Reign Legatus, 18.
District 2 Male.


Reign Legatus had never been one to give up anything as precious as control. There were plenty of things he could do without, but control was not one of those things. And yet, with every passing minute, he could feel what little grip he had on the Careers slipping away, could see it in the way they looked at him. He was losing it all to a weakling from Four.

How pathetic.

Reign sighed as he stepped onto the elevator, rubbing his eyes. Sleep had been even more fleeting than usual now that he was so far from the monotonous home he'd known all his life. There was nothing but shades of grey there, void of life for so many years. Now Reign found himself in the Capitol, where there was nothing but life, nothing but shining colour and wealth, and they'd deprived their most loyal District of that.

"You ready for today?" Omega asked, stepping onto the elevator behind Reign. Reign only grunted, nodding as the doors slid closed. The man looked tired, worry lines permanently creasing his face, large bags beneath his eyes mirroring what Reign suspected he looked like himself. Reign almost pitied his mentor, and yet he couldn't ever bring himself to that point. Sure, he'd convinced the Capitol to help their home, but that was nothing more than a deal with the devil.

The devil who'd killed Reign's mother in the Games, eleven years prior.

"What are you gonna do about the kid from Three?"

"I don't know yet. I guess I'll have to decide soon," Reign muttered.

"Just… be careful, okay?" Omega said with a tired smile, lapsing back into silence as the elevator continued its descent. There were a hundred unspoken things hanging in that elevator, and yet nobody said a word. There were so many questions Reign had and yet refused to ask to the man he owed his life to. But Reign knew it was hopeless to even ask; the answers he sought were long dead and buried, leaving just the emptiness of unanswered questions.

Omega ushered Reign out of the elevator, Reign surveyed the now familiar training room. It didn't take long for Reign to spot the other Careers, clustered together near the center of the room. There was a shorter boy with them, whom Reign recognized to be Cecil, the boy from Three that Dean had wanted to bring in the day prior. It couldn't hurt to bring outsiders in, this he knew, but even if it was a good idea, Reign didn't want to relent to Dean.

Not to the man who would take power if Reign wasn't careful.

"What's he doing here?" Reign muttered as he pushed his way into the group.

"Well, he's gonna train with us today," Dean replied with a smile directed at the boy. "Me and Chiffon are gonna take him."

"Really?"

"Yes. If you have a problem with it, we can take it up later."

Reign sighed, shaking his head. He was done with this kid who would only weigh them down. Reign couldn't afford that, couldn't afford Dean and his kindness that'd quickly fade in the face of the arena.

There was no such thing as kindness if you wanted to survive.

"Could I borrow you for a minute?" Reign asked. Dean nodded as the pair walked away. The rest of the Careers were giving them odd looks, but Reign didn't care.

"What's your problem with the kid? He's just doing his best," Dean muttered. "He could be useful to us, you know?"

"I understand that, but you know he volunteered right? A kid, from Three, who volunteers? What else could he have other than a death wish?" Reign hissed.

"He's… not like that. Really, he's not, he's got skill. I can vouch for him."

"There's no need to vouch for him. I don't want to endanger our position as Careers."

"Whoever said you were in charge?" Chiffon asked, butting into the conversation, the others trailing behind.

"That's right, we didn't ever establish a leader, did we?" Tarni agreed, following on Chiffon's heels.

"There's no need to make any decisions like that yet," Dean sighed. "I mean, unless we have to. Just… take my word for it, the kid is competent."

Reign looked to Claudia, his one true ally, the one he knew would back him up... and yet she wasn't anywhere to be found. Reign was left to fend for himself, baring his teeth in the face of the wolves that were slowly turning against him.

They'd either follow Reign, or they'd die.

"Mm, you've made up my mind for me," Reign growled. "There's no need to decide, I'm leaving."

"Leaving? Leaving what- the Careers?" Dean said, his eyes going wide. "You can't- you can't just do that."

"Why not?" This wasn't the Legion. These weren't his friends or people he could work with; this was the Games and they were Careers with far more training then he'd ever received. But Reign had one thing they didn't: the weight of his District's glory, perched on his shoulders. He'd promised time and time again to make his home better and yet he'd failed over and over again.

