Oh, BOYO. It's been quite some time, hasn't it? I'm super sorry. This is probably one of my longest (if not longest) gap between updates. It was mostly because I had a really busy schedule, and also… laziness. To be honest, I'm starting to hate these training days almost as much as I hated the Reapings. D: Oh, well. I didn't bother to proofread this chapter, so if my grammar sucks, that's why.
Also, I'm going to start doing shoutouts every chapter! This one actually has two- one for Smiley111 and one for InsertUserNameHereThanks. Smiley has been very good at consistently reviewing, and she always has nice things to say about my work. Thank you! Also, sorry it's taken me FOREVER to get my characters into your stories. They're coming, I promise. Millie, you get a shoutout because you were my 100th reviewer! Thanks so much!
Speaking of which, 100 REVIEWS?! THANKS, Y'ALL! I really appreciate all the support. I honestly didn't expect to get any, so 100 is pretty amazing. You guys are awesome.
District 9: Rois McCormack, Age 15
I throw my knife at the target, and it lands a few rings away from the bullseye. I scowl. I haven't found a single weapon I'm good at so far in training. Add that to the fact that my mentor has been annoying me to the point of death about getting into an alliance, and I'm super upset.
Ever since the train rides, Kiros has been bugging me to get an ally. It was the whole reason I won my games. He told me. When I pointed out that plenty of tributes had won going solo, he brushed me away as if my opinion didn't matter. I grow angry just thinking about it. I don't want an ally. They're only going to slow me down in the long run.
After throwing a few more knives, all of which come nowhere close to hitting the bullseye, I look around for something else to practice. My eyes land on the poison station and I begin to walk towards it as if in a trance. Weapons are much more deadly when coated in a layer of poison. And judging by the way I've been training so far, I'm going to need my weapon to be as dangerous as possible.
When I sit down at the station, I see someone else already there. It's the girl from District 12, Erin. I ignore her, focusing on the task at hand.
At the station, an instructor sits. She seems to be watching Erin intently but looks up when she sees me and smiles. "Hi. Welcome to the poison station." She says, thrusting her hand around her. "What do you want to learn today?" I shrug.
"Everything I can." I say. The instructor beams at this and begins to tell me about different poisons and their cure. I listen intently, not wanting to miss out on anything important. At the end, I take a test, matching up names of the deadly liquids with their color. I get an almost perfect score, only mixing up two yellow potions, one that can kill a human within a minute, and one that causes vomiting for two days before killing them. I see Erin glance at me with a little bit of envy as she struggles to match the vials with their names.
"That one's Black Spider Venom." I say, pointing out a bottle of filled with a blood red substance. Erin glances at me in a mixture of surprise and irritation. "I don't need your help." She spits, turning her back on me. I shrug.
"Suit yourself." I tell her, standing up to move onto the next station. I glance around, my eyes finally landing on the sword station. I begin to walk towards it. I really need to start doing more survival stations, but if I have any hope of winning the games, I'm going to need to know how to use a few weapons.
After all, if I get into a run in with a Career, knowing whether plants are edible or not isn't going to help me.
District 2: Juno Armstrong, Age 18
I bring my blade up and slam it down on the cloth dummy in front of me, slicing it down its center. I grin with pride at my work, but Octavian doesn't seem as impressed. "Do it quicker next time." He tells me. I glare at him. Over the past two days, Octavian has constantly been critiquing my work. He acts like he's better than me just because he's the leader of the Careers. It still makes me seethe with anger as I remember the unfair fight that happened yesterday. I definitely would've beat him I he didn't act like he was hurt.
In a flurry of rage, I swing my sword into the dummy's side and slice it clean in half. I turn towards Octavian with a smug smile on my face. "Was that good enough for you?" I ask. Octavian shrugs.
"It was still too slow. An opponent would've easily been able to block it." Is his only response. This annoys me so much that I set down the sword I'm holding and begin to walk to a rack with rubber weapons made specifically for sparring.
"If you're so confident in your sparring abilities, why don't you fight me yourself?" I ask, choosing a thick blade from the rack and pointing it at Octavian in a challenging gesture. He smirks, but I see a flicker of nervousness dart through his eyes.
"We already dueled." He says. "I won."
"Well, I want a rematch." I respond simply. I sneer at him. "Or are you two scared to fight me again because you think you'll lose?" At this, Octavian's face turns red.
"You're on."
He grabs a sleek sword and turns to face me. We circle each other for a moment before I lash out at him. He barely moves back in time, and the sword comes down mere inches from his chest. He swings his blade at my head, but I block it fairly easily. Out of the corner of my eye, I can sense a few of the outliers watching us in awe.
