Introductions

District One

Eritine Hadron (18) D1F

The training centre was unusually quiet, it seemed that most people had left for home to have lunch. It usually didn't happen, for the canteen here provided the most hygienic and nutritious food that the volunteers-to-be required, and all trainees and trainers had lunch here together. Right now though, there were only five trainees there, and I saw her sitting alone in the far right corner, eating her salad.

I smirked. This should be easy.

I went to the counter to get my lunch and smiled at Hans, who asked me what would I like for lunch today.

"Salad, please."

"Just salad?" he asked in surprise, "That won't be enough."

"That will be enough," I replied with a smile, "I'm not too hungry."

"Oh, alright," he smiled kindly, before handing me my plate.

Thanking him, I slowly started making my way towards Sparcle Luvring, the girl sitting alone in the corner, the girl with the most idiotic name I'd ever heard, the girl who was so engrossed in her temporary glory that she couldn't even imagine what was about to happen.

The girl who had snatched my chance.

Sweeping my long braid to rest on and dangle from my left shoulder, I put on the brightest smile that I could manage and sat down across Sparcle, who obviously noticed my presence but chose to ignore it.

Stupid woman.

"Hi Sparcle, I heard you've been chosen as our volunteer! Congratulations!"

With that, I brought forward my hand, knowing very well she wouldn't take it. that was exactly what she did.

"Honestly Eritine," she said, her brown eyes boring into my bright blue ones, "I don't even get why people like you bother to come to the academy anymore. Your last chance is gone, why waste all that time and energy?"

"Well, chances can be grabbed again, right?"

"Wrong," she said, finally looking at me full in the face, "You're eighteen, your chances are gone. Stop wasting your time."

I laughed out heartily, leaning back in my chair. To spectators it might appear that some kind of fun talk was going on. That would be correct, of course.

"But you're seventeen!" I exclaimed, "You still have a chance next year."

She stared at me for a second, before laughing out loud too, to the point that her eyes started producing tears. I patiently waited for her to finish laughing, because there was so much more in store.

"Are you trying to convince me into letting you take my place, Eritine?"

"Not at all," I replied calmly, the smirk returning to my face slowly, "I'm warning you that you should step down."

"Really? You're 'warning' me? And why so?"

"Because you're a rule offender, Sparcle."

"What do you mean?"

I chuckled softly, the worry in her eyes making my heart race for what was to come. I was loving toying with her.

"You have an affair with Pierce Aroma, don't you?"

I had to stifle my laugh as her face rapidly changed colour. She turned pale, and then green, as if about to be sick. She dropped her spoon with a soft thud, eyes unable to leave mine for even a second. I leaned forward in my seat, resting my chin in my hands, looking at her. She visibly gulped.

"Wh-what do you m-mean?" she asked, trying to keep her voice composed, and failing pathetically at it.

"You know what I mean," I purred, "I saw you and that Peacekeeper doing… things. I took a picture too, just in case."

"Y-you c-can't-"

"I can and I did. You do know what can happen if these get leaked, right?"

It was a criminal offence to be in a relationship with a Peacekeeper younger than thirty-five years of age, and guaranteed a long time in prison. However, a relationship of an underaged person with a Peacekeeper meant eligibility for execution of both the parties. Both of us knew that.

"Please," she whispered, and I watched in calm satisfaction, "Please don't tell anyone. I love him."

"I know," I replied, trying to make my voice sound as kind as I could, "And that's why I've come up with the solution. Let me volunteer this year, and I'll destroy all the proof after the Reapings, in the Justice Building. You are seventeen, you can volunteer next year too. For me, this is the last chance."

She knew I had her. She knew I had manipulated this whole situation. She knew I was blackmailing her.

But she could do nothing.

Her helplessness gave me pleasure, and I allowed myself to smile when she nodded.

"I get it. I won't volunteer this year."

"Thank you so much," I replied softly, "And I hope we can keep that news between us?"

"Of-of course," she answered, "I won't tell anyone."

"Good," I smiled brightly, as she stood up. Grabbing her plate with the half-eaten salad, she went and deposited it at the soiled plates counter, and walked out silently, glancing at me once, and I smiled at her. The hatred in her eyes… I relished that.

