The Rebel Victor | I [THG]

Chapter Nine | Training Begins

|AUTHORS NOTE|

Hello lovelies! I hope you enjoy this, and sorry for such slow updates!! Expect a few today (maybe)! But remember, feedback=love!

Stay classy!
_______

The next morning came fast, too fast. An avox brought a uniform to her, a tight fitting green shirt, with a pair of black athletic pants, and tennis shoes. She pulled those clothes on, and then put her hair up in a ponytail. Then once she was put together, she made her way to the table in the dining room.

"Morning, dear," Remilda smiled brightly from her seat. Her hair was curled and a light green color, it matched her green dress, and teal lips and eyelids. It looked beyond obnoxious. "Did you sleep well?"

"Best nights sleep I've ever had." Quinn replied, a hint of sarcasam that Remilda just didn't manage to pick up on.

She took her seat at the table and reached of the nearest plate of pancakes with her fork. She looked up towards the conversation that Arkon was in the middle of, his stylist had joined them. That was one thing that Quinn never knew about, she didn't know that stylists could even eat a meal with their tribute.

"Is Ciruss eating with us too?" she asked, looking at them all for a response.

Mags shook her head, "He doesn't like to be around Mags." Finnick replied solemnly before he took a bite of his food.

Quinn opened her mouth to say something, to ask for the reason why, but the serious tone that Finnick had used was enough to tell her that it was a reason she didn't need to know. So she settled with only listening to the quiet conversation between Arkon, his stylist, and occasionally Remilda. They talked mainly about the tribute parade, a topic that made Quinn sick to her stomach.

It was just a reminder that they were just there to entertain the Capitol. She knew if she thought about things like that, she would get too wrapped up in it and actually trying to survive wouldn't go well.

After they all finished their breakfast, Remilda wished them good luck. But there was something else hidden in her tone and Quinn couldn't explain it. Once they were done though, Arkon left with Mags and his stylist when the Peacekeeper who had escorted Arkon to his prep team arrived to escort them to training. Then Quinn and Finnick didn't have to wait very long for the other Peacekeeper, the one she was positive she knew.

Nobody said anything to acknowledge the conversation Quinn had with the Peacekeeper. She had told Finnick about it right after the parade, and Finnick said he remembered that day in District Four. A group of adults had decided they didn't want to do their jobs, it turned into a riot in Four. A lot of the people who were part of the riot were shot on site, then when the Peacekeepers found out who the people were who started it-- they raided their houses, arrested a few of them. But the worst part of all of it, their kids were taken from them. Nobody knew what happened to them, everyone accepted the fact that they had been killed. Nobody thought they would have been taken to District Two.

Quinn looked at the Peacekeeper from the back of the elevator. She couldn't see the pin anymore, but that didn't matter. If what Finnick said was true, he had been ripped away from his family just so he could work for the Capitol.

"Finnick, why doesn't Ciruss like to be around Mags?" she asked after a moment to break the silence in the elevator.

"Emmit Webber, the male tribute from Four in the first Quarter Quell." he replied, "They were allies, but it didn't end well."

The games never end well, she thought to herself.

Suddenly the elevator came to a hault and the doors slid open to reveal a long hallway. The Peacekeeper stepped to the side and let Quinn step past him.

"Remember Quinn, figure out who you can trust today." Finnick reminded her quickly and she nodded.

Once she stepped out, the Peacekeeper followed behind her. She stayed a few strides ahead of him, but his heavy duty boots were loud with every step he took. At the end of the hallway there was the large training center. There was an assortment of stations, and a lot of the stations with the weapons were already occupied by the Careers.

You are a career, the thought hadn't really occurred to her. Four was always either a career that was kept around, or gotten rid of. If the arena didn't involve a lot of water, District Four didn't have an advantage.

Her walk slowed down as the Peacekeeper went off to the side to stand by the other Peacekeepers. Saying she was out of her element wasn't a good enough way to explain how she felt-- surrounded by stations that were supposed to help her kill the other tributes in a few days.

Looking out over the tributes, was the Gamemakers. Seneca Crane was in clear view, and he wasn't paying attention to the training tributes. Instead he paid attention to the other Gamemakers and was engulfed in a conversation. Quinn crossed her arms over her chest, she felt like her breakfast was about to make a reappearance as she looked around at the other tributes already hard at work.

This has to be the worst part of the games, she concluded. Being forced to be so close to the kids you'd have to kill yourself before they killed you.

"Hey, Four," Quinn's feet stopped moving and they seemed to turn into bricks on the floor as a boy's voice. She turned around and looked to see a boy standing at the knife throwing station.

He was tall, fairly skinny-- but looked stronger than some of the other tributes. His hair was such a dark shade of brown that it was almost black. Quinn looked at the number on his chest where the four was on her own.

"Hey, Twelve." she replied, in all honesty Twelve wasn't an ally she wanted. Twelve never lasted more than three maybe four days.

He raised an eyebrow sharply before finally nodding. "I get it, Twelve isn't a career District."

Quinn felt her cheeks flush red, "Sorry, it's...it's uh, just that..." she struggled but then after a moment she gave up and shrugged.

"So do you plan on joining the Careers?" he asked curiously as Quinn stepped past him and taking a knife off the rack.

She shrugged, "No sure. Do you know who you want as an ally?" she asked.

"Your district partner and I already agreed." he said simply.

Quinn pressed her eyebrows together, "Oh." she said quietly.

Arkon wanted to be allies with twelve? They hadn't even spoken really, she didn't think that meant they wouldn't be allies.

"I'll see you around I guess," Quinn stated as she placed the knife carefully on the rack again before turning around and walking away towards a survival station.

The games hadn't even started and already she had lost an ally that she had assumed she would have. District partners were always allies!