Chapter Fourteen.
Training - Day Three.

Blaine Parker; 17 years old.
District Three Male.

Peace didn't exist.

No matter how hard Blaine tried, the noise seemed to follow him wherever he went. Back home, he did whatever he liked, and people left him home. He had a life of his own, he had hopes, and he had a future. A future where it could be just him and a good ol' pack of cigarettes, with no one to bother him. But of course, fate had to fuck it all up. Fate had to be the bitch that it always was, and ruin everything.

That was what his "father" told him, when they had two minutes to see each other for what would surely be the last time. That it was in fate's plan for him to be reaped, and maybe, it was also in its plan for him to die in there. Blaine Parker, the boy who loved his cigarettes, wouldn't come out of the arena alive.

Fuck that. Did they expect him to accept his death just like that? Did they expect him to give up, like that small boy from Seven? No, he wasn't giving up. He was simply doing things in his own way, and to hell with anyone that dared to tell him that he was wrong. But right there, he was making progress.

Yesterday, Blaine Parker made an ally. At first, he wanted nothing more than to see the boy behind his back. The Career reject, they called him, the one who wasn't good enough to be accepted into the alliance. So when the boy started following him around, without having the courage to talk to him at first, Blaine was quite annoyed. He quickly told the boy to fuck off, and moved on into the next station, hoping that the boy would gain some sense in his head and leave him alone.

Of course, Blaine wasn't about to go on and hit the boy, because he surely didn't feel like having to answer Beetee. Hell, he wasn't a person to start an argument if no one messed with him. It was quite simple, if they hit him, he did his best to hit back, twice as harder. That was the way that the world worked, and if Blaine wanted to have a place in the world, he had to follow it. Remember, his mother had told him once. If you don't have your own back, no one will.

He would join her. One day, he would. But it would be seventy years from now, in his bed back in District Three, surronded by those that he grew to care about. Erin and Quinn, and maybe, he would even make a family of his own. Hell, he had so much ahead of him. Maybe he wasn't the best person in the world, and he wasn't particulary nice either, but he didn't deserve this.

Chin up, Parker. You're here now, and if you wanna keep that lazy ass of yours alive, you better work.

Nikolai Faustus, Blaine's lovely ally from Two, was currently heads over heels with a sword that they had discovered in the station. Shashka, he called it. Why they couldn't all it simply a sword was something that Blaine would never be able to understand. "You know, I made one exactly like this on my sixteen birthday. That's when I realized this was the best type of sword that anyone could use." Nikolai swinged the sword around, testing it over and over again.

Blaine rolled his eyes, and turned back to his own sword. "Yeah, right. Look at me, buddy, do I look like Victor material? I surely don't. We all have our own dreams, but sadly, the world is a truly fucked up place. Get over it."

Nikolai snickered. "No, I mean it! My family makes the weapons for Two's Academy. I just never had a free pass to train in it, or even get closer to it. I make the weapons, my family delivers them."

"So you would know everything about every weapon in this room? I mean, of course, that's why they kicked you out. The Careers are so strong that they don't need a weapon-maker in their mix." To this day, Nikolai still refused to tell him him why the Careers kicked him out. it wasn't important, he said.

"I never wanted to be with them. I came here to prove that I'm better than those Careers who train in the Academy, not to be their lap dog. I refuse to serve anyone but myself." Maybe, maybe, they did have that in common, but that was all. Blaine was starting to understand his ally a little better, and right now, he was getting quite bored. Proving myself, blah blah blah. The Careers, blah blah blah.

Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad way idea to kick his ass when they got to the arena, after all. "Hey, so you don't plan on doing anything else today?" Blaine asked, and pointed to the chair that Nikolai was currently sitting in, with his special sword next to him.

Nikolai shaked his head, holding back a yawn. "Nope. I'm saving my strenght for the private sessions, that are the only thing that truly matters in this short period of four days. You know we're pretty lucky that we're among the first, uhm? I head they're pretty drunk by the time that District Twelve is called."

Blaine considered his ally's choice for a few seconds, and glanced at the big clock, placed in the middle of the room. One hour from now, they would be heading into the private sessions. One by one, the Gamemakers would score them and that part of the game would be done. Was it truly worth it wasting their energy in this final hour?

Of course not. Blaine sat down next to Nikolai, feeling a new purpose rush through his body. Doing what other people didn't want him to do made him feel free. Made him feel like he was back home, with his cigarettes and his friends, with no one to tell him what to do. For a second, Blaine forgot the Hunger Games, and everything that came with them. For a second, he was just Blaine Parker again, happy to be doing whatever he wanted to do.

