Chapter Three: The Reaping Part One
Author's Notes
I do not own the Hunger Games.
Felicity Fierce took her seat, which was slightly to the left of the stage centre. Her prep team helped to fix her bulky skirts and touched up her makeup.
"Reapings start in four minutes Felicity," said her assistant Fantasio through her earpiece. Tallulah puffed out her purple curls and leant over her shoulder to kiss her cheek.
"Knock 'em dead."
Felicity smiled at her back as the prep team hurried off stage.
"Alright Felicity, you're live in three," said Fantasio.
The lights at the front of the stage dimmed, revealing her to the crowd seated in the stands. They seated six hundred, only the elite who could afford tickets, under sixteens not permitted.
"Two."
She found the central camera, gave it a winning smile.
"And one. Action."
"Good evening Panem," she started. The crowd cheered.
"My name is Felicity Fierce and this is of course the live reapings for this year's One Hundred and Thirty Fourth Hunger Games!"
The applause was louder this time, filling the set. She leant back in her chair. "Now, before we get started, we've got some very special guests for this evening. First up, please welcome Gloria Richards from District One, Victor of the One Hundred and Eighteenth Hunger Games!"
The crowd roared with approval. Even after sixteen years, Gloria remained one of the most popular Victors there had ever been. She made her way across the stage, blonde hair loose and tumbling down her back, wearing a thin silver dress, and took the seat opposite Felicity.
"Gloria, wonderful to have you here."
"A pleasure to be here again Felicity," murmured the former Career.
"And of course we'll be starting with the reapings from your District! They're about to begin!"
The image of a square filled with people appeared on the screen. The District One mayor was finishing his speech, and giving way to Tiberius Vanuna, who had been the District One Escort for fifteen years now, and brought home four Victors during that time.
"Isn't it good to see you all here again boys and girls?" he called. "Hello to all the familiar faces, and to the newbies at the front there. But you don't want to listen to me rambling. So, who wants to be our female tribute this year?"
The reaping balls in One had been removed eighteen years ago since they seemed pointless. One always provided volunteers. This year was no different. An explosion of noise erupted from the crowd and the camera panned round to give a better view of the girls, where several fights had broken out amongst the would-be tributes. Spurred on by their distraction, a few girls from the fifteen pen surged forward, only to be shoved aside by a girl from the seventeens in a tight, sparkly red dress, who sprinted to the stage, her high heels dangling from one hand.
"Ah, hello young lady," greeted Tiberius. "And what might your name be?"
"Diamond Blush," she snapped, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder and glaring out at the crowd. "And I'm here to become District One's newest Victor."
"Ah yes, I knew I knew your face. You must be Tiara's little sister."
Diamond smiled. "That's me!" She waved at the line of Victors, where Tiara Blush, Victor of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Games, sat.
"Of course, of course. Now, who's going to be this lovely lady's district partner?"
Again the crowd erupted and several boys hurled themselves forward, but this time the winner appeared much faster, a tall blonde boy wearing a green shirt that matched his glittering green eyes.
"Ah, hello. And what would your name be?"
"Lucian Prince," announced the boy, staring into the back of the crowd. "And I'll be giving little Miss Princess here a run for her money!"
Diamond glared at him.
"Nice to meet you Lucian. District One, your tributes for the One Hundred and Thirty Fourth Games: Diamond Blush and Lucian Prince!"
"Exciting scenes from District One. Gloria, can you tell us anything about these two? What do you know about the Princess, Diamond?" Felicity asked.
"They're going to be tough competition. I don't know Lucian personally, but I've heard he's won several competitions. Diamond is top of her class at the academy, and from what I've seen a little firecracker."
Felicity laughed. "Two beautiful and deadly tributes there from District One then folks."
Their looks alone ought to be enough to earn them some support. Their pictures moved from the big screen to the one on the far left.
"Now, it's time for us to be moving on to District Two!"
A roaring cheer went up. District Two was always popular. The feed switched to their square, which was bordered by thick, black walls, with an onyx black stage at the centre. Their escort, Belladonna, was stood in front of the mic, talking all about how happy she was to be back this year.
As the scene continued, two more figures joined Belladonna on stage. While Felicity couldn't be certain, it looked as though she shied slightly away before composing herself. She could hardly blame her.
