Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled or the Hunger Games.
Eugene woke up to a freezing room. He burrowed deeper into his bed to try to fight off the cold. After he realizes he can't fall back asleep, he decides to go out for a walk. Eugene quietly gets dressed and leaves the orphanage without waking the others up. There was one place where he could clear his mind. The woods.
He passes through the empty streets full of locked doors and closed shutters. Most of the people are still sleeping. The orphanage is close to the fence that separates the district from the wild. Eugene quickly goes to the electric fence and listenes for the hum of the electricity that means it's live. After hearing nothing, he crawls under a weak spot of the fence. It's almost always silent but he wants to be safe.
Eugene takes his hunting weapons out of a hollowed tree. It's too risky bringing his weapons back to the orphanage. The headmistress would surely turn him in to the peacekeepers. She isn't exactly the friendliest of sorts. But she will gladly take the hard earned money Eugene gets from poaching. He does manage to keep some of his money from her. He'll need it if he is to leave the orphanage soon. Eugene has officially just turned eighteen and that means he doesn't have much time before the orphanage will stop supporting him. When you turn eighteen, the orphanage gives you a month to get things together before kicking you out.
Eugene quickly makes his way through the forest to where he always goes to think. It's a rock ledge that overlooks the valley. He finds his best friend, Jack, staring out at the valley.
"What are you doing out here so early?" says Eugene. Jack is startled to hear Eugene's voice.
"I just needed to get away." Eugene understood. Today is the day of the reaping. It's hard on everyone.
"C'mon and help me check the traps." says Eugene. Jack follows without a word. They check the snares to find a single rabbit.
"That's barely going to get us anything!" Jack exclaims.
"Don't worry about it," Eugene says annoyed. He has a feeling Jack would be a pain today and he doesn't want to deal with Jack criticizing every single thing that happens.
They gather blackberries and strawberries. Eugene catches a few squirrels while Jack goes fishing. By noon, they have a gallon of berries, seven squirrels, and six fish. After getting back into the district, they head towards the Hob to trade their catch. The Hob is the black market that runs where the abandoned warehouse for coal once was. Most of the businesses are closed around this time on reaping day, but the black market is still fairly busy. After some haggling, they manage to trade the fish for some good bread and a few squirrels for goat cheese.
As they head out of the Hob, a gold pin catches Eugene's eye. He slowly walks past the vendor, snatching the pin when she turns around to help a customer. "Really, a pin?" Jack asks as they leave the Hob.
"What? It's a really nice pin." Eugene defends. Next, they head towards the mayor's house. The mayor's daughter, Rapunzel, uses the berries to make paint. Before they can knock, Rapunzel excitedly opens the door. She is sixteen years old and in the same year as Jack. She spends her free time selling candles at the Hob. Eugene sees her from time to time when he trades at the Hob. She is very friendly towards everyone but for some reason keeps to herself.
Today, her usual drab dress is replaced with an expensive purple dress. Her brown hair has a little pin that tucked back a part of her hair back, revealing more of her face.
"Hey Blondie," says Eugene.
"Hi Eugene. Hi Jack," she says excited to have someone to talk to, "And I told you my name's not Blondie. I'm not even blonde."
"Yeah, but the original Rapunzel had blonde hair so you're Blondie to me," replies Eugene.
"You look really pretty today," Jack interrupts.
"Thank you," says Rapunzel looking down with a smile. A small blush creeps up on her cheeks. "I need to look nice for the Capitol."
"Don't worry, Rapunzel. You're not going anywhere near the capitol." Jack says with uneasiness. Any talk of the Capitol and the reaping doesn't settle well with Jack. "You only have five entries. The rest of us actually have stuff to worry about."
Rapunzel's smile fades and is replaced with shame. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"I know what you meant." Jack replies. He's begining to get angry.
"Jack! Leave it," Eugene warns.
Rapunzel put the money for the berries in Eugene's hand. She gives a "Good luck," and returns inside the house.
Jack can't help but be mad at Rapunzel even though he knows it's not her fault. She's the mayor's daughter which means she doesn't need to take out tesserae. Others, like orphans, were hungry and needed the tesserae desperately. Each time you take tesserae, your name is entered more times into the Hunger Games. That means they have a more chance of getting reaped.
Eugene and Jack start walking back to the orphanage. "You know, for someone with a crush, you sure were mean to her." says Eugene.
"I don't have a crush!" Jack exclaims, "Plus, she shouldn't be talking like that."
"She didn't mean anything by it," Eugene replies.
"Well, she shouldn't be so careless."
They walk the rest of the way back to the orphanage in silence. Jack is still fuming about Rapunzel when they arrive. The headmistress is waiting outside for them. They give her the bread, goat cheese, and money they earned. This is their routine. "That's all?" the headmistress says suspiciously. They usually bring her more.
