Cartier Pyrite, 17, District One

Five months before the reapings:

Cartier runs a hand through her short-cut hair. Thirty seconds later, she does it again, and again, and again. It has become somewhat of an obsession. She scratches her jaw and feels her jawbone, which gives her face its angular structure, protrudes out. Quiet little hums escape her perfectly shaped lips as she walks alongside her sister, Glitter. The two of them are making their way to the academy. It truly is a beautiful day and the sun shines high up in the sky, illuminating the clean, marble streets.

"Would you stop that," Glitter says abruptly, interrupting Cartier's daydreaming.

"Stop what, sister?" she gives Glitter the biggest smile she can muster.

"Singing. It's annoying." Her sister starts walking faster, leaving Cartier behind.

Cartier tries to ignore her sister's rudeness because deep down she likes to believe that Glitter does indeed love her very much but she's too embarrassed to admit it so she masks it under hatefulness.

That is what Cartier does, she tries to find the best in people even if there is very little good to be found.

When they arrive at the academy, Glitter leaves her sister behind immediately to go and train with her friends.

Taking out a box of chocolates from her backpack, Cartier puts on a big smile and frolics around the training center, offering little chocolate pralines to the other trainees and trainers.

"Wow, thank you, Cartier! You're so nice"

"You just made my day!"

"They're so good, where'd you gettem?"

Cartier giggles. She loves it when she makes people happy. She loves it when they thank her. She loves it when they love her. It is why she does everything in life. There is no person in the district who doesn't like Cartier… even Glitter. Glitter has to love her own sister, right? There's no way she doesn't love Cartier. There can't be. Everyone loves District One's beam of joy.

Cartier gives a quick glance to her sister but all she can see is the fury in her eyes. No matter how hard Cartier tries to convince herself that that person, her dear sister, actually loves her, she can't forget the constant abuse.

Glitter struts elegantly to her sister, holding a dagger made of oranian Steel. It's a beautiful and deadly weapon, the hilt covered with small rubies and a big gemstone in the middle that shimmers, catching Cartier's attention every time. Her parents gave it to her for her 18th Birthday. It's supposed to give her luck. Cartier's whole family depends on Glitter being picked as the volunteer this year. She's been overworking herself more than she usually did to get that spot. As a matter of fact, everyone has been working really hard to get chosen for the Quell.

"What are you doing?" Glitter grabs Cartier's shoulder and squeezes it but Cartier keeps on smiling. She has to.

"Everybody has been tiring themselves so much lately so I thought I'd bring some delights to the Academy. Want one?" Cartier offers her sister a praline.

Glitter scoffs and squeezes her sister's shoulder tighter. "You really think I'm just as stupid and foolish as the rest of these idiots, no my dearest darling sister, I don't buy your golden girl act and I never have. Your desperate grab for attention has become a miserable sight to behold…" she squeezes even harder, making Cartier wince. "Yes, you might be the darling at home, the sweet little pea, the frail snowflake but I will crush you and your façade when the moment is right. When I come back from the Games as the true victor our District needs, nobody will remember the pathetic girl that used to smile her way through the day and give sweets to strangers. You'll be forgotten.

"Y-your hurting me…"

"Good, I want you to feel my pain, I want you to know what it feels like to – "

"Mrs. Pyrite, don't you have somewhere to be?" Alby, Cartier's instructor, warns Glitter.

Immediately Glitter releases her grip from Cartier.

"Of course, I'm terribly sorry. We were just having small talk, weren't we, sister?"

"Y-yes of course, hehe."

And with that Glitter struts back to her training station.

Cartier is hurt. Not by the actual physical pain or by what her sister said but because she was right. Cartier always knew that her sister was the only one who noticed her desperate longing for appreciation, how Cartier craved love although she had enough of it at home… maybe it was selfish or maybe it wasn't. Maybe it reveals something about Cartier that she, herself, doesn't even know.

Alby is waiting for Cartier at the target station. Picking up her favorite weapon, the crossbow, Cartier positions herself at the marked, 'X' on the floor. She lifts the weapon to her eye level, focuses on the target, waits until her hands stop shaking and, finally, pushes the trigger. The arrow cuts through the air and hits the target.

Bullseye.

