peeta mellark ༄

5. what are we living for?

lyrics, the show must go on by queen

for the next few days, peeta was quiet. but you didn't have time to worry about him. instead, you focused more on training, and studying the other tributes. and even making allies, like peeta had recommended.

"if you teach me to handle a sword, i can teach you to set traps," you offered the older dark-skinned boy, who's name you learned was thresh.  as he fought with a dummy. he looked down at you through narrowed eyes, quiet and thinking. you didn't break his glare. finally, he complied. "fine. but get something smaller," he instructed, pointing to the weapon's rack. "swords too big for you," he noted, looking you up and down. self-conscious, you had grabbed a weapon resembling a machete. he instructed you, and for the entire training period he was bossing you around like a schoolteacher. "no, stand like this, don't hold it like that, don't swing too hard or you'll fall." however you did as he told you, as he was clearly skilled. after practicing for a long time, you were able to handle the machete decently enough to use it.

starting by the net, you placed your foot through the square loop and began to climb. you didn't know what your arena would look like, as much as you wished it would have thick forest. you had to be prepared if you ever needed to climb. you got to the top of the net, tilting your head downward to see how far up you were. you smiled as you realized you could see the entire training center. the careers were all huddled together and gossiping, the red-haired girl was trying to start a fire, and the boy who's fire you helped start was poking around with a spear.

you looked around more when you couldn't find peeta, relieved when you saw him bent down low at one of the stations. you couldn't see what he was doing, though.

"whatcha doing up there, twelve?" a voice sounded below you. turning your head, your eyes met the faces of the smiling careers, who seemed to be making fun of you. not answering, you turned your head and stepped down a few steps before jumping down as to not break your legs. you braced yourself, landing with bent knees and stumbling slightly before rebalancing yourself. the careers didn't seem to notice your ungraceful landing. "just thought i'd go for a climb," you replied dryly, not meeting their eyes as they snickered at you.

you walked away, not wanting anymore encounters with the judgmental teenagers. you made your way to where peeta was standing, his back facing you.

"hi," you said as you approached. he looked up at you. "oh, hey," he replied. your eyes flickered down, noticing his arm full of paint that resembled tree bark. "oh, wow," you breathed quietly. he heard you, standing up straight as he held his arm out for you to see. "that's amazing," you complimented. he gave a soft smile. "thanks. look," he put his arm to one of the trees the training center had, and it blended in perfectly. "i'll have to make sure to keep my eyes peeled in the arena," you smiled. he grinned with a laugh.

at dinner that night, haymitch discussed with the two of you about the evaluation that would occur the next day. they watch watch you do yor tricks, and give you a rating out of twelve. it was simple, but haymitch stressed the importance.

"tomorrow they'll bring you in one by one and evaluate you. this is important because higher ratings will mean sponsors," he explained. "this is the time to show them everything. peeta, you make sure to show your strength," haymitch turned to you. "you can try showing them your traps, but i doubt they'll be very interested." you felt a twinge of annoyance. "that doesn't mean you're not skilled," he assured you. "capitol people are just shortsighted. trust me, you'll do great in the arena."

you took haymitch's word for it. in all honesty, you were already contemplating what your scores would be. and you settled on, they wouldn't be high, thats for sure. yes, you were skilled when it came to hunting, tracking, survival, et cetera. but whenever you watched the games, the people that won were usually incredibly skilled in weaponry. you were not. you relied on your smarts and instinct, and unfortunately thats not something you would be able to show them until they saw it for themselves.