Sapphire Magenta, District 1 Female
"You're weak and useless!"
Father punches me in the jaw, making me lose a tooth and making my mouth bleed. He shoves me to the ground.
"Get up." He says in an angered tone. All I did was say that I didn't want to volunteer for the Hunger Games when I got older, and the next thing I knew was that I lost a tooth and was pushed. I didn't do anything wrong.
Father kicks me in the stomach. "Get up," He says, gritting his teeth. " I SAID GET UP!"
He kicks me much harder, and I scream out in pain.
"You're a weak little brat," He says. "You need to be a lot tougher to win the Games."
I'm only five! It was about in ten years that I would be able to volunteer and go into the Games! I didn't want to die early!
Father kicks me in the side, and I yell out in pain once again.
"GET UP YOU WORTHLESS EXCUSE FOR A DAUGHTER!"
As father brings down his foot one more time, and everything rushes out.
I spring up from my sleep, looking from side to side. Father wasn't in sight, and I wasn't on the ground. The first thing I do is check my alarm clock. Six O'clock. Perfect.
I change into a comfortable white shirt and black pants. I grab my bag and walk downstairs as slowly as possible. I see mother cooking, but her back is turned towards me. Perfect once again.
Once I close the door, I run as fast as I can out of the Victors Village. Yes, the grand and mighty Victors Village. Both my mother and father one the Hunger Games, and now live peacefully in the Victors Village with my parents, Bright and Dream, and me and my sisters, Azure and Ruby. The other house is for my grandmother, Tanzanite, and my two cousins, Quartz and Silver.
As I walk into the Training Center, I see Mr. Timbiko, one of the trainers.
"Hello Mr. Timbiko, how are you today?" I ask in my sweetest tone of voice.
"Fine, how about you?"
"Good."
"I heard you were volunteering Sapphire, you sound excited."
"I am," I lie, walking away from Mr. Timbiko, "I'm just going to get in some last minute training."
You see, I did not want to volunteer originally. I was forced into it by my parents, wanting another Victor in the family. I was hurt a lot by my parents, and they wanted me to train for the Games. This was the last thing I ever wanted. I originally wanted to escape this torture, but my parents made sure I was training. Eventually, it became a habit, and I did it more so to please my family.
Suppose I wasn't going to volunteer. What would happen next? First off, every single one of my friends and family would be ridiculed by the District, and they would never let it go. I wouldn't get off free either, I would be disowned and on the streets, being shunned by every single person. I would merely fade out of existence and starve to death on the streets. That's why I had to volunteer. Great things were expected from me.
As I walk over to the bows and arrows station, I grab a bow that's tight and strong. I grab an arrow, and stroll to a human target. I release the arrow, and it flies into the dummy's head.
I see a boy with a bow and arrow, one my age, and as he shoots his first arrow, it is evident that he can't shoot. I stroll over to him, then start talking as he loads another arrow.
"Hey, do you want me to help you with that?"
"N-no thanks, I'm fine." He shoots another arrow, and it hits the dummy's knee.
"Let me show you," I say, standing next to him. I pull back the bowstring with him as he holds it. The boy's hands were shaking, and now I know why he is incompetent with this weapon.
"On the count of three we release, okay?" He nods and gains his focus, but the bowstring is still shaking. "One, two, three!"
As we both let go of the bow, the arrow flies into the dummy's shoulder blade. Close enough, I guess.
I walk back to my target, then the boy asks, "Do you want to hang out after the reapings?"
I turn around and scan him. He had messy blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin.
"Um, no thank you," I reply with false regret, "I'm busy after the reapings."
The boy nods, and returns to shooting arrows, looking dejected.
I shoot an arrow into my dummy's heart. Sorry boy, but I won't be back for awhile.
Dusty Timbiko, District One Male
I charge into a horde of dummies in the simulation I'm in, and I felt alive. I fire dozens of bolts from my crossbow, making many dummies fall. I loved these simulations. It was way more fun than shooting a dummy from a distance. I make many dummies fall, each of them falling like small towers.
