Training Day 2

-Rory Kwan, 18, District 8-

Rory had no idea she would be learning how to hide from danger on their own damn floor. But she just could not walk out leisurely to her mentor and have a relaxing breakfast. No, not here. Rory peeked around the corner, looking for any signs of life. Upon not seeing any, she felt confident enough to step out from behind the wall.

"Rory!" the voice of Eros spooked her, but Rory just had enough time to jump out of the way before an arrow was sent flying at her. Those arrows hurt more than you would think! And Rory was more than sick of getting shot at by her escort.

"Aw! Don't run away from love!" Eros said, pulling back the arrow and shooting it at her again. Rory went to the agility station first for a reason. She moved out of the way a second time, which was a first for her. Rory smiled, proud of herself but couldn't stay proud for too long because Eros just was not going to quit.

"Eros, stop this!" Rory said, but her words had no effect on the escort. "Tartan, are you not going to help me?!" she squeaked.

"This is great practice!" Tartan said. "Go disarm him!"

"This isn't fair, I don't even have a weapon!"

"Don't encourage Rory to disarm me, I'm trying to help her! By curing her broken heart!"

"You're about three years too late for this shit," grumbled Ant. "Cut it out."

"I'm just trying to give her something to live for! Give sweet Elaina a mother!"

At the mention of her daughter, Rory felt something snap. She stormed over to Eros, dodging one last arrow before she snatched the bow with a cry and snapped it on half with her leg.

"Leave my daughter out of this!" she roared as she threw the bow pieces on the ground and Eros stared at her. Rory was breathing heavy as she jabbed a finger into his chest. "Elaina needs a parent that will love and take care of her and it's going to be me."

"Way to go, Rory!" Paisley clapped from where she was standing in the doorway. "I was about to lose my shit on him if you didn't first. I'm not even into enbies. Strictly straight."

"Yeah, I think the non-attraction is mutual, considering where we are," Rory said. "Nothing against you Paisley, but I'm going to win."

"Nothing against you Rory, but you'll win literally over my cold, dead body."

"Aaaaw, I'm glad we all agree!" Tartan said. "Should you give a death hug? Maybe a little kiss?"

"Oh, shove it," Paisley told him, going over to get her breakfast. "I don't want to hear it from you."

Rory sighed as Eros fell to the ground dramatically next to the broken bow. "How could you do this?!" he cried out finally. "I was trying to help you!"

"You shouldn't help someone that doesn't want your help," Rory said. "Especially with stupid arrows that don't work and just hurt people."

"True, but an archer will never be the end of you now," Tartan said. "Well, unless they're more competent than this idiot. Don't jump into a battle that you can't win."

"But for today, come eat some breakfast," said Ant pointedly, and the District partners came to sit at the table. "Eros?"

"I can't eat, I'm grieving!"

Tartan gave a dramatic eye roll at that. "Just ignore him, he'll suck it up eventually. Just like you'll have to."

Rory swallowed nervously at that thought. She knew that she couldn't get attached to anyone…. Losing someone, just like losing Elaina… She took a deep breath. This was for her daughter. Her daughter meant everything to her.

Rory munched on her French toast, and was actually relieved at the silence that filled their floor. Eros eventually did join them at the table with a pout, not looking at any of them and especially not Rory. But at this point, Rory was so annoyed with him that she didn't even care.

"Alright you two, finish up," Tartan told them, holding up his knife and giving it a long lip. Rory cringed a little, uncomfortable with his infatuation with death and weapons. He is such a creep and Rory was still trying desperately to sneak advice from Ant, even though the older man was hesitant about giving Rory anything. He was technically mentoring Paisley, but damn.

"He's right, it's time to head downstairs." Ant stood up, and the others followed suit. Eros glared at his food, intentionally not looking at the others. "You coming?"

"Not after they hurt my bow!" complained Eros. "I'm staying here to fix it!"

"Oh God, why me?" Ant groaned, leading the group over to the elevator.

"Ah, you're glad to have me," Tartan commented with a grin while Ant grumbled. They rode down to the bottom floor, where the training center was waiting. As soon as they got there, Paisley put a sweet smile on her face.

