Training Score Announcement

Ashara Nox, 18, District 1 Female

Ashara is unable to take her eyes of the screen as they begin to announce the training scores. According to Cedric, the highest achievable score would be a twelve and that is exactly what Ashara is hoping to see tonight. Even being several years behind Romello and the other volunteers, she has the expectation that she should be able to perform just as well as them. There is no time to doubt her skills, and she doesn't plan to. If she's going to convince other people that she is going to be the Victor, Ashara has to convince herself first. Seeing a twelve would be all the validation she could ask for.

"Nice," Cedric says, smiling over at her when it's announced that she's been given a score of nine. Ashara's heart sinks as Romello is given one point higher. She is unable to even attempt to contain her frustration when Aristona is awarded a twelve, and Delias an eleven. She can feel her cheeks heat up and she bites her lip to keep from commenting, but her embarrassment is written all over her face.

Isa looks over and easily notices her reaction. "They're your allies, you should be glad that they performed well."

Ashara turns away from the Victor. It's not that she's upset they did well, she's upset that she did poorly in comparison. Isa needs to stop acting like she knows everything that Ashara is thinking when it would be so much more helpful for Isa to just leave her alone. She chose to have Cedric as her mentor for a reason. Isa is not to be trusted; in Ashara's mind she's the reason Asher suffered the way that he did. "Because allies are really important to you, right?"

"Enough," Cedric warns but the two women don't break even eye contact. The tension between them has so far manifested as Ashara ignoring everything Isa tries to say, but there comes a point when Ashara isn't happy to stay silent. Isa has no right to tell Ashara what she is feeling when she doesn't know anything about Ashara. She has no reason to trust Isa and the Victor should understand that by now.

"I know this is because of Asher," Isa says. Her voice is sterner than Ashara expected, but that's not what makes the tears gather in her eyes.

"You don't get to say his name," Ashara spits.

"Isa," Cedric whispers, placing a hand on her shoulder but Isa shakes it off.

"I didn't know what would happen to him," Isa says. "You have to believe that I would have looked for him if I knew."

"You didn't care," Ashara says. She didn't realize how much she had still to say to Isa, the girl that came home when it could have been her brother. Ashara isn't stupid, she knew that he could die but she never expected what happened to him. Asher had been out collecting water when the District 5 male found him. He had screamed for Isa, the last remaining member of his alliance, but she ran away like a coward instead of going to help him. She left him to be killed.

"I was scared," Isa whispers.

"You were a coward," Ashara says. She can remember sitting in front of the screen with her parents that entire night, sick to her stomach as she watched her brother being hit and cut over and over again. The tribute had kept him alive, trying to get information out of him for where to find Isa who had killed his district partner earlier in the games. He tied his wrists and ankles so tightly that they bled; he rubbed pebbles in his wounds and laughed as Asher sobbed. It took twenty-one hours for his injuries to finally kill him. Ashara didn't sleep the entire time.

"I thought he got away," Isa says and Ashara is almost able to believe the desperation in her voice. Isa's eyes are huge, her breathing coming in short bursts as if she'd just been running. "I didn't hear a cannon and I thought he was okay. I only found out after I watched the reruns."

Ashara opens her mouth to continue, but it feels like her heart has been ripped out through her throat and speaking feels impossible. She hasn't spoken about her brother in months and has tried everything to keep from thinking about what he went through before he died and the vision of him, pale and bloodied and broken. The emptiness that she had tried so hard to fill by training and doing the things that Asher loved so much now feels like a black hole in her chest. Ashara leans back against the couch, noticing after a few minutes of staring that the screen has been switched off.

"We should be watching," Ashara says, her voice shaking hard enough for her to cringe at the sound. Now is not the time to break down over something she should be finally getting over. Now is the time to be strong and not make the same mistakes as he did.

"Ashara," Cedric says with a slight warning in his voice. "If you need to talk, we can, but you need to get it together."

"I have it together," Ashara snaps.

"Good," Cedric says, though she's sure that he doesn't believe her. Ashara isn't even sure that she cares about what he thinks, even if he is her mentor. Tonight, was supposed to be about her receiving her training score and showing everyone that she wants to be here even though she doesn't. She feels like she's failed and that's not a comforting feeling for Ashara. She is used to accomplishing everything she sets her mind to, but right now everything feels like it is spiralling out of her control. If she doesn't reign it all in soon, Ashara worries that she'll never be able to get both feet back on the ground.

