With a population of just under 20,000 District 10 has the third lowest population of all 12 districts in Panem being just above District 9 and more than double that of 12 it's also the second poorest in terms of tesserae per person. Lysander, an 18 year old man with a short red beard and blonde hair spends most of his free time throwing knives at the post outside of the barn he works at, he is disheveled and knows that in a few hours he'll be up on stage getting ready to go into the Hunger Games. He had decided at the previous reaping that he would volunteer after seeing a 12 year old boy go in the year before and be butchered in less than a minute after the games started. "I won't let another one go in when I can step up," he told himself, after the bloodbath that happens every year at the beginning of the games. Tally, a 15 year old with curly hair walks up to him with a solemn expression, "You should get ready, we have to be in the square soon and it'll take 45 minutes for us to get there" she informs him. He doesn't even look at her but nods in silent acceptance, "Tally what'll you do if your name's drawn" he asks her. "I'll just do what everyone else has done when they do, go up and accept I'll either go in and win or die" she responds with a cold and depressed tone. He throws his final knife at the post making a perfect line with the other 5 knives and gets up from his spot on the wooden fence he was slouched on.
Lysander walks through the front door of his home which is a worn down bungalow, he lives alone as his parents died several years before and his older brother was reaped in the 63rd Hunger Games where he put up a brave fight but was killed on the fourth day by the victor of that years game Gloss taking 6th place, the sight of his brother gurgling on his own blood after Gloss slit his throat with his throwing knife still haunts his dreams. He scrounges through his closet looking for his old worn out suit he's had to patch and increase the length on several times, once he finds it he notices that the rats have chewed through the arms and back of his shirt as well as chewed through his pants, he sighs in frustration as he grabs his sewing kit and rips some of the floral fabric from the curtains to patch his suit as fast as he can so he doesn't end up being shot by the peacekeepers, thankfully since he's had to do patch ups so often his skills with a thread and needle are second to none. In a matter of minutes he's successfully covered the holes with a tight stitch even if his black suit and pants now have pink flowery patches in them that don't match, it's a suitable fix for what would be his last time wearing it.
Lysander hears a knocking as he puts his coat on, he opens the door to see Tally and her older sister Star wearing matching green floral dresses, "Are you ready, what's with the patch job" Tally asks with a bit of a smile on her face. "Rats decided my clothes would make a great bed, or meal" Lysander responds trying to bring a little humor into the conversation. The trio laughs before coming back to reality and their smiles drop to frowns, "W-we should go" Star says and the group then departs on the long walk to the district square.
The closer they got to the square the more peacekeepers they saw their FN F2000 SMGs at rest, some of them had their fingers on resting on the triggers of the weapons making Lysander nervous. "They seem ready for a fight this year" Lysander whispered to the girls Tally is looking at the ground and Star is visibly shuddering, the peacekeepers are known for abusing residents in order to keep them in line, the girls once they get older are even treated as objects for the peacekeepers affection, "L-let's just keep moving" Tally struggles to say and the trio picks up the pace and moves faster. After the long walk the group joins the other would be tributes in their sections, no one speaks as the tension in the air could be cut with a butter knife after a few minutes of standing and contemplating life a woman with bleached skin and dressed flamboyantly walks up to the stand, she's smiling at everyone when she taps the mic and clears her throat. "Welcome everyone welcome, as you know I am Winter Lockstead and this is the reaping for the 69th annual Hunger Games, before we select our lucky tributes I must show this film to you of our history" The sounds of a projector could be heard revving up, the film goes through the typical propaganda that he's heard every year since he could remember. "They make it sound like we're doing something noble to ensure our security" Lysander thought to himself, the film ends with Winter smiling and repeating the final line from the film "To guard our future, indeed". A moment later two peacekeepers walk up stage each holding a bowl with paper in them, they set the bowls on two pedestals when Winter walks in between them smiling big and taking a deep breath. "Now then, ladies first", she reaches her hand in the bowl and digs deep as if she's trying to find a winning ticket for a prize, she pulls one out and opens the paper "Jade Skytree" she calls the name and a girl with dark hair and green eyes walks out of the crowd. She is the same age as Lysander and is clearly fighting back tears, no one makes a sound as they silently mourn her. She stands on the stage next