"Cadmus!" she called, putting up a hand and running over to the boy from District Nine.

"Go get 'em you little spitfire," said Tartan, shoving Rory forward, who whipped around.

"Don't touch me!"

She groaned and stomped away from them, towards the spear station. She was getting a good handle on the weapon, and was hyper-focused and determined. Rory cried out as she stabbed the dummy over and over again. She put away her anger to listen to the trainer that was helping her, not wanting to waste this time just because her District team was such a fucking mess.

Next to her was the girl from District Ten. Rory eventually cooled down from her rage earlier, and watched the girl for a second. She was trying to learn by doing, so that she could impress the Gamemakers. She was observant and was going to let it be to her advantage. But the girl from District Ten… Was measly at best. She looked like she could barely take Rory with the weapon. And she kept looking around the room, obviously distracted with something.

Rory turned around and went back to her practice, bringing in her focus. As excited as she was to get better, she knew that she needed to learn about survival too. Rory wasn't about to die because she ate something wrong.

She went over to the edible plants station, where the Capitolite from Nine was standing with the little girl from Three.

"Oh darn!" Odessa said, looking at the test she'd just had and scored a 32 percent on. 'I'd be dead for sure!"

Vyka looked at her screen and back to Odessa.

"Oh well!" she giggled. "It's fine!"

"Keep working on it," Vyka said with a small smile. "I'm sure you'll get it. I'll… Talk to you later." Rory watched her run away quickly.

Rory went to a station a few over from her and started looking through the Slides provided to them.

"Hello!" Rory jumped a little bit at her and looked over to her.

"I'm Odessa Anthony. You're Rory, the volunteer, right?"

"That's me," Rory said. "One of many volunteers."

"I heard your story," she said, with a smile. "I think it's a great one. And I want us to help each other."

Rory smiled back, but her mind was turning. "Looks like you're having a hard time with this test. What can you do?" Rory wasn't about to ally with someone that didn't provide her with anything.

"Oh, that?" Odessa said with a laugh. "Disregard that." She pulled the test back up again. "Watch."

Rory watched as Odessa did the test again, answering almost every question correctly and ending with a score of 98 percent. The one she did miss was one that would give a case of the shits, but wouldn't kill. "Voila. Not dying from a berry anytime soon."

Rory's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the drastic change in scores. "Oh."

"I wasn't exactly looking to ally with someone like Vyka," Odessa said. "Don't get me wrong, she's nice, but…"

Rory put up a hand to stop her. "You don't have to explain to me," she said. "I get it."

"I can show you other skills that I have," Odessa said. "I might live in the Capitol, but I am and will always be a District Nine girl. And we can be crafty."

Rory nodded. "Well, I need someone like that. I can show you my skill fighting, and dodging."

"No need. I watched you fight this morning." She smiled. "It was great."

"Well, I think that it would be most advantageous for us to work together then."

"The only other thing is that I am already talking to someone else. And I'm sure she wouldn't mind having a third, if you don't."

"Depends on who."

"Amiah from District Five." Odessa pointed to where Amiah was working hard to create a rope trap, her eyebrows furrowed as she was completely focused. "She's been a whiz in the Center these past few days."

Rory watched her for a moment as she tested her knot. Then, she nodded. If anything, another body was another person standing between Rory and the Careers.

"Sounds good," she said finally. "Do you know sign?"

"I don't," Odessa confessed. "But Amiah can communicate well despite being mute. We'll make it work, if you're good."

"I'm willing to try," Rory said. That was all she was going to give her.

"Great! Come sit with us at lunch so we can start getting to know each other and make a game plan, more importantly."

"Sure," said Rory with a polite nod. She was going to protect herself, but knew that she was going to need some help along the way. Odessa went over to talk to Amiah as Rory went back to the berries test, a new drive in her belly to learn and get better at these important skills. She could just see it now, her plan to get out of this place, and get back to her daughter was all falling into place.

Amiah waved over at Rory with a smile when she caught her eye, and Rory smiled and waved back to her. Hopefully she wasn't biting off more than she could chew with this group.

