Safe and Sound

Chapter Six - Apples and Arrows

I thought living in the Training Centre was going to be worse than living in District 12 during a starvation period, but it turned out that I was actually somewhat wrong. My quarters were large, perhaps even larger than my house back in 12, and all the tributes were going to be fed and watered every morning, noon and night. None of us were going to starve. Perhaps the reason for this was so we looked better in the arena, but whatever reason it was for, I didn't care and would eat as much as I could each time. I might even get to hide my ribs, I thought to myself happily, as I tucked myself into my warm bed, ready for breakfast the next day.

I woke up from my dreams of fire and black horses to find sunlight streaming through my window, causing me to blink rapidly. Was I late for breakfast? I hoped not, I didn't want to look like an idiot stumbling into the car, late and at the wrath of Effie. I sat up in my bed, rubbing my eyes and groaning slightly.

As I sat up further, I then noticed that there was an outfit laid out for me at the end of my bed. I picked it up, curiously. It consisted of tight, black trousers made out of a thick material, with a grey stripe down each of the legs, which was bordered nicely by thin red stripes either side. There was also a black shirt made of the same material, which zipped up at the top. The sleeves were short and had the number 12 on each of them, along with thick red and grey stripes that went to below where my shoulder blades were going to be. There was also a number 12 on my back, placed right in the middle of where my shoulder blades would be. For my feet, there were a pair of socks and laced, black boots that had soles that would grip to the floor. The boots would come to roughly half way up my shins. I examined this outfit once more and that was when it clicked - today was the first of three days of training...and I was probably going to make Grayson and I late. Because of this, I got changed as quickly as possible, lacing up the boots and doing up the small zip on the top of the shirt about half way, so the collar didn't choke me to death.

The shirt really was quite tight on my waist and whole torso. It clung to me, meaning that it would reveal to the other tributes how frail I actually was. In that dress from the ceremony, nobody could see how brittle I was through the flame. I just looked like some sort of toothpick now. I would also have to be careful not to stretch too high above my head, because the shirts weren't the longest things and it would slide up, revealing my pale stomach. Despite how tight it was in some areas, it fitted me just right and was actually somewhat comfortable and easy to move in. In some ways, it was the perfect training outfit.

After I had out my hair into a messy side plait, I briskly walked towards the dining car. To my dismay, Haymitch, Effie and Grayson were already there. When I entered, Effie tutted in disapproval and Haymitch muttered a few things under his breath, evidently annoyed at my time keeping. Grayson, who was wearing the same outfit as me, smiled weakly and continued to eat the piece of toast that he held in his hands.

I sat myself down opposite Grayson and picked up a roll. We both ate in silence as Effie ticked off things on her lists and muttered under her breath. Eventually, Haymitch put down his bottle of liquor down long enough to discuss training with Grayson and I.

"So, what are you guys good at? Boy, you speak first." Haymitch asked, looking at the two of us, his face now serious. Grayson shrugged and looked up at our mentor.

"Nothing, really." He answered, blushing bashfully. Haymitch raised his eyebrows and so did I. Grayson knew how to make snares, yes, not very good ones, but badly done snares are better than none when you're in the arena.

"Come on, kid. You've got to be good at something." Haymitch persisted, now picking up his bottle once more, taking a huge swig from it. Well the putting down the bottle certainly didn't last long. He looked at Grayson, who was shaking his head slowly. I decided to speak up for him.

"You can make snares, can't you? I've seen them." I said, giving Grayson a look. Poor Grayson continued to shake his head. I knew Grayson wasn't the bravest person in the whole of Panem, but he was happily put on fire last night and he had looked deadly.

"My snares aren't good. I only caught that rabbit because it was big and got tangled up in the wire. All I've got is a good memory, that's all. Hardly good for anything but remembering which tribute is which and the fact that they are out to kill me." He answered, sighing. Haymitch put his bottle down and pointed a finger at Grayson.

"Having a good memory in the arena is probably one of the most deadly weapons out there. Don't look so scared, having a good memory will help you remember which plants are poisonous and which are edible, who to avoid and who to trust, which animals will try and kill you, which parts of the arena are which and most importantly, you'll remember who you are." Haymitch said. It was probably the most inspiring speech Haymitch had ever said in his life. Grayson now looked more confident in himself, and he was at least wearing a small smile. Haymitch then turned to face me, "Now, what about you? What are you good at?"