But of course, peace could never last forever. Blaine was starting to make a theory that there wasn't such a thing as peace, in the first place. When the boy arrived next to them, shaking and breathing pretty quickly, Blaine was sure that he had seen the boy before. District Twelve, maybe? District Eight?

"H-hi g-guys." He said, even if Blaine had no idea of who he truly was.

Nikolai quickly nodded to him. "So, have you made your decision, Fabian?" When Nikolai noticed the look of confusion in Blaine's face, he cried. "Look, I didn't know if you wanted to ally or not in the first place, so I invited Fabian to come join us if he decided he had enough of his last ally. And apparently, he did. It can't hurt to have some extra help, don't you think?"

"If this alliance is off to start with secrets, then it's not a very good start. But whatever, I'll deal with it. Can you do anything, boy?" It was probably not necessary to be this blunt, but hey, it was the Hunger Games. If the boy was useless, then Blaine would make sure that he didn't make it past the bloodbath. In a death contest, the best man won, and it was not about playing nice.

"Yes, I-I can. I work with knives, and when that doesn't work, I think I can also use a bit of rope. N-Nikolai saw it before, he knows what I can do." Blaine glanced at Nikolai, but the boy only nodded.

"We're going to let him join us, then? Just because he is your friends?" If Nikolai thought that there was such a thing as friends in the Hunger Games, then Blaine probably made a wrong choice for an ally.

"No, Blaine. We're to let him join us, because when we fight against the Careers, you're going to thank me that we're three, instead of only two. We might even survive longer because of that. Just think about it."

Blaine cringed. "Well, I don't have much of a chance to think about it. You already said yes, even without wanting to know my opinion first." Getting up, Blaine placed the sword back in the shelf, turning his back on his newest allies.

Nikolai sighed, following him, just like he had done in the first day of training. "You're being an asshole, Blaine. Fabian will help us, you'll see. You'll even thank me that I decided to let him join us."

Blaine snickered. "Well, suprise suprise, Nikolai. That's exactly what I am. An asshole. If want a nice guy, go back to your friend. I'm an asshole and also an idiot, and guess what? I couldn't care less about what anyone else thinks me."

Nikolai didn't bother to follow him again. Some tributes glanced when passed by, just like the people back in Three did, but Blaine ignored him completely. Now that he was on his own, he felt calmer again. That was all a mistake, in the first place. Getting an ally and pretending that he was a nice person, that was nothing for Blaine. He was who he was, and if his allies wanted someone better, then they should stick with each other.

He needed them. Right now, when almost everyone had gotten an alliance, Blaine needed them. But later in the Games, when things started to get rough, he would do what he did best. He would leave them behind, and then, the Seventy Second Hunger Games would truly begin.

He would be Blaine Parker, and maybe, that would be the thing that saved him.

Coulter Xenophon; 16 years old.
District Ten Male.

He had a friend.

Everytime that Oliver laughed at one of his bad jokes, or told him how nice he was at throwing a spear, Coulter didn't know what to say. He blushed, nodded, and muttered a simple "thank you". Oliver didn't seem to understand, and everytime Coulter didn't answer, he just brushed it aside and started a new joke. Before, the old Coulter would have laughed with him and made one of his terrible jokes, but both of them would just laugh anyway, and be what they were supposed to be.

Teenagers. Young, wild and free, without a care in the world. Since the boy had requested an alliance, Coulter couldn't help it but wish that they had met back in District Ten, before everything happened. Before his life was ruined, and the old Coulter left forever, leaving only an emptiness where he was supposed to be. Coulter thought the Hunger Games were a curse, meant to put an end to what remained of his old life. But when he met Oliver Craddocks, everything changed.

The Hunger Games gave him a friend. Someone he could talk with, joke with, and maybe even tell him about the accident. The accident that had ruined his old life, and his family's, and had made him the way that he was now. Oliver would probably like the old Coulter, he thought. They could have been the best of friends, riding their horses together, without a care in the world.

That didn't matter now. He was there, and so was Oliver, and after so many years of wishing for a friend, Coulter had gotten his wish. Within three days, he had found happiness, friendship and maybe even a little bit of peace. Like Oliver said, whatever came next would come. Right now, they were friends and even if only one of them could go home, that was all that mattered. They were friends, and not even the Careers could come between them.

"Hey, buddy." Oliver threw him the net that he had just made. "Now it's not the time to be thinking of your dream girl, man, c'mon. Bros before hoes, remembre? But mostly, work before hoes!"

