Laurence Alexei, District 3 Male, 16 -

Laurence and Leroy were permitted to sleep in on the third day of training, seeing as they had learned pretty much all they could and didn't have much time left before the arena.

They woke up fairly late, seeing as they had spent the night before worrying about the training scores and didn't get much sleep.

Laurence rolled out of bed, bringing Leroy with him, and he walked down toward the dining room. Unlike the other days of training, it was already bright outside and sunlight streamed through the window.

Vesta was the only one sitting in the dining room.

"Where's Brea?" Laurence asked as he began grabbing breakfast foods.

"She already went down to train," Vesta said. "She wanted to get as much time training as possible since she wants to get a good score."

Laurence and Leroy sat down across from Vesta.

"Speaking up training scores, what are you planning on doing?" Vesta asked Laurence.

"I don't know… maybe survival skills? With Leroy to help me, I can remember twice as much," Laurence explained. "Two heads are better than one!"

"Okay," Vesta rolled her eyes.

"Do you know what Brea's doing?" Leroy asked.

"She said that she might climb," Vesta informed him.

"That's a good idea, she's good at climbing," Leroy said.

"Yes, she'll get a good score with that," Laurence agreed.

"Scores are very important," Vesta reminded them. "You need to work extra hard, so that you can get sponsors. A good score is critical to earn sponsors, and that can't hurt in your case."

"Don't worry. Leroy and I have each other," Laurence said. "Together, we'll get a great score."

Beatrix Xenith, District 2 Female, 18 -

Beatrix got a running start and stopped just before the line to release her spear. It went flying all the way to the target and imbedded itself in it, hard. Beatrix grinned with pride and ran over to the target to remove the spear.

Beatrix still hadn't decided what to show the Gamemakers.

Beatrix's issue was that she was so skilled at everything, she couldn't decide what would be best.

She had considered spears, swords, archery, throwing knives, hand-to-hand combat… even clubs, but she still didn't know what to show the Gamemakers.

She had considered asking her allies but knew that they'd likely try to screw her up purpose. Sabotage her score. Even Orcus would have liked to get a higher score than her.

Beatrix had no clue what to do.

It was an issue being so skilled.

Beatrix sighed and rested her head in the palm of her hand, staring at the other tributes practice. It wouldn't be difficult to get a higher score than Orcus, Brooke, or Max, so Alina was her true problem.

As much as she hated Alina, she couldn't deny that the girl had skill. She was currently practicing throwing knives, and each time she released one of the knives, they would hit the bulls-eye of the target.

Beatrix wasn't worried that Alina would kill her… no, no, no. That wouldn't happen.

But Alina might get a better score than Beatrix, if she didn't choose the right weapon.

Beatrix wouldn't be able to handle the shame if Alina got a better training score than her. Beatrix knew she was more skilled, but flukes happened all the time.

Beatrix looked down at the spear in her hands. She didn't know if it was her best weapon, but she was certainly good with it. And as far as she knew, no other Careers had the spear as their main weapon, which would set her apart from them.

Beatrix smiled. It was decided.

She would wow the Gamemakers with her spear.

Bella Vintaire, District 9 Female, 17 -

Bella looked over at Bran, who stared down at his spiked mace with a look of concentration. Bella had just asked him if he was planning on showing the Gamemakers his spiked mace skills.

"I… I don't know?" Bran said, but it sounded more like a question. "Should I?"

"Is that what you're best with?" Bella asked. Bran shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Show me," Bella ordered.

Bran immediately picked up his spiked mace and walked over to a dummy. He began to attack it, slamming his mace down into the fake person.

Stuffing flew everywhere as the mace was pummelled into it again and again. Bran's technique was sloppy, but his strength compensated. Not for the first time, Bella found herself wowed by her boyfriend's brawn.

"That's pretty good," Bella said when Bran turned around, breathing heavily.

Bran smiled at the praise.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think you'll impress the Gamemakers with that," she said.

"So I should show them my spiked mace?" Bran asked.

Bella nodded, and Bran sat next to her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"It's a secret," Bella whispered.

Bran looked hurt.

"So I don't get to know?"

"Not yet," Bella said. "But you'll find out soon."

"Okay," said Bran. "When is soon?"

"Soon will come faster when you stop asking," Bella sighed.

Bran stopped talking, but only for a few minutes.

"Is soon here yet?" he asked. Bella rolled her eyes and walked away from him, toward the throwing knives. It wasn't her skill, but it couldn't hurt to practice them.

And it certainly couldn't help to get away from her annoying boyfriend.

Lucius Malicray, District 1 Male, 18 -

Lucius had escaped.

He had escaped the life of no purpose. It was the best thing that could have happened. He no longer had to rot in a jail cell for the rest of his life.