"Um, I can use a bow and arrows with accuracy and I can hunt for food. I can use a knife for short distance throws, but I can't throw one over about ten metres to save my life." I said, thinking about my very few talents.

"Well you're going to have to learn to throw over ten metres, because sweetheart, you are trying to save your life." Haymitch pointed out, "But the bow and arrows? Perfect weapon for the arena in my opinion. Memory, deadliest one out there. I think we've got a couple of good nuts here this time, Effie." Haymitch said, genuinely sounding pleased with us. Effie nodded in agreement.

"So, what shall we do in the group training?" Grayson then piped up. I nodded eagerly.

"Well, this is what I have told every single tribute from District Twelve. You will not show everybody else your skills. Grayson, do not go anywhere near the memory tests. Harper, leave the arrows alone. Only when you reach your private training sessions can you truly show off your skills. In the group sessions, try something else out, learn something new. Maybe knot tying, maybe knife throwing. If you train hard with something you're good at, other tributes will know your talents and use it against you, such as Harper, they'll take the bow and arrows before you can, leaving you with no other option but to run. Do you both understand?" Haymitch demanded of us. Grayson and I exchanged a look, before we both nodded in agreement, "Now, it's nearly ten o'clock, meaning it is nearly time for training. Effie, if you will, please lead them to the elevator and take them to the room. Thank you. Oh, and Grayson, Harper...good luck." With that, Effie whisked us away from the food and Haymitch and marched us towards the elevator. She then insisted that she would take us to the training rooms and clicked a few buttons. The sudden jerk of the elevator going downwards shocked both Grayson and I, causing us to both stumble into one another once more, like we had done when we first entered the train a couple of days ago.

"We've got to stop doing this, it will be the certain death of both of us or something." Grayson said, breaking the tension of going to group training immediately. He helped me to straightened up and steady me, which took me slightly by surprise. He was stronger than he actually looked. He then offered me a kind smile before going silent once more. I didn't want to decide that I liked the boy, I was just going to decide that he was nice company to have around. He had a knack for breaking the seriousness of the situation by making a very light joke. However, that wasn't going to help him when he was in the arena. I looked away from Grayson and stared through the crystal walls of the elevator, not wanting to look into those pained, but beautiful eyes. Attachment always results in pain.

When at last the elevator stopped, Effie lead us out and towards the room. She opened the huge doors and allowed us to walk in on our own. The training room was basically a massive gymnasium with different stations, each with various weapons, obstacle courses and activities. As the doors shut behind us, all the tributes looked round. I grabbed Grayson's forearm and lead him towards the group of tributes, who looked back up at a woman who was explaining what we were allowed and not allowed to do. We were allowed to travel to each station at our own will, unless our mentors had told us otherwise. We weren't allowed to fight any of the other tributes and if we needed a partner for something such as sword fighting, there were assistants on hand. With that, we were then allowed to start. The other tributes then rushed to the stations with the weapons and obstacle courses that they were presumably good at. I looked at Grayson, who sighed.

"Camouflage?" He asked and I reluctantly followed him. We spent the next twenty minutes mixing paints and leaves together. We weren't very good at it, not at all. It was pretty hard to be awful at camouflage, but Grayson and I managed to fail miserably at it pretty easily, excelling in the fact that we couldn't paint. Grayson had managed to make his hands and hair a bright blue colour and I had somehow gotten bright pink leaves stuck in my plait and the messy bits of my hair. Once we caught sight of each other, we had to try not to laugh, so we washed everything off and moved to another station, giving up on camouflage. It was a lost cause anyway, so there really was no point. We were hardly like leopards or chameleons or something like that.

As we were practicing tying a variety of knots, Grayson looked up and managed to tear his bit of rope in half. I edged away slowly and slightly, because it had been a relatively thick bit of rope at that. He didn't know his own strength. His arms were quite thin, but the muscles seemed to be actually very strong. That would be good for snapping a neck, I thought as Grayson threw down his two halves of rope in sheer frustration.

