Training Chapters, the people who got POV in the last chapter won't have a chariot POV but they will be featured in other tribute's so you know what they are doing. I didn't have time to write six POV's for this chapter but the next one will have six POV's then the final day will have seven POV's. Also, this all takes place in one day hence why most of the POV's are careers because the most stuff happened to them during day one.
I am glad you are enjoying this story, I love all these characters, it's going to be hard to kill them.
Ezra Talcot POV:
I spun through the air, kicking my right leg out and striking the dummy in the chest area. The impact tore it from it's stand and sent it flying across the room. The trainer, looking impressed, programmed another dummy to attack me from behind.
I gave a slight smirk as I elbowed it in the face. It wobbled slightly then raised it's wooden sword towards me. Before it could make it's next move, I leaped into the air, kicking it down with both of my feet. Gravity pulled me towards the ground so I stretched my hands out in front of me and placing them on the ground. When my body got close enough, I pushed backward, pushing myself to my feet.
"That was ace!" a happy voice cheered over the sound of clapping. I glanced over my shoulder to see the tall, blonde girl from District One, clapping wildly, a large smile on her face. Behind her was the rest of the Careers. I could tell which one was her District partner and brother within a few second. They both shared the golden blonde hair and ice blue eyes. He looked in awe, like his sibling but seemed more reserved. The other two must have been from District Two then. The female was clapping along, a slightly slower pace that her female ally but she seemed pleased by my performance, like a proud parent. The male just looked at me, a serious expression on his face, not even the flinch of happiness. Cheerful.
"Thanks, I am Ezra by the way," I said with a wink offering my hand out to the blonde female. She gave a small giggle and shook it with a lot more force than I expected.
"Nice to meet ya' I'm Lavina," her brother glared at me from behind her, I could see the warning in his eyes. I tore my hand away from his sister and placed it in my pocket, a worried look on my face.
"That is some skill you have there-"
"Do you want to ally with us?" the two male interrupted his District partner, walking forward and looking me dead in the eye. He didn't have to show his skill to intimidate people, it came naturally to him.
"Yes?" I squeaked flinching slightly when he turned to walk away.
"Then we are done here," he sighed, walking away, his hands in his pockets. The others stood awkwardly for a few moments before following him. Lavina was the last to leave, still a smile on her face and a bound in her step as she skipped away to the weapon station with her brother.
They all seemed rather nice, for careers anyway. I was sure the District Two male had a reason to be a cold bastard, maybe, hopefully. If he did, it might be something I could turn into a weakness of his later on.
Atlas Geo POV:
I watched them, training and could feel my blood boil. They were clearly allying as they hadn't left each other's side since training started this morning. They had also been told to stay away from what they were talented at. The girl stayed away from the plant section while the boy stayed away from the weapons. I took note of everything they did. The more they didn't do, the more they taught me about what they did know.
I followed them, not that they didn't notice. As each hour went past, they grew more concerned with my presence until they stopped training altogether and just sat as far away from me as they could. I sharpened a knife while I watched them to pass the time but I guess it helped in making me look more menacing.
In the end it was the girl who came over, Finch, I think she was called, not that her name mattered. She looked just like her mentor, the dark skin and hair with the chocolate brown eyes.
"What the hell is your problem?" she spat, puffing out her chest in anger.
"Ask your mentor," I growled, not even looking up from my knife.
"Look, I am sorry she killed your brother but it's survival of the fittest," she spat, crossing her arms. I dropped my knife, letting it clatter to the floor in fear I would stab her if I continued to hold it. That could wait until the Games.
"His victory was stolen from him," I growled, standing tall above the girl, she stood her ground, though, determination on her face.
"Leilo deserved that victory, the bad guy doesn't always win!" she barked, I felt like strangling the life out of her right there and then. I raised my fist to punch her, the girl seemed to be edging me on, almost like she didn't think I would do it.
"Atlas?" a small voice squeaked from next to me, I turned quickly to see Lavina standing next to me, a worried look on her face. "Are you okay-"
"Stop asking me if I am fucking okay!" I screamed at her, she flinched slightly then opened her mouth to apologize. "And no, I don't like you, in fact, I find you rather fucking annoying," this broke her. The soft, concerned expression on her face turned to one of anger. She placed her balled up fist into my chest, I would have punched her in the face if she didn't open her first to reveal a pomegranate.
"You mentioned you wanted to try them and it was the last one...so I was asking if you was okay sharing it," she placed the fruit in my hands and walked off, very clearly waiting until she was alone to cry.
"Dickhead," Finch growled before walking away, leaving me by myself.
Zelda Lue POV:
Able left me the second the trainer let us go. It was for the best, I wasn't looking for allies and I didn't want to lead him on, even if I wanted the company.
I wandered through the different stations, never taking part, just watching the other tributes get to work. I didn't feel confident trying any of them, no matter how the often the trainers bribed me to come to their station, saying things like it would help me gain a victory. I wondered if they were paid judging by how many tributes came to their station.
After two hours, time was ticking on, people had found their secret talents and I was still wondering around like a headless chicken. That when I started to try.
I tried learning how to use fish hooks at first but I was terrible. I tried, hook after hook, even the poor trainer couldn't help me. In the end, I left him alone, not wanting to embarrass myself even more.
Next, I tried the survival stations. I was okay when it came to edible plants but I could still see the trainer cringing every time I made a wrong turn. I must have slipped up rather badly because the Eleven tributes would make a sharp intake of breath every time I got one wrong. In end, I walked away with twenty out of fifty.
I dragged my feet around after that, maybe it was better I hadn't tried at all. Before now, I might have been able to fool people into thinking I was some skilled, mysterious, brooding girl who didn't need need to train. Now they saw I was just a frightened kid. If it wasn't obvious in the first place.
