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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄
𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏 𝐁𝐔𝐓 sit back in the chair, arms crossed over her chest while staring at the amount of food that was before her. She had skipped supper after the ceremony, claiming not to be hungry and went to go get some sleep. Of course, that sleep only lasted for about three hours so she was up the rest of night, still not used to the soft, foam mattress. She spent the rest of the night dreading the next couple of days that awaited her.
How the hell is she supposed to get through the training and then the interviews? More specifically the interviews, where she will be forced to speak in front of a large crowd. She already knew that would not go well. Sage is incapable of having a pleasant conversation. It was very hard for her. The only people she has had one with took years for her to get comfortable with them. Tatyana was right, she needs to get a hold of her temper. If Caesar Flickerman says the wrong thing that triggers that primal rage in her, things will not end well on her part.
But what she doesn't understand is why the Capitol provides the tributes with all these luxuries and gourmet meals when in a couple days they will be starving and fighting for food in the arena. It was like they were fattening them up before sending them to the slaughter house. Scratch that, that is exactly what they were doing.
"Sage," Walker spoke up. The young girl looked up from staring at the table, everyone was already digging into their plates, especially Chance who was already helping himself to a second serving. "You need to eat something. You need all your strength for training."
Instead of responding, Sage just nodded and grabbed the first thing she saw, which was a plate of thick cut sausages and placed two on her plate. With that, she added some toast with some jam, not really sure if she could eat anything more than this.
"Is this training thing really necessary? Can't they just do the private session, rank us and get it over with?" Chance asked after just swallowing another mouth full of eggs.
"Yes, it's very necessary. This is where the tributes normally scope out the competition, learn and strategize their strengths and weaknesses," Walker explains. "Which I much advise against showing off some of your special skills until the individual evaluation. Do either of you have any special skills?"
Both Sage and Chance shared a glance, but not sure how to answer and their chews slowing as they thought. When Sage remained silent, Chance was the first to answer their mentor's question. "I'm pretty good with a sword. My father taught me how to yield one when I was nine for fun, but I haven't really done it in a while."
"Good, I suggest practicing a little bit and use it during individual evaluations," Walker nodded in approval, before turning his head towards the one he knew wasn't going to give him a serious answer. "How about you, Sage? Any hidden talents besides being stubborn and a smart ass?"
"But I'm told those are my special qualities," Sage replied sarcastically, earning a snicker from Chance. It was at this moment Sage realized Bird was nowhere to be found. That might be why this morning has been a bit peaceful. However, knowing this was serious, the redhead just shrugged her petite shoulder, staring down at her lap. "I don't really have any skills that will be useful in the games."
"What about hunting? You are really good at that, right?" Chance randomly speaks up, causing the female tribute to turn a sharp eye on her District partner.
"And how exactly do you know this?"
Chance met her gaze. "I just... I remember when you got flogged two years ago. It was for hunting outside District 9's borders, wasn't it?"
Sage could feel the phantom sting of the whip against her back at that moment, the burning of each lash was implanted in her memory, just like everything else. Ten lashes. It wasn't the minimum, they were warnings seeing as it was her first offense. Meaning, she had been very sloppy and just wanted to go back to the Dread after hours of not catching anything. She didn't see the Peacekeeper truck patrolling when she was caught sneaking in through the wired fence. A public flogging wasn't unusual, but it was definitely humiliating.
Sage gritted her teeth together, the memory fresh on her brain as the table suddenly became quiet. Chance cleared his throat, putting down the fork. "I-I'm sorry, Sage. I shouldn't have brought it up."
The redhead didn't respond, just played with the sausage on her plate, trying to get the memory of everyone watching as the 'bitch got what she deserved'. At least that's what she had overheard someone say when she was being tied to the post.
