Haymitch filled her in on who might be possible competition for her bow and arrow but from the sounds of it, she wasn’t very worried. “Don’t worry, I have something special planned for when we get to show off our skills one on one.” The last time she made big waves by shooting an arrow at their feast when they began to write her off as a nobody. Katniss decided she could use some of the supplies in the area and use one of the dummies they had around for sparring and demonstrations. She could use him as target practice the way the Capital had turned on him not long ago. She knew it would be even more controversial than last year and she was more than happy to call the Capital out on all the evil things they did behind closed doors.

“Today I’m going to do a lot of practice with my bow.” In her mind, she didn’t need to do too much but she had proven herself good enough to stand up with Johanna so now she had to go back to her roots, the reason why she fought so hard in the previous Games, her archery. She glanced between Gale and Prim as she pushed her plate aside, done already. There was something going on and it was enough to interest her more than whatever was going on in Prim’s head. Katniss knew she couldn’t let Gale slide by anymore, she had to figure out what he and Prim were up to because they were looking awfully close. Even now, Katniss had Prim’s best interests at heart, even if she wasn’t sure what to say to her.

From what it looked like, everyone had something to do for training and Gale was ready to get started with his own workout. He looked to Peeta and Haymitch, also a bit curious as to what was going on between them. If it was something important though, Gale had to believe that they would be told about it too. For now, he couldn’t let that get in the way of the day’s progress. Everyone would be stepping up their game now that the first day’s jitters were out of the way. He watched Katniss excuse herself from the table to go brush her teeth and do some quick stretching before they headed down. Gale looked back to Prim and wondered what she had to show off. He was sure it would be cool to see but he also knew it might be time for each of them to focus on thier own skills for the day. Iva and Yelven were competition after all.

And yet they were friends.

Gale didn’t want to think about the future since the present was finally starting to feel good. Prim was stepping up finally, Haymitch was being less of a jerk, and he and Katniss were honing their skills. And whatever Peeta was up, Gale had to trust that he knew what he was doing and that it would help them in the long run, somehow. As he finished nibbling on a slice of whole wheat toast, Katniss came back and Gale watched her closely. She seemed content considering the events of last night. He just wanted Prim and Katniss to be best friends again but to do that, he couldn’t meddle in their affairs. He just had to have faith and make sure his sword skills would be enough to protect them both when the Games kicked off. “I think we’re about ready to go?” Gale got up and brushed some crumbs off of him. From what he could tell, the mood of the room was confident. 

They all soon were ready to head down after Effie wished them good luck. Katniss was a bit excited to get to use her go-to weapon. It had felt like forever since she had picked it up even though it had surely only be two or three days. Katniss and the others made it down to the facility where most of the other competitors were. Many were focused on their own station. She flashed her group a smile before she went straight for the wall where a black bow was hanging. along with a set of arrows. She stepped into the hologram program which was surrounded by glass and began to plug in various details as to how many enemies she wanted. The lights went dark and she armed herself. An orange hologram of a combatant came running towards her and she was quick to shoot it and reload her bow as another came from behind. She spun around and shoot it down as two then ran for her. 

Katniss jumped back but waited until the right moment. As soon as the two digital attackers were lined up, thanks to her new angle, she was able take them both out in the head with one shot, it slicing through both of them with ease. Looking up, she saw another orange blue firing its own arrows at her, Katniss rolled forward and when she jumped up, she had her bow armed and aimed at the enemy archer. They both fired and both dodged but she had been quicker on her draw and landed hers where she knew he would move, thus hitting him in the chest while his own attack had been dodged with her leaned back and to the left. The program then ended and she lowered her arms and turned to see many of the Tributes had been watching her perfect performance. Gale gave her a small thumbs up and she exited it. “Well done, Katniss.” Gale smiled, expecting nothing less from his friend.

“Thanks.” She said and returned the equipment where it belonged and then gave the people Haymitch had pointed out at breakfast a cold look that dared them to follow that, let alone go anywhere near a bow and arrow. Katniss spotted Haymitch and Prim among the spectators as well. She glanced to Gale and then back to Prim who had moved elsewhere and Katniss followed, planning on upping the difficulty of the hologram program later but she was curious to see what Prim had planned. Gale followed along, interested as well. They came to where there were throwing knives and the targets at varying distances. Katniss sent her younger sister some positive thoughts as some people who had watched Katniss, lingered to see what she was looking at, while many more were interested to just see what Prim could do. 

As much as Gale wanted to cheer for her, he didn’t want to interrupt her concentration so he kept quiet and just watched. He bit his lower lip and heard a few careers heckling Prim and he turned around to give them a hard glare. “Just watch and see what she’ll do to you in the Arena.” He told them. Then he turned back to watch Prim, sure that after whatever happened, everyone would be afraid of Katniss and Prim. Which meant he and Haymitch would also need to step up their game and prove that their group was strong as well as tight. Gale knew this was important but he also wanted Prim to relax and pretend that no one else was around. He spotted Iva and Yelven watching their new friend too and Gale held his breath as Prim got ready to show her stuff.