Reaping Recaps
-Cuprian Pearson, 17, District 1-
Cupey and Dazzle leaned forward towards the television with a great anticipation on their faces as the reaping recap started. Caesar Flickerman was debuting his hair color of choice for the very special year – forest green, which really accentuated the narrow features of his face – and next to him looking as fine as ever was Claudius Templesmith. Cupey liked the younger fresher faces – sure, he was as big a fan of ol' Conrad and Yin as anyone, but it was time to let the new talent shine through! He felt nothing but overwhelming excitement as he leaned forward. It was a whole new year, a whole new set of data to collect – but this year he was going to be part of it.
The only thing he regretted was that he wouldn't be able to see everything as it was happening. But he was going to watch closely so he could keep up with the spreadsheet for years to come – it would help his future tributes have the best shot at winning like himself! He was the perfect candidate and there was no doubt he was going to come out alive.
"You can learn a lot about tributes just by their first impression," said Platinum as he leaned back a little bit in his seat.
"Some tributes make a great first impression," Angelique said, going over to squeeze Dazzle's cheek a little bit. "Like you!"
"We really did, didn't we Cupey?" Dazzle grinned over at him. "You were so calm and collected up there!"
"Yeah, we made a great impression," Cupey said. "I could hear you loud and clear all the way from my section."
"Yes, you both did great! My cousin is going to love you," Angelique said with a proud smile at her tributes. Blood red nails tapped on the table as she sat back, totally relaxed. "I'm more excited to see my colleagues than to see the tributes."
"No, I wanna see them all!" Cupey said right away. Who would it be? He was so excited to meet everyone! He hoped that there were some interesting characters in the bunch that would make the Games really memorable for him.
"But I want to hear about what it's like being an escort – and cousin to the Head Gamemaker!" Dazzle said, really making an effort to get to know the escort as they all sat back.
"And what it's like to be a Victor that found true love! I wanna find true love too. Is Sadie single?" asked Cupey with a wink, really trying to make it convincing. Before Whimsy could even speak, he put up a finger to add, "The majority of Victors are straight, but single. Like me!" He fit the mold of the previous Victors as well as he could – short of having a penis of course. Down to the name. He was ready for this. He was by far the most statistically likely to win based on… Pretty much everything! The only thing he really needed was to move to District Two, but he wasn't a miracle worker. No matter! He was going to be the Victor, he had already assured himself of the role in so many other ways that it didn't matter where he was from.
Whimsy provided a laugh and a smile for him. "She is, but I'm pretty sure she's a lesbian."
Cupey gasped at this. "What?!" he asked as he quickly went into his goody bag and pulled out his print-out of his spreadsheet. "Who said? They never said that! That's going to skew my data!"
"Cupey! It's us!" Dazzle reached over to elbow him and Cupey felt a bit of rage course through him at being disturbed by her before he looked up and saw them on screen, quickly dropping his pencil to watch.
Of course, Caesar and Claudius had to talk about Angelique, the decade-long veteran escort who was going to retire and decided not to when her cousin Cas accepted the Head Gamemaker position. She was looking beautiful as ever with her pink hair and lipstick, she had barely aged from when Cupey was a young kid watching her with wide eyes up there on that stage.
Cupey watched Dazzle volunteer and she looked like the typical District One beauty – well, not exactly typical. But Cupey couldn't see the difference between her and other girls because she was beautiful. Her glasses were fun. She stood out a little bit from them. But he couldn't ask for a more perfect District partner. She was just unique enough to be memorable, but also she was going to be one of those types to serve her purpose and then go away. Whimsy was an anomaly in terms of the District One female, she showed true grit and Cupey had nothing but respect for her.
But also… Platinum was the first fucking Victor! He was elated to be mentored by him!
Cupey was so spaced out watching Dazzle that he missed himself – but he just caught the end and knew that his family was so proud of him – he was living their game in real life! And his friends were probably proud. And his enemies, wishing they were him. Exactly as he wanted.
But he had to get with it, and he hurriedly turned to a blank piece of grid paper where he was going to keep his spreadsheet in real-time – just like he would every year! He had to glean everything he could if he wanted to stay on top – which of course he did.
District Two just looked plain gloomy. Cupey had stood in the rain for a reaping a few times – one when he was ten for the forty-fourth reaping and once again when he was fifteen for the forty-ninth. He couldn't imagine volunteering in it, though. What a shame that their reaping day had to be ruined. That just made him wonder what the weather statistics were like for reaping days there.
