"In two weeks, 23 of you will be dead. One of you will be alive. Who that is depends on how well you pay attention over the next three days, particularly to what I'm about to say. First, no fighting with the other Tributes. You'll have plenty of time for that in the Arena. There are four compulsory exercises. The rest will be individual training. My advice is don't ignore the survival skills. Everybody wants to grab a sword, but most of you will die from natural causes. 10% from infection, 20% from dehydration. Exposure can kill as easily as a knife."
I stare at the head trainer Atala intently, soaking up her every word as she begins to brief us on the different training stations. I look at Harry for a moment and he meets my eyes, smiling. The other tributes around us shift around as Atala talks, anxious to start training. When Atala finally dismisses us, I wait beside Harry as everyone breaks off to do training. Harry grabs my hand and we walk towards the camouflage station.
“Kate, watch the other tributes.”
“Why? They can’t attack us here.”
“No, to see who we should ally with.”
“You want to form an alliance with someone?” I whisper as I watch Harry painting his arm. I copy him, but I continue to stare at him.
“Well yeah, how else do you expect to survive? If we go it alone we’re screwed.”
I sigh, but I know he’s right. I look around at the other tributes and watch them as they train. Liam, the District 1 tribute, and Niall, from District 2, are laughing as they try to best each other at throwing spears. The Career alliance has already bloomed. I watch the other Careers; Titan, Sparkle, Katya and Sheena, go about their training. Titan is sparring with one of the trainers. He lifts up the trainer in a bear hug, and slams him into the ground. I hear a crack as the trainer lands, and he lets out a blood curdling scream as paramedics come to retrieve him. Sheena is at sword training and in an effortless spin she decapitates the five dummies surrounding her. Katya is at the bow station, and Sparkle is at rope climbing. I look away and try to watch the other tributes. I see Rallie, the nine year old, trying to knot traps. She fails and gets frustrated, and starts to cry. I look at Harry and he meets my gaze, knowing my thoughts completely.
“She’s going to die early on in the games, it’s best not to get attached,” He sighs. His eyes are full of pain and sadness at his own words, and I feel myself ready to cry. Harry sits up and looks around at the other tributes. He stops and stares at one, and smirks a little. I follow his gaze to see Gale, throwing knives at targets. He hits each of them almost on the mark, and with each throw his biceps flex.
“There’s a gooder.”
“If we ally with Gale he’ll bring Primrose too.”
Harry smiles even bigger.
“Good. I do love that Everdeen spirit. And if we are with them we’ll surely have the Capitol’s attention.”
We move to our next station, edible plants and animals, and I look around again at the other tributes. Zayn from District 8 catches my attention, mostly because he’s beautiful. His face is perfectly symmetrical, and his dark skin and deep brown eyes are captivating. He’s working on building a fire, and sets one up with ease. He moves to archery, and shoots an arrow into the heart of a target.
“What about Zayn from 8?”
“Pretty boy? No way, I don’t want any competition,” Harry laughs, but nods at my choice. I look around some more, but I stop dead on the eyes of Louis. He’s staring at Harry again, gripping the hilt of the sword he holds with fierce intensity. He bites his lower lip when he notices I’m staring and, without looking away from me, throws the sword across the room, hitting the throwing knife target in the centre. I start to panic, and look again at Harry who hasn’t seemed to notice.
“Louis keeps staring at you.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know but- He’s got really good aim and I’m only very intimidated.”
“Calm down, I’m sure it’s nothing. I’ll protect you from the big bad lightning man.”
“Harry he’s just watching you aren’t you nervous?”
“Oh love, he’s probably just in love with me. How can anyone resist?” Harry flashes me a half-joking sultry look and flips his hair in an attempt to seem dramatic. I look back at Louis, who has focused on something else but keeps shooting looks over at Harry.
“I have a bad feeling about that guy Harry.”
“It’ll be fine Kate, just you see. But on the offhand he is in love with me; what do you think of calling us “Larry”? Nice ring to it don’t you think?”
I smack Harry in the arm but can’t help but laugh at him. We move stations again to fire making, where Primrose and Gale have moved as well. Harry extends his hand to Gale in greeting, and they shake.
“Mind if we join you?”
“If you want,” Gale replies. I kneel beside Primrose, who smiles weakly at me. She looks at Harry and smiles at him as well, bowing her head a little.
“Thank you so much for saluting me at the parade. It really meant a lot to me.”
“Anytime Prim. Sucks you both got roped into this.”
“It was rigged,” Gale whispers, and Prim bites her bottom lip. I look at her with concern, and try to think of something to say.
“It must make it better that you’re here with your cousin at least, I mean- uh. I’m sorry I-”
“We’re not cousins, that was just some lie the Capitol made up to keep the Katniss-Peeta relationship alive,” Gale mumbles. Harry laughs a little, then grabs Gale’s wrist to stop his fire-making for a moment.
“Look Gale, we both know alliances are important here. If we team up in the arena, we all have a better chance of surviving.”
“So you want to form an alliance with us?” Gale contemplates it for a moment before looking at me and Primrose. He looks back at Harry, leans closer to him and whispers something to him. Harry nods.
“On my life, you’ve got my word.”
[A/N: Hello again! I got this chapter up sooner than expected because I had more time than I was thinking. Anyways, how is everyone?! Hope you are all well and enjoyed this chapter! I will try to add things in here and there that pertain to the boys in real life. Did any of you catch it in this chapter? ;) I mean no harm with the Larry comment. Think of it as a little shoutout. Anyways, thank you so so much for everything and make sure to vote, share and comment! <3 ]
