Children of The Games

by mrslukecastellan

There were 4 winners of the 74th Hunger Games. Cato, Clove, Katniss, and Peeta. It's been 14 years and they are married with kids. What happens when they meet? I made some story changes. Only read if you've read the books. *STARTED EDITING CHAPTERS TO MAKE THEM GRAMMATICALLY SOUND IN JANUARY 2020 AS A NOW ADULT, BUT FELL OFF THE WAGON. STARTING TO UPDATE AGAIN IN MARCH 2023!*

9. For Your Entertainment

Chapter 9: We Train, and Train, and Then Get Scored

*UPDATED MARCH 21, 2023*

I'll be brief. I am trying to make this chapter extremely good because I feel like I could have done better with the last one (March 2023 note: I did do some editing that'll cause me to need to make a change or two down the line, but it fixed the issue I had when I was writing before- I needed to explain the lounge a little more and give it a purpose. I also changed a bit of Liz's personality so that she isn't tough all the time, and I am proud of that.)

But also, there's not much I could do when everybody is drunk, and you know when that when people are drunk, they slur their words and are completely useless, so I kept the details somewhat minimal. Here's the next chapter. Remember, keep on reviewing! You can win my little competition if you have the lucky number I pick. Are the odds in your favor?

Chapter 9- We Train, And Train, and get Scored

I wake up to Artemis screaming at me.

"Elizabeth! Get up! We have work to do,." She screeches.

I roll my eyes and sit up. I look over at the clock. 5:28 AM.

"Really? I thought I could sleep until 6." I groan.

"No. You have to be done breakfast by 6," Artemis says gently.

I climb out of bed, realizing I'm still in my costume. My shoes lay on the floor. Artemis glares at me.

"Go take a shower. Then meet me down in the dining hall." She says simply.

I make a salute and smirk at her. Then I head to the bathroom, where I know she won't come. I can get a little relaxation from all…this.

I peel off my costume and hang it up, knowing my prep team and Melody would be beyond mad if I left it on the floor. I step into the shower and flip on the icy cold water. It turns on with a snap. The cold water shocks my senses, waking me up from my sleep and getting me prepared for the day ahead. Today we start our vigorous training schedule, and I know I am going to do just splendidly. Some tributes have never trained in their lives, giving me an extra edge. Well actually, it's illegal to train before the Games, unless you go through the Academy in the Career districts. It's a trademark thing, and nobody honestly really gives a crap anymore. The non-Careers better train their butts off if they even want a chance to stay alive past the Cornucopia. And if they get that chance, I'll kill them all if I have to. But maybe someone else will take a shift in this killing spree. I am not doing all the work.

I rinse my hair out, my hair squeaking from the amount of shampoo I scrubbed through it. My conditioner has made my hair completely smooth. I turn the water off and dry off. I don't even brush my hair. It looks like I did anyway, which is odd, but I guess the Capitol has solutions for everything. I put on my green capris and a simple black tank top. I'm not going for sexy. I am training today. The goal is to be comfortable and able to move, and in the last few years, not every tribute has to wear the same thing, to allow for individuality. I pull my hair into a high ponytail and head down to breakfast. Instead of taking the elevator to the 1st-floor dining hall, I tread down the steps, getting my stamina going and my heart pumping.

I hear someone behind me and pray it isn't Miklisho or Marcus. Marcus should be asleep right now, and Miklisho is probably off with some girls making them scream for mercy. I feel a light touch on my shoulders, and out of reflex, I stop and swing my arms around, preparing to smack the person touching me. To my surprise, Luke catches my hand in mid-air and kisses it.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. I'm surprised you're not sleeping," He says, smiling at me. I look around to make sure nobody else is standing around. There aren't. There are no hidden cameras, too, it appears.

"Good morning. I lost the competition yesterday against Marcus, so I have to be up by 6. And he has to be up by 8," I answer, unable to help a yawn from slipping out.

"I wanted to get an early start at training," Luke says.

I look at him for a second. "You? Training? Early? I'd never guess," I laugh.

"OK, fine. I knew you would be here, so I came down early," He replies.

"I see you got over that hangover." I say.

"Hangover?" He asks.

"Yeah. You were drunk last night at the party. I had to take you up to your room. You were so totally out of it. You were probably worse than Haymitch," I answer.

He laughs with me and gives me a quick peck on the lips. I smile at him.

"Ready to not be in love?" I ask.

"Sure thing, I would love to." He says.

"We only have until tomorrow night to have to pretend. Then we can tell the world," I say. He nods his head and I descend the steps with him about 5 steps behind me at all times.

I get to the dining hall in record time. Artemis and my prep team, along with Melody and my parents, are all sitting at our assigned table. I sit down and pop a donut hole in my mouth. "Ta-da. I ate breakfast," I say, getting up and trying to walk to the gym. My parents protest, and Artemis says I need to eat something, but I wave off their words and go to the gym. I walk in and see the trainer eating a bagel. I don't bother him. I just go over to the knives and throw them at the wall targets. The trainer looks up and stares at me. I smirk at him and start doing push-ups. He comes over to me and stares some more. I switch to doing one-handed push-ups. I alternate from my left hand to my right and back again. I sit down and put my hands down flat, lifting up my body and holding that pose.

