Luca Pargus - District 4 Male - Age 18
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Luca tore off his bedsheet and ran towards the door.
"You're going to be late for breakfast!" A muffled voice that appeared to be coming from Mags said through his hotel room door.
"I'll be there in a moment!" Luca yelled, "Sorry, I just woke up."
Because Luca had barely slept on the train, he passed out the second his head hit the pillow of the bed in his hotel room and he slept soundless for nearly eleven hours. He quickly brushed his teeth and styled his hair with a bit of paste, before putting on his training uniform: grey sweatpants and a black nylon shirt and running out the door.
"Sorry for the holdup," Luca said giving Mags a quick hug, "Where's Adira?"
"She's getting us a table in the dining hall," Mags replied, gesturing that Luca should start walking, "Today's a big day so you better eat up."
The Capitol Hotel for the tributes was three stories high. The first was a common area, which included a large room for meals, and the second housed all 24 of the Tributes, who each had their own room. The third floor housed the Mentors, who had larger rooms than the tributes, and the whole building was connected to the training facility through an underground passageway.
While Luca had gotten a glimpse at all of the tributes at the parade the night before, he hadn't had the chance to get a good look at everybody until he walked into the dining hall for his first official meal in the Capitol. There were 12 tables in the center of the room, and a buffet that smelled delicious outlining the room. Interestingly enough, the tables weren't labeled by District, as one of the tables had six people, presumably two mentors and their tributes.
"Don't stare at them," Mags poked Luca's shoulder, "Those could be your allies."
"Who are they?" Luca asked, taking his eyes off the table.
"Districts 1 and 2." Mags replied, "You don't have to ally with them if you don't want to, but they'll probably ask you at some point."
"Got it." Luca headed over to find Adira.
He didn't have an extremely strong desire to ally with the careers, as they'd been training their whole lives for this, and definitely assumed Luca was one of them, as District 4 produced careers every now and then. Surely he'd be seen as one of the weakest links in the chain, and he'd rather form his own alliance.
"Hey Luca, Mags!" Adira waved from the back of the room.
"Sorry I'm late," Luca laughed, taking a seat next at the table.
"What are you waiting for?" She immediately got up, "Let's eat!"
Adira and Luca walked towards the buffet and were stopped by one of the boys from the career table.
"District 4?" He asked, tapping his foot against the ground.
"Yes." Adira nodded her head, "I'm Adira and this is Luca."
"I'm Ammo," He extended his hand, "District 2."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Ammo!" Luca shook his hand back.
"I'm just going to be straight forward and ask you," Ammo said, demanding in tone, "Would you like to ally with my partner Hosanna and I, as well as District 1? We know that District 4 produces fighters just like 1 and 2."
"We honestly haven't thought about it," Adira said, "Can we get back to you?"
Luca was relieved to see her on the same page.
"Whatever suits you," Ammo started to walk off, "But I would strongly recommend joining us."
Adira and Luca continued to walk to the buffet and finally stopped at a station with eggs and various forms of meat.
"I'm not sure if I want to join them." Luca whispered into Adira's ear as he grabbed the tongs to serve bacon.
"Me neither," Adira whispered back, "They seem a bit intimidating. But Mags told me at least that joining them wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."
"She also told us that us sticking together was most important."
"That's true. We'll probably find other allies anyways."
The pair walked back to their table where they were greeted by Mags who had a plate of waffles in front of her.
"What took you two so long?" She asked Adira and Luca after she finished her bite.
Luca explained their interaction with Ammo and how they were unsure about whether or not they wanted to join the careers. While Adira seemed to be more open to the idea, Mags reassured her that sticking with Luca was the right decision.
"I just think they'll be able to protect us," Adira sighed as she finished her food.
"But we're not like them." Luca said, "They're a lot more self-centered than we are, so they probably wouldn't be afraid to kill either of us."
"He makes a good point!" Mags nudged Adira, "I want you two to be alive for as long as possible."
"Well then I guess you're right. We stick together," Adira stood up from the table, "I'm going to go use the ladies room. Luca, would you mind returning my dishes?"
"Not at all!" Luca said, "I'll see you at training."
They hugged goodbye as Luca gathered the plates and began to walk towards the back of the room.
BONK!
