This is my first Hunger Games fanfic. Constructive criticism is always welcomed.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. It belongs to Suzanne Collins. I do, however, own some of the characters I made up. This is just a freakin' fanfic. The characters from District 11 belong to Fatiiboombah because we're working together.

This story takes place 20 years before Katniss Everdeen's time.

Note; I need help in deciding what type of outfit Bliss will be wearing for the opening ceremonies. District 9 majors in hunting and I'm clueless.

Frostbite

Chapter One - Bliss

The rain has finally stopped but it leaves a soft drizzle outside, giving the scenery a fuzzy look. The cold air creeps in my room through the open window but I stay put, hugging my knees. It's still dark outside. I couldn't sleep at all. Of course I can't; it's the day of the Reaping.

My bed shakes slightly as Silver, my smoky-grey-furred cat, jumps onto my bed. I give him a scratch behind the ear and sigh. I don't know how long I've been sitting here just staring at nothingness, but the first rays of sunlight entering the room becomes my alarm. I immediately get up, wash myself and change. As I walk past my mother's bedroom, its door open to a creak, I see that she is still sleeping, her face hidden under her blanket.

My poor, poor mother. I know she tries her best not to look broken down in front of me but I can see past all her weak smiles and acts. She's lost so much in such little time. When I was seven, my mother was pregnant with a baby boy. Finally, a son for my father, but a week later she had a miscarriage and could no longer get pregnant. During that time, I still had Blair, my older sister who was then fourteen, for comfort. My mother recovered from her loss in a matter of three weeks. But little did we know, the pain would not end there.

You see, the district I live in – District 9 – majors in hunting but the hunting grounds are limited. My father always woke up early to hunt for game on the outside forests. One day, a few weeks after my eighth birthday, my father was killed by a poisonous snake. He entered the outside forest and could not call for help. Because trespassing is illegal, my family did not receive a medal of valor for his death.

My mother couldn't stop crying. She would not leave her bed for weeks and whenever I would enter the room to bring her food, I could always see her swollen eyes gazing out the window numbly. She wouldn't say anything to me or Blair and we were getting worried. The food was decreasing and the money we received from the Capitol that would last for a month was beginning to lessen. Our father was the worker in our family. Living in one of the lower middle districts, it wasn't hard to support the four of us.

Blair became the substitute. She wasn't a good hunter, so she decided to sell our old clothes and trinkets or anything she could find in our house. It was hard for her, I knew, but what could I have done? I was only eight then, and she was fifteen. As a last resort, she signed up for tesserae. It was something my parents both didn't allow any of us to do. But my mother did nothing to stop my sister from signing up; she just lay in her bed, not knowing what else to do.

One night, Blair tried to feed my mother supper from the tesserae she got and everything turned bad. I still remember it as if it was yesterday. She forced my mother up and into the dining room to eat. She fed my mother one spoon full to another and then, after what seemed like forever, my mother spoke-

"Where did you get this food from?"

Her voice came out as a whisper but I could hear it clear enough.

Blair hesitated. "Tesserae, mother,"

My mother's expression turned from a numb-confused look to anger and shock. Before I realized what had happened, her hand went flying towards Blair's face, leaving a red mark on her ivory skin. We both stared at our mother in disbelief, Blair holding a palm to her cheek.

"Why, Blair?!" my mother hissed. "Your father and I have told you time and time again; never sign up for tesserae! How could you disobey us?!"

And that did it; Blair snapped. I've never seen her get angry before. She was always so patient and understanding. She stood up, smashing the bowl into the wall. "How dare you! While you were laying in bad, grieving, I was the one who sought food for us! I was the one who took care of us! You have no right, mother… no right!"

She stormed out of the room… and I never saw her again after that. Blair's outburst was a wake up call for my mother – and for me. At the age of eight, I started learning how to hunt. My mother grew vegetables and fruits in the backyard to sell. We didn't hear from Blair for two years until the Peacekeepers came one day in the middle of autumn. They told us that they've captured her and that she was taken to the Capitol to become an Avox. This piece of news surprised us. The Peacekeepers then told my mother to act like Blair Morgan was never her daughter – to disown her. They said Avoxes don't deserve to have a family and this was a punishment. It was cruel, and at the age of eight, I already started hating the Capitol. My mother, whether she liked it or not, had to agree with the Peacekeepers and we never spoke about Blair again. But one of the wishes before I die is to just see my sister again.