Octavian hacks at me, and I dodge his blows, trying not to use too much energy. He's wearing himself out- I can see sweat beginning to form on his brow. Normally, I'd attack an opponent with all my strength as soon as the battle began, but that strategy won't work on Octavian. I may be able to land a few minor blows on him, but he'd block the rest of them, and I'd only exhaust myself.
When Octavian lowers his guard for a split second, gasping for breath, I see my. My blade swipes at him, almost making contact with his head. He takes a step back, and I push forward. I force him backwards, swiping and thrusting my sword. With each move I make, I gain confidence. Not so smug now, are you, Octavian?
When I realize what he's doing, it's almost too late. I was so caught up in the battle, I hardly noticed that Octavian had backed into the weapons rack. He grabs a throwing knife and hurls it in my direction, and I just barely duck in time. A look of victory crosses his face, but disappears just as quickly when he realizes his plan didn't work. I run towards him, and he knocks the rack over in a desperate attempt to stop me. The contents spill onto the floor near my feet, but it doesn't slow me down. In one graceful motion, I leap over the weapons and thrust my sword into Octavian's gut. "You're dead." I tell him, a triumphant smile plastered across my face. Octavian stares down at my blade for a moment, unable to process the event that just happened.
"But… but…" He stutters. "You cheated!" I can't help but start to laugh. "How on Earth did I cheat?" I inquire. Octavian pauses, seemingly unable to answer my question. Finally, he crosses his arms.
"I'm still the leader of the pack, you know." He says. I sigh.
"Fine." I tell him. What does it matter, anyway? I could always kill him if I wanted to.
Octavian, defeated, slinks away to another station, and I begin to look around. Where to now?
District 8: Alyxandra Lernan, Age 16
I chuck the spear at the dummy, and I manage to get it to stick in its leg. "Good." The trainer there compliments me, ripping the spear out and handing it to me. "Just try to get it higher next time. Throw it straighter, too." I nod and take it from him, than reposition myself. I throw the weapon again, and this time, it hits it square in the chest. The trainer grins. "Nice job." He says. I'm pleased with myself- that's the only weapon I've even been remotely good at so far- but in all honestly, I don't think I could do the same thing to a real human being. It makes me sick just to think about it.
I begin to wander away and look around at some of the other stations. Livia and I decided to split up in order to learn as much as we possibly could. I spot her with the bows in a corner of the center. She pulls back the string and fires, and the arrow thuds close to the center of the target.
I turn back around to look for another place to go when I run straight into the boy from District 5, Wyatt. I remember him immediately as the volunteer who I thought to be mentally ill. As we stare at each other, a thought crosses my mind as to what illness he actually has, and before I can stop myself, I blurt out, "What's wrong with you?"
I immediately realize how rude that sounded and cover my mouth, embarrassed. "I'm sorry." I begin to apologize. "I didn't mean to say it like tha-"
"Schizophrenia." He interrupts me. I stare at him, a tiny bit confused.
"What?" I ask.
"Schizophrenia." He repeats. "That's what's wrong with me." I take a closer look at him. A crazed expression is planted on his face, and I notice him bring his hands up to his temple as if he's trying to block out a noise of some sort. Suddenly, everything makes more sense. I dimly remember that disease- it's where you hear voices in your head, voices that make you do all sorts of crazy things.
Silence hangs in the air for a long time- I hear Wyatt muttering under his breath, but I can't make out what he's saying- and finally turn to leave. Suddenly, Wyatt blurts, "Can we ally?"
I hesitate for a moment. On the one hand, he seems a bit unpredictable. I have no idea if he would stab me in the back in my sleep. But when I look into his eyes, staring at me hopefully, I feel a touch of pity, and I cave. "I'm in an alliance with Livia, the girl from District 6." I explain to him. "You could join us if you wanted to, though." Wyatt smiles and nods, and just like that, I've made myself another ally.
I guess the bigger the better, right?
District 10: Jon Winsi, Age 15
I grunt as I bring my sword down towards Maylee. She jumps out of the way, but I twist the blade and press it against her back. "We should probably do something else now." I announce. "We've been practicing with the swords for an hour now." Maylee doesn't respond. She sets down her sword and stomps to a new station, the knot-tying station. I hesitate before walking in the opposite direction, towards the knives.