"Ladies and gentlemen, your mentors for this year, Grayson and Jeana Darkstone!
The two stepped up to the microphone, perfectly in sync as usual. There was a reason they were not considered the most popular Victors: that reason was that they were frankly quite creepy. Having interviewed them several times in the past Felicity hated the way their black eyes looked at her. They made her skin crawl. Even looking at them on screen made her stomach twist.
"It is an honour to be serving as mentors this year," Grayson said, his voice flat. Jeana only stood there and stared out at the square.
"Of course, of course. Now, would you like to announce the tributes for this year or shall I?"
For thirty four years now, since the disaster that was the reaping for the One Hundredth Games, the District Two reapings had been done like this, with the tributes being decided ahead of times and announced with a speech by either the mentors or the escort. It prevented issues such as happened quite often in District One. Grayson opened the envelope in his hands. Jeana made as though to do the same and then stopped herself.
"The male tribute for this year has been an excellent student at the Blastburn Academy for many years. He has won twelve competitions and is highly skilled as a swordsman and combatant, with a keen strength and confidence in himself that makes him an exceptional leader and role model. It is for these reasons Maximus Darkstone has been chosen as the male tribute for this year."
That wasn't unexpected. It had been flying around online for weeks now that the youngest of the Darkstone children turned eighteen this year, and if they were going to have the full set for Victors it would have to be now.
Belladonna gave a wide smile. "Can we have a round of applause for mister Maximus Darkstone? Where are you Maximus?"
From the back of the male section stepped a broad shouldered young man clad in a blue shirt and black trousers straining against his muscular figure. He strode to the stage with a slowly widening grin. He stood as tall as Grayson, though wider in the shoulders and thicker in the legs.
"It's an honour to be chosen to follow in my family's footsteps. I won't let you down District Two!"
"It'll be an honour to work with you Maximus. Now then, who will be your partner for this year?"
Most likely Maximus already knew, especially given his family. Felicity suspected the tributes were informed ahead of time who had been selected. It was, technically speaking, against the rules, but it made things fun and so nothing had ever been done about it. Jeana ripped open her envelope. "Deciding the female tribute for this year was no easy task. There were many exceptional candidates, all of which we are sure will go on to do incredible things. However, one young lady did manage to come up with an outstanding performance, and displayed remarkable talent with her chosen weapon. It is down to that performance that Anastasia Montgomory has been chosen as this year's female tribute."
Belladonna beamed out at the crowd. "Can we have a round of applause for Miss Anastasia Montgomory? Come on up here Anastasia!"
The camera panned in to the older girls, where the District Two tributes usually came from. Thirty seconds passed. More. The girls were looking around each other. In the studio the audience began to murmur.
"Well, it looks like Two has a reluctant tribute this year folks? Any ideas what's going on Gloria?"
The former Victor shook her head. On screen Belladonna cleared her throat. "Ahem. I have just been informed that Anastasia was unfortunately taken seriously ill this morning and is so unable to attend."
"Well, isn't that a turn about for events?" Felicity asked. A ripple of murmuring ran around the audience.
"Do you know what happens now Gloria?"
Gloria stared up at the screen. "I have spoken to Victors from Two about this before. This also happened in one of the earlier Games, the One Hundred and Ninth I think, and since then they've always had a second choice tribute."
Indeed, a man with blue hair was scurrying onto stage with a new envelope for Jeana. She tore it open. "We had many remarkable candidates this year, so please do not think any less of her because she placed second choice. This young lady has consistently been amongst the top of her class for most of her training and was earmarked to be fast tracked through peacekeeper training. She has high leadership skills and an excellent mind for tactics. For this reason, Faustina Stryker has been chosen as the female tribute for this year."
"Thank you Jeana. Can we have a round of applause for Miss Faustina Stryker? Where are you Faustina?"
Again the camera panned in to the older girls, since an eighteen year old was to be expected this time, but in almost a complete rerun of the previous announcement, no one stepped forward. At last a small girl from the fifteen section stepped out into the aisle. "Um," she mumbled. "Uh, Faustina's not here. She's in hospital too. Someone chucked a brick at her head this morning."
"Ah," Belladonna said. It was a very telling sound.
