Test of Skill

As Butch and Tiffany slowly walked towards the evaluation centre an eery silence could be heard amongst the pair. Neither of the two had discussed Haymitch's proposal in order to prevent the risk of it getting out yet what they had both signed up for, was a proposition of a thousand sacrifices as both had agreed to hand their lives away for two individuals they had never met.

They entered into the waiting room where the other tributes spoke amongst themselves while the assessors readied the room. The district 10 duo took there seats while being closely watched by Katniss and Peeta, with the woman walking over to Beetee not long after Butch had entered.

'Who is that tribute?' Katniss had considered approaching Butch while in the training centre however due to his more lethal demonstrations of weaponry this seemed to ward off any courage within the young girl so instead she turned to Beetee for answers.

'Butch Mackintosh and his district partner Tiffany Waxler. Winners of the 69th and 72nd Hunger games, the two are practically siblings so either one will do anything to protect the other.'

Katniss looked on at the pair with a pensive look, she looked saddened at the realisation that she would have to split this family apart if someone had not done it sooner.

'Don't take it for granted, Butch is very skilled due to his upbringing in 10 but beyond that hardened exterior, there is warmth, you just have to know him well enough to notice that.'

Beetee continued.

'He's always been kind to me every year but that's because I'm not a career. If you wanted to increase your chance of survival then the calculated choice would be to ensure he is on your side. If you go under his protection, then you're under the protection of Finnick and Johanna also. The choice is up to you.'

Katniss hung onto every word. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to be fighting alongside your sister in these games- that was the reason she was here in the first place. To keep Prim alive.

As time went on, Butch became exceedingly nervous at the prospect of his evaluation- this time he could not hide behind an act as all of Panem knew of his precision and arguably volatile nature. In order to ease his mind he continued to fidget with the buttons on his attire until Tiffany slowly placed her hands on his and spoke up in order to keep him present.

'I was thinking about showing them my archery skills, I had managed to practice them a bit while in training. What about you, what's on your mind?'

'I was thinking about using any throwing knives they have- it might sound basic but at least it's reliable. I don't want to be high on everyone's kill list, if I can help it.'

'Probably a good idea. I'm glad you've been able to speak to Finnick and Johanna, those two always seem to have your back when I'm not around.'

'Don't say that. I'm always going to need you.'Butch tightly gripped onto his sisters hand, he was always able to be himself around them but like any sibling, they would always need each other- the thought of losing her was just something that he pushed down. The impossible.

Tiffany just responded with a warm smile.

As two continued to discuss various things about their mutual family back home, their conversation was broken by the calling of Tiffany's name by the assessors to which she swiftly left to complete the evaluation. Both Finnick and Johanna had completed their assessment but had wanted to remains nearby for Butch to finish his so the three could discuss matters of strategy regarding how best to defend Katniss and Peeta.

Shortly after Butch was called into the room, he entered with a look of confidence as the assessors focused their eyes upon him. After Plutarch had started his 10 minutes, Butch rushed forward grabbing the dummies and aligning them in different positions amongst the room. He then returned to the cart where he collected the plentiful amount of throwing knives and began to throw them, each throw taking a moment to execute as he aligned his shot- which each landing into a fatal location.

Once the first few knives had been released, Butch began to enter a trance as his mind wandered into a lucid state, without control his eyes began to see the faces of Finnick, Johanna and many of the other tributes both fighting in the quarter quell but also those who died within his games. Butch paused in horror as he had realised he had buried his knives in the chests of his friends but as his heart quickened and tears brimmed into his eyes, his lucid state had broke. Butch didn't want his upset to show so he stiffened his face and continued to precisely throw each knife until he had none left.

After the last knife was thrown, the assessors all stood in unison as each one looked on with a face of confusion until they had finally grasped what Butch had done and thus looked on in disgust. To display his precision, Butch had aligned each dummy to form a canvas of sorts and his knives became his paint as he stood back with the word 'You' being spelt out in knives.

With that, he spun around and hastily stormed out of the room as he finally began to submit to the knot of panic that had formed in his stomach, letting out his earlier trapped emotions.

As he headed to his living quarters, Tiffany, Johanna and Finnick could all tell something wasn't right and proceeded to follow Butch to ensure he was okay.