A/N: I'd like to think everybody who reviewed – I'm very open to ideas to make the story even "better."

We're tired while writing this, so please don't sue us.

"Goodbye, Ray'ven! We'll never forget you!" a scrawny, pimpled boy called out to me.

"I love you with all my heart, Ray'ven! You've made me who I am today!" another voice joined his.

"We'll feed your sister!"

"You're so fast and brave! Maybe you can win!"

Well, of course I would win. Humility is one of my greatest virtues, but anyone who watches the Hunger Games to find new techniques would know that they're full of wimps. Oh, boo hoo; you were just bitten by a poisonous snake. Suck it up. Oh dear, you're hungry. Get some food then! Oh my, you had to kill your best friend. That's the way the world works, princess.

Flipping my gorgeous locks of raven hair behind a shoulder, I waved goodbye to my many admirers. The train station was becoming overcrowded now, and I felt a twang of pity in my heart for those who would not get to wish me goodbye.

"We'll see them again, Sparkles," I murmured to my tiger, who was standing loyal and strong by my side. My eyes flashed to deep blue. I would win this.

Daintily brushing away a tear I had shed for the poor, soulless people of District 12, who would likely have no more reason to live once I was gone, I went inside of the train's cabin.

My advanced hearing caught a few words trailing from a nearby compartment.

"She loves me you jerk!" someone cried

"Don't be stupid. She and I are meant to be!" another voice joined.

"Yeah, well I've gotten the most recent kiss!" a final voice replied.

A gasp catching in my throat, I flung open the compartment doors and leapt in between the squabbling boys.

"Stop this!" I cried, a sob hitching in my throat.

Immediately, Storm, Hummus and Chad's eyes were clouded with shame and remorse.

"We didn't mean to hurt you," Chad whispered, tears welling up in his eyes. I knew it was true, but still I could not shake the shroud of weariness and sorrow from my strong heart.

"Never," Hummus shook his head. Storm reached out a hand to take mine, and I turned away in mild anger, tears springing to my eyes. Rain began pattering the windows.

Sparkles trotted over to me and lovingly nuzzled my side, but I would not smile. The pain was too much – how could I tell two of the three boys that I did not love them? How could I break their fragile hearts by choosing one? How could they have betrayed my trust by fighting? The pain was too much to bear.

Closing my eyes, I fled the room.

Running from my pain, I only stopped running when I was sure that no one had followed me, I slammed the door of my room. No one had followed me, which was surprising, but thankful. I needed to be alone with my thoughts. I hadn't been told where my room was, but there's something that I have. It's almost like a sixth sense, where I know where things are without ever hearing of them or seeing them.

Some people in District 12 fear me because of this, and shun me at school. They're so cruel, but I forgive them every time, because I know that's the right thing to do. Even if it's hard. My mind flashed back to my previous life, the one I had now left behind for fame and fortune.

Walking tall, proud and heartbroken on the inside through the halls of school, I heard the laughs, snickers and jealous remarks of my fellow classmates. My beauty, smarts and athletic abilities were such a curse.

Their taunts and cruel words followed me down the hallway.

"Hey Ray'ven, my birthday is tomorrow. Want to come over?"

She was taunting me, rubbing the fact that I needed to take care of my sister all day in my face. Last time I left her, her genius mind comprehended the exact level of safety she had without me, and realized that the only way to survive was to live with bears in the woods. Another voice joined the first, tauntingly loud.

"I bought you a chocolate bar, except that it has nuts in it. Do you like nuts?"

A tear threatened to fall from my eye, but I stopped it. Didn't he know that I was a vegetarian?

Another.

"Oh my gosh, I love your hair! Can you show me how to do it?"

She knew that my hair was that way naturally. She was only making fun of how I could never socialize with other girls, because I never had to fix my hair.

Another.

"Wow, Sparkles is amazing! Where'd you get him?"

Another.

"Your sister is up on the roof again!"

Another.

They pelted down mercilessly, like the large, diamond-like tears that welled from my eyes. Never stopping, never relenting.

"You'd better hurry – I think she's about to jump!"

With that last, cruel comment, I snapped back to reality.

Burying my face into my arms, I curled in on myself. Why was life so cruel to me? What had I done to deserve this? Was I not pretty enough? Was I a failure? I started to sing, my crystalline voice carrying with it all the burdens, sorrow and depth that my life carried with it.

Disrespect, that's all that you do to me.

So messed up, the way that you're treating me.

Brace yourself, there's something I want to you know.

You should know.

I made up the words as I went along, each line flowing perfectly into the next. My voice sounded like melodic song of a Warbling Walrus. They're funny animals, and something of a slap in the face to the Capitol. During the rebellion, the Capitol bred a series of genetically altered animals as weapons.

The common term for them was muttations, or sometimes mutts for short. One was a special bird called a Quoting Quail that had the ability to memorize and repeat whole human conversations. They were homing birds, exclusively male, that were released into regions where the Capitol's enemies were known to be hiding.

After the birds gathered words, they'd fly back to the centers to be recorded. It took people awhile to realize what was going on in the districts, how private conversations were being transmitted. Then, of course, the rebels fed the Capitol endless lies, and the joke was on it.

So the centers were shut down and the birds were abandoned to die off in the wild.

Only they didn't die off. Instead, the Quoting Quail mated with Talking Turkey, creating a whole new species that could replicate both bird whistles and human melodies. They had lost the ability to enunciate words and fly, but could still mimic a range of human vocal sounds, from my beautiful tinkling laugh, to my deep, strong singing voice. And they could recreate songs. Not just a few notes, but whole songs with multiple verses, if you had the patience to sing with them, and if they liked your voice.

They were called Warbling Walruses.

When I hunted in the woods, I always sung with the Warbling Walruses, which would galumph through the forest where they lived, being particularly fond of them. I would always whistle or sing complicated songs to them, and, after a polite pause, thousands would lumber in and sing with me. Our voices melded, mine strong, rich and beautiful, and theirs somewhat scratchy. But I still loved to do it.

No one else is treated with this much respect. But whenever I sang, all the walruses in the area would fall silent and listen. My voice was that beautiful, high and clear and so filled with life that it makes you want to laugh or cry at the same time.

I was sort of sad when the last of the Quoting Quails died off. I had a friend of one once, named Pistachio. Once we had a whole conversation, mostly about Sparkles, the softness of eyebrows, and my amazing personality.

But now I was left all alone, with no Quoting Quails, Warbling Walruses, or Talking Turkeys to keep me company.

A/N: Okay, three things.

We do know what a vegetarian is, don't worry.

The song she sung was 'Brand New You' by Miranda Cosgrove, and we do not own it.

We do know that Quails and Turkeys do not make Walruses. We do not care.