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Silver slowly opened up her eyes as she heard her alarm going off, she slowly turned her head looking over at the window as she saw the sun slowly starting to rise. Today was a day that she always dreaded going to, it was the day of the Reaping she remembered losing a fellow classmate being reaped into the games last year. Sighing ever so slightly to herself, the only good thing was that working in the mines was less today anyone who was of age to get reaped were able to have the day off. Silver climbed out of her bed and headed over to her wooden wardrobe that looked like it had seen better days, pulling out a black leather jacket that was her fathers. Her eyes stopped at the scar on her arm remembering it happened during a collapse in one of the mineshafts, a sharp rock cut her arm and remembered losing her father that day.

The jacket was her father's which he had given to her when she was little, Silver's hand gently rested on the necklace that was how she got her name which was also what her father had found the day she was born. It was something that she always kept on her person, she quickly finished getting changed. Her mother and younger brother were still asleep as Silver started to head out of her bedroom and snuck out of the house.

It was a nice and warm day out, and she had sometime to kill before having to get ready to go to the center of District 12 Silver decided to go for a little bit of hunting as she headed further back through some woods to the edge of the district. The peacekeepers rarely ever kept the gates powered up, as she snuck through the wired gate. Silver made her way to a hollowed out stump finding the bow that she made herself years ago just for hunting it was always just peaceful and relaxing having the woods to herself and enjoyed the silence listening to the birds as they chirped and sang to each other.

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All was still throughout the district, excluding a few households that were stirring to ready for the day of work ahead. Not many were up as early as Kol normally was. His parents, mainly his father, had him up hours before the sun would even rise to wake up and help in the hospice before his long day down in the mines. Wasn't exactly his idea of a great morning, but he knew it helped his mother and that was enough for him. His father always telling him that it was best to wake up earlier than the other miners normally did because if he'd been awake longer, he'd be more of his surroundings down in the mine. Potentially saving him from disaster, 'Like the collapse that nearly killed your friend! She got lucky,' he would always tell Kol, which tended to get annoying after hearing it so often.

Kol sat without a sound on top of his roof sipping on a small cup of coffee, looking out over Twelve. Today felt different than the rest. And why shouldn't it? Two poor souls from their hometown would be ripped from their families and forced to fight in a deathmatch against not only one of their own, but twenty-two other tributes. The thought of the Games in itself made Kol sick to his stomach. How the people of the Districts could stand to watch all their young die, hoping that maybe, just maybe theirs would be the one to come home. The Capitol was worse, forcing the less fortunate to fight each other when none of them have ever been in a simple scuffle. To think that we, the young in the Districts were their entertainment.

It wasn't long that Kol was lost in his thoughts of the day ahead when a familiar figure caught his eye, slipping off through the houses and on towards the back fences that lined the surrounding forests of Twelve. Kol had half a mind to run off after his friend but decided against it in the long-run.

"Happy hunting," he muttered under his breath with a chuckle as he scooted to the edge of the roof, hopping down to the ground below. Kol shook out the remains of his coffee from the small metal cup, ran some water from the outside spicket through it to clean it out and made his way into his home. Geordon, Kol's younger brother, sat at the kitchen table pushing his eggs around his plate, looking very unamused. As soon as Geordie realized Kol had entered the room, he changed up his whole attitude as if he'd not been upset and deep in his own thoughts just moments before.

"Ready to become the next Capitol posterchild, brother?" Kol looked to his brother and shrugged.

"Don't think you'd be able to handle me being the center of father's attention if I came back the Victor." He gently shoved his brother's shoulder in a playful manner, smirking as he walked passed him to place his cup upsidedown at the side of the sink on their dish-drying rag.

"Lucky for you, you only have this year and next to get through. I have four more!" Kol's hand hesitated on top of the cup for a moment before he turned back and sat down at the table beside Geordon, clasping his hands together in front of him to rest his forehead against his fists.

"Yeah, lucky," he mumbled to himself.

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As Silver walked through the woods she enjoyed the silence around her and the occasional chirp of the mockingjays as they sang, it was always very relaxing as she made her way towards a small creek. Kneeling down Silver ran her hand over a deer hoof print on the ground, it appeared to be pretty fresh as she looked around and saw more prints going further away. A deer would be a really great meal. And she could sell some of it at the market to some of the peacekeepers that were more then willing to look the other way. Silver quickly turned around drawing out an arrow only to see a a boy her age. Silver closed her eyes letting out a sigh as she started to relax. It was another of her closest friends, aside from Kolton of course she picked up a rock and threw it at his head and glared at him. "I almost shot at you!" Silver yelled at him.

