A/N: Be forewarned. This is my first fic. Mentality prepare yourself.

Red woke up to the sound of a knock on his door. He rolled out of bed, moaned, and walked to the window to see who it was. He was surprised to see his friend Willow, who rarely came to this part of town, on the porch.

He opened the door and ushered her inside. She plopped into a chair and mumbled, "Happy hunger games."

"You okay Will?" Red asked with a concerned look. She didn't look okay. Apon closer inspection, cuts and bruises, terribly hidden under jacket sleeves and other assorted rags, came into view. "Yep! I'm fine!" She cheerfully replied, then she promptly passed out.

Red sighed and picked her up. He walked to his bed, gently set her down on it, and then went to the kitchen to brew some tea. He thought of the first time he met Willow and chuckled to himself as he drifted off in thought.

()_._._()_._._()

He had just lost his father in accident. A tree felling accident to be precise. Living in District 7, these types of accidents were common. But thankfully, his father took precautions in case this ever happened.

Years before he was born, his father found a stash of several gold bars from the Dark Days deep in the forest. His father had hidden a map with the location marked on it. Red and his mother had found said map and traveled in the forest one night to get one or two of the bars.

During the trip, Red and his mother were forced to hide from a peacekeeper patrol. The PK's spoke of a girl that had stolen a loaf of bread and fled into the forest. When the cost was clear, the continued their trek to the gold.

After 2 hours of walking, they finally found the stash. It was a big, black, metal box with wheels, windows and two doors on the back, along with a triangle logo on the side. They slowly opened the doors, only to find the inside littered with green slips of paper.

His mother looked crestfallen until Red opened a box on the floor, and very nearly shouted for joy. His mother ran over and looked inside and saw 4 bars of solid gold, along with random jewelry and coins, right as a little girl walked in with a loaf of bread.

The girl demanded to know who they were and what they were doing in her house. They answered her questions but the outburst attracted one of the peacekeepers. He was about to call to his patrol, but something stopped him. He looked back at the terrified bunch, decided to let them go, and left.

After the adrenaline wore off, Red looked over at the girl and asked, "Say, what's your name? She looked back at him and said, "Willow." Then she passed out.

()_._._()_._._()

Red was pulled back to reality by the shrill whistle of the kettle. He looked back at Willow and smiled. She was sleeping peacefully, and looked much better. He poured the tea and set a cup on the nightstand beside the bed. After about half an hour, she woke with a yawn.

She looked up at Red and frowned. "How long was I out?" She asked."Bout' an hour, why?" Red said back. Then it hit him. It's reaping day. It's normally not this terrifying, but this was the 150th games. A Quarter Quell. " We need to get ready, duh." Willow said nonchalantly. She seemed confident that we wouldn't get reaped. But who knows.

Red gave her a look, then searched for something they could wear. He found some of his father's old clothes right as his mother and Dais, the peacekeeper that let the three go in the forest, walked in the front door. He turned around and grinned. "Hey guys! How was town?"

"Fine. We picked up some good bread, and some meat for tonight." His mom replied. Red knew his mom was trying to stay positive, but he had a bad feeling about this reaping. Willow popped out of the closet behind him with an old dress of his mother's and asked if she could borrow it. Red's mom looked surprised to find Willow here, but she still said it was alright.

"Thanks!" Willow said as she hopped around with glee. Red laughed. She must really like the dress. It matched her green eyes well. But her black hair was a mess. His mother noticed this and immediately grabbed her and pulled her away with comb in hand. "NOOOoooo" Willow screeched as the door to his mom's room snapped shut.

It was just Red and Dais. Red mumbled something about lunch and tried to walk away but Dais stopped him.

"Listen Red, I know how worried you are about Willow. You're thinking about what would happen if she got reaped. Not a lot of people even know about her," Dais sighed and continued, "You might not believe me, but she's got what it takes to win. Even with the extra tributes. Remember that they don't announce the next modifier until after the reaping."

'The first is double tributes though,' Red thought, 'Greaaat. An extra chance for either of us to be reaped.'

The door to his mom's room opened and Willow oozed out. Her hair was straight, but she sulked in defeat. His mother walked out and announced that it was time to go. "Yay..." Red moaned. Dais laughed and pushed him out the door.

Once they got there, Red and Willow said their goodbyes, and went to sign in. Red shuddered as he wrote his real name down. The attendant pricked his finger and had him smear a little of his blood on the page. Then he walked through the gate to the town square.

The entire place was filled with camera towers, reporters, and nervous kids. Red's mind raced with the possibilities. What if Willow gets picked? ...What if HE was picked? Red was so caught up in thoughts that he missed the opening, which was mostly some capitol lady blabing on about how wonderful it was to be here.

He stopped thinking when someone caught his attention. It was the District 7 mentor. He stood tall, like he would try to train these next tributes to the best of his ability. Red slowly calmed down. He needed to focus. The reaping was starting.

The woman made a show of rummaging through the big glass ball. Then spoke loud and clear. "Amber Smit!" Red looked around to see who it was. It was a young girl. She was probably twelve. Most likely first reaping too. A shame, at least it wasn't-

"I VOLENTEER!" Someone screamed. The crowd parted to reveal Willow, standing defiantly. Red's world shattered around him.

He couldn't believe it. Willow had just done the unthinkable. "Well, that's that then." The capitol woman said brightly, as she reached in for the Male tributes. Red had missed what the other tribute name was. She called out "Kenji Leif."

Nononononono. This CANNOT be happening... That was Red's real name. "Any volunteers?" She quipped. Red knew there weren't any. Who would sacrifice their life for his?

'Willow would, but look where that got us.' he thought. The other tribute was called a kid named Sawlk. The crowd cheered as we marched into the Justice Building. Red tried to take in every detail, because he knew one thing for sure. He would never see this place again.

A/N: I know its short, but I want the train ride to be fairly long so I can expand on Willow's backstory. Thanks for reading though!

Till' next time, ImpatientGeek

(12/11/17)

Next time is here my peoples! I spaced the chapter out for improved readability, and filled a plot hole! (Gasp!)

I was looking at this for nostalgia... Kidding, I couldn't ignore the wall of text that is, sorry, was chapter one. It's readable now. Yay!