Together we stand

Chapter 10

Lilly pov.

I wake to the sound of the shower running, and open my eyes, remembering the night before. I had another nightmare, and Johanna came and stayed with me. I never realised how much I care about her until now.

"Hey. You sleep okay?" She emerges, dressed already. How did she get up so early?

"Yeah thanks. What time is it?"

"Half seven, I have to pretend that I'm waking you up. You know how insane the Capitol would go if they knew we had slept in the same bed." 

"That's true haha. When's breakfast?"

"Eight. Then training at nine so you should probably get ready. I've left your training clothes out, so you have something to wear. I'll see you in the dining room." She gives me a smile, and leaves.

I get up and walk to the bathroom, stepping into the shower and fiddling with the buttons to find my correct setting. I guess I'm not too overwhelmed like the other tributes get, as my life before the games was as posh as this, if not more so. It means I don't really have to admire it, not that I would, and that my mind is more focused on training.

Once I am done, I dry my hair and straighten it, pulling it into a sleek ponytail. I don't wear any make up, and smile at my reflection, stopping myself when I think about how good Johanna looked this morning. I step out of my room, locking the door and head to breakfast.

When I get there, Adam, Blight and Johanna are eating in sullen silence. When I see Adam, my breath hitches and I nervously stare, until Johanna stands up and helps me get my breakfast.

"I'm sorry we have to eat with him. Blight is making sure he stays well away, and so far he's doing that. If he tries anything, I'll kill him myself." She gives my arm a comforting squeeze and sits down again. I help myself to porridge and honey, and sit down opposite Johanna to eat.

A few moments later, and our escort comes in, looking excited.

"Good morning everyone!" She beams over us, and sits at the head of the table, noticing our sullen faces.

"Cheer up! Training is soon, won't it be exciting!" God I hate her, and Johanna kicks my foot under the table to get my attention, giving me a cheeky grin.

"Oh, I can't wait." I speak, confidently, and they each turn to look at me. Johanna smiles, almost looking proud, and Blight and Adam look nervous.

"I see that Johanna has decided to mentor you, Lilly, and Blight you are mentoring Adam?" She asks, and Johanna decides to explain.

"There are certain past issues that Adam has faced with his mind, and I feel Blight can help him more than me. Let's just say that I don't think we would get on." She grimaces, and our mentor nods.

"Well we can't hang around here all day! Training is soon, make your way there!" She walks out of the room, and I'm glad to see the back of her. We soon follow suit, and Johanna and I step into the elevator, alone.

"You know what to do, yeah?"

"Scope out other tributes, look at what berries and plants are shown to gage the arena style, and look good enough to not be a weakling, but not strong enough to seem a threat." I recite, and she smiles and squeezes my hand.

The elevator stops, and Finnick and his male and female tribute step in. He hugs me and Johanna, greeting us warmly, much to the distaste of his tributes. They scowl at us, and seem annoyed that Finnick is giving us attention. They look okay, but not really like careers for some reason, and I bet I could take them down. Not a threat.

We finally arrive at the right floor, and I say my goodbyes, and walk out of the elevator, confidently striding into the training centre. We stand in a semi circle around the training leader, and I use this opportunity to look at my opponents.

District one has careers, strong, and handsome, if a little rugged this year.
Two have vicious looking tributes, with violent attitudes and scary faces.
Three are intelligent looking, the male having glasses and the female looking suitably geeky. Not a threat.
Four are, as I said, fine. Quite powerful, but okay.
Five look like they couldn't hurt a fly.
Six is the same.
Eight's female tribute is no threat, but the male looks powerful and strong, like a career.
Nine, ten and eleven are average. They have potential, but no training or combat skills, so I can sleep easy without worrying about them.
I almost feel sorry for twelve's tributes. They can't be more than twelve, and look so skinny and malnourished that I want to give them both a burger. They probably won't survive the bloodbath.

I guess I'm lucky, my only threats being the careers and the boy from eight. I still don't know about Adam. He is strong and dangerous with little empathy, but he may not be skilled enough to get far. We'll see.

Once I realise that the woman is done talking, I wander over to the plants stand, purposefully avoiding Adam and the careers, who are fighting over knives. There are very few plants in the talk, and a few generic ones that I know will be thrown in to try to stop us working out the games's setting. 

The main thing is about these weird mushrooms they keep talking about, and I have never seen them before. They only grow in dark places, but can hold lots of water which makes them useful. However, they are deadly poisonous, and the only way to remove the water without it being contaminated is to rip out the mushroom, and make a small hole in the side of the stem between two ridges that it grows with. 

This engineered booby trap is very clever, and will probably catch out a few tributes who try to use it to get water but have skipped the plants talk. Along side me, learning about the plants are the two from twelve. I smile at them, and they nervously return it, I can feel the fear coming off if them.

Once the plants talk is over, I walk over to the rope tying area. Ropes always come in useful, and it would be good to get some practice, so I set about practising traps for small animals.

"I wouldn't make those traps if I were you." It's the boy from three, I hadn't noticed the two sat near me.

"Why?" I ask, a little apprehensively. I don't want alliances, Finnick and Johanna agree that they only make things worse if you have the ability to survive on your own.

"I have a feeling that the arena won't hold small animals like you would find in woods." I nod, and he carries on, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"These ropes are made of sturdy material, with metal built in. The plants are ones which rely on the sort of light and water found in a city." This information he is giving me is vital, but why?

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I want to make an agreement."

"I don't want an alliance."

"I understand, but that's not the sort of alliance I mean. Meet me on the roof at eleven, and I will explain then." He walks away, his district partner scurrying after him. Why do they want an alliance with me? 

What's going on? 

I know only one thing. I need to speak with Johanna.