A/N Greetings from Asia! Sorry for the late update. However, I do have a reasonable excuse. My last week back in the states was crazy with packing, so my time was limited. Add to that two big exams, sickness, and writer's block, and you have a pretty good idea of what that week was like. Also, it turns out that the place I was at (grandparents' house) for the past few days has no WiFi, so I wasn't able to update. WiFi won't always be reliable, so please understand if updates are slow. Also, I won't be able to ask for permission before changing the characters, because I'll mainly be writing when I'm offline and in places without the internet.

As I said before, I WILL NOT ABANDON THIS STORY. EVER.

Thank you to LeaGirlWriter22 for submitting Artemis and to CabinFever5 for submitting Amery.

I had to change Artemis a bit (Tone her down), so I hope you don't mind.

I noticed while writing that both of these tributes are kinda similar...

Artemis Serenity (F), 16

I tumble out of my hard bed, land on the floor, and get up. I see the empty bed next to me, and I walk into the kitchen, which is our all-purpose room. My brother Avan sits at the table, a piece of bread in his hands. He's only fourteen, but since both mom and dad are gone, he's the man of the house. We ignore each other for a while, but after a while, I decide to bring up the topic we both don't want to talk about.

"I'm still doing it, you know," I say.

"You can't," he replies, looking up.

"You can't stop me," I respond, "I'm doing it, no matter what you say."

"B-But," he sputters, "You're the main breadwinner here. If you go and die, we'll all die too! If one of us needs to volunteer, it's me!"

"No you don't! And you won't starve. You're strong enough. Apollo is smart; he can help," I say, bringing up my 12-year-old brother.

"Please!" he begs, "You don't have to volunteer!"

"Yes I do!" I say, "It's our only way out of this, this slum!"

He bangs the table in frustration. His twin sister Aveline peeks in.

"What's going on?" she asks.

"Artemis is STILL set on volunteering," he groans.

"You think you can stop her?" she asks, a bit of amusement in her voice, "I thought you'd given up by now."

"Thanks a lot, Avaline," he says exasperatedly. Turning to me, he goes back to his argument. "Your odds are HORRIBLE! You hear that? You only have a one out of twenty-four chance of getting out. Right, Apollo?"

Apollo, who has just walked in of the boys' bedroom, looks startled for a moment, but he quickly regains himself.

"Actually," he says, "Your odds are WORSE than one out of twenty-four. The Careers have trained for this. You don't have a chance."

"See?" Avan says, glad to have someone on his side, "Please don't go yet. At least, if you HAVE to volunteer, wait for two years. That way your chances would be better."

I stop and ponder this for a moment. Finally, I give in

"Fine," I say, "But I'm going in after two years."

He sighs, but doesn't say anything. I walk out the front door. Have to get some food for the "celebration" tonight. Stupid Capitol. Why do they have to make us waste so much money? Why do they have to make our lives so hard? Things just aren't fair, they just aren't fair! As I pass by a neighbors house, I hear banging. Must be the older Mills boy.

Amery Mills (M), 14

I sit at our rickety wooden table, listening to the pounding right outside our back door. It's my nineteen-year-old brother Joseph, releasing his pent up anger at the Capitol.

Bang. Bam. Crack.

A few minutes later, he comes in. He's breathing heavily, his face is still red, and his hands are bruised, but he's calmed down. I don't give it a second thought. This happened last year, the year before that, and the year before that, so I'm pretty used to it. I guess you could even call it a tradition. It's happened every single year, for as long as I can remember, well, which is around when mom and dad died. I never found out how they died, or how Joseph managed to keep us out of the community home. All I know is that he's taken good care of me, and that we've only gone hungry a few times, which is better than most of District Eight.

He sits down, and I prepare myself for what always comes next: The apologies.

"I'm really, really sorry about that, I ju-"

"It's fine," I say, "You get used to it."

"But that doesn't mean it's okay."

"I guess, but at least you aren't actually directing your anger toward the people that deserve it. We'd both be dead."

I chuckle lightly, in spite of myself. He smiles.

"Thanks Amery."

"No prob. Isn't that what brothers are for?"

He smiles again.

"So, did you eat?" he says.

"I took a bit of the bread."

"Good, good," he says, and then pauses for a moment. "Uhh, what do you want to do today? I'm always so busy at the factories-"

"Only the factories?"

"Yeah."

"Not Ethel Flaxene?"

"Fine, that's once a week."

"Really?"

"Okay, okay," he says, laughing, "you win. But my point is, what do you want to do?"

"How does... a game of checkers sound?" I suggest.

"Perfectly fine," he says, and I get out the homemade board and pieces.

Artemis Serenity, 16

I leave the market, carrying a decent haul of fruits, vegetables, and even a bit of meat. If there's one thing I don't mind about Reaping Day, it's seeing Apollo's face light up when he sees the food. I hurry through the narrow streets into our section of town. It could almost be called a slum, but since there's an actual slum just a mile or two away, the title "slum" doesn't fit right. Regardless of the name, we're poor here, and there are quite a few no-parent homes, such as the Mills, the Embraids, and my family. So, it's always hard for us to spend so much money on a celebration in which we mourn.

As I expected, Apollo is the first to meet me when I walk in through the door.

"What'd you get?" he eagerly asks.

"See for yourself," I reply, smiling as he grabs part of my load and takes it to the table, squealing every time he finds something new. I suppose I overspent, just a little, but I have trouble resisting buying something that makes him so happy. Aveline immediately takes some of the food and begins to prepare it, while I go and prepare for the reaping.

Afterwards, we all eat a light lunch before heading out.

Amery Mills, 14

"And... King me," I announce.