"Are you watching Cupey?" the voice of Platinum stunned him out of his thoughts – wow, it was really him! But he sounded a little stern which made Cupey sit up out of instinct to watch the girl volunteer from the eighteen section. She looked totally confident, and yet she had an angry look deep in her eyes.
"Oo, a brute," Cupey said, scribbling down her name and age as well as her angle on his spreadsheet. It was hard to estimate height based on just a reaping so he would wait for that until they released the official stats.
"That's good, because I don't think either of us could fill that position," Dazzle said with a chuckle.
"I checked once – the brute typically averages out at about 4th place. Very few of them have won," Cupey said matter-of-factly.
"Okay, got it," Dazzle said with a salute.
"That's true, but anything could happen in the Games. That's what Gio likes to say, anyways," Whimsy said softly.
"But some things are more likely than others," Cupey said, going back to the screen as Caesar and Cladius were exclaiming about something. Sure enough there were two boys on the screen fighting in the mud.
"How did we get here? Platinum asked under his breath, and Cupey looked over and when he looked back, the skinny one had taken his place on the stage.
"Woah! He totally outsmarted that guy!" Dazzle said right away. "Wow."
Cupey looked at him and his lip immediately curled down into a snarl. That wasn't right. District Two sent the brute. And… The wildcards from there did statistically much better than the brutes! Smarts were dangerous. Look at Nate McIalwain. Nick Kensy. Talon Davenport. Jack Cherenkov. District Two male was the most statistically likely spot to win and the wildcard was more likely than the brute. Cupey could feel his lip curling a little bit as he was full of jealousy and rage.
"Cupey?" Dazzle asked, looking over at him for a moment.
"He's gotta be eliminated. End of story." He looked at him. Brown hair, steely eyes, bloody nose, grin ear-to-ear.
"All of them are going to be eliminated at some point," Whimsy said with a small sigh. "Don't make enemies too quickly." She was still convinced that the only reason she was here today was because she was able to make strong relationships with each of her allies.
"Don't worry Cupey," Dazzle said, and when he looked at her, she was smiling at him. "That guy's got nothing on us."
"You'll find a way to work together, I'm sure," Platinum said, but his brows were creased a little bit witnessing this as the screen switched to District Three. It looked like it had rained there recently but since dried off – a good thing since there was no cover for the reaping pool or their families. Cupey was more reserved as his eyes narrowed at the screen.
Malcolm O'Brien was wearing his signature dress-armor, the silver of his arm piece glinting off of the lights as he rubbed his bald head and then stroked his red beard before going to announce the tributes.
Cupey watched the girl come out of the 18 section. Every year had to have a crier, and this girl was it. She had chin-length hair that was just slightly auburn in color and it was hard to tell the color of her eyes from where they were. She walked slowly, and Cupey could see the tension in her body as she tried to hold it together, but slowly the tension was released and she was breaking as she made it up the stairs.
He wrote in his spreadsheet a little bit, but not very much. He couldn't really spell her last name – it was something ridiculously long and complicated that ended with ski, that would have to do for now. By the time she joined Malcolm, the tears were pouring down her cheeks and she put up her arm to wipe her eyes, but they just kept coming. It was a silent crowd.
Cupey took a deep breath, his heart not pounding so much now as he watched the next reaping. Another one with a last name that was hard to spell.
Mickey Galillei looked a little grumpy as he stepped out from the eighteens section. He had a mop of ginger hair and tweaked his glasses – nerves? – as he came to the stage. It was clear that his eyes were blue from where they were sitting – good.
"Wow, I didn't know District Three could make 'em that built," said Dazzle. "Unless!"
"Every once in a while," Whimsy said, before frowning even more and looking at the ground. "Winchester from my Games was built like a rock."
"But you got 'im!" Cupey said, turning around to smile at her. He would never forget that!
"Oh yeah! I think I remember," Dazzle said. "I was more focused on some of the others. I mean, for Torque to make it all the way to third and just commit suicide like that? Makes no sense, something else must be in play. And then there's Ezie, there's just… Something off about-"
"Don't." Whimsy was very rarely stern and hearing her say something like that made both Dazzle and Cupey quiet immediately.
"Sorry," Dazzle said, knowing she upset her and frowning right away.
"Soft spot," Cupey said under his breath. He probably would have chosen to not talk about one of her Games friends like that, but he couldn't blame Dazzle. He just leaned over to her and whispered, "Show me later."