"Stall for time," Fantasio hissed in her ear. Felicity forced a smile.
"Gloria, any insights as to what happens now?"
"I'm afraid not Felicity. I'm not sure whether they pick third choice tributes."
It turned out they did not, and the reaping balls that had merely been decoration for Two for many years had been removed decades ago. Belladonna whispered frantically with a dark haired woman off-stage, most likely trying to get the name of another candidate, since apparently they had had plenty.
"If they don't hurry this up we're going to have to skip to Three," Fantasio said. "Their reapings start in four minutes."
It seemed that Grayson and Jeana were also sick of waiting. They stepped back up to the mic. "Any volunteers?"
About five dozen girls screamed 'I volunteer' and rushed at the stage, trampling others underfoot. Jasper Darkstone, Grayson and Jeana's younger brother who was sat at the back of the stage with the other Victors, laid his head in his hands. This was why District Two did things the way they did. The brawl spread out across the square. The boys began trying to file out from the back and protect the smaller ones. There were girls on the ground, girls fighting, pulling each other's hair, screaming, fighting to get to the stage. One of the Peacekeepers fired his gun but it did little good. The girls at the back now seemed to just be fighting with each other rather than trying to reach the stage. A small figure at the front had managed to reach it and strained to pull herself up.
"I volunteer! I volunteer I volunteer!"
"Oh wonderful!" chirped Belladonna. "We have a volunteer! What's your name young lady?"
"Valkyrie Slate," replied the girl, who could barely be twelve if she was a day. "And don't you count me out just because I'm small!" She bared her teeth and hissed, grinning up at the cameras. Her appearance on stage seemed to have been missed by most of those in the square, who were still thrashing each other.
"We're cutting the feed. Fill the gap," said Fantasio. The screen cut to static.
"Well, I've never seen scenes like that from District Two since I've been announcer," Felicity started weakly. "I'll be expecting big things from these two this year. Wasn't Valkyrie clever climbing up onto the stage like that while everyone was distracted? What do you think Gloria?"
"Maximus is definitely the bigger threat this year," she said. "But I wouldn't disregard Valkyrie. She has guts, and she's certainly resourceful."
"She is that!"
Images of Maximus and Valkyrie joined those of Diamond and Lucian on the far left screen.
"We've got three strong careers and a wildcard so far folks! And from what I'm hearing, Maximus Darkstone is indeed the youngest son of our beloved Victors Claymore and Ampora Darkstone and the younger brother of Grayson, Jeana and Jasper Darkstone!"
We'll be expecting big things from that young man! It could be an exciting Games! We'll have to wait and see what District Four gives us! But of course, we've got District Three and another guest to introduce before then!"
Cheers ran through the hall.
"District Three's starting," said Fantasio. On screen District Three's square appeared, filled with anxious and frightened faces. Three was one of the less entertaining Districts, they always had poor tributes and rarely produced Victors. They got one a few years back, and before that their last Victor had been over four decades earlier. Laurentia Justice, their escort, was finishing up her speech on stage. She was new this year, barely turned twenty, but her reputation as a singer was already very well known.
"We'll start with the girls," she said, dipping a hand into the bowl and pulling out a slip from the top. "The female tribute this year is Data Huxley!"
The girls at the back of the square began to shuffle aside. From somewhere in the middle appeared the most pregnant pregnant young woman Felicity had seen in a long time. Murmurs ran through the crowd as her condition became more apparent. A Peacekeeper stepped forward to hold her elbow as she climbed the steps to the stage.
"Oh my. How far along are you?"
Data brushed a hand over her stomach. "Eight and a half months."
"Data Huxley everyone! Do we have any volunteers?"
Data stared out at the crowd with begging, pleading eyes, but no one stepped forward.
"Very well. And now for the boys."
Data closed her eyes, clearly holding back sobs. Laurentia selected a slip from the boys' bowl. "The male tribute this year is Gadge Bishop!"
Gadge came from amongst the twelve year old section, a thin boy with a mop of dark hair wearing a shirt too large for him.
"Do you have anything you want to say Gadge?"
He shook his head, instead holding his hand out for Data to shake.
"What do you think of that then Gloria?"
