This is the training scores chapter. Here all of the tributes will receive their scores, which will play a big part in their survival. Let us see how the tributes do, yes?

ghostleon: First and foremost, thanks for the review. Also, I'm glad to see you've made your favorites and whatnot. I'm trying to make some characters more likable and others more cold, but ultimately I want to leave the decision of which character you like the best up to the readers. So, I think it's cool that you're taking to some people. Hopefully these training scores will help straighten some things out. Thanks once again!


Training Scores


The two training days were done, and the morning after the second, all twenty-eight tributes created their own routine to show off to the game-makers. These routines were to show off the players' prowesses at any of the various stations. After each routine, the game-makers would judge the performance based on the tribute's talent in the areas they demonstrated. A score from one to twelve would then be awarded to each tribute. These scores would play incalculable importance in the games, as tributes with higher scores would typically get sponsored. Thus, the tributes were on the edges of their seats as their training scores were revealed.

Atlas Rockwell (District 1 Male)

Atlas and Moon watched the television from their large common room. This score, Atlas knew, would be absolutely vital in the way the rest of the games panned out. His leg was shifting uneasily as the highlights of his private session were revealed.

In his private session Atlas chose to show off two of his strengths: his physical and his mental prowess. First, he did his best to impress the game-makers with his unusual scythe-wielding skills. Although a scythe was not typically a common weapon, he tried to convey to the judges that he would be able to use any kind of weapon they threw at him. Second, Atlas maneuvered to the camouflage station, where he demonstrated the realistic-looking facade he could paint. He only demonstrated with his left arm, for he didn't have much time, but he felt this would be a talent worth showing off regardless. Besides, how often had the game-makers seen a career who took a more watered-down approach to their private session? He knew for sure Xion would show off only his physical prowess, so Atlas took a risk and chose to point out his different skills.

TRAINING SCORE: 10

Atlas smiled and nodded. Moon looked pleased, but said, "If that could have been an eleven…" She sat pondering what the other tributes were going to score.

The male didn't seem too fazed. "I think it played well with the sponsors, though." He wasn't sure if he was right, but he was definitely hoping. He rested easily that night knowing his training score was a very respectable one.

Moon Vexus (District 1 Female)

The highlights of Moon's performance were being shown on the screen. Moon had convinced herself she was the best knife-thrower in the entire group, so she decided to show off these skills for the judges. Her performance consisted entirely of knife-throwing. First, she stood relatively close to the target and hurled a knife. It stuck with accuracy. She moved back several feet and threw again. She continued this charade until she was so far back she could barely reach the target with a powerful throw. Every time the knife stuck perfectly. To really show off what she was made of, though, she blindfolded herself and got back to knife-throwing. Her throws were slightly less accurate, but they were still very close. She figured this would not be such a detriment, for a human being was larger than one square inch.

TRAINING SCORE: 10

Atlas frowned. He seemed pleased with the score he received, yet he felt disappointed that Moon shared this score. She, too, did not seem very happy. "I thought for sure you were going to get an eleven…" Atlas just looked utterly confused.

"I…" She was holding her head in her hands. "What did I do wrong? I threw perfectly!"

"That…" Atlas didn't know how to finish. "That was a rip-off," he said.

Xion Macabre (District 2 Male)

Xion waited impatiently to receive his score. He had already seen the previous two's scores, for they revealed the scores in order of districts, and spent a good five minutes laughing at the score Moon received. He chuckled and said, "That sucks!"

Atlas was right about Xion's performance. The second district's career had an entire private session dedicated to showing off his strength. Xion first went to the large sandbags in the center of the arena. Using his extremely powerful upper body to throw the bag and his height to gain extra vertical distance, Xion hurled the bag forward a distance no one could have thought possible. He then tried throwing two sand bags—several hundred pounds—and threw them forward with such strength that they landed and exploded on impact. He saw several of the game-makers watching from above clap quietly to themselves. Last, Xion showed off some of his weaponry skills by demonstrating his axe-throwing and axe-wielding. He hit the target spot-on.

TRAINING SCORE: 11

"Ha!" Xion yelled at no one in particular. Lilac hugged him (he didn't predict that) and congratulated him over and over.

"You just demolished Moon's score!" she said triumphantly. Really, he had only scored one point higher, but when it came to careers, each point meant the world. She was happy and ecstatic and constantly ranted about Xion's performance even when his excitement had been doused.

