𓏲 . SURVIVAL GAME . .៹♡
                                                      CHAPTER FOUR
                         ─── KNOTS AND ARCHERY LESSONS

On the first day of training, Velren and Celestia got up quite early. After having a quick breakfast and getting changed, they took the elevator downstairs. It wasn't very surprising that not too many people had turned up for training.

"I'm going to say hello to Johanna." Celestia informed her twin brother. "Do you want to come with me or go somewhere else?" Velren pointed with his hand to the many people who were training or simply talking. "I think I'll try to find some allies." he told her, giving her a smile. "Come see me later."

They walked apart after squeezing each other's hands. Navigating through the training center, Velren quickly scanned the room. Johanna was wildly throwing axes at dummies, Brutus was throwing spears, and Cashmere and Gloss were standing together in groups, throwing knives and laughing at each other. A grin crept onto Velren's face when he saw a row of tridents leaning against a metal plate. Without thinking twice, he made his way over there. 

The smooth handle felt cool and familiar in his hands as he twisted the trident around, trying to get the perfect position while he also got a feel for the weapon itself. Velren carefully stood wider and with skillful movement he threw the trident, which whizzed through the air and stabbed the head of a doll with impressive precision.

He grinned confidently as he noticed Finnick watching him with his mouth open. Velren winked mockingly at the boy before he turned around - now Velren wanted to look around for enemies and allies.

As he made his way to another station, Velren saw Katniss and Peeta making their way over. He smiled slightly as he watched the two of them observe other tributes, obviously trying to find allies.

Velren casually walked in step with Katniss, who walked over to Wiress and Beetee, who were just inside the fire station. When Velren and Katniss reached them, they saw that they were busy building a fire. "Well, friction generates heat, which generates fire and it—"

"You should move your hands downward." Katniss said with a warm smile,catching their attention as she made motions with her own hands. "And faster, too." Velren added and nodded down towards the sticks Beetee  was holding. 

The two crouched down beside the others, and Velren could see Wiress and Beetee exchange a look from the corner of his eye. Velren watched as Beetee followed the advice, rubbing his hands on the wooden stick and moving them downwards. Suddenly, a small spark ignited on the tree trunk below.

Wiress's eyes widen. "A little brute force..." she began. "ls always helpful." Beetee added with a smile before he looked between the girl and the boy. "Thank you."  Wiress directed her attention to the Capitol, including Plutarch Heavensbee, the game maker, who had been taken away with his drinks and food. "To the corner of the table." she whispered

Beetee, Katniss and Verlen followed Wiress' gaze and looked in the same direction. Plutarch stood proudly in the center of the bleachers, his face grim as he watched the tributes. "Plutarch?" Katniss asked and glanced back at Wiress while Beetee adjusted his black, clunky glasses and focused on Plutarch. "No." Wiress said. "Next to him."

Velren smiled a little and nodded when he saw what Beetee and Wiress saw. "Ah, force field. " he commented. "How do you know?" Katniss asked the three of them, and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "The shimmering." Velren answered her as if it was obvious.

"Top left hand side." Beetee continued, , and reached out to carefully adjust Katniss' face so that she was facing the right direction. "Look. There. You see it?" Katniss' eyes widen as she saw what they were all talking about. "Looks like glass." she murmured.  "To separate us and them." Wiress said with a nod.

"It's probably my fault. " Katniss admitted, smiling a little sheepishly in the direction of the trio. "Last year I shot an arrow at them during my private training session." Velren couldn't help but let out a short laugh. That was just too brilliant, he thought. "You did what?" he asked in amazement, his eyes widening with surprise ."Mm." Beetee hummed, while he continued to examine the force field. "Uhuh. Electromagnetic."

"How can you tell?" Katniss asked, earning laughs from both Wiress and Beetee. Her expression became a little awkward as she looked back and forth between the force field and the three tributes in front of her. "Is it-Is it obvious or something?" she asked.  "Is it obvious?" Beetee choked out, tried to contain his laughter. Wiress was laughing, almost giddy. "They might as well have a sign." she said.

Feeling kind of bad, Velren gestured around the room. "Look around you." he said to Katniss.  "All the holograms, the lights, every now and then they flicker. Why?" A look of realization appeared on Katniss' face. "Because the force field is taking up too much energy." she breathed out. "There's always a flaw in the system." Beete said and shook his head with one last chuckle.

After a while, Velren made his way to the rope station while Katniss made her way to Aurora. To his surprise, Velren found it pretty easy and started making his own things with the ropes. He tore a few of them off, braided them and made bracelets out of them.

He repeated this process over and over again until he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Katniss was walking towards him. "Hey, can you show me how to tie a knot?" she asked, the first time she had ever spoken directly to Velren.

 Velren half smiled. "Oh, sure," he agreed and grabbed another rope. But before Velren could show Katniss how to tie a knot, he felt a pair of hands wrap around his waist. 

"Here." he heard someone whispering in his ear.  Every cell sharpened in response to his touch. The warmth of his breath tickled the skin on the back of Velren's neck. "Shh, shh, it's just me." Finnick whispered to him.

