24 Years, 24 Tributes

Chapter 16

Warning! There is a swear word in this chapter. I know that's not as bad as a bunch of kids killing each other, but I don't do swear words. It was totally necessary for the line, though.

Royal POV

All right, they have spears! Wait a minute. Of course they have spears, i***t.

I picked up a spear and threw it at the farthest dummy. It sank straight into its head. I smiled.

"Oh, Royal, that was magnificent!" Valencia chirped. She gazed at me with wide eyes.

Yeah, yeah. Keep dreaming, girl, I thought. I'm not such a musclehead I can't tell when I'm getting buttered up. She is right, though, and I can live with someone pointing out my excellence.

"I can show you how to do it if you'd like," I said. I wouldn't show her all the tricks, of course, but I didn't think I had to worry too much.

She squealed as I positioned myself behind her. I laid my hand on her back and steadied her as she drew the spear back. She threw it awkwardly and it just grazed the dummy's leg.

"Great job!" I told her. "Keep practicing."

I kept my hand on her back for another moment and lowered it as I drew back. It felt almost good enough to make me care.

Valencia POV

I wasn't sure where to start. I knew hand-to-hand wasn't for me, and if I showed the other Careers what I was like with a spear they might not let me into their alliance at all. I settled on following Royal around under the pretense that we were "working together". After I paid him a few choice compliments he offered to show me how to throw a spear.

Let's see what you got, Royal. Wouldn't it just be fitting if I killed you with your own spear? I thought as I prepared to throw. Royal's hand pressed lightly against my back. I don't know much about spears, but I knew that was lower than it needed to be. Perfect.

I threw the spear. It barely hit the dummy.

Rats. Valencia, it's a good thing you're pretty.

Royal slid his hand down my back before he stepped away. I pretended not to notice. I have my modesty, after all.

After that I went back to watching him. I was learning more that way anyway. Besides, watching those muscles in motion was the best show I'd seen in ages. Pity he didn't have the brains to go with them.

Thompson POV

I was so ready for this. As soon as the door opened and I saw all the stations laid out, I was in paradise. I wasn't even sure where to start.

Royal and Valencia staked out the spear-throwing station, so I started with the swords. After a little review, I was beating even the advanced sparring partners. I made sure we made enough noise that the other tributes would notice us. I had to put the outliers in their place.

I moved on to the throwing knives. They were a little harder, so I moved on pretty quick. Throwing knives were for girls anyway. The wrestling station was more a man's game. With my new tips from Crag it was a piece of cake to throw a few attendants around the ring.

I headed for the knife fighting station. The rube from 10 was already there, but that was no bother.

"Hey redneck, shove off. The big boys need to train," I said. He glared at me.

"If I see any big boys, I'll move," he said.

I couldn't believe he was speaking to me that way. I grabbed a knife off the table and pointed it at him.

"Better watch your mouth, 10," I said.

"10? You know why they call it District 2? Because everyone there's full of s**t," he spat.

That was it. I snarled and slashed at him before I could even think about it. It sliced a long cut down his arm, and blood pumped out faster than I thought possible.

Chaos swept through the entire training room. The knife station attendant gasped and ripped off her shirt to press against 10's wound. Two Peacekeepers ran into the room and grabbed the knife out of my hands. They dragged me out of the room and I found myself facing a very angry Crag Steiner.

I smiled sheepishly up at him. At least I'd made an impression.

Venus POV

I quickly settled at the knife-throwing station and before ten seconds had passed all five mannequins were dotted with blades. I was dismayed to see other girls trickling in and picking up knives, but I stuck around to see what they could do. Some of them weren't half bad, and I made a note to keep an eye on them.

Before too long the station was too crowded for my tastes, so I left to wander around and try to pick up a few new skills. I happened across the survival station and stopped there for a minute. Since I was a Career I didn't anticipate the need to make a shelter or things like that, but it never hurt to be prepared.

As it turned out, I was not cut out to be a homemaker. I made precisely one shelter that didn't immediately collapse, and as soon as the attendant turned on the rain I got soaked. I did learn how to build a fire, though. Since last year's arena was cold, this one would probably be warmer, but it might help for cauterizing wounds or something.

A shriek of pain caught my attention and I whirled around to see the boy from 10 clutching his bloodied arm.

My word, are you that incompetent? I thought, before I noticed a familiar face standing next to him holding a knife.

Oh Thompson. I can't leave you alone for five minutes.

Hailey POV

I stood dangling from the rope course hanging from the training room ceiling, watching everyone else at their stations. I figured since I wasn't the strongest girl around I should learn to avoid the others, and it was easier to see what was going on up here.

I found myself thinking of Acee's advice, and I looked around to see if I could find a weapon. Surely I could make a snare out of all this rope, but I'd never made a snare in my life. I'd probably end up hanging myself. Then something in the corner of the ceiling caught my eye.

