i need to know

“Thanks, man.” He was grateful that he hadn’t accidentally antagonised a career of all people. Both tributes from Two had the potential to be deadly enemies, and Rory didn’t want to make himself- or Prim by extension- a target.

He took Max’s hand, giving it a strong shake just like Gale had taught him to. “Go ahead. I have no idea how half the technology here works.” It had taken him half an hour that morning to get the shower on.

He’d already made the conscious decision to absolutely fail at this stealth test. He knew that he could probably pass it easily, and filed that knowledge away as something that could potentially help him in his private session, but he didn’t want the other tributes to know. They wouldn’t expect a thin, lovesick boy from District Twelve to be a problem.

“Let’s go at the same time?” he suggested. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing in there.”

Max hadn’t thought he would try to like any of the other tributes. Sure, he wanted to be nice and not the kind of assholes that the Careers could be sometimes. But, within those first couple of minutes he kind of liked Rory. Maybe it was the handshake or the fact that he didn’t look at him quite like an enemy or something to observe. Maybe, Max was looking for something nicer than what the Hunger Games could offer. 

“You’d think since I’m from Two, I’d know more, but I can barely operate the things here. I liked the mountains more than the machines back home,” he said, as we walked over to the hologram area. It was pretty large and as he entered commands into the computer, a scene started to pop up in front of them. A large swath of forest encompassed the ground in front of them and three faceless humans began to walk around. 

“Okay, you ready? You have to try to make it to the other side without getting caught by those creepy guys. Whenever you want we can go.”

Lincoln never strayed close to the survival stations during his training period. Instead, the young man spent his time hovering near coveted spears and antagonizing the other tributes. The lack of survival experience truly cost him during the 75th Annual Hunger Games. In actuality, some part of him wondered if survival knowledge could have helped the other tributes he cared about last longer. Was their blood on his hands too?

This incessant worry made him yearn to learn a more about survival with each subsequent Hunger Games. While he would never become an expert, perhaps his half-hearted expertise could aid District Four’s tributes in the arena. Lincoln vowed to ensure each set of tributes would value those areas far more than he had.

Consequently, Four’s male victor fumbled with various tools at the stealth station with a furrowed brow. Of course, Lincoln also pondered how someone with his stature could be remotely stealthy. He wasn’t exactly light on his feet or small enough to conceal in most situations. A fleeting thought even crossed his mind that perhaps he simply lacked the competence to become proficient at stealth-related techniques.

Lincoln turned when a voice interrupted his inner monologue, and he shook his head in response. “Nah, I should probably quit while I’m ahead.” He’d rather not embarrass himself in a crowded room. “I’m surprised to find you over here though. From one Career to another, I thought you’d be salivating over the swords or something.” 

Max was just as surprised to see Lincoln Conway at the stealth station as he was to see him. The young Victor was bigger and more muscular than he was and as far as Max knew was incredibly adept at the weapons. Why he was over here by his lonesome was beyond him. 

He flashed a charming smile at the Victor and took a look at the tools that Lincoln was handling. “I try to keep the saliva in my mouth,” he replied with a laugh. Max took stock of what was in the station, not sure where to start. There was so much he didn’t know about it. The main thing he knew was to be quiet. Sounds could kill you in a quiet place. It happened over and over again every year. The poor girl from Ten last year was a prime example of that. 

“Besides, I can’t show my whole hand this early, can I?” he postured, looking at Lincoln. “Are you doing the same thing? Trying not to salivate over swords?”

Ashten returned the raised brow, a bit skeptical of the advice. “I guess… but the weak punch could backfire. Could be a running risk for any distraction, honestly.” She was used to having Huck be the distraction for her, or vice versa, when it came to stealing from the markets back home for some fresh food. But this was a matter of life and death, and she had to remember, everyone could be an enemy. Which only perplexed her further as to why he was helping her.

“I have an older brother, a brother a year younger than me, and a kid brother,” she replied, “the kid brother just turned twelve.” This had been his first year in The Reaping. Ashten was nervous about his name being picked, though her relief was at the expense of another boy’s name being drawn. “I’ve been trying to be a better sister since my very short stint of throwing bad punches when I was eleven.”