"Well," I muttered to myself, looking down at my plate, "It seems I'm hungry after all."

Welton Luxor (18) D1M

My pale skin had turned red at every part of my body that he hit. The man had a belt in his hand, and it came crashing down again, a chilling scream escaping my lips. He didn't stop though, he never did.

The man, my father was drunk. My mother, a bloody ***, watched on, waiting for my father to get done so that she could ask us for money. Money, that was all she cared about. Not her son, not her family. But money.

She coughed, the bloody woman, a little too loudly for my father's taste, and he rounded up towards her.

"Silent!" he cried out.

Taking advantage of his distracted mind, my fourteen-year-old self hastily got to his feet, and pushed him hard, before running out of the room. I heard loud profanities, followed by deafening footsteps, and I quickened my pace, running out of the house. Training at the academy had certainly increased my stamina, and I continued to run and run and run, without stopping, panting hard as my lungs threatened to break through my ribcage. It was then I saw his house, Alvar's house.

Alvar was my trainer at the academy, a person who always looked after me, a person who believed in me. He gave me the love that my real parents could never give, and cared in ways that would put them to shame. He was my only hope right now, at least till my father calmed down. At least till he would become sober.

I beat my fists on his door in desperation, afraid my father might have followed me here. The door opened, and my trainer looked at me in surprise, his eyes studying the bruises on my arms.

"Welton-"

"Sir, if it's not a problem, can I stay here for a while?"

He nodded gravely, pulling me inside gently.

"Sure."

That 'while' lasted forever. I never returned home, and Alvar adopted me. It was a little messy but my parents wanted nothing to do with me, and soon we were family.

In a few days, I was about to volunteer for the Games. No, unlike what the Outers thought of our district, I wasn't a sadistic killer. I just wanted to pay Alvar back for everything he did for me, the time, effort and love that he had invested. Killing was something that just had to be done. I loved him dearly, and this was indeed a small way to pay him back.

I was waiting at the dining table for him. We took turns at cooking, and today it had been me. I didn't feel like doing much though, so it was just some mashed potatoes and soup and bread. The door of the kitchen opened and in he entered, my adoptive father, a smile on his face.

"Ah, this looks delicious! Thanks Welton!"

I knew he was saying this only to make me feel happy, but I nodded nonetheless. He was always aiming for my happiness in the littlest of things. It mattered a lot.

"I think I put in a little more salt in the soup."

"Well, it gives it some good taste."

As he sat down, he looked at me across the table, his eyes shining warmly.

"So Welton, I saw you training at the academy today."

I looked on.

"My suggestion would be to stop training so hard now, and only focus on some light exercise to stay in shape."

"But why?" I asked, "The Reapings are just around the corner."

"That's exactly why you should stop training so hard," he answered, "I don't want you pulling a muscle or something. A little bit of exercise should be good enough."

"I'll do that."

He sighed.

"What's the matter?"

"It's Sparcle," he said finally, looking down at his empty plate, "She was acting a little weird today."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. She seemed lost, uncertain. She couldn't even train properly, as if her mind was somewhere else."

"That's bad."

"Yeah. I hope it is just a one-time thing."

"Me too."

My future District Partner was acting weird? But why? I shook my head; that was not something for me to think about. I had to look out for myself, and it didn't matter what was wrong with her. She'd come to her senses eventually, and even if she didn't, there was nothing to worry about. I was going to the Games to win, not to fuss over my District Partner.

"Let her be. Welton, the soup is really delicious!"

"Why, thank you."

And it really seemed that he liked it. Usually I didn't express any feelings, but I allowed myself to smile lightly.

I was glad he liked it.


District Three

Bina Bishop (15) D3F

School had been long today.

I was happy when it ended and left as quickly as I could. It wasn't that I hated school, it was just that the subjects they taught weren't useful for everyone. There were some things that could only be learnt by being outside in the world on your own, by observing people and situations. Schools just didn't provide that kind of an environment, and my school was especially all about textbooks.

Da'at, my brother, thankfully agreed with me. In this District that valued nothing more than bookish knowledge, it was nice to have someone who agreed with my idea of knowledge.

