Powers ~ A Hunger Games Fanfiction [On Hold]

District One - Reaping

District One has taken their soon-to-be-received power to heart, and Valaria finds most of the district too bright to look at. All features of the stage are reflective this year, and looking at them makes the escort's eyes hurt. She scowls as the sun catches a mirror, blinding her yet again. The cameraman gives her a wave- they're just about live. She scowls at him too, although it's not his fault the district is too bright. Valaria glares when the sun reflects into her eyes eyes again. Extreme sunlight will wreck her contacts, and purple is her favourite colour. She lets her bright green hair fall over her face, at least until they start.

She scowls some more as the mayor finishes his speech, a long tale of the two rebellions that is second nature to most of the tributes. The tributes themselves disregard the entire speech, giggling and talking quietly to each other. They already know who's going up. The tributes were decided upon right after the announcement.

When the mayor begins the list of past victors, he speaks fast, rushing through them so the words jumble together. He finishes much earlier than usual, but it's unlikely anyone understood a word of it. After he's finished, he takes a deep breath and says, "And the mentor for district one this year will be-"

"I will." A girl steps forward from the line of victors, smile wide and genuine. She looks young, nineteen, twenty- her games were only a few years ago. Her high heels click against the stage, and while they make her taller than most citizens, without them they'd tower over her. She brushes red hair back from her face, stepping up to microphone. "I'm Annabelle Jenkins, and I'll be your mentor this year!"

District One claps and cheers for her, even though they have gotten her every year since her return. She is not going to the Capitol for helping the tributes, she's going to meet someone. But who cares? The rest of the districts don't know that, aside from district four.

The cameraman is making frantic hand gestures at Valaria, who stands backstage for a few minutes more just to annoy him. After Annabelle takes her seat, however, she must go on. As she steps up to the microphone, shooing the mayor away, the man behind the camera counts down until they're live.

He hates this job. The pay is bad, the escorts are bloody annoying, and most of the time, even the tributes- who are below him -treat him like dirt. He grumbles as he points the camera at the stage.

As the light on the camera flashes red, Valaria smiles widely and yells, "Hello district one!"

It is a few minutes before Valaria can even hear her own attempts to speak. She squints her eyes shut against the glare from the mirrors, saying, "Let's not delay. We've got a reaping to do!" The spirit of this district in infectious, and Valaria finds her smile turning into a genuine one as she skips over to the girl's ball. After picking out a slip of paper, she skips back to the mic and waits for the district to calm down.

Clearing her throat, she says, "Sunshine Da-"

"I volunteer!" yells a voice from the fifteen year old pens. A girl slips out, walking up to the stage, smile wide, head held high. She looks slightly smaller than most girls, but that's not fooling anyone. She is the best in the academy, the best for this task. She stops along the way to wave at friends, or deliver high fives.

"What's your name, honey?" asks Valaria.

The girl smiles, adjusting her glasses and saying, "Tiamera Ellen. And let me tell you, one of those houses in the Victor's village has my name on it." She smiles even wider then before, waving at the cheering crowd. Valaria admires her confidence, but also thinks the girl could do with a hair straighter. Her hair is wildly curly, and the brown is streaked with carmel-blonde highlights.

Tiamera steps back from the mic as Valaria steps towards it. She thinks to herself that her escort looks like rainbow exploded on her, with her bright blue dress, and makeup that only serves to make her outfit clash even more. Tiamera giggles softly, ignoring the look she gets from Valaria.

"And now, the boys." Valaria says, walking over and grabbing the first slip she makes contact with. She motions to Tiamera to give her the mic, which the girl does, rolling her eyes. "Our male tribute for this year is-"

"Jasper Vaz-Merille!" yells a voice from the front. A path is cleared as the new tribute makes his way up, jumping over the fence and heading up to the stage. "And I think you need to change 'tribute' to 'victor'." he says. For those who don't know him well, they are unsure whether he's even eighteen still. He could pass for older, maybe twenty, twenty one.

Jasper smiles easily at the crowd, pushing blonde hair out of his eyes. He accepts the cheers and clapping like he's been doing it his whole life. This is it. This is his year.

"Tributes, shake hands." commands Valaria. Tiamera and Jasper do so, with friendly smiles to one another. 'Allies?' mouths Tiamera. Jasper grins and nods.

"This year's tributes; Tiamera Ellen and Jasper Vaz-Merille!" shouts Valaria. The crowd bursts into cheers, and with waves and smiles, Jasper and Tiamera are ushered off the stage.

(A/N Since I made almost none of these people -including the mentors, all of them are past winners of writers games-, after all the reapings are up, I'll post a chapter crediting everyone who made any of these characters.)