Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. This amazing series is owned by none other than the lovely Suzanne Collins. Thank you for giving us something so great to read :D

Katniss has long since passed and the new generation has emerged. The Capitol, or shall I say, the Capitol's descendants decided shortly after her death to go back to the old ways. Food is scarce, they say. Times are hard, they say. It was better then, they say.

Of course, Katniss was easily forgotten. Fire only burns so long. Once the oxygen is gone, it dies too. Not to mention, after Coin's death, District 13 wasn't exactly organized anymore. The Capitol was quick to make an example out of it yet again. This time, they buried it. Buried it alive.

The Capitol pointed out that the Districts of Panem had violated their Treaty of Treason and must pay. The Capitol decided they would be generous. The Hunger Games will continue and if the districts follow the rules additional punishments would not be added. We are giving you one more chance to prove your loyalty, they say.

And this is how it has been ever since.

But something has been found. Something that was left behind. In the ruins of thirteen they say the symbol was there. Out of the dirt came the one symbol of hope. The Mockingjay pin. The memory of Katniss Everdeen, The Girl On Fire.

And now it's our turn for change. We need to make sure that this doesn't repeat. How can we do that, how can we be better than fire? We need a different method. We need this time to be official. Please let the odds be in our favor this time.

Welcome to a new start. Welcome to history. Welcome to the rebellion.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let the Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games Begin.

Tillandsia Rhayne

I laid on the makeover bed, not really listening to the stylist's chitchat. I caught a few sentences here and there such as, "I'm glad we get the prettiest ones this year." And "Oh, did you hear about the costume, I heard it's going to be absolutely beautiful!" But my mind was somewhere else. My mind was with the reaping. I was thinking of, what could have been (please, I hope not), my last moments I ever had with my loved ones.

I was frozen and couldn't get my feet to move. Tillandsia Odair! The name was still ringing in my ears. Was that my name? No, it couldn't be, it was someone else's. How I had managed to avoid the games for so long, only to come to this. And I was almost done, almost made it. My sister gave me a little shove to help my feet along, snapping me out of my trance.

I looked down and realized I was squeezing Xanthus's hand hard enough to whiten my knuckles. "I'm sorry," I whispered before kissing his cheek. But sorry for what? For squeezing the circulation from his hand, or for much more. He just looked at me with great, big eyes, sure enough holding back the tears that were on the verge of spilling. "Don't cry," I wiped my thumb across his cheek. "Mia will take good care of you while I'm gone," I managed a smile, just for him. At that moment, I knew that I would have to be brave. For him, for my family, for Spader. I took a deep breath, straightened myself and began to walk toward the stage, fearing to give Spader even the barest of glances. I couldn't stand to see his face, not now after I had been called. I couldn't bear to see the pain I was sure would be there. As I faced the audience, I stood with more confidence than I really had. Inside, I was screaming, crying, kicking. But I knew those actions would get me nowhere. I continued to avoid his gaze. Not now, I couldn't cry now.

My mind continued to wander as they did my makeup, my hair.

They were each allowed in to say their final goodbyes, one at a time. Mom came in first, no doubt anxious and worried. She practically ran into the room, probably pushed Dad out of the way, insisting she had to see her 'baby girl' first. "Tilly, my sweet, sweet Tilly," she hadn't used the nickname since I was seven. "My little baby girl," and she couldn't say anymore, just burst into tears, holding me so tightly I was sure I would pass out from lack of oxygen. She held me until her time was up, and still they had to pry her off of me. "I love you," she gasped through her tears.

"I love you too, mom," and by this time, I was crying too.

Dad was next, sitting silently next to me. He never was much of a talker, but he cared. He always cared. "You're strong, Tilly, you can make it," his voice was gruff, holding back the tears he couldn't show. That was my dad, always trying to be strong. He was the strength of the family. "Take this," he grabbed my hand and placed something into it, closing my fingers around the small object. "You're allowed to bring one token to the games with you; this was from a victor long ago. A family heirloom now, never thought we'd need it again." I opened my palm to reveal a gold bangle with a flame pattern.

