"Imagine all the people living life in peace."

- John Lennon

Jericho Aylin, District 2, 18:

I couldn't help but feel anxious as Peacekeepers marched with Lorelei and I, one at either side. I barely knew how interviews would go. I'd seen them every year and our training centre would make us watch them quite often for preparation, but each tribute was asked a different question and there were so many angles to go off. Could I honestly pull off a good angle? I mean, I couldn't be myself. I was happy, albeit quiet, which wasn't the most interesting angle even if I was content to be that way. And to top it all off I didn't even know who the interviewer this year was going to be. Jynx was once the interviewer, but she had been fired in order to mentor. She was replaced by Nadia Skettings, who tragically died last year after falling off a balcony.

"You look nice," I smiled down at Lorelei. Lorelei was five foot four, so being two inches over six feet had meant I had the height advantage. I was also so much more muscular. Though I rarely spoke, whenever Lorelei looked at me or I engaged in some kind of conversation she seemed weary. She had a right to. We were ultimately mortal enemies, after all.

"Thanks," Lorelei said wearily, looking down at her stone grey outfit with a dress that curled in such an intricate pattern, giving it the impression that it was a rocky cliffside. She glanced at my simple but well fit grey suit. "You look nice too."

The Peacekeepers stopped in their tracks, pulling a salute. Assuming that was our cue to stop too, Lorelei and I both halted. We were in the middle of a junction that had four corridors leading off it. Eventually a stressed looking woman with thick glasses and orange skin marched up to us, smaller than Lorelei even with enormous heels on. She glanced at us and looked over a few pieces of paper.

"Hey, I'm your stage director, or one of ten stage directors." The first thing I noticed about her was how nasally her voice was. She waved a little, turning us to the corridor on my right. She marched down it, the Peacekeepers following as she chewed gum and talked quickly. "We had to halt all of the tributes because they have to line up in perfect order at the side of the stage as you know," she withdrew a pen from behind her ear, scribbling some things out. "Luckily, you're the second District, and District One have been allocated so here we go..."

After a minute or two we eventually reached a large door. Upon opening it, we were in a large backstage area. Stage directors similar to the one who had guided us marched in and out, shouting commands as cameras and anxious looking people prepared technologically advanced equipment. We were concealed from the actual stage by a curtain, and on the stage were two large chairs, neither of them occupied. I knew that we'd be occupying one of them soon. The nasal voiced woman led us to two people who waited beside the stage. One a thin, svelte girl with dark hair, the other a golden haired boy.

"Nice to see you again," Pullox smiled at us lightly. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine," I said, returning his gesture.

We pretended to wait around for a second. The Three tributes, as forgettable as ever, were led onto the line directly behind us. To be friendly I also smiled at them. I didn't want to kill them, but there was a chance their blood would be on my hands soon. My father had raised me into a life of honour and duty. I had to be polite and courteous, I had to hunt to bring animals to his butcher business and provide our family with money, I had to learn to train and kill and I had to volunteer to bring honour and wealth to both my friends and loved ones.

Nobody from the lower Districts really understood, but the Games were just a tradition. I wasn't evil, and I didn't get off on killing. But lets face it: if I didn't kill those kids some other Career would, and they would have been reaped and slaughtered anyway. The best I could do was to ensure it was swift and painless, so that they didn't have to suffer in their inevitable death.

I think they tried talking to me, but I couldn't really respond. I had always been a quiet kid. Being large and muscular, most people mistook it for me being stupid. I think some tributes like Honora and Pullox really did think I was a simpleton. I wouldn't say I was a genius, but I wasn't stupid either. I just didn't like talking. Social situations were scary to me - when volunteering for the Hunger Games the thought of having to go onto stages, interact with people and initiate in so much small talk terrified me much more than the prospect of danger and traps.

For some tributes it came so easy. Lorelei was quietly talking to Lexie even though Lexie looked like she was holding back tears.

"Don't worry," Lorelei said. "You got an eight! That's a great score!"

Tributes began to build up behind us. I could see as far back as District Eight. The Eight boy and the Eight girl talked quietly amongst themselves as the two sullen looking Nine tributes were robotically lined up behind them as if there were a machine that placed us on a conveyor belts, where we would pass through onto the stage to be ate up by the Capitol and spat out on the other side of the backstage area.

"It's not good enough for Honora," Lexie whispered quietly so that Honora couldn't hear. "She told me she was going to kill me..."

"Hey, I'll talk some sense into her..."

Lexie glanced up at Lorelei, shocked at the girl's naivety. "Lorelei... I know not every Career is a psychopath, but that girl is. Maybe something happened in her childhood, I don't know. But her brain doesn't have sense or reason or empathy. It's just filled with hatred. Why are you still her ally?"

Lorelei looked saddened, before sighing and glancing at Lexie. "Because, Lexie, as much as I like you, Honora is the more convenient ally to have. I would love to save your life. I would love to protect you. But I can't protect you," Lorelei exhaled. "I have to protect myself... and... other people."

