Sibling Rivalry
Part One

Valeria and Titus are siblings who stay within District two. To them life is a hardship, There father consistently drunk and their mother showing about as much interest in them as she would have a dead rat. Eager to impress their father they begin training with the careers, and soon become promising fighters. In a bid to escape from his terrible life, Titus volunteers, but soon after his sister is chosen for the games.

Blood will be spilt, innocents lives lost. A brother and a sister shall fight, only one will survive.

Valeria (Val)

The winter breeze stung my face as I pulled myself through the street carrying a bucket filled with water. My father had sent me; he had awoken amongst a pool of his own sweat suffering from a hangover. It wasn't a long walk from the well to my house; I rather enjoyed it in fact. I could finally escape from the confines of my dreary house and breathe air that wasn't laced with the strong scent of alcohol and smoke.

District two wasn't a terrible place to live, especially in comparison to the likes of District twelve. Staying there would be truly terrifying; I hadn't seen much of it, except from when the reapings were on, but quick glance I received of the dirty encrusted people and poorly manufactured buildings was enough to tell me all I needed to know.

I soon returned home, flicking open the rickety wooden door and passing my father's unused workshop. He was supposed to be a blacksmith, all though I had never once in my life seen him doing anything of that didn't involve a bottle of beer. Whatever orders he received he ignored leaving the work to an increasingly tired Titus.

I entered his room. The beer bellied man strewn pitifully over the unwashed linen. The whole place reeked, I wondered how my mother could put up with the scent, she had most likely grown immune to it. My father pulled his head up from his pillow; his greasy brown hair clung to his shining forehead and his eyes swollen with exhaustion.

"Give it here," He growled in a gruff tone, outstretching his hands and grabbing the bucket of water. "Now get out of my sight,"

I sighed, leaving the room graciously, being careful to shut the door behind me quietly in an effort to keep my father subdued. I didn't know what to do with myself so I went through to my room.

Like my father it was a pitiful mess. The walls blank and damp creeping in the corners. The only piece of decoration in my room was the mirror shard that provided me with the rather unfortunate sight of my dreaded appearance.

I was not particularly pleasant to look at, my mother had said so and Titus had agreed. My jaw was square and straight, my cheeks clinging desperately to bones beneath. My eyes themselves were nothing spectacular dull grey in colour. The thing I hated most about myself however was my hair, Dirty blonde laced with dirt and filth.

Titus my brother was the opposite. Girls everywhere swooned over him. His jaw was strong, his eyes thin and menacing, his hair much unlike mine as it was dark and full life and body.

He and I were not particularly close, although we did care greatly for each other. Titus was protective of me even thought we rarely spoke, if anyone said a word against me, they would find themselves with a swollen eye or a broken wrist. He spent much of his time in the workshop, earning us the money we needed.

The day passed as it usually did. The sun sinking beneath the wisps of clouds and the moon ascending in the darkened sky, Titus resurfaced from the workshop. There was dirt across his forehead and his eyes laced with sadness.

"What's for dinner?" He asked in a casual manner. His gaze finding me. I hadn't even begun cooking; I usually had the food ready by now.

"I don't know yet," I sighed, "What would you like?"

"There's a good piece of chicken laid aside, Old Stevens gave me it in exchange for a few pieces of coal," Titus grumbled, "Will I go ask father?"

"He's too drunk to know the difference," I grumbled, "I could put a piece of stale bread in front of him and tell him it was chicken and he wouldn't complain,"

"I best go check he's still breathing," Titus vanished up the stairs.

I wondered why Titus cared about Amicus's welfare; Amicus certainly didn't care about ours. He was nothing more to me than the man I was forced to endure day and night, all he had ever done for me was create me, and I wasn't very thankful for that.

I left the room, finding the chicken and throwing carelessly in a pan. It was food, I didn't care how it was cooked, and neither did Titus or my strangely absent mother. She was usually over my shoulder by now staring critically as I did everything wrong.

But I was thankful for her absence; My mother like my father was a person I did not particularly like. Titus came crashing down the stairs landing in a loud bang. He strolled through to the kitchen wiping the sweat of his brow.