Walker was eyeing the girl sympathetically, knowing far well that Peacekeepers do not hold back when it comes to floggings. The scars it must have left on her back are undeniably still there and it made him hate himself for not knowing about it. He remembers the day the girl standing before him was kicked out of Victor's Village. He remembers the threat of the letter he received from one of the higher ups that he was not to help the girl in any way. He still hates himself for abandoning her, for not fighting for her. Who knows what she has had to endure.
After a moment, Sage could barely stand the awkward silence, so instead she lifted her head up and looked directly at their mentor. "I'm good with traps, especially makeshift ones. I also am stronger than I look and I'm very good at finding people's tells. Quirks and weaknesses you can say."
Understanding her need to change the sore subject, Walker nods his head in understanding. "Good. Good. How are you with weapons? Swords? Knives?"
"Well, I know which end to stab them with, if that's what you mean." Sage bluntly stated. An irritated expression took over her mentor's usually soft expression, causing the redhead to roll her eyes. "I'm pretty good with knives and a staff, but I'm a quick learner so I'm sure I can figure out swords and other shit they will have just fine. I'm very good at hand to hand combat. I guess you can say that is my special skill."
Walker raised his brows curiously. "And how does a fifteen year old harvester girl learn hand to hand combat?"
Sage cocked her brows in the arm, a knowing smirk forming on her lips. "You can learn anything with the proper motivation."
Walker couldn't help but nod his head, impressed. Meanwhile, Sage glanced over to see Chance was staring down at the table, his expression anything but solemn. More annoyed if anything. Sage ignored his strange behavior change and got up from the table.
"Hang on, Sage." Walker held up a hand to stop the redhead from going anywhere. "I want you both to try to at least talk to some of the other tributes. Mingle, try to form some alliances so you have someone to back you up in the games. Trust me, it'll make getting out of the bloodbath a lot easier if you're not working alone."
"So don't show off your special skills and form alliances, sounds simple enough," Chance says with a shrug.
"You are not the one I'm worried about." Walker told the brunette male, the two turning towards Sage who was already shaking her head.
"My people skills tend to lead towards non-existence."
"Well, that's easily fixable. Learn to smile, maybe you'll manage to be more approachable."
Sage rolled her eyes. "I'm being serious. I don't work well with others."
Walker scoffed. "Really? And here I am thinking you're just a pocketful of sunshine." All he got in response was the middle finger from the teenage girl, earning a chuckle from Chance who tried to cover it up with his mouth. Walker gives them both an unimpressed look. "I'm serious too, Sage. You need to start taking things seriously. Your best chance at survival is not going at this alone. Whether you like it or not, you need allies."
"Remind me again, how did you survive your games?" Sage bit back, causing the table to go silent. Walker just looked frustrated with him and stared down at the table. Satisfied, Sage turned away, mumbling as she went. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
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"𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐒, 𝟐𝟑 of you will be dead." A tall, lanky woman by the name of Beatrice explained, all 24 tributes gathered in the training room in their training clothes, listening carefully to the rules and instructions one of the Capitol's administrators were giving. "One of you will be alive. Who that is depends on how well you pay attention over the next four days, particularly to what I'm about to say."
The two tributes from District 9 stood to the side of the instructor, behind the tributes from 3 and 7. Sage shifted her weight from one foot to another, arms crossed over her chest as she stood tall and expressionless, as the woman continued. "First, no fighting with the other tributes, you'll have plenty of time for that in the arena."
The other tributes looked almost as uncomfortable as the rest of them. Sage was trying her best not to even look at the twelve year old from 6, Bobbi. She seemed to be glued to her District partner, Turner, who gave her reassuring glances every once in a while.
"There are four compulsory exercises, the rest will be individual training. My advice is don't ignore the survival skills, everyone wants to grab a sword but most of you will die from natural causes."
