Marlin Hasvak (18) D4M

Andres appeared on the screen as soon as I turned on my TV. The little punk was lying face-down on the ground, in the mud, pretending to be dead. He thought it would work and I knew it would. I had seen that tape enough times to know just how well it worked. I only watched it so I knew what not to do. I always crushed me as soon as he moved.

Even though I had seen the tape enough times that I easily could have reenacted it all, I got tense once Serena walked over to the outer District tribute. I breathed heavily while he grabbed a weapon, and I moved around worriedly while the entire battle raged on. Some people said Serena was a disgrace since she lost to an outer District scum, but I knew that that wasn't it at all. He was a low, dirty, cheater. Some deception was allowed, but he had used every dirty trick in the book. He didn't have the honor Careers were supposed to have at first. He didn't deserve to even get to fight against a Career.

Flicking the television off, I went to pick some flowers. It was a monthly hing I did to honor my sister, and it was likely the last year I would do it. If I lost the Games I wouldn't be able to, and if I won I had brought all the honor to my sister I possibly could have. It was my last year, and I intended to spend it well. Everything had to be just perfect for this probable final act of honor.

Only certain flowers would do for my boquet. I could never use pink, since she hated that color. Blue was the best type of flower, since it was the color of the sea, but I often used yellow because it was sunny, like she used to be. Each flower had meaning and thought in it, either due to the number of petals or the color or the shape. It wasn't the most picturesque boquet, but it was exactly what fit my sister.

Once all of the flowers I could think of had been gathered, I slowly marched over to the stone marked, "Serena, fallen tribute, R.I.P." It was in its own spot where it belonged, by the side of the sea only we ever visited. She had a different tombstone in the normal graveyard, but that was where our family went. It was where her real body should have been.

After I set the flowers down where they always went, on the center of the makeshift area we had, I sat down and began to talk. Of course, I wouldn't get a response, but I did all I could to keep the memory of Serena alive. "Hey, Serena. Nice to see you again. It seems like it's been forever since I visited you. I'm sorry you died." It was blunt, but it was true. "You didn't deserve that, and you still don't. I'm not going to die, though. All right, that sounds conceited, but I mean that I've done research so I know what not to do. I'm going to win for you, like you were supposed to win for our other siblings. Either I'll bring back your pride or I'll join you forever."

Luna Irika (18) D4F

The Academy was a great place to learn how to fight and run, as well as handling weapons. It offered all the information known to man on how to strategize, hold yourself, and intimidate. Not all of the Careers were nearly as scary as they made themselves look; the Academy told them exactly what to do to look that scary. If you were in the Academy, you could be sure that there would never be a dull moment; every moment would be packed with knowledge.

For that reason, I didn't intend to go to the Academy that day. As fun as the Academy could be at times, it was a high-stress situation. If I ever wanted a chance to be a human and not some trained machine, I had to ditch. Ditching took planning weeks in advance, since my mom couldn't know that I had missed a day. I had friends set up to lie for me, and I sometimes even managed to make sure the teachers would fake where I was. Even the teachers had to admit that a kid needed a break sometimes, just not always. Since I rarely took breaks, they were willing to help me out on the rare occasion that I decided to play hooky.

When I chose to skip the Academy, it was my final day before volunteering. As I said, I needed to plan weeks in advance, and I barely knew I was volunteering by the time I needed to begin preparing. My last day was my only option to skip, but it was also the optimal day. When I could have spent my final hours in Four as a normal trainee training, I instead got to spend the day with a couple of my friends, playing with each other on the beach. Of course, we went to the worse side of the beach, where my mother wasn't as likely to see me, but it was still a lovely beach.

Mineral, Aqua, and Glow were my chosen posse for the day. They were my closest friends, so it was only natural that I would want to spend some time with them. They all congratulated me like they were supposed to when I was the chosen volunteer, but they knew how it was on the inside. I was the best fighter for the year, but only because my mom made me train as much as possible. I could run well, but only because I always did that instead playing games. If it wasn't for my mom I would have stayed in Four, and they knew it. They were happy to spend my last day with me pretending that nothing exciting was happening later, and I was glad for it. "Hey Aqua, betcha I can skip this stone farther than you can!"

"Can not!" Aqua replied, jokingly indignantly. That started a stone skipping competition amongst the entire group. While Aqua tried to use "form" and "skill," I just found good rocks and did my best. As it turned out, a good rock was more important than skill, because I could skip my rock the farthest. Each of my rocks skipped farther than the last, until one managed to make it to the horizon. I watched as it slowly left my field of vision, wishing that I could have followed it all the way.

Luna: Olive skin tone, wavy dirty-blond hair, turquoise eyes. She is 5'7"

Marlin has sandy blonde hair that he likes to keep in a buzz cut because of the hot weather in 4. He has greenish blue eyes like most people in his district. He stands at about 5'7 and has toned muscles from training in the academy. He suffers from resting grumpy face.