Robin Wood, 17, District 5 Female
I'd never seen a bird like that before.
It was as red as the blood leaking from twenty-three people every year. It was as fast as my sister Lark in the running races. It was smaller than other birds I'd seen, like me. I liked this little bird already.
I sat down in the bushes and watched it. It wasn't like other birds, it seemed to stay in the same place for a while. It fluttered around, pecking at the ground with its short beak, but it flies away at the sight of some kids running and playing. As it ascends, it drops a long, red feather.
I slowly crawl out of the bush, and pick it up. It has a sort of shine to it, and it seems special, somehow. I put it in my pocket, and walk back home, as the sun has begun to set.
I live in the the middle-class area of Five, with my parents and Lark. We used to be poor, back when Lark and I were little, but Grandma helped us out. She died a few years ago, though. We have an okay life.
I walk in the door to see Lark cooking soup, Mother doing some paperwork, Father typing in digits on his calculator, and our dog Calypso sleeping in her bed. The house looks abnormally clean. I smile when the scent of the soup reaches my nose, Lark's vegetable soup is the best anyone could ask for.
"Robin," says Mother, "can you please get some flowers to put in a vase, then put on your nice clothes, not your reaping ones though, and brush your hair?"
"Why?"
"The Krothons are coming to dinner," says Father.
I don't like it when the Krothons come to dinner, not because of Mr. and Mrs. Krothon, they're both very kind people, not because of Delphi Krothon, who is nice to me, and Lark's best friend, but because of Atlas Krothon. Atlas is a pudgy twelve-year-old who only ever plays video games. He always looks down on everyone, because his mother and father work at the biggest IT company in the district, and they're filthy rich. I hate him.
I grit my teeth, and head out of the house to find flowers. I find a bunch of dandelions and daisies, but not much else, so they will have to do. I walk back to the house and find my skirt and sweater that I wear to school, as they are the second nicest clothes I own, the first nicest being the grey dress I wear to the reapings. I tie my hair back into a ponytail, and walk into the kitchen to face our guests.
Atlas Krothon, 12, District 5 Male
I hate going to dinners with Mum, Dad and Delphi, especially with the Woods. They're way poorer than us, and usually serve some sort of gross soup. Mum and Dad talk with Mr. and Mrs. Woods, and their oldest daughter is Delphi's best friend, so they all have fun. I'm stuck with Robin, who's older than me but embarrassingly shorter. I hate her.
I want to go back home and play Giga Alien Invasion 4, it would be way more fun than this. There's an a vase with ugly flowers in it in the middle of the table, and we're served some soup with bits of corn, carrot, celery, chicken, peas and other stuff floating around in it. Robin and everyone else is happily eating it, but I can't see why it's that good. It looks like alien slime to me.
Luckily for me, the Woods' dog is under the table, so I scoop the grossest parts out of my soup, put it in a napkin, and give it to it. Now I just need to finish the rest of this awful stuff. I'll try not to turn into an alien slave.
Soon, I've forced the terrible soup down, and my family and I are walking home. Del turns to me with an angry frown on her face.
"I saw you feed your dinner to Calypso," she says, "don't think you were fooling anyone. If the Woods saw, they would be really upset. You should start being more polite, Atlas."
"Delphi's right," says Mum, "you're reaping age now, and you need to get your head out of your video games and get some responsibility."
Soon, we get to our large house. I run up to my room and turn on my game console. I insert Giga Alien Invasion 4 and start playing. I'm up to Level 7, where the brain-beasts attack you from their shack on Jupiter. I can vaporise them with my super-ray-gun, and I will be the hero. My fingers are flying across the controller, and soon enough, I'm on Level 15, then Dad comes in.
"You should get some sleep, Atlas," he comments, "It's reaping day tomorrow, and you don't want to be tired for your first one. Goodnight, Atlas."
I roll my eyes, and head to my drawer to put my pyjamas on. Then, I take Giga Alien Invasion 4 out of the console and put it into my TravelGame, my portable console, for tomorrow. I plug the TravelGame into the charger, as I haven't charged it for a week and a half. It has a two-week battery life, cutting-edge even for the Capitol. I then hop into bed and go to sleep.
I wake up to the sound of my Giga Alien Invasion 2 alarm clock, and go into the kitchen for some awesome waffles, much better than the alien slime soup I was served last night. Then, I need to go upstairs and change into my clothes, a white shirt tucked into some white pants, with a white bow tie and white loafers. I unplug my TravelGame and run downstairs to go to the reapings.
