Private Sessions
Romello Dupree, 18, District 1 Male
Romello taps his fingers against his knee as they wait outside the gymnasium. It's early in the morning, but he's already been up for several hours by now. Today is the first day that actually matters in his eyes, where he will get to prove that he didn't make a mistake coming to the Capitol. The commercials were nowhere near this nerve-wrecking because the audience already loves him simply for volunteering. He doesn't think that the Gamemaker Panel will be as easy to please.
"Feeling alright?" Ashara whispers, staring at his fidgeting fingertips. Romello clenches his hands and nods towards her. He can see that she is also nervous, in fact all of the people in this room should be. He's not sure about the other training programs, but District 1 never told him anything about performing for the Gamemakers. According to Isa, it's new this year and that has put them him and Ashara on edge.
"I'm fine," Romello says, trying to force a grin.
"Good morning," Aristona announces as she walks in with Delias. A lot of the other tributes are already here even though it's still pretty early. Romello was surprised that District 2 hadn't arrived before them, mostly because Aristona seems like the keen type.
Ashara moves over on the bench to give them room, but Romello just sinks further against the wall. He knows that he's being a bit childish not wanting to sit by them, but things just don't feel the same as they did before yesterday. The alliance has always been a bit awkward but forcing himself to be around Delias after what happened has only made it worse. He can't stand to even look at Delias anymore; Romello isn't someone that will ever get used to being disrespected.
Romello has had to work for everything he's become after his life was completely destroyed by the rebellion. His family used their fortune to help the rebels, but the same people hung his grandfather out to dry when it came down to it. He was executed and his family was basically penniless, having nothing but the Dupree name to rely on. Romello went from living in a beautifully maintained estate, never wanting for anything, to being only one step above homeless. He lost everything and he'll be damned if he is going to let it all slip through his fingers again. Not because of some hot shit from District 2. Not because of anyone. Romello refuses to be made to look inferior.
"Ready for today?" Ashara asks with a smile. Romello is annoyed that she's being so nice to them after what happened, but he knows that she's on the right side. She understands that District 2 is a threat and that they need to watch their backs around them. Romello hasn't told her about his conversation with Jordan yet, nor what he is actually planning. He doesn't feel like it's necessary quite yet and he can't say that he isn't worried about what Ashara will think.
They were never been close in the youth center, but Romello knows about Asher. He knows that he was betrayed by the Career pack and that it cost him his life in the most gruesome way that Romello has ever seen. Bad enough that the trainee number was cut by more than half after his death and bad enough that there weren't going to be any District 1 volunteers this year. He doesn't plan for anything like that to happen to District 2; no one deserves what happened to Ashara's brother no matter what they did. Hoevere, for as long as possible, Romello doesn't want to bring the memories of Asher to the forefront. Having Isa around is already enough for her to deal with.
"Of course," Aristona smiles and Delias nods as he sits down beside her. He hates how confident she sounds when he feels like such a nervous wreck.
"Good to hear," Ashara says softly as Jordan also enters the waiting area. He spots them and heads over, leaving his district partner searching alone for a seat that probably isn't available. Jordan gives them all a stiff nod as he leans against the wall. It's good to see someone else that isn't as overconfident as District 2. Romello just isn't in the mood to deal with that.
"You're going to do fine. You know what you're going to do, right?" Ashara whispers, clearly trying to be helpful but in fact being the opposite, He sees Delias stare over at them and Romello gives him a deep scowl. He's already gone over his plan with her to make sure they wouldn't overlap too heavily, but if there's anything he has learned about his district partner it's that she likes to be prepared. It only makes him feel worse for not including her in his plans just yet.
It's for her own good, he reminds himself. She'll know when she has to know.
"It's going to be no big deal," Romello assures her, raising his voice just enough that he's sure District 2 will hear him. They already probably think they're better than everyone here coming from such an obnoxious training center, so Romello doesn't want to feed that image anymore. He just wishes that he felt as confident as he sounds.
"Romello Dupree, District 1."
The way that the mechanical voice says his name makes Romello shiver, but he gets up and heads towards the gymnasium entrance. The doors slide open and Peacekeepers usher him in as Romello tries to stop his legs from shaking underneath him. He can see the Gamemaker Panel seated near the front of the room, and notices that a lot of the extra equipment has been tucked away. Romello instructs himself to take slow, deep breaths as he walks inside, keeping his head held high. No one is going to make him feel less than, especially not himself.
