AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi people! So my second story is up if you want to read it, and I am in desperate need of male tributes. I have... one. Or you can submit for one of the two female spots left if you want. Or not at all. I'm done talking now. Sorry about all the random updates but in the summer I am lazy or I'm with my friends and stuff. And as I've said before, I will be disappearing with little or no updates for the month of August because of Camp NaNoWriMo. I would never abandon the story, so don't panic if you don't hear from me at all. I'll *hopefully* be back to once-a-week updates in September. (Haha.) I kind of lost some of what you said your tributes would do for the Gamemakers, so I had to make a lot up... hope you don't mind. A lot of the sessions were similar, but oh well. I just banged this all out in the past two hours, so sorry if there are any mistakes. Frankly, I'm still to lazy to proofread. So yeah, this is told like all of Barbor's other chapters.
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"Haliun Gritther, District One male." Barbor looked up from his clipboard at the sound of his assistant, Barbella's, cold voice over the intercom. The Gamemakers seemed to be waiting intently; all eyes were fixed on the sliding metal doors that would soon be spewing out tributes.
The doors slid open, and a tall boy came strutting in. He was rather large for being only 14. Barbor looked down at his notes on the boy: he showed quite a talent for swords and axes. Big weapons for a big boy.
Predictably, Haliun went to the axe station. He swung the heavy weapon around, easily chopping through the flimsy dummies. Barbor nodded and made a check on his clipboard.
When Haliun was bored with the axe, he sauntered to the sword station. He picked up a short, broad blade and stabbed the dummy, hacking off limbs as easily with the sword as he had with the axe.
"Thank you," Barbor called, and Haliun stopped immediately. "You are dismissed." Haliun nodded and left, smiling a little. Showing confidence.
After Haliun left, there was a one-minute break for the Gamemakers. They talked amongst themselves- Haliun's session was quite impressive, but then again District One always was.
"Rika Tiell, District One female." The Gamemakers all sat up straighter and re-focused as the doors once again opened. Rika strode in. Barbor couldn't tell from this distance, but she appeared... almost nervous. How odd for a Career.
She moved over to the knives station. Barbor tried to think back- wasn't it the District Two girl that was amazing with the knives? Rika flicked the switch for the moving targets and held her knives in one hand. The targets moved around like a tribute running. Rika's knives flew- they all hit on or close to the bull's-eye. In fact, she only had one knife left when she had a slip-up; her last knife, instead of hitting the last target, clattered to the floor about an inch to the left. That right there made the difference between a ten and a nine in Barbor's mind. "Thank you, you are dismissed," Rika nodded, then walked over to the elevators.
"Talon Striker, District Two male." The Gamemakers all hushed immediately. District Two always had the deadliest tributes; these would be the two to beat. Talon shoved his way through the doors before they were even fully opened, looking ferocious even from this distance. This would be exciting to watch.
Talon went over to the hand-to-hand combat station and requested a trainer- no, he demanded a trainer. One was immediately sent out. The fight was exciting to watch- even the trained fighter was no match for Talon, who had him pinned within a minute. But Talon took it slightly too far... he kept punching him even though he was already down. Barbor had to send for three more trainers to pull him off, and he still struggled, yelling something about One and someone named Thystle. Strange. Barbor would have to take a point off for the less-than-grand exit.
"Cecilla Evans, District Two female." Barbor watched as the girl from District Two walked in. She was pretty, like Talon; this pair would gain a lot of sponsors.
"Hello, how are you ladies and gentlemen on this fine afternoon?" Cecilla bubbled, smiling widely to show off sparkling white teeth.
"Fine, how are you?" The Gamemakers responded politely, if not a little shocked. Most people didn't interact with the Gamemakers; it was refreshing to see some courteous people.
"Great. I'm going to show you what I can do with a knife," Cecilla smiled as she waltzed over to the knives station. Barbor pressed his lips together tightly; Gamemakers don't like to see things repeated.
Cecilla flicked the switch and the fresh targets started moving again. With the design of the dummies it only took thirty seconds to take off the old ones and put on these new ones.
