Training Day One

Fynn King (17) D11M

The elevator door opened and I stepped into the large hall where the gaze of other tributes met me. they all stood rather awkwardly, eyeing the beautiful display of weapons as if wondering what they were doing there. Well, they had better get used to it, or one of these very weapons will result in their death.

A few of the children were crying. Literally crying. How repulsive. Did they not know that it was an honour to be a part of the Games? I especially hated the little boy from Twelve, who was wailing and sniffing. He had volunteered! And then there was the idiot from Seven. He was certainly fifteen or sixteen. He had no right to behave like a little kid.

And there they were, the Careers. All huddled together. They were just introducing themselves and it really was time that I did so too.

I walked up to them amicably with a smile on my face. I knew that if they were true Careers, they would ask me to prove myself. If not, then it would be even easier.

"… course Victory, you can definitely join us," Olympia said.

"Really?!"

"Yep," Galilee smiled, "It doesn't matter that you aren't that trained. We've got three days to help you get better with weapons."

"And Bennett," Cascade piped in, "I am pretty sure you've got skills. You're welcome into the alliance."

The boy from one nodded at her with a smile. I was doubting my decision now. Why were they taking in all the weaklings? Without a voice, the boy could do nothing in the interviews. He couldn't win any sponsors for us. And we had yet to see his skills.

"Will you be so kind as to let me into the alliance too?" I asked.

They jumped at my voice and then looked at me carefully.

"I don't know…" Cascade whispered.

"I'm Fynn and I'm from District Eleven," I said with a friendly smile, "I may not be a Career but I am trained. There are weapons that I can handle and I assure you that my presence in the alliance will be very useful to you."

Olympia was about to say something when Amaranthine pulled her back. The two were engaged in a very serious conversation and I smiled. I didn't know the boy could even speak in front of so many people. Oceane went to join them and started giving her own inputs on something.

Finally, the two girls said together, "Can you prove it?"

"So they really are Careers," I thought.

"Sure I can," I replied.

I went to the knife throwing station and grabbed three of them. They were extremely thin to be even called knives. The target, a moving pendulum, was set in front of me and I threw all the knives at once.

Bull's eye.

The knives stuck in each other's vicinity and I pulled them out, replacing them back. The trainer seemed to be very impressed.

"That was amazing," he said, "I can see you going far."

I smiled at him reluctantly and then faced the Careers. Olympia was smiling and Oceane nodded at me. Victory looked slightly jealous whereas the other two boys were frowning. Galilee glanced at Bennett, who shook his head very slightly.

They were against me joining them up.

"Very impressive," Olympia said, "Welcome to the alliance."

"Thank you," I said with a kind smile, "That's really kind of you."

"Well, at least we found one useful ally," Oceane said, "In fact, maybe you can help Vic with weapons?"

"Please?" the said boy said.

"Of course I will," I said. Seriously? She wanted me to train an idiot? Right then I felt so annoyed that I wanted to drive those very knives in both of their skulls. It was hard to keep myself under control but I managed it. Barely.

"So what should we today?" Oceane asked, looking around.

"We don't need to do anything," Galilee said, "We've trained hard, all our lives, for this event. It will be better if we observe, choose targets and get more allies."

"Exactly. We will be wasting our time that way," Olympia agreed.

The mute boy gesticulated, looking at Cecelia time and again. He wanted her in the alliance. But why? This alliance had me and although Victory's presence made us a little weak, I would win sponsors for all of us.

And take these idiots out one by one.

That was when I saw the little girl from Nine swinging her scythe like an expert. She hacked at the dummies in a very clean manner and I frowned. Surely she had learned a thing or two from working on the fields. Looking around, I saw the other tributes trying to figure out something. The Twelve boy was still crying in a corner but apart from everyone was trying to learn something. Even the weak boy from Seven. And the girl from Eight.

It was not good. Something had to be done about that. But before I could say anything, Galilee interrupted me.

