It was dark when Kit awoke. He lay in the bed he shared with his younger brother and stared up into the darkness for a few moments, willing the tightness in his stomach to go away. The bed creaked when he sat up and threw his legs over the side, the floor frigid against his bare feet.

"Kit?" a quiet voice asked. "Where are you going?"

"Hunting for your breakfast, Puck. Go back to sleep, it's too early," he murmured, pulling on his socks.

The bed creaked as Puck turned onto his stomach, trying to find a comfortable position. "Is Sylvie going too? Can I come?" He already knew the answer to both questions, but he asked them anyway.

"You're too young to come with me, Puck. In a couple more years, maybe I'll teach you how to shoot," he smiled, ruffling the twelve-year-old's blonde hair. "But if you keep me from the forest any longer, I might not come back in one piece. It pleases her majesty to be on time." He rolled his eyes and in the darkness he could see his younger brother smile. "I'll be back later, bud. Go back to sleep."

He moved about the small house as silently as he could for Puck's sake, checking his father's bedroom. He had left long before Kit had awoken and was somewhere underground with the other men of the district. Kit dreaded the day that he too would be assigned to work in the mines, those endless hours underground where the air, what little there was of it, was rancid. He sighed and grabbed his coat from the hook, pulling it onto his arms as he stepped outside. Dust rose up from the ground as he jogged down the way of the district, knowing that if he didn't get out into the woods any faster, the sun would be coming up. The only bit of activity that seemed to be going on in the early hour was the construction in the town square. The workers were slowly but surely assembling the stage and the giant screens for the Reaping that would go on later that morning. He pursed his lips and looked away from the bustle, continuing on his own endeavor. This year, a handful of people would have their names removed from the drawing, having survived seven years without getting chosen. At the same time, a fresh round of twelve year olds would be added to the mix, having just as much a chance of their name getting picked.

Puck included.

Kit stopped when he made it to the fence, staring at the spot he could climb through. Maybe he shouldn't have come out this morning. The more he thought about his little brother alone at home, most likely not asleep, the more he debated turning around and heading back the way he came. Puck may have been young, but they had been living like this for a long time. He shook his head and ducked through the broken electrical fence on towards the District line, not even bothering to check for the hum.. The electricity hadn't been working for years, and no one else dared to go into the woods, so it wasn't a must fix. Nothing in District Twelve was, aside from things that related to coal. That was understandable, since that was the only thing of worth that came from District Twelve. Kit was sure that if suddenly the coal were to deplete one day, they would all be left to starve. There was game in the forest, sure, but if an entire district relied on it? Hopeless.

The earth was soft against the sole of Kit's boot, the dew on the grass shimmering in the early morning light. He walked into the forest until he couldn't see the fence behind him anymore and then reached into the hollow of an old tree, pulling out a quiver full of handmade arrows. He went a bit further and produced a bow from a fallen log, gripping it in his fist as he pressed forward. He knew he was late and his stomach growled with hunger. While the rest of the world seemed quiet, the forest was alive with sound. The wind rustled the branches and the leaves, possibly covering any prey's noises in an attempt to hide them from the two hunters in the wood. His ears perked up as he heard the familiar sound of a squirrel's chattering and he stopped where he was, his eyes looking for the source of the noise. The small animal sat up in a tree, an acorn in its paws. He slowly, soundlessly pulled an arrow from the quiver and put it to the string, exhaling and drawing it back. A quick release, a small screech of surprise, and the squirrel fell from its perch, dead before it hit the ground. By the time the sun had grown bright enough to light the forest, Kit had another two squirrels and a quail in his pack. That would be enough for a filling breakfast. He sighed and started to jump off of the log he was standing on, then stopped when he saw a flicker of white out of the corner of his eye.

A deer was grazing a few hundred feet away from him, unaware of his presence. Its white tail flicked in a circle as it ate, and Kit felt his whole body tremble with excitement. He carefully strung another arrow and drew the wire back, aiming at the deer. He took a breath and slowly exhaled it, not wanting to miss this chance. Concentrate…

"What are you doing there?" a female voice sounded loudly from behind him.

Kit's eyes widened as he saw the deer's head snap up at the voice and then began to dart away. He fired his arrow a second too late and it flew past it, maybe skimming a few hairs of its cotton-white tail. He whirled around, his nostrils flaring with anger. "What the hell was that?" he demanded to the dark haired young girl, hopping down from his post. "That was the first deer I've seen in ages, Sylvie!"

A teasing smile played on her lips and she folded her arms across her chest. "And what were you gonna do with it after you killed it, genius? Haul it back to the Hob on Reaping Day? I see that working out in your favor. What, did you think I'd help you carry that thing? With all those Peacekeepers out today? Yeah, right! Not all of them are gonna turn a blind eye to us, you know."

He sighed and ran a hand through his knotted blonde curls in exasperation. "All that meat…God, I haven't had venison in a long time," he moaned, rubbing his eyes and sighing again. "I'm gonna make you pay for making me miss that." He gave her a stern look with his dark blue eyes and pushed past her in somewhat feigned anger.

Sylvie smiled and she quickly caught up to him, walking in step with him. "Did you have a nice sleep-in this morning? I noticed you failed to meet me at the usual spot. I almost left to go beat some sense into you."

