I'm sorry about the ending.
Me and Ashlee were singing it and they were talking and... you'll see.
Kristy Greene: (District 9)
I thought the Hunger Games training would be miserable and depressing but it's not all that bad.
It's fun, kind of like a sleep over.
There's the family drama, the escort yelling at our mentors, Ahab smashing his fists against the wall occasionally while I stuff myself with the food that was probably meant for both of us and me and Kaya spending the day playing around with different weapons and stations in the training centre.
If the Peacekeepers weren't so heavily armed and well hidden it would seem exactly like home.
All I'm missing is some plate glass and somewhere good to launch it from and it'd be just like old times.
It's a shame Kaya isn't as interested in Peacekeeper baiting... With the two of us we could do some pretty serious damage. Maybe even get several in one go but unfortunately we can't.
We only have 6 more hours of training then the next thing on our 'ah-maaaaaaaaaazing schedules' is the 6 hours of Gamemaker's sessions.
"So should we practise for the Gamemaker's sessions or just keep picking stuff up?" I ask as Kaya yawns.
"Picking stuff up unless you need practice. I just need to get my hands on an axe and swing like I've always done," she replies as we head towards the swords; the one station we haven't tried yet since it's been crawling with guys since the first day. Now that they've flexed their muscles and their egos for long enough they've started to spread as the reality that this is the last training day hits them.
I don't mind, we might as well get on with it and I'm ready for anything life throws at me.
Except maaaaaaaaaaybe knives.
Just because they're a little bit hard to catch with the blades and all.
Nick and I tried it; bad idea.
We spend the first 2 hours hacking around with swords for a bit until Kaya discovers the theory is similar to an axe and me just getting bored hefting a big sword around and boring time listening to a droning guy at the shelter station who appears intent on attempting to bore us to tears. Either that or sleep. At least the second option would shut him up.
The third option does too; I rip out the string that forms the waistband of our training pants and wind it around my fingers. Kaya passes a small stone that's been kicked away from the nearby fishing stream and I position it in between my fingers to make a mini slingshot. Nick taught me how to do it when I was 9 and I took my first potshots at Peacekeepers when they confiscated the conventional ones from the kid in the District after some morons took out the windows of the big shops in the main square.
Nick would be proud of the shot that floors the instructor but even his fall is boring and I push him to at least make him drop a little faster before we sprint off towards the camouflage station which is sheltered by a few trees that are placed for practice purposes.
"Thanks for that, but maybe a few less knocked out Capitol people next time, yeah?" Kaya pants as she leaps into the tree, pulling herself up through the branches leaving me leaning against the bottom until she pulls me up to join her.
"Oh come on, he wouldn't have shut up if I'd done anything less," I reply, wiping my hair out of my face as I look nervously at the ground. Not being a climber doesn't exactly equate to having an amazing head for heights. I'm not jumping down or anything in front of my ally but first available opportunity this little piggy is getting back onto solid land.
"True but I don't want to die without a chance in the arena," she replies almost carelessly but we're both quiet. It seems a little too real no matter how hopeful of my chances.
"I have an idea for the rest of training," I say suddenly. For some reason staring at the District 1 boy effortlessly flicking his swords around gave me the inspiration.
"Let's hear it then, normal training didn't exactly turn out so well," Kaya replies as she leans back against a thin branch, making my head spin at the thought of being that high off the ground on such a thin support.
"Well there's no rule saying we can't prepare for the Gamemaker's sessions," I start and I can see Kaya joining the pieces in her head, "So we should make sure everything we need is in the right place so we can get more done."
"I just need an axe and some targets, what can I prepare for that?" Kaya asks, chewing on a branch and making the tree sway.
"You could use these trees, chopping them down in 2 seconds flat would be pretty impressive," I suggest.
"But if I don't need anything to be moved before I start, that means you need something set up. What are you doing if it's going to take 5 hours to get everything in position?" she asks exasperatedly.
"My lips are sealed," I grin as Kaya tries to read my expression.
"I'm going to be really glad I was in here before you aren't I?" she asks.
"Yep."
"Matt" Hanson: (District 10)
The three of us make a good team strategically.
Sean and I are both good archers and although Sean isn't the best with an axe, he's still better than Scarlett or myself while Scarlett's handy with a sword since she used to collect the hay back home with a sickle and was the best of us with throwing knives.
This means that I'm left with only problems of the heart to trouble me.
My mind tells me that my worries are ridiculous, that I should be focused on the Games ahead of me but my heart's still back home in District 10.
I don't know if I'd be more troubled thinking that no one likes me or now, after Scarlett told me that everyone in the District looks up to me.
How am I meant to die in the arena with the knowledge that back home, I don't just have a brother who hates me?
Sean comes over and offers me an apple that he's been carrying around. If I have moral difficulties with the Games, I still can't compare to Sean Dorsin. He seems inexplicably drawn to helping everyone.
If he was in the arena, I wouldn't put it past him running up to a dying Career and trying to patch them up while there's a sword in their hand.
