District 2 male, Hayden Levy:

It was the second day of training, and Hayden had only spoken up in his alliance four times. He was about to speak a fifth.

The Careers had just reunited at the Gauntlet again on the morning of the second day of training. They'd become more comfortable with each other, and Jasper was telling some amusing story or the other about the District 1 escort that had happened earlier that morning, but Hayden wasn't listening. The mindless chatter going on vexed him. The group should have been training, honing their bodies to the maximum potential before they were thrown in an arena. Instead, they were standing around yapping as if they were Capitolites about to only watch the Hunger Games rather than tributes about to actually be in the Hunger Games.

Hayden knew he had a commanding presence. The sheer size of his body was enough to speak for itself. When he spoke, he wasn't loud about it. But everyone turned to listen, and even Jasper shut up for a while.

"Has anyone here been even looking at the other tributes?" Hayden asked, simply.

The group just stared at him, surprised that he'd actually spoken.

"Well, yeah, but they're all kind of not training with weapons." Riva spoke first. "You know, all at the survival stations and all."

"They'll be easy to pick off," Jasper scoffed.

Hayden stood there, waiting for the group to finish agreeing with each other on how everyone else was so weak.

"Wiress. 47th Hunger Games. Small and overlooked, but won the Games through her intelligence. Chaff. 45th Hunger Games. A playful underdog no one really looked at. He surprised everyone practically just by existing. Setae. 38th Hunger Games. So small everyone just overlooked her. And Haymitch Abernathy. District 12, Victor of the 50th Hunger Games. Who saw that coming?"

The group was stunned into silence. No one had ever heard him string that many words together before. Hayden exhaled, running one hand angrily through his hair, still tinged dark blue from the Chariot rides. And I'm supposed to work with these idiots, he thought bitterly to himself.

"What I mean to say is that all the lower Districts are allying together this year." All the Careers were listening now. "You don't just underestimate everyone before you meet them. I think the biggest threat right now is the alliance between the District 12 and the District 10 boys. Joel and Boss. And you know what they say – keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer."

Jasper immediately saw where Hayden was going with his speech. "What you're saying," he began slowly, "is that we should watch them carefully. But more than watch them carefully, we have to keep them close. And to keep them close–"

"We let them into our alliance!" Jade broke in excitedly.

"Exactly," Hayden said. "Of course, we won't mean to let them win; we'll kill them as soon as they're of no use to us. But in the meanwhile, we take advantage of their skills and make sure they think we're not a threat to them. This way, we keep ourselves safe from a possible threat, and convenience ourselves by not having to hunt for them when we do want to kill them. Current, I think you're the friendliest looking guy here. Why don't you go have a chat with them?"

Current nodded, and headed casually toward the weights section. The Careers shared a conspiratorial smile, and broke apart for the day.

District 3 male, Lindon Yulong:

Lindon had really gotten into building traps. Last night, his mentor, Lucius Grey, had told Lindon to focus more on survival stations, because to trap anyone in one of his snares, he first had to survive for long enough to gather the materials to build one. Lindon didn't want to learn about survival. Building intricate traps of wire and rope reminded him of building circuits with his father back in District 3.

Lindon's parents, Cable and Beatrice Yulong, had been trying for a child for almost eight years before Lindon was finally born. The many visits to the doctor had almost convinced them that they were infertile. When Lindon finally came along, the couple had never been happier in their lives. As a little boy, Lindon had never really been interested in playing tag, or hide and seek, or neutrons and protons, with the other little boys in District 3. Of course, his father never minded. It meant that this miracle child's parents got to spend more time with their baby.

Cable Yulong's factory accident left him paralyzed, but this didn't change the father's relationship with his son. Where Cable could only spend time after work teaching his son about the enigma of technology, he now was forced to spend all day inside, and could spend all his time with his son. Lindon was a papa's boy, and loved learning. Circuit boards were one of the first, most basic things Cable taught Lindon.

