Welcome to wonderland
Where should we go
There's a tea party along down the road
Make an appearance and maybe they'll sing us a song
Felix Quintus
District 2, He/Him, 18
(Training Centre)
[5.50 AM]
...
I leave my plate still filled with food, having only taken a bite out of my toast, and head toward the elevator. Ranger follows me, although, their plate is completely empty which doesn't help with the nerves. I woke up this morning with an overwhelming sense of pressure to do well during my Private Session with the Gamemakers, something I had thought very little about until now. Of course, I'm prepared, the Academy forced us to have a complete plan for it and I've rehearsed it countless times over the past few months.
Things can go wrong, though, especially during the sparring. What if the opponent they put me up against is more skilled? What if I lose? It's a possibility that there's no preparation for and therefore one that causes this new feeling of nervousness that I've always had a lack of - making this very inconvenient timing for it to start setting it. The elevator doors slide open with a ding and Ranger and I, along with the pair from Five and Ten, make our way into the Training Centre. We have about thirty minutes to practice before the Private Sessions begin so I set out to find Wells, knowing Quincy isn't going to want anything to do with me at the moment.
As expected, I found him in the first place I looked. He's lifting heavy weights and throwing them at a dummy, it likely won't be much use in the Games but we decided his best bet with the Gamemakers would be to prove his strength and muscle. Since yesterday morning, he's been consistently working to hit the dummy with the weights to also show off his accuracy and, by this morning, he can do it with little to no effort.
"Very good," I say from behind him, clapping. He turns and smiles when he sees me.
"How are you feeling?" He asks and I suddenly worry that my nerves are obvious, I've never had a whole lot of practice trying to mask them of course. As much as I trust Wells, I don't want him to see me as weak because, at the end of the day, I'm only keeping him around to be my follower. It's horrible, in a way, and I feel slightly guilty as the two of us are beginning to become somewhat friends. Friends isn't what I'm here for, though. What's the point of having a friend for only a couple of weeks? No, honour and glory are what I'm here for and that has to be the ultimate goal because my emotions taking over will lead to nothing good.
So why can't this damn shakiness go away?
"Uhm, yeah, you know. I'm doing alright, I've been prepared for this for a while." I mumble and he nods, the two of us speak very little about the Academy as I notice how uncomfortable it makes him. I'm not sure what exactly it is evoking the emotion, possibly the idea of training to kill. But lots of people are trained to kill, Peacekeepers for one, so it's difficult for me to understand from his point of view. "Do you mind sparring with me a couple of times? I won't go too hard." His eyebrows furrow a little and I can tell he's conflicted between practising for his own Session and helping me with mine.
"I think I'd like to make sure I've got this down if that's okay?" He asks with a little hesitance. I'm surprised, I wasn't expecting him to stand his ground like that. Perhaps he's becoming a little bit too comfortable in this alliance. For now, though, there's no point fighting him for control so I head down to the sparring ring alone to see if I can get a Peacekeeper to help me out. When I get there, however, I immediately wish I could turn back.
"Looking for a sparring partner?" Scylla says, a sarcastically sweet smile spreading across her face. My wanting to turn back isn't caused by fear of losing, I simply don't want to piss Scylla off any more than I have already. It's clear that she can hold a grudge and an enemy will certainly make things tricky for me in the arena, especially if she has a consistently growing vendetta against me. At the same time, backing down will show her and others that I'm weak, that I'm afraid. And my Father has brought me up well enough for me to know the dishonour that those emotions hold.
"I could use a little practice before my Session," I say, shrugging and keeping my voice calm and even.
"Great!" She says, grabbing a sword off of the rack and heading into the ring. I follow, clearing my mind to prepare for the fight. We stand on opposite sides of the ring, each of us facing the other. "Ready?"
"Ready."
"3, 2, 1." At 1, I stay in position as she begins to approach me. As she comes closer, I take a couple of steps forward and pounce, jabbing at her torso. She parries my attack but that's to be expected. Besides, to win so easily would not be much practice for me at all. Next, she strikes at my arm and I have to jump aside to be able to dodge the attack. From there, I slice at her side but she's already pushing my sword back.
