"Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak."
~Sun Tzu
Klayton Barker, 14, District Eleven
It's a new day, and the events of last night are fading fast as the focus shifts elsewhere for the Capitol eyes, if only for a few days. Still, Klayton doesn't know what prompted his district partner to be angry with him. He's trying to recollect all his memories from the moment he meets with her until now and nothing is coming up, not that he knows anyway.
Ashley Allspicer, the ever loving female tribute from district Eleven, his own partner, is angry at him and he doesn't know why. She has been very distant to him even before the parade had begun, he's tried speaking to her about it all, only to be met with snippy comments.
They had a small argument before they had to put their differences aside and wave at the disgusting Capitol, all in the hopes of getting some form of sponsor. It's something both their mentor and escort hold to some high regard.
None of that matters, he still doesn't know what is wrong with her and he would like to find out. They sit at the dining table, piles and piles of food in between the two of them. Breakfast has come to be something that Klayton enjoys the most, he has to find something that could bring joy to his situation.
The taste of pancakes as it melts in his mouth is one such feeling that he wishes he has had more often, but that's not the case back to where he's from. Eleven is tightly controlled, where the rich get richer and the poverty increases. There's a slight guilt to his mind whenever he takes a bite but is completely overruled by the godly feeling.
He fidgets in his seat, their training outfit is tight, but not completely uncomfortable. The colour of black is an odd choice, not having to find the colour to be displayed in the capitol a lot. He has noticed that every other colour is used and black is reserved for unwanted things, does that mean they're unwanted? Regardless, their district number, a white '11' is displayed on their shoulders.
He's swinging his legs on the orange seat, the lights dancing on the red table as he reaches for another one of those delicious pancakes. His training shoes, another black in colour, are neatly by the entrance of their accommodation, not wanting to use the shoes just yet.
He was quite surprised when he first entered their quarters, the extravagance was too much for him and Ash too. He ignores Kitty's shouts; immediately running up to the window to see the spectacular sights from the tall building.
The worries of three days of training seemed to melt at that point, as his eyes trained on every light as far as the eye could see, as if everyone that lives in the Capitol cared very little for their electricity bill; he smiled at the tiny dancing ants, him feeling mighty from up his tower.
Of course, the novelty of it all wears on very quickly, the days counting down to his possible doom, especially after seeing the President yesterday. He could feel his eyes and pierce through each of them, daring every tribute to try and defy him.
He suspects that no one would do that, he doesn't really know at this point in time, but still, the feeling of dread dances around his head, like the people he saw last night through the very same window he is staring at now.
He takes another bite of the sweet pancakes, to try and distract himself. The first day of training is mere minutes away and he will admit that he's nervous, very very nervous. He flashes another look at his district partner, dark brown, meeting amber eyes. She looks away fast, as if in a huff, and any thoughts, or hopes, that Klayton had of his district partner being just as nervous as he is disappears.
However, he does notice that she is calmer than she was yesterday. He watches her take a bite of the sweet red apple, shining still from the lights. The very same apple that his sister picks from the orchard of Eleven. He shakes that thought from his mind, thinking of home is a sign of weakness, that's what Bergamot said to him during the train rides.
"Hey, if I offended you somewhat last night then I'm sorry." He says dropping the fork beside him, thinking of home and everything else to come has made him lose his appetite entirely.
She ignores his apology, not a drop of words leaking from her mouth as she gets up, leaving the table and straight out of that door, no slam or anything. They're not due downstairs for another half hour, having only been awake an hour ago.
He sighs as he takes another bite out of his pancake, pushing it aside now completely, trying his best to savour the taste of one of his few last meals, he hopes it's not the case but he's very unsure of his situation now.
He shakes his head, he has to stop thinking in that way. He takes a look at the bedroom hallway, seeing Kitty stride out into the combined dining and living area. Her hair straightened, looking professional, she turns a couple of times, showing off to no one in particular her work suit.
"Nice isn't it?" She smiles and Klayton can only nod at her, a small smile on his face. "Where is young Ashley?"
"She went ahead without me." He says, a sad tone to his voice at the same time thinking that he should also go too.
"I don't know why that girl has been in a foul mood, you two looked absolutely wonderful last night." She complimented them both as she sat at the table at just the same time Klayton pushed away from it.
"Thank you." He says looking at Kitty and then making his way to the door, putting on the shoes and leaving.
He sees Ashley standing by the elevator of the greyscale hallway, the button had not been pushed yet, him thinking she's hesitating about it all. He approaches her, standing beside her, a concerned eye looking at the smaller girl.
"Can you please speak to me?" He asks looking at her, trying his best not to touch her, for some reason his instincts are telling him not to do that, despite him always doing that back at home.
"It's nothing, I'm sorry for being argumentative last night." She apologised. "Maybe it's just all the stress and the pressure of yesterday, and the fact that we are about to go to fight for our lives in a couple of days time..."
"I understand that." He replies as he presses the button on the elevator, the soft 'ding' of the button press echoing on the walls. "We're supposed to be a 'united front' right?"
She scoffs at those words, the ones used by their escort, but she soon smiles. The silver doors of the elevator open up to reveal an empty box. Ash pressed the button to take them to the lowest floor possible, past the stables and the Remake Centre.
