Oop- three days later and here we are! Don't worry, I've got chapters stockpiled - I'm making up for the two-week break!

I hope that this one will move to providing some drama and setting up some future playoffs I have planned. We have our Career pack with some tensions, and some larger alliances that I'd like to play around with, so I hope you're ready for some wider interactions with tributes.

Without further ado, let's see how our tributes are getting on during training~

Thank you to contemporarydancer2, Remus98 and NateDaMartian who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games in any way, shape, or form.

"We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen" ~Paulo Coelho

Vanity Genot, Seventeen, District Two Female

I'm going for it.

My pirouettes, my sharp strikes, my lunges and artful dodges; each one of them is a perfect hit, a practised movement that few can escape from. If I want to survive, I have to train relentlessly, and I've been doing this since I was a child. I don't mess around, and I'm not afraid to get dirty. I'm here to do my job, grab my victory and get out.

Despite all of this, my heart is heavy.

I've always lied smoothly about how I felt, and when I lost Mars, I played up the same cool, collected act. Losing a brother who was everything to me was just soul-crushing. The one person who I felt that I had such a brilliant connection with was snuffed out in seconds, broken in just a few simple words. I avoid talking about this stuff, but it doesn't mean that I don't think about it. What if Mars came home alive? What if he didn't even go away in the first place?

What makes it worse is that I have to work with the pair from District Four. It's not necessarily their attitude (even if Aisha is focused on manipulation rather than action and Orion seldom speaks), it's because they're clear reminders of everything I wanted to avoid. When I lost Mars, the idea of anything to do with District Four was just alien to me. It's uncomfortable to be around and even when I know it makes no sense, that's just how it is.

I'm thankful for Austin next to me. Even though I'm not the type to admit it, he seems like a genuinely nice guy after the flirty fuckboy façade dropped. We train together, as a unit, as one. His district partner, Adira, seems conflicted but prepared to help out where she can and Landon…I just don't know.

The Caruso family in Two are well known for their perfect lives, their perfect appearances, their perfect everything. Meeting Landon Caruso properly however was a completely different experience to what I expected. He's polite, but there's more than that. I know that something is bubbling under the surface, just ready to overflow and reveal itself. Part of me is curious, but also cautious. Everyone wants to know about the Caruso family and speaking to Landon in the right way can spill secrets that so many people wish to know. However, pushing Landon too far to speak could have any type of reaction. Landon's so composed that sometimes I'm not sure what he's thinking or feeling. All I know is that he's with us and he wants to be a part of the Career alliance, but I just feel like he's waiting on the side-lines, merely observing everyone in the room rather than engaging with them.

People are difficult, which is why you should never judge a book by its cover, no matter how glossy or tattered it may be. Under pressure, people do incredible things and there's no room to doubt anyone. As much as some people in Two like to deny it, I know that outlier tributes win the Games and there's no surprise to that. The Careers banding together cannot match the might of those who work to outwit them, and often we disregard everyone else as a threat when we shouldn't.

I make a mental note to talk to Landon if I can. He doesn't seem like the easiest person to reach, but if I manage to get the chance, I'll talk to him. As much as the Caruso family may be fabulously perfect, that does not mean that I can't look out for him. He's my district partner after all, and he's an extra pair of hands in our alliance. I'm not just going to abandon him.

Ugh, fuck it. I'll speak to him now.

The tomahawks in my hands are tossed haphazardly to the trainer, who calmly catches them. I've done this several times and the trainer's clearly gotten used to it. They don't seem to mind.

Landon is slashing dummies apart in a simulator nearby, and I wait until he's finished before going over. At first, he sees me and turns away, pretending not to, but my hand flies out and catches his muscular arm, pulling him back.

"Hey."

My greeting is blunt, simple, effective. I know I won't get much from Landon, but I've got to try. I want to know where I stand with him, and where his head is at.

"Is there something you need, Vanity?" Landon responds, his brown curls perfect in every way, just as they always are. He's painfully proper, almost too prim, but I get the idea that he's not interested in sticking around to talk to me for very long.

"We need to talk," I tell him directly. "Let's go somewhere we won't be disturbed."

