chapter one}
home is where the heart is
[district four reapings]
Kailani Alexandria, 18
whitesand beach, district four
six am
Kailani closes her eyes and digs her toes into the hot white sand, letting the sounds of the beach she's come to love wash over her. Overhead, a gull squawks and another answers it, and far to the right she can hear huge, frothy waves climb up and up and up - and then crash back down onto the beach with an almighty roar. Whitesand Beach isn't used for fishing or boat docking, but in the distance she can hear the laughs and chatter of fishermen, uncaring how loud they are beneath the six am sun, further down the coastline. It's early, even for her; so she's disappointed but not surprised when she opens her eyes to find that the beach is deserted.
A few years ago that would have pleased her, and she would be running down to the sea without hesitation, eager to begin her morning surf. But now, she places her board down onto the sand and sits down on top of it, waiting. It wouldn't feel right, after all these years, to begin without him. She sifts sand through her palms as she waits, watching how the grains fall. It's comforting here on the beach - her beach, their beach - just her, the sea and the sun.
"Hey! Lani!"
Her, the sea, the sun and Des.
Kailani had been surfing at Whitesand ever since being home in the icy quiet became too much. She'd spend her mornings surfing alone, and it suited her just fine. She didn't have friends, anyway. Who would she invite to come with her? Kailani is secluded and distant, feared and aggressive. Look at her the wrong way and she won't even have to do anything, but her cold exterior will send people scuttling away. She's used to this power; the way nobody makes eye contact with her, the way nobody wants to be her sparring partner, the way people move out of her path without a second thought. So when a boy, her age, started surfing in the same spot as her, she was surprised. And annoyed, really annoyed. And whenever she tried to tell him to fuck off, he'd always somehow manage to turn it into a conversation that was...pleasant.
And so over the years, Kai and Des grew closer and closer every day. It was at a slow place, and it took a whole year for them to start surfing together, and not just in the same place. But seven years of spending hours together every morning has formed a bond stronger than blood, or in Kailani's case anyway. Her parents have never been there for her. She can remember the last thing they did for her: enrolled her in the Academy. When she was eight. They didn't understand her want of becoming a Victor, her bloodlust, or her vicious training regime. Her father is a fisherman, and will only ever be a fisherman. He has a simple mind and a simple life; he couldn't apprehend the Games or wanting to go in them. Her mother is a whole different story - Malia Alexandria has a whole collection of mental health issues, including anxiety and being bipolar, and when Kai was younger, she took to blaming all of her issues on her. She has always been a terrible mother. Kailani's worried of turning out like either of them. She doesn't want to be a dull fisherwoman living a dull life, and she doesn't want to inherit her mother's mental health problems. She hates them. They don't talk to her anymore, too scared of what she's "become". Fine. But they can't expect her to live a life like theirs.
No, she wants to be a Victor. She wants to kill.
And so today is Reaping day, the last morning she'll get with Des until she comes back. She wants to enjoy it, the alone time with her best and only friend, so she forces all thoughts of her parents away into a box. "Morning Des." she replies, as he grows nearer. Kailani and Des have been mistaken for siblings once or twice. They do have some similarities: they're both blonde, very muscular and have strong jaws - but that's about it. Kailani is small for their age group whereas Des towers above everyone in it, Kai's hair is platinum blonde whereas Des's is honey blonde, and Kailani has dark, almost black, eyes and Desmond's are a bright, sparkling blue. They cancel each other out, in terms of personality. Kai is snappy and secluded and fiery, and Des is cheerful and flirty and optimistic. It's been seven years and Kailani still hates to admit it, but they make a good duo.
Des offers her a hand and hauls her up off of her board, and she watches as his eyes flicker towards the sea and then back, a glint of mischief in them. "Race you to the sea?" he says it like a question, but he's already sprinting off, and Kailani lets out a growl of frustration before taking off after him. She's never been a fast runner, and it's always infuriated her. Des has long legs and can take huge strides, but her short and sturdy frame denies her that privilege. She briefly wonders if it'll be a huge impact in the Games, and pushes that thought away too. She has lots of strengths in different areas: axes, stealth, her strength and intelligence... She'll be fine. She'll be more than fine, she'll be brilliant.
/
Afterwards, she has a healthy, rosy glow to her cheeks and a very, very rare smile is plastered on her face. Her hair is dripping wet and has been curled and darkened by the salty sea, and she's out of breath, recovering from a joke that Des told. They're walking up the beach, boards tucked under their arms, and fall into a comfortable silence. Kailani's become very used to this routine: half six in the morning, Whitesand Beach, with Desmond, and she realises with a start that she feels at home. She and Des share anything and everything, including their surfing and their beach and their sea and their sun.