The atmosphere doesn't seem as hostile between the two of them now. Klayton is thankful for the feeling, the silence that was once so deafening seems more comfortable now as they feel the gravity of the elevator, the metal box going all the way down at a steady speed.
They walk comfortably beside each other when the elevator doors open, through a grey hallway into the open doors of the Training Centre. More than half of tributes are present, but Klayton sees those intimidating tributes from One and Two quietly talking amongst themselves.
He follows Ashley as they stand beside the Ten tributes, both of them looking more nervous, the girl than the boy. That's when his eyes wander to the other tributes too, seeing that most of the tributes are between the nervous and scared emotion; Ashley beside him trying not to act as nervous but he can tell from earlier that she is.
They wait another ten or so minutes as the rest of the tributes pile into the gymnasium. The large area, specifically for training tributes to fight to the death, are kitted out with every station. Klayton notices the sharp objects on one side and other stalls opposite them on the other side of the room.
The middle house has some sort of obstacle course, with various platforms at differing levels and swinging spherical objects between each jump. It looks daunting as he looks up to see that the ceiling is covered in nets and various platforms, that's when he notices that each pillar holding the ceiling is covered in black ropes, like vines; for climbing he notes to himself.
As the last of the tributes walk in, the sound of heels clicking and clacking make their way to the group. The silence amplifies the sound as it grows closer and closer to his ears. The woman walks in, passing through the tributes and standing in front of them, he notices that some of the tributes are whispering to themselves, obviously recognising the woman.
"Good morning, tributes." She says, no smile to her face. "I am Theodora Vidia, your Head Gamemaker this year, welcome to training."
She writes on her clipboard as Klayton looks at her, she's definitely on the older side, older than both Dora and his stylist, but she looks dignified. The Capitol technology does not touch her entire body unlike his stylist. He remembers Kitty mentioning that the Head Gamemaker was male, but clearly it's someone new.
"Over the next three days you are to come here, practice skills or gain new ones, the choice is up to you. These next few days are obviously vital to your survival in the arena I have prepared for you." She says with a sense of pride to her voice. "So do your best, and a piece of advice to each and everyone of you, the weapons are only one part of training, survival skills can also mean life or death, you all should do best remembering this."
Klay can hear the girl from Two scoff but Theodora paid her no mind. He's already thinking of what he wants to do first, but he also doesn't want to be stuck with other people so as to not appear really incompetent in front of them.
"Just a few ground rules before you start: No kicking, scratching punching or anything that would cause harm to either you or your opponent; you have plenty of time to do that in the arena; failure to comply to these simple rules can be detrimental to either you or to someone else, so take this as your final warning."
She slams her pen on the clipboard, surprising those not paying attention into staring at her. She looks at each of them individually, before smiling. "Happy training, may you all try your best and I'll see you all in two and a half days."
With that she leaves, her high heels echoing once more as she traverses through the grey hallway back to the elevator, the moment she enters it the room falls deathly silent again, and a few minutes after the tributes disperse, some going to the survival stations and others the weaponry.
Klayton notices Ashley walk towards the bow and arrow section and out of curiosity he follows her. He stands at a distance as he watches her take a slender short bow and takes one of the arrows, preparing for it to be fired. He watches her take a breath in, drawing the string back with the arrow, she lets go as soon as she expels air from her mouth and Klayton watches the arrow fly through the air, it whistling before striking the dummy right in the heart.
"How? What?" He asks, astounded, as he walks closer to her, she only smirks at him.
"I'm not just a simpleton from Eleven." She says as she prepares another arrow. "Now, leave me for a bit and I'll talk to you later."
He nods his head walking away from her, strolling past all the weapon stations until he stops by the sword section. He notices that someone is already here, the boy from Four, about to begin a session with their sword.
The boy dives into it, slicing at the arms of two dummies, moving onto a third one as he stabs the metal blade straight into its stomach, he turns back and stabs the second one in the back, pulling the sword out quickly before slicing off the head of the first one; all whilst red cotton litter the shiny floor.
Intimidated slightly, he goes to him, his hand extended for the boy to shake it, smile on his face . "Klayton Barker, hello, you can call me Klay if you want."
"Merrick." He says abruptly, but shaking Klay's hand anyway. "You're that guy that was arguing with his district partner, right?"
"I wouldn't say argue, more her shouting at me for what reason, I don't know."
"I get you," he says. "My district partner is the same."
He smiles as he lifts a longer sword than what Merrick has, feeling the weight with his one hand and it takes both his hand to carry it comfortably without it pulling at his shoulders. He's never held a weapon before, he's held blades before when harvesting but never for the idea of killing someone.
"I'll cut to the chase," he says putting the sword back, formulating a plan in his head. "I see those One and Two tributes over there, and they seem threatening to both our survivability to the Games, and I would like to propose that we enter into an alliance-"
"I'll stop you right there." He says, raising his hand to Klay's face. "That team you just pointed out is going to be my team, I'm sorry."
Without another word, Merrick leaves dropping the weapon by the attendant at the station. Klay watches him run across to the bigger group. After seeing him shred through the dummies, he can feel the nerves come back.
