Heyo! Here's Training Day Dos.
If y'all want to, look for a favorite quote? :)
Trying not to lose my head
but I have never been this scared before
Tell you what I'll do instead
lay my body down on the floor
To forget what I've done
silhouette til the good lord come
…
Dessiah Martin The Kind
Dawn filters through my window, pushing a blanket of sleep off of my eyes. I shift in my bed. It's nothing like my bed at home. It was much smaller and comfier. The Capital always seems to think that bigger means better- it doesn't. Because even though their beds are giant, I'd rather have my bed from home.
Pushing the stagnant comforter off the bed, I stand up. Time to start my day. I groan and head to the shower. I'm careful not to slip on the shiny tile floor of the bathroom as I ease my way to the shower and start running the water while I strip of my pajamas. The bleak bathroom walls are lined with mirrors. It's rather creepy to see ten of your reflections at the same time.
I stop. When I look in the mirror I see a redheaded girl with brown eyes, crystal clear. She's not fazed by the Hunger Games, oh no. She's different from her usual self. This girl's got her nose up, a smirk on her face. Her clear eyes tell a story of hate and betrayal.
I shake my head, what's wrong with me?! The smirk disappears. That isn't me.
No, I'm the quiet girl from District Two whose parents forced her to do a terrible thing. That's me.
Not some sick monster that'd drive a knife in anyone's back.
After my shower I meet Scott at the breakfast table with a fixing of bacon and bread on his plate. He looks happy. That's not going to be me. I'm not going to be happy with the idea of the Hunger Games. Ever.
"G'morning Dessiah!" Scott nods to me.
"Hi Scott." I take a seat at the table next to him. Our mentor and escort are already seated.
"Now you both are here, let's talk strategy for today," Trinidad Merce, our mentor claps his hands together, getting down to business already.
"Scott, you've been declared the head of a major alliance. And you told me that the Girl from Four gave you the position. Without seeing you train?"
"No, we trained for a few minutes and she watched us," I pipe up.
"Ah… either way, something's off about Four. I saw her at the parade-"
"She was wearing a lovely costume!" Table claps.
"- and she looked arrogant, had a smug look on her face. Now, why would someone so cocky just give away the leader position? Sounds like something's up."
"What do you mean?" Scott asks, his voice suddenly defensive.
"I mean, she has ulterior motives. She wants you to be in charge for a reason, which probably ends bad for you,"
Scott's face crumbles, the happiness no longer evident.
A mean part of me isn't surprised Scott wasn't chosen based on skills- he's skinny. Probably the skinniest tribute this year except for the Girl from Eleven. I know Scott has a disease from our shared history in District Two. It isn't often you see a kid so tall but thin in our District. Some people worried his sister wasn't feeding him, but eventually they learnt the truth.
I awkwardly twist my ring around my finger. It's my token, handed down generations of the Martin family, and seeing as I could be the last Martin child it seems fit for me to die with it on my hand. No doubt my parents will pry it off my fingers when my body comes home. They'll sell it.
I mean if. If I die, not when. I have to remind myself that I have a chance without boosting my confidence so much as to become overly cocky. I can't afford to loose myself in the Hunger Games. Especially not yet, on the second day of training.
"So, your goal today- Dessiah, I'm talking to you as well- is to find out why Katrina wants someone else to lead,"
"What if we don't find a reason?" I ask Trinidad.
"Then, Scott, you'll need to sleep with one eye open. And Dessiah, I'm counting on you to watch his back, can we trust you to do that?"
Everyone's eyes are on mine. I let go of the silver ring.
"Yeah, you can," I reply, looking down at my food. I'm not even sure why I can't look Scott in the eyes, but something's impelling me to look down instead. Like I feel guilt already because I know how hard it will be to keep the promise while I'm already looking out for myself.
I want to help Scott, I promise I really do, but I just don't know if I can.
Shawn 'Shade' Kelly The Shadow
It's odd to think of what comes next. After this day of training we present ourselves to the gamemakers, something I'm not ready to do. Fast forward to the interviews. I can't even imagine sitting on the white chair, looking Puma Flickerman into the eyes and telling him how happy I am to be here.
Right now I suppose I should stick to the present, or else I feel like my head will fall off.
So. Goals. I should have some by this time in the Capital, but I don't really. Find an ally, I guess, would be a good thing to do.
