Liane Trug, District 1 POV:
Everything seemed so calm and so peaceful. No harm could reach me right now, no harm at all. I was warm in my bed. The sheets were like some kind of armour to me, I was warm and satisfied and no tributes could kill me here. I wish I could stay here forever... it was dark, yet calm and peaceful. My eyes were shut from the horrors ahead. Maybe if I was lucky I'd have just woken up from a bad dream and I'd never have to leave this bed again. But I volunteered for these games... It was my choice to enter them. I was confident. There was no danger ahead, or none that would claim my life anyway. I could stay in this bed forever...
My hopes were shattered when I heard the clicking of the switch and the light flashed on, temporarily blinding me. Like a vampire I hissed and threw my hands over my eyes. I allowed my eyes to slowly adjust to the light and saw a woman in white robes with long golden blonde hair that sailed down to the floor, was this an angel coming to grant my wish?
"Up!" The angel snapped loudly. "Get up now, we have a big day ahead!"
My hopes shattered again when I realised it was my angelic looking escort Leena Prinz, and she didn't look happy. But Leena was never happy. For someone so sweet looking, she was probably the toughest escort there is. In behind her strolled the last person I wanted to see, too. Maximotus Leprenzo. He gave me a glare with his hypnotic blue eyes and I felt chills erupt up my spine, he never failed to make me feel like that.
"Call yourself a Career?" He sneered in a cocky tone. "I was up about two hours ago. I've already had my breakfast, I must say that the food here is delicious."
I groggily turned to the clock by my side. Tributes had to get to breakfast by seven o clock, and then training started. The clock read four thirty in the morning. I blinked twice, trying to believe what I was seeing.
"It's four thirty in the morning... I still have time for sleep." I reply groggily.
"Oh no you don't!" Leena shrieked. That alone had snapped me awake from my slumber and slid out of the bed. I strolled over towards the shower rubbing my eyes whilst Leena strolled out of the room. I turned around to Maximotus and shot him the coldest glare I could.
"Get out now." I snapped at him.
"And to think you volunteered!" Maximotus sneered once again. "I mean, you acted like it was torturous getting out of that bed. In the Games you'll have to be quicker than that Liane- much quicker. I expected better."
"This isn't the Games Maximotus." I simply replied delving into my wardrobe. I took out a fancy blood red dress on a coat-hanger. It was light and perfect to run in, I might wear this for my first day of training.
"Oh, but we're oh so close Liane." Maximotus replied with a smirk. "So close. Are you counting down the days until your death?"
"You're boring me Maximotus." I stated, folding the dress neatly across my bed. I gripped the coat-hanger and moved towards the wardrobe to put it in. But the chilling sound of Maximotus' voice had stopped me in my tracks:
"Really? Boring you? Will you be bored when I watch the light fade from your eyes?"
My temper snapped, and I angrily darted towards Maximotus. I gripped his neck with my arm and slammed him into the wall in a violent manner. Maximotus may have been stronger than me, but he was too taken by surprise to have fought back. I moved the tip of the coat-hanger to the most deadly point in the neck; the jugular vein.
"Really Maximotus?" I whisper into his ear, moving the tip of the coat-hanger to his pressure point and jabbing it in it harshly, making him wince slightly. "I don't recall the death of s tribute before the Hunger Games in about... a couple of decades. Maybe it's time to break that tradition, eh?"
"You don't have the guts." Maximotus sneered. "I don't know why you volunteered for the Hunger Games. You're not a killer."
I felt my blood boil a little bit more so I jabbed the tip of the coat-hanger even more harshly than before on his pressure point. Maximotus refused to cry out in pain, but winced once again. I felt sick, but I felt incredibly powerful. It was the most amazing rush I had felt in a long, long time. I imagined feeling nothing but guilt before I killed someone; but this was different.
"Oh, am I not a killer?" I commented with a smirk.
"Go on. Do it. But if you do, they'll kill you." Maximotus stated with an arrogant smirk on him. I was so tempted to strangle him right now, but I wasn't prepared to kill Maximotus. Not just yet.
"I have nothing to lose." I spat angrily. I hated Maximotus. My plan was to team up with the Careers, but staying with Maximotus in this period of time alone had already destroyed my patience; I hoped another tribute picked him off before I did, because I knew if a tribute didn't do so, I would. And I would give Maximotus the worst death possible.
"Nothing to lose? Really?" Maximotus asked with a smirk. "I thought you wanted to return home to your precious daddy. Remember him?"
Reality sunk in and I gasped, moving my hand from Maximotus' neck and stumbling away. I could picture the expression of sheer shock plastered on my face and Maximotus seemed to find it amusing, he sniggered and shoved me with such force that I was flung onto the bed.
"You need to act like that more." Maximotus commented with that same old cold smirk. "You actually seemed Career standard at that point. Although you lose five points for all the dialogue. I could've grabbed your arm and snapped it at any time; remember, you don't have to kill them straight away but torture them to the point they can barely breathe, let alone move. Anyone can survive a few jabs with a coat-hanger."
I tried to say something but it came out as a stutter. The Games seemed to be making me a savage already. A disgusting terrible savage. I didn't know whether to cry, or to carry on looking shocked. I couldn't cry in front of Maximotus, because he'd see me as weak. And if he ever saw me as a weak person he'd snap my neck like a toothpick.
