The first day of training started early. Tributes were expected to head straight from their suites to the underground training room so Kurt and Rachel skipped breakfast and took the elevator down as soon as they woke. They and a few other kids arrived at the same time, went through the giant steel doors and walked into a room full of weapons and obstacles. A few stations with one or two people waiting at them were scattered about. Earlier in the District 12 suite, Will had told them "Stay away from the careers. Those are typically the District 1, 2, and 4 tributes. They tend to band together. Try not to be too showy with the swords and things until it's time to score you, when other tributes are around go to the stations. You'll need the skills they offer." Maybe Will wasn't a useless drunk after all. As much as Kurt itched to show up the careers with the sai swords on the rack, he went to the nearest station and began learning to wire a light. Rachel heeded Will's words too and left to a camouflaging kiosk, where two elated painters started her off.
While trying to keep his light bulb from flickering, Kurt paused and looked at the station's manager. "Why is this skill offered? What kind of an arena will have light bulbs?" he asked. The woman took in a shuddery breath and leaned in closer.
"The arena you're going to was once in a place called New York City." she whispered, barely audible.
Kurt's eyes widened. "We're going to a CITY?"
She nodded. "The gamemakers wanted to try something besides wilderness."
Brow furrowed, Kurt refocused on the light and had it mastered an hour later.
Saying a goodbye and a quiet thank you to the wiress woman, then exchanging a weary look with Rachel, Kurt decided to watch everyone else train and gage their abilities. Yeah, Will was definitely wiser than he'd originally thought. Tina from District 8 got shoved aside by a boy and grit her teeth. She pushed him down and twisted his arm behind his back, drawing the attention of a few gamemakers. The mad girl, Quinn was it?, was doing some kind of dance or martial arts or something.
Suddenly Kurt saw the boy who'd stared at him again. He was turning over an axe in his hands and looking about confusedly, as if he had no idea what he was doing here. Which was understandable. The odds had not been in the favor of anyone here. Kurt decided to talk to him, and walked to the boy smoothly as not to show too much interest.
"Hi," said Kurt. The boy looked up and let a few seconds of the clanging weapons in the background pass.
"Hello," he smiled slightly. "I'm Blaine."
"Kurt."
Blaine looked over Kurt a moment. "I've seen you at that wiring station. You haven't been trying any daggers or fighting skills. And you're not working out, which you probably should because you're so skinny. Do you not want to win?"
Kurt fumed. "What do you mean do I not want to win?! I have skills already! More than you most likely. What could a boy from the orchards possibly do with an axe?" he yelled. An odd expression swept over Blaine's face. Oh. He was hurt. Maybe he had just been curious. Then, much to Kurt's surprise, Blaine spun and chucked the axe at the wall. It stuck and in the same moment, Kurt wrenced two sai swords off the rack next to Blaine and flew them at the wall as well. The swords dug into the concrete with a metallic noise and were angled around the battleaxe.
With that, Blaine turned on his heel to leave, scowling. "Wait," Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and whirled him around. They were literally inches apart. Blaine's eyes had that vulnerability in them again.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to piss you off. The last thing I want to do is make enemies."
Blaine relaxed then, nodding in affirmation. The slight smile returned and he looked at their hands.
"Yeah enemies are worse than anything here. Sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Kurt inquired.
"Friends can be worse than enemies when your love for them interferes with everything else."
Kurt considered this. "True, but without friends your world could be very dark."
Blaine laughed quietly and gripped Kurt's hand tighter. "So are we friends then?"
"I'd say that's accurate."
------
Will rubbed a hand over his face. "You didn't stick to the stations?"
Kurt sighed and stabbed his fork into the meat in front of him, avoiding Emma and Will's gaze. "A tribute questioned my ability and my pride got in the way."
"Pride will get you killed! You can't put other things before your own safety. Now the careers have been alerted to your potential threat. I can guarantee they heard about you hurling swords around, maybe even saw it!"
Kurt's heart palpitated. It's true, he'd screwed up. What if the careers saw him as a threat now? Lauren Zizes from District 2 was at least 3 times his size. While Will lectured, Kurt eyed Rachel across the table. He couldn't forget about her. And then Blaine... Maybe friends are worse than enemies.
------
Over the week of training, despite Will's warnings, Kurt helped Blaine work on his sword abilities and learned a few things himself. Like how to defend instead of just attack. Although the hand-to-hand combat was useful, Blaine turned out to be pretty good with archery. 'Occasionally we use arrows to get the really high fruit from the trees down where I live.' he'd explained.
On the last day, Kurt sat off to the side and watched Blaine artfully string an arrow. His arm slowly brought the bowstring back and Kurt just marveled at the talent he had for this. The concentration was really impressive. But then he dropped the bow and collapsed on the floor. Alarmed, Kurt ran to his side.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" he asked worriedly.
Blaine took a deep breath, "I can't help but realize we're being trained to kill eachother. I know I don't have it in me to kill someone. Even my father said I won't win. My only hope is to hide from everyone else in the arena. How pathetic is that?"
So Kurt's first impression had been right. His heart sunk. They may dress him up like one, make him train to be one and he may act like one for the gamemakers but Blaine was not a fighter. "It's not pathetic. Besides a few psychos, do you really think anyone WANTS to do this? I don't. Blaine, I've never met anyone as nice as you. You have a good spirit and that's worth more than any bloodlust they want you to have. Don't lose that."
Blaine shook his head. "I won't let them ruin me. Or you. Or your friend Rachel for that matter, she's a little headstrong but you seem to like her a lot so," he chuckled. Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yeah she's a bit much sometimes. I really think she has a shot. I believe she could win this if I play the cards right."
Blaine was taken aback. "You're focusing on her? Not yourself?"
Kurt shrugged. "She has a life back there. A boyfriend, a family, ambition. I love my Dad but no one is nice to me where I am besides her and my family. She deserves to win more than I do." he explained.
Sadly Blaine cocked his head to the side. "I see why you want to save her but Kurt don't sacrifice yourself. You're not someone who should die out there, you don't deserve this. You're amazing." Blaine blushed on the last sentence.
"Thanks, I'm pretty glad I met you," Kurt smiled at him and they joined hands again tentatively.
------
Mercedes ordered the costume designers to do things with Kurt's interview suit and accessories while he tried not to move. He was dressed in a navy blue suit with a light gold shimmer, like the dark of a morning sunrise. Rachel was being dressed similarily next to him and Kurt gawked over how beautiful she looked. It was certainly easier to look pretty if you were a girl. Her hair was adorned with glittery jewels with the same color scheme as her dress. Soon, they were all ready for the interviews with Caesar Figgins that would air in 10 minutes, and Mercedes kissed Kurt on the cheek before leaving him and Rachel alone. The crew followed her out, and the dozens of costume and makeup kits were left everywhere. They both came forward and hugged for few seconds tightly. Kurt toyed with a dangly jewel on his tie.
"It'll be over soon." he told Rachel when he saw the exasperation on her face. "We just have to play nice now. Pretend you're famous when you get out there, because you are really, and not just a tribute. Plus you look stunning. And, I have a secret to tell you."
Rachel raised her eyebrows.
"The arena's in New York City." Kurt said.
Rachel froze. "What? Is it really? How do you know?"
"The wiring woman let it slip. Rachel you said that that place used to be the heart of musicals. It's not under good circumstances but," he teared up some.
"We're getting to go to New York City."
Rachel shrieked and jumped up and down, an amazing feat considering she was in that difficult dress. Kurt beamed at her as she paced excitedly. Still, one thought lay like a splinter in his mind. How did he plan to protect Rachel when he was falling for Blaine?