The Capitol's Tribute

Chapter 1

Well, apparently it should have because the next thing I know the top of the train is being removed again. This time by people with scars and tan skin that are unhealthily skinny. For a moment, I fear that they're going to eat me alive. But a man says, "Sorghum, wheat, and oats. There's a girl in here!" At that, everyone seems to jump back.

"She's Capitol!"

"It's a trap!"

"She's come to kill us all!"

Then a female voice. "Out of the way." She's skinny and has significantly fewer scars than most of the other people I see. But as she climbs into the train car I see her hands are cut and blistered. "W-Where am I?" I stutter out, pushing myself away from the woman.

"Why are you here?" The woman says fiercely.

"I... I don't know where I am!" I respond, pressing my back up to the wall of the train car. The woman crosses her arms. "You're in District 9, where else would you be?" My eyes widen and I sit straight up. "Where else would I be? How did I get to the districts?"

"She's Capitol!" The woman says, hauling herself back out of the train car. I climb out of the train car behind her, and everyone avoids me like the plague. I look around. The sun seems brighter here, and all around me are fields of gold. Stacks of woven baskets and people filling them with pieces of gold. A pulley system people were using to dump the gold into train cars. A strange wooden contraption was hand-cranked by some older women, turning the gold into a sea of little white diamonds. "Is this where jewels are made?" I ask as the woman empties the sea of white diamonds into a large burlap sack, and an elderly man hauls it onto a train car. "No, silly. What, do you have oats for brains? These are the wheat fields." A girl says. She reminds me of Junie in personality. But Junie was pretty by Capitol standards. This girl looked ragged, but beautiful compared to everyone else I saw. In the distance, I heard a scream. "Help!" The scream sounded like it was coming from a young girl. Instinctively, I ran toward it, into the golden fields. "Help!" It shouted again. By the time I got there, I saw a young girl on the ground by a small hole with a twisted ankle and an angry snake reared to bite. Her basket of golden grain was upside down on the ground, but I grabbed it and threw it over the snake. An angry hiss, but I didn't move the basket. I yanked the girl to her feet, or foot since her ankle was twisted, and we rushed out of the grain field. The girl who said I had oats for brains ran straight into me as I emerged from the field of grain with the little girl. I fell to the ground, but she didn't notice. She was holding the little girl in her arms and tears were pouring down her face. "Are you okay?" She said, more like a shout with her fear and sobs. Now more tears were pouring down the little girl's face, and it was actually really heartwarming. Maybe the people in the districts weren't heartless butchers like we had been taught. The older girl came over to me, and to my surprise, held out a hand to help me to my feet. I took it, gratefully. "Thank you," the girl said before I could thank her. "You saved Mayzie." At first, I almost laughed. What kind of name is Mayzie? Then I realized, everyone here probably had names relating to grain. It was their culture as much as riches and luxury were the culture of the Capitol. Maybe the Capitol had it all wrong, all backward. Maybe we were the monsters and the districts had the hearts of gold. "Is she your sister?" I said, looking between the two. The older one nodded. "I'm Barlay."

"Anastasia," I responded. My Capitol blood detects a slight eyebrow raise and nose wrinkle. She thinks my name is funny. Well, if they're all named after grain, the name of an ancient princess from across the world is probably as weird sounding to them as the name Barlay is to me.

"We should get you home to have Mum look at that ankle," Barlay said, taking Mayzie's hand and guiding her to her feet. I noticed instantly that something was horribly wrong. As Mayzie went to take a step, her face went pale as the flour that I had seen being ground. I step forward and lean down, catching her as she falls. Barlay has tears in her eyes. I refrain from asking if she is okay because obviously, she isn't. Instead, I hoist Mayzie onto my hip and ask, "Where do you live?" Barlay's eyes widened gratefully. She leads me down the cobbled streets through the grain fields and eventually to what I would describe as a shack. This was a nicer house though, and was closer to a cabin. The inside was nice, all things considered. Multiple rooms with beds and furniture. I honestly hadn't been sure what to expect, but a place like this was livable. Inside the house was a woman who looked worn and had scarred hands. Next to her was a pretty girl a bit younger than me, who cocked her head at me strangely. "Mum, Mayzie twisted her ankle, it's probably broken or something."

"Rattlesnake dens?" The woman responded. Barlay nodded.

"There was actually a rattlesnake though."

"Is she okay? Did it bite?" The woman said, becoming noticeably panicked. Barlay shook her head. "Who's your friend Barlay?" Again with Barlay's nose wrinkle.

"I wouldn't say she's my friend. She's a random girl who was in a train car, though I suppose she did say Mayzie's life."

"Thank you." The other girl says, standing up and walking over to me. She pulls me into a hug, and I feel her tears running down my neck. "Umm, you're welcome," I say awkwardly, patting her back gently. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Rya." It was actually a pretty name, one that could almost be used in the Capitol. "Anastasia."

"Can I call you Ana?" I shrugged. This new name was the start of my new life in District 9.