This chapter is much shorter than the previous few, and is about the training room session with the three chosen tributes. It was meant ot be part of the chapter the other, but I couldn't think where I wanted to go with it, or how to write the plans I had. I hope you're ready and filled with hatred... enjoy!

Training Day One- Private Room (Luster, Dory and Vivian)

Luster had a plan, one he had been thinking over since he met Vivian the day before. It wasn't a plan he was particularly proud of, in fact it made him feel sick to the stomach to even consider, but Luster had been written off too fast. He had worked and suffered for so long in his life, and the second he had reached retirement it had all been snatched away. He wanted his old life back, or rather, the new chapter of his old life back. He wanted days on end of just sitting there, and having no responsibilities or decisions to be made, where he had no one to constantly ask him questions, where he could just exist and do whatever he wanted.

And so, Luster's plan involved manipulation to the highest level, something the man had been surprisingly good at. For nearly fifty years, Luster had worked as a tailor, fitting some of the richest people in the Capitol and Districts for outfits that cost so much, the same amount could probably feed him for the rest of his life. He had always taken pride in the influence he had over his customers, the way he could convince them so spend a little more money, or tip him just a little better. It was a skill that had taken years of practise, and a skill Luster wasn't ready to let go to waste, just yet.

Despite being forced to drop out of school at sixteen, Luster wasn't an unintelligent man. Sure, he may not have been able to recite the periodic table, or quote Shakespeare, but he was street smart, he knew how to use his skills and get what he wanted. The sweetness and goodness he had been showing was all part of that, it wasn't fake, Luster wasn't that good of an actor, but it wasn't all there was to him. He wanted to get home, he wanted his bloody retirement, and what Luster wanted, he got.

Luster was more than aware, that even if he got a year's worth of training, he still wouldn't be half as strong as almost all of the tributes in the room next door. His next best bet was manipulation. He wouldn't be able to kill physically, but that didn't mean he was powerless, the mental power he had and his ability to control, was something he knew no other tribute would be able to match.

This plan, that Luster hated so much but was so ready to implement, started with Vivian, and it was already going well. Slowly, the girl was beginning to trust him, even now they stood, hand in hand as they walked to the centre of the room, ready to greet the trainer. It was almost time for phase two.

"Tributes, you are the lucky ones, chosen to train." The Peacekeeper pulled off his helmet, setting it down on the table next to him. I'm Maximus, and have worked as a Peacekeeper for as long as I can remember. This won't be easy, in fact, you were not the sort of tributes I was expecting, but I would do my best to ensure that you have an edge in the games." He looked around the three tributes in front of him, weighing them up one by one. The child was a lost cause, all she did was stand there and tremble, but the other two, maybe he could do something with them. "You." He pointed at Dory. "What can you do?"

Dory froze on the spot. Nerves were something that had bever really bothered her in the past, she was loud and confident and loved to live. But in this place, where there was no one she knew, no one in her corner, all she could focus on was how lonely she felt, and slowly the girl had started retreating into herself. The flare for life and love Dory had had previously was being dulled, her will to laugh and celebrate and believe there was something more was completely gone. She would never admit it out loud, or even fully to herself, but Dory couldn't wait for the Games to start, just so it could all be over quicker.
The closest thing Dory had to a friend here was Nautilus, she needed him more than she ever thought she could need someone. He was the only thing that kept her fighting, even at her lowest moments, when all she wanted to do was give up. She knew that now, given this chance to train, she should be hopeful, she was being given a chance to be better than any of the other tributes. But all she could think about was bed. Sleeping. Oblivion. She hated it, hated what the Capitol had done to her.

"I can swim very well." She spoke quietly, meeting the eye of the Peacekeeper. This was the moment Dory knew something was severely wrong. The idea of swimming had always ignited something within the girl, it was her passion, what she loved and it could cure anything she was feeling. But now, the thought of climbing into a pool and having complete freedom made her feel, well, nothing. It was gone, everything that she had cared about now felt meaningless, and the thought of having to set that aside to train for an event she was so clearly going to lose, broke her.

"Do you see a fucking pool, kid?" Maximus breathed, ready to snap. So far, during what was meant to be a once in a lifetime job, the man had been forced to wait on children, and train a group of people he wasn't even sure knew what end of a knife to stab someone with.

"No, I don't." Dory hung her head. She felt something for the first time in days, and it was a feeling she hated. She felt humiliated, humiliated by a man she had only just met. It changed, suddenly, into anger, and although it wasn't exactly what Dory had hoped to be feeling, it was something at least, and that something gave her hope, that just maybe she could come back from the edge that she was standing on.