Coulter felt his cheeks turn red. "N-no, I-I w-wasn't t-thinking a-about girls." Then, an idea came to him. Coulter considered it for a moment, but he wasn't sure if Oliver would want it. After all, they had agreed that the two of them would make a better team in the Games. No one to slow us down, Oliver had said. But now, that almost everyone was in an alliance, would it hurt to add one more member to their alliance?

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "A penny for your thoughts, my friend?" There he was, calling him a friend again. Coulter had to stop himself from smiling. M-maybe maybe, he was wrong all along. Maybe there was some of the old Coulter left, and he was just waiting for the right person to come back. Perhaps Oliver would be the one to bring the old Coulter back.

"D-Do you think w-we should have anymore allies?"

Oliver considered the idea for a second, brushed a hand through his hair, and sighed. "Look around, please." Coulter did as Oliver asked him, looking around, taking every tribute and alliance in consideration. "Now tell me, who do you think would make a decente ally for us?"

There were only three tributes without an alliance. The youngest boy from Seven, the girl from Three, and the boy from Five. Coulter could have said the boy from Seven, but he knew that Oliver wouldn't stand for it. He was too smart, too strong, to ever want to include such a small boy in their alliance. I have to be like him. I have to be strong and determined like him, no matter what it takes.

If he didn't want to lose Oliver's friendship, he had to be strong. No more crying around, Coulter. It's time to be a big boy now. Right there, he got his answer. "None of them. If they didn't have an alliance so far, it's because they're e-either w-weak or p-planning to go on it alone."

Oliver smiled. "Very well. Now, do you think any of the remaining aliances would take us in, if we asked?" Coulter thought the answer would be a yes. Excluding the Careers, and maybe Leila's alliance, the others could take them. The girls from Five and Eight stood together, the pair from Twelve with the girl from Nine, and the pair from Eleven was apparently an alliance as well.

"M-maybe. The o-ones that don't have many in t-their alliance."

Oliver glanced around for a second, but then shaked his head. "Not really. Most people here built their alliance in the first day of training, and some yesterday. They already know each other, and know who has their back and who doesn't. What do you think would happen if we were to join any of those aliances?"

Coulter knew the answer. The thing that was almost natural to human beings, almost as easy as breathing. Betrayal. "They would betray us in the first chance t-that they got."

The smile was back on Oliver's face, and Coulter felt lighter too. He was learning. He was finally understading what the rules of the Game were like, and what he wanted to, if he ever wanted to go back to his brother. That was when he noticed that Oliver's eyes were focused on something behind him.

"The pair from Eleven," Oliver said, when he noticed Coulter's stare. "They're coming over, probably to ask for an alliance. Since you are proving to be so wise, I'll let you make the decision. If we ally with them or not, it will be your choice."

W-what?

No, no, he couldn't. Being with Oliver, who he was starting to trust, was one thing. But with other people, no-no, he couldn't do it. It was too much for him already. You have to. This is a test, idiot. Oliver is trying to decide if you're worthy of being his ally or not. Decide quickly.

He had to be strong, for Oliver. It was the time to prove Oliver that he was worth it, that Oliver hadn't made a mistake when he decided to ally with him. When they arrived, Coulter tried to see as much from them as he could. The girl was tall and quite beautiful, while the boy followed her around, without paying much attention to anything else. "Amina, listen up, if you think I'm going to-" The girl glared at him.

"Shut up, Bastian. I make the decision." Then she turned to Coulter. "Hi! I'm Amina, and this is my district partner Bastian. We're from Eleven. We have been watching you for a while now. You and your friend," She pointed to Oliver, who offered her a wave in return."Seem pretty capable."

"T-thank you. I'm Coulter, and that is Oliver. We're from District Ten, and Nine." The girl was clearly in charge, Coulter noticed. The boy wasn't doing much but to stare at the ground, but he looked strong. Decisions, decisions.

"Well, I'll go straight to the point then. We were wondering if you wanted to ally with us? Both of us are pretty good with a sickle, and we can help you with everything." He could still her Oliver's voice in head, clear as day. They would turn on them with the first chance that they got, after all. There was only one right question. Do you want to risk your friendship with Oliver?

Coulter shaked his head, smiling sadly. "I'm s-so s-sorry, w-we don't want to get into a big alliance. I-it could give us more attention that we want, in the first place. I'm really sorry."

The smile disappeared from Amina's face, and all that was left was disappointment. "Well, I-we understand. Good luck in there, Coulter and Oliver. All of us will need it." After Coulter muttered a simple thank you and they were gone, Oliver smiled. But this time, Coulter was the one to notice something behind Oliver. The boy from Seven, playing with the net that had once belonged to Oliver, smiled sadly.