First I have to observe. An ally is worthless if you can put your trust in them. Which is hard- in this city you can't even trust a smile.
I gaze over the tributes from One and Two, neither of them will want allies. Both from One are spoiled rotten, I can tell from the looks on their faces, the way they tilt their heads up. The pair from Two is different. Both are small, the boy skinny, the girl young. The boy's eyes dart around, especially focusing on the Girl from Four. The girl eyes her a couple times, but doesn't seem nearly as cautious.
The Boy from Three, Nikolai, is moving at all times whether he's twiddling his thumbs or tapping his foot. He's energetic. But he also doesn't have many tributes around him, his District partner doesn't turn to look at him once. Speaking of the girl, she looks lonely, but her jaw is set. She focuses so much on training, maybe so she isn't as conscious of her state of loneliness.
The pair from Four aren't up for grabs, at least in my case. The Girl is the worst of the Careers. She's rather pretty, but I see her face turn poisonous more than once. Caspias, the other District 4 tribute is more timid, he doesn't look the other tributes in the eyes.
Shay is my District partner, so I know better than anyone else here- I don't want her as an ally. Nothing personal, but she doesn't appear to be the outdoorsy-type.
Metric and her District partner Lero seem to already be teamed together. I wouldn't want to be in an alliance with them. I know that if Lero and I got hurt and Metric could only save one of us, it'd be Lero for sure and vice versa.
Ayla from Seven has an ally already, the Girl from Eleven- I forgot her name. She does seem like she'd be a good person to ally with though. She's small and her eyes twinkle with something bigger than herself. Barkson is already with a large group I do not want to be with.
The Girl from Eight has been to almost every station. The odd thing is, when I watched her in weaponry she was terrible. But whenever she messed up she didn't care, didn't show any disappointment. And she was terrible at everything, almost like it's on purpose… I can tell already that I don't want to get involved with her. The Boy from Eight is rather short and skinny. I remember him from his reaping- he ran away on stage. Must have some guts or lack thereof. Either way, he's someone to keep an eye on.
The rest of the Districts seem to run together, I guess I, like the gamemakers, get bored after a certain amount of time watching tributes train. Time to make a move towards my first goal.
I stalk over to the sword station where the Girl from Three lurks. She gives me a look of suspicion when I arrive and grab one of the long shiny blades.
"You like swords?" I ask her.
"Well, I'm here aren't I?" She replies, moving her faces as little as possible. She's got a rather stony expression, the same one I observed before.
I shrug, "I'm here and I don't like swords,"
"Maybe you should leave then,"
"Maybe you should learn how to make friends," I counter.
"Why does everyone keep telling me to make friends!?" She drops the sword in her hand it clatters on the metal floor. "I'm going into a fight to the death and suddenly it becomes important to find a best buddy?" She starts to imitate a voice, talking high-pitched, " 'Hey, do you want to bond while we kill people?' 'Yeah, I love killing people in my free-time' !'"
I feel my eyes widen, "Wow, what a speech… I just came over here to see if I could find an ally…" I mumble.
"An ally?" She asks, obviously confused.
"Yeah, you look like you wouldn't make such a bad ally," I shrug.
"Really?" Her voice lifts for a moment before she quickly wips her expressions clean, "Sure… I'll be your ally. I'm Valentina."
"Shade… and I need you to do one thing for me-"
"What? You're asking for favors already?"
"I need to know I can trust you," I tell her.
"Fine, but how do I figure if I can trust you?" She snarls.
"That's for you to find out," I grin. "But, see that boy over there?" I point to the Boy from Eight. When Valentina nods I continue, "I want him in our alliance too,"
Valentina stares back at me in awe, "The weakling? In my alliance?" I give her a look of steel and she cowers. "Fine,"
I watch Valentina march away.
Daphne 'Magenta' Cornwall The Double
The training center buzzes with activity. I don't really know where to go- how do I fit into this? I'm just a girl from District Nine who has issues. I'm not a tribute. I'm a fighter. But not a tribute. Accepting that I'm a tribute would I mean I accept being controlled and forced into my imminent death. Instead, I know that I'm a fighter. Someone who won't give up easy.
"Daphne?" A boy's voice asks from behind me. I whip around to the Boy from Three.
"Actually, it's Magenta," I correct him.