They're halfway home when Des spots a group of people their age and waves them over. "What are you-?" Kai hisses. If Des heard her he doesn't do anything, and his friends swagger over.
"Yo Desmond my man! Sick party last night!"
-"you'll never guess what Anita did-"
-"and I told her no way did Desmond do that but she said-"
-"mate it was insane you were so wasted and-"
-"how are you even up so early my hangover killed man"-
Kailani is left excluded from the circle, as they exchange stories and cheerful insults and playful shoves, and she resents herself when she feels something heavy and bitter settle upon her tongue. It's come to be a familiar feeling in situations like this: possessiveness and jealousy. Des has been her closest and only friend for seven years so she's always startled to see how close he is with other people, but she's also jealous of how easily he can slide into conversations, how he holds everyone's gaze and how he can make everyone laugh. She recognizes a few of them: the guy with the tattoo curling around his bicep used to be her training partner when they were younger, the ginger girl lives down her street, the twin girls with matching sun-bleached blonde hair sat on either side of her last year for maths. All of them had tried to be friendly, all of them had made pleasant conversation and included her and tried. But she's so naturally defensive, Kailani, and so she sneered and she scowled and she secluded herself, and they gave up.
She likes the power she has over people, she does. Sometimes, she just wishes she has more friends, a closer group. Sometimes she wishes she doesn't scare people. Sometimes she wishes she wasn't so angry, all of the time - hot emotion settling in her chest and flowing up to her cheeks and down to her palms. Sometimes, only sometimes. She slips away from the group easily enough, to head home and change for the Reaping, and as she leaves all of them burst into laughter at some joke or an anecdote. Her wet hair drips onto the ground, and her bare feet burn on the concrete that's been cooked by the sun.
Des doesn't follow her.
Samuel Lafton, 18
district four
seven am
Sam is awoken to his mother's delighted laugh and his younger, twin sisters giggling. He groans and pulls his blanket over his head, trying to block out the sun seeping in from the window directly opposite. His blanket is homemade - like a lot of things in the Lafton household - and his Ma never really got the hang of knitting, so there are gaping holes that do little to protect from the sunlight. Still, it's made with love, and that is one thing that Samuel has never gone without. His parents, Elyssa and Michael Lafton, have always been supportive and understanding. Money is always tight in a house with seven people - six, now that Caleb's moved out - but they've always been calm and kind and caring. Sam has four siblings, and his parents acknowledge and understand that they're all different. For example, his older brother Caleb never trained, and his parents supported that. Sam started training when he was young, and his parents have always supported that too.
His father's unmistakable, deep roar of a laugh comes from downstairs, and Sam finally realises that he's overslept. He swings his feet around and lets out a loud yawn, and sits on the side of his bed for a minute. He loves his family, truly, but Samuel has always been an introvert. He likes his peace and quiet, and with three younger siblings it's kind of hard to come by. It's moments like these he treasures, when he's by himself. Still, he knows he's probably being missed, so he glides down the stairs and into the kitchen, where the rest of his family are gathered around the table.
As he guessed, Caleb's swung by to visit, and he's telling a story from the looks of things - talking animatedly, with his hands gesturing wildly. The twins, Mira and Hali, are laughing and Doug is looking at him with an expression of awe normally only saved for Sam himself. He's quiet by nature, so nobody notices him come into the kitchen until he's slid into a seat, causing his ma to jump. "Lord, Sam! You can't keep sneaking up like that!" she swats him with a tea towel but she's smiling, and slides him a plate. It's fish, like a lot of his meals, but it's harder to find a better chef than Elyssa Lafton - and the scrambled eggs and kippers is a delight.
"Are these the fish that came in yesterday afternoon?" he asks and Caleb nods at him.
"Yup, fresh can be. No fishing this morning, it's Reaping day." he pauses, and then adds, "you excited?"
Sam has juggled school, his job as a fisherman and training every day for years. He's always liked fishing, and it introduced him to his chosen weapon, the trident, but he's always wanted a bit more than that. He's friendly enough - he can be sociable and well-liked, and has a small ring of good friends - but his quiet personality can sometimes make him come off a bit as abrasive to those he's not too close with. He hopes he doesn't make a wrong impression on the other careers.
He smiles. "Yeah, actually, I am." his Pa punches his shoulder lightly.
"You make sure you come back, yeah boy?" it's said playfully enough but on the other side of the table his sister's smiles droop, and Doug's bottom lip begins to quiver. Sam smiles reassuringly at them. "Of course. I have faith in myself."
"And we have faith in you." Caleb says, solemnly.
It's quiet for a minute, and then his mother instructs them all to get ready for the Reaping, and to "look presentable!"