He tried to help the slightly worrying girl from District 3 when she was huddled in the middle of the room and I can see that he still feels terrible for not being able to help her despite the fact she told him not to. He watches his District partner like a mother trying to protect her brood and he joined us by almost literally leaping to help Scarlett at the archery station when I was trying to use some swords. I know from experience that keeping your talents hidden is one of the best strategies in the arena.
Still, I feel sorry for Sean.
The kid volunteered for a disabled kid who, to be honest, the District was probably happy to be rid of. The Capitol has made us so impersonal, so stoic that the one person who stands outside that is going to end up either as a monster... or dead.
And I think that he's leaning towards the second option.
It makes my worry seem so inconsequential; whether people like me enough for me to deserve winning, when compared with a kid who volunteered for someone nobody wanted to save knowing full well that the best case scenario was his death.
"Come on guys, we need to work out a plan," Scarlett finally decides after we've spent 2 hours at the edible berries station. I think I had most of them in my head after the first hour but Scarlett seemed desperate to continue there so Sean and I both waited for her to finish and for us to move on.
"A plan wouldn't be a good idea here, too many people listening," I reply as I look around the room. The tributes have all spread out to different stations as the pressure builds before the Gamemaker's Sessions so while a plan could save our lives in the arena, having it overheard could kill us.
"That's why we're not going to discuss it here. Where would no sane person go?" she asks.
"Shelter," Sean says, immediately pointing towards the station where the District 3 girl is screaming from.
As much as I would like to let Sean run along and try and help the District 3 girl again, I know it's only going to end badly for him and my protective side is telling me not to let him go. I try and think about training so far, the only place likely to be deserted when everyone's training like they're cramming for finals which, in a way, they are. When I see the District 9 girl steal something from behind the shelter instructor's back I know where the best place will be, "Knot-tying."
"What? But knot tying could be useful in the arena, why would no one go there?" Scarlett asks as she looks over at the deserted station, "Just because it's empty now doesn't mean someone can't sneak up on us while we're talking."
"Where do you want to go?" I ask before she shrugs.
"You're the brains, I'm the leader; we just do what the brains say only louder," she replies.
"Two girls ran away from knot tying first day. It isn't empty because of the skill, but the instructor," I say as I point at the old man leering from the station out at the tributes.
"So you want me to go over to a creeper station for some peace and quiet?" she asks, leaving her feet firmly planted where we've been standing. When she puts it that way it does sound pretty bad.
I look over at the instructor again when I realise something, "He must be coming back because he's run out of money, he's standing at the front of the station because otherwise he can't see the tributes and he must be a little deaf because he doesn't react to the District 1 girl's steady thumping with the throwing knives at the next station over. I explain this to Scarlett and she looks uncertainly at him before sending me over to the station to prove my point, only to have Sean dash past and take my place.
At least he's with us so he's not just alone in the arena, he doesn't deserve the fate that that entails.
Then again, life's rarely about getting what you deserve.
Millie Sun Mallard: (District 11)
It's something strange that suddenly reminds me of home. It seems inconsequential but it makes me sad for a moment.
An avox carrying a tray of fruit towards the enormous dishes we get food for lunch from is a little overweight and buzzcut hair.
That's where the similarities to Greg end but it's enough to remind me that I haven't thought about Greg and Sash since the start of training.
After that, me and Denver have been doing everything together until the Games start, making the most of all the food and the great climbing.
The food is definitely a big bonus, I doubt I've seen so much food before in my entire life, let alone in one meal for just 24 people.
"You alright?" Denver asks as he swallows a bread roll whole after smearing it in some type of fish paste.
"Just thinking about home," I reply as I move my hand back on its arc towards my mouth and eat another one of the miniature fruit-in-fruit baskets that we were served. It's weird looking at unrecognisable food you're eating and wondering if you picked it.
"Don't let it bother you," he replies casually as he stuffs himself with some more rolls, "Just remember that no matter what happens, you'll be home in a few weeks. No matter what happens, you'll be back there sooner than you can blink. So that's why you have to make the most of it, no way you'd find this chow in District 11," he grins as he wolfs down another roll. I remember thinking he looked like a bear at the Reapings and he eats like one too.
He makes a good point, being morbid is no fun and no matter what happens, I'll get back to my family and friends.
"So what do you want to do other than making sure you'll vomit all over the next station?" I ask as he drains a bowl of soup a bit too loudly.
"I'm a growing boy," he grins, using the old mother's reasoning for all the food their kids eat.
"I can tell," I reply as we look over at the other stations.
"How about swords or something?" he asks as he shreds meat off the bone of what was once probably a pig but its rather hard to tell because someone's dyed it blue. It reminds me of the blueberries back home but now it's comforting, thinking about the home I'll be going back to soon.
"But we'll stay up in the trees, we won't have to worry about fighting on the ground," I reply as I remember practicing with the throwing knives and the bow and arrows yesterday. I could use them to do whatever I want to while being cosy up in the trees.
