All hail xax the ultimate memelord

Its doors slide open, revealing the training arena. A quick glance over the place confirms what I already suspected of. It appears as if my District partner Elise (14) was right. We *were*the last District to arrive, after all. Not that it matters. Pontuality will not help you at all in the Hunger Games, so I don't see why I should be worrying about being late to Training. Though for some reason, I find myself anxious as I step into the gymnasium. I scan the area, searching for my allies, and surely, my eyes fall upon them as I glance at the throwing knives station. Keeping my distance, I watch as Ryan (1) throws knives, each one of them sinking into the bullseye of the target he aims for. Occasionally, Cordelia (4) mumbles something in a seductive fashion, to which Ryan (1) grins.

I must say, her strategy is understandable. She needs to get people on her side, no matter what. Still, I expected something more. . . unpredictable of her. I sigh, running a hand through my hair. In the meantime, Elise (14) observes the other tributes. I follow her gaze, and find myself staring at the shelter making station, where Leera (1)—correctly nicknamed "pleghm" by the utterly insufferable Pompeii (2)—and her pathetic allies attempt to build a proper shelter between two synthetic trees. Martin (11) and Coraline (12) appear to understand what they are doing, though from what I've seen, the rest of them are utterly hopeless at making a shelter, and lack knowledge of how to survive in the wilderness. I shiver. The lack of knowledge in the same area killed Ryan's (1) brother.

In an ideal scenario, I would be able to sit back and scout the competition—perhaps learn how they think, or how they behave near each other. But of course, this is not an ideal scenario. I groan audibly as Pompeii (2) calls, or rather, shouts for me and Elise (14) to join him and our allies at throwing knives, a task I'm not necessarily bad at, but would rather not practice during my time in here. As I complain about this to Elise (14), however, she merely shrugs and tells me to follow Pompeii's (2) orders while he's in charge, to which she receives a mocking laugh.

However, I can't help but repeat mentally the way she phrashed her sentence. *While* *he is in charge*.

"I don't take anyone's orders, honey." I wait for a response—a snarky comeback of sorts, but none come. I shrug, and despite of my wishes, I join my allies as they throw knives. Ryan (1) has now been replaced with Rio (8)—a girl I know nothing about. Well, aside from the fact that she's outspoken and good with a sword. I do know a couple of tidbits about her weaknesses, however. I couldn't help but keep an eye out for my allies' flaws during the first day of training. Rio, for one, is terrible at identifying plants and has a hard time climbing trees, since sometimes it appears as if she was trained to be a fish, not a mammal. Ironic, huh? I also noticed that she has a hard time being stealthy or elusive, because she'd rather confront a person rather than sneak up on them and surprise them with her presence, as evidenced when she got into an argument with Cordelia (4).

Speaking of her, as Rio (8) winds her arm up and throws her last knife—that slams against the edge of the bullseye, Cordelia (4) swiftly replaces her, and then proceeds to do some pretty decent job with the knives. As she's finished, Zoey (13) takes a step forward, and the first thing I notice is that she's holding her knife in the wrong manner. Her fingers curl around the hilt of the knife, not its blade, where a knife should be held if the person plans to throw it.

I creep up behind her, playfully sliding my hands into her forearms and grabbing the blade of the knife. Zoey (13) istinctively yanks her arms away squeals in shock, dropping the knife. There's a low clangor of metal as the knife falls against the linoleum floor of the knife station. I take a step back, startled by her sudden movement.

"What the hell?" Startled by her sudden outburst, I stand motionless as she continues. "Are you trying to make a move on me or something?"

"What, no I was--" Zoey (13) cuts me off and starts talking. While I was not really trying to "make a move" on her, I do admit that I was *playfully* doing so. Those two things are very different.

"Dude, I'm not even straight, what--"

"Ah." I say, interrupting Zoey (13) and ending this conversation for good. This whole situation is going towards unwanted places, and that's not what I wanted. All I wished to do was to startle her, but I wound up getting startled myself, while she simply got angry at me. It is needless to point this out, but I shall do it anyway: I failed miserably.

