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The other girl’s fist connected with Ruby’s shoulder, much to Ruby’s surprise, insult, and finally, anger. She decided, at that point, that she’d done her fair share of charity. 

Ruby followed the motion of the hit to absorb as much of the punch as possible, and used the momentum to rotate behind the tribute. She slipped an arm around the girl’s throat and tightened her hold.

“Last piece of advice: A common mistake is to think that using your fists is the only way to attack, and the only thing to look out for.” She kicked out the other tribute’s legs from under her so that the girl was held upright by her neck. “Wouldn't want to do that, would you?” The monitor she had spotted before was rushing towards them then, so she let go of the tribute and stepped back.

 “Your five minutes are up.” She shrugged nonchalantly. 

This time, it was impossible for her not to wince. The hit– the almost hit– had looked so much like it was going to land on her eye, that Roscoe simply couldn’t help it. 

Okay, well. 

Maybe she could have, if she wasn’t lying to herself and pretending District 1 had actually meant to miss. It was clear the intention of that punch had been to leave Ro with a black eye. Something had just gotten into the way. And, for that, Roscoe was deeply, deeply thankful.

Through gritted teeth, and a frustrated noise, Ro snapped her head back towards the career, embarrassed that she’d finally cringed:

“Clear. Now, I suppose I’ll try again.”

Taking the tribute’s advice, this time, Roscoe attempted to throw her whole torso into the punch. It was only barely that she managed to keep her feet planted, feeling awkward in her movement. It was completely unnatural. But, for once in her life, she managed to stay on course and aimed for District 1′s shoulder. 

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��Oh, now look who’s on the verge of dishing out death threats.” Ruby grinned. “Finally ready to come out and play, are you?”

“I have to admit, if you’re as accustomed with strangling as you are with nervy retorts and marinating in low tide cologne, I’m inclined to believe you.”

“Analytic abilities, poor.” Mallory noted, pouting slightly. At Ruby’s next comment, Mallory smiled genuinely. That was a good one. She perked up as she smelt a challenge. “A bloodhound, are you? How charming. Thing is, I have no trouble strangling a bitch.”

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Ruby used her arm to block, but was still shocked by the girl’s strenght. She’d seen the way the tribute had moved, knew she hadn't tapped into near half of her bodily force and yet the hit hadn't been weak at all. Ruby clucked her tongue, reluctantly impressed at the thought of how powerful the girl’s attack would be with proper technique.

“Not bad.” Ruby admitted. “I can’t say I expected you to aim well enough to hit your target, so there’s that.” She approached the other girl again, this time circling her like an animal closing in on her prey. “You’ll want to learn how to use that strength of yours, though. I know it’s there, but you don’t know how to make use of it, do you?”

“You have to put your whole body into the punch. That means your hips should stay aligned with your opponent, but your torso should rotate with your fist.” Putting a hand on the girl’s shoulders again, Ruby forced her to do the motions. “The quality of your stance is key here too. As you throw your arm out, bring your weight from the fot behind you to the front, that way you increase the mass and speed behind the punch.” 

Ruby walked back in front of the tribute then and pulled her own hand back, intending to demonstrate her point with a black eye, but just as she did, she caught sight of a monitor and let her fist stray centimeters left from the girl’s face. No point in getting into  trouble, after all. 

“Clear?” She asked innocently.  

Roscoe barely managed to keep a straight face as the other girl’s leg connected with her arm. It had been hard not to flinch at every correction District 1 had made, every grab to modify Ro’s stance. Of course, Roscoe was grateful, and well aware how valuable the shifting around was. That was for absolute sure. She would use it; she would remember it. It just required a lot of, well, hand-to-hand. 

In the end, Ro was able to maintain a look of concentration and worked to absorb the things the career was pointing out. It was way more help than she’d expected, and even though the kick had hurt like a bitch, Roscoe was glad her stance had been changed. Otherwise, the kick would have (as the career had pointed out) hit her temple.

“…Will  do,” Ro murmured in response to the tribute’s last words, the ones about hitting. 

And then, without so much as a deep-breath, Roscoe let her fist snake out. She aimed vaguely for the stomach, or maybe the chest. She wasn’t exactly sure. All she did know was that there was a lot of pent up energy thrown into the strike and not nearly enough finesse.

