AN: Ok, so I've been thinking about this story for a while and I've got the outline nearly done. However, I couldn't wait to post this so I'm going to, now. Just to see how many people will read it. This story will be rotating between five main characters to keep the mystery of who will win. Each chapter is never along the same time period of the other so say this charpter ends just before noon, that's when the next chapter starts. I hope you'll enjoy my story of The 33rd Hunger Games!
The main characters are:
Alder Black: Male, District 7, 17 years old.
Arma Treno: Male, District 2, 16 years old.
Moray Eel: Female, District 4, 15 years old.
Clover Wool: Female, District 8, 15 years old.
Techno Electrique: Male, District 3, 13 years old.
Chapter 1: Alder
District 7
I roam the trees, counting to hundred in my head. I hear the giggling of my sister and I know she hasn't wondered off. She doesn't know about the reaping tomorrow, she doesn't understand it.
I don't need to worry about wild animals getting anywhere near her, in District 7, the district of lumber, there is a whole area of forest to be cut down and replanted with trees.
Ninety-nine, One-hundred.
"Cassandra!" I call out, "Ready or not, here I come."
I hear more childish giggling and I turn around to see part of her skirt, sticking out from behind a tree.
"I wonder where she could be…" I say aloud and I am applauded with more giggles. I jump behind the tree and shout "Boo!" in a playful manner. Cassandra screams and runs away.
"Alder, that's no fair!" She shouts while still running back to the house, she's not hard to keep up with so I steadily walk behind her.
"How is it not fair?" I ask.
"Cause you're bigger than me," she laughs and we continue our way into part of the village in District 7. We make our way to a dark brown log cabin and rush inside.
"Mom, Dad, Douglas, we're home," I call to my parents and younger brother. I'm older than him by only two years, and sometimes I still can't believe that he is fifteen. Cassandra is three years younger than him and it is her first time actually participating in the reaping, but she won't understand it anyway. I put my bag on the table and call out to everyone again as Cassandra runs to her room to play. I turn and Douglas has materialized in the door frame to our tiny kitchen. We both share the same blue eyes, but that's as far as our similarity in looks go. He's got black strait hair while mine is either a dirty blonde or very light brown that waves over my forehead.
"They're not home," he says.
"Well then where are they?" I ask him after a moment.
"They went to sign us up for Tesserae."
"Not Cassandra though," I hiss, "Right? I mean if she gets reaped… could you imagine how helpless she'd be in there… I couldn't stand to put someone with Downs into The Games."
"I know, that's why they're just signing us up for it, two each," Douglas says.
My mood lightens at the thought of Cassandra only having one tag in that big bowl with her name in it. We didn't need much tesserae anyway. My mom is an assistant of the mayor so we live with our bellies always full. We're not rich, but we're also not poor. It was a choice of our parents to live on the outskirts of town, they liked being near the forest. I'm not complaining though. I love the forest, it gives me a place to relax and escape from stuff. Plus, you can always find something interesting in there. Oh! That reminds me…
"So how was school?" I ask rummaging through my bag to find something that I found in the forest.
"It was fine," he responds, "How was the Lumberyard?"
"Not much got done," I reply with a smile. That is code for, I didn't go. I would use watching Cassandra as an excuse since she couldn't attend school because they couldn't "Give her the extra help she needed."
"What are you looking for?" asks Douglass, taking note of my rummaging through the bag. I pull out two leaves, one Douglas leaf and one Alder leaf, the trees of which we were named after.
"What are those for?" he asks.
"In case we get reaped," I say handing him the Douglas leaf, "I figured it would be a good token."
"Thanks but we're not going to need it," he says.
"I know," I say, "Just in case."
I give him the leaf and set my leaf on a dresser in my room. I pack my things and head back to the Lumberyard. They had figured out that since my brother is home after school, he could take care of her so I was forced to come back. It wasn't completely dreadful though; it taught me how to use an axe. Here in District 7, you begin work when you're seventeen. Most of the men are sent to chop and work with the wood. As I arrive at the Lumberyard, I am greeted by old friends from school.
"Hey Alder," says David, he's been my best friend for god knows how long, even though he's two years older than me. We have a deal that if one of us were to be picked in the games, then the other would volunteer for them. However, that deal is null and void now since this year's his first year that he's no longer eligible to be a tribute.
"Hi, David," I say as I make my way over to him. He pushes the long blonde hair from his brown eyes and hands me an axe.
"You've missed one hell of a day," he laughs.
"Oh really?" I chuckle, "How so?"
"Well, some noob was cutting down a tree and found himself standing on the wrong side of it. It fell down and nearly killed him!"
He finds himself laughing hysterically and I let out a small chuckle. Only he could make sense of his immature humor.
After a few hours, a few more trees have been cut down and cut into smaller pieces. I grab a couple thick logs and bring them home as firewood. When I arrive at the cabin, my mother has already returned home and is cooking dinner in the kitchen while Douglas works on his homework. Dad is home too, spending his time playing with Cassandra to keep her busy. I set the firewood down next to the fire place, take one of the logs and set it with the other charred wood. I set the fire quickly and help my mother set the table for dinner.
The table. My father and I crafted it and most of the other furniture in this house. He's a carpenter and has taught me a lot. One day, I will have to leave the Lumber yard and begin to work at his shop where he sells all types of wooden things.
After we finish setting the table, Mom calls the others and we sit and eat roasted duck.
"So," says Mom, "How was everyone's day?"
This is how she always starts off dinner in attempt to start conversation. Douglas, Dad and I say fine and Cassandra begins to ramble on about her great day of playing in the woods with me. Mom smiles as she love's hearing Cassandra's stories. As she listens to Cassandra intently Douglas turns to me and our dad.
"The reaping is tomorrow," he announces in a hushed tone.
"Yes," Dad agrees.
"What if one of us gets reaped?" Douglas continues.
"Where did this come from?" asks Dad.
"Yea," I agree, "You've never worried about the reaping before."
"I don't know," he mutters, "I've just got a weird feeling…"
"Don't worry," I say, "five years into the reaping and I haven't been picked, fact of the matter is that the chances are highly unlikely."
Douglas doesn't seem so sure though. His eyebrows knot making his forehead crease. I wonder what would make him feel so worried.
AN: So that's chapter one. A little introduction to the oldest character Alder. There will be a few more chapters like this and then the reaping. Please review!
