#tbptraining3

I stayed at the archery station until the Training Center closed and we were sent back to our suites. I was a few minutes late for dinner, but I didn’t really care. I’d have plenty of time to eat when I won the Games. Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t hungry at all. Taking my empty seat, across from Quorra with Merona and Angus on either side of me, I loaded my plate with food while discussing strategy.

When she brought up Sponsors, I could only grin proudly when she reminded me that a man called Darwin was interested in me. He was also interested in Angus and the male from Four, but I felt my odd were good for keeping his attention. I had already written my appeal, but I was definitely interested in tips on how to keep his attention. I was about to say something else when I realized she was addressing Angus. He seemed as surprised as me and mumbled a response through a mouthful of food.

Merona was far from amused and I could see Angus shrink back and away from her as she interrogated him about his plan for the arena. A small part of me wanted to intervene, to my surprise, but I kept my mouth shut and my face passive as she continued to speak. After all, she wasn’t necessarily wrong. He was strong and had the capacity to charm potential sponsors with his innocent sweetness. Still, I wasn’t sure how much of that could be shed once in the arena.

He seemed genuinely petrified by her and I was surprised when I saw tears falling down his face. Making a strangled noise, he stood quickly and retreated to his room, no doubt in hopes of putting as much distance between himself and her as possible. Honestly, if she had gone off on me like that, and I had had the same sweet, softness Angus seemed to have, I probably would have done the same.

Merona sat back in her chair completely unfazed at his movement, before turning her attention to me. “You two come from the same place, yes, but you have an obligation to no one but yourself. I don’t think it’s something I need to tell you, but it is important that you truly understand.”

Nodding my understanding, I excused myself, no longer in the mood to eat, and retreated to my room. Sitting in the dark, I mulled over my thoughts. Everyday brought the Games closer and closer. Though I still felt confident, I had learned that my comprehensive theoretical knowledge would only get me so far. In my head, I went over all of my competitors and my interactions with the few I had met. Laying down, I fell asleep with only one thought in mind.

After practicing at the knives station again, Judas decided that he wanted to take a little break from weapons. His arms were starting to get a little sore from practicing so much, too. There was one station that he had yet to visit that he desperately longed to visit, however, so after he put up the knives he walked on over to the First Aid and Basic Survival station.

The moment he arrived, he was greeted by a woman with long, white hair and white eyebrows. Her eyes were the color of gold and, after noticing that, Judas also noticed that her skin was dotted with tiny gold freckles. By this point, Judas had gotten used to the freakishness of the people of the Capitol, so he didn’t think anything about it as she greeted him.

Approaching the archery station, I could feel my excitement mounting. Archery was a craft that required a high level of technical skill and understanding of physics. Unlike swordsmanship or hand to hand combat, both which did require a special skill set of their own, archery required a bit more finesse and sophistication. So much so, that I had spent extra time in the library reading up on it.

I had been disappointed when I was unable to make it to the archery station on the second day, but I didn’t dwell on it. The station was clear of any other Tributes and I took it as a sign that today was my day.Waving away the Trainer that approached, I began examining the various bows, I choosing a long, light model and getting into position. Keeping my feet shoulder width apart, I altered my posture to match the one described in the book and set an arrow on the bow’s nocking point.

Regulating my breathing, I pulled back on the string, lining it up at my chin, I kept my arm in the designated position, relishing in the pull of the bow. The bow’s extra length increased the amount of work required to keep the arrow steady on the string, and I could feel the strain in my arm, but I forced myself not to fire, wanting the sensation to become familiar to me.

After repeating that same action several more times, I could feel my arm tiring significantly, but I continued on until the motion and position became comparably reflexive. Deciding to move on, I settled on a target relatively close to me and pulled back, releasing the arrow and watching it fly towards the target. It embedded its tip into the outermost ring of the target, and I frowned slightly when I realized that the arrow had barely stuck.

Loading another arrow, I pulled back further, knowing the increased force would allow the arrow to stick more securely into the target. My left hand that held the bow lowered by a few degrees in order to compensate for the added energy. Releasing the arrow, I smiled triumphantly as the arrow stuck in the target once more, but this time slightly closer to the target, though still falling within the parameters of the outermost ring.

I continued firing arrow after arrow, making minute modification between each shot in order to edge closer and closer to the bullseye. It was definitely not a quick process, but with each arrow I fired, I could see the progress I was making. Every adjustment I made resulted in the arrows sticking closer and closer. I was progressing on a fairly linear track, and with every shot my familiarity and comfort with the weapon increased.

After I’d fired easily eighty arrows, I finally made a bullseye. Grinning triumphantly, I made a mental note of the angle my arm had been at and how far back I’d pulled the string. Loading another arrow, I did my best to emulate the same conditions, knowing that replication was key. After all, if it wasn’t repeatable, it might was most likely a fluke. For the first time, I felt anxious as I pulled back on the string, fighting the urge to hold my breath. On my exhale, I forced myself to release the arrow, tracking it down range as it embedded itself in the bullseye, only an inch or so away from the other arrow.

Wednesday Mason: Status Update

Trap Queen- OS

Moved some things around in making traps and snares, gave some attitude, normal shit. 

Boring- OS

"Have you appealed to any Sponsors yet?" Merona's voice asked clearly.

Life declares war on the body; prepare for battle by exercising your body and mind to its peak, your quality and survival depend on it.”

“Back so soon?” Genesis’s voice rang as I burst through the door of the apartment, “Gotta grab something really quick!” I called as I darted into my room, snatched my chain with the sign of Mars hanging from it, and headed right back out.

“What did you forget?” 

“I’ll show you later!”

“Promise?”

“Promise!” I yelled as I flew out of the door and back down the stairwell, clasping the chain around my neck and tucking it under my shirt. 

One thing I have strangely come to like about Genesis is her natural curiosity: always asking questions, always fishing for more. And here I thought people from the Capitol were running on auto-pilot. Whatever changed that in her I was somewhat thankful for. I even got to show her a few of my tricks of the trade after the first night. But it was still a bit unsettling to hear her say she could “sell me" because of my intuition and creativity.

I really haven’t had much time to myself over the last few days: between Genesis being up my ass and training. There wasn’t much time left in today’s session and I want some “me time” before I met with Dani for dinner.

“You need to be smart to make the perfect trap, Alice.” The Walrus spoke and the Carpenter merely nodded excessively. “Pick up the book and start reading. Gather materials and I will show you the perfect way to make a trap. The Hatter told me you will need to perfect traps and snares for your competitors. So get to work!”

Meredith noticed they added new stations, and judging by the additions, the arena was possibly going to have the forest involved.. The girl with raven hair cracked her knuckles then walked towards the forest biome station, hoping to accomplish the tracking station by the request of the Hatter. Glancing around, she noticed no one was coming to this stations - yet - so Meredith had to act fast if she wanted to avoid talking to someone. She walked up to the tracking station and listened to the instructor.

He talked about paying attention to detail and told Meredith how she can find small clues as to where the thing you’re going after can be. He also told her how she can hide her own tracks in order to keep anyone off her trail. Meredith grabbed all her gear then walked off into the fake forest they had installed for this specific station. Meredith followed the tracks of a fox, and made sure she was covering up her own tracks in case a tribute was to try and track her down. The Hatter yawned, “Hurry up, Alice. You need to find the fox quickly so you can find the tributes even faster.”