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Shaun · 17-02-2012, 07:29 PM

Caitniss Everdeen woke alone, searching for her sister Niamh. Today would potentially be a day that could condemn her or Niamh to a likely death, and she'd hoped to spend the start of it with her as much as possible - but she soon found the fragile 12 year old curled up asleep with her mother. Caitniss' relationship with their mother had been awkward to say the least since the death of their father, Ben (30stone, not you ukturtle, so don't worry, you'll have a more interesting role when I work it out). Her mother, Kate, had gone into a severe bout of depression when it happened - when Caitniss was just 11, 5 years ago - and never fully recovered. Caitniss had taken on almost full responsibility for the household, and it was this responsibility that made her wake so early every morning.
She went downstairs and shooed away the scraggy-looking mangy cat mewing for food (which is weird really because Caitlin pretends to love cats

). Buttercup (See, I thought of giving the cat a TIBB name but then I worried that member would be annoyed with casting them as a cat) hissed back at her.

The whole of Tibbem was divided into 12 districts, each responsible for the production of everyday items such as fuel, food and textiles. The Everdeen family belonged to the last of these districts, number 12. Nicknamed the Reem, it was famed for its production of popstar-related memorabilia and internet GIFs. Some leaders from differing districts pooed 12's reputation for being "useless" and "a bit gay", but the district were proud, and loud about it. They worked for the Fapitol, a dubiously-named haven of indulgence and luxury where Tibbem's president, Coriolanus Joe., lived and ruled. A long time ago the world had suffered as a result of the cancelling of Big Brother, a TV show that Caitniss had heard of but, as far as she could tell, was not about siblings. This cancellation led to Tibbem's immediate downfall, throwing resources and lifestyles into disrepair, and many famous stars of Tibbem (such as Mark Waldorf, or Amy 21) perished.

Caitniss met at the edge of the Reem with her childhood friend Goth Hawthorne. A muscular and tall...boy..., Goth too lost his father in the same accident as Caitniss'.

[~~Flashback~~
Ben Everdeen and Sam! Hawthorne are forraging in the Reem mines for a potential line of 'Dirty Sexy Money' GIFs. The enterprise was met with a wall of hysterical cries of 'FLOP!' and 'MESS!' and the pair, along with 4 other workers, were crushed in a server meltdown]

The pair often went hunting outside of the Reem together for their own ideas. This was, technically-speaking, illegal, according to the Fapitol, who expected the Reem to work within Joe.'s specific guidelines. Caitniss remembered well the Summer when the entire Reem had been ordered to mass-produce a catalogue of David Tennant emoticons... almost everyone knew someone who'd starved to death in those times. But cruelty wasn't a novel idea in Tibbem - and nothing was more cruel than the annual Chatand Games. Every year each district would hold a draw, containing the names of every child within their district. One girl and one boy would be chosen at random to participate in the Games; violent and deadly affairs that took place in a distant arena, and only one child from the 24 could survive. President Joe. reminded his citizens all too often of the symbolic importance of the Games - a sort of working adaptation of Tibbem's historical 'In Cold Blood' game.

However, it was never as simple as that. With resources so sparce, the Fapitol exploited their citizens' hunger and poverty with karmarae - an option for Tibbem's children to increase their chances of being picked in the Chatand Games draw, with the meagre reward of a year's supply of oil and grain for one. Many of the Reem's children ended up taking multiple doses to support their families - and Caitniss had taken 3 (for her mother, sister and herself) ever since she became eligible. This meant that, to date, Caitniss' name was entered into the Chatand Games draw 20 times. She was comfortable with this idea since it meant the chances of Niamh's were minimal. Her name would only be entered once this year.

Goth and Caitniss had sneaked through a hole in the Reem's fence to go exploring in the forest, a weekly routine which they'd done for years now. The pair shared a lot in common - dead fathers, families to support and the Glee fandom - and this was the closest the pair got to socialising. Goth was 2 years older than Caitniss, and had 3 younger siblings to support, and Caitniss didn't bear to think how many times his name would be put forward to the Games.

"Let's run away lol," Goth suddenly offered, as the two were setting a trap for dinner.
"What? Really?" Caitniss laughed.
"Yeah. If I said I wanted to, would you?" he asked, putting on his best pleading face.
"We have families to support," she joked.
"We could take them with us. You know we'd be able to survive... we've been doing it for years, Ninastar" Goth winked, plunging the story into fits of lesbian intrigue and using Caitniss' childhood nickname.
Caitniss couldn't even think about going on the run - especially not with him. The idea of her getting old and settling down with a boyfriend just made her laugh.
"I don't want to have kids," Caitniss declared, "not if they'd just be put forward to the Games."
"I might, if I didn't live here."
"But you do f/" Caitniss facepalmed.
"Forget it." Goth

ed
The pair gathered their hunting finds and took them back to the Boudoir, the Reem's marketplace that was inofficially home to all sorts of black market trade. Getting caught was a huge risk given Joe.'s disciplinary measures, but pretty much everyone in the Reem made a profit thanks to their enterprising. Goth took a large majority of their caught animals to Josy Sae, the Boudoir's butcher, who paid them handsomely for a bit of meat

Caitniss parted ways and went back home to get ready for the ceremony. Niamh was almost ready, with a ribbon in her long blonde hair and Caitniss' old skirt and pale blue blouse. She braided Caitniss' hair after she'd got dressed, and they exchanged small-talk. Kate had given her eldest daughter her very first dress - also pale blue, but staggeringly pretty. Caitniss was surprised - she'd heard her mother mention before how their father had bought it for her with months of wages.

The time came and the two children joined the hundreds of others in the Reem square. Mayor James Undersee, the father of Nicole, Caitniss' friend from school, was in the middle of a boring speech about the so-called importance of the Games. He acknowledged the previous winners of the Chatand Games from District 12, of which there were only two, and only one of those was still alive. He motioned forward Gaybitch Abernathy - a drunk and highly promiscuous man in his early 40s - who staggered forwards.
"IDC WHAT YOU ALL SAY M.I.A. IS BETTER THAN YOU

" he slurred, before falling off the stage. A few members of the crowd giggled, but most pitied him. Adults - both anxious parents and total strangers - were stood all around the square looking on fretfully as a pink-haired extravagantly-dressed woman stepped forward.

"Happy Chatand Games! And may the odds be ever in your favour!" Smiffie Trinket squealed as she fought off Gaybitch's roaming arms. "Ladies first!"

Caitniss' heart was pounding in her chest. She searched through the crowd - she could see Nicole stood a few people away from her, but in the distance her gaze rested on Goth. Smiffie reached into a large bowl full of strips of paper and, with a delicately-decorated hand, pulled out the first tribute. She called out the name, and it wasn't Caitniss.
It was Niamhrose Everdeen.