If anything, Sage hopes she is taken out quickly. By a sword, an arrow. Anything that is fast and simple. Because slowly dying from thirst or whatever environment the gamemakers have created for this year's arena is not going to be a pleasant way to go. After Beatrice explained more about the final assessment, everyone was free to start their training and go to separate stations. Chance shared a look with his District partner, for which she shrugged before walking off, leaving the male by himself. At first, Sage went to observe the different stations, how they looked and worked. She also took note of the other tributes and how some aimed for certain stations first.
Like the careers from 1 and 2. The two males immediately became an easy partnership, heading towards the weight lifting portion while their female partners headed towards the archery and knife throwing. Many were at the sword fighting section, only a few were at the survival sections. Sage figured it would be best to start with stuff she wasn't familiar with.
Hammock-making. It wasn't hard at all to learn. Sage discovered she is actually very skilled at this after reading over the instructions once. It required a lot of knot-tying, which she knew pretty much every knot there is. She had read it from a book she obtained from her short time in school. She mostly took it to help her with her snarls and traps for hunting.
It didn't take long before she had a perfect hammock made. After leaving that station, she was starting to realize there are not many survival sections that she is unfamiliar with. Everyone she has had to teach herself when she was on her own or she read somewhere. So she went to the one she is less familiar with, fire-starting. It's not that she didn't know how to make a fire, she did. But she hasn't had to do one without a match in years, so she knows she was a bit rusty.
Thankfully she was the only one at the station, but it was located in the back of the gymnasium so it gave her an excuse to observe the others. It wasn't hard to find Chance who, unsurprisingly, was waiting in line at the gauntlets. Sage made a mental note to visit there tomorrow, she noticed that that seemed to be a popular section as a lot of the older male tributes gravitated towards that one. Only two females were waiting in line. Sandy from 10 and Ember from 7.
When the smoke finally started to appear after a minute, she blew on the tinder gently, making sure not to blow the whole thing out, before the fire united. Sage carefully placed it under the sticks and dried grass. As the fire started to enlarge, Sage sat back and watched the flames with an absent mind, a part of her wondering exactly what her game plan would be when she entered the arena.
Should she allow herself to be immediately taken out in the bloodbath? Or should she pretend like she is actually trying, just to give Adrian and Hyacinth a peace of mind when they are watching from home? It was all very frustrating to think about and Sage missed the days where she was by herself, so she didn't have to worry about caring for others feelings.
There is another part of her... the selfish and stubborn part that yearns to win just to prove to the one person who has always doubted her. Her mother had never shied away from telling her exactly what she thinks when she thinks it and one day during the 59th Hunger Games after the final tribute from their District was taken out, she had turned to Sage who was sitting on the floor, watching the projection with a blanket wrapped around her.
"You will never survive those games, child. You would only be an embarrassment to me if you are ever chosen."
Sage didn't say anything, just stared at the projection with a blank expression, having been used to these kinds of random, harsh comments from her mother. No matter what, in Deirdre Rowan's eyes, she would never be good enough, strong enough, or skilled enough. She lacked the means to survive the Hunger Games. It was always the same thing.
If Sage didn't know the repercussions that came from winning, if she went in there blindly with the only thing on her mind was to survive, then she would prove the miserable excuse she calls a mother wrong. She would prove it to her and to herself. But Sage was barely living a life as it was... becoming a victor would only make things worse.
"Hey," the sound of the station's instructor called to her, coming over to put out her fire. "If you are done here, move on."
Sage only nodded, moving on to the next. Eligible plant section. Sage nailed this pretty easily. She knew every poisonous plant and every eligible one. She has eaten many of them in her years. She noticed the two other girls who were waiting to use this section were pretty impressed by how quickly she identified the plants and was able to name each and every one of them.
After that, she went to the fish hooks. Now this one was a serious challenge for the girl. She read the instructions exactly, but it seemed that her fingers just did not want to cooperate with the hook and she ended up nicking herself with it, causing her to wince and pull her hand back and observe the small amount of blood on the tip of her thumb. She placed her thumb between her lips, growing a bit frustrated.
