LEONOR EADE: DISTRICT NINE VICTOR OF THE 19th HUNGER GAMES
I practically rip off the dress I was forced into for the interview, favoring silky pajamas over the corseted travesty. Avia enters my room just as I flop down on the bed. "Great, what is it now? I want to sleep!" I complain, already mourning the loss of whatever sleep schedule I had. Avia's great, but she never stops talking once she gets started.
"They kept talking about a different weapon to use against the tributes," she begins, running a hand through her unruly blonde hair.
"Of course, we all noticed that. They'll hint at something that none of them can defeat, and then leave us all hanging. Tension. It's what the Capitol does right before the Games, isn't it?" I roll over and face the wall, trying to get Avia to take the hint and leave.
"Look, Leonor, don't let that snark get the best of you right now. We might be able to find something out tonight," she whispers.
"Tonight? I'm exhausted! What are you even talking about, 'find something out', we leave at like four in the morning to get back to Nine in time for the reapings. We're not going anywhere at this hour!" I get a sharp glance and shrink back meekly, making a mental note to myself that I should whisper from now on as well.
"The other Victors are on edge now. You've never done this, okay? You've never mentored. You don't know how badly we want our tributes to come home- I've got you now, luckily, but any chance we have, we need to take it."
"They already announced that whatever they're planning isn't going to be beatable."
"That doesn't matter. There's something we can do to prepare, we need to do it."
"You want to cheat?" That's good old Avia. Maybe losing sleep won't be so bad if it's for something I'm totally in agreement with. Like this. Find a loophole, beat them at their own game. I roll over and prop my elbows up, curiosity levels skyrocketing.
"If it keeps District Nine alive, yes."
"So is it just us in on this? Are we the only ones planning to 'find something out'- by the way, you obviously have a plan and I want to know what it is before I do anything stupider than win the Games."
"Don't make me regret mentoring you to Victory, Leo, that sass is going to backfire on you whether I snap or the Capitol decides you've gone too far." She sighs. "Anyway, of course we're not the only ones, most of the Victors want to try something. Luckily only a few of them have the guts to go through with any sort of plan. Agate and Holland want one of us to meet them tonight."
"Meet them? To do what, talk about it? Is this like, Victors Anonymous?"
Avia glares at me. "I'm trying to get you to do something. They want one of us, but Holland and I don't get along. That friction could ruin it. You should go."
"What's 'it'?" I ask, pointedly ignoring the fact that I've been forced onto this spy squad or whatever.
"Ruin the plan to," she lowers her voice to the faintest whisper, "try and discover the arena designs. Just that knowledge can help us prepare the tributes for what's coming. That can save their lives."
I nod. "Will I still get sleep?"
Avia rolls her eyes. "If you get back fast enough, but with your innate desire to mouth off to everyone you meet, I doubt that. Agate will spend the whole time with her hand over your mouth."
I smirk and roll off the bed to collect my shoes. "I might be the first to bring back a Victor on my first year of mentoring, how about that?"
Avia's eyes seem to glaze over for a moment. "That would change a lot of things for you, hon. A lot of things." She shakes herself out of whatever funk just came over her and focuses back on me. "Make sure to put some gloves or something in your pocket, and take a hat."
"Jeez, it's not that cold out. It's summer, Mom."
"Just in case. No incriminating evidence, right?" Again, she lowers her voice until I have to strain to hear it. "Victors sneak out all the time, for various reasons, but for the most part we can move freely in the city. They watch these tapes, but if they see you leaving they'll assume you're going to get drunk, or high, or laid, or something else that the tabloids would love to find out about."
I nod and, when Avia smiles back, I exit the room quickly, trying not to rush to the elevator. The lobby of the Victors' apartments, that's where Agate and Holland will be.
Awkward, I've never met Holland before. I've only heard stories, and of those there are plenty. As the elevator hurtles down to the ground floor, I can't help but grin at one story I've been told where the girl from Seven decided to sing an old ballad at one of her interviews rather than answer questions- she totally drowned out Octavius's questioning (and eventually, his laughter as well).
The elevator dings quietly and I step out into the lobby, glancing around for any other Victors. There! Right away, I spot Holland's give-away ginger hair, and then I notice tall Agate standing next to her.
I hurry over to the two women, self-consciously adjusting the pajamas I'm still wearing.
"We've got to get going as fast as possible," Agate hisses as soon as I meander to a stop beside her, "I want a tribute coming home this year."
I narrow my eyes at the words. That's what we all want, but she's the one already acting like this little espionage escapade will only benefit her. But Avia would kill me if I started a catfight and lost the chance to save a Niner's life.
"We're off then?" Holland says, grinning eagerly and bouncing off towards the door. The woman is almost thirty and yet she acts younger than me… is she crazy? Agate, poised and focused, follows after, stalking out the door like a cat. Then me, only eighteen, following behind helplessly. I hate it.
Agate takes the lead while we're on the nighttime streets, and I can be grateful for that. I'm still not used to the Capitol, I'd be lost in an instant especially in the dark, but Agate's been visiting these streets for over a decade. Holland half-walks, half-skips beside me. I can definitely see why Avia doesn't get along with her; the aura of carelessness and humor radiating off Holland is already starting to get to me.
"Why did you choose to come along?" I ask innocently, wondering why the girl- she acts like a girl, not a woman, even though she's close to twice my age- cared enough about the arena plans to do this.
"Linden's hands started shaking again, she couldn't make it but she wanted to- I came for a friend," she replies conversationally. I shut up, carefully weaving between already-hammered Capitol citizens and keeping my face turned away from them as best as I can.
