***THIS IS A RE-UPLOAD OF A STORY THAT WAS TAKEN DOWN DUE TO INTERACTION. IT WAS ONCE AN SYOT BUT NOW IT WILL JUST INCLUDE THE CHARACTERS FROM THE PREVIOUS STORY, SO NO MORE SPONSOR POINTS/QUESTIONS OR TRIBUTE LISTS. ALL OF THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S NOTES AND TEXT WILL STILL BE THERE, SO NONE OF THOSE EVENTS UP TO THE THIRD DAY OF TRAINING (IN-PROGRESS) ARE HAPPENING AT THE MOMENT. THIS IS JUST AN INDICATION AND WILL NOT BE FOUND ON ANY OTHER CHAPTERS. SO PLEASE ENJOY THE STORY :)***
Hey everyone! Well, here's District Ones reaping! Thanks to Skai Breeze and my Bestie for submitting the tributes, I hope I get them right! Anyway, here you go.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Hunger Games! It would be awesome if I did though!
ATRIUM NYLAST'S POV
"Atrium! Time to get up!"
I groaned and rolled over in my bed. "Just five more minutes…"
I heard a deep, reluctant sigh that could only belong to one person. "Don't make me do this. You know you don't want to make me do this."
Some form of mumbling was my only response to the statement.
"BODY SLAM!" My brown eyes shot open as a large weight, or person I should say, was slammed into my right side. I let out a pained "oof" after the dust settled down. A faint girly giggle wafted through the sleepy air.
"Augh, Finitia…" I groaned as I sat up and rubbed my scalp. "Why do you always do that? You know I hate it when you do that."
A girl with dirty blonde hair swiped her bangs out of her evergreen eyes. "You didn't respond. Besides, the reaping's in five minutes."
That woke me up. I bolted upward and nearly knocked over Finitia ad her little sister Starri as I sprinted out the door. "DANGIT FIN! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!"
The kitchen was abandoned when I popped into it. The only thing in it was a file of my dad's old paperwork and a plate of eggs and bacon. Attached to it was a note.
Dear At-At: We're sorry we didn't have time to wake you up. Our meeting started earlier than we though. This is for you. Love, Mother.
I crumpled the note up in his hand. God, I hated that nickname. At least my mother had the nerve to prepare my eggs with extra pepper. Just how I liked 'em. After shoveling down my breakfast in half a minute, I ran back upstairs, tripping several times, and flung open the maple-wood closet.
Gotta hurry, gotta hurry, gotta hurry… Ran through my mind as I dug around for the suit my father had given me last night for the reaping. He was so proud of me for excelling in my arena training. It's not much to be proud of though. He's just upset because he was never reaped. I finally spotted the black silk insides glimmering in the LED closet light. I took it by the collar and yanked it out. Quickly I stripped out of my PJs and into the dress robes. After straightening my tie, I looked in the mirror.
God, I looked like a mini version of my father. With my black silk suit, bright yellow shirt, stuck-up tie, and brown cowhide shoes my mother ordered from District 10, them being the livestock district and all. I dipped my fingers into the hair gel can on my bedside table and slicked my shaggy chocolate hair down flat. Now I looked like a spoiled rich kid. Just the image my father wants me to present myself as. The only flaw in it was a big rip in the side of the suit coat. No big deal.
I then bee-lined for the door, skipping several steps in the process, and wrangled my front door open. Basking in the warm, spring air that is District 1. Waiting right there, on my grey flagstone pathway, was my girlfriend.
Parasol Velvetta. Twirling her floral umbrella lightly in the gentle breeze.
Her eyes swirled like a freshly brewed mocha in the light of the coffee shop that just beckoned to be drunk. Her hair, flowing down her shoulders in a silky curtain of platinum blonde goodness. A stray strand of blue silk was woven into a small braid that laid ever so gently on her wall of hairy beauty.
God, being around her makes me poetic.
"Hey," Parasol said and skipped up to give me a kiss on the nose. "Why do you look so rushed?"
"'Cause the reaping starts in two minutes!" I answered and tried to pull her forward towards Town Square. Parasol kept her feet firmly on the ground. "Do you want to be late?"
Parasol rolled her eyes. "I apologize for any lies my sisters have told you. The reaping starts in FIFTEEN minutes. So we've got seven minutes to kill before we should leave."
I face-palmed. "What would I do without you baby." I walked up to give her a quick kiss on her rose red lips. She giggled and broke the connection.
"Come on, let's go to our spot."
Our spot was behind the Justice Building. When we were fifteen we would sneak back here to make out. Ah, memories my parents will never know about.
"How 'bout an old round of Q&A. You know, the one we always played after arena training with Gallahoff when we were twelve," Parasol asked and pulled out a paper bag full of kettle corn.
