Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games plot, but the President, Arianna and Tobias belong to me and any tributes belong to the representative writer.
A/N: Another way of submissions, thank you – in case you want to submit a character, I've put the tribute and mentor/escort/stylist submission form on my profile.
Spaces left: Plenty of mentors and escorts left
All female and male tributes have been filled!
Mentor – (any except 1, 4, 10 and 11)
Escort – (any except 1, 4 and 12)
STYLIST – I would love it if someone would like to make a stylist for the district one tributes, Arianna and Tobias
*Should you be unhappy about any way in which your character has been portrayed, or something that they do, then PM me in our chat thread and hopefully I'll be able to sort it out
Chapter 10
Briana Hemney looked Arianna up and down, judging everything about the girl, from the way she looked, to the way that she stood. "Hmm… Not very strong. You're supposed to be the granddaughter of Panem's President. Some tribute you turned out to be."
Arianna was about to retaliate, but she began to notice the range of looks being sent her way. Her companion, Tobias, said 'don't rise to it, she's looking for trouble,' Dathan said 'go on, fight back' and Cora's look said 'she's bigger than you, be careful.' She decided to turn away and focus on a station about plants and botanical studies – about what you should and shouldn't eat.
Dathan was beside her in minutes. "What's up, kid? You look miserable."
"Kid- you're one to talk, blondie…" Arianna mumbled, trying not to flirt with Dathan after the jealousy that was expressed to her by Tobias.
"What are you saying about my hair?" He ran a hand through his hand and then flexed his arms, showing off his muscles to Arianna. "Don't worry, you can look, I won't bite…"
"Quit it, Dath." A switch turned on in Arianna's stomach and as she felt something bubbling up inside of her, she knew she had to get to the toilets on the other side of the training room. With her hands cupped over her mouth, she sprinted for the door to the toilets. Arianna fell to the floor beside the toilet and the training room was filled with the sound of her emptying the contents of her stomach into the bowl. Not pleasant.
Cora was first to go to the toilets. "Aria- are you okay?" she asked, knocking gently on the door.
"I'm fine… I'm fine, maybe it was something that I ate," Arianna said, picking the first thing that came to mind that would make her throw up, but not be what she felt that it might be. "It's fine, Cora. Really. I just need to sleep it off."
"If you're sure…" Cora murmured, folding her arms and staying by the door. "Shall I get an Avox girl to take you to your penthouse suite?"
"Yeah. Please, Cora." Arianna waited for Cora to leave and then slowly stood up. "This is not good…" In her heart, she wondered whether what her grandmother had asked her could be true. "No…"
This was a good thing in a way for Arianna – in terms of the fact that if she was pregnant, then that would mean that she and Toby would be united, but she was about to go into the deathly games – the timing couldn't have been any worse. As Arianna stepped outside of the toilet cubicle, she found an Avox girl waiting for her with a jacket over her arms. The young fire haired girl held out the jacket, but Arianna declined as she felt a searing heat in her body. Being led back to the penthouse suite after barely completing any training seemed risky to the other tributes.
Thoughts riddled her mind with how she was going to cope if she really was pregnant. There was the Hunger Games, there was the interviews with Roman Greywolf, the training sessions as twenty tributes, the opening ceremony and even the interview with the famous Sphinx and Siren. Somehow, Arianna was going to have to get through all of this without implying or saying that she was – if she was…
Back in the penthouse suite, Elina was eager to fuss over the tribute – insisting that an aroma of scents would be displayed in the room, and that she be given the healing ambrosia from this specific vendor that the escort would always use.
"You child, are going to need to get better. The interview is just a day away, and the journey is only going to get worse later on." Elina listed off the exact same things that had been plaguing Arianna's mind. "Now rest, Arianna and perhaps you will feel more like yourself in due time."
When Arianna woke up, she found Toby sleeping peacefully beside her. For a while, she just lay there and watched him sleep. There was a knock at the door, sending panic through her veins.
"Toby," she whispered, shaking the boy awake. "Someone's at the door…"
Even though Toby's eyes were opened, it took him a moment to process what was happening. Before he even had enough time to get out the bed, the door opened.
Elina stood in the doorway, lost for words. "What is the meaning of this?! Explain yourselves, the pair of you, right now." She took a deep breath as she tried to remain calm. "I want answers."
Arianna's mouth quivered as Tobias stood up, climbing out the bed. He was wearing only a pair of soft cotton trousers, so Elina was drawing her conclusion. "It's okay, Elina. It's okay…"
"No- nothing about this is okay. You are both tributes of the first district – in this place, you are meant to be Careers. You're supposed to be professional – none of this is at all professional. Arianna…"
"Leave me alone, Elina! Get out!" Arianna squealed, shutting the door in the escort's face. "Oh no. No, no, no… She knows, she knows."
"Breath Arianna, she knows that we were in a room together – just an innocent occurrence. It was only going to come out eventually." Toby smiled and went towards the door. "Come on, she'll want a proper explanation."
