Wilted Roses ; The Hunger Games

VI. History

THANKFULLY, NOBODY BROUGHT up whatever happened to Rose after the parade. To say she was relieved was an understatement, she decided to just let it go to the best of her ability and focus on the games. Winning the games more specifically. Truly, the only person stopping her from making it home was herself. If she trained hard and thought harder, nobody in that arena would stand a chance, at least thats what she would like to think.

     She knew the other tributes were bigger, stronger, faster, but she had a plan. Due to the tears that fell after the parade, Rose is now viewed by all her fellow tributes as weak. Not strong enough to bother searching for. If she let all the stronger tributes take each other out while she only ever comes out of the shadows if she has to, it would leave her and whatever was left. By that time she would build up her defenses and kill her competition. Yes, the plan has many flaws and relies mostly on chance, it's all she could think of.

     That night Finnick decided to train Connor and Rose with various weapons that could be sitting in the cornucopia, though he strongly advised us to stay away from it. Rose had taken a liking to the sword, though she wasn't the best at it, she was learning at a very quick pace. Connor was the best with the dagger, claiming it reminded him of back home where he would gut the fish he caught.

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"In two weeks, twenty three of you will be dead. One of you will be alive. Who that is depends on how well you pay attention over the next four days. Particularly to what im about to say." Rose listened closely to the woman's words, trying to ignore how all the other tributes looked at her. She could hear whispers and snickers from the careers next to her but decided to ignore them.

"First. No fighting with the other Tributes. You'll have plenty of time for that in the arena.
There are four compulsory exercises, the rest will be individual training. My advice is; Don't ignore the survival skills. Everybody wants to grab a sword but most of you wil die from natural causes. 10% from infection. 20% from dehydration. Exposure can kill as easily as a knife."

Predictably, most the tributes ignored what she said and instantly went for the weapons. Rose instantly began working on the things she lacked the knowledge of. Like starting fires, tying knots and which berries are poisonous or not.

     Rose glanced around the room, already seeing alliances being formed with the other tributes. Some were obvious like the career pack and the brother-sister duo but some were more unexpected like Daryl and Orsa from district eleven or the district nine male and Rhodes from district twelve.

Connor was at the other end of the room, working on tying knots. Rose began walking towards him, maybe hoping for some advice on how to tie knots because that was one of the only places Rose was struggling with.

"Hey showstopper." Rose greets, ruffling his hair as she kneels down next to him. She wasn't sure exactly how it happened, but the nickname just seemed to stick. She knew she wasn't helping her case of not getting attached, but she couldn't help it.

"Hey Ro. Need anything?" Connor asked, the nickname instantly making Rose hold back a smile.

     "Yes, actually. I see you're pretty good at tying knots, could you help me with some?" Rose asked, a smile grew on Connors face as he quickly nodded.

     Connor went on to show Rose how to do multiple knots, Rose was thoroughly impressed by his knowledge and slightly overwhelmed by all the different knots there were to tie. It was such a silly skill Rose wasn't even entirely sure she would need, it's not like there were that many ways you could kill someone with a knot.

"Im going to go back to the berry station." Rose announced as she pulls herself to her feet, they briefly say their goodbyes before Rose heads to the station. She was never good at identifying berries, but she knew the game makers were no stranger to tricking tributes by giving them poisonous berries. Rose would not let that, out of all things, be the one to take her life.

As she started up the test, she was doing relatively well before feeling a hand on her shoulder. Rose held her breath, a shiver running down her spine at the girls freezing touch. She turned her head to see Dionysus from District Two.

     "Do you need something?" Rose asked, trying not to come across as mean though there was still a hint of hatred underlying her voice. She was never the kind of person to immediately dislike someone, but Dionysus was one of the only exceptions. She was the one who pointed out what happened at the parade to her fellow careers, she was also the one to laugh the hardest. Negativity simply radiated off her.

     "You won't make it a day in that arena." She hissed into Roses ear, making Rose immediately tense up. She wasn't sure where this was coming from, she didn't know why Dionysus was approaching her like this out of nowhere. Rose wouldn't let her get into her head, she knew her words meant nothing if Rose didn't let them.

     "What makes you so sure?" Rose retaliates, stepping away from the girl and crossing her arms across her chest. Dionysus's raised her eyebrows with a sight smirk appearing on her lips.

     "The way you ran off crying at the parade." Dionysus laughed, crossing her arms in a mocking way. Roses confident expression quickly withered away as Dionysus's amused smile only grew bigger.

     Rose opened her mouth to speak but she couldn't think of a response.

     "History always repeats itself." Dionysus scoffed as she strutted off, her icy blue eyes staring daggers into Roses until she joined her fellow careers.

AN: i apologize for the rlly short chapter lol
ALSO IM READING TBOSAS AND REAPER :( I LOVE HIM SM HE DHOULF HAVE WON

Also when i first wrote this i accidentally gave Rose and Dionysus WAYYYYY too much tension so i had to tone it down a lil