Zoey (13) storms off, grunting indignantly. Besides me, Ryan (1) smirks foolishly and Kasumi (2) looks on with a raised eyebrow. Rio (8) does not look up from where she is examinating one of her fingernails, but I can tell that she paid attention to what just happened. However, most of them appear to share a thought. That I am immature, or otherwise unnecessary. Unskilled at the art of fighting alongside them.

Well, I care not for that. All I have to do is outlive them.

Then, I'll be able to win.

### **Rio Waterborne (District 8)**

As Pompeii (2) and Cordelia (2) get into an argument *yet again*, I find my opportunity to slip away. From the moment I stepped into this gymnasium yesterday, I have been planning to put my hands on a spatha—an ancient Roman cavalry sword that I happen to be proficient with. However, my allies' constant bickering and Pompeii (2) insisting to follow a training schedule he came up with himself, I did not have any time to spare practicing with a spatha. Odds are that there will not be one available in the arena, but if there is, I must be ready to put up a good show with one. I cringe as I walk past the plant identification test, a station I tried—and more importantly, failed.

Currently, the girl from District Zero is testing her luck in that station. I briefly stop by to watch how she's faring, but in an instant, she has finished the test with subpar results. She groans and storms off, crossing eyes with me as she passes by. I glance at the station for a split second, and the continue my way to the station I'm headed for. All around me, the tributes train. Some have managed to gain a skill or two, as evidenced by Austin (10) as he picks up a bullwhip off a rack and manages to get it wrapped around a dummy's throat from a distance. I watch as he swiftly pulls the whip towards him, making the dummy collapse, taking a couple of others with it. Impressive.

Directly across from Austin (10), the girl from District Three—the Idylwyld—attemps to give a basic axe lesson to one of her allies, Drago (12), but as he wields the axe, his incompetence with the weapons is soon clear to the entire training center. I laugh lightly as he attempts to throw it at a target, but misses as the axe goes over it and slams into a nearby wall, cracking it. After a few seconds, the axe falls to the ground—there was not enough force in the throw for the axe to actually cling to something. Tux (8) takes not of this, and begins to scribble furiously against a small pocket notebook he must've brought with him. Smart boy. Behind him, Clarke (5) has lit a roaring fire, to which the station's trainer looks utterly impressed.

I know I should be in a hurry, as my allies will notice my absence soon, but I am certain that I will not have another chance to learn of the other tributes' flaws, and also, their strengths. Keeping that in mind, I walk from station to station, veering off my previous course aimed to the ancient weapons station. Edrik (C) from the Capitol is quite skilled at hand-to-hand combat, but his lack of speed is obviously a problem. His District partner has incredible reflexes, but is not all that impressive in terms of physical strength. Maribelle (10), their ally, is extremely skilled with a blowgun, but what will a few darts mean against a larger, older tribute wielding a hefty club? She better come up with something to make her darts more lethal if she plans on surviving the Games.

Breeze (7) has a great aim and is skilled with an axe, but after a few seconds watching her I realize that she's always trying to push herself past her limits, getting tired or incapable in the process. If I am to guess what her biggest weakness in the Games would be, I would say that would be her main problem. I watch the other tributes, though it appears as if none of them are doing anything noteworthy. I glance back at my allies, and it appears as if the argument hasn't fully died down. I quicken my pace, and find myself in the verge of running towards the station. As I step into it, the trainer seems surprised. He's even more surprised when I select the apatha I spotted earlier out of a rack with several other weapons. I grin, and walk towards a dummy.

My proficience with the apatha and other blades will be the one thing that can make sure I emerge from these Hunger Games with my life,at the least. Keeping this in mind, I swing for the dummy with all my might. The shiny blade slices through the dummy's neck, cutting its head clean off. I step back, satisfied with my work, and the proceed to swing again. My blows are coordinated and unpredictable. In a matter of time, all of the dummy's limbs have been sliced off, and I finish my practice shoving the apatha straight into its chest.

The dummy tumbles down, and I step back, satisfied.