A Golden Dove

Judgement Day

The next few days passed quickly. Wake up, train, interview, sleep. Wake up, train, sleep. The repetitiveness was enough to drive Lilac crazy. She'd yet to have any more poor encounters with the other tributes, even though Tempest glared at her enough for Lilac to think they might not stay allies for long after the start of the games. She'd offered if only to appease the girl, Sterling, and Spartan for a few hours by practicing bow training, and that was only because she could admit her fault in that certain aspect of weapons training. Still though, where that was her worst score in the academy, it was ten times better than most of the other tributes.

The day before, Sterling had tried to guide her toward the spear-throwing simulation, where Tempest and Spartan stood with the young boy from Four. A cute little blond-haired boy, with eyes the color of the ocean. Lilac had noticed him looking towards her allies yesterday from her spot in the first aid sector, especially when he took up sword training. He wasn't half bad with the blade, but Lilac felt for the kid despite that because the only way the others would take him in was to use him as bait for the other tributes.

If there was one thing she hated about training, it was looking at all of the kids younger than her. The kids that wouldn't survive no matter how hard they tried. This boy, Poseidon, reminded her of her brother, Apollo. The little girl from Eleven, Jobie, had the same demeanor as Cash, and watching the poor girl get reaped made tears stream in steady waves from her eyes, no matter how many times she wiped them away. 

After her little spat with the boy from Eleven, she'd watched the reaping ceremony from all the other districts until her eyes drooped closed against her will. Learning the names of the other tributes was draining, purely for the fact that she knew they'd all be dead within days. But it was necessary. She would not let them be forgotten when she won the games.

Sterling and Lilac walked side by side up to their allies and Poseidon. As they got closer, she could hear their words.

"Please, I'm good with a sword. I can help you!"

Tempest only glared at the boy, spear in hand, and Spartan said, "Look kid, you don't fit in with us. We're doing you a favor by saying no."

"Come on, I know you think I'll just get in the way, but I swear," Poseidon pleaded, "I know how to fight. I know how to fish. I can start fires, I just need to be on your side."

"And what about your little district partner, the little girl?" Tempest cut in with narrowed eyes, "Don't you want to help her?"

Poseidon's eyes cut to his district partner. The youngest of them all, beating Jobie by a few months. A twelve-year-old named Shell, and his face scrunched at the girl who stood clumsily with a sword in hand thirty feet away.

A quietness entered his voice and he said, "I'd be doing her a favor by saying no." His glare was cutting as he stared at Spartan.

Sterling cut in, and Lilac took that as her exit. She slipped away to the rope-tying table, and spent the rest of the day there, ignoring the glares of Sterling, Tempest, and Spartan. Ignoring the dejected look on Poseidon's face when he stormed over to Shell and attempted to correct her grip. Ignoring Hawthorn, the boy from Eleven, as he showed Jobie how to swing a machete. It was a long day, to say the least.

-

Today was the morning of the private training, where Lilac and the rest of the tributes would be graded on their abilities, and paraded by their score on the capitol show. This was always one of her least favorite segments to watch back in One. This was the make-it-or-break-it moment for most, and though the younger children often didn't have a chance of winning, it hurt her heart to watch them score lower than a five. Lilac liked an underdog, but even the Capitol people wouldn't bet on anything less than a six.