Carameuse Heloise, 48
Capitol Citizen

"Yeah, it's not fun when you have to help out with the milking chores. Why would the Mayor of Ten even have cows? The idea is simply preposterous, you know," the escort from Ten continues, a wave of disgust coming over their face. "I enjoy the fineries that come from this district, but they certainly more barbaric than one gives them credit for." The woman shakes their head, white-blonde curls bobbing along with the movement.

"Of course, of course," Carameuse murmurs, shifting the blonde wig that she's still being forced to wear - even after an impassioned call to Fiammetta yesterday, the president remained apathetic and refused to let her to remain with her natural grey hair. So what if she has her hair naturally? She's never cared for bright colours. They stick out too much. They draw too much attention to herself, like this skimpy gown that she has to wear because of the fact that the rest of her attire is in the hands of the launderers. Actually, they should be done drying now. "I must go to check on my laundry, but I'm certainly horrified to hear that you've been treated as such. I do hope that the tributes are a bit better for you, Ottava."

Ottava nods their head firmly, her green sleeves falling down to her hands so that only her fingers are visible. "I do hope that."

"Are your experiences in Ten not up to standards, dearest Ottava?" Freya Cartier calls from the other side of the room, her bright grey, red, and blue outfit, reminescent of the wiring that is found in so many of the inventions of the district she's been chosen to escort for, Three. "A pity, a pity."

"Shut up, Cartier," Ottava snarls. "You don't get to mock everyone who displays emotions."

Freya grins blithely, batting her eyes in innocence. "But I'm applauding the fact that you're finally showing, Ottava. It's wonderful to see that you're not an animatron."

The escort from Three dodges the glass that's thrown at her, pushing past an elderly lady to gleefully escape from Ottava's clutches. Carameuse smiles quietly, then turns away to the exit.

She still has to pick up her garments, after all.

But before she leaves the room, a breathless Hart bumps into her before throwing papers into her hands.

Puzzled, she glances down and sees the three words printed on the white piece of paper at the top of the small pile, stained at the edges from Hart's sweaty fingers.

Ember is next.

Oh, Panem.

May whatever gods who are watching from the heavens save them all indeed.

Timber Sycamore, 14
District Seven Male

He pulls the cable over the large log before lugging it to the large cart that the others are standing by, firmly fastening it around the pole used to tie the cables to. "The log is ready to pull! Pull, guys! Vic-tree is ours!"

Tom, hidden to Timber's view by the large horses ready to pull on the other side of the cart, groans at Timber's pun before whispering with a reassured tone to the horses. The bay-coloured animals whinny and lunge forward, their large back muscles straining to pull the log onto the road. Step by step, they make it closer and closer to the road before their hooves catch on the firm dirt and they comfortably fall into a walking pace. The log follows behind and Timber walks alongside it, careful to be in a place where it can't swerve and hit him suddenly. He's seen it happen before to others. It's not pretty.

"Watch out, Timber!" Gary's voice warns Timber to jump to the side as the log makes a small leap over a stone embedded in the dirt road, the large, rough bark cracking by the impact as it falls back down before being pulled towards the lumberyard again. Timber smiles and starts running after the horses, Tom and Gary both walking next to the huge carthorses to make sure that they aren't startled by anything.

"We're almost there, right?" Gary asks Tom as one of the horses lifts a large black hoof and places it inches away from Tom's foot, both of the teens unaware of the near-catastrophe. "Ma wants me to help stack firewood after this shift. Just one more log."

"Oh, is your mother needle-ing you to finish your chores?" Timber laughs, a large smile etched on his tanned, angular face. He pushes away the brown hair that dangles over his eyes, then walks quickly to catch up to the other boys. "Don't hurt yourself while you lift those logs! I'm rooting for you!"

Tom almost laughs in spite of himself before fixing his face into a scowl, trying to look away from the smirking Timber. "Why do I laugh at your jokes? They're not even funny, and I hate puns. You're such a dad, Timber."

