Bran and I step out of the elevator and into the training center. Thankfully, we're not the last to arrive. There are about ten other tributes, including the Careers, gathered around the head trainer. Some of the tributes glance up at us as we walk towards them. Others don't pay us any mind, either looking around the area, glancing nervously at the others, or just standing there. The Careers are introducing themselves and making small talk. "You remember the plan, right?" I whisper to Bran. He nods with a small grin.

We had made our alliance official this morning. There was no use trying to put it off anymore. We were already acting like allies anyway, despite my initial hesitation. We spent breakfast discussing strategy with Sylva and Rycin, and ultimately decided to learn as much about the other tributes as possible in order to scope out potential allies. I already had a list going, but that was just from the Reaping. When training starts and the tributes start interacting with one another, that's when alliances are formed.

When we aren't scoping out the others, we're both going to train and try to learn new skills while practicing old ones. There's no use trying to lay low when I'm already in the spotlight. I know how to work a sickle but only on grain. Applying those skills to a person, disturbingly enough, should be simple, according to Rycin, but it's good to get the practice in. I also plan to practice my survival skills, as well as learn how to do the things I couldn't learn at home. As for Bran, he's going to practice his lurking skills by getting an idea of who's allying with who, as well as any other potential skills the other tributes have. He's also going to learn how to work a knife so that he can defend himself if needed.

The other tributes begin to slowly file in, the Twelves being the last to arrive. Seeing my opponents all gathered for the first time is honestly nerve wracking. Which ones will I have to kill? Which one could be my killer? Questions I don't want the answer to.

The head trainer gives us a rundown of what the next few days will look like for us. We're reminded to try out the survival stations, and not just reach for a weapon. We're also given the sobering reminder that when this is all over, twenty-three of us will be dead. I look around at the small crowd gathered and suppress a shudder. The area is packed, but it feels so empty knowing that only one of us will still be alive in a few weeks. The rest will be in their graves.

She blows a whistle, releasing us. I turn to Bran and find that he's already gone. I chuckle a bit and shake my head. Bran's already gotten a head start.

Most of the Careers immediately take over the weapons station, but strangely enough, Bronze heads straight for the survival skills.

I decide to head to the edible plants station first. Replicating Gramps' strategy to the letter isn't really the best idea in the "don't piss off the Gamemakers" department, but it wouldn't hurt to learn how to poison someone…or avoid being poisoned myself. Besides, I'd rather potentially deal with Bronze than deal with Nero. I pass by the trap station, where Emily is working, followed by the camouflage station, which is currently occupied by Krystian. I find myself thinking of Sunny. Did she spend a lot of time here? I imagine she would have loved this place, with all the pigments and new ways to create art.

Once I've mastered the edible plants station, which isn't long considering all of the books I've read, I find myself wandering, unsure where to go next. Bridgeteri has joined Emily at the trap station and they're chatting away. Bronze, who was at the fire building station, takes my place at the edible plants station. Belladonna is with him and showing him some things. That doesn't surprise me at all. I look over at the weapons area and see that the Fours aren't paying much attention. Brooke and Dashiell are showing off with their tridents and I can't help but roll my eyes at the Finnick Odair Wannabes. Camdyn is practicing with a sword, not showing off at all, but she is occasionally giving the others the side eye. She doesn't seem too impressed with her alliance. Jacinth, or Jax, I remember she wanted to be called, on the other hand, is speaking with Nero. She occasionally glances over at Bronze. It's almost as if she's trying to keep him occupied. Strange…

Before I can think on it, I see Bronze walk away from the plants station out of the corner of my eye and towards me. "Hello, Amber," he says. "Do you have a moment to talk?"

I had already decided I wasn't going to have anything to do with the Career alliance, but I may as well humor him. I don't want to potentially piss him off and push myself higher on his kill list. "Sure," I reply. "What's up?"

"My name is Bronze," he begins. "I'm from District One. I'm sure you've noticed the number of strong tributes this year."

"I have," I reply carefully, knowing exactly where this is going.

