"I'll love you all your life

Although that may not be too long"

My mouth filled with the taste of metal as the sun burned my skin. I had never seen it act so quickly, turning my skin red and flaky overnight.

It was hard to get up that morning. The small shack I had called home had a persistent drip from a puddle of rain collected on the metal roof. If a thunderstorm was to arrive, it would no doubt flood.

I grabbed my rucksack from the barrels next to me and hauled myself to my feet. I was shaky and a swirling in the pit of my stomach threatened to throw up my cheese and crackers from the night before. And that clicking. That damn clicking just wouldn't stop.

Two weeks earlier…

Lux Hymnoor, District 5. Victor of the 25th Hunger Games.

Atlas had it easy. I watched him from afar drinking cocktails with his handsome son. I never brought home a male District 5 Tribute. Fifty years and I had watched them all die. Then again, what could I expect? I didn't win my games by skill. I was knocked out and everyone else happened to die before me. I had no skill or useful advice for the Tributes aside from how to hide from everything and everyone within the arena.

It didn't surprise me when I was pushed to the side by the Tributes when it came to training. They viewed me like a grandfather and I was lucky to have grown close to them all. But I did a poor job at training my Tributes. Even if I had would won my games through fire and fury, I was an old man now. The most I could teach them was intellectual.

I always visited their penthouse apartment once a week. A large living area with two corridors either side that lead to their ensuite bedrooms. It always warmed my heart to see their happy faces when I entered the room. As always I brought gifts but it was the last week I'd see all twenty-four so I wanted it to be special.

A group of Avox's filtered in after me carrying box upon box and the Tributes gathered around the circular sofa to see what I had got them. Oddly enough, they were not as spoiled as one would have thought. Material possessions were limited in order to save space for when they died. They had a week left to live, what was a few materialistic things now?

"Fazana!" I called. The girl stepped forward intrigued by what I had found. I handed her over a white leather sleeve. She quickly untied it and marveled at the solid silver and gold scalpels and other surgery tools. "That's what the professionals use here. Sharpest in Panem." There was collective unease as Fazana took out a golden scalpel and tested its balance. Yet the rare smile on her face was worth it.

"Thank you," she beamed. "Did you get any frogs?" She asked.

"No, the pet shop was all out this week." It was a lie. In truth I always disliked buying her the frogs. I always felt like I was nurturing something I should be burying.

"That's okay," she sighed. "I've been breeding my own for a while, I want to see the effects inbreeding can have on the internal organs." Maybe the pet shop frogs would have been better. I vaguely remembered her mentioning it before. Vermeil wanted to buy one from her as a pet. Fazana refused. She saw no point in pets. When she had run off to her room, I pulled out Vermeil' gift. It was best the mood wasn't shifted by Fazana being...well herself.

I passed Vermeil a small white box and upon seeing the air holes, a wide smile quickly spread across her face. She quickly opened the box and pulled out the rat from inside. It was a beautiful one with snow white fur, deep red eyes and lucky for Vermeil, appreciative of human attention.

"I love him," she said with so much happiness I thought she might cry. She planted a small kiss on the back of his head while Friesian touched the little bell around its neck.

"What are you going to call it?" He asked.

"Sterling," Vermeil said without a second thought. "Because he looks like silver"

Friesian smiled. "That's cute." The last time we had gone out, Vermeil spent most of her time in the pet store, looking at the albino rodents. She loved their colouration and she loved animals in general. She was one of the strongest Tributes here but I wasn't sure she had the heart of a killer.

The hours passed and we exchanged gifts and talked about their training and everyday activities. Few hid their skills or seemed to hold any cruel dislike for each other. The fear normal Tributes had towards each other was absent. They were a family. A dysfunctional one but they knew all they had was each other. They raised each other by being each others support. It was surreal to think in a weeks time they would be murdering each other. I even dared to think that maybe this year, out of all years they'd all lower their weapons and refuse to fight. It was more likely than every other year but the Capitol would have prepared for that. When faced with death, the best of friends would drive their knife into each other. I had seen it happen so often.

Yet in my own selfish way I looked forward to their entry into the Arena. When one emerged victor, and as any human I had my preferences, it would mean I could return home.

It had been 10 years since I had seen my husband. My grandchildren had grown into teenagers and I even had grandchildren I had never met. I loved all these kids just as much. My substitutes for the real thing but it was foolish to act like the end of my life wasn't racing towards me. I didn't have many years left and I wanted those final moments to be spent with the man I had loved since I was fifteen and my family. Otherwise, what was the point of winning the Games?

I was going to go through what gift each Tribute got. Then I got some more submissions so I decided against it. I might mention it in later POVs as I do have a list.Next we meet our District one Tributes and then I'll go in order from there.Until then!