Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟷𝟶.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐

Lizzy stood in her mother’s chicken field, arms folded with her bitten finger nails digging into her elbows. Her blue eyes drifted over the orange streaks created by the rising sun that leaked through the clouds and into the dark sky. A gentle breeze drifted through the air, blowing her dirty blonde hair to the side ever so slightly. She shivered slightly, as she was only wearing her thin light grey pyjamas.

The few chickens they were breeding clucked around her feet, pecking at the ground every once in a while, searching for the food that was yet to make an appearance.

‘What lucky animals…’ She thought to herself, looking down at the innocent beings. They would never have to worry about what a person and to worry about. All they had to do was lay eggs, make some chicken noises and clean their feathers. A chicken didn’t have to worry about being picked for the hunger games, a chicken just gets to be a chicken.

Lizzy’s immunity from said games was over now she was 12 years old. Usually, the name of a 12 year old would only go in once. But not her name. Her name was in there 36 times already. The winter had been too hard for her family to bear, she traded her names for more supplies. Food, water, clothing. Her mother had been eternally grateful for it, thinking it was Lizzy’s own choice to give up her name like that.

“Liz! Lizzy hey!” Came a voice from behind her, she turned and saw her older brother, Marco. He was waving to her, as he approached, careful not to step on a stray chicken. “You ok?”

“Yeah-yeah I’m fine, just…thinking.” She said softly, avoiding eye contact as she often did. He came to stand beside her, she could feel his gaze drilling holes into the side of her head.

“Are you thinking about it again? I keep telling you, you have nothing to worry about.” He said casually.Marco was 17 years old, it was his last year in the games reaping. He was the opposite of Lizzy in almost every way. Tall, muscular, with Short and straight brunette hair. Contrasting Lizzy’s own hair, that seemed to wave and stick out at every angle. He must never worry about the games, he'd win surely. “Seriously, you know how many times my name is in there? 328. I’m screwed.”

He must have put his name in more times too, father must have made him like he make Lizzy. “Did Father make you do that?”

Macro sighed, his usually cheerful persona dropping within an instant. “Yes, he did.” He said through gritted teeth. “Remember we can’t tell mum, ok? She’ll flip out if she realised what Father makes us do.”

Lizzy nodded, shuffling her feet as she recalled the screaming match that took place between her father and her. Well, it was less of a ‘match’ and more he was screaming at her while she stood there and took it. Father wasn't a bad man, he never hurt his children, not ever. He made them put their names in the jar more times than need be. Just so he could have some extra supplies for himself.

He’d done it to all four of them. Starting with Ginger, who was the oldest. She finished her game reaping’s a while ago, she was safe now. Next was Marco, his only son. Then Rosie, Then eventually Lizzy. Mum didn’t know he did this, and she wasn’t supposed to find out or else father would be furious.

“Look,” Marco put a hand on her shoulder, bending down to get at eye level with her. “In the highly unlikely event you get picked, I’m sure Rosie will volunteer for you. Im the only boy in the family, so there’s nobody to volunteer for me. How do You think I feel?”

When Lizzy didn’t have a response, he continued. “You shouldn’t worry so much about what could happen and worry more about what’s happening now.”

She just nodded, remembering how many times his name was in. He must be much more scared than she was. “Your right, I’m sorry…”

“Come on, Mum wants us back home. It’s almost time.” He said, Lizzy looked back up at the sky and was disappointed to see the sunrise had faded into nothing by now. How long had she been standing in that field?

She followed Macro back to the small hut they called home. Opening the door, she was met with an oddly calm atmosphere. Her mum was stood by their old and rusted stove, cooking what smelt like eggs. Normally they never cooked and ate the eggs themselves, but today was a special occasion. Ginger was sat at the kitchen Table, reading a book with a hard red spine. She looked up and offered a gentle smile to her as she entered, though it was hardly noticeable as her fringe obscured half her face. Father was sat at the head of the table and only so much as glanced up at her, not taking his yes off the crossword he was invested in doing.

Rosie was stood with her back against the wall, ranting about her boy problems to Mum, who simply nodded or hummed in response. “-but he brushed against me on purpose, mum! He’s in love with me, I can just tell! And it’s so creepy because…he’s kinda not my type, do you get what I mean?”

“That’s nice Rosie.” Mum said, turning away from the Stove, a pan in one hand. Her eyes brightened as Tehy landed on Lizzy, a wide smile forming on her face, “Lizzy, sweetheart i made you your favourite for breakfast today. Come, Sit down, sit down!”

She ushered Lizzy into a seat beside Ginger, who’d only just out down her book. Looking closer at the spine, she read the words ‘Macbeth’. What a weird name for a book. Rosie took her seat opposite Lizzy while Marco sat beside her. Mum whisked around the small space, putting a fried egg on each of their plates (giving Lizzy that little bit of extra) before sitting opposite father at the other end of the Tabel.

“So, you excited kid? First day of the reaping, what a day.” Father stated, looking at Lizzy as he cut a forkful off egg white and popped it into his mouth.

Lizzy looked between Rosie and Marco, who both gave a slight head tilt. “I guess I am…”

Truth be told, she was dreading it, as most kids do. But, she’d never say that. Not to father.

“I remember my first one. Me and my twin brother got all dressed up and headed down with our heads raised high, and I expect the same from each of you. ‘Cept you Ginger, of course.” He nodded in the direction of her, who nodded back in response. Ginger wasn’t very talkative. “You represent us out there, remember that. The capital will see us all and I want them to have a good first impression of the Reaper family in the case one of you get picked.”

That was always Fathers dream, to have one of his kids go into the games and win, bringing honour to their name and a bucket load of money home. He said This every year, instructed them on what to do if they get picked. Don’t cry, That's the first rule. The second was be confident. Lizzy could never imagine having to walk up to that stage, the eyes of the entire country on her.

“But, we won’t get picked, will we father?” Lizzy asked, looking down at her uneaten egg. Suddenly she didn’t feel like eating anymore.

“Hopefully you do.” Was all he grunted.

“Norman, don’t scare them like that.” Said her mum, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Of course you won’t get picked sugar plum, and if you do, your older sister will take your place. Won’t you Rosie?”

All eyes fell on Rosie, who looked both uncomfortable and worried, she made an effort to avoid all their eyes as she spoke.

“R-right, yes. Yes of course…” She said uncertainly, silently continuing to eat her egg. Lizzy smiled at her, though she wasn’t sure if she could see it. She was glad to have a sister as brave as Rosie.

Father finished his meal, standing up out his chair and clapping his hands together. “Time to go get ready, remember. You represent us as a family. Don’t let me down.”

He walked away, opening one of the two doors leading to his and mums shared bedroom. Rosie and Macro headed to the other after gulping down what was left of their food. Macro re-emerged a second later with a bundle of clothes in hid hands, heading to the small bathroom and looking himself inside. Mum started cleaning up the plates, stacking them and putting them in the sink. She went outside to get the bucket, hopefully filled with water from last nights rains.

Lizzy looked down at her untouched food, which had stopped steaming and was probably cold by now. But that was ok, she didn’t really feel hunger anyway. She went to get up, but a hand on her shoulder Stopped her. To her Suprise, it was Ginger. She didn’t look, but whispered. “Are you going to eat that?”

“No,” Lizzy responded. “Do you want it?”

Ginger hummed, transferring the egg to her own plate as she begun to chow down on it quickly. She’d been acting weird recently, she was always hunger which wasn’t like Ginger at all. Though Lizzy just shrugged, assuming it was nothing more than grown up stuff. She went to her shared room with Rosie, who was already getting changed into the outfit mum had picked her out for her.

Lizzy closed the door behind her walking over to her bed (made of a simple mattress on the floor, a pillow and a blanket) observing the outfit chosen for her. It was dress, light blue in colour with white edges and an elegant flower pattern stitched neatly into the fabric. It came with a pair of shoes, matching in colour.

“Oh,” Rosie said, looking over at it as Lizzy held the outfit up. “Looks like you’ve inherited the traditional dress…it was originally made for Ginger, then me, and now you…”

“I like it.” She said, making quick work of slipping out her pyjamas and into it. Though it was slightly big on her, reaching just past her knees, the sleeves threatening to fall down whenever she moved too quickly. She looked at herself in front of the mirror that leaned against the wall, admiring it with awe.

There was a gentle knock at the door, Mum peaked her head in before coming in and closing the door behind her. She stood behind Lizzy, smiling down at her. “You look gorgeous my little dove.”

“Thank you mum…” Said Lizzy, meeting her gaze as Mum started to tie her hair into a long pony tail. She was never fond of getting her hair done, but didn’t try flight it either. Deep in her chest she felt the same crippling sense of worry taht she felt earlier, the worry that she might-might gte chosen. “What will happen if I get picked?”

“We’ve been over this Liz, you have nothing to worry about.” Her mum finished with her, placing her hands on both her shoulders. “You’re going to be just fine, ok?”

“Ok mum…” She replied, though she didn’t really believe it. She looked over at Rosie, who was wearing her own dress, this one made of a pale green fabric.

The first sirens started to ring through the air, signalling the start of the reaping. Mum offered Lizzy her hand, which she gladly took. They walked side by side out the room, meeting the rest of the family outside the front door. It seemed the entirely of District 10 was moving towards the two square. It wasn’t long before the Reaper family joined the mass crowds, Lizzy clung to her mums side, fearing she would be swept away and lost within the crowd. Nobody said a word, the only sound being footsteps and the sound of heavy breathing. Lizzy hated Silence, she was always humming something under her breath or listening to some music, but now didn’t see, to be the time for that. So she just joined the unified silence, like everyone else.

The march to the Square wasn’t a long one, on the way more and more people emerged from this homes. Lizzy briefly saw a kid from her class in school, but they disappeared from sight pretty quickly. When the did end up making it there, Her mum stopped moving and turned to her, whispering, “your gonna go with the younger kids now, ok? I’ll find you when it’s finished.”

“Ok mum…” she said weakly, trying to sound confident, but this amount of people and the possibility of being picked was making her really nervous.

Her mum smiled down at her, “you’re going to be ok. In fact, once we’re all done here I’ll make your favourite dinner. Does that sound good honey?”

Lizzy nodded, her stomach was already starting to rumble. Maybe giving her egg up to Ginger wasn’t the best idea. “What’s it gonna be like?”

This was the first time she’d ever been to a reaping properly, she’d seen them on Tv but never paid much attention to touch beyond the actual name calling. The unknown worried her, never knowing what came next made her more anxious.

“Over there,” Her mum pointed towards a set of white tables, peacekeepers stood behind them. “They’re gonna take a little bit of your blood. Only a drop, it doesn’t hurt much. It’s to make sure you’ve attended. Then you’ll go line up, they’ll call a name then we can go home.”

Once again, she just nodded. She was still fairly unsure about this, but knew she didn’t have a great deal do choice. If she ran, she’d be punished.

“Rosie!” Mum called over to her middle daughter. “Can you take Lizzy to her age section?”

“Yeah, ok.” Rosie said, walking over as mum let off Lizzy hands. She waved goodbye as she followed Father and Ginger into the adults section. Lizzy looked around but couldn’t see Marco, he must have already gone to his line. “Follow me.”

Rosie walked in front while Lizzy followed closely behind, trying to manoeuvre her way through the crowds. Some people bumped into her and gave her dirty looks as she passed. Rosie took her to the desk line before disappearing into the teens one herself. Lizzy waited patiently until she was at the front of said line, her heartbeat getting faster every time she moved foward.

“Give me your hand,” the peacekeeper said when she reached the front. When Lizzy didn’t compile immediately, They reached forward and grabbed her wrist, forcefully pulling out forward. They turned her wrist over before taking the blood sample from her thumb. They put it in a Tiny machine Before signing something on a bit of paper. “You can go.”

It wasn’t long before she was lined up along with the rest of the district, she turned around briefly and saw Rosie far behind her, while Macro was on the other side with the boys.

Lizzy wondered how long till This was gonna start, she just wanted to go home after This was done. Thankfully it wasn’t long before Effie Trinket had walked up on stage in her high heels and fancy wig. Lizzy had seen her on Tv, she always seemed to have a broad smile on her face. Everything about her was perfect, from her hair to her makeup to the bright, yellow dress she wore. Lizzy never thought it was possible for a person to look so put together, but that must be normal in the capital. Everyone must dress like that.

She took her place in front of the microphone, smiling and her eyes gazing over the crowd. She tapped it delicately with a finger before speaking. “Hello District 10! A big Welcome to the 48th annual reaping!” Lizzy had no idea how someone could sound so happy about it. About all this death. “As per tradition, we start with the ladies! And, May the odds be ever in your favour.”

Effie made her way across the stage towards one of the two glass balls as she delivered her signature line. It was silent throughout the square as She reached a hand in, rummaging around for a moment before pulling out a folded slip of white paper. She strutted back to the microphone, unfolding the paper and taking a breath. Lizzy held her Breath, clenching her hands and prayed it wasn’t her name on that paper.

“Lizzy Reaper!” Those dreaded words echoed through the stadium, all eyes were suddenly on her. Her heart just stopped, whatever prayers she said in her head had been ignored. Lizzy felt all the colour drain from her face as the girls stood in front parted, giving her a path to the stage. But she didn’t move, her legs were frozen to the ground completely.

Rosie Will volunteer, right? Lizzy listened for the voice of her older sister, but she didn’t hear it. It was silent. She waited, folding her arms and almost hugging herself, trying to bring even a once of comfort into the situation. She only started making her way to the stage when Effie called for her. “There’s no need to be shy dear! I don’t bite!”

Why hadn’t Rosie Volunteered? Mum promised she would…

By this time, her hands were shaking so badly she had to dig her chewed finger nails into her elbows just to stop her from panicking then and there. She stumbled her way to the stage, eventually getting up to stand beside Effie. She scanned the crowd for Rosie, but her sister was nowhere in sight.

“So, how old are you Lizzy?” Effie asked, pointing the microphone in her direction.

Lizzy just looked up at her with tear-filled eyes, and answered with a trembling voice. “T-twelve. I’m Twelve.”

“Only Twelve? Oh you’re so young!” Effie said in her typical over dramatic manner. “But with a surname like Reaper, of course you’re gonna get picked eventually!” She laughed, earning a chuckle out of some of the council members sat in chairs by the edge of the stage, but other than that nobody else said anything. Lizzy didn’t respond.

Effie cleared her throat, “Now, onto the boys!” She walked over to the second glass bowl, this time quickly pulling out a name and heading back to the microphone. “Caleb Summers.”

Another twelve year old.

It wasn’t hard to spot Caleb amongst a crowd, with his almost white hair and pale skin, he stuck out like a sore thumb. He had vibrant green eyes which was strange for This district, very few had them. He always seemed to have some kind of injury, whether that was bruises or small cuts that never stopped bleeding, Lizzy has never spoken to him but based of that she assumed he was very clumsy.

Nobody volunteered for him either as he walked with his head hung low in defeat, he looked to Lizzy as he stood beside her, overlooking the entirety of district 10. They all stared back, with the same sad, blank faces. Effie started asking Caleb some basic questions, but Lizzy didn’t even hear her. Throughout the whole ordeal, all she could think about was her family. Her Mum who was probably in tears that her precious little daughter had been picked. Her father who was celebrating that one of his kids had finally gotten chosen, he was already thinking of the things he could buy when they one. Macro who had told her not to worry, and that she wouldn’t be picked. Ginger who was the one to teach her to read and wrote as a kid, when father refused to and mum didn’t know.

And Rosie. Rosie who had promised to volunteer, but didn’t. Why? Lizzy couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of betrayal, like a knife dug directly through her innocent heart.

