Training Days:
Kimberly stifled a yawn as she joined her new allies in the Training Centre. The Career pack was already shaping up to be a pretty formidable one, which she was satisfied to see. Conrad was excited to meet everyone, but Kimberly had some reservations.
Mostly, she was a little worried she wasn't going to fit in with the pack.
These thoughts consumed her as she busied herself with throwing spears, trying to survey the rest of the competition out of the corner of her eyes to put her anxieties out of her mind. Kimberly took the surrounding scenes in. Lots of older tributes, it seemed. The District 8 pair was doing the ropes course together and the District 9 pair was unsuccessfully trying to start a fire. The boys from 5 and 10 were talking by the swords station, where Jerky practiced cutting up a dummy.
Kimberly wasn't sure if she liked Jerky. Lila was nice enough, but Jerky…well, his name said it all. The second the Career pack got together, Jerky was quick to pronounce himself as the leader despite complaints from both Saxum and Kendra. He wouldn't hear either of them out before he headed off and called an end to the impromptu meeting right then and there.
Ah well. Kimberly decided to let Jerky run his mouth and make enemies. As long as all the bitterness and resentment stewed in his direction, not hers. It wasn't too bad of a strategy.
She was aware of someone coming up and standing beside her. It was Todd, the boy from 12. Kimberly thought he was an interesting one, having volunteered for his little brother. And from the coal mining district too! Todd must've been either really courageous or really dumb to throw away his life like that. She wasn't sure which seemed more probable. And Todd's apparent unpredictability made him quite an enigma.
Todd picked up one of the smaller spears. "Mind if I join you?"
Kimberly shrugged; she didn't own the spears station. "Sure. Be my guest."
"I'm Todd, by the way."
"Hi Todd. I'm Kimberly."
Kimberly sized Todd up as he fumbled with the spears. Wow, he was…oddly attractive? Dang it, Kimberly, she couldn't be thinking like that about the enemy! She threw her spear to distract herself and it cleanly skewered a dummy right through the heart.
"Wow!" she heard Todd gasp. "You're really good!"
"Um, thanks." Kimberly suddenly blushed. Wait, why was she blushing? She quickly turned away before Todd could catch a glimpse of her bewildered expression. As Kimberly heaved another spear, she heard the sound of something metallic clanging across the floor and Todd sighed loudly. Seemed that spear training wasn't exactly working out for him.
Kimberly suddenly felt a bit bad for Todd. Why, she wasn't entirely sure. But something in her gut told her to turn back to him and speak up. "Hey. I could give you a couple of pointers, if you'd like."
"Really?" Todd asked.
Kimberly nodded.
"That'd be much appreciated! Thank you!"
"No problem," Kimberly giggled, blushing again. Oh, she was really in for it now, wasn't she.
Eugene felt like her head was gonna explode at any given second. There was just so much noise and stuff surrounding her that she wasn't even sure what to look at first. Metal weapons being waved around, electronic beeping coming from the edible plants test, scuffed boots squeaking against the floor as tributes took turns running different obstacle courses.
It was all just…a lot.
God, how Eugene wished she was back at home with her outfits and her fashion supplies. At least there, everything was familiar and quiet. Surely she could design a much better training outfit than this with one hand behind her back. But Eugene was in the Capitol now, and she didn't really want to waste her precious training time just standing here and thinking about what she could be doing. She needed to do something.
The archery station currently looked empty, so Eugene decided to give it a go.
"Can I use this?" she asked the trainer, gesturing to a bow leaning up against a table covered in arrows. The trainer nodded and quickly showed her how to properly load a bow before leaving Eugene to her own devices. She loaded up the bow with an arrow and tried to keep it as straight as possible. Then she fired at the target.
The arrow fell from the bow and onto the floor.
Eugene sighed and picked up the arrow. Okay, she couldn't expect to get good at archery overnight. She tried again and it was the same result. Then she gave it a third try. And a fourth. And a fifth.
Only on the eighth try did the arrow actually make it to the target. It stuck right on the outskirts. Eugene watched with bated breath as the arrow shook a little, then disappointment filled her as it fell off and onto the floor.
"Noooo…" Eugene sighed to herself. She needed to figure this out. Because she only had three days to learn as much as she possibly could and if she didn't play her cards right then she was going to die and she'd have nobody to blame but herself and-
"Hey," a gentle voice said behind her. "Breathe."
There was a tightness in Eugene's chest that she hadn't noticed. Carefully, she began to take deep breaths, in and out, until the tightness managed to fade and she gradually didn't feel so panicked anymore. She glanced up and shot a nervous look at the girl standing behind her. "Um…thanks?" She felt a bit embarrassed that someone had seen her panic so openly.
"You're welcome," the girl smiled politely, helping Eugene's worries to melt away. "I'm Falcona, by the way."
"I'm Eugene." Eugene shuffled in place. "I'm sorry, it was all just a lot and I was getting stressed out."
"It happens to be the best of us," Falcona laughed. "Everybody gets stressed from time to time. And this is definitely one stressful situation."
Eugene nodded grimly. "You can say that again."
"So, do you want to be allies?"
This time, Eugene felt she was able to smile. "Yes. I'd like that very much."
The biggest downside about living in an industrial district, Knight thought, was definitely the lack of access to lots of fields and forests.
He and Cady had been trying their hands at attempting the edible plants test, and it was not working out for either of them. Then the small kids from District 11 came and blew both of them out of the water in a breeze. It was a tad embarrassing.
But would Knight be a good role model if he just gave up at the first sign of humiliation and accepted his defeat? Absolutely not! He was to keep trying until he got what he wanted! Cady didn't seem too bothered either, shrugging and just accepting her meager score before heading back into the line to take the test again. Knight followed her.
He liked Cady. She may have been a complete stranger he only met at the Reaping a few days ago, but she was still someone from home and a breath of familiar air. Plus, Cady and her quirks and she didn't really appear to care. She marched to the beat of her own drum, and it would be up to Knight to decide whether or not he wanted to join in.
This time, he fared a bit better on the edible plants test, scoring a 64. Cady managed a 76. She made a joke about having the memory of a goldfish even though Knight thought otherwise.
Afterwards, the pairing went to practice their fire building skills and that went a lot smoother. Knight struck a match against the side of the box, and it lit up. He set the kindling on fire, and soon a small and flickering flame was providing them both with a little bit of warmth. Nearby, Beth from 12 watched enviously as her pile of kindling collapsed under its own weight.
Knight laughed. "This is way better than the edible plants station!"
Cady nodded. "I will have to agree with you on that."
The three training days passed by a lot faster than they had any right to, and then it was soon time for Private Sessions. It sucked that District 8 was closer towards the end, but that gave Knight plenty of time to think about what he planned to do. The textiles district was often stereotyped as nothing but weak and useless Bloodbath fodder. And Knight was anything but. He was going to show the Gamemakers he was not one to be underestimated. He had a lot of tricks tucked up his sleeve, after all!
Oak from 7 was soon called up and disappeared. Then was his district partner, Finn. And in a few minutes, it would be Knight's turn. He looked over at Cady and smiled at her.
Cady reached out and gave him a small pat on the back. "Good luck in there."
"You too," Knight echoed. "Knock 'em dead."
"Starknight Victryweave!"
"That's me." Knight stood up and wiped his sweaty hands on his pants. It was showtime. And he absolutely planned to entertain.