The streets of District 9 are deserted. I, Bliss Morgan, am the only one outside. The reaping isn't until two. Everything is silent except for my footsteps and the faint beating of my heart. Not even the birds are out. I am eighteen and this is my last year of eligibility for the reaping. I've made it through six years without my name being called. All I can say is that I'm lucky and if I get it through this year's reaping, I'll be free. I won't have to have a worrying feeling every year when reaping day comes near.

"Bliss!" a voice calls out somewhere to my right.

I don't need to turn my head to know who it is; Cadence Dane, my best friend who I've known ever since I was young. She doesn't hunt for a living like I do, that's her father and brother's job. We're both eighteen, so if we both get through the reaping, we'll both free together.

"How are you?" she asks.

I usually never acknowledge questions like "how are you" but there was something in her voice that makes me turn. A look of cheer is plastered across her face. I stare at her in shock.

"Do you know what today is?" I ask her cautiously.

She nods her head, her long blond curls bouncing slightly. "It's the day of the reaping,"

Now I really need to check her sanity. "I've never seen anyone excited as you,"

"Bliss, this is our last year. We'll be free. We've escaped death for six years. What are the chances that our names will be the ones to come up?"

I roll my eyes. "Zero; because there can only be one name from the girls' side."

She looks at me solemnly now, her bright blue eyes piercing into my dull green ones. "There are only twenty-one slips with our names out of thousands. We never once signed up for tesserae and, Bliss, come on, what are the chances?"

I nod, but just to shut her up so we can change to another subject. "Right, you're right."

Cadence shouldn't really be too confident. No one knows what could happen. Last year, a twelve-year-old boy got chosen. There was an uproar. Everyone knew it wasn't fair – that a twelve-year-old who only had one slip of his name was to become dead meat. The boy didn't survive; he died a day after being released into the arena, brutally killed by a career tribute from District 2.

Silence follows us as we continue walking towards the city center. As I expected, it is the only place where there's people walking around here and there. Cadence and I buy some food for the feast we're sure to have after the reaping. We only buy food below our budget; we're not rich after all. Just two loaves of bread, some berries and meat. Whenever I go out to buy food, I always try to imagine how the people from the upper districts spend their money. Undoubtedly wasting most of their money on dessert. I've been to the Capitol once when I was four during the holidays with my family for a visit. They had this drink called "hot chocolate" which I've only tasted once in my life. The food there was as extravagant as the buildings there. We ate little, though, because everything was so much more expensive than the usual market in District 9.

In the midst of the crowd I see Jake Parker, a boy who hunts with me. We're not close; we don't know each other very well, but we can still call each other friends. He's a year younger than me, though. He's fairly good-looking; wavy brown hair, hazel eyes, dark skin, tall. He makes his way to me, carrying part of a deer leg with him.

"You went hunting?" I ask.

He shrugs. "You know a last minute thing. Just in case… Good luck for the Hunger Games."

I nod my head. "Yeah, you too,"

Cadence, who was busy buying some vegetables, comes over to me just as Jake leaves. "I can't believe it's hard to even buy some basil now."

"So, I'll see you later, then?" I say, putting all my food into the sling bag I'm carrying.

"Just search for a girl wearing a bright yellow dress,"

"And I'll be wearing my usual white," I call out as I walk away.

It's usual for everyone to dress up nice for the reaping because if they get chosen, the cameras would be on them and they always felt they needed to look nice when going to the Capitol. I, personally, have never cared for clothes but dress up anyway so the paranoid Peacekeepers won't think I'm being too rebellious. I roll my eyes.

When I reach home, I see my mother is wide awake and has prepared breakfast for us both on the table. Porridge. We greet each other a good morning, I put the food in the kitchen and start eating with her. It's silent as always. Well, what can you expect when you've lost your husband and eldest child and you're only left with one child? I sigh. I always think my mother wishes for a son, so her grandchildren will carry the family name.

