PROLOGUE
TELLIUS.
Once the name of the continent, now a country that rose up out of the ashes of war.
In the year 1968 of the First Age, the goddess Ashunera awoke to a brewing war between the races of the Beorc, children of wisdom, and the Laguz, children of strength. She and the ancient heron Lehran tried to act as mediators between the races, but her awakening only served to fuel the fires of the war...for what had once been Begnion was now a country of Laguz, and the religious Beorc of what had once been Crimea and Daein demanded that the other return the land of the Tower of Guidance to their rule. The Laguz refused, and despite Ashunera and Lehran's efforts, war was declared.
The years to follow were known as the Dark Years, when the entire continent clashed in a huge war of Beorc verses Laguz, far worse than anything the continent had ever seen. Even the Branded nation of the desert was swept into the conflict, fighting alongside the Laguz and the hundred or so Beorc who thought their brethren wrong. Blood was spilled across the continent.
For ten long years the wars raged, until Ashunera, in a fit of rage and pain and sadness, lost control of her power. After that... it was even worse. The disasters, the droughts, the storms and fires... the sea swallowed up what had once been Phoenicis and Kilvas, half the lush jungles of former Gallia, and even the ruins of Sienne and the Tower of Guidance—and after that, it drained again, leaving behind a continent almost twice the size of the old Tellius, and half of it a barren wasteland. When the Goddess finally regained control of herself, there was so little sustenance left that the Beorc and Laguz only fought now for survival.
And after another year of war and violence, where Lehran and Ashunera tried desperately to bring peace without success, there was one final battle between the Beorc army, and the Laguz and Branded and rebellious Beorc forces. The result was the new Tellius, a shining Capitol populated entirely by the victorious Beorc, arrogantly naming themselves the "Humans", which brought peace and prosperity to the war-torn continent. Ashunera and Lehran were taken as the figurehead leaders of this new country of Tellius, with the Goddess's powers vastly drained and the heron well on in his years. Ashunera herself disappeared, with Lehran declared the president of this new country.
With this peace came a strict new regime. The Laguz, Branded and Beorc who had lost were segregated into twelve districts, surrounding the Capitol. District 1 was home to the Black Dragon Laguz. District 2, the Lion Laguz. District 3; the Hawks. District 4; Ravens. 5; Red Dragons. 6; Wolves. 7; Herons. 8; Cats. 9; Tigers. 10; White Dragons. District 11; the Beorc who had turned against their brethren. And District 12. The cursed, the Branded, half-Beorc and half-Laguz.
And then there were the Hunger Games. The Games were created to be the reminder to the districts that the wars must never be repeated, that the Humans were superior and the Districts could only serve them, that any uprising wouldn't stand a chance, that they could only obey.
The rules were simple; Each year the various districts would offer up in tribute one young man and woman, between the specified ages of their race and district, to fight to the death in a Capitol-built arena. The last one standing became the victor.
It is now the year 224 of the Second Age. May the 8th. The day of the two hundred and twenty-fourth reaping has just dawned on District 11...
CHAPTER ONE
I K E
It was cold when he awoke, the blue-haired boy propping himself up on one elbow as he sorted out his surroundings. For a bleary moment he searched for his sister, before spotting her curled up next to their mother in the other bed. He sighed slightly and glanced out the window—really just a hole in the wall—appraising the height of the sun. Morning already? he thought wearily, pushing the tattered blanket off and sitting up.
His little sister seemed so quiet and pure as she slept, compared to the rest of the small, dirty shack where his family lived. One speck of light amongst all the darkness that is our life. He smiled grimly. I'm such a poet.
The boy swung his legs off the bed and pulled his boots on. He'd worn them so much they'd molded to his feet. Grabbing the long strip of cloth on the side of the bed, he tied it around his head to hold his messy hair back, then grabbed his bag next to the table. Pulling on a shirt, he quietly left the house.
The dark streets of District 11 were usually filled with workers this time of day. Haggard, weary people, young and old, male and female, exhausted from the previous day's work, starving, scarred, wanting only to stumble back to bed. There were few in the lower town that did not have whip scars on their backs, the standard punishment for stealing food, despite that they were the ones who slaved all year to grow and harvest it. Today, however, the streets were empty, the doors and shutters closed and locked, for those who had them. It was reaping day, and as such everyone had the day off. Best to sleep in when you had the chance.
