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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐍 received from her team when she told them about what had happened during the second day of training had all been scattered with different opinions. Tatyana laughed... and laughed and laughed so much that she nearly fell off the sofa, barely able to breathe. She said she wished she had been there to see the look on all the tribute's faces.

Bird had been more surprised than angry, especially when Chance had explained it with more detail, seeing as the redhead had been very vague in her explanation. Bird wasn't expecting such a small, frail girl to know anything about skillful fighting. Sage only commented by telling her she wanted a mysterious tribute.

Walker, on the other hand, was a cross between proud and disappointed. Disappointed was more of an appropriate reaction Sage had been expecting. He was very strict about them not showing off their skills, to give themselves the level of surprise to the Gamemakers and the viewers in the games. Which he expressed, telling her she hopes she can pull something off like that again during Individual Training.

But then, there was the look of pride behind his criticism. It was a gleam that sparked in his eyes as he tried not to grin, bringing the glass of water to his lips in order to cover it up. Sage didn't know why, but she felt a sense of joy seeing it from him. Something she's never truly received before. Having anyone praise her for losing her temper was not something she ever expected to witness.

She hasn't spoken to Chance since yesterday, mainly because she had been ignoring him. She didn't want to talk to someone who she doesn't trust and after learning he had been talking to Dick about her, he just proved she can't trust him. Sage doesn't care that he didn't tell them much, that he claims he deflected the Career's questions. He still told him that she is unpredictable. A part of her wanted to be flattered, unpredictability is a good thing in her opinion, especially for the Hunger Games, but she could have used that to her advantage. Chance took that away from her.

Walking into the last day of training was like walking into the lion's den. She gained more attention than she would have liked and everyone seemed to either be afraid of her or admire her. It was a weird feeling, one she didn't know how to handle. Not the afraid part... Sage had spent years making sure everyone in her District knew to fear her, just so they'd think twice about messing with her. But admiration? That was new. That was strange and it made her terribly uncomfortable.

Sage went back to her strategy of only going to the survivor skills, just watching and observing the other tributes. It was a bit harder because it seemed that whatever station she ended up in, soon it would follow with a couple others waiting, watching her closely. She didn't like the attention... it made her extremely agitated and suffocated. If she'd move to a different station, others would join. It had become extremely frustrating.

She found Lorcan at the hand-to-hand combat station. He seemed to be holding his own, his footwork was still sloppy but it seemed he had taken her advice about the dancing and was able to keep his balance better without almost tripping over his own two feet. Watching as he overpowered the instructor was almost like a relief Sage didn't know she needed. It was easy to forget that Lorcan is from a Career District. He doesn't act like Districts 1 and 2, doesn't flaunt that he most likely had it better than the rest of them like Dick and his parade of dimwits does.

Knowing Lorcan had held his own with that obviously trained instructor, despite his obvious clumsiness, gave her a bit of reassurance she didn't know she needed, though it did not to defuse the worry in her chest for what might become on him the moment he steps off that platform.

"He's an idiot."

Sage spun around to the voice that just spoke up behind her. She was once again back at knot tying, perfecting each knot every time like she always did. It was also the first station she managed to get to without anyone following behind her. That is why she had been a bit startled at the voice from behind her, only to see the Azebel, the female tribute from 4. Lorcan's District partner.

The redhead frowned at the dirty blonde. "Excuse me?"

Azebel raised a brow before nudging her head in Lorcan's direction. "Lorcan Ellison. I basically grew up with him and his brother. We are nowhere near friends, but we are the same age and were in all the same classes. Don't let his skills on the mat fool you, even if they are sloppy. He's an idiot."

Sage locked her jaw and narrowed her eyes at the girl who was bold enough to come up to her and say things like this. "Why do you keep saying that?"

Azebel chuckles in amusement. "Because he's illiterate. You should have seen him during school days. It was like he couldn't be taught. Even his own father didn't know what was wrong with him."

