AN: Once again another story I wrote sophomore year. I have the next chapter also written so I'll upload that as well. There are two more segments after that (so there's four chapters in total) that haven't been written/fully completed yet so yeah. I'll work on that when I get the time but I'm kinda posting these to motivate myself to finish them lol Anyways yeah once again, bear in mind I wrote these first two chapters over two years ago and if I were to write them today I would probably go about it a bit differently but I'm going to post them as is right now. Hope you enjoy!

Toris nervously stood in his section along with all the other sixteen year old boys. He was wearing his late father's green suit. In any other situation this fact alone would have given him confidence, but not today. Today was the reaping for the 33rd annual Hunger Games; anybody in their right mind would be scared.

"Hey, I'm sure it'll, like, be totally fine." Toris glanced over at his long time friend Feliks. His green eyes held a look of assurance. However, it didn't do much to quell the other boy's fear. Feliks, as the son of one of District 3's richer occupants, only had his name in the bowl five times. However, Toris's own was in there twice as many. Every year he had been eligible for The Games he had taken terrasse. Though, he was always too scared - or maybe selfish- to sign up for it more than once every year, even if it would have helped him and his brothers out.

Thinking of his brothers Toris quickly turned his attention to seeking them out of the crowd. Eduard easily stood out in the fifteen year old section. He seemed to be keeping his composure fairly well. Toris's eyes darted their way over to the fourteen year olds. Raivis was also easy to spot, though for different reasons than Eduard. The young boy was terribly small and shaking like a leaf. He had acted like that for the previous two reapings as well.

"Toris, everyone will be fine." Feliks placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "And then we can, like, eat a huge meal at my place!"

"I know… I just can't help but worry. I have ten slips in there, Eduard's name is on eight, and Raivis has six… The odds aren't really in our favor."

Feliks narrowed his eyes. "They aren't in anyone else's favor either. You just need to, like, have a little hope." Toris simply sighed and turned toward the platform in front of everyone.

A very gaudy looking man waltzed to the microphone in between the two large glass bowls. His hair seemed to be poofed up in a fashion that defied gravity and was a hideous shade of purple. It matched with his indigo suit and oddly shiny white shoes. He gave a large smile to the audience.

"Welcome District 3 to the 33rd Hunger Games!" Nobody moved. "Well let's start off with this amazing video!" The same video that had been shown every year was projected for everyone to see. After that the Treaty was read and it was the moment of truth. The Reaping.

"As a true gentleman, we'll start with the girls." He carefully placed his hand in the bowl and plunged it to the bottom. He pulled it back up and opened it. Toris didn't catch the name that was read, but it didn't matter much to him. He was more interested in the boy's name that would be called.

The district escort gracefully slid to the other bowl. "And now, who will be the lucky young man?" Unlike with the girls, his hand stopped in the middle and started to swirl around a bit, almost as if he was trying to milk the suspense for all it was worth. Once he had carefully selected the paper he pulled it out and gosh, has he always been this slow?!

Please, just please don't let it be me.The hand was completely out of the bowl. Please don't let it be Eduard. The paper was opened. Please don't let it be Raivis. The man opened his mouth and prepared to speak. Please don't let it be-

"Feliks Łukasiewicz!"

Feliks…

Next to him his best friend visibly stiffened. However, he quickly made his way up to the stage with an obvious bounce in his step. He even had the smallest smile on his lips. To anyone else it would seem that he was happy about this development. Toris could see through him though. Feliks's eyes betrayed his emotions; he was afraid.

"Any volunteers? No? Then shake hands you two." The two newly chosen tributes hesitantly gripped each other's hands and gave one, brief shake. Then the same hands were taken a hold of by the escort and lifted high for everyone to see. "Ladies and gentlemen, your District 3 tributes!"

Feliks and the girl were taken back to the Justice building as most people left the town square. Toris quickly found his brothers and made his way to where his best friend was. They had to wait for his father and mother to finish up their time with him and both were teary eyed as they exited the room.

Upon entering the room, Feliks flung himself onto Toris and gripped him in a hug. There was a sudden dampness on the white dress shirt Toris was wearing, undoubtedly from the tears of the smaller teen.

"I'm, like, sorry." Feliks sniffled as he pulled out of the hug.

"Don't be. You have every right to be upset." The blonde boy grimaced a bit.

Smooth, Toris. Great job at cheering him up.

"But I have faith in you!" Toris added quickly. "You can win! I know you can!"

"You don't really think that. I don't have any physical skills…"

"But your charisma is sure to get you sponsors. And allies. We've seen people win with less. Weren't you the one who said that everything would be fine?" The words came out almost too fast to be truly convincing, but Toris let them spill out anyway. He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince his friend or himself.

Feliks stayed silent for a few moments. "...I guess you're right. I won't give up. I'll, like, definitely come home." It was at that moment that the tribute acknowledged the other two brothers. "And when I get back I better not hear that you got into any trouble. Listen to your brother, you especially Raivis. Toris doesn't need anything more to worry about."

A teary eyed Raivis adamantly nodded and Eduard gave a sad smile. They then proceeded to hug the other blonde. With almost perfect timing the peacekeepers came in to announce that the trio's time was up. As they left Feliks said one last thing.

"Toris," He swallowed and gave a shaky smile. "I'll see you later."