Romello steps until he is standing just ten feet from the Gamemakers and it's difficult not to bend at their mere presence. These are the people responsible for the Hunger Games, the ones that will soon be controlling the arena and sending muttations after him if he's unlucky enough. It takes a lot of willpower not to run forward and strangle each and every one of them. What kind of sick person wants this job?
What kind of sick person volunteers?
"Welcome. You have five minutes to perform any skills of your choosing. You may begin." It's the man at the center who speaks, his Capitol accent sounding much less pronounced than the people on the screens. He doesn't look particularly devious or cruel, but how could he be anything else? Romello immediately decides that he hates this man, but it doesn't matter. He's here to perform and he will do exactly that.
Capri Romano, 15, District 3 Female
Capri glances at Erdan as he is shuffled into the training gymnasium, grateful that she isn't up yet. She wrinkles her nose when he doesn't even look her way before crossing through the doors, but she supposes that it doesn't really matter. They aren't allies anymore but she still doesn't want him to hate her. It's nothing personal, it's just the best way to play the game right now. Even Sinead, the weakest of her new allies, seems more prepared than Erdan.
"You're up next. Excited?" Jory asks her and Capri nods. He's the one that drew her to the alliance, one of the few outer district tributes that feels both welcoming and extremely capable. Chase also looks like he could be of help, but he's not in the right mindset for the arena just yet. Jory is the one Capri knows she will be able to count on. The only problem is that he's been too preoccupied to really notice her. He's nice enough to Capri and Chase but anyone can see that he's focused mainly on Sinead.
Capri prides herself on being the person that everyone wants to see, but Jory doesn't make sense to her. A lot of people want a friend similar to themselves, so she tried to emulate his competitive and overenergetic demeanour. He went along with it all, but he always turned back to make sure Sinead wasn't being left behind. Capri even tried to be more vulnerable and sweeter like Sinead, but that only drew attention from Chase, not Jory. She doesn't understand what more she has to do, but she also isn't giving up. That's simply not in her nature.
"What are you going to show off?" Capri asks Jory, turning her entire body towards him. People like to feel like they're the center of attention, and Capri doesn't see Jory being any different. If it gets him on her side, she's willing to listen to anything he wants to say. She holds his eye contact intently, trying to let him know that she's interested in what he has to say.
"Sparring," Jory says with a smirk. "I'm kind of excited, even if this whole thing is pretty bullshit."
"Total bullshit," Capri agrees, but after a quick nod Jory turns his attention back to Sinead and Chase. She wrinkles her nose, obviously realizing that her usual methods aren't working on him. Capri can't understand what he sees in his district partner; Capri has a much better chance at actually surviving than Sinead and Capri's taken everything Jory's tried to teach them seriously. All Sinead has done is giggle about being knocked flat on her ass and let Jory pick her back up to fail again. Capri doesn't want to dislike Sinead, she's kind of the reason Capri was accepted in their alliance in the first place. Still, it's hard not to hate someone who has what she wants.
"How about you guys?" Capri asks cheerfully, entering the conversation right behind Jory. It's ideal that everyone here like her, but she's been focusing a lot on Jory. Chase seems to like everyone and Sinead has the same mindset. Everything feels too easy except getting through to the one person she will need the most. The one that will be able to protect her.
"I'm not sure," Sinead and Chase say at the same time, laughing as they turn to one another. Capri raises an eyebrow at Jory, knowing that he's put a pretty big emphasis on being prepared and hoping this will lean him in her favour.
No such luck, Capri watches him roll his eyes dramatically and swats Sinead on the shoulder. "We talked about this last night, you idiot."
Sinead shrugs. "I'm not sure if plant identification is going to be that impressive."
"Come on," Jory insists. "You have them all memorized, they'll love it."
"You think?" Sinead asks, the hesitation in her voice evident. She's been a nervous wreck all morning, stiffening every time a tribute is called into the gymnasium and needing someone to talk her down every few minutes. Sinead is a nice girl, as sweet as they come, but that's not what Capri needs. That's not what Jory needs.
"You could always try something else?" Capri offers. "What else did you do in training?"