Luca felt a pain in his forehead as he dropped a plate, which thankfully did not break. He went to pick it up when he saw a girl standing above him.
"Are you okay?" She asked, rubbing her forehead, "I wasn't watching where I was going. I apologize."
"I'm fine." Luca said, "What about you?"
"I'm good." The girl grabbed a plate out of Luca's hands, "Let me help you bring these back."
"You don't have to." Luca said and started walking again, "I'm Luca by the way! District 4."
The girl introduced herself as Summer from District 9. She was rather tall, almost Luca's height, and she had amazing brown hair and brown eyes to match. They made small talk as they headed towards the dishwasher, mostly about how the food was delicious and the beds in the hotels were so comfortable.
"You're absolutely gorgeous!" Luca exclaimed as they started heading out of the dining hall. Mags was nowhere to be found so he assumed they'd be walking to the training facilities together.
"Thanks," Summer blushed, "But I'm–"
"Oh me too!" Luca cut her off, leading her to let out a sigh of release, "I assume you mean gay?"
"That's exactly what I meant." Summed nodded, "I'm glad to see somebody like me here."
"Me too!" Luca said.
The two silently continued their walk to the training facility, venturing down the stairs to the dimly lit underground passage.
"Do you know why you got reaped?" Summer asked, "District 4 means you're a career doesn't it?"
"Not necessarily." Luca sighed, knowing he was about to tell the Kai story once more.
He told her the abridged version, leaving out his emotional trauma to the whole ordeal, because he didn't want to cry right before training.
"You're shitting me." Summer exclaimed once Luca was finished.
"Huh?"
"I'm here for almost the exact same reason!"
Summer went on to tell Luca about how she was head over heels for her best friend, but when she told her, things went awry.
"That's horrible!" Luca said, finally seeing the lights of the training facility, which seemed to have an underground component, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that."
"Likewise."
The training facility was a bright blue room filled with weapons of all shapes and sizes, as well as a few screens which appeared to have more practical knowledge regarding knot-tying and safe to eat berries.
"I'm going to go find Adira," Luca told Summer once they had entered the room, "Come with?"
The two quickly found Adira by a station with throwing knives. Adira had already begun chucking some at the target.
"Who's this?" Adira stopped throwing her knives and pointed at Summer.
"This is Summer Lindell from District 9." Luca said, "I think she's going to be our ally."
Sam Hillgaze - District 7 Female - Age 18
So far Sam's attempts to catch the eyes of the career pack had been completely unnoticed. She'd been throwing her axe at the wall for nearly an hour, and they were all simply in the back corner, having a heated conversation. It was as though they were the popular kids in a shitty movie, and Sam just wanted to be included, though she was a bit too scared to outright approach them. Cedar on the other hand had no problem talking to Sam even though she had already told him multiple times that she had no interest in being his ally. It was almost cute how pathetic he was, oddly enough.
"I'm so strong," He said, picking up a weight, "I'd be such a good ally to you."
It was painfully obvious Cedar was going to die in the bloodbath, and Sam had no desire to waste her time creating a strategy that wouldn't come to fruition. In the five Hunger Games proceeding the 25th, there were 14 tributes under the age of 16, and 11 of them had died in the bloodbath, so allying with Cedar was simply unwise statistically. Sam had considered explaining it to him, but she reckoned no child wanted to hear about how there was a large chance he was going to die, even if they knew it, but she was reaching the point where she'd tell him just to get him out of her hair.
"You realize you're going to die in the bloodbath right." Sam removed the wait from his hand.
"You don't know that!" Cedar pouted, "Also that's really rude."
Sam flaunted her statistics to Cedar who clearly wasn't paying attention, or at least didn't care if he was.
"That's an awfully stupid reason to not want to be somebody's ally." He said at the end of her rant, beginning to walk away, "But suit yourself."
Cedar seemed to be finally out of her hair, which meant Sam felt a bit more confident in her abilities to talk up the careers. She knew it would be hard to convince them that she could fit in, so she spent a bit more time with her axe, once again hoping they'd notice her.
"Let me show you how it's done," She heard a male voice approaching her.
"Excuse me?" Sam turned around to see one of the career boys.
"Hand me the axe." The boy demanded.
He threw it at the wall and perfectly hit the center target. It was incredible, but she wasn't surprised as he was a career.
