The next morning, upon waking, River was shocked to see Haymitch. After all, why the hell would he be in her room? Still, once she left the separated section where her bed lay and went into the larger, sort of living room, there he was. Even at that time, he was sitting cradling a glass of amber liquid.

"Haymitch?" She grumbled sleepily, wiping the gunk from her eyes.

He didn't turn to look at her, but she could tell from his sigh that he'd heard her. What the hell was he doing? "You didn't come home last night. Scared your mother and I stiff. I sure hope you weren't out with some boy." It was true, River had stayed on the roof longer than intended last night and, instead of socialising, had simply gone to bed when she'd realised the time.

"Why are you in my room?" She growled, narrowing her eyes at the side of his head. "What damn time is it?" Somehow, she knew it wasn't already time for breakfast.

Instead of replying, he spared a single glance her way before standing with a grunt and making for the door. "Follow me." He grunted, giving her no time to ask anything else before he was gone.

"Haymitch!" She barked after him, sleepily rounding the corner and following him out of her room, leaving the door wide open.

Upon leaving her room she could see that, while it was light out, it sure as hell wasn't a sociable hour of the morning. It could have been what, five or six? They didn't usually wake until almost eight. Still, she followed Haymitch as he left a trail of his stench behind him, scurrying behind him like a lost child as he, to her surprise, lead to the communal living room. Ordinarily, that wouldn't have shocked her, but seeing Rook and Billie with their mentors in there?

"What the hell is this?" She growled, feeling a chill practically touch her very bones.

The door shut behind her almost as soon as they entered to reveal none other than Effie behind it, looking nothing but thrilled. She grabbed River's shoulder almost affectionately before rounding her and leaving the room with who River presumed was One's escort.

So. Rook and Billie. Were they there to apologise or to kill her?

To River's surprise though, Gloss, a victor from a couple of years ago, came over with a seemingly warm smile and an outstretched palm, followed, as always, by his sister, Cashmere. They'd won one year after the other, shocking the world and wowing the Capitol.

River, still scared, but somehow less so, awkwardly took the outstretched hand and shook it. "River. It's lovely to meet you." Gloss's voice was smooth and deep, almost scarily perfect. His handshake was warm and greeting, just confusing her further. "I assume Haymitch has filled you in after our chat last night?" Chat? Last night?

Glancing at Haymitch, River could already see that he was choosing some new alcohol from the tables around him. She wanted to smack them all from his hands and demand that he told her what the hell was happening, but instead she simply looked back to Gloss and shook her head. "I'm afraid not." She replied. "It must have slipped his mind." She added, cautiously eyeing Rook and Billie who were, to give them their due, waiting patiently and quietly behind their mentors. "Is this about how she almost choked me out in training?" She then boldly asked, locking eyes with Billie just long enough to see a small smirk.

Gloss looked anything but impressed. "No." He said curtly, keeping a now-false smile up. "I assure you though, River, I'll talk to her about that." River knew when someone was trying to charm her, she wasn't stupid, but she wanted to know what was going on. "We would like you as an ally. From what Billie and Rook have both told me, you're quite the little survivor."

There it was again. That word. Survivor.

River saw Haymitch's head perk up a little at that in the corner of her eye, possibly at the news of a choking, but she ignored it. Her? Allies? "I'm sorry?" She was confused to say the least. "Ally?" She then repeated back to Gloss, desperately searching his eyes for some look of deciept, some evidence that this was some strange joke that she didn't quite understand, but she found none.

Keeping her gaze, Gloss nodded his perfect head. "So, what skill do you plan to show the Gamemakers? If we're going to be allies, we need to have a united front, so you'll train together today. We need for you to score at least a six or a seven, so what talents do you have?" It was funny, she decided, that he didn't even think to ask whether she wanted them as allies. He had clearly assumed that a girl from Twelve wouldn't dare turn careers down.

Shocking River, she and Haymitch barked out a laugh at the same time. "Talent?" She repeated incredulously. "I'm from Twelve. I don't have a talent." She scoffed. "Look, I appreciate this whole thing, but really, I'm just a kid from the Seam, I'm not special-"

"She's a survivor." Haymitch piped in, suddenly beside her and seemingly stepping up. "Kid kicks ass with an axe. Sells wood all around Twelve, spends all day chopping and dragging, so she's strong." Wait, was he actually helping?

For the next half an hour or even a whole hour, River sat on the couch beside Billie and Rook, the three of them watching as Haymitch and the other two talked. River listened as it was agreed between them that she would ally with One and the other careers at the beginning of the games. Apparently that would mean her safety was all but ensured as long as she got to the cornucopia, but damn, she didn't know if she'd get that far.