Before Lexie could respond, the stage before us blasted with powder. For a second, nothing could be seen but the Capitol audience out there shrieked and applauded as lights on the stage had lit up. It seemed as if all the tributes were here and it was time for the interviews to start. My heart seemed to temporarily stop beating as the powder on the stage faded and a particular individual was on the stage with her purple hair, dark lipstick and black leather boots.

It was Jynx.

I heard some of the tributes around me groan. Everybody knew that when it came to interviewing Jynx was a witch. She grilled tributes and made them look pathetic and stupid in front of the whole Capitol. There were famous, long dead interviewers like Caesar Flickerman who had the ability to make anyone shine and look interesting. But the Capitol had turned even more cruel; nowadays it was more popular to make the tributes, especially those in the lower Districts, seem stupid, vulnerable and exposed, to become laughing stocks for us all.

But Jynx was always biased towards District Two, which was why Lorelei and I didn't react like the other tributes did. Jynx was our mentor, she got rewarded if we won, and thus she'd give us a simple interview or would make us look good. It was funny how the Capitol would allow such bias to exist, as if we weren't already advantaged enough. Though I guess I couldn't complain; it made us look good.

"Welcome to the Hunger Games interviews we've all been waiting for!" She shrieked, waving as the Capitol screamed. "I, Jynx Blackthorne, will be your presenter due to popular demand, so my job would be to introduce tributes onto the stage and when they're all gone I'll talk to you lovely audience members who have paid so much just to be with us today. I'll be asking you who you want to sponsor, who you think our underdogs are and of course who we think will meet their end in this years Bloodbath." Wait... she didn't mention actually interviewing anyone. "But anyway, I suppose it's courteous of me to introduce our wonderful interviewer! The one and only Caecilius Norton!"

The Capitol shrieked in absolute delight. From the sound of it, and from the look of worried stage managers as they rushed through the curtain, keeping out of the cameras' view, they were shocked to kingdom come that Caecilius Norton was interviewing. Caecilius was once a news reporter; but being an extremely attractive man with heaps of charisma to boot, it seemed as The President thought he would be suitable for much higher positions. He seemed nice enough, which was all I could ask for.

His pearly white smile was supported by a strong jaw, and the handsome man made his way onto the stage, charismatically waving at the Capitol as their ear splitting screams refused to subside. He threw himself onto the nearest chair, readying his microphone and relaxing. He addressed Jynx as he folded one leg over the other:

"Thanks Jynx for your wonderful introduction," his voice was as soft as satin and yet had a gravel to it that seemed to drive girls wild. I noticed even Lorelei was looking at him with a bit too much interest and I rolled my eyes exasperatedly. "So, I guess this year we're interviewing our tributes. Ladies first, right? So does that mean we have the District One girl?"

"Yep," Jynx threw her arm towards the stage and grinned. "Our first tribute of the night, Alexandria Tarsus!"

The Capitol cheered as Lexie made her way onto the stage. Despite seeming upset earlier, she managed to look charming. Her lithe frame looked even better when supported by a frilly, golden dress that spread out. She courtseyed politely towards the Capitol and forced a superficial smile as she made her way onto the stage. Like Caecilius, she folded one leg over the other as she attempted to make herself look comfortable in the humongous chair she sat on.

"Alexandria!" He smiled, glancing at a card which probably had all of her information on it. "What a name!" Everyone laughed. "Do you have a nickname?"

"People call me Lexie," Alexandria giggled. I paused, realising that whatever Honora had to say about Lexie, she was smart. She seemed so airheaded, carefree and giggly on the stage. I knew that wasn't Alexandria. No doubt she knew that too, but she was happy to play along with the Capitol. Suddenly, some dry humour showed. "But, you know, if that's a bit of a mouthful, L will do."

That provoked a bit of a laugh. Lexie was very diplomatic in her interview and I admired her for it. She avoided questions which would make her seem weak, giving a vague answer when asked if she would be in the Careers that year. I don't think the Capitol cared, anyway, they seemed much more interested in the superfluous trivia Lexie would tell us all: her love for children, how gorgeous she found men with dark hair and skin, how summer was her favourite season and pomegranates her favourite fruit. She was pretty tactically clever and her snarky humour, blended in well with her girly demeanour, made her interview pretty successful overall.

Pullox was called next and he waved as the Capitol happily. For somebody with such a sly look crossing his face at all times, Pullox certainly seemed to be shockingly suave. It wasn't him, but he could play it so well, and he looked the part with his slicked back blonde hair and his white and gold suit. He showed everything I hoped to show: he showed confidence, charisma and threw in some well crafted jokes where appropriate. He even delivered a convincing sob story. He talked about how he hoped he would manage to see his sister again, and emotion laced his voice in a way I had previously never experienced. And I actually didn't doubt that he was being genuine.

