(A/N): Hey guys! Welcome to my new story. I started reading the Hunger Games trilogy about a week and a half ago, and I'm more than halfway through Mockingjay! Inspiration struck, and I wrote this, started it yesterday afternoon, stopped to watch my sister hook up her brand new PS3, then continued on after my sister went to sleep, staying up till 1:40 AM, man was I tired this morning. I continued writing this chapter after my mum went to drop my sister at work (with the help of some coffee) and here it is in its 4,470 word glory.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games Trilogy, that right belongs to Suzanne Collins. I do, however, own Lily, Daine, Chadric, Sasha, Neika, Salem, Amber, Hazel, Pippa, Seff, Kern, Kerecsen, Akun, Amador, Anielia, Cedar, Julius, Kasen, Lina, Nelle, Donna, Nora, Nyhte, Summer, Saffron, Konan and Viria. Man that's a lot more OC's than I was expecting. Don't worry, most of them don't play that bigger part.
Lily
My friends laughter echoed through the trees as we ran through the trees, the only person fast enough to reach me was Daine, my second best male friend. Chadric, my only remaining family and brother, and Sasha, my best friend of all time, were a little ways behind us, and the sounds of their constant stream of aggravating insults towards each other made sure that we knew it. Behind them was Neika, my best male friend who was calling for us to slow down, he never really was one for running.
"Hurry up Neika, we're almost there!" We had gotten up at dawn to get ready, and we were now running to the orchard to avoid being late for work. Whereas other districts got to take the day off work, those of us in district eleven had to work until about two hours before the Reaping started, to make sure we wouldn't fall behind during the Harvest. We slowed to a stop as we burst through the stretch of forest surrounding the orchard and grabbed a woven basket each and headed for the unoccupied trees that were ready for harvesting already. I picked a tall one and started picking the apples off and setting them gently but swiftly in the basket so they wouldn't be bruised. Minutes turned to hours as I harvested tree after tree, row after row. I smiled and sighed in both relief and sorrow as I heard the telltale knock off time whistle little Rue sang from her perch high up in a tree, listening to it echo around the orchard as I placed my basket of fruit in the large shed we used for storing the apples before they're transported to the Capitol. The others joined me and we headed back to our house, which was on the other side of the forest near the orchard. Even though only Chadric and I were related, we all lived together. When we were younger our parents were killed in a fire, and Daine's died in a pandemic when he was seven. Sasha and Neika found each other on the streets after their families abandoned them, and they'd been together ever since. We all met when we were much younger, around town. We became fast friends, and Chad and I adopted them into our family, saving Sasha and Neika from starvation and disease and Daine from the children's home of district eleven, which was a truly evil place. I smiled as Chad growled frustratedly from behind me at Sasha's particularly nasty insult he couldn't top, and breathed in the cool forest air, glad for the relief of shade of the trees. I glanced at Daine as a slap war started from the two bickering teenagers behind us, smiling again as I saw the grin he was wearing, his light blue-grey eyes partially concealed by his long-ish brown hair, and then behind me at Chadric, who was being beaten in a slap war by Sasha. Even though we were brother and sister, the only thing we had in common was our eyes, we had the same cool blue eyes, the color of a shallow pond in summer, but his hair was different, his dark brown hair over ruling my long, light brown locks. I marveled at how he hadn't been able to get a girlfriend, I mean, they all fancied him, whether for his looks or personality, I don't know which. Sasha was real model material, her long black hair was always neat and looked clean, her skin the darkest of any of us, though no where near the average color around here. Her eyes were a bright blue, filled with knowledge and care at all times, she was really just the mother hen of the group. Neika, my best male friend and adoptive brother, whom I think had had quite the crush on Sasha, ever since they met. His hair was a sandy blonde, his eyes as bright a blue as Sasha's, and he was well desired by the girls of the district, with his perfectly symmetrical, and ruggedly handsome facial features. Underneath it all though, he was quite shy and un-trusting, probably due to his abandonment.
"Guys, quit that, you just hit me!" Neika cried from behind us, rubbing his forearm, which was already a deep shade of red. Sasha and Chadric huffed, crossing their arms and refusing to look at each other as we continued on towards our home.
