At 10 minutes to 10 the very next day, you found yourself standing next to Peeta and Effie in the elevator wearing a training suit that was quite tight around your body, but provided some flexibility as you moved around, stretched, warmed up. It wasn't too bad, especially since you'll be doing a lot of physical activity for the next few days. Who knows how worked up people would end up being?

"Here we are," Effie murmured, ushering you and Peeta off the elevator. Soon, you found yourselves walking towards the training area, where you saw all of the other tributes present, wearing the exact same thing as you were, and bearing many different expressions.

"Thanks, Effie," you smiled. "We'll see you in the evening."

Effie just gave a smile in return as she retreated to the elevator, and then headed back up to the penthouse. In the meanwhile, you and Peeta glanced at each other in indecision.

"Well?" Peeta murmured to you, straightening his blond hair with the palm of one hand.

You shrugged. "Let's go."

Together, you both entered the training room, and you quickly took a look at all the other tributes. Some of them were larger and have more buff than you did. Others were smaller and quite scared and intimidated. A few of them had the aura of being more than prepared and ready for the Games--back in your district you referred to them as the Career tributes, and it wasn't hard for you to figure out and see that the tributes from Districts 1, 2, and 4 all have that kind of look on them. This made you feel slightly intimidated, especially when you realized that the tribute who was glaring at you last night was a Career tribute.

Suddenly, your confidence faded and you felt fear course through your veins. The slight edge you had with your fiery entrance the night before seemed to disappear in a trance. Looking at everyone now, you weren't sure anymore how you were going to offer something greater than what you managed to pull off last night, but you recalled Katniss's advice from reaping day, and your breathing soon came easier.

"Good morning," you heard a voice say from a corner of the room. You turned to see your head trainer, Atala, make her way to all of you.

"My name is Atala, and I'll be leading you through your training sessions," she said. "You are all aware that in two weeks time, 23 of you will be dead." She looked around to make sure that you were all catching up, and you nodded.

"Only one of you will be alive. Who that is depends on how well you pay attention over the next four days, particularly to what I'm about to say," she continues. "First, no fighting with the other tributes. You'll have plenty of time for that in the arena," she assured you.

Of course, you weren't planning on that. You took a good look at the Career tributes now, who were fighting hard not to look too displeased at that warning.

"There are four compulsory exercises, and the rest would be individual training," Atala said, and you perked up at the mention of that. Most of it, individual training. That would at least give you some time away from the rest of the tributes. Being around them would serve too much of a distraction.

"My advice is, don't ignore the survival skills," Atala finally said, and you nodded. "Everyone wants to grab a sword, but most of you will die from natural causes--10% from infection, 20% from dehydration. Exposure could kill as easily as a knife."

That was pretty obvious. The Hunger Games doesn't test on how well you kill--it tests on how well you could live and adapt to the environment of the arena. Who knows where you'll end up, anyway?

With that, Atala let you go, and your eyes first landed on the fire-making station. Of course, regardless of where you end up, you'd want to try out making a fire out of any kind of material, and you quickly made your way there, pushing down the fact that Haymitch made mention to Peeta that making one in the dark would get you killed immediately.

"Hello!" the trainer said in glee. "You'd like to learn how to make fires?"

You nodded, smiling. "Yeah. I think that'd be a good survival skill. Who'd know how cold some days could get?"

"Anticipate everything," the trainer advised, and soon you got started with making a fire out of flint, wood, matches, with a damp cloth...within half an hour, you managed to breeze through making a fire with all those things, and you smiled.

"That's amazing," you murmured.

The trainer nodded at your fires. "Very well done," he nodded.

You nodded and smiled as you made your way to the next station--throwing knives. Of course, you could throw a few back at home whenever you were bored and wanted something to do, but as you told Haymitch, you needed work on aim. Confidence seemed to seep back into you as you made your way to that station. To your surprise, another girl was already there, practicing hard as she threw knife after knife at every dummy, piercing every one of them in the heart. A closer look at her sleeve, at the number branded on the outfit, told you that she was from District 2--a Career tribute.