"But you wouldn't shoot me." Andrew said jokingly holding another bow himself, they were friends because he also lost his mother in the same mine collapse like her father years ago. Silver then turned around seeing a turkey in the distance, that was grazing and picking at the dirt before it. Quickly drawing back the arrow she shot it at the turkey, seeing its body falling down, she smiled brightly as she walked across the creek and picked it up. "This will make for a nice price." Silver said to him happily.

"I'm sure it will." Andrew said as he followed her, and they both started to make their way back towards town, and then crossed under the electrified fence. The two of them started walking, Silver looked over seeing some of the kids that were heading to the reaping were getting ready and some of them were already changed. "I'll see you at the reaping then." Silver said as she walked into the little black market that some members of District 12 made, and where they traded for supplies.

Silver turned in the turkey, and was traded back with some smaller supplies for food that would last for a few extra days looking over at a nearby clock. She did have a little bit of time to go and see Kolton, Silver always did go over and visit him the day of the reaping. Once she finished up with her trade Silver headed out and started making her way back towards her and Kolton's houses which were close together. Silver knocked on the door and leaned up slightly against the railing waiting for a few minutes for him to answer the door.

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The silence that followed his comment lasted for many minutes before Kolton pushed back in his seat and stood, walking off towards his bedroom to change as he said, "Hurry up and get ready. We'll have to leave soon," just loud enough to be heard. Gently closing his door behind him, he grabbed the ends of his shirt and tugged them over his head, tossing the raggedy thing into his hamper. Kolton stared down at the bandana that he'd normally wrap around his right hand to avoid people staring at his burns, but today he'd have to brave his insecurities and leave it behind. The dirty, tacky thing wouldn't look very good to the people who expected so much from them. Expecting a broken people to dress up nice and act as if they are actually excited for this day or the weeks that followed it.

Kolton took the rest of his ratty clothing off, showered and got dressed in the clothes his mother had laid out for him in the middle of the night. A simple light sky-blue shirt with a pair of dark forest-green pants and a black belt ( outfit ). Kolton stood in front of the mirror just staring at the boy glaring back at him for several seconds, running a hand through his short hair that he'd cut just the night before along with his facial hair that he'd shaved off. Both having been his mom's wishes, he did what was asked of him, even though the shave made him look like a young boy and the cut had him looking much like his father.. which Kolton didn't care too much for these days.

"Kol!" his brother's voice came from the other side of his bedroom door, followed by a set of knocks. "Your girlfriend is here."

Kolton winced slightly at the word, grinding his teeth together. "Geordon. Stop." He turned back and grabbed the crystal bullet necklace off of the sink before walking out of his room, slipping it on as he squeezed past his sniggering brother who he shoved his shoulder with a 'shut up' glare to follow. Kolton had feelings for his friend, but he never let them show nor did he let it get in the way of their friendship. He knew she didn't feel the same way as him, and that was fine in his eyes. As he reached the door, he tucked in his shirt into his pants and buckled his belt before pulling the door open with a wide smile at the sight of Silver standing in his doorway.

"Ho, stranger. What brings you to these neck of the woods?" Kolton chuckled lightly and pushed the screen door out slowly to give Silver the room to step back before stepping out, closing both doors firmly behind him, turning his attention back to the girl. He immediately noticed that both her shoes and pants were a bit dusty, raising an eyebrow at her. "You left my pups alone, right?" He smirked, knowing full well where she'd gone this morning. Not just because he'd seen her head off towards the back fence, but because he knew it was something she had done just about every year on the morning of the reaping. It was practically habit. Anything less would be completely out of character for her.

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Silver started to lightly play with her hair, when she heard Geordon's voice which she instantly blushed at his comment it was something that she had hidden from him as well. She did actually have feelings for her closest friend, but she wasn't sure if he had felt the same way and if he didn't then it would have truly felt really awkward being around him. So she decided to keep her true feelings away from him, Silver looked down at the bag of supplies that she had she also did have some food for Kolton's family as well. When the door opened Silver gave Kolton a friendly smile and then looked down at her pants and boots they were covered in dirt when she knelt down to see the deer tracks on the ground.

"Just came by to give you some stuff." She said with a friendly smile as she handed Kolton the bag with food for his family and then lightly ran a hand through her hair and laughed slightly at his comment. "Of course I left your puppies alone, its not like I would steal them or anything." She said teasingly, when she was younger she would always bring them over to her house and lie and say that they were taken by the peacekeepers. "Looking handsome by the way."

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"Not like I would steal them or anything," he mocked her playfully with a smirk as he tenderly took the bag she held out for him, quickly turning away at her comment before she could see his face. "I'll be right back." Kol shook his head with a soft smile as he entered the house, pushing his overly-nosy brother out of the way as he managed to move past.

"Hey Silver!" Geordon called outside to his brother's friend with a friendly smile and wave. Kol quickly walked to the fridge and placed the bag of food on the bottom shelf, walking back over to Geordon. He clapped the back of his shoulder and called over his own, "Meet you there, brother. And pray the odds be ever in your favor" Kol laughed a bit, closing the door behind him to rejoin Silver.