Odessa was at the knives station, with the girl from District Seven. The thirteen-year-old was focused in learning how to throw the knives, and had no problem talking to Adrian beside her. Odessa was soon chatting with her, and Rory wondered just how big this alliance was going to get. The thirteen-year-old was going to have to demonstrate some serious skills to earn her way in with Rory, that was for sure.

After Rory was satisfied with her progress at the plants station, she felt energy coursing through her. She decided to spend it at the agility station, falling into line behind the girl from District Ten again.

Rory waited her turn, watching as the boy from District Six got knocked clean off the platform and hit the ground with a small cry. Wachiwi winced next to him, her arm twitching out as if she was going to go help, before stopping herself.

When Rory caught sight of her face, she could see how tired the girl was. And she still had that look in her eyes. Rory couldn't place it, but… She knew that distracted, slightly pained look.

But Rory just watched her as she stepped up to the front, ready to run the course. She wasn't as agile as Rory would have expected a selected volunteer to be. She almost got to the end of the course before she looked over to the side at the window and was knocked straight off of her platform with a thump.

Rory steeled herself, not wanting to fall to the same fate. If she could out-show a volunteer that trained, the Gamemakers would take notice.

The horn blew for Rory to take the course, and she darted off right away. She had done the course a few times before, and just wanted to get a good time. Her morning arrow dodging served her well as she dodged the various obstacles, including projectiles. She hopped up, not tripping over the trick log, but before she hit the finish line she heard a loud cry come from Chiwi on the floor. Rory couldn't let it distract her from her goal.

But she sounded so much like Amira. That motivated Rory to run faster, go to the finish, as the timer stopped and showed the Gamemakers – and the tributes waiting in line – Rory's score.

Rory celebrated, but only for a moment before she watched Chiwi run to the bathroom with her face in her hands, crying loudly. She noticed right away that none of her allies followed her. She ran past Wendy, who didn't look over, and the males were way too distracted at the strength station. Ember from District Twelve looked up, but went right back to her edible insects test.

Rory frowned. The tired look on her face, the inability to focus, the panic attack she was almost certainly having in the bathroom… They were all things that Rory had seen before. And as angry as she still was at Amira… She couldn't leave Chiwi to go through this alone.

Rory went towards the bathroom slowly, still debating it. After all, this was the Hunger Games, and if she was vulnerable she was definitely going to die. But Rory wasn't a monster. She was a nurturer, for her daughter. She opened the door. "Wachiwi?"

She could hear the girl in there. She was crying and breathing heavy until she was practically hyperventilating. "Stay back!"

Rory frowned and went over to the only stall that was closed. "I don't want to hurt you. I want to help. It's Rory."

Chiwi cried out again, dissolving into another fit of sobs.

"You don't have to do anything else for me, but please… Breathe. Ready? Breathe in."

Chiwi was still sobbing inconsolably on the other side of the stall, barely listening.

"Chiwi, listen, breathe in. You have to breathe in with me."

"Go away, I'm going to die and I'm going to like it and everyone is going to be happy about it!"

Rory's heart sank at that. That should make her happy, that one of her competitors wanted to die. But Rory didn't think that was true about Wachiwi at all, not with how bravely she volunteered… She didn't know what was going on that made Chiwi's mood change so suddenly… She only knew where she'd seen it before. But there was no reason why that would be true about Chiwi – not when she was here, volunteering for the Hunger Games!

"Breathe. You're still alive now, and you'll feel better if you breathe. And I'll go away."

That was what got her to take a breath in.

"And breathe out." Rory coached her through a few more deep breaths, with Chiwi following on the other side of the door. She was feeling much better now that Chiwi was quieter, and breathing more normally.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," she said, her voice still wobbling but sounding much more controlled than it was a little while ago. But she opened the stall door. "Thank you."

Rory nodded, still concerned about the look on her face, before she noticed the tell-tale sign on Chiwi's chest.

"You should get cleaned up," Rory said, her heart swelling with compassion, even after what Amira put her through dammit… "You have something…" She gestured to Chiwi's chest.

