User blog:Ninja~Toast/The Return of the Hunger Games -1st Hunger Games

Welcome!
This is my first blog and my first games I've made. However, to start off I'm going to submit my own tributes, because I don't think I will get very much tribute templates. Read, enjoy and maybe even sign up for the 2nd Hunger Games, which will accept tributes. If you put in tributes, they will not be in this hunger games, but I can hold them until the 2nd hunger games where I can put them in if you're still willing.

I'm bound to make some sort of mistake, since this is my first user blog post. If this happens feel free to correct me

Rules

 * 1) Do not submit tributes, I'm going to be using my own tributes for this first blog, however next hunger games I do will have sign ups.
 * 2) Although you can't submit tributes JUST yet, you can bet and sponsor other tributes in the arena.
 * 3) No spamming in the comments unless you've placed a bet and sponsored at least one tribute, although I doubt there will be any on this post
 * 4) I will be using foul language every now and then, but no sexual references.
 * 5) Have fun!


 * You may not be able to post tributes yet, but for the upcoming 2nd Hunger Games the template will look like this:


 * Name:


 * District: (List 3 in order of preference)


 * Gender:


 * Age: (12-18)


 * Personality:


 * Backstory:


 * Height:


 * Appearance: (I will accept typed or lunaiis)


 * Weapons: (List one or two)


 * Strengths: (List two to four)


 * Weaknesses: (List two to four)


 * Fears: (List at least one)


 * Interview Angle: (Can be filled out later)


 * Bloodbath Strategy: (Can be filled out later)


 * Game Strategy: (Can be filled out later)


 * Token: (Optional)


 * Alliance: (Can be filled out later)


 * Just in case you want to be prepared I guess? :P

Introduction
This is the end of the Mocking Jay, except in my brand new version to bring a new era in The Hunger Games.

Katniss' P.O.V.:

This is it... I start to think. We failed; there is nothing we can do about it. I'm in my cell room, the rebellion ended and we lost and I'm to be punished. The Capitol is too powerful, they can do whatever they want and we can't stop them. I'm thinking of my sister, Prim. So light and fragile, why did she have to die in that bombing? I'd do anything to take her place. Even after that bombing, we still lose the rebellion. I'm waiting in my cell until my execution for leading a rebellion. Why did this have to happen? Maybe if I just killed Peeta that day, or wait for him to kill himself. He would've done it, and I wouldn't have caused a rebellion and I'd live to see my sister. Then again, I'm happy I did that stunt. What am I saying? Peeta deserved to live as well as every other tribute in the arena. The Capitol is the enemy here and we can't stop them.

I'm ranting about the Capitol in my thoughts until a group of Peacekeepers open my cell and swarm towards me. They take me to my execution, where I will be killed live on T.V. for all of Panem to see. What will my mother think? What happened to Buttercup? I used to hate him but now that he's the only memory of Prim that can brighten my mood. Well, of course it's not a positive memory of our hatred, but it's better than thinking of Prim dying from the bombing. Hopefully he's still alive, back in District 13. Maybe he made it back to District 12. I will never know. I am taken to a room where I am held against my will by some chains wrapped around my neck, arms and legs, with a whole audience to see President Snow's goons will kill me. The Hunger Games will surely start again, I know it. I think, ''I failed, but my legacy hasn't ended. Someone will stop the Capitol, I just know it. A future tribute, with enough potential to end this madness. ''I'm still thinking until I notice a stabbing pain in my chest. The pain ends quickly.

Tributes
REMEMBER: You will NOT enter any tributes for these first games. However the 2nd Hunger Games you can submit tributes to compete.

Alliances
Carrers: Curtis Pramod (1), Olivia Winter (1), Emory Indigo (2), Hedena Fleurette (2),Duncan Grier (4) and Danica Dee (4)

District 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 Alliance: Cyrus Haydn (5), Silvio Crawford (6), Theo Clair (8), Grant Denver (9) and Duane Lőrinc (10)

District 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Alliance: Chrissie Seyong (5), Silvia Coscette (6), Camellia Cyrellia (7), Reba Malandra (8) and Rowanne Tamora (9)

District 11 Alliance: Bennet Ormand (11) and Brair Chausiksu (11)

District 3, 12 and 13 Alliance: Clifton Hamza (3), Brooklyn Spirit (3), Savannah Storm (12), Ashton Yiennis (12), Phillip Gianluca (13) and Delilah Lexus (13)

Alone: Jaida Lyubov (Capitol), Kaeden Humphrey (Capitol), Phrixos Baccus (7) and Tatianna "Tania" Sapphire (10)

Capitol - Jaida Lyubov
"That was some party you threw, it's going to be a nightmare to clean up!" my mother sighs. After the most exciting party of my life, I'm extremely tired and excited for the next day. However, I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight. The announcement that the Capitol could participate for the Hunger Games just made my life, I had a party today to celebrate the reaping's that will happen tomorrow.

"Good Night, Jaida!" my mother, Veslemøy says to me before she closes the door.

"Night." I respond to my mother. She closes the door until I am left alone in utter silence. I'm left in my room, excited and anxious about Reaping Day tomorrow. That's the day, I'm going to volunteer. My parents don't know, they don't want me to volunteer, but the Hunger Games is what I live for. Even if I die, I died doing the thing I love. Half an hour later, I can't sleep. I just can't, I'm too excited! I get up, and turn on my television to recordings of the Hunger Games or programs involving the Hunger Games that I have. I turn it onto Katniss' execution, she was my favorite tribute. I'm so happy she survived the 74th and 75th Hunger Games. However, her execution makes me cry every time. She was my favorite tribute out of every single Hunger Games the Capitol had brought to us. Then again, if she were alive I wouldn't be able to have this opportunity, right?

I start a Hunger Games marathon, beginning with the 70th and ending with the 75th, the final Hunger Games until a new era of the Hunger Games was created. I'm about to begin the 74th, my favorite games! This may be the last time I got to watch it before tomorrow. However, I get very drowsy, and I soon fall asleep a little bit before the bloodbath ends.

I wake up in my bed; I guess my mother tucked me into sleep when I fell asleep. I rush downstairs to see everything cleaned up, and my mother sobbing. What have I done this time?

"Mom, what's wrong?" I say sadly.

"Jaida, listen to me." she says firmly. "Are you volunteering for the Hunger Games?"

How did she catch on? Well maybe I did make it obvious with the whole party thing and the movie night marathon.

"I'm sorry...." I say. She cries even more and wraps her arms around my hips. She then tries to convince me to not volunteer, but this is my only chance. I have to, and there is a chance I might come home!

"My mind is set." I tell her. "I'm volunteering." My mother stares at me; she knows she can't convince me otherwise.

"I wish you'd tell me sooner! There are so many things we need to discuss..."

"I didn't want to tell you because you would be miserable, if I volunteered at the reaping's without you knowing I wouldn't be talked out of it because it would be too late." Okay, so I'm not the best charmer with words, but whatever. "Now I must be going, the reaping's start in four hours!'

"That gives us plenty of time!" My mother retorts.

"I don't care, I want to be early." I walk out of the house, thinking of my mother's reaction to what I've just said, but my mind is clear. I'm volunteering. I take my car into the plaza; I guess I came too early because things are still being set up for the reaping's. I don't care; I just sit on a bench near the plaza, pondering on what I'll do during the games. My mind is wondering off until the reaping's finally set up. About time.... I think. I walk over to get my finger pricked. I'm the only one in line, since the reaping's don't start for three hours. The woman with the zapper looks at me weirdly, I have the creepiest smile on my face and I'm also the only one in line right now, I'm just so excited! She pricks my finger and I walk over to the girls section. There is no one on the stage yet, however there are a few Peacekeepers lurking around. After waiting for a while, the plaza fills and the escort walks onto stage. He has blue and pink shaggy hair as well as blue and pink eyes. His eye liner is as well blue and pink and his skin is a bright shade of red. I love his style!

"Hello citizens of the Capitol, I am Habacuc Mirza, and I am your very first escort for the Capitol!" He shouts into the microphone. "I'd like to welcome you all to the grand reopening of the Hunger Games and the very first reaping's taking place in the Capitol!" Everyone starts to applaud and Habacuc continues to speak

"Let's begin shall we? Ladies first!" He walks towards the girls reaping bowl and calls out the lucky winner. It doesn't matter, because I'll be taking her place. "Victoria Perlita!" He announces.

"I volunteer!" I shout. People start to applaud as I make my way up the stage.

"Lovely! What is your name, dear?" He asks

"My name is Jaida Lyubov and I will represent the female tribute from the Capitol in this year's Hunger Games!" I respond.

"Wonderful! Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a round of applause to our very first volunteer of the Capitol, Jaida Lyubov!" Everyone starts to applaud, I feel like I'm on top of the world. I look at my mother, who is still crying. I turn my head to my little sisters and they're doing the same. I feel really bad for not telling them, looking into my sisters eyes makes me know I did something wrong.

"Now for the boys!" Habacuc announces as he walks to the boys reaping bowl. "Kaeden Humphrey!" The audience politely applauds as Kaeden walks up to stage. I see something following him. It's a tracker jacker! I've never seen one up close!

"Aww, your tracker jacker is sooooo cute!" I say. The tracker jacker flies away from him and lands on my shoulder. "How did you get it to be friendly?" He just shrugs, as if it were no big deal. I wish I had a magical talent like that. We both shake hands as Habacuc announces our names to the crowd. The tracker jacker flies of my shoulder and goes back to Kaeden (Capitol) as we are taken into the Justice Building to await our visitors. As expected, my whole family comes in sobbing.

"Why didn't you tell us you were volunteering? Asks my sister, Aura.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you guys to feel bad." I reply

"We would've found out eventually! My other sister, Becca yells.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't want to be talked out of participating. This is my life, and if I'm going to die, I'm dying doing the thing I love most." I reply

"This obsession is insane! What are you thinking? My father, Merrill retorts.

"I'm sorry; but it's too late now. I've already volunteered and I can't change my actions now." I say calmly.

"I'll hire someone to buy a time machine! We have the technology, I can do it!"

"Now you're just being silly."

"I'm the one being silly? You've just opened yourself up into a one way execution!"

"Well, yelling about the past won't do you anything. I promise I'll try my best to return home."

"Time's up." Says a Peacekeeper, he walks in and escorts my family out of the building. Aura looks back at me with desperation in her eyes and walks out of the door. Maybe this wasn't the brightest decision. I have no more visitors, so the Peacekeepers summon me and I am driven by car towards the train station. We are about to board until a Peacekeeper stops us.

"Stop. You can't bring a pet with you." A Peacekeeper informs Kaeden (Capitol). He tries to catch the tracker jacker, but instead the bee avoids him and stings him on the forehead. The Peacekeeper falls to the ground, I'm not too sure if he's dead or alive. The Peacekeeper is then dragged to first aid. After a lot of deliberating, no one dared to remove the tracker jacker from Kaeden (Capitol). The three of us board the train, although it will only take ten minutes to get there, it feels like an hour. I can't wait to get into the arena.

District 1 - Olivia Winter
I’ve been up for hours now, not too sure how to prepare my appearance for the reaping’s today. I’d probably be practicing at the academy right now, but my appearance is much more important to me.

“Open the door!” My sister, Lydia complains. “You’ve been in the bathroom for hours!” Okay maybe I’ve been here too long.

“I’m not done applying my makeup!” I shout.

“I realize that appearance means a lot for a girl,” Gloria says, in a calmer tone. “But really, 10 hours?” If you’re wondering, I was in the bathroom since 2 am. This stuff is very important to me, and I feel uncomfortable admitting this, but I’m really hurt when some random dude judges me on my appearance. It makes me work harder trying to look prettier. I hear a little fidgeting with the lock on the doorknob, and then the door clicks open. Gloria and Lydia appear at the entrance of the bathroom, and Lydia is glaring at me.

“How did you open the door?” I ask, nicely. “It was locked.” Gloria holds one of her hands up, revealing a paperclip. I swear, if Gloria was younger and volunteered for the Hunger Games she’d turn out victorious. She’s smart and athletic. However, I am too, so hopefully that brings me luck in the games.

“Why are you taking so long applying make-up?” Lydia asks. “The only time you do this is when…” Lydia stops. She realizes what day it is today.

“You’re… you’re going to volunteer?” Lydia whispers. I slowly nod my head up and down as my two sisters stare at me in shock.

“I thought you weren’t going to volunteer…” Gloria whispers as well.

“I told you guys I was going to… why is this so unexpected to you?” I demand. “I’ve been going to the academy, what made you think I wasn’t going to volunteer?” Both of my sisters look at me sadly and I immediately feel guilty.

“You know, there is going to be more than one person volunteering for the District 1 female position. I might not get reaped.” I tell them, in hopes of cheering them up. Lydia walks away sadly as if a storm cloud has unleashed over her head. Gloria watches Lydia sadly, and then she turns her head towards me. She glares at me and folds her arms. Finally, she slams the door shut and leaves me alone to apply make-up. I don’t like to fight with my sisters, especially considering the fact that I may no longer see them again. Maybe I should…

I hear the reaping bell chime’s echo flow all over District 1. I’ve got to get there immediately. I look into the mirror, and I look okay. Just okay. That won’t do, I can’t go out like this! I decide to just put on a hoodie, to hide my face from the world. My family and I load up into the car, and my sisters and I are silent the whole way there. The hoodie may have emphasized that I didn’t want to talk to my sisters, when that was technically not true. We all finally make it to the reaping’s, Lydia and I go to the zapper lady while my mother, father, and Gloria head to the section where non-eligible people wait until the reaping’s end. Once the both of us got our fingers zapped, Lydia heads to the 13-year-old girls section while I head over to the 17-year-old girls section. The escort was already on stage, and he finally starts the reaping’s as we find our way to our correspondent sections. The escort didn’t apply any make-up or anything like that, but his clothing appearance is terrible. Is he wearing a dress? I don’t know what he’s wearing, I just can’t tell.

“Welcome, District 1 residents!” The escort shouts. “I am Digby Lance, and I am District 1’s escort!” The crowd continues to applause until Digby signals to silence so he can continue the reaping’s.

“Let’s start off with the female tribute!” Digby announces, as he walks over to the girl’s reaping bowl. My arms start to shake, knowing that I have seconds to figure out what my move will be. Will I not volunteer, to make my sisters happy? Even if I don’t want to volunteer and regret it, I still have next year. However, if I do volunteer and regret it, I can’t take my decision back.

“Angelina Tyyne!” Digby shouts.

“I VOLUNTEER!” I shout along with a bunch of other girls. Too late now. Well, even if I do truly want to volunteer, there is always the chance of not being picked. My thoughts turn against me when Digby looks at me and widens his eyes.

