Chapter 7- Preparing

Sparrow awoke with a start, breathing heavily and feeling panicked. She knew that she was lucky to not remember whatever she had just dreamed. It was 6:40 am and she felt wide awake which was unfortunate for her because she didn't even have to be at breakfast until eight. She figured she might as well get up and explore more of the building since there really hadn't been any time the day before.

She stood up and stretched, feeling her back pop from having been so tense with anxiety the day before. She groaned slightly as she imagined the pain she would feel after today. Her first day of training. The mere thought sent butterflies through her stomach. As worried as she was, she was also sort of excited. She wanted to do and to learn as much as she could before the games began.

After getting dressed she wandered District Seven's floor but, finding nothing of interest, decided to take the elevator down to where the training center was. She knew that this was allowed as long as she did not go inside the center itself and she wanted to know more about the place.

Her barefooted steps resounded loudly on the staircase as she descended in to the empty first floor of the building. It was almost eerie how quiet it was. She reached the floor and began walking aimlessly, hoping that she didn't accidently end up in some restricted area that they neglected to mention to her the day before.

Suddenly, she felt the hair on her neck stand up. She knew that this almost always meant danger. Her father had taught her that if she was ever outside working in the forest and she felt this feeling that she should immediately fall to her hands and knees in case lighting struck her. That way, the current would go straight into the ground and do her body less harm. However, she knew that this was not lightning. She strained her ears and heard the faint sound of someone coming towards her. She whipped around and gasped as she came face to face with a startled blue eyed boy.

"You scared me half to death! I thought I was alone down here," she said defensively, feeling foolish for getting so scared.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, honest," Salton grinned sheepishly.

"It's ok," she said, still trying to calm her breathing. "You're Salton right? From District Ten?"

"That's right! And you're from District Seven. Is it Sparrow?"

"Yeah," she smiled.

"Well Sparrow, what're you doing down here at such a ghastly hour?" he joked.

"I could easily ask you the same question," she responded, crossing her arms in a mock angry stance.

He grinned even wider and responded, "I get up really early. I always have. It sucks but I guess that comes from working on the farm back home."

"I've always gotten up really early too. I work in the forests in my district but I get up even earlier than everyone else does for some reason," she shrugged.

In an unspoken agreement, they began walking in unison around the building, talking about their lives in the districts. Although they would never admit it, they were both desperately craving simple human contact that was for one minute not peppered with fear and anticipation.

"So how old are you anyway? I'm fifteen," Sparrow asked, glancing at Salton's profile.

"Sixteen," he said, his eyes turning to meet hers.

She averted her eyes, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"So, uh, what's life like back in Ten? I know you do a lot of agriculture but that's about it," she said.

"Yeah farming is just about all there is. I have two siblings, one older and one younger. My older brother Liam is nineteen so he at least escaped the Reaping," Salton's face briefly twisted. "Then there's my younger sister Heather who's only ten. If I win these games I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect her from this fate," his bright eyes bored into her own.

"I have a younger sibling too," Sparrow said softly. "Lichen. He's eleven and he has a disability which makes it difficult for him to walk. I want to win for the same reason as you. To go back to him and make sure he lives as full of a life as he can."

They hadn't even realized they had stopped walking and were just facing each other in the middle of the otherwise empty hallway. Salton was still staring at her and Sparrow found that she was unable to look away.

"Oh it's already 7:30. I have to go get ready for breakfast," Salton said, suddenly looking as awkward as Sparrow felt.

"Yeah, you're right! We've got to get going," Sparrow said and they walked back to the elevator together.

Salton stepped in first and pressed the button marked seven, followed by ten. They were suddenly enveloped in silence as the elevator made its way slowly upwards.

Sparrow glanced at Salton and her eyes met his. The space suddenly felt far too small. What is going on? Why do I feel so uncomfortable? She reasoned that it was because of their situation. She barely knew him and in a few days time he could end up being the one to kill her. Of course she felt uncomfortable being so close to him.

After what felt like an eternity, the elevator stuttered to a stop on her floor. She walked quickly out of the enclosed space and glanced over her shoulder to meet Salton's eyes once more.

"I'll see you in training later!" she managed a smile.

She saw him grin and nod his head once before the doors closed.

0.0.0

All of the tributes were packed into the training center, some looking enthusiastic, others scared, and still others just looking lost. Sparrow felt as though she was somewhere in between scared and enthusiastic. All of the weapons lining the room glinted at her menacingly and some of the tributes looked at her in that way as well.

Once the head trainer had dismissed them to work on whatever they wanted, Sparrow watched as the District One girl, whose name she believed was Jade, picked up a spear and hurled it straight through a dummy's chest. She shivered and turned away, feeling nauseous again.

"Ok Everest what do you want to work on first?" Sparrow turned to her district partner, trying to distract herself.

He looked stricken, staring at the District One girl. He swallowed a few times and quietly said that identifying poisonous plants would probably be a good place to start.

They worked their way through that station as well as the fire building station. After that Sparrow figured it would be good to try out one of the stations that had weapons. Blight had told them not to show off their strengths early so she avoided the axes for now. They moved towards the knives and swords and began trying them out. Sparrow picked up a curved blade, about five inches in length and marveled at how balanced it felt compared to an ax. She practiced slashing at the air a few times before figuring it wouldn't hurt to throw it. She aimed at the chest of a dummy twenty feet away and was pleasantly surprised when the knife lodged in its lower abdomen.

"Wow who knew you were so good at knife throwing?" A boy's voice said nearby.

Sparrow turned around to see Salton grinning at her, looking impressed. Everest stood to the side, looking unsure of what was going on.

"Thanks," she smiled. "This is my district partner, Everest. Everest, this is the boy from District Ten, Salton."

They exchanged pleasantries and before long Everest decided to go off on his own. He wandered towards the District Three girl Lea who was fiddling with some snares.

Salton picked up a sword and Sparrow couldn't help but admire how muscular his arms were. We lunged forward a few times into the air with the sword and then went at the dummy. He moved so quickly and with such precision that Sparrow was left amazed at his skill.

"Who knew you were so good with a sword?" she mocked him.

"I'm not that good," he muttered. "I guess lassoing livestock and trying to get them to do what you want has given me practice. You have to be on your toes when dealing with an angry bull," he grinned.

Sparrow smiled back and they continued on like that for the rest of the day, travelling from station to station. Sparrow knew what Blight had said about not trusting anyone. She knew it was dumb to be considering Salton a friend. But, unfortunately for her, she just couldn't seem to help it.

A/N: Hey guys did you like that chapter? I'm feeling a bit discouraged since not many people have been reading or reviewing. Is there anything I should be doing differently? Anything specific you want to see during the training days or the games? Let me know!