Chapter 16:

Jett Gatz, District 5

"I still don't think it's a good idea," Letha murmurs and takes another sip of her tea. She lets out a small sigh before smiling kindly at him. "The careers are so dangerous."

"I know that, but if I'm their ally, no one will try to attack us," Jett starts getting excited at the thought of his plan and pushes back his hair as he grins at Letha. "Come on, it's a good idea. I'll have any supplies I want and I'll be safe from any other tributes."

"Until the careers turn on you because you're the weakest link in their alliance," Galen speaks up and Jett glances over his shoulder to see the other victor entering the room. Jett gives him a nod of greeting before turning back to Letha, still a little disappointed that Galen didn't want Jett as his tribute. But Letha has turned out to be incredibly kind and helpful. Galen sighs as he sits next to Jett, pouring himself black coffee as he continues, "Sure you're safe from the others and have supplies. But you'll be sleeping next to the most dangerous tributes in the arena."

"Glad to see such a high vote of confidence from everyone," Jett mutters to himself as he grabs another piece of toast. He clears his throat and smiles over at Letha, ready to start convincing everyone that he has what it takes. "Well I'm going to try to get in their alliance. There's no guarantee they'll even want someone else but they lost a major player last night."

With the piece of toast still in hand, he stands up and flashes a confident grin at the two victors. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head down early and start working on getting into the career alliance."

Galen doesn't responds, not that Jett really expected him to when he's not even Jett's mentor. But Letha sighs and gives him an encouraging smile, even though Jett can tell she still doesn't like the idea. "Good luck, Jett. I'll be looking forward to hearing how it goes when you get back later."

Jett makes his way to the elevator, only having to wait seconds for it to arrive at his floor. The doors open and he steps in, thankful that no one else is there. He needs this time to get himself ready for the day.

He starts moving down and takes a deep breath. Today will just be another day of acting. He's made it this far, surely he can keep it up for a few hours today. And if he pretends enough, perhaps he will actually become the confident tribute and not the slightly terrified one he really is.

The doors open at the training floor and Jett puts a casual smile on his face as he saunters out, hoping he looks like this situation is nothing and doesn't bother him. A few tributes have already arrived and Jett joins them in leaning against the wall near the elevators. He munches on the piece of toast, giving himself a few extra seconds to figure out his plan for the day. He looks around the room, caring more about the tributes and less about the numerous training stations they have set up for the tributes. The first thing he notices is that the tributes have been put in different color shirts based on District. Decima in gray chats away with Stormy in blue, unsurprisingly given their District specialties. Coeus leans against the wall near them, staring carefully at the other tributes instead of joining their conversation. Velmour is at his side, speaking up occasionally and getting nods from Coeus.

The rest of the tributes who have arrived so far stand either alone or with their District partner, mostly staying silent. But Jett focuses on a younger boy wearing white, separated from the rest of his allies and looking dejected about it.

Jett starts to smile as he watches Emerald, knowing how he's going to charm his way into the career alliance. He'll slowly win them over, starting out with Emerald and making his way to Decima since she seems to be in charge. Jett doesn't know what's happened with them, but Emerald seems the easiest to talk to, even looking a little lonely. Then he'll make his way to Velmour and Stormy, and hopefully have those three won over and Decima and Coeus will have to take him, thanks to the majority.

He finishes his piece of toast and brushes off the crumbs on his hands before walking over to Emerald, putting on a confident expression. He pushes up his sleeves a bit, letting the muscles he's gained from mining coal show. The boy perks up a little as Jett leans against the wall next to him but still looks cautious. Jett smiles over at him, remembering the three lessons his father taught him on how to charm people. "Quite impressive to be allowed to volunteer in District One when you're only 15."

Lesson One: Flatter them.

Emerald's eyes light up a little and Jett keeps grinning at him. "Oh thanks man. It took a lot to convince Emilio and Thetis to let me go but here I am," Emerald gestures around at the training center but as he returns his attention to Jett, his smile falters and he lets out the smallest of sighs. "Well dude, I can't say it's exactly as I imagined but I'm still excited to be here.

Jett feigns surprise at this, even though it's obvious Beryl leaving is causing a rippling effect through the career pack. "Why? You seem like you're so prepared for this."

Lesson Two: Keep talking about them.

