Disclaimer: If I owned the Hunger Games, I would create my own website to publish my stories.

A/N: Sorry for the late update :)
updates will be much less frequent now as I have schoolwork to do, but hopefully I might be able to manage 1 chapter in 5 days.

I get up early and wash up. There's an outfit laid out for me and as I dress, I look for the stack of tissues I've placed last night but they're not where I put them. I think someone - probably those wordless servants - came in with my outfit and took those away. Anyway, I don't think I'll be needing tissues today. I walk out to the breakfast area where Velda and Blight are already sitting at. Velda beams at me. "At least someone had the sense to rise early." Looking around, I find Cade is probably still in his room. I slide into my seat and stare longingly at the food.

"Can...can I eat?" I attempt to stutter hesitantly.

Velda laughs pleasantly and replies as she forks up some sausage, "Of course! We're all eating already." As if that isn't obvious. I cross over to the platter of the tremendous heaps of food and help myself. When I get back to the table, I stare at my food wistfully and avoid eye contact, picking up small bites here and there and hoping I look very much intimidated and scared.

"You don't have to pretend, Johanna," says someone from behind.

I whip around and follow Cade with my eyes as he walks heavily to his seat at the table and sits down. Forgetting temporarily when and where I am, I shoot him a furious glare. "Why do you care?"

"Trust me, you don't act like that at all at home. Johanna Mason crying during the reaping? Who would have guessed it," he replies calmly. "Why, your face is so made up of scowls it's a surprise you could even try crying."

I'm about to fire something back at him when Blight interrupts. "Johanna. Before training, which is now, I want you to tell me exactly what your skills are. And tell the truth. Give me a chance to help, ok?"

I consider this for a moment. Grudgingly, I comply. "Well, I can use an axe, and...I think that's all." I shrug. "I could show them I'm a weakling. They'll just overlook me until I'm one of the last few left. And..."

Blight leans in, smiling a little. Come to think of it, it's the first time I've ever seen him smile. "And what?"

"I don't know, I could survive this thing! I could!" I'm exasperated. The whole time I'm aware that Cade is listening to our fairly interesting conversation, and it disturbs me and sends me off the edge quite a bit. "Let's discuss it later when less people are here."

Cade narrows his eyes at me but resumes eating without a word. We're rushed off to the elevator by Velda, who insists we get to training on time, and are about to step in when Blight stops us. "Hold on a minute," he says, deep in thought. "Cade first. I need to talk with Johanna alone."

Velda ushers him into the elevator and presses the button. We watch as the magnificent tube shoots downwards and I turn to face Blight. "What?" I'm surprised by how rough I sound. He holds my gaze for a moment, then drops it.

"I agree with you on the whole weakling idea. Seems realistic to me. And you pulled it off well at the reaping. So here's a tip. At training, go for your weaknesses. Show them you're a weakling and avoid axes at all costs. Talk with others from the non-Career districts, show how reliant you are on others. I'll send you down with Velda to emphasise that to the other tributes. And however hard it is for you to keep up this act, never drop it. Promise?"

Without hesitating, I nod eagerly. "Fair. And you'll help me?"

"Yes. Now scoot."

I move into the elevator with Velda and we sink down into the depths of the Training Centre. When I step out, I see almost everyone's here already. They eye me as the number 7 is pinned to my back and I walk nervously into the large gym. I look around, darting my gaze and sizing them up. There's the Careers all bunched together. Somewhere in another corner, Cade and a few others are surveying the array of weapons on their own. Some of the smaller tributes stick to the general location of their bigger district partners. The last corner has a boy and a girl sitting separately, looking no older than 15. I decide on that and move over timidly. As I near them I notice the girl is marked with a number 5 and the boy is 8. The boy looks up to see who it is and goes back to his own work while the girl stares curiously with green eyes very like Cade's that suggest she isn't looking for competition but an ally.