"Father will be down soon," He smiled, "He's..."

"Throwing up," I finished his sentence, dishing up the chicken on to the plate and placing it upon the rickety table.

Titus threw himself down upon the chair and pulled the leg of. We did not care for cutlery, it was a hassle. A pointless one at that. I took myself a piece of the meat and quickly finished it. By the time our father came crashing down the stairs me and Titus had finished and had sat ourselves down upon the couch.

"Aren't you pair off for training or Sumhin," My father grumbled inaudibly. "It'd be nice to get you pair out of my hair!"

"We're leaving in a minute," Titus sighed.

Training was a vital part of our lives, in fact I'd goes as far as to say, it was our lives. To many the hunger games were cruel and unjust, but to me and Titus it was a thrilling adventure that both of us wanted to experience. We trained daily amongst the other careers dreaming of the day in which we would stand in the arena and fight.

Titus was planning on volunteering for this years games. Part of me was dreading him leaving, although I would never admit it to him, the few words that my brother spoke to me, were what kept me going through the day. He was very much the only company I ever received.

"Father where is mother?" Titus asked politely. Amicus raised his head from his newspaper,

"Dunno," He shrugged, "Could be dead in a sewer and I wouldn't give a rats ass,"

I often wondered why they had even married. They weren't exactly a match made in heaven. My mother a previously beautiful tailor and my father was a drunken blacksmith who had a face closely resembling the back end of an obese pig.

"We'll be of," I announced, slinging my bag pack over my shoulders and darting out of the door. Titus close was close behind me.

"Bye father," He spoke kindly. It bugged me how he could be so civilised to the man...

We reached the training grounds, they were officially known as playing fields for recreational sports, but the residents of district two knew them as the career spot. Old victors stood around the plains teaching and training budding warriors how to kill mere children.

Titus flew forward and joined his friends. Sparring easily amongst them, the hilt of his dagger gleaming gently under the tranquil light of the moon. I strode forward, casting a solemn a glance at Clove. She was very much a newbie, her hands gripping her bow all wrong.

She cast me a foul look and I turned my attention to the weights,

"Hey Valeria," A strangely deep female voice spoke, "Here, I want you to show Clove how to properly hold her bow,"

I turned to face Enobaria. I sighed and heading forward, taking Clove's bow and fixing my stance to show her how to properly wield such a weapon. She watched intently as I released the arrow. It flew through the air and landed perfectly in the centre of the target.

"See that's how it's done," Enobaria laughed, "So...Valeria, are you volunteering this year?"

"No, Titus is," I replied, "I don't want to face my brother in the arena,"

"No I guess you wouldn't," The victor rolled her eyes and vanished to aid the boys.

Training passed all too quickly, both Titus and I walked each other home, deliberately taking our time. Neither of us spoke, we didn't need words to express what we were thinking.

There was something strange however as we walked home. In the distance a large crowd was assembled, Peacekeepers roamed the area, their faces masked from emotion.

"Wonder what happened?" Titus spoke up, detouring around to see what the fuss was all about.

I followed my brother down to the courtyard. People cast us sorry glances, why did they pity us? One woman I think her name was Amber attempted to hug me, I pulled myself roughly from her hands and caught up with Titus.

It was then I saw what the crowd were staring at. Two peacekeepers sat beside the still body of a female. She was lying amongst a pool of her own blood, her eyes staring lifelessly up at the sky. It was not just any woman.

It was my mother.

"Suspected suicide," One of the peacekeepers spoke, "Two warped kids and a drunken husband. Doesn't surprise me,"

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. I didn't proof read nearly as much as I should have, but hopefully there are only one or two mistakes. Constructive criticism is most welcome. The next Chapter will be in Titus's view.

DISCLAIMER – I do not own Hunger games, but Valeria, Amicus and Titus are mine.

Preview

I hadn't realised how much I loved my mother till she was gone. She had given me life, and no matter how little she had done for me afterward I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her. I placed the single rose down upon the miniscule grave. "Goodbye mother," I spoke, looking up at the sun, the light gleaming down blissfully. "Goodbye District Two,"