Seia Loom, 14, D11

My eyes flutter open. Panic sets in. Why is the ceiling white? My ceiling isn't white.

I push up and realize where I am. It's where I'll be for the next week. My deathbed.

I rub my eyes and throw the sheets off of my body. The high quality material doesn't conceal the fact that I'm literally being prepared for my death. And if somehow I don't die…well, then I'll just become another Capitol pawn. I've seen it before and I'll see it again, innocent children turned into Capitol property. Well, I guess I might not see it again. What are the odds I make it out of this thing alive? After getting a sense of my competition…my odds are low. I won't fool myself.

I change into my training outfit - a simple black tank top and leggings completed with well-fitted sneakers. I spend a few moments letting my feet get used to the cushioned soles, the luxury taking a while to get used to. My body doesn't want to get used to it. If I start to get used to it, I'll lose who I am. Where I came from. I won't be any better than the people I despise.

I'm tempted to slip on my reaping shoes, but I can't let foot pain distract me from training today. These next three days might be the most important time here in this shit hole.

I keep the fancy Capitol shoes on and leave my room to head to the main dining area. Harrison is sitting on the couch with a book open in his hands. He hears me walk in and shuts the book, turning his attention towards me. I wish he wouldn't.

"Morning." He says, standing and slowly sauntering over to me. I walk away from him and pick up a muffin from the breakfast buffet, but he continues to come closer.

"Hi." I say, shoving the muffin into my mouth. I walk around him and take a seat at the small table in the other corner, hoping he gets the hint. He doesn't. Instead, he joins me.

"So. Seems like pretty tough competitors out there." Harrison sighs and leans back in his chair. I'm silent for a while, wishing he would get the hint. Maybe he does, but refuses to act on it. Maybe he's desperate for an ally. Or a friend. Unfortunately, I won't be either for him.

I went into this knowing I wouldn't form an alliance. What's the point? Either you betray them, or they betray you. They cost more resources than they provide, and really, they can just be flat out annoying.

"Yeah. Look, Harrison, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not here to make friends." I stand up from the table and walk towards the elevator. I'm not sure what time it is, but I don't really care. I'll stand around the training center until it's time to start.

Harrison stands up too and beats me to the elevator, conveniently standing in the way.

"What?" I cross my arms.

"Why do you hate me?" He asks. I can see the thinning in his "nice guy" act. I can see him for what he really is.

"I don't hate you. I just want to be left alone." I say, trying to push past him. Nope.

"Yeah, I don't believe you. You're incredibly hostile right now. Seriously, what did I do to you?" His voice continues to rise, so much so I'm sure those on the floors above and below us can start to hear him.

"I'm not the one blocking your way." I point out.

He's about to say something else when we hear the dining room door open. I turn around and see an avox quietly enter and do something over at the buffet table. I take the distraction, slam the down arrow on the elevator, and hop in before Harrison can stop me again. Once the elevator begins descending to the basement, I block our interaction out of my mind and focus on what I need to do over these next three days.

Charon Aytigin, 18, District 12

The elevator leading to the training room is full with 24 people all packed in. All different shapes, sizes, ages, hobbies, friends, family, shy, loud, kind hearted, twisted – it doesn't matter. Soon they'll all have to be rooting underground and I'll be here to help them get there. I will trick, steal hearts, break them, kill and maim.

Why? Because I need to do whatever it takes to get back to my life of tricking, stealing and breaking hearts, mugging, and pulling pranks on people. Yes, that's my life, my existence but even so it's got to be better than not existing anymore, right?

Many of the tributes are trying to figure each other out, some of the careers are shooting daggers to let everyone know who's boss I suppose but I only return daggers to them.

The doors slide open, and we are met with a barrage of orders from the head trainer! She reminds me of some of the staff at my orphanage the way she barks orders. I might as well try one last ditch attempt at talking my way out of this situation I find myself in. That happens to be a speciality of mine after all. Yes, talking my way out of sticky situations. I wait until she has finished her commands and she conveniently asks.

"Any questions?"

Mostly not expecting to get any response I figured since most people are still too startled from the reapings to speak at this moment.

I raise my hand and her eyes shift to me like a viscous bear.

