A/N: Hooray for another long chapter that isn't as boring as the tribute form! :D
Winner of Second Drawing: Ren Kirro.
Hope you like it and enjoy!
~Day One Training ~
Ren Kirro's P.O.V.
"Is she up yet?"-Is the first silent question I ask in the morning. Then- "What time does training start?" Yes, I have training today; as well as twenty-three other tributes. The time has seemed to pass by. How many days have I been here in the Capitol? Two? Maybe three.
It's weird not having my dad around to watch him helplessly or Feather to have a quick laugh with. I'm even starting to miss Ben's protective attitude. I start to wonder what it's like for the younger tributes and their missed belongings.
When I get up, I notice I'm still wearing my uncomfortable lumberjacker's outfit. Must have been too tired to take it off. I think tiredly while yawning.
Teak is the material that is used to make my dresser. I know it instantly. It was my mom's favorite hardwood. She would have saved all her money just to buy a house filled with Teak.
There is a pair of plaid shorts and an A-Shirt. But I feel that I need something more. A sweatshirt. Perfect. My hand grabs it and I'm already starting to walk towards the private bathroom to the left of my bed.
No one, except for a very angry Candy Button, sat at the dining table. The view is quite nice from the window. It gives a show of the entire Capitol. Well, at least the half of the Capitol that isn't covered up by the large presidential mansion. Ok, so maybe not so good of a view.
"Is she coming or not?" Candy asks with a sneer. I furrow my eyebrows and come up behind a blue, velvet chair. "The girl with the… face. And the…" Looks like Ms. Button has a bit of a stutter of a mind. She snaps her fingers until she finds the right word. "The black braids."
Candy seems proud of herself for finally remembering who Shay was-partially at least. After a shrug and small sigh, I walk off to Shay's room. Her room is in the opposite hallway from mine, and it is a pain to have to walk all the way across the building's width to talk to her.
The door creaks open however it is much quieter than the doorknob's squeaks. Before I can walk in the door is shoved back into place. "Don't come in!" Shay calls with her muffled voice. "I'm changing!" She says after a pause.
If we were still in the district I would wait outside of her door until she said it was ok, or she came out. But now that we have had our "incident" on the train, I barge right in.
"Morning." I say first off. Shay, who has just finished putting her tank-top on, tries to maintain a glare at me, but hiding smile can't help but break out.
"What are they serving for breakfast? I'm starving." She says changing the subject.
"Aren't you always starving?" I say. She comes and sits on my lap while she hands me a striped red and black ribbon. I tie up her hair the way she would when she is climbing, so the morning knots wouldn't get stuck on a loose branch- black braids as always.
Don't ask me how I know how to do this stuff. Just remind yourself that the two people I hang out the most with are addicted with braids. And the fact that I used to spend half my day tying ropes to my harness in the logging forests.
"Shut up." Shay mutters laughing. It surprises me a bit. She hasn't laughed for a while. Not even in the memories stuck like a record in my head. "Come on, we better get going." She says standing up, then giving a half-stare to the window next to her. What is she thinking?
Breakfast tastes even better than the train food. I have to wait for Shay to finish eating before we start getting ready to officially head off to the training center. "And so the next thing I know, the man out front parking my car is crashing into a metal trash can right outside the training center." Candy says astounded while cutting her crepe drizzled in syrup into two. Kim, our mentor, nods as if actually listening to her.
"That's not a crash; it's just how rich people park their car." I say in a small whisper to Shay. She stifles a giggle, which I happen to hate. Her laugh is so pure. Why can't she just understand that? Kim has a small smile on her face. I barely notice it since she seems to be so tucked away and quiet.
The ride down the glass elevator feels like lowering yourself from a tree with your harness. The way your heart somehow seems to inch it's way up to the top notch of your ribcage. The gym is stocked away at the bottom of the training center, so the lighting dims by the time we reach or destination.
We all curve around the woman in the baby blue and silver sweat suit. She is the first normal person I think I've seen since we arrived at the capitol. She calls herself Atala; she is a tall woman, taller than me even. Atala doesn't have the curves like Shay, but she has a good athletic build. Some of the guys in the circle seem to be taking interest.
