Mentor Profile
Alva Baird
Age: 21
District: 3
Hunger Games: 72nd, aged 18
Mentored By: Brian T. 'Beetee' Matthews
Kills in the Arena: 4
Preferred Weapons: Mace
Tributes: Brian T. 'Beetee' Matthews and Wiress Duncan
Mentoring Record: 0 Games/0 Victors
The youngest of District 3's victors, Alva Baird has the distinction of being the only mentor for this year's Games with no prior mentoring experience. With his Games being only three years ago and the heavily experienced team of Beetee and Wiress used to mentoring together, Alva hasn't had to show himself in the Hunger Games Headquarters yet.
Not only is he getting his first taste of mentoring this year, but Alva has to look after two tributes at once. Like many other districts with only three living victors, Alva has been given twice the responsibility in his first year mentoring in the Games.
On his side, at least, is the fact that the arena is still fresh in his mind, his own victory not yet entirely removed from public memory. Alva won a brutal Games, fought entirely by heavy, spiked maces, which were the only weapons to be found in the arena. Fought in a hot, arid desert filled with lizard muttations intent on destroying excess supplies, the Games didn't make it past the first week. With an open arena that gave a distinct advantage to hand-to-hand combat, Alva was the tallest and strongest tribute, an advantage he didn't waste in driving a path to victory just six days into the Games.
Since his victory tour two and a half years ago, we really haven't seen to much of Alva, aside from his trips to the Capitol each summer. Much quieter and less talkative than Beetee, we haven't been able to see much of the traditional District 3 flair from him yet. As everyone here knows, Three's victories in the Games usually come through inventive means - who doesn't remember Beetee's phenomenal victory, electrocuting all his foes at once?
Due to the nature of Alva's Games, we never had a chance to see whether he shared Beetee's spark, although his talent of electrical engineering suggests that he might. If he's got the brains for it, there's always the chance of a tactical masterclass from Alva in this year's Games. After what Haymitch Abernathy (another victor faced with the same task as Alva this year) proved last year with District 12, it's entirely possible that yet again, one mentor could get two tributes out of the arena.
More than any other mentor in this year's Games, Alva's a wildcard due to his lack of a track record. We all have no idea what to expect.
If that doesn't make Alva and District 3 a dark horse in this year's Games, I don't know what will.
A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, please review! :)