Lucius wanted Lindon to survive. Lindon knew that all mentors wanted their tributes to survive. But Lindon knew also he couldn't provide that for his mentor. He was only twelve, and incredibly out of shape. No matter how much he trained and no matter how much he learned over these few days, there was no way that he'd win the Games. What would happen if Lindon got down to the final two, and was forced to fight a Career? The Career certainly wouldn't make his death quick – the audience would want a show. And there was absolutely no way Lindon would let his parents go through the pain of watching their only child be tortured to death.

It wasn't that Lindon wanted to die. It was just the opposite. Lindon wanted so badly to live; he wanted so badly to just go home to his parents and to Intelle, but he knew he had a statistically negligible chance of making it back. He wasn't trying to die, but he wasn't trying all that hard to live a few extra days in misery, either. So all he was doing was choosing to do was to not to prolong his suffering and to not to give everyone the hope that he might make it. This would be best for everyone. Lindon would just stick with his traps and snares.

District 4 male, Current Beckett:

Current sloppily ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to arrange himself in a more favorable light before he talked to the alliance of the two lower district boys. Of course Current had already seen the two as a threat, but he hadn't wanted to bring it up with the others, because he knew that the others would see him differently if he'd mentioned it. Current knew that the group already saw Hayden in a different light, just from his speech that morning alone. Current wanted to be enough of a contribution to the group that they didn't let him go, but at the same time, he definitely didn't want them to know everything he could do. The element of surprise, though overused in every Games, was still helpful. The benefit of being able to surprise the others wasn't that the others wouldn't know that Current was hiding something. Everyone in the Career group was hiding something or the other. The benefit of being able to surprise the others was that none of the other Careers would know exactly what Current had hidden.

Current slid onto the bench next to Joel, and clapped a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Hey, dudes," he grinned at the two boys next to him.

Boss had begun to smile back when Joel spun around and glared at Current, brim full of distrust. "What do you want?" Joel snarled.

Current's eyes flickered as they met Joel's cold, green orbs. He flashed back to the day when his mother had a hangover so bad that she seemed not to be able to recognize her own son. Current had been 10, and Naia was only a toddler at the age of 2. This was the first time that Current's mother had drank so much that she'd passed out in a pool of her own vomit in their living room. Before she crashed to the ground, Current had tried to get her into her bed. But instead of following Current, she'd only stared at him with glassy eyes, rage simmering deep inside somewhere. Current knew the alcohol only covered up something inside, and didn't fix any problems the family faced, but as a child, he had absolutely no idea how to deal with any of this.

His mother had taken to the bottle after Naia was born, and that drove Current's father farther and farther away from home. Current wasn't sure which had been worse – coming home from school every night to a crying mother, which was what he'd done for the first few months after Naia had been born, or coming home to a mother self-medicated and crashing around from alcohol abuse. His mother had always been more distant than his father, but Current still loved her, and was afraid that this new turn of events would completely drive his father away. Many of Current's school friends had had parents who had divorced, and Current knew that in District 4, it wasn't as big of a deal as it was in the agricultural districts, since the seafaring life made the people freer with their lives and their loves. But Current still wanted a whole family, even if it meant that he had to take care of Naia and their mother every night instead of going to the pier with his friends and laughing the night away.

Current had only been stunned into silence for a moment before Boss decided he trusted the District 4 boy. "Hey, man," Boss welcomed Current straight away. "Whatcha looped?"

Current blinked, confused by the jargon.

Boss laughed. "Oh right, you ain't from District 10. What I meant is, how are you?"

Current grinned, falling immediately into the easy banter. Joel twisted back to face Boss. There must have had a silent exchange between the two in looks alone, because next thing, Joel grudgingly turned forward again and began throwing a weighted ball up and down, casually threatening. Current knew that if he made the wrong move, the weighted ball could very well be replaced with his head.

"Well, I've got to say, I've been rather impressed with how much you two can lift," Current complimented the two amiably.

Joel grunted, but didn't look at Current.

Current continued. "And the Career alliance knows you two would want to be with other strong tributes. You know, to pick off the weaker ones."

Joel smirked, but Boss blanched. Current noted it, and stored the information away for later. Boss immediately recovered and chuckled. "No, yeah. I get that. Makes sense. Joel and I need to talk about it first."