We seated ourselves so that our backs were leaning against the back wall of the sun-baked marble, with the bag of kettle corn between us, popping handfuls into our mouths after each question.
"Alright, if you wanted to propose to me, how would you do it?" Parasol asked and fingered a piece of popcorn, before throwing it up in the air and catching it with her front teeth.
"I'd spell it in your crème brulee," I answered and threw a couple of kernels into my mouth. Crème brulee was normally only eaten in the Capitol, but it's sold here on holidays like Christmas, New Year's Eve, and reaping parties. "Then hide the ring at the bottom."
Parasol giggled. "Your turn Atri."
"Hmm," I though aloud. "If I died, what type of flowers would you put on my grave?"
Parasol gave me a sad look. "You know I don't like to talk about your death…" Her eyes started to twinkle again. "But…definitely the blue lilies you and your mother genetically engineer in your backyard." Parasol reached her hand into the back, but came out empty. "Oh, it looks like we're out. Heh heh…"
I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll get some more tonight for the party." Para beamed back.
"Oh! Guess what I've also got?" Parasol said and dug around in her black leather shoulder bag. I eyed her bag curiously before she pulled out a tall bottle of expensive red wine. Sealed with a smooshy tan cork and crimson ribbon.
"Parasol! You know we're not old enough to drink this," I said and took the bottle from her hands. She looked at the grass sadly. "But I though we could celebrate tonight with it. I stole it from my father's wine cell and all."
I smiled at her. "Alright. We'll break the rules." I placed my hands on her skinny waist and kissed her plain on the mouth. Parasol ran her manicured hands through my hair and ran her tongue along my bottom lip. It was going swimmingly, until the trumpets blared. Signaling the start of the reaping. We broke apart and looked back at the Square.
"We should go," I said and started to pull her towards the Square.
"Okay!" She bubbled and roughed up my hair with her hand. "You know I hate it when you do that to yourself. I love you just the way you are."
"Sure," I said, my gaze dropping to the fresh spring grass. "But my father doesn't."
ICHIGO HANA'S POV
It was a normal, breezy, spring morning. The air was hot and sticky like the summer, but with a cool breeze like the fall. I didn't see how any of the guys my age could wear suits in temperatures like this. Maybe they're like the type that one of the factories makes that keeps the heat out. But they'd be arrested for doing so.
"Ichigo! Time for breakfast!" I heard my mother call out from downstairs.
"I'll be down in a minute!" I shouted back. I was looking for something to go over my reaping dress. I should have never let my mother picked my outfit out today. She has horrible taste.
"Ichigo if you do not get down here you will be late for the reaping! That will be bad for your father's reputation!" She yelled back. She was right, the daughter of the jewelry factory being late would surely embarrass him in front of Mr. & Mrs. Nylast, the town officials.
Yes! My mind screamed as I pulled out a long scarlet coat with gold clasps. I swiftly slipped it on and buttoned it up to my neck. Now I looked more like myself and not a flowery giggly teen.
I swept down the stairs, nearly knocking over my older brother James, who was trying to put his tie on, and ran into the kitchen. Where my mother and brother, who was wearing a blue wizard hat made out of his old dress pants and holding a staff, were seated at our dining table.
"Hey, where's dad?" I asked and took my seat next to Daisuke (my brother).
"He's already at his meeting with the officials," My mother answered and slid a plate of syrup-y waffles over to me.
"I'M A WIZARDDDDDDDDDDDDD!" Daisuke shouted and held his staff up high.
"That's nice. Now stop getting you're shirt all sticky!" I scolded and pushed him back away from his plate, which was overflowing with maple syrup. Daisuke crossed his arms, but promptly unfolded them to take another bite.
"Good morning James," My mom said as he seated himself down at the kitchen counter, where a cup of steaming espresso was waiting for him.
"Morning," He said and took a sip of the black, tasteless liquid. "Ichigo, what are you doing to Daisuke?"
I kept wiping the sticky solution off my brother's lapel. "Cleaning him. His plate's full of syrup and he keeps dipping his collar in it when he eats!"
"The more the merrier. Especially on waffles," He said and kicked his feet up on the back of another chair. My mother promptly scolded him for it.
"Not when they're submerged!" I groaned and quickly finished my breakfast. When everything was done and gone, I ran a quick brush through my short hair and bursted outside. I in-took a large breath of District 1 air before hopping off our porch, not bothering to use the steps, and started to walk down the street towards the Square.
To my right was the Victor's Village. Bustling with several tributes from previous years, along with their children. Sigh, if only I could live the life of a victor, they seem pretty happy. Well, most of them.