Sage knew she should have been surprised by this, but she wasn't. She had noticed something was off when she had been showing him the different poisons, how he asked her to read the poisons to him before he selected the correct plant. She didn't think he was illiterate though, because he should have been taught at a much better schooling system than the one she had been to. She just figured he wasn't familiar with the names of the poisons.

Still, even if Azebel was correct, Sage found herself turning to face the female with a hard gaze. "Even if that is the case, that doesn't make him an idiot. It does, however, make you one for thinking you can come over to me and think I will care about something as tedious as this."

Azebel held her hands up in defense, backing up a bit. "Hey, no harm. Just thought someone like you might want to rethink who you align yourself with."

"Someone like me?"

Azebel smirked knowingly. "You know, someone who has pretty much the whole Capitol behind her because of who her mother is and who can handle herself in a fight. I've seen you talking to Lorcan, someone like him isn't going to make it in these games. He's strong, sure, but he's weak emotionally. He doesn't have the guts to do what is necessary in the games. He'll hesitate. He'll be an easy target for someone like Dick."

Sage gritted her teeth and looked over at Lorcan who had just finished with the station, even going up to the instructor and shaking his hand in respect. The instructor had looked a bit surprised, but it seemed Lorcan was too nice not to thank the man, something she had noticed he had done at pretty much every station with every instructor.

She then remembers his words from Day 1 of training, remembering how he confessed that doesn't believe he will have the strength to do what is necessary in the arena. It must be the truth if his own District partner had put the pieces together, pointing out the goodness that radiated off of him. Sage wasn't the only one who saw it... saw how kind and special he truly was. Sage saw it in Adrian all the time. And it wasn't a weakness... being kind and fair and noble and selfless- that's the biggest kind of strength Sage knows. Because it's something she struggles with, something that she doesn't even know if she is capable of having.

So Sage turned back to the girl, finally setting down the perfect slip knot she had made without even looking during this entire encounter, giving the female tribute from District 4 a scrutinizing look as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You do not have to kill to win the Hunger Games. You just have to stay alive long enough until everyone else is dead. Something tells me your cockiness is going to get the best of you. You are going to walk into that arena, thinking you might actually make it out alive, and the next moment, a cannon goes off. At least Lorcan has something to fight for and no one knows what they are capable of until they are in a fight to the death situation."

"So..." Sage paused, taking a step towards the dirty blonde, looking her up and down. She might be a year older but they were the same size. "If you thought coming over here, tearing someone down for something as pointless as not being able to read, just in the hopes of forming some silly alliance with me- I'd think again. I don't align myself with actual idiots. Which is what you are by coming over here just now. So walk away."

Azebel did not seem to appreciate being talked down to like a child, but a little fear in her eyes clearly meant she knew better than to challenge the redhead after what she saw yesterday. Instead, the tribute from District 4 scoffed, shaking her head. "Whatever, bitch. Your loss."

As she walks away, Sage can't help the breathless chuckle that leaves her lips, finding that entire conversation a bit too surreal. Without thinking twice, Sage went over to the knife throwing where she saw Lorcan already standing, throwing the knives at the targets. They weren't terrible, but they didn't hit the red target, just the outline.

Knife throwing did come easy for the young redhead. She knows how to fight with one, how to carve up a rabbit and squirrel, but throwing them was trickier. It had taken her a good two months to truly perfect it, but that is because she had never really seen it in action. She had gotten many of her skills by observing others and copying them... with knife throwing, she just kept throwing it at a skinny tree until she hit it and did it on repeat for days until she never missed again.

"Your District partner is very irritating." Sage said, announcing her presence to the male. He turned to her, a bit surprised by her sudden appearance.

"Azebel?" Lorcan questioned, as if not catching to who the redhead was referring to.

Sage only nodded. "I hope you aren't trying to be in an alliance with her."