"Need a little help with that?" A new voice startled her, causing the redhead to turn sharply and only to see the familiar golden haired boy from District 4 who has entered her mind more times than she cared to admit. He moved around the table so he was across from her, looking down at the fish hook she was failing at making, a tiny amused smile on his light pink lips. "It's not bad, for a beginner. It just needs to be tighter."
Sage eyed him warily, not sure what to say. She may have a bit of respect for the male after watching his Reaping ceremony. But then again, he is considered a career tribute, so just because he volunteered to save his visually impaired twin brother, doesn't mean he is to be completely trusted. Sage was anything but trustful.
"No, I got it." She tells him, going back to her crappy looking hook.
Lorcan just gives a kind, gentle smile. "You sure? I am from District 4 after all. Fishing District. I know a thing or two about these things. I've only been making them since I was like... five."
Sage stared up at him through her long lashes, seeing the playful smirk on his lips. She has never really given much thought to finding someone attractive. She normally never cared enough or paid enough attention to someone to understand the true meaning of that word. But staring up into Lorcan Ellison's captivating eyes that reminded her a lot of the spring sky, and the way the corner of his lips tugged into a small smile warmer than the gentle sun, his long, golden blonde hair falling in front of his face- Sage finally understood what that word truly meant. Because Lorcan is undeniably attractive.
Clearing her mind, Sage only went to wrap the line around the makeshift hook, shaking her head stubbornly. "No thanks. I'm usually good at figuring things out on my own."
Lorcan only nodded in understanding. "Okay. Mind if I stay and work on my own?"
"I don't have the authority to tell you you can't." Sage muttered. Lorcan only chuckled, grabbing the things he needed to make his hook, going to the opposite end of the table and creating his piece. Sage did her best to focus on her own terrible hook, but she couldn't help but glance over and watch him work. Sage had always been an observer, always learned better from watching others do things and keeping the image on repeat in her mind until she perfected them and eventually learned to do it better. It is how she became so good at hand to hand combat and how she knows how to handle a knife.
In a matter of minutes, Lorcan had the most perfect fish hook she has ever seen. Better than the example picture shown with the instructions. He looked over at the redhead who was staring at his hook in amazement. He smirked at her admiration of his work. "Believe it or not, my brother can make a better one."
Sage tore her eyes from the hook and up to him at the mention of his brother, noticing how painful his voice sounded and the way his eyes were distant. Just like when he was fighting with his brother from going onto the stage when his name was called. Sage could see the pain in his face, the longing of how much he wanted to go home and be with his brother.
"I believe it," Sage finally said, staring back down at her hook and trying to finish it. "Just because his eyes don't work, doesn't mean he's incapable. I bet he can even make it faster than you."
Lorcan grinned at her words, nodding his head in agreement. "He can, actually. Ever since we were little. Our dad refused to let him give up when he became frustrated. I may have learned first, but he learned better."
Hearing him speak about his brother was very strange. A part of Sage doesn't know why he was being so open with her and she didn't know if she liked it. Hearing about his family was hard for her, seeing as she has never known love like that before. All she had was a greedy, cruel mother who lost touch on reality and would often take it out on her daughter. Sure she can think of two other people who mean the world to her, but they were better off without her in their lives.
Not exactly sure what to really say to that, Sage just looked at her dysfunctional hook and frowned. "Maybe you are the better teacher then. Tell me, what the hell am I doing wrong?"
Lorcan couldn't help but chuckle as he came over, observing the fish hook with a scrutinizing expression. "I told you, you aren't making it tight enough."
"Yes, I am actually. Look, I tied it together perfectly."
"That's the problem. You can't tie a knot into it, you will never make it stay together." Lorcan explains, taking her fish hook and tossing it to the side. "Let's start from scratch."
