Talk by Coldplay
Well I feel like they're talking in a language I don't speak
And they're talking it to me
Brett Draven, 17, District Ten
"Attention tributes," a younger man calls in a black training uniform similar in design to the ones the tributes are wearing except for ours are grey and dark blue. He stands at the front of the semi circle all the other tributes have made around him. I stand near the back, as far away from my little district partner and the other ones like her as possible. Those are the ones that are going to ruin me, not that I'm planning on winning but still. I didn't come here to feel bad for the unfortunates and then die, I came here because I need something new and I want to be something new. That way, if I happen to win maybe I can live with the rest that comes afterwards.
"Tributes, you have all been made aware that this year is the fourth Quarter Quell. As with every Quarter Quell, there has been an added component to honor the passing of another quarter century of the Hunger Games. This year, to summarize what our President has already told you, twenty-four tributes under the age of five have been chosen alongside the twenty-four of you. Each of you have already been paired with one of the young tributes, and due to the nature of the Quarter Quell another station has been added to training. Should you want to spend time with your assigned infant before the Games begin, you may do so in the area at the very back of the center."
Everyone simultaneously cranes their necks to look towards the back of the Training Center. I know that likely a lot of tributes will simply want to meet their assigned partner out of curiosity, but not me. I don't think I could bear spending time with someone whose fate I hold in my incapable hands. It's enough that I have to look at the faces of the twelve year old tribute from Three, but these kids don't even know the hell they're about to go through only to die in the end.
"You are free to go about the many stations as you wish. Mandatory activities will begin tomorrow so spend today's session learning something new that might help you. Remember that all scores from tomorrow will be released to the public, which means sponsors will be able to gage your potential. Don't disappoint yourselves, tributes."
The trainer heads over to one of the weapon stations and the rest of us take this as a dismissal. I look around me at the different stations, standing alone in the middle even after all the other tributes have long left to get to their training. I know I should be going straight towards the weapons stations because that is obviously my weak point right now, but seeing the stronger tributes spreading themselves over nearly every station makes me feel sick. Despite my plan when I woke up this morning, I head to an empty station detailing edible plant types.
At least I thought it was empty, but as soon as I pass the table where a black-clad trainer stands watch I see that a girl with dark hair and eyes is sitting in the farthest corner of the station, a platter of leaves and berries spread out across her lap. I consider leaving the area altogether and finding a station that is empty, but I came here to be different. I sit down right across from her and give the girl the best smile I can muster.
"Hey," I say as I try and keep the smile on my face. It feels weird being this openly kind to someone I just met, but it's all part of what I came here to do. "Do you mind if I sit with you, you look kind of lonely?"
"I don't mind," she responds.
The trainer brings over a tray of plants for me and instructs me to separate them into piles based on whether or not I think they are edible. He says there are books he can give me if I am really stuck. I stare down at the tray and recognize only one of the flowers, a yellowish one with a cup-like structure. I remember that one because my neighbor used to pay me to cut the flowers out of the areas around the cow pastures. Foxglove, I think they called it. Well, I reason to myself, if it's poisonous to cows it would make sense it would be poisonous to humans too. I place it on one side of the tray and pick up a long, skinny leaf to examine.
"Do you know what this one is?" I ask the girl, but when I look up she isn't even looking at her tray or me. I turn around to see what she is looking at and see that the kid volunteer from District Four is trying to get the Career's attention. "You and him are district partners, aren't you?"
The girl shakes her head as if someone had just thrown a bucket of water over her head. "Yeah. Kid thinks he's invincible just because he volunteered for this. I tried telling him yesterday, the Careers hate District Four tributes and they'll never accept him no matter his skill."
"So he's got a big head, then?" I say raising one eyebrow.
"The biggest," she sighs. "I just don't want him to get his head chopped off before we even get past the first day."
"Are you and he allies?" I blurt out and the girl looks at me in confusion.
"No," she chuckles. "I'm very available."
"I wasn't asking-"
"Well then I am," she says, holding out one hand to me. "My name's Baye."
"Brett," I tell her and take her hand. For the first time the smile on my face doesn't feel so uncomfortable.
"Oh and I have no idea what that plant is. I just came here to keep an eye on Maynor."
Aquila Titurius, 18, District One
"Get lost, kid," I smirk and shove him by the shoulder to the edge of the mats. He has no idea what he is trying to get into, we're not the equivalent of playground bullies. We are trained and prepared for these Games and he is just some little nobody from District Four who thinks he can last more than a minute against any one of us. Just the simple fact that he is from District Four gives me enough of a reason to splatter his face around the arena in a couple days, if the fact that he is competition isn't enough for me to do so already.
