lethal
006 ─── no one's favour .
" no one escapes that arena "
rowan's view
𝔗he second day of training seemed scarier than the first. There was more anticipation, more fear in my bones, especially after what happened the night before.
The second day of training meant the second day of pretending to be weak, of sitting around and going through the motions. And that was exactly what I did.
I crouched down by the fire making station, the soft light of the flames falling over my face as I watched Cato viciously slice off heads and arms of mannequins, same as the day before. After last night, I couldn't help but observe him as much as I could. Cato's grunts filled the room, and while most of the tributes flinched every time they heard his growls, I was irked. How did he expect to win if he could be heard from a mile away? It was an intimidation factor, but I was not intimidated.
Marvel, the boy from 1, was throwing spears with almost perfect accuracy, hitting the target in its center every time, but from where I was crouched I could see that some of his throws were off. He had a torn muscle in his shoulder that made all of his spears go a little further to the left than intended.
Glimmer, the ostentatious girl from 1, was shooting at a target with a silver bow and thin, aerodynamic arrows. It didn't take a genius to perceive that she was terrible at shooting. She never once hit the center of the target.
Clove, the girl from 2, and Cato's counterpart, hit all of her targets with stunning accuracy and flawless skill, the iron blades glittering in her hands. I clenched my jaw as I realized that knives were her specialty, much like me.
I glanced down at the fire I had created with ease, the small twigs I had lit aflame bringing me back to the long winter months in 12, when I would camp out in the woods, waiting for something - anything - to pass by. I was snapped out of my reverie when I heard a loud, panicked grunt, and my eyes snapped up to see Peeta struggling to climb one of the nets.
I jumped up when Peeta flipped and fell to the ground, the sound of his back cracking against the mat making me flinch. I jogged over, bending down next to Peeta as he gripped his arm and growled in pain.
A few yards away, Glimmer, Marvel, Clove and Cato has gathered so they could snicker at Peeta's failure, Glimmer's lips curled up into a cruel smile. The only one who wasn't snarling and snickering was Cato, who stood adjacent to his allies, but was watching carefully, his arms crossed. A lot of the arrogance I had seen in him yesterday had evaporated, not that I cared. What I cared about was his patient expression, as if he was waiting in the calm before the storm. He was waiting for something to happen.
I turned back to Peeta, whose helpless and pained expression made a pang dance across my chest. I could still hear their laughter, following me even as I tried to shut them out. "You need to do something," was the first thing I said. I had no definite action in my mind, but I knew that the longer the Careers stood there, eyeing Peeta like he was their next meal, the larger the likelihood that he would be.
"What?" Peeta asked. He seemed confused as to what I was insinuating, so I looked around, my gaze fastening on a large medicine ball with a handle, made from the same iron as the knives I couldn't use, but desperately wanted to.
"Go throw that weight over there," I said, jerking my head towards the rack that supported the medicine ball in a silent order.
Peeta's eyes widened a little, his head shaking in refusal before he even said anything. "Rowan, I can't. Haymitch said that we're not supposed to show our-"
"I don't care what Haymitch said," I snapped, stopping Peeta. "They're looking at you like you're their next meal. Throw it."
The amber flecks in Peeta's eyes seemed to portray his uncertainty, but the longer I stayed with him, unwavering, the more certain me became. Finally, he pulled himself up, grunting as he shook his shoulder out.
I rose to my feet, watching carefully as Peeta walked past me and towards the medicine balls, determination set in his eyes.
I turned on my heel, somehow unable to will myself into moving. I watched, frozen, as Peeta glanced at the watching Careers before grabbing the largest weight on the rack, with bold black print declaring that it weighed 100 pounds. A shaky breath left my chest, echoing in the air around my as Peeta wrapped his fist around the handle, pulling it out of its place.
Cato was the first of the Careers to chuckle in amusement, making me narrow my eyes at him. It was as if he thought that it impossible for anyone to be stronger than him.
Peeta pulled himself and the weight up to an elevated podium, setting his shoulders before starting to swing the weight back and forth. He swung it once, twice, three times before gathering enough momentum to use his right arm and fling the weight over his head. The weight flew forwards through the air, crashing into a rack of spears, sending the weapons flying. The crash echoed through the gym, making almost everyone flinch. Even the Gamemakers were on the edge of their seats, fascinated by the new development. I was almost jealous that Peeta had gotten to showcase his skill.
"Not bad," I heard Cato mutter, turning to his allies before walking away, the others following him. As soon as they were gone, Peeta's eyes found mine, and I smiled, an action he reciprocated. It worked. He was safe, for now.
𝔛
Tribute Reservoir
Name: Rowan Everdeen
District: 12
Sex: Female
Height: 5 feet 7 inches
Weight: 122 pounds
Age: 17
Odds: 83 to 1
𝔛
Apparently, there was an obstacle course on the third day of training that everyone had to take right before personal evaluations. It was a waste of my time; after all, it was the second last day of training, and this course had no impact on our personal evaluation scores. The course seemed pointless to me, but then again, most things the Capitol did were pointless, with a dash of cruel and psychotic.
I stood in line behind Peeta; the male tributes were going before the female tributes, making me the very last in line. And, of course, the obstacle course looked like hell. Why wouldn't it?
