PART ONE: The Trident Games

The Capitol - Training

I wake up before anyone else, though every muscle in my body tells me it's the wrong thing to do. But I've got to get this right today. I have to earn everyone's favor if I'm going to tiptoe my way to survival. It will be delicate and fragile, but it needs to be done if I'm going to win this thing with as little trouble as possible. I'll have to train myself to be chivalrous and kind, open and caring, flirtatious and frivolous, even towards the most irritating of specimens. Augustina, Muriel, and Nath are all in that category.

So I get up ridiculously early. I relish the shower and all the soaps and scrubs that Aurora has instructed me to use for maximum hair and skin lusciousness. I tediously shift through my clothing options, choosing tailored, stylish fashions instead of the dingy, loose garments I'm accustomed to. I actually brush my hair, a task I never would have bothered with when I was the old Finnick. I stand in the mirror for a full hour, taking myself in, practicing expressions, and attempting to correct my awkward posture. I feel silly while doing so, but it's necessary. I think.

When I hear Augustina's heels clacking down the hall, I open the door in a grand sweeping gesture and give her a sunny salutation. She seems surprised, her stenciled-on eyebrows shooting up and wrinkling her glittery skin. "Finnick! You're up awfully early," she says.

"Yes, I know," I reply with a brilliant grin. "I always get up this early so I can enjoy the morning before the work day starts. I just love watching the sun rise, don't you? It's so beautiful on the ocean."

Augustina blinks, gaping at me. I'm thinking I've laid it on a little thick when she brushes her hair over her shoulder and giggles girlishly. "Oh, it sounds absolutely wonderful. I hear that District Four is one of the prettier ones."

"It's gorgeous there," I say, probably the only honest thing I've uttered all morning. "But certainly not as incredible as the Capitol. The scenery here positively blows my mind."

"It is quite amazing, isn't it?" Augustina sniffs proudly, smoothing down her skirt.

"So, what are you doing in this hallway? This is only for tributes, right?"

"Yes!" Augustina says, snapping her fingers as if she is remembering something. "Yes, I came to call the rest of you down for breakfast. Training starts today, and we want to get there early."

"You're so thoughtful," I compliment. "You must be a busy woman, with having to manage all of us. Why don't I wake everyone up for you so you can eat the breakfast you deserve? It would be my pleasure."

"Oh! Finnick, that's so sweet!" She reaches over and pinches my cheek, to which I grit my teeth and grin until my face muscles hurt. "I was completely wrong about you!"

Augustina sashays away after that, thankfully, because I'm afraid I would have strangled her otherwise. But at least I've buttered her up enough that she won't focus all her attention on Muriel. And she was good practice for when I'll actually need my charming skills: the arena. Certainly no one there will be as stupid as her, but they won't be nearly as annoying either.

I walk across the hallway to Muriel's room, taking a deep breath and putting on a smile before knocking on the door. You can do this, you can do this, I chant in my head. Muriel opens the door and immediately glares, her pale green eyes hardening at the sight of me. "What do you want?"

"I've come to take you down to breakfast and to formally apologize for my behavior yesterday," I say, looking down at my feet and trying to sound as ashamed as possible. "It was wrong of me to treat you that way at the opening ceremonies. You're older and wiser and stronger, and I should give you the respect you deserve." I peer up at her, unleashing my eyes. "Will you please forgive me, Muriel?"

"No," she declares immediately, crossing her arms over her chest. "I won't. Just because we're from the same district doesn't mean we have to be friends or partners. And I won't get a bad rep if I kill you either, because nobody cares about you. I tried to be nice, but you obviously didn't take advantage of my cordiality soon enough. You're worthless to me now, Odair, just like you are to everybody else."

With that she slams the door in my face, leaving me stunned and a little bit hurt. I won't get a bad rep if I kill you. Nobody cares about you. You're worthless to me now, just like you are to everybody else. These words have cut open old wounds, not entirely healed yet.

Taking a shaky breath, and turn on my heel and march towards Nath's room. No one said that this was going to be easy. It's going to take time for me to earn Muriel's favor again.

