Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games

Note: Started Camp NaNoWriMo yesterday, so hopefully this month will be more productive than the last one.

Training Day Two – Morning
Ambition

Consus Caepio, 15
District One

They probably expected him to be better than this.

Consus tried to ignore the other tributes as he made his way back to the spear station he'd spent most of his time at the day before. It had seemed like a reasonable place to start for someone who wasn't certain he would be able to get his hands on a weapon right away. Spears could be made out of pretty much anything, in theory.

But only in theory. He'd learned pretty quickly that the makeshift spears he might be able to construct wouldn't really hold up well against the real thing. Against an unarmed tribute, sure. But if he could find something to use as a spear tip, and he came up against a tribute who had nothing, he was probably better off just trying to stab them with the pointed object than trying to make a spear out of it in the first place.

Still, he had to start somewhere, and the trainer had been … well, patient. That had been a nice change of pace from some of the trainers at other stations, who had immediately assumed that just because he was from District One, he already had some idea of what he was doing. It didn't help that all of his district partners had decided to join the Career pack.

Consus glanced over at where Justus, Mae, and Genevieve had gathered with the other Careers to start their training for the day. Stellar had suggested on the train that he might be able to bluff his way into making them think he had some training, but he knew better. Maybe that would work for a tribute who had some training and just wanted to pretend they had more. But for someone who had none … No. No, he was better off being honest – both with the other tributes and with himself. He would never cut it in the Career pack.

"Nice spear."

Consus nearly jumped as he turned to see one of the girls from Four behind him. "Sorry," she apologized immediately. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Consus shook his head. "It's okay. Just startled me. My fault for not paying attention, I guess. I'll have to be more careful."

The girl shrugged. "At least you're learning that now, before everyone's going to try to kill us."

Consus nodded. "I guess so. I'm Consus."

"Aleyn."

"I take it you know a thing or two about spears."

Aleyn shrugged. "Not really."

"But you said—"

"I just meant it looked nice. I wouldn't really know the difference between … What's so funny?"

Consus couldn't hold back a chuckle. "Nothing."

"No, really. What is it?"

"It's just that I was getting frustrated with the trainers for assuming I knew what I was doing because I'm from One … and here I am doing the same thing. I'm sorry."

Aleyn shrugged. "Don't be. If you assumed I know what I'm doing, maybe some of the other tributes will, too, and leave us alone."

Consus nodded. "I hadn't really thought about it like that."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" asked a voice from behind them.

Aleyn Tillens, 15
District Four

She'd thought she'd been paying better attention.

Aleyn whirled around, surprised, to face one of the boys from Eleven, who had apparently snuck up on the pair of them while they were chatting. Consus recovered his wits first. "Are we sure what's what we want?"

"For the other tributes to leave you alone because you seem to know what you're doing," the boy answered casually. "I mean, if you know what you're doing, that's fine, I guess. But if you don't … Well, isn't it better to get a little help?"

Aleyn couldn't hide a smile. "I guess both of us just figured no one would want to help us because…"

"Because what?"

"Because we're Careers," Consus blurted out. "Or, at least, everyone seems to be assuming we are, because we're from Career districts. And Career districts always have a great reputation with the Capitol, but … well, not with the other tributes."

"And Four doesn't exactly have a great reputation with either," Aleyn added. Ever since the fiasco during the 41st Games, District Four had lost a lot of its supporters in the Capitol. Even Imalia's victory the year after hadn't been enough to win them back over. But the outer districts still saw them as Careers, nonetheless.

The boy from Eleven shook his head. "I think you're overthinking it a bit."

Aleyn cocked her head. "How do you mean?"

The boy shrugged. "Well, anyone who wouldn't want to be your ally just because of your district probably isn't someone you would want as an ally in the first place. Your last Victor, Imalia, ended up allying with a couple outer-district tributes – including a boy from Eleven, right?"

"And the girl from Ten," Consus agreed. "Didn't turn out so well for either of them, though."

"We're not them," the other boy pointed out. "Or, at least, we don't have to be." He held out his hand. "I'm Wes."

Aleyn shook it. "Aleyn. This is Consus. Want to join us?"

Wes hesitated. "At this station, or…?"

