A/N: After a two-and-a-half year hiatus from this site, I'm back and ready to carry on writing! I always enjoyed writing for this story and want to see it through to its conclusion, so over the next month or so I'm going to push to complete it, along with another of my old fics.

I'm getting back into the swing of things now, so hopefully it doesn't seem like I've missed a step, and that you all enjoy the chapter :)

Mentor Profile

Ruby Peters

Age: 63

District: 1

Hunger Games: 30th, aged 18

Mentored By: Satin Hughes

Kills in the Arena: 2

Preferred Weapons: Knives, Daggers

Tribute: Cashmere Adlington

Mentoring Record: 11 Games/1 Victor - Sapphire Tompkins (40th Games)

It is only natural that, in a district as successful as District 1, certain victors' stars would fade faster than others. With such a constant stream of success - barely a decade goes by without at least one victor from One - it's only natural that certain victors would fade into obscurity. To her credit, though, Ruby has never let her image slip away. A regular in the Capitol every summer for the Games, Ruby's quick, determined mind has helped her as much out of the arena as it did within it.

Ruby's Games were challenging for a variety of reasons, but what makes her victory stand out is that she is one of very few tributes to have won the Games after abandoning the traditional One-Two-Four alliance early in the running. Slim-framed and short, Ruby's dexterity and her stealth gave her massive advantages in playing the game her way, with a finesse usually lacked by the brute-strength males we normally associate with victors. She may have had some luck with the other Careers turning against each other, but she played her part expertly, dealing with every challenge placed in her way.

However, it was after her victory that Ruby began to come into her own during her work as a mentor. In the early years after her victory, she earned a reputation as one of the most enthusiastic and diligent mentors we've seen, constantly pushing for the best for the tributes of District 1, even if they weren't her own. Even in the years when Ruby wasn't chosen as a mentor she would always return to the Capitol.

As we know, many victors often take the month surrounding the Games to enjoy life in the Capitol, to get out and socialise among their adoring fans. However, during those times Ruby would always be pushing to make more people aware of the Games, to make them aware of who District 1's tributes are and why they're important. I'm sure we've all seen her appearances around the city, working tirelessly for the benefit of her district's tributes. She even famously made an impromptu speech at the Head Gamemaker's birthday party just over a decade ago.

Of course, this tireless work ethic for supporting her district has inevitably led to tension, most notably with her former mentor, Satin Hughes. Such is the difference in mentoring approach that Ruby has often been critical of Satin's style during years when Satin got the mentoring role in her place, becoming notably outspoken and invasive where she believes a better tactic is available. Famously, the two came to blows on interview night for the 59th Games, until Brutus managed to drag them apart. Ironically, the fight took all the attention away from the otherwise-favoured boy from District 2, whose interview time mainly consisted of Caesar Flickerman shouting at the victors to stop fighting.

However, there have been success stories, too. In Ruby's fourth Games as a mentor she managed to bring home her only tribute to date, Sapphire Tompkins - a fiery young woman with a similar temperament to her mentor. In recent years, as District 1's latest generation of victors have spent more time mentoring in the Capitol, Ruby and Sapphire have been eager teach the younger victors as they continue to strive for District 1's success.

Ruby has led a life dictated by the Hunger Games, and she has in turn devoted her life to them. Now, with probably the most eagerly-anticipated and closely-fought Hunger Games in recent memory just a day away, there isn't a safer pair of hands for District 1 to turn to in Cashmere and Gloss' hour of need. While Cashmere might be Ruby's tribute officially, you can be sure that she'll be doing her best for both twins.

With so many major players to look out for in the arena tomorrow, you can be certain mentors will play a part in the final days of the Games.

Watch this space - District 1 are not to be taken lightly this year.

A/N: I imagine that Ruby was a victor who was very involved in the training of young Careers back in District 1, although the Capitol wouldn't admit to the illegal training of children in one of their own publications, so that's been skipped over.

In my latest spell writing on this site, I'm hoping to finish this story by the end of August, along with my Harry Potter / Hunger Games crossover, The Wizarding Games, which now has only two chapters remaining. After that, I'll just have to see where my mind takes me next :)

Anyway, if you liked this chapter, please review! Constructive criticism is welcomed :)

I'll be back with another chapter very soon :)