"You really think that's a good idea, Toby?" the seventeen year old girl stammered, struggling to remain calm. "This is a big deal."
"What's the big deal? I love you, and you love me. What more is there to know?" Toby's smile grew and grew as his companion's cheeks began to blush with a rose pink colour. "Are you okay, Ari?"
"Ari? Since when did you call me Ari?"
"Since just now… Is that okay with you?" Toby crawled onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Arianna, holding her close. "I really do love you."
"There's something I need to tell you…" she said calmly.
"What is it – you know you can tell me anything, don't you?"
Arianna bit her lip. "I think there's a chance, a chance that- that we might be having a baby." She lowered his hand to rest around her stomach. "A little Griffin baby."
"Are you serious?" Toby had no idea to react – he was elated at the prospect of starting a family, but the games were no place for a potentially pregnant. "Then we have to find out for sure. They might be able to pardon you- your grandmother, she'll want to make sure that her great-grandchild and granddaughter survive the games." What Toby said meant that he had sentenced himself to death. If Arianna and their possible unborn child were to survive, then he would have to be eliminated as a tribute.
"I'll talk to Elina, tell her and Prospero the truth- as much as I feel awkward at the prospect of telling Prosper, he's our mentor and he needs to know." Arianna grimaced a little. "You go train and see if we can recruit any more tributes, because if Leui and Anthony are targeting other strong contenders, then we need to up our game as well." She leant against the wall. "I want to help you, but I just feel so weak."
"Don't worry, go and see a doctor or something. I'll take care of the other tributes." Toby kissed her cheek before leaving her room.
It took Elina and Prospero a while to deal and truly understand the situation that they had been presented with, but they accepted it and organised an appointment within the hour. Arianna wanted nothing more than for Tobias to be there with her, but he needed to be at the training facility. To gather intel and more information about the other tributes.
Cora was a clear ally towards Arianna and Toby, unlike Anthony and the district three tributes, Leui and Alice. Dathan was a flirt, but Arianna felt that with more work, he could be a strong ally. Sierra was confusing towards the pair – she was nice to the pair, friendly too, but she was also somewhat distant with them.
As Arianna lay on the hospital bed, wearing a pale cream hospital gown. She felt so vulnerable as she lay still, but in a way, it felt like the preparation process – except hopefully it wouldn't require as much pain to find out. The doctor who came in was specifically blind and transported in from the tenth district as Elina requested.
"Hello there, my young patient…" the blind doctor said. She smiled in Arianna's direction.
Elina hovered beside Arianna's bed. "Come on, doctor, let's have a projection scan to see if there's anything we need to know about." The escort frowned at Arianna's slightly bloated stomach, wondering whether it was a baby, or speedy eating.
The doctor carried on just working away, picking up a variety of different contraptions. "My niece- she just got reaped. I worry about here… She's – she's blind like I am. Somehow, I don't think a blind girl can survive in the games." She continued to talk as the examination continued, followed by the scan.
Arianna was pregnant, over three months pregnant.
Elina didn't hesitate in rushing the girl back to the penthouse suite. "We will have to get rid of it!" she squeaked angrily. "It's bad enough that you're the granddaughter of the president, and now you're the pregnant seventeen year old granddaughter of the president. What were you thinking?"
"I don't want to get rid of it…" Arianna whispered once the argument had died down. "No."
"Arianna! That is a preposterous statement- you're… You're just not thinking straight."
Prospero glanced at the two from across the suite. "Elina. If the girl doesn't want to terminate it, then we will not force her to. As long as she is aware that this is going to be a lot harder than she thinks. Now, we need to discuss how we are going to get around this. Do we come out with it and tell Panem that she is with child? Or do we hide it and watch the world wonder about the blossoming stomach?"
Elina was once again left speechless. "I need to have a lie down," she said, slapping a hand to her forehead.
"How are you, Arianna? It seems that few people are actually asking how you are…" Prosper quickly sat down beside her. "And honestly…"
"I'm- Prospero, I'm terrified. I don't want to die. Life and living means everything to me- but I'm quickly realising that Toby does too. Toby means so much to me. I want to protest against the Games, but I'm the President's granddaughter – the people will want to see me suffer and die." Arianna watched the elderly mentor debate what to say. "Prospero- I'm miserable. Because I'm now in a position where either I will have to bring a child into the world where I will have to raise it without a father and have to tell them why. Or, I kill the one thing that I love. For all I know, Toby will end up living the rest of his life without me, or our baby… It's a lose, lose situation here…"
"My advice, prepare yourself for the worse- like you say, there is a lot of sadness ahead for you."
Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Ah, another chapter out of the way and some more tributes to arrive in the next chapter, hopefully we'll see the tributes from district six and seven arrive – if you have any suggestions or pointers, then do let me know and I'll do my level best to change or add it in in the next chapter!