Another new story? What, that's crazy! Haha well yes I'm here with yet another story for you precious people. This is going to be a Hunger Games universe. My second one, the first being the one I also just started Fighting For Control. This one though doesn't have Neko Peeta, instead a strong fight ready Peeta :). You can all thank fanboyingfiction who really pushed me to try my hand at this. I'm so gave he did! Anyways I would love some feedback if you could, it means the world (I know I always say that but it's true!)

As I have said before, all grammar and spelling errors are my own and I apologise ahead. Also I do not own any part of the Hunger Games... wish I did but I don't still thank you Suzanne Collins for your amazing series.

Warning: smut, swearing, possible drug use, violence, boy on boy, possible girl on girl, talk of abuse, OOC-ness and all the wonderful bad things in life.

Strength Is Not Everything

Chapter One: Preparing for a Fight.

District Twelve was not a place anyone aspired to live, it wasn't a place the people who had lived all their lives there wanted to either. It was the poorest district in all of Panem, it was also the place I was unfortunately born. The majority of the district's people worked in the unstable mines. It was our only export, and it barely kept the district afloat. To the rest of the country District Twelve was a dirty hole that served up malnutritioned weak tributes every year for the Hunger Games. In truth it was, the dust from the coal was a constant blanket of black, nothing stayed clean in District Twelve. It was as if the dust was there as a constant reminder of how dull and depressing our lives were. I was fortunate to be born into a family that lived in the actual town. You see Twelve was divided into two groups, the seem where the miners and their families lived and then town where the merchants lived. The merchants and their families owned all the business' throughout the town, each business being passed on from one generation to the next. That meant as long as I lived I always had a job at my father's bakery. It was something I had grown to enjoy, baking and decorating cakes. It also meant while it may be stale there was always something to eat. That was something I was grateful for. I was horrible growing up a watching a people's lives faded away as they starved on the street and I kid in your class just stopped showing up before they had died.

I was now sixteen years old, my fourth year of being eligible for reaping. My name was already in the bowl countless times from all of the tesserae I had taken over those four years for each member of my family. It was something that was needed to be done, and while my brothers had only had to put their names in a couple extra times, my mother had insisted I sign up for all five of us each month. We never had a real relationship to be honest, I think when I was born she suffered from some kind of depression and just never recovered from it. She was rude and abusive my whole life, but having to endure her all these years had made me strong mentally and emotionally. I had learned how to survive and it was something I would be doing my whole life. To be honest I was really close to any of my family. My brothers hardly talked to me and my father didn't always seem to be all there. Don't get me wrong I knew he loved me on some level, he just wasn't invested in knowing or caring for me.

When I was young, around eight years old I watched my first full Hunger Games. It haunted me for months, I had nightmares, night after night that one day I would be chosen and I would die because I did not know how to protect and defend myself. I had watched the 'careers' as they called them slaughter every other tribute before turning on each other. They knew how to fight, kill and conquer. They had not only trained with weapons, but trained their bodies to give them the best chance of survival. And that was when, at the age of eight, I realised if by chance I was chosen and I wanted to survive I would have to do the same thing.

A month after the games that year I sought out the two people I knew would be able to help me. First was Katniss and her father. They along with Gale Hawethorne were hunters. They illegally left the confides of District Twelve and hunted for game in the woods on the other side of the boundary. It didn't take much convincing to let me join them on their trips. Katniss' dad agreed to teach me how to hunt and survive in the forest. The second was our only living victor Haymitch Abernathy. He took a lot of convincing, I basically had to beg for a month before he agreed to teach me skills that would help me if I ended up in the arena.

Over the next four years Katniss' dad taught me how to shoot a bow and arrow, throw knives and hunt properly. He also taught me how to set snares and create fire. While Haymitch taught me hand to hand combat, how to out think and out smart an opponent and how to charm an audience. It was all going well until the mine explosion that year. Both Katniss and Gale's dads died that day. It was disheartening, both families really struggled after that. I tried to help out as much as I could but I couldn't do all that much. Luckily for Katniss and myself Gale knew a lot more then we both did when it came to hunting by ourselves. He helped us refine our skills to the point were we had become a well oiled unit working together.

My family didn't seem to notice me being gone most the time. As long as I carried the heavy sacks of flour in and did my shift in the bakery my mother left me alone. I spent the majority of my spare time with Haymitch, I guess I could almost call the old drunk a friend. He continued to train me when he was sober enough and I relished in the fact I was only two years away from ever having my name in that bowl again.

Now it was the morning of the reaping. When I woke up at dawn I laid there in bed for a few minutes. I had to mentally prepare myself for today, after today I only had two more reaping to survive. I just had to stay positive and I would get passed this. I heard movement downstairs and knew that meant my mother and father were already up. I sighed and got up, pulling on a top and pants before putting on my socks and boots. I went down stairs and headed straight for the store room. I grabbed two sacks of flour and placed them in the kitchen before heading back and grabbing two more. Once I was done I dusted myself off before grabbing my jacket and heading out the front door. I made my way into the seem before heading towards Katniss' house. Just as I got there Katniss appeared from behind the door. We nodded at each other and headed for the fence. We didn't really talk much today, tensions to high. It was Prims, Katniss' sisters, first reaping so I knew she was stressed and worried. We met Gale in the forest and hunted for a hour of two before heading back early so we could get ready for the reaping.