There was no big dinner that night as had been planned. The Łukasiewicz's were mourning prematurely for the loss of their son; there was no doubt that the brother's wouldn't have been welcomed into the house. So instead dinner was a simple soup.

"Is Feliks really going to be okay?" Raivis questioned, passively stirring his soup rather than eating it.

"Feliks is stronger than you think." Toris replied, expertly dodging the question. With that, the table fell silent once again.

The week leading up to The Games had done nothing to ease Toris's nerves. Feliks had put on the persona of someone who was completely in love with the Capitol and thought it was an honor to have been chosen. That was an angle that hadn't been played for a few years and so it could work to his advantage. That, combined with his training score of five, should have at least given the boy some hope. However, the very real knowledge that Feliks could be dead within days always dashed any of these sentiments.

Now it was only one minute before the tributes would enter the arena. Raivis and Eduard were on both of his sides anxiously waiting for the start along with him. Before they knew it, the tributes were on their platforms and taking in the rocky scenery. This year's arena had many mountains and not a lot of vegetation. That was going to be a problem.

It's okay. If Feliks has sponsors then he can get food from them, and there has to be a water source around here somewhere.

The starting gong sounded and chaos ensued. Around four or five of the tributes fled from the Cornucopia. Feliks wasn't among them. He instead was running toward a small pack that was about fifteen feet away from the starting pedestals. He snatched the bag up and sprinted away from the blood bath. Toris couldn't help but smile in a mixture of relief and pride.

That was until he saw the other boy no less than three feet away from Feliks.

He recognized him as the District 6 male. He had snow white hair and piercing red eyes. His cocky attitude in the interviews had rubbed him the wrong way, especially when he had claimed that he could kill any of the other tributes at any time. The only redeeming thing about the situation Toris was viewing was the fact that the tribute- Gilbert might have been his name- didn't seem to have a weapon.

Please let him just run past Feliks. Please!

There was no such luck. Within a few seconds Gilbert had tackled the blond to the ground. While neither of them had a weapon the albino was obviously stronger. Without a second's delay a nearby rock was seized and repeatedly smashed into Feliks's head. The light was fading from the emerald green eyes and there was just so much blood…

The camera unexpectedly switched to another battle that was raging near the mouth of the Cornucopia.

"Toris…" Eduard started as he turned toward his older brother.

"Excuse me for a minute." Toris quickly stood and made his way to the other room. There was just no way. This had to be a joke. Feliks couldn't be dead. Tears pricked at the back of his eyes and eventually were streaming down his face. He tried- to no avail- to wipe them with the sleeves of his shirt.

Wait, they didn't fire the cannons until after the Bloodbath, and the camera didn't catch the last moments of the tribute. That was it. He was still alive; he had to be. Taking a deep breath he returned to the family room and sat back down.

The Bloodbath continued for another ten minutes before the Game Makers decided that it was a good enough time to set off the cannons. There were nine in total. Caesar Flickerman, the new host of The Hunger Games who had debuted this year, started announcing all who was dead. Much to Toris's horror Feliks's name was the first to be read. He along with the the boy from 5, the girl from 6, the girl and boy from 8, the boy from 10, the girl from 11 and the boy and girl from 12 were all killed throughout the Bloodbath.

Throughout the rest of The Games Toris could hardly even concentrate on the horrible events that were taking place. The only time he was watching intently was when the District 6 boy was killed by the brunette girl from 9. He was hit repeatedly over the head with a frying pan of all things. Seeing his friend's killer brought to justice gave Toris a feeling of immense joy. However, he immediately felt guilty and reminded himself that someone had just been killed and returned to his feelings of sorrow.

In the end not even the girl from 9 had won. It was the District 1 Male named Lars. He had been a strong strategist and knew the optimal time to wipe out almost the entirety of the remaining Career pack while he was on watch duty. Injecting each member of the pack with a homemade slow acting, but deadly, poison was the a way to kill everyone without worrying about a cannon going off and waking someone up before he could finish the job.

After The Games were over Feliks's funeral was held. Toris had spoken a few words at the service, but they seemed pretty cliched. For the rest of the year no one brought up the blonde boy as it seemed always happened with dead tributes. No one wanted to think of how unfair the Capitol was taking away young people's lives for no other purpose than entertainment.

Just because he didn't talk about him didn't mean Toris stopped thinking about him. Some days he could be perfectly fine. He could immerse himself in his work, in taking care of his brothers and he would be okay. He laughed at Eduard's comments over dinner, found himself smiling at Raivis and his friend Peter's interactions, and was even content to hum to himself while assembling various gadgets on the assembly line. Other days though it was as if he had just lost his best friend again. The image of his lifeless corpse was seared into his mind and all he could think about was Why him?

Had it not been for his brothers, especially in the first weeks after Feliks's death, he probably would have shut down. It was the knowledge that he needed to keep going, for them, that caused Toris to drag himself out of bed some mornings. It also helped that Raivis and Eduard were always there to comfort him when he did start to crack. He constantly thanked the heavens that he was given such a gift.

A whole year passed like that, with nothing more seeming to happen. The only thing that could be considered odd- besides not having Feliks around- was Eduard seemed to disappear every so often for a few hours with no explanation. Toris simply chalked it up as having five new friends to talk to.

The year went by in a flash and before anyone knew it the next Reaping was upon them.