“You!” He shouts. Alright, too late to take anything back now. I walk up the stage and I can hear a bunch of guys whispering, looking at me with awkward looks. I can’t tell if they’re judging my look, or liking it. Either way, this is really creepy. I look towards Digby and he has that exact same expression. Did he pick me because of my appearance? If he does think we could have something, think again. He is probably 10 years older than me. If not, then screw him.

“Alright… what’s your name?” Digby asks me.

“Olivia Winter.” I tell him. I look towards the guys section, still awkward. I look to the girls section, and I see some of my friends. They are smiling, but some of them tell me that they’re forcing it, and don’t want me to leave. I look to the non-eligible residents section and immediately regret it. Lydia is tearing up and Gloria is trying to console her, but she seems upset too. I didn’t realize that they were only trying to prevent me to volunteer because they loved me. I immediately regret my decision to volunteer, but there is no more turning back now.

“Time for the boy’s!” Digby shouts. I turn my head and he is already at the boys reaping bowl pulling out a name.

“Dragoslav Ermino!” Digby announces.

“I VOLUNTEER!” Screams about 50 guys. Digby gazes towards the crowd and finally settles on his decision and points to one of the boys in the 16-year-old section. Although he looks younger, he is taller than me and maybe even fitter. Either way, it doesn’t matter because him and I will be with the careers soon.

“What’s your name?” Digby asks the soon to be known tribute.

“Curtis Pramod.” He replies.

“Wonderful!” Digby says with delight. “Residents of District 1, let’s give a round of applause to our District 1 tributes! Curtis Pramod and Olivia Winter!” After, a bunch of applause follows as Curtis (1) and I are lead to the Justice Building. I wish that the 3 minutes of getting to say good-bye to your loved ones was banned. Not to sound harsh, but I couldn’t control myself after betraying my sisters. My family walks in and my mother and father seem to be okay with me volunteering. After all, I couldn’t have gone to the academy without being enrolled by a parent. However, my sisters aren’t taking it very well.

“Well, you didn’t think you’d get picked.” Gloria starts. “There is always that possibility you know. And here we are, in the Justice Building saying good-bye.”

“I’m sorry.” I say looking down.

“It’s okay; I really just didn’t want you to volunteer because I couldn’t think about not seeing you around the house. Olivia, you have to win. Please, for Lydia and I.”I turn my head towards Lydia, who can’t even look at me. She is swelling with tears and I can’t tell if she’s about to blow or not.

“Time’s up.” A Peacekeeper grunts, as he motions my family out the door. After, the Peacekeeper escorts me to the train station where Curtis (1), Digby, and I all board. The train ride will be an hour or two tops, so I spend the rest of my time in the train applying make-up. I cannot believe the set-up they have. Cabinets and drawers filled with unlimited make-up. I can’t help but try it all on, testing colors I like. I’m starting to get used to being a tribute, until I remember my sisters. I wonder what they’re doing now. They’re my inspiration to do good in these games.

I’ll continue to fight until I come out victorious.

District 2 - Emory Indigo
I wake up to the sound of rain drizzling against my window. The cold climate and the grey sky make it perfect for reaping day. Although I don’t plan on volunteering today, I still want to make an impression. I lay down some clothes I plan to wear for reaping day on my bed and I rush downstairs to the gym. I live in the training academy I enrolled myself in. I ditched my parents and I’ve never seen them ever since I left them. I don’t even remember their names or what they look like. That may sound harsh of me to leave my parents, but they would just hold me back from training. I burst through the doors of the gymnasium and my tutor/trainer, Otto is standing in the middle of the gym.

“I thought you’d be early today.” Otto says, as he grins.

“I’m ready when you are.” I grunt. Hours pass and there are about hundreds of dummies lying down on the floor. I’m just that badass. I toss 3 knives, and each knife finds its way through the neck of a dummy. Each head comes crashing to the floor. After, I pick up an axe and toss it through the air, the axe hurtles through 5 dummies necks, and every dummy falls to the ground. I throw my knife up into the air and gravity brings the knife down onto a dummies head.

“Come on, you can do better than that!” Otto encourages me. Pfft, he’s lying. I’m his best student, I’m better than all his trainees combined. I could probably even be able to kill Otto if I tried. I’m in the middle of my session when I hear a bell ring as if a class had just started. A bunch of people crashed through the gymnasium doors ready to train, until all of them lower their jaws at the sight of all the dummies lying down on the floor disfigured.

“Um…” Otto stutters. “Class is… um canceled. We’ve run out of dummies…” All the students stomp out the door, grumbling and mumbling. They’re probably all mad at me. I don’t’ care, I could take all of them.

“Well then.” Otto says. “We have 3 hours until the reaping’s start. So, do whatever you want.” Alright, I sprint back up the stairs and get dressed. I guess it won’t hurt to show up early today. I take a shower and put on the clothes I had assembled for me earlier. I finally leave for the reaping’s and get there with about 2 hours to spare. I march over to the zapper lady and start daggers at her. Her expression looks like she’d have nightmares for weeks. She zaps my finger and I finally make my way over to the 15-year-old boys section. I recognize a few guys from Otto’s class earlier today. They stare at me awkwardly as the escort comes onto stage. He seems a little more normal for a Capitol person, but he still dressed pretty weird. He applied make-up on his face like the red lipstick, red eyeliner, red contact lenses, and I think he dyed his hair red too. Besides that, he’s just wearing a simple red t-shirt and blue jeans.

“Welcome, District 2!” The escort shouts. “I am Burgundy White and I will be District 2’s escort. When they told me I was chosen to mentor District 2, I was extremely excited, and I hope you guys feel the same!” The crowd cheers and applauds as Burgundy continues the reaping’s.

“Now, let’s pick our tributes from District 2, ladies first!” Burgundy walks over to the girls reaping bowl and pulls out a slip. “Sandra Malvina!”

“I VOLUNTEER!” Screams about 50 girls in the audience. Burgundy looks over to the older aged group sections and he points towards a girl. She looks ferocious, maybe this will be District 2’s victor this year.

“What’s your name, dear?” Burgundy asks.

“My name is Hedena Fleurette and you are looking at the first victor of the grand opening of the hunger games!” The crowd goes crazy with applause and cheering.

“Wonderful!” Burgundy shouts with glee. “Now for the boys!” Burgundy trots over to the boys reaping bowl and pulls out a name.

“Emory Indigo!” He shouts. YES!

<“I VOLUNTEER!” I shout along with a bunch of other guys, and I make my way up the stage without being chosen by Burgundy. Maybe I should explain myself. There is a new rule in the Hunger Games, where if your name is called from the reaping bowl and you volunteer, you automatically make it as the tribute in the Hunger Games. Since my name was called and I volunteered, I’m automatically the District 2 male! I don’t really want to wait 3 more years to volunteer just to be chosen over some 12 year old loser. I run up to the stage, when a guy from behind me pushes me. I don’t fall, but he runs in front of me. He is about a foot taller than me, but I know I can take him.

“I’m assuming you’re Emory Indigo?” Burgundy asks the bitch.

“Yup.” The guy lies.

“NO!” I shout. I push over “Emory Indigo” and pin him on the ground. I’m a foot smaller than him, but I’m still stronger than him. I punch him in the jaw, and I don’t hold back. I’ve already given him a black eye and a bleeding nose. Just as I’m going to give him a fatal blow to the neck, I feel 4 Peacekeepers picking me up and throwing me off of him.

“What are you DOING?!” Yells a Peacekeeper. Those Peacekeepers know me, because I sort of get into fights a lot and get into legal trouble. They have to believe me when I tell the truth.

“That fag is pretending he’s someone he’s not!” I shout at the top of my lungs. “No matter how much you want to disagree with me, I AM Emory Indigo, and I can easily charge that criminal with Identity Theft!” The Peacekeepers look at me confused. There is a short delay of the games to figure out who was who. Instead of arresting that loser, he’s just sent back into the audience while I am crowned District 2’s male tribute.

“Well, sorry for the delay everyone!” Burgundy says, a little embarrassed with how things turned out. “But we have our District 2 tributes, Emory Indigo, and Hedena Fleurette!” The crowd goes crazy, more excited than before. I guess that fight got the crowd pumped up for the upcoming Hunger Games. I’m not going to let them down; they’re going to see a fight they’ll never forget. Hedena (2) and I are ushered into the Justice Building where I sit down in a room. I wasn’t expecting visitors, but Otto comes in any way to congratulate me.

“That was some fight you pulled there!” Otto chuckles. “I didn’t know you were going to volunteer today!”

“I wasn’t, but when the escort called my name out, I thought that was my chance."

“Well it sure is, but there is still so much to learn!” My eyes widen.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Have you ever thought about taking plant identification courses, or at least knot tying?” No. I haven’t thought about that. Maybe I’m not prepared for these games. Wait, what am I saying? Yes I am. I just took down a 6 foot tall guy, I can do this.

“I’m still even more than prepared. If I make the games quick, then I won’t need to use those skills.” I tell him.

“For your sake I hope you do.” Otto says, still concerned.

“Time’s up.” A Peacekeeper grunts. The Peacekeeper drags Otto out of the room while he forcefully pushes me into the train, where Hedena (2) and Burgundy were already waiting for me. The train finally takes off and I have a few hours to kill before we reach the Capitol. I can’t wait for these games, my heart beats with adrenaline just thinking about it.

District 2 is going to have its first victor in the grand reopening of the Hunger Games.</

And that person is me.

District 3 - Brooklyn Spirit
“Where’s daddy?” My sister, Candace asks me.

“I’m sorry, he’s gone to work early.” I reply.

“Oh….” A tear runs down her cheek. The most horrible day of the year and our father is gone when we need him most. Today is a very depressing day. Why? It’s reaping day. I’m not too sure why Candace is worried, because she is only 7 and not eligible to be reaped. On the other hand, this is my first year of eligibility. Although I’m only 12, I’m like the mother of the household. Or at least, I was.

“Let’s go to the orphanage, Candace.” I tell her.

“No!” She whines. “I don’t want to go there!”

“Don’t worry, it’s not like we’re up for adoption. We just go there for the day when dad’s not at home.” Candace and I walk over to the orphanage and believe me when I say it isn’t a suitable home. Candace and I have made it better by ourselves, but we are still residing here for the afternoon. I go into a room where I sit down on my bed. This is not how I thought I would spend my birthday; sitting in a room alone waiting to attend reaping day later. Candace walks into the room I’m in and sits next to me.

“We’ll see dad later today.” I tell Candace, trying to cheer her up. She nods her head, but she still tilted her head down in misery. I look out the window where I can see children running around playing outside. Some of them are looking right at me. I guess it’s a sudden move from turning from the girl nobody liked into the president’s daughter. The only reason the bullying had stopped is because the perpetrators got worried they could be arrested, which really isn’t true. With the power I presumably have, which I don’t even made me a bit popular, but most of the people that tried to be my friend only wanted me for power. I was foolish in believing they actually respected me. Candace is in a similar situation like me, except she isn’t taking it well.

“I want to go home..” Candace mumbles.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be home soon.” I say, trying to cheer her up. All of a sudden, the door creaks open and an unexpected visitor arrives.

“Dad!” Candace yells with joy, as she runs up to him and hugs him tight.

“Hi, Candace.” My father, Phillip says with a smile.

“Hi! What are you doing here?” I ask curiously.

“I was just about to go to the reaping’s, and I wanted to bring you two with me.” My dad answers, and Candace’s head is nodding vigorously. “I’ll also be home early today, so I can get some time with you guys.” Candace’s grin lights up the room.

“Sounds great!” I say, happily. “Let’s go to the reaping’s.” This isn’t totally bad for my first reaping’s. I get to see my father! Hopefully everything continues to stay the same. Candace, my father, and I walk out of the orphanage and hop into a limo. In no time at all, we all make it to the reaping’s. Candace and my father wait for me as two Peacekeepers escort me to the zapper lady. From there on, I go to the 12 year old girls section, and Candace follows dad backstage. The reaping’s start, but the escort doesn’t walk up onto stage. Where is she? Two peacekeepers go backstage to find her, and after a while they finally find the escort. She was late for the reaping’s because she was busy putting on makeup and getting dressed, why didn’t she do all that stuff before? Our escort is absolutely caked with makeup. Her face has about 50 coats of white lipstick, eyeliner, blush, and skin. She has flowing black hair and black eyes. She is wearing a long black dress and she even has tentacles extending from her dress too. She pretty much disguised herself as Slender Man.

“Hello everyone.” She says. Wow, deep voice. Now I can’t tell if it’s a male or female. “My name is Ladislava Krysten and I will be District 3’s escort for the next 25 years.” This escort has about as much emotion as a slug.

“To start of the reaping’s, I will draw a slip containing a female’s name from the girls reaping bowl.” Ladislava walks over to the girls reaping bowl and pulls a slip out.

“Brooklyn Spirit.” She says. Oh no. Two Peacekeepers rush down the stage and stand next to me. I am escorted up the stairs and plant my feet on the stage. The audience is negatively responding to my drawing, letting out gasps and boos. My dad starts to cry, and I think I can hear Candace crying from backstage. Candace runs onto stage and she runs into my arms, where I try to comfort her as much as I can. Two Peacekeepers come and escort Candace backstage once more as Ladislava continues the reaping’s.

“How exciting.” She says, though there is still no happiness in her tone. “Now let’s draw a boy tribute from the reaping bowl.” Ladislava struts over towards the boys reaping bowl and pulls out a slip.

“Clifton Hamza.” Ladislava announces. Another boy with red hair walks up to the stage. He is sniffling a bit, but quickly rubs away his tears and mounts his feet onto the stage.

“Yay.” Ladislava says. This girl is really starting to annoy me. “District 3, let’s give a round of applause to our two representatives; Clifton Hamza and Brooklyn Spirit.” The audience starts to boo, and Peacekeepers quickly usher us to the Justice Building. As I exit, I catch sight to the crowd, who is quickly filing out. I remain in a cold room alone, as I await visitors. Not to my surprise, my father and Candace rush into the room. Candace doesn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around me. Her tears are uncontrollable and they’re rushing down her face. My father isn’t putting up with the stress very well either, letting out a few tears too.

“Brooklyn you got to win. You have to!” Candace moans.

“I promise, I’ll try my best.” I say, though I know I’m pretty much a goner.

“Brooklyn, I was supposed to give this to you later this evening, but now seems like the right time.” My father says, trying to hold back the tears. He holds out his hand, revealing a necklace. It’s a very simple necklace, some thread and a single charm attached to it. The charm resembles a golden star. He hands it to me and I wrap it around my neck. I let out a smile.

“Thank you.” I tell my father. I hug my father one last time until a Peacekeeper comes in.

“I’m sorry, but time is up.” A Peacekeeper says sadly. My family exits the Justice Building and so do I. Clifton (3) and I exit the plaza, shocked to see what happened. What was an orderly placed was now ruined with vandalism, destruction, and mayhem. The crowds of people were gone, but they left behind a reminder that will never be forgotten.

