Salacia Bonny (she/her). District Four Tribute. Twenty-two. Tamala Shelton.
The world of Panem had never been kind to girls like Salacia Bonny — girls with soft hearts, girls with romantic little souls, girls whose minds were ruled by things like compassion and serenity instead of blood and violence. Furthermore, given that she was born in one of the infamous career districts, it would’ve been a child’s play to lose all traces of humanity and succumb to the propagandistic mindset of a vicious killer. The daughter of the sea, however, had, at a young age, learned to withstand even the hardest of storms; the cruelty of the world was yet another such challenge, at the face of which she would remain steadily rooted and laugh off its attempts to throw her overboard. Much of the credit for developing that way belonged to her parents, her two dads who adored their beloved firstborn like no other. They might not have been her family by blood, but they were her parents in all the ways that mattered — and they never failed to shower Salacia with an abundance of support and kind words.
To put it simply, the Bonnys utilized genuine love and happiness as cornerstones for Salacia’s childhood — a decision that marked them as different in the cutthroat environment of a career district. Although Dave and Ray knew better than to publicly voice their opinions, they were both vehemently opposed to the Hunger Games and held the Capitol in great distaste; in the privacy of their own home, they agreed to raise their child the same way and pray to whoever listened that she’d naturally absorb the imparted wisdom. Much to their relief, that was precisely the kind of person young Salacia was. There was no eagerness for a taste of bloodied glory; instead, what she developed and became well-known for was her helper’s heart. As a young child, she shed tears for caught fish who could no longer return to their mamas and papas. She always found time to aid turtles and other sea animals, who’d wandered too far off from the sea, so they’d find their way back to the comforting arms of the ocean. This kindness and readiness to help extended to humans too. At school, she was always willing to lend a hand to a struggling classmate, always welcoming a seemingly lonely person under her wing; she made friends wherever she went and treated everyone with kindness, regardless of their origin. All were equally valuable in her world.
Despite the large social circle she’d gathered over the years, Salacia’s heart belonged, first and foremost, to her family. Whenever she was not busy with schoolwork or helping with Dave’s family’s pearl collecting company or spending time with her friends, she could be found helping around the Bonny family’s home — and help did she have to. Since before she could form concrete memories, despite the fact that the Bonny family consisted of Dave, Ray and Salacia, their household had been a busy one, always full of life and laughter. The reason behind this was Dave and Ray’s unofficial orphanage and safe house that they ran to help the less fortunate children of Four. Since she was able, Salacia participated actively; she directed those in need of help to their address, ensured there was always food for hungry mouths, helped them find their footing in her life by offering advice or a coin if she could. This didn’t grant her with much privacy or time for herself, but it wasn’t something Salacia sought much, for she was quite content with the pathway her life was taking. She got to experience companionship and love, got to witness the concrete positive effects her actions could have on others, got to be around her found family on a daily basis — what more could she want?
However, as idyllic as her childhood was, the world never let them forget that they still lived in Panem and that District Four fostered a winning culture of careers. In order to conceal their anti-Capitol sentiments, to ensure no one would cast any doubt upon their family, Dave and Ray enrolled Salacia in the Training Academy as soon as she became age eligible. Do well, my little pearl, they murmured as they pressed soft kisses on top of her head, but don’t attract too much attention and never volunteer. That was another life lesson Salacia took to her heart. She performed well enough, as expected of a child of her social status; she showed that her fighting skills could be as disarming as her natural charm. She had no problems with spewing the pro-Games propaganda when in public, putting on an extremely convincing front of a quietly confident career eager to bring glory back to the fishing district. Not once did she believe a word of what was said, though — and when it came to physical performance, Salacia underperformed just enough to go unnoticed, ranking among the bottom half of the top ten of her class. That left enough people ahead of her who would either get chosen to volunteer or volunteer without a warning. She could breeze through her remaining years of eligibility, age out of the Games, and continue her life the way it’d unfolded so far. The Games were unfair, yes, but what could she, a simple girl from Four, alone do? Her efforts of bettering the world were better focused on helping the people of her district.
Like many others all across their nation, the 134th Hunger Games would become somewhat of a monumental event for Salacia. In the beginning, they barely held any intrigue for her beyond their regular years. Slate’s presence added an interest factor, but it wasn’t him Salacia ended up rooting for the most. No, it was the tragic story of two women in love from District Eleven that sank its teeth into her heart and refused to let go. Salacia watched Bramble and Nettle as they progressed through training, interviews and then the gruelling arena; and even though the hope for their survival waned each day, she was nevertheless devastated by the way they both went out — even if she could understand and agree with their reasoning. Further devastation was wrecked upon her as she, like everyone else, witnessed the events that followed the crowning of the controversial winner. An entire district obliterated, just like that, simply because a rebel victor hailed from there. Horror and cruelty could not even begin to describe it. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could justify that sort of solution to a problem. Because of that, from the ashes of devastation grew something greater — determination. Salacia might be one girl in a sea of thousands, but she had to do something. She couldn’t sit idle when the rebellion was brewing; she had to figure out a way to participate. She had to. She had to.
Thankfully, she discovered a way to achieve just that — thanks to her dads. One day, entirely by accident, for they thought she was still asleep, Salacia overheard Dave and Ray discussing in hushed tones the fates of Cherry which, as it turned out, was a nickname for Bramble and Nettle among the Vox Populi. So there really was a rebellion and her dads were involved, even though they had not breathed a word to Salacia. Why, she didn’t know, but ultimately it did not matter; she felt inspired nevertheless. She didn’t bring the topic up with her dads, but behind their backs, she went and commissioned herself a cherry blossom ring. Innocuous enough that those not involved could not connect the dots; laden with enough symbolism so it could be portrayed as a symbol of that; yet visible enough that if any rebels were to see her, they’d know Salacia Bonny stood with their cause.
The 135th Hunger Games were not supposed to be anything out of the ordinary for her. She arrived to the reaping ceremony with the ranking #7 of her class; a decent achievement, though it would take another few cycles before it was any of their turn to volunteer unprompted or get chosen to volunteer by the Training Academy. Salacia stood with the rest of the 22-year-olds, going through motions, right until Four’s escort called out the name of the second tribute — Nemo Fisher. Immediately, Salacia’s blood ran cold. She knew that name, knew the boy. Nemo was one of the children the Bonnys had helped; a tall, lanky kid in that awkward phase of growing who, nevertheless, had a heart of gold. What was even worse was that he was only 12 years old. Only 12. 12. With a thundering heart and no thoughts beyond the intense need to save Nemo, Salacia’s hand shot up and from her mouth came the fateful words:
I volunteer as tribute.
If you ask her, she can barely remember what happened after that. She must have walked to the stage, her face an impassive mask concealing her inner turmoil. She must have been announced publicly as tribute, hailed as one of the new hopes who would bring the brightest crown back to their district. She can’t remember anything else, can’t remember seeing her fathers’ faces in the crowd. All Salacia can feel is the cherry blossom ring around her right middle finger and the all-consuming question in her mind:
Did I just sign my death sentence?
District token: A cherry blossom ring
Strengths & weaknesses: (+) altruistic, compassionate, principled / (-) anxious, deceitful, overly empathetic
PENNED BY: HANNA
