A Crafted Kind of Games: A Hunger Games Fanfic

Chapter Eleven

*******the next day*********************

The glass doors of the elevator slid open, revealing the Training Arena that Adam and I had been in yesterday.

"Nervous?" Adam asked me.

"Let's see, it's weapons day and I don't know what weapon I can even hold, much less use. I'm doing peachy. You?"

So I was acting like a total brat, but at the moment, I didn't care. I was running on two hours of sleep.

Instead of frowning, Adam pointed to a large, white container.

"I think energy drinks are in there." He explained. "I saw that girl from Six drinking one yesterday."

Thank god. If there's one thing that wakes me up, it's caffeine. Which is unfortunate, considering that there's little of the stuff in Ten. I've only had it once before, but that was one time enough to know that it woke me up.

I grabbed a Spark drink ( as far as I know, there is no energy drink called that. I MADE IT UP DEAL WITH IT) and headed over to the spear station first.

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"Goddammit." I muttered under my breath as I tried to shoot the bow correctly for the twentieth time, and as always, failed.

I had tried swords, spears, and now bows and arrows. Nothing was working for me.

Tiffany was training with me, but she was better than I was. She wasn't getting the arrow in the center, but hey, she was actually hitting the target.

"This is impossible." I complained. Tiffany lowered her bow, and smiled.

"Hey, you have to be good at something."

"Yeah, but what?" I asked.

She stopped, and looked as though she was thinking. "Your district is livestock, right?" She asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I'm guessing you've used butcher knives before. Maybe normal knives will come naturally." She said, and the thought made sense to me.

"I guess."

We abandoned our bows at the station, and walked over to the knife station.

I haven't seen anyone, not even the Careers, be able to throw the knives well this year. The Careers, being Careers, can hit the targets and all, but they can't hit it dead center, or even close to the center.

Thankfully, no one is at this station, so we grab some knives at the front.

"You go first." Tiffany says. "Gee, thanks." I mutter sarcastically, and she laughs.

I step into the stimulation room, and Tiffany is blocked from view. In fact, everything is blocked from view.

I'm standing in a dark room, lit by only blue beams that run across the walls.

"Beginning stimulation." A robotic voice says, and I grip my fingers tightly around the knife in my hand, feeling the weight of the others on my belt.

Three targets, standing completely still, appear in front of me.

I take a deep breath, and close my eyes. I imagine exactly where the target was, and throw the knife towards it.

I expect to hear the clang of a knife hitting a metal wall, but instead there is silence.

I open my eyes, and see the knife, stuck about a centimeter from the bullseye.

Oh. My. God.

I take two knives, each in one hand, an throw them at the other two targets.

Same results.

I feel like jumping up and down out of sheer happiness.

The next part of the stimulation, moving targets.

I repeat my actions, and I am rewarded with two knives just of balance, and one dead center.

I smile. If I've got a weapon, I've got a chance.

The last segment felt like an actual stimulation.

The metal walls morphed into a forest, the ground damp dirt. I know what this is.

A spot a flash of black moving through the trees. A tribute.

I throw my knife, and the sound of a cannon rings out.

I do this to about five more, and I hear five more cannons. Then the stimulation ends.

The walls morph back into the cold metal they were, and I push the door open.

Tiffany attacks me with a hug. "That was awesome!"

"Thanks." I grin. For the first time, I feel like I've got a shot in the Games. If I can get my hands on some knives, I'd have a very good chance.

I spot Adam running up to me. "What the hell happened? I just heard gasps, and-"

"Let's just say, I found my weapon." I grin.

He laughs. "Anna's going to be happy to hear that."

I laugh, too.

I spot the Careers staring at me, all awed except for Mitch.

Mitch has a different look in his eyes. Hatred. Pure hatred. He doesn't say it, but I know how he feels. He is jealous of me. He is angry that a girl from Ten, of all places, beat him.

I smile. Bring it on, Mitch.

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Ahh, nothing like writing at one AM.

The song on the right is "Native" by Soulero.