Beauregard 'Beau' Faran,17, District 7 female
Dozens of screams roar out as we see two participants in the ring beating the living hell out of each other and one yells right into my ear causing me to lash out and punch her square in the face. She immediately drops to the floor and doesn't budge.
"Watch where you're screaming next time ass wat!" I shout through the other dozens of voices and look back into the ring with my arms crossed as one of my students is now starting to get overwhelmed and tagged by numerous blows.
"Move your head dammit! Block you dumb ass! Come on! Counter his jab you ass knot!" I yell over everyone else but he doesn't take any of my advice and is dropped by a big left hand causing me to sigh out loud.
"Uhh Beau, you know you just knocked that girl out right? My friend Sylvan reminds me and I only shoot him an annoyed look.
"I don't give a shit! Take her to a medical ward or some crap if you care so damn much!" I scold him and look at my student slowly make his way back up to his feet as he's nearly counted out by the referee but does a fighting stance and presses on.
"Uhhh ok, I'll take her to the medical ward…can you help me move her?" Slyvan only glances at the unconscious girl.
"Fuck no! My student is in there getting the holy hell beat out of him and I'm gonna beat his ass even more if he ends up losing!" I fire back at him.
"Uh…so should we just leave her here then?" He suggests.
"Well duh! But you can stomp on her face a few times, not like she'll know it was you when she wakes up!" I joke and he only sighs.
"Oh, these jokes again..." he mumbles. He's not a huge fan of my dark jokes but that's even more of a reason why I like to share them with him anyways!
My student gets dropped once again and I let out a loud sigh.
"Henry, I am going to stomp a mud hole inside of your ass if you lose this fight, so get your ass up and knock this fucker out!" I yell while cupping my hands over my mouth and I see Henry do a small nod as he stands back up at the count of 8 and resumes his fighting stance.
When I think back, being in this underground ring is really one of the few things I can remember.
I have distant memories of my parents, them just getting high and beating the shit out of each other while I hid in my room, holding my newborn baby brother in my arms just trying to shield him away from the chaos, they eventually put themselves out of their misery and me and my brother were both sent to a community home afterwards. We had to be moved around to several different ones though cause eventually one of the girls will say something to me I didn't like, and they were found unconscious with a giant knot on their head shortly afterwards.
I've gotten into quite a lot of fights cause I really don't take any shit. Don't expect me to stand around and argue with you for a half an hour, no fucking way. Say something I don't like, prepare to get layed out!
Sylvan took note of my fighting skills and suggested I join an underground fighting ring and I thought it was a great idea, why not release some stress and do what I love while also making some money in the process? I rose through the ranks, easily knocking anyone out of my way but it dawned on me, the gap between us and careers were ridiculously wide. It frustrated me to no end that outer districts have to bust their asses and try to get a little training done in secret while those fucking careers can just do it in the open as they please and that lead me to become a trainer.
I want to pass my knowledge and skills down to whoever has the misfortune of being sent into that arena, even if they died, I still found some peace knowing I prepared them as best as I could. That fucking capitol though. Hate them with a fucking passion and I gladly share this with my students. They see things from my perspective and it strives them to work even harder than they already do!
Henry is about to get dropped again but at the last possible second he ducks under a hook and pops back up with a vicious uppercut that immediately sends his opponent to the floor asleep. The referee doesn't even bother counting, this fight is over!
"Yeah that's what I'm fucking talking about!" I cup my hands over my mouth.
"Owww you're hurting my ears!" a girl in front of me whines.
"Oh shut the fuck up!" I hiss at her and she only gives me an insulted look before turning back around.
After Henry's arm is raised, he exits the cage and I cross my arms again as I approach him.
Henry is 16, I've only been training him for a few weeks but he catches on quick. We both have a similar upbringing and he isn't the strongest, but he always has so much heart, knock this guy down a million times and he'll get up a million and one times, guy doesn't know when to quit and I respect that!
He's pretty beat up at this point and his entire face is swollen with blood coming out of his mouth and nose but he still smiles.
"You know I was ready to kick your ass if you even thought about losing this fight right?" I remind him.
"That's why I couldn't lose! I see that power you pack, wouldn't want to take one of those blows from you!" He laughs.
"For good reason too, still that guy was undefeated, stormed through anyone in his path and, you got him out of there, not bad Henry." I commend him doing a smirk.
"Means a lot coming from you, that also gave me enough courage to…ask you out for dinner!" he suggests and I raise an eyebrow at him before bursting out laughing.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry that was just so corny!" I continue laughing and he starts scratching his head.
"So uh..that's a no?" He nervously asks.
