District 4 Reapings
Zinc Skythorn (17)
Sweat pours down my face as I battle my brother. My katana clangs against his scimitar. "You'll have to do better than that, Zinc." Caspian smirks. "Remember you have to-"
"-Go for a place you think will be harder to block. Yeah, yeah." I finish. Caspian rolls his eyes but grins. He jabs his scimitar towards my thigh, but I do a somersault underneath the blade. I swing my arm out and it connects with a thump between his shoulder blades. He reflexively tries to cover the wound that he got from Sarah, when we were training yesterday, and I grab his arms. With my sword hand I press my katana to his neck, and say triumphantly, "Surrender now?" He slumps.
"No." Suddenly he knocks my feet out from under me, and I fall to the ground. Yet, I was expecting it, and I swing him behind me. I hear a crack! and realize I broke his nose.
Fuck! It's reaping day! Mum's gonna kill us!
"Ow." Caspian groans. "Sorry Cas, are you okay?" Blood pours down his face. "Great. 'Cept Mum's gonna kill us." We go to the Academy Infirmary, and they bandage his nose. "Should heal in a few days," Julia, the head nurse says.
"We should get ready, Dad gave us his old tuxes that will take forever to put on." Frig, why can't I just wear my sweatpants and tank-top?
"Yeah." Caspian says. "Why do we have to wear a tie?"
"'Coz, Mum would kill us if we went to our reapings in exercise clothes." I yank his ponytail playfully.
"I'm gonna volunteer before you, ya know." He nudges me with his shoulder.
"No you won't."
"Yeah I will."
"No you won't."
He has the top training score at the Academy. Usually when that happens, they choose to volunteer. Then another kid can come along and mess it up by volunteering.
We continue on the way home, until we run into Rachel and Sarah, two sisters, that are our training partners. Sarah is blond and green eyed, and has a fresh scratch on her cheek, most likely from training. Rachel has red hair and hazel eyes. Me, Cas, Sarah, and Ray (Rachel) are part of the few who come in the morning to train. I haven't told Sarah that I'm volunteering, because she is a major worrier, but still a fierce fighter. Rachel is more airy, and a thinker.
Cas doesn't like Sarah though, since the time she broke his arm when we were kids. Which is bad, because I have a major crush on her.
"You guys heading home?" Rachel asks.
"Yeah, we have to struggle into a tux." Cas says.
"Mom's making me wear a dress." Sarah sticks out her tongue.
"She tried to burn it but Mom caught her." Rachel adds.
I snort, since that scene is easily imaginable.
We reach our house and tell them we will see them later.
During goodbyes perhaps…
After about half-an-hour of struggling into a tux, Cas, Mum, Dad, and I walk to the Reapings. I see Sarah in the 16 year old area, and Rachel in the 18 year.
I will volunteer first I will volunteer first I will volunteer-
"Good morning everyone." Liu-Ning Chang says in a breathy voice. She's not too Capitol style, she just wears a flower print dress. "President Snow has an announcement; the reapings will be doubled; two boys, two girls. Permanently." She ducks her head and stares at the ground. She was always peaceful, and hates her job.
Then the words hit me; it was like I didn't even process them.
DOUBLED? PERMANENTLY?!
Then Cas nudges me, and I realize something.
We can go in together.
Caspian Skythorn (17)
Liu-Ning stares at the ground, but I stare at Zinc.
We can go in together.
Wait, no. Only one can come out…
But I can't stop him. And I'm going in.
I am nervous, scared, excited, worried, and a bit…
...regretful?
No, that's stupid, I've been training my whole life for this! I love Zinc but I can't hold back.
"I-I…" Liu-Ning falters. "Sorry. Er… well, the first male tribute is…" She grabs a paper from the thousands of paper strips. "Robert Halleck."
"I volunteer as tribute!" Zinc shouts. Robert is Susan's brother; which makes him volunteer all the more quickly.
"No! Zinc!" Susan shouts and tries to run to him but Peacekeepers hold her back.
"Well, what's your name?" Liu-Ning asks. "Zinc Skythorn." He says into the microphone.
"That was a brave thing to do, Zinc. Anyway, the next male tribute is...Posideon-"
"I volunteer as tribute!" I shout at the same time someone screams "NO!" I shrug, I have no clue who it was. It doesn't concern me.
"Er, come on up then. What's your name?" Liu-Ning asks when I get to the stage.
"Caspian Skythorn." I say proudly.
"Ah, 'The Twins'." She says, recognizing us by our largely used nickname.
"That's us." I say winking towards the cameras. Chivalry. Good way to get sponsors.
But when I look at Zinc, he looks as if I had punched him.
Nemo Valentine (18)
I struggle into my reaping outfit, a light, glittery, blue dress, with a white jacket, tights, and light blue shoes. My mother is a tailor, and she helped me make this. Well, more like I got the fabric and she put it together.
I look in the mirror. I still look the same. Broad nose, widely set eyes, thin lips, and my bright red hair down to my shoulders, that usually sticks out crazily, but my mother found a way to smooth it.
I sigh, hoping that me and Poseidon (my boyfriend) will be able to walk to the reapings without trouble. Me and him are probably the most bullied kids to ever walk the streets of district 4.
I walk down the stairs, my mother has made toast with shrimp on it. It's our special meal, we make it on big days like Reapings, birthdays, and exams. It tastes surprisingly good.
I grab two pieces, and give her a hug. "Love you."
As I walk out the door, she calls back, "Love you too, Nemo!"
My mother is about as beautiful as it can get. We get along well, despite her no-nonsense demeanor.