"Is it just me, or is does that kid get more annoying with age?" Kol gently nudged Silver's hand with his own as he began to walk off towards the center of the District. As they walked, Kol looked back at Silver with a soft, sort of apologetic smile. "By the way, thanks again for saving our butts. I honestly think we'd starve if it wasn't for you," It was a few seconds before it dawned on Kol that she was wearing her boots and pants. He turned to look directly at Silver but continued to walk backward cautiously, "Not that you don't look stunning enough as it is, do we need to stop at your house so you can get cleaned up a bit? I don't think the Pres would much appreciate you not looking your absolute best."

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Silver smirked ever so slightly at Kolton as he took the bag of food from her. "I'll be right here waiting." Silver said with a soft smile as she looked over hearing Kolton's brother's voice and seeing him through the screen door. "Hey Geordon!" Silver called back to him just as the door closed behind Kolton, she turned around for a moment and looked up at the clear blue sky letting out a slight sigh. It was always pretty relaxing on the warm days, though she was stressed out due to the reaping day. When the door opened again Silver turned around giving Kolton another friendly smile she giggled slightly at Kolton's comment towards his brother. When she felt his hand nudging hers Silver turned and started to walk off of the porch.

"Of course he is a younger sibling they always get annoying and more curious as they get older." Silver said softly as she walked alongside him, she shyly looked down at her feet ever so slightly her hand would reach out to hold his. Before quickly taking it away when Kolton mentioned her that she should get changed and also thanking her for brining over the food. "Don't mention it, gotta keep my best friend alive and well fed." Silver said with a smile.

She looked down at her dirty pants and boots then over at her house and gave Kolton a slight nod, she did need to make herself look 'pretty' for the Capitol after all. "Guess I have to get all prim and proper for President Snow then." Silver said sarcastically as she looked at him for a moment. "Mind waiting for me?" Silver asked as she started to head back towards her house and headed inside, her parents had already gone to the District center for the Reaping.

Silver headed up to her bedroom and started to strip out of her regular clothes and started searching through her wardrobe and found her dress. A few minutes later Silver came out looking at Kolton. "So how do I look?" She asked him.

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Kolton watched as she walked off ahead of him and on inside of her home, sitting down on the porch as he'd done many times before and sat waiting for her to return. The morning sky was beginning to clear up and the sun was shining down, it was almost annoyingly bright. Although it was bright outside, the people passing between houses seemed to have rain clouds hanging over their heads. It was sad to see every year. Such a proud people, but on this particular day, who or what did they have to be proud of? Their one Victor? Not even then. From what was said, the games changed him into a completely different man.

The sudden thought that Kolton, Silver, or even Geordon would get picked today flew through his mind but quickly shook it away. He couldn't allow himself to think about it for more than a few seconds. As his mother always said, 'Think positive, love.' Kolton could almost hear her say it to him, now. He ran a hand across the top of his head and let out a deep sigh. Part of him wasn't ready for the day ahead. The sound of the door of Silver's home re-opening didn't even register to him until he heard her familiar voice from behind. He turned to look over his shoulder at her, looking from her shoes on up into her eyes with a bright, charming smile.

"Do you really have to ask that, Darlin?" Kolton asked as he stood, jokingly playbow to her with one arm behind his back, the other extended out towards her. "I think the both of us together are gonna steal the spotlight. We're too gorgeous! Give those Capitol freaks a run for their money." Kolton laughed, looking up at his friend. A noise from behind them caused Kolton's smmile to fade and turn to try finding the source of the sound, scanning the nearly empty streets. The rumbling sounds of Peacekeeper trucks coming into the District seemed to echo throughout the place. "More of them? Thought we had enough, already?" Kolton clenched his fist and glared off towards the center of 12, shaking his head absent-mindedly. 'This needs to end,' he thought to himself.

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Silver blushed ever so slightly when Kolton complimented her, as she did a little playful spin just to show off, she then wrapped her arm around his. Which made her blush even more, she always felt safe and comfortable whenever she was around him even though she was the one who always risked herself getting caught by the peacekeepers for doing illegal hunting. But as far as she was concerned the peacekeepers here in Twelve were pretty laxed and easily paid off. If you gave them a deer if you were successful during hunts outside of the District they always looked the other way.

Silver turned her head slightly as she caught a glimpse of a peacekeeper transport drive through, letting out a slight sigh as she ran a hand through her long brown hair. "They are probably here for our Capitol Escort, they tend to have their own little entourage when they come by." She said looking up at the sky closing her eyes and sighed, for some reason Silver started to get a weird feeling that it would be her day to be reaped into this years games.

