A/N Hi everyone! Here's the first training chapter!
Orlando Cimber, age 15
District 12 Male
I wake up to the sound of loud yelling. For a moment, I think I'm back home and my parents are yelling at each other, but then I realize that the yelling people aren't my parents.
And then I remember.
I was reaped.
I'm in the Capitol.
I'm going to be in the Hunger Games.
I slowly open my eyes and get out of bed.
Then I stagger over to the shower. I go into it and press several random buttons, which results in a steady stream of water that alternates between blazing hot and icy cold and some kind of purple bubbles the size of footballs that are filled with some kind of liquid soap. When the bubbles pop, the soap sprays out all over me.
Once I'm clean, I turn off the water, wrap myself in a towel, and put my hand on the hair-drying box. Then I head back into my room.
When I go over to the closet to find some clothes, I see an outfit already laid out for me: a black shirt and pants with an orange jacket and belt. I sigh and put the clothes on.
Once I'm dressed, I head downstairs for breakfast. Charlotte is already there, and she grins at me as I sit down "Ready for training?" I nod "Ready as I'll ever be." she smiles "Good." then she passes me a plate full of golden-brown square-shaped things "You have to try these. Effie says they're called waffles." Effie smiles at me "Yes, you should try them." then she hands me a jar of jam "And up some of this on it." I smile at her "Thanks, Effie." she beams "You're welcome." then she glares at Haymitch "See? These children have manners!" Haymitch huffs, and I realize that it must have been Haymitch and Effie who I heard yelling at each other earlier.
I spread some jam on my waffle, and then I take a bite. My eyes widen "Mmmmm! That's good!" Charlotte laughs "Right?" I continue eating, and, after two waffles, a cup of hot chocolate, and a peach, I'm full.
Just then, Haymitch gets to his feet "Alright, are you two ready to go to training?" we nod in unison. He smirks "Good." he points to the elevator "Now get going." we both run to the elevator, and then we get in.
I press a button, and then the elevator starts going down. Charlotte nervously brushes crumbs off the front of her shirt and then says "Do I have stuff in my teeth?" I look at her teeth "Nope. What about me?" she looks at my teeth "You're good." I run a hand through my hair and take a deep breath "We can do this, right?" I nod, doing my best to look confident "Yeah." she takes a deep breath "We're gonna be fine." I open my mouth to say something else, but just then, the elevator dings and the doors open.
Charlie and I exchange glances, and then we go into the Training Room.
Topaz Boulder, age 18
District 2 Female
The elevator dings, and I look over at it as the pair from D12 get out. They both look nervous as they come over to stand with the rest of us. I feel a stab of pity for them. I don't try to squash it.
My father can't dictate what I feel anymore.
The head trainer, a tall woman named Atala, starts to talk about the various training station here, and how all of them are important. I don't really pay attention, I'm too busy keeping an eye on Alara, who is staring at the other tributes like they are meals.
I feel slightly sick.
To distract myself, I look around at all the tributes. We are all dressed similarly, just with different colored jackets. The pair from 12 have orange jackets. My and Atlas have stone-gray jackets. Alara and Jade have flashy silver jackets. Marlin and Sebastian have ocean-blue jackets.
When Atala finally stops talking, Alara drags the Career pack over to the sword station, where she points at Marlin "She has to go." Sebastian glares at Alara "She's my District partner." "She's not a Career." Marlin huffs "I'm standing right here!" Alara glares at Sebastian, completely ignoring Marlin "We can't have dead weight in the Career pack!" Sebastian puts his hands on his hips "So, what, we're just going to have a smaller Career pack this year?" Alara glares at him "Yes, if it means we have a better chance of survival!" Sebastian sighs "So she can't help us hunt. Big deal. She can guard the supplies!" "And what happens if someone tries to steal our supplies? She'll probably get scared and hide!" Marlin's eyes widen with fury "WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME!" Alara and Sebastian both look at her in shock. She takes a deep breath "For one thing, I am thirteen, not three, Alara. For another thing, I'm tougher than I look. And, for a third thing, my dad is a sea captain. When he was home, he would teach me how to use harpoons and stuff." Alara looks slightly impressed "Well, that's a little different." she glares at Sebastian "She's still your responsibility, though. Got it?" Sebastian nods, looking relieved.