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Learned Skills Task

Ruby Golding has used the opportunity of assisted stations to learn the following skills:

Axe-Was not completely unfamiliar with it, but improved nonetheless

Plant Identification-Can differentiate species and react accordingly

Medicine-Knows little about dealing with consequences of nature-caused issues, but can take care of major injuries such as fractured bones and wounds

Unfortunately, while Ruby has tried to gain a bit more experience in domains where she previously only had theoretical knowledge about, such as plants and medicine, she spent most of her time in the fighting stations playing with the weapons and basically just showing off.

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The girl’s form was horrible, and while Ruby had wanted to humiliate her by giving her the beating of her life, she concluded that there would be no fun in an easy win.

“Apparently, we’re gonna start from basics.” Ruby sighed before approaching the other girl. Roughly, Ruby grabbed the tribute’s shoulders and stirred her sideways. “Keep your hips lined up with your target, but turn your torso so that you’re facing your opponent. That way your organs aren't completely accessible during fights.” She explained with an eye roll. Using her foot, she forced the girl to shuffle around.”The wider your stance, the more balance you have, but the slower moving away is. Find a middle ground.” Ruby then grasped the wrist of the girl’s closest hand and placed the arm straight up, a little to the left of the tribute’s face.

“This might not be the hand you favor when hitting, but it isn't a decoration either. Keep your arm vertical and at your head’s height.” Ruby took two steps back and put all her weight on one leg. “So that when someone does this,” She swung her second leg hard and high so that it made contact with the other girl’s arm harshly enough for the bang to echo across the room. “I catch your forearm, not your temple.”

“Come on now. Throw me a punch. Show me what you can do.” Ruby braced herself. 

She followed the tribute without question, feeling vulnerable once her shoes touched the stiff mat. Roscoe was no longer in familiar territory; now it was all up to the career in question.

The best she figured she could do was put her hands up and hope she’d absorb some of what was about to be done to her. Her form was terrible, she knew, with her muscles tense and stance weak. The career would sniff it out in an instant.

“Ready,” Ro nodded.

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“Alright then.” Ruby said as she walked over to a mat-covered area, not looking behind her to see if the other tribute was following until she’d reach the furthest edge of the mat and turned fully towards her opponent. Cracking her knuckles, she tilted her head and grinned. “Tell me when you’re feeling ready to begin.” She cooed, giving the girl time to get into a decent starting position before attacking.

Ruby made sure to glance at the time that was projected on the wall behind the younger tribute. Only five minutes, she reminded herself.

It almost surprised Roscoe when the career gave her an option. She hadn’t been expecting that. But as surprised as she was, Ro was not about to waste the offer by admiring it for too long. She’d been known to do that once or twice in her life. So, despite the advice she’d been given, it was all too quick that Ro followed the tribute’s line of thinking. “Hand-to-hand,” the words came tumbling out. She cringed at the slip.  

It was more than a bad idea. Not only was she going to have to watch her strength, but also amp up her reaction speed. The thought made Ro inwardly groan, but at the same time, she steeled herself. Roscoe really did need pointers, and she was about to get five minutes with someone who knew what they were doing. Even if she fell flat on her ass (which was likely), it was enough to simply watch someone else preform proper technique. 

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“Mmhm. I guess it is.” Ruby acquiesced, jaw clenched. The malicious, career side of her wanted nothing more than to laugh at the girl’s naivety and leave her stranded, but the most prominent part thought it was be a sign of failure, of cowardice, to not give the competition a fighting chance. Ruby needed to prove she could win either way.

“You get 5 minutes, and I’m only teaching you one skill.” Ruby sighed loudly as she cast an already bored look around the room. “What will it be? Perfecting your pathetic dagger-throwing skills? Or the basics to hand-to-hand combat, since I can just tell you’re the kind of person who has no idea how to use whatever strength you possess? Whatever it is, though, I’d choose carefully if I were you. This is the luckiest you’ll ever be between now and your imminent death.”

It took everything Roscoe had to be blunt about her talent, sure that the career could infer that Ro’s knowledge of the outdoors wasn’t limited to just mushrooms. She hadn’t exactly wanted to reveal the innate strength she possessed. Or the fact that she couldn’t use it for anything other than chopping wood. 

