show me your fight | [Garrison&Eedun] Blitz

"Are we going straight to the fighting?"

Eedun whirled around. Among the trainees was a young man, spear in hand. Eedun gave him a one over.

"After you're Reaped, do you immediately start fighting?" he asked, pacing in front of the line of teenagers armed with weapons. He looked at the young man who had spoken. "No. You have to charm, you have to prove yourself."

"Anyone can kill, but not everyone can do it with style."

Eedun took a step back, putting the full empty training floor between him and the students. The harsh lights of the gym lightning the dull concrete. There were a few dummies and targets set up. A poor man's answer to the training room in the Capitol.

"A high training score can mean life or death and they don't give away twelves just because you can hit a target," Eedun said, his voice bouncing off the walls. He looked to the boy who had spoken. "You there. Show me you're worth teaching."

Eedun spread his arms out, welcoming him to the stage between them.

The boy walks up confidently. He spins the spear in his hand with a practiced ease that tells Eedun he's been training for some time. Not a greenhorn, thank Ripred. Eedun was looking for a challenge.

Eedun stepped towards the boy, rolling his shoulders. He held no weapon, only his hands. With the children he trained he rarely needed anything else.

He cracked his knuckles, settling into a readied position in front of the young man. He was on the shorter side but strong. Eedun could see the muscle built up over time. The man smiled. This boy may be well trained but he wouldn't be as fast as he was.

"Go on," Eedun said. He twitched his hand, beckoning the kid forward. "Show me you're worth my time."

The kid moves, his spear cutting the air. Eedun side steps it, letting the blade come down right in front of him, barely brushing his boots. It's not a strike he'd have trouble dodging, but it was far faster than he had anticipated. The kid was quicker than he looked which worked to his advantage.

"I won't go easy on you if you don't. Deal?"

Eedun couldn't stop the grin that came to his lips. After years of bullying twelve year-olds, he was more than eager for a real fight. He was rusty with age, but that wasn't about to stand in his way.

"Deal."

He took a step back putting enough distance between them to be just out of the spear's reach.

"What's your name, kid?"

Garrison. You won't know me just yet. We'll see, though.

Eedun dodged Garrison's next swipe forward, dancing around him. He's fast and it takes all of Eedun's strength to move out of the spear's path.

He's a force, that's for sure. A kid who might actually come back.

He moves to dodge the spear only for it to take him by surprise. The kid faked him out, stabbing where he moved to. The spear's blade catches Eedun's cheek and despite the dull blade it still breaks the skin.

When was the last time any student had made him bleed?

Despite the impressive display, Eedun could look like a chump in front of the other students. Without a word he grabbed the spear's shaft and knocked it aside opening the kid enough to land a well placed knee into Garrison's stomach.

"Well, Garrison," he said. "You might have potential."

The kid was on his feet fast and he made an excellent point. If venom was in play Eedun would be dead, or close to it. Garrison truly was the entire package- strong, fast, and smart. Most trainees barely had one and it here's a kid with all three.

He was smiling when the question on Garrison's lips stole his grin.

"So who've you trained that's made it to the games?"

His throat was thick as he thought of Ivar Hammerfell. It had been ten years (Ripred, how did a whole decade fly by like that?). The kid had managed to kill two tributes but in a games of over 50 tributes it had been a drop in the bucket.

That boy survived on sure will alone. As much as Eedun didn't want to admit it, watching him die had hurt him.

"No one you'd remember," he said, banishing the Hammerfell from his thoughts lest he make a fool of himself in front of his new students. "Are you planning on being the next one?"

Eedun smiled. He liked Garrison's attitude. He followed the kid's advice and grabbed a spear off the wall. He spun it around in his hand, getting used to the weight of the weapon.

He gave an experimental jab of the spear before settling into a defensive stance.

"It won't be fair, but I'll try my best to go easy on you," Eedun said with a wink.

He lunged forward immediately, jabbing at Garrison and getting an idea of how the boy worked on the defense. His offensive was good, but it would be nothing if he couldn't defend against an assault.