Training - Day One

Kaja Malone, District Five

Okay, this is it. This is my moment to shine. Well, actually I thought my moment to shine would have been an hour ago. Maybe even two hours ago. I have been standing here throwing knives at dummies for two hours now. I have gotten seventy-five percent on every test, which the trainer said is a really good score for someone my age. Of course, I already knew that. I've been practising throwing knives at targets on trees in my backyard since I was eleven and my parents said I was very talented. Gwendolyn obviously also agreed because she clapped every time I threw a knife.

The careers, on the other hand, still haven't bothered to come and talk to me. What does a girl have to do around here to get the careers to notice her? I suppose I could just go over and talk to them. They'll probably be embarrassed that they haven't invited me to join them yet.

I fix my ponytail and readjust my headband before walking over to the careers. It looks like there are only five of them this year, which is perfect! It means they need a sixth person, which is where I show up and save the day.

"Hey guys!" I say loudly as I walk up to them.

"Can I help you?" a tall brunette girl, who seems to be their leader, asks.

"I'd like to join your alliance. You seem to be missing a sixth person, so I'm volunteering to fill that spot."

The leader girl laughs rudely, "Aren't you a little young to be a career?"

"No, I can still win the Hunger Games. Ocean Shell won the Hunger Games when she was only twelve, so maybe you should get your facts straight!"

The two guys and this tiny blonde girl all stare at me blankly while this other tall girl with curly hair smiles at me. Maybe I do have a shot! Maybe she's the one tribute who actually has common sense.

"So can I join?" I ask her.

"Look, you seem really talented for your age, but I just don't think this alliance would be the right fit for you. I'm sure you could win if you worked alone or with other people your age, but you really wouldn't have much of a chance of winning after the feast if you worked with us." she explains as if she is talking to a kindergartener.

"Thanks for your concern," I glare at her, "but I'm sure you will all regret this when you realize that you need a sixth person."

The really rude leader girl shrugs, "We actually did have somebody in mind. Do you know the girl from District Ten's name?" she points at a tall stocky girl who is at the archery station.

"No, why would I talk to someone from District Ten?" I snap as I walk away.

District Ten is even worse than District Five! Everyone there is dirt poor and lives on a farm. This girl is probably way less talented than I am. I bet this is her first time even holding a weapon. Whatever, it's their loss.

-/-

Savannah Winters, District Thirteen

"Let's go meet my district partner by the snares station. He was inviting the guys from District Eight and Eleven to join us."

"Okay!" Mercedes says, "I don't know if Al will want to join. He seems kinda immature, so I don't know if he'd really want to get involved in a protest against the Capitol."

I shrug, "Fair enough. Do you think your district partner will want to join us?" I ask, turning to Alvena.

"I'm not sure. He seems really scared of everyone here, which is understandable because the peacekeepers are really brutal back home. Plus he might not want to be in an alliance with me. I was publicly punished for leading a riot against the peacekeepers, so most people have kind of avoided me since then." she explains, "He seems like a nice kid though! He's probably just worried that the Capitol will hurt his family if he works with me and he's not wrong. The Capitol and peacekeepers will do that. They've done it before." she adds.

"Wait, you led a riot against the peacekeepers? That's badass!" I say.

Wow! It looks like we have a good group this year!

"Yeah, that's how this happened," she says pointing at her nose or lack thereof.

"Damn, I'm sorry." I say, "That makes me want to do something really wild this year to stick it to the Capitol."

"I'm down!" Mercedes agrees.

"Me too!" Alvena says, "But you guys understand that working with me is a risk, right? Since I already committed crimes against the Capitol and was publicly punished for it."

"So? I skipped the reaping this year." Mercedes says.

"I'm from District Thirteen." I add, "We haven't had a Victor in over two-hundred years because the gamemakers love killing us in the goriest ways!" I add.

"Hey Savannah! Hey everyone!" Dennis greets us.

"Hey Dennis! Did Al and Dexter want to join us?"

"No, Dexter and Al made their own alliance with the guy from District Nine. They invited me to join, but I said no."

"Did you want to join them?" I ask, "It's not like you have to be in our alliance just because you're from District Thirteen."

"Yeah, I know. I want to be in the rebel alliance. I'm probably gonna die either way, so why not do something cool and stick it to the Capitol first?"

"Hell yeah!" I agree, "By the way, this is Alvena and this is Mercedes. Alvena is from District Eleven and she led a riot against the peacekeepers. Mercedes is from District Eight and she skipped the reaping in protest this year, so they're both pretty cool."

"You led a riot against the peacekeepers? That's awesome!" Dennis smiles at Alvena, "Aren't the peacekeepers really brutal in District Eleven too?"

Alvena laughs dryly, "Yeah, they are. How do you think this happened?" she points at her face.

"Oh right, sorry!" Dennis says awkwardly.

