Jessie Hart (D2 F 14)

I awake to the chirping of my alarm clock, and smile. Today's the first day of training. I notice that someone's already set out my training outfit for me on the floor. I dress quickly, and run into the dining room to shove down some breakfast. I leave just as Mason enters. "See you at training," I say as I walk out the door without him.

Not to my surprise, I'm the first one at training. I want to make a good first impression, not only with the Gamemakers, but the careers as well. If I want them to accept me, I'll have to show them I'm a serious trainer. The other tributes filter in over the next half hour. Mason staggers in only five minutes before it starts. At last, the Head Trainer, Falcon Logan, walks into the circle of mingling tributes, and tells us the training rules: no fighting with anyone, no attacking the Gamemakers or Peacekeepers, and try to visit the majority of the stations, including the survival ones. At last, he lets us loose.

I immediately walk over to where the District One tributes are standing, followed by Mason and District Four. As soon as the District One boy (Glint, I think) spots me, his face breaks into a devilish grin. "Woah woah woah, who invited the little squirt over?" he asks. "Was it you?" he says, pointing at Mason.

"Definitely not," Mason says. "I told her she'd never be allowed."

"Well in that case, get lost kid," Glint says. "You're only fourteen." His district partner looks like she wants to say something, but decides against it. So, I decide to speak up.

"I've got a plan that will work for both of us," I say.

"What's your plan?" Glint asks.

"Let me train with you," I say. "And then when the private training scores come along, if I get at least a ten, you keep me. If I don't, I'll leave the alliance. It works for you either way. If I get a ten, you'll be happy to have me on your side. I can kill, and get sponsors. If I get less than a ten, you'll know all my strengths and weaknesses from training with me for two and a half days. You'll know how to kill me."

I look up at Glint. He closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. "Fine," he says. "But there's no way you're getting a ten in training." I smile. He'll see about that.

Peyton Stanley (D6 M 12)

I decide to work at the survival stations first. Last year, Kat proved that those were important. I head to the poisonous berry station. Finding food and water are the most important things you can do in the arena, so it'll be great to have this under my belt. However, before the trainer even notices I'm there, I'm joined by someone else; the boy from District Nine.

"Hello," he says. "My name's Peter Grane."

"Hi," I say. "I'm Peyton Stanley."

"I know," Peter says. "I was rooting for your sister last year, by the way. I was very upset when she died. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks," I say. "So did you come over here to work on berries or..." I trail off.

"Well actually, I wanted to know if you wanted to be allies. I mean, we're close in age, and since we're young, it's probably best to stick with someone. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to when we're alone in the arena."

I think about this for a few seconds. Originally, I didn't want to have allies. It poses the threat of backstabbing. However, what he's saying is making sense. It would be nice to have someone to rely on in the arena. Also, he seems like a pretty nice kid. "Sure," I say. "Let's be allies." And we shake on it.

Jennette Parke (D3 F 12)

I'm completely helpless. All these giant weapons and tributes scare me. Since I know I have absolutely no chance of mastering a weapon, my plan is to focus on survival skills. I walk over to the knot tying station. It's no use. My fingers are too thin and weak. The trainer is a really rude young guy, and he keeps on laughing at me. So, I begin the hunt for a new station.

I decide to try out fire-making. You don't have to be strong for that, right? I find out I'm wrong. I can't rub the sticks on each other fast or hard enough to create a spark. After half an hour of pointlessness, I give up, and choose a new station.

I walk over to the poisonous berry station. Surely I don't have to be strong to master this one. For the first time today, I'm right. After over an hour at the berry station, the trainer tells me I have potential, but I still need some work. She wants me to come back after lunch. Well, since that's the only thing I can actually do, I guess I'll go. I stand up, and begin the search for a new station.

Lukas Cottingham (D8 M 16)

Aria and I have been struggling to decide which stations to go to. Aria wants to go for the weapons. She's told me she's trained a bit at home, but wants to try out some Capitol weapons. I'd rather focus more on survival stations. I'm not super athletic, so I think I'd be best at those. We ended up compromising, and have gone to a few of each.

I thought about going to different stations while she works on weapons, but decided against it. I could learn a lot from her about weapons, since she's already trained and everything. Plus, she also needs to work on survival skills. We both have to be prepared in case we're separated; or worse.

