"Acadia! Leyton! You almost ready?"

"I'm all set," Leyton Gresley responded, turning off the television, which he'd barely been paying any attention to in the first place. A moment later, Acadia emerged from her room, pausing to adjust her prosthetic before joining the rest of the team around the table.

"So this year, to save time and to help with crowd control, the trainers have asked us to review some information about training with you both now instead of down in the gym, so that you can get started right when you get down there." Orris gave a brief overview of the layout of the training rooms, interspersing her explanation with instructions of which stations the tributes should focus on. "If you go to any of the sparring stations, you'll be allowed to spar with a trainer; physical confrontation with another tribute will not be tolerated and may lead to consequences at the discretion of the Gamemakers.

"There is one slight change to the schedule of training this year. The third afternoon of training is normally when all of the private sessions are held. However, trying to squish 48 private sessions into one afternoon failed dramatically when they attempted it during the Second Quell. So, the tributes have been divided into two groups. The first group, those reaped in standard slots, will have training on the third morning with their private sessions in the afternoon. Meanwhile, those reaped in Quell slots will have training time in the morning on the fourth day, followed by their private sessions. While the standard tributes have their training and private sessions, the Quell tributes will have some time to prepare for interviews and vice versa. Does that make sense?"

"So that means that we'll only have two days with all the other tributes to make alliances," confirmed Acadia.

"Exactly."

"So we'll have to act quickly."

"Yes, but remember. You don't need to commit to other allies immediately," Orris insisted, as she led her tributes towards the elevator. "Give yourselves some time to get to know the others, see what they do during training, and then make your choice. You might be at a disadvantage because of your district partners, so you need to be careful with whom you associate to up your sponsor odds. But also, don't think too much about potential allies. We don't know what the ally pool is going to look like this year exactly; there have been murmurings of a number of districts choosing to only ally with each other, but I don't know which districts those are."

"So, you're saying we should act quickly but not too quickly but we could be in trouble if we don't act quick enough?" Leyton clarified.

"Yes, essentially. I know that's not helpful, but this is such an abnormal Games, and it's hard to know how the decisions we make – and which decisions we make – will affect the Capitolites' perception of you, which is the only thing we can even attempt to control at this point. And I want to do my best to make sure that you are as well set up as possible for the Games ahead." The doors to the elevator opened with a pleasant Ding! as Orris stepped aside to let Acadia and Leyton step into the elevator. "Off you guys go. Don't forget to go to the stations too and learn some stuff. You'll be great!"

The elevator doors closed. Leyton felt his heart beating out of his chest as the elevator plummeted down towards the training rooms. He was feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount that he didn't know about the upcoming Games. From everything that Orris had said, the number of unknowns was abnormally high this year, but such assurances were not comforting for someone whose life rested on the outcomes of those unknowns. But at least he knew one thing: he'd be going into the Arena with Acadia by his side. Sure, the two did not know each other very well. But faced with forty-four unfamiliar faces and two convicted criminals, it was a blessing to have one person nearby whom Leyton felt like he could unequivocally trust.

With another ding!, the elevator doors slid open, revealing an expansive gym filled with a plethora of training stations, a number of tributes already milling about the various stations. Sure, Orris had explained that there were many stations, but the sheer magnitude of what she said didn't hit Leyton until he saw it for himself. How could he possibly learn all that there was to know? How could he figure out who would make the best allies? It was so much to take in that Leyton couldn't help but feel overwhelmed.

"Leyton, come on," Acadia said. "Let's get started." With a comforting smile, she grabbed his hand and led him out of the elevator, into the hustle and bustle of the training center.

Deep down, Leyton knew that Acadia would choose her own interests over his. But for now, having her by his side was all that he could ask for.

As the rest of the training room began to fill in, with tributes beginning to try their hand at one station or another, the tributes from One stood waiting in the middle. Lydia Leah couldn't help but notice the way their girlfriend's brow furrowed more deeply with every passing minute. Placing a hand on Jaesa's shoulder, Lydia whispered, "What's wrong, my dear?"

"I don't see the Twos yet," replied Jaesa, shrugging Lydia's hand off. "Usually they're the first in the training room."

Lydia slowly dropped their hand back to their side. "They'll get here. What's the issue?"

"We're not supposed to start before we touch base with them and I just want to get going. What if they're intentionally coming in late to delay us?"

"I doubt that, Jaesa. They're probably just running a little late."