"H-hi." That was all he could say, before his eyes fell back into the ground. Oliver sighed, and eyes fel on Coulter once again.

Oh.

"Hi there," Coulter did his best to smile, after all, the boy already seemed scared enough. "I'm Coulter Xenophon, and this is O-Oliver Craddocks. There's no need to be scared. We're not going to hurt you, after all."

"Everyone i-in here will hurt someone at some point of the Games." The boy said. More wiser than they thought, after all. "I'm here for an alliance, i-if that's okay."

Coulter was about to say no. But there was something about that boy, something that reminded Coulter of what he was before the escort had called his name in the reaping. Weak, sad, with everything to lose. What kind of person was he if he left this boy alone? Oliver had taken him as a friend, and was starting to help him get his courage back. Maybe he could do the same for this boy. If he wanted a chance to leave the arena alive, with his humanity, this was what he had to do.

Oliver grabbed his arm. "Coulter, buddy, District Eleven was one thing. But this boy... he'll slow us down!" The look that the boy gave him was sad enough to have broken Coulter's heart, sometime and somewhere different. No, he couldn't. But he had to. "No, he w-won't. You told me to make a decision, Oliver, and this is my decision. I want him in our alliance."

The boy's eyes were suddenly on him. "Th-thank you. I promise I won't dissapoint you. I'm Hex, from Seven. I can climb pretty well, and I'm fast. I can help you get stuff from the Cornucopia. Thank you."

Even if Oliver didn't pay much attention to the boy, Coulter knew that he had made the right choice.

He had a place in the world. He had friends.

Nerinea Aravis; 18 years old.
District Three Female.

She was waiting for them.

Nerinea watched as the small boy from Seven joined the olders from Nine and Ten, the smile never leaving her face. Right there, she and the boy from Five were the only ones that didn't have an alliance. But Nerinea was calm. She always was, no matter how threatening the situation was. She thought better like that, without emotions getting in the way. It was only a matter of time, after all. In the past three days, Nerinea had watched everyone that would be going into the arena with her and talked to everyone that she could.

Not including the Careers. She was many things, but she wasn't stupid. The Careers would wreck her down, and destroying every chance that she had for an alliance. She would deal with them, later. Much later. When they were weak and separated, with the right moves, Nerinea was almost sure that she could take one of them. Not the five of them together, but separated, she could. All it would take was a little bit of extra strenght, practice and boom. Another Career would be gone.

The knives were her weapon. At least, from those that she had tried, they were her favorite. They already felt like an extension of her hand, so why not? A knife was one of the easiest weapons to use too. One clean move, and her enemy would gone. How wonderfully quick. A sword was pretty easy to use, as well, but she prefered the knives. Probably because she had used one in the day that she ended her own suffering at the hands of her father.

Not suffering. She had stopped feeling long ago, because one day, she just cracked. Maybe her emotions were too much for her, Nerinea had no idea. But now it was done, and she was there. Fighting for her life, once again, without no one but herself to watch her own back.

For the past three days, Nerinea had been flitting from one group to the next while building up good interpersonal relationships. She had met D6 and their girls from Seven and Ten, and most importantly, the girls from Five and Eight. Those were the ones that Nerinea was interested in. She acted as an harmless little girl, using words and smiles, but getting to know everyone in her own way. After three days, she had gotten one single conclusion.

They weren't willing to play the Game. There were a few exceptions, of course, but there was no one like her. There's no one like you, Neri'. She reminded herself, while throwing knife after knife. No one that went throught everything that you did. None of them know what real strenght is.

She didn't care, though. Thanks to daddy dearest, she had stopped caring long ago. There came a time, when she became numb. All the feelings, her fears and her hopes and dreams, were all gone. That was the day her father died. How could you do it? Terran had asked her, when she arrived in his home, covered in her father's blood, but feeling happier than she had in months.

Such a stupid question. How, why, what? Everyone had their reasons. Some were already preparing to play the Games, and some had already given up. Some fought for their family, and some fought for their own good.

Nerinea knew her reason. Killing didn't bother her, and it never had. It was just a matter of doing what needed to be done, even if it wasn't morally considered right. She wanted to take back her life. Everytime she took a life, everytime she watched someone fall at her feet, she would know what it felt like to take back her own life.

It didn't matter why Nerinea was playing the game, all that mattered was that she was more than prepared to kill. How could she do it? How could anyone do anything?

Nerinea knew firsthand how foolish it was to expect a question like that to do any good. She'd asked it herself when she was young. Asked it a thousand times. To her father who had abused her since she was five, to the teacher who abused her after she confided in him, to the so-called friend who made the whole school hate her. And of all the times she'd asked, she'd never been answered.