"Fantastic!" says Timber, smiling as he steps out of the way of the turning log before heading through the gates and into the vast lumberyard. At the back, he can see the huge stacks of fallen logs, sorted into piles of maple, pine, beech, and so on and so forth for as far as he can see. Brawny lumberjacks with axes and bundles of sticks walk hurriedly throughout the yard while others work on piling the lumber, and he can hear the distinct sound of a chainsaw in the very back where the most trusted lumberjacks are set to work on cutting the logs down to size for shipment to the Capitol. "I couldn't see you do any better, Tom. Or you, Gary. Try it! I bet you a sesterce you won't be able to think of one better than me."

"Oh treealy," Gary blurts out, his dark skin being covered with wood chips as the wind changes direction and brings the first layer of dirt from the yard along with it. "You maple a muscle from laughing, Timber."

"Wow, that was acorny tree pun," Timber laughs. "Your puns arbouring, Gary. Get used to me being the best of us all." He turns to Tom, who's been smirking at Timber's puns. "And the winner?"

"Unfortunately, it's you once more, Timber. I can't wait for Gary to find another brain cell to defeat you. But until then, you are the champion." Tom dodges the pine needles that Gary scoops from off of the ground to throw at him, running towards the shack where the foreman is waiting. "I got to sign out and get home! You should as well. Curfew is going to be soon!"

Timber trails after him with Gary, both signing their names and the time on their timesheets before nodding to the foreman. The large, pudgy man nods to them under a red ballcap, and the boys race out of the yard, waving to a girl who is leading their carthorses away to the stables. "I'll beat you to the lodge!"

Gary shakes his head before sprinting after Timber, both running towards the lodge that they call home. Tom lives in the town that they've been assigned to, so he's able to sleep with his family when he calls it a day, but they're both stuck in the large men's lodge that they live in with over a hundred other men who live in this town. It's a hard life, but it's honest. Every few weeks, Timber gets to go home for the day and see his family once more. That's the best time of the month, seeing his family, laughing at his dad's corny jokes, and talking with Charity and his mom. He's missed home every day since that date six months ago when he accepted the job here, but his visits back always sate his need to see them all again.

They always do.

"Oh… Panem, Timber, there's a whole turkey right there!" Timber looks away from the setting sun to see a large, plump turkey walk out of the forest they're journeying through, ruffling its feathers as it looks at the boys. Gary gasps and takes a slow step towards the bird, scooping up a handful of stones. "If we can get it back to the lodge without any peacekeepers seeing, we'll have supper for our whole bunk! It's been so long since I've had turkey..."

Timber takes a nervous look around to see if any peacekeepers are watching them, - momentarily, he has a vision of a white visor appearing from behind a dead pine tree before the apparition vanishes into the darkness - then nods firmly. "I'll break its neck when you stun it."

The boys lunge for the turkey, and make quick work of ending its life. Only flecks of blood are left on the path when they're finished with the bird, the bright red liquid staining a stone lying on the path that Gary had kicked aside.

It wobbles in the wind, then rolls into the underbrush.

All that's left on the lonely path is a spot of blood.

Magnolia Rosa-Tran, 18
District Seven Female

The Rosa's backyard is in a state of catastrophe.

Lee can count at least three of her brothers loading her bed onto the large cart that they're using to bring her belongings to the new house, while the fourth of them, little Pine, is squealing while bringing a few of Lee's books to the cart. He stumbles over a stone in the path leading from her back door to the road that the cart is resting on and skins his knee, a fading scab on the knee in question ripping open and letting blood drip down. She hears him scream in pain and anger, then takes a step to comfort him before stopping. No, she can't be comforting him and picking him up when she's going to have a baby. She has to look after herself, not her brothers.

But first, she can at least help him up.

Pine's sobs slow to a steady trickle as Lee brushes away tears, kissing his leg right above the bloody scab in question. "There now, you're going to be just fine. Ask Mom for the bandage wrap to keep the cut protected, and you'll be back to normal in the next few days. When you go to school, you'll look just like a pirate or a warrior with that bandage? Isn't that fun, Pine?"

"Yeah!" Pine exclaims, a stick suddenly appearing in his hand for the little boy to wave around like a sword. "I'm the strongest man in the world!"

Lee bites her lip to stop herself from smirking, ruffling her brother's hair. "Now, go find Mom, little warrior. And remember not to yell inside the house. Mom wants you to use your indoor voice, right? Can you give me your indoor voice?"

