Foxx's A/N: Good evening sweetypies! Although it's actually 3AM, which I'm not sure is classified as night time or super early morning. And there is no sun in the sky. Not that I'd check, it's bloody freezing outside, it being winter in Aus and all. On another note, enjoy this chapter! Finally Derryl and Maia get to have some proper interaction :3

Subject's A/N: Good morning sunshine! Although it isn't morning, and the sun is covered by clouds. It's more like 1:10 PM. No, mean old Foxx still won't let us have anything good in this chapter. This is still the same day as the last 6 chapters!

SneverusSnaper's A/N: Yes! You have heard me mentioned about a million times no doubt, but now I'm here! Out of the three of us I am probably the one with the most writing experience, having written a full proper length story. However I am probably the only one out of he three of us, as Subject Matter kindly pointed out, that cannot spell 'experience'. Maybe discarding Foxx, who cannot spell yogurt pot. (which I just misspelled). I am in with them though, a few hours after being asked and about six chapters later. I mean - how quickly have they written? I will have to get around to the reading the earlier chapters soon. Ah well, it can't be helped that I'm a lazy sod. Basically I'll be on and off this. I am a backup for Foxx and Subject, I've a lot of other things to do as well. But I will be here, just maybe not as much as the other two.

~SFSFSF~

Chapter 7 - Training Day 1: The Girl from Seven, Derryl's POV

"WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD!" The yell sounded oddly distorted, it was only Beven trying to piss me off, as usual. I flung the blankets off me, stormed up to the door, flipped it open, gave Beven the middle man, then slammed the door in his face. Well, this is fun.

"Does poor Derryl need his beauty sleep? Well you ain't beautiful, and you can't sleep, today's the first day of training." Bevan bellowed, his fist slamming into the mahogany door. Despite my neglect to obey his orders, he continued yelling through the door, "In training, join up with the careers, show them you're in charge and that you won't take any of their crap." When I still didn't reply, he screeched, "Great, just great! If you want to die in three days, then that's fine with me!" He kicked the door a final time, and it rattled in it's frame. He didn't realize that I was brushing my teeth, but it's his fault if the door hurt his foot. I chuckled softly to myself.

I threw on the clothes I was wearing before my outfit for the opening ceremony - it wasn't that wrinkled. When I stepped out the door, two servants rushed to my side and all but pushed me to the dining area. Once again, I was late to breakfast, although that didn't bother me. When I was pushed into my seat, I looked across to Sasha, who was giving me an ugly look.

"What are you looking at?" I asked through the delectable blueberry muffin in my mouth.

"Nuffin'." Sasha said through her mouth full of food, which drew a laugh from everyone at the table, even Beven, which caused everyone else to go silent, including me. It was a surprise to see Beven in such a good mood, especially after what was said between us that morning.

While we were still gaping at Beven, Rosalina interrupted the silence.

"Oh my goodness! You're late!" her soft voice broke us all from our stupors, and we rushed to get downstairs to the training area.

I never knew that the number 'four' could look so desirable when pinned to my back and my front, yet it didn't. I guess after the whole seaweed escapade everyone seemed to expect everything and for me to be as groovy as a hunky funky chunky monkey. No pie. Seriously now though, after last night's chariot rides everyone seemed to be looking at me differently, especially the guys. The girls had some weird look I had never seen before and the guys had a look on their faces which is a lot more common around me - hatred. But also I saw a glint in their eyes, the same glint my wicked-mother gave my father when she first saw him. Jealousy.

I tried to shrug it off and swagger the best I could towards the training equipment. It seemed I got here quite late since the only tribute to join after me is the girl from seven, a sour expression pasted onto her face. I wonder what's bitten her, she probably got up on the wrong side of the bed. That or the fact that she's in the hunger games, I find myself saying to myself in my mind. I'm snapped out of it almost immediately by myself realising that I'm approaching the rock climbing section. However much I hate Beven I have to seem like contender, and by doing that one of the worst things I could do is rock climbing. I let a gentle hiss escape my lips and turned to the left of me, trying not to seem like a total idiot. Unfortunately the space to the left of me, the bows and arrows station, is already occupied. I tried to smile in a half hearted way at the girl from two who shot and arrow straight at the target, just reaching the rim of the bulls-eye. This is it. This is when I prove myself. This is when I... drop the bow and all of my arrows, scattering across the floor

The training instructor is nowhere in sight so instead the girl rolled her eyes and stomped towards me. After a slight pause she held out her hand.

"Belladonna, my friends call me Bella."

"Bella then." I nodded.

"No, you're to call me Belladonna."

"So I'm not a friend?" I asked, in light of the awkward pause that followed.

"No, and if you're not a friend that makes you an enemy here so stay out of my way."

