Tarquin Corvin

17 years old

District 2 Male

Tarquin entered the training centre with a smirk on his face and a skip in his step. In less than an hour everyone would know who district 2's volunteers would be.

He could only hope it was him. After all he was only 17 and made it to the final three. That was impressive considering the strength and competitiveness of the trainees in the centre. On the bright side, Tarquin always had next year to be the chosen volunteer as well. But Tarquin knew he was ready now.

All Tarquin needed to do was pass the time until the announcement. Out of the corner of his eye he saw some of the people he usually trained with. They invited Tarquin to sit with them.

However, as he began to approach them, Tarquin noticed that Aelia Stafford was sitting in the group. Immediately he changed his mind. There was no way he was going to socialise with her. He'd managed to avoid her for 2 years. He wasn't going to stop now.

Instead, Tarquin sat with his competition for the volunteer position. Both boys were a year older than him and were amazing.

The two boys, Kane and Herakles were having a debate about women in the workplace. It was evident neither knew what they were talking about.

Kane, the stronger of the two thought that men and women were treated equally in the workplace. It was common knowledge that female peacekeepers got paid half the amount male peacekeepers did. It wasn't fair. But Herakles, the more attractive of the two argued that there was no way women were ever going to be treated equally in the workplace. There was so many people stuck in the habits of the past that there could be no change.

Personally, Tarquin think that woman deserved equal pay and to be treated equally in the workplace. But Tarquin wanted a bit of fun. That is the exact reason he said to Herakles,

"So you think that women deserve to be paid less? And treated badly?"

Tarquin watched shock take over Herakles. The older boy became quite flustered and didn't know what to say.

"I, erm-"

"Times are changing. The old people are dying. So why can't we join together to change the present? If we can legalise same sex marriage here, then why can't we campaign for equal pay?"

Tarquin was impressed with himself. He thought of all of that off the top of his head. But it was fun to watch Herakles become even more uncomfortable and shift in his seat.

"I never said that." The older boy muttered.

Before Tarquin could take things further Kaya Ellis and Dax Demos stepped out of the office. They had made their decision and he was nervous. If he became the volunteer, Tarquin could make his father proud.

Dax spoke first. "This year was an extremely tough decision seeing as we had two strong age groups to choose from."

"C'mon Dax, get on with it." Kaya sighed.

"Right. Yes. So the male tribute I will be mentoring this year is… Tarquin Corvin."

Tarquin couldn't believe it. He was going into the games. He could finally make his father proud. Tarquin had to be the one to do that since his snobby mother left them both.

He almost missed Kaya's announcement of the girl who would be going into the games. "… Aelia Stafford."

Well that wasn't good.

On his journey home, Tarquin had a lot to think about. Both positive and negative. He was ecstatic that all of the tough love and constant encouragement was worth it. But he did not want to go into the games with Aelia. The chances of them going into the same games was so low, how could it have happened?

I should have expected the unexpected

His house was eerily quiet when he arrived. His father, Hannibal was making dinner silently. As soon as Tarquin closed the door, he heard his father's eager voice from the kitchen.

"So son? What happened?"

"I did it dad. I did it. I'm district 2's male tribute for the 172nd Hunger Games."

The statement was followed by a series of victorious shouts from his father. He was even engulfed in a tight hug.

"I knew you could do it. What about the female volunteer?"

Tarquin muttered the name quietly, hoping his father wouldn't hear.

"Speak up son, I can't hear you."

"Aelia Stafford."

Tarquin watched as a series of emotions took over his father's face. After a few minutes his father finally spoke.

"Make sure you take little Miss Aelia out son. She's your mother's pride and joy. A mother who never wanted you, but treasures her. Bring that woman pain like she brought pain to us."

Great. Now Tarquin would have to kill his own sister to make his father proud and his mother distraught. A sister who didn't even know Tarquin was her brother.

Aelia Stafford

18 years old

District 2 Female

It had been two months since Aelia had found out that she was the chosen volunteer for the 172nd Hunger Games. Two months since everyone around her had started acting weird.

First there was her mother. She was so proud of her daughter when she found out she was chosen. But five minutes later she was being weird and trying to get her to change her mind. Aelia didn't get it but she guessed it was just nerves.

Then there was her district partner. When they were young trainees they talked sometimes but there was a point a few years ago where Tarquin avoided her at all costs. Since finding out they were the chosen volunteers he still hasn't made the effort to talk to her.

