Hey, Lightning4022's back, with the Second Part of the Second day of training! The next two chapters are in progress, as well as the first day of the actual Games. Yay! Writing progress!
This is just a note about Micha's character. He is completely insane. Don't trust a word he says. He is 100% crazy, which is why I had so much fun channeling my inner insanity to write this. Actually, I enjoyed being in his character so much that I think I should be locked up in a mental ward. Or something like that.
Oh, and a funny story about Ryan's PoV. I started writing it with him waking up, and about three pages in, I realized that I was writing in the wrong time slot. When I went back to fix it, I noticed that I only had to change about five things, and none of them were major. I'm not sure whether this says a good thing or a bad one about my writing skills, but either way, I'm totally grateful. It saved me about an hour of rewriting. Just thought you might want to know.
Also, just in case everyone is wondering why all of the characters are slowly going insane, (First Elysium and Brandi, then Lysemet, now Micha and Ryan), it's because they're all about to die. Wouldn't you be a bit out of it if you were in their situation? Okay, I also admit. I love writing crazy people. It's one of my many flaws.
Thanks to MydniteShadow1996 and Aquacupcake for this chapter's tributes!
Micha Tolo-District 12 Male
I chuckled inwardly. I stared down yet another young tribute. He slowly became lost in the crowd that was exiting the cafeteria. He doesn't know what he's dealing with, I thought to myself as I entered the training room with my ally, Sebastian.
Sebastian was an agent for President Snow. He was here to infiltrate the Hunger Games and look for Rebels. Sebastian had said that since he was an Agent, not a Tribute, Snow would pull him and any allies out of the Arena if things got tricky. Sebastian seemed reliable. I knew that if I stuck with him, I could not only kill, but I would be safe and comfortable after I was done. He had even told me that he would ask Snow if I could be trained as an assassin after the Games.
Everyone but Sebastian thought that the two of us were insane, but I was fine with that. For Sebastian, it was our cover. For me, it was a chance to intimidate all of the weaklings playing in the Games. It was just an act since I was not, and never have been, crazy.
My bloodlust caused alarm in District 12, even in my District Partner Brandi. But here in the Capitol, I was with people like me, who respected, even supported, my desire to see people scream at my mercy, to watch them die at my hands.
Sebastian had asked me why I volunteered when we first met. My family had all died of whooping cough last year. They were the only people I would ever miss. After that, I had lived on the streets of the Seam, killing families when their backs were turned. Partially for food and supplies, but more often just to fill the empty hole that had once been filled by my family. And when the Reapings came, I had an idea.
The tributes were always well fed and adored in a way that I had never been. As much as I would have enjoyed watching the selected male Tribute die on television, I decided that I would volunteer for him. This idea struck me right before as his name was being drawn, and I stepped onstage before was even read aloud, joining my District Partner for the 37th Hunger Games.
Brandi Hahn. This girl was a mystery. So sweet, so kind, crying about the Avoxes. Just the type of person I despised. She looked at me with loathing eyes every time we were in a room together. Why did she hate me so much? I often wondered. It didn't matter anyways, since she was going to die. I looked forward to killing her. I looked forward to killing everyone here. But I would have to train first.
Back at home, I had taken people by surprise with the knife that I always carried, relying on my animal instincts to protect myself from retaliation. But here, everyone was prepared to some degree. They were on their guard. This is why I had been training. With other weapons, of course. The Peacekeepers wouldn't let me take my knife with me as my token. I had stabbed the one who had spoken first. He was dead.
Dead.
Dead, dead! Never to return! Just like everyone else in the room would be. Not Sebastian and I, though. We would return to the Capitol. I would be an assassin, actually getting paid to do what I loved most. Killing.
Just the word sent shivers down my spine, readying me for a fight, lifting my spirits with the prospect of another death.
"Micha. Micha. Micha!" Sebastian shouted, dragging me to the weapons training station. Oh, how I loved these weapons. So beautifully crafted. So sharp. I felt sorry for the poor things, though. They would never see the blood of a person. They were just for training. Always practicing, waiting for their turn with death.
I walked over to a display of tridents and picked my favorite, a beautiful bronze instrument named Jeanette. After my sister. My sweet sister.