It was a metal screw that helped fasten the rope to the wall. I tried to twist it out, but it was stuck tight- which was probably a good thing. I tucked my hand under my shirt and used the fabric to provide grip. Back home we dealt with sticky machinery all the time. The screw slowly twisted loose. The rope sagged a little, but the other screws held it up.

I looked at the screw in my hand. It didn't look like much. I ran it across my arm and felt it scratching at the skin. Maybe if I pressed really hard…

What if I stuck it in someone's eye?

I didn't know where such a nasty thought came from, and it made me shutter. But I was on to something. I held the screw up in front of my face and imagined sticking it straight into a soft eyeball.

There really were weapons everywhere.

Spencer POV

I sprinted past the track attendant, and he clicked a stopwatch.

"Six minutes, twenty-one seconds," he said.

I panted and bent with my hands on my knees. It wasn't a bad time- it was really a very good time for a mile. But it wasn't fast enough for me, and I knew the first crucial seconds required short-distance spurts.

"How… can I… improve my short distance performance?" I managed between pants.

"The best way is by interval training," the attendant said. "Sprint as fast as you can for as long as you can. When you can't go that fast any longer, jog until you can sprint again."

I forced my legs back into top speed and began again. Halfway through the mile I'd asked another attendant to wait for me. The first attendant stopped the timer while we sparred. I figured I wouldn't be at peak condition in the Games, so I'd better get used to fighting while exhausted.

I neared the sparring partner, and he got into position. I winced.

It may be a great way to train, but that didn't make it any less painful.

Dane POV

I spent an hour or two at the weight station gauging my strength before I left for the hand-to-hand station. I asked for a medium-level sparring partner.

After I threw him to the ground three times, he held up his hands.

"Kid, you're above my level. Please, get one of the experts," he said.

Really? I'd trained for this and all, but I thought I was pretty low-level for a Career.

I took up a fighting stance and faced my new partner, a woman who was built like a panther. She waited for me to make the first move.

I feinted a punch and dodged when she countered me with a spinning kick. I jumped back and watched her, hoping to find a weakness. Whenever she advanced, I dodged backwards. I didn't have a plan yet, and I didn't want to just rush in.

"Kid, it's obvious you fight crane style," she said after I dodged her yet another time. "That's fine. It just means I need to adjust my teaching."

"What's crane style?" I asked.

"It means you prefer to defend rather than attack. Work on using that to your advantage. Let your opponent tire himself out trying to hit you, and then strike when he's exhausted."

Honestly, I'd rather not fight at all, at least not the Careers. Her way seemed perfect for me.

She sprang forward and cuffed me right upside the head. It hurt like a lightning bolt, but I kept my head and rolled with it.

"Good job. Don't let your guard down, though. Not everyone pulls their punches," she said.

Celestial POV

I didn't feel ready to use a knife, even against an assistant, so I found myself at the fishing station. I knew there wouldn't be otters in the arena, but I knew how to make normal lures anyway. I practiced weaving nets and making lures with the materials they provided. Then I realized I might not have nice neat strings in the Arena.

"Can you show me how to make rope?" I asked the fishing attendant.

"You'd be better off trying the survival station," he said. He pointed out the way.

I found my way over and asked the attendant there. He brought out some branches and showed me how to strip off the bark and twist it into rough ropes. My fingers were full of slivers and I cut off my circulation a few times, but I managed to make two serviceable fishing lines. I could probably use them as nooses, too, but I tried not to think about that.

I noticed a station covered in paints and brushes, and I knew that was the place for me.

"Excuse me, what's this station?" I asked.

"This is the camouflage station. I know it seems odd, but sometimes it means the difference between life or death," the attendant told me. She was a slight lady with dark skin and blue eyes. She also had purple hair, but I didn't think that was natural.

"Can I paint something?" I asked.

"You can paint whatever you want, but I suggest you try to make it blend in," she said. "It won't help if you paint a giant rainbow on your head."

I started by covering a red ball with green and brown paint so it would blend in a forest. Then I covered a canteen with tan paint so it looked just like sand.

I tried painting on myself, but the angle was awkward.

"You can start with me, if you'd like," the attendant said.

"You?" I asked.

"That's what I'm here for," she said. She whipped off her shirt and pants like it was nothing, and she stood in front of me without a stitch of clothing on.

I covered my eyes in horror.

"You can't… you're… naked!" I managed.

"Well then you'd better cover me up," she said. I reluctantly opened my eyes and saw she had stood up a thin backdrop painted like a snowy cliff.

I couldn't imagine touching a naked lady, but I was more horrified by the thought of leaving her naked. I grabbed a jar of white paint and got to work.

