The 23 Cannons Trilogy

Coming Together

Erika worked carefully with the lighter, trying to get a steady flame throwing. The trainer had set up a different simulated environment for the lighter: she was now trying to set a fire as if she was in a rain storm. The wood was coated in a slick liquid that would make it considerably harder to set alight, and the lighter would only stay lit for maybe a few seconds. She needed to get her reflexes just right to set a fire.

"C'mon, now..." she said under her breath, managing to finally get fire from the lighter. Swiftly, she placed it near the logs. The orange flame licked at the slick wood, doing nothing to it. Suddenly, the flame began to die out. Erika quickly tried another section of the wood, and to her surprise, it caught fire. The flames rushed underneath the coating, burning the wood to nothing but a pile of ash in only a couple of minutes.

"Good job," the trainer said. He was a fairly young man with several ear piercings, and jagged purple hair.

"Thanks," Erika said, smiling. She wiped the sweat from her brow, and stood up, her black hair moving into her face. She pushed it away, and looked at him. "And uh, if ya don't mind, I'm gonna go try another station."

"That's fine," he replied. "And anyway, I'm certain you have sufficient skill with this station to help you in the arena.

"Okay then," Erika said. "See ya." She waved at him, and walked away from the station, smiling to herself.

So far, she had only tried out the fire making station. This was due to a combination of curiosity and fear; she had always thought learning how to make a fire was a useful skill to have. And since the other stations she was interested in were occupied, she went there. There was something that intimidated her about working at a station with another tribute. Perhaps it was the idea that anyone in here could be her potential killer, or that she knew that all but one of them would be dead very soon. Already it was like she was staring at a sea of ghosts. However, in the same breath, Erika had a feeling, deep down, that her personal survival depended on at least one of these tributes: for the past few years, every victor had been in an alliance throughout the majority of the Games. And that seemed to be how most victors were born; they worked together with their allies until the end. Erika sighed at the realisation: she needed an ally.

Erika walked across the room, surveying the tributes. She immediately avoided the Careers; joining with them would be suicide. District 3 seemed to already be with the girl from 5, and Erika didn't want to come across as a desperate add-on. The boy from 5 was brutally mauling some dummies with a sword, smiling gleefully. Also someone to not join with. The boy from 6 was too young, and joining with him would mean that Erika would be looking after him most of the time. His district partner was at the edible plants station, staring off into space. Too much of a liability. The next tribute Erika saw was the girl from 11, Lucy. She was at the archery station, practising with a bow. Her aim was pretty good, and the trainer there seemed impressed. And most importantly, Lucy wasn't with anyone. She seemed to be someone that would make a pretty good ally.

Erika approached the station, and stood at the sidelines, waiting for Lucy to finish her round of arrows. Most of them hit pretty close to the centre of the target: it was clear Lucy had a natural talent for the bow, but she hadn't ever used one before. Of course, growing up on a ranch back home, Erika was proficient in a crossbow, so she knew several things about handling this sort of weapon.

Lucy finally finished her firing practice, and walked back over to the shelf to put her bow back, when Erika intercepted her.

"Hiya," Erika said, smiling broadly.

"Hey," Lucy said quietly. "Is there something you want?"

"Actually, yeah," Erika replied. "I was thinkin' that the two of us could be allies."