A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus, I had a busy summer! Thank you to Az.13, Nickstar777, and Musica1Booklover for these tributes!
Phobos Poppespeler–District 2 male
Phobos tried to ignore Bellomo's gaze as the other boy was surely boring a hole through him with his eyes. It wasn't his fault Bellomo had broken his leg on the obstacle course, he'd just happened to be running the relay at the same time as him. Phobos hadn't even wanted to do the relay during training. Endurance and fighting were all too physical activities for him. He preferred to use his intelligence as a weapon. Unfortunately, the Academy didn't have much technology training to offer the Careers. I was born in the wrong district, Phobos thought. I belong in a place like 3 or 5.
His father, Ares, had often expressed his disappointment that his son didn't try harder in the Academy. It wasn't that Phobos didn't try, he just preferred to sharpen his mental skills over perfecting his physical combat skills. Of course, no Career could hope to get by on their wits alone, so Phobos had trained with throwing knives and a stiletto, just to get his father off his back. He was competent with each, so it wasn't like he was the lowest scoring student at the Academy.
And now his name was being called at the reaping. Phobos shot Bellomo a dirty look before walking up to the stage with a faked expression of calm. If it weren't for Bellomo breaking his leg, Phobos wouldn't be going into the Games. He knew that at least his father would be satisfied.
Baubelle Wildshire–District 8 female
Tulsee Wildshire had once looked forward to being a mother. She had told her husband as soon as she learned she was pregnant, and in response he left her. Tulsee was now alone, and would soon have a child to raise by herself. The emotional stress of being a single mother, combined with a difficult birth in which she almost died, turned her into a woman unrecognizable from her former self. She abused her daughter physically and emotionally, tormenting the life she had given birth to.
Baubelle had beautiful blue eyes in her shapely face, her long black hair hanging down like a curtain from her head. But no one had ever seen her face. She kept it hidden by a mask she had sewn herself. The pure white material lent an air of mystery to the sixteen-year-old girl, which her taciturn nature only added to. She was beautiful, if she would only let herself believe it. Every single day, her mother would tell her how ugly she was. Baubelle listened to her, and wouldn't allow anybody else to speak the truth to her. After all, who knew more about her than the woman who had given birth to her?
Everyone thought Baubelle's mask was weird, but they knew better than to try to take it off. The last time someone had tried that, it had ended with Baubelle on the floor in the throes of a panic attack. They just accepted the mask as an eccentricity, and nothing more was said about it.
Despite being somewhat of a pariah, Baubelle had the voice of a lark. She sang to herself on the way to and from school, while she sewed in the evenings, and any other time she was alone. She knew she was destined to live a solitary life, and she told herself she didn't mind. She didn't need anybody. It would be nice to meet a boy and fall in love, but daydreaming was pointless. No one could ever love her; she was too ugly. She could give them the chance, but they wouldn't want it. She would continue to hide behind her mask of shame and sing her secret songs.
Nidra Sacredcut–District 5 female
18 slips. That was more tesserae than years of her life. Unfair was the only word Nidra could formulate. It was unfair that her older brother Pylon had died, leaving her as the only Sacredcut child old enough to take out tesserae. His death never should have happened. He and Nidra weren't even supposed to be climbing that close to the ravine. But, being the daredevil children that they were, they wanted to feel the thrill of adrenaline more than the safety of solid ground beneath their feet. One slip, and Pylon went plummeting over fifty feet down.
Now Nidra was the oldest, with a little sister and brother to look after and take out tesserae for. It had been five months, and she still missed teasing back and forth with her big brother. She missed racing him down the length of the stone wall that divided the main street from the factory road. She missed climbing trees with him. Most of all, she missed having someone to confide in about her fears about the reaping.
Thyme Hazel–District 7 female
Thyme had a soft spot for children. She was the youngest child in her family, but despite not having any younger siblings to dote on, she'd found a way to give little kids some love. She'd started babysitting Rowan and Cassia Wistereon, whose parents worked for Dendri, District 7's largest logging company. They were good kids for the most part, and Thyme almost felt like they were her second family.
She and her real siblings struggled to get enough to eat every day. Thyme would go into the woods to forage for food, but it was never enough. She dreamed of a better life, one where she had a family of her own, half a dozen kids, and plenty of food for them all.