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Larron Arlett
District One Male, 18 Years Old
"Welcome, tributes."
After the man welcomes us, I scan the tributes nearby, already seeing some of the faces beforehand. Ines, my District partner, is standing away from me, all alone at the back of the group. When she looks back at me, I smile at her, not really sure why she's all the way over there.
Have I done something wrong?
I don't think so.
"This is called the Training Center: The place where you'll be spending your next few days, in order to learn some new skills, to practice your old ones, and to see what it'll be like in the arena."
Shrugging, I go back to looking at some of the other tributes, quickly going over some faces and their numbers on their shoulders. The District Five female has a grudge on her face, the District Six boy looks like he's lost, the District Nine girl is nervously biting her lip, and the District Eleven boy has a smug look on his face.
When the Eleven boy looks back at me, he grins a little, showing me his teeth. I wave back, not really sure what he wants, but whatever. He's one of the first people that have interacted with me first.
It's more than Ines has done. She just sits there.
"Now, enjoy your time in here, tributes. Don't waste it."
Turning around to the pair from District Two behind me, I nod my head, getting their attention. The girl, Caelia, smiles at me, her hand on Darien's shoulder, her fingers tapping on it. The girl from District Four, Darya, saunters over, her face rather expressionless.
I greet her with a warm smile.
And, before I can speak, I feel an arm wrap around my neck. It's the male from District Four, Trent, and as he squeezes tighter, I cough a little, making him chuckle.
"Don't squirm!" He says, his voice loud. "But, hello, everyone. My name is Trent, but you can call me Master. Or something like that. Master is nice."
As he lets go of my neck, I fix the collar of my suit, not wanting to look like a mess because of him. I pat down my hair, and then look back at the other Careers sitting in front of me. They're all staring at Trent, none of them really speaking. I guess this will be a quiet pack, then.
I'll have to change that up.
"Hi!" I say, looking around at all of them. "I am Larron Arlett. What are all of your names?"
"Caelia," the girl from District Two says, winking afterwards. "Larron is such a cute name."
"Self-control, Caelia," the boy from Two says, making her laugh. "Darien. Darien Faust."
"I am Darya," is all the girl from District Four says, her hands folded over one another in front of her.
"Where's your partner, kiddo?" Trent asks, and I know that he means Ines. I'm not too sure where she is, either, but I won't say anything for Ines. It isn't my position to answer for her.
Ines can answer for herself.
"I dunno'," I say, changing the topic of discussion. Alliance comes first, then I'll worry about Ines. I'm sure the mentors will ask her about it, anyway – if she doesn't want to join, then so be it.
She shouldn't have to do something she doesn't want to.
"Okay, so," I begin, raising my hand in the air. "Raise your hand if you want to be a part of the Career alliance."
Caelia is the first one to react, and she extends her arm towards me, wiggling her fingers in front of my face. Darien grabs Caelia's arm, raises it for her, and then he raises his own hand. Darya raises her hand slightly, but I don't say anything. If she doesn't want to speak as much as the rest, then I won't say anything.
"This is how we're going to start the alliance? By raising our hands?" Trent sneers, reluctantly raising his own hand. "Raise your hand if you want to be in charge."
I shrug. If he doesn't want to play along then he doesn't have to. I just wanted to break the ice between us all, and now he's asking who wants to be in charge. I won't raise my hand for this one, though. They can have this.
Only Caelia's and Trent's hand shoot up.
"Listen, kiddo," Trent says, shaking his hand in front of Caelia's face. "This is a man's job. You can be, like, my second-in-command."
Caelia rolls her eyes, scoffing at his comment. "Want to fight about it?" She says, her tone in her voice changing, another one of her winks following it. "I'll get my mentor to contact yours. We can have some… fun, if you want."
Well, that is inappropriate.
"You know, I usually would. But, I apologize; Darya already stole my heart. Isn't she just so lovely?"
"Okay, okay," I cut in, throwing out my arms. Even if I come across as rude, it doesn't bother me; we aren't here to flirt with each other. I might not be in the mood to do that much training today, but this is getting us nowhere. "That's enough. Don't make Darya uncomfortable."