"Oh god, what is that noise?" I asked, looking around, catching the attention of my makeshift family. "I…I think its…silence! Yes, it is! It's beautiful silence! Oh how I missed thee!" The others rolled their eyes as I fell to my knees on the floor, Chad and Sasha clapping boredly.
"Drama Queen." Chadric muttered to Sasha who nodded sagely.
"Come on Lily, let's get home before the Reaping." Daine suggested, grabbing the arm I had outstretched across the ground and pulling me up, starting us towards the house again, never letting go of my hand. I blushed as Sasha caught my gaze and wiggled her eyebrows, lowering my face out of sight of both hers, Chad's and Daine's. I sighed in relief as we reached the house and Daine released my hand, freeing me of the cause of my blush. Sasha grabbed my arm and dragged me into the room we shared, shoving me lightly onto the bed.
"Okay, it's time for our yearly tradition of getting dressed up for the Reaping. This year I'm going to wear the dress I wore last year, but I altered it slightly." She pulled out the familiar floor length, strapless black dress.
"What did you change?" I asked after looking the dress over and finding no differences.
"This!" She said, pulling up two strips of material the same shade as the dress. "They tie under the bust and around the back. Turns out, I lost a few pounds in the last year, so these are to tighten it up." I nodded and she pulled out the dress I always wore to the Reaping out of the cupboard and handing it to me. This dress was also floor length, and black, but instead of having a sweetheart neckline, the material covered my entire chest, ended in a very shallow scoop, almost in line with the shoulders of the short sleeves. The only addition to my dress was the white pearl studded into the neckline.
"Where did you get this?" I asked Sasha in shock, pearls were expensive around here.
"Your brother, apparently it was one of your mothers things that survived the fire." I rubbed my thumb across the surface of the pearl and smiled, getting changed as Sasha did.
"Hurry up girls, it's almost time." I returned Sasha's grin and opened the door, letting her go through first before following her.
"We're done." Sasha informed them, watching them turn around and grin at us.
"And it was time well spent." Neika replied, tucking Sasha's arm into his. I took in the guys, marveling at how clean they looked in their handsome, old black suits. In district eleven, we treated the Reaping as if it were a funeral, because it usually was. We all wore black, it was like an unwritten law that if you wore color that you were to be disgraced and not talked to for weeks by anyone, even family. I smiled as Daine offered his arm and I slid my hand into the crook of his elbow, ignoring my brother's pointed look. With a collective sigh, we wiped the smiles from our faces as we approached the town center, filing into the rows of kids ready waiting to be reaped. I found my self reaching out and grabbing Chadric's, and then Daine's hand. Getting the message, I felt them move to grab the hands of those next to them, Neika and Sasha respectively. Our little makeshift family received no weird looks from the rest of the kids in the fifteen-year-old section, they all knew who we were, from either around town or the orchard. Everyone tuned out as the mayor started his annual speech, the same crap every mayor read out at every Reaping, the ones with family at stake, or themselves, focusing solely on the two glass balls on the table on the stage. The mayor stood down, beckoning the district escort up to the front.
"Thank you mayor, wasn't that a wonderful speech everyone?" Her cheerful demeanor earned her no response, only harsh looks from those of us at risk and eyebrow raises from those who were betting on us. "Well, ladies first right?" She said brightly, clearly trying to turn the attention off of her annoyingness and onto the real reason we were here, The Reaping. She reaches her hand into the glass bowl and twirls her fingers, sending papers cascading up the sides of the bowl, though none ever making it over the lip, never making it out. Her freakishly long, overly sparkly and obviously fake orange nails snapping onto a single slip of paper, and I swear time slowed almost to a stop, the slip clamped in her claws as she slowly extracted her arm from the glass bowl, smoothing out the paper and scanning the crowd quickly.
"And the female tribute for district eleven is…" She paused to build up suspense, earning herself dirty looks from many of the crowd. "Lillian Faye." I froze, feeling both Chadric and Daine's fingers tighten around mine, the entire crowd whispering one word under their breath collectively.
"No, no, no." The word echoed around the square, everyone who I had ever met, or had even heard of me and my family repeating their chorus over and over. I forced myself to tug my hands free of my friends', and, putting on the bravest face I could muster, walked calmly through the already parted crowd and up the steps to the stage on the veranda, refusing to shake the woman in orange's hand, simply staring back into the faces of my family members.