"Hush, both of you, and follow me. Carefully," Agate snaps, stopping in front of a gilded building- Gamemaker Central. The lights in the lobby are turned off, the heavy brass doors padlocked shut.
"There had better be a back entrance or that lock had better be fake," I sigh. Agate shoots me a glance.
"There's a back entrance, Linden knows!" Holland chirps.
"That's where we're going. There's a lock on that door as well, but I can do something about that one," the District Two woman says confidently. She shepherds Holland and me around the side of the building to a small, nondescript door with no showy locks, only a keycard pad. Agate pulls out a card and swipes it triumphantly.
"How you manage that?" I scoff. I can't believe she pulled it off that easily. What did she need us for if not to get inside or watch her back on the streets? We're just following her around.
Agate grimaces like she's remembering something awful. "Bribery. Let's put it that way."
We slip through the door and find ourselves in a short hallway, no lights on whatsoever and no way to help ourselves until Holland miraculously pulls out a tiny flashlight. Am I the only one who came totally unprepared? I'm in my pajamas.
I turn to ask Agate what I should do here, just to find that she's pulled a six-inch blade from her boot. Maybe I shouldn't say anything, it'll just make me look even less impressive.
"The Head Gamemaker's office will be our best bet, we'll head there first. Leonor, keep watch behind us, there are always guards here."
I fall back a few paces, glancing behind us every couple seconds to fulfill my obligation. Agate takes us up several flights of stairs. Run up ten steps, a few seconds' break. Another flight, another tiny rest. Another, and another. How far up is the Head Gamemaker's office?
"Oof!" I glance behind us just as Holland throws her arm out to stop me. I run straight into her as a result, and Agate snarls at both of us.
"Here's our floor. Silently now, you hear?"
I nod reluctantly. We get the point, quietness has been emphasized my whole night.
Agate slowly opens the door out of the stairwell, peering into the new hallway. It's a few moments before the three of us enter the corridor, stepping cautiously. It still feels like each footstep echoes abnormally loudly.
"Which door is i-" I begin, but a bright beam of light in my face cuts me off effectively.
"Halt! You are under arrest for armed breaking and entering!"
Agate swears loudly and drops her knife with a clatter, but it's far too late. Four Peacekeepers emerge from the doorways and surround us.
So much for cheating, then.
Tribute List
District One Female: Sintra Astolle (18)
District One Male: Thierry Levesque (18)
District Two Female: Ita Brecchia (17)
District Two Male: Griffin Ainsworth (18)
District Three Female: Aelie Forslund (15)
District Three Male: Odrey Hume (14)
District Four Female: Viera Kinley (18)
District Four Male: Tiernan Costello (16)
District Five Female: Romany Argent (18)
District Five Male: Tycho Brunell (16)
District Six Female: Trista Minniver (15)
District Six Male: Calisto Milas (17)
District Seven Female: Braelin Spalding (16)
District Seven Male: Maxim Harth (15)
District Eight Female: Kendal Baize (18)
District Eight Male: Kilim Moquette (13)
District Nine Female: Geneva Torres (17)
District Nine Male: Arcas Kodo (14)
District Ten Female: Nairi Grey (14)
District Ten Male: Korry Falders (16)
District Eleven Female: Ardith Renville (17)
District Eleven Male: Terran Provost (17)
District Twelve Female: Sorrel Keating (18)
District Twelve Male: Oiyana Vir (17)
First of all, there's a blog! the BlogSpot title is 'theyallfalldown20'
Link will also be found on my profile :D That should be easier!
Questions!
What did you think of the tribute from the blog? First impressions, favorites, anything?
What did you think of this prologue part 2?
Here's the way reapings will work: Six chapters, two districts each, every tribute gets a POV. It'll get us to the Capitol faster while still introducing all the characters before they are forced into the life of a tribute. :) Districts portrayed in each chapter will be chosen randomly!
All right, don't start a review war this early. This is a reply to the anon reviewers (and by the way it would be more productive if you would have PMed me instead of reviewing like this. It's actually pretty hurtful):
Look, I have my reasons for doing things the way I do. Why did I let tribute submissions continue so long? Well, originally I didn't expect to have so many submissions, so I wanted to give whoever actually wanted to submit a good chance to think out their character and send them in without as much deadline pressure. I knew of some people who had exams during the submission period, and I didn't want them to stress about testing and creating characters, so I gave them extra time to submit. February 2nd was the ORIGINAL date I decided to close submissions, and I wasn't going to shut out anyone who was holding off/had been busy by closing early, that would have been unfair to them. And just FYI, two of the tributes I accepted came in on the last day.
Favoritism? You're accusing me of favoritism? Hm, let's see- of the people linked on my profile, I think seven have tributes here. (That's less than a third of the characters.) There were NO reserved spots. The people who were accepted all made detailed, promising tributes that I saw potential in. There were some cuts I made that were painful for me to make, I couldn't take all the characters I liked. I tried my hardest to avoid bias. And if I haven't already, I will be PMing you soon (although I don't know who you all are specifically) to explain why I didn't accept your tribute(s).
Why did I accept in stages? In previous stories, I DID accept characters as they came in. That caused a lot of confusion. Spots were constantly closing, people didn't know what was happening. However, I don't have the ability to accept in one round. Choosing 24 tributes at once means trying to decide plotlines, possibilities, and looking at interactions all at once and that's overwhelming. By accepting in rounds, I could build off the first group and figure out plotlines and development in smaller, more manageable increments.
And no, I would not be done with the reapings by now. I might have written one or two districts' worth.
My motives were for the good of the story, not for attention. Thank you.