15th Throw - [ written ]

[shenevermisses]

[It's a question that's been on Clove's mind.

Okay, she's had a lot of questions lately. Valentine's Day and that whole week... It wasn't unkind, but it made her think too much. There were too many uncertainies. The ones with Cato... She didn't feel like thinking about.

But Katniss. She can talk about some of that.]

What do you all do for a living, where you're from? Or what were you going to do? Does everyone in your area do it?

In Panem... your district says a lot about what your job will be. Not always, but probably. Like me... If I hadn't gone to the Games? I'd probably have been the foreman in a factory. Or an overseer of a quarry.

And what you do... When did you learn to do it? And from who?

Comments

[weaponry]

[ Tenten would so totally be down for that demonstration. ]

How many girls are in your academy? I wasn't the best student when it came to ninjutsu, and genjutsu, but I was one of the smartest and best at taijutsu and general athleticism. I also had decent marks in cooperation, so I did kinda average myself out.

[shenevermisses]

It varies. Girls -- and the boys, too -- get dismissed if they can't keep up through the years or drop out for their own reasons or transfer to the Academic side. The fifty best every year are chosen from the girls fifteen to eighteen.

I'd say the years I was in it -- fifteen and sixteen -- my level had about thirty girls? The years above me usually ranged from thirty to twenty. So usually, by that time, 100 or 120 to choose from.

[On paper, it doesn't look too impressive. The top half. But the Academy was demanding. To make that top half, you had to work for it.

To make it far enough in the Academy to vie for the top half was hard enough.]

[weaponry]

Well, our academy you usually graduate at twelve. But, if you don't have the talent to become a ninja, you usually are gently redirected to one of your parent's trades, or another if you have that close association.

Hm... what number are you specifically?

[ She can picture it being an accomplishment. After all, it sounds like it's a collective experience. Like, once you start out low, you'll never really get high again. In a smaller pool of students, like Tenten in her academy, getting into the top half was hard enough. ]

[shenevermisses]

Sixteenth the last time.

[Sixteen at sixteen. Sounds like good luck to me.

Too bad Tonia hadn't been right.]

But they present us by age. I was in spot twenty-three. The girls didn't do too well that year. We only had seven eighteen-year-olds to stand.

[weaponry]

Wow! That means you're really skilled! [ Tenten's voice has a deep, strengthened ring to it. ] You should probably say you're in the top sixteen out of your age group. It'll be more accurate, and you'll sound totally impressive!

[shenevermisses]

It doesn't really matter. All your ranking determines is if you stand for the Reaping.

[They competed so hard for that honor. And then, when it came time, every single person hoped and hoped it wouldn't be their name called. Even the volunteers, she was sure. They did what they had to do, but they didn't have to want to.]

[weaponry]

Reaping...? [ that doesn't sound too good. Tenten wonders what it could be, but, judging by her reaction, it sounds like something that's really horrible. If that was the case, then why would she want to be ranked so highly? ]

[shenevermisses]

We have a competition where I'm from, called the Hunger Games. Every year, one young man and one young woman are chosen from each district. They are tributes, selected by a process known as the Reaping.

It's the goal of every Athletic in the Academy to stand for the Reaping and to have the honor of going to the Games.

[weaponry]

Wait, so, you guys work hard and train yourselves physically just so you guys can become tributes?! [ She just... doesn't understand this. At all. ] What the hell?! Why would you even want to work hard then?

[shenevermisses]

It's an honor to represent your district in the Games. The victor's district gets money, more food, so on. The individual victor is given more wealth than they'll ever spend and is admired by all of Panem.

[Or, at least, in theory.]

[weaponry]

Just how are conditions throughout the districts anyways? Competing isn't a necessity right? [ Wait until she learns that it is. I mean, linking things like this that sacrifice kids for sport is kinda annoying and it shouldn't be attached to the welfare of other people. I mean, at least her Chuunin were optional and held no penalty for losing and death was vaguely rare. ]

[shenevermisses]

I don't know. The conditions, I mean. The Academy is near a pretty prosperous town, and my parents' village had money. But I've never seen the rest of Two, and the Capitol is... amazing.