It was funny how we had the same idea…

Alessandra "Aly" Farro (13) D9F

Using a scythe on the fields, using it on dummies and using it on humans were completely different things. I had no experience of the last one but it made my skin tingle that soon, I would have gained some experience in that department.

If I was lucky that is.

It was weird how things worked. Earlier I couldn't dream of hurting anyone. Now I was willing to kill. I was preparing for it. Being able to kill, I considered it to be fortunate. Ever since I had seen these weapons, realisation had hit me hard.

I could die.

Nobody would miss me.

Die in vain.

Before I could help it, tears started running down my cheeks. I tried to hold them back but a part of me told me that I should let them flow.

"Maybe this is the last time I can behave in an improper way," I thought and tears started falling steadily now. My hands were trembling and I wanted to place the scythe back in its place but my hands refused to move.

Somebody grabbed it and yanked it from my hands. I looked up quickly, only to meet the boy from Eleven's eyes.

"If you can't handle this, you shouldn't pressurise yourself into doing it," he said with fake kindness and kept the scythe back in its place.

Grabbing my shoulder too tightly for my liking, he leaned close to me and whispered in my ear so that the trainers couldn't hear.

"Look kid," he said, "We want to at least enter the arena, right?"

I didn't say anything, my eyes fixed on his handsome yet cruel face.

"If I see you even holding a weapon- you won't like it."

"W-what ae you saying?" I tried to retaliate bravely.

"Let's say… you don't want an accident happening here anytime soon, do you? Before the Games even start?"

My eyes widened at that. Surely, surely he wouldn't be doing that! I was about to call the trainer when he placed his hand against my mouth.

"Now, we don't really want a crowd here, do we?" he said in his smooth, sickening manner, "You don't want seven people to run after you during the bloodbath. Am I right, sweetie?"

Slowly, I shook my head. He was threatening me and the mad gleam in his eyes told me he would make an 'accident' happen if I touched a weapon.

"I didn't get you," he said.

"I-I w-won't train with weapons," I whispered, my eyes turning hot. Fynn patted my cheek in an almost fond way and then walked away to the Careers. There he started teaching Victory how to use a spear. I saw that Oceane and Bennett were missing. Olympia and Galilee were talking to the girl from Five.

I noticed that a few tributes had put down their weapons. He had threatened them all?! Mateo was just looking around, a sad look on his face. He caught my eyes and then walked over.

"I saw that guy-" he said.

"He was trying to-" I stated.

"I know that but-"

"I have no idea what to-"

"We should-"

"We can't-"

"Look," he said, taking a pause as if to see whether I would interrupt him. When I remained quiet he said, "We can't take not train, Aly. We can deal with him later. We need to survive."

I tried to read him but just couldn't. Till the previous day it seemed as if he was only concerned with himself. And at this moment, he was trying to encourage me?

"You can think about it," he said, "But I'm not going to stop. Not for some psycho."

He gave me a nod and then left. Confused, miserable and furious, I slid to the floor slowly.

"What should I do?" I cried in my hands, "What should I do…?"

If I see you even holding a weapon- you won't like it.

"A weapon…" I whispered, "A weapon!"

He had stated only weapons! What about the traps? The snares? The survival skills?

I saw Mateo trying to learn how to tie a strong knot.

A knot.

Knots weren't weapons in a direct way.

Wiping my tears, I straightened my shirt to look like my old, proper self.

It was okay if you didn't let me train with weapons Fynn. You wouldn't even know when you would fall in my trap.

Reynard Ciervo (18) D10M

I didn't get Meadow's point.

Why did she think that allying with Arrington, or Ivy, would benefit us? It would benefit only her, and I didn't care about that.

"It'll be easier to get sponsors for both of you," she had said.

And how? That she did not bother to explain.

It didn't matter what she thought. The moment the bloodbath would start, I would run away. I pitied Arrington for suffering from MPD but this was not a place where I could pity people. Helping her would hinder my chances and I was not willing to take that rest.

I had decided I would work with a sword. It wasn't easy by any means but it was definitely intimidating. Having a scary looking weapon could others wary and make mistakes.

