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THE THIRD DAY OF TRAINING does little to squash Blaze's nerves. Ryker and her were still not speaking. The former chose to spend the entire session training with Dylan. She assumed Ryker wanted to recruit him as an ally and after Blaze's actions the other day it was going to be harder. Everyone knew that despite the cold exterior Dylan would not leave Ripley. They were a package deal. So if Dylan would be joining their pack Blaze would have to learn how to play nice with Ripley. And she hated it.
The tributes were now all sitting in a small room that acted as a waiting area for the private sessions. She had immediately noticed the small boy from eight when he entered, sadness filling her as she thought about how distressed he had to be to attempt taking his own life. She swore she would not touch him in the arena. She hoped he did not suffer, but he would not die by her hand.
Ryker was sitting as far away from her on their shared bench as possible and Blaze didn't even care that he was making her look weak. She just wanted him to talk to her.
But Ryker was done giving her the time of day. He had closed his mouth, hoping that once they arrived in the Capitol she would start to see the truth just like he did. When he first arrived he was excited. He didn't live for these games like Blaze did, but he did think they brought honor and that he should be proud to be in them. Until he actually started interacting with everything here.
From the first day Ryker stepped off the train, the Capitol was nothing he was expecting it to be. His prep team was rude and treated him like he was some kind of animal. It was disgusting and he couldn't imagine treating other human beings the way he was treated. Then came the parade. While Blaze was blowing kisses into the audience and catching roses from new admirers, Ryker couldn't help but notice how fake everything was. No one actually seemed to care about them, easily moving their attention from one tribute to the next. It made Ryker sick. He had never seen so many fake smiles in one place.
He could tell that Blaze was not realizing the same things he was. Her training had gone far deeper than his and had been way more intense. It was instilled in her exactly what she was supposed to think and he assumed she had those thoughts drilled into her so much, by the academy and her father, that she couldn't distinguish her own beliefs from theirs anymore.
It had been the first night of training when Ryker met the boy. He had come to the roof, looking for some fresh air and saw the boy on the edge of the ledge, one foot already dangling over. It took longer than Ryker would have liked to get the boy down, and he imagined if anyone found out what the boy was about to do, the capitol would make sure no one could take themselves out of the game before they wanted them gone. He had talked with the boy well through the night. Learning about his home life and comforting him when he cried. He had missed his mom, he said. And that sentence alone would have been enough to get Ryker to hate the Capitol.
