Training Day 1

Brigid Cearra, 17, District 2

The training center the gamemakers had set up had a strange beauty to it. If Dillon hadn't started muttering about how it wasn't nearly as good as his home gym back in district 2, I might have remained in total awe of the place. Speaking of my district partner, the moment we had been cleared to enter the training center, he had promptly walked in the opposite direction, going off to join the pair from one and boy from four, who already seemed to be in talks of an alliance.

In the past years, the Capitol had taken to calling this sort of group 'The Careers' and quite frankly I was more than happy to not be included in that group, even if I was from district 2. They weren't quite my style, to say the least.

I had already talked to a couple of the other tributes- especially the girl from 4, who like me, was no career, although her partner was. We had agreed to work together and try to see if there were others we could pull into our alliance.

As I headed for the traps station, I noticed the brunnette girl from 7 quickly scaling her way up one of the large fake trees the Gamemakers had set up. I had never attempted to climb a tree before in my life, but I figured if the arena had any sorts of tall objects, a bit of climbing practice would be really beneficial. Walking up to the tree, I shook out my wrists and worked my arms around the tree and attempted to push myself upwards.

Needless to say, my first attempt was far from successful.

Looking up, I heard a muffled hint of laughter. The girl from 7 was chuckling as she looked down at me from the top of her tree.

"That's not quite how you climb a tree," she offered as she appeared to be squinting at me.

Shrugging, I laughed, as well, "Well, there aren't really too many where I come from. I'm afraid I don't have too much experience with trees. But if you want traps or disguises, I'm definately your girl," I responded with a slight smile- something I hadn't done for days now.

"Are you the girl from 10?" she asked, as made her way downwards towards me.

I shook my head, "I'm from 2."

"Sorry, poor eyesight," she explained, as she some how gracefully landed on the mats below our feet, "Well, nice to meet you, I'm Sloane...from district 7."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Brigid...from 2," I replied, before realizing I had just repeated myself. Chuckling at my mistake, I watched as Sloane walked over to the tree next to the one I was trying to climb.

Looking over at me, she nodded in acknowledgement, "So, climbing trees isn't actually all too hard, even if you aren't from the lumber district. But for starters, every tree is different so you have to change your body position as you climb, to adjust," she explained.

Following her advice, I began to slowly mount the tree and scramble about a foot above the ground.

"Not bad, but keep going," she encouraged, talking me through each move as she mirrored the motions as she climbed, as well.

When I finally made it to the top, I couldn't help but feel successful. My arms burned and my legs were sore, but I had officially climbed my first tree. Looking over at Sloane, who was at the top of her own tree, I couldn't help but feel a little greatful, "Hey, um...thanks for helping me out Sloane. Do you mind if I ask why?"

Sloane just laughed, "Don't worry, Brigid. I have a reason for everything I do. People just don't get those reasons."

Darryll Rimmond, 17, District 12

The last thing I wanted was to work in a group.

My mentor, Adelaide Thustle, had highly recommended talking to people today. While Adelaide was from district 12, I honestly wasn't sure if she really knew what she was doing. District 12 was yet to have a victor and our chances of winning haven't increased a bit under her mentorship. She was just an over-glorified Capitol puppet...not somebody I would be taking advice from, anytime soon.

On the other hand, Janelle, my district partner seemed to be completely enamored by our mentor, hanging on her ever word. I almost felt bad for Janelle, who at 13, she was only a couple years older than my younger brother and I didn't think she stood much of a chance. I wasn't sure if I would fare any better than her, but I was determined to win at any cost.

As I headed to the the poison station, I found my thoughts once I again returning to my brother, Raie. Whom, without me back home, was completely alone. I had practically begged my best friend Aric to take care of him and make sure he stayed safe. Aric had helped me out on more than one occasion- he had been the one to teach about how to use poison and set traps and without him, I doubted that I would have made it this far.

Unlike many of the other tributes who seemed to be making allies, I planned on going at it alone. I wasn't good in groups and preferred to avoid them when possible.

The boy from 11, seemed to have the same idea as me- working by himself.

I watched him from the poison station, as he swung around a crescent sword, a weapon I was far from familiar with, but he seemed to handle with a natural ease. Looking back down at the leaves in my hand, I mixed them into the water and placed it inside the box to be tested.

A high-pitched beeping noise paired with bright green light shined 'SUCCESS' and I smiled to myself. I had officially created Clover Draught- an undetectable, clear poison which would be highly useful in the arena. Apparently the beeping noise had caught the attention of the boy from 11 and he walked over.

"You're pretty good at that," he commented gruffly as he went to sharpen his sword, nearby.

I shrugged, "Thanks," I responded, unsure of where the conversation was going, "I saw your reapings," I suddenly said, unsure of why the words had spilled out of my mouth, "You've got a brother, too, right?"

The boy from 11 instantly, froze and frowned at me, before nodding, "Yeah, we've both got younger brothers out there we want to protect."

"I guess we've both got similar motivations for winning, then..." I trailed off.

"I guess we do," he replied, bluntly, "You know how to use a weapon?" he asked, looking at me, as if he was looking straight through my eyes.

"Unfortunately, my skills are limited to poison and traps," I replied, pausing as I thought for a few seconds, perhaps Adelaide wasn't completely wrong and there was a slight advantage to talking to people, "Listen, I'll be honest with you. I didn't think I wanted to work with anyone, but I think if we worked together we might be able to make it farther...for our brothers. We both owe it to us and to them to give the Games our best shot."

I watched him carefully as he seemed to be contemplating my offer.

"Creed," he finally said.

I frowned, "What?"

"Creed," he repeated, "It's my name."

I nodded, assuming that was as much confirmation as I was going to get from him, "Daryll," I responded.

a/n: Yay for quick updates! I hope you liked the first training day chapter :) (I, myself, am actually really excited that we're starting to near the games). But anyways, it's everyone's favorite time (or not so favorite): question time!

1. What did you think of Brigid?

2. What did you think of Darryll?

3. What do you think of the rising alliances, so far?

- The Careers- Gemma, Valour, Dillon, and Kraken

- Brigid, Azura, and Sloane

- Darryll and Creed

All my love and thanks and happy holidays to everyone! - Cass