Lilac Phios (District 2 Female)

Lilac hoped she put up an equally impressive score, so she urged Xion to watch her masterful usage of the slew of weapons she had chosen for her performance. First, she demonstrated her usage of the dagger, and actually communicated with the judges through speech. "You can kill someone here with one strong blow…" She went on for several minutes explaining several ways to easily kill a person with a dagger. She knew tricks and secrets and weak points and everything. Then, given her lust for unusual killing, she demonstrated using bear traps, shurikens, spears, and swords. She had a whole bag of tricks to display, and by the time she was done, she felt she put up a highly impressive performance.

TRAINING SCORE: 8

"Eight?!" Lilac screamed. Her jaw was on the floor and she looked like she had just been slapped in the face with reality. And she was. When she saw the score appear on screen she wanted to crawl into a hole and die. She felt so embarrassed to be "the career who got an eight during their training score".

Xion wasn't sure how to respond. "Well…"

She had a few tears forming in her eyes. "Xion, what did I do wrong?"

The only thing he could possibly think of was that the judges didn't like the part where she explained effective ways of killing someone with a knife. He wasn't sure why, but he thought maybe the judges found that part annoying and boring. "I…I don"t know."

Lilac slammed her fist down. "I hate them!" She got up and scampered off to a different room.

Raz Golding (District 3 Male)

Raz had not wanted to do anything for his training session, but when Flux explained to him that he couldn't opt out of putting up some kind of performance, Raz decided to take a very non-dangerous route. Like Atlas, he chose to show off his skills at camouflage. He wasn't all that great (for he hadn't spent a single minute practicing during the training days), but camouflaging something in general wasn't a very difficult task. He slopped some paint and mud on himself—he displayed both of his arms and his face—and then tested his camouflage against the backdrop. His performance wasn't quite as good as Atlas's, but he felt his camouflage was still moderately respectable. And, most important, he didn't really care how well he did.

TRAINING SCORE: 4

Raz didn't move a muscle. He didn't really care that he performed so poorly.

Spade also remained silent. She only glanced over at Raz to see the expression on his face, but when he didn't seem fazed in the slightest, she decided to keep her mouth shut. She was more worried about her own performance, anyway.

Spade Bex (District 3 Female)

Spade did what she did best: she made use of her time with the bow and arrow. First she took a few practice shots to show the judges she had a good arm. Then she stepped farther back and tried some more difficult shots. She hopped on ledges and bannisters and tried shooting from different angles. All of her shots landed spot-on. She even used the moving target, which she shot near-flawlessly. To impress the game-makers even more, she got the smart idea of making her performance even a little more stylish. She did flips and jumps and tried more than anything to make her performance notable. Near the end, however, while dismounting a high ledge and shooting while falling, Spade took a risky shot that didn't pay off as she would have liked. The arrow hit the target, but barely. The shot was not very attractive. Still, though, she put up a rather respectable performance.

TRAINING SCORE: 7

Spade smiled to herself. She didn't look at the seven as being five points away from a perfect score, but as being only one point away from one of the careers. Lilac only held an eight, which was hardly more respectable, so Spade smiled to herself and didn't find her score disappointing in the slightest.

"Good job," Raz said quietly. He looked at her but still remained rather anti-social.

"Thanks," Spade responded. She, too, was quiet, but she tried to put forth the effort to sound nice and friendly. She was just so happy, though. She knew at that very moment her brother was watching her. She knew he'd be proud. And that was all she ever wanted.

Stark Locar (District 4 Male)

Stark knew exactly what kind of performance he'd need to put up. He knew exactly what he was going to do, and had no fear in his mind that this was going to work. As he had done on the first day, Stark decided to show off his mastery at manipulating a weapon. He found a particularly difficult weapon to handle—a spear—and tried his hand at spinning and flipping and turning the weapon around. He rolled it along his back, took steps forward and backward, and did a lot of tricks. Every so often he transitioned a trick into an attack to show that the kinds of artsy moves he was doing were worthwhile in the battlefield, too. Being a career who was a world-class wielder of blunt and sharp objects alike, Stark made not a single mistake in his private session, which he felt went over well.

TRAINING SCORE: 9

Stark muttered something beneath his breath. He knew his performance wasn't as good as Xion's, but he felt he definitely held a candle to Atlas. And now, he ended up one point beneath him. The tribute rolled his eyes and scowled. Angel, too, shared in his anger. "They rigged those stupid scores!" She pouted. "Did you notice that only Xion got a fair score so far?"

Stark was too annoyed to respond. "I look pathetic."

"No you don't."