Reign would make it better if it was the last thing he did. And none of the others had that motivating them, driving them to succeed.

"But you can't-"

Chiffon placed a hand on Dean's shoulder. "Let him go. If he wants to, he can, and there's nothing we can do about it."

And before anybody else could speak, Reign was gone.

Later, as he was pacing rings around the training center, Reign felt a presence appear behind him. "What was that?" Claudia asked, upping her pace to walk alongside him.

"I'm not dealing with them anymore. Feel free to go crawling back to them, if you want, but I'm not," Reign muttered.

"What did they do?" Claudia pressed. "Not all of them seemed so bad."

"It doesn't matter. I can't work with them."

"Mm," Claudia nodded. "I mean, I guess Twos stick together then. I just… can you even fight? I haven't seen you leave the survival stations once this week."

"Can I fight? Of course I can, do you think I'm an idiot? I wouldn't be here if I couldn't," Reign scoffed. He hadn't gotten the most typical training, but he had spent nearly four years in the academies before Two had crumbled to dust between his hands.

If only he was stronger, he could've stopped it. Could've saved his grandmother, could've saved Imperia, could've done a hundred things differently so that those he loved didn't have to pay for his actions with their lives.

Now Reign would pay with his just the same.

"Okay, if you say so…" Claudia sighed. "Maybe we should try one of the combat stations today then?"

"Do you want me to prove my skill to you? Really?" Reign laughed.

"I mean, it's not like you've given me much to work off of yet," Claudia shrugged. "If you want me to stick around, then I guess. I am worth something, after all."

"And what, I'm not worth just the same? Don't question my skill and I won't question yours," Reign said, with a furrow of his brow as Claudia shrank back from him at the mention of her skill. How could she possibly ask him to prove himself, especially after her showing the day prior? Claudia's usefulness would prove to be limited, but anything at Reign's disposal in a place like this would have to do.

"Okay, okay, fine. Just go do your stupid survival stations then. I'll see you at lunch," Claudia snapped, whirling away towards the fighting rings nearby. Reign wished things were different- wished he'd never been captured, although it was bound to happen at some point, wished he had a different District partner to represent Two alongside, wished his Grandmother or Imperia or Ajax was here and yet none of that was possible.

No, none of it was possible. And so Reign would do the best with what he had, even if that cost him his life.

It'd be worth that tenfold if things went right.


Terra Kiana Quinones, 15.

District 5 Female.


"So where do you want to go today? There's lots of options. We could go to the agility course or the camouflage or the…" Olive trailed off, continuing to talk to herself as the pair walked around the training room. Terra wasn't sure what to make of the girl, but Olive had tracked Terra down again that morning to train with her, just like she said she would. Terra didn't exactly enjoy the company, but this girl was better than the Peacekeepers who stood at intervals around the room. Every time their gaze landed on Terra she couldn't help but fear that she'd been found out, that she'd be dragged from the room to who knows where, never to be seen again.

But it hadn't happened - at least, not yet - and Terra could only hope it would stay that way.

"Maybe we should try that plant station?" Olive declared, beelining for it before Terra could get a word out. She followed the other girl wordlessly, the pair plunking themselves down in front of one of the systems. Olive hit a few buttons, the screen lighting up as she held the control panel out to Terra.

"You… want me to go first?" Terra mumbled.

Olive nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I mean, you don't gotta if you don't want to but… I can help you, if you're not so great at it. We've got lots of plants back home… but I'm guessing you don't have as many where you're from."

"You'd be right about that," Terra smiled softly, taking the panel. Olive had been trying to get her to talk about Five for the past day of training, which made Terra think she must be collecting information on her, but the girl seemed so genuine that she was torn. Terra barely knew what was reality, and what wasn't anymore. Everything was just so wrong here in the Capitol. It was nothing but a waiting room, purgatory between her short life and what would hopefully be an even shorter death.

"Terra? Are you gonna, uh, try it?" Olive asked, nudging her arm.