It's true that not many people can stop him from talking but being rejected so fast without even him arguing his point of view has taken him aback. He shrugs his shoulder, lifting a smaller sword, and makes his way to one of the many dummies.
He lifts up the sword and with one big strike he only managed to hit the leg, maybe he needs more practice and perhaps a smaller sword; or maybe he's just really downtrodden at the fact that the boy from Four, who doesn't look that much older than him has rejected him.
"Hey." He looks behind him to see the girl from Eight looking at him. "He'll come back."
"How do you know?" He says dropping the sword by the dummy and she just smiles.
"I have a feeling, by the way my name is..."
"Francesca, right?"
"Impressive," she smiles some more. "Are you willing to have me into your alliance?"
Klayton smiles and nods his head, the girl comes closer and shakes the boy's hand. He'll believe her, for now, thinking that Merrick will come back. It's still early days yet, someone like him shouldn't discount Klayton Barker as being weak.
Shade Grimoire, 18, District Five
Never in a million years would he ever admit this, a secret he will take to his grave if he has to, that for a brief moment during the chariots, when he and Kenna were both waving at the adoring Capitol public, as if they're not about to go into the death games, that he could see him and her as being friends.
During the Tribute Parade is when it all got real, the President looked menacing and everything set in all at once, that they are going into the Hunger Games, with as much preparation they can fit in two and a half days.
Sure they may bear some animosity for each other, but at that moment, when they were getting off their chariots they both admitted that they are out of their depth here, that maybe they shouldn't be fighting as much and actually listen to their mentor, Hamish.
Like he said, though, he doesn't want Kenna to know that Shade Grimoire would admit that he would like to be friends with her. An acquaintance is more his thing, never friendly with anyone, not even Star, he cringes to himself at the mention of her name in his mind, they didn't really leave on good terms. He forgets about her again, tucking her face in the very corner of his mind, she was a fool for ever wanting friendship with him anyway.
He sits by the fire making section, leaflet by his side as he watches Kenna get to work. Their solution for solidarity is to stay together, train together as district partners and not allies. They'll never work as allies, and Kenna herself has made that very clear when they arrived in their accommodation.
Hamish's other suggestion is for the both of them to work an 'angle'; pretending to be someone they are not, in hopes to garner more attention and therefore more sponsors. Shade scoffs at the idea, but Kenna takes it all to heart, pretending to be some clueless girl, evident with her laughing and twirling her hair at the instructor.
She sits down beside him, the cutesy clueless act is gone now, her eyebrows and dark brown eyes furrowed in focus, Kenna obviously not good at acting like the 'dumb' person she's supposed to act like as she gathers all the correct ingredients for the fire.
"You're playing the dumb angle very well," he says rolling his eyes and Kenna shoots her a glare. "No one will ever believe you, even if you intentionally gather all the wrong supplies."
"Shut. Up." She puts back all the right ingredients and gathers the wrong ones again, she takes the flint and steel and sparks at the dry leaves, it catches fire immediately, she looks at Shade smugly. "You were saying?"
He only huffs at the miniscule fire, warming him up slightly as the embers dance and pulsate with each of his breaths. He takes the flint and steel from Kenna's offering hand, and then gathering the right ingredients to make a fire, not even sure why he's frustrated, he grinds the flint and steel together; the sparks dance around the items, and when he thinks it's going to light on fire it doesn't.
He can feel the smugness coming from Kenna, he doesn't see it but he feels it. He scoffs then growls throwing the flint and steel away, standing up and storming away from the station, not before stepping on Kenna's growing fire beforehand. Kenna chases after him, her thanking the instructor before grabbing Shade's arm.
"You just can't give up too easily!" She speaks a bit louder than both of them would like, attracting the attention of a few of the tributes around them.
He just ignores her cries, taking his arm back, rather too harshly than what he wants, going to one of the four corners of the gymnasium. His back feels the cool grey walls as he slides down, sitting alone, like he always does, nearby the edible plants section.
His district partner doesn't follow him, probably a good idea on her part, instead opting to go towards the weapon side of the gymnasium. He doesn't want another screaming match, Panem knows how that will turn out in front of the other twenty-two tributes out there, and the later repercussions of their mentor lecturing them too.
He begins to watch the world go by, like he always does back in the Grimoire home, before everything went crazy and his mother ended up dead. He's not been the same since, he notices it too. More depressed, more argumentative, more cynical; all perfect for the Hunger Games.
He's become so irritable as of late, the Hunger Games and being Reaped probably the catalyst for it all. Is it because he is jealous of Kenna? If he was then what was he jealous of? Who else would he be jealous of? The tributes from One and Two because of how good they are with weapons? Of the relationship the pair from Three have as they laugh together making traps?
He buries his head in his hands, resting them on his knees as he thinks it over and over again. He doesn't come to any conclusion, nothing springs to mind, many of his thoughts are jumbled and messy that it's all too simple to just act cynical one hundred percent of the time.
What he does come to a conclusion to, after watching every tribute make an effort out there, is that he needs to get his shit together. He wants to do well in these Games, even though it's going to be pointless seeing all those brutes from One shred their dummies to pieces, the Two pair just clapping.