Sinead goes quiet, biting the edge of her lip as she thinks. As time crawls by, it seems like Capri's question had the intended effect and she has to force herself not to smile in triumph. Instead, she reaches over and puts her hand on her arm and gives her a comforting smile. "Don't think too hard about it, okay."
When she leans back against the wall, Jory is smiling at her and Capri is eager to return the expression. He is pretty quick to turn back to Sinead and help to comfort the girl, who still looks about as distraught as before, but it's still a step in the right direction. Capri smiles to herself and catches Chase's eye without enough time to change her expression. He wrinkles his forehead and looks away, but Capri doesn't think much of it. She isn't worried about Chase protecting her as long as she has Jory. Normally, she would say the more the merrier but in this case she needs to put her time in where it counts. Chase and Sinead are too nice to leave her behind anyways.
"Capri Romano, District 3."
"My turn," Capri shrugs, standing quickly to try and hide her own nerves. It might work for Sinead, but Capri isn't the type to willingly appear weak. She has every intent of being able to handle herself even if she's counting on a bit of help from Jory and the others.
Capri tosses a smile over her shoulder as her allies wish her luck and she steps through the doors into the gymnasium. It's dimmer than she remembers, and emptier too, but it's the same place she's seen for the last two days. Capri lets out a slow breath and approaches the Gamemaker Panel, more anxious than she would care to admit right now. She reminds herself not to look afraid, that these people want to see her succeed if only so she'll put on a good show in the arena. Capri isn't sure that she believes it as they blankly watch her approach.
As soon as she's given the go ahead, Capri scans around the room but she isn't sure what to skill to pick up. Sweat beads down her neck as she screams at herself to just choose something. She grabs a knife from the rack, but her hands shake around the hilt so frantically that she's forced to put it down.
There's nothing to be scared of, Capri reminds herself, but that thought is of little comfort. She tries to think back to all the stations she spent time at yesterday, then to the ones she visited with Erdan the day before. She can't remember anything that she's learned, probably because she was never really focusing on the skills. Capri was and always has been about using people not weapons, but there is no one here to sweet talk into trusting her. She picks up a couple different weapons, trying each of them out only a couple of times before she reracks them. Capri is on her third survival station, blinking back tears trying to create a basic snare, when the panel informs her that time is up.
Emilia Rorfile, 18, District 5 Female
"Are you nervous at all?" Emilia asks Chiara, who has barely said a word since they met up this morning. She's not the most talkative, but she at least joined in with their conversation when needed yesterday. Today Chiara seems to be either annoyed with something or completely in her head about the sessions. Emilia suspects the former but she's ready to be wrong.
"Do I look stupid to you?" Chiara asks bluntly, making Emilia flinch with the harshness of her tone. "Of course, I'm nervous."
"Sorry," Fitzroy says, leaning towards her with a look of concern. "It was a long night and we're all a bit on edge."
Emilia nods, still shocked. It's difficult not to take Chiara seriously, even though Emilia knows she's likely always been a little rough around the edges. She's never really met someone quite so prickly but people cope in all sorts of different ways. Emilia is simply choosing to be positive while Chiara seems to be choosing the opposite approach. "Makes sense."
Emilia can't help but think back to her conversation with Doran last night. They don't have a lot of help from Eason, actually they've only seen him the few times that their escort has dragged him out of his room. Emilia prefers when he just stays away from them. He clearly doesn't have anything to offer besides dark comments about their chances in the arena. Emilia prefers to assume that if someone like Eason can make it out, she also has a shot.
Doran doesn't like Chiara; that's a fact that pretty much anyone could pick up on just by watching the alliance. While it's true that District 6 isn't exactly what they thought they'd be from the commercials, Emilia is more hopeful than he is. Doran sees Chiara as selfish and abrasive, but Emilia chooses to see her as passionate and tough. Chiara isn't someone that Emilia would want to fight against so she's happy to have her on their side. Besides, Fitzroy isn't going to leave her behind. Despite the fact that their relationship feels tense at best, he does actually appear to care about her at least somewhat. No, if they want allies, they have to go with what's in front of them. The only other option is to be a pair and Emilia tried to make it pretty clear that she is uncomfortable with that.
"I'm pretty nervous," Fitzroy admits, smiling shyly at her and Doran. "I know that we're all ready, but it's getting real now."
