UPHILL BATTLE (Cato)

Four: What were you expecting, a monkey?!

The next day, there were clothes laid out in the bottom of my bed. My fancy bed in the Tribute Building. In the Capitol. And somehow, the clothes didn't actually look too bad.

My room was far more luxurious that my one in the train. It was bigger, the rugs were softer, the bed was more elegant. And yet, most things like the colours and layout were the same. They must've used the same things. The same decorator.

The clothes were a pair of black trousers that hugged my legs, and a matching shirt with red strips down the sides. I pulled them on quickly, and ran through our floor to the living area. Jenny was already awake, and eating a slice of toast at the table.

Ben sat across from her, with a bowl of cereal. He wore a matching uniform to me. Jenny looked up as I entered, and shot me a smile, which I returned. I walked over to Ben, and reached over his head to the cabinet with the cereal. He jumped, "Oh! It's you."

I snorted, "What were you expecting, a monkey?"

He sighed and went back to his breakfast. I poured myself a bowl, and was adding milk when Jenny spoke up, "It's training today."

I nodded, and sped through my cereal.  "That's why we're in these outfits?"

Jenny looked at me, "Yes. Now, when you're training, remember to try out weapons, but also do the survival stations. They are just as important for survival."

Ben scoffed, "How? We already know pretty much all of that."

Jenny shook her head, with a smile replying, "Still. Practise. Learn something new. It might help you in the future."

Ben snorted, and put his bowl to the side, " I'm going down. It's almost time."

"Yeah, let's go." I nodded, finishing my cereal and following him to the elevator. There was no one inside, thank god, but we stood in silence the whole way down anyway.

The other tributes met us quickly, trickling into the training centre in small groups. Eventually, everyone was here, even District Twelve. We all stood in a circle around a platform. On that platform, was the Head Trainer. Atala began her speech.

"In two weeks, twenty-three of you, will be dead. One of you will be alive. Who that is, depends on how well you pay attention for the next four days, particularly to what I'm about to say." The boy from Two was glaring at Katniss, who quickly looked away.

"First, no fighting with the other tributes. You'll have plenty of time for that in the arena." The boy from One smirked.

"There are four compulsory exercises, the rest will be individual training. My advice is, don't ignore the survival skills. Everybody wants to grab a sword, but most of you will die from natural causes. Ten percent from infection, twenty percent from infection, exposure can kill as easily as a knife." Jenny was right. Ben was visibly annoyed. But Atala was done, so all of us split off to the different parts. I headed for the plant station. Better check out how much plant knowledge I could remember.

I whizzed through the screen, completing them with ease. As I finished, I felt a presence behind me. I turned to see the girl from Five, eyeing the screen that showed my score.

"Oh, I'm done. You can go now." I murmured, stepping away. She nodded thanks to me, moving forward without a word. I backed away, eyes flicking around the colossal room. I would do the survival stuff today, tomorrow and the next day would be weapons. I went to the camouflage sector, and pulled out some earthen toned paints. Better get a move on.

I was seriously bored by the evening, but the next day was better. Day one of the weapons, was trying out new things. And watching the Careers be awesome at everything.

The girl from One could use a bow. The boy loved a spear. The girl from Two could play with knives. And her district partner destroyed everything with a sword.

I shivered as I watched him finish. Then he turned, and caught my gaze on him. He smirked wolfishly as my eyes widened with panic. I quickly looked away, turning back to my spear. I picked it up, and the trainer continued to instruct me.

I decided, that day, that I couldn't use a spear, or a bow, or a sword. Oh well. At least I had tried.

The third day was fine. The weapons I knew how to use? A sickle, a whip and knife. I excelled.

The first I used was the knife. I skinned animals with ease back in my district, as I had worked as an assistant to the one of the butchers before I moved to the farm. I played with the blades like they were toys, expertly gliding the knives. I was good at that.

I felt eyes on me again, and noticed the girl from Two glaring daggers at me. I ignored her at first, but she whispered to her district partner, next to her. Then I had two pairs of eyes watching me.

The next I used was a sickle. I cut down dummies with apparent ease. Working with this weapon came naturally. Although we didn't supply this stuff in District Ten, like District Eleven and District Nine did, we still had to use them.

The boy from Two whispered something to his partner. She scowled, but nodded. I continued with my weapon, ignoring their antics.

I decided on not showing off my whip skills. Couldn't give everything away. Especially with the Careers watching me so closely. Speaking of that, it scared me. I was desperately trying not to look at them, but I could constantly feel their eyes all on me. I was uncomfortable.

Of course, it got worse.

As I slipped the sickle back onto the rack for what felt like the umpteenth time, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I spun, in attack pose, eyes wide. The girls from One looked surprised, flinching back. I regained control of myself, moving into a natural pose and fixing my face.

"Yes?" I asked, hiding my nerves with a sly smile.

"Well, my allies would like to ask you to join our alliance..." she said, sounding bored. She clearly had no idea why she was doing this.

I straightened, "Really?" I was in shock internally, but masked it with polite surprise, "Me? Why?"

"I don't know. You must be good at something..?"

"A sickle. And knives, too."

She looked at me, "So you accept..?"

"I'll have to think about it." She looked mildly annoyed at that, but shrugged, nodding and moving away. I let my shoulders relax. That was something to ask Jenny at dinner.

Training scene done! Individual assessments up next, and then the interviews. Do you guys like this so far?

By the way, Rhea doesn't magically now how to use these weapons, she just knows how to use them (or something similar) from her work in Ten. Not magical skill.