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The Fourth Quarter Quell (Naomi David and Mercenary)

N

Naomi David

Supernova
Joined
May 24, 2013
Location
Kentucky
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Shira Silverstein was very nervous today, for today was the announcement of the 4th Quarter Quell, or the 100th Hunger Games. She had won the 99th Hunger Games, which was last year, he had won by drowning the rest of the Career Pack, which traditionally consisted of the tributes from Districts 1, 2, and 4. But she didn't drown her partner, he had died during the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. She drowned the tributes of Districts 1 and 2, which left her as the winner of the Games.

She had remembered when her little sister's name had been called for the 99th Hunger Games, how scared little 12 year old Mary had looked. She shoved Mary out of the way and volunteered as tribute, which was a common thing in the Career Districts, but not many Careers volunteered to save a younger sibling from the Games.

Now, it was announced, and much to her horror, that the tributes for the 4th Quarter Quell would be reaped from the existing pool of victors... But what made it so horrible was the fact that for if a tribute from any given district was killed, he or she would be replaced by some other person aged 12 through 18 from their district, which made the potential pool of tributes at around 48 tributes... For the district that did not have any victors, or no victors of a particular gender, the tributes would be reaped from the existing pool of children aged 12 to 18.

In her case, that meant she was automatically going back into the Arena, much to her horror... And there was always a chance that one of her younger sisters would be her replacement in the Games for the female tribute of District 4 in case she died. Shira had only been 14 when she won her Games, one of the youngest ever victors in the history of the Games. Now she was 15.
 
Thal Fenrin was scared this year. Normally, he thought he'd have no chance of getting picked, but a disease had hit District 7 hard recently, killing of a lot of children, including the few winners they had. And since this year the previous champions were being picked, that mattered a lot. He was not ready to die, nor did he want to kill others. But of he had to to survive, he would.

(sorry for shorter posts, I'm on my phone.)
 
Shira was the sole female victor of District 4, and there were three other male victors of District 4, none of them were much older than her, in fact, District 4 had won the 96th, 97th, 98th, and 99th Hunger Games consecutively, so District 4 was beginning to wonder if District 4 would win the Quarter Quell. Shira knew she would need allies this year, be part of an alliance, since she didn't know any of the other victors other than her own mentors...
 
The remaining children were gathered in the square, and the spokes lady for the capital rambled on about the 'joyous' and 'wonderfullness' of the hunger games. Finally, she ended her speech and went to the bowl hm for the male tribute. She pulled out a slip and unfolded it, before announcing the name. Thal's heart sunk as he heard the lady announce "Thal Fenrin!" as if he had one some contest. Somehow he had already known that he was going to be picked. He had a terrible feeling about the drawing all day. Another girl who was seventeen was called up. Her name was Elizabeth Boles, and she had the same gloomy expression as Thal did as they walked up. Thal didn't know this girl at all, but it didn't really matter who he did and didn't know anymore. He was doomed.
 
Shira was gloomily waiting on the stage with her other victors. District 4 had a different spokeswoman from the Capitol than District 7 had. Shira could tell she was trying to sound upbeat, all Capitol like, but any moron could tell that she didn't have her heart in it, as if she had grown fond of her District 4 victors. Needless to say, Shira's name was picked from the female bowl, and she could tell that her escort, the spokeswoman, was trying super hard to not cry. Shira's partner's name was Ezekiel Watson, and he had won the 98th Hunger Games, the Games before her. He was 19, Ezekiel, he had won his Games by outwitting all of the other tributes.

Now it was time to draw the names of the back up tributes... To Shira's relief, her siblings weren't called for either gender...
 
The audience clapped, though you could tell the clapping wasn't excited, but almost sympathetic. Soon enough the crowd dispersed, all the kids going back to their logging duties. All but Thal and Elizabeth, that is. Since no winners were left, no back up tributes were drawn. It was a blessing and a curse. Two less people would have the possibility of being slaughtered, but District 7 now had a smaller chance of winning. Like we had a chance to win in the first place. Thal thought grimly. Having not been very knowledgable about the preparation of the games, Thal just waited to be taken away.
 
