Shine

Chapter 14

Districts 3 & 10 Justice Building Scenes

A/N: Hello people! People, people, people, hear me callin'… Sorry, I'm writing late at night and that song popped in my head. Also sorry for the delay, I was at a robotics competition (didn't make it, oh well), and playing a new game. Anyway, we still need one (1) more Tribute before we can begin! We need the D11 Male, so get on submitting! Slots fill fast! Anyway, on to the story! …

Clear Palatino –12- -D3- POV

"We don't need separate rooms," I say.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but that's protocol. Unless you two are related-"

"We are!"

"What? You don't have the same last name," the Peacekeeper responds.

"Haven't you ever heard of step-siblings, dummy?" I ask.

"Oh. Just hold on a minute, let me check with your- with Becquerel." The Peacekeeper leaves the room, and I roll my eyes at his pretentious pronunciation of Bec's full first name. Two counts of awesome alliteration in one sentence, outstanding me. Not that how much alliteration I can sneak in a sentence in my head matters much in the Hunger Games. After all, my brain is just throwing this at me to distract me from my inevitable doom, and Bec's too. He'll probably die trying to protect me, but I don't stand a chance at winning. Maybe I should just step off my platform early, spare him trying to protect me. But no, Tributes with alliances do better statistically. We couldn't both win, could we? Maybe a double suicide threat? … no. That wouldn't work. There have been plenty of years where the two finalists wanted each other to win. But only one can win. Those morbid thoughts are racing through my head when the door opens again, and Bec walks in, with the Peacekeeper trailing behind him.

"Your family will be in in a minute," he says, and then leaves the room.

"How are you doing, Clear?" Bec asks.

"I'm okay. A little scared. How about you?" I reply.

"I'm okay. Scared too. But it'll be alright. We have each other, right?" He says. I can tell that although he thinks he's trying to comfort me, he's really trying to comfort himself.

"Right," I say, although I know it's a lie.

Becquerel 'Bec' Grey –15- -D3- POV

"Right," Clear says. It makes me feel a little better, although I know she's lying. She might win, but I won't. And I was a coward, I'm only here with her because I got Reaped too, not because I was noble and volunteered. I'll have to tell the Capitol that I was planning to volunteer if someone else's name was called. They're going to love the whole brother-sister thing, and I'm sure they will gloss over the 'step' bit of it. The door opens, and my mom and Clear's dad enter.

"Oh my goodness, Bec! Are you alright?" My mom asks, running over to hug me. Clear's dad hugs her too.

"I'm fine, mom," I say. "It's Clear you should be worried about."

"Hi, Grace," Clear says. "I'm here too. And I'm alright, Bec's just being silly."

"Oh, Clear," my mom says, and hugs her too. Laurent, Clear's father, walks over to me, and seems to debate for a second before deciding to hug me too. We hug quickly, and then he releases me, as if he couldn't get away sooner. Oh well, we were never that close.

"We're so sorry this happened," my mom says. "I… I just don't know how I can deal with this… both my babies, gone..."

"We might come back, mom," I say. "Only one of us, but still. You'll have Clear and that's good. She deserves to live more than I do."

"Now don't say that!" My mom says, then realizes what she said. "Oh, Clear honey, I don't mean that you're less valuable than Bec, just that… just that you two mean the same to me. Okay?"

"Grace, it's alright. I know you love me, but you'll never love me as much as you love Bec. That's alright, that's the way it should be. He's your son," Clear says, "and I'm not your daughter."

"Clear..." My mom says. "That's not true. I still love you."

"Yes, but not as much as Bec. You should want him to come back more, that's just natural. I would be worried if you wanted me to come back more," Clear says.

"I do love you, honey," my mom says.

"And I love you too, Grace," Clear says.

"I want both of you to come back, but… but I know that's not possible," Laurent says. "I… I don't know what to say. How… how can somebody be put in a situation like this? It's not fair. It's not fair, you hear me? It's not fair!" He's shouting at the ceiling now.