"Hey Kolt? If it is my time to go. Take care of my little brother and my mom for me?" Silver asked looking up at him, for a moment she always asked it every year since she started putting her name down for treasury. Sometimes hunting never turned out well, and if they did run out of food she would have to put her name down which doubled every year you put your name down in exchange for extra food and water that would last a few weeks to a month if rationed off well enough. They then started to get closer towards the district center where the Justice building was. Silver gave her friend a soft smile and gave his hand a loving squeeze for a moment seeing the other girls her age started to get into their respective lines for gender and age group.

"Anyway I guess I shall see you on the other side." Silver said with a smile as she walked over and got into line. A few minutes pass and eventually it was her turn, knowing the ritual every year Silver held out her hand as the peacekeeper took her hand. Wincing slightly when they took her blood making sure that it was her, she stamped her bloodied thumb down and walked in and got herself into position.

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As they closed in on the grounds, people were starting to crowd around them and Kolton was suddenly feeling claustrophobic. Silver's voice brought him back for the moment, mentioning looking after her family really brought Kolton to a hard stop. Yes, it was true. It was something they'd asked each other every year, more so her than he did to her because she already took care of his family more than he ever could. Something was caught in Kol's throat, then, preventing him from saying anything. Instead, he chose to simply nod and stare back at her. The pit in his stomach began to churn as she squeezed his hand and said her farewells before wandering off to line up with the rest of the young women of twelve. It wasn't long before she fell in with the rest of the crowd and disappeared. Moments passed and Kolton finally decided to do the same.

Kolton fell in line and followed the procedure as was expected of them. Kol held his hand out with his index finger extended and looked off into the crowd, both at all the potential tributes as well as the peacekeepers standing guard at every corner and entrance. Needles, or anything of the sort, had never been something Kolton was fond of. At least on his own skin. He grit his teeth as the peacekeeper quickly pricked his finger, squeezed and placed his finger down into the booklet laying flat on the table. Once the man in white waved him off, Kol took off towards the lines of young men to find his brother before he had to get in line. It was no use, though. The younger boys Geordon's age group were all huddled together, and Geordon being a bit smaller for his size wasn't exactly going to help in his search for him.

Kol bit his lip and shook his head, wandering towards the back to take his place among the guys in his own class. Some looked nervous, others were sweating bullets and looked downright scared out of their wits. Kolton remained quite calm, himself, but couldn't seem to shake the uptight feeling in his chest. Something was wrong, or at least something was going to go wrong, and he knew it. His eyes wandered off to the right where the girls stood every year, peaking over to where Silver should be, but he couldn't see her. Many of the girls stood in small groups, looking quite like a huddle of penguins.

It wasn't much longer before Kol noticed a Peacekeeper staring him down with a raised eyebrow and a challenging expression on his face. The man raised his baton and pointed it towards the front, to which Kolton quickly took the warning and faced forward. The peacekeeper didn't look familiar at all. 'Must be one of the jackasses off the trucks that came this morning,' he thought to himself. A lone peacekeeper wandered up the platform to the double doors on stage, pushing one open where four people came out, three of which took the three seats to the right of the stage and the last took point in front of the microphone. This was it.

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As Silver stood with the other girls within her age group, all of them had grim looks on their faces and eyes knowing that one of them could either be reaped, or lose someone that they cared for, or even a family member. Her eyes slowly scanned the area, her attention else where trying her best to spot her younger brother, as well as Kolton. She then spotted him just as he got into his line with his age group for the boys of Twelve. Her eyes then went towards the front of the Justice Building, she saw the leaders of District 12 and their family then a few minutes later a strange looking woman came out wearing weird Capitol outfit. Silver then tried to get Kolton's attention mouthing 'Freak' towards him and gesturing towards the woman that started to approach the podium.

Then like every year as far as she could remember the strange woman spoke. "Greetings citizens of District 12 lets listen to a message from the Capitol!" Then the Panem national anthem started to play, Silver rolled her eyes ever so slightly as the same video that they played every year came up. About how the Capitol loved them, and then the rebellion started, and the founding of the Hunger Games, Silver continued to try and get Kolton's attention just to make fun of it all.

Then it finally came to an end the woman spoke once more. "Now lets, see the Tributes of this years 74th Annual Hunger Games as always the ladies first!" The moment that Silver dreaded ever single year, as the woman dug into the glass bowl that contained the girl's names of Twelve. Knowing that her name was most likely in there several times when she needed to get treasury for her family, it felt like forever as the woman searched through, and finally pulling out the small folded piece of paper.

"This years female Tribute is... Silver Galloway!"

Everything just came crashing down onto her, it was suppose to be her final year to have her name in the bowl she turned her head slightly with a scared and terrified look on her eyes as she looked at her mother. Silver could see tears running down her mother's eyes as Silver slowly started to step forward, making her way up towards the front of the stage that was set up just for the Reaping. Silver could see the grim looks on just about everyone's face, and the only thing that came to mind was Kolton she never got the chance to tell him how she felt about him.

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It wasn't long before the woman who'd stepped out after their District's leaders was speaking to the silent crowd before her. Kolton couldn't help but scrunch his nose at the outfit she was wearing, and immediately looked through the rows of girls to find Silver. She had to have been thinking the same thing about the atrocious wardrobe the Capitol people thought was fashionable these days. He finally laid eyes on his friend and chuckled softly to himself when she mouthed 'Freak!' while gesturing to the woman, shaking his head as he looked back up at the front of the stage to listen to what she had to say. It was the same thing every year, almost to a 'T'.

"Greetings citizens of District 12! Lets listen to a message from the Capitol," the spokeswoman said rather dully into the mic.

The video that followed was just as dull, and held no interest with Kolton, or any of the District anyway. A few of the younger kids, especially the first years, seemed to be the only ones captivated by the whole thing. Once it was over, Kolton glanced back over at Silver who must have just turned back from looking at him. The small smile that was on his lips slowly faded away as he forced himself to look back up to the stage, the woman in front beginning to speak again.

"Now, let's see the Tributes of this year's 74th Annual Hunger Games. As always, the ladies first!" It was only moments that it took for the woman to turn and begin digging through the many papers with names of the girls from 12 written on them. Quite a few being from Silver, he knew too well. Kolton hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath till the next words left the woman's lips and echoed out through the courtyard.

"This year's female Tribute is... Silver Galloway!" An invisible force suddenly struck Kolton directly in his gut and knocked the wind right out of him. Slack-jawed and unable to either breathe or speak, he hurriedly searched for her again and found her as a few peacekeepers led her to the stage. He watched as she climbed the steps and turned to face the rest of the district, all eyes were on her. Kolton swallowed hard and grit his teeth firmly, never taking his eyes off of his only friend. 'How can this be happening?' he thought to himself, shaking away the emotions that wanted to flood in on him like a wave washing over the shore.

Without hesitation and before the spokeswoman could begin speaking again, Kolton dove through the crowd of young men and stood in the middle of the isle. Peacekeepers rushed on him to apprehend him, but Kolton's cry out had them letting him go and standing him up onto his feet again.

"I'm sorry young man, what did you say?" the woman looked down at him from the stage, as well as all of District 12 who seemed to have quite a bit of shock plastered to their faces. Kolton dusted off his pants and straightened up before looking around, then back up into the eyes of the woman. Taking a shaky breath, Kolton repeated what he'd said so that she and the rest of his district could hear.

"I'd like to volunteer, ma'am. As tribute." Part of himself couldn't even believe the words that had come out of his mouth, but there was a lot going through his head that wasn't about to keep him from doing what he'd just done. There was no going back now. A few feet away, Kolton found the eyes of his younger brother who seemed to be dead where he stood. Kol's heart dropped, but the feeling wasn't there long. A peacekeeper prodded Kol from behind and forced him forward. As he went to pass his brother, he gave him a half-hearted smile and told him to take care of their mother and watch out for their father.

Through the white noise going on in his head, Kolton managed to pick up the words 'District 12' and 'volunteer'. It dawned on him that he was, without a doubt, the first volunteer to have stepped up as tribute from their home district. Most volunteers came from the Career districts, and it was a very unheard of thing to get volunteers from the outlying districts. As Kolton took the steps leading up to the stage, he looked back out into the crowd but out towards where his parents stood. His mother was broken down into tears with her face in her hands, his father with his arms wrapped around her as he stared up at Kol as if asking 'why'. Honestly, Kol hadn't the slightest reason why except the fact that he was going to give his friend one less enemy to worry about killing her in-game. He was going to help make sure she'd make it home if nothing else.

As Kol made it up to the stage and stood in the spot opposite of the spokeswoman from Silver, he looked over at her and gave a half-hearted smile and mouthed a simple 'Hey'. He hoped she'd know without having to ask why he'd done what he did, because it was hard enough standing there looking at her knowing himself that sooner than later they'd both be facing 22 other tributes in a deathmatch. Kol would die. He would die protecting her, and that's all that mattered.

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Silver was doing her best to hold back the tears she didn't want to go into the games, and either possibly die or become the next victor. Knowing how the victors usually came out of the games not the same person when they walked in initially. Their victor won several years back, Silver saw the woman every now and then always piss drunk or on some kind of drugs. She looked down searching for Kolton, then that's when she saw him making his way through the group of boys and then saw him standing in the very center.

Her eyes went wide in horror and surprise when she heard her closest friend that he would volunteer sparing anyone else from this years games. Silver just wanted to turn and run away right then and there, she couldn't bare seeing Kolton in that arena or having to be the one to witness or be the one to have to kill him. Silver also just wanted to hug him, someone that she could actually trust and have her back in the Games.

