CHAPTER XXIV. TRAINING DAY II
"If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath."
-Amit Ray
KINGSTON HAVLOCK (18) - DISTRICT 4 MALE
As Kingston looked in the mirror as he splashed water to his face on the second day of training, he couldn't help but wonder, what the fuck had he gotten himself into? In his hand, there was a locket and when he opened it, a picture of him and his sister stared at him, though Elizbeth looked more like a grandmother than a sister. How odd was it that what was once a representation of a real, tangible being, was now just an artifact of somebody who was already dead. Kingston knew he had to get better acquainted with death over the next few days, but he didn't know if anything he could do would help him grapple with the fact that there was a very likely chance he could join his sister at any given moment.
"Are you ready to go downstairs, Kingston?" He looked over his shoulder and saw that Mags had somehow let herself into his hotel room.
"How did you get here?" Kingston was pretty sure the Capitol made sure the doors were hard to break into.
"You left the door open last night," Mags laughed.
Oh. Well that explains that at least.
"Did you have fun?" Mags followed up, presumably asking about the party.
Fun? That was a loaded word for Kingston. He was never really able to learn just exactly what that word meant, despite the fact he heard whispers of District 4 actually being a fun place. All his childhood, he just counted the hours as he waited for Elizabeth at her Doctor's appointments, helped Elizabeth do simple tasks, and said no to offers of hanging out in exchange for spending time with Elizabeth. Nearly his whole life belonged either to Elizabeth, or to training for the Games, which wasn't shaping up to be how Kingston expected it to be.
"It was fine," That was all Kingston knew about the party since he didn't quite remember it. There was low lighting and dancing, but that was all he remembered. Nothing exceptionally interesting, just people asking him to dance, and him not remembering what he answered after that. His allies seemed to be enjoying it for themselves though, so good for them at least. Kingston just followed along.
"I'm glad," Mags smiled, pinching Kinsgton's left cheek, "Are you keeping up alright with your sister?"
For Panem's sake, was Mags ever going to stop bringing up Elizabeth? It was hard enough for Kingston, knowing no matter what, he'd never see her again, and he really didn't appreciate this lady that he barely knew trying to get him to have sophisticated conversations about it. He could tell she cared, and this was her way of expressing just that, but he still didn't appreciate the way she brought it up so carelessly when it was already weighing down his mind.
"The best I can," Kingston tried to keep his answer short since he didn't want to be invaded with thoughts about his sister and how he killed her more than he already had, "I'm going to go downstairs and have breakfast with Lana."
Strangely, Lana had been a huge help to Kingston throughout this period of mourning and suffering. He never would have thought it when he first met her, especially since she kissed him on the lips which was very weird, but Lana was by far the smartest person Kingston had ever met. She'd been through so many things, even though she was spawned out of the ocean like bubbles, and she always rose to the top.
"Mags keeps wanting to talk about Elizabeth," Kingston sighed when he sat down next to Lana at breakfast, "Is there anything you could do to help?"
She always knew what to do when it involved helping him. The little salt thing she did was a really wonderful way to help Kingston feel oddly less alone, knowing all of Lana's friends were doing it at the same time as him. Even though he had never met them, having the shared interest in the salt water, and cleaning his soul, it was somewhat confronting to know that he wasn't alone.
"I could kill her," Lana smirked, "I could do that real easy."
"You're joking right?" Kingston quipped.
Lana had to be joking, she wouldn't kill a real person unless it was for the Hunger Games. That was what she told Kingston anyways, that she volunteered to show her friends that they're capable of anything they put their minds to, and that making sacrifices to prove oneself was allowed, but only in that situation. It was awe inspiring to the very definition of the word.
"Of course I am," Lana gave Kingston a friendly pat on the back.
That was another reason Lana was so perfect for leading the careers, she knew how to make good jokes, and that joke was the perfect example. She'd be so good at lightening the mood once they were all in the arena under the same stars.
