The Hunger Games: It's Not Over

THG: It's Not Over Ch 4- Training Day 1:Carrers

Ugh. That last chapter was not fun to write. I don’t really like writing Maria or Dreydyn. I will write them if they get sponsors though! Enjoy this chapter!

DON’T OWN THG.

As usual.

     Melody Tanner- District 2.

Yeah, I’m small. But I’m deadly. That’s why I volunteered. When a thirteen year old stepped up, everybody gasped. Even in District 2, this is almost unheard of, 13 year old volunteering. We don’t even receive minimal training to be peacekeepers until we’re 14! So why would I step up? See, my entire family have all been masters in some ancient thing called Martial Arts. It was banned a long time ago, but our family has still taught martial arts every child within it. My great great great great Grandfather was a martial arts master. He mastered almost every type there was. And from then on, so has my family. All by age 12. Because I had so much martial arts training, I did gymnastics. That’s legal, and a recreational activity. My M.A training helped me with this, and now I’m District 2 junior champ. Peacekeeper training doesn’t start until age 14, but the weapons center is always there for recreational use and training. I used to go there every day, until I was a weapons master, too. With any weapon, you name it. Oh, of course nobody knew this about me. Except for Darren, and our mentors, Brutus and Enobaria. I’ve been teaching Darren some martial arts, just basic stuff, at Enobaria’s request.

“You ready to show what you’ve got?” Darren asks, in the waiting room by the training centre. We planned to tell the other “careers” and maybe some joiners today about our skills. Yes, I said ours. Darren just happens to be an expert swordsman, and is able to use a gun. Well. Darren is 18, and therefore is able to be a junior peacekeeper. Which he is. Darren doesn’t even want to be a peacekeeper; he just joined to get his hands on a gun to train for these games, in which he knew he would be volunteering in. Genius, if you ask me. Yeah, Darren is a threat. It’s always lurking in the back of my mind, that he might betray me. I try not to think of it, because I think of Darren as my older brother. Try imagining your older brother stabbing you in the back. Literally. It’s not a pretty thought. I hope if this does occur, I can detect it. I don’t know if I could kill Darren, I just hope I could run away fast enough. And hopefully, someone else will find him before final two. Because imagine having to kill your brother. Again, not a pleasant image.

“Yeah.” I say, with confidence. “You?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot, the great Darren is all- powerful!” I say, jokingly.

“Actually, I am a little nervous. All the plans we made are based around being in, and having a large career pack.”

“I know.” I say. “We need to make some back up plans.”

“We won’t need them.” Darren confidently says, the strategist inside him taking control. “District two always leads the career pack. Me and you, we’re strong. If they turn on us, we can take them all down. If they don’t accept us today, or we don’t accept some of them, we can pick up new members. There are plenty of other strong competitors out there, not from 1, 2, or 4. Even if everything goes fine, there are still a couple tributes I’d like to join the career pack.”

“Who?”

“We’ll discuss it with 1 and 4 at lunch.”

     By now, all the tributes are here. The training lady, Atala, tells us the rules, and lets us in.

     “Wow.” I say. This place is so much larger than District 2’s training facility. I’m completely mesmerized by the shelves of shiny weapons, waiting to be used. I’m roused from my thoughts by a light pressure on my wrist, and see Darren is dragging me towards the swords.

      See, us Careers have a strict training schedule to adhere to. It’s quite obvious, it’s known to everyone. Anybody who wishes to join our pack should join us, and adhere to our schedule until we ditch them. 

     That’s just how it goes.

      To us, day 1 of training is nicknamed “Intros and Impressions”. It’s all about fighting. We show of our skills in order to impress the other careers, and wannabe careers do the same. Day 2 is all about learning new things, improving our existing skills, and strategizing. By now, the career pack is already assembled. We try new things, like rope tying, or plant knowledge, to be safe. On Day 3, the final day, it’s about rehearsing for our private training time. We all want the highest score possible. During breaks, we strategize what to do when the gong sounds. After all, it’s probably going to be the last time we all have a real conversation outside of the arena.

       Darren’s talking me up to Districts 1 and 4. I just stand next to him, looking tiny in comparison, being utterly bored and out if it. District Four’s male tribute, Zeke, snaps me out of my trance by ruffling my hair and saying

“Ooooooh, squirt’s a martial arts and a weapons master is she?”

     That annoys me. I check to make sure nobody’s looking but the careers, whirl around and kick Zeke in the upper chest, all while grabbing a sword from behind me, and then holding it up to the seventeen year old’s neck.

     “Yes, yes I am.” I say, smirking while I bring the sword back to my side, and twirl it at my side playfully, as if challenging him to taunt me again.

     “Ooooooh, I like her! The district one girl, Jasmine, reached out to high five me.

    In the end, the career pack was districts 1, 2, 4, Haylee Stone from 12 and Drayden Trok from 3. Nobody expected Drayden to be in the pack. But nobody ever expected him to run at the speed of light, and hit every target dead center with a bow, slingshot, and gun. Drayden was quiet, but you could tell something in his mind was always whirring. He was a complete genius. At lunch, he and Darren spent the entire time creating an elaborate strategy for the games. It was almost fool proof. The only thing that would get in the way of it was the environment.

     As for Haylee, she’s powerful. A master of anything with a blade. Apparently, she is the butcher’s daughter in 12. We were a little hesitant to let her in. Not because of her, but because of her mentors. Each district is only allowed to bring 2 mentors to the games, but since Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the same games, they’re grouped as one mentor. That makes Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch Abernathy. And they’re no fools. And they will either try to persuade Haylee not to join our pack, or to backstab us. They will be a threat to this alliance.

     At the end of day one, I plop into my capitol bed, exhausted.

Sorry for the one pov in this chapter. I got lazy. Please sponsor! Love you all!