Surrounding District 11 was a fence. Chain link, threaded with open steel cables, about ten feet tall. Theoretically, it was intended to keep out the flesh-eaters that lived in the forests surrounding the lower two districts—wild dogs, bears, even the occasional feral laguz—but it was the common, if unspoken, theory around the district that it was more intended for keeping the beorc in.
It was supposed to be electrified 24/7, but due to the irregular bursts of electricity the poor district got—and the Peacekeepers' laziness—it was usually only on a few hours a day. Still, the boy had to pause and listen to make sure the fence wasn't humming, the sign that it was on. Currently it was silent. He didn't have to follow it far before he found the two-foot gap beneath the fence he usually crawled through. A few moments later he stood up on the other side and cautiously approached the forest.
Hidden in a tree hollow, right where he'd left them yesterday, were his three most precious possessions; a long dagger, a bow, and a sheath of arrows. He could legally be whipped or even executed for owning these weapons, but fortunately for him, the local Peacekeepers had a taste for meat. Despite the common tales of terrible flesh-eating monsters in the forests, there was also food, if you knew how to find it, and it was easy enough to bribe the Peacekeepers to turn a blind eye, at least when it came to this. It wasn't the most honest way to survive, but it had kept his family alive during the harsh winters. He tucked the dagger into his belt, slung the sheath over his shoulder, and quietly went deeper into the woods, stepping lightly to avoid making a racket.
She was already there. Waiting in their usual spot; a rock ledge just overlooking a valley. The flashing red lights of the fence of District 12 could just be seen far in the distance—the barriers of 11 and 12 were many miles apart, but the lights were just visible in the darker hours.
She turned and smiled brightly when she saw him approaching. "Ike! There you are!" she called happily, raising a hand to wave.
He smiled, cheerful in the way that only she could make him, and his pace quickened. "Hey, Mia."
She lunged forward to hug him and her smile widened. "Look what I found." she said playfully, pulling a loaf of bread from her bag. Bakery bread, not the hard dense loaves from their grain rations. Bread for special occasions.
Ike's eyes widened in shock. "Goddess. Is that real?"
"It'd better be," she replied sarcastically. "It cost me a squirrel. He must've been feeling sentimental today. Even wished me luck."
"Well, I guess we all feel a little closer today." Ike said with a slight shrug.
Mia laughed slightly, a bundle of tense and nervous energy. "I guess so!" She pulled out her own knife and sliced open the bread, both of them sitting down near the edge of the cliff. Ike noticed that despite her cheery attitude, her emerald eyes were slightly narrowed, and a worried crease stood out on her forehead. Her violet hair slid aside and Ike's eyes were drawn to the scars on her bare shoulders where the shirt had torn—scars of a failed attempt to steal food for her younger sister, Ilyana, who had some strange affliction that caused her to always be hungry. It was a curse in a district as poor as 11, the next-to-poorest district of Tellius, where the head Peacekeeper was all too willing to turn a blind eye and buy their food but was brutal if you flaunted too openly or got too careless. There were few in the lower town that didn't have scars of a public whipping. Ike had all too many himself.
The two of them settled in a nook in the rocks, overlooking the beautiful valley and quietly eating the bread. The sun had risen, and everything seemed to be glowing in its light. Iridescent fish in the rivers, greens and roots to gather, beautiful mountains to the north. District 11 was nestled at the foot of the mountains, in what had once been southern Crimea, and the land was very beautiful. Ike could only think how wonderful this day would be if it were a normal holiday, just him and Mia, spending the day hunting and gathering in the woods and valley. But instead, they both had to be in the square at one.
"We could do it, you know." Mia said suddenly, her face very serious. "Leave the district. Take off, live in the woods."
She'd said it last year. They hadn't considered it then. There were too many people they had to take care of—Mist, Ilyana, Mia's little brother Edward, their mothers—their fathers were both dead, Ike's having disappeared six years ago and Mia's having been executed for stealing—and there was no way they could escape and get away with it. They suspected that was what Ike's father had done, but they both knew it was impossible for them, for the same reason Ike's father probably hadn't come back for his wife and children; Too many others to protect.
"They'd catch us." Ike replied.
"Well, maybe not." she persisted.
"We wouldn't make it five miles." he said bluntly.
"Never mind." She sighed.
For a few minutes, neither of them said anything. Ike pulled out his knife and picked a stick off the ground, and absently began to whittle it. Mia ran her fingers through her hair and sharpened her own knife. Ike recalled the day he had met her...
