The wind blew across the ground, sending various leaves tumbling on the ground. The branches on the trees shook gently, making a sweet and earthy scent flow through the air.
"Today is the Reaping," Clause states, the large black inked dragon on his face moving as he spoke. "So, I hope you all understand that this training session is crucial if any of you are chosen."
Emberly cocks back her bow, her shoulder gently bumping against Ruby's next to her. Ruby also having a bow in her hands as they both train their eyes on the same target. Everyone around them also have bows, some looking absolutely hopeless while others adjust to the weapons weight easily.
"I normally don't say this, but I'm positive the 74th Hunger Games victor will be from our district," Clause states, making a few people hoot and holler, while Emberly and Ruby exchange a glance.
"Alright, now get to shooting." Hadley interjects, cutting off Clause's rant.
Emberly instantly shoots her arrow, watching it stab itself in the ruby red center of the target twenty feet away. Ruby's arrow lands only a few millimeters away from Emberly's own but it still finds itself snug in the same position that Emberly's arrow is in.
"Wonderful," Hadley gleams, her lips pulling tight in a smile. "Now everyone go grab a couple daggers, we're going to practice with those since the skill in that weapon has been lacking recently."
Emberly grabs the ring daggers that Ruby hands her, twisting the metal ring on her finger a few times, Emberly watches as the blade spins around before she's closing her hand around the handle and making the dagger still.
Emberly's not as skilled in knife throwing as she is in archery. Ruby takes the prize in knife handling, being that her father was one of the leaders whom taught knife skills for years until he retired so Hadley could take his place.
"Shoot." Hadley yelled, making the many teenagers throw their daggers in the direction towards the targets. Ruby threw hers with ease, watching it land in the heart of the target while Emberly threw the dagger a bit awkwardly, seeing it land in the blue of the target.
"Archery is your skill." Ruby comments, twirling another dagger on her finger. Her face is pinched together, like she's trying to hide a smile. "You better pray they have a bow in the arena."
Emberly ignores Ruby's comment, another ring dagger twirling on her finger. Stopping the twirling with her hand, Emberly lets out a faint groan of power, before throwing her second dagger, this time with more confidence. It spins through the air, landing itself closer to the red middle of the target.
Ruby huffs something underneath her breath, kicking the dirt underneath her boot. Emberly doesn't bother to hide the smirk that wafts onto her face, before Hadley is telling them to throw their third daggers at the targets.
>
In some ways, Emberly Hawke still remembered her mother.
The woman she'd gotten her eyes and hair color from. The woman who gave Emberly her strong will and fiery tongue. The woman who she often got mistaken for by the older residents of her district, who had been alive when Emberly's mother had been as well.
She saw these traits every time she looked in the mirror. Every time she was gripped by the jaw by her father's hand for mouthing off to him at the wrong moment. Every time she'd make a run to the local market and accidently run into Kylo Faison, and have him tell her a story about how her mother was so beautiful and substantial whenever she'd been alive.
"Eat." The word leaves her father's mouth like an order.
Sitting before her on a simple white plate, is orange squash and a bit of grounded up meat. Emberly stares at it, brown eyes contemplative before she's reaching forwards and grabbing a slim fork from the brown cloth napkins she and her father have been washing and re-using since she was four.
YOU ARE READING
A Court of Roses ↠ Peeta Mellark ✓
Fanfiction❝I asked him for it. For the blood, for the rust, for the sin. I didn't want the pearls other girls talked about, or the fine marble of palaces, or even the roses in the mouth of servants. I wanted darkness, - I wanted him.❞ ~ ...