Ever since we were Reaped, tension has been growing between us. The fact that only one of us is coming home alive is slowly wearing down on us. I'm still not sure whether, if it comes down to it, I'll be able to kill her or not. I want to go home more than I've ever dreamed, but I don't think I'd ever have it in me to end her life. I've considered breaking apart the alliance we've formed so that I wouldn't have the temptation of killing her in her sleep, but as much as I hate to admit it, I need her.
And she needs me.
The trainer greets me cheerily when she meets me. He walks me through the technique for fighting with knives, then lets me practice on a cloth dummy. I swing my knives wildly and stab the soft cloth in the shoulder and the gut. "Nice job." The trainer tells me. "Just try to keep your movements more controlled." I obey her, and my results instantly improve. The trainer smiles at my work. "You're a natural with knives." He compliments. "With those skills, you might very well become the victor." I grin and set the sharp weapons down. It feels good to know that someone believes in me, if only a little bit. His compliment gives me a flicker of hope.
Then I think of Maylee, and the flicker vanishes as quickly as it appeared.
District 5: Wyatt Foster Junior, Age 17
Rinnnnnnnnnnng!
The lunch bell rings, and I set down the bow I was practicing with. I begin to glance around, looking for Alyxandra and the six girl, Livia, that Alyxandra had told me she had also allied with. I spot them meeting each other by the door to the tribute lunch room and run to them. "Hi." I greet them. Livia looks confused for a second, but Alyxandra whispers something in her ear, and she nods in understanding.
"Hi." She says with a smile. Together, the three of us begin to walk into the lunch room already bustling with tributes.
Ha! They don't suspect a thing! The voices inside me scream. That'll make it easier to betray them.
But I don't want to betray them. I argue back. They're nice to me.
They're going to have to die at some point. The voices point out. Do you want to win the games?
Yes. I respond hesitantly.
Well, then, you're going to have to kill them.
I sigh. I guess you're right. I admit. Still, I don't want to.
"Wyatt?"
I look up. Livia's staring at me, looking slightly concerned. "You zoned out for a long time." She tells me. I shrug, grabbing a plate from the large table in front of me before she can ask any more questions. I look around at the wide assortment of food, searching for something to eat.
Get a sandwich. Half of the voices tell me. No, get the porkchops! The other half screams. I look back and forth for a moment, trying to make a decision. The voices get louder and louder until my head is ringing with noise.
Shut up! I finally scream at them. I quickly grab a roll and green beans and sit down next to Livia and Alyxandra.
The table's silent for a moment. After a while, Livia asks, "How was your home life, Wyatt?" I shrug and look down at my food. This goes on for a while, her asking questions and me giving a short, vague response. She eventually gives up on talking to me and turns her attention on Alyxandra. I feel a little bit bad about blocking her out, but I don't want to get too close to my allies.
It'll only make it harder for me to kill them.
District 12: Erin Arden, Age 15
I survey the training room, my eyes eventually finding Rois and her shiny red hair. She's at the fishing station, where a large, deep pool has been carved into the floor, filled with small plastic fish that seem to gravitate towards the hook that's been thrust into the water. Despite this, Rois can't seem to catch anything. After a moment, she gets frustrated a throws her pole down. The trainer there rolls her eyes and turns around to help someone else, the girl from 8.
I begin to approach her. After a lot of thinking, I've resolved to ally with her. She's a little short tempered, but she seems fun to hang around with, and I think she's the one I trust most out of all of the tributes going into the games, despite the fact that I barely know her.
I clear my throat and Rois glances up from where she kneels by the pool, vainly attempting to catch a fish with just her hands. "What?" She asks, clearly irritated. I shrug.
"Nothing." I say. "I just don't think you're going to catch much of anything with your hands." Rois glares at me.
"Watch me." She challenges, continuing to dip her hands in and grasping for the fish. I look on with amusement as she fails to catch anything and grows more and more frustrated by the minute.
"Why are you still here?" She asks after a moment of failure. I smirk. "I want to ally with you." I say simply. She blinks. "You want to ally with me?" She questions, incredulous. I nod. "You have skills I need. I have skills you need. Together, we'd be a powerhouse." Rois stares at me for a moment.
"I don't particularly want an ally." She starts out, and my smile wavers. What if she says no? I have to admit, I hadn't really expected her to reject me. I hold my breath, waiting.
"But my mentor keeps bugging me to get one." She continues. "So, sure. I guess I'll be your ally."
I grin. "Great." I say. I pick up the pole Rois had discarded on the floor earlier. "Let me teach you how to catch a fish."