"Okay..." I murmured and slowly staggered away from her, trying not to look particularly dazed as I left.

"One more thing. If I find you within a mile radius of me in the arena-"

"What shape of mile radius?" I cut in.

"Does it really matter?" She hissed.

"Yup." I insisted.

"Elliptical then," she hisses.

"But round objects make me look fat!" I grinned at her while she just glared.

"Listen kiddo, I don't know your game and I honestly couldn't care less-"

"But why wouldn't you care about me? I'm adorable!" I interrupted her, enjoying the simmering anger flashing in her eyes.

"Right, that is it! I have had enough with you, you punk!" Belladonna yelled angrily and whipped the bow, primed with an arrow right at me and let it spring forward into my direction. I yelled a yell of absolute craziness and I hit the deck, the deadly weapon whizzing just above my chest, myself able to feel the air being sliced above me as I dived out of the way. Suddenly the peacekeepers which I didn't even know were present at the time, were onto her in a second, and she was quickly hidden underneath a flurry of batons and screams of anger to keep order. It finished as hastily as it started, and Belladonna was dragged screaming out of the room in a few mere seconds, barely enough for the other tributes to understand what had gone on.

"See you in the Games, Bella. I hope you enjoy your elliptical of safety." I muttered under my breath, and, before I knew it, Maia from seven was examining the place the arrow had embedded itself into the wall.

"A few milliseconds late, and you'd have been between this arrow and its friend here." Maia murmured in a sort of snide way. I glared at her while she was rapping the wall with her knuckles impatiently. When she saw my eyes boring into hers she hurriedly scampered back to the knife throwing stalls and picked up a knife. As I watched her carelessly flick it round her hand with great ease as if it showed her no trouble at all. I thought back to it, I was an inch from death and I wasn't even worried. Well, now I think about it, I'm a bit more worried now, despite the fact that Belladonna's gone. What was I thinking, winding her up like that? Though I suppose there were some funny moments in there, I think back. "But round objects make me look fat..." seriously, sly tactic? Nil.

I'm surprised I wasn't punished right along with her actually, now that I think about it. I provoked her. First Beven, then Belladonna, seems I have a habit of provoking people and winding them up. But you've got to admit, I think with a smirk, it is quite fun. I pause, looking around the room. The tributes were scattered sparsely throughout the stations, keeping to themselves. The only social interaction going on was between the careers.

The boy from ten was making an average job with the camouflage, but there was an obvious strain on his face as he looked towards the weaponry stations. He was someone to watch out for. After a moment of pondering, I decided to go to the edible plants station. I hesitated after a few steps for I noticed Maia was already at home in the station. Shrugging off any arriving thoughts on the girl, I made my way over there.

I walked through the archway that divided the station from all the others, and for the first time noticed the series of parallel scars running vertically down Maia's back, made faintly clear by her tank top. She was hard at work with the instructor - a short, stubby man with a barely bald head - studying the array of plants on display, too preoccupied to notice my presence.

"Hi," I started, not sure of what to do.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be, Career-boy?" she spat back suddenly, not even glancing my way.

"I- I- I'm only here to learn some plants," I said, stuttering on my words. "You can stick to your own business and I'll stick to mine." I headed over to the opposite end of the station, now determined to purely annoy her by standing there.

Maia paused, looking up at me from the plants before her. "Look, Derryl," she said, over-enunciating my name, "by the end of this week, only one of us will be alive. So I sure as hell aren't looking to get buddy-buddy with some new friends."

I laughed, a hollow, dry laugh that sounded nothing like myself, "And you were getting the impression that I was looking to getting buddy-buddy? Don't kid yourself."

Why am I provoking everyone today?

Making a face, she stuck her tongue out at me oh-so immaturely. It fell quiet and the instructor sent me a pointed look, obviously annoyed at my interrupting of his station. Irritated by the turn of events, I subtly left the edible plants area. For the rest of training that day, I made an obvious point as to avoid Maia.

I just couldn't get my mind off her.

SneverusSnapers' A/N: So yes, that's me, SneverusSnapers. The creator and accidental deleter of a front-page-when-searched-forum, the author of a Hunger Games fiction which is fifty chapters long, not mention the sequel and the prequel. Yeah, I may have accidentely deleted this chapter a couple of times too. Luckily Subject Matter has a back-up, or had before I accidentally deleted that too. ;D I'll call myself an array of names from now on, Snev mainly.

Foxx Likes Pumpkin's A/N: As yous can see, Snev has now joined our gang in co-writing this story. Don't forget to give her some of the credit. Now press that awesome review button below! :P

Subject's A/N: Snev has definitely started out with a bang. Almost the entire chapter was made by her. I didn't have much influence, as I'm still dying from a very unhappy nose. Hit the review button... NOW.