/
Sam weaves in and out of the other eighteen year old boys, and ends up next to one of his friends, Dylan. They stand, talking for a bit as the rest of the teenage population of Four files in, until a woman walks out onstage, and a hush settles across the District.
Stella Steren was new two years ago, and her look hasn't changed, but it's always jarring to see Capitol fashions. Her blue hair looks like it was maybe inspired by the sea, but Sam finds that almost personally insulting. The sea in Four is a shade of blue so beautiful that he's adamant nothing could come close to it, especially not some tacky hair dye. Her silver dress and shoes are made mostly of sequins, and catch in the light every time she takes a step. She's chirpy and friendly, and for someone from the Capitol, she seems quite alright.
"Good morning, District Four! Welcome to the Reaping of the 152nd Annual Hunger Games!"
She receives a scattering of applause from the audience - these days not everyone in Four supports the Games, and the numbers in the Academy are dwindling. Each year the classes get smaller and smaller. The mandatory video gets played, like every year, and nobody pays attention, like every year. What everyone is looking forward to is when she drops one perfectly manicured hand into a bowl, and calls the name of the tribute. Kailani - who, frankly, terrifies him - will volunteer and take her place on the stage, and he'll volunteer and take his place. The video draws to an end and Sam can feel his heart beating in his chest. This is it, this is the moment he's been waiting for.
She picks a slip from the female bowl, and walks tantalizingly slowly back to centre stage,
"Nora Trescott!"
Silence.
Where's Kailani?
It's what everyone's thinking and from the look on the petrified fourteen year old girl, it's what she's thinking too. Her legs shake as she slowly climbs the stairs, and once she's up next to Stella, her knees start to knock together. "Are there any volunteers?" Stella calls, and it's silent for a second before a voice, clear and confident, rings out:
"I volunteer!"
Nora breathes a sigh of relief and nearly stumbles over on her run down the stairs, but all the cameras are focused on the girl who volunteered: a smug expression written on her face as she saunters up the stairs, skirt swishing around her knees and her dark make-up making her look fierce and daunting. She introduces herself with a snarl and Stella hurriedly moves onto the boys.
"Samuel Lafton!"
He's about to call out that he volunteers, when he realises that's his own name. Oh. Well. That's okay, too. He makes his way to the stage, and the cameras zoom in to pick up on his height, his muscular body, his green eyes and his determined expression. He shakes his District partners hand and turns back around to the audience, bowing as Stella loudly announces,
"Ladies and gentlemen! Your tributes for the 152nd Hunger Games: Kailani Alexandria and Samuel Lafton!"
/
His family flood into the room first, a flurry of "goodbye" and "we'll miss you" and "i love you", and he's hugged over and over again. Doug makes him firmly promise he'll come back, Caleb and his Pa give him last-minute advice - even though neither of them had ever lifted a weapon in their life - and his Ma reminds him not to be an idiot. His sisters just sit next to him on the large plush sofa, snuffling a little.
"Don't worry about me." he says softly, smiling down at Mira on his right and then Hali on his left, who's sucking her thumb fiercely, her eyebrows furrowed.
"You need a good luck charm." Mira says, and immediately Doug's face brightens and he reaches behind his neck to unclasp his necklace. Sam can't remember the last time he saw him without it, so he's touched when it's handed to him. It's a thin strip of leather, with a shell as the pendant. "Thank you." he whispers to his brother, before the Peacekeepers come in and his family are whisked away.
Dylan waltzes in next, alongside their other friends Brooke and Morgan. Their visit is short but sweet, conversation limited to how much they'll miss him, and what to do if he gets caught in certain situations, etcetera.
It's over before he realises, and the last glimpse he gets of Four before the arena is through a train window.
Kailani Alexandria, 18
Her parents walk in first which she honestly wasn't expecting. She wishes they didn't come.
Nobody knows what to say, and they look shocked, fumbling for words that fail them. It's infuriating, because if they even listened to her or acknowledged her, they would know she was going to volunteer. And yet. Kai's glad when they leave, and when Desmond bursts through the door all the awkwardness that was previously in the room vanishes.
"Lani."
He opens his arms and she hesitates, because they're not affectionate like that, not really, but she walks into them. They separate after a couple of seconds but it was comforting and soothing. He grabs her by the shoulders, searching her eyes but she doesn't know what for. "Don't make mistakes." he says, and she just nods. "I mean it, Lani. Come back to me." He leaves her with his rope necklace and she holds it to her chest, against her heartbeat. There's no love confessions, Kailani's liked girls for as long as she could remember but she loves Desmond, in their own weird way.
She's confident in herself, and that's something. If she ever wants to see her home again, she'll have to be.
authors note
district 4! reallyreally like both of these tributes, and id love to know if you do too!
still a lot of open spaces, see my profile for the full tribute list
-lizzie(: