Nadia Cabrera has always been one to be left in the dark.
In District Ten, the hatred of Nadia's family history runs through its dusty streets. Nadia herself hated her family and what she had been forced to do for them, but that all changed eventually. Now Nadia lives by herself. Ten's citizens expect certain standards from everyone, and expected Nadia to be "different", but if she wasn't like her parents, what did they find so wrong with her? Maybe it was because she had the last name of a family of murderous cannibalistic "witches"? Or maybe it was the fact she was at home when she watched her family heads be blown open and did nothing to help save them? Her family was already a lost cause, but not her.
Now Nadia must face death herself, but not just from her own peers, from twenty-three other peers she's never met. She was sickened by everyone, she didn't want to live anymore. And who could blame her? Her life was fucking terrible and everyone with a brain saw that. She couldn't be bothered to say anything to her escort when she called her name from the stage, she couldn't bother to respond to the whispers of her peers as she walked onto the stage, and she couldn't be bothered to glimpse at the boy she would be "representing" Ten with. She just wanted to die, and she hoped to get her wish.
After waiting for nobody to come to say goodbye to her, she finally was escorted to the train. On board was Ten's latest victor and Nadia's mentor, Abercio Farkas. Abercio won the 103rd Annual Hunger Games, and in Ten's eyes he was their savior. In Nadia's eyes he was your average selfish drunk. He was just like every other citizen in Ten, he hated the Cabrera's. Who knows what is going through Aberico's mind about mentoring Nadia, but from the burning malevolent presence burning through his glare helped Nadia figure the steps out.
"You must be my mentees. I'm Abercio Farkas, and I'll be your mentor during your time in the Capitol." Aberico placed his glass of whiskey down on the kitchen counter.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Farkas. I must say I am a huge fan of your games." Dominik said.
"Well, thank you kid." Abercio chuckled.
Nadia couldn't help but roll her eyes at Dominik's fanaticism over Abercio. Nadia knew absolutely nothing about Dominik, all she knew was he volunteered which already made Nadia have a strong dislike for him. He's such an idiot. Why would anyone volunteer their life away for a vile and disgusting district like Ten?
"You must be, Nadia Cabrera." Abercio said with obvious discomfort to say Nadia's last name.
"Yes and you must be a fucking drunk. Who the fuck else would I be?" Nadia said and glared at Abercio.
Abercio stood there, stunned. His angered expression showed that he wanted to strangle Nadia and yell at her for being wrong, but he couldn't because Nadia was right. So instead Abercio stormed out of the room.
"What was that for, Nadia? You do know he's here to help us right?" Dominik said to Nadia.
"Of course I do. I just don't want his help. No, I don't need his help. All he is a drunk who hasn't had a tribute make it past halfway for the past ten fucking years!" Nadia screamed, obviously angry.
"I- but- you may be right, but he's still here to help, Nadia. Like it or not we should listen to what he has to say." Dominik said.
"I- fine. I guess you're right." Nadia said, sighing. She knew that Dominik was right, if she ever considered wanting to survive she should listen to what Abercio has to say, like it or not.
It wasn't like Nadia had a choice to not listen to Aberico. She'll be sure to be killed horribly if she ignored Aberico completely. Now this boy, Dominik, seemed different than everyone else. Yeah, he may be a fan of Aberico, but he wasn't acting like someone would normally treat Nadia. Maybe not everyone was as bad as Nadia thought? Who knows, maybe she'll actually ally with Dominik?
Time went by where Nadia sat in the living room alone. She never minded the silence, in fact she loved it. She enjoyed time to herself because it meant she could rest or enjoy a book or two. Aberico entered the living room soon enough and made his way over to Nadia who placed down her book and looked up at him.
"Nadia I've came to apologize for-"
"No, you're not the one who should be apologizing. I am. I shouldn't have treated you like that. It's just this whole reaping ordeal that has made me a bit more moody than I usually am." Nadia said, trying to apologize the best she could do. Nadia has never apologized for something she did ever.
"It's ok, Nadia. I understand what you must be feeling as I once did ten years ago." Aberico said.
"Yeah, I guess." Nadia said.
"Now, would you like to discuss with me about your set of skills?"