"Is there a problem here or something?" I heard a whiny voice scream, and Leena had stormed into the room with an eerie grace. Her eyes darted to me on the bed and Maximotus half leaning on the wall.
"No problem at all Ma'am." Maximotus politely replied.
"Well why are you fooling around then? Maximotus, rush off to breakfast. I know you've already had some but you need to analyse the other tributes as they socialise; the earlier you're there the better! The Gamemakers like early birds! And you- Liane. I'd get into that shower if I were you otherwise there would definitely be a death before the Hunger Games!"
Maximotus just nodded. He seemed scarily polite to escorts, but I guess they were keys to victory. I knew Maximotus would grab any key to victory, even if he had to sell his soul for it. I smiled politely to Leena and strolled towards the luxurious Capitol shower. There were famous dramas that happened in every Hunger Games training sessions; but they didn't get anything like this.
If you asked me, the tributes were gaining some sort of blood-lust already...
Alec Seth, District 12 POV:
I opened the doors to the dining hall and glanced around the table; where people sit wasn't up to them from the looks of it. The dining table had been filled with many different breakfast dishes, some I had never even heard of before. There were jugs of all sorts of exotic juices too. I strolled over to a part of the table which had a piece of folded card with a 'twelve' on it.
Kathleen was there before me, but so was everyone. I should have spent a bit less time combing my hair, because I knew I had gotten up at a reasonable time. I smiled warmly at Kathleen, and she returned it. Across the hallway from us all twelve escorts were there, whispering excitedly to each other. They were probably going on about which one of us was to win; this was all some silly carefree game silly carefree game to them.
I reached over to a jug of orange juice and poured it into a cup. I didn't feel too hungry at the moment, the nerves had most definitely filled my stomach up. I smiled warmly to Kathleen who seemed to smile back in an unsure manner.
"Training today I guess." I simply said, taking a small sip of orange juice. I glanced over to the Careers' side of the table, they were already chatting away like old friends. It was strange seeing Maximotus laughing and joking along with the District Two boy; maybe he wasn't the ruthless killer he looked. Maximotus caught my eye and shot me a rather evil smirk, and shivers had immediately shot up my spine. On second thoughts, he was probably laughing whilst thinking of the best way to rip my innards out.
"Yeah... I'm going to just go for the simple survival stations today." Kathleen told me with a smile. I returned it and glanced to the District Three boy and girl and I had to felt sorry for them; they were squashed between the Career districts after all. The boy looked absolutely terrified, but the girl looked as content as ever. She was explaining something to the District Four girl whilst playing with her hair nonchalantly.
"I'll join you, I guess." I replied still looking to the Career pack.
"Cool." Kathleen said before taking a bite out of toast. I felt my stomach grumble and realised I was suddenly hungry, and so I looked around for some fruit. I wasn't much for eating animals... I guess I would eat animals if I was dying of starvation or something.
I turned around to the District Eleven tributes near us and I saw the big bowl of fruit near them. Some of these fruits looked so exotic and unfamiliar, it was fantastic.
"Excuse me," I said to the District Eleven male tribute. "Do you mind passing me the fruit bowl? I'd really appreciate it."
There was no reply from the District Eleven boy, but I could tell he was ignoring me on purpose. He shot me a cold glare and I decided to not argue; he was much more muscular than I could ever hope to be.
"Oh Spyglys!" An angelic voice shouted from next to him. "Stop being so cold to the other tributes, okay? Of course you can have the fruit."
Then a pair of honey coloured hands slid the fruit bowl to me, I smiled warmly to the minuscule District Eleven girl and turned to Kathleen, offering her some fruit. She smiled warmly to me and grabbed a tangerine from the bowl. I popped a grape into my mouth and smiled warmly to her.
But then the sounding of someone falling to the floor had disrupted any stray thoughts. I raised my eyebrow as manic shouting had ensued. I glanced towards the Escorts, where all the commotion seemed to happen.
"Oh trust all you lot to not give a damn about the children! They have lives! They have families! They have futures... or could. But you careless twits don't even seem to care about that do you?"
Everyone on the breakfast table turned their head to see the District Four escort Portia Rhymes, she was shouting violently and the District One escort Leena Prinz was slumped on the floor unconscious. It didn't take a genius to know what happened.
"Portia... Calm down. Don't you think you're being a bit over dramatic?" The District Three escort Marukilla Ambumzilla said soothingly. Portia stepped back like he was a monster when he stepped closer to her. Maximotus and Tristan laughed extremely loudly, finding the situation amusing. Everyone else either watched with the utmost interest or the utmost fear.
The rest of it seemed all a blur. The Peacekeepers rushed in and dragged a screaming and throttling Portia Rhymes away, Leena Prinz's unconscious body was also dragged away from the scene. Everyone turned around a muttered to each other excitedly.
"Do you think Leena will be okay?" Liane Trug shouted loudly, a look of worry on her face. I personally didn't see why she could care about Leena Prinz; from what I had heard of Leena she sounded like a very horrible person.