He stands up regardless, brushing the dust on his shorts and begins to make his move, moving ashen hair away from his face revealing newly focused blue eyes as he sits by the edible plants station, ignoring the instructor as the same blue eyes spy on the other tributes; categorising them all into two groups: threats and not threats.
His eyes land on the Three pairing again, laughing together, both extremely close to each other, he classes them as not threats, picturing the girl dying early on, the boy following after, or vice versa. Then his eyes flicker over to the weaponry again, the Ones and Twos? Threats.
His district partner, Kenna? Threat. Her nature of being inherently manipulative and her angle of acting dumb and weak makes her especially dangerous. His expectations from her exceeding as practices with a dagger, not very well but still better than he can ever do.
Shade then cast an eye at the Seven pair, and he can't make heads or tails of the both of them. The boy is very young looking, and he would hazard a guess that he's only twelve. However, he looks less happy than the girl whenever she turns around. Well, as happy as you can be in their current situation.
His mind is now formulating a plan for the next couple of days, he decides that he'll watch his opponents carefully. He may or may not share information with Kenna, he'll cross that bridge when he gets to it. He crushes the leaflet given to him earlier by the instructor, and decides to rejoin his partner.
She stands with the Eleven girl, talking quietly amongst themselves. A pang hits his chest at her partner speaking to someone else, but he pushes it aside as he nears the station they are at: knives and daggers. They're not actually doing much and soon notices why as the girl from Two slices her way across multiple dummies, everyone staring at her wondering if that would be them in a few days time.
"You've decided to join me again?" Kenna says as Shade makes his way beside her, with a smile and he can see the Eleven girl recoil slightly away from him. "This is Ashley, she and I both agreed that the Two girl were definitely trained."
"As a Peacekeeper," Ashley adds. "Ash is fine."
He raises an eyebrow, if they can see it through his shaggy hair for it is obscuring it. He does begin to wonder if other districts are being groomed into the Hunger Games, via training. He can see that through the Two and One tributes, it's not unheard of, but all of it is heresy in Five.
Now that he's watching someone literally slash everything in sight, red cotton spilling out from countless training dummies, he believes it. He swallows hard, a slight nervous feeling creeping up his back again. It sends signals to his brain to avoid this girl at any cost, not wanting to draw her attention he looks at the array of knives and daggers on the rack.
"This would go well with your height." Ash tells Kenna handing her a dagger, light reflecting from the silver underneath the harsh light. "Try it, this would be better than the one you were using earlier."
Kenna takes the dagger, stepping forward, the dagger firm in her hand, and Shade can see her grip tighten as she approaches one of the training dummies. She strikes, the dagger makes a whistling noise that seems to pierce Shade's brain, the dagger wedging itself on the neck of the dummy.
Ash watches intently beside him and he couldn't imagine someone like Kenna doing that to a tribute, sure manipulating and making someone else do it he can vision, but to actually kill another tribute? Either him or Ash? He doesn't see that at all, at least not intentionally.
He's struggling to cope with everything, the fact that he's going to have to go through that in a few days time, the cotton being replaced by red ooze, it can shiver anyone to the core. He swallows hard, however, and does the same thing as Kenna just did, taking a smaller knife and going to one of his targets; the Two girl has now vanished from the devastation she has left.
He reaches a newly instated mannequin, not exactly life like, made of cotton sacks, from Eight he assumes, and he shakes his head from thinking and just plunges fast, the knife, into the stomach of the dummy, he couldn't believe how easy it is, the thought shocks him to the core as he takes a step back dropping the knife with a clang on the floor; hands trembling.
"Hey, hey, Shade are you okay?" Kenna is immediately by his side.
"Yeah, yeah." He nods his head, the hand has stopped trembling, he picks up the knife and hands it to Kenna. "I'm okay, I'll just go practice something else."
Kenna doesn't press or argue back, taking the knife back as Shade flees the station, Ash doesn't say anything, not even acknowledging him as he walks past her; half thankful and half offended about it all. Although she probably doesn't know enough about him, which is fair, no one really does.
He walks past the gauntlet in the middle of the gymnasium. The One and Two tributes are laughing it up like school kids, forgetting in a few days time they're going to be in the Hunger Games, killing each other, or worse; him.
He passes the Nine boy talking with Ash's district partner, walking fast and not paying anyone any attention. He doesn't stare back at the eyes, he doesn't acknowledge anyone. Just the way he likes it. He winds up at the first-aid station with the Nine girl.
"Hi." She says meekly tying a bandage around the arm of the trainer for that station.
"That's good! A very well done, and on the second try too!" He says to her and the girl just smiles, tucking loose auburn hair behind her ear, it's up in a pony tail but strands manage to find themselves back to her pale face.
Although he's stared at her long enough, he doesn't respond to her greeting, she just smiles sadly at the trainer now. He knows that she knows first-aid is not going to get you far in the arena, but Shade's plan is to try everything; he feels that survival stations for the first day, trying to stay away from the weapons for now, he'll go back tomorrow, after he's psyched himself up.