"I'll be quiet!" Pine yells before putting a finger to his lips. "Quiet as a mouse, Lee!" He scampers off with the stick still in his hand and his pain forgotten. Lee shakes her head in amusement before walking slowly towards the cart, wincing and clutching her stomach as a wave of nausea comes over her. She's five months along, but periodically, the morning sickness that had been so prevalent in the last few months comes back to tease her. She'll certainly be happy to get through the next few months and have this little boy.

"Hurry up Lee, you have to leave! Tim and his Dad are waiting for you!" John waves from the cart where Deuce is holding the reins of the horse they borrowed from the Trans, and where Linden is struggling to push the bed fully onto the cart. John turns around and just barely manages to help Linden push the bed onto the cart, right above the rest of her most precious. Lee nods and walks hurriedly towards the cart, before reminding herself to slow down and make sure not to fall. Mom's warned her about stillborns resulting from falls in the later months of pregnancies. She can't lose the baby.

Especially when they've just started to kick.

Right on cue, her unborn child kicks her with a flutter of their foot, and she rubs her stomach with a large smile. It's been strange at first to feel this life inside of her, this… thing so dependent on her for survival, but she's grown to love every time the baby kicks.

She wants to be a good mother.

As she climbs onto the back of the cart, Deuce kicks her heel against the side of the horse and the large animal huffs in annoyance, surging forwards before moving into a canter. Lee kicks her heels in the air as the horse continues his canter towards her new home, Deuce gleefully holding the reins while trying to brush her long brown hair out of her face. Lee looks at Deuce and sighs, turning around to yell at her. "Rose, you know there are such things as buns for hair."

"Why would you need that when you can let your hair be free and wild?" yells back Deuce as she expertly manuevres the horse off of the road. Lee shakes her head and closes her eyes, feeling the bump that's just starting to emerge on her stomach. It's a strange feeling to know that her baby is under there.

She hopes that by the time her child comes, she'll be ready for them.

She will. After all, Tim will be there to help. He won't be leaving her all alone, trapped with her child. She's known Tim for years, slept with him, and now she's married to him for better or for worse. Even if they didn't initially intend to spend the rest of their lives together, they both know that they won't leave each other. They're too loyal.

Deuce stops the horse just under a maple tree in the small backyard and hops off, running to the back of the cart to help Lee off. In the corner of her eye, she can see the boys gasping as they sprint down the road to get to the house and help unload her things. "Thank you, Rose."

"No problem." Deuce grabs a bag of Lee's clothes and hurries ahead of her, knocking on the door until Tim and his father open it for her. "The blushing bride is here at last!"

Tim laughs and waves to Lee, who flushes and rubs her arm. Tim's father walks over to her and helps her up the few stairs to the door, waving at Tim and Deuce to get out of the way. "And how is my daughter-in-law? I hope you're still stretching in the mornings and eating your vegetables. The more of that you do, the easier the labour will be."

"Yeah, every morning." Mr. Tran smiles and Lee grins back at him, happy that she's been routinely doing those at six in the morning. A look to her side shows Tim watching her with a protective look in his eyes, his arms crossed over his chest as he waits for Deuce to move past him with the bag of clothing.

She smiles, the bright emotion dancing on her lips before she moves in closer to be inside this circle of strength, this circle that they've formed for one another.

Yes, she'll be just fine.

She just has to take one step after another, and everything will go right.

The smile flits around her mouth for just another second, then vanishes as quickly as the bright-red sun in the sky sets.

A/N: Another chapter! It's been a bit, but I have had exams over the past week and a bit, so that wasn't very fun :/ but I did well! And it's a new term! New beginnings! Not for this SYOT, though, which is just beginning :DD I'm hoping to finish the intros by the end of February, so that's the overlying goal! Cheer me on!

How did you like these two? Say something about them because I love reviews, and so on and so forth, yadda yadda yadda. You know what to do.

I have a new SYOT out! Caveat Lector! I may have mentioned it before, but still go submit :D It's gonna be fun!

And that's all I have for you. Hope you all are doing well, and I'm excited to get into District Eight and say we're 2/3rds through the reapings! Anyways, that's all I got. Go review and do what you need to, and I'll see you then. Until next time, TheAmazingJAJ