Velren forced his hunched shoulders to relax and gently pushed Finnick away. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." he said with a smirk on his face before he grabbed the rope that was once in Velren's hands and began messing with it. "Look. Let me show you and Katniss the best knot to know in the arena."

As Finnick began to tie the knot, Velrens' eyes wandered, lost in thought, to the line of Finnick's nose and jaw, the curve of his muscular arms, the shadow of his cheek. Finnick's green eyes gleamed like jewels from the white lights above him, making the shadow of his defined cheeks and jaw even more pronounced

Before Velren could look at the boy's lips,Finnick seemed to notice his gaze,as he looked at him for a brief second before he turned back to the rope. "Don't look at me, look at the knot." he chuckled , with dimples digging into the corners of his mouth.

Velren's eyes moved from him to the rope as Finnick pulled loops of rope through his hands and wrapped the loose end around the middle. "Alright. This is the bit where it gets quite complicated." he explained to them both. He used the open end to form a circle wide enough for his head to fit through. 

He pulled it tight against his throat, choking as it stiffened. "And it's..." he started to say, lowering his head as he pulled the rope up and played dead.

"Very funny."  Katniss said,her voice was filled only with sarcasm.  The longer end of the rope lay in the palm of his hand. "Do you wanna take me for a walk?" Finnick asked and held the string out to Katniss, who could only roll her eyes before she walked away.

Finnick shrugged and put the rope down before he looked at Velren. "Wanna learn how to use a bow?" Velren asked,a bit awkwardly. "Sure! Sounds fun." Finnick said, chuckling. "But be warned, I'm very bad at it." Velren nodded, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Well, let's see if I can turn you into a decent archer by the end of the day."

The boys walked to the area where the bow and arrows were. Velren grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows, gesturing for Finnick to do the same. "Alright, first things first." Velren began, demonstrating the proper way to hold the bow and nock an arrow. "You've got to find your own rhythm, feel the tension in the string." 

 Finnick observed, mimicking Velren's movements as best as he could. His first few attempts were clumsy, arrows missing the target by a wide margin. Velren, however, was patient and encouraging. "Not bad for a beginner." he teased, to which Finnick playfully rolled his eyes.

As they continued, Finnick gradually improved. Velren provided guidance on adjusting his stance and refining his aim. Despite Finnick's initial protest of being bad at archery, he seemed to enjoy the challenge. 

 After a particularly successful shot, Finnick threw his arms up in triumph. "Thank you, Vel!" he exclaimed and circled his arms around Velren's neck. He was a bit stiff at first, but relaxed into hug and squeezed his waist.

"Do you want to try it out with me?" Velren asked as he pulled away and pointed to a dark room. It was the room with the animated holograms. Finnick smiled appreciatively.  "Thanks, but I think I'll stick with my trident.  However, I'd be happy to see you in action." he declined his offer.

 So Velren entered the simulator alone and chose what he wanted to do. It only took a few seconds before the light dimmed and his first target rushed towards him with a knife in his hand. 

Velren strung an arrow in his bow and let it fly as soon as he thought the time was right. The person instantly disappeared in orange blocks and so did the arrow. And they continued to come from all areas of the room. From above, from the floor and from the ceiling.

His last arrow hit its target with full force, and Velren's breathing became surprisingly labored. The lights flickered on, and he was quickly accompanied by shock when he saw Katniss, Finnick, Aurora, Celestia, Peeta and all the other tributes looking at him.  Their faces showed everything from envy to hatred to admiration.

After the first day of training, Velren and Celestia hung around waiting for Tobias, Adrian and Jenna to show up for dinner. When they were called to eat, Tobias pounced immediately on Velren. "Good news." he announced, clasping his hands together with a smile. "At least half of the tributes want you as an ally."

Celestia nodded with a gesture to Velren. "Well, they saw him shoot." she said with a proud smile. "Well, Velren." Adrian said and played around with his food while he looked at Velren and Celestia. "You picked the litter."

"I want Wiress and Beetee." Velren said, and seemed prepared for the puzzled looks that immediately came his way.  "Johanna calls them 'Nuts' and 'Volts.'" Celestia said with a raise of his eyebrows.

Tobias waved Celestia off and shook his head, gesturing for Velren to continue. "Well, okay, fine. Now, who else?" "Katniss and Finnick."  "If you want Katniss and Finnick, you get Peeta and Aurora." Adrian reminded him, raising a finger demonstratively. "They're a package deal."

Celestia next to him couldn't help but let out an incredulous sigh. She seemed to dislike one of them. "All right, fine, then no one."  Velren made his decision final, leaving no room for discussion. Tobias sighed and ordered a bottle of water. "I'll tell them you're still making up your mind."

━━ AUTHORS NOTE

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask away! I'll answer them when I can!

Also, if you are enjoying this story so far, I'd really appreciate with if you could like, comment, vote, and share it with your friends!

Until next time<3