Disclaimer: The Hunger Games is not mine.

Note: There's a new poll up on my profile. The question this time is, "If you were a sponsor, which tribute(s) would you choose?" This poll is a little bit different for two reasons.

First of all, mostly out of curiosity about what you will do when left to your own devices, I decided not to limit the number of choices. (Just don't vote for everyone, as that sort of defeats the purpose of voting in the first place.)

Second, this poll will actually be used in-story. The top few tributes in the poll will receive some sort of gift on the first day or two of the Games, assuming they survive the bloodbath. This gift could be big or small, life-saving or not – depending on what works best in the context of the story – but I thought it would be a nice way to acknowledge the tribute(s) that you, the readers, would sponsor.

That said, you can base your votes on whatever you like. Maybe you'd sponsor the strongest. Maybe you'd sponsor the ones who got the best scores. Maybe you like to sponsor underdogs. Maybe you want to sponsor the ones who seem the cleverest. Or the most ruthless. Or the most likable. You're the sponsors. You choose.

Have fun.

Training Scores
To Find Out What It Is

Cornelius Juniper
Hunger Games Host

Numbers. Cornelius hated numbers.

They were necessary, of course. They were a part of the game. They gave the audience their first idea of what the tributes could do besides waving from a chariot. But giving them a score to represent their chances of survival – chances of winning, he reminded himself – always felt so dehumanizing.

Sort of like the Games.

Oh, he loved the Games as much as anyone else. He adored the pomp and celebration. He was always excited for the chariot rides and interviews and all of the fun. But the actual Games – the killing, the pain, the blood – had never held the same delight for him. He liked seeing the tributes happy. Or, at least, pretending to be. And he always felt a bit more relieved when the Games were over and the victor was sitting across from him on stage, alive and well.

It didn't make much sense, he knew, but emotions rarely did. Still, they were better than numbers.

"Cornelius?" The cameraman gave him a nudge. "You're live in ten, nine, eight…"

He kept counting. Cornelius put on his best flashy smile and faced the camera.

"…three, two, one."

"Welcome, welcome one and all! What a lovely evening here in the Capitol. Now, as you know, the tributes have been here, training, for three days, and earlier today, they were privately evaluated by the Gamemakers themselves, who have given them a score between one and twelve. Both you and they have been patiently awaiting the Gamemakers' decisions. Now, at last, the suspense … is over!"

District One

"Angus Spencer, with a score of six."

"Abstract Calls, with a score of ten."

Sitting between the pair on the couch, Jade smiled. Angus was grinning and clapping his hands delightedly while Abstract rolled her eyes, somewhat shocked that he'd managed to get even a six. Her own score wasn't particularly surprising, of course, but it was rather reassuring.

Jade gave each of them a clap on the back. "All right, we've got that over with. Let's see how the others fared."

District Two

"Equinox Kunzite, with a score of seven."

"Kiona Brink, with a score of ten."

Off to the side, Vester raised an eyebrow. Equinox's score didn't surprise him much. The boy looked perfectly calm now, but that passive I-don't-care attitude fell away quickly when he was provoked. Kiona, on the other hand, had scored as well as the girl from One, who had been training for years. What was he missing?

"Great work, both of you," Vester nodded, doing his best to sound enthusiastic. "Kiona … can I talk to you later? Alone?"

District Three

"Tracer Norren, with a score of five."

"Rosalina Leto, with a score of five."

Mayberry barely glanced at the scores. Average. District Three was always average, but only because Helius had a soft spot for cleverness. But cleverness didn't help during the Games if you were cornered by someone with a sword or a bow. Tracer and Lina were congratulating each other, but Mayberry suspected they would have been content with anything above a one. Still, she knew, she should try to say something kind.

"Well, at least you won't be attracting attention from other tributes," she decided at last. And it was true. But hiding behind average scores wouldn't work forever. Eventually, someone would realize they were there.

District Four

"Mars Servitt, with a score of nine."

"Ella Halliwell, with a score of six."

Mags smiled. "Excellent! Well done, both of you." Mars was frowning, but, then again, he usually was, so Mags wasn't sure if he was upset that it wasn't a ten or simply didn't care about his score one way or another. Ella, on the other hand, looked a bit disappointed. Mags put an arm around Ella's shoulders. Holding herself to the standards of tributes who had trained for years wasn't fair.

"You know what?" Mags asked. "I got a six, too. Once you're in the arena, it doesn't matter. You're not a number. You're Ella, and you've got just as much of a chance as someone who got a twelve. You got that?"

Ella smiled a little. "Got it."

District Five

"Harakuise Swallot, with a score of five."

"Aubrei Fallyn, with a score of eight."

Tania sat up a little straighter, shocked. Harakuise's score was about what she had expected, but an eight? That was unheard of in District Five. "That's amazing, Brie!" she grinned. "Jai will be so proud." At the mention of Jai's name, she thought she saw Harakuise smile a little, but it was gone in an instant. The smile sent a shiver down Tania's back. What was he planning?

Then she remembered that she was supposed to be mentoring both of them, not just Brie. "A five is good, too, Harakuise," she offered, which earned her a half-smile from the boy, who knew her words were empty. In the arena, they both knew, a mentor eventually had to choose sides. Only one tribute could win. Tania fought back a twinge of guilt as she realized she had already decided who deserved her help.

District Six

"Pike Carter, with a score of three."

"Prius Gazer, with a score of six."