"What's wrong, that knot looked pretty good." I asked him as I eventually managed to tie a figure of eight knot after about seven attempts. It turned out, it wasn't the knots that were giving Grayson issues. He was groaning while looking at a girl from District 4 trying to do some sort of memory game, identifying different types of poisonous and venomous animals.

"It's so obvious that that is a Tracker Jacker! How could she not remember that? She had just looked at the picture about four times!" Grayson hissed as he picked up his, now two bits, of rope. I smiled and breathed out through my nose, returning my attention to the knots I was tying. We eventually gave up on knot tying and went over to the knife throwing area. We had to basically throw knives at a human shaped target. It was quite far away, but we could try.

I managed to get most of my knives on target, but only just. Still, if I couldn't penetrate a heart, I could at least prevent somebody from killing me for a few minutes. It was better than nothing. However, when Grayson stepped up, he looked so right with a knife in his hand. It was an odd assumption of mine, but it seemed like the knives fitted his hands perfectly.

"Go on, throw it." I muttered to him. The girl from District 2 was looking at Grayson, wearing a smirk as the thin and weak looking boy from District 12 stepped to the line, preparing himself to throw a knife. I hoped Grayson was as good at throwing knives as he looked while holding one. Grayson took a deep breath and raised the knife and pulled his arm back, ready to throw it. He then threw the knife and it went hurtling through the air. My jaw dropped at the knife hit right on target, right in the 'heart' of the target. But it didn't stop there. The knife tore through this thick target, making a large hole, and clattered to the floor on the other side of it. The girl from District 2 now looked scared. She scurried away and busied herself on the knot station. I walked up to Grayson, who looked as scared as the girl from District 2. "You never said how good you were with knives." I said to him as he stared at the hole he had made in the target.

"I've never thrown a knife before." He muttered, turning to face me. "I've had knives thrown at me, but never have I used a knife in such a way. Ever. Wait, let me try it again. I might have been lucky enough to have been blessed with beginners' luck." Grayson then picked up another knife from the pile and aimed it at the target next to the one he had just ruined. He bit down on his tongue in concentration and released the knife, which also hurtled through the air at such a rate that it too also made a hole right in the 'throat' of the target. If he had thrown it at a real person, that would have been an instant death shot. Like the one on the other target.

"Grayson, it looks like you have a natural talent at throwing things. At the bloodbath, you have to get lots of knives." I insisted, not wanting to think that one of Grayson's knives could be the death of me during the Games, "Do it again. You've got to make sure that you've got this skill under your belt. In the arena, you can't afford to miss. Not once. Well, unless you use it as a distraction." So Grayson did. Grayson got his skill under his belt and beyond. I just stood and admired how he threw the knives, tearing up every single one of the targets in the knife throwing area, until he was soon practicing throwing the knives through the holes he had made. Even with the smallest gashes he had created, he still managed to get his knives through. The assistant for the activity was gawking at this boy and kept asking how long Grayson had been throwing knives for. When Grayson had eventually answered 'about twenty minutes', the guy looked like he was about to faint out of shock. It was obviously a talent that flowed through Grayson's veins.

After Grayson had torn up the knife throwing area completely beyond repair, we moved on to the sword fighting. It turned out, Grayson was pretty deadly with anything that had a blade on it, big or small. He managed to slice up the practice targets and completely disarm and almost kill the assistant. When he jumped off the little stage, he shrugged as if it was the easiest thing he had ever attempted. I didn't find it quite so easy, but I did manage to almost slice the assistant's arm off, so that would be good enough for me. I was just itching to use the variety of bows and arrows, but that would have to wait until my private session. For now, I would stick with making snares and watching Grayson impress the Gamemakers to no end. The Gamemakers were probably thinking how lousy I was at everything, especially the camouflage, but I hoped I could pull off a decent score in the private session, earning me a few fans. The flaming dress really helped with earning a few fans, according to Effie, who had said that people had been talking about 'District 12's flaming appearance'. Getting a good score would help with Grayson and I appealing to the audience, which would evidently lead to getting good and useful sponsors.

* * *

Eventually, the three days of training had passed and it was time for the private sessions, where we would have fifteen minutes to make a big appearance to the Gamemakers. Because I was the District 12 girl, I would be going last, Grayson going just before.