"Honey," my mom puts a hand on Laurent's arm. "Yelling at the ceiling won't do anything. Let's make sure our children now how much we love them since… since one of them won't be coming back."

"You're right, honey," he says. "I do love you, Clear. And you too, Bec." He hugs both of us again, and then my mom does too. And then we sit. Somebody tries to bring up strategy, but realizes it's a bad idea, since only one of us can win. Then our time is up, and they leave. I doubt I'll ever see them again. Hopefully Clear will.

Kayra Dawnbreeze –13- -D10- POV

I cry as I'm driven to the Justice Building. When I arrive, my family is already waiting.

"Kayra!" My mother shouts, and hugs me. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry. I love you, I love you." She's crying as he holds me tightly, only releasing me when my father gently pries her away.

"It's alright, honey," he says, then he hugs me himself, and whispers in my ear, "I'm so sorry, honey. I love you."

My older brother, Caben, comes over and hugs me. "I love you, little sis. You'll give 'em a good fight, huh?"

"I doubt it," I say, "but thanks. I love you too."

My middle brother, Maxim, comes and hugs me too. "Love you, little sis."

"Love you too," I say. Then my youngest sister, only eleven, comes and hugs me.

"I love you, Kayra," she says.

"I love you too, Hally," I say, and hug her back. She smiles at me, sadly. I can tell she's been crying.

"Mommy says you're not coming back," she says. "Is it true?"

"Belle!" My father scolds my mother.

"No, honey, I didn't mean it like that," my mother says. "All I meant is that Kayra might not come back. But she might, okay?"

"Okay," Hally says. My father is still glaring at my mother, and she glares back.

"I might come back," I say, "but I probably won't. You know about the Hunger Games, Hally. You're old enough, you're not a little girl. I probably won't come back. Honestly, I doubt I'll live longer than that Belinda girl last year." Belinda died in the Bloodbath.

"Now don't say that, honey," my father says. "You could-"

"I'm no more than skin and bones, dad," I say. "How did not taking Tesserae work out, huh? Now I'm still Reaped, and I probably won't survive. Great job." As I think about it, I start to cry. And I can't stop. I'm weak. I can't help it. I'm going to die, and I'm weak and scared, and I'm going to die, and, and, and… and… I collapse on the floor, crying. I vaguely feel my mother rubbing me, and then she's gone. And I'm gone. But I'm not. I'm still here, in shock now, not crying, just sitting there as the Peacekeepers take me away.

Kayne Lytch –13- -D10- POV

"Kayne!" Kylie shouts as she bursts through the door. She runs up to me and hugs me. She's crying, and so am I. I hold her away from me at arm's length.

"Kylie… there's something I need to tell you," I say, "but I think you might already know." As if in response, she kisses me. Deeply, passionately. I kiss her back. I always wanted out first kiss to be like this. Minus the tears and the threat of impending death, of course.

"Kayne… Kayne… I'm sorry," she says, pulling back from me to be arm's length.

"Sorry about what?" I ask. "You didn't reap me, you've never done anything wrong."

"But I didn't tell you how I felt. I didn't tell you, so you never knew, you had to hide it. We… we could have been together for so much longer than… than this," she says.

"Kylie, it's alright. I didn't tell you either. I was too afraid of losing you if I told you, you know?" I ask.

"I know," she says. "And I should have told you too."

"Let's not dwell on our mistakes, Ky," I say. "Let's focus on the future."
"Okay," Kylie says. "And don't call me Ky."

"Right, Kylie. Sorry," I say.

"So, you're planning on winning?" She asks.

"You're d-n right I am," I say.

"I've never heard you curse," Kylie says.

"Well, I've never been faced with the thought of impending death before," I say.

"Fair point. So what's your plan? Your plan to survive?" Kylie asks.

