Teagan Kinsley, 14

District Ten Female

Teagan felt comfortable where she stood as the final day of training started. Her alliance was everything she could've hoped for, and she even felt like she'd learned a few things to stay alive, both crucial when it came to her survival in the Arena. When it came down to it, though, Teagan wasn't sure that she had any particular talent to show off to the gamemakers. She'd been mulling over taking that in stride and throwing herself on the mercy of her alliance, further cementing her as some weak little girl that needed the help of those older and stronger than her. It was the kind of strategy that she'd seen plenty of times before, but it hadn't often come to fruition in a way that actually benefited whatever child was trying to pull it off.

With a sigh, Teagan stretched her arms over her head in preparation for the obstacle course, which Liam had suggested to her. She frowned at it, though she was actually fairly excited to go through it. If she squinted, maybe it would be like running around on her land back home.

"Do you want to go first, or do you want me to?" Liam asked.

She pulled her lips into a pout as she considered. "You can go ahead. I want to see how it goes first."

There, it was just as if she was too nervous to go on her own. Liam just shrugged and moved on ahead of her, but she didn't bother to watch him. Instead, her foot tapped the ground impatiently as she scanned the room around her, eyes landing on the Nine boy.

One of the more perplexing tributes to her was the boy from Nine, particularly for the way he came in and stole the Five girl as an ally. It had been bothering Teagan for a couple days now, mainly because she couldn't figure out why he'd choose the Five girl of all people as an ally. Sure, she seemed smart, but how could he have known just how smart she was?

Gritting her teeth, she tried to block out the taunting voice in her mind that whispered that she was just jealous she didn't get picked out of the crowd. It was her old, childish desire to be selfish choosing to rear its ugly head again even though she knew why. Here, she was just a child, one that wouldn't stand much of a chance in the Games. She was only in this alliance out of convenience, as Jude and Imperia were collecting as many allies as they could. So it aggravated her that no one had really chosen Teagan here, where death was on the line and she was stuck with these people until the end.

Her eyes scanned the room once more, momentarily taken aback when she saw Jude appearing to hold a knife at Imperia. She quickly looked away and blinked quickly to clear her vision before looking back to see a completely normal scene once more.

She probably just imagined it.

"Hey, Teagan!"

The sound of her name startled her, and she whipped her head around to see Liam waving at her from the other side of the obstacle course. Right, she was supposed to be watching him to get an idea of what to expect.

Without wasting any time, she moved into it, trying to keep her feet light and her movements steady as she went. It was a narrow course, one that didn't give her much room to evade things that came her way. A trainer on the sidelines was timing her as she went through, easily staying on her feet the whole time. There were a couple moving platforms that she had to time correctly, forcing her to slow down instead of continuing to move forward at what was probably a nearly reckless speed. The course was almost like a game to her, and Teagan loved winning at games.

As soon as she made it out of the narrow section, she grinned at Liam and started jogging toward him, tilting her head in confusion when he waved his hands at her frantically.

The sensation of something smashing into her head really cleared that up, though.

Letting out a weak groan, she sat up and realized she'd fallen to the ground at one point, the training room spinning around her. She blinked and suddenly Liam and the trainer were there as well, staring at her with identical looks of worry.

"You have to dodge stuff falling from above in the last section," Liam explained apologetically. "I figured you'd seen it when I went through."

"Unfortunately, we're gonna have to cut her training short for today to make sure she'll be prepared for private sessions later." The trainer's voice came in and out like the flow of water as he spoke.

"Will she be okay?"

"This course is designed for injuries to be minor, so my guess is that she's just dazed and should be fine after some rest."

Even though Teagan desperately didn't want to leave, she couldn't help but admit that some rest did sound rather nice right now. Maybe she could find a way to spin this so it helped her out in the end, but for now she would just kick herself for being so foolish and missing something so obvious.

She just hoped she had a way to come back from this.

