Trigger Warning: The initial part of Avni's POV has thoughts of self harm.

Training Day One

Calista "Cali" Birchwood, 16

District Seven Female

Calista wanted to do a lot of things in life, but preparing her mind and soul for the Hunger Games was not one of them.

She sat still as a statue at the table, eyes staring into the void, her throat parched. In front of her, unlike the train, there was a lavish spread, but it felt empty and meaningless to her. She didn't think any of it would be delicious, maybe to the tongue but not to the heart, and she simply stared at the wall in front of her, the wall that had tapestries of a feast, and that rekindled the memories of her having dinner with her family. sure, things back home wasn't this grand, nor were there so many delicacies to enjoy, but at least she was with people she loved and cared for, and people who did that for her too. At least she wasn't marching to her own funeral. At least she was alive in the truest sense of the word.

But… was she? Had she really been alive all this while? She did not know, and she doubted she would ever have the answer to that particular question. She had, after all, assessed the people during the parade… and the competition was tough. There were those brutal Careers, their spirits unhampered by one year of peace, those Outliers, who looked so angry at the sudden change, as if they would destroy anyone and anything that would come in their path. Then there were the young ones, who refused to cry and remained strong. As such, Calista did not really believe that those who cried were weak, those who showed emotion were weak, but these people had the strength to hide their moments of truth, the truth of their feelings. Well, as far as Calista was concerned, she was doing that quite well too. She had not cried, she had smiled last night during the parade, she had been polite with her mentor and Ark. She was doing a good job at faking her feelings, right? Quite a good job. And yet, her heart ached, her soul wept, and she was not interested in keeping this façade up anymore.

But could she really have it any other way?

She did not have the heart to eat anything at all, and the few oranges she'd had at the insistence of her mentor threatened to come out now as regurgitated food. She got up to her feet shakily, refusing to meet the eyes of both Victoria and Ark, who was drinking his glass of pineapple juice rather slowly, and started walking away from the breakfast table. Calista was in a daze of sorts, floating through to her room to change into the training outfit, a green jersey with a large '7' on it and khaki shorts, tied her long hair in a ponytail that was so roughly made one would think she had slept with it, and drifted unseeingly to the elevator. She got in, a strange stiffness in her movements, and she remained still even as the lift doors slid apart again, for she had arrived at her current destination, the place where she was supposed to teach herself how to kill.

"I think we get out here."

Cali was brought out of her stupor that she hadn't even realised she was in, only to look at the boy from Five, Dekker Mattson, leaning against the wall of the lift, looking at her through half lidded eyes. He bent forward a bit, before standing upright and walking past her, sparing her a fleeting glance, and then nothing. But perhaps, that glance was what Calista needed at the time. Maybe that was what she needed to get herself together, to bring herself out of this trance, to start working. She loathed the situation she was in, for what person would enjoy being sent to a deathmatch? However, she had absolutely no intention of losing, of returning home in a coffin, of her soul listening to the wretched cries of her family and friends. So, she took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly from her mouth, and walked out into the training area.

Despite her mood, she was awe-struck by the grandeur of the training centre. Rows and rows of shelves ran parallelly with each other, they having such assortment of weapons that it stumped Calista. After all, how was it possible for so many kinds of weapons to exist? She saw, to her right, a room with glass doors so clear that it felt there was nothing there, and behind those doors was nothing but a bare room, with something like a bi screen. she wondered what it was for, but did not ponder on it much, for her eyes had flitted over to the stations with various trainers. Some stations had all sorts of plants, some had miscellaneous items that she currently did not know the use of, some had trainers waiting to instruct tributes about combating. Had she not been in the situation she was, Calista would have really appreciated the world class facility, or what would have surely been a world class facility according to her. Presently, however, each weapon seemed to upset her just a bit more than before, and in a couple of minutes she just did not have the heart to look at them at all, so she shut her eyes.

It was time to work hard, and that was something Calista Birchwood excelled at.

Due to some involuntary yet natural inclination, she started walking briskly towards the one weapon she was familiar with to some extent. She had no idea what to do or where to start, and it wasn't a surprise that she chose to try her hand at throwing axes. Unlike what the Capitolites assumed about people from Seven, however, they were not good at throwing axes, even less so at throwing axes to kill. Hence, when she gave the activity her first shot, throwing the axe with all her might at a dummy as stationary as any corpse would be, the axe merely skidded on the floor and fell beside the said dummy in a rather pathetic fashion.