We decide to work at the ropes course next. It takes an great amount of upper body strength, but I don't weight a lot. I somehow manage to get across the beginner course. Aria has never done ropes before, but she does have some muscle. Sure enough, she manages to get through the course a few seconds faster than I can, easily.

Osborn Trevis (D10 M 17)

Finally, I gather up enough courage to ask Harvest to be my ally. I've seen her train all morning, and she's no superstar, but she's tough. She'll make a good ally. I walk over to her, where she's waiting in lines for the ropes course. "Hey, Harvest," I say, tapping on her shoulder.

She turns around. "Yes?"

"I was just wondering if you'd like to be allies," I say slowly.

She looks me over for a second. I really hope she accepts. Finally, after what seems like forever, she smiles. "Sure," she says. "I'd love to be allies."

Just then, the head trainer announces it's time for lunch. We walk into the lunch room. There's six tables, each with six seats at them. The trainer explains that there's so many chairs to give us 'options' on where to sit. After a quick trip through the lunch line, Harvest and I pick a table, and sit down.

A minute later, a loud burst of laughter tells us that the careers have left the lunch line. They walk to the closet table, and kick out the scared looking District Twelve tributes. They scramble over to our table, and sit down on the opposite end. I feel bad for them, but don't say anything. If I want to make it back home, I can't associate with too many people.

I spot Harvest looking over at the careers, a look of disgust on her face. "I hate them," she says. "How could you take pleasure in killing innocent children?"

"I don't know," I say. Over these past few days, I've decided I don't really want to kill, unless I'm threatened by the careers or another strong tribute. In that case, I might try. However, there's no way I'm killing any innocent little twelve-year-old.

"District Two's really unusual this year," Harvest says. "I mean, they've got a giant and a devilish-looking pixie for tributes. I bet the guy's really stupid. No one with that much muscle mass could have brains. The girl might be smart though, and I bet she still knows how to use weapons, even if she wasn't a volunteer. They all know how to, in District Two. She's only fourteen, though. Even the strongest fourteen-year-old would have trouble winning the Games."

As Harvest talks on and on, I discover that I'm really glad I asked her to be my ally. It takes guts to talk about the careers like that when they're sitting only a few feet away. Between that and volunteering for the little girl, I now know how brave she really is. I just hope she doesn't hate the careers too much. I don't think I want to go 'career hunting' in the Games. I hope to just sit back in the woods or something, and let everyone else do the killing. I don't want to take innocent lives.

Tadalynn Shipka (D5 F 18)

Finally, lunch ends. I'm very glad to get back into training. During lunch, I sat at the same table as the pair from District Eight, but only because that was the only semi-free table left. There's no way I'm allying with anyone. I can't trust anyone. Ever since I was falsely blamed for stealing from work, I haven't trusted anyone; considering the fact that my friend was the one who did the stealing. I still have some of the scars from the whip.

So far, all I've really been working on is trap-making. I know how to create electricity; I did it all the time at home. I've decided that if I figure out how to make some really neat traps, I can combine that with my electricity skills to make some extremely dangerous traps. Then, when I get into the arena, I can set up my camp and surround it with these electrical traps. Anyone or anything that tries to get past them, will be killed.

The trainer at the trap-making station calls me over when she sees me. I haven't entrusted her with the fact that I plan to use electricity with them. She could tell other people, ruining my plan. The only time I'll exhibit my skills before the Games is during the private training sessions. Since the Gamemakers there take an oath of secrecy, I know they can't tell anyone, or they'll be killed by the president. They won't risk their lives like that.

Rory Cedarby (D7 M 16)

I look over at Mapelle, who is working at the berry station. I have though about allying with her nearly ten times, but decided against it. When district partners are allies, the careers usually classify those tributes as weak tributes, because they're too afraid to ask someone from another district to be their partner. Or, they assume they're gooey lovebirds. That's not usually true, but I can't take the chance of being under-classified Besides, I know if I ally with Mapelle, I'll become too fond of her, and won't be able to hurt her.

I haven't found the ideal ally yet. I've been looking around as I worked on survival skills and ax training, but I haven't found anyone yet. Everyone is either looks to untrustworthy, is too young, or already has an ally. So, I think I may just go out into the Games with me, myself, and I. It's not what I hoped for, but it's better than allying with a backstabber.