Arcturus "Nash" Prior, 17

District Five Male

Nash felt oddly weary as he moved through the different stages that morning, as if his optimism today was just a front he put up. He'd been so excited to see the stars the night before that he forgot to factor in the lights all around, and they were barely more than dim specks in the sky. He was lucky that Lilith and Merix were willing to entertain him and willingly listened to him blabbering on about the origins of the different constellations instead of showing them what the night sky really was.

And then… well, Nash's chest still hurt if he thought about Seiren too much. He figured it was true enough that Seiren had more than likely given up on the stars.

Of course, he knew Seiren was never particularly attached to the stars on his own, but Nash hated being the reason someone gave up on something as lovely as the stars and all the dreams that came with them.

Too much was swirling in Nash's head before private sessions. He wasn't sure what to do with all of the information in front of him, and for once it was wholly overwhelming, enough so that he just wanted to shut off his brain or curl up in bed again and wait for tomorrow. But that couldn't happen. There was hardly any downtime this late in pregames, as he'd figured out by talking to his mentor last night. Time was money here in the Capitol, and they were all living their lives on the Capitol's time now.

"Hey Nash, how does this look?"

Merix was holding up a strand of rope with a few various knots tied in it, each one a little on the loose side but still able to get the job done. He was looking up at Nash hopefully, and Nash just grinned encouragingly.

"They could still be tighter, but you're getting the hang of it!"

Despite his kind words, Merix's face still fell as if Nash had personally crushed all of his dreams in one fell swoop. His own smile faltered at that, and he sensed that there was something more to the question and somehow he hadn't answered it properly.

"It's good, really!" he tried again, catching Lilith's attention as well.

She pursed her lips and picked up one end of the rope before nodding sagely. "You could restrain many foes with this. They would be at your mercy."

Merix let out a soft cry at that, making Lilith frown this time as she realized her compliment somehow distressed him. To keep both of them from falling apart at the same time, Nash gave Lilith a thumbs up when he was sure Merix wasn't looking. That seemed to help, at least a little.

Racking his brain to figure out what would be the cause of Merix's sudden anguish, Nash almost felt foolish for not thinking of it earlier. "You're nervous about private sessions?" he guessed.

The younger boy's shoulders immediately drooped, signalling that Nash had guessed correctly. The other end of the rope fell limply from his hands as he sighed with all the weariness of someone that had clearly been thinking about this for a while.

"I'm gonna get a terrible score," Merix lamented, easily picking apart one of his knots. "It'll just show everyone back at home how weak I am still."

"Who cares about them?" Nash asked, frowning at the effect Merix's old schoolmates still had on him. "It's just a number, and even the Victor sometimes gets a shitty score."

"But… I could still get predicted last," Merix muttered, his hands fidgeting with the rope. "All of Panem will think I'm the worst."

"I don't think you're the worst," Nash insisted. "I mean, come on, we've been working on stuff for a few days now! There's no way you'll get last again!"

Merix let out a despairing groan at that. "That still feels impossible to accomplish."

"It doesn't matter if it's impossible, because I believe in you! The impossible is possible, all you gotta do is make it so! Even one place higher is still better, and in the end I'm still gonna be your ally because I think you're one of the strongest people here, no doubt about it!"

Raising his head enough to peek up at Nash, Merix whispered, "Are you sure?"

"I'm more sure about this than anything," Nash said quietly, giving him a smile. "I always believe in my friends, no matter what."

"A great increase in your predicted placement could not hope to demonstrate to the masses how much you have changed in merely a few days," Lilith chimed in. "But I say you've changed, and so does Nash, and we are all that matters in the end."

A hint of a smile started to show on Merix's face, and Nash couldn't help but feel relieved. He desperately wanted both of his allies to see themselves the way he did, but it was taking more effort than he thought. They were such kind people and more than deserved to be free of the shackles of the Games, but sometimes it felt like they thought they deserved to be here for one reason or another: Merix for the way he was resigned to accept his own weakness, and Lilith for the way always assumed the worst in any given situation.

"It's not impossible," Merix whispered to himself. "I don't have to prove myself to anyone."

