*Back to the time of the 24th Hunger Games, and back to the Capitol. This is Lystra's POV*
I woke the next morning, stretching in my bed. I blinked and yawned, climbing out of my bed. I stared about me for a moment, and it took me a while to remember where I was. When I did remember, a horrible pang of homesickness took me, but I shook it off and entered the bathroom.
I spent about two hours playing with the gadgets in the bathroom, and would have stayed longer, if not that Emerald came and told me that it was time for breakfast. So I put on the brown pants, gold tee-shirt and headband that Vincent had laid out, along with Estella's locket, and walked out into the dining room.
Breakfast was a quiet thing, for none of us had anything to say. But, as Tanner and I finished, Kayton told us that we were to go to training with her. So the tree of us went down the hallway and into the elevator. It was there that Kayton confronted us.
"Lystra, Tanner, you two had better perk up. You need alliances, and no one is going to want to team up with two people acting the way you are. So, I don't care what is brining you down – whether it be homesickness or worry, but you are going to act like you are thrilled with what has been happening lately, do you hear me?" Tanner and I both muttered something unintelligible, and Kayton smiled.
"Good," she said. "Now, moving on, I want you two to both take advantage of this training time – learn some new things, find out what you're good at, and make friends. Alliances are essential. Once you find something that you're good at, stay away from it – hide what you're good at, and work it to your advantage."
Tanner and I both nodded to show we'd understood, and the elevator arrived at the Training Area. We both plastered fake smiles on our faces and bid Kayton goodbye. We wondered onto the floor, staring around at the different stations. We were almost immediately joined by a large group of figures, most of whom I didn't know.
Rayne stood beside me, and I smiled at her slightly. She seemed to have lost a lot of her bubble-ie-ness form the previous night, and was quite mellow. Her mood seemed to match mine, which made me content. So I stood by her, speaking only enough to keep up my happy mood thing.
Once the Gamemakers came in, we were permitted to go to our stations. I caught Tanner's eye. With unspoken agreement, we turned our backs on one another and walked in separate directions – him to the bows, and I to camouflage, where Mazie sat.
"Hello," I greeted her as I sat down beside her.
"Hello," she replied
The trainer began to instruct us on berries – how to squeeze the juice out, mix it into camouflage, and then apply the camouflage. Mazie and I both proved apt, and (remembering Kayton's instructions) we moved on to knots.
I managed to tie satisfactory knots, but Mazie was so extremely challenged that she ended up tying her hands into her knot. She left me to join the swords station.
I moved on, completing all the stations I could. I proved to be "satisfactory" and "apt" in everything that I tried, but I wasn't particularly good at anything. I could handle a bow and arrow as well as a sword or an axe, but they all felt clumsy in my hands.
I moved to the knives station, where a couple of tributes were attempting to throw knives onto the moving wax dummies. I picked up a knife with a large blade and a short handle, took a breath, and threw.
The knife fell to the ground a split second after the dummy moved out of the way. Baring my teeth slightly, I looked at the knives, this time choosing a knife with a long hilt and a short blade – more similar to the ones that we used in 11. I took a deep breath and threw it.
The knife embedded itself into a dummy's heart. The other tributes at the station glanced at me and glared in jealousy.
I grabbed another knife and threw it. Another. Another. Before I was totally aware of what I was doing, I was grabbing three, four knives at once, and throwing them all. Dummies' human-like bodies were marred, and looked more like shaggy dogs than humans.
A sword hit the knife in my hand, and I am startled out of whatever trance I was in. I looked up, and there was Tanner.
"Time to move on," he told me in a low voice. I blinked several times at him before understanding came to me. I glanced about me, abashed, to find seven tributes watching me; some shocked, some jealous, others considering me. Rayne, who was standing by me, held out a hand and helped me up.
"I think," she said slowly "we should form an alliance."
Id considered Rayne. She seemed strong and fairly honest. 'Alliances are essential'...but could I trust her? I didn't want to be the tribute killed by her own back-stabbing ally . . . but then again, I could hardly afford to offend her, either.
"Rayne," I began slowly
"Not now," she suggested, winking at me. "Sleep on it." She started to walk off, but turned to speak to Tanner. "That offer extends to you too." Tanner mumbled something about sleeping on it, and Rayne turned and walked away.