Cecilla proved to be amazing with knives- she was probably the best he'd seen in his time as a Gamemaker, which was close to fifteen years now. She would be getting a very high score.
"Samuel Sellers, District Three male." Barbor hurried to complete his notes on Cecilla as the servants brought out silver platters containing fruits and cheeses. The smell of the crackers and fruit and cheese wafted over, and he plucked a ripe grape the size of a gumball from the vine. The flavor bursted in his mouth, and he almost forgot that he was supposed to be watching the boy.
He went over to the bow-and-arrows station. Barbor half-watched as Samuel strung an arrow and aimed it at the target. The boy missed by about an inch, and he blushed. Barbor made a note on his clipboard. The boy tried again; this time, miraculously, it landed a mere half-inch from the center. This improved his score, but only slightly. In The Hunger Games, it's the first shot that counts.
"Thank you," Barbor said after Samuel tried a few more times. He would be receiving a mediocre score, as only half of his shots came even close to the bull's-eye.
"Ophlidia Aulis, District Three female." A small girl with brown hair came in then. Barbor had heard the Head Trainer, Celtix, say that the District Three girl spent all of her time at the obstacle course. He would have to see how good she was at that.
Ophlidia looked a little nervous as she went to the start of the course. Barbor took pity on her- someone that small wouldn't make it very far. Then the bell started, and she took off.
Barbor was blown away by her sheer speed. She moved through each obstacle with ease, and they had just changed the course an hour ago! She made it to the end in record time. The Gamemakers sat there, stunned, as she moved to the ropes course. Impressive for someone so tiny. She made it through the ropes course just as easily, barely hesitating. If only this would help her in the arena... Barbor mused as he watched her complete the course.
"Sven Haphesby, District Four male." Barbor felt bad for Barbella; she was stuck watching the tributes from a one-way mirror in the other room, not enjoying this fabulous feast and free entertainment. But, alas, what happens in the waiting room is just as much a part of the score as the actual session. He helped himself to some bruschetta as Sven strode to the spear station.
Sven wielded the spear like it was an extension of his arm. He was quite excellent, he threw the weapon with so much force it went through the dummy from the front and went out the other end, sticking to the wall. Some of the other Gamemakers let out low whistles; the ones who weren't too focused on the appetizers, at least.
"Hunter Blackthorne, District Four female." The girl took her time as she went over to the archery station. Another archer? This bunch sure lacked originality. Last year the District One girl used a whip, and even the boy from Ten could use a crossbow. Those are interesting weapons.
Hunter didn't seem to think as she easily loaded the arrow and shot around the room. Then, sensing she wasn't getting enough attention, she turned and shot through a hole in the rope's course. It went right through, not even skimming anything. She then chose a flaming arrow- Barbor caught his breath. Just a centimeter off and she would catch the whole net on fire. Not that they wouldn't get it out quick enough, but it would be such an inconvenience.
The flaming arrow went right through the space and struck the wall, the flame stuttering for a minute more before it blew itself out. Hunter gave a sarcastic little bow, then left without being dismissed. Barbor bit back a smile. She was a fiery one, alright.
"Marck Seymour, District Five male." Barbor reached for another helping of sweet chili shrimp. This puny little wisp of a tribute would have nothing to show them.
Since he was only half paying attention, it took Barbor a moment to realize that Marck wasn't there. He stared at the doors for a moment, puzzled, before Marck was pushed in by a rough hand. Probably Celtix. Marck looked scared out of his mind, glancing around like he wasn't sure what to do. Barbor sighed, impatient. All the exciting districts were done, and now he just had to sit around and watch all the lesser tributes fumble with weapons and attempt to light fires.
Marck went over to the slingshot station. He loaded a sharp rock and fired. It landed on the outer edge. Some of the Gamemakers started talking to each other lazily, not paying attention to Marck. Barbor had to pay attention; someone had to be able to determine a score.