Emilia grins widely back at them. While her and Doran are divided about Chiara, they are both definitely on the same page about Fitzroy. He always seems to know just what to say to keep the conversation going and it actually feels like he cares to know about them. She couldn't ask for a better ally. "You think we're ready?"
"Definitely," Fitzroy nods. "We've come a long way."
She smiles down at her hands, knowing that he is absolutely right. Emilia has never been that interested in learning unless it had to do with the arts, but she's really put her head down and worked these last couple of days. Maybe she spent a little bit too long at the camouflage station yesterday, but she still feels prepared. It's nice to hear it from someone else's lips when it's usually been her trying to keep the mood light.
"Doran Ibarro, District 5."
"Already?" Doran asks to no one in particular. Emilia gives his shoulder a squeeze when he hesitates to approach the door, trying to silently remind him that it'll all be okay. She's not sure when it happened, but over the last few days she's grown to think of Doran like her little brother. They've spent a lot of nights talking about home, even when they should have been sleeping. Emilia isn't sure that she would feel quite so sane here if it wasn't for him.
"You'll do great!" Emilia calls after him, and Doran smiles over his shoulder just before the doors close behind him. She'll be up soon and then they have to spend the rest of the day preparing for the interviews happening tomorrow. Emilia is sure that Eason won't be there to help them through it, but she's hopeful that their escort will lend them some time. That's what she needs to do right now- focus on what she can prepare for and ignore the rest. She isn't sure how well that will work tomorrow night, when the only thing she'll have to look forward to is a launch pad into hell. Emilia chooses not to think about that right now.
Emilia doesn't realize that she's tapping her fingers on the floor until Chiara's hand presses them down. Emilia looks up in apology, but her ally's face doesn't look as upset as she expected. "We're all nervous. No need to announce it to the room, though."
Emilia nods and clenches her hands together in her lap. Fitzroy gives his district partner a questioning look and Chiara just shrugs in response. They're definitely an interesting pair, and not one that Emilia would expect to get along. In District 5, Emilia thinks she would get along with someone like Fitzroy who draws people in so easily and just seems to go with the flow. Chiara is more like the girl Emilia would have avoided back in school. Regardless, Emilia is glad right now to have both of them on her side.
"Tomorrow's our last day here," Emilia says, more to fill the silence than anything else.
Chiara looks away without an answer, but Fitzroy nods along with her. "Weird, right?"
"I feel like we just got here," Emilia says and it's true. After spending most of her life captivated by the idea of finally going to the Capitol, she's had little desire to even think about where she is. The white-walled training gym feels like a let down after everything she's built the Capitol up to be. Maybe if she could go outside it would regain some of its magic, but Emilia somehow doubts that.
"Really?" Chiara snorts. "I feel like I've been stuck here for months."
Emilia bursts out with laughter almost immediately, not really sure what's funny but unable to stop herself. Fitzroy isn't far behind, quickly leaning back against the wall and chuckling to himself like it's the only thing he knows how to do. Chiara stares at them both, puzzled for a moment, before she crosses her arms over her chest and smirks at them both. It's the closest she's felt to either of them since they met. Even if it's just a bit of nervous laughter before she goes inside for her session, it's exactly what Emilia needs.
Aberro Tripe, 14, District 8 Male
Aberro's throat feels dry as the snare picks up the small weight, dangling it precariously off the ground. He's not sure if he was too ambitious with the weight selection, but he's hoping that the rope holds just long enough for the demonstration. His heart drops as the weight thuds to the ground, the tattered ends of the rope swinging back and forth as if to taunt him. Aberro ducks his head away from the Gamemaker Panel, who have yet to respond to anything he's done. You don't have to be that intelligent to realize that's probably not a good sign.
"Your session is complete. Please exit through the side doors and someone will escort you from there."
"Thank you," Aberro whispers as a door to his left slides open. He stares at the ground as he leaves the gymnasium, feeling about as defeated as he had expected to feel. He's trying not to take everything as hard as he has been, but it's difficult to be kind to himself. It feels like he's been given chance after chance to prove himself, yet he's managed to fail every single time. First the commercials, then training, then finding an alliance, and finally the private session. At least he's stopped crying about everything, but that's only a small victory.
"This way," the Peacekeeper instructs him, pointing sharply at the elevator.
