Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games; I am not making money off of this.

Chapter Ten: Training

As soon as I stepped into the suite, I saw a dark silhouette sitting on the couch. Cautiously, I held the button tight behind my back as I stepped out of the shadows, revealing myself to whoever it was awaiting my arrival. Immediately, they flicked a light on and I saw it was Brutus with a very unpleasant look on his face. Swallowing hard, I met his eyes directly.

"Where have you been?" He asked, raising a brow at me. Though it was not direct, I could tell by the tone of his voice that the was more than angry.

"Well-I," I stuttered trying to think of some sort of excuse, but this simply wasn't looking good.

"Thought you'd snoop around, eh?" He asked, rising to his feet as he approached me, dressed in his own sleep suit, pants and a loose button up shirt. "You almost didn't get caught."

This was humorous since I'd already been caught once…by someone who intimidated me a lot more than Brutus did.

I still kept my eyes on him as he approached me," But you got a little unlucky."

I sighed, shrugging my shoulders to play along with his little game," You caught me, Brutus."

Snarling slightly, he reached around my body to grab the button from my hands. I thought that he was going to do much more, but all he simply said was," I'd watch yourself, Stone. Snooping isn't the best habit to get into; especially not with the Capitol, alright?"

He must have been far too tired to do much else or comprehend anything more, but as soon as his access to the passageway, he pressed the button, reopening the pathway before stepping past me. I generally expected him to say something else to me; something to make me even more of a criminal, but strangely enough he just groaned to himself before stepping through the door without another word.

Was that some sort of mind game? What exactly was he trying to prove with that? Why was he up in the first place?

There were too many questions and ways that I could have misinterpreted and thought too far into Brutus's questions. He did look rather…sleepy and I wondered if he was even aware of what he was saying or if he was just in a daze between sleep and reality. Shaking my head, I turned off the light he had turned on before continuing back to my room, thinking that perhaps I could get some rest for the evening and try to straighten out the confusion buzzing around in my head.


We arrived at the Training Center early the next morning, dressed in these strange jumpsuit-type apparel that fit nearly like a second layer of skin. Upon arriving at the center, I realized this would be my first official look at the other tributes. Over the next two days, this would probably be some of the most beneficial time I would have. Many, may not have viewed others actions as very important, but if I wished to have any sort of a chance, then I needed to know as much about these people as possible.

As we lined up in the middle of the gymnasium-type room, I made sure to pay attention to each district. Thankfully, there were little numbers at the back of everyone's jumpsuit identifying each of them as their individual districts. Almost instantly, I watched as Flux flocked over to the boy and girl from District One, which didn't surprise me at all. He shook both of their hands and flashed that smile that they seemed to share. Both the boy, Zane, and the girl, Lila, reminded me of the kids in our own academy back home. Zane looked like the typical Career, built much like Flux was and with a certain charm about him. Flux seemed to have a bigger ego than this boy, but that wasn't much of a surprise. The girl, on the other hand, looked like the one that all the boys in the school would go absolutely crazy over with her long, flowing dark brown hair and flawless skin. She, presumably would latch on to the other Careers because of her looks alone. Though it would be a mistake to think that she was not dangerous, I found her to be less intimidating than the boys.

Being social could have worked to my advantage, so I tried talking with the girls from both Four, Capri, and Five, Lani to find potential accomplices. I was a little wary with making too deep of relationships, but working with the survival station opens up for some conversation amongst the tributes. As I migrated from station to station (truly finding what I would be decent at and what I would pray the Games would not entail), I saw that the out-lying districts truly did seem to have the most unprepared tributes. I knew that I was not prepared, but some of the poor kids could hardly lift a sword, not to mention try and wield it in battle.

I really did pity them, especially those from Eleven and Twelve. The boys and girls looked to be not much older than thirteen, the age I was when my older brother was reaped into the Games. Though I had been no stranger to hearing the words encouraging me to kill and destroy echo through the academy back home, there was something far different about the tone of those words in this setting where I actually should have been considering how to kill them. For nearly all of the tributes from Eleven and Twelve, I mentally noted that they were weak and young, meaning they probably wouldn't stand a chance passed the bloodbath.

