Wave ~ Hunger Games [1]

introduction

+ introduction +

Death was a constant shadow that followed me around my daily life, hiding in the corner of my room, sitting at the empty chair in the dining room, waiting on the bank of the lake as I fished in the warm water. The idea of me dying clipped the back of my heels as I walked home from school with my brothers, lingering in my dreams weeks before the Reaping, hanging over me as I tried to push it to the back of my mind.

I had imagined death so much it felt like a distant memory, when the moment comes would I run or would I let it take me without much struggle on my part? I never thought I would have to decide for at least a few decades, but as soon as the small slip of paper holding my name got plucked from that bowl, I had to make up my mind.

I never trained at the academy, which wasn't that rare for teens in District 4, only a handful of kids actually being whisked away to the academy at a young age. My family needed us in the house for the most part, helping fish to put food on the table and look after each other when both mom and dad were at work during fishing season.

My father worked out on one of largest fishing boats in the district, spending large chunks of the year at seas and catching large fish to ship into the Capitol year round. We stayed at Golden Lake, which was one of the wealthier parts of the district, the families large and loving and the fishing culture rich which kept bellies full and smiles on faces.

My mother worked at the school, helping in the lower classes with the younger kids. Everyone knew her for her smile, and they often said it could bring up the atmosphere of a room no matter how tense. Being the only two females in the family we formed an inseparable bond, my mother spending hours braiding me hair before I would go swimming in the lake as a child with my dad, when he was home from sea that is.

I grew up around boys, having 3 brothers who were just about as good at annoying me as each other. My oldest brother Kai and I were as thick as thieves growing up, only having a year between us, spending the long summer nights running along the shores chasing each other. When we were younger he used to let me dress him up in my dresses, putting my headbands on him without much objection, but he stopped letting me do that ages ago.

Haf, my middle brother was three years younger than I was, and out of all of us he was the fastest in the water. While he wasn't as good as yielding tridents as the rest of us he was able to swim for hours on end without even remotely getting tired, being able to hold his breath for minutes at a time. He was a gentle boy, much rather preferring to catch fish with his hands instead of killing them, always sticking to his very few friends at school.

Then there was Zale, the youngest of us all, the baby of the family in my mother's eyes. Being barely 5 he was going through the stages of learning how to use a small training trident, spending a lot of his time down by the lake with either Kai or me, standing knee deep in the water as fish swam past our feet.

At the age of 16 my name was only in that bowl five times, so the chances of my name being the one out of thousands was slim. We didn't want the grain or oil that the Capitol offered to us for putting our name in a few extra times, but I did want my life, so I didn't really see it as a fair trade.

Kai longed to be at the academy, training among the best to one day throw his hand into the air and volunteer once he turned 18, coming out of those games a victor. He wanted to get out of 4 as quickly as he could, moving to the Capitol to live the life he was never given. The idea of being a slave to the people in the Capitol was not something he was fond of, and figured that his life would be much easier if he was the 1%, rather than serving it.

I didn't share the same ambitions as him, rather liking my days spent in the glistening water, the sand between my toes and the faint smell of salt which lingered in the air. I mastered how to use a trident at the age of 5, the three blades now an extension of my arm when I'm in the water, a terrain in which I completely at home in, actually rather wanting to spend time in the water than on land.

Yet my name was the one to get picked out.

I went into that arena determined, I knew exactly what I wanted and I was prepared to do to reach my goal, no matter the consequences which came laced with being a victor. The games were unexpected, and as much as I hated it and tried to push the idea away, it was all up to fate.

And the odds were never in my favour.

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A/N : Hey guys, new book alert I know but I couldn't help myself.
I've been rereading the hunger games recently and I can up with a really interesting story line so i'm kinda just flowing with it
i'll attempt to update as much as possible cause i'm really passionate about this story line so I will keep going i promise
so sit back and get ready for this rollercoaster ride of a book