CONSTANCY NAOMA'S POV
I hop off the chariot after Rasheev does.
Some of these tributes scare me. Especially the monster from Two. I guess all of them should be trying to be frightening so others stay away from them in the arena. I crouch behind Rasheev as he walks towards our mentor and stylists.
"You guys did great!" Our mentor, Georgia, says.
"Thank you." Rasheev says with his strong Indian accent.
"Not to mention your amazing outfits." Rasheev's stylist says. My stylist laughs. Rasheev turns to me.
"Do you want to head up to the penthouse?" Rasheev asks me.
Before I can answer, Georgia cuts in.
"I think you should take it upon yourselves to introduce... yourselves to some of the other tributes. Possible alliances." She says. Rasheev and I are already in an alliance, but more hands make lighter work, I guess.
"Sounds good." I say. I was gonna say no because I want to get out of here, but Georgia makes a point.
"Alright, we'll meet up with you again in a bit." Rasheev says.
We separate from each other, and then I follow Rasheev around the lobby. The other tributes are getting congratulated by their mentors and stylists.
"Who sticks out to you that seems friendly?" Rasheev asks me.
I scan the area. Districts One, Two, and Four are out of our league. So are Six and Nine. Five looks okay, but they tend to not be as worthwhile to add to one's alliance.
"Should we try Seven?" I ask.
"Worth a shot." Rasheev says.
We walk over to where the Sevens are standing. We catch them before they go to the elevators, and they tell their mentor that they'll catch up. We engage in small talk, complementing them on their ride and cool paper armor outfit. After, we ask if they'd be interested in an alliance, and they respectfully say no and walk over to the elevator.
After that, we try Twelve. We get the same results as with the Sevens, except a little less friendly. And by a little, I mean a lot. I start to feel hopeless. I tug on Rasheev's shoulder.
"Rasheev?" I get his attention. "I think we should head up."
"That's fine. Are you feeling alright?" He asks.
"Yeah. I just think we should save some of our alliance recruiting for training." I tell him.
Just before we get in the elevator, we here a voice behind us.
"Wait!" I shouts to us.
We turn around. It's the little twelve-year-old from Ten. He looks like he has a strong District partner, but if he was alone, I think he'd be killed fairly quickly. He runs over to us.
"Hello, my name is Perseus." He says. I shake his hand and so does Rasheev.
"I'm Constancy." I tell him.
"And my name is Rasheev." Rasheev says.
"Nice to meet you. You guys had a good ride out there." Perseus complements us.
"Thanks, you had a really inspiring moment when you and your District partner stood together." I tell him.
"Ocelia." He says.
"Excuse me?" I ask.
"That's her name. Ocelia." He says, pointing to his District partner.
"Ah, I see." I tell him.
We talk for a little longer, just asking random things and whatnot. And then, Perseus just pulls out the question I saw coming when he first got here.
"So speaking on behalf of Ocelia and I, would you like to be in an alliance with us?"
I turn to Rasheev to look for any emotion in his face that would point to saying no. I'd like to have Ocelia on my side, but Perseus might be a bit of a burden. Rasheev then steps out and handles the situation.
"I think the answer is yes, but I'll talk it over with Constancy and we'll tell you tomorrow during training." He says.
Perseus thanks us, and then runs over to his District partner again.
"Thanks for handling that." I tell Rasheev.
"No problem." He replies.
And he throws an arm around my shoulder and we walk to the elevator.
RASHEEV SHOOBALA'S POV
Constancy and I take the elevator up to our room.
I've decided that I like her. She's nice, and I won't leave her side in the arena until one of us dies. I hope it's me, because I couldn't kill her if I tried. Not like she'd overpower me, but I couldn't bring myself to kill her.
Come to think of it, we're pretty equal in size and strength, but I still think I'd win against her.
"So," Constancy says, breaking the awkward silence in the elevator.
"What is it?" I ask.
"What is your favorite thing here so far?" She asks me.
I think hard for a bit. There isn't a lot I like here.
"The technology." I tell her.
And it's true. I love all of these advanced communications and the supreme entertainment. I was watching the Reapings on the train and the HD television was breathtaking. I've never seen anything like that, coming from one of the poorest Districts.
"I like the food." She says.
We laugh. She's got a pretty voice. It's a quiet one, but it's pretty.
We reach our penthouse after a few seconds more. I go straight to the shower to wash the leaves off of my body that were glued to us by our stylists. The design looks cool, but it's really uncomfortable. Constancy goes to her room, presumably to do the same.
I turn on the water and start going to work on all of the leaves. After I'm done, I throw on a plain white shirt and some black shorts and then head out into the living room to talk with Georgia and everyone. Constancy walks out a minute after we start talking. She's wearing basically the same thing as me, except a tank top instead of a shirt, and pants instead of shorts.
"So how did it go down there?" Georgia asks.
"I think it went fine." I tell her.
"I agree." Constancy says.
"Who did you meet with?" Georgia asks.
"The Sevens, the Twelves, and the boy from Ten." I tell her.
"Any possible alliances?" Georgia asks.
"The Tens." Constancy says.
"Good, good. The girl looked like she could hold her own." Georgia says.
We talk a little more about the Tens before the topic shifts to training.
"What should we look at tomorrow during training?" Constancy asks.
"Survival knowledge." Georgia says immediately. "Both of you. Also, I want you to know how to track someone and/or something by the end of the day. I'd take a look at camouflage or stealth tactics as well."
"What about weaponry?" I can't help but ask.
"I'd save that for the last two days. One day for basics, and another day for defensive tactics." Georgia says.
"What about offense?" I ask.
"I wouldn't go looking for tributes in the arena. They look like a strong bunch this year." Georgia says.
She makes a point. The careers scare me even more than they normally do on TV.
We talk about more training related stuff, and Georgia says she'd like it if one of us could make and operate a bow. I think that would be Constancy's job, since I'm stronger and should look more into one-handed weaponry.
I think tomorrow should be an interesting day to say the least.