As the dining room began to get empty, the realisation and fear started to kick in, causing me to go a slight shade of green. I started tapping my foot lightly and I could feel my heartbeat pick up, the adrenaline starting to make its way into my bloodstream. I wanted to fiddle with something, give my hands something to do. Grayson spotted this, and to my shock, he started to rub a space between my shoulder blades, which was actually quite soothing. Why is he helping me, I thought, does he know that in a matter of days, we will be fighting to the death? Even though I didn't want to, I allowed him. My body relaxed as he rubbed soothing circles into me, calming me almost instantly.

"Where did you learn that?" I asked as the girl tribute for District 8 left the room, looking somewhat confident. I felt Grayson shrug.

"Instinct, I guess." He said. I breathed out through my nose, in a silent laugh. Grayson continued rubbing, seeming determined to clear all my nerves out of my bloodstream and thoughts.

"You do a lot of things based on instinct, don't you?" I then said, casing him to chuckle quietly. He shrugged again, but it was a shrug of agreement or compromise.

"I guess I do."

The dining room was getting rather empty, but I didn't feel too nervous about it, now that I was massaged and comforted. It was only when Grayson was called through, leaving me alone without someone to soothe me, that my nerves started to kick in once more. I squeezed my eyes shut and put my head against my knees, covering my ears with my hands, even though there was no sound to block out. I just wanted this to be over with. I wanted the Games to be over with. But that wasn't going to happen, at least, not just yet.

At long last, after what seemed to be hours, I was called through. I took a deep breath, ran a hand over my side plait and clicked my back. I then walked forwards and gingerly opened the door. The Gamemakers looked bored, drunk and very tired. This can't be good, I thought, but I decided I would do my best to get their attention and make a good impression. As I walked over to the archery station, the freshly made slashes and holes in the sword fighting and knife throwing stations gave me a little bit of hope. I could also see the memory games were flashing, showing that they had just been used. I could see from here that the scores were very high, showing that Grayson had been as good as he thought he would be. Perhaps even more so.

I picked up a nice, metallic, silver bow that felt good and strong in my hands. I smiled as I felt how perfect the bowstring was strung into the bow. It wasn't too tight and it wasn't too loose. This was the perfect bow for me. And I was going to prove it.

I walked over to the targets and squinted at them, sizing them up. When I was sure I would hit them from the distance I was at, I nocked an arrow and raised it up and took my aim. I breathed in and out slowly. I could feel the Gamemakers looking at me, so I put on a small, confident smile, showing them that I wasn't scared. I then released the string and the arrows soared through the air and hit right in the centre of the target, which would be a death shot if it was alive. The Gamemakers started muttering among themselves, obviously talking about my shot. I then picked up another arrow and nocked it in. I fired it the target. It sliced through my other arrow, which came as a slight shock to me. If I can do damage to the strong arrows with this bow, what could I do with a tighter strung bow? I then put down the bow and picked up another bow, which was also a silver colour and was made of a fine yet string metal. Perhaps carbon fibre or something. I pulled back the bowstring, which was much tighter on this one, however, it wasn't so tight that it stuck. Perfect.

I nocked an arrow into this bow and took a few paces back from the line and took aim. I breathed out and fired the arrow, which hit in the throat area of the target and jammed so far in it, only the flights stuck out. That earned a few comments from the Gamemakers. I then nocked two arrows at once and took even more steps back and raised my bow. All the Gamemakers were watching me now. Good, and so they should be. Respect is important. I then drew the bowstring back to my lip and released it. The two arrows soared, one after the other towards the target. I bit down on my tongue, hoping, praying even. The first arrow then went into the heart area of the target and the second arrow went straight into the first arrow, pushing them both through, also creating a menacing looking hole. I smirked, pleased with myself. I looked up and saw the Gamemakers had turned their gaze from my target, and were now continuing to drink their alcoholic drinks, laughing heartily as they munched on expensive meats and succulent looking vegetables. I coughed. They didn't noticed. I coughed again, but louder this time. No movement except for reaching for more food on their plates. How dare they? How simply dare they! I pulled another arrow out from the quiver and nocked it into my bow, my blood boiling from the anger I felt. I didn't like confrontation, but these Gamemakers had to learn to respect everyone, even people of lower status.