However, as I continue to wait in lines at the ropes course, someone walks into line behind me; someone who I haven't even considered allying with yet. It's the boy from District Five. I decide to start a conversation with him. "Hi," I say. "I'm Rory. What's your name?"

"Eridan," he says.

"Do you have an allies yet?" I ask.

"No," he replies. "Why?"

"Well, I don't have any allies yet either, and I've been kind of looking for some," I say.

"So, you're saying you want to be allies?"

"Yes," I say. "But, I think we should train together for a little bit before calling it official; just to make sure we're okay with each other."

"Sounds good," Eridan says, smiling.

Ryland Yakavitz (D11 M 15)

I'm a failure with every single weapon. I've tried swords, spears, knives, archery, and axes; none of them have worked. I'm just not athletic or strong at all. So, I've decided to devote ninety percent of my time to survival skills. Basically, if I make it out of the bloodbath alive, I'll be good to go; until I'm forced to fight in the final five or so. Although, I don't expect to make it that far. I'll have some sort of confrontation before then.

Right now, I'm learning how to tie many different types of knots. It's very unlikely that I'll use most of them, but I want to be prepared, just in case. After I'm done learning knot tying, I'm going to go to the trap-making station. I wanted to go there earlier, but the trainer was working with the girl from District Five, and suggested I learn to tie some of the knots I'll need to create traps, and come back later, after the girl leaves. Although, I think she plans to stay there most of today.

Marina Ebony (D4 F 18)

Training has gone well today. Thankfully, all of the careers believed me when I said I planned to volunteer. Since Sheldon was trained by his dad, they have no way to prove I haven't been to the training gym in years. Besides, they've all been too focused on evaluating Jessie to notice anything suspicious. I have to say, she's a pretty talented fourteen-year-old; especially with throwing knives. With a little bit of creativity, she may be able to pull off a ten.

I've also discovered a little bit about the other careers. Alexandrite is a classic District One female; flirty, ditzy, and clearly unintelligent. Compared to other careers, though, she's a little under average when it comes to weapons. However, right as we were called for lunch, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shoot an arrow right into the bullseye. I'm pretty sure it was luck, but there's a chance that she could be hiding something. Her district partner is just as stupid as she is, but at least he's strong, and good at weapons. He's particularly talented with spears.

Mason is very similar to Glint; except for the fact that he's a foot and a half taller than him. His best weapons are the sword and the spear. Although, his height is intimidating enough. Sheldon is best with tridents and machetes, and he's just as strong as the other two; probably even stronger than Glint. His dad certainly has trained him well.

Overall, I think we've got an interesting mix of careers this year. Glint and Sheldon are pretty normal careers. Alexandite is a little less talented than I expected her to be, but she's got the customary low intelligence of District One females. If Jessie was older, she'd be pretty average, but her young age makes her even more of a threat. Mason is just super tall and strong, which will get him far. Me; I've decided to focus on archery. I used to be quite good at it when I was younger. Besides; when compared to Alexandrite, I look pretty good. The head trainer suddenly speaks up, interrupting my train of thought. "Day one of training is officially over," he says. "Please take the elevator back up to your floor and report here, same time, tomorrow. You are dismissed."

I'm back! Sorry for the late update, but like I said in the previous chapter, school started for me on Monday. :-( It was my first day as a freshman, so I was super nervous, but I ended up worrying about a million times more than I should have. However, I still hate getting up at 5:40 in the morning to catch the bus a few minutes after 7 (but I shouldn't complain because one of my friends catches her bus at 6:15, and she wakes up at 5). So, good luck if you're starting school this week! :-)

So, in regards to the story you actually came here to read (sorry if my short school spiel {try saying that five times fast [wow I'm bad at staying on topic]} was annoying), the poll is still up, so vote if you haven't voted yet. Also, continue to let me know who you think should still ally/if you agree with the alliances that formed. If your tribute is allied with someone you absolutely hate or think they shouldn't be allied with, make sure you let me know so that the alliance can 'tragically' get into a fight. ;-)

Anyways, thanks so much for reading! Next chapter may be up a little bit quicker since I don't have school on Monday for Labor Day. :-)