He takes a booklet, the front page emphasising the importance of first-aid, to which he scoffs at, once you're injured in the arena, your chances of survival decreases substantially. He can stop the bleeding done by a weapon, but his mortality goes down one or two steps. He thinks that once a massive gash appears from anywhere in your body, the Capitol is not going to bat an eye at you, you're as good as gone from their point of view.
He wants to try his best, he really does, but every bone in his body is pointing his arrow to the negative side, the cynical side that is going to kill him. He knows that's going to be the end of him, he just can't help it.
Zhi Penn Lu, 16, District Three
He's seeing Mari under a different light ever since they waved at the Capitol crowds, dressed in what seems to be a bride and groom. He can't get her out of his mind, the way she looked underneath the veil; gorgeous and beautiful isn't enough to describe her.
Their outfit, dressed as bride and groom, wowed the Capitol, winning them second best at some panel show; their escort was talking about it this morning. The winner came down to the Ten pair. Zhi couldn't care less, all he cared about is the feeling his heart made that night, how it would flutter seeing her in that dress.
She looked graceful, beyond belief, until she cried in his arms that night, after they settled underneath the high ceilings that was Zhi's room. Her tears like rivers soaking through the cotton shirt he wore. Her once positive attitude from since she was young reduced to a wreck.
Today she's different, vowing to herself to be more positive and it shows. She joking with him, and the happiness reflecting from her onto Zhi. He follows her lead for the day, not wanting to leave her alone, she doesn't seem to mind. Rolex's words in his head hounding him to practice weapons, but he buries him underneath countless images of Mari.
"Where should we go next, Zhi?" She asks him, a smile on her face.
"Wherever you want." He smiles back.
The two of them have been making great progress across the various survival stations in the gymnasium. Mari taking it to heart what Theodora Vidia had told them at the start of their training. They complete rope tying, edible plants and fire making already this morning. He can see the hesitation from Mari's brown eyes every time she looks over to the weapons; Rolex's advice also in her head.
"What about shelter making?" She tilts her head towards the said station.
"Sure." He smiles again following her lead, trying to make her feel at ease.
They stroll towards the station, Zhi eyeing the other tributes as they do so, the Nine and Eleven boys are practising with swords, again. He noted that they were doing that before their midday break. He notices that Mari is eating less and less there too, he doesn't say anything but if it continues he might gently mention it.
The Five boy has been doing what he had been doing since before the lunch break catching Zhi's attention. He surmises that he is very curious, staying mostly by himself, yet he would go speak with his district partner, who is also acting bizarrely; sometimes fumbling and other times really focused as she trains with the Eleven girl.
"Zhi? Are you okay?"
"Hmm? Yeah, just lost in thought." He smiles crouching beside her. "Have you read the pamphlet?"
"Yeah, another easy one." She states, fixing her ponytail, the locks of brown hair being pushed away from her face as she concentrates.
She begins to gather the materials, the trainer eyeing the both of them, quietly assessing their skills at shelter making. Zhi is with her, yet his mind begins to wander again, thinking of the rest of the tributes, trying to be aware of his surroundings.
He saw how threatening some of them are earlier. He makes a mental note that those are the tributes he and Mari should avoid at all cost, during training and especially during the arena. He thinks of the Two boy, who had cleaved a dummy clean in half with one great swing of his sword. He closed his eyes then, trying not to think that the dummy could have been Mari.
He looks back to her, a softer smile itching at his face, her face in a focus as she begins to prop up sticks and branches. She covers both sides with grass, leaves, whatever else. She looks to him and smiles, him giving her gentle encouragement. He likes the way she smiles strongly, even at the face of death.
He remembers fondly, the time before they even boarded the train, before he saw Mari as anything other than a friend, how Mari's own mother walks into his private room in the Justice Building, pleading, begging him to protect her daughter, her hands clinging onto his clothes, her tears real and raw.
His sister follows after her, after the woman that begged to protect her daughter at all cost. Pixie looked like she had been crying, they hugged momentarily, his mind not made up yet, but it soon was when his sister revealed a big secret Mari has held for years.
That the person he is now staring at, Mari Caresse Katou, is harbouring a crush on Zhi, his mind making his mind up that he should protect her, but it wasn't until the last few minutes before he was due to board the train that his mother had walked in, steel faced as her hands grabbed at either side of him, telling him to come home...whatever it takes.
At that time, his mind was scrambled. The choice between Mari and his family legacy hung in the air, like a crossroad, waiting for him to make a decision. His emotions conflicted making him so pensive as of late, so many things in his head; practise weapons, stay with Mari; come home. It's all too much, Rolex advising him to leave behind his feelings, but he knows deep down that he just cannot do that.
He catches her eyes on him again, her face pure and smiling as she finishes the shelter. He smiles back, moving closer to her. He looks at her in a different light now, his heart making him view her in a way that he had never noticed before; the way she looks even with their training uniform; so pretty.
Zhi helps her with the finishing touches, another twenty or so minutes, using everything they had learned from the other stations this morning to construct a sturdy shelter. They sit inside, comfortable feeling, the rest of the tributes in view for the both of them; the trainer impressed.
"You're so clever, Mari." He says, cheeks tinting slightly red.
