Disclaimer: The Hunger Games isn't mine.

Note: Summer break has started! Updates should be a bit more frequent now.

Due to the number of tributes, I'm splitting training up into six chapters rather than three. So if this chapter comes across a bit Career-heavy, don't fret. Everyone's going to get a POV during training; it's just that Careers tend to make sense as one of the first alliances to solidify.

Training Day One – Morning
Nature

Emmett Darsier, 18
District Four

He was almost afraid of how good it felt.

Emmett closed his eyes, gripping the dagger tightly in his hands. It felt good to hold a weapon again – any sort of weapon. He hadn't felt like this since … too long. Once he'd dropped out of training, he'd tried to forget. Tried to ignore the feeling. The longing. The sheer power that came with holding a weapon in his hand, ready to use it against someone else.

They wouldn't allow him to do anything of the sort during training, of course. He wouldn't be able to fight another tribute. Not until the Games began. And unless he was planning on joining the Career pack, Kalypso had suggested that it might be in his best interest to avoid the weapons stations altogether. But it had simply been too tempting. He'd only lasted a few minutes at the fire-starting station before he'd started making his way over to the weapons, as if drawn by some outside force.

But now that he was here – now that he had a weapon in his hand again – he had to make a choice. If he decided to show off now – if he practiced with a real weapon, if he showed what he was really capable of – then he would reveal himself as a threat. And if he didn't want to join up with the other Careers, that was something he couldn't afford.

But it felt so good…

Slowly, he turned the dagger over in his hand, opening his eyes again. No. No, they were watching him now – the group of Careers that was starting to form at one of the nearby stations. Three of the tributes from One. Two of the younger ones from Two. The older pair from Five. But none of the tributes from District Four.

Had they decided not to invite anyone from Four? That wasn't unheard of, now that District Five's tributes were usually members of the pack. Six tributes was generally enough for a full pack. Any more than that, and the pack was prone to splitting up into smaller groups. If they were already at seven, they probably wouldn't want any more – even if some of their members were a bit young. Even if there were more tributes this year. They probably wouldn't want him.

And he probably didn't want them. He was probably better off on his own. Really, the only advantage of joining up with the pack right now was that he wouldn't have to hide. He wouldn't have to pretend. If he wanted to join them, all he had to do was make a move. Strike with the weapon that was already in his hand. As soon as they knew what he was capable of, they would almost certainly ask him to join them.

Or he could wait.

He would have to wait.

Slowly, carefully, he laid the dagger back on the rack. The trainer nearby raised an eyebrow. Maybe he was a little disappointed, or maybe he was simply confused. But that didn't matter. The trainers didn't matter. They wouldn't be the ones going into the arena with him. The other tributes would. The Careers would. And now that he had laid his weapon down, their attention was elsewhere.

All except one of them.

Mae Swenson, 13
District One

She was the only one still watching him.

Mae cocked her head, watching as the boy from Four set the dagger down, then picked it up again, then set it down once more before heading back towards the fire-starting station. He had seemed almost … What was that word? 'Hesitant' wasn't quite right. There had been nothing hesitant, nothing uncertain, about the way he'd held the weapon in his hands. Reluctant, then. Yes, that was it.

But what did that mean? Even when she could figure out what another person was feeling, it was always more difficult to trace what that really meant. Was he reluctant because he didn't want to think about using a weapon to hurt someone else? Or because he did want to use it but had decided not to? Maybe he was trying not to draw attention to himself.

Or maybe … Maybe he was trying to attract attention. Maybe he was hoping that simply picking up a weapon – but not using it – might be enough to draw attention from some of the Career pack. Maybe he was hoping to portray himself as a threat without any of the effort of actually practicing with a weapon. If so, maybe it had worked. He had certainly caught her attention.

"Still with us, Mae?" Justus asked, and Mae immediately perked up. What had he been saying? Now the whole Career pack was looking at her. Great.

"We were just trying to figure out whether there's anyone else we should invite into the pack," the boy from Two, Darian, offered helpfully. "But it looks like we might be it, if none of the tributes from Four seem interested…" He trailed off, maybe waiting for her input. But the boy from Four – the one who had been holding the dagger – certainly hadn't seemed interested in actually joining the pack, no matter what the motive behind his actions had been. If he was interested, wouldn't he have said so?

Maybe. Maybe not. But with the pack already this large, he certainly should have taken the initiative if he'd wanted to be invited to join them. If he lost out on the opportunity because he hadn't acted soon enough, that was his problem – not hers. "I think seven is a good number," Mae answered, and that much was certainly true. Even in more recent years where districts had sent extra tributes, there hadn't been many packs larger than seven – and those that had grown larger than that hadn't lasted long. The larger the pack, the greater the risk of in-fighting, and that was something they couldn't afford.

"I guess that's settled, then," Justus concluded, and the others nodded along. No one seemed eager to offer another opinion on who should be included, and none of the other tributes had approached them wanting to join the pack. Mae glanced around at the other members of the pack as the seven of them headed off to the nearest weapons station.

Was it really going to be that easy?

