Chapter 2: Moment of Fate - The Reaping & The Journey to the Capitol
A/N: A new chapter is here. My name is LegendBeast9O, the author of this fanfiction, even though I'm stating the obvious here. Enough of my rambling, let's go.
LittleMermade - Thanks for reviewing, and offering an idea for the next few chapters. I hope I won't disappoint you with the next few chapters. I'll be reviewing your next chapter as it comes out. Mark me excited for your next chapter.
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! WARNING ! Long chapter ahead, because I decided to mush two chapters into one.
Location: District 12, "The Seam"
It was time. It was the morning before the reaping… the morning I would only have to survive two more times if I got lucky. My brother was still asleep, so I had to wake him up. So, I had to shake my brother awake.
"Aiden. Aiden! It's time for the reaping. Wake up!", I groggily said to the sleeping figure. Aiden mumbled back to me:
"Just five more minutes…"
"WAKE UP!"
"OK, OK! I'm awake!"
Aiden finally woke up, his hair a mess. We both went downstairs to meet up with my mother and father, who dressed up both myself and my brother after we washed up. I was donning a gray dress shirt, a belt, and trousers. My brother's outfit was the same, except his dress shirt was a pure white. After that, it was time to leave, to an uncertain fate.
Location: District 12, District Square
I trudged along the path to the Hall of Justice, where the reaping would take place, like it does every year. Usually, it was sending two innocent teenagers from our district to die in the Hunger Games, of course. A very select few have defied this rule, like Katniss, our second-most recent victor, who actually volunteered for the games. I grasped the hand of my 12-year-old brother, Aiden, guiding him to his very first reaping. We arrived at the Justice Building, where the dreaded reaping took place. It was the place where pretty much two people from our district were sent to their deaths. There was a rather large crowd, and it looks like most of the people have already gotten in.
I walked Aiden up to the 12-year-old section and said, "Aiden... meet up with me at our 'usual' spot after the reaping, okay?"
Aiden nodded without saying a word and slowly made his way into the 12-year-old section, his mop of brown hair eventually merging with the crowd, until I couldn't see him anymore. I made my way up to the 16-year old section, and watched as our escort, Effie Trinket, made her way up to the podium. She'd been doing this before the time of Katniss Everdeen winning the Third Quarter Quell, and oddly requested to stay with District 12, having been an escort to a mere two victors in the span of twenty-five years. In the poorest district who's only had four victors in a century's worth of Hunger Games, that's actually quite impressive.
The Mayor did the routine boring speech that he recited every single year, at each reaping. I only really listened on my first reaping, and now it's so drilled into my head that I now know it by heart. It was too drawn out, giving some backstory on our country, explaining the need for the Hunger Games, and so on. After that, it was Effie's turn to speak, and she has remained virtually unchanged since she started escorting District 12 tributes over a quarter of a century ago.
"Welcome, welcome! As we celebrate the 100th anniversary and the 4th Quarter Quell, District 12, are you excited?!", asked Effie, who is wearing a black dress with red highlights, and wearing a matching black wig with red highlights. Was it supposed to represent District 12's industry? If it did and wasn't a coincidence, props to her. She's one of the very few Capitol people who I could respect. The rest of them are just crazy, and likely don't realize how stupid they look to the districts.
This, of course, elicited no response from me nor any of my other fellow potential tributes. Effie ignored the silence and kept speaking.
"Now, let's list our previous victors from District 12. The winner of the 10th Hunger Games, Lucy Gray Baird! The 50th Hunger Games, Haymitch Abernathy! The 75th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen! The 90th Hunger Games, Lukas Sirius! Let's give a round of applause for our victors!" screeched Effie over the microphone.
The three remaining victors stood silently behind her, the 66-year old Haymitch not drunk for once at a reaping. The now middle-aged Katniss also sat stone-faced, emotionless, her eyes hardened. Lukas' face and his merchant features stood him out from the rest of his fellow District 12 victors, and he remained emotionless. Once again, Effie elicited no response from any of us, and she was the only one clapping. The rest of us gave our signature three-fingered salute to them.
"Now, it is time to select one brave young man and woman to be given the honor of representing District 12 in the 100th annual Hunger Games, and the 4th Quarter Quell. Of course, ladies first.", Effie declared in her usual bubbly and exuberant tone.
