I woke up dizzy and wondering for a momet what happen. As the images came back I loon at the roof up me and wonder for the first time if I cou make it. I Would be lying if I’d say the idea of dying here didn’t cross my mind but I fully realized how big of a challenge it will be to win in an arena full of scared kid who want to win and who ally. Maybe I should have think about the no alliance thing more… Having a human shield could be useful and the power of the number is never to neglect…
But my lack of coke made me in a state of paranoia that will come back probably when the adrenaline rush will leave my veins. And having someone near you in a game to death and having paranoia isn’t a good mixture. Yes I was alone but I was safer like this.
I stood up slowly as as my head was spinning I notice the corspe were gone. Did I miss the fallen or I woke up early enough for that? But one thing sure. With my leg and my head (great do I have a concussion now?) going explore the arena wasn’t a good idea. So waiting for the fallen to arrive I walk in the church in a quest to find something to eat or to make a shelter for the night
The Only Way is Up || Rock Climbing Wall || Oren & York
When someone hands you knee guards and a helmet you kind of realise that even if you are the most accident prone tribute ever you can't really die at this station. The trainer was busy holding out a harness as I stepped into it, cinching and tightening it around my waist as I opened my mouth to protest that I could no longer feel one of my balls. I shut it when I saw another tribute walk towards the station, Farren's words of advice ringing in my ears to play nice and to make a good impression.
"I promise it's not as bad as it looks, the feeling will come back to my legs eventually." I offered him a nervous smile, fidgeting as the trainer continued to test out the harness so I didn't fall to my untimely death. "Are you coming up or are you just here to observe?"
I've been alone most of today. Interacting with the others is not in my plan. I'll just check them out today. Tomorrow I can train with them but for now I just need some familiarity.
Spears sounds good. I'm pretty strong so it shouldn't be too hard. Wait...there's someone there. Celesta. I remember her from the parade. We seemed to get along well. She isn't considered one of the others anymore. May as well go for it.
Let’s Get Ready to…What’s this thing called again? || Punching Bags || OS
Wandering over to the boxing ring with its padded floors and protective gear; maybe this was something I would be good at. Letting the trainer fit my hands into a pair of boxing gloves before pushing me over to a punching bag. I watched her carefully as she demonstrated various kicks and punches aimed at the bag. She made it look easy as she ducked and weaved, her movements fluid like a dancer’s. I knew I wouldn’t be able to reproduce it without falling over and breaking my own nose. Sighing I stepped towards it, punching tentatively as the bag swung a little. Another hit and a knee jab sent it careening into my other leg and I hobbled backwards a couple of steps. This wasn’t really working out how I thought but as I glanced up I saw a couple of tributes going at it in the boxing ring. A jab to the throat and a hit to the head brought the second to the floor and I found myself shaking my head at witnessing what they were really capable of. How the fuck was I meant to survive if I couldn’t even hit something that didn’t fight back?
I needed to get my head into the game before I ended up getting my ass kicked into next week. Moving my attention back to the punching bag I tried to put my weight into every punch, kicking a couple of times as I got the rhythm of it. Once I got the hang of it, this whole thing was kind of fun but I should have known that nothing was ever easy when you were as clumsy as I was. One hit sent the punching bag reeling backwards and I wasn’t quick enough to move, the punching bag catching me in the face and knocking me on my ass. I ripped off one of the gloves and brought my fingers up to my nose. It was intact but I wasn’t exactly excited to start this little training session again. Maybe it was time to find some food and some better company? I wondered where Cosmo and that tight ass of his was. The boy owed me dinner.
I’d woken up with a funny taste in my mouth, swallowing a couple of times as I tried to get rid of the bitter after-taste of whatever alcohol I had consumed last night from my system. My head hurt and I used it as a reminder that I really wasn’t a drinker. I swung myself from the bed, wandering over towards the window to glance down at the city as the sun filtered through the clouds. It was different seeing things from up here; the city seemed to gleam under the sunlight like a polished stone and it was a stark contrast to home.
