A/N: The rest of this is probably not going to be up for a while. I just wanted to start the story by putting up the prologue. Enjoy. ;)
Prologue: I Was One of Two
The cannons, the food, and the Opening Ceremonies. It was all a part of something I will never forget, no matter what happens.
The Twenty-Fifth Annual Hunger Games, also known as the first Quarter Quell.
I was only a wee little thing, just barely fifteen years old. I was the youngest daughter of two of a merchant, with only four entries in the reaping. But it turns out, entries didn't matter. That year was different, in form and structure. It was the year of the First Quarter Quell.
Back then, I remember that I had no idea. We, in the outskirts of Panem in District Twelve, were oblivious to the Capitol's schemes. The Quarter Quell came as a shock to us all.
So when my partner Rashid and I were thrown into the arena, I didn't really expect either of us to survive. We, unlike most of the other districts, didn't have a mentor to aide us in preparation, so a Capitol attendant was put in charge of us.
Although we didn't do terribly in our training sessions, our interviews mostly failed to capture the glow we knew we both had.
Even now, many years later, as I think back on my Games with remorse and regret, I am still wholly shocked. It must've been only by a touch of miraculous hope that I won. Something given to my life by something that I cannot even describe.
So who really expected it? Not me, not Talley, not my family back at home. The only person who kept me going sacrificed himself for me, something I will never forget.
My name is Ayala Talons, and I was the first victor from District Twelve. This is the terrifying story of how I was chosen.