District 9: Albin Ainsley, Age 16
I whistle softly to myself as I lean back on the floor, taking in the scene in front of me. At the swords station, two of the Careers, the girls from two and four, are working together to take out a dummy. The other four Careers are by the knives, the boy from two seemingly ordering the other three around. I see the girl from District 8 at the poison station, while her district partner is sitting quietly at the fire building station, bent over a pile of smoking sticks. The girl from District 6 is with the crossbows, and I watch as she fires an arrow into the target with impeccable aim. The two female tributes from nine and twelve are having an argument as they try to slice open a dummy with axes, while on the other side of the giant auditorium, the boy from three is continuously stabbing a dummy in the heart with his sword. I shiver as I remember that only one of these people is going to come away from this event alive, and my death feels as inevitable as ever.
"You okay?" Carlina asks from beside me. We're currently sitting on a bench, taking a short break from all of the action. "You look kind of nervous."
I laugh. "I'm not nervous. Why would I be? I'm only training for a competition that's probably going to end in my bloody and vicious death. Nothing to be nervous about." Carlina chuckles. We fall silent for a moment. Suddenly, I blurt out, "I'm a transgender."
Carlina looks at me, looking a little surprised. "I just thought you might want to know that." I explain quickly. "I mean, we are allies, right? I think you have a right to know that about me." After a minute of Carlina not responding, I wonder if it was a mistake to tell her that. What if she doesn't want to be my ally anymore? To my relief, however, she soon nods and smiles at me.
"Thanks for telling me." She says. I search her eyes as she says this. There's no confusion or disgust in them, as most eyes are after they find out who I really am. There's just acceptance.
And suddenly, I know I can trust Carlina. I know she won't stab me in the back in my sleep, or abandon me in a fight.
I hope she can trust me too.
District 11: Angelica Broome, Age 13
I lie back on the plush couch I'm currently lying on, closing my eyes and letting out a sigh. Cole sits beside me, flicking through the channels on the TV. They're all focused on the Hunger Games. Cole nudges me, and my eyes open to stare up at those beautiful blue eyes of his. "They're about to talk about us." He murmurs, pointing at the TV. I peer at the screen. Two announcers are sitting on a desk, holding a stack of papers. I hold my breath and wait to see their opinion on us.
"Now, let's move onto District 11, shall we?" One of them says, a man with bright pink hair and unnaturally yellow eyes. "I'm going to be honest here, these tributes are both kind of bland." I feel my heart sink to my stomach. "They're not the weakest tributes in the bunch, that's for sure, but they definitely aren't the strongest, either. To be honest, I predict a bloodbath death for both of them. They're sort of forgettable."
"I agree." The other man says. "They're both pretty young, too, which is bound to hurt them in the long run." I glance over at Cole to see what he's making off all of this. He simply stares at the TV screen, shaking and holding back tears. After a moment, he clicks the OFF button on the remote and the screen turns black. My expression hardens. I don't care what the announcers say. I need Cole to get home. I don't matter anymore. Only Cole. He needs to win.
"Alright." I say, clapping my hands together. "First of all, I think we need another ally." Cole spins around to stare at me in shock.
"Are you sure?" He asks doubtfully. "These are the Hunger Games. If we get another ally, how do we know they won't kill us while we're sleeping?"
"We don't." I respond simply. "But you heard what those announcers said- we're boring and forgettable. If we get a more likable ally, it could give us a major advantage in the games." Cole huffed.
"Who do you suggest choosing?" He asked. I shrugged.
"Maybe Beckett?" I suggested. "He's become pretty popular with the Capitol." Cole looks doubtful.
"I don't know, Angelica… he doesn't seem very trustworthy to me."
"It doesn't matter." I insist. "We need him on our side to make us more memorable. Boring tributes almost never win the Hunger Games. Besides, based on how he volunteered for his brother, I think he can be pretty loyal to us if we get close to him." Cole mulled over my words for a moment and finally gave in.
"Fine." He said grudgingly. "But just know that I don't like this decision. I don't like this decision at all."
When I said that Angelica and Cole were bland, I didn't actually mean that. I like both of them a lot (I like all of these characters) and I think their backstories are cool, but since the announcers don't know their histories and strengths and whatnot, I feel like the pair would tend to slip their minds.
Questions:
1. Who does Angelica want to ally with?
2. What does Albin tell Carlina at training?
Alliances:
Ariana/Blaze/Juno/Octavian/Marine/Nemo
Carlina/Albin
Livia/Alyxandra/Wyatt
Angelica/Cole
Maylee/Jon
Rois/Erin
Loners (for now):
Jessica
Scorpius
Kala
Nathan
Verin
Tom
Beckett