District 34 Reaping

AN: I have put so much work into trying to make this story into a masterpiece (very long masterpiece). I'm having all 34 districts and the Capitol have a POV in either a reaping chapter or a train rides chapter. I'm also having each individual tributes have one POV in arrival at the capitol, chariots, any of the training days, private training sessions, score reveals, interviews, and before the games chapters. So this will be a very long story, so just sit tight! This is the first chapter of it (will be in first person). Enjoy!

Ami Tzu: Girl from District 34: Horticulture

The day already feels extremely gloomy as I wake up in the earthy atmosphere in the house, which I then remember the dreaded reaping is this morning. I roll myself out of bed, trying to prepare myself for the agonizing reaping to come. The problem with being form District 34 is that there isn't too many kids to pick from, so there's never any relief, no matter any age you are.

I pick up the outfit that I planned to wear down to the reaping. It's a plain, old dress, but I really don't care at this point. If I'm reaped, I'm hoping to hide myself from being noticed among the other tributes. District 34 is never really a stand out district for any Hunger Games, since we are literally the last district announced for any part of the Games, everyone loses interest by the end. Tributes from 34 only stand out if they survive for at least the first couple days of extreme slaughter.

The bloodbath, with 70 tributes vying for the title, truly is a bloodbath in all sense of the word. Before, with only 12 districts, 11 tributes dead in the bloodbath was regular. 20 dead now is a very small bloodbath, usually it averages out to about 35 deaths in the first day. It's just mayhem, what the Capitol wants.

I go downstairs to see my dad sitting at the table. He's the only one I've got left, basically. After the blight in the plants mutated, it took down everyone in the main greenhouse that ate the food grown there. Luckily, my dad and I were able to secure jobs at a better, more refined greenhouse. It was terrible when my mom passed away, but we've gotten through it. I was always an only child, but it was alright. I worked too much to really miss any sort of bonding with any sibling.

I hug my dad from behind while he's reading the newspaper, he kind of shakes in his chair a little, then kisses my hand. He's always been a little shaky after her death, he's taking some expensive medication to help with his mental issues. Even though I've been a little off since moms died, I've pushed through it in my own way. I still love him, even though he's been a little shut off.

"I love you, sweetie." He states groggily, then points to some eggs and greenhouse tomatoes. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"That actually sounds lovely, thank you." I respond, plucking a little loaf of green bread from the centerpiece.

Not moldy, just dyed tesserae bread. It's dyed and filled with different herbs, and honestly, it's very good. I put a little butter on the bread and start to eat breakfast in silence.

"Are you ready for this year, Ami?" My dad questions from behind the paper.

"As ready as I have to be." I respond nonchalantly, hiding my true fear behind the slightly comforting statement. Nobody is truly ready for the Hunger Games, are they?

"That's good." He responds, "if you're reaped, I want you to come back home. You're an amazing person, I love you, and wish you the best of luck."

That surprised me a lot, he has never really shown much emotion since mom passed on. It does make me happy, and more prepared for the possibility of me going into the Games. If I do get reaped, there's almost seventy other kids who have the same goal as me, many of them are trained to kill, and are basically trained to do only that for their life. The only way I'd have a chance is hiding. Coming from 34, it's a great basis of plant knowledge, as we deal with plants everyday.

"It's probably time for to go get signed in, isn't it?" My dad asks.

"Yeah, I guess so." I respond, giving him one last hug before I leave.

"I'll be there in a little bit, sweet-cheeks." He smiles, peeking from out the side of the paper.

That makes me smile, so he is a lovey-dovey person after all. I'm glad that helps, because as soon as I step outside, I see all of the potential kids that could get reaped to try to fight to the death. That's depressing.

Even the terrible people who bullied me in school are completely silent, worried that their life could be at risk due to this terrible game.

Everything and everyone is completely silent and still, especially when we get to the sign in desks.

"Name?" The Capitol man asks abruptly.

"Ami Tzu." I respond, holding my finger out for him to prick.

The device the pricks my finger makes a clicking noise, and my face appears on the electronic pad in front of him, showing that it was in fact, me.

"You're good to go." He responds. "Head over to the fourteen-year-old girls section."

Indeed I will, sir. I nod to him, then head over to my section. Most of the younger sections are filled with more people who are very scared of the events preceding. Many of my peers are crying before the reaping is started. If any of these people are reaped, our district would be laughed at, yet again. Last year didn't go well at all, the boy from 34 maybe made it a day or two before he was killed, but that's about it. Both of them were criers. Not saying crying isn't a bad thing, just not in front of all of the Capitol cameras. That'd help our district view a little.

Now that most of the areas are filled, our victors and mayor step out onto the stage, ready for the mayor to give the speech about how our district was discovered by the Capitol, along with District 27, and how lucky we are to be a part of such a country. Groan. Our five victors applaud him on stage, the rest of the small population of District 34 is basically silent.

Even though our district has been around a long time, we only have five victors. 2 women, 3 men. It's depressing. Everything about the Hunger Games is depressing, don't you know?

As the mayor concludes his speech, our escort, Jubliana Mentesna, basically speed walks onto the stage, almost shoving over our feeble mayor.

