A/N I am so sorry for not updating sooner! Omicron has been at camp for the last week leaving me at home waiting for him to get back so he can edit! I promise the next chapter will be out in the next three days! If it's not out by Wednesday message me!
~Zanther Raye~
On this day one year ago my brother was put in the arena because of a murder that happened in the training centre. Last year on this day my brother made his first kill. A year ago today is when my brother's sanity slowly melted away. His death shook me, I wanted him home so bad, but that all changed when they killed him. I can't hold it against the tributes from their districts though, they weren't his murderers. But just because they didn't kill him, doesn't mean I can't redeem him through my actions.
Kyla and I step out of the elevator to be greeted by Talise and Seathe, the girls from One and Two.
"Zanther, Kyla, nice to see you guys today." Talise says while Seathe gives us a little smile.
"Well it's not so nice seeing that Vorth, Anila, and Terri were sent into the arena on this day last year." I mutter. Talise and Seathe exchange little glances.
"Just put it behind you Zanther, it's a new year, a new games." Seathe says with a smug look on her face. I shrug and walk to the other careers. Lake and Ronan are in a deep conversation about Districts Zero and Four being our main targets, the group from the Capitol are so quiet I don't even notice they are with us until the girls follow me to the knives station.
"So Zanther, what are you going to do today?" Triella, the younger Capitol girl, asks me. I shrug my shoulders.
"I asked for a weapon they didn't have yesterday so I hope they have it today," I say before turning to the closest training instructor. "Excuse me, I asked for a weapon called a sickle yesterday, do you know if any came in?" I ask. The man looks at me funny before turning away and walking to the storage room in the back. Good, he's going to look for it. I look over to where Triella and Sahara are throwing knives and I notice that they are both pretty good at it. I sweep the rest of the training centre looking for my other allies. Trent and Lane from the Capitol are learning knots and stuff so they can set traps, Seathe and Lake from Two and Ronan from One are by the new swimming pool learning the basics of swimming. Kyla, my District partner, is at the archery station shooting arrow after arrow at the targets. Talise stands at the sword station swinging her weapon around her like it's a stick.
"E'hem?" I hear a coarse voice grunt. I turn back to the station to see the training instructor holding out my weapon.
"Thanks" I say as I turn away from him. I stride over to a training dummy holding the sickle in my right hand, I pick up a nice long dagger and hold it in my left hand. I run at the dummy full speed with the sickle's hook forward, and I whip the dagger at the target's stomach. When I get to the dummy I swing the hook of the sickle up into it's jaw and pull back. The dummy's jaw detaches. I spin all the way around to the right, swinging the sickle and ripping off my target's head.
As I back away from the destroyed target I hear laughing. I turn to see Ronan Meave from District One standing behind me, soaking wet and wiping himself down with a towel.
"Looks like you're becoming your brother more and more every day Zanthy." He says before bursting into a fit of laughs. I scowl as he walks off. I walk over to the training instructor again who rolls his eyes at me.
"What do you want kid?" He asks.
"A sparring partner." I say with a frown, mostly because of his rudeness.
In seconds a man has appeared holding a dagger. He smirks.
"I get to fight a little kid?" He asks.
"I'm thirteen and I bet it won't be easy for you to 'kill' me." I mutter before I spring at him. I slam into his chest with all my might, knocking him down. He flips me over onto my back and goes to swing the knife at me. I kick the arm with the knife in it and jump to my feet. As he pulls another knife out I drop to the floor and kick out his legs. When he hits the ground I jump on his chest and hold my sickle to his throat. "You're dead." I whisper. I step away from him only to bump into Ronan who was watching me from the side.
"Heh, good work. Vorth would be jealous." He laughs. I stare at him before dropping my sickle on the ground and marching over to the swimming pool. I go to the change room and find the stall that says D9 boy and I change into the shorts that were already laid out for me.
I step out of the change rooms to find that Talise is already in the water with an instructor. I walk over to where she is and sit on the edge of the pool.
"May I join you?" I ask.
"Of course, hop in Zanther" Talise says. I slowly lower myself into the pool, unsure of how deep it is. I find I can touch the bottom of the pool with my shoulders still sticking out of the water. I lightly paddle my way over to Talise and the instructor.
Our instructor leads us through a few trials, she makes us swim length tests, checks how long we can hold our breath, teaches us how to swim better. All sorts of things.
I step out of the change room drying my hair with a towel while looking for the next place to go to. I decide that I should learn to make a fire since the careers should have someone who can actually make one. On my way over I hear the voice of Ronan for the third time today.