"May I help you?" I ask the guy. He's young, and that's coming from a literal child. His eyes are wide like saucers.

"Hello? I asked you a question. May. I. Help. You?"

"Um…no…I just….well, I saw you in the parade and thought you were amazing. And now I see that you're training privately, and it's only…." He looks at his watch briefly, then back at me. "6:19AM. Training doesn't start until about 5 hours from now." The guy replies.

"Yeah. I know. Do I look like I care? I needed to burn some calories, so I'm here. And I'm staying here until 11," I snap.

"And then you're going to regular training?" He asks.

I nod my head and roll my eyes. Then I sit back on the ground again. I stand up and go to the balance beam. I climb up and do a straddle on it, then I back flip out of it and go into a handstand with the ease of a gymnast. The guy looks perplexed from my upside-down view. I go back down into a split and lean forward; my hands hit the floor and my legs go over my head. I stick the landing and smirk at the trainer. "And I'll be coming back tomorrow. " I say. The guy rolls his eyes but doesn't protest anymore.

I walk over to the weights and start lifting, putting in reps until I can't anymore without wheezing. Then I do some yoga poses and start sparring with the trainer. He's impressed with my skills and invites me to come back and train anytime, though he informs me that if I want anyone who matters to see, I shouldn't strain so badly before everyone else is there. I wish I'd thought of that, but at least I know for next time. I bat my eyelashes and thank him in my most fake appreciative way. He tells me his name is Robin.

"That's nice," I say, walking out the door. I think I made a friend.

I check my watch. It's 10:56. I sprint to the training area and see every other tribute standing there, looking perfect. And of course, I am already coated in sweat and I look terrible probably. And I find Marcus is wearing something similar to my outfit. I am wearing a red sports bra under my black tank top and black short shorts under it. That's usually what I wear to training at home, and also what a lot of the girl tributes are wearing. Marcus wears a red tracksuit top and black basketball shorts. I pull my tank top and capri's off and I am in my new training clothes, which are not stained with sweat. Melody takes my clothes and says she's going to wash them.

I go and stand next to Marcus, who is talking to my mom about our training schedule.

"Oh, Liz, good you're here. I was just telling Marcus what stations I want you two to go to. What I want you to do is lay low. Don't show off what your best is. No combat. No knife throwing. No archery. No sparring. Keep it to camouflage and knot tying and shelter building. Take today to see who is a threat to you. Maybe find some allies. But don't show off. Other tributes will show off and they are the ones that will die first, I guarantee it. Tonight you get scored, and you can show off for them. You know what you're good at, so you should show that stuff tonight, along with anything worth using that you've learned today." My mom explains.

I nod my head and take it all in. No knife throwing, No sparring. No archery. No fighting. And no killing Marcus. I can do this.

Our head trainer, Todd, walks out to greet us. He explains what we will be doing, and how the stations work. We are training for an hour and a half, and then we break for lunch. Then we train for another hour and go back to our compartments for some downtime. Then we come back to get scored. Then the scores are broadcasted to all of Panem. That is our schedule for today. And then the real fun starts tomorrow night, when we interview with Caesar Flickerman.

Everybody streams into the training area, and we all are spreading out to our stations.

"Where should we start?" I ask.

"Let's go build some shelters," Marcus replies. We head over to the shelter building station, where a guy with lime green hair talks about the different materials that make a good shelter in different environments. Marcus tries his luck at asking if the guy knows anything about the arena, which is wildly inappropriate, and the guy rolls his eyes, then mutters "Nothing but snow." I doubt we can trust that, but we leave and go to the knot-tying station. We learn how to make different snares to catch different animals.

Todd announces we need to break for lunch, and I happily leave. Even doing nothing makes me tired. Maybe it's because I've been up since before 6 this morning. Marcus looks pretty tired too. This time, I actually eat something. Not a lot, but something so my stomach isn't empty. We finish just in time to get back to training. We work at the camouflage station for a half hour and then my parents give us permission to go do some sword fighting.

The attendant at hand is far more experienced than I am, and even he has trouble fighting me off. Sword fighting is something I can show the Gamekeepers scoring me, along with knife throwing and archery and hand-to-hand combat. Before I realize it, Marcus is telling me we need to leave. I ask him why just when the Peacekeeper comes to collect MaryAnn and Micheal. They were trying to kill others here in training, so they are missing out on the scoring for a punishment. And a punishment it is. They are missing out on an essential time when they could be gaining sponsors. The fact that they are missing the scoring will guarantee everyone thinking they are weak, and you can bet more of them will be trying to kill them as soon as we get in the arena.

