Chapter 6.
"Welcome tributes. Today is your first day of training."
The man looks around the circle that we formed. His dark, prying eyes connect with each one of us for half a second, then they move on to the next. We are all wearing the standard training outfit we've been giving: A black polo shirt, with our district number in blue on the back and on the sleeves, with blue trousers and black boots.
"My name is Talon. I'm your head trainer."
Behind me I hear Zircon scoff. I'm tempted to turn around to tell him to shut up, but my eyes stay focused on Talon. He isn't very tall, but his broad shoulders and muscled arms make him seem strong and intimidating. The twenty-four tributes, including me, are standing around him. All our eyes are on him, listening to what he's saying. His black curls dance as he turns his head from left to right.
"Use your time here well, for it will be over soon. Remember, this is your chance to train." He emphasizes the word 'your'. "If you want to make it far in the games, you should pay attention here. There are twenty-six different training stations. I'd recommend you to look at all of them at least once."
That's what Parcival told us too.
"Don't overlook the survival skills. Most tributes run for the weapons first, and it's absolutely fantastic if you can wield a sword or handle a dagger. But if it's freezing at night, it would be helpful to know how to make a fire. When you're looking for food, it can help you if you know what plants or insects are actually edible and not poisonous. You have three days to practice, expand and show your skills. On the third day, you have a chance to show the gamemakers your skills. Based on what you show them, you get a score. The higher your score, the more sponsors you're likely to get."
As Talon continues talking, I notice that nearly all of the tributes surrounding him aren't as still anymore as they were in the beginning, and neither am I. We are tired of listening to him, even though he probably means well. We want to get going. I sigh softly as I fold my arms.
"Alright. With that being said, you can start now." Talon eventually says. He doesn't have to say any more. I see him watching us as we find our way through the training hall, his lips pressed together.
I follow Zircon towards the gauntlets. The girl from 5 and the boy from 8 are already waiting there, but Zircon just pushes them aside. I stand behind them and wait.
"Just because he's Lovett's son, he thinks he can just do anything." The girl from 5 whispers, her long and dark braided hair dances as she shakes her head.
"What's so special about being a Lovett?" A voice behind me asks. I turn around and look into the face of the girl from 12. For a second I think she's joking, but her voice is serious.
"You don't know the Lovetts?" The girl from 5 asks, the right side of her mouth curled up.
In the meanwhile, the boy from 8 and I watch as Zircon makes his way over the gauntlets, jumping up and down. He nearly falls two times because he's trying to go too fast, but he corrects himself in time.
"I can imagine she doesn't." The boy from 3 joins the conversation. "The Lovetts are well-known for their perfumes, but that's a luxury product they can't afford back in District 12." Judging by the sound of his voice and his intonation, I'd say he's about 17 years old. But when I see him, I see he looks much younger than that. 15, maybe 14 if you imagine him without the glasses.
"Smartass." The girl from 5 scoffs, then she steps on the first platform of the gauntlets. We watch her as she jumps from platform to platform. She doesn't miss any platform because she takes her jumps carefully, this doesn't make her very fast but she's not very slow either.
After the boy from 8 fell off one of the platforms and sprained his ankle, it's my turn. My feet find their way from platform to platform easily. I don't try to go fast, but I do end up at the last platform in no time. As I jump off, I see most of the tributes in line looking at me. I even get a smile from Elza from 2, before she turns her head to whisper something in Magnus's ear, who listens to her with the usual frown between his eyebrows. The two of them seem to get along well already.
I eye each of the tributes that are still in line for the gauntlets quickly before I move on to the next training station. I end up at the knife throwing station, where the girl from 9 is trying to hit the target, but keeps missing. After she's done I take her place with five knives in my hand. One by one, I let them fly from my grip, towards the targets. Two of them hit the targets exactly in the middle. When I've thrown all five, I'm approached by Talon, who has been watching me. I look if the girl from 9 is still around, and she is. I look at her for a second. This is how it's supposed to be done, you see? She must've read it from my face, because she rolls her eyes and turns away. Suddenly I think of my training with Blaze. If I looked at him that way, he would either applaud or look back at me the same way. I smile at the memory, it gives me a sense of security; Although there is a chance I'm not going to get out of here alive, I'm not scared of that at this particular moment.
"That was really good, Miss Charbrooke." Talon tells me. "You should practice with moving targets, too."
I nod, suddenly feeling more confident. "Alright, I'll give it a go."
Talon hands me the five knives back and gives me five extra. "Show me what you've got." Then he walks towards a panel in the wall and presses some buttons.
"Ready?" He asks.
"Yes." I reply, as I steady myself.
'Inhale, then exhale slowly as you focus on the target in front of you.' I hear Blaze's voice in my head, saying these words as if he were right next to me.