Daniel POV

I dropped Sarla off at the survival station and started for the sword station. I didn't know how to fight or anything, but I had to defend Sarla, so I figured I'd better learn. I asked for the beginning assistant. The attendant showed me how to hold a sword to defend my whole body, how to position my feet so I'd be balanced, and how to do a basic parry and thrust. I was no swordsman, but it was a start.

I wandered from one weapon station to another and learned the basics for using a spear, a dagger, and bow and arrows, a mace, a mace on a chain, and throwing knives. I liked the sword the best, so I went back there and practiced with the attendant.

I kept my eye on Sarla all the while, and she seemed to stay at the survival and edible plant stations. Then I looked up after a sparring session and she was gone.

"Sarla?" I called. I trotted around the training room looking for her.

I finally found her at the alternative weapons station. She was holding a strip of fabric with a metal ball in it. She whirled it around and hit a cutout of a squirrel.

"What are you doing?" I asked her. "You don't need to learn a weapon. I'll take care of you."

"I just thought… you know, in case we can't find each other at first," she said.

"Well, all right, but be careful. You'll put an eye out," I said.

"Don't worry. I'll be careful," she said. She hugged me.

I hated seeing my little sister using a weapon, but there was something else I hated even more.

Someday, she might have to.

Sarla POV

Daniel shooed me into the survival station while he went over to learn the weapons. I guess he didn't want me to see him learning to hurt people, and I didn't want to see it either. The problem was, there were only so many plants and shelters to learn about. In a few hours, I knew how to make shelters for six different environments, and the plants were easy enough.

Maybe I should see what weapons they have, I thought. No, Daniel's got this, and if he's gone, I'm dead meat. I can't even pick up some of those swords.

I nonchalantly walked over to the alternative weapons station.

I'll just see what they have, I told myself.

There were some mighty bizarre weapons in the world. There was a long stick. I picked it up and took a look, but that's all it was. Just a stick. There was a whip, but that was more for the tributes from 10. There was a sort of sharpened plate that looked like it would cut my fingers off if I tried to throw it.

"Looking for something?" the attendant asked.

"I need something that is light, easy to use, easy to find, and good for a girl who isn't very strong," I said.

"I have just the thing," she said. She handed me a square of fabric.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Rip off a strip, like this," she said. She tore off a thin strip of fabric.

I ripped off another strip and held it up. It didn't look very deadly.

"Now you have a sling," she said. She handed me a metal ball about the size of a walnut.

"Let me show you," she said. She loaded another ball into her strip and whirled it over her head. She let go of one end of the fabric and the ball flew into a metal cutout of a squirrel, knocking it over.

I loaded my sling and tried to twirl it like she did. When I let go it just twisted into itself.

"It's all right. Try again," the attendant said. I kept trying, and soon I could actually make the ball go toward my target.

Usually I missed the cutouts by a mile, but I got a little closer each time. Finally, I hit a raccoon cutout square on, and it fell right over.

I smiled and reloaded my sling. If only Daniel could see me now.

Harvey POV

Things were not going as quickly as I'd hoped. I started at the sword station, but that turned out to not be my thing. Among the other things that were not my thing were daggers, throwing knives, survival skills, spears, and clubs.

In desperation, I headed for the snare-making station. My hands seemed to get tangled up every time I picked up a rope, but with snares, I could take them apart and try again. It seemed like a better plan to hunt tributes from afar than to face them in close combat.

When I got bored of that I circled the room and watched everyone else train. Even if I wasn't good at whatever they were doing, at least I could learn what they were good at and try to avoid those situations. For example, the first thing I learned was never to be within throwing distance of Venus.

I was pleased to see a few other tributes seemed as lost as I was. At least I wasn't alone.

I noticed a movement overhead and looked up. The girl from 3 was lying on the rope course peering down on us all. Looks like she had the same idea as me. I'd have to keep an eye on her just like she was keeping an eye on me.

Astra POV

Venus didn't seem happy to see me at the knife-throwing station, but it was the only weapon I was passably good at. I watched her spear a mannequin's eye three times from halfway across the room and tried not to feel too inadequate.

"You need some help?" one of the assistants asked. I nodded.

"The most important thing in knife throwing is to gauge the distance of the target and the length of the knife. It's important to know how many rotations you have to make. Any more than seven is very difficult," he said.

I tried to visualize a train of knives laid out between me and my target. I started with three, and within a few hours I was hitting the target more than half the time. I alternated between throwing by the blade and by the handle, but the blade produced better results, so I settled on that.

I moved back a pace and tried for four rotations. The knife spiraled toward the target and hit an inch away from the head.

I smiled. Maybe I wasn't as good as Venus, but soon I'd be good enough. And that was all it took.

Wow, longest chapter I've ever written! Next chapter will be the kids from 7-12.

If you sent in a mentor and I haven't mentioned him or her, he or she is still in the story. They just haven't done anything yet.

In general, the outliers got longer sections than the Careers because the Careers don't gain much from training. They already know.