We are caught for the second time the next morning. I'm unconscious of course but Kes is happy to fill me in on the trouble Auris gave him when we are on the way to breakfast. In the dining room we apologise carefully then sit and eat our fills will she explains the situation to Testa.

Our mentor just chuckles roughly and addresses me:

"Tricky little creatures, Avoxes. They mean us no harm though..." she breaks off glancing meaningfully up at Auris. "All most all of us that is."

Kes and I exchange glances. We both know what she means of course. The avoxes, mutilated by the Capitol are obviously on our side for the games. Auris however...well she's Capitol just like the others. She's free game.

I smile sweetly as though I detect nothing in her gesture and begin to spoon eggs into my mouth.

"So." begins Auris, setting her plate down beside mine with a smile. "Training day today, how are you feeling?"

Training day? Oh no. I totally forgot but yes, that must be right, the Avox-watching-man had mentioned it last night. Training. What was my plan? How was I feeling?

"Pretty good." says Kesella, in between mouthfuls of sausage. "Going to tie knots or something..."

"No you won't." snaps Testa. "You stay away from that station, pick up something new, we already know you can tie knots."

"Aye, aye captain!" he says sarcastically before pushing away his plate and standing, offering his hand to me. "We'd better get ready then."

******

The training area is right at the bottom of the training centre. Imagine an enormous school gymnasium, then you are about half way there.

Kesella and i are second to arrive, only after the little girl from eleven and her partner, who is so tall agasint her small form. The girl smiles politely as we enter. I smile back. I feel drawn to her due to the similarity of our ages. Kesella keeps his eyes on the boy, sizing him up as competition.

The trainer, a small man named Remus, keeps us distracted by explaining the various stations as the others file in. Almost all of the female tributes are watching Kes appreciatively. I suddenly feel very protective indeed and slip my hand into his, smiling at the looks of disgust that apread across their faces.

Once everyone is here we are released to roam the stations. I stick to Kesella like a little dog, feeling very unsure amoung the older, more confident tributes. We are trying our hands at archery when i notice her. Winda i think her name was. The girl from 5. She is sitting cross legged over by the door where the day began. Remus is regarding her strangely but the others take no notice.

I wonder what she is doing. Training is a vital chance to learn something new that could mean the difference between life and death in the arena. The only reason you would miss would be to defy the Capitol (which is unthinkable), or if you had no intention of staying alive.

Then it hits me. The girl from 5. Testa's notes flash through my head. She's the blind one. I'm surprised to see such a determined look and her face as she sits in silence, a pair of large sunglasses covering her unseeing eyes.

It makes me feel sick that she should be in these games. I try to imagine how it would feel to be hunted in the arena and not even be able to see. It would be horrific. I have to admire the way she has accepted her imminent death.

I watch her intently for a few minutes before I make my decision. I set my bow down gently causing Kesella to look up from his work and fire an arrow at random into a light fixture. He stares uncomprehendingly after me as I walk across the room towards the doors.

Gradually the other tributes see me going. They turn and they stare. I don't really care. Technically we shouldn't show kindness towards those whom we aim to kill right? But Winda is on such an unfair playing field, it seems so immoral to leave her there.

I swipe a knife from the weapons station as I pass then sit down hard beside her on the ground.

"Hey." I breathe, making her jump.

"Um...hey?" she replies in confusion.

"You can't just sit here!" I exclaim, making her crack a tiny smile. "I brought you something."

I lean over and press the knife hilt into her right hand. Then I take a finger from her left and run it along the wicked curve of the blade. Not hard enough to cut her, but enough for her to realise what it is.

She smiles as she squeezes the knife in her hand, turning to me.

"It won't help you know." she whispers. "How am I to find food? How will I figure out which way to go? I am a sitting duck, friend, so I will sit."

With this she turns back to face the gymnasium again. I nod, she is so brave. I stand and walk back to where Kes I standing watching. In fact all of the tributes are still watching but I don't care.

