CORDELIA
Cordelia couldn't have been more wrong. Somehow she'd forgotten that Elliot was also here and true to Finnick's nickname, the boy was causing a stink. He'd somehow managed to piss off every single career. Had he forgotten they were all fully trained and highly dangerous? They came from the type of Districts that thrived on volunteering for the games at eighteen! The oldest a tribute could possibly be!
She'd noticed something earlier, a ruckus in the swords section. A quick glance showed the careers, the girl from Two was held back by the instructor for that section. It hadn't taken long to figure out the careers were the top dogs around here. They had strutted around to each section, jumping at tributes and mocking them when they ran off scared. Cordelia had been grateful when they'd left her section alone, up to this end of the training hall it was only her and the young male tribute from Twelve. He'd taken up a corner away from everyone else to work on practicing building a fire. Internally she prayed Haymitch had warned him about building fires at night, and that this practice was for cooking food in the day.
Wishful thinking, unless the boy already knew how to catch and gut something properly. From his age and District, it was unlikely he knew how to do either thing.
It wasn't until the yelling started that she began to focus her attention on the scene. Survival instincts took over and she surveyed the situation. Although unsure as to what had started it, Cordelia was certain Elliot was to blame. He stood proudly before the careers, a smirk prominent on his face.
"You are so dead Four."
After not being able to make out anything before that, Cordelia wished she still couldn't. Those words, although directed at her foolish District mate sent a shiver through her body. She had no plans to be associated with Elliot in the games, but it looked like she wasn't going to get a chance to sever all ties. Not when the boy from One looked directly at her and smiled. Sinister was the only word she could think of to describe it.
"Alright, that's enough. Settle down tributes. What did I say? Save it for the arena." The main instructor interrupted. "Get in line, now."
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Elliot stormed back into the apartment. He pushed past both Finnick and Mags, who had been waiting for them to come back from their first day of training. Before either mentor said anything Elliot growled and stomped into his room, making to slam the door behind him.
"That is mahogany!" Elora called from another room.
"What's up with him?" Finnick asked. Cordelia let out a sigh and walked to Finnick, shoving her face into his shoulder. Instantly his hand was on her back, ready to comfort her without question. "Delia?"
"Smelliot," Finnick snickered at her use of his nickname, "Decided he'd make it his mission to piss off all careers as soon as possible." That shut Finnick up real quick.
"He what?" She repeated herself, but since she'd sought the comfort Finnick offered her words were now muffled. "You said that already."
Groaning she just burrowed deeper in, maybe if she wished hard enough she'd disappear and not have to face the next day and a half of training, if she was lucky maybe the games would be canceled.
"Other than that, how was training darling?" At Mags's question, Cordelia left the safety that was Finnick's embrace and turned to face the older woman. This woman could prevent negativity before it even had a chance to become an issue. A saint.
"I managed to find something to fill my time," Cordelia looked back at Finnick, before looking back at Mags. "It's actually something useful." Mags and Finnick looked at her expectantly. "The memory section." Both mentors looked at each other and then back at her, confused. "Did neither of you use it?"
"It has been a few years since my games." Mags reasoned.
"Finn?"
"I um... was focused on other sections?" Finnick answered, wide-eyed. "Just ah, tell us about it, Delia."
"Well, it's this big screen, which matches a smaller screen to touch. You pick the setting and match the correct plants for the correct situation. Things like where they come from, and whether are they edible, medicinal, or poisonous."
"Seems like a good choice little pearl." Mags pinched her cheek.
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If ever there was a moment to disappear, now would be great. Cordelia had struggled to sleep with the bright Capitol lights that shone in through her window. So this morning when she'd finally woken up after hours of non-stop tossing and turning, Elliot deciding to complain about the careers all throughout breakfast was not a welcome morning activity.
It didn't help that Finnick and Mags weren't around, Finnick was a natural Elliot repellent and Cordelia regretted not using this to her advantage more. Mags was just a sweetheart and kept them separated. When she'd asked Elora where her mentors were, Elora had brushed her off instead bringing up the fact it was officially day two of training. Cordelia shuddered. As fun as her little memory game was, a distraction to lose herself in that tactically, put her at such a big advantage- each tribute might know their own plants, but this system showed all Districts and included the Capitol. No one else had so much as looked in the machine's direction.
That wasn't the issue. Cordelia's issue stood with her in the elevator. Floor four wasn't the longest ride down to the training center, but Elliot's complaining was making it feel like forever.
