Now I am the violence
I am the sickness
Won't accept your silence
Beg me for forgiveness
Raven Dragomir
District 6, Female, 18
(6 Months Prior the Reaping)
...
Twigs snap under my feet as I run through Tyger Woods. I wouldn't class it as a wood - it's nothing compared to the pictures I've seen in other districts. However, it's all District 6 has and I appreciate it a lot, it helps me remain fit with the many obstacles I can jump over and dodge while on my daily run. My long black hair slips out of it's ponytail and I come to a stop.
"Luna!" I shout and a young woman, pretty much identical to me besides from being slightly taller (5'8), runs over. "Tie it back up for me?" I ask and she nods, reaching for the small bobble that had fallen from my hair. She tightens it quickly and I smile shyly as her. "How is your training going?"
"Amazing, I love this place!" She squeals. Luna and I are twins but we have very different outlooks on the world, while Luna is always optimistic, I find it hard to think my life isn't as bad as it is. My parents both died a couple of years ago and, although, I had Luna to help me out, I've had to live a life without parents and that's really hard for me. I'd love to have a mother to tie my hair back when I need it and a father to make jokes with me whenever I feel upset but the sad reality is: I don't.
Not that my life is all bad, I have Luna of course, my brother, and an amazing friendship circle who has always helped me through the tough times. For a while, Raven and I had bounced from orphanage to orphanage until finally giving up on the system when we were 17. We moved out and built a life with each other, starting off by just getting basic foods by scourging and the occasional pick pocketing. We moved back into our old family home and fixed it up a bit.
"Come on slow poke!" Luna shouts, patting me on the head before running off into the thick dead trees of Tyger Woods, I laugh a little and then chase after her. Soon, I'm able to catch up and I'm speeding past her, while we both love sports and running, I've always proven to be a lot better at it than her. It sometimes bothers her to see me do so well but I know she shrugs it off for my sake and I love that about her.
By the time we reach the edge of Tyger Wood, we are sweating. Although we aren't hot due to it being mid-January and it's freezing outside. We've come to terms with the cold weather due to 6 only really getting hot in the summer months and we've mostly adapted to it. A lot of the time we just go running because we don't have any wood to start a fire at home and we need to warm up somehow. However, the main reason we do a lot fo training is because of the amount of tesserae we've had to take out over the years. I have taken out my fair share and so has Luna, we most likely have over 20 slips with our names in that bowl.
Ever since we each took our first tesserae, we started training everyday. We got lucky last year but this year may not be the same, we're 18 now and there's an even higher chance for 18-year-olds to get selected but an 18-year-old who has taken tesserae is the most likely person to be selected for The Hunger Games and Luna and I are now in that category.
As we walk home, I share my worries with her. "What if one of us do get reaped, Luna?" I ask and she sighs, shrugging. It's obvious that it's something she has thought about a lot recently too.
"We've trained as hard as we can this past year Raven. There's nothing more we can do but have hope." She says, turning and smiling. Her optimism is nice but sometimes I wish she would be a little more realistic for once, encouragement isn't the only thing I need to hear right now and I really wish she understood that.
"I'd volunteer for you." I whisper and she shakes her head.
"No Raven. If I get reaped, you must promise to let me go." She says sternly, shaking her head. I know it's something she would never agree to but it's also something I would never promise to her because I know I would do it. No matter what.
Darius Shan
District 6, Male, 18
(Reaping Day)
...
I quickly climb down from the tree I was just at the top of as I notice the time. I could see the justice building clock from the tree and it read 8:46 which mean 14 minutes until the reaping begins. I'm wearing a dirty white shirt and black shorts, just casual clothes. I had planned to go home and change after my walk but there's no time now.
I try my best to scrape off some mud from my shirt and then run off in the direction where my family is probably now walking to the district centre. I calculate right and run into them around 5 minutes later.