The reality of the games has just hit me. We are all going to die. All but one, at the hands of each other. I barely suppress my rage at the Capitol and I glance quickly up at the walls, wondering where the cameras are set.

In that instant I know what I must do. An act of defiance, a display of my rage at this set up. I smile widely and reach around to my back, pulling off the piece of paper with number 4 written on it and tearing it in half. Then I sit cross legged on the floor and drop the halves carelessly over my shoulder. I just sit there, refusing to train, refusing to be a part in these games.

The others continue to stare. Then something truly magically happens. One by one, the other tributes slowly remove their numbers and sit on the ground, tearing them to shreds. This goes on until only the tributes from 1 and 2 are left standing.

The rebels round at me, unsure what to do next. We will be punished for this in the arena, especially me, the orchestrator. I'll be surprised if I live past day one after this but I don't mind, I take strength in the bravery of Winda. If i'm going to die, I may as well go out with a bang. So I sit there and wait for training to end.

Lunch comes and goes. All of the tributes who joined my little rebellion sit together. No one talks to each other of course, but it's this sign of unity that betrays a hundred words.

When it comes time for the personal sessions I become rather nervous. Tributes gradually split off to be assessed by the gamemakers. I begin to panic when the girl from 3 goes in to the gym. What should I do? I know that now they are alone, many of the other tributes will give up the defiance and try their best for a high score but how can I join them without appearing weak?

I know Kes will keep up the act if I ask him to but can I really do that? I don't want him to be punished; I want him to win for district 4, for my family. We lock eyes and an understanding passes between us. I couldn't stop him if I tried. This relaxes me a little and by the time he is called I have a plan.

He isn't in there long so I suppose he must have sat and done nothing again. I am fiercely proud and determined to prove my worth to him as I step into the gym. The gamemakers watch me cautiously. They must know about the earlier incident, I think, why else would they pay such careful attention to little me?

"Hello district 4." calls head gamemaker, Olaf Morran, venomously as I cross the floor.

"Hello Olaf." I say brightly, causing each and every gamemaker to gasp at my audacity, I suppose they aren't used to their meat talking back to them.

"Show us what you've got." he says dangerously, once he has recovered.

So I do.

I pull 12 separate dummies from various weapon training areas and set them in a semi circle directly in front of the gamemakers. They watch with curiosity as I drag same au natural paints over from the camouflage area. Careful I paint each dummy with a district number, 1-12. Then I turn back to them.

"This is what you see." I say, fighting to keep my voice level.

I turn each dummy around so it is blank again and go to work. This time I paint the name and age of each individual tribute from the district on to the appropriate dummy and then turn to the gamemakers a final time.

"This is what I see."

I don't feel nervous at all when we watch the training score announcements. On the contrary I feel settled and full and proud of my little acts of rebellion.

Districts one and two, our conscientious objectors, pull predictably high scores. Typical careers. The rest of the tributes range from 5-8. The blind girl manages a 3 which is amazing considering her obvious handicap.

Then comes district 4. Kes appears first, which makes sense. He breathes a sigh of relief when a 7 appears under his picture. I glare at him in confusion; I had felt sure he too had defied the Capitol. Had I acted alone?

I don't have time to think. My photo comes up next. I am more than a little surprised when the glowing number appears. 13. Is that even possible? I glance around at the others for conformation. They just stare at me, their jaws almost touching the floor.

"You...what...13...but how?" says a very flustered Auris.

"No idea." I say honestly.

Testa can hardly hide excitement. I feel a little creeped out by this don't show it. Instead i wipe the smile from her ruined face by telling her exactly what happened.

She stares. She certainly isn't smiling now. Slowly she gets up and hurples over to me pressing a withered hand to my throat and causing me to gasp in alarm. I remember for the first time that this creepy old woman is in fact a killer. She won the games after all.

"Do you have any idea what you have done?" she yells, unable to suppress her rage. "You understand why you have this score right? They are turning everyone against you from the off so that you have no chance of escaping that arena and spreading your rebellious little message. If the kids don't get you, the Capitol will. Stupid girl!"