"Excuse me!" I shouted out to them. They looked up from their meal, eyebrows raised, wine glasses still in their hands. "Thank you. Now, if you'd care to watch this, then I would be very pleased. If you don't, I won't hesitate to do the same thing to each of you as I did to that target over there. It's juts the same, except you're alive. Now, give me an apple. A nice one, if you may." I pointed to the target I had been shooting at, then held my hand out towards the Gamemakers, who now looked scared into submission. One of them, a man with bright pink hair and a long, green moustache, picked up a bight red apple and threw it at me. I smiled sweetly and caught the shining apple. I then took a big bite from it, walked forwards and dragged one of Grayson's targets over, still eating the piece of apple I had bitten off. I poised the target a metre away from the wall on the other side of the gym. It was the target with a hole right in the middle of it. I placed the apple in the hole, balancing it carefully, so that it stayed still and that the huge bite mark was facing me. I then raised my previously nocked bow and walked as far away from the target as I could. I then took aim and fired the arrow, which shot right at the apple.

It didn't just shoot at the apple. It went through the apple and the sheer force of my bow meant that my arrow was still travelling. It travelled, the apple still connected to it, and slammed into the wall, pinning the apple on the wall as if it was a decoration of some sort. Take that, I thought as the Gamemakers gawked at the apple in the wall. I then smiled and took a bow with much twirling of my hands, trying to be extra ignorant. The Gamemakers couldn't do anything to me, it was against the rules. I had to go into that arena looking normal, otherwise there would be suspicions and plenty of rumours going about.

"T-Thank you, M-Miss Anselin. Y-You are dis-dismissed." One Gamemaker said and I took one last bow, before throwing my bow and quiver to the ground. I then strode out of the gym, held head quite high. I was pleased with myself. The shy girl from District 12 has a temper and it is not to be played with. I walked down the corridor and towards the elevator, smiling brightly at the Avoxes, who looked quite confused, and entered the elevator, happily pressing the number 12 button. I zoomed up towards my floor and strode into the living room, gaining confused looks from Effie, Haymitch and Grayson.

"What are you looking so happy about?" Haymitch demanded.

"Nothing. My session just went well, that's all. Now, let's talk about Grayson's. How did yours go?" I asked. Grayson smiled at me, reading the message that I sent through my eyes, saying that I was going to tell him later what I did.

"It went really well! I threw some knives, slashed a few swords and aced a few memory tests. Couldn't have gone better." He said, beaming at Effie and Haymitch, who looked on at the boy proudly. "What station did you use?"

"Archery, naturally. I tried out a coupe of bows, which was fantastic, and I got good places on the targets. I'm just excited to see my score." I said. Haymitch and Effie nodded, muttering to each other about how District 12 might have another victor at last.

We all then sat in a comfortable silence, eating dinner, until at last the scores showed up. My confidence suddenly washed away when I realised - the Gamemakers would probably give me a terrible score for threatening them, demanding that they would give me a piece of their food and giving them a rather disrespectful performance near the end. I had been quiet before my frustration got the better of me. I tried not to show my fear as the scores showed up. Most of the tributes got pretty good scores. Then Grayson came up. Ten. Effie and Haymitch clapped and patted his shoulders, giving him words of praise. I gave him a quick forearm squeeze, showing him that I was proud. I instantly let go when my score came up, the numbers flashed on the screen along with my picture and District.

Everybody's jaws dropped with shock.

Eleven and a half. Eleven and a half! I didn't even know if that was a possible score out of twelve for the tributes! Effie shrieked and Haymitch slapped my back so hard I jolted forwards. Grayson gave me small and kind smile, then he leaned over to me and put his head right up close to my ear so only I could hear what he was going to say next.

"You must have really scared them. I'm not sure how, but you must have given them a shock and a half." I blushed slightly as Grayson leaned back on the sofa once more as Effie and Haymitch kept shouting words of praise. I didn't know how I was going to be able to kill this boy, but I had to get used to the idea pretty quickly, seeing as the Games were just around the corner.