"I'm your teacher dammit, your teacher, but shit after that ass whooping and still managing to win, yeah you deserve a meal. Don't try being all romantic though, that shit is just cringy as fuck. I'm the one paying!" I make myself clear.
" A man with a lot of pride such as myself can't a have a woman paying for my dinner…" he mumbles and I shrug my shoulders.
"Well then don't come?" I suggest and he only sighs.
"Ok fine, you can take me out…" he states.
"Tomorrow night at 10, take a nice shower and put some ice on that face for now though, ciao!" I see myself off and he nods looking both happy and disappointed, well you can't have your cake and eat it too!
I meet back up with Sylvan and he's grinning at me.
"The fucks with you?" I eye him up and down.
"Oh nothing much, just didn't think anyone would like you enough to actually ask you out on a date!" He giggles.
"Oh shut the hell up, how about you get laid then come talk to me!" I fire back at him.
"Hey you know I'm saving myself for the right one!" He reminds me.
"Yeah yeah, that's what they all say, now let's get some take out, I need to get back to my lil bro." I state.
"Lead the way ma'am" he gives a bow and I cringe before playfully punching him in the body and he lets out an overdramatic wail of pain as he falls to his knees but laughs it off afterwards.
"Such a clown, come lets go, unless you want me to drag you by your fucking ear!" I offer and he jumps back up to his feet.
"Nope, nope! Wouldn't want that!" He straightens his posture and I snicker as we head outside. Sylvan is one of my bestfriends and was the first person I met at the community home we stayed at. Acacia is my other bestfriend, She's a rebellious trouble maker just like me while Sylvan is the level headed one. The three of us rotates "babysitting" duties for my younger brother Al who's 13 and today was her turn.
We stop at some rundown looking restaurant but their food is still good so that's all that matters to me, I get several orders of chicken stew with rice and Sylvan begins reaching into his pocket to pay but I glare him and he casually backs away to let me handle it. I got enough money through my "profession" to buy a small place for me and my brother while Sylvan and Acacia are roommates and share a place together.
"Sooo Beau, you gonna look all dolled up for your date tomorrow? don't get me wrong I like the ripped jeans and tank top you got going on along with that undercut hairstyle but yeah…" he states.
"Call it a date one more time and I'll stick my foot inside your ass and exit it through your mouth!" I threaten.
"Very…explicit imagery." He mumbles.
"Going just like this though to answer your question, I'm not out here to impress anyone." I enter my key into my keyhole and open my door where Al is crashed over a sofa while Acacia is in the kitchen blasting some terrible music and dancing, using a spatula as a microphone.
"Someone is having way too much fun…" I comment and she jumps before spinning around.
"Shit didn't even hear you guys come in, pretend you didn't see that! How the fight go?" She hops over to me.
"Wasn't pretty, but he got the job done." I shrug.
"Yeah he even scored a date with Beau!" Sylvan laughs and I kick him in the behind causing him to jump up in pain.
"youch!" he shouts and Acacia laughs.
"Not a fucking date though, just treating him to a meal, that tough son of a gun deserves it." I reiterate.
"I bet you're gonna have your first kiss!" She jokes and I playfully tackle her to the sofa as we begin wrestling each other but I get the upper hand and that's when Al wakes up.
"huh, what the?" he yawns and I jump off Acacia and slide over to him.
"Hey little brother!" I put my arm around him and he only rolls his eyes.
"You know Beau, I don't need a babysitter. I'm 13 for crying out loud, I know you love me but sheesh it's pretty overbearing…" he admits.
Yeah I probably am a little too overprotective of him, just can't help it though, he's my brother, and I'll always have a soft spot for him…
"Zip it youngster, you're not a man till I say you are, now lets eat, we have to be up early tomorrow!" I state and we all sit on the sofa together beginning to sort through the food. Here I am with my brother and two bestfriends, it's times like these I need to savor.
Azazel Pinestone,16, District 7 male
"Azazel…hello? Uh hello?" I hear a distant voice and I let out an exaggerated yawn.
"C'mon Azazel!" the voice speaks slightly louder and my eyes slowly open to see a female looking over me.
"Oh...uh Stacy right?" I yawn again.
"Wow you remember my name…but yeah you need to go, hurry!" She rushes me and I start getting my thoughts together as I try and remember how the hell I even ended up here.
"Well of course I remember your name, it ll be hard for a man to forget a beautiful woman such as yourself!" I I run my hand across her curly ginger hair and she blushes.
"Such a charmer, now you need to get out of here before my dad walks in and puts you in a wheelchair." She warns me but I only laugh it off.