At precisely that moment, the doors opened, revealing the team from Two. Acacia looked surprisingly frazzled for a Career tribute, Nikau had a smirk on his face, and both of the eleven-year-olds were scowling, desperately trying to stay as far away from each other as they could. Jaesa took a step towards Acacia, subtly indicating her status as the leader of the Ones; Lydia took a small step as well, staying right by their girlfriend's side, just in case. Acacia nodded in return, then led her district up to the Ones, reaching her hand out as she did so.

"My apologies," Acacia said in a voice low enough that the younger kids couldn't hear but just loud enough that Lydia could. "The two of them got into a bit of an argument this morning."

"Not a worry at all," Jaesa replied, firmly shaking Acacia's hand. Lydia could see the corners of her mouth turn up a little bit. The Ones had initially been concerned about the loss of the Twos, as they made for strong allies and effective shields for the Ones; facing off against the Twos was certainly more dangerous than working with them. But maybe this was a sign that the districts' splitting up this year would actually benefit the Ones in the Arena more than it would harm them. That was good news as far as Lydia was concerned; anything that increased the chances of both her and her girl surviving the Games was welcome.

Acacia stepped back, allowing the eight Careers to form a circle. "We needn't go through the pleasantries of names as we won't be working together, and we all know each other's names from the recap anyway. What are your thoughts on training?"

"Well, we needn't train together both days. Wouldn't want to reveal too much information to the enemy."

"Naturally."

"How would you feel about training within our districts today, and then we can spend some time paired up tomorrow?"

"Sounds good to me," Acacia said. "Shall we distribute pairings here and then split off? Keep up the illusion?"

"Good idea." Turning to her district, Jaesa instructed, "We're going to try to rotate pairings such that everyone gets to work with everyone else. So this morning, Lydia will work with Khada and I'll be with Tyranny. All right?"

"Sounds good," Tyranny answered for her partners, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Great. We'll meet back up at lunch."

Lydia turned around to follow Khada to whatever station he chose, but they couldn't help but steal one last glance at Jaesa. They knew they had to listen to Jaesa's instructions – she was designated as the leader of the Ones, after all – but Lydia wanted nothing more than to break apart from Khada and train with Jaesa instead.

How else could she be sure that her girlfriend was safe?

Shine Scott watched as the Ones dispersed, leaving the Twos in a small cluster in the center. For a group that had undoubtedly been training together for a few weeks at least, as that was the procedure in Two, the fact that they hadn't immediately made their way to a station to start training was good news for Shine. It meant that there was some sort of crack in their group, some reason that they weren't all getting along.

And Shine could be just the glue to fill that crack.

There was no reason for Shine to go against the team from Two. As a child of Two herself, it was only natural that she should work with the people with whom she grew up. Given that the Careers were training by district today rather than pairing off across district lines, Shine had a hunch that the Ones and the Twos were not going to be working together. After all, training was a crucial time for learning how your fellow Pack members fought, to get a sense of both their strengths and their weaknesses. In losing – or choosing not to work with, Shine wasn't sure – the tributes from One, the Twos were missing their strongest allies. Somebody needed to step in to help them succeed, and who better than Shine to fill that gap?

Putting on her strongest, fiercest face, Shine strode up to the Twos, who were training together at the knife-throwing station. "Acacia," she said firmly.

"Shine," replied Acacia, lowering the knife in her hand to her side.

"I see you're not working with the Ones."

"We're not training with them for the moment."

"So you're not working with them. I know how this works."

Acacia took a few steps away from the station, indicating for Shine to follow her, but Shine stood her ground. Shine was older than Acacia, after all; why shouldn't Acacia listen to her?

Sure enough, a moment later, Acacia stepped back towards Shine. "And what of it?"

"I think I should take their place."

"I'm sorry, Shine, but we are going to be working as just a group of four this year," Acacia asserted. "There are too many variables and unknowns with the Arena, and we want to keep the members of our district set and safe."

"But I am from your district."

"Not as far as the Gamemakers are concerned."

"Is there any way…"

"No. I'm sorry." Acacia turned back to the knife station, closing the door on the conversation.

Shine couldn't help but feel anger bubble up inside of her as she stormed away from Acacia. What right did she have in denying Shine her rightful spot in the Career Pack? No, it wasn't Acacia's fault. Acacia was just doing what her mentors told her to do. Did they think that Shine would be disloyal to them? If so, it didn't matter that moving to Twelve had given Shine her only chance at the Games; being from that scum of a district had ruined her chances at what should have been rightfully hers.

