I am still missing check-ins for the following tributes:
Toren Kollath (also missing check-in 1)
Bellona Pierce (also missing check-in 1)
Gear Griswald (also missing check-in 1)
Astrid Balan (also missing check-in 1)
Haruhi Maki (also missing check-in 1)
Corbyn Reid (also missing check-in 1)
Amelia Williams (also missing check-in 1)
Charles Thomson
Zilla Odbody (also missing check-in 1)
Darra Delaney (also missing check-in 1)
Twill Chintz (also missing check-in 1)
Lily Baudilair (also missing check-in 1)
Red Bellmont (also missing check-in 1)
Clair Ivory (also missing check-in 1)
Please send the author's note at the end of Chapter 22 for the second check-in question and Chapter 15 for the first check-in question. You can send the answers to me either via PM or by DM on Discord.
Gear Griswald, 12
District 3 Male
After all the training he had done in the past three days, Gear was glad to have today off. He spent the day lounging around, watching TV, and eating snacks, until the scores of the tributes were announced in the late afternoon. All his allies were apparently too busy doing the same thing to meet up with him and talk.
He was still nervous about the whole "getting graded a score based off the skills he showed off to the Gamemakers" thing. Mark assured him he'd be fine. "Don't worry, Gear. The scores usually don't mean a lot. Trust me, they're not that important in the long run."
Astrid rolled her eyes. "Then what's even the point anyways?"
"Well, it's to...uh...actually, I really don't know."
Astrid began fidgeting around on the couch she was lying across, kicking a pillow onto the floor. Mark just watched her, then shook his head. "That's not going to work on me."
"Just one really, really really small drink. I promise, that's it."
"I said no."
"Pleaseeeeee?"
Mark's eyes narrowed. "I'm the mentor here, and I told you, no alcohol. There's juice and milk in the fridge if you're thirsty."
"Buncha hard asses," Astrid muttered to herself, picking up the fallen pillow and clutching it to her chest, pouting at Mark the whole time. He didn't even flinch. Gear sympathized; he too was getting a little tired of his district partner's antics. They were only funny once in a while.
On the TV, there was a lot of talk about sponsoring and how it would work for interested Capitolites. It wasn't that big of a deal, since he couldn't do anything about it, but Gear couldn't look away. What if nobody wanted to sponsor him? What if someone sent all of his allies a bunch of knives so they could team up and stab him to death? What if he was sent a bottle of poison that he ended up drinking?
Or maybe...if he got really lucky...would someone dare to send all the cool weapons to him? he might have to let his allies mooch off of him, but if he ended up being really popular with the sponsors, that would be awesome. Gear just watched the faces of all the tributes slowly flash onto the screen.
He was getting a little antsy, here in this really cushy armchair. But they could be announcing the scores at any moment and he wanted to see what he earned. Astrid was starting to get bored as well. But then again, from what Gear had observed, patience was not exactly her strongest virtue. To be fair, it wasn't his either.
All that time he spent, studying plants and throwing knives, what exactly would it get him? Gear started clutching his hands together as the program on the television shifted. A nicely dressed woman, who gear recognized as the lady that did interviews with the tributes, began to read the scores from the paper she was holding in an upbeat but formal tone.
"From District 1, Stravos Brodie has earned a score of...Five!"
"From District 1, Elise Starbright has also earned a score of...Five!"
From District 2, Toren Kollath with a score of...Eight!"
"Also from District 2, Bellona Pierce with a score of...Seven!"
"From District 3, Gear Griswald with a score of...Five!"
"From District 3, Astrid Balan has earned a score of...Four!"
Astrid nearly toppled off the couch. "Four!? That's it!?"
Mark sighed. "Well, what did you do?"
"Literally the exact same shit as anyone else! Why am I scored so low!?"
A five. Five. Gear wasn't sure how he felt about that. It was...good, right? Not that high, but not too low. Yeah, maybe it was pretty good. He wasn't going to complain, unlike Astrid who just buried her face into her pillow, seething. A part of him thought it would've been called to get something really high, though.
But those District 2 kids got sevens and eights and they were pretty unnerving.
"And from District 4, Haruhi Maki with a score of...Five!"
"From District 4, Adella Kerrick has earned a score of...Five!"
"From District 5, Corbyn Reid with a score of...Five!"
"And Amelia Williams of District 5 has scored a...Four!"
