A/N: Hey all! Long time no update I know! Thank you for your reviews! They motivated me to edit this latest chapter! Keep em coming! They really make me want to continue

Lily spent time at several different stations that first day. The knot tying instructor showed her how to create a twitch up snare that would catch her any number of animals for food and would hold them out of the way of other animals until she retrieved them. They worked on this skill for over an hour until Lily could recreate it effectively without having to refer to his work or ask him questions for guidance.

She spent a little time at the knife throwing station, working on her technique. She ended up watching the instructor's own technique closely before attempting to mimic it. She placed her feet where the instructor had placed hers and copied the pose she held before she threw. She heard sniggering off to her right and turned to look at who was there. Stood a few feet away were the girls from one and two.

"What you doing there ten?" one asked in a mocking voice. "You practicing knife throwing without any knives?" The girl was the one with crazy eyes who'd stared at her earlier. Her black hair a mess of curls that she didn't bother to tie up or hold back, fell over her face in an unkempt way that contributed to her wild appearance. She was several inches taller than Lily and had at least 20 kilos extra on her in the form of muscle. She pouted at Lily and threw a knife at the target board without looking. It struck the centre of the target. The pair of girls giggled together before dumping their knives on the floor and joining their partners at the spear throwing.

Lily gritted her teeth and forced herself to take a deep breath. Being tense wasn't going to help her hit this target. Blocking out the echoing sounds of laughter she concentrated on the board again. She picked up a knife, weighing the cold metal in her hand, pulled back her arm and flung it forward towards the target. Lily's perseverance was rewarded by a good stick close to the centre of the target. She practiced a few more throws until she hit the bullseye twice in a row. She smiled to herself but felt eyes on her. Suddenly remembering Rhyad's instructions to appear mediocre, she took her stance again but deliberately threw off centre a few times, before sighing loudly and putting the weapons down heavily as if in defeat. She hoped her acting skills were good enough to fool the others.

As she turned around to walk away from the station Lily saw who it was that had been watching her. It was the girl from 4. Her eyes widened, a small smile playing at her lips. Lily took the moment to really look at her. She looked about the same build as Lily, slightly smaller in stature but with the added bonus of having muscles that displayed a strength one might not expect from a girl her size. She inclined her head at Lily as she noticed the girl's perusal, her short brown hair falling forward over her eyes. Lily blinked slightly stupidly at her before catching hold of herself and turning away so that she was walking in the opposite direction to the girl.

She found herself at the fire making area and in an effort to distract her from the strange girl's eyes she allowed the instructor to teach her how to make a fire without the matches she so often relied on at home. Another couple of tributes were also at the area, being taught the same thing. Lily thought they were the District 8 tributes. They crouched close together and seemed to exchange meaningful looks. Whilst watching them out of the corner of her eye as she rolled a stick between her hands, she watched them link hands for a moment. Lily wondered if they were an item. If they had been from home, they were now even more vulnerable. They would try to protect each other. Love made people act rashly Lily thought to herself.

There was no place for love in the arena.

Love could get you killed.

She wondered if they'd been promised to each other like some couples in District Ten had been. They could have been planning a wedding, planning a life, and now they'd be lucky if one of them survived.

At lunch time Lily sat at a table alone. Part of her had hoped Severus would come and join her but he seemed to have become buddies of a sort with the boys from 1 and 5 and had joined the career tribute table. Lily tried to keep her thoughts about this buried. She couldn't afford to let it affect her here in front of all the other tributes. To distract her thoughts she glanced around at the other tables. Many tributes were eating alone like her, but the laughing group from earlier had pulled several tables together and now had several people gathered round them. Lily counted seven of them all in one little group. They were still laughing and talking loudly together. At one point the boy from district two smashed a bowl of mashed potato into James' face and a food fight between the two ensued. Lily couldn't help but frown in confusion and turned to her own food. She was interrupted from her solitude by someone sitting down opposite her. Having her head towards the table to start with Lily only saw their arms and chest as they sat down, but as she looked up at who had joined her she found herself faced with the smiling face of the girl from District Four.

"Hi" she said with a smile, "Do you mind if I sit here? The boys are getting rowdy and trying to prove who's the manliest and who can eat the most food and I could do with some civilised company"

Lily listened in silence as the girl spoke at a high speed. Her mouth hung open a little at this girl who obviously had no issues talking to a complete stranger.