I'm eventually surrounded by a horde of the dummies, and they were armed with weapons for close combat, daggers and knifes to be exact. It doesn't matter. I shoot at each of the dummies, and they fall one by one.
I was going to defeat a pack of dummies. They may have been dummies, but you kind of have a sense of achievement defeating a pack that out numbers you thirty to one.
As I shoot one of the last dummies, I feel a hot pain in my back, and I fall to the ground. I've just been stabbed. It's over. I black out, signaling the end of the simulation.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT, DUSTY?!"
I was awoken by my mother's yelling. Ugh, this was not something I took into account if I lost. Mother was yelling at me.
My very own mother, Sansa, was a trainer in the District's Training Center. My father, Pippin, was one also, but I didn't know where he was. He was probably helping some of the little kids start training.
"What mom?"
"Don't play dumb with me, mister. Why would you charge into a horde of dummies that could stab you in the back?" She sounded more frustrated than angry now, " You've done this three times in the past month, David, why do you do this? Why?"
"Mom, it's just training-"
Don't use that excuse with me, mister. We're training you to win the Games in three years, not to entertain people and do this as a hobby."
"Isn't what the Games are? Entertainment?"
Mother sighs, then says, "Go shoot some targets with your crossbow. Don't use a gun, they don't use those in the Games.
"Fine mom."
I walk to the shooting area, where some tributes are using bows and arrows to shoot. I don't pick up a crossbow and start shooting. I walk past the shooting area. Mother doesn't tell me what to do. I'm a free spirit.
Instead, I walk over to the gymnastics station. There were mostly girls here, with some guys here also. I was better than most here. I could probably backflip across a corridor with a bunch of people shooting at me without being hit once.
As I get on the mat, I start doing a series of backflips. I felt invincible as I did them. Ha, if I were really being shot at, I wouldn't even be hit. I was right, as I always was.
After I practice for about thirty minutes, I go and change into my reaping clothes. A dust brown suit. I grin a little bit, knowing it was kind of a running joke, but it was still slightly funny. I walk out with my bag, grinning in excitement.
You know how mother wanted me to volunteer at age eighteen? I was going to volunteer today. I'm good enough, why should I wait? Besides, it would be a great adventure.
I can't help but keep smiling as I walk to the square.
Alex Gardenias, District 1 Female
"Mom, can we please leave for the reaping now?"
"In five minutes, okay!"
I groan, looking at the clock. Seven Forty-Five. Fifteen minutes until the reaping starts.
My sister, Laurel, walks downstairs, all ready for the reaping. She's dressed nicely, and she looks good, despite being woken up so early.
"You look good," I comment.
"You look great," She replies.
I couldn't deny it, I wore a sparkly gold minidress with silver flats.
"You look as if you're volunteering today."
"Why would I do that, can't I dress nicely during the reaping?" I am nervous on the inside, thinking that she's found out about my secret.
"Girls! Let's go!" I instantly recognize the voice. It was none other than Luster, my father. He was a well built man, with the same blue eyes. The similarities ended there. He had pale skin opposed to my tanned skin, and black hair instead of my blonde hair.
Mother is finally ready, and we leave the house. My parents start talking instantly, chattering on and on about life, the jobs, but are trying not to talk about one thing. Their dead daughter.
Before I was born, my other sister, Penelope, was killed during the Hunger Games when she volunteered. My family didn't want us to train and eventually enter the Games, as they've said millions of times to us, "They are a deadly waste of time!"
Being the girl who liked to try new things, I disobeyed them. I hoped that I would just do this as a hobby, but they started becoming a way of life. I was the best in my year, and was told to volunteer.
And now I'm here, about to volunteer for the Games and revel to my family that I was indeed lying to them about not training. With this Quell coming up, I felt that I had a better chance of winning these Games, especially that the last remaining tributes from a District could be a Victor, so what was there to lose?
As I get checked in, I see a pack of girls walking towards me. Ugh, I hated these people. They were snobs, with their fancy gem implants on their faces, and make up covering every part of their face, making them look like deranged clowns.
"Hey ugly," one says, most likely their leader, being the most grotesque one of them all, "did you find that dress in the streets?" Her clique laughed at that horrible joke, and she joined with them.
