𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬

𝟎𝟕. 𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬

— 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐱 —

━━━━━━ ☽【❖】☾ ━━━━━━

The first two days of training had been slow. It had taken awhile to find a rhythm, but eventually I was able to move about the survivalist stations without needing to slow down. Starting a fire: easy. Knotting technique: I've practically perfected it now. Identifying plant life: there had been a few new ones to learn, but most I already knew from years of experience on the farm. Where the problem truly lie, was with the fighting.

Caius had suggested finding one weapon. Just one. And you think that wouldn't be too hard after everything else. However, I was clumsy with a broadsword, I lacked the technique for daggers, I couldn't even pick up the axes, and my aim with a bow was far from on point.

"Why do you think they have a metal stick with the weapons?" Harlan asked, twirling said rod absently. "You think it's just in the wrong section? Because I use something like this to carry water from the fields."

"It's called a bo staff," a deep voice answered before I had the chance to. I was almost nervous that it had been one of the careers to speak since it hadn't gone unnoticed that they'd been watching us since the tribute parade. Everyone had for that matter. However, I quickly recognized this boy wasn't from any of the first few districts.

"You're one the tributes from district ten, right?" I asked.

"Rex." He nodded his head as he introduced himself, then he gestured to girl who'd been hiding at his side. "And this is Honey."

"I'm Juneaux," I introduced myself, smiling at the shy girl who kept her arms wrapped around the leg of the taller tribute. "And that's Harlan."

"Nice to meet you," Harlan added, sounding pretty genuine as he absentmindedly continued to twirl the Bo.

"You're pretty good at that," Rex noted. "You ever train with one before?"

Harlan quickly shook his head, pausing the twirling as he focused on the conversation. "No, it's just always been a hobby. Something fun to mess around with while I waited on my pops to finish up in the fields."

"How about we step over on to one of the sparring mats and I teach you how to use it defensively?" Rex suggested. "Maybe a couple things offensively too."

Harlan glanced in my direction, almost as if asking for permission. I gently chuckled and nodded my head. "Honestly, we could use all the help we can get."

As if I'd given him my blessing, he lifted the staff over his shoulder and followed Rex over to the sparring mats. I'd expected Honey to follow, but the girl had remained behind, staring up at me with big curious eyes.

"I'm going to quiz myself on the arena plant life again," I said then offered. "You're welcome to join me if you like."

Her lips pursed in thought, but then she quickly nodded her head as she followed me over to the computer system. I made haste of matching the plant specimens with their titles and uses. I missed one or two, but it was the best I'd done yet. Some of those poisonous specimens looked similar to some of the harmless ones and it wasn't always easy to tell them apart. Noticing the girl remained at my side, watching intently, I took a step back.

"Your turn."

She shook her head. I knelt down so that we'd be eye-level then pointed to the machine.