Stars | Cato Hadley

Chapter Eight

Wren Eldrid woke up to complete silence. It was weird to her, the silence. She was used to Serena knocking on her door or hollering at her to wake up. She looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was ten in the morning. Wren began rushing around her room in a panic. It took her five minutes to get dressed before she was out the door to breakfast. As she was almost to the kitchen she began pulling her hair back into a long braid. The brunette grabbed a banana and a granola bar off of the table before eating quietly.

"What are you doing out here? I figured you'd sleep in." Oliver Thaden said to the girl as he grabbed a pancake and shoved it in his mouth. He noticed Wren's confused expression after he swallowed the flapjack.

"You don't have to train until three. Serena wanted to wake you all up at eight but I said not to. You guys need some rest." He grabbed another pancake and took a bite.

"Oh, so I can just go back to bed?" Oliver nodded. Wren decided to go back to her bedroom and take a long shower.

...

"Roman, you're going to go down in a bit. Your time is at two forty-five. Wren yours is at three." Serena told the two after Edwin got back. Evelyn was practicing right now. Wren slowly chewed on a ham sandwich. Ariana looked at Roman and waved for him to go talk to her. The two spoke in private for a few minutes before he had to go down to the training room.

"Wren," the black-haired woman said. "Come here please." Wren walked over to Ariana.

"What are you going to practice? I won't tell the others. We all agreed to keep some skills private." She latched her hand onto Wren's shoulder asserting authority.

"A whip. I told Oliver on the train," Wren said. The older woman's eyebrows raised. "A whip?" Ariana asked. The mentor, like Oliver, had never heard of anyone using a whip in the games.

"Yes, I used one a lot on the farm and if I had to use it against someone I could suffocate them, I guess." The victor's eyes widened. She nodded.

"Wren!" Serena's call interrupted. The woman now had pink hair and a pink snake-skinned dress. She ushered the girl to the elevator and before Wren could say anything the doors closed. A minute later she was on the training room floor and Roman walked past her.

"Have fun," he mumbled to the brunette. He turned around as he stepped into the elevator and watched Wren go into the training room. "Oh, Wren, why can't you see what you have right in front of you." He said to himself.

She walked into the room that she had been in for the past three days. This time was different. This time she was alone, with the exception of a few trainers. Her eyes darted around the room and she couldn't find a whip.

"Um, excuse me," Wren asked Atala. "Are there any whips?" Atala was taken aback by this request. Reluctantly she nodded and went to the back of the room. Atala returned with a brown leather whip and handed it to the girl. "Thank you."

Wren moved a few of the dummy's so they surrounded her. Unraveling the whip she noticed the small difference from hers at home. This one had ridges at the end like a blade. She swung her arm in the direction of the first dummy and the end of the whip wrapped around its head twice before she gave a harsh tug. The dummy's head came clean off. Her body contorted and turned as she was precise with her movements. One by one each head hit the floor with a soft thud. The head trainer had never seen someone so quick with the weapon.

"You have two minutes Ms. Eldrid," Atala told the girl. Wren nodded and begun to pick up the dummy's heads.

"What are you doing Ms. Eldrid?" Atala questioned the girl with a hint of surprise in her tone. The trainer had never seen anyone like this girl.