to Winter and looks at the ground making no eye contact. Lysander feels sorry for her and hopes she does well in the games and can survive long enough to have at least a final meal. "Now for the boys" Winter moves closer to the bowl holding the boys names she reaches in and pulls out a paper and reads off the name "Dusk Everworth" a young boy around 14 steps out but before he can make any ground to the stage Lysnader steps out of the crowd "I volunteer as tribute". Everyone looks towards Lysander. Dusk stands there in shock, unable to comprehend that his life has just been spared, Lysander pats Dusk on his shoulder as he walks past him. "Ly what're you doing" Tally asks with a frantic look on her face, "What I had planned on doing for a year" he responds to her without looking at her. "B-but you made it, this was your final reaping and you could've lived your life" she tells him both with sadness and anger in her voice, "You don't even know the kid why did you volunteer for him" Star asks with a look of relief that her name wasn't called and she was done with reapings and sadness that Lysander was now heading in. "I had already decided that I would go in a year ago, just to give some kids another year of life" before he continues he looks at both of them with a stern expression "I don't want either of you volunteering when she asks, I'm sorry for Jade but Star you finally finished your reapings and Tally you need to enjoy as much of the next year as you can" both girls start to cry as they nod in acknowledgement. Lysander sighs and continues walking up the stage and stands next to Winter opposite Jade. "What a wonderful surprise, what is your name, young man?" Winter asks Lysander with a gleam in her eye. "Lysander Crowley" he responds stone faced. "Well then any of the girls wish to volunteer" the crowd stays silent and Jade exhales accepting her fate. "Alright then, ladies and gentlemen your tributes for this year's Hunger Games, Lysander Crowley and Jade Skytree" Winter exclaims as she claps her hands in excitement. The next moment Lysander and Jade walk into the building behind them and each go into an empty room when a peacekeeper informs them they'll have 5 minutes, "5 minutes for what" Lysander asks with no response. A moment later Tally, Star and even Dusk walk in, Tally and Star both hug Lysander and start to cry "Please be safe and come back" Tally begs as her head is in his chest. Lysander felt the tears well up as he knew this could well be his last time seeing the two people he had come to love as sisters, he hugged them back and said "I'll do my best", after a moment the trio released their hug and Dusk who was standing there still shocked asks Lysander "Why would you volunteer for me, we've never even met?" Lysander just looks at him "I made a promise last year after that boy went in that I would ensure another young boy would get at least one more year with his loved ones" Dusk smiles and thanks Lysander before exiting the room. Lysander calls back to Dusk "You're still eligible next year, make sure you work on yourself and get strong in case you're called again" Dusk nods and keeps walking. After a few minutes the peacekeepers walk in and inform Tally and Star that their time is up, the girls start to cry and get one last hug before exiting the room, a moment later a man walks in, his eyes are sunken and his skin is yellowing. Lysander recognizes him, this man is Jackson, he was the winner of the 66th Hunger Games, "So you're my mentor I take it" Jackson nods and begins looking Lysander up and down. "You look strong, you might actually make it a long way" Jackson says without hesitation, Lysander looks at him and is shocked to see how different he has become in 3 years, he remembers Jackson being full of muscle and his skin looked rather healthy, it was clear to Lysander that the games traumatized him and we under the influence of alcohol and morphling. "It's my job to help you win, but it's your job to impress the citizens and get sponsors," Jackson informs him. "How do I do that?" Lysander asks. Jackson waves him over and begins walking toward the train, "You need to be likable and have a unique personality that will win the crowd over, that stunt you did by volunteering for Dusk might put you in good graces so you're already ahead of the game" Jackson continues to explain that sponsors send in important items to the tribute they're rooting for to get them ahead and closer to victory. "A blanket, water, food, a weapon, anything you need to survive a sponsor will send it if you can get them on your side" Jackson says as he pours a glass of alcohol in his glass. Before Lysader can ask anything else Jade walks in with a woman with red curly hair, Lysander also recognizes her as Tiffany; she was the winner of the 61st Hunger Games. Just like Jackson she was also disheveled with sunken eyes, she joins Jackson getting a glass of alcohol while Jade stands next to Lysander, "She's very scatterbrained and won't give me straight answers on how I can survive" Jade says with frustration in her voice. Jackson and Tiffany don't say a word to each other and instead go to their respective tribute, Tiffany takes Jade to another room and Jackson sits down at the table and tells Lysander to sit down so they can continue the conversation.
