weeping willow // sejanus plinth

04

Chapter Four: Daggers and Apologies

Willow

I tug at the neckline of the skin-tight training suit they gave me. This outfit is probably the worst part of this.

The 23 other tributes and I are just let loose into a training room. There are peacekeepers stationed at every exit.

The walls and floors are cold and dark, making it seem like the room never ends. There seem to be no windows, the only source of light being the numerous fluorescent light fixtures on the ceiling.

There are multiple stations. One for climbing, swimming, sparring, fire making, plant identification, and many others I couldn't name. There is a long wall decorated with a various assortment of deadly weapons.

I make my way toward the fire-making station and get to work. I've never actually done this before. District Four is very warm and coastal; we never light fires except to cook, and even then, we use flint.

I follow the instructions in the tutorial video. It takes me about 10 tries, but I finally succeed. My hands are slightly raw from all the effort, so I move on once I'm able to spark a fire a few times.

I can feel the other tributes watching me, sizing me up. I ignore them as best I can, weaving through each station to see what could help me.

I'm watching a video about poisonous plants when I feel a presence behind me. I spin around and find myself face to face with Spark, the boy from District One. I try not to learn the other tributes' names so that their imminent deaths bother me less, but Spark left an impression on me.

I remember him from the parade. He had practically lunged at one of the other tributes who was staring at him. His short temper probably attracted a lot of sponsors.

I have to crane my neck up to look at him. He's tall and burly, probably around 6 feet. He has pale skin and short brown hair cut into a buzzcut. I see the female tribute from his district lingering behind him.

"Get out of my way, Weeping Willow. I wanna use that." His voice is deep and demanding. He snarls out the nickname with disgust, glaring at me as if I'm nothing but a bug under his shoe that he's about to squash.

His attitude deeply annoys me, but I don't want to draw any attention to myself. I swiftly step out of his path without uttering a word.

I spot Cedar from across the room. He's fiddling with a dagger. I jog over to him. "Hey Cedar, how are you holding up?" I don't know him very well. We only spoke here and there back in Four. After he lost his arm, he barely left his house.

"Oh... hi Willow. I'm just trying to practice with this." He waves the dagger around, a little too close to me.

I can see why he chose this weapon out of the large selection. Back in Four, we use big knives like these to gut fish and remove the bones. I recall using a fake dagger, similar to this, as a prop in a dance once.

"Can I try?" I ask.

He shrugs and hands me the dagger. I step away from him and slash at the air a few times. Cedar raises his eyebrows in surprise as I hand it back to him.

"You're pretty quick with it. You should try and get your hands on one in the Arena," he remarks, still trying to figure out the right way to hold it. I wish I could help him, but I doubt any way would feel right since he is forced to use his non-dominant arm.