We continue like this for another few minutes. One attacking, one defending and then repeat. I'm starting to get tired and know I have to finish the fight quickly if I want to win. I attack, and Scylla defends. Now, if the pattern continues, she'll be expected to attack next. Except, that's not what happens. Immediately after she defends, I jump at her and tackle her to the floor. It feels wrong to do so, my whole life I've been taught to be chivalrous and yet, here I am, pinning a woman to the floor with my sword at her neck.
"I win," I say, panting down at her.
"Nuh-uh." She smiles, and that's when I realise the dagger poking against my stomach. "I guess it's a draw, be ready for round two in the Arena."
Malory Black
District 11, She/Her, 17
(Training Centre)
[6.30 AM]
...
"All tributes, please gather around." A voice booms, causing us all to make our way to the man who stands in the centre of the room. He's tall and dressed in all red which would be a dead giveaway of who he is if I didn't already know his name but, of course, everyone knows his name. It's Red Beaumont, Head Gamemaker and husband to the President of Panem. He's surrounded by five Peacekeepers which leads me to search for the boy from Three and the girl from Seven, I find them hanging at the back of the group looking nervous.
When the boy came in wearing a sling, I watched as The Careers taunted him. If it were back home and it was a bunch of bullies picking on a little kid, I likely would've said something. Not here, though, the Careers aren't just bullies but killers and this place is as far away from home as it can get. No point making a target out of myself to simply defend a boy who is as good as dead, as horrible as it is to think.
"As you all know, we'll be starting the Private Sessions shortly. You'll all have a maximum time limit of ten minutes, meaning this is expected to take around four hours." I almost let out a groan at that because District Eleven is, unfortunately, going to be one of the last to be seen. Meaning, that I'll have to wait up to four hours for my Session to actually begin. Perfect, more time to worry and overthink. "You can choose any skill that we have provided at our stations. Impress us." He gives us a wink and then begins to walk away, we're all unsure whether we're supposed to follow him until the Peacekeepers begin herding us in a different direction.
We enter a steel security door at the side of the room and are led into a long hallway with twenty-four chairs placed against the side of it.
"Take your seats starting with the District One Male and ending with the District Twelve Female." The Peacekeeper barks and everyone silently takes their places, myself being next to Odalis and Smith. I'm grateful to have Odalis next to me, although we likely won't be able to talk, it makes me feel a little better to not have to go through these hours of anticipation alone. I give him a small smile and he returns it before looking back down to his lap. He's become increasingly shy ever since Enver and Cybill joined us and I assume he just isn't very good at speaking in large groups.
"Robert Smith." A voice calls through a speaker and the boy from One stands up, a Peacekeeper guiding him into another door. It's ten minutes filled with silence and boredom until Robert exits the room, his face pink and sweaty but smiling nonetheless. God, how am I going to survive another twenty of these before it's my turn? The time doesn't pass any quicker as the One girl and pair from Two finish up their sessions.
Then, it's the boy from Three and Cybill. I try to give Cybill a thumbs up in encouragement before she goes in but she doesn't look my way. She exits about eight minutes later, her expression neutral so I can't tell whether she's done well. A couple of hours later it's Enver's turn, he waves to Odalis and me before entering the room. Ten minutes later, he exits and grins wildly.
"It went so well!" He whispers excitedly to Odalis and me.
"No talking!" A Peacekeeper shouts, causing him to grimace and hurry away. I'm starting to realise that that's just what Enver's like, not great with social cues or even socially in general. Despite that, I can tell he's well-meaning and have developed a great sense of trust with him. I mean, how could a kid like that stab me in the back?
Finally, it's Odalis' turn. I give his arm a squeeze before he stands up and heads into the other room. He exits earlier than most others, taking about six minutes, he's frowning slightly and my heart drops as he avoids eye contact with me. I assume he wasn't able to land many shots with the bow and arrow, it was always going to be a long shot anyway but he wanted to give it a go.