“You say that as if this entire thing isn’t a risk. Sometimes you have to risk it to get the biscuit, you know? If you don’t take a chance it could very well be your undoing because you did nothing.” The only thing that Max wouldn’t risk is Briella. Anything else would be fair game. He would risk his reputation, his body, his life for Briella to make it out. 

His mouth kept on moving, like giving advice was his job - and very well nearly was, just advice on the body. He couldn’t help but keep this conversation flowing with the girl in front of him. It was almost - normal? 

“Wow, surrounded by brothers. I always wished I had a brother. Maybe an older one who could have smacked me when I made really dumb decisions,” he replied with a small smile. “I mean who can blame you at eleven for wanting to punch something? I don’t, hopefully they don’t either. I mean, how old are you seventeen or eighteen? That’s six years where you’ve been trying.”

To say the least, Ares wasn’t appreciative of the back talk or the snarky glances. 

He was the last person that this needed to be pulled on this year. He had to deal with it last year with Josiah and Ingrid and he wasn’t going to stand for it again. He was not happy with Max over this fiasco that he caused in District Two and he wasn’t going to let him off easy, in particular. The girl, however, wasn’t understanding the gravity of the situation as it seemed. 

He said nothing except stood there with his arms crossed, glowering at the two of them as he thought about what he could drill them with first. He wasn’t an easy trainer. There was no hope in a person who couldn’t be pushed to the breaking point. He listened to Max offer the fifty meter sprint and that’s when Ares piped up.

“Whoever loses the sprint gets to spar me first,” Ares piped in. Sparring wasn’t normally in his agenda first thing in the morning, but after this, he was going to make sure they left here with a bruise or two to be looked over by a medic and healed by morning. 

@gemofpanem​

Briella looked at Max and shrugged her shoulders. Losing wasn’t something she was planning on doing and if she did, well, she had sparred with plenty of trainers in the Academy. There had been many days she had come home feeling like she would never be able to move again. Not to mention she grew up in a family of Peacekeepers. Sparring was practically a Carrick family sport when they got together at the holidays. She may be a woman, but Briella was still a Carrick.

“The fuel of champions.” She teased Max as she got into a comfortable starting position. This sprint would allow for an all out attempt as it wasn’t really a distance race which was a shame really, Briella had always known if she was a normal teenager she would have wanted to run cross-country.

“On three…” She told Max. “One, two, three…” She told him taking off as soon as the word left her mouth. // @maxaroha​

Max tried to cover up the apprehension on his face. He could run, but spar against Ares? Not something he was particularly good at. Even when he was in the Academy, he was not good at sparring. And it wasn’t even a blood thing - as long as no one hit the nose. It was just too personal, too close. He was happy standing incredibly far away and shooting at something he couldn’t see the face of. 

“If there was anything to motivate me, that would be it,” he muttered under his breath, so only Briella could hear. He moved to position himself to race against Briella. It was something they had done a lot when they were younger and together and it brought back some good memories. As soon as Briella uttered the word, he took off after her. 

His feet slapped against the track as they sped to the end of the mats to turn around. He very much did not want to go up against Ares first and at least he wanted to look good at something. But, Briella having the win would put a lot of focus on her and that’s what he wanted too. So, he just let the race take care of the decision, putting in his all. 

As they turned back towards where Ares was standing, Max looked at Briella and grinned. He hadn’t ran like this in a while, only secretly training the things he could when he had decided to volunteer with Briella. “I’m going to beat you,” he mouthed with a smile. // @ares-carnahan​

Briella couldn’t help but give Max a smile as he tucked the flower into her hair. He was always doing sweet things like that. It had been one of the many reasons she had fallen in love with him. There were so many things about Max, so much goodness, it wasn’t fair that he was there. The world needed more Max in it much more than it needed her strength. Being strong was easy, being kind and gentle was hard.

“Who doesn’t like you here?” She asked because she couldn’t see anyone not liking Max. Max was the definition of nice. “I am pretty sure you’re the sweet one in this pair. I certainly have always had a hold on the title of sass and diva queen in this relationship,” Briella joked with a laugh.

She looked at Max a moment. “You have things to home to too.” She told him gently knowing his parents and siblings would be heartbroken if he died in that arena. “But you know what we have that they don’t have? We have each other. We know our strengths, we know how to work together, we’re an unbreakable team. We can do this, okay?”