Some of the centers that I found myself to be more skilled with included camouflage, identifying edible plants and insects, other various survival skills, hand-to-hand combat (interestingly enough), and snares. I found myself to be most attracted to the snares station because creating snares was much like the activities I did back home, creating various inventions that would irritate my family. I mentioned that I was also skilled in hand-to-hand combat. I find the reasoning in this to be that since I was not forced to use a weapon, then I tended to do better. In fact, I won several matches against tributes from all over the board in this particular station simply by noticing the patterns in their movements (which they were rather obvious with, might I add) as I had done with Flux. Naturally, Flux stayed away from any station that I had any interest in, though his excuse was that he didn't need anymore practice in hand-to-hand combat and would therefore spend more time at things like the Tridents, Archery, and Weightlifting.

I remember when Lila, the female from district One, broke away from her Career pack to come over the hand-to-hand combat. Just as I was stepping out of the station, she was starting it. In all honesty, I wasn't paying her much attention until I heard the director of that station beckon me back to the station. I simply wished to move on to my next station, but I willingly strolled back to see what he wanted.

"Lila here would like some practice with hand-to-hand combat. Since you are one of the more skilled tributes I've seen, why don't you show her how it works?" He asked smoothly, inviting me back into the rink boxed off for the combat.

I looked over at Lila tentatively before greeting her and shaking her hand firmly. She appeared to be very…gregarious, just as I had thought before. Standing closer to her, I noticed her bright green eyes and overpowering smile as we walked into the center of the rink. Trying to break the silence and make "girl talk" she spoke to me," So, I guess you're pretty lucky, huh?"

I furrowed my brow as I stood in the middle of the box," Umm-"

I had no idea what she was referring to.

She blinked several times before laughing that obnoxious laugh," You're the only one here who's got to watch Flux your whole life, obviously."

I placed my hands on my hips before raising a brow," And by that you mean-"

"What girl wouldn't want to look at that all day?" She asked, pointing at him over at the knife-throwing station before giggling. It was at this moment that I narrowed my eyes and turned away, shaking my head as I did so. Either she was really this ditzy, or…she was trying to distract me. Knowing how Career tributes worked, I leaned toward the latter of the options.

"Why don't we just focus on this for right now?" I suggested, turning to position myself for the battle.

She chuckled again," If you insist…"

The instructor was spitting out all sorts of instructions to us, but again I was not listening to a word of what he was saying. I was analyzing her movements. She appeared to be rather stiff from where we stood waiting, but as soon as he yelled for us to begin her pattern almost identically mirrored that of Flux's. She came at me swinging and right off the bat, I had made a mistake in my calculating her movement and received a hard hit right to my cheek. Though she spat out an apology, it sounded less than sincere. Gathering my wits quickly, I watched as she wildly swung with little rhyme nor reason, simply setting me up for a grab; I grabbed her arm and twisted it back toward her hard, pushing her to the floor.

She glared at me as if I were the devil himself," You wanna play like that?"

I didn't answer. Mostly because I didn't know…how to answer, but I took several steps back, watching her intently as she jumped to her feet, circling about as if she truly were bloodthirsty. It amazed me how the look in her eye changed from perky to violent in a matter of minutes. In the corner of my eye, I noticed several others gathering around to watch, the Careers included.

And then suddenly, she was sprinting toward me once again, hitting wildly to which I either deflected or dodged carefully. Though I may have underestimated her before, she most certainly was talented in being able to move swiftly, but her precision needed some work. Plenty of times, she would aim for a part of me, but miss terribly, giving me the opportunity to strike her harder. There were plenty of other times when she would have me on the ropes too and I could hear the Careers cheering reverently for her as she nearly had me pinned, but to their demise I had been able to weave myself out of the corner due to her poor footing before taking advantage of her from behind and knocking her to the ground.

Lila did not look as though she would be getting back up and I looked over at the instructor to get the approval to leave. He nodded to me and waved me over to the edge. I walked over, thinking it was the end of the battle. I should have walked a little faster because as soon as I stepped past her, I felt a hand around my ankle as the girl pulled me to the ground. I let out a slight shriek just before my chin smashed against the ground. This shouldn't have been a surprise, but I certainly was at the time and was slightly angered, she couldn't have just given up. In fact, after looking at her, I could tell by the ridiculous laugh that she had simply wanted to make a fool of me before I could walk away from her.

