Majesty Holland, District 1

We sit at the table, slowly eating while listening to the advice of our mentors. Glamour is eating it up, she cannot wait to go down there and show off her skills. Me, on the other hand, I don't know how I feel. I can't imagine looking at all the other tributes in the eyes, knowing they all have to die if I want to return home.

"Watch out for any weaknesses in the other Careers, you do not want to get stabbed in the back." We both nod, remembering what happened to the pair from last year. Betrayed by their own allies.

I go back to my room and change into training clothes. At the last moment, I put on my promise ring from Jewel. I close my eyes and wonder how she is back home. I miss her dearly.

By the time I return to the elevator, Glamour is waiting for me. She sort of intimidates me, she certainly doesn't lack confidence. We head down to the training room floor early and see only the pairs from Two and Four have arrived. We walk over to them and introduce ourselves, trying to become friendly with the group.

After some quick chat, the rest of the districts slowly arrive. Many seem overwhelmed, if not outright terrified. I shake my head as Meagan starts to give us instructions.

As she goes over the basic rules, I get a good look at my competition. The girl from Two, there's something unique about her. She doesn't give off that same bloodthirsty Career vibe that Glamour and her district partner do. Chaze, well, he scares me. He hasn't sad much, but I can sense how cold blooded he is. The girl from Four seems very intelligent, yet very manipulative. And then there's Neptune, he's the one I'm curious about. He's been acting like the other Careers, but I can tell there's something more to him.

We are dismissed to our stations and the six of us immediately go to the sword fighting station. Glamour and Chaze go into the arena and spar, and next to them Callista and Lana spar. I stand with Neptune.

"I guess it's you and me." I say. He looks at me and shrugs.

"Let's get in there." We enter the arena and get our swords. Neither of us are experts with them, but we fair alright. We go back and forth before it's clear he will beat me, then we rest.

"Nice work." I say genuinely. He smiles.

"You too."

We move onto archery. I do alright, it's certainly not my best. Neptune is better than I am, but he tells me he prefers a trident. Lana destroys this section, I can tell Chaze and Glamour don't like being shown up.

We continue moving to every weapons station, refining our skills and learning a few new ones. Throughout the day, I've learned a lot about Neptune. I learned he didn't plan on volunteering, but he knew the boy that was reaped and couldn't stand to see him compete. I get the hint that he despises the Games, something that shocks me but makes me respect him. I feel more comfortable knowing someone else has the same feelings as I do.

We break for lunch and sit as a group, trying to intimidate the others. Glamour and Chaze go back and forth, discussing strategy, the other tributes, and anything else. I tune them out, enjoying the food in front of me. My mind moves to Jewel back home. I wonder how she is doing. I miss her dearly, that's for sure. I hope I'll be able to see her in the coming weeks.

Flux Lambert, District 3

As soon as I see the training arena, I am overwhelmed by my options. The Careers have taken over the weapons station, so I move over to some survival stations. I begin with fire starting, listening closely to the instructions. After about half an hour, I can make a pretty decent fire. By the time I stand up, I realize my district partner had been next to me the whole time. She smiles at me and I turn to walk to another station without saying anything.

After my success with fire, I move onto identifying poisonous berries. It takes some time to get a grasp on it as everything looks similar, and I don't feel completely confident as we break for lunch. I sit alone, as far away from the other tributes as possible. I am known as the guy who fainted on the chariots and I don't know if they'll ever see me in another light. I shake my head as I finish my meal.

After lunch is over I stay to the back and assess all the tributes. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses, each is focusing on a different station, with the Careers hogging the weapons. They seem to be focused on knives at the moment, so I take my chance with the swords. I spend some time learning proper form with the trainer and we spar a bit. I am clearly inept with the weapon but the trainer is patient with me, so that I appreciate. After about an hour I am dripping with sweat and gasping for air. I step out of the arena and drink a bottle of water, thinking about back home.

My heart drops when I think about Lexa. How could I be so stupid to lose such an amazing girl like her? I close my eyes and think about how happy she'd be if I died in that arena. I shake my head. I can't die out there. I have to show her I'm better than what she knew. I have to be good enough for her.