"So I guess we need to get our group together before deciding on the other members, right?" Amstel purrs. I know already that he isn't talking about himself, or at least he shouldn't be. There is no way the light hearted guy could be a proper leader, especially if he is being compared to someone like me. I am already prepared to take charge of the Career Pack, but if I say so it will cause trenches between the alliance. I plan on bringing a strong force into the arena, as strong as if I were bringing another five people with strength and capacity to match mine. I am not saying I am necessarily superior, though I very well may be; I am simply saying that if we are to make it farther than most alliances do we need to be a unit and I need to know everyone's strengths and weaknesses like I know my own.
"I think you'd be best to take control, sweetcheeks," Kilin winks at me and I grimace. Of course I was hoping for a nominations, but the mere fact that it came from his lips makes me want to reject the offer. In reality I had expected the District Two tribute to be the most opposed to any leader other than himself. He just comes off as the type to want to be the alpha male in this kind of situation.
I feign consideration, all the while trying to read the reactions of the other two. Amstel simply looks at me with a tight lipped smile, reminding me of one of the trainers back in One that used to come by from time to time to work with us on strategy. The smile always made me uncomfortable because it looked so forced and unnatural, but for some reason it looks alright on Amstel. He's not unfamiliar to me either, so I guess I have had time to get used to it. We used to be in the same level in training until they decided to separate us by gender a few years ago when classes became too large to handle.
Kiera just stares out like she is looking above all the other stations, not quite at them. She is the only one of my allies so far that I cannot seem to get a clear reading on. She looks fragile and like she might be weak minded, but then I see how she looks at the other tributes and it's almost frightening. I can only suspect that she is nothing more than a school bully. Pushing around the younger or smaller children and then cowering in the corner when a teacher approaches. It makes me hate the girl all the more, but I know there's no room for hate in my unit. Not if we want to win and I know we do.
"If it's agreed, then I will take the role," I look at each of the three of them in turn until they each nod in turn. I smile coyly, not allowing myself to give away the fact that I had planned this entire thing. I don't like to think of myself as a manipulator, I just know people and there is nothing cowardly in that.
"Great, but I think we're missing two," Kilin grins, pulling his arm around my shoulder which I swiftly remove with a steady glare. He seems to be trying to play the joker, but not in my army. We are serious, we don't have to be all the time because that would be completely unrealistic to expect from a group of teenagers. They have to realize that this isn't some kind of petty game, it's the Hunger Games and three of us at least are not going to make it. I know that they'll fully understand what they don't about that as soon as we see the first spots of blood. In fact, I am banking my own survival on it.
"Who have you seen?" I ask the group. Kiera shrugs and seems to blow off the question entirely but the other two bite their lips in thought as I scan the room.
"I was thinking the Capitolites, actually," Kilin says after a moment. "Well look at that, here they come now."
I give him a hard glare, knowing full well that he must have already talked to the two of them without asking the rest of us. I agree that the two of them, even with the girl's metallic legs, are likely our best bets. It has become quite usual for the Capitol tributes to be accepted into the Careers and there are rumors going around the Academy that the Capitol has begun creating their own Training Centre from our designs.
"Hey, what have we missed?" The girl, Arissa Talos I remember, asks as she approaches with her district partner trailing at least a few feet behind her.
"We were just talking about you," Kiera says with a smug grin and then turns away again.
"Oh, really," Arissa asks, her eyes widening in delight. I guess Kiera's attempt at derailing the girl didn't work, and I am kind of glad. Arissa seems nice enough, if not a little bit too energetic for my tastes. "So, what are the plans for today? I was hoping we could all go over and meet our little partners together later."
"There's no time, sorry," I brush her off. "We have a lot of training to do, but you are welcome to go over by yourself during your free period. Now everyone, I want you to go through three weapons stations for forty-five minutes each before lunch. The after lunch two more weapons sessions followed by at least three survival stations. After that you are free to do what you wish with the rest of your time."
"Oh, okay," I hear Arissa say as I turn to walk away. The poor girl is going to have to learn how things work with us, there is no time to go and coo over the babies and there probably won't be. This isn't some babysitting job, it's the Hunger Games and we need to prepare. Now, I think I will begin with archery today.
Calic Wefton, 15, District Ten
I can't believe how little he is. I cannot even bring myself to touch him because I feel like somehow my hand will cause him to shatter into a million pieces. I know he is just a boy, made of flesh like me so he cannot possibly break like glass, but if one were to stare into his innocent blue eyes one would forget all plausible logic and mark him ceramic.