Current nodded, but knew that they were hooked like shore mullet on a hot summer day. With a half wave and a cocked head, Current sauntered away to work with the tridents, knowing the boys were watching him every step of the way.

District 6 male, Phoenix Wilder:

Phoenix had originally hoped to ally with his district partner, Vera, but the girl had been far too demanding. She'd seemed nice enough at first, and Phoenix had felt bad that she hadn't had as much as he'd had back in the District, but he really couldn't stand how controlling the girl was.

Lunchtime was the time everyone made alliances. Phoenix wanted to have someone with him in the arena. Ideally, he would've had the Night Falcon, his sidekick, with him, and together, they'd have saved the lower districts from slaughter. But he knew that only one could win, so Phoenix was determined to ally with a lower district tribute and save him or her.

Currently, Boss and Joel were sitting in their special little table all alone, and the Careers had taken over another. The couple and the District 12 girl were in their own little world, while Patch, the District 8 boy, seemed to have snatched away Phoenix's district partner. Eli, the District 5 boy, sat with Grave, the District 11 boy, who nodded incessantly as Eli eagerly chattered on. Only the District 3 boy and girl, the District 9 boy, and the Districts 5, 8, 9, and 10 girls were sitting alone. Phoenix stood motionless with a platter of roasted lamb over fried cauliflower, green beans in garlic butter and mashed potatoes in one hand and a dish with a strawberry lemon tart and a peanut butter pie with a side of chocolate fudge ice cream topped with caramel sauce and coconut shavings in the other.

The District 3 pair was sitting at the same table, but separate from each other. They both studiously avoided his gaze. While Phoenix had originally wanted to help the poor twelve-year-old Lindon of District 3, seeing him at lunchtime made Phoenix realize that Lindon was probably not interested in his help. Elias, the quiet District 9 boy, rather intimidated Phoenix with how serene he was. Rather than admitting to the fact that he was intimidated, Phoenix reasoned with himself that Elias, being so calm, probably didn't need his help.

The District 5, 8, and 10 girls all seemed pretty strong to him. They sat at three separate corners of the same table, quiet yet solid. Phoenix avoided them, having never really had the chance to talk to girls before, being homeschooled by his Peacekeeper father to avoid all the "dirty District-folk".

The District 9 girl, however, looked desperate for company. She sat very straight in her seat, cutting her food into neat pieces before biting down. She appeared unfazed by the noise from the Career table, but Phoenix didn't miss how she flinched when the District 1 girl screeched with laughter.

Approaching her, Phoenix spread a smile on to his face. "Cami, am I right?"

District 9 male, Elias Rendon:

Time seemed to pass differently for Elias than for everyone else. The day of training had passed without too much consequence. The Careers normally would've picked on someone like Elias, but they stayed away from the District 9 boy, respecting his space. The District 1 boy, Jasper, had tried to come over to taunt Elias at one point, but suddenly felt himself growing insecure as he approached the younger boy. After that, they left him alone.

At dinner with his district partner, the mentors, and the escort, Greenwich, Elias didn't speak, letting conversation flow around him. Elias stuck with the blander foods, knowing he didn't need to overindulge in the sham the Capitol provided. Camryn chattered excitedly to her mentor, Ceria, about how she'd made an ally out of the District 6 boy that day. Camryn tried to act more mature most of the time, but when she was excited, she got very excited. Elias thought it a type of endearing, and decided that if he'd ever had a little sister, she would have been like Camryn.

Elias cut another piece of chicken breast and fed it to himself. He was aware of the fact that the table had gone quiet. He looked up from his quiet contemplation, and realized they were all staring at him expectantly. He blinked innocuously. Greenwich sighed and shook his head sadly. Elias knew they didn't expect him to make it very far. To be honest, he didn't expect himself to come out the other end, either. That would mean at least one person would've had to die for him, and Elias would never allow that to happen. If he won, then it was meant to be. But he wouldn't run around going berserker like some of the Careers did, slaughtering children for fun.

The night passed without too much excitement. Elias went to bed early, opting to sleep on the carpet, which was soft enough, rather than the overly plush bed. Between the sheets, he felt as if he were sinking into a smothering cloud of silk. The floor was much more concrete, and natural.