Gear winced slightly. Poor, poor Amelia. That had to suck for her. He hoped she took it well. And that his other allies got as high as him.
"From District 6, Charles Thomson has scored a...Six!"
"Also from District 6, Zilla Odbody with a score of...Five!"
"They always hand out fives like candy," Mark said and Gear nodded along. Already, over half the scores he had seen were the same as his. He couldn't help but feel that his own score was not as special as he thought and all those weapons he had thrown may not have actually been enough.
Now what?
Veles Dragomir, 17
District 7 Male
"Next up, from District 7, Veles Dragomir with a...Five!"
Darra whistled. "Damn dude. Everybody's getting a five today."
"Yeah." Veles just snapped his fingers in shame. Fuck. He thought he'd get at least a little credit for trying out every station, but clearly, the Gamemakers didn't care at all. A five. A measly five. So many others already had a five!
"From District 7, Darra Delaney with a score of...Six!"
"From District 8, Twill Chintz has scored a...Six!"
"From District 8, Claodis Omicron with a score of...Five!"
"And from District 9, we have Cleveland Garfield with a score of...Five!"
"From District 9, Lily Baudilair has scored a...Five!"
The nutcase volunteer and the little kid from 9 both got the same score as him. Plus that 12 year-old from 3 and that one girl from 6 who always seemed a little...off. How? Were the Gamemakers out to get him? What for? Why did he even care what the Capitol thought of him anyways?
"From District 10, Red Belmont with a score of...Five!"
"And Argen DeAquilla of District 10 with a...Four!"
"From District 11, Weller Worthen has scored a...Seven!"
"And also from 11, Acacia Hazeldine with a score of...Five!"
"From District 12, Stryker Ember with a score of...Three."
"And finally, Clair Ivory of District 12 scores a... Four."
Okay. So maybe things could have been a little worse. Unlike that kid from 12, Veles actually had the patience to stay at a station long enough to practice his skills. And despite it all, falling somewhere in the middle wasn't too bad. There had to be a way to utilize this.
Somehow, Darra and her both of her allies did rather well. And she was clearly pleased with the results. "I knew Weller had it in him. Two sixes and a seven isn't so bad, I suppose. We can work with this."
"Sponsors," Veles whispered.
"Yeah." Darra made a face. "Gotta convince a bunch of stupid Capitolites you actually love them."
She gets it, Veles thought to himself. Did he trust his district partner? Oh hell no. They may have been in the same boat, but there was a good chance Darra was willing to drown him if it meant her own survival. Veles would do it if he was her. But he liked her attitude. She was no-nonsense and knew what had to be done.
Even if neither of them really wanted to suck up to the Capitol.
Darra slid off the couch. "Well, see you tomorrow, Veles."
"Where are you going?"
"To the roof."
That wasn't a problem for him. And since Allegro had gone straight to bed once the scores were over, Veles pretty much had the whole floor to himself. Plus, there were Avoxes all over the place willing to serve his every need. Not too shabby.
He headed into his room, where there was a card waiting on his bed, asking him if he'd like to order any food. Veles ran a finger across the top of the card, before writing down an order for a protein shake, as well as what he wanted in it. He then slipped the card under his door, as per instructions.
While he waited, Veles decided to take a quick shower. By the time he was done and dressed in a robe, the shake was sitting on a desk right next to his bed. Veles took a few sips, before sprawling out on his bed. He had left his window open to let some fresh air in, but he could also hear the faintest of voices.
Lying on a cool bed with nobody around to bother him gave Veles plenty of time to have all sorts of thoughts swirling around in his head. As the voices outside got louder and eventually started laughing, he couldn't help but feel a little lonely.
But he wasn't here to make friends anyways.
He thought of District 7, his home, and the mess he left behind there. Perun was left to figure out what happened to their sister. It wasn't right of Veles to just up and leave him alone, not like he had any say in the matter anyways.
So, the sooner he won, the sooner he could go back home. That was the plan. And admittedly, Veles was not in the best position right now. He had nobody trust, nobody he could trust, and a measly five for a training score.
And he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with it all.
A bit of a quieter chapter, mainly because the only action is the reveal of the scores. Did any of the scores surprise you? Did any of them not surprise you?
Next up is gonna be the interviews, which will divided into two parts for my own sanity lol. So see you all in thsoe chapters!
-Vr