Landon pauses, but nods curtly, following me over into the corner of the room. I notice the feeling of eyes on my back; not only of our allies but also a few eyes from the outlier tributes too. I take no notice of them. I don't need anyone to distract me. Once we're in the corner, Landon rubs his hands together before placing them behind his back, adjusting his posture into one of tense but perfect stature.

"What would you like to discuss?" he asks me, his voice low and barely above a whisper. I get the feeling that he too, wishes to keep our conversation away from the hungry ears of the others.

"I want to know where your head is at," I explain bluntly. "You don't speak much, you're not really engaging with anyone and I don't want you to end up like the guy from Four. I can't deal with two mutes at once."

"I'm…fine," Landon explains, swirling the words around his mouth as if to try them for the first time. "I'm doing my duty for my family. I'm here to make them proud and to fight for my victory."

He sounds tuneless, almost robotic, hidden behind a thin veil of simple cordiality. How has he gotten by for so long just pretending to be someone he clearly isn't?

He's a prisoner.

"You're not fine," I remark. "You have something you want to say."

Finally, the pressure seems to crack slightly as Landon's eyes dart around the room before returning to mine.

"Not yet," he explains, looking as if he's in pain. It's almost as if he's holding back a whirlwind of secrets that he's clearly wishing to talk about. "Apologies, but I need to ensure that I know that I can trust you. I need somewhere private, otherwise, it won't matter."

I don't hesitate or question him in my answer.

"What do you need me to do?" I ask.

"Meet with me after the interviews," he tells me. "Tell nobody you're coming. I'll tell you my plan."

It's mysterious, suspicious even, but I simply nod in agreement. Landon seems pretty satisfied with this, excusing himself with a slight bow and heading back to his swords. Feeling baffled, I also head back to my own training station, only to see that Aisha, Orion, Adira and Austin are chatting to the lean girl from Eleven. Curious, I move over to the group just as they finish talking.

"Perfect, here she comes now," Aisha finishes, spotting my arrival over the Eleven girl's shoulder. "Morgana, this is Vanity, from Two. The guy she was speaking to is Landon, but he kind of keeps to himself."

I raise my eyebrow as Morgana offers her hand for me to shake. Hesitantly, I shake it and I give Aisha a questioning look.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"While you two were talking, Morgana showed us a few of her skills and we're thinking of recruiting her into our alliance."

I shrug, unbothered by this fact.

"I've got no problem with it," I state. "As long as she doesn't mess with any plans then she can stick around as long as she wants."

"Don't you worry, I'm not here to mess up," Morgana answers, her eyes sharp but her expression soft. She seems like a tough competitor and someone we can count on. Aisha did a good job for once.

"That's how we like it," Austin chimes in, before sending me a wink. "Get at least an eight in training and you're in."

As Morgana beams, I smirk at Austin.

There'll be another wolf in the pack for when the hunt begins.

Lewis Coltsfoot, Fifteen, District Twelve Male

It looks like the hunt for allies has ended.

Dathan, Shura and I were bonding pretty well as a team when the boy from Three, Parker, came over to join us. Dathan took a minute to think things over, but with Parker's brilliant mind and impressive memory for all skills survival related, we figured that a dictionary of our own wouldn't be too hard to bear.

I'm now wondering if I'm wrong.

Parker's oddities are different, but the annoying part is that if given the chance, he'll talk your ear off. As friendly as I consider myself to be, I don't think anyone can last more than ten minutes listening to Parker before officially tuning out of the conversation. His way with words is a mish-mashed ramble of elongated nonsense about figures and facts, random ideas or conspiracy theories about a martian that supposedly watches over the Hunger Games. Nonetheless, the guy is smart and I'm not the type to judge him just because he's weird.

If I'm going to get home alive, then I'll do it, even if I have to listen to Parker constantly talking in my ear the entire time.

Shura seems to have taken a liking to Dathan. The hyperactive guy just doesn't ever seem to sit still and his mind is constantly jumping into and out of the gutter. He seems to have taken an interest in Dathan, who's reciprocating, but I can tell he's playing with Shura's heart a little bit to keep him in line. Dathan and I spoke before about his boyfriend and girlfriend back home. I don't know much about relationships, let alone ones with three people in them, but he seems happy. I don't see how people can even think about love in the Games, all things considered.

