Tribute Interviews

[Nofo]

“Our final tribute for the evening, Ailis Copper from District Twelve!”

Her legs nearly give out as she makes her way across the stage giving the audience and the cameras a shaky smile and wave. Ailis didn’t much like her dress, it was too shimmery and short for her taste. Perhaps she was meant to be sexy but what had Ailis done with a boy or a girl? The black material in her dress helped her clue in on what exactly she was trying to play up. As the last night before the Games, this was Ailis last chance to get sponsors. If you fail, you die. Caesar walked over to her and gave her a quick embrace and a peck on the cheek before sitting down in his chair and she followed him down.

“So Ailis, let’s start with the question everyone has been asking since you volunteered. Why exactly did you choose to volunteer?” Her eyes stayed locked on his for a second before giving a quick smile to the answer while she tried to find a good lie hidden in there that wouldn’t hurt her in the arena.

The truth was ultimately that she had lost her mind. No, she wasn’t big enough to take revenge on the Capitol. It was a moment of foolishness, Caesar, can’t you see I’ve been regretting it since I took the stage? She wanted to take one less innocent life away from them but that wouldn’t be a suitable answer for them. Perhaps she could bend the truth a bit. “I felt that my odds would have been better than Lexi’s and I don’t have anything waiting for me in Twelve. I’m certainly hoping I get to save both Lexi and myself.” A friendly laugh bubbled up from her chest as she waited patiently for the next question already expecting it.

“The odds certainly appear to be with you. An 8! Congratulations on your training score, Ailis. Tell me, what does this say to you about your chances in the arena?”

Her eyes turned up to the lights fastened to the top of the studio trying to find a good way to phrase her answer in an honest moment of confusion. I don’t know, Caesar. I’m still just a girl from Twelve, hopefully the sponsors here will see they should notice me. Every possible answer seems to hurt her or attack the Capitol. In answer she decides to play up an air of arrogance in hopes the viewing public could be fooled. “I certainly think this means I stand a great shot at surviving. I’ve got my survival skills down. I think that’s going to help me in the arena. It helps that the Gamemakers see potential in me.” Her smile lit up again in a moment of forced giddiness because her tactic in the interview kept switching with every second.

“Now, you mentioned earlier that no one is waiting for you back in District Twelve. Certainly you must have family and friends hoping to see you return.”

Her eyes swell with tears as she realizes she’s going to have to talk about her mother and why she has no one waiting. She wipes a tear away from her face and turns away from the camera. Ailis would give the world to see her mother again. I can’t go home, knowing my mother isn’t there it would kill me to stay in that house again. After five seconds of gathering herself she turns back to Caesar. “No Caesar. I have no one there. My mother passed away a year ago and it’s been so hard to be without her as my best friend. I’m an orphan now but I want to try and prove I’m strong for her.” It’s a quiet smile that only shows in the corners but it’s there as she glances down to her shoes.

The audience gives a murmur of condolences as Caesar calls out his next question. “My condolences to you and your family,” his voice was a bit more soft and controlled as he tried to comfort her “do you think you’ve used the tragedy as motivation in training?”

“Certainly, I feel that I’ve pushed as hard as I can to make her proud of me and to show—“ No, she shouldn’t. Ailis, you can’t. You don’t need to let them know she was murdered. “To show the rest of District Twelve that I’m fighting as hard as I can.” Her voice became too quiet now, too affected by the interview. She knew that she was failing to do the best thing for her at that moment. Ailis was going to die sponsorless, but she hoped to die beside her allies.

“So, Ailis. Tell me, what’s impressed you most here in the capitol?”

The question is so absurd and abrupt she’s sure it’s an attempt to comfort her. Her laugh bubbled up uncontrollably and she looks out at the audience as she answers without hesitation. The quality of living had been so much better. The beds were soft and clean every night. It was a comforting situation as she prepared for her inevitable death. “I’ve loved our apartments here. The beds are amazing, the food is wonderful! I’ve never eaten as much as I have here and the meals are so perfectly prepared. The Capitol really knows how to treat their tributes!”

“We’re almost out of time so is there anything you’d like to say to your fellow tributes before we go?”

“All I have to say is that I know tomorrow we’ll all be out trying to kill everyone else but it’s not because we’re bad and want each other dead. Only one of us can win so don’t regret it if you kill me tomorrow or kill someone else. We all realize you don’t have a choice in the matter if you want to survive.” The buzzer sounds near the end of the last sentence so Caesar rises to his feet and gives her a friendly hug and begins his final speech of the evening as Ailis Copper exits the stage and walks out into the final night in the Capitol.

[/blockquote][/justify]

[School is the bane of my life]

There comes a time,

When you need to trust,

When your whole life,

Trust had been nothing.