Sure enough, Emerald keeps talking after the compliment. "Well the other dudes in the alliance aren't as welcoming to me as I thought they would be," he glances around before leaning closer and dropping his voice, "Dude, it's all Beryl's fault."

Jett stares at the training set up in front of them, thinking about how he can twist Emerald's wayward District partner into benefitting him. He gives a small shrug as he looks back over at Emerald. "You just need to show them how skilled you are. I could help you out by being terrible at the weapons so you look awesome next to me. And then maybe you can give me a view tips?"

Lesson Three: Offer something to them.

Emerald starts grinning at this and Jett struggles to keep his smile composed. "Dude, that sounds like an awesome idea. Works for me."

Jett smiles at Emerald, knowing that if he can keep this up, he'll surely get into the alliance. One down, four to go.

Marek Hall, District 9

It hadn't really set in the fact that in a few days, people will be trying to kill him until Marek had stepped into the training center. Seeing the cold steel of the weapons and then the delight on the faces of the careers when they started training. Their willingness to kill still sends a chill down his spine.

Marek refused to touch any of the weapons. If that's he's downfall, then so be it. He's not going to hurt some little kid to make it out of the arena alive. But at least there was plenty to learn from survival stations at the training center. He was a little disappointed that Skye didn't want to train with him, but at least at breakfast she mentioned that it might be a good idea to be allies.

Marek smiles to himself as he looks over at the rope tying station, seeing her intensely focused on the rope in her hands. He doesn't care what anyone says about it being a bad idea to ally with her. Being blind hasn't stopped her once since the Reaping and Marek knows she can make it far in the arena.

A boy plops down on the ground next to Marek, bringing his attention back to his poor attempt to start a fire. "I know that it's important to learn survival skills but do they have to make these stations just so boring?"

Marek laughs loudly at this statement, causing Bartlett to glance over at them from the berry station next to them. "They sure are boring but I don't mind. Better than hanging out with Coeus over by the weapons." The boy chuckles at this a little, bringing a smile to Marek's face. He studies the boy, recognizing him from the program last night reviewing the chariot ride because he was making silly faces at the crowd the whole time and Marek wished he had thought about doing that. "Aero, right?"

Aero nods his head at this and sticks out his hand to Marek who doesn't hesitate to shake it. "Yep. And I'm going to have to apologize because I don't remember your name."

"Marek Hall, from District Nine," he answers proudly as he continues to smile at Aero. "And I'm probably one of the proudest people there. It is a little exciting seeing the Capitol but I sure do miss it back home."

"Okay your accent is just so odd," Aero says to him, looking up from the pile of sticks he was starting to organize.

Marek pauses before laughing loudly at this comment. He knew he had an accent from life in Nine but it wasn't until he was surrounded by tributes from across Panem that it became so noticeable. "Well I could say the same to you! I don't even know how to describe your weird accent from up north!"

This sends Aero into a laughing fit and subsequently making Marek keep laughing. "Okay, this is definitely the most fun I've had since we've been here."

"I agree with that," Marek nods his head once he finally starts to stop laughing. But then he takes a look at Aero and remembers all the odd faces he was making on the chariot last night and starts laughing once more. "You were so funny on the chariot last night with all the faces you made! What in the world made you think about doing that?"

Aero shrugs as he shifts so he's better facing Marek, both of their partially built fires long forgotten. "I don't know, I just felt kinda ridiculous and wanted to do something to make the situation better."

Marek nods his head at this, still grinning at Aero. "So, have you learned anything fun yet from training?"

Aero shrugs and frowns a little bit as he looks around the training center. "I've been spending time at the survival stations, just trying to learn how to handle different environments because Dampero suggested it…" He turns back to Marek and gives another shrug, "But it's all just so boring."

"Have you tried any of the fighting stuff yet?"

Aero shakes his head at this. "Not yet. I know I should but it's just so…"

"Intimidating?" Marek offers as they turn their attention over to the weapons. They watch as Cutter struggles to pick up a sword nearly as long as he is tall before dropping it, nearly taking off the trainer's foot. Marek chuckles a little at this as he turns his attention back to Aero. "Yeah, I'm staying away from the weapons."

"You don't even want to learn anything?" Aero asks in disbelief and Marek shakes his head. "Dude, you have to admit that that sounds just a little stupid when we're about to go into the Hunger Games."

Marek simply chuckles at this, knowing that Aero is right. "Well it sure is a stupid idea but that's what I'm going to do, even if Sativa has told me that I'm signing my death wish now."