"She'll be okay, don't worry." The voice of Krindle Barnes simply replied. He stood up and rushed over to Liane, making sure she was okay. I gave him a rather suspicious glance. This was a District Four Career, he shouldn't be playing the ''hero'' role. Maximotus seemed to be thinking the same things, because I saw pure despise in his eyes when he glanced at Krindle.
"Everyone be quiet!" The roaring voice of the District Nine escort, Daymiun Atilia shouted. As soon as his voice boomed around the dining room the sound of chit-chat had immediately shut up. "We understand there has been a bit of a scenario today, but lets ignore the whole thing and get to training. Breakfast is finished I'm afraid."
Some tributes rolled their eyes and groaned, obviously upset about the whole thing. Maximotus simply looked delighted by the thought of training. I looked around to Kathleen nervously. She returned the nervous look and it was reassuring to know I wasn't the only one who felt this bad.
The Peacekeepers had lead us into one of the biggest and most interesting rooms I had ever been in. It was fantastic; it was lined up with all different stations. Hundreds of stations, if anything. Camouflage, shelter making, tracking, hunting, archery, spear throwing. There was even a station which was something about hydrating yourself with your own saliva; but I doubt anyone wanted to go to that one, it sounded disgusting. On every station there was a smiling mentor, hoping that a tribute or ten would come rushing over to their station.
I wanted to walk over to the fire-starting station, but as I rushed over a Peacekeeper grabbed me by my collar and then clipped a badge onto my shirt; I looked down to the badge. It was gold and had a little 'twelve' on it. The Peacekeeper looked to me sternly before strolling off casually to find any other tributes who didn't have a badge.
I looked around to all the other tributes and sighed when I saw the Careers had already become close buddies. They all circled around a knife throwing station laughing and joking with each other, but the District Two girl looked a bit unsure. Like she didn't belong.
District Three were together. The boy looked really uncomfortable (as usual) and the girl looked really content with what was happening (as usual). They were at a 'muttation identification' station, and the girl was pointing out different illustrations and explaining them to the boy. The mentor of the station nodded, quite impressed. I guess I shouldn't underestimate the District Three girl, no matter how dozy she looks.
District Five were a different story; they had separated. The District Five boy was struggling to lift an axe whilst the girl was looking at a herbs and berries station. She didn't look interested in what the mentor was telling her at all.
District Six weren't apart, both of them were at some station in which they were sharpening tools or something like that, they were joined by the District Nine girl, Felicia Bennet. Lyla Alby caught my eyes and gave me a weak smile, which I returned. I looked towards where the District Seven tributes were and I wasn't surprised to see it was an axe station; the mentor nodded his head impressed with their axe skills, but he seemed to forget they were from the lumber and paper industry. The two seemed to be in some kind of competition on who could cut the wood up the fastest, because the girl punched the air and did an overjoyed cheer.
District Eight were apart. The blind girl was near an archery station and she snapped at a group of paranoid and fussy peacekeepers who were following her. One of them touched her shoulders and she turned around and gave him a stern glare. Layana was definitely an independent girl, despite her disability. The District Eight boy was doing an obstacle course, and I simply rolled my eyes and turned away as he cling onto the rope and started crying.
Since Felicia was with the District Six lot, Kieran Ruse was alone, but I think he preffered it that way. He was doing some knot tying station. Monkshood splice from District Ten was mocking the mentor of the ''how to hydrate yourself on your own saliva'' station and the boy, Blaise Calder was flicking through some manual.
The District Eleven bunch were doing weights; Spyglys was just as strong as I imagined, and lifted the heaviest weights with ease. The girl however was starting with the lightest dumbbells. Something told me she was playing the weakling.
I looked around to find Kathleen only to find her standing right next to me. When I saw her I jumped, and I felt myself blush because I felt so silly acting like a fool. My nerves were most definitely getting the best of me at this moment in time.
"I want to go to the knot tying station." Kathleen said to me with a smile. "I really suck at it, so I can at least try to learn."
"Oh... okay." I simply replied with a smile. I was pretty good with knots. Or the knots I had to made in shoe-laces, anyway. But I was really good at tying shoe laces. If that was anything relatively close to the knots I'd be tying in the Games...
Nothing will ever be the same now...
Tristan Wilds, District 2 POV:
I had already gotten bored of the knife throwing section; I had already managed to get goodness knows how many direct hits already. All of us were pretty good at it, but none of us matched up to Liane Trug's knife throwing abilities. Even a reluctant Maximotus admitted that Liane was the best knife thrower in the group.
Even Katie-Susan, my District partner was doing well. She definitely wasn't Career material but I had decided to do the kinder option (which was my least favourite option) and help her. I showed her the best swinging motions when it came to knife throwing and the best places to hit a human body. Even though she was incredibly soft and in some ways useless, Katie-Susan was definitely fun to be around. There was something about her that made her different from the other girls, but I still wasn't going to get too friendly with her. The only advantages of dating girls is the reputation and the sex they gave you. That's what I kept telling myself.
"Okay, lets see if I can manage to hit the dummy one last time." Katie-Susan said to me with that same old kind smile. I stopped myself from smiling back.
"I doubt it, Katie. Knife throwing isn't your strongest point." Maximotus butted in with a sneer. With that he threw a knife that whizzed over Katie's head and slammed into the dummy's head instead. I couldn't help but wince a bit.