"Next up we have Lorelei Draven!" Jynx clapped as Pullox hurried off the stage, looking exhausted and exasperated now that the cameras weren't pointed towards him. It was Lorelei's turn now, and summoning every inch of confidence she had, she stormed onto the stage. She had already made a fatal flaw by not interacting with the audience with waves and smiles as she made her way onto the stage, but in our District, and apparently in the Capitol, she was already somewhat well known, so she had a head start with sponsoring.

"Oh," Caecilius smiled. "Lorelei, Lorelei, Lorelei, we know a lot about you..."

"I'm honoured," Lorelei grinned. "Unless you know me because you've seen pictures of me passed out in my own vomit or something."

The audience laughed appropriately, and Caecilius chuckled. "So, we presume you're going to be the wild cracker of the Hunger Games this year?"

Lorelei was glancing at her nails. "You'd be surprised. Whatever the media liked to say, my life had been reasonably calm lately, so I'm going to try and tone it down a little," she shrugged. "Just ignore the killing, the running for my life et cetara."

The audience laughed and Caecilius smirked. "Well, we're expecting you to do more killing and less running for your life. A score of ten is mighty impressive young lady, and puts you ahead of a lot of tributes." He smiled. "In fact, I believe you, tied with your ally Jericho, have the second best scores in the Games. Doesn't that kind of put you in the top three?"

"It does," Lorelei smirked confidently.

"So you must have some pretty impressive strengths..."

"That's one way of putting it," Lorelei shrugged indifferently again. Being indifferent to your own strengths may have seemed stupid, but it made Lorelei seem confident in her own skills without looking stupidly arrogant. I didn't know if it was an impressive angle or if she was just a realist. "When it comes to throwing knives, I'm second to none. I can fight. I can run fast. I'm no scientific genius, but I think I'm smart enough," she grinned.

"Well, calling you capable would be an understatement!" Caecilius praised her, leaning down and looking at her more seriously. "But other than that, I'm sure there's some motivation helping you to power your way through the Games. A boyfriend, perhaps? Or maybe you're doing something special, being the Mayor's daughter and all the future must be pretty promising?"

For that one second Lorelei faltered. I saw her face drop as thought ran through her head. I knew something must be up. In fact, I knew that Lorelei was one of the more vulnerable tributes under her confident facade; she cried to herself every night and the one time I had the courage to ask why, she'd tell me that her boyfriend had dumped her before she was Reaped. She resumed as quickly as she had frozen. "Oh, just my family, really." She smiled. "I had a cat called Midnight once, she was super cool, but she passed away six months ago."

The audience had actually expressed sympathy. I couldn't help but smirk and find that funny, considering that they seemed more saddened by the fact that Lorelei had lost her cat months ago than the fact that Lorelei was going into the Games and was at risk of dying herself. After exchanging some more trivial information about herself, Lorelei was called off stage by the buzzer. I paused, realising with a gut wrenching anxiety that this meant I'd be the one who would be called out onto the stage.

"Jericho Aylin!" Jynx called enthusiastically. "Yep, buddy, it's your turn!"

My throat tightened. I forced my right foot forward shakily, and then my left one. I remembered everything Jynx and my escort Fi-Fi had told me to do. As I moved out into the stage I saw the audience, a clustered collection of powdered faces that screamed in awe and clapped as I made my way into the open. I smiled at them, waving timidly before I didn't have to remind my legs that it was time to walk. Jynx turned and gave me a reassuring smile as I made my way to the interview chair and settled into it. The echoes of claps and screams began to cease, and I knew the worst was over.

"Looks like we have our Two male!"

"Looks like you do," I chuckled nervously.

"So, without being too vague, do tell us about yourself," Caecilius smiled happily, glancing at the audience. "I mean, I'm sure we all want to hear about Jericho, don't we?"

They screamed in the affirmative.

"Okay, okay," I chuckled nervously. "Well, honestly, I feel a little bit overshadowed. I mean, there are some great tributes out there with interesting histories and dramatic stories. But me..." I shrugged. "I guess my background is kind of normal, as you know, I'm from District Two. I was raised from a loving family who made plenty of money to scrape by through working a butchers. It had been in our family for generations, and traditionally I would be the one to find and hunt meat and inherit the butchers-"

"You hunt?"

"Yeah, it makes business."

"Wow, don't you think that could help you a lot in the Games?"

"I don't hunt people... I wouldn't want to hunt people..." I paused, not wanting to sound too humane. That would make it sound like I couldn't kill. "Yeah. It would help a lot. I can work with a ranged weapon," I didn't elaborate on that; I was really good with ranged weapons but wanted to keep it as a secret strength, most people assumed I was muscle-mass and no more. "I can track. I can make traps. I can kill."

"Wow! You must like your meat!"

I blushed. "Yeah, I like it a lot. I honestly don't think I could go more for a few days without meat."

Caecilius adopted a dark tone. "You may just have to get used to it."

I sparred back. "I'm pretty sure I won't," the audience all tensed up a little as I grinned. "I mean, I am in the Career alliance. I have good faith in our chances. We're most likely going to dominate the Bloodbath, and get our hands on most of the supplies," hoping audience interaction would increase my public perception like Jynx said it would, I turned to the audience and asked them: "What do you guys think?"

