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The first thing Sirius noticed was that the boy was scrawny, too scrawny to be coming from a Career district. The training centre is an odd building in his opinion. And it looks just abnormal with a boy like him training with bigger, badder people like him. Sirius watches the boy from district 4, with his fine glossy curls and pale face. He volunteered . Why would a kid like him volunteer? But what was he to expect, the boy was a career after all. But he somehow reminded him of Remus with his attitude ( at least that's what he noticed.)
The boy kept sticking to the ropes and knots. His pale skinny fingers undoing the knots he makes by the second. He looked too groomed to be the son of some poor fisherman. But then again, he was a fucking career, kid or not. Sirius notices he does not play with the swords like his fellow careers. Will he too receive a trident like his handsome mentor in the games? Sirius scoffs. Fucking careers. Although Finnick Odair was a fine specimen to behold. Sirius sighed, fucking careers. He goes on into painting again, he never had such colours at hand before. The green lake he makes glows and the trainer tells him he’s got talent.
Would fucking finger painting save him from this game? No. Yet he stays in the painting section. He started to paint intelligent amber eyes with his fingers, he didn't let his trainer see that though, those eyes were all for him.
He looks at the boy again, watching his scrawny frame climb a net and fall. He sniggers and the boy hears him. Piercing grey eyes, that's what Sirius saw. Oddly seemed familiar.
The boy gives him the finger and Sirius’s mouth turns up into a smug smirk.
Little shit.
—
“Now, Sirius. You seem to be an extremely handsome fellow.” Caesar Flickerman is the fucking color of a tomato. But he was indeed extremely handsome so he smirked in answer. “So I have been told.” He winks to the crowd, which earns him kisses and flowers. His stylist for once, put him in a decent outfit. Lace, black sheer lace. He decided he liked it. It was better than the coal one his designer put him on at the opening ceremony. If he wasn't about to go fight for his life, he would've asked to borrow the outfit to show Remus. He would've called him posh.
"Now, is there someone waiting for you back at 12?" Caesar raised his bright red eyebrow, elbowing him. "Such a handsome boy, I am sure the girls go crazy for you."
He's right, they did. He hadn't been to the mines yet. So some of them did swoon. "Oh there is someone." He said, his eyes softening genuinely.
Caesar gasped, "Oh, young love. Is she pretty?"
He's very pretty. "Very."
Before leaving, he winked at the crowd one last time for good measure. The things he has to do to survive. He sighs as soon as he walks inside the elevator. Inside the elevator is the boy himself and Sirius gets a good look at him. The boy wore a shirt of some sort of blue or green sheer fabric and matching sheer pants, which hid nothing if he was being honest. A part of him felt disgusted. The boy was a fucking kid! But then again, his designers dressed him as a merman in the opening ceremony.
They don't talk.
The boy gets down the elevator on level 4 and Sirius spies some sea shells on the wall before the door closes and he almost sees a flicker of clear grey eyes.
—
A fucking forest. A forest. He had never passed the fences like that girl in his district. A forest with deep lagoons hiding in every corner with poisonous plants and fishes he saw that ate the district 7 male tribute. He kept well away from the lagoons and on top of it he found out that the only edible things in this arena (unless you knew how to climb a tree) was fucking frogs . Blue and green frogs that you had to remove the poisonous spikes off and and then consume .
He was well accustomed to eating unconventional meat, he was from district 12, you eat what you have. But those slimy little gits? He was surprised he did not die from just the process of catching them. He just knew Greasy Sae was smug back home.
He made a makeshift blade from a fallen tree branch and the small blade he stole from the dying district 7 tribute. He tasted the waters by literally drinking the water from the lagoons, which wasn't surprisingly poisonous. The water was way bluer than he'd ever seen in 12. He walked until he tired out under the tall trees.
He watched the skies at night time, curled up in a lower branch of a tree he somehow climbed up. That was when he got his first gift. A silver knife with tree branches carved up in it. He winked at the sky, hoping whichever Capitol citizen sent him this would swoon a bit more and give him a nice hot meal next time. What was he supposed to do with this? Eat frogs elegantly?
He saw the faces of his fellow tributes flash up in the sky. The girl from 10 was dead, along with his partner from 12. And a few others. But none of the careers of course. He scoffed. He hoped the careers killed each other.
—
He was hiding in the bushes when a career jumped on him. Tall and intimidating, Sirius somehow remembered her name. Bellatrix. “Look what we have here, the pretty boy from 12.” She sneered, holding her knife to his throat. He felt the sharp and way too close sting of it and his own blade burned in his pockets. “Why, am I your type?” He gave his signature smirk to the blond boy Bellatrix was showing him off too.
The blond boy had sharp features and he looked like a sour pear when he scoffed at Sirius. "Let me kill him."
"No, he's my prey." Leered Bellatrix.
There was a blond girl beside them, who held her nose high and she looked elegant even in the middle of the fucking hunger games, she watched as Bellatrix held her blade against his throat.
“Maybe I should carve your pretty face and take it for myself.”
“Oh and then you’ll finally be considered pretty.”
That earned him a hard jab on his throat by the hilt of her knife. Oh he was going to die now. And his face was going to be marred by some psycho bitch. Remus loved his face.
Before Bellatrix would slit his throat, a green spike pierced her throat and she let go of him with a shout. He heard the cannon before Bellatrix even hit the ground. The blond sour pear panicked and looked around to find the attacker. He moved quickly and stabbed the blonde career who had been watching, who screamed at him and screamed the blond sour pear's name (he assumed.) The blond career ran to her side and he ran.
Sirius never looked back as he ran away from the site, his own abdomen felt like it was on fire for some reason. He didn’t have time to see who killed Bellatrix and if the remaining blond career was following him.
He ran. He ran until he fell on a lagoon and blacked out.He felt being bitten until something pulled him out of the lagoon. He screamed as someone removed something sharp from his chest.
—
He saw he was on a beach. Which was absurd because he didn't know what a beach was like. He assumed it was a beach. He saw beautiful Amber eyes smiling down at him. He saw a strange arch in a black room. He saw nothing at all.
When Sirius woke up, he didn't expect to find himself naked. As he came to his senses, he realised, he should probably feel ashamed of being naked in front of the whole country. But then again, he was in a game fighting for his life. And if some dung brained Capitol citizen swooned, that meant he got more gifts.
But why was he naked?
His answer was up in the trees judging him it seemed. He found clear grey eyes staring down at him again, judging. Why was this little kid judging him?
They both remained in eye contact. Sirius knew he was in a vulnerable position. He was naked for some reason. The kid had an advantage. If he moved now, the kid could attack him easily. Wait, why was he naked again?
Strangely, it was the kid who broke eye contact first and threw his clothes down at him from the tree he was in. After he threw Sirius's things down, he climbed higher up in his tree.
Sirius would've called the situation strange if he wasn't in a competition to kill at that moment.
—
He had to stay in that part of the Arena as he healed. He had no choice but to stay and endure the kid climbing down eventually and stuffing leaves into his mouth whenever Sirius passed out. What was he passing out from? He had no clue. He didn't receive any stab wounds from the exchange with the careers.
They didn't talk until Sirius couldn't take it anymore. "Are you trying to kill me?" He asked bluntly. The kid raised an eyebrow. "Does it look like I am trying to kill you?"
Dear lord, this kid had such a posh voice. Remus must be listening to him speak. What in the Panem's fucking-
"I mean are you not shoving strange leaves down my throat?" Sirius wiggled his eyebrows. And the kid frowned. "I would kill you if it means you'll shut up."
Sirius took great offence at that.
—
It had been a few days is what Sirius gathered. The remaining tributes were either killing each other or laying low. What was Sirius doing? He didn't know. He hadn't received any more gifts though. He was sure he had fans . He hoped Haymitch choked on his own-
"Why did you Volunteer?" He asked abruptly, gaining a scowl from the kid he learned was named Regulus. Weird name.
You don't know my name?
Nope.
"Why did you ?" Regulus fired back.
It was now Sirius' turn to scowl.
—
"Is this an alliance?"
"No."
Little shit.
—
Turns out, it was an alliance. "Why did you save my life?" He questioned, his chest now fully healed by the leaves. The fucker knew his aquatic plants.
"Bellatrix was a bitch."