"So, what about those leaders?" Darien asks, nudging Caelia with his shoulder. From the looks of it, they already have some relationship between the two of them, while Ines and I aren't even speaking. Trent and Darya don't seem too close, either.
"I'm leader," Trent interjects, his voice serious. "I am leader."
"Isn't this supposed to be fair?" I ask, not really wanting to start something with Trent, but I want to just put it out there. "Shouldn't we vote or something?"
And before anyone can even answer me, Trent is gone, as is Caelia and Darien. Darya remains there, but after a while, she drifts away. I shrug my shoulders, looking around the Training Center to find something to do. Honestly, all I wanted to do today was talk to them, but apparently, that was too much to ask for.
Whatever.
We'll come together soon enough.
As I begin to walk aimlessly around the Center, I try to spot Ines, but I don't see her anywhere. In a weird way, I respect her for doing what she wants. She didn't want to be with the Careers, so she's not. She's not following the form and conforming to everyone else.
She is her own person.
And so am I.
The Games won't be able to change that.
Taima Larkin
District Ten Female, 17 Years Old
Sliding my finger-tips along the metal table, I tilt my head to the side, walking slowly.
I approach the male from District Five – Garret, I believe his name is. I wouldn't be that careless to not even know a boy's name before I get involved with them. When he raises him arm to nock another arrow onto the string, I go even closer to him, preparing to really hit things off.
I might be starting too early, but from the looks of it, I don't have many options. I was looking at boy from District Six, too, but I don't want to deal him just yet. He's too jumpy for me. So, first thing's first, I'll go for Garret.
His elbow is now extended back, his arm pulling at the arrow. Before he can release the arrow, I wrap my arm through is, clasping onto his upper-arm. He flinches a little, and as he looks over his shoulder at me, he lowers the bow and arrow.
"Hi, Garret," I say, our arms still entangled. "Looks like you've been working out, hm? I could use someone with your muscles to protect a dainty girl like myself."
And before Garret can say anything else to me or make another facial expression, there's a snort from behind me. Rolling my eyes, I look to see who it is, not really in the mood to have to get into any verbal-fights with anyone. Behind us is the girl from District Eight, Cerise.
"Have some respect for yourself," she says, the look on her making even me disgusted. "Don't take advantage of the poor boy."
"Who, me?" I call over, leaning my head on Garret's shoulder. He hasn't said much, but right now, I don't want him to. I don't need Cerise getting in the way of me attempting to get my allies, if I'll even call them that. "I just want a friend. A friend with oh-so big muscles, a steady aim, and one who doesn't stick their nose in other people's business."
Cerise turns herself so that she's facing me head-on now, and she takes a step forward, the hostility in her face. I don't see what her problem is, really; if she wanted to get with Garret, she should've done it earlier. In the Capitol, and even in the Games, you don't think.
You just act.
You act on impulse, on instinct. There's no time to sit back, think, and then wait for the right moment.
Cerise waves her hand, looking away for a moment. She takes a deep breath, being completely melodramatic. "Well, I hope you enjoy him, Taima."
She even pronounces my name wrong. "It's not Tie-ma, it's Tay-ma," I say, adding emphasis on the correct way to say my name."
"I'm sorry, Tay-ma," she says, already spinning on her heels to walk the other way. She looks back over her shoulder, waving at me, but Garret raises his hand to wave back. "Just don't pregnant, honey."
As if.
Directing my attention back to Garret, I finally let go of his arm, standing beside him now. "Sorry about that. Looks like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."
"It's fine," he utters, this being the first time I've heard his voice. It's deep, and in a way, soothing. I like it. "So, why did you come over here?"
I smile. "To ally, of course!"
"To ally?"
"Why, yes," I say back, holding out my hand. "Would you, Garret of District Five, be my ally?"
When he goes in to shake my head, I smile, but if I could really express my feelings toward him, I'd roll my eyes. This was too easy – way too easy, actually. I wish I had to fight for someone, to actually manipulate them into allying with them. Apparently, Garret is that impressionable if a pretty girl is involved.