I stop at Nath's door and slump. This is going to be impossible; Nath and I have already decided that we hate each other. I'm certainly not a sight he wants to wake up to in the morning, no matter how well-dressed I am. So I knock on his door and head down the hall to retrieve Mags, assuming that he'll get the message.

When I knock on our other mentor's door, she opens it immediately, completing the long silver braid slithering over her shoulder. She smiles at me and ties a rubber band around the end. "Hi there, Finnick," she says, clapping her hands together. "Come to escort me down to breakfast? You didn't have to get all dressed up, you know, your normal clothes would've been fine."

I can't help but grin. "I thought I'd impress you with my new look. I'm going for Capitol-chic."

Mags rolls her eyes. "You need to dye your hair then. I think pink would be a nice color on you."

"Only real men wear pink," I say in mock seriousness.

"There's a rumor that Caesar is going to be pink this year," Mags adds thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "I think he'll look rather like a pimple, don't you?"

I don't answer, because we arrive at the dining area. Muriel shoots daggers at me as soon as I enter. Nath is not here, so I guess he didn't bother to get up. Oh well, it's not like he's going to accompany us to the training room anyway.

"Hey, Mags," I say, frowning as I pick at my scrambled eggs. "What are we supposed to do at training?"

"Train, obviously," Muriel snorts.

Mags ignores her. "It depends on what your strategy is. My suggestion is that if you're going to join the Careers, start by practicing what you're best at and grab their attention. Then try and learn as much as you can from them. If you don't want to join the Careers, just keep your head down and learn as much as you can from the stations."

Do I want to join the Careers? That's the first question that runs through my head. Muriel will be in the Career pack, so if I don't join I'll be a major target if she keeps hating me the way she does. But if I do join...the things the Careers have done in the arena are chilling. Do I want to end up that way? Do I want to lose my humanity?

Then again, it is the Hunger Games; what exactly is humane about it?

I want to win. I want it more than anything I've ever wanted. Not just for the sole sake of survival, but because I want to start over with my life. I want friends, and I want a real house to live in. I want to show my father and my mother, whoever she is, that they are wrong about me; I want to show everyone that they're wrong about me. I am not that invisible little boy anymore. I am Finnick Odair, and you will know my name. Everyone will know my name.

It comes to me now, clear as a bell. In order to win, in order to be reborn, I will have to join the Careers. No, I'll have to be a Career. It's not enough to just act like them. I have to think like them, become one of them.

But first, I have to prove myself to them.

Muriel doesn't talk to me as we walk down to the training room. She looks straight ahead, completely ignoring my presence. I suppose this is a step up from yesterday, when she was threatening me.

The tributes from One, Two, and Eight are already in the training room when we arrive. Muriel automatically walks over to the four who make up the Career pack. They appraise her silently as she comes over, and they seem warm enough when she introduces herself. After she throws a spear into a mannequin, they accept her with open arms.

I dwindle along the sidelines, waiting for the others to show. Getting into the Career pack is crucial, but Muriel and my age are going to be huge obstacles. I'm easily the youngest here, with the exception of the twelve-year-old girl from Eight. Muriel isn't going to want them to accept me, and I can't go up to them like a small child trying to fit in with the older kids. I have to pretend like I don't want in and make them come to me.

But the question is this: how?

I close my eyes and clear my head. I'm not skilled with any weapons because of training, but there has to be something I used on the boat that is impressive. Anything, anything at all.

Then in comes to me.

I fish with a trident.

It's the perfect weapon for me to impress the Careers, the Gamemakers, and to use in the arena. Back home, I could catch enough fish with a simple trident and net to feed six or seven hungry people. I probably made enough money to buy food and fresh water and adequate clothing for my father and me, but he spent all of it on his alcohol and his prostitutes. A new pang of irritation erupts in my chest. Maybe if my father had been more focused on living the right way, we would have hand money to spend on things like training and I would have a better shot at winning. But it's too late now; it doesn't matter.