"They're sweet, aren't they?" A soft voice interrupts my thoughts and I turn to see a girl with a dark ponytail piled on top of her head cradling a little girl with a number three on her back. I immediately like the girl with the ponytail, just because the little blonde baby seems to trust her wholeheartedly. She closes her eyes and leans on the girl's shoulder as she pats her back. I notice the number six sewn onto the sleeve of her training uniform and struggle to try and remember her name.
"Definitely, distracting though," I say quietly. It feels right to whisper in this area, almost like how it feels right to be silent at night when your parents are sleeping. I see there are a few cribs scattered along the wall, each made of a clear glass and lined with blankets and all but one of them housing a sleeping infant. "I don't think I'll ever be able to leave them."
"Is that one yours?" She asks. It sounds awkward coming from her, just as it would if I said it. Those are the words of new mothers with young children to other mothers, not for young girls like us. She purses her lips together as if she is thinking the same thing.
"Yes," I respond. "His name is Piere and they said he was from District Two."
"This is Livena," she says nodding her head down to the blonde girl nuzzling into her neck. "She's from District Three."
"Weird isn't it?" I say with a chuckle as the District Two tribute strides past the pen on his way to another weapon station without even sparing a glance towards the infant tributes. "That this little guy could grow up to be like that."
"Aw," she says, sliding closer to me until we are sitting only a foot and a half apart. "I don't think he could ever grow up to be so cold, just look at those eyes. I think he'll be a healer, or a mason. That's what they do in District Two, right?"
"I think so, at least that's what they told us in school. What about her, I think she'll be a mom, for sure."
"That's what I thought too," she smiles down at the little girl.
It's weird to talk like that, especially where we are headed. It hits me for the first time that Piere isn't just here as a method of passing the time. He is here because he is going in that arena with me. He won't have any training like the older tributes will and he will be in the same boat as we will be in, trusting other people with your life in hopes of somehow surviving. I'll keep you safe, Piere, I think to myself. Well I guess to do that I had better train some. Maybe later, though.
"She's been looking in here an awful long time," Six says and I look up to see her looking towards a blonde haired girl standing on the other side of the pen. She has big eyes and straight hair, with her arms resting on the top of the wall and her chin lying on top of them. Before I know what she's doing, Six calls over to the girl to join us.
She looks hesitant at first and I think she is going to decline the offer. Then, she slips along the wall and enters through the gate door. She wanders towards us, but just before she sits down she stops and her eyes go wide. I look behind me on instinct, assuming that something was about to happen and that was why she stopped. I turn back when I see nothing is there and the wide eyed girl is crumpled in a heap on the floor with her hands shaking next to her head, covering her ears.
Six and I immediately stand and run over to where the girl is, Livena still in her arms and Piere amused by a set of wooden blocks behind us. I see Six open her mouth, presumably to ask her what's wrong but the words are slapped from her lips when the girl lets out an ear-piercing screech. Both of us flinch back and Six clutches Livena to her chest protectively, the infant sobbing hysterically at being woken up.
"What's going on?" I yell above her, but she doesn't pause for even a moment. Cries erupt across the pen, all of the babies sobbing in their cribs and the ones of the floor stopping their activities and exploding into terrified cries. Finally, after what feels like far too long for someone to be able to scream for without a breath, the girl stops. Her screams turn to sobs and she looks up at the two of us with tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry!" She hiccups.
"It's okay?" Six asks her and I can almost feel what she is about to do before the words even reach her lips. "Calic and I were just going to relax in here, you're welcome to join us if you would like."
"Thank you," she says, cracking a smile and allowing Six to help her from the ground. "I'm Melinoe, District Eight."
"Jetta, District Six," she answers. "And this is Calic... I'm sorry, I have forgotten your district."
"Ten," I whisper.
Braden Griffin, 14, District Six
If I didn't know better I would guess that there was some kind of magnetic force field around the infant pen. Even though I tell myself not to mind it, I cannot help but look over at it every once in a while and I have only seen three people go in there and none of them have came out yet. They're all girls and they seem to be having some kind of social gathering while the rest of us are out here preparing to fight for our lives as if we actually cared about them.
"Woah," I hear someone say from my right side just before I smack into them I look over to see the boy from Four looking at me with his hands out in front of him in defense. I must not have been looking where I was going, I have to stop thinking so much it incapacitates me.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to run into you," I say shyly.
