Aden Starr
I can bet Benete's life that I know better District 10 than anyone else. I am not obliged to tell you why or how, but I just tell you that I am quite the explorer.
I have a good sense of balance and danger. My steps are almost unnoticeable, the shadows welcome me. Great distance shorten in my presence, I jump over gaps on the ground no problem. I'm a fairly good swimmer, climber, and because of my rather short size, I can fit in almost anything, thanks to my flexibility.
I also have a lot of confidence, and a rather optimistic side.
"Come on Ashlee!" I call after my pretty friend.
Ashlee's just turned fifteen some hours ago, so we, Benete and I, decided to show her our Happy Place.
She has long silky brown hair tied in two pigtails with reddish ribbons, with caramel eyes and tanned skin. She looks adorable in person, like someone you could pick up and hug endlessly. Today she wears a blue knee-length dress, and is barefoot. She can be barefoot, there are no thorns, and the rocks are giantous too. Yes, giantous is a word for me.
Benete is a rather cheerful person, but not positive. He is cheerful and depressing, but he likes to sing. Instead of depressing over things, he sings some funny songs.
"Tomato mato-mato tomatomato paledo!" He sings and skips from rock to rock.
He has short spiked up blond hair and brown hair with a scar on his cheek.
I stop to wait up until Ashlee catches up.
"Try to jump from rock to rock like Benete, and don't be afraid to use your arms to fling yourself up to the air. It is quite fun."
"Why are we doing this again?" She asks.
"You turned fifteen you pickle!"
"I'm not a pickle!"
I hear Benete scream and I snap my head towards the noise, and then Splash!
"Benete found our happy place."
Where we are, is what I called the Stone Garden of Eve.
It is a barren landscape with white rocks and marvelous ruins of places, with little greenery, but then as you go deeper into the Garden, you see statues of people and animals, trees, bushes, little streams and rivers and benches. You can even smell the river and the vegetation. Then the vegetation versus rock ratios suddenly explodes. A lot of bushes, exotic looking flowers, and smaller animals like rodents and birds, some rocks, and our destination, The Lake.
The Lake itself is big, has a little beach, and exactly where we are going it a place where some of the young and bold do the cliff diving. The slope increases as we go down to the base of the lake.
"Na na, what do you think?" I ask Ashlee has she stands in aw.
"Wow, this is…beautiful," she says, turning around. "This is so…serene, gorgeous. I love it!" She smiles.
I hear someone swimming to us, it's Benete.
"We heard you slipped."
"Oh shush it. I'm all wet and dripping."
"That's what she said," Ashlee giggled.
Benete grunts and takes of his clothing. I open my bag of fortunes, taking out their swimwear, towels, some food and all that fun picnic stuff. Benete snatches his trunks, I take my swim jammer and Ashlee takes her bikinis.
We change separately, carefully having our clothes folded up, well, except Benete's. His is dripping wet; he laid them on a rock to dry.
"Isn't it funny how your birthday is on Reaping Day?" I ask her while floating on the water, eating my apple.
"How is it funny? It is like they send two kids to die on my birthday."
"I don't know. Do I look like I know? No I don't, because if I would look like I know why, I would've given a reason, but since I don't know why, and I do not look like I know why, no, I don't know why, and so I don't give rea-"
"Cannonball!" Benete screams from the top of his lung and land between us, well, landed partially on me.
The force of the landing/impact forced the three of us underwater.
I open my eyes and see Benete's trunks floating in front of me. I snatch it and swim away, getting air some meters away.
"Ahahaha! Your face, they were so funny," he laughs.
"Your face will be even funnier when you see this," I tell him and show his trunks. He stops laughing and looks down, then blushes.
"Aden! Give it back!"
"Come and get it."
He starts swimming and I catch Ashlee blushing at Benete.
"Ass," he takes his trunks away and puts them on.
"Is what Ashlee was staring at."
"What?"
"Shh, not that loud. Yep, she has a little something something for you." I nudge him.
"You think?" He says, suddenly much more quiet.
"I know," I reassure him.
He is awkwardly quiet now.
…Oh I get it now.
"You have a little something something too?"
"What? No…" he lies.
"Hey Ashlee! Benete has a crush on you!"
"What? Idiot! Ass! Mofo! Jerk!" He starts pounding at me.
"I am blushing," I say as I grab his arms. Now he starts to kick me. "Continue and you will lose your manliness." He stops.
"Why did you tell her?"
"He confessed!" I look at him smiling. "Come on, you, Romeo."
Anne Scarlette
"Anne! Anne dear where are you?" Aunt Stella calls after me.
She will never find me, not in a year, not even with help.
I'm crumbled up in the attic looking at photo albums of her family.
I've lost both of my parents a long time ago in a large forest fire, and ever since then I live with Aunt Stella, and her son Joseph, who was claimed by the Hunger Games some four years ago.
After that, Aunt Stella started to train me every single day like a Career. First I disliked it, because it meant less time readings books, and more time interacting with people, making my speech skills better and everything.
I can't really remember my family. I had my parents, and an older sister. I only remember my mom faintly, but even the mother in my memory is different from real life. All I can recall is the night of the fire, how it came unexpectedly. Dad and mom had a fight, my brother was wining, and the fires rose. I was covered in wet clothing and then blank. That's all.