"That was incredible!" Sam clapped as the boy began to walk away, "Wait, let me introduce myself."
"Ammo Lawson, District 2." He turned around, "You're not too bad yourself you know."
"I'm Sam from District 7." She reached out for a handshake, which he didn't accept, "I'd love to show you and your allies what I can do."
"You want to ally with us?" Ammo smirked and gestured over to the rest of the careers, "Come here, someone wants to be our ally."
"Who are you?" The other boy, presumably from District 1 ran towards Ammo and Sam.
"This is Sam," Ammo said, "District 7. She's not horrible with an axe."
"What else can she do?" The other boy asked, clearly unimpressed.
"I can tie knots and I'd like to think I'm pretty strong physically." Sam was visibly nervous as she only had one chance to impress the careers and she didn't want to fuck up, "Plus I've been studying the games for the past five years, and trust me when I say I know I can win!"
"I highly doubt it," The boy scoffed then looked away, "Let's roll out."
"Brycen," One of the girls said, refusing to walk away like Brycen, "We should give her a chance."
"This isn't the time for chances Hosanna," Brycen said, "She's not like us."
"Well we could use an extra person," Hosanna begged, "Since District 4 is a no go."
"She's right," The other girl chimed in, "It'll also be fabulous for our reputations. Taking in a poor lost outsider."
"I am not lost!" Sam yelled.
"Well you're certainly not found either." The girl booped Sam's nose, "Do you want to ally with us or not dear?"
"It would be my honor!" Sam said, beginning to follow the careers back to their corner, "So what were you guys talking about?"
"Hold it." Hosanna looked at Sam, "We've got to formally introduce ourselves to you."
They went around telling Sam about themselves. Brycen appeared to be the typical District 1 dude, and he seemed to know it. Sapphira, that was the girl from District 1, was a bit pretentious, but she was definitely a fighter, and even a potential friend. Hosanna from District 2 was the nicest out of the bunch, but that wouldn't mean anything in the arena. Ammo was a hothead, a vicious killer for sure. Sam couldn't help but feel like she was underneath them, but maybe that was how Cedar felt when he was talking to her.
"So you're married?" Sapphira asked Sam after the introductions were through, "Tell me about him."
"He's simply the best." Sam gushed, "I could talk about Sterling for hours."
"That's not necessary," Brycen said, "But I'm sure he loves you just as much."
Sam missed Sterling so deeply even though it had barely been two days. Sleeping alone was simply dreadful, and Sam woke up every few hours, looking for her husband, then being disappointed when he was nowhere to be found.
"Love is absolutely beautiful," Sapphira remarked, "I have no idea what it's like, but surely it's ethereal."
"It is." Sam sighed, "I miss him so much."
"It's completely mutual," Sapphira said, "I can tell just by the way you talk about him."
"Thank you for having me as your ally by the way," Sam exclaimed, "I'm so excited."
"The pleasure is all ours." Sapphira winked, "This is going to be a ball."
Xan Freight - District 6 Male - Age 17
After less than a day in the Capitol, Xan never ever wanted to go back to District 6. While he'd have to eventually return during his Victory Tour after he won the Hunger Games, as soon as that was over, he would buy a one way ticket back to the Capitol. Everyone there was simply so refined. The men were always properly groomed, and the ladies, well let's just say they made the women from 6 look like mere girls. Everybody applauded when Xan paraded in his chariot, and it was nice for people to finally respect him. The one issue so far had been forming alliances for the Games, also known as the only thing holding Xan back from his lifetime of paradise. That was pretty important, but Xan was confident that he could expect plenty of gifts from sponsors, because who wouldn't want to buy something for a guy as classy as Xan. He was used to being bullied by his peers, as that was the whole reason he was in the Hunger Games in the first place, but he assumed that his fellow Tributes would be kind to him as they also had that experience.
"Hi!" A little girl came up to Xan after lunch on the first day of training, "What's your name?"
"Rose, don't talk to him," A boy who was with her whispered not so subtly, "I heard he's bad news."
"I don't bite," Xan said as the girl started to walk away, "I'm Xan!"
"I'm Christabel Rose," The girl muttered, "This is my brother Simon. We're from District 12!"
"You're very beautiful," Xan reached out to touch Christabel Rose's hair, "I hope you know that."