"Aren't you?" Aero questions him, to which Marek gives a shrug in answer.

"Probably but I don't care what she says. She was rude to Skye for absolutely no reason."

"None at all?" Aero asks, seeming shocked that Sativa would act that way. When Marek shakes his head at this, Aero lets out a sigh and turns his attention back to their abandoned piles, kicking a stick away. "Wow, that's terrible. Like I get that she wouldn't think Skye has great odds but just being rude for no reason?"

Aero shakes his head once more at this and Marek starts to grin at the boy, happy that someone else seems to understand how he feels about Skye and his mentor. "You know Aero? I like you. Have you made any allies yet?"

"Not yet," Aero answers, giving Marek a little skeptical look at this. "Why?"

Marek claps Aero on the back, getting a tentative smile from him that Marek quickly returns. "Well Aero, you've got yourself an ally right here."

Clark Botwright, District 8

"Viradie, come onnnn, you don't have to keep following me around everywhere! And you really don't have to be my ally, no matter what Astrid says," Clark lets out a huff of annoyance as Viradie shakes her head at this and starts to write on her notebook. Clark was starting to get really tired of that notebook and there's been a couple times he's been ready to take it and toss it. If she pokes him in the back with it one more time, he just might do it.

Clark crosses his arms as Viradie flips the notebook around and he reads what she wrote out loud, "But I like you…" Clark rolls his eyes at this. "I have no idea why you like me. But fine, keep following me around. I'm going to keep going to the stations that I want to."

To make his point, Clark stomps over to the camouflage station, set on learning how to hide so he can ambush tributes. But much to his disappointment, he can hear Viradie's soft footsteps following him. He turns around at the station, ready to snap at her. But at the excited look in her eyes as she stares at the paint, he bites his tongue for once and sets about on his mission. At least there's no other tributes at the station to bug him.

Clark finds the task easy – not that he's really surprised that he's excelling at the training. It's similar to the drawing he liked to do back home, except way more exciting because it's going to help him win and get a ton of money as the victor. As he starts slowly painting on his arm a pattern looking like a bush, even adding on a few leaves, he's able to block out the steady sound of the careers striking targets and Hazel talking loudly to everyone.

Time passes by quickly as they work in silence before Viradie slides her notebook in front of him. 'You're really good at that.'

"Well of course I-" Clark cuts off as he takes his attention away from his work and looks over at Viradie, immediately impressed and feeling like his work is inadequate compared to her. While he's barely finished one arm, she's painted both of her legs to look like a field of flowers. "Wow. You did all of that?" Clark really shouldn't be as surprised as he is, not when Viradie has spent most of their free time sketching in her notebook next to Velour. But damn, he's impressed.

Viradie takes back her notebook, giving Clark an innocent smile before she writes to him once more, seeming very happy about Clark's response. 'I love drawing flowers the best.'

Clark glances between his work and Viradie's intricate painting, starting to feel like his own is just inadequate compared to hers. She has a real talent for painting and Clark could definitely use someone like that in the arena to keep himself hidden. He lets out a dramatic sigh, not going to admit this to her. "Well, I suppose you can be my ally."

Viradie lights up in excitement at this and Clark finds himself starting to smile back before quickly stopping himself. He cannot get attached to anyone, not if he's going to get that victory. Besides, that's just not who he is.

"That's some nice work you have there. You can tell you're from the District who is creative with designing clothes."

Clark starts scowling as he turns to the boy who started talking to them, straining his neck to stare up at the boy standing over them. "What do you want?"

He crouches down next to where they sit at the camouflage station, allowing Clark to finally get a good look at his face. He crosses his arms as he recognizes the boy from Three, immediately distrusting him. Why would someone who's eighteen be talking to the two thirteen-year-olds?

Jarvis's face shows a brief flash of surprise at Clark's tone before he keeps smiling at them. "Well, I've been forming an alliance and wanted to see if you two would be interested."

"We're not," Clark responds immediately to him while crossing his arms. "Who's even in it?"

Jarvis does a good job of keeping up a smile as he answers Clark. "So far it's myself, Oakland, and Cutter."

"The twelve-year-olds? Yeah, no thanks," Clark shakes his head at this, not understanding why anyone would want to be allies with those two. They have no shot at winning. He stares at Jarvis, confused why one of the oldest tributes would want to be allies with the youngest tributes. Especially when it seems like he might stand a chance against the careers.

