Chapter One.

-From district one, Thor Odinson, Hufflepuff.

Thor yawned a tiresome yawn that shook his whole body, his large arms touching the top of his bunk bed in which he slept on the bottom, his little brother, Balder, slept on the top, his brother was asleep; snoring gently, his hand draped over the side of the bunk.

Balder was seven, so he wasn't old enough to be reaped yet, but Thor, being sixteen, was well over the age of 'old enough'.

He was in the lower class, Hufflepuff, so he had to put his name into the reaping ball several more times than normal in order to get food for his little sibling, but, it wasn't without help, there was a Slytherin who helped out some of the lower class children when needed, they all called her mama Frigga, Thor always wondered how she had gotten into Slytherin, he saw her as more of a Hufflepuff or a Ravenclaw, not a Slytherin, he guessed that must have been the work of Odin, the leader of district one, he must have changed her house somehow so he could marry her, Thor wouldn't put it past him, Odin always got his way; one way or another. It was inevitable.

Thor sat up; nearly hitting his head on the top bunk, he was tall, taller than nearly all the boys in his district; and stronger. Of course they would want him to volunteer, and if he was being honest, he wanted to; this was his chance to bring glory to Hufflepuffs everywhere. He just couldn't imagine how Balder would get on without him, and that was all that was keeping him from readying a goodbye note for when he volunteered, no, he wasn't going to; he needed to be there for his family.

He had to be, his mother and father worked all day; he had to be there for his brother or he knew he would get killed, one way or another, he was always getting into fights, not because he started them but because he was always trying to break them up, he was small so it never worked, but he tried.

Thor didn't know why his brother wasn't a Gryffindor, it made more sense than him being a hufflepuff; but he was glad he was because Thor didn't know what he would do without his brother.

"Thor! Balder!" Came a shrieking from the living room, his mothers voice, she must want them to come down and eat breakfast; he didn't want Balder to wake so early, he knew his brother had night terrors
-he got them because of all the bullying he got in school and around the district for being such a small child- and he seemed to be sleeping soundly for once, but the yelling already had reached Balder's ears and he woke with a start, a cry mangling and catching in his throat.

"T-Thor!" He squeaked, his brown hair flying every which way in his panic "I had a terrible dream, you were gone, you volunteered, and you left me!" He yelled in his high pitch seven year old voice.

Thor walked over, wearing his usual black pants and white tee shirt –a very easy and laid back clothing for someone of a higher district- and grabbed his brother. Pulling him out of bed and holding him in his arms cradle style.

"My brother, I would never leave you." He said with a true smile, Balder smiled back at his brother weakly, as if he didn't believe him, but he hugged him anyway.

"You can't leave me, okay? You promise you would never?" He asked.
Thor smiled sadly at him; no, of course he wouldn't, not on purpose at least; if he was reaped he would have no choice, so; he couldn't promise he would never leave, but, he could try, Thor set his brother down and put his right hand over his chest.

"I, Thor Odinson, swear to you; I would never volunteer to leave you." He said with a stoic face, Odinson was a extremely common name in this district so he thought nothing of having the same name as the leader of the District- he looked down at Balder who was smiling, this time his brother was smiling a true smile and so he smiled back.

"Thor! Balder! Hurry down, now. Your food is getting cold!" Their mother yelled again.

"I shall race you downstairs, brother."
"You'll loose!"
Thor laughed, before spiriting off, his brother giggling and following after him screaming "You cheated!"

Now, it was time for the reaping.
Thor and Balder has spent their day listening in on conversations and giggling at all the people bidding and guessing the outcomes of the reaping, but now that it was time Thor was very nervous, he promised his brother he wouldn't volunteer so he wouldn't, but he really didn't know.

He was now wearing a golden and red shirt that matched his golden hair which was loose in his back and then tied into a braid with two strands of hair that where from each side of his head, the gold seemed to sparkle and the red was like flames, his pants were white and blinding and overall he liked his outfit well enough.

But right now he wasn't focused on his outfit; no, he was focused on the woman with seven inch high heels and a poofy silk gown on who was walking up the reaping bowl, they had taken his name, a blood sample, everything was in order and now he was standing in the sixteen year old pen and waiting for the girls name to be called so he could be relived it wasn't one of his friends and then the boys name to be called so he could be relived it wasn't him.

The woman in the poofy dresses name was Kaleena Greuta, she was here every year and she loved her job, she was always grinning and laughing and she seemed to love it when younger kids or volunteers came up, and Thor really hoped that was all an act because even he; who saw the games as just that, a game, hated it when someone too young had to go.

Kaleena grinned and walked over to the mic and tapped it five times. They gave speeches and a film of the history of Panem was played and everything was the usual.

Kaleena smiled happily and said with a grin.
"And now, as it is accustom; Ladies you shall be reaped first." She said formally, before practically waddling over to the girl's ball and digging her hand in.

She pulled out a name and waddled back over to the mic, unable to walk in those high-high heels.

"And the female winner-" She said winner as if this was a kind of raffle and they were getting a prize "-is." She paused for dramatic effect.
"Jade-Harley." There was a crying sound from the girls section, the screaming of
"No! No! No! No!" Over and over, this was unusual, most of the time people wanted to be chosen.

But the tan skinned girl with dark hair and green eyes looked completely terrified.

"I volunteer myself as tribute!" Came a ringing voice, a high and clear one that sounded all too formal, even for this district.

"Y-Yes…Dear…Now…" Kaleena looked utterly confused; you weren't meant to volunteer until after the others were up, but the girl looked so set in her ways that Thor was sure it was taking everything she had to not take back the offer.

"Well, come up dear."
The girl had short blonde hair and was wearing a short summer dress of glittering gold with a pink headband in her hair that was decorated with a single black rose.

She walked up and said nothing, looking dead ahead as if this all bored her.

"And what is your name, dear?"
"Rose Lalonde." She stated, as if that was all she was going to say from then on.

"Yes, alright- Well- Time for the boys!" Kaleena cried, trying to get everything in order once more.

She reached her hand into the boys reaping ball and frowned while walking back, only to replace the frown with a fake that she had to wear all the time.

"And the male winner is…."

Thor's blood pounded in his ears and he closed his eyes.
'Not me; not me, please for god's sake don't let it be me.'

"Thor Odinson!"
There was a screaming sound that came from his brother, he knew that cry.
"Thor! No! Thor!" He screamed, wails in his throat and sobbing, Thor looked around for his brother but saw nothing, he was already being taken away by his mother who was trying to sooth him.

Thor closed his eyes once again.
"One, two, three, one, two, three." He chanted to himself as he walked up to the stage, trying to get his composer in check.

There was no one in the district who would volunteer for him, no one who would help him and save him and his brother from being taken apart.

But for some odd reason, as Thor walked onto the stage he found himself grinning widely.

"Ah! Ha!" He said with a victorious yell, act good for the crowd, do good Thor, you can do it, play it up, you're pretty and you have a sob story people will love it, you're coming home to Balder, you must

"Well, these are our two tributes from District One!" Kaleena screamed.

There was cheering and Thor played along to the cheers, whooping and grinning and throwing his arms in the air, Rose on the other hand sat there stoically, playing with the black rose in her hair and looking like everything here was just dull.