Noah Skall, 18.
District 10 Male.d
Noah pulled his wallet out of his pocket, pulling a few bills out and handing them to Frack, who in return gave him the bag he was holding in his opposite hand.
"Thanks, man." Frack said, grinning. Noah nodded and turned walking away. He was in downtown Ten, which was a terrifying place to be if you weren't Noah's size. He turned out of the grimy ally, and onto a more main street which was also empty. Everyone was either at work or at school. Noah himself hadn't been to school in years at that point, having dropped out to help provide for his family, determined to help put food on the table every night. Once they had realized his younger brother, Marrak had the potential to do something great with his life, Noah became doubly as determined to keep him in school. So far, Noah had succeeded, keeping his brother in school the longest out of all three.
Noah jiggled the key in the lock slightly, pulling the door open. He stepped into the empty house, throwing his work bag onto the nearby table. He knew he was supposed to feel tired, but he wasn't while he was like this. He walked through the living room, then into the back hallway where his and Marrak's room was, pushing the door open and tossing his work bag onto his bed. As he went to sit down, he thought he heard something, a voice calling his name, but there was nothing but ringing silence in his ears.
"Hello? Is there anybody there?" He called out, leaning forward to look out the bedroom door. Nothing, dead silence again. He thought he saw a shadow move towards the kitchen, and he stepped back into his room, grabbing an old baseball bat out of the corner. He walked down the hall, slowly and cautiously, looking into each room as he went. There was nobody in any of the rooms, as he continued down the hall. He thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye, and he swung around pointing the bat at whatever it was. But it was gone now, and Noah shook his head slightly, feeling lightheaded and feverish. He finally reached the living room, and as he did he heard the back door open. He quickly pushed himself against the wall next to the doorway, poised to attack if needed.
"Noah? Noah are you home?" Noah felt as if he knew the voice, but he couldn't be sure if it was someone he knew, or if it was his mind playing tricks on him.
"Noah?" A figure stepped through the door, and Noah jumped out from his spot, pointing the bat at whatever it was.
"Noah what the fuck are you doing?!" It was Marrak, coming home from school.
"Shit! sorry Mar, I thought I heard something and.." Marrak looked skeptical.
"You've been hearing things for three weeks, Noah what's going on with you?"
"Nothing, I'm fine. Just tired."
"No doubt you're tired Noah, you haven't been sleeping. Don't think I haven't noticed, I'm young but not stupid." The bat slipped from his hand, and he gathered up Marrak in a hug.
"I'm so sorry Mar, I'm sorry." Marrak patted him on the back awkwardly, usually neither were big on hugging.
"It's okay Noah, just tell me what's going on"
"I can't Mar, I can't" He let Marrak go, grabbing the bat from the floor and walking off back to their room, leaving Marrak in the dust. He couldn't let his baby brother know something was wrong, he could deal with it himself.
Keenan Briggan, 15.
District 10 "Female"
Keenan pulled the thin blanket over him, shivering slightly. It wasn't that cold in reality, but Keenan didn't have enough meat on his bones to keep him warm in the concrete room. It was called a room, but he knew what it really was, a prison cell. He could feel the cold dampness throughout his whole body, so he got up, plodding towards the chest of drawers that had been assigned to him. He opened them, looking at what few possessions he had. On top of the pile was a black bracelet that he had gotten from his best and only friend, Jason. He pulled a few more things out of the drawer, eventually pulling out an old sweater of his fathers. He pulled the old worn thing on, and plodded back to bed, slightly warmer this time.
Keenan was back in his childhood home, the warm, smiling faces of his parents looking down at him. He didn't know why they were so happy, but he was grateful to see them, even if it was for just a moment. Then he was back in the main square of Ten, watching his parents kneeling in the center of the square, hands bound and hoods over their heads. At the time he didn't understand, they hadn't done anything wrong, had they? It turns out they had, his mother, Lana was suspected of trying to set a bomb in the Peacekeeper headquarters. The scene changed again before the Peacekeepers could shoot at his parents, and Keenan was back on the streets with his old gang, they were sitting around a small fire, joking around and passing what little food they had between each other. Suddenly a gunshot rang out, and Keenan woke with a start.
"Keen, ya good?" Jason asked, poking his head over the edge of his top bunk to look at Keenan below him.
"Yeah, just a bad dream." Jason hopped down from the top bunk, and slid into Keenan's bunk, placing his back against bars at the opposite end of the bunk.
"Wanna talk about it?"
"Not really, but I should." Jason smiled grimly at this and nodded signalling for him to continue talking.
"Well, I saw my parents. In the square." Jason nodded again, having heard this story before. He knew his parents had been killed, Keenan having had this nightmare many times before after arriving here and even before.
"And I saw the street gang I was in before I got here." Jason looked slightly surprised at this since he usually didn't dream about them, but soon his face returned to his normal neutral face.
"As in the gang that landed you here?"
"Yup, them." Jason nodded like he was about to say something until a loud voice rang out.
"Good morning delinquents, get your asses out of bed and get down to the cafeteria." The four other kids they shared a room with started getting up and starting to get ready for the day. Keenan and Jason rolled out of the bunk, and Keenan didn't bother changing, he slept in his clothes, an old habit from when he was younger. Keenan made his way to the door, leaning against the door frame waiting for Jason to be ready. Jason soon joined him and the two headed to the cafeteria together.
Petra Vermino, 33.
Victor of the 183rd Hunger Games.
Petra grabbed her sister, Paula's hand, both making their way up the stairs to the stage together. They stood, waiving out to the crowd as they clapped half-heartedly. They moved over to their seats, but continued standing as the anthem began to play. Petra let go of her hand, as the end of the anthem played. They both sat, turning to watch as their good friend and capitol escort, Caio Sacnite, stepped out of the curtains, their jaggedy blonde hair spiked in all different directions. To the crowd, they looked ridiculous, but to Petra who had been going to the Capitol every year for twenty years, they looked pretty normal. They tapped the mic once with a long fingernail and then leaned forward to speak into the mic.
"Hello Ten, welcome to your reapings for this year. Now, shall we crack to it, and start with the boys." They reached into the furthest away bowl, picking out a piece of paper, unfolding it carefully as if they were trying to peel wet paper apart.
"Noah Skall!" A tall boy emerged from the crowd, his eyes on the ground. He looked fairly confident, but he kept his eyes on the ground. As he reached the stage, and the top of the stairs, Petra realized just how giant he was. He took his place next to Caio, towering over them. They nodded, looking up at Noah and then turning back to the mic.
"Ah, and time for the ladies." They nodded at their own comment, turning to the other bowl and pulling a slip of paper out of it, reading it out into the mic.
"Fallar Fox!" A short girl was pushed out of the crowd, and began walking up to the stage until-
"Wait! I volunteer!" A tomboyish looking girl pushed her way out of the crowd, stick thin and short, but very determined-looking. She pushed her way past the original reaped tribute and quickly made her way to the top of the stairs.
"And what's your name?"
"Keenan Briggan, and I use he-him pronouns!" Caio nodded at this and gestured for him to take his place next to Noah.
"Give it up for your tributes Ten!"
Dang, they're kinda wild not gonna lie. I'm really trying to push through the last of the intros, so expect the 4 intros very very soon. Heres the updated points:
aproudbibliophile: 85
IIJamesII: 50
nervenom: 100
LordShiro: 20
Manny Siliezar: 65
Guesttwelve: 40
Firedawn'd: 20
santiago. ponini20: 30
Carrot Lord: 60
And there you have it. I'll see you all very soon in District 4 for our last intro chapter. Signing off, Times.