Chapter 2 – On our way

I sat on the plush cushions of the Justice Building, not paying any attention to the lavish surroundings. It was horrible. Horrible. I didn't care for the luxury; I didn't care for the comfort. Everything I had at home was perfect just as it was, I didn't care anymore, I wouldn't complain at all anymore, if I could just go back to my family as if this afternoon had never happened!

All I could do was rock back and forth on my rear, arms around my knees which were pulled to my chest, the tears that had prickled at my eyes whilst I could be seen by the public now silently releasing themselves down my face, falling in splashes onto my lap, wetting the orange dress. The Peacekeepers in the room alarmed me to no end; they wouldn't stop staring at my rocking form, standing guarding the door that would soon let in my family and friends to say their goodbyes to me. My last time to see them. At twelve.

I shoot them a sharp glare when the watching eyes get too probing for me to handle, but as soon as I do so they have turned their backs, opening the doors, allowing me to be knocked back by my little sister, who knew much too well what was going to happen to me. I wrapped my arms around her shaking body and held her tightly to me, burying my face in the soft curls of her hair, unwittingly taking fistfuls of the back of her dress, sobbing against her. Her tiny hands played with my hair and patted my back, despite how upset she obviously was. My parents stepped in right after her, and soon I was also wrapped in their arms, crushed in the embrace, but not caring. Maybe if I stopped breathing, I wouldn't have to go.

No, they'd just revive me and send me in anyway.

"Th-This… this cannot be right… th-they cannot take two from one family in the same year… it… it-it's not right!" My mother bawled, face buried in my hair, which was quickly becoming soaking wet from the amount of tears, "W-We cannot lose either of you! A-and… a-and…"

"At least one of us is going to die… I know…" I'm surprised at how steady my voice is. I'm crying heavier than I ever have, shaking and sobbing, and yet my voice isn't betraying any of my emotion. I tried to count this as positive, it meant I wouldn't give it away to my fellow tributes, but it was hard to think that way. I was going into an arena of death with my brother, and at least one of us would not come out alive.

"S-Stick together, won't you? We can't watch you kill each other… we…" Even my dad was crying, but he was trying not to make it so obvious. I weakly nodded, sobbing harder and clutching tighter onto my little sister's dress. She looked up at me, tears running down her face, eyes blotchy and red, lips quivering, then hugged me even tighter with a big kiss on my cheek. I broke down more, holding them tighter yet, until just before they had to leave. They let me go, and I stood on the seat, unbuttoning the dress and removing it, revealing I had my orange shorts on beneath it, handing the dress to mother.

"T-Take it back. I won't take something so precious away to the Capitol, it belongs to you…" She only nodded, holding the dress close to her chest after folding it, as I went to remove the necklace.

"No, keep that. It can be your district token," She said, giving me a stern look through her teary eyes. Reluctantly I nodded, holding the cross tightly in my hand.

When they were told to leave, Acca grabbed my leg and wouldn't let go, and I saw the Peacekeepers about to go to grab her. Quickly I tried to pry her off myself, letting out a sigh of relief when father managed to pull her off me before the Peacekeepers could get to her. She was screaming and crying as the three left, making me choke up and start shaking roughly as I tried to suppress the sobs that tried to break out. I wanted to scream too. But I couldn't. I couldn't even summon the energy to let out a noise of that power.

After a couple of moments of silence, I looked up to see Taxus stepping inside the lavishly furnished room, holding his large muscled arms wide to me. Without a word I leapt across the room and hugged him tightly around the neck, burying my face against his shoulder as his strong arms held tightly onto me, my small body more like a doll than another person compared to his close to seven foot form. I sobbed hard onto his shoulder as he slowly moved more into the room and sat down, resting me on his lap and rubbing my back, whispering things to try and calm me.

"H-How is Salix?" I choked out, not looking up at my brother.

"He's more worried about you than himself… he's cursing all the older girls for not volunteering to take your place…" Taxus said, large hand still rubbing my back, brushing over the slightly visible bones of my backbone. I choked out a humourless laugh.