"I do," he insisted. "I scored only a point higher than Lilac. I can't believe I only got a nine."

"Who cares?" Angel asked.

"The sponsors do," the male said.

"We don't need sponsors."

Angel Maxim (District 4 Female)

Angel watched the television nervously. She knew the performance she had put up was exceedingly risky, but she hoped the game-makers were able to comprehend the magnitude of the difficulty of what she had done.

The demonstration Angel put forth was one that played off her biggest strength. She was a bomb-builder, so she spent the little time she had rigging the inside of a grenade, adding a few parts and pieces and chemicals, and displaying the newly made bomb for the judges to see. To explain why her bomb was better, she demonstrated using a real grenade the kind of explosion it made. Then, she threw her grenade and was pleased to see that her craft had come out perfectly. The explosion was at least one and a half times the size of the explosion the first grenade produced. The judges, she saw, all seemed genuinely impressed by her skills and a few of the game-makers seemed to tip their hats in an applauding manner.

TRAINING SCORE: 11

"Wow," Stark commented.

Angel was overjoyed and, frankly, a little surprised. She had expected at least a nine or ten, but not an eleven. Little did she know, the game-makers had a great liking for man-made weapons, so her risk had paid off better than anything. "I…I can't believe it! This will get us the sponsors we need!"

Stark nodded and smiled. Sponsors, indeed.

Axem Jades (District 5 Male)

With the new support Axem had from three of the strongest tributes in the game (Stark, Angel, and Fetch), Axem knew exactly what kind of show he'd need to put on to impress the judges. He was a master at the bow and arrow, so he'd use this kind of skill to prove to the judges that age didn't matter. He wanted to show that anyone with the right weapon could be a true champion.

Axem was surprised to see that Spade had done a very similar routine. The only difference was that Axem had a bad leg, so he resorted to firing all of his arrows from the same place. This, he felt, would be an unusual help. Spade looked like a maniac running about and flipping over things. Also, her shots were good, but they weren't perfect. Axem knew that with his shooting, he'd be able to outdo anyone else who held a bow in his hand. His performance was basic but majestic. He shot from great distances and hit stationary and moving targets alike. The thing that he felt was his biggest help was the speed at which he launched the arrows. At any given time, he shot five different targets in just a few seconds. Each time he landed perfectly.

TRAINING SCORE: 8

Axem smiled to himself. He knew he wouldn't put up a ten or anything, but he was happy to see that he beat out his bow and arrow competitor. This, he figured, would serve as a great boost in his usefulness for the alliance. His friends wouldn't betray him then, would they? Fox smiled faintly at Axem and the two exchanged awkward glances. She was happy for her district partner, but it still pained her to see anyone actually get happiness through doing something related to the terrible games.

Fox Berry (District 5 Female)

Fox's performance was the most shocking of them all. The thought to try camouflage had never crossed her mind, and since she didn't like fighting with physical weapons, her performance merely consisted of nothing. The judges looked dumbfounded, Fox cried a little, and the fifteen minutes she had to put on a show were expired. She couldn't tell if she felt smart or stupid, because her mind was racing quickly as she made the decision to do nothing. Maybe, she felt, the judges would appreciate the statement she was making.

TRAINING SCORE: 2

Well it's better than getting a one, she realized. And she did find it odd. Why had the judges simply not given her a one? That would have been the obvious choice of a score, but maybe, she thought, they had felt bad for her. She never knew and didn't really care, but she found it odd, nonetheless.

"That was interesting," Axem said, confused. "Why did you do that?"

"I don't want to fight," she reminded him. Then she said, "I just don't know why I got a two…"

The two pondered over the idea for a while but then let the thought die away. Besides, there were plenty more tributes to watch, so the two didn't spend much time thinking about their own scores. Axem was worried, though. He felt bad for her. She would receive no sponsors, he knew. He was scared for the girl.

Qax Qionis (District 6 Male)

Qax was watching the television, excited to see his performance flashed across all fourteen of the tributes' screens. He thought his performance sound and efficient, so, despite the constant wonderment regarding how he fared overall, Qax went into watching his private session with a sense of tranquility.

For his private session, Qax wanted to demonstrate what he felt was his best weapon: his fists. Instead of impressing the judges with a blunt weapon or a sharp dagger, he chose what he felt was a very unexpected approach. He circled himself with seven dummies and had at them. He punched, kicked, and spun around the room. He looked like a trained fighter. He flipped up and over and "killed" each of the seven dummies differently. He got one in a choke hold, another he beat to a pulp with his sheer strength, and others he used against each other as a way of waning the enemy's strength. Qax, although knowing he looked rather predatory and crazy, was happy with the private session he showed the game-makers.