Like falling into a deadly trap.

Using a sword was hard though. Sometimes the swings were too strong. Sometimes too weak. I needed to balance it out. But still, it was better than most other weapons.

I stopped to take a break and relax my limbs. The trainer was smiling at me, telling me I was a good learner. Thanking her, I walked out of the sword station when I saw Fynn whispering something in the girl from Nine's ears. I saw Oceane walk away from Mateo, who suddenly looked very tensed.

So the Careers had decided they would not let the other tributes train.

I had to admit it; they were smart this year. Usually, Careers only practised even during the training days although they had been doing so for years.

But smart Careers weren't good for me.

Seeing that they were all distracted, I made my way back to the sword station.

"Back so soon?" the trainer asked. I nodded.

This time, I put my full concentration on doing the task. It was still hard but after what seemed like a long time, there seemed to be some progress. I didn't really feel that way but I didn't voice my opinion.

I stopped for a minute and looked away, my gaze falling on the knife station. The boy from Five was working really well with it. It was as if he knew what he was doing.

My eyes widened as a knife went past his ear, taking a few strands of hair with it. He seemed to be petrified on the spot.

"Well Sevarian," Oceane said sweetly, "That was an accident, dear."

Was it just me who found the word accident rather sinister? Was it another way of theirs to prevent the others from learning the use of weapons?

"I know I'm in fault," she said, "I could have missed it."

Finally, it seemed as if the boy understood what was happening. The obvious threat he was being given.

"Try to stay away from dangerous things. Like weapons," Oceane said and then walked away. She looked back once and gave him a smile and then turned.

As soon as she turned her facial expression turned to one of guilt and shame. Maybe she didn't actually want to do this. Maybe she was fair.

That could be it. She might be one of those 'good' Careers. But that was of no concern to me.

Turning away a bit so that nobody could guess what I was doing, I looked at the boy from Five from the corner of my eyes. He just stood there holding the knife and then he kept it back. So he wasn't a risk taker. That could actually be good for him.

I started towards him.

I needed an ally when I would be in the arena, when I would betray Arrington. Sevarian was actually skilled with a knife, that much was evident.

He saw me coming and tensed. There was no need for that. Not then at least.

We stood face to face for a moment. I was unsure of how to start. No, I wasn't shy but still.

"What are you here for?" he asked bluntly. No politeness. No indirectness. I like that.

"I'm here to ask you whether you want to be my ally," I replied, coming directly to the point. There was no reason to talk about unnecessary things.

"I don't even know you."

"None of us know each other."

He smiled slightly at that and then looked at the Careers.

"They were pretty obvious with the threats. If I hold a knife now they'll try to attack me in the bloodbath."

"They will do that anyway," I replied calmly, "They are careers. They are here to kill. And you don't need to practice with that. You're quite good."

"So this is what attracted you?" he asked.

"Yes."

"And what have you got? How will I benefit from allying with you?"

I liked it. He was undeniably not a fool. We could benefit each other a lot, although I would have to keep him at an arm's length.

"I'm good with traps," I said, "And I know how to use a sword in a moderate way."

A smile appeared on his face. Not a genuine I-am-so-happy-to-see-you smile but a this-will-be-a-lot-of-fun type of smile.

"One last thing," he asked, "How can I trust you?"

With a smirk I replied honestly.

"You can't."

He chuckled and then stuck his hand forward. I shook it.

Now I didn't have to ally with Arrington...

Hello friends! I know that this is terribly late (or at least I feel so) and I am sorry. What did you think of this chapter? The Careers' approach? Anything, really. I know Careers usually train together and do stuff like that but I have been wondering WHY do they have to train again? Most of them are trained since they were toddlers and still they find the need to train in those three days. I did that myself in the past two stories but I think that sometimes it should be done another way. I hope you don't hate me for that, especially since most of them are good people as such.

I hope you enjoyed and your feedback is welcome. There's also a poll on my profile and I hope you vote. I can only request you to not vote for your character but I know it's extremely tempting.

Have a good day!