hope in our eyes || 37th hunger games ✔️

A Valuable Asset

Aspen

We ride down the Avenue of the Tributes in our chariot; people screaming at us from all sides. I try to wave at the crowds, but I fear if I don't hold on to the side of the chariot, I'll fall off.

When we reach the City Circle, President Snow says a few words of supposed encouragement from a balcony high above us.

"And may the odds be ever in your favor!" He finishes, his brown hair rippling in the breeze, and his strangely puffy lips moving robotically. He's given this speech a thousand times. We are no different than the others before us. We mean nothing.

After the chariots have rolled into the Tribute Center, the doors slam violently behind us. Alyana, Oakley, Glitz, and Xato rush over to us, helping us down from the chariot and hurriedly leading us to the elevator.

"Why are we in such a hurry?" I ask. Most of the other tributes are still hanging around, some chatting with each other, and others standing silently as their stylists disassemble their accessories.

"You two need to get to bed right away! You have your first day of training tomorrow, and it's already late as is. Come, come!" Alyana chirps.

I decide not to argue. I'm already worn out from today, and maybe she has a point.

The elevator ride is short, and soon we've reached the 11th floor, which is reserved just for us. The place is huge and elegant. Dinner is available, but neither Olive nor I are hungry, so Alyana instructs an Avox to show us to our rooms, which are each as big as our entire house back home in 11.

The Avox leaves, it's an older woman with graying hair and soft brown eyes this time, which is equally sad as the first Avox I encountered, and I strip off my costume and crawl into bed. It doesn't take long for my eyelids to grow heavy, and soon enough I'm being woken up by Oakley for a strategy meeting over breakfast the next morning.

There's an outfit lying on a chair by the dresser, which I don. It consists of black pants made from athletic material and a tight but comfortable navy blue tank top. I walk out to the dining room to find Olive dressed in the same: apparently navy blue is our color this year.

Oakley gives us instructions for the day: 1. Pick a weapon and learn to use it. 2. Pick up some more survival skills. And 3. Pick up a few friends along the way. Then Alyana takes us down to the training room where an Avox pins a number 11 on the backs of Olive and i's shirts before letting us in. We're a little early, it's 9:45 and it starts at 10:00, but almost everyone's already here, forming a circle around a short, balding man in the center of the room. We take our places in the circle, between the tributes from 8 and 3.

"My name is Tec, and I'll be supervising your training." The balding man says, then he tells us the rules for training. There's basically only one: don't fight with the other tributes. "You'll have plenty of time for that in the arena." Tec finishes, earning some light laughter from the Career tributes, then we're free to go to whatever stations we want.

"What now?" Olive asks. I look around the room. There are stations for all kinds of things, from knife-throwing to knot-tying. The tributes from the richer districts, who have been training for this since they were born, all head for the deadliest weapons, while the tributes from districts like ours are slower to comply. A few wander towards the weapons, but most try their luck with a survival skill.

"Well, step one is 'pick a weapon and learn to use it', isn't it? See any weapons you want to try?" I reply.

"I ain't even sure a can pick half of 'em up." Olive says.

"Hm... What about knives?" I ask her, staring at the knife-throwing station. Olive shrugs and we walk over. It is immediately clear that I am lousy at knife-throwing. I don't have the finesse, or the patience. Olive's not half bad though, and actually makes a bullseye or two. But after an hour of failed attempts on my end, I decide I need to try something else.

"Hey, Ol? I think I'm gonna try something else, are you good here by your self?" I ask.

"Ok." Olive says, sinking a knife in a dummy's chest. "See you at lunch."

I give a little nod, then wander around looking for another weapon to try. I end up at a sword station, where the girl from 8, who I was standing next to during Tec's speech, is swinging around a short dagger.

"Hi..." I say slowly. Oakley's instructions play through my head. Pick a weapon. Pick up survival skills. And pick an ally.

"Hey." She says, stopping her swinging of the dagger. She seems just as cautious as me. What's going through her mind?

Neither of us says anything more. I examine her face, light complexion, amber eyes, her long, wavy brown hair cascades down her back in a neat ponytail. She wears a dainty golden necklace with a small heart charm on it around her neck.

"So... Are you looking for allies?" I ask, picking up a long sword lying on a table piled high with other swords and daggers. I figure I might as well throw the suggestion out there.

"I don't know, you?" She replies.

"Yeah. My mentor said I should. So... How 'bout it?" I ask. This girl seems nice enough, and I kind of feel like we're in the same boat. We don't want to be here. But we'll fight to get back home to our loved ones, or, in my case, get my loved ones back home.

"Okay." She says, holding her non-dagger-wielding hand out to me. "I'm Mackenzie, by the way.

I take her hand and give it a shake. "I'm Aspen." I turn around and point over at the knife-throwing section, where Olive stands adjusting one of her braids. "That's my sister; Olive."

Mackenzie nods and gives me a sad look, then she returns to messing around with her dagger, and I do the same with my sword, butchering the dummies around us.

"You'll do more damage if you use leverage to your advantage." Says a voice behind us. I turn to see a tall, slender girl with hollow cheeks and a slim nose dotted with freckles, intelligent blue eyes, and hair the soft orange of a sunset.

"What?" Mackenzie asks, having turned around as well.

"Like this," The girl says, marching up to a dummy. That's when I notice the deadly battle-axe in her right hand. "If you come from above," She holds the axe above her head, then brings it down on the dummy's neck at an angle, severing it's head. "Gravity works alongside you," Then she turns back to us and smiles. "I'm Eisley Burke, District Seven."

"Mackenzie Crew, District Eight." Mackenzie says.

"Aspen Oleander, Eleven," I say. "Why are you helping us?"

"I figured making some new friends could be a valuable asset in the Games, don't you?" Eisley explains-sort of.

"How do I know you won't kill me in my sleep?" I ask. There's something in Eisley's eyes that says she may not be trustworthy.

"How do you know she won't?" Eisley snaps with a raised eyebrow, nodding her head towards a wide-eyed Mackenzie. "Just think about my offer," She continues, sauntering off back towards the axe section. "And remember; leverage!" She yells over her shoulder.

Mackenzie and I go back to butchering dummies, and I realize Eisley had a point about leverage. I've severed the heads and arms on six more dummies by the time the rest of the hour is passed and it's time for lunch.