Ally, I think. The word runs over and over in my head. It's just another reminder the Games are coming, that 23 deaths await. Ally. I bet if I thought little of it I could just kill off my ally if need be, but on second thought I hesitate. Killing someone. Killing my ally. What is it like? How would I be haunted for the rest of my life if I survive? The thought of having to take down someone, especially someone I know, makes me thrust down all thoughts of an ally. Nevertheless, at least I could make small talk with this girl and try to forget ever trace of our friendship when in the arena.

I advance over. "Hi, I'm Johanna, District 7."

"Soraya, and I think you can see my district number," she says without hesitating, and then adds with a nervous laugh, "Unless it's already come off."

We have barely introduced ourselves before a woman called Atala calls us all to the front of the gym while she begins explaining the different stations. "Don't forget the survival skills, apart from weapons. They can make the difference between life and death."

We move off, and I find myself sticking with Soraya. She doesn't really know where to go either, so for a moment we stand like lost sheep in the middle of the spacious room around us. "Survival skills, survival skills..." I snap my fingers. "Knot-tying." The station is empty and the trainer looks bored, glancing wistfully at the more popular stations. He lights up when we walk there and grins widely. I try to avoid having to stare at his grotesque face while he teaches us, which helps take my mind off what they call 'beauty' in the Capitol temporarily.

Soraya and I practice knots until the trainer is satisfied, then he dismisses us and Soraya tugs at my arm. "Johanna, how about making fires? Over there," she says eagerly, pointing at a station where we're just in time to see a large orange flame bloom up and extinguish. "Come on." She half-drags me over there and for the next two hours, we learn to make fires out of nothing but rock and dry twigs. There's another older tribute there, the boy from District 10, and he seems to know a lot about fire-starting which I'm impressed by, although after his tenth attempt at helping us construct a good base of twigs, everything has slipped from my mind. I figure matches are my only option.

I want to try a weapon next, but Soraya prefers sticking to the survival skills, so we depart for the moment. Heading for the knives, I notice some of the Careers are there, showing off their skills, particularly the girl from 2. She stares at me for a moment, her bright blue eyes boring into mine, and lifts her chin intimidatingly. As if to prove her superiority, she holds the knife in her hand by the blade, positions her angle and throws it with perfect aim. I watch in awe as the knife slices through the air on its course to the centre of the bulls-eye. Indifferently, the girl reaches for another knife and it lands right beside the first one. She goes on for five tries and eventually goes to pull her knives out. Then she picks another longer, curved one and throws it like the first five, but it veers off slightly and hits to the left of the bulls-eye. She glares at the knife, then at me, and I could hear her cursing under her breath.

This girl has made me forget what I'm here for. I suddenly remember, then go over to her side and pick out a small, light knife for myself. Blight's words ring in my head, as well as my own. At training, go for your weaknesses. Show them you're a weakling. I grin slightly, then quickly mask it with nervousness, biting my lip hard. I take hold of the knife by the blade like I saw the girl do, and aim for the bulls-eye, knowing I'll miss it terribly. I wasn't expecting any more than the 5 point mark, but to my surprise it lands on 9, very nearly crossing the line into the bulls-eye. Quickly, I run over and retrieve it, knowing the girl has stopped throwing and is staring at me. I guess throwing axes around helped me around there, but I grit my teeth in frustration. It intrigues me how when you want something to go your way it turns otherwise, and vice versa. To deliberately show the girl it was just 'beginner's luck', I throw again and try for the 4 point mark with a lot less force than before. Closing my eyes, I hear the thwackand slowly open them. Not bad, I hit 3, and the knife is hanging on by its tip on the thick target, wobbling slightly. As I advance over to it, it falls off the board. I can't help grinning and retrieve my knife. Then I return it to the rack of knives beside the girl, who has lost interest in me, and scan the gym looking for an empty station.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice two familiar green eyes watching my every move.

A/N: That was considerably longer :) hope to update soon!