It wasn't until the kids and Victors from One left and Haymitch told her to go and get ready that it really dawned on her what the hell was happening.

Sure, she knew this whole time that she was going into the Games, but holy shit, she was going to die!

All the same, she went and got dressed for the day, forgoing a shower. Showers were easily her favourite thing about the Capitol, but she wasn't in the right headspace. Instead, she simply threw on her clean training uniform, had breakfast with the others, then accompanied Carter to the elevator.

She actually felt a little guilty as they got in together. She wanted to tell him, to open up about the alliance, to ask him if he was okay after his run in with Rook yesterday. Anything. Alas, when the doors opened again, welcoming the tributes in from Eleven, she shut her mouth. Breakfast had been so quiet, even Effie had stopped blabbering about them needing to be ready for their skills tests after a minute or two.

It wasn't, however, until they were at the bottom and expected to get out that River snapped herself from her thoughts.

Just as they were walking through the doors, Carter spun on her, shocking her with the intense look on his face. His usually vibrant blue eyes were dulled now, looking dark and full of fear and humiliation. "Where to? Can you help me catch up on whatever I missed from yesterday?" And there it was, because she couldn't.

The guilt gripped at her immediately, settling in her stomach in a dense ball. "Carter, I have to tell you s-"

"Twelve!" Rook's voice, as always, carried.

They both spun to face him, but River knew the shout was for her.

There, a few feet away, Rook and Billie stood with the kids from Two, one from Four and one from Three. They were waiting for her.

"River?" Carter's voice was small, full of betrayal.

She looked at him for a second with soft eyes. "I'm sorry. It's survival." Was all she said before she turned away from him, toward them, and jogged over to the others. "Hey." She greeted, glancing at the others, nodding at Billie and knocking fists with Rook when he held his out.

Part of her felt absolutely terrible, leaving Carter back there, but she quieted that part. Kids from Twelve never got in with the career pack, so whatever this was, she needed to milk it for all it was worth. She needed to go home, so dammit, she needed to forget about Carter. She needed to remember that this was a survival situation and that he was the cost of her survival. They couldn't both make it and she sure as hell wasn't going to die for him. No, she needed to get back to Skylar. She needed to feel their skin plastered together once more in an embrace.

She needed to become a killer.

Rook and Billie chatted for a second, so River took the time to glance around the room. She saw Carter, defeated, as he slunk over to a station for sewing. She silently cursed him. He needed to know other things much more than he needed that. "Twelve." Billie's voice, right beside her, took River from her thoughts.

When she turned, she saw that they were standing close together. "One." She greeted, still a little uneasy around her after yesterday. In the meeting with the others, she had explained that she wanted to test River's speed and strength and that, for someone who was untrained, she was impressed. "So, where to?"

Smirking, Billie nodded her head toward the weapon station. "Let me see that axe throw." She replied.

River was immediately nervous. "I haven't ever thrown an axe." Okay, so that was a lie. She had thrown axes, but not in anything more than a little fun. She'd thrown both her hatchet and her larger log splitter, and she'd done well enough, but she hadn't ever aimed at anything but a tree.

Chuckling, Billie shook her head. "Liar." She decided quickly, passing River and leading her over to the weapons. "We need you mostly for just protecting whatever camp we set up, staying up so we can sleep, sharpening weapons, gathering food, water, things like that. You still need to survive that long." River knew that everyone was using everyone for something in the games, but it still stung a little, hearing so plainly that she was just a means to an end.

Still, she nodded when they reached the giant rack full of weapons. They had everything from swords and daggers to slingshots and bows. They even had batons like the ones the Peacekeepers used. There though, right in the middle, there was what looked to be a solid steel axe. She reached out for it, shocked though to find that it most definitely wasn't steel. It was the most beautifully, well balanced piece of equipment that she'd ever laid her hands on. She had no idea what it was made of, but frankly, it was stunning.

She spun it in her hand a could of times, feeling the grip, adjusting to it. It was a far cry from the old axe with a splintering wooden handle that she was used to.

Strange as it sounded, she immediately remembered that her own axe needed either a new handle or, at the very least, some new leather for wrapping. Would that ever get done now?

Getting used to the weight, she flicked it into the air a couple of times, catching it by the handle with ease. It was weighted so well that it practically glided back into her hand. Almost like it was seeking her out, wanting to find the comfort of her grip as soon as it had left her.

She wondered, could she fall in love with an axe?

The only thing that she would have changed would have been the grip. She had a feeling that a nice piece of leather would have really tied the whole experience together.

Remembering what she was doing, she glanced back up at Billie who was standing and watching somewhat expectantly. She then nodded over to where other weapons were being taken to dummies. Ah.

