Mazie Harvest (D9F - age 15)
My hands trembled slightly as I walked into the training room. Being from one of the 'outer' districts, the gamemakers were certainly not expecting much from me. I wanted to exceed their expectations, and give them something to remember.
I bit my lip as I surveyed the room, deciding which weapon to use. I clenched my fists and walked over to the station with a small whip sitting on the table, and a couple of targets to practice on.
"I am ready to proceed." I called up to the gamemakers.
The hilt of the whip fit perfectly into my hand, almost like it was meant for me. Swinging the coil part around a bit before I started on the targets, it made a whoosing sound every time it cut through the air.
I darted forward, trying to seem like I was dodging a fake 'tribute'.
My feet landed firmly on the ground in front of me, and I ran forward, trying to seem impressive as I flung the whip through the air.
It hit a target solidly, leaving a thin mark on the outer ring of the bulls eye.
I moved onto the moving targets, and tried to hit them with the same accuracy I did with the still ones. I managed to hit the dead center a couple of times, with only a few odd shots.
"Time's up!" A gamemaker called to me, ushering me out of the room.
I fidgeted on the chair I was sitting on.
"For her skill with a whip, Mazie Harvest has earned a 6!" The announcer called.
A 6 was the most common score called today, which put me right in the middle, where I wanted to be.
Jackson Envill (D9M - age 18)
I already did enough training in the practice days to know what I was going to do in sessions.
I walked straight into the room, not even acknowledging the gamemakers, like Dante and I had agreed to do. It made us look more cold and calculating, like the Careers.
Grabbing the largest spear sitting on the stand, I began to warm up by thrusting it into a fake dummy.
In, out, in, out. The spear made a satisfying sound each time it hit the dummies flesh.
After my hands and arms felt ready to perform, I lined up a couple of thick bulls eyes 10 yards away from me, and threw as hard as I could onto them. The first spear landed just outside the center, a shot that looked impressive.
My skill was somewhat lacking, and that shot made me look better than I actually deserved.
The second spear landed on the outside of the bulls eye, where a tributes arm would normally be. I cringed while I lined up to take a final shot.
My final shot was the closest of them all, landed just a centimeter outside the center.
I dismissed myself, half happy with what I had did, and half disappointed with myself.
Dante had gotten himself an 8! That score was Career level, and I hoped I could try and match it.
"Jackson Envill, for his skill with spears, has earned himself a 7!" The announcer called out, and I sort of smiled.
Impressive enough, but I knew I could do better.
Clarisse Terry (D10F - age 16)
I had easily come up with my private sessions idea. I wanted to keep the gamemakers in suspense, and leave them not even knowing what would happen. But I also didn't want to be labeled a target, so I was going to aim to keep my score low enough.
A spool of rope was hung up on a latch, perfectly waiting for me.
"A trainer please!" I called out, and immediately jogged out a trainer, who smirked when they saw my weapon.
Little did they know that I had quickly grabbed a dagger when I walked in, which was now hidden up my sleeve.
"Begin!" The trainer called out, and he began to throw some quick punches my way.
I grabbed the end of my lasso, and threw it out towards him. It quickly became tangled up in his long legs, and knocked him over.
"You'll have to do better than that!" He exclaimed, about to get up.
I yanked the dagger out of my sleeve, and held it to his neck.
"I think we know the winner of this match." I called out, grabbing his hand and pulling him up gently.
"Thank you gamemakers!" I called out, leaving the room excitedly. By not showing too many skills, the gamemakers wouldn't give me a super high score, but one right in the middle where I wanted it.
I crossed my hands under my seat, hoping that I had achieved my objective.
"Clarisse Terry has earned a 7 for her skill with a lasso!" The announcer called, and I jumped up and down excitedly.
Perfect.
Hayden Adelson (D10M - age 17)
I had miserably failed at throwing spears in training, so I hoped to stick to knives during private sessions.
By throwing a couple of them, I hoped to give the gamemakers what they wanted.
I grabbed 6 knives, the exact number that I wanted to throw for them. Lining up behind a red line, I ordered for a life shaped holographic image to appear. Like the room had heard my commands, a holo appeared right in front of me.
It was about the size of a 13 year old kid, standing frightened in front of me.
I held my breathe, ordering myself to throw. It's not real. It's not real. I told myself over and over again.
I threw the knife as hard as I could, and it hit the outer arm of the fake child.
The child screamed in pain, but still stayed upright in his spot. I pulled my arm back again, and hit the other arm of the child by accident.
None of my shots had been going where I wanted them to go!
I held my breathe one final time, hoping that this one would be the kill, and I could leave the wretched room. My eyes closed as the knife whooshed out of my hand, and hit the poor child in the heart.
I ran as hard as I could out of the room, eager to leave.
My ally got a 7! I couldn't believe that Clarisse scored that high! She must've shown some skill that I hadn't seen in training.
"For his skill with throwing knives, Hayden Adelson earned a 7!" The announcer called out.
I had tied Clarisse! Hopefully these two high scores had earned us some sponsors!
Kiara Harrison (D11F - age 15)
Survival skills. They were the one thing my dad had focused on when he tried to train me, and I wanted to try and show some of them in my private sessions. Running into the large room, I gathered some fire wood, flint, and steel.