Once I had arrived home I went straight up to the bathroom to find the bath full of soapy water waiting for me. I peeled of my clothing before stepping in and scrubbing myself from head to toe. Once I was done I dried off and dressed in the clothes one of my parents had laid out on my bed for me. I combed back my hair and headed down stairs. There I found my father closing up the bakery. It was mandatory for everyone to attend the reaping, which meant everything closed early today. I helped him before he locked up and we headed to the town square. He told me the rest of the family had gone down early. Once we arrived I gave my father a quick hug before lining up to be registered. The line moved quickly and soon I was heading to stand with the rest of the sixteen year old boys. I looked around as I waited for the reaping to start. I spotted Katniss then Gale and my brother next to him. It was both of their last reaping's so I hoped that either of them did not get picked.

It wasn't long before Effie Trinket was on stage reminding us, in her high pitched accent, that two children from our district were going to die in the coming days. The video about the dark days played, Effie silently reciting the whole thing. Then it was time, she as always called the girls name first. When Primose was called I was in shock, it was her first year, how could her name of been picked out of the hundreds in there. When I saw the small girl start to move on stage my eyes darted over to Katniss who I knew was about to do something. As I had predicted she volunteered in her place. My head dropped in sadness, I only hoped she could win and return. Next came the boys, the whole time I prayed it was someone I did not really know. But ironically it was my name called. I stood there in shock of a second before what Haymitch had taught me kicked in. I held my head high and walked onto the stage with confidence. I wasn't going to let any weakness be shown, I had to from this moment on be smart about every move I made. I knew I had to get the people of the Capitol to fall in love with me, sponsors could make all the difference.

But the whole time I stood there looking strong and confident on the inside I was breaking. I was going into the area this Katniss. She was one of the few people I was close with. What was I going to do? I could not kill her could I? And if it did come down to her and me would she try to kill me? This was something I was unprepared for, I never thought I would go into the area with someone I knew. It made everything so much more complicated and tricky. I mean I wanted nothing more then to survive and win but at the expense of Katniss' life? I pushed my inner turmoil aside and shook Katniss' hand when Effie instructed before we were sent into separate waiting rooms inside the justice building.

A minute later my family was sent in. My brothers both gave me an awkward hug, followed by my father. My mother though just stood on the other side of the room and stared at me. It wasn't long before a peacekeeper came in and told them our time was up. As my mother left she turned to me. "At least District Twelve may finally have a winner this year." I knew she was talking about Katniss. My mother blissfully unaware I was actually with her all those times we went hunting. I almost laughed at her face, she had no idea what I was now capable of. I suppose she would just have to wait and watch what happens in the arena. And if I returned I knew one sure thing, she would not be apart of my life ever again.

My next visitor was Gale, he wished me luck and told me how sorry he was that both Katniss and I were heading into the arena together. I could see how sad he was, knowing that there was a chance neither of us were coming home. But I was pretty sure he was more distraught over Katniss. The two had a thing going that neither wanted to really acknowledge. It had created some tension between the three of us at some point, Gale started to grow jealous of how close Katniss and I had become. That's when I decided to tell him I was gay, I had told Katniss a year before. After that our friendship was all smooth sailing. Once again the peacekeeper returned and Gale left, a few minutes later I was escorted to the train.

When I got on I was dumbfounded at how absurdly decadent each carriage was. This is what people of the Capitol were accustomed to while some districts could not get warm water or electricity. It just showed how corrupt our 'government' was. It made me so angry that President Snow let this happen. That his thirst for power and control meant hundreds had to die.

After dinner Effie informed us that we were able to watch the reaping recaps from the other districts. Haymitch was yet to show his face but I knew he was probably well into his third bottle by now. We sat in the viewing room and watched as the huge screen came to life. Of course District One was first. The boy looked skilled while the girl, attractive as she may be, seemed a bit thick to be volunteering for the games. Maybe it was her ploy from the start, to play dumb and trick people into thinking she wasn't a threat. Next was District Two, the girl was young but she had a bloodthirsty gleam in her eyes that told me she was going to be a true competitor. The boy, if you could call him that was impressive. He towered over the girl, his body a huge mass of hard muscles. What got to me was how beauty he was, his crystal blue eyes, short messy blonde hair, everything about him drew me in. I found myself wishing I had a chance to get to know his body before my possible death. But I had to stay focused, I had to remember to play this smart.

The rest of the tributes didn't not seem all that worrying until the District Eleven male was called. He was as large if not more so then the District Two male. He reminded me of a strong deadly grizzly bear, ready to attack at a glance. When I saw his female counterpart I felt guilt riddle me. She was so young and small, just like Primrose. This is what I hated about the Capitol and the Hunger Games, sending innocent children like that into the arena just to be murdered in the name of justice and unity. There was nothing more I wanted then to have President Snow's power overthrown but what could one sixteen year old boy from District Twelve do.

It didn't take us long to arrive in the Capitol, the city itself beautiful. But I knew the truth, the darkness and evil it really harboured. When the train finally came to a stop I saw hundreds of Capitol citizens flock to our windows. What Haymitch taught me kicked in again and I smiled and waved at them all. I knew each was a potential sponsor, a potential lifeline in the games. Effie and Haymitch escorted us out into the building where we were told we would get ready for the tribute parade. This was something I was not looking forward to but I knew it was a necessary thing if I wanted to impress Panem. So without compliant I surrendered myself to my prep team.

AN: hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I would love to here what you thought of it. Its not really that long but I wanted to stop there and have the parade start of the next chapter. So obviously Peeta will meet Cato for the first time in chapter two :). Xoxo Mattiboi