"District Four!" Angelique said, and it was clear she was really trying to keep them focused, but not very well.
"Ah, it's not that sunny there either," Dazzle said. But it wasn't raining there yet.
"Holy humidity," Angelique said with a small laugh, but nobody else laughed. "Oh, you don't get it."
Another year of Rian Evangelos with bright eyes and a big stage presence. Her blue hair fit right in with her two colors of choice for her outfit – loud neon green and dull turquoise. She was wearing neon pants and a graphic T with a turquoise blazer over it – of course, with a white fedora to match.
She smoothed her hair a little bit – must have been that humidity thing – and went over to the bowl. She drew the name and smiled at the crowd. "I'm looking for Anti – gone Rodriguez today?"
It was a long, drawn-out moment. The girl soon appeared in the crowd, staring straight ahead, her eyes wide. She was dressed so cute, a little chubby, tan skin and black hair and oh her eyes were green. She blinked very slowly as she started up the stairs. A silent District was full of the sound of her wedges going up those steps, picked up slightly by all the microphones around as she finally stopped, and Rian had to gesture her forward.
"Oh my God." Platinum had his hand over his mouth.
"A little more. Don't forget to smile," Rian said quietly, but it was picked up on the microphones. "Alright, let's get a volunteer up here for Anti – gone."
"Antigone," said the girl, totally monotone as they were once again met with a silent District.
"Alright, we have our tribute everyone," Rian said, and then went over to the boy's side.
Cupey had to write fast – he was expecting a volunteer as the female spot was more likely to have a volunteer than the males – and he missed the boy that was reaped in his haste. Thankfully, that didn't matter as a voice rang out and a boy appeared from the eighteens. He was tall and toned and had a great smile.
"Aha, the charmer," Cupey said, not as threatened by this as he went up the stairs and went right to the girl that was reaped, putting his hands on her shoulders and talking to her softly. "Oh."
"Oh he seems kind," Dazzle said as they watched him talk to the petrified girl.
"Uh huh," said Cupey, but he didn't buy it based on how confident he was getting up there. Damian Beaufort received plenty of applause from the District and Rian clapped with them, smiling proudly as the tributes shook hands.
"Looks can be deceiving out of that District," Whimsy said, making a bit of a stink face.
"Oh yeah, Brandon," said Cupey. "Or was it Brendon? Wanted to get his District partner to betray you all and couldn't get her to."
"Oh right!" said Dazzle. "That's right! E-" she was going to speak but she just leaned over to whisper to Cupey. "Ezie woke up at too perfect of a time," she said in his ear.
"We'll watch it later," Cupey whispered back to her.
"You okay?" Cupey looked up at Whimsy's voice but she wasn't talking to him. She was talking to Platinum who was just watching the TV with a glassy look in his eye.
"Oh boy, it's District Five," said Angelique, but nobody was buying it. Things were not okay.
The girl was reaped first. Kamaria Silvera walked out of the fifteens section and as the cameras zoomed in on her, they all saw the sobbing young girl that was clinging to her. She stepped through the crowd slowly, all eyes on her as her eyes betrayed her panic a little bit. She got to the stage and was greeted by her escort who was barely able to hide his displeasure, especially when Cupey saw the tears in the corners of her eyes.
Kermit Fisher was reaped next, out of the sixteens section. He had brown skin, neat dark hair, and deep brown eyes. Cupey leaned forward right away at this, narrowing his eyes to see as one of his brown contacts moved a little bit from him not blinking and he quickly blinked it back in place. He could try, but he wasn't going to be the Victor. He was in a state of shock and just kept blinking slowly as he silently joined Kamaria and Flavio on stage, one hand on his stomach. Pathetic showing from District Five. It was rare to see a tribute throw up on stage, and Cupey was kinda hoping for it, but then the camera switched to District Six. Bummer.
Fauna Cunningham had her red hair done in braids, pulled back to show off her cosmetically-altered pointy ears and her soft pastel make-up. She was wearing a green nature-inspired dress and always had a smile for the District, even as wind and a spattering of rain were blowing her skirt around.
The girl was reaped first. Bailey Page was sixteen and had dirt all over her face, wearing dress clothes that were ripped and ruined to hell and back. But she still had a smirk on her face as she walked out of her section and went up to the stage.
"Watch," said Whimsy.
