Scarred | The Hunger Games

3.

It's the first day of training, and although I know that the mentors aren't allowed to train with the tributes, I'm still hoping I won't bump into Finnick or Johanna. 

After a whole lecture from the lead trainer, I take Otto with me to strengthen survival skills. I know my survival stuff, I've trained for that, but I doubt Otto does. He's told me how back home, he would work shifts in the cotton farming industry. With that, I know he would have better stamina than those working in the sewing and seams industry, who sit and sew fabric all day. 

We begin with starting a fire, and I show Otto how to do it, before letting him try. I can see the Careers eyeing us like rabbit chew, smirking before practicing their strengths.

This year, the Careers consisted of the tributes of District One and Two, and the girl from Four. The girl from One, Alora, specialised in swords, and the girl from Two, Onyx, specialised in spears. Pearl, the District Four girl also used spears, no surprise. The boys, Huck and Knox, respectively each from One and Two, both used knives and daggers, throwing them and knowing all the anatomy of how to kill with them. It was a really strong group this year. 

"You wanna have a try?" I had gave Otto a crash course in plant matter, but it was up to him to have actually listened. He steps up to the plant identifying test, I stay behind, watching him. 

I really should focus on learning how to handle a weapon, but I just don't think it's worth showing the Careers that I don't know how to use them. So, I'm just going to hope for the best in the arena. How hard could it be? Just grab a dagger and stab stab.

*** 

The week passed quickly, Otto picking up most of the skills he would need to survive in the wild, with or without me.

I mostly stuck with teaching Otto everything I knew. It kind of gave me a sense of deja vu, like I was teaching Otti how to survive in the wild all over again. I really hope Otti survives. I hope she's alive.

All of us, all 24 of us sat, patiently waiting until we got called up for our evaluations. And slowly, the tributes leave, giving their best performance, before leaving. 

"Novalie Tream." The announcing voice speaks out. I planned this over and over again in my head. What can I do to get myself a 7? Any higher the Careers may think of me as a threat, or someone to get rid of early, any lower and they'll kill me off early anyways. Only thing I came back to every time was survival skills. 

But as soon as I walked into the evaluation room, I knew it would stand no chance in keeping the attention of these skanks. They're more than halfway through the evaluations, and their attention spans can't handle another survival skills showcase.

"Your 10 minutes begins now." Crane announces, before he turns away uninterested, all the gamemakers conversing in-between them.

I grab two stones from the forest sample space, looking for a hard rock, and an even harder rock. I begin hitting the harder stone against the slighter softer one, hard and loudly. The clanging sound of rock on rock catches the gamemakers' attention and I can basically hear them thinking 'what the hell is she doing.'

A piece of the rock breaks, before I begin hitting the other side, faster than before. The other side cracks off. In precision, it forms the shape of a teardrop, wide and blunt on one end, and sharp and piercing on the other. 

Using the rock, I cut off a thick branch from a tree, to both show off its sharpness, but to also use some tree sap. I collect the sap on the blunt side of the stone, sticking it onto the thick branch I had just cut off, before running to grab some rope. 

I secure the stone on the branch with the rope, effectively making a spear. Looking up, I'm surprised that I still have the attention of the gamemakers. With 10 seconds to spare, and the attention still on me, I do the one thing that might get me a better score. I throw the makeshift spear. 

It barely lands in the arm of the human shaped target.

***

"Alright lovelies, ah I'm so excited to see the scores, I know my tributes will do marvellous." VeVe flounces about, before landing herself in the sofa, sitting on her untied white hair.

It's nerve-racking. This pretty much decides if we are targets on the list of need-to-kill-first. And I can feel that Otto is just as nervous.

"From District One, Huck, with a score of 9. Alora, District One, with a score of 10." Not too surprising. "District Two, Knox with an impressive 10, and Onyx, also with a 10." 

District Three got pretty low scores, but I'm still wary of their intelligence. The boy from District Four got a 7. "Pearl, from District Four, with a score of 10." I'm so screwed. 

Five, Six and Seven had pretty average scores, so I didn't worry too much. 

"And from District Eight, Otto. With a score of 7." There were some pleased sounds from around the room, considering that he was only 12, this was a really good score. But I could see the disappointment floating in Otto's eyes. 

"District Eight, Novalie, with a score of 7." I got what I wanted. Living in the outskirts of the district with no money meant I had to DIY most things, so the fact that I made a spear from scratch and got a 7, is completely fine with me.

The only other scores that might have been unexpected were Eleven and Twelve's. All of them got a 7 and one even got an 8, which is quite rare. 

I don't feel confident. I know that the Capitol want entertainment, they want something interesting, and it's not something I can give. I can't fight, I could hide but it'll only take so long until they get bored of me and try sent a mutt or something my way.

But I guess there is one way to sell myself, and it's the same thing that will me sponsors. All eyes on me now.