374th Annual Hunger Games

Bien entonces. I'm also making the 373rd Hunger Games right now, but I'd like to start getting tributes for these. 

These games will probaably be better than the other games that I have going on right now, because I have these planned out better.

Introduction

Okay, so these are a normal games, no Capitol or District thirteen. Enter your tributes please, I have some good things in store for them ;)

FYI, Katniss never volunteered for Prim and Prim and Peeta died. No rebellion happened, and the districts are still under control of the Capitol. Snow is still president, he got some injection thing to live forever. Okay?

Reapings and training and stuff.

I'm only doing the games and training scores, because reapings take so effing long.  For reapings and training,look at the list below to see what your tribute(s) is doing their first POV on:

District 1- Waking up and getting ready for reaping

2 - Arriving at the reaping and escort talking

3- Name calling heading to justice building

4- Saying good bye to family

5- Train ride

6 -Meeting stylist and chariot rides

7- Waking up and heading to training the next day/ very beginning of training

8 -Day one training

9- Day two training

10- Private sessions

11- Getting training scores/ preparing for interviews

12- Interview

And that should cover everything, without me getting bored with doing a bunch of reapings. I will probably do a POV for every tribute before the games begin. During the Games I will be doing different POV's like Capitol citizens and the families as well as the tributes.

Reglas

1. Post advice often if your tribute is in these games. Or else they will die.

2. Anybody can sponser anybody.

3. Don't get mad when your tribute dies, bien?

• I don't care if you spam on my games. I know how it feels to want all your tributes.

• I promise that I will try make every tributes death as horrible and gruesome as possible.

• There will be mild swearing in these games, so excuse me, if you're that much of a Christian. 

Tributes

Name	Age/ Weapon	User	Name	Age/Weapon	User
1.Emerald Feara	15/ axe, bow	Unicandy	Lynx Striker	16/ steel claws	Hybrid Shadow
2. Janice Belle	14/sword	EHKnight	Swow Corell	17/mace, throwing knives	HungerGamesFanatic21
3.Maizie Clockwork	14/ traps, wire	o.b.u.s.m.d.	Wolf Soldier	15/sword, hand-to-hand	District1 obsessed
4. Iapapa Sandra	18/ net, trident	o.b.u.s.m.d.	Rive Oceani	18/ Trident, spear	WiressFan21
5. Cassia Slyarkia	18/ Tomahawk,knives	Unicandy	Trann Rail	16/ spear,throwing axes	HungerGamesFanatic21
6. Winter Pine	14/ bow and arrows	FrostSnake	Tiberious Spade	17/ spear, mace	O.B.U.S.M.D
7. Kira Stryke	17/katana, axe	District1 obsessed	Treev Oakwood	15/ Axe, Throwing Axes	HungeGamesFanatic21
8. Adelaide D'eye	18/axe,bow	EHKnight	Arachnos Chrysenthipede	16/sword, mace	HICL
9.Cassandra Kostas	16/kunai, daggers	annarki	Venn Grain	14/ axe, throwing axe	WiressFan21
10. Zhenya Zane	14/knives, axe	Andy	Derek Gown	18/axe, whip	Hybrid Shadow
11.Bangla Kahmalah	12/slingshot, teeth	District10male	Sese Plantr	14/ Throwing Knives, bow and arrows	WiressFan21
12. Jamie Cloudsong	15/ throwing knives, machete	FrostSnake	Maxwell Cauldrin	15/mace, knives	HICL

Tribute Gallery

Emmy Feara- District 1

Lynx Striker- District 1

Janice Belle- District 2

Swow Corell- District 2

Maizie Clockwork- District 3

Wolf Soldier- District 3

Sponsering:

Anybody can sponser anybody. Even if you don't have a tribute in my games. But, each tribute can only recieve 4 items. Prices don't matter. If you want to send a tribute something, please leave a comment below saying what you would like to send, why you want to send it, and which tribute you're sending it to. Make the items reasonable or I won't give the tribute the item. For example, you can't give your tribute a nuclear bomb or something. Or something stupid, like a hairbrush.

You can send your tribute enough food to last three days and enough water to last two. Throwing knives come in packs of twelve and sheaths of arrows come with eight arrows. You can send medicine but only to heal 1 wound at a time. No 'instant reliefs' or whatever that heal everything at once. I will decide on other things if needed when you leave the comment.

Arena

Will be revealed when I start the games. But give thanks in advance to the 3rd grader that lives down the street from me, for coming up with enough arenas and Quarter Quell ideas to last a lifetime. Good job, Charsi. ;)

Alliances

Alliance Rules:

Here are the alliance rules and other stuff you might want to know:

• Both sides of the alliance must willingly want to ally with one another.
• The person that you would like to ally with must be on the 'Looking for alliance' list(below)
• When you tell me who you want to ally with, leave comment asking the owner of the tribute if they're okay with it. Then the owner replies yes or no.
• Allies last throughout the entire games, I will not break them up. However, if you do want to break an alliance, tell your tribute in your advice( or just leave a seperate comment saying ' Whateverhernameis would like to break her alliance with Whateverhisnameis'. 
• When alliances are broken, only one user has to agree
• Careers(Districts 1,2, and 4) automatically ally, unless their owner says otherwise.
• When forming alliances, don't just be all like, "Ohh. I like her name. She's in my alliance." No. Look through their tribute entries to see what their strengths, weaknesses, etc. are.
• You can have as many people in an alliance as your wish.
• Alliances can be formed and broken throughout the ENTIRE GAMES, starting now.