They cheered back positively, some screaming with delight. Caecilius laughed a bit, clapping his hands before admitting defeat: "Okay, okay. It would be stupid of me to not say you were a contender Jericho. You're strong, you must have acquired some skills after being a hunted for a good chunk of your life, you got a score of ten - putting you in the three top tributes. I mean, who am I to fault you? Anyway, you mentioned how you hunted as you were talking about your past and I rudely interrupted you, so please tell me more."

I paused to think for a second. "Yeah, as I said, I hunted to get meat into the butchers, though we did order a lot of our meat from other hunters and farmers in the more rural villages of the District. I have a permit to do it." Most of the poorer kids wouldn't be given a permit, though I knew a handful hunted illegally. My family were more respected than that. "As well as keeping up the tradition of making me hunt, my father taught me other traditional values, such as honour, loyalty, volunteering for the Hunger Games. When I was twelve, I was sent to the academy. I guess that's why I'm here now. I was one of the best in District Two, so I felt it would be good to volunteer and bring honour to my District. My family and their values mean a lot to me. As do my father and my mother."

"And do we think he can do it?" Caecilius asked the audience.

They cheered as the buzzer rang out. To my shock, I stood up to thunderous applause. The audience were the thing that worried me most - they were essentially a hoard of people who existed to judge me. But they seemed to like me, and they seemed to think I stood a chance. I did think I stood one, I wouldn't have volunteered otherwise, but it was nice to know that other people thought this. I bowed to them respectively, and walked off the stage feeling triumphant.

Elizabeth Korrapatti, District 3, 15:

Oh god... my name was being called by Jynx Blackthorne. Every time one of these Hunger Games events happened to me, it felt surreal and unnatural. I'd try and deny that I would be paraded down the Capitol in a chariot, but it happened. I'd try to deny the Gamemakers would rank me but that happened. I'd try to deny that I would step out and be interviewed for the whole country to see but that was currently happening.

Though my mother had hated the Hunger Games after her sister was killed in them, I couldn't help but be interested in them. As I watched tributes get interviewed and learnt to love or hate them, I never imagined that I'd be the one sitting on that famous interview chair, being similarly judged by hundreds of other District kids who were similar to me. Out of those hordes of children, it was scary to know that twenty-four of those would also be sitting in the interview chair. I stood into the spotlight, smiling and waving lightly as they cheered me.

Upon sitting in the interviewers chair, Caecilius immediately engaged me in conversation: "Well Liz, if there's an underdog out there I'd vouch for it'd be you!"

"Oh..." I blushed a little. I had expected to be grilled, most interviews had become a contest on who could hold in their tears, but Caecilius was accommodating and actually kind of nice. I wouldn't be surprised if he was being fake, but I had to be fake too. "Thank you very much. I'm certainly hoping to be an underdog."

"Do you think you could?"

I paused. "I got a good enough score," some in the audience nodded in approval. Maybe my score had even managed to buy me a handful of sponsors. "When it comes to the Hunger Games you can't really say. I'm living every day thinking as if I won't ever see my family again. I miss them a lot. But that doesn't mean I won't fight... that doesn't mean I won't have a chance."

"Well I think you do!" Caecilius complimented me. "I'm sure you have a particularly good strategy... would you care to tell us?"

"Oh, no, I couldn't give that away," I smiled moderately, the audience were silenced a little and I knew that they were paying attention to me. That was always a bonus. I actually didn't have a solid strategy, but I knew that in the Games I'd make sure Tear and I stayed away from the other tributes, particularly the Careers. Keeping well away meant keeping away from the death. We'd kill from afar and only fight up close towards the end of the Games.

"Oh, of course!" Caecilius faked humiliation. "We wouldn't have wanted to give that away, would we? So, that family you mentioned, can you tell us a little about them and the other people you'll miss?"

"There aren't many people," I admitted. "Mostly because I led a relatively..." I avoided the word sheltered, or any word which would make the Capitol believe that I was weak or unintelligent. "Introverted life. But the people I do live at home with... I love them dearly. I miss my dad, who manages to be both my father and my teacher. I miss my mum, who has always been my confidante and my moral compass." My voice suddenly trembled. I had almost tried to ignore their existence, but I would kill to return to my family. "I miss my older sister, Marianne, who somehow manages to be an even bigger nerd than I am." I laughed, and tears slipped out of my eyes. I felt weak, but the audience didn't view it that way. They had tissues out to ensure their make-up wasn't ruined. "And my best friend Lucy, of course... I guess if there's anything I had to tell her, I'd like to remind her one last time that biology is a girl's science."

Everyone in the audience laughed, theirs laughs bouncing around me. I ceased crying a little, smiling at the cameras and hoping Lucy caught that and laughed to add some light in the darkness. She'd probably come up with the same reply: tell that to the doctors who study biology and save your life. Sadly, I had no doctors with me. The only person I could rely on to save my life was myself.

Caecilius spoke after he stopped chuckling. "You must really like your family. What else do you like?"