Elias spent the third day much as he'd spent the past two – sitting on the ropes course above the climbing tree, legs crossed, leaning against the tree trunk, eyes closed. The Gamemakers had long since taken interest and then lost interest in the District 9 boy. Every once in a while, Elias felt the curious eyes of the other tributes trying to pry into his thoughts, but none ever succeeded.

After about half an hour, everyone was ushered to wait a private session with the Gamemakers. Elias knew he wouldn't have his chance until way after lunch, so he sat back for a long wait. One by one, he felt the tributes go in, perform for the Gamemakers, and then leave out the back. He felt the Gamemakers slowly lose interest in the tributes, and begin to stop watching as the Careers finished their flashy performances.

Elias refused lunch, and not too long later, his District partner was called in. He opened his eyes for a moment to blink reassuringly at Camryn, and she went in, head held high.

Elias felt Camryn pick up all the poisonous plants, rub them onto the tips of her arrows, and stand shakily before the targets. He sent a reassuring ray of confidence to her, and hoped it would reach her through the steel doors. Camryn swallowed, and her legs stopped shaking. Face grimly set, she shot her first arrow. It hummed through the air, and while it didn't hit dead center, it made it onto the target. Elias could tell the Gamemakers weren't paying too much attention, but there was always one or two watching out of the corners of their eyes, so he knew that Camryn would get a score or another, and that it wouldn't be completely unfair. Out of the twenty arrows she shot in her session, eighteen hit the target, and six hit the red bull's-eye. A Gamemaker called out a thoughtless good-bye, and waved Camryn out the door to the elevator to the tributes' apartments.

A few minutes of gallivanting and frolicking later, the Gamemakers sent out a young Capitolite to call Elias in. Before the intern to the Gamemakers scurried out to call Elias, he'd already stood up and was making his way to the door. Elias could feel the eyes of the Gamemakers boring into him. He was an enigma, and the Gamemakers loved a puzzle. He padded his way steadily into the very center of the training floor, and took a seat, cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to meditate. The very center of the room was where the power was all stored, thrumming and vibrant. Elias drew from this, and waited.

Five minutes passed in a flash. Bored, the Gamemakers had gone back to their feast, where a quail stuffed inside a chicken, inside a duck, inside a pheasant, inside a turkey, inside a peacock, had just made its way onto the table. One Gamemaker stopped swigging champagne for long enough to send a trainer to send Elias away.

The trainer was a six foot two, two hundred and thirty pound chunk of muscle that made no sound when he walked. Elias cracked a faint smile that went by unnoticed. He was hoping that they'd send this trainer over. Suddenly, the Gamemakers heard a loud crack, followed by a thump. Their heads whipped over in unison to see the trainer lying on the ground, moaning in pain, curled up in a ball, dust rising from the mat from where the trainer had made an impact. Elias was nowhere to be seen, but the Gamemakers caught sight of the door to the tributes' apartments swinging shut.

District 11 female, Aria Rosenthall:

One of the Gamemakers was young. He must have only been in his early twenties, and to have such a high position – well, he either had to be very good at what he did, or his parents were very wealthy indeed. He seemed to be the only one watching Aria's private session, not that Aria had done anything yet. Her stomach had turned inside out with nerves, but now her stomach flipped because even from this far away, the young Gamemakers' eyes were so green.

Aria dropped her eyes so the young man wouldn't catch her staring. Head down, face burning, she walked toward the weapons section.

As a child, she'd had an attack once when a bigger girl had chased her, trying to get Aria to give her lunch up. Running down an alleyway, Aria found she was trapped between a brick wall and the bigger girl. That was when one of her attacks came on. They always seemed to happen at the worst of times. Probably starving and completely disregarding Aria, the bigger girl snatched Aria's lunch away and ran off. Aria was left doubled over, wheezing, vomiting blood into the cold snow. The snow melted around her and deepened to a precious shade of dark pink, and Jeremy Carath came running into the alley.