"There you have it folks our tributes from District 12!" The spokeswoman said cheerfully, Silver looked over at Kolton giving him a sad smile. They were then slowly one by on escorted back into the Justice building Silver sat down in one of the rooms alone by herself shaking like a little leaf. Silver just wanted to vomit she was scared of having to kill someone just for the Capitol's sick enjoyment as she waited there for awhile. The door opened and Silver stood up seeing her mother and little brother quickly coming in, she ran over to them and gave them both a tight loving hug and simply started to cry in her mother's arms.

"You will make it back safely hon." Silver's mother said trying her best to cheer her daughter up, but she knew that there was the slight chance that she wont come back, or come back completely changed which was probably worse then death. Silver spent the next few moments just in her mother's arms before a peacekeeper came in to lead Silver up into the train that would take them to the Capitol.

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As Kolton was lead back into the Justice building after the spokeswoman had her final words, he tried to get a word with Silver but those leading him led him to a separate room and closed him off from everything else. Many moments passed before the door opened again, but the faces that appeared weren't the ones he'd expected to see. No Peacekeepers. It was his mother, father and brother. Geordon immediately crossed the distance between the two brothers and did something Kolton wasn't expecting. Geordon socked Kol, knocking him back some.

"How could you do that?! How could yo-" their father was quick to apprehend Geordon, grabbing him beneath his arm and flipping him behind to put himself between the two. A hard glare at his youngest sent him nearly cowering towards his mother, turning onto his oldest with a softened look. Something Kolton hadn't seen in his father's eyes in a long time. Beckett stood there a moment before clapping his hand to Kol's shoulder, staring into his eyes as he spoke softly.

"I know why you did it. Don't think I haven't seen it," he raised his eyebrow at Kol with a soft smirk, continuing. "I want you to know that I'm proud of you, boy. I'm sorry I've got a poor way of showing it." With that, he wrapped his arms firmly around Kol in a hug. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes but he held them back, not knowing what to say or do.

"Kol," his mother began softly, but suddenly clutched her mouth as tears began to pour from her eyes. Kolton slowly left his father's arms and crossed the room to his mother, wrapping his arms securely around her and held her against him.

"I'm sorry. I love you, mom." 'I have to do this..' he finished in his thoughts. As his mother pulled away to begin another attempt at saying something, the doors flung open and flooded with a few Peacekeepers who began leading them all out. Kol quickly found Geordon's eyes and pointed at him with an equally pointed stare.

"Stay strong. Do whatever you can, you hear me? What are we, brother?"

From around the corner, Kolton could barely make out the words his brother called out, "What were we, brother?" Kol's heart sank slightly, thinking to himself, 'A team, Geordie. We're a team.' Turning away from the door, he walked to the window in the back of the room and peeled back the curtain to look down at the square below. It was already emptying, and Kol watched as both his own family along with Silver's mother and brother walking to join the rest of their district. Kolton spent the next few minutes there, frozen in deep thought of what the next few weeks would hold for him. A sudden dark but humorous thought crossed his mind. What kind of skills did he have? Silver knew how to hunt, and very well. If anything, he would probably be the one to get her killed. He'd easily slow her down. A deep fear set in, then. Luckily he didn't spend too many moments in that fear before a single Peacekeeper came to the door and waited for him, which he quickly responded to and turned to walk out with him towards the train that would lead them to the Capitol. It was only then that Kol saw Silver again. The sight of her nearly bringing him to his knees. 'What did I do?' he thought as he crossed the distance between them to join her as they entered onto the train.

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As Silver climbed her way up into the train, she turned her attention to see Kol catching up to her she was honestly really happy and furious with him at the same time. Happy because she knew that Kolton wouldn't be the one to stab her in the back in the arena and furious at him because, if it came down to just her and him to be the last two she would be the one to have to kill him. And Silver could never live with herself if that ever did happen to him. Silver made her way towards the food car of the train, she felt a slight jolt as the train started moving forward.

She looked out the window as Silver watched their district starting to leave rather quickly Silver was surprised that she couldn't even feel the movement of the train. Then Silver turned her attention over towards Kolton and then suddenly slapped him across the face, then she leaned forward and pressed her lips up against his. Silver loved Kolton and she didn't want to see him die, sure she was able to hunt and knew how to defend herself at home though Silver felt alone with her family. When she was with Kolton it made things feel a lot easier and happy as well.

"Why the hell did you volunteer?! You made a damn promise to look after my family!" Silver suddenly snapped as she looked up at him with a slightly angry look, she wasn't sure what was going on in his head or why he actually did volunteer for this years games. Then there was a door that suddenly opened in came their District's Spokeswoman as well as Elsa Bellstar the woman who won the 35th Hunger Games, and District 12's only victor in her hands was a bottle of beer as she flopped down onto the couch obviously looking very drunk.

