Gaia Branson, 17

District 9 Female

Gaia woke up snuggled deep under her blankets, her body achy and sore. The past two days of training had taken a toll on her body. She wasn't out of shape, but that level of sudden physical fitness would tire out anyone.

'Well, except for the Careers,' she thought ruefully. Blitz could probably throw her across the room without breaking a sweat. And Noah would clearly have no issue crushing Colette like a bug.

Memories of yesterday's confrontation ran through her head, making her shudder. Noah had shoved her aside so easily as he stormed towards Colette, who's dart landed a bit too close to him. There was nothing she could have done to protect her ally; her friend.

And then, sitting there on the floor, she used every drop of courage she had to stand up for herself. And what did she say? 'Go away'. The girl from 7 was ten times braver than Gaia was, and witnessing her courage made Gaia feel even more afraid. What if she didn't have it in her?

For the first time, the mental wall Gaia locked her fears behind cracked, and she found herself imagining the cold slide of metal in her stomach. Tears filled her eyes and she bit down on the back of her hand to keep herself from sobbing. Alrik held himself together so well; even Colette seemed to be alright. What was wrong with her?

'It's not fair', she thought to herself. The Capitol was pitting children against children in a fight to the death, and if you showed any sign of fear, you were considered weak. Surely everyone should be terrified! Maybe even the Careers were scared…

Gaia sat up, taking a deep breath. She needed to stop thinking like this. It was a vicious cycle of worry that would consume her if she didn't cut it off. She sat cross-legged in bed, breathing deeply until her heart rate had slowed. Then she slipped out of bed and into a cold shower.

She felt calmer afterwards, but still ate very little at breakfast. To her surprise, Alrik didn't either. He kept his head down as he drank black coffee, muttering to himself. He was a little scary, but Gaia always tried to be friendly. She held the elevator door for him as they rode down to the training gym. He just acknowledged her with a nod.

Today was the final day of training, and Gaia still had no idea what she was going to show the Gamemakers. And the private sessions were just after lunch, so she had very little time to decide.

Scanning the small group of tributes for Colette, she ended up spotting Danse, who was off to the side of the room. Taking a deep breath, Gaia walked over to her.

"Good morning," she said politely. Danse raised her head and stared at Gaia.

"Hi."

"I, um, just wanted to say thanks for standing up for Colette yesterday. That was brave."

Danse, whose face seemed to have a permanently sour expression, softened the slightest bit.

"Yeah," she said. Her voice was still flat, but it was a bit gentler. She seemed pleased, and that made Gaia smile. Maybe she wasn't the bravest person around. She could still bring a smile to someone's face.

Ray Phillips, 14

District 10 Male

Thalia's eyes had been on him all morning. Not constantly, but enough that he most definitely felt like he was being watched. He'd caught her a few times too; every time their eyes met she'd look away furiously.

'There's no way it's a crush,' he thought to himself as he worked on getting a fire started with flint. Thalia was older than him, and whenever he looked at her, she looked angry. In fact, it looked like she disliked him. But he had no idea why. And he didn't like it.

If she wasn't so hateful of him, we would have allied with her, or at least made an agreement to not kill each other. But when it became clear that wouldn't work, he turned his sights elsewhere. Originally, he was thinking of striking up an alliance with the girl from 12, Saoirse. She seemed capable but gullible; a perfect shield. But she'd shrugged off his attempts at friendliness as well.

It was probably for the best though. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure an alliance would only slow him down. No one else was as capable a hunter as he was, and he didn't have the time to babysit some clumsy inner-District kid who'd never even seen a tree, or a sickly 12 who probably only ate animal bones.

Finally, the sparks he'd created caught, and he abandoned his flint stones to coax the flames higher. After a moment or two, the twigs he used as kindling were alight and the larger sticks were beginning to smoke.

Someone scoffed nearby and he looked up to see Fallon, the girl from 11, watching him from a few stations away. When their eyes met, she smirked, before turning to Thalia and beginning to whisper to her. Thalia nodded once, not looking his way.

Anger rose in Ray's chest. What was she doing, acting like she was better than him? She was just some random kid! He was the best poacher in District 10! He stood up, walking around his fire and marching over to Thalia and Fallon. Thalia jumped when Ray said her name,

"What's wrong with you?" he snapped. Thalia's eyes went wide and she tried to hide herself behind Fallon, who just moved aside.