(Remember, back up tributes are pulled from the normal Reaping, takes place after the victors are reaped)

A mockingjay whistle was heard, the whistle was because of the fact that the back up tributes were 12 year old twin siblings. No matter the District, people hated when the younglings were called because it was so unfair, they had no experience or chance. Then the whole of District 4 did the District 12 salute, the salute of pressing the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and raising their left arm. Even Shira and her victors did the salute, as well as their escort. The back up tributes would go to the Capitol as well, and train with everybody else, and they would still train even after their main tributes went to the Arena. They would be pulled when a tribute from their District died. No, the odds were most certainly not in anybody's favor today. Shira knew that there would be big trouble soon. She had heard the rumors from the docks, from the traders, that something big would happen, and happen soon. Even the Peacekeepers, well, the ones that could be trusted, knew something was going to happen.
 
Okay. District seven doesn't have any victors left, though. So only the normal reading happened.))

Thal waited fit the escort to take them away, but something was holding them up. The announcer lady had been gone for a little bit, but long enough that it was noticeable. The crowd had gotten reassembled by the piece keepers, and Wereever waiting for the new lady to return. But then she was seen walking back onto the stage. "I have good news from the Capitol!" She stated cheerily, her smile that seemed could never go away still on her face. Oh great, more bad news. Thal thought as the woman spoke up again. "Since District 7 no longer has available victors, there shall be a second reaping. May the odds be ever in your favor!" She announced happily to a crowd of people hiding there hate and sorrow with blank expressions. She dipped her hands into each bowl and announced two more tributes. One was a thirteen-year-old boy, and the other a fifteen-year old girl. The girl stepped onto the stage with watery eyes that refused to cry, but the boy wasn't holding back his fear. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he walked up onto the stage, or more like dragged himself. Thal felt sorry for them. But at least they the boy had to wait until he was dead.
 
Shira knew which Districts she wanted as allies. She wanted District 7 since they were a strong breed of people since it was a difficult job working wood. She wanted District 11 since they were the agriculture people, so they would know which plant was safe to eat and which wasn't. She also wanted District 12 since they manufactured medicine, they would know if anything that was sent in the Arena was good or not. She didn't trust District 1 or 2, there was something about them that made her feel uneasy.

Shira would be a good ally to have. Even though she wasn't the best with plants and medicine, she wasn't anything to sneeze at or to ignore, since she could always be counted on to not figuratively or literally stab somebody in the back. She had also proven herself in combat, she had proven herself as a worthy ally. She was a Capitol darling, a peacock, she knew she was assured plenty of sponsors, and any ally of hers would be assured sponsors as well. That was part of the reason why she lasted so long was because she had friends. It was impossible to win the Games alone unless you literally outsmarted the other tributes by hiding or the like.

All of the tributes and past victors were given their allotted hour of family and friend visiting. She was being assured that her family would remain safe, that her family would remain taken care of. Hell, even the Peacekeepers that were allies of hers promised to protect her family and the families of their other tributes and victors. Shira was relieved at this, knowing that all would sort of be well at home. Something was pressed into her hand, and to her shock, it was a mockingjay pin, a solid gold one... A complete rarity since the Capitol was supposed to have destroyed all of them, well, the pins... She slipped it into her pocket, and all of the party from District 4 were marched onto the train...
 
Thal didn't have any family left to be with. They had all been taken by the disease. Before Thal and the others were forced into the train, they were given shots. These shots killed the disease, and anyone possibility of them spreading it on the train. Thal wasn't surprised that the Capitol had the cure all along as he was pushed onto the train. He wasn't thinking about strategy, or anything really.
 
