Special acknowledgements to RainbowTeeth8, BeatsInAllegro, and Dancingchocolatesmudge, and DogsII for reviewing! You're all wonderful readers
Enjoy! Also, this is the last chapter before the reaping, so if you really want that reaping chapter to be up fast, you gotta review!
My eyes fly open and my head snaps in the direction of my alarm clock. 6:00. Training starts at 7:00 for those who want to train before the reaping. The reaping starts at two in the afternoon, and people don't have to go to work today. If they want, they may sleep in.
My excitement causes me to jump out of bed without a care of it being made. Most of the time I spend today will be at the training center, giving me an excuse of not making it neat. Also, my mother won't be able to scold me for not doing so. It sounds mean, but I'll be a tribute soon and I need to prepare with all the time I have. When I get in the bathroom, I'm greeted with cold water. Cold water is good in the morning; it helps you wake up. After the cold shower, I get into the red and gray jump and tie my hair into its usual high ponytail.
A funny thing that I notice is that I'm like Amethyst today. Jumping out of bed and running straight into the bathroom is what she does everyday. I was always annoyed with Amethyst forcing me to get ready super early, but today I'll be arriving before seven. At that time, training hasn't even started yet, but trainees will be allowed access into the building by trainers who have clocked in early. That is the time that Amethyst likes and I don't, but on the day of the reaping, I do. The thought makes me grin.
Downstairs is empty. No one has awakened yet. I grab an apple out of the refrigerator and munch on it quickly. Once I'm finished, I drink a glass of orange juice. As I head out the door, I remember my fingerless gloves again. A though enters my mind as I'm running up the stairs to get them: I'm going to be walking to the training center alone without my sister. Fear is not the reason I consider this; caution is. The moches are very spontaneous. One day you see them, they'll be chatting among themselves, laughing and spitting. The next, they're yelling profanity and words of envy, thinking that you don't deserve the things you have.
I go into her room after I've put the gloves on. She'll overreact with the slightest noise made and I don't have time to deal with that. That's why I tiptoe from the door over to the mahogany dresser where she keeps them. Right by her side. I take out five small throwing knives. The suit has no pockets, forcing me to improvise. Two of them are slipped into each uniform sleeve and I stash the last one into my bra, happy that none of them are noticeable.
"Hey," I turn around and see Amethyst opening her eyes groggily.
"You better return them." she adds. I grin and close the door.
After getting out of Amethyst's room, I go downstairs, out the door and start heading for the training center. I stroll by the moches hangout when I hear someone. Oh the crazy men they are. This is what I expected. Part of the reason why they choose to mess with me today is I don't have someone with me. That's reasonable. When you spot your prey all alone and helpless, you go in for the kill. The thing is I'm not helpless and I am not the prey.
"Hey, pretty girl. Why don't you come and join us? All of us, especially myself, would be very delighted with your company." Turning, I see a man, probably in his forties. He has a gray beard and his head is covered with a beanie full of holes. All the clothing on his body is torn up.
"We have some refreshments." A different one speaks while holding a bottle of what I'm thinking is liquor; this one is standing next to the first.
"By refreshments, I suppose you mean stolen liquor." I retort harshly, with my arms crossed and my chin raised in defiance and fearlessness.
They undoubtedly stole that from the black market in the Vilain section. It's where the less fortunate barter what they have for what they need. It's perfect for these moches who have nothing to trade for. It's illegal. The person they stole the liquor from can't report anything without having to mention the illegal activity going on.
"Aren't you feisty? I like feisty. How about you guys? You guys like feisty?" Moche number two directs this question to about five other men sitting near the front door of the abandon house he stands in front of. Most of them nod and smile like idiots. He and Moche number one stand in front of a tree, smiling too. Moche number one takes a step forward. Big mistake. Instinct kicks in immediately, and I slide a knife out from my right sleeve and throw.
The knife buries itself in the tree, a centimeter away from his head. They glare at me and back away into the abandon building. I give them a smirk and retrieve the knife. I continue on my walk until I finally reach the training center. Seeing of all of the trainers surprises me. With the trainees knowing that to do, I figured they'd take their time. Before going to my favorite station, I greet Saline. Three spears have already landed on the bullseye five minutes after I've said good morning to Glen.
