The Fourth Olympics

T E N \\ Lost to the Boy From District Three

F E N

My district partner, Karina Yaripauv, my escort, Mille Leylan, and my mentor, Aaron Caruso, we're all waiting at the dining table when I walked in. Karina had already finished and was chatting with Mille, I sat down next to Aaron and began shoveling oatmeal into my mouth.

"Good Morning Fen," Karina squeaked in her soft voice. I didn't reply, I couldn't think of anything to say that would make her smile. 

"Fen, she said good morning," Mille began. "What do you say back?"

"I say fuck off and let me eat in peace," I growled, not looking up. I immediately felt bad, knowing that they thought I was referring to Karina. Sometimes I wish I thought before I said anything, especially when the girl I like just happens to be in the other side of the table and looks close to tears.

Mille gasped, "Such rudeness should be punished!"

Aaron rolled his eyes, "Calm down sweetheart, once he starts hacking at things he'll be fine."

Breakfast quickly quieted down and everyone went back to finishing their food. Once we all finished, Aaron began to give out advice, which in my opinion we didn't need. Or at least I didn't need. As cute as she was trying to be a Career, Karina was an uncoordinated oaf, she was going to die as soon as the gong sounded.

"Careers usually intimidate other tributes, which makes them turn against you. That is bad, you need to interact with other tributes. Make alliances. Preferably the pair from Three because of their intelligence and the amount of sponsors they'll probably have," Aaron explained.

After that, Karina and I headed down to the training center.  We were the early birds, as the only other pair in here was District Three. This was a perfect chance to talk to them before the Training Supervisor spoke to us.

I walked over to Jack and Sierra who seemed to be planning something. Before I could a get a thing out, Jack spoke, "You can't force us into an alliance. Until we see your survival and weaponry skills, we're not interested."

Taken aback, I stumbled and stared at them perplexed. I'm guessing they're now mind readers. I returned to my standing position besides Karina while I observed the two. Slowly, more tributes began to file into the room, and the supervisor eventually came out.

"Alright tributes, welcome to the Training Center. My advice to you is go to the survival stations. You can die just as easily from dehydration as you can from a sword or knife. Also, we have added an attack simulator and a sparring room. Tomorrow we will have you paired up with a partner to fight with."

The crowd dispersed after the supervisor finished and we went off to various activities. I picked up a spear from a shelf and headed over to the attack simulator. I selected the hard mode and entered the simulator. Several seconds later, the simulations started.

First a humanoid projection charged at me and I hit it in the chest with the shaft of my spear before stabbing it. It got more difficult from there, I spun the spear around and stab several more attackers before I was forced to duck and roll as another one tried to pounce on me.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a small crowd of outlying district tributes watching me. I refocused on the attacking simulations. I knocked one down on its feet and struck my spear through it like a kabob before I stabbed another two. The three humanoid simulations dissolved and I was faced with one more which I slashed, then the simulator shut down.

I smirked in victory as I marched out of the simulator. I decided I'd challenge Jack who was over at the sword station. From a distance, I watched him curiously, observing his technique and stance. For a four eyed jerk, he was pretty good with a sword. He hacked through a couple more dummies before I made my way towards him.