The Hunger Games One Shots

65th Hunger Games (pt2)

Jacob and Valerian

"Today, you'll be training for the Games. Whatever you do, don't show off your skills. We don't want the other tributes to know what you're capable of. Try new things. You don't know what you're going to be thrown into so you want to have as much training as possible." Haymitch rambled, pacing back and forth across the room. Something in his character changed. Maybe it was the way the crowd cheered for them during the parade. Or maybe he felt a little obligated to help them.

"What if you don't have any skills?" Valerian spoke up, her soft voice echoing in the large room. Her blue eyes were bloodshot and her face was red and puffy. It was obvious she had spent her night crying instead of sleeping.

"I'm sure you have something," Effie grinned, her blue hair tied in a loose bow. "Everyone is good at something."

"Not when you're a shoemaker." She muttered under her breath, her eyes darting to the large windows. Jacob and Haymitch both let out a small sigh. The merchant kids never really stood a chance against the rest of the tributes. Sure, their life isn't full of rainbows and butterflies, but it's a lot easier than most kids in District 12.

"Jacob," Haymitch spoke up, moving on from the subject. "What can you do?"

Jacob combed down his dark locks and shifted in his seat. "Well, I have good experience with snares." He replied. Jacob had been feeding his family of four for the past three years on snares alone.

"Alright. Good means of food. And you can capture someone." Haymitch nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, if you think you've prepared them, I should be taking them downstairs now," Effie declared, standing up from her spot. Haymitch nodded, beginning to walk off. "Come, come!"

xxx

They were immediately overwhelmed with the strength and determination of the Careers. Valerian proved that she was good at making fish hooks. She had tiny fingers that could easily tie the knots. She also wasn't so bad at throwing knives.

Jacob stayed away from the snares, though his gut instinct was to immediately run over there and show off his skills. But he chose to listen to the drunk. After all, Haymitch had won a Quarter Quell.

Instead, he learned more about some edible plants. There was no guarantee that there would be live game, so he had to find some food to survive. He might as well know some plants to eat. He glanced over his shoulder, the blonde girl now watching him. "I don't like being by myself." She whispered in his ear.

He glanced behind her, seeing the Careers staring at her as if she was quick snack. No wonder she didn't like being alone. "You can join me. I'm just going through these plants." He shrugged.

Valerian smiled, taking a seat beside him. "So, um, I know we're supposed to be rivals and all, but, for the first couple of days, would you mind being my ally?" She asked. Jacob was slightly taken back. The idea of working with someone else was never really part of his plan.

But the more he looked at her, he knew she wouldn't survive more than a few days without him. "Yeah, sure. I suppose we could team up for a little while in the beginning." He agreed.

"Thank you." She whispered, her blue eyes looking into his gray ones. He nodded his head, then looked back at the book.

"Here," he stated, placing one into her hands. "You can study the edible plants in a jungle and I'll study the ones in a forest." He explained. She nodded her head and licked her lips. She flipped through the pages so fast that Jacob thought it was nearly impossible for her to memorize any of them.

But when they took the test, she was almost completely right. She missed a few, but didn't pick any that were poisonous. Valerian might not have brute strength to defend herself or fight anyone, but she was very smart. That would help her.

xxx

She let out a shaky sigh, pulling her blonde hair back.

Jacob softly chuckled, glancing at her. "Nervous?"

She nodded her head and softly laughed. "A little. I don't want to mess up." Valerian responded.

"You'll be okay. Just do your best. That's all you can do." He said, giving her a soft smile. Valerian had grown on him over the past few days. At first, he thought she was some stuck up merchant kid, but in reality, she was actually very humble.

"You too." She replied.

"Jacob Henderson, District 12." A voice declared. Jacob gave Valerian's hand a quick squeeze then went into the room. He could finally showoff his snaring skills. Quickly, his hands went to work, setting the perfect trap.

"Valerian Cartwright, District 12." A voice declared. It was already her turn? Jacob was already done? She rose from her seat and quietly entered the room. She grabbed a few knives and threw at a couple of dummies.

It hit most of them, which she was proud of, especially since she was shaking like crazy. For the remainder of her assessment, she showed off her smarts. She hoped that would be enough to prove that she was a competitor in these Games.

xxx

"Hurry! Hurry!" Effie rushed, pushing everyone into the living room to watch for their scores. Valerian and Jacob weren't really worried. The gamemakers didn't really pay attention to them, so they figured they won't get high scores anyway.

"So what did you two do, anyway?" Haymitch asked, eyeing the two tributes.

"I just showed them my snares." Jacob answered, shrugging his shoulder.

"And I threw a couple of knives and showed that I knew which plants were edible," Valerian added. "Nothing out of the ordinary. I bet they had already seen someone else perform the same skill, just with better aim."

Haymitch nodded and everyone went silent, watching everyone's scores flew past on the television. There were a few low scores and few high scores, but nothing too surprising. "Jacob Henderson, District 12 with a score of 8."

Quickly, everyone congratulated him then went quiet. "Valerian Cartwright, District 12 with a score of 6."

Everyone congratulated her, patting her in the back, telling her what a good job she did. In the inside, she knew it wasn't that great. It would only be about 50% on a test. That wasn't good.

"You two should get some sleep. You have a busy day coming up," Haymitch spoke up, leading them to their rooms. When they were out of earshot, he lowered his voice and his head. "You need to make a good impression during your interview. That's your last hope for sponsors."

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