I know what I'm doing. I've watched cliques at my school for years. I probably know more about them than the people who actually participate in the groups, which are really nothing more than an intricate network of connections. If you don't act right, then you're not part of the clique. You can belong to multiple cliques. There are also those who weave in and out of cliques, not quite belonging to any. They are outsiders like me, in disguise. Yes despite this, they are desirable.

That's what I need to be. Desirable.

The trident is sleek and familiar in my hands. I feel at home with it, on my boat, preparing to pull back and lunge and strike a sea creature. Except I'm not striking a sea creature. I'm killing a human being.

With this train of thought my step falters, and I miss the mannequin entirely. I scowl vehemently before I even think about it, about the smooth persona I'm trying to pass off. Finnick Odair doesn't get angry. He's as cool as ice.

I take a deep breath and clear my head of thoughts. It's no time for my damn morals to kick in. I'm a Career, and we don't have morals. I'm Finnick Odair. Does Finnick Odair have morals?

No, not if he's a Career.

I pick up the trident and walk back to the mannequin. This time I'm poised, balanced. Completely calm, like the flat surface of a lake. This time I embrace the fact that the mannequin is human shaped; I'm killing an opponent, one more person who's in my way. That's all they are. Obsticles for me to hurdle, people who are in my way.

The trident sinks deep into the chest of the mannequin.

I've got their attention. I can feel their eyes on my back. Paying them no mind, I grab my trident and try again, flashing defenses and attacks and even using a net to trap my fake enemy. I don't stop training with the trident, displaying my skills until I'm sweaty and panting and the muscles in my appendages are throbbing with the effort. I can't stop until they come over here.

Finally, they do. It's the girl from Two. Her name is Julianne. She's not very threatening; she has a willowy body type and an open face, almost kind. Her hair is a sandy blonde, and she has big, soft brown eyes. I'm actually kind of nervous when I talk to her. She's very, very pretty.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to my friends," she says after a bit of small talk. "I know you've met Muriel already, but no one else has had the chance to talk to you yet. It's weird, most kids stay with their district partners."

"I get the feeling that Muriel doesn't like me very much," I say with a sigh, as if I regret it. Which I do, to an extent. If Muriel liked me, I wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble.

"I don't think she does either," Julianne says honestly, shrugging. "But no one really likes her, except Jayce. He's my partner, over there." She points out the brawniest of the group, his black hair shaved nearly to the scalp and his dark eyes glistening maliciously. I glance back at Julianne, who is so soft and radiant. How are they even from the same district?

"I have no problem with Muriel," I say, attempting neutrality. Maybe if she hears that I've been saying good things about her, she'll warm up to me again. "I think she's just trying to look tough like the rest of you."

Julianne laughs. "Right, that's what it is."

The other Careers are more weary of me. Julianne was obviously the one who made the deciding vote; she probably convinced Jayce, who is obviously the leader of the group, to let me join. I can tell he doesn't care for me yet. He probably thinks I'm some scrawny kid who doesn't know a thing. I'll have to fix that.

The boy from One doesn't seem to like me either. His name is Luster. But I think his dislike has little to do with me, and more to do with the fact that all the Career girls are looking at me funny. I realize that this is what it's like to be admired by girls. I'm a bit taken back, because it's honestly never happened to me before.

Bright, the girl from District One, and Julianne make sure that I get a very warm welcome. They praise my skill with a trident, and teach me how to throw a spear. They sandwich me between them at lunch, plucking stuff off my tray and urging me to try food from theirs. At one point Bright even feeds me a grape, which causes Luster to scowl at us murderously.

When we get back to training, I eventually earn his favor by nudging Bright in his direction every time she asks for help with something. "I don't know how to fight with a knife very well, but I think Luster does" or "I didn't practice that move, but it looks like Luster's got it covered. Maybe you should go ask him?" Bright stops coming to me after a while, and she just practices with Luster. I give him a thumbs up, and I know by the playful roll of his eyes that he is secretly pleased with me handing her off.