“Oh no…” Clifton (3) whispers. He points out into the distance where smoke rises into the air. The Peacekeepers hurry us to the train station where we all board the train, not wanting us to be affected by the riot. I sit down at the dining table with Clifton and Ladislava, where a meal is being served to us. Although I was once hungry, my appetite has been driven away. I can’t imagine what horrible things are happening in District 3 right now, or worse. My father and Candace. I hope for their sake that they’re okay.

District 4 - Duncan Grier
“Good morning!” My mother, Marissa says with a smile. Don’t be fooled by this attitude, she’s usually more uptight than this. I’m surprised she’s in a good mood. “Do you know what day it is?”

“Not really…” I reply confused.

“It’s Reaping Day!” She beams. My heart sinks. Now I know why she’s in such a good mood. She wants me to volunteer for Reaping Day. I don’t, I’m actually sane. However, my mother has different plans for my brothers and I.

“Let’s get some last minute training before the big day!” She says excitedly.

“I just woke up… mom.” I say between yawns.

“I don’t care.” She snarls. “This is the last time you’ll be able to. You can eat on the train to the Capitol, now let’s go!” I sort of have no choice. My family drives to the training center where my parents force me and my younger brother, Blake, to train for the Hunger Games. Blake is lucky, he still have two years to live. Deandre, my other brother couldn’t be happier. Two years ago, he was forced to volunteer. Luckily, two other guys did too. One of them was chosen over him. I hope this is the case for me too, even if it does mean to be punished after, even if it wasn’t my fault.

“You’re not trying hard enough!” My dad, Bryce shouts from across the gym.

“I want to see you two sweating!” My mother yells. I give them a glare and get back to beheading a dummy. If I’m going to be forced to do this, I may as well try and learn something. I’ve already perfected this skill, yet I continue practicing it for a year. This will be my down fall; my parents are too blind to notice.

“The reaping’s are soon!” My dad yells. “You’ve accomplished nearly nothing!” Who’s to blame, dad? I wish I could learn something else, or do something I want to do. My mother’s watch starts to beep.

“Well that’s it for today. Come on guys, we’re going to the reaping’s!” I make my way to the change rooms and get the dress clothes I brought with me. We load into the car and we’re driven to the reaping’s, where my mother and father lecture me on what to do. We arrive to the reaping’s. Blake and I get our fingers pricked and we go to the boys section, filling into our age groups.

“Good luck.” Blake says before we separate. I don’t want to volunteer, but I’d probably get an even worse punishment. A punishment good enough to arrest for child abuse. The escort walks onto the stage and adjusts the microphone. The escort has long hair, although he’s a male. He has a long mustache and beard, almost like he’s never seen a barber. That can’t be true, because his hair is straight and even. His hair is all white, while his skin is a dark black. I know it’s not his natural hair or skin because he looks about 20 years old, his hair couldn’t be turning grey now. His eyes are blue, they look remotely unchanged. I can tell he hasn’t dyed his hair in a while, because I can see some blond hair growing in.

“Greetings to the residents of District 4! Welcome to the grand reopening of this year’s 1st annual Hunger Games! My name is Davin Emmett and I will be your escort until the next quell!” The crowd starts cheering; they seem pumped up for this year.

“Now, let’s get to the reaping’s! As usual, let’s start off with the girls.” Davin walks to the girls Reaping bowl and pulls out a slip.

“Adriana Sasithorn!” He yells

“I volunteer!” Screams about 5 other girls. Davin’s eyes monitor the volunteers and he point to one girl near the middle of the pack. The girl smiles and starts to walk up the stage.

“Let’s give a hand for District 4’s very first female volunteer! What’s your name?” He asks

“Danica Dee.” The girl says.

“Let’s give a round of applause for Danica Dee, the female tribute of District 4!” The crowd gives applause; I think I can see her parents. They’re clapping, but they don’t seem too thrilled about her volunteering. If I were their parents, I’d probably have a choice. I wish I was, and then I wouldn’t be in this position.

“Now for the boys!” Davin announces. I start to shake. I don’t want to volunteer, but I have no choice. I don’t want to die, but I’m going to die, soon. “Mangus Riley!” I have no choice.

“I volunteer!” I shout along with a few other guys. Davin looks around at the volunteers. Please don’t pick me. Please don’t pick me. Please don’t pick me. Please don’t pick me. Please don’t pick me.

“You!” He says, and he points to my direction. He picked me! I try to look happy, but it’s tough. If I were to rat out my parents, I’d be in even more trouble.

“What’s your name?” He asks me.

“Duncan Grier.” I struggle to put out.

“Ladies and Gentleman, let’s give a round of applause for the first male volunteer from District 4, Duncan Grier!” There is polite applause, but no one was applauding as much as my parents. They’re hooting, whistling and clapping. Danica (4) and I shake hands as we all go into the Justice Building. I am put in my room to wait for visitors. Not a surprise, my parents come in to visit me.

“That’s my son!” My father shouts, wrapping his arms around me. He’s only saying that because I got picked.

“I’m so happy for you!” My mother says, shedding a tear.

“If you’re going to win,” My father cuts in. “You’re going to have to make the right decisions.

My parents lecture me for the remainder of the period what and what not to do during the Hunger Games. Although it’s only 3 minutes, it feels like an hour.

“Times up.” Says a Peacekeeper, who escorts my parents out of here. Finally, I think. Deandre and Blake visit me after. I’m glad they’re here; they’re the only people I certain I love as a brother.

“I’m sorry this happened to you, if only you had the luck I did.” Deandre says, while frowning.

“I was hoping that you’d not make it.” My brother, Blake says between sniffles.

“Well it doesn’t help our parents make us apply for tesserae.” They do that so we’ll have a higher chance of getting picked. If we volunteer after, we automatically get the spot. All of us sit down in silence for a while, soaking up the last few moments we see each other.

“Times up.” Grunts another Peacekeeper, who drags my two brothers away. I get up and exit the Justice Building with Danica (4). We both aboard the train as we’re abducted to the Capitol.

“You’re going to LOVE the Capitol!” Davin says in excitement. “They have everything! Once we get there, the stylists will edit your horrible outfits!” The both of us glare at Davin in disgust. He’s one to talk.

“After,” He says between breaths. “You can do whatever you want. Just be prepared for the Group Training that will be later tomorrow. We’ve taken out the Chariots, so we’ll just skip right to Group Training!” That’s odd. I thought the Capitol loved the Chariots. Oh well, not like I would’ve wanted to do it anyway. Davin rambles about more things I couldn’t possible care less about while me and Danica (4) just stare at him. This is possibly the worst escort ever.

District 5 - Chrissie Seyong
I'm listening to the radio in my room, trying to make the best out of this gloomy day. Today is the reaping's, one of the worst times of the year. I try to make it my best, until it gets even worse. My mother, Shannon walks into my room.

"Hi, honey! We're going to have the Haydn's over tonight for dinner after the reaping's!" She says. I freeze. This isn't good news.

"Why? I hate Cyrus! I never liked him! Why do you keep on inviting his family over, it disgusts me!" I shout.

"Honey, you may not like him but the rest of our family does! Jermaine is a great friend of mine and you know that Vivian is very well Horace's best friend!"

"I don't care! Cyrus and I are not friends! This is unfair!"

"Well you just have to put up with it. They're over often as well as us going to their place. You're going to have to get used to it eventually. You and Cyrus have lots in common; maybe you two could become great friends!" I start laughing my head off. Cyrus and I? Friends? Never. We're bitter adversaries and that's how I like it. My mother walks out of the room to while I calm myself down. I still have lots of time until the reaping's, so I may as well enjoy the rest of the day. I walk out of the house and take a refreshing walk in a nearby park. The weather is always great here; it's one of the reasons why I do like District 5. I'm interrupted in my thoughts when I sense the presence of "Him".

"Hey, loser." Cyrus says. I hate him. What is he doing here?

"Leave. I'm trying to enjoy myself and you're ruining it." I say calmly

"That's exactly what I was doing! You can't tell me what to do, why don't you just run off and leave me in peace."

"Oh come on! Are you still jealous that I beat you in that race during Track and Field?"

"Tsk, jealous of you? No. I am faster than you! You just got lucky."

"Come on, admit it. You don't know the power I have."

"This is stupid! I'm leaving!" Cyrus storms out of here, for god sakes he argues about the silliest things. I storm off and return home. I enter my room and slam the door. Why does he always have to interfere with everything? The reaping's are soon, so I get ready in my best outfit and go to our family living room where my mother and brother are dressed up.

"Why do I have to attend, mom? Asks my brother, Horace.

"I've told you already, it's mandatory to show up at the reaping's." My mother answers, calmly.

"That's dumb!"

"There's no use in complaining, and this event is only once a year. Come on now, the reaping's are soon." It's funny, my mother is very mature, and her children are everything but that. Well, excluding me that is. The three of us walk to the plaza where the reaping's are. I get my finger pricked and I stand in the girls section. I see my friends, and start to talk to them until I'm interrupted when the escort walks onto stage. She has purple and black hair, with purple eye liner. We actually look a lot like each other, except I have red highlights while she has purple highlights.

"Welcome to the reaping's! I am your new escort, Dianna Noelle. I am happy to get District 5, I'm certain our winner is here!" She beams. She waits for applause, but as usual the crowd is silent. Dianna frowns and continues. "Well, I tried making this exciting. Anyway, time to announce our female tribute!" She walks over to the girls reaping bowl and picks out a slip. My names only on a couple of those slips because I don't take tesserae. However, that's the same with most of the other kids' eligible for the lottery, so I'm a bit nervous.

"Chrissie Seyong!" She announces. That's me. This can't be happening. I walk up the stage with an expressionless face; I can't show emotion now, at a time like this. I look at my mother and my brother. My brother is having a total melt down and my mother is trying to hide her emotions and calm him down. What really makes me mad is Cyrus. I move my eyes towards him and he's laughing his head off. I hate him. I try to hold back my tears as I plant my feet onto the stage.

"Now for the boys!" Dianna says. You can barely hear what she said over my brothers crying. She walks over to the boys reaping bowl and pulls out a slip.

"Cyrus Haydn!" Dianna shouts. Cyrus' victory dance turned into shock. I return the laughs to him as he walks onto stage. Isn't that karma for you? Cyrus' sister is now starting a melt down at the sight of him being drawn. I hate to see her cry; although I do hate Cyrus his sister is really nice. He is nothing like her.

"How exciting!" Dianna states.

"Put a sock in it." We both say simultaneously. We both glare at each other.

"Well we have some party-poppers here now don't we? I'd like to announce the tributes of District 5! Cyrus Haydn and Chrissie Seyong!" The crowd stays silent. Dianna tries to make us shake hands, but we don't dare. A group of Peacekeepers led me to the Justice Building. My family comes to visit immediately. My brother runs up to me and hugs me tightly.

"Please try and win. Will you? Pretty please?" My brother says between sniffles.

"I promise, I will try my best. I won't let you down." I reply. My mother is having trouble hiding her emotions. I can see it in her eyes.

"I'm sorry about this honey." She says. "This is my fault." I look at her.

"Of course is isn't your fault." I tell her. "You can't give up on me yet, I might come back you know." I say with a smile. She struggles to return the smile back.

"If I don't win, you're not to take any tesserae. Understood, Horance?" He may not be eligible for the Hunger Games now, but next year he is turning 12.

"Okay... just promise you'll not die. I can't imagine life without you. Will you try?" He asks.

"You have my word." I shed a tear. I can't fail him now.

"Time's up." A Peacekeeper announces.

"NO!" My brother shouts. He tries to resist but the Peacekeeper drags him away. This reminds me of Katniss' reaping's, well except I didn't volunteer for my brother. I am lead out of the Justice Building with Cyrus (5). We both enter the train. We both stare at each other for a while until Cyrus (5) speaks up.

"If anyone is going to kill you, it will be me." He states.

"You wish." I say.

"Now stop it, you guys. If you were to ally, it could mean the difference between life and death!" Our escort pipes in. Ally with him? Never. If I were to, I'd probably kill him in his sleep. We all remain silent for the rest of the train ride anticipating what could be our last days in Panem.

District 6 - Silvio Crawford
My dreams are to come true today. I don’t care if I’m from District 6; I am born to be a career. I’ve been training for the Hunger Games ever since I was little. I had no training academy to go to, but I improvise. I made a mace from carving a log, and I practice with it. I guess I’m not going to do as well with an actual mace in the actual games, but I’m still going to be pretty god damn good. I’m even better with throwing knives; how else would I have carved a mace? Normal kitchen knives are useful. I know about 50 ways to kill someone with a knife, though I don’t have the dummies to practice with. That’s why I hunt. Although I don’t need the food, I just sell it. Although it’s extremely illegal, I don’t care. I’ve never been caught. I’m daydreaming in my bedroom, thinking about the Hunger Games and then I look outside. It looks like it’s the afternoon by now. I should probably train. My parents don’t know I’m doing this and neither does my brother. Do you know how much they’d freak if I found out?

I grab a knife under my mattress and I sneak out of the house. Creeping under the electric fence is easy, although District 6 is decent in wealth, those capitol goons still don’t bother to repair the fence. I easily slip under the fence and head to a bush where I keep my wooden mace. I look to my side and catch sight with a rabbit sipping from a little puddle. I camouflage myself behind a bush and attack the rabbit. Its remains are caught on the spikes of my mace. I prepare the rabbit for selling and I head over to a secret black market. Don’t ask me why an 18-year-old is hanging out in a black market, I like it. I’m not too sure what kind of person in District 6 would buy my rabbits when they could by quality meat from a butcher, but it happens every once and a while. I receive money from my recent stock at the black market and I head home where my family has been eagerly waiting for me.

“Where were you all day?” Asks my brother, Preston.

“Umm… at a friends house.” I reply. For some reason, he always believes this. I should probably change my excuse, but if it isn’t broken why fix it? Besides, this is my last time I will use this excuse before I go to the games.

“Alright then. Anyway, you have to get dressed for the reaping’s. I left you a set of clothes upstairs, go put them on.” My mother commands me. I listen and rush up to my bedroom. What waits in my room is a suit and tie along with a pair of jeans. It’s a bit formal, but really what I’m about to surprise my parents with isn’t going to be a good thing. I may as well not have another reason for them to be mad at me. I put on the clothes prepared for me and I return downstairs where I walk to the plaza with my parents. My brother and I get our fingers pricked and we both go to our age and gender categories. Later, our escort arrives onto the stage. He looks like your typical capitol resident. He has light blue skin and dark blue eyeliner. He has black eyes and black hair. He seems to be wearing a long sleeved shirt consisting of black, blue, red, and green colors. The same thing goes for his jeans. For some reason, I’m not too annoyed by him unlike the other escorts from the Capitol.

