Breaking Point Sextet V
Love: The 75th Hunger Games
Chapter Thirteen
District Eight Reaping
A/N: Thanks to Dreadfulsorrow for the outstanding Tribute pair featured in this chapter! Please keep submitting awesome Tributes!
Cambric Frymith –17- -D8- POV
I tie my black hair back into a quick bun and catch a glimpse of my gray eyes in the dirty mirror. Looks… as good as it ever does, I suppose. Boring and normal, just like me… well, I'm not exactly normal, but I'm definitely one of the most boring guys you could ever meet. Unless you like hearing sad stories, I suppose, but everybody else at the orphanage has one kind of sad story or another – after all, if they had a happy story, they wouldn't be here.
I suppose it's time to go to the Reaping. The twist this year is pretty cruel… and Reaping days are always bad. Can't work, can't even go to school. It's not like I have any real friends to hang out with either… maybe I'll watch Nira today, make sure she's okay. At least it'll be something to… do.
I head off for the Reaping.
Nira Telatto –17- -D8- POV
I finish brushing my extremely curly (seriously, how curly can one person's hair be? I swear, I stole this curl from somebody else) black hair back, and smile at my own brown eyes, then down to my Reaping dress. I think everything's in order, time to go round up Calico if Mom and Dad haven't already, and then head out. I'm glad Calico's not old enough to be Reaped, and has five whole years to go before that. I mean… I'd prefer he never be Reaped, but still. Better not now than now, especially good that he won't be risked this year.
I head out into the living room to see Mom, Dad, and Calico. Calico's running around in his little suit, as Mom and Dad lean on each other with smiles as they watch him.
"Hey, everyone," I say. "Seems like I'm late to the party."
"Hey, Nira! Look, I can jump on the couch!" Calico shouts, and then jumps on the couch, wrinkling his suit, and probably getting dirt all over the cushions. Ah well. Mom and Dad chuckle.
"Hi, Nira," Mom says. "Ready to go?"
"Yep," I confirm.
"Okay then. Calico, sweetie, let's go!" She says.
"Okay!" Calico says, hopping off the couch and coming to walk next to me. I rub his little head. Such a cute kid.
Cambric Frymith –17- -D8- POV
I get to the Reaping. I see some of the other orphanage kids there, but I don't go and talk to them. Again, I don't really have friends… and besides, I don't particularly like most of them… the only person I particularly like is Nira, and she's, well, she's not an orphan, she has a good life… must be nice. I wonder if Mom ever knew what happened to us after she abandoned us. Does she know that Dad killed himself, that Rayon probably got executed? That I'm alive, but living in an orphanage, working a job that definitely won't support me when I turn of age and get kicked out? I hope she does. But honestly, she probably doesn't.
As I walk to my section, I look around to see if I can spot Nira. And I do see her, chatting with some people, like we chat sometimes. They must be her other friends.
Tiffany Teller, District Eight Escort, starts the Reaping. "Time to start the Reapings! Now, everybody, remember, only one person will be Reaped this year, but if you're Reaped, you'll tell us who you love most, so they can join you! Sound good?"
There's no response besides murmurs from the crowd. I can't imagine that people here are big on the twist, it's not exactly like anybody here really likes the idea of going to the Games. Well, maybe those kids from last year did, but… well, look at what happened to them. What's happened to everyone who's gone into the Hunger Games, apart from seventy-five people. Should be seventy-four, but there was some weirdness with one Games. Nothing the Capitol talks about, and it certainly won't happen again, but it was interesting when I looked up the list of Hunger Games Victors out of morbid curiosity.
"Okay then!" Tiffany continues, unperturbed by the minimal response. "Let's get started! The Tribute from District Eight is… Cambric Frymith!"
I feel dizzy. How can this be happening? I'm going to die, probably – in front of everyone in the entire country… my goodness, how can this be happen – I fall forward onto the boy in front of me, and stabilize myself. I guess I need to head to the stage, either that or be manhandled there… or worse. "Sorry," I mutter to the surprised boy and start walking. It feels hard to walk in a straight line, like I'm walking on stilts or a tightrope. I can only see the stage in front of me, Tiffany's terrible make-up smiling at me, and the Peacekeepers nearby, ready to shoot me in the head if I move out of line. Or, the neck with a tranquilizer dart, I suppose, they do need me alive to kill, after all.
I get to the stage. I repeat my name for Tiffany. "Who do you love most?" She asks me. Oh no. I had forgotten about this. Some of my senses return. I can't do this to her. I can't do this. I don't want to die, I've done everything I could to avoid going the way of Dad and Rayon. I definitely don't want her to die. She's so sweet, she doesn't deserve this. Well, maybe I could lie.
"I, uh, I…" I stammer, and then I see a screen with her name on it. They know… somehow, they know.
"Let's see," Tiffany says, apparently my stammering wasn't good enough. "It says here that the person you love most is… Nira Telatto! Nira Telatto, please, come to the stage!"
Nira Telatto –17- -D8- POV
When I get to the Reaping, my parents and Calico stay back as I head to the area of the main event. Chenille intercepts me though, with a smile.
"Hey, Nira," she says. "How're you?"