Darian Travers, 14
District Two

Was it really going to be that easy?

Darian glanced around at the rest of the Career pack as they approached the weapons stations. He had assumed that there would be some sort of test, some sort of requirement for those who wanted to be allowed into the Career pack – especially this year, with so many more options from Career districts. Instead, as they neared the sword station, Justus turned to the group. "Look, we've only got three days, and I don't think it's a secret that none of us are full-fledged Careers. I wasn't going to be the academy's pick this year, and I doubt anyone else was, either." He waited a moment, as if expecting someone to disagree.

No one did. Darian certainly wasn't going to pipe up. He probably wouldn't have ever been the trainers' choice – and certainly not this year, when he was only fourteen. Two of the girls were even younger. The older pair from Five remained silent, as well, so Justus continued. "There's no point in reinventing the wheel here. Don't waste time with something you already know. Get out there and get as familiar as you can with everything you don't know yet."

Etora shifted uncomfortably. "Aren't we going to…"

Justus turned. "What?"

"Shouldn't there be some sort of … standard? Don't you want to see who will cut it as members of the pack?"

"Is there someone you think wouldn't?" Justus asked pointedly, and Etora fell silent. They hadn't seen enough of each other's abilities for her to be able to single anyone else out as a weaker contender yet. Maybe that was why Justus had decided to press the issue now. Maybe he was worried about who others might see as the weakest link.

Darian held his breath for a moment. It was only a matter of time before they figured out that he might be that weakest link. He didn't have much training. He was only fourteen. The only thing he had going for him was the fact that he was already a killer, and, despite Balthasar's advice, he didn't want to make a show of that. Not yet. Not unless he had to. And if the other Careers were planning to simply accept anyone who wanted to join the pack without question, he didn't really have a reason to bring it up.

Not yet. He could save that for later. Maybe during the interviews. Maybe. Or maybe not. If it never came up … well, maybe that was for the best. He wasn't the cold-blooded killer that Balthasar thought he was – or wanted the audience to think he was. He was just a kid who was in way over his head.

Finally, Etora shook her head. "No. You're right. We should make the most of the time we have, get all the experience we can."

Darian silently breathed a sigh of relief. If the other Careers had decided to hold some sort of test, would he have passed? Would any of them? What if none of them were up to standard? Maybe it was better that they didn't know as much about each other as some of them might have liked. Maybe it was better if they didn't know each other's weaknesses.

Maybe he would be safer that way.

Macauley Tierney, 17
District Five

Maybe he thought it would be safer this way.

Mac turned to Justus as the other Careers headed off towards various weapons stations. "So which one are you protecting?"

Justus raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

Mac shrugged. "Well, I think it's pretty obvious you would make the cut if you decided to hold some sort of tryouts to see who could cut it as part of the Career pack. You'd have nothing to lose from a quick demonstration – unless it's one of your district partners who isn't up to snuff. So which one is it?"

Justus shook his head. "Sharp … but wrong. The problem with a quick demonstration is just that – it's quick. It's decisive, but it could also be misleading. Which skills do we choose to place value on in determining who gets cut? Where do we draw the line? It might start off as something quick and easy, but it could end up being drawn out over three days of training. We'd lose valuable time and gain … what?"

"Information?" Mac ventured.

"Some," Justus admitted. "But nothing that we couldn't learn simply by watching and listening. Besides, there are only seven of us to begin with. If we start making cuts—"

"Six is still a strong pack," Mac pointed out.

Justus nodded. "And if I was certain it would only bring us down to six, I might have made a different call. But can you give me a definitive place to draw a line that would be certain to only cut one of them? And can you guarantee that if we cut one of District Two's tributes, the other won't follow? Or that if your district partner is out, the two of you wouldn't decide to go off and form your own pack? A pack of not-quite-Careers that could easily be as large as the Career pack, if enough of the others decided it was worth the risk?"

Mac's eyebrows shot up. Did he really think that she would leave if he decided Elliot didn't make the cut? "Do you really think others would leave?"

"I don't know," Justus admitted. "And that's the point. I don't know, and neither do you. You don't know for sure what any of the others would do. This isn't a normal year. I haven't been training with my district partners for months after being chosen, and I'd wager you haven't either. We can't make the assumptions that people would normally make about full-fledged Careers."

"Some of us are full-fledged Careers," Mac insisted. Or near enough.

"Not enough of us," Justus countered. "Not enough to set the sort of rigorous standards normal Career packs can afford to hold each other to. For now, we'll have to take who we can get."

"And if they aren't good enough?"

Justus shrugged. "Then we'll find out soon enough. The ones who won't be able to cut it in the Games will be dead soon enough, anyway. Until then … it can't hurt to have a little extra padding. A few extra bodies between us and the tributes who would think that a smaller Career pack might make a tempting target."

Mac nodded a little. "You've really thought this through."

Justus chuckled. "I talked it through with my mentors. They know what they're doing, you know."

Mac nodded reluctantly. That was part of the problem. Everyone's mentors knew what they were doing – up to a point. But their mentors wouldn't be in the arena with them. The other tributes would.

