AUTHOR'S NOTES: And now we get to finally catch a glimpse of the main characters mentioned in this fic's description. Like all of my Hunger Games fics, I aim to make the experience different than my other ones, and so hopefully I'll be able to explore the character development of Lucia and Cadence as necessary. In the meantime... chapter 2.
Happy Reading!

CHAPTER 2: The Renegade Volunteer

Few outside the reaches of District 5 understood the full extent of what went on in this mysterious district. While sometimes they had volunteers racing to the stage, other times they all watched the electronic lottery spit out numbers onto a screen which then matched up to the ID of a boy or girl who was then picked for the Hunger Games. Such was the nature of the reaping. It would have been considered unique had District 3 not done something similar. Other districts (barring '1 and '2, which had no need to ever choose names considering their large pools of potential volunteers) just drew slips of paper out of glass bowls when volunteers didn't step up.

Judging on how the children of District 5 were assembling on this year's Reaping Day, it didn't seem like there were going to be volunteers this time around.

Cadence Montoya had actually considered not even going. Sure it might mean punishments that he could only fathom in terms of severity, but at the same time, what did he really have to lose or gain? He had no parents unless the stories of their deaths were falsified by the Capitol, but he couldn't see why that would happen. None of them were particularly rebellious like those wild kids out in District 12. He knew that the previous victors had different familial situations. 91st victor Aveline Togisala's father had died while her mother was pregnant with her, but that woman was also alright. The girl had lost her brother that same year, however. Cadence briefly wondered how that must have felt, but didn't dwell on it too long.

92nd victor Amy Zavala's situation reminded Cadence of his own lot: an only child, with parents who practically didn't exist, except she at least got to see her parents every few months. 93rd victor Korra Francisco's lot in life was like his: her parents were gone for good. She did have an older brother though, while Cadence did not. So really… who would miss him?

Despite all of this, Cadence joined the other boys for the reaping, his fiery red curls making him stand out among the crowds fairly well. He received several curious looks, but there was a fire in his blue eyes that made the 15-year-old boy seem much more menacing, and so most people backed off.

He was fixated on a quiet woman across from him among the other girls: Lucia Alzar. She was kind of a crush of his, but more importantly, she was the district sweetheart. A tall girl with flowing chestnut locks and wearing a cute blue sundress, she was the district sweetheart—not for her good looks, but more for her gentle personality. Year after year everyone hoped that she would never get chosen for the games. Hers was a gentle spirit that would not want to hurt anyone, and since she was blind to the point where all she saw was blackness, there didn't seem to be a way she could do much harm to anyone anyways.

Cadence kept his eyes fixated on her for most of the Capitol propaganda, ignoring the neon purple-haired woman rambling about the Dark Days or whatever other bullshit she was spouting off. He had heard it three times already, and at worst all they could do to punish him at this point was pick his name for the reaping. He wouldn't mind killing a few kids. He figured he could take them.

Nephenee Glitz though… Cadence wanted to punch that escort woman right in the face, tear that fiery dress off of her and use it as a rope to strangle her with. He wasn't sure what it was about her that rubbed him the wrong way. Maybe it was her voice; maybe her garish outfit; maybe her wanton disregard for the lives that would be lost within the next few weeks, or maybe a combination of the above.

"And now," she snapped Cadence out of his thoughts as she prepared to start the lottery. "we move to choose the tributes for this year's Hunger Games! As usual… ladies first!"

Nephenee walked over towards a box with a lever on it, and pulled it. One of the screens lit up, and five digits began scrambling to add a sense of randomization to the game. After a while, each one stopped, producing a five-digit number which flashed for a moment before revealing a name and a photograph.

"Lucia Alzar!" Nephenee called out. Cadence waited a second or two, anticipating a voice shouting out to volunteer in her stead. However, after a few seconds as the blind girl slowly meandered towards the stage, that no one was going to save her.

"No one!?" Cadence bellowed, "After all the talk about wanting to keep Lucia safe, no one cares when it actually matters? I volunteer!"

