11: Alliances

Gale POV

It feels much different to be a mentor than to be a tribute. This morning I will be watching the training from a room above the training room through a sheet of one-way glass. It's good to know that I will be able to see Katniss, even if she can't see me. I throw on some plain, black clothes and hurry up the stairs to the secret mentor room. I'm one of the first here. The District 2 mentors are here already, but no one else.

I take a moment to observe them. One of them is a young man that bears a striking resemblance to Cato. I try to shrug it off as coincidence, that there are many people from District 2 that look like that, but I can't. It makes my skin crawl, the look of him. I feel like I'm back in the arena with him for a moment, remembering the feeling of stepping-on-eggshells. Not sure when he would erupt. Later when he chased me through the career camp after I tried to poison him. Perhaps this man is a relative.

I sit down at the seat marked for the District 12 mentor. On the desk in front of me is a set of six screens. Five are blank, but one is on. I read the screen. Sponsor gift magazine. At the top, the names Katniss Everdeen and Haymitch Abernathy are written. So far, the totals are on £0.00. I guess the sponsoring can only start once the Games have begun. The program is quite simply and clearly done. The start screen gives me sections of gifts I can send.

Weapons. Food. Medicine. Survival gear. Custom backpack. I click on each section to see the gifts and what they cost. Weapons are the most expensive, unsurprisingly. One knife costs £100. A set costs £500. I flick through the different types of weapon until I get to bow and arrows. It is near the bottom, which means one of the most expensive gifts. £1000. Crap, that's a lot. I wonder how much the typical tribute will get. Capitolites are rich and Katniss is popular. Maybe there will be enough, but I bet there's a reason that weapons are rarely sent.

I didn't know that there were so many types of weapons before. It makes me wonder how much of an advantage career tributes actually get. They (to my knowledge) attend a career academy from ages twelve to eighteen. They will probably end up using weapons before that because their parents will give them lessons. They volunteer from ages sixteen to eighteen. So the average career will have had five years of formal training before attending the Games. They probably have the time to become a master in one or two weapons and become at least proficient some others.

I browse over some of the more unusual weapons. I have around fifteen minutes before the tributes are brought into the training room for the morning, so I have time. There are about ten different types of swords. Broadswords, longswords, rapiers, katanas, samurai. I wonder if Cato could use all of them. He never seemed to use any other weapon, so I assume he must have mastered swords. There are quite a few types of spears too and tridents.

After a bit of time browsing the survival gear section, I hear the doors of the training room open and the tributes enter. I see Katniss first, a determined expression on her face. Her dark hair is braided down her back and I feel a rush of nostalgia to the time training with her last year. She is the youngest of the tributes, but she looks like one of the strongest. Age isn't an advantage in something that relies heavily on physical fitness, though her size may be a disadvantage.

There seems to be quite a sharp split between two groups of tributes. The careers, except Mags, and a few others like Johanna Mason and Electra are all young-ish. They are well-muscled and have excited or determined expressions on their faces. Most of the outer District tributes are old, and looking hopeless. They know they have no chance. I see the morphlings from District 6. They seem aged beyond their years, their eyes sunken and their skin sallow.

Drug use isn't that common in District 12. Most of us are short of money to spend on food, let alone on substances to make us feel happy. Morphling in particular is very expensive. Even alcohol is too expensive for most of the people. I wouldn't want to use drugs as I hate feeling unguarded or losing my inhibitions, though I can see the appeal. Feeling relaxed, more confident, being able to forget about troubles. I can definitely see the appeal. But my stress and doubts are there for a reason. It won't help me to drink or smoke them away.

The voice of a Capitol lady comes over the microphones, giving basic facts about the Games that every victor must know. Survival skills are important. Don't let wounds become infected. Don't eat poisonous berries. I feel my hands curl into fists. The voice talks about it so calmly, like it isn't twenty three children dying per year. Like people eat the berries by choice, not because there is no other food. Like they let their wounds become infected, not because the rich Capitolites can't even spare a few pounds for a packet of disinfectant bandages for a tribute.

After her speech is done, the tributes scatter to the different stations. I try to pick out Katniss and Haymitch in the crowd. Katniss predictably goes straight to the archery station. She wants to get used to the Capitol bows. They are different to the ones we have in the Districts. It takes some getting used to and Katniss won't have time to get used to the new weapon in the Games. I can't find Haymitch though and I have no idea where he might have gone.

"You can use the screens," a young voice from next to me tells me. I look around and see a young woman, not much older than me. Her hair is red and her eyes are a vibrant shade of green. "Annie Cresta. My boyfriend is down there. He says he's going to fight for me, to come out alive, but I don't believe it. Do you?"

