Deceived: The 500th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter 9 - Training: Day 1

ALISMA ROY'S P.O.V

Last night was quite eventful.

I had woken up to screaming from Haile. She had managed to knock one of the tracker jacket lumps during her sleep. She wasn't joking when she said she bled a lot. She drenched the sheets. If I hadn't been awake, the result could've been fatal.

Wade was also screaming. On the walls of the corridor, there were pictures of every tribute who died during the games. Wade's brother's picture was on the end. Smiling. He had to be restrained whilst he threw things at the pictures.

Everyone turned up for an early breakfast. Today was the first day of training. I don't know how I feel. There will be cameras. I can't fight. I don't know survival. I'm screwed.

Our stylists came in with our training outfits. One-piece outfits with your name and district number on. My outfit is pink, being a girl. The guys had blue outfits.

They were ridiculously comfortable. I swung my arms in circles freely. It felt good.

Wade, Haile, Jaymes and I crammed into the elevator and punched the right button to take us to the training centre. As we walked in, a few Careers eyed us. The biggest one - Majoris, I think - glared at us. We all stayed in a group and walked towards where the head gamemaker was going to introduce us to the training.

We met up with other tributes from our district. I greeted them warmly and immediately got to asking questions, knowing the cameras were on us. I don't want to seem too friendly.

"So, who's going where? We all need weapon training, so I suggest doing that before lunch. Then we can eat after, which is healthy as our body continues to burn calories. We want to lose as little weight as possible." I said.

"In the meantime, I suggest we branch off and go to different survival sections." Pomeline said. "I want to learn about fires first."

The room hushed as Jarrett Cannery, the head gamemaker, entered the room.

"Good morning tributes," Jarrett boomed, "for the next 3 days, you will be filmed and watched closely by my fellow gamemakers. Your private sessions will be after the 3 days of training. In a weeks time exactly, you'll be in tubes raising up into the arena, ready to face your deaths. 21 of you will be dead within less than a fortnight. 3 of you will be alive. Your training in these next few days will help determine your survival."

He lectured for a little while longer before sending us off on our way. I remember him briefly saying about a compulsory exercise after lunch. Bring it on.

Half of the Careers ran towards the weapons, followed by the scrawny kids looking for a way to defend themselves. I made my way to the edible plants area.

A lady with bright purple hair greeted me. She set up a big computer-type device. I had to guess which plants on the screen were safe and edible. Overall, I only scored 39%. I asked for some advice on how to identify the plants. I was handed some books. Inside the books were carefully inked sketches of the plants.

On the front of the book, the names "Promise Everdeen, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark." I swear Peeta and Katniss won the games once. Back over 400 years ago?

I traced the names with my finger. The lady noticed me admiring everything I the book from the info to the drawings to the names on the cover.

"Peeta sent this to us before his death. He and Katniss made it just after their games. He wanted us to have it to be able to teach you all about the dangers of plants." She smiled, but something wasn't right. Wasn't Peeta completely against the games?

They probably killed him and took the book, knowing the Capitol.

After pondering around the edible plants for ages, memorising names and images, I looked at the time and decided it was time to go to the weapons.


RUNYON HOVERHOUND'S P.O.V

I picked up a dagger, feeling a little unsure about using it. The instructor came over and he told how to hold it properly, how to shift your weight effectively, the best places to strike and the best ways to defend yourself.

He set up a robot dummy, who also had a dagger. I was told when to dive and stab the dummy. I rolled around the training centre floor - that was my favourite part, seeing as gymnastics was a interest of mine. I kicked the dummy's chest and back flipped off of it, causing the robot dummy to fall to the ground. As it went to stand, I drove the dagger through its neck, which would've been an instant kill.

"Brilliant!" the instructor applauded, "I'm impressed. This is your first time using a dagger?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I thought it would be a nice and simple weapon to use."

He told me to go again, adding greater numbers of robots or robots with different weapons. This made me learn how to defend. Right now, I was facing two dummies, one with a crossbow and the other with throwing knives. One robot sent an arrow at me and I put my dagger in front of the target, defending myself. The weapons the robots were using couldn't hurt us, but they would shock us if it signalled my death.

I started to grow confidence. I threw the dagger into a robot with the crossbow, hitting it right between the eyes. I dropped and rolled as a knife was thrown my way. I grabbed the throwing knife from the floor and the dagger from the dummy and started to slice the face of the dummy.

I grunted, adrenaline pumping. I launched myself off of the wall and launched the throwing knife into the side of the remaining dummy's skull.

As I panted, I noticed the room was pretty quiet. Careers, gamemakers and other tributes were staring at me. What have I done?

Suddenly, a few people started to clap. I noticed some of the District 1 tributes smiling my way, most of them showing general happiness, as if they're pleased that I was doing okay. A few Careers scowled, taking notes. I realised I was going to be a threat. A big threat.

"Dude," I heard a male voice behind me. Chester was smiling at me. I swear he was over at another station about not long ago...

"Weren't you at the weights about 5 seconds ago?" I asked.