She throws her hand up in despair as she sits in her chair again. She refuses to meet my eyes so instead I turn to Kes.

"What did you do anyway?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"Well..." he begins, looking slightly abashed. "I may have slightly used my knot tying skills to get up into the gamemakers gallery." he says all in a rush.

"You what?" screams Testa.

We make eye contact and mutually agree not to tell her about the sitting down thing. I fear she may just have a heart attack if we did and then where would we be?

"I wanted them to see how similar we are. I wanted them to realise that they are effectively forcing their own brothers to kill one another, so I went and sat beside them. It wasn't for long though." explains Kes, his gorgeous eyes on me.

"Oh good. What happened after that then?" interjects Auris.

"Well I was escorted out by two heavily armed peacekeepers is what happened." he replies barely stifling a laugh.

Auris looks faint but Testa seems to be regaining some of her composure.

"And you girly, what's your explanation?"

"He called me 4, Olaf I mean. It made me so angry. I wanted them to accept that we are real people with names and lives and families. So I showed them the names and the ages, I let them see us as we really are." I tell her earnestly.

"Dear god." she groans. "We are all dead."

On that bombshell we stand and leave.

The day is fading fast. Kes and I fight our way through vines and creepers, trying to reach the familiar little clearing only a few meters away. My feet ache, I must have been walking for a long time. Kes gives me one of his heart melting smiles as he reaches the copse and steps out in to the open.

He looks around suspiciously for signs of trouble, then without warning drops face down on the ground.

For a moment I am confused, and then I see the arrow sprouting from his neck. I fall to my knees in the brush, watching as his assailant retrieves her arrow and sneers down at his still body on the ground.

I flatten myself to the floor as the girl looks my way, fully strung bow back in her hands. She laughs and I know she has seen me.

"Kaylar." she hisses.

"Kaylar."

"Kaylar wake up!"

I jump out of my dream so suddenly that I feel dizzy. My head spinning, I look to see who has saved me from the girl. Clavis hangs over me, her jet black eyes full of concern.

"Oh. Morning." I stutter. "Bad dream."

She nods sweetly and steps to let me out of my bed. The others are there too. Umbra and Pectine are arguing in a corner by the window and Dolor is just draping a black dress bag over the bathroom door.

"Hello beautiful!" he says with a smile, offering me his long fingered hand and helping me up. "Big day today."

He guides me to a soft chair infront of a makeshift mirror then leaves me to the will of the girls again.

After many hours of cleaning, plucking and painting, i am deemed acceptble enough for Dolor to see me and im left alone while my prep team scuttle off to find him.

I take this moment to think. Big day today. The live interviews. Oh dear. Why hadn't i paid attention in coaching the day before? What was my angle again? Oh yea, loveable. That's what Testa told me anyway, because of my age.

This stumps me. Where did that idea come from? Because I am such a loveable little rebel. She is crazy. I couldn't be further from loveable. But I must act in order to survive.

Dolor walks in. He eyes me critically.

"Those women are miracle workers!" he teases. "Why, you actually look like a girl!"

I give him a gentle slap across the arm as he sits down beside me and draws a breath. He looks totally lost in thought for a few minutes. I've seen this expression before of course, before the opening. He's trying to decide what to do with me.

After a few seconds he gets up and grabs the dress bag from the door. He unzips it carefully, facing it away from the mirror so I can't see what is inside. Then at the speed of light he tosses the empty bag over the mirror so I won't know how I look until much later.

He covers my costume with his own rich cloak and goes to work on my face. He works carefully into my skin until he is finally satisfied.

I stand and he brings over my costume. He straps things to my body and fidgets with strings and buttons until he is done. He steps back and examines his work. He doesn't smile, doesn't say a word. He just gives a curt little nod of conformation. Just right.

Then he whips the bag off the mirror and leaves me to my thoughts.

What were my thoughts? 'Oh god', was definitely among them. I have to admit that I am surprised at Dolor's bold choice. I trust him completely of course; I just wish I knew where he was coming from on this one. This is not a loveable costume.