A/N: I made a mistake in the Chariot chapter. Wendy is the mentor for District 8, not District 5.
The price of your greed
Is your son and your daughter
What you gon' do
When there's blood in the water
Cyra Sloane
District 8, Female, 17
(Training Day 2)
...
I walk out of my room and toward the dining table. Edith, Wendy and Onyx all sit on one side and Thauk sits opposite them. I take the chair furthest away from Thauk, even if we're from the same District, I don't trust him at all. In fact, I'm terrified of him, along with the rest of the District. The Mask was feared across our District for years to come, he was the reason District 8 had been given a curfew. It's not safe to stay outside in the dark as a loyalist to The Capitol.
We haven't spoken, though, I think he knows that I'm afraid and rightfully so. Many people have died to his cold hands and I refuse to trust him and become the next victim to his violence. We both agreed, when talking to Onyx, that we would not be in an alliance. Well, I agreed and he sort of shrugged. Him and Wendy get along though, neither of them speak very much, they just sit in silence.
Onyx is my mentor and they are fairly rude and annoying, often they give remarks about how unfit I am and they are jealous that they don't get to mentor Thauk, because of this, I don't really have a mentor. We eat breakfast in silence and I get up to leave first, I'd rather be anywhere else than there, even if my only other option is the training centre. I press the B button but am stopped at floor 1 as the pair from District One walk in.
"Hello." I croak and clear my throat. The girl acknowledges me with a nod but the boy simply glares at me like I'm a piece of meat, I shudder and rush out of the elevator as its doors open. The Careers had recruited the boy from Seven yesterday, I was a little angry as I had planned on asking him to be allies and there is no way I'm aligning with the Careers but it is what it is.
I start on the fire-making station, I had made a decent spark yesterday with some flint and steel but nothing was really igniting. I sparked the two together for around twenty minutes with no luck and, frustrated, I get up and leave. I try my luck with throwing knives next, I saw the pair from District Eleven do a bit yesterday and they seemed to get a hang of it fairly easily. Apparently, it's harder than it looks and it takes me around an hour to even get on the target. When I do, I hear some applause behind me and I spin around.
A young boy with spiky black hair stands there, clapping and a girl with a gap tooth stands next to him with her arms crossed. "That was great!" He exclaims and I nod in thanks. "I'm Tenzin, this is Gena." He holds out his hand and I shake it, Gena just stands and gives me a glare.
"Nice to meet you both." Tenzin smiles.
"Gena and I were talking. Weren't we Gena?" Gena grunts. "And we were wondering if you would like to align with us?"
"Oh," I'm a little taken aback by this. I'd assumed I would be working alone after Daniel went to work with the Careers. "Yeah, sure."
"Awesome! What about your district partner?"
"No." I interrupt. "He's a serial killer." Gena snorts.
"Well it might do us some good to have a serial killer on our side." The way she says it is bratty and sarcastic but, to be fair to her, I hadn't really thought about it from that point of view. I don't plan on actually asking him to align though, I don't plan on even talking to him.
"I guess so. I'll talk to him tonight." Tenzin nods enthusiastically.
Silver Rafferty
District 1, Male, 17
(Training Day 2)
...
It's complete bullshit that they decided on Andromeda as the leader of the Careers. What does she have that I don't? I trained at the academy my whole life just to enter The Games and be The Career leader and now that's been stolen from me. I see the group talking in a corner with the new addition of Daniel, I take it as their way of replacing me with an equally strong boy. I have the experience, though, and they are going to regret ever doubting me.
I grin as I think about it, only three more days until I can begin slicing throats and show Panem who they should be rooting for. I watch as a blonde girl spars with a trainer, she's good, very good actually. She's from an outlier district, though, how could someone from an outlying district have learned to spar? She beats the trainer easily and starts to move on but I run toward her.
"My turn next? I think it's about time you spar against a real competitor." She looks a little taken aback.
"Hm, why not." She says and begins walking back toward the sparring zone, her outfit has the number Three on it. I follow her and pick up a sword.