Dathan seems motivated to get back to them though, which is quite sweet. If he manages to survive all of this, I know that his family and his partners will be happy to see him back safely. As much as I'd hate to admit it, I don't see Dathan getting to the end of this. I want that person to be me. Sure, I don't actively wish for anyone to die, but in this case, I'm planning on doing almost anything I can to get back home. Who can blame me? Despite it all I'm going to push through; no matter how long it takes or how hard I have to fight to get there.

"-so really it relies on the trajectory of the arrow and whether or not the tip of the barb can pierce armour from such a distance. It's really quite remarkable how-"

"Parker," I say, interrupting him firmly but offering him a friendly smile. "Come on, let's try and get you trained up."

We're at the knife-wielding station, and while there are Careers nearby, they don't appear to be taking much interest in us.

Parker goes quiet and nervously takes hold of a dagger. His slicked-back hair and wide eyes remind me of an innocent child, even though he's two years older than me. It's strange to me how he seems so much weaker than I am, and I don't mean that in a horrible way. Parker's mind is hardwired for figures and statistics rather than cutting someone with a knife. Then again, I wasn't exactly raised to be a mean, lean, cutting machine.

Parker's grip on the dagger is firm, and he tries his best to slash at a few dummies, stabbing them awkwardly, clumsily cutting them apart, and getting fake blood all over his hands.

"The purest form of sin is death," he tells me. "Not pretty, but I can't wait until my parents see this!"

"What's your obsession with sin?" I wonder aloud.

Parker's character is deeper than a rambling mastermind. His obsession with "sinning" is something he's casually mentioned three times already, and he's already lost me.

"Oh sinning?" Parker smiles, swiping at the dummies some more with the blade in his hands. "My parents are ridiculously religious and they are devout to their faith, so much so that they consider me some sort of miracle, which is why-"

"What's the quick version?" I joke, and Parker laughs with me, cutting to the chase.

"I like to sin because it defies everything that Mom and Dad want me to be," he explains. "I'm not their perfect miracle boy; I smoke, I want to drink or have sex or kill someone, just to prove to them that I'm not who they want me to be. I want to be my own person with my own values. I want to make my own mistakes and my own decisions. Is that too much to ask?"

For once, Parker doesn't ramble, ending his explanation as he tears into the chest of another dummy.

"Y'know Parker?" I say. "It's not too much to ask at all. You should be happy to be yourself. Don't let anyone else tell you anything different."

"Thanks, Lewis!"

Before I know it, I'm nearly jumped on by a speedy Shura as he bounces over to me chanting my nickname over and over and if it's some kind of magical mystery.

"Colt, Colt, Colt!" he calls. "C'mon, bring Ramble with you, we're off to see Boss Man talk with his district partner. He said he wants to introduce us! Well, I'll certainly introduce him to somethin' heh heh…"

Shura's assigned us all nicknames now. It's somewhat sweet for all of us to have some kind of significance in our alliance, and Shura's energy is enough to get me going after half an hour of Parker's muttering. I frown at the idea of introducing ourselves to Dathan's district partner…wouldn't five of us be too big for an alliance? I know there are six Careers, but they're the Careers and they usually band together. Last year there was an alliance between four outlier tributes and a career and that didn't go over that well for half of them.

I don't want to end up in the same position as they were.

Nobody wants to be buried six feet under.

Lenore Van Duren, Sixteen, District Ten Female

I feel crushed.

If anything could bury me alive, it would be the tense anticipation in the air as Ashton and I wait for Dathan's allies to meet us. When we came here on the train, I figured that talking to Dathan and maybe making an ally or two would be good for the both of us. We could've worked together to sort a few things out, and all would be well. He'd get an ally, I'd get an ally, and we'd meet up on the last training day to create a solid group of tributes; ones who would be capable of surviving. Instead, Dathan seems off. There's something about him that seems more confident.

He's not staring at me.

He's staring at Ashton as if to analyse him or to suss out possible strengths or weaknesses.

I don't understand what the problem is. I found a tribute who I think is strong in his own way, and I'm expecting Dathan to bring the same to the proverbial table. The problem is, he mentioned "allies" as in plural. I don't mind a couple of people around me, especially since I know Ashton and Dathan already, but this gets me thinking – just how many people is Dathan going to introduce us to?

