Hunger Games: Begin

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The trainer burst into Areiz's room, Falco in lead, already dressed for the parade. Areiz sat up and rubbed her eyes. Falco nodded as she stood up and he left the trainer to help her dress. When she walked out, he smirked. "Nice."
"Like you look any better." She retorted.
Their trainer interrupted. "Okay, so you need to get along, and look nice. We want sponsors here, you'll need them." She straightened Areiz's dress and then led them out of their rooms, towards their carriage. Being in District 11, they were in front of the coal miners, but this year 12's costumes looked..different. Areiz couldn't pick it out yet, but little did she know the surprise that would come. She climbed in and stood beside Falco, faking a smile and waving to anyone who would look. Falco took her hand and waved too, but Areiz slipped out of his hand, not wanting to even touch him.
 
Lirin looked at himself in front of a mirror, not liking what they had done to him. Currently, he was painted a titanium color, all over his body, and his clothes looked rather ridiculous. He wore a vest over a nice shirt, the vest having a gear pattern on it, supposedly to symbolize District 3, while his hair had been slicked back. "I feel overdressed," he told his trainer, right before Areia came in. "Am I supposed to be a robot?

"Of course," the trainer said. "So is Areia. See?" Glancing over at Areia, he could see it more clearly. Her makeup had been designed to look like she had a piece of plating missing in the back of her neck, exposing wires. One was even sticking out, and when he asked about it, he was told that it would spit sparks when they were in the parade. Her mousy brown hair had been curled as well, and he thought she looked a lot better than he did. However, it was too late to change anything, so Lirin was forced onto the carriage, feeling awkward and out of place.

It was hard for him to smile out there. The lights were too bright, and shined in his eyes, but Areia seemed a natural, smiling and waving, even blowing a few kisses. After a moment's hesitation, he raised his hand, forcing a grin to appear, and the spectator's roar seemed to escalate.
 
The parade was almost over when the crowd seemed to explode. Areiz turned around ever so slightly to see why they had all gotten so excited, and she saw the District 12 tributes where on fire, burning, but not. She turned back around as they exited the main parade station and went throguh a tunnel. Now they had 20 minutes to prepare for the interviews, and she really wished she could disappear.
 
When Areia and Lirin dismounted the carriage, they were met with hugs from their trainer, though Lirin pushed him away as soon as he could. For a couple minutes, they discussed whether they should wipe their makeup off, but ultimately decided against it, Areia wanting to keep the silvery stuff on for the interview. Lirin hadn't wanted to, thinking he looked ridiculous, but it didn't really matter, he supposed. Hanging in the back while he waited for their turn for the interview, he tried to mentally prepare himself, wondering what sort of questions they might ask.
 
Areiz stepped silently on stage, her orange dress flowing down to her knees, but down to her ankles in the back. It had little vines for the straps and she wore light makeup. When she sat down, the interviewer immediately started. "So, Areiz, are you ready for the games?"
Areiz pondered this a moment. "Well, I have to say I'm nervous. All the other tributes seem to be pretty good."
"How long do you think you'll last?"
"Only the first day."
"Interesting..interesting. Who do you dislike the most, of all the tributes?"
Areiz's smile faltered. "Falco." she said, her voice stone cold. This caused a collective gasp from the crowd.
The interviewer was shocked. "Falco? But, he's your district partner! What started this..this dislike?"
"He's typical, let's the fame get to his head, and he doesn't understand that he could lose everything. I have a brother to take care of at home, I have to win for him."
The crowd roared with applause as she was dismissed after Falco's interview. Areiz stumbled off the stage and back into the shadows. She hated all the bright lights, but she had to tell the truth.
 
During his interview, Lirin had been asked questions much like Areiz. "Do you feel prepared for the Games, Lirin?" the interviewer asked, smiling that pristine smile that all Capitol people had. "I guess," he answered. "I've been training as much as possible..."

"Do you think that the injury you got on your first day might hinder you in any way tomorrow?"

Lirin looked down, as if deep in thought. "Maybe. The medical supervisors have said that nothing serious happened, but I'm still uncertain. I'm more worried about Areia." The lie had come to him in an instant, and he had blurted it out without much thought.

"Really? Do you think her handicap puts her at a disadvantage from everyone else?"

"Of course," he answered without pause. "She can't walk, and I don't even know if she'll have her wheelchair tomorrow..." Before he could say anything else, the interviewer continued.

"The District 11 girl, Areiz, do you have special feelings for her? Do you think she has any for you? After all, we all know how worried she looked when her partner hit you with his sword with a bit too much fervor."

This made Lirin pause. "I don't feel anything for her...but you'll have to ask her if she feels anything for me." Finishing with a grin, he was dismissed, and the cheering and applause followed him out while Areia wheeled herself onto the stage.
 
Areiz slipped away from Falco, who was trying to ask her why she had said what she said. "Go away." she mumbled, turning and crossing her arms as she started to slip through the crowd of finished tributes. Falco followed behind her and grabbed her shoulder.
"Answer me."
"No. I don't need to answer to some big shot career who thinks they're better than everyone else." She said, scowling. She tried to back up, but ended up bumping into Lirin. "Sorry." she mumbled and used the moment to slip from Falco's grasp, which had slackened when she had bumped into the other tribute.
"That's a lie!" He said defiantly, but uselessly to the disappearing figure of Areiz.
 
