Atala isn't a very significant character in the series which allows me to control her character more. This outside view in is just one of many.
***
"...weight lifting and wrestling." Atala finishes listing the many stations there are to offer. She disbands the twenty four tributes and takes her place in the stands with the Gamemakers. Another Career District win is what she initially thinks after seeing them wield their respected weapons, but a small interaction leads her to examine them more closely.
Atala had been head trainer for the past five years and she had been able to correctly predict the year's Victor each time. These lot had loads of skill and ruthlessness, especially the tall boy from District Two. But this year's tributes were a variety of surprises. The biggest tribute hadn't been Cato but the District Eleven boy Thresh. Atala knew he'd make it to the final five maybe, but he wouldn't win. District Eleven had produced the smallest tribute as well, the twelve year old. She was so delicate Atala didn't see her making it very far, probably a blood bath kill. But one of the smaller tributes also happened to hail from District Two, Clove. Clove's size didn't stop her from being a Career Tribute. The personality and attributes were still there. Clove's knife handling was a master's and each throw was precise and accurate. Atala winced thinking of the tributes Clove would kill, a throw so hard it could probably come clean out the back.
"District Twelve has some fighters this year." a woman comments taking a seat next to Atala.
"They do, it's quite a surprise." Atala replies.
"This certainly wasn't the year to produce fighters." the woman whose name is Agrippa laughs.
"I know what you mean." Atala agrees watching Cato slice a dummy's head clean off. She turns her head a fraction to ask Agrippa something when she notices Clove smirking at Cato from across the room. Clove has several daggers in her hand and is sharing a knowing look with him like they're hiding a secret. Cato pulls a half grin before lifting the sword and slicing the rest of the dummy's torso off. Clove's twisted smile is stretching from ear to ear and she waits until she has Cato's attention to start her flawless skill. She shoves the District Nine girl from the targets where she has a fresh slate as the other girl had missed. Three come from her hand at once and they're embedded into the targets before Atala can even blink. Another three come from her left hand where they firmly sink into the target, not as hard as her right, but still harder than most can throw. As a grand finale Clove picks up the smallest dagger on the rack and throws it with a spin that spirals in the air dizzily until a satisfying thud silences the room. Clove looks up with a deadly sneer on her face and glares at the District Nine girl to retrieve her weapons. The poor girl quickly squeaks and hurries towards the target struggling to pull out the embedded knives.
"That's better than Silas can do." Agrippa says with a note of awe in her voice. Atala nods agreeing with her. Silas stands off to the side, jaw slack. He can't believe the tribute has performed better than he, he's supposed to be the master. Atala chuckles at his face. He must've known one day he'd find his equal, or his master Atala thinks.
Atala doesn't bother the tributes during lunch but always insists to her fellow Gamemakers that it's only formality for her to sit with them. She takes a seat in the center of the cafeteria next to the Career table. The table this year has only the usual Career tributes, no additional tributes. She watches as they choose the foods with the most carbs except for Glimmer, the District One girl. Atala figures she doesn't want to ruin her appearance. District One and Two are very comfortable with one another but District Four is distant this year. They're sitting a chair away from the others and looking down at their bread. Cato is seated next to Glimmer and Atala notices he flirts with her often, much like a normal teenager would. But his secret isn't very well hidden as he nonchalantly brushes his hand over Cloves under the table. It's such a brief interaction anyone would think it was a mistake. But Atala knows it was not. She watched Clove's eyes narrow slightly and her hand start to shake and tap the chair. It must be a coping method for her frustration. Clove is thoroughly bothered by Cato and Glimmer talking. One slight touch from Cato calms her down though and she's soon holding up a short conversation with Marvel as if nothing happened.
