Prosper Mallister (18) D1M

There was no question about there being a Pack this year. Alexandria told me she was in on the train. I was going to gather the rest, since we needed every Career we could get. This wasn't going to be like past years, where there were weak Packs that resulted in the death of every Career. This wasn't going to be like other Games, where the One female betrayed everyone, one by one, and left people to die. We were going to be tight-knit until the end, where we would duke it out and find the true Victor. It was how the Games were supposed to be played.

"Hey," I said to Gallant, who was training at the swords. He looked up at me, and we both knew without speaking what I was asking. Still, I wanted it to be formal. "Are you going to be in the Pack this year?" It was a casual question, one that had been answered by his body language already. He just nodded, and I nodded. Then I bounced to the next person, wanting to gather everyone in one day so we could easily plan and I could get back to training.

"Hey," I said to Cassiopeia, not bothering to change my stance. She was at the throwing knives, relatively easy to spot. After all, we Careers were the only ones who were actually good at what we were doing. She looked up at me, apparently spooked, and nodded.

"Are you asking me into the Pack?" she asked, surprisingly quietly. I'd have to remember that she had a quiet voice. I nodded, waiting for her to continue, and she did. "Yeah, I'd like to be in the Pack. Together 'til the end."

"Glad to have you," I said diplomatically before leaving. I had to get to Rio and Tina, and if they both said yes, there'd be a full pack.

A fifteen-year-old, I reminded myself quietly, taking a second to consider. Rio was fifteen. He'd likely as not be a burden to the Careers. Still, he could prove useful, and I couldn't just abandon Four. It would look terrible. I wandered to the trident station, where I found Rio working away, and walked up to him. "Are you going to be in the Pack this year?" I asked him bluntly. He would have to pass just one test, and that was being brave enough to say yes without questioning himself.

"Definitely!" he replied, his face brightening. Apparently he had been questioning whether he would be invited just like I had been questioning whether he should be.

Tina was moving around a lot, hitting nearly every weapon station. I waited for her at the throwing stars, and sure enough, she made her way over to me. I stuck my hand out and she shook it, and she said she wanted to be in the Pack. Of course, I was happy to let her in. She was certainly going to be useful to have in the Pack, after all.

Alexandria St. John (18) D1F

After training was done, I went out into the Center. It had been a long thought out decision, with the Pack wondering which of us should deliberately go out to get sponsors. We didn't really need to advertise ourselves, but we also wanted to make sure we were the only tributes getting sponsored. We weren't going to let anyone else get supplies that we wouldn't have an easy shot at, after all. We weren't that dumb.

When I had been asked, it quickly raised my suspicions. After all, they were going to keep plotting while I was gone. I had stared at them, quietly wondering whether or not they were trying to leave me out, and openly letting it show that I was a bit suspicious. They had tried to explain it away, saying that I was already popular, and a lot of people in One knew me; maybe the Capitol would be more willing to check me out and hear what I had to say. Still, I was suspicious. The Capitol would listen to any Career. We didn't have to send someone they already knew.

Still, I couldn't let my suspicions show too much. If I proved to be an annoyance before the Games began, I would be the first one they turned on during the split. I could take most of my allies on one-on-one, but if five Careers were attacking me, I wouldn't come out on top. I had to keep my spot in the Pack, and that was what led me to nod, saying, "All right! It won't be hard at all to get the Capitol to listen to me." A fake smile had been plastered on my face, leaving me playing dumb. Pretending I wasn't wary of them already.

"Hello!" I called out to the first Capitolite I ran across. I judged them quickly, looking them up and down before deciding what they wanted to hear. "I'd really like to learn some of the Capitolite fashions while I'm here. After all, I want to be the prettiest tribute I can be to give you the best show possible!"

The Capitolite gasped, his hands flying to his mouth as he recognized me. "Of course, darling! You see, right now I'm wearing this aquamarine. The style right now is complementary colors - have your clothing be the absolute opposite of your skin color. I'm orange, so I'm wearing blue, simple as that. You see, this jewelry all matches in its own way..." I only half-listened to what the man had to say. I didn't care in the least to listen to him, especially when he had bright orange skin. I just had to get him talking, mimicking his body language to let him think I was interested. It certainly worked, and we had one more sponsor coming our way.