"That's exactly it!" Nash encouraged. "In the end, the only one that matters is you and how you feel about your score."

Merix took a moment to mull that over before looking up at Nash once more. "What if I don't like my score?"

"Their scoring system is foolish and does not take into account the ways that survival could save your life, or the way that being smart does you infinitely more good than being physically strong. Your mind is a powerful weapon, and you shouldn't let them trick you into thinking it isn't." Lilith finally put her own rope down, leaning forward as if to fully engage in their conversation.

"I guess I didn't think about that part," Merix mumbled, his restless fingers moving up to play with the ends of his hair.

"Besides, if you don't feel good after your private session, we can meet up on the rooftop for more training," Nash suggested.

Merix paused before nodding, his fine features still shadowed with a sorrowness that Nash had yet to fully get rid of. "I think I'd like that."

Nash couldn't help but be worried anyway, since he'd get out several people after Merix and Lilith would take far longer than that to be done. All he could do was hope that Merix's private session did go well, better than they imagined.

Because in the end, Nash believed in his friends more than anything. Sometimes it felt like that was all he could do, but that had never stopped him before.

Thay Alexander Yukimura, 16

District Nine Male

If Thay expected anything on the last day of training, it definitely wasn't Eleanor showing up to him with a new ally.

He was sure that, like everyone else, he'd already taken inventory of the tributes left and their possibility to become a worthy ally. There were several that were too weak for him to even consider, and he certainly wouldn't be rescuing any other tributes from those hellish Sixes. Even though he'd hung around plenty of kids back in Nine, they were all street smart, and he didn't trust anyone that couldn't at least use common sense.

That left the Eight girl and the Twelve girl. Jack was smart and kept her head down, working away at whatever station she was at, whereas Crush had solely worked at survival stations but appeared strong enough to pose a worthy threat if she truly knew how to use that strength. Thay suspected she did, and if he was going to avoid anyone in the Arena that wasn't on his side, it was going to be her. The only tragic thing was that they both appeared to be hopeless loners, barely giving anyone the time of day.

He should've figured Norrie would pull through somehow.

"Jack, was it?" Thay asked, tilting his head as he scanned her up and down. Her orange shirt was hanging on her frame as if it didn't fit right, which was odd considering everything they wore was Capitol manufactured and should've fit perfectly. Her dark hair hung limply around her shoulders, and her tall frame seemed shorter somehow, as if she was trying to make herself appear smaller. She hung close to Eleanor's side, who was looking nervously between them.

While Jack herself only nodded, Eleanor jumped in to fill the silence. "You said you only work with smart people, and I ran into Jack at the library last night. We looked through the books you left with me and then picked out a couple extras to focus on. I know you weren't planning on adding another member-"

"Sure."

"I- huh?"

Thay just nodded again, already fond of the idea of Jack joining them. "I said sure. I think she'd make a great addition. Thanks, Norrie."

Clearly expecting more resistance, Eleanor just stared at him blankly before sinking down to sit beside him, Jack hesitantly following her lead. Jack looked distinctly uncomfortable, like most of the new kids that joined the Ospreys who weren't used to his cool demeanor.

"Have you done the med station yet?" Thay asked, continuing on with training like nothing had happened. He could already tell that Jack didn't want him to make a big deal out of it, and he was more than willing to go along with that wish.

He already knew the answer, but he quietly waited as she licked her lips before responding, "Yeah. First day."

Nodding, he grabbed enough materials to throw together a splint. "If you want, you and Norrie can split off for the morning. I just want to brush up on a few things here."

"No, this is fine," Jack insisted, her eyes scanning over the table of supplies.

Though she seemed to be mostly quiet in demeanor, Thay noticed that Eleanor was already particularly good at filling in the gaps and answering when Jack didn't feel the need to, as she said, "We read up on a couple new things to try last night."

Curious, Thay looked over at them. "Show me."