But Ro also hoped she’d proved herself just enough to get that tip or two from the tribute. Though she’d spent fewer than thirty or so minutes with District 1, it was clear there was a fine line between nonchalance and assertiveness she’d have to walk if she wanted that information. Roscoe’s end of the trade didn’t just stop at nature-skills. It carried on into revealing how well she could handle others; her “people” skills. So it was with a careful tone she spoke:

“Maybe I will. Maybe the pointer you’re about to give me in exchange for my little show will help keep me alive even longer. A deal’s a deal, tribute.”

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“Not bad, little one. At this rate, you might even keep yourself alive long enough for me to slit your throat.” 

Her voice was light, confident, but her jaw was set. There was at least one of those mushrooms Ruby would have fallen for if she had tried the exercise, and that should have been reason enough to walk away right then. Because she was angry, and really, what did she care about keeping her word? 

But her pride. Her damn pride. She felt bested, and she burned to prove her superiority once more. Ruby wanted to show what the tribute wasn't capable of, wanted to build this girl up only to tear her down, if only to prove she could. Plus, there was also the fact that while confident, she was still uncertain of how much of a threat the other tribute really was, and spending time with her could remedy to that.

In the end, Ruby took a step back and paused long enough to see if the other girl would have the guts to hold her to her word. 

Ro shrugged her shoulders a bit and proceeded to spread her hands out in front of her, creating a digital basket labeled “TOXIC”. She pinched together her right thumb and forefinger, enveloping her hand in a fake glove. Then, after all the preparations were made, she began plucking mushroom after mushroom up from the clusters and putting them into the holographic basket. Each time she did, a voice would ring out with a “TOXINS DETECTED.”

Once she was done, Ro nodded her head in approval, and picked up one final mushroom– a white-capped looking the exact same as most of the others she’d just took. Ro pretended to eat it and this time the voice rang: “TOXIN FREE.”

“You’re not supposed to eat white capped mushrooms at all, to be honest. But if you can distinguish between a Horse Mushroom and a Yellow Stainer…” Ro trailed off, then tilted her head, “…Yellow Stainers, by the way, with their enhanced Capitol poisons, can kill an animal if you feed it one. By the way.”

Roscoe believed that Ruby could figure out on her own that the meat of said animal would therefore become toxic as well.

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“Oh, wouldn't you like to know? However, if I remember correctly, it’s your worth you should be proving right now, not mine. Go on now. My turn comes after.” Ruby smiled tightly, challenging the girl to continue.

What Ruby was’t admitting was that while she could recognize enough of the edible ones to enable her survival, the shiitake and the scotch bonnets for example, she wasn’t confident enough to try and ridicule the girl by out-doing her at this particular station, and it frustrated her immensely. 

Roscoe touched her knuckles for good luck and walked up to one of the sleek desks in front of them. They were black, simple things, but with a double tap they became table-top computers. At a third tap, the two dimensional images displayed were then projected upward into a holographic mesh. Ro sorted through it easily. And, soon enough, a miniature swamp was projected out in between the two tributes. It was filled to the brim with mushrooms of all kinds, all more or less the same looking, and it made Ro smile. She was more than familiar with this. 

“Old wives tales and schools can sometimes teach a person about poisons, but those teachings don’t always hold true. Especially not when it comes to the Captiol’s enhanced monstrosities. Can you tell them apart?” she motioned to a group of nearly identical white-caps.

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Part of Ruby was satisfied to know that the other girl’s skills didn't seem to be of those that could protect her from the career, but while the tribute may have been dead meat in Ruby’s eyes on the fighting front, it seemed that she wouldn't be one to die out on her own either. Maybe she would offer a challenge after all.

“I’m listening.” Ruby said instead of outright answering. Even if the other girl was naive enough to give away her strengths and weaknesses, Ruby wasn't about to admit that while the academy had bombarded them with information, she had little practical experience on that front. She found herself hoping the girl would actually, though not likely, teach her something new.

Now, Roscoe was pretty sure she couldn’t arm wrestle this girl and win, no matter how well built she was from cutting trees or carving them up. Ro probably didn’t have the nerve to so much as touch her in the first place. Contact was not exactly tribute 7′s thing. She didn’t know any fighting techniques anyway.

However, along with her careful words, Ro had learned a thing or two about surviving in other ways.