"I don't know what I'd do without you," Kingston said.
It was true, he had absolutely no idea what he would do if Lana wasn't there to help him through these awfully rough times with her weird acts and cruel jokes with good intentions. Kingston had gone so long having nothing to believe in, and boy was it nice for him to finally have a savior.
ALABASTOR CONTRERAS (12) - DISTRICT 10 MALE
Alabastor was ecstatic to have a new edition to his alliance with Piper. Morgan was just the type of person that Alabastor was thrilled could be his ally. He told good jokes, and was pretty likeable overall, and most importantly he could so easily be manipulated if that needed to be the case, but for now, maybe having a friend his own age would be ideal. He didn't often talk to kids his own age at school, so this was odd yet amusing at the exact same time.
"Do you see this?" Morgan gawked, throwing a small axe at the wall, missing for the third time in a row, "How are people good at this?"
Yeah, Morgan was kind of ass with weapons, but at least he had a somewhat good attitude about it. And weapons weren't really everything in the Hunger Games anyways, especially since the Cornucopia would probably be dominated by the Careers, just as it was every year. The trio spent loads of time in the survival related stations for a reason. They were usually open anyways, unless Palmer from District 7 was there. He was a tall boy, and he seemed nice enough, but he never wanted to talk to anybody and he always looked so serious all the time. Granted, Alabastor also looked serious all the time, but at least he had reasoning for it, though maybe Palmer did too.
"People train with weapons for years, you know," Alabastor sighed, feeding from Morgan's frustration, "I don't understand how they expect us to get good with them in just a few days."
"They don't," Morgan dropped his axe to the ground, "It's more entertaining for them to watch if we don't have any idea what we're doing."
"If we don't have any idea what we're doing, we're going to get killed," Alabastor went to pick up Morgan's axe, "We should go work on something more practical."
Morgan had been pretty adamant about learning how to perfect the throwing axe, and all sorts of weapons in general, which Alabastor found disheartening since it was a waste of time.
"Don't you think we're not wasting time?" Morgan looked over to Piper who was observing the two boys, from a distance while practicing with a lasso.
"What is it, boys?" Piper hadn't been paying attention to their mayhem, instead opting to focus on her own craft, which she was actually quite good at.
"I personally think we should be spending our time learning survival skills," Alabastor tried his best to sound as diplomatic as possible, "But Morgan here thinks we should try to learn weapons even though we're probably going to fail miserably at them."
"We'll only fail if we don't keep practicing," Morgan groaned, folding his arms.
"Well how long have you been practicing with an axe?" Piper appeared to be finding some sort of a resolution to this conflict.
"Too fucking long!" Alabastor turned around to see a tall boy with blonde hair glaring down at them, "I've been trying to practice the axe all day, and these punks keep occupying the station."
"Bell, please," A red-haired girl ran over to him, "There's plenty of other stations."
"I don't care about those," He scoffed at the girl.
Alabastor had no clue what to do in the situation, but he assumed they were picking on Morgan, so he just decided to observe.
"You've trained your whole life for this, and I only have three days," Morgan stammered, quite ballsy of him, "Just let me figure out how to use this."
"There's no point!" The tall boy yelled, "Even your allies don't want you practicing here."
Piper made sharp eye contact with Alabastor from across Morgan and the other boy.
"Should I do something?" She mouthed, letting out the slightest bit of noise.
Alabastor flashed a thumbs up. He wasn't able to mouth words as good as Piper without being loud, so he figured quiet communication was his best bet and he agreed, maybe she should intervene.
"Hi," Piper approached the conflicting duo, "I'm Piper from District 10 and I was wondering if you could please let my ally here continue to use the axe station for just a bit longer."
He was amazed at how diplomatic Piper could be when she had to.
"Wait," The boy laughed, his hand on his belly, "This little scrawny kid is your ally"
Piper nodded, "Yes, that's Morgan."