Jayce is a different story entirely. Unlike the superficial couple from District One, he's not concerned with trivial things like relationships. He pays no attention to Muriel, who is flirting with him nonstop, or Julianne, who is his district partner and easily the most attractive female tribute. I'm not even sure he realizes that they are the opposite sex. The only time he even speaks to them is to comment on their fighting ability. He's gruff and blunt, and waves off any attempt at politeness.

"We don't have time for things like manners," he says. "We're a team, and we need to function like one. We don't need fluffy cushioning."

He calls Luster a pretty boy and tells him that he's too easily distracted by girls. He tells Muriel to stop flirting with him and instead work on her defensive skills, which are inadequate for his team. He chides me every time I mess up with a weapon, most of which I've never held in my hands before. He seems pleased enough with Julianne, who suddenly transformed from a gentle girl to a deadly machine when training began, but he still critiques her on her technique. And none of us have any room to argue, because he always seems to be right.

I pull back on the string of a bow, Bright tenderly guiding my arms and hands to the right places. Her breath is unpleasantly hot on my neck, and I wish she would stop pressing her body into my back. It's really distracting me, because I am only human and a fourteen-year-old boy at that, but I can't afford to be distracted. I need to learn as much as I can today.

Bright is suddenly shoved away from me. I turn to see Jayce looking at her with disgust. "If you're going to teach someone to use a weapon, at least know how to use it yourself. You're doing it all wrong," he says, giving her his usual scowl. Bright sneers at him and flips her blonde hair over her shoulder, wheeling around and walking towards Luster.

Jayce turns towards me. "And you," he says, jabbing a finger at my chest. "I don't need any little punks like you on my team, especially if you're just going to distract the girls. As far as I can see, you don't know how to do anything except swing a shiny trident around."

I'm torn between making a stand and being compliant. Obedience is more likely the way to earn his acceptance, but even then I'll still be seen as Luster is: a pretty boy worth close to nothing. I'm younger too, and Luster is the best at using knives, even better than Jayce. Am I better at something than Jayce? Swinging a shiny trident around, probably, but that's it.

I know it's stupid and it's not going to score me any points with him, but I can't take his constant threats anymore. I can't afford to get angry either. I have to bait him and let him start it.

"You know, I really don't recall this ever being your team," I say, cocking an eyebrow at him coolly. I pull the bow and arrow into position, desperately hoping that I have the right stance. I look at the target, concentrating on it with all my might. "Being bossy doesn't automatically make you captain."

Jayce doesn't react the way I expect him to. He doesn't yell or become overwhelmed with rage, like I often see the Careers do. He smirks at me, his eyes glittering.

"No, but being better does," he remarks, adjusting the angle of my elbow and tapping me in the abdomen to get me to straighten up. I let the arrow go, and it barely makes the target. But that's a huge improvement to earlier, when Bright was helping me and my arrows littered the floor.

I turn back to him, but he's walking towards Julianne. He speaks to her briefly, and they both discreetly glance at me when they think I'm not paying attention. But I am, and I see the look on their faces. I'm shocked by what I see there, yet a triumphant smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. It's decided.

I've been accepted into the Career pack.

Sorry for the delay of this chapter. But it's here, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Finnick is sort of confused about himself at this point. He's beginning to lose his grip on who he was before, but that's not bothering him since he's decided to change himself. However, he's not entirely sure who he is now. Is he bloodthirsty and merciless, or flirtatious and cool? This is a fourteen-year-old Finnick Odair stumbling towards a victory brimming with deception and lies, with only an old woman and an alcoholic to guide him.

Mags obviously doesn't know the entirety of his plan, which consists of him basically losing every shred of humanity he has, and is saying things that Finnick is completely misinterpreting.

While most of this chapter is admittedly filler, Finnick's acceptance into the Career pack is crucial to the story, as is relations with all of the Careers. Being only fourteen, there is no possibility of him leading it, but that doesn't mean he can't misguide everyone into trusting him. This is how I think he won.

Tell me whatcha think. ;)