"Whoa, that's good," you commented.

The girl then swept the hair out of her eyes at the end of the session, and grinned at you, which was kind of creepy. "Thanks. I've been training all my life for this."

"I can see," you nodded. "District 2, huh? You must have been getting some special treatment for what you've done all your life."

She smiled. "Yeah. Anyway, you wanted to go for this?"

You nodded. "Yeah." You stepped forward and received from the trainer a huge array of knives, which you managed to carry in your hands.

Soon, you saw the dummies light up, targets shining right into your eyes as you threw your blades, releasing them from your light grip on the hilt and straight into their chests, which surprised you. Even the blades stuck deep into their bodies as you threw blade after blade at them., Then the dummies began to rotate and advance and light, but you continued your exercise and did what you did. At long last, when all the blades ended up sticking out of the dummy's chests, the session ended, and you turned back to see the girl gape at you slightly.

"That...was...amazing," she commented. "I've never seen someone have such talent."

You shrugged, choosing your next words carefully since she was the more superior one, anyway. "Thanks. Beginner's luck, I guess."

"Well, whatever the case, that was really good work," the girl complimented you, holding a hand out. "I'm Clove. You?"

"(Y/N)," you said, shaking her hand.

"Say, you don't mind joining us as part of our alliance?" Clove finally asked you. "We could use some seriously good people, and you don't seem to be too bad yourself."

"Wait a second. You've already got seven people in your alliance, right? Six?" you asked her.

Clove nodded. "Yeah. We've all been training all our lives. So why not? You seem fit," she shrugged.

"I...I don't know," you murmured.

"Oh come on!" Another boy showed up beside Clove--the one who was looking at you with complete loathing the night before. By the look of it, he seemed to also come from her district. He had dark blond hair spiking up in the air. "I was watching you too. And your fire demonstration thing too. You seem to be a pretty strong contender." He held out his hand to you. "So what do you say?"

You glanced at the boy's hand. "Who are you anyway, to offer such a bold offer like that?"

"I'm Cato," he said. "District 2 tribute. And you're from...12?"

You nodded. "I'm (Y/N)."

"Join us," Clove encouraged. "We'll be a great team together, all of us."

For a moment, you felt compelled to just take Cato's hand and accept the offer, but you hesitated as you allowed your eyes to sweep over the rest of the room, in search for Peeta. There he was. He was at the camouflage station, carefully applying something to his arm. Would he approve of your alliance with the Careers? Would Haymitch approve?

"You could ask for allies early in this thing?" you asked finally. "I wasn't sure. Correct me if I'm wrong. I mean, I'd consider the offer...but--"

"Oh. I see," Cato finally said, putting his hand down. "It's your district partner, right? Aren't you two, like, a couple?"

You blushed immediately. "No no! No, we're not!"

"Uh huh." Two more tributes--another guy and girl from District 1--made their way to you. "You two seemed very close."

"Who are you?" you asked them.

The girl laughed. "I'm Glimmer, from District 1. And that's Marvel."

You nodded. "And I'm (Y/N) from District 12."

"So what do you say?" Cato repeated. "You'd be joining a great group, you know. Maybe one of us would come out of this, winning this thing." He offered you a very charming smile that made you blush from head to toe, warm feeling rising from your chest, and you smiled as you looked down shyly.

"Um...if you see me running with you guys after the bloodbath, if I survive it, then yes," you finally decided. "But if not...well you guys can have all the liberty to kill me."

Glimmer seemed to take that into account, and even noted your blushing form. "Aww! She's blushing!"

"Good job, Cato," Marvel eventually smirked, clapping Cato hard on the shoulder. "You've gotten her smitten."

"Heh, thanks," Cato shrugged and smiled.

"So what do you say we spread out and try more things?" you asked them finally, unsure of how you felt possibly making an alliance with them and friends out of the strongest of the pack.

Clove nodded. "Yeah. That's a good idea." She smiled and shook your hand again. "Pleased to meet you, (Y/N)."