She exhaled, bending down to pick up the weapon shakily, and tried again. the result was not much different, the axe landing at the dummy's feet quite innocently. Calista gave it another go, and another, and another, but the axe was missing the target every single time, sometimes going too far, sometimes falling to quickly, but never hitting the dummy. It was exasperating, and by now Calista was more furious than upset. She couldn't quit either, for she was no quitter, but she could not deny that this was getting tiring, that she wanted nothing more than to go into her bed and break down, away from the prying eyes of her mentor and the scared ones of Ark.

"I think you should just ask the trainers for help."

Cali turned around to see the girl from Eight standing a few steps away from her, her kind face wearing a sad yet encouraging smile, and despite herself, Calista managed to have a smile of her own too.

"Yeah, maybe that's what I should do…"

But Calista did not want to ask for help. Not from these 'trainers'. They disgusted, the whole system disgusted her, and the fact that these trainers would train every person here to kill everyone else, muttering motivating things to get them going, was something that drove Calista mad. However, she acknowledged that this girl was right, that perhaps she should approach an instructor, even if she did not want to.

"I'm Calista," she said, realising that she had been staring at the girl while thinking, probably making her feel awkward, and thus she brought forward her hand.

"Cupid," the other girl smiled, taking Cali's hand in her own, the grip surprisingly firm, "Calista, would you like to be allies?"

Perhaps, Calista should have thought more on this proposal. Perhaps, she should have been suspicious. But the way Cupid asked her this question, it showed Cali that, if nothing else, this girl was genuine. And that was a big thing in this world and times.

Thus, she nodded with a grin, and gave the only reply that crossed her mind at that moment.

"Yes."

Jupiter Aeneas, 18

District One Male

There were a lot of things happening around him, a lot of Careers surrounding him, but Jupiter Aeneas was missing his family.

He was missing them a lot actually. His mother, his siblings, Evander… he wondered how his family was doing. Were they able to look after themselves properly? Were they healthy? Fine? Jupiter had no way of knowing, and he felt miserable as his thoughts were clouded by their memories. He missed his late father, the man who always wanted to see Jupiter win the Games, win the honour, and while Jupiter was never truly interested in this whole exercise, he hoped with all his heart that he would be proud of his son.

Presently, he was in the centre of the Training Hall, surrounded by his allies, the people that he would have to kill in a few days, the people who would act as his friends up till that point, and then they would fight like hounds, hunt and be hunted, and the fake friendship was starting to make Jupiter nauseous. He took in a deep breath, his temper rising, but he knew he couldn't afford to let himself get carried away, not now, not when he was in such a crucial state like the training. So, he inhaled again, exhaling from his mouth, turning his gaze towards the boy from Five, who was running on the tracks, to the girl from Eight, who was trying to use a crossbow, to the girl from Twelve, who was working with a mace. Looking at all these tributes training made Jupiter frown, for something wasn't right. He did not know what strategies the Careers made other years, nor was he interested to find out. He was concerned about why no one else was concerned that these tributes were getting trained. Did they not know that Outer District kids had won countless times because of the skills they would garner during the training days? Sure, one could argue that three days were quite insufficient for learning a new weapon perfectly, but was perfection really required? Weren't survival skills equally important? Didn't strategy play a pivotal role in deciding a victor?

"What're you thinking, Jupiter?"

The boy from One turned his gaze to meet the worried eyes of the boy from Four, a quizzical look on his handsome face, and Jupiter stepped back just a bit, so that he could look at them all simultaneously and address them all. He would answer Nereus' question, but the answer was not only for him, but for the whole alliance, the alliance that had to dominate the Games, the alliance that he'd have to betray. Jupiter shook his head slightly at that particular thought, for it was not wise to let such thoughts creep into one's mind when one was about to put forth a proposition in front of the people regarding whom those thoughts were. He cleared his throat and looked away for a second, his eyes finding the boy from Twelve trying his hand at a knife. This shouldn't be happening…

"Guys, we did not have the Games for a year in between. As you all know, the Games are back, maybe for political reasons, maybe by a stroke of luck. Since we're seeing a recrudesce of the Games, it's imperative that one of the Careers win this year."

"That's a great pep talk," Josephine cheered.

"Yeah! We got it bro, one of us is going to win this!" Nereus exclaimed.

"Certainly."

Jupiter sighed, and clenched his fists tightly, waiting for the murmur to die down. He had to break it to them, his opinion of what they should do, for he was certain that it was what they had to do to secure a sure-shot win. What he had to do to secure a sure-shot victory. Jupiter was not naïve, nor was he delusional enough to underestimate his opponents, even if they were young or Outliers. He knew he had to tread carefully, for he had, by simple observation, deduced that there were members of the alliance who would not agree with his proposal.

However, this was the time to act.

"As you know, there have been countless times when the Outer District tributes have won," he started, lowering his voice so that only his alliance could hear him, "During these training days, they learn just enough skills to help them survive, and then they play so smartly that they end up winning."

