"The best training is to play by ear: trial by fire."

-John Legend

Miri Ismail-Pignati, District One (15)

I'm going first. It's both a blessing and a curse, because they certainly won't be bored by the time I come in, but they'll also expect the most of me. Let's see what I can do without a boyfriend, Marcus.

I stand in front of the Gamemakers, who are watching attentively. Time for a show, Gamemakers, I'll give you all I've got. I activate the fighting simulation range at level hard, and backflip away from the control panel. A second later, a blunt spear thunks into it. Another zips by over my head, ruffling my hair. "Just getting warmed up!" I quip. Dodging away from the practice dummies, I make a quick illusion of myself running away, while I grab a sword and climb up a tree, ready to spring down. The practice dummies hurl spears at the illusion, and 'I' fall to the ground. Then I leap out of the tree, landing on one of them with the sword. The flimsy thing crunches and stops moving, and I leap to the next one before it even has a chance to react. I soon have disabled all four of them with my sword, leaping from one to the other. My only problem was that one of them clipped me on the shoulder and bruised it, which will take off a point, I expect. I bet I'll make a nine, though, or at least an eight. I hope I'll score better than Marcus, to show him I don't need love to win the Hunger Games.

Marcus Nosa, District One (16)

Miri walks out of her private session, looking proud of herself, though I can see she has a bruise on one shoulder. She goes to return to Aphrodite and Topaz, sailing out of the room without giving me a glance. Aww, come on, Miri, why can't you give me a chance? I'll still be besotted with you even if you treat me like mud on the bottom of your shoe.

Entering my private session, I see the Gamemakers observing me with mild interest. All right, let's see if I can do this. I turn the fighting simulation onto hard, then drop to the floor, and a knife embeds itself in the wall an inch from my ear. From the floor, I send a jet of acid at the training dummies, and the one in front dissolves. The remaining three run after me, so I scurry up a metal climbing apparatus, escaping a swipe with a sword by centimeters. Great, fabulously great, I didn't have time to grab a weapon, and I hear the gamemakers starting to laugh. Oh right, I can use my acid. I release a torrent of the green liquid, and it splatters over the training dummies, turning them into paste. I see one dodged out of the way, so I jump off and land feet first on his head. CRACK. It hits the ground and splits open. Crunch.

I get up and bow to the Gamemakers. "That's what will happen to the tributes in the arena when I finish with them," I announce, then swagger out of the room, confident of a 10.

Thalia Bronx, District Two (15)

Finally, my chance! I get to show off my skills, score a perfect 12, impress the gamemakers to no end, what's not to like? Marcus walked out of his session looking even more proud than Miri, so he's done a good job. I intend to do better, of course.

I run into my session, and without wasting any time, I activate my energy burst and jab the fighting simulation to Very Hard. Six training dummies burst into motion and are after me. They are no match for my energy burst speed. I run rings around the confused things, then run up a wall and flip backwards, knocking down the one in front, which knocks the rest down. They tumble over like so many dominoes, all in a row. This is fun! I giggle and hop lightly onto one of them, then using my energy burst, stomp on its shoulder. It breaks open, and the whole thing is disabled. I use up my remaining energy to punch each of the other five practice dummies in the head, and one by one they break apart. The Gamemakers are nodding to each other, impressed. I don't think I'll get the best score, though. I know it.

Tristan Bronx, District Two (18)

My sister dances wildly out of her session, giggling, and leaves the room to tell our mentors Athelstan and Shantelle about what she did. Athelstan will be delighted, I'm sure, but Shantelle will just say, "Good job, kid." She went through some terrible things in her Games, I think she saw her whole Career alliance killed before her eyes, and she doesn't care about anything anymore. Athelstan just went a little weird and too cheerful from what happened to him. But never mind him now.

In my training session, I stand calmly before the Gamemakers, pick up a morning star, then set the fighting simulation to Extreme. The Gamemakers are surprised, I can see. Who can beat level Extreme, the highest level? I can. I put up a forcefield, milliseconds before a mace rams into it. If it were a real mace, it would have crushed my head. I lunge out of the forcefield for a second, use my morning star to break one of the eight practice dummies surrounding me, and duck back in. I do this to each one, then banish the forcefield. I did it perfectly. The Gamemakers are openly applauding. I expect to get a 12, certainly, so I hope Thalia won't be too mad.

Erica Jones, District Three (16)

This will be a nightmare, I know it, I know it! I'm going score a three. Or a two. Or a one. If possible, a zero. Then Narui will sneer at me, my escort Zillah will gasp in outrage, my mentors Cody and Nanoa will shake their heads in disappointment. Because I'm useless.