"That's just about the funniest thing I've ever seen!" He exclaimed, "Good luck getting past the bloodbath if your allying with fucking children."
Alabastor ran off to the water corner, and looked around to see that Morgan had followed him.
"He did make a point," Morgan said between breaths, "Maybe us being here is hurting Piper."
Alabastor had feared that but he didn't want to think or talk about it. If anybody was going to hurt Piper, it would be him. She didn't really have much going for her anyways, and it wouldn't exactly be hard for Alabastor to snap her neck in her sleep, but he didn't want to do that really. He truly liked Piper in an odd way. She was the closest thing he'd ever gotten to a mother, and he appreciated her existence even if he knew he'd have to be the one to end it eventually.
"I'm not leaving you guys," Piper rejoined the group, "I promise I'll be with you to the end."
To the end? Oh, that was cute to Alabastor, even though the end was something completely in his control.
PALMER ADAMS (18) - DISTRICT 7 MALE
Perhaps Palmer's least favorite part about the hustle and the bustle of the Capitol was all the attention he was getting. Palmer didn't necessarily hate attention from time to time, but the constant state of people watching over him was deeply disturbing. Everywhere he went it was "Palmer, can I help you with that," or "Mr. Adams, is there anything I can do to help you prepare for the Games," and it was mentally draining to the very definition of the word. Perhaps the most mentally draining was Diana and her constant nagging for him to schedule an appointment with her so she could help him talk strategy for the Games, even though he was damn capable of surviving all on his own. Eventually though, Palmer bit the bullet and decided to meet with her, since it was a nice way to spend some of the very boring hours of training, and it wouldn't hurt for him to see those gorgeous brown eyes once again.
"Hello Ms. Vera," Palmer sat down on the sofa in the meeting room Diana has booked for them to be able to have their meeting.
"Please, call me Diana," She replied, sitting down in one of the chairs across from him. He knew she didn't mind being called her first name, but he addressed her formally anyways since he figured it would get her to like him more, "Have you any idea what your strategy is going to be for the Games?"
Palmer thought for a moment. He'd thought about strategy for a bit of his time in training, since it wasn't like he had much to think of anyways, but he didn't know if he wanted Diana knowing what he had in mind.
"Are you going to tell Marcel?" Palmer asked about his District Partner. They hadn't really spoken much at all and they definitely weren't going to be allies, so Palmer was weary that Diana would share his plan with her if they ever spoke.
"Why would I do that?" Diana awkwardly laughed at him, "I'm actually a fairly good Mentor."
"Both of your tributes died on the first day last year," That was a fact Palmer actually knew, "And the one kid you did make win died a few hours later."
Perry Saperstein was the Victor of the 22nd Hunger Games, and he died of a chest injury that he sustained during the finale and they weren't able to fix him in time since it turns out his lung was punctured, but he did outlive everyone else and therefore Diana did train a Victor.
"That isn't relevant to this conversation," In all seriousness, Palmer did somewhat appreciate Diana's no nonsense attitude, as abrasive as it could be at times, "I'm not telling Marcel whatever you tell me, so you can either take my advice, or suffer consequences because you didn't."
"Fine then I'll tell you," Palmer sighed, spreading his legs out on the couch, "The current plan is that I go get a few things from the Cornucopia, and then I just sort of camp out until I have to face conflict."
It was a simple plan, but it was still something Palmer was fairly proud of. Things didn't have to be extremely complicated in order for them to be successful.
"Well what happens when you have to face conflicts?" Palmer couldn't tell if Diana liked his idea or not.
"I haven't thought that far," He laughed, somewhat embarrassed of his own truth.
"Do you have any allies or possible allies?" Diana once again was asking the hard hitting questions.
Palmer didn't want allies so he didn't talk to anybody really. To him, allies were just a distraction and he wanted to be out on his own because it meant less confrontation. Last night, there was a party, and for a split second Palmer considered possibly talking to people, but his father always told him he should stick to his gut, so that's exactly what he did.
