Amelia shook as she stood with the other females in her district. She was never sure how well her odds were going to be and that gave her anxiety. She wrung her hands together, looking over at her dad in the sidelines."Amelia Ricker"called the voice. Suddenly everything went cold, her eyes widening and she looked over to her Dad with a startled look. His eyes began to water and he brought a hand up, covering his mouth as he turned away from his child, composing himself as she walked forward. She let out a small whimper as she nearly stumbled up the steps, almost falling from how shaky she had become. She took her place on one side of the announcer as they pulled another name from the bowl. The piece of paper was unwrapped and a grin lit the announcers face the way it did any time they drew a name."Troy Heagan"the announcer called. Amelia bit her lip as she watched the crowd of boys part for the boy. His face had paled quite a bit and by the time he made it to the stage he was holding back tears. She looked over to him sympathetically though he looked away quickly. This was going to be hard.
Once she had been pulled from the room with her Dad inside she didn't look back, hands trembling as she was lead onto a train. She could feel the world shrinking around her and she held onto the image of her Dads watery eyes. He didn't believe she'd be coming back and she was positive that she wasn't coming back either.
Everything seemed to go by too quickly yet not quickly enough as they were dressed up like ocean gods and goddesses, crowns made of reefs, a flowing dress made of what appeared to be seaweed though it sure wasn't. He had no shirt and was wearing pants that were covered with netting, blue ocean like waves painted onto their arms and faces and he held a trident in one hand. They tried to woo the audience as best they could, hoping to get sponsors.
The training room came around soon enough and she tossed a few knives around, throwing them at a target. When the day had come to an end and the results were posted she was only given a 6 for a score, her team mate getting an 8. Soon enough they were in the final stage of the process. She was wearing light cotton clothing, shorts and short sleeves. This made her uneasy because what if there wasn't any water around? What if she got too overheated or dehydrated. Her whole district was based on water and now she was worried. What was gonna be waiting for her. She was pushed into the glass tube and she was raised up into the land, squinting at the brightness and her breath escaped in a small gasp as she was raised up into a desert. Her breathing was starting to labor as the heat bore down and the timer ticked away. She readied her position at three and she practically flew from the podium as the timer ended. She tried not to focus on anything except the set of knives on the far wall.
~ ~ ~
Alexander allowed his finger to be printed the way it was every year, hardly even flinching. Two of his younger sisters were old enough to enter the games now and he was scared beyond belief. What if they got picked? What if he had to watch helplessly as his sisters were sent off to their deaths. His hands shook and once their fingerprints were taken as well they wandered into the herd of girls for district three. He moved over to his group and stood along side them as they began the ceremony. The announcers hand slipped into the bowl for the girls since it was 'Ladies first'. He held his breath as the name was drawn."Electra Yakniva"the announcer read off. There was a small cry of panic from the girls side though the peace keepers yanked the obviously terrified girl from the crowd, pulling her up to the stage. He looked over to his sisters and gave them a small smile. He was confused as they suddenly looked scared and he looked around to realize everyone was moving away from him. One of the peacekeepers walked closer to him and grabbed his elbow, pulling him from the crowd. He had been so concentrated in making sure his sisters were okay that he hadn't heard his name get called. He didn't shake, didn't cry. He felt determined suddenly. He'd have to come back. He had to come back for his siblings. He looked over to his mother who had tears streaming down her face, holding the two youngest children closer to her. He gave her a reassuring smile. He'd be back for them. He had to.
His Mom mostly cried against his chest during their small time together, his younger brother crying and clutching onto his leg for dear life, sisters crowding around him and trying to just touch and pet and hug him as much as they possibly could. They were practically pried off by a peace keeper as his time was called and he was pulled away, his youngest sister screaming for him.
The whole train ride there was silent aside from their mentor telling them the basics of how they could survive. There had only been one person to ever win in three, the rest mostly coming from one or two. Alex listened closely despite the way he seemed to be ignoring him. He had his legs under himself and the girl was on the other side, shaking and crying softly to herself.
They were dressed up with a bunch of lights and wiring, the girls hair tied up with a bunch of multi-colored and loose wiring. He sighed softly to himself and he allowed himself to try and put on his best show though the shirt he was wearing had a loose wire on the inside and it was poking him uncomfortably.
Training took a while and his time almost ran out before he could get his device to work but he managed to do it just in the nick of time, causing an explosion and igniting a few of the dummies there. That night when the scores were revealed he was highly surprised by his score of nine. The girl had only managed a four and he was hoping she was merely trying to seem weak and that she wasn't actually going to go down so easily. Before he knew it he was in the final room before the arena, dressed in light cotton pants and a t-shirt. He wasn't too worried about things, he'd actually thought of a few things he could do though as he was raised up into the arena he felt his stomach clench up a bit. A desert? He was already sweating a bit and before he knew it time had ticked away and he was leaping from the platform though he wasn't going anywhere, instead he began digging up the mines around the podium he'd been on. The girl from his district noticed this and she began copying him, doing the same thing and scurrying over to help him out.