"What do you mean?" she murmured, looking at the floor.

"Oh, so you're going to act stupid? Do you even know who I am? Because-"

"Yes," Thalia interrupted, her cheeks flushed. "I know who you are." That shocked him. He closed his mouth and stared at her, wracking his brain to remember if he'd met her somewhere.

"...two little bitches in the woods, stealing our catches and…". The rambling sentence came to mind. One morning, Ray and his father went hunting with his father's friend. He told Ray's dad that there were rumors of two girls living in the woods. His dad had scoffed, saying there was no way a woman could hold her own out in the wild. Then their conversation switched to their wives, and Ray stopped listening. Were those rumors true?

Thalia was watching him silently, chewing on her bottom lip. She looked scared, and Ray's confidence came rushing back.

"I know who you are too," he said smugly. "You're my first kill."

Yale Morley, 18

District 12 Male

Yale looked down at his thin, scarred hands, head whirling with thoughts. Today was the last day of training, and he hadn't been down to the training gym once. The Capitol doctors said he wasn't allowed to leave his room until the private sessions, just to make sure the shots he'd been given were doing their job.

Dr. McCarthy, the woman who'd been taking care of him, said that they didn't have enough time to cure him before the Games began. But she'd given him shots that made him feel healthier and stronger, and he was much less contagious now.

That was good. He didn't want to infect the other tributes, unless they seemed especially deserving of it. And he had no way of knowing that. He hadn't been allowed to train.

It was frustrating, because he both understood why and desperately wanted to be down there with everyone else. This was his chance to be normal. And it was his chance to see his brothers.

It was like a cruel joke that he'd discovered his family through being forcibly entered into a death match. And he couldn't even talk to them without fear of making them sick. But Yale couldn't stomach the thought of never speaking to them.

Dr. McCarthy had been given special permission to let Yale onto the roof, so he could get some fresh air and so that she could work with him with a slightly lower risk of infecting herself. He knew where the door was. Now all he had to do was pass along the message to Blitz and Wyler.

Sighing, he flopped back on the bed, which triggered a hacking cough. They hurt a lot less, but they were still powerful enough to leave him reeling. And in that moment of dizziness, he got an idea.

He couldn't write very well. The Landons only allowed Yale to go to school for a few years. There was no way he could put down what he wanted to say onto paper. Unless Saoirse did it.

Yale had mostly been in his room, but when he did leave, he wore a black protective suit, a mask, a visor, and gloves. He washed himself thoroughly in a boiling shower before putting on his protective gear and walked over to Saoirse's room and knocked.

"Come in," she said, and Yale opened the door just a crack.

"Hello," he whispered. Saoirse's eyes went wide when she saw him.

"Yale? What the hell? Are you… safe?" she hissed, backing up towards the wall.

"Yes," he said. "And I really need your help."

Saoirse tied a spare shirt around her face before hesitantly gesturing for him to come in. He stood just inside the door, not wanting to scare her.

"I want to talk to my brothers," he said simply. "Could you write them letters from me when you go down to the training gym? I… I want to know them before I die."

Yale couldn't read the look on Saoirse's face very well, but let out a sigh of relief as she opened a desk drawer and pulled out a pad of fancy Capitol paper and a pen.

Hey everyone! Here is the final day of training. Unfortunately, Yale wasn't allowed to participate. And to clarify timing, both Gaia and Yale's POVs started at the beginning of the day, and Saoirse delivered the letters during lunch. Also, Theo joined Adelind/Fritz alliance, along with Fallon.

Other than that, I don't have much to say here, so enjoy, and please leave a review if you can!

Questions:

1) Do you think Ray will kill Thalia or will she kill Ray? Or will someone else kill them?

2) Will Blitz and Wyler agree to meet Yale?

3) What do you think Yale will say to his brothers?

Current Alliances

Careers:
- Regina
- Helios
- Mozu
- Blitz
- Adelind
- Sam
- Noah

Girl Power! (and Dieter and Theo):
- Adelind
- Fritz
- Dieter
- Theo
- Thalia
- Fallon

District 6:
- Ellie
- Josko

Happy Gals:
- Colette
- Gaia

Loners:
- Lana
- Wyler
- Danse
- Marcus
- Alrik
- Ray
- Saoirse
- Yale

Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!

- Fiona