The Rebel Victor | I [THG]

Chapter Ten | Conflicted Dreams

The second day of training was much easier than Quinn had expected it to be. She had come to terms with the fact that she was training with other kids who would try to kill her or who she would have to kill. The first half of the day consisted of nothing out of the ordinary. She practiced with starting fires and camouflage-- which she wasn't all that great at, then she practiced with throwing spears too while she tried not to make it obvious that she watched Arkon train with a trident.

She had said nothing to him the night before or that morning. What was she suppose to say? Was she suppose to wish him good luck? Was she supposed to tell him she would kill him while he knew he wouldn't mind killing her? Finnick said that it was probably just his way of making allies with other districts, that he probably didn't mean for it to seem that way. But even he said it was odd how little they had spoken.

So at lunch, she ate on her own like she had the day before. Sure she wasn't totally on her own, she sat at a table with other tributes who spoke to their district partners and exchanged words with one another.

"Four," Quinn looked over her shoulder towards the sound of her district number. It was the girl from Two. Her dull blond hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. Beside her sat the girl from One, her red hair was only in a half ponytail. Then the boy from One, the one Ciruss advised her not to trust sat beside his district partner. Then there was the tributes from Three there too. "We can make room for you over here."

Quinn looked towards the tributes she sat with. They had fallen silent, and a few of them watched her carefully.

None of them have asked you to join their alliance.

Quinn felt her breath hitch in her throat as she put her fork down and picked up her tray. She pushed away from the table, and let her eyes drift around the cafeteria. Her eyes found Arkon with the boy from Two, the tributes from Twelve, and the tributes from Eight. But they didn't notice her moving from her seat.

Quinn quickly made her way over to the table and set down her tray between the boy from One and Three. The boy from Three swiftly turned and reached for an empty chair at the nearest table and swung it around for her.

"Thanks..." she stated as she plopped herself down in the chair.

"You looked pretty bored over there," the girl from Two stated.

Quinn forced out a small snicker, "Nah, I just don't talk much."

"Well, since we both got ditched by our district partner," she scowled, "I'm Leanne."

"Quinn."

"Fiona, and I'm Max." the boy from One stated. She had already met him, Quinn glanced up at him and then at Fiona. She looked so small compared to Leanne, and even Quinn, she was tiny-- defenseless.

"Thomas, District Three." the boy beside her had short brown hair, blue eyes-- he didn't look like a career.

Then the girl smiled a bit, "Gennie, from Three."

Leanne sighed heavily.

"What do you say, Four? Want to join our alliance?" Max asked after a moment, "It wouldn't hurt to have someone who can fish in the pack." he said and the group chuckled a bit.

Quinn forced herself to laugh along with them, but the truth was that she was no better at fishing than someone from District Twelve. She had tried to get a small job on a fishing boat, but as soon as she got it, the Peacekeepers put her back in her place.

"I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to have an alliance." Quinn said, keeping the smirk plastered on her face.

However, she could feel her food churning, her stomach knotting, her throat closing, and her heart was pounding in her chest. The Career Pack, her alliance was the Career Pack! They were always the ruthless alliance that hunted the other tributes and laughed when they pleaded for their life.

"Training shall begin in five minutes, tributes." the automatic voice of the gamemaker announced in the cafeteria.

Quinn wanted to sink further into her seat. Five more minutes until her alliance would find out she had little to nothing to offer the group.

The rest of the day was actually quite boring. They all went their seperate ways to train, so Quinn stuck with the spears. The silver rod became fairly familiar in her grip, stabbing and throwing at the holograms became a bit easier too. Easy enough that she ended the evening with difficult, and got a approving look from the trainer at the station. The simple look gave her a new sort of feeling about the games. Her skill, her alliance...it all made the games seem more bareable-- survivable.

But there was one thing she didn't have that the other tributes did. That was a token. Max had a simple chain that had been the chain of the locker he had given his girlfriend. Fiona had a hair pin that her stylist had formed into an actual pin for her shirt. Leanne had a short but sweet letter from her grandmother-- one that her grandmother had written far in advanced just in case. Thomas had a handmade leather bracelet that his cousin-- the boy he had volunteered for, had made. And Gennie had a necklace. Their tokens meant that they had somebody waiting for them back home, somebody at home in their District who was dreading their death. A death that would most likely come. Who did she have? Jenson and Rosa weren't even convinced she had a chance! Finnick was just spouting off stuff to make her feel better-- if she had anyone, it was Annie.

She had been the only one to actually put forth the effort to get to know her! But she hadn't even been able to say goodbye, and she couldn't give her a token either.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

Quinn jolted at the touch of Finnicks elbow nudging her.

She nodded quickly as she looked down at her food on her plate. But she felt nauseous, any sort of confidence she had about maybe surviving had disappeared and her old resentful thoughts had returned. So her nod slowly turned into a shaking of her head as she put her fork down.

"I'm...uh, not hungry anymore." she replied looking at him, hoping that he wouldn't ask. She hadn't told him about her alliance, she didn't even know how she'd tell Ciruss. He had advised her not to trust Max. "Remilda, didn't you say that the garden on the roof was really pretty this year?"

Remilda's eyes brightened as she eagerly nodded, "Absolutely stunning,"

Quinn sighed, "I think I'll go up there, have a look..." she announced as she pushed away from the table.

Quinn made her way towards the doors, she knew that the two Peacekeepers were standing by the elevator. To keep other tributes out and keep track of Arkon and Quinn. So the odds of her actually being allowed to go up to the garden on her own were slim, but she didn't care. She didn't want to be around Arkon-- a tribute who had something to win for. Quinn didn't want to win, she had nothing to win for, she didn't want to die either though.

She knew she couldn't have it both ways.