Training Day 1:

Vivian Shaw, 18
District 1 Female

Yesterday was fun, but it's time to get to business.

"You know what to do?" Diane asks me at breakfast. I grab a pear to eat. An Avox places a stack of three golden waffles in front of me. God, my mouth is watering already. I don't care about having a figure or needing to eat more femininely and dainty, I'm gonna pack on those pounds so I don't literally drop from starvation in the Hunger Games.

Diane slides some bacon on top of the waffles. "Eat your protein."
"Who are you, my mom?"
"Ha. You wish. Your mom wouldn't encourage the overindulgence of extremely greasy literal pig fat."

I like Diane. She says it how it is. I can appreciate the brutal honesty.

The Training Centre is much quieter and cleaner than what I'm used to back in 1. The trainers might outnumber the tributes. That makes me a little nervous because hiding in the crowd isn't an option. If I want to stand out, I will stand out.

And there they are, standing by the knot tying station. The 2s and the 4s. 5s are nowhere in sight, but this ain't about them. I grab Prism's arm and drag them over to meet up with the group. "Hey there, sweeties. Vivian here."

"Cy," the 4 boy says. He extends his hand and I give it a nice shake. The girl behind him, Avonlea I think, does the same. Both have firm grips. Arietis seems ready to crush my fingers, hopefully not noticing the way I pull my arm back. Olympia just waves shyly.

Prism strolls up behind me with their usual swagger on show. "Good morning, ladies and gents. The leader of the pack is here!"

Cy sneers. "Oh please. You're the one leading our pack?"
"Hey, I didn't see anyone else stepping up to the task. If you've got a problem with it, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Cy bristles a little, but he stays silent after Avonlea places a hand on his shoulder. Arietis stares down at his nails, but the scowl on his face is pretty obvious. As for me, I honestly don't care who leads and who's second in command and all that shit. As long as I'm not on the bottom of the pecking order.

Prism takes the silence as the answer they want. "Perfect! Alright, let's get to work."

I head off to the throwing knives station, and I notice Arietis is trailing behind me. He probably wants to practice swords or maces or something, whatever. I don't like big weapons like those. Throwing knives are light and perfect at a distance.

He stops by the spears and picks one up. "Nice shaft," I say, half joking and half flirting. "Long and thin."
Arietis just winks back at me. "I have a lot of experience handling long shafts."

Ohhhh, so he swings for that team. I quickly let the flirtiness fade. Arietis raises an eyebrow. "I saw that. Were you trying to seduce me?"
"Yeah. Thanks for throwing a wrench into my plans. I was gonna smile and seduce and slit throats on my way to the end. They'd never see the pretty girl coming."

"More power to you, I guess. I mean, it would never work if I went around batting my eyelashes like that."
"How do you know? Have you ever tried before?"

Arietis lofts the spear and throws it. It skewers a dummy right in the heart. He wipes his hands clean and smirks at me. "There. Who's the heartbreaker now?"

Yeah. I like this guy. He doesn't beat around the bush; he gets things done. I know that I didn't really want such a big and obvious alliance like the Careers, but maybe a smaller partnership with Arietis wouldn't hurt. I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, the gift horse being a strong and powerful ally who's willing to have my back if I have his. Or a meat shield, depending on what happens.

"Can I make you a proposal, big guy?"
"I had a feeling you wanted to."
"How do you feel about a pact, then? We'll stick with the Careers, but we'll be watching out for each other too. When the time is right, we'll strike out on our own."

Arietis scoffs a little. "Please. I'm the biggest contender here. Why do I need someone to keep me alive?"
"Because you're also the biggest threat?"

Arietis frowns a little as I continue. "There's a huge target on your back, mister. If given the chance on who to take out, a lot of tributes will be gunning for you. Prism will be one of them. Sure, they may be the leader, but don't think they didn't notice you wanted the position as well. I know my district partner seems a little up in the clouds…"

I bump Arietis's arm. He suddenly jumps back a little. Huh. "Sorry. But keep in mind, if Prism sees you as a challenge for their rule, they'll come after you hard. Don't think that the 4s or even your own district partner will interfere to save you. That's why you need me."

"Fair enough," Arietis says after a few seconds. "I'm gonna train now. You staying here?"
"Nah. Think the knives are calling my name."

I feel pretty satisfied with myself as I walk off. It doesn't take much to sweet talk anyone into doing what you want. Score one for Miss Shaw.