Alby claps. "That's my girl! Always had a talent for hitting your targets from afar, didn't you?" she laughs. Cartier can't deny it. She really was talented with the crossbow. She did know how to use a bow and arrow and throwing knives but the crossbow was by far her favorite. Her preferred close range weapon was the spear but if it was between that and a crossbow, she'd still pick the latter.

"Thank you, Alby," Cartier says with a hint of sugar coating in her voice. She knew she was never going to get picked for the Games but she didn't mind. At least her sister would get what she longed for and, who knows, maybe Glitter would come back from the Games as a new and improved person and maybe the two could finally have the sisterly bond Cartier always dreamed about.

Cartier has already known her district partner, Brycen, from before they were picked for the Games so she was happy to see him as her partner. The two of them were never extremely close but she was always nice to him and he returned the kindness.

"Cartier! Good to see you," he greets her properly once they enter the train, enveloping her in a big hug.

"I'm glad we're partners, to be honest," Cartier admits. She's seen his archery skills and they are out of this world. She doesn't quite understand how he does it.

After the two of them ate and talked and discussed some plans with the mentors, Cartier headed back to her cabin. It's quite a small room and yet modern in its own way. She turns on the lights. A big window next to her bed gives her an amazing view of the outside nature. Guessing by the many pine trees, they should be passing by District Seven now.

She lies on her bed and brings her knees close to her chest. She lies there a while longer like an embryo.

She's going to have to kill people to get home. She's a career. It's expected from her. She hasn't really ever given a lot of thought to killing people, what it would feel like or how it would affect her. Quickly, she pushes the thought back into a dark corner of her body where she likes to store all of the negativity and the pain. There's no space for pain. Not in her life. She wonders for how long she'll be able to store all of these emotions until she can't hold them anymore.

Brycen Rosenthal, 18, District One

Five months before the reapings:

Stepping out of his family's mansion, Brycen breathes in the fresh morning air. The aroma of roses and tulips and orchids and fire lilies protrudes into his nostrils. He cracks a smile as he watches the peacocks strut through their backyard. Brycen approaches their collection of rare and exotic flowers. But it is not the Hydrangea his eyes fall on, or the Gloriosa, or the Kinabalu Orchids, but The Queen of Sorrow. The rarest flower in all of Panem. He absorbs its beautiful scent and rolls his eyes with pleasure.

His father, Drake, has quite a lot of money in District One but he hasn't gotten the one thing he truly desires: A spot on the Capitol Council. It's been his dream to become a powerful politician in the Capitol and Brycen can't blame him. Everyone loves power. Brycen does too.

The reason why they have as much money, here in One, as they do is that Brycen won the lottery six years ago and his life changed after that. Not because they had more money but because it was the beginning of a streak of good fortune. Of luck. He doesn't know why it happened but after that day Lady Luck was by his side, or no, she grabbed his arm from that day on and led him to where he is now and he willingly, no, blindly followed her because he knew she'd never abandon him… and she never did.

"Breakfast is ready, son," his stepmother, Lorelei, called him. She was like a real mother to Brycen and he was like a real son to her.

"Coming, mother!" before turning away from the flower garden, he gave the Queen of Sorrow one last look.

The dining table, covered with huge plates of eggs, sausages, scones, pancakes, cheeses, and fruits, was a beautiful sight to behold. Brycen loves his life.

His father is reading the newspaper while Lorelei brings one last plate to the dining room.

"Eat up!" she shouts with glee.

Immediately, Brycen covers his plate with piles of food and devours it like it was his last meal on earth. He gulps down his coffee and pours the orange juice into a bottle which he puts in his bag.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down, would you? You're going to choke on the food, honey." Lorelei smiles at him.

"Sorry, mother, I'm late and my trainer said he'd give me detention if I wasn't on time. The food was delicious, thank you."

Before Lorelei had the opportunity to answer, her son was already gone.

Brycen walks down the hill to the academy. It's only ten minutes away so he didn't have to hurry too much. Brycen became increasingly popular in his District for being the ace. He was gifted, everyone thought. They all admired him but he also saw the envy in their eyes and he loved it. All of them thought he was a prodigy and they all wanted to be just like him. Everything Brycen did was effortless because he didn't actually have to do anything. It was like the day he went fishing with his father and accidentally caught the extremely rare Ongoro Fanata Fish. It just looked like a normal fish to him but when he went to sell it to the merchant, he looked at Brycen with big eyes and from that day on, he was known as the fish whisperer. A silly name but Brycen didn't mind. He never minded as long as he seemed special to everyone. It was all luck but they didn't know.