"Hm," said Dazzle, squinting at her. She had asymmetrical hair, with one side reaching her chin – also could be because it was so damn messy. Thankfully her eyes were a dark blue, not brown. Cupey had brown eyes. Cupey was going to win this. Besides, Six just had a Victor, they weren't due for another for a long while.
"I'm ready to be District Six's next Victor," Bailey said, which just made Cupey laugh.
The male was reaped next. Jamir Marshall was a year older than Bailey and took forever to get out of his section. When the cameras found him, he was talking to another boy quietly and then when he heard the sound of Peacekeepers, he quickly abandoned him and went to the stage with a far-off look in his eye.
"Good family motivation," said Dazzle.
"Who doesn't have that?" asked Cupey right away. "Boring." He yawned a little bit. He would take his notes and do his due-diligence, but it didn't at all matter to them. They weren't the ones that were going to come out of these Games. They were part of the Games, but Cupey was the Games and they were him. He had the name, the looks, the weapon, the tenacity…
Only one came out.
And it was going to be Cuprian Pearson.
~.~.
-Pepper French, 15, District 8-
The District Eight team was silent as the District Six reaping disappeared and District Seven appeared on the screen.
Pepper French sat there, twisting one of her tight curls around a finger as she was taking all of this in. Every once in a while, her District partner would have something to say about one of the tributes, but she was barely listening.
So far, there had been a lot of excitement in the reapings. The volunteers from One, the big fight that broke out in District Two which was a spectacular showing from Consus – Pepper remembered his name because of it. Damian, the one that was talking softly and being kind to his District partner. Then there was the sobbing child holding onto Kamaria in District Five, and the proclamation of Victory from Bailey in District Six.
Pepper was a writer, and that helped her to easily remember names. It was already turning out to be an interesting group of tributes.
"Watching all these kids get sent to their deaths gets pretty old, don't you think?" Nico asked. Ritter just clapped and pointed to him in response.
"It's important to watch the recaps," Osiris told him, rubbing the tattoo of the submerged crocodile that lived on his forearm.
"Yes sir," said Pepper.
"Oh don't make me sick," Nico said right away, turning back to the TV and leaning forward towards the screen, his dark eyes full of anger at their escort for speaking.
Pepper watched the District Seven reaping as Sabine Marcellus was reaped. There was a moment of silence in the crowd before the girl emerged from the 16s section with dark hair, freckles, thick glasses and…. A cherry wood cane.
"Oh…" said Osiris as Caesar and Claudius were quick to talk about the cane – partially because it was unusual and mostly because Pepper could see her mouth the words, "fuck me" on the screen and they needed the censor.
Pepper watched her move with as much purpose as she could, her right arm flexed tightly as she was moving with her cane and approached the steps. Sidonia Zandari was standing on the stage and looking at her as she slowly struggled her way up the stairs, looking a little bit like she was debating going to help her.
"Someone should help her," Osiris said.
"People with disabilities don't want help sometimes," Nico spat right back, as if waiting for him to say something. Pepper had no horse in this race so she just turned back towards the screen and watched the frustration of the struggle cross Sabine's face as her glasses misted up with tears that formed in her eyes and slid down her cheeks.
"Now now children," Bronx said with a small sigh as he was quietly watching this happen. "They're reaping the boy next."
Pepper never thought that Bronx Stringer would be the peace bringer, but also, she never expected to be reaped like she was. She was quiet as she thought about her parents back home and tears formed in her eyes that she swallowed down.
Sidonia squinted at the paper when she drew it, confusion pushing together her eyebrows before she finally announced the name. "Bucket Tanzer."
There was surprisingly no comment from the others, but that did lead Pepper to wonder who would give a kid a name like that. But… This boy was nothing like she was expecting. He came out of the sixteen section and if not for the poorly-drawn-on facial hair with an eyeliner pen of some sort, he would have been confused for a girl that had wandered to the wrong section. Long brown hair, tan skin, a fairly strong build but that was normal for District Seven. He was pretty lucky that the girl that was drawn next to him was so frail or else he would have looked pathetic up there.
But even pathetic was memorable.
His approach was slow and his arms were tense as he got up the stairs. There was a silent District that greeted him and he refused to look at his District partner when they shook hands.