"Oh, hi, Chenille! Pretty good, looking forward to being done with this," I respond. "You?"
She chuckles. "Yeah, me too. Definitely looking forward to this being done, I was thinking maybe we could grab something later since we've got the day off? Grab that crab we need to take over the world?"
"Sure, sounds good, but since when do we need a crab to take over the world?" I ask.
"Since yesterday," Damask responds, popping up almost out of nowhere. "Chenille and I were talking, and we determined that in addition to the unicorn, we need a crab."
I laugh. "Hey, Damask. Okay, so why do we need the crab and the unicorn?"
"Well, so the crab can ride the unicorn, obviously!" Chenille responds and then laughs. Damask manages to keep a straight face and nods as I laugh.
Once I recover, I say, "Ah, obviously. Well then, we'll have to look into stealing one from District Four as soon as possible."
"Obviously," Chenille says. "Ideally, the crab should be named Bob."
"Why Bob?" I ask.
"Well," Chenille says, "Bob is the best name for a unicorn riding crab because -" She is, unfortunately, unceremoniously cut off by Tiffany starting the Reaping. "Ah, I'll tell you later," she says. "See ya!"
"See ya!" I shout to the two of them and then head off to my section.
I recognize the boy who's Reaped. A co-worker, we always chat when he's around – although I chat with everyone I work with, it's fun, and makes them more comfortable – he seems like a nice guy, a bit sad, but I'm guessing he's not in a great position in life. I feel bad for him, I wonder who his loved one is… he clearly doesn't want to say.
"It says here that the person you love most is… Nira Telatto!" Wait, did I hear that right? This guy loves me more than anyone? Well, I suppose, not anyone, just anyone between twelve and eighteen. Still, he loves me? I mean, he's an acquaintance, but I don't think I know him well enough to love him, or for him to love me. Maybe I misheard. "Nira Telatto, please, come to the stage!" I didn't mishear. Well, he's going to have some questions to answer, I suppose.
As I start to walk up to the stage, it hits me what's happening. I'm going to go into the Hunger Games… if I want to come back, I'll have to kill people, maybe Cambric. Well, that's… I don't want to do that. But I do want to come back, I don't want to leave my family… they didn't even pick my name, for goodness' sake!
Still, I do walk up to the stage, and repeat my name for Tiffany… wondering how this boy loves me the whole time.
"The Tributes from District Eight are Cambric Frymith and Nira Telatto!"
Emma O'Neill was happy that she was not at risk of Reaping this year, and she felt bad that she was happy about that, as she knew that many in the Rebellion still were. It would be terrible to lose a Rebellion member to the Hunger Games, but at least they had figured out the Games weren't rigged… which did mildly surprise them, although it was certainly a relief to know that they wouldn't be targeted for the horrors of the Hunger Games if they were found out… just targeted by Peacekeepers, which was only arguably better most years, but this year, getting shot would, to many, certainly be an improvement over being sent to the Arena with the person you loved most… especially since those who had even thought about inciting a Rebellion in previous years were swiftly taken care of by mutts, like Rhylee Kaski, who didn't even try to do anything, but simply was held responsible for the actions of her girlfriend.
Emma was approached by some of her friends after the Reaping to ask about dinner, to which she said maybe, she was busy, and they responded with the fact that she was always busy. She said she knew, but it was important, and after they convinced her it was always important, and reminded her that she should keep up appearances of having some kind of life, she sighed and agreed to dinner before going home and working on making the final preparations for the contingency plan. The signal was decided, now she needed to make sure that Layna and Diana, and just Layna, if needed, could do the hacking needed to send the signal across all of Panem. It was going to be another tiring, busy day for her… she wondered if those days would ever end, and had a vague hope that relied on starting, finishing, and living through an entire war.
A/N: Well, another pair, and not careers this time, in fact, an odd relationship… where do you see these two going? Also, please keep submitting your Tributes, we only need a few more! Hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you soon!
Tribute List:
D1R: Lamè Lunzdior, 18, by cupofdeathflowertea
D1L: Velvet Lunzdior, 18, cupofdeathflowertea
D2R: Candence Fellows, 18, by BeeBoo15
D2L: Foxtrot Suevite, 18, by BeeBoo15
D3R: Elara Sora, 14, by Draph
D3L: Yuna Odalis, 14, by Draph
D4R: Nerys Pacifica, 18, by Son of Arryn
D4L: Halian "Hal" Maui, 17, by Son of Arryn
D5R: Daisy Brownstone, 15, by chcolate
D5L: Matilda 'Mattie' Edlington, 17, by chcolate
D6R: Seras Axis, 15, by TheWatcherofTheVoid
D6L: Remington Axis, 18, by TheWatcherofTheVoid
D7R: Rowan Mildberg, 18, by Pengu54324
D7L: Cedar Mildberg, 15, by Pengu54324
D8R: Cambric Frymith, 17, by Dreadfulsorrow
D8L: Nira Telatto, 17, by Dreadfulsorrow
D9R: Open
D9L: Open
D10R: Gadge Paddet, 17, by Professor R.J Lupin1
D10L: Simon Hazel, 17 by Professor R.J Lupin1
D11R: Open
D11L: Open
D12R: Open
D12L: Open