Rory walked into the training center with a nervous glance at her mother. This was where they were supposed to train? She'd seen previous Hunger Games, her mind tormented by the gory pictures. The area around her seemed much more mature and proper. Every weapon was sleek, made of metal and prepared to be used.

Rory's mentor, Patty, had suggested that she work on some of the skill ones, because Rory already had knowledge of things such as plants, thanks to books. Rory took that advice, and found herself using throwing knives. She lined herself up with the target, and used what books had called proper throwing tactics. But it didn't just work the first time. It took Rory multiple times to get it right. After about fifteen throws, Rory was able to hit the target, but not quite at the bullseye.

"Almost perfect," a new voice said, from next to her. "Give it another try." Rory turned, to see a blond boy. His short hair was messy, but in a way that had clearly been styled. He was a bit older than Rory, probably two years older. He had a charming smile, with bright white teeth. Rory threw the knife, and it crashed into the bullseye. Rory was amazed, the blond boy had called it!

"Wow," was all that could come out of Rory's mouth.

"You've got a good aim," the blond said, with a grin. "With a bit of work, it'll be perfect."

"Thanks," Rory mumbled, still shocked.

"I'm Logan, by the way," the blond boy said, putting out his hand for Rory to shake.

"Rory," Rory quickly replied, before grabbing and shaking his hand, "District one."

"Oh, we've got a district girl!"

"And you're from… the Capitol?"

"Yeah. Anyway, good luck," Logan began to walk, before turning, "Ace."

Rory smiled, before getting back to knife throwing.

Lorelai quickly grabbed a sword, which she realized was very easy to handle. She practiced against a mannequin (not ideal, but functional) and managed to basically destroy it.

"Mind if I use that for a few minutes? There were none left," a plump little woman asked. Lorelai handed her the sword.

"Of course! I probably need to learn survival tactics anyway, but my daughter can take care of those," Lorelai replied, with a friendly smile.

"Your daughter?" the woman said, in between blows with her sword.

"Yeah, Rory. She's in this too," Lorelai smiled.

"Rory? Oh, are you one of the Gilmores?"

"Yeah, Lorelai," Lorelai said, a bright grin on her face.

"So your entire family was reaped?" the woman stopped striking the mannequin.

"Well, I wasn't necessarily reaped. But everyone else was, oddly enough," Lorelai wrinkled her nose, "yeah, that is weird."

"Well I feel horrible," the woman's face looked very sympathetic, "I'm Sookie, by the way. Sookie St. James." Lorelai smiled, shaking her hand.

"Well nice to meet you Sookie," Lorelai said, "but I've got to go talk to my daughter."

"Oh yeah! I completely understand! Go on!" Sookie shouted to her as Lorelai ran over to the knife throwing section. Rory was focused, trying to hit the bullseye. Over time, she did. Every time. She's doing it. All of this time I never saw Rory doing anything related to violence. Wow.

"Hey kid," Lorelai said, causing Rory to jump a bit.

"Mom! Don't scare me like that!"

"Geez, sorry Rory," Lorelai paused, before taking a seat on a bench. "How's the throwing going?" Rory sighed, lowering her arms.

"It's tiring," Rory complained, looking for sympathy, "and I don't like it." Lorelai looked down, nodding.

"I get it. I hate it too," Lorelai admitted, "but we gotta live somehow." Rory nodded, before chucking a knife at the mannequin. "OOH! I've got it! What if we argue our way out of things by using North American movie quotes?"

"Mom-"

"Come on, Rory! It'll be fun! Like- like that one movie, where that kid wants to go back in time using an old car, and gets stuck there! Roads?" Lorelai used a husky voice, "Where we're going, we don't need, roads." Lorelai grinned.

"Mom," Rory said, firmly.

"Sorry," Lorelai averted her view away from Rory. "Well it was a bad idea, anyway."

Rory, the very next day, found herself repeatedly trying to figure out the plants. They stuck in her brain, very quickly. She made her way over to Dean, who was boredly trying to figure out how to tie knots.

"Hey, you need some help?" Rory offered, hesitating to take the reigns.

"No thanks," Dean said, "I'm gonna figure this out if it kills me."

"Well let's hope not," Rory laughed, before grabbing a rope herself. She struggled, knots were hard! Dean let out a cry of joy.

"Done!" he said, quietly. He held out the knot for both him and Rory to see. Dean smiled, happy with what he did.

"That's awesome," Rory smiled, "I wish I could do that."

"Here!" Dean quickly took Rory's rope, and put her hands on his, "see how we weave it?" Rory tied the knot. "Awesome!" The two looked at each other, smiling. Rory had the rope in her lap.

"Well, umm… I'm going to go each lunch," Rory said. Maybe Dean will want to sit with me. And she was right. Dean followed Rory to the lunch tables, which made Rory uncomfortably smile. "You didn't have to come, Dean."

"I know," Dean smiled, taking a seat next to Rory. Rory pressed a few buttons, and a hamburger loaded with fries and coffee appeared. "Haha, very healthy." Rory rolled her eyes at Dean's sarcasm, before taking a bite of the large burger.

Rory smiled, a bit embarrassed, when Lorelai took a seat at the table. Of course she just had to butt in… Mom, please don't embarrass me!

"Hey, kid! And you must be Dean, I'm Lorelai," Lorelai shook Dean's hand.

"Mom, haven't you met Dean before?"

"No, I don't believe I have," Lorelai held her smile. "So Dean, who do you want to win the games for?"

"My little sister, Clara," some of Dean's hair fell into his face, although he quickly swept it away, "she's annoying, but pretty darn sweet for a preteen brat." Lorelai laughed.

"Well Dean, can I steal Rory away from you for a minute?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Dean walked away, leaving Rory and Lorelai with the food… and the coffee. Lorelai quickly drank a mug of it, before talking.

"Rory, want to practice with me?"

"What do you mean?" Rory asked, in between bites, "Throwing knives, or what?"

"Sure! Throwing knives will do perfectly," Lorelai bit her lip. Rory frowned.

"What's wrong, Mom?" Rory put down her burger. Lorelai looked down, before sighing. Rory didn't know what was up with Lorelai- she'd acted weird all day.

"I'm worried about Emily and Richard," Lorelai admitted. Rory was far too shocked. But Rory knew, despite the Gilmore family's rocky relationship, that they all loved each other in the end.

"I do too," Rory agreed, "they're so old… they won't make it past the Cornucopia."

Lorelai was shot back, "What? No! Mom will kill me with her bare hands if we, well, when we get into an argument right before the games! Before this she's never been legally allowed to!"

"Mom!"

"Geez, Rory. Just worrying about our well being here." Rory rolled her eyes and got back to eating.

And that's Chapter Three! My birthday's in a week, and I'm probably going to be pretty busy, but I'll also have probably enough downtime to write another chapter or two. I'm also thinking of changing my user. Anyway, what'do you think? - Newsie