"I'm Marlene by the way" she added quickly. "District Four"

"Lily" Lily choked out. "Ten"

Marlene nodded through a mouthful of bread. "I saw you with those knives today" she said quietly, "Why did you pretend you weren't any good?" she asked, leaning her elbows on the table and leaning closer to Lily.

Lily shrugged slightly before deciding to be honest. "I didn't want to make myself a target by appearing too good."

Marlene pointed a finger at her, one eyebrow raised and the corner of her mouth lifting slightly. "Smart" she said, lowering her hand. "Those lot look brutal" she muttered gesturing to the group of careers with a flicker of her eyes.

Lily nodded in agreement, not sure when she'd decided to trust this girl. Not sure why she'd decided to have a conversation. But perhaps having a friendly face in the arena wouldn't be too bad. It grated on her a little that she was in James' district. It might've been her in the girl's place. But then she'd have the issue of knowing only one of them would survive whilst being probably still his friend. Maybe that was worse than what she was suffering with at that moment. "The girl from two seems like she could drink my blood!" she said with a small smirk.

Marlene laughed loudly. "You may be right there Ten" she said with a wink. "Sirius isn't too bad though." At Lily's blank look she added, "The boy from two. Apparently they're cousins but he hates his family who tried to get him to volunteer"

Lily just nodded. She didn't know what was true and what was a lie. She had to take everything she heard with a pinch of salt.

The girl continued eagerly, "Dorcas isn't too bad either, she says the boy from her district is like a killing machine though, and that he used to be a bully whilst they were at school together. Dorcas is the girl from five" she tacked on the last bit at the end, remembering Lily hadn't been part of their conversations.

"You've got a lot of people in that group" Lily commented. "It seems...unusual"

Marlene tilted her head, considering the question, "I suppose it is" she said after a minute, "But then again, safety in numbers right?" she said, "Perhaps if we run into each other in the arena we might be happy to team up. Alliances can really help you survive"

Until the tension gets too much and everyone turns on each other, Lily thought to herself. Instead she said aloud, "I'm not convinced on the whole alliance concept yet" she said

"Honest" Marlene commented, "It's refreshing"

Lily couldn't help the smile that touched at her lips.

"You know Lily," Marlene said softly. "I think if we'd been from the same district we might've been friends"

Lily's smile widened a little and glanced over her shoulder without thinking towards where James was. When she quickly snapped her head round, she found Marlene watching her with a strange expression on her face, one she couldn't quite place. Seeing Lily had spotted her she cleared her face quickly and said,

"Your outfit last night was super-hot" she commented with a smirk.

Lily groaned, "Urgh" she said towards the table, her head now cradled by her hands. "I thought I might fall out of it any moment!" she said with a shiver.

Marlene laughed and Lily couldn't help but join in a little, her stomach muscles reacting strangely to the movement of laughter that seemed almost foreign to her now. "It certainly made an impact!" Marlene said through her laughs. "You were one sexy..." she paused, "Were you supposed to be a cow?" she asked

Lily nodded, feeling the giggles coming, along with the snort. She tried to contain it but out it came, making a rather loud appearance. And of course this made the pair of girls laugh harder. The laughter seemed to relieve the pressure of stress off Lily's chest, one she hadn't felt until it was gone. "I think...I think so!" she managed to wheeze out, "I've never heard of a sexy cow before!"

"Well you were practically roasting you were so hot!" Marlene said between breaths.

"It was udderly ridiculous is want it was" Lily retorted quickly, snorting again at her own joke.

Oh it felt good to laugh. She hadn't realised how much she missed just an easy friendship. She sobered a little as she remembered where they were. This girl could be gaining her trust just to stab her in the back later. But something in the back of her mind told her this was not the case. This girl seemed genuine. And it wouldn't hurt to have someone in the arena who could be on her side.

The girls quietened slowly together until they were both looking at their plates. "You're alright Lily" Marlene said with a sad smile which Lily returned without a thought.

"So are you Marlene"

Lily felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up again and turned around. Severus was staring at the two girls from the career table. Man, if looks could kill, Lily thought. His eyes seemed to bore into her, the muscles on his neck stood on end and his hand gripped his fork tightly. Lily lowered her eyes from his rather sheepishly. She could imagine what he was thinking. He'd be saying she was fraternising with the enemy. And maybe she was. But...she looked over at him again. The people he was trying to ally himself with though...she couldn't fathom why. He had no right to send her scathing looks when the company he was in was even worse in her opinion.

Slightly disturbed Lily turned back to Marlene. This girl could've been her friend, she thought. The idea made her sad. Her, Marlene and James could've been friends if only they'd been transported to the same district.