Author Games: The Last Cannon

TASK ONE: Training Entries

District 2 Male - STERLING EVEREST

It was incredibly difficult to focus on Training when all the other Careers were being so impossibly loud. My head rested in my hands, and my eyes were clenched shut in an attempt to block the others out. The Trainers always told us that taking tdeep breaths would help us focus, but when I took in a breath, all I could smell was perfume and cologne, each fighting with the other to be the prettiest smell in the room. It was enough to make me gag.

There was a crackle over the speakers, and then Cosmo's name was called. Lifting my head up off my knees, I turned to wish her good luck in her session, and, rather than coming face to face with Cosmo, I came face to face with her breasts.

"Whoops," she giggled. She winked flirtatiously, proving beyond any doubt that the booby trap hadn't been an accident, before she turned and walked towards the Training Center.

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, suddenly aware of the fact that literally every pair of eyes in the room was on me. The tributes from the other Districts quickly looked away, but the other Careers weren't nearly as forgiving.

"Did you see his face?" Thorne, I refused to call him by his ridiculous nickname, laughed. "His eyes practically popped out of his head!"

"I'm glad that didn't happen to me before I went in," Samus grinned. "I wouldn't have been able to focus on Training at all."

"I mean, your brain needs all the blood it can get," Naerissa said.

"My brain gets plenty of blood," replied Samus.

"I guess you're right," Naerissa frowned, glancing down quickly at his crotch. "And it's not like you'd lose much anyway."

The other Careers howled with laughter at Samus. We weren't allowed to physically fight each other yet, but verbal spars were permitted, sometimes even encouraged. If we were being scored based off our ability to argue, Naerissa would easily get a twelve. It probably hadn't even been ten minutes since the last time she made everyone laugh like that. Last time, though, it had been at Cosmo's expense.

Only Valeria didn't seem at all bothered by the noise that the rest of us were making. She offered me a short smile when she saw I was looking at her, but that was the only sign that she was at all aware of what was going on. When she wanted to, she went into an entirely different world, her focus was unbearable. Maybe that was why she was the top female trainee. I'd have to learn that trick from her sometime.

"Sterling Everest," the same announcer called, his voice just barely rising over the clamor of ten teenagers laughing and joking with one another.

I stood up, trying my best not to let my nerves get the best of me. Nervousness was not an unfamiliar feeling to me, but it seemed like it got worse every time. Now I wasn't just fighting for the chance to enter the Games, I was actually fighting for my life. All the noise turned into one big blur of sound as I walked to the door, which opened automatically for me. The second I passed through the doors, they shut behind me, and the noise wasn't just a blur. It was gone entirely.

It was only then that I realized just how much I liked the noise.

"Please come forward, and begin your session, we don't have any time to waste," one of the Gamemakers said, their voice filled with urgency. Once again, I was reminded that this was not a normal Games. Twice as many tributes meant twice as much time scoring them. I certainly didn't envy the Gamemakers.

With a brisk nod, I jogged towards the bow and arrows station. I hadn't really decided on much for my private training session, but I had decided I would use the bow first. The bow I had used for most of Training, a silver one that seemed like it was sized just for me, hung neatly on the rack, just I had left it.