your right hand, your left foot should be pointing to your left, then roll back on your heel before lunging forward and releasing the knife, okay? And make sure your arm doesn't stop mid throw, just let it go with the knife, okay?"
He looks a little panicked, then nods, an expression of confidence on his face.
"You can practice the position first, if you want, without throwing it," I point out, and he nods.
"Yeah I need to practice first," he agrees and starts muttering to himself, going through the positions. At first it looks clumsy, but finally he manages to get the right position and he takes another deep breath.
"You're ready Noah," I call out and he nods.
Then he lines up, bends his knees, pulls back, and then lunges forward, releasing the knife and getting a direct hit on the heart of the target. It's a really good throw.
"Nice throw Noah!" I call out, complimenting him, but he suddenly falls to his knees, gurgling slightly.
"Noah!" I open my mouth but the voice isn't mine, it's Sky, running over.
"Sky! Why did he-" She raises a hand to stop me, and holds Noah, trying to calm him.
"I know it wasn't your fault Kay, that was a great shot too but he can't- Noah never liked violence, Nicole, his older sister and my best friend, always said that even seeing violence would hurt him he doesn't like it, something in his body hurts him!" Sky explained.
I run over to Noah and he's started shaking, Sky wrapped her arms around him and tried to stop him from shaking but it's not working.
Nik, who was with her I guess, also runs over and tried talking to Noah, finally Noah stops and just whimpers softly.
"Sky I don't want to kill anyone and I don't want anyone to kill me," he whimpers.
She hugged him closer, sitting next to him on the floor.
"I know, I don't either, nobody WANTS to kill someone else, maybe in self-defense but you'd still feel bad, except for maybe the Careers. That's why we should stay away from them," Sky said with a slightly annoyed look towards the girls from One, and Two, and both from Four.
"I don't want anyone to kill me," Noah shivered, even though it was hot in the training room. "And I don't want to kill anyone."
Sky looked at him sadly. She couldn't tell him that he wouldn't kill anyone, or that he wouldn't die. Because the odds were not in his favor.
"Noah, just…. Try your best, okay?" She said halfheartedly and he shrugged.
"Sky, I want to go home and see Nicole again," he said sadly. "And see my parents."
At the word parents, I visibly shuddered and grabbed the locket around my neck, opening it and seeing the broken pictures of my parents.
"Calm down, calm down, calm down," I muttered very quietly to myself. I probably looked like a psycho, in retrospect.
Nik glanced at me in concern. He knows my parents didn't come.
"Kay calm down," he said softly and I nod, trying to block the flow of memories that start coming but to no avail.
"Bitch! Your fault that Cammie's dead! Terrible excuse for a daughter! If we didn't have Shayla we'd probably kill ourselves, rather than be stuck with you!"
"Mommy, Daddy….." the 10 year old me retreated from my sorry excuses for parents, as they shouted insults at me. And…beat me.
But never when Shayla was there. Never when Shayla was there.
In her eyes, I was still her little sister and she loved me, but she also never saw the bad in my parents. They wanted me to volunteer in the Games last year but I was much too scared. So they wanted me take extra tesserae this year, and tried to make sure Shayla took none. But Shayla refused, and took it, and wouldn't let me get any. That got me hit a few more times…
When she was called, they glared at me. If I didn't volunteer and Shayla died in the Games they would have made my life a living hell. But I didn't volunteer because of that. I volunteered because I love Shayla. And if I manage to get out of here alive…..I'll be overjoyed to see my sister and best friend again. But if I don't…. at least my parents love Shayla. They'll probably celebrate my death. Shayla probably found out that they hate me now.
I thought….something would change if I was actually called for the Games but I guess not…..I thought that they would at least have the decency to see me off. But I was wrong.
And I refuse to be wrong again.
"Kay! Kayleen!" Nik is shaking me.
I shake my head quickly, clearing it of the memories.
"Sorry, got lost in thought," I say apologetically and he nods and releases me, but doesn't look that convinced.
Sky looks sad. "Was it something we said, Kay?" Noah's in a bad enough mode already, no need to worsen it.
"No I'm fine, not your fault, just got lost in thought for a few minutes," I say again and notice Noah staring at me intently.
"So….. Sky, how'd you do?" I blurt out, changing the subject.
Nik's face lights up. "She's AMAZING with a bow and arrow, she can hit the target from as far away as you Kay!"
"Whoa really?" I exclaim in awe and she blushes.
"Maybe…." She mutters.
"See? I KNEW you'd be an awesome ally!" I exclaim in success and she smiles.
"Thanks Kay," she beams.
Noah smiles. "You really are, I've seen you around Daisy's place before, you could hit an ACORN from 50 feet away!"
I whistle in appreciation. "Damn Sky!"
She laughs a little. "I don't know if I'm that good, but…."
Nik pats her on the back. "After seeing you shoot, I believe it."
She opened her mouth to speak again when another voice joined ours.