TRAINING SCORE: 11

Qax's mouth hung open in awe. An eleven?! He was hoping for a nine, but an eleven?! He couldn't believe it. Apple's face, too, was one of sheer shock, but at the same time, happiness. With his fabulous training score, Apple knew Qax would get sponsored. No one could pass up on the non-career who scored the same as a career.

A tear fell from Apple's eye. She was so happy for him and was always so grateful of Qax's appreciation toward her. She said, "Oh, Qax. Good for you! Good for you!"

Qax smiled warmly. "You know I will defend you, Apple. If I get any sponsorships, I'll share them with you."

"Nonsense," Apple said, waving away his offer.

"No. I know what you've been through. You don't deserve to lose your life."

Apple Lockey (District 6 Female)

Apple did not want to use any weapons, so for her private session, she worked only with the poisons shown to her in the training arena. The resource books had been removed, so only the bottled toxins remained. Apple had studied long and hard to remember those poisons, so for her demonstration, she planned to recite the names and effects of each poison. She successfully named each correctly. She did, however, forget several of the effects of the poisons, the methods of injection, and the birthplaces of the poisons. For the number of samples she demonstrated, though, she remembered the majority of the information and relayed the information in a very expository manner.

TRAINING SCORE: 5

Apple knew she wasn't going to be awarded with any kind of outstanding score, but she appreciated the fact the judges were willing to give her a score that might be enough to save her. She smiled and said to Qax, "Wouldn't it have been something if I pulled out an eleven, too?"

Qax just laughed. "Sure would."

"I suppose a five is enough for a woman like me…"

"Actually, they were pretty harsh on you. I mean, I only knew practically two of those poisons. It's not easy to remember all that. You did a good job, Apple."

She smiled at him. She didn't care what score she got as long as there was someone there who cared for her.

Ricco Hallow (District 7 Male)

Ricco originally wanted to demonstrate his newfound knowledge of the poison the Quell Drop. Vyxsin, however, had stepped in and tried to dissuade this kind of session. She explained that while the private sessions were meant to show the game-makers each persons most treasured survival skills, these "private" sessions were exceedingly revealing. If Ricco wanted to teach the game-makers about Quell Drop, he'd be doing the same to the twenty-six other tributes. She recommended he keep his mouth shut and keep the secret of the Quell Drop only a two-person one.

Thus, Ricco chose to show off the few fighting skills he had. There was no way, he knew, he'd put up a score equal to that of the careers, so he didn't really mind putting up a private session that would earn him a poor score. For his demonstration, Ricco worked with a knife and a dummy. He slashed and spun and attacked the dummy and, even though the dummy looked utterly mutilated by the time he was done with it, his technique was poor. Everyone could tell; he had no real practice with wielding a knife, so the session turned out to be less than successful.

TRAINING SCORE: 4

"That's sad…" Ricco said matter-of-factly.

"Don't worry about it," Vyxsin said, trying to reassure him. "You, yourself, admitted that you didn't really care how you did. So…don't beat yourself up over it."

Ricco shrugged. "I guess…"

Vyxsin Esher (District 7 Female)

After having explored the training room for two days, Vyxsin had definitely established her favorite weapons. The first was, of course, poison. The second—one she found particularly unusual—was the grenade. For whatever reason, she felt that the grenade was a more indirect weapon; after all, she wouldn't need to touch the other person, so the feeling of murder would feel less obvious. So, for her private session, the girl chose to display the few grenade-throwing accuracy skills she had. The stood a given distance from her target and tossed the fake grenade at the mark on the ground. She did the same from various distances. Then she revved up the difficulty: she moved and threw the grenades at the same time, she tried hitting the grenade from behind several obstacles, and she hid behind a wall, picked herself up, and threw the grenade quickly at the spot on the ground. All in all, most of the tributes watching agreed that her performance, while littered with minor mistakes, was rather sound. More important, they all agreed they were shocked with the skill Vyxsin put forth in her private session.

TRAINING SCORE: 6

"Not bad," Ricco said, giving her the credit he felt she deserved. "That wasn't bad at all…"

Vyxsin smiled warmly and said, "Thanks."

"It looks like you're our grenade expert. I hope you…employ those skills in the arena."

"Whatever happens happens, I suppose," the female said nervously. She hoped she didn't get on the radar of any of the careers with her score of six. Surely a score of six was frowned upon, right? In an odd way, she hoped it was.