Aron put an arm around Pike, who was trying very hard to put on a brave face. Prius, on the other hand, was grinning, delighted to have scored the same as her ally. "Oh, we're going to have so much fun together!" she was gushing. "And you, Pike, they'll never see you coming! A three! You deserved to do so much better, but that'll make it even more of a surprise when you turn out to be a killer!"

Pike winced; Aron knew he had no intention of becoming a killer. "A low score means they won't target you," Aron pointed out. "Not at first. Find your friends and run. Hide. Get as far away from the others as possible."

Pike nodded and snuggled up close to Aron. "I will."

District Seven

"Sterling Therms, with a score of eight."

"Cahra Sheed, with a score of seven."

Sterling and Cahra were both smiling and congratulating each other, but Hazel shook her head. "Now, don't get cocky. Sterling, you got a pretty high score, but just remember that your allies did, too – or, at least, the ones we've seen. They'll see you as an equal, and, eventually, they may decide that's dangerous."

"Cahra…" What could she say? The girl had done better than her older, stronger ally from Four. Maybe she didn't need as much protection as Hazel had thought. "Be careful. Watch your back. A fourteen-year-old with a seven is … unusual. The others might start to wonder what you did."

Cahra shrugged. "I set some dummies on fire."

Hazel nodded. "Fair enough. Just try not to set the arena on fire, all right?"

District Eight

"Zione Carlin, with a score of ten."

"Nicoline Peters, with a score of four."

Lander clapped Zione on the back. "Brilliant! I think that's the highest score ever for District Eight! And the highest of your allies so far. Except that girl from Two – she got a ten, as well, didn't she."

Zione nodded. "She's pretty good."

Lander rolled his eyes. 'Pretty good' was an understatement. 'Pretty good' didn't get you a ten. "Keep an eye on her, okay?"

Zione smiled a little, as if it were some sort of private joke. "Oh, I'll keep an eye on her. And good job, Nicoline."

Lander sighed heavily. "No, it's not. It's not a good job. But it won't get her noticed, thankfully." He turned to Nicoline. "Good luck, kid."

District Nine

"Husk Fange, with a score of nine."

"Antiquity Kirsh, with a score of three."

Nerond nodded. A nine wasn't a huge surprise for a tribute who'd been perfectly willing to kill his previous mentor. And a three was … well, about what he'd expected for the girl who was sitting behind the couch, not even watching the scores, her knees tucked to her chest.

"Nice work, Husk," Nerond nodded. "Not sure about all your allies, though. The boy from Two had a seven – that's pretty good. But the boy from Five…"

Husk nodded. "I know. As soon as he's not useful any more, he's dead."

Nerond smiled a little. "That wasn't what I was going to say. He may be hiding something – trying to score low. Keep an eye on him."

Husk shrugged. "I'm planning to keep an eye on everybody."

Nerond nodded. "Good point. Just remember you've only got two eyes, all right? One for your enemies, one for your allies – because they eventually have to become enemies." But Nerond already knew in the back of his mind that Husk wouldn't have any problems thinking of his allies as enemies.

All the table knives had been hidden for a reason.

District Ten

"Wulfric Harding, with a score of nine."

"Libby Hall, with a score of two."

Glenn was torn between utter delight over Wulfric's score and sympathy for Libby, who was now crying in a corner. Wulfric accepted his congratulations and then nodded towards Libby. "Go on. She needs you more than I do right now."

Glenn nodded gratefully and hurried over to put an arm around Libby. "Hey. Hey, it's all right. You saw your allies, right? They got a three and a four. Just stick together. Together, you're a nine, at least."

Libby looked up. "A nine?"

Glenn grinned. "Yeah. Four plus three plus two is nine."

That made Libby smile a little, but, in the back of his head, Glenn was doing some other math. Ten plus ten plus eight plus eight plus…

District Eleven

"Sherlacham Haimish, with a score of eight."

"Lordez Miller, with a score of seven."

Ivy tried not to look as surprised as she felt. After all Sher's talk about scores not mattering, he had gone and done something that had earned him an eight, and was now smiling smugly as he lay on the couch. Lordez looked about ready to slap him. "What did you do? I've been training for three days while you've been making hedgehogs and painting pictures. What did you do to get an eight?"

Sher shrugged. "I painted a picture and told him I wanted a five."

Ivy stared. "You told them what score you wanted?"

Sher nodded. "Knew they wouldn't give it to me. I was expecting a seven, maybe, but I apparently underestimated their enthusiasm. Like I said before, it doesn't matter one bit … but it was fun."

Ivy shook her head, wondering how long it would take in the arena before Sher realized this wasn't about "fun."

District Twelve

"Aldo Retchwood, with a score of six."

"Heloise Cache, with a score of four."

"It looks like you picked good allies, after all," Pardeck commented. "They all scored higher than you."

Aldo shrugged and headed off to his room; he hadn't said more than two words to Pardeck in a while. But Heloise looked worried. "Is that bad?"

Pardeck shrugged. "Depends on how you look at it. Stronger allies can protect you, but they may also decide that you're becoming a burden and eliminate you."

Heloise shook her head. "My allies wouldn't do that. They know I'm not a burden."

Pardeck nodded. "Then you have nothing to worry about, Heloise. Get some sleep."

Cornelius Juniper
Hunger Games Host

"And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen – this year's tributes! And tomorrow night, you'll get to see them in person, right here on this stage! A good night to all, and Happy Hunger Games!"

The cameras powered off, and Cornelius sighed. He hated numbers.

Interviews were much more fun.

"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom."