Reed Ardice, District 12, 17:
It was kind of nice being perched up in a large tree whilst glancing at a green sky of leaves surrounding me. There was total silence and tranquility disregarding a choir of birds singing; I could hear them so clearly, even managing to differenciate all the different birds... Swallows, blue tits, mockingjays...
"Reed? Where are you?" A deep voice called, making the whole forest freeze as an intruder entered.
"Aaron, you idiot," I called down to my best friend who was below me. "Call out in a forest which is illegal to be in, why don't you?"
Aaron paused as I jumped off the branch, and though the tree was pretty high the landing wasn't fatal. My ankles throbbed a little at the impact, but I bit back the pain - I wasn't one of those girls who cried at silly little things like falling, usually I didn't cry in at all.
"You were the one that suggested we came here after your father hunted here," Aaron said whilst glancing down at me. There was a bit of a height difference between my friend and I - Aaron was well over six foot, whereas I barely scraped five foot myself.
"I just thought it was desolate and quiet," I told him, glancing around trees and taking in the emptiness of the area whilst remembering my father's hunts. Not that I hunted, because seeing my father kill animals put me off eating meat in general, never mind hunting for it! The reaping day kind of reminded me of the way my dad hunted for fun, that's what the Hunger Games were - one big human hunt, some kind of bloodsport. Not that I gave a crap about them.
"Yeah, it's nice and quiet," Aaron said, letting the silence wash over again. "You do know it's reaping day today, right?"
"Yeah, what do I care?" I snorted, tucking some of my light brown hair behind my ear.
"You hardly look presentable."
I laughed and then glared at my friend - I couldn't care any less about presentability, it kind of annoyed me how people always tried looking good unless it was a beauty competition or something, then I'd understand totally, but the Hunger Games was just one giant fight. I loved trying to bring out the best in myself and playing (and winning) games, but the Hunger Games were something I wouldn't want to compete in.
"What time is the reaping?"
"It's about two o' clock, I think," I muttered, and the thought of having to listen to a droopy history lecture and then watching sobbing children really bored me. Same old boring process, same old boring Hunger Games. "I have a feeling this year's going to be like any other year."
"S'pose so," Aaron muttered, and through his casualness I knew that he was worrying about being picked. I wasn't worried at all.
"Just think Aaron," I grinned and strode through the forest, smiling at the thought of no more reapings. "After this year we'll have next year, and then we won't have to care about the reaping at all!"
"It's not as easy as that," Aaron replied, trailing behind me. "We have younger sisters and brothers, friends and children..."
That made me think for a second. Though I had a pretty good feeling I'd live through the reapings that didn't make me one hundred percent safe - I mean, I still had this year and next year to be reaped despite how unlikely it was. I had a little sister, and there was the chance she'd be reaped... I wanted children in the future, and there was a chance that they'd be reaped...
"You're just being miserable," I frowned.
"Why, Weed?" Aaron laughed at my nickname, because he knew how much it bugged me. "Aren't you the miserable one out of us?"
"Do not call me weed," I said, punching Aaron in the gut, almost casually. "And I am not miserable!"
"Of course you are," Aaron chuckled, rubbing his stomach indifferently. He was pretty strong, so my punches didn't hurt him that much, but that didn't make me back down. "And you're small too."
"And your point is?" I growled as we walked out of the forest into a field. As a small procedure I looked out for Peacekeepers before venturing back into District Twelve.
"Well, it makes you quite cute when you get feisty," Aaron said matter of factly. I crawled under the broken fence that seperated our District from the wild and rolled my eyes.
"So what if I'm small, are you trying to make a point?" I wasn't insecure about my height, but even I wished I sprouted up a couple of inches so that people took me seriously when I told them I was going to sock them.
"You're a little cutie," Aaron teased once he crawled under the fence. He actually gasped in pain when I slugged him with force.
I strode towards the seam area of District Twelve with a smirk on my face. "At least I can look like a cutie and not a big, blundering giant."
"Hey! You know that women like a nice, tall man."
We both continued bantering as we strolled through the Seam to get back home, and the conversation was enough to make me avoid eye contact with the half-dead coal workers of District Twelve. Seeing their soot stained skin and their constantly dead grey eyes always unnerved me and made me know how lucky I was.
Both Aaron and I lived in the town centre of District Twelve, so though we lived in the slummiest District our families got on pretty well. Aaron waved me goodbye as he went home and I eventually got in my own home to prepare myself for the reaping-
"Hello pipsqueak," my dad had an old gun in his hands and knives in his belt. I was kind of annoyed that he was going on one of his bloody hunts again, but I kept casual. My dad was a bit of a demanding man and he kind of hoped that I could kill animals senselessly too, but despite our differences we were very close.