They would ask it too, surely. When she took them down, everytime, they would ask why she was doing it. Why she was playing the Game. Nerinea didn't plan to answer any of them.

She could probably do it alone. All of her life, she had been alone. She had fought alone, and every time a man was too rough for her, she didn't have anyone there to confort her but herself. She never cried, though. She was a woman, and not a little girl. Whatever they did o take her down, it wouldn't work. She had been throught it many times with her father and his friends, and after all, she refused to cry. She refused to show any type of emotion. Made of iron, she thought.

She had been planning on doing it alone, but this had changed her mind. She and the boy from Five were the only ones without an alliance, and it wasn't good for her.

Once the Games started, the Careers would come after the weaker tributes. But who would they target first? The answer was pretty simple to Nerinea. It was like a game. Those who had someone to watch their back lasted until the end, while the loners always died the first. Why? Because they were alone and in the end, their back was unprotected.

That was why she needed them. Everyone, she had realized, was looking out for themselves, keeping themselves alive. But it didn't hurt to have a little help, at the end of the day, and that was exactly what she was planning to do with those girls. The girl from Five would be harder, Nerinea had realized. She was tough, and more like Nerinea than she could ever realize.

A little patience and a little time, Nerinea reminded herself. That was all it would take to shape them into her own pawns, that she could manipulate to do whatever she wanted. Right now, they think I'm only an harmless girl who can do no wrong. How wrong they are. Putting on her smile, the one she used everywhere, and the one they said made her look like an angel.

Oh, she was an angel, they weren't wrong. But she was a fallen one.

"Kat, hi!" The girl from Five turned around, greeting her with a smile that was so fake that made Nerinea want to vomit. "And Brooke! How are the two of you doing?"

"Oh, we're fine." The younger girl replied, giving her a small smile. Out of the her tow possible allies, Nerinea prefered Brooke. Nicer, and not nearly as fake as Katarina, which could mean that she would be easier to manipulate. Maybe. "Have you considered our request, Nerinea? We'd love to have you. Kat as been focusing on the sickles, but I could use some help in the knives."

"Oh, I'm not that great, but thank you." If she was cocky, they would think that she was telling that true, and they would end betraying her in the end. If she played dumb, well... she would be the one stabbing them in the back. They're cute, though. Such a pity. If they were anywhere else, Nerinea would be trying to get both of them in her bed, not to get both of them killed.

She wondered how many she could make with the two of them, in one night. Probably enough to last her a week, and even some to buy a new dress. Interesting.

"Yes, I have been thinking, and I asked my mentor too. Of course I accept. I mean, when two amazing girls ask you to ally, how can a girl say no?" Brooke nodded, but Katarina's eyes never left hers. She's trying to see if she knows something about me, Nerinea realized. Seconds later, she realized that the girl was probably expecting to lower her gaze too. To confirm that Katarina was the leader of their alliance, and that she was the one in power.

If it was somebody else, they might have done what she asked. But hell, she was Nerinea Aravis and she didn't bow down to anyone, not even the God of Death. She wasn't afraid of anything, not even of death. If it happened, it happened. But that didn't mean that she wouldn't do anything that she could to stop it from happening.

After a few seconds, Katarina lowered her gaze. "You know, Nerinea, I have a feeling that the three of us will get along very well. We all want the same thing, after all." Nerinea smiled, and nodded. She might be more dangerous than what I thought.

"You and Brooke handle the knives. I'll look over the sickles, and maybe see the swords too." The younger girl went back to her knives, and Nerinea quickly followed her, the smile never leaving her face. It was done, she thought. She had an alliance.

Her life was too precious to waste on a death match. She had already lost herself, and everything that she had ever taken for granted. She couldn't allow the Games to take whatever she had left. Maybe after, she would have a sense of who she truly was. Maybe the Games would show her who Nerinea Aravis truly was and when she got home, she would be someone new. She would be Nerinea, the Victor.

Nerinea Aravis, the girl who finally got her life back.

A/N: Training is finally done! Okay, I admit this chapter wasn't my favorite to write, but it was necessary. But hey, the important thing is that everyone else enjoys! xD Three chapters away from the Games, people. So Close

Alliances (they're up in blog, but I thought I would also have a little list in here.)

Alexa + Aidan + Sadie + Jasko + Tiena

Leila + Preston + Sedna + Ryella

Amaryllis + Tyson + Niamh

Coulter + Oliver + Hex

Brooke + Katarina + Nerinea

Blaine + Fabian + Nikolai

Amina + Bastian

Loner: Kaneki

Up next, the private sessions. See you soon! :)