When they got inside the training centre, Emily was starting to regret throwing herself into this death trap.

All the other tributes, even the ones from the non-career districts, had at least some skill with a weapon. The ones from Seven knew how to use axes from time spent in the forest, the ones from Three could turn just about anything into a weapon from sheer ingenuity.

And then there was her: the little Capitol girl who wouldn't know how to use a weapon if – or rather, when – her life depended on it. She even managed to fail at the survival skills. She was starting to think her plan to protect Matthew was going to fail miserably – he was going to be the one taking care of her.

Three days was not enough time to perfect a skill others had spent a lifetime learning.

At the moment, she was trying her hand at archery, though she had yet to produce results even remotely respectable. Matthew was shooting at the next target over and the instructor was cooing over what she called his 'natural skill'.

When she felt the hand on her shoulder, Emily whirled around and nearly punched the person who had snuck up on her. He laughed as he easily deflected her fist. "Calm down, Princess," he said, flashing a charming smile.

Emily narrowed her eyes, frowning. 'Princess'? What was that supposed to mean?

She was about to tell him to fuck off when he turned her to face the target again and wrapped his hands around hers on the bow. "You're not pulling the string back far enough," he told her, "That's why you keep falling short – you aren't getting enough power."

He guided her hand back until she felt his fingers brush her ear and a shiver ran the length of her spine. "You want the string beside your ear to get enough tension."

Her arm started to shake from the effort of keeping the string taut enough – if it hadn't been for his hand keeping it steady, she was sure the arrow would've clattered to the floor.

She couldn't bring herself to keep her eyes open to watch and see whether she actually hit the target. Really, she was just hoping she didn't somehow manage to accidentally shoot her mysterious benefactor.

Still tensed, cringing, and sightless as the arrow escaped her grasp, she felt a strong clap on her shoulder, a hearty chuckle in her ear as she was told to relax. The look with which she turned to glare at him just caused him to laugh harder.

"Derek Morgan," he introduced himself, fighting to keep a straight face. "Why don't we head over to edible plants and I'll teach you a few things."

Her glare faltered momentarily. "Why?"

"Why what?" he grinned, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to guide her.

"Why are you helping me? She bristled a little, feeling like a charity case.

He shrugged, but smiled in a mysterious way that somehow put her mind at ease and made her instantly feel she could trust him.

Emily didn't cross paths with Derek again until the next day at lunch when he slid into the seat beside her with a tray full of food. He proceeded to steal a handful of grapes that tasted like strawberries from her plate. And when she started to protest, he flashed that smile and she could do nothing but glare at him.

Through his mouthful of pilfered fruit, he said, "I've been thinking you and I should make an alliance. Because, let's be honest, you're not exactly winning any prizes for your weapons skill."

"Hey!" she started, indignant, but couldn't exactly say that he was wrong, so she left it at that. She glanced towards where Matthew was sampling various fruits from the food carts with comical faces. She estimated she had enough time before he returned to his seat. "I can't team up with you. You're just one more person standing in the way of me sending Matthew home."

"Hey, I get it," she shrugged, "I'm here to make sure my cousin gets home safe. I promised her mama that I would look after her and I stand by that promise. It'll break my Mama's heart, but she'll understand...besides, she's got my sisters. All Auntie's got is Cindi."

Emily attempted a look of what she hoped was empathy. He was making it really hard for her to not think of the other tributes as real people.

"I was just thinking that we might stand a better chance of keeping them alive together...then you and I can off each other and leave them to fight it out between themselves. At least one of them could make it home and you and I will know we did all we could to keep them alive."

She wrinkled her nose, thinking. She liked the idea of having someone else protecting Matthew, but at the same time, it wasn't a guarantee for his survival. Not that she could do much better on her own, if she was completely honest...

But the time for discussing it was over because Matthew had finally finished sampling the delicacies and was setting a tray laden with food on the table. "You are such a pig," Emily laughed, "You're going to puke all over the training room floor when we run that obstacle course after lunch..."