A/N: Hi! It's my birthday today! How old do you guys think I'm turning, based on my writing? :) kealimepie, i'm actually still recording the points but I don't want to stretch the page which is why I never put it on a chapter.

Tyler Kaufman (D3 Male)

When Algar bolted, I wanted to chase after him. It was just this weird instinct curled up inside me that yearned to stretch, yearned to grow its vines back around my soul once more. I refused the tug in my heart and continued to shoot with my bow and arrow. It felt stiff and slack in my hands, and I felt that I'd never get used to it.

My District partner, Calamity, was next to me, her eyes fixed on the arrow with a look of concentration. So far we had both managed to get one arrow onto the target. The rest had...fallen all over the place.

We had agreed to be allies this morning, just because it would be easier to get more people with two strong. Plus allies were always good, even though there was the thing called betrayal, but I didn't want to think about that now. No time for negative thoughts, now that I was in the pre-Games and needed to have all my mind focused on preparing.

Just then, the whistle blew. We all froze and I slowly turned around, knowing that it had something to do with Algar. Indeed, it did. The head trainer, a woman named Feline, pursed her lips together and said in a thunderous voice, "Who did this?"

A bunch of tributes shouted out, "Did what?" She hushed them quickly, spinning around to stare at them each. I gulped as her eyes landed on me, and her eyebrows went straight up, as if she'd caught the culprit. My whole body sagged...did she think I had done it?

Finally, she quit her staring and said in a low voice, "Where is Algar?"

The Careers near her stared boldly back, one of them, a dark-haired girl whom I thought was named Azurine, even having the gumption to say, "Oh, he dashed out of the room. Why, you needed him?"

"May I ask who exactly did this to Seashire over here?" she demanded, flourishing a hand to the boy lying on the ground, jaw clenched, clearly fighting the urge to scream. A few marks were in his stomach, blood burning holes into his ripped shirt. The boy grunted, a look in his eyes that told of faintness. The blood was starting to make me nauseous.

Felix shuffled his feet, looking down as if not daring to speak the truth. There was a weird honest glow in Persefone's eyes but she didn't utter a thing as well. Azurine crossed her arms defiantly, while Skyrah looked scared to speak.

"Well?" Feline persisted.

"It was Algar," Skyrah blurted in a rush, casting a glance at the others. They shot dirty glares at her, as if she had just betrayed them, and a look of regret sparked clearly in her eyes, but it went slightly away as Feline gave her a nod of approval.

"Yes. It was quite obvious Algar did this. It could not just be a coincidence..now could it?" she said calmly.

"No, of course not," a couple of the people said in unison. I kept my mouth shut, not daring to speak.

"You," Feline commanded, her voice suddenly brisk. She pointed to Persefone. "Take two others and go get Algar." She gave a serious nod and beckoned to Azurine and Felix, eyeing Skyrah a smidgen too coldly.

Calamity and I practiced for a little while longer, but the whole conversation before with the Careers was stuck in my head. I wondered what they would do to Algar. Why did he always get into so much trouble?

First going missing and then turning up at the Capitol...now harming Mark, on purpose or not. What was next?

Mica Mendel (D5 Male)

I headed on over to the plant game somewhat nervously, wondering if I'd be good at it or not. I certainly hadn't practiced plants back in Five...

It was a giant screen, like that of a TV's, but much more thinner, unlike the box-shaped ones back at home. It was clear all the way through and touchscreen, one of the impossibilities the Capitol made possible.

I headed on over to the plant game somewhat nervously, wondering if I'd be good at it or not. I certainly hadn't practiced plants back in Five...

It was a giant screen, like that of a TV's, but much more thinner, unlike the box-shaped ones back at home. It was clear all the way through and touchscreen, one of the impossibilities the Capitol made possible.

There was a red button that said, "CLICK TO BEGIN." I pushed down on it, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did for a moment, then the screen lit up and a bunch of plants were illuminated. It was a sort of which ones were poisonous and which were not.

The first plant was a dark green leaf with little...white hairs on it? I honestly had no idea, so I went with "not poisonous". It didn't look deadly or anything...

The screen began flashing bright lights and the words "CORRECT" scrawled across. I brightened. Maybe I was good at this thing. I hit "NEXT" and waited for the next one. It appeared to be some kind of grassy thing, short and looking exactly like grass.