It started off with a net, like the one Peeta failed at climbing the other day, that led up to a beam about ten feet long that you had to walk across. The beam was approximately eight feet high in the air, making the task just that much more difficult. After you walked across the beam, you had to slide down a pole and drop into a crawl so you could shuffle under a net hover a foot off the ground. Next, you had to jump over a flat of burning hot coals, something I sensed was a testament to Cinna's costumes. If you passed the coals, the final test was a simple ten rungs of monkey bars you had to swing across, before landing on the finish mat.
The Careers had no problem with the course, giving me a suspicion that they did similar courses in the academies. Marvel got past with almost no problem, except for the beam, which he almost fell off of. Glimmer would have some burns for a while. I had to resist laughing as we all watching her squeal and flail her arms while her feet seared on the coals. Clove had zero problem, as did Cato.
Both tributes from 3 gave out by the net. District 3 tributes were know for their technological intelligence, not their strength, so their performance wasn't all that surprising. It seemed to amuse the Careers, though.
The female tribute from 4 successfully completed the course, but the boy from 4 slipped and fell on the beam. Luckily, a trainer caught the 13-year-old before he hit the ground and get hurt.
Both tributes from 5, including Blye Spectral, got across with almost no problems, other than a few burns and scrapes.
The tributes from 6 fell from the beam. The beam was proving to be the worst obstacle for most people.
District 7 was perhaps the most embarrassing. The girl was unable to carry herself across the monkey bars, and fell to the ground, while the boy got caught underneath the net in the army crawl. Both of them were whimpering as they were dragged out of the training centre, to be taken to the infirmary.
The rest of the Districts were uninteresting, either passing of failing with little fanfare. I watched intently, however, as Thresh easily passed the obstacle course, just as good, if not better than Cato. It was no surprise to me, although Cato had his eyes narrowed on Thresh the entire time.
Rue was agile, and lightly flew over the course like a feather. She completed it quicker than most, and silently too.
I stood alone as Peeta made his way through the course. I watched, my arms crossed and a worried expression on my face as he climbed up the net, almost falling, but managing to recover. He almost lost his balance on the beam as well, but recovered in time. He made it across, which made me suppress a grin. I couldn't help but feel proud of him, especially after hearing what his mother had said.
"Rowan Everdeen, District 12," Atala called, making me purse walk up to the starting block. I knew that I couldn't complete the course successfully, or show strength, but I hated it. After spending years surviving, and providing for my family, a course like this was nothing. But to everyone else, it was the hardest thing I had ever done.
I had always been easy to anger. I'm quick to aggression, one of my more noteable characteristics. When I was in the third grade, a girl who insulted Katniss lost her ponytail because of it. I was put in detention, but I didn't regret it. My father wasn't upset either.
So when I heard Glimmer mutter to her allies, snarling each word with contempt, "the bitch on fire is going to burn," ...I couldn't help myself.
I sprinted forward, pushing off the ground and leaping as high as I could, which was pretty high. My hands gripped on the net, the jump having taken me at least halfway up the net. I could practically feel the Gamemakers raising their eyebrows in surprise, but I wasn't finished yet. I crawled up the net so quickly it didn't even have time to turn over, the rope burning my hands, but I forced myself to ignore it.
My eyes moved around sharply, the ground dizzying beneath me, so I forced myself to ignore it. I stepped onto the narrow beam, putting my hands out for balance. I hurried across the beam, one foot after the other, completing the hardest part of the course faster than anyone else. I hardly glanced at the pole before deciding it would take too much time, so instead I jumped.
I fell through the air, landing adjacent to the untouched pole in a crouch, making barely any noise as I hit the ground. I dove forward into a crawl, focusing as I completed the crawl in under fifteen seconds. As soon as I crawled out from under the net, I pulled myself up and broke into a run.
I threw myself into the air, my legs stretching wide, and I landed in a somersault, having landed far away from the coals that were left without another victim. In the final stage, I leapt up, grabbing the monkey bars. I crossed them with ease, the worn calluses on my hands barely letting my feel a thing. And, just because my competitive side was still pissed off after what Glimmer had said, I swung forward on the last bar, doing a double front flip before landing on the finish mat.
I straightened up, tucking the stray lock of hair that had fallen out of my ponytail behind my ear. I glanced over my shoulder at the Careers, a small smirk on my lips. The only one who wasn't stunned was Cato, who crossed his arms and smirked back.
𝔛
"I'm going to ignore the fact that you completely disobeyed me," Haymitch said before popping a tree shaped vegetable into his mouth I found out was called broccoli, and it was quite delicious as long as you drowned it in butter.
I snorted, taking a sip of the soup I chose, a flavour called tomato basil. "You literally just contradicted your own statement."
Haymitch put his fork down, looking at me and lacing his fingers together. "Did you not understand me when I said stay under the radar, princess?" Haymitch asked, eyebrow raised. Haymitch was ticked off with me after he had heard about the course from God knows who.
"The Careers were goading her," Peeta said, standing up for me, and I turned to give him a grateful smile when Haymitch continued.
"I don't care! You've just exposed yourself, now you can't-"
"Can't what? Can't pretend to be weak? Guess what, Haymitch, I know my way around ten different weapons that have been used in the Games. I'm not weak," I snapped before standing up, storming away from the table.
𝔛
Tribute Reservoir
Name: Rowan Everdeen
District: 12
Sex: Female
Height: 5 feet 7 inches
Weight: 122 pounds
Age: 17
Odds: 30 to 1
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