Talon presses another button, and the target dummies start moving. Forwards, backwards and sideways. I watch them for a few seconds, trying to anticipate their moves. Then I throw the first knife, which digs into one of the dummies' stomach. The second knife hits the dummy in the heart. I keep going until I've thrown all the ten knives. When I'm done, I look up: the knives all have hit the dummies in different places: I haven't missed even one. Then I turn to Talon. He presses another button and the dummies stop moving. He looks in my direction, but his eyes are focused on something behind me. I turn around to see what he's looking at. Behind me is a group of tributes: I recognize Zircon, Magnus, Elza, the boy from 3 and the girl from 5. A few others are standing behind them. Elza starts clapping softly, then the boy from 3 and the girl from 5 join in.
"Impressive." I hear Magnus say. Zircon scowls at him. I smile at them, then I move on. As I turn around, I bump into someone. It's a girl. Looking up to her is like looking in a mirror, because she looks almost exactly like me. I stare at her. We both have the same narrow nose, full lips and strong jaw line. After a few seconds, I start to notice differences. Her eyes aren't blue like mine, but a muddy shade of brown. Her blonde hair is a few shades darker, but not much. There's also a birth mark above her lip that I don't have. She breaks our stare as her eyes wander towards the ground. She squints, then bows down to pick an object from the ground. They're black-rimmed glasses. She puts them back on her face and clears her throat.
"I apologize for the inconvenience. " She says.
I look at the number on her sleeve. It's a 3. It doesn't surprise me, considering her odd choice of words.
"It's okay." I say. Then I hold out my hand to her.
She shakes my hand. "I'm Sophie."
"I'm Satin."
"If it weren't for the current circumstances, I'd say it's nice to meet you, Satin."
I nearly bite my tongue. I know what she's trying to do: using difficult words in an attempt to intimidate me. I'm not going to let it get to me.
"It would be," I say, "But I should continue training now." Then I turn away from her and make my way to the next training station.
After my third attempt to start a fire, I hear Talon announce that it's lunch time. The twenty four tributes and the trainers make their way to a room that's adjacent to the training hall. There are different tables set up and filled with all kinds of food. I sit down at one of the tables and look at the food, deciding what I want to eat.
"There's so much to choose from, and all of it looks better than the food we get at home." A voice says behind me. "Doesn't it?" It's Elza, who's taking place next to me.
"Yes, yes it does." I respond, smiling at her. "I can't decide what to try first."
"If it's already like this for us, I can't imagine what the people from the lower districts are going through right now." Elza says.
I nod. "Me neither."
It's silent between us for a few seconds as we both put food on our plates. I go for a rice and chicken stew.
"So where is Magnus? You two seem to get along well." I ask Elza.
"He's over there." She points to a table on the other side of the room, where Magnus sits, eating by himself. "We do get along, although I don't know him that well."
"You don't? It almost seemed like you two guys have been friends for ages."
"We're not friends. Before the reaping, I've only seen his face a couple of times, but I didn't know his name or anything. I think it was the same for him about me. But in the last day I've come to the conclusion that he'd be a good ally to have in the games, and I guess that's mutual."
"If that's so, then why are you here and not sitting there with him?"
"Because we think the same about you two."
"You do?"
"Yes. Although I do have the idea that you and Zircon don't get along that well, am I right?"
"We don't," I admit, "I believe he thinks he's far above me."
"But he's not. You know, I've already noticed a few big differences between you two."
"Like what?"
"Zircon is broad and handsome. He attracts a lot of attention and he knows it. Because of that, he likes to show off: He often acts, and doesn't always know what he's doing. You, on the other hand, seem to be more considerate. You're very pretty and have a way with words. You're sympathetic, but also a good fighter."
"Thank you." I say with a smile on my face. "So, what is it that you want exactly?"
"Well, I still have to convince Magnus, but I think the four of us should form an alliance in the beginning of the games."
"Magnus does seem like the type of guy that's hard to convince." I think out loud, as I look at the dark-haired boy that's silently eating his food by himself.
"He is, but you can leave that to me."
"What do you want me to do then?"
"I want you to convince your own district partner." Elza says quickly, before the the girls from 4 and 5 join us at the table. The four of us chatter a bit about training, but the conversation between Elza and I about your possible alliance has ended.
I don't seem to get a hold of Zircon for the rest of the afternoon. Every time I walk towards him, he's off to a different training station. So I make a note in my head to train together with him tomorrow and talk to him. After we've eaten dinner in our apartment, Parcival takes Zircon with him to the balcony to talk. Peach, Doozie and Brynn disappear too, leaving me and Auria at the table by ourselves.
Auria and I talk about the same thing I have been talking about with Elza: Alliances. She emphasizes again I should convince Zircon.
"I think he's the hardest one to convince. I can't look into his mind, but I think it's mostly filled with thoughts about himself. Not that I don't do the same, but the danger with young people is that they are often so busy looking at themselves that they miss the things that are going on around them. I used to be like that too, but my mentor has also taught me this lesson during my games. And it saved my life."
"I agree." I tell Auria.
"Good. You've done really well today, keep up the good work."