"Why thank you so much!" Christabel Rose curtsied, "You're so handsome."
"She's thirteen," Simon stepped in between the two, "Don't talk to her like."
"But he was being so nice, Simon." She stared at her brother.
"That's how they get you Rose," Simon started to pull her away, "I'm not letting you get hurt like that."
"Goodbye Xan!" Christabel Rose waved as she followed her brother.
Xan had no idea how old Simon was, but if he was thirteen like his sister, that was a fucking disaster. He was treating her sister like an animal when she clearly had feelings for him. What a pig. He still could time to change and be more like Xan, but alas the Hunger Games doesn't treat thirteen-year-olds well, so Xan would have to destroy him.
"Hey!" Another boy tapped Xan's shoulder, hopefully he wouldn't be as horrible as Simon, "You look lost."
"I'm fine!" Xan grunted, "If you're here to pity me, please leave."
"I was actually here to ask if you wanted to join my alliance," The boy said, "There's three of us, and you'd be the perfect fit."
"I doubt it." Xan said, "Nobody here likes me very much."
"Nobody likes me either!" The boy exclaimed, "I'm Isaac."
"Xan," He extended his hand, "It's a pleasure."
"Why don't people like you?" Isaac asked, "You seem chill to me."
"Well it's mainly the girls and their boyfriends. None of them want me even though I've been so kind to them. Fucking bitches."
"BRO!" Isaac screamed, "I fucking hate bitches like that."
Isaac went on to tell Xan about his mother and his sister. What a sad life that kid had had. And only fourteen? That sucked. He couldn't believe people would be so cruel to him, and he didn't blame Isaac for beating their asses. Xan would too. And now his partner was a lesbian, that was fucking awful. At least Winona was hot as fuck, even though she was a bit weird.
"I think we're going to get along great!" Xan stood up, "Can I meet your other friends?"
"Follow me fellow," Isaac began to walk, "You're going to love Brandon and Louis."
"Not in a gay way right?" Xan asked, "Because that's nasty."
"Brandon and Louis actually are gay," Isaac said, "But trust me, they're chill."
"They're not going to hit on me or anything right?" Xan scowled, "I'd be mad uncomfortable with that."
"Not at all," Isaac stopped in front of two other boys, "They're the best."
Isaacs friends were both pretty tall, and definitely handsome. Xan was certain that the ladies were mad bummed when they turned out to be gay, which probably was hilarious. Maybe if Xan pretended he was gay, the girls would be into him. Too late to find out.
"Who's this Isaac?" One of the boys asked.
"This is my new buddy Xan," Isaac dramatically pointed at him, "He's going to make a great addition to our alliance."
"Bro," The other boy butted in, "You can't just go inviting randoms into our alliance."
"He's cool, Louis." Isaac patted Xan's back, "Trust me."
Isaac was totally right. The other boys were complete savages. Brandon threatened people into giving them cows, and it actually worked. That was dope as fuck. Xan didn't understand why people would vote a badass like him in. And Louis was pretty cool too. People said he raped this boy Ryan, and it was totally overdramatic of them to say that. They were going to get along just fine.
"I'm sorry you couldn't get piped before you came here," Brandon told Xan after he introduced himself, "Sex is fucking amazing."
"We get it," Isaac rolled his eyes, "You have a fiancé."
"You're engaged bro?" Xan asked before noticing the ring on his finger, "That's tight as fuck."
"Hell yeah it is," Brandon pumped his fist in the air, "He actually proposed right before the train ride here."
"That's kind of gay," Xan said, "Not going to lie."
"Well we are both men," Brandon awkwardly chuckled, "So I'm not sure what you expected."
"That came out wrong," Xan panicked, "I'm happy you found somebody."
"Aren't we all," Louis laughed.
Yeah, these guys were the best. Xan was going to have an amazing time with them for sure, and maybe one of them would hook him up with a girl before he went into the arena. That Christabel Rose was pretty cute. They just needed to get her brother out of the way. Wow this was going to be epic!
Ada Barr - District 3 Female - Age 16
"Dude," Ada admired Pow as he threw a spear into a target, nearly hitting the bullseye, "You're actually pretty good at this!"
"I"m just as surprised as you are," Pow chuckled, handing Ada the spear, "How about you try it."