Nephenee was not the only one shocked at this boy's assertion. "I… am afraid that is not possible." She began, "Only a girl can replace another girl as a volunteer."
"Pick another one then!" Cadence shouted. "I volunteer as tribute."

"now, now… you'll have to wait your turn, dear…" Nephenee's expression was perplexed. This was clearly not something that happened very often, especially not in District 5. She was fairly certain that rules and protocol prevented Cadence from being allowed to do what he was trying to do, and so Nephenee had to follow Capitol protocol rather than bend to the desires of a renegade boy.

"And now… for the boys…" Cadence didn't dare step out of line just yet as much as he wanted to, because he had seen that happen before in reruns. 20 years ago a District 12 girl named Katniss had done the same thing before begin restrained. Cadence couldn't let that happen to him.

Cadence barely saw the name "Mario" pop up on the screen before he bellowed "I VOLUNTEER!" once again. Nephenee didn't even get to call out the other boy's name as Cadence pushed his way through towards the stage. This time no one stopped him, and no one stopped him as he gave a small 'speech' of his own.

"I hope the rest of you fuckers get flayed," he glared fiercely at the girls, most of whom actually looked genuinely frightened at the boy's hostility. A few looked like strapping fighters, but plenty of others looked as gentle and timid as Lucia. "And you…" Cadence spun around glaring at Nephenee, before pointing two fingers at his eyes and then back towards hers as he stood by Lucia on the stage.

"W-well then…" Nephenee cleared her throat. "Our tributes from District 5… Lucia Alzar and Cadence Montoya! Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!"

"Cadence…" a soft voice whispered as a hand rested on his shoulder. Cadence cocked his head so sharply his curly hair nearly whipped Lucia's face.

"It's… going to be okay…" she said softly. Cadence growled, and knew that Lucia was lying more than she ever had. It was not going to be okay. She was not a fighter, and those other kids would destroy her once they reached the arena. Even if she did somehow miraculously win, the death and carnage would surely traumatize her even if she couldn't see it. Ideally, Cadence figured he could protect her—take her all the way to the end of the games so it was just him and her, and then end his own life to bring her home. There was no point fantasizing this early though. Odds were they wouldn't even make it that far.

The 5 or 10 minutes they spent in the Justice Building were fairly quiet, as neither of them had any family to say goodbye to. Apparently everyone who considered Lucia the 'District Sweetheart' wasn't even bold enough to see her face to face as she went to her death. Only one boy visited Cadence: he recognized him only from seeing his face briefly on the lottery screen before his own had replaced it with the word "VOLUNTEER" in red letters beneath it.

"Hey," he looked at Cadence, who merely grunted to acknowledge his presence.

"I'm sorry about Lucia…" Mario whispered. "I'd have done something too if I was a girl…"
"How could they…" he was trembling, his fists clenched, "how could they not step up to save her?"

"I…" Mario didn't know how to respond, "I don't know, man. And, I know this probably seems pretty pathetic to say at this point, but… thanks for volunteering."
"I'll be honest and say it was more for Lucia rather than you," Cadence admitted, "but hey, at least someone will get to live."
"Well, thanks either way," Mario insisted, "Whatever your intentions are, you saved my life. You're tough enough that you might be able to stand against the careers. Me? I'd last about 38 seconds, tops."

"Enjoy your life then," Cadence grunted, "and give those girls hell for me, alright?"
"Uhh… alright." Mario shrugged, not exactly sure what he meant, and not exactly intending to carry out that request, "may the odds be ever in your favor then?"
"The odds are never in my favor." Cadence frowned, "I'll see you on the other side…"
The Peacekeepers came for him and Lucia a moment later as Mario waved goodbye. He was a decent enough fellow, and Cadence wasn't angry at him as much as he was just angry at everything right now. As he watched Lucia's skirts flow with each step she took, he knew he had to make it his duty to keep her safe in that arena—for as long as humanely possible.