Blaze. That was the name my parents had been planning to name their son if my mother hadn't had a miscarriage. I wonder why they chose the letter 'B'. 'Bl', actually; Blair, Bliss, Blaze – and all with five letters. I burst out laughing but immediately keep quite after receiving a 'look' from my mother.

"Your last year, huh?" she says silently, picking at her porridge.

I look up. "Uh, yeah. You know, Cadence is really confident that our names won't be called out."

"What, you think you will?"

I shrug. "I don't know, mom. But I promise, like I promised when I was twelve, that if I ever get chosen I'll fight and won't ever give up. I'll win. I'll come home for you. You can trust me on that."

"Bliss, I… have your clothes ready for you. Get changed, now."

I furrow my eyebrows. It was as if she wanted to say something else. I know it. I don't push the matter further, though, and I run to my room to get changed. On my bed lays a long, sleeveless white dress which has faint patterns on the hem. This was my mother's dress. I usually just borrow her old reaping clothes as to avoid wasting money. I pull the dress on, making sure to be careful and stand in front of a mirror. I look like my mother when I'm wearing her reaping clothes, as many have told me. I suppose I do look like her. We share the same eyes, same black hair that falls past our shoulders, and same nose. I leave my hair loose but I comb my fringe, which falls just past my eyebrows, to the side.

At half-past-one, we head for the square where the reaping usually takes place. As I expected, there are cameras from every angle of the square. I hate even the cameras because they remind of the Capitol, always watching people, and it fills me with hatred. I sign in and make my way towards the group of eighteen-year-olds at the front. As I was told, I search for "a girl wearing a bright yellow dress". It isn't hard to find Cadence. Her dress stands out from everyone else's. She turns around and I smile. She has her thick curls tied up in a messy bun.

"Bliss," she greets, "nice dress. Too bad, though."

"What?" I frown.

"You only wear pretty clothes during the reaping. After this, you'll only be wearing those hunting clothes of yours."

I sigh. Her confidence irritates me but it brings me a bit of hope. "Thanks, Cadence."

I look over to the boys' side and I spot a few of the boys I hunt with. They're busy fidgeting or otherwise trying to look "cool". I spot Jake and we nod to each other. I turn my head and I see my mother standing around the perimeter. We catch each other's eyes and exchange smiles and nods. I turn back to the stage and my eyes are locked with the big glass ball on the girls' side. The only thing I can think of then is, "my name is in there, my name is in there, my name is in there".

Behind the glass balls are three people seated on chairs. From the right, it's the mayor of District 9, Mayor Humphrey, who is a short, stocky man, who sweats a lot; next to him is Ginger Von Dane, District 9's escort from the Capitol with her long green hair falling to her waist and bright yellow suit. I almost laugh, thinking it's the same shade as Cadence's dress. The one next to Ginger is Isabelle Woodward, District 9 tributes' mentor and also last victor. Her long flaming red locks of hair are tied into a neat, tight bun and she is wearing a long green dress. She looks so beautiful and really stands out.

The mayor steps up to the podium and begins to talk. It's the same speech every year. It starts with the history of Panem, the country we live in, the rules of the Hunger Games then the list of past victors of District 9. It's a fairly long list, but way shorter than the upper district's list. He then introduces Ginger Von Dane of to the stage.

Ugh. How I hate that woman so much. I don't listen to her as she does her speech. It's always an echo of the mayor's speech and it's useless to hear anyways.

"Well now," she says after finally finishing her speech, "let's start with the lovely ladies."

My hand squeezes Cadence's hand but my eyes search for my mother. I don't see her anywhere and quickly turn back towards Ginger, who is now pulling out a paper slip. From the corner of my eye, I can see Cadence grinning.

No Cadence, please. Don't be so confident. Please.

"Bliss Morgan!"

Well, there you go. As I said before, I need help in deciding what type of outfit Bliss will wear. Any suggestions please tell me. ^_^