the 75th annual hunger games

meet hero

district one needed a hero.

there were academies in district one, where children and teens went to school to become trained assassins. kids trained to have a chance at being selected by their schools for the hunger games.

the most prestigious school in district one was the institute. surely, here and there a tribute would spawn randomly from another school but it was widely known around district one that the tributes and victors from district one came out of the institute. they wore striking, royal blue uniforms to class. only district one's finest athletes and children got admitted into the institute.

hero was one such kid.

hero stood out as a child and quickly got scouted by the academy. they kept an abnormally close eye on him. and hero knew they did. as if the institute was preparing him for something. him specifically. he'd be eighteen by the time the third quarter quell came around—but hero himself expected that that was a bit risky. no one knew what the reaping condition for the third quarter quell would be.

and let me make it clear that it wasn't only hero who was waiting for him to make his hunger games debut. hero was a popular institute student. he excelled among his peers. not only at the institute: hero participated in plenty of district one tribute tournaments.

the tribute tournament was an annual spring and fall tradition where children from all ages came from all over the district to show off their skills in combat, competitions and races. the tournament was a way to get scouted, a way to gather support and a way to show off how capable you were. it was a way to prove your worth to the district judges. hero had proved his worth plenty of times during these tournaments. the judges approved of him. how could they not? he had plenty of gold medals from different tournaments to prove his worth.

hero was a bit taken back when some troll named marvel quiad was selected to participate in the seventy-fourth annual hunger games.

sure, hero was one year younger than the volunteer requirements. and then what? next year would be a quarter quell. who was to say he could even participate at all? it was just offensive. and what made matters even worse is that marvel died by the hands of a twelve. how he wanted to laugh at the judges when that death aired. how he wanted to smash tables when the games didn't even end up having a winner. hero blamed the judges. the pool was disgusting during the seventy-fourth games. hero could've easily won.

there was a bit of unrest after the games. not because there wasn't a victor, but because this marked the nth year without a victor from district one. it was getting embarrassing. they were supposed to shine as the best district in panem. marvel and glimmer's performance put a smudge on one's reputation.

district one needed a savior. a hero.

the institute had just the candidate.

there was a huge event at the institute the day the quarter quell announcement broadcast aired. deep blue uniforms filled the great hall of the institute. among them, hero finnley. nervous eyes watched him move through the crowd. an eye roll here and there. a particularly nasty look from carmilla fable—the institute's top female student. eighteen as he was. hero didn't even bother to look her way that day. maybe he should have.

then came the announcement.

a double condition quarter quell, to make up for the loss of a victor the previous year. to show the districts that there are always worthy victors among them. double the tributes, to be elected by other eligible candidates.

there was a huge celebration in district one that night. they'd have double the chance to win. and more importantly, they could make sure their very finest hunters would enter the games.

possible tributes started campaigning. posters on the streets, interviews on television, riots on the streets of the city. it was the most fun event district one had gone through in years. there was more pressure on the tribute tournament than ever before. the capitol kept their eyes on outstanding contestants. as did the district judges.

if it wasn't already clear to the whole district that hero finnley had nothing to worry about, the tournament solidified his status as a tribute in the third quarter quell. he left one of his combat opponents with a concussion. a gold medal in dual sword-fighting, archery and outstanding performance in the intelligence quizzes.

there was no question, district one had their hero. only one of the male spots was up for grabs.

no one was surprised when finnley was the first tribute to be called on stage at the reaping. the amount of votes he received was unmatched. humble as hero was, he bathed in the attention district one gave him. and he was on national television now. hero winked at the cameras and took a bow on stage. the district's escort seemed to understand hero was a big deal.

the second tribute to be announced was carmilla fable. ah, carmilla. hero thought. the siren. who most definitely didn't poison any of her female opponents. a slight knife slash here, a little push down the stairs there. carmilla was bold, calculated and kept to herself. you wouldn't know she was about to stab you in the back because you wouldn't hear her coming. carmilla, who threw her long blonde hair back over her shoulder as she walked onto the stage with a dazzling, evil smile. hero didn't know why she was so intent on being insufferable. but she was. on top of that, she was the only person at the institute who could even slightly match his power.

hero wasn't worried about the next contestant. the second male tribute slot went to valor. another institute trainee. valor was strong and barked like a dog. maybe because his brain size was similar to a dog's. hero watched him climb up the stage under loud applause but kept his eyes fixed on a point in the distance. he didn't care about valor.

and he surely didn't care about faith.

announced as final district one tribute, with the least amount of votes, was a girl named faith.

who on earth was faith?

none of them knew.

did she campaign?

i don't know. did she?

i don't recall.

who is faith?

as hero watched her emerge from the crowd and slither towards the stage he thought there must've been a mistake. faith looked like a fragile bird. she wasn't wearing the institute's uniform like the other three were. she wasn't actually wearing any uniform. hero didn't know her. and by the looks of his fellow tributes, no one else did, either. she wasn't like them.

hero, valor, carmilla and faith.

not like it mattered. district one had a favorite.

district one loved their hero.