"The name is Silver." I say flirtatiously and she smiles.
"Kathryn."
She's a very pretty girl and has a way about her that draws me in. The Hunger Games isn't about love, though, and there's no way I'm letting a crush get in the way of me winning. I just have to draw her in, then, she can do a bit of work for me in the arena and then I can slit her throat. It's as easy as that with most people, they're lured in and I stab them in the back.
"Let's begin then." I count down from three and we begin to spar. She makes the first move, slashing at my right leg but I block it lazily. "Is that all you got, Kathryn?" I ask, winking and she smiles mischievously. Then, she begins slashing maniacally, it's the sort of stuff you could only learn at the academy and I begin struggling to block her moves. I'm quick, though, and jab at her left shoulder. Somehow, she see it coming and dives into a roll before kicking me to the floor.
She sits on my chest, her sword to my neck. I'm furious, anger is boiling inside of me. How could I let someone from District 3 beat me in a spar? How is that even possible? She must be cheating! However, I keep my cool and manage a small smile. "Very well done." I say bluntly as I get up. If I lore her in, I'm going to need to mind my temper. "I think the two of us could help each other out. Allies?"
"Are you not with the careers?" She asks, eyeing the group behind who are now looking at us. They must've watched us spar, if they thought I was weak before then they definitely do now. I clench my fists with anger at Kathryn and at them, I'm stronger then all of them combined and they will see in the arena.
"No, but they don't have to know that, right?" I ask and she shrugs.
"Okay then, Silver. Allies." She holds out her hand and I shake it, then, she turns and walks away. Maybe The Hunger Games is a lot easier than I thought, if everyone is as gullible as Kathryn is then I'll be winning these Games in no time.
Andromeda "Andi" Knox
District 2, Female, 18
(Training Day 2)
...
I chuckle as the girl from Three takes Silver to the ground. The boy needs a little humbling, especially if he wants to be apart of my Career Pack. I don't mind others shining but people doubting my authority angers me and Silver did that yesterday. However, the group voted and I am their leader, I always knew I would be - my parents had taught me well - and my mentors and fairly decent too. Ryan and I have made somewhat of a bond being from the same District, I knew him from the academy but we had never really spoken until now.
He voted Silver but I don't hold it against him, Silver would probably be angrier than he is now if Ryan hadn't. We asked Daniel to join yesterday and he had agreed but he isn't very talkative, I don't mind that though, we could do with a couple of people who know how to take instructions in this Career Pack. Nick and Eric also seem nice enough and Lira and I get along very well.
"I say we create a strategy for the bloodbath." Eric explains. I agree but I'm not very useful in that area, I much prefer the brute force aspect to the strategical aspect and that's why I was always able to work harder in the academy than I ever was at school.
"Does anyone have any ideas?" I ask. Daniel stays silent and Nick looks like he's pondering something.
"Well we should go for weapons first. It's likely that we'll be staying in the cornucopia a little while after the bloodbath anyway so survival equipment will be pretty easy to find. Our main thing should just be to kill and stay alive." Lira speaks up and everyone nods in agreement.
"Yes, I like that. So, everyone grab a weapon and start killing. People should run pretty fast so we can group up after." I say, enforcing the plan as the leader. "Well, there's not a whole lot left to say so everyone just go do some training, I guess." Everyone walks off and begin working at their respective stations. Most of us don't really need a lot of training as we have trained in everything we need since we were young. However, it doesn't hurt to try and get even better.
I sigh as I look over to the survival skills area, I really hate it but I know it will most definitely be needed in the arena so I begin waling over there. The boy from Three is there and is working on making a fire, I watch for a few minutes and it ignites fairly quickly. I'm slightly shocked, I've been trying for years and I can hardly get as big of a flame as he can.
"How did you do that?" I ask and he turns around and chuckles.
"A career, asking for my help?" He has a wide grin that is somewhat contagious and I can't help but laugh with him. "If I teach you how to make a fire, will you let me make it past the bloodbath?" He jokes and I mock think about it.