"Food," I immediately replied. I didn't even think about it. Everybody else chuckled a little and I blushed. "But I do really like food! My hobbies include eating chicken burgers, eating pies, eating spaghetti, eating chocolate, eating... almost everything," I laughed again. "I also really love those cream filled sponge cakes that you guys have here. God, someone sponsor me one please."

"You mean twinkies?" Caecilius laughed. The wild roars of laughter erupted and I noticed the camera halt away from me, pausing on an audience member who was eating a twinky. He was waving it at the camera as the surrounding people cried with laughter.

"Yes, one of those," I giggled. "I can eat almost everything... except beef, I guess, just to respect my Hindu roots."

"Hindu?"

"It's one of the old religions," I explained. "I don't know if I subscribe to it... I'm an agnostic, I guess, but my family have always kept our culture close to us. It's important, especially because my grandfather went through a lot for it."

Caecilius seemed genuinely interested. "Hm? Do you care to explain?"

"My grandfather lived in Krisana, where the Indian peoples and the Arabic peoples made their home after the world disaster," I explained to the audience. Not many people had heard of other countries; people enjoyed being ignorant, for all they knew the only people alive resided in Panem. "But there was a mass genocide against the Indians because the Arabian Emperor had disagreed with them on an ideological level and envied their lands. They were rounded up and killed. My grandfather was a rich merchant, so by getting here he survived," I told everyone, sighing. "I can only hope that I can also survive."

Caecilius smiled. "We hope you survive too, Liz. You're a great person and I'm pretty sure many are rooting for you."

"I hope so," I smiled as a buzzer rung out. That meant it was my turn to leave. I stood up, bowing to a cheering audience before rushing to the side of the stage. My heart was pumping so fast, and I didn't know if that was because of elevation or adrenaline. Or maybe both. On reflection, my interview hadn't gone so badly. No-one's interviews was going badly - Caecilius was a talent at making everyone seem competent and likable. I did slip up and cry, but if anything that only made the Capitol sympathise with me more.

"Well done," the District One girl smiled at me lightly.

"Thank you," I replied. The girl looked kind of miserable. I saw her walk away, noting her face. Whoever she was, she wasn't like the Career I had expected her to be. She seemed too nice for that.

I managed to catch a glimpse of Trojan's interview. Remember my remark about all the interviews going well? Well, scratch that off, because Trojan had managed to appear bland no matter how hard Caecilius tried. Going by what he had told me in confidence, he was sabotaging his own interview to not be known or noticed. His replies were always one worded, and he wouldn't divulge much in his history, his passions, strengths or family. Looked as if he was avoiding getting labelled at all to remain even more unnoticed.

When his buzzer went off, he was only greeted with some polite applause. Though his face remained blank, I watched Trojan move to the side of the stage and could tell he was feeling smug.

"Nice of you to stay," Trojan remarked blandly as I stood at the side, looking out at the person being interviewed. Honora, the scariest tribute in the Games by far, made her way onto the stage. She sat into the chair and boasted about her score almost immediately.

"Don't take it as a compliment," I said, watching her give a laugh that made my blood temperature drop a few degrees. "I'm watching the competition," most of the tributes that had been interviewed had left to be styled for the pre-Games televised event that was meant to be a mystery. The only one remaining was the Two boy, who was pacing contemplatively.

"Same idea as me," Trojan remarked after a minute or two of complete silence. Following his remark, the buzzer sounded and Honora stormed off the stage to rapturous applause. Simultaneously, her District partner made his way onto the stage, greeted by a similar applause. As Honora passed Trojan and I, she gave us one glare as if we were the dirt on her shoe, and then left.

"She's the one to look out for this year," Trojan remarked. I nodded. "Lets just say if I hoped somebody met their end in the Bloodbath I hope it's her."

It didn't feel right wishing death on anyone, but the more selfish, immoral side to me - the side that I hoped would guide me slightly in the Games - couldn't help but agree with him. Ross, her District partner, also seemed competent. He was admittedly attractive, and there was a charm that he carried on with him. The Capitol ate up his nonchalance and his sense of humour. Some of the humour he pulled out even made me laugh.

"Will you miss anyone at home?" Caecilius asked.

"Yeah, of course," Ross sighed. He continued to tell a sad story about his next door neighbour that he babysat, and how close she is. "Laugh at me all you want, but she's the person I can confide in and trust the most. Seriously. I'd kill to see that girl."

He was replaced with the Five girl, Leda. She was funny, some of the remarks she said would make me laugh a little, but honestly... there was something about her I couldn't help but dismiss. Maybe it was her low training score, or maybe it was because the only reason she showed any glimmer of charm was because Caecilius had tactically bestowed it upon her. Still, her jokes and her sarcasm did make some Capitolians laugh. When she was buzzed off the stage, she was replaced by her bigger, scarier and more intelligent looking District Partner.

"Magnus! The convict!"

"Nice to see I'm regarded so highly," Magnus remarked. That prompted a few laughs.

