Before You Read: This story is very very very similar to the story Some Semblance of Meaning by VolcanicLily, which is LIGHTYEARS better than this will ever be. Please read it!
Who hasn't heard of Peeta Mellark, "the boy with the bread", the same boy who almost consumed poisonous nightlock berries intentionally? The man who escaped two Hunger Games? His courageous acts of defiance have made Panem's post-war history books along with Katniss Everdeen's, the leader of the rebellion. Their insurgency will not soon be forgotten, as well as that of the other brave victors.
...But what about the other District 12 tribute who made a bold sacrifice?
Many do not remember Copper Hurst, the red-haired seventeen-year old who was reaped for the 42nd Hunger Games. He couldn't throw sacks of flour over his head. He wasn't able to use a bow and arrow with deadly accuracy. Dubbed "the inferno-haired boy" by the capitol, he was deemed unremarkable apart from his orange, fiery locks. Winning the Hunger Games was something he knew could never happen. In fact, not even a sliver of hope in that regard ever existed within the boy's mind.
Copper was seemingly plain, forgettable, and shy, but at the same time...he was so much more than that.
Somehow, Copper slipped away from death's grip narrowly in the cornucopia bloodbath. Unlike so many District 12 tributes before him, he was not pictured in the sky that first night. The short, weak boy stayed away from the others as best he could, remembering what his mother told him to do.
As the number of contestants dwindled, Copper found himself alongside a certain tribute from District 1, forming a bond that even death and suffering could not seem to break. The two children, who grew up in complete opposite conditions, were able to come together and show that in the end, all the districts were the same- prisoners of the Capitol.
Copper. Timid, crooked-nosed Copper, who scored a measly 3 in his training evaluation, somehow found himself in the final confrontation of the 42nd Hunger Games. For those who ached for rebellion, his actions served as a reminder that even a defenseless boy could instill a longing for justice in their hearts.
As for those who cared for him, his family, friends, and even some from District 1, he will live on as the first tribute rebel of District 12.
"I don't know how to stay tender with this much blood in my mouth" – Ophelia, Act IV, Scene V