Looking for alliance:

Maizie Clockwork(3), Trann Rail(5), Winter Pine(6), Kira Stryke(7), Treev Oakwood(7), Adelaide D'eye(8), Arachnos Chrysenthipede(8), Venn Grain(9), Zhenya Zane(10), Derek Gown(10), Bangla Kahmalah(11), Sese Plantr(11), Jamie Cloudsong(12)

Loners:

Cassia Slyarkia(5), Tiberious Spade(6), Cassandra Kostas(9), Maxwell Cauldrin(12)

Alliances:

Careers- Emerald"Emmy" Feara(1), Lynx Striker(1), Janice Belle(2), Swow Corell(2), Wolf Soldier(3), Iapapa Sandra(4), and Rive Oceani(4)

5,7,9,11  alliance-Trann Rail(5) Tree Oakwood(7)Venn Grain(9) Sese Plantr(11)

Pre- Games!

Note: There will be swearing, so don't go all hbgisfnpbdlfs on me, because I warned you -.-

Another note: I am making up backstories, if you didn't post one. 

Tell me if there is something that you want me to know about what your tribute is going to do, how they will behave, ect.

Emerald "Emmy" Feara's POV

I wake up, my back sore from digging in to the rough tree bark on the side of the maple tree that I fell asleep against last night. I lean forward and stretch a little before standing up. Once I'm on my feet, I have just enough time to crack my back, neck, and some of the fingers on my left hand before the owner of the maple tree shoos me away. I run until I'm sure that the woman has stopped chasing me, and end up in front of a large, off- white house with bright red shutters. 

I kneel down behind a shrub that needs some trimming, hidden from anyone that might look at me from the streets. I open my backpack, trying to keep myself from getting scratched in the face by stray twigs hanging off of the large bush. Once I've untied the tight knots on the strings that I use to keep the backpack closed, I start  to pull out some black pants that I outgrew years ago. But then I notice all of the people walking towards the town square, boys wearing khakis and dress shrits, girls skirts and blouses, and realize:

It's reaping day.

Great. Reaping day. Ever since my second reaping, my name has been called. My parents are famous in the Capitol, and they hated me so much that they had arranged to make sure that my name was reaped every year until I made it to the games. Each year, someone has volunteered, but I can't count on that saving my life. I took matters into my own hands and started training. Now, able to wield a weapon, I'm positive that I can win.

But I still dread going into the games.

I shove the black pants back in and rummage through my few possesions until I come up with a lavender dress. Well.. okay, maybe it's actually a nightgown, but what do you expect? I've been living on the streets since I was twelve. My parents didn't think that I was good enough for them, my father being a famous politician in the Capitol and my mother a beautiful Capitol model. I was far from what they had expected me to be: Perfect.

Still concealed by the bush, I take off the shorts that I was wearing and slip the nightgown on over my tank top. I unzip a side pocket and pull out a pair of brown knee- high socks and use them as makeshift leggings. Putting on a pair of dirty, oversized sandals, I see a large man giving me a lustful smile thorugh a window on the big, white house that I just got dressed in front of, and immeadiately run away.

Well, if there's one good thing about that man's day, it was me giving him a strip show.

Feeling extremely awkward, not only because I just mooned a fat man, but also because of my outfit. I look like that girl that every school has that wears mismatched clothes all the time. People are staring at me, and I blush and turn away. I comb my greasy hair with my fingers as I walk towards the town square. The sole on my sandal breaks, and I fall straight into a puddle of a half mud- half dirt mixture. Some how I know that this day can only get worse. And only one thing can make that happen:

My name being reaped and no one volunteering.

Lynx Striker's POV

(For this POV, I'm going to go ahead and do the entire reaping along with waking up and getting ready, because it's going to be a little hard to explain what happened later..)

As I shove the sheets off of my bed I can't help but smile. Today's the day that I volunteer.

I hurry and change into the brand new reaping suit that Hunter bought me. Hunter is my guardian. He, a peacekeeper, found me when all of the lynx that I lived with died off and I wandered into District One and, impressed with my survial skills, adopted me. That was when I was eight. Eight years later, I still live with him.

I walk downstaires and am greeted by Hunter. He has already prepared breakfast: pancakes for him, uncooked sausage meat for me. This is a habit that I took up as a little boy. When I was living with the family of ynx in the woods, all that I ate was raw meat. I actually prefer that over everything else. I drink a glass of cold water before gulping down my meal.