Atlas raises his hand. Alara rolls her eyes "What?" "Now that we've got this sorted out, shall we actually start training?" Alara smirks and picks up a sword "We shall." Sebastian and Marlin head over to the trident section, while Alara starts attacking dummies.
I swallow, feeling slightly sick as I watch Alara chop off the dummies' limbs and heads. She's grinning.
I turn around and run, looking for something, anything to keep my attention off Alara. I end up at the fire-starting station.
I rub sticks together for nearly half-an-hour, until I spot Atlas frantically waving me over.
I get up and go over to the other Careers.
And I find myself hoping that the Career alliance breaks up sooner rather than later.
Isabella Strange, age 17
District 9 Female
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot the girl from D2 going over to the rest of the Career pack. I roll my eyes. I'm not scared of them.
I am at the knife-throwing station. I would prefer to be alone, but the girl from D12 has been here for nearly as long as I have. I glance over at her. Her face is scrunched up in concentration, and her hand is poised to throw. I sigh "You're doing it wrong again." she glares at me "So you've said. Repeatedly." then she throws the knife. It hits the one of the outer rings of the target "Dang it!" she yells.
I sigh, and then walk closer to her "Here. Copy me." I take a proper knife-throwing stance, and she copies me. I sigh again "Feet a little closer together. Bring that hand with the knife in it a little higher up." she does what I say, and I nod in satisfaction "Good. Now throw." she throws the knife, and it hits just outside the center of the target. She grins "Thanks!" then she holds out her hand "I'm Charlotte." I shake her hand warily "Isabella." "Well, thanks for the help Isabella!" then she goes back to throwing knives.
I roll my eyes and head over to the edible plants station. I might have lived in District 9, but I don't know a lot about plants. I start the test, and then promptly fail it miserably. I huff and try again.
Several tries later, I am feeling very annoyed when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see Charlotte's blue eyes. She smirks "You're doing it wrong." I fold my arms "And you could do it better?" she nods "Step aside." she zips through the test, getting a 97%. My jaw drops "How did you do that?" she shrugs "I've got a friend who likes to read books about plants. He also likes to tell me stuff about plants. I guess I remembered some of it." I stare at the screen "Some of it?" "Ok, a lot of it." she smiles "Want me to show you?" I take a deep breath, and nod.
She grins, and then starts showing me the different kinds of plants and berries. I learn which berries are safe to eat, which ones will kill me in a heartbeat, and which ones can be used for poisons.
I find myself liking her more and more as we spend more time together.
When I finally start getting consistently good scores on the edible plants test. Charlotte waves goodbye to me and goes over to the knot-tying station, where she plops down next to her District partner. My stomach twists as I watch them start to work together, and I kind of wish I had a friend here.
I shake my head, forcing those thoughts out of my head.
I can't afford to feel lonely, because I can't afford friends.
Just then, I hear the lunch bell ring, and I head for the cafeteria.
Ryker Oakes, age 17
District 7 Male
Arabella tugs me into the cafeteria, and I fight back a gasp at the sight of all the people. I haven't seen all twenty-four tributes in one place before, and I think if it weren't for Arabella, I'd run from the room.
My District partner leads me over to an empty table, and she sits down. I sit down next to her. There is a basket of bread on our table, and Arabella and I both dig into it. I don't feel very hungry, so I'm content with bread.
Suddenly, Arabella says "Why do you think all the breads look different?" I shrug, stuffing a crescent-shaped roll into my mouth "I dunno." she whacks my arm "I'm trying to make conversation." I laugh "And we saw how well that turned out on the train." she makes a mock-wounded face and puts a hand over her heart "I am offended! I thought talking about your dead brother and my dead uncle was a great conversation topic!" we both dissolve into laughter.
I laugh so hard I nearly choke on my roll.
Then I realize I haven't laughed this hard since my brother died.
I feel confused. What is it about Arabella that makes me want to laugh at her jokes, ally with her, and just plain spend time with her?
I feel more confused as I realize that I don't know the answer to that question.
Then I realize that Arabella is talking again, so I shake my head to clear it "Sorry, what?" she laughs "I said, what do you think about expanding our alliance?" I stare at her "Wow, um, I dunno." she sighs "That's your answer to everything." "That's not true!" she laughs "You're right. Sometimes you don't answer at all." I pretend to glare at her. She giggles, and I feel butterflies in my stomach.
