The 544th Annual Hunger Games

[1] DISTRICT 1 REAPINGS

Amethyst Gem's POV

I ran my brush through my golden hair, watching the butter-coloured strands fall away. It was almost hypnotic, and I continued to brush my hair for a long time, far longer than most of the girls in my District. Then again, that was why I was the prettiest of them all. I was snapped out of my thoughts when my little sister, Lea, rushed into my room, chattering excitedly.

"Lea, I told you that you have to knock before entering my room. You must obey my rules, as I am a descendant of the mighty sky butter." I said haughtily. Lea rolled her eyes and gave me a sarcastic, slow nod.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, did you hear? Tyler Hastings is going to volunteer for the Games this year! EEK!" Lea squealed.

"Hush young one. Tyler, you say? Hmm... That's rather interesting. Now go away, before I disembowel you." I said curtly, ushering her out of my room with hand gestures. Lea arched an eyebrow at my response, before slipping out of my room. Thankfully, she closed the door behind her. I quickly changed out of my pyjamas and into my reaping dress; a gorgeous violet skater dress that had three-quarter-length sleeves and fell to a little above mid-thigh, and was also extremely low-cut. I decided to leave my straight blonde hair to flow around my shoulders, and slipped into a pair of wedged purple sandals.

As I walked out of the front door, I paused in front of our garden. The perfectly rounded, but boringly grey stones there had caught my attention, so I bent over and rummaged through them until I found one, mostly indistinguishable from it's neighbours. I plucked it out of the garden and held it at eye height, studying it as if it was some incredibly rare gemstone. It... Was... Perfect... Just the sort of unique stone that I had wanted for my whole life, or the last minute of it.

I tucked the rock into a hidden pocket on my dress and continued on my way. I passed dozens of people, all headed in the same direction, and called out greetings to a few. I jogged to catch up to a girl called Haley, who had been chosen to volunteer this year. Which was disappointing, as she'd only beaten me in the final scores by half a point, and only because I made one mistake on the edible plants test, one that I would never make again. It should be me going to the Capitol! With that thought in mind, I slowed a metre or so behind Haley, neglecting to greet her.

A few minutes later, I was standing near the front of the line of people that were waiting to get their fingers pricked. In front of me was Haley, and behind me was Tyler, the two people that had been chosen to represent District 1. Suddenly, I hated them both. Hated that they were going to the Capitol while I was stuck here, in luxurious but boring District 1. Wondering about how to solve my dilemma, I eventually decided to volunteer before Haley and take the female spot. I could always claim that the almighty butter god had possessed my body and forced me to make the decision in a moment of buttery rashness.

After getting my finger pricked, I went to stand in the females section, at the very back with the rest of the 18 year olds. My sister was somewhere near the middle, clustered among the 14 year olds. She would understand; she would be proud. She'd know that the butter god was compelling me to go into the Games and represent my District. I knew I was a better tribute than Haley would be; I had far better combat skills then she did. So what if I made a small mistake? I could just hang around with some smart people, or the butter god would help me.

My attention was drawn to the stage as our District escort, Ruffella, mounted the stage. This year, true to her name, she was covered from head to toe in ruffles. Big surprise there. Last year it had been all about stripes for her, and the year before that had been sparkles. Or was it scales? Ruffella's white, frilly skirt fell down to her ankles, and her ruffled, silky red shirt had long, layered sleeves and ended a little about her waist, showing a strip of pale red skin. Her preferred colours this year were obviously red and white, and the white spikes on her shoulders and head made her look larger and scarier. Kind of like mayonnaise. Or a donkey.

"Welcome my lovelies, to the 544th Annual Hunger Games! I'm District 1's escort, Ruffella, and I'll be glad to pick the lucky tributes that will be representing this fine place in the Hunger Games!" Ruffella's shrill voice echoed around the silent square. A few people even flinched at the intensity in that sentence alone. Before I had time to think more, she was speaking again. "As per usual, we'll start by reaping the female tribute first."

Ruffella tottered over to the large, glass ball that contained the names of every female in the District that was eligible for the Hunger Games. Reaping a tribute was more of a polite tradition than anything else; everyone knew that someone would volunteer 99% of the time. Ruffella wriggled her bright red fingers through the bowl, before selecting a slip at random. She stepped back in front of the microphone, before unfolding the piece of paper agonisingly slowly.

"Our female tribute... Is... Yuki-"

"I volunteer!" I yelled, a fraction of a second before Haley did. With a small exclamation of triumph, I sashayed towards the stage. Everyone stared at me in shock, and I glanced over to see the Head Trainer, Kai, fuming silently in the corner. He looked me in the eye and slowly shook his head. Haley was one of the best students he'd ever had, besides me of course, and now I was taking her chance at the glory of the Games. I winked at him and quickly ascended the steps to the stage.

Ruffella, after recovering from her momentary shock, shook hands with me and gestured towards a seat at the centre of the stage. I lowered myself into the closest one gracefully, although I could've remained standing. The reapings were almost over, and I was the female tribute. There was no changing it now; I would be the victor and I would build a giant butter temple to the butter god, where my stone would live for its whole life.

"Well, that was... Interesting. Anyway, on to the male tribute!" Ruffella said cheerfully, before walking towards the other bowl. Actually, stumbling would be more accurate. If she was going to wear such ridiculously high heels, then she could at least learn how to walk in them. She didn't waste time shuffling through the male slips, instead selecting one right off the top. "The male tribute... Is... Dan-"

"I volunteer!" Tyler's strong voice said loudly. I looked up to see him smirking confidently as he strode towards the stage. His little sister, May, was clapping and cheering for her big brother. Poor child, didn't she know that the butter god had already chosen me to be the victor? Her brother would die. It was a given.

"District 1, please give a round of applause for Amethyst Gem and Tyler Hastings, the two tributes representing your District this year!" Ruffella yelled to the assembled crowd, who responded with enthusiastic clapping and cheering. I curtseyed to the crowd, before shaking Tyler's hand and allowing peacekeepers lead me away. All in all, it had been a very satisfying reaping.