We are still missing check-ins for the following tributes:

Julius Foster (also missing check-in 1)
Aurora Xu (also missing check-in 1)
Palatino Clear (also missing check-in 1)
Grey Hemlock
Merona Timmons (also missing check-in 1)

Please see the author's note at the end of Chapter 24 for the check-in question, and at the end of Chapter 17 for the first check-in question. Check-ins can either be submitted to either of us through PM, or on Discord.

Trigger warning: some misgendering in Rachel's POV. Please proceed with caution.

Rachel Verona, 16
District 8 Female

Why was she so nervous?

Rachel wiped her sweaty palms on dark purple dress. She began to blink rapidly, still trying to adjust to the feel of contact lenses in her eyes. But she thought they helped complete her look, and the deep purple dress she was wearing. She felt so refined in it, with its single strap over her left shoulder.

Tonight, she'd be playing the part of Rachel Verona, District 8 tribute. And she wasn't sure if she had memorized all her lines.

And truth be told, she wasn't ready to reveal herself to the Capitol.

Grey was up first, as the audience filed back into their seats after a good break. She had a denim coverall dress over a white T-shirt, complete with a white fedora and black ankle boots. Rachel thought the outfit made her look like a teenager as she strutted up to Tallulah, whose makeup had been completely redone.

Tallulah asked her a few questions about her experiences in the Captiol. Grey's answers were very simple and direct, lacking any emotion whatsoever. "It's been fine, I guess. I'm just too focused on the Games and everything." She shrugged and Tallulah deflated a little. No juice to the meat. Rachel smirked.

Arwan calmly walked up in a fitted black suit with a green tie. Tallulah fawned as he took her hand and kissed it. As soon as she asked him about his home life, he started off into a passionate speech about his dedication to his wife and future babies that lasted the entirety of his interview.

"Maeve means so much to me. I worry for her, going through this all alone. So I'm going to win for her, for myself, and for our family. I'm her husband, their father, and I will do my duty to protect them from any harm that comes their way."

The crowd whooped and hollered, moved by his words. Rachel wiped her hands again. Her heart began to pound. She quickly glanced behind her, where Elana held up crossed his fingers and Jenny and Powder waved. DJ just rolled his eyes. Right...she could do this...she had acted at home before, what was the difference?

The bright lights instantly made her blush and she nervously sat down, then gave a small grin. Tallulah giggled and bumped her shoulder. Suddenly, Rachel felt overwhelmed by all these faces staring at her. She took a deep breath and clenched her hands into fists.
"Hello, Rachel! How are you tonight?"

"I'm good..." Rachel laughed. Right, right, right. Just simple little questions to answer. "I'm just...very excited!"
"I can see that! What's it like, being here with your twin? I hear you two are not allies?"
"N-no! I have my own sturdy group that doesn't need to include him!" Why did you say that, DJ's a them. "We're a tight-knit bunch and I believe that together, we're strong enough to win!"

The buzzer went off. Rachel stood there for a moment, basking in the applause, before she finally climbed off the stage. Her dear twin DJ was next. Rachel just crossed her arms and waited.

To both of their disappointment, DJ was wearing a purple blazer, whiter dress shirt, and a silk black tie, all of which complemented Rachel's dress very well. They made eye contact and DJ grimaced. When would their stylists learn they wanted nothing to do with each other?

Sitting down, DJ instantly tensed up. His eyes began to dart back and forth and a tear appeared in the corner of his eyes. Rachel's fingers curled into fists again. What was he doing? Why the hell was he so nervous? What was going on?

Tallulah noticed too. "DJ?"
"I...I'm..."
"Don't worry, it's just a few minutes. Tell me about your home life! What do you like to do?"

"I..." DJ gasped. "I like to...at home, I write poems, and...I..."
"Is there something on your mind? Would you like to tell everyone about your-"

"Forget it!" DJ shrieked, hands suddenly slapped over ears. "I'm...I'm...I fucked up! It was all my fault! My sister was right to hate me, because I was the coward and I blamed it all on her! I don't...I deserve it...I..."

The crowd was silent. DJ jumped out of the chair and tore across the stage. He, no they, brushed past Rachel, who could hear their faint sobs. The other tributes were stunned.
"DJ-" Rachel wailed.
"Fuck off!"

Rachel froze as her twin disappeared into the elevator. Tears blurred her vision as Tallulah continued the interviews onward like nothing had happened. But DJ's words echoed in her ears, about how she hated them. She had mocked them for their gender, their pronouns, their behaviour, and their fears. It wasn't their fault. It was hers.

What had she done!?

Elana Briar, 21
District 11 Female Tribute

Elana was stunned.

It seemed that everyone else was too. Tallulah called Autumn up to the stage with a nervous laugh, still as smiley as she had always been. Almost as if nothing had ever happened. As if she hadn't led to a young teen running off the stage in tears because of her insensitivity.