"Maybe this is a trick question," I thought aloud. "Maybe it's just...grass." Because of that train of thought, I went with "not poisonous".

Flashing lights went on again and at first I thought I was correct. Then the words "POISONOUS" flitted across the screen in a trail of red lights and I groaned. So it wasn't just grass. I would have to remember that in the arena.

Don't eat grass, Mica. Or anything that looks like it, for that matter.

The rest passed by in a blur. I got around half and half correct, but it was partially from guessing. A couple I'd seen from Five, but there weren't a lot of plants there so most answers fell on blank eyes. I would have to practice more at this game...later. I had wanted to try out some combat, after all.

I didn't really have one in mind so I just chose the station closest to me- throwing knives. I almost immediately regretted it when I saw one of the Careers, Skyrah, hefting knives one after the other, all of them hitting bull's eye.

I shuffled a little closer and looked down at the selection of knives. There were so many...some with sharp, needle-like blades, others with wide, smooth edges. I carefully selected one that had those spikes at the end- surely they would dig into the target more- and took the spot next to Skyrah.

She stopped throwing knives for a second, a great smile on her face, and turned around. I expected her to frown at me and say I was a noob, but instead, she beamed, as if the very thought of company was a miracle to her. "You're not getting the right knife," she corrected, and I stared down at my sharp one.

"You know, that's the kind for cutting meat," she informed me. "You need one of these." She chose a knife that was long and looked very heavy. The blade had none of those spikes.

"Then why'd they put this one here?" I set the other knife down, my cheeks reddening with embarrassment, fumbling slightly.

She shrugged. "To test your knowledge on knives, I guess." She took another knife and slipped it into her jacket. Taking one at a time, she threw them at the board. Sometimes she didn't make it, but most of the time it was one hundred percent accurate. She seemed surprised by these results, for whatever reason.

"What's your name?" she asked in a friendly voice. I looked down at my feet, pondering. Was she trying to get information out of me and use it against me in the Games? I had to trod carefully with this girl..

But of course, my name wouldn't do any harm. If she knew my face, then it didn't even matter if my name was lost in her mind, so I replied quickly, "Mica Mendel, you?"

"Oh." She smiled. "I'm Skyrah Labelle." She motioned to the knives. "Do you want to try?"

Eyebrows raising skeptically, I stood there as she handed me a knife. Clutching it like a lifeline, I flung it at the board, closing my eyes at the same time on instinct. It clattered to the ground and I slowly reopened one eye.

My knife hadn't even reached halfway across.

"Oh, gosh, I definitely need some practice." I tried to play it off with a smile, though really I was quite relieved to get the sharp object out of my hands, but Skyrah looked knowingly at me.

"Don't worry, it's fine. I can teach you." She grabbed another knife from her jacket while I was quickly blabbering lots of stuff- that I couldn't even remember, mind you.

"So first, you have to make sure you hold it correctly," she said lightly.

I held the knife like she said to. It felt so awkward in my hands, I wanted to dash it to the ground. It felt so dangerous and creepy, like it was about to turn on me and slit my throat. Arm shaking slightly, I asked her through the corner of my mouth, "Is it like this?"

She adjusted it a bit until I felt even more awkward. It must've been an hour or so when I realized what time it was..

Time for lunch. I couldn't wait.

Calamity Astrea (D3 Female)

We entered the lunchroom. I wasn't so sure what I expected, but definitely not this. There were jewels everywhere! Diamond was basically thrown onto the wall in different places, to make a checkered pattern with the stained glass. The floor was smooth and slippery, made from perfectly cut marble. And then there were the tables- they weren't just plain wood, but those fancy, elaborate dining room tables I had read about before, covered in pearl-blue tablecloth and decorated with vases of flowers.

"Well, this place is an improvement!" I heard Skyrah remark cheerfully. Tyler, right next to me, nodded slightly, eyes wide.

"Tyler, do you have any idea where this escort is? He was supposed to be here," I whispered harshly. There was no sign of Warren anywhere.

Tyler shook his head. "No idea. I guess we should better sit down?"