“Dear,” Effie's voice snapped her from her thoughts. She’d only just realised she’d been crying. Immediately she brought a sleeve up to wipe her eyes, rule number one is don’t cry. Never cry when the whole capital can see. “You need to shake his hand.”

Lizzy’s eyes darted down, seeing Caleb’s outstretched hand. She grasped it gently, holding it for a moment and shaking. She was quick to retract her hand after, not being a huge fan on touch. Especially with strangers.

After a minute, the two of them were escorted by Effie off the stage and into the squares main building, Lizzy and never been inside it and had once hoped she’d never have to. Her eyes were locked into the floor, more focused on the green carpet than anyone or anything around her, as she was lead down a corridor and into the waiting room. Her family would come and say goodbye, but she wasn’t sure what she was going to say. What she was going to do.

Lizzy sat down in one of the chairs located by a small wooden bookshelf. All she could do was stare at the floor, eyes pooling with tears and her head rested on her hands. Her elbows on her knees and her leg shaking violently. She couldn’t hold back the choking sob that wrecked her throat next, suddenly everything came out all at once and she was crying like a child as tears dripped onto her dress.

She heard the door creak open but she didn’t dare look up as she already knew who would be there. She heard a gasp, presumably from her mum, as a gentle pair of hands were placed on her shoulders. Automatically, she tensed at the touch and the hands moved away slowly.

Lizzy looked up with her teary, red eyes and saw her mum kneeled in front of her while the rest of her family stood behind her. Mum looked sad, really sad. She sniffed back tears every once in a while and was biting her bottom lip. Father almost looked happy. He'd finally got his wish. But Rosie was the one she locked eyes with first. She didn’t volunteer, but she said she would. Lizzy didn’t understand, was it her? Had she done something to anger Rosie?

Lizzy stood up from her chair, not leaving Rosie’s gaze. Mum stood up and went beside Ginger, looking between the two. Rosie almost burst into tears the second they made eye contact, she straggled back a sob and shook her head, “Lizzy, I'm sorry I’m so so sorry, I didn’t think they’d actually…”

“Why didn’t you…” Lizzy trailed off, unable to find the right words. Looking at Rosie’s sobbing form, all she could feel was betrayed.

“I’m so sorry…” Rosie repeated. “I was going to….i swear I was but…then-then I got scared and I didn’t wanna die Liz!” She lashed out suddenly, snapping at her and putting a hand on her chest. “I didn’t wanna die! I’m not ready to die, and I just couldn't! I couldn’t do it! I have a life here, I have so much left to do and I wasn’t ready to throw that all away!” She seemed to calm down after a moment of silence. “I’m sorry Liz…but I couldn’t do it….”

Lizzy had no words left. She wanted to scream, cry or anything really, But something deep down stopped her. She was hurt beyond anything else, she thought Rosie would take her place. But, part of her understood why. Why she didn’t. Why she wanted to live.

“Rosie! You promised your sister-“ Her mum started, it was clear she was about to head into another lecture about ‘family first’ but Rosie cut her off.

“No, Mum!” Rosie yelled, her hands balled into fists. “Let me ask you this? What would you have done?! Would you have willingly signed yourself up to die in that arena? As a matter of fact, what would all of you have done?? Would you volunteer??” When nobody said anything she kept going. “That’s what I thought! All of you would have done the same in my position!” By this time Rosie was a mess off sobs, Ginger went over and offered a bit of support. Lizzy knew she was right. She didn’t know if she would have volunteered for someone, had it been her.

“I don’t see why Everyone acting like this is a bad thing!” Father spoke up, had pointed at Lizzy as he spoke. “Imagine what life will be like when she wins! We’re gonna be rich!” He took a few steps towards her, looking down at her. “You’re gonna do us proud, aren’t you kid?”

He didn’t care she might die. He only cared that she might win, which was extremely unlikely. Another stab of betrayal.

“For goodness sake Norman!” Mum screamed, louder than Lizzy had ever heard her. Even Father seemed taken off guard. “Our daughter just got reaped into those games, and you’re thinking about the money?!?!? WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!”

Father seemed stunned for a moment. “Willow, you know this has been my dream! Just think about the future!”

“I’m thinking about OUR daughter!!” Before the screaming match between her parents could escalate any further, the door burst open with such a force that it smashed into the nearest wall. Peacekeepers came in, stating it was now time to go. Mum hugged Lizzy gods he, now unable to contain the tears. “You’ll be ok, you’ll come home soon don’t worry pumpkin….” Then mother was dragged away along with the rest of her family.

“Lizzy I’m sorry!” Rosie shouted desperately as she was pulled out the room, the door slamming behind her. She Distant shouting in the corridor for a moment, but then she was thrown back into silence.

Now, she was all alone.

Chapter Text

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟷 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙺𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚢 𝙰𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟷 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙲𝚘𝚜𝚖𝚘 𝙹𝚎𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚜

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟸 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝚂𝚊𝚖 𝚆𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟸 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙷𝚊𝚠𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚜

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟹 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙰𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚊 𝚂𝚌𝚘𝚝𝚝
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟹 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚜

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟺 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝚂𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚒𝚊 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚛
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟺 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙽𝚎𝚘 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚝

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟻 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝙹𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚙
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟻 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝚉𝚊𝚔𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝙰𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟼 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝚁𝚒𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚁𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟼 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚕 𝚁𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟽 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙰𝚗𝚗𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚜
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟽 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙼𝚊𝚡𝚒𝚖𝚞𝚜 𝙲𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟾 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙼𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝙶𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟾 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝚁𝚘𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚝

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟿 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙵𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊 𝙰𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚕-𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟿 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚕 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚜

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟷𝟶 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙻𝚒𝚣𝚣𝚢 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟷𝟶 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚋 𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚜

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟷𝟷 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙲𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝙰𝚜𝚑𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟷𝟷 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙳𝚒𝚎𝚑𝚘 𝚃𝚛𝚞𝚝

𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟷𝟸 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙸𝚟𝚢 𝚁𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝟷𝟸 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚎: 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝙿𝚛𝚢𝚍𝚎

That’s the list of unfortunate kids unlucky enough to have their name on that slip of paper. Lizzy had taken the liberty of memorising the names, hoping it may come in helpful later on. Lizzy had thought the names over multiple times, trying to figure out who sounded most trustworthy based of that. Basing trust over a name they didn’t even pick wasn’t the smartest suggestion but it was all she could do for now.

She sat curled up in the back of the tribute train, partially hoping nobody comes and talks to her. She’d rather be left alone. The others were all huddled in their own groups, probably with the people from their own district. Nobody seemed in a rush to meet new people, especially since in six days time they’d be killing each other.

The train itself was a single carriage, big enough to fit them all with plenty of room to spare. The booths stood back to back and had red cushioning, made out of a fabric more expensive than every egg produced in ten. There was a person sat on the one to her side, but Lizzy ignored her for the most part. A oak wooden table sat between the two booths, though it didn’t have anything on it.

Lizzy felt lost in her thoughts, all she could think about was her last interaction with her family. It hurt that Father didn’t care she’d been picked, and also hurt that Rosie didn’t volunteer. The difference between the two feelings of hurt is that Rosie had good reason for what she did. Father only wanted money. She didn’t realise how deep in thought she was, only looking up when she saw another one of the tributes had slipped into a seat opposite her and was lightly tapping the table, trying to get her attention.

“Hey, you look lonely.” The girl tribute said blatantly, shuffling where she sat. “I thought I’d come join you.”

Lizzy avoided eye contact with this stranger, nodding repetitively.

“Do you have a name?” The girl asked, tilting her head slightly. “Mines Rory. I’m from three, funny how I’m from three but I’ve never seen a computer in my life. Crazy isn’t it?”

“Rory?” Lizzy asked, ignoring everything she said after and instead remembering there isn’t a ‘Rory’ on the tributes list. Plus, Rory sounded like a boys name. She certainly wasn’t a boy.

Rory just rolled her eyes, sighing like her name had been questioned hundreds of times already. “Alright, fine. It’s ‘Aurora’, full name Aurora Mildred Scott. But call me Rory and we’ll get on just fine, capeesh?”

“Rory.” She repeated the name, nodding. “Why not Aurora?” Lizzy asked, thinking the name Aurora was a much nicer name than Rory. She wondered why anyone would want to change their name, or maybe it was just a nickname. Like how some people called Lizzy ‘Liz’.

“Because, quite frankly, the name Aurora sucks. What kind of parent names their kid Aurora anyway? Other than mine I mean. I don’t know why they assumed I’d turn into the sorta girl that’d match the name Aurora. I mean, do I look like the kind of kid who’d be called Aurora?” There was truth to her words. She had black hair, almost as dark as the night sky itself, tied into a long low ponytail that traveled down her front. She had dyed side bangs, a dark shade of purple that matched her Sapphire blue eyes almost perfectly. She had pale skin and freckles, Lizzy noticed a faint scar on her cheek as she examined her face. “You still haven’t told me your name.”

“Lizzy.”

“Lizzy? That’s a nice name, can I call you Liz?” Rory asked, not waiting for an answer. “I’m gonna call you Liz. Which district you from?”

“Ten, I’m from ten.” Lizzy responded, glancing out to window just to see the train travelling through a thick Forrest, she wondered how long left of the ride.

“How old are you?” Rory seemed to like asking questions.

“Twelve.”

“Oh, you’re only twelve…” Rory sat up a bit straighter. “Sorry about, you know all this…it suck’s, it really ain’t fair for someone so young To be picked…are you doing alright?”

“I’m ok.” Was what she said next, even though it was a complete lie. She didn’t want to tell this stranger everything that went down before she left, she barely knew this girl. “How old are you?”

“Me? I’m fifteen…” Rory asked, following her gaze out the window before quickly looking back. After a brief and comfortable silence she continued. “You don’t talk much do you?”

“And You talk a lot.” She replied, fidgeting with a loose bit of fabric attached to her dress.

“Huh. I do don’t I?” Rory shrugged. “Two sides of the same coin, I talk too much and you don’t talk enough. You’re a bit weird but that’s ok, I’m weird too. I think we’re gonna be friends, what do you think?”

Lizzy never had a great deal of friends at home. She didn’t like a lot of the kids in school, thinking them to be too loud and boisterous, so she tended to avoid them. But Rory, she seemed alright. “Ok. We can be friends.”

“Cool, cool. How long do you reckons left? Of the train ride I mean, as nice as it is to be chatting with you, it’s kinda Akward with, well…” Rory glanced over her shoulder, looking at all the other tributes. “Well that fact most of us are gonna die in the next couple of days…..after training and whatnot.”

Lizzy finally took the time to observe the faces of all the other tributes. Some looked scared, worried, sad. But one, he looked happy. Almost excited at the prospect of the hunger games. It made Lizzy sick. Rory followed her gaze to the happy tribute. “He looks like trouble…”

Lizzy agreed. He did look like trouble. Why and how could anyone be so happy about something like murder? By the looks of him, he looked like he was from district two. Short, brunette hair and brown eyes. A tattoo of a snake on his neck, presumably he was at least sixteen to have something like that. He seemed to notice them staring, glaring back before Turing to the group of six others surrounding him.

Rory hugged out a breath and slowly turned back to her, “They probably don’t like us huh…”

“Don’t take it personally, he hates everyone.” A voice came from the booth to their left, both turned and saw one of the other tributes. She had medium, wavy cream hair and light hazel eyes while freckles dotted the majority of her face. She was wearing a lot of jewellery, though it didn’t look particularly well made. Her writs were covered in bracelets and her neck had plenty of necklaces hanging from it. “Hey, I’m Kassie. Kassie with a ‘K’, not a ‘C’. It’s a very common misconception.”

“Kassie with a ‘K’, I’m Ro-“ Rory started But was swiftly cut off as Kassie raised a hand up.

“I know who you are, no need for introductions,” Kassie stated, brushing her tangled mop of hair out her face. She almost sounded bored. “Lizzy From ten and Rory from three. If you must know, I’m from district one.”

“That explains a lot…” Rory mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes. The kids from one always had an ego, it was rare to see one without. Kassie appeared no different. “Have You been listening to us the whole time-?”

“So what if I have? You haven’t been talking about anything interesting anyway.” Kassie looked away, but her head suddenly snapped back, eyes going slightly wider. Rory followed her eyes, looking out the window. Her jaw practically dropped on the floor when she saw it.

The capital. They were here.

The entire train seemed to hush within seconds, Eveyrone staring in awe at the city they’d only ever heard story’s about. Glass skyscrapers shot up into the air, towering over the rest of the world. Smaller, but still incredibly impressive structures stood beside them, though they were hidden in the gigantic shadows casted by the towers. One such tower caught her eye, having twelve separate floors, that must be their living conditions. The whole things looked like it was on a floating islands, water rushing out the side of the circle where building stood, falling into a river that circled far below.

“It’s even bigger than I thought it would be…” Rory gaped out, staring at it in awe. “Holy shit…”

Lizzy had never seen anything like it. Even the kids from one, the district of luxury, seemed amazed. The train pulled into a station, where grounds and grounds of people were waiting, all just dying to get a glimpse of this years batch of kids. Each one of the, had an enormous amount of make up, as well as the most extravagant clothing she’d ever seen.

They begun screaming and cheering the second the train came to a total stop, some pointing and calling the names of their favourite tributes. Lizzy stood up, taking a few steps away from the window, already feeling stressed from the amount of people there were. But Rory seemed right at home, smiling and waving to them as if she enjoyed it. The crowds cheered as she did so, like she was an animal at a zoo preforming some kind of trick.

Lizzy hated the way that they could just see everything, every move they made would be seen by what looked like the entirety of the capital.

The doors to the train opened and two peacekeepers stepped inside. “District one.”

Lizzy looked over to Kassie, who’d slide out her seat and stuttered towards the front of the train. The boy, who she presumed was the district one boy, followed her. It wasn’t long before they were both escorted outside, most likely to their stylists or mentors. Next went the district two kids, then the kids from three. Rory said a quick goodbye before leaving.

It wasn’t long before the majority of the districts were gone, leaving just Lizzy, Caleb, plus the kids from eleven and twelve. The peacekeepers came back and called out their district next. “District ten.”

Lizzy and Caleb both stood up, glancing at each other briefly before being escorted outside try train, and into a small pathway cut off from the crowd by metal barriers. On each side stood hundreds, maybe thousands, of people, many with cameras that flashed into their faces as they quickly walked towards the skyscraper in front of them, Lizzy assumed that was gonna be their living arrangements. She kept her head down for the most part. trying ignore the splitting headache the lights and sounds were giving her. She was very thankful when the glass doors of the apartment closed behind them, providing a much needed barrier between them and the crowds, shutting them off from the outside world.

She looked up, finding herself stood in a palace of a room. It was gigantic, with paintings on the white walls of all the previous victors and wooden floors. She recognised most of them, the most famous faces in all of Panem were on that wall. Mags Flanagan, Jim Hopper, Joyce Byers, Milo and Faye Wicked, Ruth Jacob’s. All previous winners.

There were several doors beside some of the paintings, Lizzy assumed they went to some kind of office. Down a large corridor stood the famous glass elevator that would eventually take them to their apartment. She wondered if that’s were They we going now.

“Now what do we do?” Caleb asked, Turing to her. Lizzy shrugged, not having much to say.

One of the oak doors opened, and out came a man. He was tall with long brunette hair and dull brown eyes. He was wearing a black suit and tie, it looked like something someone might wear to a funeral. He looked at them and walked over, offering out his hand. “Lizzy and Caleb I assume? My names Cato Shark, I’ll be mentoring you both this year.”

Caleb shook his hand, nodding, “it’s an honour to meet you sir.”