Effie walked over to the girls' glass ball, reached in, and after waving her hand in the ball, she pulled out a slip of paper, after what seemed like an eternity. She finally returned to her microphone, unfolded the slip of paper, and read out the name on the slip.
"Iris Nilo!", Effie's voice rang out.
I recognized that name immediately. This girl had an older brother, was pretty popular at school, and for good reason. Of course, it was her looks. If anything, she might have a shot due to that attribute. But then again, this was my district: District 12, the poorest of all the districts, and of course, the district that held the great honor of having the least victors - living and overall. Of course, it was the place where you could starve to death in safety. The Peacekeepers here were pretty lenient, more than District 11's, or so I've heard. I'm good friends with her older brother, so he's likely extremely upset about Iris being reaped.
Iris walked up to the stage like a zombie from the 17-year-old section, her legs still quivering after she took the stage. She was trying to put up a strong front, but she was failing pretty miserably. It was clear that to me she was thinking she had zero chance of surviving. After Iris took the stage, Effie walked over to the boy's reaping ball.
"Now, the boys.", Effie said as she dipped her hand in, sifting through multitudes of paper slips.
I waited for the moment that Effie pulled a slip out of the boys' glass ball. I held my breath, hoping Aiden nor I was picked.
"Aiden Orion!", Effie read from the slip of paper.
Oh no. This was what had me worried. I made sure he did not sign up for tesserae. Even then, that wasn't enough? He had a meager slip of paper in that glass ball! This was unbelievable. I was…
While I was lost in my thoughts, I suddenly spotted Aiden's recognizable messed up mop of hair moving towards the stage. Without even thinking, I rushed out of the crowd as he walked up to the stage. Two Peacekeepers tried to restrain me, but I pushed through them and shouted the thing only one other person has said in the history of this district's reapings:
"WAIT! NO! I VOLUNTEER! I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!", I screamed as my fellow District 12 brethren looked at me like I was a nutjob. At the back of my head, I thought that was probably true. When it came to the Hunger Games, family ties only went so far.
"Rain, no, you can't! Don't!", Aiden begged me as I began walking up to the stage and past him. He kept screaming and thrashing, until Leo Nilo, Iris' older brother, came in from the 18-year-old section, dragged him away and brought him to our weeping mother, likely thinking about my now impending death. Leo then returned to the 18-year old section without a word.
"Well, it appears that we have a volunteer, District 12's second ever volunteer, to be precise. What's your name, dear?" Effie asked me, holding the microphone to my mouth so everyone could hear.
"Rain Orion.", I responded shakily.
"Well, Rain. I'm sure that was your brother, was it not?", Effie asked.
"Yes. Aiden is my little brother." I replied.
I glanced over at Aiden and my mother, who were both crying their eyes out. My heart was about to shatter into pieces. I glanced over at the three victors who were standing to the sides, who had different looks on their face than when the reaping began. Haymitch had an eyebrow raised, and a small smile on his face. Katniss was wide-eyed with a shocked expression on hers. Lukas looks at me, with an unreadable expression.
"Well, talk about déjà vu. This reminds me of something…", Effie trailed off before looking over at Katniss, who had regained her stone-faced and emotionless composure. Effie then smiled.
"Congratulations to our two tributes representing District 12! Now, you two, shake hands.", Effie said encouragingly. I shook hands with Iris, who was still quivering. I looked over at the crowd - the three-fingered salute was up in the air.
Effie then led us and the victors into the Justice Building.
Location: District 12, Justice Building
The Peacekeepers guarded the doors as my whole immediate family came in through the doors. My father, my mother, and my little brother. Even my old grandma came in as well. To my surprise, Leo, Iris' older brother was there. He spoke first.
"Rain… friend, either you or my little sis has to come back, alright? Promise me.", Leo demanded.
"...Yeah, I swear it. District 12 will have another victor this year.", I said back to him. I hope that wasn't an empty promise…
After Leo left to see his sister off, my father spoke next.
"Son… I know you can do it. Do it for us… I can't bear to lose another one…" said my father as he trailed off. He was clearly talking about his deceased sister, who died in the 76th Hunger Games, when she was reaped to go. She died on the second day, to that year's victor.
"Rain, my baby... I… better see you win and return home, got that? And I want lots of grandchildren with the girl you'll be winning with.", my mother said to me. I blushed a little at the thought.