"T-Typical Sal…" I said, digging my bony fingers into the back of his neck. He gently pried me away from him, his orange seeming eyes staring into my golden ones, hard and focused.

"You try your best little sis. You and Salix stick together, with your occupational skills one of you may just survive if you work together. Promise me, sis. Promise." His voice was more serious than I had ever heard it, and his eyes were the same. His hands gripped my shoulders, and I could only force myself to nod, tears still falling in fat drops down my face. Giving a soft sigh, he rubbed my cheeks and under my eyes, brushing the tears away, "Stay strong Olea. Don't give them the satisfaction of making you seem weak and helpless, don't let them win. Have hope."

"I-I… T-Tax…" He shushed me quietly, kissed my forehead, then gently set me down after one last bone-crushing hug, ruffling my curls and then heading out of the room with a last smile, that I would be sure to imbed into my brain so that I would never forget my overly cheerful elder brother.

He was the last person to come and see me. I knew other people, but I also knew that though they cared about me and my brother, they were not spared even the three or so minutes to come to see me off work, only the families were given the privilege of a short time off work when someone was reaped. Friends didn't get such a privilege.

It was a short walk after that to the train station, which has always looked so run down from the outside. As soon as I had seen Salix outside of the rooms of the Justice building, I had leapt at him and refused to let go, even when Peacekeepers tried to pull me off him. Eventually, they gave up (likely so our sibling love could be shown for the cameras), and Salix shifted me around onto his back, where I clung on for dear life like a living backpack, his arms under my legs, kissing my hands as they rested over his shoulders. I had to admit, having my big brother beside me was comforting whilst it could last, though I knew eventually we would be in an arena where one of us would die. At least.

"You okay Olea?" He asked me quietly as we were joined by Ceres, soon followed by two of our victors. Two of our very few victors. I nodded, burying my face in the back of his neck, and his coarse black hair. I could almost hear the smile that formed on his face at the movement, as he gently tickled me under my knees, causing me to kick out and laugh despite myself. After a cough was heard, we stopped our exchange and looked at the two victors, who would no doubt be our mentors. Chaff and Seeder, I think their names were.

Chaff, who was actually just a little shorter than Salix, looked at us both, crossing his arms over his chest, which appeared a little odd with the apparent missing hand on one of his arms. Seeder, beside him, looked a little less stern, instead having a soft smile on her face.

"You two are siblings, right?" She said, brushing a greying strand of hair from her face, golden eyes soft. Salix gave a nod, shifting me up a bit on his back.

"She's my second youngest sister… This was my last year in the draw…" He sighed, looking at his feet. Seeder gave a sympathetic smile.

"Well, I can already guess what your tactic for the games is going to be. Come on, we can talk more on the train, over lunch. Once in-…" Seeder began to speak, before Ceres' annoying, obnoxious Capitol accent broke into her sentence, rudely interrupting her.

"Once in the train carriages, you will head to your rooms and dress appropriately, and have a shower," She sounded like she was going to puke when saying that, eyeing us, "and then head to the dining carriage, and whilst in there, have some manners, please."

Without another word, Ceres walked onto the train and off into one of the carriages a few down from the one we had stepped into. No doubt that would be her own private cabin, where she could stay away from us. I hated her. So much. Even mother, who always told us hate was a very strong word, agreed that she was deserving of the term being used. There were several other things I could call her, but one my age shouldn't use such vulgar language.

"I cannot stand that woman…" Chaff muttered under his breath, before branding a huge grin, and stepping onto the train, "If you need me, I'll be getting some booze from the bar carriage."

"As always," Seeder said with a soft sigh. Chaff grinned wider.

"As always," He repeated, before walking off. Seeder shook her head, and then turned back to us, gesturing with her right hand for us to come inside the train as she stepped on. Salix had to duck a little at the door to get through, and I did the same due to being on his back, but once in the ceiling was plenty high enough.