"Now, for our male tribute!" The woman chirped, unfazed by my rudeness. Her horrible nails scraped across the side of the glass bowl, catching a single note of paper in their evil snare. "Salem Teff?" A boy of my age stepped up to the stage, also refusing to shake hands with the evil woman and simply standing there, waiting to be released as the mayor takes his position at the front of the stage again, this time talking about the Treaty of Treason. My surroundings drowned each other out, my hearing becoming numb as I switched my gaze back and forth between my family's faces, giving them as reassuring a look as I could from where I was standing. What I really wanted to do was run off this stage and collapse in their arms, the tears I was holding finally allowed to flow freely, carving intricate rivers down my cheeks. My eyes prickling as I saw Sasha with tears running down her face, her silent outburst going unseen by everyone other than my family and I. Neika's gaze was concerned and tender as he pulled her into his arms, her face buried in his chest as he rested his chin on the top of her head, his eyes re locking with mine. I smiled slightly, hoping to assure them that all would be well, but I knew that it was more like a grimace of pain. The mayor forced Salem and I to shake hands, which we did happily, glad that we would have someone in this fight that we knew from home. We turn back to the crowd as the Anthem starts to play, almost gloating over us with its superiority. As soon as the Anthem ends, we're surrounded by Peacekeepers who led us to the Justice building, directing us to separate rooms, waiting for our family and friends to visit us. I let myself crumple to the ground, groaning loudly and resting my forehead on my arms as they perched on the edge of my knees. I shook my head and lifted my head, composing myself to look more sure than I did before, but I knew they'd still see through it. The door banged open and I was pulled into a tight bear hug by my brother, returning it quickly, refusing to let myself float away and cry into his shoulder.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, how?" He muttered into my hair, his hot tears dripping onto my bare neck.
"Oh Chad…" I whispered, placing a swift peck on his temple. "It's going to be okay." I reassured him, pulling back to look him in the eye. "I will come back." He nodded, showing he understood. I reached up to the neck of my dress and wrenched the pearl from it's place there. "It was mom's, keep it safe for me?" I pleaded, pushing the pearl into his palm and curling his fingers around it.
"You know, the others are pissed I got in here first, but we're all taking turns coming in to see you." I smiled and pulled him into a tight hug as a peacekeeper at the door told us that our time was up.
"I'll see you later." I whispered as he left, earning a watery smile from him as he left. Next into the room was a sobbing Sasha, who tackled me back onto the floor in a fierce hug.
"Whoa, careful Sash." She sobbed something unintelligible into my shoulder and I shushed her, trying to calm her down to talk to her for what would most likely be the last time.
"I'm- I'm fine, really." She said, interrupted by a hiccup as she pulled back to talk.
"It's all going to be fine, I'm going to be fine." I whispered, all trace of a smile gone form my face at the distress of my best friend.
"I know, but what if it's not? What if you…die?" A tear dribbled from the corner of her eye and I shook my head.
"I won't. But if that ever happens, promise you'll take care of the others. All of them, they'll all need you." Sasha nodded fiercely, sniffing deeply as she did so.
"We'd all miss you very much." She admitted, her face an emotional train wreck.
"Damn right you would." This elicited a chuckle from her, along with a smile. I heard the Peacekeeper coming, so I pulled her into a tight hug before she was ushered from the room.
Next, surprisingly, was Neika. It wasn't surprising that he was coming in, but more that he'd leave Sasha alone with Chadric just after visiting me.
"Hey." I whispered, staring up at him from my place on the floor, my face mostly blank.
"Hey. How you holding up?" This innocent question created a half-smile to form on my lips, exuding a breathy laugh.
"Oh, exceedingly well." I murmured, neither of us moving.