"Thanks," Aberro says quietly, slipping into the elevator alone and noting that the number eight is already lit up inside. He leans back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling until the singsong chime indicates that he's arrived at the apartment. It's hard not to be relieved to be back, even if Aberro will never think of this place as home. At least when he's in his room there aren't any expectations or goals that he will never be able to accomplish. That's about all he can look forward to these days.
He sees Madina sitting at the table, her back towards the door as if she didn't even hear him come in. Aberro briefly considers attempting to slip by without being seen, but decides that he should probably talk to her again. He's been trying to spend as much time as possible away from Evi, which means that most of his time is spent alone in his room. That also means he's hardly had time to talk with Madina, except the odd time she forces him out for a strategy meeting.
Pretty much the only concrete advice Madina has given him has been to find allies, and Aberro isn't looking forward to telling her that he failed to do that again today. He's never been a very outgoing person, and all of the friendships he's been involved with have been started by someone else. On the first day of training, Aberro tried to work up the courage to talk to the District 3 pair at lunch but they shooed him away before he could even try. No one even seems to notice him in the training gymnasium and, not for the first time, Aberro wonders if things would have been different if he had tried harder to get along with Evi.
"Oh, you're back already?" Madina asks, turning to look at him. Her eyes are red and her expression feels more dull than it has over the last few days. Aberro feels like he probably looks a little bit worse for wear as well, so he decides it's best not to mention it.
"It was fast," Aberro nods, sinking into the chair opposite his mentor. Despite not spending a whole lot of time with Madina, he does actually really like her. His escort, Helio, is a bit off putting because of how loud he is but Madina is almost normal. Aberro frowns, knowing that she probably doesn't feel very normal even if she looks it. It's hard to forget that she went through exactly what he's going through just a few years ago.
"How was it?"
Aberro shakes his head. "My snare broke at the end."
"It probably wasn't that bad," Madina disagrees and Aberro smiles, knowing that it was pretty much exactly as bad as he thought. He's not delusional when it comes to reflecting on himself, but he's also never been that pessimistic. Aberro is able to see things pretty much as they are and, usually, that's helpful to keep from self-imploding. Here in the Capitol, however, what's real is about as bad as it gets so it's hard not to be a pessimist.
"I didn't talk to anyone," Aberro admits before she can ask, feeling his voice shake in his throat. It's embarrassing to tell his mentor, someone who has been through the worst of the world, that he couldn't even convince someone to be with him in the arena. Still, he knows that she'll find out soon anyways.
"No one?" Madina whispers after a moment, dropping her eyes to the lukewarm coffee cup in front of her.
"I'm sorry," Aberro says quietly, but he's not sure which of them he's speaking to anymore. He knows how important allies are, Madina's told him as much, but he just couldn't manage it. Aberro sniffs once, but refuses to cry in front of her again. He's done that enough already. There is no longer enough time to be spending it all feeling sorry for himself.
Madina brings her hand up to run through her hair, her face unreadable but probably masking some kind of disappointment. "So, you're alone. That's it. Okay."
Aberro looks down at his hands, not able to summon the courage to even look at her. He wants to tell her that he tried his best, but the truth is that he could have tried harder to meet someone. He was just too afraid.
"We're not giving up," Madina says, her hands reaching out for him for a moment before dropping back down into her lap. "It's going to be harder, but you don't have a choice now. You're alone."
"I know," Aberro nods, hating the way that he flinches when she reminds him that there will be no one there to count on. He's resigned himself to the fact that he's going to be by himself but hearing it from Madina just makes it more real. In two days he will be in the arena, and all he will have to count on is himself. As the oldest in his family, Aberro is used to having people rely on him but this is different. He's always had Tenga or Racchiella to talk to when things get too painful. He's had the option to talk to his parents or his teachers when he's overwhelmed or having a bad day. Soon, he won't have any of them. He won't have Madina or Helio or even Evi. Aberro isn't sure that trusting himself will be enough but, like Madina said, he doesn't have a choice now.
Claude Patiens, Head Gamemaker
The Gamemakers swing their chairs around after the last tribute leaves the gymnasium, forming a small circle to discuss what they've seen. Only Claude, Annika, Coriolanus, and the team heads have been invited to evaluate the tributes but it still feels like too many people. This is the very first year they've been assigning numerical scores rather than allowing the audience to rank the tributes themselves. It's both exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. Claude wants to get everything perfectly right; that's the only acceptable outcome.