My question is soon answered as the hyperactive boy from Eight, the rambling boy from Three and the resolute boy from Twelve join Dathan at his side. Together, this alliance would make six of us, a quarter of the tributes who are currently in the Games. It's an impressive gathering of people and it brings attention to us in a way that I don't like. The sharp looking girl from Four claps her hands and orders the Careers over to watch, a couple of them laughing at us. The burly boy from Nine and his group of young tributes are also watching us from afar. Thirdly, a pair of girls are watching from the sidelines as well; the twitchy girl from Five and the quiet girl from Six.

So much for keeping things discreet.

"So…this is awkward," Dathan says to me, looking between myself and Ashton. "When I thought we were going for allies, I figured we'd pick up a few strong ones, make a big pack and start on the Careers or something. This is Shura from Eight, Parker from Three and Lewis from Twelve. With you, I think we'd make a great team."

"Dathan, you know I didn't want this," I explain, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute from all of the eyes watching me. "I don't want to attract too much attention. I thought there'd be me, you, Ashton and maybe someone else?"

"Ashton huh?" Dathan remarks dubiously. "Well I would say job well done but I'd say any one of my allies could beat yours in a fight. Why don't you come over to us and join our alliance where you'll be more protected? It'll be better for your safety."

Ashton gives me a look; a cross between pleading and questioning if I want to switch up my alliance preferences. I find myself wrinkling my nose a little, but I remain perfectly calm. A lot of this sort of thing doesn't bother me too much, but when it does, I'm pretty good at hiding it. Dathan's alliance looks to be a strong one, but there's a part of me that doesn't want to be in it. Why should I leave Ashton behind for the sake of Shura, Parker or Lewis?

"Actually dumbass, she doesn't need protecting!"

I don't have the chance to reply; the twitchy girl from Five stalks up to where we are, her hands on her hips. Somewhat warily, her companion from Six follows her. For some weird reason, I feel a surge of gratitude towards the girl from Five. Something about her screams genuinity, and she seems like she'd be someone I'd get along with. She's fighting my corner, sticking up for me in a way.

"Sorry, who are you again?" Dathan asks, noticing the girl for the first time.

"Izzy from Five, and you better remember it," the girl responds with confidence, her elbow nudging thin air and her head jerking to one side. "Who says this girl can't protect herself? Maybe she doesn't need your help."

Izzy strides over to me and throws her arm around my shoulders.

"C'mon, Ten, you don't want to hang out with that riff-raff, right?" she asks, clearly taunting them. "There's no point expanding your horizons to include people who don't think you've got your own strengths."

I'm rendered speechless by Izzy's display of bravado and also the situation that's arisen from almost nowhere.

"I'm sure Dathan didn't mean it like that..." Lewis begins to speak, clearly trying to diffuse the rising tension, while Dathan doesn't look too impressed. Shura appears to be watching this conversation avidly, reeling in the drama with a crazed smile on his face, and Parker is just muttering under his breath. Regardless of all of this, Izzy looks less than impressed at Lewis' attempt to calm things down.

"Nah, we don't wanna hear about it," she remarks plainly. "Let her decide on her own allies rather than making your own judgements."

"I wasn't exactly making judgements, but while we're here," Dathan responds, fire beneath his voice. "Why do you feel the need to protect her? Do you think she hasn't got any strength of her own, so much so that you have to try and claim her like some kind of prize?"

"I'm not judging a damn thing," Izzy explains matter-of-factly. "I'm just telling you how it is. You're ganging up on her."

"Well look Twitch," Shura mentions, seemingly deciding to assign Izzy a nickname. "Maybe how it is, is that we're the allies Boss Man picked. We happen to make a great team, so we're askin' to see if the lady from Ten wants to join us."

"Twitch? Heard that one before," Izzy crosses her arms, her leg twitching, before looking at me. "I don't know you, Ten, but I can tell you one thing; you'd be better off with us than with them. I'm not gonna look at you for what you can do, I'm gonna see you for who you are."