"Can we talk?" Romello asks quietly. Ashara had forgotten that her district partner was even here, and she is embarrassed all over again that he saw her outburst. She blinks back the last couple of tears from her eyes and straightens her posture before turning towards him.

"What about?" Ashara asks, attempting to keep her voice light. She reminds herself that this is something that she is able to control. She can decide how she appears to her allies and to Romello; no one else has a say in what she chooses to show them. That simple fact at least loosens the spiral of worries that have been collecting in her brain.

He hesitates for a moment, and Ashara wrinkles her forehead in question. He's the one that wanted to talk, so she's not sure why he seems unsure all of a sudden. Her district partner has always been pretty outgoing, in fact it's often hard to shut him up. She's not sure what this new uncertainty means but it makes her just a little bit uneasy. Romello breaks eye contact for a quick second before their eyes meet again. "Interviews. I just wanted to plan our strategy for tomorrow."

Erdan Yates, 15, District 3 Male

As soon as Emersyn leaves to take a call, the room goes silent again. After everything that has happened between them, Erdan still isn't sure what he wants to say to Capri. Rion and Sadira are great and they've made him feel really comfortable in their alliance, but Erdan still can't shake the disappointment at being left behind. It's never been something he's had to deal with back at home. Erdan was always the one to say no when people asked him to hang out, never the other way around. He wants to be able to say he understands and doesn't blame Capri, but that's just not the case right now.

"Can I ask you something?" Erdan whispers, almost hoping that Capri won't actually hear him. He spent all of last night thinking about what to say to her, but it's almost as if she's gone out of her way to ignore him lately. Since they arrived, the apartment has always been filled with jokes and laughter but now it's almost silent. Emersyn clearly prefers it that way, but Erdan can't say he feels the same. He isn't used to being this lonely. Even during all those hours of unnecessary studying his father was sitting across from him at the dining table.

"Sure," Capri asks, turning to him with a wide smile that instantly unsettles him. She's acting like they're meeting for the first time all over again and Erdan can't understand why. It's like the past few days never even happened.

"Why don't you talk to me anymore?" Erdan says, trying but failing to raise his voice above a whisper.

"I don't know what you mean," Capri shrugs, returning her attention to the screen where the announcers are discussing District 2's impressive training scores.

Erdan's throat goes dry, but he isn't willing to fall asleep without answers again. "Did I do something wrong?"

"I don't want to miss this," Capri says dismissively, not even bothering to look at him this time. He isn't sure whether he wants to scream or cry at this point. He hates how upset he is about this whole thing, but he isn't used to being rejected. It's not like he's asking her to die for him or even stay with him in the arena anymore. He just wants to understand why he's not good enough for her to acknowledge. Erdan knows that this should be the least of his worries right now, but it's the only thing he can actually concentrate on fixing at the moment.

"What did I do?" Erdan asks again, this time his voice louder but she still doesn't even turn her head. "Just talk to me."

"We're not friends," Capri says with a snort. "I don't know what you thought and that's not really my problem. You're not in charge of who I decide to spend time with."

Erdan is taken back by the coolness of her voice, but her answer only frustrates him more. "I'm not trying to change your mind. I just don't understand."

"That's because it's none of your business," she snaps.

"You just left me at training," Erdan says, hating the desperation twisted into his words. "You pretended you didn't even know me."

"I don't know you," Capri says plainly. "We just met."

Erdan can feel tears building in his eyes, but he refuses to let them fall. He stands as if to leave, opens his mouth as if to say more, but he does neither of those things. Instead he stands there like an emotional idiot as Capri rolls her eyes and turns back to the screen again. Was it stupid to think that he could have any sort of friend in this place? Erdan's starting to believe that it was.

"What's going on?" Emersyn asks, arms crossed as she stands behind the couch. Erdan ducks his head but doesn't make any move to explain. The last thing he needs is to get on their mentor's nerves tonight, but that seems to be exactly what they've managed.

"Beats me," Capri shrugs.

