Lanie Mather

"Did you know you can chew wheat like bubblegum when it's fresh?"

Lanie Mather was the District 9 Female tribute in the 35th Hunger Games.

She liked kids and the young ones of her district gravitated toward her. She would tell them stories, answer their questions, play games, and generally mentor them. She had several good friends her own age as well. She was spirited and tough, with a drive to finish anything she started.

## Games Description

During the parade, Lanie was dressed in a fancy, metallic jumpsuit with whizzing lights. It was a striking outfit . . . for District 5. Lanie needed a pop of color, so the stylist disregarded the normal rules of district theme.

During the pre-games, she formed an alliance with Hax Banyon, the District 7 Male. She wanted his district partner River Summers especially badly, but River was determined to do things alone. Lanie was annoyed by the girl's rejection, but resolved to get by with what she had.

But Hax was killed in the bloodbath.

Lanie was injured as well, taking a shallow gash across her side from an axe. She treated it as best she could and set about gathering the wheat seeds that were abundant in the grass of the arena. Her resilience must have made an impression, as not long after she was sponsored a bow and arrows. She did not intend to kill anyone, but a day later the career alliance broke, and Lanie noticed that her wound appeared to be becoming infected. With the careers out of the way and time ticking down, she decided to be more active.

The next day, she found District 1 Male Luxen Linderman and fired without thinking. She struck him in the chest and he came after her, wheezing from a punctured lung. He fell to the ground before reaching her, but grabbed her ankle as she ran. She yanked out the arrow, but he still did not die. Terrified and horrified, she used the arrow like a dagger, stabbing and begging him to die. After it was over, she could not believe what she had done. It seemed to her that to die would be to sort of drift off to sleep, not the horrible, clawing hands and the ragged sucking for air she had just inflicted.

Guilt racked her for days, and her side became increasingly painful and swollen. She knew she would die if the others didn't go soon, but she didn't know if she could go through another fight like her first. A sponsor bought her time with a tube of strong antibacterial cream and a survival blanket, which she draped over the reed-like grass to make a shelter.

The next day, Troy Cahill set the arena on fire. Lanie fled, and crashed into the girl from Ten, Eve Sable. The two fought, but were forced to break off and run from the fire. Lanie was only slightly injured; a stab wound to the foot, but it was as fatal as a knife to the chest. She could only hobble as the flames bore down. She threw herself against the ground to stay lower than the smoke and crawled, but eventually the thick, choking clouds overcame her.

## Personality

Lanie possesses true grit. She was a fighter and an inquisitive thinker, ready to exploit any weakness she could find. She was not ruthless, though, but simply a survivalist. She loved mentoring younger children, though she was little more than a child herself.

## Trivia

* Lanie's biggest regret was never telling her crush how she felt about him.
* She died a few days before her birthday. Had the Games been longer, she might have celebrated it in the arena.
* Her token was a beaded anklet.
* Her best friend, Becca, felt forever guilty for not volunteering to save her.
* The children of District 9 missed Lanie, but most of all they missed her understanding ear and her wonderful stories. No other "big kid" had ever listened to them quite the same way.