Most of the people in the Gamemaker's box had stopped paying attention. This was rather normal. Allison Pryss had seen her fair share of private sessions, and had noticed that after about the halfway mark most of the gamemakers and sponsors began to get weary and lose interest. Most of the time they would turn to each other or the various refreshments provided.

However, Allison took her job seriously and part of her job was to provide an accurate assessment of the tribute's skills. It was why she had started putting in breaks, so that she could keep her mind sharp and avoid the temptation of losing focus. She would watch every single tribute, and grade them the best that she could.

At least this year she had the company of someone who seemed to take this as seriously as she did. Nautilus Plume sat quietly next her, occasionally asking questions or consulting the notes se held in ser hands. It was a small thing, but one that Allison appreciated.

The doors to the private session room opened, and Allison turned her attention to the boy that entered from them.

Tanner Kelly, District Seven

The boy from Seven didn't introduce himself.

Instead he went straight towards a pile of survival supplies and tied a sharp rock to a stick, creating a makeshift hand axe. He then went over to a peacekeeper and asked to spar.

The peacekeeper wasted no time. Almost as soon as Tanner had asked, the man threw a punch. The tribute stumbled back in surprise, which allowed the peacekeeper to draw his sword. The older man swung, and Tanner was able to successfully block two strikes before he was knocked to the ground.

"I thought you said the peacekeepers knew how to make the tributes look good." Nautilus said.

"Well." Allison answered, "They make the careers look good. But they tend to go all out for any outer district who dares to spar them. 'Show them their place' or something. There's a reason most non careers stick to dummies."

The peacekeeper swung at the prone tribute's head and the head gamemaker was concerned that at this rate the boy from seven might have to take a trip to the medical wing before the Hunger Games even started. The boy blocked his face with his arms, gaining a large slash but avoiding anything major.

Allison's finger pressed the intercom. "That's enough, Peacekeeper Dalton. Mr. Kelly, you may go now."

"Wait." Tanner said, "I'm not finished."

"You should take the out boy." Peacekeeper Dalton said.

Tanner ignored him and went to retrieve his hand axe. The peacekeeper once again gave him no room to react and charged after him. What little reservations the man had were clearly gone.

Tanner parried the blows, wearing the peacekeeper out while he looked for an opening. Suddenly, he knocked Dalton's sword out of his hand, then dropped his own hatchet before knocking the peacekeeper down to the ground. They wrestled on the floor for a moment, before Tanner finally got the upper hand and flung him across the room.

The tribute stood, breathing heavily, then noticed the peacekeeper barrelling towards him with hate in his eyes. "Thank you. That's all I wanted to show you." Tanner said. One of the other peacekeepers held Dalton back. The boy from Seven started to leave before stopping and running back to the center of the room.

"And I forgot. Tanner Kelly. District Seven."

Serena May Lenovius, District Seven

After Tanner's session, most of the people in the gamemaker's box were talking excitedly to themselves. Allison herself managed to get caught up in a conversation with one of the Wrens and didn't actually catch when exactly the female tribute from seven had come in.

She stood in the center of the room, quietly waiting for the activity in the box to settle down. When most of the eyes were on her she tapped a few buttons on the digital pad she was holding.

"Serena May Lenovius, District Seven." The pad said. She placed it on a table to the side, then smiled and waved at one of the peacekeepers that were in the room with her. The peacekeeper waved back, and Allison could actually feel the heat of the glare peacekeeper Dalton gave him.

The girl went to the shelter making station, and quickly began to make a quick lean to made up mostly of reeds and grasses. She then briefly stopped by the weapons rack to pick up a quarterstaff. She swung at the lean to and it collapsed to the ground.

Serena May continued without any hesitation and started to make another shelter. This was more of a tent like structure, made with sticks as a base and covered with a waterproof tarp. She swung with the quarterstaff again and it held. However she adjusted her grip and lunged rather than swung. After a few strikes the tent collapsed as well.

At this point the girl was running out of time and but the way her movements had sped up Allison realized that she had taken more time than she had intended. Serena May found a pile of rocks that were usually used for fire pits or thrown to demonstrate strength and began to stack them in a complicated pattern. When she finished she had a messy but standing stone hut. Allison assumed that the poor craftsmanship was only because of the time restrictions.

For the third time the girl from seven attacked her structure. But no many how many blows it took at whatever angle, the hut held firm.

