The Odds are Definitely Not in My Favor

Flare: Chapter VI

Flare - Chapter VI:

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In order to whet the audiences' appetites before all tributes try to kill each other for the Capitol's amusement, after opening the games with the Tribute Parade, the next events scheduled include the televised announcement of the training score and the Tribute interviews.

After that, the Hunger Games would finally begin.

The combat and survival training took place for three days.

During the period spent inside the gymnasium of the Training Center, Solanum spent half of the time observing her fellow tributes, a quarter of the time taking advantage of training resources she hadn't had the opportunity to practice in the woods of District 12, and the final quarter worrying about her strategy and plan during the games.

Initially, Solanum thought that it would be better to stand out, attract more attention and good favor to arm herself with more chances to survive. She wasn't usually so showy, but circumstances pushed her into this situation, and now-

She was unsure how to go on from here.

The presence of Gale for one made the situation more complicated than it already was. Considering that Gale seemed invested during combat training and was actually approached by the Careers the other day-

Solanum honestly didn't want to be the one to put him down.

She hoped he wouldn't join them.

(Once he does, the chances of him lasting long enough that she had to kill him herself in order to win was far higher than she was comfortable with.)

(Solanum could do it.)

(The only reason holding her back was his connection to her family and Katniss' attachment to him at this point.)

(However, she preferred not to do so, if she could help it.)

Sometimes, during situations like this, Solanum couldn't help but wish that she was more like Kakashi than she was Solanum.

(She was Kakashi but he wasn't her and for all intents and purposes, her relative inexperience was working against her.)

(Solanum only got the essence, you see, and barely anything from his missions and his experience as a leader. As a spy. As a jounin.)

(Although Hatake Kakashi spent most of his life doing missions for the village, leading covert operations in order to protect the Konoha's assets, he didn't count these experiences as an integral part of his being - of who he was as a person.)

(All Solanum inherited through her dreams were Kakashi's trauma, his team, his comrades, and the death of people he cared about very much.)

(Then again, if Solanum was more Kakashi than Solanum, she felt that-)

(He would kill everyone, then kill himself for good measure.)

(Or he would go to partner with Gale for efficiency to kill everyone, then kill himself - be foolish like Obito were, surrendering the people they care about to someone who had their own burdens to carry.)

Solanum didn't want to die.

At least not without taking half of Capitol down with her.

...

..

.

Escaping the Training Center means death. Not to mention the Peacekeepers guarding the room or the elevated balcony at the top of the gymnasium with pompous old men watching kids train themselves before they culled like pigs for entertainment, there were monitors everywhere and force fields to keep tributes in check.