A/N: This was inspired by MrsPettyfer's The Black Games, and clearly based off the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This is my take on it, being told from Mako's POV. There are several original characters since LOK really doesn't have that many to work with right now. (mind you I wrote this between Book 1 and Book 2) But your favorites will appear in no time at all!
One
Waking up to silence is always more alarming than waking to the work siren. I have always found silence uncomfortable, and today's was deafening. Shaking off the uneasiness, I lift myself out of bed, chilled by the cool air I'm met with. I dress quickly and wrap my father's scarf securely around my neck. Running a hand through my hair, I look around my small one-room apartment, in hope that I can easily spot my bag. However, in the dim light of dawn, things are a little hard to see. The small fire I've created in my hand creates enough light for me to see the shoulder strap of my bag by one of the rickety chairs. I scoop it up on my way out the door.
I only keep necessities in my apartment, since I spend most of my time either working at the Power Plant, or at the Yao household. I have a bed, a table with two chairs, and a small stove with cooking pans for when I eat alone. It's really all I need.
I live in a three story building in the Worker's Quarter, the poorest sector of Region 5; where the Power Plant is the main source of income. Only a handful of the residents are firebenders like myself. There are also few waterbenders, while earthbending families create most of the Quarter's population. We all live in buildings no taller than three stories, most worn down by time and poor upkeep. Every single floorboard creaks and the ceilings often leak. Only a handful of the buildings have access to unfaltering electricity. Benders in Region 5, like most other Regions, are treated like third class citizens, even before my parents' time. Since I'm a firebender, I'm really only good for one thing here; bending lightning into the generators at the plant.
The streets are unfamiliarly barren. It's one of the few days in a year when no one has to go to their jobs at the plant. The day of the Reaping for the annual Republic Games. I make my way out of the Worker's Quarter and into the nicer part of town. 5 is far from being a poor Region, most of it's citizens are wealthy non-bender families who own the shops in town, or even own one of the three Power Plants. Just as with every Region, however, there is always a poor part of town.
I pass the home of the local butcher. His wife is outside on the porch, holding her month old baby. I smile at her, a simple friendly gesture.
"Good morning, Mako." she says softly, rocking her baby back and forth in her arms. "What are you doing up so early today? The plants are down today..."
"Just have a few things to take care of before this afternoon." I say, slowing my pace.
"This is your last year, isn't it?" she asks.
"Yes ma'am, it is." I nod.
"Well good luck sweetheart." she says, rather sadly, before returning inside.
I don't believe in luck; my father used to tell me there was no such thing. If there was, Bolin and I would still be together.
The upper part of town seems to be an endless street of larger houses and even bigger yards, many with a large stone wall surrounding each property. One of the largest belongs to a local power plant owner, Park Yao. His is closed off by a large wooden gate covered in metallic accents. I stare up at the gate as I dig into my pocket for my key. The key is oversized for the simple job it does, and is just as heavy as it looks.
The gate lock opens with a loud click, and opens a bit on its own, requiring me to push it the rest of the way. On the other side, I'm instantly met with a pair of large brown eyes. I feel a smile tug at my lips.
"Morning Lien." I say, shutting the gate behind me.
"Hey Mako." Lien's face brightens.
"You're late boy." Mr. Yao grumbles from several feet away. Lien frowns at the sound of her father's voice.
"I'm sorry sir." I bow respectfully. "I slept in a little too long without the work siren waking me."
"Don't let it happen again." he says. "Come on, we need to get in as much training as possible before the Reaping."
"You'd think he'd give us the day off..." Lien says softly as she walks beside me. Her black hair is pulled into a very loose bun, with several strands framing her face. I've honestly never seen her so disheveled. Normally her hair is always pulled back into a tight braid.
"What if one of us is reaped today? Then we'll be on that boat to Republic City hating ourselves for not training that one last time." I say lightheartedly.
"Please, you definitely won't be picked today. It's your last time. I still have two more years." she sighs.
"Yeah, well, don't jinx it." I say softly. I've managed to keep my name out of the pool more than my necessary amount, thanks to Lien's father. He's always made sure I've never starved. Not to say that I've never been hungry, I rarely go to bed with a full stomach.
Lien smiles up at me for a moment. We make our way around the house to the courtyard in the back, where we find Mr. Yao speaking with our usual trainer, a woman by the name of Fan. An agile and attractive woman, only a decade older than myself. Though pretty, she's lethal and doesn't allow me or Lien to slack off. Both her parents were once Equalist Guards, which was likely the reason why she never seemed happy.
She has been training us since I was about ten, and Lien seven. We're not exactly supposed to train for the Republic Games, even if we aren't careers, so we always told her it was to better ourselves. Fan has never believed us, not even Mr. Yao.
I'm just about to say something to Lien when I see Mr. Yao wave me over.
"I'll be right back." I say instead.
"Just don't leave me with Fan too long..." Lien says.
Mr. Yao walked over to a shaded part of the courtyard by the wall, away from both Fan and Lien. He was rubbing his thumb back and forth against his bottom lip, his usual nervous habit.
"Yes sir?" I ask as I stop in front of him.
"Mako, this is your last year in the Reaping..." he begins, stating what I already knew. "As I'm sure you're aware, after this year, our deal will be over."
