Chapter Five: Bow and Arrow

After the incident with the gauntlets, Lucy was excused from the training centre, although Marvel insisted she'd be waisting precious training time ("You can't waste precious time!") So she headed back to District 1's floor with Atala so she could explain what happened before heading back downstairs. 

"You clutz," Gloss chuckled and gestured for her to sit next to him so she obeyed. "I do feel sorry for you though, it must have been terrible training along with that Cato kid." 

"He really wants Marvel for his alliance, not me though," Lucy muffled through the piece of tissue she was dabbing her lip with. "But who really needs me in their alliance?" 

"You're a career! Of course they need you!" Gloss smiled and Lucy tried to return it but it just turned out awkwardly. "Marvel's not going to leave you, Lucy. You're his best friend and I don't think he'd give you up just for an alliance." 

Lucy nodded in agreement, remembering when Marvel had refused to join the alliance when Cato and Clove refused to let her in.

"Do you know how to use any weapon? Do you have a preferred weapon?" 

She shook her head. 

"Well, you listen to me — " Gloss placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tomorrow in the training centre you're going to try out the weapons, it doesn't matter if it's a spear, a sword, throwing knives or..." Gloss paused. 

"What?" Lucy frowned. 

"Scratch that," he murmured, his eyes were narrowed and he looked as though he was sizing her up like Cato had down in the training centre. "You're going to try out a bow and arrow, OK?" 

"Why a bow and arrow?" She wondered, thinking of all the other weapons Gloss had mentioned. 

"Just trust me," he tapped her on the nose just as Marvel stepped out of the classy elevator. 

"Hey, Gloss. Hey, Lucy — how's your lip?" Marvel asked as he walked over to the two. 

"Painful," Lucy removed the piece of tissue she had been dabbing it with to reveal her bottom lip that was a little swollen. 

"And swollen," Marvel winced for her. "Say, do you think you're well enough to come downstairs now? Everyone's having lunch." 

"I don't think — " Gloss began but Lucy interrupted. 

"Can I go, please?" Lucy asked. 

Gloss paused. "Oh alright, but take care of yourself for goodness sakes." 

"If she doesn't, I will," Marvel laughed as they got back on the elevator. Gloss waved as the elevator plummeted down to the ground floor and back into the training centre. 

"Don't worry about Cato," Marvel whispered in her ear as the elevator was at a stationary. "Just ignore him, he's full of his own self importance." 

"Alright..." Lucy murmured as they stepped off the elevator and went to get their food and unfortunately Cato was there, getting seconds. 

"Has your lip healed yet?" Cato said in a voice as though he was talking to a young child. 

"Does it look like it?" Lucy sneered. 

"Oooh, not so friendly!" 

"I'm not the one with the poor attitude, Mr I'm-full-of-my-own-self-importance!" 

"Lucy..." Marvel warned. 

"No, spear boy, let her rant! Continue please, District 1." 

"You're so vain! You think you're going to win these games just because you're good with a sword!" Lucy continued and Cato stood there with a smirk on his face, everyone else had stopped eating their lunch to watch the scene. "What is it with you and this big ego problem?" 

Cato laughed then his smile dropped. With one hand he held onto his plate of food and in the other he grabbed hold of the front of her shirt, so she was a few centimeters off the ground. "You listen here and you listen good." He snarled, breathing into her face. "When you know how to fight, when you learn to stop hiding behind spear boy, when you stop crying and when you get a good score in training you can comment at your liberty...but for now, you are not superior. I have worked hard to learn how to fight, I bet you've never picked up a weapon in your life! And if you dare try telling me I'm superior and vain ever again I'll give you much worse than a cut lip! I'LL BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR PUNY LITTLE BODY!" 

Cato let go of Lucy and left Marvel to catch her. Cato walked off and sat down next to Clove as he ate his food in a rage. 