Well, at least he's mine now. Now, I just have to work on the boy from District Six, Zimmer. Then I'll have my own little alliance for the arena.
I'll have a whole alliance to myself. That's impressive, isn't it? We might not be Career-status, but still, it's something.
"Garret?" I ask, picking up one of the arrows from the table. I feel the top of it, where the actual point is, and when I hand it to him, he takes it from me.
"Yes, Taima?"
"I think we're going to have a splendid time together."
Garret goes back to his bow and arrow, nodding his head. I wait around for a little bit, just in case he has the need to say something to me, but when he goes completely silent, I just walk away. He's my ally now, anyway; so he really has no choice. He's mine.
He's mine to use, to be at my disposal.
Until he dies, that is. Then, I'll have Zimmer. Garret goes back to his bow and arrow, nodding his head. I wait around for a little bit, just in case he has the need to say something to me, but when he goes completely silent, I just walk away. He's my ally now, anyway; so he really has no choice. He's mine.
He's mine to use, to be at my disposal.
Until he dies, that is. Then, I'll have Zimmer. Or, the other way around, but honestly, I'd prefer Zimmer to die first – when I do get him as an ally, that is. I know I will be able to do it, but I'll need Garret to get involved to. Zimmer seems to, you know, out there.
Garret might be able to help with that one.
When I look over my shoulder at Garret one last time, I smile, seeing him play with that bow and arrow. If he could kill and protect me, that'd be even better. It would save me a lot of work, too. As I turn back around, I see someone next to me, which makes me jump a little.
"I'm back," Cerise says quietly. "I'm not done with you."
"Please, leave me alone," I quip, not having to keep up some act that Garret will see. I don't need to restrain myself anymore. "Seriously, you're annoying."
"And you're a whore," Cerise snaps. "But, I'm not complaining."
"What do you want, anyway? If it's to ally with me, the answer is no."
"I would know better than that. It's not cute to take advantage of boys like Garret."
"What does it matter to you?" I ask, getting fed up with her standing next to me. If I wouldn't be reprimanded, I would throw myself on top of her, and maybe even punch a little. "You're giving me a headache."
Cerise shrugs, and as she spins on her heels again to walk away, her hair flips over shoulder. I stand there emotionless, watching Cerise as she walks away and back towards the knot-tying station.
I can't let people like her get in my way. I don't need distractions
I'm here to survive.
I'm here to win.
Darya Mercado
District Four Female, 18 Years Old
"If the Games were based solely on looks, you or Caelia would win. Tie for first, definitely. Ines would be, like, fifth."
Nodding, I roll the spear around in my hand, waiting for Trent to finish up. He continues to babble on, and although I know it's rude to ignore him completely, this senseless rambling is really giving me a headache. I almost got him to shut up, but I made the mistake of opening my mouth.
It's tiring listening to him talk.
We should be training – weapons, survival skills, everything. That is why we're here; making friends and engaging in conversations should be all put to the side. We aren't here to make friends, after all. At least not me, anyway. Maybe Trent needs someone in their life, but if he wants anyone to respond back to him, he should go talk to Caelia.
She talks just as much as he does.
"Don't you agree, Darya? Don't you think one of Larron's eyes is larger than the other?"
"Trent," I deadpan, turning towards him, the spear still in my hand. "Can we talk about this later? I just to want to work on my spear-skills, please."
Trent holds his hands up, feigning being offended by my comments. He nods his head, makes a face, and backs up. He mumbles something under his breath, and as I watch him, I see him going back towards Caelia. I heard Caelia raise her voice before, that being what made him come over to me.
He has no one else, really. It's not that I don't like him – he's just a handful.
Weighing the spear in my hand, I raise my arm a little, wanting to see how relatively heavy the spear. The ones back in District Four's training facilities were lighter than this. So were the tridents we worked with, but nonetheless, I'm sure I can successfully use one of the Capitol's spears.
I just need to practice with them.
