Hey everyone! Here's part two of the tribute chapters, which introduces the next two careers. I'm trying to update as quickly as I can (so far I've been doing pretty well, hehe).
Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
ghostleon: Thanks! I'm glad you approve of my method of introducing the tributes. I was hoping to make it seem a little less mechanical that way (and also it would be a lot easier to widen the tributes' personalities and histories, I think). So, I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for the review, good sir/madame!
tasherekalb: Oh good good good! I'm happy you liked Mitsy! Hehe, yeah, Mitsy kinda has that tendency to be all cold and shy, but as you know she's not so angry for no reason. Her character should be fun to write, and I can't wait to see how she transforms over the course of the fic. Thanks for your review (and wow! all of your tributes are D1 or D2, haha!)!
x Falling Ashes x : Thanks for your review, FallingAshes. I like how you wrote that review, what with all the predictions and whatnot. Being pregnant WILL suck, lol! And yeah, it looks like the first 2 tributes didn't really get off to a good start, so we'll have to see what happens with them. Anyway, yeah, D14 does seem pretty far off. BUT I'm trying to keep myself on a schedule, so hopefully it'll get here sooner than we think. ;) Thanks for the review!
BecauseofKillianJones: First, I'm glad you like this whole introduction method. I was kinda worried it'd seem too different. But I think it's good, so it'll stay :). I liked what you said about Mitsy and Max (your tribute! =o), too. Hmmm Max is such an interesting character...honestly, I can't wait to-ahem-I won't give anything away, but as you know, he's CERTAINLY not a one-dimensional character. I'm glad you liked it and thanks for your review!
ShootingforWishingStars: Hahaha, your reviews always make me laugh. They're always so...emphatic and seem to have so much emotion in them, even though they're just reviews for my fan fic. Anyway, yeah, Mitsy IS pretty pregnant (and that's good question, that whole protection thing. I guess not, lol...at least President Jayce doesn't, hehe). Yup, loved your review :) Loved that whole double-post thing (STUPID POST BUTTON!), and, yes, you may hug Max. Thanks again!
Disclaimer: Thank you, tasherekalb, for the District 2 female and the District 2 male.
District 2
Rose "Row" Trummer, age 17 (District 2 Female)
Rose loved the Hunger Games. She loved everything about them. She loved that she got the chance to show off her strength and prove herself to everyone watching. And she loved the Capitol for creating the games. That morning, as she sat watching President Jayce's speech, she realized exactly what it was she was destined to do. She realized she was getting old—almost too old—and in but two years would never be able to do the thing she wanted to do most: be a career from district two.
"Let us select the female tribute," the escort said, her lips puckered. With a flick of her wrist, she pulled her hand out of the glass sphere of names and read, "Opal Rensly." Rose recognized her as the young girl from her neighborhood; she wouldn't have made even half a good career.
Before Opal could take a step, Rose shouted, "I volunteer! I volunteer to take the place of Opal Rensly!" The Capitol's cameras scanned Rose's face up and down, and all the girls and boys standing in front of the stage whispered things amongst themselves about the unseen turn of events.
"You wish to take the place of Opal Rensly?" the escort clarified.
"I do," Rose said, her face unmoved and uncaring. She didn't hold an ounce of regret.
But as she sat thinking on the train, listening to the violent downpour outside, she knew she held much more than an ounce of regret. Volunteering for the Hunger Games was the one and only thing she wished she could take back in her life. If only she had been less reckless and spontaneous, she could have convinced herself to wait another year. To wait until she was eighteen and stronger. And…to wait until the circumstances were better.
Rose muttered something angrily under her breath. It wasn't fair. She wanted to play the Hunger Games her way. Rose removed a small dagger from a sheath on her boot and fiddled with it. She stabbed the air a few times, messing with the dagger's trajectory. She was a master wielder, having trained with a knife for almost half of her life. She preferred a knife because it was small and easy to conceal, yet contained deadly possibilities.