You smiled and nodded at every one of the tributes present in front of you, blushing when your eyes met Cato's. "Thanks. I'll see you around, I guess."

With that, you all parted--Cato and Marvel to the spear throwing, Glimmer to archery, Clove to the fire-starting station, and you to the tying-knots station. Your plan was to try one survival station, then one combat station...and so on so forth until you had a feel for what's going on around the training centre. But for the entire time, you tried not to end up in the same station as the Careers, or Peeta.

*************

After the second day of training, you and Peeta and the rest of District 12 were having dinner on your floor, like usual. You seemed to be in a very conflicted situation, the decision of joining the Careers now hanging in balance with remaining with your best friend in the arena. It must have been evident on your face, because then Haymitch noticed and tried to snap you out of your reverie.

"(Y/N), is something troubling you?" Haymitch asked you.

You shrugged. "Not really. Just...missing home."

Peeta nudged you quietly. "You sure? That's not what I'm thinking. I've seen you with the Careers, you know. That big one from District 2, especially."

Your eyes widened. "What the--you saw me with them?"

Now Effie and Haymitch stared at you in complete shock.

"You--were--with--the--Careers?" Effie asked quietly, her hand on her chest like she was going to faint.

You shrugged. "They saw me handle the knives. But I let their offer of joining their alliance stand for now. I mean, things could have been worse, right? They could be fighting with me or something. And that would cause some serious trouble."

"But what are you thinking?" Haymitch whispered incredulously. "They're the strongest of us. They'll kill you on the spot!"

Suddenly, Cato's charming smile and handsome figure flashed temporarily in your mind, and a warning bell sounded in your head. Was Cato really trying to woo you, or did he really wish to lure you into the trap Haymitch said he could lead you into? You bit your lip in doubt at Cato's attempts to catch your eye and flirt with you for the last few days--surprisingly, all the other Careers, including Clove, left you alone for a bit, but Cato wouldn't stop following you. In fact, he was trying to flirt with you as you tried to learn new things--which you managed to do. But it was annoying to have him near you all the time. Somewhat.

"I..." You were suddenly at a loss for words when Cato's image finally faded from your vision, and you squeezed your eyes shut.

"I thought so." Peeta sighed and turned back to his food. "I don't even know what made me feel fortunate for you to be here with me, because that's not what I'm getting from you anymore. Go ahead and woo that other tribute, for all I know."

"Peeta, I don't even have any feelings for him!" you cried. "You're my best friend, and you're all I ever want to be with. These Careers, I know what they're up to. That's why I let their offer go for now. Like, leave it unresolved."

"And then? They'll kill you if you don't accept," Peeta said in return.

You shrugged. "Look, if you're so concerned about me--"

"I wish I can be," Peeta interrupted you. "But you're probably...you've changed since you got here."

"Well, believe it or not, so have you!" you cried.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Peeta eventually said in apology. "I'm just stressed out, you know. I'm worried about you."

You nodded. "Don't worry, Peeta. We'll make it through," you assured him, reaching out your hand for his, which he accepted.

"Alright you two. Tomorrow's your last day of training, and then you'll be called in to give your demonstrations,. They'll start with District 1, male then female, so you two will be last," Haymitch finally spoke up. He must have recovered from your interactions with the Careers, and eventually regained his composure. "What are your plans?"

"Throwing weights," Peeta finally shrugged.

You bit your lip in doubt. "No idea. I've been training with a bow and arrow, but I might stick with the knives...if the girl from 2 doesn't do that first. I don't know. Maybe she would."

"The knives would be a good choice," Haymitch nodded. "Knives, blades, maybe add in archery if you can manage that all at once," he added, smiling. "Just do something that would make the Gamemakers remember you," he concluded. "And don't yell and chop each other's heads off."

You nodded, turning to Peeta. "You think he's being serious?"

"Who knows?" Peeta shrugged. "What with everything going on lately, we could be."

More laughs ensued among you all, and this time, no one turned to stare at you for laughing so loud.