I wanted to start on the Reapings before finishing the epilogues for Flames. Enjoy Trajan Seth and Cecelia Hart, courtesy of Tiger outsider and Team Shadow!

District 1

Trajan Seth

In life, there's only the wolves and the sheep.

The sheep are the majority of people, going about their daily lives with a false sense of independence and believing that they are the ones making the decisions. Unbeknownst to them, the wolves are hovering outside of the pen, controlling everything they do.

The wolves are unafraid to kill. They won't hesitate to slaughter a sheep. The wolves are the smart ones. The honorable ones. They don't wait around for the inevitable deaths. They make the deaths.

I am a wolf. I believe that the sheep must be filtered from the wolves and slaughtered. That's why I plan on volunteering for the Hunger Games. I'm volunteering for the task of filtering the wolves from the sheep, and slaughtering any of the sheep.

Unfortunately, I do not train with the academy and am thus not the chosen Volunteer. Some other boy was chosen. I'm sure he has no intention of finding the sheep. He's probably blinded by the promises of jewels and fame that comes with a Victor and doesn't understand the true purpose of the Hunger Games. He'll kill everyone. He won't give the wolves the honor they deserve, he'll treat them the same as the sheep. That's not what should happen.

The boy's name is something stupid - Gleam Clash. He's a sheep, and I must eliminate the sheep from the running.

I always wake up early. I am a very light sleeper, almost partly awake when I'm sleeping. I've decided to eliminate the sheep a few hours before the Reaping - it won't be enough time for the academy to appoint a new volunteer, which means it will be a free-for-all. Maybe they won't even notice his absence, and I'll be the only person daring to Volunteer.

Uncle Nero and I live in the outskirts of District 1. My parents own a large house in the center of the District, but I refuse to live with sheep. I will only live with people I respect, wolves, and Uncle Nero is a wolf.

Uncle Nero knows I am going to eliminate the sheep this morning, but has requested that I don't wake him. Looking over my clock, I realize that it's 4 AM. That should be enough time. I stand up and tiptoe over to my closet. I won't wear my Reaping clothes when eliminating the sheep, because I don't want to ruin them. I'll just wear casual clothing.

I pull on dark denim pants and a black sweatshirt. I pull the hood over my face and tighten the strings, so no one will be able to see me unless they're close. And if they're close enough to see the whites of my eyes, they're already dead.

I walk with light feet out of my room and through the small house, careful not to wake Uncle Nero. He too's a light sleeper, and gets very grumpy when awaken. I open the front door and breathe in the crisp early morning air. It's normally pretty cool in the mornings in District 1, and today is no different. I shove my hands into my jeans pockets to warm them up as I begin my walk down the street.

After watching the sheep for a few days, I've learned that he likes to train at the academy in the early morning - conveniently, when no one's there. Based on my previous observations, the sheep should be training by himself at the academy around this time. If for some reason he isn't, I'll just pop by his house.

The jog to the training center is long, but I don't tire easily, so I maintain a steady pace the enter time. I reach the training center at about 4:30 (I checked my expensive watch my mother bought me when trying to convince me to move back to their place). The training center looks dark, since it's not actually open yet. I heard that the only people allowed to train anytime are the chosen Volunteers.

I try to open the front door, but as I suspected, it's locked. I stroll the perimeter of the building, looking for another possible entrance. I find two more doors, but they're both locked.

I come back around to the front door without finding any open doors. I guess they're all locked and I'll have to try a window.

I move to the back of the building, so no one will see me when I climb inside. I find a window that's opened, which makes things pretty easy. It's a few feet higher than I am, so I have to jump up and grab the ledge to pull myself up. I'm pretty strong, though, so it isn't very difficult.

I swing one leg over and drop into the gym. I look around and notice that the lights are turned out. It's not completely dark, since the window lets in light, so I'm able to recognize this as a locker room of sorts and shuffle over to a door. As I do, I pull the switchblade out of my pocket. I guess I could use one of the many weapons supplied in this space, but I like to have a certain feel for a weapon that I use, and a switchblade can function just as well as a sword or spear can. Maybe it's much shorter, but I have enough skill with a switchblade that I'll be able to use it just the same.

I open the door carefully, expecting it to creak or something, but the door stays silent. I walk lightly along the floor, extremely careful not to make noise. Any noise made in here will echo a lot. I can already hear the sheep practicing, although I can't see him yet.

He grunts and yells and I hear the familiar sounds of a sword hitting a dummy. I peek around the corner and there he is, practicing with no knowledge of my being here or what is about to transpire. He keeps prancing around the dummy, which sucks, because I can't sneak up on him. I suppose I could make him aware of my whereabouts?

