Chapter 13 (POV of Amelia Pond)

It's lunchtime. Ordinarily, it's fun. Ordinarily I would enjoy this, because A) Food, and B) Companionship. But today it's different. Today I choose to sit only with Ron, because I don't trust anyone else.

"Ron…"

"Yeah?" He asks me, his mouth stuffed full of chicken. I smile.

"We haven't talked about alliances." I tell him, my chin resting on my hand. Ron freezes.

"No." He mumbles. I sigh.

"Look… There's a good chance they don't know we're cousins. If they do, they'll make us kill each other. So…" I lift my hands dismissively, waiting for him to respond. He swallows and sits back in his chair.

"I don't know." He shrugs. I sigh. "Well… We could ally, but I don't think it would do either of us a favour. I'm not in any hurry to watch you die." He tells me, leaning forwards. I nod slowly.

"And vice versa. But I don't know… I don't know what we're supposed to do. Alliances are good. We get more rest, more food… It's safer." I begin, my throat clogging slightly. "But I can't… I can't do that with you. It's too hard. It's not something I ever wanted to happen. The reaping… This... All of this… I don't think I can. We're related, for Pete's sake. Alliances always end messily." I tell him. He stares at me for what feels like a lifetime.

"Okay." He smiles sadly. I want to cry. I don't cry often, but right now… It feels so final. Like we're already saying our last goodbyes. Families are close in District 5, and I've grown up with Ron. We're not best of friends. Never have been. But we're family, and I will not kill him. I can't cry either, not here, so I just smile sadly back at him.

"Okay."

"The next course is a test of your response to danger. Each one of you will walk along the track, and I cannot stress how much you must just walk, and threats will appear along the edges. These threats are not cardboard cutouts, or dummies. They are very very real. You will be armed, and if the situation becomes to serious, it will stop." Donna tells us, seriously. I swallow. Yeah. Great.

"Bring it on." The big from seven, Hook, grins. I glance him up and down, once again noticing the hook.

They can't allow him that in the arena can they? Surely not. It's a weapon. I look around the group again. The lightwood twins from 6; beautiful and composed as ever. John Watson from 9 is wearing a grim expression, but his hands are steady. He has a cane. I think he came second last to Moriarty in the race, and I wonder how he'll do in the arena with that leg. Percy and Annabeth from four are both looking over the course. Percy looks ready for action, and whilst Annabeth does too, she's surveying the room, looking for strategies. Luffy from 11 is grinning, as always. I don't understand him. How can he be smiling at a time like this? Big, brutish, but pretty, Dekka is stood solidly on the ground, arms folded, determined. I turn to find Ron watching the girl from 8... I think her names Hermione. Surely he isn't thinking about relationships? Bloody hell, the games are less than a week away. I turn back to Donna.

"Any volunteers to go first?" She asks us. Clara's hand shoots up, along with Clarisse from 7, Cedric from 1, Sam from 8 and Teresa from 12. I decide to stay back for now. Cedric is chosen, seeing as he's from one, and he walks forwards cockily.

"Watch and learn." He grins to the rest of us.

I roll my eyes, but I do watch. I need to know what's coming. It's not a wise decision to go first with something like this.

Cedric picks up a sword and begins to make his way down the course. I watch how his eyes dart. I watch how he holds himself, prepared, ready to strike. That's when the arrows start to fire and he ducks and rolls under them.

I blink. If that had been me, I would be dead by now. There's no way I could have dodged that. Cedric finishes the course, only having to occasionally duck out of the way of the arrows. I wonder if when I will walk down there it'll be like that. I glance over at Ron who smiles reassuringly at me. Turning back, I see Clara starting to march through it with a scythe. She has such a steady, determined look on her face. She's so determined and interested in her surroundings; sort of like me, but in a more dangerous way. She's just set off down it when the first bird flies at her. It's golden, and from the way its feathers glint in the electric lights, I can tell they're razor sharp. Percy, Annabeth and Clarisse seem to recognise them, because they all step back a little. Mutts, definitely.

Clara's quick though, and her scythe slices straight through them. I look to see Annabeth frowning. She's looking at Clara as if she's doing it all wrong. I'm wondering how too. Those feathers look like they're made of bronze. How on earth is that scythe slicing through them? But it doesn't matter anymore, because Clara's done it. She turns around to face us all and grins, curtseying cheekily to us. Annabeth clenches her fists.

"Who's next?" Donna asks, and Annabeth's hand shoots up. She walks forwards before Donna says she can go, grabbing a sword as she does so. I watch in interest as she begins to walk down the track, alert and on guard. Then, the tiled ground underneath her starts to shift. The panel her right foot is standing on gives way and disappears, off-balancing Annabeth. She proceeds forward as fast as she can, each tile she steps on giving way underneath her feet. But she's done it, and she shoots Clara a smug smile after she's done. Percy is grinning. John Smith, who I should really be calling the Doctor, flexes his hands, and steps out on to the course. He walks along it under constant attack from small fireballs, but he arrives at the end with only a slightly singed suit. Jack Harkness nudges me.

"Have you thought about alliances?" He asks me, quietly. Yes.

"Not really." I murmur back.

"Well, have a good think now. You've seen what the careers can do. We'd last longer in an alliance." He tells me. I look up at him, smiling slightly.

"True. Anybody else in mind?" I ask him. He looks over the group.

"Well… I thought about the Lightwoods from 6, but I don't think I could stand any more of Isabelle if I tried. Her brothers cute though. And I also thought about Sam and Hermione from 8, although we'd have to ask. If there is a 'we', of course." I ponder on this for a moment. He seems nice. He seems dependable. And like I already discussed with Ron, allies mean you get more food, more water, more rest and protection. I stare at him for a few seconds, and then come to a decision.

"Yeah. Allies." I hold out my hand and we shake. He grins winningly at me.

"Fabulous." He nods and then goes to try out the course. I frown at him, slightly mused. Fabulous isn't the word I would have used, but…

I watch Jack as he battles his way through the course, ducking under and jumping over metal bars that shoot out of the ground and drop from the ceiling. He finishes and turns to grin at me. I smile back and then step forwards at the same time as Clarisse. She pushes me out of the way and grabs a spear, wielding it dangerously. I glare at the back of her head and step back a few spaces. She starts the walk and very quickly it becomes clear what the problem is. Hundreds of little spiders, scuttling up from the tiles beneath her feet. She makes no jab at them with the spear and simply keeps walking. She hasn't defeated them; they're crawling all over her. But she hasn't made a move to acknowledge them, which is what she really needed to do. She's not scared. She'll keep going no matter what. I turn around to see Ron, pale as a sheet, staring at the spiders in a state of absolute terror. I give his hand a reassuring squeeze and then I step forwards. I decide to take a short sword as a weapon- even though I have absolutely no idea how to use it. I also have no idea what's coming my way on this course.

It could be anything.

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