"What do we think?" Claude asks once everyone's settled. He can see that they all look fairly tired and, some, more than a little bit bored. He should have ordered coffee for everyone but it's probably too late now.
"Where do we begin?" Vaughn, the Head of Terrains, says with an eye roll. He'd been the most upset at being pulled off his duties to attend the evaluations, but Claude is not someone that accepts no as an answer. Vaughn has had plenty of time to complete his projects, and there should be very little left to do if he's on schedule. Claude makes a mental note to request progress reports at the end of today's meeting.
"The tributes all chose very different skills to demonstrate," Annika says simply, raising an eyebrow at Claude. "How are we deciding which score to assign each of them?"
Everyone looks slowly to Coriolanus, the one who first suggested the scoring system. He pretends not to notice the eyes on him, but Coriolanus has the same tells as his father. It would be disrespectful to think that the young Snow doesn't have a plan so Claude isn't worried. Coriolanus sits up slightly in his chair, but doesn't hesitate when the microphone is passed to him. "Arguably, the simplest way to do this is to consider both how well the tribute performed the skill and how useful said skill will be in the arena."
"Are these stations all not meant to be useful?" Annika asks and Coriolanus turns his attention to her with a quiet grin.
"Of course," Coriolanus agrees. "However, some more so than others. If a tribute has enough sponsors they can get by without needing many survival skills, but no amount of outside help will allow them to win a fight if they're unprepared to do so."
"So tributes that displayed fighting or weaponry skills score higher?" Claude asks.
"If performed well," Coriolanus agrees. "Good demonstration of survival skills should, however, outrank poor fighting skills."
The room is silent for a moment as everyone takes in the suggestion. Of course, it's difficult to agree with the logic and Claude finds himself nodding along with the other Gamemakers. Once Coriolanus sees that the crowd is on his side, he continues. "Twelve is the highest score that we can offer and one is the lowest. To keep things simple, we can assign the best demonstration a twelve and the worst a one. All others can then be scored in relation to these two scores."
"Agreed," Claude says, finalizing the decision without requiring anyone else's input. The sooner that they can decide on a system and assign scores, the sooner they can go back to work. With the start of the Hunger Games only two days away, that is his highest priority. "Who, then, gave the best performance?"
"District 2 female, Aristona Villiour," Coriolanus announces without hesitation and Claude finds himself quickly agreeing. She displayed excellent agility with a sword and easily disarmed two of the trainers by herself. Not to mention her stellar performance on all of the mandatory stations, which they all watched prior to arriving today. Some of the other volunteers also gave fantastic demonstrations, but hers is the one they all remember. No one disagrees and Annika enters the value into her tablet with a couple of clicks.
"And the worst?" Annika asks, giving a brief glance up from her tablet.
"District 12 male," Vaughn scoffs with a wave of his hand. "I don't recall the name."
It's true that the tribute did not do very well in his session this morning. Never mind the fact that he chose some of the simplest skills to perform, but few were done perfectly. Briefly flipping back to his scores from the mandatory stations seals the deal as the District 12 male is clearly not the athletic type. He did alright on the mental task, matching injuries to treatments, but that's not enough to negate the rest. It is decided that he will receive the lowest score, though Claude isn't convinced that he will be the only one to receive it.
A/N: Hi all! That was private sessions and training scores will be revealed next chapter (and updated on the blog). As was explained in Claude's POV, the scores are not given in the same manner that they are in canon so they will be more varied than usual. I thought it would be fun to mix it up a little so things can still evolve later on, plus it makes giving out scores a lot easier for me. Let me know what you think about this early system!
Have your opinions of these 4 tributes changed (Romello, Capri, Emilia, Aberro)?
What is your opinion about including outside POVs in the story? I did this a few times in FE but I'm conflicted as to whether it's fun or takes away from the tributes. Let me know your thoughts!
Another update will be up in a few days. I'm still hoping to be in the arena near the beginning of August, so if this feels a bit quick that's because it is. As well, if you're looking for an amazing story to submit to, JabberjayHeart is accepting submissions for his new story Six Feet Under. It's a religious AU that's extremely fun and unique so I highly recommend you check it out!
~ Olive