When I lie in bed later that night, it takes a while before I fall asleep. My mind keeps circling: Blaze, the boy back home in District 1 that is hopefully still rooting for me. On the other hand, I don't expect him to do otherwise. I would be upset if he did otherwise. Zircon, with his handsome face, despite the arrogance that radiates from it. How will I be able to convince him to form an alliance with us? I have to. What would his parents be doing at home? Will they be using the fact that their son is a tribute now in their advertisements and campaigns? I bet they can't wait to see him win. But I won't just let him win. In that moment, I plan to do the same thing as Auria. If we form an alliance, I will stick with them until there are only a few tributes left, and then I'll run. I don't want to take the risk of being killed by the hands of this boy with the bronze hair and freckles, who is already seen as a winner. Or by the hands of Magnus, who looks like he wins fights on a daily basis. I wonder what will be going through his mind once he makes his first kill: Will it be something that will finally make him smile? Or will he be frowning as usual? Then there's Elza. On one hand, I find it hard to imagine her killing someone, but on the other hand it doesn't surprise me. She told me she doesn't know Magnus well, but the two of them already seem to have formed a solid team. That could be either a big advantage for me, or a massive disadvantage.
The next morning, I eventually find myself at the same training station as Zircon. He's practicing snares and traps. I watch him as his fingers fiddle with the ropes. We sit there in silence for a few minutes.
"What are you doing?" He eventually asks bluntly.
"Watching you." I reply.
"Why?"
"Because I'm trying to learn from you."
"Can't you learn from someone else?"
"No."
Zircon sighs.
"I wanted to talk to you, also."
"About what?"
"I want to form an alliance with you. In the beginning of the games, at least."
The right corner of his mouth curls up in a mocking half-smile. "What makes you think I want to be allies with you?"
I decide I won't let myself be put aside that easily, so I volley a question back at him. "What makes you think you're going to be so much better off on your own in the arena?"
Zircon scoffs, but doesn't respond.
"I'm just trying to say that two is always better than one." I add.
He still doesn't respond, but his fingers have stopped fiddling with the ropes. They lay still in his hands. He stares into the distance and seems to be seriously considering my offer.
"Alright. We can give it a try." He eventually says, without looking at me. The tone of his voice doesn't give away any kind of emotion, it's just flat.
"Cool."
"Then we should start training together now. There's a lot I want to teach you in the next two days. You're decent with a knife and you're pretty agile, but your close-up combat skills leave a lot of room for improvement." There's no empathy or kindness in his voice; he's all business.
We spent the rest of the morning and the beginning of the afternoon training together. We practice at the sword fighting station. Zircon is a much more experienced sword-fighter than I am, so I do have a lot to learn. Blaze and I used to practice with swords at home, but that was child's play compared to this. At the end of the session, I manage to block some of blows and deal some myself. I'm not great yet, but at least I can defend myself a little better. I teach him how to throw knives. It doesn't come as easy to him, but he's a fast learner. We practice hand-to-hand combat, without weapons. Then he teaches me how to throw spears. I thought it wouldn't be much different than throwing knives, but I underestimated it: Spears are a lot longer, heavier and harder to throw. Both of us are happier to practice the fighting skills instead of the survival skills, but we take a look at them anyway. We just started at the edible plants station when we are interrupted by two shadows that fall over us. When I turn around, I see that the shadows come from the figures of Elza and Magnus, standing behind us.
"What's up?" Zircon asks bluntly.
"I think the four of us should form an alliance in the beginning of the games." Elza says. The tone of her voice is, unlike yesterday, all business.
"Really?" Zircon asks, "Because I get the feeling you two don't really need anyone."
"We do form a team." Magnus speaks for the first time, pointing to Elza and him. "I'm the muscles, she's the brain."
"And where would that leave us?"
"He's the muscles, I'm the brain. She's the princess, you're the name." Elza says melodically.
"Okay, I'm fine with that." I laugh. I turn to Zircon to gauge his reaction: He's not smiling. His face is just neutral.
"So that's what this is about." He says, his expression darkening.
"Come on, Zircon." I plead. "I think it's a good idea. The four of us would be really strong together."
"I'll consider it." He mutters, then he turns to Magnus. "You guys take this really seriously, don't you?"
"We definitely do." Elza replies.
"We see being a tribute and becoming a victor as an actual career." Magnus adds.
"Hm. You have a point there." Says Zircon.
"We have been preparing for the Games our entire lives." Magnus tells us, his voice low.
"Isn't that illegal?" I ask, not sure how to address the subject. Technically, I've been doing the same, but I'm not sure if I should actually admit that openly.
"It is, but there are so many people in our Districts that do so. Don't you?"
"Yes." Zircon replies. "But we hide in abandoned buildings."
I nod. "That way, the peacekeepers don't really notice it."
"So do we. I guess we aren't that much different." Says Magnus.
Elza nods. "So you could say the four of us form the Career Tributes."