TW: Some slight transphobia in Eric's POV. Disclaimer that I don't agree with it and it's just for his storyline.
The price of your greed
Is your son and your daughter
What you gon' do
When there's blood in the water?
Nick Rain
District 4, Male, 16
(7 Months Prior the Reaping)
...
"Oh no! The midget is gonna get us!" One of the boys joke as I sneer at him. "I would fight him but how could I steep so low!" Another laughs. It's common for bullies like these to think they can pick on me but they should have learned by now that there's always consequences.
"Surely you should all know that I'm one of the best trainees from the academy to date." I tell them, calmly, they snicker a little but a couple of them have a new sense of worry in their eyes.
"Oh yeah, and what could you do to us? We're four times your height!" The tallest one in the front of the pack shoots back. All I give back to him is a small smile and, without anything more said, I rugby tackle him with ease and pin him to the floor, he struggles but my strength beats his and he eventually gives up.
"If you think for one second you can pick on me, think again." I say through gritted teeth and suddenly hands start dragging me off, I shoot my leg out and it lands square in the stomach of one of the boys attempting to tug me. I roll over and the boy I was pinning down stands up, backing away, but I'm not done there - I need to make sure these boys have learned their lesson. I front handspring right into one of the boys, pushing him to the floor and, without any hesitation, I push another one over the boy now lying on the floor. "You stay out of my way and I stay out of yours." I say one last time before turning and walking back in the direction of my home.
My home is just on the outskirts of the district-centre, we're not rich but we're not poor either. My father alway says we're middle class but I hope to change that by volunteering and winning The Hunger Games, however corny it is, my family mean a lot to me. My house is around a 10 minute walk from the academy so it's easy for me to walk there and back every day.
Soon my home comes into view. It's always a comforting sight to see it's painted-white walls and black door, waiting for me to open it and enjoy the safety of it all. I notice a couple of people standing outside and, once I get closer, I recognise them as my two best friends - Damion and Sheldon. Damion is first to see me and waves.
"Hey little demon." He says, ruffling my hair with his hand, my quick reflexes slap it away and he laughs. He's always called me little demon and it's kind of stuck over the years of our friendship. I nod hello to Sheldon, who is much more reserved than Damion, and he nods back with a small smile.
"What's up?" I ask, they hadn't mentioned coming around to my house when we were at the academy earlier and I find it weird that they just decided to show up. Sheldon looks to Damion and Damion looks to Sheldon, both smiling and I can see the excitement in their eyes.
"Well...as you know, the academy has started thinking about volunteers for The Hunger Games." Sheldon says and I nod, it's common knowledge. "Damion and me did a little, uh, spying and we overheard Mrs Markle saying you were the best fit!" My resting face forms into a smile, I'd always known this day would come but I had never guessed it would be so soon.
"You must be one of the youngest to be chosen! Usually they're around 17-18." Damion exclaims patting me hard on the back. Whether it's true or not, it is a great reassurance for me and I know that if I don't get it this year then I'll get it next year. With this new-found information, I'm ready to work harder thane ver at the academy to ensure I can make it out of that arena as a Victor.
I wave goodbye to my friends as they leave and I enter my home, the smile still stuck on my face. I can't wait to tell my parents the news but I'm especially excited to rub it in Scarlett, my younger sister's, face.
Finally I'm going to have my chance to shine and show people that, despite my height, I will be one of the best victors of all time.
Eric Ridley
District 4, 'Female', 18
(Reaping Day)
...
I roll out of bed, grunting as I fall to the floor. Today is the day I'm supposed to volunteer and, although I'm excited, I'm also dreading it. I still have very mixed-feelings about the academy putting me in for the female spot, as much as I want to be in The Hunger Games, I don't want to risk my identity for it. I've worked for respect so much throughout the years after coming out as transgender and now it feels like they're trying to throw that all away.
I sigh as I dress up in the dark blue tuxedo that Kaia, my older sister, had laid out for me last night. Kaia has raised me for as long as I can remember, my parents died when I was young so she's the only family I've ever really had. The whole reason I'm volunteering today is because she believes my late parents would want me to and that belief is what keeps me going, I want to make them proud.
I sit down on a small stool facing a large, blank canvas and begin painting my heart out, I don't have a whole lot of colours due to them being very expensive. I must say, I am a very good painter, even though that won't help me in the arena it is one of my biggest strengths.