When she finishes talking Shay and I walk together to the first station we see- the plant station. It catches our eye before any other. The instructor looks at the two of us from off her chair. She sits up and hands us a small stapled sheet of paper, then she sits again and starts reading a plant book. "I want to see what you know." She says behind the pages.
The girl from twelve stands by the counter and grabs a test also. The boy from five, who hobbles over on his crutches, takes one also. The five paged test wastes only two minutes of my time. Shay gets done soon after me. Instructor Miya, as it says on her nametag strung around her neck, starts to look over our work. She raises her head with a small smirk.
We have answered each question correctly.
The two others at our station weren't so lucky. The girl from twelve received an eighteen out of twenty-five (most likely from her rush to get it done) and the boy got a fourteen out of five. "That's fine. You're here to learn anyways." Instructor says with a small smile.
Shay and I breeze through plant station and when I start fooling around and messing with the plants, Miya asks us to leave and we can come back when we're ready to act properly. I swear she's turning into Candy.
We skip the knot tying station because we know it will be just another repeat with the plant station. When we stop to go to the weaponry station, I'm actually a bit worried. The place is packed with careers and they all know what they're doing. I decide to keep Shay close, despite both of our clumsiness.
Julian from one throws his fourth knife at the dummy, it's the third time he's hit the poor stuffing the chest- from twenty feet away. Lexi beside him has almost sliced her dummy into perfect cubes with a sword and I've already heard her brag about how much better she would do with a spear.
I remember when I was six I told my dad that girl's were "icky". The words formed differently over the years. Soon, at eleven, and after watching years of strong male tributes win, it became "weak". Now, well, I regret saying weak, but I can't say that my six year old brain wasn't thinking wrong.
The district two boy, which I can't seem to remember in the reapings recap, is picking the spear which has deeply pierced Julian's dummy. I guess he missed the wrong dummy. But he still hit something.
Shay works hard beside me. She heaves her axe behind her shoulder and then springs her entire arm forward, having the axe give a final blow to the lower stomach of a brown dummy hanging from the ceiling. She does a few more knife work, and some stick into the fabric and some don't.
We're both about to leave station when the district three boy accidentally bumps into Lexi Miller. She seems fine with it and even gives a slight blush, but it fades away faster than a blink of an eye. But it gives me the thought when Julian gets furious that Lexi's opinion doesn't matter.
Julian steps up to the district three boy and before an instructor can process what's going on, he gives a swing to the face. It hits with a hard crunch like a snap of the jaw. Lexi and several instructors come to aid. The third district boy slowly raises his head, his mouth dripping crimson red paint.
Miya from the plant station is about to pull Julian away, but the district three boy beats her to the chase. I have to move Shay out of there tracks as they move towards the wall. Julian is pinned to the wall by the hands at his throat. His arms aren't pinned down though, and so up comes the district one boy's fist to the side of his opponents head.
Julian is dropped to the floor and gives a kick to the younger boy's head once he's up. "Riley!" Lexi screams in pure rage. Someone must have placed a bet, I half smirk. Riley gives punch in the stomach to Julian which gives him enough time to get up. A couple fists to the face and a kick in the groin and it's all over. After several instructors try to break them up, they start to calm down. They make sure to keep them at separate stations which I'm surprised that it ends up working out.
The instructors call a break anyways for lunch. The broken out fight had tied down some of our time to be working on strategies for the game. I don't eat much for lunch. Only a pear and some salad. You could say Shay is trying to cut me down to healthy food, not that I didn't get junk food back at home. She's been trying to put some weight on me, and she's trying to do so too.
Picking lunch tables are like picking your very first seat in kindergarten. Once you're there, you're there. No moving and no switching. You're stuck there for as long as time gives you.
The careers try to group up, but I start to notice that only four stay at the table. Usually there is six or maybe seven. The middle districts, five and six, are at another table and the kids from four and a kid from eleven have joined them also. There are four loners separated into parts of the room, but I can't make anything out of them. Arabella and Light have apparently been claimed to be in alliance since they've been staying so close in training. The district twelve girl is also paired up Lucas from nine, but they seem to be friends as far as I know.