In the end, I ended up finding Able, someone I knew I could trust, seeking his companionship. He was trying to shoot and arrow but despite his best efforts, he missed the target each time. The career's seemed amused, chattering among themselves, pointing out ways he could improve. It was fine for them, they had trained for this all their lives, me and Able were just normal kids.
"Do you want to try?" the trainer asked, holding a silver bow and an arrow out towards me.
"Oh, no thank-"
"Come on Zelda, at least give it a try," Able said, looking gloomy over his most recently failed arrow. I looked over to the careers who looked amused. I made my face stern and took the bow, standing in the row next to Able. He turned and cheered me on as I tried my best, the career waited for me to fail.
I closed my eyes, a thud echoing through the silent training center. I only opened my eyes when Able started to clap. Right there, near the center of the target was my arrow. Even the careers seemed impressed. If I kept training, maybe I wouldn't be as dead as I thought.
Selina Kayl POV:
There was an awkward silence around the lunch table. Atlas poked at half of a pomegranate, Consus wouldn't stop glaring at Atlas and Ezra seemed almost terrified to speak. It was starting to get on my nerves.
Lavina walked up to our table, holding a tray with some lamb stew in a white bowl and a bottle of water. She looked around, her ice blue eyes settling on the empty seat next to her brother and across from Atlas. She seemed hesitant until Ezra offered her a friendly smile. She returned it and moved past him and Consus to her seat.
The moment she sat down, it was clear what had happened. Atlas just glanced up to her then back to his food, she avoided eye contact with him and I could feel Consus anger from across the table.
Ezra cringed, turning away from the trio and stabbing at his pork pie. I sighed, getting ready to set them straight. We were about to go into a death game, the last thing we needed was friction in the alliance before we even started. At this rate, only me and Ezra would make it to the countdown alive. Atlas must have sensed my annoyance and took matters into his own hands.
Not looking up from his half, he pushed the other half of his fruit towards Lavina.
"I am sorry," he grumbled, he clearly wasn't used to apologizing. Lavina gave a large smile, pulling the half towards her.
"Thank you," she said sweetly. Atlas just looked up and gave a small nod, going back to eating. And here I was, hoping for a smile.
"Right, now that is all over, what should our plan for the bloodbath," I grumbled, rolling my eyes.
"We have a plan?" Ezra squeaked, looking at everyone. "Don't you just kill?" if he hadn't sounded so shocked, I would have thought he was joking.
"What on earth do they teach you in Four?" I raised and eyebrow at him and he sank back into his chair.
"Did you even train?" Atlas asked in his signature, deep, monotone voice. Ezra seemed frightened for a moment before regaining his composure.
"Oh yeah, that's me, I trained every day...every day," Ezra laughed, rubbing his shoulder anxiously. Lies, no one else seemed convinced either, I didn't care, though, as long as he didn't backstab me and went along with plans.
"I think," Lavina said, stopping to see how reacted to her speaking before she continued. I nodded for her to go on, flustering her slightly. "I think we should snuff out the people who are good at survival first, the trained one will still be a danger but they have more chance of dying due to the elements," she sounded unsure but I thought it was an amazing idea. Most of the outer District victors won due to their survival techniques.
"So, we waited the stronger, weapon using tributes out, letting hunger and thirst weaken them before we strike?" I confirmed the plan then turned to the rest of the alliance. "Anyone disagree?" I asked every one kept silent, it was good.
"Clever," Ezra said with a wide toothy grin.
"I agree, I like it," Atlas said, this made Lavina blush and I couldn't help but smile. I used to me like that around boys back in Two, I was a typical highschool girl I guess. Sadly, I didn't really find any of the guys here attractive. Ezra was the closest to my type but I couldn't afford the emotions. He was going to have to die if I was to get home, they all were. "The two from Eleven are mine, though, no one kills them but me," he said sternly. He looked around at us, no one said a word.
"And they will be yours," I said, he gave me a thumbs up and went back to eating, He could go after anyone he wanted in the arena, as long as it didn't affect my chances.
Fora Kyker POV:
I was the first one to the training room this morning, I stood there with pride while I waited the for the other tributes. The Gamemakers looked down at me, I hoped the remembered me, I needed a good score.
My District partner, Crown was one of the last tributes to arrive. This morning, he had slapped my butt, so I poured my cereal over his freshly washed hair, that seemed to be his weak spot. It worked, though, he kept his distance for most of the day. He tried to flirt with the girl from Two but she just hit him over the head with a spear. That brought an odd amount of joy. He ended up somehow convincing the girl from One to teach him how to tie knots.
I, on the other hand, decided to learn about animals and plants. In my eyes, it was more useful than weapons or knots. While the careers and Crown were begging sponsors for food, I will be living off the fruits of the arena. Unless it's just a metal maze with nothing but rope as weapons, then maybe they had the upper hand.
I walked away from the plant station with forty-eight out of fifty and forty-five out of sixty when it came to the wildlife. I was sure with two more days training, I could have it down to full marks.
The two from eleven and the boy from twelve asked me for an alliance but I turned them down. I wasn't here to make friends, I was here to win. They seemed confused at first but it was for the best. If they were not with me in the arena, we could have been friends.
I sat alone at dinner, refused alliances, even the careers and carried on, all alone. I didn't need anyone, I was better off by myself. Only I would save myself and I was the only one I could trust. With a trusty cleaver and my survival skills, I could win this competition, I just needed to try my best.
Alliances, Currently:
Careers: Lavina and Consus Zephyrus (D1), Atlas Geo and Selina Kayl (D2) and Ezra Talcot (D4).
Alliance 1: Finch Maylor and Neki Ompoto (D11) and Ashton Khell (12)
Alliance 2: Bug Doe and Finley Magik (D9)