Sage allowed him to show her properly how to make it, the redhead never once looking away from his hands as it creates another beautiful fish hook out of makeshift things. As usual, observing is better than reading instructions and by the time Lorcan told her to try it, Sage nearly perfected it. Of course it took her longer, but that didn't stop the impressed look that spread on the male tribute's face.
"Wow, you learn fast." Lorcan says, twirling her hook in his hands and nodding. "Well done. If we end up in an arena surrounded by water, I expect you will successfully be able to catch yourself some delicious supper."
"I doubt we will be," Sage admitted. "There was an ocean in the last two games. I highly doubt they are going to repeat the same thing a third time around."
"Huh," Lorcan mumbled, thinking. "Well, what do you think it will be?"
Sage only shrugged. "I have no clue. But I have a feeling it might be a colder environment."
Lorcan shivered at the thought. "I hope you are wrong. I don't think I'd do well in the cold."
The redhead remembered that District 4 is like her own District, used to the hot sun and hardly ever feels the effects of the winter snow. District 4 might be worse, because where 9 does have a mild winter, 4 rarely ever does.
"I hope I'm wrong too." Sage tells him, admiring her fish hook for another minute before the two walked away from the station.
Lorcan then turned to her with an innocent expression. "Look, since I helped you with the fish hook, mind helping me with something?" Sage raised her brows curiously, as Lorcan looked over to the edible plant section. "I saw you earlier with the plants. Mind showing me how you know which plant can kill you and which is safe?"
Sage crossed her arms over her chest and stared up at him. He wasn't nearly as tall as Chance was, but he was definitely taller than her by a couple inches. "Is that why you helped me with the fish hook? So I'd owe you?"
"That was part of it," Lorcan admitted, awkwardly running a hand through his long, beautiful blond hair. "It was also an excuse to talk to you."
Sage frowned at his words. "Why would you want to talk to me?"
Lorcan shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I guess because you might be the only one who chose to be here to save someone we cared about. I also thought you might also be sick and tired of people telling you how brave you are for volunteering. I know I'm not brave. I just couldn't handle the thought of watching my twin brother die on screen knowing he is at a disadvantage. He's always been told he shouldn't let his blindness hold him back from anything... but everyone knew the moment his name was announced that he was not going to return home."
Lorcan paused, as if trying to get a handle on his emotions and cleared his throat to control his shaky voice. "Atlas is the bravest person I know. I need him to have some resemblance of a future, for however long that lasts in this damn world. He made me promise to come home... that was the first time I ever felt like I lied to him."
Sage blinked at him once and then twice. "You don't think you have a chance?"
Lorcan looked at her, eyes wide and filled with so much fear. "I don't think I will have the strength to do what is necessary."
Sage understood what he meant immediately. He doesn't believe he will have the strength to kill, even when his life depended on it. For some reason, Sage was filled with a strange feeling... concern. She was concerned by his confession. Worried, even.
A part of her was confused as to why he was telling her all of this, but at the same time, she was interested in more information. She wanted to know his purpose, what he is fighting for. Sage saw something in him when he volunteered... she saw someone who actually deserves to win. Someone who has something to fight for.
"I think you'd be surprised what we are capable of doing when our backs are pressed to the corner. Don't count yourself out just yet." Sage told him, before motioning to the station they were originally heading to. "Come on, the section is clear."
The two head over to the large screen, the redhead realizing that maybe she can have a decent conversation with someone without sarcasm or spite. Curiosity taking over Sage glimpsed around only to see Chance talking with the male tribute from 2, Dick. Sage felt herself becoming alert, hoping that her District partner was not stupid enough to try and align himself with the most distrustful District in all of the Capitol. But it seemed Dick liked what the brunette male said and laughed, clapping him on the back before walking away to the hand to hand combat section.
This is going to be a long three days.
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I'm falling madly in love with Lorcan and I hate myself for it!!! Honestly can't wait for the interviews, its going to be so chaotic and I can't wait!
Let me know what you guys think!