“Welcome, everyone!” The escort pipes in. Wow, he has a very high voice. “My name is Gary Radclyffe and I am your escort!” The audience stays silent, irritating Gary.

“Well, let’s get to the female tribute!” He skips over to the girls reaping bowl and pulls out a slip. “Elmira Bilijana!”

“I VOLUNTEER!” Screams a girl. She rushes up to the stage and about everyone is looking awkwardly at her. I can hear a breakdown in the non-eligible section. I’m assuming that’s her parents, did they know about this? Now that I have a good look at her, I’ve seen her before. Her name is Silvia, and I’ve seen her frequently at the black market. We’ve a lot in common and look a lot alike. Some people mistook us as brother and sister.

“Wonderful! What’s your name, dear?” Gary asks Silvia.

“Silvia Coscette.” Silvia (6) answers.

“Fantastic!” Gary sings. “Now, for the boys!” Gary hops towards the boys reaping bowl and I’m preparing to volunteer. Gary pulls out a slip and clears his throat.

“Rudolf Servaas!” Gary shouts.

“I VOLUNTEER!” I shout. I run up to the stage and everyone is staring at me with similar faces they gave to Silvia (6). My parents are sad as well, but their tears are drowning from the cry of my brother.

“Wow, two volunteers! I wish District 6 was always this active with the Hunger Games!” Gary says, eagerly excited to have two good tributes.” He gets a good sight of me and widens his eyes. I’m not too sure what he’s trying to show, but whatever.

“What’s your name, hon?” Gary asks.

“Silvio Crawford.” I answer.

“Wow, you two look a lot alike!” Gary exclaims. “Ladies and gentlemen, let’s welcome our tributes from District 6, Silvio Crawford and Silvia Coscette!” The crowd still remains silent as Peacekeepers escort Silvia (6) and me to the Justice Building. I sit down in a couch, alone in the room. I’m not anticipating what my parents and brother will say about me. I know it won’t be good. My parents burst into the room and I’m not too sure what I’m going to tell him.

“WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?” My father yells at me.

“Uhh… I volunteered to save my friend?” I say, in an unconvincing tone. I can tell they’re not buying it.

“I want to hear the truth.” My mom says.

“Okay fine. I’ve been training for the Hunger Games for a while now. I’ve never been at my friend’s house. I’ve actually been training, and you can yell at me now.” I say, ready to embrace the impact.

“Why would you take part in something so FOOLISH?” My dad shouts, until my mother stops him.

“We may not be happy with this decision, but Silvio you should’ve told us anyway. We probably would’ve been less mad and less worries.” My mom says, in a sweeter tone. “We probably would’ve disapproved but we don’t have the right to keep you from doing so.”

“What do you mean?” My dad continues to yell. His yelling drains away from my mind when I look towards the corner and see Preston literally drowning in tears. I wonder if Silvia (6) is going through the same thing. Looking into Preston’s eyes makes me feel guilty about my decision. However, I’m still determined to become a victor of the Hunger Games. I mean, if I do come back my parents couldn’t be anything but happy I’m back. Also, they’d live a life of luxury with me; they couldn’t stay mad at me forever. Even if I do die, I don’t need to face the stress of the impact. However, I don’t plan to die. I plan to win.

“Time’s up.” A Peacekeeper says harshly. He instructs my parents and brother to leave and they’re forced to do so. I exit the Justice Building with the Peacekeeper by my side as Silvia (6), Gary, and I board the train. A feast is being served for the three of us. Silvia (6) and I are eating away at our feast, not tasting anything like it before, but I can’t concentrate or think because Gary is staring at me weirdly. What’s his problem? I look away from Gary as I start to think what my parents are doing back home. I can’t forget my brother’s face at the Justice Building; I can’t take it out of my mind. I hope that he’s okay.

District 7 - Phrixos Bacchus
I’m in my cave, which I’ve assembled into a working area. Being outside in the forests of District 7, this is illegal, though I don’t care. I’m nearly done my latest potion and most negatively effective potion too. I exit my cave and venture out deeper into the woods. I’ve ventured out here for the majority of my life; I know these woods extremely well. I’m collecting mandrake roots and rhododendron plants, combining them together who knows what they could do to a living being. I pull out the roots of each plant and travel back to my little dwelling. I mash up the plants and mix the two of them with water, with the other ingredients I assembled yesterday; I won’t be surprised if this kills someone. This may sound cruel, which it is, but I would do anything to have this tested. Though I’m smart enough to know that I’d be punishable by law, but I really want to test it. The question is… how will I do it? I write down the recipe for this potion down and place it on a counter, which I carved out of rocks with my sickle. I’m not too sure how I did it, but I did. Truly satisfied with my progress, I organize and put away my equipment and walk back to the fences of District 7 and returning to my home. If you’re wondering, yes I am not homeless. However, I just want time to stay away from everyone. Even if I were homeless, I’d still need to come back to District 7 for the annual reaping’s. I return home and I am welcomed with my parents at the door, wearing huge smiles.

“Why are you so happy?” I ask them.

“Today is the reaping’s!” My father, Philander replies with joy.

“Um… okay. How is that anyway to be excited about? I retort, a little concerned.

“It isn’t, but we thought after the reaping’s we could do something special. Just the three of us, as a family!” My mother, Pandora answers equally as happy. Ugh, no thanks.

“Um… sorry. I have to go straight to work after.” I say quickly. I use this excuse all the time; although it doesn’t work it still does the job decently. My parents frowned.

“You were working all day! In fact, we don’t even seem to ever see you in District 7!” My father says, his voice is rising to a shout.

“We never see you.” My mother says, much more calmly. “I think we should do something, to make our family relationship stronger.” This will be hard to make an excuse. As if god had made my wish come true, the second reaping bell sounded signaling the reaping’s going to start. The conversation ends quickly as we all rush to the reaping’s. We all make it as the escort walks up to stage. She has flowing brown hair and brown eyes, but it stops there. Her dress has an array of colors, representing the rainbow. The same thing follows for the hairband and gloves. Her skin is the shade of sky blue with imprints of white here and there. I think her skin is representing the sky and her clothes are representing the rainbow. Overall a silly fashion choice.

“Greetings!” The escort shouts. She is projecting her voice so it’s extremely loud. Everyone is cupping their ears; it seems I’m not the only person that thinks she’s loud.

“Oops, sorry!” She says, with sorrow. She gives the microphone to a Peacekeeper who rushes it off the stage and continues to talk. I’m finally at the front of the line as the zapper lady pricks my finger, while looking at me with a dirty look. I hurry to my gender and age category just in time as she is about to announce the girl tribute from District 7.

“And the tribute is….” she unfolds the slip of paper and announces the name to the crowd. “Casablanca Cyrellia!” She announces. A girl breaks down into tears; I’m assuming that’s her. Another girl, who looks exactly like Casablanca rushes to her and hugs her tight.

“I VOLUNTEER!” She shouts! The whole audience is showing respect for the girl who volunteered for Casablanca. Casablanca looked like she was 12, I’m not too sure if she’d survive in the games for too long. The crowd cheers as the girl who volunteered runs up to the stage.

“Wonderful! That was much heartwarming!” The escort says, already picking favorites. “What’s your name, dear?”

“Camellia Cyrellia.” The girl states.

“Oooh! So that must’ve been your sister!” The escort says, shocked. Thank you, captain obvious. “This reminds me of Katniss Everdeen’s games! Maybe District 7 will have a victor!” Camellia (7) responds with a smile as the escort announces Camellia’s (7) name once more to the audience. I’m surprised District 7 is so pumped up for the Hunger Games, or maybe they’re just showing respect for Camellia (7).

“Now, let’s move on. Time to choose the boy tribute representing District 7!” the escort states as she walks to the boys reaping bowl and pulls out a slip.

“And the tribute is…” she unfolds the slip of paper and announces the name the crowd. “Phrixos Bacchus!” There was no applause. District 7 barely even knew me, and it’s time they found out. I’m a tribute? Oh well. I don’t really care. I walk up the stage, and people stare at me strangely. I guess wearing a black robe and hood doesn’t exactly make me unnoticeable.

“Lovely!” The escort says, trying to improve the mood. “Ladies and gentlemen, our tributes from District 7! Camellia Cyrellia and Phrixos Bacchus!” There is slight applause, probably towards Camellia (7).

“Oops, I almost forgot! My name is Gylda Györgyi and I am your escort! Sorry I must’ve been distracted while I handed my microphone away!” she says blushing. “Have a nice afternoon, everyone!” Everyone exits the reaping's in lines as Camellia (7) and I are conducted to the Justice Building. Camellia made an amazing standout, well now that I think about it, if Katniss was from District 7, or at least a wealthier district she’d get praised too. I’m left alone in a room as my only two visitors come in. It’s my parents. They’re crying uncontrollably, now I regret ignoring them for the past years. All they wanted was to spend time with me, and now they can’t. The weird part is they can’t stop crying. For around 3 minutes, my parents sit on both sides of me as I just sit there awkwardly trying to cheer them up.

“I promise I’ll come back. I’ll try my best.” I say, trying to console them. It doesn’t work. They’re still crying and I decide I’ve done my part. I just sit there with a blank expression on my face until a Peacekeeper enters the room.

“Times up.” He says, harshly. My parents get up and walk away, while crying. That was weird and it made me feel even worse about myself. I haven’t realized what a horrible jerk I was towards my parents. I’m determined to win now. I know I have no more visitors, so I exit the Justice Building and wait for Camellia (7) with a bunch of Peacekeepers. She has many visitors, and I mean many. Maybe she was just liked beforehand and got applause by the people she cared about. About 15 minutes later, she finally exits and we are escorted onto the train. Our escort, Gylda is being really supportive. Since we don’t have a mentor, she is acting like one. Gylda lectures us on what to do in these games and I listen. Some of these tips I would never consider, but they’re brilliant. Camellia (7) is just wandering off into daze, probably thinking about her friends and family back home. It’s her loss. This cycle continues until we finally think we should get some rest. I can’t wait till tomorrow and until the games, where I can test my potions on other tributes. The best part is, if my enemies end up dying I won't get arrested. Maybe this could be a good thing...

District 8 - Theo Clair
I creep through the forest floor, spying on my prey. There is a deer, sleeping near a little body of water. I throw my knife in its eye and it makes no sound. I run to retrieve my knife from the body and call it quits for today. It's the first deer I've seen this month, I'm glad I got a clear shot at it. I rush home to where I can see my mother knit on the porch, well at least my foster mother. Izzy's helped me communicate in sign language, though I can still hear it's a challenge to go through. I'm not too sure why I'm still hunting in the woods, anything could sneak up on me with ease and I most likely couldn't hear it.

The reason why I'm so hard of hearing is because of the accident. I used to live in District 13. However my parents abandoned me, I don't even remember what they look like. I made a living hunting in the forest and stealing from the wealthy in District 13. I guess I got careless one day because I lost the knife I hunt with. I couldn't remember where I left it, so I went to a factory to steal one. The factory was high security, so I was lucky to nearly escape. However a Peacekeeper caught me and took me in for torturing. During the process I lost most of my hearing in both ears, which was a pain. One day, I was able to escape with my life. There was a bounty under my name with a reward for my capture, but they'll never find me in District 13. I fled to District 8, hopefully far enough so they won't catch me. No one recognized me in District 8, so that was good. I was quickly adopted by Izzy who is now my foster mother. Her daughter, Esther helped me learn sign language so we could all communicate better. We now all get along well and everything is fine.

I enter the house until my mom stops me.

"I have a gift for you." She starts making motions with her hands with a smile. Since I can't hear very well, she speaks in sign language to me. I'll tell you what she says as if I were speaking to her. She hands be a black and white scarf. Although it was handmade, it was high quality for a scarf in District 8.

"Wow, thanks!" I reply. I put it around my neck, it's a perfect fit and it matches my shirt. I think I'll wear this to the reaping's today. My new family is defiantly a lot more generous than my old family back in District 13. I wonder what happened to them.

"By the way, the reaping's are soon! You should get ready."

"I will!" I run up the stairs and get dressed. I return back to the front porch where my sister and mother are ready.

"You look great." Says my sister, Esther, with a smile. She is also using sign language, since she is deaf.

"Thanks, you do too." I reply back. I'm so happy to have the family I have now. Maybe it was a sign of being tortured; it gave me a chance to relive a new life. I walk to the plaza with my sister and mother. I get my finger zapped while we all go to our respective sections. I look over to my mother and sister and they look back and smile. Everything is going to be fine. On que, the escort comes on stage and speaks into the microphone. Nothing about him looks like he was from the Capitol. He looked remarkably wealthy. He was wearing a dress shirt topped with a tie along with jeans. Maybe this escort won't be totally horrible. I can't hear a thing what he says. I wish I wasn't so hard in hearing. The crowd is applauding a bit; he must be making it quick for us unlike most inconsiderate escorts. He walks to the girls reaping bowl and speaks into the microphone. I can't hear him, but I can hear a girl crying. If I can hear it, she must be in a lot of pain. She walks up to stage and the escort consoles her. Eventually, she's able to hold back her emotions and he walks over to the boys reaping bowl. He announces the name and I wait for a boy to walk up, but no one steps up. Another boy, standing next to me nudges me and I start to have a bad feeling. I look over to my sister and shrug. My mother tells my sister what happened and she tells me.

"You were reaped as the District 8 male." My sister says. My heart sinks. Everything good that's happened to me in District 8 tumbled. I remember in District 13, we didn't need to worry about being reaped. Though, because of a new era in the games they are being reaped. I walk up the stage. The escort is talking to me, but I can't hear a word he's saying. My mother shouts all the way from her section that I can hear her.

"He can't hear very well." She says. The escort looks in shock. He is talking to my mother about something, and then he turns to a Peacekeeper. He then announces to the microphone. I'm assuming he's introducing us one last time. Then the Peacekeeper starts talking in sign language.

"Shake her hand." He says. Phew, at least I'll have somewhat a voice in these games. I shake the female tribute counterpart of me and we are both escorted to the Justice Building. My mother and sister come to console me. They continue to tell me what to do during these games. However, they aren't given very long because I delayed the reaping's since I couldn't hear. The Peacekeeper summons my family and they exit the room. Before leaving, my sister tells me something.

"Good luck" she says in sign language. I want to return to my family. They care about me so much; life was just so great with them. I exit the Justice Building and I'm following a Peacekeeper to the train station. The Peacekeeper starts talking to me.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" He says using hand movements. Oh no. I recognize him, very well. He is the Peacekeeper that caught me robbing from that knife factory. I shake my head no.

"You look very familiar, like a thief I caught in my old district I used to be in." he states. No doubt about it, it's him. We board the train station and the District 8 female starts talking, though I can't understand what she's saying. I turn to the Peacekeeper for help and he translates for me.