In the mood for conversation, I ask Glen if he knows who plans on volunteering this year. Besides me ofcourse.
"Boys or girls?" he inquires.
"Girls."
"Zeya."
A last name isn't needed; that, I already know. Zeya Fremont. Same age as me and hits targets with a bow and arrow. I don't bother feeling angry. Bet she won't be smart enough to volunteer fast enough. Glen, who is still behind me watching, notices my silence.
"Am I going to witness a showdown at the reaping?" he asks.
"Maybe. How do you know she's volunteering?"
"Yesterday, she came over and threw some spears. I heard her bragging to her friends about volunteering and winning this year's games."
"Is she good with a spear?" I ask.
"Not at all." he says. I laugh. Now I know what she's bad at. Just as I'm about to say something to Glen, the entrance doors burst open. It's as if she walked in when she heard her name.
Zeya.
"Speaking of the devil," Glen says.
"There she is." I say, observing her as she walks over to the hand to hand combat station.
Zeya Fremont and I are in the same year in school. We were friendly to each other at first, until we started competing at everything. Getting the higher grade, having the best reaping dress, the nicest shoes, being the best player in sports; you name it, we've challenge each other about it. When our parents enrolled us into training, nothing changed. We competed even more and more.
When I met Shine, I forgot about her and stopped competing. Now that we're both planning on volunteering, it'll be just like the old days. Only now it's a different competition: who can become a tribute first. When the competing began, the friendliness ended and we didn't look at each other as friends. There's one thing that I have to thank her for, though, and that's my competitiveness. My desire to win and not accepting second or third place.
I throw a few more spears then take a glance at Zeya. She's doing well with hand to hand combat. I see the trainer, Gerald, explaining some type of move. Without thinking, I stride over. Gerald and Zeya both look up at me.
"Good morning, would you like to join us?" Gerald asks.
"Yeah, just wanted to do some hand to hand combat. I'm volunteering." I say confidently. As I say the last two words, I look Zeya right in the eye.
"That's great! Here, just sit on the mat. I was just talking about the twist and drop move." Gerald says.
The look in Zeya's eyes scream irate. She's mad because someone else might steal her chance to get into the games. Well, she's right. I'm going to steal her chance and I won't feel a tiny bit of remorse when I leave on that train to the Capitol. Nodding, I sit down on the black mat. Gerald shows us how to bring your opponent to the ground. When you're struggling to get the upper hand in a fight, grab your opponent's hand, twist it, dive under it and slam them onto the ground. I've learned something similar to this, and I think Shine was the one who showed me.
"Okay, why don't you guys try it with a trainer?" Gerald suggests. As I get on my feet, the next thing catches me by surprise.
"Why don't we practice it on each other?" Zeya asks innocently.
"Even better. Go ahead." He says.
This won't just be a twist and drop demonstration. She needs to be showed who has greater potential. We're told to stand at opposite ends of the mat. When Gerald blows the whistle, we start. I get into position and wait. Once the sound of the whistle fills my ear, I wait for Zeya to make her move. She springs forward at me, but I move to my right and quickly elbow her back. She groans, but doesn't fall. She turns around, and we watch each other.
"That wasn't a smart move." I say with a big grin.
She glares and rubs her back. I use this moment to take her by surprise. Lunging forward, I grab her hand, twist it despite her cry of pain, and throw her on the ground unsympathetically.
Gerald blows the whistle. He claps his hands at my accomplishment.
"And that is how you do the twist and drop." He says, proud that we get it.
I smile. Suddenly, I start to feel pressure on my neck and my throat begins to tighten. I try my best to inhale and exhale.
Zeya has me in a chokehold.
"I'm volunteering, Thine bug." She says in my ear. I may not be able to see it, but I know she's smiling. She knows how much I abhor that nickname. She'd use it to piss me off and make me screw up whatever I was doing. Lowering myself, I bite her arm as I hard as I can. I don't stop even though I hear her screaming in agony. When I start to taste her blood, that' s when I stop. The pressure on my neck loosens up so I punch my way out.