Clark hears the familiar scratching of Viradie's pencil and his lip twitches at what she might say about Jarvis. She nudges his clean arm with it and he glances down for a moment before turning his attention back to Jarvis. He scowls for a few seconds, not really wanting to do what she asked. But he makes the bad move of glancing over at her and sees her looking hopeful. He sighs as he turns back to Jarvis, still not trusting the guy. "Fine, we'll think about it and talk to our mentors later. But everyone knows Astrid and I doubt she'll want us to be allies with twelve-year-olds."

Clark can tell by the look on Jarvis's face that he's heard the rumors about Astrid and Clark starts smirking at this fact. She's going to say no so fast to this offer. Jarvis stands up, a smile still on his face as he sticks his hands in his pockets and shrugs at them. "The offer still stands. Just let me know tomorrow what she says."

Jarvis starts to walk away and Clark calls out to him, wanting to have the last word. "She's going to say no!" Clark chuckles a little to himself before turning to Viradie. He gives her a look of exasperation when he sees her looking disappointed at him. "Hey, I told him we would think about it, that's what you wanted me to do. I could have just said no to him."

Viradie shakes her head and writes in her notebook to him once more. She flips it around, holding it in front of her as she stares hopefully at Clark. 'I think it would be good to join them.'

Clark lets out a sigh at this, not really interesting in being allies with the younger two. But Jarvis might not be too bad. He is older and seems strong. And Clark is sure if something goes wrong, he can still outrun Jarvis. "Fine, we'll actually ask Astrid tonight. But I still think she's going to say no."

Emerald Silverstein, District 1

"Alright everyone," Decima says in a hushed whisper and leans over their lunch table, motioning everyone else to do so. Em listens to her, still feeling like he has to prove himself to them. He doesn't understand why after several hours of training, Coeus still gives him untrusting looks. Even Decima has been sharing looks with Stormy when Em is nearby. The only one who's actually been nice to him is Velmour, who now sits next to him.

Em wasn't sure what else he could do to change their opinions. He's shown off his sword skills that Emilio has taught him. He even showed off his survival skills, just anything to show them how trained he is. But nothing seems to get them to forget that he wasn't part of Beryl leaving.

"Now we've all been spending the morning figuring out who we should invite to join us," Decima continues when everyone has leaned in closer to her. Well, everyone but Coeus. He's leaning back in his chair next to Decima, arms crossed as he watches them. Man, Coeus is a beast of a man. Even if Em worked out for hours each day, there's no way he could ever reach the size of Coeus. "I personally think Nyra would be a good choice," Decima continues and Em turns his attention back to her. "She's shown some really good skills at using knives."

"I wanted Vida but she already said no," Stormy adds and shakes her head at this. "She's smart. Very smart. I was watching her go through plant memorization and she was flying through it and getting everything right."

Em opens his mouth to start speaking but Decima starts before he can, "Sounds like she's too smart. Well, if she said no, then fine. She can get targeted early on."

Em closes his mouth and starts frowning as he props his elbow on the table and rests his chin on his hand. With his other hand, he starts drumming his fingers against the table, starting to wonder if they'll even let him give his opinion. Velmour clears his throat and Em glances over at him. "I wanted to ask Jarvis because he's one of the oldest and seems athletic. But he seems content on being babysitter," he gestures with his chin towards a table and they all turn to look over at Jarvis sitting with Cutter and Oakland. Jarvis looks over at them before lowering his head and focusing on his sandwich.

"Dude, what about Jett?" Em bursts out as they all turn around and before anyone can say something else. He stares at Decima, knowing she is the more talkative one of the District Two pair. "He seems like a nice guy and not way too smart like Vida. Sure he's not great with weapons but he is strong. He mentioned that he's worked in the coal mines."

Em watches Decima as the seconds start to tick by in silence, becoming more and more sure that she's going to turn down his suggestion. But Decima isn't the first one to speak up.

"Jett would be my second choice," Stormy says quietly and Em turns his gaze towards her, surprised by her siding with him. Perhaps both of the District Four tributes will be decent allies.

"I talked to him too," Velmour adds and Em nods at this, having noticed that Jett did talk to Velmour after talking to Lauris and Atirikta when they were all at the spears station. "So it seems like Jett and Nyra are our two choices. Unless you have anyone?" He asks Coeus who simply shakes his head at this.