Ro led the career to the herb and medical station. There was plenty there that Roscoe didn’t know about– she was far from a nurse. But camping in the woods had gifted her with an abundance of knowledge pertaining to poisons and herbs and general environmental abilities.

“So, career– how much did they teach you about camping in those fancy academies?”

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Was Ruby going to help the girl become good enough to beat the likes of her? Of course not. Even if she had wanted to, it had taken Ruby years to get to this point, so there was no way she would have been able to transform the tribute into an actual threat. But trading a few pointers for an opportunity to evaluate the competition?

“Lead the way.”

Now this. 

This piqued Roscoe’s interest. The career was offering up a trade of tricks, and Ro needed to collect those more than anything. If it was going to help her stand a chance in the arena, she figured it might be worth it to reveal one of her few skills. She also figured the Career might be lying. But Ro ignored that.

“Fine. You got me. I’m willing to do that… so long as you’re not above going to one of these training stations, that is.” 

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“Can you? Do you really think you have an actual shot at winning the Games?” Ruby couldn't stop the giggles that erupted from her lips. 

“Those must be some mighty impressive skills that you’re hiding to think you stand a chance. How about we make a deal? Show me one of your oh-so-spectacular skills, and I’ll teach you a trick or two in return. After all, what do you have to lose, aside from the chance to better yourself?”

Ro couldn’t help the step back she took. She was no District 1 tribute, no District 2 or 4. She was a woodcarver from 7. But the girl was making her irritated nevertheless, and it made her words come out sharper. Roscoe wasn’t exactly weak, but she was sure to be punished if this ended in a bad row of sorts. So she stuck with the words; those were autopilot, those came easy.

“I’m bad at walking, remember? Not at seeing. I know what you’re trying to do, career. I know what my skills are and they don’t include any kind of hand to hand combat with you. I can win the games without being both brutish and obviously cruel.”

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“Because as enjoyable as the kill is, the real fun is in the chase.”

“That includes getting to watch how you handle the pressure in here, and actually having a challenge once in the arena. Won’t be much of a chase if your death ends up being pathetically easy to execute, now will it?” Ruby took a step towards the other tribute. “Come on little one. Show me some skill. Show me some will to fight.” 

The pet names were getting old, really fast. Roscoe was already feeling sick from talking a career and it was absolutely draining her to argue with someone who wasn’t being of any use to her. She needed to nap.

“Alright. I’ll bite. Let’s say everything you’re blabbing on about is true– that I couldn’t take someone down. Why does it matter? Why do you feel the need to tell me this? It’s pointless. You’re being absolutely pointless. If you’re going to kill me, you’ll kill me, and that’s that.”

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“Oh, honey, I have plenty up my sleeve, but time to waste on pointing out all the ways in which you hinder yourself isn't one of them.”

“You’re an insult to the games in and of yourself. I’m just trying to help you out. The fact is, if all you do is fall down, you’ll have a hard time taking anyone down with you. Not that you look like you could take on anyone at all, even if you managed to stay upright.”

So the girl was good at twisting words.

“You’re literally trying to insult how I walk. And, let me tell you, I don’t have the time or feel the need to defend my ability to walk. So unless you have any other clever insults up your sleeve…”

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“What? You were this pathetic back then too?” Ruby mocked the girl.

“Before criticizing someone’s maturity, maybe you should learn to walk without falling over. Second grade? Darling, you wobble like a toddler, let alone an eight year old.”

“How very… mature of you,” Roscoe huffed, unsure of how to deal with rude girls. She’d grown up around rude boys (well, one rude boy) all her life, and interacted easily with the kinder female tributes easily. But what to say to someone like this? “It’s like second grade all over again,” Ro was sure this was a bad way to respond the career, but she managed to ignore the sinking feeling.

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“Oh, but it is. Watching you sprawled across the floor where you belong, I have to admit, is a very satisfying sight. What’s not to smile at?”

Roscoe fell to the floor with a smack, her hands just barely breaking the impact. She had seen the girl stick out her foot. She’d seen the smirk. But her reflexes were too slow and there was no way for her to move out of the way. No training area had taught her how to avoid tripping.

Sitting up, standing up, Ro turned around to face the culprit:

“Haha. Funny.”

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Ruby stuck her leg out and tripped the other tribute the moment she was close enough to do so.

“Oops. My bad”