"Well, you've gotten yourself quite the fanbase... so you must be highly regarded. I know I wouldn't want to be in the arena with a convict!" Caecilius smirked. "Seriously, can you tell us what you did?"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," Magnus grinned. I heard Trojan chuckle a little bit beside me and I glanced at him, shocked. If somebody could make Trojan amused, they certainly deserved the comedian crown. "Nah, I'll be serious... I've admittedly had a rough life and well, my family were poor and stuff. I know it's not an excuse to justify what I have done, but I tried looking for any way to find money. I kind of got caught up in the drug trade-"

I knew it was all lies. Or maybe he wasn't telling lies. There was something more sinister to him than being a drug dealer, and I was skeptical of anyone's sob stories - I mean, I exaggerated my family history for sponsors. Magnus continued to talk about himself, about life in prison, about how he felt being liberated in the Capitol and his hopes for the future if he were to win, and like that he was dismissed and was replaced with the District Six girl.

The Six girl was okay, but nothing in her interview caught my eyes either. She gave short answers and some of her answers would appear odd to me, as if her thought process wasn't quite straight, though Caecilius happily helped her convey her message. Despite me finding something about her not right, she seemed sweet enough, if I knew her back in my District I'd probably have become friends with her. And yet she'd be sent out into that arena to die, no doubt about it. If there was somebody who I'd label as a goner, it would be girls like the District Six girl. I watched her, feeling sorry for her, especially when she mentioned how she felt overshadowed by her sister, Robyn, and felt as if her parents were probably happy to get rid of her.

"Harsh," I muttered as she walked off the stage to moderate applause. "I've never felt in competition with my sister... We've always been equally loved-"

"It doesn't matter now, all that matters is living."

"True," I said, watching the Six boy go on stage. Sebastian Keating reminded me of the District Four boy: he had a great smile, he was funny, he seemed like the kind of person everyone could love. As much as I liked Tear, watching Sebastian joke around with Caecilius so charismatically made me want Sebastian in my alliance; he seemed like somebody who would bring a ray of sunshine to the constant darkness that was the Games, and I'd like that. He was a vegetarian, he was a family man who was devoted to his many siblings, he was the kind of person that just didn't deserve to die.

I continued watching silently. I could tell the Capitolian audience were tuning out a little now, and I was too. Later Districts just had less colourful characters, and the excitement of meeting all the tributes that would fight for their lives was slowly fading. The District Seven girl was also on my list of nothing special, but I wasn't prepared to dismiss her. Her personality wasn't the kind of personality you'd see in a super star, but she seemed much more mature than many of the other tributes even if she was fourteen, so I thought it would be good to keep an eye on her.

The Eights were actually kind of interesting. Darius was by and large a charming guy. He sometimes blundered, sometimes showed shyness and would sometimes apologise for no reason whatsoever, but he easily had one of the most likable personalities out of the tributes. If anything, his shyness held an endearment to it that the Capitol enjoyed. His District partner, however, was even more impressive. She knew how to act and knew exactly what the crowd wanted. She strode on to the stage, her red dress shimmering underneath the headlights.

She was actually one of the more attractive girls in the Games. Her dark, tall legs were perfectly revealed by her dress, her smile was wide and perfect, but it was all pretty false. I knew this. In the training centre she appeared nothing but aloof, but here she was flirting with Caecilius, making herself seem interesting, cracking jokes that made people laugh and generally putting on the facade the Capitol all wanted us to put on. However introverted Mirane appeared, she could also be the perfect social chameleon.

She left the stage with cheers louder than any non-Career tribute had received thus far. I burned with envy, realising that even if I wanted to go home I'd be faced with a lot of tough competition on the way.

"She's weak," Trojan said to me matter of factly. "Her District partner even more so."

"Hm?" I glanced at him. "How?"

"Just watch them talk to each other," I watched as she struggled to walk around backstage in her ridiculous heels. Darius walked over to her, smiling as he congratulated her. She was less enthusiastic, but she shook his hand, laughed and smiled with him. Last I checked they weren't allies, but they'd probably talked a lot over the past five days. They'd probably become close. I liked Tear and I was civil with Trojan, but thus far hadn't dreamed of getting close to them. Perhaps, if worst came to worst, I'd become close to Tear, but my relationships weren't a train cart leading to my destruction. And I had a feeling the Eight tributes' relationship was.

I glanced as Tear walked onto the stage. Tear didn't cross me as a particularly glamorous girl, but with a touch of Capitol make-up she looked as if she could be one of them. She sat down, her hair perfectly styled as she showed off her cocktail dress. The Capitol were suddenly beginning to gain the interest that they had lost not so long ago. I was pretty certain this was the most promising bunch of non-Career tributes the Games had received in a long, long time. And I was expected to outlive all of them if I wanted to see my family again.

"Tear, you look wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever had that compliment before," Tear laughed nervously.