Rose watched as the light in her room reflected off the hilt of the blade. She saw herself in its reflection; she looked so angry. Her gray eyes looked even grayer and darker and more devoid of life than they usually did, and her short, small face was one of pure irritation and frustration.
The girl stabbed at the air once more and then returned the dagger to its sheath. She ruffled her curly brown hair, shook her head a few times to clear herself of her thoughts, and headed for the door. She was going to look for the boy from her district; she was going to look for her brother.
Spider "Spide" Trummer, age 12 (District 2 Male)
"Hey, Spider, you in there?"
There was a knocking at his door: it was Rose. Spider picked himself off his bed and opened the door. "Hey, Row." His sister looked quite depressed; it was no wonder why. Spider hated to see her that way. He hated that they would have to go into the Hunger Games as a duo, and return…as one. Or worse, none.
"Hmhmhmm…now, let us select the male tribute." Again, the escort's hand dipped into the bowl of countless names, turning the slips of paper over in her hand until she grasped one and only one. Rose stood off to the escort's side, smiling pridefully as thoughts of what this year's Hunger Games was going to be like rushed into her mind. In just a few short weeks, she would be back home, with fans cheering her name and the people of District two rejoicing in her success. Cowards would shiver as she walked by, and even those who thought themselves strong and brave would bow down to her as though she were a god.
"Spider Trummer," the escort read. The silence was deafening. Those who pieced two and two together looked shocked and mournful. The escort continued smiling her happy, naive smile until she heard Rose mutter something under her breath. And then, as the realization began to hit her, the escort said briskly, "Oh! Well, that certainly puts an interesting spin on things."
Spider was reluctant to go onstage. He wanted to be in the Hunger Games. He wanted to be in the Hunger Games so badly. But not like this. He couldn't do this to Rose. He and his sister were best friends. But much to his dismay, no one else volunteered that day.
"Let's get something to eat," Rose suggested. "Clear our minds, you know?" She tried to look happy, but the inflections and sadness in her voice proved she felt otherwise. But Spider didn't complain; he was hungry and had spent enough time cooped up in his room thinking about how unfortunate their situation was. He decided to lead the way.
"Wait," his sister said to him. She wanted to walk by his side. She put her arm around his shoulder with one arm and messed up his dirty blonde hair with the other. He squirmed and grimaced and pulled his head away quickly. She knew he hated that, but at the same time she knew he loved it, since she was the only person in the world who would do that. The two of them would miss the simple things like that.
The dining room was, unsurprisingly, empty. Spider and Rose filled up their plates with the Capitol's best food and found a seat. As they sat down, Spider knew that something was praying on his mind; he just needed to vocalize it. "Look," he said quickly. "There's gotta be a way we can both win. I mean…"
"I know, I know," Rose cut in. "We'll figure something out. But I'll never kill you." She grabbed his shoulder and held him firm for a moment. She looked into his green, mystifying eyes and said, "I will never kill you, Spide."
Her little brother looked down at his plate, doing anything to shift his glance from his sister. He didn't want to look at her. Just looking at her gave him an unfriendly reminder. "This is so stupid," he said. "This isn't fair." He looked back up at her with determination on his face. "I'll kill everyone in that arena. I don't care. But…I can't kill you, either." His voice was sharp and strained. "But I'm telling you, I'll kill anyone to protect you. I promise."
Rose smiled at him. She loved his passion and drive. "Me too," she said. "But…" She looked a little more concerned. "Don't get too hasty. I mean, there are gonna be a lot of other strong people, you know. I…don't want to see you be reckless. Remember you training. Please…"
"Oh, don't worry, Row," Spider said. "I got this. Those other tributes have nothing on me. I've been practicing hard. Look." He pulled out his own knife from the sheath on his boot and demonstrated a few of his latest tactical maneuvers. He wasn't too handy with a small blade, but if he got his hands on a sword, he claimed he'd "stab someone so hard they'd beg me to push the sword all the way through!"
