Thank you, Broken Line for your OC's! You WILL see them in the story at some point! That goes for fire assassin, aliciathewolf45, and Bokkun.
Thank you, Ali and Bokkun for helping me out when NOBODY reviewed or messaged me at all! Also, big thanks to my friend Ansley for helping me write it!
*MayTheOddsBeEverInYourFavor*
It was another miserable day. The sun sat there, mocking me with its radiant glow. Today was the day of the Choosing. The Choosing was when the high-class people came down to each district and choose two God-foresaken people to participate in a demented game that the 'Creators' called the 'Hunger Games'.
My brother shivered when he looked out the window. "S-something horrible is going to happen today." He said softly, as though a whisper. This concerned me. Even though we were scum of the earth and everyday a new life was ended, Aster was always light-hearted. He was one of the few that could fit under the electric gate that kept us in this hell and he even ran away once and brought us back food.
You could see in his green eyes that the grief he felt was so big, it was from every suffering person subjected to this torture. I hated to see him like this. I hated to see everyone like this.
WE were suffering because of THEM; WE were STARVING because THEY wanted their five meals a day, goddammit! And they were going to do anything to get it while WE die of starvation. WE were subjected to their torturous game! We were nothing more than toys that they could play with and kill off when they were done with them.
It wasn't... Even... FAIR! I forced the rage out of my mind and put my hand on his shoulder. "Aster, you need to get ready for the selection ceremony." I said softly.
Aster shook his head violently. "No. No, Amy! We can't DO this anymore! I won't let the only person left in my family go out there today. I have a horrible feeling and, Amy, I'd NEVER forgive myself-"
"Aster, they'd KILL us if we didn't go!" I said, putting my other hand on his other shoulder. "They check every house, every ditch, every corner!" I reminded him.
Aster looked away, his red hair swinging in his green eyes. "Amy, please! Listen! Something horrible is going to happen today and I can't let you go out there!" He begged. He forced me into a hug, he slightly rose up on his toes to give me a hug. "Amy... I don't want to lose you..." He whispered in my ear. I never cry. Crying shows emotion, emotion shows weakness. Weakness equals death. I couldn't help the small tear that rolled down my face. He gripped me tighter. "I... I'll go. Just because I don't want you to get punished for 'helping' me escape or whatever the punishment is." He released me and started to walk out of the small room. Not before, however, he started to lift his stained and torn white shirt that was nothing more than excess strings and limp rags.
I smiled weakly at his departing figure. "Aster... You're the only I have left... I still have an obligation to protect you, little brother."
*MayTheOddsBeEverInYourFavor*
I was lead by two rough looking men in white uniforms: one leading me and my brother and one in the back that held a gun, if we tried anything funny. I held Aster close to me.
He avoided eye contact at all costs. I grabbed both sides of his face and made him look at me. He stopped walking and struggled against me. I knew that he was only a year younger than me, it haunted me every day to know that every day, he was getting closer to leaving me to join the other unfortunate people to go into the horrible mine in District 1. Nobody volunteered to be a miner, so they were forced.
Look at me! I begged him with my eyes. LOOK AT ME, ASTER! "Keep moving, please." The brown-haired cat with the gun said, pressing the cold metal frame of his gun against my threadbare red dress.
Aster relunctantly picked up his feet when he glanced at the gun that was held up to my back. "I don't want to cause you any harm, Sis." I heard him whisper.
I heard a coarse laugh in front of me. "How cute." The gruff green-haired hedgehog spat. "Ain't that adorable, Mark? The siblings saying their goodbyes. It's good that they're well aware of the hell that's surrounds them, knowin' that District 12 has never won a Hunger Game. Maybe then these pitiful lifeforms will learn their place!"
The brown-haired cat didn't respond. After a while, he leaned into me. "I'm sorry sorry about Manic, Miss. He hasn't been the same since the Destroyers took his sister." He said in a dead whisper.
I thought people from the 'Oasis' as they called it, referred to themselves as the 'Creators'. I gasped. "Are you-"
He nodded. "Yes, ma'am. We're from the Districts. They take a loved one and we have to work for the Creators until they decide they'll give them back." The cat's voice got a little shaky.
"So..." Aster spoke as if he had seen Death himself. "They could take... Anyone? Even me? And they would take my sister... Away from me?!" He said, pulling away from me. He had a tiny tear in his left eye. "Why would they do that?!" He screamed. "Why would you still work for them?!"
The cat looked down. "For the safety of my sister, Emma Lilly." He said.
Aster's eyes widened in horror. He was deathly silent for the rest of the walk. I held him closely before the cat dragged him away, to the male section. I was put into the female section, where a little echidna girl clung onto my arm. I had never seen this little girl before in my entire life. But she clung onto my arm as if her life gravely depended on me. I engulfed her in a hug.