I looked across the room to a young girl, probably twelve or thirteen years old. I had talked to her in Training yesterday. She reminded me of my sister. I looked forward to killing her, finally avenging my poor Jeanette. A life for a life. That was my policy. I avenged death by introducing death to more lowly humans.
It was an endless cycle.
It was perfect.
I took my trident, Jeanette, and attacked a dummy with it, imagining the tribute as the body, stabbing out her heart. Her lungs. Her eyes. Her brain. I stabbed, backed up, threw, and stabbed again, and again, and again.
A trainer came up to me, replacing the dying target with another, this one much larger.
It was Sebastian. I practiced avenging my ally, just in case it ever had to happen. Sand was pouring out of Sebastian's body within minutes.
The trainer returned with another dummy. But I was done with dummies. I wanted to fight.
The trainer was a strong, tall man, but he wasn't wearing any armor. He was no match for me. The man was dead in a second. Jeanette was now stained with blood. She looked even more perfect now. She was happy. She had tasted blood, like she thought she would never be able to.
The trainer was still alive. I finished him off with one last blow to the brain, but not before he had managed to croak out a word.
"Monster."
I was no monster. I was an angel. An angel of death.
Sebastian looked at me in a mixture of horror and amazement. He was proud of me. He shouldn't be proud of me. He should be proud of the trainer, for giving Jeanette the opportunity to kill. A noble sacrifice, indeed.
A different tribute saw the dead trainer. They called for help.
Peacekeepers rushed around me, ripping Jeanette from my hands and sticking a needle in my neck. Sedative, I knew. That was okay, I was done for the day. I happily accepted this temporary world of blackness.
I am in the Arena. It is District 12. I go to the houses of my old victims, where my new victims hide. I find the young girl first, and avenge my sister. This is when I notice my weapon. A trident. Not just any trident. My trident. My Jeanette. She is here with me, drawing blood again. With me. Together.
I go into the next house, where I find an old man. This is not a tribute. It is me. I stab me. I run to the next house. There is an animal. It is the trainer I killed. He unsheathes his claws, preparing to strike.
This is when I see Sebastian. He runs into the house, and a hovercraft drops from the sky, the claw breaking through the roof of our house. It grabs us, and we are led to safety in the Capitol.
The Games are over.
I have won.
Ryan Karry-District 8 Male
I took a bite out of my slice of pizza, and tasting the delicious cheese as I spaced out. I had never eaten pizza before, and I wanted to savor every bite. This week was the first time my stomach had ever actually been full. It was a strange feeling, but I must admit that I loved it.
Back home, I had slept in a straw mattress on the floor, eating watery bowls of heated tessera grain, or whatever it was that my friends' families grudgingly served me.
Thinking about it, I realized that I had never really experienced anything like what the Capitol now had to offer for me. Our family had been at the bottom of the pyramid in District 8, living in a one-room house. We had no money, since our parents spent all of it on alcohol. My younger sister and I spent most of our time at our richer friends' houses, mooching off of their food and sheltering there when our parents were drunk and yelling at each other.
When I was Reaped, my first worry was that poor Veronica would have nowhere to go, as she certainly couldn't handle living with our parents. Then, I realized something. If she could just hang in there for a few weeks, I could try to win. If I did, we would move into a large house where we would be safe and healthy. I could pay for a therapist to break my parents' addiction. I could pay back Ethan and Jacob for their generosity of always letting me into their houses. Same with Veronica's friends. It would be perfect.
I had dreamed of this happy ending every night since the train ride to the Capitol. It had never occurred to me that I had no previous training. I wasn't prepared to kill, and I didn't even know how, except the basic things that I had learned during training. I had no allies. I stood less of a chance than most of the other tributes.
None of this had called me to reality. No one had told me that I wasn't going to make it. Perhaps it was fear that led me into my delusion, perhaps I actually believed it. No one would ever know. Nevertheless, I genuinely thought I could win. For me. For my family.
I dreamily finished my food and looked around at everyone else. Several other people were sitting alone. I saw my District partner across the room, talking to a pair of tributes. From District 3, I recalled.
I had known Isabella back home. We went to school together, in the same grade. I was just a few months older than her, but our birthdays were on different sides of Reaping Day, and she was still 13. I thought about allying with her, but decided that I didn't want to see her die if I won.