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry," Terra stuttered, turning her attention back to the task at hand, which reminded her of the logic games Terra enjoyed at school. A variety of plants, berries, and fruit showed up on the screen, flashing different colors based on their edibility level. Terra would have to memorize them and then sort them accordingly. It seemed easy enough to Terra as she got started on the first level.

"So have you ever seen the power plants? They're so big on TV… we don't really have anything like that at home, the biggest buildings we have are the storage warehouses and nobody ever really sees those," Olive chattered as Terra leaned forward, closer to the screen. The plants flashed across the screen slower than Terra anticipated, and she easily sorted through them, dropping them into the categories.

"No I haven't," Terra said, shaking her head.

"Do you two girls need some help?" One of the trainers said, poking his head around the corner of the screen. Terra's eyes went wide as she spotted the trainer, clad in white just like the Peacekeepers were. She could feel her hands clamming up, her heartbeat quickening, her breaths shortening. According to Orly, many of the trainers were ex-Peacekeepers or from similar backgrounds, so she'd done her best to avoid them. Perhaps it was a bad strategy, since they were supposed to be teaching her things she could use in the Games, but Terra doubted she'd get far enough into the Games to use anything they taught her.

It didn't matter. None of it did. She'd be dead soon enough.

"Yeah, we're fine, right Terra?" Olive chirped, nudging Terra in the side. All Terra could respond with was a curt nod, but it was better than nothing.

The trainer nodded with a smile. "Alright then, let me know if you need anything!"

"For sure!" Olive smiled, and with that the man was gone, returning to a dark haired boy a few stations over from them.

"What was that about?" Olive asked, turning to Terra.

"It's- it's nothing… don't worry about it," Terra replied, holding the control panel out to Olive to take. "Uh… here you have a turn now."

"Oh, alright. If you don't… well, like those guys very much you can just let me do all the talking. I don't like 'em either, they've almost busted me and my brother for exploring a bunch back home."

"Oh. Really?"

"Really! Don't worry about it," Olive said with a grin as the system started again, faster than the previous time when Terra had control of it.

Terra wasn't sure what to make of all of this. Olive was willing to put herself in the face of a Peacekeeper for Terra; that wasn't something Terra was familiar with. She hadn't felt that kind of kindness since Leah found her scared and alone on the train and took her in at the community home.

And now, here Terra was, finding kindness in the most unlikely of places once again.

Maybe things wouldn't be as bad as Terra thought they'd be, and as she watched Olive sort plants, she felt something she hadn't in a long time.

Peace.


Aithne Hastings, 17.
District 12 Female.


"What's your problem, hmm? You keep staring off into space," Ping asked, tapping Aithne on the back of the head. "Stay focused."

"Oh… yeah, sorry," Aithne muttered, pushing the Three girl's hand away. Ping was a curious girl who'd approached Aithne with the offer of an alliance the day prior, and Aithne had taken her up on it. There was no way she'd end up allying with Jasper, having ruined her one easy chance, so she'd take any allies she could get outside of her own District partner. Ping seemed nice enough, although she had a habit of almost mothering Aithne. She wasn't used to having anybody mother her, much less a girl only a year her senior, but it still felt somehow comforting, no matter how much Aithne didn't want to admit that.

"Good, you won't learn anything helpful daydreaming like that," Ping laughed, turning her attention to the small fire before her. "How's yours going?"

"It's certainly going," Aithne muttered, waving her hand at the small, flickering fire. Aithne wanted to focus on training, yes, but at any given moment she found her mind wandering to what she'd seen in the mines, to Jasper's reaction. He knew more than he was letting on, but Aithne had ruined any chance of gaining his trust and learning more.

Unless she figured out another way. Even if it were to go wrong, she still had to try and get to the bottom of what was happening in those mines. And Jasper was the way to do it; she just had to figure out how exactly.

"I think they're about to call us in for lunch," Ping mused. "We should probably pack everything up."

"Mm, you're right," Aithne nodded, stamping out her barely smoldering fire. "I wonder what's for lunch today," Ping pondered as they began making their way to the large cafeteria doors. Aithne could only shrug, as the Capitol food was far better and more varied than anything she could've ever found or stolen in Twelve. She just wished Soleil and Keegan were here to experience it too, although Aithne was glad they weren't going to be shipped off to their potential deaths like she was.