"You don't have to pretend, I know how sad you are. We all do. We just don't want to say anything, because you have to use every advantage you can get to win, and if that means forcing yourself not to cry, well, then we'll do all we can to help." I sighed with smile ghosting over my face as he started towards me. "And…if the unthinkable happens…" We both winced at the thought of my death, but knew that we had to continue. "..I'll make sure that they all get through it. Even your brother and Daine. It hurts us all to see you leave, to have to endure this, but we know that its necessary, just for reasons unknown at the moment." He crouched down in front of me, his heels hovering above the ground as he hugged me tightly, his knuckles ghosting over my back comfortingly. The tears building behind my eyes threatened to break the barrier of will I created to force myself not to cry, to look strong for the cameras, to get sponsors. "Good luck." Neika whispered as he was ordered from the room, and I prepared for my last visitor. Daine. I didn't even see him as they opened the door, he was that quick. He pulled me into a deep hug, his face buried into the hair on the side of my neck, his nose brushing the sensitive skin there as his hot tears dripped through the shoulder of my dress, scalding the skin there at their touch. I wrapped my arms around his neck, sighing as I breathed in his scent, ignoring his hair, which constantly tickled my nose, just to feel him here, with me.
"Lily…" He whispered into my hair, placing a gentle kiss on the crook of my neck.
"Daine…I'm going to miss you." He pulled back instantly, staring at me with shock and confusion. "I know that once it starts, that I'll wish that you were there with me, but at the same time, glad that you weren't so that you couldn't be hurt by them." I told him, my hands intertwined with his as they sat on our knees.
"I'm already being hurt from this. All of us are, it's just a matter of time before they hurt us more than emotionally." Staring into his eyes like this, I wanted nothing more than to kiss him, but I knew I couldn't. I couldn't do that to him, couldn't hurt him like that, because I more than likely wasn't going to be coming home. Twenty-three against one, that was my odds, and they most certainly weren't in my favor. Daine started to fish around the inside pocket of his suit, pulling out something silvery and placing it in the hand that had been intertwined with his, closing my fingers around it, just like I had done with my brother and the pearl. I opened my hand to see the most beautiful silver necklace, a locket with a design on the front, the same as that on a Claddagh ring. In the middle, was a heart, held in pace by the two hands, topped with a crown. The heart signifying love, the hands friendship, and the crown loyalty. I carefully pressed on the latched holding it closed before lifting it the rest of the way, smiling as I saw the tiny photos of my friends.
"Wow." Was all I could muster, staring up at him in awe. "Where did you…?" He smiled and pulled me into another hug, a tight but comfortable one, placing a light kiss on my forehead before the Peacekeeper signaled him to leave. Soon after he left, with tears in his eyes, Salem and I were loaded into a car and driven the short way to the Railway station, which was full of awkward silences, no one really felt like talking at the moment. The car ride was new, since we didn't really get to use cars in district eleven, with the whole fact that the only paved area is the town square. At the station we were bombarded by reporters, blinded by camera flashes, but forcing myself to soldier on, making myself look as graceful as I could for the cameras. We were forced to stand outside of the train so the camera people could get plenty of pictures before we were allowed on, and as soon as we stepped inside, the doors closed behind us and the train started to move towards the Capitol. We had seen trains before, when we had to take shifts loading the products onto them for shipping, but we had never been on one, as it was forbidden to travel between districts. This wasn't one of the usual produce trains either, it was a high-speed Capitol train, used to transport important people around Panem. The train is well furbished and looks as if it's ready to house a president or mayor in an instant. Salem and I split up as we're directed to separate chambers, equipped with a shower with hot and cold water, couches, a bed and sets of drawers, full of clothes. The woman in orange tells us to do whatever we want, but to be ready for dinner in an hour. I kicked off my shoes and unzipped the back of my dress, letting it fall onto the floor before climbing into a shower, the water on warm as the tears I had been holding in started to fall. Soon, I ran out of them, and washed myself clean of the salty tears and dirt I had collected from the Orchard. Turning off the water, I climb out of the shower and towel myself as dry as possible, dressing in a pair of dark pants and a royal blue, v-neck hooded shirt, slipping on my black ballet flats and brushing my hair with the supplied hairbrush in one of the drawers. I grabbed the locket from Daine and hung it around my neck making sure the clasp was secure before letting it going and looking at myself in the mirror. Brilliant, no sign that I had been crying, and the blue shirt and the silver locket matched well with each other. Glancing at the clock to see that it had been almost an hour, I rushed out of my chambers and slammed into my fellow district eleven tribute.
"Oh, sorry!" I apologized as I sat up, shocked to hear Salem laughing. Back in district eleven we didn't talk much, but when we did he was usually shy and grim, the only time I'd heard him laugh was with his friends.
