To The Wolves

Prologue

Grecia Dumont, Senior Presidential Advisor

Grecia waves away the hand waiting to help her onto the train's platform. She doesn't care very much for visiting the districts, and she certainly isn't keen on touching the district's people even with gloves covering her skin. Still, Grecia takes her duties to the President very seriously. If he feels it is necessary for an advisor to visit the new academies, Grecia has no issue taking on the responsibility. The fact that she must conceal her ties to the President during the visitation is not ideal, but she will always do exactly as instructed.

"Good morning, Ms Dumont." Grecia does not recognize the man's voice, but she turns to face him with a quiet smile and a guess at who he might be. As expected, the man is dressed in a fine navy suit embellished with the seal of District 2. Mayor Novius, Grecia understands, the man who agreed to accompany her on the tour to answer any questions she might have regarding the new Peacekeeper Training Academy. That's the reason she is to give for her presence- an interest in investing in the training being offered here. It's precisely the excuse her assistant told the man when she set up this appointment.

"Pleasure," Grecia says, ignoring the outstretched hand. The Mayor drops his arm to his side and gives an uncomfortable nod before his smile returns wider than before. He has clearly been long awaiting her arrival judging by the wrinkles on the front of his suit. Grecia could not imagine sitting in wait for a guest no matter the delays. It simply does not create a good impression to show up looking anything less than one's best. She glances down at her flawlessly pressed suit. It is such a shame that the districts do not take themselves as seriously as the Capitol. Perhaps then Grecia would be more keen on visiting outside of official duties.

After an unpleasantly warm drive, the car door is finally opened and Grecia begins the walk towards the front of the academy. It stands tall at the edge of the district square with its shining steel exterior and polished windows. The sign above the door welcomes them to the Peacekeeper Training Academy, but Grecia knows that far more interesting lessons lie beyond the threshold than simple peacekeeping. As they walk, Mayor Novius makes several references to the President, but Grecia ignores them and stares straight ahead. Officially, she is not here on presidential business but solely to speak of her investment. If he thinks differently that is ultimately not Grecia's problem so long as he doesn't spread the word. The Hunger Games are changing and Panem is evolving along with them. It's both beautiful and startling to watch from the sidelines as the President's genius finally comes to fruition. It's no wonder this man wishes to be a part of it.

"Where do they train?" Grecia asks flatly as the academy doors close behind them. The mayor begins to dive into his practiced tour of the Peacekeeper training grounds but Grecia cuts his speech short. "The ones that aren't here to be Peacekeepers."

The Mayor lets out a weak laugh, his eyes breaking contact from her for a telling moment. "The children that study here all have intent to enlist."

"I'm sure you understand by now that this is no ordinary tour," Grecia says, growing tired of the charade he is trying to pull. The news has spread throughout the Capitol over the last few years about some districts trying to train tributes specifically for the Hunger Games. As two of the richest districts in Panem, 1 and 2 have led the way for volunteers and gained a few Victors each for their troubles. Five years ago, this facility was built with grant money from the Capitol under the guise of training more militants. However, almost everyone knows the truth about the academy, Grecia included. "I'm looking for investment opportunities in the Hunger Games. I understand your district is training volunteers under this very roof. I would like to know more."

His face pales a bit and he looks around, as if waiting for someone to jump out and arrest him for what she's said. The President of Panem has publicly condemned the practice of training tributes so that the event will remain fair to all involved, though he remains privately interested in the efforts. It's the reason Grecia has made the journey here today. The President always wants to know more.

"Of course," he says finally, bowing his head towards her and rerouting the tour to the back of the Academy. Grecia is pleased as they cross into a new part of the building that requires key card access. They stop by a classroom of around ten teenagers who all turn towards the doorway as they take a look and then continue past. Grecia can see previous arena maps tacked to the front board, several red markings over various locations. Interesting, Grecia muses, they're not just training weaponry after all.