All Aelia wants is to be a part of a career pack that she can rely on. But also make smart and well thought out plans to be the best they can be.

Also, she wants one person that she can count on in the alliance because everyone knows that the careers can turn on each other in a heartbeat. Aelia needs someone who she can trust until the end. Surely that should be her district partner?

Tarquin not talking to her was starting to make her really anxious. How could she make her family proud if she couldn't even trust her own district partner?

On top of all off this, Aelia hasn't been able to talk to Kaya about tactics or strategies yet. She just didn't want to disturb the woman. As she was surely busy preparing for the games.

It was dinner time when Aelia was leaving the training centre so there wasn't many people left. Again, she hadn't talked to Kaya about tactics which stressed her out even further.

After getting her coat from her locker, Aelia noticed Tarquin practising with spears. She really wanted to talk to him about tactics for the games; to see if they could have some sort of promise to stick together until the end. But as soon as she stepped in his direction he turned away and put headphones in.

Quickly, Aelia grabbed her stuff and walked home. Why wouldn't he just talk to her?

She arrived home to paghetti bolognese on the table. It smelt so good. Plus it was her dad, Amicus who made it so it was sure to be delicious. Yet Aelia still couldn't let it go that Tarquin refused to talk to her.

At the dinner table, every conversation topic about the games was changed by her mother. But the games was all Aelia could think about. She was determined to win and at the moment Tarquin was in her way.

Also, Aelia couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something missing from her life. She had felt like that for a while now but decided it was probably the games that was missing. Once she was in that arena she would feel complete. Those moments in the arena would be the best of her life. She just had to wait.

What Aelia couldn't wait for was finding someone she could trust. She needed to know if that person was going to be Tarquin or if she would have to make a plan to find someone else to trust.

Leaving half a bowl of spaghetti, Aelia grabbed her coat and opened the door.

"Where are you going at this time?" Her mother asked.

"Training centre." And then she slammed the door.

Aelia was glad her intuitions were right. Tarquin was still here, going around the agility course. He barely blinked an eye when she walked in. She was prepared to stand up for herself.

She marched over to him with all of the determination she had, which was actually a lot, and stood right in front of him, not letting him pass.

He rolled his eyes and took out his headphones. But there was a nervous glint in his eyes.

"What do you-"

"Nope. You're going to listen to me and you're not going to speak. Tarquin, you have not spoken to me at all since we were chosen. And whenever I've tried you've turned the other way or put in those bloody headphones. It's so rude, and avoiding me for two frickin' years, yeah that was rude too. I have no idea what happened with you but I sure know it wasn't me. I need someone in that arena that I can trust. Someone that will fight with me to the end. And I'm sure you do too. It's your choice. But let me know now because I will find somebody else. But don't you dare continue avoiding me because I promise you'll regret it. Get a grip and sort out your problems because they'll get you killed in that arena."

Aelia felt so powerful after that speech. But the silence that followed made her stress levels shoot up. After a minute Aelia had her answer as Tarquin cast his eyes downward and put one of his headphones in.

"I guess I have my answer then." Aelia said confidently and turned toward the door.

She had to admit that it hurt that he didn't want to talk to her despite her doing absolutely nothing. But she was walking out feeling proud of herself for standing up to him. Never in a million years would she have thought she'd get the confidence to do that. It was definitely a change from her usual shy self.

"Wait."

Aelia was nearly out the door when she heard the boy speak. She turned around to be face to face with Tarquin who seemed to be having an internal battle with himself.

"I accept your offer. But we need to be tactful. We should only tell our mentors about our plan. Do not tell your parents. The other careers won't see us as a threat together if we don't talk in public. They won't know what hits them." Tarquin smirked.

Aelia laughed. Actually laughed. "That's the most you've spoken to me in two years."

She left the centre feeling satisfied and ready for the games.

A.N: Yayy another chapter. Thank you so much to HogwartsDreamer113 for both Tarquin and Aelia. I enjoyed writing them both so much.

Let me know your thoughts on the tributes. Which one did you prefer? Is there anything I can do to improve?

I'm very happy to share the link to the blog for this story. I know it's not the best blog ever but I had so much fun making it :) Hopefully the link works lol.

camouflagehg . weebly

QOTC: Which galaxy is closest to our solar system?