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Plume made an impression on Katniss Everdeen, and Plume wasn't quite sure if this had positive or negative connotations.
One day of training came and went. Aries demonstrated his skills with shurikens, earning him a few curt glances by Katniss. She had no doubt seen both Plume and Aries' prowess and was determining whether she should kill them as soon as the gong sounded or spit in her hand and shake on an alliance. Plume didn't like being judged by Katniss, and she found herself straying away from the archery section, instead finding a spot next to Aries as they brushed up on their knot-tying skills.
The second day was majorly uneventful. The Career pack was still dominating the weapons as they always tended to do. Most of the outliers were either staring out into space or practicing something that they had forgotten over the years. Plume knew how to start fires, and she was fairly good at water purification. Aries balanced out her weaknesses. He was always better than Plume at hunting and plant identification. He had a natural talent for finding nature and harnessing it into something useful. Whether it be determining if something was edible or not, or picking the right medicinal herb to leech out infection, Aries knew his shit. But, neither of them was good at knot-tying. It was a dumb skill, honestly. Plume didn't tie a single knot in her arena. However, you never know when it could be useful.
Later that night would be the individual evaluation, something that Plume wasn't looking forward to. She'd have to be sent into a room by herself and forced to show off her skills in front of the Gamemakers. After ten minutes, she would be dismissed and rated on a scale from one to twelve; one being the worst and twelve being the best. In her first Games, Plume had gotten a four. That was proof that the system was flawed. You could still win the Games as an underdog. Besides a number shouldn't be used to define your worth as a human being. You might get a twelve, but you'll still be a shitty human being. Plume was hoping for a one on her evaluation. She refused to give the Capitol any leeway over her.
Her hands, rough and calloused, worked on the twine that the instructors had given her. Her goal was to master a sheepshank knot before lunch. It was used to help mend a frayed section of rope. Useful, but boring. She let out a rough sigh as the twine looped through the wrong hole once more.
"I'd rather jam needles under my fingernails than learn how to tie knots all day," Plume threw the rope to the ground in exasperation, prompting Aries to look up from his own work.
He snorted, tying off his rope with a grimace. "We only have fifteen more minutes until the lunch break."
Plume blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face. She'd much rather stab something. Her eyes drifted toward the camouflage station, where she quickly found Peeta Mellark. He stood out amongst the other victors. He was young, a fresh face mixed in between old geezers with drug problems. Last year, Peeta had demonstrated his impressive camouflage skills when he disguised himself as a rock for two days as he tried to recover from an injury. His hand was colored to look like a forest ground. It looked believable. The boy was talking quietly to Aries' district partner, the morphling girl named Mellie. Plume faintly recalled that Mellie had won her Games by hiding out until the final battle. She'd covered herself with mud and hid in the bushes. Cowardly or brilliant, Plume couldn't decide. Peeta and Mellie seemed to be sharing tricks of the trade, showing off their tactics for decent camouflage. Mellie appeared to be going through withdrawal from morphling. Her face was sunken in, her skin covered in a sheen of sweat. But, her eyes were bright when she talked about paints and techniques. A sweet woman.
