Hi to anyone reading this. This is my first fic ever, so it might not exactly be the best...Please bear with me, if you're even going to read this story XD. But you're not here to listen to me ramble, so without further ado, here's chapter 1.

Erikur Isla, 15, D12

"Please! Anything to..."

"Help! My-"

"I'm sorry to inform-"

"More meds!"

Erikur did his best to tune out the desperate voices begging for help that wasn't coming as he hurried between the hospital beds, heading towards the med cabinet and their dwindling supply. The last mine collapse had left a lot of injured people in its wake, packing the already over-crowded make-shift clinic to the brim.

Taking another syringe from their shrinking pile, he made his way to bunk eleven. The man in bed was staring blankly, two charred stumps for legs propped up on the bedpost, it was a miracle he was still alive. The fire that took his legs also left them cauterized, but he wouldn't be for much longer. Erikur could already see his breathing grow raspy, he wouldn't make it past the hour.

Erikur quickly injected the man, then turned away, heading towards the next patient. Some of the miners complained about the clinic wasting morphine on the soon to be dead, demanding they all be made available for the healthier survivors, but his mother, the clinic's owner, had put her foot down there, insisting the doomed be allowed to at least pass through peacefully.

Though he didn't really show it on his face, Erikur agreed. Those who still could complain only had small injuries compared to others, a burn here, a lost pinky there... The ones who really needed it were the ones screaming too much to even form coherent sentences and the unresponsive ones reduced to uttering moans of pain.

Erikur looked up warily as a fresh bout of howling sounded from the entrance. Another stretcher was carried in, dumped on the ground by two lucky workers with only slight injuries. He quickly assessed the miner on the stretcher's general state, no burns, leg and arm injuries, most definitely broken bones... Grabbing some supplies, he rushed towards the stretcher.

Up close, the injuries looked even worse. White bone stuck out through the mess of flesh and blood on the patient's leg, while his hand might later have to be removed. Usually they'd attempt to prevent infection, but it was impossible in present circumstances. They didn't have nearly enough supplies to sterilize everything, and the patient's hand will most likely be claimed by gangrene soon. Erikur winced at the mental image, removing someone's limb was not an ordeal he wanted to go through again anytime soon, but it seemed inevitable in this case.

Not like he could do anything about that now. Erikur shifted focus back onto the leg. He could reset the bone, but he didn't have enough morphine to give to the patient.

Looks like he had to go without it. Deep breath in...

With one practiced movement, he reset the bone, then held the leg stationary as the patient thrashed in pain. His hands moving on autopilot, applied small bits of pressure and gauze to stop the bleeding, then deftly positioned a padded splint along the limb and wrapped everything in bandages, carefully making sure to immobilize the patient's foot and ankle as well.

After stopping the bleeding in the crushed hand, Erikur waved to the assistants, motioning them to take the patient away to a bunk. As soon as they disappeared off to a ward, a new patient was brought in for him to attend to. Erikur did his best for everything, splinting broken bones, stopping bleeding, bandaging up various burns, and in some cases, cauterizing wounds. The process was tiring, wave after wave of injured coming in for him to work on, but it was better than the alternative. At least now he felt useful, helping out with everything. Before, he'd had to simply watch on the sidelines, helpless as his mother dashed around the clinic with his sister, both telling him he was too young to do stuff like this. If there was one thing he hated, it was not being able to do everything due to not being something or other enough. Even now, Nora-

"You shouldn't be doing this lillebror." Without pausing in his work, he knew Nora was behind him, probably glaring disapprovingly, or what counted as glaring for her, to others it probably looked like nothing at all.

"I'm doing fine, Nora." He wasn't a child anymore, he could help around without suddenly fainting at the sight of blood or anything. But for some reason, Nora still saw him as a useless kid. Any seconds now, she was going to-

"Big sister."