Apparently my mom was called Lisa, my father was Jerome, and my brother was Achilles.
But now I like training, the weapon part, where it is me and the weapons only. As it turned out I am a natural with knives in general, throwing knives, but poor with close combat. Well no wonder, with my petite size.
After the photo albums, I start reading a new book, one about treachery and sorrow.
I love reading. It is like, an escape from real life, even though I am reading depressing books. It makes your vocabulary better, gives general knowledge of said topic and everything…
But it also makes me quite emotionless in a sense, in a weird, abstract, not-so emotionless way.
"Anne, Anne dear, are you here?" She asks after she opened the attic door.
She scans the place but she can't see me.
"Anne…"
After some indefinite amount of reading, I went downstairs to find Aunt Stella sitting at the kitchen table with a box of tissues.
"Hey Auntie," I smile. She looks at me, a bit angry but more happy than angry.
"Anne, where were you?"
"Here and there. I was in the house all the time."
I decided to stick around with Aunt Stella, showing sorry that I scared her. She is really crushed; there are no more people in her family but me, so she is quite paranoid about the Games. After that I decide to train some.
There is a training station for the richer ones of course. It is quite good for District 10, we aren't the best doing, but the place her pretty good things. Dead bodies from random farms, hay stacks, some 'weapons'. It is pretty descent.
"Hey Annie, decided to come back?" One of the boys taunt me, but I am too lazy to remember his name.
"Not in the mood Galberd."
"It's Halberd."
"As I said, not in the mood." He stopped me from going to the climbing station.
"Listen, if you win I'll leave you be. If I win, pay."
I look at him with my dead look.
"Whatever pleases you."
Apparently it is a shooting game. Bow and arrow, and then throwing knives. We have a lot of watcher. The better, at least everyone will see him fail.
He shot six of the ten arrows in the middle. He looked at me like he is the best.
I take the bow and the ten arrows. Five of the ten arrows go into the exact middle, breaking the ones before it, the six and seven went to the same place, and the last three went in the middle, separated places.
"If I'd be you I'd run," I tell him.
"Bitch," he side comments.
I grab a knife and stab him to the wall.
"Repeat."
"I said nothing!" He lies.
"Repeat." I move my face closer to his. "I dare you to repeat."
"I didn't sa-"
"Repeat."
"I called you a bitch!" He confesses.
"Good." I say and kick him in the crotch. "Now you know what not to say to me."
Now I'm sure you think of me as a heartless monster.
Which is partially true, but the real the truth is that once you get used to humans, they're boring. Except when they do drama, that's fun. Especially broken hearted girls.
It's like being an all knowing person. So much fun.
Aden Starr
I guess we could've been whipped if we forgot to go to the Reapings. Sucks. I mean, we were having the best time together and such, and shabam comes the Reapings to ruin it. But whatever. Not like I, or Benete, or Ashlee will get reaped or anything. Right?
Our Escort, Elliott, is quite a character. Laughing and joking, he makes the Reapings fun…or more bearable. I mean, it is hard not to laugh or even smile when he steps on the stage. He has long light blond hair tied in a small ponytail, blue eyes, a fading goatee and lightly tanned skin. He usually relieves stress by flinging his ponytail about.
Today he is wearing khakis and a white sleeveless shirt with sandals.
"Hello-bello District 10 of cows and sheep," he greets and people giggle. "The twist in the Fourth Quarter Quell is…basically everyone who knows the tribute will be sent to…play, in the Games. So anyways, the male tribute is Benete Scaffenderfield and the female tribute is Anne Scarlette," he says. "Ooh, Scarlette, a pretty name. Well, come on little munchkins!"
I wasn't reaped, yet I am the tribute.
"I volunteer!"
Anne Scarlette
"Hello-bello District 10 of cows and sheep," he greets and people giggle. "The twist in the Fourth Quarter Quell is…basically everyone who knows the tribute will be sent to…play, in the Games. So anyways, the male tribute is Benete Scaffenderfield and the female tribute is Anne Scarlette," he says. "Ooh, Scarlette, a pretty name. Well, come on little munchkins!"
Oh the irony.
Aunt Stella lost her family in a fire, then her son for the Games, and now she will die with me in the Games.
That sucks...
Aden Starr
Well no need to tell that Benete was upset and grateful, but more upset.
"Why did you volunteer for me?"
"Why does it matter if we both go to the Games?" He stops and pouts, and then he starts again. This time, Ashlee was kind of the peacemaker now.
Benete is a block head. He is just so…illogical! He has like two brothers, and I'm a lonely child, and I do have a better chance of getting them out alive.
The same with my parents, though they were concerned about their owned life too a bit. Oh the beauty of life. Live like there is no tomorrow.
Anne Scarlette
Surpassingly Auntie Stella was my only visitor, and then Halberd, begging for his life. People are so pathetic.
They treat you like trash until they are depending on you. And Halberd is on his knees, crying, begging me to save him.
"Please Annie, please I beg you!"
"Anne."
"Anne, please don't let me die!"
"I'll see what I cannot do…"
Author's Note: I am SO sorry! My brain decided to commit suicide at the middle of Anne's part, and then I had an exam and four big tests and all that! I am so terribly sorry!