"Alright, let's vote," Decima says and slaps her hands down on the table. Em can see Aero and Marek jump at the noise from the table behind Decima and almost laughs a little at it, but then he sees the fiery look on Decima's face and immediately becomes serious. "I want Nyra. Stormy?"

"I say Jett," Stormy answers with a nod of her head. Decima nods once at this and turns her attention to Velmour.

"Nyra," Velmour answers and shrugs at this. "Jett seemed nice but Nyra seems more competent, and we need someone with skills."

"Em?" Decima asks and Em raises an eyebrow, shocked that she's actually going to acknowledge him, let alone ask for his vote.

"Jett, of course," he answers confidently, grinning at his allies. "I think he would be really good for our alliance."

Decima once again nods her head at this before leaning back in her chair. She pats Coeus on the shoulder, grinning at him despite the look of contempt in his eyes at her touching him. "Alright Mister Quiet and Brooding. You get the deciding vote. Who is it going to be: Nyra or Jett?"

Coeus continues to sit with his arms crossed, looking around the room for a minute, surely assessing Jett and Nyra. Em silently hopes that he'll pick Jett since the guy seemed nice, and Em was the one to suggest Jett. If they pick him, well, maybe they actually are accepting of him in the alliance, no matter what Beryl did. As Coeus stays silent, he finds Beryl sitting alone, as far away from them as possible. Em wishes he could be mad at her for not wanting to be part of their alliance and making things tough for him. But Emilio told him that she has her reasons and that they're very good reasons. And his mentor mentioned that they knew that she would do this, yet picked her anyways. Surely they have a good reason?

"Jett," Coeus says quietly and Em turns his attention back to his allies in disbelief that he actually picked Em's choice. But Coeus is staring at him while Decima purses her lips at Coeus, clearly unhappy with his decision. "Jett will be easier for us to manipulate and kill. We don't need someone bull-headed and skilled with knives in our alliance, just waiting to stab one of us in the back."

Decima lets out a small sigh at this before nodding her head at Coeus. She turns back to the rest of them, smile once again on her face. But Em can tell she's definitely not happy. "So be it. Hey Jett!" She calls out, moving to look past Em towards where Jett is sitting. Em turns to look at his new ally, watching Jett show shock at Decima yelling over to him before starting to grin. He stands up, picking up his plate with his half eaten sandwich and bringing it over with him. He slides into the spot next to Em and Decima holds out her hand to him. "Welcome to the alliance."

Jett's gaze flickers over to Em before he takes Decima's hand and shakes it. Em leans back in his chair, feeling like he just made a big step towards the others finally realizing he belongs in this alliance.

Nyra Caballero, District 10

Nyra had never felt as angry or humiliated than when the careers had called Jett over to their table instead of her. She had been listening carefully to them at lunch, and despite their attempts at whispering, she still heard her name mentioned a couple times. But they didn't pick her to join their alliance. Did they not see her determination? Or her skills at using knives?

"Darned careers," she mutters as she stabs the dummy in front of her, emphasizing each word with another stab from her knives. "Darned Jett. I should be in their darned alliance." At this point, the arm is barely hanging on from her stabbing so much. But it just felt so good to have the knives in her hands and even if the motions were rough and harsh compared to her normal controlled and delicate actions, it felt great. "Ugh," she lets out as she stabs the dummy in the eye, imagining it was Decima instead.

"I think the dummy is pretty dead at this point," a girl quietly says to her and Nyra whips her head to look over at her, ready to kill her with her eyes if the girl is ready to make fun of her getting rejected by the careers. Nyra recognizes the girl from the black shirt she wears that matches Jett's darned shirt and is ready to brush her off and ignore her. But the look on her face is calculating and makes Nyra pause.

She gives the dummy one last good stab with each knife, leaving one buried in the other eye and one in its heart. "Now the darned thing is dead," Nyra mutters before crossing her arms and turning to face the girl.

"You're better off without them," she says, not effected at all by Nyra's glaring. She gives a nod in the direction behind her, where Nyra can see Emerald works side by side with Jett at the swords station. Decima is chatting away with Coeus as he uses a greatsword to turn dummies into shish kebabs – which Nyra is never going to want to eat again at the thought of Coeus doing that to actual people. It's a darned shame because she liked that meal last night. And the Four tributes chat as they work together at the spears station. Nyra turns her attention back to the girl, still feeling angry towards the careers and slowly this girl who keeps reminding her of what happened. "Joining the careers is basically a guaranteed death wish if you're not from One, Two, or Four."