Marck shot a few more, none of them hitting the center, then went and ran around for a minute. Not too impressive. "Thank you, you are dismissed." Barbor said, and Marck left the room.
"Aria Franks, District Five female." The doors opened on a tall girl with red hair. She came in and went straight to the knives station. This was starting to get irritating. She took her time choosing her blades, weighing them in her hands and doing some test throws. She had better be good if she was taking all this time...
Aria threw her first knife. It hit, but it only landed in the shin. She threw another; this one landed in the forearm. She threw more: they landed in the hip, the hand, and the shoulder. Nowhere fatal. She would get a mediocre score. "Thank you, you are dismissed." Barbor said, bored. This was his least favorite part of being Head Gamemaker.
"Folton Gray, District Six male." Barbor's expression darkened. He hadn't been Gamemaker during Destin Gray's Games, but everyone knew of the scandal when he used the mutts against the other tributes, winning at only age thirteen. Barbor didn't even need to watch this; he had instructions to give him the lowest score of the bunch no matter what.
Folton grabbed a knife and went over to the self-defense station. He was pretty good; if he wasn't destined for a low score, he would have gotten a six or seven. He expertly dodged each of the trainer's attacks, lasting a whole eight minutes. "Thank you, you are dismissed." Folton walked out of the room, shoulders slightly hunched.
"Valentina Morocco, District Six female." Barbor perked up a little. Valentina was beautiful, at least by District standards. Her luscious brown curls and smooth tan skin and gorgeous chocolate eyes were mesmerizing...
Barbor snapped out of his trance as Valentina went to the knives. She was good, but Barbor was bored of knives. After a few close throws, Valentina went over to the herbs station and made a salve that could help heal a burn. Not bad, but not exactly amazing, either. "Thank you, you are dismissed," Barbor watched her as she walked out, hips swiveling slightly. He was sad to see her go.
Avoxes brought out the main course as soon as the doors closed behind Valentina. The scent of a roast pig, creamy mashed potatoes, spinach and apple salad, buttery corn, pearly white rice, and thinly sliced roast beef wafted over him. He reached for a plate and dug in to the beef, savoring the bursting flavor.
"Pip Curry, District Seven male." Pip Curry walked in then. He was broad-shouldered- he seemed strong. Barbor watched with mild interest as he bench-pressed one hundred pounds. Barbor's eyebrows raised a little- this was pretty good for an inexperienced boy from Seven, especially one that was a merchant's son. Pip got up from the bench and went over to the boxing station, hitting dummies. He let out little grunts with each punch; bag swung around wildly.
Pip stopped punching and stood there, breathing heavily. Barbor waited a second to see if he was going to do anything else before he said, "Thank you, you are dismissed." Pip nodded and left a little self-consciously. Barbor wondered who he had been fighting in his mind- or who he had been fighting for.
"Basil Pierce, District Seven female." Barbor took a plop of mashed potatoes, then turned his attention back on the door. Only half of the Gamemakers were paying attention at this point; the rest were asking when the wine was coming or taking food.
Basil sprinted into the room- she was very fast. Barbor's eyes followed her swift movement to the axe station. She grabbed two small axes while she was still running, then threw them at dummies. One stuck in the forehead while the other sliced off an arm. Basil just kept running, doing another lap and grabbing yet another axe, which she also threw. It would have sliced clean through the intestines of a real person. Basil just ran to the elevators and punched the button. Barbor barely had time to say, "Thank you," before she was gone, just like that.
"Corduroy Davis, District Eight male." Barbor took a large spoonful of mashed potatoes; he had forgotten to eat when he was watching Basil.
Corduroy came in and went to the spear station. He chose one with a long silver shaft, very aero-dynamic- it was the best model out. He was very good at choosing weapons. He positioned himself so in front of the target and heaved it- it went right into the heart. Barbor watched with interest as he threw a couple more spears, each one on or close to a fatal area. Corduroy then did a lap around the track that surrounded the arena, and he was pretty fast. The Gamemakers that were actually watching nodded at each other. He would get a pretty good score. "Thank you, you are dismissed." Corduroy jogged to the elevators, and the teams quickly replaced the dummies in the spear station.