Sirius giggled and that was the moment Regulus softened up a bit.
—
It was raining the day he found Regulus cuddling with him. Well, he couldn’t really remove the kid could he? So he let it happen. They had been moving around the Arena as the Tributes became fewer and fewer. It seemed like the blond pear was on a killing spree.
In some weird realisation, he found out he cared for the kid. It was absurd. But if Sirius had a little brother, it would've been like Regulus. They even looked alike.
"I volunteered because my parents wanted me to." Regulus revealed, his eyes still closed. "What are you? Twelve?" Sirius scoffed. How could his parents want him to volunteer?
"Fourteen." Oh. He was a year younger than him. "You're small for your age." Sirius looked at the boy with his baby cheeks still around. "Why would they want you to volunteer?"
"Glory."
"That is complete bullshit."
Regulus sighed, "You won't get it."
"No I really don't."
Regulus glared now, "Well, you volunteered too!"
That was different. He had nothing but moony to lose. It was moony who was called in the reaping. The look lost he ever saw from Remus was one of hurt and betrayal. "I did it for a friend."
"I didn't do it for fucking glory."
"I guess that is where we are different."
They didn't speak for a while until Regulus finally spoke again. "Why did you volunteer for your friend?"
Because I loved him. "Because I only have him and he's my friend." They had been orphans in the seam together. And Remus would've never survived the games. Remus had health issues where Sirius was fairly healthier. As healthy as you get in 12. Being orphans together changed into something else one rainy day. Remus was a secret Sirius was willing to take into his grave.
Regulus looked like he didn't believe Sirius. But that did not matter.
—
He knew it was their last day in the Arena. He knew it from the change in atmosphere. While it had been raining for a few days while Regulus and him hid in a fairly hidden tree. He saw the sun shine brighter than he'd ever seen in district 12. Almost all tributes were dead.
For some reason, he and Regulus were civil. Regulus was a weird kid in almost every aspect. The boy did not know how to swim despite being from district 4.
"Wait, how did you save me from the lagoon?" He questioned while they were in the tree, which Regulus had taught him how to climb. "You were near the banks, I just pulled you closer with a tree log." He didn't ask why he saved him. He knew Regulus wouldn't tell him.
They lived on the small birds found higher up in the trees. Regulus found them easy to catch with his frog darts. "The spikes only kill the prey. Like the frogs are edible, so are the birds." Regulus told him.
And that is how he had killed Bellatrix.
He knew the alliance must come to an end. "I am going to go my own way, I am healed now and it is best we don't carry this to the end."
If Regulus was hurt, he hid it well. "I was going to say the same thing." So they bid their farewells and Sirius made his way back to the Cornucopia in the following hours. The golden thing was empty of tributes. Which sent chills to his spine. Why was it empty?
The Arena was too empty, he didn't even know how many tributes were left. What were the gamemakers planning? He scavenged through the Cornucopia to find some food maybe, but there was absolutely nothing.
He looked until he heard a scream, a scream he had come to know well. A scream that only took place when the boy was sleeping and woke from his night terrors. A scream that made his heart almost stop.
So he ran again.
It was a fairly short distance when he found Lucius plunge his knife into Regulus's stomach and Sirius screamed.
"No!"
"You killed her!" Lucius yelled and plunged his knife deeper. Sirius made his way and stabbed Lucius in the back as Regulus fell into the lagoon. "You all killed her." Lucius laughed as he died.
Sirius jumped into the lagoon and fished Regulus out. The blue waters were red now.
"Sirius… you left me." Regulus touched his cheek with a blood stained hand. Tears streamed out of his eyes. "Please don't leave me again."
"I won't, I promise." Regulus felt smaller than ever in his arms. "No one has ever kept their promises to me."
"I saved you because you reminded me of someone I used to know. I shouldn't have volunteered. I should've stayed home and climbed the trees in our estate." The small boy cried. "I am so scared, I don't want to die."
"You're safe, you're safe. I'm here." Sirius was shaking. "I don't want to die." Regulus whispered and Sirius watched his clear grey eyes lose its light. The grey eyes that had looked familiar were the ones that reflected his own. The cannon went off the same time the gamemakers announced him the Victor.