At the time, Aria had never before talked to Jeremy. He was just another one of her classmates who were better off and never had to deal with what she and her family had to deal with. Jeremy had seen the bigger girl chase Aria into an alleyway, and come running out with the lunch bag. Running into the alleyway, Jeremy found Aria lying in a pool of ice blood. Jeremy had never before seen that amount of blood. He carried Aria home, back to his family, who ended up adopting her, as her family couldn't provide the medical care Aria desperately needed.

Because of her illness, Aria soon found herself unable to attend school without an attack every few days. The Caraths were kind enough to provide her tutors, Aria filling in as the daughter they'd always wanted but never had been able to produce. To fill her free time, Aria took up aerial swords, an old dance form long forgotten. While she didn't win any prizes with her talent, she and her mentor realized it could help her with the Gamemakers. It would make her unique, and unforgettable.

Grabbing a handful of swords by their hilts, Aria motioned away a trainer who had stepped up to try to fight her. Confused by the amount of swords she'd grabbed and by the dismissal, the trainer spun in a half circle in one direction, and then in the other, before melting away into the sidelines. Taking the swords to the target range, she was glad that they'd already been set up in a circle.

Aria took a deep breath, and began by throwing all the swords simultaneously up into the air.

District 12 female, Evangeline Chauncer:

Brooke and David were waiting for Eve when she came out of her private session. Her session had been rather successful. The Gamemakers hadn't been watching her, but she'd done well, and Eve assumed that there had at least been something recording her to get her a reasonable score. She'd remade all of the traps and snares she'd learned in the past few days, and they'd all worked. And now her allies were waiting for her, and nothing could be better.

At first, Eve had tried to seduce David into being allies with her. The idea that someone could leave his girlfriend for her excited Eve, and even though she knew that it would make her a target for Brooke, Eve didn't think too much of the consequences.

But after spending some time with her new friends, she started feeling bad about double-crossing Brooke. After all, Brooke wasn't an awful person or a terrible girlfriend. After a while, Eve decided she'd just be a friend to the two of them, but if David were to approach her about a deeper relationship, she certainly wouldn't mind.

All her two District 7 allies had to do was give her a look to tell her they wanted to know how her session had been. "I think it was good," Eve smiled up at the pair reassuringly. They were both younger than her, but stood a good head above her.

At the seventh floor, Brooke tugged David out of the elevator, leaving Eve alone. Eve contentedly watched the floor numbers lit up as the elevator rose even higher to the top floor apartment. At the twelfth floor, the doors opened, and Linus Romulus sat nearby nervously.

Eve hadn't expected anyone to be waiting for her. Joel was completely unreceptive to her advances, and Haymitch was drunk about 110% of the time. Linus seemed nice, but mostly uninterested. But as soon as Eve stepped into the apartment, he approached her and asked her how she'd done. She'd given some soothing answer or the other, and they stepped into the living room where the training scores were being broadcasted on the television. Joel had already made himself comfortable on a recliner, so Eve perched herself on the edge of a velvet sofa on the other side of the room of him. Haymitch was nowhere to be seen.

A few ads later, the room lit up with color as the screen seemingly burst into fireworks. Eve shrieked faintly and fell back into her sofa. An announcer wearing the exact outfit of the District 4 girl, Riva, appeared onscreen. He waited for the cheers of the live studio audience to calm before he launched into a speech about how excited he was to see the scores of the tributes, live on television, for the very first time. Eve drew her knees up to her buxom chest and hugged them as close as she could.

The first to appear was the District 1 girl. Jade Murdoch had gotten a 10, and Eve shivered with fear. She knew that the Careers from Districts 1, 2, and 4 usually had high scores, usually above a 7, but she'd been hoping they wouldn't be too good. Jade's brother and district partner Jasper showed up next with a score of 9. Eve wondered if the sibling rivalry would start to kick in as Jasper had received a lower score than Jade had.

All thoughts of sibling disputes vanished from Eve's mind as the District 2 girl and boy received a 10 and an 11 for their training scores, respectively. Even Joel tensed up on his recliner, from the other side of the room. A 10 was an excellent score for a Career, but an 11 was a downright rarity. The District 2 boy was definitely dangerous. Eve hoped she'd never encounter him in the Games.

