The next morning, after breakfast, Helena was given her training gear. It consisted of a pair of black cargo pants and a dark grey compression shirt with the number twelve on the back. Each group of tributes wore the colour representing their Districts. District 1 wore silver, 2 wore purple, 3 wore yellow, 4 wore turquoise, 5 wore copper, 6 wore dark blue. District 7 wore green, 8 wore pink, 9 wore brown, 10 wore red and 11 wore orange. District 12 wearing dark grey. On her feet were a pair of black trainers. Finally, Helena put her hair into a ponytail before making her way to the gym.

A massive space lay before her: stations set up for archery, knife-throwing, fire-building, rope-climbing, botany, wrestling, and sprinting. It was where they'd be evaluated. The gauntlet, a dangerous obstacle course, stood in the centre of the gym, a looming presence. As the tributes filed in, a scary looking woman stood observing them, her name Atala.

"In two weeks," She began. "23 of you will be dead." Her voice was commanding. "One of you will be alive. Who that is depends on how well you pay attention over the next four days, particularly to what I'm about to say." Atala paused for dramatic effect, glaring at the careers who weren't paying attention. "First, no fighting with the other tributes. You'll have plenty of time for that in the Arena. There are four compulsory exercises, and then the rest will be individual training. My advice is not to ignore the survival skills." Her warning fell deaf on the careers ears. "Everybody wants to grab a sword, but most of you will die from natural causes. 10% from infection, 20% from dehydration. Exposure can kill as easily as a knife." After Atala had finished her speech, she dismissed the tributes.

Above the gym, on a balcony, sat the Gamemakers. Haymitch stood there , sampling the drinks cart until he sighed, and turned around. He came face to face with Betto, one of the Gamemakers. "It's touching, your dedication to your Tributes. Makes me wonder why tributes from 12 always seem to lose!" He said sarcastically, in reference to the man's drinking problem. He looked to Cole and Helena, who were looking around the facility, unsure of where to begin. Haymitch sighed and put his drink down upon noticing the fact that he was the only mentor not down there aiding his tributes. He made his way towards the pair  - unmoved by the looks of disdain from his fellow mentors.

"Keep a healthy balance of the survival skills and the fighting. Make sure to use the gym equipment to build your stamina, endurance, and strength." He said. Haymitch went to walk away before turning back. "Oh, and don't show the competition what you are good at." Then he left to the balcony.

Helena looked around, observing the equipment they were provided with. There were lots of climbing-related stations, each looking rocky or tree like. Clues - Helena realised - linking to what the arena would be like. She quickly made her way to the botany area where a large card-sort station lay. Taking a deep breath, she began the simulation sorting the different plants into safe, deadly, or other. Helena noticed that most of the plants grew in mountainous areas and colder climates. Her papa had multiple books of plants and herbs, which she had spent her entire childhood reading.

It took her almost three minutes to sort through all 450 cards, her fingers pressing on the keypad rapidly. By the end of the simulation, each plant tile glowed green, signalling to Helena that she had sorted them all correctly. She repeated the exercise multiple times until she was happy with her time and accuracy. By the end, her average speed per card was 0.05 seconds.

After completing the botany simulation, she took herself to the gym. She ran on the treadmill for a while, altering the angle as she went. Afterwards, she took on the climbing wall to help build her grip strength and endurance. Helena had fallen twice before getting the hang of it, and she soon managed to complete the different difficulties. She noticed a net hanging over the training room, and so she climbed it, observing her fellow tributes.

The girl from One was using a sword, swinging it around. From what Helena saw, the type of sword the girl was using was a bit too heavy for her.

Her male counterpart was lifting weights in the gym, trying to show off his strength to the other tributes.

The male from Two was hurling a mace around, cracking the skull of a dummy. The female was using a large battle axe, slicing heads from dummies with her two-handed weild.

Helena's observed the career's with intrigue. Each of them seemed to be using rather heavy weapons that related to sheer strength. They'd be deadly, but not very agile. As the weapons were heavy, they'd be difficult to carry around long distances. Helena began to plot as she continued her observations.

The pair from Four were sparring with one another, a spears in their hand. The tributes from District 3 were working on their survival skills, learning how to light a fire by striking two rocks upon one another. District Five had separated. The boy was learning how to tie snares and other knots whilst the girl was attempting the gauntlet. She was very fast and agile, and her small stature would help her hide.

Helena had also seen the girl from District 9 using a scythe. Someone she knew she had to keep an eye on, alongside the boy from Six. He seemed very skilled in duel weilding  blades like the katana. Cole was in the survival section learning how to treat wounds.

Eventually, Helena got bored of just watching, so she climbed back down the net rigging and went to have a look at the different weapons they had in stock. They had a good stock of both melee and ranged weapons from knives and swords to bows and tridents. Looking at the range before her, Helena spied a double bladed scimitar. She picked it up with a steady hand and felt the balance of the weapon. It wasn't too heavy, and the weight was distributed evenly between the two blades, which Helena had found were detachable at the handle.

She separated the two blades and spun them in her hand, testing how they felt. And they felt good in her hands. Her father taught her all about weapons from the single weilded to the double weilded, from melee to ranged. Helena thought she had enough knowledge, no matter the cards she'd was dealt in the Arena.

The only thing that was going through her mind was how to make herself appear weaker than she is to her opponents. She put the scimitar back down and grabbed a bow staff. She went up to a dummy and practised to the worst of her ability, fake dropping the staff every now and again. After hearing the snickering of the careers watching her, Helena knew her plan was working.