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Kolton let Silver enter first, following behind with one last look before he was prodded further and had the door shut practically in his face. He huffed softly towards the door, turning back to catch up with Silver as they entered an overly decorated room that smelled of many different sweets and foods. The smell was almost sickening. So many different scents in such a small room was a bit overbearing to the senses. Although quite a few of the foods caught Kolton's attention, the smells hardly compared to their District's bakery. When the train suddenly lurched forward, Kolton too was caught up in the sight of their district quickly becoming a distant memory behind them. He was about to say something about how interesting it was that the train seemed to be flying with the way it was moving along the tracks when a hand flew across his face. Kolton stepped back out of shock, one hand cupping his face.

It stung really bad, not only from the slap but from the previous punch he'd received from his brother just a few minutes before. He opened his mouth to object when again, his words were silenced, but in a very different manner than before. Kolton's breath caught in his chest as it had when Silver's name was called in the square. What this just raw, impulsive emotion.. or did she really feel that way for him? Kolton didn't allow himself to dwell on it much more than a moment, kissing her back a time or two before pulling himself away with a very confused look. That's when she shot out the question at him, looking angrier than he'd ever seen her. She never was one to ever be truly angry. It almost scared Kolton, hearing her speak that way to him.

"I still am, Silver. I voluntee-" Once more, his words were cut short as two women filed into the room. One being the spokesperson, the other their District's only victor.. ever. Ella Bellstar, who won the games 39 years ago. She seemed to plop into a spot of her liking with a bottle of beer clutched in her hand as if this was all some kind of a chore for her. Kolton remembered back to his earlier years of schooling when they watched the 35th Hunger Games for the first time to learn about their district's one and only victor. She'd really been something back in the day. How could she not have been? To have won the games.. for an outlying district, it was practically unheard of. Nowadays, she spent her time being the town's drunk. Seemed the money she was awarded each month from the Capitol for being a past Games victor was all spent on liquor. To each his own, right?

Kolton eyed the two women for a moment before quickly turning away to a window so neither could see his reddened face. Both from the slap he'd received from his fellow tribute and only friend, but also from the kiss. Which he was still very confused about, but kicked the scrambled thoughts to the back of his mind as he quickly asked, "So, what kind of advice does the great Ella Bellstar, District 12's only victor, have to bestow on us?" He side glanced at the aging victor, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Surely it's much more than how quickly we can waste our money on the chance that either of us becomes the next victor to reign from an outlying district." As much as Kolton felt horrible for being so outright and rude, there was nothing that could keep him from being that way with the woman. He remembered back when he was a small boy, his mother had sent him to the shop where he'd run almost directly into Ella, and in her drunken, enraged state.. she'd shoved the boy over and he dropped the change his mother had sent him off with. Nothing about the woman allowed him any respect for her, and as much as he was taught to be respectful to elders, he couldn't allow himself to even fake it for her sake.

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Ella chugged down about a quarter of the bottle of beer already, then she slammed the bottle down onto the mahogany coffee table her drunken eyes turned to look over at Kolton giving him a slight glare. Everyone in 12 knew her as the district's drunk, sometimes she was known to just yell out random words, or other days she could get violent and just throw whatever she was drinking at someone's face for just looking at her the wrong way. "Ye little kiddies what advice?" She asked and then started to laugh loudly as she grabbed the bottle once more taking another big gulp of it down. "Only thing Is gots to say to ya brats is just find a hole in that arena and just pray that they don't find yer asses, or just take an early leap off of the platform." Ella was also known to be really cynical and rarely ever showed any kind of compassion to anyone.

Silver looked at their mentor the advice truly did suck, she wasn't going to stand and do nothing she would fight if she had to in order to save Kolton from dying in the arena. "That is really shitty and bad advice." Silver said glaring at Ella before standing up looking over at Kolton blushing ever so slightly from the kiss she had done. Silver turned around and started to storm out of the food cart, she needed to be alone, just to clear her head. Silver made her way towards the very back of the train and sat down at the rounded couch at the very back with the window view of the tracks and District 12 now just a tiny spec in the distance.

She was still shaking ever so slightly, she wasn't sure if she would even survive the first day of being in that arena Silver slowly closed her eyes letting out a soft sigh and ran a hand through her brown hair and brought her knees up to her chest as she just simply looked out the window.

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Kolton shook his head and grit his teeth, turning away where he was about to wander off towards the back where the rooms must be, but saw Silver head that way first and halted in place. He let her disappear, waiting a few moments before slowly passing through the same doors and wandered to the furthest part of the train which had a large open window to look out of. Kol let the door close behind him, slowly walking forward to the couch closest to the window and sat sideways, arm dangling over the back of the couch. Their district was far behind them, but the scenery at the side of each side of the train was still as green as their district's forest was. The green grass never seemed to end, and trees seemed to line the railroad almost perfectly. It wasn't long before everything suddenly became dark when the train entered a tunnel that was dimly lit with flickering lights that let off the occasional spark. Kolton kept his watchful eyes open, scanning everything as it passed behind the train. Where were they?