"Yeah… mom, I'll try to win.", I replied, but said nothing about the Quarter Quell twist she was referring to. Another empty promise that I didn't know if I could keep.
"Big bro… if you don't win… I… I…", Aiden trailed off, not able to say anymore, returning to my mother's side. I nodded at Aiden. If I didn't come back, I don't know what I would say to him if we reunited on the other side, if there was the other side in this world.
"Rain...my grandson... Remember that this… year… is a...", my grandma said to me before being cut off by a Peacekeeper. I already knew what she wished to say though. This year, District 12 would produce another victor. Whether it would be me or Iris, only time would tell.
A team of Peacekeepers came in and started escorting them out, saying time was up. With that, Effie came in and escorted Iris and I to the train station, where we met up with Katniss, Haymitch, and Lukas. Haymitch and Katniss were the ones who would mentor us, and Lukas had to come along due to being a victor.
Location: Capitol Train
Haymitch, Katniss, and Lukas left Iris and I to our own devices after entering the train. After a minute of silence, Iris spoke to me.
"...We should watch the other reapings.", Iris said to me, breaking the silence.
"Why?", I replied.
"We could use it to look for allies, and assess the Careers as well."
"Alright, let's do it, then. It'll be good to have an idea of the tributes."
I plopped down on an obnoxiously luxurious settee, grabbed the remote, pressed some buttons, and the TV turned on. Iris sat down next to me, sitting close enough so I could smell the scent of… flowers? I tuned in to District 1 first, deciding to go in the order of the districts.
Iris Nilo's (D12 Female) P.O.V.
I sat next to Rain as he tuned into the replay of District 1's reaping. The escort in the video looked stereotypically Capitol, with the absurd fashion choices.
The escort had a slip of paper, but before she could even read it out loud, a girl shouted out…
"I volunteer as tribute!", the girl shouted out.
Nobody challenged her to volunteer, and it was revealed that her name was Velvet Ritchson, daughter of Gloss Ritchson, who won the 63rd Hunger Games, and niece of Cashmere Ritchson, who's the sister of Gloss, and won the 64th Hunger Games. Glad to see District 1 hasn't let up on their ridiculous names. It wouldn't be difficult for her to earn sponsors with her silky blonde hair and sea blue eyes. The escort then shouted out the name of the boy who was to be reaped.
"Vulcan Prisma!"
A stocky, muscular, and rather handsome 18-year-old boy with blonde hair and green eyes came forth. He'd be a certain threat in the arena. To my surprise, no one volunteered to replace him. Rain looked equally as shocked, but he went on to District 2's reaping.
The escort read out the reaped girl's name:
"Lucia Kirhart!"
A girl from the 14-year-old section came forth and started making way to the stage, but a voice rang out from the 16-year-old section, with the latter girl volunteering to take Lucia's place, pushing past the Peacekeepers.
"What's your name, darling?", the escort asked.
"Sophia Kirhart. Lucia is my cousin.", the girl replied.
I look over at Rain to see what he thinks of Sophia's volunteering, at Rain has a smile plastered on his face. Due to me looking over at Rain, I didn't see the boy from 2 come up to stage, nor did I know if he volunteered or not. His name is Cyrus Rankine; he has jet black hair and brown eyes. He also looked bulky, muscular, and tall, I'd say around 6'2". Rain remarked that he might be related to the 73rd Hunger Games' victor, Wade Rankine.
District 3's tributes don't look anything special, but District 4's tributes do stand out. The boy is named Adrian Bismarck, who lunged forth to volunteer amongst the 18-year-olds, even before the escort reaped the boys. He stood around 6'4", from a glance. The girl's name was Aileen Kendari. She's a 15-year-old girl who is tiny compared to her partner. Districts 5 and 6 don't look like much, but District 7's tributes look interesting.
"Acacia Mossalia!", their escort rang out.
A 14-year old girl comes walking out. She has straight brown hair, and looked rightfully scared. The only people who have won at 14 years of age are District's 4 Finnick Odair, and District 2's Felix Marcellus, who actually won last year. The boy who was reaped looked nothing too special. He was a 15-year old boy with cropped brown hair.
"Jose Aspen!"
The boy came onto the stage, looking confident, unlike his district partner. However, Rain remarked differently.
