Nautilus Plume looked over the folders that Dax had given ser and sighed slightly. "This is just the physical reports. I need the psychological ones as well." Se looked up and noticed that the doctor was still holding a folder tight against his chest.

"You've never needed the psych reports before. Why this year?" he asked.

"Do we really need to do this Dr. Heavensbee? I could argue with you, and you could waste our time with a several minute monologue about your moral values. Or we could just skip to the part where you remember you have no power and do what I ask." Nautilus reached out ser hand expectantly, and Dax almost placed the file there before pulling away.

"Just a little one?" Dax said.

"Very well." Nautilus sighed a bit, but se had time. The private sessions weren't about to start properly for another five minutes or so.

"Have you heard of the Hippocratic oath?" Dax started

"I can't say I have."

"It's an oath made by doctors. Since even before the dark days. Our number one priority. Do no harm."

"I see." Nautilus said, and se actually did, "That puts you in a bit of a bind doesn't it? Since you don't get to choose whether someone gets harmed, merely who. Most of these children won't last three days, Dr. Heavensbee. Only one of them is making it out alive. If you have to hurt someone, might as well be people who are already dead."

Dax's shoulders slumped in defeat and he placed the folder in Nautilus' open palm.

"You should come inside. Watch the sessions." Se said.

"I'm not particularly interested." The doctor replied, and turned around to leave.

"Are you sure? Horatio Wren is here."

That stopped Dax in his tracks. "Is it that obvious?" he asked.

"Only to me. Come in. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you, so to speak."

It was Dax's turn to sigh. "Why do I always end up doing exactly what you want me to?"

"I have a gift."

They both entered the Gamemaker's box, where a collection of gamemakers, state officials, and important capitolites had gathered to watch the tributes display their skills. Dax walked over to where Horatio was sitting with his brothers, white cane folded up neatly in his lap. Nautilus took ser own seat near the head gamemaker Allison Pryss, and watched silently as a small boy entered the stage.

Diamond Stark, District One

Since he was a career, Nautilus had expected Diamond to go straight to the weapons. But while he picked up a couple of darts after he bowed to the gamemakers, the boy then went straight to the edible plants section. He picked up a large oak leaf, then used that as a makeshift glove to start picking out a number of plants.

"Castor." he said loudly, holding up a plant so that the gamemakers could see, "Used to make Ricin, a powerful poison. However it requires time for processing and a chemical such as lye to break down the beans. Impractical for an arena."

He picked up the next plant, a dark glistening berry. "Nightlock. Powerful and fast acting. However Nightlock has not been in an arena since the 74th Hunger Games." He cast the nightlock aside as well.

He then picked up a branch of small white berries with a red center. "Wintersbane." He declared joyfully, "Grows in damp environments and occasionally snowbanks. Slow but potent, the toxin will start causing intense pain within six hours, and kill you within ten. Can be transmitted by imbibing, or through open wounds in the skin. This works best if the wound is near a vein or artery, such as the arms or neck."

He placed the berries on a nearby table, and quickly but carefully smashed them into a thick paste with a rock he found by the water purifying station. He dipped three of the darts into the paste, then without warning threw them one after another at a target dummy across the room. One dart hit each arm, while the other poked out of the dummy's neck.

Diamond bowed. "Thank you very much for your consideration."

Titania Topaz, District One

The girl from One was in many ways the polar opposite of her district partner. She sauntered in, casual and confident, taking off her jacket and slinging it over her shoulder as she introduced herself. She had a showmanship about her, as if the world was a symphony and she was the conductor.

She went straight to the weapons station, running her hand along the rack until she stopped at a bundle of Javelins. Grabbing a few, she walked to the center of the room and threw them at the target dummies. One missed, but the others were rather solid hits.

She returned to the weapons rack and got something else: a glaive. The curved blade glinted slightly in the light and she gestured for a peacekeeper to spar with her. He pulled out his sword and complied.

