My updates are very irregular and I apologize about that, but I do have some good news is. I have a little more free time on my hands, and I am getting better with regular updates with some stories of mine, so hopefully this one will be the case also soon. I am hoping to get one more chapter out before 2022 ends, so hopefully I do.

Training Day 1: Tricks

~If only just to prove

You are born to lead the way~

Grover Woods (17), District 7

Grover studied the training room, looking over at all the various stations the Capitol had to offer. It was a little hard to make out what they were from where he was standing. He was a little eager, wanting to see what the different stations had to offer as the person didn't particularly explain anything and simply just said, 'you have three days, and you are not allowed to fight your fellow tributes.' It sounded bullshit to him as they were fighting to their deaths, and yet they didn't want people committing homicide, just yet.

His fellow tributes looked very unsure what to do, sharing nervous glances with each other- wondering what the meaning of this really was. They shifted their weight from one leg to another, barely looking at each other. No one really dared to move, until a couple of tributes from what it looked like to be from two, and four, who headed towards the weapons section, with blank looks on their faces.

After that, the tributes started to disperse from each other and headed towards different areas. They formed small groups of two or three who mainly focused on the survival area. Grover knew he should probably focus on that area, just in case, but he had three days to do so and right now, he was itching to try the obstacle course that caught his eye.

For days, he'd missed climbing. He missed the feeling of the rough bark against his palms. He missed the solitude, and knowing that people wouldn't bother him when he was high up in the trees, watching the sky change colors or watching animals from a distance.

It was his safe haven.

Being in the Capitol was much different than what he expected. For one, there was nothing to climb whatsoever. He wasn't really allowed to step outside and he wasn't going to bother to try. There were so many peacekeepers stationed around the building, that would have made it challenging to escape. For all he knew, they could be like the ones back in seven- those who didn't mind whipping or executing people for breaking rules. Grover had no particular desire to find that out for himself.

But he hated the feeling it brought him. It made him feel like he was trapped, like he was in a glistening, glass cage with glass walls all around him. People would stop and gawk at him, viewing him with interest, but they ignored the fact that he was pounding on the walls, his knuckles red and bloody, begging for someone to let him out.

To help him.

But no one would.

He was alone, navigating a place where he knew people would love to stab people in the back, and pretended they were allies until the very end.

It frightened him, but he knew there was a small possibility that he still had a fighting chance. Right now, he could focus on the obstacle course and not think about the impending games. He could hopefully get lost in the feeling of climbing, and not feel like people were watching him, and judging based on his climbing skills.

It was very different from the way it was climbing trees. His hands felt like they were burning, and there were moments where he was about to lose his grip in either his hands or feet. The hardest part was the fact that the rope wasn't steady from what it appeared to be on the ground, but simply moved every time he shifted, forcing him to think about his balance or weight at the same time.

He couldn't go as fast as he wanted, sadly. It wasn't a pace he was used to, but it helped when he almost got to the top of the climbing rope. It was then, when he realized that his foot was caught on the rope. He held onto the bars, as he untangled his foot, but he simply had problems trying to raise it up, high enough to get it unstuck.

Grover took a deep breath and he moved his hands back down to the rope, hoping that it'd get it unstuck.

Shit, what was he going to do? Grover thought to himself as he tried to not panic, when he realized that didn't work. He thought he heard laughing and sniggering coming from the ground, but didn't pay much attention to it. He focused on getting his foot uncaught so he could move on from the rope piece. It didn't really help much that the rope kept moving from side to side as he tried to fix his weight, and body to get his foot out

An idea came to him and he gripped his hands tightly on the rope as he used his other foot below into the open space of the rope, as he tried to swing his first stuck foot out of the rope. He closed his eyes, as his body did a flip, and gripped the rope until his knuckles turned white as he managed to get his other foot unstuck from there.

That was frightening, Grover said as he managed to get back down on the bottom of the ground, not daring to try that again for a little bit.

~Can't not think of all the cost

And the things that will be lost~

Audrey Holloway (18), District 4

Audrey hid her pregnancy the best she could when she got to the Capitol. She was very lucky that she didn't start showing and she was only in her first trimester. There was no way that she wanted anyone to know right at this minute, not at this crucial stage right before she entered the games. She knew if people found out, she'd be forced to get rid of the child or people might use that to their advantage, and target her first.

It was either kill or be killed, and right now- she wanted to put a fighting chance between her and the other tributes.