I didn't know much about Tear so watching her interview was interesting. I knew her family ran a business and managed to survive, I knew she had a few friends and a girlfriend. I knew some very vague facts, but here Tear was talking about her opinion on life, what foods she enjoyed and whether she thought she had a chance or not. It made me see her from a deeper perspective, a perspective I didn't want to see her in. A perspective that would make me as weak as Darius and Mirane. Her talking about her girlfriend particularly made me feel this way:

"You have a girlfriend you want to return to?"

"Yes," Tear said. She smiled, though I saw her dab at the corner of her eyes. "I guess I do."

"Do you miss her?"

"You bet," Tear said, trying her best to repress the tears. "The hardest part about this whole thing isn't the interviews, or the training, or the chariot rides. And I know the hunger and the battles will all be hard in themselves, but the hardest thing is having to spend so long without her. I mean including the Games, assuming I live, I'm spending how long without her? Three weeks? Maybe more? We haven't been separated for so long..." This time, she allowed the tears to slowly fall. "And it hurts. And knowing I could never see her again hurts."

Empathy shot me like a bullet, forcing my heart to throb too as Tear blubbered on the stage. Usually crying on the stage was a big no-no, but when done in the right circumstances it would make your fanbase grow bigger. It almost made me feel selfish for wanting to return home. I had heard most of these tributes talk about their families and loved ones. I was desperate to return to mine, but no matter the outcome of these Games so many families were going to feel disappointed. Tear stood up and smiled at the sympathetic crowd as I thought about those that hated the Hunger Games. People hated the Games because twenty-three kids died. But usually hundreds a year were affected by them. Their families, their friends, their partners and co-workers...

"How did it go?" Tear asked as she approached me.

"You nailed it," I complimented. To my shock, Tear embraced me and I smiled a little. I heard her choke out a sob, and patted her on the back sympathetically. "Rita is going to be so proud of you, isn't she Tro-" I turned only to find that wherever Trojan was fifteen seconds ago, he was now gone. I quickly surveyed the proximity, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Oh."

"Are you watching the rest of the interviews?"

"Yeah," I said, watching Giovanni talk to Caecilius. Giovanni wasn't the best person to be interviewed; though I never spoke to him, everything he said seemed so robotic and carefully evaluated. Wooden even. He only seemed to talk fact, and even when he spoke an emotional opinion he talked about his feelings as if he were explaining a psychological theory. Something about him was haughty and distant. "I want to watch the competition, find out their weaknesses and stuff."

"Good idea," Tear watched Giovanni stride off the stage to a lukewarm applause - his interview had gone even more downhill since his family were mentioned, so he wasn't the Capitol's favourite due to the fact he had distanced himself and become bitter... I wondered why.

His suit was akin to the fancy suit he wore at the Reapings. The short, stocky man passed both of us without even acknowledging us, scratching his stubble before walking outside and being escorted by Peacekeepers. In his place the District Ten girl came onto the stage, courtesying politely and addressing Caecilius very traditionally, two kisses on each cheek.

"I thought it would be..."

"But?"

"What?" I glanced at Tear.

"I knew there'd be a catch to your sentence," she smiled a little. Sighing, I leant against the curtain, trying to assemble my thoughts as Carlie talked about something like her make up.

"But... I feel as if it's backfiring," I explained. "I wanted to assess all of these tributes for their weaknesses, their fears and flaws, just so I can see if I can use it against them," I frowned. "But I'm listening to these guys pour their hearts out. I'm finding out some of their weaknesses, their strengths, fears, dreams, families, hobbies..." I sighed, hoping that I wouldn't become an emotional wreck. "And I'm slowly starting to view them as people. I thought I could avoid seeing them as... as these targets that I had to jab at in order to win..."

"But they are people..."

Tear paused as Carlie skipped past us, looking happy as the Capitol applauded. Thankfully, I barely paid attention to her interview, but she had probably mixed her social skills, politeness and conventional femininity together so the Capitol had probably liked her. Her District partner was on the stage now, and he had said something which made laughter erupt and echo around the room. Caecilius recoiled, looking slightly embarrassed.

I glanced at Tear, shocked. "I know that. But isn't it good to pretend otherwise? How do you plan to kill without pretending that they're targets? How can you kill somebody when you know the name of their dad, or you know what dreams and ambitions you're going to shatter?"

"I know their ambitions and families and whatever," Tear was beginning to bite her nails nervously. "Yeah, it's hard, but I also know how much my family would hurt if I let them down. I couldn't not kill and expect to come out of here alive, just do it, and don't overdo it, they'll understand," Tear said, more to herself then me. "I mean... I... I guess I'd understand if someone were to kill me..."

"This is fucked up..."

"It is..." Tear sighed, watching the Capitol cheer the Ten boy off the stage. I morbidly thought that they'd probably cheer when he died, too. All they do is cheer. They cheer at everything. They cheer because they like the tribute, but cheer even harder at death because no matter how much they like someone they'd been conditioned to like the blood even more. That's how it appeared, anyway. And I hated it.

