Training Day 3

Oren Harper (16) D6M

Aileen had been pretty focused on training and worked really hard. At times, when I would pass by her door, I would hear her pacing in her room, most probably thinking of some good strategy. There was a frown on her face for some reason, and that reason was not really the fact that we were going into a death-match. She had volunteered anyway. Why would that bother her?

It would do me no good to worry about her at the time. The food was too delicious and I wanted to enjoy it. After all, such delicacies weren't really available back in Six so readily. So I devoured all I could. Oren needed his strength in the arena.

Aileen, on the other hand, just played with her food. There was a frown on her face and she was staring at the glass of water in front of her.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I bit into a peach.

"Yeah," she replied, downing the glass of water in one go. There was something that was bothering her.

"You don't look like it," I pressed on.

"I am fine, Oren," she replied, "It's just that the Careers didn't let us do anything on the first day. Today is the last opportunity that we have to do anything. I'm not liking the odds."

My stomach tightened at that. She was right; we were running out of time. I believed that I could win it but if I couldn't fight how was I supposed to actually win? All of a sudden, my appetite was gone.

"I think we should go," I said, getting up. Aileen nodded and we started for the elevator together.

I hated elevators.

The closed space… I felt I was suffocating whenever I was in one. I felt scared and there was always that fear that the elevator might just stop and get stuck with me inside. That was enough to unnerve me.

A part of me prayed that there were no such closed spaces in the arena.

As the lift started its journey I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck rising. I just hoped Aileen had not noticed anything, that would be bad. We weren't allies. I didn't want my allies to know about this either.

I was grateful for the elevator door to open at last and I hurriedly moved into the hall. Only a few tributes were there at the time and I was surprised by it. Usually almost everyone would show up by this time. Aileen and I parted way there and I went ahead to look for Tab and Quinoa.

The two were at the knot tying station, the girl trying her best to tie a strong knot… and failing at it. I'd assume that they had been here for a while because it seemed that the trainer was running out of patience.

"Hey guys!" I said, walking over to them. Tab gave me a smile whereas Quinoa just looked at the floor, muttering something and then went back to tying knots.

"How are you?"

"Fine. How is one supposed to be in a situation like this?"

"Not really fine," I supplied with a sigh, "Tab, you can go and practice; I'll be here for a while, I think."

"Okay," he said, "I'll be nearby."

And with that he left, making his way towards the traps and snares station. The trainer seemed to be happy to see him.

"Oren," another trainer said, "You are here to learn to learn about knots?"

"Yes," I replied, glancing once again at Quinoa who was still struggling. The trainer first started telling me about ropes. Thin ropes, thick ropes, long ones, short ones. Then she told me about some plants that could be used as ropes. I tried hard to remember it all and the trainer said I was doing good.

"And now first you hold it like this. If you're right handed, take the left end and cross it…"

And she continued while I followed, ultimately making a really good and strong knot. She beamed at me and that was when Quinoa cried out, "DONE!"

All of us turned to the knotted rope she held in her hands. It looked just too perfect and her trainer clapped and congratulated her. He must have been really tired…

"And now let me teach you how to pleat leaves and make a good rope out of it. For that you need some sharp…"

And the lesson went on.

Galilee Schwartz (18) D1F

I felt angry for no apparent reason at the time and I needed to cook. Sadly, that facility wasn't really available here. It was only fuelling my rage.

I understood that it was wrong to not let the other tributes train. That it wouldn't be fair to them. But were the Games fair? Was it right to let children kill each other? No, it wasn't. when the whole system was based on unfairness, why should I care about right and wrong?

I had no idea why I was feeling this way. Ever since I had arrived in the Capitol the reality of the situation had hit me. I was going to compete. During the Reapings I had accepted my fate. That I was going to die. But here, in the Capitol, I couldn't bring myself to believe it. Why should I die? There was no way I was going to accept my death. I wanted to get out of there. Alive. And tell the others back home how scary death is, how its thought alone could give one nightmares.

I didn't like or understand the change in my demeanour.

But Olympia had to stop us! Why? Because of that District Partner of hers.

"Okay, during the bloodbath, we have to stop the other tributes from getting the supplies-" Oceane started.

"Careers always do that," Olymoia cut her.

"Yes they do," Oceane replied calmly, "But we need to secure all the supplies."

"We can have a ring formation," Olympia said, "Instead of all of us running to the cornucopia, it will be better if we prevent the others from reaching there. Some of us can do that while the others secure the supplies. And then the rest of us could get there and we can form a ring around it so that nobody can get there."

"That will be a good idea. I don't think many people will be able to get inside if some of the Careers are already stationed there."

"That's the plan."

"It's easier said than done," Cecelia muttered, "Making a ring around it won't be easy. Eight people are not enough for the job."

"She's right," Fynn said, "Let's say four of are trying to stop the other tributes from getting there while the other four reach there first and establish our control. Do you think four people will be enough to stop so many others?"

"The tributes are smart this year, Fynn," Olympia said, "I don't think they will all be running into the bloodbath. Only a few desperate ones are going to try that-"

"- and those few will die," Fynn said with a smirk.

"Yes," I said sadly, "They will, for one of us to win."

Bennett remained silent the whole time. No gestures. Nothing. I was worried about it.

"Do you wish to suggest something, Ben?" I asked.

He shook his head at that. No, there definitely something that he wanted to say but just couldn't.

"I suggest that we try to push them off their plates," Victory said jokingly.

"How?" Oceane asked.

"Carry stones in there and throw it at them?"

We laughed at that. I could very vividly imagine Victory throwing stones at people and them cursing him like a sailor even as they would fall. It wasn't a pretty sight but definitely a humorous one. Why? Because if anyone could do something of the sort, it was definitely him.