"Oh, no way is that ever happening." Lorcan practically laughed like it was the most ridiculous thing he ever heard, picking up another knife and throwing it. It was closer to the center chest, which was better. "All she has done since the Reaping was remind me how I'm not going to make it. Says I'm too weak."

His words only made the redhead's blood boil more than it already was as she tried to keep her composure. "Yeah, I just had the same conversation with her."

Lorcan's hand slipped and the knife he just threw didn't even land anywhere near the target. He snapped his head to her, blue eyes flaring in both disbelief and anger. "What did she say?"

"Nothing that mattered." Sage told him honestly. "The only thing that does matter is what you believe. Do you think you are too weak to win?"

Lorcan gritted his teeth, his golden locks falling wildly in front of his face as she stared at the knife in his hand. He didn't answer right away, thinking about it. Sage wishes he didn't have to think about it. She wished he knew immediately because his hesitation only made her worry grow stronger. When he looked back up at her, he seemed so much younger than he actually was. So scared.

"I'm not weak... physically. I'm pretty strong honestly. But mentally-" Lorcan paused, shrugging his shoulders in defeat. "Azebel might be right."

"You have to be!" Sage hissed, looking around to make sure no one was waiting in line to use the station, before turning back to him. "It may not feel like it now, but when you are in there, face to face with the competition, you'd be surprised at what you are capable of doing in order to survive. In a life or death situation, if you're scared enough, you will do what needs to be done."

Lorcan started shaking his head, not believing any of this. "It's not that simple."

"Why not?"

"Because I killed my father!" Lorcan snapped at her through gritted teeth, causing the redhead to take a step back, staring at the boy in utter shock at his words. Lorcan then grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her away when the instructor came and told them to move on. Sage was trying to wrap her head around the bomb that he just dropped, confused by his confession.

He seemed to pull her to the side, away from prying ears and ran a hand over his face, clearly stressed. Sage just stared up at him cautiously in complete silence, waiting for an explanation. She needed an explanation for that revelation before she said anything more.

"Last year, after the Reaping for the 67th Hunger Games, a woman had a breakdown after her thirteen year old daughter was reaped. She was hysterical, because that was her only child and she had just lost her husband two years before to a heart attack. She wasn't acting rationally and she was attacking a Peacekeeper. The Head Peacekeeper, Falcon Paulson."

"Falcon was new and very cruel. He was not kind when beating her. He just kept kicking her and kicking her even when she was down. No one was going to stop it. I had to do something. So I threw the biggest rock I could find at his helmet as hard as I could and it caused it to shatter. However, he claimed to no have seen where it came from and when they threatened to start burning food and crops if no one came forward, I was ready to face any punishment. I figured worse case scenario, I'd flogged publicly or have my tongue cut out and become an Avox. I didn't care at that point. That woman wasn't breathing. He had beaten her to death and still didn't stop."

Lorcan let out a shaky breath, closing as eyes to keep the haunting memories at bay. "I didn't know my father had been there, that he witnessed what I had done. I thought he was taking my mother and Atlas home after the Reaping. But he saw what I did and he knew me well enough to know I wasn't going to let anyone else suffer for my choice. So before I could step forward, he grabbed a rock and threw it at the Falcon's back, this time not as hard, and said it was him and said he'd do it again."

"I tried stepping in, saying it to me and that my dad was covering for me, but he gave me a look so fierce and stern to shut me into submission and stand down. He was very good at that. So I did. But... what I thought the Peacekeepers were going to do... I was wrong. Because Falcon knew it was me. I know he did, because of the way he looked directly at me with so much vile hatred, but then his tight lips were replaced with a sickening smirk-"

Sage knew exactly where he was going with this. Peacekeepers are very arrogant and cocky officers who believe just because a gun is placed in their hands by the Capitol Government means they are special and entitled and can do whatever they want to the citizens of the District they've been assigned to. It doesn't matter what District it is, if you show any act of rebellion... the punishment is usually always death.