[But she knows she doesn't know it all. She's heard of the poverty in Twelve, even knows it probably exists in Two. And Eleven? Obviously. Others... Well, One has the wealthy. Glimmer and Marvel had to have come from it. Four has a mix, she's seen that. But she won't offer information she doesn't know.]

If your name's called in the Reaping, you have to go. Unless someone goes in your place. Every year, there have to be two tributes from every district. That's how it works.

[weaponry]

So, has anyone from your district ever won? [ she's curious to see if the results actually pan out. If everything is balanced, she doesn't really mind the extra rewards even if the practice is a tad heinous. ] Is there any poverty or warring or, well, I guess general squalidness.

Why do they even have tributes? Does it actually do anything besides provide killing others for sport?

[shenevermisses]

[The last question is the easiest to explain. The history of the Games.]

A long time ago, there were thirteen districts and the Capitol.

District Thirteen rebelled against the Capitol and convinced the other districts to join them. There was a long, brutal war we know as the Dark Days. Families were ripped apart. Tens of thousands, at least, were killed. [Her voice is even, reciting a history lesson.] Finally, the Capitol destroyed Thirteen. With the aggressor fallen, the other districts surrendered.

The Capitol, together with the districts, drafted the Treaty of Treason. The Hunger Games were part of that, to prevent another uprising. To remind them of the horrors of war, every district had to offer two tributes every year -- one young man and one young woman, both between the ages of twelve and eighteen -- to a trial of strength, intelligence, and survival. To remind them of the mercy of the Capitol, the lone Victor was showered with more wealth than they could ever imagine, and their district was given extra food and luxuries for that year.

Because of the Games, there is no war. Twenty-three die every year, but that is the price paid to keep the numbers out of the thousands or more.

It is how we remember our past and safeguard our future. [A sentiment she still clings to, even when other parts of her mind want to revolt against everything she's known.]

District Two wins quite often. Our tributes are usually stronger and older than other districts. [And trained, but she knows not to say that.] We view going to the Games as an honor, not a punishment. So we compete for the right to go, rather than simply choosing randomly from all the eligible, as other districts do.

[weaponry]

[ Tenten just hears the entire story with a bit of a hesitance. Her eyes briefly narrow, and her mouth starts to pout a bit. The price for peace is often very heavy, but, forced peace is never the answer. ]

Forced peace isn't effective in the slightest. If you guys sacrifice people just to keep the blood from outwardly boiling, then how is that effective? If everyone is just compliant to a hateful system, then nothing gets done despite the wishes.

[ Tenten understands the needs for tributes, but she pictures supplies like lumber and stuff. Not actual human lives. ]

How many districts actually train for this? Just District Two?

[shenevermisses]

There hasn't been a war for seventy-four years. The districts stay in line, and the Capitol keeps supplies flowing from one to the other and making sure we're provided for.

[As much as is possible.

Besides, this girl doesn't know how Panem works. She isn't Katniss. So if she has to, Clove can be a little optimistic. A little defensive of the Capitol and Panem.]

The treaty works. The Games work. They have for almost seventy-five years.

[weaponry]

I still don't find forced peace to be a working solution. Over time, aggression usually builds up which leads to another rebellion. If they're really creating insufficient conditions like poverty, then the ruler has failed its people.

[ She's glad Lady Tsunade wouldn't be so cruel to do any of these things to the places she'd conquer... These things are just alien and sick to Tenten, and she's usually a person okay with violence and war. ]

[shenevermisses]

And without it, there's war anyway. At least Panem's system keeps those deaths to a minimum.

[weaponry]

So? Sometimes war is needed to keep peace in the long run. If it ensures happiness, then I think it's needed. This is only prolonging rebellion. It's only a matter of time before people become so unsatisfied with the conditions that the treaty means nothing. It's just a piece of paper. It has intimidating words, but it can easily be broken. That's what happened to my village. [ A surprise invasion by the sand really kinda sucked. ]

[shenevermisses]

War is the exact opposite of keeping peace. It can come after, but there's no peace in a war.

[weaponry]

But there's no peace if it's not desired. There's no peace if it doesn't satisfy both parties. If there's still a notable amount of resentment, then people aren't going to be happy and rebel. [ After all, that's why the Sand village attacked the Leaf. ] Do you really think most people are satisfied with the system?