I had almost changed my mind about the possible alliance just yesterday, but by then she had already allied with the girl from 9. When I hadn't been training with weapons or learning how to survive in the wild, I had been looking for allies. Most of my chances had been missed, because other people had been much more forward with asking about alliances. No one had asked me yet, though. As I wallowed on this, I found myself looking around at the people who were sitting by themselves.
There was the girl from 2, but she saw me looking at her and snarled. I immediately shifted my gaze away from her. There was a young girl, I think from 10, sitting by herself and crying at her pizza. I continued on, noticing her District partner a few tables away. He was also sitting alone, and he looked my age. He also didn't appear to be crying or showing animosity towards me, unlike the others.
I picked up my plate and walked over to him, stopping for another slice of pizza along the way.
"Hi, I'm Ryan, District 8. Can I sit here?" I said as soon as I arrived at the table, spitting it out before I had a chance to shy away. He nodded, looking at me curiously. Lunch was halfway over already, so I'm sure he was wondering what was going on.
"Hi. I'm Sormir, from 10," he paused, staring at me thoughtfully, "Umm, why did you come over here, exactly?" He said as I pulled up a chair. I could tell that he was trying not to be rude, and so I answered his question directly.
"I was wondering if we could be allies. I have been trying all week to find someone to train with. I noticed you sitting alone, and thought it was worth a shot."
He chuckled at my forwardness as he took a bite of pizza. "Isn't this pizza awesome?" he asked, completely avoiding my explanation.
"Sure is! I'd never had anything like it until I got here," I replied. He had changed the subject, but at least he was talking to me.
We talked about the food from our Districts for awhile. I found out that his District didn't get very much food, even though most of them worked on ranches. Just another part of the Capitol's reign, I thought. I had to remind myself that my District would all get bonus food for a year when I won to get my mind out of a dark place.
Sormir was quite funny, and I enjoyed talking with him, since it took my mind away from reliving memories. We got up several times for more pizza, laughing each time. Other tributes' heads turned to us, wondering how we could laugh in the face of death. It was simple. I wasn't going to die. I would get home.
Eventually, a trainer blew a whistle, calling us all back to the training room for five more hours. I went over to the weapons training station, where I had been spending most of my time over the past two days. Sormir followed, and it turned out that we had been training next to each other all day without realizing. He picked up a sword and started sparring with a trainer. He wasn't perfect, but it was obvious that he had been working on this one weapon for a while and knew what he was doing.
I picked up an axe from a weapons display nearby, hurling it at a dummy, just like I had been practicing. It hit in the leg. Not perfect, but definitely a nice throw. Sormir saw, and stopped fighting.
"Nice work," he complemented.
"You as well," I replied, "How long have you been training?"
"Just these past few days," he answered, "You know what? I think the two of us could kick some serious butt in the Arena together," he continued, finally addressing the topic that I had brought up during lunch.
"Allies, then?"
"Sure," he answered, shaking my hand before continuing on to some expected questions. "What else have you done during training?"
"Just hunting for a few hours yesterday," I replied, glad that I had at least done something, saving me from looking useless.
"Funny, I did that this morning!" he exclaimed, "Do you want to learn something else before training ends?"
I agreed that this would be a good idea, and we bade the weapons trainers goodbye. First Aid was the only station unoccupied, as training had started about 30 minutes ago and most lessons were still going.
We walked over to the station, where a pretty female instructor warmly greeted us and told us that she could teach us how to create bandages and apply them, make tourniquets, or perform something called CPR. We told her that we planned on spending the next few hours at her station, and she said that she would try to teach us everything, since we were so eager to learn.
She explained everything, and we spent the rest of the day 'healing' dummies. CPR was confusing at first, but once she told us what it did, we understood. Sormir and I didn't talk to each other much, except for basic questions about First Aid, and I decided not to tell him that I had to win, as it might lower his spirits.
We were about to start learning how to create bandages when a girl came over and requested to join our lesson. The trainer told her that we were about to start a new lesson, and the girl sat down beside us. Sormir and I both found ourselves staring at her, as she was quite attractive.
She noticed our gaze and turned to us. "Can I help you?" she asked coldly.
"Uhm… hi. I'm… Ryan! Yeah, I'm Ryan. Hi," I said awkwardly, losing my train of thought as I gazed at her pretty brown eyes.
"Ebony Willow. Pleased to make your acquaintance," she said sarcastically, before turning to Sormir, "And you are?"