The Mayor appears to have heard her thoughts. "All potential volunteers are given lessons in varying subjects to ensure that they are best prepared for life in the arena."

"What do they study exactly?" Grecia asks. She is already preparing her report for the President in her mind, knowing that he will be most pleased with what she is learning. Yesterday, in District 1 she didn't see nearly this level of organization. Their volunteers train in a much smaller facility that has been created in the image of a youth center. From what Grecia saw, the children there spent nearly all their time on weaponry skills. She can remember some of them sitting at the edges of the room reading, but Grecia didn't note the titles of the novels. She wonders now if they were also trying to study other topics like the District 2 trainees.

The tributes from Districts 1 and 2 have always been interesting, even before the volunteering started. They come from the richest parts of Panem outside of the Capitol and are usually strong and well-fed just from their lifestyles alone. Still, there have always been differences between the districts and those have only been magnified through the addition of training. Grecia wonders how much of this is in the way their individual academies teach.

"What don't they study?" The Mayor laughs, his posture open and more like it was when he greeted Grecia at the train station. Though he is nervous to be showing a Capitolite the illegal classrooms, it is also clear that he is very proud of them. Grecia pauses to allow him to elaborate but he doesn't, instead he throws open a set of doors and ushers her into a room that looks suspiciously like the tribute gymnasium in the Capitol.

"This is the real gem of the Academy," he gushes, watching Grecia carefully as she takes in the enormity of the room. Small groups of children follow instructors as they weave between various stations, many of them filled with mock weapons while others host supplies for activities like knot tying. The stations are smaller and the equipment less sophisticated than what the tributes have access to in the Capitol, but it's still shocking to see the level of dedication. Especially with such tiny children walking around, smiling and laughing with each other. "You're lucky, we have our after-school program today with some of our youngest recruits."

"May I ask how old they are?"

"Youngest we accept is six, but most of these children are eight or above," he answers. "My own little darling is right over there, she's one of our youngest."

The Mayor waves to a small child with red curls and she smiles broadly, ignoring whatever instructions her teacher is trying to give her. "Children so young can't possible understand."

"Exactly," he says. "We offer this program free of charge on most days up until age twelve. The children can get used to being around the equipment and decide if this is something they'd like to do. Many of them continue on with us or transfer to the Peacekeeper Academy. Each child will honour District 2 in their own way, but only a select few through the Hunger Games."

Another interesting point of difference from District 1. The trainees here are far younger and all appear to come from much richer lifestyles than the ones Grecia saw in District 1. She remembers the mayor there mentioning scholarships for the trainees to encourage them to spend time at the youth center as well as a larger payment if they eventually volunteer. District 2 appears to have no need to bribe their trainees and that makes this facility all the more fascinating to Grecia. She can somewhat understand the pull of finances for those in need of stability, but the pull of honour is much more perplexing in this context. She follows Mayor Novius through the stations, a cascade of new questions running through her head. The President is going to be very pleased with her report, Grecia is already certain of this.

A/N: Here it is. To answer your question, yes, I am still working on For Evergreen at the moment and I will be completing that story. Due to the fact that I am ahead of my update schedule and I have this story burning a hole in my brain I decided it's time to start looking for tributes. This story will follow a different format to FE to increase ease of reading (shorter but increased number of chapters) prior to the arena. I'll also be taking on pre-reaping POVs this time around, though modified.

This story will be a continuation of my evolution series and it will be following the 12th Hunger Games. A lot has happened and all the information you need is on my profile along with the tribute form. It is VERY important that you read the guidelines and the district-specific information as tributes will need to fit into the timeline I've created. If you are considering making tributes from 1 or 2, please also carefully read this prologue as it gives some extra information about these districts. If you have any questions just shoot me a message and I'll be happy to help you out.

The deadline for tribute submissions will be June 10th, 2020 at 12PM EST.

I look forward to reading your lovely tributes and I thank you in advance for your support. Other than that,

Welcome to 'To The Wolves'!