There is always room for improvement.
The dummy is placed a few feet in front of me, and I raise my arm, I look over my shoulder one last time. I make sure no one is looking at me, not wanting to mess up in front of anyone. Now is the time where the Gamemakers are already watching us, and that's enough pressure as it is. I don't need anyone judging me too.
Anyone who did judge me probably can't use one of these spears either.
As I release the spear from my grasp, I watch it soar through the air, impaling the dummy right in the lower-chest. That's not where I was aiming for – I wanted the center area of the chest. I didn't want the lower, I wanted the center.
What if that was a real person?
What if I didn't hit him in the right spot? What if my missed target let them get away, or let them come after me? What if that wouldn't kill them?
Varina could always do this. She always hit the right spot that would kill anyone. She could do it, so why can't I?
Grabbing another spear quickly, I try again, this time the spear landing in the upper chest. I shake my head, and as I reach for another spear, I see Trent standing there again. His hands are on his hips, his chin craned upwards and he's looking down at me. Trent smirks, but I remain there, not taking the spear from the table.
"I'm back," he says, gesturing his nod towards Caelia. "She told me to leave her alone."
"I would appreciate that too, Trent."
"But, I'm bored. Aren't you bored?"
"Why don't you do something – I don't know – productive?"
"Woah, woah, woah. There is no need to get snappy, Darya. I was only coming to help you."
"With what?"
"The spear. See, your arm is angled too little. You want to tighten your elbow, bringing it out more. Extend it as if a pillow or something was there."
A pillow? Is that the best analogy he can come up with?
But, for now, I'll listen to what he has to say. I extend my arm out further, making it more perpendicular to my body. He nods his head, and as we make quick eye-contact, he winks. Looking back at my two failures on the dummy, I grip the spear tightly, and with one throw, launch it flying towards the dummy.
Before it even gets into the dummy, Trent is clapping. I look away, and when I look back, the spear hit right in the center of the dummy – just like I wanted before. Letting out a breath of relief, I look up at the Gamemakers on the balcony above, not sure if any of them are looking at me.
Did they see that? I hope they did.
"Thanks usually works," Trent says, winking again. He grabs his own spear, and without any preparation, throws the spear at a dummy a little further than mine. It impales the dummy in the neck, making it bounce back a little, but the springs on the bottom of the dummy make it stand back up. "You might even become as good as I am soon."
"Thank you, Trent."
"No problem, kiddo."
Trent goes back to being quiet, now entertaining himself with his own spears. I always expected him to have a wide skill set, but now that I see what he could do with a spear, it's proven to me. He might get distracted easily and not stay in one place for more than five minutes, but maybe that's because he already knows what he's doing.
Do I know what I'm doing?
What if I don't?
Am I just as well-equipped as Trent is? Can I do what he can? Can I act like he can? Does he have what it takes to be a victor? But, more importantly: Do I?
Am I good enough to be a victor?
Trent is that good.
I want to be that good.
If I want to win, I have to be better.
Gage Orsini
District Three Male, 18 Years Old
"These suits are really tight. Like, shouldn't we be comfortable? I can't run in this."
Emery bends down and touches her toes, and as she springs back up, her hair falls out of place. She frantically fixes it, and as she holds one of the strands of hair up, she smiles. She goes back to fixing it, and once she's done, she bounces upwards a little.
"Okay! We are good!" She cheers, a pensive look on her face. "Now, what do we do?"
"I don't know," I answer her, not really sure what she wanted me to say. There are so many things to do, but each station is already full with different tributes, and even Emery said herself that it'd be better to stay clear of anyone else for the day.
It makes sense, so I'll give her that. Now isn't the time to dive into any other alliances or to meet any new people, now is the time to watch, to observe. To form judgments from afar.
I don't really know even if I want to get another ally. Emery hasn't asked me yet, but I don't plan on asking her, either. It just sort of happened that way. I don't really have a choice.
I think I would be better off with only one ally, anyway. It's only one more person to worry about.
