Chapter Thirteen: Don't Die
The moment that the chariots entered the Training Center, Maize allowed the fake smirk and delighted expression to fall from her face. She wrapped an arm around Cana and squeezed her District partner in a half hug. "That was smart. Wrapping me in a hug."
Cana his arm tightened around her, "You too, that strawberry thing... I saw one of them fall right outta their chair."
Maize nodded, "It just came to me. I hope that it didn't make you uncomfortable Cana."
"Nah." the boy locked eyes with her as the chariot finally came to a stop and the other tributes began to disembark and reunite with their Victors, "You remind me of my sisters, it's comforting to have someone from home with me."
She smiled up at him softly, ignoring the delighted crows coming from Goldie as the excited escort approached them, "Same."
"Oh, darlings!" she squeaked, "That was absolutely wonderful!" The fourteen-year-old shot the woman an uncomfortable smile before jumping down and offering Maize his hand, she grabbed it gratefully and shot him a smile before jumping as well.
Chaff threw his arm around Maize's shoulder and chortled softly, she could smell the booze on the man's breath but it wasn't overwhelming, "That was more than wonderful! It was fantastic! Marvelous!" he crowed as the group began leading them towards the elevators, "Wasn't it Seeder!"
The female District smiled proudly, "It was perfect, you guys are getting a lot of attention from Sponsors. They were rather excited that District 11 had a volunteer this year and then with that display during the Tribute Parade... well you're a hot commodity."
There was a dark and scared look hidden in Seeders dark brown eyes that were buried by the pleased smile and front that she was putting on in front of the others, it made the hair on the back of Maize's neck rise, but there wasn't anything she could do about it now. Later.
The ride up the elevator was an interesting experience. They didn't have to share the space with another tribute or their posse, and the entire time was spent with Maize listening to the excited chatter of the stylists and Goldie. Cana was leaning heavily on the back wall of the elevator and his eyes drooped occasionally. She could relate, Maize was exhausted. She couldn't wait to hop into a shower and wash away the makeup and perfume that'd been sprayed onto her body (honestly why did she even need to wear perfume, it wasn't like the Sponsors could smell her) and undo the tight ornamental braids in her hair. But they would probably be corralled into having dinner with the whole 'team,' as Goldie referred to themselves as.
Maize hated being right.
Orion and his crew helped her undress from the toga and remove the bangles, before sending her off into the shower. The most confusing, and if she was honest with herself anxiety-inducing (why were there so many options!), shower she'd ever had. There were at least a hundred of different settings for the shower, from the temperature, scent, soap... and even drying off was otherworldly with a device that simply air-dried her in moments. Hell, there wasn't even a comb, her hair was untangled completely by another futuristic device. As soon as she was out, she picked a simple blue cotton dress (not unlike one she would wear at home) and white leggings (like the ones she used to love to wear in her first life) before making her way to the stylish dining area where everyone else was waiting. Cana was looking more than a little overwhelmed at the large selection of food in front of them, and she didn't blame him. It looked as if the table had enough food to feed her family for a week rather than to just act as their dinner for one evening.
The adults at the table chatted with gusto as they celebrated the positive outcome of the Tribute Parade. Maize ate as many carbs and fatty foods as her body could handle, she would need to gain some weight before the Games began in case the arena didn't have an abundance of options for food. After recommending Cana to do the same, the boy immediately moving to serve himself another spoonful of mashed potatoes rather than fruit, she relaxed somewhat. It was then that Maize noticed that their Mentors were looking at them.
"Yes?" she asked softly, silently praying that they hadn't asked her a question while she was daydreaming.
"I know we already established that you two want to be trained together, correct?" Seeder asked seriously.
Maize peeked at Cana from the corner of her eye before nodding, "We do."
"Alright." the woman nodded as she looked at the others sitting at the table, "I know that tonight was a victory, but I want to make sure that we do this tonight before the training begins tomorrow."
"We have time to do this in the morning don't you think-"
Goldie never got to finish her sentence before Chaff, uncharacteristically serious, interrupts her, "No. Seeder is right." before turning to look at them, skillfully ignoring Goldie's offended look, "What are your skills? Things that will help you survive in the arena?"
Cana looked at Maize imploringly, the poor kid didn't know what to say. Maize only hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I'm fast, I'm really good at climbing: trees, rocks you name it. I can identify poisonous plants and I know what plants are edible. My Auntie was a nurse, so I know how to do first aid and how to suture wounds, I was gonna be a doula not that is going to be useful... I'm pretty flexible and I'm good at using a bō staff that belonged to my Uncle Banyan..."
"Umm, I guess... I'm also really good at climbing trees." Cana piped up after a beat, "I can identify edible plants and poisonous ones. I'm really good at hiding... I don't really have any other skills." he trailed off nervously as he began to tug at the end of his shirt.
Seeder was analyzing them thoroughly, "What about some other survival basics? Can you start a fire? How to find water? Poisonous animals? What happens if you two are stuck in a desert? How would you survive? Or the opposite, what if you're in a marshland or area with a lot of water? Can you swim?"
They were quiet.
"Well, we can both start fires." Cana piped up, "It's something you have to learn if you ever want to eat lunch when we're in the fields. And I-I don't know about Maize, but I can tell which snakes are poisonous. My little brother Ollie got bit by a ruse snake once so mama made us learn which ones were okay and which ones are poisonous."
"Me too." Maize confirmed, "Learning about poisonous snakes was a part of my first aid training... I do have some experience with swimming... Back before the pond that was near the outfields dried out, my cousins and I had a chance to swim in it... it was shallow, but it's something." she fibbed. The pond that had once been in the outfields was a real place, but Maize had never gotten her parents' permission to go swimming with her cousins or any other the older kids. They'd been afraid that with her small stature she would drown, but now it would serve as a good cover story for why she knew how to swim.
"Hmm, well that is what we want you to do tomorrow is go to the survival stations. You have an equal chance of dying of natural causes as you do at the hand of another tribute. Scope out the other tributes and figure out who's dangerous and who can be a potential ally, stick together but don't be afraid to try out different stations." Maize simply nodded in understanding once the woman finished speaking but a tired sigh from her District partner made her turn to face the younger teen.
"Any more advice?" Cana asked wearily.
"Yeah." Chaff snorted as he sipped (more like downed) his glass of wine, "Don't die."
Seeder whacked the back of the man's head in reprimand, "Chaff your drunk."
Words: Around 1,370
Edited: October 31, 2019