I hold her by the hair and punch her face over and over again. The sound and feeling of bones cracking under my strong hands does not stop me. She pulls my hair with all her strength, making it feel like my head is being vacuumed. Zeya tries to make me fall down by kicking a certain spot in my ankle, but with my combat boots protecting it, it's useless. When she sees that her move is not working, she lands a kick right on my left thigh. That affects me, and as I'm about to retaliate, I feel someone pulling me from behind. They get an elbow to the face and when I hear the person groan and swear, I realize it's Glen.
That doesn't stop me from trying to kill Zeya. Right now, she uses her nails and swipes my face. She also hasn't stopped with the kicking. She's strong, and her hits are hard, but I refuse to let her win. Using all my might, I throw her to the ground and she has trouble getting back up. When I feel something in my right sleeve, I remember the knives, but decide to not use them. It won't be a fair fight if I do. When she gets up, I knee her in the face and feel more bones crack. She has little strength left and uses it to slap my face before falling back down.
Now more hands are pulling me back, I try to elbow them as well but I feel my elbows hitting nothing. Gerald rushes Zeya to the nurse's office and when I finally calm down, I look around at the crowd of people staring at me. They saw the whole thing. Seeing that the show's over, they stop staring and scatter throughout the stations while whispering to one another.
"Ms. Gemmis, this is your first and last warning. Do you understand?" says Larry, the trainer of the archery station. Zeya must be his favorite.
I nod, but that doesn't shut him up.
"Any more altercations like that and you will be suspended from training for three weeks. Understood?" he scolds.
"Okay, I get it! She choked me first!" I shout at him, not caring if everyone in this whole building can hear.
"I am aware of that. Ms. Fremont will receive her punishment after the nurse nurtures her wounds."
"Good luck with that." I mutter. He glares at me, and I walk away.
I fix my hair and walk over to the axe station. Someone grabs my arm and I turn around immediately, thinking it's one of Zeya's friends wanting to teach me a lesson.
"Relax, it's us," Evan says with Reina at his side.
"What was that all about?" he asks.
"Gerald told us to practice this maneuver on each other and it became face-off, until I finally performed it on her. Gerald congratulated me and Zeya got mad and had me in a chokehold." I explain.
"Well, why the hell would she do that?" Reina questions.
"Because she's planning on volunteering, too"
Now Reina and Evan understand. They know I've been waiting and preparing for years to volunteer, and I wasn't going to let anyone ruin it for me. Not even Zeya.
We proceed to the axe station together. The axe is Reina's weapon of choice, the sword is Evan's. Taking some leftover anger out on the dummy, I behead it and hack off both of its hands. I continue hitting the chest area. Using the axe is easy, but in order to have it hit where you want it to hit, you've got to hold it right. Took me a little long to figure which way was best for me.
I watch as Reina throws her axe. It lands on the neck. Looking over at the sword station, Evan is stabbing the dummy's chest. I concentrate on the dummy, imagining the blank face to be Zeya's annoying one. I raise the axe and slice the stomach. The upper part of the dummy's body falls off and lands on the floor.
I carelessly throw the axe on the mat and approach the spear throwing station. Not bothering to look at what spear I grab off the rack, I take it and throw. Lands right in the middle of the dummy's head, like I planned.
As I reach for another spear, I see Glen.
"Sorry for-"
"No need for apologizing." he says quickly.
"Why? But I-"
"Save it." He says. He has his hand up, demanding silence.
"Would you rather waste your time apologizing or train before the reaping?" I see the corners of his lips form into a smile.
Smirking, I nod. I turn back to the spears and throw some more. Coming out of the nurse's office, Zeya appears twenty yards away holding an ice bag to her bruised and broken nose with a lot of tissues in her other hand. I see Evan laughing and pointing at her. I laugh at him. She says something to Larry who nods in response, then goes back into the nurse's office. I throw more spears until the bell rings. Time to go home. I say bye to Reina and Evan and walk home, excited to see what I'm going to wear to the reaping.
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