"Thank you, dad." He pulled me into a tight hug and kissed my cheek before exiting, not saying another word. That was okay, because I didn't know what to say either.

Next came Merremia. She walked briskly, but not the full-on run that mother had. "I'm gonna name my first baby girl after you, I swear it, Tilly." There was that nickname today, so precious, so well kept. Reminding us all of the days before this. My sister, always looking on the bleak side of things, already expecting me to die. But I know she didn't mean any harm, so I just responded the only way I could.

"Thank you, Mia." She pulled me into a quick hug, whispering 'good luck' in my ear and giving me a kiss on the cheek as she pulled away.

"Love you, Tilly." "Love you too, Mia," I said as she walked out of the room.

Xanthus came next, looking down at his hands and shuffling his feet as he walked in. "Tilly, don't die," the words brought a smile to my face, and I started to giggle, I couldn't help it. It was just so ironically funny. "Tilly!" he exclaimed. "I'm serious, you gotta come back home! Who's gonna help me finish my boat?" He was making direct eye contact now. Seeing him this serious, I couldn't help but get serious myself.

"I'll try my hardest, I promise."

"Swear by it?" "I swear." He held out his pinky, "pinky promise you'll come home?" And even though I didn't know if I could keep it, I did it anyway,

"I pinky promise," I locked my pinky with his and pulled him into a big hug. I kissed him on the forehead.

"Love you, Tilly," he muttered against my shoulder.

"Love you too, Xanny," tears were running down my cheeks again.

Last was Spader. Of course he would come. I didn't want him to see my like this, but I didn't really have a choice. Besides, he would want to say his last goodbyes too, wouldn't he? That's what they all thought. This was the last. He came in, not saying a word, just pulling me against his chest in a warm embrace. I was almost a hundred percent sure he was crying. He was stroking my hair and only then did I realize I was muttering, "I love you," over and over again. He pulled back and I could see the hollowness in his eyes. He had already given up hope.

"I love you, Tilly, just…just try and come back, alright?" I just nodded, speechless in his presence. He kissed me and it had so much finality in it I could tell he never expected me back. "I'll be watching you every second." One last kiss and he was gone.

A man walked in, carrying my costume and tearing me away from my thoughts. I couldn't help but wonder at its beauty. "I hope that means you like it," he smiled at my dumbfounded expression. His name was Valen and he appeared to be in his mid-thirties. His voice was soft, matching his expression. He had short, blond hair that swirled around his head in an intricate pattern. I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be curly, or it was styled that way. "I wanted to give the illusion of mermaid without it being in your face. I wanted it to stand out." He pulled it over my head and finished dressing me with a matching headdress and shoes.

The dress was full length and silver, but that's where it stopped being ordinary. It appeared to be made out of scales, which was probably Valen's intention. It had a long V-neck, ending right beneath my breasts, revealing the area between them. There was no coverage on the shoulders, the fabric just circling around my neck. The dress flared at the hips, the scales appeared to jut out of it, hugging my body more and more as it got closer to my feet. The dress ended right above my ankles in the front to let my feet peek out, but continued onto the floor in the back. I had on silver strappy heels that showed a lot of skin and resembled a sandal. My headdress encircled my neck and went right up to my lower lip. From there, it had two silver pieces, also resembling scales, moving inward on my cheeks and forehead. The rest of the headdress was some sort of netting around her hair, which was pulled into a tightly braided bun.

"It's beautiful. Thank you." Maybe I could get a couple of sponsors from this dress. Maybe I could win.

Ryker Lynn

It took all of my willpower not to punch them in their fucking faces. Excitement? They were excited to go and watch us die? I couldn't stand it. On and on and on. They talked about hair, nails, makeup, outfits. Even the men. What kind of men were they? It was just too much for me. I had to think about something or I really was going to snap. And that sure as hell wouldn't be pretty.

Of course the closest thing on my mind was the reaping…

Ladies first, that's how it worked. I watched the poor girl tear herself away from her family and bravely make her way to the stage. She was avoiding eye contact. Poor, poor girl. And familiar. She may have been in one or two of my classes, but I could've sworn she was a year younger than me. Smart…probably really smart. It was always sad to see the ones who deserved to stay go…so much wasted intelligence and beauty.

