Together Again

Chapter 5: Training (Birch PoV)

I step out of the chariot and am taken up to the second floor on an elevator. I walk to my room and undress. I change into a tank top and black sport shorts. I wash off my makeup and take out my hair, placing the pin on the bedside table. I fiddle with my necklace. I got the chain a few years ago. Every year for my birthday since, I get at least one charm for it from Clove and Cato.
I mess with it until I hear a knock on the door. I open it and see Enobaria. She tells me that it's time to eat. I follow her to the table. I eat a little bit of food, but mostly just pick at it with my fork. Once I am dismissed, I take my necklace off and go to sleep. I sleep soundly.
I wake up the next day and told that training starts today. I get handed a shirt that's black, gray, and dark blue. I change into it and a pair of leggings. I walk out to the table. I eat a muffin and drink some hot chocolate. I finish my food and walk to the elevator with Marble. We get lead to the training center. They explain the rules, and it's the same as at home.
I get a 2 pinned to my back. I roll my eyes. I take off to the knife throwing station right away. The other careers are looking around lazily. I pick up a handful of good knives and toss them up. They're all pretty equal in weight, which is good. I postion my hand on the first knife. I get into my throwing position. I flick my wrist and I get a bullseye. I smirk and do the same with the rest of the knives.
I finish and try out the axes. I'm not the best, but I could be worse. I move on. I try the knot tying station and I'm pretty good at it. I hear a groan. I look up and see Marble beating up the District 3 male, Theodore, I think. I set down my knot and walk over. I calmly get in line. I put a hand on Marble's shoulder. He looks at me.
"Not yet," I say. "Almost. Not yet. Wait. Just a little bit more waiting." Marble nods and pins Theodore down. "You're lucky Birch is here kid," I hear Marble say. It confuses me, but I go back to the knot tying station. There is someone else there. I could always scare them away, beinga career and all, but I move onto the fish hook station.
You never know when District 4 is gonna go down. I'm bad at it, but they would work, if need be. I start a fire easily. I can climb, but I try it. The careers are there. I get in line. Ill be climbing against Diamond, perfect. I smirk. I cheer Marble on.
He gets down and Diamond and I start climbing. I tilt back and forth to see how easily the ropes twist. They twist pretty easily. I start climbing. I hear Diamond getting frustrated. I smile to myself. I glide along the rope. I sit at the top and watch Diamond. She's struggling.
She keeps flipping over. I flipped over a few times, but always kept my handling and footing. She's clumsy and all over the place. I watch. Eventually she falls. I climb down and Marble walks over to me. He smiles and puts a hand on my back.
I smile at him. He wraps an arm around my shoulder. He walks with me to lunch. He ignores the rest of the careers and talks to me. We wander around from station to station for the rest of the day. We mess around and joke. We ignore the other careers.
We head to the elevator when we get dismissed. He walks with me. We hang out in my room for a little bit before dinner. We listen and tell Enobaria about our days. I tell Enobaria because Brutus doesn't like me. I finish and dismiss myself to shower and go to sleep. I go to sleep content.
The next day picks up where yesterday left off. Marble and I head to the plants station. We go through it a lot. The other careers follow us. Marble helps me with my fighting. I help him with knives. We do this for the rest of the training days. Until, the last one. He ignores me again.
I walk around with Coral and Shark. We chat and train. They help me with my fish hooks and trident skills. I help them with climbing and knives. We go to bed exhausted. I sleep really well every night. Except for the night before the interviews.
I'm running and shouting for Cato. Marble appears in front of me. I see Cato behind him. Marble puta a hand over my mouth and stabs me with a knife. I go to scream but I can't. I want to call out for Cato, but I can't. I blink and he disappears. I see Coral and Shark above me. They laugh and me and dump saltwater on me. I scream.
My stab wound stings. Diamond comes next. She laughs at me. She makes fun of me. She taunts me. She cuts me with beautiful diamond weapons. She is replaced with Dad. He looks at me and says, "Pathetic. Not my daughter. My daughter would fight."
I cry even more and Mom appears. She looks at me and then shakes her head. She doesn't say anything. Just looks at me with a dissapointed look. Clove appears. She sees me and laughs. "You're so weak. No wonder you didn't win. I never wanted you as my sister. You don't belong here."
"You don't belong in 2. You don't belong in Panem. You only belong dead. You're stupid and worthless. I hate you and I wish I had a better sister!" She screams at me. I cry and don't do anything else.
Cato is there. I reach out for him. He runs to me. He puts my head in his lap and brushes my hair out of my face. He smiles at me. I start breathing jagged breaths. I cry and he just stays there. He strokes my cheek with his thumb. He runs his other hand through my hair.
I close my eyes. When I open them again, Cato is holding a knife above me. I scream as he stabs me on the heart. I close my eyes and when I open them, I see Cato sobbing over my body. He's hugging it to himself and sobbing. I bolt up and look around.
I choke out a sob. I swing my legs over the edge of the bed. My feet touch the ground. I flatten them out and breathe in. I shake my head and walk to the kitchen. I get a glass of water and go sit on a windowsill. I hear someone, but I don't look.
I feel a hand on my shoulder. I hear a women's voice. It's Enobaria. "Hey," she says gently. "Are you ok? What happened?" She asks sitting down.
I explain my dream to her. She takes my glass of water and put it on the windowsill behind me. She wraps her arms around me. She calms me down. She tells me it will be ok. She gives me my glass of water and sends me to bed.
I go to sleep and don't wake up. I sleep until morning. And that's when the real trouble began.