:| Pains & Gains |: {Cato ; blitz}

Make allies was one of the first things I was told to do when our train entered the Capitol. Allies were supposed to help us survive, to give us a chance of making it past the first few days. Questions like how do I do that? who should I consider? were immediately pushed away by my greatest worry: who would want to ally with me? I had no size, no skills in certain weapons; I wasn’t even exceptionally intelligent. Whatever the other tributes seemed to bring to the table, I brought only air.

Sure, there were tributes who were younger than me, smaller than me, but I had a feeling that they would be hunted down just like me by the Careers or exceptionally large tributes. A face popped into my mind, and I shuddered at the thought of having to meet him in the arena when he stepped into my view.

I didn’t realize my trigger was so sensitive when I couldn’t hold back the pain that started from where my stomach was until I was clutching my mid-trunk, bending over as sweat rose out of the pores and coated my pale skin. No no no, now they’ll know I’m weak. Now they’ll know I’m an easy target. I closed my eyes, hoping that if I could shut out the world, the world wouldn’t be able to see me.