I really enjoyed writing for these two and I'm excited to see more of them - thanks to Tiger outsider for Yael and MonkeyPower435 for Kade. I hope I did both of them justice!

District 11

Yael Harident

I tighten my knees to my chest and rock back and forth. Back and forth, back and forth. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to avoid the voice inside my head. I painfully slam the heels of my hands to block my ears, as if that would stop me from hearing these thoughts. The hypnotizing voice comes from inside my head, not outside, and blocking sound won't stop anything.

Nevertheless, I squeeze my hands tighter against my ears. Avoid the thoughts.

I crack my eyes open, which is clearly a mistake, because I see the innocent rabbit again. It doesn't notice me. It's sitting before a bush, a furry lump, eating something. It doesn't notice me, which I regret, because if it did it would be able to outrun me and I wouldn't be able to hurt it, no matter what the voice inside my head tells me to do.

The voice inside my head is hypnotizing and controlling, always telling me to do bad things. I don't want to do bad things. I want to be a good person, like my parents. I want to be kind and charitable like them and never lay a finger on anyone, even if they deserve it. But I can't even keep my hands off of innocent people, because of this damn evil voice in my head.

I started hearing it when I was fourteen. Before then, I was a good child. Shy and quiet, and maybe not as good as I should have been or as good as my parents expected me to be, but I never hurt anyone. Then the voice came along, telling me to do bad things to people and animals.

I didn't want to do bad things. I knew they were innocent and hurting them was wrong, but I couldn't avoid the voice. At first, I could resist the temptation, but the voice got louder and louder and resisting it got harder and harder.

I lost a finger two years ago when I finally couldn't resist the voices and attempted to kill a rabbit. I succeeded, but it fought back and gave me a nasty bite on my thumb. I couldn't tell my parents that I had been bitten by a rabbit, because I wasn't allowed to be in the forest and I couldn't tell them about the awful thoughts that plagued my mind. But the bite got infected, and when my parents finally noticed and sent me to the doctor, the only choice was to amputate it.

Now the empty space next to my left pointer finger serves as a reminder. I can't resist the awful thoughts that tempt me. I can't avoid or ignore the evil thoughts in my mind. If they tell me to hurt someone, I will hurt them. If they tell me to kill someone, I probably couldn't ignore it.

I haven't killed anyone yet, but I know it's only a matter of time. The thoughts just get stronger the more time that passes. The only way to slow it down is by following its orders. That's why I go into the forest. I have to hunt smaller creatures so that it will be long until I have to hunt a large animal… or worse, a human. I know it's wrong to hurt anything, but beetles and rats are better than cats and people.

Unfortunately, if I see a creature like a rabbit going by, I still can't resist. My brain will tell me to hurt it, and I can't stop myself. I never can.

The rabbit in front of me turns its head, sniffs, and almost looks at me. But it doesn't. It still doesn't know I'm here. But I can't warn it, because my body won't allow me. I open my mouth to scream, hopefully scaring it away, but no sound comes out. I can't do it.

I completely freeze up when I hear the loud, obvious crunching of leaves under feet behind me. Somebody is coming down here… what are the odds? This is the middle of the forest, how could they possibly have stumbled across me, especially when entering the forest is illegal?

The walking stops almost directly behind me, and for a moment I'm completely convinced I've been discovered. Then I hear a boy yell out, "Hurry up!" and he continues along, not seeming to have noticed me.

I can't find myself to move, even my head. He finally trots into my line of vision. It's a small, slim, dark-skinned boy who's probably twelve years old or somewhere in that age range. He hops along, then turns once more and yells for someone to hurry up.

"Okay, Hunter, jeez!" a girl shouts in response, and comes bounding past me and over to the boy, who must be called Hunter. For once, I'm glad that I'm concealed in a bush and very difficult to spot. I recognize the girl. She's in my class. I think her name is Rosa or Rosemary, something like that.

"Are we close to the blackberry patch?" Hunter asks Rose-something, and she shrugs.

"Why would I know?" she asks. Hunter gives her an irritated look and she sighs. "Probably."

"Well I'm hungry," Hunter groans.

"So is everyone in our District."

"Not the Peacekeepers." With that, Hunter skips off and Rose-something follows him. They walk further through the trees until I can no longer see them. I can still hear them, though, because they are both making a humongous racket. I don't relax just yet. Luckily, the rabbit did run away at some point when the kids were walking through, so I no longer have to worry about hurting it. "Oh, shoot, I think I dropped my lucky rock!" Hunter shouts.

