Tw for mentions of death, sickness, and iffy parenting (not to the point of abuse) ━ ◦ ❖ ◦━ "I volunteer as tribute." As soon as the unfamiliar words left Auklet's mouth, a frightening coldness sunk into her flesh and into her bones and jolted ae into lucidity. She was going to die. She. Was. Going. To. Die. Of course, they had known this was inevitable. Auklet had spent the reaping in a numb haze, waiting for the third tribute to be called. Ae had picked the number out the night before, figuring it was the most insignificant; by the third cat chosen the excitement would have died down, and by the fourth it would have risen back up. They hadn't managed to focus on the unlucky names that were to be tributes as they rang out, nor on their faces as they walked up the stage to join the other sacrifices. Division 6 had never won a hunger games, and this year would likely be no different. Auklet padded forwards, eyes trained on the ground as she placed one paw after the other. Just a few more paces and ae would be on the stage too, and then another name would be called and life would go on and their district would forget she had ever been there. Finally lifting their head, the dark grey cat searched the gathered cats for three familiar faces; Mother, Father, and her sibling whose name she refused to bring to the forefront of her mind. Said sibling was tall even as they slouched down, looking away with their bleary eyes. Said sibling was gravely sick, and needed the extra resources her family couldn't spare while housing four members. Mother and Father, on the other paw, looked up at ae almost... proudly? They shouldn't be proud. Shouldn't be smiling happily as their youngest child was sent off to join any sensible cat's nightmare. Especially not when they were the reason. Auklet's parents had suggested the idea of volunteering to her but a few weeks before, an order posed as a simple idea. Without her there, aer sibling would have all the resources and food she would have taken up. Without her there, their sibling could heal. And if she really /was/ as smart as ae said ae was, then they would bring back glory for the whole district too. A simple choice, they'd said. An easy one. And now they were to be torn away from her home and her studies and her life, and ae couldn't have even brought herself to just say no and stay quiet. And they had the nerve to /smile/. Auklet sharply pulled her gaze from their family, cats they may never see again, and stalked up the stage. Good riddance.