The Eleven girl was quite interesting. The Capitol decided to go for the cuteness factor, and when she strolled out there in a dress that seemed to be sewed from wheat and when her hair was plaited into pigtails, she actually did look a little bit cute. Granted, she wasn't going to be a supermodel when she was older, I could see that in her features, but youth had spared her any embarrassment. She made the Capitol laugh quite a lot; it had been a long time since a young person had been gutsy, they were usually seen as timid and useless. But as soon as Caecilius called her Willow she let him know that she was called Will and she wouldn't accept it any other way. Her interview went okay, though some could see her as impulsive or even arrogant.

The boy held a very similar angle to his District partner. Whilst everybody was contrived in the interviews because we all danced around with false personalities and masks that would bring in more sponsors than our real selves, something about Nathan Fauve was quite contrived, though I couldn't identify it. Maybe it was the forced walk, the forced voice or the way he would constantly be monitoring his movements. It was strange, but other than that his interview was unremarkable. He seemed like a reserved person, and the Capitol grew bored and would only show interest when he explained his life in District Eleven and how he managed with a heart condition.

"Sometimes... I feel as if they'd be better without me," he admitted. The Capitol made some noise that was supposed to sound sympathetic.

"Don't say that!" Caecilius sighed. "They're probably vouching for you. What would make you say that? You feel as if you're a financial or emotional burden on them because of your condition?"

Nate glanced up at him. "No, it's nothing to do with that." For the first time, I felt as if he was honest. "I just feel kind of disposable."

One sympathetic interview was replaced with another, and Luke Diorite came onto the stage. He impressed the Capitol with his memory, proudly flaunting it out to the Capitol. Caecilius made him proving it, giving Luke fifty words, which Luke easily remembered and recited in perfect order. As I said: impressive opponents. To make it even worse, Luke would talk about how he had always wanted an education but had never fulfilled the opportunity to put his memory to good use. This also invoked the Capitol's sympathies.

But if they truly sympathised wouldn't they give him an education? If they truly sympathised wouldn't these Games be scrapped?

The last tribute of the night, Freya Garnsey, was certainly a memorable one. She stormed onto the stage in a seductive black dress, laughing and forcefully kissing Caecilius. The Capitol screamed in a mixture of shock and excitement, and Caecilius blushed as she pulled away and laughed. I hadn't noticed Freya before, but she was putting herself out there more than any other tribute. There was a refreshing honesty to her, and I think the Capitol appreciated that. I didn't learn much about her though, other than her thoughts on her experiences, if she thought her score was a detriment and other things. When it came to her personal life, Freya was pretty guarded.

And with one final buzz the interviews ended, and Caecilius told the audience and the cameras to be prepared to watch a special gift the Capitol had prepared them in two hours. This was the secret event the Gamemakers had been planning. And then what happened after that?

I'd go to bed and the Games would begin.

They were so close, and as I glanced at Tear I noticed she acknowledged that too. It may not have felt like it, but in twenty-four hours there was the possibility that both of us would be corpses in a morgue instead of real tributes being interviewed.

So, only two more characters to introduce you to - yep, that's you, Brandy and Aurochs. And wow, this story is already over 100,000 words. I know I say I like to rush the pre-Games, but I think I've put quite a lot into them, so I hope you've enjoyed them :)

I don't have much to say, but a particularly pensive reviewer (you know who you are!) has often been inquiring about gender, sexuality & ethnicity in Panem, or the post-apocalyptic world Panem is situated in, and how the attitudes some characters have can be questionable regarding these things, so I think I want to clarify a lot of things, because it's worth clarifying:

Panem is similar to our society regarding gender. Women have the few rights men have on a political and economic scale, but it's also patriarchal and mostly male-dominated (similar to Western culture), and obviously there are gender roles that genders conform to. As for race, there ARE multiple ethnicities in Panem, and unlike the current world we live in, ethnicity isn't really an issue and racial prejudices barely exist. Many tributes have been of different races: examples in this story are Liz, Mirane (who is African-American) and Lexie, who has a little bit of Asian ancestry. Panem is multi-cultural, though a lot of Districts are very white-normative (District 1 & 2 in particular) and some are very multi-cultural (Districts 3 & 11 in particular). Panem in general has a mostly white population. Romantia (Europe) is similarly multi-cultural, but the countries situated to the East and much more ethnically concentrated and less multi-cultural.

The reason Elizabeth in herself is considered 'exotic' for Panem, or somewhat rare, is that Indians in Panem are rare. They are scattered around the Districts and Capitol, but they're currently only 1% of the US population, and after a government-shattering disaster the percentages would dwindle even further, so Indians aren't quite as seen in Panem (though, as I mentioned in the previous story, District Three has a relatively large Indian population).

As for sexuality, that isn't a deal in the Capitol, it used to be, but President Nystalgia explained they had economic benefits, so he passed a lot of legislation which helped the LGBT community even if he himself is a homophobe. The Capitol is very socially liberal despite its many flaws, and the Districts - particularly the poorer ones - are much more prejudiced against homosexuality.

That's pretty much how all 3 of these issues stand in Panem.

~Toxic