"I know you're strong," Rose admitted, "and good with swords and fist-fighting and all that, but still." She looked at her little brother. He was tall for his age—almost five foot five, about two inches shorter than she was—and stronger than any boy of twelve she knew. But still, he was only twelve. He'd still look like a little kid next to an eighteen year old career. "You gotta watch your back. Someone who's stronger—"
" 'Stronger'?" Spider repeated. "Row, I've beaten other, older kids in practice all the time. They're wimps. I don't get scared. Sure, I'm as old as the other tributes, but at least I'm not a coward. I'm not afraid of dying, 'cause I know that death is for the weak."
"I'm just warning you, Spide."
Spider shrugged. "I heard you." Had he wanted to debate with his sister, he would have reminded her that she was prone to getting over-confident. She liked to fight dirty, and she liked to get dirty. But what Rose often failed to realize was that even though she was very much a tomboy and did show great promise in practice, her fighting skills were a little lacking and she wasn't as physically muscular as other career girls. At training in district two, she had a lot of experience fighting with the weaker, younger girls, but that was all. She had a talent for knife fighting (and often compared herself to the strongest male tributes), but, as much as Spider didn't want to believe it was true, he knew the other career girls would give her a run for her money. "You be careful, too," was all he said.
For a moment the two remained silent. Over their silence, the nearly muted TV became much more clear. Spider turned around in his seat to see what program the Capitol was showing. "Look, Row, it's the reapings."
"A recap," she said. "It's almost over."
"I wanna watch," her brother said determinedly. "Can we rewind? I wanna see the whole thing. I wanna spy on my prey."
Rose laughed a little bit. "That's true. I'd like to see this year's round-up, myself." The two found the television's remote and resumed the program from the start. The Capitol's seal introduced the reapings, followed by a landscape shot of district one. Then, they were zoomed in to the district plaza and shown the gathering of boys and girls. Onstage stood the escort and several Peacekeepers.
The district one girl was called up.
"Look at that," Rose said, holding in her laughter. Mitsy was shown sprinting from the Peacekeepers and getting captured a few seconds later. "Are you serious? She didn't want to get reaped? That is honestly the most embarrassing thing…"
Spider looked on in awe. "And did you see her run? Row, you could run faster than that when you started training, I think." Rose rewound to show Mitsy running from the stage and muttered something again about how shameful the girl looked. Then, Spider said, "What you gotta do is chase her and run just a little bit slower than her, so she thinks she's gonna get away. Then—bam!—stab her while she's gasping for breath after running about…twenty feet."
"Better yet," Rose suggested, "I'll have her chase me. I'll stay a little bit in front of her, and then—get this—tire her out, but stay close enough so she's thinkin' that 'oh, maybe I'll catch up'. And then she'll get so tired, and I'll just kill her 'cause she'll have no energy."
The two laughed at themselves for a little while and then watched the male from district one get called.
"That's precious," Rose said sarcastically. "Look at the chemistry between him and the girl tribute!"
"That's worth a lot of sponsors there. Wow, she just looked at him. So romantic! She's biting her lip and he looks like he's ready to fall asleep. The Capitol must be loving that! Lotsa parachutes for them!" Spider jested.
Rose shook her head in complete awe; were these the tributes they'd be fighting? It seemed like a joke. After watching the district one reapings, she was ready to concede that she and Spider would be the most dangerous tributes in the arena.
The program then switched to the district two reapings. For a moment an awkward silence enveloped the dining car, for both Spider and Rose were at a loss for words. But the female quickly fast-forwarded through their part, her eyes trying to look away from the rapidly changing pictures. She did manage to see, for but a split second, the look on her and her brother's face when he was reaped. The Capitol must've spent a lot of time focused on their reaction, because even fast-forwarded, watching their faces seemed to last a lifetime.
And then came district three.
"Well, she's gonna be a bloodbath tribute," Spider muttered.
"Look at her face," Rose said. "She's trying to keep such a straight face, but she is totally freaking out. You can tell."
