The Golden Games

Authors note: I do not own the hunger games of the golden compass, but anything that doesn't fit into either book, it's mine and so are the characters and there respective dæmon's, now without further delay, on with the story.

The Beginning

Silence, not usually a luxury I could offered, but it's those moments that I like best, they allow me to relax, to think, and of course, to practice. I peeked through the bush I was hiding in, the emerald green leaves brushed against my brown leather vest as I crept out into the dimly lit forest. A bitter wind blew through the area and I was thankful I was wearing my long sleeved white shirt and dark brown jeans. The leaves glittered as the morning dew reflected the suns rays as they beamed through the trees, but I wasn't here for the looks, I turned my hazel coloured eyes to a lake with tall grass on the far left side. At the waters edge was a white tailed dear, lapping at the water with its ruff tongue, it's eyes we're wide as they darted about, looking for any sign of a predator. I felt sorry for it, something that graceful shouldn't need to be killed just to fill someone's empty stomach, but starving, to me, isn't something pleasant.

My hand reached down to the hilt of my sword, just incase everything didn't go as planed. This thing was pretty plane, just your average copper hilted sword, to think it was in the trash when I found it, I managed to fix the blade up a fare bit, now it was all shiny and sharp, just waiting to be used to slash a some unsuspecting deer.

I turned to my right to see that, halfway out of the bush that I was just in, his yellow and black spotted pelt glistening as rays of sunlight hit it, was an ocelot. I made a hand motion towards the dear which was still drinking, unaware as to what was about to happen to it. He understood, not that I thought that he wouldn't, if anything he probably thought of it before me. He padded further out of the bush until he was completely out. He moved to the right, keeping low to the ground so as not to get spotted, we were down wind so it wasn't likely that it would catch us out. The ocelot then hunched back, and in one fluent movement, he shot into the air, his body becoming smaller and more colourful until, in the place of the ocelot, was a small zebra finch, he started gliding until he was just over the deer, it's large eyes noticed the small bird, but didn't recognise him as a threat. Like before, the finches body grew and became the ocelot again, his fangs gleaming as his body fell on the unsuspecting deer, making it yelp in surprise as claw and fang sunk deep into its skin. The deer collapsed to the ground in a cry of agony, then a resounding snap could be heard as the deer laid there limply in the ocelots Jews, he lowered the body to the hard ground were he let it go, knowing full well that it was already dead. I rushed out of the bush, feeling the same excitement that the cat felt at making such a clean kill.

"I swear that was way too easy" I exclaimed as my eyes scanned over the body, there were only scratch marks from wear the ocelots claws had sunk in and one bite mark in the neck "so what do you think Rom, is that the right form?"

"You just saw me change Justin, but to answer your question plainly, no, its close to it, but no" Romulus replied dryly, I felt his displeasure in that fact, I knew what he was thinking.

"All well, it'll happen eventually Rom, you'll see" I tried to convince him just as much as myself, I slid my hand over his silky soft head as he looked down at the deer. Most people's dæmon's where supposed to settle at around the age of thirteen... I'm fifteen.

It was still morning, but by the time we got back to the district, people were everywhere! District 12 was usually like this, especially if you were at the market, seeing as this district is poorest district, almost every person here had a job as a miner or trader. Even being a parent was a job, your always working and never resting, trying to make ends meat was never easy. But me, I just had myself to look after, no one took care of me, so I started hunting outside the fence, which is illegal. But with the game I bring in, and the small majority of acutely nice piece keepers, I've made it work for me.

Me and Romulus made our way up to one of the stands at the far left of the market area, Rom was a beautiful black stallion with the dead deer on his back so as to transport it with out too much dirt getting onto our prize. Mr Roland, the person I usually trade my game to, looked up from under the big stand he used to display he things he had up for trade, which was food, drink, mining gear, you name it, he had almost everything that could be found in this district, and a bit beyond that too. On his shoulder was his lyrebird dæmon, Alatea, her long brown tail feathers where folded back as she looked in our direction, immediately sounding our arrival with a whisper to he human. He turned his old wrinkled face to me, brown eyes immediately catching his most valued customer as we stopped in front of his stand.

"Well good morning to our most favoured costumers, what did you catch today?" he asked enthusiastically, I opened my mouth to answer but it was Romulus that gave the information "just got a white tailed deer, haven't seen many around to often, definitely a real find"

"Ah, yes they are rare around these parts, and most valued, but how mangled is it, most people really need to ruff these guys up before they get there prise" he informed us as he came around the stand to check the body.

Alatea took off from his shoulders and hovered around the deer for a moment, inspecting it with big black eyes, she obviously didn't notice much, and gave her human a approving chirp before coming back down to rest on his shoulder again. Roland looked it over himself and was also astounded by how undamaged it was.