"It's all right... It's all right." I soothed her. She pulled back and shook her head.
"No. I had a dream that they called my name, Miss. They're going to!" She whispered shakily. Tears fell over her violet eyes.
Ignoring the possibilities, I hugged her closely. A grey wolf walked onto the stage with a forced smile on her face. The big screens surrounding her showed off her pained expression. She wore a light blue dress with aqua ruffles. Her grey hair was put up in a tacky beehive style hairdo.
"Welcome, everyone, to the 78th Selection. I've been chosen to choose two unfortu- I mean LUCKY- Mobians to compete in the Hunger Games. My name is Lori Ellat, and let's start this thing, shall we?" She said, almost magically forgetting a certain pain she was feeling a second ago.
Two hefty men brought two expensive-looking glass birdbaths onto the stage. "Thank you, gentlemen. Now, we'll go through how the names are brought into the bowl! When you ask for food from the Creators, we put your name in this bowl. When you are 8 years of age, your name will only be in here ONCE, unless you beg for food. And those who have been in a Hunger Game and LIVED, you will live up at the Oasis and never have to compete for anything AGAIN!" She said. "Easy, right? Let's start off with the males, shall we?"
She stuck a skinny hand into one of the bowls and pulled out a piece of paper. She smiled. "Is there a Shadow the Hedgehog out there in the crowd somewhere?"
There was some murmur in the crowd before a black hedgehog stood up. "Come join me on stage, please." Lori said, sweetly.
The hedgehog walked slowly over there, taking his time to walk up the steps. "Okay! Now that we have the man... Let's draw the female!" She stopped. "Why don't we let our male tribute choose his female companion?" She asked excitedly. Without uttering a word, the wolf encouraged Shadow to pull a card out of the birdbath.
Shadow pulled out one and slowly opened it, as if stabbing the crowd with torture, anxious to hear the name that was about to come out of his- "Adamaris the Echidna." He whispered.
Lori Ellat moved closer and put the microphone up to his mouth. "What was that name again?" She asked.
"Adamaris the Echidna." He repeated. The crowd could hear the shrieks of a little girl. I cringed in disbelief. The guards quickly tore into the crowd and finally came up next to me and tore the little girl away from my shoulder. They took her kicking and screaming away. She looked back at me and screamed to be saved.
I closed my eyes. Hearing her scream tore into my heart. "And there we have it! Our final tribute!" Lori announced.
I couldn't stand it. I stood up and went into the center line that seperated the genders. "I, AMY ROSE, VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!" I shouted. Shadow and Lori's eyes went wide. The crowd looked at me, unsure.
"NOOOO! I VOLUNTEER TO TAKE HER PLACE!" I heard from the male's side where a pink hedgehog with familiar red hair was being held back by four or five guards. Lori just blinked.
"It seems like we have two volunteers. Guards, drop the little girl." Lori said. Adamaris was released and she barreled towards me, tripping over herself. She had tears streaming down her face.
"Thank you! Thank you!" She cried over and over.
"And release that young man." Lori ordered. Aster ran torwards me and tackled me with a hug.
"Amy, what the fuck were you THINKING?!" Aster said, starting to tear up himself.
"I'm sorry, Aster..." I said, at a loss for words. I still can't believe that I did that. Given a moment, I bent down to look at the girl. "Adamaris, was it? Do you have any family?" She shook her head. I turned to Aster. "Take care of her, Aster."
"No! I'm taking your place!" Aster shouted, unaware that the crowd was still looking at us. He looked back up at the stage. "I VOLUNTEER!" He yelled.
Lori looked alarmed. "I'm sorry, young man... But we already have a male tribute. Amy Rose, was it? Please come up here, please." Lori asked.
I hugged Adamaris and Aster. I gave my brother a peck on the cheek. "I love you, baby brother. Take care of Adamaris, okay?"
I ran up to the stage, heart so full of adrenaline that I feared that I would have a heart attack. Lori smiled at me and put an arm over mine and the black hedgehog's shoulder. "These are the two tributes representing District 12! Give them some applause! And remember, may the odds be ever in your favor." Lori shouted. The crowd still stayed silent. She whispered into my ear. "We're going to the train station. You won't need anything." She then told the same to Shadow. We left the stage and sealed our fate.
DAMN! Why was I so weak that I couldn't ignore that Echidna's cries?! Now I've sealed my fate!
*MayTheOddsBeEverInYourFavor* How was it?
Lori Ellat the Wolf is owned by Broken Line.
Aster the Hedgehog is owned by Bokkun.
Adamaris is owned by Imagination. (A.K.A. My brain.)
I know need OC's for the contestants in the Hunger Games!
Thank you for reading! And may the odds be ever in your favor!