A Games Like No Other

by TheGathering

Training Day 1, Part 1

As the 72 tributes filed in, Cato, Clove, and Cameron veered over towards Marvel, Adagio, and Urchin. Marvel was too busy glaring daggers at Rook to notice.

“So what’s the verdict?” Cato asked Urchin.

“All the other three said yes to joining, just like you said they would” Urchin replies. Cato smirks in reply, just as the trainer starts her speech.

After she’s done, the Careers huddle up around the four boys. In addition to the nine tributes, there’s Diamond, Dollar, and Mercy from 1. There’s also Bronze, Isabel, and Raider from 2, and Davis and Shelby from 4.

“So what’s the plan, boss?” Davis asks eagerly.

Cato sighs. “For now, intimidate and watch the outliers carefully, both now and after hours. Can’t have anything slip through the cracks.” The other Careers nod and then all of them head to wherever they wish. Cato, Dollar, Urchin, and Cameron head over to the combat simulator. Adagio and Clove head to Knives, while Marvel, Raider, Davis, and Shelby head to spears. Finch and Isabel veer over to the survival stations, while Diamond and Mina head for tridents. This leaves just Mercy and Bronze at the axe area. Pretty soon though, everyone else’s attention is on the four Career tributes as well as Wolfgang, Rye, and Rook, who all ventured over to the combat simulator. Each of the seven were making mincemeat out of the targets, with Dollar, Cato, Rook, and Rye using swords; Wolfgang using multiple axes, Urchin using a trident, and Cameron with a bow. As more than a method of intimidation, it just showed to the other tributes, even to the other Careers, just how powerful these seven competitors were. Yet while Dollar was powerful, he was still getting hit a couple of times, whereas the other six were dodging everything thrown at them. Yet, it just about proved to the other tributes just how much some of the Career Tributes this year had learned from last year’s games.

When they were all called to lunch, Rook sat with his new found allies, along with a boy from District 3, and two of the remaining tributes from 4.

“That was amazing, guys!” Oak called out in applause. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“I mean, we all trained for the games” Rook states, then makes a correction. “..with the exception of Will over here.” He points to the boy from three. “No offense, kid.”

“None taken” Will replies.

“Either way, it’s clear we have our work cut out for us” Rye states. Wolfgang nods his head in agreement.

“You got that right. Like, those 4 main careers got girls following them around like puppies. The hell’s wrong with that?” Wolfgang hisses, only to be silenced by Mark.

“Relax. We’ll just pick them off one by one after their numbers have dwindled a little bit due to the bloodbath” he calmly states. “Hit and Run, remember?”

Rook smacks his head. “Oh yeah..” he says. “That’s a good one. Either way though, we gotta get through the bloodbath in order to get started on that first. The other Careers will be gunning for me certainly.”

“Don’t worry about it” Rye states. “We’re in this together, until we have to kill each other. As long as they’re too busy killing other tributes when we get our gear and make our escape from the bloodbath, we’ll be fine.”

“He’s right” Oak chimes in. “Most of the time, they’ll be too busy racking up kill counts to notice. We just sneak in there, grab what we need, get out. Piece of cake, if we’re fast and quick.”

“Still find that interview Head Gamemaker did with Caesar last night troubling” Rye mutters. “What inspiration did you find from the past that inspires you to create a new arena in 3 months’ time? It doesn’t make sense.”

Rook pats Rye on the shoulder. “Rye, the one thing the Games has taught me, if any, is that nothing makes sense when it comes to the games. But still, I get what you mean. These games do feel different. Just don’t know how, though.”

The other tributes at the table nodded in agreement, even as unknown to them, they were being watched as were the Careers.

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Like Rook and his group, the Careers had no indication that they were being watched. They, oddly enough, were eating in two separate groups with the girls at one table and the boys at the other.

"I'm still freaking pissed off at Rook for betraying us this early" Marvel stated, which caused some of the other Career boys to sigh.

"Calm down, dude" Cameron told him. "Remember what I said last night? It's his loss, so when we do have to kill him, your District will understand."

"Yeah, your right, Cameron" Marvel replied. "You guys were doing good at the simulator."

All four Careers who had been at the point just smiled. Marvel chuckled and went back to eating his lunch.

"Bit of a injection here" Bronze said suddenly. "But did any of you find the Head Gamemaker's interview with Caesar last night to be a bit odd?"

All the other Careers looked at him, confused.

"Like, I'm just saying, there's obviously something that Heavensbee is hiding if he had to build a new arena in 3 months' time. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense, really" Bronze continued. "Like, what the hell kind of twists does this guy have in store for us?"

Each of the other Careers at the table tried to come up with an answer. However, none of them could. They all looked at each other with grim looks on their faces.

"Okay, so it's clear. We're in deep shit, aren't we?" asked Davis after an awkward silence.

The others could only nod their heads in reply, before going back to their lunch.

"Whether is in there, it surely is going to be something we are not prepared for" Marvel stated, not knowing how close to the truth he was.
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Meanwhile, while the Career Boys were discussing Caesar's interview with Plutarch, the Career Girls couldn't stop talking about boys.

"Okay, who's your crush, Finch?" asked Shelby. Finch turned red in the face, before answering.

"M-Marvel" she replied.

Shelby then turned to Mina, and she turned red in the face as well.

"I-I would have to s-say m-my c-crush is C-Cameron" Mina sputtered out.

Clove and Applejack both turned red and buried their faces in their hands when it was their turn.

"Cato" both said at the same time before looking at each other and smirking.

Finally, it was Adagio's turn and she was the most embarrassed out of all of them.

"U-U-Urchin" she finally said.

The other Career girls fan-girled at their fellow allies. "I honestly do think you all would make perfect couples" Diamond said, enthusiastically.

Mercy, Shelby, Raider, and Isabel agreed.
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Plutarch gazed down at the two groups eating with amusement, noticing how different yet similar the two groups were.

“Seems to be shaping up to truly be a very interesting Hunger Games this year. What do you think, Twilight?”

His assistant, a Capitol teenager named Twilight Sparkle, gazed intently at the two groups as well.

“They both seem to be very interesting, especially the outcast from 1 and the bio/adopted brother duo from 2. They’re very interesting to me.”

Plutarch chuckled as he watched lunch end and the tributes go back to training.