"I'm afraid I don't like their chances Felicity, but you never know. Data certainly has something to live for, and Gadge could prove to be a wildcard."
"We'll just have to wait and see!"
Data and Gadge's images moved to join the first four on the left hand screen. Felicity's eyes lingered on Data for perhaps a moment longer than they should.
"Before we continue with the District Four reapings, I'd like to introduce our next guest. All the way from District Four, it's Oceanous, Victor of the Ninety Sixth Hunger Games!"
That was not his real name she knew; it was a nickname given to him due to his parade costume, which had made him look like a sea god. Oceanous stepped onto the stage, a tall, greying man. His victory had been before her time, though it was still considered one of the most highly rated Games. Felicity offered him her hand as he reached her and Gloria.
"Oceanous, how wonderful it is to have you here in the Capitol once more!"
The man was bit of a recluse she had heard, and had barely returned to the Capitol after his five years of mentoring unless he had been brought in to act as mentor again. Sometimes Felicity regretted the ending of the Victor trade, his looks were wasted hiding away in District Four. He said nothing as he took his seat.
"Why don't you tell us a little bit about what you've been up to?"
He fixed her with a stern look. All of a sudden Felicity felt rather like a small child being scolded by her teacher.
"If you don't mind, I would rather not talk about my private life." His voice was a deep, gravelly rumble. Felicity smiled.
"Of course not, that's perfectly fine. So, how are you enjoying being here in the Capitol again?"
"I'd rather be at home."
There were whispers fluttering around the audience now. Felicity was painfully aware of them, and the disapproving looks flying about those watching. "Well, I suppose it's much quieter there than it is here!"
Oceanous only grunted, but the joke seemed to have lightened the atmosphere.
"So, why don't we see what's going on in your District?"
District Four always looked incredible, hot and sunny, with a clear blue sky. Their escort, Sagitarrius Nightscape, had dyed her hair deep green for this year, and wore a floating pale blue dress with tall glittering blue heels. She looked incredible. Felicity would have to find out who her stylist was.
"Did we enjoy that video boys and girls?" she shouted, which meant Four's video on the history of Panem, the Dark Days, and the ultimate destruction of District Thirteen during the year of the Eighty Third Games must have just finished.
"As always, it's good to be here District Four! May the odds be ever in your favour! But of course, you don't want to listen to me! Let's find out who your tributes are! Shall we start with the boys this year?" She sprang over to the boys' reaping ball and pulled out a slip. "Nemo Hudson! Come on up here Nemo!"
A boy stepped from the fourteens and made his way up to the stage. He was tall for his age and looked fairly fit, with little baby fat and a deep tan to his skin.
"Do we have any volunteers? Any volunteers for Nemo's spot?"
"I volunteer," came a shout from the back of the boys' section. The camera panned round to it to find the speaker. It didn't take long, as a tall, lean boy stepped out. He was pretty, with deep blue eyes and dark hair pulled back in a low ponytail, wearing a blue and white shirt with long white trousers, and had a lean, athletic frame, his shirt defining him in all the right places. Sagitarrius beamed.
"Come on up here young man!"
He strode up to the stage. Nemo greeted him with a smile and shook his hand, clasping his shoulder before heading down to the side.
"And what's your name?"
"Orion Achoda. And I'm here to win these Games."
"It is a pleasure to meet you Orion! Shall we see who your district partner will be?" She pranced over to the girls' bowl. Orion gazed out over the crowd and waved for the cameras, rocking his hips slightly as though dancing. A woman in the studio audience wolf whistled. Felicity fully agreed with the sentiment.
"The female for this year will be…" Sagitarrius unfolded the slip as she returned to the mic, narrowly avoiding tripping over her own feet in those heels of hers. She frowned slightly. "Astoria Achoda!"
Orion's eyes widened. His gaze flashed to the back of the girls' section. A dark haired girl stepped from there and Felicity's breath caught. She was jaw-droppingly stunning, with the same large, upturned deep blue eyes, full lips, and slender nose as Orion, wearing a blue and white knee length dress and low heels, her hair bound in a thick plait.
"Well, I'll be," twittered Sagitarrius. "I'll bet this is your sister."
"Yes," Orion ground out. Astoria gave him an anxious smile.