"Um, sure. Well I've used axs on the farm at home a lot, so I can use one of those well. I'm pretty agile and quick on my feet too. That's really it to be honest with you." Nadia said with a shrug.
"I think we can work with that." Aberico said with a soft smile.
The next day, the train arrived at the Capitol. As soon as Nadia and Dominik arrived they were escorted to the prep team. They were immediately washed and cleaned before their stylist came to change them into their parade outfits. Their stylist handed them a usual leather gown or suit but had a twist on it. She had peacock feathers covering the leather dress and suit. Nadia found the outfit extremely uncomfortable, but it wasn't like she had much choice to wear anything else.
Nadia's experience in the Capitol had been short, yet so different. She had been told to smile, wave, and stand out. In reality, Nadia wasn't a stand out. She was uncomfortable when she was told to wave to citizens as she got off the train.
"Hey, Nadia. How are you feeling?" Dominik asked.
"I'm alright just trying to take everything in." Nadia responded.
"Yeah, same." He replied.
"These outfits are quite strange don't you think?" Dominik asked, chuckling softly.
"Of course they are. I've never seen anything like this before back in Ten." Nadia said with a soft chuckle.
"Well, I actually like the feathers." Dominik said, smiling and ran his hand through his chestnut brown hair.
The chariots Nadia and Dominik were told to get in began to move, and Nadia's heart began to race quickly.
The bright light blinded Nadia for a brief second, and once she gained her vision back she was greeted by a roar of screams from crowds of people in the stands. Dominik waved at the crowd, smiling brightly, just as Aberico told him to do. Nadia waved at the crowd forcing a small smile on her face as she did. All of this brought excitement in her veins, she had never had people love her like they do now. The feeling of being cheered made her blush, and god damn it she never acted that way. She loved the attention, she really did. It gave her a feeling that she never felt before. Once the parade was over and President Harma made his usual speech, the chariot trotted back into the prep team.
"You two did good, hopefully they loved you." Aberico said smiling as Nadia and Dominik came out of the prep room and changed into some new clothes.
"Oh, I'm sure they did." Nadia smirked.
The following morning Nadia awoke and had a lavish breakfast with Dominik and Aberico, and she couldn't deny that it was one of the best meals she's ever had. After finishing her food Aberico sent both his tributes to the training room. The head trainer would set out the rules to all tributes and when he was done he let them loose to train.
Nadia examined each section, while Dominik went straight for the swords, Nadia wasn't interested in any of the bigger weapons as she knew they would be more life risking to grab one in the bloodbath. Nadia's eyes locked on the ax station, where only one other girl was using one of the several axs. Examining the girl, who was small and slightly muscular. It was obvious that the girl wasn't a career, but the way her appearance was, Nadia knew she was from the upper districts. As Nadia examined more she saw a giant 6 on her back as she turned to throw an ax, hitting the target in the bullseye. She would make a good ally, and making allies was exactly what Aberico told her to do. Nadia made her way over to the axe station, picking up an ax and threw it at a target, hitting it just below the bullseye.
"Nice throw." The girl would say to Nadia.
"Thank you, you have a nice aim." Nadia would respond after retrieving the ax.
"Thank you, and I try. I'm Otylia, Otylia Vesuvia of District Six." Otylia said and held out a hand to Nadia.
"I'm Nadia Cabrera, District Ten." Nadia said and shook Otylia's hand.
"So, are you nervous? About going into the arena?" Otylia asked, trying to come up with a conversation.
Nadia has always been nervous of going into the arena, she knew that her odds weren't in her favor, and she wouldn't be surprised if Ten tries bride their way to rig her death.
"Yeah, of course I am. Maybe an alliance between us could help us make it through longer? Me and my district partner, Dominik are already allies so if you want to join I'm sure he would have no problem with it." Nadia said, asking Otylia to join the alliance.
"Sure, I would like to join." Otylia said with a slight smile.
"Great, we're going to have a meeting back on our floor after lunch. Would you like to join?" Nadia asked.
"Yes, I'll talk to my mentor and I'll see if I can come." Otylia said.
"Great, we'll see you then." Nadia said smiling, placing her ax back on the metal rack and headed to lunch as the bell rang.