Open Arms: The 56th Hunger Games Chapter 4: Introductions 4, a hunger games fanfic

(trigger warning for parental abuse in Thalia's POV)

Dieter Weiss, 12

District 5 Male

A thunderstorm was brewing outside. Rain lashed against the roof and wind made the windows rattle. Leaves were being tossed about, just like Dieter's thoughts. His first reaping was tomorrow. Would he see his mother there? Would she recognize him? Did he even want to see her? Would he be reaped? Would Sparky and Julia care if he was reaped?

Something heavy landed on his leg, and a cold wet nose pushed against the back of his knee. Despite his anxiousness, a smile crossed his face and he pulled his blanket back, allowing Buddy to climb under the covers with him.

When Dieter and his brother Solaris were first taken in by Julia and Sparky, they brought the boys to the local pound to adopt a dog. Something about bringing the old family and the new family together. Buddy had been there the longest, and Dieter had insisted on adopting him. He rarely pushed against his foster parents, but he was adamant that they had to get Buddy.

Since then, the elderly dog had been his faithful companion. Whenever he was sad or anxious, Buddy was there to comfort him. When he cried, Buddy would lick his face and whine, and Dieter felt that he'd be alright in the end.

Lightning flashed outside and Buddy burrowed deeper. Dieter rubbed his ears, thinking back to the night his dad left. It was raining, and Solaris, who was just a baby, was afraid of the thunderstorm. His mom was asleep, tired from… something. She never explained what made her so sleepy, but Dieter always knew it was deeper than just normal tiredness.

It was almost ten, the time his dad came home from work, and he was ready to go to bed. His eyelids were drooping, and he probably would have fallen asleep on the floor if it wasn't for Solaris's screaming. But he never came.

Solaris finally quieted down, but Dieter stayed up. He wanted to see his dad come home. Dieter never slept that night. And in the morning, when the rain stopped and his mom had woken up, he was still gone. And he never came back.

The next year was… decent. They lived together as a little family. And then their mom couldn't afford to keep paying rent. Then they lived wherever they could. And then they couldn't live at all. His teacher told the Peacekeepers he was dirty and underfed. He hadn't seen his mom since.

Buddy started snoring, bringing Dieter out of his memories. He flipped his pillow to the cool side and watched the rain drip down the windowpane. Solaris was snoring in the room next door. He could hear Julia murmuring in her sleep as well. He could remember his mom doing the exact same thing.

Family was hard.

Marcus Taylor, 18

District 7 Male

A bell rang loudly, making Marcus wince. He'd been trying to get a nap in. After all, prison beds weren't the most comfortable and when your bunkmate is a serial snorer, you don't get much rest. The bell meant that it was lunchtime, so Marcus hauled himself up. His cell door opened and he made his way to the common area.

District 7 had a fairly large prison. Many inmates came from different districts to be held here. It was the third largest, he'd been told, besides the ones in District 2 and District 11.

Marcus didn't care either way. He'd broken out of several smaller jailhouses before landing here, and while he hadn't figured out a way yet, he was determined to get out.

Lunch was the usual; some sort of canned bean slop and slightly stale bread. He let the Peacekeeper plop it onto his tray before finding a corner to sit in. No one ever sat with him. After all, he was District 7's most notorious ax murderer.

But today, a short man with a bald head sat down across from him. Marcus raised an eyebrow but didn't greet him. However, the guy grinned at him, showing off his crooked teeth.

"Hey man," he said. "Wanna hear a joke?"

"No," Marcus said firmly. "Now shut it before I bash your head in." But the man ignored him.

"Why do trees hate riddles? Because they hate being stumped!" He started cackling like a madman and nearly fell off the bench. Marcus just got up to move tables.

"Hey, wait!" the guy called, trailing after him. "I've got another. What type of tree fits in your hand?" He reached over and grabbed Marcus's shoulder. Marcus clenched his fists around his tray.

"A palm tree!"

Marcus turned around quickly, punching the guy in the jaw. He flew backwards, falling on his butt. Marcus followed it up with a swift kick to his ribcage. The man groaned and Peacekeepers began to rush forward, but Marcus was faster. He slammed his booted foot down on the man's head, crushing his skull.

Something pressed into his side and electricity burst through his body. Marcus groaned in pain as a Peacekeeper zapped him with an electric baton. He clenched his jaw and made himself turn towards the Peacekeeper. He punched him, knocking his helmet halfway off before two more Peacekeepers grabbed him, wrestling him to the ground.

Marcus writhed, managing to knock one of them off, but the other pulled his arm behind his back and pinned him down with a knee on his back. Another baton electrocuted him and darkness clouded his vision as he passed out.

Thalia Caerwyn, 16

District 10 Female

Thalia stood at the base of an old oak, running her hands along its graying bark. It seemed like it would hold, but ever since her fall last week she was being extra cautious. She'd only obtained a few bruises and a scratch on her forehead, but she couldn't afford a large injury.

Carefully, she tucked her knife into her boot and began to climb, effortlessly finding handholds and footholds. When she was on the ground, she could worry. But up in the trees, her confidence returned.

Perching on a branch, Thalia drew her knife again, watching the forest beneath her. A small pack of wild dogs used to live in this part of the woods, and she was trying her luck. Hopefully, if she killed one, Lynette could sell the extra meat in town.