"It's a front. He's most definitely scared. He's shaking all over", Rain said to me after watching District 7's reaping. I shrugged and nodded my head, seeing as how Rain was right in his observation. We kept on watching, and Rain noted that District 9's female tribute, Stella Lapworth, was likely a descendant of Jomilee Lapoworth, another victor from that District. I also noted that a 17-year-old from District 10 volunteered. His name was Robert Leiden, and he looked even taller than Adrian, at roughly 6'7". He was also muscular, but not as much as the three male Careers we'd seen. I felt so bad for District 11's tributes - both were extremely young, and would likely not survive the bloodbath. The girl, Linde, was 13. The boy, Morro, was 12.
After watching the reapings, we went to find our mentors. We didn't find Lukas, but we found Effie, Haymitch, and Katniss. The latter two were eating.
"Oh, look who it is. Kiddos, why don't you join us here?", said Haymitch. Katniss remained quiet, and Haymitch looked over to her.
"You gonna say anything, sweetheart? You have to treat these kids nicely."
Katniss just grunted, as Haymitch laughed. Rain and I sat down at the expensive wooden table.
"So, any advice on winning the Games?", I questioned.
"Pass the whiskey.", replied Haymitch.
"How. Do. We. Win. The. Games?", I deadpanned
Katniss replied this time, "You don't win, girl. You survive."
"Then how do we survive?", asked Rain.
"Look, just pass-", Haymitch was interrupted by Rain slapping his hand away, spilling his drink all over the expensive table.
"That is… ugh.", Effie chimed in but cut herself off, sighing.
"Oh, so you two do have some guts. Well, well. First off, you need to get people to like you", Haymitch said after taking a shot of his drink.
"When you're in the middle of the Games, sponsors can tip the balance in your favor by saving your skin. Whatever situation you're in, having sponsors is always a good thing. How do you get sponsors? You get people to like you, as the old man said. Right now, I don't know if you're up to it.", Katniss said, adding on the advice Haymitch just doled out to us.
After that, we all went in for the night, washing up before going to bed.
Rain's P.O.V.
I was mulling over what Haymitch and Katniss said in my room, when Iris came in. She apparently finished up showering, as well as me.
"Can't sleep?", I asked. She replied in the positive.
"What do you think Haymitch and Katniss will do with us, exactly?", Iris questioned me.
"Well, one of us won't be coming back. That's certain.", I replied.
"Comforting words, Rain. Tell me, what do you think of Haymitch and Katniss? Are they going to be of any help?"
"They are the only link we have to the outside world. Mentors are crucial to a tribute's victory. Especially us, since we're from 12."
"...Face it, Rain. We're dead. We're from 12. The poorest district with the least victors."
I suddenly snapped and pinned her against the wall of my room, remembering what I promised to my family.
"No, we're not dead. Not yet. Go get some sleep.", I released her after snapping at her, and a tear rolled down her cheek.
I felt a little guilty and hugged the girl who smelled like flowers, right in front of me. She hugged me back, and let me go. She exited my room, leaving me to my thoughts. I just collapsed on the bed, letting sleep take me once more.
A/N: Yowch, that was long, because I combined two chapters into one. Stick with me here, because the tributes are going to the Training Center next. I'll list all the names and ages of the tributes here, as well as whether they were reaped or volunteered. I came up with some of the last name by mushing some words or names together, like Volicity is a mix of 'volt' and 'electricity'
District 1 - Vulcan Prisma (18, R) Velvet Ritchson (16, V)
District 2 - Cyrus Rankine (17, V) Sophia Kirhart (16, V)
District 3 - Jeremy Ackler (13, R) Ellie Volicity (14, R)
District 4 - Adrian Bismarck (18, V) Aileen Kendari (15, R)
District 5 - Isaiah Moglibi (16, R) Jacqueline Remburg (14, R)
District 6 - Vincent Crox (16, R) Cassie Heidler (13, R)
District 7 - Jose Aspen (15, R) Acacia Mossalia (14, R)
District 8 - Roy Angora (18, R) Calico Casem (17, R)
District 9 - Dagan Tien (14, R) Stella Lapworth (15, R)
District 10 - Robert Leiden (17, V) Marisa Geillo (18, R)
District 11 - Morro Rossa (12, R) Linde Huskor (13, R)
District 12 - Rain Orion (16, V) Iris Nilo (17, R)
