Cupcakes fight with daggers
She'd only been in the training room for 20 minutes, and she already knew she could win this. A guy named Kirsch who had tried to talk to her (and failed) was now arguing with a tall redhead holding a bow. The redhead was fairly good with the weapon, but if she spent less time arguing with Kirsch she might improve.
A small-ish brunette (dirty blonde? She wasn't sure exactly) was practicing with a dagger on a dummy. Carmilla had been practicing for the games before she was even picked, and dagger was always her weapon of choice. This girl was no match for her, although she was cute.
She shook the thought away and kept scanning the room. She knew the key to winning was to learn people's weaknesses and strengths. Two people were in the alchemy lab, mixing potions and throwing them at targets. The one with curly hair shook their head in disapproval at the one laughing hysterically when a potion exploded.
Hmm. She'd have to watch out for them. Potions were one thing she never understood, and the two geeks in there were making things in seconds. She would still beat them though, she was sure.
As she was watching them all, someone poked her. She startled, spinning around with a frown. Will backed up a step, holding his hands up. "Woah sis, lookin a little mad there."
She punched his shoulder jokingly and he acted like she just ripped off his arm. "I guess I don't know my own strength," she said. He laughed and then dropped the act, his expression suddenly serious.
"So... What are you going to do?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" She asked, rubbing her arm nervously.
"You know, sis. Kirsch and Danny from district 22 are forming rivaling groups. Zeta Omega Mu and Summer Society. Are you going to join?"
She shook her head and he looked disappointed. "Being a loner might not be the best strategy in this. I could always-"
She cut him off quickly. "No. We go our own way, Will, remember? And if you're still... Alive at the end, well then we'll shake on it."
Will sighed and nodded. He wasn't offended that his sister didn't trust him. Ever since Elle had abandoned her, she hadn't trusted anybody. He gave her a hug and then walked over to the camouflage center, where Kirsch was. Why not be a Zeta?
Carmilla watched him go with a twinge of guilt. Even if she could fully trust her brother, she couldn't protect him. And seeing him die would hurt her more than anyone in the games could.
--
Laura eyed the District 18 girl and her brother. They looked too alike not to be related. She knew the names of everyone in here but them. Admittedly, they kinda intimidated her. She spun a dagger in her hand absentmindedly. They were joking with each other, and then something changed. The brother walked away and she felt bad for the girl, who looked after him sadly.
She pulled out a cookie she'd snuck in and stuffed it in her mouth. The broody girl turned back to watching the people training, which was all she'd been doing after visiting the stations for about two minutes each or less.
Laura blushed when their eyes met. The other girl smirked and to her surprise, began walking towards her. "U-um, hey."
"Don't be afraid, cupcake. Not all of the district 18 stories are true." She winked at her, or maybe Laura just imagined it. She just nodded, speechless.
"So why are you just stabbing a dummy? You do know there's a simulation, right?" Carmilla asked.
"Oh, I-I was practicing. I'm not very good with violence and frankly, I think it's wrong but I wanted to try it out on the dummy first before fighting in the simulation because it's kinda scary-seeming, not that I'm afraid or anything," was Laura's rushed reply.
Carmilla raised an eyebrow and her lip twitched. She tried hard not to laugh at the obviously sheltered, inexperienced girl. "I'll help you cutie, come on." She led her to the simulation room. She was surprised at herself but tried to think that this was just for laughs and practice, not the girl behind her. "My name's Laura, by the way," the girl said.
They entered the simulation room and Carmilla bit her lip so she wouldn't smile. "I think cutie suits you better."
She enjoyed seeing Laura get flustered at her response.
"And my name's Carmilla, not that you need to know," she added, starting the simulation.
They suddenly were in a forest holding daggers. A group of random generated people appeared with various weapons. Laura paused after killing some guy with an axe to glance at Carmilla. She gaped at the swiftness and skill in her movements. She killed three people in seconds and Laura forced herself to turn back and fight her own attackers. She knew the pale district 18 girl wouldn't want anyone on her team, but... Maybe she could convince her that it was a good strategy.
She smiled fighting an imaginary girl with a spear, but then thought of all the people she'd talked to and the smile faded immediately. LaFontaine was hilarious and nice, as was Perry. And Danny... She'd only had brief conversations with them all, but the thought of killing them? She wasn't sure how she'd do it. The simulation ended with one last dagger thrust and Carmilla gave her a strange look.
"You okay?" she asked. It was only then that Laura realized she was crying. "I don't want to kill them."
Carmilla narrowed her eyes at her. "Listen, don't get attached. That's how you get killed in the arena. Don't empathize and don't trust anyone. The best way to go in the games is alone."
Laura wiped the tears from her face. She knew Carmilla was right, but to not trust anyone? She wasn't sure she'd survive on her own. Then the bell rung. Training was over.
At dinner, she couldn't help sharing a few looks with Carmilla. They were sitting in order of district number, across from their other district tribute. She was in 21, across from a guy named JP who was talking about something science-related with LaF(district 20 with Perry.)
After dinner was 30 minutes of free time before private training sessions with a professional.
Laura sat in the common room on a couch with LaF, Perry, Danny, and JP. They were all talking but Laura couldn't bring herself to join the conversation. Instead, she watched the TV, which was playing footage from the other games in previous years. A boy was hiding behind a tree in the video, and then he got stabbed in the back by his district partner. Wow. She looked away and met Carmilla's hard stare.
The pale girl was beautiful, and Laura found that she could easily return the stare. This made Carmilla squirm and look away. She grinned and returned her attention to the TV.