"Fight."
The short blonde haired girl puts her fists up, ready to defend my punch. Lea, the girl, seems confident, but her eyes register as fear. I smirk at how quick my feet are already knocking her to the ground and in a swift moment, she's pinned. Before my forearm could lodge into her windpipe a strong force shoves me off and straightens me up. The look on my face gets a look in return from my trainer before his eyes cast off in the direction of the entrance where a herd of boys lurk their way in.
"Nixon" my trainer says, his lips in a firm tight line.
"Atticus," the tall broad-shouldered man returns in a small nod, eyes scanning my trainer up and down as he approaches us. He has a tight black shirt on with matching tight joggers. His bald head glistens, so I can tell they've already started training.
"What brings you here?" Atticus, my trainer questions. Nixon looks from me to him and chuckles.
"Haven't you heard the news? We're starting co-ed training. With four months till the games we figured it would be best if we compiled all of our athletes together." Nixon walks closer to us, arms still crossed. He looks eager, ready to pounce on anything that gets in his way.
"Co-ed training?" Atticus sneers, his eyes avert to me then back to Nixon. "I suggest you meet my best in class then."
With my arms still crossed I peel my eyes away from the loud bald man and look at the very muscular blonde boy standing a few steps behind him. His eyes are trained on the girl, Paris, using a bow and arrow; lips in a tight smirk.
"Clove Rivers," Nixon answers before Atticus can speak and I turn my attention back to him. He gives me a look and I know exactly what he's thinking; "How the hell could this small girl be anything but the best?"
Deliberately I smirk and roll my eyes, Nixon notices and huffs.
"She's top in class?" Nixon asks, and Atticus chuckles almost as if he's thinking the same thing as him.
"Yes, she-"
Nixon raises a hand cutting off his speech, eyes resting on me again, "Let her speak for herself."
"How about I just prove it to you?" I taunt. Nixon nods, following me towards the knives. My fingers glaze over the handles of the knives I've grown familiar of. You can hear the striking sounds of arrow's hitting the dummies from across the room, although faint. I glance over at Paris who sets her bow down, tensing up when she most likely notices the blonde boy staring at her.
Finally, my attention is at the targets ahead of me. I narrow my eyes and wait for the first dummy to glow and once it does I waste no time skillfully lodging my blades into the hearts and skulls of the plastic targets. The echo of the noise makes my ears perk up and eventually I find myself getting lost in my actions. I throw two at a time before putting my hands at my hips, observing my work. A cocky grin grows across my face when I look at the bewildered Nixon; the boy next to him with blonde hair is glaring at me, jaw tense.
"How was that?" I boast sweetly, the boys behind him and the blonde all stare at me in awe.
"That was good." is all Nixon can say before turning to face the tall blonde once again, "Cato."
Cato looks at Nixon and nods like he's read his mind. Slowly, the blonde walks over the swords, shoulders back, chest out like he owns the place. I can't help but roll my eyes when he reaches the swords. Cato picks one of the heaviest swords up and glances at me for a bit before turning his attention at the mannequins. Swiftly, the sword glides through the air, completely cutting a head off. Next he raises his arm and kicks another dummy down and spears the sword through the heart of another. He's moving so fast I can hardly watch his form, but I know that it's near perfect.
By the time he's finished, it's my turn to glare at the sweaty boy. His white shirt sleeves are ripped off and his black shorts match his shoes. He turns to look at Nixon and walks back, arms crossed. The girls in my area watch in a starstruck way, cheeks flushed like they've got caught gawking.
"Cato Rauls," Cato says to Atticus, "I'm the former head Peacekeepers son, actually."
"Jackson?" Atticus asks, clearly intimidated now.
"Yes, sir." Cato smirks and looks back at me. His eyes meet mine and dare him to be the first one to look away, but instead his eyes trail down my body like I was a piece of meat. My face must have gone rogue because when he looks back at me, he gives a deep chuckle catching Nixon's attention once again.
"How's your hand-to-hand?" Atticus asks, looking from me to Cato.
Cato shrugs, "I wouldn't say I'm too bad."
"Too bad?" Atticus rubs his chin, "How about we see some action, ya?" he's now looking at Nixon.
Nixon gives a small nod and pats Cato's back lightly, "Get to the mat."
Cato obliges and walks to the mat, I take this as my cue to follow knowing that Atticus won't make another girl fight the large blonde.
"Rules?" I ask, arms still crossed, eyes trained on Cato.
"Go till someone taps." Nixon interjects for Atticus.
"Alright," I glance at Atticus before getting in my stance, smirking, "let's go sword boy."
And before I can even throw a punch, I'm pinned to the mat.
Cato's forearm digs into my windpipe and I gasp for air, clearly over-powered by the weight he's shifted onto me. I have to think quick before I lose all control of breathing so with a swift motion I knee the boy in the gut and shove him off with as much strength as I have. Cato stumbles off of me, shocked at how strong I actually am, but quickly regaining his mindset he goes to kick me in the gut.
I grab his foot and yank his leg forwards causing him to the mat hard on his back. A small grunt comes out of his mouth and I take this as a cue to pin him down, my long black hair falls around his face and I quickly bring my fist to his cheek causing his mouth to bleed. He grunts again and spits the sticky warm blood in my face. I wipe it away and sneer at him, "You gonna fight sword boy?"
This time, Cato shoves me off and I almost fly through the air. My back hits the mat and the wind gets knocked out of me. I lay there for a bit, collecting my strength, but before I can make out what's happening his foot collides with my face and I cry out in pain. Blood pours from my nose and I squeeze my eyes shut. I'm expecting another kick, but when I open my eyes Cato is hovering over me. My feet quickly knock him onto his side and I jump back to my own feet. He lays there for a bit, probably shocked that I haven't tapped out yet.
Atticus is looking at me, when I glance over at him. Nixon has his arms crossed, eyes trained on Cato, a glare starting to form as he stands up. I look back at the boy and my hands curl into small fists. I go to punch Cato in the jaw and I'm just as surprised as he is when it locks onto his face, causing him to stumble back. He rubs his chin and narrows his eyes at me, "Whoops." I spat. This angers him even more because before I can react, he hoists me over his shoulder and flips me onto the mat, like a rag doll.
A piercing ring echoes through my ears, eyes blurry. Cato has me pinned down again, his hand slowly wiping the blood away from my nose, other hand pulling my hair back so my head is pinned against the mat. His fist collides with my face again and I grunt. The blood on Cato's knuckles smears on my cheek at the second punch. I can hardly breath right, but I can't tap out.
Not yet.
Slowly, I start to smirk and Cato gives me a harsh glare, "You think I'm gonna tap out?"
"You probably should," Cato's voice is deep, almost scary as he inches his way closer to my face, "knife girl."
I curl my lips into cocky grin, but it's wiped away when his fist collides with my face once more. This time a sharp pain trains its way through my head and without thinking I tap the mat quickly. Cato immediately stands up, triumphantly he looks down at me and walks off back over to his group.
Atticus walks up next to me, offering a hand. I sit up slowly and allow him to help me up, his eyes scan over my bloody face. I'm probably already bruising, "Jesus, Clove."
I wave him off, "I'm fine."
"You're bleeding."
"I said I'm fine." I wipe the blood under my nose onto my hand wincing. I think my nose is broken.
"Let's get you cleaned up." Atticus motions for me to follow and I give in. My head hurts too much to deny anyway. Before we exit the room, I glance back over to Cato, his eyes already watching me leave. I notice the blood under his nose from my blow and I smirk before he vanishes behind the door.