Bellona Pierce, 16
District 2 Female

4 months before the Games

Winter in District 2 always felt like an eternity.

The cold almost never bothered her anymore. Bellona huffed as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her tattered jacket. Nobody stopped to look at her as she brushed by. She didn't want their pity anyways. It was much safer to be alone.

It was probably a lot warmer in Claymore Regans's Peacekeeper Academy, Bellona realized as she passed by the building. From what she knew, attendance had skyrocketed after the 8th Games aired and Honouria Crass came back home. Just like that, 2 had more victors than anyone else. Everyone began brainstorming. If that lovesick little bird could do it after a year of Peacekeeper training, what was stopping them?

Bellona scoffed. Peacekeepers could kiss her ass for all she was concerned.

It was still pretty early in the morning, despite the dark sky. Teenagers carried training bags and wore long, thick coats, chatting and laughing in groups. Bellona ignored them. Yep, she didn't care. She didn't give a flying fuck that they had friends and they were happy and they couldn't notice her shivering and struggling through the cold because she had no warm place to stay...

"Ay, Peirce!"

Bellona scowled. "What the fuck do you want?"
The quartet of boys all laughed. "Damn, Miss Winter," one of them laughed. "Frostbite hasn't been kind to you, I see."

"Don't mess with me, asshole."
"Hey now, we don't want any bad blood. Reagans would be pretty pissed if I showed up with a bloody nose. Anyways, if you're done moping, wanna join us for some hot chocolate later tonight?"

Bellona shook her head. "I don't care for some stupid chocolate."
The boys laughed again. "Why not?" another one asked. "Who says no to hot chocolate? It's not like we're asking you to come commit a felony with us. It's a really good joint and everyone goes there. It's not like you ever hang out with anyone else anyways. Aren't you cold?"

Bellona was cold. Freezing. And the idea of a hot drink and people to talk to her did appeal to her a little. But she didn't need friends. She was just fine on her own without people and that wasn't going to change. Sure, these kids were nothing like Daytona, the bitch who loved to torment Bellona for no good reason. But they trained to become filthy Peacekeepers and that was enough for her to dislike them.

"I think I'll pass."
"Aw man. You sure?"
"Yes. I am sure."
"Well, hey, if you change your mind-"

"I don't care!" Bellona yelled, spinning on her heel and stomping away. The boys gasped and whispered to each other. So they were a little intimidated by her. Fine. Better to be feared than to be soft. Bellona did not make it this far by becoming soft. There was too much bullshit going on to be soft.

Another trainee brushed past, this time accompanied by her little sister. Bellona felt a slight pang of envy and looked away. It had been what, six years? Maybe seven or eight? She blinked; really, that long? That long without someone to hold her time, to pat her on the back, to whisper goodnight in her ear or tell her how much she was loved.

Six, seven, hell, perhaps eight years ago, the Capitol took it all from her.

The sky was starting to get lighter, a pale shade of blue following the brilliant purples, reds, and oranges. The clouds were surprisingly clear. The snow was clean and crisp, the kind Bellona used to see in picture books. It wasn't a bad day to be outside, and she decided to take a little bit of pride in the fact she had all day to enjoy the weather, rather than be cooped up inside a smelly gym with a bunch of Peacekeepers for several hours.

What a poetic thought. Bellona chuckled to herself. She wasn't a very optimistic person, nor did she care much for poetry.

She headed into the marketplace, hoping that there might be some scraps left for her to eat. As she did, someone gave her a harsh shove and Bellona almost fell headfirst into a snow bank. The attacker exploded into laughter. "What are you doing in the snow? Don't you know that dogs pee in there?"

Bellona brushed the snow off her, glaring at Daytona Caver, arguably the worst person to exist in the district. "Really? I thought the smell was your breath!" She held up her fists. "Now fuck, because if you're gonna push me, I will punch your head in. And I won't do it lightly."

Daytona hesitated and the smirk on her face disappeared. She glanced around; nobody was there to notice. Bellona just watched as Dayton shoved her hands in her pockets and quickly hurried off. "Fine. Fuck you then. I'm too cold. But I totally could beat you into next week if I wanted! I swear!"

Bellona didn't respond. She shivered and continued her trek towards the marketplace, hoping to get something to eat, even if it was the leftovers from last night chucked into the trash by those who could afford to waste it.

Toren Kollath, 17
District 2 Male

4 months before the Games

Training was in full force. Toren and Gia were some of the very first to sign up for it when Claymore Regans opened up the Academy. At first, Claymore put focus on discipline and respect, the kinds of things they needed to excel as Peacekeepers. But then Honouria's year of training gave her a slight advantage over the rest of the arena and that placed changed everyone's minds.