"I would like for you to join our alliance. You're strong and already popular thanks to your family name. You would be of great value to us, and we'd all stand a greater chance of survival."

"I already have an ally," I reply. "I don't know if he'd want to join."

"Your district partner? I saw you two talking on the chariot. No offense, I'm afraid he'd have no place with us. He'd only drag us down. I assure you, I'll make his death as quick and painless as possible. You wouldn't have to worry about him for long. Trust me when I say you'd be better off without him."

This comment fills me with rage, but I fight it back down. "What about Nero?" I ask. "Didn't he declare war on outliers during the Reaping?"

"Nero will just have to deal with it," Bronze replies coolly. "You're not the first outlier I've approached, and you won't be the last. You don't have to give an answer right away. I understand if you'd like to give it some thought. I will need an answer before the last day of training though."

I nod. "I understand. I think that would be best. I'll get back to you soon. In the meantime, I'm going to keep hanging out with Bran. I don't want him to suspect anything, and if I decide to join you, I'd rather let him down easy. He deserves that much."

Bronze smiles. "I completely understand. I know what I'm asking of you is hard. Betraying your district partner is not an easy decision to make. I myself am close with Jax. We've been friends since we were in diapers. At some point though, you have to understand that only one can win though. Jax and I have made peace with that. You should as well. Believe, it'll help you in the long run."

I am well aware that only one person can win. It's incredibly painful to know that the first real friendship I've had outside of family is short lived. Deep down, I understand that Bronze is genuinely trying to help me, but I'm already irritated, and his words only make it worse. "I'll think about it," I reply, my voice clipped.

Bronze nods. "Alright then. Once you make your decision, please let me know. If you refuse, I won't hold it against you. You have my word." With that, Bronze departs, and irritation turns into confusion once it dawns on me what's really going on. Bronze and Jax are recruiting outliers and keeping it from Nero? Are the others in on this or are they also in the dark? Opinions of outliers aside, I'd be incredibly pissed if I were in Nero's shoes.

Surely this is going to blow up in Bronze's face, and surely, he knows that. He can't keep this from his allies forever. They're going to find out. He's too smart not to know that though, at least I think so.

This warrants further investigation.

Eventually, we're summoned for lunch. I grab myself a tray with some beef stew and grain, as well as a roll that I'm told is made in District Three. Most of the tributes sit alone, except for the Careers and the girls from Three and Twelve. Bran finds me pretty quickly, holding a tray stacked with a variety of dishes. "Don't freak out but Bronze tried to recruit me earlier," I say in a hushed voice, deciding to get that out of the way.

"Fascinating," Bran says, setting his tray down and sitting next to me. "I presume you told him to pound sand?"

"I plan to." I take a bite of stew and wash it down with some water. "For now, he thinks I'm thinking about it."

"Why wait?"

"Because something's off," I reply. "I don't know about the others but Nero's definitely unaware. Bronze didn't just try to recruit me either. I think Belladonna's in the alliance too."

"And the boy from Twelve," Bran adds. "I saw him talking with the Fours."

"So, the others are involved too? How the hell has Nero not noticed? Are they planning on offing him in the bloodbath or something?"

Bran shrugs. "The others are keeping it on the down low until Camdyn can let him down easy. She plans to tell him before the Games start, but I wouldn't be surprised if she has Enobaria do it."

"What makes you say that?"

"I myself had a Career encounter today. I was at the water station getting a drink and she approached me. She told me to tell you to steer clear of the Careers, that this alliance was going to be a mess."

"Seriously?"

"I know!" Bran flippantly threw his hands in the air. "It baffled me too, but maybe she's right. Nero doesn't seem like the type to let this slide. I don't know what's going on here, but it should be interesting. Speaking of, doesn't Nero's name sound familiar to you?"

Does it? I think on it for a moment. I feel like I have heard the name Mortis somewhere before, but I can't place it. "We can ask Sylva and Rycin when we get back to our floor. They might be able to answer that question. Did you find out anything?"

