Here's the District 1 Female Tribute, Vencitiy Corbette! I hope you like her!
It would be quite some time until the reaping started, but that did not mean much.
The dim sunlight peeped through the curtains of her bedroom window, bathing her makeup stand in light. She sat behind it, neatly pinning her long hair back from her face. A thick yet soft brush dusted near translucent powder over smooth skin. Fingers, slender yet callused at the tips, slowly unscrewed the lid of a tiny pink capsule and dipped an equally tiny pink brush into the dark inky liquid inside. Its bristled traced a thin, steady line above the soft skin above her lashes.
She slowly thickened her eyelashes into a deep black and fluttered them at her reflection in front of her. It smiled at her, perfect straight teeth shining white in contrast to her glossy red lips, face remade into a beauty even more pleasant than how it was before its makeover.
She added a few final touches, gluing tiny sparkles on the ends of her eyelashes, making her cheekbones appear higher with smudges of dark cream, and defining her jawline with powder. She then worked on her nails, adding crescent moons of french tips and fake jewels on the centers.
Finally, she released her locks from the pins. Brown waves tumbled down past her shoulders to the curve of her back. She brushed her hair carefully before she began to pin them again, her fingers intricately weaving through the strands lest she ruin her manicure.
She pinned the left side of her hair to her head, allowing the shorter locks by her face to frame it. The right side she allowed to remain loose and simply curled the ends into ringlets to give it a bounce.
Done with makeup, she stood up, stretching her slim leg, and slipped into her dress. The top line glimmered with tiny jewels against dark crimson fabric that slimmed around her waist, making previously nonexistent curves noticeable, and fell in ruffles to the middle of her thighs.
She carefully clasped a silver necklace around her neck and took anther look in the mirror. Cold, yet satisfied gray eyes greeted her, and she smiled at them.
The white door of her bedroom opened and a face, unmarked by any beauty product, peered in with a smile that almost instantly evolved into a grin.
"Venicity! Ven!" the girl shrieked as she entered the room, already dressed in a light blue gown. "You look gorgeous!"
Vencitiy laughed, a dimple digging deep into her left cheek. "And you look just adorable, Cy," she replied.
Cyrina halted in her tracks and pouted. "But if I get reaped I should be beautiful and stunning, not adorable," she complained.
"Please, it's way too early to hear that sort of blather from my sisters," a deep male voice cut in from the hallway. A young man, dressed in formal clothes and donning black hair, walked in and eyed Vencitiy. "You look beautiful, Ven."
Vencitiy giggled at him, twirling her hips so that the ruffles of her dressed circled them. "Thank you, Mr. Too-Old-To-Be-Reaped!"
He rolled his brown eyes before looking at Cy. "Cyrina, you're only fifteen. I refuse to hear this sort of talk from you."
Cyrina only replied with a quick raspberry before turning to her older sister, all smiles. "Vencitiy, can you please do my makeup?" she asked, her voice dripping with honey.
Vencitiy glanced at the clock above her makeup stand. "Fine," she said with a small smile. "But I'm going to make it a quick one, okay?"
She hastily did Cy's makeup, aware of the time flying by. At this rate they would not be early to the reaping. Her family was almost always early to get the best seats.
When she finished she shooed her siblings downstairs to greet the rest of their family. Her mother and youngest sister were already at the kitchen eating breakfast.
"Eat up," their mother said, her black hair curled into an elegant bun. She set three plates of toast, scrambled eggs, and cut fruit on the dining table.
Vencitiy took a seat, eying the plate of food. "You'd think I'd get a better meal before going to the Capitol, mother?" she joked, piercing a strawberry with her fork. Red juice dripped onto the white plate.
Her mother's steely eyes flashed at her direction. "Vencitiy, don't you even consider volunteering as a tribute this year," she said, her voice light.
"Of course, mother, that's for next year, yes?" Vencitiy replied, carefully tearing off a chunk of buttered toast with her teeth. She chewed and swallowed, sighing with longing. "Then I'll be eighteen and will nobly rise up to the stage and snatch––" she took another bite of her toast with a grin. "––the position of tribute from the reaped."
"Ven, don't talk with your mouth full," her brother said gently, pausing from his eggs.
She rolled her eyes. "Zayte, stop being so grumpy just because you were never chosen!"
He just shook his head at his plate. Vencitiy frowned. Usually she and her brother quarreled only for fun, but the frostiness in his voice was audible. She sighed again. Her brother was never in a good mood on reaping days despite that his last was two years ago.
"Are you really going to volunteer next year?" their youngest sister, Emiline, asked. Her feet hung off the dining chair as she looked at Vencitiy with huge gray eyes.
"Of course, Emi, unless I get chosen this year," Venicity replied with a sweet smile, reaching across the table to ruffle her sister's hair. That's unlikely, though.
The sound of bell boomed across the house. Venicity stood up in a flash, grinning. "That must be Adlele!"
She pranced past the huge living room to the door and flung it open. As she expected, her best friend was there, already in a deep blue dress. Adlele flung her blond hair behind her shoulder and beamed at Vencitiy.
