GROWING UP, SILVER HAD ALWAYS FELT LIKE AN outsider, even in her own family. It started when Fallon and Juno were old enough to learn how to fish, Silver was beyond excited to follow in her father's footsteps and learn how to be a fisherman.
That was until she was told instead spending her time out in the ocean fishing, she would be learning how to prepare the seafood they brought back just like her mother.
It struck a nerve in Silver and she recalled how furious she felt the day she was told that. She stormed away from the house, slamming the door hard behind her and ran toward their old run down shed that hung just off the edge of a sand dune on the beach.
Silver sat there and cried until all the rage pent up inside her suddenly burst out, she grabbed the closest thing in her vicinity, a sharp silver knife and thrust it hard at the wooden door. The knife collided with the door so hard that it pierced right through it, to Silver's surprise.
She had no idea she was even capable of that but it sparked an interest in knives that followed throughout her entire childhood. Every morning, at the crack of dawn Silver sneaked out of the house and headed for the shed, where she began to use the knives to throw them at a makeshift target she made.
Within a couple months, her targets went from a wall to the fish she hunted early in the morning before anyone else was up. She would bring in at least a dozen fish by the time it was time for breakfast, much to the confusion of everyone else in her family.
It wasn't until a year later, that her father figured out she was using throwing knives to catch fish. He was surprised at this revelation, but he also couldn't be more proud of her.
By the time she was fifteen, Silver was catching more fish with her knives in the span of three hours then her brothers were with regular fishing rods in an entire day.
Silver's knife throwing skills were mainly for the purpose of fishing, if she knew where she'd be now, she would have certainly tried to improve them for the sake of survival, which meant killing people.
Nothing made sense in Silver's mind, not anymore. She couldn't fully wrap her head around what was happening, she wasn't able to focus clearly on anything, not even when Effie Trinket spent the entire way to the hover train gushing about how much they would adore the Capitol.
Reese was clinging onto Silver the whole time, he refused to release his grip on her. His blushing face buried into her side when they were bombarded with cameras and crowds of people waving them goodbye at the station.
The train was filled entirely with luxurious things varying from designer furniture to diamond chandeliers. Silver thought she'd never see the day where she'd be able to have things like this.
Sure, she was fairly wealthy, her family had just enough money to keep them balanced. It was good enough for Silver but she still liked to imagine if she had more then she needed.
As her eyes scanned the train, she noticed that one person was still absent from the scene. "Where's Finnick?" Silver's eyes flickered over to Effie. "Oh, he's here! You'll see him soon, in the mean time, get comfortable!" She told her with a wide smile.
Silver had to refrain from letting out a dry laugh. Right, get comfortable before you meet a terrible and painful death. The train soon departed from District Four and they were off on their way to the Capitol.
The train was even bigger then Silver pictured it, her and Reese were directed to a narrow corridor that lead to their own bedrooms, complete with a fancy, luxury bathrooms.
For the first time since they had left home, Reese left Silver's side and beamed with excitement at the luxurious bedroom he would be staying in now.
Silver couldn't bare to bring herself to remind him that this was all temporary, she didn't want to ruin the way his eyes glistened in awe as he explored the living quarters.
When Reese was gone, Silver locked herself inside her own room, giving herself a few minutes to compose herself. She changed out of the baby blue dress that was now damp with tears that weren't her own.
The drawers in the room were full of fine clothes that she was free to wear according to Effie. As she pulled on a simple white tank top and loose pants that barely fit her, she heard something clatter on the ground.
It was the necklace her father had given her, Silver picked it up and examined it closely. The charms that hung at the end of it included a seashell, pearls, a golden seahorse, and an aqua blue pendant with a mermaid engraved into it. It wasn't much, but it reminded her of home.
She tied the necklace around her neck and headed into the living quarters. Reese was already settled quite nicely on a couch, happily munching on some sweets.
Silver shot him a small smile before she nestled herself into another couch that faced a television. Ceaser Flickerman's program was playing as him and Claudius Templesmith went through a rerun of previous games.
It took a good thirty minutes for them to actually get to this year's reapings. One by one, they showed each District's reaping, first up came District 1. The female tribute was a stunning girl with sleek blond hair and emerald green eyes named Glimmer, along with a tall brunette boy named Marvel. Glimmer had a slender figure and didn't seem to have any muscle, something that was surprising when considering she probably attended the Combat Academy.
She flashed the crowd a charming smile and Silver immediately knew she would likely play the sexy, pretty girl card. It was ridiculous but it could earn you countless of sponsors if people thought you were attractive.
The boy, Marvel, didn't seem as talkative as her and he was only fairly handsome but judging by the size of his biceps he probably favoured swords or spears, like so many of the Careers did, including Silver herself. This could also easily label him as a future threat in the arena.
Next came District 2, the Career tributes there seemed to peak Silver's interest more than the ones from District One had.
A short, freckled girl with jet black hair and dark eyes named Clove was chosen, she was small and at first glance didn't seem very intimating. But as she stepped onto the stage, Silver noticed the vicious glint in her eyes and a smirk painted on her lips.