Izzy's words resonate with me more than I expected them to, and honestly, I'm cast into doubt. Should I be strategic or should I work with people who are likely to support me when the going gets tough? Dathan rolls his eyes Izzy's words but appears to notice an audience is watching, most notably the Career pack. He shifts slightly on his feet.

"Lenore, decide what you want," he explains shortly. "We want you with us, but it's your choice if you want to go with Izzy. But if you decide to go with her, we won't be allies anymore. We'll be enemies. I have to make that clear."

I'm conflicted; strategy or teamwork, and why not both? I haven't seen what either alliance can really do besides Dathan, who looks pretty strong. With a decision this hard to make, which so much pressure on my shoulders, I find myself turning to look into Ashton's green eyes.

"What do you think?" I whisper.

"W-what?" he asks, confused. "Why are you asking me? It's your decision, remember?"

"We're allies, Ashton. We should decide on this together." I remind him, offering him a small smile.

Slowly, he returns one of his own.

"I think we should go with people who aren't going to betray us."

Ashton's answer is as clear as day to me. Sure, I don't know if Dathan's alliance is actually as strong as he implies that it is, but Ashton's prepared, Izzy's got fire, and the girl from Six might have a few tricks up her sleeve. Calmly, I nod in agreement to him.

I don't say anything, merely looking directly at Dathan with an apology in my eyes as I take Izzy's hand. Dathan gets the message and shrugs at this; he knows that the decision has been made and there's nothing that anyone can really do it about it. Jerking his head, he beckons for the rest of his alliance to follow him. Lewis, from Twelve, stays for a moment, wanting to say something. It looks almost like an apology, but he falters, closing his mouth and turning away to follow the others.

"Welcome to the team, Ten and Seven, Lenore and Ashton, right?" Izzy smiles widely, her eyes bright. "My friend here is Leigha. Welcome to the Hunger Games."

Leigha offers me a polite smile and a wave, and suddenly everything just feels right.

I can't help but to shyly smile with her.

Barric Roland, Seventeen, District Nine Male

The Careers are smiling at us.

Sure, it probably wasn't the best idea to bring the youngest three tributes towards the weapons racks, but with Aline's constant glancing and Cleve noting this fact, I caved in.

I should be looking after myself.

Isn't that what I've told myself, after all this time? Shouldn't I be living my life in the way that I want it to? Since when did this all become about someone else when really it should be about me, focusing on what matters most for my own needs?

A part of me twinges at these thoughts. These are selfish thoughts, stupid thoughts, and what kind of person would leave young children to die to follow their own desires and goals? No, I'm not the type of person to just leave everyone behind. Aline, Cleve, Geoni…they're too young to be left in the dust to die at the bloodbath. Someone needs to guide them, to show them how to live life for just a little bit longer.

I'm delaying the inevitable.

I know that my allies are likely to die, and I know I'm doing myself no real favours by deciding to stick by them. What's the point of me supporting them if they're bound to fall to the hands of Careers as soon as the gong sounds? Even with this line of questioning, my heart is too soft. Sure, they'll probably die, but a big part of me wants them to find enjoyment in their last moments. I'd rather they live happily than flee in fear, fight when they must and learn that you can be strong, even if people think you're the weakest or the smallest.

Now, standing at the weapons stations, I'm staring down the Career pack as they watch Aline and Cleve train (and Geoni stand awkwardly to one side). It's almost as if it's some kind of entertainment to them.

"Don't worry about them Barric," Aline calls to me, shaking her head calmly. "There's no time to worry about the Careers watching us. We're hardly threats to them."

Aline's right.

Three twelve-year-olds and their so-called 'protector' aren't really much of a threat on paper, but considering last year, younger tributes made it further than expected. Could that be the real reason as to why the Careers have resorted to watching us as if they don't have anything else better to do? With the training time about to end and the sessions only a couple of hours away, it feels almost unfair for them to be lounging around.

I know how this all goes. Careers are always the same, sticking together in packs and striking those who are more vulnerable than they are. Even so, Careers always make mistakes; they turn on each other too early, or they focus too much on their own tension rather than on eliminating other tributes. I've seen enough takes of recent Games to be prepared enough to know that.