"come on, surely I can rest here for a few minutes more right? This bed is comfortable, very comfortable and that's why it's such a fitting bed for a woman of your stature, just look at those crystal blue eyes, that curly ginger hair that smells like fresh shampoo and conditioner, those kissable pink lips, that chest I can get my head lost in, those thighs that'll make any man go crazy, that soft tender skin that-" I'm suddenly cut off when she puts a finger on my lips.
"As good looking as you are, you talk a lot!" She scolds me and I sigh.
"Yeah maybe I could've summed all of that up in fewer words, but c'mon lets sit back for a bit and see the future!" I kick my legs up and rest my hands behind my head.
"The future?" she questions looking as confused as ever. I barley knew this girl, heck I only had to say a few nice words to her while I was going to the grocery store, for her to invite me back to her room but nothing crazy happened, just wanted to talk and get away from my family for a bit.
"The future yeah, I want to be something big, like a peacekeeper or a game maker. Hey you know what? I want to be the president of panem!" I blurt out and apparently she finds this funny and begins laughing and I'm somewhat offended.
"That was funny?" I frown at her and she continues laughing.
"That was a joke right? You being the president of panem or a peacekeeper? I mean that is just so ridiculous!" She continues giggling and I feel anger rising in me before i roll off of her bed and begin putting on my sneakers.
"Hey…did I say something to offend you? It was a joke right?" She apologetically asks but I'm not having it.
"You're just like them, just like them! You know what I don't even care, goodbye." I see her off.
"Azazel wait!" she calls to me but Ignore her and open her door but I nearly bump into a gigantic middle aged man who's glaring me.
"Oh my…dad it's not what you think!" Stacy tries to explain and I only give him an odd look, I'm trying to figure out if he just happened to be passing by or if he was actually here the entire time listening through the door, none the less though. He doesn't seem very happy, like at all.
"What were you doing with my daughter!" he growls and swings at me but I easily duck under him and dash away as Stacy still continues trying to convince him that nothing happened and I mean that is true, but is he going to actually believe that?
Anyways I make myself out of this house and start making my way towards my own place using shortcuts I have memorized. I know the ins and outs of this district so if I need to sneak or just get somewhere quickly, well that can easily be arranged. I didn't like being home a lot to be honest, we just don't see eye to eye since they don't respect my interests. For example, Panem in general interests me. The politics, the atmosphere, just all of it and it inspired me to be something great. When I say stuff like I want to be a peacekeeper, a game maker or even the president, I mean it.
My parents though, all they ever do is crush my dreams. Just remind me over and over that I'm from an outer district and that I can forget about achieving anything in my life. I'm going to prove to them though that just because we're from an outer district, it doesn't condemn me to any fate, if you work hard enough and have faith in yourself, you can achieve anything you set your mind to!
"Azazel!" I hear Lilith shout as I'm casually walking down a quiet route back to my home.
"Hey there Lilith! How's life treating you?" I grin at her.
"Where were you? I've been looking for you like everywhere! Did you spend the night at another random girl's house again?" she puts her hands on her hips narrowing her eyes at me.
"I have the right to remain silent!" I immediately reply.
"You know that's like the same as admitting you're guilty right?" she informs me.
"Why were you looking for me though, something happened?" I change the subject.
"Yeah totally change the subject but no, not really. Just wanted to see how my buddies were doing, got anything planned after the reapings, other than laying in some random chick's bed?" She mocks me.
"Oh please, I'm just a friendly person, cut me some slack!" I whine, yes I'm a flirt but I can't help that I always say the right things.
"Yeah, yeah whatever, well we're going to Jasper's place later, I declare movie night!" She demands.
"Well as long as I get to choose the movie this time, I slept all the way through that last movie." I yawn.
"Well you're staying up this time, you think about sleeping and I'll just pour a bucket of cold water on your face!" she threatens me.
"Well that'll be unpleasant…" I admit. I knew she wasn't joking either, she was dead serious, she's done it before after all.
"Hey let's go grab some breakfast, on me. Guess we can head to the square afterwards, don't really feel like going to that house of misery right now.
Lilith and Jasper are my best friends, known them ever since I was 5 and they've always been there to pick me up and put me back together whenever I broke down, I loved them. My home life is just two pessimistic parents who crushes any dream I hope to achieve while they overwhelm my brother with praise and positivity causing him to work harder and harder, just trying to better himself each time, I pity him honestly, but I probably pity myself even more.
"You'll never be anything!" I hear my father's voice and I shake the thought out of my head, what if he's right, what if both my parents are?
"You suddenly got very quiet which is quite unlike you, what're you thinking about?" Lilith brings my mind back to reality.
