And all those things I didn't say
Wrecking balls inside my brain
I will scream them loud tonight
Can you hear my voice this time?
Rachel Platten, Fight Song
Tahlia Windstone, 17, District 8 Tribute
On the train, Tahlia sat next to her brother, waiting to learn what they would need to do next. Of course, there wouldn't be anything official until they arrived at the Capitol tomorrow, but their mentors had mentioned that they should probably watch the recaps of the reapings when they aired later this evening.
Tahlia thought back to the moment that had changed both siblings lives- when Thomas had volunteered to enter with her. They'd talked about it before, of course, but they both had secretly hoped they'd never need to do it. Their reapings had thus far been good to them, and Tahlia had let herself think they could make it through their last reapings unscathed. Their escort's calling of the name, "Tahlia Windstone!" impossible, and a few moments later, Thomas was standing beside her on the stage.
They both knew that only one of them could make it out, if either of them made it to begin with. If Tahlia were honest with herself, she knew it would likely be neither. Though they were both fairly capable looking, they would never match the likes of Districts 1 or 2.
"So, did you have a plan when you stepped up to join me?" Tahlia asked Thomas. It came out a bit harsher than she had meant to. It wasn't that she was upset with him, not really. She just didn't want their parents to have to go through losing both of their children.
Thomas sighed. "Tal, I don't have any answers yet. We don't even know the arena. But we're better together, we always have been, right?"
Tahlia shrugged. Like nearly every other occasion, he was right. While people liked to think that, being twins, they were exactly alike, they weren't. This was a good thing, though, as together, they could do nearly anything. However, this seemed like one time where that might not be enough.
"I know that," she admitted. "But we need some sort of plan, right? Do we stay on the run, or do we hunker down and hide? Do we head for the Cornucopia, or do we ignore it and live a bit longer?"
"And we should look for allies," Thomas suggested. At her incredulous look, he said, "Only if we find someone good that we can trust."
"I think we'd be better if it was just us," Tahlia argued. "Anyone else would be conspiring to kill us the whole time."
"We don't know that for sure," Thomas argued. "But we're not just forming any random alliance, we'll make an educated choice. There could be someone out there with skills we might need."
Tahlia rolled her eyes. It was just like her brother to be both pragmatic and optimistic at the same time. "We'll see, I suppose. I'm not making any promises to accept anyone, though."
Thomas raised his eyebrows. "I know you don't like the idea of having someone else with us, but…"
"I don't," Tahlia agreed. "But, Thomas, I won't completely shut down the idea. You know me, though, I'm only friends with Maia and Tim. I'm not exactly ally material. You'll have to handle that, yes?"
Thomas nodded. "Yeah, I know that. I'll deal with the finding of allies, and I'll make sure it's someone you can stand."
A few minutes later, their escort, Mathile Ignalia, came into the main car and said, "You two should get ready for dinner, there's about twenty minutes until we eat."
She left the twins quickly, leaving them to their conversation.
"Let's just go hang out in our quarters for a few minutes," Tahlia suggested. "I'll see you at dinner."
Thomas nodded, pulling out a smile for her. "See you then."
In the train quarters, Tahlia marveled at the space she was allowed to use. At home, she'd had her own bedroom, but this was simply insane. Sitting down on the enormous bed, she thought about their situation. Over the last years, she'd started to be frustrated at the prospect that she and Thomas would be forever linked as twins. She loved her brother, certainly, but on occasion it would have been nice to be seen as Tahlia, not just as half of Tahlia and Thomas.
Thomas had essentially doomed them both when he'd volunteered, but she couldn't blame him. She would have done the same if he'd been picked. She knew that the Capitol would certainly sponsor them- twins usually pulled decent ratings as the Capitol people felt some sort of pity for them. In the end, though, at least one of them would die.
If Tahlia were honest with herself, she knew it would probably be her. Thomas was better at actually fighting, and he was more likable. She knew how to shoot a bow (due to her childhood obsession with the ancient explorer Jane Patton) but she knew that her ability was mediocre at best.
Tahlia made her decision then- Thomas deserved to live, and she would do everything she could do make sure he did. It would be a difficult job, as he would surely be planning to protect her. She would thwart this, though. She had to.
He deserves it, she thought. If it has to be one of us, it's going to be me that dies.
Thomas Windstone, 17, District 8 Tribute
Thomas paced around the room, waiting for the summons to dinner. The room that he had been given was quite nice, but he hadn't even taken in much of what surrounded him. His mind was filled with thoughts of the moment he'd volunteered.