Gallant Deacon (18) D2M

"We should watch a movie," I said to my allies, who were all gathered in my room. We had been plotting for many hours, and as soon as Alexandria had gotten back from a sponsor grab, we had filled her in on everything she had missed. She hadn't missed much, since we spent a lot of time just getting to know each other. We were obviously scouting for weaknesses and strengths, but I also just wanted to see my allies as the humans they were, not simply tools to be used as I needed.

"That sounds amazing!" Tina had been the first one to reply. Slowly, everyone else followed, and we were looking for the perfect movie. Tina didn't want an action one; we were about to see enough. Alexandria didn't want a romance; they were all too fake, something she had seen too much of in One. Rio didn't want a drama; they were all boring and predictable. It took us almost half an hour to settle on the fact that we were going to have to watch a comedy, and then we still had to decide which comedy we wanted.

"You can decide which movie," I said, standing up. "I'll grab some snacks. What does everyone want?" I pulled out a piece of paper and started writing down whatever orders everyone yelled out, from popcorn and peanuts to soda and black licorice. I veto'd that option. Black licorice was a plague upon humanity, and I wasn't going to entertain it by allowing the Capitol to know someone liked it.

"I'll come with," Alexandria said, standing up. "I don't need no man to get everything for me." She was obviously joking, but I really liked that. Mom and Dad said I had to be a perfect gentleman, doing everything just right. Around the Careers, that wasn't true. I was going to kill some of them for sure, and I didn't even have to get Alexandria's cookies and cream chocolate myself. "And I am not ordering black licorice."

Once we were out of earshot of the other Careers, Alexandria typing everything into the machine at surprising rates, I found myself talking to her. She was open. She didn't seem to expect anything of me except an ally, and that was all I needed. After all, I had spent years being perfect. Being an idiot was all that I could hope for. "You type so fast. That isn't something we learn in Two. Did you have to learn that in school?"

"Nope! It's just that the keyboard has an easy enough pattern. It wasn't too hard to memorize it when I decided to. QWERTY UIOP, ASDF GH JKL;," she said out loud, easily rattling off the first two rows. I nodded in amazement. I couldn't memorize things worth beans, and here she was, memorizing things that had no bearing on each other, no rhyme or reason. That was her strength.

Cassiopeia Palassaqua (17) D2F

Argentina was awesome. She was always polite to me, and she let me do whatever I wanted to do. That was why it was easy for me to invite her to explore the Games Building with me, even though I usually waited until the other person showed some interest in me. She was just so open, so willing to listen to my ideas even though there was a chance they were stupid. She was the perfect ally for someone like me, and I intended to make sure we had our own alliance inside the Pack.

"I hear they have food of every type here. Some Capitolites will talk to us, I'm sure. We should talk to them too. They have the funniest accents," I said, surprised to find myself easily rambling to the ever-nodding Tina. She waited patiently while I said everything that came to mind, only ever speaking to encourage me to keep going. She seemed to be listening, too, not just hearing, and she followed my lead while I brought us to a rock-climbing wall.

"I've always wanted to try one of these," Tina commented politely while I got into line. She joined me, and we chatted easily about what section we were going to try. I wanted to try the hardest, even though I would probably suck, since it seemed the most fun. She assured me I wouldn't suck and she would try the hardest with me, so we could help each other find handholds. I wasn't sure if that was allowed, but when we got to the front of the line, we found out that it very much was. We were strapped in, and Argentina let me go first, since I was clearly more excited.

Sure enough, it was very difficult to find handholds. I had to use random cracks that probably weren't even supposed to be there, sometimes balancing delicately on a ledge. It was scary, and I was constantly worried I was going to fall, looking like a total idiot in front of hundreds of Capitolites. I absolutely couldn't afford that. Instead of falling, though, I ended up freezing, staring at the ledges in terror as I realized there wasn't a good one for me to grab onto within reach.

"Here," Tina said, spooking me for a second. I hadn't even realized that she had reached me. "You can grab on to that ledge, right there, and hoist yourself up. You'll have to go quick, but then you'll be able to put your feet where your hands are right now." I slowly realized that she was right, and that she had saved me the infinite embarrassment of getting stuck mere feet from the top. I grabbed on like she said and slapped the button that signaled the top of the wall, a successful climb.

"Thank you."