Shira was pleased when the train finally reached the Capitol, well, District 4's train reaching the Capitol. Shira was well versed in acting all nice and good, greeting all of the citizens and cameras, as were her fellow victors and tributes. She wasn't too pleased about what was to come next, it was the Remake Center for her and Ezekiel and the twin tributes. She and Ezekiel had warned the twins that the 'Remaking' would be rather painful, to not complain when they were waxing and de-hairing them. Her old prep team was thrilled to see her again after the Victory Tour, but they were depressed at the fact that there was a possibility that Shira might not make it out of the Arena. For hours they were all being plucked, clipped, and the like, and made to shower at intervals. Now pretty much everything was uniform in appearance, all nails were in perfect shape, all excess hair plucked, everything was perfect, not a flaw or mark on them. Shira was so pleased to see that she had her stylist from last year, she was called Eliana.
 
Thal didn't talk all the way there, and neither did any of the other tributes. Even when they've were offered food and the like all they would do was nod or shake their heads. It seemed longer than it was, but eventually they made to the Capitol. Thal was surprised at the harshness when they redressed him to make him "look fabulous", but he just went along through every bit of the painful tearing of slim. They put him in a brown outfit that actually wasn't very special. "Huh, it fits." Thal joked to himself, talking for the first time in hours.
 
Much to Shira's relief, there was some time before the Tribute Parade, so it gave her time to scout out the tributes. Some she knew from watching previous Hunger Games, some she did not know because some of the Districts she knew did not have any victors at all or any victors of a particular gender. Districts 1-6 had at least 1 victor amongst them, 7-9 had no victors, they had all new people, and 10-12 scraped by with at least one victor. District 4 had to be the best ones for costumes, they were dressed as mermen and mermaids.
 
When Thal saw the other tributes, he realized that they all had themes relating to there district. That's when he also realized that his theme was a tree. He looked over at Elizabeth, seeing that she had a green dress with flowers on it. Typical capital. He wasn't really scouring out the other tributes, more just watching them and trying to get an impression of what they were lke. He was good at that, and it helped him predict what people would do.
 
Shira hated the Tribute Parade, she hated being dressed in all the finery, she was always happiest when she was swimming and doing her job, fishing. She couldn't wait to take it off, her costume. Shira was pleased that the Parade was over soon enough, it gave her some time to admire the horses. They were such beautiful and gentle creatures, horses. And the best part about the Parade being over was the fact that it gave her even more time to scout out the others.

She and Ezekiel had warned the twins that during the Training, to avoid the showing off their skills, to save the showing off till the day the Gamemakers did their private evaluations. She and Ezekiel would do the showing off, since everybody knew of their secret skills.
 
Thal did as he was told for the parade, which was to simle and wave. The neither his smile not hus wave was very enthusiastic. He was just relieved that it hand ended quick enough. Now they would start to get down to business. No one had told Thal not to show of his skills, but it was just common sense to him. He did have to admit his ability to make weapons out of wood would become extremely handy, and he decided not to let anyone know so that they wouldn't have time to think up a weakness for him. He didn't share it with any of his fellow district seven tributes either. No one knew but him. But then again, being from district seven, it wasn't hard to guess that his speciality was with wood.
 
Shira could not wait to get back to the Training Center, well, the housing area above the Training Center. Since it was a Quarter Quell, the Capitol spared no expenses. All new Training Center, all new housing... And a very special Arena... She couldn't wait to shower off all of the makeup, get rid of the costume, and basically look human again. Right now she looked waaaaaaay out of every man's league.
 
As Thal scanned the small crowd of tributes, he stopped on one woman in particular. She was beautiful, and dressed as what he was guessing to be a mermaid. She was probably from district four was his guess. But Thal noticed he couldn't look away from how amazing she looked. He didn't know why he even bothered thinking about a girl. It wouldn't happen even if they weren't about to probably kill each other. With what he was wearing, he doubted she would even notice him. But Thal still couldn't stop thinking about her.
 