"Well cool it," Emersyn says, glancing between the two of them. "Finally, some time without Lachelle and you think this is what we're going to do? I should remind you that the arena is only two nights away."

Erdan sinks back down into the couch even though he wants to storm off into his room just to get away from them both. Their escort, Lachelle, is gone for the night for interviews and he remembers her saying not to have too much fun without her. He guesses that's been accomplished, no one here is having a good time. He grumbles out an apology he assumes neither of them hear and Emersyn sits down across from them. Erdan barely catches a look at his and Capri's training scores before they disappear, but he smirks to himself knowing they both managed to get the same pathetic number.

"Did you two not pay attention in training?" Emersyn says as she too catches the matching threes.

"Threes for District 3," Erdan mumbles, punctuating the bad joke with a humourless snort.

"You need to take this seriously," Emersyn says sharply. "Do you realize what this is going to do for sponsorships?"

Erdan's face pales at the mention of sponsors, Emersyn's personal favourite way to torture them into submission. The only people who can stand between him and starving to death if he actually manages to avoid getting stabbed in the neck. After the private sessions, Erdan knew that he probably hadn't performed well but he didn't really care at the time. It's difficult to get over the feeling of being left in the dark with his district partner, who up until yesterday had been his only distraction from his own morbid thoughts. It was Capri that reminded him of who he was back in District 3 and inadvertently prodded him to live out his newfound freedom before it ran out. Rion and Sadira are nice enough, but he really felt connected to Capri. It was like she was perfectly made to help him through this, but now she's a completely different person who couldn't give less of a shit about him.

"I'm sorry, I'll try harder," Erdan says quietly. He wants to hold onto the Erdan that didn't care that he was going to die in a few days as long as he had these fifteen minutes of freedom. However, it feels like that person is quickly slipping out of his grasp. Maybe that person was delusional and stupid, but at least he wasn't afraid. Tonight, fear is all that Erdan has left.

Levi Mirani, 18, District 7 Male

Levi doesn't want to be sitting here right now, but he's just as anxious as Verdana to know his score. The whole thing just feels so completely wrong. Five minutes in front of a panel of people who don't know a thing about him resulting in a score that will tell Panem whether Levi is worth betting on. It doesn't feel like something that could actually be happening, but Levi finds his eyes glued to the screen just the same. He shouldn't care about what the Gamemakers think of him, and yet he's hanging onto the announcer's every word and hoping that he won't be disappointed.

It's normal to be afraid, but Levi doesn't want to be afraid. In District 7, it was so easy to just look the other way when someone was taken to be executed so he never had to be fearful. He could almost convince himself that they were nothing but criminals, even though his parents' voices still sung clearly in his mind. No one could deserve death, that's what his mother always told him growing up. His uncle could never have that much sympathy for anyone else, and Levi's greatest fear has always been ending up greedy and hardened like him. Sometimes, when he really thinks about where his life is going, Levi wonders if he's already on that path. Look the other way and hope the Peacekeepers don't turn on him later- that's not the philosophy of a good person who wants to change the world.

Here, there's no looking away when all eyes are constantly on him. Here, it's impossible not to fear having the wrong spotlight cast on him. Levi doesn't want to care about training scores or interviews, but the simple truth is that he does. In the one moment of his life that Levi could be speaking up and bringing attention to how incredibly wrong the world has become, he's being awfully silent. He just wants to blend in so he won't suffer anymore than necessary.

"Look, it's us," Verdana gasps, nudging him roughly in the stomach. Levi realizes that he's been staring at the floor again, a terrible habit he's developed over the last few years but never been able to break. His throat feels dry as he looks up at the screen. A six for him and a five for Verdana. Levi lets out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding but immediately feels guilty for being relieved.

Abilene squeals as she looks at the scores, her face lighting up with pride. "Those are good! Someone should get Keenan."

No one makes any move to so much as knock on his door and Abilene's suggestion feels more like a joke than anything else. Even though he's their mentor, it's become something of a pact between the three of them to involve him as little as possible in what's going on. At his best, Keenan is unhelpful and more than a little rude, but at his worst, Abilene's had to call the guards to keep him from tearing apart the kitchen. Their escort has been more of a lifeline than Keenan could even hope to be for him and Verdana. She might not have survived the Hunger Games, but she's not as dimwitted as she tries to seem.