"Oh…nothing. Let's get some oatmeal, and eat in the park like we always do!" I smile.
"Me and you think alike!" She cheers and we give each other a high five.
Once we get our oatmeal we take a seat in the park, and see numerous families walk by us, people are already starting to head to the square but I'll take my time, haste makes waste after all.
"So you ever thought about your name being drawn?" She suddenly asks.
"Well yeah…all the time, it's kind of scary but at the time, you know the capitol always interested me, I can see myself playing to the crowd, entertaining them, giving them a reason to cheer for me, Maybe I can even start making some of these dreams come true!" I look up at the sky.
"Yeah, that's a good way of looking at it." She responds.
This is what I liked about my best friends. They didn't laugh or give me a crazy look when I expressed interest in having a career in the capitol, they supported me, they believed in me, and that goes such a long way!
"Well guess we should get going, in the blink of an eye we'll be late." I finish up oatmeal and toss the bowl in a trash bin.
"Yup, lets go pretty boy!" she jumps up to her feet and we head out.
Several people shoot me odd glances on the way there, I try to ignore them but I just can't help but wonder what they're thinking, it frustrates me just imagining the stuff they're thinking about me! Other than my best friends, everyone in this district are just a reflection of my parents, probably just thinking how hopeless I am, how I'll never amount to anything…
"Quiet again, what are you thinking about now?" Lilith once again brings me back to reality.
"Uhhh, nothing much." I lie and after we get to the square and get our fingers pricked, we go our separate ways. Jasper is a year younger than me so he's not in this section with me and all I do is gaze down at the ground as I can feel numerous eyes burning into me, just stop looking at me, stop looking at me!
Once Sharkman is done wiggling across the stage like a moron. He squirms to the female's reaping bowl, heavily out of breath and plucks a name out of the bowl and takes another deep breath before speaking again.
"Beauregard Faran!" He breathes heavilly, What, Beauregard!?
"What the fuck!? Like really!?" I hear her shout in anger.
I know her! She was in my school for a few days but got expelled after knocking some chick's lights out, I hear she became some sort of underground fighting champion, not sure how true that is though, she's tough though I'll give her that.
"Fucking rigged ass reapings!" She storms out from the seventeen year old female's section. She has olive skin with gray eyes, stands a little taller than an average female and is sporting a black t shirt with ripped jeans. Her black hair is also styled into an undercut which I find pretty cool but she marches onto the stage and crosses her arms continuing to curse aloud.
Sharkman is too terrified to ask for volunteers so waddles over to the male's bowl and pulls out a name.
"Azazel Pinestone!" He announces and I blink several times, what? Was I just reaped? I I have to play it cool though, just keep my cool and save the tears for later.
I put on my most confident face and walk towards the stage still feeling so many eyes glued onto me, dammit just stop looking at me! I bet they're thinking right now how I'm not going to stand any chance, how I'm just going to be another casualty but I ball my fists. I'm going to prove them wrong, every single one of them!
"No volunteers I assume?" Sharkman asks as I reach the stage and Beauregard only gives me an irritated look before looking away from me, does she think I'm weak too?
After no one volunteers like always, it's now official, I'm going into the arena…
"Well here's our tributes representing district 7 this year, shake hands you two!" Sharkman shouts in joy and I extend my hand which she immediately grabs and holds firmly, and I look into her fiery eyes as they burn into mines, I'm honestly a little terrified…
We're then escorted towards the justice building, I probably am going to need some kind of alliance and Beauregard is strong, real strong. I ought to get on her good side.
"Hey Beauregard right?" I try to make conversation with her as she storms ahead of me.
"The hell do you want?" she hisses at me.
"We…used to go the same school, remember me?" I ask.
The only time we ever interacted was when she snatched a pencil out of my hand in class saying that she needed it more than I did…
"Not at all so you must be pretty irrelevant." She nonchalantly states.
"You borrowed a pencil from me, well more like took but yeah…" I continue on.
"Listen whatever you're trying to do, it ain't working, so piss off!" She glares me before storming off again.
"Your eyes are beautiful!" I shout as she marches ahead of me but she ignores me, playing hard to get huh? Well time to use my magic!
Please welcome our two tributes for district 7! I had a ton of fun writing these two and can't wait to start writing out the rest of the characters. We have such a diverse and interesting cast just like before so I'm really excited to bring these characters to life! I want to thank all of you guys for your reviews, it is because of you that my writing is constantly improving as i absorb all of your feedback and strive to better myself more! I literally drew a district from a hat and just started writing and it's pretty fun so I'll be doing that again! See you guys soon though, till next time!