The score given to the girl from District 3 made Eve feel better. Bo had only gotten a 5, and her district partner had received a 4. A 5 was nothing to laugh at, of course, but at least Bo hadn't gotten a Career score. But with the District 4 pair, the scores shot up again. Riva, the girl, received an 8, while her district partner, Current, was awarded a 9. Eve remembered Current well – he was rather cute, and at one point during training, Eve was sure that Current had winked at her.

The District 5 girl, Jocileia, stared straight into the camera. The score that appeared below her was a 5, which Eve found funny – a 5 for District 5. The painfully shy District 5 boy, Eli, couldn't even look directly at the camera, and only received a 3.

The District 6 girl Vera looked out with an anxious smile on her face. She'd received a 5 as well. The superhero boy, Phoenix, received a 6, which Eve was surprised to see. She'd assumed his superhero training or powers or whatever it was that Phoenix would have would get him a Career score, or closer to one at least. But a 6 was still a very good score, and she knew Phoenix would not complain.

Eve sat up straight for the next two scores. They were her friends, and she wanted to see how they'd done almost even more than she wanted to see how she'd done. Brooke's familiar face appeared face, grimly smiling at Eve. Eve smiled back. A 7 appeared under Brooke's chin, and Eve squealed, falling back into the sofa and clapping. Joel glared at her, but Eve didn't care. Brooke had done very, very well. Eve quieted down again when David grinned out at her, and she felt her heart beat speed up slightly. Sure, David was younger than her, but he certainly was cute and mature enough. David had received a 5, which was nothing to laugh at, but it wasn't incredible either, and Eve felt disappointed – she'd wanted to see a higher score for David, because that would mean he'd get more sponsors.

The District 8 girl and boy received a 5 and a 6, respectively. This was of no consequence to Eve, but she noted that these scores were higher than usual. The District 9 girl and boy received a 6 and a 7, respectively, even higher than the District 8 pair. Eve began to get nervous. The District 10 girl, Brittany, had a score that fell down again – she'd only received a 4, and Eve felt better. When Boss, the District 10 boy, spun onto screen, Eve saw how Joel suddenly tensed up. Eve smiled, knowing Boss and her District partner were allies, and secretly hoped that Boss would get a lower score. But Eve's hopes were dashed when a bright 9 appeared, and Joel let out a silent breath.

Eve didn't pay attention to the District 11 scores, suddenly nervous about how the Gamemakers had perceived her. She noticed the boy and the girl received a 6 and a 5, respectively, before Joel popped up on screen. Joel sat forward, and Eve saw his relief when a large 8 materialized.

Suddenly, Eve saw herself smiling down from the display. It seemed that her score took forever to show. Eve's heartbeat suddenly felt far too loud, rushing in her ears, inside her head. Eve vaguely registered Joel sweeping out of the room, but only felt mildly annoyed at her district partner's confidence.

And then, there it was – her score. She'd gotten a 4 from the Gamemakers. A last moment of silence reverberated before the announcer popped back on screen and began describing how excited he'd felt through the broadcast of the scores. Eve stood up, and ran from the room.

A 4? That was almost the lowest score anyone had gotten in this Games. Only that little boy, Eli, had gotten lower. Eve somehow managed to find her bed through her tears, and flung herself down, sobbing. It wasn't that she resented the low score, and thought that she should've gotten a higher one – it was that she'd marked herself for the Bloodbath. Everyone would think her weak, now, and think of her as not much of a threat. And not only had she marked herself, but she'd also marked Brooke and David.

Eve cried until she was exhausted, and no one cared enough to come comfort her. About an hour later, her tears had dried, and she fell into a restless, troubled sleep.

A/N: The longest chapter so far! But not by a lot. Sorry this update took so long - it was really tough for me to write, and I've had a lot of stuff going on. So I'm off to college in a week and a half. I'm going to try to update at least twice before then, and hopefully get to the Games by then, but once I start, I can't promise fast updates any more, because I'll be off doing things like making friends and living life (I know right? What even is life?). And thank you, everyone, for reading and reviewing - keep it up! We'll hit 100 reviews soon c: