Author: This is my first Hunger Games story, guys. So bear with me.
Who am I? That's easy. I'm Wolfgang Canis of District Six. I'm fifteen years old. I'm the son of Ulrich and Kris Canis. I have an older brother; Lupine Canis. I also have a younger brother; Randolph Canis. Lupine is only fifteen minutes older than me. And Randolph is only twenty-two minutes younger. We're identical triplets. Triplets are rare in Panem. It's even more rare for the mother to survive giving birth to them; not that the second of those oddities applies to me. My mother, Kris Canis, never got to hold any of her sons. I guess I should be sad about it, but I'm not. I never knew her, so it doesn't bother me.
District Six is the most geographically varied district in all of Panem. We have to be, after all. We're the transportation district, so we have to test the vehicles we design in all kinds of conditions. I happen to live where the north meets the sea and the east meets the forbidden forest. We're not supposed to go in there; not that my family really pays all that much attention to the rules. We're different from the others, so the so called 'peacekeepers' leave us alone. But I'll get to that later.
My father builds motorcycles. He doesn't design them or anything; he just helps put them together. It's not a very glamorous job, but it's a living. Or at least that's what he says. I don't like the town or the factory at which he works. The fumes assault my nose and my lungs during the daytime hours, so much so that I've learned to hold my breath whenever I go into town for school. I suppose it's impressive that I've trained myself to not have to breathe for twenty minutes, at least in the eyes of others. I know that Randolph thinks it's cool. Lupine just thinks I'm insane for doing something so pointless. But Lupine thinks that you can only learn at school and from books. I've figured out that you can learn from life itself. The two of us have given up hope that Randolph will ever learn anything at all.
For identical triplets, we are certainly different. Lupine likes the classes at school in which we do nothing but sit and listen and draw; Motorist Design class. He keeps talking about all of the things he learned when he took Advanced Chemistry and Calculus and how he's one day going to design a vehicle that runs on something more efficient and blah blah blah. Lupine is considered the smart one because he does better in the rudimentary courses like math and science. Lupine is also the most logical and level-headed of the three of us. He doesn't show much emotion; but that's less of Lupine and more of the Canis family trait.
If Lupine is the level-headed, intelligent one, then Randolph is his exact opposite. Randolph hates school. He doesn't like to sit still at all. But he's the only social one in our family. Randolph actually has friends. And if the sound of their laughter and the smiles on their faces that can be noticed from across the room whenever he makes a joke is any indication, people actually enjoy my little brother's company. He always has been the hilarious and goofy one. I guess somebody had to be in our family. Dad isn't, Lupine's definitely not, and I don't think that I fit that description either.
I'm in the middle of my two brothers – in both age and personality. I'm smart too, just not in the way that Lupine is. I'm pretty average as far as math and science go. And I have no interest in Motorist Design. But you give me any engine and I can put it together for you. Give me a broken vehicle and I can find the problem, and most likely fix it if I have the right parts. It's like a great puzzle that I have to solve; which piece goes where? And I like using my hands. I get an amazing thrill once I start the machine up and hear the motor hum. My dad says that means I'll end up in an assembly job like his. That's not so bad, except for the horrid fumes. But I think I'd rather work as a mechanic than an engine assembler. Making engines is important, but I really like fixing them more.
My uncle Abel tests boats for his factory. For the longest time, I wanted his job. What's more perfect that going out and floating around in a boat for five hours at a time? And to get paid for doing it! That's even better. But I know I'll be assigned my job based on my skills just like everyone else in District Six, and I'm better with land vehicles than boats, so I got over that dream. But Uncle Abel is nice and brings me along on the yachts sometimes. He makes the excuse that he needs to test if the Capitol's party boats can actually hold passengers. My father laughs and says that I alone won't be enough to test how much weight the vessel can hold, but he lets me go anyway. Lupine always turns Abel down because of homework. And Randolph on a boat? Let's just say that Abel's job is to make sure the boat doesn't sink.
So, I go out on the water with Uncle Abel about once a week. I have learned to swim too. There's nothing like that feeling. After all of the things that bother me and seem to weigh me down, I enjoy floating in the water to remind myself of how light those troubles truly are.
What bothers me? That's kind of complicated. Well, I guess it truly isn't, but it seems that way. You see, there's this guy at my school named Ereed Tys. He's a no good, arrogant son of a peacekeeper. And then there's his freaky girlfriend, Hemi Rev. Hemi, well, she has a thing for me. – No, that's putting it lightly. – She stalks me. And I guess that I don't have to mention that Ereed isn't happy about it. He seems to have made it his own personal mission to make my life miserable. And he succeeds most days. I don't know why he bothers with me. It's not like I return the affections of that weird girl. In truth, I never can have a light and meaningless relationship like any other teenage boy can. That's because of what I am.
What am I? That's a long story, but I suppose I'll tell it.
After the successful Mockingjay Rebellion, the people of Panem set up something called a 'democracy'. I'm not sure what that means, but whatever it means obviously failed, because that system lasted for all of two years. Then a war broke out and lasted for five years. Of course, the Capitol won. According to the annual speech before the Reaping, it was because the resolve of the rebels wasn't great enough for them to take the ultimate measures. But I've heard my Uncle Abel's side of the story too – he said it was probably because the rebels had something called 'compassion' that the Capitol lacked. When I asked him what 'compassion' was, he said it was that feeling I get toward the tributes that go to the Games every year.
Anyway, the Capitol wasn't afraid to take these 'ultimate measures'. They genetically engineered warriors in a lab by mixing the DNA of humans with the DNA of animals. These 'mutations' or 'mutts', as the rebels called them, were able to appear as humans and go on espionage missions for the Capitol. They could identify with humans because they had the same emotions; they were a new breed of mutts that was more human than animal for once. If the Capitol had chosen just any animal, their spies may have turned against them. But the Capitol chose wolves; creatures that are known for their loyalty. And even though the wolf-mutts began to agree with the rebels and want to help them, their canine loyalty would not allow such treason to the Capitol.
And so, the Capitol conquered Panem again. They held seven Hunger Games that year to make up for lost time, and as a way to punish the rebels. Since then, the districts have never once tried to rebel. Being defeated and humiliated twice was enough, it seems. Plus, wolf-mutts still live among the people of the Districts. Most are still as loyal to the Capitol as were their ancestors, and the humans don't want to provoke the wrath of a creature stronger than them. But not all wolf-mutts support the Capitol's crooked ways.
How do I know? I'm one of them. Or really, halfway one of them; my mother was a human. But my dad is a purebred mutt. And that's why the peacekeepers go easy on us; they think that we love the Capitol. They're wrong though. But Ulrich Canis says it would be foolish to tell them otherwise. Because of his heritage (and assumed loyalty), my father gets one day off a week to spend with us. Lupine spends that day doing homework, trying to get ahead in Motorist Design. Sadly, he cares about that more than his family. But on those days, Randolph and I go with our father and break rules. We hunt.
I love going to the woods. It's not hard where we live. The electric fence that surrounds most of the district ends about a mile away from the shore of the beach, as electricity and salt water don't mix without creating something volatile. But it's open to allow boat tasters like Abel to access the water. Our house is about a mile and a quarter away from the sand, so we don't have to walk far to get to this place where the fence runs out. When I'm in the forest, I can truly be myself.
I love morphing, I truly do. I'm only half wolf-mutt, so my morph doesn't change much. My nails and teeth lengthen and sharpen. A black pair of canine ears sprouts from the top of my head. A black, bushy tail becomes an extension out of the bottom of my spine, right above my butt. My eyes change from green to gold. According to my father, my senses are always sharper than a human's. But I wouldn't know how to compare them. I mean, I've always been a wolf-mutt. It's just part of who I am, so I guess I don't know what humans' senses are like. But I notice that an extra pair of ears does improve my hearing. Lupine and Randolph morph the same way. Except Lupine doesn't morph very often.
But you should see what happens when my dad morphs. His entire body is covered in black, fur-like hair. His face changes from that of a man to a wolf, and suddenly he is a canine creature that can somehow walk on only two legs, his furry hands able to carry weapons. He taught Randolph and me to hunt. He taught Lupine too, back when we were all younger and Lupine was still excited about his wolf-mutt half. I don't know why, but he stopped liking it.
Randolph, on the other hand, was born for days like these. He enjoys morphing and hunting more than anything else. He thrives in the wolf-mutt half of himself and seems only vaguely interested in living out his life as a human.
And me? I like both. I can be both human and canine. It's wonderful, even if my wolf genes make romantic flings impossible, as wolves mate for life. I don't know what I would do if I had to choose one side of me over the other. And quite frankly, I hope I'm never asked.