The district three boy was revealed next.
"Are you serious?" Spider asked. "Did he…"
"Sing?" Rose finished his question. She burst into laughter, almost coughing up the water she was trying to drink. "He did!" she exclaimed, rewinding the show just to make sure. "Some inspirational little tune."
"I'd like to shut that kid up. He's probably just gonna cry for mommy and daddy an hour into the games." Spider looked angry, but also amused. Seeing the other tributes seemed to be a phenomenal ego-booster.
"He's probably crying right now."
Spider sniggered. "True."
"Honestly," Rose began, "these reapings are just making the Capitol look kinda stupid, actually. I mean, look at these tributes. Half of them probably can't even pick up a sword. Wasn't there a time when the Capitol put good tributes into the Hunger Games?" She thought it was like the Capitol was trying to hand district two the win, or something.
"Okay, you can take the girl, and I'll take this kid," Spider said. He messed around with his dinner knife for a little while. Rose could tell he was getting frustrated; Spider didn't like weak people, nor did he like having to fight weak people. They were so below him that he took it as an insult to waste time killing them. Such unworthy tributes were reaped that day, he thought.
The remainder of the afternoon seemed to fly by. Spider and his sister enjoyed themselves to deluxe dining and watching the rest of the reapings, which they later referred to as a comedy show. Although they admitted that some of the tributes looked like they meant business, Rose's confidence that she was stronger than they were and Spider's muttering about how everyone looked too pathetic kept the brother and sister duo unmoved.
That night, after Rose had gone off to bed, Spider found it difficult to sleep. It had been raining all day and was only beginning to clear up that night, but it wasn't the sound of the storm outside that kept him from drifting off to some much needed sleep. No, he was too excited; he thought of himself striking down all of the tributes who got in his way and fighting alongside his sister with a sword in his hand. He saw himself dubbed the strongest and scariest tribute to ever set foot in an arena, and he saw, somehow, both himself and his sister living in Victors' Village in the biggest house there. Then, they could mentors for the rest of the Hunger Games to come, and be able to relive the greatest moments of their lives through the eyes of the tributes they would train. Spider needed Rose, though. And so did Travors…her one year old son.
I wonder what mom and dad are thinking. He wondered if they were angry at Rose for volunteering when he, too, was going to get reaped. But could they blame Rose for something unforeseeable? Or, perhaps they had thought it unwise of her to risk the abandonment of her very young son? What would happen to Travors if she died? What would happen to Travors, more importantly, if they both died? Their mother would love to raise her grandson, no doubt, but their father was always so angry and cruel, and always butted heads with Rose. Spider knew his father had the same hatred reserved for Travors, too. Sometimes, Spider wondered how Rose hadn't murdered their father yet. She hated him, he hated her, she had a tendency to do something rash, and she always had a knife in the sheath of her boot.
But Spider didn't want to believe that was possible, for, despite its problems, his family was one of the wealthiest families and lived in one of the biggest houses in the district. They were so lucky. They always had food. He and his sister had their own training facility built beneath their house, which was stockpiled with more weapons anyone could ever dream of. And besides, their angry father wasn't around often, as he was constantly at work managing his factory. Only their countless servants and their mother, Anne-Marie, who loved Rose every way their father didn't, kept them company throughout the day. They really did live a good life…it was almost a perfect life.
But perfection isn't easy to acquire.
And once again, Spider found himself thinking about the one thought he had forced out of his mind time and time again: he and his sister were in the Hunger Games, but only one person could survive.
I guess it kinda sucks when you volunteer, only to have your brother get reaped two seconds later. Yeah, that could be a problem. Anyway, I'd love to hear what you guys think about these VERY interesting tributes. Also, now that 4/6 of the careers (4/8 if you count the district fourteen tributes), I was wondering which career you think stands the best chance of winning it (or will at least make it the furthest). I have my opinion-oh wait, I'm the author-but yeah.
Thanks for reading, and fingers crossed for a quick update!