"It's only about a 50%," Verdana says and just the tone of her voice is enough to tear away a bit of Levi's relief. This time, he's grateful for her cynicism. He shouldn't feel anything but disdain looking at the training scores, knowing that they're trying to reduce each of their chances to just one number. Still, even now Levi can feel a lot of the tension in his shoulders relaxing. The Gamemakers think that they have a chance. That shouldn't matter to him, but it really does.

"Better than a 1," Levi says and immediately regrets the comment. None of the tributes so far have received that low of a score, but some have been close. He's been given double the score of the District 3 tributes, but that doesn't mean they're worthless. No one could deserve death. Training scores are saying that some of the tributes almost do deserve it, simply for daring to be less skilled than the others. Levi feels sick to his stomach just thinking about what he said.

"Exactly, it could be worse," Abilene agrees.

"That's true," Verdana shrugs. "It could also be better, though."

Levi doesn't think that he could talk right now even if he tried to. It seems like everyone is buying into this idea that it's okay if the tributes scoring 1's and 2's die, as long as they stay alive. What's worse is that he also seems to be accepting that as true himself. It's the Hunger Games, and only one of them is going to live. It shouldn't be abhorrent to want every advantage he can grasp, except that it is. No one could deserve death. It doesn't matter because whether they deserve it or not they're going to die. He leans back against the couch, feeling his heartbeat pulsing in his temple.

"I think this calls for some celebration," Abilene smiles, heading to the kitchen with her heels clicking merrily against the tile.

Verdana turns to Levi with a small grin, but her expression changes to worry when she sees him. Levi doesn't expect that he's doing a very good job of hiding his emotions. All of a sudden, his brain feels like it's about to burst out of his skull and all that he can think of are his mother's words. Well, her words and how badly he is failing at living up to them even in his own mind. "Are you okay?"

Levi wants to tell her not to worry about it, but he feels like if he even opens his mouth he is going to be sick all over the carpet. He shakes his head and stands quickly, running into his bedroom without a word. He hears a glass hit the floor behind him, but he doesn't stop until the bathroom door slams behind him. Levi leans his head over the toilet, expecting to vomit but nothing comes up. His head spins and he rests his cheek on the cold porcelain, half of him wanting to cry and the other half wanting to punch a hole through the wall.

Ira Adley, 18, District 12 Female

It feels like an eternity waiting for the scores to be announced, especially because District 12 will always be last. For the first few districts, Ira had made herself sit pristinely on the couch with her feet planted on the carpet. As she notices Abdiel, Florian, and Linus all splaying out comfortably across the cushions, she tentatively curls her legs up under her. Abdiel smiles over at Ira and she straightens a little but leaves her feet on the couch.

It's nothing like home, but Ira has found herself getting used to their apartment and to the people she's sharing it with. Ira has always spent every ounce of her energy on being perfect, or at least as close to perfect as she could get. Step this way, eat like this, say that; it has always been a constant string of commands running through her mind. None of the others seem to care what they look like, not even Linus or Abdiel who come from the Capitol. No one cares very much when someone kicks their shoes off at the door or smudges food on the couch. Ira could always count on letting her guard down at home, but she doesn't yet feel like she can do that here. Still, after a full day in the training gym, an unrestrained laugh or curling up on the couch feel just as freeing.

"I almost forgot," Abdiel says, sliding up form his place on the couch. He tosses something at Florian, and it lands beside him with a thud.

Florian glances at it warily, but his eyes quickly light up and he grabs it off the cushion. Ira can see that it's a book with an olive-green cover but she isn't close enough to see the title. "You didn't have to."

"You said you didn't get a chance to read the ending," Abdiel shrugs.

"I didn't, thank you" Florian whispers and begins flipping through the stiff pages. Ira can tell from her spot on the couch that the book is brand new, and she wonders how Abdiel was able to find the same one. She can vaguely remember Florian talking about a book he'd been reading back in District 12, but she wouldn't have been able to give a title if asked. Ira's never been very into reading, but obviously Florian is. Abdiel clearly knows a lot more about her ally that she does and Ira finds that this bothers her a little bit.