A single tear streamed down the side of Lorcan's light skin, but he immediately wiped it away before anyone could see. "He didn't even hesitate. Gave no indication he was going to shoot. Just shot him in the head before anyone could process that he had taken out his gun."

Sage noticed the way his hands were shaking, but he was trying his best to not have a total breakdown, especially in front of prying eyes. Sage never once took her eyes from his, letting him take his much needed time as something inside her began to crack.

"My dad was executed because of a decision I made. I had to watch him die right in front of me." Lorcan said, shaking his head rapidly. "I killed my own father."

The image of Deirdre Rowan standing before a young Sage, eyes so far distant and haunted, a knife in her hand before bringing it to her neck and slicing at a gruesomely slow pace flashed through her mind. Her scratchy screams, pleading with her to stop, not caring at the hurtful words she said right before she did it. Sage remembers running to her, cradling her head in her lap as she bled all over her already dirty clothes as she just came back from hunting.

Their two situations weren't the same, but the trauma was. The horror of watching a parent die right before your very eyes. The only difference is Sage's mom chose to leave her, because life as a victor and even her own daughter wasn't worth living for. Lorcan's dad chose to save his son from a terrible punishment by taking the blame for something he did, neither of them knowing the outcome would mean the man's death.

Sage did not know how to comfort him. He seemed to be pulling himself together just fine, but was clearly wrecked. She's never been a touchy-feely kind of person. She didn't know how to console him. So she kept her arms crossed like she always had them and cleared her scratchy throat. "You didn't kill your father, Lorcan. I know it feels like you did, I know you blame yourself, but you didn't pull the trigger."

Lorcan shook his head, so much pain in his expression, but he was no longer crying, having stopped himself as soon as it had started. "It feels like I did."

The redhead sighed heavily. "Of course it does. You did something for the right reasons and it had terrible consequences. But from what you told me, your father seems like the kind of man who would sacrifice anything to save his sons and he did just that. He wouldn't want you constantly blaming yourself."

Lorcan couldn't help but chuckle humorlessly. "You sound like Atlas and my mom."

"Maybe you should listen to us." Sage meant for it to be a joke, but she was actually serious. She didn't like the idea that Lorcan might hesitate in the arena when fighting for his life because he blames himself for something that was completely out of his control. She could see how much it haunted him, how much he hates himself for interfering with a Peacekeeper, the Head Peacekeeper nonetheless.

It honestly surprised Sage knowing that District 4 was so strict, given that it is a Career District. She had always thought that no matter what, they were given special treatment, that Peacekeepers held back and were not as cruel. But then she remembered that they are all subjects. That no matter what District they came from, even the Careers were still beneath the Capitol. Especially District 4 as it is not as popular as 1 and 2.

"Can I ask you something?" Lorcan spoke in a soft voice, causing the redhead to break out of her neverending thoughts and look back up at him. "Where did you learn to fight like that? I mean, I've seen that kind of fighting before, but from people in my District and from Peacekeepers. What you did yesterday... it was almost perfect."

"Almost perfect? Maybe I held back a little bit too much if it was only 'almost perfect'."

Lorcan rolled his eyes. "Of course you held back. But I'm being serious."

Sage let out a heavy sigh and tried to think of how to answer this. Opening up is not something she is used to. She has never trusted anyone enough to open up to. With Hyacinth, the two never really shared anything too personal about themselves with one another. As for Adrian, for a couple years she used to think the mayor's daughter was a thorn in her side she couldn't get rid of, always dodging personal questions or topics.

But Adrian never pried or pushed her to talk about things she didn't want to. It wasn't until the Reaping was when Sage finally realized how important that girl was to her. How much Adrian had wormed her way into her closed off heart to the point that the thought of letting her participate in these games, to let her experience this overwhelming fear and anxiety with the thought that she'd either win the games and become a completely different person or die...

