Farewell

Walking up to the stage was the most horrifying experience in my life. I didn't look back. I knew Merli would start screaming if I did. District 1 would not stop being proud of their tributes. I couldn't let that happen. Keeping Merli from being killed by Peacekeepers is only step one. I kept walking forward, my cold gaze set on Kaito's face. He kept smiling, motioning me onto the stage.

"Another young tribute! Any volunteers? No? Alright. How old are you, dear?"

"I'm twelve years old, as of a month ago." I smiled proudly and curtsied. I had to be cute.

Kaito smiled. A responsive tribute. He wasn't going to be fired. "12! Don't older kids usually volunteer for you? Why aren't they today? How do you feel about being chosen?"

He was really starting to get on my nerves. "There was a tragedy a little while ago. Many of the older kids were killed in an accident. Although I'm super sad about all the deaths, I'm proud to represent my district! I believe that this is a great chance to show just how amazing District 1 is, and I can't wait for the Games." I lies slipped easily through my teeth. Maybe I wouldn't have been that bad of a Career trainee.

Even as I was interviewed, my façade was perfect. Fear or anxiety never showed on my face. I smiled, and pretended to be happy about this turn of events. I needed sponsors. I can't allow failure just because Piko and I weren't trained. Piko or I have to win. No, not Piko. I'm the one that has to win. Piko doesn't stand a chance anyway.

My interview finished with Kaito clapping and leading us into the Justice Building. Nobody visited us. Merli knew she couldn't show her pain at me being chosen. How guilty she was that she didn't volunteer. The train came to pick us up, and still no one came. We entered the luxurious train that would be called our home for the next 2 days, until we arrived in the capitol. I decided I should explore the new area.

"H-hey…umm…Aoki?" spoke a quiet voice from behind me. I might as well be friendly. Be nice to my fellow district members before they die.

"Piko. Hey. I'm just going to look around. Would you like to join me?" Piko's face lit up, and he nodded. I walked off through the train. It was a pretty nice train. Decorated with paintings along the walls, and there were barely any bumps. For the poorer districts' tributes, this must be an extremely new experience. Too bad it'll be one of their last ones. District 1 may not have Careers this year, but they'll still be in the competition. I looked back at Piko.

At least…one of them will be.

"Umm…do you know who our mentor is this year? Or if we have one?"

That made me stop. Did we have a mentor? A lot of them were killed in the accident. I don't know how many survived. My first goal would be to find our mentor, then. I couldn't find anyone that would know, though. I kept walking, not bothering to check whether Piko could keep up, or if he was even following me. To be honest, I didn't really care. He was following me though, and saw the purple haired girl before I did. He talked to her first, too.

"Hello. Umm… we're the tributes from District 1, and we were wondering where our mentor would be…and who he is."

The girl didn't respond, and Piko started talking again. She still didn't respond. I thought it was a lost cause. She won't respond. She's like the remaining Career tributes back home. They've become unresponsive. She's probably a tribute from a different district. The door on the opposite side of the room opened before I could comment, though.

"Deffy, you look amazing today…why don't you come back into my room and take a break from all this work? Don't worry, I'll make sure no one notices, and—" He broke off mid-sentence as he saw us. I had clenched my fists. I wasn't entirely unfeeling or anything, and the interaction between the two purple haired strangers in front of me made my blood boil. Then I realized I'd seen the man before. He always wore some weird robe. He said it was, 'traditional' whenever he was asked about it. He was the winner of the 33rd Hunger games. 27 year old Gakupo Kamui. And this year…

"You must be Aoki and Piko! Hello! I'm your mentor this year. You already know who I am, though, right? Of course you do. Now, why don't you run along back to your rooms. Ms. Utane and I have an important matter to talk about…" Our new mentor put his hand around the girl's waist, and she shivered. I may be willing to kill my fellow tribute, but some old man forcing a girl, who looked no older than I was, to come into his room and…

"You," I pointed to the girl, "what's your name?" I heard no reply and repeated myself. To my left, I heard a slight intake of breath, and a few muttered words. Gakupo smirked, muffled laughter coming from between his lips. I realized why the girl had said nothing during the disgusting one sided conversation with Gakupo. It wasn't because she was forced to do whatever he said, although that was true as well. She couldn't say anything about it. She couldn't say anything about anything. Her tongue was cut out. She wasn't a tribute. She defied the Capitol, and as punishment, her tongue was 's a sad fate that usually is only given to the poorer district citizens.

"Uta Utane. Self-nicknamed Defoko. She's from District 2, and was caught running between her district and District 1 by a Peacekeeper. The Capitol took away her speech, made her an Avox, for breaking one rule." The voice sounded bitter. I didn't realize it wasn't Defoko until Piko walked forward from behind me. "A rule she didn't even break. Her friend did. She just took the blame, and the Capitol was fine with trading. That was two years ago. I haven't heard from Tianyi since."

Defoko's jaw dropped, an o shape appearing. I could almost imagine her voice, high and soft. "How did you know that? You know Tianyi?" Her face said it all. Piko looked down. The white haired boy one year my senior, the scared stiff District 1 tribute, had a secret he kept for two years, hiding the truth behind a web of lies. Merli would say that was 'acting at its finest'.

Maybe he wouldn't make that bad of a tribute after all.