"Hey," I said as he made his way out the door before shouting my goodbyes to him. "Just so you know, the place is teeming with critters!"
He smiled at me one last time with a mischievous sparkle in his eye before he walked out of sight. Our family didn't really worry during the reapings because we acknowledged that the odds were one in thousands. With that reassuring thought in my head I moved up the stairs to 'present' myself.
"Oh mummy, I'm really scared about getting reaped," my little sister, Kee, whined as my mother fitted her into a pretty white dress. Kee was my literal opposite; paranoid and girly.
"Well that's likely," I smirked sarcastically. Kee didn't say anything, probably to avoid some kind of confrontation.
My mother had different ideas. She glanced at me disapprovingly. "Reed - it's the reapings, you better get a bath."
My mother was as fierce as me, so arguing with her really wasn't worth it. With slight annoyance I muttered snide comments behind her back. As usual we were deprived of hot water, and though the tub was freezing it was nice to scrub the dirt off my skin and hair with a precious bar of soap.
Once I was out of the bathroom my mother assaulted me and forced me into a innocent knee length white dress which I hated.
"You look so dainty and feminine," she sighed as she dragged a comb through my damp hair. Whilst most girls would've taken that as a compliment I really wanted to vomit.
"Am I done yet?" I grumbled once she finished to admire my plain face.
"Oh yes," she said, glancing at a clock on the wall. "One thirty now - Okay, time to go to the reaping!"
"Where's dad?" I asked. If there was the unlikely occurrence of me getting reaped I'd of liked him to be there.
"Hunting as usual," my mother sighed. "I hate it when he goes back to that forest... But don't worry Reed, he knows you'll make it back before dinner."
We all walked out into the corridor, finally ready to go off to the public slaughtering, but before I could rush down the stairs my older brother Ranger stopped me and handed me a knife with a sly grin on his face.
"One throw before we go, just for luck?" He said, pointing at the dartboard whilst mum and Kee walked out of the house. We had lost all of our darts and replacements were too expensive to buy, so we used knives instead. I was the best in the family, but I always was the best at something I put effort into.
Rolling my eyes I snagged the knife from Ranger's hand and glanced to the dartboard, and with one swift hand movement the knife was in the centre of the dartboard.
"Wa-hey, look at you!" Ranger teased before leading me down the stairs.
"What can I say," I smirked, though inside I knew that it was good luck made that knife go into the centre. "I am pretty much the perfect human being."
"Yeah, yeah." He laughed. Ranger and I both moved towards the town centre, laughing and joking. Though I loved my siblings equally Ranger was always the one I got on with more, though he was ridiculously protective over me - and that had its repercussions, especially with my love life.
Once we got to the town square Ranger moved aside to help my mother convince Kee to let out some blood and sign in. I didn't make a fuss of the slight stinging pain and once I was done I immediately moved towards the seventeens section.
I managed to find my friend, Tulia, in the ocean of girls. Tulia was my age and she was one of my second best friend (Aaron coming first, of course). She was quite sweet, smiley and she always let people have their way - that automatically made her nice in my books.
"Hey Reed," she greeted me. Her voice was higher than usual, probably because she was nervous about being reaped.
"Hey," I said nonchalantly.
There wasn't a single word said between us as the stupid was read - usually we had quite a bit of a gossiping session but at that moment in time I knew that she was too worried for any trivial conversation. The escort made her way onto the stage just as I squeezed Tulia's hand reassuringly, just to let her know that everything was going to be fine.
Our escort, Lillian McNicks, wasn't as made up or stupid as the other escorts but her wide puffy pink dress was still quite ridiculous, her skin had been dyed white in an attempt to make her skin look fair and she still had that annoying Capitolian accent.
"Good afternoon District Twelve," she spoke to us like we were a group of naughty children in an assembly hall, before getting straight to the point. "I am going to select the name of one man and woman to fight to the death and represent this District for the two hundred and third Hunger Games."
"She's straight to the point, I admire that," Tulia muttered whilst smiling at me. "Kind of like you."
I returned Tulia's smile and my gaze went back to the escort who had moved towards the ball full of girls names, she looked up sternly before saying:
"Ladies first... I'm not one to break tradition."
I managed to see Aaron on the other side of the square in the boy's seventeen section. He glanced at me worriedly as Lillian fished her hand through the bowl but I smirk cheekily back, just to let him know that I was okay.
"Reed Ardice!"
The shock managed to flow through me and I felt paralysed, kind of like a rabbit in the headlights, out of all the names why was mine picked? So many kids had put in tesserae but my name was read out... The odds were so slim. I was so confident that I was safe.