Now, Lucius would either die or win.

If he died, it was just an escape.

If he survived, he'd be free from the jail and could go back to a life with meaning. It was a win-win situation!

Lucius had been practicing with weapons all day long, and he had found that he was best with throwing knives. With just a flick of his wrist, he could send a knife flying into a dummy's body.

His aim wasn't fantastic, but the knife nearly always stuck, which the instructor said was good for someone throwing knives for the first time.

Lucius sent another knife toward the dummy. It hit the dummy's stomach this time, and stuck solid.

"Very good!" the trainer said. "Is this what you're planning on showing the Gamemakers?"

Lucius shrugged.

"I hadn't given it much thought," he responded.

"Well, you should! They're always impressed by talent with weapons, and you have it! You'd get a good score with throwing knives," the instructor said.

"Okay," Lucius said indifferently. He didn't care about his score very much. He just wanted to do well in the arena.

He threw another knife at the dummy, and this one stuck in the skull. Lucius turned to grab another knife, but saw the Career pack staring at him out of the corner of his eye.

Lucius looked at them. They looked mad, but also slightly concerned. Why? Were they feeling threatened by him?

Lucius shook off the possibility. No, that wouldn't make sense. No one would be afraid of Lucius Malicray.

Pine Chillance, District 7 Male, 14 -

Vicky was climbing far ahead of Pine, who had less control of his limbs. Vicky pulled herself all the way to the top of the rope net and waited for pine up there.

Vicky looped her legs through the ropes and dangled upside down, watching as Pine struggled to pull himself up the net. The climbing station was definitely not his favorite.

"Why are you so slow at this?" Vicky inquired, still hanging upside down so her golden hair flew everywhere. "Aren't District 7 tributes supposed to be good at climbing?"

"Not me," Pine muttered, his limbs shaking.

"Didn't you grow up climbing trees?" she asked, frowning.

"No," Pine said, bringing himself up some more. "I don't like climbing trees. I-I'm scared of heights."

Vicky laughed.

"Well, then. It looks like I'm the climber of our alliance!" she said. Pine shrugged. "Need some help?"

"Yes, please," Pine said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Vicky extended her hand, which Pine shakily took, and with his help, she managed to pull him up to the top of the net.

Pine grabbed the top and clung to it. He made the mistake of glancing down and groaned. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Pine could hear Vicky laugh good-naturedly.

"Don't worry, there's a mat," she told him. "If you fall, you'll land on it."

"You think I'm going to fall?" exclaimed Pine, shrilly.

"No, but if you do, you'll be fine," Vicky assured him.

After a moment, Pine peeked his eyes open. Vicky was still hanging upside down, looking perfectly at ease.

"Are you going to show the Gamemakers your climbing?" asked Pine.

"No. Are you?" Vicky asked.

"Of course not!" said Pine. "I'm going to show them my archery."

"Obviously. I don't know what I'll show them. Maybe camouflage?"

"That's a good idea," Pine nodded. "But make sure you do something simple, because you don't have a lot of time. It's better to do really well at a small thing that poorly on a big thing. Like, do a sample on your arm. Don't try to camouflage your whole body."

"That's good advice," Vicky nodded. "And shoot lots of times - if your first shot is bad, don't get discouraged. You usually do better in your next few tries."

"Okay," Pine agreed. Then, sighing, he said, "I hope I get a good score."

Damien Zaste, District 8 Male, 13 -

Damien knew he didn't have a chance.

Despite being a little monster, he had no skill. The only reason he was able to kill was because of the odd strength he got when he wanted to. When Damien wanted to kill people, it was liking power was surging through his veins.

He fucking hated it.

Damien knew that if he actually tried to impress the Gamemakers, he wouldn't even be able to get a 5 - and that was pushing it. So why should he even try?

Damien knew he'd likely end up with a one, since he didn't even care about his score. But that was better than people potentially sponsoring him.

Damien didn't want sponsors because he didn't want to win. He didn't want to be given an opportunity to hurt even more people.

If he did well, then he'd get sponsors, and if he got sponsors, then he'd live, and if he lived, he'd get an itch to kill again, and then he'd hurt even more innocent people.

Damien would do badly in his private training sessions and get a bad score. But that was good.

Everyone else was stressing because they were worried about doing badly. But Damien was worried about doing well.

Hello! Training scores are next, so don't be offended if your tribute gets a lower score than you suggested. I'm trying to be realistic towards them.

Alina/Beatrix/Orcus/Brooke/Max

Brea/Laurence

Sawyer/Gaia

Vicky/Pine

Maine/Beau/Zara

Bella/Bran

Don't forget to review!

- Logan