A/N: Keep submitting your Tributes! Thanks for all the wonderful Tributes that I have so far! Also, I only had time to get through half of District Eight, but the next half will be up soon! And yes, that is where Twyler's entry ends. :)
Aurora Dayton -17- -D7- POV
After the Reaping, I and Cyder are taken to the Justice Building. We are taken into separate rooms, and a Peacekeeper tells me that my family and friends have been notified. A few minutes later, my father, Joe, comes in.
"Hi Aurora," he says, fighting back tears.
"Hi Dad," I say.
"I'm so sorry, Pumpkin. I wish I could tell you it'll be alright," he says, wrapping me in a hug.
"It's fine, Dad. I'll win. I'll win for you," I say.
"I don't want... I don't want to see you... But I don't want you to... to do... to kill other people. But I don't want them to kill you, either," he says.
"I know Dad, I know. It'll be fine. I'll be alright," I wish that there was more I could say, but I don't know what to say.
He straightens up and wipes tears out of his eyes. "They said you don't have much time, and I know that your friend Sophia wants to talk to you. She'll be more helpful than I could be. Bye Aurora! Good luck! I love you!" He says.
"I love you too, Dad!" I say as he walks out of the room. Sophia walks in.
"Hi, Aurora," she says.
"Hi, Sophia," I say. She hugs me.
As we pull apart she says, "You should try to get your hands on an ax, but you'll need a ranged weapon if you want to do good. Maybe a bow and arrow. Don't go into the Bloodbath. You should try to-"
"I know, Sophia, I know. Look, I need you to promise me something. When I die-" I say.
"Look, Aurora, about what I said earlier, it wasn't-"
"No, you're right. I'm going to die. Most likely, at least. Even if everything was equal, I would only have a one in twenty-four chance of winning, and some of those careers would kill me in five seconds. I'll probably die. I'll try not to, but we have to prepare for the worst. Sophia, promise that when-"
"if"
"-if I die, I want you to promise me that you'll take care of my father. When my mom and little sister died, he had me to take care of, and that kept him going. I think that when -if- if I die, he'll just do what I did when my Mom died and shut down. I need you to take care of him. Okay, Sophia? Promise me. Promise me that you'll take care of him, make sure that he has enough to eat, that sort of stuff. Okay, Sophia?" I say.
"Of course I will, Aurora. I'll make sure he survives. But you should too. To that end, you should-" Sophia is cut off as the Peacekeepers enter the room to take her away. She struggles against them, but they start dragging her out of the room. "Good luck, Aurora! May the odds be ever in your favor!" Then she's gone. I sit down and wonder what I've just asked Sophia to do. None of us her in District Seven are rich, except for a select few. We've always had enough to eat, thanks to me and my father working. Sophia's family has also had enough to eat, but if they have to feed another mouth, they might not. I just hope that he doesn't shut down like I did when Mom and her baby died, or that if he does Sophia will be able to pull him out of it, like her and the other kids who worked with me did after my Mom died.
1 year ago, 3 months after Aurora's mother, Angela, died.
Ding Dong! Ding Dong! Ding Dong! Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Dad, can you get that?" I say.
"Sure honey," he says. I'm laying on my bed in my room like I have every day since my Mom died. She was pregnant only six months before she went into labor, way too early, according to the doctor. There was nothing they could do. Both her and her unborn baby, a girl, died. "Aurora, honey, you should probably come out and look at this."
I get up out of my bed. I wonder what could be so important that he wants me to come to see. I walk to the door and see… I see all of the kids from the forest where I work chopping trees standing on my porch. Sophia's at the front, obviously the spokesperson of the group.
"Thanks, Mr. Dayton. You can go. We should talk to Aurora. Alone," she says.
"Okay, Sophia, I get. I'm leaving. And, Sophia, I've said before, and I'll say again, call me Joe," my Dad says as he walks away.
"Aurora, look. We've all decided to come here because you need to come back to work," Sophia says.
"Look, Sophia-" I start to say, but I'm interrupted by Sophia.
"No, you listen. Ever since your Mother died, you've been in a funk. For the first week, that was fine. We all thought you'd come out of it. Then, after two weeks, we thought that you'd come out of it next week. Do you remember that George kid who came to work just a day before your Mom died? For two weeks, he went without training. We all thought that you'd come back and train him. Eventually, we realized that you wouldn't, so I tried to train him. He almost brought a tree down on himself. If I hadn't tackled him out of the way, he would have been crushed. He still broke his foot. We had to go explain that to his parents. Since then, we've had two more kids come to work. I've tried to train them, including telling them which side of the tree to cut into, but they haven't been as good as the ones you've trained. Heck, I should know. You trained me. You've trained most of us. You're not just the best, you're the best teacher. Those two new kids, one of them lost a finger, and the other one almost brought a tree down on top of someone else. Look, we need you to come back. If that doesn't convince you, your Father's been working two jobs, trying to pay for your food and this house. You need to come back to work," Sophia finishes.
"Sophia… That was a great speech… but… Of course, I'll come back to work!" I say, and hug Sophia, crying.
I go back to work that day, and start to train the new kids, fixing some of the mistakes that Sophia and the others had made when they were training them. I keep working from that day forward. Until the day of the Reaping, that is.
Back to the present…
Cyder Lamentian –17- -D7- POV
The Peacekeepers separate Aurora and me, and we're taken into separate rooms. Almost immediately, my adoptive Father walks in. The Peacekeepers salute him and quickly walk out. He's followed by my adoptive Mother and my actual siblings.
"Cyder," my father says, "I'm sorry. I wish I could stay longer, but I have to go. I have to make a speech, and then be ready to send you off at the train station. I love you, son. Good luck!" He walks out of the room, leaving me alone with my Mom and my siblings.