"Olea, I'll take you down to your room and explain everything to you about the functions of everything here, and get you dressed in what Ceres calls 'appropriate', you have to know the woman for a number of years to understand her tastes. Salix, Chaff will join you shortly, but your best bet is just to wear a decent dress shirt and pants, she's not so fussy about men. Plus… you don't want to rely on drunk Chaff anyway," The female victor said, as Salix knelt to let me hop off his back, not that I couldn't have done so with him standing. He gave a nod to Seeder, kissed my forehead, ruffled my curls and then walked off. I pouted a little, before letting my expression fall once he was out of sight, "You're taking this worse than you're letting on, aren't you?"

"I know what his tactic will be too… it's going to be just to keep me alive, isn't it?" I said without much expression on my face, looking up at the taller 11 native. She sighed softly.

"That is what we can assume, yes," I sighed as she said this, looking down, "We will help both of you, as much as we can. But…"

"Only one comes out, I know," I finished her sentence, knowing full well I'd be hearing that excuse a lot from various people, especially these three, over the next couple of weeks before I went into the arena, and probably whilst in it too, "Just… show me where the room is and do everything you said you were going to do…" She smiled softly and held a hand out to me, and despite my urge not to appear like a silly little kid, I took it and held it tightly, allowing her to led me through the train's carriages toward my cabin.

I was silent as she talked me through how to use the shower's various buttons and contraptions, as well as various other things in the room, and showed me the various outfits that Ceres would find 'appropriate' for dinner. Or lunch. Whatever it was, I wasn't sure of the time any longer. Seeder informed me that I did have a few hours until the meal, so I should try and get some rest before I got ready, either that or spend the longest time getting ready in my life so far, and probably ever. Then again, there was the stylist experience to come…

She left me alone after that and I stood in the centre of the room silently for a long moment, taking in everything around me, the luxury was extreme, I hadn't expected such treatment for someone they were sending to their death. But then again, the Capitol people had very twisted minds. They wanted their tributes in a rested, well looked after state so that the show would be good enough to watch.

They made me sick.

I had never quite felt as strongly about the games as I did now, I always hated them, I always knew they were something bad that took people away from their families and we had to watch them die on a TV screen, as if it were simply a made up show for enjoyment. I knew, especially when friends of ours were taken, that it was horrible and it hurt people to an extent that could never be healed, that it affected whole communities with who was taken and who died. I knew the only people who benefited were those in districts such as 1, 2 and 4, who had so many come back to them. Anyone from here, they were doomed.

We were doomed.

I started to move, tracing my hand across everything in the room, feeling the soft fabrics and fancy wooden panelling, all the luxuries and beautiful craftsmanship, which no doubt was robbed from the workers in Districts 7 and 8, who couldn't use the things they made themselves. Just like we couldn't eat most of what we harvested. I took a moment for doing this, and then slowly I took off my blouse and my lower body's clothes off, stopping to observe myself in a full length mirror in the room, running my hands along my sides, feeling the slight bumps of the ribs under the skin, protruding because of the lack of fat.

I sighed quietly, then walking through to the bathroom, I stepped into the shower, reaching up and turning the dials, pressing buttons and other parts on the shower, setting it to a soothing temperature, with some scents and lotions spraying over me. I ran my fingers through the knots in my curls, feeling them sliding out with ease, no doubt to do with something that the shower was using on my hair. I felt like I was losing a second skin as the grime that our short baths at home on reaping day couldn't get rid of. Looking at my skin, I could see my skin was a slight shade lighter than it had seemed to be. I could see the prominent bones become more noticeable also, as the layers of dirt that hid the shadows were washed away.

After soaking in the nice warm water for a good few minutes, I stepped out of the shower and went to reach for a towel, only to be blasted with air that dried me off instantly the second I stepped out. Somehow my hair was not frizzed up, which saved me from having to brush through it again, and I then stepped through to the main part of the cabin, not bothering with a towel, just grabbing my clothing and pulling it on.

The first thing I observed was how the clothing was rather loose. The shirt I was wearing appeared to be made of silk, and was fastened around my neck by a piece that looked like a detached turtleneck, only attached at the front. It fell in a way that it loosely hung around my ribs, but was pulled back tight at my waist by a band of material, all of this effectively hiding my ribs from view. No doubt from behind, you could still see my backbone, but Ceres never walked behind us, she was much too proud to follow, not lead.

