"I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun."
Lia McMuraro, 16 District Twelve Female
Her breath was coming out in little pants as she pushed herself further. The thin jacket she had shoved over her long sleeve shirt doing nothing to keep the nipping cold morning air out. She stopped at the edge of the fence, touching it lightly. When she felt nothing, the girl quickly got herself up and over the wires.
She moved quickly under the cover of the forest.
The forest ever since she was a kid had become her safe place. A place where for once everything was right and everything was okay.
She had crept out of the house an hour or so ago, having decided to go find a few things in the forest for breakfast. She wanted something that could calm her father's coughs for a bit. For the last two months, they seemed to be getting worse. It gutted her that she couldn't really do anything about it.
Blowing out a sigh, she continued her trek.
The sun was just starting to rise in the east, as she finally found the path of herbs that she needed. Lia pulled the pouch out of its hiding spot and collected all she could. As she walked she found wild carrots, a few sprigs of mint as well as basil. She could have sworn that she had seen parsnips, but she wasn't sure.
The sun rose halfway as she silently made her way out of the forest and back over the fence. A few people were up and about, watering the plants they had. She hummed under her breath as she weaved her way down the streets, heading to the end of the other side of the District.
She shut the door softly behind her, and tied her shoes off. Her father was still sleeping, she noted as she went into their small used one of the last matches to light the stove, and placed a pot full of the water she got from the well outside onto the stove.
Sometimes she wished things were easier.
That her mother was still around.
That her father wasn't sick.
That her life could have been normal.
But it wasn't
As long as there was the Games, then her life would never be normal.
Grabbing the mint as well as the basil, and after thoroughly washing it, placed it into the pot of now boiling water. Chopping the carrots and the last bit of dandelion greens, she placed those into the pot as well.
Clearing her throat, she set about cleaning the kitchen, making sure everything was neat before turning her attention back to the stove.
She was going to volunteer this year.
She had no other choice.
If she won, she could save her father.
She could give Angel the life she deserved.
A smile appeared on her face at the thought of her best friend. Lia had no idea where she would be without her best friend. She had been the one to teach her how to read and write.
Angel had been getting bullied by the gang in the district, and Lia took her home one night to get her patched up. But the gang still went after Angel. Lia knew that she couldn't fight the gang all by herself and that the peacekeepers won't do anything about them. So instead, she spray painted the peacekeeper building using the gang's insignia that was a butterfly for some reason. Lia was lucky enough to bring a drunk peacekeeper into some alley and beat him up, telling him to remember the butterflies. After that, the gang was then arrested and beaten down by the peacekeepers.
Since then, life had been easier for both of them.
Lia just had to give her a good future, and winning the games, she could do that
She had to
Quickly tasting the soup, she deemed it good enough and carefully blew out the stove and placed the soup into a bowl. Grabbing a spoon, she silently headed to her father's room, softly opening the door. Her dad was just now waking up, coughs already racking his body.
A smile lit on his face as the coughs stopped.
"Good Morning Dad." She spoke softly as she handed him the bowl of soup, and leaned into the hug he pulled her into.
"You should go start getting ready for the reaping." He spoke, and the girl nodded.
Making quick use to some water, she washed up the best she could, towel drying her hair quickly. Lia brushed it out and set it to it's normal part down the middle. Grabbing the blue ribbon, she pulled it up into a ponytail. Blowing out breath, she picked the dark blue sun dress from her closet and slipped it on. Smoothing out the creases the best she could, she grabbed the nicest pair of shoes that she had and pulled them on.
She wasn't nervous for once.
Actually, she was excited.
A smile grew on her face at the thought of her winning the Games.
Her and her father left around eight thirty, and quickly were met with Angel.
"Nervous?" Her friend asked as she slung her arm over Lia's shoulder.
"You know I'm not." A grin appeared. "I'm going to win this. For me, and for you."
"I have no doubt that you will. Just be careful. The Careers are sure to be ruthless this year."
A tap on the microphone brought everyone out of their thoughts. Anubis Maximum stood there, a sickening grin on his face.
"Welcome, Welcome. It's time for the Reaping for the One Hundredth Annual Hunger Games!" His voice crooned out, as a stretched smile overtook his face. "As always, let us start with a video from the Capitol!"
Like always, almost everyone turned away from the video, not wanting to watch it. Lia didn't exactly hate it but ever loved it.
The man grinned again as the video ended, moving over to the female bowl where a few names were at. Lia grasped Angel's hand and squeezed it softly.
"The female tribute for this year's Hunger Games is-" He was caught off by Lia, finally finding her voice.
"I volunteer." She called out, her voice strong and powerful. There was a collective gasp as people realized what she was doing. She held her head up strongly as she made her way to the stage, unable to stop the smile that stretched her lips.
"What's your name dear?"
"Lia McMuraro."
"Wonderful. And now for the male tribute." There was only a pause as he selected the name before he read it out.
"Bead Thornberry!" From the stage she could see the male, move through the rows. He was cute, she had to admit. She gave him a smile before shaking his hand.
Angel was the first one in, pulling her into a tight hug.
"You're the smartest yet stupidest person." She sobbed out. Lia just smiled and shook her head softly.
"I have to do this Angel." Lia spoke softly into the girl's shoulder. "To save Father. And for you." She let out a sigh. "If I win this, you'll be set for life."
"You might die though."
A pause.
She wasn't wrong. There was bound to be stronger tributes in the arena. Tributes that had years of experience. But she was smarter, and could easily find a way to get rid of them.
"But I could not. Most of them don't have the skills I have ya know." She grinned. "I'm sure I'll have something planned."
A laugh escaped her friend's lips.
" I don't doubt it."
After another long hug and kiss to the cheek, Lia's father was the next one in. She could feel her composure crumbling, but fought to keep the tears from streaming down.
"You're strong." He spoke softly, pulling her into his arms. "I just wish you didn't do this."
Lia nodded, cleaning her throat before speaking. "But I have to. If I win, I can get you the medicine to make you feel better. It's the only way I can save you." Her voice choked up, a sob making its way from her throat.
"I made Angel promise to take care of you while I'm gone. She'll be over every single day."
"You just try your hardest to come home." Her father reached into the pocket of his jeans. He pulled out a worn pack of cards. They were the ones she always played with as a kid.
"For your token."
She grasped the card deck in her hand tightly, a tear rolling down her face.
"Just do me proud okay kiddo?"
"I promise."
Here's the first part of twelve! I'm still waiting on the submission for the female from eleven, so that is why I'm skipping that district for now. I'm splitting this reaping up and maybe the one for eleven just so that I can get them out to you faster.
We should have all the reapings done by hopefully the end of the week, then we'll have an intermission before going on to the trainrides!
Huge thanks to AlexFalTon, I had a lot of fun writing her and found it really easy to write. I hope I did her justice and wrote her well.
As always read and review!
TheFlowerCrowns