"So what exactly is Three like? I've only ever seen it on TV," Aithne asked as they collected their trays, finding an empty table towards the front of the room.

Ping paused for a moment before replying. "It's... interesting, certainly. There's so many people who live there and there are buildings everywhere; if you're on the ground you can't see anything but buildings. I never liked it much, but that wasn't up to me."

"Mmm, it sounds better than Twelve. There's nothing there but coal," Aithne laughed.

Ping cracked a slight smile. "I don't think I could ever live anywhere near those mines."

"Well, they're interesting. I always liked to explore them, but most people are too scared to do that."

"For good reason. Wasn't there an… accident there a few years ago?"

"Yeah, and people like to talk about how the mine shafts are haunted, but I've never seen anything like that."

"Exploring them on your own sounds dangerous though. And what if you got caught?"

"But I never did, and I never will," Aithne grinned as she bit into her sandwich. There were more than just rumors of what was in those mines; Aithne had proof now that there was something up. It didn't matter if she couldn't do anything with that proof.

"Y'all mind if I sit here?" An unfamiliar voice drawled, casting a shadow over Aithne's shoulder.

"Here?" Ping asked, motioning to the table. "I don't see why not - as long as it's okay with you, Aithne."

"I'm fine," Aithne shrugged. A girl with long blonde hair slid into the seat next to Aithne, a large Ten printed across the sleeve of her jacket.

"I'm Ping. You're Bo Peep, right?" Ping asked the girl.

"Bo Peep, yes. You can call me Bo, though," Bo replied with a nod. "Are you two lookin' for allies by any chance? I was watchin' y'all train this morning and you're pretty good at what you do. I just wanted to know if you maybe had another spot for somebody like me."

"Are we?" Ping asked, turning to Aithne.

"I mean…" Aithne trailed off. She didn't know what to make of this girl. It was certainly bold of her to just walk up to them like this, but she liked it. She'd always liked people who were so upfront, and it seemed Bo was just that. "Sure, why not?"

"How about you come train with us for the day?" Ping asked. "Then we can figure things out by tomorrow." All three of the girls nodded their agreement at this plan, continuing to eat their lunches, quietly chatting.

"So, what do you think of those interviews? They seem like so much fun, being on TV in front of everybody," Bo asked.

"I'm not a massive fan of it myself, but hopefully it'll be better than those ridiculous chariots," Ping laughed bitterly.

An idea suddenly came to Aithne. Interviews, in front of the entire nation, where she could say anything she liked. It didn't matter to her if that meant she'd be punished in the Arena; it wasn't likely she was coming back either way.

What if Aithne made the most of what would likely be her death? What if Aithne finally told Panem the truth she'd known for so long?

In the end, it would be worth it. Aithne just had to keep telling herself that.


Tallin Windsor, 18.
District 11 Male.


Tallin had never been good at change, and his adjustment to the Capitol was no different. There was no safety net here, none of the substances he was used to relying on; all he had were himself and his wits.

At least, that was what he'd thought before Pluto and Ifer came along.

"So you really believe your hair is red because of how much sweet potato you eat?" Ifer asked, leaning forwards on her hands.

"Yeah, of course! That's what my dad always told me," Pluto exclaimed. "Why would he ever be wrong?"

"Y'know, that's a good point, but also not how hair works. Right, Tallin?"

"Huh?" Tallin muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"Pluto thinks his hair is red because of how much sweet potato he eats," Ifer repeated.

"It makes sense!" Pluto insisted.

"No… no, it doesn't…" Tallin sighed. "That's definitely not how that works."

"Fine, if you say so."

Tallin couldn't help but want to laugh about his circumstances. How had he even gotten here? Why had they even taken him in? He wasn't useful - in fact he'd probably only drag the group down - but he didn't want to die alone, so he'd said yes to their offer.

Tallin didn't know much, but he felt fairly certain that nobody wanted to die alone.

"So where are we going after this?" Ifer asked. "Sweet potatoes aside."