...They had both been twelve, having barely survived past reaping day. Neither of them knew each other, other than the occasional glance in school or the harvest. But Ike had been thinking of his father's lessons and decided to take a shot at hunting.
He was no good with the bow; that much was painfully obvious. He'd tried and failed to hit anything, but was persisting nonetheless when he heard a fairly high-pitched voice; "What are you doing?"
He started violently and spun to face a skinny girl, about his age and a few inches shorter, her violet hair long and ragged. She was balancing almost literally on her toes, poised for flight, like a deer. He recognized her from school and relaxed. "I could ask you the same thing." he snapped, angry at being sneaked up on.
"Seeing you with the bow, I have the feeling we're up to the same thing." she replied, undaunted. "Finding food, right? Hunting, fishing, gathering... that sort of thing."
"Yeah..."
"Any luck?"
"No. I don't even know how to use this thing."
She had taken it and begun experimenting with the draw before he could react. "Not bad," she mused. "I prefer a knife, myself."
"A knife?" he asked incredulously. "How can you hunt with a knife?"
She tossed him the bow and pulled a long dagger out of the bag she was carrying. Then she threw it fifteen yards into a tree, the blade slamming hard and quivering in the bark. "Like that." she said with satisfaction.
He was impressed. "Can you actually hunt like that?"
"Well...no."
They both laughed. He asked her name.
"Mia Wayu." she said cheerily. "And you?"
"Ike Greil."
"Well, Ike, how about a deal? We help each other hunt, and split whatever we find fifty-fifty."
"Deal."
And from then on, they were friends...
...And every year, every reaping day and Hunger games, they'd gotten closer to losing that friendship. Losing everything.
I hate reaping day, Ike thought again. Hell, I hate the Hunger Games. He suspected Mia was thinking the same thing.
After another few minutes, Mia said "Alright, you want to go hunting, gathering, or fishing?"
Ike shrugged. "Fishing?"
She stood up and slung the bow over her shoulder; technically it was Ike's bow, but she was better with it anyway. "Okay! Let's go."
Ike tossed the stick aside and got up as well.
The river was quiet and peaceful this time of day. The predators were off searching for other prey, which left Ike and Mia plenty of time to fish and gather. Mia took the bow and trotted down the river to a shallower part; she preferred bow fishing to the normal kind. Ike was more traditional. He tossed out his line, searched around for a few minutes until he found a good piece of wood, and settled down to whittle. It was a favourite hobby of his, not to mention his only hobby.
The hours seemed to pass quickly. Mia came back from upriver with half a dozen fish and several greens. "How'd you do?" she asked, dropping the fish next to her as she sat down near him.
He shrugged. "Half a dozen fish, and some strawberries."
She leaned over and examined the thing he was whittling. It was a little model of a bird, obviously based on the old pictures of Yune, the avian incarnation of the Chaos Goddess. "Wow, that's really good." she said.
He smiled faintly. "Thanks. I was modelling it after a pin I saw in the Hob the other day. Couldn't afford it, but it was a nice design."
Mia raised an eyebrow, then laughed slightly. "Oh, you mean this?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a little gold pin, depicting Yune in flight and attached to the ring by its wingtips. Its head was twisted so that it appeared to be catching a little arrow in its beak.
Ike nodded. "Yeah, that's it." Then he frowned. "Wait, where'd you get that?"
She laughed again. "I saw you eyeing it, so I thought it would make a good late birthday present or something. It was a bit expensive, yeah, but I had extra that day." She reached over and grabbed his free hand, then pressed the pin into it, closing her hand over his. "Here. For luck."
His faint smile returned, and he offered her the wooden Yune. "You take this, then."
She accepted it with a cheerful smile. "And may the odds be ever in our favour."
An hour later, they split the day's earnings as they walked back to their homes. "Not bad." Ike said, counting out the gold coins as they walked. "Enough to manage another day or two, I suppose. But we'll still have to go out tomorrow."
"So long as we survive the reaping." Mia said seriously.
Ike had to acknowledge that. "True. Let's...just hope we get lucky, I suppose."
Mia's house was two blocks closer to the Hob than Ike's. Her mother, Lucia, was waiting outside the door. "There you are!" she said, her kind blue eyes slightly worried. "Come on. Ilyana and Edward already washed."