"It's fine Lily." He said, offering his hand and pulling me to my feet and letting go of it at after the usual amount of time.
"Shall we go to dinner?" I suggested, walking next to him through the narrow corridors to the dining room where we encountered the orange woman.
"Excuse me, but I can't seem to remember your name, would be so kind as to remind me?" Salem asked the question I hadn't cared to, and politely too.
"Of course! I'm Amber Copper, welcome to the Hunger Games! These are, of course, your mentors, and previous winners of the Hunger Games!" She gestured to the two familiar faces down the table.
"Chaff and Seeder, it's nice to meet you." I say politely, taking my seat next to Seeder as Salem sat with Chaff opposite us.
"And you too…?"
"Lily." I reply.
"Salem." Salem says and Chaff nods as the food arrives, the table full of food, from pasta to potatoes, steak to bacon, peas to carrots. I fill my plate with food, as do the others before starting to chomp it down, trying to get some fiber before the games. When we're all finished we sit around the table talking, getting dirty looks occasional from Amber. A few hours later, Amber leads us into a small room with a TV, and Salem and I settle down to watch the recap of the Reapings from all of the districts, starting with district one. From district one, a set of twins volunteered, both a year older than us at sixteen, the boy big, burly and blonde, the girl tall and willowy with perfectly straight blonde hair and icy blue eye that gave me a bad feeling, deep in the pit of my stomach. In district Two, both the girl and the boy had brown hair and eyes, and looked as if they were related, but their last names were different. The boy was fourteen and the girl seventeen. They didn't volunteer, so I knew they didn't want to be in the games, but I knew that everyone wants to make it home alive, so I didn't count them out as being threats yet. In district three, the boy had black hair that stuck up towards the sky, and warm brown eyes, the girl long light brown hair and hazel green eyes. Their names were Seff and Nora respectively. Nora looked healthy and fit, whereas Seff looked healthy, but weaker than the tributes I had seen so far. District four offered a strong looking, well muscled boy of eighteen named Julius, with dark brown hair and grey eyes, and a vibrant girl of around our age, a redhead with brown eyes who's name was Anielia. I remember because her family tried to climb the stage to stop her from being taken, and the peacekeeper's had to remove them. District Five supplied a seventeen-year-old boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, and a blonde girl with blue-green eyes named Konan and Viria. From District Six, another eighteen year old boy was reaped, this time with short black hair and light blue eyes, as well as a fifteen year old girl named Kern and Pippa. From Seven came a dark haired, sixteen-year-old boy, and a girl with light auburn hair, both with dark but very child-like eyes, the girl Saffron, like the spice, and the boy Amador. From eight came a dark haired girl with dark brown eyes, looking intimidating enough so I could envision her swinging an axe at my head. I think her name was Lina, but I missed the boys introduction. District Nine's Reaping churned out a boy with tanned skin, black hair and brown eyes, and a girl with red hair and child-like features, her lips smaller and her eyes bigger and bluer, her face dotted with freckles. These two were known as Akun and Nelle, and I was glad for my good memory at this point because of all the names I would be trying to remember. From Ten there was a dark skinned man of around seventeen/eighteen, and a thirteen-year-old girl with black hair in piggy tails and big green eyes, her little smile dazzling. Kasen and Cyri, that was their names, fitting, I think. Our own Reaping was shown, and then District Twelve's, where a boy and a girl, both with dark brown hair and slate grey eyes, were called up to the stage, and with no one willing to take their place, proceeded to the Justice building. The boys face and arms were covered with scars, and he made no attempt to hide them. His name was Cedar, and the girls Hazel, I watched as her family wept as she stood bravely on the stage, and I knew how she felt: worried that she wouldn't make it, sad that she was chosen, and betrayal that no one had volunteered to take her place. That was the worst one, I think, the feeling you get after that, that no one cares enough about you to take your place. After the recap was finished, I went back to my private chamber and fell asleep, still clothed, on top of the covers.
(A/N): I know, I know, it's really long and chunky, it's like, six pages in Word. I original was going to end the chapter during Daine and Lily's goodbye thing, after the odds not in her favor thing, but I realized that they had more to say to each other, so yeah. Hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I did writing it.