testing the waters

Travis entered the training gym, taking a look around. What he saw surprised him at first, but as he thought about it more, he realized he shouldn't really have been that surprised. He looked at where all the tributes were, mainly trying to find his district partner. When he finally found her, he noticed she was running the agility course...and falling a lot. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He thought about going to help her, but then decided against it when he saw another tribute run up to help her only to get pushed away as she continued.

He began walking over to the melee station, but then he heard something that caught his attention. He turned around, looking for whatever the source of the noise was and saw that it was an arrow that hit the wall. He smiled a little, but made sure not to let a laugh escape to embarrass the girl shooting arrows. He crossed his arms, waiting to see her shoot again as he began to walk over. It took her a bit, but she managed to hit the shoulder of the target to which Travis nodded his head. He looked back at the melee station, wondering if he should work on that...but then realized he should try to work on his weak area. He walked over to the throwing weapons and reached for what appeared to be a throwing axe. He threw it into the air a couple times, nodding. When he grabbed it again, he threw it into the air, flipping it and then grabbed the hilt to throw it at the target. The blade buried itself in the right arm to which he smiled and looked over to the girl. "Beginner's luck I suppose...even if it was only the arm. Nice shooting by the way."

He shrugged when she said her compliment. "Thanks...could be a bit better though. All the axe would do is cut off the arm...well, and whoever it hit would probably bleed out but whatever." He picked up a small throwing knife, twirling it around in his hands a bit, clumsily. He looked at the target, focusing for a few seconds and then he threw the knife and watched as it impaled itself in the dummie's chest. He grinned and stated, "Was aiming for the neck but...suppose that works too..." He looked over to where she had shot the dummy in the shoulder once more. "Try adjusting your aim a bit. I mean, an arrow to the shoulder is gonna make someone hurt a lot but an arrow in the chest might bring 'em down." She also told him what her name was and what her district was to which he nodded. "Nice meeting you. I'm Travis, District 10."

When he looked over at the girl named Mirabelle, he saw her smile...but it seemed a bit uneasy. Travis decided not to say anything about it, but he made a mental note of it. She thanked him and then got another arrow as she blushed. He smiled and said, "Don't mention it." He watched as she fired another arrow, grinning and clapping his hands together when he saw that she improved a bit. "Nice shot! The careers might have their work cut out for them this year." He chuckled and crossed his arms as he was asked what it was like back home. His smile faltered a bit and he replied, "It was...alright I suppose. Lots of animals...I myself lived on a farm. We had pigs, cows, and I owned a horse. Wasn't too bad." He bit his bottom lip slightly before smiling again and saying, "But, doesn't matter now. I wanna see you hit the target like that again. I ain't lettin' you leave this station until you do." The smile he wore was friendly as he pulled an arrow of the rack and handed it to her.

Eben Dunbryll

Eben walked into the training gym and looked around. Most of the tributes were already working at their desired stations. Eben didnt know which one he should start with, he figured he should do some combat/weapon training. He made his way over to the ranged station, and looked over the weapon options. Eben decided to go with the throwing knives, he never much liked bows. He grabbed a set and prepared himself in front of the dummies.

Eben aimed one of the knives, hurling it towards the dummy. The knife struck the target, sticking hard in the left shoulder. Not the best spot, but decent for a first time. He took a second knife and did the same thing. This time the knife hit the lower abdomen. He couldnt help but notice the career tribute from district one. He seemed very confident, mostly to the point of arrogance. But there was no denying the kid had skills. The other tributes there were two girls from districts 8 and 9, and the boy he believed to be from district 10.

Not noticing one of the newcomers show up at first, Travis had taken a throwing spear off the weapon rack, weighing it in his hand. He held it up, taking aim and was about to throw it when he heard the dull thud of a knife striking home. He looked over to where it hit, realizing it was the target Mirabelle had been aiming for. He smiled, but then realized she still had a bow in her hand and inspected further to find the district 1 male standing there with a smug look on his face. He didn't like to believe that careers were like this, but then again he knew stereotypes do exist for a reason. Travis shook his head, wishing some people would at least try and disprove them.

He watched as two more tributes came over to the ranged station, one the female from District 9 and the other the male from District 6. He heard something else hit the target and looked over to see an arrow lodged under the rib cage. The girl from 8 looked over at the career who then gave her a very sinister smile. The District 1 male stood there for a bit before apparently becoming bored, taking three throwing knives and throwing them into the District 9 girl's dummy that had some throwing knives in it already. Travis gave a silent thanks that he left, but was a bit disappointed when the girl left. He watched as the boy from six threw a dagger, impaling the dummy in the shoulder. He took one more glance at the career to make sure he was out of earshot before muttering to the female tribute beside him, "Didn't think careers were that bad...guess the ones from one and two are just pets, begging for approval. At least District Four has had some decent ones..." He tossed the throwing spear in the air slightly, sighing, and then turned to hurl it at the dummy, watching as it hit it in the leg.

Eben couldnt help but smile and laugh at the comment the boy from district 10 said. "Now, aint that the truth, snobby, arrogant pricks they are." He replied. He aimed a third knife and stuck it into the neck of the dummy. Eben had two more knives left, he took one in each hand and threw them both at the same time, one in the leg and the other into the chest. Then he turned around to introduce himself to the others. "Eben Dunbryll, district 6" He stated.