Chapter 6
When I wake up I find that some clothes have been put on the end of my bed. I have a quick shower then put on the clothes a short-sleeved white top, a dark pink skirt, black leggings and some black shoes I can slip on and off quickly. These will be useful in training for many of the survival skills. Not that I'm going to do first, I'm going to keep on the knifes for a part of the day then maybe the bow and arrow station. I exit my room and a breakfast is on the table, but no one is there. I take some toast, and a bit of jam from the table and put the jam onto the toast to eat. I don't know the flavour but I'm guessing we grow it somewhere I our vast fields back in District 11. I think about my family, about Poppy and Rose and what Dad said "She won't even let Poppy and Rose take some next year." Me taking tesserae would have been pointless if I don't return from these games and Poppy and Rose will be forced to take tesserae. I see Odin appear from his room. He comes and takes more than I did from the breakfast table but really only what he needs to go in till lunch. I take a drink from the table noticing all of them are the same. I take a slip to find it's tea something my Mum makes whenever I find tea leaves but I can't stand. I go back to my room remembering Saskia had talked about a food order thing. I find it and say
"Apple juice." It's the only juice I can make myself and a glass filled up with it is bought through the wall in seconds. I don't know how they do it but I exit the room wondering on what the arena will be like this year. The last thing I want is a frozen wasteland for an arena the only climate I can't deal with.
Time flies and soon it's time for for Odin and I to go for our first day of training. When we get then only us and the Careers are there, the Careers look at us evilly. I stand my ground along with Odin which surprises them making them look away likely to plan which stations they're going to. The other tributes come down to be trained, each one with a look of determination on their faces. Well why wouldn't there be this is their only way to be ready for whatever will face them in less than a weeks time. The only one who the Gamemakers would label weak, apart from me, is the District 12 girl, her dark hair put up in two braids, her grey eyes shine with an innocent look. As we gather around a cloth number eleven is pinned on the back of my top. The head trainer Atala says the training schedule and then says, "My advice is don't ignore the survival skills. Everyone wants to grab a sword but most of you will die of natural causes. Ten percent from infection. Twenty percent from dehydration. Exposure can kill you as easily as a knife." It makes me think, what will happen to me while I'm in the arena? Will I be the one in twenty-four to make it out of the arena alive or will I be one of the others who are forgotten by all and remain a face in the sky. I look around the tributes and really don't know what to make, but maybe I will in four days.
I go to first station that hits my mind, knives, the only weapon I've every used. I look at the section of long and short knives carefully picking four that are about as long as the harvesting knife I use in the trees. I hear someone sniggering behind me, I turn to see the District Two girl she must think I'll never be able to be hit the target. If there's one thing I'll do before I die I'll prove her wrong. I take the first of my chosen knives and throw, it hits in the centre of the hand. I throw again and hit the other hand, then the next two hit the eyes, and prove her wrong. She steps up to take her turn and I don't want to stick around and see what she does. I turn around and head to the camouflage station, the variety of paint colours are endless, from cornflower blue to the brown of tree bark. As a reach for the darkest of the green paints I hear a quite cry, I look for the location of the cry and underneath the table containing the paints is the girl from District 12. Her black hair is covering her face but she is crying and I can't really wonder why.
"Hello," I say "My name is Autumn, are you okay?" Her hands remove her hair from her face uncovering her tear filled grey eyes.
"I'm okay," she says "It's just the feeling that no one's going to miss me." I put my hand on her shoulder,
"What makes you think that, I mean there must be someone." My words seem to help raise her feelings a little,
"Until the reaping there was only one person in District 12 who cared about my name." I sit down next to her,
"Before you tell me to much more, can I at less know your name?" I ask her, I don't remember hearing her name when she went up,
"My name is Saffron."
"Okay," I say softly, "What's your story?"
"When I started by being passed from person to person in the district only just getting enough to eat. I must have been four when I was at Posy's house and I heard a boy in the next room I'm sure it was one of her older brother's saying that no one would take me any more. I didn't really hear the rest but there was something about moving to a different District so I ran to the only place that could feed me, the community home. Now eight years later I'm going to dead, and only Posy's going to remember me in a month's time."
"Well Saffron I don't think I going to last that long either," I say "but you know what I'm not going to go down without a fight, and we could last longer together." She nods and stands up and I see she is just shorter than me. After lunch I offer to show her how to climb and we walk to the climbing station. I get on the front of the net and help Saffron on, most of the tributes have tried hanging of the net, like they would do that on a tree. Near the top of the net I see a hole, could that be useful for anything? We deceive to try out some weapons and first go to javelin. I don't really know what we were thinking but after almost killing the instructor we move on to archery. Saffron turns out to be quite good while when I pick a light wooden bow and aim I cut through the rope of the heavy dummy and it falls on a career. He looks the be fourteen and I see the number two on his clothes. I heard a scream,
"Vulture!" It's the girl from District 2 I think back to the reaping to her face when he was reaped after she volunteered their last name. That is her brother, if I wasn't before now I'm dead.
Sorry for all the talking in this chapter I needed to do something or I wouldn't have anything in the chapter. Anyway I've got help from my friend Foxface161 she's the one who came up with Saffron's story as I was stuck and want to get on to the games. Also if you don't know how Posy is please find out as she gets important at the end (What I plan the ending first so I can plan the story around it).