I ran my hands across the pink material, slightly wrinkling my nose at the colour choice, but enjoying the soft feeling of the clothing, much different to the coarse, itchy material of our clothes from home. I pulled on the black leggings that had also been put out, along with a pair of slip on shoes that were soft on my worn feet. Finally, I pulled some of my hair back into a small tie behind my head, and then looking toward the door as I heard a knock.

Salix waved one of his large hands at me, dressed in a dark purple dress shirt and black dress pants. I nodded at him, and he stepped inside the cabin, holding his arms open. I didn't need anything more, I ran at him and hugged him tightly again, burying my face in the fabric of the shirt and clutching at the back of it with my fists. He rubbed my back again, stroking my hair.

"You ready to go face the beast and see what poison they're going to be feeding us with?" He said softly, making me look up at him. His orange-like eyes were a comforting sight, they were familiar and calm, despite everything. But of course, in his mind-set he wasn't worried about himself, so he had little reason to be too panicked. He only had to worry about me, and I bet he at least had faith he could keep my alive somehow, and at least wouldn't be watching me die.

Well, let's see if he really ends up protecting me, hm?

"Sure… better just get it all over and done with. I feel like that old tale, 'Hansel and Gretel'… they're fattening us up to die," I said, rolling my eyes and forcing out a giggle. It wasn't so hard to act normal; he wasn't some stranger from a distant part of the large district we lived in. He was family; I could still be myself and not be scared I was going to be brutally murdered in my sleep.

"Yeah, that's very true… except here cannibalism is strictly forbidden, so they won't be eating us," Salix said, mimicking one of the Capitol Accents. I giggled softly, slipping my small hand inside his large one, "That guy was a creep."

"Don't remind me, that year was just gross…" I stuck my tongue out, swinging our hands, "C'mon, let's just go."

It took us a while to find the right part of the train for the dining room, something you would think would be simple. Just move down or up the parts of the train until you found it, right? Well, the trains that the Capitol had District Six manufacture were much more than simple trains, they had much more room and many more doors and compartments than you'd think. By the time we found the right part of the train, Ceres was pacing back and forth, and seeing us she immediately gave us a hard glare with those unnaturally coloured eyes of hers, walking over to us and roughly pulling us to our seats, shoving us down into them by our shoulders.

"You're late!" Obviously she was a stickler for timing. Perfect.

"Well excuse me, but it's hard to find our way around this thing!" I could see Salix's hands had clenched into fists again, and I gently touched his hand, "And no man handling Olea! You may not be that strong but anyone from the Capitol is so much healthier than her that you could break her!"

"Sal…"

Ceres looked ready to bite back with something, but a hard hand slapping onto her shoulder made her stiffen and then sigh, pulling her shoulder away and sitting down at her seat, Chaff silently laughing from where he stood. Seeder shook her head, taking a seat on my other side, as Chaff did the same on Salix's other side, still silently laughing to himself. Even without the noise, he looked ridiculous with how hard he was trying not to laugh whilst still laughing on the inside. I struggled not to laugh myself, disguising it with a cough.

As we began to eat the vast, vast spread of oh so delicious food, Salix began probing the two mentors for tips and information, Chaff commenting on how eager he was. I only started paying attention after about five dishes of food. After so much, you'd think I'd be stuffed beyond belief, but a life time of starving meant I had plenty of room. Salix was being a little more reserved meal wise.

"Arenas change every year kid, so don't expect us to be able to give any specifics. But of course, you must've known that. You've had to watch it just like the rest of us. Anyway," Chaff started, some words taking on a slight slur, "the most important things are shelter, food, and water, again that should be obvious. Shelter is normally easy to find, but not always good for hiding, but some years shelter is nearly impossible to find. Either of you remember the year that most people died of hypothermia?"

"Yeah, I remember. They broadcast the hanging of the Gamemaker that year, because they were so unhappy with what happened…" Salix said, thinking back to the games. I just about remembered it, it was the only games I remember not being so scared by, because most people just turned blue and dropped off in their sleep, and were not bloodily killed by Careers and other tributes.