Ada picked up the spear and faced the target, making the same stance as Pow. She shook a bit, but she wasn't sure if that was the nerves, or the fact that the spear was actually quite heavy.
"Come on Ada!" Pow cheered, making Ada laugh, "You can do it!"
Ada threw the spear. PLOINK! It barely made contact with the target before bouncing off and hitting the ground. Without hesitation, Ada picked up the spear again, and tried to do better. PLOINK! Once again, she failed miserably.
"I told you I'd be horrible at this," She sighed, walking over to Pow.
"It's totally okay!" Pow reached out to give Ada a hug, "Maybe the spear isn't your thing. Let's try something else."
The same had happened with throwing knives earlier in the day and Ada was starting to feel horrible. She couldn't help but think that she was holding Pow back, as he was mastering everything he tried. He had assured her multiple times that she was not holding him back, but Ada couldn't help feeling hopeless.
"We don't have to do that Pow," Ada said, "You can do whatever, but I'm a lost cause."
"That is not true and you know it!" Pow assured her, "You're the best partner I could ask for. So what you aren't as good with weapons as people who trained their whole lives are? You're still so smart and an amazing person."
"But you're good with weapons," Ada pouted, "And you've never touched one before today."
"Well I'll never be as smart as you."
Ada followed Pow to the bow and arrow section, where he once again excelled, and Ada was once again awful. It was a painful process to keep repeating, so eventually they decided to take a break and get water.
"I'm sorry nothing worked out for you," Pow said as he chugged a glass of water, "We're going to try again tomorrow!"
"It's fine Pow!" Ada demanded, "Go make some allies that are actually going to be able to survive."
"Only if you come with me!"
Ada still couldn't believe that her own mother had thrown her into this mess. She wasn't sure what was crazier, her mom doing this in the first place, or her mom honestly thinking that she could win. Either way, Ada was miserable. All the other Tributes were stronger, taller, and prettier than she was. Why would anybody sponsor somebody like her? At least Pow's friends were right in thinking he could possibly win. She followed Pow around like a lost puppy until he found a group of three tributes that seemed friendly enough.
"Hey!" Pow tapped one of them, a boy with beautiful blue eyes on the shoulder, "Could my partner Ada and I join whatever you're talking about."
"Sure!" The boy said, opening up the circle, "I saw you with the spear earlier today. Not too shabby. I'm Luca and this is Summer and Adira."
"I'm Jacob, but everybody calls me Pow."
"Why do they call you that?"
"His last name is Powell," Ada laughed, "That's an important detail."
"Ada's the best!" Pow said, "She hasn't found a weapon that works great for her yet, but she's smart as a whip!"
"That's worth something for sure!" Adira, one of the girls exclaimed, "How are you guys doing?"
"As good as I can be considering I'm on death's doorstep!" Pow laughed.
They were a good bunch of people, and seemed to be genuinely nice. Ada wasn't sure if they wanted to ally with her and Pow, but she certainly hoped so. They'd definitely keep things entertaining and fun.
"Well, Ada and I are going to go get changed for dinner," Pow said, beginning to walk away, "It was nice talking to you guys."
"Wait!" Adira called out, "You should be our allies!"
"Ada, are you in?" Pow looked over to her, "Because I am!"
"Let's do it!" Ada pumped her fist in the air.
That was Day 1 of Training! I hope everybody enjoyed it. From now on I'm going to do an update on alliances at the end of each chapter.
Careers - Brycen Rosenthal (D1M), Sapphira Starlett (D1F), Ammo Lawson (D2M), Hosanna Guerra (D2F), and Sam Hillgaze (D7F)
Wholesome Gays and Adira - Jacob "Pow" Powell (D3M), Ada Barr (D3F), Luca Pargus (D4M), Adira Price (D4F), and Summer Lindell (D9F)
The Fraternity - Xan Freight (D6M), Isaac Galavan (D9M), Brandon Colt (D10M), and Louis Staker (D11M)
The Babies - Simon Steel Clade (D12M) and Christabel Rose Clade (D12F)
Not Yet Allied - Bariq Fossil (D5M), Wendy Roofer (D5F), Winona Morgan (D6F), Cedar Ranthine (D7M), Logan Webster (D8M), Velvette Wilmington (D8F), Willadeene Rhodes (D10F), and Tulip Everly (D11F).