"Why does my heart go on beating?

Why do these eyes of mine cry?

Don't they know it's the end of the world?

It ended when you said, "Good-bye""

Fun Fact, can't listen to the song quoted above without crying.

Onyx Richie, 18

The hallway was dimly lit with the only light coming from Vermeils room. The orange glow guided me past the locked rooms where my fellow Tributes slept. I knew Vermeil would be awake at this time as like me, she had always had trouble when sleeping. For different reason though.

The cancer and subsequent chemotherapy had left my childhood ridden with painful sleepless nights. Vermeil was just overactive, always feeling more lively at night. It worked out well though as she spent most of the nights at my bedside as a child so I wasn't alone.

Looking back, I wasn't even sure why they bothered treating me. Was the treatment that common place that spending it on a child who you plan to kill a few years later is worth it? Not that I wasn't grateful. I had lived ten more years than I would have back in One. I just wished there was a better end to my life awaiting me.

As I approached Vermeil's door, Fri stepped out in a hurry. His eyes were puffy and red although he didn't look on the verge of crying. We made brief eye contact before he flung open his bedroom door across the way and locked it behind him. I stood for a moment, my eye on his door before turning towards Vermeil's room.

I stepped into the small room, the walls covered in vibrant paintings and doodles that she herself had created. Next to the bed was a silver rat cage but my eyes quickly found Sterling the rat curled up on a pink, fluffy pillow.

"What was that about?" I asked, moving my gaze over to Vermeil who looked out over the city scape. The buildings in the distance simmered in a vast array of colours. Apartment building windows a warm orange as the people within them settled down to watch TV. Her reflection in the window was clear enough that I could see the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I'd rather not talk about it," she sighed. I took a seat on her bed, Sterling opening one eye and watching me.

"Well now I have to know-"

"Onyx," Vermeil said sternly, using a tone so alike she could have only picked it up from Ezra. "I said no." She turned to look at me, her face red from crying. I still wanted to know but I knew when to stop pushing. I'd find out eventually anyway. We were never really that good at keeping secrets from each other.

"I need someone to talk to," I admitted with a sigh, rubbing the back of my head. With a small nod, Vermeil moved across the room and closed the door. "Flora broke up with me. She just blocked all forms of contact...not even an explanation."

Flora had been my long term girlfriend. A biology graduate, she had just got accepted into an internship with the science labs that created every living organism within the Arena. I could only Assume her recent promotion had something to do with the break up. It didn't hurt any less.

"Well you seem to be taking it well," Vermeil said as she sat crossed legged on the bed, one hand stroking Sterling.

I shrugged. "I don't think its hit yet...tomorrow I'll have my usual breakdown." Usually Vermeil would laugh at this but her purple eyes were cold. I personally thought she looked better with brown eyes but since the moment she was chosen she was determined to make them purple.

"You have bigger things to focus on," she said bluntly. "If we are going to pair up I need you to put your all into this. Not crying over some girl who isn't worth your time." I knew she was right. Winning the Games with Vermeil was something I committed to when I agreed to it. We didn't get to pick ourselves, it was up to public vote but it was easy to influence the public. The two of us had been friends since we came to the Capitol. Even back in the District we were classmates. The Capitol tried to make us have a romantic arch in the reality show but we refused. We were each other's brother and sister and that was now a well known fact. We felt pretty certain in that we would be paired with each other which meant we could win together.

It was a nice thought but I felt I was only holding Vermeil back. She had the opportunity to try and pair with people like Kratos or Andromeda. People her skills wouldn't go to waste on. She had the makings of a victor. She was beautiful even for District One and she had the skill. She could rule the Games in a pair like that. But that wasn't in Vermeil's nature. She had decided to go with me, her brother even though I was the weakest Tribute here. A malnourished kid from 12 would have had good odds against me. And now with Fauna, I was even more concerned. I knew myself, how out of control I was with my emotions. If I woke up tomorrow sad and missing her, that's all that would matter and I would become self destructive. Then again, maybe my survival instincts would kick in a few days before the Games began.

Vermeil Fellows, 18

I made eye contact with Fiz when I walked into the living space. Perched at the breakfast bar eating a bowl of colourful sugary cereal. It didn't last long and he quickly looked away. I wanted to say something but with everyone there, I didn't want to make a scene.

I walked over to the sofa that overlooked our glass balcony and sat next to Vermeil. Onyx hadn't got dressed that morning although the cameras filming tonight's show floated around. His black hair was messy with a defeated look on his face.

"Holding up well I see?" I sighed, sitting down on the sofa next to him.

"Never felt better," he mumbled, holding a screwed up tissue in his hand. Fazana was sat next to him with an omelette in front of her, her brown hair pulled into a careless pony tail.

"I've tried telling him that all he is doing is sabotaging his own chances with sponsors." Fazana was right. But I knew it would be like talking to a brick wall. No amount of threat, optimism or wake up call would help if he refused to pull himself out of his self pity.

"I see you and Fiz aren't talking," he sniffed. I didn't know the change was that noticeable. I opened my mouth to speak but Fazana quickly jumped in.

"Oh yes, why was Fiz in your room last night?" She asked bluntly. It wasn't like her to get personal like that or to care about personal matters like that. It was unusual but I assumed Onyx had expressed his desire to know. She always had a thing for Onyx.

"You're making it sound like something that it wasn't," I said under my breath. You never knew when a camera was on you and something like this would no doubt make it into the cut that was televised.

"Oh I highly doubt it was anything romantic...you were both crying, correct?" She was so blunt and to the point I struggled to have time to react. I looked over a saw that a camera was trained on us and quickly changed the subject.

"So how is the inbreeding experiment going?" I asked. Fazana seemed a lot less cold after that, telling me all the gruesome details. I personally found the whole thing cruel, only listening so the subject stayed away from my personal life. After a few minutes of her detailed account of a dissection of a frog, Onyx let out a small whimper.

"Fauna set me a picture of a frog cloning project she did once," he sobbed. "To think, I'll-I'll never get to say how proud of her I am," he let out a loud cry drawing the attention of some of the other Tributes. Fazana and I sat awkwardly on either side of him, unable to figure out the correct way to approach this. Should I get him a glass of water?

"You'll feel better after Training I'm sure. Just imagine that the dummies are her," I joked, acting at the motion of hitting someone with an axe. Onyx just shook his head.

"I'm not going." I was going to punch him.

"Why?" I snapped. "Ezra is going to kill you." He just shrugged, standing up.

"I just don't want to, I just want to sleep." And with that, he turned and shuffled away, wailing as he went. This boy was meant to kill people in a week's time and he was currently chasing all his potential sponsors away because of a girl. Then again, was I really that different?

"Looks like I'm going to have to lie to Ezra." I mumbled. Ezra was like a father to me but I never really got the impression he liked Onyx that much. Him now missing classes for a girl was going to be the final nail in the coffin. Ezra might just outright refuse to train him from now on. On the bright side it meant more one on one attention from Quartz. He was cute and one of the few guys my age who wasn't a Tribute.

"We have to get going, Fazana!" Fiz said, walking up to the sofa. He avoided eye contact with me, keeping focused on Fazana so I myself looked away and at the floor. The girl glanced between the two of us and then turned her attention to Fiz.

"Why was you in Vermeil's room last night?" She asked in the same blunt tone as with me.

"I wasn't," Fiz replied. He glanced over to me and I shook my head.

"Well, Onyx said-"

"Whatever, I'm off to get ready," he said sharply, turning and walking away. It was one of the few occasions I had heard him use a negative tone with anyone. Even Fazana was taken back.

"Me too," I sighed, standing up to walk away.

"You know Vermeil," she hissed. "The more you hide this from me the more compelled I am to find out the truth." I just shrugged and walked away. She was welcome to try but she had three days to figure it out and after that, it didn't matter anyway.

So that is Vermeil and Onyx. Just wanted to note that they are not siblings, they just class themselves as such because of how close they are. We'll obviously learn more about the pair as we go on.

If you see someone who you think would like your Tribute to be paired with, please let me know and I'll take it into consideration.

Also you can still crab a free sponsor gift if you can guess the theme of this story.

Anyway, until next time!