Chiwi looked in the mirror at the stain that was on her breast, her face going bright red. "O-Oh," she said quietly. "I-"

Rory frowned at her. "Chiwi… Are you a new mom? I… I've been with one, who is experiencing all the same things as you, so you can't lie to me."

Chiwi looked away from her. "Yes," she said finally. "I am a new mom. But – my baby has been adopted into a loving home! So I'm not leaving him out to dry. Not at all!" her voice became panicked. "I'm not a bad mom! I'm not a bad mom!" Tears started to pour down her cheeks again as her voice became panicked and desperate.

Rory stayed calm. The last thing she needed right now was yelling. "You're a good mom," she whispered, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You did what's best for your baby. I want my baby back, but I can respect what you did. The child comes first."

Chiwi swallowed hard, still crying a little as Rory took her to the sink and wet a paper towel to wipe up her tears. "My son comes first."

Rory nodded a little bit with a calm smile. "You did what was best. But these things that you're feeling are very normal and you're not alone in experiencing some post-partum depression. Can you ask your escort about being seen by a professional?"

Chiwi swallowed hard and nodded. "I trust Eryx."

"Good," Rory said quietly. "Spend some time cleaning up in here, then at lunch you can talk to him. I… I'll go with you, if you want."

Chiwi looked up at her with teary brown eyes. "No thanks," she said quietly. "I can't. The Careers…" she stopped herself with a sniffle. "But… I appreciate it, Rory." She twirled a pigtail around her finger. "Thank you. Again." She took Rory's face in her hands and tilted her head so she could gently kiss her forehead. Chiwi washed her face, and Rory touched the spot on her forehead for a second. She gave Chiwi one last look before turning around and leaving her.

Rory wanted to forget, but for Elaina she couldn't.

This was still a fight to the death.

~.~.

-Basil Oberoi, 18, District 1-

He didn't want anything to happen to the Careers. He liked the group – even if it was a big group of eight. Plus, he had the advantage of getting along with many of his allies. Keelan was overall easy to be around in particular, and Basil liked him. Keelan was still having a little bit of an issue with the leader of their alliance being an outlier, but did what the group had agreed on.

Ridley was kind as well, but Ridley was definitely more interested in having fun than training for real. It was hard for Basil to not notice him getting distracted with other tributes. Basil wasn't worried about Ridley leaving, though – the other tributes were podding up and it would be foolish for him to leave the Careers without taking a few Careers with him.

Wendy was easy to figure out. He was a little worried about her, just because he knew the manipulation that she was through. He also knew that she was buddy-buddy with Trap Principato, who was basically known in the District and in the Arena as being a snake, demonstrating poison skills nobody knew that he had and getting away with it… But he wasn't going to make assumptions about Wendy based only on that. She was honorable and he didn't think she would follow that path – especially because it didn't work for him at all. So he wasn't much worried about Wendy splitting off, or betraying her allies.

Then, there was Nadia. Nadia was more like Basil, kind yet refined. Nadia was just a little bit more of a hardass than Basil was, he could admit. But she had respect for their allies and the other tributes and Basil couldn't see her doing anything dishonorable. Especially not knowing Remus from last year. He was honorable and he went out based completely on luck.

Then there was Ryder. Basil just… Couldn't figure out Ryder. They were so quiet and slightly aloof. And Basil would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about their relationship with Kodiak. They were the only pair that both existed in the Career alliance – everyone else was paired with outliers. But Basil wondered if maybe he should capitalize on his relationship with Rory, just in case things went south.

He was going to keep his eye on Ryder. He had a feeling that there was more to them than met the eye.

Then there were the Ten tributes. Kodiak… He was so loud and so open, he reminded Basil of the Pressleys back home. And… Well, Basil could relate to his story. When he saw that smiling face, he felt some guilt pressing on him. Here was a boy that by all means deserved what Basil had, and he didn't have it and for some reason Basil did. To not even have the experience of a family that loved him… That was why Basil was here. To prevent more Kodiaks from growing up without a family. He wanted to give them that experience. And that guilt just motivated him more.

