WINGS - Coriolanus Snow

ONE

EVERYONE WAS AFRAID OF ARIA THORNE, everyone but Lucy Gray Baird. The two girls were opposites; Lucy Gray often wore extravagant dresses that were every colour of the rainbow, whereas Aria maintained a simple colour pallet of black, purple, red, and the occasional hint of white. She was very different from Lucy Gray, and yet their bond was stronger than anyone else's in District 12, despite the arguments that would often break out between them. They were inseparable, there was nothing, they thought, that could tear them apart.

Tensions were high, as the 10th Annual Hunger Games were to commence soon. It was the Reaping Ceremony, and both girls were busy getting dolled up.

"I don't see why I should have to look so pretty for this," Lucy Gray questioned. "Why can't I just put on my mother's dress and call it a day?"

"If you're chosen, don't you want everybody to think you look beautiful?" Aria responded, a smile playing on her lips.

"Not really," she replied.

Aria dismissed this, and after applying the scarce amount of makeup that she had gone two days without food to afford, she pulled out her dress. It was a short black dress with long, flowy sleeves and a floral pattern of red flowers. It was something she had worked on for a while, and she was excited to show it off. Lucy wore her mother's dress; a flowered bodice with a ruffled, rainbow skirt. The two girls were sure to stand out amidst the crowds of dull, grey clothing, and they were happy to.

Upon arrival, Lucy Gray and Aria received numerous judgmental stares, but it didn't bother them. They gripped tightly onto each other's hand, mentally preparing for the worst. There was chatting all around, but this ceased when the Mayor dug his hand into a burlap sack on his left, picking out the name of the unlucky girl chosen to enter the arena. He barely glanced at the slip of paper before calling out the name written on it.

"Lucy Gray Baird."

It felt as though the world had stopped turning for Aria. She felt momentarily paralysed as it sunk in that her best friend, the one person in the world who truly cared for her, was going to be killed. She came back to reality only when Lucy gave her hand one last squeeze before letting go. She began walking to the front, but Aria called out for her.

"Lucy Gray... LUCY GRAY!" she screamed, running up to her, but the Peacekeepers stopped her.

"No, wait! I volunteer in her place!" she exclaimed.

"You volunteer?" the Mayor questioned

"Please," Aria panted, out of breath, unable to speak another word.

"I've never seen someone so... eager to enter The Games, but if it's permitted," the Mayor pursed his lips, "I see no reason why not."

Aria's eyes stung with tears, happy she'd saved her friend but terrified of what was to come. She drowned out the voices around her, even Lucy Gray's pleading, and stood next to the Mayor, concealing her terror with a determined, but maybe a little intimidating, look on her face.

Meanwhile in the Capitol, Coriolanus Snow was weighing his odds. It was his job to mentor his tribute, but he didn't expect a girl from District 12, the laughing stock of both the Capitol and the other Districts. It was full of scrawny, malnourished children, not victors. If he wanted the Plinth Prize, he'd have to make sure this girl performed well enough to earn donations. He watched the screen in front of him displaying the slim young girl and was filled with dismay. She wouldn't last 10 seconds out there with the other tributes, let alone come out on top. He wracked his brain with ideas, but he could come up with none.

Coriolanus went home that day to his shabby family apartment, anger bubbling inside him.

"How can I be stuck with that girl? You've seen her, she's underfed, weak...she wont survive in that arena. That's why we need to make everything that comes before count," he rambled to his cousin, Tigris. "She needs to put on a performance."