"Now, let's get to the good stuff!" She shouts, I physically cringe and step back in response. "May the odds be ever in your favor!"

"First, we will be drawing from the girls, cause ladies first!" Jubliana shrieks, putting her hand into the about two thirds full glass bowl, which has about 10 slips with my name on it. When she finally pulls out a name, she pulls out a name that's pretty familiar.

"Ami Tzu!" She shouts.

Familiar because it's my name, of course.

There's nothing really I can do about it at this point, so I saunter up onto stage and wait for the boy that's going with me. I give Jubliana a pretty menacing look.

She's not too frightened, considering I'm pretty short.

"Now, for the boy!" She laughs with excitement.

Do these people know they're crazy? Well, they're voluntarily putting their own kids into the Games, so what do I know?

She plucks a boy's name from the even emptier bowl and shrieks it out.

"Orem Pettily!" She shrieks loudly.

I've never heard of the boy, but he's slightly older than me, and shaking violently as he walks up. I can see he's holding back tears. I roll my eyes, unable to contain it, I guess.

I shake hands with them Orem boy.

"The tributes from District 34, Ami Tzu and Orem Pettily!" She shouts again. No applause from the masses. I mean, that's just cruel if they would applaud.

We're both shoved into our opposite rooms to see our loves ones and friends. Well, I really don't have friends, so I wait for my dad to come in.

Before he comes in, I notice audible crying from the other room. This kid followed my advice. That's good.

My dad walks in after that observation, I run up and hug him.

"You have a few minutes, Mr. Tzu." Says a pretty friendly Peacekeeper as he shuts the door.

"I love you, Ami." He says, crying a lot. "You have a lot better chance of winning then anyone else. You're smart, you have plant knowledge, you can hide, you can win."

"I love you too, dad, but I don't know." I respond. "I'm obviously going to try, I need to see you again. That's my goal, it's not about the winning."

"Of course it's not, sweetie." Dad responds. Hugging me deeply one last time, before the Peacekeeper comes in.

"It's time." He states sternly.

It's almost a stereotypical pulling away, our arms were linked, then pulled apart. It leaves me empty inside, and I'm left to reflect my feelings as the other tribute, Orem I think, continues his visits.

This'll be interesting.

Orem Pettily: Boy from District 34: Horticulture

Everything is numb to me. Usually I'm a very peppy, happy person, but the day of the reaping has sucked every happy feeling out of me. Including the dreams, where I dream about the possibility of being reaped, and horrible tributes and mutts going after me. Of course, I still have to have a positive attitude. If I am reaped, everyone will forget about me, just the peppy boy from the most outer district. Everyone forgets about District 34 anyways.

I groggily get out of my bed, and stare out the window, which somehow the sun still shines brightly on such a day. I pull out the sunflower yellow shirt and jeans that I picked out for today, to hopefully shine some light down on me. I throw a little bit of water onto my face before I go downstairs to the family I love.

"Hey Orem, ready for the big day?" Mom states happily for some reason.

"Meh, just hoping it's over and we can go back to normal." I state.

Both of my parents work for the Justice Building in the District, my mom is an attorney for worker's rights, and my dad is a horticulture specialist. It's hard, because I almost never see them around the house. I do have my little sister, Ava. She's a bright 5-year-old ball of energy, and always wants to play.

It helps that both of my parents make a lot of money in their jobs, considering they really can't look after Ava that often. I really never had any job experience after Ava was born, I was permanent baby sitter, which is fun, but it's not fun when you don't make your own money.

My funny, positive side comes with being around a toddler every day. She really makes me happy, and I think I make her laugh quite a bit.

"It'll be ok, there's quite a few other guys that could be reaped." She says, giving me a big smile. "Right, honey?"

"Yeah son, you'll be fine." He states firmly. "Plus, you've never had to take tesserae. You've got about 5 slips in there, compared to those who have possibly 50 or 60 slips, you'll be ok."

That's so true, I just hope to continue being around. Because who'll look after Ava? I supposed they could hire some sort of housekeeper, but it won't be the same for her.

"So, how about that raise, Orem?" Mom states. "That'll be nice!"

"It'll sure help out!" I respond.

I usually only work on the weekends, because Dad evidently isn't needed for weekends, or they can have someone come in. I work at one of the better greenhouses, actually very close to the one that had the terrible mutated disease come from the plants. It was a horrible ordeal, and everyone who worked there either died or was extremely weakened and quarantined until the disease eventually died out. Many of my friends were affected by the disease, mostly through family. There are some conspiracies about it being Capitol caused, but I really don't listen to that garbage. That's food for the Capitol, too.

"Are you meeting any friends there?" Said dad.

"Yeah, meeting Austin, Uriah, and Julia I think." I respond, taking a tentative bite of pancake. I'm obviously not too hungry today.

"BIG BRUDDER." Comes a screech from the other side of the room, my little sister evidently is awake.

"Come here, Ava!" I laugh, giving her a big ol' hug.

"Gimme pancake." She says, taking the bite of pancake I really wasn't going to eat and shoved it into her mouth.

