𝙄'𝙇𝙇 𝙎𝙀𝙇𝙇 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝘼 𝙎𝙊𝙉𝙂 - 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙃𝙐𝙉𝙂𝙀𝙍 𝙂𝘼𝙈𝙀𝙎

𝟓

You sleep well, but you pay the price for it. You wake up at roughly 4am, for no reason, and can't get back to sleep. Which is good, in a way, as it gives you time to recover from your hangover. You have a shower, eventually selecting freezing cold jets of water, finishing off with strawberry scented spray ejecting from vents in the ceiling. When you manage to step on the heater mat and electrocute your scalp, you find an outfit laid out for you. It's standard training uniform, black shirt with a red stripe at the shoulder, 12 stitched on the short sleeve with normal black pants, joined by a pair of matching combat boots. You change, and, seeing it's already about 8:30, you head out to the dining area. Good thing that spending hours working out the shower system is hungry work.

You're first out, still. Jake smiles when you enter the room, and nods when you ask if you can serve yourself instead. You don't want him to have to pamper you. You select one of your favorite breakfast meals, biting into it. Jack hums a tune, the best he can do, and you eventually sing with him.

If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea

I'll sail the world to find you

If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see

I'll be the light to guide you

We'll find out what we're made of

When we are called to help our friends in need

You can count on me like one, two, three

I'll be there

And I know when I need it, I can count on you like four, three, two

And you'll be there

'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do oh yeah

It's nowhere near the whole song, but you don't want to be heard. Rye bounces in not too long after, followed by Haymitch, Rye smiles at Jack, ignorant of the meaning of the word 'Avox'. There's silence in the room, this time comfortable. There's no real discussion needed, Haymitch already knows your skills, and you know to stick together. After you finish, you pop back to your room to do up your hair. Then you're down the crystal elevator to your first real interaction with the other tributes.

You are by no means late, but you are one of the last pairs to arrive. When the pair from 6 finally rock up, the trainer Atala speaks up. "In a few weeks, 23 of you will be dead. Now, you have your only chance to arm yourself with skills beforehand. Many of you will be eager to learn to use a weapon, but starvation can kill just as easily as a knife."

You zone out as she reads out the long list of stations, and look at the other tributes. Remus is staring at you again, but he turns back to Atala when your eyes meet. Romana glares at you, stormy, dark eyes filled with rage. It's confusing, you've done nothing to her, or her brother, for that matter. When Atala releases all of you, Rye looks upwards to you, and asks "What should we do first?"

You answer confidently, strategy in your mind. "Let's learn to make a fire, and then we can learn a weapon for a while, and maybe try out the agility course?" He nods in approval, and skips off to the fire station. You both crouch near a log as the trainer hands you a stick, showing you the method. You twist the stick in your hand, spinning it on the bark, palms moving downwards each time. Eventually, smoke forms, and a small flame. You blow it out before handing the stick to Rye to try. He gets it quicker, so you know who's going to be making any fires in the arena. He then beelines to the spear section, while you head to the bow and arrow range. Only Remus is practicing, so you grab a bow, a quiver of arrows, and stand next to him.