Suddenly, as Shine scanned the room, she noticed something: a simple, unreturned glance from one tribute to another. It was small, subtle, something that someone with an untrained eye might not notice. But Shine was trained to look for little things, and while she wasn't always right, this might just be the way in that she was looking for.

Maybe there was another way to prove loyalty to her district.

It was almost a given for Arlie Poplin that he'd begin his time in training at the traps station. Sure, he needed to learn how to use a weapon, and he knew that he should spend some time learning other survival skills, but starting at the station where he'd feel most at home helped Arlie to feel comfortable in the cold, intimidating training room. His experience in fixing machinery helped him to grasp the trainer's instructions fairly quickly, and he was already formulating ideas in his mind of how to elevate the simpler traps into more complex contraptions. Even if his only supplies in the Arena were materials for traps, Arlie had a feeling that he would be able to get by.

As the trainer finished their instruction, Arlie picked out some twigs and wires and began to construct a trap of his own. Once its base was set, he picked up a piece of rope and began to fashion it into a noose, but he couldn't figure out a way to do it such that it would automatically loosen and tighten the way he wanted. Arlie tried once, then again, then again, and was just about ready to set the trap aside and move on to another design when he heard a voice from somewhere behind him.

"Need a hand? I just did the knot tying station."

Arlie turned around to find the older girl from Three standing above him. "Yeah, that would be great," he replied, scooching over a little bit to give her room to sit down. "I'm trying to make a noose here that tightens around the animal or whatever as it lifts up when this string here is cut."

"Clever, clever," the girl responded, looking at the base that Arlie had set up with a focused look on her face. She took the rope from Arlie and began to weave it into a knot, her fingers working as nimbly as any that Arlie had ever seen. A moment later, she placed the rope back into Arlie's hand, fashioned into a perfect noose.

"Wow, that was good!"

"Thank you. I'm impressed with your trap. Did you design it yourself?"

"Sort of? I kinda just tinkered with this design." He extended the card to the girl.

"Well, you did a great job with it. I'm Vidja," she said, extending her hand to the boy. Arlie couldn't help but notice the bronze nut on her ring finger; he was even more impressed that she was able to make such an intricate knot with something that bulky on her hand.

"Arlie. It's nice to meet you."

"You as well! What do you say to continuing to train together?"

"You mean like being allies?" Arlie knew he needed allies, but he didn't expect one to fall into his lap quite this quickly.

"Yeah. Not many other people would go for traps right away and be able to make something like this on their first try. I think our skills would complement each other really well."

Arlie thought for a moment. He was normally a more guarded person, but something told him that trusting this girl was a good idea. And besides, with all the variables and unknowns of the Games this year, locking down an ally early was probably a smart idea.

"I'd like that," Arlie replied. "I think I'd like that very much."

The training room was loud and busy, the sound from thirty-odd voices echoing off of the walls and filling the room with a cacophony of sound. Most tributes would find it challenging to focus in such an active room. But Poise Baroque was used to existing in her own world, to tuning out the hustle and bustle of the urban centers of Eight in favor of whatever was happening in her head.

Of course, that also meant that she was more likely to turn to said action in her head over, say, actually learning things in training. But Poise was doing her best to keep herself grounded and focused on the task at hand. It helped that she'd spent no more than thirty or forty-five minutes at any given station; her strategy was to learn as much as she could from as many different stations as she could. Sure, she might not become an expert in anything, but she would at least have a clue of what to do in any situation that might arise.

Right now, Poise was working at a small station tucked into the corner of the room, almost as if the Gamemakers deliberately didn't want to draw attention to it, designed to help the tributes learn about dangerous animals: what made a snake poisonous, how to avoid a bear, which birds were more prone to attack, things like that. She wasn't sure whether this was a new station or one that had been in training before – she'd have to ask her mentor – but something told Poise that, if this station was there, it would come into play in the Arena, and so she had to make sure to learn as much as she could from it.

But as she studied the species of snakes that appeared on the monitor, she found her mind wandering again. The colored rings around the snakes reminded Poise of some of the flowers she used to spot on the other side of the fence, and she couldn't help but think about her meadow again, rings and rings of flowers expanding as far as the eye could see and before she knew it the snake pictures were gone from the monitor and there were big cats and how did those get there and…

"Well, hello there," said a sultry feminine voice.

Poise turned around to find a girl in a purple shirt standing above her, the red trim on her shirt indicating her district, Six. A boy in a green shirt with red trim stood behind her, lurking. "Hi."

