Nairobi POV
I picked at my lunch of bread and fruit chunks and looked around the dining hall at the other Tributes. It didn't look good. Half of them were twice my size and the rest were trained killers. Toby was doing his best to help me, but I don't think he can even help himself.
"Can I sit with you?" Jonathan asked. He held his tray and waited.
"Sure," I said. District partners, right? He sat next to me and set down his tray.
"So, things don't look too good for Six, huh?" Jonathan said.
"Not really," I answered.
"I was thinking maybe if we stuck together, we might last a little longer," Jonathan said.
"You want to be allies?" I asked.
"Yeah," Jonathan said.
Why not? I thought. It can't hurt. We shook hands and that was that.
Eltara POV
"Good. Continue," Doris said. I pulled my sickle out of a dummy's throat and started again.
"What do you do after you've won?" I asked Doris. I didn't stop training.
"You train more Victors," Doris said.
That was a little anticlimactic. What a waste. We train all our lives for this and half of us don't even win? I was going to, of course- too late to back out now, even if I did want to. What if I had better things to do than train privileged kids to bring glory to Two? I wanted to kill on my own terms.
I wrestled a sparring partner to the ground and held my sickle to his throat. Screw the Careers. I was doing this my way.
Taylor POV
Drone said I should have a look around the building. I knew what he meant. Torchy might make it, but I might as well have fun while I can. There were all sorts of cool things, like a glass elevator and a nail salon. A few Capitolites were in some of the stores. Maybe they were tourists or something.
A little boy with orange streaks in his hair saw me and tugged at his mother.
"Mommy, look, a Tribute!" he said. She turned and looked at me.
"Can we go see her?" he asked. He took her hand and pulled her toward me.
"You're in the Hunger Games! Are you scared? Can I have your autograph?" he asked.
My autograph? Of course I'm scared. Thanks for reminding me, I thought.
"Here," I said. I took the receipt he handed me and scribbled my name.
"Wow, thanks!" the kid said. Something caught his eye, and he sprinted away. His mother ran after him.
That was something, I thought. Wish my life was that easy.
Dahlia POV
Puff was a cool lady. She had access to all the beauty products I could want, and I had all the style she could want.
"For your interview, I was thinking a yellow ball gown," Puff said as she searched for errant hairs.
"That would be all right," I said. "But black's really more my color. How about something like this?" I outlined a stunning dress with a plunging neckline and a petaled skirt reminiscent of a certain flower. Puff listened raptly and drew a sketch.
"I'll need some accessories too, of course," I added. "I think red would go nicely."
"Oh, that sounds lovely. I'll fetch some rubies and coral," Puff said. She flitted away.
I smiled and watched her go. Piece of cake. All I needed now was a good ally.
Farlon POV
I lay on my bed waiting for the Games to come. If I'd had a Mentor, I'd have been with him or her getting some additional advice. As it was, I was on my own.
Wonder what Levi's up to? He better be in bed and not "learning" from Uncle Swin. I tossed restlessly on the bed and sat up.
You might die. What will he do without you? Stop it. You left him enough money to put him through school and find a job far away from your old turf. He'll be fine. And you'll come back to him.
I picked up a remote and turned on the window. That seemed wrong somehow, but there were no other windows in the room. I set it to show the city like a real window would show and watched the people go by. I wasn't getting any sleep anyway.
Nero POV
I expected the Careers to meet every now and then, but I didn't expect Eltara to come knocking on my bedroom door. I was bored stiff with the Training Center closed, so I opened the door.
"Hey, Eltara. Here for a little workout?" I asked with a leer. She stared stonily at me and came inside. She remained standing.
"I've decided to split from the Careers. I do have room for one partner. Since you're from my District, I thought I'd ask you first," she said.
"Good choice. I suppose I can live with having another three or four Tributes I don't have to pretend I like," I said.
"Then we're agreed?" she asked.
"You got it, sugar," I said. She left the room without another word. I never liked the Careers anyway. They were so wrapped up in honor and valor. All that mattered was power, and I had that in spades.
Xzavier POV
Who's even with the Careers this year? I thought. I went over the Tributes in my head. Something seemed off about Eltara. She might be going it alone. That left me, Dath, Nero… wow, no girls? It was a pretty small pack this year. Hopefully it would end up better than last year's pack.
Dath dropped by my room and knocked on my door.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Eltara's out. She took Nero with her," he said.
"What? When did that happen?" I asked.
"Just now. News travels fast in the Capitol," Dath said. I motioned him inside and we sat opposite each other on two chairs.
"Without Eltara and Nero, it's just us," I said. "Not that we're not awesome, but can we even be a pack with two people?"
"I think we need at least one more recruit," Dath said. "I think out best options are Torchy or Frankie."
We started with Frankie. Dath knocked on his door, and he opened it a crack.
"Yes?" he asked.
"You interested in being a Career?" Dath asked. Frankie shut the door in his face.
"Nice pitch," I said. "Let me try the next one."
When Torchy opened his door, I started in.
"Hey Torchy, you like hurting people?" I asked.
"Yeah, why not?" he said.
"Great! So do we. Wanna hurt people with us?" I asked.
"Yeah. Why not?" Torchy said. He shut the door. I turned to Dath.
"And then there were three."
This should take care of a lot of the Tributes. I missed a few, so I can add them in after the interviews. I hope Eltara's POV emphasizes that she's not just a killer. Even Careers have other thoughts. Theodora may have been reminded of Venus, but Theodora's a Gamemaker. All these Tributes blur together. Venus and Eltara come from the same District, so they have similarities, but Eltara is Eltara.