Wow, what a title! In fact, I thought of it instantly. I was going to say something that related to both Hunger Games and Pokemon, but you know, whatever. This is much better. Anyway, whatever happened fifty years before Catching Fire? You know, the first quarter quell, where each district chose the two children that would be reaped by voting in an election? Well, the children who were reaped were easily odd from the rest, for they all knew each other. This is their story, as told by none other than...Red.
Chapter 1: "Election" Day
This is the worst day of my life. No, scratch that. The worst day of my life so far. My worst day will come later on, but for now I have to focus on myself. One child of each gender is being "elected" by each district as punishment for the original rebellion. Making us choose between those we know, how could the so-called president do this?
Oh, right, he hates us.
Anyway, I can't help feeling...distressed. I don't know if I will be picked, because I'm sixteen. I've done a lot for the community, but they are suspicious of me. I live in district twelve, the coal mining district. The absolute worst place to live. I know they depend on me, but they don't see it. I supplied the district with food during a famine three years ago. How one kid was able to help that much was beyond them, but I knew how to do so. I won't go into specifics, but I was able to disengage the electric fence and hunt. I'd come back with food for my family, the rest of the neighborhood, then go back to hunting. I did this for a month until district eleven was able to get rid of the pests causing the wheat problem.
"Hurry up, Red!" calls my friend. "We aren't allowed to miss this." I scramble over with him to the town center, where the election results have been collected and decided. A capital woman stands behind a podium, waiting for the entire district to arrive. Even the newborn babies and sick people are forced to attend. The capital really pulled out all the stops to make us suffer. Finally, when everyone was present and silenced, the woman began.
"Welcome, all, to the first Quarter Quell reapings!" she exclaimed with a cheer. They don't force us to show emotion, so no one joins her. She must be used to this, because she is unfazed and continues. "Now, as always, ladies first!" A peacekeeper brings up an envelope, which the woman swiftly takes out of his hands. She's anxious for the results too, only in a different meaning then us. She takes a letter opener and cuts open the envelope slowly, creating more tension for us. Great, now we are just toys to them.
She pulls out a slip and says, "The first tribute from district twelve is..." She pauses for even more suspense. I speak for all of us when I say everyone wanted to kill her.
"Blue..."
I don't hear the last name because there is too much sobbing. I turn to see the lowlifes crying for her. I spit in disgust. No wonder we used our vote on her, she's a common thief; an image we don't need for our district.
"Now the male tribute..." she says, pulling out a second slip. No need for any more suspense, that would be useless at this point.
"...is Red Everdeen!"
My eyes widen in horror. My friends around me turn in shock, their jaws dropped. They slowly back away from me. I slowly make my climb up to the stage. Somehow, Blue whateverhernameis is already there, wiping her tears away. I stand on the opposite side of the lady. "District twelve, I give you your tributes!" the woman says, raising our arms as she says it.
All I do is stand there and take it all in.
I cry with my parents when they come to say goodbye. They tell me to stay strong, but they can't last the entire time. So, my little brother steps in to listen to me.
"Now bro," I sat to him. "You take care of Mom and Dad while I'm gone, okay?" He nods. "Remember Christopher, you can't stop this, so when I'm in the final eight, just be honest, but don't say anything that will have you killed. Okay?" He nods again. "And," I begin to tear up again. "When I make it home, you'll come running up to me and jump into my arms. We'll celebrate, and..." I start choking up. "...And I'll even help you out and teach you to help our community. You can read the medical book in the center stone of the fireplace," I add quietly, so the peacekeepers can't hear me from outside. "And..." I address my entire family, "...Just remember that I love you."
And I am crying as they leave.
I sit at one of the magnificent tables on the train to the capital. They'll sparkle me up, but will never take me down in the end.
"How is this compared to your home?" A woman says to me. Not asks, but says it like I should compliment her. "Who the hell are you?" is all I bother saying. The reaping has put me in a bad mood. The woman's spirit visibly dims. "Well, someone is a little feisty. My name is Lily, and I will be taking care of you during your capital experience!" Man, this girl is crazy.
All the sudden, the girl, Blue, drops from the ceiling, hanging upside down on a rope that was flung down first. "I don't believe we've met," the thief says to me after Lily screams.
"Yes, we have," I say calmly. "Really now?" Blue says, flipping through the air and landing on her feet. I move to an armchair as she seems to make herself presentable. "Yes, when I was pretending to be on a mission." We lock eyes for a few seconds and instantly know the code. Since hunting outside the border of our district is illegal, there's no way I can say it. So, we'll make up more coded messages later. But, here's a look to three years ago, when I first met Blue:
It all began when I first started hunting. I had only gone out twice before, but I already felt like a pro. I was making knives out of tree bark when I heard a branch snap. I turned around, scanning the area. There were no trees blocking my vision besides the one in front of me, no tall grass either, so I turned back to the tree.
That's when it hit me. It wasn't a twig that snapped. No, there weren't any twigs on the ground. It was, as I had overlooked, a branch. I looked up now to see a girl grinning at me. She surprisingly didn't look like hell like the rest of us, but actually...how do I put this...attractive.
"Took you long enough," she joked. She hopped down and landed next to me. "I assume you come out here often," I said. "How do you figure that?" she asked. "One, you got into the tree very easily and I believed you have stalked me the last couple times I was out here. Two, you landed that pretty nicely. And three, you have a mouse in your hair."
"Ah!" she screamed as I said the last part. I laughed. She hit me. She then proceeded to help me make my knives and also tell me a lot about herself. Blue, a fourteen year old girl, professional thief, charmer. She told me she has special relationships with peacekeepers, who have even paid her to steal things and retrieve items from outside the fence. She told she has almost been forced into intimacy, but has escaped unscathed.
We parted ways when we got back to town, but I had to tell my mother about her. I didn't say I left the district, but when she got excited that I met a girl, I told her Blue's name. Her attitude did a 180. My mother began trying to talk me out of seeing her again, but I met up with the girl the next day. I, being in the rebellious stage, told her my problems. I came home to find myself saving my mom from a peacekeeper who owed Blue a favor. I told Blue off, and I never bothered seeing her again.
Until now. She is still attractive, but hopefully we can put the past behind us. Or so I keep telling myself. She doesn't seem to care, but I nearly strangle her whenever I'm close enough. She just winks and I feel...odd. "Please don't harm each other," Lily says. "Your stylists will want you intact to see how you naturally look."
Well, hopefully the capital serves booze to underaged drinkers, because I'm gonna need it.
How was that? It only feels long to me because I'm not used to writing pages, only looking at how many mb's the file takes up. It's actually kinda okay by my standards, so whatever. Also, if the flashback was obscured in the end, Red told Blue his mother was annoying him about not seeing her, so Blue tried to get a peacekeeper to kill her. Hope that clears things up. Anyway, see yah next time!