"So how much is it worth?" I asked as he continued to admirer the pretty corps, only stoping when he heard the question, but Alatea answered for him "about round 63$"

That was the most we had ever made for our hunting, I wasn't just gonna pass it up "done deal"

I helped take it off Rom, he was careful not to touch him as we lifted the thing off his back and put it on an empty spot on the table, I let out a sigh of relief as the pressure on my back was lifted, even if your dæmon was the one caring it, it was still definitely hard work. Roland stopped as he looked over to Romulus with a curious look, then finally voiced his thoughts.

"I am surprised, I thought you would settle as something big and ferocious, not a horse" he stated, in which cursed us laugh "he's not settled yet, we're close, but no, the closest thing we've got is an ocelot" I replied as Rom shifted back into the stated form.

Roland nodded at this and sent us off with the money, he was a good man, always honest with the trades, which is surprising seeing as his dæmon settled as a lyrebird. The next few minutes were passed by purchasing food and water, and eating some of that food. Unfortunately, at noon, it all went to hell. All of the people in the district started to move off to the centre of it, thats where we need to go, we have no choice. Once every year, the magisterium, the highest authority, would hold the Golden games, but those games where anything but. The rules where fairly simple, you go into a large arena, and when I say large, I mean incredibly large, and you stay there for two weeks until they let you out along with everyone else that's alive after that, and that's it, simple, but its more horrifying then it sounds. They send creatures, humans, robots, even nature it's self after you, it's basically guaranteed that not all of the contestants will make it out alive. they make people compete every year for something that happened hundreds of years ago that most people don't know about or have simply forgot. They held "reapings" once a year to chose two people between the age of twelve and eighteen, one boy and one girl from each district. They decided this randomly with small votes that have your name on them, you start at one when your twelve, and they add one each year you haven't bin chosen. If your one of those people that can't afforded to buy food and what-not, you can put your name in more times for bread and any other food available at the time, and your votes are added by how much you take. My votes are at 65, I honestly do not care if they chose me, I've got nothing to lose, I'm alone, and I don't give a damn.

The centre of town, not really that big, only just big enough to fit everyone, hundreds of people were in huge rows, the girls on the left, boys on the right. Me and Rom were in the line to have are blood taken, heavens knows why. Rom gave me a soft chirp in his zebra finch form, whispering so that only I could hear what he said.

"Are you shore this will work?" he whispered as he ruffled his grey and white plumage "what if it's another person?"

"Then it will be just another year of pointless waiting around for our lives to end, either way will probably end in death, just this way I can go out fighting" I replied to him while stroking his back with my finger. I heard the person at the desk call for the next person, I move to the desk where I held out my finger as they pricked me, causing Rob on my shoulder to flinch. Her dæmon, a white rat, rolled his eyes, obviously seeing this same reaction one too many times. I moved of not the crowed of boys and took a spot among the boys in there fifteens. All of there dæmons had settled before mine, so none of there shoed emotion by shifting, like min still did, though it was still obvious to what they were feeling by how there other half's kept glancing around, nervous.

Finally everyone was there, now we only had to wait on Mrs Coulter, the person that chose the contestants every year since I had to come to this death trap. Romulus, having gotten sick of waiting, had turned into a wasp out of annoyance and was buzzing around my head, but not too loudly to drew attraction to us, but loudly enough to drive me insane, I looked up at him and grabbed I'm out of the air, holding him gently in the palm of my hand, he got the message and turned into a blue jay and fluttered back to my shoulder. Thankful, Mrs Coulter decided to grace us with her presents, her golden monkey clinging to her shoulders as she opened her mouth to the microphone, and began with the usual speech.

"Happy golden games, and may your light shine forever" she started in that mockingly practiced tone, she's bin doing this since I came hear "now seeing as you know already what's happening, I'll just get to the votes, as usual, ladies first"

That was the only thing that I liked about her, she didn't rant on about why we where here like her reliefs, she knew that we knew all about it, and if not, our parents could tell us.

Two glass spheres where brought to her, each having a hole at the to so that she could put her delicate hand in there and take out one of the small envelopes. She slid her and into the ball and dug deep into the pile of paper and closed her manicured nails on one, pulling it up and out of the glass ball, she slid open the slip and took out the name, discarding the envelope to one of the peace keepers, her monkey leaned in for a closer look at the name, then let out a small sigh and looked away in a bored expression. Mrs Coulter brushed a stray lock of pale yellow hair out of her eyes and announced the name.

"Arial Jones" she called, her monkey quickly on the look out for her. All of the girls where on the look out too, but under there breaths where sighs of relief for not being chosen.