Oh, how Caesar and Claudius talked about them when the reaping disappeared from the screen. So many questions they had about the two of them. Sabine, why did she use a cane? Bucket, what was his story? Was he possibly transgender? (Yeah, that one was pretty obvious.) What was the name deal? What an interesting pair, they said. Bucket and Sabine, Bucket and Sabine, Bucket and Sabine.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the reaping switched to their own District. It was so gloomy there and Pepper had to take a deep breath, not sure what they were going to say about her or how they were all going to feel about her. She just had to wait and find out.
Pepper was reaped first by Osiris. She watched her name be called, and watched herself step out of the fifteens section with as straight a face as she could muster. She was proud of herself for how she was able to keep it together so well – she really looked put-together on the TV and she knew how close she was to breaking. She kept that brave face as she went on the stage and she felt warm with pride.
She didn't believe her family when they said she looked strong. But being on the other side of it… She really did look strong up there.
She watched as Osiris went over to reap Nico Rinaldi, the sixteen-year-old that was sitting next to her. There was a small gasp from Caesar and Claudius- as there was from the District – when Nico finally appeared. Nico's face was hard and angry as he went up the stairs, staring down Osiris like he was the devil on the way. Even now, the boy was looking at him the same way.
Pepper watched the screen switch back to the Capitol announcers, leaning forward anxiously to hear what they had to say about the two of them.
"Well, we have a lot of questions about Nico," said Caesar. "It certainly looks like he isn't going to let his condition stop him though!"
"We certainly have a great competitor in Nico."
"Rinaldi… That name rings a bell, doesn't it? That disgraced mayor from a few years ago?"
"Oh, I think you're right!"
Nico had his face in his hands as his breathing had picked up a little bit, and then….
District Nine.
Pepper hadn't been mentioned at all.
She frowned as she watched the reaping. She wasn't good enough to be noticed, just because she wasn't a little person!? She wasn't sure how to feel about it but she couldn't change it so she just swallowed everything back down and watched the reaping.
Oz Tolvaj was a fairly new escort and he was dressed in a sparkly white suit with tassels, red hair feathered in his face that was all covered up by a big red mask that was bejeweled and feathery. He was brand new and made a big spectacle of the reaping in Nine, flourishing his hand as he picked the name of the girl. Doe Howard came out of the thirteen section crying as she slowly came up to join him on the stage, face in her hands. She was young, she was cute, she was crying…
Then, Carlisle Gray was reaped beside her. The boy came out of the section for 14 year olds – also younger than Pepper. He had sun-bleached hair, that was supposed to be dark brown but was blonde on the top. He was quiet but it was clear that his wheels were turning. But of course… He only had one arm.
Caesar and Claudius were quick to point this out and start talking about it.
"Does he need help too?" Nico asked, before he could stop himself.
"Nico, please," said Osiris right away, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to help-"
"You're just trying to get in a certain someone's pants."
Pepper looked at Bronx for a moment with her eyes wide, but he just blinked and shrugged.
"What do you even mean?" Bronx asked and just chuckled. "Yeah."
"That's enough," said Osiris and just stared at the screen again.
Carlisle. Nico. Sabine and Bucket. Bailey. Damian. Consus. All of these tributes that people were going to remember. Was she even one of them?
Pepper watched as the screen switched from Nine to Ten, just waiting for this to be over.
Inspektor Keegan was back in the District for another year – he had been escorting for six years now according to the announcers, but for some reason he never had a great desire to leave Ten despite his name not matching the District at all. He pushed a hand through his green hair before pulling his shirt sleeve up more to show off the star tattoo on it and going towards the girl's side. He squinted at the paper as he went back to the microphone, but he eventually did his job to read it out loud, which made everyone start.
"Thirty-three."
"What?" asked Nico, and Pepper looked at the others, hoping one of them had an answer, but they looked equally confused and gob smacked. There was a long silence – a silent District, besides probably murmurs of confusion – until there was one audible wail from a male somewhere in the crowd. Inspektor was just leaning over to ask a producer if he should pick another name when a Peacekeeper finally emerged with… Oh, that was a girl.
It was hard to recognize her as a person at first because of how she moved. She couldn't even walk straight, toddling and depending on the Peacekeeper that was escorting her. Usually they appeared pretty violent when they were escorting tributes to the stage, but this one was pretty gentle.
The girl vocalized a little bit, squinting under the lights and putting up her hands to cover her face. Inspektor just blinked a couple of times and the Peacekeeper gestured for him to continue to the male side. He still just stood there, holding her hand, keeping her in place, as she was vocalizing across the silent District and holding her arm over both of her eyes. It was… Bizarre.