"My name is Reba Malandra." He says. That must be the girl's name. The escort starts talking, and the Peacekeeper translates for him too.

"And my name is Johovanh Gerhard. I will be helping you two in these games." I suddenly feel a bit of hope. Maybe I can go home after all. Me, Reba (8) and Johovanh start discussing battle strategies with the aid of the Peacekeeper for the whole train ride. As long as this Peacekeeper doesn't know who I really am, or where I came from, I can get on his good side.

District 9 - Grant Denver
I’m just about to close the shop, the last customer exits with two rabbits as I lock the doors. I live by myself in a two room house. I’ve converted one of the rooms into my own little meat shack where I make my living. I don’t have enough experience at the age of 17, but I have to make a living somehow. I enter my other room, which is used for my own personal space. I look out my window, where I have a clear view of the plaza. Oh no, they’re setting up for the reaping’s. I’ve forgotten all about them and I still haven’t done my daily chores. Oh well, I’ll do some of them now and the rest after. I make my way through a hole in the electric fence and go to my snares. I’m happy to see I’ve made the best progress yet. I have 6 rabbits and a deer stuck in my snares. I couldn’t have hoped for better, I take the animals out of my snares and cook them over a fire. I take off the skins of the animals and what I have left is high quality meat. I put the meat into stock for my shop and the skins will make a good dinner for later.

I’m running out of time and I have so many things to do, but I have to get ready for the reaping’s. I fill a tub with water from the nearby lake and try to get all the dirt under my skin. I don’t have much nice clothes to put on that are any nicer than the ones I’m wearing right now. I don’t go for high quality, since a simple t-shirt can do the job just as well. I then store the meat in containers. I then make my way to the reaping’s, but along the way, I decide to stop somewhere.

I make a turn from the plaza and walk towards the graveyard. Here, is where my grandmother is buried. You see, I used to live with her for a while. Just recently, she died of an old age. Just 3 years ago, she died. However it feels like it was just yesterday. I stare at her grave and her name carved into a tombstone. I sit down and try to remember the days where my grandmother was around. I reach to touch the tombstone when I experience a flashback. I can’t make out what’s happening, but I see two shadowy figures making off into a house. Those two figures come out with objects in their hands. All of a sudden, more figures emerge from different street corners. The two figures start to run into a forest and I hear a woman’s shriek. Back to reality, I stare there in shock. What just happened? I don’t think in any way they could have related to my grandmother. My grandfather died before I was born. I’ve never met my parents, my grandmother never liked to talk about it. I start to think. Those two figures could’ve been them. What were they doing? As if on cue, the reaping bell chimes. The reaping’s are now. Oh well, I have lots of time to think after. I make my way to get my finger pricked and go to the boy’s section. A few Peacekeepers are looking at me suspiciously. This happens every year, in fact every time I see one. Why target me? It’s like I’ve done some sort of crime. ''Crime…. ''Could’ve those two figures been thieves? That explains the objects. My thoughts are interrupted by the escort. Her skin is a dark red. She dyed her hair green. Her hair matches her eyeliner color. The only thing that seems unchanged is her eyes, which is a bold black. I’m not too sure if she’s supposed to look like a human watermelon.

“Hello everyone! Welcome to the reaping’s. I am Muna Eleonora and I will be your escort.” She says between breaths. “Let’s get started and choose our female tribute!” She walks over to the reaping bowl and knocks it over. The glass shatters on the ground.

“Ahh!” She shrieks. “I’m sorry.” The Peacekeepers are picking up the broken shards while she picks up a slip that landed next to her.

“Rowanne Tamora.” She speaks into the microphone. A girl breaks down in tears; I look in terror to see a twelve year old girl walk up the stage, still sobbing. She probably only has one slip, yet she is drawn. I guess it was just unfortunate, if Muna didn’t drop the bowl she probably wouldn’t have gotten picked.

“And now for the boys!” She says. She walks over to the boys reaping bowl and trips over some wire connected to a speaker. Her shoe brings the wire up, as well as the stand and the bowl falls on her. The slips flutter in the air and fall over the crowd, the majority on Rowanne (9). Wow, this escort is extremely clumsy, dropping two bowls in one reaping. Well, at least the second bowl didn’t break. She picks up a slip and starts to read it.

“Emily… no wait that’s a girl.” She says, blushing. She bends down and picks up another slip, tossing it again. “That’s a girl too…” She informs us. This is the most hilarious reaping’s ever. She finally picks one up and smiles.

“Ahh, here we go.” She clears her throat and announces the name “Grant Denver.” She finally says. Wait a second… that’s me. I walk up the stage, and take my place next to Rowanne (9). This is terrible. Why couldn’t she just pick Emily? I wouldn’t care if there were two female tributes as long as I wasn’t one!

“Here are our two tributes from District 10… err I mean 9. Rowanne Tamora and Grant Denver. Sorry about the little incident, I’m sure everything will go fine next year!” She announces. Rowanne (9) is staring at the ground. I reach for a handshake, and she hesitates to lift her hand up. After, we are both lead into the Justice Building, where I await visitors. I’m happy to get one; a familiar customer comes through the door.

“I’m sorry you got reaped. At least you didn’t follow your parent’s footsteps.” He says. I look at him confused.

“What do you mean?” I ask. He returns the look to me.

“Did you not hear about your parent’s death?

“No, I surprisingly haven’t. My grandmother never liked talking about her children.”

“Well that’s not a surprise, they were horrible crocks.” He clears his throat and begins to tell a story. “While you were still a toddler, your parents were criminals. You lived with your grandmother because she thought they were a bad influence. They robbed my cousin’s house, and he quickly informed a Peacekeeper. They quickly fled to the forest, but instead of being arrested they ran into a ferocious mutt. The mutt killed them both, so the Peacekeepers were never able to return the items they stole.” I look at him in shock. That explains the flashback, but how would I remember it? Maybe my grandmother was sending me a signal, because she didn’t want to die without me knowing. Ugh, what am I saying, that’s just silly.

“I never knew that…” I whisper.

“Times up.” A Peacekeeper informs us.

The man gets up and exits the building along with me. I had no other visitors. Me and Rowanne (9) go to the train station where we both board the train. Rowanne is silent the whole way, looking down at her feet not saying a word. Muna is talking to the both of us about how to survive, since we don’t have a mentor. However, I’m not listening. After the reaping’s, I doubt anything she’s saying is useful. Rowanne (9) isn’t listening either. She seems really shy; this must be a horrible position for her to be in. We both sit there in silence while Muna continuously talks about what will happen next.

District 10 - Tatianna "Tania" Sapphire
I'm walking on the streets of District 10, its still dark out but the sun is beginning to burst across the sky, I hope to get to my house as soon as possible before the sun comes out. As I walk pass each dwelling, residents close their shutters and doors upon seeing my presence. I have a cold relationship with District 10 and I plan to keep it that way. I don't care what they think; I don't care what anyone thinks. I finally make it to my house along the path until I feel a strange feeling upon entering the house. The house has an empty feeling, like my parents are missing. Me and my parents have a bad relationship too, similar to about every other person in Panem. However, they're always around the house especially during this time of day. I don't want to go outside and look for them during the day. I walk to my bedroom and stare out my window where I can see about everything on my street and what's happening. That's when I notice it.

I can read it from here. I know what it says.

"For rent..." I say out loud. Those idiots. Trying to abandon me again! That won't do. You see, my parents are weirded out by me when I'm around them. I'd expect that, but they've tried to abandon me more than once. They've never been able to run away from me forever. I walk out the door and sprint to the nearest tree. I want to spend little time in the bright dawn as possible. I climb up there and have enough time to see my mother and father walking along the street with groceries in their hands. I jump out of the tree and sprint to the nearest ally. I grip onto the worn out walls until I hear something.

"Psstt." Says a voice. I look up to see a girl staring out from her bedroom window. She waves at me and I look at her strangely. Huh? This is the nicest treatment I've actually ever gotten. It feels very bizarre and abnormal... I don't know how to respond. I look back at where my parents were walking, ignoring the girl. I see them walk to the very end of the street, where a house, a brand new one in fact was just built. It's not luxury and expensive like the house's in Victors Village, but it's the best you could get in District 10. Those snobs, my parents thought they could abandon me. It's too late for that. I sprint to the house and enter the back door. I walk to the front door and wait for them to open the door. I press my ear against the door; I can hear my parents talking.

"Thank god we finally left her. I thought she would've followed us again!" Sometimes I wonder why I don't just give up now and live on the streets.

"I thought she'd be at the front door at midnight, but she wasn't here! What a relief" Because I was at the cemetery, moron. What makes me mad is I don't even disrespect my parents. They judged me for my look, and so does every other person in this town. I wasn't always this silent; I might've been social or made conversation with other people my age if they didn't judge me. The main reason that really creeps people out is my eyes, they are white. The pupil blends in with my eye and it makes me look like a zombie.

"Well, let's go pack these groceries and go to the reaping's." My mother opens the front door and sees me. I stare into her eyes and she lets out a shriek. She drops the groceries and startles my father. He runs to the front door to aid her and notices me to the realization I had followed them both.

"Ugh, what are we going to do with this girl?" He says. "I give up. I'll pick up the groceries." He picks up the groceries and puts them on shelves, since we can't afford a refrigerator. My mother walks to her bedroom and lies down because of the headache I caused her. I hate them. All I really did was stare at them and that was enough to put them into eternal shock. I walked to a spare bedroom; my parents didn't consider it my room because they didn't know I'd follow them. I walk into my bedroom and stare out the window. Believe it or not, this is how I show sadness, which I pretty much always am. I don't want to show emotion, it's a sign of weakness. Although, I really do hate having to do this, but they leave me no choice. Although everyone dislikes me, the actual closest relationship I have is with my parents. Well besides that girl I just met 5 minutes ago, she was pretty nice. Though, I'll probably never see her again. My thoughts are startled when I hear the reaping bell. I'm late! Oh god. I sprint out of the house with my mother and father trailing behind, and I make it to the reaping's just in time. There is still a line to get your finger pricked, because there are so many kids eligible in the lottery. I stand in the back of the line and clear my throat. Immediately, everyone starts clearing the way until there is a clear path towards the stand. I didn't even mean for this to happen, but oh well. I walk to the lady with the zapper and she pricks my finger. When I go over to the girls section, the girls in my age group back away from me. Well, at least I get personal space, I guess. The escort walks onto stage and she clears her throat. Although she is a girl, she has a buzz cut. Her skin is completely white and she has black eyeliner and lipstick. This is probably the worst style from the Capitol I have ever seen.

“Welcome, residents of District 10! I’d like to welcome you to the reaping’s! My name is Gwendoline Dulce and I will be your escort! I am so happy I got District 10, and I hope you all feel the same!” She says with a smile. Ugh, I already hate her. “Time for the girls!” She shouts. She walks over to the girls reaping bowl and pulls out a slip. She unfolds it and reads the name. “Tatianna Sapphire!” I’m speechless. I barely even went to school for the past 3 years. I guess they held my name for a while. I walk up the stage while Gwendoline encourages me. I want to kill her right now.

“Congratulations!” She exclaims. “Now it’s time to choose the lucky winner from the boys!” I glance over to my mother and father. They have the biggest grin on their faces. You know, I was just about to call it quits, but now this encourages me to come back. They don’t know what I do at the graveyard; I’m pretty talented with a scythe.

“Duane Lőrinc!” She announces into the microphone. A boy I’ve never seen before walks up to the stage. He must be new here, I feel a bit bad for him. A little bit. Although, he isn’t showing any emotion. He seems similar to me. Maybe we could get along.

“Let’s give a round of applause to our District 10 tributes, Tatianna Sapphire and Duane Lőrinc!” She shouts. “Come on you two, shake hands!” Duane (10) reaches for a handshake, but I glare at him. Looking into my eyes he immediately pulls back his hand and turns away. I don’t like being touched. A group of Peacekeepers conduct us towards the Justice Building. A Peacekeeper leads me to a room where I sit. He was planning to guard me, but I stare at him. He immediately leaves, I want to be alone. Especially at a time like this. Besides, no one will visit me. To my surprise, someone actually does. I recognize her very well.

“I’m sorry this happened to you.” She says. It’s that girl that waved at me from the window. I try to stare at her, but it’s not working.

“People may be a little uncomfortable around you, but I’m not.” She says. Wow. “Oh sorry, I didn’t tell you my name. My name is Eva Miroslava. I just moved here, when I realized how poorly people treated you, I felt really terrible for you. I just want to let you know that if you weren’t reaped, you’d have a friend here.” She says calmly with a smile. “If you make it back from the Hunger Games, you’ll have someone you can call a friend. Again, I’m sorry this happened to you.”

“Time’s up.” Grunts a Peacekeeper. Eva gets up and walks out of the door.

“Best of wishes.” She says before she exits. I’m speechless. A tear runs down my check. I’m crying, this hasn’t happened before. It feels weird. I’m happy that she said that though, all this time I’ve been waiting for a friend, and it happened. Although, I’m sad that it happened when I got reaped. I’m even more determined to make it back, for Eva. I exit the Justice Building, me and Duane board the train. Duane enters his quarters and he doesn’t seem to want to leave. My escort, Gwendoline was here for a while, but now she’s gone too. I wish Eva was still here. She made me feel good about myself. Now she’s gone, and I may never see her again.

District 11 - Bennet Ormand
“Get up you useless brat!” My aunt, Tendai shouts as she grabs one of my belts and whips it against my chest continuously. My howls of pain make her laugh with glee. “Today is reaping day, go get dressed you miserable brat!” I glance outside; the sun isn’t even rising yet.

“What… what time is it?” I ask, hoping my aunt isn’t offended by my answer.

“Don’t you dare talk back to your guardian!” She yells at the top of her lungs. “You will do whatever I say, get dressed NOW!” I won’t be surprised if she’s woken up the whole district. I jump off my mattress, or if you were to ask my uncle and aunt, “bed.” I see a pair of shirts and shorts laid down on the floor, but the clothing I was given is filled with holes and stains. I put my clothes on and I try to open my bedroom door, but no matter how much I jiggle the rusty doorknob, the door doesn’t open.

“Oh yes,” I can hear my aunt pipe in. “I locked the door. Have fun getting out!” She sings, laughing as I boil with anger. I lie down in on my mattress, until it rips open.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” My aunt whines again. “I cut open your mattress while you were sleeping; it was just a coincidence your mattress didn’t break while you were sleeping!” I take deep breaths in and out, trying to control my temper. I get up and rest my back against a wall, where I will sit for a few hours. Maybe I would have an easier life if I was just reaped right now. Even if I didn’t win, that meant I would die, and I wouldn’t have to live with my uncle nor aunt ever again. Yes, you got that right. I’d rather die than live with my uncle and aunt. Living with those devils made me suffer massive depression, strong enough to make me convince that I had died already doing something terrible during my first life, and this is my punishment in hell. I control myself thinking about happy thoughts about when I was young, when my parents were actually here to support me. Well, maybe not, but I was still happier than I am today.