"Come on then!" Kaia shouts from downstairs and I quickly finish up the painting. It's nothing much, a swirl of colours topped with more swirls. Like a huge tornado of happiness. I smile and stare at it, hands on my hips, with pride before making sure I look presentable one last time and run downstairs to meet an impatient Kaia. "Well, are you ready?"
"I haven't trained for years not to be ready." I reply and walk out of the front door. My house isn't much but it's good enough for two people to live in and that's fine with me. Kaia follows behind me, continuing to shout tips and telling me how I should always smile for the cameras and to mention her in my interview. "Could you just be my sister for once? I want a 'you can do it' every now and then or a 'i love you'."
"I'm helping you! You don't want to let Mom and Dad down, do you?"
"Of course not and I won't, you'll see." I shoot back, walking faster toward the reaping. I rarely get annoyed at my sister but I hate how all she ever talks about is The Hunger Games. Sometimes I really need to talk to her but she's never up to talking to me. I needed her when Ari broke my heart. As soon as I think about Ari, I see her standing in the reaping as clear as the sun. She looks incredible and the memories start to flood back, she had played with my heart and hurt me. She had almost broken me.
I stand, stunned by the sight of her. Every time I see her, I feel the pain and the heart ache that came to me when she told me she had never loved me and I feel my heart slowly fall into two all over again. However sad I feel, I don't let the tears drop from my eyes, I have to show her I'm stronger and that she can't break me and that's exactly what I'm going to do by winning The Hunger Games.
"Get in line then. I'll come say goodbye after you've volunteered." Kaia scolds, pushing me forward in the line to get my finger pricked. I look away from the place where Ari stands with her latest boyfriend, the more she kisses him the more pain I feel.
"Finger." The peacekeeper shouts, bringing me back to reality and I hold my finger out for him to prick it. After he does, I walk over to my sectioned area - head held high. This is my moment and there is no way Ari will take that away from me. A few minutes later, a lady with bright blue hair that is styled in two big buns on top of her head, exits the Justice Building. I remember her from previous reapings, it seems she has a liking for District 4 because she's been escorting us for a couple of years now.
"Hello everybody. Good to see you again, I know you all remember me but it's polite to re-introduce myself especially to the new little ones!" She giggles and winks toward a few 12-year-olds near the front of the stage. "My name is THE Alexandria Oconnor, yes yes, the one and only. Now to introduce your mentors, who I escorted to victory 2 years in a row... Cora Hurley and Maya Tides!"
The two of them enter the stage, holding hands and nodding humbly. They are very well known throughout District 4 for being some of the best Victors we've ever had and for, of course, bringing Victory to us 2 times in a row. The crowd goes wild with applause for a few minutes before being quieted by Alexandria. "Let's start with the male, shall we? Spice things up!"
She reaches out to the male bowl and plucks a small slip from out of it, she's continuously staring at us while she keeps looking down to read it. "Now who do we have here...Tayson Mayweather!" She announces but before she can finish, a small boy with dark brown hair shouts the famous words,
"I volunteer!" Before he runs up to the stage, the crowd claps for him and cheers. I recognise him as the male tribute, Nick Rain, it had surprised me that he had been chosen so young but his abilities are truly astounding. They do the usual volunteer introduction before moving onto the female tribute. I know I have to do this but I'm starting to regret it, I am not a female so why should I be positioned as one?
"Our female tribute is Yama Kane!" There is a minute of silence before I decide to finally volunteer and shout the words. It's a lot more to me than just volunteering for The Hunger Games, it feels so out of place for them to be putting me here. I walk up to the stage calmly as the crowd cheers behind me. "And your name?"
"My name is Eric Ridley and I am a male. Don't think for one second you can call me the District 4 Female, thank you." The crowd goes silent for a minute until myself and Nick are pushed into the Justice building by Alexandria.
A/N: Here's District 4! Sorry for Eric's long POV, there was a lot to unpack there so I had to overstep the 800 word limit a little bit but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Thank you to TacoPhoenix88 for Eric and wiifan2002 for Nick! It was a lot of fun writing them.
Are either of these tributes winner material?
What do you think of Nick? Eric?
Who will make it further?
- Neb