“Likewise,” Cato said formally, offering Lizzy a hand but shoving it into his pocket when she made no attempt to shake it. “I’m sorry this happened to you both. There isn’t much I can do to help within the arena, you know that. But I assure you, I’ll do my very best to help in the days leading up to it.” He looked at a silver watch around his wrist. “Unfortunately time is not on our side, usually we would sit down and discuss the other tributes, but by order of Snow you must go straight to your stylists.”

“Why the change?” Lizzy asked, looking over at the district eleven kids who’d just headed down one of the corridors with a scary looking man who she assumed was Jim Hopper, their mentor.

“I’m not sure,” Cato sighed. “We’ll have time to discuss survival tactics soon don’t worry. But, right now I ought to take you both to the cleaning rooms…”

“The cleaning rooms.” Lizzy echoed, wondering what that is.

“Yes, it’s just where you’ll be prepared for the parade.” Cato looked at his watch again. “Please, Follow me.”

Lizzy nodded as Cato turned on his heels and headed down one of the corridors. As they walked, she looked over all the photos and Paints. They briefly passed Cato one, but he looked very different in that picture.

She wondered, would she be the next picture in that corridor?

Chapter Text

Rosie hadn’t left her room.

She hadn’t left her room since the reaping. Since everything that happened. She’d spent the last two days curled up on the thin sheets on her bed, wrapped in an old, light green blanket. She hadn’t spoken to many people either, Marco had tied to talk to her once but she didn’t respond. After that he stopped trying.

All she could think about was the overwhelming about of guilt she felt, it hung over her like a stork cloud and weighed down her shoulders so badly it felt impossible to do anything at all. Every thought she had was about the reaping, baiut Lizzy, about the games. About the way she killed her sister. She killed Lizzy.

She wasn’t dead. Not yet. But she would be, Rosie knew nobody under the age of fifteen ever won, they were too small, too weak and too scared. Lizzy was just like that, she was always anti social, hating being around strangers, barely making any friends in school. She was short with Arms like twigs and a very quiet Nature. Rosie on the other hand was older, average height with strength and brains to match. She had a chance of winning if she was ever unfortunate enough to be picked, or volunteer. But Lizzy? No. No she didn’t.

Rosie knew she should have done something, she should have just stepped forward and put her hand up. She should have gone instead. Maybe if she did, things would be better. Mum and Father were fighting constantly, after everything father and made them do finally came to light. Mum was furious, she spent hours just screaming at him for making his kids put their names in more times. She was still angry. So so angry. Father had tried to reason with her but she wouldn’t hear it, then she went out a night ago and didn’t come back.

Rosie knew she would eventually, she must have just gone to stay at her sister’s house until she calmed down. Father had been quiet since she left, like he finally realised how messed up what he did was. He felt guilty too. If Rosie had just volunteered like she was told too, none of it would have happened.

Not only had she killed Lizzy, but she broke up mum and father as well.

𝘞𝘢𝘺 𝘛𝘰 𝘎𝘰 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘦．

She turned over in the bed, her back facing the wooden walls as she looked over at the two other beds in the room. One was Gingers, it was tidy and organised in a typical Ginger fashion. Pillows fluffed, leaned up against the wall with the blanket sides tucked in neatly and a second dark red blanket folded at the end. The other one against the far wall was Lizzy's. Messy and disorganised, exactly how she left it on the day of the reaping. She’d never sleep in that bed again. Not ever.

She wanted to cry. She felt like she was going to, but all she had been doing the past few days was crying and thinking. She was too tired to cry. She let out an exhausted breath before rolling over to face the wall, unable to keep looking at Lizzys empty bed. That felt better.

Rosie heard a gentle knock at the door, but didn’t bother looking up to see who it was. She mumbled a faint ‘come in’ that she wasn’t sure they heard or not. Either way she didn’t care. The door creaked open and closed seconds later.

“Hey, it’s me…” Rosie recognised her voice instantly, Ginger. She looked over her shoulder to see her older sister, dressed in a simple, joggers and a hoodie (which was very unusual for her), stood by the door way. She offered a soft, gentle smile before moving to sit by the edge of the bed. Rosie forced herself to sit up, leaning her back against the wall and bring her knees close to her chest.

Neither of them said anything for a moment, Rosie kept her gaze fixed on her hands that she rested on her knees, refusing to look at Ginger. Then, Ginger finally spoke up. “Do You need to talk about it?”

Rosie looked up and met her eye. She was met with no judgment from her, just simple understanding and patience. It was more than she was expecting, of part of her wanted Ginger to scream. She wanted her to yell and take out all the anger she must have built up because of her. It didn’t feel right to have someone who cared if she was ‘ok’ after what she did. She knew that wasn’t going ti happen though, Ginger wasn’t one to shout.

Rosie just wanted to lie, to tell her that she was fine and that she could handle the situation alone. She wanted to keep eveyr horrible feelings she had locked away in the back of her mind, like she’d always done with her resentment when father made her put her name in more times, or when mum told Lizzy she would just volunteer if she was picked. But she couldn’t. The flimsy dams she had built up were cracking and she could feel it. She wanted to Pour out her heart and tell Ginger every worry and every pain she’d been feeling since it happened. All that came out in three simple words. “I killed her…”

“You haven’t killed anyone,” Was Gingers response, calm and collected as ever. Before she could continue, Rosie cut her off.

“Yes I did….i did. I killed Lizzy, I killed her. She can’t win, nobody her ages ever wins-not ever. I killed her, if I had just-“ Rosie’s words came out in a rush, she tripped over them and stuttered, trying to force every thought she had into words. “If I had just volunteered and not been such a-such a coward…” She remembered that Father called her that when they got home. He called her a coward because that’s what he saw. Someone too scared to put family first. She couldn’t help but start shouting, the anger she had hidden away coming to the surface. “Then everything would be ok! Lizzy would be here and she’d be alive and safe. Mum and Father wouldn’t be fighting! It’s all my fault…”

It was all her fault. Everyone knew it.

“Rosie,” Ginger started, Turning to face her properly. “I’m gonna say the once and you’re going to listen, ok?” Rosie did respond past a faint head nod, but that was enough for Ginger to understand. “What happened to Lizzy wasn’t your fault.” She said it in such a way, That Rosie felt she really meant it. Maybe she did. “It wasn’t your fault, and it wasn’t Lizzys fault either. The only people to blame her are mum and father”

“I don’t-“ Rosie shook her head, looking up at her sister. “I don’t understand….why them? They’re not the ones who refused to volunteer…They didn’t kill Lizzy…”

“You didn’t refuse to volunteer, and you didn’t kill Lizzy. You were just scared, i would have been the same. I don’t blame you for not volunteering, you were right not too. I can’t say that I would have in your position either…” Ginger gently explained, “It’s mum and father’s fault and theirs alone. Father….he made us put our names in more than needed, he was the reason Lizzys name was on that paper. It would have only been in once of it wasn’t for him.”

She had a point. If Lizzy was like any normal twelve year old…her name would have been in that Bowl once. But because of father, her name was in quadruple that.

“And Mum? Lizzy spent her whole life being told by her that if she got picked, you would go for her. She drilled it into her mind, I bet she never asked you about it, did she?” Ginger asked, Rosie shook her head. “That’s what I thought…so it’s Mums fault for putting that pressure on you and for making Lizzy believe it too.”

Rosie had built up a lot of resentment towards her parents because of what they did. To them, she always felt like nothing but a piece of paper in the reaping bowl. But…she’d been do focused on blaming heel self since the reaping, that she forgot all about what they did to them.

“You had the right to be scared and for not volunteering. Lizzy had the right for being upset about it. But mum and father? They didn’t.” Ginger sighed, moving to sit shoulder to shoulder with Rosie. “And now….they're both starting to have regrets. They realise what They did wrong but that doesn’t make it ok.”

“What about Marco…What does he think?” Rosie was convinced everyone blamed her, but maybe that wasn’t the case. Maybe…Ginger was right. She still found it hard not to blame herself, but maybe it wasn’t all her fault…

“He keeps his head too far up his ass so I haven’t had a chance to ask…” That made Rosie smile for a moment, Marco always had a bit of an ego. Always switching between opinions like how a bee switches between flowers. Always changing his mind on everything. “But…he hasn’t talked to Father since what happened.”

“He hasn’t?”

“No, he hasn’t….” Ginger looked down at her hands. “But this isn’t about what he thinks. I know you blame yourself…but I just want you to know that no matter what you think, it’s not your fault and never will be. Ok?”

Rosie hesitated, thinking about everything Ginger had said for a moment. Just a moment. “Ok…”

Mum and Father were the reason they were in this situation, they were the ones who were the cause of all this. It wasn’t her. Rosie thought it to herself, partially believing it. It’s not her fault. But another thought was still in her mind, one that just wouldn’t leave her alone. “Will she ever forgive me…”

Lizzy was so upset, all she must have Been thinking of was the broken trust and the betrayal. Maybe she as still thinking about it, right now. That’s what Made Ginger feel the worst, how Lizzy must have felt when she was made to walk on that stage, expecting something that wouldn’t come.

“She’ll understand.” Ginger said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll take time…but she will.” She sounded so sure…Rosie just nodded, looking forward again. Maybe Lizzy would forgive her, that’s if she ever came home again.

________________

“Sweetheart, you must stay absolutely still, you hear?” A stylist with bright Orange hair said, leaning close to Lizzy’s face.

Lizzy nodded, trying to edge away from her slightly. As The stylist moved away and walked over to a sliver tray, Lizzy breathed a quick sigh of relief. She was lying on a metal table in nothing but a white gown, while a group or strangers fussed over the smallest things about her appearance. She wasn’t having a fun time. She hated how they kept poking and prodding her, pulling her hair and drenching her in water.

The room itself was small, and should barely be classed as a room. Thin, practically see-through curtains divined the room up into 24 sections, a tributes and a team of stylist in each, as well as plenty of equipment. Looking to her left, Lizzy saw Caleb, who seemed to be having a much better time than she was, the girl from eleven was to her right. The walls of the large space were tiled and white, with no windows and shelves stacking bottles of shampoos, conditioner and a thousand types of soap. The floor had the same typed texture, only a light shade of grey. currently it was littered with bits of clipped hair and nails. The room had an overpoweringly strong mint smell in his that made Lizzys nose wrinkle.

When she first entered, they’d made such as huge fuss about her and how ‘adorable’ she was. Then they asked some very….invasive questions before being strapped to a cold metal table and having her hair washed and combed, legs shaved, nails clipped and a lot of other so called beauty treatments. Not only did she despise people touching her, but she also hated the feeling of having wet hair, at home she always used to tie it in a bun as it dried. It always looked strange for a while after drying, but Lizzy didn’t really care.

However that wasn’t an option at the moment, so she was forced to suck on a breath and try to ignore the horrible sensation of damp hair tickling the back of her neck. The stylists had stopped talking in the corner, Turing to her with large, teeth showing smiles that made Lizzy very uncomfortable. The one with orange hair was first to speak, “Darling, you’re ready to meet Cynthia.”

Her voice sounded like Nails on a chalkboard, not to mention her scratchy capital accent. Lizzy almost flinched upon hearing her annoying tone. Two other stylists, one with neon yellow hair and the other with long green eyelashes, grabbed her by the shoulders and sat her up. She tensed at the contact. Lizzy swung her legs over the side of the metal ‘bed’, and stepped onto the cold tiled floor.

The green-lashed lady gestured for her to Follow, which she did. Lizzy was led towards the far need of the room, towards a pair of metal double doors. She spotted both Kassie and Rory having their own preparations done. Neither of them seemed to notice her as she passed, Orange-hair opened the doors and strode down another look, dim-lighted corridor, looking over her shoulder every once in a while to make sure Lizzy still followed her.

She walked up to another room, pulling the door open and beckoning for Lizzy to go inside. This room was almost identical to the one she was in before, with grey and white walls and a metal bed beside the wall. Leaned against the walls were racks and racks of clothes of all sorts of colours and styles, there just have been hundreds of them. A large mirror was attached to one of the walls, though it was partially covered by the mass amount of clothing. Orange-Hair closed the door after she went in, leaving her alone in the slightly chilled room.

Lizzy walked over to the rack, taking one more look around the room before turning her attention to the clothing. She felt the soft fabric of a red and white dress, running her finger over the delicate stitching of the fabric. All these clothes here that would never be used, and people had to handcraft theirs back home. It felt so wrong to be there when people back home and nothing. Another way the capital extended their wealth. It all felt wrong.

She flickered her gaze to another outfit, this one a shirt and trousers. The trousers were black in colour while the shirt was the same light colour red as the dress was, it had feathers sewn into the shoulder pads and sparkly buttons running down the front.

“Admiring my work?” A voice from behind her made Lizzy jump and leap around, hands flying off the precious outfit. Leaned against the door frame with her arms folded was a tall woman with dark olive skin, braided black hair that fell down way past her shoulders and dark hazel eyes. She wore a black jumpsuit (short sleeved) with small sliver stars stitched all over it, as well as a pair of black heels on her feet. The next thing Lizzy noticed is that She had lots of jewellery, ranging from silver necklaces to rings to gigantic hoop earrings that hung from her head, her lashes were also unnaturally long with a taint of silver on them too. A whole lot of silver. So this must be Lizzy's stylist.

She didn’t wait for an answer from Lizzy, who was almost too stunned to speak. “It’s impressive I know. Very few are able to master the technique of design that I have, my designs are considered to be priceless really, even other stylist wear my style. Considering that many, of not all, stylists typically wear their own clothing, that says a whole lot doncha think?”

Once again, she gave Lizzy no chance to respond. “Ah, where are my manners?” She put a hand to her chest like she’d just offended herself. “My names Cynthia, you must be….Lily, right?”

“It’s Lizzy…” She finally got the courage to speak up, swallowing the lump in her throat. Cynthia took a few steps forward, looking down at her with a judgmental look. Lizzy couldn’t Help but shrink away.

“Yeah Lizzy, thats what I said.” Cynthia looked her up and down, sighing. “My job is very simple. I make You look great, which is my specialty anyway, and you stand there and look good. Think you can manage that? Good.”

Cynthia brushed past Lizzy, pushing her shoulder as she strutted over to her wall of outfits, before picking through them she grabbed a bottle of sanitiser and quickly applied it to her hands, rubbing between her fingers before looking back over at Lizzy. She couldn’t Help but feel a bit intimidated by the stylist, especially with that dirty look she won’t stop looking at her with.

“Now Lily, I do honestly understand you must have nothing in the districts, it sounds like fashion Hell for me….i couldn’t possibly imagine having to do like your kind do, no new outfits, probably eating scraps of the floor…my heart goes out to you, it’s really does.” Cynthia said with a deep lack of care as she flicker through designs.

“It’s not that bad…” Lizzy defended herself, though it was quiet and lacked venom. She really didn’t like how patronising she sounded, acting like living in the districts was the worst thing ever. And yes, it was bad, sometimes people went hungry and there was always the fear of the games…but she had a family. A family she deeply cared about. That was better than anything the capital could ever have.

“You just say that because you lived there, now that you’re in the capital that place will seem like a past nightmare…” Cynthia said, before deciding to focus on the task at hand. “Now it’s time to choose your outfit….your district nine right?”

“I’m district ten…” Did this stylist know anything at all? She couldn’t even get her district right.

“Ah yes of course, silly me! My apologises, I’m used to Tailoring for the kind from nine, you must understand the sudden change was a hard adjustment.” Cynthia laughed, before turning back to the outfits and mumbling to herself, “District ten….district ten….thats livestock so that means farms….hm. How are you with dresses? Actually-don’t answer that…you’ll have to wear a dress no matter what you think about them….”

