Well this is my first fan-fiction I have ever done, so I hope you enjoy and any advice is welcome.


Hair the colour of mahogany tumbled in curls and waves like the restless ocean down either side of Carmen Galyonn's thin, tanned face. Long, sweeping eyelashes framed her large, innocent black eyes. Her face was regal and angular, almost delicate unlike the worn, tough faces of the other children from District 10.

Her body was slender and gracefully built. Smooth, tanned skin covered wiry muscles. Muscles built from handling strong livestock her entire life. She was an only child, coming from a rich family and at the age of 13 her name was only in the bowl twice. She wasn't worried in the slightest for being picked to compete in The Hunger Games.

With a glance at her circular mirror Carmen straightened the collar of her black blouse, before hurrying down the hall towards the door where her mother and father were waiting.

She smiled at her parents, her left fist clenched at her side. Carmen held out her fist to her mother and opened it. A golden chain thinner then a pencil, but stronger then any rope dropped into her mother's palm.

"What is this?" she asked.

"If I do get picked, I want that as my token," Carmen replied.

If her parents were confused, they hid it well. Her dark haired mother tucked the long chain into her coat pocket.

"You won't get picked anyway," said her father loudly.

Carmen smiled at him, her black eyes were sad though. Then somewhere in the distance a loud bell rang clearly. All across District 10 every single person paused, his or her blood going cold.

"Reaping time," Carmen whispered.

Her father set his mouth and led the way towards the stage in the middle of town, in front of the Justice Building, joining the streams of shuffling, frowning people. Carmen left her parents and stood in line to be registered. Flash backs of the training she had done in the middle of every dark night came back to her as she offered her hand to have blood taken.

She blinked as the spike punctured her skin and the lady at the desk tugged her hand forward and pressed her bloody finger on a bit of card. Carmen stepped towards where all the other 13 year olds were standing and waiting.

She stood near the front, eyeing the two glass bowls full of little squares of paper. She bit her lip nervously as she focused on the bowl on the left hand side of the wooden stage. Two of the bits of paper in there had Carmen Galyonn printed on it in black ink.

Silence fell over the people; only the sound of the restless cows, pigs, sheep and goats could be heard from the fields. Carmen closed her eyes, images of her home, her room, the barn, her secret training room not even her parents knew about, rough dummies made from straw stuffed stacks and spare bits of wood.

She sighed, her eyelids fluttering open as the sound of the double doors being flung open rang over the crowd. Tarliea skipped out of the gloom, how she managed to skip in six-inch pink heels though. Like all the people from the Capitol she was dressed outrageously. Bright orange hair, styled into complicated swirling patterns across her scalp. Neon green lipstick, powdered face, yellow eye shadow.

Her short skirt was made of some shiny red material, which flared out in a rippling ruff at the bottom. Her shirt was made of sky blue, fluffy fabric with elbow length sleeves. An enthusiastic smile was pasted on her face.

"Hello, District 10! Happy 99th Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favour" she cried in that annoying Capitol accent.

All she got was a blank, almost angry silence from the crowd.

"Well… Anyway onto the video!" she sung.

Tarliea raised her head to look at the screen, clasping her hands under her chin, gold painted nails obvious against the blue fluff of her shirt. All of District 10 slowly looked up at the screen, eyes misty and blank as the video played, the same video that played every year. At every Reaping.

Once it was over, Carmen looked back at the stage, mirrored by the rest of the crowd.

"Ladies first," trilled Tarliea.

The bubbly Capitol lady dipped her hand into the glass bowl, golden nails flashing. She dug through the bits of paper, an ecstatic smile on her face. Finally Tarliea plucked a slip of paper out of the hundreds in there.

She seemed to be almost shaking with excitement as she raised the little white square to eye level. Then a tiny pause, complete silence, even the animals weren't making a sound. Tarliea took a quick breath before shouting aloud:

"Carmen Galyonn!"

Carmen froze, a million thoughts racing through her mind. Suddenly an anguished cry came from the back of the crowd. Everyone spun around to see Carmen's mother in hysterical tears, her father was standing just behind her mother in numb shock.

"Well, uh… come on," mumbled Tarliea looking a bit embarrassed.

The mahogany haired girl with those innocent black eyes stumbled forward, barely making it up the stairs onto the old wooden stage. She looked at her parents and tried to smile reassuringly.

"The boys now," gushed Tarliea, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

The Capitol lady trotted over to the second glass bowl, with less stalling this time she withdrew her hand, a piece of paper held tightly between her bony fingers.

"Dallis Lunarine!" she called out.

A solemn looking boy of 15, with short black hair and green eyes, walked up onto the stage. His pale face blank with shock. Dallis stopped next to Carmen and gazed at his parents, then his younger sister. He threw back his shoulders and put a smile on his face, trying to brave for his family.

"Well isn't this just fantastic, now shake hands," Tarliea ordered.

The pale 15-year-old boy numbly held out his large hand and the tanned 13-year-old girl slipped her small hand into his. They shook hands once and then let their arms drop to their sides.

Tarliea grasped both their upper arms and half dragged the pair into the dimness of the Justice Building. Once inside the doors swung shut and four Peacekeepers trudged forward. Two grabbed Carmen's upper arm on each side and pulled her away to a separate room, the same happened to Dallis.

Carmen pressed her face to the window to see if she could see anything out of it, but it looked out onto an empty field. She sighed and turned away. A few minutes later her mother and father burst into the room, a Peacekeeper closed the door behind them.

"Promise me you will try to win," her father whispered urgently.

Carmen nodded silently, tears in her black eyes. Her mother let out a terrified whimper and held out the golden chain. Carmen smiled sadly at her mother and took the strong chain and placed it around her neck, tying the two ends together with two of her own brown hairs.

Her mother tried to smile and then embraced her young, unlucky daughter. Then Carmen hugged her father.

"I'm not as unprepared as you think," she whispered to her parents.

They gazed in wide-eyed silence at their daughter as the Peacekeeper tugged them out of the little room and slammed the door. Carmen turned back to the window, raising her hand to the long chain around her neck. With a small smile she raised her head.

"I'm not as unprepared as you think," she repeated quietly to the empty room.


So there is the first chapter, hope you liked it. I have already done the first five chapters of this fan-fiction, so I will upload those shortly.