I’ll tell you the story. My parents and I lived in District 11; my parents worked all the time and came home extremely tired every night. My parents were forced long hours and short breaks and paychecks. Although I never got to see my parents a lot, I thought that I should be appreciative that I didn’t live a life worse than the life I had then. Well now, my life couldn’t be worse. Back to the story, my parents were worked overboard; they just couldn’t take the long shifts. With no rest and lots of working, my parents had to force themselves to skip work one day. Not because they wanted to, but because they couldn’t get up from their beds because of how much they worked. I truly felt terribly bad for them, and I started to get anxious. Could this be me in the future? Anyway, skipping work is punished severely here. Missing the whole day will be taken very seriously. They were publically whipped, and because of their weak fragile bodies being so worn out because of how much they worked, they collapsed and never got back up. They took a death nap. I couldn’t stop crying that day; I never thought things would get worse than that. Well, unbelievably they did. Having no guardian to monitor me, I was placed in a house with my aunt and uncle. And lucky me, they hate humans. I don’t even think they’re human, because they are nothing like my parents and nothing like me. The way they are treating me today is common every day really. Want to know how I bare through it? Well, my uncle and aunt are probably the least bright people you’ll ever know. A horribly broken door rests in my bedroom. Opening my window will easily allow me to escape. Every day, I exit my window and cover my tracks to make it look like I’ve never escaped. They don’t check up on me, they hate me. Later, I go to the forests outside of District 11 and gather as many plants as I can. If I haven’t, I would probably be dead right now. My aunt and uncle are really puzzled right now, trying to figure out why I haven’t me died yet. They only supply me with water because water is a common resource in District 11, but people dying of starvation isn’t common. They’ve been waiting for the time where I leaned over from starvation, but they’re too dumb to notice the edible plants I preserve in my closet.

I look outside to see that the sun is finally up. I have probably hours of time before I have to do to the reaping’s, but I don’t care. I want to leave the house as soon as I can. There is just one problem; I can’t escape through the window to go to the reaping’s. My parents will realize I’m gone when they yell at me to go to the reaping’s.

“Tendai! Bongani!” I yell as I bang my door. “Let me out, I need to go to the reaping’s!” I am greeted by my uncle opening the door, with a stern look on his face.

“No, you worthless fag.” My uncle grunts. That was harsh. “Stay in your room, maybe you’ll die.” I stop the door closing with my foot.

“The sooner I leave the sooner I won’t be in the house.” I say, trying to convince him. Really, this is the only way to get to him. He turns his head back to me and glares at me.

“Fine, get out of here.” He says. I look at him weirdly. “Are you fucking deaf? Get. Out. NOW!!!” I feel the anger surging into my skin as I stop out of the house.

“Oh and by the way…” My uncle says before I exit the house. “When the reaping’s over, don’t bother coming back.” I flash the middle finger and slam the door as hard as I can; I stomp over to the town square of District 11. See how nice my uncle is? Well, I have to admit I wasn’t very nice either. As you can see, I didn’t do anything. He still yells at me. In my opinion, that gives me the right to yell at him. Well, honestly it’s not a good way to fight back, but really I can’t get on their good side no matter how hard I try. I finally make it to the reaping’s, it doesn’t officially start in 30 minutes, but there is still people here. I go over to the zapper lady and she zaps my finger. There is a mark on my finger, yet I feel no pain. I file into my correspondent gender and age section as I finally decide what I’m going to do. I am going to volunteer. I don’t care if I die; I just want to get away from my parents. Of course, I will try to survive, but really nothing matters at this point. I decide that this decision is final and I plan out what I’m going to do in the games. I pay attention to the stage as our new escort walks in. She has long black hair, and bright red skin. Her dress brings out a spooky and creepy vibe, a dark black dress with various holes and skulls in it. I can hear the audience mutter as she walks onto stage.

“Welcome, District 11!” She announces into the microphone. “My name is Petunia Phantom, and I will be your escort until the next quell! Let’s get things on a roll, first up the girls!” Petunia walks across the stage until she reaches the girls reaping bowl. She pulls out a slip and announces the name to the crowd.

“Brair Chausiksu!” She sings, she starts to clap but doesn’t get any applause from the audience. She is awkwardly clapping by herself while a girl with black hair and dark skin walks up the stage. She seems to be sad, but she shows no tears. There’s a possible ally.

“Now for the boys!” She announces. For someone who is supposed to look scary, her personality is the opposite of that. She should’ve dressed like some sort of demented butterfly or something.

“Vernon Harald!” She screeches. This is my chance.

“I VOLUNTEER!” I shout. I rush up to the stage; the audience is looking at me strangely, letting out whispering and muttering. Even Petunia’s eyes are wide open at the sight of someone volunteering.

“Oh what a surprise!” Petunia says, still puzzled. “Everyone, let’s welcome our very first volunteer of our new era of the Hunger Games, what’s your name hun?”

“My name is Bennet Ormand.” I tell her, happier than ever.

“What’s your reason for volunteering?”

“Because my aunt and uncle are bitches.” There are several chuckles around the crowd, but they were drowned from the yelling of my aunt and uncle. They were making a ruckus over where they were standing and four Peacekeepers are holding them back.

“Alright… Ladies and Gentlemen, your tributes from District 11, Brair Chausiksu and Bennet Ormand!” Brair (11) and I are all conducted into the Justice Building. I am left in a room where I sit and wait. I know I don’t think I’ll have visitors. However, 10 seconds later I hear banging on the door. My aunt and uncle. They’re shouting every foul curse word at me while a few Peacekeepers hold them off. Soon, I hear two loud bangs. The Peacekeepers yell at me to exit the building, and when I leave my room I see the dead carcass of my guardians. They’re dead! Yes! This is the happiest day of my life. No matter how harsh this sounds, this is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I exit the Justice Building and Brair (11), Petunia, and I board the train which will take us to the Capitol. Brair went into her dorm because she had a headache, and Petunia went into her headquarters to apply another 50 coats of makeup onto her face. I look out the window; happy about how great this day has went. My aunt and uncle died, and I will never see them again. However, now that I think about it, I didn’t have to volunteer just so I could never see my aunt and uncle again. Either way, this is still better than waking up to those two idiots hitting me with leather belts.

District 12 - Savannah Storm
I wake up at the dawn of the day and let out a big groan. I push off of my old bed, or should I say mattress and stare at the photo of my family. I’ve never met my mother, and I still don’t know what she looks like. She’s not in the photo, but my father is, but he is long gone too. It was years ago, but I still wake up every morning screaming for him to run. It was the exact same explosion which killed Katniss’ father too. I wish she’d never died, and then these games wouldn’t cease to exist. The Hunger Games before her, my brother was sadly reaped too. I don’t know how I’m surviving, but I’m glad my brother taught me a trick or two in getting food, and since I’m only supplying for myself I’m not exactly starving. However, if I don’t want to starve I have to go and get food now. Ugh, this is a pain. I sneak into the woods when the Peacekeepers aren’t looking, although I don’t think they care, and get to work. I brought the book, or should I say sheets of paper listed with a ton of plant. I’ve recognized nearly every single plant in this book, but I’d be getting even more if I brought it. Besides, I can’t exactly hunt my way out of this. I am able to work with basic snares, but I’ve not caught anything. Not because they’re bad, but because wire isn’t cheap, and you can’t exactly recycle a snare all the time.

The reaping bell chimes, although this time signaling an hour before the big day, I look at my progress. Three buckets of edible plants. Well it looks like I’m having salad again. I’d trade these but absolutely nobody wants any of these, because most of the morons out there don’t know they’re edible. Maybe if they used their brains to know I’ve had nothing but salad for the last crappy years, they’d get a hint. Well, not like I expected anything more from District 12. I drag the buckets back home and set it on the table. I take some water and use it to wash the plants and set it down on a table I take some edible berries and grind about half of it into a sauce which I’ll pour onto the salad as salad dressing later. I pile the rest of the berries into the salad and start mixing into plant until another reaping bell echoes into the house. Uh oh, I’m late… like I care. I’m late every year. The reaping’s aren’t that long, so I’ll just eat when I get home. I walk towards the plaza and make my way to the lady with the zapper. No point to dress to impress, because let’s face it; most of the district can’t afford it. Once I am pricked, I make my way to the girls section and stand in my age category. The escort then walks up to the stage, thank god they replaced Effie Trinket, but this new one looks a lot like her. Same puffy Afro, just it’s a blend of purples and yellows. She wears the skimpy dress Effie always wears and her skin is a light shade of purple. Her eyes are bright yellow. Is she like her sister or something?

“Hello, District 12! My name is Heilwig Trinket and I will be your escort!” She beams. Well, I was right about the sibling’s thing. “I’m glad I have District 12, and I’m sure you guys feel the same!” She’s also as confused and dimwitted like her.

“Well, let’s start off with the girls!” She says as she skips over to the girls Reaping bowl. She takes out a slip and unfolds it. She pauses to read the name and holds it up high. I can feel sweat coming down my forehead, the tension is driving me crazy. I needed tesserae, but I only need it for me so it hasn’t added up too much. Though I can tell you, the grain isn’t worth it. It doesn’t last for a year and I need to stick to crappy salad for a few months and I’m getting sick of it. Though, I need it to survive, I have no choice. I’m shaking now, she won’t say the name. Hurry up!

“Savannah Storm!” I stand still for a second. Me? This can’t be happening. First my brother and now me. I look to my side and look at a girl. I push her to the pathway to the stage to make it seem like it was her. Although, the Peacekeepers are smart, four of them pick me up and lift me towards the stage. They drop me and I look up awkwardly to the crowd.

“Well, we’ve got ourselves a clever one this year, now don’t we?” Heilwig says, obviously a little annoyed by me. Is she going to be a manner critic too?

“Anyway, without further ado, let’s draw a name from the boys Reaping bowl” She sings as she prances to the boys Reaping bowl. Once again, she unfolds it and holds it up high and takes a long pause before she announces the name. All of District 12 is staring at her; I really don’t know what this is achieving. Surprisingly, she is more clueless and dumb then Effie.

“Ashton Yiennas” She finally says. An older boy emerges from his spot and walks towards the stage. I recognize him; he healed me when I foolishly tried to untangle an alive animal from my snare, who was enraged. Yeah, it’s pretty pathetic but I was still learning snares! I probably would’ve healed eventually, but Ashton was certain I could be killed by that wild animal eventually. Some disease called Rabies. I don’t know what that is. Though, he healed me and the scar on my leg was completely gone in a few days. District 12 is going to have a big impact with him gone.

“Phew! This one didn’t put up a fight.” She says, glaring at me. I want to punch her. We are both then escorted to the Justice Building where I sit in a room and wait. Not like I have any visitors, but I’m sure Ashton does, and tons. It seems like hours, and I just sit here and wait. What am I going to do? I know I can’t win, I mean I’m not strong and I have no experience with ranged weapons. The best weapon I can think of right now is a piece of wire. Actually, I also have snares. Unlike that year where I got injured by that animal in a snare, I’m now really good at it. If I get my hands on some wire, I will get some food in the arena, if there is food. I may not be getting lots of money at the Hob, but I do get some from my edible plants every now and then. Maybe I can do this. A Peacekeeper opens the door and leads me to the train station. Ashton, Heilwig, and I all board the train and the train takes off. It will take a full day to get to the Capitol, though I don’t mind. More time to think. I really have nothing else to do, so I decide to enrage the escort. I remember something Katniss did on the train, stabbing a knife between Haymitch’s fingers. I take a knife and stab it into the table.

“That is MOHOGANY!” Heilwig shouts at me. Are Effie and her twins or something? Could that really just Effie dressed up in a totally different outfit and disguise? That’s exactly the same thing Effie had said to Katniss. I laugh in my head as Heilwig lectures me about manners; the next few weeks will be interesting.

District 13 - Delilah Lexus
Today is a gloomy day for all of District 13. I can hear thunder clams echo in the sky as the downpour of rain makes its way through the cracks in the roof forming puddles on the floor. Everyone in my family is shivering uncontrollably, huddling with each other trying to get warm. Why is it such a horrible day? I think I have the answer. Today is reaping day. We’re all tired from work yesterday, and we’re trying to recharge and rest our bodies for tomorrow’s work shift. At least we get a day off for the reaping’s in District 13. However, shivering alone to die in our own house isn’t exactly a thrilling day off. Why? Because we choose to make it that way, I have an idea. I get up from the corner I was shivering in and I walk over to Connor, Robin, and Todd; the younger siblings of me.

“Hi guys, want to go somewhere?” I ask them

“I-it’s-s-s-… t-t-t-too…c-c-c-cold!” My youngest brother, Connor mumbles.

“I can’t feel my legs…” My youngest sister, Robin complains.

“Why should we go anywhere? Today is reaping day. Nothing good happens on reaping day.” Todd explains.

“Not if you don’t make it happen. Come on, let’s go.” I can see Connor curious on where I was getting at, and he follows me. Once Connor and I leave the door, Todd and Robin couldn’t resist but follow. You see, during the explosion of District 13, a forest grew onto of the rubble. Luckily, this forest exists past the newly built electric fence and has no carnivores lurking in the forest. It’s overall safe enough to venture through. Connor, Robin, Todd, and I enter the forest. We sit down next to a tree, although it’s not a safe place to be, sitting under a tree is safer than sitting in the home I have now.

“See, not as much rain is passing through.” I explain to them. “Isn’t it better?”

“Sort of.” Connor says.

“I’m not shivering anymore, so that must be some sort of sign.” Robin replies.

“Exactly, and there is so much more things to do out here in the forest, than in our out-dated house.” I tell them. “Follow me; I want to show you something else.” I lead them to a cave I used to go to as a child with my mother. I used to draw on the cavern walls whenever I was bored. I just dipped my finger into some mud and used my finger as a pen. Playing in the mud does sound a bit gross and dirty, but really if you see the residents in District 13, they should clean themselves with mud. I go just about a few inches into the cave so I’m not drowned by darkness, but I am still able to cover myself from the rain. Just so you know, on days where the sun is shining you can see all the way to the back of the cave; nothing lives there.