And that was beginning to make her nervous.

Elliot Stone, 18
District Five

All her pacing was beginning to make him nervous.

Elliot gripped Mac's shoulder as she passed him for what must have been the hundredth time in the last few minutes. How was he supposed to concentrate on carving a spear out of a piece of wood when she was constantly passing in and out of his field of vision? "Relax a little," he coaxed as she broke free from his grip. "It's okay. We're in the pack."

Mac shook her head. "That's it? You think that's it? Just make it into the pack, and we're good to go? He's watching us, Elliot."

"Who?"

"Justus."

Elliot glanced up. The boy from One was, in fact, facing them … but only because they happened to be in the same general direction as the target that he was throwing a few knives at. "And now we're watching him," Elliot pointed out. "What's the problem?"

Mac glared. "You don't get it, do you? He may be acting like he doesn't care about how much we know, acting like he needs all of us, but he's still watching for weaklings. For people who don't know what they're doing."

"But you do know what you're doing," Elliot pointed out. Then, with a grin, he added, "Right?"

"Of course I do!" Mac snapped. "But what if he thinks I don't?"

"What if he does?" Elliot reasoned. "What's he going to do? If he's going to start kicking people out of the pack, there wouldn't be many people left by the time he got around to singling you out. What are you worried he's going to do?"

"I … I don't know," Mac admitted.

"Exactly. There's nothing he can do – not without splitting the pack apart completely. He won't want to do that for a good long while yet. And by the time it comes to that, you'll either have proven him wrong, or you'll be dead. No worries, right?"

Right. No worries. No worries about the fact that they might be dead long before the Career pack would split up. Because if Mac was worried, if she thought that she didn't measure up, then what did that say about where he stood in the pack? He had less training than she did – much less. Maybe less than any of the other members. Had he made a mistake when he'd decided to join the pack in the first place?

Elliot shook the thought from his head. He'd wanted to join the pack because they had more experience than he did. There was no point in teaming up with someone who was less capable. He was doing what everyone was trying to do – find allies who would help him survive, rather than slow him down. And the other Careers – even the younger ones – certainly weren't going to slow him down.

Mac begrudgingly stopped pacing long enough to pick up a spear and heave it towards a target. It struck a little to the left of the center, but maybe that was where she had been aiming. Maybe not. Either way, it was certainly better than he could have done. But that was what Justus had told them to do – find something they didn't already know. But Mac didn't seem interested in listening to that advice.

Maybe she had the right idea.

Margo Devereaux, 18
District Two

"Looks like we had the right idea."

Margo glanced up from the fire she'd finally managed to start. One of her district partners, Mae, took a seat next to her. "Right idea about what?" Margo asked.

"About not trying to team up with the Career pack," Mae answered simply, nodding towards where their younger district partners were practicing at the weapons stations, along with three of the tributes from One and the older pair from Five. "Looks like they've already got quite a group."

"That it does," Margo agreed. What was Mae trying to suggest? "Are you saying you thought about it – trying to join up with them?"

"Crossed my mind," Mae answered.

Margo couldn't help a smirk. "Have you even trained at all?"

"Not much," Mae admitted. "But I'd reckon not all of them have much training, either. Look at how Darian's holding that dagger."

"What about it?"

"He looks like he's waiting for someone to attack him."

"So … he looks ready to defend himself? What's wrong with that?"

Mae picked up one of the twigs from near Margo's fire and twirled it in her fingers. "Watch. Wait just a moment…"

Margo watched, and the trainer who was sparring with Darian quickly found an opening. "He's holding the dagger too close," Margo realized.

Mae nodded. "Not enough range of movement – dangerous for anyone, but especially if your reach isn't as long to begin with."

Margo chuckled a little. "Like us."

"Exactly," Mae agreed. "Technique over brute strength – that's what Mortimer told me."

Margo hesitated. "That's what my sister always says. I'm surprised Mortimer—"

"Oh, I'm sure he'd prefer to have both," Mae chuckled. "But I think he's warming up to me. How are things with Harriet?"

"Not bad," Margo answered vaguely. Harriet was the one who had suggested she start out at the survival stations, which seemed to be good advice so far.

"From what Mortimer tells me, they're used to working together," Mae ventured. "He and Harriet, that is. Having mentors who are used to working with each other – approaching sponsors together and the like – that could be useful if…"

"If we were allies?" Margo asked. That was what she was trying to get at, wasn't it? But why had it taken her forever to get there? Maybe she didn't want to seem too eager. Maybe she had thought it would seem suspicious. Or maybe … maybe she wanted Margo to think it had been her idea.

"Do you want to be?" Mae asked.

Margo hesitated. She did want allies. And she certainly didn't want to spend three days of training mulling over her options. But she didn't want to rush into anything…

"Tell you what," she suggested, throwing a few more sticks onto her fire. "Let's try out a few stations together, see how it goes. If we still want to, we can make it official. If not … no harm done, right?"

Mae nodded. "Right."

"Yet do I fear thy nature."