"Well, that generally means that there'll always at least be means of fire building, but since then there's also been an abundance of shelter filled arenas," Seeder continued, cutting off Chaff as he tried to start a slurred sentence, snatching the liquor bottle off him, much to his childish protest, "Hopefully, you should be able to find shelter and survive the games by hiding out, doing minimal harm. Yes, it's a killing game, but if
you go out looking for kills, you go out looking to be a kill. Even the Careers have sometimes found hunting too much to handle, and it's resulted in the few years that those districts do not win, like in either of our games for example."

"What about food? And weapons? I already know there's no way we can survive the cornucopia with both of us getting out," Salix said, leaning back in his chair, looking at the woman. She brushed a hand through her hair, fiddling with a grey strand.

"It all depends. Sometimes weapons are easier to get than you'd think, and you could probably grab a knife from somewhere near the edge of the supplies, small weapons like that are normally left on the outskirts, not deep in. Food wise, hunting is the best way to go. Plus, you two have it easier with edible plant knowledge, and no doubt ability to harvest such plants. Of course, it depends on the arena, but there's usually some form of plantation to eat," She explained, leaning back herself, arms crossed over her chest, "Don't risk the Cornucopia, you're right about that. If you want to keep Olea al-…" I sat up straight and spoke up immediately when I realised it was as if I was deaf and just there, not needing the tips myself.

"Hey! I'm not going to totally rely on him! I need to be able to help him you know, don't ignore me and talk about me like I'm not here! We both have to stay alive as long as we can, that's got to be the plan, not just to save me! God! Help us both!" I snapped, clenching my bony fists. Ceres was yawning and sighing by now, bored of the talk, probably thinking about how badly we're going to do, and wishing she was a District 1, 2 or 4 escort.

"Yeah, give the girl a chance," Chaff said, voice still slurred, but clearly he wasn't totally hammered. Unlike his friend, Haymitch Abernathy, who I bet by this point was throwing up in a toilet or sink whilst his poor District 12 tributes were cowering and wondering how they'd survive. I had to admit one thing; we had better mentors than that poor district. We'd had more winners than them; they'd had only… what, two victors in the whole time the games had been going on? I heard Haymitch was quite a memorable victor, but he was a right mess now. If he were sober, maybe they'd have a chance?

Why am I worrying about them? They're going to end up dead, just like us. No doubt it'll be another year for a District 1, 2 or 4 winner. Last year it was from District 2, and this year I think I'd place my bets on 1. I hadn't even seen the tributes yet, but there always seemed to be a strange pattern in the Career winners. I never understood it.

Seeder sighed, "Sorry. I didn't mean to come across that way. Both of you, name any skills you have. Anything at all."

"I've been tugging the carts and helping cut down crops and dead trees my whole life, I've got some muscle on me, so I can throw heavy things, break stuff… I could probably break a career's neck if I got my hands on 'em," Salix said. I nodded, everything he said there was true. He was very strong; he had to be careful not to break Acca whenever he hugged her. The image of him killing someone wasn't quite as disturbing as I expected, surprisingly. But it helped I imagined the district 2 tribute who killed one of my friends a couple of years back, "I'm also pretty good at throwing in general, aiming and stuff. I have to chuck stuff up into the trees and other stuff, so… yeah. Other than that I don't really have anything to boast that I know of."

"We can work with that. Its occupational markers like you have that help people from our district in the games. The winners have generally been huge muscled people like you, or nimble. Olea, what about you?" Seeder asked, looking with soft eyes to me. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't really have any skills that I could name off…"

"She's really fast and nimble, like extreme levels. She works in the tops of the trees, which I know you must have too as a child, so she can leap between things really easy, climb up stuff easily, all that. Plus she's really good at throwing too, small things though, she has killer aim, hopefully literally," Salix butted in; speaking up for me in ways I couldn't do myself. I never observed those skills in myself, they seemed normal and widespread to me. Most of the other young kids had skills similar to mine, at varying levels. Some were better than me, too. I wasn't anything that special, just a little above average.