Mia walked over to her, and Ike nodded politely. "'Morning, Lucia."
She nodded too and smiled faintly. The two of them had a mutual respect for each other. So much to be on a first-name basis. "Good morning, Ike. Good luck during the reaping."
He nodded again, fingering the gold pin in his pocket. Mia glanced back as she entered the house. "Wear something nice."
"You too." Then he continued down the road as Mia and Lucia entered their house.
At home, Ike found that his mother and sister were ready to go. Elena was wearing a pale blue dress, and Mist had a pale yellow dress that went to her knees. Both belonged to his mother, saved from her younger days, when she'd been the local apothecary's daughter and well off for a citizen of District Eleven. That was before she'd married Ike's father and moved to the lower town...
Ike took a bath, scrubbing off the dirt and sweat from the woods. His mother had laid out a blue shirt and black jeans that had previously belonged to his father. Mist also insisted on washing his hair. He barely recognised himself in the mirror, without all the ordinary grime smudging his features.
"See, you really are handsome under all that muck." Mist said.
"Well, so are you. Er, pretty, I mean." he replied. She tried to smile, but she was too nervous. This was her third reaping, but with only three entries and no tesserae she was about as safe as she could be. Ike knew she was more worried about him—with twenty-four entries, stacked from the tesserae he'd been forced to take for the past six years to support them, he didn't have very good odds.
None of them had much of an appetite, so they just talked quietly and waited until noon. Then they went to the square, to the reaping. The square was one of the few places in District 11 that could be pleasant, but today, there was an air of grimness that couldn't be ignored. The camera crews perched on the rooftops like buzzards only added to that effect.
Ike watched as people filed in silently and signed in. The young ones were put in the back, the oldest in front. He watched Mist for as long as he could before she vanished behind the seventeen-year-old girls. His eyes met Mia's briefly, wearing a pale blue dress, and she flashed a quick smile. But the deadly seriousness of the situation caught up, and she looked away again.
She'd been supporting a family of four with tesserae since her first reaping. And she had to take two tesserae for her sister, due to her peculiar disorder. Mia's number was thirty-six today; the odds were not in her favour, not compared to most of the girls, certainly not compared at least to her fifteen-year-old sister with the minimum number of four.
The stage in front of the Justice Building had already been prepped for the reaping. Three chairs sat on it, as well as a podium and two large glass balls filled with slips of paper, one for the boys and one for the girls. Titania Kilroy, the mayor—her husband, the former mayor, having died last year, and she being voted in his place—sat in one of the chairs. She was a tall, beautiful woman with long red hair in a single braid, and it was also rumoured that she had been a victor of the Games some twenty years previously. The second chair was occupied by Aimee Larabel, District 11's escort, fresh from the Capitol with a fancy pink robe and waves of dark brown hair with dyed streaks of scarlet and sparkly pink threads woven through it. They murmured to each other and worriedly looked at the person sitting in the third chair—a red-haired man in his late twenties, asleep and slightly snoring, a half-empty bottle still dangling from his hand.
Just as the town clock struck one, Titania stepped up to the podium and began to read. It was the same every year, and Ike practically had it memorised. It was mandatory. She read the history of Tellius, the awakening of Ashunera and the Dark Years, the formation of the Capitol and the districts. How the humans and the Goddess had won the wars, defeating the laguz and the cursed Branded and the beorc—yes, the "beorc"! As if they were a different species than those same who ruled the Capitol! That part always outraged Ike the most; he subconsciously clenched his fists at the thought, even before Titania said the words.
Then Titania read the list of past District 11 victors. In the two hundred and twenty-four years after the Dark Years and the formation of Tellius and the Hunger Games, District 11 had had only ten victors. It was hard for simple, untrained beorc children to survive against the laguz, with their unique animal forms, and the naturally stronger Branded. Now, eight of the victors were dead. The ninth one, and 11's only female victor, was named Titania Tiamat. (Though Ike didn't know if she was the same person as their mayor. Titania Kilroy certainly didn't live in the Victor's Village, but for as long as Ike could remember, her family had never needed food.) And finally, their most recent victor, Shinon Gautier. The man in the third chair, who snorted in his sleep and fell out of it even as Titania read his name.
She looked a little embarrassed, so she quickly stepped back to give Aimee Larabel center stage. She trotted to the podium and gave her signature, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"
Ike sighed under his breath. Just hurry it up.