I tackled her to the ground, punching her face. This was routine. They mess with me, they get beat up, they go home crying, repeat.
I lift her up, and say, "Do you really want to mess with me again?"
She shakes her head so fast that it's almost comical, and I nearly laugh. I push her down, then her posse and herself run away like scared pigeons.
I smile, then look up towards the stage, waiting to volunteer.
Oliver Shea, District 1 Male
"You ready to volunteer "Ollie-Wollie?"
I grit my teeth as I hear laughter from Niall, my friend that I train with. Well, now it's the friend I trained with, as I was going to volunteer, and it was the last year of our reapings. There's usually a big party in celebration of the next tribute in the Games, and I'd be the main attraction. They were throwing this party for me. I would be District One's next big thing. The Victor of the Four-Hundredth Hunger Games. I smirk as this comes to mind. I am the best of the best. I was born that way.
My father, Douglas Shea, was the person that let me do this. He's always wanted me to win. I want to impress him. All of the bruises and scars on my body have prepared me for this. Some say he is abusive, and that it rubbed onto me, but it was good training. It's made me tougher than anyone here. I'm Six foot four and bulkier than anyone I see. I'm definitely the best.
I look for my girlfriend, Lizzie Brookes, and see if I can see her. I eventually see her, and she makes eye contact, and she smiles at me. I smile back, and we turn back, diverting our attention to the stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the reaping for the Four-Hundredth Annual Hunger Games!"
The escort was obviously new to District One. She looked about twenty years old, her face was clean with no signs of surgery, and the only thing modified was her purple contacts and split colored hair down to her knees, one side being blue, and the other being pink.
"Before we start the reaping, let's watch a video from the Capitol!"
Nearly everyone, myself included, groaned. This video was nothing new to us, and wasted precious time for everyone to see me, the main attraction.
I nearly fall asleep, but I must stay awake. I couldn't be that guy who fell asleep during the reaping. That would put a dent in my reputation.
After the video is over, nervousness fills up inside me. I just felt like yelling at the escort and punching her to get on with it.
"Now for the girls!" she yells, pulling out two slips of paper from the female bowl, "Our tributes are-"
" I volunteer!"
"I volunteer!"
Two girls start running up to the stage, one from the sixteen year olds and the other from the seventeen year olds.
"What are your names girls?!"
"I'm Sapphire Magenta," The sixteen year old says, smiling at the cameras. She wore a pink dress that went down to her knees. Sapphire was taller than the seventeen year old, and had light brown hair, in contrast to the seventeen year old's blonde hair.
"And you?"
"Alexandria Gardenias," She smiles as well, looking towards the crowd instead. She wore a gold minidress. I look towards Lizzie, then look back. Why couldn't this girl be my girlfriend? Sure, Lizzie was fine, but Alex looked better.
"Our male tributes are-"
"I VOLUNTEER!" I bark, and run towards the stage as fast as I can. A boy almost a foot shorter than me and way less muscular made it to the stage a short time later.
"What are your names?"
"Dust-"
"Oliver Shea," I say over him, smirking casually, "District One's Next Victor."
This generates quite a few cheers, the loudest ones being from Niall, Lizzie, and my father, who's out in the crowd watching me.
"And your name, young man?"
"Dusty Timbiko," says the smaller boy, looking and sounding slightly irritated.
I put on my biggest smile as the escort announces us.
"District One, here are your next victors!"
This sends the crowd in huge cheers, and we all smile, knowing that we were going to be great contenders.
Hey guys, Wolf here with the first reaping, being from District One ironically, and this is our first reaping chapter. No more filler prologues, I am in business!
I'll have some questions at the end of each chapter for you to answer. Of course it's optional to answer, I just want to know what you think, because your opinion matters.
Thanks to TigerGirl22, The Mockingjay Lives, Amor-deliria-nervosa-7491, and Taylor1103 for these tributes, and everyone else that has submitted!
Questions!
In order, what tributes are your favorites from this District?
Any future predictions for these tributes?
I still have spots open, so submit!
-Socially Awkward Wolf