Further down the street, I spotted Atrium Nylast, son of the officials, and a giggly, bubbly girl holding a frilly parasol I assume to be his girlfriend. The girl was pulling him down across Town Square and behind the Justice Building. When I was younger, about fourteen, I once spotted them kissing back there. I couldn't remember if they'd spotted me or not. It was a long time ago.
When I reached the Square, I noticed my best friend Bill Volins, leaning up against a shop-keep's window. I assumed the shop sold sweets, since I saw Bill twisting the wrapper of a saltwater taffy back and forth.
"Bill!" I exclaimed and waved my hand. He looked up from his wrapper, smiled, and motioned for me to come over. I ran in big, long steps and leaned over his shoulder. "Whatcha doing?"
He dug in his pocket and pulled out a circular mint green taffy. "For you."
I let out a light squeal and tore off the wrapping in one big rip! With one flick of my wrist, I popped the sweet into my awaiting mouth. My face contorted at the taste of it. "Yuck, mint!"
Bill dug in his pocket again and pulled out an orange one wrapped in yellow. "Try this one. It's my favorite."
I repeated the same action to taste the taffy. This one I reluctantly spit out on the dirt. "Orange. Blargh, I hate citrus fruits!"
Bill shrugged. "Well that's one thing I didn't know about you." He pulled another one out of his pocket. "My last one. I don't really care for these much anymore."
This is the one. I slowly peeled back the dark blue covering to reveal a creamy white candy. I took a large bite. The corners of my mouth tilted skyward in happiness. "Vanilla!"
"I think you found your favorite," He said as people from District one started to file in. "Come on, let's go." I took Bill's wrist and he led me to the sixteen-year-old rope section. In the seventeen-year-old section, I saw Atrium again, except this time his hair was all tousled and his girlfriend was chatting up a couple other girls. The escort for District 1, a tall, lean girl with tan skin, purple eyes, wavy white hair, and diamonds embedded next to each of her eyes, took the podium.
"Welcome to the 101st Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!" She announced and threw her arms up, revealing several bronze tattoos swirling up her forearms. "My name is Drema, and I'll be the escort for this year!" She stepped over to the boy's reaping ball. "Shall we start with the boys this year?"
No response. Drema just dug her French-manicured hand deep into the ball and pulled out a slip with dainty handwriting on it. "Atrium Nylast."
Everyone's eyes darted to Atrium, including mine, as her walked the grey path to the stage. His girlfriend was being held back by her friends, screaming "NO!" as tears ran down her heart shaped face. When he reached the podium, Drema clutched his shoulder and clearly spoke into the microphone, "Any volunteers?"
The whole District went completely silent. Drema just beamed and nudged Atrium in the direction of the Justice Building. I would have thought his girlfriend had burned herself out on crying, but now she was on the floor bawling even harder than before.
"Now for the girls," Drema whispered and plucked a name right off the top. She unfurled it slowly and read out, "Ichigo Hana."
My pupils got as small as ants. I was reaped. For a moment I felt as if I might faint, but Bill gave my shoulder a good shake, one last "goodbye" look, and a push forward. I took very small steps, keeping a gentle pace so that I won't fall over and made my way towards the stage.
Halfway there, I tripped over my own two feet and face-planted into the walkway. A couple of laughs bubbled up from the tense crowd, but other than that, utter silence as I stumbled the rest of the way up. When I reached the podium, Drema held me steady. The only thing I was really thanking her for.
"Are you alright?" She joked. "Don't want our tribute injured before she even goes into the arena!" That earned a couple more laughs.
When I said I was all right, she handed me the slip, ushered me towards the Justice Building, and closed the reaping.
ATRIUM NYLAST'S POV
Goodbyes hurt my insides.
They feel like they're being twisted and contorted at weird angles. I'd rather die than do this. One goodbye after another, each one getting more painful with time.
The first person to come was my father. His expression was nothing but pure glee. He didn't even let me talk, he just kept blabbing on about how great it was going to be with a son as a victor. Until I stopped him.
"Just stop!" I shouted. He immediately stopped and glared at me.
"What did you just say to me young man?" He scowled at me. I just crossed my arms.
"I want you to stop treating me like yourself in miniature. I'm not you! I'm not perfect, I hate the Hunger Games, and yes, I did make out with Parasol behind the Justice Building that one time!" That made him gasp, but I kept going. "And IF I come back from this, I only won for Parasol. Now get out off my sight."
My father puffed out his chest and stormed over to the exit. Before he closed the doors, he turned to me and said, "You're going to regret this Atrium Kyle Nylast, even if it's the last thing you ever do!" And with that, he slammed the doors shut.
The next person was my mother, who just bawled the whole time. I had to peel her from me like a sticker from a piece of paper. After she left, a bunch of kids from school came to congratulate me. Several of them included my friends Bryce Williams, his sister Tristan, Clayton Dustworth, Darius Ombag, and Dee Featherson. Then came Parasol, her eyes red from crying.