Us kids from district seven just stand by the fruit bar after our pickings of food. Shay is having a hard time deciding. I can tell. I grab her hand and guide her over to a random table. It is almost full, but she doesn't seem to mind.
"These spots empty?" I ask. The eleven boy shakes his head no, and looks at the guy from four to continue on what we've interrupted. I don't get around to the end of what he's said anyway.
"How's your leg feeling?" The girl from four asks Jeret with consideration in her voice. Everyone knows his name now from the Opening Ceremonies. I kind of feel bad for him, thinking of the disadvantage he'll have in the games probably.
Jeret shrugs. "Feels a bit better today. Still could use some rest though." He sighs and there's a long pause in his voice.
"Is she looking at me again?" The girl from six asks staring at her food.
"More like all of us." The boy from four says. And the district six boy, Reed I think, next to him says: "I bumped into her district partner in the elevator. He told me about her making a noose in the middle of the night." The girl from four turns away and shrivels her shoulders inward. "Some type of medic had to come by and sedate her until she seemed calm."
"His name's Lucas right?" Jeret asks. I feel so left out of this conversation.
Shay speaks up. "Yeah. Lucas. Luke and Daisy." I look at her confused. How did she know all this stuff?My expression says it all. "I watched another recap on the reapings this morning." She whispers. Everyone ends up hearing her anyway.
"You're Shay right?" The boy from four asks. She nods as I squeeze her hand. "Safin." He reaches out his hand and Shay lets go of mine to gladly shake it. "Anyone want to come with me for seconds?" He asks questionably.
Some get up in a yes. Others shake their head and stay sitting. We're left with four at the table, including us that makes six. "I'm Nan." Says the smallest of the four. She goes on eating her bowl of fruit.
"Ren." I say waving with a stiff hand. Shay slides me the rest of her food and I gladly eat it. Has she always had this much of a better taste than me? My eyes meet the girl at the end of the table. The one from six who was getting a stare down at the back from Daisy.
Jeret must have caught my attention because he answers for me. "Toth's just upset because she doesn't get a bow and arrow to herself. Don't worry about it." Toth glares at him but after a deep breath she smiles.
"It's not like I'm going to walk through a parade of careers. Especially when they're playing around with weapons." She says. "Even Aurelia can't get to the front of the weaponry table." She must be the girl from four.
"Once you're out of the group, you're gone for good." Aurelia says with a much smaller voice than I expected.
"So you said no to the careers?"
"Not exactly, she told them that she'll think about it." Jeret answers me, budding into the conversation.
"Jeret. Let her answer for herself." Says Nan. It makes sense. A small girl probably has to build up some courage for those bullies.
Everyone returns from getting their food in unison and our conversation stops after Reed starts talking about some type of guy from six who he tells off using his smartness. I wonder if he has a couple bullies waiting for him back home. All that brain has to pay off somehow.
Lunch ends in a matter of time. The bell as a signal for going back to the gym bursts my ears and makes them pop.
Shay convinces me that we should check out the camouflage station to the left of the rope tying station. I decide that while she does so I can check out some of the competition.
At the survival strategies station, there are five tributes already getting started. The instructor gives us each a job to do that will have to do with our survival. The smallest girl who will appear in the games in three days, is also doing the same job as me- making a fire.
We have a choice of our own. Over freshly cut wood, dead branches, or dry flat leaves. I've never seen the leaves before in my life, so I pick the dead branches over them. I reach for my practice backpack and search for something I can start for a fire.
Inside is a pair of night vision goggles, a thin roll of steel wool, a napkin full of dried beef, a first aid kit, and half-filled jug of water. I grab the steel wool first. It's an unusual thing to be in a tribute's backpack. I set down the wool and grab the night vision goggles, they seem to be battery powered and from the size of its power source, I can tell that it's meant to last for a few hours.