"Well I would hope you wouldn't do it on purpose," the boy laughs, brushing off his shoulder like I might have hurt it. I grimace, not exactly the impression I want someone to remember if I meet them in the arena and they have a weapon. I mentally slap myself, why wasn't I paying more attention?
"Of course not," I say and force myself to crack a smile.
The boy holds out his hand for me to shake, a goofy grin popping up on his fat lips. "My name's Maynor but I'm sure you know that. I can't say I remember yours, though."
"Braden Griffin, District Six," I answer, his smile contagiously spreading to my own face. I guess being a tribute is about as famous as you can get if you're a district citizen, so Maynor has some validity in his nonsense in me recognizing him. I hate to admit it, but I did remember him. He's the boy that volunteered and id the same young age as me, I have been wondering about him since I saw the replays of the Reapings on the train here.
Maynor snaps his fingers and his face lights up like a match. "That's it, we're the same age, right?"
"Fourteen?" I ask even though I know how old he is. Trenton never lets me forget it, he says I should have tried to make some sort of impression on the Capitol other than the one I made. He always wants to compare me to the kid volunteer from District Four, but I think that's stupid of him. This guy clearly has some reason for wanting to be here, and I clearly do not. We are totally different people.
"Yes sir!" Maynor laughs and slaps me on the back. "Hey, an opening just came up in my alliance. Interested?"
"Who else is in it?" I ask. Trenton did say it was a good idea for me to try and get into an alliance, said that it would be easier to sell me to sponsors as part of a bigger group than it would be to sell me going in alone. I wonder if he would advise me to join Maynor's alliance, since he wants me to be like him I hope he would be happy at the news.
"Well, there's me."
"And?" I urge him on.
"That's it, Braden," he chuckles, still with that ridiculous smile on his face. "So are you in?"
What am I supposed to do, reject him? I take his outstretched hand and shake it. "I'm in."
"Cool!" He beams. "What do you want to do now?"
"I don't know, want to try a hand at rope making?" I suggest.
"That's kind of boring, don't you think?" He raises an eyebrow and I watch as his eyes scan the stations in hopes of finding a better idea. "Let's go over there!"
I follow his gaze and see that he is looking straight at the target range. I sigh, considering arguing with him that it's not a good idea to be near the older tributes especially not the Careers. There's only one of them at that station, though, and the rest of them are pretty spread out. I guess they can't hurt us yet anyway so I nod and follow him over to the station where a trainer asks for weapon requests.
"Hatchet, please," Maynor says immediately and I shrug and say the same. I have never really worked with any kind of weapon, in fact I am not totally sure what a hatchet even is. I figure it won't be anything too heavy since Maynor and I are really similar in size. The trainer hands us each a smallish axe-looking thing and I take it by the black handle. Maynor leads me over to the targets and sets himself up in front of one of them. I take the one beside him and watch his motions, though he doesn't really look like he knows what he is doing either.
"So, Maynor," I ask between heaves of the weapon. I don't even want to try tossing the thing until I am sure I won't take my head off along the way. It's likely a good idea to just concentrate on practicing, but something has been bugging me and now is as good a time as any to ask. "Why did you volunteer?"
Maynor doesn't even look at me as he answers, taking a few practice swings before tossing the thing into one of the side rings of the target. "I want people to know I can do this; that I'm capable of taking care of myself. Probably not a smart choice, but what's done is done I guess."
The answer is so simple, and yet it seems to make so much sense to Maynor. For the first time I consider that maybe he isn't as deluded as I thought. He knows what he wants and he took measures, extreme measure I know but still, to get there. No matter the outcome he will win because just by coming here he has proven his point. It makes me wonder, why aren't I that sure of myself? Why can't I have the confidence to do what I need to do regardless? If I did would I be different, would the Games end differently than Trenton thinks they will?
The artist theme for this story will be Coldplay
Song: Talk
The blog for this story can be found on my profile. Alliances have been updated for all tributes.
A question or two will be asked at the end of each chapter and I would be very grateful if you could answer them for me as well as giving me a general review on my writing, your thoughts on plot and development, etc.
How do you like this batch of tributes?
Who are your favourites out of the eight you have met so far?
I'm actually doing pretty good time on these chapters, I hope you guys are proud of me. Fanfiction has been lame with updates, so I am writing this author's note as I furiously refresh the page so it might get annoyed and just let me update. If it doesn't work you will be getting this chapter a day later. This sucks, I keep changing this not because I'm so bored/annoyed with this. Yeah you guys get to see me mini rant, oh well.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Next up will be Training Day Two, including the world famous (not really) Kill Zone!