Finally, it was time for the drawing. Aimee said "As usual... ladies first." and quickly crossed to the glass ball with the girls' names. She reached in, dug around in the ball for several agonisingly long moments, and finally pulled out a slip of paper. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.
Aimee crossed back to the podium, unfolded the slip of paper, and read the name out in a clear voice.
"Mist Greil."
For a moment Ike's heart stopped.
Mist couldn't even move for a long moment. Aimee had to call for her to come up before she'd even move at all. She stepped forward, then paused, then moved slightly again. Ike bit his lip so hard he felt it pierce the skin, and now he knew it was bleeding, but he didn't care. Mist finally walked forward as the cameras all trained on her, and two Peacekeepers came forward to escort her to the stage.
Then; "I volunteer!"
Everybody turned to look. Mia had stepped out of the crowd and run to catch up with Mist, pushing past the two Peacekeepers that tried to stop her. "I volunteer as tribute!"
Ike had no idea what was going through her head at that moment, but as it was, he could have kissed her, killed her, and hugged her all at the same time. She volunteered for..! But... now she's...how could... He was so confused he could barely think straight.
Mist stepped back into the crowd, her eyes teary, as Mia stepped forward. The older girl struggled to remain emotionless as she walked, but her eyes betrayed her nervous tension.
Aimee asked her name, and she gave it confidently. Ilyana was crying. Mia's brother and Lucia were shell-shocked, so to speak.
Then Aimee was walking to the boys' ball and before Ike could even register she had done so she was announcing a name.
"Edward Wayu."
The odds weren't in Ike's favour today. Or anyone's.
The boy couldn't even move as Ilyana completely broke down, sobbing on her mother's shoulder. Mia started violently, then tried hard not to react any further. Some boy gave Edward a nudge to move forward. The brunette stumbled forward towards the stage. Mia was on the verge of tears. He glanced back for a moment and saw Lucia, poor Lucia, normally so strong and controlled no matter what the world could throw at her. And she was crying.
Oh Goddess! That was it for Ike. He would not allow his best friend's little brother to be thrown into the same cruel Games that she was now tangled up in, because of him, because she volunteered for his sister. He wouldn't let her have to watch Edward die, let Lucia watch her children die in the Arena.
Before he had time to think, he was stepping forward to push Edward aside. "I volunteer!" he shouted.
The gathered crowd gasped collectively, and with good reason. There had never, in District 11 history, been two volunteers for the Hunger Games in the same year. In fact, there never had been any volunteers at all. It was irrational, it was stupid, and it meant that he could possibly end up being forced to kill his best friend. It was better than the alternative.
"Well... quite a dramatic turn of events." Aimee said. Shinon snorted behind her and she glanced back at him. He was awake now, and watching with a kind of dazed interest. She scoffed.
Then Mist caught up to Ike and grabbed his hand. "No! Ike! You can't! No!" she cried.
"Mist, let go." Ike said harshly. He didn't want to get upset. He wasn't going to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing him upset, of marking him as a weakling. "Go back to Mom. It's going to be okay. Let go!"
Edward wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back, and Ilyana hugged her as she struggled and cried. "Thank you, Ike." Edward said, fighting to keep his voice steady. Ilyana was still crying. They pulled Mist back to Ike's mother and Lucia as the blue-haired boy stepped up on the stage.
"Bravo!" Aimee gushed. It was obvious that she was happy to finally have a little action in her district. "What's your name?"
"Ike Greil." he said, trying hard to remain emotionless.
"I bet my hat that was your sister there before. And that must have been our other volunteer's brother. Well, that's the spirit of the Games!" Aimee trilled, turning back to the crowd. "Let's give a big round of applause to our newest tributes!"
Not one person clapped. Ike and Mia stood unmoving as the crowd took part in the boldest form of dissent they could manage;
Silence. Which said they did not agree. They did not condone. All of this was wrong.
Ike fought to keep his face expressionless, but inside he felt like crying. He'd never felt like this before. He glanced at Mia and their eyes met for just a second. Then he felt even worse.
Because now, they would have to kill each other. Them, and the twenty-two other tributes that would be in the arena. Laguz tributes, naturally stronger and faster. Branded, again with the natural advantage. That was the punishment of the beorc who rebelled against the Capitol; their tributes faced a death sentence almost every year.
That's what fate awaited them. In Ike's mind, they were both as good as dead.