And lastly, there was Chiwi. She was of the group the closed book. Basil didn't know much about her, but he could notice that she wasn't feeling very well that day in particular. When the group ate lunch, she was the only one that didn't really talk. She was quiet and withdrawn. He looked at each of his allies eat their lunches and wished he could feel less unsure about this group sticking together. They needed to just get the job done together. Hopefully they would at least have that much.

On his way to get seconds, Basil felt a tap on his shoulder. "Basil, how's it going?"

He looked over at Rory beside him. "It's been going well. You?"

"Good. Hey, uh…" Rory glanced behind her shoulder for a moment. "I know we haven't talked much since the chariots. But… I'm a little worried about Chiwi. And… I know that she has to die, but…"

Basil's stomach flipped at that. At the mental picture of her, or any of his allies or the people he knew, dead… He was frozen in shock. He… Yeah, he volunteered for this, but… The thought that Cruise would have to go on without him was making him feel nervous. He was here to win, of course, but… He didn't want to leave his family and Cruise yet, not with his big dreams… There was still too much for him to do.

"Basil?"

Basil looked over at him with his mouth slightly agape. "Sorry," he forced out, finally, blinking slowly in shock. What had he gotten himself into? He… He didn't know. And that was more worrisome than anything Basil had ever tackled before, because at least he knew he would always have his family. Now… He might leave them forever. He didn't want to die, he couldn't die! "What's going on with her?"

Rory bit his lip. "From one future parent to another…" Basil couldn't help but wince at the thought that both of them wouldn't be able to have the kids they deserved. "Chiwi is also a parent and she's experiencing some… Post-partum depression." Rory looked nervous, and Basil frowned. He… Barely knew anything about that. He had no real experience with that, and had no idea how to help her.

"Why did she tell you?" Basil asked finally, eyebrows furrowing in confusion and feeling a little… Weird about that. If he didn't know she was talking to Rory, what else did he not know?

"I just ran into her in the bathroom by chance," she said. "I don't know what I'm trying to get from you with this, I'm sorry…" She shook her head, pulling at her ponytail nervously. "Just… Do with that information what you will. I know where we are and I don't want either of our judgement to become clouded, but…" Rory trailed off, and just left it there. "Best of luck to you."

"You too," he said quietly, still processing that conversation. "Yeah, thanks for the heads up." He didn't know what to think. The bitter reminder that he was there to fight to the death just was not settling well with him, and he didn't know what to do about it. He didn't want to be cold or hurt anyone, but… He had to get home.

"Not talking bad on me are you?" Wendy came over to Basil and slapped him on the back.

"Your crazy snarly bedhead is safe with me," Basil told her with a smile. "We're District partners."

"Say a word and I'll tell them that I can hear you snoring when I'm walking the hallway."

Basil laughed at that and walked back to the table with her. He was feeling much better and was back to chatting with his allies through lunch. He put aside all of those thoughts from earlier. They weren't important right now, after all. And what was one embarrassing story, right? The table was quickly laughing at Ridley's story about how his number had a sixty-nine during the volunteer selection while Keelan rolled his eyes but was laughing with them.

Basil chose to tell the story of how he ripped his pants during training after getting them caught on the side of the fighting ring, and still managed to win the fight. It was embarrassing, sure, but the group was laughing. Wendy snickered at that the loudest of all and told her side of the story having been there. Her embarrassing story was lame – breaking Kat Valentine's hand – but the table loved that one. Basil came back in to talk about how she reacted to being given pain meds and almost stood up on her chair.

Nadia's story was lame at best – a prank on Remus hiding one of his gems and causing him to frantically search for it. But Basil could see a faraway look in her eyes when she talked about them. Ryder got some laughs when they talked about making a fool out of themself in front of Pit Kensy.

"Alright, everyone! Good times, good times. Now, we should be going back to training. Survival is just as important as strength, so if you haven't already stopped by some of those, you should consider it!"

"Wait wait wait," said Wendy, pointing her finger at him. "You two didn't tell your stories!"