I enter the room, head down. The Gamemakers are barely paying attention, because they assume District Three kids can't do anything. I certainly can't.

Halfheartedly, I go to the snares station, and quickly prepare a snare. Nobody is watching. Then I build a rough shelter out of branches, completing it in about two minutes. It would protect me from strong winds in the arena, too bad I can't take it with me. Only one Gamemaker is observing. She smiles, pitying me. I see her mouth, 'I'll try to get you better than a zoo.' What? Oh, not zoo, two. Thanks. How comforting, I'll probably still get a two, because what does that gamemaker care about me? Nothing, like everyone else in this whole Capitol. I can't do anything.

I purposely knock down the shelter and the snare on my way out.

Narui Chahyne, District Three (14)

Erica storms out of her session, almost pushing me over. Well, Miss I'm-better-than-Narui, let's see if I can beat your score. She's upset, so she probably did a bad job, and I'll be able to outscore her, ending all this nonsense about me being weak.

I enter at a run, and go for the climbing station, scaling a tree in seconds. The Gamemakers aren't paying attention. Time to step up my game.

I turn to mist and float down the tree, materializing next to the knives. I take one, and picking up a piece of flint, I start to chip away at it. The Gamemakers are raising eyebrows, and some of them are laughing. When I finish, I hold up what I made. It is a sharp knife. To demonstrate its usefulness, I cut a piece of bark off a tree, then a thin twig from a branch. Sawing harder, I cut off a whole branch. Come on, isn't that useful? I could build a shelter if I cut off a lot of branches! The Gamemakers still don't seem to care, and only one is watching. A lot of good this all was. I know I'll get a bad score, and I throw the knife at the wall as I stomp out.

Elizabeth Shore, District Four (16)

Both District Three kids came out of their sessions looking furious, therefore they must have done terribly, as they do almost every year. Pitiful.

I zoom into the training room with my excellent new speed, take a sword in one hand and a spear in the other, and then head for the fighting simulation. I set it to Very Hard. I bet I can beat it, yes, I'm sure, maybe I'll even get the best score.

Two practice dummies throw their spears at me, and I catch them, one in each hand, and send them back. The spears knock off the heads of my incompetent assailants. Two down.

I feel the wind of a sword sweeping toward my neck, so without looking, I stab my own sword backwards. The practice dummy sneaking up behind me crumples to the ground. Two more rush toward me, one from each side, so when they've reached me, I jump up and do a split in the air. My feet crack into their heads, leaving them both broken. There is one left, and it's trickier than the others. It circles me warily, searching for a chance to jab its sword in and end the combat. I see it is performing a complicated duck-and-weave maneuver, that I've never been able to replicate at home. But nobody would try it in an actual fight with me. Here, though, this is an excellent chance. I copy the move, then feint toward its arm. Following the fake swipe, its head is met with a staggering blow, and the silly thing is broken to pieces. I stand triumphant over it. Waving to the Gamemakers, I walk out with a smile on my face. I was perfect.

Nurturew Quetile, District Four (13)

Elizabeth looks like the proudest person in the world as she returns to our floor, to tell Adrian and Irvette, and our escort Tasha. I guess I'll have a lot to work up to in my session, I admit to myself glumly as I enter. I go straight for the swimming, because at least that's one thing I can do, since I'm from District Four. I've learned my lesson to never go for the weapons. That was a huge mistake earlier, but if I can somehow get a good score, I'll be able to join the Careers.

I jump into the water, and swim all the way to the bottom of the pool. I feel like I'm about to pop, so I swim back up and look hopefully at the Gamemakers. They don't seem impressed. Come on, they should be! I mean, could they do that?

Searching for something else I can do, I decide to actually try out the fighting simulation. I set it to level medium, and three practice dummies start to chase me. I lead them to the pool, and when they have almost reached me, I send a huge blob of water to pull them into the pool. What a handy power. It envelops all three of them, but just as they are falling into the pool, one of them grabs my ankle, pulling me after them. I fall in, entangled with the practice dummies, yelling and floundering around. The Gamemakers are in fits of mirth, and by the time I drag myself out, I know I'll get a horrendous score. Elizabeth will never let me hear the end of it.

There will be three chapters for the private training sessions! Sorry about the delay for this, I think my muse took a small vacation. Anyway, I've also updated my Battle Royale story, for any of you who like that. Reviews for that and this would be much appreciated! So, my Games-hungry Capitolites, review!