Lizzy wasn’t a huge fan on dresses, but she could tolerate them for some time. It was more the exposure that bothered her, and the texture of most dresses always made her skin crawl.

“The colour for district 10 is brown….but brown is such a hideous colour, I refuse to work with it. So let’s go for a red colour scheme-oh Wiat! Better than red, green! Green represents crops and growth, does it not?” Cynthia looked to Lizzy, as if waiting for her opinion. Which Lizzy was in no hurry to give, knowing it woukd probably result in another dig at the districts. However Lizzys knew that distrcut 19 wasn’t even crops, it was livestock. Cynthia tutted after she didn’t respond before moving over to one of the other racks. “We’ll go with green, let’s see here…”

“We don’t grow crops in ten…” Lizzy said quietly, shuffling her feet’s awkwardly. Cynthia turned back to her with a raised eyebrow. “We only have animals.”

Cynthia looked at her with a fed up look. “So fussy….but very well, if we’re going for something animal themed then….oh! What I said earlier was such a lie….i have made one outfit using the colour brown, though I never thought I’d live to see They day some poor soul was forced to wear it…”

Her hands skimmed between dresses, before Finally making up her mind and choosing one. She held it up by the hanger, turning around to show Lizzy. It was fairly short, around knee length Lizzy assumed, with a light brown and white checked pattern decorated it. The top bottom and ends of sleeves had a white fancy collar decorating them. On the left side, there looked to be green vine and leaves stitched into the fabric, it climbed upwards before wrapping its self around the short sleeve. A dark brown leather belt with a golden buckle wrapped its way around the middle whereas towards the bottom Lizzy saw some dark brown animal paw prints.

It was far from the most fashionable of outfit, but Lizzy supposed it was tolerable. Cynthia looked over the dress, then back to Lizzy before walking forward and shoving it into her arms, Lizzy stumbled a little at the surprising force put into that action.

“Be quick and Put it on! I’ll be outside!” Cynthia called over her shoulder before opening the door and walking out, leaving Lizzy alone in the room. At leats she had the decency to let her change alone. Though She didn’t bother closing the door since the capital folk know nothing about privacy, so Lizzy quietly pulled it shut before quickly getting changed out of her white gown and into the dress. A pair of leather boots with buckles caught her eye afterwards, she pit those on and did up the laces.

Lizzy looked down at her outfit, to her Suprise it fit her almost perfectly, both being tight enough to stay on as well as being loose enough to be comfortable. She expected it to be too big on her, as most clothes typically were.

A harsh knock at the door made her jump, before Cynthia, who was very clearly annoyed, yelled at her from behind it. “Hurry up in there! It Doenst take all day to put dress on.”

“I’m coming…” Lizzy called back, taking one last glance at herself before walking out to Rejoin Cynthia. She looked up and down a5 the outfit, smiling and clapping her hands together.

“You look wonderful, oh I can just tell the capital are going to love you….now come along!” Cynthia snapped her fingers, pointing down towards the hallway again before gesturing her to follow. All Lizzy seemed to be doing a now-a-days is following people around…

It wasn’t long before she was led the main room, where all the other tributes were waiting for the parade to being. The room was shaped like a dome, only the top part having glass that allowed in the sun. On one side of the room there was two gigantic silver doors, leading outside to the road, as well as to the crowds of people who would be watching. Twelve Carriages pulled by two Horses each were lined up before the door, district one at the front and district twelve at the end. The room was very crowded, stylist mentors and tributes all crammed into the space, it was hard to see where her carriage was from that distance.

She spotted Kassie and the boy from one that front, both wearing creamy white outfits complimented by lots and lots of jewellery. To her surprise, neither of them wanted to go anywhere near each other, they both stood as far away as they could in the Small space. Maybe they knew eachother from before the games.

Lizzy looked over the rest of the carriages, seeing Rory and the boy from her district in the third one. Rory spotted her, giving her an enthusiastic wave. Lizzy waved back, hoping they would have time to talk after the parade.

She noticed how Eveyrone was starting to board, and most the stylist were beginning to leave. Now was probably a good time to find ehr own, so she wasn’t late. She pushed her way through the crowd, almost drowning in the sea of people. It made her feel extremely small, barely being able to see over the tops of their heads. It’s why she always hated large groups, and tried to avoid them at all costs. Thankfully it was far less busy closer to the chariots.

She just managed to find the district ten carriage, it was painted black with golden wheels with two brown horses stood at the front. Lizzy always hates horses, ever since Marco got kicked in the stomach by on of them at their Aunts place. The thought of something powerful enough to break bones in half with just a single kick terrified her, so she tried keeping her distance from them as much as possible.

Caleb was already there, throigh he seemed to have no problem with the horses, if anything he seemed to enjoy scratching behind their ears and stroking their manes. He was wearing a similar outfit to her, though his was darker. The same shade brown was on his button up shirt that was on Lizzy's dress, through his trousers were black. He looked at her as he ran his hand throigh one of their manes. “Do you wanna pet them too?”

“No…” Lizzy shook her head, taking a small step away. Macro once told her horses cane smell fear, that onky added to her fear of them.

Caleb looked at her blankly for a while before shrugging and turning his attention back to the horse. He shrugged “Alright, you do you…”

After that neither of the said a word until Cato arrived. He was dressed in a suit and little red bow tie as well as shinny Black shoes, so formal. Lizzy came to expect nothing less from her uptight mentor. His eyes scanned over both their outfits, giving a slight nod of approval, “I see your stylists have been treating you well…”

“Yeah, Angels the best!” Caleb walked away from the horse, standing beside Lizzy. “He used to do district twelves stuff, but after two victors game from that place he got moved up, he told me all about it…”

Faye and Milo Wicked, won back to back games both at eighteen years old. Later they got married and had two kids, both still very young. Seven or eight maybe? There was rumours around Milo’s win, how it came to be since nobody really knew how he did what he did. But the capital squashed any doubt that it may not have been fair. Lizzy had never believed in those conspiracy theory’s, if something wrong went down in his games then he wouldn’t be alive.

“That’s good to hear,” Cato straightened his bow tie, “both if you should start getting on board, they’ll be leaving shorty. Do not worry, I’ll be in the audience as well as potential sponsors, make sure you make a lasting impression.”

“Before you go….can I ask something?” Caleb asked, looking up at Cato.

Cato nodded, “Go on…”

“Do we really have a chance of going home?” That question really hit Lizzy, the same way the reality of it all did. She coukd go home, she coukd see her mum, father, Ginger, Rosie and Marco again. First, she would have to win. “Random question I know but…I miss my family….i really do, will I ever see them again?”

Cato looked over both their faces for a long time, sucking in a tight breath. He seemed hesitant to answer, Lizzy wasn’t sure why. It was a yes or no question. After a moment he nodded, “with the right training….there is no reason you couldn’t have a chance at winning.”

Nobody’s odds are zero, not even theirs. That statement alone gave Lizzy hope that fluttered through her chest. She could really go home, she could forget about this nightmare and live free from the games. If training was all that it took, she would train more than anyone in the games had ever trained. A bright smile appeared on Calbe face, he was thinking the same thing she was. Cato cleared his throat, quick to change the subject. “yes, yes now it’s time to get ready, make them remember you…”

Lizzy looked over the rest of the carriages, which had finished preparations and were clearly ready to go. The horses seemed to be getting restless, that made Lizzy feel a lot more nervous than it should. Cato helped both her and Caleb onto the carriage, making sure they were both on before he was whisked away by some security officers. The rest of the room was clearly out, only some people remaining. Lizzy glanced over at Caleb, who was more interested in the paint work than he was anything else around him.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked foward. The gigantic doors had slowly started to open outwards and a beam of sunlight shot into the room and shone onto the line of carriages and horse. Lizzy had to raise a hand to block out the light she was suddenly drowned in. The horses seemed to know now was the time to start moving, the carriage jolted forward and Lizzy colony’s help but squeal at the sudden unexpected movement. She kept one hand gripping onto the side of it the whole time as it begun moving. She knew she must look like a fool, being so tense and rigged.

Lizzy could already hear the screaming applause from the crowd as the first few districts made their way out, then came the next lot and then the lot after that, before it was district tens time to shine. As they made their way out, they were hit with anotehr overwhelmingly loud burst of cheers that made Lizzy wince. Her eyes looked over the huge mass of people, she couldn’t spot Cato and that was hardly surprising considering that the whole of the capital looked to have arrived.

While the whole thing did nothing but stress her out, Caleb seemed to be loving it. He waved to the audience with a broad smile on his face. The capital must love him already.

Lizzy glanced behind her, the gates had closed behind the district twelve kids, they looked exactly how she did. Overwhelmed. All the eyes that were watching them, judging them, was the worst part about it all. The pressure of putting on a good show, it was almost too much. She just kept facing foward, trying to ignore the audience and forget they were even there.

A few people were throwing roses, one landed by Lizzy’s feet. She picked it up and twirled it in her hands, the blue flower glinted in the sunlight and it was unlike any flower she’d seen back home. She brushed the hair out her face and tucked it behind her ear, half hoping it would make her a but more noticeable. Despite not wanting to be seen at all, she knew she would need spill pies from the sponsors in order to make it through the games. And for the sponsors to give her stuff, they needed to noticed her. It would a whole lot take more than a flower in her hair to make them do that, So far she probably wasn’t going a good job.

They were almost at the end of the track by now, the first few districts pulling to a stop in front of the Presidents balcony. There he stood, wearing red and proud as ever, looking down over the tributes this year. Lizzy breathed a long sigh of relief when the carriage finally stopped, putting a hand to her chest. Caleb looked at her weirdly before shrugging and looking back to the audience, giving another wave. Snow raised a hand and the crows fell silent as the district twelve group had stopped.

He stepped closer to the microphone before closing his throat. “Welcome, Our guests from the districts, we welcome you to the capital of Panem.” Another short burst of applause. “In four days time, you will fight with valour and bravery in our arena. We wish you all the best of luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour!

That was the end of the speech, Lizzy and no idea why they were all dragged out here just to listen to that. It seemed pointless to her.

The carriage started to pull away But only then did she realised how close the games really were, only four days before she had to fight in the arena, against the other tributes and whatever else was going to be in there. There was always a chance of winning, one in twenty-four to be exact, and those were Lizzy’s chances of winning. No twelve year old had ever one before.

Maybe she could be the first.

Chapter Text

Lizzy didn’t sleep for most that night. The stress of her first training session was simply too much to handle, she spent all night tossing and turning in the ridiculously comfortable bed she’d been given. Cato did promise they’d do a quick run through of what to look out for in terms of allies, that helped put her mind to rest. When she did finally sleep, it was already morning. The first Cracks of dawn were beginning to shine through her curtains.

When she awoke, She unraveled herself from the blanket she woke up curled in. It reminded her of the blanket she had at home, though her one was much older and worn out. Mum made it for her when she was little, and ever since she refused to let anyone else near it. She missed home.

Lizzy got up, slipping on today’s designated outfit. Black Joggers, trainers and a white shirt accompanied by a Zip up hoodie with the words ‘District 10’ stitched into the side. It wasn’t her usual style, but there weren’t many options.

She slid open her door, looking around at the luxurious dinning room they’d been given to live in. The floors were wooden, polished so perfectly that when Lizzy looked down, she coukd see her reflection looking back at her. The walls were made up from Large, White ties though most of the area was decorated with a range of Paintings and photos. Lizzy’s favourite was a picture of a sunset over a lake, it reminded her of district 10. In the centre of the room stood a donning table with a white surface and black legs, six matching chairs were tucked under it. There was a Tv attached to one of the walls near the table, though she couldn’t see it from were Lizzy stood, a giant plant in a pot blocked most her view.

Thankfully it seemed she wasn’t the first one up, she could hear Cato’s voice from the dinning table.

“-I just…I don’t know, I worry about it that’s all.” Lizzy heard him say, suddenly getting the feeling she wasn’t supposed to be hearing this. She ducked behind the plant pot, crouched down and listening closely.

“That’s a Natural feeling,” Came a woman’s voice. “I’m worried too.”

“They’re both just kids, I mean, both of them are only twelve years old…” Cato sighed, Lizzy peaked around the plant for a better view. She saw him sat at the head of the table with a woman she didn’t recognise. He had a hand on his forehead as one of his legs was bouncing under the table. “There’s never been a winner under fifteen. And I don’t have the to heart to tell them that they’re gonna die in there….”

Lizzy sucked in a breath. He didn’t think They had any hope of winning. He thought that both of them….were gonna die? He said that they could do it with the right training. He lied to them….

“So they think they can win?” The woman asked, shifting in her seat.

“Yeah. They do…” Cato ran a hand through his hair, Lizzy could almost feel her trust be shattered once again. “They really think they can win. But I know they won’t…no amount of training can change that. The hard truth is that they’re young, they’re weaker than the rest of them, they aren’t gonna make it…” he sighed. “Caleb, he wears his heart on his sleeve….he trusts everyone. I didn’t have the guts to tell him that he can’t trust anyone in here, and if he does then he’ll get killed….how am I supposed to tell a kid that?? And Lizzy? She’s more skeptical, quieter. She realise the truth a long time before he does but…even then I can’t tell her she’s gonna die in there…”

“The kids from my district are the same.” The woman said, “The girl, Anne I think her name is, she’s already accepted that she won’t win. But Max, he has a heart of gold, something like that will get you hurt…”

“It’s why I don’t wanna talk about the other tributes with them,” Cato said, The woman muttered something under her beneath that Lizzy didn’t catch. “I know, I know it’s my job but….i don’t wanna scare them. If they see how much tougher the others are, they’ll realise like we all did that maybe, maybe they aren’t gonna come back…”

He thinks they’re gonna die. No, he knows they’re gonna die. Lizzy felt so stupid in that moment, really thinking she had a chance of going home to her family. She really thought she could win if she tried her hardest in training and picked the right allies. Ho was she kidding? Of course she Doesn’t, she’s gonna die in there like almost every other young kid.

“Look,” The woman brushed her dark brunette hair out her face. “Maybe you should have some more faith in them. Yes, I agree they’re young and Neither of them look particularly strong but, we don’t know what they’re facing yet. Maybe it’ll be something in their skill set, who knows?” She put a hand on Catos shoulder. “Don’t give up on them yet. Just because no kid that young has ever one, doesn’t mean it can’t happen.”

Cato nodded, wiping his eyes like he’d been crying. He let out a deep sigh. “Thanks for this Ruth, I didn’t mean to drag you away from your one training but…”

“It’s no problem, both of mine sleep like logs anyway, they’ll be asleep for hours yet.” Ruth shrugged, standing up and tucking in the chair. “I know you’ve been doing this whole mentoring thing way longer than me, but Seriously, give them a chance. Maybe they’re better than you think…”

“We’ll see about that…” Cato stood up, offering her a hand shake. She took it with little hesitation. “I’ll see you later.”

“Will do,” Ruth did a mock salute before practically strutting towards the door and leaving. Cato went towards Caleb's room, lightly tapping on the door to wake him up. He hadn’t noticed her yet. Lizzy was left with a growing sense of anxiety, fear more like. She didn’t want to die, but there was no escaping the inevitable. The reality was that, at twelve years old, Lizzy Reaper was going to die.

She felt so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Cato trying to get her attention, waving a hand in front of her face. Her eyes snapped up, locking with his. His smile faded when he saw the hurt look on her face, he must have realised she’d heard it. He glanced over his shoulder, looking at Caleb as he took his place at the dinning table.

