A Tributes Legend (A BajanCanadian HungerGames)

Chapter 8

He glares at Michone before walking up to the grey platform she is standing on. Jordan steps with his left foot and ducks under her lunge. He grabs Michone's ankle and pulls her down but she kicks him extremely hard. In the groin. He doubles over in pain, clutching he stomach and I really feel bad for the guy, but to be honest the dude had it coming. The same Avox's escort him to the Medical Room and the rest of the tributes are left here. Most of them are staring at Michone while she gathers together some weapons that are going to probably be used for training.

After a few minutes everyone just ignores Jordan who has returned from the clinic, limping but still giving glares to the badass instructor who gave him a nasty kick to the balls.

I haven't really talked to the guy and I don't think I want to. He seems pretty violent. There is also that Matt guy he always hangs out with and rumor has it that Matt has been practicing combat since he could hold the sword.

I walk over to the throwing knives and pick one up. The slick metal feels cool in my hand. I practice the proper throwing technique before actually releasing the knife but after about 6 minutes I get the hang of it. I aim at the board and release the sharp metal. I hear a thud and I stare at the board in awe. I was about 3 inches away from a bullseye. My preferred weapon of choice is a sword but if I cant get my hands on one in the games, some knives might not be such a bad idea.

I play aound with those for a few more minutes and after the first half an hour mark, I have already gotten a bulls eye twice.

I spot Jerome near the axes and I decide to see how handy he is with a weapon. I don't think he noticed me because he is tearing the fabric dummy to shreds with the red battle axe he has in his hands. I grab a more simple axe, one that only has a blade on the right side and I walk over to my ally.

"Hey biggums." He looks really startled so im guessing that he really didn't know I was watching him.

"Oh, hey Mitch." The surprise is still clear on his face and I almost feel bad. I wonder if my victims will look like that in the games if I catch them off guard.

"I like the axe you have, want to trade? Im not really a fan of the battle axe. It has more of a swinging technique then a chopping hand."

"I barely understood a single word of that." and its true. My specialty is not axes, its swords and machetes.

"Here you can use it. Im not very handy with an axe anyways."

"Thanks." He says while greedily snatching the axe from my hands. "My specialty weapon is actually an axe because im from district 7 and I have just always grown up familiar with how to weild them, although I'm not to bad with a bow as well."

"Wanna go shoot a few?" I am trying to be as casual as I can because I don't want him to think im nervous. This is only a training session and it is probably the only time i am going to be able to show off my skills before I enter the games aside from the private session with the gamemakers of course.

Jerome and I both grab a bow. His has a black body and is a fit compact bow. Mine is a simple hunting bow. I'm not quite sure what the name of the model is but it suits me well. There is a rack with multiple arrows on it so i grab three and place the first in the notch of the bow. I draw back, not forgetting about the anchor (for all of you bow fans out there) I aim with my dominate eye. I can feel the string in the groove of my neck. I breathe in, and exhale letting the bowstring snap forward, sending the arrow flying forward finding the middle of the target.

"Wow!" is all Jerome says "You could be as good as that Katniss chick. You know the one im talking about?"

"Yeah" No, i think. im not even as close to as skilled as she was. I hit a target that remained still and I could take all the time i wanted. Once im in the games, ask me to shoot a bow when my life depends on it and i only have seconds to act. lets see how good i am there.

Jerome mimics my actions but only misses the center by a few inches. With a little practice he could be pretty good at it. I pull back the second arrow and let it fly. Again, it hits the center of the target. Jerome seems pretty jealous so I suggest that we go back to training with the axes.

He looks very enthusiastic when we grab two axes.

"Is there any special you can teach me about chopping up fools?" I ask a but too loudly. A few of the tributes glare at me, or give me funny looks but i ignore them. who is going to be giving the funny looks when they have the axe in their face during the games? Certainly not them, thats for sure.

"Yeah, you always want to have a good grip. Keep your dominate hand near the back of the handle and keep your other hand near the head of the axe." He demonstrates and then makes a few swings into the air as if to prove a point. "But that is only if you want to receive a deadly blow." He continues

"If you just want to injure the person or stop them from hitting you, you want to have both hands near the back of the axe. Usually i prefer to have my non dominate hand on the inside but it is honestly just what you prefer."

I give him a quick nod. I place my hands on the end of the axe. He gives me an approving nod so I swing with full force towards the dummy. I see that a few of the threads had torn but nothing special like when Jerome was the one wielding the axe.

"Here let me show you. All of the power comes from your back and right now, you are trying to swing with the strength in your arms." I surrender the axe to him and he turns around so i can see how his back moves in sync with his arm motions.

"Got it?"

"Yeah i think so." I honestly have seen no difference from when he was using his arms compared to the power coming from his back. It must be something people only from District 7 notice. I can already assure myself that the axe is not going to be my weapon of choice in these games.

"Jerome buddy, I don't really see myself using the axe in the games. I'm just not very skilled with it, and i have always preferred a machete or sword."

A look of hurt washes over his face but i try not to feel too bad. These games are about survival and I don't want to be depending on a skill that could use a lot of improvement compared to sword wielding where i could completely dominate the games.

"I'm going to go practice with the capital swords and stuff. you can join me if you want but personally, you should definitely stick with the axe as your main weapon."

"Ok buddy. yeah the axe murderer life style isn't for everyone. yo kinda have to grow up with that kind of thing. Besides, i was gonna check out the plants identification and stuff. I will typically eat any meat raw but if it really becomes tight, i might start having to rely of of... uuughhh the green stuff." Jerome shudders and i let out a brief chuckle.

I head towards my preferred weapon station and I see two other guys there. One of them is wearing a dark padded outfit while the other is viciously swinging a machete at the guy. On the back of the padding, i can just make out the lettering 'personal trainer.' It must be one of the Avoxes or someone else to help with actual hand to hand combat fighting.

I hear a lot of grunting and both of them appear very sweaty. that isn't the kinda of thing i really want to watch so i walk over to the weapon table and select a long gleaming machete with a black rubber handle. there are little groves in the rubber signifying where your hand is supposed to go. it is a beautiful weapon but i can tell it is only for amateurs. I grab a different sword with a red streak across the grey handle. this one is well crafted and is extremely sharp. The blade is slightly curved and i can tell it is supposed to be for hacking or slicing.

I climb up onto the platform and walk over to a metal dummy with black fabric showing where skin would be exposed if the tribute was wearing body armor. I take a big stride forward and make a nimble slice at the arm. It is now dangling by literally a thread. I thrust the sword towards the head and i can hear the clean ripping of fabric.

I practice a few more arm movements and just a few minutes later, the dummy is torn to shreds. I look up in surprise with sweat dripping down my forehead. A few of the tributes have started clapping and even two of the gamemakers are giving me nods of approval.

Hey guys i am so sorry this chapter is late! Thats why it is a little longer then usual ;) Things have been very chaotic lately because some important tests are about to occur. Wish e luck and again, sorry for the late update!