Train. Volunteer. Win.

That being said, Gia had made it very clear that she had no intention of actually volunteering for the Games. She called it prolonged suicide. After eight years and eight Victors, Claymore Regans was the only one who actually volunteered to play the Games and won. Toren was perfectly okay with that. He didn't want to ever see Gia die.

Toren's first stop after arriving was to meet one of the Peacekeepers who specialized in hand-to-hand combat. Gia considered it somewhat useless since Toren could've easily been taken out by a spear before he had time to use his fists. Toren didn't care. It was almost a distraction for him, a chance to take out any pent-up anger he had inside.

"Good form," the trainer said, observing Toren's position. "Very steady; you'd be really hard to push down. Don't shake so much."
"Sorry." Toren wiped his sweaty hands on his pants and resumed the position. The trainer stood across from him, both daring the other to make the first move. Toren's eyes darted left to right as he tried to calculate whether it was better to go offensive, or stay on the defense.

He didn't have time to reach his decision, as the trainer swung first.

Toren narrowly ducked, almost tumbling backwards. The trainer pounced on him, taking a couple swipes. They didn't hurt, but Toren could feel the trainer pounding him. He tried to shrug him off, but was essentially pinned against the mat. He swung his legs up and thrust to the side, hoping to shake the trainer off him.

Finally, the trainer did move. "I suppose I caught you off guard."
"Yeah. A little."
"And why is that?"

"I wasn't paying attention," Toren admitted. "I was too busy guessing which tactic would be a better chose that I forgot to notice what my opponent was doing."
"A grave mistake. If I was a lowly rebel and you a Peacekeeper, I could've easily disarmed and killed you. In the middle of a battlefield, there will be plenty of distractions; very rarely will you get a quiet one-on-one fight. Pay attention to your opponent. Surprise is very a useful advantage."

Toren nodded. He took a quick water break to soothe his aching body. Gia was also getting a drink. Her forehead was beaded with sweat from throwing spears all morning.

"How's it going?" Gia asked.
"Ugh. He beat my ass real good."
"Huh?"

"Not really," Toren quickly replied. "It was kinda my fault. I just got pinned. Didn't actually get beat up or anything."
"Oh good. For a second, I was worried there." Gia laughed. "Come throw spears with me! If your arms aren't that sore."

"Maybe later," Toren promised. Gia just shrugged and walked off. A group of boys had gathered nearby. Toren could overhear their conversation as they made plans to go get hot chocolate later that night. Then one mentioned some girl they called "Pierce", to which someone else said if she didn't want to go, then it wasn't their problem.

"Hi," Toren called out, before realizing what he just said. The entire group turned to look at him. "Oh...sorry. Am I interrupting something?"
"Not really," one of the boys replied. "Toren, right?"

"Yeah. Is it Hadrian?"
Hadrian and his friends nodded. "We weren't doing anything really important."
"You said you were getting hot chocolate later?"

"You can come if you'd like," another boy said. "You can bring that girl you're with...wait, I'm confused. Is she your sister or your girlfriend?"
Toren's cheeks turned a bright red and his face heated up. "Wha...guys...guys! That's so gross!"
"It's an honest question..." the boy trailed off as his friends laughed and Hadrian punched him in the shoulder. "You two are always hanging out, but you look nothing alike."

"What, we can't just be friends?" Toren laughed nervously. "She's...she's like my sister! Not biological, of course. But her family pretty much considers me part of them. We're just friends. That's it."
"Hey, no need to get so defensive," Hadrian insisted, putting up his hands. "No biggie. Cool, it's all cool. Anyways, back to training. See ya later, Toren!"

As the group split up, Toren could hear the boys talk in excited whispers about the Games would approach before they knew it and maybe, they'd be prepared enough to volunteer. If not, there was always next year...or perhaps the year after that...

Toren himself had never given volunteering much thought. He never really thought about how many tributes were training under the hopes of potentially volunteering to win the riches and glory that came with victory. It was a risky move, but was the reward worth it?

God, his parents would've killed him if they knew he was here; they hated anything to do with the Capitol. But they didn't know, did they?

Toren went back to hand-to-hand combat, determined to finally beat his trainer this time.

At long last, another Reaping finally out of the way! This was a fun chapter to explore the early Careers and the start of what will become the Academy that the produces them. What do you think about the tributes?

Next chapter up will be District 12!

-Vr