Right now we were sitting in a park, or what could have been a park. It was honestly just a cemented structure, with a few trees and grass planted here and there, making them look so out of place that one could feel sorry for them. There were benches and a nice food stall that was so expensive that most of us couldn't afford to eat there. It was for the upper classes though, so I had no complains. It was interesting how an Outer District like Three could discriminate so well based on financial classes, but I had seen so much of it that it did not bother me anymore.

"Our class has an industrial visit to a camera producing factory after the Reapings," Da'at said, as he munched on his home-cooked sandwich.

"That's interesting," I said in surprise. It really was. For the students who were interested in manufacturing such things, this was a treat. They could see the practical side of knowledge. I wished my own class had such an industrial visit sometime soon though. It kind of became boring reading from the textbook all the time.

"It is," he said, sounding equally surprised, "I don't think our school has ever had an industrial visit."

"Not in all the while I've been here."

"I'm looking forward to it."

Before I could respond to that, I noticed that a lot of people were staring at me as they passed by. I was used to it by now, but it was still distracting when I was trying to have a conversation. This was another thing I had learnt. People just couldn't stop being obvious with their curiosities and wonder.

"Ignore them," Da'at said.

"It's fine," I smiled at him.

It really was. I was an albino, and had no colour in my body at all. My eyes were slightly cross-eyed too, and I didn't have too much money to get those glasses as for my problems (I also had blurry vision), the glasses were expensive. I could understand why people stared, but I wished they weren't so blatant about it.

Nothing could be done about that.

"Oh!"

I looked up to see a woman having dropped all her things she was carrying on the floor. She was obviously rich, as the bags revealed that she had been shopping for clothes, and lots of them too. As she tried to lift them, she dropped the bags she was already holding. There were just too many of them.

"Excuse me?" she asked, looking at us with distress, "Can you please help me?"

"Oh, sure," I said, and the two of us jogged over to her, thinking why she was in the park with so many bags in the first place.

"Thank you," she said as we picked up the bags, "Thank you so much!"

"No problem," Da'at said as we started walking towards the gate.

"If you don't mind me asking," I said, the presence of this woman with shopping bags in the middle of a cement park having still made me a little sceptical, "Why are you here with all this stuff? You can be robbed, you know?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "There's a fair here later today! I'm going to sell all these clothes."

"A fair?" Da'at asked, "We didn't even know!"

"Yeah, well, I think some Capitol people are coming here and our mayor has organised a fair in this very park for them this evening. I have to put up a stall."

She pointed at one of the benches under a tree, and we changed our course. I was surprised at this new information. I had never seen a fair in this District, ever. I wondered what all was going to happen here, but I knew I couldn't miss this.

After all, this was a very new and unknown experience.

"Can we come too?" I asked, gaining a look from Da'at that clearly said that we had no money for fair. I shook my head. There was no need to buy anything, we could just observe.

"Of course, you can!" the woman exclaimed as we set down the bags on the bench, "It starts at 6 in the evening. Be sure to visit my stall!"

"We'll try," I replied and she thanked us.

"My husband must be coming with everything to set up a stall, and a few more clothes. Can you please help us out?"

I looked on for a few seconds, trying to remember if there was anything for me to do today. There was none, so I nodded. I really wanted to know what this fair was going to be like.

"Sure, we'll help out."

Ridge Aqram (18) D3M

Okay, so the stage was set.

I was in my flashiest clothes.

The mic was ready.

The lights were proper.

And I was staring at a mass of humans, both from the District and the Capitol. I beamed at my audience.

"It's a pleasure to have you all here," I said in my deep, assuring voice.

"Ridge! Ridge! RIDGE!"

The chanting was growing louder with each passing second, just like my smile. Bringing the mic to my lips, I started.

"Your eyes, when I first saw them, I saw the seas

"Sparkling in the moonlight

"When I first saw them I could hear my heart's pleas

"On it only you have the right.

"Your eyes, when I looked in them I saw rosy gardens

"Where my heart took a tour

"When I look in your eyes my breath hardens

"And my heart tells yours

"That your eyes, when I gazed in them, had me enamoured

"With its lovely, lovely magic

"And my heart, they captured

"And there was nothing left to be tragic.