We reach the Justice Building just as our escort steps onto the stage. Ampere Mustard always wears awful yellow outfits, (except for her electric-blue heels) mustard-yellow horns and a canary-yellow wig and sunshine-yellow lipstick and dandelion-yellow blush and pansy-yellow eye-shadow and a golden-yellow dress and lemon-yellow contacts covered with banana-yellow shades, all of them decorated with shiny lightning bolts. She always describes her outfit exactly like that, at every single reaping, even though we can see perfectly well what she's wearing.
"Hello, electricians!", she yells to the crowd, "are you ready to be reaped? Muahahahaha!"
She digs her butter-yellow nails into the girls ball and calls out a name I know too well.
"Robin Wood! Muahahaha!" Good riddance to her. Now I won't have to put up with her at those terrible dinner parties. I bet she was even the one who asks for slime soup every time. Hahahah!
She does the evil laugh again, then reaches into the boys ball and calls out the name.
"Atlas Krothon! Muahahahaha!"
I scream, as loudly as I can. The hero in Giga Alien Invasion 3 escaped the evil overlords by screaming as loud as he could. The Peacekeepers come and take me, but I still scream and scream. I stop when I reach the stage, though.
"Muahahahaha! I give you your tributes, Robin and Atlas! Muahahahaha!"
I'm taken to the Justice Building, where my family waits. I'm still holding my TravelGame, and it has full battery life. I'll take it with me to the Capitol. Then I can play games and have fun before the Games.
Mum, Dad and Delphi come in. Mum and Delphi are crying, and Dad looks quite sad. They don't even see my TravelGame.
"Atlas," sobs Mum, "Atlas, my baby!"
"We'll miss you, little brother," says Delphi through her tears, "We'll miss you so, so much!"
"Atlas Krothon," says Dad, who's crying a bit now, "this isn't a video game. They will kill you. Be careful."
"Oh, Atlas!"
"Why did it have to be him!"
"Why?"
Everyone's making a big fuss about me, which I would like, except I'm going into the Hunger Games. The Peacekeepers escort them out while they're still crying, and I start my TravelGame up. As Giga Alien Invasion 4 starts up, I see an new item on the menu: CAPITOL HEROES: 23RD HUNGER GAMES SPECIAL. I click on it, and it takes me to a page with lots of high-ranking Capitols on it.
SCIPIO SEVERO: HOST OF THE HUNGER GAMES. CHARISMATIC AND FUNNY, SCIPIO WILL ALWAYS MAKE A TRIBUTE FEEL WELCOME. HE HAS A WEAKNESS FOR FOOD. UNLOCKED AT LEVEL 4.
SPARKLIA SEVERO: HIGHEST-RANKING HUNGER GAMES STYLIST AS OF THE 23RD YEAR POST DARK DAYS. WIFE OF SCIPIO, SHE IS RENOWNED FOR HER CREATIVE OUTFITS. UNLOCKED AT LEVEL 5.
CASSIA QUINTUS: HEAD TRAINER FOR THE HUNGER GAMES. TEACHES TRIBUTES EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SURVIVING THE ARENA. SHE IS WELL VERSED IN EVERYTHING SURVIVAL-RELATED. UNLOCKED AT LEVEL 10.
AJAX WHITING: PANEM'S TOP EQUESTRIAN, AJAX TRAINS THE HORSES PULLING TRIBUTE CHARIOTS, AND IS A TOP CONSULTANT FOR EQUINE ARENA MUTTS. UNLOCKED AT LEVEL 12.
ANDREA MCGUPHRY: VICTOR OF THE 14TH HUNGER GAMES. HAILING FROM DISTRICT 11, SHE IS FASCINATED WITH ROCKS AND MINERALS. SHE HAS DISCOVERED THE JEWELS CAPITOLIUS, AMBROSIUM, AND SEVERINEA, ALL OF WHICH ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE HEALING PROPERTIES. UNLOCKED AT LEVEL 14.
VULCAN HARDY: VICTOR OF THE 19TH HUNGER GAMES. A DISTRICT TWO CITIZEN, VULCAN HAS THE HIGHEST TRAINING SCORE YET AT 12. VULCAN IS THE HEADMASTER OF THE TRAINING ACADEMY IN DISTRICT TWO, AND HAS BROUGHT HOME THE MOST TRIBUTES OF ANY VICTOR SO FAR, WITH TWO TRIBUTES WINNING OVER FOUR YEARS. UNLOCKED AT LEVEL 16.
