There was about an hour left of training, and I had time to visit one last station. I worked up quite a sweat in the Fitness Station with Kindle. Thankfully, there were Avoxes around that served me water bottles and a protein shake. After I was hydrated, I looked around, noticing that the pool was vacant, and I have yet to improve my swimming skills.
A sigh left my lips. I didn’t want to look like a frog if ever I had to swim in the Arena. Did I really have to learn by myself again? I turned to see Hudson notice me come in. “Same routine as yesterday?” I asked him, taking my shirt of before slowly getting into the pool, the water engulfing half of my body. “Please tell me you’re not just gonna sit on your lifeguard chair again, I really need your help here. At this point I’m desperate for any kind of advice you can give,” I claimed.
Back in my school years, the class I detested the most was physical education. How I hated running the track, lifting weights, and doing all sorts of exercises. I was a star pupil, but only academically. Eventually I learned to love fitness. Or rather think I did when my grandmother claimed that if I didn’t have a good physique, the people of District One, who valued beauty over everything, would’t want me as their monarch.
When I wandered over to the Fitness Station, my excruciating gym class days came to mind. “Well, I have been eating a lot lately...” I blamed the Capitol gorging me up with food. The next decision I made was a needed one, anyways. I picked up two free-weights and began working on my upper muscular strength.
As I lifted the weights, I noticed my District Partner approaching. “Hey Kindle,” I greeted him. “You gonna hit the gym too?”
throwin’ shade ✘ throwing weapons ✘ jasper & klaus
After getting my inner District Ten cowboy on with Tracker in Knots and Traps, I traveled to another side of the Training Centre. A specific station caught my eye. Various knives and other long range throwing weapons were lined neatly on a huge table. It looked just like the one in the Career Academy... only better, obviously.
I let my hands graze the blades gently, remembering how my personal trainer always scolded me for not volunteering when I was eighteen and wasting his time because I couldn’t be Reaped anymore yet still continued with our sessions. Now in the Capitol, I actually had use for the exhausting night lessons I had with him, and that was to help my get out of the Arena alive.
Too enthralled by the weapons I was familiar with, I didn’t notice someone already in the station. My eyes focused on the number 2 on his uniform. “O-oh, were you here first?” I asked. “Do you mind if I train here too?”
My mentally therapeutic camping session with Otis was amazing. The only other wise person I’ve looked up to was my grandmother, and she usually crams something about royalty in her clever statements. It was great knowing that there were people like Otis in the Capitol. The candy-coloured citizens needed to see beyond their makeup and clothes. Perhaps they should compete in the Hunger Games.
On another note, there was still hours left of training and plenty of other stations I haven’t visited. Knots and Traps sounded good, so I made my way over there.
I grabbed a length of rope and began trying to construct a knot, only to hear a child’s voice behind me.
“Sweetie, let me help you. You’re trying to lasso another Tribute’s neck with that rope, not tie a dress tie,” she mocked, undoing my knot and showing me how it was done.
The little girl in front of me talked as if she has helped Tributes slay each other in the past. I didn’t doubt it for a second. Even at a young age, those raised in the Capitol craved death and enjoyed watching blood get spilled. I stayed quiet as she constructed an adjustable noose for me.
I spot a familiar face approach and I immediately stood up to wave at him. “Hey! How’s Day Two going for you?” I asked Tracker.
Exposure can kill as easily as a knife. The head trainer’s words from day one rang in my head. I had learned a decent amount of knowledge about survival, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Growing up in a lavish environment, I was used to having maids serve me whatever I wanted and more on a silver platter. However, as the Arena drew closer, I needed to figure out how to get food for myself.
Something about the Trainer not saying a single word and merely watching me as I reached the station told me that I had to learn by myself again. His odour... Smells like forest, I thought. Choosing to start a fire first, I began by piling sticks and dried leaves up to a cone-shape. Then I tossed a match and blew a little. Wallah, a flame.
But matches might not be available in the arena. After drilling a sturdy twig down against a small plank of wood for about half an hour, I finally managed to create a small ember which I carefully carried to a new pile of sticks. I blew gently and watched it set ablaze. I was proud.
Next I got to work on how to purify water. I read the instructions on how to use filters and finally got the Trainer to stand next to me and help. “Hello, I’m Jasper,” I introduced myself.
“Otis...” he replied calmly. “But do we really need names? Other animals don’t and they’re just fine. It’s one of our many flaws. We constantly have to prove that we’re better than others. Call it human nature. We even have the audacity to consider ourselves as the dominant species. But we have caused so much destruction in this planet we live in. Our we really worthy of having such titles? We’re not gods, only believe we are,” he spoke as he layered filters.
I was speechless for once in my life. His words were so... unfathomably incredible that I didn’t know what to say. Instead, I just shook my head and copied his design of filters. Tissues on the bottom, then sand and gravel, finally, small pieces of clean charcoal on the top. Repeat steps twice. I poured dirty water down them and added iodine as the finishing touch. Before I knew it, what was brown before, now was crystal clean.
He kept talking about the universe while he taught me how to skin and clean animals for cooking. Cringing at the small creature in my hands, I couldn’t believe I was about to eat squirrel for the first time. We sat by the fire I created and cooked our meals. I liked listening to Otis, and I enjoyed my time with him. I never been camping before.
After a few hesitant bites, I labeled squirrel meat as tasting like pork. It wasn’t bad, actually. Very tender. Otis considered every animal as part of nature’s bounty. The world was very gracious, and I had to be thankful for the small things it gives me.
