Super long chapter! Please R&R! So far, we have about 150 views, but only TWO reviews. Really, people? I almost always review stories that I read. Just ask Foxface'sSpecialPIe. FSP will tell you.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. I do , however, own the game Hungry, Hungry Hippos, so I'm pretty close to the real thing.
After breakfast, River and I take the elevator to the basement, where the training center is located. I see Madeline and Anna wave me over. We walk over and make small talk while we wait for the other tributes to arrive. We come to the subject of preferred weapons. Madeline uses throwing knives, Alistair uses spears, Anna is good with a bow and arrows, and Oliver prefers maces. River uses swords, and I use tridents and knives, and maybe something that I don't know yet that I will learn in training.
I present my plan on survival skills, Oliver immediately says no. Anna tries to talk some sense into him. "Come on, Oliver, it's a good idea. Does it matter if she's as good with weapons as we are?" she asks. Then she gives him a pointed look. His face softens at her words. "Fine. I guess it's not horrible idea." Is there something between Anna and Oliver? I glance at Madeline and raises her eyebrows and jerks her head slightly to the left towards Anna and Oliver, indicating that she senses a connection there too, but I just shrug. If there's anything between them, we'll find out in the arena.
Atala, the young-looking head trainer, clears her throat to quiet all of us down. "Welcome, tributes. As you all probably know, you have two and a half days for training. After lunch on the third day, you will have your private sessions with the gamemakers. They will give you a score on a scale of one to twelve, depending on your abilities. This score is very important, as sponsors will look at these scores when decide who to support." She clears her throat again.
"In the arena, twenty-three of you will die. One of you will not. Who that person is depends on who pays the most attention on these few days." No, it doesn't. No matter how much the District 12 twigs pay attention, I can promise you that they will both die in the bloodbath. "During the bloodbath, everyone wants to grab a sword or a spear or even a small knife, but most of you will die from natural causes. Ten percent from infection. Twenty percent from dehydration and starvation. Exposure can kill as easily as a knife. Five years ago, the arena was a frozen wasteland. Last year it was an abandoned city. The winner of the games will be the only one that can survive whatever the gamemakers throw at them."
On that happy note, she releases us to begin training. I decide I'll do weapons today and survival skills tomorrow, so those stay fresh in my mind. I head over to the spear station and see Alistair. He throws it from fifteen yards away and it hits the target dummy smack dab in the middle of the head target. He smirks at the tiny girl from Three, whose face pales and eyes widen when she see the throw.
A spear is basically a simplified trident, so I'm not that bad with it. Actually, I'm pretty good. Of the ten times I throw the spear, only three don't land in the first three rings of the target. I skip the mace station, because even the smallest ones are too big for me to pick up. I join Anna at the archery station. She hits the target dead center every time. I shoot for about two hours, watching Anna with widened eyes at her unparalleled skill with the golden bow and silver arrows she's using half of the time, but eventually I decide to throw tridents for about thirty minutes, until it's time for lunch.
I pick up a light golden one from the rack and twirl it in my hands to get the feel of it, just like I do mine at home. I get a grip, spread my feet apart, put my right arm in front of me (I'm left-handed), and pull back the holding the trident. I take a deep breath, lean forward, and send it sailing through the air. I'm still in release position with my left leg in the air when it hits the human shaped target, right where heart is. I hear clapping, and I turn around to see River slowly bringing his hands together. I smirk.
"I thought you only did swords, River," I say. "Well, today I'm going to try tridents. They are District4's specialty weapon, didn't you know?" "I had no idea," I reply sarcastically. The lunch bell rings.
While we eat, Madeline asks us all if we have tokens. River pulls a chain with a fishhook on it. Alistair doesn't have one, but Oliver shows off his bracelet made of chain links. I glance at Madeline and she rolls her eyes. I stifle a laugh. Anna has a bracelet, with a charm that says each of her family members' names on them. I read. Mom, dad, Anna, Adair, Ian, and Clove.
Madeline has a ring with rainbow colored gems on it. "It's so pretty," I whisper, pointing to the beautiful gem on the top. "Thanks, it's an opal. My father made it for me. He's a jeweler. Do you have a token?" I unclasp my necklace. She and Anna gasp. "It's so pretty. Where did you get it?" "Marlin gave it to me at the goodbyes," I say. I feel tears building in my eyes. I remember Finnick told me not to mention Marlin, but Maddie did ask, so I guess it's okay. "Uh, I think lunch is over," Alistair says.
Anna comes up beside me. "Meet Maddie and I on the roof at 8 o'clock. We're going to tell our mentors that we're discussing strategies, but we're really going to talk about boys. Especially you and Marlin. We both want to know." I nod in agreement. I'm not supposed to talk to Anna about Marlin, but she isn't your typical brutal tribute from District 2. As far as I know, Maddie has a boyfriend back home, and there's definitely something between Anna and Oliver.
The sword station is empty, so I head there. River shows up in about five minutes to give me some pointers that he's learned at the academy. It's nice of him, but swords aren't really my thing. I pay attention though, because I could use some sword skills for the arena.
Madeline is at the throwing knives station again (she stayed there all morning), so I go over to her to confirm the meeting. "But while we're up there, we're going to make Anna tell us what's up between her and Oliver," I add. She grins wickedly and admits that she's noticed the way they look at each other. I assure her that I see it too, then pick up a knife from the rack and throw it. It hits the stomach area, on the third ring from the bull's-eye. It's not a bad throw, but Madeline's putting me to shame.
She takes three knives and holds them in her left hand. She throws them so fast they become blurs in the air. All three are in the air before the first one hits the target. All three land in the dead center on the target. One hits the dummy in the head, another in the neck, and the last one in the heart. I whistle and she laughs.
"Wow! Can you throw backwards?" I ask. "Yep!" she says brightly, like it's perfectly normal. No normal teenager could do that, but then again, neither of us is normal. We are both less than half a week from possibly dying. She lines herself up with the target, turns around, and readies her knife. She flings it towards the target as she turns back around. It lands half a millimeter from the center of the target.
I clap, and she waves her hand in the air like a princess. I almost collapse onto the bench. Marlin did that on the day of the reaping. The pang of longing hits me from nowhere. Why is it so real all of a sudden? Maddie's smile falters, and she rushes over to me and asks if I need her to get a medic. I shake my head, but I know she can tell something's wrong.
The bell rings, signaling the end of training. I ride up the elevator to Level Four. As I eat dinner with Finnick, I tell him about the rooftop plan. "District 2 is there? I don't think so!" I give him a look. "She's not a brutal career like you assume she is. I think she loves her district partner, Oliver," I tell him. The fork in his hand drops to the table.
"She loves him? That's new. I wonder if Brutus, Tara, and Lyme know this." "I don't know, but don't tell them. I don't want her to get in trouble." "Fine, you can go." I run to my room to take a shower. I put on simple black pants and an ocean blue tunic. Then I get on the elevator and head to the roof.
Until next time, enjoy! R&R, PLEASE!