He chuckled a little before answering. “I think there’s plenty of people that don’t like me. The other Careers are wary and think I’m soft and our mentors hate me. I think the other tributes don’t mind me, but they look at me like a Career so I think there’s a little bit of sizing me up in their eyes.” Max smiled at her, shaking his head. “I think it's because I’m sweet and from District Two people don’t like me.”

Max knew how much sass Briella could have. He admired the fire she had and the determination. He really admired most of her, if he was being honest. “I think sass here is respected,” he added.

“I do, but so do they. So do you. I don’t think we can count any of them out if they want to go home.” Max didn’t want to think too far ahead in the future. He knew somewhere down the line there would be something painful. He didn’t want to dwell on it or talk about it. He wanted to ignore it for now. “We can do this,” he repeated, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, so we should come up with a game plan, just you and me. What should we do? Have you heard anything about what the Arena could be?”

“Now why don’t I believe you?” Cashmere asked because if she was being honest, it sounded like a Career would say if they wanted to seem modest. “You did go to the Academy, right?” If they were thinking of aligning with her tributes, Cashmere wanted to make sure they were a good fit and not a risk. One had enough challenges the past few years. They hadn’t had a solid showing in a games since Vega came in fourth. Oh, how that girl would have made a perfect Victor. Goldie would have done just brilliantly as well.

Cashmere looked at him a moment. “Well, if you’re prepared then the games are just another challenge. It’s not that much different than the academy.” Other than the fact one mistake could and would get you killed. “You just have to stay focused on yourself and what you want. You can do that right?”

“You’re saying I don’t look trustworthy?” he replied, a smile on his lips. “But, yes I did go to the Academy. I mean, what good-standing family doesn’t send their kids to the Academy?” Sure, his parents hadn’t really wanted him to go, but his friends, and more importantly Briella was going. And he hadn’t been at the Academy for two years, but she didn’t have to know that. Max was sure it would be evident soon, but he had to try. 

He nodded at Cashmere’s words, knowing that for him, it would be a harder challenge, especially since he was not as prepared as any of the Careers. But, he had tried to convince himself that wasn’t that bad. He was more prepared than a lot of the outlying district tributes. So, what that was 5 tributes that might have a leg up on him and one of them was Briella. 

“I am very focused on my goals. I came here because I need to see them through,” his voice bristling with determination. 

Rory lowered his fists, taking the other boy in. It took a moment for him to place him as the tribute from Two- the one who, rumour had it, wasn’t supposed to be there at all. He’d watched the reapings from the other eleven districts on his first night in the Capitol, not wanting to sleep without doing at least one thing that might help Prim’s chances.

“Sorry. I’m just… edgy, I guess.” He was extremely out of his element. He suspected the sneakers he’d been given for the three days training were worth more than Gale’s entire salary. Rory definitely wasn’t in District Twelve anymore.

He raised an eyebrow, turning to look at the station with renewed interest. “Really?” he asked, glancing back at the boy. He didn’t dare say that he was used to being on the other side of that scenario, but his curiosity sparkled in his eyes. “Wanna try it with me?” In his mind, he heard his mother chastise his manners, and he added quietly, “My name’s Rory. Just, you know, by the way. What’s yours?”

“Of all the places to be edgy, this sure seems like an appropriate place to be that. I don’t blame you for being on your guard.”It would probably serve him well if he continued that into the Arena, but Max couldn’t tell him that, right? Was it right not to give him more of a chance to survive? Max wondered if one of the many classes that Briella took over the past year was how to deal with the morality of this whole thing. 

The guy’s interest in the holograms was enough for Max to stick around. He just hoped that he could play off being not stealthy as a choice rather than a lack of practice. “I’ll try it with you, I’ve got to do something with this day, right? Make use of what’s around here.”

Max put out his hand as Rory introduced himself. “I’m Max, from Two. You’re from Twelve right?” he asked, pretty confident that he remembered the other boy that volunteered. “It’s nice to meet you Rory, I can punch in something into the hologram and we can get this thing started, okay?

He meandered his way to the hologram station, pulling up the computer and punching in a couple of commands. “We’ll start easy? Do you want to do one at a time or go at the same time?”