"I mean, I'd like to check out one of those fighting stations, but I'm fine with anything," Pluto chimed in through half a mouthful of whatever he was chewing.

"What about you, what do you think, Eleven?" Ifer asked, turning to him. She seemed a little more skeptical about Tallin's presence, but Pluto had insisted they bring him in, and it had worked. He didn't know what Pluto saw in him, but evidently he thought it was good enough to bring it into their alliance. Something about the Five boy fascinated Tallin; his endless positivity combined with his sheer obliviousness must've made living in this hell of a world much better. Tallin wished he could be much the same, and yet he couldn't afford to be, he never could.

Not when it was just Tallin against the world.

"Umm, well, I don't mind, whatever's fine with me," Tallin muttered with a shrug.

"Combat station it is then!" Ifer exclaimed, beginning to collect her things. She piled whatever garbage remained onto her tray, picking up Pluto's to return as well.

"Mm, you alright?" Pluto asked, leaning closer to Tallin as Ifer went to drop off her tray.

"Alright? I don't know about that," Tallin barked a bitter laugh as he spoke. Nobody had asked him anything of the sort in what felt like many, many years. He didn't know why Pluto was extending him that sympathy now, when they were only a few days out from entering the arena, but he was.

"Well, you look sad so I figured I'd ask. You don't have to tell me anything, but…" Pluto said, trailing off for a moment, his eyes running across Tallin's arms, covered in the faded memories of needles long since discarded. "You remind me of somebody I used to know, with..." he trailed off, gesturing vaguely at the marks.

"Is that so?" Tallin asked, not giving Pluto a chance to answer before continuing on. "Is anybody on their way to the Games ever okay though?"

"Well, I guess, but still. We're allies now, right? Allies gotta stick together." Pluto smiled and patted Tallin on the arm. "We're all in the same shitty situation."

Tallin nodded. It was true; they were all, in fact, in the same shitty situation. Many of them would likely be dead by the end of the week. And yet here Tallin found somebody to be genuinely nice to him, for no reason other than they wanted to be. It'd been years since anybody had extended anything similar, not since the accident. And no matter how much Tallin tried to convince himself that he didn't care, that he didn't need anybody... he did.

But nobody was ever there. Until now.

"You two ready to go?" Ifer asked, returning with now empty hands.

"Yep!" Pluto beamed, clambering awkwardly over the bench on which he sat. Tallin did the same, the benches attached to the tables proving annoyingly difficult to get over. He didn't know much about Pluto, but he obviously had some experiences in similar things that Tallin did, which was fascinating to the Eleven boy. What was an upbeat kid like Pluto ever doing in such places? Tallin didn't know, nor did he want to know if it involved asking.

The trio made their way towards the combat station. Ifer stepped up to the plate first, picking a shortsword off the rack as the trainer began to go through the motions with her.

"Why are you being so… nice to me?" Tallin whispered to Pluto, as they took up places on the nearby bench.

"Well, people deserve to have somebody be supportive of them, and you seem like you could use it," Pluto shrugged. "You don't have to ally with us permanently, and if you don't want to, you're more than free to leave but… I figured I'd extend the offer anyways."

"Oh…" Tallin said quietly. "Um… I mean, are you sure you aren't wasting your time on me?"

"Eh, nothing like this is ever a waste of time," Pluto laughed, clapping Tallin on the shoulder, "There's no such thing as wasting time when it comes to people!"

"I don't think I believe you, but if you say so," Tallin snorted as he was nearly thrown off once, things didn't seem so bad.

But that wouldn't last. It never did.


Alliances:

District Two Supremacy: Reign, Claudia
Careers but they're in hell limbo: Chiffon, Mystic, Cecil, Dean, Tarni.
Ping and her two children (the children are on leashes): Ping, Bo Peep, Aithne.
Three peas in a pod but one of them is incredibly enthusiastic: Pluto, Tallin, Ifer.
They're Just Buddies: Calvin, Carter.
District Simp Solidarity: Verity, Diesel.
The Children: Terra, Olive.
Sad bread and Chicken nugget: Nugua, Alfie.
The various Lone Wolves: Lane, Mor, Jasper.