“Watch,” I instruct Connor, Robin, and Todd. “Dip your finger in the mud and you can create pictures on the cavern walls.” I say as I perform the action. In District 13, a paper and pencil you can never come by. Unless if you stole it from school, but that’s about it. Immediately, the three of them wanted to try. I sat back against the cavern walls, trying to get some rest as the three of them drew whatever their minds desired. This cave was probably more peaceful than the house we live in now. We can’t legally live in here, but we can’t get arrested for spending a few hours in an area of District 13. I ask the oldest sibling with me, Todd, to go to the house and bring the whole family with us. In minutes, we’re all telling jokes and socializing in the cave. I’m not too sure why resting in here is a safer place then our own house, but it is. I lie down on the cave walls and continue to rest. Just as I’m about to drift to sleep, I hear the reaping bell. We’re not late, but the reaping is defiantly starting soon. The family gets up and heads off towards the reaping’s. We don’t bother getting changed into nice clothing; we don’t have any and even if we did, they’d be soaking wet. All of us head arrive at the reaping’s. My siblings Todd, Jasmine, Merit, and I all get our fingers pricked. We all fill into our respective age, gender, and eligibility sections as the escort makes her way onto the stage. The escort died her skin pink and has purple make-up all over her face. She’s basically dressed up as a human Barbie with pink skin. She even has a matching pink and purple umbrella she brought to protect her from the rain.

“Welcome, citizens of District 13!” The escort announces. “I am Magenta Grace, and I am District 13’s escort!” The audience stays silent like expected, but Magenta doesn’t argue.

“Let’s get started! Let’s draw a slip from the girls reaping bowl!” Magenta says as she struts over to the girls reaping bowl. I start to reflect; I have 44 slips in the bowl and the odds are not in my favor. My sister, Jasmine has 66 slips which is even worse. However, there is still the chance that I get reaped.

“Delilah Lexus!” The escort shouts. NO! I break down to tears on the spot. Why me? It can’t be me. Jasmine helps me up and leads me to a Peacekeeper, who escorts me the rest of the way to the stage. I’m trying to hold back my tears but I can’t help it. I’m going into an arena where I probably won’t come back. I rub my eyes as Magenta is about to call the male tribute. Please, may it not be any of my siblings.

“Phillip Gianluca!” Magenta announces. A boy this time breaks down into tears like me. I do feel happy that none of my siblings got reaped, but I feel bad for this boy that I don’t even know. He doesn’t deserve this treatment and neither do I. Phillip (13) makes his way up the stage, able to recover from his break down a little easier than me.

“Now that the waterworks are over, let’s give a round of applause to our District 13 tributes!” Magenta shrieks as she bangs her hands together. Nobody applauded back, but Magenta doesn’t let that ruin her attitude. Peacekeepers escort Phillip (13) and I to the Justice Building, where I break down into tears all over again. At least I’m not being recorded here. Immediately, my family arrives into the room and they all pity me for being reaped.

“Delilah!” Robin shrieks as she grasps her hands around my hips. My brothers, sisters, and parents follow her as we all hug each other and remember our last moments as a family.

“I’m going to miss you.” Connor says, as everyone else nods.

“We’ll make sure everyone in the family makes it out okay. Now it’s time to worry about you, okay Delilah?” My father commands me. I nod my head as my mother begins to speak.

“Keep a low profile during the games and try your best.” My mother adds.

“Your good with explosives, you can use that as your weapon.” My eldest brother, Carson pitches in.

“I don’t want to kill anyone….” I whisper.

“I know, but this is in order for you to get home. We all can’t live without you Delilah.” My eldest sister, Andrina explains. “You make every moment a brighter one and light up moments when they’re not at their best.” Our conversation is interrupted by the creak of a door opening.

“Time’s up.” A Peacekeeper informs us.

“Can’t we have a few more minutes?” Connor says, letting out puppy dog eyes.

“No.” The Peacekeeper answers. My family files out of the Justice Building, with sad gloomy looks on their faces. Magenta, Phillip (13), and I soon travel to the train station and board the train.

“What are we going to do during the games?” I ask Phillip (13).

“I’ve got an idea, though we’re going to need more than us to help. Are you in?” Phillip (13) asks me.

“Yup, let’s do it.” I say. I’ve made myself an alliance, great. This will help me blend in with everyone else. I don’t want to fight in the Hunger Games, it’s my greatest fear. However, if I give up now I will never see my family again. I can’t let that happen. I will try my best no matter what I have to do.

For my family.

Grant Denver - District 9
The instructor finally stops talking and we are finally allowed to roam wherever we want. I immediately went to ally with Theo (8) because he had a Peacekeeper following him, he must be cool. Until I realized he was deaf and the Peacekeeper was basically his translator. He’s still pretty cool though, and I’ve learned a lot about him. We’re at the knot tying station, and Theo (8) is making some wacky knot I don’t even know. I’m pretty impressed. I’m really not doing anything; I’m too busy observing the tributes we’re facing. The Capitol tributes are surprisingly imitating for their first year, and the Capitol female seems like the strongest non-career threat. The tributes from 1 aren’t as good as usual, but the tributes from 2 are menacing, the 2 male is probably the biggest threat in the arena. The 3 tributes aren’t standing out here, they’re average. The 4 female could be better, but the 4 male seems pretty good. The 5 tributes seem pretty athletic, but the 6 tributes are even better. They look like they’ve been training their whole lives for this opportunity. The 7 male is very mysterious only keeping to himself; I haven’t seen enough to judge him. The 7 female is pretty good overall, but there are people better than her. My ally isn’t very strong physical wise, but the Peacekeeper told me he’s great with a knife. I’ll have to see it for myself later. His counterpart is even worse than him skill wise, she isn’t standing out. I’m not too sure how well I’m doing, but I know I’m doing better than my counterpart. No offence, but she’s terrible. The 10 male isn’t very good either. I can’t tell anything about the 10 female, but her looks are extremely scary. Does she have pupils? The 11 female isn’t good at all, but the 11 male looks pretty strong. The 12 tributes are pretty decent; the female however seems more skilled than the male. The 13 tributes are the horrible; the 13 female is probably the worst here. My thoughts are interrupted when Theo (8) nudges me on the shoulder and points to the left where the 5 and 10 male are standing. They smile and approach us closer.

“Alliance?” The 5 male asks. I nod my head and the two of them sit down.

“I’m Duane, and this is Cyrus.” The 10 male says, happy to increase his alliance. The four of us continue to tie knots and I realize that Duane (10) may not be very intimidating physical wise, but he is extremely smart. Cyrus (5) was very annoying, but he was a very strong and talented ally to have. Overall, I think my alliance is pretty good.

Silvia Coscette - District 6
Silvio (6) and I are walking towards the careers alliance. We're both confident that we can make the alliance; after all we were better than some of them.

“Hi!” Silvio (6) says, being as kind and polite as possible.

“What do you want?” The 2 male grunts.

“Um... can we join you guys?” I ask as nice as I could possibly tone my voice.

“First, show us what you got.” The 4 female replies. “Here’s the weapon rack. Show us what you got.” Silvio (6) and I smile as Silvio makes his way to the weapon rack first. He holds 5 throwing knives in his hand and tosses them in one throw. Each one hits the neck, shoulder, head, bulls-eye, and arm respectively. Although it’s not a bulls-eye, I think it’s impressive, and the careers obviously think the same with the expression on their face. Silvio (6) finally takes one knife and tosses it as hard as he can towards the neck, decapitating the dummy. He goes to another rack and picks up a mace. Silvio (6) does all these unique tricks with the mace equipped and several dummies fall to the ground. He moves off to the side and it’s finally my turn. I decide I’m going to do something similar to Silvio’s (6) performance. I pick up 5 spears and place them on the ground. Throwing one each time, each spear lands in the head of one dummy. To finish it off, I line up the dummies and throw the spear. It rips through 5 dummies before landing on the ground. Finally, I pick up a sword and do similar tricks that Silvio (6) did. I place the sword back after cutting through a few dummies and wait for the career’s answer. All of them huddle up, and by the comments I can make out from their whispers, I’m happy. They finally finish talking and they give their answer.

“You guys are very talented, I’ll admit…” The 2 male starts to explain. “But we’re still not letting you pass through the careers.”

“What?” I shout, aggravated about his choice.

“What?” The 1 male also says, making it seem like the 2 male didn’t agree on their decision. The 2 male tackles him and the 1 male falls to the ground.

“Umm… nev…never mind.” The 1 male manages to say, his voice is barely audible. I don’t think about talking back after that stunt. I do not want to go into hand to hand combat with the 2 male.

“You may be talented…” the 2 male continues after being interrupted. “But we’re sticking with the dominate districts who normally train for the games. We are not going to be intimidated by weaker districts like you. It makes us look weak and needy.” I look over to Silvio (6) and he is boiling with anger. I can feel his pain; we’ve been working for this moment our whole lives just to be rejected because one person is picky.

“So you guys are rejected.” The 2 male says, harshly. “Leave.” Silvio (6) stomps away, and I follow him. He starts to mumble curse words under his mouth while leaving.

“Alright, so we’ll go solo.” I pitch in, trying to switch the subject

“Alright.” Silvio (6) sighs.

“Good luck in the games.” I tell him, relieved he’s over being rejected.

“Thanks, you too.” We both walk away in different directions; I head over to the fire making station. I’m struggling to make a fire; this may be harder than I thought going alone. I’m about to go back to Silvio (6) and ask for an alliance before the 5 and 8 female stand before me.

“Hi!” The 5 female says happily. “You were AMAZING with a spear and sword! I’m not too sure why the careers didn’t take you into their alliance. Do you want to join ours instead?” I look past her shoulder and I smile when I see that a group of male tributes are asking Silvio (6) to an alliance, I don’t want to go into alliance by myself and leave Silvio (6) by himself.

“Sure, I’ll join.” I say, excitedly.

“Great!” The 8 female jumps with joy. “My name is Reba, and this is Chrissie.”

“We’re planning to ask the 7 and 9 female to join our alliance. Let’s go.” Chrissie (5) tells us. The three of us march over to some new tree climbing station the Capitol added to the training center and ask the duo to join our alliance. Although I didn’t make the careers, I’m extremely happy I have an alliance now. I hope we do well in the arena.

Cyrus Haydn - District 5
I’ve build an alliance consisting of Silvio (6), Theo (8), Grant (9), Duane (10), and me. My alliance is pretty amazing, consisting of both physical and mental attributes. I’m really looking forward to these games; we’re going to be a power house. We are all at another weapons station, which the Capitol added because of the careers using up the weapons station all the god damn time. We’ve seen Silvio (6) with throwing knives and a mace, and he may be the strongest member on the team. Theo (8) is first up and picked up a knife. He throws the knife and he hits bulls-eye. And another. And another. And another. Wow, we’ve got ourselves two experienced knife throwers! Grant (9) is up next and he swings a mace against dummies. He isn’t as experienced as Silvio (6) is with a mace, but he is pretty decent. He said that he is better with snares than a mace, and I hope he’s right. Duane (10) takes a turn with the weapons and he hits most of the moving targets with a blowgun. It was personally better than I would’ve thought he could ever do, though he wasn’t the most experienced tribute with a blowgun. I’m the last person at the weapon rack, but I’m certainly not least. Surprisingly, I use the same weapons as Silvio (6), and I’m pretty good with them too. I pick up 2 knifes and throw both of them, one making its way into the neck and the other into the chest. I pick up a mace and swing it at a dummy and the dummy separates in half. I wasn’t as good as Silvio (6), but I was pretty good. I’m very impressed with our alliance. However, the careers finally leave their weapons station for some odd reason, and some other alliance comes and tests their skills. Let me see… there is the 9, 8, 7, 6 females and…. Chrissie (5). Why doesn’t she just give up and kill herself now. Chrissie (5) holds a scythe in her hands and slashes a dummy in half. Her alliance starts clapping and applauding her skills with a scythe, and for some reason this angers me. I pick up the mace again and slash a dummy. The noise informs Chrissie (5) of my presence, and she glares at me. She slashes another dummy with her scythe. For the next few minutes, Chrissie (5) and I try to taunt each other by slicing dummies. I slit a dummies throat, and Chrissie (5) marches towards me.

“If you think you’re better than me in any way, forget it. You’re not.” Chrissie (5) says to me, in an angry tone.

“You try fighting with a mace.” I retort back. “It’s harder than it looks.”

“You have absolutely no experience with a Scythe.” Chrissie (5) argues. “You shouldn’t be talking!”

We both storm of simultaneously and yell at our alliances to follow. I don’t know why those tributes decided to ally with Chrissie (5), she’s a terrible person. Just terrible. Silvio (6), Grant (9), and Duane (10) all walk away, until I realize Theo (8) is missing. I turn around to see he is staring at the 7 female. I’m not too sure what he’s doing.

“COME ON!” I yell at Theo (8).

“LET’S GO, CAMELLIA!” Chrissie (5) yells at her. I guess her name is Camellia (7). Theo turns around, and I motion him to follow me. He runs to catch up to our alliance and we all head to the fire starting station.

Brair Chausiksu - District 11
Bennet (11) and I formed an alliance once we arrived to the Capitol. We decided that we didn’t want anyone else in our alliance, just keep it the same size we have it now. Most of the other alliances have tons of people in it, but we’re not afraid. I’m giving the gauntlet a try while Bennet (11) stands at the sides to wait for me.

“Next” A trainer says after a tribute finished the gauntlet. I step forward and wait to start.

“Ready?” The trainer asks me and I nod approving that I’m ready.

“Go!” I dash through the gauntlet leaping from platform to platform. I see a trainer swinging a paddle, and I duck right under his attack. Another trainer ahead of me tries to swipe a paddle to my chest, but she narrowly misses as I jump over the paddle. A third trainer is thrusting paddles, but I push right through the paddle during a weak point when he wasn't focusing. I dodge the obstacles and I finish the course.

“Not bad, one of the better runs we’ve had all day.” I smile knowing I didn’t do terribly horrible. I rush back to Bennet (11) and he high-fives me.

“Good job!” Bennet (11) congratulates me.

“Thanks,” I say blushing. We both flee the gauntlets and make our way to the hand to hand combat station Bennet (11) wanted to try. Bennet (11) is the first up and starts wrestling a trainer. I daze off and look to the weapons station. The 10 female I think is there, is Tatianna (10) her name? I’ll just call her that anyway. Tatianna (10) holds a Scythe in her hands, but she can barely lift it. After, a series of laughter is followed. I shift my head to the second weapons stations where the Careers are watching Tatianna (10) miserably fail. She puts the Scythe back and holds a knife, well she can hold that. She throws it, but the knife only hits the foot. The careers laugh even harder as Tatianna (10) looks down. She puts the knife back and holds a spear. She tries to throw it, but it narrowly misses her own foot. The careers start laughing like crazy as the 2 male comes up to her and pushes Tatianna (10) on the ground. I think Emory (2) is his name. What a brute! A Peacekeeper arrives to the scene and separates Emory (2) from Tatianna (10), who I think may be bleeding. I feel really bad for her, but her demeanor is so mysterious and… well I just can’t explain it. I feel uncomfortable even mentioning her.