I waved goodbye to Otis and made my way to another station. That has got to be my favourite session by far.
Unsure if I would have my preferred weapons available in the Arena, I decided to practice with as many killing devices I can get my hands on before the second training day was over. I saved interacting with the other Tributes for later and focused primarily on myself for a few hours.
The shooting station was vacant. Then again, it was still early and not many Tributes were in the Training Centre just yet. Archery sounded like a pretty decent skill to learn, so I grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows from a rack which I hung over my shoulder. Then I positioned myself in front of stationary targets and just as I was about to make my first shoot, I hear the Trainer from behind me.
He yawned loudly. “It’s too damn early to watch you fail. Then again, I could use a laugh when you miss just because you can’t see properly from that hair of yours. Show me what you got,” he demanded.
Great, another Capitol instructor that I was going to have to ignore. It seems I had to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow by myself. Might as well start and hope for the best. I was decent with long range weapons anyways, and hitting targets with throwing knives was quite simple to do, so archery shouldn’t be too difficult.
I closed my left eye, aiming for the bullseye marking where the heart was. Letting go of the string, I watch the arrow fly and hit the dummy’s thigh instead. I frown.
“You trying to aim for the stars? Well you just crashed before you even got the chance to get off the ground,” the Trainer mocked. “Listen, your royal-pain-in-the-ass highness, arrows come down the farther you are from a target. It’s called gravity. Try tilting your bow upwards,” he suggested.
Doing as he asked, I changed the angle of my bow and shot again. The arrow soared through the air and landed on the dummy’s chest. That time I was closer to the target, so I smiled.
He snorted. “Failure! Did you even listen to me?! I said tilt your bow upwards!”
Why the hell was he yelling at me? “I did tilt my—” I tried to explain.
“Obviously you didn’t because you failed,” he interrupted.
Instead of dignifying him with a response, I continued shooting. Arrows landed all over the dummy’s body, except for where I wanted them to. The bullsye remained untouched. I groaned in frustration. After one last final attempt, I finally hit my intended target. I turned around at the Trainer and grinned. “I guess I can aim for the stars~”
“Yeah, after what, twenty tries? Sorry, but I don’t like to count failures. Good luck killing a Tribute in the Arena if you don’t know how to shoot from a far,” he countered.
I sighed and grabbed another full quiver to continue practicing. He had a point. The amount of times I missed dwindled down, as I began to get the hang of it and hitting the bullseye more constantly as I moved from one dummy to the other.
Eventually, after I grabbed my fourth quiver of arrows, I finally hit the bullseye on my first shot. I grinned, looking at Pierce for any reaction.
“Eh. There’s other people waiting. Do you mind leaving now?”
Placing the bow and quiver back, I headed over to another station.
The sun wasn’t out yet when I woke up. Shower, then breakfast, the same routine as day one. Only that time around, I ate quickly, having a Belgian Waffle, an omelet, and a sip of a Bloody Mary. That gave me an extra hour or two in the Training Centre, allowing me to visit more stations. I was unsatisfied with yesterday, and although I liked my interactions, I felt as if I didn’t learn enough.
I entered through the doors of the Training Centre and since I came early, there were a lot more stations available to me. Choosing Melee, my eyes caught sight of various swords hanging from a rack, and I was immediately reminded of my father and his favourite weapon.
“Hello there,” the Trainer greeted me with a handsome smile. “You’re a little early.”
Early bird gets the worm. “Sorry. May I still train here?” I picked up a sword and grinned, letting him know that I won’t take no for an answer.
He nodded his head. “I’m North. Of course you can, your majesty.” A wink, then we began our training session.
I started by learning the human vital points. Aim for the legs when facing a quick opponent. Stab or slice the arms as well as the abdominal area if fighting a physically stronger foe. Handling a blade was like poisoning someone. There were certain parts of the body that had to be targeted for sufficient harm and possible death.
Next I trained with multiple dummies, learning where to slice and what to stab. Use brute strength with longer blades and swiftness for shorter ones. Dagger will come in handy if opponent is at close range. Swing sword to cut off limbs and pierce through flesh.
Once I felt ready enough, I waited patiently for the electronic simulation to begin with a longsword in one hand and a dagger in the other. The difficulty slowly increased as time passed by, so North and I would know what I needed to work on.
A large electronic opponent came charging towards me with an ax. He swung his weapon down and I stepped to the side just in time to thrust upward with brute force, impaling his head using the sword. The hologram shattered, and two more came.
One was faster than the other, so I rolled over when it got close enough and dug the knife to its knee before piercing its chest with the sword, defeating it like I did with my first opponent. I performed the same swift and strong movements as I faced even more holograms
Breathing heavily, sweat starting to dripping down my face, I managed to eliminate ten other holograms. The difficulty level was on medium at that time, not high, so I wasn’t necessarily very pleased. It was about to get harder, and I prepared myself for another batch of opponents when North suddenly stopped the simulation. “W-why’d you do that?” I asked him
“That’s enough for now, your majesty. Quite the lion heart you have there. You did well, I’m very proud of you!” North claimed, hugging me tightly.
Not used to being so close to another man, I chuckled nervously. “T-thanks, but I kind of wanted to see how far I was going to get.”
“I just don’t want you exerting too much energy on this station. Tell you what, come back tomorrow and I’ll spend more time with you, deal?”
I nodded my head and thanked him another time for the session before making way to another another station.