I was too busy thinking about her that I didn't even notice that they had called my name until my mother began sobbing uncontrollably next to me. It wasn't good for her, exerting herself. I went to her aid immediately. "Mom, shhhhh, mom," I could tell she was having trouble breathing, "Mom, you're gonna stop breathing. C'mon it'll be okay." But then I knew. Knew from the look on her face why she thought it wouldn't and my blood ran cold.

I looked up at the stage where the girl stood ashen faced, albeit confident, and didn't have a doubt in my mind that my face was about the same shade of white. It now echoed in my ears as if I heard it to begin with. "Ryker Zeal." That was me…..oh shit. I'm so sorry mom…

They touched my face with some sort of warm liquid, pulling my out of my trance. Seconds later it felt as though they decided to rip the skin off of my face. "Fuck!" I sat up so quickly, the whole crew took a nervous step back. "Why the fuck…?"

"Mr. Zeal, if you could just…?" the look of concern on the girl's face made me stop, but only just. I was still breathing hard and hadn't lain back down yet.

"You could've at least warned me…" I tried again to go back into my thoughts. Their chatter was already annoying me again.

My older brother was the first to wish me good luck, or was this goodbye? He shook my hand and gave me that half hug that brothers do. Now was not the time for an overly emotional moment. We both knew that there was a strong chance I wasn't coming back. "Good luck," he placed his hand on my shoulder in a fatherly gesture. There wasn't much more to say than that.

"Thanks Dune," and with a slight nod he was gone.

Next was my father. Good ol' silent dad. I'm actually surprised he had the nerve to even come. "What are you doing here?" I arched my eyebrow.

"You don't think I would want to wish my son luck…?"

"I didn't think you remembered you had a son…or should I say sons?" I made direct eye contact with him, daring him to look away first.

"Look, I know what you and Dune must think of me…and what your mother must have said about me…"

"Leave my mom out of this. She hasn't said shit about you and probably never will. You're nothing anymore. You're not part of the family. It was your choice to leave. Leave us when you needed us the most. And you can do the same right now. Goodbye, Jonah." He wasn't dad….not anymore.

"Bye Ryker, good luck." His voice was gruff, but now was not the time for amends. He should've thought about that so long ago.

Last was mom. She looked so…lost. I felt like she was the one going to fight for her death. I couldn't stand to see her like this. I pulled her into my arms and held her. "Mom, I love you and I'll fight for you. I will try my hardest to make it back to you and then I can give you the world. I'll get you better mom."

"Honey, please," she was saying her words in between long intakes of air, "I just wish you could come back in one peace. You know you'll always be my baby." And I held her for the rest of the time until the peacekeeper said she had to leave.

The primping was finally done and it was time to see what ridiculous costume they had in store for me. What they expected me to graciously wear in front of thousands of criticizing eyes. A man entered the room introducing himself as Valen. He was nice enough, but then began talking about my costume. It was all a blur of words until one stuck out "pirate," it made me come to my senses.

"Pirate? Argh, matey…shiver me timbers? Isn't that a bit childish for the audience?"

Valen politely smiled. "No. A rebel. A real pirate. And, you'll have a story. Know anything about mermaids?"

I shrugged and nodded slightly. I knew something. Not much…more than pirates I hoped.

"Good, good. Your mermaid is in the next room. I was thinking 'fatal attraction.' Let's show the capitol what you two can do," he gave me a little wink, and with that left, leaving my pirate costume for the crew to dress me up in.

I actually liked it. Really liked it. I looked down at my soft brown pants that were surprisingly comfortable and very easy to maneuver in. My cream colored shirt laid over them in a similar fashion to a stage coat, except the flaps were in the front. The button-up shirt was covered by a heavier brown jacket, made from some leather -like material. Perhaps real leather. I had boots that came up to my shins that were also made of leather. A satchel and gun belt completed the outfit giving it that extra dangerous vibe. I could definitely get used to this. Now to get my mermaid…