I finish my breakfast faster than Hunter, and I watch him closely as he eats. I may never see him again after today. I think back to when he found me, alone on the streets eight years ago. I was naked and hungry with open cuts and old scars all over my body. The family of lynx that I had lived in the woods with my entire life had died, and I couldn't take care of myself without them. Hunter took me in, taught me how to speak, read, write, and, eventually,  introduced me to the Hunger Games training facility. 

The second that I had learned about the Games, I knew that I had to be apart of them. I've spent my life here in District One training, my weapon being steel claws. Which are basically just a very deady extension to my real nails. I'm one of the best in my class. The other boys have learned that they shouldn't mess with me. Though they should've learned it quicker. It would have saved them blood, scars, and wounds from all of the times they've challenged me out of jealousy and lost. After years of fighting, they finally got the idea that I'm the best.

Hunter finishes his last bites, and I take his plate to the sink and rinse off the dishes. He jogs upstaires to put on his Peacekeeper uniform. After that we make our way to the town square. I say good-bye to Hunter as we both go to our designated areas; him with the other Peacekeepers by the stage, and me to the 16-year old boys section.

The escort arrives, and goes on and on about the Games. Yeah, yeah. I think. just get on with the reaping.Finally, she goes over to the girls' globe and pulls out a name.

"Emerald Feara!"  Everyone reconizes the name. She's been reaped every year since she was twelve, but someone always volunteers. I wonder what she did to make the Capitol want her dead. She's a pretty girl with straight blonde hair. She's wearing a purple dress and brown tights, with only one sandal, and has a dirty backpack that the Peacekeepers, including Hunter, try to confiscate, but she refuses.

"This is all that I own, please." She pleads. Eventually, the Peacekeepers let her go up to the stage. She stands there, expecting a volunteer. But this year no one does. tears well up in her eyes but she never lets them drop down her cheeks. The escort begins to walk towards the boys' bowl after apologizing.

This is it. This is what I've been waiting for ever since Hunter took me in. In the next minute, I will officially be apart of the Hunger Games.

I smile as I clear my throat, ready to scream, "I volunteer!" before anyone else. Actually, I'm already walking towards the stage.

The escort drops her hand in the bowl, not even touching the slips before a dozen boys scream out, waving their hands. Including me.

Usually, when there are multiple volunteers, the escort picks a tribute to come up. She looks around at the boys observingly, but before she can choose I'm already running up to the stage.

"I was first. I called out first," I say. The escort nods and accepts me. The crowd as appluading when I hear a yell.

Hunter's yell.

"Lynx! Lynx!" Hunter cries."No,Lynx, come down right now!You can't-"

He's cut off by a gunshot. Litterally, his voice has been cut off. Because the bullet went straight through his neck.

Emerald covers her mouth with her hand, parents rush off with their children in the crowd. The peacekeepers try to calm everyone down. Others just stand there in awe, that probably being the first time that they've witnessed a murder, other than the Hunger Games.

And me? I stand there, letting my arms fall limply to my sides. My knees buckle and Emerald and the escort catch me when I start to fall over.

"Let's go, kids," Says the escort. She and Emerald half carry- half walk me to the justice building, with a mob of camera men following us.

Once we get inside, we immeadiatly leave. Because neither Emerald or I have anyone important in our lives anymore to say good-bye to.

Before getting on the train, I whisper a final farewell to Hunter, and thank him for taking care of me all of these years. Tears stream down my face, and the escort, obviously not shaken up by the event, gives me a pat on the back.

"Oh, it'll be alright," She coos."After all, you are going into the Hunger Games. Maybe you'll be with your guardian sooner than you think." But she's wrong. It will be a long, long time before I'm with Hunter. I'm going to have a long, happy life back in District 1.

Why?

Because I'm going to win the Hunger Games. 

Janice Belle's POV:

I arrive at the town square very excited. Today's reaping day.

I've always loved reaping day, ever since I was a little girl. It excites me to see which children get to represent District 2. You know how when you're watching TV, something about where you live is mentioned and you're like, "Oh, hey! Look guys! That's where we live!"

That's what the Hunger Games is like. It's inspiring to know how people from other places are watching someone from your home. Knowing that they'll envy you when you kill their children, and admire you when you win.

That's what's going to happen to me someday.

I plan on volunteering when I'm eighteen. Although, I already know that I could wipe out every tribute on the first day if I wanted to. I've been prepared my entire life; literally. My parents say that I could weild a knife before I could even walk.

I have been secretly trainging for the Hunger Games since I was seven. Well, it's not a "secret" in District 2, but it is to the Capitol. I excel with any weapon, but I'm best with knives. Having spent half of my life chopping up dummies and stabbing manicans, I've been convinced that I can win the Games without blinking an eye.

The other tributes won't be blinking their eyes, either. Because I'll be stabbing them out. I smile at the thought.