The girl was light on her feet, and the peacekeeper was clearly unaccustomed to fighting against polearms. Titania made the most of that fact, keeping the man at range as she expertly jabbed towards vulnerable spots in the armor. She always pulled back at the last minute, clearly aware that if she followed through with her carefully placed blow it would rip through the peacekeeper's outfit and cause actual damage. She did land several blows, though they were all aimed at the center of the chest where the armor was strongest.

As Titania's time began to run out, she swung the glaive in a wide arc, causing the peacekeeper to lose his footing just slightly. She used that opportunity to rush forward, bashing him in the chest with the blunt edge of her glaive. That knocked him over completely, and she angled her blade to rest right next to his neck.

Titania grinned, then withdrew the glaive with a flourish and bowed to the gamemakers.

Dash Grester, District Two

Dash did not waste any time trying to build a rapport with the gamemakers watching him. He strode with purpose towards the center of the room, introduced himself, then immediately went to the weapons rack and pulled out a sword. He dragged a dummy to the center of the room, then began to hit it with a series of fast strikes.

"Impressive." Nautilus heard the head gamemaker whisper.

"I haven't seen too many of these." se said, "Could you explain what is going on?"

"That is an advanced sword sequence they teach in District Two." Allison explained, "But he's doing it at about twice the traditional speed. And his form is still perfect."

"Ah. That is impressive."

The boy finished his sequence with a vicious kick to the dummy's sternum. It went flying and hit the wall. The impact mixed with the various cuts the item had withstood during Dash's sequence was too much for it, and the dummy collapsed into pieces.

Dash pointed to one of the peacekeepers in an obvious sparring challenge, clearly wasting no time. The moment the man unsheathed his sword, the tribute was on him with swift upward strikes. In a matter of moments, the peacekeeper was on the ground. The tribute went back to the center of the room and bowed.

Allison pressed the intercom button near her chair. "Are you sure you're finished?" she asked, "You still have a few minutes left."

"Do you really need to see any more?" Dash said.

Nautilus didn't think they did.

Zella Waneta, District Two

It looked like District Two was full of impatient types. Zella came out much like Dash did, quickly and with purpose. She introduced herself quickly then immediately barked at three different peacekeepers to spar with her.

The peacekeepers were difficult to hear through their helmets, but Nautilus felt like se heard one of them ask if Zella wanted to get a weapon first.

"Not yet." she said, "Let's see what you've got."

The three peacekeepers approached slowly, surrounding the girl. She somersaulted between two of them, and landed a precision blow to one of their backs. The peacekeeper yelped in pain and stumbled back a bit, allowing the others to once again try and close in on the tribute.

Zella sparred with all three of them competently hand to hand, but they did seem to be gaining ground on her. However it seemed like she had planned on this. When she had been backed up against the weapons rack she drew a sword and slashed out at her attackers. All of the peacekeepers managed to dodge in time, if only barely. They all started to draw their swords.

This time, Zella was the one who was pushing the peacekeepers back. She used their own numbers against them, causing their blades to ricochet against each other and taking advantage of her own maneuverability. When she had pushed them towards the side of the room that had the ranged weapons, Zella grabbed a bow and stepped back.

"Thank you Miss Waneta. That will be all." Head Gamemaker Pryss said over the intercom.

"But I'm not done!"

"Unfortunately you've run out of time."

"Then take some from some outer district sap. It's not like they're going to use it." Zella Complained.

"Please leave, Miss Waneta. Before we are forced to make you leave."

"Fine." She muttered, then flipped off the gamemaker's box and left.

Ashlar Granodum, District Three

There was not a lot of noise in the gamemaker's box, but what little there was ceased when the boy from Three entered the room. Nautilus was a bit curious serself, since the idea of a career from the technology district was still fairly new. It was not completely novel, but it appeared that it was still enough of a rarity to make the gamemakers excited.

Ashlar did not come forward with the brash certainty of the Twos, or the swagger of Titania. Instead he was quiet, focused. When he introduced himself it was barely a whisper, and he seemed far more interested in what came after.

