Part 1: Tribute

Jules looked around the room. It was quiet, soundless, and unusual. Of course it was unusual, today was the reaping. Jules left her bedroom. She had no idea where her seventeen year old brother, Darren was, but saw Buddy, laying on the couch. He stared at the ceiling blankly, terrified.

"Only one slip Buddy, you won't get chosen, and even if you do, Darren said he would volunteer for you," She told him. Being twelve, Buddy's name was only in the ball once, it was Darren and Jules who needed to be careful, we never took terasse, we had enough money to survive without it, being from District 2, but Darren still had six slips, and Jules had three.

"Happy 14th birthday Jules," her dad said. Of course Jules had forgotten it was he birthday, she did every year. If she had been born a day latter, she would still be thirteen today, and would only have 2 slips. Not so lucky.

The morning went by quickly. By the time of the reaping, everyone was so nervous, and Darren still wasn't home. When they got to the square, Jules started to worry, attendance was mandatory, the consequences were great. The peacekeepers already hated Darren,it wouldn't take much to get him killed, everyone hated he, he always stole from others.

Belle Arch, the District 2 escort, put her hand into the big glass ball.

"Ladies first!" Belle said. She stuck her hand into the glass the ball, after a moment of silence, Belle smiled, "Jules Deem." Jules was speechless. It had to be joke. She couldn't be in the Hunger Games. Then she relaxed, there was always a volunteer in her district. But no one did. They wanted revenge for Darren's steeling. Belle went to the male's. She put her hand in, "Buddy Deem," she cried happily. Jules, finally over the numbing shock of her own entering, was once again terrified. She looked around for Darren to volunteer. He wasn't there! Jules looked at Buddy. The likeliness that they both get chosen. And Darren didn't attend the reaping... The would soon be no more children in their family.

Jules and Buddy were whisked off into the Capitol. They were nervous and scared. And automatic allies. Jules had made a promise to herself that she would make sure Buddy wins, even if it is the last thing she would do. Which it most likely would be.

The prep team gathered around her, admiring their work.

"Unrecognizable," said the one that was dyed blue with the pink hair. A man came in. He had pale skin, and curly yellow hair. He told Jules that his name was Starchy, and he was he stylist. Being form District 2, she would have a lovely costume, better than the ones from the lower Districts like 11 and 12.

Jules's costume was nice. It was a gold suit, with a crown. She looked beautiful. And seeing her little brother in a similar costume, she felt her eyes water.

The parade went quickly, and it was soon over. Jules was annoyed that her brother was there, with her at the games, because she wanted him to live, more than she wanted herself to live.

Jules and Buddy sat in the training center together. They had three days to retain as many skills as they could. Their mentor Voider had told them to learn first and show their strongest point on their one-on-one with the Game Makers.

"What do I show the game makers Jules? I don't have any talents," Buddy asked his sister worried.

"Chuck rocks at the dummies, I've seen you do it at home, you've got a perfect aim," Jules answered, she already knew she was going to climb the structures that were set up, she could climb nearly anything, her specialty was trees. The siblings headed over to the edible plants section, and the knife-usage section. They practiced hunting and and fire-making, and they even tried the spearing section. By the end of the few days, the kids had so many new skills, they wondered how they could loose. Of course they knew they could, it was the Hunger Games after all.

The time approached, it was time for the one-on-one with the game makers. The male tribute from District 1 went first, and Jules started to get nervous.

"I'm Saffy, Saffy Blues, District 1, how about an alliance?" Said a girl who had been sitting with the boy.

Jules knew that she was supposed to ally with the Districts 1 and 4, being a career, but she didn't, she was different, and she didn't volunteer.

"No, I'm good," Jules said.

Saffy glared at Jules, Jules was scared, the girl was much larger, stronger, and older than her.

Saffy got called, and left. Jules got up and brought Buddy away from the Career table. The huge boy from District 4 was looking at her funny (and she heard some people call him Chase) and she was mildly afraid of this guy too.

The girls from three and five were talking and didn't seem to notice anyone. They also seemed harmless. Jules sat Buddy and herself down beside them. The girls both looked about 15. The one from 3 stared.

"I'm Ruby, and trust me I don't want to alliance with this girl. She is already planing that girl's death, I think her name is Patience, I would rather ally with her than with Liberty, as I said, Libby is scary," Ruby said quickly. She grinned at the girl and noted to stay away from Liberty, or Monster as Buddy had called her. Of course, she wished that Liberty wouldn't be planing Patience's death, because the girl couldn't be older than thirteen, and little girls were usually harmless. And Jules liked when littler girls won. She was about to ask Ruby in an alliance when Buddy got called. She started to become nervous, and she could feel Buddy's hand shaking.

"Just throw rocks at the dummies, you're aim is perfect, if the pointy end gets stuck in their heart, they are dead, just try not to worry to much, I love you," Jules looked at her brother as calmly as she could. He didn't answer, but headed into the center. It was almost fifteen minutes and then she got called. Entering the arena, she looked around, tall, slippery ropes were set up. Perfect, she thought. She climbed them perfectly, and a few other hard things and impressed the game makers with her various skills, and then was told to leave.

Jules and her brother sat with Voider and Belle on the couch. The screen flashed news and finally, the scores. The boy and girl from District one both got 10. Then came Buddy's turn. He got a 9.

"Buddy! How did you do that!" Jules called in surprise and delight.

"Yes, what did you do?" Belle asked shocked.

"I started off by chucking pointy rocks into the dummies hearts, but that got really boring, so I started throwing knives," Buddy said. Of course, a twelve year old shooting knives perfectly would get him a high score. Not the one Jules expected though.

Then her turn came. She scored a 9 too. Jules didn't pay attention to many other tributes. Only a few stood out. The girl from three got an 8, the boy from four got an 11, the girl from five got an 8, the girl from ten got a 5 and the girl from eleven got a 7.

The interviews with Caesar Flickerman. Jules looked at her outfit in the mirror. Starchy had done a great job. The gold dress sparkled, and her hair fell around her shoulders like silk. He managed to make the sandy brown a golden color. Her greenish eyes were coated on gold eye shadow and eyeliner. She felt beautiful. And Buddy, wearing a gold suit, was also handsome.

The tributes from District 1 went quickly, and it was soon Jules turn.

"So my golden girl, what did you fell when your younger brother got chosen at the reaping?" Caesar asked.

"I feel mad, at many people, but mostly at my other brother Darren, he was supposed to volunteer for Buddy, its not fair for a twelve year old to be in the Games, especially when I'm in them too," Jules said receiving a huge cheer from the crowd. It was touching, especially from a District 2 tribute, the females usually went from a more sexy or fierce point of view. Jules was going for sweet. Unusual, but not bad.

They put the tracker into Jules's arm. She felt pain, but didn't show it, she needed to be strong for Buddy. Buddy's tracker was installed, he winced in pain, holding back tears. It was less than twenty minutes before they were brought under the arena, into the launching room.

Jules was separated from Buddy, but not for long. The next time they would see each other, they would be in the arena.

Starchy entered the launch room with Jules's outfit. Dark blue pants, flexible shoes, a blue t-shirt, and a green camo jacket. Starchy put her short hair into a ponytail, and they waited in silence for the announcement to come. Jules drank her water until she had to step into her tube. The minutes were counting down and she would soon be in the arena. She looked at Starchy one last time. Then the announcer's voice came on. She started to move upwards. Sunlight filled her tube. She was in the arena.