“Dragan Baron!” Casear hollered. Gaining a whooping cheer from the crowd while Dragan had a small smile traced on his lips. With the spotlights and glitter dancing on his crimson red lips. “Well it is great to meet you Dragan,” Casears dazzling white smile gazed his eyes “Its good to meet you too Casear,” He kept it short and simple but let a bigger smile come onto his lips, he did not know how this would turn out but hopefully well. Every eye in the audience was staring at him though, each multiple colored eye staring at his every move. Making him a bit uneasy but he kept cool.

“Let’s start with your training score, a six! Not that bad, how confident do you feel about the games now?” It was tough to not reply with a rude or sarcastic answer. Dragan could not stand the smiling, oh how he would want to say something else. The smile dropped fom his face, he answered with a much stricter answer. “I feel fine about it, its not like I am going to be winning anytime soon,”Casear shook his head and patted Dragans shoulder while that tortuores grin came back to him. Now on the face of the man giving him an earnest look right beside him.

“Oh don’t talk like that! But I must ask, you seem so mad about this whole thing but in the capitol there is always something to enjoy. What has impressed you most about the capitol since you have been here?” Dragan took a collective breath and nibbled his lower lips. “Probably the whole thing, I love all the buildings and the food nice too.” The crowd nodded to each other, giving out a nice chuckle alongside.

]“I have to agree with you on that one, now tell me. Everyone is dying to know if you have a special someone at home,” Yes, Tony. But the crowd won’t know about that, never. They won’t know my precious secret. “Not really, many girl though,”

He said calmly without glancing at the cameras zoomed in on him. “Many girls! A handsome young man like you should have thousands of them. Now tell me, you must have some family back home who are cheering you on.” He took a deep breath and stared down at the camera. Bending right now, the fire in his eyes burning. “My fathers a piece of sh-t” Dragans vile words spat at the camera. “And my moms aright,” He said returned to his relaxed position. The crowd gave on easy looks at eachother for a few moments. “Looks like we have a rebel here!” Casear hollered out and like robots trained to linger and act on every word Casear says, they hollered back and cheered for the boy who cursed his father in front of the world.

“Well I already know what you don’t mss from home, but I do not know what do you miss from home?” Dragan studied his hands for a moments, days they have gone by without going into a prefect formation. One to hold his cigarette in when blowing out the smoke. “Smoking and drinking, being relaxed.” The crowd was pleased was that not how a dark boy like Dragan should act?

“We are sadly almost out of time Dragan. Would you like to say some final words, to friends to your famiy and to your fellow tributes?”

“I actually do Casear. For my friend l say a simple bye, for Tony. Go to my shack, only you know where it is. Take whatever you need and forget about me, go and find a better life. For my family, mom, I love you with all my heart. Thanks for everything you ever did for me and being there for me. I don’t care about you dad, go die because I most likely will. And I will de happy if I know you are gone too. To my fellow tribute I know one of you will live and all of us will die. So congratulations I don’t know?”And just as Dragan turned around to head back to his stylist, his had the guts now that he was infront of Panem. He knew it was time to say it, he did volunteer because of this reason right.

“Oh and my dad owns a drug operation in District 3,” He shouted to the audience and left.

[aquatic mammalian wh0re]

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“Give it up for our District Five male, Riker Mills!” I step out into the City Circle, where I’m greeted with a huge audience, bright lights, and a humble man known as Caesar Flickerman. I try not to squint as the intense lights greet my eyes, but it’s impossible to resist. I’m probably the focus of the cameras as well, my face enlarged and thrown onto huge screens all over the place. The thought is horrifying, yet I have to enjoy my momentary glory. Perhaps you only earn fame if you win, but I can still make myself known without getting to the end. No matter how scary it is.

I sit down next to Caesar, returning his flashy smile with little effort. I may not smile on a daily basis, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to do it. It masks my terror well, too. The crowd quiets down, and he directs all of his attention towards me. “So, Riker… How confident do you feel about the Games now that you’ve seen your training score?” Caesar asks. I give him a small smile. I was actually really shocked by my training score – a solid seven – but I did a lot better than I had expected myself to do.

“I was pretty pumped when I saw my score. I wasn’t expecting any more than a five, but it was honestly a huge surprise. I guess you could say I’m proud of it. We’ll see how quick those Careers are to act against me.” I smile again, and this time it’s real. I speak the truth right now; I’m proud and excited. Even if I don’t win, which I’m still considering, it’ll be nice to actually play a part in the Hunger Games. To die at the Bloodbath or alone in the woods… Well, that seems devastating. I can’t let that happen.