But first, I have to survive.

Holden Hayes, District 5

I've let Layla guide us through the stations during training. Our mentor suggested we spend time at every station to learn what our strength and weaknesses are. We started off with the obstacle course, which I did pretty good on. Layla struggled with upper body strength, but she made it across successfully. We spent some time making poison, which Layla fell in love with. I had to remind her of our strategy to get her away from that station.

We ate lunch together, listening to the other tributes conversations. We've noticed alliances forming as well. All the Careers, as expected, band together. We've seen the girls from Six and Eight ally together, as well as the girls from Seven and Twelve. It's interesting to see everybody interacting with each other. There's that nagging feeling that we all know everyone has to die if you want to return home. That thought is bound to lead to distrust for one another.

"Want to fight?" Layla's words pull me out of my thoughts. My confused look makes her laugh. That's when she points to an empty sparring arena. I nod.

"Let's do it."

We stand on opposite sides with our swords in hand. She lunges at me quickly and I barely dodge the first attack. I do a spin move and manage to take her down from behind. She wiggles out from under me and before I know it she's tackled me. I laugh.

"I surrender." She rolls her eyes and helps me stand up. For a moment, I realize how easy it would be to kiss her now. But before the thought is complete, she turns and looks away from me. I hold my head down in shame, knowing she would never look at me the same if she knew how I felt.

We spar a few more times, taking turns winning, before the day is over. As soon as Meagan announces it's time, I realize how tired and sore my body is. I grab a water bottle and we lag behind a bit, letting most of the tributes enter the elevators before us. We are the last two to leave, and we get the elevator all to ourselves. It's a quiet ride up, filled with us sipping from our bottles. The doors open and we enter our floor.

"How do you think it went?" I ask her. She shrugs.

"I think we did good. We didn't embarrass ourselves, and I think I saw one of the Careers watching us while we sparred. Could've done worse." I nod in agreement.

"Let's do it all again tomorrow." I give a friendly smile and she pulls me into a hug. I hope she can't see how red I am.

Lavender Byzantine, District 8

I've spent a decent amount of time throwing knives into targets, and I've actually done rather well. Most of them hit the target, and a good amount of them stick in the center. I'm glad I've found something I can use in the arena.

As I throw, I see the girl from Six has taken station next to me. I see she is trying the same techniques I was utilizing, with less success.

"If you stand like this, it's a little easier." I say so softly I'm not even convinced she heard me. But she turns her head towards me and takes note of my position. Once she adjusts, she hits the target in the center. We both smile.

"Thank you." She says. I nod.

I hear commotion from behind me and turn to see the group of Careers coming towards this station. I look at the girl and she nods. Together, we walk away just as they gather.

Throughout the day, we spend more and more time together. I learn her name is Demica, and she volunteered in hopes to give both her family and the reaped child a better life. I respect the decision, but that doesn't mean I completely agree with it. Regardless, we spend the entire day training. I can tell she enjoys watching more than participating, most likely getting a sense for everyone's strengths and weaknesses.

As we walk to another station, I see the boy from Nine avoid eye contact with her. She turns her head and keeps her eye on him, but doesn't say anything.

"What's up with him?" I say, referring to the strange attitude by the boy. She shrugs.

"I asked him to be my ally, and he told me to leave him alone." My shocked look makes her chuckle.

"He'll come around." We join some others at the snare section, learning how to make very basic snares that would trap rabbits and squirrels. After snares, we learn some basic water purification tactics. The best is to use iodine, but if you have none, heat is the next best option. As awful as this whole situation is, I enjoy learning these new skills and they make me feel confident in my abilities. Strength doesn't always win, you have to be smart as well.

We wrap up with the obstacle course and go back to our respective floors. I never expected to make an ally, but I feel better knowing I have Demica to watch my back. Besides, you need all the help you can get in the arena.

One last update before I leave, don't forget to review! I was a little disappointed with the lack of reviews I got last chapter