"Ha, Zanther looks like you can swim. Could your brother do that? Yeah I bet he could. You seem to be like him not just in your looks, your personality as well." Ronan says in a toothy grin. I stop to turn and look at him. He smirks at me before turning away. This kid has gone far enough. I can't handle him anymore. I run at Ronan full speed and tackle him to the ground. I can hear the air leave his body. I grab his hair and yank his head back before slamming it on the lightly padded floor.
"You may think I'm ashamed, but my brother was the best there ever was in the games. And I'm going to better." I say as I pull his head off the ground again. As I smash his head down again I hear the screams of a girl.
~Kyla Sprit~
"Zanther!" I yell. "Get off him!" I grab Zanther's arms and pull him with all my might. He won't budge, he won't move. I feel a strong arm push me out of the way, I tumble backwards onto my back. As I stand up I see Lake pull Zanther off of Ronan.
"Stop, both of you!" He yells. "If you fight again you are both out of the alliance!" I gasp. They can't kick Zanther out, he's the reason I got in with the careers anyways. I back away from the group slowly, I need their protection and I won't let Zanther mess this up for me. I slowly head back to the archery station where my bow is still laying on the ground in the middle of the station. Earlier when I came to this station I chose the light metal bow with the sharpened edges, I decided it was perfect for me instantly. I need a weapon I can use at close range as well as long range. The weapon, when unstrung, is as deadly as it is strung.
I load my bow and let an arrow fly. It sinks a couple inches from the centre of the target. I load my bow for a second time but as I do I hold my breath and steady myself. The arrow flies and sinks in the dead centre, which makes me smile. I back up further this time. I imagine I'm home behind my house with my home made bow and target. My little brother Bentley stands behind me, giggling in his baby tone. I let the arrow fly at the target pretending it's my father Renade. I watch as it sinks into the center of my target and my alternate reality fades back into the nightmare I am now in.
"Kyla!" I hear a voice call. I turn to see Lake motioning me over to where the other careers stand. I drop my weapons and walk over to them.
"Yes?" I say quietly as I stand in the open space between Talise and Lane.
"We need to pretend we're not working together. The four of us," Lake says as he points to Talise, Ronan, Seathe and himself. "Are going to stick together. While the four Capitol kids will do the same. Kyla and Zanther, you two stray apart from everyone including each other." I hear Seathe snort from across the circle. Lake looks at her wide eyed. "Yes Seathe?" He says sarcastically.
"Well you're making it quite obvious that we're working together right now." She points out, which makes Lake smile.
"I was getting there, we need to have an argument. A fake one. We talk about tactics. I want you Trent." Lake points to the leaner of the identical twins. "To yell at me. I want Zanther to scream at both of us and Kyla to burst into tears and run away." I stare at Lake, shocked.
"How am I supposed to cry?" I ask.
"That's why I'm here Kyla, I don't want to hurt you but I'm going to have to punch you in the stomach hard." Talise says with a bit of hurt in her voice, I nod as my throat clenches.
"Okay Trent, you're on." Lake orders.
"You have to be kidding me!" Trent yells. "Take out who? No! That's crazy!" Trent screams.
"Well if you don't I'll have to kill you in there first!" Lake yells.
"If you guys don't stop fighting I'll have to hurt both of you!" Zanther grunts.
"No need Zanther, I'm done!" Trent yells. "Are you three coming or not?" He screams at the other Capitol kids who trail him like a puppy dog. Lake turns to Zanther and pokes him in the chest.
"And I don't need your smack!" Lake snarls into Zanthers face. Zanther takes this as a cue to punch Lake in the face and walk off. The four Careers loom over me, Talise with a sympathetic look on her face as she rams her fist into my stomach. I crumple to the ground as they walk away. Tears welling in my eyes. I don't know when I'm going to speak to them again before the games. Maybe while we wait to go on the stage for our interviews.
The gamemakers are muttering over our little scuffle but they don't really seem to care as one of the biggest alliances in hunger games history crumpled apart. But little do they know that this is all a big hoax. They will need to think of ways to separate us when the games begin.
I stand up with tears spilling down my face. I see Zanther glaring at Lake from the knives station. He touches the spot on his face where he hit Lake. I spin my head towards Lake at the weights station who nods and laughs as he sees the boy from eleven struggling with a few weights.
The bell rings us for lunch. Today I'll be sitting alone. Waiting until the right moment to speak with my alliance again. I can tell with all thirty of us, this will be one of the greatest games in history. And I'm deeply afraid to be a part of it.