"Oh…" Kodi put his hand down. "Uh… Well, one time I slipped and fell into a pile of horse shit!" he said, before frowning a little bit. It seemed like he had something else to say, but didn't see it. "Still went to training that day, since I was already running late… Thankfully Parker let me take a shower that day before drills."

"That probably stank like hell," Nadia commented. "Remus would have hated that."

"Yeah…"

"How about you, Chiwi?"

The eyes went to the girl from District Ten, who was quiet. "Well, uh… Why don't you come back to me tomorrow? I will tell, I just…" She sighed quietly and frowned. "I can't remember anything off the top of my head."

"I'm gonna hold you to that!" said Keelan, and Ridley quickly agreed. "But now we should head out into training."

"Yes, let's go!" said Ridley, and soon Basil was up putting his plates away. The rest of his allies dispersed, and he was left on his own again. He was suddenly aware of every tribute his allies talked to – or even trained with! He wondered if maybe he should try to find someone to buddy up with if this alliance all goes to shit… But he didn't want that action itself to cause it to go to shit. So he stayed quiet, and headed over to work at the fire-building station. He knew how, but it didn't hurt to brush up on that skill. And he just needed a little bit of space to process this.

Basil stayed focused on his training through the day, and soon enough it was time for dinner. Today, the allies elected to eat on their separate floors, and Basil was more than glad to go back to his floor and relax a little bit.

"Hey, how'd it go?" asked Messenger as the tributes reappeared.

"Good!" Wendy said cheerfully. "I'm ready to go for the private sessions tomorrow!"

"Basil?" asked Cartier sipping a coffee.

"Me too." And he did feel confident. He was going to show them all what he was made of. He was going to earn his way to fatherhood, one way or the other. He just had to stay confident.

"Good, good. Please, dig in." Maxim ushered them over, and Basil came over to eat. He was hungry from a long day of effort, and was going to sleep well tonight, no question about that. After dinner, they would have the night. Wendy relaxed and stretched through the nights, determined to not burn herself out at the center. She went back to her room to take a nice bath and read.

"What are you thinking, Basil?" asked Cartier, after she'd left.

"Oh, uh…" Basil smiled nervously. "I think I'm going to clear my mind, go on the roof for a bit."

"Good idea!" Cartier said. "You're wise to not overexert yourself. You've done all the work beforehand, so you can just relax and prepare for privates tomorrow." He snorted. "Hehe, I said privates."

"I will. Thank you." Basil smiled at him.

"If you need us, we'll be here," said Messenger. "Dibs on the TV!"

"Nooo I don't want to watch your silly rom coms!"

"Too bad! They're much better than your reality garbage!" He grinned as the two of them went to sit by the television.

Basil smiled at them as he went to the elevator, pressing the button that would take him up to the roof. But before he got there, the elevator stopped on the District Ten floor.

"Basil! Hey!" Kodiak waved to him.

"Hey Kodiak," Basil greeted. "What… are you up to? Extra training?"

"Yes and no," Kodiak said. "I don't know if they bugged the elevator, but… The Gamemaker's intern summoned me to the basement for a meeting. Lester I think? He's been floating around the Complex, talking to the tributes."

Basil squinted. He didn't recognize that name, but maybe he would know the face. But why wasn't he getting summoned. "What's the reason?"

"I don't know, he wouldn't say. I would guess that it's to interrogate us about the Capitol? But I don't know if he's with Junius or not."

"Why the heck are you going to a secret place with someone you don't even know!?" Basil asked him, crossing his arms.

"Because he looked trustworthy," Kodiak said with a shrug. "Maybe he'll approach you tomorrow."

Basil shook his head in disbelief at him. What if people thought he was tied up with the rebels because of this?! That could get Kodiak killed! "…Maybe." He had no idea what was going on, but all of this sounded shady. He looked out onto the floor and saw that it was mostly empty, except for the girl from District Ten.

Kodiak looked at the buttons, and Basil made a rash decision. He stepped out of the elevator before Kodi could press the button to go downstairs. "I'll catch you later."