As I wait in the long line to get my finger pricked, Doug Piediscalzi walks up to me and greets me. Doug is a horse-faced, skinny old man that has been like a grandfather to me my whole life. He was my first trainer, and theres no doubt in my mind that, even with his old age, he could still win the Hunger Games. He knew me long before that, though. Don't ask me how, I never found out how he met my parents. All I know is that we are both decendents of Gomer Worden, who was a victor of the Hunger Games hundreds of years ago. So we are realated, just very distantly.

"So, Janice. You plannin' on volunteerin' this year?" He asks. Doug has always been obsessed with the Hunger Games. He wanted to be a part in them when he was a kid, but never got the chance. So now he wants me to be part of them. 

"Doug, I'm only fourteen. I'm not volunteering until I'm eighteen," I say with a laugh. I begin to worry that he's becomming forgetful.

He walks next to me as the line moves up.

"I know," He begins. " I know. But.. I was thinking. You know how every year all of the eighteen year olds volunteer, and the escort ends up choosing?"

"Not every year," I reply, even though I know that it's true.

"Almost every year. Well, anyways, I was thinkin', and if you wait until your older you might not get  your chance. That's what happened to me. But what if a fourteen or fifteen year old girl was in that crowd of volunteers? Would the escort go with the usual eighteen year old, or spice things up for the Capitol crowd and send a younger tribute into the Games?'

"Send a younger tribute," I respond. "So, what your saying is that if I volunteered now I would get the spot? I'd go into the Hunger Games?

"That's right.  Then, even if you don't get chosen, you'll have the year after that, and the year after that, and on until your eighteen. Now's the time to volunteer, Janice."

"But, shouldn't I train a little harder? Spend more time perfecting my skills?" Even though I know that it's pointless. We both know the answer.

"You could've won the Games when you were ten if you were in them. Hell, even when you were seven you were probably stronger than the tributes from the outlying Districts," he assures me. "Plus, if you volunteer this year, the Capitol crowd will pay more attention to you. They'll be more impressed with a fourteen year old volunteer. And the more attention that you get, the more sponsers. I mean, lets face it, Janice. If you wait until eighteen, they'll still be impressed, but you'll just be another tribute. Just like all of the eighteen year olds from District two before you. And you don't have a whole lot else to dazzle them with. Sure, they'll be impressed with your training score, but you'll get the same score if you go now. And which is better, a fourteen year old with an eleven or an eighteen year old with an eleven?

"A fourteen year old," I sigh. It's all true, about the sponsers.

"And looks aren't going to get you anywhere in these games. I mean sponserwise. You aren't the shiniest seashell in the sea."

This annoys me.

"Doug, I'm gonna backhand you!" And I would have if it wasn't time for me to sign in and get my finger pricked. 

As he jogs away, he calls out behind him," Now's the time, Janice!" and  he has me  convinced that it is.

As the escort talks, I think about volunteering. Do I really want to go this year? I've figured out my answer when the escort walks over to girls ball.

I'm volunteering for the Hunger Games.

Swow Corell's POV:

As I wait for the mayor to get done with his annual "Why we have the Hunger Games" speech, I wonder how I'm going to get reaped. It's been made perfectly clear that I will be entering the Games this year, that I will be forced into them. As my punishment. Will they "reap" my name and refuse volunteers? Explain to the District what I have done and have to be punished? I don't know. Does it matter? I'm going to win the Games, no matter how they put me in them.

As the mayor continues his speech, I think back to the day that I was put in the reformatory. The day I was told that I was going to be in the Games...

The woman screamed as I came at her with my knife. She ducked behind a table, which provided her no protection whatsoever. She was guarding her two children. There was an older girl, probably around fourteen, and a wailing little toddler. I throw my knife at his head just to shut him up.

The woman cries out as her son's blood splatters her face. The girl gets up and tries to make a run for it, but I'm not going to let that happen. I pull out another knife- I always have extras- and chuck it in her direction, not even looking. I see out of the corner of my eye that she dove away, causing the knife to catch in her theigh.

Whatever. I'll take care of her later. 

I turn my attention back to the mother. She sees me coming at her again. As she scoots away, I pull my knife out of her son's head, causing the blood to gush out even faser with nothing to stop it. She's still holding his hand, but as she struggles to stand up she lets go. He flops down on the floor, obviously long dead.

The woman it almost to her feet when I grab her and push her against the countertop. She turns her head and fights to break away, but I've already slit her throat.

I smile. She was my 34th kill. I look back over to where the girl was, expecting to find her watching in horror, but only see a trail of blood leading out the front door.

I know that I have to find her. She's gone to tell the authorites, but I can't let that happen. They'll lock me away forever, or worse, execute me. But before I can find her the Peacekeepers have found me.

"No more killing for you," One said."Not until you're in the Hunger Games."

The escorts shrilly voice interrupts my thoughts. She welcomes us and talks about ho lucky she is to represent District 2. After a few minutes of gushing, she walks over to the girls' bowl. I look over and see a dozen girls prepare themselves to volunteer.