After hours of waiting, my name sounds over the speaker and I make my way into the other room. It's large with grey walls, floor and ceiling giving it a very dark and intimidating atmosphere. The Gamemakers sit in a glass box, very high up, eating lunch and looking down on me. I take a deep breath and head over to a few sticks and flint and steel which I assume is for fire making. I build the fire quickly, creating a teepee of sticks, then add some kindling. Finally, I strike the flint against the steel and sparks fly out. A fire doesn't start, though. In fact, it takes me around three minutes before I can finally get one going and, by then, half my time is up.
"Is that all, Miss Black?" Someone says from the box, he doesn't sound very impressed.
"No." I squeak then head over to the archery, I gave it a couple of tries with Odalis yesterday but wasn't able to hit anything. Without thinking, I grab the bow off its rack and knock an arrow into it like the Peacekeeper at the station had demonstrated. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and shoot just hoping it hits anywhere on the target. I hear the sound as it does and my eyes flash open in surprise. It's then that I realise.
I got a bullseye.
Marya Linder
District 12, She/Her, 17
(Floor Twelve)
[4.55 PM]
...
I curl up on the couch, a fluffy pink blanket wrapped around me. It's not that it's particularly cold but the extra sense of comfort helps soothe my nerves as I anxiously anticipate the training scores. Saxony, Ephron and Sky joined Smith and me in our penthouse a couple of hours ago after the completion of the Private Sessions, since then we've been talking about how we think we did and waiting for the clock to turn to 5 p.m
"Only three minutes now," Ephron says from beneath me, he and Sky sit on the floor leaning against the couch while Saxony, Smith and I have managed to squeeze onto it together. "God, who knew three minutes took so long?" He mutters and I laugh, squeezing his shoulders as a form of comfort. He reminds me a lot of the Winchester kids with his jokes and his playful energy, I've quickly taken a liking to him and have become rather protective over him since we met yesterday.
"One minute now," Saxony says from the other side of the couch, Smith is between the two of us, and she nervously taps her fingers against the armrest. I begin to count down in my head as I stare at the clock. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. I take a deep breath and focus my attention on the TV that flashes on, a dark-skinned woman with a bright pink up-do hairstyle and matching pink eyes.
"Hello Panem! I am Helena Cove, Master of Ceremonies." She says excitedly. "And oh, do I have a treat for you." She looks down at the notepad placed in front of her before looking back up and giving a wink. "That's right, here in front of me are the tribute training scores! For the last three days, twenty-four tributes have been consistently enhancing their skills in order to show them before the Gamemakers. These are the Gamemakers' judgements." She pauses dramatically and flashing words appear on the bottom of the screen.
Tomorrow is the last day left to make your bets! Please contact your local Government building in order to do so.
I frown in disgust. Seriously, they're betting on us? Do they have no moral compass? It astounds me how out of touch the Capitolites are with the people of the Districts, they've been taught to treat us like animals. Simply because we were born in a different location! It's absurd.
"We'll start with District One..." She says. "Robert Smith with a score of 10. Aisling Dagné with a score of 9." No surprise there, they've been training their whole lives for this and yet we're expected to compete against them. Smith recommended we work with them at one point but I put my foot down, I refuse to associate with their barbaric nature. Who trains to kill people, not just people but innocent children?
The pair from Two are next. Felix receives a score of 10 and Ranger a score of 11. The tension in the air only increases at the confirmation of them both being killing machines, especially Ranger who is already intimidating as it is.
Then the pair from Three, I'm curious to see how Rowan did because of his broken arm. When he came into training this morning, I immediately wanted to protect him and invite him into our alliance. Smith and Saxony didn't hesitate to tell me how terrible of an idea it was. Rowan ends up getting a 2 and I sigh sadly, I had a little hope that he could do better but this only solidifies the target on his back. Cybill, surprisingly, receives a score of 6 which is high for a young outlier tribute.