"That reminds me of a pre dark days folk story." Nautilus said, "The three little pigs."

"Do you think it was on purpose?" Allison asked.

"Difficult to say."

Serena May picked up her speaking tablet, bowed, then walked out with the peacekeeper that she had waved to.

Lucien Narciso, District Eight

Allison hadn't thought it was possible, but Lucien Narciso was even more attractive in person. He was far too young for her to have any serious attraction to him, but even so there was something about him that was simply enjoyable to look at.

The boy was clearly aware of this and every one of his movements were clearly thought out to bring attention to his looks. He gave a grand, overdramatic bow, complete with a flourish from his hands. When he drew up, his posture was perfect, showing off his long lithe frame.

"I am Lucien Narciso, and am incredibly pleased to make your acquaintance." he said, then gracefully walked towards the survival stations. He gathered up a few various items, such as a pitcher full of water and some tubs of paint.

He placed one of the paint jars on his right foot, which he extended out in front of him. He placed the water jug on his head and held two other objects on his outstretched palms.

He stood on one leg, limbs all spread out in various positions, for the entire time allowed him.

"Thank you very much Mr. Narcisco." Allison said eventually. Lucien lowered his foot and set the objects on a nearby table before bowing again. He flashed a dazzling smile then left.

Allison frowned slightly. It was impressive, for certain. But she wasn't sure how relevant it was to the games.

Arachne Weber, District Eight

The young girl looked so scared that Allison feared she might fall over. Which she actually almost did when she stepped forward during her introduction and tripped over her own feet. She was soft spoken, so much so that the people in the box only knew she was speaking at all because her lips were moving. Thankfully, after her introduction she didn't seem to want to say anything else.

The small girl went to the knots section and gathered up a large amount of rope. She then sat in the center of the room and began to move them around. Her hands were quick and precise, but Allison couldn't quite tell what was going on.

"Does anyone know what she's doing?" The head gamemaker asked aloud.

"She's weaving." Nautilus answered, "Though at this point it's hard to say what."

Watching a girl weave was not the most riveting thing Allison had ever seen at a private session, though after a while she began to be calmed by the repetitive motions. When Arachne's time was almost up, she stood and presented what she had been working on.

It was a net.

The girl's mouth began moving again, but once again whatever she said was lost. Allison had to press the intercom button and prompt her to speak louder.

Arachne did as obliged, but it was still very soft and the head gamemaker could only hear a few snippets of her explanation.

"Fishing….rivers...if I have to...tributes."

"Thank you very much Miss Weber. You may go now."

Rust Waxy, District Nine

Like the girl before him, Rust was quiet. However the feeling around him was entirely different. He didn't seem nervous. It was difficult to tell if he had any feelings at all. The only thing Allison could sense from him was an impression of sad resignation. It was an offputting silence, one that made her and other people in the box mildly uncomfortable.

He didn't introduce himself, merely constructed a fire pit and lit himself a fire with a piece of flint and steel. It took him several tries, but the fire did eventually roar to life. He then went to both the edible plants and edible insects and picked a couple options of both of them. Allison noted that he did seem to know what he was doing, choosing only edible items.

He grabbed a bowl from one of the other stations and began to heat the items. Allison could feel Nautilus squirm next to her. She assumed it was because of the bugs. The concept of eating them didn't sit well with everyone.

Her suspicion was confirmed when Rust actually ate the concoction after heating it, and Nautilus gagged.

"They're a rather good source of protein." Allison said.

"Doesn't matter. It's disgusting." Se replied.

Rust still hadn't spoken a word. He also clearly wasn't bothered by the concept of eating bugs. He ate absolutely everything that he had cooked, and Allison heard other people in the box react with disgust as well. Since none of them had intercoms, the boy couldn't hear them. Though Allison suspected that even if he had, he wouldn't have cared.

He put out his fire, cleaned up the stations he had used, and walked out in silence.

Nettie Sue Monroe, District Nine

"You're already judging me aren't you?" The girl from Nine said almost as soon as she entered the room. Allison had to admit that she welcomed it a little after the eerie silence of her district partner.

"Well. My name's Nettie Sue. Although you already know that. What's the point of introducing myself?" She continued.

"Actually, what is the point?" Nautilus asked.