"Another typical occupation Marker, but you two combined… that could work out. Depending on the arena, you could use climbing to your advantage. The Careers don't focus on that sort of skill, they get the basic form of the skill they need then leave it be and focus on killing, killing and more killing, and maybe some sadistic injuries thrown in somewhere along the line. If they can't catch you, they can't beat you. Salix, can you climb?" Seeder said, looking between us both constantly.

"Somewhat. My bulk makes it harder now, but when I get a strong enough tree I can climb like when I was a kid. Trees like that don't come up often though, it's not like District 7 or anything, the trees are only strong enough for the food and the light kids." Everything he said was true, I didn't need to say a word; he was doing a good job at explaining for the both of us. Which to be honest, I wished he wasn't. I wanted my voice heard still, as I had stated only a little before.

"Yeah, what he said. He risks smaller trees though, jumps up to scare me half to death sometimes," The comment I spouted out to get my voice on the matter heard began sounding off after only a moment, and I regretted the phrasing of the end. I fell silent again, bringing my knees up to my chest, ignoring the dirty look Ceres gave me for having my feet on the chair. I started to pick at the strange meat on the plate, slowly eating it instead of gobbling it down like a pig as I had been before. Salix's large hand rubbed my head, and I smiled to myself at the gesture.

"It's time for us to watch the reapings now, you two," Seeder then informed us as she glanced at a clock, standing up from her seat as a woman dressed completely in white stepped to take her plate. I looked at her briefly, catching a flash of red hair, amber eyes, and skin a shade that was nearly exclusively found in our District. I blinked, looking at her closer as she picked up the plates and took them to a trolley to role away, the reality of her appearance sinking in slowly. Seeder gave her a soft smile and looked uncomfortable when she looked at her, and she and Chaff quickly left the room, heading for the TV car. Ceres glanced around awkwardly, and then also left.

That woman… girl… she was from District 11!

Salix ushered me out of the room, whilst I was still partially in shock. An Avox. Someone from our district had actually committed something serious enough to be an Avox? Granted, in our district the slightest thing could get you in trouble, perhaps she had simply stolen a large quantity of the food we have to pick, that would likely account for it. But… it was unnerving. I had stolen food before. A lot of people had. Some of us were lucky and didn't get caught due to the small quantity we took, but some weren't so lucky. Was this girl one of those people?

I barely registered Salix sitting me on his lap when we reached the plush, lavishly furnished TV room, fiddling with the frizzed curls of my hair, slowly soothing me into a calmed state. I registered my surroundings just in time for the pre-reaping commentary to end, and the words 'District 1' flash up on the screen in block lettering. I saw Seeder had a notebook and a pen out, something that (going by her expression) was much too primitive a format for Ceres' liking. Ignoring the ignorant woman, I looked back to the screen, deciding to look at her notes after the reapings were done playing.

The escort for District 1, who looked even more ridiculous than Ceres, pulled out a piece of paper and called out a name, which sounded just as ridiculous as she looked (District 1 was known for very extravagant or overly confident names), and at first a small girl in the crowd, appearing to be from the thirteen year olds' section, look scared. But of course, it was a career district, and soon a girl yelled out that she volunteered. The girl who climbed onto the stage was tall, probably at least 5'11", dwarfing my tiny form, and was heavily muscled. Her facial features and bone structure appeared overly narrow though, and I immediately decided on the nickname 'Narrow Face' for her, not particularly caring for her ridiculous name (which, by the way, was 'Shimmer'). Her blonde hair was in a loose ponytail, with a green ribbon with white frills, and her narrowed eyes were deep green.

I also immediately didn't like her.

The boy volunteered before the name was even picked, storming onto the stage, his features similar in colour to Narrow Face, and managing to make even Narrow Face look small. He had to be at least 6'5", probably taller. I felt tiny. How would I ever stand a chance against people like them? Salix was plenty tall enough, sure, he was pretty close to this 'Gold's' height, but I was at least two feet shorter than him! Plus, he looked ripped beyond belief, and could probably crush me in his bare hands! I was screwed! Muscle pants here would tear me apart!