The girls - or, mostly Eleanor - proceeded to run through a few different methods of preventing infection before briefly mentioning cauterization and then segueing into a couple different kinds of poison they'd read about. Thay just nodded along, either copying their herbal pastes or bandaging up a splint as he listened. This was the kind of thing he'd hoped for when he brought Eleanor down to the library and told her to grab a few books that appeared to contain useful information. He'd done the same, and probably stayed up too late reading them, but it was nice to know that at least something good had come out of it.

All things considered, he was running low on sleep, but that hadn't stopped him before.

A sudden shudder crawled down his spine, and Thay automatically stiffened where he sat. He hated open spaces as it was, but he kept getting the sense that someone was watching him, and they had been for all of training. He wasn't sure if he'd just lost his touch or if they manage to evade him each time, but Thay had yet to catch anyone directly staring at him. It made him uneasy, and he wished for the day to go by faster so he could recuperate in the smaller waiting room.

"I need all tributes to report to their assigned seat in the waiting area to prepare for private sessions," the head trainer announced over the intercom, causing the entire room to come to a standstill. "You have five minutes."

Before Thay could even think of standing, he was met with an outstretched hand waiting for him to shake it.

"Good luck," Eleanor said, giving him a genuine smile. "Thank you for all your help."

His mouth twisted into something almost like a smile as he grabbed her hand and gave it a firm shake. "You'll do great."

Eleanor seemed to get an extra boost of confidence from that, her shoulders straightening as she went ahead of him to take her place in between Nash and Jude. He watched her for a moment, consistently impressed by the way she'd grown over just a couple days. Thay was sure that there were things she wasn't telling him, but he knew she would with time. And if she didn't, then it couldn't have been that important in the first place. Either way, he knew he'd made the right choice by sparing her from the Sixes.

Moving his way through the cluster of tributes, Thay lost sight of both of his allies as everyone clumped together while they tried to get to their seats. He glanced around but couldn't see either of them, heaving a sigh as he walked towards his seat.

"Good luck."

The words were whispered so quietly that Thay was sure he imagined them entirely. His steps barely faltered as he made his way down to his seat near the end of the line, but as he thought over who he was passing, he was pretty sure it was a Career of all people.

He made sure not to look back until he sat down, lifting his head up enough to meet the eye of anyone that happened to still be looking in his direction. Beside him, he heard Lilith shift in her seat uncomfortably as her allies leaned forward an almost comical amount to try and talk to each other around the other tributes.

No one met his eye until the One girl, Alila, and that made Thay's frown deepen. He hadn't missed the looks she'd given him over the course of training, and he had spent plenty of time trying to figure out if he'd somehow made himself out to be a target for her. There was nothing that immediately came to mind, so while he couldn't call himself safe, he also couldn't immediately assume she was going to kill him. Even if she was, wishing him luck was a weird way to go about it.

Or maybe this was just an attempt to get inside his head and wig him out before he performed during his private session. That surely wouldn't work, as Thay found himself working better under pressure, or at least the presence of a perceived threat.

Either way, it had him gnawing on his lip as he glanced over at Jack on his other side, her arms wrapped around her loosely as if she was trying to cave in on herself. She didn't seem to notice her odd positioning, instead staring straight at the floor.

"You don't have to get an amazing score," Thay said lowly, mimicking her position. "I'm not planning on kicking you out of the alliance for something stupid like that."

"You don't have to worry about that anyway," Jack muttered, determined to keep her voice quiet like his. "I'm going to pull my own weight."

His face barely twitched at that, but Thay couldn't help but feel pleased anyway. He really didn't mind having a third ally - he actually somewhat preferred it - but he had nonetheless been wary of the standoffish girl. In the end, however, the only thing he wanted was for her to make herself worthwhile in the alliance instead of a hindrance.

"I have no doubt about that," he said honestly. "If anything, I think we can fly under the radar enough that we're no one's first target."

Her shoulders rose slightly in an understated shrug. "Works for me."

Nothing else needed to be said between them, but Thay felt he'd at least reached out enough to show that he accepted her as an ally, not just as Eleanor's ally. He wasn't the kind of person to settle for the bare minimum, but he had already figured out that Jack Carmichael was not exactly the friendliest on her own. It was best not to push her.