"Parasol!" I stood up and welcomed her with a hug. "Why are you here? You should be at home celebrating."
She put her fists on my chest and looked up into my eyes. "How can I celebrate when the one person I truly love is on his way to death?" She started to cry again. "I came here to give you something."
Parasol reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a strand of white lace, at most three inches long. She put it in my hand and rolled my fingers around it.
"What's this?" I asked. She motioned for me to smell it. Before it could even reach my nose, I smelled the strong odor of wine. "It's wine. Why did you give me this?"
Parasol pulled down the top of her dress to show that some of the lace on her bra was missing. "To remind you of all the stuff we're gonna do when you get back. We're gonna drink, celebrate, and love." She then gave me a kiss on the lips. "Promise me you'll come back?"
I hugged her. "I promise." With that, she left. I thought it was the end, until Finitia and Starri came in. "I didn't think you guys would come."
"Neither did I," Finitia said and sat down on the black leather couch. "But Starri begged me to come." Starri nodded her head, making her blonde curls bounce around.
"Guys," I said. They all turned their attention to me. "Please take care of Parasol while I'm gone. If I die, I want you to make sure she lives on. Do you hear me?"
They both nodded. "Is that all?" Finitia asked. I nodded my head solemnly. Finitia stood up and took Starri's hand. Halfway across the room, Starri stopped and turned back to face me.
"Atrium, when you get back, do you wanna come over and play?" She asked in her cute little five-year-old voice.
The corners of my lips turned up. "Sure Starri. I won't forget."
ICHIGO HANA'S POV
Goodbyes aren't much to me. I'm pretty confident in myself that I'll be coming back. All the people that came were my mother and father, both proud but terrified, James, his confidence in me shining like a million stars, Daisuke, who was now a superhero, gave me his lucky "magical pocket watch" that can apparently reverse time, and a couple other people from school like Desiree Nickels and Payton Booth.
"Hey Ichigo," I heard the familiar voice of Bill over the sound of paper in an air conditioner. I threw my name strip down the floor vent and now it's on the ceiling. Annoying the crap out of me.
"Hi Bill," I said as he sat down on the blue snakeskin couch next to me. "Why are you here? Your family's probably waiting for you at home. I know how much they like to party." It's true; I did meet Bill at one of his parent's famous parties. I'd never forget that day.
"I told them I was coming. Couldn't just let you leave without a goodbye, now could I? You'd never forgive me," He said and smiled a goofy toothy grin.
"Actually I would," I said quickly, enjoying his surprised look. "Joking!" That earned a couple limited chuckles from Bill and me. "Don't worry, I have a strong feeling that I'll be back for the start of next school year."
"You better, or I'll start calling you "Itchy" again," He said and stood up.
"Wait!" I said and bolted to my feet. Bill stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face me as I appeared next to him. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before letting my cheeks flush with embarrassment and confusion. For a moment, everything was quiet, as green eyes met blue, until awkwardness started to consume the air.
"Uh-umm…" Me and Bill both stuttered. He eventually broke my ways of tripping over my words with his own.
"Um, goodbye," He said. I nodded as he started to exit. "Goodbye Bill."
"So can I leave?" I called out to the escort assistants.
"Not quite yet," A man with a deep sturdy voice answered. "You still have one visitor left."
But…who? Right then the marble doors slowly slid open to reveal Atrium's girlfriend. "Uhm, who are you?" I asked as she made her way over to one of the couches.
"My name is Parasol Velvetta," She answered, her voice as monotone and lifeless as concrete.
"Nice to meet you Parasol, I'm–" She cut me off swiftly. Like she was the Fates and I was the life thread they just cut.
"Listen Ichigo," She said her eyes welling with salty tears that threatened to fall over in a saddened waterfall. "Please take care of Atri. Make sure he comes home. And if he dies, make his death count."
I sat in shock, speechless, as she got up and started to stride towards the exit. "I will."
Right before she closed the thick doors, Parasol turned her hurt filled amber eyes to me, several tears spilling over her perfectly curled eyelashes, and said, "You better." Then she closed the doors with a big slam.
I turned Daisuke's pocket watch over and over in my hand, not even minding the sticky maple syrup still lingering on its stainless surface.
So there you go! I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter posted. Once again, I hope I got them spot on, or near spot on! If not I'm happy to corrections through PM. Not reviews, 'cause then it'll embarrass me in front of all my loyal readers. Don't forget to triple R! R, R, & R! Read, Rate, Review!
Oh! I also got 3 male gerbils yesterday. Their names are Pepper, Blackie (so original, I know), and Cappuccino (his nickname is Cappy)! I love them with all my heart!
Until then, keep on roasting.
~EnnixiaMaeLin