"Or in the Games, too," Aleyn offered. She and Consus hadn't officially declared an alliance, either, but something about this felt … right. Wes had approached them, after all. And it sounded like he had been offering to help. But what if he hadn't been? What if she was getting ahead of herself and scared him away, instead? What if Consus didn't agree with her offer? What if—

"Sounds good to me," Consus echoed before she could second-guess herself any farther. He held out his hand to Wes. "What do you say?"

Wes beamed. "I guess I just didn't expect it to be quite this easy. Are you sure?"

Consus nodded as Wes shook his hand. "I'm sure."

"Me, too," Aleyn agreed. "What do you say we try making some more of these?" She reached down, picked up one of Consus' makeshift spears, and heaved it towards the target. It struck the dummy in the legs – but not hard enough to cause any damage.

"Might want to aim higher," Wes chuckled.

Aleyn giggled. "I was trying to. It's just a bit far away."

Consus shrugged. "Isn't that where we'd want the other tributes, though? A safe distance away while we're trying to throw things at them."

The trainer nodded. "To a point, yes. But you also want them to be close enough that you'll actually be able to hit them, or you're just throwing away a weapon." He turned to Aleyn. "So let's see if we can figure out what that perfect distance is, shall we?" Aleyn couldn't help a smile.

Maybe this wasn't quite as bad as she'd thought.

Shanali Theisen, 17
District Eleven

"Looks like Wes has found someone better to work with."

Shanali looked up from the arrows she was gathering off the floor. A few of them had hit the target this time, which was a few more than the day before. Kilian pointed at Wes, who seemed to be working with a pair of younger Careers. Shanali shrugged. Their district partner had avoided the two of them ever since the train ride. Maybe he thought he wouldn't measure up to their standards. Maybe they didn't measure up to his.

It didn't matter, really. Not all district partners were going to work well together. He'd gone his own way, and they had gone theirs. No hard feelings. Besides, that was what would have to happen in the Games eventually, no matter what alliances the three of them had ended up with. Maybe it was better that it had happened now.

Kilian, on the other hand, had been content to follow her lead. They'd spent the previous day moving from weapons station to weapons station, trying to get a feel for what might be useful. Despite Kilian's insistence that it would be difficult, she'd wanted to try the archery station. And it was hard, at least at first. But she was starting to get the hang of it. And there was something to be said for being able to kill an opponent from a distance rather than waiting until they got close enough for a fight.

"Guess that means he won't be working with us," Kilian pointed out.

Shanali looked up. "Look, what are you getting at?"

Kilian shook his head. "I was just thinking it might be good to find another ally or two, rather than just … well, just the two of us."

"What's wrong with just the two of us?"

"Nothing, but look around."

Shanali glanced around the training area, but she knew where he was going without having to. Larger groups were already starting to form. Groups of three or four, not to mention the pack of seven Careers. A pair of tributes from District Eleven – even a pair of older tributes – might make a tempting target if they chose to go it alone. Shanali nodded. "Did you have someone in mind?"

Kilian nodded towards the station next to them, where one of the boys from Four was throwing axes at a target. Most of them had met the same fate as the majority of her arrows – clattering to the floor after hitting the target askew, or not reaching it in the first place. But the few of them that had stuck had stuck deep in the target. "He doesn't seem to have a group yet," Kilian observed.

Shanali hesitated. "He's a Career."

Kilian shrugged. "He's from Four. Doesn't make him a Career even in a normal year. Especially not this year. And look at Wes. He's working with a girl from Four."

"A younger girl from Four," Shanali pointed out, but Kilian had a point. The boy probably wasn't a Career. If he was, there would be a lot more axes in that target. "All right. So do we just … go up and ask him?"

Kilian glanced around. "I … I'm not sure, really. We just sort of started working together." But they were from the same district. Approaching someone else was different. How were they supposed to ask for an alliance without seeming desperate, or without scaring him away?

What were they supposed to do?

Ronan Callaway, 18
District Four

Maybe it would be better to just go over and ask them.

Ronan glanced over at the pair of tributes from Eleven, who were whispering to each other again. The boy had been watching him earlier, maybe deciding whether or not to ask him to join them. Ronan had been waiting for them to make the first move. There were two of them and only one of him, after all. But something was making them hesitate.