Reggie Baxter, 18
District 12 Male

I am not getting the hang of this fire making thing and it's so damn frustrating. I refuse to believe that rubbing two sticks together like this is even going to produce anything except friction and a whole lot of annoyance for me.

It keeps making me feel like I'm out of my element when I should have the same fighting chance as everyone else. But there's gotta be something I'm better at than starting a fire that simply won't start.

I didn't expect to end up going against one of the trainers with swords. It's kinda like using a bonesaw. Instead this time, you're actually trying to kill someone with it. The trainer throws me onto my back after a few minutes, but I still held my ground and that's what matters. I hope I might get the hang of it.

Lunch comes sooner than expected, which is fine by me because I'm starving. I sit by myself. Sure I may look extremely unapproachable, but I honestly don't care. Someone still comes to sit down next to me.

"Hello. You're Reggie, right?"
"What's it to you?"
"I'm Garnet." He smiles a little. "I was looking for a couple of similarly aged allies that I figured could complement me. I saw how you were doing with the swords. What else can you do?"

"I'm a healer. I know a little bit about plants and stuff, like what's edible and what isn't."
Garnet nods. "Cool. That's pretty useful. I'll ask around and see if anyone else wants to join us."

There's something about Garnet, about his presence that makes me feel calmer and comforted. Like there's an ear always listening and a shoulder always waiting for me to lean against it if I need. Someone like that, I realize, is easy bait to be taken advantage of or fed lies to in an attempt to exploit that naivety.

Not that's what I'm gonna do. Never in a million years. But I want Garnet as an ally, because I don't want anyone else scooping him up and using that for themselves.

"I think you and I could make a good team," I say simply. Garnet beams and gives me a fist bump, just to make things official. "Sweet!"

After lunch, I spend time with the edible plants and insects. The trainers have a virtual test that consists of sorting plants into two categories: edible or poisonous. Fairly straightforward, I think. I use these all the time.

Before I can go, the boy from 11 is before me. Yes, 11. And he's doing hilariously terrible. He barely cleans the bar with a final score of 53. When I take my first go, I score a clean 90.

The boy scowls. "Whatever. Plants are lame. What man would be caught dead as a fucking plant nerd?"
Garnet's pretty useful echoes in my ears a little. I play with a sprig of cedar to calm myself down. "For someone challenging gender roles, you're not doing yourself any favours here. And by the way, plants aren't lame."

"Yeah, well I don't…wait…how'd you know?"

"From one trans stud to another." I take in Kerkylas's frame and I decide I hate him. Fucker's clearly coming from a background where he can afford to be himself, instead of all his funds going to needy patients and disappearing medicines and a boyfriend who doesn't listen. He's had everything and anything he's wanted, never had to work a day in his life, and can just lift weights all day without being crushed by pressure and expectations and the responsibility of everyone's fucking health.

I don't want to be associated with that.

I put the cedar down, when Kerkylas grabs my wrist. "Hold on. Dude, do you want to…uhh…y'know, be together or something? Oops. Not like that regard…"
"Ew. I'm taken."
"Shut up. I'm offering you an alliance with the strongest guy here."

"I'd find that one hard to believe."
"Hey now, I lift every single day. You play with flowers. The Careers are gonna crush you."

"Okay then. We're done here. I don't need a delusional frat boy in over his head as a liability." I don't care how mean that sounds. He started it. I walk off to find Garnet.

Garnet finds me first. "So I talked to Ganbataar and he said he wasn't interested. Oh, hi Kerkylas. Taking me up on the offer?"
"Yes," Kerkylas says at the same time I say "No." I glare at Kerkylas and he shrugs back. "Too bad, pretty boy."
"Don't call me that."
"Pretty little boy who wastes his time decorating himself with plants instead of actually exercising and working on his gain. Trust me, you fuckers are dead without me."

I send Garnet a look that says Please insult the guy so I can feel justified in hating his guts. But Garnet just smiles away and nods. "Okay. I like your enthusiasm, Kerkylas."
"Garnet…"
"Three's a good number, Don't look so glum, Reggie. We'll be fine."

I'd hope.

Loire Lemaire, 16
District 5 Female

The rope net suddenly jerks to the left and spins itself around. In a few seconds, I go from kneeling upright to being tossed upside down.