Caleb looked so innocent. Sat his hands under his thighs, rocking back a fourth slowly, and admiring the plate of food that had just been placed in front of him by a red-haired Avox. She came back with two more plates, placing one Opposite Him and the other where Cato sat.

Cato looked back to her as she stood up. He raised his eyebrows, giving her a look as a small moment of understanding passed between them. He Doenst want Caleb to know, he didn’t need to say anything for Lizzy to know that. He hasn’t accepted it yet. Neither has Lizzy, but she has time to process it and Caleb doenst. Lizzy nodded, walking past him and taking a seat at the table.

She looked down at the plate of sausages, buttered toast, beans, bacon and eggs, poking the egg with her fork before cutting up some toast and eating it. It was unlike anything she’d tasted before, the best food she’d ever eaten. The concerto of food this good was even ohh to make her bursting with excitement. For second, just a second, she felt happy as she ate another forkful. But it wasn’t very long before she remembered her family, who were starving in district ten. The excitement died and her face fell slowly.

She only looked up when she heard Cato clear his throat, somehow he’d already finished his food. “I figured now is a good time to discuss allies. Did you have anyone in mind currently?”

Caleb spoke up first, shoving a forkful of bacon into his mouth without a second thought. “I’ve been talking with some of the older ones, Cosmo from one as well as the kids from two and boy from 4. It’s a pretty good team if You ask me…”

Cato paused before nodding slowly. “That’s certainly a good choice, but you need to be mindful. That’s a very strong but also very dangerous team, and they’ll only get more dangerous once the games start.”

“I trust them, they’re good guys.” Caleb responded, “They aren’t gonna try anything if that’s what you’re saying…they wanna help me win.”

𝘕𝘰, 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵．

“How do you know?” Lizzy asked, knowing They’re only saying that, it was very obvious to both her and Cato that they couldn’t be trusted. Yet Caleb, who wears his heart on his sleeve, has already trusted them with his whole heart.

“Because,” Caleb shrugged. “They’re my friends.”

“Right, well…what about you Lizzy?” Cato was very quick to steer the conversation, she could tell he didn't want to crush his spirit. Maybe he’ll realise for himself that they’re bad people.

“There’s a girl,” Lizzy started, avoiding eye contact. “Her names Rory, from three. I spoke to her on the train.”

“Ok, ok That's good. Kids from three tend to be the smartest.” Cato said but Lizzy has her doubts. Rory didn’t seem like the sharpest tool in the shed, but perhaps she had hidden talents. “Anyone else.”

“The girl from one.” Lizzy said, though she wasn’t sure if Kassie has any interest in joining them. She certainly didn’t seem interested in joining the careers group. The mention of District one made Cato sit up a bit straighter. “But….i didn’t know if she’s on our team or not.”

“Remember what I said to Caleb, those kids are strong but dangerous.” Cato explained. But, Kassie didn’t seem dangerous, a bit rude maybe but not dangerous. “….Anyone can be dangerous, and anyone can betray you within a moment.”

She could almost hear the reluctance in his voice, he didn’t want to discuss allies. That was obvious from the way he has a disapproving and almost sad look at the mention of another tribute.

“Do you trust Rory?” Caleb asked, Lizzy met his eye. That question got her thinking.

Did she Trust Rory? There wasn't anything about her that seemed scary or dangerous. Something about her seemed so genuine and human, Lizzy Couldn’t Help but trust her. But Like Cato said, anyone can betray her. Nobody can be trusted.

“No,” Lizzy finally said after a moment of thinking, “I don’t.”

“Now is your chance,” Cato finished his food, putting his knife and fork on the plate. The red Haired avox came back and took it away. “Training today will be when they’ll get to see you, really see you, for the first time. First impressions are important. If you have any skills, don’t show them yet. You’ll want to catch people off guard in the arena.” His eyes darted between the two of them, Lizzy could only guess what was going through his head. “Do you have any skills of importance…?”

“I’m a fast runner I guess.” Lizzy spike up first, shrugging. Ever since she was a kid, she had been able to outrun boys twice her age. She was nicknamed ‘the flash’ in school because of it. “But, I don’t know if that counts..”

“No, no that counts, that’s great. You’ll need running for the blood bath. Anything else?” He asked, looking at her with curiosity.

“Not really…” She said, and Cato bit back a sigh. She hung her head in shame, hating knowing she’d disappointed him.

“What about you?” He turned to Caleb. “Any special skills?”

“Uhhhhh…” Caleb thought for a moment. “Oh! Oh I know!” He clapped his hands excitedly, pointing towards Lizzy. “Javelin! I can throw stuff really far, Remember that contest we all did on the school playground a few years back?” He asked her. Lizzy sat confused for a second, before the memory sparked in her mind. Her and a group of other kids got into teams and played sports like Running, Hurdles, Javelin and Relay race. Well they did until a boy tripped over a hurdle and face planted the ground, then the teachers made them stop. But, that was a gun day whisk it lasted. She remembered Caleb won in the Javelin, getting the stick lodged at the top of the metal fences circulating the school. Lizzy nodded. “And a spear is like a Javelin. But, I’m not gonna need it am i? My friends will protect me.”

“Right…” Cato said, somewhat hesitantly. “But just be cautious, ok?” He didn’t wait for a response. “It’s almost it time, go get ready and I’ll meet you afterwards…”

He got up, briskly making his way back to his own room and closing the door. He got out of that one fast. Lizzy looked back to Caleb, and couldn’t resist asking. “Do you actually trust them?”

Caleb looked confused for second before shrugging. “Of course I do, why wouldn’t I?”

“Because they’re going to kill you.” Lizzy said bluntly, remembering Cato and Ruth’s earlier conversation. If he wouldn’t try and get Caleb to see sense, then Lizzy would. She wouldn’t be able to bear the guilt if he wasn’t warned and inevitably betrayed.

“Not everyone going in there is evil…” He responded quietly. “They aren’t bad people.”

“They just want to win.” She responded quickly. “Just like Everyone does.”

Caleb paused for a second, considering what she said, before shaking his head and standing up, “you’re wrong about them.” He went to walk away, but paused and looked back at her, “maybe you should be more trusting…”

‘Maybe you should be less trusting…’ she thought to herself as she watched him turn away and walk to his room. Maybe he’d listened to her, and was planning to be more cautious. Though, it was unlikely…

Lizzy got up from her seat, tucking the surprisingly heavy chair under the table before walking towards her room.It hadn’t taken them very long to get ready, considering they both were already dressed. Lizzy took a quick shower before h they left, hoping the soothing sounds of the water would help calm her nerves. It did, but only for a little while.

Quickly after, they were escorted to the training hall by Cato. He didn’t say much as the walked, probably thinking about how his tributes may have no skills whatsoever, or maybe he was thinking about what Ruth said, whose to know?

Upon entering the training hall, Lizzy was shocked by the enormous size of the place. She’d been told it was pretty big, but she never expected there to be so much going on in one room. It was stacked with many weapons of all shapes and sizes, and even more training targets for them to practice on. A full archery range was located on the left side of the room, while different areas elsewhere were spilt off into different sections. Each section has a unique set of tools and equipment. In the centre of the room stood metal tables, which contained different kinds of plants by the looks of things. Raised high above the room was a glass panel, behind that was where all the game makers and sponsors sat, watching them with greedy, gawking eyes. Lizzy already hated the idea of them watching constantly, something about them made her very uncomfortable.

It seemed like her and Caleb were some of the first there, the hall appeared almost empty at first glance. Only the kids from one, two, four and five. Rory wasn’t there yet. Caleb’s face changed into a wide smile when he saw his so called friends gathered around a table containing different sized knives, he rushed form Lizzy side and practically ran towards them. They appeared happy to see him, but Lizzys could tell it was just an act. Really, they wanted nothing to do with him. She could tell by the boy from one’s strained grin. She was good at observing people like that.

Lizzy glanced around for a moment, trying to see if there was anywhere she could go. Maybe now was a good time to try learn a new skill, because running wasn’t going to help her in combat. Her eyes fell on a girl sat alone in one of the sections, this one seemed nature themed, who had her back to the wall and her knees brought up to her chest. Her long Urban hair obscured most her face, so it was hard to tell how she was feeling. Lizzy never really liked talking to people first, the idea of going and introducing herself did cross her mind, but she decided against it. Instead, she wondered over to the archery range.

Lizzy and never shot an arrow in her life, but now is the time to learn. She picked up a wooden bow, feeling over the weapon and plucking the string. It was surprisingly heavy for an object so small, it was an effort to hold it upright. Loading the arrow was another challenge all together, the still was very thin and she couldn’t stop fumbling over where the feathered end of the arrow as supposed to go.

She walked over to the target range, looking at the person-shaped figure facing her. Lizzy couldn’t ever imagine doing this to a real person, but one day she may have too. She held the bow up, her arm already aching with the effort, and pulled back the string as far as she could get it. She aimed, though it was hard since her hands were shaking so much, and fired.

….and missed the target completely.

The arrow bounced off the wall miles away from the target and cluttered to the floor. Lizzy lowered the bow and observed her complete failure. If she couldn’t even hit a target, how was she supposed to ever hit a moving real-life person?? She looked up at sponsors, some looked back down with dismissive, judging looks. They thought she was weak, juts like Cato did and just like all the other tributes thought. She wished she could tell herself otherwise, but she knew it was true. She was weak, and hardly a tough completion in the games.

‘Weak people are dead people.’ She heard the boy from one say that. And he was right.

Lizzy felt like she could cry, the stress of the previous days on top of the thought of her death looming over her, finally begun to take its toll. She felt her chest constrict and tears pool in her eyes.

‘Rule number one, don’t cry.’ She thought to herself, remembering her father’s words once again. She quickly took a few deep breaths and wiped her eyes, trying to calm herself. Before she had the chance to do much else, she heard a commotion coming from the middle of the hallway. She turned, sniffing back tears and wondering what was happening. A large crowd had gathered around the centre of the room, where yelling could be heard coming from.

“ASSHOLE, IM GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU-!” It was the boy from one, what was his name again? Cosmo? He sounded not just angry, but furious. She could hear his gang cheering him on as the crack of fist against face was heard. The person he was fighting yelled a response, she recognised it to be Kassie. But she didn’t catch what she said. She wondered what Kassie could have done to anger him this much.

She was hesitant to approach, usually preferring to stay away from problems that have nothing to do with her, but when she heard one voice that changed in an instant. “LEAVE HER ALONE YOU FUCKER-!”

Rory. Why was Rory getting involved?

Had she done something to upset him too? Either way, Lizzy knew she had to make sure she was ok. She pushed her way through the crowd, until she saw the miniature blood bath taking place in the centre of the circle. Kassie was lying on the floor, propping herself up with her elbows. Her eye was bleeding and swollen while her lip was cut and her cheek and a large purple bruise forming on it. Rory was stood beside her, bleeding from her own nose, while Cosmo stood with bloody knuckles in front of her, snarling and staring at her with a death glare.

Lizzy looked over at the Sponsors once again, wondering if any of them were going to anything to stop this. But none of them did, in fact They seemed entertained by it all. They all watched with curious, excited faces as they saw the drama unfold.

Kassie made a half-hearted attempt to stumble to her feet, but was immediately shoved back to the ground by Cosmos, who shoved past Rory like she wasn’t even there. He kneeled down and grabbed her by the cuff of her shirt, sending a punch crashing into the Side of her jaw, making her head swing sideways. Then came another, and another and another. Rory, despite her lack of physical strength, was trying to pull him away from her. She grabbed his arm as he went to send another punch flying into her face, he turned and sent his other fist into her stomach knocking the wind out of her and causing her to stumble backwards.

That’s when Lizzy knew she had to intervene.

Cosmo Stood up, letting go of Kassie and letting her crumple to the floor, he stalked towards Rory who was know clutching her stomach in pain. Lizzy bolted forward, throwing herself between the two of them. Cosmo stopped in his tracks, snorting as he looked her up and down. “Get out my way.”

Lizzy shook her head, glancing around at the shocked faces of the other tributes. Fighting her way out of this was clearly a bad idea, considering Cosmo was twice her size and much older. But maybe he’ll listen to reason? “Listen, we don’t-don't want any trouble…” she stammered out before clearing her throat and trying to sound confident. “I don’t know what Kassie did to upset you but, uh, I’m sure she didn’t mean to upset you…”

He just scoffed. “This isn’t any business of yours.”

“No, you’re right but….” Lizzy paused, unsure what to say that would stop her getting punched. “Whatever happened, she knows she did something wrong. She won’t do it again. R-right Kassie?” She looked around him at Kassie’s broken form, she offered no such response. “We’ll go….somewhere else, and you’ll go somewhere else…and we won’t have to interact again….”

“You,” Cosmo Jabbed a rough finger into Lizzy's chest. “You like Sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. And you know what happens to people who do that?” Lizzy shook her head. “Those people get hurt. Those people get killed. Do you want to get Killed Lizzy?”

Something about the way he was talking instantly put her sense on alert. It was like he got pleasure out of seeing her scared. Lizzy swallowed the lump in her throat. “No….”

“That’s a real shame. Because I’ll kill you. I’ll kill all three of you in that arena, you mark my words.” He straightened his posture, Turing from her and waking away. He stopped beside Kassie, who was still lying on the floor, he looks down at her and smiled. Cosmo kicked her in the ribs, hard enough that Lizzy was sure she heard a bone crack.

The still invested crowd let out a collective gasp as Kassie curled in on herself and hissed in pain. He then walked away, the crowd parting for him as his group followed. Caleb exchanged a sorrowful look with Lizzy as he followed them.

The rest of the tributes started to disperse, getting bored and heading back to whatever they were doing in the first place. Lizzy glanced back at Rory, who gave her a soft smile. “You didn’t have to do that, we had it covered.”

“I didn’t want you to get hurt…” Was all Lizzy said, but she could tell it meant a lot to Rory based of the way her smile grew bigger.

Both their heads turned back when they heard Kassie wheeze as she tried to force herself up. Rory ran over to her side, crouching down and putting a supportive hand on her back as she helped her stand. Lizzy came to help as well, but Kassie waved her off. She stood with a hunched back and her hands clasped around her stomach.

“Are you ok?” Lizzy asked, trying to be helpful. It was only after those words left her mouth did she realise how stupid that was to ask. Of course she wasn’t ok.

Kassie looked up, glaring at her. “Take a wild guess if I’m ok or not…” She snapped through gritted teeth, squeezing her eyes shut as she wheezed out a pained breath. “Use your goddamn eyes…”

“She’s just trying to help,” Rory said defensively, wrapping an arm under her armpit and around her back. “Don’t be so rude, she just saved both our asses.”

Lizzy couldn’t help but smile at the praise, her heart fluttering for a moment.

“Saved-?” Kassie grunted out. “You dumbasses….your on his stupid list now…shoulda just stayed out of it…,” she took another deep breath. “like the rest of these morons….”

Lizzy and Rory exchanged a worried glance. Rory started leading her towards a bench placed against one of the walls, Lizzy just followed along behind. “What do you mean?”

Kassie sat down with a grunt, leaning her head against the cold stone wall. Rory sat down, cross legged, On the ground floor near her. Lizzy hesitantly slid beside Kassie, careful to keep some space between the two of them.

“Your such idiots…” Kassie repeated, closing her eyes and shaking her head, “he’s gonna win this thing, trust me I know…and we’ve just become public enemy number one…”

“Don’t be so depressing….” Rory sighed, “it won’t be that bad. Right Liz?”

“Mhm….maybe he isn’t that bad…” She said, thought she still had doubt clouding in her mind. Rory nodded and Kassie didn’t respond, only glancing in her direction.