He remembered hearing Mathile calling Tahlia's name, and seeing Tahlia walk up onto the stage, facing a crowd of people who, while possibly sad that she would be dead soon, were also glad that they and their children had been spared another year. He couldn't stand the idea of her facing that alone, and so when the opportunity came, he had volunteered and joined her up there.
He wasn't stupid, he knew that only one of them would be able to escape the arena alive. He was only hoping that, with the power of two people who knew each other so well, they could get one of them home.
He could tell that, while Tahlia was really grateful for him not leaving her alone, she also felt some minor resentment for him. She had been displaying that more and more lately, a bid to distinguish them as different people. He hoped that she could work through that and fully work with him in the arena.
Finally, Mathile opened his door and told him, "Thomas, it's time for dinner. I've already gotten your sister. Come on!"
The dinner went by quietly. Tahlia's mentor, a quiet but maternal young woman called Cecelia, told them that they would be arriving at the Capitol sometime the next afternoon. The other mentor was not around, having decided to skip the meal. Cecelia was not much older than the twins, having won about three years ago when she was sixteen.
"As soon as you arrive, your stylists will be given full control of you. You might not like some things they'll do to you, but don't resist them, no matter what. Their portrayal of you could be the difference between a sponsor finding you mildly intriguing to them finding you a likely candidate or a desirable choice to bet on."
"Is that all we need to do?" Tahlia asked. "To get sponsors?"
Cecelia shook her head. "Only one part of it. Your training scores, your personality as shown during the interviews, and your actual performance in the Games will all cause them to support you if you seem worthy."
"And how do we know if we're being sponsored?" Thomas questioned.
"You won't," Cecelia confirmed. "Not until you actually receive something from either me or Roland."
This whole sponsor business seemed like it was going to be a lot more trouble than it was worth. Thomas would be able to get some sponsors, but what about Tahlia? What would she do if she lost him, or he her? More to the point, what would their parents do without both of them?
You'll both manage, he told himself. You have to. He remembered that he'd brought this dilemma on himself, but he knew that if he'd left her, he'd never have forgiven himself.
The rest of dinner passed, and then the tribute recaps were aired.
"Let's watch it alone," Tahlia said as they started to leave dinner. "I don't feel like watching this around the others. There's a tv in our rooms, let's go there."
They went to Tahlia's room in the end, watching as the various tributes were either reaped or volunteered. Several tributes seemed like possible candidates for allies, namely the District 7 girl and possibly the boy from District 4. The District 9 boy also was intriguing, but there was something behind his expression that made Thomas a bit more wary than the others did.
"We'll see," Tahlia said when he brought them up to her after the program ended. "Like I said, I'm not agreeing to anything until I know more."
He took that as his cue to leave, and after a quick embrace, he did so. As he lay in bed, he considered everything. He knew that Tahlia could make it, but she would definitely need some extra help. He was planning on doing as much as he could, but he'd need to do exceedingly well crafting his persona for the Capitol in order to do that.
He considered what his parents were thinking as they watched the same program they had just seen. Did they think their children stood a chance against the competition that was out there? He wished they had had more than their allotted five minutes to say goodbye at the Justice Building.
"Make sure you stay together," his mother had said. "You and Tahlia are stronger together." That might be harder than she had made it sound. Over the last couple years, she'd expressed much more of a desire to be distinct from him, and it might come up to bite them in the butts in the arena. He just had to hope it wouldn't.
NOTE FROM 2022 ME: This was written almost a year ago, and I have no idea why I never posted it. I have no excuse. But in the next chapter, I will wrap this up with a small bit about what ends up happening with everyone. Stay tuned... and back to your regularly scheduled author's note.
And I'm hopefully keeping my promise! How do you like the lovely Windstone siblings, kindly submitted by MangoSmoothie06? I found it fun fleshing out their individual personalities despite being so closely linked.
I just realized I need to explain a couple of things real quick. Firstly, a note about the quickly upcoming character of Acadia from D10. Originally, she had a last name very similar to another character. I asked her submitter to give me another name, but I forgot to specify that I needed a last name so she gave me the name Acadia. I never followed up to clarify, because I am quite silly. So now I've left myself with two names to pick but no different last name. My solution? Combine them! The District 10 Female is now named Lila Acadia. You'll like her, promise!
As for the other info: I did get the two males I needed, but I never mentioned who they were or anything about them. District 10 Male is named Jedediah Stine, and he's 15. The District 11 Male is Durian Stenning, and he is 18. They are both interesting characters, and I look forward to writing them.
Now for questions!
Which character do you like more, Thomas or Tahlia?
Do you see any potential allies among the other tributes for these two?
Tahlia seems to seek independence, but will it come at the cost of losing her brother?
Thomas made the conscious choice to enter with Tahlia, but can he make good on his promise to get one of them home?