Rapture Kai POV

Training never came as easy to me as it did to most students. No matter how much I worked out, I never got the muscles and endurance my classmates developed. It soon became clear that I'd have to take a parallel path in my training. I wasn't adept at the straightforward offensive martial arts favored at the Academy, but the more subtle, pressure-based disciplines like kyusho were made for me. I also saw that many of the Victors simply outlasted the competition, and I started studying survival and tracking techniques. Not only would that help me survive the wilderness, it would also make me a less dispensable Career. Alliances are thin in the pack, and any advantage could be life-saving.

My family has always been combat-oriented. My father trained me and my sister for years. Last year, Diamond survived all but one of the Careers. I watched a bear mutt sneak up behind her and screamed vain warnings. After she died, I doubled my efforts. I wanted to bring home a victory not just for me and my District, but in her memory. We did everything together before she left. I was sure she'd win. She would have torn Seeder apart in a fair fight. Dad told me to be a man, but I cried anyway.

In One, the Reapings are a formality. Everyone knows the Tributes before our escort even reaches the stage. The instructors weren't sure such a passive and unassuming boy was the right choice, but when they'd seen the passion in my eyes when I talked about avenging Diamond, they'd relented. She was a great student, and they were sorry to see her go.

Our escort likes to keep things fresh, and she called the boys' name first this year. She also kept things fresh with her outfit, which seemed to be made out of fruit. She called a name, I volunteered... same old story every year. A few of the bigger Academy kids jeered and I ignored them.

I knew Priscilla would join me, and sure enough, she volunteered. She was my opposite in a lot of ways. The other kids were suspicious of me and didn't know what to make of me. She could charm the birds out of the air. She was friendly, pleasant to be around, and one of the funnier people I'd ever met. She'd have been a really cool friend if we weren't busy training. If I couldn't win, I was happy to know it would probably be her.

Mom, Dad, Glisen and Julius piled into the room to see me off. Dad was staunchly supportive of his children training. He pushed Diamond and me as hard as we pushed ourselves, and he was ready to see me fight. I don't think Mom likes the Games as much as she pretends. She's as loyal as any other Two, but I can tell she doesn't want to see two of her children get hurt.

"Bring it back for me," she said as she slipped a gold ring on my finger. It was the same one Diamond brought to her Games. She wore it on her ring finger, but I could barely fit it on my pinky. I thought of my sister and how she did end up returning the ring, just not the way Mom wanted.

"I'll hand it back myself," I said. She smiled with pride and worry. This was going to be hard for her.

"Kill them all!" Julius cheered. "Go rock the Games and show them who's boss." He looked at me like I was going off to some grand party. He'd probably be the next to volunteer. I'd probably mentor him. He'd better not think I would go easy.

"Don't break too many hearts while I'm gone," I said to Glisen. She rolled her eyes. She trained like the rest of us, but secretly she didn't plan to volunteer. Seeing Diamond die changed her, and she told me she wanted to be a doctor. She only trained to make Dad happy and to be with her siblings.

"Remember all I taught you. Always make them underestimate you. Win this from beneath their noses," Dad said. He shook my hand. Mom preferred to hug me. I caught Julius and hugged him too, even as he protested that he was too old. Glisen was less resistant. She hugged me softly, like she was afraid I'd break. Maybe she was afraid. Sensing her concern made me all the more determined to win. It wouldn't just hurt me if I died. It would hurt all of them. I loved them too much for that.

Priscilla Piscot POV

Training took up eight hours a day for full-time students like me. School was only mandatory until I was sixteen, and as soon as I could I left that behind. Either I'll make a fortune or die young. I don't need to know the square root of an integer in the Games. With all the training, and I did try to sleep every day, I didn't have much time left for games. Somehow, I always managed to make time for a game of hoops.