He nodded. "Being able to be quiet is a good skill to acquire. If you need to kill, you don't want to be loud and ruthless. Stealthiness is key. Septimus taught me that."

He left and grabbed some throwing knives, launching at the targets around the room. They hit dead centre every single time. I observed him quietly, watching him fly from the climbing frame. I remembered that he wasn't a volunteer, but a regular tribute, just like me.

Chester caught me staring, and approached me. I blushed slightly, embarrassed that he had seen me staring. That wasn't sneaky or stealthy.

"You want something?" Chester asked. "You want some tips or techniques?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to ally with me. I was originally planning on sticking with the youngsters of District 5, but I really can't be bothered. It'll be horrible watching every single one of them die." I said. I felt guilty saying it, but it was true, how many of them are going to make it out alive? At the end of the year, only 1 tribute will be victorious. District 5 barely stand a chance.

"Okay," Chester replied. He shook me hand and asked if I wanted to do some climbing training after lunch and the compulsory activity. I agreed to join him and we headed over to the lunch canteen.


SEPTIMUS BAKER'S P.O.V

After having a quiet lunch in the company of Roxen, we headed to this activity we had to do led by Jarrett. We entered this massive room. There was nothing here.

"You have to find your way to the other side. Simple as that. Every time someone gets across, you'll recover an electric shock. Good luck!" Jarrett announced.

A lot of people looked at me as if I knew what to do. I stood still, silently observing the floor and walls.

That's when I noticed a button near Atlus. He's to dumb to even know what a button is. I lunged towards it, punching it. The floor slid beneath me and I fell. God, it felt like it lasted forever. I fell past a small hole, noticing a rope ladder underneath it. Tensing, I grabbed the muscles and prepared for the strain my arm were about to receive.

I slammed into the wall. Graceful. I climbed up as fast as possible, trying to find my way to the small hole. It was big enough to crawl in.

I saw Ovid fall beneath me, followed by a few others. No one had really noticed the hole. I heard small thudding sounds beneath me as each tribute hit the floor - there had to be some sort of mat down there.

I crawled through the hole, noticing it get gradually smaller as I progressed. I resorted to crawling commando style, wiggling around the hole like a little worm. I saw the end of the tunnel, but no floor.

I peered over the edge to see water. Water everywhere. I'm not a strong swimmer. I could hear the patter of hands and knees behind me. I couldn't lose and get them electric shocks.

I let my body fall gracefully, moulding myself into the diving position I'd seen district 4 tributes do in the arena. I hit the water lightly and came up to the surface. I hate being underwater.

I paddled as best as I could. I noticed instructors to the side of the pool. I guess not everyone here can swim very well. Just as I was reaching the other side, I heard two loud splashes behind me. Ovid had hot the water at an awkward angle. He is an intelligent kid from what I knew.

Majoris, however, had little to no brain cells. He started choking, arms flailing. The inspectors dived in and pulled him to the edge of the pool. Ovid was beginning to swim at a pretty rapid pace. I noticed no end. Time to dive.

I slid under the water, looking for an opening. I looked to the left and saw it. I decided to catch my breath before stealthily sliding underwater again and reaching the air pocket. I noticed someone ahead of me. Did they slip into the water without me knowing? Geranium was in front.

I almost screamed. There was a huge opening in the corridor that the opening led to. It gradually got darker. I wonder if Geranium noticed it...

He yelled as he fell down a hole further ahead of me, before swearing out of frustration. I decided to take minuscule steps as fast as my body would let me.

After getting to the end of the longest corridor ever, I was faced with a blank room. I stood silently for a few seconds.

There were chunks from the wall missing. Very small chunks, but chunk nonetheless. I picked up the tiniest bit of dirt and threw it. An arrow shot out of one of the chunks in the wall. Traps. Everywhere.

Runyon appeared behind me and pushed me into the opening. We ducked and dodged the plastic arrows and knives flying at us, inching past us. I stopped against the wall, noticing the floor was uneven. Runyon continued to run, not suspecting anything.

Snap! He was out. A trap had been set on the floor and he ran into it like a fool. I chuckled slightly as I dived passed him, nearly coming into contact with a shuriken.

The door opened at the end for me. Was it automatic? Or was it a trap?

I stepped in and a bunch of ropes, rings and bars fell from the roof. The floor dropped from under the bars. Damn, this is my other weakness, along with swimming.

I ran and hung to the rope, yelling as my hands received some painful friction burns. I rolled back and forth, trying to gain momentum. I let go as I swung forward, gripping the bar ahead of me. I pulled myself up. Balancing and jumping - almost like parkour - was more for me that swinging. I jumped on the bars and occasionally a ring. I flipped as I swung from a rope and landed on the mat at the other side of room. Ovid and Roxen were no too far behind now. There was the bell! I rung the bell in front of me and heard a few groans and squeals as people received electric shocks. No one else was here. I had won.

I beat Majoris in a physical competition.

"Good job!" Jarrett announced. About 6 others made it over before everyone was out, many failing at the last hurdle - or rope. I left with a grin on my face, feeling extremely proud.

Majoris is going to hate me for the rest of his short life.