We all laugh at Ava, who helps to brighten the day a little bit, even though I still have to go through a reaping today.

"I would probably go to the reaping if I were you, Orem." Mom states sadly. "Don't want you to be late at all."

"That's smart." I respond. "Don't want the wrath of the Capitol on us."

"See you later, son." My dad says, while mom and dad embrace both Ava and I into a big hug.

"I'll hopefully be back." I state hopefully. "I'll get that raise as well!"

"That's true." Mom laughs through the tears. I turn around, because I don't want to get all teary eyed now.

I force myself to shut the door behind me, I take a deep breath, and continue to step out into District 34.

Everyone else seems to be zombie walking to the reaping, no one really wants to be here at all. I try to remember my parents' words. There's so many other guys that are up for the reaping that I have to not even be a percentage point of the slips in that bowl.

That's about when my friends appear out of the corner of my eye. I run over to them, giving each of them a hug.

"How's it going, Orem?" Uriah asks me.

"Going about as good as a reaping day can go." I respond. "Basically just feeling numb, and glad to see you guys."

"Me too!" Julia responds happily. "Always good to be around the guys."

She's always in a positive attitude, even on days like the reaping.

"How are you always positive?" Austin laughs, reading my mind.

"Just how I am, man." Julia punches him on the arm, laughing.

I'm glad I've got the friends I have. We continue just having a good time, until we're forced to finally accept we're at the reaping, and sign in.

"Name?" The Capitol woman asks me.

"Orem Pettily." I respond nervously.

I cringe as she pricks my finger, making sure that it's truly me. My face shows up on the device in the woman's hands and the device clicks, which must mean that my blood matches the sample that was given to them at my birth.

"You're good, continue." The Capitol woman states.

I thank her as I continue with Austin to the 16-year-old boy section, as Uriah and Julia go elsewhere to their sections.

The mayor starts his very long speech, showing off our 5 previous victors, all of whom are very happy for such an ominous, terrible occasion.

That's when the escort, Jubliana Mentesna, pops out of nowhere, with a face that is literally beaming with joy. Her face along with the entire situation just makes me want to throw up.

"Now, let's get to the good stuff!" She screeches. "May the odds be ever in your favor!"
I physically cringe at the Capitol mantra, rolling my eyes at all my friends from across the veranda.

"First, we will be drawing from the girls, cause ladies first!" She yells into the microphone, finally plucking a name from the bowl after about ten seconds of perusing.

"Ami Tzu!" Jubliana shrieks.

The girl walks up to the stage, not speaking a word, or showing any emotion. She a little bit younger than me, but looks like she's emotionally prepared for it to happen.

"Now for the boy!" She states loudly, basically running to the boys bowl.

She starts to go look through the bowl, and I start to feel queasy. This bowl does have my name in it, unlike the other one. I start to panic a little bit, well, a lot, once she pulls the name of the unlucky boy going to be fighting in the Hunger Games. Nobody ever volunteers from 34, so if someone's reaped, they have no choice but to go into the fight to the death.

"Orem Pettily!" She shrieks.

Wait, no no no no no. This can't be happening to me, I have a little sister and friends to work for, care for, and live for. That's not fair, at all. I have a whole life ahead of me with my family. I know I start to tear up, and I consciously hold back the tears as I force myself to walk up to the podium. My friends and families faces are in utter shock once I get up to the podium.

"The tributes from District 34, Ami Tzu and Orem Pettily!" Jubliana shrieks evilly.

No no no no no, not now, not ever.

I'm basically forced to walk back to the greeting rooms. I'm also pretty glad for it, considering I can't walk at all. I slump into the chair, breaking down bawling, not caring if any Capitol cameras are still rolling. My life is currently falling apart at the seams.

That's when my family comes in, mom is crying, and dad is completely stone faced as they look on. After a few seconds, they run over to me and envelop me into a big hug.

"We'll see you again." They utter over and over again, my mom is hugging and kissing me, with tears falling all over me.

"Orem, you've got a good head on your shoulders. You can do it." My dad smiles at me, fighting through tears.

"Thanks, you guys." I respond, hugging my little sister. "I love you all so much."

"Me too, big brudder." Ava says smiling. I think she really doesn't understand the situation, but I hug her deeply anyway.

We just sit crying in a family huddle when the Peacekeeper comes.

"Times over, it's time to go." He says, almost apologetically.

My family shouts my name as they are forced to leave, which is immediately followed by my friends. I can't contain myself at that point when they go in for the group hug.

"Sorry I'm such a mess." I respond.

"You're totally ok, just let it out." Uriah says, patting my back. "You could still make it."

"Yeah, just don't let yourself stand out." Julia states. "They won't go for you if you don't anger them."

"That's just postponing the inevitable." I cry. "You guys know that."

"It'll be alright." Austin says, just as the Peacekeeper steps in, telling me it's time again.

As they're forced out, I truly get to think one last time in my home that I love.

PAN: Also, I have a tumblr page of all of the faceclaims, training scores, placings, etc. once they are written in the story. So that means the faceclaims for both Orem and Ami are on there! Check it out! www. tumblr blog/ 227thhungergames