Eternal Glory // the hunger games

⁂ 𝐎𝐧𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 ⁂

I winced slightly as the peacekeeper in the frightening suit pricked my finger and pushed it down onto the piece of paper. I watched as my blood spilled out into it, perfectly placed next to my name. I had forgotten how reapings really felt, even though we had them every single year. This was only my second where I was actually one of the options, and that terrified me.

My name was only in the bowl twice; not bad, but not exactly good either. My siblings were in there too, and the chance of one of the four of us getting chosen was decently high. My seventeen year old brother Mason had put his name in a few extra times for some tesserae for our family. My fifteen year old sister Ariya had done the same. I offered to put my name in more times so Mason wouldn't have so many, but my parents and brother said no. Me and my younger brother Kit were in there less than our older siblings, but there was still a chance of us being chosen.

I rushed to my sister Ariya's side once the peacekeeper let go of my hand. My heart was pounding with fear as we moved our way into the line with many other girls around our age. I stood up on my toes, creasing the fronts of my short brown boots. My eyes frantically searched for my brothers. I quickly spotted Mason, simply because of how tall he was. His dark brown curls stood out against the many heads of the many children. He appeared to be calm on the outside, but I could tell he was petrified on the inside just like everyone else. His jaw was clenched tightly, and his eyes stared straight ahead.

Kit was three rows in front of him. He was shorter than the boys around him, and he looked so much more freaked out too. His hands were held tightly behind his back, and I could see that he was shaking. His face looked even more pale than usual, and he appeared to be holding back tears. He had been separated from Mason, which before we left he had said was his greatest fear.
"It's okay, I'll stay with you the whole time." Mason had said as tears fell down Kit's face. You could never really have exactly what you wanted with the capitol and peacekeepers controlling everyone's every move.

I let out a deep breath, which had come out extremely shaky. My older sister looked at me with her bright blue eyes, ones I was always jealous of.
"It'll be okay." She whispered as she grabbed my hand. Once my fingers were gripped around hers, I felt instantly relaxed. "We just have to get through one more year." She added.

There was no fear within her. Ariya was always brave, always careless, and always just seemed happy. I don't think she was ever afraid of being reaped in. She had always told me to trust the way things go. 'Everything will work out the way it's supposed to' was something she always said. Even now, even in these circumstances, she was the bravest person I knew.

At that moment, a man everyone knew as Falcon Silverheart walked onto the large stage. I glanced back and forth at the glass bowls that looked as though they were about to overflow with papers. Names. People. Real people, right here in my home of district eight. My eyes scanned over all the terrified children, and in that moment I felt nothing but immense pity for whoever's names Falcon was about to pull out of that bowl.

"Hello everyone." He said in his usual peppy voice with the typical flamboyant capitol accent. "Welcome to the reaping of the seventy third hunger games."
Falcon smiled, his teeth such a bright white it almost blinded us. His bright blue hair glistened in the sunlight, along with the colorful sequins all across his suit. My sister giggled slightly as he began talking. We always enjoyed making fun of the capitol people.

"I'll get right to it then, starting with the girls." He announced. I began to hold my breath, eagerly awaiting his next words. As long as he didn't announce me or my sister. That was my only thought. I gripped her hand tighter, so tight to the point where I may have been hurting her. Ariya didn't mind though. As Falcon reached his right hand into the bowl, Ariya leaned closer.
"I'm only in there twelve, and you're only in two. Look how many there are. We'll be okay." She whispered. The girl in front of us who looked to be about eighteen turned around, taking a quick glance at Ariya and I. She looked sad. That was all I could really say about her.