"Bad day," replies Eugene. She lets them carry on inside where the others were waiting. Upon seeing them return, the little kids run up to Eugene to ask for stories. He always tells the children wild tales to entertain them but not today. The reaping day has put him off of his usual tales of adventure. Jack and Eugene help to get everyone ready for the reaping. The children need to be washed and dressed in somewhat nice clothing.
After everyone else is ready, Eugene goes to the bathroom and washes away the sweat and dirt from the woods. The tub is cold but he's used to it after years of bathing there. After his bath, he dries himself off and dresses himself in brown pants with an off-white shirt. He puts on his father's nice blue vest and leather boots.
His father's blue vest and boots are all that is left of him. His father died in a coal mine explosion. His mother couldn't take care of him by herself so she put Eugene into the orphanage. He had been four years old when his mother left him with nothing but his father's boots and vest.
By the time everyone is ready, it is time to head for the square. Before leaving, Eugene dumps money out from his boot and hides it under the floorboards to join the rest of the savings he has built up away from the headmistress's prying eyes.
Eugene silently files into place and signs in. He is herded into the group of eighteen year olds. He looks towards the sixteens to find Jack wearing a blue hooded jacket, staring right back at him. He turns his attention toward the stage where there are two bowls, one for the boys and one for the girls. His name will be written twenty-eight times in the boy's bowl. He remembers that Jack has twenty entries.
The orphanage wouldn't last very long if the orphans weren't forced by the headmistress to put their names in extra times for tesserae. The headmistress takes their tesserae supplies to keep the orphanage running. The District mayor is too busy with other important matters to worry whether or not the orphans are being taken care of properly.
There are three chairs up on the stage along with the two bowls that held the names for the boys and girls. Two of the chairs held Rapunzel's father, Mayor Corona, who is a tall, bearded man, and Effie Trinket, District 12's escort, who looked fresh from the capitol with her huge, white grin, far too pink hair, and green suit. They were both murmuring to each other about the person who belonged in the empty chair. The mayor stops for a moment, gives a smile to his frantically waving daughter, and continues discussing the empty chair.
As the town clock strikes two, the mayor steps up and begins reading the same thing he does every year. Eugene tunes him out. He already has the entire speech memorized. He knows word for word about the history of Panem. How it rose out of what was left of North America. He knew about the natural disasters, the brutal war, and the result that was Panem. Eugene knew about the Capitol that was ringed with thirteen districts and how the twelve districts were defeated while the thirteenth was completely obliterated. How the Treaty of Treason that gave the new laws to guarantee peace and the yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, and how it gave them the Hunger Games.
The Hunger Games are the punishment for the uprising. Each district must give one boy and one girl, the tributes, to participate in the games. A total of twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in the vast outdoor arena that can hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen tundra. Over a period of several weeks, the tributes have to fight each other to the death. The last tribute standing wins the Hunger Games.
This is how the Capitol keeps everyone in check. It sickens Eugene how the Hunger Games are treated like a festivity. But the rewards for surviving the Games are great, especially if you live in the poorer areas of the districts. Winning means no more entries into the Hunger Games. Winning means money, food, and luxury. No longer worrying if today will be their last.
The mayor starts reading the previous victors of District 12. In all seventy-four years of the Hunger Games, there have only been two victors. Only one victor is still alive. Paul Tompkins, also known as Shorty, drunkenly walks up onto the stage and falls into the third chair. Shorty is in his fifties and is almost never seen sober.
The mayor tries to get the drunken man to appear more presentable since the reaping is being televised. Eugene, along with everyone else, laughs when Shorty tries to plant a kiss on Effie Trinket. Effie barely manages to push Shorty off of her. The mayor tries taking the attention away from Shorty by introducing Effie Trinket. She walks up to the podium and begins with her signature, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" She fixes her wig that was moved by Shorty's sneak attack kiss. She talks about how she is honored to be here. Eugene rolls his eyes, knowing she would rather be in a district with proper Victors rather than drunken kissers.
Eugene looks to Jack to see a small smile playing on his lips. Eugene himself is trying to contain his laughter of Effie and Shorty's little fiasco. Effie begins to draw first from the girls' names as she always does. She reaches in and pulls out a thin slip of paper. Everyone is suddenly quiet. No one is laughing anymore. "Rapunzel Corona!"
She was the last person anyone would expect to be drawn for the reaping. Eugene turns to see a startled Rapunzel trying to hold back tears. She slowly walks up to the podium. Her purple dress swaying with each step. Rapunzel stays quiet as Effie greets her.
"And now for the boys!" says Effie.
She reaches into the boys' bowl and pulls out the paper. He holds his breath. Please don't be me. Please don't be me. He repeats over and over in his head. She goes back to the podium and reads the name. "Eugene Fitzherbert!"
The odds are not in his favor.