It phased straight to the D2 reaping, and a similar pattern occurred. Some weedy girl who looked about as prepared for this as I felt was called up, but instead a girl with curled dark brown hair walked up to the stage with an exclamation of volunteering. When she turned to face the crowd, I was stunned. This girl, though her stature – nimble but filled with muscle and strength – was that of a career, the girl had a patch covering one eye, suggesting it did not work or wasn't even present! How could someone with such a disadvantage want to volunteer, no matter the level of training…? Were they trying to prove something?

The boy that followed looked just as muscled and close enough as tall as Gold from the previous district, his hair a dark auburn colour, tousled messily, his face unshaven. Grizzly face, he was immediately christened.

District 3 wasn't anything all that special, it never was. District 3 was poor, just like us, even if not at the same extreme levels. Both the tributes looked positively terrified, the girl being only thirteen years of age, the boy coming from either the seventeen or eighteen section. The boy looked surprisingly chubby, but not in a healthy way, more like he had recently got a large amount of food by luck and his body had taken it all on too fast. The girl looked like a weedy girl, she didn't have much flesh on her, her hair was thin and long, a blonde unlike the boy's dark brown, and was also wrapped in a ribbon. They didn't look like competition, and I didn't particularly take notes past their age and initial appearance.

I perked up again at District 4, watching a girl with flowing ginger curls walk calmly onto the stage, looking content to have been picked. She was career by build and appearance, so that didn't surprise me, even though the first thing that struck me about her was how… fish like her large lips, strangely shaped eyes, and barely visible nose looked. Her name was something typical D4, but she was christened 'Fish Face' pretty quickly. She was muscular, but not to the extremes of the other careers, appearing to have a build better made for speed than strength. The boy who followed, taking the place of another boy, had overly angry looking eyebrows, hair a darker and less saturated shade than the girl's, spiked up at weird angles. He was tall, not as much so as D1 or D2 and also had a form built for speed, but with more muscle than Fish Face.

District Five was nothing special, a girl with slightly tanned skin, bright ginger hair, and green eyes, along with a red haired boy, with gold eyes and a nervous expression. District Six wasn't much either, the girl was something to note though, perhaps only in features – she was Albino. Her eyes were a light purple-grey colour, her hair a stark white, something that may not aid her in the arena as she sticks out like a sore thumb. I didn't know much else about the condition, but I knew there were possibly other disadvantages to it too, that would not help her in the arena. District Seven appeared muscular, probably from all of the axe work and carrying of logs they had to do, the girl blonde, and the boy brunette. The two from District Eight looked scared; they were frail and weak, their hands trained for sewing and cutting, not throwing weapons or breaking bones and necks. District Nine were similar to us, the boy had build from working in the grain fields, the girl having some build but looking more nimble than muscled. District Ten was reaped with a girl with black hair, a fringe covering her eye, and… oh god, a twelve year old boy. Another twelve year old in the games…

I took a breath and closed my eyes when our reaping came up, not watching it, feeling no need. I had experienced the feelings I had gone through when it happened, I didn't need to watch it and feel it all again.

Finally, District Twelve appeared on our screen. They had the typical appearance of Tributes from that District, frail, broken, lost and with dark hair and eyes. No one volunteered, like in all the lower districts, no one ever did. Not unless they were suicidal, or determined to save someone who was reaped. It rarely happened.

It went to the commentary that Claudius Templesmith and Caesar Flickerman gave after the end of the reaping replays, giving their own brief study of what had happened, sometimes replaying the reaping clips again. I didn't pay attention, not really, I already knew what would be said about our District, it would be all about our relation. Simple as that.

Another thing I also knew was… we didn't stand a chance in hell of winning those games.


Was that too long winded? I tried to start making it briefer, but the reapings thing dragged it out more than I wished it had. I'm also worried that my first person skill isn't too good, even my original book I'm writing is in Third Person Narration… so I'm not that good with this. Well, just two chapters to get them to the Capitol at least. Now… their arrival and the stylists. Oo this bit should be rather fun~