Like most of the other careers, the boy went straight to the weapons rack. He picked a spear and tossed it between his hands to test the weight. He stood there for a moment, clearly pondering his next move when he turned around and dashed towards the obstacle course.

The obstacle course was meant to be doable but difficult. While a career would probably not have much problems with it, an outer district tribute would most likely struggle to finish. But that was only taking into account a straightforward run with both hands free. Ashlar completed the course with his spear in hand. When he jumped between staggered platforms he fended off attacks from imaginary projectiles. When climbing he stopped halfway up to dangle from one arm and stab a couple times both upwards and downwards. At the final obstacle, the zipline, Ashlar jumped and landed with a roll. He then immediately went into a combat combination.

Ashlar's moves were agile, but wasted little movement. He was focused and precise, caring far more about accuracy then entertainment. When he was finished, he put the spear away neatly, then bowed and left much the same way he had come.

Elixane Marcus, District Three

In a sharp contrast to almost everyone that Nautilus had seen so far, Elixane did not appear to be in a rush to show the gamemakers anything. She introduced herself confidently, then began to walk around the room with a sly smile. There was an arrogance to her slowness. It was clear that she believed she didn't need to worry about the time limit. Whatever she showed them would be impressive. She ran her hands across the weapons rack like a child might run a stick across a fence, eventually settling on a long nimble blade. Then she walked around the room in a lazy circle, looking around the various stations.

She stopped at the fishing station, which among knots and hooks had a few small fish that were supposed to be used for bait. "You know what?" she said gleefully, "I'm going to show you my favorite party trick."

Elixane's pace quickened slightly, though she still didn't seem particularly rushed. She brought a table to the center of the room and filled it with a few ingredients from the edible plants and fishing stations. Finally, she took off her jacket and sliced off a long piece of cloth, which she then tied around her eyes. She had a peacekeeper verify she couldn't see then had him lead her to the central table.

Light glinted off of the girl's blade as she began to swing her sword completely blindfolded. Her moves were quick and forceful, with several vegetable ends and pieces of fish guts splattering all around her.

Elixane didn't seem to mind, and continued slicing and placing ingredients with her sword. She spun the sword around in one last flourish before sheathing it and taking off the blindfold.

"Bon appetit." She said, waving her hands to present five slightly messy but fairly serviceable sushi rolls, "Although maybe don't actually eat it. I don't know how long these fish have been there."

With her remaining time, she challenged a peacekeeper to spar with her. However, she spent so long toying with the man that her time ran out before she landed any hits. Head Gamemaker Pryss dismissed her, and Elixane curtseyed before leaving without another word.

Seaward Waters, District Four

"Ladies. Gentleman. Gamemakers of all ages. I now present to you for your viewing entertainment, Seaward Waters and his absolutely amazing aim!" Seaward thrust his arms into the air and made a sound meant to mimic a crowd cheering. He bowed to the gamemaker's box, then to the peacekeepers, then somewhere off to his right for a reason Nautilus couldn't quite grasp before heading off to the firing range.

"I don't bow about you, but how about we start with a classic?" Seaward said, then grabbed a longbow and quiver. He stepped up to the firing range and fired five arrows in quick succession, hitting close to each other in the center of the target.

"Ah yes, I know what you're thinking. Impressive but basic. So how about we try something a little different?" Seaward walked back to the weapons where he grabbed a bag that held a dissassembled crossbow. He quickly put it together, loaded a bolt, and shot at the target a couple of times. The shots were equally as accurate as the traditional arrows.

"Well sure Seaward, that's all very well and good. But what if you can't find a bow? What will you do then? Will you be doomed?" He asked, throwing out his arms and hamming it up for the audience.

He grabbed some rocks from the water purifying station, found a simple slingshot, then after a brief consideration of targets used it to break three glass bottles near the first aid station.