Cloud McKnight (District 8 Male)

Cloud knew this was an important moment for them both. His score would determine precisely how long he survived, and if he didn't put up a score equal to of the careers, he knew he would receive no sponsorships. The demonstration Cloud put forth was very specifically planned out beforehand. In order to do something impressive, he felt he'd need to do something unusual. So, he chose to show his skills…in nearly every single weapon they had at the training room. If time permitted, he planned to show the judges how he could wield a knife, sword, axe, scythe, and club; throw a grenade; use a net and tie some knots; and throw some spears and fling some arrows. He managed to fit all of those and more into his demonstration. Watching from the television, Cloud knew he did well. He performed well—perhaps not excellently—at each weapon, and it seemed the judges were particularly fond of his extreme variety.

TRAINING SCORE: 10

Cloud showed a smiled and Terra did the same. They exchanged a friendly hug and commented numerous times on the impressive score he received. "And you're not even a career!" the district eight female said happily. "Cloud, this is…this is great."

"I think this'll be the boost we need to push ourselves past the careers. I think…if you can score the same, we will be able to get rid of the careers with ease." He hoped the two of them were favorites with the sponsors, and if that was true, he knew he and Terra would receive sponsorships without end. He was excited and felt more a protector than ever…

Terra Celeantra (District 8 Female)

Terra did what she did best. If she could prove her sword fighting skills to the game-makers and perform as well as she did even on a bad day, she knew she'd be able to put up at least an eight. She started by dancing around the dummy and slashing quickly, but efficiently. She spun and danced her way full-circle around the dummy, and, after so long, had all of the lights in the training room shut off save for the glowing shirt and sword she wielded. The game-makers watched as she continued to strike the dummy equally as expertly in the dark. At the very end, she displayed the quickness at which she could jab with her sword. Her strokes turned into a whirlwind of attacks that struck the dummy dozens of times in just a few seconds. This private session, Terra thought, would certainly be taken appreciatively by the game-makers. She hopes so, at the very least.

TRAINING SCORE: 10

"Wow," Terra said. "Do you realize that our scores…"

Cloud finished her comment, "are the same as the district one scores?" She smiled at him and nodded and he did the same. "We…we can do anything, Terra. We can do this. We can make the Hunger Games be a fair game." Cloud took a few practice swings with an imaginary dagger after getting up. He looked ready and eager.

"Don't get yourself too excited," Terra said as though issuing a warning. "Do not become too aggressive."

Cloud sighed. "You're right. I must calm down. I'll save my strength for the arena…"

Rave Klipper (District 9 Male)

Rave felt as though he didn't have very many options for his private session. His skills were limited, as was his breathing. As tiring as knife-fighting was, he knew his skills were half decent. And so, for his demonstration, Rave took up a dagger and began to show off his prowess. First he did some simple technique examples. He flipped the knife around in the air and showed the quick speeds at which he could maneuver himself and the blade. After, Rave went to work on a dummy. He slashed and stabbed and cut the dummy to his stilted breathing, however, it became quite obvious to the game-makers that held very little endurance. After only half of his demonstration, Rave needed to gasp for several breathes; he bent over slightly and slowed his knife fighting down. Overall, though, his skills seemed quite sharpened, and, as long as he could kill a person quickly, he'd have no need to let his oxygen requirements get in his way.

TRAINING SCORE: 6

Hope showed a faint smile and said, "Good job. They should have scored you higher, though."

Rave didn't seem to mind the score he received. "I was tired. They saw it."

"Dear me, do you think they lowered your score due to exhaustion?"

"It's a detriment, isn't it?" He knew he was right. Surely the game-makers wouldn't give someone the score they deserved if they seemed tired and winded. "I don't think I would have scored only a six hadn't I been so tired."

Hope Pearl (District 9 Female)

Hope had no desire to show off any kind of skills to the game-makers. In her mind, the private sessions were stupid. She didn't want to run around the training room like some sort of wild animal showing off her talents to people behind a glass wall. The idea just seemed…odd. And besides, she and Thea were hoping to not take any possible sponsorships away from Jape Phisher. The idea was Thea's, yet Hope seemed to have no problem. So, Hope merely demonstrated the way to tie knots. This was something she felt she could perform rather easily, and thanks to Terra's help the previous day, she had learned a few additional techniques that made her tying a little more effective. The demonstration was simple and to the point, and although the concept seemed rather one-dimensional, Hope proved otherwise as she tied several different kinds of knots. She wasn't expecting much, but Hope presumed the judges would probably give her a score slightly lower than Rave's.