"What?"

I clear my throat.

"Yeah, so basically, I shouldn't actually be here because... I think the reapings were rigged because the Peacekeepers have had it in for me ever since me and Zag set fire to one of their barracks as a joke!"

I make sure to emphasise the last part of that sentence but I can already see her eyes growing weary of exhaustion from the sound of my voice. So I continue.

"Anyway, I never even did anything, all I did was pour the gas and light the match and that was it! It was all Zags fault so don't listen to him..."

Suddenly she interrupts me with a booming voice.

"Ok shut up now. You are giving me a headache!" She commands.

"But... I never even said anything anyway... man this place is like so lame," I say turning to the other tributes for agreement who all now have their eyes fixed on me in bemusement.

"I said shut up!" She yells at the top of her voice.

"Yeah and I have shut up. So shut up telling me to shut up," I retort.

"Shut up!" She replies, her voice breaking slightly that time which amuses me enough so I decide to keep pushing her buttons.

"Yeah everyone, shut up!" I say, twisting my head to the rest of the tributes. All of which are just silently staring at me.

Finally, she marches forward so she is directly in my face.

"SHUT UP."

"Shut up..." I mutter back in a sheepish voice.

She looks shook with anger that I actually went this far. To talk back to her.

"That was an echo..." I murmur, pointing around at the walls.

Eventually. she accepts that she won't get the last word in with me so she orders everyone else to begin training and blaming me for the lost time. But I'm not done messing with her yet...

As she is leaving, I run back to her and tap her on the shoulder. She spins around in fury to face me.

"Can I just say something because I haven't actually had the chance to say anything yet..."

She doesn't respond but simply glares.

I hop up onto one leg and show her my shoe.

"I think you might have given me the wrong size shoe... I can barely walk in these," I say with a smirk.

"GO!" She screams, pointing to the training room.

"Alright..."

Having pushed all the buttons she has I finally think I've got bored of her. So, I begin scanning around the training room. Where did Nadia go?

All of a sudden a throwing knife whistles past my head, embedding in a dummy nearby. Off centre but a good throw none the less. I turn to see who threw it. It is a girl, I think she's from district 5. She has layered blond hair and bright, almost orange eyes which are giving me the most fiery death glare of an infernal that I have ever seen. I raise my eyebrow, more bemused than anything.

"Hey shaggy head, watch out or the next one will take your eye out," she barks, despite the fact that they're only dummy knives.

Then without warning she tosses the second one and I am just able to narrowly avoid it, so it skims past my chest and into the bottom of the second dummy.

"When did you learn to do that?" I ask, perplexed.

"About five minutes ago," She shrugs.

"I'm a fast learner."

"Hmm…" I murmur through my lips. I think I like her…

She pauses now impatiently waiting for me to go.

"Now… do you need something?"

I place a big smile on my face and skip towards her cheerfully.

"Here's an idea… why don't we team up in the arena? You scratch my back, I scratch yours sort of thing?" I offer.

She pauses for a moment, her eyes scan my 6'3 frame which I hold at full height all the time. Clearly someone with a build like mine would be an asset. Finally, her orange eyes meet mine. She is prying to see if you can trust me in any way I can tell and the answer to that is of course, no.

"I'm more of a lone wolf," She finally says.

"Great! Me too! Perhaps we could be lone wolves together?" I exclaim, patting her on the back. She replies by sending me an irritated look.

"What do you say? Stick it out until around the final eight and then let the best man win…or woman," I correct myself.

She ponders for another few moments before finally nodding.

"Ok then but know that if you double cross me you will regret it like many have before," she warns me with a stern look.

"Sounds like a deal," I smile, offering out my hand.

She takes my hand and gives it a firm shake.

"I'm Heather by the way."

"Charon," I state.

I turn to pick up an axe from the weapons section and begin giving it a swing. It's a hatchet, nice and light.

"Oh by the way can you refrain from throwing any knives near my head in the future?" I request, turning back to her.

"I thought you liked having all the attention on you," she shrugs cheekily.

This causes a smirk to appear on my face. I'm starting to like Heather more and more.

She finally sighs.

"Fine, I'll refrain from doing that in the future on one condition."