Erikur sighed, motioning to attendants to take away the last patient, "No." Hell, she'd already tried hundreds of times, so why can't she just accept he's not nine-years-old anymore? He did his best to block out his sister as the two continued with their usual argument about the subject.

"Anyway lillebror, I'm here to tell you we're going to the Reapings." Erikur quickly patched up the broken arm in front of him, then stashed away his equipment and went upstairs to change. Hopefully, he'll be back quickly, before anybody died due to not having enough staff members for the Capitol's stupid little Games.

Nora Isla, 18, D12

"Nora, honey, isn't it time for the Reapings?" Nora glanced up at the mantelpiece clock, noting the time. It was already nine forty, about a fifteen-ish minute walk to the square, they were going to be cutting it close.

Pushing aside the pile of supplies she'd been sorting, Nora scanned the clinic, locating her lillebror near the entrance, tending to the newest batch of wounded miners. She frowned, concern settling in as she watched him splinting injuries. He was too little to do things like that, not even seventeen, not nearly old enough to be dealing with injuries that would make grown men feel sick.

No. She had to stop her little brother before anything happened to him, or heavens forbid, he cut himself on a bone and get the miners' gangrene infection. Nora made her way to the entrance, stopping behind Erik.

"You shouldn't be doing this lillebror." She scowled at the sight of her innocent little brother casually sewing together two gaping flaps of skin like it was a regular Sunday afternoon. He shouldn't be seeing such horrors in the clinic this early, but the successive mine cave-ins had greatly increased demand for any able personnel.

Erikur didn't even turn to look up at her, "I'm doing fine, Nora."

"Big sister." She'd already tried this 482 times, but maybe 483 was the charm?

"No." Looks like he was going to flat out refuse, again.

"Big sister."

"Nu-uh."

"Big sister."

"Nope."

"Big brother."

"What the hell, Nora? You're not even making any sense." Erikur facepalmed as Nora shrugged. It was worth a try, at the very least.

Sensing herself failing, Nora diverted the topic, ready to continue some other time, "Anyway lillebror, I'm here to tell you we're going to the Reapings." She'd been wearing her outfit all day, so she waited by the dining room as her little brother got into his formal outfit.

A few minutes later, Erikur rushed out, wearing a formal trousers and a giant Lopi sweater. Nora smiled (her kind of smiling) at the sight of her little brother, his face barely sticking out the collar. He looked so adorable, just like when he was still a little kid.

"Not a word." Nora smirked as her brother stormed towards the door, too-long sleeves swinging as he walked. He really was so adorable when he tried to act all grown up...

The two bumped into mom on the way out. She'd already been excused by the government from all Reapings due to her profession, and Nora was going to be soon as well. This was her last year, and after that she could never attend again. Of course, she'd still attend for three more years until Erikur was also out of danger.

The mere thought of her little brother going through those twisted games made her shudder. She was never going to let him suffer that fate.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Erikur, "Good luck managing all this by yourself, mom."

Mom snorted at Erikur's remark, "Honey, I've been running this clinic by myself for years." She winked at the two, before picking up some bandages.

"I think I'll manage for a few hours." Still, Nora didn't miss the tired lines on her face or the way her hand trembled when she wrapped the bandage around another splint. She was exhausted, and so was Erikur. Her little brother would never admit it to her, but she caught the exhausted sighs and saw the dark bags under his eyes. She herself wasn't really doing that much better. The nights without sleep from the patients' moans downstairs were wearing on her, and she'd needed even more coffee than usual to stop looking and feeling like a zombie. They couldn't really go on like this for much longer.

The two started the boring walk to the Town Square. The day was sunny, not hot enough for summer yet, but pleasantly warmed. Nora almost smiled at the relief of not being surrounded by the cries of those who'd shortly be dead and those who'll forever bear the scars they'd gotten. Most people thought she didn't care at all, but just because she didn't show it on her face doesn't mean she was completely desensitized or anything.

