Catching Friends [Thundy]

Gather round now everyone,
Put your glass in the air.
Sing along now everyone;
We've got a reason to cheer.

I looked around the training center with a feeling that can be summed up as lost. All of the training stations held objects so foreign to me I wouldn't know if I was even holding them the correct way up or not. I knew what a knife looked like, and I could manage to cut my food with one, but there was not a bone in my body that understood how to use one in a fight. Sure I had punched at people before, namely Gray and a couple other shadows that had ticked me off, but I had no experience in a fight. Aimlessly my gaze wandered from station to station, from face to face, looking for something - anything - that I could try. Claine had pointed out a couple tables, telling me what was happening there. I shook my head, knowing any attempts I made there would have me looking more like a fool than how I felt.

Take it in, breathe it in,
We are about to begin.
Make the choice to use your voice,
But don't get lost in the noise.

Finally Claine scoffed at me and told me that I was being difficult. I just rolled my eyes at him, sending another glance at each of the tables and trying to think what I could possibly do. I had to do something, I had to help myself somehow, otherwise I would end up dead and I wouldn't even know how. Fed up, Claine flung his hands into the air. "I don't know, go make traps or something." I looked toward the trapping table, seeing it was abandoned aside from a single boy. It was the District nine boy, who volunteered for no obvious reason. I think he called himself Soap.

All good things come to an end,
We shouldn't have to pretend.
Everything we know could change;
Will you remember my name?

It was better than nothing, and food was a valuable thing in the arena. I walked over to stand beside the other boy, Claine following with obvious exasperation - he may have taken me on like a mentor but he didn't have the experience for it. For too long I stood, watching over his shoulder as he moved and tied pieces in a manner I didn't think I would ever understand. Finally, after a hard shove from Claine, I took the courage to ask, "How are you doing that?" The question was out of my lips before I realized how stupid it sounded. At least my uselessness would be plain, so maybe he would be able to forgive me for it sooner rather than later. Maybe forgive me for it enough to spend the time to teach me things - he looked so much more comfortable around here than I did, or maybe he was just better at pretending.

I hope you do, honestly,
I'll keep you in my memory.
Make the choice to use your voice,
But don't get lost in the noise.

Claine's snort reached my ears and I looked at him in time to watch him walk away. My gaze slid back to Soap, a bit sheepish. "Nevermind him, he just doesn't like it when I do something different than what he thinks I should do." I took a seat beside Soap - I had completely lost his real name, but the emphatic way he had stated his nickname had left it imprinted on my mind - watching him work, still fascinated. I hoped I would find something I was good at, or at least something I could manage so that I might be able to aid myself or any allies I might make. If anyone would value me. What can I do? I picked up a piece of wire, twisting it in my fingers as I watched the light spark off the metal. It reminded me of my piece of obsidian, and I dug in my pocket for it. Closing my hand around it, I shut my eyes and took a breath, letting the stability of the stone harden my thoughts. I needed to stop letting myself get dragged down so easily, of all of my qualities - useless or not - that would be the one that would get me killed.

Skip classes, take chances, have fun,
'Cause when it's over it is done.
Skip classes, take chances, have fun.

My eyes back on Soap, I tried to give him a wry smile though it might very well have been a grimace. "I've never been good at this," I gestured a hand at the table in front of me, "any of this really. My gesture expanded to include the whole room and not just the table. I let the piece of wire fall from my grasp to clink on the table, ashamed of my sudden confession. Not only was I useless, but I was stupid. I had just revealed a weakness to a boy that sometime in the near future would be holding a weapon and trying to survive. I offered him the key to the lock on my security fence and didn't even wait to see if he was friend or foe. Then again, I suppose everyone in a foe in the end.

I have waited so long to write this song for you
And I hope you like it.