I decided I might as well try an Syot. Info at the bottom.
Chapter 1- What happened before it began
Athena Lightes:
You would think a day before the reaping there would be some bit of somberness was to be found in a place where everyone was eligible for it. Well, you would think wrong. If anything, the stupid boys were more lively, the most lively as ever. Which was a very bad thing for me.
"Hey Mute." As soon as the final class was dismissed I had made my attempt to flee the school building quickly as possible. But I wasn't fast enough. Never fast enough.
"Hey." Hands grappled at my shoulders, throwing me to the side. Why did they find it so amusing to pick on me? Because I was the easy target. Mute. It's a joke. I'm a joke to them.
That Them, being the boys in our district, the ones around my age. They found it so amusing to poke fun at me. Make fun of the mute kid, sounds good. A single boy in particular. Every single for year. I was turned around, my back being slammed into the wall. For a brief second I felt sorry for the wall. By the time whoever it was was done with me, either the wall or me will leave some sort of imprint on the other. Or maybe both. My tormentor was the usual one. I recognize the leering grin, the cold grey eyes and thin scar running up the boys right cheek. Acer Chriss. Crap.
"Where do you think you're going Mute?" He was one of the few that had a reason to hate me. He got that scar from me after all.
He waited tauntingly for a response. Laughing maniacally when he seemingly remembered that I physically couldn't. Respond that was, or do anything else for that matter.
"What? Cat got your tongue?" I hate him with the same passion he has for me. I just relieved my anger in different ways than him. My knee came up and swung out to the side, finding contact with his ribs. He cursed, violently, but that didn't stop him from releasing me for just a moment. No one else was in the area, I always fled in a different directions than the throng of kids. Which might also be a bad thing. Because I could hear his footsteps behind me, and I knew that he was fast. He knew he was fast. But he also knew I was faster.
I tear out of the school building, not getting the chance to do anything but look at my feet on the ground. Not the worn street, and definitely not the workeders I knew would be out in the streets by now. Pounding, pounding. Pounding. I just need to keep running. I hear the door open behind me, and I turn to see the boy falling behind. Time to speed up. If it was possible I did. I turned the corner into the mechanics section. I kept going, seeing a small opening between two buildings I darted in only to stop dead in my tracks. Because at the end of the alley was nothing more than the back of another building. Crap.
His footsteps rounded the last corner, one more and he'd see this place, it was the only I spot I could have went- why hadn't I just kept running? I could have made it home and he couldn't touch me there, but I'm an idiot and I chose to some here. I waited for him to show up, to throw another knee into his side or maybe an elbow of fist. Waiting. Waiting.
Waiting is the thing that kills you, kills me. My life is nothing more than waiting.
I kept waiting until I saw the shadow pass right through the opening.
Correction to a previous statement: He's the idiot, not me. Okay, maybe both of us are idiots.
I waited a moment, more waiting, waited until I couldn't anymore. I stepped out just in time to see his leather jacket and short hair disappear around the corner. The next corner of the next building. If I could, I would be laughing hysterically right now. I mouth the words that I want to scream at his back:
It's Athena.
I turn away from where my adversary had disappeared, starting a slower run the other direction. I hated the smell of metal around me, reminds me too much of blood. I know that scent well. I slow down just enough to find myself in a light jog, nothing compared to the all out sprint I had to get here. I kept that jog all the way home.
Home wasn't the proper term; house. I live in a house with the man who was biologically my father, but was really nothing more than a figure that would come out every few days. A man who hated me with even more passion than Acer. After inspecting the place, I found that he was out. Thank the heavens. I didn't want him around for what I needed to do next.
The sky was wavering somewhere between darkness and light, and the hazy purples and pinks almost made me smile, but I don't do that. Not anymore, not ever. Instead, I turned away from the bits of sky seen in the window panels, and find the small trunk I had hid under my small bed ages ago. Almost everything that had belonged to my mother had been sold ages ago, right after I was born, but he had a missed a few things, or maybe left them. Left them for a much younger Athena to find them.
It was beautiful, a carved wooden box. With a wide inside. When I had found it years ago, it had had a large lock keeping it shut. Now it didn't, so I reached under the cot, felt it's surface under my palm. I slid it out, ready to see the dark ebony wood carved with dancing wires and ripples. We are in 3 after all. The beauty of technology, found in something that belonged in 7.
How had this trunk even gotten here? I had never asked, too afraid he might take it away, or break down or I don't know what. Whenever I spoke about mom was when he got his mot emotional. Sometimes anger, sometimes sadness, sometimes it's nothing more than a depressed look of a man who lost his lover. Never anything more. Never anything less.
The contents warm my heart. The few dresses my mother owned, a photo of her and my father hidden behind a cracked glass cover. My eyes pass over the picture. A smiling man with a full head of black hair, the wide smile reaching all the way up to the brown eyes. He looked nothing like the man with greying hair and never smiled that I knew today. Then the women. I had studied her over and over again. I remember seeing it as a little girl, trying to picture what I would look like when I aged, if I would look like her. I don't. The only thing the two of us shared was the hairstyle, two braids leading into a tail at the nape of her neck, if not the colouring, black hair to her red. Everything else about the woman, the small nose, green eyes and pale skin were nowhere to be found on my face. I put it aside, picking up an even smaller box underneath it all. It held each of their wedding bands.