"Darius! I thought you were going to change?!" My grandma scolds as she tries to scrape off the grass stains on my white shirt. "You silly, silly young man." My grandmother is a nice woman but she is stern and strict. She likes to make sure everything is order. She is pretty much the closest thing I have to a mum, I don't remember my parents, they left when I was very young and gave me and my siblings up to my grandparents. I don't really mind, though, it's not like i need a mum or dad because my grandparents do just fine raising me.
"You know you're supposed to want to make the Capitol like you if you get reaped?" My sister, Alisha, giggles and I roll my eyes. My siblings and I often make jokes about being reaped but we never actually mean it, we're pretty much middle-class and my grandfather owns a small store in the district centre so we make enough money to live comfortably with, so we don't have to worry about tesserae or anything like that.
"I'll just charm them with my personality!" I joke, as we reach the district centre. We have about 3 minutes until the reaping starts but my grandmother wants to quickly pick up my grandfather so we run over to his store that sits just on the outskirts of the town.
"Hello my lovely family!" He cries as he opens the door for us and begins kissing each of us on the head one at a time. He is a loving and caring man, a family man - like me - he is the main source of income for our family and also the main source of laughter. He always has something funny to say or does something we all can't stop laughing at.
"Come on then, we're going to be late." My grandmother says, beginning to speed walk toward the reaping area. My siblings and I make jokes with our grandfather and once we reach the reaping, he kneels down to me and gives me a big hug.
"I love you." He says to me and I walk over to my grandmother who does the same. They both get a little bit emotional on reaping day, I guess they think it's the one thing they can't protect us from. As I get my finger pricked and slide under the rope into my area, the reaping begins.
"Happy Hunger Games!" A tall man with tinged-green skin and bright pink hair shouts through the microphone. There's the odd person that claps but most people stay silent. There's nothing happy about the hunger games.
"I am Omar Baird - your escort - but enough about me, welcome your mentor: the winner of the 10th Hunger Games...Harriet Rail!" A woman in her late 20s walks out onto the stage and gives a small wave, she stands to the side. "Isn't she just wonderful? Which lucky two will be able to join her?" He questions as he puts his hand into the female bowl.
I hope with all my heart Alisha's name doesn't come out of the bowl and it doesn't
"Luna Dragomir!" Omar shouts and there's silence for a couple of minutes before a tanned girl with sage green eyes starts making her way up to the stage but before she makes it up, another girl (almost identical to Luna) begins sprinting up.
"I volunteer as tribute!" She screams as she whispers something to her sister. Her sister lets out a couple of screams but it's useless and she's pulled back into the crowd by peacekeepers. I feel terrible for them, I can't imagine having to volunteer for my brother or seeing my brother volunteer for me. I know who I'm going to be rooting for on TV this Hunger Games.
"Your name?" Omar asks.
"Raven Dragomir." She answers, silently and softly, tears dripping down her smooth tanned skin.
"That was brave of you Raven, good on you! Now, let's see who our male tribute is..." He dips his hand into the other glass bowl and I hope (just as I did for Alisha) that he doesn't pull out Gavin - my brother's - name. "Ah! Darius, Darius Shan!"
My mouth drops open and I hear a scream in the crowd, everybody's eyes are on me and it doesn't take long for the Peacekeeper's to start pushing me out of my frozen position. As I reach the stage, Omar speaks yet again into the microphone but I don't hear what he says.
Why me?
CHECK IN: Hey, just doing one of these to see who is reading and at what point in the SYOT everybody is at. If you have a tribute, please just PM me on FFN saying "I check in for Chapter 8". Thank you!
A/N: Here's our tributes from District 6! Thank you to SakuraDragomir for Darius and Raven, I hope I portrayed them how you wanted me to. As usual, I'd appreciate a small review if you have time because they really help encourage me while writing this!
What do you think of Darius? Of Raven?
Who do you think will make it further?
Who do you prefer?
-Neb