Shira caught on that somebody was eyeing her. Well, all of the male tributes were staring at her. She noticed that one of the tributes from District 7 was looking at her, well, one of the male tributes. She smiled wickedly, giving him a beckoning nod.
 
Thal noticed her beckoning him over, and he looked around for someone else she would be directing it towards. He looked back at her with a questioning look and pointed a finger up at himself as if to say 'Who, me?'. Thal couldn't believe this was real, and he recognized her as one of the winners. She was probably just going to tell him to back off or he'd be the first to go, or maybe just get him close to use him. But nonetheless, Thal walked over. "Yes?" He asked her as he got to her.
 
Shira was quick to the point, and she spoke,"I want District 7 as allies in the Games last year, just as I had them as allies last year." She was directing him to a scene in the Games last year, memory wise, when she whistled the mockingjay whistle that was popular during the Second Rebellion. The memory was of her trying to save her female District 7 ally, who had her throat slit by one of the Careers, which lead her to drowning the whole lot of them. The girl had only been 12, but she had been quite clever, making it into the Final 8, but what made it so memorable was her cleaning up the little girl's body and making her a necklace of sea flowers to cover the ugly wound, and had done the District 12 salute of mourning. It had enraged her, watching the little girl die, knowing she couldn't save her. She looked closely at Thal, and she spoke,"I remember you, I saw you during my Victory Tour earlier this year." Shira didn't feel too easy about having to go into Districts 1 and 2, since she had killed them all with her bare hands. She had wanted them to be punished, she wanted to make them feel the terror and despair that the little girl from District 7 had felt as she had died. She spoke again,"I am sorry about the little girl, about little Holly. I tried so hard to save her." Holly being the name of District 7's female tribute from last year. She still had nightmares on watching Holly drown in her own blood, no matter how much Shira had tried to slow the flow of blood down. Shira had cradled her to sleep, she had been so tiny. What really riled her was that if they didn't have these Games, all of the kids could have been best friends. But they had to kill each other in the Arena.
 
Thal pretended to consider it, but it was an obvious answer to him. He didn't want to seem desperate, and truthfully he really wasn't. Though he probably should have been. "Alright, I'm in. But I can only speak for myself when I say this. If you want the other girl, I won't be of much use convincing her." Thal said. "I'm Thal by the way." he added. "Look, I felt bad fit that girl, I really did. But I didn't know her. You were closer, and I saw what you did. I know you tried you're best. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm sorry you're going through it again." He said to Shira.
 
Shira spoke sadly,"And the kicker is that if we weren't forced into the Arena to kill each other, we could all be great friends!" She then spoke again, her tone more upbeat,"My name is Shira Silverstein, if you don't remember my name. Nice to meet you Thal, though if at all possible, I want the whole District 7 crew on my side, back ups included obviously." It was obvious she didn't trust the District 1 or District 2 group, and they probably didn't trust her either, since she had drowned all of their tributes last year. She spoke,"Word of advice for you lot, avoid the stations your good at, don't train the skills you know you're good at. Save that for when the Gamemakers evaluate you."
 
"Alright, Shira. Nice to meet you. And I guess I would pick friendship over murder myself." Thal said to her. "Bit like I said, I don't really know anyone on my team. Besides, I think you could convince them a lot better han I could. And I was already thinking the same thing. I don't know if the others are thinking about that, though." he told Shira.
 
"Well, since all of you guys are new, no victors to speak of, take advice from the District that's won four consecutive Hunger Games." Shira replied. She spoke,"If no alliance with District 4, I suggest you form alliances with Districts 11 and 12." She spoke,"Also... 1 and 2 are looking at you like a meal, so be careful." She grinned at the District 1 male over Thal's shoulder like a shark, and if one looked closely, her teeth were pointed at the tips, and the guy stepped back, evidently unnerved.
 
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