Maybe it was the fact that he was from a Career district. Maybe they were hesitant to approach someone they assumed was better prepared than they were. But plenty of the other tributes already seemed to be working with Career-district tributes, including one of his district partners. The other boy from Eleven was at the spear station with Aleyn and the younger boy from One. Arabel was on the other side of the archery station, along with one of the boys from Ten. Ronan heaved another axe at the target, this one striking close to the edge. If they weren't going to make the first move…

As soon as he turned and started heading in their direction, they quickly did the same. "Saw you watching," Ronan grinned. "You like that last throw?"

"Not bad," the girl agreed. "I'm Shanali, and this is Kilian. You're Ronan, right?"

Ronan nodded. "Nice of you to bother finding someone's name out before proposing an alliance."

Kilian raised an eyebrow. "An alliance?"

Ronan shrugged. "Well, I'm just assuming you didn't come over here to talk about the weather."

Shanali smirked. "Maybe we were just being friendly."

"I think you have more sense than that," Ronan chuckled. "No one is just being friendly in the Games. No one who wants to last long, anyway."

"Being polite never hurt anyone," Kilian pointed out.

"Maybe not," Ronan agreed. "But there's a difference between being polite and being social."

"Thought the sponsors liked tributes who were social," Shanali chuckled.

"The sponsors like tributes who kill," Ronan corrected. "Everything else is a distant second. Everything. You can be the flashiest, most likable tribute on camera, but if you're not willing to do what has to be done, you'll eventually lose the audience's support."

Kilian nodded. "Well, then, we'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen."

"We?" Ronan teased.

"If you're accepting our proposal," Shanali finished.

Ronan smirked, dropping down on one knee. "Why, darling, I don't think we've known each other quite long enough for a proposal."

Shanali giggled. Kilian clapped Ronan on the back. "I think you'll do just fine."

"I certainly hope so," Ronan agreed. "Now … back to your station or back to mine?"

"Back to yours, I think – at least for a little while," Kilian suggested. "Archery's all well and good, but it's really only useful if you can get your hands on a bow, and who knows how many of those there will be."

Ronan nodded. "Usually not many, if any at all, and the Careers usually snatch them up pretty quickly. So knowing how to throw something else would probably be useful."

Kilian turned to Shanali, who nodded reluctantly. "Just when I was getting good, too."

Ronan clapped her on the shoulder. "We can head back there later, if you like. And there's always tomorrow."

"Not always," Shanali pointed out. "Not for all of us, at least."

Ronan chuckled. "Well, you're a ray of sunshine." But she wasn't wrong. Eventually, they would run out of tomorrows. But there was nothing he could do about that right now. Nothing any of them could do about it. So that was a problem for another time.

A problem for tomorrow.

Arabel Ford, 15
District Four

She was supposed to be better than this.

Arabel pulled the string back again, almost ready to throw the bow down in frustration. She used to be better at this. But that was practicing with her friends in her yard, using a bow they'd made themselves, aiming at targets that had always seemed so far away. It had seemed so real.

But not as real as this.

"You're doing great," Connor insisted, drawing back his own string and letting an arrow fly. His aim was worse, but he certainly had more raw strength. The sort of strength it took to pull the arrow back far enough to make it stick in the target when it hit rather than bouncing listlessly off.

"Sure," Arabel scoffed, shaking her head. "I'm doing great if the object is to hit the target half the time and have the arrow barely scratch the surface."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Connor insisted. "Once we're in the Games, if a tribute even thinks you might know what you're doing with that thing, they'll turn and run the other way."

"That's if I manage to get one," Arabel pointed out. "Do you really think the Careers are planning to let a bow out of their sight?"

Connor shrugged. "Look, if you want to try something else—"

"Maybe in a little while," Arabel agreed. They'd spent most of the morning at the archery station after Connor had joined her there. "It'll probably be time for lunch soon. After that, we can try something different."

Connor nodded a little. "Speaking of lunch, there's … something I've been meaning to tell you."

"About lunch?"

"About my district partner. On the train, we sort of agreed to work together. Yesterday, we decided to visit different stations during training in order to cover more ground, get a feel for more stuff. I hit the weapons stations, and he took the survival stations."

"That doesn't seem fair."

Connor shrugged. "It was his idea. I figured maybe he'd want to swap halfway through or something, but he's seemed okay with sticking to the survival stuff, and I think I'm finally getting the hang of some of this."

