THE 150th HUNGER GAMES

The Training Center (Day 1)

Edgar Coe's (District 6) P.O.V:

I enter the Training Center and quickly survey the scene.

The tributes are all spread out. The girl from 1, Aria, is at the knife station, while her district partner is using a mace. They both appear to be Careers, and I can tell they are aligning with each other even though they're at different stations. Aria and Allistar keep making eye contact.

The twins from 2 certainly aren't Careers. They're using crossbows together, but they don't seem as skilled as normal kids from their district. Oddly enough, the tributes from 12 are better than usual. I watch as Joshua hits three bulls eyes in a row with long range throwing knives. Maya is doing pretty good with a bow and arrow, too. The rest of the tributes are solo, mostly at survival stations.

As for me, I prefer a sword. I've been sorta trained in it. I walk over to the sword station and begin practicing my skills. After a bit, a girl with light brown curls comes over and picks up a sword, too. After stabbing a final training dummy, I turn around to face her. I recognize her as Robyn from District 5. Her golden-brown eyes sparkle defiantly, and I get a sinking feeling in my stomach as I come to the conclusion that she wants to duel. I quickly size her up. Medium height, average build, but a little muscly. I recall she volunteered. I glance at her grip on the sword. She's experienced. Oh, shoot. This could be a losing fight.

I take a deep breath and wait for her to make the first move. She doesn't. So in this case, she thinks I'm less experienced. She's probably right. I exhale and move to stab at her stomach. She blocks and parries my attempt, and I'm quickly in defense mode. Robyn handles the sword with ease and I'm fighting to keep her back. She has the advantage here. She strikes, again and again, and my strength is slipping. I manage to block Robyn's sword one last time before her blade is on my throat. She smirks and lowers the sword. "Nice job," she murmers, and she says it nicely.

I shrug, and say quietly, "I need more practice."

Those gold eyes blink at me. Robyn twirls her sword lazily. "Shall we go again?"

I nod and find myself smiling. "Yeah. Sure."

We fight for a few more rounds. Robyn goes easy on me at first. She teaches me a few moves. As time passes, I find myself getting a little better. I actually manage to beat Robyn once, though I'm not sure if she was just letting me to boost my self-confidence or not. I find that I'm actually having fun practicing with the sword, even though I'm going to be using these skills in the Hunger Games.

The hours pass quickly. Eventually it's time to leave the Training Center to eat a fancy Capitol dinner with our escorts and district partner and other people who I don't care about. I walk out with Robyn, and we get on the elevator together. Her floor comes just before mine. Robyn steps out, and the doors are about to close again when I make a split second decision. Normally I'd keep to myself, but...

"Allies?"

She twirls around to face me, smiling. "Allies."