"And District Two's female tribute is...."

Maizie Clockworks's POV:

". . . Maizie Clockwork!" The escort squeals.

Oh, hell no.

I walk up to the stage, freaking out inside. No, no. This can't happen.

It's actually not the Games that I'm scared of. It's the Capitol. Ever since that day...

It was years ago. I was just ten, my older sister 13.  When my sister and I were in the clock shop that doubled as a blackmarket trying to trade some old spare parts for new ones to invent things with. There was a new man there. He told my sister, Chelsea, and I that if we bought a clock, and got a certain one, then we would win a prize. So, of course, we bought it. Who knew what the prize could be? Food? A new home?

Anyhow, Chelsea ended up getting the winning one. We were so excited when she found the note inside of it telling her to be at the Town Square at 11 that Friday, and to bring another friend below the age a eighteen. And not to tell anyone. Of course, she brought me. We left the house that morning, expecting to be home in time for supper that night. Oh, so little did we know.

That same man from the clockshop was there, and he had others with him. They brought us to a car behind some of the merchant buildings and told us to get in. I knew something was up, but Chelsea didn't seem to mind it. I didn't want to ruin her prize by telling her that there was something fishy about this. 

While we were driving, the man told us that we would be going to a clock- themed amusment park for a tour. How excited we were! An amusment park! We'd heard of them in the Capitol, and one year, long before we were born, the arena was in the ruins of one.We saw clips of those Games. We would get to ride a ferris wheel, carosel, and play carnival games. It would be the best time of our lives. 

We drove, and drove, onto a hidden road past the train tracks outside of District 3. Soon enough, we arrived. 

There was a ferris wheel and rollercoasters and games, all that we expected. But it wasn't until they pushed us inside and locked the gate behind us that we realized it was all a scam.

Everything was fake. It was just a lure on the Capitols part, just so that they could test out new torturing devices to use in the Hunger Games. Everything was just a hallograph. When they shut off the fancy progecter, the only authentic thing was revealed

A large, golden cage. The Clock man grabbed me, one of his minions Chelsea. He tied me to a metal post, the rope digging into my hands. I still have the scars, actually.

They put Chesea into the cage and tied her down to a large board standing upright, her legs dangling down with her arms raised above her head. I knew they were going to torture her, if not kill her.

The Clock Man explained how every few years they had to find ways to lure random children from their homes. They would torture them, in order to figure out the best ways to get gruesome deaths during the Hunger Games. And that this year they took me also, a victim's family member, to see how I would react to the deaths. The Capitol had to find ways to ruin the tribute's realative's lives, also.

First, they just wanted to shake up Chelsea. They raised the cage and let it drop, each time rising higher and higher. Chelsea screamed in pain, her arms clearly ripped out of their sockets. But compared to the other things, this was just a mere game. An appetizer, they called it.

The Clock Man's helpers then took turns throwing knives at my sister, most of the time missing or hitting the steel bars on the cage, but every once in a while they would stick in her flesh. None of them deadly, though. Just in her arms and legs. The games they were sicking on her couldn't be over yet.

Then a clear wall was dropped inbetween the bars on the outside of the cage, and a large pump sucked all of the air out. Chelsea was left gasping for air inside the cage. It was horrible, watching her thrash around, trying to find someway to get loose. Slowly, oxygen was realeased back in and she came back to her senses. But then the cage filled with water.

You could see that it was far above boiling, as by the way it fogged up the walls and was bubbling. You could hear Chelsea screams, even through the thick walls. I couldn't see in, but I know that my sister was in terrible pain.

The water never went above her head, though I wish that it had. I wish that she could've drowned right then and there, and then she wouldn't have had to endure what happened next.

But they kept her in there for what felt like hours, her screams eventually died out. They slowly drained the water and the steam went away, letting me see my sister completely.

Or what used to be my sister. Now she was a bright red figure. Her head and arms were their normal color, as they were above the water, but the rest of her was as red as a cherry. She hung there, not even able to produce tears. She probably didn't even want to, as she would never want liquid on her body again after that.

Then one of the clock man's minions started his job. He went into her cage with a long knife. I remember willing him to kill her, to end her suffering. But no. He just prolonged it.

Starting at her feet, he started cutting away at her, peeling of her skin. Blood dripped on the floor. When he got up to the bottom of her shorts, he slowly peeled them off, as they were in the way of his cutting, causing her to wince. The Clock Man and his friends whistled and cheered. I think that this was for their own amusement, rather than for "testing" forms of torture for the games.

He stopped when he got to the top of her theighs, then went back to the control box behind the cage.

My poor sister, bloodly, raw, and burnt, was ready to die. But the Clock Man wasn't. They tortured her until nightfall, when she finally passed away from the pain. I was left to die on my own. They didn't want me to tell anyone about what the Capitol secretly does. But after ripping through the ropes that tied me down and climbing over the large metal gate, I found my way back home, following the car tracks. 