She would definitely be a problem, Silver thought but it only got worse when she was able to spot the calluses on her hands, which meant that her thing was also knives. Her small stature though would give Silver an advantage if she ever needed it, she was much taller and had decent strength, just enough to smash Clove's head into a rock or a tree.
A shiver ran down Silver's spine and she shaked her head, wanting to get all those violent thoughts out of her brain. She couldn't think about anything like that before the games started, she wasn't that bloodthirsty.
Her attention shifted back to the television just as the male tribute was picked, it was a skinny, terrified looking boy named Holland Hayes. He was frozen in place but by the time he finally moved, someone had already shouted "I volunteer!" The camera panned over and focused on a crowd that had parted ways to reveal a huge, monstrous boy with blond hair and deep ocean blue eyes.
Silver wasn't going to deny that she found him very attractive but that didn't change the fact that they were bound to kill each other when it came down to it. She watched carefully as he went up to the stage and introduced himself as Cato Hadley. Simply by the way he carried himself, Silver could only assume that he was also going to be a big problem, just like Clove.
He was at least ten times bigger than her and could easily overpower her if he wanted to. There was no doubt in her mind that he was very dangerous and lethal.
Silver struggled to keep her thoughts positive, the Careers were sure to be her biggest challenge in the arena. But being a Career herself, they'd probably try and start an alliance with her once they had seen her exceptional knife throwing skills.
If they did form an alliance, the other Careers wouldn't be much of a threat until the last few days of the games where they would be forced to turn on each other. The program continued with the remaining Districts and other than One and Two, Silver found none of the other tributes interesting, each looked as weak as the previous one.
But their appearance gave Silver no right to dismiss them, after all, looks can be deceiving and these tributes could very well be a big threat in the arena. She had not even the slightest clue what they were capable of, and that's what scared her the most.
After much inner debate in her head, she decided she would save her judgement for the two weeks she would be spending with these tributes during training. Effie then came into the room to announce that supper was ready. Reese shot up immediately, and he seemed to eager to taste food that wasn't fish or any other type of seafood.
Not even a second after entering the dining area, she was engulfed into a big hug by Finnick. Silver felt a sense of relief from being able to hug her best friend, it would likely be the only comfort she would feel in a while.
"How you holding up?" He asked once they broke apart, if Silver had been completely honest, she felt like a mess. It would take countless hours for her to explain to him how she was feeling, but rather that admit it to him she settled for replying "I've been better."
Finnick gave her a half smile before he had her sit down next to Reese, who was having the best dinner of his entire life. They were served lamb chop stew with dried potatoes and bread that had cheese melted on the top.
Silver instantly went for the bread, and bit a huge chunk out of it, savoring the flavor in her mouth. It was the first time she had eaten bread that wasn't salty or an awful tinted green color that made her wanna vomit.
By the end of dinner, Silver had only had one bowl of stew, she rubbed her belly in content knowing she had eaten at least half of the bread that she had been given. Reese, on the other hand, was on his third plate and still hungry. He had eaten so much food, that Silver was beginning to get a little concerned. "Okay, I think that's enough" She reached over to take the plate in front of Reese before Finnick's voice caused her to freeze in place.
"It's alright, let him" He said calmly. Silver raised her eyebrows a little in confusion, "He should build up a few pounds, you don't know what arena you'll be in yet and chances are there won't be much food. You'll have some calories to burn and that can help you last a couple days without food." Finnick briefly explained, leaving Silver shocked at how mature and professional he sounded.
Finnick was only fourteen when he won his games, the youngest in history. She highly doubted that he would've been able to figure that out on his own so young, so she assumed that he had learned that from his own mentor or that he eventually figured it out later while watching other tributes in the arena.
Seeing as dinner had ended and it was well past Reese's usual bedtime, Effie had sent them both off to sleep, which Silver was glad about.
The entire day had taken so much out of her, between her last goodbye to her family and accepting the fact that she was going to die. Silver had no clue how she managed to keep her emotions bottled inside so flawlessly, when all she wanted to do was cry and scream until her throat burned and her eyes were dry of any tears.
Silver was upset, she had nothing but rage coursing through her veins, she was angry. Angry at herself for not handling everything better, angry because this was the life she was given. Most of all, she was angry at the Capitol, everything that was happening was because of them, it was all their doing.
She wanted to make them pay for it, but her gut told her that anything she did to rebel would have consequences and she would have to pay for them as well, at the expense of herself and those she cared about.
As Silver laid in bed, staring up at the plain ceiling, she couldn't seem to fall asleep, regardless of how exhausted she felt. She thought about all the emotions buried inside her, desperate to be released.
Silver knew sooner or later, they would all be bursting out of her, there was only so much a person could take before they snapped and given the circumstances, that was the last thing she needed.
No, she was smarter then to let everything out, it wouldn't fix anything. Silver had to channel all that rage she felt into something productive. She had to focus all her energy on the current task at hand, keep Reese alive and survive long enough to see him win.
It was much easier said then done, but Silver wasn't going to back down. She would prove to the Capitol she wasn't just another pawn in their cruel games. If they were going to kill her, she might as well go out fighting.