Rage and Contentment (CLOSED)

I begin to laugh. Only one of these girls seemed to be training very seriously, the others were a bit simple, singing to the birds, what a joke! I slip from behind the tree, where I was hacking away with my sword, and begin speaking softly to the girl spying in the bushes.

“You know…the girls aren’t the ones you’ll have to worry about in the arena…”I spoke loudly enough for all of them to hear me. I blow the bush girl a little kiss to punctuate my statement. Startled, she jumps out of the bushes and darts away. I walk to the other girls, the ones who decided to sing to the birds, my shirt bright white. Clean. I like white, not only is it in my name, but it brings out my eyes and my hair. I always keep a clean set of clothes for when training has concluded.

I catch their eyes, just what I wanted.

“I don’t think singing would help much in the Games anyway, ladies.”

I roll up my sleeves and shift my eyes from girl to girl. Nippy Rose, oh the jokes that flood my head…and the pink! Oh, what a blinding sight. I remember she has some talent with a sword. The other two are young, I recognize both of them. One was kicked out of training, for singing too much. Surprise, surprise. The other was sharp enough to spot the spy, good for her.

I twist my custom made sword in the dirt, a habit I’ve developed over the years. I grin, I can’t help myself, it’s a beautiful day, and I’ve had an especially good time training, now, it was time to entertain myself.

“You should spend more time trying to improve your throwing consistency.” I don't know why I wink, but I do, I amuse even myself.

“You idiot.”

I can’t help but laugh, it wasn’t the first time I’ve been called an idiot. I put my hand to my chest, right where my heart is, and lower my head just a little bit, eyes wide enough for them to get a nice view of my eyes, there’s a smile across my face. That same sinister smile that has plagued me since birth. But, I’m entertained. I need more.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. But really, can you get much more fun than training?”

Offend, no, annoy, just a little bit. I speak in that tone that seems to be teetering on the border of sarcasm, but clearly, she doesn’t enjoy training as much as I do. A shame, really.

“I saw you throwing knives earlier…well, I heard the clapping, anyway. The knife in the other girl’s target was a nice touch.”

It was really, in times like these, it’s necessary to assert yourself.

“But, some people don’t have the affinity for knife throwing. Arrows might do you more justice, maybe a slingshot.” At this point I realize I’m ignoring the other girls, but until they speak up, I have nothing to say.

"Singing can be very useful in the arena. We can let each other know where we've been, and singing high and low at different volumes can exorcise your voice for talking quietly. Look whose talking. You would be the first one to die in that arena!" Well, there you go. I can’t help but grin at that.

“First to die, huh?” I laugh, shaking my head. What a ridiculous statement. “Letting others know where you’ve been? You mean, like the twenty-three people looking to cut your head off your body?” I don’t want to make the poor girl cry, so I drop it, and bow politely; after all, a man needs to know how to act.

“I’ll let you get back to your…training. For your sake, I’ll hope you don’t get reaped.”

I turn to go, whistling a tune I’ve always found rather eerie; the birds mock the tune in enjoyment. Whistling isn’t good for training either, but damn, it’s entertaining.