*EDITED🩷🩶

Paisley looked at the girl to her left, who unfortunately had the look of relief mixed with pity.

Relief that she wasn't picked.

Pity that it was sweet little Paisley.

As her boots crunched over the rocky paved piece of the small aisle leading to the stage, she took it in. The bored look of Mally Monroe, the female victor of her district, the slightly baffled look of Dallan Crass, the male victor.

She begged the man to get his act together. Paisley Laurson would not lose her image because a victor couldn't man up. However a shrill voice broke her entire persona.

The persona of a career.

Zander.

She begged herself not to look back but at the smaller boys constant shouts and the pull of her dress, the shouts of her older brother as she nearly fell to the ground because of her younger brother.

How harsh he had pulled on her dress, his own strength stronger than hers. He had unknowingly made her look weak in his desperation.

"Paisley!" Zander's small voice and calling for her made her heart break.

"Zander!" The call of her older brother bringing tears to her eyes. She knew what was going through the oldest child of the Laurson family. The same thing she had thought.

"You have to let go." Paisley begged her younger brother whom she turned too. The distraught angry and heartbroken look on his face willing her facade to break. She glanced at the peacekeepers who were storming down the aisle, and to the line of boys her older brother were struggling against to get to them.

"You have to let go and get back in line." She begged as she wrapped him tightly into her arms, she knew the cameras were watching but she couldn't not comfort her brother. Paisley Laurson was the perfect example of someone loving to their own downfall.

So she squeezed her brother tightly and kissed the top of his head, allowing her tears to fall into his hair. "It's time little one, get back in line. Don't struggle, for me alright?" The shouts of her older brother hadn't stopped, the cries of her younger one hadn't yielded. Not for her.

Everything was turning upside down.

As she lifted her head she pushed her brother into the arms of the peacekeepers, giving him a stern look as he seemed to struggle for a minute. Before he settled watching Paisley turn on her heel, the graceful but assured steps she took masking everything she felt.

She had allowed herself to feel it, all for one moment.  Now she could allow herself to wait. Mally Monroe looked slightly hopeful and Dallan Crass had a look of understanding. After all, Dallan had volunteered for his younger brother, only for his brother to die right after his games.

As she reached the stage a peacekeeper held a hand out to her at the bottom of the steps, however she grabbed the railing to help pull her up the steps. She would show she wouldn't run, she would play her part, just as her brother had planned had he ever been reaped.

"I bet that was your little brother." Her escort tried to pull information out of her, information that she would be sure to give in honor of her character.

"Yes. It was." Paisley said kindly the smile still on his face.

"How sweet!" The escort bought into it, making Paisley feel smug. "Now!" She started this new found pep in her voice. "Our male tribute for district ten." She pulled out a slip of paper coming back to the mic, the name she was going to call didn't matter not one bit. Not as Paisley looked out into the males standings to find her older brother whispering to her younger brother. The fear in her younger brothers face. She heard the name, saw the boy freeze up and not handle it with as much grace, however she noticed her brother meet her eyes and before she could even shake her head no, he was speaking with his hand in the air.

"I volunteer as tribute."

Paisley felt all the air in her lungs leave as she closed her eyes tightly, she couldn't watch it. Her brother walk up those same steps she had, watch as her father holds tightly to the baby of the family once Zander had done his best to stop Alex from walking the same path as his older sister had.

She heard the escort talk about how it was wonderful there was a volunteer, but it was all muffled. Everything was, she knew her breathing was labored and nothing slowed down until she heard her brother speak.

"I'm Alexander Laurson, I'm honored to be able to fight alongside my baby sister." His glances towards her didn't go unnoticed but she knew she needed to put her character back into action. She smiled her eyes watery as she laced her fingers together with her brother. They thrust their hands into the air, looking out into the crowd of people who hollered at their symbol of not losing themselves. To the capitol this would like a form of both of them being proud to go into the games, to their family and district this was their last show of love towards each other.

The two finally lowered their arms, disconnecting their hands. They were shown to a room where they could say goodbye to their family, however Paisley was dreading this. She hadn't wanted to look at her father.

"Stop worrying." Alex stated as Paisley paced the room.

"We get five minutes Alex!" She hissed as the older boy rolled his eyes. They were already going into the games, it wouldn't change, wouldn't matter. This was goodbye. "Only one of us is coming back." She stated her voice barely above a whisper. Alex looked at the wall as he let the words marinate.

"Yes." He finally said. "It will be you that comes home, you made a promise remember." He stated firmly making the younger girl scoff as she threw a vase at the wall.