"How spectacular! How magnificent! How… Seaward!" The boy crowed. He made the noise of a cheering crowd once again then left without being prompted, arms pumping in victory.

Cordelia Corver, District Four

The private session for the girl from Four was slightly delayed, as the mess from both Elixane and Seaward had to be cleaned up. Even with a delay, not everything had been picked up and as Cordelia entered she stopped to look at a bloody puddle left from the fish guts. She seemed more curious than disturbed, and continued to the center of the room after only a few seconds.

She introduced herself with a rather charming smile then headed towards the weapons rack.

"This year three of us careers use spears or some similar weapon." She said to the box amiably. There was an easy friendliness to her demeanor, and something magnetic about the rhythm of her words, "But I'm the only one who uses a trident. So I think it's best for everyone if I use that."

She took a trident off of the rack then turned to the peacekeepers.

"Could three of you please spar against me?" she asked, walking to the center of the room. Her demeanor was still friendly but there was a focus to her. The peacekeepers agreed and within a few moments three of them started to spar her.

Cordelia was not quite as fast as some of the other careers, but she clearly knew her weapon well. Through a complicated series of spins and flourishes she kept them all at a distance, using the reach of the trident to her advantage. The angles of her weapon were almost like a dance, intricate and clearly well practiced.

"Don't get me wrong, all of this is impressive." Nautilus said, "But does it bother you that three trained peacekeepers are being defeated by teenagers? Are we sending our best talent to most likely die?"

The head gamemaker chuckled, "Don't get me wrong, these kids are incredibly talented." She said, "But these peacekeepers know that their chief purpose is to make the tribute look good."

This knowledge didn't stop Nautilus being impressed with the girl from four. The peacekeepers had started to stay more or less out of her reach, only darting in when they suspected a blindspot. So Cordelia changed the grip on her trident and began to spin. This extend her range by a foot or so, and all of the peacekeepers were knocked onto the ground.

"Thank you very much." Cordelia said, waving to the box before being dismissed.

Demetri Donovan, District Five

"Hello. I'm Demetri Donovan, from District Five. It's nice to meet you. Well, not exactly nice given the circumstances. Oh god is that rude? That's probably rude. I'm sorry."

Nautilus and Allison exchanged a look as the tribute from five rambled on. He did eventually stop himself then walked over to the snares station.

"I learned a lot at the training center. Which was probably the point. But there was a lot of information there about all sorts of things. I learned how to purify water and identify poisonous plants, and even a little bit of first aid. But I thought that I'd show you what I spent the most time on." Demetri said. As he talked, he worked with his were strong and steady, deftly using a knife to whittle some branches into a desired shape, and connecting the pieces together with strong, tight knots.

"This is meant to trap rabbits and other small prey animals for food. While hunting isn't something a lot of tributes do, it is a much safer way to eat than gathering. Mammals are very rarely poisonous. Though I learned how to identify that too."

The boy placed his trap down and started gathering other materials. Nautilus saw a piece of wire and a couple other mechanical contraptions as well as some sticks that he had whittled down to sharp points.

"However, I'm trying to impress you all right now, and I know that you don't really care about the survival part of the Hunger Games. I'm not really a combat person, but last year showed that you don't have to be in order to win. You just have to know how to make good traps."

As Demetri finished, he brought two wires together. Suddenly the sticks were rapidly launched towards the firing range. A few of them hit the targets with such force that they stuck like arrows.

"So… thank you for listening I guess. I hope you found that sufficient."

Tesla Nichols, District Five

So far, all of the tributes had been prepared and competent. Demetri had clearly been nervous judging by the way he had rambled. But he had made his traps quickly and with focus. Tesla Nichols was the first tribute who looked completely terrified. It did make sense, being part of the first non career district and only thirteen years old.

She stuttered as she introduced herself, her eyes darting around nervously. Even after she finished her eyes continued to move, although she didn't. She stayed in the center, her breath starting to become quick and shaky.

It took her about a minute to break out of her panic and dart towards the edible plants station. She spent some time identifying what was safe to eat.