"Great makeup!" she commented, her hazel eyes raking over the other's outfit. "And, gosh, where did you get that dress? It's gorgeous!"
"It costed a fortune," Venicitiy replied with an exaggerated sigh. "Come in! We're just finishing breakfast, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind to see you."
Zayte greeted Adlele with a smile and a kiss on the cheek while Emiline stood up and hugged her. Cyrina, however, stayed at her seat and simply nodded at her. "Good morning, Adle," she greeted coolly."
Adlele resisted the urge to roll her eyes and just smiled. "Hello to you, Cyrina." She turned to Vencitiy's mother with a polite curtsy. "And hello to you, Mrs. Corbinette."
"Everyone ready?" Heads turned to Mr. Corbinette as he strode into the dining room, handsomely dressed in a fine tuxedo. He nodded to Adlele and strode to the front door. "Let's go, then."
They left the house in an elegant group, walking past the small garden at the front and to the streets. They could have easily gotten a cab, but the city square was only blocks away from their neighborhood and, besides, it was a regular custom to walk to the reaping.
Adlele's family joined them as they walked. The weather was sunny with only a few clouds dotting the blue sky, trees casting dappled shadows over the sidewalks they walked on. They chattered as they walked.
"You have a higher chance," Adlele commented, arm casually looped around Vencitiy's. "I mean, you take tesserae each year, right?"
"Yep," Vencitiy said, tossing her head. "Not like we really need it, but hey the extra food's never a problem. The bread actually makes a good snack every once in a while."
Cyrina wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I don't like it, Ven," she complained, holding Emiline's hand as they walked. "It tastes all rough and and grainy!"
"Yes, it's grainy because it's made out of grain," Ven shot back.
"No it's grainy because it sucks!" Cy chirped.
"Does not!"
"Does too!"
The lighthearted argument continued until their father quieted them. They filed to the city square amongst huge crowds. The children said good bye to the adults and went to line to get their blood checked.
"Wait," Zayte murmured, gently grabbing Vencitiy by the shoulder. She raised penciled eyebrows at him, stopping in her tracks.
Gray eyes met gray for a few seconds as people streamed around them to the reaping area. Adele waited a few steps away from them, watching with mild interest.
"Promise me that you won't volunteer, Ven?" he asked, so quietly that Vencitiy could barely hear him over the chatter of the crowd. His face was serious, his jaw set and his eyebrows knitted together in the beginning of a frown.
She hesitated. The retort that she could do whatever she wanted was a bubble in her throat, and she swallowed it down and nodded at her brother. "I promise," she said, kissing him on the cheek. They laughed lightly at the red print it left, and he waved her goodbye, watching her clasp hands with Adlele and go to get their fingers pricked.
Vencitiy felt a small wave of disappointment wash over her as the needle dug into her finger for verification, as she had felt the past five years. This was just going to be another reaping without her being chosen.
She and Adlele strode to the 17-year-old area, standing hand-in-hand and staring at the empty stage ahead of them.
Eventually all the adolescents entered the square and silence fell over the crowd. A woman walked up to the stage––for the life of her Vencitiy could not remember her name, though she was pretty sure her first was 'Lalaicious'––and greeted them with a winning smile. Vencitiy swore she could see pointed fangs behind those purple lips of hers.
"Welcome, District 1!" she greets, her high voice booming across the square. She is greeted with enthusiastic applause and cheers from both the children and the adults. Vencitiy momentarily let go of her friend's hand to cheer with them.
"Enthusiastic as ever, now, are we?" Lalaicious laughed a tinkling laugh. "Well, then, we shall waste no time! Ladies first, now, don't we?"
She strode over to the glass bowl and dipped her hand in, rummaging deep. Vencitiy watched, trying to push down the feeling of excitement and tension that always sparked in her chest during the reapings. There was no point to keep her hopes up––the paper that would come out of that bowl would not have her name on it. Next year she would volunteer, and that'd be her moment of glory.
She watched as Lalalicious fished a folded slip from the bowl and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
"And our female tribute this year is..."
The name that the Capitolist would announce would not be hers. Every fiber of her body told her this, despite how much she wanted it to be true.
"Vencitiy Corbinette!"
Adlele's hand instantly squeezed her's, and Vencitiy's eyes opened wide. From the edges of her vision, she could see the faces of her peers looking at her, but that didn't matter, that didn't matter at all because her heart was pounding so violently in her chest now and the corners of her mouth were beginning to move outward to form a huge grin.
A combination of a shriek and a squeal erupted from the depths of her throat as she jumped where she was, slipping her sweat-slicked hand from Adlele's to clap them together. Ravenous, she turned her head toward the pathway and the crowd of seventeen-year-olds instantly parted for her.
She leaped––well, ran, but no elegant girl just runs in heels––up the stage and snatched the slip of paper from the befuddled Lalalicious. Her eyes scanned the paper, and yes, yes!––Vencitiy Corbette! This wasn't some sort of crazy dream!
She kissed the paper, hard, leaving a great red print behind before holding it up high above her head with both arms, grinning. A steady clapping started from the audience before they broke into yet another applause, cheering for her. Adlele, she could see, was cheering the hardest of all.