MAHOGANIA MADDEN: PANEM'S MOST FAMOUS INTERIOR DESIGNER. MAHOGANIA BROUGHT BACK THE ANCIENT WOOD SHE WAS NAMED AFTER, AND TURNED IT INTO BEAUTIFUL TABLES THAT BRING HAPPINESS TO ALL, BUT ARE QUITE SUSCEPTIBLE TO KNIFE WOUNDS. SURELY, MAHOGANY WILL BE A SIGN OF CLASS AND ELEGANCE FOREVER, LOVED BY EVERYONE, FROM PINK-HAIRED ESCORTS TO THE TOUGHEST OF TRIBUTES. UNLOCKED AT LEVEL 20.
PRESIDENT AMBROSE AQUILO: PRESIDENT AQUILO IS THE ALMIGHTY RULER OF PANEM. HE RUNS THE NATION FAIRLY AND TRULY. MANY PEOPLE IN PANEM PRAISE AND LOVE THE PRESIDENT. UNLOCKED AT LEVEL 50.
Wow, I couldn't believe there were this many new heroes, some of which I will meet soon. I press the start button and played happily as Mahogania Madden, my new idol, while wondering if it was possible to get mahogany game consoles. Then, I see Robin out the window, and I leave for the train.
Robin Wood, District 5 Female
Earlier, my family came to say goodbye.
Lark was openly crying, and Mother and Father looked very upset. Father placed a hand on my arm and spoke to me.
"Robin," he said in his soft voice, "I know you can come back. Just listen in the Training Centre and don't hesitate. We love you."
"Agreed," said Mother, a tear rolling down her face. She never was one for words, "Do us proud."
Lark pulls something red out of her pocket, and hands it to me. I realise it was the feather I found yesterday. I don't know how she managed to find it, but I'm happy I have a piece of home in the arena.
"Where did you find this?", I ask.
"I found it outside our house," she said. I must have dropped it while I was picking flowers for dinner.
"Thanks so much!", I say, and put the feather in my own pocket.
"No problem," she says, "Oh, Robin, we'll miss you so much!"
We all are crying and crying, until the Peacekeepers take them away, and Ampere takes me away. We're going to the Capitol now. Luckily, 5 is one of the closest districts to the Capitol. We find Atlas from his farewell room and see he's playing his games like nothing even happened. I scowl.
We soon find ourselves on the train, in a lovely carriage, decorated with things even District 1 citizens wouldn't see every day. There was a mahogany table, standing proud and true, with a floral arrangement shaming mine, and heaped with delicious food. Ampere, Atlas and I sat down on the red plush chairs and began to eat. I put some stew and rice on my plate, with some fish and some exotic fruits. I also take a scoop of triple chocolate ice-cream drizzled with caramel.I dig in happily, enjoying the weird and wonderful tastes of this weird and wonderful food.
Atlas' plate is heaped high with everything chocolate, the triple chocolate ice cream, the chocolate pudding, the chocolate mud cake, the chocolate muffins, and enough chocolate kisses to last my family a year. Ampere, however, only eats the papayas, the pineapples and the plums. It must be some weird Capitol diet.
"Okay, fashion victims," she says in a haughty voice, which is hypocritical coming from her, "Tell me why you are wearing those awful clothes. Even fools like you should learn a bit of class."
"Excuse me, but who's the one wearing yellow BLUSH?", I find myself saying, "And where's our mentor, they're probably more interesting to talk to that you."
"Your mentor is meeting us at the Capitol," she sniffs, "And I don't think you sloppy electricians should speak to me about fashion. Anyway, let's watch your killers be chosen."
She switches on a television I hadn't even seen, and it starts playing the recaps of the 1-4 reapings. The other ones won't happen until later. I see some beautiful, bejewelled siblings from One, a golden-skinned boy who looks plenty tough from Two, two smart tributes from Three, and some willowy beauties from Four. It'll be harder to get home than I expected.
I turn to Atlas, ignoring Ampere, "I don't like this any more than you do, but we're going to have to stick together to stay alive. Wanna be allies?"
"Fine," he says.
"I'm also planning to recruit those people from Three, Decimal and Zeus," I say, "They could help us a lot."
"Okay."
We ride to the Capitol in silence.
District 5, done, next up is District 6! From now on I'm going to include the train rides for a district into their reaping chapters, so we don't have too many additional chapters. For the districts written already without train rides, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 10, I'm going to write another chapter after the reapings detailing their ride to the Capitol. There are quite a few people to thank for the characters featured in this chapter. First, thanks to I believe in nargles too for Robin, and thanks to Platrium for submitting both Atlas and Ampere. Also, thanks to BirkaranDaReader who submitted Andrea McGuphry from the CAPITOL HEROES menu, who will be one of the District Eleven mentors in this story. Thanks for voting on whether I should change my username or not, the majority of you voted no, so I won't for the time being. The tribute list is on my profile, so thanks for following Moon Skies!