Lizzy looked over at Cosmois group, realising for herself how dangerously strong they were. Some were lifting weights while other cheered them on with smirking grins. Cosmo himself had a knife in his hand and was practicing slashing at the air with deadly speed, he made eye contact with her for a second before smirking and throwing the knife towards the wall, some how getting it lodged within one of the cracks.

Maybe she should have stayed out of it.

Chapter Text

𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝟸.

“Right…shut it and listen up.” Kassie had said after gathering both Lizzy and Rory into the smallest, most isolated room in the training area. Even in the dull lighting, Lizzy could see She looked much better than she did the previous day, the bruises and cuts on her face almost non existent now. When Lizzy asked about it, she just shrugged and said the capital had their ways.

“Nobody was talking.” Rory interrupted, rolling her eyes and sighing. “Couldn’t we have had this conversation outside, somewhere with a bit more lighting?”

“I have to agree with Rory on this one….” Lizzy said, looking between the two older (and significantly taller) girls.

Kassie suppressed an annoyed sigh. “I’ve been thinking, and I’ve decided that this lil team here,” she gestured between the three of them as she spoke. “Is incredibly weak. So, if we’re gonna stand any chance surviving in that arena with Cosmos group, we’re gonna need to add some more muscle to the team, as well as learning a couple of survival skills.”

“Is all that really necessary?” Rory asked folding her arms. “I mean…it’s not like any of us are winning anyway.”

“I don’t know about you Aurora, but I’ve got something to go back to. So I’m planning to stay alive as long as I can.” Kassie snapped, looking at her coldly. “So stop arguing and just do what I say, we’re all gonna go find a person to join our alliance each. Make sure they’re strong, ask them ‘bout their skills and whatnot. ok?

“Fine whatever,” Rory shrugged it off, “and don’t call me Aurora again.”

“Don’t be a moron and I won’t have to. Meet back here when your done.” Kassie Retaliated, glaring at her before walking away from the two of them. She went straight over to the knife range, when a handful do people were training. Lizzy and Rory shared an almost in cynic eye roll, internally laughing at her bossiness.

Rory went for on her own a moment later, hands shoved in her pockets and wondering aimlessly around the room. Lizzy paused for a second, thinking long and hard about who she planned to bring to the team. It should be an easy decision, pick someone with some skills and Kassie will be happy about it, but she also had to pick someone trustworthy. Someone who wounding stab them in their sleep. That’s when it hit her, Caleb!

He’d be perfect! If she could convince him to join them and get him away from Cosmos group, maybe then he’d have a chance at fighting through this. Her eyes darted around the room trying to spot his group, which was growing in numbers by the minute before she spotted them clumped in a big circle around the fire-making sections.

Lizzy was hesitant to go over there, knowing she wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with Cosmo, but she had to try and get him to see sense. He had to know he couldn’t trust them.She ignored her anxiety and walked over, hands clasped in front of her and her eyes landing on Caleb. She was debating going over and actually talking to him, or waiting for him to notice her and come over on his own, waiting sounded like the best, and safest, option so thats what she did.

There was a large pile of metal crates containing weapons stacked next to one of the tables, she stood beside those and waited. It didn’t take long for him to spot her, he looked at her with a confused look as she gestured for him to come over. Caleb glanced at Cosmo for a moment before waking over towards her with his head hung low.

“I don’t want to come off as rude…” Caleb started before Lizzy could even explain what she needed. “But Cosmo. He really doesn’t like you…so it’s best if you keep away from us….” He shuffled where he stood, avoiding eye contact. “Just…let’s make This quick. What is it you want?”

“Caleb, Listen to me.” Lizzy said, emotionless but stern tone, she wanted him to know she meant what she was saying. “You cannot trust them.” He went to interrupt, but she very quickly shut him down. “Don’t say anything, just listen. Those guys are bad news and they’re gonna be dangerous when they enter the arena, and they’ll turn on you.”

“How do you know?” Caleb asked, looking up with a slightly offended expression. “I know you don’t like them but-“

“Look at them.” Lizzy pointed towards the group, who’d now started practicing jabbing knives at each other, laughing as they pretended to stab and slice eachother open. Just how they would in the arena. Caleb followed her gaze, watching their aggressive behaviour before Turning back to her, “Me, Rory and Kassie are making a group. You can join it, it’s safer. We’re all gonna protect eachother from whatever’s in there. Just join us, please.”

There was a hint of desperation in her voice, she hated how she knew what was going to happen and he didn’t. He had become her friend over the last few days, and she couldn’t stand to see him die at their hands in the arena.

“Lizzy,” Caleb said gently, holding his hands out in front of him like Lizzy might attack him. “I know how they look. Dangerous, mean, especially after what happened between Cosmo and Kassie. But they’re good people, and they’re my friends. They wouldn’t hurt me and I know that. They Aren’t crazy and murderous like you think they are, they’re kids like we all are and I trust them. Just Let it go, you can’t get me to leave their group because you have a hunch.”

“Caleb, please just trust me on this. They’re dangerous and-“

“Little C!” Cosmo called from the centre of the group, a hand in the air beckoning for him to come back over. “Come on, it’s your turn to practice! Let’s see what you’ve got!”

Lizzy couldn’t help but cringe at the nickname, feeling more frustrated now than ever before. She didn’t understand why he trusted them so much, when it was clear they were going to hurt him. How could a person be so gullible?Caleb glanced back over at her. “Thanks for the offer….but I’m ok where I am….”

With that he turned away from her and headed back to the group. Suddenly he was all smiles again as he was handed a knife and told something by one of the few girls in the group in hushed voice. Lizzy sighed, suppressing her frustration at the whole situation. She knew it wasn’t worth trying to convince him again, he made up his mind and chances are he was gonna stick with it. No matter what her or Cato said.

“uhm….excuse me?” A quiet, timid voice came from behind her, Lizzy turned around and saw a girl stood there with her hands hidden in her pockets. She had dirty blonde hair, darker than Kassies, bright blue eyes and freckles dotting her pale face. She looked no older than fourteen, and wouldn’t look Lizzy in the eye as she spoke. “I….i heard you needed someone for your team?”

“That’s right…” Lizzy confirmed, though she already had her doubts on this girl. Kassie definitely wouldn’t be happy if this was who she brought back. But, most others seemed to be in alliance already, or They planned to survive alone. Whichever one it was.

“My names Harper…I’m from five. Could I maybe join your group? I don’t have anyone else to go with yet….” Harper glanced over Lizzy’s shoulder at Cosmois group, who’d started walking towards the spear rack located next to the wall. “And I don’t like my Chances alone….with these guys out there…”

Lizzy paused from a second, remembering what Kassie said about asking people. “Ok….do you have any skills?”

Harper hesitated with her mouth hung open slightly, thinking for a moment before responding. She twirled a strand of her long hair around her finger, “well….i can build things. Fish hooks, traps….things like that. It would be good for catching food in there.”

Having a hunter is definitely a good idea, they had no idea what they might be facing in there. If the arena was water based then having a fisher would be incredibly helpful. Lizzy nodded. “Alright…you can join us. Follow me…”

“Thank you, truly…I don’t know what I’d do if I was alone in there…” Harper said as Lizzy lead her back to the meeting point, she was already prepared for the shouting she’ll revive from Kassie when she gets there. Unsurprisingly she was the last one to arrive, both Rory and Kassie seemed to have been able to find somehow to add to the group. Two Boys, one looked older than the other by a lot and the other looked around thirteen.

Kassie looked at Harper with annoyance as They came over, sighing and putting a hand to her forehead. “Lizzy when I said strong people, I didn’t mean the weakest perosn in the arena.”

“I tried inviting Caleb but he wouldn’t listen…” Lizzy explained, glancing over at Harper who looked extremely uncomfortable. “This is Harper, she’s from five…”

“Well He’s hardly better…” Kassie sighed, very clearly frustrated. She sort of reminded Lizzy of Rosie when she got annoyed. “But…whatever, I guess she’s better than nothing. You guys introduce yourselves, we ought to get to know everyone a bit….”

“I’lll start then….” one of the boys said, he had longer hair tied back in a ponytail and hazel eyes, which were unusually bright. “Well I’m Neo and unfortunately I’m from four. Im not the strongest here but I know my way around a sword so….yeah. I used to be in Cosmois group but I just got bad vibes from them so I left. Doubt he’s happy about that but it’s whatever.”

“Who else is there?” Kassie asked, folding her arms and looking down at him where he sat. “In Cosmo’s group, who else is there?”

“Uhhhh…..well other than Cosmo, there’s Sam and Will, from two. The boy from three…” Neo started, counting on his fingers as he went. Looking up to the ceiling as if that might Help him remember their names better. To Lizzy’s Suprise, Rory didn’t show any reaction when she heard the kid from her district was there. Maybe she just didn’t know him. “Sophie from my district, both kids from six, and that boy from ten…”

That sounded like a very dangerous group. Lizzy’s Heart sank hearing all those names, knowing there was no way they could realistically survive with them in there. Especially since that group already hates them, Thanks to whatever's going on between Kassie and Cosmo. Maybe it would be easier to deal with this if they knew what was going on, but Kassie, as stubborn as ever, refused to tell anyone anything about it. Typical kid from one, always wanting to stay strong, thinking one once of human emotion would get them killed. If only she knew that wasn’t the case yet.

“Do they have any weaknesses?” Rory asked, even she was starting to look worried. Eyebrows furrowed and taking some deep breaths. “Aside from their sky high egos…”

“Dunno really…” Neo shrugged, “I guess they’re all a bit selfish, probably gonna end up killing Eachother before they can kill us…”

That’s when Lizzy knew she was right, They were going to kill Caleb. And there was nothing she could do to help him, nothing at all. She tried and failed, knowing that her friend from home would probably die soon was painful to think about. Rory noticed her dull expression and put a hand on her shoulder before looking at the second boy, “and you?”

“Leah.” He said simply, looking up at her. “Basically I'm good at everything…” He paused. “…expect for the things I’m not.”

“That’s…incredibly helpful, thank you…” Kassie sighed, her voice laced with a sarcasm that Leah didn’t seem to get, he smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Kassie just ignored him after that, mumbling something about idiots under her breath. “Come on, let’s get out this corner and go do something useful….”

She lead them towards a small forest themed room, where there were a few tables of flint and steal, diffrent plants and berries. A guide on how to build traps. A few weapons. Kassie went straight to the fire lighting, grabbing a few sticks and putting them into a pile then attempting (and failing) to light them. Rory looked at some of the smaller knives, twirling them between her fingers as she sat down on small ledge beside Lizzy.

Leah had a small hook in his hands, fumbling with it before catching it on his finger and putting it down. He sat down on ground beside Kassie after that, while Neo leaned against the wall, looking over the various toxic plants and mumbling to himself about them.

“Can…I ask a question?” Harper sat down, cross legged beside Leah, everyone else was sat around in a big line. Expect from Neo, who stayed standing. It reminded Lizzy of when they used to do that in school, sit in a row and do the abcs or counting. “Since we may as well get to know eachother….How did you all end up here? I mean, yes you were reaped but….” She trailed off, glancing around the group shyly.

Lizzy shifted where she sat, fidgeting with her finger nails, not wanting to think back to the reaping. She hoped she what’s asked, and was relieved when Harper looked to Kassie first.

Kassie grunted before Speaking, barely poking up from her pile of twigs. “I was reaped, as most of us were.” That was unusual for someone from one, usually they were always volunteers, they trained in special academy’s and things like that. It’s why the always won. “Didn’t help that Cosmo rigged the whole thing so I’d get picked….then he volunteered, the dumbass…”

“Why would he do that?” Lizzy asked, wondering if Kassie was just being paranoid about him. She regretted her words when Kassie looked at her with a silent glare that spoke volumes.

“Do you always like sticking your nose so far into other people’s business?” Kassie asked, a snarl in her tone, Lizzy couldn’t look her in the eye. “it’s none of your business.”

“No need to be so rude….” Rory put her arms on her raised knees, putting her hands together. “She was just asking a question, and a good question at that.”

“Why don’t you go next then…” Harper shifted her attention to Rory, clealry trying to avoid a conflict. “Why are you here?”

“I volunteered.” Rory said simply, shrugging nonchalantly and looking down at her hands. Lizzy looked at her with Suprise, Rory was the last person she expected to be a volunteer. She assumed she was reaped as most kids from three are, but maybe she shpukd stop assuming things, It hasn't done any good so far. Even Kassie looked Surprised.

“You did?” Harper looked at her with a new found admiration, softly smiling. “That was brave of you….was it your sister who got picked?”

“Nope,” Rory shook her head.

“Friend?” Harper tried again, tilting her head slightly with a slightly confused look.

Rory looked almost amused by her guessing, as if she knew she wasn’t gonna get it right. “Still no.”

Kassie had almost abandoned her fire lighting skills when she failed to make a single spark with the flint and steal, she looked up and glanced at Harper for a second. “Was it your cousin? Girlfriend? Niece?”

“Nope, no and not.” Rory smiled, looking between them all. “Give up?”

Lizzy paused opening her slightly mouth for a second, it hung like that for a while as she tried to re count all the possible relatives she could have went in for. But, she just couldn’t think of anything. She sighed. “Well…who did you volunteer for?”

Rory simply shrugged. “Dunno.”

Out of all things she could have said then, that was the last thing Lizzy expected to hear. She didn’t believe her eras fro a second, shaking her head and trying to figure out if she miss heard her. “You don’t know?”

“Nope…it was some girl from one of the older years, never met her, never spoke to her.” Rory said all this like it was the normalise thing in the world, while the rest of the group looked both shocked and very confused. Why on earth would anyone pit their life on the life…for a stranger? That just didn’t make sense. She must be joking, surely?

“Are you serious?” Kassie asked in disbelief, staring with a look that seemed to penetrate her very soul. “If you’re joking then it’s not funny, tell us what actually happened.”

“That is what happened!” Rory ran a hand through her hair as she spoke, still looking unnaturally calm and almost happy about all this. “She got picked and I went for her, simples.”

“I don’t understand…” Lizzy murmured, looking at Rory with a new found admiration. “Why would do you that?”

“Honestly? I don’t actually know….i just had a feeling I guess, that I have a deeper….purpose here than back home, y’know?” Rory put her hands on her knees and leaned forward slightly. “It’s not like I had anything back home to loose anyway…”

Before Lizzy could ask what she meant, a loud yell echoed through the rooms and all chatter went silent. People stopped what they were doing, looking over to Cosmo who stood with his group at the duelling area located in the middle of the room, just past the tables of leaves and other supplies. The duelling areas were made up of cubes that varied in size and width. He stood on the tallest one, his group crowded around beneath him. He hand a trident in his hand. “All off you, get your asses over here!!”

Lizzy glanced at Kassie, who gave a small nod. Lizzy pushed herself off the ground and followed her group to where he stood. She wondered what he wanted why he was bothered if they were in groups or not. But he didn’t seem to be satisfied until every truibutes in the arena was listening to what he said.

“You lot, get yourselves into duos! We’re gonna play a little game of duel...” He shouted, gesturing to the group of tributes that had been formed in front of them. He must want to impress the sponsors, who were now watching with great interest. Lizzy looked to Rory, wondering if pairing us with someone much older than her was a good idea. She didn't have a physical advantage over anyone, being probably the smallest and weakest there. Rory Would easily take her down, and that was a very bad look. Kassie was much worse, she wounding hesitate before hitting her over the head with a wooden stick.

She felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned around, Harper stood there smiling softly at her. “Do you want to pair with me?”