No one could know about Brycen's secret relationship with the lady of good fortune.

"Hm, you're on time. For once," Obelisk, his trainer, said. "Go to the target section and get warmed up until I get ready."

Following Obelisk's instructions, Brycen makes his way to the targets. The target range was outside during summer so the trainees could get some fresh air while training. Right on time, the wind blew, giving Brycen his signal. Now is the time. He pulled the string back and released his grip on the arrow, firing it so that it hits the center of the target.

It was awfully quiet and Brycen soon realized that he had a little audience. The two boys, Caleb and Brom, were whispering about him, he could tell. Mirabelle was eyeing him closely. She was the one he liked to impress the most. Cartier was the only one jumping up and down whilst clapping her hands. She was a sweet and bubbly girl and he did enjoy her company but once she'd open her mouth and start to talk, she wouldn't stop until you found an excuse to disappear.

Now that he has himself an audience, it's time to put on a show. Brycen picks up three arrows and walks away from the target until he's got about fifteen meters distance between him and his mark.

He shoots one arrow but instead of shooting it at the target he shoots a bit to the right so that it seemed like he'd missed. The two boys start to giggle, actually believing that he'd not done it on purpose. Smartasses. He trusted in the Lady and he knew she'd be there and she was. The flying arrow started to curve mid-air as the wind seemed to steer the arrow in the wanted direction until finally, it hits the bullseye. The two boys, mouths wide open, staring at him in disbelief. Ah, Brycen loves himself. He can see the envy all over their faces.

But he's not done yet. Brycen shoots the other two other arrows directly at the target. The first arrow also lands bullseye, splitting the already existent one in half as it makes its mark while the third arrow does the same to the second. Mirabelle gives him a slow clap while Cartier continues to jump all over the place.

Slowly but arrogantly Brycen walks over to the two boys. "Don't laugh until it's over, ok buddy?" he says with a cocky grin, patting Caleb on the shoulder while he ruffles Brom's hair. "Well, I gotta go but it was so nice of you two to stop by and learn from the best." He knew he was pushing it sometimes but he couldn't care less. They all looked at him like he was a god.

"… yes I see what you mean, Cat, but I honestly think we should start talking about the Games," he interrupts Cartier during her long speech about why she thought dogs were better than cats.

"Oh, right, oh my god, look at me, talking again, like I always do. Sorry, I'm such a clutch. I'm just so excited, aren't you? I mean– "

"Cartier."

"Sorry."

"So, this Quell's twist makes things quite unpredictable for us. I hope you know that. Although both of us were picked randomly, I for hubris and you for exuberance, I think both of us are quite skilled fighters so we should have no problem. My worry is, however, about the other careers. Because of this twist, many were chosen that usually wouldn't qualify. I've watched the reaping recap and the only other strong looking career is the girl from Two. The boy from Two doesn't look like he could kill someone and the pair from Four are quite young although the girl does have some fierceness in her. What I'm trying to say is that it might be easier if we didn't join the careers because-"

"Can I suggest something?" Cartier interrupts.

"Of course, Cat."

"I think it's a bad Idea to judge a book by its cover. I suggest we first meet the careers and see how well they fair and then we can decide if we want to stay or now. Deal?"

"Deal."

The two of them shake hands.

Hey, there people! So, here we've met Brycen and Cartier. Two characters I like a lot! I'd like to thank Paradigm and Romeo for sending these two lovelies in and I look forward to exploring them more in the future.

I have one spot which I have opened up and that is the District 8 Female. If many submit I'll pick the best but if only one person submits, you are the lucky winner! Deadline: 12th of March. You can send me a notification if you plan on submitting but need more time! You can also find lore on my verse on my profile. So check that out if you want to. Nothing important just for fun.

Anyway, I'd like to thank all of you who have reviewed every chapter so far. You guys truly are amazing and I love reading what you think about the characters! For those who haven't found the time yet: I don't expect a big review or anything but just a sign that you're following because it keeps me motivated. So do try and get a review in. ( It also strengthens the odds of your tribute doing well! ) :D

Anyway, what do you think of the two? Who do you prefer? Who do you think will survive longer? Could they be potential victors?

Peace out dudes and I'll see all of you next time with another introduction chapter!