The scores of the pair from Four aren't a shock with Quincy receiving a score of 10 and Scylla an 11. We can only hold out hope that the two rival alliances target each other in the Arena and kill each other off. That would be ideal because I know for a fact fighting them won't work in my favour.
The pair from Five both get scores of seven, it would be ideal to avoid the two of them as well.
Six is next and I place my hands on Ephron's shoulders, he's shaking slightly. "Ephron Amos with a score of...4," Helena announces and he sighs, whether in relief or disappointment, I can't tell. He told us that he managed to climb a fifteen-foot-tall climbing wall but wasn't sure how impressed the Gamemakers would be by it.
"That's great, Ephron. Well done." Sky says, smiling reassuringly at him before looking back to the screen to wait for her own score.
"Sky Mastroianni with a score of...5."
"Nice one, Sky!" I say and she grins, Saxony gives her a pat on the shoulder.
Helena moves on to District Seven with Enver getting a score of 6 and Conifer a 4. Again, I feel sympathetic toward Conifer as her alliance with Rowan is certainly going to be seen as the weakest after this. The Careers do enjoy easy kills at the bloodbath and I can only hope that my score won't make me one of them.
"Onto District 8...Wells Bobbin with a score of 6 and Saxony Hampton, also, with a score of 6." Helena says and Saxony lets out a cheer. We all clap for her and give her our praises, as far as I'm aware she seems to have made a talent for knife-throwing.
The boy from Nine, Adam, receives a score of 7 which is the highest outlier score yet. It's to be expected, though, he's a volunteer and is very strongly built with broad shoulders and large muscles. It did surprise me that he chose to align with Kaylee, who gets a score of 3, but I'm glad she has somebody to protect her. Even if she won't survive for long, at least she won't be completely helpless.
Ossian, the boy from Ten, receives a score of 3. As far as I can tell, he and Ranger are the only people without alliances so I don't have a whole lot of hope for him. Dahlia gets a score of 4.
As District Eleven is announced, my legs begin to bounce with nerves. Malory receives a score of 7 which, if I'm honest, takes me aback. I never saw her doing anything of interest in training but I suppose she was hiding her true skills. Odalis gets a score of 2, marking him as the worst along with Rowan. I can only hope that I won't be joining that club.
"Now, our final tributes of the night. District Twelve." I take a deep breath and close my eyes. "Smithsonian Caldera with a score of 7." Damn, he did well. I know he's good with a sword but to get a 7? "And finally, Marya Linder with a score of 6."
I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders with that and smile sheepishly as everyone cheers.
A six, I can work with that.
To: ID#1928302AA
Catalyst Beaumont, President of Panem
Subject: Private Sessions - 24th Hunger Games
From: ID#19274729AB
Red Beaumont
Tribute: Robert Smith, D1M
Age: 18
Score: 10
Notes: Robert showed great skill with a sword, beating his trained opponent unanimously.
Tribute: Aisling Dagné, D1F
Age: 18
Score: 9
Notes: Aisling showed outstanding intelligence in survival skills. They also attempted sword fighting and were successful in one round.
Tribute: Felix Quintus, D2M
Age: 18
Score: 10
Notes: Felix was accurate and deadly with a spear and beat his trained opponent in sword fighting 2 out of 3 times.
Tribute: Ranger Saladin, D2F
Age: 18
Score: 11
Notes: Ranger showed proficiency with a range of weapons - axe, sword and spear - proving themselves deadly with any weapon.
Tribute: Rowan Castro, D3M
Age: 15
Score: 2
Notes: Rowan attempted knife throwing, missing every single shot. He then fought with a sword against his trained opponent and lost every round. Points were given for dodging a couple of swings that came his way.
Tribute: Cybill Kaminski, D3F
Age: 14
Score: 6
Notes: Cybill was very skilled in trap-making, demonstrating her ability to create her own deadly weapons with limited resources.