"Do we have any volunteers?" asked Sagitarrius. "Any volunteers for Astoria's spot?"
No one stepped forward. That was unusual for Four, who had slowly built up their reputation as a Career district and usually had volunteers.
"No one? Last chance now!"
The silence was deafening. Orion scowled and shouldered Sagittarius away from the mic. "Someone volunteer! Ronelle! Acionna!"
Astoria stepped up to take his arm. He shoved her behind him.
"Why is no one volunteering?"
It looked like Astoria murmured something the cameras didn't catch in his ear before she pulled him away from the mic. Sagittarius shot the two of them an anxious look and returned to her spot. "There we have it then ladies and gentlemen, your tributes for this year's Hunger Games: Orion and Astoria Achoda!"
Astoria wrapped her fingers around Orion's and lifted their joined hands in the air. The image faded into that of the District Four seal.
"Well well ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we've got siblings from Four! Oceanous, can you tell us anything about these two? Why were there no female volunteers from Four this year?"
"Maybe they just don't want to throw their lives away," he grunted. Felicia started. Someone could have warned her he was going to be like this! Maybe she ought to stick to yes/no questions from now on.
"Do you think Four's got a fighting chance this year then?"
"As much as anyone else."
"And what about them being siblings? Is that going to affect things do you think?"
"Depends on whether they let it."
Orion and Astoria's images appeared on the wall. Fantasio whispered information in her ear.
"Well, I'm being told this is only the third time we've seen sibling tributes in the Games. Can you believe it the first time was way back in the Second ever Games, when there were siblings reaped from District Five, and the second was during the Eighty fifth, when we saw a brother-sister team from District One! We'll be expecting big things from these two! For now though, we've moving onto District Five!"
Elsie Lovelace, the Ice Queen, was already on stage finishing her speech. Evidently they had missed Mayor Watt in all the talk about the twins from Four. Elsie wouldn't be pleased to hear it. She wasted no time in choosing a female tribute, Electra Balfos, who came from the fifteens and had orange hair. She kept her head down and her shoulders hunched. Elsie took a slip from the boys' bowl. "Isaac Watt!"
Mayor Watts paled. A scrawny, black haired boy came forward from the fourteen year old sector.
"Come along Isaac, we don't have all day," Elsie snapped. The boy stumbled onto the stage. Elsie pushed him over to Electra. "District Five, your tributes for this year, Electra Balfos and Isaac Watt!"
The image faded and their pictures took their places on the wall.
"Gloria, Oceanous, any thoughts on these two?"
"They might pull off a win," said Gloria, "but my hopes aren't high."
"Well, I am being told now that Isaac Watt is the son of the Mayor! It's been a while since we've seen someone of his standing in the Games, so we'll see how he does!"
Fortley Entersrew, the escort for Six, chose the male tribute first, a sixteen year old called Logan Ford. He had badly dyed green hair and wore a sharp black shirt and a white tie.
"Do you have anything you want to say Logan?" Fortley asked.
"You'll be sorry for this. My father is a very important man!"
From the girls came a seventeen year old girl with brown hair and tattoos up her arms called Kara Transson.
"Do you have anything you want to say Kara?"
"Go die."
"The girl looks tough," remarked Gloria. "But the boy not so much."
"What about you Oceanous?"
He shrugged, which, given the circumstances, Felicia thought might be the best she could ask for. She was supposed to have had Coralie Harren as her guest from Four, but at the last moment someone decided to have Coralie mentor and switched her out with Oceanous.
"Now, before we move onto District Seven, we have a short break! Please feel free to visit the toilets, refill your food and drink, and enjoy a performance from one of our most popular artists and we'll return to go to District Seven shortly!"
Author's Notes
Okay, so the reaping was originally meant to be all one chapter, but as it turns out, it was huge. So the bad news is I've broken it in half. The good news is since the second half is pretty much complete, it should be up in the next couple of days.
Random trivia: This was actually the first thing I wrote for this fic.
Big thank you to HogwartsDreamer for faving, following and reviewing and to The AmazingJAJ, HoppsHungerfan, and DaisyRain01 for reviewing!
Feel free to take guesses at what you think the stereotypes and clich�s are based on what little we see of the tributes in the reapings!
