Trials and Tribulations

Chapter Eight

"Dane?"

"Move quick. Feign right, stab left, and vice versa."

"Good. Tetra?"

"If I dodge her spear, then she'll be left weaponless, and I'm free to come in close. Zig-zag towards her fast, get her on the ground, trap her hands."

"Barrett?"

"Insult his persona, looks, and anything else I can pick at. Get him mad enough to throw his axe and he'll be grasping at straws without it."

"Ginger?"

"Call her weak, point out flaws. I might even be able to run her straight into a trap, or a mine."

"Carter?"

"Come in strong with no fear, and dodge his arrows. He'll get flustered and won't be able to even hold his bow."

"Emerson and Krisha?"

"Separate them and they'll be floundering. Overpower one and the other will fall apart at the seams."

Juniper, Finnick, and Mags are sitting in the living room, talking quietly enough that Hollis can't eavesdrop from her bedroom. They're going over the information they have, and how Juniper can use traits against the main tributes she's going to have to watch out for. She went to training earlier in the morning and pretended to spend a while at the fish hook station, while actually observing the weapons that everyone had settled on. Since the private evaluations are in the afternoon, the tributes have refrained from joking conversation or taunting, instead choosing to make sure that their skills are set enough to achieve a high score.

Juniper crosses her arms, leaning back against the fluffy goose-feather pillows. Finnick is leaning forward, hands clasped on his lap as he stares his mentee down. Mags observes quietly with her feet up, almost testing Finnick to see how he's doing with the job.

"Arden?" Finnick asks next.

Juniper hesitates for a moment before replying. "Break his spirit. Kill him last. Let him watch as everyone strong is taken down, and then force him to face the facts. He's fighting with a spear, so the same rules go as for Tetra."

Finnick nods, giving a small smile, clearly pleased. "Good. Very good. Just remember to not discount anyone. I know you were watching training closely and didn't see anyone acting proficient enough with a weapon to be on our radar, but consider the fact that they may be playing your game and staying off the kill lists."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind. There is also that one guy from District Eleven, Xenon I think. He was throwing around those heavy weights and he seems pretty strong."

"For him use a similar strategy to Dane. Big guys are usually slow, and you're lithe enough to make them dance."

"Hell yeah, I am," Juniper smirks. "Are we good then?"

"Yeah. You remember what we talked about for your evaluation right?"

"Yep, I remember. Not too much and not too little. Enough to be invisible to the careers but not to the sponsors."

"Yeah, I think what you had planned fits that." Mags pipes up.

"Hope so. I'll tell you how it goes afterward."

"Well I guess we'll see in any case, scores come out this evening after the gamemakers have had time to discuss." Finnick points out.

"That reminds me, have you heard any buzz about this new guy? Iuvartus, Claudius's cousin?"

"I heard he's great with mutts." Mags relays, making Juniper frown.

"Mutts are something we can't plan for, we don't know what they could be."