Sighing I moved to get dressed, dragging on the tribute uniform before meandering downstairs to eat. I’d obviously missed the first sitting; Valentine was tapping diligently at a data pad in the corner and had barely looked up on my arrival. However, Farren was sitting nursing a cup of hot chocolate the sweet smell hitting my nostrils as I sat in the chair to her right. She offered me a small smile, pushing a cup towards me as I piled my plate up. I ate in silence, listening intently as she gave me a few final pieces of advice. Don’t get into trouble, make friends, work myself up to weapons training and not to show my weaknesses to the other tributes. It was easy enough to agree with her now but I had a feeling my clumsy streak was going to show sooner rather then later. Saying goodbye I made my way down to the training centre in time to see tributes pairing off and squaring off at the weapons station. I wouldn’t even know the first thing about any of them, so I made a detour towards the traps station. At least there everything was familiar; I could pretend I was back home and making something to catch a rabbit with Waldo at my side.
The trainer handed over a small piece of parchment with a quick list of all the traps and snares that could be made with the equipment provided. A few small diagrams giving me an idea as I went about collecting a bunch of sticks for the drag noose. Finally with an arm full of sticks I began placing them in a small walkway along the ground. Returning to the parchment I tilted my head to the side, looking around for the forked stick and the piece of wire that I needed for the noose. Sitting at the smallest opening of the trap I toyed with the wire. Twisting and noting until I had something vaguely resembling the picture. Hanging it over the fork stick I sat back to inspect my work. Surely it wasn’t that bad? How hard was it to catch a rabbit? I grabbed another stick, checking that the trap would work before standing up and kicking the trap over. Sure it was successful but how was trapping food going to get me anywhere in the grand scheme of things.
The trainer came over, seeing my disgusted look and chuckled. Offering me a spot on the ground and sitting across from me to demonstrate a different trap. His fingers worked quickly as he tied the wire to the bendy sapling that was in front of us, hooking the wire against another small set of sticks he motioned for me to trigger it. Watching as the trap set into motion and dangled my stick from it. It was easy to recreate and from the looks of things it worked nine times out of ten. I didn’t even notice the trainer leave as I tried to mimic the trap; watching as it failed once and then twice. My brow creased with concentration as I finally recreated it, taking some satisfaction from watching the trap snap and dangle its prey from the air.
Taping Up || Nalin & Rima || Boxing Ring and Punching Bags
When I got into the training centre I was awed by the facility here. There were so many things to train in. I steered clear of the tridents and harpoons, at least for now, since I didn't want anyone to get wind of my abilities yet. I circled around seeing tributes going to different stations. I saw Alaska at the archery booth and smiled to myself. Hopefully whoever was with her could duck quick.
I saw the boxing area was empty and sauntered towards it. I was fairly good at hand-to-hand, but maybe the trainer could give me a few pointers. I turned to face the trainer when a little girl appeared beside me.
I was genuinely surprised to see her there, but gave her the tape that I had been using to tape up my hands. "Don't want to hurt yourself too bad, do we?" What a stupid thing to say, we were here to train for a massacre. "I'm Nalin from Four."
I woke up to silence. My hands stretched up to reach the headboard behind me. I pulled the covers off me and sat on the bed facing the window. Training Day is here. I would be back in the place that gave me such happiness. I hopped in the shower to quickly get the sweat from last night off of me before pulling on the training suit that was hidden in one of the dressers.
I felt around my suit to see if there was a pocket, but I was disappointed. I touched the rock for good luck and went out to have a nice breakfast. The only one sitting at the table when I arrived was Cobalt. He looked up, clearly tired from the night before. "Morning! How was the night?" He looked at me with angry eyes and said, "It was fine. My hair was ruined by the end."
I laughed as I piled on eggs and pancakes on my plate. I gobbled it down and saw some dried fish near the middle. I took some and almost choked on a stray bone. It was good, but not as good as my mom's. And that was saying something since it came from the Capitol.
When I was done, I sat at the table sipping some tea waiting for Alaska to show up so we could head down. "She already left." I must have looked crestfallen because Cobalt almost laughed. "It's okay Nalin, she's just downstairs. I can take you to her if you want." He sounded really condescending, but I could take it. I might meet her later in the day anyways.
I stepped into the elevator ready for the day to come at me. I was happy to just focus on me for the day.