"How about knot-tying?" Emery asks, not really giving me a choice. She's already scampering off into that direction, her hand trailing behind her for me to follow. I make myself walk after her, and seeing that the station is completely empty makes me more comfortable going over there.
It's not what I don't want to talk to any other tributes, but one is enough. Although it's hard to realize, being here isn't about making friends and whatnot. Allies are one thing, friends are another. Emery is an ally – well, she thinks I'm her friend, but I know the problems with that.
I just don't want to get myself too attached. That's always been the problem.
"Hurry up, Gage!" Emery calls over, already spreading out some of the materials on the long table.
"Coming, Emery," I reply, my voice too low for her to even hear. When I get to the table, Emery hands me a few pieces of string, as well as clamp of some sort. I begin to play with it all, not having a book or anything to teach me to how to do it. Emery's making some odd design with the string, not really caring too much about the actual point of this station.
I look at what she's doing, and then she places it down. "Are you okay today, Gage? You seem so quiet."
Shaking my head, I force a grin onto my face. "Oh, don't worry, Emery. It just will take some time to get used to all of this."
"That's the truth," Emery replies, going back to playing with the string. "This is all so scary. Don't you think so?"
I nod.
It's not so much scary as different. Being in the place with all cruel people, none of whom have a concept of reality. The place where all of its citizens sit upon their thrones, completely oblivious to the treatment they subject the Districts to. That's the Capitol for you, though. I'm just not too happy with being here.
It's better than District Three, though. There's nothing there.
It was always the same routine. The same mundane routine, seeing the same people over and over again. I always wanted to go somewhere else, yet here I am, completely miserable being in the Capitol. I got what I wanted, though, which is a first.
"Don't you agree?" Emery asks, and as she snaps me out of my thinking, I don't know what she was just talking about. "Don't you think the Careers are really tall this year?"
"Yes," I say. "They are rather tall."
Looking over at the swords station, I see the two from District Two, Darien and Caelia. I remember them from the Reaping recaps, and as I watch them, they look exactly the same. Same confident aura to them, same smug look on their faces. They're just talking to one another, not even practicing with the swords.
No one is there except them. The two of them there is probably intimidating everyone so that they stay away. That's probably exactly what they want – to scare the other tributes.
At the archery station is the boys from District One and District Four. The only two Careers I didn't see were the girl from One, which I haven't seen all of this time, and the girl from Four. The boy from Four has the boy from One in a headlock, rubbing his fist into the top of his head.
"They're acting as if this is some joke," I mumble, catching Emery's attention. "As if they won't die."
Emery tenses up, pulling back her hands. "Let's not talk about that."
"There's no going around it," I snap, not really censoring myself around her. When I see that Emery really isn't comfortable with talking about this, I inhale, taking a deep breath. Changing the subject, I ask, "How's your knot coming along?"
Emery answers, but I'm not really listening anymore. I understand the whole ally-aspect of this relationship we have, but if she can't even talk about death, what will come of this? Would she be able to fight if it came down to it? I don't think she would.
Yet, I don't feel like I could end this right now. For some reason, I feel attached to Emery, something I've never felt with some people. She's the only one here that somewhat gets me, who knows anything about me. If I were to leave her, who would she have?
I couldn't do that to her. She's too innocent, too naïve about it all. She wanted to ally with me, and even when I showed no interest, she still went for it. She's not cut out for the Games, though, is she? She's too sweet, too delicate. I don't even mean to be patronizing, but that's the truth. Even our mentors realize that. They said that she's a good person, one that would be a good ally.
They said nothing about me, though. What am I, then?
Emery is a good person. But, me?
I don't know what I am.
I'm not sure anything's even there for me to be a good person.
I just feel empty.
Author's Note:
There you go: Training Day One!
As you can see, I'm changing it up to four POVs per Training Chapter. Per most chapters, actually. I just want include more and have more time to showcase some of the tributes. It only adds about 1000 words, anyway, so it's not too bad.
Anyway, what do you think about these tributes?
Who stood out? Who do you want to see more of?
General comments on POVs and whatever else you want are always good as well.