Reno Shaber-17(District 9 Male)

I wake to the soft though muffled sound of sobbing filling the room. I do my best to ignore it but after a few minutes I know it's no use so I swing myself out of bed to see who the culprit is. After a bit of searching, I find my sister Lucy curled up in a ball clutching her well-worn violin to her chest.

"Hey squirt what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just worried about today is all."

Crouching down I wrap my arm around her and pull her into as reassuring a hug as I can manage before I turn her face toward mine. "You have nothing to worry about Lucy. You didn't get reaped last year and there were two chances at it."

"It's not me I'm worried about Reno, it's you."

"Me? Why are you worried about me?"

"For starters your names in the ball 35 times today."

I didn't realize I had that many honestly though when it comes to math it's usually a better idea to trust my sisters then it is my own. Now that she mentions it I'm a little uneasy about it now too though it won't do me any good to show fear in front of her.

"Relax kid that's not even close to a lot, some of the guys in school are in over 50 this year. I know 35 seems like a lot, but my chances are still pretty slim in reality."

This seems to cheer her up a little though I can tell she's still uneasy about the reaping. Deciding to change the subject I plop down beside her and plaster a goofy grin on my face.

"Enough about that though, play me a song. Make it something I can tap my feet too."

"Reno you know I don't know anything like that."

A look of shocked dismay spreads across my face as I do my best to suppress the smile threatening to spill out instead. "What are you learning in music class if you can't play my requests. I'll need to have a word with your teacher before your next lesson."

My composure shatters before I can finish and before long we're both rolling with laughter. Due to our less than considerate state it's not long before the whole house is awake. The pitter patter of Deni's feet is quickly followed by the smooth and graceful sound of our mom and before long the clomping fury of dad. Deciding that we'd better get moving and avert the melt down I can imagine coming for our rudeness, I quickly get to my feet before helping Lucy to hers.

Just as we enter the kitchen my mom turns to face us with a look half way between anger and amusement while Dani does her best to scamper into her seat for breakfast. "Since the two of you woke everyone up you get to make breakfast. Reno do try not to burn it this time, please."

"I burn the toast one time and suddenly it's a habit." My mom smiles as she sits down next to my father while Dani sits impatiently in her chair with a look of desperation on her tired little face. Turning to Lucy I motion to the ice chest as I pull out a pan. Today may be the reaping but it's still a great day with my family and nothing can change that.

Yuri Monroe-18(District 9 Female)

I come down stairs to find my mother slumped over her desk snoring like a train. Making my way over I do my best to quietly remove the designs under her gaping mouth but at the first hint of their movement her eyes snap open and she bolts upright.

"Relax mom I'm just trying to prevent your ideas from drowning in drool."

"Thank you, I guess I must have dozed off for a bit."

"A bit, mom it's almost 8. You spent the night at your desk again." I do my best to hide it, but a hint of anger creeps into my voice as I stack her design books on the corner of the desk.

"Sorry dear, I just want to get these right before the reaping. If I can finish them in time Oatis said he'd show them to the stylists in the Capital." The way she enunciates the word almost makes me sick, though I manage to refrain from faux vomiting it's not by much.

"Can I see what you have then?"

"Sure it can't hurt to have a fresh set of eyes take a look I suppose." She hands me the book and heads for the kitchen with a wary smile. Oping the cover, I'm immediately floored by the sheer beauty, elegance, class, and glamour of the design. By the time she returns I'm totally awed, and I know my face shows it.

"So what do you think?"

"Mom these are amazing, how did you come up with them?"

"Most of them are recycled designs with a few extras added in for flair. The first one though is a totally new idea and I'm really happy with how it turned out."

"You should be, it's not every day someone finds a way to make grain fields look like this."

"Awe, you saw the pattern then?"

"It's subtle but yes I did. Did you design it for someone special?"

"Well, if they don't want to use it for the games I was thinking it could be for you dear."

"ME!?"

" Yes for when you finally decide to settle down and get married, though at your current rate you little sister might beat you to it."

"Mom I'm only 18. Besides Elli is only 10, If any boy is trying to move that fast I'll have to beat him up." This manages to draw a small smile from her as my little sister sleepy trudges into the room, her teddy bear grasped tightly in her hands.

"I heard that Yuri."

"Good, saves me the trouble of saying it twice." She sticks her tongue out at me and darts behind mom as I send a throw pillow sailing toward her head. She crouches down and thumbs her nose at me as she repeats her tongue gesture much to my mother's amusement.