"I still can't believe they took the trident away from me." The boy whined. "It's not like anyone else can use it. So why let them waste my time and share?" Although his question was not hypothetical, Cordelia let it sit in silence, answerless. His stunt yesterday had drawn so much attention to her already, she didn't need anymore. Really, he'd drawn more attention to her than she planned to until the games. And she was doing such a good job. Blending into the background was a difficult task, red hair like hers was not easily dulled. "Hey!" Elliot clicked his fingers in her face. "Are you even listening to what I'm saying?"
The answer was simple, no she was not.
When the elevator bell sounded and the doors slid open Cordelia made sure to pick up her normal pace avoiding any more of Elliot's complaining. There was only so much she could take. But maybe rushing out of the elevator without looking was not a good idea.
"Going somewhere Red?"
Cordelia felt her whole body stiffen. The boy from One. He was tall and she had to crane her neck back to look him in the eyes. His hands circled her shoulders, holding her in place. Behind him, the other three careers watched them intensely. Was this a test? She didn't care. There was not one moment Cordelia had ever considered working with the careers. She wasn't about to suck up now.
Somehow thinking about breaking free was a whole lot easier than actually pulling away.
"You're a pretty little thing huh?" One hand left her shoulder and followed the natural curl of her hair from one of the pieces that had fallen loose from her braid. A braid Finnick took his time to complete. He'd done it and redone it so many times she had started to worry. Especially as they'd been sitting in silence. When questioned Finnick pointed to the book in her hands, 'wild plants, types and locations'. This was what Finnick adequately dubbed her homework. Because of the late hour, Cordelia just went to sleep with it in and left it in out of convenience for the day. The time frame combined with sleeping in it had loosened it slightly, causing some strands to fall loose.
Cordelia pulled away and brushed past the rest of the career pack. Wary to knock actually knock into them.
"Don't go far!" The mocking laughs were quick to follow.
Tears pooled in her eyes and Cordelia fought to keep them from falling. Finnck would be mad, so far she'd broken the 'steer clear of the career pack' rule, and needing to release the adrenaline that had quickly built up it was becoming harder to not use the knives that were so nicely displayed in one of the larger weapon sections. They wouldn't feel like the ones from back home, Cordelia knew that. Tomorrow was the private session, she'd be using knives then wouldn't she? Wouldn't it be better to get a feel for them before that? It was better to ask for forgiveness than get permission, that's how the saying went. Right?
No. The careers were still watching, waiting to see what she would do. Finnick was right, they'd be watching her as much as she was watching them. Yesterday she had managed to avoid the being watched in return part. Now she had an audience, whether she liked it or not. What to do? The memory game again? She'd come close to mastering it yesterday after spending every hour of her training time using it. None of the tributes had so much as spared it a second glance, why should she advertise it as a useful tool now?
Knives were out of the question, so what could she do? Something physical with her hands preferably. The adrenaline was still inside her begging for a release. What would Finnick do? What would Finnick do? Cordelia thought internally. What did Finnick do? Maybe that was the better question, considering he had won the games last year. The tribute training wasn't televised or recorded for viewing as far as Cordelia was aware. But the games were, and Cordelia had watched every second of Finnick's games.
And just like that she knew what to do. Making herself comfortable Cordelia sat on the ground, collecting all the scraps of rope she could get her hands on. There weren't many things in here Cordelia was good at, but the things she was good at? Well, it was safe to assume she was leagues above everyone else. Politely Cordelia dismissed the section instructor. Hands moved in practiced precision. Knott tying. Even if they wanted information, a District Four tribute who could tie knots wasn't uncommon. It was something Finnck did throughout the entirety of his games.
Every free moment, he was tying knots into rope. Cordelia would do the same. Chanel her inner Finn and tie knots for hours. Deliberately she chose a mixture of advanced and beginner knotts, randomly pausing so it was unclear where each knot started. This helped in multiple ways, first the careers wouldn't be able to mimic the knots and learn and second it forced more of her focus. Which drew attention away from the career pack, who eventually got bored and wandered off to do something else.
Cordelia spent the rest of her free roam training time switching between weaving and tying knots with different materials. She improved both in accuracy and speed. During the compulsory group training, Cordelia took care to stay in the middle of the pack. Watching everyone work through the obstacles it became clear that she was actually sitting in the top six, at least. Districts One and Two held the top four spots, but that wasn't shocking. What was shocking was Elliot sitting in the bottom six.
He had made it clear he wasn't going to hide his strength. Surely he hadn't changed his tactic? Expression morphing into a frown, Elliot forced his frown into a scowl, directing his anger at the girl from Eight. Cordelia had seen Elliot train, he had some serious skills. Had he really never trained anything else? Only combat? Was that why he avoided eye contact? Or why he rushed back to train with the instructor at the hand-to-hand combat station?
Was Elliot hiding something?