"Kiara Siebel, District Eight female." The District Eight girl calmly jogged out to the center of the room.
She then commenced to cartwheel in a circle, shouting, "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" with each one. All the Gamemakers that weren't paying attention immediately looked at her, curious. Once she saw that all eyes were on her, she went to the dagger station and threw the knives, jumping high with each one. She looked quite spazy, and the Gamemakers chuckled softly. She sure knew how to put on a show.
The knives all landed in a tight circle around the stomach. Kiara turned and smiled, then jogged to the center of the room and did another cartwheel. "Thanks for watching!" she yelled in a preppy voice before running out of the room. How odd- but at least she got everyone's attention.
"Clay Watson, District Nine male." Clay walked in smoothly. Barbor watched him carefully as he went to the knife station. Clay had a little tendency to steal things, and he doubted being in the Capitol would change that. Clay walked right by the knife station without touching anything. He kept walking, passing the camouflage station, then the slingshot one, the fishing area, and even the edible plants station, still without doing anything. He was just walking around in a circle.
Or so it seemed.
Clay stopped by the doors. "Thank you for your time," he said before pressing the elevator button. "Oh, wait a minute, I forgot to give you something."
The Gamemakers all gasped as he dumped a knife, a jar of red paint, a slingshot, a roll of fishing line, and a handful of berries. He then turned around and stepped onto the elevator, leaving everything on the floor. The Gamemakers all gaped at the pile, wondering how on Earth he had done it. Barbor, eyes narrowed, reached for the phone by his chair. "Security, check that boy's pockets," he said. There was no way that theif had given it all back.
"Taffy Sweedums, District Nine female." The Gamemakers chuckled at her name. She was the famous "Fainter" from the Reapings and Chariot Rides. She was quite possibly the clumsiest person Barbor had ever seen; she had even fallen out of a tree.
Taffy walked in cheerily, bouncing around on her heels. She made her way over to the camouflage station- well, attempted to, anyway- and tripped over a fake tree root. She landed sprawled out on the floor for a minute before making her way to her feet, her face beet red. The Gamemakers laughed softly.
Taffy then proceeded to paint her arm; she blocked the Gamemaker's view of what she was painting with her rather large backside. After nearly thirteen minutes of boredom and anticipation, she turned around. The Gamemakers stared at her arm, which was an exact replica of a grassy area. She went over to the shelter station and laid down in the forest simulation. Her entire arm disappeared. The Gamemakers all gasped in delight- she was quite talented.
Taffy made her way to her feet, grinning from ear to ear. She walked out of the room, quite pleased with her self. Barbor and the other Gamemakers groaned- she had been walking along the wall, so there was now a long green smudge around the side of the wall.
A team was dispatched to clean up the mess. It took a couple of minutes, but at least the paint hadn't dried. "Esther Glade, District Ten male." Barbor glanced down at his clipboard; it was another twelve-year-old.
Ester came in. He was very small, and his dark skin was stark in contrast to the freshly cleaned walls around him. He went over to the slingshot station like Marck. He loaded up a simple wooden one and shot- it landed right in the center. He shot a couple more- each one went through, leaving one giant hole in the middle of the target. He was a good shot, but a slingshot stood no chance against someone like Talon with his powerful fists.
"Lindia Elmswood, District Ten female." Ah, the mayor's daughter. Lindia came in, trembling from head to toe. She looked scared out of her mind- not good. She hesitated for a minute, unsure of where to go. Barbor bit back his impatience as she shifted from foot to foot.
Lindia went over to the medicinal station, where she grabbed some supplies and went over to a dummy. Once there, she stabbed it with a knife. She was unsure of herself; the stab was more of a weak push. She pulled the knife out, then proceeded to "heal" the dummy. She was a very excellent healer; Barbor could tell even from this distance that it would have slowed the bleeding tremendously. At least she had something different to show them. "Thank you, you are dismissed." Lindia stood and looked around for a minute, then made her way over to the elevator. As the doors were shutting, Barbor saw her slide down the smooth elevator wall.