I refused to tell anyone what had happened to Chelsea. I was afraid that, if anyone else found out, he would hunt me down and kill me. Or worse, force me to watch my family be tortured to death again. My family was left wondering what had happened, and I was left depressed and terrified of the Capitol.

Now, as I walk up to the stage, I avoid the Peacekeepers that stand near me, and the cheerful escort that greets me. I don't know how I'm going to survive in the Capitol, being around all of those people from the place that caused Chelsea's death.

As I wonder about my future in the Capitol, the boy's name is drawn.

"Wolf Soldier," the escort shouts. A boy with dark hair walks up and stands next to me.

The crowd gives a short appluase after we shake hands, and I see my family crying in the distance. Both of their daughters, gone, in just an interval of a few years. 

When the Peacekeepers try to lead me to the Justice Building so that I can say my goodbye's, I refuse to let them touch me. I run to the train and get on, not even knowing where to go. I don't care if I don't get to say my farewells. The only family that really I cared aout was Chelsea, and the Capitol took her away.

But I'l make it. I'll push through my fears, and I'll win the Hunger Games. Then I'll let everyone know what horrible things the Capitol does to children behind the district's backs. That there are worse things than the Hunger Games.

Let's just wait and see what kind of rebellion that will incite. 

Wolf Soldier's POV:

". . . Maizie Clockwork!" The escort squeals.

A redheaeded girl with blonde highlights walks up. When the peacekeepers try to take a step towards her she moves away, and keeps her distance from the escort, refusing to shake her hand. You can see the terror in her eyes. Sure, every tribute who goes to the Hunger Games is scared. But this girl.. you can tell that there's something farther down, something worse than getting reaped that haunts her.

The escort looks slightly offended when Maizie backs away from her, but she regains herself and makes her way over to the boys' ball.

As she sticks her hand in the globe, and my heart skips a beat when I see her lips form the "W" that starts my name.

Fuck.

"Wolf Soldier,"

The people in the crowd stare at me as I walk up to the stage. This reminds me of one day, when I was thirteen. Just two years ago.

It was the day that basically changed my life. 

I wasn't feeling well, so I skipped school. I knew that if my parents found out, they'd beat me. But that was going to happen anyway, wasn't it?

Most people were at work or school, but those who weren't looked at me with a questioning eye. As a teenager, I should have been at school. Nobody said anything to me, though.

I wandered around the outskirts of District Three, along the fence seperating our district from the world beyond. I was curious as to what the earth was like outside of the fence. Here in the District, everything was just.. gray. Gray gravel roads, dead trees with no leaves, colorless grass. The old factories where the inventions were made. Gray.

Then, as I was walking, I spotted something. An opening, in the bottom of the fence.

I walked over and kneeled down until I could see outside of District Three.

I almost had to squint, the colors were so bright. The green grass was too green, and the pink and yellow flowers were fulgent. The sun's glare off of the small streams was painful to look at, but I looked anyway. 

Rabbitts and other small animals came up to me, as I was obviously something that they had never seen before. Foreign. Just as this new, colorful side of the fence was foreign to me.

I looked for hours, just watching the animals roam and the flowers sway. But as it got dark, the colors vanished and the little animals went to the trees in the distance to sleep. I knew it was time for me to go home also. 

As I backed away from the hole, I saw the gray and brown of the district, and everything was anomalous. I went home, mother beat me. Father came home, father beat me. But it was nothing new.

I continued to skip school, at least once a week. Sometimes more. But then, a couple months later, there was an accident. I'd tripped over a fence post that had fallen. My hand knocked the gate, which was electrified at the moment. My hand was burned, and the pain was so overwheming that I passed out.

Much time had passed when I finally woke up. I went home, mother beat me, the usual. But then something different happened. Mother started crying.

She told me that it was all an act, her abusing me. That my father was the one that didn't want me, not her. She said that if she didn't hit me and treat me as father did, then he would beat her as well. I acceted this, but kept my distance from her. When my father came home, she had to put on the act again, but I could feel that her blows weren't as hard as they used to be.

That night, we watched the premire of the 372nd Hunger Games. The arena.. it was basically a mirror image of the meadows and mountains that I had seen beyond the fence. It made me realize that even if there something that makes you feel content, there are still dangers hidden within them. 

That same year, I started training for the Games. Now able to throw a painful punch and use a sword, I just might be able to make it through the Games as long as no one gets in my way.   

Iapapa Sandra's POV: 

I was just reaped for the Games.

The Peacekeepers conduct me  and the male tribute, Rive, to the Justice Building. I've never actually been inside before, and my breath is taken away by the beautiful sea-themed interior. We are lead down some hallways, and I'm dropped off in my room and I can see that Rive's room is just across the hall from mine.

I wait, wondering who will arrive to say goodbye first. Nobody comes for a few minutes, and I'm worried that no one will come.

But then Sandy and Sandpiper come. They've been my  best friends for as long as I can remember,  and I love more than anything. More than my family, even.