Shaking my head, I pushed myself up without any help from the instructor, who offered it, and stormed out of the station with the sound of the Careers laughter echoing in my head.


I think it was rather disorienting for the other tributes to see a girl from District Two not fitting in with the other Careers. Their group that year seemed to be rather small, to their preference. Flux, Zane, and Lila consisted of their group and they were rather clear that they wanted no one else to even think of joining them, though the boy from District Four had tried, only to be mocked.

I had begun to enjoy the presence of District Four and Five on the first day of training and that continued into the second day. Capri and Lani were both like me and different too. They were like me in the sense that they weren't completely reckless when they fought and were considerably intelligent. They were more valuable than myself in the sense that they could actually yield weapons better than me. Capri preferred a spear while Lani enjoyed archery, though she knew that she was not nearly as impressive of an archer as others in the past had been. Eating meals was slightly more bearable having someone to chat with.

Capri was tall and lanky with blonde hair that was a little frizzy while Lani was the opposite, short and stocky with dark, short, smooth hair. Both of them had blue eyes and a good sense of humor as well, I found that they were very easy to talk to and by the end of the second day, I honestly couldn't have seen myself murdering either of them. In fact, we all mutually felt this and had formed an alliance between the three of us. I never thought that I would have an alliance going into the Games, but if I could go in with more help…perhaps it would help keep me alive a little longer.

"Tomorrow is your private session with the Gamemakers," Enobaria informed me after dinner that evening as we stood out on the terrace that overlooked a garden near our rooms. "You're going to be getting a number tomorrow and I can't stress how important this is. You need sponsors. Do you hear me? You need them and this is how you get them."

I knew the importance of this, but I hadn't a clue how I was supposed to prove to them that I was worthy of a high number," I don't have any skills that are that impressive. Most of my talents are survival skills, not anything as big and scary as the weapon slingers."

She looked at me," Show them your hand-to-hand combat. That's what you succeed in."

"It's a private session," I reminded her, as if she needed it. "I can't just pull someone in there with me."

"Don't they have that machine? You're going to have to use that," She said shortly and I nearly wanted to immediately object.

That machine was something that not only had I seen before, but I had used it before and absolutely hated it. I had been offered it when I first arrived at the hand-to-hand combat in order to get a feel for it, but I refused it instantly. Zenobia had nearly always made me use this same device back at the academy when she hadn't had anyone to put me up against. It wasn't the most soft invention in the world meaning that every time it struck me, I felt as though the bones in my body shattered. Simply thinking of the bulky metal object made me cringe.

"No," I said immediately, looking straight at her.

She blinked several times, looking at me in shock," Excuse me?"

"Enobaria, that machine is-is not what I've been training with. I can't fight with that thing, at all," I argued, shaking my head though I knew that I had little other options.

She stepped back from me and crossed her arms," Then what do you suggest you do?"

"I could always do camouflage…or build a snare," I thought aloud, not making eye contact with her because I knew that I held little ground with either of these things.

"Oh, because building a deer trap is very impressive!" She said sarcastically, obviously angered with me. "I don't think you're going to be catching any of the Careers with that one, dearie."

"Camouflage is-" I started, but she interrupted.

"No! Absolutely not. It'll make you look weak to them and they can't think you look weak," She argued with me, her voice getting louder.

I knew, deep down, what my only option was and it definitely made me nervous, but I knew that I had to face reality and deal with what I was given. Survival skills were not as impressive, but it made me a little antsy to think of what could happen with this machine…as a child I hadn't necessarily been the most skilled with this machine. In fact, I went home with bruises from this thing that may have looked and moved like a human, but it was anything but that.

A/N: Wow! Thanks for the response to the last chapter and I'm glad you liked Seneca. I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter as well and I promise that the next chapter will have some action and an interview with everyone's favorite Captiol T.V. host :D Thanks for reading and let me know what you all think!