Just as quickly as they'd entered the tunnel, they passed through the other side where the light nearly blinded Kol, forcing him to squint his eyes a bit before being able to open them fully again. Looking up a ways, he could see the top of a massive wall. The sides of the railroad were no longer left open and sported high, chain-link fencing with barbed wire at the top. Kolton sat up a little straighter and began to really look around, thinking to himself that this had to be District 11. It was interesting to see inside another district, something they'd never gotten the chance to do. The most they'd seen inside of other districts were in their squares where tributes were reaped each year. The ground around seemed to reflect the skies above, or maybe it was the other way around. Gray. Lifeless. The dirt roads along the fencing had what looked to be fresh tire tracks on them, most likely from the extra Peacekeepers that were brought in each Reaping Day.

Kolton began to think about the 22 other tributes that had been reaped that very morning, and what kind of threat Silver and him were up against. Part of him wanted to be cocky and think that they could beat the others at ease, but the other side of him had major doubts that either of them would be returning home. What with the Career districts who won nearly every year. It was unfair. The other districts, especially outlying districts like theirs, didn't have the means to have fancy training centers of their own, weapons training and things like that. Kolton grit his teeth and shook the thoughts away, watching the bland scenery pass behind the train, letting his mind wander of thoughts of home.

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It took about a full day before the train finally arrived at the Capitol, it was around midday when they arrived as Silver slowly got out of the bed. She spent most of the time spending it with their mentor, who finally managed to give some advice to both her and Kolton though Silver spent most of the time scowling at their drunken mentor as well as their Spokeswoman who was wearing some bright pink frilly too too. Silver moved over towards one of the windows as she started to notice the lake that was in front of the Capitol as well as the sprawling city in front of them. To her it truly was an amazing sight to see, though part of her wished that she was back at home with her family and friends, Kolton was somewhere else on the train she didn't speak much to him since the first day when they got on the train and shared that kiss which made her still blush.

"Ah, here we are at the Capitol!" The woman spoke with that same annoying cheerfully voice of hers, which made Silver simply roll her eyes and grumble something under her breath about how stupid and annoying she was. Silver lightly played with the plate of food on her plate letting out a slight sigh wondering if it would be the last time that she will be able to truly enjoy some food. Ella came into the car still carrying another bottle of booze looking slightly tipsy. "So what are we going to expect when we get there?" Silver finally asked looking over at their mentor.

"They gonna doll you up get ya asses cleaned up then they gonna parade you around the city like some trophies. Then the next few days yer gonna go through training then assessment, then the interview and finally the day after that the Games start." She answered pouring herself a glass and instantly gulping it down as the train entered the tunnels that would take them to the train station, when they made it to the final stop Silver could see all the people within the Capitol cheering them on which made her feel very awkward as the train slowly started to come to a stop.

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Silver seemed to be the only one asking questions, and as much as Kolton demanded to know the answers to more than what was being asked, he figured to stay quiet and let her soak up as much knowledge as she could. This wasn't going to be his Games. If either of them was going home, he'd make sure it was her and not himself. It took a moment to realize Ella was giving some 'life-saving advice', so he cut off his thoughts and turned his attention towards her from where he sat in the corner of the room away from everyone else, except for a Peacekeeper who stood silently with his hands firmly holding the rifle within them. "-next few days yer gonna go through training then assessment, then the interview and finally the day after that the Games start." Wasn't long after they exited the tunnels that something caught Kolton's eye out the window. People. Hundreds of people crowded along the side of the tracks who were waving, whooping and hollering at them as they pulled into the station. It was like something out of a dream.

Kolton pulled himself up out of his place as they came to a slow and steady stop, standing at the window with his hand on the glass. He forced a broad smile and waved at a few passersby, he spoke aloud for the first time that morning without breaking eye contact with the crowd, "Wouldn't it be easier for the President to just take us all into the Capitol Square and execute us one by one," Kolton winced slightly when their spokeswoman practically barked his name at him. Sounded like a very small, yappy dog the way she called him, too. "It'd get the point across, is all I'm saying." It wasn't long after Kolton let his voice fade that he'd turned away from the window no longer wearing the smile he'd put on for the crowd outside, glancing at Silver a moment before quickly switching his attention over to Ella. "Might wanna snag as many refreshments as you can before they come to collect us from this thing," Kolton smirked teasingly at the elder, figuring if she was going to be drunk 99.99% of the time, he might as well have a bit of fun with it.

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