Author Games Compilation [Cycle 1]

Percy's Reaping (Not in contest)

A/N: This wasn't in the contest (as stated in the title) but I got bored and this is the result of that boredom... Hope you enjoy?

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"Come on, Percy! If you don't hurry up we're gonna miss it!" A small boy bounded through the busy streets, unable to conceal his excitement. His footsteps were light and airy, and a grin was planted firmly on his face. The features he beheld were boyish and strikingly similar to that of his older brother, Percy.

"Hold your horses, Nigel. We have plenty of time," Percy said, "Besides, they wouldn't start without your 'cheerful' attendance. Remember last year?" He jogged to catch up to his only sibling and nudged his shoulder playfully.

"Oh, yeah!" Nigel giggled and, making his tone as high pitched as it would go, said "My, oh my, if only we had picked that rascal down there!" A round of laughter hit both boys. Last years Reaping had given Nigel a small spotlight when he blurted out a rude yet hilarious comment about the freakish Capitol escort's appearance. Percy swore he had heard the laughter all the way from District Twelve. However, the grin Percy wore one year ago was more from relief rather than comical reasons. His brother had been spared.

A year later and there they were, cracking jokes under the sun beating down on them relentlessly. Percy sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets once silence settled across them. Families bustled ahead of him, children either clung to their parents sides or raced each other, teenagers weaved through the crowd.

 There were three kinds of people in District Four: those who wanted fame, glory, wealth. Those were the Careers. Then you had the people that wanted nothing to do with the Games, the ones that wanted to live a simple, worry-free life. And last but not least, there were the citizens that wanted the nation's ways to fall. Percy had yet to meet the last breed, but he knew several who could be classified into one of the first two groups. His parents, for example, were proud members of the first group, and that's where Nigel got his anticipation for the Games. Percy wanted nothing to do with them, though, leaving him an outcast amongst his family and friends. Sure, he'd been trained, but it didn't last long before they gave up on him and moved on to the youngest member of the family.

Percy didn't mind it one bit. What he did mind was the fact that his brother aspired to go into an arena for a fight to the death. The kid would die as soon as the gong rang out. It wasn't that he didn't have confidence that his brother could put up a fight, because he did. He just knew the odds were not in a scrawny thirteen year olds favor. The kid was too innocent for any of that.

The pair finally made it to the check-in station. Neither winced when the needles pricked their skin, and they were waved through. Hundreds of people stood in front of the Justice Building like every year. And just like every year, Percy was anxious, worried, and everything in between. Nigel was the complete opposite. Sometimes it was hard to believe they were related, but he wouldn't trade the kid for anyone else in the world. He wouldn't let anyone take him, either.

Just before they parted to go to their respective sectors, Nigel's small fingers tugged Percy's sleeve. He looked down at his brother, who had yet to hit a growth spurt, and felt his worry heighten at the sight of Nigel's large, chocolate brown eyes. "Do you think I could be picked this year?"

A lump caught in Percy's throat and he cleared it. "Maybe." I hope not.

"Okay!" Nigel ran off to a group of kids his age and Percy did the same. I don't get how he gets so riled up about this. Doesn't he understand that only one person comes out of these Games?

Silence fell over the crowd as soon as the Capitol's escort waltzed to the front of the stage. It was the same as last year aside from her selection of clothing, which was some sort of fish get-up. Okay, now she's just trying to get Nigel to insult her. Is that a...a whale on her head? Familiar giggling rose in one portion of the crowd, and it was obvious who had started it. Percy cracked a smile of his own.