And right now, she was going to act like everything was fine, for right now. She stopped thinking about her pregnancy and instead, focused on the task on hand.

The alliance between one, two, and four, sometimes never happened. Considering the fact that the two mentors let it leak to Audrey and Brine, that they set it up for this year's games, and potentially might be a thing in the future, if it worked well, as long as they don't try to kill each other until the numbers start dwindling down. But standing with the other tributes from Two and Four, it felt like maybe it wouldn't work out as one didn't look like to be in alliance, and the boy from Two, also wasn't in the alliance. Audrey secretly hoped that One didn't join the alliance as it was going to make it easier on her part.

There was also a good chance, the two tributes from One could possibly change their mind. It was going to be the same.

For now, it might be best if they familiarize themselves with each other.

She looked at the boy from four, who was busy studying the weapon rack. Audrey caught sight of the other girl- Pandora, with her dark brown skin and dark black hair put up in a low ponytail. She was busy looking at the knives when Audrey approached her.

"How come you didn't allow your district partner to be in the alliance?" Audrey asked.

Pandora only smirked and responded,

"He didn't want to."

Audrey frowned. Something about that answer didn't really sit right to her. She knew nothing on how two worked with victors, volunteering or the entire system like four semi had. She couldn't help but feel like Pandora only said that, because there was something else to him. She heard the mentors talking about the guy from two, and how much of a traitor the family was, but she didn't really know the whole story.

How was she able to judge someone based on their background? Considering that they were at a disadvantage because of their family history, while she had disadvantage as she knew if people found out about her child, they would no doubt, try to target her.

"Oh," She said.

She didn't really have anything else to say to that response, so she simply headed over to the rack and picked up the bow and a couple of arrows.

Nocking an arrow, she pulled back the string and felt a small breeze right by her mouth as the arrow whooshed through the air and hit the red circle, the outer circle of the yellow bullseye.

"Not bad," she heard Brine say.

"You should probably work on your aim," he commented once more.

Audrey looked over her shoulder to see Brine with his head down, looking at the short sword he had in his hand. He looked over the sword, and Audrey could see a bit of his reflection on the sword.

"Would you please show me how it's done?" Audrey batted her eyelashes, lowering her head and giving him a soft smile that she knew it would work on him.

It worked on the guys back home, who didn't hesitate. They would have done absolutely anything for her, if she asked them too. She enjoyed the attention they brought her, and she was grateful that they pleased her in every way.

"I would, but I would like to train too," Brine pointed out, looking like he wasn't fazed by her trying to seduce him.

Audrey frowned.

Typically, people had a hard time saying no to her, and she thought Brine would easily fall for her tricks and manipulation. Yet, he didn't really seem fazed. She knew she was being selfish, but she came to win, along with her fetus.

~And I don't like talkin' to strangers

So get the fuck off me, I'm anxious

I'm tryna be cool, but I may just go apeshit~

Kairi 'Kai' Oriol (18), District 2

Kai wasn't stupid. He knew people were talking about him ever since he got to the Capitol. His own mentor barely really talked to him, if so, it was typically about 'oh, don't worry about anyone else,' type of thing, muttering about he was a lost cause under her breath. Of course, talking to the other mentor- Gabriel was out of the question, as he simply told him nothing besides that he wasn't his mentor whatsoever. It really seemed that no one really wanted anything to do with him whatsoever.

He overheard both mentors talking about the alliance, and how there was a decent shot at winning this year, and who exactly was going to be in the alliance. He heard some of the names that were said, and knew that it didn't include his name whatsoever. At first, he thought he didn't hear his name, but when Pandora and the two tributes of four met up, he knew that he wasn't invited to be in the alliance.

There was a small chance of him in the alliance, but it was better in looking for other allies, as a backup plan.

He looked around the room,noting where everyone was at. He barely paid attention to the three people by the weapon racks, doing whatever they were doing. There were a bunch of people over at the survival stations, either individually or in small groups of two, focused on their own tasks.

But the problem was that they were young looking.

It wasn't that, he didn't want there to be a weird age gap between allies. It was mainly because he knew that those younger didn't really have a lot of life experience whatsoever, and he hoped he could make some small talk with an ally that could relate to what it's like being around his age. It was also a little more comfortable than speaking to someone that was clearly much younger than him.

