The Beginning

Waking up in a bed that isn't your own is a good sign that something suspicious is going on. Upon opening my eyes, a simple movement that shouldn't make my skull ache as it does now, I immediately recognize the posh, comfortable environment as a bedroom upon one of the Capitol's ridiculous trains. I've encountered many of them throughout the war.

That's what I don't quite understand. The war is over. The Capitol officially finished us off several days ago. We had agreed to minimal executions and no further consequences other than being forced to bow down the tyrants once again. Whatever is going on now shouldn't be happening. I shouldn't be here, zooming over train tracks, presumably to the golden city itself.

My mind automatically assumes the worst. I was a major contribution to the rebellion. It was my own brother who instigated it all and led the fight to his grave. I was his right-hand man. Whatever is planned for me at the Capitol cannot be pleasant.

You can bet I don't sit around waiting for anyone to come and fetch me. My immediate instinct is to find a way off the train, but I know any effort I were to make would be futile. Instead, I cautiously wander into the hallway, thankful to find that my door is unlocked. I hear the voices of other people making light-hearted conversation down the corridor and make my way towards them. They sit in the dining car, not noticing me as I approach.

"So which one of you do I get to kill for knocking me out cold?" My voice is hoarse and weak. I begin to wonder how long I had been out.

My question definitely gets their attention as the whole group turns to stare at me. They exchange nervous glances before a particularly tall man rises and puts his arm around my shoulder as if we've been best buds for years. I try to step away from him, but his hold is firm.

"Tobias," he says in a smooth, calming voice. "Come with me. I'll fill you in before we arrive."

"Arrive where?"

"Come on."

The others certainly look relieved to be rid of me, and as we walk away, one woman actually lets out an audible sigh, as if she'd been holding her breath since I entered the room.

Still not sure where we are heading, the man leads me to another train car, this one filled with various species of plants and flowers, the roof completely made of glass and large windows that seemingly take up the entire wall. Why a train needs a conservatory, I haven't the slightest idea.

Sitting me down on a nearby bench, the man, who still hasn't introduced himself, begins to speak.

"If you want to kill someone for dragging you here, I guess that would be me."

As tempted as I am to take him up on his offer, I refrain and let him continue.

"I'm only doing as I'm told. We've received these instructions from President Aeron himself. He wants to speak with you privately and in person. It's crucial."

Shivers rush down my spine at the thought of standing face to face with the president of Panem. He won't be thrilled to see me, especially since I was the one ordered to assassinate him several days ago, when the war was in full swing.

"What does he want?"

The tall man shrugs. "He won't tell me. We were only supposed to bring you to him. But if I were to guess, I would say it has something to do with tying up the rebellion."

For a Capitolite, this man is treating me rather civilly, and for some reason, that makes me even more suspicious. "What do you mean?" I demand. "We've already agreed on all the consequences. It's over."

The man wears a pained look on his face, like he doesn't want to tell me something. "Not quite."

"Not quite?" I ask, venom pouring off of my voice.

"There's been talk," he informs me. "Something about some televised event. Supposed to humiliate the districts or something."

I laugh at this. "You think we would be affected by that? No one in the districts care about how we're viewed by the Capitol anymore."

"But you're not the target exactly. It's the youth they're after." My face grows white as he speaks this. What does the Capitol want with our children? "All I know is that this is all being organized by Aeron. And I'm sure you know about his unique sense of humor."

I nod. I do, indeed, know about Aeron's love for all that is sick and twisted. And that scares the hell out of me.

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out my story. I could talk to you about all my plans for this and whatnot, but I really would just like to spare you the boredom and skip to the submissions. But first, I would like to fill you in on a few rules and also let you know that Tobias, the charmingly sarcastic man you just met, will definitely be appearing in more chapters ahead.

On to the rules. There are only a few, so just hang in there!

1. A maximum of three tribute submissions per person. While I would love to hear all about your amazing characters, we have to allow other people to submit as well.

2. Please know that once you submit your tribute to me, they may not end up exactly as you had imagined. It is, after all, my story, and I'm telling you now, your character will be altered by the end of the Games. I don't want anyone coming to me about how I'm writing their character incorrectly, because that's telling me I have to write twenty-four tributes exactly how they were each presented to me and that would make for a very repetitive, boring story. I will most certainly take constructive criticism and something you would like to see in future chapters in the reviews, however.

3. That brings me to my final rule. Please submit your tributes to me through PM, not reviews. I simply don't like having several pages of my reviews consist of things that aren't actually feedback. If you do accidentally submit a character on the reviews, I'll simply message you and ask that you PM it to me, then delete the review once you do. It will not harm your characters chance of getting chosen/winning

4. I lied. One more sort of rule. This is the very first Hunger Games, meaning the Careers do not exist yet and no one has trained for this. There are no previous victors and the mentors will consist of Capitolites trained for the event. You can have older characters be selected for the Games who were involved in the war, however. That way they would have a large physical advantage, similar to the Careers. But remember, not everyone needs to do that. Be original! Be creative!

That's it. The list of accepted tributes can be found below, and even further down is the form. Just PM it to me and you'll see your tribute on the list shortly after that. Have fun!

- Connor

P.S. Sorry, forgot this little piece of information. Please follow my version of the districts for simplicity. I know it's not what you might have imagined, but just be cool and do that for me. Thanks!

District 1: Luxury Goods

Male - Agrius Sevent (HappilyEnding)

Female - Iska Lorelle (HappilyEnding)

District 2: Peacekeepers and Masonry

Male - Felix Kory (BecauseofKillanJones)

Female - Breccia Malcor (BecauseofKillanJones)

District 3: Technology

Male - Monarch Quinn (Psychopathic Kitten)

Female - Sapphire Curtis (allonsydney)

District 4: Fishing

Male - Kai Current (allonsydney)

Female - Gwen Tailor (IceHeart101)

District 5: Weapons and Explosives

Male - Rory Fetkenhour(Zach-and-Lulu347)

Female - Alliskette Murray (HappilyEnding)

District 6: Transportation and Machinery

Male - Jonson Lanton (FireBird128)

Female - Jay Rolden(FireBird128)

District 7: Lumber

Male - Logan Mitchell (allonsydney)

Female - Bianca Floyd (BecauseofKillanJones)

District 8: Textiles

Male - Jared Goldman (SlightlyBlackSheep)

Female - Skye Goldman (SlightlyBlackSheep)

District 9: Power and Electricity

Male - Spark Sinclair (Spray Painted Monkey)

Female - Madeline Revnell (GirlOnFire4)

District 10: Livestock

Male - Beau Dillard (Spray Painted Monkey)

Female - Violet Caine (GirlOnFire4)

District 11: Agriculture

Male - Crispin Cranes (Psychopathic Kitten)

Female - Hazel Bainer (Spray Painted Monkey)

District 12: Mining

Male - Jordan Cray (FireBird128)

Female - Angel Spiran (SlightlyBlackSheep)

Name:

Gender:

Age:

District (Top 3):

Appearance:

Personality:

History:

Family/Friends:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Weapon of Choice:

Willing to Join an Alliance?

Why Should They Win?