TRAINING SCORE: 5

"Good for you," Rave said politely. "That was a lot of knots."

"Yes, dear. I practiced for a long while. I hope there comes a time when I will need to actually use that skill, you know?" She sighed and glanced around uninterestedly. Her mind was wandering, and she didn't seem particularly interested in the score anyone had received. She just wanted to go home. And so, for the remainder of the night, the thought of home danced around her mind. This gave her a drive for survival.

Torque Detrix (District 10 Male)

Torque had a specific skill set that he wished to show off to the game-makers that day: his usage of, not swords, but blunt weapons. He preferred the idea of beating someone to a bloody pulp to parrying with a sword. A blunt weapon required less technique, he thought. And so he picked up one of his favorite weapons: the mace. As most tributes did, he positioned a dummy in front of him and went to work. He spent the entire time showing off his talent wielding the spiked weapon. He swung the mace like a baseball bat, reeled it around, and swung down hard on the dummy's face. He looked vicious; all the while, the looked merciless and animalistic as he demolished the dummy in front of him. He felt that the demolished dummy was enough to prove he was a man to fear, yet he was unsure how his training score would go.

TRAINING SCORE: 8

Torque stared at the screen long and hard. Sapphire asked, "Are you mad?" Torque did not respond immediately. When he did, his voice was surprisingly calm and tranquil.

"I don't know." He looked around the room. "I…I think I did a good job. I mean, Lilac and I both got an eight, and she's a career."

"Which is what you want to be."

"Yes, but…" He looked unsure. "I suppose that score isn't worth screaming about."

Sapphire was surprised. She knew Torque was typically a hothead and grew angry over the simplest of things, so his remaining calm during the revelation of the training scores was rather unexpected. She did not complain, however. Besides, she felt his score was good and not worth complaining about, anyway.

Sapphire Raven (District 10 Female)

Sapphire had taken Torque up on his suggestion. She had never been a good wielder of weapons, so she felt that direct physical contact was the way to go. Yet another fresh dummy was brought out for this training session, which she attacked viciously and without end. She wasn't sure how something like this would come across with the game-makers, but she didn't care. She really didn't want the other tributes to know she was lacking in weaponry skills, so she figured that by doing this she still looked like a good, strong, and merciless fighter (which she was). Sapphire jumped on the dummy and beat him to a pulp. She rolled around and she bashed at him. Her hands must have been very strong, for she was able to make dents in the dummy rather easily. Her demonstration seemed good, yet she feared the game-makers wanted her to show something a little more…versatile.

TRAINING SCORE: 5

"A five?!" Sapphire roared. "A five? Really? Do those game-makers want me to go beat them up or something? I mean, I bet if I was on top of them beating them dead they wouldn't give me a five." She stood up and walked away. Torque followed her. He seemed disappointed and angry, too.

"This game is rigged!" he screamed. "They only give good scores to careers!" He slammed his fist down and then yelled, "And those two from district eight! Why do they get good scores?! They're obviously just hand-picked favorites!" He thought of Terra and Cloud and (what he felt) their subpar private sessions. "This is cheap."

Sapphire was crying a little. "I don't care what happens. I'm gonna kill someone in that arena, Torque."

Watch Zayonia (District 11 Male)

The intelligent male from district eleven knew he had to use to use his brains to prove himself. He had spent a lot of time reading about the various poisonous plants and animals he and his fellow tributes might encounter, so he felt it smart to relay this information. He had a near photographic memory, so displaying his intelligence would be easy, he thought. And so he did. First, he started by describing several of the poisonous animals, what they looked like, and how to fend them off. He described the venom of each animal and described the poisons' antidotes. He explained the plants similarly. When he was done, and after having relayed what he felt was the correct information, Watch thanked the game-makers for listening to his lecture and dismissed himself quickly.

TRAINING SCORE: 9

Watch was rather shocked. He had seen Apple demonstrate something similar earlier on, yet she had scored so poorly. He was overjoyed, yet he failed to show it. Besides, he knew Cilla would want to hear nothing of his great triumph, so he merely kept the excitement to himself.

They really must have liked the fact I remembered all of the information, he thought. Perhaps they know there's a high chance of encountering some of these plants, so my knowledge of them, they knew, would be important. This thought crossed his mind throughout the remainder of the show.