Nobody even spoke as Inspektor went to quickly pick the boy's name and announce it into the microphone. "August Proctor."
There was another silence as the cameras were quickly trying to find him and then there was…. Something very unusual.
Applause.
A group of boys in the sixteen section were hooting and hollering and clapping their hands, cheering for him as he finally was pushed out of the crowd by one of the ones that cheered the loudest of all. "Alright Gus!"
The boy had curly blonde hair and a shocked look on his face as he slowly walked to the stage, blinking his eyes and squinting under the lights as well. They didn't even have the tributes shake hands – the girl wouldn't have been able to do that, at that point it was clear. They just pushed the two of them into the building.
Pepper just blinked in shock at this and looked to the mentors for any guidance, but they were all three quiet and just staring at the screen in shock as Caesar and Claudius actually provided the story on this one – it must have been big news in Ten that hadn't yet reached Eight. It was a giant trafficking ring bust that happened in the District a few months ago and this was just one of a whole group of feral children that had been saved from the group. Not even given a new name or a new life. No chance at really fitting into society. But they didn't say that part out loud.
Finally, after the talk had stopped, someone spoke.
"Well that's just bitched up."
"I…" Osiris had a finger up to correct Bronx's swears, but he knew it was pointless and just deflated. "Yeah."
It was fucked up that it happened to that girl… And not the rest of them? Pepper had the question on her tongue but she bit it back.
District Eleven came up on the screen and Pepper checked the time, ready to just go lay in bed and try to forget about all of this. She just sighed, her brain going a million miles an hour until she jumped a little bit hearing her name on the screen.
No, it wasn't her name… Well, it was, but…
She watched the Eleven girl, Pepper Carson, stomp her way up on the stage, uttering curses that Caesar and Claudius talked over. What were the odds? She heard Caesar and Claudius say Pepper this, and Pepper that, but they were talking about her. Finally, someone mentioned the elephant in the room – there was already a Pepper in these Games – but they barely spent a moment on it before it was time for the boy.
"Tough break," said Nico, and that made Pepper frown even more.
She watched Luca Lewis pulled up the black mask over his eyes and the green bandana over his mouth that muffled his speech just a little bit. He was a weird kind of personality, that was for sure. Even through all the face coverings, she could see the dark moustache he had and of course nothing could hide how awkward the man was.
He went over to the bowl and reaped one Kunal Lindberg. The person came from the seventeen section, looking intimidating with their build and tall height. The announcers of course took a second to stop and talk about them looking so intimidating and like Eleven might actually have a chance this year between the two of their tributes.
Nobody said that about her.
District Twelve came last and Pepper couldn't be more relieved to see the dirty, gloomy place come across their TV screens. Cloelius Horatio Demetriou Jr. was the name of the escort, and it was clear he was brand new. He was young – had to still be a teen of some sort with his backwards white hat and bright neon yellow hair – and he barely understood timing, barely giving the people a greeting and going to draw the girl's name.
Kennedy Parks was the girl and of course Caesar and Claudius were quick to mention that she was the lone 12-year-old of the group. Her reaction was dramatic, one of pure terror as she was crying and gasping as she was gestured along to the stage. There were so many aaaws in the room, and Pepper's frown just deepened watching that.
One more.
The last tribute was Farley Hayes. He was a boy that wasn't impressive looking – but what was impressive was the large scream of horror he let out. It had been a while since District Twelve had an impressive scream like that. The scream was soon joined by a chorus of voices crying and screaming – many of them children from the crowd. Obviously, he was very loved and of course there was a comment about it as he walked up to the stage, crying. It was pathetic watching the two small children from Twelve shake hands, as both of them were sobbing and crying their eyes out.
Caesar and Claudius then came on to finish out the program, but Pepper didn't want to pay attention. It was clear that they weren't going to mention her.
The fighter from Two.
The kind-hearted boy from Four.
The winner from Six.
The disabled girl and the weird trans boy from Seven.
The little person from Eight.
The armless kid from Nine.
The feral child from Ten.
The fiery one that shared her name from Eleven.
The sympathy picks from Twelve.
She remembered them all. She remembered their names. She knew that it was going to be a year of interesting characters for everyone to cheer for. So that just left one question for her.
How was she going to be remembered?
~.~.
A/N: Longer than I thought, I forgot how exhausting it is to do something 24x over.
Here's the tribute group! Any reaping surprises? Who stood out?
See ya for chariots with Kunal, Gus, and Astra.
