Fiore's Games

Training Day One

Training day.

Levy thought it was best if she left her pin here. There were clothes given to her to wear for training, which matched everyone else's, except for the fact it had a large 12 on it to show she was from 12. Before they left for the Training Center, Makarov asked them if they wanted to train together or separately. Levy wanted to train together, mostly because she didn't know anything and Gajeel looked like he would know some stuff. Gajeel seemed against the idea, but didn't put up too much of a fight. Makarov told them to hide their major skills until they got their private session with the Gamemakers, so it's more of a surprise to the other tributes when they got in the Arena.

The Training Center was a little overwhelming to Levy. She was able to see all the tributes, and all of them were bigger than her in height and muscles. Several seemed to be underfed, because they were from poorer districts, but still seemed like they could take her down easily. Gajeel fit right in with the Careers, just based on appearances alone. Makarov told them to stay together and be seen together, so after the woman who showed them around let them go free, she turned to Gajeel. "Where should we go first?"

"Well, what can you do?" He said snidely.

"I know plants. I read a lot, or what there was to read back home. And I'm fast." She bit her lip, glancing around. The Careers went to the weapons right away, showing off their deadly skills. "Can you spar?" She asked. He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I don't think sparring you would be a good idea, though, you're so..." He seemed to struggle with the term he wanted to use for her. She stared at him, daring him to say shit.

"They have gear in here, cause they don't want us to kill each other yet." Levy pointed out, brushing a strand of blue hair out of her eyes. After several more minutes of arguing, they settled on a simpler task to start off: survival skills. Making a fire, finding or making a shelter, locating a water source by using the land around them. There was a station there to work at that addresses these very things, with an instructor to help if they needed. Gajeel stubbornly refused their help, and tried to refuse Levy too, but she knew what to do for a fire. He was too rough with the sticks, and kept breaking them.

"Stop that. Give it here." She twisted the stick against the log with dry brush, and eventually got smoke to appear. She grinned as Gajeel blew on it and a tiny flame appeared.

"HEY! You don't take my KNIFE!" A shout broke their small victory. She glanced over with a frown. A man with white hair was yelling at another tan man with brown hair.

"I didn't take your fuckin' knife." The brown haired man snarled. A fight broke out, and two instructors ran over to break it up.

"Hey, hey! Enough of that, there will be plenty of time to kill each other in the Arena." One of them said to the boys as they stalked off in different directions. Levy noticed something on the ceiling and looked up.

There, hanging by the straps in the ceiling, was a young tribute with long blue hair. It was tied in two pigtails and she had a childlike grin on her face, a knife in her hand. A dark-skinned man was looking up at her as well with a chuckle. He had a crescent scar over one eye and he also had some muscle to him. His clothing revealed he was from 11, as was the girl on the ceiling. Levy smiled softly at the girl, amused by her antics.

The day continued and the two tributes from 12 visited a camouflage station as well as an edible plants station before lunch. Over lunch, they revisited the idea of sparring and finally agreed to do it. They went into a side room for sparring only and the instructor commanded they wear the gear. "Can't have you getting too injured before the Games." Was the reasoning. The Capitol can't have damaged toys, of course.

The gear was hardly anything. A padded headpiece and gloves and shin guards. That was it. Levy looked and felt ridiculous because the gear was meant for bigger people than her. Gajeel's gear didn't look as bad on him. "Okay, Shrimp. What do you know?" He asked.

To answer his question, she tried to throw a punch. He blocked easily and slammed an elbow into her side, bringing her down. "You left yourself too open. If you do that and I had a weapon, you'd be dead." He pointed out. Levy wouldn't give up, though, and got up. "The odds of being caught in hand-to-hand combat are low, you know." He tried to reason with her, thinking this was a waste of time, when Levy surprised him by kicking him in his groin.

He fell to his knees, a surprised look on his face. "Shhhhit, shorty." He groaned out. She gasped, her hands flying to her face.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to really hurt you." She apologized but he waved her off.

"Don't be. If this was the Arena..." he stood up with a groan again. "That would have worked, you could have finished someone off." The idea of her killing someone made her a little uncomfortable, but she knew it was necesary for this hellish game. They continued to work on sparring and when training ended for the day, she was sore with several bruises. She mentally decided to practice with a weapon tomorrow, because she would need to know how to use one instead of just fight.

Dinner was uneventful, but Levy made the best discovery after.

"Books!" She shouted with glee, find a bookcase of books. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for the few days she would be here. She loved to read and figured it would help her keep her mind off of things for an evening. She buried her nose in the book, curled up on the couch. Makarov smiled softly at the sight, leaving her be, and telling Evergreen to leave her alone too.

"She's going to be in hell in a few days. Let her have a few quiet moments." He said firmly. Gajeel happened to overhear and left the girl alone too. He spent his evening on the roof, enjoying the fresh air and stars, letting his mind wander far away from the Capitol.