She just couldn't show she cared, because then others would also feel bad and that would waste time and effort. She'd stopped after a bout of crying from her had led to someone else's death. The woman had bled to death because Nora was too much of a crybaby and couldn't handle watching her go into labor.

And her little brother was most likely starting to go down her path, something she wasn't about to let him do, which was why she was trying to get him to savor every single minute out of the clinic. Hopefully, he'd never have to witness death in any way like that, knowing he was the direct cause of it.

The two siblings approached the sign-in, unaware of the storm they were getting tossed head first straight into.

Erikur Isla, 15, D12

The peacekeeper pricked his finger, then waved him onward towards the fifteen-year-olds section. Erikur winced, reflexively pressing down on the injured site to stop the bleeding even though the cut was most likely shallow. Even now, his clinic habits were still here.

The others in the section squeezed out of the way as he went in, leaving a narrow path for him. As one of the few medically experienced people in the District, he was well respected by just about everyone. After all, he was probably going to ensure one of them didn't die someday soon, in about three years to be exact. Some of them aimed looks of dislike at him, jealous of the special treatment he was getting, but Erikur paid them no mind.

Haters gonna hate, and he did enjoy the sensation of not being squeezed by all sides by sweaty, hormonal teenagers.

Erikur watched, bored, as the mayor mounted the stage, blabbering on about the dark days. He stifled a yawn as he started doing Capitol fanservice, waxing poetic about them being great saviors of everyone in the district and being benevolent. Right, and they also had unicorn horns and pooped glitter. If they'd really cared about the districts, they'd be sending equipment to stabilize the mines, or at the very least, they'd send some medical supplies. Of course the task was oh so hard for them, god forbid they get a hangnail from pressing a button.

After the mayor was done commemorating how brave all the tributes are and how great a 'game' where twenty-four kids go and kill each other is, the Capitol escort stepped up to the podium.

"Hi D12. Are you guys feeling pumped for the Reapings? Because I sure am!" The newest ditzy escort was met with silent glares from everyone standing in the square. Even the peacekeepers looked like they wanted to shut the stupid escort up.

Undeterred by the lack of response, she practically skipped to the bowls, "Now this year, I'm going to switch things up a little, so males first!" Erikur facepalmed at the delusional woman. Gods, how new was she? All the newbies who got sent to District Twelve thought they were 'spicing things up' by switching up the order. Yeah, you and half the escorts before you.

The escort plunged her hand into the bowl as Erikur looked on impatiently. She really needed to hurry up or people were going to die because there wasn't enough people staffing the clinic. Just pick a name and let everyone get on with their lives.

Yes, he was being callous, wanting someone to break down and then die quicker just so the Reapings could be over quickly, but two were going to die every year anyway. Meanwhile, there were deaths that could be prevented just a ten-minute walk from here, as long as Miss Glitter could stop fumbling around the bowl with inch long fake nails.

"And D12, your male tribute for this year iiisssss..." The escort paused, as if waiting for someone to cheer or something. Yeah right, like that was going to happen in District Twelve. No cheering fanatics here, sorry we're not District One. Move on.

The mayor cleared his throat, snapping the escort out of whatever reverie she was in. She blinked, dazed, before realizing everyone was waiting for her to announce the unlucky victim.

"Ah, silly me." She giggled, "Without further ado, your male tribute for this year is Mr. Erikur Isla. Will Mr. Isla please come to the stage?" Out of habit, Erikur turned around, searching the crowd for the unlucky tribute, waiting for the crowd to part around him.

"Mr. Isla, please come to the stage." Mr. Isla? That name sounded really formal. Wasn't that what people called his father? But dad was way too old to be in the Reapings.

Only when the crowd parted around him did he realize the obvious.

Sjitt, he was one of the two tributes being sent into the Games.

His knees buckled as his vision turned fuzzy. Dimly, he could hear the escort asking for him again, then sigh and gesture for peacekeepers to take him.