Sage knew everything about Adrian and the latter knew little to almost nothing about Sage other than what she allowed her to know, which is not much. And knowing she is going to die in a few days and knowing she will never see Adrian again... a wave of regret surged through her being.

Lorcan just confided something incredibly personal to her, for reasons she doesn't understand. He trusted her and she doesn't even know why. Just like Adrian.

Swallowing the lump forming in her throat, she finally decided to throw caution to the wind, to confide in him just like he did with her. Something she should have done with Adrian a long time ago. "You know about my mother? About what she did in her games?"

Lorcan only nodded softly, no look of judgment in his eyes. Sage let out a deep shaky breath. "Being the daughter of Deirdre Rowan isn't all sunshine and rainbows like some may believe. Especially in District 9. Everyone hated her. She was never given an ounce of sympathy and was considered almost as bad as the Capitol. And because she claimed not to know who my father was, it only led to the rumors that my father is from the Capitol."

"I got made fun of a lot because of it. Teased and harassed to the point where I wasn't going to take it anymore. I started training myself. Every single day for an hour since the age of six. Learning all this was easy, because I'm very good at observing and memorizing others. I watched the Peacekeepers closely, followed them and analyzed every punch and every technique they used. But I relied on books for the rest. The tiny library at the school doesn't have much but I memorized pretty much every book I could get my hands on."

Lorcan tilted his head to the side. "So you practiced until you perfected it."

"Yes. Some were very easy, others were a bit more difficult. But if I wanted to learn something, nothing stopped me."

"How do you memorize things like that though?"

Sage shrugged. "I just can. Adrian says I have a 'freaky brain' because I remember everything that happens in specific detail from such a young age and it freaks her out."

Lorcan chuckled at that. "I think she might be right. And if I'm being honest, I have to say I'm a bit envious. The way you fought yesterday was so skilled and astonishing... I mean- I can't even fight like that."

"I don't know, I saw you over at hand-to-hand combat earlier. You held your own pretty well."

"Well, if you were watching me, then you saw how I lost my footing twice and the instructor got the upper hand."

"Yes, but I also saw you recover pretty quickly and overpowered him." Sage informed with a sly smirk. "Tell me, did you practice more of the box step?"

A deep throat chuckle escaped his lips and he shook his head. "Possibly. Though I did get a very strange look from my mention when he came to talk to me last night and found me doing a weird dance in my room."

That was one of the rare moments where Sage genuinely chuckled, a bright smile plastered on her lips as she brought her hand up to hide it, the image of Lorcan just doing the stupid dance she taught him to help with his footwork and balance only to be caught by Finnick Odair. It must have been a scene to witness and a strange part of her was disappointed she didn't.

"Did he say I was crazy for showing you that?"

Lorcan shook his head, the once devastated expression suddenly being replaced by his normal kind and uplifting personality. "No, actually, he said it was very smart. He even showed me another dance trick he found useful."

Sage raised her brows at that. "Really? Care to demonstrate?"

"Yeah, no way in hell." Lorcan said with a shake of his head, before turning on his heel and escaping before she could ask him again.

The redhead gaped as he walked away, watching as he went to a new station, an amused grin on his lips when he looked back to see her standing there before nudging his head. She only rolled her eyes before heading over to join, the two spending the rest of the training together.

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𝐈𝐍 𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒, Sage Rowan and Chance Henderson, along with twenty-two other tributes, will be forced to walk into the main Training Center individually and find some way to present a very impressive skill where they will be scored between 1-12.

Sage had been tossing and turning since the moment she turned in for the night, not wanting to share a night cap with Tatyana or be in Bird or Chance's presence any longer. Walker had walked her back to her room, asking her if she had any kind of idea what she wanted to do. She claimed she had many options to choose from that would earn some kind of respect. She could show them her knife throwing skills, or her fast knowledge of different poisons or how to quickly make shelter. She could show her fighting skills, either hand-to-hand or sparring. Or she could just walk in there, tell them all to fuck themselves and walk out.