I think for a long time. Most of the time I'm rearranging my dry wood into different places. I use an instruction paper from the first aid kit for my kindling. Then it hits me. I empty out the tried beef from the napkin and grab the steel wool. I place the steel wool into the napkin and build up some loose strands. I empty out the large battery from the goggles in a rush. But then, slowly and carefully I hold the battery towards the strands of steel wool. Sparks peek out of the wool. Sparks.
As I lean the battery closer, the entire clump of wool, as well as the napkin, light into bright yellow flames. I place my ignition source over my kindling. The fire spreads out to my rearrangement of dead sticks.
The district eleven girl beside me looks terrified. Her fire hasn't even started to come along yet. The instructor is impressed, but I can tell that he was kind of looking for something that didn't take as much time.
When the instructor asks me if I want to try out another strategy, Shay has come up behind me. "Sure." She says behind my shoulder.
I let Shay take a bit of the weight on her shoulders while I check out the other players. "She's still having trouble?" I say surprised. It's been thirty minutes and the girl hasn't lit a fire yet.
"Who?" Shay asks. I point over to the small girl in the corner. "Well, it's Rose's job not to back at home. They're supposed to treat the plants, not kill them like us." She says simply. How can she remember all of these names?
The other kids at the station do pretty well too, I notice. The district twelve girl works hard on her shelter built of a blue tarp and some small string. Sarah is doing just as well has twelve girl. She uses a space blanket under a woven net-like-formatting. No wonder- she's from eight.
Next we hit the last station- fighting.
I notice there are at least seven kids here. There will be no way to do this station and still be able to observe their skills.
The instructor here I think of as insane.
"Welcome to the fighting techniques station." She says. "I'm Ms. Pattershore, but I wouldn't mind you calling me Accalia." A strong man comes up behind her. "And this is Silvious, he's going to help out for the day."
She speaks to us like little kids scared of the monster under the bed.
Accalia jerks her elbow quicker than I can follow into Silvious' ribcage. He smirks, most likely he has padding on. "Step one: Always keep your focus on the fight. I don't care if you people are hungry for more lamb stew or broke a nail. It's the biggest mistake I've seen in the past eighty-two games."
I look at Shay who is easily having doubts about Accalia.
"Next, who can tell me what the three targets are for hitting?" Accalia says. Apollo to my far right answers: "Head for senses, legs for mobility, and torso for a lack of breathing." The instructor smiles; the answer is correct.
"Remember. Your feet should only be kicked below the middle of the thighs, or else… Just don't do it. Also, I'm encouraging you to not, absolutely not, use any accessory like a belt or a necklace. If you have the time to and you're not directly at the opponent, be my guest, but I won't be there when it backfires."
Devon from ten speaks up. "What about weapons?"
Accalia sighs and hugs a punching bag to her side as she leans on it. "If it's quick or you are once again, not directly facing the opponent, then "If it's quick or you are once again, not directly facing the opponent, then you're fine. God, what have those idiots at the weaponry taught you?" She says the last part in a murmur.
The instructor asks us to find a partner, which mine is easily found. Then, we are assigned punching bags to work on our hitting. I let Shay go first and I hold the bag from behind. It turns out that there are actually nine people here and Lexi from one is left out of her three of a career group. Accalia has Lexi and I switch off from holding the bag.
"Pretend it's that girl from your old English class." I say trying to get her worked up. Oh Nellisa.The poor girl made the mistake of saying some stuff about Shay's dad behind her back. Before Shay could react she hit Nellisa in the face, probably breaking a nose. Too bad Nellisa had a big brother. The fight would have been over by then. I still remember when Feather cam running into our house saying that their older brother was hurt.
In return, Shay gives a hard hit the thick foam covered in fresh, blue leather. Lexi is not impressed, and when we switch spots, she looks bored, almost mad.
I look to my left and observe the rest of the tributes switching positions on the practice equipment. I look to my right; there is only one group next to us and no one is holding the bag. Zane keeps working hard, but I can't seem to find his partner.
