𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐍 | 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀

EIGHT

I glance above me to see the Gamemakers, they've arrived early. There's about twenty of them dressed in deep purple robes and are in the elevated stands that surround the entire gymnasium as they wander about to watch us, jotting down notes and eating at the banquet that has been set for them. Most of them are ignoring us but I can tell they have their eyes fixated on at least one tribute which means that they've most likely watched me.

I'm done practising my wrestling when it's time for lunch. I make my way to the dining hall and find Gill sitting together with the Careers all at one table. The rest of the tributes seem to be eating alone. A part of me feels guilty for sitting with the Careers when the rest are all sitting alone but Clifford had told me to be friends and to be nice to them so when I've taken enough food for myself from the carts around the room, I make my way to them. "Hello."

They smile at me and Briar makes some space for me to sit. We talk about everything under the sun except for anything remotely related to the games. We all have our cards close to our chest. Despite that, we manage to forge good friendships with one another as we learn about each other's districts and what we do in our free time. But then, I remember that in just a few days we'd be fighting against each other no matter if we're allies or not, so it's better to not get attached.

When we go back to training, I focus on the combat and weapons training stations once again, as requested by Finnick and Coral for the first day. I head to the sword fighting first and don't bother to try my best with it, managing to hack off a few heads and limbs of the practise dummies before moving to the trident station.

I stare in awe at the tridents, they're all much fancier than the ones in the Academy. I look at the practice dummies in the distance as I pick a silver one to use. Other than throwing knives, using a trident was one of my favourite things to do in the Academy and so it's probably the one skill I'm confident with. The trident feels comfortable in my hand, almost like an extension of my arm as I throw it and hit the practice dummy square in the chest. I practise at the trident station a couple more times before moving on from it, going to the hand-to-hand combat station. I finish the majority of the stations on weapons and combat, and end the day with axe wielding.

I try to spot Gill in the herd of tributes leaving the gymnasium to go to each of their floors to debrief with their mentors but I don't see him at all. I stand by the elevator for a couple more minutes only to see him reappear behind the racks of weights talking to Chase and Giselle. "Thanks for waiting for me," he smiles as we enter the elevator together, exchanging goodbyes with them.

When we reach our floor, we're greeted by the delicious smell of food and Stella who welcomes us back, ushering us to the dining table as she talks about how well she thought the first day of training had gone. We listen carefully to Clifford who praises us on managing to become friends with the rest of the Careers. The usual liveliness and chatter is present and it's a breath of fresh air after the intense environment of the gymnasium. There's a plate of salmon and a glass of water already set when I sit down next to Finnick, smiling at him as he smiles back.

"Great job out there, you two," Clifford smiles, raising his glass up, "cheers, everyone."

We clink our glasses against one another before resuming with our usual conversations before it's time to debrief about the training day. We're being told who had been watching us and how the other tributes are in comparison to us. It's vague and brief, but I assume it's because our mentors will be going into more detail with us individually. I take a seat on the leather couch, melting into it as I look at Coral who comes in last, shutting the door behind her.

We continue to discuss strategy and I'm given their comments based on what they've seen at the training session, alongside some advice.

"Now, about the weapons station..." Coral continues, flipping through her notes to find what she had scribbled down.