It should come as no surprise that this is unedited, so sorry if there are any grammatical errors.

These tributes come from Jade-Warrior and thorne98!


District 3

Kinetica Reed


I wake up early, as I usually do on days that I'm dreading. I could barely sleep last night, since fears of the Reaping kept running through my head. I know that logically, it's very unlikely I'll be chosen. I took no tesserae this year, so my name's only in there five times; compared to the kids with their names in dozens of times, those are very good odds. However, the logic doesn't manage to comfort me and fear wins out. No matter how likely it is that I'll be safe in my own house tonight, I know that there's still a chance I could be shipped to the Capitol to die.

I turn over in my bed, attempting to get a few more restful hours of sleep before I inevitably have to get dressed for the reaping, but every time I close my eyes I just see our flamboyant escort reading out my name. I groan and pushing the sheets off of my body, giving up the hope that I could possibly sleep a few more hours. It doesn't matter too much; today is a vacation day, so I can always sleep when I return from the Reaping… unless I'm on a train.

"Stop being so pessimistic," I mutter to myself. I need to keep a good attitude rather than worrying myself into having an anxiety attack. That will happen sometimes. Dad says my imagination is too strong for my own good, which is probably true.

There's a book flipped open on the floor that I almost step on. It must have fallen off my bed last night. I vaguely remember trying to read it before falling asleep, but I don't remember a single word that I read. I must have been in a sleepy trance; despite my exhaustion it took hours before I finally drifted off. When I pick up the book, I realize it's the poetry anthology I've read and reread many times. I guess it doesn't matter that I don't remember what I read, because whichever poem it was, I've probably read it more than once.

I think my aunt gifted it to me for my sixth birthday or something. Dad refers to it as "Kinetica's Bible" because of how many times I've read it. He doesn't understand the purpose of rereading books, but I love to. I carefully set the book down on my nightstand, smoothing out the pages that had gotten crumpled when it fell.


District 3 is a fairly large District, so making my way through the crowd is rather difficult. I have people knocking into me and jamming their elbows into my sides as I attempt to get to the back of the check-in line. It's a bit annoying that all of the spectators crowd in right next to the check-in area, because it makes it difficult for us kids to know where to go. The whole process would go so much faster if we had some kind of order.

When I finally make it to the front of the line, the Peacekeeper seems stressed, which is obvious, even though he wears the helmet that hides all of his expressions. When he asks for my hand, he seems almost desperate, so I allow him to jam the needle into my finger without any complaint. He presses my finger onto a page of his little check-in book, getting a spot of my blood.

"Kinetica Reed," the scanner device reads, and the Peacekeeper waves me past.

I walk along the aisle to the sixteen-year-olds section, which is thankfully a bit less chaotic. I'm hoping I'll be able to find one of my friends, because they always allow the Reaping to be a little more bearable.

When I reach the sixteen-year-olds section, I don't immediately see anybody I know, which disappoints me a bit. I slide into my group, staying near the aisle so I can leave as soon as the Reaping ends rather than dealing with the huge procession of exiting the pen.

I'm guessing it's about exactly the time when the reaping begins when our escort, Blick Newter, makes his way up to the microphone. Blick really likes bright neon colors, usually electric blue, but this year he seems to have gone with a green aesthetic, sporting a bright lime-green tuxedo and even brighter green hair.

"Welcome, District 3, to the 249th Hunger Games. This year, I have a very good feeling about our tributes. One of you guys will win the Hunger Games! Are you excited? I definitely am. We've had some great tributes in the last few years, but none of them have secured a win. This year it will be one of you. I am sure of it.

"Now before we find out who will be representing your… lovely District, let's go over your previous Victors. I've gotten to know them very well over the past several years, and I can say with certainty that they're… great people. A bit of a drab fashion sense, but they're cool."

Blick then begins to go over all five of our previous Victors, going into a little too much detail about how they won their games. All of us just want to get the Reaping over with, and yet Blick insists on dragging out the ceremony each year. When he decides he's talked about each of the Victors enough, he shows us the iconic film reminding us of the true nature of the Hunger Games. They always have the President narrate it, so this year we have President Divine narrating the video. He takes a much different approach than President Chorley, who could barely restrain from giggling as he talked about war and children dying.

"Isn't that inspiring?" Blick asks when we've watched the full video. "I suppose we should get to the drawing of the names now. I have a really good feeling about this year."

It's been about twenty years since we had a Victor come from our District. At this point, we've pretty much accepted that getting your name drawn is a death warrant. Nobody expects any of our tributes to come out alive.

"How about we choose a female first?" Blick suggests, already walking over the girls' bowl. As usual, he draws it out. He selects a slip of paper, seeming very pleased with its potential. When he gets back to the microphone, he reads out the name almost immediately.

"Kinetica Reed."


District 3

Quantum Wu


I watch as the girl walks up to the stage, looking understandably shocked and dazed. I feel some pity for her, but breathe a sigh of relief that it wasn't my girlfriend Vincia who was selected. We're both eighteen, so this will be our last Reaping. Vincia's officially free, and so will I in a couple of minutes. The girl clutches the sleeves of her blouse with obvious fear as she takes her place next to the escort. I've already forgotten her name, but I'm sure it will be advertised across the District for the next month before her imminent death.