"That was a mediocre hit, Max." Liane sighed.
"Mediocre? Lets see you do better! And my name is Maximotus!"
Liane simply flicked her wrist and her knife soared to the furthest dummy, it slammed into the dummy's fake neck and in a second the dummy was decapitated. Katie-Susan let out a bit of a gasp and I blinked once or twice, trying to let the reality sink in. I guess I shouldn't get on the wrong side of the District One girl whilst she was in a bad mood.
"Well... I guess it's worth giving it a try." Katie said, and she stood there for a bit, concentrating. Then she flung the knife with the most strength she could try. The knife soared to the dummy and hit it in the gut, and I gave a short smile.
"That's pretty good." I said to her. "Your first hit which wasn't the leg or arm. Well done."
"I couldn't do any better," Krindle admitted in that same old kind voice. "And the stomach is a fatal hit, anyway."
"Not necessarily fatal." Maximotus butted in with a sigh. "It's the stomach, so there's fifty-fifty chance of survival, depending on the circumstances and how deep the knife goes in."
"Give her a chance Max." Selena mumbled. "She's not got much experience, and she didn't train to be a Career like some. If she had trained for years like you, Liane and Tristan she'd be a natural."
"I don't believe you." Maximotus snapped back to Selena. "And anyway, how many times do I have to tell you to call me by my real name?"
I couldn't help but give a quick smirk looking to all six Careers interact. We were talking like old friends and old training buddies even though we've only known each other for about thirty minutes. I had actually enjoyed the company of all the Careers. Maximotus was funny, and very intelligent. Liane was just interesting. Katie-Susan was a lovely girl, and it was kind of fun teaching her how to do things. Selena was definitely a genuine peoples person, and Krindle was a down to earth dude. But I shook these thoughts, because sooner or later I was going to kill each and every one of these tributes, I'm not showing them my softer side. But I was keen to be a little kinder to them.
We moved towards the spear throwing station. The District Five girl was talking to the mentor. Maximotus zoomed to the nearest spear and flung it to a dummy about twenty metres away. The spear slammed into the dummy's gut and impaled through, sticking out on the other end.
"That's a definite fatal shot." I heard Krindle mutter, and I couldn't help but shoot him an amused smile.
"Just think about it." Maximotus said to the District Five girl. "In less than a week, I could be replacing you instead of that dummy. Have you ever felt a spear pierce through your stomach before little lady?"
"No, but that was an average shot." The District Five girl replied with a smirk.
I heard Selena snigger next to me, and we all had the same old look on our faces, that 'looks like Maximotus has a little competition' look.
"Oh, is that so?" Maximotus said cockily. "I want to see a little puny shrimp like you do any better than that."
"If you say so." The District Five girl simply replied. She then turned to walk away, causing Maximotus to laugh loudly at her. She then sprinted as an incredible speed towards the spear in Maximotus' hand and snatched it off him before he had time to react. She flung the spear at the same dummy Maximotus had thrown it at, and it slammed into the dummy's head. Everyone was speechless, even Maximotus.
"You need to polish your throwing technique a little bit." The District Five girl said to Maximotus with a confident smile. "But I'm sure you'll do fine once that is sorted..."
"I'm going to rip you limb from limb as soon as you step into that arena if you think you're so good." Maximotus hissed to the girl menacingly.
"Max-" Selena said calmly, grabbing Maximotus' shoulders.
"Do NOT call me Max!" Maximotus screamed in pure rage, and with the swing of one arm Selena was flung towards Krindle, who managed to catch her and help her regain her balance. "You... Once I get hold of you I'm going to tear your stomach open and hollow it out... I'm going to tear your eyeballs out... I'm going to-"
"Be quiet Maximotus." Liane snapped in an annoyed tone. "Or do I have to find an extra sharp coat-hanger for you tonight?"
I didn't know what on earth Liane was talking about, but I knew Maximotus did. And I knew what she said had enraged him even more.
"You think you're something special, don't you?" Maximotus roared, now shaking with rage. "Just because of your precious daddy. You think just because we're both Careers I won't kill you? Because I will!"
Everyone was looking at us now, all the tributes. The Peacekeepers were on alert, ready for some kind of action and a female mentor teaching the healing properties of certain powders to the District Three girl had burst into tears.
"Maximotus. Breathe." Katie said in the calmest voice she could. "You're stirring up a bit of a fuss... you don't want attention this early in the games."
Katie's words seemed to have worked well, because Maximotus stopped shaking violently and started taking deep breaths. The District Five girl still looked at Maximotus, quite fearless of the whole situation. She raised her eyebrow and turned away to go to the climbing section.
"I'm good with spears." Selena stated with a smile.
"I think the spear section is giving us too much grief." Krindle said in a soothing tone, looking at Maximotus like he was a pinless grenade about to go off any second.
"Fine." Selena said, "How about the fishing station?"
"Selena, we won't need to worry about fishing. We're both naturals at it." Krindle chuckled, he then smiled warmly to me. "I think Tristan should decide."
I really wanted to tell them that I'd have loved to have a go on the sword fighting station, but I wanted to surprise them. Also, Maximotus had boasted that even though he was amazing at everything, sword fighting was his biggest strength. And I didn't want to see him fight with a sword, because it would probably intimidate me slightly.