My eye catches Accalia and some large man in a robe standing beside her. The man must be a gamemaker. Both hold a clipboard until the gamemaker sets his down by a table filled with small supplies for fighting. The two start to walk off towards the end of the train of punching bags, most likely going to see the rest of the tributes.
Safin walks over to the clipboard and stares at whatever papers are sitting there. Soon he is back to the punching bag beside us.
Lexi and Shay still practice together until they have to stop when Silvious comes over and starts yelling at Shay. Would I get called out like Julian and Riley for punching an instructor?
Calmly, I jog towards the table not so far away from me. There is a name of all twenty-four tributes on the clipboard. Some of the top districts have their names circled, probably a predicted career group.
I flip the page and see a circle drawn in pencil. It is cut into fourths and has a small circle inside of it with small print writing. I read quickly: Cornucopia #2.
Before a thought can cross my mind, my shoulder is yanked backwards so that I am face to face with the gamemaker in the silk robe. He is screaming at me and yanks the clipboard off the counter. My shoulder feels so soar from the way he grabbed it. I can deal with the screaming, it's when he slaps me that I get a bit madder.
Would I get called out like Julian and Riley for punching a gamemaker? Because I just did.
It is almost hard enough to knock him off his feet. I can tell that from where I've hit him he is feeling a bit nauseous though. Everyone looks at me. Even the kids all the way across the gym at the plant station look at me.
I hear a loud clapping noise, slow and steady catches my attention. Accalia is not smiling, yet she walks forward with small footsteps. She stands right in front of me for a while. She turns around. "And that, tributes, is how you win your end of the fight. Get back to work."
XxXxXxXxXx
Not many people talk at dinner. I try to lighten up the room a bit, however it doesn't work to well. Shay is still in shock from my reaction, which I have been telling people it was just a reflex. Although I am starting to rethink. He could have still just walked up to me calmly to say hi and I would have done the same thing. Because if he's going to hurt Shay, he may as well get what he disserves now.
The broth is served first just as a small appetizer. Kim eats every little drop left then gets up and retreats to her room.
We are served roasted duck drizzled with lemon with the sweet flavoring garlic and rosemary bread by the silent men in white. Shay refuses the clams, which I gladly take by the handfuls, but she takes as much as she can take of the lobster. It's marinated with some type of heavenly substance. The braised lamb is eternally my favorite for its saccharine flavor. There is a large bowl in the middle of the table filled with caramelized plums and Parisian pears, it is surprisingly a very good mix. Candy eats half of the plums and pears. The boeuf bourguignon would have made a better course with the braised lamb, but the closest I've came to making a meal that had a flavor was picking pines off trees and chewing on them for a while. Does it even count anymore?
I walk Shay to her room at the end of the day, hand-in-hand. We stop at her door quicker than I wanted. She steps onto my feet and looks up into my eyes. I can barely see the sparkle of baby blue hiding in her pleading gray eyes in the dim light.
She gives me a kiss on the lips and slowly steps off my feet, where Shay seems to have minimized two inches, still a lot compared to my towering size over her even at an average height for my age.
I pull her into a hug and her head nuzzles between my rib cage. I ruffle her hair and release my grip on her. I start to walk off after a couple seconds of silence. "Night Ren." Shay says behind me.
My head looks over my shoulder, "night."
Thirty feet away from the door and I'm wondering if I should just stay with her tonight. I decide no, knowing that once I hold onto her, I'll never be able to let go.
But then again, my nights are so limited now.
A/N: I'm trying to fit in a bit more of the pairings and love triangles for training before the games. I didn't fit in the love triangle (Nirvana, Luke and [blank spot for you to worry about later]) into this chapter really. I'll be saving the triangle and Light/Arabella for the next chapter-Which will work out great because one of the tributes in love will be telling the story. Call it faith! :)
Also, a quick info update for 2010champions- Riley and Lexi are not formally in love yet, I'm keeping them as a hate/love relationship for now.
Just a head's up: 1) Training scores will be in the last chapter of training, not the next one!
2) New poll on my profile talking about what tributes will wear to arena, feel free to vote, because it may even have an affect on your tribute's games.
Thanks for reading! -Fifi