Axe in hand, River went over to where an instructor was patiently waiting. She listened as he talked, watching as he showed her how to hold both the axe and herself. She followed his movements perfectly, listening and absorbing what he said about her posture. All too soon though, it was her turn to throw.

She tried to drown it all out. The noises of the other tributes around her. The intensely bright lights, dancing shadows flitting across the walls and the floor. The grunts of effort, the signs of frustration. All of it. After deep breath in, knowing that she was as ready as she would ever be, she squared herself off against her target, spinning the axe handle in her hands a couple of times. This was it. It was now or never.

Readied, eyes narrowed, she threw.

As the axe flew through the air, she almost couldn't look. She half wanted to close her eyes and pretend that none of it was happening.

Then, as the axe's blade tore straight through the head of the dummy, throwing the entire thing off its stand, her mouth all but fell open. She tried not to look too shocked, but she practically heard the tributes around her stop what they were doing and glance over at the noise. Had it been a lucky shot, or was the kid from twelve actually a threat?

Holy shit.

Blood pumping, adrenaline rushing through her, when Billie all but jumped on her, clapping her shoulder with a surprised shout, River didn't pull away. Instead, she chuckled and gently punched the other girl's gut in some show of almost affection. Were they cool now?

Either way, River had a few more throws of the axe, by the end of which she was pleasantly surprised to know that she actually truly was a very good shot. She even hit a couple of the moving targets, but sadly not all of them. Still, she was happy with that much. Anything at all that meant she had a better chance in the games was a win as far as she was concerned.

Over the rest of the morning, River felt as though she and Billie actually may have bonded a little. Of course, she still knew that she was a dangerous enemy, but she also decided that she would be a useful ally. In another life, in another world, they could have been friends. Preferably without the choking.

Knowing that they were in for a shorter day in order to allow for their individual time with the Gamemakers, River ensured that she actually learned something from Billie in the time leading up to lunch. It was, after all, their final training day. Billie seemed to take great pleasure in hand to hand combat and River needed to learn, so that was how they spent the rest of their time. It wasn't until River managed to hit her quite sharply in the side of the head though that she saw the other girl's smirk slip for the first time. Perhaps she had learned something after all.

Though she knew a single session with Billie wouldn't save her in the arena, she prayed that it could help. That possibly some instinct would kick in and spur on her new knowledge.

Either way, once lunch rolled around they joined back up with Rook and the others, sitting and eating together. Billie and Rook, it seemed, didn't shut off though. Instead, as they all sat at the same table, they began talking about what they'd noticed. They shared notes on the other tributes, talking about pros and cons of each of them. It seemed, at least to River, that they weren't expecting much trouble from any of the others. There weren't too many older kids, mostly just the younger teens. River made sure to listen well while they talked.

One thing she did notice though when lunch was over was that Carter had been sitting alone, just pushing his food around his plate. She tried not to feel sorry for him, but she missed his classic Carter Grin.

When they were released from lunch, it was back into the elevator with them all. River, to her own surprise, got pulled in by an arm around her shoulders. Rook's arm. She tried to look comfortable as he began complimenting what he'd seen of her axe throwing, but to be quite frank, she was glad when he and Billie had to leave at their floor.

Eventually, ten floors later, it was just her and Carter.

They stood at opposite ends of the elevator. Carter's eyes trained down on the floor, staring off into the nothingness, while River's were on his face. Against her better judgement, she was worried about him. If he'd looked like that back home, she'd have checked on him, but now? Well, they both knew the score. "You figured out what you'll do for the Gamemakers?" She asked, feeling her voice shatter the silence in the air around them.

He looked up, tired, and shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Didn't you hear Haymitch? We're dying in what, two days?" It was uncharacteristically low for him, but she knew why.

He'd clearly thought that, if nothing else, they had one another to take comfort in. Only, she'd taken a huge dump on that idea when she'd teamed up with the people he'd made an enemy of.

Neither of them spoke again the rest of the ride up. They didn't have long to prepare for their solo time, so River made no effort to say or do anything when the doors opened, simply heading to her room for a shower.

Sadly, her shower was neither relaxing nor refreshing. Instead, she turned the heat way down until it was almost unbearable, standing under the spray and screaming into the head, releasing what little tension from her body that she could. Without time for more though, she readied herself immediately after that and left her room for the communal living room. In there, she found Haymitch and Effie. Haymitch looked... almost human?

Carter arrived a few minutes later, sitting on one end of one of the large couches. River took the other.

Effie reminded them both to annunciate properly, to stand up straight, to smile. Anything at all to help them to stand out. River listened intently, but Carter? He didn't seem to even know where he was, let alone anything else.