Caesar nods in agreement. “Alright. What has impressed you the most about the Capitol since you’ve been here?” he questions. I purse my lips slightly and avert my gaze to the huge audience in front of me. I must admit, it’s impressive. I’ve never seen this many people gathered so tightly in one place, not even at the reaping.

“Probably the people,” I say, turning back to my kind host. “I mean, look at them! I’ve never seen so much color. It kind of makes me want to throw up.” I actually chuckle lightly, hoping to draw a few laughs out of the crowd. Caesar laughs more than anyone else, making an effort to get the crowd going. I hadn’t even told myself to try and win sponsors, but here I am doing it… Something inside me seems to want to keep me alive, I’m just not very aware of it.

Caesar continues. “Do you have a special someone back home?” he asks, giving me a gentle nudge. My eyebrows rise without me telling them too. It’s one of those questions you never really want to answer, especially with my past. There’s Phoebe, who I’ve been kind of seeing for a little while now, but what is she to me, really? My stomach sinks at the thought of her. I don’t really know why we’re together in the first place, although it’s a wonder I haven’t done anything too terribly wrong.

I exhale loudly, making it evident that the question has made me think about things I didn’t want to. “Well, it’s kind of complicated, but I suppose you can call it a ‘special someone.’ If I were to go home after this, though… I’m not sure where our relationship would be.” I turn away awkwardly, because the topic makes me rather uncomfortable.

Caesar gives a thoughtful smile before moving on to his next question. “What do you like to do in your free time?” he asks. My first thought is, you mean what DID I like to do? I frown slightly, because it almost hurts. The lives of twenty-three of the tributes are changed for good now, and still the victor is going to go through a huge change. At least they’ll get to live.

“Well,” I begin, “I’ve always liked to spend time alone. In nature, especially, where no one would disturb me and I could just sit in peace. I’m rather antisocial.” I give another small laugh, not letting myself stay too tense. “So, if the arena’s small, I know I’m going to hate it.” It’s kind of ironic, because being alone in the arena is just about anyone can ask for, but for different reasons. I just don’t want to be around people.

“Good luck with that,” Caesar remarks, pulling a roar of laughs from the audience. A grin spreads across my face. The laughter is uplifting, and I like the fact that he’s actually having a real conversation with me. Once they quiet down enough, he gives me an inquisitive look. “You said you like to be alone. What about your family? What are they like?”

I scrunch up my nose at the thought of them. Getting away from home is one, and possibly the only, good thing about coming into the Games. I don’t really want to think about my parents and everyone else back home, but the audience likes emotion, so I’ll try and give it to them. “I have a sucky relationship with my parents,” I say softly. There I go in present tense. “I was hardly home because I couldn’t stand it there. So, I made my ‘home’ in wooded areas around the district.” I can’t help but scowl. Sharing this much information about myself is strange, added to the mention of my parents.

“I see… So then, do you miss anything at all from back home?” asks Caesar. My lips press together as I consider this. Do I miss anything? Well, my private areas for one. I could really use the comfort they gave me, but I waved goodbye to those as I departed on the train just the other day.

“No, not really. Sure, I wouldn’t mind going back and seeing everything one last time, but I’m ready for what’s to come. Might as well embrace the experience.” I feel like I’m telling everyone that I expect to die, which I do, although there’s a small part of me that clings to the idea of living on. It sends a chill down my spine. It’s not hard to guess that victors don’t exactly get it easy after winning. Could that happen to me? Something tells me that dying would be far easier.

“Going off of that, is there anything you’d like to say to your family and friends back home?” This one gets a smile out of me. I would in fact like to tell them something.

“I’d just like to say that everyone should really value their life. Sitting in this chair is enough to get me thinking about how little time I have left, and while I regret a lot of things from the past, it was a life well lived.” A mixture of sounds comes from the audience, ranging from sighs to low cheers.

“And to your fellow tributes?” Caesar adds.

I take a moment to think about what I could say to the tributes without pissing them off. “Good luck out there,” I say slowly. “And may the odds be ever in your favor.”

There's the buzzer. Caesar dismisses me, and the roaring of the crowd registers deep in the back of my head, because my mind has wandered to other things. Like how little sleep I'm going to be getting now that the Games are drawing so near.

A blur of more interviews and drinks and food and a slight buzz leads me to my room. Finally, I can take off the stupid fancy clothes they put me in for the interview. They left me sweaty and stiff. I strip off the suit and carefully creased pants, dumping them into their rightful place on the floor, and sprawl out on the bed half naked. Surprisingly, I drift off quickly, and my mind flutters at the last moments before I plunge into sleep. With that, I have one last thought that seems to have stuck for some reason.

May the odds be ever in your favor.