Cilla Omala (District 11 Female)

To get back at losing to Terra in the training room, Cilla knew she had to show off her sword fighting skills to the game-makers. She couldn't let Terra think she was so much better than she was (when Cilla knew she wasn't), so the girl made it her personal goal to best Terra's score in the training event.

It was notable that the two sword fighting styles displayed the females were very different. Terra was quick and stealthy. She could sense someone's presence without actually seeing or feeling it, and she could defend herself expertly. Cilla was different. She was slower, yet tried to pack more punch into each of her swings. If she managed to catch a successful slash, she wanted to know that it would be enough to kill the opponent. She did not want to give her opponent the opportunity to strike back; she wanted them to die without a counterattack. And so, Cilla demonstrated her brutal strikes and slashes. When she was done, the dummy was completely obliterated, even more so than Terra's. The question of whose sword fighting was supreme would get answered in only a few short seconds, and Cilla was on the edge of her sofa watching.

TRAINING SCORE: 8

Cilla muttered something under her breath and held her head in her hands. Watch didn't say a word, but he wanted to. He wanted to congratulate her on a job well done, yet he felt that that would only anger her more. So, he decided to remain quiet.

Cilla didn't, however. "These scores are completely made-up, anyway," she said. "I don't care what score I got," she said sourly. She went to bed that night with a mission: if she wouldn't get the honor of killing Terra, she'd at least like to show off what that eight she received was really made of.

Jape Phisher (District 12 Male)

He thought it wise to employ the new tactics September had taught him at the suggestion of Hope and Thea. It seemed, since he was no fighter, he could use what little knowledge of the ball-and-chain he just received to hopefully get a half decent score. He was still unsure and ultimately felt his trying the ball-and-chain would end in failure, but he decided to do it nonetheless. His performance was, surprisingly, rather sound. He had only a little bit of time to learn technique, yet he must have been a fast learner. He seemed to manipulate the weapon with a sense of understanding; he was no master, but it showed he knew what he was doing. Despite several missteps, he seemed to have a good grasp on the weapon, and he employed a particularly useful skill of building of the ball's momentum quickly and lurching the weapon forward. For just a second, Jape had a smidgeon of hope that perhaps this private session would not be an utter failure after all.

TRAINING SCORE: 7

Jape managed a smile and Thea seemed overjoyed. "Jape, that was great."

"I…I will admit I am surprised." He was pleased with himself. He didn't think his newly acquired skill would boost him to the victory, yet he liked the thought that, before his death, he managed to learn something that could have at least given him a fighting chance. "Yet I fear it may not be enough."

"Oh, don't put yourself down like that!" Thea encouraged. "You always do that, and I don't like it. Jape, you and I both know you have a good chance to win this thing. Please, whatever do, always remember that." She sounded earnest and caring. Jape appreciated this and thanked her for her support.

Thea Maple (District 12 Female)

Thea had not a clue what to do for her private session. She had no skill with weapons and did not have a good enough memory to try and teach the game-makers about various poisons. So, she felt she was out of luck. As she entered her training session she had no idea what to do. The game-makers eyed her up as she desperately sought out something that could serve as her demonstration. She remembered that Hope was going to try tying knots, so she ignored that station. Instead, she moved over to the camouflage station. She tried camouflaging herself, but seemed to have a difficult time working with all the muds and paints. She grew weary and scared that this was reflecting poorly on the judges, so she ditched the camouflage station almost immediately. She scanned the room for something else to die, and, without giving the thought any more consideration, picked up one of the weapons on the shelf, headed over to a dummy, and began giving it a good whack with her axe. She continued to chop and slice the dummy apart, and even though she had no technique or much strength, she swung anyway. By the time she was done she was tired and embarrassed. The woman from district twelve could only hope this looked good to the game-makers.

TRAINING SCORE: 3

"That's a shame," she muttered. Jape looked at her with a sorry look in his eyes. He didn't say anything but he wanted to tell her that everything would be alright. As it turned out, she didn't need anyone's support. "I don't care, though. I mean, I really didn't think I'd be able to pull out a good score, so…I suppose there's nothing to worry about." She sounded honest. She acted no differently than she normally did.

Feyot Jasperite (District 13 Male)

Feyot knew that he wanted to show off his skills with the club, as he had spent two full days practicing and battling other tributes. However, most people did not trust much in his skills and were therefore not expecting much. In his private session, Feyot found a club and began doing battle with a dummy. He made a few good strikes at the dummy, yet the man looked completely off-balance and without technique. His strikes were weak at best and his speed with the club left much to be desired. He didn't seem coordinated and the dummy didn't seem to absorb much of Feyot's strikes. This left many of the game-makers surprised and left a lot of tributes (namely Xion and Fetch) laughing at the man's display. Feyot was not hoping for much, yet he didn't want to score the lowest out of any of the tributes. At least he tried to use a weapon.