Poseidon's house is just around the corner, and he's waiting outside his house. He's been my best friend since we were little, and a total nerd about the Hunger Games. He helps me train, about what to expect (and not expect) when you enter the arena. I bash dummies with my club, and he spouts useful survival skills. We make a good team.
We've been dating for about two years.
"Hi Posey." I say.
"I told you not to call me that." He snaps. But I can tell he's just stressed about my volunteering.
Poseidon pushes his thick glasses up. "Your odds are pretty high of winning, you've trained hard and long at the Academy and you're in second place." He says.
"Yeah, second. How'd I get beat by that twelve-year-old twit?" I growl.
Some kid who joined the academy stole my title. Apparently she's the daughter of two doctors who were both victors. My only way to get back at those jackasses who bully me and Poseidon, and she snatched it away. She'll probably take away my shot at being a tribute, then victor.
Just because I've never killed before doesn't mean I'm not prepared to. I'll come home to my mom and Poseidon at any cost.
I shake my head to rid myself of the raging thoughts. Poseidon takes my hand. I smile. and we walk to the reapings.
Brekit "Brek" Wenslie (12)
I am throwing a spear at a dummy; my mind is blank. Just the quiet hum of adrenaline and the targets on the dummy are all I notice. I pull my arm back and throw the spear.
It hits the target on the stomach, and fake blood spills out. I flinch. Get over it Brek.
You have to focus. Soon it will be real blood. If you can't handle what's real, you won't make it out.
I sigh, and pick up another spear. It's a different style, wider handle and thin blade. It should be thin enough…
I imagine my personal trainer telling me, tilt it a bit, okay…, back a bit further, now!
I throw the spear and it enters through the "eye" of the dummy. Blood spurts out, but less than last time. I walk over, and examine the spear. If it was a real person it should've gone to the brain.
I yank out the spear and throw it in the pile of others. I walk up the stairs, and into the kitchen. It's sick, honestly. Having a personal training center in your basement. I go to the academy and yet I have one. My parents really want me to win, carry on the family legacy. All I want is to be myself, a self I haven't even discovered yet.
On the kitchen table is crabcakes. My mother and father are gone. Probably already at the reapings; they're the mentors. A note reads: Volunteer quickly our little victor! See you at the reapings! ️ Mom and Dad
I sigh and open the fridge. I grab the bottle of relish and squirt it all over the crabcakes. Mom and Dad hate it when I do that, so I only eat them like that when I'm alone. I chew silently. My thoughts swarm my head. What if I can't do it? What if no one sponsors me? What if I get attached to someone?
"STOP IT!" I scream. I push my breakfast away. I feel like I'm going insane.
I go upstairs to my room. Everything is neat, clean, organised, and chosen by my parents. I'm basically a captive; held in a prison. I sigh, and put on my reaping outfit; a white dress cut off at the shoulders and knees, and black stockings, chosen by my parents of course.
An idea suddenly hits me. I find the scissors, and as an act of defiance, cut a slit up the side of my dress. I'm too angry to care about what my parents will say. I put the scissors away and walk out the door. I start walking the few blocks to Pistin's house. He's my only friend and can be an arrogant bitch when he gets mad. Otherwise, he's nice and gave me my nickname. Although he's the only one who uses it.
Suddenly I feel someone watching me. "Hey there shrimp." A voice growls. "Fuck" I mutter picking up my pace. It's Drew, the Academy bully and my personal torturer. He's been out to get me since I gave him a scar during training. Why didn't I bring a knife? I break into a run. I'm pretty agile and fast, but so is Drew, even with how broad-shouldered he is. I stumble over a shoe (Where the heck did that come from?) and as I try to catch myself, Drew comes up to me. "Trying to run away, are we?" He shoves me.
I scrape my knees on the concrete and wince. There's holes in my stockings now, but I don't care.
"I was going to get Stupid Fish and Nerdy Trident, but then I saw you." He pulls out a knife. I kick him in the groin.
As I scramble to my feet, I see Pistin a few yards away. I mumble a "Hi" and we jog away from Drew. "If I had a spear that Jacka*s would be dead." I grumble.
"Oh, Brek, you're fine." He says ruffling my hair. "Quit acting like I'm 6!" I say pushing his arm away.
"Fine, fine."
"What the!" Someone shouts. Liu-Ning has just announced that the Capitol has doubled the number of tributes permanently. Eh. Now that Nemo girl and I won't have a dispute about volunteering. We can just both go.
Chang Lady reaps the first two boys; The Twins volunteer, but I kind of zone out. Only after Nemo shouts "I volunteer as tribute!" Do I come back. She walks to the stage. "What's your name?" she asks. "Nemo Valentine." She says, twisting a lock of hair in her hand.
Liu-Ning grabs another strip of paper. "Lavender-"
"I volunteer!" I shout. I make sure my mother and father on stage see the cut in my dress. I snort, seeing them quietly fume. "I'm Brekit Wenslie."
"Well, these are the victors of District four!" Liu-Ning says as we shake hands.
-x-
Thank you Nautics, DefoNotAFangirl, and Ihaveacupofnoodles for the tributes! Slots open:
D1 Males, All D2, All D3, D5 Male and Females, D6 Males and Female, D7 Male, All D8, All D9, All D10, D11 Males and Female, All D12
Sponsorship Points
(BTW if you submit a tribute through a review, you only get the points for the tribute)
*Nautics: 35 points
*IIJamesII: 45 points
*Pacecca: 45 points
*Solento: 10 points
*Jayfeather's Friend: 30 points
*DefoNotAFangirl: 10 points
*Beaverdude: 15 points
*jdawg6739: 5 points
*NA (Guest): 10 points