"Why don't we ask Katie?" I simply asked, looking to her sternly. "Is there any strengths we don't know about?"
"How about we try the archery section?" Katie asked, looking to it eagerly.
"Archery? I'm not so good with that..." Selena answered in an unsure tone.
"I think it's fair Katie chooses," Maximotus said calmly. I looked to him and smiled weakly, at least he had finally calmed down this time. That was most definitely a bonus. "Also, I'm pretty good at archery if I do say so myself."
Was there anything Maximotus wasn't good at?
We moved over to the archery station where the blind girl from District Eight was. She had a bow and arrow in her hands and she was looking towards the target with a look of pure concentration on her face. It was quite interesting.
"I don't mean to sound rude, but how can you do that?" Krindle asked in the same old calm voice. "I mean... you can't see."
"You're so ignorant." The District Eight girl replied. And letting go of the bowstring the arrow whizzed and hit the middle of the target. She smiled in a satisfied manner, as if knowing she'd hit a bullseye.
"You're good." Katie-Susan exclaimed with a smirk. Maximotus picked up a bow and fired an arrow of; he was very close off the bullseye. Katie-Susan followed suit and had managed to hit the bullseye. Looks like she did have a talent. Everyone seemed to have a trick up their sleeve...
For once in my life, I felt like I had competition.
Metsey Jazgo, District 11 POV:
I glanced to Spyglys lifting all these massive weights and smirked to myself. He was definitely stronger than I thought; there wasn't one weight he had failed to lift. If anything, he was probably stronger than Maximotus in terms of pure muscle. A lot of the District Eleven boys were muscular, it was actually the cliché District Eleven boy to be made out of pure muscle, and I was the cliché District Eleven girl, being small, slim and airy. But the differences between me and the other District Eleven girls were that my tactic was more than jumping around trees as swift as a bird, I had a much bigger plan than that.
I was going to play a tactic that had been done many times before. In fact, it was pretty expected in the Games. Only once had it been done successfully, and that was over a hundred years ago. Before the second rebellion, in fact. It was done by a District Seven girl called Johanna Mason, and she had played 'weakling' better than any of the others who followed after her. I decided as soon as I had hit twelve that hers by far was the best tactic, if it was played well. I went to the District Eleven central library, were they had tapes of every Games thus far. I picked out Johanna's Hunger Games and observed how she did it so well, and I picked up her plan. If I played this tactic well, I was going to win these Games.
I had obviously made my plan a bit different than Johanna's, but it wasn't changed completely. It was just polishing off the tiniest flaws Johanna may have made. I was going to do nothing impressive in the training sessions, just follow after Spyglys whilst he does all the interesting training. Spyglys didn't mind having me follow him around, but he looked a little disturbed to have me as his shadow anyway. I watched Spyglys doing the different stations, taking mental notes on how he did things. I then went over to different sections and learnt all sorts of survival methods. I didn't need to go to the herbs or berries section, I knew enough about them to last me a lifetime. And if I didn't play this right, my lifetime was up.
Once training was done, I was just going to stand there and tell the Gamemakers a load of facts on herbs, or make a shelter. Something that would bore them but not see me as an instant bloodbath death, I wanted to get a three or four in training. I'd feel a two was a bit low, and I'd be a bit disappointed with a five; that's just a little bit too high, but it wouldn't make me seem like a threat at least.
Then when it comes to the bloodbath, the Careers will charge for the weaker tributes. I'd probably be on that list, so I needed to grab a blade. I'm good with blades. And to top that all off, I'm fast. Probably faster than any of the Careers. I don't know if I'm as fast as that District Five girl, Rayann. She definitely seemed the fastest out of the lot.
I glanced to Spyglys once more, and watched him begin to carry two weights. I probably couldn't even manage half of the one weight. I had to evade his strength. Although, he probably wouldn't kill me. Not right away, anyway. It's traditional for District partners to not kill each other unless they really have to. Iopian would also be enraged if he knew either of us were planning to kill each other right away; he was a kind man, and he seemed to actually care about the people he had to train throughout the Games. I wanted to tell him I was pretending to be weak, because I trusted him. But I couldn't have him tell Spyglys, because that would ruin the plan altogether.
I looked across to Spyglys, and gave a weak smile. He gave a half-hearted smiled back. I actually had to admit I was fond of Spyglys, but he wasn't fond of me back. I knew from just looking at him Spyglys wasn't planning on making alliances straight away, and neither was I. I was in this alone. That's the only way you could get anywhere in the Hunger Games. Alone.
"Hello," I heard a sweet voice say from behind me. I turned around to face a red-headed girl with rosy cheeks and a sweet smile. She definitely had a warm aura to her, and if she was a killer then I was the President of Panem.
"H-hi." I simply replied. The stutter wasn't put on to make me seem like a weakling, I actually didn't know what to say. Why was this girl conversing with me? I think she was the District Three girl.
"I know now is a bad time to interrupt, but I think I've been spending the last five minutes training alone. And it isn't much fun really, and I saw you doing nothing... maybe you'd like to join in with me?"