His hands twitched and Thay had to clench them together to resist the urge to gnaw on one of his fingernails, his black nail polish from the chariots long gone. His old nervous habits were making a strong reappearance, and he really didn't want to demonstrate his anxiety in front of all these people, especially not when he felt threatened.

Whether it was Alila or not, Thay felt certain that someone had it out for him. And even though he couldn't figure out who, he was determined to stay in the shadows and out of sight.

Phaedra Nikostratos, 17

District Two Female

Petra Palladino.

Even the name alone was enough to make Phaedra's stomach roil in protest, but she was trying her best to keep from lingering on that for long.

Her right hand was linked with Justus's as they waited for him to be called back. Occasionally, one of them gave a light squeeze just to see the other smile, but they were both far too lost in their own minds to be able to relax.

Shai and Alila had already gone in, and as the minutes crept by, Phaedra knew it was getting closer to time for Justus to perform. Each window between the tributes getting taken back had been about twenty minutes so far, so there was likely around fifteen minutes of the actual private session and then five minutes to get them out and clean up a little before the next person went. Shai and Alila, and all of her allies for that matter, were talented enough to take up the whole fifteen minutes and more if they were allowed, but Phaedra couldn't help but wonder what some of the other tributes would do.

"You'll do great," she whispered to Justus. "Just use everything we've been working on. You keep improving, even here."

His usual radiant smile took longer than normal to make its way onto his face, and Phaedra desperately wished that she had enough time to pull him aside and get him ready for his private session, but they were short enough on time as it was.

"Thanks, Phaedra," he murmured before pressing a kiss to her hand. "You'll do amazing as well."

Before she could even open her mouth to say something else, the door opened and a trainer stepped out, beckoning Justus forward. Everything she was about to say was suddenly stuck in her throat, and the only thing she could offer was a swift kiss on the cheek before he stood up and headed in.

She could still feel his hand in hers even after it was gone.

And then she was alone. With only thoughts of the Fortuna Equestris to entertain her.

Phaedra panted as she wiped sweat off her brow with the back of her hand, narrowing her eyes as she waited for Rhoda to make the next move. This fight had already stretched on far longer than her last battle, and while Phaedra had only put so much stock into the whole prophecy surrounding her, she couldn't help but be surprised that Rhoda was so… so good.

She was forced to duck as one of Rhoda's spears flew directly at her face, barely missing the top of her head as it whipped past her ponytail. In the end, it was merely a distraction technique, as Rhoda used Phaedra's momentary shift in balance to lash out with her other spear and send her to the ground.

Using her shield, Phaedra caught herself before she could become vulnerable to any further attacks, rolling over and kneeling with the shield in front of her in a matter of seconds, just in time for Rhoda's spear to clang dully off of her shield. Phaedra could see the imprint on her side, a sizable dent left behind.

She was really tired of the lack of a no killing rule.

But then again, they were all fighting for the glorious chance to compete in the Hunger Games and bring honor to the District. Death was an inevitability.

Carefully rising to her feet, Phaedra made sure to keep her shield firmly in between her and Rhoda, unwilling to make a mistake that would lead to her own death. Rhoda had gotten close enough to snatch her spear back, her eyes darting over to where her second spear still lay across the arena.

Taking her opponent's slight distraction in stride, Phaedra moved forward with a sureness that made Rhoda's eyes narrow and linger on her, ready to dart out of the way. Phaedra's eyes snagged on Rhoda's feet, watching as Rhoda tried to throw her off by shifting her balance back and forth before she tried to slip around Phaedra's right side.

A sting in Phaedra's back reminded her that it was a bad idea to let Rhoda get behind her, and she was starting to feel the pressure around her to end the fight and to end it quickly. She lashed out with her sword, simultaneously kicking one of her legs out as Rhoda threw herself off balance in an attempt to keep from getting decapitated. She heard a whoosh of air rush out of Rhoda's lungs as Phaedra's kick hit her firmly in the stomach.