"Are there any Volunteers?" Blick asks with a smile, but no one speaks up. It's not surprising; I can't even remember the last time District 3 had a Volunteer. We all know that whoever goes into the games will die, and nobody will risk that. Neither Blick nor the girl look surprised that no one spoke up, but they seem disappointed nonetheless.

"Is there anything you want to say?" asks Blick as he shoves his microphone into the poor girl's face. She shakes her head politely, and Blick moves on. "Now let's find out who will be joining this lovely girl as the male tribute for District 3!"

Blick walks over to the male bowl, and I feel my breath catch as he reaches his hand in. He chooses a slip of paper and waves it around with a little too much flourish.

"This feels like a Victor!" Blick says as he opens up the paper. "Quantum Reed."

I almost don't register that the name is my own. My mouth drops open as everyone turns to look at me. A few of my classmates give me sympathetic looks, but I know that they're just relieved it's not them. I walk up to the stage quickly, barely aware of where my feet are taking me. My heart is pounding in my ears.

"Wonderful!" Blick says and I notice I'm already on stage. "Are there any Volunteers?"

I already know that no one will say anything. I scan the crowd to try and spot Vincia, but I can't find her.

"No? In that case, we have your tributes for the 249th Hunger Games! Give a warm round of applause for Quantum Wu and Kinetica Reed! Shake hands, you two."

The crowd claps politely as I turn to Kinetica. I reach out my hand and she gently shakes it. I know we're both thinking the same thing right now; we're both going to die.


The room I'm sitting in a room far more extravagant than I'm used to. My own home is in a pretty lousy section of the District. Even though our neighborhood is filled with morphine-addicts and thieves, it's better than when we lived with my dad. At least I no longer have to hear him shouting abuse at my mom late into the night or banging on my door because he wants me to run some errand and get him more alcohol.

Even the sofa I'm sitting on is probably hundreds of dollars more than the one at home, I'd give anything to be back at my house with my mom. In an attempt to pass time and perhaps make myself feel better, I internally criticize all of the objects in this room.

The sofa is too soft. It's uncomfortable to sit on. The crimson wallpaper looks the color of blood. The clock on the wall has the wrong time. The lace on the carpet is hideous.

"Wow, I could be an interior designer," I joke under my breath. I burst into laughter at the absurdity of my situation. How could this have happened to me? I took tesserae of course, but the odds were still stacked immensely in my favor. District 3 is a large District; statistically, I should have been fine.

The mahogany door opens. I hear a Peacekeeper tell me I have only three minutes, and then I have the wind knocked out of me as someone barrels into me. It doesn't take long to realize that it's Vincia who's hugging me; I immediately recognize the scent of her hair, which is pressed into my face. It's a bit difficult to breathe, but I don't mind because the feeling of Vincia's arms around me provides me with so much comfort.

When she parts from me, I can see tears fogging up her glasses. I haven't cried yet but I'm suddenly hit with a wave of emotion. It didn't get real until I saw how afraid Vincia was. Vincia, who's always so brave and tough, is crying. And that really hit me hard.

"You have to survive," she tells me in a choked voice. "Please."

"I'll try," I say.

"No! You can't just 'try'. You have to."

"I-"

"Do whatever you need to in order to win! You're smart, you're resourceful, you… you can do this."

I give her a sad smile. "Vincia, no one from District 3 has won in a long time. I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything. If I don't come home, please move on. I know that we had a lot of plans and stuff, but… I don't think that's gonna happen anymore. So… try to stay realistic. You're good at that." Vincia shakes her head in denial. "And take care of my Mom, please. I know she's going to be really upset so look after her, okay?"

"I will. But you are coming home, Quantum," Vincia whispers. She clumsily removes an earring and presses it into my hand. "For your token. It's a bit sharp, so it might not be allowed but… but if it is allowed, keep it with you. Please?"

"Okay," I say. "I'll miss you."

Vincia hugs me again. "You'd better come back. I love you. You know you're the only person who understands me. I know if you… if you don't come back, you want me to move on. But I can't. Because there's no one like you. I can talk to you and-"

A Peacekeeper bursts in.

"Time's up," he says gruffly, beckoning for Vincia to leave. Instead of leaving, she clutches to me tightly.

"You have to go," I tell her in a choked voice, but she hugs me tighter.

"Please come back," she whispers before the Peacekeeper walks over and yanks her off me. He leads her out of the room, and this time she obliges. The door slams shut behind them.

In my heart, I know I'll never see Vincia again. No matter how much she wants me to, I won't be able to come home. I look at the earring in the palm of my hand and clench my hand around it tightly. I will do whatever it takes to win this game.


So… yeah, a bit of a late update. I've been working on this for a while, slowly chipping away at it. My concept of time is starting to dissipate so I've gotten really bad at remembering to work on this chapter. But it's finally done, and I'm somewhat happy with it. I don't think either of these amazing characters got the cool introduction they deserved, but you'll see more of them.

Thank you to the submitters. I'm excited for both of these tributes and I think they have a lot of potential XD. Let me know what you thought of them. Hopefully the District 4 Reaping will be up soon, but let's not kid ourselves...

- Lilah