I didn't know what to think. Why on earth was the District Three girl wanting to train with me? I didn't look anything special. And neither did she. I looked to her in a suspicious manner for a couple of seconds, and then realised I was blowing my cover. I was supposed to be the weakling. I didn't want to alliance with her, so how would a weakling say no?
"I-I don't really know." I said, putting on an unsure voice. I reached for the lightest dumbbells in the weight station, the District Three girl watching me in an unsure way. I gripped the dumbbells which were probably lighter than a pebble, I wasn't the strongest girl, but I could lift them easily. Yet, to keep up my weakling act I forced my knees to wobble and I put on a strained face.
"Look... I'm not really planning to kill." The District Three girl said, smiling warmly. Stupid plan. I thought to myself, sighing. If this girl wanted to get anywhere in the Hunger Games, she had to expect to kill at least once. Usually, the winner had killed a lot more.
"I-I r-really don't know." I stuttered (purposely, of course). "I wa-wanted to do the, erm, shelter creating station. If you were planning anything e-else."
The District Three girl moved over to me smiling.
"Shelter creating sounds great!" She said in an enthusiastic tone, and she moved her hand over to mine. Probably to shake it or something. I didn't know how a weakling would react in this situation, so I just dropped the dumbbell and screamed in an over-dramatic fashion. I then turned on my heel and sprinted away from the red-headed District Three girl.
"I-I got to go." I simply shouted at her.
"Oh, its okay." She shouted back, but I could sense the tone of disappointment in her voice. It was genuine disappointment too. I had to find the shelter creating station; because that was where I told the District Three girl I was going, even though I had paid a visit earlier.
I felt bad from running away from the read headed girl.. She was a District Three girl; she was probably very smart. But I had to run away, because I had to avoid anyone forming an alliance with me. I couldn't blow my cover, I had to keep playing ''weak girl.'' Because if I blew it, I'd be screwed in the Games. No hope of surviving whatsoever.
I moved across to the shelter creating station and smiled to the station mentor, who smiled back warmly. I then glanced across to the District Three girl, who picked up the dumbbell I had dropped and placed it back, a sad look on her face. I didn't want to be so cold to all these tributes, but I had to be. I felt so nasty, so cold. But this is what happened in the Games. I had to play the ''weak girl'' act. But I didn't know why I was pretending to be a weak girl, when deep inside I had felt like one. That's all I felt like I was inside...
\A small fragile weak girl from District Eleven...
Bethuny Binton, District Three POV:
I looked as the District Eleven girl ran off, the expression of utmost terror on her face. The poor little girl was probably terrified of me, being sent into these viscous Games had probably made her weary of everything she saw. I had to be a bit more weary, I was pretty sure this carefree atmosphere I gave off was a weakness. And I didn't think it attracted much people to me, either. Usually in a situation like this, someone would look for a beacon of hope. A light at the end of the tunnel. And usually, I tried providing that. But I knew everyone was so weary of my dangerous optimism, as my grandmother said 'there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. Just make sure it isn't a train.'
It wasn't just the District Eleven girl who had rejected my attempt in making a friendship, it was also my district partner, Sarah-Elizabeth. We did get on, but something told me Sarah-Elizabeth was a bit too paranoid with the Games. When we were identifying certain mutts I had decided to point out some of the mistakes he had made. We then had a discussion (it wasn't an argument, I never argue. I hate arguing, it gets you nowhere) about whether the yellow spotted snake muttation shot out poisonous fumes or fumes that paralysed the victim. I knew that the fumes that shot out were paralysing fumes because the Capitol had colour coded their spotted snakes; if the snake shot out toxic fumes its spots would most definitely be dark purplish colour.
Sarah-Elizabeth had then gotten a bit upset about the whole situation and had stormed away from the station, towards the District Six boy. I felt a bit lonely and upset, so I had decided to try and find someone to talk to. Only to get rejected by the District Eleven girl. And that left me lonely and disappointed. I was used to the loneliness, though. No matter what I was doing, I could always put the word 'lonely' in to describe my feelings. My grandmother was the only person in the whole world to could take the loneliness away; and she had died long ago. And I've felt pretty lonely ever since.
I looked around for tributes that were by themselves, and by this point there were very few. Everyone seemed to have found a training partner. I then glanced across to a girl at the herb and berries station and I smiled. It was the District Five girl, Rayann (or something like that). She looked a little bit lonely, so I decided to stroll up to her.
I didn't know much about Rayann, but she had some kind of sharp intelligence in her eyes. I think everyone else who spoke to her knew exactly what I meant by that. She also had annoyed the Careers earlier by the spear throwing station. I heard the shouts of that Maximotus Leprenzo, they had echoed all around the training room, and they definitely shot some chills up my spine. I didn't like Maximotus at all, he seemed like a very nasty boy. I knew this girl if anything, had done something better than Maximotus to annoy him. And since they were by the spear throwing station, I guessed that they were both pretty good at throwing spears.
"Hello!" I said brightly and held out my hand. Rayann's eyes just darted over to me for a second. I felt like she was analysing me in some way or another, and gave her a weak smile. She gave me a distrusting look.
"Hi." She simply replied, before looking to a picture diagram. I felt rejection give me a slap across the face again, and sighed. This time I wasn't going to give up so easily, I was going to be strong willed and persistent!