I nodded and took the other chair. There was a stiff silence for a moment, then waiters and waitresses began serving the food. I looked at the menu and I could barely recognize any of this stuff. I mean, some we had had in Three, but not much. There was something called buttered corn- which I'd only had once when I was very young. We couldn't afford to put the small amount of butter we had on something so wasteful as corn. Then there was roast duck, and chicken noodle soup, and even something called "ravioli".

Tyler's eyes lit up when we reached the beverages. "There's so much!" he exclaimed excitedly. He was right. There was tea in all sorts of flavors, iced tea, lemon raspberry, you name it. But the thing that caught my eye was soda. It was a rare delicacy back in Three, but here, it was everywhere! Lemon-lime and original and blueberry and fizzy orange. I wanted to try them all.

A waiter walked over to our table and said in a Capitol accent, "What would you like, Miss Calamity and Mister Tyler?"

I rolled my eyes; the title seemed so strange. "Um..." My eyes scanned over the menu and I couldn't pick. "How about...how about mashed potatoes and gravy."

"Of course, and you, Mister Tyler?"

Tyler looked deeply disconcerted but managed to say, "Ah...the roast duck please."

"Would you two like anything else? How about refreshments?" he asked.

I looked over the menu at all the food, almost forgetting what he had said. How could I ever choose? So I just picked randomly: "Wine." I knew what that was, of course, but I'd never had it. The adults said it was good, though.

"But ma'am, are you sure?" he said, eyebrows raising. "There is an age limit to wine here."

"An age limit?" I stared at him.

"Yes, Miss."

"Fine, I won't have it then. How about some fizzy orange soda? Does that have an age limit?"

He flushed red. "Oh, no, ma'am." He directed his attention to Tyler. "Mister, do you have a preference?"

The red-haired boy stuttered for a moment before choosing, "Original soda?"

"Okay. We will have your orders up in a minute," the waiter told us, then whisked away. I looked down at the shiny plate and metal utensils, feeling so awkward in this decorated place. I wished for a book, something that was at least somewhat similar to Three. Like on the train, maybe. I wondered how they had known I liked books.

While we were waiting, a boy joined us at the table. He was skinny, tall, and brown-eyed in that way that was awkwardly adorable. He grinned and said, "It's so great, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Tyler said warily.

"Skyrah ditched me for the Careers when they came back," he explained.

"She ditched you? Um...whenever was she actually your ally, pray tell?" I cut in.

He shook his head, forcing another smile. "She was a Career. I should've known. All her sweet talk was probably another way to, I dunno, earn my trust."

"So...why are you telling us this?" I said carefully.

"You don't know who I am, do you?" he said evenly. "Well, I'm Mica. District Five male, and judging by the look on your face when I say this, you did not know."

I bristled. "What do you want?"

"Can I sit here for now? Then we'll get to the other stuff? The...questions," Mica replied, ducking his head.

"Hey, Mica, you want to be our ally?" Tyler piped up, eyes wide and searching. There was a clever glint in them that unsettled me, as if he saw far more than I did, which was enough, in my opinion. What else was there to see?

Then I realized what he had said and glared. "You are not becoming our ally!" I retorted. "We only just met!"

"It's always good to have more allies," Tyler said thoughtfully.

"What if he actually didn't get ditched by Skyrah? Think about it, they could be plotting our demise right now," I urged.

Tyler shook his head slowly. "No, I think he's telling the truth."

I leaned back against my chair, groaning. "Fine, if you guys want to be allies, so be it. I'll just be in the background until I fully trust him."

Mica's eager face fell but he still maintained a slight smile. "Oh, look, who's that?"

I turned around and saw the trainer coming toward us. Feline, I thought. What was she doing here? There was a reason she was the trainer.

She said curtly, "Tyler, would you like to join us in our..." She tipped her head to the side, eyes catlike and narrow. "Our job?"

He eyed them cautiously. "And what's that?"

She smiled, a wide, winning smile that looked so triumph you would've thought she had already won. Behind her, I realized there was Spruce from Seven and a girl I didn't recognize. I thought she was from Eleven or something.

Then Feline replied, "To torture Algar, of course."

9/11/2017 Also, so sorry if Calamity's POV is off! I wasn't looking at her personality when I did this cuz I wrote it off internet. Tell me if I'm wrong and I'll correct. I'm not too great at writing sassy characters, tbh.