“I did it, I took down the trainer.” Bennet (11) says, excited with his achievement.

“Oh!” I say, realizing I missed it. “Good job!”

Bennet (11) and I ponder what station we should head to next, but I can’t stop thinking about Tatianna (10). Something tells me she’s pulling something, but I can’t tell what.

Duane Lőrinc - District 10
Training ends eventually, and what do you know? It ended. All the tributes file out into the elevator. Hedena (2), Phrixos (7), Savannah (12), and I go on the first load. We all remain silent all the way up the tribute floors. On my stop, I leave without saying a word to Savannah (12). I want to spend the night doing something I want to do, study. Sadly, that’s not the case. If the Hunger Games depended on brain power, instead of physical power, I would win hands down. I enter my dorm and flop right into bed, excited for a little nap.

There is a bang on my door and I rub my eyes. Who was that? I open the door, but there is no one there. I exit my dorm, and I see Tatianna (10) and my escort, Gwendoline sitting at the dining table, about to start a feast. I see a prepared plate and chair on one side of the table; I guess that’s for me. We all sit awkwardly as we eat dinner. Tatianna (10) doesn’t seem to like the social moments, and I hate Gwendoline with all my heart. I excuse myself early, just to try and get away from the both of them. I turn of the lights and finish the nap I started earlier.

There is an even louder knock on my door. Oh my gosh. What could it be this time? I get dressed and open the door to find Gwendoline standing there with a worried look on her face.

“Have you seen Tatianna?!” She shrieks.

“What do you mean?” I ask her.

“I heard footsteps earlier tonight, because I couldn’t sleep. They were coming from Tatianna’s room, so I checked in on her to see if she was okay. When I entered her room, she was gone!”

“Mm, I have an idea where she is.” This is so simple; I don’t know why anyone can’t see this. If she heard footsteps earlier this night, it must’ve been Tatianna (10). She couldn’t have gone to another floor to visit a tribute; she hasn’t made any friendships with anyone. The only logical place she could be is the gymnasium on the ground floor.

“I know where she is. I’ll go find her, and confirm her location, alright?” Gwendoline nods her head vigorously as I make my way to the elevator at the end of the hall. I press the button that takes me to the gymnasium and I run down the hall. Opening the doors, I walk into the gymnasium. And that’s when I hear it.

THUD.

THUD.

THUD.

That must've be Tatianna (10).

THUD.

I follow the noise as is echoes off the gymnasium walls.

THUD.

I approach the weapons station.

THUD.

My jaws drop at the sight of what Tatianna (10)’s skills with a spear. I see her retrieving her spear from a dummies chest. She stands a distance from another dummy and keeps her back facing the dummy. She pauses for a moment. In the speed of light, she turns around and tosses the spear with tremendous speed; the spear finds its way through the dummies chest as the dummy falls to the ground. She retrieves her spear once more and places the spear back on the rack. After, she holds a scythe in her hands, and does a bunch of tricks involving speed and agility. She cuts through several dummies heads, and then stops. She stands there for a while, and then turns her head towards me. She saw me. She continues to walk up to me.

“Did you see what just happened?” She whispers.

“Yup, sorry. Gwendoline was worried about where you were,” I reply.

“That’s fine, but please don’t tell anyone about my plan.” Her plan is pretty obvious if you thought about it; she is pulling off what Johanna Mason had pulled off years ago. Since the Capitol decided that the gymnasium was open all hours, tributes were allowed to train here. However, it was only mentioned for a brief moment while the head instructor was going through the list of rules. It would’ve been hard to catch that, but Tatianna was one of the few who did. I admire her work, and she may have thought this through better than I could’ve ever done it. Besides, she’s my district partner, I can’t snitch her secret.

“It’s safe with me.” I tell her.

“Thank you so much.” She says with a smile. She heads back to the weapon station to decapitate dummies with her scythe while I go back to my district floor. As I arrive back there, Gwendoline is eagerly waiting at the doorstep.

“Where was she?” Gwendoline asks, still hysterical.

“She was just training late.” I reply “Since the gymnasium is open 24 hours a day, she decided to use it to her advantage.” Gwendoline opens her eyes.

“Is it?” She asks.

“How else would’ve I gotten into the gym?” I tell her, proving my point.

“Well she certainly is a clever one, isn’t she?”

Hmm, I guess she is.

Ashton Yiennas - District 12
Just yesterday, I joined an alliance consisting of Clifton (3), Brooklyn (3), Savannah (12), Phillip (13), and Delilah (13). We’re probably not the most threatening alliance, but I still feel much safer with them. We’ve not really taken the Hunger Games seriously so far, the most we do is go from station to station socializing instead of focusing on the actual station. All of us really don’t want to enter the games as a killing machine, so we’re making the best out of the few days we have left. Our alliance is at the weapons station, though we’re not exactly trying. We all eventually do end up giving a go with the weapons, but we all know we could do much better.

Clifton (3) steps up to the rack to try a weapon, and pulls out a sickle. He sprints up to a dummy and slashes the dummy through the chest. After, Brooklyn (3) picks up a bow and shoots and arrow, getting a bulls-eye. She took a long while to aim, but her aim is still pretty good. It’s my turn next; I pick up a throwing knife from the rack. I turn around and quickly, whipping the knife at the dummy with little time to get a good look at the dummy. The knife lodges into the stomach; if that was a real tribute without instant relief he or she would be a goner. My alliance starts to applaud and cheer, though I know there are stronger people than me here. Savannah (12) picks up some wire, and holds the dummy in a headlock. I could tell within a few seconds that dummy would suffocate if that were a real person. She’s really good, though if someone were to come up towards her with a range weapon, she may be vulnerable. Phillip (13) wields a sword; he uses all his might to slash through the dummy. He seemed to have little experience with a sword, though at least he knows how to use it. Delilah (13) is last to go, and she picks up a dagger. She isn’t very good with it, but she is able to make a kill with it. We quickly leave the weapons station after seeing what our allies are capable of and head over to the camouflage station, not bothering to focus. Instead we talk and joke with each other for the rest of the day.

Reba Malandra - District 8
My whole alliance is over at the plant identification section, but I’m struggling horribly. Although my whole alliance, even Silvia (6), know a little bit about Plant Identification, I don’t know a thing. Camellia (7) is desperately trying to mentor me on Plant Identification while Rowanne (9) is teaching Silvia (6) more information.

“Okay, so Nightlock is edible?” I ask Camellia (7), while pointing to its picture. I look up to her; Camellia (7) isn’t paying attention to me. Instead she is staring at the alliance consisting with most of our male counterparts.

“Camellia?” I ask her, wondering what she’s up to. She won’t stop looking towards their alliance; her eyes are drawn towards Theo (8), my district partner.

“Camellia!” I yell, trying to get her attention. She immediately shoots her head towards my direction, looking a little bit frightened.

“Don’t startle me like that…” Camellia (7) says, laughing.

“Do you like him?” I ask Camellia (7).

“Like who?” She asks back.

“Theo. From my district.” I reply. She looks down and starts to giggle and blush.

“Um, maybe.” She whispers, still giggling.

“Don’t worry. I just wanted to know what was going on. Now tell me, is this plant edible?” I ask her, pointing to the picture of Nightlock.

“Are you crazy?” Camellia can barely say, uncontrollably laughing.

Okay, so maybe Plant Identification isn’t my best skill.

Duncan Grier - District 4
For two days so far, all I’ve done is watch my fellow careers practice their weapons. Whatever they’re best at; blowguns, throwing knives, spears, maces, axes, I’ve seen them all. I’ve only throw a Trident and slashed a Machete at a dummy a few times, just to let the careers know what I can do, but after the repetitiveness got really boring. I’ve been doing nothing but training for my whole life. For some reason, I’m in the Hunger Games, yet it’s the only time where I can have a break from my parents. Olivia (1) is sitting down on a bench and is sitting next to me, leaning her head against my shoulder. I think she has a thing for me, and I feel the same way about her. Emory (2) and Hedena (2) are also stirring up a romance, but there was nothing romantic about it in any way. They both have the same personalities; cold hearted and evil. I’ve got my eye on them; I’m pretty sure that when the careers get into the arena, the 2 pair will run deeper into the arena during the middle of the night along with most of our supplies. I saw Danica (4) staring at Emory (2) for a while too, I think Danica (4) may like him. However, Emory (2) doesn’t notice this; I think I’m sensing a love triangle between the three of them. I hope that doesn’t affect the careers alliance. I’ve sat here for about most of the training session, and the careers have done nothing but practice at the weapon station. Any other station but this one, I would try.

Just then, Tatianna (10) emerges from the elevator. She was the only tribute to not show up to training this morning, which was weird because she showed up the morning yesterday. Something tells me that her decision is involved with the bullying situation yesterday. Emory (2) immediately spots tossing his axe at a dummy and starts to walk over to Tatianna (10), and all the careers follow him excluding Olivia (1) and I. Tatianna (10) immediately runs over to the 7 male, presumably for help, but the careers are already up to her by then. I can see Emory (2) push Tatianna (10) down, and start to punch her while the other careers that followed him laugh. It’s sick, I know that we’re supposed to be the dominate alliance in the arena, appear as vicious as possible, but we could hold off all the violence until we get into the arena. That’s the whole purpose. Peacekeepers immediately pull Emory (2) away from Tatianna (10) once again, and instead of leaving Emory (2) be, the Peacekeepers take Emory (2) away from training and out of sight.

Olivia (1) looks at me, with a sad look, and I wrap my arm around her shoulder trying to comfort her. When I watched her reaping’s, she seemed like what a career is supposed to be like, however ever since she arrived for training she had that innocent look about her. Maybe something influenced her. The remaining careers, Curtis (1), Hedena (2), and Danica (4) arrive back to the weapons station where they continue to practice their dominate weapons. We probably won’t see Emory (2) until tomorrow.

How sponsoring works:
Each user is given sponsoring money, $500 to be exact. The money could be more if you get your bet right in the last games. Normally, you'd sponsor their own tribute, but since no one except me has tributes in these games, users can handpick tributes to sponser. If you want your bet to be correct, sponsoring will help a lot! You are allowed to sponsor at least 5 tributes. In my future games, you will be able to enter as many as you want, but a maximum of two will be chosen by me depending on how detailed they are. You will automatically sponser your tribute(s) and you are also allowed to use the remainder of your space to sponser other tributes. Wikia Contributors will be allowed to sponser if they do enter a tribute, but they will not be allowed to sponsor other tributes besides the tributes they enter.

For example, if I made Cyrus Haydn (5) and Jaida Lyubov (Capitol), those two tributes would automatically be on my sponsoring list. If I wanted to sponser Rowanne Tamora (9) as well, I would type in the comments "I will sponsor Rowanne Tamora." I would receive $500 to sponser Rowanne with, and maybe even more if I got my bet right in the previous games. Pretty easy, right?

There is no time sponsering will be closed, however you'd probably want to sponser before the games start, that's when you can bet and earn some money.

You CAN sponsor people in the games, if you haven't sponsered anyone already.

You CAN change tributes to sponsor anytime you want. However, you can NOT swap it from your main tribute.

You can NOT swap tributes if the tribute is dead.

Example:

Danica Dee (4) is my tribute but I want to sponser Delilah Lexus (13). I cannot swap Danica (4) with Delilah (13) while the games are proceeding.

Brair Chausiksu (11) is not my tribute, but I'm sponsering her. I want to sponser Emory Indigo (2) instead. I can swap Brair (11) with Emory (2) while the games are proceeding.

Reba Malandra (8) isn't my tribute, but she just died. I want to sponser Olivia Winter (1) instead. I cannot swap Reba (8) with Olivia (1) while the game is proceeding.

Items:
If you want anything added to the list, say so in the comments. If I think that item is reasonable I'll add it.

Climate & Shelter:

Blanket - $25

Coat - $25

Food & Water:

Bread - $50

Canteen - $75

Dried Fruit - $50

Dried Meat - $75

Toast - $25

Spile - $125

Water - $75

Potions & Medicines:

Antidote - $75

Burn Cream - $75

Neosporin - $75

Epic Toast (Instant Relief) - $400

Poison - $75

Weapons:

Arrows (12) - $50

Axe - $150

Awl - $100

Blowgun - $100

Bow - $150

Dagger - $50

Darts (10) - 25

Hatchet - $150

Knife - $75

Mace - $150

Scythe - $150

Sickle - $100

Slingshot - $100

Steel Ball for Slingshot (15) - $25

Trident - $250

Throwing Axes (3) - $250

Throwing Knives (3) - $150

Tomahawk - $150

Spear - $175

Sword - $175

Unactivated Explosive - $200

Wire - $25

Other:

Matches - $25

Net - $50

Night-Vision Glasses - $200

Raft & Paddles - $175

Rope - $25

Wire - $25

Italic items cannot be found in the arena.

Sponsoring Table:

 * Red means this tribute died.


 * Green means this tribute is still alive.


 * Blue means this tribute won.
 * No color means this tribute's rank is currently unknown.

How betting works:
In the comments, you will comment before the games who you think the top 5 tributes will be. They have to die in the exact same order in order for you to get your guess right. You cannot be a Wikia Contributor to bet, the reason why is because I can't prove your identity, someone else could steal your reward if your bet is accurate! However, if you do have an account and you're not logged in just sign your name at the bottom of your comment.

Anyway, comment saying who you think will place 1st-5th. The tributes have to die in the same place in order for your guess to be right. You can guess any tribute, it doesn't matter.

For example, if I were to guess that..

Camellia Cyrellia (7) placed 5th

Savannah Storm (12) placed 4th

Chrissie Seyong (5) placed 3rd

Tatianna "Tania" Sapphire (10) placed 2nd

and Kaeden Humphrey (Capitol) placed 1st...

They would have to die/win in the top 5 to get money. If they're place is accurate, you get more.

For example, Camellia Cyrellia (7) places 5th, Kaeden Humphrey (Capitol) placed 4th and Tatianna "Tania" Sapphie (10) places 2nd in the Hunger Games, I would get an award. In the next games, you get sponsoring money for each tribute in the top 5 you guess right and more points if they die/win in the place you put them in. If a tribute ranks a different place in the top 5, I get $50. If a tribute places my accurate bet, I get $100. Since I guessed two tributes into their accurate placing I get $200 in sponsoring money, since I guessed one tribute would place the top 5, I get another $50 for a total of $250. Simple enough, right?

Betting WILL be closed once the games officially start, but once I set training scores you will have a good idea of what could happen. Also, the interviews will hopefully give you enough time otherwise.

You can change your bets anytime you want, though once the games first start you're not allowed to change. Though, if they haven't, you can change anytime you want.

Betting Table:

 * Red means this tribute did not make the top 5.


 * Green means this tribute placed in the top 5.


 * Blue means this tribute died/won in that place.


 * No color means this tribute's rank is currently unknown