I pick out the name Annie Cresta in my head. She was the girl that went mad a few years ago after seeing her District partner get beheaded in front of her. Those were an unusually short games because the arena flooded about a week in. District 4. So her boyfriend must be Finnick Odair. She doesn't seem to mad yet, though abnormally truthful to people that she's just met. She seems too innocent to be a victor and I wonder what she is like underneath.

"It's possible," I say, mainly to appease her. Finnick is part of the rebellion. Only Katniss can live. He will die. "These Games are going to be difficult, but Finnick is definitely one of the stronger victors." I feel sorry for Annie Cresta. Finnick seems to matter a lot to her, but if Finnick lives then Katniss dies.

"Everyone thinks I'm crazy, you know?" she says, gesturing to the other victors. "And I have my moments, where I just feel like I'm back in the Games again and everything zones out. Where I go crazy. But Finnick is helping me. He's made me realise what is real and what is not. He told me before the Games began that he wouldn't be coming out alive. I may be insane, but I don't need you to sugarcoat."

Her tone is harsh. I guess I expected her to be different. It hadn't occurred to me that her insanity could be wearing off or that it was only when things triggered it. She seems almost like a sane person, though I can tell that there is something off about her. "I'm sorry. But it is possible. If Katniss is killed then Finnick is next in line."

"I guess," she says. "Say his name. The screen will show you where in the training room he is. That way you can watch them both at the same time." Oh. For a moment I had almost forgotten that I was meant to be watching Katniss and Haymitch train. I glance down at the archery station. Katniss is still there. She looks absorbed in the archery as she shoots off arrows straight into the centres of he targets. Her accuracy is amazing.

"Katniss Everdeen and Haymitch Abernathy," I address the screens. Two of them turn on. One shows Katniss, who now has a Capitol attendant talking to her. The other shows Haymitch. He is also at a weapons station. He has a large, double-sided axe in his hands. I should have known, the axe looks almost exactly like the one that he used in his Games. The one that the force-field flung back at the District 1 tribute. I wonder if he intends to pull that trick again.

I look back down to Katniss. The instructor has set bird models to be flung into the air at all angles around her. Katniss shoots a flurry of arrows, sometimes impaling two birds with the same arrow. That's the girl I fell in love with, the fiery huntress with the bow and arrows. I can see all around the arena that other tributes are looking at her with admiration. I don't blame them. Even with years of training, it takes a natural talent to be able to achieve that much.

As this continues, I look back to Haymitch. He has one of the Capitol instructors acting as an enemy. She is brandishing a sword and he has the axe. I should have thought of doing that when I was training last year. It would have been easier to learn to sword fight if I was fighting an actual person, not hacking the limbs off dummies. I wonder if Haymitch will win. The woman is younger and trained with swords, but Haymitch is a victor and has more strength.

The woman swings the sword at him and he parries it with the edge of the axe. Haymitch steps closer to her and this time he goes on the offensive, bringing the axe down at her side. If this was a real fight he would be poised to cut her in half. The Capitolite slams her sword down on the handle of the axe, diverting it. Haymitch feints to one side and as she goes to block it, twists around quickly and brings that blade down on her wrist.

The instructor drops the sword. I can see a bruise beginning to form on her wrist as Haymitch picks up the sword and holds it to her throat. Both the sword and the axe were blunt I guess. It seems Haymitch has kept his skill with the axe though. Maybe he did more training than just what he learned in the Games. I doubt he started drinking immediately after.

The training continues for a bit longer. It's quite boring now. Katniss is spending a bit of time training with a polearm and Haymitch with a sword. I want to talk to the other mentors about the rebellion, but I can't in here. Maybe we can go into another room, but it would look pretty suspicious if we all left at the same time. I take a look at the other rebellion victors. Most of us here in the mentor room are quite young and healthy, unlike the victors downstairs.

Districts Four, Five, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten and Eleven all have victors in the rebellion. That's fourteen of us here in all as only one victor from Five is rebellion. Maybe I should ask one of the other victors to show me something in the Capitol as an excuse to get out of the mentor room for a bit. My mind immediately goes to Annie Cresta as she is the only one that I really know anything about. I turn to her and mutter, "can we talk? Out of this room please."