"Yeah but if we get caught on the ground, finding water or something, we don't want to be throwing knives around and you were tons better than me at even that. How about a compromise? Take some spear lessons, eat some fish and then settle down for the Gamemaker's sessions. That way we can use them from the trees as well and we're all happy, yeah?" he asks and I nod, trying to make it easier for him, it's worth a shot at least and I could draw a map of the climbing frame from memory.
Denver takes pretty well to the spear so once we've spent two hours throwing and lunging with spears we only have another half hour before he finally shakes his head, spraying sweat everywhere, and grins at me as I try to wipe the stuff off my face.
"Wanna try fishing with these things?" he asks as he tosses the spear up and catches it again.
"Since when do either of us have the first clue about fishing?" I ask as we head towards the artificial stream.
Either he doesn't notice me saying it or he pretends he doesn't because he keeps running straight for the stream and starts poking around with the spear as I try to catch up with him.
The fish keep dodging the spear thrusts until finally he dunks his head into the stream and goes head over heels to end up splashing half the stream over me and the floor.
When his head finally pops up, he has a salmon clenched between his teeth and reminds me so much of a bear that laughing hurts.
It's a shame the best days of my life came now but hey, at least they came.
"Wes" Faulkner: (District 12)
I was so happy to be in an alliance yesterday that I didn't really care who it was with.
Well I cared that it wasn't a psychopath or Ivy but those two circles touch on several occasions.
What I didn't expect was finding someone like Blaze as an ally. He could be my brother except for the fact that he's nothing like Wade, the boring one of our siblings. He's so straight-laced that he could take up a career as a shoe and no one would question it.
While Apollo and Lucas run around the stations, me and Blaze sit back near the stream and watch them like my parents used to do when me and Waverly were little kids. If we decided to go cannoning around now I doubt any number of watchful glances would catch us.
"Isn't that a lovely sight?" asks Blaze, pointing towards a middle-aged instructor at the spear station who thinks she's a size 8.
She ain't.
"Oh man, that's gross. Seriously, not cool," I reply as I shield my eyes until she stops bending over, "Haven't got any eye bleach on you do you? Some brain bleach would work pretty well too."
"Unfortunately they wouldn't let me bring it into the Capitol. Looking at that," he points at the District 1 girl, "Might cure you though."
When she realises we're looking at her wiping the sweat off her face with the bottom of her shirt she flicks us off but my eyes have been thoroughly cured.
I didn't even realise the sword fighting instructor had come up behind us until he spoke, "Don't get attached," in a monotone.
"What?" Blaze ad I asked at the same time. Getting attached was pretty much the last thing on our minds.
"There's such a thing as getting too attached to something you don't realise you're focused on," he continues. You could barely tell he was Capitol if it weren't for the fact that he looks exactly the same age as he did when he first started training the year I turned 3.
"Come on, loosen up Tyler," Blaze replies as Tyler frowns, "We're not getting attached, it's possible to enjoy people without getting attached to them," Tyler opens his mouth but Blaze cuts him off, "Seriously, try it. Go get whatever gets you pissed on this colourful little rock of yours and shift it over here."
Tyler looks doubtful but returns with a bottle of bright green spirits.
"Right, drain it," Blaze commands.
"This stuff would kill you to drain it," Tyler replies as he eyes it doubtfully.
"Half?" I offer.
"I'd be out within 10 minutes," Tyler still refuses to open the cap.
I nudge Blaze's boot with mine and nod at the bottle in Tyler's hand. He looks for a second before his eyes widen in understanding and he lunges for the bottle while I block Tyler's nose.
Blaze tips the bottle Tyler's his mouth while I make him swallow but I notice Blaze uses less than half the bottle.
"Scale of one to dragons, how tipsy are you?" Blaze asks.
"Is butterflies... a nom... num... bear?" he asks.
"Sure buddy, that's pretty much right," I grin at Blaze behind Tyler's back.
"Right, so now we're going to have fun, okay?" Blaze asks as he props Tyler against a wall.
"Sure... fun will be... fun... left?" he replies.
"Sure, now sing it after me: I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts," Blaze starts as Tyler follows a few seconds after, "there they are standing in a row, big ones small ones some as big as your head, give 'em a twist, a flick of the wrist, that's what the show man said."
Tyler's by now happily singing along in a drunken stupor as Blaze and I put our arms over his shoulders and he sways slightly, looking out at the room like it's something totally unknown to him.
"Keep going buddy," Blaze says as he sings the next verse, "now that i've got a lovely bunch of coconuts, everybody knows they'll make me rich, there stands me wife, the idle of me life, singing a rolly bowly ball a penny a pitch, singing a rolly bowly ball a penny a pitch, rolly bowly ball, a rolly bowly ball, singing rolly bowly ball a penny a pinch aaaaaaaaaaaand CHORUS!"
We reach the end of the song before Tyler passes out on the floor.
"Nice way to finish off training," I say as we tuck him in at the shelter station.
Blaze just grins as we high five.
Muhahahah, what is Scarlett's plan? Find out... later.
Monty Python owns the Coconuts song.