"Your eyes, when I peep in them

"I see my future

"And my heart tells yours that in them

"My love shall be nurtured."

The audience broke into an applause as I finished the song, and I took bow. This was my favourite song that I had ever written, and looking at all these people reacting to it with so much glee made my heart swell in pride. And I got to open this funfair too! It was honestly a matter of great honour, and I was glad that my talent was being recognised now, slowly but steadily. Being invited by the mayor to sing in front of so many people was certainly a big thing.

That had been a while back, and right now I was chilling with my friend Gega, a glass of orange juice in each of our hands.

"You were brilliant out there!" she exclaimed, downing her glass in one go.

"Easy there," I laughed as I sipped mine more slowly, "And thanks, I didn't think it would go so well."

"But it did! How do you manage to remain so confident all the time?"

"I actually don't know," I smiled, but it was the truth. I was usually not someone who got nervous by any means, especially in front of public. I felt at home in front of an audience, and the larger it was, the more confident I felt.

"You just don't want to share your secrets!"

I chuckled at that, pinching her cheek lightly just to annoy her, and laughed when she chided me. Gega and I had always been this close for as long as I could remember. She was a very shy girl in contrast to my outgoing nature, but she was wild once she got comfortable with someone. And we understood each other, which was the most important thing in friendship. Plus, she also sometimes did my homework, which was again a really good thing.

"Come on Gega, let's buy some clothes."

"I don't have that kind of money," she laughed.

"But I do," I grinned, "Come on! A new dress would be a great thing tonight."

With that, I set my glass on the counter and grabbed her hands, pulling her to her feet. I held out my arm for her to link hers in, and she laughed out as she did so. The two of us started towards the nearest clothes stall, hand-in-hand, and it was amazing how she played along despite being so shy.

"Hello!" I said to the stall owner, a woman in her middle ages, "You've set up a lovely stall."

"Thank you!" she said, beaming, "What would you like to see?"

"A beautiful dress for my beautiful friend here."

She grinned at me in a knowing way, and then proceeded to show Gega some of the loveliest dresses that we'd ever seen, gowns that flowed like rivers, dresses that sparkled just right in the light. As she went on checking them out, I found myself looking at a girl nearby. She was completely white, as in like milk, her hair being of similar shade. Her eyes were slightly cross-eyed, and I couldn't look away, even though my brain was screaming at me that staring was rude. She was looking back at me, and it took all my willpower to look away.

She was just so pretty.

Sure, she did seem to have some health condition, but that didn't stop her from looking gorgeous. The only thing that made me sad was that she might get a lot of stares daily, and I wondered how she coped with them.

Against my better judgement, I looked at her again through the corner of my eye, and saw that she was still looking at me, as if she knew I was looking at her. I sighed, this was getting awkward. I walked towards her with a smile.

"I'm sorry for-"

"It's alright," she said kindly, "A lot of people stare. I think you're the first one to apologise, so that means a lot."

"Still, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stared like that. It's just that you're so pretty!"

"Why, thank you," she said, and I sighed internally. I had thought she would be angry.

"You sing really well too," she said, with a smile, "I really enjoyed your performance."

"Thanks!" I beamed at her and then brought my hand forward, "Ridge, Ridge Aqram."

She took it and shook it confidently.

"Bina Bishop."

"Lovely name."

Before she could say anything to that, Gega called out to me.

"Ridge! I think I like this one!"

"Coming!" I called out her, and then turned to Bina, "I'll have to go. See you!"

"Bye."

And with that, I went over to my friend, unable to forget the pretty girl I had just met.

Hi guys! So this came out a little quick… don't expect such speed all the time XD This chapter might have come out quicker, because I had written D1 before posting the last chapter, but then i had to write that song which took a lot of time... even though it was horrible. XP Anyway, do let me know what you think of the four tributes that featured in this chapter. I really enjoyed writing all of them, for they are such good characters! Also, Ridge's section might appear to be longer because of more dialogues.

Also, I just want to say that in case you've resubmitted a character, please let me know. If their original story has been discontinued, deleted or hasn't been updated in six months, or if your tribute wasn't accepted in their story, I'm okay with the resubmissions. Just drop in a PM if this applies to you.

Have a great day!