AN: So, this took a while. Sorry. But hey, it's done now! I feel like warning some people though, while I am trying to give all of the tributes screen time and interesting things to do, it is twenty four people. Some of them might get a bit lost in the clutter. I am trying not to do that of course, but people are going to start dying a few chapters from now, so I want you to be prepared for that. Anyway, here is a new chapter with Athea DiMae.

Starting a rebellion is hard.

District five had been trying of course, ever since the twelve boy won the last hunger games. The riots and protests had been happening on and off for almost a year now. But it didn't really do much. Isolated as we are, it's really just a lot of destruction. We doubt the other districts know about us. And if any other district is rebelling, we don't know that either. The capitol's control is a hard thing to break, and I was beginning to think that my dreams of overthrowing the capitol would never happen.

Yet here I am, reaped and preparing for the hunger games. If one boy from district twelve could shake things up without even meaning to, It was hard to imagine what I could do. If I survived that is. So this was the new plan. Survive the hunger games, start a rebellion, destroy capitol oppression. If only actually doing it was as easy as the plan was.

Destry is leaning on a wall a few feet away from me, eating a sandwich that someone must have given to him. Or possibly not. I could never tell with my district mate. Fifteen years old, and he was still shadier than a grave at midnight. But I tolerated him, if for no reason other than he would be a better ally than enemy.

"Lamia said that you're missing toes." I said, trying to start a conversation and only later realizing how morbid that was. I silently curse myself for my lack of tact. I had better sense than that. Destry doesn't seem to mind however, and just gives me a toothy grin. "I am. Wanna see?" he asks, and I find myself nodding my head. As soon as he sees it, the younger boy has flipped off his shoe and is showing me his foot. There are indeed two toes missing, amputated from the looks of it. The cuts are clean and the stubs where the toes should have been had healed quite nicely.

"How did that happen?" I ask, trying not to cringe away from the sight. Injuries are never pleasant to look at, but that's no reason to be rude.

"Conveyor belt."

I raise my eyebrows, but he just grins at me. "You've never worked near the coal belts, have you?" I shake my head. "My parents were in research and development, so I was mostly in labs before they died, and afterwards I did odd jobs. Shops and news runs and things. To be honest, I've rarely stepped inside a plant." Destry lets out a giggle, as if this admission has somehow made me less of a member of District five. I let him laugh it out, which he eventually does.

Destry pushes himself off of the wall and offers me part of his sandwich. I take it. "So it's your turn now." He says. I snap my head up instantly. "I don't know what you're talking about." I say. Far too quickly. Even if the boy wasn't perceptive he would have seen through that lie. "Don't play dumb. I watch you. I see you limping sometimes."

I don't feel like trying to run circles around him so I hike up the pants that I'm wearing and let him see my bullet wound. It has mostly smoothed over, but some scar tissue is still visible. And there's still a small hole, of course. But I'm not going to show Destry that. A girl is entitled some secrets after all.

"That did not heal very well." Destry says, taking a bite out of his sandwich. I glare at him. Of course it didn't heal well. I barely had enough money to take care of myself and my brother. Even if I had, seeing someone about it would have been risky. If anyone knew that Micah and I were still around, living in our old house, they would have sent us somewhere else. Given that I had to take care of it myself, I thought that it was actually a pretty good job. Of course, Destry couldn't know that. I didn't want him to know that. So I stopped staring at him and rolled down my pants.

"Lunch is almost done. What station are you going to?" I ask, eager for a change of subject. Destry finishes his meal and looks around at the various tributes who are now filing back into the training rooms. "Some sort of survival skill, I think. Can't say I'd be good at combat. What about you?"

I can't say that I'd be good at combat either, but perhaps that's why I want to try it. I know my weaknesses, and I am determined to use this time so that they're less likely to get me killed. "Hand to hand. I'll see you later." I tell him, and with a nod Destry saunters off.

I make my way to the hand to hand station, passing by several other tributes. In one corner a boy talks about ancient reptiles to an uninterested girl whose smile didn't quite reach her green eyes. Near the edible plants station, the twelve year old from district nine was sorting through her options with a steady hand. I sidestep away from the girl from district ten, who decided to do a cartwheel before looking first, and start my hand to hand training.

"Want to wrestle?"

The voice sounds about ten minutes after I start, and I turn around to see a tall boy looking at me and smirking like an idiot. It's pretty obvious that fighting isn't what he's looking for. I smile at him anyway. "Sure." I tell him, then land a right hook to his jaw. It isn't hard, but he isn't expecting it and the boy reels back a bit. "I didn't mean… but if that's what you want, I could never say no to a beautiful lady."

The boy falls into an imperfect but workable fighting stance and I can't help but laugh at him "I bet you say that to all the tributes." He throws a punch and I block, barely. It temporarily throws me off balance, and the boy probably would have taken the opportunity to hit me again if the hand to hand trainer didn't see us at that moment. She drags me away from the boy and I am once again limited to punching dummies.

It isn't long before the boy is beside me again. "On the contrary. I believe you are quite beautiful. You probably have a good chance of winning. You just have to be charming. Charming and tragic." He begins to throw a couple half hearted punches at a nearby dummy and I quirk an eyebrow at him.

"What do you mean by tragic?"

The boy shrugs. "Everyone likes a good sad story. And everyone has one. It's just a matter of letting the capitol know, really."

I think about this. I hadn't really factored the capitol in to my plans, possibly because I was so busy trying to fight them that I didn't think about using them. But the boy had a point. People who the sponsors favored did have a better shot at things. Maybe I should try to capture their attention. But that meant talking about my parents. Was that something I was willing to do? Could I talk about the people who the capitol murdered in a way that would curry their favor? The thought made me a little sick to my stomach. And yet, this was the way I would win the hunger games. By making allies, in and out of the arena.

"My name is Athea." I tell the boy next to me. "Athea, a pretty name for a pretty girl. I'm Janus." I shake his hand. I'm still not entirely sure about him, but he's got a good head on his shoulders and likes me well enough. I am not going to turn down help of any kind.

Things aren't definite yet, but a part of me feels more optimistic. Between Janus and Destry, I might actually have a chance at this.

And then, the capitol would burn.