Hoops has been around for ages, though the name and rules changed plenty of times. Basically, you have to get a ball through a sideways hoops. You can't bounce it off anything, and the hoop's hardly bigger than the ball, so it can get pretty difficult. You're also allowed to tackle, and that's my favorite part. At first the coaches weren't sure a girl could be quick enough or tall enough to play, but I proved them wrong soon enough. The boys made plenty of jokes about ramming and whatnot, but a few good comebacks put them in their place. It was funny they joked about that, since I'd never had a boyfriend. I just never clicked with anyone. Between training and hoops, I never saw the need for a boyfriend. I would just hurt him if I died, and he'd probably feel threatened if I won.

Everyone in One knows death is a possibility, but it came true for me last year. My big brother Miall, my little sister Kiko and I started training back when she was six. I had a knack for it and was usually one of the best in my class. Miall struggled for every victory and came to resent my skill. I stopped teasing him when I saw it hurt him, but it was too late. He volunteered last year and made it almost to the end before the boy from Ten killed him. Since then, all I hear about from my family is Agro Pelt, the boy who killed my brother. They don't care that he died soon after. They want me to go off and avenge him by killing whatever poor sap gets reaped from Ten this year. I thought it was all stupid. It wouldn't bring Miall back. You don't take a life for a life. That just means more people die. I refused to volunteer until they started grooming Kiko to go in my place. It was the scariest thing I ever did, but I laid it all on the line for my little sister. I told them I'd volunteer on one condition: no matter what happens, they won't make Kiko volunteer. The last few days before the Reaping, I played hoops with a little extra gusto. Who knows when I'll play it next.

I ended up in line next to Stazi. I knew her, since I knew most everyone in One. She was always high-strung, and I tried to put her at ease.

"Don't worry, Stazi. I'm volunteering, remember? Once they see these guns, they'll beg for mercy." I flexed my sufficient but hardly buff arm muscles and made a ridiculously "hardcore" face. She laughed and seemed to loosen up.

"It is almost my time," I said with feigned solemnity as our escort picked the male name. Rapture was a wild card. I knew he had the stuff to make it far, but it would all depend on the Arena and the other Careers. He didn't look like much, and that could serve him well.

I didn't want Stazi to know how hard my heart was pounding when our escort held up the second slip. I didn't hear the name she called out, and my voice was falsely light when I responded.

"I volunteer as Tribute!" I said. Think of Kiko, I told myself as I walked onto the stage. Jokes aside, I was scared stiff. I trained, I knew my stuff, I even had talent, but that didn't mean I'd win. There were a lot of other Tributes gunning for a win too, and even the best of us still had twenty-three others to deal with. There was a good chance I'd die, and any chance was too much. I was lucky I had a reputation as a jokester in the District. Some people in the crowd might not be able to tell how fake my smile was.

I didn't have much to say to Mom and Dad. I resented them for all the fear they put me through and the danger they cared so little about. Parents are supposed to protect their parents, not risk their lives. They loved Miall enough to risk his sister's life, but they didn't love me enough to keep me home. At the moment I should have been crying out to them for assurance, I looked at them as the ones who put me here.

Kiko, of course, was another story. She looked up at me with wide blue eyes, like it was such a surprise that I was actually volunteering after all these years.

"Are you going to die like Miall?" she asked.

"Kiko!" Mom protested. She sounded outraged, like that was an emotion she deserved.

"It's all right," I said as I put on my brave face. "I'll be back in time to read you a bedtime story. You have nothing to worry about." I punctuated the last sentence with a narrow-eyed glance at my parents. I hugged Kiko and showed my parents the door.

When they were gone, I tugged at Miall's loop earring in my right ear. It wasn't his fault I was going, and I still missed him every day. I didn't care about avenging him, and he wouldn't have either. He would have wanted his sister to be safe, and I'd do my best to live for him.

I noticed I've gotten more narrative in these Reapings, and I talk more about the past than just the getting ready for the Reaping stuff.

I did the Two Reaping first and forgot that when I was looking up the escort, so Philomena randomly moved to Two for a year. Oops. I usually delete my chapters as soon as I publish them so I don't get a clogged doc manager. If I get around to it I'll change it to Ijolite, the actual Two escort, but in the meantime enjoy a laugh at my expense.