Shepard "Shep" Howard (17) D10M

My hand hovered over the cow's stomach, trying to quiet its cries. I wanted nothing more than to help the animal relax, to show her the calm she deserved, but there was nothing I could do just yet. It was lowing in pain, likely in confusion. Its eyes were just beginning to show panic, and yet there was so little I could do. I had given it pain medicine. I had helped it lie down on a nice bed of straw, using up the precious resource just to provide comfort. My friends called it wasteful. My family called it compassion.

A few more moments and the lowing intensified. My hand finally found a place to settle, resting lightly where the beast's stomach bulged the most. Giving birth was a beautiful thing, a thing of wonder and awe. It was also a terrifying thing, even for humans. We had medicines, we had doctors walking us through it. This cow had nothing but the pain filling her body and the knowledge that it would end soon. I was the one carrying the fear that the cow would die, bringing new life into a cycle with her own death.

Slowly, the sun crossed the horizon. There was nothing I could do while the minutes passed, time ticking by around us. My family milled in and out, doing their chores and carrying on with their day. I was the only one with the patience to sit and wait for so long, the only one who could actually help the gentle giant if she needed it. And she did. The fear that filled her eyes dissipated when she saw me, and she rested her head against me as we waited for the day to continue.

I began to grow nervous when the sun settled on the horizon, marking a full hour of labor. I began to grow afraid when my father called for me, needing the night's chores done before all of the day's light was gone. It had been too long. The healthy moments were passing, what little calm my friend had left fleeting. Panic had begun its march toward the creature I was supposed to protect. The water bag had broken but the calf wasn't yet out. I would need to intervene.

My friends cringed when they told these stories. They flinched from the thought of the filth they perceived. I didn't share those inhibitions. I reached into the animal and helped her birth her young. I could never be disgusted by the giving of life. It wasn't who I was to flinch from an animal, from the spirit of another living being. It was beautiful to help another creature in any way. The greatest honor was helping another life come to be.

Virgo Charleston (18) D10F

My hands hovered over the horse's stomach, waiting for a chance to continue. It wasn't often I got to perform too much of a surgery, what with the pricing of all the supplies, but Godsend wasn't just any horse. He was the mascot of everyone in Ten, and he was one of my personal icons. I wasn't even into horse racing before he came around, but everyone suddenly had a reason to be when Godsend entered the scene.

Dr. Lovelace lurked beside me, his quick motions distracting me from my thoughts of racing. He made two quick incisions into the horse's stomach, opening it for us to look into the space within. Mrs. and Mr. Farrier had said that he was just a bit antsy, a little less hungry than normal, and everything seemed to have cleared up. "It's just best to make sure he's ok," they had said, as if they weren't describing a medical emergency. The first symptoms were bad enough. The pain going away was terrifying.

My heart reached out to the horse and I had to stop myself from flinching as Dr. Lovelace grabbed the horse's intestines, his gloved hands delicately reaching and searching to find the rupture. I helped him look, but I wasn't yet practiced enough to actually handle anything so delicate, so important. I could hand him tools, make incisions, and monitor the condition of the animal. I couldn't yet get into the real nitty-gritty, and I was glad he didn't ask me to. I wasn't sure if I could if he wanted me to.

Godsend shifted and I took the excuse to adjust his anesthesia, checking his oxygen levels and heart rate. The animal was mostly steady, but he needed a slight shift. I was grateful for the time it took to settle him. I was going to be a veterinarian; I was determined to manage that. But I still sometimes needed a breath or two to settle during the gorier surgeries. I was working on it, but there was a reason I was still an apprentice, not a full professional.

I moved to Dr. Lovelace, handing him the tools he needed and forcing myself to look at the incisions, to follow the stitches as they were made. They disgusted me, in a way, the blood and the innards on display, but I needed to learn to steel myself to them. I needed to be able to handle an animal safely, and most surgeries wouldn't allow me any time to take a breather or flick the gore off my hands. I would need to hold down the fort while my own apprentice did that.

With steady hands I started sewing up the horse, reflecting on my thoughts while I did it. The stitches were slow, methodical, something I had done a hundred times before. They went on automatically as I considered the horse, considering what he meant to his owners. He was supposed to be a workhorse. He was supposed to do hard labor until he died. Now he was a racehorse, a freak chance that happened and allowed the Farriers to go from poor to well-off. I was already doing alright, but my parents worked long and hard to give me the chance to apprentice. It was my job to be their Godsend and let them retire well.

Hey hey hey everyone! I decided it's FINALLY time I start writing my Chaos Reigns. It's been a heck of a while since the story filled up, but I didn't have it in me to really get to work on the whole story (thank goodness for Fiona for actually writing something while I didn't...)

Things for the readers to know!

One: This is an SYOT, but it's already full.

Two: Multiple authors are writing this same story. We all have the same tributes, same mentors, same year, but our Arenas are based on a theme (they'll have some common factor, but they won't necessarily be the same exact Arena). We have NO agreed-upon death order and NO agreed-upon Victor. Also, we AREN'T reading each other's stories until ours are done.

Three: The authors, off the top of my head, are: Me, LadyCordeliaStuart, Willuna, Fiona11303, AmericanPi, CarlPopa707, 4everlark. If I missed anyone let me know, authors!

Four: I allow sponsoring with no set system. It just comes down to whether I allow what specifically you ask for. For the most part, just don't be insane and I'll roll with it.

Five: For those of you who don't know me, this is what I do instead of the classic "Reaping Chapter." I just do a little introduction scene. Train rides will come directly after all the intros are done.

Happy reading everyone and I'm glad to finally have chapter one posted!