"OK," she responds. She gets up and we go into a small side room that I didn't know was here. The room smells a bit dusty and I doubt that it has been used for a while. "This used to be a place for spare weapons and equipment, but the Capitolites built a new room for that downstairs because they were too lazy to even walk up and down stairs," she says derisively. "They didn't do anything with the room. Finnick noticed it a few years ago and it doesn't have a CCTV camera like the mentor room. He's really observant."

"So we can talk safely here?" I ask her. She nods. "Good. I just wanted to know what you know about what will happen in the rebellion. Haymitch hasn't told me very much. I know that the rebellion victors are going to form an alliance, but is there anything else planned other than stay alive? Things that will actually stir up rebellion."

Annie hesitates. "I've heard rumours that they are going to have your wedding the night before the Games," she says. "And that your stylist has something special planned. Something that will stir up rebellion. But the main part of having so many rebellion victors in the Capitol as mentors is so we can communicate with the Capitol spies and rebels, something that we couldn't do back in our Districts very well."

"So that's why you became a mentor?" I ask. "No offence, but it seemed a bit stupid to become a mentor when things that remind you of the Games make you go into a state of madness. Are all of the other female victors from District 4 careers?" I wonder what Annie's mad states are like. She said that Finnick helped, but Finnick won't be here.

"Yes," she says. "And it also feels better to actually have some power over what happens to him. You can talk to Katniss by the way. She gets a break from training in around fifteen minutes and you can go down and meet her. I'll be seeing Finnick. And don't talk about any of this to her. This is one of the only place in the training building that isn't being watched."

"OK. Thanks for telling me." We walk back up to the mentor room. I flick through the sponsor magazine for a few minutes until I see the tributes stop and go to eat lunch. I notice that the rebellion victors all sit at one table and the careers at another. I'm pretty sure that they know that an alliance with Katniss is off the table in these Games. I bet they would want her on their side if it wasn't though. After seeing her display at the archery station I think that any tribute would be giving her an alliance request.

I go downstairs with Annie. We join the tributes at the rebellion table. Katniss glances at me and gestures for me to sit next to her. She gives me a quick kiss and a small smile crosses my face. Our relationship really has grown over the last year, from hunting companions to star-crossed lovers to partners in a rebellion. I love everything about her, from her soft caring that she gets with her family to the fiery hunter that can kill without remorse. We are suited. Partners.

"How are you?" I ask her. "You were very good in training. I loved your display with the bow and arrows. I bet that struck fear into the careers." The tables seem to have turned since the seventy fourth games, where it was Katniss and I who were terrified of Cato's strength with swords and Clove's precision with throwing knives.

"I'm fine. A bit scared, but I'm going into the Hunger Games. Who isn't scared? I managed to make an alliance with Finnick, Johanna, Wiress, Beetie, Mags and Electra. And Haymitch of course. Did you see him with the axe? I didn't know that he was so skilled with it. He'll be really useful in the Games."

"I saw. There's a mentor room upstairs where we can see you on screens and through a sheet of one-way glass. It's also where we get to watch you in the Games. I saw the sponsor magazines. Gifts are expensive, especially weapons. But seeing as you are the most popular tribute then we could probably afford them. A bow and arrows costs £1000."

"That is a lot," she admits. "I should be able to get a bow and arrows at the cornucopia though. We've decided to run for the middle because there are a lot more of us than there are careers. If we can secure the cornucopia as our spot it will make the rest of the Games much easier. What are the other mentors like?" she asks me, changing the subject.

"I haven't spoken much to most of them. I did talk to Annie Cresta though. The girl from Four that everyone thinks is mad. She isn't crazy, not really. She says that she goes into fits when she sees something that reminds her of the Games though, she can't control it like the rest of us can. I'm not sure what she'll be like during the Games though. She said that she needed to be the one who came because Finnick is here." I word it carefully so that people won't be able to tell that I am talking about the rebellion, but Katniss knows what I mean.

We look over to Annie together. She is talking and laughing with Finnick like there is nothing wrong with her at all. I can see from the way that Finnick looks at her that their love is like mine and Katniss's. He would be willing to sacrifice his life for her and vice versa. I look away and glance at the careers. They look serious and are quiet, unlike the careers last year were. Even for a career I think being a victor takes a toll.

A Capitol attendant comes up to us and says the break is over. Katniss and Haymitch go back to training and I walk back up to the mentor room with Annie. I need to get Katniss alone so that I can tell her about our wedding, but I don't know if there are any places to tell her safely. I spend the rest of the afternoon watching Katniss and Haymitch train.

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I've finally written a chapter fairly quickly! Thanks for the follows, favourites and reviews. If you have any comments on this chapter I would love to hear them.

-MoonOfPluto