Arabel nodded. "And you're telling me this because…"

"In case you wanted to join us. I just wanted to let you know that it's both of us, and as long as you're fine with that, we'd be happy to have you."

Arabel glanced around the room, searching for Connor's district partner. But she stopped, confused, when she spotted him already eating lunch at one of the tables in the corner. "There are only two of you, right? From District Ten?"

Connor nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

Arabel shrugged. "Because if that's him, it looks like he's already found someone else, too." The other boy with a '10' on his training outfit was sitting with one of the girls from Eight, and they certainly seemed like they had been talking together for a while.

Connor raised an eyebrow. "He didn't say anything about inviting someone else."

"Did you say anything to him about inviting me?" Arabel countered.

Connor shook his head. "No, but—"

"But what? Come on. Let's go sit with them. Strength in numbers, right?" A group of four wasn't unheard of, even outside of Career packs. It wasn't as if any of them were tributes the other Careers would consider a threat. Sure, she was from District Four, but her district partners had already found other tributes to work with.

What was the harm in having a few more allies than she'd expected?

Connor Sawyer, 15
District Ten

Maybe it would've been better if they'd stuck together at the start.

Connor held his tongue as he and Arabel made their way towards where Skyton was already sitting with one of the girls from Eight. Maybe it would've been better to stick together, present themselves as a group. A team. But they hadn't. It had been Skyton's idea to split up to tackle more stations, but he hadn't disagreed. He'd gone along with the idea.

And Arabel was right; he hadn't told Skyton anything about his decision to invite Arabel into their alliance. So maybe he had no reason to be upset that Skyton had apparently gone and done the same thing. Maybe Arabel was right about there being strength in numbers.

There was just one problem with that; the girl that Skyton had chosen didn't seem particularly strong. She was taller than him, but also skinny and frail-looking. Then again, Skyton had been training at the survival stations. Maybe the girl had some other sort of useful skills.

Maybe. Or maybe Skyton was just being kind. Maybe he'd just decided to befriend someone else who seemed nice, or who seemed like they needed help. Connor forced a smile as Skyton waved and gestured for the two of them to sit down and join him and the girl. There was only one way to find out.

"I guess you found an ally, too," Skyton observed, beating him to it. He held out a hand to Arabel. "I'm Skyton, and this is Klaudia."

"Arabel." She shook Skyton's hand, then held her hand out to Klaudia, who smiled shyly but shook it. Arabel turned back to Skyton. "Connor says you two split up to cover more stations. Smart."

Skyton blushed. "Thanks. I thought it was a better idea than following Connor around the weapons stations and not really trying anything."

Crap. He'd been hoping Skyton wouldn't mention that part. It had been Skyton's idea to split up, but only after he'd spent nearly an hour following Connor around, watching him try out various weapons. Every time Connor had tried to hand him one, Skyton had insisted that he was fine just watching. Connor had assumed he was simply embarrassed about his lack of skill, but what if Arabel assumed it was because he wasn't willing to fight?

He would be willing to fight, wouldn't he?

Arabel cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing as Skyton continued. "Klaudia and I have been at the shelter-building station for a while, and I think we're finally getting the hang of it. We should be able to build a big enough shelter for the four of us once we're in the arena."

If we all make it that far. But he didn't say it. They had to try to make this alliance work. If he backed out on Skyton now, it wouldn't be a stretch for Arabel to assume that he might do the same to her at any moment. After all, if he was willing to abandon an alliance with his district partner, why should anyone else expect his loyalty?

He just wished he'd realized on the train just how reluctant Skyton would be to actually participate. Knowing how to build a shelter was certainly useful, but when it came to defending that shelter and protecting each other, would Skyton really be willing to do his part? The whole point of an alliance in the first place was to protect each other. If Skyton wasn't prepared to do that…

Stop it. Maybe this wasn't an ideal group of allies. But they were the allies he had. And they were the allies he would have to try to keep alive, if he wanted to be able to defend himself against the other tributes. Older tributes, stronger tributes, tributes who wouldn't hesitate to pick up a weapon and start a fight. Connor shook his head as he started in on his plate of food.

What had he gotten himself into?

"Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full o' the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great; art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it."