When Areiz bumped into him, he looked down at her before seeing Falco, and his neutral expression turned into a glare. Forcing it down, before a fight could be started, he asked, a frown on his face, "What was that about? You try to feel her up?" He knew he was playing with fire, that Falco could just as easily give him a concussion the night before the Games as he had their first day training, but he didn't care, only deciding that he had had enough of it all.
 
Falco glared at Lirin. "She's trying to downplay me for the games. She's trying to look all heroic when she's really a shy, passive girl. Why should you care?"
Areiz had stopped when she realized Falco had stopped following her. She rubbed her shoulder, which hurt from where he had gripped her shoulder, his nails leaving crescents in her skin. She leaned against the wall leading to their rooms and stared around and the tributes milling around. She wished she was at home with her brother.
 
"Shy?" Lirin gave him a look. Areiz certainly didn't seem shy, at least, not from the few times he had spoken to her. She seemed intelligent, strong, and resourceful, but he had only been around her for a few days. For all he knew, Falco could be her boyfriend. Frowning at the thought, he decided that Areiz wouldn't stoop so low, and turned away, before answering the other tribute's question. "I dunno. Maybe it'll push the odds in my favor..." before walking away towards Areia.
 
Falco didn't give chase as Lirin left. He looked around and noticed Areiz by their rooms. He made his way over. "What makes you think you can have other tributes to protect you?" This time, his hands were curled in fists instead of ripping her shoulders.
"I didn't, now get some rest. The games are tomorrow and I'm sure you wouldn't want to die in the bloodbath."
Falco sneered. "You'd need more. What's up with you and that Lirin kid?"
Areiz shrugged. "I think it was more he got tired of you." She said, opening the door and going in. Their trainer was standing in the middle of the main room.
"Get into your regular clothes and get some sleep. We're getting up early."
Areiz nodded and went towards her room, ignoring Falco's angry scowl as he went towards his own. As soon as her door was closed and locked, she shed the dress and makeup for her training uniform and collapsed on her bed, watching the small picture of her brother she'd kept with her. She fell asleep, the picture held tightly in her hand. I've got to live..for him.
 
When Lirin and Areia had been let go, they both returned to their rooms, Lirin immediately getting in the shower to get the paint off of him. As the silver ran off of him in rivers, he leaned against the wall of the shower, fear, dread, and worry filling him. When he got out of the shower, his skin its normal color, he pulled on some regular clothes before lying down on his bed, certain that he wouldn't get any sleep that night.

Opening the bedside table's drawer, he reached in to take out a ring that looked like a chain. It was his father's, who had given it to him the day he had been reaped for the Games, and it fit perfectly on his middle finger. Slipping it on, he held his hand above his face for a moment, squinting at it in the dark.

Surprisingly enough, he fell asleep in minutes, despite his previous thoughts, not to wake until morning, when his trainer roused him.
 
Areiz woke up early the next morning, several minutes before her trainer. She slipped into the uniform for the games. She tried to braid her hair so it was out of her eyes, but it proved hard to do with her chin-length hair. When it was finally done, her trainer knocked on her door, telling her it was time to get up. She walked over and opened the door, stepping out to the sunlit room. "I'm already up."
"Oh, well, most of the tributes are in the training room. Nervous about the games?"
Areiz glanced at the picture in her hand. She'd written a letter and it was tied to the back. "If I lose, give this to my little brother." She said, handing it to her before going to the soundproof door, taking a deep breath before opening it, unreactive to the sudden explosion of chatter as soon as the barrier broke.
"Uhh..okay. I'm sure you'll win, you're really good at combat!"Falco came striding into the room seconds after the door the trainer had finished. He waved to their trainer, beaming, before slipping past Areiz and grabbing her wrist. "Come on! It's the day of the games!"
"Whatever." Areiz didn't fight him, might as well get his hopes up before ditching him when the buzzer goes off. She hated him, and could not even speak for fear of giving it away. He thought last night was a joke, so her plan was to go along with him and drop his guard, then, in the games, go straight for the trees.
 
When he saw Areia that morning, she looked like she hadn't slept at all. Tears stained her cheeks, and though she attempted to smile it was obvious that she was on the verge of crying. Lirin was putting on a brave face, pretending to act like this was going to be easy, but he knew inside that it would be the hardest thing he would do. Ignoring everything that their trainer had to say, Lirin walked into the training room, feeling jitters running through him.

Taking several deep breaths to calm himself down, he ran a hand through his hair, twisting the ring on his hand worriedly.
 