Kodiak nodded. "Okay! Bye!" The doors closed and the elevator went down.

Basil rubbed his hands together, not sure what to say to her. "Chiwi, hey."

She looked up from where she was looking out the door to the balcony. "Hi…" she said quietly.

Basil looked at her worried face, as she moved backwards away from him. "I'm not going to lie. Rory approached me. From one future parent to another. And mentioned…"

Chiwi sniffled a little bit. "It's not going to define me."

"I don't think it does," Basil told her, pulling a chair up and sitting a distance away from her. "But… Maybe you would feel better if you let it out. You're trying to be strong, and I admire it, but you're going to hold onto it forever until you release it."

"Why are you here?"

"I… I didn't mean to end up here. But I saw you by yourself and I just wanted to check up on my ally." He gave her a smile, and Chiwi tapped her manicured nails on the table for a moment.

"I'm alright. It's just… Like Rory said, it's normal for new mothers to feel like this. This… Post-partum depression. And… Being here, away from my son, makes it worse."

Basil's heart bled for her. "I'm so sorry…" He tried to keep his eyes from narrowing too much as the question came across his mind. "Why did you volunteer then? If you have your son…" he couldn't imagine why she would do this. Why would she leave her son behind, she was lucky enough to have a child of her own! Didn't she understand how lucky she was?!

"I am part of my son's life, but not the only part. I gave him up for adoption."

"And you're going to earn your way back to him?" Basil asked, still trying to piece this story together. "Get him out of there?! Earn him back?!" his voice was raising in volume and pitch as he balled his fists.

"No," she said. "I don't want him back."

"HOW?!" Basil couldn't help the jealousy that was flaring in his chest. He just… He felt so jealous of her, having a child and just… Just giving him away… Her own son, did she realize how many would be dying to be in her position?! Chiwi put up her fists defensively at him raising his voice. "How could you not want him back, that's your child!"

"Because I'm not fit to be a mother. I'm too young, I'm only eighteen. I'm putting his needs first!"

"Eighteen isn't too young to be a good parent," Basil said. "If you work hard enough, for your child, you can do anything."

"Basil, I was a child having a child!"

"You're lucky is what you are, to have a son, and you left him to… To be here!"

"I did what's best for my baby! And growing up with eighteen-year-olds trying to be adults was not best for him."

Memories of that fateful day were flashing across Basil's memory. Telling him no, telling him he wasn't able to and was too young… They had no idea what they were talking about, and neither did she.

"Growing up in an orphanage is not the best thing for your baby!"

"He won't grow up in an orphanage," Chiwi said, trying to keep her calm but grabbing a fork with her hand, tucking it away. "I know where he is and I will still be a part of his life. I will live close to him in the Victor's Village."

"Not when you die!" Basil yelled at her, surprising her and himself at that and drawing back at the pain on her face that was soon turning to anger.

"I don't intend to die, I intend to repay my debt to the family that adopted the son I couldn't raise because he looked too much like my rapist. I'm not lucky. You're just delusional." She pushed her chair back and walked quickly out of the room, towards Arthur's door.

"I'm sorry," Basil said after her, but it was too late for that now, she was already gone. Basil stood up, walking over to the elevator and pressing the button. This time, it came up right away, empty, and he went up onto the courtyard.

What am I doing? He had no idea how it came to this. He needed to figure out a way to make sure he got back home at the end of all this, after volunteering for it.

And after everything that happened in the past few days, the realization that he was actually going to have to fight to survive…

He just wanted to be alone.

~.~.

A/N: Hello, back for another day of training! Hope you liked this chapter and enjoyed seeing some of these other tributes interacting. Can't wait to really let these relationships be in the spotlight, as it's a particularly complicated year of politics in tribute relationships.

CQ: What is up with this intern guy?

Confirmed Alliances

Careers – Wendy [D1], Basil [D1], Ryder [D2], Nadia [D2], Keelan [D4], Ridley [D4], Kodiak [D10], Wachiwi [D10]

Sun, Moon, and Star – Rory [D8], Odessa [D9], Amiah [D5]

Loners – Adrian [D12]