The boy nods slowly, squinting his eyes at me. "I could've sworn your name was Daphne… anyways, I'm Nikolai. I was wondering if you'd be my ally?"
I look at Nikolai suspiciously. "You just waltz up to me without knowing anything about me and want to be allies?"
"Well, I'm allies with Atticus over there. He says that we can trust you, he says had a conversation with you yesterday,"
"Did I say anything… interesting?" I ask.
"Yeah, Atticus said you were a good kisser," Nikolai cackles.
"What!?" I nearly scream.
Nikolai continues to laugh, placing a hand over his stomach, "I'm only kidding! You thought I was serious!"
I put a hand over my face. "I mean, did he say anything about an illness?"
"Nope!"
Daphne! Ugh… she must not have told him she had a personality disorder. Probably thought it'd frighten Atticus, thought I should be the one to tell him… bitch.
"Oh, of course…
The room goes quite. That's the only hint at what is to come is the eerie silence. Only the clink of clashing metal fills my ears.
That is, until a sharp scream shakes the training center. It's the Girl from Seven. Her pale hands wrap around her freckled face, caramel blonde hair falling in front. I immediately think something's wrong with her. But a girl with chocolate skin clutches her arm. Both look directly in front of them at a small boy lying on the floor.
I can barely see the front of his shirt, drenched in crimson. Blood waterfalls from somewhere in his chest.
He's been stabbed, I tell myself. But it doesn't seem real. I feel like there's an invisible wall shielding my emotions.
The Girl from Three falls to her knees. She shouts a name but I'm too lost to make it out.
"WHO DID THIS?" The head trainer yells. Her once kind face is now tough and cold. When no one answers she asks again, "WHO-?" but stops- because she sees the knife grasped in the bleeding boy's own hand, laced with blood.
Why did he do this to himself?
The Girl from Three runs to the boy's body. She isn't crying, but her face is twisted with sadness. She shakes his body, but it's obvious- he isn't going to wake up.
This time I hear the boy's name. "Thorn!"
The Boy from Eight.
The boy who ran off the stage.
The boy who cracked.
Barkson Trine The Noble
Thorn Cotton's body is hauled off by a couple of trainers, although it should have only taken one since the boy was so small.
I don't know what to say, or what to tell you. I'm not ready for this. Caught off guard, I suppose. Death is meant to wait for the arena, but now it seems it has snuck up on us. I look at the faces in front of me.
The Careers, huddled in a group, look casual. So much as it irritates me. A boy just died. And only Dessiah wears a frown. Caspias looks anxious, maybe even scared, like he doesn't know what to feel. Katrina smirks.
The two girls who saw Thorn's body first- Robin and Ayla- hold hands. Ayla wipes a tear from her eyes and suddenly I have a newfound appreciation for my District partner.
My alliance, crowded around me, is a mixture of emotions. Four is disturbed, Will shocked, and Keegan sad- at least that's what I can tell from their faces. I wonder what they think I'm feeling. I honestly don't know myself.
Bobbin, Thorn's District partner, is in tears. Her face is stony and she doesn't make a sound, but tears roll down her face. No one stands beside her to comfort her.
Valentina, who I now figure was Thorn's ally, stands beside her other ally Shawn… er, Shade. Neither cry. By now all sadness is wiped off of Valentina's face. Shade stares at where Thorn's body was and doesn't lift his gaze.
A different trainer comes up to the scattered tributes. He tells us we need to go back to our rooms.
Once inside the materialistic room for District Seven tributes, Ayla and I sit on the white wrap-around couch in front of the television. We told our mentor and escort what happened in the training center.
"Why did he do it?" I ask Ayla.
"The pressure was too much. He couldn't take it," she replies. There's irritation in her voice like it's obvious why Thorn killed himself. Maybe it is.
"Oh. Yeah, right. I saw you and Robin. Are you allies?"
"Yes, I found her on the first day of training. She seemed normal enough," Ayla pauses, "Who are your allies? I saw you with a group of people…"
"I have three- Four, Will, and Keegan," I inform her.
After an awkward minute of silence Ayla stands up, "I'm sorry Barkson. I don't mean to be rude, but that took a lot out of me," she brushes invisible dust off her pant legs. "I'm going to bed,"
"It's fine. Want me to wake you for dinner?" I ask. Ayla nods and thanks me before heading towards her room.