"Over?" My brow furrows. "Sir, how can our deal be over? Bolin is-"
"That part I can't change, I'm aware of that. But as for helping you with food and other necessities, I'm afraid that will have to stop."
"Every year I've been ready to put my life on the line for your daughter." I say, my anger apparent. "You can't just-"
"Don't lecture me about what I can and cannot do!" Mr. Yao snaps. "I helped your little brother, just as we had agreed. After this Reaping, our deal will be expired."
Once he says that, he just walks away. Leaving me to stand there. My mouth hangs open a little, as I just watch him.
"What was that about?" Lien asks when I return to her side.
"Nothing. Your dad's just worried about me being late again." I shrug.
"That sounds like him." Lien says.
Fan goes over everything we've done in the last year. From Lien's swordplay to my lightning technique, we don't miss a single thing. I receive a pat on my back shortly after she tells us that we're done. I turn to find her smiling at me.
"You're getting just as good as your mother, kiddo." she says quietly.
"Uh, thank you..." I stutter. I'm not used to being praised by Fan. Lien throws me an unbelieving look.
Mr. Yao appears suddenly out of the corner of my eye, and I feel my stomach flip. It's time to get ready for the Reaping.
I throw my jacket and scarf back on, which I had taken off to train. I don't have much when it comes to clothes, but I manage.
Lien and her father finally come out of the house, joining me at the gate where I've been waiting. Lien is dressed in a casual pale green qipao, her hair still in her loose bun. She quirks her eyebrow at me.
"You ready?" she says.
"Yeah, as I'll ever be." I grumble as I push the wooden door open with my shoulder. I allow Lien to go through the gate before me and we walk side by side to the Main Square. We quickly fall into line with dozens of other children, some speaking in hushed voices while others are completely silent.
As we edge closer to where two Guards sit, taking names and dots of blood, Lien grabs my hand tightly. I'm caught a bit off guard and look at her blankly.
"I'm surprised you're so calm." she says softly. She looks up at me, and all I can see is fear in her eyes.
"You have nothing to worry about. Your name is only in there three times. There are other girls with their names in there five times more than you." I say, "And I'm not as calm as you think I am."
She lets go of my hand as we part to be identified. I step over to a gruff looking man, wearing the usual Equalist Guard goggles on top of his head and the classic green uniform. Thankfully they did away with the full face mask several years before I was born. They look awful in pictures in old books, like the person behind them wasn't even human.
I give him my name and he pokes my finger with a needle, then pushes it down onto a book page, where he has scribbled my name. I have never seen a reason for the blood print. It's not like it means anything, that could be anyone's blood, just pressed down next to my name.
I am pushed into a group of boys my age, where I will be forced to stand until this Reaping is over. It takes several more minutes for everyone to fill up with square, the adults finding places in the back. No one is talking, we're all just waiting.
The doors to the Main Hall open without a single creak, and a petite woman dressed in an ivory dress, embroidered with green around the collar, steps into view. She's the Region's usual escort, Yumi, a snooty woman from Republic City, with straight black hair piled on top of her head in a very formal headdress, adorned with strings of jade beads and silver. Her beady dark eyes searched the crowd as she smiled like an excited little girl.
She clears her throat and begins to read a small scroll. It's the story of our past, as it is every year. How a masked man took down the elderly Firelord Sozin, by rallying up the non-benders of the world against their firebending oppressor. He rebuilt our world in equality, where benders no longer held power over their non-bending brothers. How the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Air Nomads, and Water Tribes were demolished and rebuilt into Regions, one through nine. When the building of Republic City began, the benders of each Region rallied together to fight for their rights, which were taken from them when non-benders began being treated as upper-class citizens. Eight of the Regions were beaten back into submission, while Region 9, once known as the city of Ba Sing Se, was wiped out completely. Both it's bending and non-bending citizens.
The Republic Games were then created, to remind us once a year that the masked man, who now goes by Amon, always holds the power to take our lives away in an instant. The seemingly immortal man has been overseeing the Games for 69 years. The rules are simple. A boy and girl from each of the eight Regions, aged between twelve and eighteen, will be randomly selected to fight to the death over the span of several weeks. Both benders and non-benders are included, since the bending population would dwindle too rapidly and they'd have no one left to do their dirty work. The last one standing wins, and is rewarded greatly.
There is only one living victor from Region 5 that's still alive. Lin Beifong. There have been two victors from our Region since her win thirty-five years ago, but one committed suicide while the other is currently locked away for having lost her mind. I've never met Lin personally, but I've heard she's hard to talk to and even harder to impress.
Yumi's smile grows as she finishes our annual history lesson. "The 69th Republic Games! What a treat!" She claps her hands together a little too close to her microphone and a loud hum echoes through the square. "Let's find out who will be representing Region 5, shall we?"
She shuffles over to a bowl filled with pieces of paper, each with a single girl's name on it. She shuffles them around for a moment, before plucking one out with her long fingers. She holds it between her pointer finger and thumb for the cameras to see.
I feel my heart racing. That could be anyone of my friends, someone's daughter, someone's sister. I find Lien on the other side of the square, she quickly turns her attention back to Yumi when she sees me looking. I inhale sharply and hold it.
Yumi unfolds the slip and clears her throat again. She reads the name clearly and looks out at the crowd, and all my fears come true.
Lien Yao.