I definitely was not okay.
I could see Aaron's lips mouth 'no' but I tried to ignore him, so I walked past a shocked looking Tulia who had moved aside and I moved towards the stage confidently, no this time Aaron wasn't mouthing - he was shouting.
"No..." And then his voice turned hysterical. "No! No! Don't take her, just don't take her!"
I cursed Aaron under my breath for making small tears form in my eyes, but I smirked as if the whole process was going to be easy - like some fun competition - but deep inside I knew that wasn't the case. I moved up onto the stage and Lillian shook my hand firmly.
"Good girl," she said, but I could tell she felt sorry for me as her wide, sad eyes lingered onto me for a second. Straight after she turned giggly and bubbly again as she turned around with me so that she could show me off. "Now for our boy."
Her high heels clacked as she moved across the stage towards the bowl with all the boys names in them and though I was a firm atheist I closed my eyes and prayed that Aaron wasn't idiotic enough to volunteer and protect me. If he dared go into these Games and risk his life to get me home...
"Vigil Hatzardys..." Lillian spoke into the microphone. Vigil didn't get as much of a reaction as I did, but soon a suave looking older man moved himself to the stage, and he actually shook the escorts hand.
If he wanted to seem confident so be it, he was competition - that was enough for me.
"Thank you dear, but I prefer to be known professionally as Mr Hatzardys..."
The escort smiled weakly and inside something made me really, really pissed off. I was expecting my competition to be some half dead child from the Seam but instead I was faced with a cocksure eighteen year old who looked a bit like Sherlock Holmes or something - fitting, because I remembered my brother telling me about a certain Mr Hatzardys who was rummaging in our dustbins the other day.
"District Twelve, I present you with your tributes: Reed Ardice and... Erm... Mr Hatzardys."
Though inside I felt half dead from the shock there was a bittersweet taste of relief; Aaron was not going into the Games and he wasn't going to die for me.
Before we went into the Justice Building Vigil actually had the nerve to come over and shake my hand. I tried to bite back a comment but I observed everything about him - his hair that was so light and wispy it appeared grey, his intriguing eyes, his permanent grin and most of all the scar on his cheek.
How did Mr Hatzardys get that then? Hopefully the story behind scar was nowhere as threatening as it looked.
Luster Harbetto, District 1, 18:
I watched as a knife hit the centre of another target in a matter of milliseconds. After training relentlessly since I was nine knife throwing had become as easy as breathing, all it took was a flick of the wrist and little thought so the knife would hit its target. There was another pause and I span around and lashed enough blade at a moving dummy so quickly there was a flash of silver light and then the dummy's head rolled to the ground.
If that was a moving person they'd be dead.
I wasn't too fond of Career training but from a young age my father kind of got me into it, mainly because he was a reject Career throughout the course of his adolescence, so he vented his failure out on me and now I was finally going to make him happy.
Since I was eighteen this was my final reaping - and I had reasons to suspect that the only way to make my father content with my training was volunteering for the Games. Not that I got any thrill from killing people, I was kind of indifferent to the Games... They just kind of existed as a background thing to me.
And I'd be going into them. I'd be playing the wretched game that many of my ancestors had played before so I was expected to win. Losing would mean death, never functioning at all, just existing as a rotting corpse in a coffin... No family to return to. But winning meant a lifetime of wealth and fame, having the power to live independently to do what I wished with my father's approval.
Either way I knew that today was going to change my life forever - today I was actually going off to the Capitol to fight.
After a couple more minutes of practicing with darts and a crossbow (mainly because ranged weapons were my expertise) I decided to just to go home and ready myself for the reapings, I had trained for nine years to my full extent and now it was time to put those years of training into use.
Without further ado I moved away from the training centre, deliberately avoiding eye contact with any of the other training Careers. I wasn't fond of many of the people here, mainly because they were arrogant brutes - even if they were nice they'd probably think that I was the black sheep of the Careers.
The Careers had always thought I was unsociable, but unbeknownst to them I had a minor form of autism. I hated to follow the stereotype, but I was the least likely person in our group that would be called 'sociable.'
Once I had collected my brown leather satchel that I always had with me I ambled out into the bustling streets of District One. The sun was shining as it always did on reaping day and the crowds were full of excited people - unlike the lower Districts no parents were worrying about their children being reaped.
"I'm totally hoping that Lindsey Youngman is the first to volunteer," some blonde girl said - like a majority of District One she looked like a glamour model.
"She better not," a petite girl who had obviously had some kind of operation of her lips done snorted. "I plan to volunteer this year... I mean, I am totally great with a bow and arrow."