Going with Harper was probably the safest bet, she had a chance at winning since Harper was no bigger or stronger than her. It was a very fair fight, as fair as fights can get. Lizzy smiled back, nodding. “Alright…”

Standing side by side with her, Lizzy looked around the newly formed pairs. Kassie and Rory had teamed up, which Wasn’t surprising considering they always seemed to be staring at each other. Leah and Neo were together as well, both clapping their hands together and smiling. Cosmo had gone with Caleb, it was obvious to her he had done that for an easy fight. As usual, Caleb was oblivious to it all.

Once all the pairs were assembled, Cosmo cleared his throat. “Rules are simple, get a weapon and you fight eachother until one of you can’t go on. Clear? Good, you two go first.”

He pointed to the first two he laid eyes on. Two boys. Lizzy didn’t know either of their names, one was tall with dark skin and braided hair while the other was pale with blonde hair and freckles. They both looked evenly matched, staring each other down as they were handed a weapon each. The Blonde one got a sword, he didn’t look to happy with that, while the other got a spear. Cosmo walked off the duelling arena, signalling for the fight to start with a satisfied smile on his face.

“Isn’t that clever….” Lizzy heard Rory mumbled under her breath, she looked at her with a confused expression.

“What’s clever?” She lowered her voice when Cosmo sent a death glare her way, whether that was because they were being to loud or he just didn’t like them, she didn’t know.

“Those weapons…” Rory gestured to the rack, Lizzy followed her gaze. “They have some tech built into them, whenever they come into contact with skin and whatnot, they simulate the pain of say, a stab wound, without drawing a once of blood….”

“How do you know that?” Kassie had been listening in on the conversation, she turned to her with a raised eyebrow. Like she didn’t believe her.

“They build this stuff back home, I’ve seen ‘em do it….” Rory responded, “But I doubt this will last very long, being hit with one of those things hurt like a bitch…”

And she was right, It didn’t last very long.

The boy with the spear jabbed at him with the weapon, for a moment Lizzy worried those were real weapons that would do real harm, and that Rory might be wrong. But when she saw no blood her anxiety lessened. The blonde swung his sword clumsily, looking his balances by the sheer weight of the weapon, his arm strength must not be very good. The other boy grabbed the spear at the end and swung it towards him, it made contact with his side and Lizzy was sure she heard something crack. The blonde hissed and grabbed his side, befriended being shoved from his feet and landing on the stoney ground. Winded, there was nothing he could do when the spear buy out a heavy boot in his chest and pointed the spear towards his neck.

If This was real, the real games, then that would be the killing blow. The blonde would just be a canon in the air after that. He stepped away from his defeated opponent and walked off to sit down on the ground, leaving the blonde to stumble to his feet and follow him with a hunched back. If he was injured, that capital would make sure he would be in good health before the games begun.

Next group called up was Kassie and Rory, Both given lightweight scimitars and Shields. Kassie resumed a defensive position while Rory attacked first, swinging the sword through the air before it clashed against Kassie’s. After that, the fight was nothing but a blur. Both swung their swords at inhuman speeds, only the clash of metal on metal could be heard, Lizzy struggles to keep up. Every attack made was met with a quick defence, they almost danced around eachother waiting for the perfect time to strike. Lizzy and no idea either of them were so good at duels, or that either of them were so competitive.

Rory twirled around Kassie’s attacked as she struck towards her, making to knock her exposed back with the end of her scimitar. Kassie shot around in a second. Rory swung the swords towards her head but it lacked force, perhaps she worried about hurting her too, Kassie ducked under the swing, moving with shocking speed as she swung the scimitar towards her now exposed stomach. This time, Rory wasn’t fast enough, the scimitar made contact and Rory let out a gasp and barley had time to catch her breath before Kassie sent an elbow flying into the back of her head, sending her toppling to the floor.

Rory made no attempt to get back up, as she must have known the fight was over. Kassie glared over at Cosmo, who was watching them with a cocky, yet steady expression, before looking back to Rory and offering her a hand. Rory didn’t hesitate and took it, being hauled to her feet.

“You fight well from someone from three….” Kassie Jokingly snickered, not letting go of Rory’s hand.

Rory smiled, raising an eyebrow and replying, “and You fight well for someone whose never looked at a scimitar before…”

They held eye contact for a minute, staring into each other’s eyes, Lizzy had no idea why, doing taht after a fight seemed a bit weird to her. They broke that eye contact the second Tehy saw the rest of the groups watching, Kassie being quick to head back to were she sat before. Rory wiped her sweat-covered forehead before taking a deep breath and going to join her.

“You aren’t secretly good at fighting as well…..right?” Harper leaned to the side and whispered in her ear as Cosmo decided who shpukd go next, Lizzy didn’t understand why it was his choice. Maybe he wanted to seem like a leader, or maybe he wanted to impress people. Who’s to say?

“I’m not, I promise…” Lizzy whispered back, “are you?”

“Pinky swear, I’m as weak as they come…” Harpers face broke into a smile as she held her pinky finger up. Though, that smile faded when Cosmo pointed at the two of them and barked for them to get in place. Lizzy sighed, irritated by his Bossiness but also not wanting to point that out, knowing it probably wouldn’t end well for her.

She pushed herself off the floor and glanced towards Rory, who gave her a dramatic pair of thumbs up with a broad smile on her face. Lizzy simply nodded in return, stepping onto the uneven fighting platform as a medium sized knife was shoved into Harpers hands. Cosmo wordlessly dropped Lizzy’s Knife on the floor by her feet, glaring at her as he stalked back to join his group. She picked the knife up by the handle, feeling it’s surprisingly lightweight material in her hands before Turning to face her new opponent.

Harper clutched the knife in her kept hand, as though she worried she may drop it during the fight, and edged closer to her. Lizzy didn’t want to be the one to swing first, thankfully she didn’t have to, as Harper swung an uncoordinated swing her way but tripped on the different layers of ground and toppled foward, only just regaining her balance before she fell. An other opponent would have taken this time to strike while her guard was down, but that thought never even crossed Lizzy’s mind. She waited for Harper to regain her Blanche before swinging her own hut towards her friend’s chest, and missing by a mile. Harper didn’t look her in the eyes as she jabbed the sword towards Lizzy’s stomach, while Lizzy tried to hit the knife away with her own weapon.

Harper switched from her left hand to her right, slashing the blade and hitting Lizzy’s Arm. As soon as it struck, a string of sharp pain shot through her whole arm. It was shockingly painful, her arm felt like It was really on fire. The worst lain she’d felt in a very long time. Rory was right about this weapons hurting, but she couldn’t afford to be distracted by that. If she lost this fight, then every other tribute and sponsors alike woukd see her as the weakling from ten. Even if that’s what she was, she couldn’t let them see her like that. It’s a death sentence.

Lizzy moved onto one of the more raised areas, hoping to get an advantage in having the high ground, but Haroer followed her like a predator stalking prey, hoping up higher herself. Lizzy again swung and missed. She could hear Cosmos group laughing and snickering at her failure to land a single hit. Harper leaned closer and again swung the knife, barely missing Lizzy’s face by an inch. Lizzy moved backwards before raising the weapon and bringing it down on Harpers shoulder. This time, she hit her. Harper hissed in pain and winced, taking a stumble away from her.

Harper looked up at Lizzy again, her eyes darting to the knife in her hand, before she moved to go attack her right, Lizzy instantly went to defend herself before realising she has changed directions. Instead, attacking her vulnerable left side. Harper thrusted the knife into Lizzy’s side before she could do anything to stop it. The pain was like being struck by lighting, she couldn't help harshly wincing and dropping her knife in favour of wrapping an arm to her side. It felt like she’d really been stabbed, and it felt so bad she wanted to cry. She felt herself be pushed to the ground, landing on her knees with a snake amount of force. Harper remained behind her, pointing the knife towards the back of her defeated opponents head, but not quite touching it.

And Lizzy would have been dead.

In that moment, she would have been killed.

That hollow feeling of a deep realisation settled in the pit of her stomach as she looked over her shoulder at Harper. She lowered the weapon and helped her to her feet.

“I’m sorry,” Harper had a worried expression, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. She lead Lizzy back to where the rest of their dream team sat. “Did-did that hurt to much, I tried to be gentle I’m sorry…”

“You TRIED to be gentle?” Kassie echoed as they sat back down, Lizzy still keeping on arm snaked around her side, the pain was starting to fade to her relief, “it’s a fight, the whole point is that you hurt each other. Don’t you know anything?”

“I know I know….i just didn’t want to actually hurt her….” Harper shuffled where she sat, before looking back to Lizzy. “Are you ok?”

Lizzy nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat and looking around the groups worried faces. “Yeah, I’m ok…don’t worry.”

Truth was, she was far from ok. As everyone else faded into their own conversations, the only thought on Lizzy’s mind is the reality she was being to remember she was in. If she couldn’t beat Harper, how would she ever be able to beat anyone else? She would be Bested in a fight easily, and had next to no chance of leaving the bloodbath alive.

She may as well be dead already.

Chapter Text

“Hey Kassie?” Leah cleared his throat, tapping her on the shoulder as she threw a knife towards the human shaped target. The knife lodged itself into its shoulder. Kassie sighed, tutting as she turned to face him. Even from when Lizzy was sat a few meters away, she could see the frustration written All over her face.

“What is it now.” Kassie rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip, glancing at Rory who only shrugged and turned her attention back to the fish hook she was busy fumbling with. Leah always had some kind of question to ask, much to Kassie’s annoyance, no never seems to pick up when people got sick of his constant asks.

“I know it’s short notice but…I wanna add someone to the alliance.” Leah explained, holding a hand up as Kassie went to interject. This caught most the groups attention, Harper and Neo both looked up from where the weee sat crossed legged on the floor. Rory put down her fishhook and pushed her self off the floor, offering Lizzy a had which she took without hesitation.

The thought of more allies gave Lizzy a head ache just thinking about, there was already a fair few of them. There was Her, Kassie, Rory, Harper and Neo. Almost enough to rival the Career pack. Almost. She had no idea how many of these people she could really trust. Maybe in the end, in the arena, alliances will fall and it will be a bloodbath. Just like they want.

“That would very much depend on who.” Kassie folded her arms.

A smile erupted on Leah’s face, nodding quickly and holding his hand in front of him. “Ok listen, she’s the girl from twelve. My district partner. Her names Ivy Rose, we were talking last night and she doenst wanna go it alone.”

Ivy Rose, what an interesting name. It wasn’t often you met someone with a name like that. Kassie raised an eyebrow, before sighing and rubbing her temples. “Are we just hand picking out all the weakest kids in this damn place…”

“Don’t you know? You shouldn’t underestimate people here…” Rory interrupted. “Remember Ruth Jacob’s?”

Ruth Jacob’s, the lone victor. The actor who fooled all the districts and all the capital into thinking she was just another bloodbath death waiting to happen. She took everyone by surprised in the arena, taking out all the strongest within a few minutes. Till she eventually one, killing her one and only Allie in the process. Lizzy hoped she wouldn’t have to do what she did so many years ago, but chances are she wouldn’t make it to that point anyway. Kassie didn’t say anything, just looking at Rory with a glare before Turning back to Leah.

“Is that a no?” Leah asked, his excitement fading for second before Kassie shook her head.

“It’s a maybe. Go get this girl, I wanna meet her.”

“She’s right over there!” Leah pointed towards another sections, where a girl, who Lizzy assumed must be Ivy Rose, was crouched behind a pile of boxes filmed with rope. She’s sneaky, Nobody even knew she was watching them. Leah gestured for her to come over. “Ivy Rose!”

Ivy Rose Was fairly short, just taller than Lizzy, and looked about fifteen. She had wild brunette curls that sprouted out her head like wheat out the ground. She had light brown skin and Pine Green eyes. Around her neck, was a golden chain with a small bird of the same colour hanging from it.

She walked over with a confidence in her step that Lizzy has only seen in the likes of Rory and Kassie. She offered a hand out, Kassie shook it. “I’m Ivy Rose, you must be…Kassie? Is that right?”

Her voice was soft, almost reminding Lizzy of a birds song. If birds could speak, she imagined that’s what they would sound like. Kassie nodded. “That’s me…and this band of misfits is our alliance…” she gestured around her at the others who were gathering around them in a little huddle. “That’s Rory, Lizzy, Harper, Neo and you already know Leah…”

“It’s great to meet you all…” Ivy Rose smiled, looking at all their faces as if she was taking in every small feature. Lizzy what’s sure if she liked that or not.

“Where’d you get a name like Ivy Rose?” Rory asked, giving her a half smile in return. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard of a name like that before…”

“Oh, it’s a Covey name. Passed down through the generations…” Ivy Rose replied, pausing as if to notice the confusion on her new allies faces. Lizzy had never heard of such a thing as Covey before, it sounded made up almost. “The Covey are musicians back in twelve, we used to travel a long time ago. We like colour and we like songs…”

“You sing?” Harper crept closer, seeming a bit skeptical. “My Mumma back home sings too, though she isn’t really aloud to anymore. The peacekeepers didn’t like her songs, I don’t know why, they were beautiful songs…”

“Your Ma sounds like a wonderful woman,” Ivy Rose bet down slightly to Harpers height, “and yes, I do sing. My Older sister taught me all that I know.”

“Why didn’t your mum?” Harper asked, curiosity getting the better of her. There are some questions that shouldn’t get asked, maybe that was one of them.

Ivy Roses smile faded slightly and she straightened her back again. “My Ma’s dead and buried, disease got to her when she was pregnant. Died not long after the childbirth, that child being me.”

“I’m sorry…” Harper edged away slightly, dipping her head and probably feeling guilty about asking. The mention of mums brought Lizzy’s mind back to her own family, she wondered how they were doing and truly hoped they were ok.

“Don’t be, I never met her. It’s hard to mourn a person you never met.” Ivy Rose smiled again, regaining the spark lost so quickly. Harper looked up, meeting her eye. Ivy Rose looked to Kassie again, tilting her head slightly. “So what do you say, O’great Leader. Am I good enough to join your group?”

Kassie stood in thought for a moment, Lizzy wondered what was really running Through her head. She’s technically a career tribute after all, being from one. Though she may not be allied with The others like her, That’s a fact Lizzy couldn’t forget. She’d already made her life the unofficial leader of their group, being the decision maker and all. Tyat was probably a good thing considering she’s probably the smartest strongest and most capable of them all. But The careers always win, and She was still one of them. Kassie swiftly nodded after careful consideration. “You can join us.”

“Thank you,” Ivy Rose replied, “I really appreciate it. I don’t know how I’d fair alone in whatever arena were put into…”

“You know…” Neo begun Speaking from where he stood, side by side with Leah. “Now that we’re an official team like they are,” he gestured to the Carer pack, who stood now at the opposite end of the hall, unaware of the groups sudden focus on them. “We should leave a mark, to show we were here.”

To leave behind a legacy for whatever games are to be played and for whatever truibutes reaped next to see. That didn’t sound like a bad idea, Lizzy wasn’t sure how they’d do that but Rory already looked like she knew the perfect thing. “I have and idea…come check this out…”

She lead them all over to the closet wall, pushing a metal bench out the way revealed a something carved into the concrete. A few words.

𝙈𝘼𝙑𝘿𝗘 - 𝟱𝟳𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀

“Mavde?” Leah read the word aloud, glancing around in confusion. “What does that mean? Doenst sound like a persons name, if it is then the other districts sure have weird names…”

“It’s a team name, or at least That’s what it looks like…” Lizzy continued, blending down to get a closer look. The edges looked worn, like it’d been there for years and years. Though the jagged letters were still clear like they’d just been made that same day. Mavde. She wondered what it meant, who were the ones to carve it in stone. A reminder of their role in the games. “Who won the 57th?”