The next thing I know, Hunter comes running back toward me, scanning the ground for "his lucky rock".

"It doesn't matter, Hunter, let's just go!" Rose-something yells from farther in the woods.

"I'll find it fast!" Hunter promises. He stops only a few feet away from me to pick up a rock that I suppose is his lucky one. There's a terrifying instant when I feel the urge to hurt him. To kill him, but not before torturing him.

Kill him, Yael. The voice says. Grab him, before he can run. You know you want to. You want to hurt him.

I bite my lip with painful force, trying to resist, but I can feel myself getting ready to pounce. I won't be able to stop myself.

"Hunter, come on!"

"Okay!" he shouts, exasperated, and runs off before I can jump out. I breathe a sigh of relief as I feel my body relax, and the voice disappears. That was close. But I know that one day, I won't be able to ignore the voice, anymore.

District 11

Kade Anderson

I stroll into Town Square, immediately searching around for my friends. I don't see them, but I suppose I don't need to, because a moment later, I feel a body crash into me. I stumble forward, annoyed with whoever carelessly slammed into me, but when I turn around to see who it is, it's one of my closest friends, Packer.

Packer laughs, and I playfully shove him. I'm pretty strong though, so he falls backward. Packer only laughs, obviously uninjured, and hops right back up. He looks like he's about to push me in retaliation, but he doesn't get a chance to, because our other friend, Kaleb, steps between us. I'm not too fond of Kaleb, because he's a bit of a know-it-all and is way too serious. But he does let me copy his homework, which is the only reason he's still in our group.

"Stop, you guys," he says in a nasal, know-it-all voice. "We have to check in. We're already running late. And you shouldn't horseplay in such a crowded area."

"'You shouldn't horseplay in such a crowded area'," Packer repeats in a poor imitation of Kaleb's voice. It still causes the rest of us to laugh, though. The rest of the group has arrived at this point.

"'You should never step out of line and you should follow all rules'," I say, plugging my nose so I sound like Kaleb. Kaleb frowns and crosses his arms, but the rest of our group howls with laughter. We all begin joining in, imitating Kaleb in imitation of his voice.

"'Don't touch my encyclopedia!'"

"'Pay attention when the teacher is speaking!'"

"'Treat others how you want to be treated!'"

"'I am very dorky and a nerd! Also, my mom is very hot!'" That last one was from Derin, who may be the most athletic, but definitely isn't the smartest member of our group. The taunts die down and we all exchange confused looks before looking at Derin for an explanation.

"I never say that," Kaleb says, confused.

"Yeah, but your mom is very hot," Derin says, obviously misunderstanding what we were doing.

"How about we go check in?" Wren suggests, and we all agree. We ignore Derin's comment and all head over to the check-in area.

"I call first!" I shout, and rush ahead of the rest of the group to be the first in line. There are cries of disappointment, but no one argues. They all line up behind me. There are not many people in front of me, since we're kind of late, so I triumphantly give the Peacekeeper my hand when he gestures for it. I give my friends a smug look which is quickly replaced with a wince as the Peacekeeper sharply pricks my fingertip.

He roughly smears my blood into a booklet and uses a device to scan it.

"Kade Anderson," the device says. The Peacekeeper waves me past, and I only have to wait a few seconds before Derin, who is the next person in line, gets waved through, as well. Derin and I don't bother waiting for the rest of our friends and walk ahead to the seventeen-year-olds' section.

As we pass groups of children, Derin calls them a bunch of rude names which makes me laugh. One thirteen year old looks so terrified about the Reaping that when Derin calls him something too rude to repeat, he bursts into tears. Derin and I walk along, keeling over in laughter.

I reach the seventeen-year-old's section in a fairly good mood, confident I won't be Reaped and excited for the post-Reaping party Derin is hosting tonight; especially because Fiana will be there, and I'm hoping tonight will be the night I can finally woo her over. She may have rejected me before (which is surprising, because most girls are ecstatic when I ask them out) but I'm sure she'll agree to be my girlfriend soon enough.

"Hey Kade," a girl giggles, skipping over to my shoulder. I sigh. This reminds me of another problem. My current girlfriend, Makena. She's nice and pretty hot, but she's a bit of an idiot, super annoying, and something about her has begun to repulse me.