"Maximum Acceleration, Six." Poise figured she could have guessed the girl's district from the name alone. "But call me Maxi."

"Poise Baroque. Eight." The girl reached out her hand, which Poise shook gingerly.

"I see that you are training alone. Not working with your district?"

"We never made an official plan to work together. Arlie I think found another ally and I don't really want to work with our Quell kids. Too dangerous."

"So you're a free agent."

Something about Maxi frightened Poise. The way she carried herself was too proud for a place like this; there was something insidious in her tone. This was not the kind of person to tell important information to; anything Six knew would only come back to bite Poise in the ass.

But Poise was equally afraid of what would happen if she lied.

"I suppose."

"In that case… are you interested in an alliance?"

Poise gulped. "Not particularly."

Maxi's tone became somewhat more sinister. "This is not the Games to go at it alone, Poise. Too many moving pieces. Too much that could be different from a normal year. Having people on your side might just be the one thing you need to stay alive, to give you protection and help keep you safe. I can provide you protection and safety."

Poise knew she couldn't listen to Maxi. She had been planning on working on her own from the moment that she stepped onto the train. But something about Maxi and the way she spoke was making Poise have second thoughts; her aura was alluring, enticing… dangerous. Maybe she would be better off with some protection, someone to watch her back

Poise shook her head. She could not fall for Maxi's tricks. She would be better off in the Arena alone, not relying on anyone for safety but herself.

And she certainly would be better off without Maxi. The girl was Reaped in a prison jumpsuit. There was no way she had anybody's back.

"No, I'm sorry. I really think I can do this myself."

"Are you sure? This is your last chance."

"I am sure."

"Well," Maxi scoffed. "It's your loss. And if anything happens in the Arena, remember that I could have protected you and you said no." And with that, Maxi turned and walked away, the boy who had lingered around them following closely behind.

As Maxi left, Poise could feel the other girl's aura dissipate. Poise was proud of herself for resisting Maxi and standing her ground. She knew what was best for herself – after all, Poise had been taking care of herself for most of her life.

She could only hope that she could trust those same instincts to carry her through the Games.

Empra Ichinose had only been in training for just about half a day, but she already considered the whole endeavor to be a success. Now, most other tributes would not call the loss of all of their guaranteed allies a success. But Empra was feeling confident; after all, tributes from Four rarely got to lead their own Career Packs.

Empra was, admittedly, a little scared to be without the safety net of the other Careers. It was safer for tributes from Four to ally with the Ones and the Twos; they were basically built-in shields, more likely to score higher and draw the eye of other tributes. Leading a Pack, however, guaranteed for Empra that she'd be able to manage the Games the way she wanted, choosing her allies to help fill in her weak spots and make a strong overall pack.

Thus far, she'd managed to secure two allies thanks to the Adrina twins deciding to bail. The first, Fenris, fell into her lap as her district partner. While he had no formal Career training, being the oldest in his family, he at least had some experience with knives and nets as the son of a fisherman. The second, Micah, was a huge get for the alliance. He was shockingly strong for a Twelve, broad, muscular, and experienced with a pickaxe. The Career part of Empra was a bit worried about Micah's caring nature, but she knew that it would be more comforting than anything else to have him alongside her in the Arena, giving her support and encouragement to keep moving forward.

But Empra knew that she needed one more member, to match the count of the Packs from One and Two. Fortunately, she already had her eye on someone: the Quell girl from Seven. Tall and imposing, the girl hadn't been interacting much with her district partners, leading Empra to believe that she had no alliance ties. Of course, Seven hadn't been interacting much with anyone, but she was pretty good at staying under the radar; perhaps nobody had noticed her yet.

Empra sure noticed.

Leaving Micah and Fenris to spar at the hand-to-hand combat station, Empra walked over to the bow and arrow station, where Helena was working with a trainer. Empra waited a moment until Helena stepped away from the trainer, then stepped up to the station next to her. "Hi! I'm Empra."

"Hi." Thwack!

"I notice you've been mostly training on your own. Are you interested in an alliance?" Thwack!

"Perhaps." Thwack! "Who are you allied with?"

"It's me, Micah from Twelve, and my partner, Fenris." Thwack!

"Not a Career pack," responded Helena, letting off another arrow. Empra couldn't quite tell if the response was a question or a statement, a good sign or a bad one. She knew she needed someone imposing to give her alliance a little more credibility, but such an imposing nature made communication a little difficult.

"Almost one, Empra countered. "I've been in the Academy for a few years, and Micah and Fenris both work with weapon-type-things in their work, so we all have training."