Autumn wore a a cropped white and silver shirt, with a flowing gold skirt, and all sort of bangles on her arms. It was reminiscent of her chariot outfit, and she held her own quite well, even though a good portion of her midriff was bare. Elana frowned; if her own stylists wouldn't have her wear that, then whose idea was it to sexualize the hell out of this little girl?

Autumn played the part though, cocking her head and batting her eyelashes the whole time in a very flirty way. "Oh yeah, we in 9 are trained to work part-time in the fields from a young age. I've gotten quite some time to hone up on my scythe skills, but make no mistake, it can be very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing."

Jonathan seemed a bit displeased with his tight grey tux, and how it seemed to restrict his movement a little. His interview was smooth, until Tallulah mentioned his six siblings. That set him off fast. "I have seven siblings, seven! Get it right next time!"

Merona was also wearing grey, but with a frilly skirt and black flats. Her hair fell in pigtails down her back. She was shy but smiley and the audience cooed as she answered her questions with quite the display of innocence. Even Tallulah was a little flustered.

"I do miss my mom and dad a bit; I've never been away from home for this long. And my dog. he's such a great friend and he always makes me happy. I hope he doesn't miss me too much!"

Elana's heart was on the verge of breaking for this poor little girl. And all the other kids that were here, forced to hold their grounds against adults like her. She brushed a tear out of her eyes. Could she really hurt any of these kids when the time came?

Ace kept pulling at the collar of his dark grey blazer, sporting a scratchy blue sweater underneath and brown shoes. Similar to Merona, he was also very bubbly until Tallulah asked him about his family. The colour began to slowly drain from his face.

"Um..my brother and I live with our stepmother...and our much older brother, but he's actually my stepbrother..." Ace trailed off, blinking rapidly as the buzzer rang out. He quickly shuffled off the stage.

Elana's stomach suddenly lurched. She was carefully helped onto the stage to the sound of roaring applause. She smoothed out her dress; it was chocolate brown, with a intricate pattern woven over the top to resemble the branches she had worn during the Parade. It looked really pretty, but she couldn't shake the feeling she was being judged, somehow.

"Welcome, Elana!" Tallulah's sickly sweet voice boomed in her ears. "How are you tonight?"
"I'm fine, I suppose."
"I believe we've met a few of your allies so far! You appear to be a big group?"

"Yeah." Elana paused for a moment to get her bearings together. She didn't feel like smiling the least bit, but did so anyways. "I guess you could say, I'm like the mom of the group. I don't think it's fair to pit all the adults against the kids, so I'm here to even out the playing field. We're a close group and I think we can do some great things."

The audience clapped and the buzzer rang. God, those had to be some of the longest minutes in her life. Elana was glad to be off the stage and leaned up against a wall at the back, feeling the coolness of it with her fingers. It was overwhelming to fake how happy she truly felt.

Her district partner, Synth, was next. His suit was a dark green with accents of brown and a tie painted like an evergreen tree. naturally, Tallulah first asked him about his reason to volunteer. Synth rolled his eyes; Elana knew he was tired of explaining it all the time.

"Because I love my brother, and it's my job to protect him from harm. He had a bad accident a few years ago that left him paralyzed from waist down. I knew he's independent and can take care of himself, but I'm here to keep him safe. And I'm going to come home to him and the rest of my family."

Once Synth left, Jennifer skipped onto the stage in sparkly yellow dress lined with orange. She looked very cute, Elana thought. Everyone else seemed to agree as well. Tallulah lost control of the interview very quickly as Jennifer began to ramble on and on.

"Oh, Powder's my main ally and we're with Rachel and Elana and their group. I like it, really! Everyone is good at different things and we seem to click in a weird way I can't really explain. It feels like I've known Powder for a very long time. We spent our all time training together and we're really good at it!"

Finally, it was time for the last interview of the night. Powder's suit was black like coal, and he wore a green shirt underneath. He tapped his brown shoes against the floor, and it was clear he wasn't going to be as talkative as Jennifer. He was very polite however.

"I like designing and creative stuff. I'm really good at it. It's nice to think outside the box and do new things."

"Right!" Tallulah seemed a little disappointed that the interviews did not end on such a dramatic note. She signed herself off and the crowd clapped for the last time that night.

"You two did great," Elana told the District 12 pair, who both beamed at each other. "Anyways, Rachel said she wants to hold a meeting on the roof tonight-"
"I'm cancelling it."

Rachel folded her arms, staring down at her feet. "Sorry guys. I'm just not in the mood tonight."
"Are you okay?" Elana asked.
"I said I'm fine."

"I bet it's about DJ," Jennifer whispered to Powder, who agreed. Elana had to agree as well; DJ had place a tense atmosphere over everything and there was no way to shake it off. "Rachel, if you wanna talk about it-"

"No! I don't! Just...leave me alone, alright? I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

Finally, the interviews are done! Which one was your favourite? Which tributes stood out to you the most? Do you think Rachel might able to right her wrongs with DJ?

Typically, this is the last night before the Games, but as we know, President Snow and Apollo have extended everything by a day. So next chapter will feature some other characters and the tributes have an exciting day ahead of them!

See you next chapter!

-Vr