TRAINING SCORE: 3

Feyot said not a word when he received his score. Neither did Katz. She merely winced and turned away from him. She didn't want to come off as insulting so she didn't say a word. Still, though, she had no idea why the man would have been dumb enough to work with a weapon he could barely use. Why didn't he do camouflage or recite knowledge? Katz pondered this a little while but then stopped as she saw her private session pop up onto the screen.

Katz Wisp (District 13 Female)

Katz entered the training room looking rather bored. She maneuvered over to the weapons rack and lazily picked one up. It was a spear. She picked it up and looked for a target. When she found it she hurled the spear forward at surprising speeds and…stuck the spear directly in the bullseye. She looked satisfied and turned back to the weapons rack. She picked up an axe for throwing, moved closer to the target, and threw that. She, once again, stuck it with unexpected accuracy. She did the same once more with a throwing dagger. She stepped far, far away from the target and threw the knife. Like her previous two throws, the dagger stuck and stayed. She nodded, satisfied, turned to the game-makers and smiled (or smirked), and then walked out of the room. That was all she gave in her performance, yet it was a performance worth watching.

TRAINING SCORE: 10

Katz smiled to herself as her scored popped up on screen. Feyot nearly fell off the couch as he saw her mastery with the art of throwing, but said not a word. How could a rich brat like her get so good at using these weapons? Did she do training? Feyot thought.

"That's what I call a performance," Katz said. "Did you see that perfection?"

Feyot shifted awkwardly. "Why, why yes I did." He mumbled something and looked around the room curiously.

Katz just laughed. "I bet that'll give some people a fright."

Fetch Zimmer (District 14 Male)

Fetch was as confident as ever. He knew he had the strength to best any of the players in the game, so for his training session, he chose to show off several of his favorite weapons. He started with a sickle. He jabbed at the dummy and ripped it cleanly open. It seemed so easy. He moved next to a dagger. Again, he displayed brutality and strength and didn't give the dummy a chance. Next, he moved to the throwing axes. He chose to attack the dummy once more and hurled the axes with such speed that the entire mannequin shattered upon impact with the blade. Last, Fetch his physical strength by displaying some of his fist fighting talents. He spun and kicked and punched and laid a beat-down on the dummy, yet he showed no signs of remorse.

TRAINING SCORE: 10

"Ten?!" Fetch roared. "Why a ten? That's it?!" He picked himself up and nearly punched the television screen. September just watched him and looked on condescendingly. She let him finish his rant before she answered his question.

"You displayed strength, yet you failed to show how you would defend yourself if the opponent were advancing on you."

"Defense? I don't need defense!"

"Whatever."

"I don't!" he yelled. "Just because you're a crazy person who kills people for fun and—obviously—mustn't do a good job at it," he pointed to her very wounded leg, assuming the wound had been acquired during one of her attempts at murder, "doesn't mean I need to take advice from you."

September looked at him coldly. "Well then I suppose we shall see how you fare. I hope for your sake your death is clean and quick. And, Fetch, I would suggest you stay away from me in the arena. If I get a hold of you, I'll make sure your death is exactly how you don't want it."

September Realer (District 14 Female)

Wielding a ball-and-chain was easy. September made it seem so as she took on her private session. Flawlessly she spun the chain around in her fingers. She attacked the dummy and split it open instantly. Her swing wasn't strong, but she knew the angle and speed at which to swing to give the dummy the greatest impact force. To account for defense, she showed various defensive moves that required her to take few if any steps backward. She needed to keep her leg under the least amount of pressure possible, so she had taught herself how to defend standing still, or how to defend and advance at the same time. She was absolutely vicious. She caught the chain around the dummy's waist and hoisted it to her. Then, she swung the chain back around, shattering what was the dummy's waist. She looked calm and collected as she did this, and when she was done, she drug her leg out of the room behind her as she walked out.

TRAINING SCORE: 11

"Really?" Fetch asked sarcastically. "You beat me?"

September didn't respond. She got up then from the sofa and disappeared from the room. Fetch watched her and groaned. He seemed angry and she seemed, as usual, like a robot. He didn't want to provoke her any more, but he was confident his skills could exceed hers. Besides, she could hardly move. That leg of hers, he knew, would prove to be the ultimate downfall of September…