Only years of training let Phaedra react fast enough to lift her shield in time to deflect a final attack from Rhoda's spear, the spear bouncing off of her shield and sliding in between her arm and torso instead of slotting itself between her ribs. Even though Phaedra now had the upper hand, she'd nearly lost her life.

But it didn't matter as Phaedra firmly planted her foot on Rhoda's chest to prevent the girl from moving, her sword within a hair's breadth of piercing through her smooth white throat. The other girl gave her a sharp grin as dangerous as she was before letting her head rest back, knowing she had lost.

"Phaedra Nikostratos?"

Her head shot up at the sound of her name before checking the time, recognizing with dawning horror that the full twenty minutes weren't up. Phaedra swallowed hard, knowing she didn't have the luxury of asking about what had happened - because surely something had happened. Justus wouldn't be done this early of his own volition.

Wiping her sweaty hands on her pants, Phaedra slowly stood up and lifted her chin to feign confidence before heading past the row of tributes and walking through the door. She offered a nod to the trainer who called her name, and he smiled at her in return.

The room was empty, making a chill run down Phaedra's spine. There was no roaring crowd like there was for the Fortuna Equestris, just a space for the gamemakers to sit that Phaedra took note of once she made it to the middle of the room.

The crowd screamed her name as she easily parried Wyverna's rapier, overpowering the girl - her friend - as if it was nothing. Wyverna's pale hair whipped around as she attempted to back away from Phaedra, wanting to get enough room to try a new strategy, but Phaedra was relentless in her pursuit.

Her fight with Rhoda had taken fifteen brutal minutes, but this fight against Wyverna was already shaping up to be under five. She'd barely used her shield at all, her arm holding it down to keep it out of the way.

The bad thing about being friends with Wyverna was that Phaedra was intimately aware of how the other girl fought: with clean, pristine movements and quick footwork. Even though they hadn't fought much in a setting like this, Phaedra had all but studied her friend's fighting style when she went up against her last opponent.

In a way… Phaedra almost felt bad about it. This was her friend, they were the same age, but Phaedra knew that her friend still had another year as long as Phaedra made this one count, and so she caught her friend's rapier in another parry, this time twisting her wrist to unexpectedly force the weapon out of Wyverna's hands.

In under five minutes, Phaedra had made it to the final round.

"Can I get a few trainers, please?"

She noticed the way the gamemaker at the front table was watching her intently, the woman beside him whispering something in his ear. Phaedra just turned her head and reached for the familiar sword and shield combination that she'd been using for the past three days of training. Her nerves were nearly gone now as she settled into the mindset of a fight, as it had always been a comfort for her.

"How many do you need?" one of the trainers asked.

Humming to herself, Phaedra glanced around at the trainers available to her. "Four."

That elicited a murmur from the gamemakers that she quickly tuned out, taking her time to briefly face off against a dummy, leaving several marks scattered across its body in what would be lethal spots on any normal person. She nodded and stepped back, making her way over to the miniature arena where she and Justus had spent the first day sparring. Once enclosed by rope, it was now marked off by tape on the floor, giving Phaedra the chance to move around more if she so chose. Moving outside of that space would likely lose her points in the gamemakers' book, but she was well aware of her own limitations.

The trainers walked to their places in each of the corners, leaving Phaedra to take her spot in the middle. The head gamemaker leaned forward to press a button before his voice rang out across the room, saying, "You can begin now, Miss Nikostratos."

A fight such as this one took great spatial awareness, and Phaedra stayed on her toes as she surveyed the three trainers she could easily see, purposefully leaving her back open to bait the final one. He must've caught that, because she heard the rush of footsteps and whirled around in time to catch his sword with her shield before kicking him back.

That was enough of a signal for the others to move in, swarming around Phaedra as she tried to determine who would move first. She nearly grinned as she noticed two attempting to rush her at the same time, trying to surprise her on two sides, and threw her circular shield as hard as she could, dropping low to the ground as it bounced off of one opponent and hit the second. Before it could clatter to the ground, Phaedra snatched it out of the air and returned it to her side.