She shrugs, "It's alright!"

"So what do we think of the District Three tributes?" Mercedes asks, changing the subject.

"The girl seems rude." Alvena says, "She kept glaring at me while I was at the knife station."

"I'm not surprised," Mercedes agrees, "she seems like a bootlicker."

"The guy seems woke though." I say, "I know he's not our usual type since his father is a Victor and everything, but he seems to hate the Hunger Games and the Capitol. I think we should at least talk to him and see if we want to invite him."

"Sure, let's do it!" Mercedes says.

"I don't really care who we invite as long as they're chill and not a career." Alvena says.

"Yeah, it would be nice to have another guy in the group!" Dennis agrees.

We start to walk over to the axe station where the guy from District Three is hacking up dummies furiously.

"Hey guys! Are you ready to destroy the Capitol?" someone says from behind us.

I turn around to see the tiny boy from District Ten. He already tried to join the careers a few hours ago, so he's clearly not really interested in joining us. I don't even know why he tried to join the careers since I'm pretty sure he's only twelve and hasn't actually done any training until today.

"Yep," I say and resume my focus on our potential ally, Zap Lightning.

"Hey, wait, I'd like to join you guys! I have some epic prank ideas!"

I roll my eyes, "Didn't you just try to join the careers like an hour ago?"

He shrugs, "Yeah, why?"

"You can't be on both sides, dumbass." I say, turning my attention back to Zap once again.

The kid sulks away, muttering something that sounds like 'psychotic bitch' under his breath.

"Hey Lightning!" I call when Zap finishes his level.

He scowls a bit, "What?"

"So are you excited to become the next Victor of District Three?" I ask, testing the waters a bit.

He shrugs, "Who says I'm gonna win? It's what my dad wants, but I just might step off my pedestal before the gong goes off for all he knows."

"Hmm, cheating a painful death. I like it." Mercedes nods approvingly.

"It might be a little cowardly though." I counter, "I mean, there's no real risk in that, is there?"

He frowns, "So what would you do? Are you planning some full-scale rebellion or something?"

I shrug, "Maybe. Would you be on board if we are?"

"Yeah, I wanna see the Capitol burn as much as anyone else."

"Excellent. Welcome to the team." I stick out my hand in an attempt to convey mock formality.

"One condition though," he says, "don't call me Lightning. I hate being known as 'Arson's boy.'"

-/-

Timothy Porter, District Ten

Man, the other tributes are all assholes this year. I think I could probably win the Hunger Games if I wanted to. I always got picked first for sports teams, but the careers just laughed when I asked them if I could join. I hate all of them. Especially that dumb bitch, Adele Sun, who decided that she's their leader. I'll make sure to kill her first. Then, I'll kill all the other careers, of course.

How should I kill them? I'm thinking maybe a nice clean beheading. No, that's too nice. I will slowly behead them in multiple chops. Maybe I'll use a sword. An axe would work too, I guess.

The rebels were even more bitchy. I am the king of pranks, but the bitch who decided she was their leader said that I couldn't join because I couldn't be on both sides or some shit. Who is she to decide that? I thought the rebel alliance was supposed to be all open-minded and nice to anyone who wants to join. If they aren't then aren't they just as bad as the careers?

Whatever, I don't need them. I'll find another alliance. Maybe I'll go introduce myself to those wimpy looking boys at the snares station. I bet they need a prankster in their group.

"Hey, are you guys ready for some epic pranks?" I ask.

The guys all look up from the pathetic looking snare they are building to stare at me blankly.

"Nah, not really." one of the guys says and looks down at his snare again.

"So you don't want a prank king in your group? We could pull an awesome prank on the Capitol in the arena!"

"No thanks, I don't want to become an Avox." the wimpiest looking kid says.

"Whatever, it's your loss bozos!" I say as I walk away.

Screw this. Maybe I just won't have an alliance this year. I wonder if Victors can ever enter the Hunger Games again after they win. Maybe I'll do that.

"The tributes this year are so rude!"

I turn around to see a hot blonde girl.

"Yeah! They act like we're braindead just because we're not eighteen!" I agree, giving her my best smile, "I'm Tim, by the way."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Kaja!" she giggles.

"We should start our own career alliance. Just us. We can show those assholes what they're missing, yeah?"

"Sure, I'd like that. Want to sit together at lunch?" she asks.

"Yeah, we'll do everything together from now on."

"Cool!" she says.

One of us - obviously her - will die in a few days and there are no other hot girls here, so I might as well just cut to the chase.

"Hey, you wanna go out? Like as my girlfriend?" I ask.

"Sure! Where would we go though?" she asks.

"Come to my place. We can order food and watch a movie."

"I'd love that!" she says, throwing her arms around me.

A/N: What did you think of the rebel alliance? What about Kaja and Timothy? Are they a match made in hell? Do you think either of them will make it past the bloodbath?