"Honestly it's just a formality. Although I find them useful. You can tell a lot about a person by how they introduce themselves.

Allison turned her eyes back to Nettie Sue, who was stretching. It was strange how little she saw that. The head gamemaker hoped that most of the tributes just did it while they were waiting, but feared that most of them just went in cold.

"So are you ready to see what a fat girl can do?" she challenged, and ran towards the obstacle course.

Nettie Sue's run was not particularly pretty to watch. She was not a particularly graceful person and she had no interest in showmanship. But her obstacle course was notable for the sheer strength that she put into it. Whether it was jumping across platforms or climbing up walls, she faced each obstacle with a straightforward resolve.

She finished in good time and looked barely winded, walking over to the weapons rack and picking out a bow. She shot off four arrows. Some of them settled on the outer ring but all of them hit the target.

"So. Was I entertaining enough?" she asked after she had shot the fourth one, then dropped the bow and walked off without being dismissed.

Ruben Ashven, District Ten

There was always a brief pause before the doors opened and the next tribute came in. Ot was to make sure the stations were relatively in working order and gave the gamemakers some time to process or take notes before moving on to the next session. During the pause, the tribute would wait in the hallway for a brief moment.

By the way that the shadows moved rapidly under the door, Allison could tell that Ruben Ashven was pacing. The door opened and he practically ran to the center of the room.

The boy was confident, but not the same confidence as the careers displayed. Those in the inner districts were trained and prepared, they didn't need to worry about getting a high score. The boy from ten was nervous, Allison could tell from a subtle but constant tapping of his foot. However, he was not going to let that show to anyone but the keenest observer.

It was a snowman's confidence. The tribute had clearly worked in front of crowds before. Ruben went to the knots station and quickly tied a circle onto the edge of a rope, creating a lasso. He started to swing it, then pretended to dodge an imaginary enemy. He was quick and had good body awareness, but it was hard to tell just how effective it would be against a real person.

He jumped through the hole of his lasso a few times, then launched it at a nearby dummy. He neatly caught it in the center and with a tug brought it towards him. He then made a final blow in the dummy's neck with a knife.

Allison was not sure when he had gotten it.

Carlotta Pierce, District Ten

Carlotta's confidence was quieter than Ruben's, and a great deal more subtle. There was a a sneakiness to it, a sort of false shyness and mock humility.

"I'm Carlotta Pierce, District Ten. Thank you very much for assessing me. I'll try not to waste your time."

She went to the weapons rack and grabbed a rather large cleaver. Then she walked towards one of the dummies. However instead of attacking it, she lifted it up and placed it on it's back on a nearby table.

"As you all know, district ten is known for livestock. So I thought I would talk to you about different cuts of meat."

With a sudden, vicious swing Carlotta raised her cleaver and chopped off the dummy's head.

"The head can be eaten but is tough and therefore in this case we can ignore it. However right below that is the chuck."

Her cleaver came down again, precisely tearing off part of the dummy. She continued in that manner in swift and experienced cuts, labeling each part until the dummy lay in parts before her.

"I know it's not that impressive, but I'm sure I could put it to use in the arena." She said.

For a moment her innocent facade dropped and her smile was one of uncontrolled, malicious glee. But then she bowed and left as if nothing had happened at all.

Issa William's, District Eleven

After the last two unconventional sessions, Allison was strangely comforted by a typical tribute like Issa. He was nervous but cordial, introducing himself without any unnecessary dramatics.

With only a brief moment of hesitation, he began to take on the obstacle course. He was quick,agile, and made almost no noise. But he did struggle on the strength portions. A standard run for an outer district tribute.

He then went to the camoflauge station, where he managed to mask his skin in a series of greens and browns that would make him difficult to see in a jungle environment.

Finally he mixed up some mud and berries to create a dark red substance, and using some leaves for texture made a rather convincing looking wound on his shoulder.

"Didn't the boy from six do that?" Nautilus asked.

"He did." Allison answered. Duplicate sessions happened on occasion, there were only so many things a tribute could do. Most likely they had thought of the technique together and hadn't realized it would benefit them to have only one show it to the gamemakers.

Issa was unaware of the conversation in the box. So he merely cleaned off his camouflage, then thanked everyone in the gamemaker box and left.