After a few hours of information dumping Jackson got up and left to go to his room to get some sleep, Lysander sat at the table contemplating how he needed to approach the games and how he could get sponsors to want to support him, he also thinks that each game has different arenas and not all have items such as food or water and that some that do have it could be poisoned. "Water I need, I can't go multiple days without drinking unless I wanna die of dehydration, but food I can eat here and now" quickly Lysander begins to start eating as much food as he can. "I need to carbo load, my body can burn off the food slowly over several days so I won't starve to death", he eats as much as he can without making himself sick and once he has his fill he heads to his room to get some sleep.
The next morning Lysander walks into the cafeteria cart where Jackson, Tiffany and Jade are sitting and eating breakfast, Jade is clearly unsatisfied as she just plays with her food, Tiffany and Jackson are just having a cup of white liquor and some toast Lysander loads a plate with enough food to feed a family. "The foods not going anywhere, why do you need so much?" Jackson asks, confused. Lysander swallows the overfilled spoonful and answers Jackson "Carbo loading, I need to take in as many calories as I can" Jackson, Tiffany, and Jade look at him intrigued. Jade starts to look at her plate before she gets up and loads up her plate like Lysander did. Lysander looks at her and smiles "Now you get it, it'll be harder to starve when you have more carbs in you that your body can burn off over days" Jade nods in agreement, "Smart idea, the only thing you'd need to worry about is water, and weapons" Tiffany exclaims. The mentors seem to have found some kind of mojo and are excited for a few moments before the realization that only one person leaves the games alive and they feel the dread return and down more of their alcohol before going back into interacting with Lysander and Jade. "Alright, you need a strategy on top of the carbo loading, for instance you need to make sure you leave the cornucopia with at least a weapon to defend yourselves with" Tiffany informs them, but Jackson interrupted "Except that the weapons are in the cornucopia while random items are scattered around it like bags and water bottles which are still risky to run for" Tiffany then cuts back "But if you're fast enough you can at least get a knife, only the bigger weapons are deep in the cornucopia like swords and axes". Jade is watching them go back and forth with a small smile as she is finally seeing her mentor give helpful advice, she eats while committing everything she's hearing to her memory.
After a few hours of eating and information being given to him Winter walks in and informs them that they will be arriving to the capitol in twenty minutes, the mood after that drops to it's previous somber scene as Jackson and Tiffany pop open two bottles of alcohol and begin to drink as much as possible before they have to show themselves to the capital citizens. Lysander peaks outside to see the size of the capital and how clean and modern everything is, the closer they got the clearer he could see the citizens of the capitol, just like Winter they were dressed very extravagant and flamboyant with their bleached skin and overly extended eyelashes. The more he looked at them the more confused he was, "Is this actually considered fashion here?" He thinks to himself as Jade comes and joins in viewing everything the capital has to offer. They notice that the citizens are standing near the tracks cheering at the sight of the train wanting to get a closer look at this year's tributes that will hopefully entertain them in the games. Jackson splashes some water on his face in an attempt to look more put together and presentable to the masses, "Alright, you two it's time to start wowing the crowd" Jackson tells them while he shakes the nerves he's feeling.
Not long after exiting the train Lysander and Jade were taken to a building where they were stripped of their clothes and scrubbed down violently to remove "nasty germs" as the cleaners put it before they would meet their stylists. Once they finished "cleaning" them Lysander sat on the cold metal bed waiting for what felt like an eternity until a woman dressed in a neon pink dress with orange hair that looked like cotton candy struts in, her look is serious as she stands in front of him looking him up and down. "My name is Trinkee I am your stylist" she tells him while still looking him over, she starts to smile and finally looks Lysander in the eye "I know exactly how I want you to look for the parade".