"What's that?" I ask.

"That you get a haircut."

Darrah Arinori, 12, D7

I kneel in front of the fire I've been trying to start for the better part of the morning with no luck. The branches are as uncharred as they were when I started. I'm getting frustrated, my grip getting stronger on the flint and steel in my hand. God, if I can't start it with a literal fire starting kit, how the hell am I going to survive the arena?

When we were first released, I wanted to get my hands on weapons as soon as possible. That was the advice of my mentor, and advice I happened to agree with. I wanted to avoid stations with Careers, or any of the more intimidating tributes, so I found myself at the throwing knives station. Working with the smallest knives possible, I actually found I had a knack for them. Most of my throws stuck in the target, and although they weren't bullseyes or even amazing shots, it was still better than I was expecting.

Riding off that high, I thought I'd have as much success in my section station. I was wrong. I could barely build a stable fireplace, let alone light one. I try one more time, trying to rub the flint and steel together in the right way…Nope. Nothing.

I slam the steel down on the ground and storm away from the station. I hear the trainer trying to call me back, but I just wave her off.

"I'll come back later!" I yell back as I find my way over to traps and snares. There's only one other person here, besides the trainer. The girl from Three. She's so focused on tying knots in a rope she jumps away from me and holds her hand to her chest.

"Ah, hi! Sorry, you scared me." She says, putting the rope down. She turns to fully face me, outstretching her hand.

"Electra. But…I go by El." I take her hand.

"Darrah. I go by Darrah." She rolls her eyes and pulls back to her creation. I take a step closer.

"What are you making?" I ask. Looking at the sequence of knots and length of the rope, it looks to be a net of some kind. But it's big, bigger than you'd need for any animal.

"It's a more advanced trap. You find a hole in the ground of some kind, then you lay this over it." She outstretches the rope and I can see the full scale of the net.

"Wow." I say. "You made this entire thing?" She nods.

"After you lay it out, secure on the sides, you cover it with leaves and stuff. Then when someone walks over it, they collapse into the net. And, boom." She explains, a malicious smile hiding within her innocent facade. I smile back.

"That's amazing." I run my hand along one of the knots, wondering how long it would take me to learn a skill like this. Unless…

"Would you be interested in an alliance?" I ask her. She tilts her head, a mix of shock and interest conflicting. She's silent for a while, I notice her eyes moving across the rest of the tributes. Looking at the Careers, who haven't missed a single spear throw. Who could decapitate either of us without breaking a sweat.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure." El looks back at me and smiles. I smile back.

Are we a strong, intimidating team? Not by any stretch of the imagination. But I feel better with someone like me watching my back. And I'm sure El feels the same. And I refuse to count us out just yet.

Henry Haines 15 District 1

Tatiana and Franz split off to go and train on the dummies, leaving me alone with the fours and Jade. Ah, just saying her name makes my skin crawl and my heart jitter profusely but I shake the thoughts of her out of my head. You have got to stay focused!

As for the pair from four I can't really tell what to make of them yet due to our limited interactions but they both seem nice enough so far. Both have a kind of cool, laid back feel much like the waves that they are of course so used to. The boy Taliesin, he's 18 like Jade and the girl Marrisa, she's 17 so they all have age on their side but they must not underestimate me!

An obstacle course lies in front of us. Not the type I'd expect, it's several large wooden posts, a few meters high, stuck firmly in a sand pit. The idea is to run across the posts without falling down. Sounds easy enough but my balance has never been perfect and I'm afraid I might fall down which would be embarrassing. I'd rather just go and tear up the training dummies with Tatiana and Franz.

I uncomfortably clear my throat.

"So, who wants to go first?"

Marrisa turns to me with her hands on her hips looking marginally unimpressed at her new team mate.

"How about you go?" She requests with one eyebrow raised.

Man, looks like everyone's trying to figure each other out and it seems it's already become a pissing contest. I was not ready for these mind games at all.

"H-here's an idea why doesn't Jade go?" I suggest, turning to my district partner and hoping to get the attention on her.

She responds by glaring at me with her dagger filled eyes.

"Why, are you scared Henbo?" she teases.