"Lets get some food," Marvel said as he propped her up on two feet with ease. Lucy nodded and the two grabbed a plate each and began filling their plates even though they both didn't feel like eating anymore. 

As they sat down, away from everyone else, and began to eat Lucy thought carefully as she studied a few people in the training centre. She had always thought Marvel was strong (and he was, she had only just realised how well the training centre outfit showed off his muscles) but now she realised that there was stronger people than him, Cato being one of them. 

"Don't pick a fight with him again, Lucy," Marvel whispered as he lent over so no-one else could hear even though they were far away anyway. "I totally agree with all that you said but I don't want you dead, I would lose the plot if Cato killed you. I would lose the plot if anyone killed you." 

"Right back at you..." Lucy whispered back as she thought at how terrible life would be without Marvel. Lucy looked up and saw a balcony, that's where the Gamemaker's were. She looked a little closer and saw one man was looking at her. His black beard was cut into a neat pattern and it framed the lower part of his face, there was no denying that he was a Capitol man...and head Gamemaker. 

They looked at each other curiously, but Lucy knew that he must be suspicious as to why Lucy appeared like she was a District 12 tribute. Of course, everyone was apart from Marvel as he knew her better than anyone else, better than her parents even. 

"What are you looking at?" Marvel wondered and followed her gaze, just as the head Gamemaker turned away and grabbed himself some food. 

"Nothing..." Lucy replied and nibbled on a bread roll as she remembered the head Gamemaker's name was Seneca Crane. 

And she knew he'd be assessing her performance soon. 

*      *      *

The next day was day two of training. Like the previous day, Lucy and Marvel were the first one's there and afterwards all the other tributes flooded down to the training centre to resume yesterday's training. 

"Marvel?" Lucy asked her friend just as he was about to dart off towards the spears again. 

"Yes, Lucy?" He replied, stopping himself and turning to face her. 

"Gloss told me yesterday that I should try out some weapons...but then he told me just to try out the bow and arrow for some reason..." 

Marvel put on a thinking face then placed his hands on his hips and smiled. "Come on, lets follow his advice." 

He dragged her over to the weapons section where Cato and Clove were already busying themselves with their favourite weapons. Marvel picked up a spear then led her towards the bow and arrows which looked like nobody had touched them since the last Hunger Games. 

"You give it your best shot first, then I'll give you some advice," Marvel winked as he leant on his spear. Lucy nodded weakly before taking the bow and one arrow off the rack it stood on and then standing in front of a target that was in the form of a human. 

"Which target should I aim at?" Lucy wondered, looking at the two targets; one on the chest and one on the stomach. 

"Go for the chest, straight in the heart, knock 'em dead," Marvel said wisely. 

"OK..." Lucy whispered and took hold of the bow, she then placed the arrow by the bow and drew the string back. Clove had stopped throwing knives and was now getting Cato's attention to watch. 

Lucy swallowed her fear then aimed and let go of the arrow. She watched as it glided through the air and stuck itself just above the target, but it still hit the board. She blinked and then looked at Marvel who looked pretty impressed. 

"Nice shot! Fancy another go but with a bit of guidance?" He asked and she nodded. 

Marvel grabbed another arrow and then placed it on the bow, helping her get the correct hold on the bow and arrow, helping her straighten her shoulders and drawing back the string correctly. 

"Go for it!" Marvel said and let go of her shoulders and she released the arrow. 

Thud.

It hit the centre of the target. 

"T-That's mental!" Lucy gasped as Cato and Clove huffed in annoyance and continued with their activities. 

"Mental but true, I knew you could do it," Marvel smiled. "Keep practicing and when you want to do something else let me know." And with that he walked over to where the spears were and threw the spear that he had been holding onto, making it successfully hit the centre of the target. 

Lucy grabbed another arrow, stood by the target and held the bow the way Marvel had showed her and released the arrow, letting it freely hit the target. She kept herself to herself and fired arrows at targets (pretending it was Cato’s head, which helped her get a better shot) when a sudden yell erupted behind her. Lucy lost aim of the bow and it nearly hit Marvel.

"Watch it!" he laughed but Lucy wasn’t listening. There seemed to be a heated argument happening in the middle of the training centre. Like a moth to a flame, Lucy walked closer. It seemed Clove was picking on another tribute...

"You wasted piece of space! You — " Clove was picking holes at the other District tribute. Lucy looked up, literally, to the tribute. Clove was arguing with a 5 ft 8 girl! Clove was going a red colour but the other girl seemed to be showing no emotion at all. Marvel soon joined Lucy’s side.

"Where’s the fight?" He asked excitedly and Lucy pointed over to Rookie and Clove.

"That’s that Rookie girl!" Marvel told her shocked. Whatever was happening, she was taking a lot of anger from Clove’s foul mouth. Lucy looked over again to see Clove hiss in anger as Rookie walked off.

"What do you think it’s about?" Lucy asked curiously as Clove took minute steps to catch up with the striding girl.

"I think we’re about to find out..." Marvel grimaced as the two walked right past them.

"You couldn’t hit a target if you tried! You offered yourself for nothing!" She shrieked as Rookie walked past them calmly. Marvel and Lucy flinched as clove stormed by. Rookie spun around and stopped Clove with her hand on her head, making a humorous scene for the other Tributes.

"Stop bothering me, it’s not for you to know why I went into the games," she told her and let Clove fumble around dramatically. Marvel and Lucy chucked to themselves as Marvel rested on one of the spears.

"You couldn’t fight to save your life!" Clove hissed back before realising that all she had to do to break free was to step back. Cato was now becoming aware of the heated argument and the Capitol guards even seemed to be on their toes.

"What does it matter to you?" Rookie asked.

"All you do is fix tents and climb walls! Berry picking? A five year old could do it..."

"Fine," Rookie hissed dangerously making all watching step back; even Clove shook herself as Rookie lowered her tone. "You choose anything in here, anything; and I’ll do it. Successfully."

Clove smirked and pulled and eyebrow. "Alright then, District 3! You’re on! Hand to hand combat; now!" She ordered and pointed to the area were a square had been circled off. Rookie looked over everyone to see the combat mat and nodded and walked over.

Everybody followed the two girls to the combat zone. They wanted to see this girl fight. She’d showed no signs of attacking anyone. Rookie walked up to the centre of the matted area and waited for something to appear. You could hear a pin drop.

All of a sudden a horn sounded making everyone jump out of their skin. Clove smiled evilly. Then a Capitol man walked out in white shaped clothing fit for combat. He bowed and addressed Rookie.

 "Good morning tribute, what combat segment do you wish to complete?" he asked in a powerful voice.

"What is there?" Rookie replied. No one had dared try this segment before, apart from Cato and Clove who’d just about got out alive.

"Hand to hand or Weaponry," he replied blankly. Marvel scrawled his neck over the rest to see. Clove smiled evilly before replying:

"Both."

Rookie nodded before agreeing. "Both."

Lucy and some of the tributes cheered Rookie as she said this as Clove’s face split in two. Rookie went to one side of the mat; the fully grown man the other. Silence rose as a horn went off again to signal the start.

"Just because you said you’d do it both doesn’t mean you can complete both," Clove spat as Rookie glanced at her.

The man sped forwards and jabbed at her with his fists, Rookie dodging each one. Lucy shrieked as Rookie span a punch into the man’s face, but he blocked it by the side of his arm. He grabbed her arm with his blocking hand and span her sideways but Rookie acted quickly. She flipped in the air and the man attempted to flip her onto her back, landing squarely on her feet.

She used her elbow to hit the rock hard ribs and caused him to loose grip. Rookie turned and hit him in the chest with her foot, causing him to fall to his knees. Rookie jumped high to miss a swinging low leg kick but couldn’t miss the next attack. As the man swivelled, he placed both hands firmly onto the ground and kicked both feet into the air. It hit Rookie straight in the face.

The Tributes roared as Rookie fell to the ground onto her arms as they begged her to get up.

"Go on! Prove her wrong!" One cheered as Marvel rolled his eyes.

"She won’t. She should have just kept quiet," he muttered to Lucy who nodded like a sheep. She missed the next couple of seconds though because as quick as lightning it was the man on the floor and Rookie towering over him. Lucy clapped along with the District 9’s who seemed to be enjoying the fight.

The Capitol man flew off the floor and went to hit Rookie who rolled to the side. She turned from her roll to see the man advancing again and stood up. Lucy couldn’t keep up with it all as both pairs of hands attacked each other which made odd patterns in the air. All heads tried to follow but no one could keep up, that was, until Rookie sent three well timed punches to the man’s head. He fell onto his back and put his hands up in surrender.

Roars and cheers admitted and Marvel clapped slightly. Rookie helped the man up and both smiled, which made Lucy laugh in disbelief.

"She just beat him up and now she’s helping him?" Lucy said confused.

"That must be how they are," Marvel shrugged as the second round commenced. All went quiet. The man opened a draw in the wall and pulled out two staff stick like objects. As soon as Rookie was given the object the man smacked her in the face with the blunt end of his.

Gasps went round as Rookie felt her face. The man yelled and jabbed at her again, but Rookie had learnt from the mistake. She ducked and soon a mid-battle commenced. The fighting had stepped up a pace in speed as both started to increase in agility. Soon the fight had cornered itself by one of the walls and Rookie was struggling to keep up with the man.

"Hit her!" Clove spat through beady eyes as the man hit Rookie again with the staff. She dodged another but in return received three sharp blows to the arm. Rookie stepped back before attacking, using her staff to smack the staff out of the man’s hands and it shattered on impact.

Thinking Rookie had won, all the Tributes cheered (apart from Clove and Cato) until the warrior picked it the broken thing up and produced two daggers like objects from each end. Rookie’s eyes went wide as he started to swing them round effortlessly. Clove stood on her tiptoes and lent onto Cato to get a better look.

"Why can’t mine do that?" Rookie said in a bemused voice before preparing to fight again.

The man went to stab Rookie in the arm, but rookie moved out just in time as it clipped her shirt and pinned her shoulder against the wall. She smacked him round with her staff until a red gash could be seen. The man’s eyes widened in anger as rookie tried to pull free. As she did so, the man kicked her arm painfully and disarmed her, her staff rattling away...

"Finish her off!" Clove jumped up and down as Rookie pulled at the dagger like thing. The man strode into a run and aimed the other part of the object at Rookie. Lucy knew he wasn’t allowed to kill Tributes, but that didn’t stop him majorly hurting anyone...

 He yelled as he reached nearer. Rookie looked up in shock, acted quickly and grabbed the dagger like staff and went into a tuck jump before sending a powerful blow out with her knees. It caught the man off guard who was smacked in the ribs and went tumbling to the floor in pain.

Rookie tore her training top as the man felt his way up. He was shaking and holding his ribs. Lucy looked at Marvel who seemed quite impressed with the attack of the District 3 girl. Rookie walked over to him calmly and tried to wipe the blood off her face as the man put his hand up in surrender.

Clove’s face was indescribable as other Tributes clapped Rookie. She smiled and gave out a hand to the man who took it gratefully and limped up. Cato and Clove seemed less impressed as both fighters bowed. As Rookie was going to walk off though, Clove had run full sprint onto the training pitch.

"DIE!" She yelled at rookie who didn’t move. Clove took out a knife and was about to attack her when something hit her over the head. Lucy gasped and looked over to see the Capitol man with Rookie’s staff in his hands.

"No fighting until game," he pronounced slowly. Clove moaned slowly which made Lucy giggle.

"I’m thinking of starting an alliance with that girl," Marvel whispered cunningly to Lucy who nodded. Rookie walked back silently and walked past Cato, who gave her a nudge, which she ignored, and past Marvel who stopped her in her tracks

"Say...you were pretty good out there,” Marvel put on a boss like voice and tried to sound bigger than he was. "Why don’t you join us, we could use a secret Career like you," he granted as Lucy raised her eyebrows at him.

“I’m not a secret Career,” Rookie told him which took Marvel back slightly. “And whatever you think I’m not starting an alliance with Careers like you who kill us all off, understand? What you do is illegal and pitiful." Rookie didn’t look impressed and Marvel puffed out his chest trying to look imposing...that wasn’t working...

"We’re not Careers," Lucy whispered as Rookie stared at her.

"But you’re from District 1, it’s no secret," she replied almost shocked.

“Well, Marvel is...I had no intention of going into The Hunger Games,” Lucy mumbled and looked at the ground.

"Those other Districts seem pretty keen on you," Marvel warned as they all turned to see Rookie being eyeballed by other tributes.

"Yeah, like I don’t know it. That’s the problem, you either form and alliance or go on the hit list," she replied and rolled her eyes.

"So what are you choosing?" Marvel asked eagerly.

"The hit list seems more fun," she smiled and wiped some blood off her face. Marvel and Lucy both laughed at this but obviously caused a bit of a commotion after the fight as Cato stormed over.

"You laughing at my tribute are you?" he spat as he grabbed Rookie by the scruff of the neck.

"No," Rookie said simply as Marvel grabbed his spear in case anything fired up.

"You better not" he snarled as Lucy perked up, remembering her manners whilst around Cato.

"We were only joking around, just let us go."

"You want to fight you just say it, just don’t think your acting smart because you’re not. I’ll rip you apart any day you wish."

"Save it for the games, Cato," Rookie growled and Cato finally let go.

Cato pulled a face and eyeballed her and addressed them all

"You just watch it you two, I have a right mind not to join forces with you...but I’ll keep the door open," he snarled. "As for you; you better watch your back around here. You might be exiting early." And then he walked off. Rookie made a funny face behind him making Marvel go red with laughter.

 Marvel whistled as Rookie gave him a knowledgeable look.

"Better luck next time, chump. It will be an ‘honour’ to fight with them! He’ll ‘keep the door open.’" She whispered and patted him on the arm, which made Lucy giggle.

"Hey, you want to train with us?" Lucy asked politely as Rookie looked around.

"Yeah Sure, I’ll get fixed up first OK? My training partner is busy making fires at the moment," she said as a fire started up from another part of the training centre and the District 3 boy squealed in shock. "That’ll be him."

"Where do you want to train?" Marvel said as he took out a file and sharpened the spear menacingly. He looked a bit like a teenage grim reaper.

"Well my plan was to get my survival skills up, as I think my fighting OK..." Rookie muttered

"OK?" Lucy said confused. “You took out a fully grown man for goodness sake!”

Rookie laughed before continuing.

"It’s best not to fight if you know what you’re doing, just focus on the things you need to practice. For example..." Rookie looked around before pointing at the ropes course high above the training centre. "Take that for example. You could train on that for hours and not be Sure if it was any good, where as fixing tents and berry picking? It just makes sense to practice only what you need."

"In a way it kind of tests your smartness," Lucy said astounded as she felt her mind blown open with realisation. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it before. She had been determined to try everything, but by doing so she would only do it once or twice and it would make no major difference.

Rookie smiled before walking off and approaching her District partner.

 "If anybody’s going to be a threat in the games to the Careers; it’s her."

"And us if we do the right thing," Lucy smiled at him before wandering over to the throwing knives station which she was rather looking forward to now.

Day Two of Training for Lucy had been much more of a success...

But hadn't been as big as Rookie's success.