His brain turned mush finally allowed him to process a thought. He needed to look strong, or else no one in the Capitol would support him. Nobody supported the weak outers.

Steeling himself, he willed his legs to solidify, then slipped an apathetic mask over his face and marched onstage. Even if he acted tough, nobody usually went for the weaker outers, but if he could also get a good training score-

"I volunteer!"

No.

Nora Isla, 18, D12

Ignoring the mayor's speech, Nora peered around the heads of the other eighteen-year-old girls, struggling to find her brother in the crowd of fifteen-year-old. She needed to make sure her little brother was alright in a crowd, he'd never been a fan of them when he was little and that was not going to change anytime soon. Why couldn't they somehow get him a license to not go to the event or something?

Spotting Erikur's distinctive mop of silver hair, Nora relaxed, smirking at the narrow space separating him from the other teens. Seems like her lillebror figured out how to clear room for himself, lucky for him. Nora usually could do so as well, but the eighteen-year-old section was just too crowded now, with the whole peacekeepers cracking down on attendance thing.

"Hi D12. Are you guys feeling pumped for the Reapings? Because I sure am!" Nora ignored the escort, instead choosing to focus on the male Reaping bowl, attempting to stop herself from worrying this much. Erikur only had four slips in there since he didn't need to take any tesserae, while some had sixty something slips in there. The chances of him getting picked was infinitesimal, one in a few bazillion.

So why was she so nervous?

"And D12, your male tribute for this year iiisssss..." Nora tensed, waiting, praying the name didn't belong to her little brother. Yes, it was nigh impossible, but it was always better to make sure...

The silence dragged on, and on, and on. Nora had to physically restrain herself from dashing onstage and demanding an answer, she was just that nervous. Finally, the mayor cleared his throat, shaking the escort out of whatever thoughts she was having.

"Ah, silly me." Nora held her breath as the escort glanced down at the slip in her hands, pleasedon'tletitbehimpleasedon'tletitbehimplease- "Without further ado, your male tribute for this year is Mr. Erikur Isla. Will Mr. Isla please come to the stage?"

No. This the fuck wasn't happening. Her little brother, just four slips, no tesserae at all, ever. Just four slips in thousands. She felt paralyzed, her brain spinning in circles. This couldn't be happening, right? She was only imagining this and Erikur's going to facepalm at her concern and deadpan something snarky at her after the Reapings, then get mad at her for being embarrassing.

The sight of her little brother grimly walking up the aisle, doing his best to stop his legs from trembling crushed that hope. Even now, Erikur was still trying to put on a brave face, but Nora could see the flashes of panic in his eyes. She couldn't let him die in the games, she just couldn't let that happen, ever. He wasn't going to die in the games...

"I volunteer!" Her normally calm façade split apart as she dashed towards the stage. Her brain began screaming at her for her rash actions, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to let anything happen to the little kid she'd watch grow up little by little.

Arching an eyebrow, the escort snapped, "Why young lady, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but please kindly wait your turn."

"I just volunteered, so get it over with." Nora couldn't believe the escort. She just needed to help her little brother through the Games, and no Capitolite was going to stand in her way.

"Young lady. There's a proper set of rules-" Rules? Rules?! Was this all just a simple game to the Capitolite? Nora felt her fury build up, normally she was always calm and collected, but this was crossing a line.

"Just let her be." The mayor interjected, looking weary, "What harm can it do? You still get two kids to kill."

The escort huffed, but relented, "What's your name, young lady?"

"Nora Isla." After the emotional shock, her usual monotone returned as she faced the shocked crowd. The escort smiled at this for some reason.

"Couldn't let your sibling have all the fun, now can we?" The escort told them to shake hands, before ushering them away from the crowd towards the waiting rooms. Just before they were separated, Erikur aimed a 'what the actual fuck' look at her.

Nora did her best to give him a 'this will all be okay, I promise' look before the two were pulled into the lavishly decorated rooms.

Hope this is okay and no one is OOC :)