"True."

"What I suggest is that we don't let them train."

The silence that followed his statement was unbearably awkward for even Jupiter, who was used to plenty of awkward situations. The Careers looked from one to the other, then at him, and then back at each other. Jupiter bit his lip, wondering whether they would agree, for what he was asking of them would be considered low for a Career. But was it really the time to uphold moral values and ethics? Jupiter did not believe so, and if alliance wouldn't agree… he would implement this plan anyway.

"You mean… threaten them so that they don't train?" Basileus asked finally, his eyes wide, as if he were shocked even at the thought of this.

"We can…explain to them to not train too much."

"We're not doing that," Josephine said firmly, just as Jupiter had expected her to, crossing her arms across her chest, her eyes so calmly furious that for a second Jupiter was tempted to take back his suggestion. But he was not going to step down, not when he knew he was right.

"Let's have a vote," Nereus suggested.

"Cool," Marge said, "I say we do it. Why not weed out the competition in the beginning itself?"

"I don't think we should do it," Cruxia said, speaking probably for the first time ever since they gathered together, "We are honourable fighters. It's just… wrong."

"But why should we let anyone become a threat?" Basileus argued, "I vote yes."

"My vote is no," Nereus added, "They're kids, and they deserve an equal chance."

"So," Jupiter said, folding his arms across his chest, "We have three people supporting this, and three people against it. your vote decides it all, Nate."

Napoleon Walters remained silent even as everyone turned towards him, waiting for his vote. Jupiter did not have much expectation from him, as Nate had already established how caring and soft he was, something that Jupiter could appreciate but not agree with. A Career needed to be tough, be brutal. He himself was least interested in murder but acknowledged that he had to toughen himself up for this. However, most likely he would lose support for his idea among his teammates, for Napoleon would surely refuse…

"I agree with Jupiter. While I do believe that scaring these kids into not training is wrong, I'm here to win this thing."

Jupiter's confused eyes met Nate's soft ones at his words, and he was frustrated to see that he could find nothing in them; no deceit, no strategy, nothing. And this was what had worried Jupiter. The Career from One prided himself in reading people, but he did not know what to make of his ally, the soft Career from Two. His eyes were guarded, revealing nothing, and at that moment Jupiter knew that he had to be particularly careful of this boy.

However, for now it was decided that they would cause mild hinderance in training, nothing too obvious, and weaken the competition from the core.

Avni Silvan, 17

District Ten Female

Avni did not know why she was here in the first place.

No, it was not that she did not love life, or that it had become meaningless. It was true that she was broken, having watched her family being killed in front of her eyes in such a brutal manner that no human deserved it, but she wanted to live. For herself, and for them. There were countless dreams that she had seen, countless dreams that she wanted to live, countless dreams she wanted to achieve. But that was not to be.

She recalled, with a vivid clarity, the moment when Barron Marshall had told her that even if she survived the games, she was destined to die because of the current regime. The words had fallen on her ears like a thunderbolt, so loud and terrific that it had threatened to kill her on the spot due to grief. Her heart was a coward though, a bloody coward, and she was beyond angry at herself for not ending it herself. Wouldn't it be easy? She could just drink some poison, let it trickle down her throat lovingly, infecting every cell as it slid down, and kill her in a way that was acceptable to her. And yet, she couldn't find the courage to do it. She did not have the strength to accept this fate. And here she was, at this training centre, her heart beating a little faster, her breathing a little slower, her eyes a little moist, but she was here regardless.

She was just confused about what she should do with the last few days of her short life.

She saw Jet having chosen the tracks, running steadily, his face that of determination and strength, and Avni couldn't help but wonder how he did it… How did he have the strength to bear this injustice, this cruelty? He was so much younger than she was, and probably had a lesser chance of survival than almost everyone else. And yet, he continued, he fought, he tried. Avni had no shame in admitting that Jet was her source of strength ever since they had that chat on the train, for she admired the child with all her heart. Some would think he was rude, some would think he was naïve, but sometimes, a rude awakening was what people truly needed, and Jet could give one that. She smiled lightly, and was surprised to find herself approaching the tracks too, and soon running along with him. He nodded at her without a word, but she did not mind. She had understood that he was a boy of few words, and that was okay.

What was not okay, however, was that when she saw two boys from that large alliance, Careers as they were called, moving towards the boy from Three like predators. On his part, the boy continued practicing with his knife, ignoring the boys who had surrounded him like vultures, for she was sure that he knew that they were there. It was hard to not notice them anyway. Avni had heard tales of these 'Careers', how they formed a group and then took out tributes one by one, like a pack of wolves on a hunt. It disgusted her, and she stopped, looking at them.