Rio Ryine (15) D4M

Alexandria was by far the least friendly of the Careers. Cassie would joke around a little. Gallant was a hard guy, but he was willing to chat. Prosper was always serious, but at least he didn't assume we were trying to kill him just because we wanted sponsors. Alexandria was hard, and she didn't seem to always like to talk to me. Maybe it was because I was so young. Maybe it was because I always tried to talk to her. Either way, I was determined to befriend her, no matter how tough of a corner I had to back her into. She was going to like me, whether she wanted to or not.

"We should do some team-building," I had said to the Pack, watching for their reactions. They had all agreed, letting me continue. "Like, split off into pairs and get to know everyone better, then meet up and do it again. I think that'd be fun." Sure enough, people split easily into pairs. Gallant teamed up with Prosper. Cassie teamed up with Tina. And I was left with Alexandria, who had no choice but to stay with me. If she said no, everyone who trust her a little less, thinking a little bit less of her. She couldn't let that happen, so she was stuck with me.

"What do you want to do?" I asked her brightly, trying to get her to open up a little bit. She shrugged, glaring down at me, which let me decide what we were going to do. It took me a bit to think of the perfect thing I could have her do to open up, but finally, I decided on it: We were going to a circus. She would never be able to keep a straight face around a bunch of people being total idiots, even if she only opened up enough to mock them. It was perfect.

"Follow me!" I yelled out, racing off to whatever was in front of me. There had to be a circus somewhere. It didn't take me long to realize that we were totally lost, though, and I had to ask a Capitolite for advice. She seemed more than happy to lead us to a circus, but by the look in her eye, she was just glad that she knew more than I did. I didn't care. She could call me stupid all she liked, as long as she was a potential sponsor who didn't hate me. I'd be an idiot if it made me a Victor.

"There it is!" I said grandly, waving my arms out dramatically. "The circus." I didn't give Alexandria a chance to say no to my idea. I marched right in, being allowed to skip the line because I was a tribute, and led her to the clown section. Clowns were amazing, no matter how many horror movies people made to say otherwise. And they were perfect for breaking people's composure.

Argentina "Tina" Hudson (17) D4F

The Training center was easy enough for me to find my way around. I found myself hopping from weapon station to weapon station, easily perfecting my skills on all of them. They were all pretty easy for me, allowing me to show off to the Careers - just enough that they would take me seriously, of course. I didn't want to actually intimidate anyone. I had such an easy time that I almost wanted to go to survival stations, but I knew those would be just as easy for me. It was almost sad, how easy training was.

I was getting ready to go outside the Training Center and try to get some sponsors when I heard a bit of crying. Naturally, I went to investigate, caring deeply about all of my opponents. Sure, some of them were going to die, but they were just as human as I was and deserved to be treated as such. I was absolutely surprised when I saw Yvette, the Seven female, crying her eyes out while working at the medicine station. I approached her and crouched down where she was, looking at her and waiting to give her a chance to speak. When she didn't, I initiated.

"Hey," I said, quietly enough to avoid spooking her. "What's up?" I knew good and well what was up, but I wasn't going to say it unless she did. I didn't want to make things worse by reminding her.

She stared up at me for a second, probably questioning whether it was okay to look weak in front of a Career. I watched her patiently, letting my big eyes open bigger to make myself look more innocent. She apparently trusted me, because she untensed just a little and spoke. "I'm not going to win. I'm not getting home," she admitted to me quietly, looking back down to the ground. I noticed a few more tears drip from her eyes.

"You don't know that. The Careers definitely won't target you. I'll make sure of that. And you'll get plenty of sponsors. Let's go get them now," I said, slowly standing up. I gave her a hand up, easily able to lift her weight, and we were off. We left the Training Centre and all its boring stations behind, wandering out into the maze that was the Games Center.

"So throwing knives are actually pretty hard to learn - it'd be best to learn some simple snares, to keep yourself fed and protect yourself," I explained, rambling to Yvette while we looked for potential sponsors. I would have let her speak, but she needed time to compose herself, and I could tell she didn't want an awkward silence. So I told her all I knew about the Games, how to maximize her chances at winning. It was what she needed to hear.

Fun fact: Though totally intending to volunteer, Cassiopeia was Reaped. Luckily for her, no one volunteered.

Please PM me with the outfit you thought was best in the Parade! If you don't have an account, reviewing will totes do.