"You're just saying that." She smiles, doing the same, looking away from him. "I don't think my smarts are going to help us in the arena."
"It will." He says, hands moving to hers. "I promise you that I'll protect you; and your smarts are going to help us, okay?"
"Yeah..." She nods , looking away from him again.
He can feel himself get flustered again, at the thought of holding onto Mari's hand. The small shelter, as comfortable as it is, gets too hot for him. He starts to cough, choking on the saliva he is forced to swallow, Zhi exiting the makeshift shelter.
"Is something wrong?" Mari asks, concern and worry on her face.
"N-nothing, hey, do you mind if I go to the weapons? I think we need something like that to help our chances? I can't get Rolex out of my head." He says meekly, rubbing the back of his neck, dark eyes avoiding her very own brown ones.
"Sure, I'll come with." She smiles.
"No!" He says abruptly, the shout surprising both him and Mari. "I mean, stay here and learn more survival skills."
If Mari looked hurt, he didn't see it on her face as the girl just nods slowly. No frown on her face, just that smile that continues to make the boy's heart flutter. He turns around, practically running away from her, colliding with the One boy at the spears section.
"Woah! Are you okay?" He smiles at him, pearly white showing off; Zhi notes that he looks different from his chariot outfit. "What's the rush?"
"I'm fine, and there's no rush." He says, cheeks still flushing red from Mari.
"Where's that little district partner of yours?" He asks looking around him, hand on his forehead trying to look out for Mari.
"What does it have to do with you?" He says aggressively, crossing his arms, trying to stand up straight.
"Hey now! I'm just asking, because you two have been inseparable since the chariots," he says, hands going up in surrender. "You good? You look flustered too."
He wants to leave, he really wants to just go but he doesn't want to face Mari just now; especially after saying that he'll train with weapons alone. He doesn't want to be weak in the eyes of his district partner either; so he's here and determined to ignore the boy, his only problem is that he cannot get rid of him.
"Carnelian, by the way." He extends his hand for Zhi to shake, but he just looks at it.
"Zhi." He says but flinches away when Carnelian takes his hand and shakes it anyway.
"Well it's nice to meet you, Zhi! I like you already!"
"Shouldn't you be with them?" He obviously means Carnelian's district partner and the Two tributes, as well as that Four girl too.
"We're all doing our own thing just now," he smiles again, and Zhi is resisting his eye roll. "You going for a spear? Here I'll show you how to use one."
Without being able to interject, Carnelian drags Zhi to the nearest training dummy. He hands Zhi one of the spears, metallic in colour. He can feel the weight of it, heavy in feeling. He watches Carnelian as he tells Zhi to back away slightly.
"Now the spear is a good choice for a weapon, not my choice personally, but it's very good and quite versatile."
He's here now, and since he can't get away from the One boy Zhi just stands there as Carnelian gives an impromptu lesson on spear management. Carnelian stands from a distance, holding onto a spear, the muscle in his arms tensing, he growls before hitting the dummy with the spear, whacking it from one side to the other in quick succession, before going in with a stab to the stomach.
"See? Easy, right?" He says looking at Zhi who is trying to keep his poker face on. "You can also do this, I'm not so good at doing this, but my cousin is."
Zhi watches Carnelian take the spear, pulling back slightly, drawing the arm holding the spear back and pointing with his other. He then grunts as he lunges the spear into the air, Zhi keeps a close track of the spear as it cuts through the air, astonishment painting his face when the metallic spear striking a dummy all the way at the back of the gymnasium, the distance a couple of metres away.
Carnelian bows when he turns around to face Zhi, then goes to gesture towards the other dummies, so as to give Zhi a try. He ignores the boy's showmanship, taking the spear from the rack. He tries out the spear, trying to remember what Carnelian was doing a few minutes ago.
He worries that after seeing him do all that, with just a spear, that he would not be able to keep Mari safe. Carnelian looks friendly on the outside, but deep down Zhi knows that he's scarier than his appearance seems to be.
Now he must act strong, him standing up straight, holding the spear with both hands. He's trying to hide his glaring weaknesses, he steps forward. Looking at the training dummy, and then back at Carnelian; who just shrugs as a response, clearly finished entertaining Zhi as he takes his leave.
"If you want more advice, you should seek me out." He winks before walking back to his district partner. "If I were you, you should take any help you can get, I see certain tributes look at you and your district partner."
Zhi just looks away from him, white grip on the steel. He begins to hit the dummy, trying to get used to the feeling. His mind wondering why the One boy has taken an interest in him all of a sudden, where he could have just scared him away at first sight.
Velvet Eclatant, 18, District One
She smiles to herself when most of the tributes find out that her natural hair colour is not the luminous blonde her own district has come to be known; well it was just mostly Diana and Lily, the boys didn't care too much for appearances.
She sits at the gauntlet benches with everyone else. Lily is the only person daring enough to approach her and ask to join the alliances between the One and Two tributes. She was sceptical at first, until Lily proved her worth, shredding several dummies at the first chance she got.
Therefore she becomes the only recruitment to their team. She eyes other tributes to join their cause, but some of them eye her own alliances, some in fear and others in contempt. It may turn out that only Lily joins the four-man team.