"No," Palmer sighed, "I really think I'd be best off by myself."
"Really?" Diana raised her brow, "I think your little camping trip plan would be miles more entertaining if it wasn't just you all by yourself in nature."
"I don't really get bored, ma'am," Palmer didn't know whether or not he was being judged by Diana, "Is my plan good or not."
"It's fine, I suppose," She sighed, "I just wouldn't rush straight to the Cornucopia if I were you. It's a pretty good way to be killed, though I guess you're strong enough that you could take somebody if they crossed you."
"Oh I'd prefer to not kill somebody," Palmer said, a look of disappointment on Diana's face, "Is that an issue?"
"Only if you want to survive it is," She chuckled to herself, "I don't know what to tell you honey, but if I were you I'd plan on not being afraid to kill somebody, and avoid the Cornucopia at all costs."
"Well thanks," Palmer prepared to leave the room, "Your advice seems helpful but I really don't think I'll be following it."
"Okay then," Diana blinked her eyes, "I can't control your bad decisions."
The whole meeting was frustrating for Palmer. He didn't expect Diana to actually care about helping him, and he wished she actually didn't care because her advice or whatever was somewhat infuriating to say the very least. Palmer didn't come to the Games to abandon his own code of ethics, and nobody could convince him that abandoning them would be the proper course of action. He knew that if he wanted to win this, he'd only be able to do so if he was his most authentic self.
TERESA MCCLEAN (18) - DISTRICT 8 FEMALE
Teresa and her new ally Marcel got along like two peas and a pod! She sure was a great gal, unlike the Challis guy who was her District Partner. Yeah, Challis was a sweet kid, but Marcel was the whole package, and exactly what Teresa needed in an ally. She was funny, she was smart, and she was overall amazing to be around. She even had the physical strength of any champion.
"Shit," Marcel groaned as she continued to lift up a round weight that looked pretty heavy, "This is so repetitive and boring."
Marcel and Teresa had been lifting weights for about an hour. Half because upper-body strength was a good asset, and half because it made them look intimidating to the other tributes.
"We have to do it for at least a few more minutes," Teresa said, wiping the sweat from her face, "I don't think anybody's scared of us yet."
That was a lie. The girl from 11 was definitely extremely scared of them, screaming in horror when they said they didn't want to be her ally, and the girl from 6 looked absolutely frightened, though just about everything gave her that petrified look on her face. They continued to lift their weights, doing their reps in synch for the fun of it and eventually they decided that enough was simply enough, or at least Teresa did since she felt like her head was simply spinning.
"Can we take a water break?" Teresa called out to Marcel who was still lifting, "I think I'm going to faint."
Teresa had never fainted before but she kept seeing a trio of Marcels spinning in front of her and she knew that wasn't a good sign.
"Oh, so now you're the one who wants to quit?" Marcel cackled, sticking her tongue out at Teresa, "You have to do it for at least a few more minutes," She mocked Teresa's voice from a few minutes prior.
"I'm serious," Teresa panted, struggling to get up from the ground, "I need water, so soon hon."
"Oh, okay damn," Marcel looked over to see that Teresa was indeed not in her finest condition, "Let's get water then."
Teresa hobbled over to the water station, barely able to make it feeling a cool rush when the cold liquid finally touched her throat.
"Are you okay?" Marcel questioned Teresa, genuinely full of concern, "You've needed a lot of breaks today."
Teresa honestly had no idea what was going on with her. First it was puking at the train station, and then it was the feeling of fatigue she'd been getting lately whenever she tried to work out. It was extremely frustrating though.
"I can't explain why," Teresa sighed, feeling extremely pathetic, "I just have felt dizzy all day and nothing is helping."
"That's not good," Marcel patted Teresa on the back, "Do you think it's because of the food."