"I can also do this." She stared Maximus straight in the eye, grabbing a spear from the table next to her, and sending it hurling it through the air, until it lodged into a security camera in the very corner of the room, shards of glass falling everywhere. She never broke eye contact with the Peacekeeper.
In all honesty, Dory had had no idea that she could pull that off. She hadn't had much training in the past. With a passion for helping people, she had made a name for herself around District Four. Every Sunday, Dory called at all the bakeries and grocery stores on her street, picking up any food that was going to be thrown out, and distributing it amongst the homeless. In return, they gave her skills, some taught her how to sew or knit, or plant seeds. Her favourites however, were the old careers who had trained for the games but never got the chance to go. They taught her how to fight and aim, should she ever need it.
Dory noticed the shock on Maximus' face, and a smile crept over her own. Now, a new feeling washed over her, and one the girl had convinced herself she could never feel again. Happiness.

"Holy shit, kid." Maximus whispered, his stunned face slowly evolving into a grin. This could be a lot more fun that he had expected. "You couldn't have led with that?"

"Don't want to give all my secrets way too early, do I?" Dory spoke, her old cheeky self beginning to return. She knew that the girl from District Four who loved everything about life and people and living was completely gone. But this new version of herself, the one who only felt in sudden bursts, might have a better shot at the games.

"I don't want to do it." Vivian began to cry, as things slowly clicked into place. Talk of the games and training had all just been words that seemed meaningless at first, but no. This wasn't a holiday like her mother had set, this wasn't even her life anymore, she was part of something so much bigger. Vivian was realising that she wasn't here for some sort of entertainment. Viv was the entertainment. "I'm scared, Mr Luster."

For a moment, Luster faltered. He couldn't actually do what he was thinking about, he would be hated across the Districts. But that wouldn't matter if he won. Sure, the victory tour would be hell, but after that, he could live in a massive house and not have to worry about greeting another person ever again. It would be his dream, and all he had to do was kill off twenty-three other people. Starting with the youngest. Luster knew that sympathy for him and the older ones would slowly begin to wear off, eventually people would realise that he had lived his life and feel okay with letting him die. A kid, however, there was no excuse for killing a child, and for that reason, Luster knew Vivian would go far. He knew he had to be the one to make sure it wasn't further than him.

"You know, Vivian, you don't have to do it." He sat down next to the girl, dropping the spear he had been training with only a moment prior. "There is a quick way home, a way that you can avoid it all and go see your mummy quicker. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Vivian nodded her head, her eyes lighting up at the mere thought of returning to District Ten, of seeing her family and friends. Of normality, of a world that she could understand and live in, where she wouldn't be scared of new things, because everything she needed she already had. "Yes, I would like that. How do I do it?"

"All you have to do," Luster took a deep breath, shaking. He couldn't believe he had even thought about this, and now he was proposing it, actually making it happen. He knew it made him a terrible person, almost as bad as those in the Capitol but he needed to get home. "Is run. When we get into the games in five days time, there will be a clock, a countdown making its way to one. Before the countdown ends, all you have to do is run, and you'll be on your way home."

"Won't Ronin be mad that I left him?" Vivian asked. Luster hadn't thought about Ronin, he was so protective of the girl he wasn't completely sure how he was going to get round it.

"Mad? No, not at all. Because Ronin will be doing exactly the same, and when you both get home, you can see each other again." He was doing it, he was really doing it. Convincing a five year old child to kill herself. And for what? So a selfish old man could have a better shot of making it home. He hated himself, but at the same time, he was proud of himself and the power that he had and the way he could use it. "But it's a secret, Vivian. You can't tell anyone, because if the Capitol finds out, they'll stop you and you won't be able to go home. So you can't talk about it with anyone, okay?"

"Not even Ronin? He'll already know about it if he's going home to?" The small girl asked, blinded by her ignorance.

"Especially not Ronin. If they found out that both of you were going home, it would ruin their games. So no one, no one can know. Sound like a plan?"

Vivian nodded her head. "The bestest plan ever!"

So yeah... Luster is a prick. He was my tribute and I always wanted to make him a villain of sorts, but I didn't know how. And then it came to me, and this chapter was born.

I would like to take this time to seriously thank everyone that has taken the time to click of my silly little SYOT, either just for a quick glance over, to read properly, or to leave a review. It feels so strange that people are taking time out of their day to read something that I have written, but there is no way to express my thanks to you. Every time I get an email that someone has reviewed, it makes me smile so wide, because even if it's something negative, it still means someone has taken the time to read my writing. So seriously thank you for sticking with me and for dealing with my long ass chapters and annoying authors notes, and for making this whole lockdown shit just a little bit easier.

As always, I hope you are staying safe, well and positive and remembering that this current state of the world is only temporary.

Until next time,

Alice xxx