But that might foil my plan… I instead I retrace my steps until I've reached a station with a bunch of spears. I grab one and move back to my space where I can see the sheep.

When his back is turned, I catapult the spear in his direction. I'm not great with throwing spears, but luckily I don't have to be for this plan. The spear misses (as I expected) and hits the wall with a loud crash. The moment the sheep looks at it, I charge at him with my knife poised. He turns around, but not fast enough to recognize what's going on. I stab him between the eyes once. He doesn't even fall to the ground before I slit his throat with another stroke.

He falls to the ground, immediately dead.

"Bye, bye, sheep," I whisper.

Now that he's dead, I can Volunteer for the Hunger Games and win them. I'll separate the sheep from the wolves, and treat them accordingly. There's nothing standing in my way.

District 1

Cecelia Hart

I have no idea why I'm so nervous. I've been waiting for this moment for years; the day when I can finally Volunteer and escape my father.

It's not like I'm considering the possibility of chickening out and not Volunteering - that has never been an option for me. If I don't Volunteer, I won't be able to give my mom and sister a good life. Everything's kind of depending on me right now. I know that my Volunteering's inevitable, but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be a little nervous, right?

I bite my lip nervously as I sit in front of the mirror, combing my blonde hair carefully. I wish I could just put it up in a ponytail, but Mom and I compromised - if I were my hair down, she wouldn't force me to wear makeup. I guess having my hair down is better than having my face caked in cosmetics.

"Cecelia, it's almost time to go!" Mom yells up at me. I check my watch and I realize that she's right.

"Okay!" I respond, and begin putting on my shoes, silver high-heels (which were Mom's suggestion, again). I must be taking too long, because my father gives me a quick reminder of the time, although it doesn't sound as nice as Mom's.

"Cecelia, get your butt down here, NOW!" he bellows.

"Okay!" I repeat, rolling my eyes. With my shoes fully on, I begin to wobble out of the room, praying that I don't twist an ankle right before going into the Games. I'm not used to walking in high heels, so I'm struggling a bit. Hopefully, I'll get used to it enough so I won't seem drunk walking up to the stage after Volunteering.

"Ce-" my father begins to shout again, but then he sees me making my way downstairs and pauses. I move very slowly, my shoes greatly slowing me down. I don't want to fall, so I hold onto the railing for dear life. I can see my entire family getting a little agitated at how long I take, but I seriously can't move any faster.

Finally, my father gets fed up.

"Cecelia, if you can't move any faster, take off your freaking shoes because we have to go!" he shouts. Normally, I try not to do what he says out of basic principle, but I don't want to be late to the Reaping, so I comply with his demands. I pause for a minute to slip off my shoes and sprint towards the bottom. "Finally," my father mutters. I feel tempted to talk back to him, but hold my tongue. I really don't want to start a fight with him before the Reaping.

"Come on, let's go ahead," I suggest to Lya, my twin sister. She nods in agreement, so we run up ahead of our parents, me still holding my shoes in one hand.

Lya is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. She always does her best to make people happy, even if it isn't great for herself. Which is why I'm determined to Volunteer. I need to win a better life for Mom and me, but especially Lya. My father's an awful guy that no one deserves, but especially not Lya.

Father thinks that I'm Volunteering for the reasons most Careers Volunteer - fame and honor. The riches are always an added bonus, but for most Careers, it's about fame and honor.

Instead, I'm Volunteering for escape. Escape for me, Lya, and Mom.

Lya and I reach the check-in way before Mom and my father, who I assume walked. The lines aren't very long, since most kids are already inside the pen. Lya and I take our place in line, behind a few people, but they recognize me as the chosen Volunteer. They step aside, and gesture me ahead.

I try to refuse, but they insist. I'm not exactly one who'll pass up the opportunity to skip a line, so I give in and walk up to the Peacekeeper. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, so I don't even wince when she pricks me with the needle. The Peacekeeper opens a booklet of sorts and presses my bloody finger onto a page. She scans it, and I hear a robotic voice confirming me as "Cecelia Hart".

She waves me through, and I begin to walk into the pen, but a handsome boy stops me.

"You should probably put your shoes on," he says. I look down and realize that my hand is still holding my high heels and I'm barefoot.

"Oh, right. Thanks," I say as I pull on my shoes.

"You're really beautiful," the guy says as soon as my shoes are on. "If you weren't just about to go into the Games, I'd ask you out."

I'm not sure what to say to that, so I just say, "thanks," and walk as fast as I can toward the eighteen-year-olds section. Luckily, I manage to not trip on my way there. That would have been incredibly embarrassing, especially since I think the cameras are already rolling. The eighteen-year-old section is packed, so I have to squeeze my way in. I stay close to the aisle, though, so I won't have to go very far to get to the stage.