“Milo Wicked I think….or that might have been 56th. It was either him or his wife, Faye. Both from my district.” Leah explained.

“Faye’s our mentor this year, they take it in turns. She’s really kind…” Ivy Rose nodded, looking between them all. “Big fan of the covey songs.”

“I wonder if it’s all the initials? Or the letters of their first names?” Harper asked, kneeling down beside Lizzy and tracing the letters with her finger, “That makes sense doenst it?”

“Yeah, that makes sense….it must be Milos games then, there’s no letter F in there.” Neo paused Before having a light bulb moment and running off towards the tray of knives on a table near the throwing range. Lizzy thought to herself about it all, Milo and his allies maybe being in the same position as they were in now. She wondered who the other letters were, what fate awaited them in their arena. And also How they got away with damaging the area like this.

Neo spent some time sorting through the knives, looking for the Best and sharpest one. After finally picking the right one for the Job, he came scurrying back over and handed it to Kassie. It was a sharp blade with a leather handle, Kassie turned it in her hand for a moment before asking. “So what should our team name be?”

“I think we should do what they did, All the letters of our first names. To show we’re a team…United. No matter what happens.” Harper suggested but Kassie shook her head.

“That’s K R I L L H N, No Values.” Kassie looked towards Rory. “though, I suppose it could work…”

Lizzy couldn’t think of a single word they could make with those letters, she’d never been great at spelling either way. Other people in the group also came up empty handed. Rory was the first to speak up, “surely we wanna be original? It’s all fine and Dandy using letters but I think we should do something different.”

“Like what?” Leah and Neo said almost in sync.

“Well, what’s the opposite of a career?” Rory asked, folding her arms and glancing at their rivals for a moment.

“Unemployment?” Leah suggested, Rory just looked at him confused, and he looked around with a dead serious expression. Lizzy thought about the question, what a career really was. A career was a powerful and strong tribute, from one, two or four. They almost always won, and they’d been around longer than anyone can really remem-

“I have an idea,” Lizzy spoke up, breaking the veil of silence formed in the group, “Newcomers.”

“Newcomers…” Kassie echoed the word, nodding slowly. The careers may be powerful and may have been around longer, but they were going to be knocked of their winning pedestal by one of them. The new winners. “I like it. Newcomers it is.”

The group let our general thoughts of approval as Kassie Crouched down and clutched the knife in one hard, she craved their team name into the concrete, little bits of chipped of stone fell to the ground as she did so. After a few moments, it was done. She took a step back to admire her handy work.

𝗡𝗲𝘄𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 - 𝟳𝟯𝗿𝗱 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀

It was now written in the stone, in much neater handwriting than the One just above it. Their mark in history had been made. No matter what the capital did now, the newcomers would remain a team as long as the sun rises in the sky.

_________________

“Hey, Liz?”

Lizzy looked up from the trap she was currently kneeling in front of, her hands stained with rope burns and bits of mud from the grassy floor she’d sat down on. The area she was training in was a small, grassy area with a plastic oak tree (Lizzy assumed it was fake anyway) and a few piles of ropes, sticks and berries on a metal table propped up against the wall. She’d spent the rest of the day preparing for her assessment, hoping that this small and basic skill would be enough to win the game makers over. And if it didn’t do that, she’d maybe be able to catch her friends a meal.

Rory stood behind her, watching over her shoulder with a curious gaze. She’d spent most her time duelling with Kassie, their sessions getting more and more competitive after a while. Lizzy could see a bandage on her arm from where she’d been caught with a knife. “Whatcya doing?”

“Not much….practicing my trap making…” Lizzy responded, Rory taking a seat beside her, eyes watching her closely. “How’d your duel go?”

“It should come as no Surprise to you that I won. She’d string, but sloppy….real sloppy….” Rory half laughed just as Kassie happed to walk past their area, carrying a handful of throwing knives.

“Oh please, I kicked your ass. Ask anyone and they’ll agree…” Kassie shouted over her shoulder, only glancing their way for a second or two.

“That’s just what she thinks…” Rory whispered as they watched her walk away, until she disappeared from sight behind a large pile of boxes. Lizzy couldn’t Help but laugh at it all. They were such close friends, Rory and Kassie that is, yet all they seem to do is pick fights with each other. Now it was rare to see one without the other, there was something there far greater than friendship. “Trust me, I’d deal her any day…”

“I never doubted that…” Lizzy snickered, before collecting herself and turning her focus back to the small noose trap she was building. “So, did you come over here for something or were you just tried of winning?”

“Bit of both, gotta be honest.” Rory shrugged, “but I gift a question for you.”

“What is it?” Lizzy picked up on the hint of concern in her friend’s voice, looking up and meeting her eye before quickly breaking thst eye contact.

“A while back remember when we were talking about our reapings and whatnot?” Rory asked with a sincerity she’d only heard once before. Lizzy Just nodded, already she didn’t like where this conversation was going. “I thought you looked worried. And I just wanted to ask…is there anything you wanna talk about?” She paused. “I mean, I know the reaping and getting reaped if a pretty shitty thing for most of us but, is there something extra with yours?”

Lizzy had hoped she could forget about that day. About Rose, about Mum, about the Reaping, about all of it. But the hurt still stung as much as the day it was inflicted. She still felt a bit betrayed, but she also thought there was something she was missing. She didn’t wanna talk about it, but maybe an outside eye would be a good thing. “It’s complicated…”

“I get that, I really do.” Rory sighed, nodding and looking away for a moment. “But I’m here, if u wanna tell me anything. You know that right?”

“I know…” After that, Lizzy just couldn’t stop herself from spilling everything that has happened that day. All the emotions, the betrayal, the hurt, the loss, came flooding out before she could really stop them. She told Rory all about her Father and his obsession with The Reapings, about what Mum had told her, about Rosie not stepping forward when her name was called. All the while Rory sat in silence, hanging onto every word.

Lizzy was almost in tears by the time she’d finished, wiping her eye with her sleeve and waiting for Rory to say something. Her friend stayed silent for a minute, before asking one simple question. “Would you have done it for her?”

That wasn’t what she was expecting to hear. “What?”

“If your mum had told Rosie that you would go for her if your name was called, Would you have stepped up for her?” Rory asked again, it was a simple question but the answer was difficult to know. Lizzy paused, jaw hanging half open, as she thought about it. If it was Rosie, if it was her instead, would she have stepped forward? If mum had told Rosie the same things she’d told Lizzy about how family is there for each other and how Her sister would take her place in the event of the reaping going bad for them.

“I….No….no I don’t think I could…” Lizzy responded, half mumbling.

“Alright…then my question to you is, if you couldn't do anything in that moment for her, why did you expect her to do it for you?” Rory asked, tilting her head and keeping her voice neutral.

“Mum said-“

“Did your mum ever ask Rosie about it? Did she ever ask if she would be willing to do that? Or, or did she assume it would be ok and feed your head with the idea that Rosie was willing, when she never bothered to ask?”

“No…She didn’t…” Mum never asked Rosie. Not that Lizzy knew of anyway. Now, now it all made sense, Rosie’s anxiety, her hesitance to agree to doing it, all of it made sense. She was scared, she didn’t want to die and Their mum had put that pressure on her shoulders for all those years.

It wasn’t Rosie’s fault. She didn’t hate Lizzy, she just didn’t want to die. It was never a betrayal. Every realisation hit her all at once and suddenly the Guilt overwhelmed her. She’d been so upset with Rosie for it all, ever since it happened she thought Rosie hated her. But now, now she was angry with their mum.

“Liz,” Rory said gently, putting a Hand on her shoulder. Lizzy could feel herself crying now, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. “It wasn’t your fault what happened. You didn’t know what your mum was putting on Rosie. It’s not your fault and it’s not Rosie’s. Only your parents are to blame. Your father making you out your name in more, him being excited at the idea of it all, it’s not ok. It’s not normal. If he hadn’t had done that, your name wouldn’t have been called in the first place. Whether your mum was aware of that or not doenst make her any less innocent in it all.”

Another realisation hit her like a tone of bricks. She was never gonna see any of them again if she didn’t win the games. She had to tell Rosie she was sorry, even if it may not be her fault she was partly responsible for adding to the pressure. For believing their mums lies.
That’s when she knew, she knew she had to win. Or she would more likely Die trying.

_________________

A few hours later, it was time for their assessments. Lizzy had spent most of the day practicing her chosen skills along side Rory and Ivy Rose. The rest of the newcomers practiced their combat skills, preparing for the time they will be judged by game makers and sponsors alike.

Lizzy and never been good with preforming. She hated being watched and she hated being in the spotlight like this, it gave her such crippling anxiety that she felt frozen. Like her feet were stuck to the ground by an invisible force. She knew that now more than ever she would have to try push through that, as much as she could.

As she sat in the concrete room, watching as the first of District one (Cosmo) was called up, she begun to get more and more frightened. Her hands shook and she bounced her foot on the ground as she tried to calm herself. Rory was sat In front of her on one of the four metal benched and was the first to notice her discomfort.

Rory turned around, bumping the tribute next to her as she did so, and whispered “You ok?”

The room was almost silent, Nobody but her spoke. It felt incredibly tense and that only added to the fear. “Nervous…that’s all.”

“I get that…but, no matter what happens you got us. Kay? We’re gonna keep you safe in there.” Rory kept her voice low, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s nerve racking I know, but just try not to worry.”

“I’ll try…” Lizzy Replied drily, nodding and clasping her hands together.

Lizzy tried to forget about it alot even if for onky a short while. That was much easier said than done however. Kassie was called up next. Then the kids from two, then Rory, then the kids from four. The Five, six, seven, eight, nine until it reached district ten. Caleb went first, he can’t have taken longer than five minutes however. Lizzy’s name erupted from the speaker in the corner of the room, she pushed herself of the cold, steel bench and walked through the door with has much confidence as she could gather. She didn’t want the others to know she was nervous, that would put a bigger target on her back.

The doors automatically slid open and revealed a room only a bit smaller than the training Room. A large table sat in the middle of the room, stocked full of ropes and other supplies. On the wall stood Racks and Racks of weapons, bows, Swords, axes, knives, it was all there. A target range stood towards the very back, just like in training the Targets were human shaped.

The game makers sat in a viewing platform high above her. They didn’t seem to notice she’d come in yet, and Lizzy wasn’t one to speak out at all. So she did the natural thing and waited until The gamemakers noticed her. It took a minute or two but when one did notice, he called for silence and spoke. “Lizzy Reaper, you have ten minutes to present your chosen skill. You may begin.”

She nodded, glancing around the room as their eyes bore into the back of her skull. She alreayd knew exactly what to do, building them a trap. She ran towards the centre table. There, she grabbed the longest but thinnest rope she could find, a few thick sticks and a metal clip. She ran over to a plastic tree placed near to her left and begun to tie the not into a noose, throwing it over the lowest branch afterwards. She tied the loose end to a stick dug into the ground, placing the other stick a few centimetres away from where the noose faced. Lizzy ran back to the table and grabbed an handful of what looked like berries, a few falling out her hands as she ran back and tipped the rest into a neat pile in front of the noose.

And it was done, a basic animal trap. She stuck her arm through to demonstrate, as she reaches for the berries the noose tightened around her arm (which in the arena would hopefully be a rabbit or rodent). The game makers kept fairly neutral expressions but some gave a nod of their heads, Lizzy took that as a signal to leave as quickly as possible. She scurried out the room as the next kid was called up.

Lizzy didn’t think it went too badly, they didn’t laugh her out the room so that was a good sign, but hopefully that was enough to give her a decent score. She certainly wasn’t expecting Nines or tens, but at least a seven would make her happy. But only time would tell if she had done enough.

____________

It was late in the evening when scores were normally announced, the rest of the day was kept in an uncomfortable suspense. Lizzy had spent a while pacing around her room, unable to keep sit and relax until she knew what score she’d gotten. If she didn’t do well, that was a death sentence. If she didn’t do well, they were going to come for her in the arena. She knew that. They’d see her and anyone else who did badly as an easy target.

Thinking about All this just made her feel more and more stressed about it all. What if they weren’t impressed? What if they saw her as just a weak girl from an even weaker district? All these thoughts flooded through her head and she just stood in the centre of the luxurious room, burrowing her face in her hands.

“It’ll be ok…it’ll be ok….it'll be ok….” she repeated to herself over and over, remembering what Rory had said earlier. No matter what score Caesar read out, Rory would stand by her, right?

A knock at the door jolted her from her thoughts and her head shot up. It was Cato, dressed in one of his many suits, and an emotionless expression on his face. “Scores are coming up, come on…”

Lizzy nodded, tucking her hands into her pockets and following Her mentor to the living room. She took a seat beside Caleb on one of the large four-seater sofas positioned opposite the Tv. It was made of a soft material Lizzy has never felt before, the closest thing she could compare it to was Sheep’s wool, but it was far too fluffy for that. Whatever it was, it felt amazing and she leaned back, resting her head against it. Caleb seemed just as happy about it was she was, snuggling into a blanket of similar texture. He seemed so relaxed, but no matter how nice the fabric was, Lizzy couldn’t take her mind of it all.

Cynthia and Cato both sat on armchairs, waiting for the show to begin. It took a few seconds but eventually Caesars face flickered onto the screen, he wasted no time in starting. “Welcome, all of Panem. Over the past few days this years tributes have been watched and carefully assessed on their skills. They have each been given a score from one to twelve, tonight we share those scores. Let’s begin with district one.”

Lizzy hoped that Kassie has done well, but knowing her she probably did exceptionally. Maybe she showed off her sword combat or knife throwing, all things she excelled in. She listened closely as Caesar spoke. “Cosmo Jenkins, with a score of….ten.” With a score like that, he’s going to get plenty of sponsors. Lizzy held her breath as Kassie came on screen. “Kassidy Austin with a score of….eight.”

An Eight, brilliant. Lizzy breathed a sigh of relief as the distarct two kids came on. Then district three, the boy got a five. “Aurora Scott with a score of…seven.”

Then next few districts begun to fly by, Lizzy only remembering the scores of her fellow newcomers. “Neo Hart with a score of six…Harper Jessup with a score of six…” until it reached district ten. Everyone in the room sat up straighter, eyes trained on the Tv in a deep silence. Cato clutched his hands together, Elbows on his knees as he waited for his tributes scores. Lizzy picked at her finger nails as Calebs score was read out. “Caleb Summers with a score of…..six.”

“Congratulations,” Lizzy nodded in approval, Caleb only politely smiled back. The expected score, a six. Caleb let out a long puff of relief, looking up the ceiling with his eyes closed. Cato seemed surprised at that, but pleased non the less. He was probably expecting both of them to get ones and twos, considering he thought they were both dead anyway. Lizzy’s name was next, she squeezed her eyes shut as her face appeared on screen and Caesar read her name.

𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘉𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘸 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘸 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘸…

“Lizzy Reaper with a score of….four.”

No. No no no no….a four? How is that possible? Lizzy opened her eyes to see the number in bold circle around her head before the next tribute was brought up. How could she have scored so low? She’d been training and training and really thought she’d done well in the assessment. She saw the pitiful look in the eyes of Cato, Caleb and Surprisingly Cynthia. They were all thinking the exact same things, she could almost see the cogs in their heads Turing as they processed it all.

Lizzy used to think she had a small, small chance of winning. Of going home and seeing her family again. But now? Now she had a huge target on her back, the careers would see her as an easy kill and a way to win easy sponsors. She may was well be dead already.