Thalia had been living with Lynette for seven years. The two were closer than anything, and Thalia trusted the older girl with her life. When she first ran away, she was only nine, and lost and scared and alone. Lynette understood what Thalia had suffered through, and took the little girl under her wing, teaching her everything she knew. Now, Thalia was just as much a master hunter and forager as Lynette was.

A soft howl reached Thalia's ears and she scanned the forest floor. A small wild dog pup was limping towards a clump of bushes. Thalia narrowed her eyes. Had it been injured by someone else already?

But as the pup laid down to lick at its paw, no one came. So Thalia took aim and threw her knife. It sank into the pup's head, killing it instantly. She scrambled down from the tree and made quick work of skinning and gutting her catch. Then she wrapped the good meat in cloth and tucked it into her game bag.

The sound of voices reached her and Thalia looked around wildly before darting back up the tree, just in time to avoid the two people appearing from the bushes.

"I swore I heard a howl," a blonde boy said. He looked to be in his early teens, and was the spitting image of the sunburned man beside him. Thalia instantly recognized them.

Though she didn't know their names, she and Lynette had become familiar with their competition. A pair of poachers who sold animals as trophies instead of meat, and threatened the lives of the animals the girls relied on.

Lynette taught Thalia to hunt and forage responsibly, to not take too many of one species lest it die out. These poachers had no such qualms. They took everything in sight without remorse.

"Must've come from somewhere else," the man said. "Come on, we don't have much more time until the sun sets and you know how your mom gets."

"She worries too much," the boy grumbled, making his father laugh loudly.

"Yes, she does. But she makes an amazing stew, so let's get moving."

As the two of them went back the way they came, Thalia let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. If they had spotted her, she had no idea what they would have done. They seemed to be gone, but she waited another several minutes before climbing back down from the tree.

Back at the small campsite she and Lynette had set up, she set her game bag down and joined the older girl by their campfire.

"I saw the poachers again," Thalia told her. Lynette looked up from where she was peeling some roots and frowned.

"Close by?"

"Not really."

"Well, we still might need to move our camp again. Let's be ready."

Thalia nodded. While her parents were gone, either dead or in prison, Lynette's were still around, and would most likely unleash hell on her if she was ever found. Both girls had been violently abused as children; it was something Thalia would likely never get over.

As Thalia began to cut up the wild mushrooms Lynette had foraged, she reflected on just how lucky she was to have found her friend.

Fallon Blake, 18

District 11 Female

The sound of quiet sobbing woke Fallon from her sleep. She sat up groggily, listening for a few more moments to pinpoint the sound. Her suspicions were confirmed when a louder wail rang through the house. Her mom was crying over Foster again.

Her brother died three years ago, and their mother had never been the same. Sure, losing your firstborn was tough, but Foster knew what he was signing up for when he started an underground group of rebels. Fallon always thought it was foolish. The Capitol held all the power. They couldn't change that. Foster's death proved it.

"Is she crying again?" a soft voice asked from beside her. Fallon laid back down and turned to face her sister Karya.

"Yeah," she said. Karya shut her eyes and Fallon watched a small tear trace down her cheek.

"I miss her," she said softly.

Fallon knew what she meant. Their mother was gone, replaced by a shell of a woman. But Fallon couldn't bring herself to care in the way Karya did. District 11 would never stop causing misery. The sooner everyone accepted it, the better.

She rolled over so that she couldn't see Karya cry and instead stared out the window at the sun rising. It was the day before the reaping, and she had to work overtime at the canning factory to make up for the time she had off tomorrow.

Karya climbed out of bed first, poking Fallon with her foot to get her up too. Grumpily, Fallon rolled out of bed and began to fold their blanket in order to tuck the bed away. Their old sofa could fold out into a bed; that's where the girls slept, while Isak and Carter had their own room. Still, she'd rather sleep on a sofa than with two teen boys.

While Karya started on breakfast, Fallon stepped outside. It was already warm, signaling a sweltering day ahead. Another one of the joys of District 11. Three sweaty Peacekeepers marched by, and Fallon leaned against the porch rail, trying to look inconspicuous. The Peacekeepers in 11 would heckle you for any reason they could come up with. Another District 11 perk.

But these three passed by without glancing her way, which was shocking. Peacekeepers usually kept an eye on the Blake family, ever since Foster died and got dozens of other citizens arrested or killed. They were a family of outcasts now.

Isak said no one spoke to him or Carter at school, and the teachers never called on them. Fallon dropped out of school a year ago, but her experience had been similar. No one wanted to be associated with the Blake family, despite Foster being the only rebel. Karya had a crush on the boy next door, but it would never work out. His uncle had known Foster, and was now in prison.

Everywhere she went, bad luck seemed to follow. At least she'd accepted it. Karya, Isak, and Carter still had some hope. And while Fallon could respect that, she also knew it wasn't realistic. It was naive to hope for something different. This was who they were.

Hey everyone! Here's another chapter. I've been having fun writing lately, and I've had a lot of free time, so I've been working on this SYOT and Chaos Reigns quite a bit. In this chapter we met Dieter by LadyCordeliaStuart, Marcus by wiifan2002, Thalia by averyrandomauthor, and Fallon by recklessinparadise. Thank you all for submitting!