Violet Beckinridge, District Eleven

The girl from Eleven was more physically impressive than many of the tributes Allison had seen that day. It seemed that most of them were small and lithe, depending on speed and agility. It made sense for the outer districts to be small due to malnutrition, but even the careers had taken a more precise, technical approach to the private sessions.

In contrast, Violet was solid. She was a large girl with broad shoulders and bright ginger curly hair that was currently gathered in a poof at the top of her head. She introduced herself with a steady seriousness and went to the archery range. She fired four arrows, all close together but a little left of the center of the target. She then asked one of the peacekeepers to spar with her.

Dalton stepped forward but another peackeeper placed a hand on his arm. They talked to each other in low whispers before turning back to Violet.

"I'm sorry, but we're not doing any more sparring sessions today." One of the peacekeepers said.

The girl was clearly outraged, but attempted to keep herself calm. "How am I supposed to show off my skills without such an integral option?"

"You could try the dummies." One offered.

"It's not the same and you know it."

"Take it up with the boy from Seven." Dalton sneered. Violet seemed about to object, but seemed to think better of it and backed off. She grabbed a machete, and hacked violently at the last dummy they had. She was not a fighter who concerned herself with how she looked, preferring brutal efficiency over form. When she finished the dummy lay in pieces at her feet.

"Do the dummies always get this ripped up?" Nautilus asked.

"Depends on the year."

Violet thanked the gamemakes, and even thanked the peacekeepers despite clearly still being mad at them, before leaving the room.

Mattock Coccia, District Twelve

Allison Pryss took her job very seriously. But even she was beginning to feel the strain of assessing twenty four teenagers. The boy from Twelve came in and introduced himself, and she found herself trying desperately not to fall asleep.

Unfortunately, Mattock's performance didn't help her very much with this task. He didn't go to the weapon's rack at first. In fact he didn't go to any station. Instead, he stretched for a brief moment and began to run around the room.

He was fairly fast for a boy his age, and given the amount of laps he did the tribute clearly had high endurance. But Allison couldn't say that watching someone run around a room was a particularly riveting experience.

Thankfully he did not decide to spend his entire time running. He did eventually pick out a weapon: A sturdy pickaxe. Mattock went up to one of the remaining dummies (there were not a lot of them left) and began to attack it with strong, heavy strokes.

The boy was clearly a coal miner. While a fast runner, his fighting style was slightly stiff and lacking in speed. However it was strong and thorough, with a solid form and a seeming inability to tire.

Unlike the gamemakers.

Mattock seemed to pick up on the attitude of the people judging him and stepped a few feet away from his dummy. He then threw the pickaxe, which sailed through the air with astonishing speed.

It missed the dummy, clattering into the weapons rack. The entire thing fell down with a great crash.

"Thank you for your time." Mattock said quickly and fearfully, clearly afraid of punishment for his mistake. He disappeared back through the door before anything else could be said.

Anthracite Amber Weitz, District Twelve

"So. Do you come here often?" the girl from Twelve joked.

Given the strong force field and pane of glass lining the Gamemaker's box, tributes were unable to hear anything that happened within it. However, Allison was pretty sure that the girl would be able to tell from the look on their faces that no one was laughing.

"Oh god that was so bad. I'm so sorry. I'm Anthracite Amber Weitz, from District Twelve. Please don't give me a one for a bad joke."

That earned a chuckle from Allison, though it was small and quiet so the girl was probably unable to pick it up.

She started with the obstacle course, running from the platforms with an ease that usually only came from the careers. The girl got a little cocky and at the end of the run tried to finish with a jump into a somersault. She misjudged how far away the landing mat was and ended up tripping halfway through, falling sideways.

She dusted herself off and went to the first aid center, where she bandaged her leg with a practiced accuracy.

"She's recovering from a broken leg" Nautilus said, "Probably has a lot of experience with bandages."

Anthracite switched stations for a final time and went to the firing range, where she grabbed some throwing daggers. She threw five of them, and one managed to hit the center.

She bowed to the gamemakers, and Allison noticed that she was breathing rather heavily.

"So… uh… goodbye." She said, and let a peacekeeper escort her out.

AN: So here we are, the rest of the training sessions! It took some time and effort, but I really did enjoy coming up with what everyone did. We are super close to the games now, with only four more chapters to go. Next chapter the training scores will be released, though I'd love to hear your thoughts before that. Anyway, thank you very much for reading my story. I love you all.