"That's a possibility, it depends how bloodthirsty I am." I joke with him and he shrugs.
"Those odds are good enough for me. Take a seat." He points at a space next to me and we start gathering materials. "The materials need to be dead and dry if you want a big flame, then make a bed of it and place wood on top." I listen to his instructions and follow along with what he says.
"Now what?" I ask.
"The flint and steel. Add some magnesium shavings by scratching on the steel. Then turn it over and begin to strike, angle it away from yourself and add plenty of pressure." I do as he says. "Now blow." I begin to blow and a fire starts to ignite. "Start stacking more material!" I begin adding more on and on and the flame grows higher and higher. I laugh in amazement, I had never been able to do this before.
"What's your name?" I ask, curious.
"Xavier, and you?"
"Andromeda, nice to meet you Xavier."
Darla Waioro
District 10, Female, 17
(Training Day 2)
...
Devon sits on the side, breathing heavily as I get in line for the agility course. The two of us decided to align but he keeps telling me there's no way I can help him, it saddens me to see him not only in such a state of illness but also having to fight for his life in The Hunger Games. "I fight for my life every day on this Earth, Darla. Today, tomorrow and the bloodbath is no different." He has come to the conclusion that he'll likely die in the bloodbath but I can't accept it, a life so soon lost especially one from my District will not only demoralise me but it will cause me pain.
"Any idea what you are going to show them tomorrow?" I ask him, still waiting in line behind the boy from Four.
"I don't think I will show them anything..." He laughs. "I don't want to give them the entertainment of seeing me try."
"Devon, you have to try! The Careers will see you as an easy kill."
"Darla, how many times do i have to tell you? I am an easy kill. I appreciate the concern but, really, you need to worry about yourself more than me." I sigh, it's only been a day or two and Devon has already become one of my best friends, one of my only friends.
The two of us talk a lot about back home, most of his memories aren't happy but he talks fondly about his parents. I talk a lot about my family too, I have never experienced homesickness before, I've never even spent the night away from our farmhouse. I miss Daylton's pranks and being under Mother and Father's care with little to worry about. If I do go back to them, though, I'll be rich and we'll never go hungry again
It's a nice thought but I don't know if I have the capability to kill people, let alone children. I'd never really thought about getting reaped before now, I had never taken out any tesserae and there are many young women in District 10. Somehow it ended up being me and I'm going to have to live, or die, with that knowledge. "Good luck!" Devon shouts and I whip back into reality, it's my turn on the agility course. I've not been much good at anything else so far so I'm just hoping that this is my calling.
"When you're ready." The trainer states in a bored voice. I count to three in my head and then begin, I have to climb up a roped ladder and I struggle a little getting my footing but I make it up in a decent time, then there's a couple of monkey bars. I swing onto the first one and my arms shake with the pressure but I carry on, the boy from Four is looking at me from the side and I need to make sure I make an impression. I swing onto the other monkey bars and land smoothly, I then jump over the hurdles with ease and finish.
I look up at the time. 4 minutes isn't bad, not bad at all actually, I think I could definitely do this in my private session. I race back to Devon who now is surrounded by a group of three. They are the pair from Nine and the girl from Eight. "What's going on?" I ask.
"These people were impressed with your agility run, they want to align with us." Devon smirks and my eyes widen, I hadn't really thought of any allies beyond Devon. The pair from Nine is young and seem innocent enough, though, and the girl from Eight seems nice.
"Okay, yeah sure. Let's be allies."
A/N: Flying through the chapters! We're gonna get to the bloodbath in no time and I can't wait. Next up is training day 3 and the private sessions, then we have the interviews and finally the bloodbath chapter where The Games will begin.
Alliances
Silver, Lira, Ryan, Andromeda, Eric, Nick and Daniel
Tenzin, Gena, Cyra and Darla
Vinicio, Carina, Emerald and Nestor
Raven and Darius
Silver and Kathryn
- Neb