Briella nodded because she got what Max was saying. Sure she had talked to a few of the tributes, but nothing could be for sure. People often hid what they were good at, exaggerated their skills, or some combination of the two. “Yeah, I’ve talked to her. She seems interested though. I don’t know if she would forsake both of us because she’s wary of you.” Briella wasn’t going to do something without Max and to be honest, his skills balanced out the typical Career skill set nicely. The other tributes were foolish if they didn’t see that.

“The girl from One. I haven’t talked to a lot of the others… The girl from Nine seems intense too.” Briella chewed her lip a moment knowing they would still have three more days to gleam insight to their competition. “The boy from One seems a little useless if I’m being honest. I think the picked him for his sheer strength not his brains.” Briella wasn’t sure he would be a great addition to the Pack.

“We don’t have to be a part of the Pack you know… If that’s what we decide is best.” Briella told him as she sipped her water a minute. It was nice to be able to talk away from the other tributes and their mentors.

Max nodded, listening intently to Briella lay out everything she had heard about the tributes so far. He looked down at the flower still in his hands and he was very close to identifying what it was. If this was a normal day, it wouldn’t have mattered what it was. He would have been on a hike with Briella in the mountains and he would have seen this flower and picked it to give to Briella. And they would’ve kissed and continued talking as they hiked. But, it wasn’t a normal day and they couldn’t hike in the mountains here. 

He looked up to Briella and felt a searing admiration for her. She was focused, determined, and extremely insightful. Maybe she would have been okay without him. A seed of guilt planted in his stomach, but he tried very hard to get it out. Just because she was incredible out here, didn’t mean surprises couldn’t crop up in the Arena. 

Still, he plucked a flower from the stem of the fireweed he had identified and placed it in Briella’s hair as she took a sip of water. He made sure that no one was looking as he made the moment and gave her a small smile. 

“I’m following your lead Briella. You seem to know a little bit more about how this whole works. Besides, I think you’re a bit more likeable than I am.” He sighed, placing the fireweed on the surface of the table. “I’m out of my depth here. Right now, I just don’t trust any of them. They all have something to go home to.” And mine is here.

ares-carnahan‌:

@maxaroha & @gemofpanem

Ares had gotten up earlier than he wanted to be, and not for a reason that was kind to him either. Nightmares had been plaguing him every night for the last several months and alcohol was usually the way to squish it down. Except he told Fell and Serenity that he wouldn’t be drinking during training periods. That was a joke. He’d need to drown himself in it later tonight if he wanted to function tomorrow. 

Still, he got into the Training Center the moment it opened, working on his usual stretches and doing a mile around the Center on the track, sweat dripping down his body as he wore a hoodie to keep the heat in. Once he was done, he stripped it off and laid it down on the bench just as people began to file in. At that point, Ares checked the time, annoyed that they weren’t the first tributes in the building.

It wasn’t too far off though, but that didn’t alleviate his annoyance. Once they saw the two kids walk in the Training Center, he walked up to them with a stony expression, wearing nothing but a pair of black training trousers and boots and no shirt. 

“Why are you two not the first ones in here?” Ares asked them with a stringent tone to his voice. “Cuddled for too long?”

He motioned toward the combat floor. “Start doing your stretches. Fifteen minutes.”

“First day pointers,” Briella told Ares without missing a beat. District Two was lucky they had such a large team, but it always meant that there was someone giving you directions, tips, and informing you of your schedule for the day. Besides, best probably not to seem overly eager the first day. Other tributes would need the extra training, but Briella had been training for this for years. She could handle it. It wasn’t like they were late, they just weren’t early. On time as she was for everything in her life.

However, she raised her eyebrow at Ares’ comment. So they were going to get personal? Two could play that game. “So how long did you spend last night cuddled up to your bottle?” Briella bounced back easily to prove her point that they weren’t here to talk about personal things. They were here to train and get ready for the games. “Because I am sure it’s more time than any of the cuddling I haven’t done.”

Instead Briella looked at Max a moment. “Want to do sprints for warm ups? I bet I can still beat you.” It had been something she had told him every day when they were training at the academy. Typically, every day they tied and she swore when her legs were longer she would beat him. Once they were warmed up they could stretch and prepare for the day. // @maxaroha​

Max followed Briella’s advice and they had came down at a normal time to the Training Centre. It made sense to him that they weren’t overly intimidating (because he wasn’t) and maybe a little arrogant (which he wasn’t), so they showed up as the bulk of the other tributes were entering the Centre. He nodded at her words, agreeing with the sentiment. 