All the same, they rode the elevator down together, seeing the nerves on the faces of all of the other tributes. Eventually, they were all shuffled into a room beside the training room. River realised how unobservant she was as she hadn't ever even seen the door, much less realised that there was a room in there large enough for them to all sit somewhat comfortably.

They were all sat beside the other person from their home district, so River sat awkwardly beside Carter. She knew that each of the other kids must have been going through a similar thing, feeling a stab of betrayal, or finally truly realising that they couldn't be friends, but dammit she didn't give a damn what they were feeling, nor did she care that it wasn't just her, she just wanted to go home.

She wanted, in that moment, to go home and to cuddle up with Skylar. She wanted to feel her hands in her hair, to feel their lips together, to feel the rumbling in her chest when they laughed to the point of crying together. She wanted just one final kiss. Alas, there she sat, patiently waiting as each of the others exited the room before her and Carter.

"You know," She said into the air. "I think Haymitch is a fucking idiot."

Carter didn't say anything, nor did he look up, but River knew he had to be listening. Unlucky for him, he didn't have a choice.

"The guy won almost two decades ago and now he's just the town drunk. Fuck him. He doesn't decide when we die, Carter." As soon as she was done speaking, the doors flew open and Carter was being beckoned through.

Without a word, he went. It was sad, she decided, how much he had already changed. She wondered what else the Games would change about the sweet boy who seemed now so hollow.

Alone, she sat and waited in the room, just letting the time pass her by. She couldn't hear anything through the doors, so she had no idea at all what Carter was doing, but he took as long as the rest of the other tributes. She figured though that even if he'd not used all of his time, they'd probably still have kept her waiting, whether in some strange display that was meant to show that it was all done fairly or to keep her from guessing what skills he'd shown.

Eventually, after all of that waiting, the doors shot open once again, this time with a trainer looking directly at her, waiting for her. She stood quickly so as to not keep him waiting any longer, hustling quickly through the doors.

The doors lead directly into the training room, though everything inside had been moved. Along one wall, all of the survival stations were lined up, from fire making all the way to water purification, though there were clearly no trainers there anymore. From there, the weapons racks and weight racks were in the middle of the room with dummies along the next long wall, leaving spaces around the room for each tribute to display their abilities. Opposite all of it, a balcony protruded. That definitely hadn't been there that morning, but in that moment, when River saw it, she saw that it was full of people. Gamemakers.

Up there, they seemed to be having a blast. Clearly it had been a long day for them, because they weren't even looking at her. Not a single one of them was glancing at her. No, instead they were all chatting amongst themselves, pouring drinks and sharing food, acting as though this was simply any other evening for them. Inside, River seethed. They were about to play a huge role in the moments that would possibly lead to her death, yet they couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge that she was in the room?

Part of her didn't care about getting a decent score. After all, she knew that all it was for was catching the eye of sponsors early on, but surely her actions would do that? Sure, it couldn't hurt to have sponsors locked in before she'd even stepped off the podium, but she didn't want to have to think about all that. She didn't want to have to think about smiling for cameras or getting a good freaking score just to possibly secure one final bread roll before someone ran her through with a sword or tried to drown her. Alas.

Clearing her throat, she stepped closer. "River Nivalis." She spoke as loudly and as clearly as she dared, seeing a few heads turn to glance at her, though most stayed looking at their food and drinks. "District Twelve." She tried not to let their utter lack of interest get to her, but how could she not? It was difficult enough to go through all of this, but it was harder again to do it while the very people who were meant to be helping were just sitting on their asses as if she wasn't in the room.

It was odd. For all of the time that she'd put into learning about survival and its varying forms, she suddenly felt as though she'd got a hunk of bread for a brain, not fit for thought. She had no idea what to do in order to earn any kind of favour, nor did she know what on earth would impress these people. They did this every year, saw these things ever year, she was nothing to them but a number.

No.

Enough of that.

With a deep breath, she shook those thoughts from her head. They wouldn't help her, not right now. She had to help herself. She had to, no matter how scared she was, prove to the entire damn world that she wasn't about to be pushed into the dirt just to die without so much as a fight. She had to prove to the world, the entire world, that District Twelve had some fight left in it.

"River Nivalis! District Twelve!" She boomed, this time glaring forcefully up at the balcony, watching as each and every face up there turned to face her. It took some of them a second or two, clearly shocked at the outburst, but they turned. They gave her the attention she demanded.

Now all she had to do was put on a show.

Please feel free to give me any thoughts, feelings or feedback etc, I'm always open to all of the above! Further than that, thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate it. Have a great day!