Rubbing the materials against each other, nothing started up for a couple of minutes.
After about 3 minutes, I got my first spark on the floor of the room. I jumped up, grabbing more wood to add to the pile.
The fire soon grew larger and larger, until I had a huge bonfire going in the middle of the private sessions room.
Flames licked my shoes, and I dumped a huge bucket of water onto the fire to stop it.
Successfully putting out the flames, I grabbed a scythe, hoping that I would furthur impress the gamemakers by showing them some weaponry skills. Slashing through a couple of dummies, I managed to make some deep cuts on the fabric.
I started behind one of them, and ran up to it, putting it in a headlock and throwing the scythe deep into it's head.
"Thank you for your time!" I curtseyed to the gamemakers, and left the room peacefully.
Please be higher than a 4. I pleaded with myself constantly.
"For Kiara Harrison's skill with fire making and a scythe, she has earned a 7!" The announcer yelled out, and I gasped.
That was much better than I ever could've hoped for!
Chico Alyssum (D11M - age 14)
Traps. They were the one thing that I could proficcently do, and I wanted to help my alliance out.
I ran into the training room, and started gathering materials to put together my trap with.
A couple sticks, some stone blocks, berries to lure animals and tributes in. They were the only things I needed to make a great weapon.
My hands twisted and bent, pulling the materials together into one machine, that hopefully help me catch animals, and if I made a bigger one, even tributes in the arena.
Once my trap was complete, I stepped backwards to let the gamemakers admire it for a minute.
Then, I grabbed a simple throwing knife from a table, and threw it as hard as I could towards the trap.
The trap jaws snapped shut, leaving the knife hanging from a string. The gamemakers above gasped, obviously not expecting that to happen.
"Thank you for your time, and I hope I left you impressed!" I yelled up to them, leaving the room with a skip in my step.
I thought that I did a great job in sessions, especially for my age!
"For his skill with traps, Chico Alyssum has earned himself a 6!" The people around me gasped, not used to having a young kid get this low of a score.
I myself was surprised. I never expected to get a score that high!
Bobbin Taper (D12F - age 12)
I couldn't use any weapons, and it wasn't like I would in the arena.
My district partner had already told me that he was coming for me in the arena, although I doubted that he'd ever catch me. His ignorance would catch up to him first.
I walked slowly over to the camouflage station, ready to try and impress the gamemakers as best as I could.
I grabbed a small paintbrush, that fit well in my hand. I'd always rather have a paintbrush than a weapon in my hand. It just felt more natural to me.
I dipped it slowly into a jar of paint, and spread it onto my arm. My goal was to make myself look as much like a tree as I could.
The bark slowly came to shape on my arm, and then I added the green paint of leaves. The idea flowed from my wrists, to my paintbrush, and then came to life on my arm.
After completing my painting, I stood up to show the gamemakers.
"I will perfectly camouflage to a tree!" I exclaimed to them, and slowly backed out of the room, with my arm still looking like a tree.
The non career district scores had been relatively high this year, but I knew that I couldn't expect to get anything close to that.
"For her skill with camouflauge, Bobbin Taper has earned herself a 3!"
I frowned slightly in my seat while Gabe jeered at me.
"A 3?" He exclaimed. "I'll get at least a 10!"
Gabe Rumpleikein (D12M - age 13)
I started to walk into the room, confident that I would get the highest score of all the tributes.
I grabbed the largest spear I could find, and began to walk towards the targets. I threw it from the line, and it landed a few feet away from it's goal.
"That's not fair." I grumbled. "That spear was defective!"
I walked over to grab another one, and tripped over my shoelace.
The ground came closer, and closer, and everything went black.
The sun shone into my eyes while I layed in a bed.
Wait. A bed? I was supposed to be in the private sessions!
"Where am I?" I called out, annoyed.
"You tripped during your sessions sweetie, and knocked yourself out." An annoying voice called to me.
"Whatever." I called back. "I probably did something impressive before that. I'll still get a good score."
Ha! I laughed out loud. Bobbin got a 3.
"Gabe Rumpleikein, with his skill of um..." The announcer stuttered, "spears... has earned himself a 1."
"A 1?" I screamed. "That's bogus!"
Yay! Private Sessions are done! Next comes interviews, then day of launch, and then *gasp* the bloodbath!
Scores Recap:
Ava Vave: 7
Obsidian Holtz: 9
Mel Lash: 9
Maximus Fort: 10
Lu Caymen: 6
Vary Purcell: 6
Brooklyn Fleur: 8
Lucius Fisher: 7
Joye Waterson: 5
Gelder Anston: 3
Piston Copperton: 6
Dante Falv: 8
Cedar Winden: 7
Alder Keen: 5
Cordelia Velour: 5
Wystan Knowles: 3
Mazie Harvest: 6
Jackson Envill: 7
Clarisse Terry: 7
Hayden Adelson: 7
Kiara Harrison: 7
Chico Alyssum: 6
Bobbin Taper: 3
Gabe Rumplekein: 1
Review Questions:
~ Were the scores too high, too low, or just right in general?
~ Who are you predicting to be a bloodbath?
Remember to review! If you don't, your tribute won't win!
~ Madi!