Vencitiy knew that no one would bother volunteering for her, unless they were asking for suicide. She was reaped! She was reaped, she was reaped, nothing else mattered.
She hummed to herself, grinning, as Lalalicious regained herself and chose the male tribute, a young boy that she didn't know at all. However, as the boy stood up on stage and Lalalicious called for volunteers, a hand shot out from the crowd.
She watched, mildly interested, as a handsome man––man, not boy, she observed––stepped onto the stage.
"And what might your name be?" Lalalicious asked, her voice simpering.
"Jaeger Leon Blackwater, miss," he replied clearly into the microphone, flashing a smile at the crowd.
She turned to him when instructed, both pairs of eyes locking as they grasped their hands together.
Vencitiy gave him her most winning grin, squeezing his hand warmly, and his only reply was an equally winning smile.
Oh, this will not be easy, was the first thought to appear in her head as she let go of his hand, but did that matter? Did it matter. No. It did not.
Peacekeepers came and escorted the two into the city hall behind the stage. Vencitiy sat neatly on one of the seats, looking at the room with slight interest. The place was elegant, the floor beneath her feet marble, the walls white with equally white pillars. The couch––that word wasn't elegant enough to describe it––she sat on made of the finest velvet, and she ran her fingers through it cheerfully.
The door opened and she was only able to glimpse Zayte's frown before Cyrina rushed in, bowling her over with a hug.
"Oh my GOSH Vencitiy, you got in, you got in!" Cyrina squealed, squeezing her sister. Serenity choked, patting her sister on the back.
"Yes, yes, I did!" she said, her voice weak because of how Cy was forcing the air out of her lungs, but she had a huge grin on nevertheless.
A hand patted her arm and she looked up to Adlele's, whose face matched her own. "I'm jealous~! But this is great, Ven, you're entering the Games!" she exclaimed.
The others, however, were more somber. "Congratulations," her father said, his voice solemn. Her mother nodded next to her, her eyes pained.
However, the smile only slipped off Vencitiy's face when she looked at Zayte. His hand rested on Emiline's shoulder, which was shaking, and he himself avoided her gaze.
"Ven... You're not actually going to the Games, are you?" Emi piped up quietly.
"Of course I am," Vencitiy replied, a bit more harshly than she intended. She was entering the Games! It was a privilege, so why were they treating it as such a bad thing?
"No! But..."
Vencitiy cut Emiline off. "But what? I'm going to die? Don't be silly, Emi," she scoffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Of course I'm going to survive––I'm going to win!"
"Of course you are," Cyrina squealed, her arms still loosely wrapped around her sister's neck.
"Hey, Ven," she said, pressing her cheek against her sister's. "When you win, can you most definitely be my mentor when I'm eighteen? Or when I'm chosen?"
"Of course, Cyrina!" Vencitiy laughed, kissing her sister on the cheek.
Emiline watched the two of them with huge, scared eyes. Zayte's grip on her shoulder tightened.
The three girls began to laugh about something Adlele said, but their laughter died down as Vencitiy's mother approached them. "Ven, dear..." she said, holding a small box in her hand. She held it out to her daughter with her husband behind her, smiling wearily. "This is for you. Your father and I believed that we'd give this to you next year, but it seems like you're getting it a year early."
Vencitiy took it and slid the lid of the box off. Inside was a large pendant, a pink 'V' inscribed on the locket. She took it, holding the chunky locket. A pink '1' was on the other side. She clicked it open, and inside, on both sides, was pictures of her family.
The pictures glowered, and a voice whispered under its breath, "May the odds ever be in your favor."
"... Oh, mother, father," she breathed, looking up at them. She swore that the edges of her vision were blurred, but this was no time to be crying. She knew well about the Games and how they dealt with tears. "Thank you."
Zayte let out a shaky sigh, watching his sister closely. "I have one too," he said carefully, grasping Vencitiy's hand and closing his fingers over the locket. "Take care of it well in the arena."
She watched him. His eyes were glistening. "You... I disapproved of you training for the Games before, Ven, but I hope they aid you well in the arena," he said, holding up her hand to his face. He closed his eyes, pressing her knuckles against his forehead. "Please, come back."
She suddenly found it hard to breath, and Vencitiy cleared her throat and blinked rapidly. The air in the room suddenly grew hot. "Y... Yes, of course, Zayte," she said, and her voice lost its arrogance from before. "Of course I will."
Zayte let go of his her hand, a small smile on his face. "Well, then, go get 'em, Ven."
As if on cue, the doors of the room opened and the Peacekeepers told them it was time to go out. Adlele called for a final group hug, and Vencitiy suddenly found her enveloped in a giant tangle of arms.
"I love you guys.. I love you all," she whispered before they all let go, laughing and smile. She waved to them as they left, and the doors shut closed behind her.
No other visitors came, but she didn't mind, as she stared at the interior of the room. Her family and Adlele––they were the only people that mattered to her. And, besides, it wasn't like then was the last time she was going to see them.
A smile twisted its way onto her face. No, no. She'd see them in a couple of weeks, as a Victor.