Fighting was a language, one that Phaedra Nikostratos was fluent in.

She'd been holding a strong defense for most of her fight against Petra Palladino, but it was all she could do to keep from getting overwhelmed. The crowd on all sides gasped with every clang of Petra's knives against Phaedra's shield. The spear in her hand was all but useless as all of her effort was focused on keeping those knives away from her soft flesh.

Phaedra still isn't sure how it happened. It was too fast for her to comprehend, but the spear was torn from her hand, followed by her shield. She was completely defenseless, open to whatever attacks Petra threw at her.

She was faced with a deadly calm, one that made her ears ring and blocked out the cries of the crowd. The only thought in her mind was that she was about to lose her life, and more, her destiny if she didn't do something and fast. Even though she could see the knives tearing at her skin, surface wounds that looked ugly now but would heal fine later, nothing hurt as much as the thought that she was going to lose Justus if she ended here.

Her eyes closed for the briefest of moments, and Phaedra felt nearly at peace. Petra must have recognized that, choosing to move in for the kill, but she couldn't have expected what happened next. No one did.

As Phaedra flipped backwards to evade Petra's knives, one of her feet kicked at the blade, sending it in the opposite direction, one that Petra couldn't account for. Phaedra heard the hush of the crowd before she realized what she'd done, but the screams were the sound that stuck with her the most.

The sight of Petra Palladino's brain matter spilled across the ring was enough to burn itself into Phaedra's mind permanently.

Petra had been unable to account for Phaedra countering her attack, and, assuming that her opponent was truly as defenseless as she appeared to be, hadn't reserved any strength in case a defense was needed. No one in the crowd was close enough to hear the gurgle of blood as Petra choked, her ruined face filled with agony in her last few seconds of life, but Phaedra caught all of it. Every painful moment, knowing that she had caused it.

Fights weren't determined by who was stronger, they were determined by who the last one standing was. Phaedra, in the end, didn't know if winning this fight meant she was truly the strongest that District Two had to offer. All she knew was that she killed any other chance District Two had.

She was barely panting by the time she finished taking out each of the four trainers, checking the time to see what she had left to show. Noting that she had more than enough time for her next act, she tossed her sword on the ground and moved on to her true weapon, the one she was most comfortable with: a spear.

Pulling out her first spear, she glanced up at the gamemakers as she aimed at a dummy, well aware that she was outside the normal range to throw. This weapon was nearly a natural extension of herself, as some joked that the so-called Invincible Girl was born with a spear and shield by her side.

Letting out a slow breath, Phaedra threw the spear and didn't even bother to watch as it sunk directly into the dummy. She was already taking aim at the dummy next to it, this time aiming for an artery in the leg that would take anyone down instantly. Target practice was always an easy way to pass the time, and as long as she did it with a little flair, she'd have nothing to worry about when it came to her score.

Phaedra Nikostratos may have been born for this purpose, but she knew how to take destiny into her own hands.

wahh wahh i wanna see the rest of phaedra's session- shhh, shhh, shhh my children. good things come to those who wait patiently. i have completed this chapter on 9/22 and will be commencing work on the private sessions shortly, in which you will see even more of a look at what each tribute did because equality or whatever. ft. leon being annoying because i missed him and he deserves it even if you say he doesn't. anyway all this to say: you'll get to see all of the private sessions and also here's the list of alliances below.

Careers: Shai (d1m), Alila (d1f), Justus (d2m), Phaedra (d2f), Kano (d4m), Makani (d4f)

LMN, code name lemon: Lilith (d9f), Merix (d3m), Nash (d5m)

The Sixes and their bitches: Jude (d6m), Imperia (d6f), Teagan (d10f), Liam (d10m), Kyra (d3f)

JET, code name jet: Jack (d8f), Eleanor (d5f), Thay (d9m)

Lone wolf: Crush (d12f)

yes there are more kids in the arena no i do not care about them and neither should you

~de laney is out