"You're so right!" Teresa exclaimed, "That would make the most sense for sure."
The food in the Capitol was divine, which wasn't any surprise to Teresa, but it was also extremely flavorful and also a bit spicy, especially for her since she had the complexion of a stale cracker.
"Well I'm glad we figured that out then," Marcel chuckled, finishing her own cup of water, "Do you want to be done for the day? We only have about half an hour anyways."
"I don't want to hold you back," Teresa felt somewhat guilty, "You don't have to do whatever I do but yeah, I think I'm just about done for the day."
"I'd be so bored if I went back to training by myself though," Marcel laughed, "I'll just stick with you."
Loyalty was probably Teresa's favorite thing about Marcel, provided it was genuine. They had only known each other for a bit less than a day, but Teresa genuinely felt like Marcel was her little sister. Mature for a little sister, definitely, but Teresa appreciated how the girl seemed to look up to her.
"Can we go over what we learned then?" Teresa tried her best to not sound like a school teacher, "We hit quite a few stations today."
Besides sword fighting, which was way more fun than it had any right to be, Teresa and Marcel spent lots of time at various stations, learning about all the exciting things that would come in handy in the arena, such as survival skills and facts about what plants are safe to eat.
"Well I learned I'm poisonous," Marcel laughed, referring to the fact her last name was the same as the name of a toxic plant, the Hemlock.
"Besides that," Teresa sighed, "Though I hope you're not actually poisonous and actually what's making me feel like shit."
"I hope I'm not poisonous too," Marcel let out a yawn, forgetting to cover her mouth which was sort of rude, "I also learned that there's a berry called nightlock that looks like grapes but could easily kill me."
"Which is why we won't be eating anything that looks like a grape!" Teresa chimed in, her volume a bit too loud, provoking a few stares, "I don't even like grapes anyways."
"You can't control what food you like and don't like in a death match" Marcel's voice rang, "But you do you I guess."
"You're right," Teresa smiled big, "But I thought we weren't even eating anything that resembles a grape."
"We're not, I was just goofing with you," Marcel playfully slapped Teresa.
These were the moments of carelessness that Teresa missed more than anything at home. Her husband was nice, and so was his family, but Teresa was starting to think that playing around was better than any sex she could ever have. There was just something about being with Marcel and acting like death wasn't on their doorsteps that made Teresa feel more alive than ever before.
Thank you so much for reading and hopefully enjoying the second day of training. Establishing these alliances has been so much fun and all the preparation for the Games is only making me more excited for them to officially begin.
The bloodbath will be on September 1st, 2020 and it will be uploaded at 8PM EST. It's going to be the 33rd chapter of A Perfect Union.
My last announcement is that my drawing for a free sponsor gift ends the next chapter, so if you haven't reviewed every chapter after Reapings, I recommend doing so soon.
Have a great day,
Lindsay
Current Alliances:
Career Cult/Pack: Eros Fortuna (D1M), Fila Ollaris (D1F), Bellerophon "Bell" Cristos (D2M), Moira Mikkel (D2F), Kingston Havlock (D4M), Lana Lotus (D4F)
Academic Rivals: Clancy Dietrich (D5M), Ares Krishnan (D5F)
The Fraternity But Less Toxic: Edison Montparnasse (D3M), Challis Lam (D8M), Alarico de Oro (D9M)
Lone Wolves: Liana Taylor (D3F), Dephra Kirk (D11F), Palmer Adams (D7M)
Fuck Men: Marcel Hemlock (D7F), Teresa McClean (D8F)
Babysitting: Alabastor Contreras (D10M), Piper Sanderson (D10F), Morgan Barrow (D12M)
Unknown: Camber Yaw (D6A), Sperry Holster (D6F), Saffron "Saf" Aldeniz (D9F), Alabastor Contreras (D10M), Piper Sanderson (D10F), Pith Plastid (D11M), Etta Wiseman (D12F)