"Can it Bleu, you can't even hit the bullseye, that's trash."
I didn't care who the District One female was; I'd worry about bloodthirsty opponents once I got into the arena, but for now I had to focus on raising my hand first to volunteer because District One was 'first come, first serve.'
Soon I was outside of my home I looked up at the white villa which was situated by the quasi-industrialised beach not far away. My family were rich due to our long line of Victors who had passed on their inheritance. Even then some of our cousins were recent victors, albeit dead ones thanks to the Quarter Quell.
"Is anyone in?" I shouted into the empty hallway, though I was only greeted by my own echo. Since I had an hour or so to kill I decided to play the grand piano that was situated in my living room.
I loved playing the piano more than anything and I had even thought about being a composer so that others could appreciate the music, it just gave me a time to think and relax whilst my fingers moved gracefully across the black and white keys, every time I played I admired the way the different notes - both high and low - harmonised into one beautiful melody.
I was in the middle of improvising an uplifting yet delicate piece when a voice snapped me out of the musical trance I had drifted into.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready for the Reaping?"
I caught a glimpse of my mother's short blonde hair as she strolled into the room with a glass of wine in her hands. She didn't usually drink, but she allowed herself a bit on reaping day to calm the nerves. She had spent years running a successful bakery and ensuring that all of our stability didn't rely on inheritance, so I definitely thought she deserved a treat.
"It's a while away," I muttered, closing the lid of the piano and sighing.
"Is your girlfriend going to volunteer?" My mother asked sweetly, taking a small sip of wine. Though I wasn't good with people I genuinely did get on with my mother and I appreciated how she loved me unconditionally.
"I don't have a girlfriend," I muttered. "I'm not into girls."
"Oh yes speaking to girls must be hard because of your condition..." My mother was blabbing now, probably because she was slightly intoxicated. I tried to stop myself from saying something nasty - I hated how my autism was constantly called a condition.
"I'm just not into girls."
My parents thought that I was telling some kind of joke, like I had a reason to lie about my sexuality because of my autism, but I actually was gay. I wasn't one of those people who flaunted it, and it didn't define who I was, but it was a truth I had accepted about myself a long time ago.
"Oh Luke, you're so grown up." My mother looked at me proudly, calling me by a nickname she had found in a book of Pre-Panem names, supposedly related to something of an ancient science fiction film. I much preferred it to my actual name - 'Luster' sounded too flamboyant for my liking, especially when it was paired with 'Titanium' for a middle name.
"Love you," I muttered to her, though I was probably so quiet she couldn't hear me. My mother had to choose this day of all days to be remarkably affectionate, and the thought of volunteering for the Hunger Games and taking myself away from her made me guilty.
Once I was upstairs I started running a warm bath so that I could prepare myself for the reapings. Apparently cleanliness was next to godliness, and if I wanted to go into the Hunger Games I wanted to make a good first impression.
Though when I glanced in the mirror I knew that the shallow sponsors would probably go for the tributes in District Two or Four, because they'd probably be better looking than me. My facial features were rather plain, and I was never really desired - especially when District One had such a pulchritudinous gene pool.
After bathing and scrubbing off any dirt I moved into my bedroom which was located in the highest point of my bedroom. My room was cluttered with all sorts of things that I fawned over: on the wall was a dartboard that I used for throwing practice, a couple of world maps and other things and calculus textbooks littered the floor.
Even though there were all the complaining teenagers that hated it I was quite fond of mathematics; whenever I got bored of throwing knives or learning how to wrestle it was nice to just sit down and let my logic do the fighting.
I barely spent any time finding out what clothes I was going to wear - a t-shirt and jeans was good enough, despite my mother laying out stupid dress clothes for me. When I found out that there was only half an hour until the Reaping I stormed downstairs.
"Mum, dad, we need to go!" I shouted into the living room. As usual they were cuddling and holding hands; my parents always had a happy marriage, maybe they adored each other so much through all the family hard-ships that had to face - my victor infested family hardly approved of my mother because she didn't like the whole concept of training to kill.
"You sound enthusiastic," my father grumbled. "Not planning to volunteer are you?"
His voice wavered when he asked the question. He obviously wanted me to volunteer - typical. I had never gotten on with my father... He had never taken my condition seriously and he even teased me about it sometimes.
I kind of figured I was just another potential victor in the family for him, which was a grim thought. The night earlier I had heard him actually crying in his sleep, probably because he wanted me to volunteer. That's what finally pushed me to make a life changing decision-
"Of course he isn't," my mother said sternly. "He isn't like your family Titanium - he knows how silly volunteering is."
