Chapter 11 (POV of Amelia Pond)

We're all stood in a circle around Donna Noble, the woman who will be head of training before the games. She's a redhead, like me, and she walks with the same authority I try to adopt.

"Whilst you're here," she begins, looking around at us all. I'm trying not to catch the eyes of the other tributes. I'm not here to make friends. "You will try your hardest to learn the skills most vital in the arena: Offensive, defensive and preservative. I am here to train you: make you worthy of the games." She gestures around to the different stations. "I'd imagine most of you will immediately go towards the weapon stations, but I advise against it. Any idiot can use a sword, but how many of you can tie effective snares and traps? You'll need to learn if you want food." She looks around at us all and murmurs something to herself. "There are four mandatory courses to take part in, and-"

"What if we refuse?" Askes the boy from 10, Jack Harkness, mischievously. Donna Noble raises an eyebrow a him.

"Do you think I'm bothered?" she asks him, rudely and the rest of us, including Jack, laugh. We're an oddly cheery bunch this year. I've watched the games before and I always imagined the training sessions to be full of frightened 12 year olds and brutish 18 year olds. Apparently not.

"Fighting with the other tributes is prohibited. You'll have all the time in the world for that in the arena, don't worry. There are staff on hand to teach you, or act as an opponent if you wish to try out a new skill." She claps her hands. "Let training begin."

I look around at the other tributes, formulating a plan. I will train with each one of them, trying to get an idea of what they're like. I might not be here to make friends, but an alliance would be useful. It would make sense to go in order of the districts so I sidle up to Alice and Cedric as they line up for the first mandatory course.

"Hey." I smile. Alice doesn't even turn to look at me. She's staring off into space, but Cedric looks over his shoulder and grins.

"Uh… Hey." He nods. I hold out my hand.

"Name's Amelia Pond. You can call me Amy." I smile at him. We shake hands and he frowns at me.

"Amy. That's a funny name." He remarks and I raise my eyebrow.

"No funnier than Cedric." I reply, slightly rudely. He laughs.

"Touché. District 5 right?" He asks me. I nod.

"Yep." I reply, fighting the urge to say: I've got the power! He smiles again at me and then turns to look at the station before us. Oh god. It's a net, leading up to a climbing wall, leading up to some sort of monkey bar thing, and leading up to a rope we descend down. In other words, it's a fancy climbing frame. A difficult fancy climbing frame. Cedric is first up, and he does it all well, no wonder. The careers try to intimidate at training. I haven't been given any instructions on how to act in training, so I'm just going with how I normally act. Which is… Loud. Alice also completes the climbing frame in no time at all, and I'm regretting choosing the spot third in line because now I have to go. I walk towards it, mind set on completing it as fast as I can. I can feel the other tribute's eyes on me, keenly watching for mistakes. Except possibly Ron. He's my cousin, and we know each other well enough that we don't want to make fun of each other. There's no way I'll get him in the arena. I'm not so cold-hearted as to kill my own family. I grab onto the net and pull myself up it. It's on a sort of diagonal slant upwards, which means I'm almost on my hands and knees. I manage to get past the net fairly quickly, and then came face to face with the climbing wall. Literally.

"Ow…" I mutter to myself as I rub my almost certainly bruised forehead. There are a few titters from behind me, until I turn around and shoot them such a penetrating glare that they stop. I turn and grabbed onto the first two holds, determinedly pulling myself up. I've never climbed before, but I get the concept. District 5 is the epitome of industrialisation, even more so than 1, 3, 6 or 8. There are no trees there, so I've had no opportunity to climb. Actually, that's not quite true. Lots of the street urchins in five are keen climbers, scouring the buildings and the rooftops, looking for food. I catch myself before I wish I was one of them. In any case, I've reached to top of the wall. Now to descend via the rope. I could abseil, like Alice and Cedric, but honestly, I think sliding down it will be easier. I drop quickly and hold the rope tightly, my hands burning. But I've reached the ground, and whilst it seemed like ages to me, it wasn't actually that long. No more than two minutes.

I smile smugly around the room and go to wait for the others, next to Alice and Cedric. Cedric is the only one acknowledging me. Alice is god knows where. It's not even as if she's ignoring me. She's just away in another world; away with the fairies.

I watch, interested as the boy from District 10, Jack Harkness, begins the course. He's strong. I can tell from the way he carries himself, and the way the cheeky grin on his face disappears. He's concentrating now, and he won't be distracted by any of us. He's faster than me, which makes me a little uncomfortable, as so far I'm the slowest. Although I've only been beaten by three other tributes.

"Amelia Pond right?" He asks me, as he completes the course and walks towards us. I nod, one corner of my mouth turning up.

"Yeah." I reply. "And you're Jack Harkness?"

"One and only." He grins, winking at me. I raise an eyebrow at him and fold my arms.

"We'll see." I reply. He laughs.

"What's your accent? Your district partner doesn't sound like that." He remarks. I sigh. I've been asked about my accent before. It's not the norm, but there are several families in District 5 with the same brogue as me.

"I have no idea. It's from the ancient lands; before Panem. I don't know what it's called, but I'm not the only one who talks like this." I tell him. He tilts his head.

"You're interesting, Amelia Pond."

"Amy, please."

He grins at me. I wonder if I've found a potential ally. I look around at the other tributes and realise I've missed Luffy completing the course. This annoys me. He's intriguing and I want to know why he's so happy. If I'd been paying attention I might have seen what he could do: get an idea about my enemies. But no. I'm having a mildly flirty conversation with another tribute. Great.

Hermione Granger is the next to go. District 8 is all about fabric, and I don't imagine she's particularly athletic. Although, as I watch her, I see her eyes scanning the course. She may not be athletic, but she knows what she's doing. Each step is calculated and recalculated, ensuring she makes it over the course in a sufficiently good time.

Every tribute seems to have some sort of skill. If they're not athletic they're intelligent, and vice versa. Some are confident, some are loyal, some re secretive, some are downright terrifying. It's leaving me wondering what my particular skill is.

What will be my advantage in the games?

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