The first day of training is ending, and lots of things have happened already. The gears moving, setting plans in motions, and she knows it's not just hers but all the other tributes out there. She crosses her arms, thinking about her team; Carnelian, Diana, Antonio and Lily.
There's just one other tribute that had the same guts as Lily, and that's her district partner. Pestering not only her but Carnelian and Antonio earlier. He doesn't stop himself from trying to talk to her at any possible moment, even to go as following them about.
Diana was sceptical about the Four boy, Merrick, and Velvet too. It didn't take that long for her to convince the Two girl that he was not fit for their team, so collectively they have decided to not let the stuck up, overconfident boy from Four join their alliance.
Lily does not care for her district partner, she particularly hates how cocky Merrick has become even after the Tribute Parade. Not like Diana and her needed the go ahead from Lily, but she is quite happy that she thinks the same way, that's what she likes from her allies; easy minded and easily led.
It's better to do it now, nip it in the bud, confront Merrick and let him know that he is not welcome in the alliance. With only an hour left of training, they are getting closer and closer to the arena. They need to start formulating team strategies, and unfortunately for Merrick, he's not included in it.
One factor that irks Velvet from Merrick is his age, and it's no secret between the One, Two and Four tributes that they all train for the Hunger Games now, it's been a tradition for most of them since the Fifteenth Hunger Games, therefore at only fifteen he is too young and not as skilled as her or Diana, or anyone in their group as a matter of fact.
It's better to cut off the weak now instead of finding out about it later in the arena. She looks at Diana, who nods at her and they both stand. Lily, Antonio and Carnelian stay quiet, chatting amongst themselves. The Two girl take the lead, Velvet following her past different stations until they reach the sword station, where Merrick is still perfecting his technique.
Velvet and Diana walk quietly, both just tolerating the atmosphere. She's quite surprised that Diana had agreed for Velvet to become the leader of the group, she looks like the type that wouldn't let the leadership role go so easily, she suspects that Antonio has a hand in her doing that.
They stride up to Merrick who stops and looks at them both, an eyebrow raised at both of them. He takes the sword that he had wedged into the dummy's neck and turns his body completely so as to face them both. Him holding the sword as if to threaten the both of them, which doesn't work because she's taller than him, if only slightly.
"Merrick." Diana says, curt as she stands beside him, folding her arms, her ginger-red hair fiery looking, she looks like Velvet's bodyguard, despite being a bit shorter than both of them.
"Merrick, the group has decided that you will not be joining us in the arena." Velvet says, short and sweet, and she's about to turn around when Merrick speaks up, the boy's green eyes contorting into either annoyance or anger.
"The group?" He says, genuine confusion now forming on his face. "When was this decided?"
"Just a few hours ago." Diana says coming forward slightly, looking fierce and threatening.
"We feel that you will not have what it takes to catch up to us." Velvet says, tucking a loose strand of her reddish brown hair behind her ear. "And trust us when I say, you don't have what it takes."
"What are the criteria then? Hmm?" Merrick says, anger in his tone rising, sword in his hand dropping as he throws it. "Did she tell you? That I'm not good enough?"
She meaning his district partner, Velvet admits Lily does have some part in it, but not wholly. She knew from the first greeting with Merrick that he is not suitable. Her calculating mind not being able to find much use for him in the arena, summing up that he will become more of a hindrance than help.
Nevertheless, the boy in front of them is getting hostile, his face going red with anger, and Diana had to stand between the two of them, arms on either side to create space. She looks just as annoyed as Velvet does.
"Now, now, let's settle this in the arena, hmm?" She looks at Merrick, an eyebrow raised, taunting the boy from Four. "We've made the decision, and it was unanimous, we as a group will be moving forward...without you in it."
His face turns sour, contorting into the same anger from before. He slams his feet on the matted floor, like a child about to throw a tantrum before leaving the station, not before punching several dummies on the way, the boy releasing all his angry energy on those poor unsuspecting training figures.
She looks at Diana, who just shrugs her shoulders. She returns to their group, Velvet following suit. The rest of them sit silently, having witnessed the entire outburst of the Four boy. That's when Velvet notices that they are the only ones left in the big training hall.
"That went well." Carnelian says, breaking the tension as always. "I'm sorry if that causes you problems though, Lily."
"It was inevitable." She says with a shrug. "He's harmless for the most part, just some kid living up the Capitol lifestyle."
They sit amongst themselves again, silent as the atmosphere changes once more. None of them are entirely comfortable with each other, yet they stick together. Velvet may not trust them in the meantime, but she would do anything to protect her group, is it because of the leader title? She doesn't know.
Diana sighs, she gets up from her seat beside Antonio, leaving without saying goodbye to anyone. Velvet watches as the tall and muscular Antonio follows her, Lily waves goodbye to the both of them as she comes after the pair.
"Well I hope the first day is as eventful for you as it has been for me." Carnelian states with a smile, and Velvet just rolls her eyes. "Speaking of eventful, have I proved myself to you yet?"