Sormir continued staring at her for a moment until he realized she was talking to him. "My name's Ryan." He paused. I looked at him, eyebrow raised. "No, wait. It's Sormir, sorry. District 10," he mumbled, clearly also lost in her eyes.
"Right. I met you at the Chariot Rides. You were the Cowboy Cow, right?" she said with a smirk.
"Yeah," he said, embarrassment written clearly on his red cheeks.
"Hate to break up the party here," I interrupted, looking at the trainer, "but aren't we here to learn how to make bandages?"
"Thank you," said the trainer. She then began her lesson. Sormir and I were able to take our eyes off of Ebony for the duration of the class. As soon as it was over, Ebony got up and left, moving on to the weapons station.
There were only around 45 minutes left until 6:00. Sormir and I were trying to figure out where to go next when we saw a short blond boy stab a trainer with a trident. At first, I assumed it was just part of the sparring, until I noticed that the trainer was unarmed and that there was blood pooling around the floor. The boy stabbed him once again, and I heard Ebony call for guards.
The guards sedated the tribute and dragged him off to the elevator. Everyone else watched in horror as the dead trainer was pulled away on a stretcher.
The first death of the Games.
"Alright, everyone," said a voice over the intercom, "remain calm. As I call your District, I want you to file into the elevator. The incident has been taken care of, and the tribute that attacked Mr. Johnston will be heavily guarded until the start of the Games."
The voice called Districts, packing the elevator six districts at a time. Sormir and I silently waited for the elevator to come back down. Many tributes were whispering to each other now, and I saw Sormir's district partner start bawling again.
"Jairus, what am I going to do?" a girl worriedly asked the boy from District 7, "He threatened to kill me like that once, but I didn't believe him."
"That's Brandi Hahn," whispered Sormir to me, his voice wavering, "her District partner was the one that killed the trainer. I remember them from the Chariots."
Sormir was obviously terrified now, and I worried for him. Unlike me, he wasn't going to win, he would never go back to his family. I felt bad for him. For all of the unlucky tributes that were unsure of their fate.
The elevator arrived, and the eleven remaining tributes boarded. Isabella and I were the second stop, and I stepped onto our floor, waving goodbye to Sormir as the doors closed.
Training had gotten out early today and dinner wasn't ready yet, so I went to my room and showered, utilizing the lavish soaps and hot water of the Capitol. I dressed in my pajamas and went back to the dining room. Our mentors and escort were nowhere to be seen, probably conferencing about the death of the trainer. Isabella looked on the verge of tears, and we ate our dinner silently and quickly, going to bed at about 6:30. I fell asleep easily, returning to my recurring dream of my new life after the games.
Soon, I knew, it wouldn't just be a dream.
Sooo, how was this chapter? Again, I completely apologize for any mental damage Micha did to you. That's kind of his job. I hope Ryan helped fix that. He's a good kid. Just so you know, Micha was in a drug-induced haze. That was not the Games. Nor was it foreshadowing. It was a dream. Don't worry.
Oh, and fun fact. The conversation between Sormir and Ryan during lunch was completely based off of a real conversation that I had a while ago. Aren't I a great conversationalist? Heh…
Okay, here's some bonus material for this chapter. In case it wasn't obvious, the alliances are done. I will list them here, although by now you should know who's allied with whom. I will only list these once, so read carefully. And if an alliance breaks during the story, it will be obvious. Here they are:
Lara Morris, Hector Castell, Menelaus Causter Jr., Axeley Willow, Xander Arlen, Resha Carishia
Campry Evens and Binar Vetens
Kithell Valenteen, Lysemet Sprintyarrow, Zenith Roa
Sebastian Cole, Micha Tolo
Jairus Cooper, Brandi Hahn
Isabella Corde, Sophie Descartes
Ryan Karry, Sormir Keelz
And the people by themselves are:
Amaryllis Boste
Hayley Thalia Jackson
Elysium Oak
Ebony Willow
Dallas Bond
Go Me! I have all of these memorized!
Thanks again to everyone who reviewed: (We hit 125 Reviews! Let's go for 150)
Jezzieluvsu
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MydniteShadow1996
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Hayley TT Showbiz
Lupus Overkill
Oh, and for any of you who were curious, the average guess for my age last chapter was 16… Hmm… no. That's all I'm gonna say on the matter.
See you next chapter,
Lightning4022