Joseph just shakes his head.

"You feeling so proud now, aren't you. But just you wait and see."

"That's what you always say," I say.

"It's because it's true," he replies, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Sure enough, five minutes later, he has my last king trapped in the corner.

"What'd I tell you?" he says. I respond with something that's supposed to be a grunt but ends up sounding like a squeal from one of the butcher's pigs. Joseph laughs out loud, and I give a sheepish smile.

However, he quickly wipes the smile off his face and replaces with a solemn expression.

"Better go change and grab something to eat," he says somberly, "or you'll be late for the reaping."

The reaping.

I do as I'm told and nibble on a small sandwich as we walk out the door. I wave to a few familiar faces on the way to the square, but we stay silent.

Absolutely silent.

Artemis Serenity, 16

Right before I go to stand in my section after signing in, Avan looks straight into my eyes, and I can see the fear there, the fear that one of us will get reaped, or the fear that I'll volunteer. That is when I see that volunteering won't be the end to our problems. Sure, we'll have more money and we'll never go hungry, but the games would tear our family apart. And that is something I refuse to allow. I smile at him, and he visibly relaxes.

I stand with the others my age as the mayor reads the Treaty of Treason. I've always wonder why he READS it. I mean, hasn't he had to do it enough times to memorize it?

Anyway, our escort, Valerie, takes the stage, and she, just as usual, gets straight to the point. I appreciate that about Valerie; she doesn't try to make this last any longer than it need to. Or maybe that's just because she hates our smog-filled district.

"Our female tribute will be... Artemis Serenity!"

My jaw drops. Me? Strangely, I'm not scared, or even panicky. I'm just shocked that of all the people in the entire district, I, the only one who considered volunteering, got reaped. I walk up to the stage, and I wait for the unlucky boy.

Amery Mills, 14

I stand with a bunch of other fourteen-year-olds from school. I don't know them that well, really, but the fact that they're familiar is somehow reassuring. I watch the reaped girl ascend the stage, and I think I recognize her from our neighborhood. She's also the provider of a family; I male a mental note to check on them later. At least Joseph is out of the reaping this year.

"And our male tribute is... Amery Mills."

All the walls I put up to make myself feel okay come crashing down. This can't be! I know I have to move, but it seems like I've lost control over my limbs.

"Where are you, Amery?" Valerie calls. A boy behind me nudges me, and I regain control over my body. I take shaky step after shaky step, slowly getting to the stage. Artemis seems to have recognized me now, and she looks down at the ground.

"Shake hands!" Valerie quickly says, and we oblige.

Artemis Serenity, 16

The peacekeeper slams the door of the visitation room in the Justice Building. What happened? Of all people, why did I have to get pulled out? And especially after I decided that I would NOT volunteer. I sigh, knowing that there's nothing I can do about it. What taking them so long to get here?

When I hear the footsteps outside in the corridor, I'm up and ready before the door even opens. My siblings rush in, and Avan is out of breath.

"I'm sorry, I took so long," he pants, "I had to run home and get this."

He loops a necklace around my neck, and I heard the sound of metal jingling. I look down and see my parents' wedding rings. My eyes start getting watery,and I embrace him, holding him tight.

"Thank you," I whisper.

I give the others hugs too, and tears spill out more than once. Finally, we've all calmed down, and Apollo speaks.

"Is there anything we need to know while you're gone?"

"Umm," I say, "Avan and Avaline know almost everything. Just don't take out any tesserae; Avan knows why. He'll explain later."

The peacekeeper outside opens the door and calls, "time's up."

As they walk out, Aveline turns to me.

"Promise me one thing. Don't forget who you are," she says.

"What?" I ask, completely confused. The peacekeeper comes in and grabs her arm.

"Just promise me!" she says frantically.

"Yes. I promise, I promise," I reply as the door closes. I sit down on the chair and lean back. What was that supposed to be?

Amery Mills, 14

I've barely had time to sit down when Joseph barges in. I run into his arms, and I pour out everything.

"What am I going to do?" I say, tears welling up in my eyes, "I don't have a chance. I'm going to die! What on earth am I supposed to do?"

He pats me on the back and listens. He speaks when I've run out of words.

"Right now, you have two things you can do. You can spend your time worrying yourself to death, getting depressed, and being miserable until you die. Or, you could do your best, enjoy life, and make the most with what you have. Which one do you want?"

"I know you're trying to get me to pick the second one," I say.

"True," he responds, "But it's your life. Listen, I know that it sounds...what's that word...cliché? But really, your attitude makes a huge difference. Just think about it, okay?"

I nod.

"Take this," he says, as he takes off his leather necklace and puts it in my hands.

"Are you sure?" I ask, "Wasn't it from dad?"

"Yeah, it was," he says, looking down at the ground, "But you take it. It'll help you remember me."

There's just one thing I want to know, and I grab this last opportunity before I leave.

"Umm, Joseph?"

"Yeah?"

"How did mom and dad die?"

He hesitates, and then answers.

"It was the influenza," he says bitterly, "Supposedly a simple disease to cure. But the Capitol wouldn't send the cure. It wasn't even that expensive, and Mom and Dad could've afforded it. But they didn't send it."

"Time," the peacekeeper calls, probably deciding that our conversation was getting dangerous. Joseph gives me one last hug before he leaves. The Capitol. Killed my parents, made us poor, and now is probably going to kill me too.

Revenge is the only thing on my mind as I'm led to the train.

A/N See what I mean about them being similar? (Hint: Both have dead parents and both hate the Capitol.) Anyone up for a Artemis and Amery alliance? Talking about alliances, submitters, if you want your tribute to ally with someone else's, then PM me, and I'll contact them.