We go back to our rooms and I immediately take a shower, cleaning myself off and forcing new strength in me. My stamina skyrockets and my body stops aching from the workout. I get out of there and take a nap for about an hour. When I wake up, I feel so much better. I get up and realize that I must have been more tired than I thought. I want to sleep for longer, but I can't. I have work to do. I redo my hair and walk down to dinner, saving my energy. I eat lots of high-calorie food for energy, and then I am in the bathroom puking again. My nerves are even worse than I ever dreamed they would be. I get up and splash some cold water on my face, dabbing it off with a plush towel. I walk back over to the training area and get ready for it to be my turn to go in. It won't be too long of a wait. Todd informs us that if we need anything, we should request it before we enter the area. That includes sparring partners, so I ask for a partner. Todd tells me that it will be no problem and I sit back down and wait.

I am running through my routine in my head. Pick a spot on the wall and throw five knives landing it in a straight line under the first. Then go spar with the attendant and beat the living crap out of them without doing any real damage. And then finish it out with my balance beam work, tumbling. That should help me get a really good score. You can get anywhere from a 1 to a 12, and it is very rare to get a perfect score. Even rarer to get a 0, but with MaryAnn and Micheal not here, they'll certainly join the club. Won't their parents be proud!

Marcus gets called and sprints into the area. 10 minutes later, he's back out again and smiling ear to ear. I have no idea what he did, but it was probably pretty good from what I have seen of his training. Todd calls me and I stand, striding into the area after I try and ask Marcus what he did, but he won't tell me. He says it's a secret. I don't have time to ask anything else.

I see the Gamemakers sitting there behind a table of food and alcohol. One of the benefits of being in one of the first districts is that they aren't bored with anything, and they aren't drunk when you start showing off. I go over and grab some knives. I stand at one end of the gym, and I throw my first knife. It hits the wall cleanly on the other end of the gym in a punching bag. I kneel down and throw my next one, this time landing right below the first one. Then I sit cross-legged on the ground and throw my third. It goes below the second. I do the same with the next two, throwing it with my eyes closed and landing a front aerial flip to land the last.

Then I go on to the sword fighting, picking up a random sword. This one would be heavy to anyone normal, but to me, it's easily balanced and I handle it well. I'd been practicing with things heavier than my normal for as long as I could stand it. I call the attendant and he walks over. He makes the call and I thrust, parry, and block his attacks. I land the point at his throat and poke my sword into the ground.

Then I walk to the balance beam, where I use a springboard to mount it. Then I put my arms upward, my elbows near my ears, and throw myself into a front flip, landing my feet cleanly against the thin little beam. One false move and I could plunge off and end up hurting myself. I turn around backward and do two backflips. I land cleanly. Then I slide down into a split, facing the punching bag. I kneel and roll backward, a complicated move that could have gone terribly wrong. I stand and prepare for my dismount. The final move of my little show. I get myself ready for the backflips leading into the landing. I raise my arms and take a deep breath. Then I throw myself into the flips. One, two, three, and then I ball myself up. At just the right second, I land my hands on the ground and hold myself up in a handstand. I take my left hand away, balancing on my right. Then I put my left down and pick up my right. I flip out of it and land on the floor in a straddle.

Then I get up and show the Gamemakers I appreciate them. I am such a good actress that they believe me when I thank them for allowing me to even compete in these Games. I flip and flip and flip backward, from where I stand to the door, and Todd opens the door for me. I walk out with confidence. The other tributes go in and come out in a blur. I don't pay attention to any of them.

In about an hour, all of the tributes have gone through the scoring process, and we head to the auditorium, where we will see our scores being broadcasted as we are filmed seeing them. I can barely contain my nerves, and with the camera in my face, I need to stay calm. I need to show people that I am still a contender. The scores appear like this-

District 1:

Miklisho Maccoll- 10

Silke Deprie- 8

District 2:

Marcus Shay -11

Elizabeth Hirsch -12

District 3:

Allen Schmitt- 8

Gilzira Tappington- 9

District 4:

Micheal Deluna- 0

MaryAnn Deluna-0

District 5:

Drake Hemsington -9

Jarrica Vellics- 10

District 6:

Marvin Langford- 5

Vale Gremp- 8

District 7:

Alexander Hopkins- 11

Amber Evergood-8

District 8:

Phillipe Snodgrass- 4

Leslie Nestern- 9

District 9:

Devin Crane- 10

Lindi Reiter- 5

District 10:

Beck Mason -7

Turnfina Starr- 6

District 11:

Jacob Hastings -11

Katrina Hayes -11

District 12:

Luke Mellark -10

Alice Dawson -6

I couldn't be happier. I have pulled the highest score this year. My parents congratulate me, Artemis doesn't yell at me, Marcus scowls and I smirk at the cameras.

"Watch out!" I exclaim to the camera. I wink and walk out with everyone else, going back to my room.

OK, so what did you think? And I just wanted to quickly say that in this, the Third Quarter Quell, AKA the 75th Hunger Games, did not have Peeta and Katniss or Clove and Cato competing. I am pretending that the quell was boys only and only Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 had to compete. So that would mean that Katniss didn't get a 12 as a score as she did in Catching Fire during the Quell, making Liz's score even more rare and fun. Please, let me know what you think and enter my review contest to get to make a big decision. I am picking a random number, so you want to review as much as possible for a better chance of winning. May the odds be ever in your favor. Delicious Love, MrsLukeCastellan