"Henbo!" Marrisa bursts out laughing and leaps over to high five Jade, Taliesin just remains emotionless on the side for now. Silently observing it seems.

I can't believe they're making fun of me! Especially my own district partner turning on me like this. I need to stand up for myself right now otherwise they will pick me apart like wild dogs in the arena.

"It's Henry," I correct them, trying to sound confident and not sheepish.

"Whatever Henby… fine I'll go since you're too chicken!" she says, pushing past me and beginning her prance across the obstacle course.

"I'm… I'm not chicken!" I respond but she's already too far away to hear me.

When she is on the other side Taliesin is next to make it, followed by Marissa. Finally, it's my turn! Don't mess this up Henry! Don't embarrass yourself on the first day of training. All the others are watching you.

I leap onto the first post elegantly, easy enough and no harm done. Taking a deep, nervous breath I steady myself but accidently look down which makes me gulp. Why did we have to choose the hardest obstacle course? Then, before I overthink it too much, I leap onto the second, followed by the third and fourth. This isn't too bad I'm already about halfway across.

Then something happens in between the fifth and sixth post. Somehow, I lose my footing and end up crashing into the sixth post. Dazed, my hands slip before I can get a grip onto it and I tumble down into the sand pit!

CRACK

Ouch! That was my knee, I think! My left knee! Pain shoots through my leg since it took the brunt of the fall. I can already hear Jade and Marissa laughing at my misfortune above. Why has Marissa turned on me like this? Is it because she wants to get on Jades good side? To suck up to her?

"Hey it's not funny!" I yell, hobbling over to the side.

Luckily, I don't think there was any serious damage. The ladder is attached to the side of the pit but requires someone else from above to slide it down.

"Hey, can you help me out by sliding the ladder down?" I request.

Jade pokes her head down at me with amusement written all over it, as I rub my knee in pain and then she turns to Marissa.

"Yeah, we could do that or we could… not," she giggles, looking at Marissa who soon joins her.

"Which do you think Marissa?"

The two of them then disappear, still in stitches about what happened to me. However, the ladder is eventually slid down by none other than Taliesin. I begin scrambling up which is a bit of a struggle with my knee, but Taliesin offers out his hand when I'm at the top and holsters me up.

"Thanks."

I see Marissa has just about got over what happened to me, but Jade is still wiping the tears from her face.

"Oh I'm fine by the way, don't worry," I say sarcastically.

"Thank you," Jade smiles.

"That was the best laugh I've had in a while."

I just nod and roll my eyes. I can't think of a comeback right now.

"Why did you pick the hardest obstacle course in the room? Are we the dumbest career pack in history?" I ask.

"No… just you," Jade replies and then promptly bursts out in laughter again with Marissa.

Gosh I walked right into that one, didn't I? I open my mouth to say something back but Jade just interrupts me before I can speak.

"Let's go find Tatiana and Franz now."

Marissa follows her closely. I can't believe they've ganged up on me like this. You need to do better Henry. You have to get your own back. Jade is horrible, she's nothing but a rat, a snake.

Suddenly my thoughts are interrupted by Taliesin's hand on my right shoulder. He rubs it gently with a warm smile on his face although for some reason I feel slightly… creeped out and uncomfortable.

"Listen Henry, try not to let them get to you ok? You're not dumb," his voice is friendly and soothing like his eyes, a slow gentle tide coming in.

"Thanks," I smile back.

"From now on you can be my number two and we'll take out the others together. They'll never see us coming," he continues.

At least I have this Taliesin on my side. The thought of his plan fills me with excitement especially given how the others treated me today.

"Yeah! We'll show them! Together," I say.

He quickly releases my shoulder and begins walking backwards towards the others.

"That's what I like to hear," he says with a friendly wink.

"And so, number two, I'm going to go find number three. Catch you later!" He exclaims.

"Number 3?"

"You'll see," he yells back.

With Taliesin and this number 3 of his at my back Jade won't stand a chance! You better watch out Jade Hastings! You're going to regret everything you've said!