"Get off it, shrimp," he muttered, giving her a sideways glance. "I still came, didn't I? And I bet I got more game than you did." He unslung his pack and sat down against a tree, pulling out the dead animals. "Three squirrels and a quail chick." He grinned when Sylvie clapped her hands in delight, mostly just to cheer him up.

"I've got enough for you to take a couple squirrels back to your family, if you like," she said, taking one of his squirrels and pulling out a knife. She didn't bat an eyelash as she started to gut the squirrel, making a pretty clean job of it too.

Kit watched her with an amused smile on his lips, finding it funny once again that little Sylvie Worrel had grown up into a girl who wasn't revolted by squirrel entrails. When he had met her in school eight years earlier, he wouldn't have believed that she would be doing things like gutting animals with him. There hadn't been any significant event that had happened that had caused them to become friends, he just remembered that they hadn't known one another and then suddenly they were friends. Perhaps because she hadn't been afraid to talk to him like the other kids were. Kit had been a bit of an outcast; he had developed quite a temper since his mother had passed away giving birth to his younger brother. He had been used to being alone when all of a sudden, a shrimp of a girl with ribbons in her hair decided to associate herself with him. She wore yellow ribbons in her hair back then, and every day after. One day, she suddenly stopped wearing them, and he still hadn't asked her why.

At first, he had ignored her and her stupid laugh, turning his back when she would point something out to him. Gradually she grew on him, and now they were very close. Even as she grew up, she hadn't changed much. The thing about Sylvie was that there wasn't anything remarkably special about her. With her thick dark hair, deep brown eyes and olive skin, she had the same features as pretty much everyone else in the District. Those dimples, though...Sometimes when he lay awake in bed, he thought of tracing them with his fingertip. Of drawing her close and brushing his lips against the little indentions in her cheek, letting the tip of his tongue gently dip into it. When he caught himself entertaining thoughts like that, he'd quickly wave them away and bury his face in the mattress, willing sleep to find him.

"You okay?" Sylvie asked, making him blink. Had she been talking to him? The look on her face told him that she indeed had been, and he gave her a sheepish smile. "Gee, I'm glad that I can always count on your impeccable attention span. I know I'm not boring, so you must be the problem."

He laughed and lay down on his back, folding his hands behind his head and staring up at the blue sky that peeked through the holes in the forest canopy. "What would you do if I got reaped, Sylvie?" He heard her sharp little breath of a laugh and moved his eyes to her face, raising his brows. "I bet you'd be a wreck."

"No, I don't think so," she murmured, cleaning off her knife. "I'm actually hoping you do get picked. It'd save me a lot of headaches."

"Be serious!"

"I am! Happy Hunger Games, Kit, it was nice knowing you! Don't expect me to come say goodbye to you, I'll be too busy celebrating," Sylvie muttered, blowing her dark hair out of her eyes.

"Hey," Kit frowned, sitting up. "That's not true, is it?"

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What do you think, Kit? Of course not. I hate it," she stuffed her knife into her quiver of arrows, "when you ask me things like that. What would you do if I got reaped?"

He set his jaw, suddenly turning defensive. "That won't happen."

"It could."

"But it won't." His voice was firm but had a hint of worry.

Sylvie looked at him for a moment, seeing the stern look on his face, and she sighed. "See? Not very funny, is it?" She stood up and slung her quiver over her shoulder. "We should head back. I bet your brother is waiting for his breakfast. And you should think about bathing before the Reaping," she said with a grin, wrinkling her nose. "Just looking out for you." She held out her hand to help him to his feet and they headed back towards the fence. They stowed away their quivers and bows in their usual spots, and Kit reached out to pull back the hanging fence for Sylvie to climb through first.

"So, is Puck okay?" she asked him when he crawled through and brushed the dirt from his pants.

"What?"

"It's his first year…is he nervous?"

Kit pursed his lips, kicking at a stone on the path as they walked. "Of course he's nervous. I'm nervous too." He jumped a little when he felt the petite brunette slip her arm with his and his cheeks burned for some reason. "I don't think anyone here goes in feeling confident. We aren't Careers."

"You're right," she murmured, focusing on getting her feet in sync with his. "I wouldn't worry so much about Puck. His chances of getting picked are pretty much zero, right? Be sure to tell him that. There are a lot of people whose names are in there many more times than his."

He nodded. "I will." He stopped when Sylvie took her arm back and then unslung the bag that had the game in it. "Are you sure you want me to take this?"

She smiled, those dimples making their appearance, and nodded. "I know how much Puck likes squirrel. I'll catch you later, okay? Maybe we could do something together after the big show?"

"I…sure. Yeah, we'll do that," Kit answered, not sure why his heart had begun beating faster. He watched her as she turned away and left him, heading back to her house. Before she disappeared around the corner, he called out to her. "Sylvie!" His cheeks burned red when she turned and gave him a curious look, and he was thankful that she couldn't see them. "Why don't you wear ribbons in your hair anymore?"

She stared at him for what seemed like a long time, puzzled. Finally, she gave a sweet laugh and shrugged her shoulders, waving to him before disappearing around the corner.