Areiz looked up as a capitol man came into the room. He started to speak.
"Follow me to the Hunger Games arena." He said carefully, walking towards a door that had been off limits. Every few feet there would be doors that district tributes were sent too. Soon, there were only 4 tributes left, 11th and 12th district. Areiz refused to look at them, not feeling up to it. Finally they reached District 11th's door and Falco and Areiz entered. One door had Falco's name on it and he entered, Areiz stood on the plate in the middle that had her own name. She took deep breaths and rubbed her hands together nervously. Several minutes later, a loud mechanical buzzing sounded as her plate was lifted. She looked around worriedly when she reached the top. She saw the cornicopia and the nearest pack. Grab it and run to the trees. She took another deep breath and looked around at the tributes. She noticed Falco, completely across the field. She looked behind her to the trees and shook her head to fake him if he saw her. That was her ultimate destination.
 
In the District 3 room, Lirin soon saw why Areia had been so sad earlier. A Capitol woman was helping her into the room with her name on it. Without her wheelchair. Seeing how pale she was, she threw him a sad look that said, "Goodbye," before the woman left, taking the wheelchair with her. Retreating into his own room, he resisted the urge to panic, just wanting it all to be over with.

Jumping when his plate lifted, he gazed up to the sky that opened up before him, his heart thrashing in his chest. Areia appeared a few plates away from him, sitting up, her useless legs tucked around her. The tributes around him were already giving her looks, and by the fearful expression on her face, he could tell how worried she was. Spying a pair of backpacks a few hundred yards from him, he decided that he would grab those before grabbing Areia, and would do his best to carry her in the forest nearby.
 
Areiz noticed everyone had been lifted and she noticed Areia and a pang of sympathy washed over her. The buzzer rang. Areiz bolted forward, grabbing the backpack. Someone came up behind her and grabbed her shoulder, but she spun around and slammed her elbow in their face. District one. She thought, recognizing the girl. She sprinted towards the edge of the forest and stopped after passing the first few trees. She opened the backpack and looked around. Paint for camouflaging, bandages, flashlight, canteen, knives! She pulled the knives up and pulled the backpack up on her shoulders. She slipped across the forest and found a low limb, climbing up. She noticed a few of the tributes were now making their way away from the cornicopia. She slipped quietly from tree to tree, watching below for only a minute before stopping on top of a tree. Falco was searching for her, she could see him with the careers. As silent as possible she slipped behind the leaves. She could hear the screams of pain and the grunts of determination as the battle wore on. The cannon went off too many times to count as she sat there.
 
As soon as the buzzer went off, Lirin sprinted forwards, scooping up the two backpacks and slinging one off of each shoulder. For the most part, those around him seemed to ignore him, thought he could already see the two next to Areia closing in. Barreling into the closer of the two, he tackled him to the ground before doing the same to the other, and then moving to Areia. "Let's go," he said, looping an arm underneath her legs and arms. Hoisting her up into his arms, he ran as carefully as he could away from the bloodbath. Two cannons went off, one after the other, but he didn't look back to see who had died. An arrow whizzed just past his cheek, narrowly avoiding splitting open his face.

Breathing raggedly by the time he had delved into the forest, he paused to rest for a second before continuing onwards, knowing that the others probably saw the two of them as easy targets. Running a couple miles into the forest, he stopped finally to rest, sweat dripping beneath his collar and down his face. "Here," he muttered, setting Areia down on the ground gently before setting the bags down as well. Searching through one of them, he let Areia handle the other, listing off the items as he went.

A knife, a canteen of water, two apples, and...a flashlight. Sighing, he asked what Areia had gotten. It was much of the same, except that she got a tiny plastic bag with two blue pills inside. The label on the bag read 'Painkillers', though Lirin wouldn't put it past the Capitol to have put poison into the pills. Nodding at her, he said, "We'll have to start moving soon..."
 
Areiz was watching the careers as closely as possible until she heard Lirin's voice. He's right in their path.. Without a second thought she threw one of her knives. The piercing scream of a career girl showed she'd hit her foot, staking it to the ground. Falco was first to react, he had gotten a sword and was standing below the tree. "Eh, get down here!"
Areiz chuckled a little, sitting back against the tree, still hidden. "And what's little Falco gonna do about it? HE couldn't climb a tree, or pass the obstacle course."
Falco cursed. "Areiz, you little-" she interrupted him.
"Little what? BETTER THAN YOU?!" She yelled, hoping Lirin would here. She stood up carefully, jumping to a nearby tree. "Falco, your with careers. They're more than likely stab you when you don't realize it."
"SHUT UP." He yelled. And arrow hit the trunk right by Areiz's head. It was from the girl who she'd knifed.
"Aww, did I hurt your little friend? Is she gonna fight back? Watch out. You've got 10 careers, we have 10 others. You better back off." At that, she disappeared the other direction, several twigs breaking to give away her position. She was running away from Lirin's position, having seen him help Areia and owing him from last night, she hoped it gave him a good start.
 
Lirin was packing the things back into his bag when he heard the shouting. Standing up, he had the knife out in a flash, straining his ears for anything. "Let's go," he said in a fierce whisper, desperately packing his things into his bag before slinging it over a shoulder. Picking up Areia, he started walking in the opposite direction that he heard the voices, anticipating hearing cannonfire again as someone died.

By the time the voices escalated into shouts, Lirin had gotten a ways away, and was watching the way in front of him, wary for any sign of another tribute. Gauging the time by the position of the sun, he set Areia down again, breathing heavily.
 
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