Tatiana Emery, 15, D2

I pick up a decent sized sword and don't hesitate before using it to slowly destroy the wooden dummy placed in front of me. Franz swings at the dummy besides me, less aggressively though. By the time I've destroyed mine, he's barely made a dent. And I know it's not due to lack of trying. His size, his reserved demeanor, I know he's more than he's letting on. I want to figure out what.

"Nice form." I turn to him, waiting for the trainer to replace my dummy with a fresh one. Franz doesn't even turn to me. He just grunts.

"You trained at the academy, didn't you? I think I remember seeing you…lurking around." I take a step closer to him, forcing him to stop swinging.

"Yes." He says, finally making eye contact with me. Out of my peripheral I notice my training dummy has been replaced, but I don't move towards it just yet. I still need answers. I step in closer.

"What do you think of our allies, hm? Interesting bunch this year…" He turns his head away from me, and I follow his eyeline to see Henry racing along the obstacle course while Jade and Marissa watch. We watch as he jumps from platform to platform before landing short and falling to the ground. I hear him scream, combined with our allies' laughter. I turn back towards Franz.

"They're fine." He says. He walks away from the dummies and towards archery. I follow.

Without hesitation, he picks up one of the largest bows available. He loads it with an arrow and shoots a bullseye. All within a few seconds. I'm impressed.

"Wow. You trained well." I pick up a bow and try to mirror his actions. My shot is close to the center of the target, but not quite there. Although my specialty is knives, I can handle a bow.

Franz grabs another arrow and pulls it back in the string. He shoots, landing his shot only centimeters away from the first one.

"Remind me to stay on your good side." I say. The more I talk to Franz, the less I know about him, and it's not a feeling I'm used to. How can he evade every single question and comment I have?

A bubble of self doubt begins to form and I can't stop it, despite my best efforts. I thought I was prepared to be here. What am I doing here? How can I possibly expect to spread our cause - my cause - here, surrounded by Capitolites who would kill me in a blink of an eye if they find out and children who are only thinking about their own survival.

I look over my shoulder and I see Jade and Marissa throwing spears side by side. They seem to be laughing at everything, possibly still making fun of Henry, possibly making fun of others. I turn to my other side and see Henry talking with Taliesin. Alliances forming. Friendships forming. I can't remain on the outside.

I leave Franz alone at archery and stand besides Jade and Marissa. I pick up a spear and without a second thought, I throw it directly at the target in front of me. The spear lodges itself in the center of the bullseye. That gets their attention.

"Wow. Good shot." Marissa says, genuinely. Jade doesn't say anything. She turns her attention back to her own spear. She throws it back and lands the spear slightly above the bullseye. I can see her fingers form into a fist. Marissa pats me on the shoulder.

"Maybe Tatiana can show you some tips." Marissa winks at me and if looks could kill, Jade would've killed us both right then and there.

"Thanks, but I'm good." She walks away towards the water.

I can't help but stand there with a smirk on my face. If I can prove myself to Marissa, I can prove myself to the rest of the Capitol, right?

One step at a time, T.

Serenity Jasper 16, District 9

My first day of training went ok. I mostly kept my head down and avoided any unnecessary conflicts or interactions. As always I need to play my cards right if I'm going to survive this thing. I'm trying to not think about my family back at home too much, my parents but especially my brother who relies so much on me. I was unable to face his tear-filled eyes in the justice building… I just couldn't. No! Stop it Serenity.

Quickly, I shake the thoughts of him out of my head to find myself back in the present moment. I couldn't find a scythe to train with in the training room but the scimitar did quite nicely in its place. Constantly slashing at the fields has given me a kind of muscle memory it seems.

As I'm standing in the lunchroom pondering away to myself, I catch myself tracing the scar near my left hip with my fingers. Staring out at the lunchroom, at the various tributes dotted around on different tables. In the old days I believe all the tributes were seated together which I imagine led to some awkward moments, so I much prefer the change I have to admit. I grab my tray of pasta lunch from the side and rapidly search for a table as far away from Ricky that I can possibly find. There he is, sat on the far left of the room and so I grab a table on the right corner where no one else is sitting and plonk myself down with my tray. After getting reaped and everything I was so ready to thump that misogynist in the nose hard, but I managed to restrain myself luckily. There was talk that the District 10 pair had a fight on the train, and I don't want people to think I'm quick to anger, something someone clever could exploit…

My mind begins drifting again until the table rattles suddenly, snapping me back to reality! Someone takes a seat opposite me with their lunch. Why would they do that? There are about 20 tables but many of them are freed up because alliances are sitting together. Bracing my palms on the table to steady my food, I look up to see who has joined me. I am almost taken back, it is a career, he has chestnut curly that is wavy and is strikingly attractive yet in a kind of creepy way. His eyes and crooked smile both seem poisonous. I think I remember him as the boy from district 4…

"It's strange, isn't it? Watching everyone munching away, I wonder how some of them can stomach it knowing what awaits them," he observes, glancing around the lunchroom. His voice is unexpected. It is slightly high pitched and slimy yet confident at the same time. It's also croaky, like he's speaking directly from his throat. It makes the hairs on my skin shoot up with nerves. Nerves that I can't afford to show.

I'm unsure of how to even respond to his remark. Should I mention that this is a bizarre situation, a career randomly starting up a conversation with an outlier at lunch?

"True, although I seem to be managing fine," is all I say. I want to keep up my confident façade around a career.

He turns back to me and smiles.

"Sorry how rude of me. My name is Taliesin by the way, and you are?"

"Serenity," I respond bluntly, still unsure if I should continue this conversation with this rather uneasy individual.

"Can I ask you something, Serenity?"

I nod awkwardly in the middle of a mouthful of food.

"What would you do to win? Would you kill an innocent? A small child?" He asks plainly.

"If I have to!" I admit, a little agitated.

As hard as it is to admit, it may be true if I'm going to be able to get back to my brother.

"But I don't want to be lectured on morals by a career if that's what you're doing…"

He cracks his neck to the side and smirks gleefully.

"No no no… you misapprehend me. You answered right to that question…"

Does everyone talk like that in district 4? In that kind of weird formal way.

"Get to the point…what do you want?" I interrupt him.

He leans forward across the table on his elbow and hushes his voice down.

"Listen, between you and me a lot of the people in the careers are just so disappointing this year. I was looking for someone more capable to have my back and the way you handled that scimitar today was impressive if I do say so myself…"

He was watching me?

"So, you are offering me to join the careers?" I interrupt again.

"Correct."

I pause for a moment, staring into the face of this new acquaintance. I'm trying to examine him, like I used to do with anyone that I played poker with, and this is a game after all just like poker but his movements are blank, his eyes are mischievous but his movements are blank. I can't spot a tell yet but it's only a matter of time. Everyone has one. The logical answer to his offer is no right? Who would trust a career? They are nothing but a gang of psychopaths. Yet, somehow I am intrigued by this man. There has always been a side of me that takes the risk, that takes the gamble and I struggle to keep her out. Also, they do say that you should keep your friends close but your enemies closer right? It feels like a minute has passed in this cold silence, but it must have only been a few seconds.

"Ok I'm in," the words escape my mouth. I don't even know if I meant to say them but I did and it's done now.

"Excellent," he states, pushing himself up from the table, the chair scraping the floor at the same time which makes me cringe a little.

It is then I notice he hasn't even taken a single bite out of his food as he lets it slide into a bin. So, did he really just come to invite me into his alliance?

"I for one can't stomach it," he jokes, referring to the food.

"Meet us in the training room tomorrow," he smiles, pointing his fingers in a gun shape at me before doing a dramatic twirl and disappearing into the corridor.

What have you done Serenity? No this is a good thing right? I'm allied with the most powerful people in these games but Taliesin? What is it about him? I would never trust someone called Taliesin to begin with, but I don't even know how to describe him…

This could have been the best or worst decision I've made.

So lots of new events today! Has Charon has made a sort of friend in Heather? Henry was not prepared for the politics that comes with the games and has started to be bullied by Jade with Marissa siding with her. Can he get his own back on Jade with the help of Taliesin? Serenity has joined an uneasy agreement with Taliesin. How do you think she'll shake up the careers? Harrison and Tatiana are struggling to make alliances with their dps and Darrah has found a friend in Seia. Charon, Henry and Serenity were written by Nautics and Tatiana, Seia and Darrah were written by team shadow! See you next time!