They're brother and sister, Sandpiper being the boy and Sandy the girl. Sandy gives me a hug, and I can't help but sniffle. Then Sandpiper opens his arms, and I can't help but notice how he holds on longer, even after I've let go.

They talk about how they know that I'll make it far in the Games, but Sandpiper avoids looking at me altogether. He hardly says anything and looks at the floor, but the few times that he does speak, he's talking about how he knows that I'll win. Then it's time for them to leave, and I don't want them to. I freak out a little when Sandpiper looks up and his eyes are glossy from holding back his tears. I hug him again, but before I can wrap my arms all the way around he's kissing me.

It only lasts a second before he hurries out of the room. I looked over at Sandy, who looks shocked for a moment, but then just shrugs and shakes her head.

"I didn't think that he would do anything like that. But don't let it distract you. Don't think about us, or your family during the Games. Just focus on winning, alright? I know that you can do it,"

Sandy gives me a quick hug before a peacekeeper grabs her arm and drags her out. I wait for the next visitors in silence for a few minutes, knowing who it will be.

My parents walk in and I stand up. I don't aknowledge them in any way,  Ijust stand there. 

They've been abusive towards me all my life. Not a day has gone by that they have'nt hit me or threatened me. They stand there, too, and don't say anything for a while. They just glare at me.

Then, finally my mother speaks.

"You know, Iapapa, we wouldn't have come. But we didn't want people to see us not say goodbye to you, as they'd think that we are bad--"

"Yeah, whatever." I say, while flipping her off. "I don't need an explanation. I know. You don't care about me. Just like I never cared about you."

I finish and I think that she's going to hit me, but thank god the  Peacekeepers are calling them out first. I ish that they hadn't come, it would have given me more time to say goodbye to Saandy and Sandpiper. But by looking at the clock  I know that someone else is coming, because there's still almost twenty minutes until we have to leave.

Soon my aunt and uncle come in. I'm happy to be able to say goodbye, but I didn't think that they would come. We really only see each other when my parents were taking things too far and I'd run off to stay with them. But I stopped doing this a few years ago, as I found out that running away onnly made things worse when I got home.

They say all of the things that I'm pretty sure that all tributes' families say: That I'm strong, brave, good with weapons. That they want believe that I'll come home. 

But I really wish that they wouldn't tell me this. Because when I get into that arena, there will be tributes stronger, braver, and better with weapons than me. And I don't want to let anyone down when I get killed.

So, I guess I'll just have to not  get killed.

Rive Oceani's POV: I cannot believe that I just volunteered for the Hunger Games.

As the Peacekeepers conduct me and the female tribute, Iapapa, to the Justice Building, I try to look as tough as I possibly can on the outside. For the cameras.

But inside, I'm sobbing. My heart feels like it's plunged down to my stomach and is drowning in my stomach acid. My eyes sting from holding them open because I'm afraid that, if I close them, then once they reopen the tears will start spurting out. 

Plus I have that weird feeling in my throat. The one that feels like you're going to vomit, but never do.

We are dragged inside by the Peacekeepers. As I step in, I can't help but gasp at how beautiful the inside of the Justice Building is. The walls look white at first glance, but once you look for a while you can see that they are actually a very pale blue-green. Large fish have been hung on the walls as trophies. The floor is stained concrete, the hue a darker shade of the blue-green walls. Designs have been embossed into the mezzanine, ocean-related things like fish, waves, and shells. There are several lights, each casting out a sea-colored glow. The floor literally has sand scattered on it in places, and as I am marched over one of these areas I find that it is sealed to the ground, locked in place forever. 

District Four. Where people glue sand to the floor as decoration.

After turning down a couple of halls, Iapapa is placed in a room off to the side, and me a room across from it. Here I will wait for my family and friends to arrive.

I sit on the green sofa and lean against a very uncomfortable pillow. I startle when the large door swings open, and my family rushes in.

They tell me all of the things that I had expected they would. That I'm oh-so brave and strong. That they know I can win. But I know that, deep down in their hearts, they don't believe it. They're just feeding me these fibs to make me feel better. When it's time for them to leave, I wish them the best and tell them that I'll come back.

Then Neo comes in. He's my best friend, and has been as long as I can remember.

"Hey, there. You doing alright?" Neo asks.

"I'm fine," I say. But it couldn't be more of a lie.

"I know that you'll win. You've trained your entire life for this moment. You'll make it back, Rive. I know that you will." And, unlike my family, there's something in his voice that makes me believe that he means what he's saying. He actually has faith that I will come home.

"I will. I promise,"

We talk some more. He tells me what to do in training, what he thinks will help me get sponsers. Things like that. I manage to keep up the tough-guy act for him. But eventually he leaves, and I can't maintain my act for the next person.

Harmonic, my girlfriend.

She walks straight into my arms, bawling. I can feel her chest heaving against mine, and this breaks me. I let the tears come out, and watch as they slide down her dirty blonde hair and onto the turquoise floor.