Slowly, out of the crowed of girls came one, her eyes were wide open as she cast her ice blue gaze over to Mrs Coulter, her golden long hair was blown back a bit from the incoming breeze which also ruffled her scarlet red dress, her dusty dark blue slipper like shoes where almost dragging in the dirt in obvious hesitation in going to the stage. Siting on her shoulders was an astounding white snowy owl, his beak and claws where a midnight black colour, his amber eyes completely focused on her mistress as he whispered words of comfort.

At that moment, Romulus shifted into an arctic hair and fell into my arms, the new weight made me stager and I was about to ask what was wrong when he told me to be quiet, he then turned his attention to the two new recruits for the games and twisted his ears in there direction. Once he was satisfied with whatever he heard, he quickly shifted into his zebra finch form and returned to my shoulder to whisper whatever he was so interested in.

"Justin, look at her dæmon!" he told me, I turned my glance to them, both of them where just coming up the stairs to the stage, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him, just another dæmon in its settled form, completely normal.

"I don't see what your getting at, he's just another person with her settled dæmon whispering words of encouragement to his human, nothing different about that" I stated. Right now, he was giving me one of his famous, if I had hands right now, I'd be face-palming myself look (unless he acutely had hands at he time, then he would have)

"That he is not a "he", he is a she, get it through your thick head, there like us!" he almost shouted out, thankfully no one noticed. I was completely gobsmacked, another person, like us, like me! I was so entranced in the idea that I almost missed Mrs Coulter state that she was now announcing the boy, her monkey seemed to look a bit more interested in this then before, no doubt because of the odd one out in this district that had just waltzed up to the stage. Arial remained completely still, her dæmon doing the same as Mrs Coulter dipped her hand into the other glass boll, instead of digging in deep this time, she nearly plucked one off the top. I felt queasy, suddenly this didn't feel like a good idea anymore, Romulus reflected what I felt as he shifted into a chocolate brown and white deer mouse, pressing his own body against my cheek in order to comfort me. Her fingers delicately opened the small envelope and looked at the name within, and with a single glance, she announced the name.

"Justin Ranger"

I thought so, I knew that would be me, I knew, and yet I was still stunned, still wishing it hadn't been me, but it was, and there was nothing I could do to change it.

"We must go, they will send the peace keepers in if we don't" Rom whispered into my ear, obviously noticing the apparent "Peace keepers" starting to get ready to move in and take me, so, with little choice in the matter, I started to move through the crowed. When I made it out, all eyes where on me, like some big walkway, and I was right in the middle of it. Rom shifted into his ocelot form, eyeing every person and dæmon that dare to look at me funny, his sleek fur bristled with agitation as we made are way up to the stage. I didn't look around, to see the faces that were now on me with curiosity, my eyes were trained on the stage. We made are way to the stairs that were on the side, Romulus didn't even bother with them, with his strong muscles tensed, he jumped, landing nimbly on the cold serifs. I moved over to where mrs Coulter indicated, unfortunately, it happened to be right next to her.

"Well isn't this a treat, looks like we have another special today, you are both the same gender, correct?" she spoke as I stopped by her, Romulus staying in between us. I gave her a curt nod.

"What is his name?" she asked.

"My name is Romulus" he spoke up, eyeing the golden monkey on her shoulder. Even though she didn't show it, her dæmon reflected her distaste. For reasons unknown to me, is some of the higher up districts, and the magisterium, thought that it was strange, but mostly rude, to talk to another persons dæmon, let alone it to talk to another person. But that wasn't the way of all the districts, especially 12. The monkey quickly got over his distaste and reached out to Rom, he let a low grow escape his mouth as a warning, cursing the primate to back off a bit before trying again, he obviously had enough of this and jumped up, shifting into a great black hawk to perch on my shoulder, his talons digging into me slightly. Everyone let out a gasp of surprise, as I said before, it's not really common for a fifteen year old boy to have a dæmon that still shifts it's shape, mrs Coulter regained her composure and spoke into the microphone.

"Well this is an interesting day isn't it, we have two contestants that both have a dæmon of the same gender, and one that still shifts, this is going to be an exiting year isn't it!?" she exclaimed in her usual manner. She then turned back to us and motioned for Arial to come over, this was we're we we're supposed to shake hands, in a sign of fairness in the games, even though you don't need to kill each other, it still very well may happen.

She reached her hand out, her dæmon looking very calm, though in not shore if that was an act of some kind. I reached out and took her hand in mine and shook.

"Happy Golden games, and may your soul shine forever"

Authors note: yes I know, very bad catch frame, but what can I do. You guys know the drill, please like, fav and review. Bye :D