"You're not bothered at all that they took your darned District partner but not you?" Nyra asks as the girl takes one of Nyra's knives out of the dummy, weighing it in her hand before shifting her grip and shoving the blade into the dummy next to her. Nyra starts nodding her head approvingly at the way she handled the blade but stops herself, not wanting her to know what she thought.

"Not at all," she responds as she turns her attention back to Nyra, eyes calculating as she stares at Nyra for a few seconds. "I had absolutely no desire to join them."

Nyra yanks the other knife out of the dummy and steps over to the one that the girl stuck the other with. She starts stabbing it again, wondering if her actions will scare the girl away. If it does, good. If she's going to find an ally she wants to work with, they better be the toughest after her and the careers, and definitely not be afraid of her knife skills. "And who do you want to join?"

The girl stays silent for a minute and Nyra keeps her attention on her actions. She doesn't want the girl to know that she's curious. But she really is, because who would want to approach her and strike up a conversation when she is clearly angry?

"You."

Nyra raises an eyebrow and glances over at her, surprised but a little flattered. She turns back to the dummy, momentarily pausing her actions. "Why?"

"Because I can see you're very skilled with using knives and are very determined." The girl pauses and Nyra nods her head at this before turning to look at her. "And I'm very smart." Nyra scoffs at this bold statement but the girl just smirks at her. "Don't believe me? I just graduated from university."

Alright, Nyra is a little impressed by this. And she definitely could use allies, especially one who's smart. She flips one of her knives around, holding it by the blade so she can point the handle at the girl. "I'm not saying right now that we'll be allies. That would be a bad idea when I don't know you at all besides you being cocky and smart." The girl laughs at this and Nyra starts to smile a little, her anger starting to dissipate. "But I'm willing to train with you and at the end of tomorrow, we can then decide if being allies is a good idea."

"I agree," she holds out her hand, calculating smile on her face that Nyra doesn't really trust but at the same time, she doesn't want to be on her bad side. "Vida."

Nyra takes the knife in her hand and slams it into the dummy, satisfied that the noise and action will be intimidating. "Nyra," she answers as she takes Vida's hand, shaking it firmly. Once she releases Vida's hand, she points at the knife sticking out of the dummy. "Now you better get to practicing because any ally I have better know how to handle a darned knife."

Someone new laughs behind them at this comment and they both turn to face the criminal from Seven. Nyra watches her carefully, having watched the recaps. She knows what Hazel went to jail for. Murder. "I guess it's a good thing that I know how to use a knife."

"We didn't ask you to be our ally," Vida says coolly to her and Nyra nods her head in agreement at this. But as she stares at the girl, she sees well-toned muscles, surely built from using an axe. If she really did kill someone, maybe she would be a useful ally.

"Well not yet!" She answers cheerfully and nudges Vida's shoulder, earning a glare in return. "I'm Hazel, by the way. And I've been going around and talking to everyone, trying to figure out the best allies. So far, options aren't too great," she shrugs at this before smiling at the two. "But, you two seem promising. I'm going to talk to you two last."

"And what if we don't want you as an ally?" Nyra asks stubbornly. She thinks Hazel could be a useful ally, but she hasn't even agreed to being an ally with Vida yet. She definitely won't just agree to anything, not without consulting Pigmy first.

Hazel just laughs at this question and starts walking backwards from them. "Oh I think you will. See you tomorrow!"

Bristol Henning, District 6

Another glance at the clock shows that only a minute has passed since Bristol last checked, impatiently counting down the minutes until she could politely excuse herself from dinner and the discussion about training. Today was the first time she's glad that Aero can keep the conversation going with mostly Jarle and occasionally Jewel. But she could see Dampero giving her curious looks every so often as she tries to eat her soup slowly. She didn't mind the ongoing conversation about training today and was actually proud of the skills she learned. But she didn't want to explain to Dampero why she wanted to be allies with the one person she shouldn't.

Because who would think it's a good idea to ally with a blind girl when going into a fight to the death? Apparently not just Bristol, based on what Aero talking about Marek for the entire dinner so far. Bristol almost laughs at how much they seem like a perfect match, but her nerves about telling Dampero about her ally and getting judged by him keeps her silent.