"My name is Bethuny Binton. I am the tribute for District Thr-"
"I know who you are." Rayann replied bluntly. "You're the one from District Three who couldn't kill if your life depended on it, and in this situation your life does depend on it."
I blinked twice, that was very rude. Is that how people viewed me? The girl who couldn't kill if my life depended on it? I kind of liked that title, it made me seem sweet and nice. But I didn't want tributes thinking they could walk all over me!
"That is not true!" I snapped back to the District Five girl.
The District Five girl simply smirked to me, amused by what I had to say. However, she wasn't amused in a cold cruel way. She stopped her smirk and then sighed, looking to me like I was some hopeless case.
"Go on then, I will allow you to punch me now, kid." Rayann replied coolly.
"I am not a kid!" I snapped back, trying to make myself sound as vicious as possible. But I knew Rayann wasn't scared of me. If she wasn't scared of Maximotus, then who else here would scare her? I definitely wouldn't.
"Just cut to the chase and hit me." Rayann said, spinning on her heels to face me directly. I looked her straight in the eye, just looking into the girls eyes I could see a past and a troubled past at that. The eyes were the windows to the soul, as my grandmother said.
"No." I replied stiffly.
"Why?" Rayann asked, as if trying to egg me on.
"Because it's rude." I answered.
Rayann sighed and span around. She picked up a load of plastic cards with diagrams of different plants and then put them into two different slots, poisonous and not poisonous. I watched her with a keen interest. I knew she wanted me to go away, but if I couldn't find someone to train with I might as well force someone to train with me.
I watched as she picked up a plastic card with a dark blue berry. The blue colour was an inky blue, and it had dark purple spots on it. I knew from the purple spots that the berry was a blackhart berry, once of the most deadly of them all. It was so deadly because the poison went down to your heart, and infected the blood that went around your body. After hours of torture, you'd then have a cardiac arrest. It was a horrible way to go. I watched as Rayann was about to put the slot into 'none poisonous' and as if she was actually going to swallow the blackhart.
"No!" I snapped at her, as if scolding her. "That's a blackhart berry!"
"No it isn't." Rayann replied coldly. "It's a dangle berry, look at the ink blue colour it has. It's perfectly fine to eat."
"You're obviously not noticing the dark purple spots then are you!" I snapped back, almost frantically. This is the reason me and Sarah-Elizabeth had fallen out, and it was going to be the reason me and Rayann had fallen out too. Even though she already hated me.
Rayann's eyes darted over to the diagram, and started doing that expression; the expression she always seemed to do when she analysed something. I wonder if the diagram felt as intimidated as I did when she analysed me. She turned to me and smiled weakly. I returned the smile.
"Guess I'm wrong." She said. "You're right, well done kid."
"I'm fourteen." I simply replied. I guess since she warmed up to me a bit it was best not to be argumentative. I had the opportunity of making an alliance, and that was most definitely a good thing. Good Bethuny, you're on the way of becoming an ally with someone who annoyed Maximotus and got out of it breathing and smiling.
"Hm." Rayann replied, and then she smiled. "I'm thirteen. So I guess you're officially older than me. But either way, you're innocent and harmless so I'm still going to call you kid."
"I'm not innocent and I'm not harmless!" I shouted.
"You never hit me when I gave you the opportunity to. If I asked Maximotus he'd have beaten the living crap out of me, that's for sure."
"Maximotus is a cruel creature!" I said.
Rayann laughed, and it was the first time I had ever heard her laugh. When she laughed I kind of felt a different side of her. A warmer side. An untroubled side, and I couldn't help but to smile. Rayann wasn't all too bad.
"You're a funny kid. 'Cruel creature!'" She giggled.
"I don't get it..." I replied, but still laughing along nonetheless.
"Never mind." Rayann replied, smiling.
"So, I guess we're training partners?" I asked hopefully.
"Yeah. No alliances though. I don't want any allies." Rayann simply replied as we strolled over to a 'natural disaster' station, which had signs and books on how to survive things such as hurricanes, earthquakes and floods.
"Oh." I said, the tone of disappointment in my voice was obvious. "Why is that?"
"Because all it results in is pain. You'll get hurt."
I picked up a leaflet saying 'ten things to do during an earthquake' and the first thing that passed me mind was the thought that everyone was going to face pain in these games, and everyone was going to get hurt in one way or another.
It was inevitable...
Blaise Calder, District 10 POV:
"But surely that's not enough- you cannot hydrate yourself with your own saliva! Especially when you're dehydrated because you don't have any saliva! Do you know the meaning on dehydration?"
Monkshood Splice was still throwing her silly facts and insults at the ''how to hydrate your own saliva'' station instructor. I should move on by now, but I didn't want to train alone. I didn't want to feel alone. By this point, almost everyone had someone to work with. Even that Rayann, and she seemed like a bit of a loner. Yet, she was chatting and laughing away with the District Three girl. I still had to keep an eye on both of them; they're not as innocent as they make out, and I knew that for fact.
"N-No but the saliva is liquid, so it can hydrate!" The instructor argued back. Monkshood gave him her famous glare and I knew he had annoyed her. I rolled my eyes and looked to the manual in my hands. It was a top ten fire starting tips...