Harmonic pulls away and takes my hands in hers.

"Listen," She says. " I'm not going to tell you what I know the others told you. I'm not going to tell you that I know you'll come home, that you'll wipe out every tribute there. Because I don't know if you will. And believeing that you will will just make it harder when you.. you know."

"I know," I say." And I won't promise you that I'll come home, because I don't want to break that promise. But I'll promise that I'll try my hardest. To come home to you and Neo and my family."

We wipe away our tears, and I try to pull myself together, knowing that the cameras will pick up puffy eyes and a red nose the second that I walk out. Me and Harmonic talk for a while longer, but too soon it's time for her to leave.

She starts crying again. Before leaving, she gives me one final kiss and hands me a necklace that she made herself. I take a good look at it, and it has seashells and pearls strung onto it. It truly is beautiful, and I know that it will be my token in the arena.

"Thank you," As I say this, my voice cracks. The doors opens and a peacekeeper grabs her and tries to pull her away when she hesitates, and she starts screaming for him to get off of her. I'm shaken up by this and I want to pull her back, to keep her with me. But the peacekeeper's stronger and ends up shoving her out. 

"Harmonic! I love-" The door slams shut before I can finish. I can still hear her screaming and wailing.

As I wait for someone to take me to the train, I sit down on the couch again and take a better look at the necklace. While admiring the largest seashell on the front, I see that it has something engraved on the back:

 I'll love you forever, Rive. Forever.

This little message makes me want to do everything that I can to make Harmonic happy. And this little message gives me the strength to truly believe that I can do the only thing that can make that happen.

I have to win the Hunger Games. 

Cassia Slyarkia's POV:

I step on the train, looking behind me to get one last look at District Five. I never would have ever thought that I'd be getting on this train right now, that I would have volunteered for the Hunger Games.

But then again, I never would have thought that I would've ever gotten adopted, either.

I'm lead to a large, violet themed room and take a seat on a fluffy purple bench. I'm told that dinner will be ready in a few hours, and I can do as I please until then. But for now I just look out the window, and think about what I've just done.

I volunteered. Not because I wanted to; I'd never just volunteer for no reason. But Britta was reaped, and after all that Mr. Statinsk has done for me, I felt like I had to.

I'd been an orphan all of my life. My father passed away before I was born, and my mother died shortly after I was born. I'd been in the community home, with all of the other kids that no one wanted.

Then, when I was twelve, I ran away from the home. I couldn't stand it anymore. I just felt unwanted. Nobody liked me. Actually, they all hated me. But then the Peacekeepers found me. Or at least I thought that they were Peacekeepers. They were actually just citizens in disguise. Looking for children on the streets to be put in training, as they wanted some of us to have a chance when we were reaped.

So, I wen tto District Five's secret training center. I trained, was fed, and was taken care of. It actually almost felt like a home. The trainers were wonderful to us and I could relate to the other kids. They were all unwanted, too.

But, then, I wasn't unwated. Two years later, the head trainer, Mr. Statinsk, saw how strong and smart I was. How I was better than the others. He adopted me as his own, and I actually had a family. I lived with him and his daughter, Britta. 

But at the reaping, Britta was reaped. I knew that I had to volunteer, to show how much being adopted meant to me. 

So that's how I ended up here, on this train, heading for the Capitol. I sit in silence for a while, then decide to got to dinner early. My district partner, Trann, is already there, gulping down large mouthfuls of gravy and potatoes. I sit down and grab a plate. I serve myself a mixture of fruits, eggs, and am offered a large glass of milk. After I eat all of that, I have a baked potato with cheese, bacon, and creamy white stuff that I later learn is called sour cream, and I'm stuffed.

I stay at the table, waiting for my mentor or escort to show up. I look at Trann, and he looks extremely sad. He's just staring at the floor, sipping his glass of juice.

Finally my mentor and escort show up. They each eat large servings of various foods, obviously used to the richness of the Capitol foods. We eat in silence until finally Trann speaks up.

"My parents would be proud. They always wanted me to be in the Games, before they died."

I have to try really hard not to feel sorry for him. So he's lost his parents, too.

"I'm sorry," I say. "I didn't know that--"

"No," Trann interupts. "Don't be sorry. All they did was abuse me. They wanted me to b in the Games so that I'd either die or come home filthy rich. But, in a way, I', almost glad that they hit me. All those years of fighting back might actually give me a chance in the Games.'

Okay. Now I have to try really hard not to take pity on him. I'd much rather have my parents die than have them abuse me all my life.

The mentor, a middle-aged man named Elmer, gives Trann a questioning look, then looks at me, then back at his food while giving his head a small shake. Meanwhile, the escort, Astoria, take sity on Trann and gives him hugs and reassures him that everything will be better, now that he's going to the Capitol.

He continues telling us storiesabout how horrible his childhood was. Elmer seems unamused. Astoria is  almost in tears.

And me?

I think that there's something fishy about this.