I found the dress I wore every reaping day, a simple faded purple shift, and at it aside for tomorrow. It's sick how they make us dress up for our own demise. It found a place beside me, and I picked up the ring holder. It was the only that had ever made me smile. My mothers ring was too small for me, I had been able to wear it in my younger years, but not now. My fathers was too big, even for my thumb, I would need to find some sort of chain to hang it on. I held each in my hands, pulling them close to my chest. They were simple, nothing more than cheap metal, but they were beautiful. I looked out the window to find that the sky was now almost entirely dark, it had been a miracle I had been able to see anything. Like I hadn't been able to see my father for example.
Where was he? Not that I wanted him around, but still. Off somewhere doing God knows what. I shook the entire thing off, throwing the dress onto one of the two chairs in the room, sliding the ring box back into the larger box. Kicking it back under the cot, the final bits of light left the room. Darkness is the only thing I can trust.
Acer Chriss
I was going to kill her. Stupid Mute. I had completely lost her before light fell, and I had no idea where she might have gone, and there was no way I was looking for her after dark. That's fine, I would find her tomorrow. She wasn't done paying for what she did to me- and I mean about more than my scar.
The wound doesn't really hurt all that much anymore. It had been a year ago, almost to the exact date. It had healed surprisingly well, only a thin puckered line of white on my face. Sure, she would say it was my fault, well she wouldn't say anything but… but it was her fault. Everything was her fault. I hope she'll be reaped tomorrow. I'm ready to what her die. I hope it's painful. The thoughts of her demise, and images of her blood spilled made me smile.
"Hey," my smile softened as I turned around and saw Magik, "what are you doing out so late?" looking for a monster. But I only smiled at her, she didn't think that the Mute had done anything wrong, but she's wrong. She is so wrong. All of them are wrong about her.
"Nothing, was just at Zephyrs. Lost track of time." I lied, looking around the room, not seeing or smelling any hints of food. She seemed to notice,
"Yeah. You missed dinner. Sorry." she didn't sound too sorry, and she didn't save anything either.
I smiled at her, not showing any of the disappointment I feel. I was going to kill that Mute someday, maybe not today, but some day in the near future.
"That's fine. Not very hungry anyways," I hoped she didn't notice that I saw lying for a second time. Mag just turned around, threading her way back to the divided back of the room. There were no walls, only cheap drapes that you could push back if you wanted. Surely the our parents were behind one of them. They had no idea what Mute had done either. No one did. Except me and… well the other persons dead now isn't she? And it's all her fault. Every bit of it.
None of what I felt showed in my face, that was until I turned away, went to my corner, being quieter than we had been before. Tomorrow seemed like a good day. I would be waiting for it. Even if there was some slim chance of a slip being drawn with my name written on it.
"Goodnight, Mag." her voice came back to me, just before the final bits of natural light faded. her response came back to me,
"Goodnight. See you in the morning."
SYOT submission form. I'll accept PMs, nothing in the review. Then all the usual stuff, everyone knows the drill I guess. I'll let people submit up to 5 tributes (so the 4 people that actually will, you guys are amazing). So here's the form, but you can also find it on my profile:
For any of these put as much detail as you'd like. I know writing submissions are hard, but please, just the more I know about the characters the better:
Name:
Age:
Gender:
District
Appearance: detailed please. Like: Hair colour and what style, colouring, eyes, and important features, height, etc.
Personality: detailed
Friends:
Family:
Backstory:
Strengths: (max. 5)
Weaknesses (at least 3)
reaped/volunteered: if they are from an outer district, make sure the reasons for volunteering are good
reason/reaction:
Training: what will they spend the most time on?
Weapon of choice: it's fine if they don't have one
Interview angle:
Game plans: anywhere from getting on the train to being in the arena
Bloodbath tactics: do they want to be in it at all?
Likeliness of dying in bloodbath: because there's got to be a few
Alliances?:
Predicted placement:
Preferred placement:
Reason to win: if you put 1rst for either of them
Important scene's to add: can't promise I'll be able to write it in, but I'll try my best
Preferred death:
Reaping outfit:
Chariot outfit:
Interview outfit:
Mentor: everything you can put about them (I'll choose one from each district)
then the not necessarily necessary stuff, but I would appreciate them being filled in:
What would you like to see in the arena: anything. I can't take everything but I'll try
Feelings about district partner:
Backup district:
Romance?:
An opening scene: how I plan to write it is starting with the reaping from different districts, then moving onto the trains with different characters and so on. So put something here if you want, or don't
Important scene to add in: can't promise I'll be able to write it in, but I'll try
Anything else important: things about the character that don't fit in anywhere else
I've kept district 3 for myself and my created character, but every other character is up for grabs.