Avery Clayton, age 16
District Ten Female
It took more than some paper in a glass ball to scare Avery Clayton. She'd faced enough hardship here in Ten. More than most. More than the crying, sniveling girls around her, who clearly had no dignity. Avery had dignity, but also more than that.
She had a reputation to uphold.
The Longhorns were watching her. Even during the reaping, they would be watching her.
When her parents died when she was seven, Avery had been put on the streets, even at her young age refusing to go to the children's home. From there, she was brought into the ranks of the Longhorns, the most formidable gang District Ten had ever seen. For once in her short life, Avery had tasted power. She'd seen what it was like to be feared.
And she wanted more.
Since that crucial point, Avery had lied and cheated and stolen and clawed her way to the bloody top of the food chain, never once feeling an ounce of remorse or regret. She stood as the unofficial most powerful person in the district. But even she wasn't safe from the reaping.
"Happy Hunger Games!" Aegeus, the escort, boomed into the microphone, interrupting Avery's train of thought. "And may the odds be ever in your favor! I don't want to wait anymore. The suspense is killing me. Who will be the tributes to represent District Ten?" He let the question hang in the air as he walked over to the first glass ball.
Avery made sure not to show any of the trepidation coiling in her chest as she watched Aegeus cross back to the microphone, a slip in hand. It wasn't fear, more like an involuntary reaction. Something she couldn't control, which was few and far between.
"I am pleased to announce that Miss Avery Clayton will be your female tribute for the 95th Hunger Games! Where is Avery?" Aegeus announced.
Murmurs erupted in the square. Avery kept her face a stony mask as the crowd parted around her. Of course everybody knew the name Avery Clayton. Of course they all knew about the ruthless Longhorn leader.
She wondered what they all thought of her now as she took her spot as a tribute.
Horus Jabari, age 16
District Ten Male
Horus watched Avery mount the steps. Watched his gang leader be led towards slaughter. The prick of gratitude made him sick.
It was no secret that Avery was a brutal girl. She ruled with an iron fist, letting it known district wide that she was no joke. That the Longhorns were no joke. And if anybody dared to step out of line, the consequences would be dire.
She's a tyrant.
But Horus owed his life to the Longhorns. They took him under their wing when his family abandoned him. They made sure Horus knew how difficult life could be on his own in the district, and then they taught him how to fight back. How to be the difficult part of life.
He didn't want to be that.
He wanted a simple life, far from the backstabbing and corruption and fear that the Longhorns seemed to bring wherever they went.
Maybe things will change with Avery gone. Maybe things could take a turn for the better.
Horus fought the urge to wring his hands, knowing there were eyes on him. The older gang members made sure to watch the ones still in the reaping age, seeing whether or not they would crack under the pressure. Weak links were not tolerated. Horus could not look weak, even if he felt weak. Even if he wanted to be weak every once in a while.
On stage, Aegeus dug his hand into the boys' reaping ball and selected a slip. He walked back to the microphone and unfolded the paper. Horus bit the inside of his cheek. Please not me. The Games would kill him in an instant.
"Joining Avery Clayton as a District Ten tribute this year will be Mister Horus Jabari!" Aegeus said.
Bile rose in the back of his throat, but Horus swallowed it back. Not only was he a tribute, but he was a tribute with a girl whom he despised. But maybe this was a blessing in disguise.
Because if Horus was going to die in these Games, he was dragging Avery down with him.
Avery Clayton, age 16
District Ten Female
The Hunger Games would be no different than Avery's life here in Ten. Constantly watching your back, trusting nobody, even the killing. Especially the killing. It would have been easy had Horus not been reaped alongside her.
It wasn't that Avery liked the boy. She didn't like many people, and many people didn't like her. She accepted that as fact. But she didn't need one of her inferiors shouting her status from the rooftops to the other tributes. It would paint a target on her back for the Careers, not to mention the Gamemakers.
Which was why he had to go.
Killing your district partner was frowned upon in the Games. People brought up points about district loyalty and morals, both of which Avery didn't care for. This district had done nothing but beat her down. Why should she care about it? And morals had no place in a gangster, especially a gang leader.
The decision should have been easy.
Avery laid down on the couch in the room where she was supposed to say her goodbyes. She didn't expect anybody to come see her. Who would? Her dead parents? The district people she terrorized? The Longhorns? Nobody wanted to come see a sixteen year old orphan to say goodbye before she was shipped off to a death match.
She chuckled to herself. A death match. The streets of District Ten were a death match, too. Just more people could survive.
The minutes ticked by, slowly but surely. Avery wondered if Horus had any visitors next door, then quickly ruled it out. He had nobody, just like she did. Nobody to miss in the Capitol, nobody to cheer him on in the Games, nobody to grieve the body in the coffin when he died in the arena.
Because Horus would die.
Avery was coming back as a victor.
Horus Jabari, age 16
District Ten Male
Horus stared at the clock resting on the mounted shelf. The even ticking of the second hand soothed his eyes, but made his heart beat faster. How many of those ticks did he have left? How long until he and Avery would be brought back to Ten in cheap, wooden coffins?
He knew his fear of death was just an evolutionary reaction that he had no control over. Because Horus didn't care that he would die. Why would he? He lived in constant fear of the Longhorns and what they could do. His family didn't want him. There was no life for him in Ten.
But if he could take out Avery, he could give life to so many people under her thumb.
A noble sacrifice, Horus, he thought sardonically.
But it truly was. He had heard whispers of people wanting to get rid of Avery, rumors of murder plots, but none ever came to fruition. And as much as Horus hated all the killing, he was willing to make an exception here. He just hoped what he would do in the arena would not be done in vain.
He hoped that the people took the opportunity he would give them.
And suddenly, Horus was thinking about life as a victor.
The improbable life of him as a victor of the Hunger Games.
The fame, the impossible wealth, the change. He was tempted to call it glitz and glamour until he thought about Ten's lone victor, Amandina Sanchez, who had the burden of coaching two kids every year just to watch them die. Who had to just leave the district from time to time for no apparent reason, but Horus knew that something was behind her departures. A victor's life wasn't as glamorous as it appeared from the outside.
But Horus let himself dream about simply living until the Peacekeeper came to escort him to the train.
District Ten is done. What did you think of Avery and Horus? I think their dynamic will be fun once the time for that rolls around. District Eleven should be out soon, and then District Twelve, and then we're finally finished with reapings! Until then!
-D9T