A/N: I just couldn't wait to upload this chapter. This is training day 1 so here you go guys. ENJOY!
I spot Andre, Merinetta, Darius and Verenia waving at us as we pull in. Oak jumps down before Darius helps me. I thank him before turning to my mentor. "You did well" he said as he took my hand, "You will get sponsors, no doubt." He is right, I have made my life in the arena easier. He walks over to Oak and pats his back, "You too kid. You won't need to worry as much now." Oak smiles at him before Merinetta chirps in.
"Alright then, of we go" Merinetta claps her hands together and starts to walk away. We all follow her to an elevator and once we are inside it shoots off, faster than I thought it would. I grip onto Andre's shoulder so I don't fall over.
We are only in the elevator for a couple of seconds before we end up on the 7th floor. The place is just amazing. It is the only word I can think of as we walk around. Merinetta is giving us a tour but I don't pay attention because I am just in awe at the place.
The dining area alone is the size of my house altogether. I spot some people dotted around the place that are known as an Avox. They are people who have broken the law and are punished by having their tongues cut out and are forced to serve the Capitol and us tributes every year.
"Now, if you follow me I will show you to your bedrooms" Merinetta says as Andre, Darius and Verenia split off and head in some other direction. She shows Oak his room first and then leaves him alone and takes me to my room.
We enter and I can hold it in, "WOW!" I almost shout, making Merinetta jump out of her skin.
"Calm down dear" she says as he pats my shoulder. I look around and see that I have a window taking up a whole wall. A giant double bed is in the middle of the room. A door leading to the bathroom and a chest of draws and a wardrobe. "Now, dinner will be shortly, I will fetch you when it is ready. Until then, just relax" she says before leaving me.
The first thing I do is go over to the bed and flop down onto it. It is super soft, way better than my rock hard one back home. Home! Just the thought of it makes me super depressed again. I fight back the tears that are threatening to fall.
To take my mind of everything I strip from my white outfit and decide to shower. After that I dress in a yellow blouse and a pair of black jeans. I tie my, now brown, hair into a ponytail before leaving my room. The halls are empty until I find the dining room.
Andre and Merinetta are sitting around it so I take a seat. "Where is Darius?" I ask.
"He and Verenia had to leave for a stylist party to celebrate their work on the outfits" Merinetta replies, "Talking about the outfits. When will your white eyes turn back to their normal colour?"
"Darius said it will take up to two days" I reply.
"Oh right. You look better with the dark grey eyes" she replies. She takes a sip from her coffee.
"Hi" Oak greets us as he walks over and takes a seat. I smile at him and so does Andre.
"Hello dear" Merinetta says as she too smiles, quite freakishly, at Oak.
"Good, now you're both are here let's talk" Andre says. I listen to him as he explains about training. "Training will start tomorrow and you will have 3 days of it before the games. On the third day you will have your private sessions with the Gamemakers. This is where you should show of your skills. Bigger score means more sponsors" he says. I nod and so does Oak.
"What should we work on?" Oak asks.
"Well you say you both can use and axe so don't use the weaponry until the private sessions. You don't want the other tributes to see you as a threat because you will become their main target" Andre says. "Concentrate on the survival stations. Sure a weapon is nice, but you need to know about food or shelters."
"What about other weapons?" I ask. I would mind having a go at them.
"You can use them, but like I said. Concentrate on the survival side. That will be your main knowledge to have in the arena" Andre replies. He can't say anything else because dinner is starting to be served.
I look up at the ceiling. I can hear the sound of the festivities going on below the training centre. The Capitolites must be having a hell of a time. Good for them, but they are keeping me awake.
I shove a pillow over my head and force my eyes shut. When I open them again it is morning. I must have fell asleep without realising. I yawn as a stretch my tired muscles. I spot an outfit on the end of my bed. It is black all over except the shoulders which are red and it has a number 7 on the right arm.
I don't bother showering because I am just going to get all sweaty during training. I put the outfit on and then walk out of my room to find Merinetta smiling at me with Oak already by her side. "Good morning" she says. Her voice is too much this early in the morning. I groan a reply before she leads me and Oak to the elevator.
She presses the button labelled 'B1' and the elevator shoots off. When we get out I am in shock. We are under the training centre and I see lots of different stations. I spot the Gamemakers sitting on a risen platform, looking over all us tributes.
It seems Oak and I am the last ones to arrive so we both quickly fall into place. A dark skinned woman called Atilla greets herself and starts a speech. "Welcome tributes to the training room" she says. "There are loads of different stations for you to try but let me tell you. Don't just focus on the weaponry. It may be tempting to get a weapon into your hands but you will need survival skill aswel.
She finishes her speech and then the tributes start splitting up. I see the tributes from 1, 2 and 4 head straight for the weapons. I also see the 15 year old girl from 12 head over to the weaponry also which is strange.
I see Oak walk over to the fire making station. I don't need that station because of 2 reasons.
I already know how to start a fire.
Fire will attract unwanted attention so I won't be using it.
I walk over to the edible plants station. I spend some time reading a book which explains what plants are edible and which ones could kill me. I recognise some of them but there are some foreign ones that could be in the arena. I make sure to memorise most of them by reading the book and then re-reading it over and over for 2 hours straight.
After that I am feeling like my head is going to explode so I decide to head over to shelter making. I see that the tributes from 5, 9 and 10 are there aswel. I find a space away from them and start to build.
It is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I would misplace one item and the whole thing would fall. After so many tried I am about to give up but then I am joined by somebody. It is the girl from 6. "Hi" she says as she kneels down in front of me.
"Hi" I reply as I once again fail to build a shelter.
"Need some help?" she asks. I look at her and see a smile. When I saw her being reaped she seemed like a dark girl who would stay to herself, but she doesn't look like it now.
"Sure" I reply. So for the next hour or so she helps me with the shelter. In the end we have one standing that is waterproof, weatherproof and is big enough to fit two people. "Thanks I tell her as I wipe my sweaty brow.
"No problem" she says. "Well, I'll be seeing you. I hope we don't run into each other in there" she says as she walks away.
"Me too" I mutter under my breath. She walks away and I can't help but smile. She was nothing that I thought she was. She is actually nice and is funny. If it weren't for the situation, I could see us both being friends. I found out her name is Alex Rupee and she has 3 brothers and 2 sisters. She also works in a factory working on the engines of trains and cars.
I tell her about my family, all about Venia, dad, Fern and gran. I tell her about how gran is old and didn't get to say goodbye to me. She seemed sympathetic about it but I reassured her that it was fine. Gran could hardly say hi, let alone say goodbye.
I stay in the shelter making to improve and by lunch time I have built 4 perfect shelters. All of us tributes pile into the lunch hall and the careers, aswel as the girl from 12 head to sit alone. Maybe the girl from 12 is good enough to join them.
I decide to sit alone and I see that Alex is too. She smiles at me which I return before I eat.
After lunch I spend some time at the camouflage station but I failed terribly at it so I left. I also tried my hand at the bows but I just couldn't seem to get the target. If I had an axe in my hand I would get every target, but I said I will use them at the private sessions.
After a while, I give up and head back up to floor 7. I tell Merinetta and Andre, who was eating, that I would not be eating with them today because I am just too tired. I get to my room and collapse on the bed and fall into a nightmare filled sleep.
A/N: So Maple met Alex from 6. When I first thought of Alex, I was going to make her an enemy of Maple but then I decided against it for some random reason (don't ask me what). Please review and I will see you next time~