"Cyder, I love you. I'm so sorry. I hope you win. I want to tell you-" My mother says, but suddenly stops. "Your father forgot his speech! I have to go give it to him! I'll be right back! I love you!" She says and runs out of the room.
"No she won't," my sister, Cypress, says. "She's going to have to follow him to the train station because he's already in the car."
"I know," I say, sadly. I know that Ella fully intends to come back, but she won't.
"I love you, Cyder. I'm sorry. Maybe you can-" Cypress breaks down crying, and I hold her in my arms.
"It's alright, Cypress. You'll be alright," I say.
"What about you?" Cypress asks.
"I can't promise that I'll be alright, but I'll try," I say.
"Look, Cyder, I've thought about this, and I think that the best way for you to win is to team up with your District partner. You know her, right? She works with you. You need to become allies. She'll help you. In training, you should work on your running endurance, and maybe your swimming skills. You should also figure out how to use a long range weapon. The other Tributes will know how to use one, so you should too. Okay?" My brother, Cedar says.
"Thanks, Cedar," I say. "You're always the smart one, coming up with plans like that."
"You're welcome, Cyder. I hope you win," Cedar says.
The door at the back of the room opens, and Juniper walks in. "Hi, Cyder," Juniper says.
"Hi, Juniper," I say. I feel a little nervous. I always get a little nervous when I'm around her. "Uh, guys, thanks for everything, but can Juniper and I be alone for a minute?"
"Sure, Cyder," Cedar says. "Cypress, let's go." Cypress extracts herself from my arms and turns with Cedar towards the door.
"We love you Cyder! Good luck!" Both Cedar and Cypress say, simultaneously. They leave the room, and Juniper walks up to me.
"Hi, Cyder," she says.
"Hi, Juniper."
"Didn't we just do this?" I ask.
"Yes, yes we did," she replies.
"Shouldn't we do something else?"
"Yes, yes we should," I say. We both laugh.
"Look, Cyder, I don't know anything about Games strategy or stuff like that, so I can't tell you any of that stuff. But, I do want to say something," Juniper says.
"Juniper-"
"No, Cyder, let me talk. I know we've been friends for a while, and… and… I don't know how to say this, so..." She kisses me. Her lips are so soft. Her arms wrap around me, and my arms wrap around her. Then she pulls away. "I love you, Cyder."
"I love you too, Juniper," I say, and pull her into a deep, passionate, kiss. We kiss until the Peacekeepers come to take her away.
"Good luck, Cyder, and I hope you win, for me!" She says. She breaks into tears as the Peacekeepers pull her out of the door. The last image that I see of her is her blowing me a kiss, having regained her composure. I remember her kiss. I sit there, in silence, replaying my and Juniper's last moments together, until the Peacekeepers come to collect me.
Lily Cross –17- -D2- POV
The Peacekeepers take me to the Justice Building. They tell me that my family and friends will be there soon. A minute later, my father walks in.
"Good job, kid," he says. "Get me that victory money. I'm going to go get a drink," he says and walks out of the room. I sit alone, in silence, until the Peacekeepers come in again.
Arc Woods –18- -D2- POV
I am taken to the Justice building. My Mother and Father work in.
"Son… I didn't want you to do this, but I understand why you did," my father says.
"Thanks, Dad," I say.
"Arcy, I love you," my mom says. "I understand why you volunteered. I know that Kris was your best friend. I hope you win. I know that the Academy and your Father have trained you will." She hugged me, then left, saying that I and my Dad should talk together about strategy. We had nothing more to talk about, so after a respectable period of time, he left too, and I sat alone.
Twyler Onuzi –16- -D8- POV
I cry as the Peacekeepers take me and Kaine to the Justice Building, but I finally pull myself together before Calico walks in.
"Twyler…" Calico starts.
"Calico… Calico… I have something to say. I love you!" By this time Calico had walked over. I sweep him into a kiss. He seems surprised at first but then kisses me back.
After we separate, he says "Twyler… I guess I should have known, but… but… I never felt that way about you… but..." He kisses me again.
A/N: Keep submitting your Tributes, thanks for all the wonderful Tributes that I all ready have! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review, as I always enjoy constructive criticism.
Tributes:
D1M: Topaz Hazard, 17, by Tyquavis
D1F: Satin Hermes, 18, by Swoozelzz
D2M: Arc Woods, 18, by SparrowBirdEliza
D2F: Lily Cross, 17, by SparrowBirdEliza
D3M: Titanium Sparks, 18, by ellodairyme
D3F: Rianna Meade, 16, by AlyssumBellgrove
D4M: Kai Presley, 18, by Hawkmaid
D4F: Brooke Nash, 15, by Hawkmaid
D5M: Open
D5F: Sofia 'Sofie' Guinness, 16, by Professor R.J Lupin1
D6M: Edmund Caden, 15, by abcdefghijklmnopqrstvwxyz005
D6F: Lindsay Cutt, 13, by abcdefghijklmnopqrstvwxyz005
D7M: Cyder Lamentain, 17, by Anna
D7F: Aurora Dayton, 17, by ellodairyme
D8M: Kaine Thomason, 14, by Tyquavis
D8F: Twyler Onzui, 16, by Swoozelzz
D9M: Open
D9F: Azalea Saffron, 12, by RandomTeenGirl
D10M: Reserved for Zacksteel
D10F: Belinda Molsier, 15, by RandomTeenGirl
D11M: Open
D11F: Athena Fallow, 17, by Professor R.J Lupin1
D12M: Wyatt Fritz, 14, by Annabeth Pie
D12F: Abi Hendrix, 14, by Annabeth Pie