After she's gone my eyes feel heavy, like invisible weights are pushing them down. Before I know it, I fall asleep on the couch.
Amacus (Head Gamemaker)
The President storms into my wooden office. His face is red and crueler than usual.
"Mr. President?" I feel my eyes widen as he marches towards me.
"The Boy from Eight- Thorn Cotton- he's just killed himself in the Training Center!" My jaw drops.
"How?!"
"Nevermind how! What matters is a tribute is dead before the arena! Do you even know what this means? Do you know the impact this could have?"
When he stops talking I gasp, "Of-of course sir! This is a catastrophe!"
"Damn right it is! How are you going to fix this?" It takes me a moment to realize he means me. How am I going to fix it?
I don't know why I say it, but I tell him, "I have a son. He's Thorn's age, same size. We could pass him as Thorn on the interview because the tributes wear so much makeup,"
"You're married?" The President asks in surprise. My face reddens. "Not a bad idea though, Amacus. But what will we do for the arena or the private sessions? I don't want an innocent Capital boy in the arena any more than you want your son in there,"
I think for a minute. "For the private sessions we can give Thorn a score, pretend that he's alive. And in the arena we'll send Thorn's body up in a tube and naturally it'll fall over before the time is up and he'll explode. No one will ever have to know,"
The President nods, seeming to think through my idea. "What about the tributes? Surely they've told their mentors and escorts. What if anyone leaked our news?"
I'm surprised at myself for having an answer already, "They won't tell. Not the mentors or the escorts. Plus, who'd believe them? We'd shut them up before they news got the Districts,"
"Brilliant, Amacus," The President says. A wobbly smile appears on my face. Maybe I'm not so bad at this! He gets up to leave, but stops with his only his head in peeking through my office. "And stop drumming your fingers! A Head Gamemaker is supposed to be confident- not a fidgeting wreck!"
There it goes; there goes my pride.
…
Trying not to lose my head
but I have never been this scared before
Tell you what I'll do instead
lay my body down on the floor
To forget what I've done
silhouette til the good lord come
24- Thorn Cotton, District Eight- The Optimistic
Thorn's song is Where the Story Ends by the Fray.
(Each tribute gets their own song that I think suits them best. I suggest people to listen to the song, especially the submitter. This song represents Thorn's reasoning and it shows his beauty).
…
Here's a hug from one fandom to another- Even though I don't watch Glee, I'm shocked and saddened by Cory's death. I don't know what I'd do if one of my idols died so suddenly… And poor Lea.
Sorry I'm bad at updating… I suck… I know…I'm tired of the Capital (specifically training). SORRY IT'S SHORT! It was this or nothin' for another two weeks. So yeah, I thought you'd all want this…
Bye Thorn. Please don't tell me I shouldn't have killed him, okay? I know, I know, but I needed something to make the plot more interesting. We saw some of Valentina's soft side, eh? Take it all in now because I don't think there'll be much more of that… I'll try to explain some of her strong emotions later, k?
And now, on a happier note, I present to you the WINNERS OF THE PROMPT CONTEST!-
4th Place, with 5 sponsor points to their tribute goes to… IndiatheCandor - Lero
3rd Place, with 10 sponsor points to their tribute goes to… Hungergameslover04- Bobbin
TIED FOR 1st Place (I know, what a Hallmark moment.. sorry, I'm not good at making decisions so there's a tie for first) with 20 sponsor points to their tribute goes to… Nrrrd-Grrrl-Meg- Metric
1st Place, with 20 sponsor points to their tribute goes to…. TheOtherLachance- Valentina and Nikolai (Tell me how you wish to split you points between your tributes)
PLEASE READ THIS- If you entered, and didn't win any points- I'm sorry. There were 12 entries. And at first I thought I'd get two, maybe three. I didn't even dream of getting five. So thank you all for submitting, your effort has been noted and I really really loved every story entered! You can check out all the entries on my favorites list (except danceforevergirl's who PMed me) or search for stories with Ruetheday in the summary. Somethin' like that :). Thanks again!
QUESTION (not for points)- Have any of you watched 'The Vampire Diaries' cos I started watching them. And I read 'The Lightning Thief' for the first time. And now I'm reading the second PJO book, 'Sea of Monsters'. Anyone read those? (if you give me any spoilers I swear *threat* )
PEACE OUT.
Sophie.