It was then when Kai spotted a taller, and around the same age, of a guy climbing the rope- the first part of the obstacle course. He watched as the guy untangled himself from the rope, and got down from it after the stunt he pulled. The guy massaged his hands, and rolled his wrists, to make sure they were okay.

The small crowd that gathered dissipated and Kai found himself in front of the person, and said,

"Did you want to be allies?" He held out his hand and continued on, "I'm Kai, by the way."

The person just stared at him, his face blank. His lips were slightly parted, but he still didn't take Kai's hand. He briefly wondered if the guy was ever going to take it, but he made no gestures that he was so Kai put his hand down, back to his side.

It took a couple of seconds before the person responded. He sounded disinterested, and honestly looked taken back by his question.

"Oh…" he said. I'm Grover."

"Did you want to be allies?" Kai asked again. ,

"No," Grover told him, and walked away.

Kai found himself letting out a small sigh. He looked around the room, wondering who else he wanted to ally himself. It wasn't going to be hard as there were certainly a lot more tributes around his own age, and probably willing to find allies. Besides, he still had days left before the games started.

There was plenty of time.

He was about to resume finding potential allies before someone came up to him. It was clear that they were around his age, and had spiky brown hair. He was tall, and had a smile on his face.

"Killian Swan," He said. "From District Five."

"Kai Oriol, from District Two," Kai said.

"Did you want to be allies?" Killian asked.

"Sure."

~Do your dirt, make your mark

My heart is a church of scars~

Casey "Cay" Hearsemen (13), District 6

Cay studied the different sections of the room. There was quite a bit offered, and he wondered if there was time to do all of them before the three days were up. He knew there were survival stations that could teach him how to build a fire, or how to camouflage so no one would be able to spot you. He noticed that there was another room that contained a swimming pool.

What caught his eye the most was the weapons.

Cay knew he should probably focus on the survival stations. He would probably have better chances at succeeding with the survival things that were offered than actually learning a weapon in three days, but he knew weapons played an important role in the games as they could also help with defending yourself from other tributes or getting food.

He headed towards the weapons area. There were instructors on the side, waiting for the tributes to ask them to spar with the,. He might try that later, but first, he wanted to go pick out a weapon that could potentially work decently with him.

Cay ignored the looks the people over at the weapons gave him. He knew they were from districts two and four, and yet no one, but they probably were nearby, just doing something. He thought it was cool how most of the tributes who came from those districts already had some experience with weapons already, while there were others who were at a disadvantage and never even touched a weapon before.

Cay grabbed a handful of throwing knives. He didn't realize the fact that he accidentally grabbed onto the blade, and cut his hand open. Blood quickly rushed out of his wound. Some of it dripped onto the floor, sliding down his palm as he briefly wondered how on earth he was going to be able to get something for his hand. He doubted the peacekeepers would aid him, and it probably wasn't going to be that bad once he applied pressure. Cay just had to remember the first day of the training to clean it and wrap it up with something.

He used his shirt, luckily the color was dark enough that no one would be able to tell about the blood splatter on the shirt. He felt the throbbing of the wound as he applied pressure to the wound, waiting several minutes until it finally stopped bleeding.

"You're not supposed to touch the knives with the blade," he heard someone say.

"I didn't realize," He said in a low voice.

It was very clear that he probably wasn't able to hold anything in that hand for the rest of the day, or for the next several days so Cay utilized the table right by him, by placing at the extra throwing knives on top of the table.

Cay watched as he placed his fingers around the metal part, careful that his fingers were on the bottom. He threw the knife and it landed on the floor with a small thud as it hit the hard ground. Cay felt a tinge of disappointment course through him, as he thought the knife would go much farther than it did. He really wasn't expecting the knife to be like a couple of footsteps away, whatsoever.

Cay sighed.

He picked up another throwing knife. This time, he closed his eyes, and held it over his shoulder, making sure that the blade was pointed away from touching any skin, in case he accidentally nicked himself again.

This time, the knife landed a little farther than the first one did, but it still landed on the ground. He tried it many times, each time landing on the ground. None of the knives were even close to hitting the target. It was clear the other tributes who were busy watching him, weren't going to help him out or give him any pointers on what to do.

He was on his own, figuring things out.

Cay bent over on the ground, picking up each of the throwing knives that landed on the ground, thinking about the fact that throwing knives weren't for him, but also, that meant there were other options that he could try out, and get decent at it.