Skye was just so easy to talk to, seeming to understand that Bristol struggled to keep up a conversation and she never asked any prying questions that Bristol didn't want to answer. And she had this determination about her, it was clear from the moment she strode right up to the rope station and demanded Bristol tell her who she is. She's strong, way stronger than Bristol would be if she was born blind. Bristol has a lot of respect for how her new ally has handled life, but she knows Skye would be doomed if she was alone in the games. And after what happened with Lucille, is it too much to ask for someone kind by her side as she faces the low odds of surviving?

"What about you, Bristol?"

"What?" Bristol asks as she turns her attention away from the clock. Jewel is looking at her expectantly and smiling gently in an attempt to make Bristol feel comfortable. In fact, everyone is looking over at her, making her want to run back to her room even more.

She turns her attention back to the clock and lets out a sigh. Only five more minutes and she could have gotten away.

"How was your day training?" Jewel asks her once more, not seeming bothered by Bristol not paying attention.

Bristol sets her spoon down and takes her time using her napkin, trying to figure out how to tell her mentor about her ally. "Oh it wasn't too bad. I think I learned a decent amount today and one more day of training will help solidify what I've learned."

Dampero nods his head at this and Bristol takes a big spoonful of soup, hoping to delay his questioning. "And what about talking to people and making allies?"

Bristol stares down at her soup, feeling uncomfortable by everyone staring at her. She pokes around at the chunks of chicken before speaking up quietly, keeping her eyes down. "I really like Skye."

Silence falls on their group and Bristol glances up at Dampero, crossing her arms as she waits for him to tell her that it's a bad idea. But as soon as she makes eye contact, she turns her attention back to her soup, swirling around the contents as she waits. She hears a sigh before someone sets down their spoon. "Where is she from?"

"Nine," Bristol answers as she looks up at Dampero, waiting to see the moment he realizes who she's talking about.

"Oh, she's Marek's District partner," Aero speaks up and Bristol leans back in her chair, still keeping her attention away from the District Six team. "Marek really likes her a lot even though she's blind and, you know, this is the Hunger Games."

Dampero raises an eyebrow in question at this and Bristol nods her head, affirming that she does in fact want Skye as her ally. "Yes, Skye is blind but she's also brave and motivated."

The first person to speak up surprises Bristol. "Well I think it's good to have an ally that you like and get along with well," Jewel says to her, tone not judging at all. Bristol glances over to see a gentle smile on her face. "You know, I talk with the other escorts."

"You mean spread rumors," Dampero mutters under his breath, getting a glare in return from Jewel but a snicker from Jarle. Even Bristol starts to barely smile but stops when Jewel returns her attention to her.

"As I was saying," Jewel starts, tone dripping in annoyance at Bristol's mentor. "Agapios, the District Nine escort, really believes in Skye and is rooting for her. Granted, he does like rooting for an underdog, but I believe him about thinking she has at least a chance. And I wouldn't mind working with him, he's a nice guy once you get past his pretentious exterior."

"Well," Jarle says as he sets down his glass of water. "Since you both are allies with the two from District Nine, you might want to consider teaming up. From what Aero's said, it would make you the second biggest alliance and numbers matter a lot."

Bristol and Aero share a look before Aero speaks up, seemingly happy to be part of the conversation once more. "I don't have a problem with that."

Bristol can feel everyone's attention on her once again and quickly looks down at her bowl before letting out a small sigh. She wasn't sure about Aero or Marek, but Jarle was right. Having a large alliance would definitely be useful and having three allies might just get her through the bloodbath alive. "I guess we can ask Skye and Marek what they think tomorrow."

Here we go, first day of training done! So does this format work? I wasn't sure if it would make the chapter too choppy but I want to make sure we get a look at a lot of the tributes. I'm open to critique about the formatting and I will totally change up some of my planned out sections to make it work better!

So anyways, first day of training is done and it was so much fun to finally start writing interactions between these tributes! Any alliances that surprised you? Any predictions on alliances that will form?

*shameless promo alert*

I have started my very first partial SYOT called Wayward! It's in this canon of mine, but this time for the 113th Hunger Games! The first prologue is up and as of posting this chapter, there is only one tribute spot open. But there are plenty of escort spots open! Even if you can't submit, I would really appreciate you taking the time to check it out and consider following the story. I'm really hyped about it.

But anyways, next up is day two of training and I'll see you then!