"Yeah, let's hope they focus on someone else," I chuckle nervously, turning away from the group of smirking tributes. "I can't believe what happened earlier. I hope that diverted some attention away from us, which is a good thing."

"Oh, you mean the girl from Five and the boy from Ten?" Cleve chimes in, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, it wasn't the best way to do that, was it?"

"You're right in saying that," I agree. "Some people just can't help themselves though. It's better for us that the others are bringing attention to themselves."

"Statistically, our chances of being targeted first should be small, but with the others watching us I'm not so confident…" Geoni mutters, his eyes downcast.

"It'll be okay, Geoni," I offer him a gentle smile. "I don't think they'll come right for us."

I don't know that for sure, but obviously, I'm not stupid enough to state that as a possibility. There's no reason to cause any unnecessary panic, so remaining silent is probably the best thing to do. While I'm determined to get all of my allies away from the bloodbath, it doesn't necessarily mean that I'll be very successful at it. That and risking my life for something potentially pointless isn't exactly a smart call either.

The conflict weighs itself out in my head. Why do I feel like there's a need for self-preservation when I'm so used to helping others? Could it be that I'm so over helping other people that focusing on myself for once seems like too good of an opportunity to pass up? In the game of life and death, nothing seems to be certain.

Aline steps up to the weapons station first, brushing her fingers gently against the side of a pair of butterfly swords. I raise an eyebrow; does she expect to be able to use a weapon as specific as this? I don't question it, however, watching as she picks up the blades, testing their weight. Her movements suddenly become twice as graceful, as if she's made of air or water, and immediately she begins her dance.

She's…impressive.

Never did I ever think a twelve-year-old could be so elegant in her movements as she spins around the dummies, hopping from side to side, cutting them down with ease. By no means is she a trained Career, but she's certainly no stranger to a weapon, specifically those butterfly swords. I can't help but let a smile reach my lips as she continues her session, her arm the extension of her swords as if the two of them have truly become one.

Breathing hard, Aline shakily sets the swords down, calmly moving the hair out of her eyes.

Taking a peek behind my shoulder, I notice that some tributes are surprised, most notably the Careers. Who would have thought that a killing machine would lie in a twelve year old who possesses so much grace and gentleness?

"Where did you learn that?" I ask curiously.

"My Father," Aline explains simply, a smile breaking through her demeanour. "It's a tradition passed down for generations and I was taught it, as my parents and grandparents were before me."

I let loose a breath, purely astounded by the workmanship of a twelve-year-old. If taken by surprise, any tribute could be cut down in a matter of seconds.

It looks like we have a game-changer.

Woo! The training days are done and it looks like we had a little bit of flavour in this chapter with some emerging tensions and some drama between the tributes! I don't know about you but I'm getting really hyped for some of the emerging arcs and relationships. That and the bloodbath, of course!

The poll for your opinions on who should survive past the bloodbath will be up for a little while longer, so if you haven't voted on it yet, then it is still up there for you to give your opinions on your faves :D

Alliances:

The Career Pack:

Adira Linett, Austin Ogara, Vanity Genot, Landon Caruso, Aisha Cain, Orion Trent, Morgana Murray

Quartets:

Geoni Proctor, Barric Roland, Aline Liu, Cleveland "Cleve" Garfield

Parker Lidell, Shura Blackburn, Dathan Corvair, Lewis Coltsfoot

Isabella "Izzy" Moire, Leigha Tullson, Ashton Metz, Lenore Van Duren

Duos:

Naydene Carmello, Nova Lupin

Shion Qing, Filla Amirylis

Going Solo:

Cassia Foster

Whoa, it looks like we've got a few larger alliances going on, but I'll keep you updated as to if the alliances change any further. I've put alliances on the blog as well :)

What do you think Landon wants to talk to Vanity about after the interviews? I guess you'll have to wait until Chapter Eighteen to find out!
Dathan and Lenore's alliances were the ones to square off this time around! If this alliance does end up fighting each other, who do you think will come out on top?
Will Barric be able to cope with facing off against the Careers as well as protecting his alliance? What did you think of Aline's impressive skills?

Big moves are happening, and there's more to come. If all goes well, I'll see you again on Sunday, around 10 pm GMT ;)

Over and out!
~Mental