"No, no, no. Absolutely not." 

"But they might be my best chance at surviving!"

"Or your best chance at early betrayal." 

I huff indignantly at Haymitch. Apparently he isn't a fan of the idea of me and the careers.

"You are going to ally with Peeta and that's that." Haymitch growls.

"Fine." I mutter.

I stalk off to my room in the tribute centre, leaving a frustrated Haymitch behind. I guess allying with Peeta wouldn't be so terrible. But my main concern right now is getting home, and in order to do that I have to turn on Peeta at some point or another. I figures the careers could keep me alive for a while, and then I could sneak away when it looks like they're getting ready to turn on each other. Doing that with Peeta will be much harder. 

And it's not like I want to kill Peeta, and I might not have to if someone takes him out for me, but if it comes to it, that's my only way home. And I'll do whatever it takes.

***

I cautiously approach Clove in the training centre. She was throwing knives and each one met its mark. While I may not currently be certain about how I feel about the Career Pack, it wouldn't hurt to pick up a few tips. 

"Mind teaching me how to do that?" I ask carefully. She turned around and looked surprised to see me but nodded. It was sort of like ax throwing really. I had to adjust my stance a little and get used to the smaller weight, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. Eventually I was hitting right around the bullseye. Not dead centre like Clove of course, but still it was progress. 

I find myself rather enjoying talking to Clove. She's not nice exactly, but she is rather interesting. We end up having some fun together and I wonder how I would kill someone who seems so human. 

***

Peeta and I descend in an elevator towards the Training Centre. But today isn't for training. It is for our individual assessments with the Game Makers. I fidget nervously with my friendship bracelet that Katniss and I had made each other when we were twelve. The bracelet is a comfort, a way for me to remind myself that somewhere back in District twelve she's rooting for me to come home. 

Most of the Tributes are already seated in front of the large metal double doors to the Training Centre. Peeta and I plunk ourselves down in a couple seats near the back. The missing Tributes file in quickly and the first name is called. Marvel Sanford. A/N (I googled his last name) He stands up and walks confidently through the doors. They started with the District one tributes, so I assume Peeta and I will go last.

After about an hour Peeta and I are all that are left. "What are you gonna do?" I ask.

Peeta shrugs. "Probably just throw some weights around and see where if gets me. You?"

I smile. "Ax." I respond.

"Ah, I should have known." He said with a grin. I gave a small laugh. 

"Peeta Mellark." Says the voice on the intercom.

"Good luck." I say.

"And you." He responds. He walks a tad shakily through the doors, and it is after ten minutes that my name if finally called.

"Y/n L/n." 

I take a deep breath and walk inside. None of the other tributes are there, so I assume they all left through another exit. I quickly spot it and then look up at the Game makers. 

Immediately my stomach sinks. The Game makers are all chatting to one another and aren't paying me a shred of attention. They've already watched twenty three other tributes and it is obvious that they want to go home.

I clear my throat noisily. "Y/n L/n, District twelve." I say to get their attention. When I think I've got it, I walk over to the weapons selection, pick up two axes and walk over to the dummies. 

I release a breath and begin to demonstrate my skills. I throw one ax straight into the heart of a dummy. I then summersault forward towards the next one, land on one knee and slice it in half. I jump quickly to my feet, slice the head off another dummy, and throw the second ax into third one's heart. 

Not too bad  I think. 

When I look up, I see that a few Game Makers, three or four at most, are nodding in approval whilst the rest are talking excitedly to one another about a pig that had been ordered. I knew of the expression, "seeing red", but I hadn't experienced it myself until now. They dragged me out to my own death sentence, and for what? They can't even be bothered to watch me train for a few minutes out of their pampered lives.

The anger is staring to cloud my mind and I know that I am not thinking straight.

I throw the ax anyways. 

It sails through the air and pins the apple that was previously held in the pig's mouth to the wall. The Game makers jump and go quiet, but I am too angry to care. I drop the axe and give them a mocking bow. 

"Thank you, for your consideration." 

I stalk out of the Training Centre, leaving a group of very flustered Game Makers behind me and what is most likely certain doom ahead of me.

A/N Hey, shanks! I am so so so so sorry about the wait time for this update! I've just started back at school and the stress has sort of started to get to me. School is cutting in to my writing time a lot right now, so I hope you can understand. I'm going to do my best to update at least once every two weeks from now on. (Thought I doubt I'll have more than a month of school left before we're sent home 'cause of Miss Rona (corona))

Please comment, vote, follow and etc etc if you enjoyed.

Peace,

-Once Upon A Tribute (new name)