Bran nods and pulls out the notes I gave him, with some additions he's made. I do the same. "So we already know about the Career alliance, which I really hope implodes via an angry Nero before training is over because trust me, that would be hilarious…until we got into the arena that is. Jax seemed pretty comfortable with a rapier. Nero used gauntlets. Brooke and Dashiell used tridents, but based on your notes, you knew that was coming."

"Good to know," I reply. "Bronze spent the whole morning at the survival stations so no word on his weapon, I don't think. Speaking of survival, I think Emily and Bridgeteri are teaming up. They were at the snare station and they're sitting together now."

Bran nods. "The twins from Five are teaming up too. That much is obvious. The Tens are also sticking together so I presume they're allying for the time being. Drake's decent with a knife so far. As for Jenny, I don't know. I think the Sixes and Sevens are, but I can't say for certain. Weapons wise, Lincoln is really good with a bow and arrow. And the Sevens know how to use axes. We might be able to use that kind of offensive power."

"Do you have any preferences so far?" I ask.

"You're asking me?" Bran seems shocked. "You're the leader here."

"Come on, Bran," I reply. "It's just the two of us. There's no leader here."

"Well, if we're making a big alliance, we're going to need one, and I hereby nominate you. Now, to answer your question, I honestly don't know."

"You think we should do more research?" I ask.

"I mean, you can never do enough research. We have to make sure whoever we choose won't stab us in the back first chance they get, but we shouldn't wait too long either… Thinking about it, maybe the Six Seven alliance wouldn't be a bad choice. Or Flower Power."

"Flower Power?" I raise an eyebrow.

Bran grins. "Electronics and the fact that you mentioned that Bridgeteri was a gardener in your notes. Flower Power!"

I shrug. "Okay, I'll accept that."

"I can approach them if you need me to," Bran offers. "You probably shouldn't be looking at other alliances while Bronze's offer is on the table. If you're trying to be strategic about the whole thing."

"Based on what he told me, I doubt he'll care," I counter. "If you want to though, go for it. You're way more charismatic than I'll ever be."

Bran just laughs. "Point taken. Okay, I'll do it."

With that out of the way, we enjoy the rest of our lunch making small conversation. Still, the issue of the Careers lingers on my mind. I know I need to turn Bronze down. The question is when and how. No other alliance will consider us if they think for a moment I'll turn on them for the Careers. Then, there's the question of Nero and the secret allies…

It dawns on me what I need to do, and I can't help the smile that spreads across my face.

So, before I start this author's note, I want to apologize for a couple of screw ups I made last chapter, one of which has since been fixed. I accidentally described the Eights twice in the last chapter. I was originally going to cut to after the parade but added the parade scene at the absolute last second and completely forgot that I stuck the Eights in the elevator with Amber. That's what I get for trying to write when dead tired because my editing skills are usually the first to go. Somehow, I caught the massive grammatical error I made and not that. I also somehow forgot that tuberculosis was contagious. I know I gave Chanel a mask, so that helps a bit. I'll just say that the Capitol took measures to make her as non-contagious as possible but gave her the mask as an extra precaution.

With that out of the way, Amber and Bran's ally hunt begins, and questions appear surrounding the Careers, particularly Bronze. Bran really gets to shine here. He's both stealthy and observant, so he was able to learn a lot about the other tributes.

What's Amber planning? Who will she and Bran ally with? Why is Krystian at the camouflage station? All will be answered in time! I decided to include a list of alliances so far, at least to Amber's knowledge, just to make things easier to keep track of going forward.

The (Dysfunctional) Careers: Jax, Bronze, Camdyn, Nero, Brooke, Dashiell, Belladonna (secretly), Atticus (secretly)

Flower Power: Emily and Bridgeteri

The Twins: Wendy and Urban

Six Seven Crew: Giemci, Lincoln, Decida, Cedar

The Nines (Sibling Energy?): Amber and Bran

The Tens: Drake and Jenny

Loners: Xander, Chanel, Krystian, Harvey