A lot of people recognize me as the Volunteer. A few people congratulate me, but most just give me jealous looks. The female Volunteer is always a very desired position, but only one ends up getting it each year. Sometimes, even if you do get it, some deluded child decides to Volunteer anyway (like Flora, from last year) and the Volunteer gets cheated out of her position. That better not happen to me. I need this.

It's not long before our escort, Astria Mebliss, walks out onto the stage, sporting a bubble-gum pink wig and a fluffy white dress that reminds me of a cloud. Her makeup is caked on, and I'm not going to lie, it's pretty scary. She smiles with her usual peppy attitude and hops over to the microphone.

"Welcome, District 1, to the Reaping for the 248th Annual Hunger Games! I'm really excited to see who'll be our tributes this year. I'm sensing a Volunteer… I wish we could just get straight into choosing the names, but first, we have a video to watch!" Astria turns around to face the giant screen behind her.

The video starts, and I feel everyone let out a collective groan. It's the same video as every year. Each year, we all hope that they'll change it to something a little more interesting, but it never happens.

I think everyone zones out as our President talks about how terrible the war was and the creation of the Hunger Games. The video's duration probably is only about five minutes, but it feels like hours.

The video finally ends, and Astria turns back around. She's trying to keep a pleasant smile, but it's clear that the video bored her to death. I notice a few girls next to me trying to contain their giggles.

"Now, let's go over our living Victors!" Astria begins listing off our living Victors. We have a bit more than ten, so the only ones I pay attention to are this year's mentors. The female mentor, who I assume will be mine, is Estella Blake. She's pretty old, but has a good reputation for bringing tributes home, which is a good sign for me.

I don't really care about Gleam, who'll be my District partner. He seems just like Garnet, last year. Not very capable, but strong and very arrogant. His mentor will be Nereus Copeland. He's sadly one of our more recent Victors (sadly, because he won the 228th Hunger Games). Nereus is pretty smart, but hasn't brought any tributes home, yet.

Astria finishes with our most recent Victor, Tiara Palace (a really unfortunate name in my opinion, but it's better than some names in District 1).

"Now, for the moment we've all been waiting for, the drawing of the names!" Astria doesn't waste any time trying to build anticipation, because we all know that someone will Volunteer. Astria, as usual, starts with the girls. She plucks a name from the top of the bowl, and makes her way back over to the microphone.

"Genevieve Florence!" Astria reads. Nobody moves, knowing that I'll Volunteer in a moment. "Are there any Volunteers?"

"I Volunteer as tribute!" I announce, stepping into the aisle. Nobody gasps or whatever, it's not very surprising. I make my way up to the stage and take my place next to Astria.

"What's your name?" Astria asks, holding the microphone in front of my mouth.

"Cecelia Hart," I announce. I hear a flew claps coming from the front of the crowd. Of course, it's Lya and my friend, Weiss. They both cheer and clap, seemingly oblivious to the odd looks everyone's giving them. I'm a bit embarrassed, but glad to have such supportive friends.

"Now for the boys!" Astria says, and draws a random slip of paper. She walks back toward me and reads the name aloud immediately. "Caius Venner!"

Now's the time when Gleam will Volunteer. Except, there's nothing but silence from the boys' section. After a minute of no Volunteers, a shocked boy from the fourteen-year-olds begins to make his way up through the aisle.

"I Volunteer," somebody finally says in almost a bored tone. The guy emerges from the eighteen-year-olds, and I'm a little surprised to see that it isn't Gleam. What happened to Gleam? Did he chicken out? "I'm Trajan Seth, and I'm going to be the next Victor," the boy says before Astria even asks his name.

Trajan looks very strong and powerful, which is a little intimidating. I've been preparing for someone like Gleam, who's an idiot. I know nothing about this boy, though.

"Shake hands," Astria says, smiling. She's clearly not picking up on how confused everyone is. She doesn't know who the Volunteers were supposed to be, she's just relieved she didn't get stuck with another fourteen-year-old. I reach out and shake Trajan's calloused hand. I can tell that he's trained, since his hand feels strong and used.

"Give a round of applause for your tributes for the 248th Hunger Games: Cecelia Hart and Trajan Seth!" the crowd claps politely, but I can tell they're still puzzling over who this boy is. I don't even recognize him.

Who is Trajan Seth? That's a question I need to be answered before he tries to kill me.

Sorry if this wasn't great. I struggled with some parts, but it was fun to write. Don't forget to review! Reviews = Life for your tribute.

QUESTIONS:

1. What did you think of Trajan?

2. What did you think of Cecelia?

3. Who did you prefer?

4. Who do you think will make it farther?

5. What is your favorite color? (Mine's blue)

- Lilah