"Are those right?" Nautilus asked the head gamemaker..

"All but one. And I suspect that she only got that wrong because of nerves. Still, nerves are a terrible problem to have in this situation.

After she had finished identifying plants, Tesla scurried to the water purifying station. She explained the different methods of making sure water was clean, and placed some in a pot to boil. She gathered wood from one of the other stations and with shaking hands tried to make a fire.

Unfortunately her hands weren't quite steady enough, and while she managed to cause a few sparks, she could not start a proper fire. Tesla started to sob, and stayed there until a peacekeeper whispered something to her softly and she followed him out of the room.

Raleigh West, District Six

When the boy from six first began to introduce himself, Nautilus thought that he was being rude. He seemed to be rolling his eyes quite a lot, which the director of sponsorships usually linked to teenage irritation. However when se looked at the file on Raleigh that Dax had provided, se realized that he had Tourette's syndrome. One of his tics was eye rolling, and stress was something that could make it happen more commonly.

Raleigh was clearly quite stressed. On top of the eye rolling and the fact that he cleared his throat several times throughout his introduction, his hands were visibly shaking. When he walked towards the firing range his steps were slow and uncertain. The boy grabbed one of the pre assembled crossbows and loaded a bolt. His hands were still shaking though, and while he hit the target it was only the edge.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again they seemed more focused. He loaded and shot four more bolts from the crossbow. Every single one of them hit the center of the target.

"Thank you." The boy said.

"You still have a few minutes left. Would you like to show anything else?" the headgamemaker asked.

Raleigh looked surprised at the question. He clearly had only planned on showing off his aim. He hadn't prepared anything else. Still, the tribute nodded and went to the camouflage station. He mashed some mud and berries together to form a dark red concoction that resembled blood, and tore some leaves into narrow strips. He began to apply the materials on his neck until he ended up with a rather realistic looking wound. It made him look more injured than he really was.

He thanked the gamemakers again and actually left this time.

Astra Porter, District Six

Astra was considerably calmer then her district partner, almost seeming as certain as the careers. She bowed when she introduced herself, then headed directly to the weapons rack. There she picked up two small daggers.

However, she did not ask any peacekeepers to spar with her. Instead she went to a dummy and started to strike it. Her movements were quick but light, causing many shallow gashes in the training dummy. She did this for quite some time, not seeming to tire but not doing all that much damage either. After about half her time had passed, Astra appeared to realize that she would probably need to show the gamemakers more.

She backed up until she was about six feet away, then threw both daggers one after the other. They both hit, but one was too weak to stick and bounced off of the dummy to clang onto the floor.

She looked back over at the weapons rack, as if trying to find another weapon. She stared at the crossbow for a few seconds before shaking her head and heading to the water purification station. She successfully purified some water with an iodine tablet, drinking some of it as proof. Nautilus thought that an iodine tablet didn't take much skill at all, but supposed it did show some knowledge.

Astra thanked the gamemakers and left, quietly and without much of a fuss. It was unremarkable, rather like her session.

"Sometimes I think we should switch the order up a little." Allison said to Nautilus, "There are usually a few surprises, but generally the talent is rather front loaded."

"It's hard to believe we're only halfway done." Nautilus replied.

"Indeed. They can be a rather draining experience." She answered, then placed her hand once again on the intercom button.

"Please don't bring in the next tribute. We're going to take a short break."

AN: This chapter was a bit of a doozy to write. I do have ideas on the other private sessions and don't imagine that they'll take much longer, but I figured that it was best to split this into two because even if the sessions are short they can really add up. I would really appreciate it if you reviewed, especially since after taking a bit of a break a few chapters ago I don't know if I lost anyone. If you don't want to review it's cool to PM me that you're still reading. Mostly I'm just curious.

Also! I suspect that some of my words are being eaten in between chapter transfers. I'm going to try and fix it from now on so we'll see how that goes. Anyway, thanks for reading and enjoy!