"Don't mess with the Careers," Jet said, "Avoid them. They're dangerous."

Dangerous? Avni did not care about dangerous. She motioned at Jet to continue, knowing that he would do exactly that, for he seemed like a person who would avoid trouble. She, on the other hand, watched, just like every other tribute except Jet, the events as they unfolded, and how the boy from Eleven snatched the knife from the boy from Three's hands. They were arguing now, the victim not backing down either, and Avni was horrified at the blatant bullying that was happening, the lack of intervention from the trainers and other tributes, and without realising it, she was drifting towards the group that was fighting. Images flashed in front of her eyes, images of her family being murdered, images of her being tortured, images of the mayor of Ten, Barron Marshall, handing her death sentence to her. Her heart was beating very fast, and Avni was enraged when she saw that the boy from One shoved the boy from Three. The boy from Eleven grabbed his collar, the other hand resting on his shoulder, and he spoke words that Avni could not hear, but she could see the colour draining from the face of the younger boy, until he was as pale as a ghost.

Her hand shot forward, and Avni shocked even herself by pushing the boy from Eleven back, standing like a wall between the two Career boys and the child from Three, and she let out a shaky but angry breath.

"Back off," she muttered, fists clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her palms, drawing warm blood, the blood that would spill in the arena. But she did not care, all that mattered was that these people were bullies who had absolutely no business threatening another tribute, no business stopping him from training, no business dictating his actions.

"Don't interfere girl."

"Back off."

"You know you're painting a target on your back, right?"

Avni's eyes moved to the boy from One, Jupiter, who had a passive look on his face, as if weighing her, trying to make sense of her, and it was towards him that she walked slowly, eyes not leaving his even for a second, and soon she was so close to him that their faces almost touched. She looked him in the eye even as he stepped back just a bit, eyes astonished at this audacity.

"I'm telling you one last time. Back off."

Jupiter did not turn away from Avni, looking down at her, various questions in his eyes that would remain unanswered, and even as Basileus approached Avni to show the brat her place, Jupiter raised a hand to tell him to stop, eyes still not leaving the girl.

"I'll personally come for you in the bloodbath," he finally whispered, his tone dangerously calm, as if he was using all his willpower to control his rage.

And despite the impending death, despite her non-existent future, Avni smirked. She folded her arms across her chest and moved a single step forward, lowering her voice to his volume.

"Bring it on."

Jupiter smirked back at her, and even patted her shoulder like a well-meaning friend. On her part, Avni did not flinch, did not blink, just continued to smirk as the boys walked away. Her eyes wandered around the Hall, challenging anyone and everyone to mock her behaviour, and warning them to mind their own business. She had surprised at what she had done, and couldn't really blame the tributes who were staring at her, for she had just messed with the Careers, something nobody dared to do. The best part was that she felt great, she felt energised, and she felt amazing, because this was what she was, this was what Avni Silvan was, and not the weeping mess that she had been all these days.

Hence, she was genuinely smiling when she turned to the boy from Three, who was looking at her with a strange expression, as if a combination of heartfelt gratitude and hair-raising fear, and Avni knew why. He probably suspected the Careers would be after him, but he did not worry. Most likely, they would all gang up on her instead, and that was okay.

"Thank you so much," he said softly, and now he was smiling kindly with her, gratitude clearly visible on his young face, "That means a lot to me."

"It was nothing," Avni replied, and she meant it.

"It means a lot," he reiterated, "I'm Rook, by the way."

"Avni," she replied, shaking his hand firmly, her confidence slowly but surely returning to her. Sure, she was about to die, and after her encounter with Jupiter she had simply accepted her fate. Why not do something useful with the short life that remained?

"Will you like to be my ally?" Rook asked, surprising her. Why would he want to ally with her? She was such a big target now… wouldn't that put him in trouble too? She searched his face for something, anything, that would tell her more. However, all she saw was a genuine request, his eyes having not deception in them. Avni smiled softly and then nodded.

"Sure."

Hi guys! So, here's our first training day, and I really enjoyed writing it. Hopefully, you're enjoying reading it too. Things are moving fast now, and I hope this pace will continue, but let's see. Let me know your thoughts on this chapter and if your opinion on any character up till now has changed. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. We have, I think four more pre Games chapters, where we'll cover everyone else, and I'm excited about it.

Alliances:

The Hunters: Jupiter, Margaery, Napoleon, Josephine, Nereus, Cruxia, Basileus

I'm Playing You: Aron, Akira

The Not So Smol Beans: Cupid, Calista

Allies in Tough Times: Avni, Rook

On another note, the submissions for Sinners and Saints is still open, so do submit if you feel like it. it will be really appreciated.

Have a great day!