Helena lowered her bow and turned towards Empra. "Very interesting. I will consider your offer."

"That's great to hear! You're more than welcome to train with us in the meantime."

"Perhaps."

A bell rang across the room, signaling that it was time for lunch. Empra said a cordial goodbye to Helena and left, feeling rather accomplished. It might be too early to tell if Helena would actually join their alliance, but at this point, the odds seemed to be in Empra's favor.

Training should not have been dragging on for Astrid Evans. What was wrong with her for not wanting to be there? Why couldn't she just focus? There was so much to do here, so much to see and learn. But nothing that Astrid was doing was sticking, and not a single station was drawing her in.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. There was one station that was calling to her: the dagger station. What the practical difference was between daggers and knives was, Astrid didn't know; they were both just sharp, short, metal weapons. But Runar had chosen to train with daggers for today. And that was good enough for her to choose one or the other.

No, Astrid thought, averting her gaze from her district partner. The tributes from Five had specifically been instructed to avoid each other in training as much as possible, to make it seem like they weren't allying. "Alliances are going to be targets this year," their mentor, Lyla, had explained. "If multiple tributes can live, alliances are going to want to take out other alliances so they have a better chance of all getting out alive. If you guys lay low and avoid the other tributes, they won't think to target you. Then you can link up in the Arena and be able to get by without much trouble."

At first, following Lyla's instructions had been… not easy, per se, but certainly not so difficult. The problem was, as the day dragged on, Astrid found herself pulled towards Runar, almost like there was a magnet in her chest that couldn't help but be attracted to her district partner. Runar held the most valuable thing that Astrid could ever ask for: stories about her sister. The one hour a year they got together was nowhere near long enough to truly learn about the weeks and months of time they'd lost together. Sure, Runar didn't spend every waking moment with Lucy, so he couldn't know everything about her. But Astrid felt lucky that, even in these dire circumstances, she at least had some way to connect back to her home and her family. Training would have been the perfect time to sit and listen to and learn from Runar. But Astrid knew that she had to listen to Lyla if she wanted the best odds of getting home to be with Lucy herself. So, unfortunately, hanging out with Runar would have to wait.

Scanning the training center, Astrid decided to go to the fishing station; it was as far as possible from Runar, reducing the odds that she'd be tempted to go over to him. Before she could get started, however, a bell rang, indicating that it was time for lunch. The tributes began to meander over to the cafeteria, some rushing to get ahead of the others while some were perfectly content to lag behind. Astrid wound up near the back of the line for food; she served herself some pasta and white sauce, she began to look for a table. After a moment, she spotted Runar, sitting alone at a table in the corner of the room.

Astrid looked around. Most of the other tributes were sitting and chatting with their allies; those who didn't have allies were at other tables and were by some stroke of luck generally facing away from Runar. If nobody was paying attention to them, why couldn't Astrid sit with Runar? After all, lunch wasn't technically training. Plus, they were district partners; Astrid assumed that district partners who weren't allies sat together all the time at training. It didn't necessarily mean they were working together, right? No, of course not.

Taking care to make sure that nobody was watching, Astrid walked as quietly as she could over to Runar. "Hi," she said, in a low voice. "Is this seat taken?"

Runar looked up. "Nobody's sitting here, but I'm not sure if we're allowed to sit together."

"Why not? It's just lunch time."

"All right," replied Runar nervously. Astrid sat down across from him, hoping to camouflage the boy from the rest of the tributes just in case. "How was your morning?"

"Good. How was yours?"

"Good."

"Good!" Astrid leaned in a little closer. "So, tell me about Lucy."

And welcome to training! I have to say, I know the conventional format for training is full-length POVs, but I loved writing in this format of shorter sections for each kid. The vibe just Worked for me idk. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I liked writing it! Did anything in particular catch your eye as you read?

At this point, I'm fairly well set up for weekly updates going into next month, which is hype! Knowing what I have left to do after that, I can somewhat confidently place the bloodbath date at or around New Year's Day. I think that's kinda fitting honestly so that'll be lots of fun!

Also, if anyone is following Let Him Feel No Pain, the fic is now closed! However, I'm looking to potentially fill a POV hole in the fic that I noticed as I was accepting kids. I'm also still open to taking non-POV kids if anyone is interested! Feel free to shoot me a PM or a Discord DM if you'd like - I'd love to have more people involved in the fic!

Thanks y'all for sticking with me! I'll see you next week!

xoxo, xxxi