Tribute: Quincy Abraham, D4M
Age: 18
Score: 10
Notes: Quincy demonstrated his abilities in axe throwing and wrestling, proving to be a dominant and powerful force.
Tribute: Scylla Minali, D4F
Age: 18
Score: 11
Notes: Likely the most skilled with a sword this year, swift on her feet and taking out her trained opponent with ease. She also showed her abilities with a trident, throwing them and hitting all her targets.
Tribute: Marcus Russel, D5M
Age: 18
Score: 7
Notes: Marcus is, physically, very strong and proved this when wrestling a trained opponent. He proceeded to rip apart a dummy with his bare hands in a fit of rage which was a little dramatic but got across his ruthlessness.
Tribute: Nicole Gatsby, D5F
Age: 17
Score: 7
Notes: Nicole showed impressive aim with a crossbow and skills in acrobatics. She also managed to mix a poison, showing us a large variety of skills.
Tribute: Ephron Amos, D6M
Age: 15
Score: 4
Notes: Climbed a fifteen-foot climbing wall, showing agility and some upper-body strength.
Tribute: Sky Mastroianni, D6F
Age: 18
Score: 5
Notes: Showed some great knowledge of survival skills, able to create a fire and organise plants into their designated categories with only a couple of mistakes.
Tribute: Enver Naledi-Alder, D7M
Age: 16
Score: 6
Notes: Enver built a solid shelter in only eight minutes and went on to organise plans into their designated categories, getting only one wrong.
Tribute: Conifer Smith, D7F
Age: 16
Score: 4
Notes: Connie managed to light a fire after seven minutes of trying, she then attempted to throw knives and missed every shot but earned a point for being relatively close.
Tribute: Wells Bobbin, D8M
Age: 17
Score: 6
Notes: Wells showed great strength by throwing heavy weights at a dummy with sufficient accuracy, he also did a few pull-ups at the last minute.
Tribute: Saxony Hampton, D8F
Age: 16
Score: 6
Notes: Saxony showed her impressive endurance, agility and flexibility in a number of different exercises. She was also able to hit one out of three shots with throwing knives.
Tribute: Adam Cooper, D9M
Age: 18
Score: 7
Notes: Adam showed his skills in hand-to-hand combat and impressive speed.
Tribute: Kaylee Vy, D9F
Age: 13
Score: 3
Notes: Kaylee used up all her time attempting to make a fire, only able to create a few sparks. She then politely asked if we could give her a score above 2.
Tribute: Ossian Rasmus, D10M
Age: 14
Score: 3
Notes: Ossian managed to climb a fifteen-foot climbing wall and then dangled by his feet from a rope for the next nine minutes which was rather boring.
Tribute: Dahlia Lucretia, D10F
Age: 17
Score: 4
Notes: She told one of my Gamemakers that his dead wife was in the room and that she knew what he had done. This did cause him to faint and I later found out it was true which is creepy but somewhat impressive.
Tribute: Odalis Witherell, D11M
Age: 14
Score: 2
Notes: Odalis gave the bow and arrows a go and didn't land a single shot, although, managed to get close once.
Tribute: Malory Black, D11F
Age: 17
Score: 7
Notes: Malory was to make a fire faster than most others as well as land a bullseye with the bow and arrow.
Tribute: Smithsonian Caldera, D12M
Age: 18
Score: 7
Notes: Smith showed proficiency with a sword and, along with that, agility and quick-thinking in his fighting abilities.
Tribute: Marya Smith, D12F
Age: 17
Score: 6
Notes: Marya showed more than adequate survival skills, building a sufficient shelter and starting a fire.
A/N: Screamsss, we're getting so close. Interviews are up next and then we have the final night!
Alliances:
Robert, Aisling and Scylla
Marcus and Nicole
Malory, Odalis, Cybill and Enver
Sky, Ephron, Saxony, Marya and Smith
Quincy, Felix and Wells
Adam, Kaylee and Dahlia
- Neb