He snorted a little bit at her comment, hoping that Ares got that they weren’t really into advertising what they meant to each other. People could come to their own conclusions about why he had volunteered and when they were in the Arena everyone could get the idea of what was really happening. 

Max gave Ares a look, not really appreciating his attitude, but nodded at him and then turned to Briella. “You underestimate all the training I’ve done in secret. All the gummy bears and pastries I’ve eaten to fuel myself,” he teased, smiling, moving to the mats and doing a couple of leg stretches before shaking out everything and pointing to the end of the mats about 50m away. “There and back?” // @ares-carnahan​

“Depends on the force behind it,” she replied. “If you landed a punch this soft,” she brought a hand up to gently nudge his arm with her knuckles, “you’re not gonna be scaring anyone off.” She recognized the boy as one of the Career District Tributes– One or Two, for some reason she kept mixing those two up– but he definitely didn’t act like most of them seemed. 

Ashten scoffed, nodding her head toward the boy, “Pretty solid advice– gotta keep the target in your sights. Most experience I’ve had punching anyone are my brothers. Usual sibling fights.”

“Punches don’t just have to be for scaring people away or hurting them, you know?” he said, with a raised eyebrow. “A soft punch can be just as effective as a distraction,” he explained, realizing after that he was giving unsolicited advice. Not really a District Two move - at least he was pretty sure. He wasn’t sure if the guys who had come before were ones to teach. 

“I think if I punched my sisters they would be shocked and think I was an imposter,” he replied with a laugh. “I wouldn’t really be a good big brother if I tried to punch my two younger sisters - especially when one of them is only eight.” 

Rory was feeling antsy about leaving Prim’s side in this strange, foreign environment. He knew it would improve their chances to branch out a little, talk to kids from outside their District’s team. Whether or not he wanted to do so was another matter entirely, but he was willing to give it a go for her sake.

He also figured it couldn’t hurt to learn a few more skills if he could. He could set snares and traps, and fire a bow. Everything else was fair game. He was debating whether or not he should try the gauntlet (if only because it looked a bit like the sort of thing Posy would enjoy, and he was missing her a little) when he felt something on his shoulder.

Whipping round, fists raised in defence, he realised quickly that the other boy didn’t seem to be looking for a fight. He’d keep his guard up though, anyway, he decided. Just in case.

He glanced at the station he happened to be in front of and shrugged. “Go ahead. I have no idea where to start with this one anyway.” He’d heard a trainer refer to it as the ‘stealth training station’, but without a carpet full of forest debris he had no idea how he was supposed to practice that at all.

At the fists, Max rose his hands in surrender and took a step back. The guy in front of him was a bit bigger than he was and looked like he had been working his entire life. Not that Max hadn’t been working, it just looked like this guy had to while Max was training at the Academy or training with his physician. “Not looking to tango with you, man,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “Just didn’t want to take over, you know?”

Max followed the boy’s gaze, looking into the station. He had no idea what he was doing here. When he left the Academy they were only starting with some of the holographic machines to practice and stealth was more of an elective that Max decided to ignore most of the time. 

“You and me both. It’s different than what I practiced back home.” Max had to keep up the illusion that he had some training. It was the only way he could make sure he wasn’t a target and in turn make Briella one. “I think you can use holograms in this one. It’s like a test where you try to make it across the field without getting the attention of the computer-generated hunters.” 

Cashmere turned to see who had walked over to the station she had been assisting her male tribute with. The boy from Two. Cashmere gave him a smile because she didn’t want to scare or intimidate him, yet. If their Districts were going to work together she wanted to get a good feel with what Iunia had to work with and what she would probably have to be against at some point. It was a nice thought to think that this year they might actually have a proper Career Pack.

“No, we’re done here.” She told Max easily. “Brush up on your skills? Well, least you don’t have to learn them, right?” Her questions were careful and select. You couldn’t feel people out if you didn’t get honest answers from them.

“Are you enjoying training so far?”