"I wish we could smuggle in some stones," Cecelia said, "We could, in fact, earn ourselves some time that way."

"We should wait for the scores to come out," I said, "We need to pick on the stronger ones and finish them off in the bloodbath itself."

My voice almost cracked at that. Here I was, already making plans to murder children. The thought disgusted me and slowly I had started to hate myself. Why did I volunteer? I shouldn't have done that. It was a wrong decision. But now that I had done it I really needed to win. I needed to get out. A part of me knew that I would probably need therapy if I got out alive but I would deal with that later. Right now, I wanted to live.

"Very true," Olympia said, "We need to take out the strong ones first and focus on them instead of the supposed bloodbaths."

"But they'll be easier to kill," Fynn said almost defensively.

"Yes. That's the thing. Why bother about something that can't cause trouble instead of those things that can, and will, try to prevent our victory."

"Prevent me?" Victory said, bewildered, "Prevent me from doing what?"

"She wasn't talking about you, Vic," Amaranth said with a smile.

"Oh. That's fine then."

And we continued, suggesting ways and plans, all except Ben, who was too quiet. What was the problem?

I had to find out.

Aspen Rust (17) D11F

I still hadn't gotten over the embarrassment of the chariot rides. They had laughed and booed at me. my smile… my smile was the reason of this humiliation. Why did I smile? I knew my buck teeth would be visible! I shouldn't have had smiled.

"Your smile is worth millions."

Lee used to tell me that. I never believed it but he always said this so genuinely that slowly I started to feel better.

The night of the parade was the worst. Fynn had smirked at me sideways when the crowd had started booing. He had enjoyed it, the insults people were showering me with. That very night the Capitol surgeons had operated on me and fixed my teeth. But what was the use then? The rides were complete; the people had seen me at my worst.

"What was Lee thinking?"

That had been the only thought on my mind since then. What had Lee been thinking? How had he reacted? How did he feel?

But no, I wasn't going to turn into a pessimist over that. The interviews were left and also the private sessions. There was a lot to prove, a lot to do. There was Lee to return to. And then there were so many tributes here who were good at something or the other. The Games were horrible, unfair, painful, but they were a competition. And there were worthy competitors there.

I had practised with a hatchet the previous day and the trainer had really liked my skills. "Good job," he had said. Those two simple words meant a lot to me because I loved it when people told me that I had done something right.

Right now, I was at the explosives station. The trainer was surprised that somebody had shown up for training. It seemed that this particular skill wasn't that popular and I wondered why. Explosives were cool! Especially those fireworks- I loved them!

By afternoon I had managed to make something like an explosion. It was small and nothing too special but it was intended to be a small-scale thing. The trainer beamed at me.

"You are good at learning," he said and I grinned stupidly at that. However, the events of the chariot rides came flooding back to my mind and I closed my mouth.

"Excuse me?"

I turned to see the girl from Ten standing there with a smile on her face. I smiled back.

I saw that the girl was shy, unable to speak whatever she wanted to say.

"My name is Aspen," I said, "And you might be Arrington?"

"Y-yes," she said, "Nice to meet you Aspen. Ac-actually I saw you with the hatchets yesterday and today I saw how good you are with explosives. The-the thing is…"

Her voice faltered at that. I nodded.

"Please tell me without any hesitation. I'd like to help you with whatever I can."

"I was wondering whether you'd like to be allies with me and Reynard."

There was a pause after that. Neither of us spoke and she looked at me hopefully. I didn't know what to say. I was happy on being offered an alliance but it was no secret that Arrington had MPD. What would Ivy act like? She honestly scared me as such.

And then there was Reynard. I couldn't understand him at all. He never said much and the only important thing I had noticed was his conversation with the boy from Five, possibly to invite him into the alliance. But if he was there too, wouldn't Arrington mention it?

"Is there anyone else too?" I asked casually.

She looked at me in confusion. "No. Why?"

"Nothing," I replied, having understood what that boy was planning, "Nothing at all."

And so he was going to betray her in the arena. My blood boiled with rage. I got that we would be in a death match but loyalty still meant something. At least initially! He hadn't even told her. Why did he say yes when he wasn't even interested?

As such I needed allies. This was the only option at the time so I nodded.

"I'm happy you asked me to join in," I said, "I'd live to be in your alliance."

"Thank you!" Arrington said, an expression of relief coming on her face. "Reynard will love it!"

"About that," I said, already hating myself but I had to do it, "Reynard isn't your ally."

Her face paled at that, a frown appearing on it. Her lips quivered slightly as she asked, "What do you mean?"

And then I told her everything; his conversation with Sevarian, the fact that they agreed on something and she said that he never told her. Her shoulders slumped and I saw that her eyes had turned bleak. I squeezed her shoulder.

"Don't worry. I am right here," I said, "And we'll make a boss team."

Done with the Training Days! What did you think of this chapter? Was it too boring? We have seen our alliances although most of my alliances are formed in the arena itself…

Alliances:-

Bennett/Galilee/Olympia/Amaranth/Victory/Oceane/Cecelia/Fynn

Reynard/Sevarian

Arrington (Ivy)/Aspen

Asher/Rowan/Burgundy/Alessandra

Tab/Quinoa/Oren

Persephone/Bridge

Aileen

Cassidy

Mateo

I think that's about it? I'm really excited about the upcoming chapters. The Private Sessions and the Interviews are left and then we'll be in the arena.

Also, thank you all so much for your reviews. They always make me smile and I am shocked to have 205 reviews by the second training day! Never really thought it would happen! Thank you again!

Have a great day!