I try to ignore said butterflies "Ok, ok. Let's be serious. Who did you have in mind?" she bites her lip "I was thinking maybe the boy from D10." I cock my head "Why?" "He looks pretty strong, and I just feel like he'd make a good ally." I sigh "Ok. Let's go talk to him." she smiles "Seriously?" I nod, and hold out my hand to her "Let's do this." she laughs and we walk over to the table where the boy from District 10 is sitting alone.
The two of us sit down across from him "Hi." Arabella says. He looks up at us "Hi." Arabella smiles "I'm Arabella, and this is Ryker, and we were wondering if you would maybe want to be allies with us." he stares at her for a second, and she shifts uncomfortably in her seat "Why?" he asks. I take a deep breath "Because...um...er..." I glance at Arabella, and then I mouth 'help'. She snickers "We thought you looked you'd make a good ally, but if you don't want that's fine." he sighs "I guess I'm not going to get any other offers. Alright, I'll join your alliance." Arabella grins and pumps her fist "Yes!" I burst out laughing, and the boy from D10 stares at me and Arabella like we're crazy.
I clear my throat "Anyway, what's your name?" he sighs "Brent." "Hi, Brent!" Arabella chirps, sounding an awful lot like a Capitol person. Brent's lips twitch. I smile, feeling a warm glow of happiness inside.
I refuse to think about what happens when this alliance breaks up.
I won't think about loosing Arabella.
Not yet, anyway.
Cellos Wheaton, age 18
District 9 Male
After lunch, training is over. Isabella and I take one of the many elevators back up to our floor. We are still deliberately ignoring each other.
When we arrive back at our floor, our mentors are waiting for us. Emmett glares at me, but Nina smiles "How was training?" Isabella shrugs "Not bad." Nina sighs "We're gonna need a little more to go on than that." I roll my eyes "It was a part of this stupid Capitol death show." Emmett groans "No one asked you." I glare at him "Whatever." Nina massages her temples "Isabella, how did training go?" she shrugs again "It didn't go terribly, and it didn't go amazingly." Nina sighs "Ok, then. A snack will be served in twenty minutes. You two can go to your rooms for a bit if you want to." I immediately get up, and run to my room.
I don't bother taking a shower, but I do change out of my training outfit and into a sweatshirt and a pair of sweat pants. I lie on my bed and stare up at the ceiling for a while, and then I hear water running in the room next door to mine. Isabella must be taking a shower. I roll my eyes.
Stupid Capitol technology.
A couple minutes later, there is a knock on the door and Emmett tells me to come down for a snack. I contemplate skipping it, but my stomach is growling, so I go downstairs.
The table is full of delicate cakes and pastries and some savory stuff too. I grab a sausage wrapped in some kind of flaky bread and bite into it. Nina starts the conversation "I got a call from Haymitch." Isabella raises one eyebrow "What about?" "Well, his tributes are in an alliance together, and they want you to be part of it." she scowls "I told you I don't want allies." Nina smirks softly "I don't think you're going to be able to get out of this one. Haymitch said that the girl's exact words were 'I won't take no for an answer.'" Isabella sighs "I'll think about it." Nina smiles "Good." I shove a couple more sausage things into my mouth.
I wonder why no one wants to be allies with me.
Then I roll my eyes, and remind myself that I don't want allies.
Isabella is stupid if she thinks an alliance isn't going to blow up in her face.
I smile in satisfaction, content in the knowledge that I am much smarter than my District partner.
A/N I really dislike Cellos. He's kind of mean.
Anyway, now for some questions:
What do you think of the alliances that are forming?
Which alliance do you like best?
Who do you think will make it farther, the people who are in alliances or the people who aren't?
Now, here's the alliance list:
Alara, Jade, Topaz, Atlas, Sebastian, Marlin
Brent, Arabella, Ryker
Charlotte, Orlando
Paris, Dayta
Loners (as of now):
Bloom
Vine
Crispin
Jessica
Eve
Isabella
Cellos
Elias
Sasha
Sierra
Jasper
As always, I hope you liked it, and please review!