"Cobalt Denali, District Eleven male." The Avoxes brought out the desserts as Barbella announced the next tribute. Barbor grabbed a strawberry tart, his favorite, and shoved it in his mouth as Cobalt came in.
Cobalt looked seriously pissed, irritated, angry... pretty much every unfriendly expression in the world. What is his problem? Barbor thought, helping himself to a slice of key lime pie.
Cobalt stalked over to the sword station and grabbed a sword. He stabbed at the dummy, poking holes straight through. He actually lost control; he shoved so hard the sword went flying out of his hand and straight into the wall, where it stuck out. The Gamemakers raised their eyebrows at one another. Cobalt yanked the sword out of the wall, leaving a gaping hole behind. "Oops," he said sarcastically, loud enough for the Gamemakers to hear. He threw it onto the sword rack with a clatter, then stepped onto the elevator without waiting to be dismissed.
"Rosemary Greene, District Eleven female." Barbor stared at the giant hold in the mouth, his fork still halfway to his mouth. He shook himself out of his trance and shoved the fork into his mouth, chewing angrily. These tributes were just bent on destroying the training arena, weren't they?
Rosemary made her way over to the knives station. Barbor ground his teeth together. He just wanted to scream at these tributes. How was he supposed to have an interesting Games when all they used was knives?!
Rosemary threw her knives at the moving targets. They all stuck, though none went through the center. She was simply mediocre. But there was something about the slight hesitation before she threw, almost like she was aiming for non-fatal areas, that bothered Barbor. Why would someone not want a good score? "Thank you, you are dismissed." Barbor said, and Rosemary walked out of the room, her expression impossible to read.
"Tai Morillo, District Twelve male." Barbor's hand itched like it wanted to grab a wine glass. But, alas, the Gamemakers weren't allowed to drink until after all the tributes went. The mentors complained it gave the lower tributes an "unfair chance." Why bother? It's not like they were going to win anyway.
Tai came in, looking a strange mixture of depressed and angry. He went over to the pickaxe station- surprise, surprise. Another District Twelve person who used a pick axe- and started chopping at the dummies. When that wasn't enough, he turned to the whole in the wall and started chipping away at it. Barbor watched, outraged, as the whole doubled in size. Who did this simple boy think he was?
When Tai was satisfied with the new size of the whole in the wall, he hung the pickaxe back on the rack and waited to be dismissed. "You are to leave, now," Barbor said coldly, glaring at Tai. These tributes sure would be hard to control in the arena.
Tai shrugged his shoulders and left without so much as an apology. Barbor muttered under his breath about manners as the last tribute was finally announced. "Acacia Andalu, District Twelve female."
Acacia walked in, looking a little jumpy. She went over to the knife station and took two with a curved blades. But instead of throwing them like the others had, she ran to the climbing station. Barbor watched, confused and intrigued, as she stabbed them into the trees. Then, to his utter amazement, she started to climb, using the knives to pull herself up. She must have had incredible upper body strength.
She made it all the way to the top, all the while making it look like it took no effort. Once she made it to the top, she looked at the Gamemakers for a moment before jumping off.
She landed on both feet very close to the ground. She stood and stabbed the knives into the tree she had just climbed. "Thank you, you are dismissed." Barbor said, pleasantly surprised by the new twist Acacia had put on using a knife. Finally.
The doors shut behind Acacia, and Barbor collapsed into his chair, relieved. This was always the most boring time, and he was glad it was over. The Games were now in just two days; the only pre-Games thing left were the interviews, and that was Caesar's job.
Barbor reached for a glass of wine from the tray the Avoxes had just brought out and downed it in one gulp.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Bet you thought the scores would be revealed in this chapter, didn't you? Well you're wrong! Ha! I'm going to make you wait. But I'm going to write the next chapter right now so you guys have an update in August because I'm just that nice :) Well I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Tell me what you thought.