"No, no, no." I stick my foot between the ropes and lock it tight. "Come on, get back up."
The course leaves burning red rope marks all across my palms. Someone snickers at me and the ropes course trainer rolls their eyes in boredom. Forget this. I decide that I need to wind down from the day and there's only one way I know how. I head for the camouflage station.

Cyclone from 4 is already here. I don't even look in his direction, but not like matters because I have a feeling the Careers won't be viewing me as a potential asset. A threat, maybe. Another tally in their kill count. Besides, it would appear they're more interested in Ganbataar than me. Obviously, a 17 year-old of his stature would be of more use than a 15 year-old who loathed herself every time she stepped into her district's Training Centre.

Speaking of allies, I've already tried to meet up with Naomi. She's already more or less told me to fuck off and leave her alone. My potential allies are dwindling a little and I've decided I'm done thinking about it. I've been tossed around enough today and the last thing I need is my own mind deciding to join the fight against me.

I paint a green flower onto some provided paper. I try to imagine being in a forest, dancing among a field of these. Everything is extremely muted, rotating between the same five or so colours. I guess a lovely pastel pink or a deep rich purple would look a little out of place as camouflage.

"Hey," a small voice pipes up from behind me. It's the girl from 3. She just points at the paints. "Is it okay if I use these?"
"Sure. They're technically not mine."

Since Cyclone is still on the other end of the table, Mila gravitates a little closer to me. Her hand is much shakier, but it's almost endearing. I think back to when I first started painting, and how I was nowhere near an expert in the art. But with time, I learned a lot. I can't imagine not painting something every single day. It's become such an essential part of my routine and life that I can't imagine existence without it.

However, I think Mila's waiting for something. The second Cyclone leaves, she leans in towards me. "Sorry if I'm bothering you at all. But do you…you know…um…
"Do I want to be allies?"
"Yes?"

"Sure."

Mila blinks. "Wait. Really?"
"I was going to ask you myself. But hey, this arrangement works too."

"That was fast," Mila sighs. "I thought you'd have better things to do and more interesting people to talk to rather than me."
"Why's that?"

She points to my paintbrush. "I dunno. Your painting is really good. How do you do that?"
"Practice. Years and years of practice. Trust me, I wasn't born with a brush in my hand though my brother likes to joke otherwise. Do you draw or paint?"

"I play some music, a little. I play clarinet in band class at school."
"You play an instrument? That's really cool!"
"It's okay. It's really fun. I practice with my girlfriend sometimes. She plays saxophone and she's really good at it."

"You have a girlfriend? Oh, that's cute! What's her name?"
"Gadge," Mila says softly as blush spreads across her cheeks. "And she's the greatest person I've ever known. She's kind and sweet and offers help to anyone who needs it. Honestly, I don't deserve her."

From there, Mila's nerves seem to disappear and her voice gains a lovely strength. We chat about things like family, friends, hobbies, and daily life until a whistle is blowing and trainers are tapping me on the shoulder to tell me the Training Centre is closed. Before it's time to pile in the elevators, Mila asks me one last thing.

"Loire? Do you think you could teach me to paint like you some time?"
"Of course! I'd love to."

Mila's eyes sparkle a little. "That's great! I'm so excited. See you tomorrow, Loire."

I like my new ally. It's quite endearing and it's such a relief to be able to talk to Mila like nothing has changed. Like we're not from completely different districts forced to come together to murder each other. I didn't even realize how long we spent there conversing. It's been such a long time that I've been able to do that with someone.

Well, not entirely. Back home, I had Yttria and we loved to talk about art. But Yttria's not here now. Another person I left behind at home. Another person I need to fight to see again.

And I think I know why I was so quick to ally with Mila. She reminds me of my best friend.

Current Alliances:

Careers: Prism, Vivian, Arietis, Olympia, Cy, Avonlea, Ganbataar(?)

M is for Manly: Garnet, Kerkylas, Reggie

Dreamers: Mila, Loire

Loners: Naomi, Cora

Unconfirmed: Vick, Walker, Messier, Aisling, Ascella, Cameron, Grail, Hunter, Linh, Tati

As the first day of training comes to a close, alliances begin to take shape. What do you think of the alliances we see so far? Do you think they can stick together come the arena?

For those of you that celebrate it, have a happy Easter! Regardless, I hope everyone eats a lot of chocolate!

See you all next chapter,

-Vr