"Hi," I grunt, not budging when she wraps her arms around me and plants a kiss on my cheek. I'm definitely going to break up with her after the Reaping. She doesn't seem to notice my obvious disinterest in her, and begins talking at high-speed about how excited she is for Derin's party tonight. When the rest of our group comes over, they all smirk when they see me trying to ignore her. They don't like her, either, but enjoy teasing me about her.

"Hey, Kade," Packer says, smirking. "You look like you're having an interesting conversation. I wish I could join you."

"Why don't you?" Makena asks enthusiastically. Packer's smug smile immediately drops.

"I would, but I have to do something…" he stammers.

"The Reaping starts soon, silly. What would you possibly need to do?" Makena giggles.

"Not soon enough," I mutter under my breath. Packer is forced to join our "conversation", which is just Makena talking, and us half-heartedly listening and nodding every now and then.

Finally, our escort taps on the mic and Makena is forced to return to the girls' section. Packer and I sigh in relief.

"District 11, Welcome to the Reaping for the 248th Hunger Games! I am very excited to represent your District and tributes in this years' Games. I really do hope we get a Victor this year -"

"Wait for it…" Wren whispers in my ear.

"Because then I might get promoted and escape from your grubby little District!" the escort says enthusiastically, grinning wide as though she didn't just insult us.

"There it is," Wren grins triumphantly, and I snicker.

"For those of you who don't remember me, I am Marcellina Dent!" Marcellina flashes us a smile, revealing her teeth, which, for some strange Capitol fashion, have been dyed hot pink.

Marcellina makes us watch the same boring video that we've watched every year, and she also lists our previous mentors. We have a whopping four; Chiara Ferris, who is very old and can't remember anything, Till Burrows, who is actually respected because he is pretty funny and is pretty strong, Robin Paris, who is pretty smart but still hasn't mentored anyone successfully, and Callahan Dwyer, who is our youngest Victor and is my personal favorite.

"Now, let's see who will be representing this wonderful District in the 248th Hunger Games!" Marcellina says. "How about we shake things up and start with the boys?"

"What happened to our District being grubby and undesirable?" Wren asks.

Marcellina trots over to the male's bowl and carefully plucks a name from the bottom of the bowl. I don't pay much attention to this part. She brings it over to the microphone and unfolds it. I wonder how Makena will take it when I break up with her later? I don't care much about her feelings, but it makes me uncomfortable when people cry -

"Kade Anderson." Marcellina's voice echoes throughout Town Square. My eyes widen, and I gulp. My friends stare at me with wide eyes and gaping mouths. I can't feel my legs.

Suddenly, I hear a high-pitched wail from the females' section. It's unmistakably Makena. This is what reminds me that I have to get up on stage. I roll my eyes, then put on a charming smile and walk up to the stage, taking position next to Marcellina. From here, I can see Makena sobbing. I resist the urge to tell her to shut up. She's not making anything better, and is clearly being overdramatic. We've only been going out for a week, she needs to calm down.

Marcellina asks for volunteers and unsurprisingly, nobody steps up. I don't pay attention when she draws the girls' name, but I do pay attention when she reads it and the girl comes out of the seventeen-year-olds section.

Her name is Yael Harident, and she doesn't look too weak. She looks fairly strong and is pretty tall, but the way she holds herself suggests she isn't someone to worry about. Her head is ducked low, and her hands in fists at her side. She shuffles up to the stage, looking very nervous and somewhat distracted.

"Are there any Volunteers?" Marcellina asks. Nobody steps up for Yael, either. "In that case, shake hands."

I hold out my hand for Yael to shake, but it takes a long time before she unclenches her right hand and shakily takes mine. I begin to start shaking her hand, when she suddenly grips way too tight. Like, I'm-worried-she'll-break-my-hand tight. I yelp, and yank my hand back. She doesn't let go at first, then she shakily releases it, which for some reason, looks like it takes a lot of effort for her. I furrow my eyebrows and stare at her with a gaping mouth, nursing my hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen of District 11, allow me to introduce your tributes for the 248th Hunger Games: Yael Harident and Kade Anderson!"

I don't know a lot about my District partner, but she's definitely not someone to ignore. I'm a brave person, but there's something off-putting about her that makes me a bit fearful.

Only one more Reaping to do! I hope I can find the motivation to get it done soon, so we can move onto the interesting stuff.

QUESTIONS:

1. What did you think of Yael?

2. What did you think of Kade?

3. Who do you prefer?

4. Who do you think will do better?

5. What is your favorite sport? (Mine is Quidditch)

- Lilah