He smiled back at Cashmere, recognizing her right away from all of his studies and some of the quizzes that he gave Briella when she was studying for the tests at the Academy. Mentor from One, one of a pair of siblings that won back-to-back and a pretty popular Victor overall. One had won a Games in years and years, and if Two was getting antsy over not having a Victor since Nolie, he wondered what the other Career powerhouse was thinking after all that time without a Victor. 

“Not from scratch. But, if I’m being honest, I didn’t focus on stealth as much as I could have.” Max wanted to be careful with his words, particularly around the other Career mentors and tributes. He could maybe get away with being honest with some of the outlying Districts, but he was stupid to think he could be truthful to anyone but Briella. 

“It’s different from back home,” he replied, another half-truth. “But, I didn’t know quite what to expect, even hearing about it from others.” 

But, when he walked into the Training Centre he opted to steer clear of the archery station and the medicine station - the two things he excelled at. Max figured he should try and look like a Career and train at some of the other weapon stations, but he also didn’t want to be around people who were going to get cut. He could handle bruises and broken bones and bodily fluids except blood. 

He hated blood. Funny coming from a guy who wanted to be a doctor. But, Max would freeze up and have to really push himself to clean up those wounds. 

So, Max approached the stealth station, something he thought was a happy medium between Career skill and no risk of blood. There was someone already there and he walked up behind them and tapped them on the shoulder. “Are you planning on using this station? I wanted to brush up on my skills,” he said. // @ttwstarters

Briella glanced around the training center a moment to make sure everyone had left for the day. Surely it wasn’t unusual for the tributes from District Two to stay behind for extra training. Truthfully, Briella wanted to have a private conversation with her District partner. People knew that Max and Briella knew each other, but they didn’t need to know of their deeper connection. It was something that could be used against them.

“Have you talked to the other tributes?” Briella asked as she reached for one of the plants on the station next to Max. It was mint. Briella dropped it into the cup of water an Avox had given her a few minutes prior. “Suppose we have to start deciding what we think about them.” She said making a face.

@maxaroha​

It had been a busy day and Max was over the moon when the tributes and other team members had decided to be done training for the day. He watched with interest from his corner at the edible plants station as each of their competition walked to the elevators and out of view. Most of the sponsors left and those that were left were preoccupied by their companions or the food that was left in the corner of their booths. 

Max was identifying a flower with purpley-pink petals and a long stem when Briella came up and began to talk to him. They had barely seen each other all day, agreeing that they shouldn’t be seen together too much lest people start to get some kind of idea of the nature of their relationship. 

“I’ve talked to a few, but you can only get so much from a first impression, you know?” he replied, twirling the stem of the flower in his hand. “The girl from One seems a little intense and very wary of me already. I think she wants the pack to be tight this year.” He let out a breath, beginning to realize how far behind he was on everything that Careers already knew. “Anyone stand out to you?”

As much as Ashten wanted to take up the axes, she had a feeling it was best to steer clear of them until the private training sessions. That was when her best skills would be put to the test, and she didn’t need to draw too much attention to herself just yet, especially from the competition. So she had wandered around the different stations– navigation, first aid, camouflage. Things that didn’t seem terribly important until the Tribute was dying because they didn’t know how to stitch up a wound or blend into their surroundings. 

But she knew she needed a back up in case she didn’t get an axe in the Arena. Something that would be a good substitute. So she found herself at the hand-to-hand combat station, stretching to warm herself up before she would find a sparring partner or a free trainer. Ashten started to head toward the mat when she spotted someone approaching. “Got any tips for throwing a decent punch?”

@ttwstarters

“Aren’t all punches decent if they land?” Max replied, joining the girl near the edge of the mat. He had made his way here, not realizing that another tribute was ready to work on their hand-to-hand. If he had it his way, he would be in a small little room, practicing everything that he didn’t know so no-one would judge him. Max didn’t care about how he looked to other people - if he was stupid-looking, that was how it was - but, he couldn’t have people looking at the pair from Two as weak because of him. 

He gave her a grin and stretched his arms as he spoke. “Make sure you don’t close your eyes or look away from where you’re punching.” Max remembered the instructions he had received at 12 when he had went to his first sparring class at the Academy. But she didn’t have to know that’s where it came from.