Rowena Aspen, 14

District 7 Female

Nothing ever changed in District 7. We woke up, ate a meager breakfast, and then marched to the lumber yards, where we chopped wood and moved boards until the sun set. Then we put our tools away, marched home, ate a pitiful dinner, and went to bed. The routine was never ending.

All I wanted was to see more of the world. I'd heard stories of the oceans in 4 and the quarries and mountains in 3. District 5 was said to be in a desert of red rock, where stone spires cast shadows across the landscape. Here were just trees, as far as the eye could see.

"Psst! Rowan!" my best friend Juniper hissed. I brushed some sweaty strands of brown hair out of my face and glanced over at her.

"What?"

"Brad is coming over here!"

I followed her gaze and rolled my eyes when I spotted the manager's son stalking towards us. Brad was the most annoying person in all of 7 and he thought his dad's recent promotion made him district royalty. Instead of doing his job, he'd go around criticizing other people's work; which meant we had to do more to complete his workload. And his dad wouldn't do a thing about it.

I squared my shoulders as he approached.

"Hey Speckles," he said. "Head off in the clouds? Is that why you're so behind?" I grit my teeth at the nickname. People constantly mocked me for my dark freckles, saying I looked like a freak or that I was sick. Juniper was the only one to ever call them pretty.

"Call me that again and you'll be on your behind," I snapped, throwing my axe down to face off with him. But I was small, even for a girl, and Brad was a hulking oak. He looked down at me with a cruel sneer on his face.

"Oh please. You couldn't take me. I'd crush you like a bug."

"Go away Brad," Juniper said. She was clutching her axe tightly and her eyes were wide. Juniper was sweet and shy and would never lash out at anyone. Brad seemed just as surprised as I was that she was speaking up.

"Shut it, squirt," he snapped. Then he lunged forward and grabbed my collar. Moving solely on instinct, I grabbed his shoulders and brought my knee up into his groin.

He shouted in pain and fell to his knees. I reached back, ready to punch him in the face, but someone grabbed me from behind.

"Hey!" I shouted, squirming and flailing. I tried to elbow my assailant but they just swung me over their shoulder.

"Calm down," Sycamore growled as I fought him. "It's just me."

I slumped against his back with a groan of annoyance. Sycamore was another one of the community home kids. He was 17 and acted as a leader of sorts for the younger kids. But instead of keeping us out of trouble, he taught us how to not get caught.

Sycamore dumped me on the ground near the water fountains and put his hands on his hips. He looked stern, but I could tell he was fighting a smile.

"How many times have I told you? Don't mess with the kids who are bigger than you!"

"Every kid is bigger than me," I protested. "And I still got this."

I held up the little acorn trinket I'd snatched from Brad's pocket and Sycamore laughed.

"Fine. Mess with whoever you want. But I'm not bailing you out next time."

Cactus Cleo, 18

District 7 Male

The light of the setting sun filtered through the trees and struck the greenhouse windows, warming the vast room. The plants, which were beginning to withdraw for the night, stretched out their leaves again to feel the final evening rays.

I shut off the hose and gave myself a moment to bask in the warmth as well. Greenhouses were always hot and humid but I was the type of person who was constantly cold. I'd take all the heat I could get.

Something fell outside, hitting the ground with a solid thump. I quickly hung up the hose and rushed to the door as Leo began to curse in annoyance. I stepped out into the cooling evening air to see my father figure wrestling with a long black bag.

"Is everything alright?" I asked him as I approached. He glanced over, his purple eyes alight with frustration. When I was 6, Leo brought me to the Capitol to have my eyes permanently dyed. Now we both had bright violet irises and the same honey-blonde hair.

"This damn zipper is stuck," he growled. He threw the bag down in frustration and I crouched down to examine it. Even through the thick fabric of the body bag, I could smell blood. Running my hands down the zipper, I came to a point where a piece of fabric was wedged between its teeth. I fiddled with it until the zipper was able to tear through and open the rest of the way.

"Well done." Leo clapped me on the back, nearly making my small frame buckle. But I smiled at him anyway. Praise from my adopted father was what I lived for. Leonidas Cleo was the most intelligent man in District 7, and maybe even in Panem. I worked hard every day to follow in his footsteps.

Together, we housed and studied exotic plants. Leo's entire estate was a botanical garden. We cultivated hundreds of different kinds of non-native plants, but our pride and joy was the nepenthes cleoii.

Leo was always interested in carnivorous plants, but there were no known species that ate anything larger than the occasional rodent. The nepenthes attenboroughii was the largest pitcher plant in existence, but it only grew in an island nation far from Panem. How Leo acquired one was his biggest secret. I knew not to ask and even if I did, I knew he would never tell me.

Over his lifetime, he'd bred a new species of carnivorous pitcher plant. And since the nepenthes attenboroughii was named after an ancient naturalist, Leonidas Cleo decided it was only fitting that his new bloom be named after himself: the nepenthes cleoii.

At first, we fed it mice. Then rabbits. Then beef. And now, human flesh. In the six years that the pitcher plant had demanded humans, I'd helped Leo kill several dozen people to feed it. And it would have a feast tonight. The man Leo brought back in the bag was huge.

Living in such a forested district allowed us to kill the citizens with more ease. Deaths could be blamed on predators or natural causes, or just someone losing their way in the deepest parts of the district.

We tried to target people who were old or had no family, to raise less suspicion. But it didn't really matter to me where the bodies came from. I didn't care about those people. Leo and I were scientists. Our work was much more important than their lives.

Hi everyone. I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated. I've been struggling a lot with my mental health and about a week ago my long-term partner and I split up. I'll be okay, but I haven't had much energy or motivation. But this chapter was pretty much done and I want to get into the meat of the story soon. So here are the District 7 Tribute Intros! Thank you to 4everlark for Rowena and QueenofMornings37 for Cactus. I didn't get to show as much as of his personality as I'd have liked to, but I promise it will happen. I got distracted by my carnivorous pitcher plant research. Fun Fact: nepenthes attenboroughii only grows on Mount Victoria in Palawan, which is a province in the Philippines.

Anyways! I wanted to let you guys know that I am accepting submissions for a new partial SYOT that I plan to post some time in the first week of March. It's set during the 72nd Games and I will be accepting one tribute from each district. But if there is enough interest, I'm going to take 16 tributes instead of 12. Right now, District 12 is the only district open, but like I said, there's still a chance you can submit even if it gets claimed. All the info is on my profile, but don't feel pressured to check it out or submit.

QUESTIONS

1) Which tribute did you prefer? Why?

2) If you had to choose any of the introduced tributes as an ally, who would you pick? Why?

3) Who was the first tribute you submitted? Were they good, cringe, or somewhere in the middle?

Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!

- Fiona