Walker didn't find that funny at all. Probably because he couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

She was... maybe.

What makes things worse, they have the televised interviews later in the night. Now that was something Sage was highly considering making a break for it and damn the consequences. The idea of being in front of that large crowd, the bright lights blaring down on her in a dress that Tatyana refuses to show her any hint of what it looked like, cameras focusing on her face... it made her so sick with nerves.

In all honesty, Sage was not struggling with sleep because of what awaited tomorrow morning. Okay, the interviews may have some effect, but that is not why she was staring blankly up at the ceiling, going over what will transpire in less than two days. Because in two days, she will be sent up into an arena with twenty-two people trying to kill her.

She thought she had a plan. Go straight for the cornucopia and be sloppy, act like she was gathering supplies and attempt to try to defend herself against whoever got to her first, but then let them do their worst and pray it will be quick. It was a coward's way out, she knew this. Not at least trying to win, giving up so easily when everyone knows she might even have a bigger chance... Sage knows she'll be remembered as a coward. And she had accepted that because she knew her truth. Sage understood her own reasons for not wanting to make it out alive.

No one wins the Hunger Games. No one. You survive the Hunger Games... barely. It is a big difference. Deirdre Rowan had done what she thought she had to in order to survive and she was utterly destroyed because of it. Sage was forced to grow up fast, take care of her mother who is supposed to take care of her and witness as she slowly drove herself into madness.

Sage had accepted her fate. Until today...

Lorcan Ellison is the embodiment of someone who actually deserves to survive these gruesome games. Knowing what happened to his father, how he blames himself for something that was so far out of his control. How kind and gentle and respectful he is but still has a sharp tongue. How he is so scared he will not have the guts to kill in the arena but how he wants nothing more to make it home to his mother and twin brother who need him.

Sage isn't stupid. She knows that there are other tributes who have families hoping and praying they make it home alive- but Sage didn't have time to worry about them. By some strange chance of fate, she met Lorcan and got to know him the best she could in such a short amount of time. Even before that first day of training, when she saw him volunteer for his visually impaired twin brother who screamed to Lorcan to not do it. She saw the look in his eyes, she knew the devastating feeling coursing through his veins when he realized that someone who he cared about, someone he knew wouldn't survive the games whether he won or not.

Atlas was Adrian and Lorcan was Sage.

The only difference is... Lorcan actually wants to survive the games, where Sage would rather die than become something the Capitol can control, more so than they already do from her miniscule life in 9.

Getting frustrated with her scattering thoughts, Sage threw off her comforter and went into the bathroom, throwing some water onto her face to calm herself down. Both hands on either side of the sink, Sage let out a couple shaky breaths, keeping her head down for only a minute before slowly lifting and looking up at the mirror.

Deirdre Rowan stared back at her, just like she always did whenever she looked into a mirror. Haunted by her own mother in her own mirror reflection because genetics are bullshit and cruel. Sage found herself shaking violently, her rage nearly exploding.

"I am not you." She basically growled through gritted teeth, glaring at her reflection. "I will never be you."

It was her worst fear to become her mother. To become selfish and deranged and greedy and miserable. It's worse than death in her opinion. Sage will do anything to prevent becoming her mother, until her dying breath.

That is when Lorcan's face came into her mind again and she finally understood. There is a way for her to not become her mother, to get taken out not feeling like a coward in doing so. She can go out with a purpose, a chance to make her miserable existence worth something.

Deirdre Rowan lied and manipulated in order to win the games. Sage will do no such thing. She will fight as soon as she steps off that platform. She will run and hunt and use every survival skill she has mastered over years of neglect and poverty. Sage Rowan will kill whoever gets in her way, but she will not do it for herself. Because in the end, she will not make it out of that arena breathing. Only one person is going to survive the Hunger Games...

And that person is Lorcan Ellison.

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Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates!

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, I know I did! Let me know!