Remus Ray- District Five

I sat in front of the mirror as Blush hovered around behind me making little excited noises.

"I get to make a whole nother look for you?" she said. "This is going to be so much fun!" She started to spread out an array of colorful palettes and tubes- all the things I'd so yearningly peeked at when my mother had them out on her sink but was never bold enough to try.

"Now what sort of girl were we thinking?" Blush asked. She held a foxy red wig behind my head. "A statuesque stunner?" She replaced it with a black one. "A raven beauty?" Then a pink one. "A daring flirt?"

"Wow. I didn't even really think about that..." I'd been so enthralled with the makeup that I didn't think there was also hair to consider. I knew I did want long hair, though.

"I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start with a basic foundation," Blush said. Of course it was the Capitol's idea of a "basic foundation", so it included mascara, powder, bronzer, and a coat of neutral lipstick. My face was heavy with product by the time she was done.

"Okay, it's ready!" Blush said after applying eyeshadow to my obviously closed eyes. I opened them and just... I'd never smiled that wide in my life. I was beautiful. For the first time in my life, I saw myself in a mirror.

"And now let's finish you up," Blush said. She picked up a honey-colored wig a shade darker than my natural hair and nestled it into place. I turned my face one way and the other in the mirror, running my fingers through my new hair.

"I love it," I said softly.

Blush looked into the mirror. "Who's that beautiful young lady? It's Remus Ray! Uh... Rema? Remina? Does that have a girl form?"

"It's Raina," I said. It wasn't something Blush would understand if I told her, but at night I always dreamed of a girl. I used to pretend I could dress her up or make her anything I wanted. She was everything I wanted to be. I dreamed of Raina.


Fryderyk ZieliƄski- District Eight male

Since I had a degenerative illness and all, I couldn't train as long as most of the Tributes. After I got out of breath and it got harder to walk, I retired to the Eight lounge to strategize with Tillo.

"Sixty-five roses, huh," Tillo said, mourning something she had never even gotten to know.

"We're almost there. We'll probably have a cure in the next ten years," I said. Just not soon enough for me.

"I want to ally with someone. Is there a system or what?" I asked.

"The mentors sort of have a grapevine where we discuss that sort of thing," Tillo said. She pensively rested her chin in her thumb and forefinger. "Off the top of my head I know that Antonio, Arthur, Remus and Andrea want allies."

Remus seemed kind of nice. He seemed kind of melancholy but I can imagine why. He also seemed phlegmatic, which was perfect for someone like me. I needed someone who wasn't all energy all the time. Someone who wouldn't mind laying low and staying still.

"How about Remus?" I asked.

"Seems like a sad sack but who am I to talk," Tillo said. She dialed Erwin on the videophone.

"Hey. Does Remus still want allies?" Tillo asked.

"Yes, but there's something you should know," he said. He waved over someone offscreen.

"Hey, Remus. I wanted to see if you wanted to ally with me," I said.

Remus came into view. At least I think he did. It looked sort of like Remus' face. It just had all sorts of makeup and a blonde wig.

"It's Raina," the answer came. It wasn't entirely a surprise. Rumors passed quick in the training room and there was word Remus wasn't what he looked like.

"Oh, okay. Hey, Raina. You want to ally with me?"


Angus Pastor- District Ten male

Bambi didn't seem like he liked talking about his Games. Understandable, of course. But the best way to learn how to win was to watch how someone else won. So I found the recording and played it on the projector wall.

Cool, Bambi's kind of like me, I thought while I watched the Capitol portion on the extended edition recording. He was shyer and quieter, but he seemed like a friendly guy. He liked to hang out with Velvet and started to come out of his shell as they spent more time together. It was weird seeing him in a fabricated romance. It was weird seeing him putting on a show that he was wooing this girl who was my age in the tape but had been dead for twenty years. I was watching a ghost. I wondered what kind of person Velvet was and if her parents still cried for her.

When the Games started, I wondered how Bambi could possibly have been the winner. Troy was the obvious frontrunner, him or Olivine. Bambi just kept to himself eating the tall grass and talking with Velvet. Someone sent them flowers, too. Trust a Capitolite to send flowers instead of water.

I was glad I hadn't pressed Bambi when I watched Velvet die. I couldn't imagine. I wished I couldn't imagine. I could imagine very well, except when I imagined, it wasn't Velvet but my little brother I accidentally smothered. What did that do to a person to know you caused someone's death? It made you into Bambi, I guess.

I paused the tape. I wanted to rewind it. But I didn't want to see it again. As it unfolded, unease had swelled into horror. I felt off-balance, like gravity had turned sideways. Bambi wasn't anything I thought. Bambi won by beating a girl to death as she tried to run. When I resumed the tape, I saw how he won. I saw the funny boy with the magic trick's lifeblood pouring out the throat Bambi slashed. And then the last boy be eaten from the inside by spiders while Bambi looked for him.

I knew then. I knew how to win. Seutonius had asked Bambi, and Bambi's face looked out at me from the screen as he answered.

"I thought of them as cattle."


Raina is still listed as just "District Five" because Raina's form specifically said she's still searching and doesn't know exactly what she is or the significance of her dysphoria, so I just left it off.

Angus isn't allied with Fryderyk and Raina. I just added another POV because the chapter was short.