"You're welcome," Abdiel smiles but Florian is already nose deep in the book and probably didn't hear a single word. Her mentor catches Ira's eye and she realizes that she's been smiling as well when her cheeks begin to ache. She doesn't look away as quickly as she normally would have. Ira doesn't think she's seen Florian this excited about anything since she's known him.

"How are sponsors?" Ira asks, the words feeling very natural in her mouth. Every time she's been away from Abdiel for more than a few minutes she feels the need to ask him. At the beginning, Ira felt like she was owed proof that her alliance with Florian was working. Abdiel promised sponsors and, sure enough, once the commercials aired, they gained a couple. He said that they would need to wait until after the interviews to see a bigger spike. Ira thinks that was just to keep her hopeful so that she wouldn't abandon her alliance with Florian.

Ira still isn't completely convinced that their alliance is the best plan for her, but she doesn't have one foot out the door anymore. They haven't been apart since being reaped except to sleep, and she's starting to kind of enjoy the company. He's quiet but there's also no judgement in his words, no matter how much Ira searches for it. As different as they are, Ira can't help but see a little bit of herself in Florian. She wouldn't mistake that look of shame and anxiety that often flashes across his eyes. It's the same one she sees when she looks in the mirror.

Ira turns back to the screen, listening happily to the sound of flipping of pages every couple minutes. She watches the District 11 scores fade away and she tries not to hold her breath as she waits for her and Florian to appear. From the ones she's seen so far, Ira knows that she's at least hoping for a five which has been about the average. The volunteers were higher and some of the younger tributes were quite a bit lower, but five is what Ira is hoping for. She just wants to blend in.

She sits up when she sees the number five appear below her image, a smile crossing her face before she can even think to stop it. As soon as her eyes flicker over to Florian's image, the expression is wiped completely from her lips. Under his name is the lowest score she's seen all night, a one.

Ira looks over to Florian, who hasn't so much as looked up from his book. "Florian?"

Movement catches her eye and Ira looks to see Abdiel shaking his head at her. She looks back at the screen, then again to her mentor but he just shakes his head again. He doesn't want her to tell him the score, but shouldn't he know? Ira thinks back to the mandatory stations from the first day and how quickly he shut down after seeing his time for the platform exercise. Florian looks up for a moment, his eyes wide and impatient. No, Ira decides, it won't help anything if she tells him.

Florian is still looking at her, waiting for an answer, and Ira struggles to think of another reason she would have interrupted him. Abdiel nods down towards the book and gives her a wink. She sighs and puts another small grin on her lips, this one not even close to genuine. "What's the book about?"

He tilts his head but his expression warms almost immediately. Florian scoots closer to her and Ira swings her legs off the couch to make room. He places the book on his lap, adjusting it slightly so that she can have a better view. Abdiel turns the screen off and heads to the kitchen before she can back out of the conversation. She shakes her head slightly realizing that she could be here a while.

Ira understands almost nothing about what he's trying to explain, but Florian's tone is happier than any voice she's ever heard. She can't remember the last time she saw someone so genuinely excited and it reminds her a bit of Jacks. When they were out in the district, he used to smile so hard that lips looked like they were going to crack in half. It's been hard to think about her family back in District 12, but right now it feels a little less sad. Ira relaxes further against the back of the couch and hugs her arms around her waist. She's not sure when she falls asleep, but it's dark and all four of them are still on the couch when she wakes up. Ira smiles down at Florian, who is still holding tight to the spine of his book and snoring softly. Ira knows that she should move to her bed, but it feels wrong to get up and disturb them. After a moment, she leans her head back against the armrest and closes her eyes.

A/N: Hello again! Yes, this chapter was based around revealing the training scores, but most of them weren't really mentioned so if you're interested they have been posted on the blog. As was explained last chapter, the scoring system worked a bit differently so scores might look higher/lower than expected (check the last POV of last chapter for an explanation). Next up will be interviews, so look forward to that shortly.

Have your opinions of these 4 tributes changed (Ashara, Erdan, Levi, Ira)?

Also, we have only three more Capitol chapters left before we enter the arena, so I've put up a poll on my profile for y'all to vote on who your favourite characters are at this point in the story. It will remain open until the Bloodbath chapter is up so please vote if you have the chance! See you in a few days with the next update.

~ Olive