"Stop! Alright! Just stop!" She shouted as she gripped her hair tightly. Tears filling her eyes. "You promised too!" She sobbed as Alex stood up swiftly, she really had her own big brother fooled. She was still only sixteen. Still just a kid. "You promised." She shouted her voice cracking finger pointed towards his chest.

Alex embraced her pushing her face into his chest however as the door creaked open and through her blurry vision she saw a small figure and a taller one step into the room. A smaller body collided into her waist as she tried her hardest to dry up her tears.

"Please don't go, just run." Zander cried into both siblings as they both brought him into their hug, the last hug all three of them would ever share. The last time all three of them would be together. However as they knelt down to better hug Zander their father cleared his throat. Paisley looked up her eyes filling with more tears.

"I'm sorry daddy." She sobbed out hugging onto her baby brother tighter. "I didn't mean to get picked." Andrew Laurson was a lot of things, but cold to his baby girl wasn't one of them.

"I know baby, I know." The girl who had the heart of her mother and offered anyone all the love she had to give. Alex stood up leaving the two youngest hugging each other tightly as Paisley brushed back Zander's hair.

"What were you thinking." Andrew asked Alex as he stood in front of his father. "How could you do something like this?" Alex straightened his shoulders to look right into his fathers eyes.

"She needed someone with her." Alex spoke harshly to his father as they watched Paisley shush Zander. Her sweet caring bone making her take care of him before herself. "I can't leave her by herself. She's my sister."

"This was your last year." Andrew spoke to his son, knowing this would be the last time he ever saw him. "I love you son. Make sure she comes home." Andrew refused to let his son see his weakness so her turned his head to look at his baby girl. "Do your best." Peacekeepers knocked on the door before opening the door to grab Zander and escort Andrew out.

"I don't want to go! I wanna stay with you!" Zander cried out as a peacekeeper grabbed him, one grabbing onto Paisley as she struggled to reach her baby brother.

"I promise, one of us is coming back!" Paisley shouted trying to get to her brother as another one grabbed Alex who was trying to stop the peacekeeper from being so rough with his little sister.

"I don't want to lose either of you!" Zander's voice was heard through the halls as Paisley finally fell to her knees ripping her arm from the peacekeeper's hand as she sobbed.

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Paisley stared at her hands before the train door opened, Alex straightened up as Paisley looked up numbly. Her eyes rimmed red and her cheeks puffy. Mally Monroe walked in and Dallan Crass was right behind her, his green eyes meeting with Paisley's own green ones. Mally walked over grabbing Paisley's chin as she titled it up. "I'm going to tell you this, just once." She spoke her dark eyes looking deep into Paisley's bright ones. "You are no longer yourself, now you're a tribute, if you want to be a victor you need to be a warrior, I can make you one."

Dallan and Alex exchanged looks before Alex raised a questioning brow at him. Dallan just shrugged as they watched Paisley and Mally 'bond'. "A warrior does not mourn,"

"Never?" Paisley asked as Mally smiled a small soft smile.

"Not until there is peace, and the battle has been won." Paisley nodded before she bit her lip in thought. Taking Mally's advice would get her through these games, but could she really put everything on the back burner? Yes. She could.

Only until there was peace.

"When do we start?" Everyone was surprised as Mally punched Paisely right in the face, knocking her into the couch. Their escort gasped as she stood up from the table. "Well I've never seen such brutishness!" She cried as she got ready to call for the peacekeepers before Dallan blocked her path and Alex shifted on his feet.

"You're new here, so I'll let this pass." Dallan stated smiling at the escort while Paisley split the blood from her mouth. "We don't question Mally's teachings." He started as he raised two fingers in the air. "We're a team, together from now to forever." He stated and the escort felt her heart stutter slightly.

"More than a team, we'll grow to be family. Can't handle that, then sit down and shut up." He snapped his fingers pointing to the chair the escort had been sitting in, at her silence he nodded.

"She's a child." She argued as Dallan scoffed.

"Being sent to her death." He replied as Paisley looked to Mally like a lost puppy.

"Rule one, just play the game." Mally spoke as she walked over to the table to grab two steak knives. "Training starts right now, we start with these and our hands, you sleep after coming back from training." She laid it out and Alex took in every word.

"We'll talk strategy for thirty minutes, be up early train before you go to training, train for two hours after, it'll be tough but you can get through it. If you can't then I wasted all this time for nothing."

Paisley nodded as she took one of the knives from Mally. "I won't let that happen."

"Getting through it?" Mally questioned as they circled each other.

"Let you waste your time." She replied.

-1984 WORDS
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
I was gonna post all the chapters I had edited and ready but I already did that😭 hopefully I'll have another chapter for you guys ready before the day it over.
I dunno how much I'm liking how this is turning out or rather how I've written this chapter but ya know, what can ya do?