She sighs, to be truthful? Yes. They had agreed during the chariots that they should sow dissent amongst the tributes, Carnelian has done that with the Three boy, unnerving him, making the boy doubt himself, and the way Carnelian shows off with his spear skills have also impressed her.
"You did good."
"And so did you." Carnelian says, the happy smile on his face never leaving. "Lily and Merrick are going to have an argument when she gets back up to their living quarters, and that's one or two tributes out of the way."
"Now let's continue to target the outliers," she says looking Carnelian directly in the eyes as she thinks of more tributes. "The boy from Five and the boy from Twelve."
She noticed during most of the day that other tributes too have encountered their own problems. The Eleven boy couldn't get to grips with the sword he was using; and the Eight and Nine girls wandered aimlessly throughout the whole day, save for when the Eight girl chatting with the boy from Eleven.
These are all prime targets for their strategy. However, she will admit that manipulation is not her strong suit, in fact she hates doing it. It was Flash Gladstone's idea, her mentor, he stating that this is one of the most important weapons in the Games. Not swords, spears, knives, but your tongue and personality.
Charming others is one thing but flat out lying to one person to gain personal advantage? It's not so chivalrous, and yet she's going to do it, so she can win; she's going to use Carnelian's charisma to manipulate the tributes.
Carnelian has been popular even during their academy days. Articulate when speaking, attractive when he needs to be and charismatic without so much effort. She hates him so much for those are the things she's not so good at.
That's not what she wants to do. Her job is to work hard to watch the other tributes carefully. See how they react to Carnelian or the others in their group. She'll note who fights back and who cowers, formulating which one of these outlier tributes are potential threats.
Her allies are not excused in these mental notes she's making. Carnelian's weakness is that he is too much of a pushover, agreeing with everything she tells him to, either because he has no drive for the Hunger Games or he thinks he'll last longer listening to her. She doesn't mind that at all, he was cocky when they were back in Beacon.
"Shall we go back?" He asks, looking around to see if there are still tributes left. "Let's talk more strategy at the dinner table tonight."
"Sure." She says mirroring his smile. "We have much to discuss with everyone, Flash and Jasper."
They exit the training hall and they head straight for the elevator; both with heads held high; both satisfied with today's training. She reckons, since there's only two days left of training, that it can only get better than here. She just has to endure one gruelling interview with the Capitol sleaze bag; Phineus Keenzest, before blood can be spilled.
"You didn't answer my question earlier." Carnelian says and Velvet looks at him. "Was your day as eventful as mine was?"
"Yes." She says as the door opens to their living quarters. "It has been very eventful."
She walks inside first, the avox present welcomes them in with a bow. Carnelian waves at her but Velvet heads straight for her room, her wanting a shower before she interacts with everyone else. She loves the feeling of a shower, washing away today's hard work, making her relax so that they can settle down for the day.
The shower turns on, her reminiscing of the first shower she had as a tribute, back inside the train, so unsure of herself, so eager to prove herself. Now she's sure she can win these Games. Her allies are strong, she will admit, but they're not as smart as she is.
She notices that Antonio, the boy from Two, big and strong, is unsure of what he wants to do in these Games. She notices the bruises on his arm, how he relaxes whenever he's on his own. He's not the type to kill unless it's a last resort, she can be proven wrong but only time will tell.
His district partner, Diana, might be a problem. Her overconfidence can get the better of her, but the girl is good at anything you throw at her. She remembers, during their midday break, that Diana spoke of her training as a Peacekeeper.
Her interest in her increases by the second as she thinks that she's going to be more of a rival than Lily will, who she deems as just another Carnelian, a pushover that might rise up to the challenge, when push comes to shove.
What about what they think of her? Probably strange because she opted to train at the survival stations. Gathering new skills for the arena, she is confident that her weaponry skills are sufficient in fighting off any tribute that comes her way. She's not so confident in surviving on her own though, hence the training at these stations.
Beacon is good, but they don't teach much about survival in the Hunger Games. It's more how you manipulate and kill your opponents. Nothing ever for the mind for One is not that type of district. She'll train with weapons again, but she wants to do it at her own pace.
She already brushed up on her throwing knife skills at the start of training, not a single knife she has thrown missed her intended target. Her sword skills are subpar, but she's better than most. She doesn't need to prove her worth, she'll come out on top and become victorious.
Velvet Eclatant will take home the title and give her family name a place in the Boulevard of the Great Houses. This is everything she ever wanted, this is her dream and it's a long time coming. Other tributes can think her weak, she doesn't care, let them think that. They'll be in for a shock when a knife comes flying towards their head.
A/N - Hello! I know right? Another update so soon after the other one? I was just inspired is all.
First day of training is here! Alliances are forming slowly, but surely. We have our Proto-Careers. In my universe Careers don't exist until well into the 4th Decade of the Games, where the formula for combining One, Two and Four is actually a good idea.
So what do you think of the tributes? Klayton and Francesca becomes fast allies, huh? Shade suffers from another crisis; Zhi is falling in love and falling apart at the same time; and what is Velvet planning?
I suspect there's at least four more tribute chapters, and maybe two more Capitol chapters, until the Bloodbath. (To which I don't know who to kill off yet.)
Stay tuned!
Cheers!
~Alec
