rising from the ashes || a hunger games story

chapter five

willow's pov

i woke up two hours before training was supposed to start. i take a quick shower and when i got back, my bed was made and there was an outfit folded on my bed. it must be the training outfit.

i pick up the shirt first. it looks like the training outfit from the 74th games but instead of the red stripes at the sleeves, they were orange. the rest of the shirt was black. the back of the shirt had my district number.

the pants were also black and had a thin orange stripe at the side, followed by a larger grey stripe and then orange again. i put the outfit on and it's fairly comfortable.

i then quickly tie my hair into a braid, not putting much effort into it. i sit at the edge of the bed when i look down at the floor and spot the shoes. they're simple black combat boots. i put them on and tie them and walk out of the room.

once again, there's what looks like a feast set up. will is sitting next to effie so i sit down in between mason and haymitch, whos at the edge of the table. i put a few foods on my plate and i start to speak.

"i met with ivy and finn on the roof last night and we were able to create an alliance. at least i think that's how it works." i say. haymitch shrugs, "it doesn't work a certain way. it just happens. since you're allied with them, i'll have to train you and will separately." i nod. i eat a bit more when haymitch starts speaking again.

"i know you allied with finn and ivy but today in training, i don't want you to be around them. if the other tributes are dumb enough, they'll assume finn is going off with the careers and you and ivy are going off alone." i nod at haymitch taking a bite of my food.

"i'm not showing any of my skills either right? so they won't know that i'm good with a bow?"

"exactly. they can know that you're good with it but don't use it too much. try throwing knives more so they think you specialize there."

i nod at haymitch again and finish my meal. once i get to the training area i spot ivy and finn. finn eyes me and i could tell he's trying to say "i know the plan".

all of the tributes are gathered in one circle around this woman. she gives us a speech about how we can't fight while we training because we have plenty of time for that in the arena and tells us about all the stations and blah blah blah.

i walk around the whole gymnasium looking at the many different stations. i decide on the edible plants station. i remember my mom telling me that she wished she spent more time at this station for the third quarter quell because then she might've been able to find more food in the arena.

because it's a quarter quell, the training gymnasium is different. each station has simulations to test your knowledge. there's different levels to the simulations too. the edible plants station has a simulation where they put you in a random area whether it's the mountains or the forest and you're surrounded by plants depending on the area. you get to "eat" the different plants and if you eat a deadly one, you're taken out of the simulation.

i start walking to the ropes course when i hear yelling from across the gym. i see district 5's male tribute and 6's female tribute fighting. they start pushing each other and that's when i see district 6 grab a knife from a station and stabs district 5 in the chest.

all of the tributes gasp and i hear people mumbling around me. peacekeepers rush to district 6 and takes her away and out of the gymnasium. medics rush to district 5 and drag him out to get him medical attention.

the tributes made a mess while they were fighting. beforehand, they were clawing each other's faces and arms so there was blood on the floor. we're all pushed out of the gym so they can clean. they don't even know if they'll be sending us back in to train for the day.

once we get out of the gym, all of the tributes are looking at each other confused. none of us have any idea what happened between the two tributes and why district 6's female tribute lost her temper so quickly.

the same woman who gave us the fighting speech earlier holds a clipboard and goes up to several tributes telling them to go to different places to meet with their mentors. ivy, finn, and i are the last tributes left and she tells the three of us to go to this room.

she probably had special instructions to do us last so none of the other tributes knew that the three of us were allies. i wouldn't be surprised if haymitch payed her or something.

we walk into the room we were told to go to and we see all of our mentors standing in front of a tv that's in the back of the room. in front of the tv, there's a couch and two chairs on each side of the couch.

"what's going on?" i say.

"please sit" haymitch says.

we all sit down on the couch.

"so district 6's tribute, violet, has killed district 5's tribute, griffin. we didn't know she was that lethal until that incident. we also don't know what's going to happen to her. tributes aren't allowed to fight in training so who knows what's going to happen to her in that arena." haymitch says.

"what happened between them?" i say.

"nobody knows." haymtich says.

"so what's happening today?" ivy asks.

"the tributes are being trained with their allies or alone today. they're being trained by their mentors. you won't be seeing the other tributes until tomorrow." ivy's mentor, mel, says.

"so where is will and their district partners?" i ask. "they're working with their allies or with the other district's mentor." haymtich says. i nod.

"so where are we going to train?" finn asks. haymtich smiles. "come here." he says and he leads us to this door on the other side of the room. he opens the door and the door opens to this smaller gymnasium.

we all gasp. it looks like it was just built. "these weren't here for the past games. they were recently built about a year ago" finn's mentor, river, says.

"first things first, running. willow, you said you're a fast runner, i need to see how fast you actually are to see if we're willing to risk having you go in and out of the cornucopia. so we're racing." haymitch says.

i smile at the idea. haymtich lines us up at the wall. we have to run across the gymnasium, touch the wall across from us and run back. river counts down from 5. my heart starts pumping and i take off as soon as the countdown is up.

i'm the first one to touch the wall. i'm not paying attention to ivy or finn's position when i turn around to go back but all i know is they're behind me. once i touch the other wall, i'm hardly out of breath.

finn and ivy arrive next to me after a few seconds and are breathing heavily. "wow you really are a fast runner." haymtich says "let me discuss with river and mel real quick."

once haymtich and the other mentors walk back to us haymtich tells me the plan. "as soon as that countdown is done and that gong goes off, you run to the cornucopia. you grab three weapons, one for each of you and three backpacks."

i nod at haymitch. "finn, ivy, you guys are to run to the edge of the beginning of the actual arena. so if it's a forest, you run to the edge of where the trees start. you are to wait for willow to come back with the supplies and when she meets up with you, you guys have to put as much space between you and the cornucopia as possible." river says.

"if you see another tribute running for you guys before willow gets back, you run. she can catch up and find you two eventually."

we all nod. this was a lot to take in. i don't think my mother or father ever got specific instructions for the arena. we spent the rest of the day training in the gymnasium. i wonder what's going to happen to violet. and what's going to happen to the tribute for district 5 now that they don't have one?