Ch. 7- Training

Sol: hi! I know that the update is a little late, but a one-shot came to mind… it's called Snow Angels. Check it out? Oh, and here!

Jack POV

This… is uncomfortable. You could cut the tension between Hiccup and Stoic with a knife. At least the food's good, unlike the dinners we have in 12. Tooth starts speaking. "I think I'm going to have a talk with Bunny about your costumes."

Nobody else is talking, is I say, "Bunny? Who's that?"

She looks at me for a second like I'm crazy, then says, "Your stylist, of course!"

Oh. Him. He and I didn't get along very well…

(Memory)

"Okay, mate, were goin' ta light ya on fire-"

"Fire? I don't do fire. Something else."

"Not somethin' else, you'll do what I tell ya!"

"Says the guy with the flower tattoos."

"You're lucky I'm not gonna set you on fire for real, mate! 'Cause I'm considering it!"

"Ooh, the fashionista is threatening me!"

"AAARG!"

(Memory ended)

Yeah… "He does remind me of a rabbit. So you call him Bunny 'cause of that?"

Tooth smiled. "Good question, actually. His full name is Edmund Aster Bunnymund."

Me and Merida both stifle snickers. She chokes out, "Bunnymund? Wha' kind o' name is thah?"

"Quite strange," I drawl, mimicking the funny Capitol accent. Really, they sound so silly! At least Bunny and Tooth don't have them.

Rapunzel is stifling laughter. Finally! I was wondering if she could even smile… even Hiccup manages a smile through the uncomfortable pillow of air that's around him and his dad.

Then he speaks: "But yeah, I agree with you, Tooth. This time around, Bunny's idea for the costumes was pretty risky."

Rapunzel nods sadly. "Dressing us up as Mockingjays, even discretely, was too dangerous. President Black was watching us."

There was only silence after that. And on that depressing thought, we went to bed.

…

What is that sound? Ugh, so loud and annoying… oh, wait, it's the alarm. Training starts today. Time to put my plan into action so I can pay back Merida.

I put on the training jumpsuit. It feels weird to move around in, but I'll get used to it. I'm standing next to Merida and Hiccup. Hic heads straight to the knife fighting, and so far, actually looks pretty good with it. Punzie starts with the edible plants. It's just me and Merida now.

She looks at me for a second, like she's waiting for something. Maybe it's about Emma… "Thank you." I murmur before heading to the ropes course.

I am about to get up there when I see the line. Shrugging, I start at the back. Then, I watch a boy about my age with close-cropped blond hair swing across like a natural. Easy enough. My turn now. All the people behind me are watching… great. Sweaty palms.

I jump up, and start doing what I saw everybody else doing. Swinging, skipping as many ropes as possible. When I get to the end, I look back and see that almost everybody has impressed stares on their faces. Good. I smirk at them to show just how easy it was.

Now is the part I'm nervous about. The Gauntlet. I've heard that people have died on it.

I get in line, just behind the Careers. So far, the fastest time someone has gotten across without falling or getting hit by clubs is 3:34. I think I can beat that.

My turn. As soon as the clock starts, I'm everywhere. Dodging the clubs is only a little harder than I expected, which isn't very hard. I don't see how people fall on these things. I'm going so fast! The end comes too soon. My time: 1:22. Smirking once again, I see the Career's open mouthed stares. Except for two. The blond guy and another with wind-blown black hair and sea-green eyes. Blondie is glaring, and Black-hair looks happy. Huh.

I look around. Merida is at the swords. Heheh. She's beating a district five guy up. Punzel is at camouflage. Hiccup is working on snares. I look around. I should probably work with a weapon. Spears seems good.

Never mind. I'm horrible at throwing them. So I go to the swords.

I pick up my size, but it feels too small. A district 2 pulverizes me. I pick up a bigger one. It's about as tall as me. Probably for the really big people. But it feels right, so I go back in. I'm the laughingstock as I haul the quarter staff substitute for a real sword in. I hold it like the weapon it actually is, not a sword.

Two minutes later, the district 2 is at staff-point. Heh. That showed him.

A whistle blows. Lunch… the part of my plan I'm dreading. While the other 12s sit together, I go to the Career's table.

Blondie starts jeering at me. "Oh, look! A Twelvie who's trying to be cool." Everybody laughs. Except Black-hair. He turns to me. "Don't mind Jason. He's a jerk."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

"My name's Percy Jackson, by the way. I'm from district 4."

"Jack Overland. Nice to meet you."

Percy then turns to Jason. "Jason, stop being unreasonable. He's good. You saw how he did on the Gauntlet and ropes course too. And how he beat Snotlout."

Jason scowled, but nodded. "I guess Percy's right. How'd you like to join our group?"

Perfect. Plan is going smoothly. "Really? I'd like that."

"Right then. I'm Jason Grace, leader of the Careers. And you are?"

"Jack Overland."

"And here are the others: from 1 is me, Piper, Drew, and Ethan. From 2 is Snotlout, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Ruffnut. From 4 is Percy, Kida, Amphitrite, and Frank Zhang." Suddenly he shouted, "CAREERS! Please welcome, our newest member, Jack!" They all nodded. Then they all went back to their business, except Percy. We continued to talk.

"So, Jack, what possessed you to leave the others from your district and join us? They don't look to happy." Sure enough, Rapunzel looked heartbroken, and Hiccup and Merida looked furious.

The look on Merida's face hurt me, but I kept up the charade. "This just seemed like a better way to survive." When I saw the disapproving look on his face, I muttered under my breath, "I'll tell you in private."

He nodded.

…

Nobody talked to me at dinner tonight. They just ignored me.

…

IM SOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOO SORRY! I UPDATED SOOOO LATE! I felt lazy on the first day, then on the second day I couldn't use my iPad so I took notes about basic plot elements on paper… I wrote this in 3 days. OH GODS, IM SO SORRY! And yes, I added Heroes of Olympus. Heheh. So, next chapter will be relatively boring, just the names of all the tributes. G'bye!