"I don't really know. I guess I'll try to find some allies, get some weapons training before the Games. I probably need to tell the Capitol about you if I want Sponsors… I'll need both a ranged weapon and a close-up one." I look at my arms. Not very strong. "Probably a dagger or a short sword then, not a big sword or ax. I'd love to get my hands on a bow if I had the strength to pull back on it-"

"You can catch me, you can probably pull back one of those Games bows," Kylie says. "And please do tell the Capitol about me if you think it'll increase your chances of winning. I want you to come home to me. I want us to be together. I would have preferred if you weren't a Victor, but- I'm sorry, that didn't sound right," she blushes. "I just mean-"

"I get it, Kylie. I know what you meant. I wish I didn't have to be a Victor either, but sadly that's the only way I'm going to be able to come home to you," I say.

"I just want to be here with you forever," Kylie says.

"Me too," I say. We stare into each other's eyes for a minute, before Kylie continues.

"So, about strategy. You said you want allies?" She asks.

"I do. I don't think I really stand a chance without them. Most of the people who win have allies," I say.

"Most of the people who win are careers," Kylie says. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sure you can win," she smiles, "because you have the best motivation of all. You get to come back to all this." She smiles and motions to herself, running her hand up and down in the air in front of her body.

"I get it," I say. "And you're right. I do have the best motivation of all." I kiss her again, and then say, "While it is true that most of the people who win are careers, that Athena girl from last year won, and she was from D11. And so was the girl from the year before last. And while Athena's ally was two years older than you," Kylie is around a year older than me, "Isabella didn't really have any allies, and Deven was your age. So it's not impossible. Just unlikely. And the odds of you and me liking each other were pretty low, the odds of me being Reaped were pretty low. So we're doing good on pretty low odds."

"I guess we are," she says. "Just don't fall in love with any of your allies, okay?" She's teasing, but I can tell that she's worried, just a little. And she's worried that I won't come back to her.

"I could never love anyone else but you," I say. "And I'll come back to you. I promise." I kiss her again. "That never gets old," I say.

"Sir, Ma'am, I'm afraid your time is up. You'll have to leave, Ma'am," a Peacekeeper says. I except Kylie to protest, to shout, but she doesn't. I guess she knows it won't matter.

"Okay. I love you, Kayne. Come back to me, okay?" Kylie says.

"I will. Love you too, Kylie. Oh, and look after Jose for me, well you?" I reply.

"Of course. See you soon, Kayne." She blows me a kiss, and then she's gone. I really want to see her again. Scratch that, I will see her again. Because I'm not going to let her go. I will make it happen.

A/N: Okay, so two more Justice Building scenes done. I only need one more Tribute now, so if you want to be the lucky one to submit the last Tribute, submit them soon! I look forward to seeing your wonderful submission! So, what did you all think of these wonderful Tributes and their tearful goodbyes? Since we've no met most of our Tributes, who is your favorite? Who do you love? Who do hate? Who do you think will win?

Tribute List:

D1M: Lustero Aldor, 17, by Yugi-Smallymcsmall

D1F: Diamond Knowles, 18, by Tyquavis (Previous character connection)

D2M: Ares Moretti, 18, by Andii99

D2F: Giselle Serpentine, 16, by Red Roses1000

D3M: Becquerel 'Bec' Grey, 15, by foxfox12

D3F: Clear Palatino, 12, by foxfox12

D4M: Falcon Lockdust, 17, by Nautics

D4F: Thia Zollis, 15, by JustAPersonReading

D5M: Emery Colt, 17, by Hawkmaid

D5F: Serena Holden, 16, by Andii99

D6M: Andrew Spayler, 15, by AspiringSteampunk0909

D6F: Harper Satin, 16, by Primione394

D7M: Aster Ochs, 17, by Red Roses1000

D7F: Vallory Stensland, 16, by Hawkmaid

D8M: Silk Daisly, 16, by IIJamesII

D8F: Rhylee Kaski, 16, by Primione394

D9M: Isaiah Lemont, 15, by edespeedy123

D9F: Athena Rye, 14, by Primrue394

D10M: Kayne Lytch, 13, by IIJamesII

D10F: Kayra Dawnbreeze, 13. by Yugi-Smallymcsmall

D11M: Open

D11F: Reserved for edespeedy123

D12M: Char Afland, 14, by GrimlyFiendishly

D12F: Camelia Lloha, 12, by Primrue394