As we walked out of the door her words made my stomach tie itself into a knot, though I only smiled at her as we walked to the town centre. The procedure seemed the same, signing in and going into a large crowd of the same boys.
For once I wished that I had a friend with me the reassure me that everything was going to be okay. I actually did have a friend once called Lisa, whom I had been friends with from a very early age. She was the only person who listened to me and she put up with some of my nasty habits, but a couple of years ago she had been legally allowed to move to the Capitol after some of her dads diamond encrusted clothes were demanded there. I guess I missed her, but we did get to speak on the phone and catch up whenever the District had been supplied with electricity. I supposed even if she lived here she'd still be separated into the girls section.
And the Games would be too risky for her. What if she lived here and her name was picked whilst no-one volunteered? It was best if she stayed in the Capitol where the Hunger Games were only fun and games.
I clung onto my satchel and played with the buckle for a couple of seconds - it was my coping mechanism, and I really hoped that I could bring it to the Capitol because I knew I'd need something to help me cope.
Whilst I was thinking Mayor Trug was reading out the treaty of treason, his voice hollow and his eyes dead, probably because he lost his daughter last year. I never really listened to the treaty of treason, it had remained the same treaty for two hundred and three years and it probably wasn't going to change. Once he was done he stepped aside gloomy and the escort took the stage.
Leena Prinz was an arrogant girl with a petite frame and an angel face, though when she looked out at the crowd she seemed like a hungry lion looking out for its food. She had a reputation for having strong Career tributes and I wasn't going to break that reputation for her.
"Good day District One!" She giggled in a stiffly formal manner. "Shall we proceed to pick out our tributes? I have a feeling we have some winners this year!"
Since she was escorting a District full of Careers, that made sense - but she had been wrong the past few years in a row. The mayor glanced at her sadly, but she returned the glance with a frown.
"Okay, how about our women?" She grinned and moved towards the ladies reaping bowl, and she carefully dipped her hand into the bowl with a smirk. "Oh... Let me just rest my hand on the piece of paper that I think has a winner's name written on it!"
That would've been pointless seeing as there would be a volunteer charging up anyway.
Leena giggled as she held out the slip of paper. "Okay can Miss Topaz Whiteheart please make her way to the-"
"I volunteer!"
A perfectly manicured hand poked its way out of the crowd of eighteen year old girls and I saw a couple of them groan and put their half lifted hands down - they wouldn't be competing this year, though that was probably a good thing for them. I glanced to the stage as a petite girl with wavy strawberry blonde hair and quite a big nose strutted on - not that how she looked mattered, but her eyes were narrowed in determination.
Leena was standing on the balls of her feet with excitement. "Oh goodie! What's your name darling?"
"Astrid Evans," the girl smirked and turned to the audience. "My father made sure that my surname was noticed - and you'll all know it further when I win!"
I knew Astrid, of course, she was a Career - rich dad, spoilt, envious of girls more attractive to her and pretty deadly with knives. Her ranged skills were good though her accuracy was weak compared to mine and if I fought her in a melee battle I'd be a goner.
"Okay," Leena moved to the boys bowl and just grabbed a piece of paper. She was probably fed up because she didn't want to pick out a boy who probably wouldn't be reaped. I readied my arm as she unravelled the paper. "Can I please have Zandar-"
"I volunteer!" I shouted so loudly my voice hurt. All the others boys looked at me, probably to have a glimpse at the tribute or to glare at the boy who stole their place in the Games. All of a sudden I realised that my life had changed forever, but my weak knees carried me onto the stage anyway.
"Ladies and Gentlemen we get your beautiful District One tributes!"
I looked out into the audience to see my proud father beaming at me but my eyes met a different sight. My mother was clutching onto my father's chest, her sobs blocked out by the cheering crowd. And there were subtle tears shining in my dad's eyes... After all those years of him wanting me to fight he seemed so upset...
When he was crying a bit last night was he crying out of fear that I wouldn't volunteer, or was he crying because he knew I would and that terrified him to the core? All I knew was that I had made a big mistake, and I had to fight to come out of it alive.
First chapter!
Well the reapings will be boring to write - so I'm doing one more chapter of them and then I'm moving on :)
So yeah, what do you think of these tributes? I'm in love with the both of them, so big thanks to PoeTayToe and Hutsune :)
~Toxic
Okay, this is where I'll spice things up for fun; each chapter will have a 'Capitol Commentator question' - a question where you answer a question about the Games, and there'll also be a 'Interview Question' - and just like an interviewer I'll ask you more light, fun questions about yourself (not too personal though for obvious reasons).
Capitol Commentator Question: What do you think of the tributes?
Interview Question: How would you react if your name was to be called out at the reaping?