"Yes, but the whole big deal about dehydration is the fact that it makes you lose the water in your body- which includes saliva! Did your mother drop you as a baby or something? Why are the capitol even letting this pointless station in here?" Monkshood snapped back.
My eyes scanned over to the leaflet, and I looked at the different fire starting techniques. I found an interesting one which was about starting a fire when the floor was wet; it described how you can make a platform out of timber or wood and then place the logs on it. I took mental note on that; it could be useful.
"Well. This is stupid." Monkshood said, and she walked over to me. She gave me the cold look she usually gave. "What are you reading then slow poke?"
"It's this fire-starting manual I picked up." I replied stiffly. Monkshood rudely grabbed it off me, and gave a glance at it.
"This is a bit useless." She stated bluntly, throwing the leaflet to the floor and stomping on it. I rolled my eyes and glared at her as nastily as I could, yet Monkshood didn't look the slightest bit worried.
"Don't look at me like that." She simply said.
"I could look at you any way I want- did you know we've been here for... a fair few hours at least, and you've wasted them all arguing over the meaning of dehydration. Training is probably almost over!"
"Well that guy needed to learn the meaning of dehydration!" Monkshood snapped back. "I need everyone to know my opinion- or everyone to know what's what. It upsets me to see stupid people on this earth Blaise."
"That's ironic if you ask me, because I'm looking at a very stupid person right now." I muttered back. Monkshood moved her hand over to my arm and pinched it really hard, I cried out in pain and slapped her arm. I looked at my arm- a fresh bruise, just as I thought.
"What was that for?" I shouted at her angrily.
"Hm... let me see- you called me stupid!" She snapped back, just as angry.
"Well you are! You spent all day arguing instead of training!"
"Oh, and you're one to talk- you spent all day reading useless manuals!"
"That isn't true!" I snapped back. "I learnt lots of interesting survival tips, which is much better than arguing over dehydration and saliva if you ask me!"
"You're so naïve Blaise!" Monkshood shouted. "Learning something like ''how to skin an animal without getting a boo-boo'' isn't going to help you kill a Career, is it?"
"No it isn't, but it is going to help me survive and get food and do what's necessary!"
"What's necessary is killing the other tributes- fighting!" Monkshood snapped back.
I was going to snap something back at her, but the sound of someone's voice through a microphone had stopped me (and everyone else) in mid-sentence:
"Training is now over, please go back to your rooms. Dinner will be made for you shortly."
Monkshood looked, in utter disbelief. She then sighed.
"Damn, I wanted to go to the axe section. I've heard hacking away at something with an axe was quite a therapeutic."
"Yeah." I replied. I actually didn't agree with her in any way, but I knew there was no point starting an argument with Monkshood Splice. She always won her battles, even when she was wrong. She was the most pig-headed girl I had ever met. Yet, she was interesting and at times amusing. And even though she was a bitch, I knew the girl wasn't evil.
"I feel sad for admitting it," Monkshood stated as we headed out of the room and to the elevators. "But I guess I didn't do much..."
She'd only just realised? I was pretty proud of myself today, I had managed to learn lots of different survival tips. And tomorrow I was going to give the weapons a good shot. I smiled to myself excitedly. I couldn't wait to get my hands on something like a blade, or a bow... or a spear.
"I learnt a bit." I said modestly.
The elevator doors slid open, and both of us stepped out. I strolled towards my room, feeling my stomach grumble. I was definitely a little bit hungry; and dinner was being served soon, luckily. Unfortunately, it won't be long until I'll have to get food my own way. No more luxurious Capitol lunches any more.
"Oi- slow poke!" I heard Monkshood call, I turned around to face her. She was at the doorway to her room, and she was smiling. "I feel stupid for saying this, but I'm glad your my district partner. Even though I hardly know you and you're a bit of a soft touch."
"That's nice Monk" I said with a smile. "I feel the same way, even though I hardly know you and you're probably the biggest bitch I've ever met."
Monkshood grinned at me, as if complimented I called her a bitch. I think deep down she knew she was a bitch as much as anyone else did; if anything, she was purposely a bitch. Yet that's what made her so great- so amusing.
"See you at dinnertime idiot." She simply said, before closing the door behind her. And for the first time in a while, I smiled without forcing myself too.
Woo! I'm very very proud of myself for getting so much done in a short time. And I loved doing training. First time every tribute was let in a room with each other, which was great! Hehe. Lots of drama, lots of possible romances. Allies. Enemies. Portia went mad again! (I had to re-introduce her, I loved her a lot. And yes, Portia will come back for second helpings) and a tribute was almost murdered by another... with a coat-hanger nonetheless.
Anyway, review. I didn't get as many reviews last time. I was so heartbroken. I cried a river, seriously. So build the dam and click review at the bottom of the page and tell me if I could've improved it. If you liked it? Any interactions you liked?
Oh, and I picked 5 names of out the box. These are the five tributes that are going to die in the bloodbath (plus Soonta, who I've got attached to *sadface*). So I know who dies in the bloodbath unfortunately.
P.S I did a poll, just so I know who's loved and who isn't. It isn't going to determine the fates of people, but it's fun and interactive. So get voting!