Our three days of training had arrived and we changed into our training outfits and made our way down to the elevator. Finnick and I had both awoken in the night from night terrors and couldn't go back to sleep so we talked about our training plan.
We were already sufficient in everything they had to offer for training so all we could do is make alliances and assert our dominance. We have always been good at asserting our dominance.
Unlike many of the victors now tributes; we hadn't been blinded by riches and praise and we're actually aware that the training room had been updated. In fact, we were it's first testers years ago and they finally installed the new system. None of this was new to either of us.
We walked in late to find that many of the districts had already been there for quite some time. Katniss was talking to peeta in a far corner and Johanna was throwing axes at the heads of the holographic dummies in one of the training simulation rooms.
"Want to warm up?" I asked as I walked toward a large simulation room with multiple floors.
"I'd love to." Finnick replied.
We walked to the weaponry table and picked tridents off a neighboring rack. I picked up a belt of throwing knives and tied it around my waist before taking a heart rate monitor and putting it around my neck.
"What's the monitor for?" Finnick asked as he began spinning his trident finding the balance point.
"I'm testing my average crisis heart rate." I answered as we began walking to the room.
"For why?" He said.
"I need to know if I can stay calm in the event that we're attacked. If we have to protect 12 then we need to be calm and rational." I said.
"But your heart rate is going to go up anyway." He said.
"It will but if it spikes unnaturally then it means I'm about to lose it and go crazy. We both know I've killed a lot of people when I got scared." I said gravely as I remembered every single person I murdered all those years ago.
"You're stronger when you're scared. It's your hidden talent." He said beginning to program the room for us.
I stayed quiet and eventually the room was ready and we walked in. Once we were in the door locked on us and the simulation began.
"It's set to water combat. There's no point in hiding that we're both good at it so might as well scare them a bit." Finnick said as the floor began sliding out beneath us revealing a shallow pool of water. It barely reached our ankles and there were holes in the bottom where the water was coming in.
Once the floor was out from beneath us the water began rising rapidly. I knelt down on the grate setting my hands in the water getting a feel for the temperature.
"Our hands should be fine. the water's warm so we won't be stiff." I said getting back to my feet.
"Perfect. And we even have an audience." He replied as we both looked out at many tributes watching us, even Katniss and Peeta.
The water reached my neck and I began floating to the top reaching the ledge of one of the stories and climbing onto it. The water rose up to about eight feet and Finnick was floating in the middle while I stood on the ledge ready to take the high ground.
The first group of holograms came out with weapons and began striking at us with their spears and tridents. I pulled out a knife and threw it at a hologram hitting it square in the chest but I still had to dive into the water to avoid a strike from a different hologram. Finnick was striking at the underwater holograms so fast I couldn't see what he was even doing because of the bubbles.
Finnick was too fast for the simulation and they couldn't keep the holograms coming fast enough. I had wiped out all the ones coming from above because I was better at swimming and he was better at striking underwater. The water began draining and our feet eventually hit the ground again.
Once the draining was complete fans came on drying us off before we could step out. We were still damp and our shoes remained completely soaked.
Finnick and I decided without speaking that we should show off our underwater communication so we began walking out of the room speaking to one another with sign language. It wasn't much of a secret that we communicated like this but Katniss and peeta's eyes followed us out curiously.
+++
The next day we walked around talking to the other tributes. We showed off yesterday so now it was time to make deals. Cashmere was side eyeing me so hard as I walked by that she had to blink and rub her eyes after I passed her. Johanna was her usual grumpy self to everyone but treated me with surprising kindness.
"Mind if I join you?" I asked Johanna as she was looking at axes.
"Nope." She replied picking up five at a time and sliding them into her belt. I already had a trident slung over my shoulder so I was prepared as we walked into the simulation room.
The simulation began and Johanna began speaking as she swung at the holograms.
"You and finnick are targets now." She said.
"That's the point." I replied.
"How so?"
"We're not trying to live through this were trying to protect 12. If we take the attention off of them then they're safer. We've been over this in like every meeting I would think you would know this." I said as I sent my trident through three holograms at once.
"How did you do that?" She asked. The holograms I had just stabbed were not in a straight line so I assumed that's what she was talking about.
"I put a spin in my wrist since there's no wind to carry it.
"Cool." She said getting ready to throw the axe.
"It won't work on the axe. The balance is different. You would need to try it a different way." I said and she huffed.
"Why do you know everything." She said angrily as she destroyed a hologram.
"Because if if I didn't then the stupid people would win." I answered as I slashed through more holograms.
Johanna didn't reply but she gave me a nod of respect as we walked out of her room. Any day that I got a nod of respect from her was a good day. Finnick was talking to Katniss and peeta so I figured it was best I stay back as I don't think Katniss Likes me much.
+++
By the end of day three Finnick had managed to get Katniss and peeta as allies. They didn't really know it yet but that was besides the point. The point was he had built trust with them. I was busy with Wiress and Beetee today and we spent the entire day of training discussing the special arrangements. Tomorrow we would have our private training in the morning and then we would have the rest of the day to prepare for the interviews.
For now though I had to come up with a plan and some time to have a word with president snow. It's crucial that I get permission to speak with Plutarch but because I am a tribute president snow must be present. I turned in a meeting request before I returned to the apartment and hopefully my name on an envelope is enough of a fright to scare snow into letting me meet with him. I was on the bridge to becoming intimidating to him and one more meeting could put me on the other side. If I can intimidate president snow then I will be more powerful than everyone in power here.
Just one meeting.