"That's enough you two. Elli come help me with breakfast, and Yuri you go clean up for the reaping, if you don't hurry your dad will come home and use up what little hot water we have." My sister follows my mom into the kitchen, a triumphant look on her face as I place mom's design book on the desk and head for the washroom visions of her beautiful dress filling my mind as I go.

Shoddy Kerseymere-17(District 6 Male)

I awaken to the sound of shouting and cursing though on the streets of 6 that's a fairly normal thing, no matter where I sleep I always seem to be in someone's way. "Shoddy you ass wake up we need to get going."

I roll over to find my friend Jean standing over me holding a bundle of cloths in his hands and a look of paranoia on his face. "Why, what did you do this time?"

"Nothing just shut up and move." He reaches down and rips me upright before scurrying off into an ally forcing me to sprint to catch up. By the time we stop I'm panting and covered in sweat and more than a little frustrated by my already too eventful morning.

"So why the hell are we running Jean?"

"Well, today's reaping day."

"So what? We didn't run like this last year."

"Last year I didn't have to snake us cloths for the event either. Here take these and try them on." He tosses me a bright orange button down shirt and a pair of dark blue slacks as he heads over to change into whatever he got for himself.

Begrudgingly I head around the corner and begin to change and it doesn't take long for me to realize how ridiculous I look in this outfit. "Jean are you trying to make me look like a clown?"

"Not on purpose, the fact that you do is just a bonus. Besides the shirt was the only one close to your size I could find. If you weren't so tall you'd have had a bigger selection. Now shut up and let's see how you look."

I turn back around the corner and have to contain my anger as Jean busts up laughing at the sight. "If you don't shut up I'll kick your teeth in Jean."

"Relax man I'm just having fun. Honestly, it doesn't look half bad on you though you'll probably have to tuck it in."

"I figured. Who did you steal this from a hovercraft?"

"Close, got it from the old man a few house up from our spot."

"Figures, he's the only person in the district that would be caught dead in this anyway. So what's on the agenda for today?"

"Besides the reaping?"

"Obviously Jean."

"Haven't thought that far ahead. Figured we'd play it by year and all that."

"Sounds good to me. Well I guess we should head out, wouldn't want to be late for the show would we." As the two of us make our way toward the gathering crowd I can't help but feel like today is going to be a very bad day.

Jinx Freight-17(District 6 Female)

I do my best to mask the musty smell of incense and tea leaves on my dress as I try to get ready for the reaping a task made that much harder by the sleeping man in my bed. I honestly can't remember his name but his money was good and his performance was adequate enough to help me sleep last night so I can't complain, if he wasn't lying on my shawl that is.

I rip it free with a fierce tug that somehow manages to illicit a disgruntled yell from my sleeping friend. "What the hell are you doing girl?"

"Trying to get ready for the reaping." My words seem to trigger an alarm in him as he bolts upright and scans the room for his clothes.

"Stupid whore why didn't you wake me up earlier? If I'm not home to help my wife with the kids she'll get suspicious."

"You paid for the use of my body, not for a wake-up call. If you'd wanted one that would have been extra anyway."

The disgusted grunt he lets out speaks volumes about his thoughts on me as he scoops up his shirt and pulls it down over his head quickly followed by his pants and shoes as leaves without another word. I casually move over and scoop up the undergarments he left behind and stuff them in the drawer with the others.

Closing the drawer I head over to the mirror to arrange myself in a more presentable manner, after all today is going to be a very big day. Finally deciding I look good enough I exit the small washroom and head over to the kitchen.

After rummaging through my meager food stores, I decide on an apple while making a mental note to go shopping after the reaping, that is if I'm still here after the reaping. My instincts tell me I'm going to be Reaped and a good fortune teller knows to always trust her instincts after all that's how I make my money. Telling fortunes and selling my body, whether you need release or guidance I do it all, though for it all on the former is extra most men I meet have no problem paying it.

Finishing my apple I toss the core in the trash and head out, carefully locking up as I go. Even when I'm chosen today I don't want anyone getting into my things, after all I'll be needing them after I win. That's the best part of my gift of foresight I already know I'm going to win and after I do people from across Panem will flock to me for their fortunes while their men flock for my more intimate gifts.

Wrapping my shawl around my shoulders I can't help but smile as I start my long trek toward town. Today was the start of a whole new life for me and with my skills in two it was shaping up to be a very bright one at that.

A/N: A special thanks to DashSputnik, xQueen-Of-Applesx, 20, and Annabeth-TheTributeThatLived for the amazing tributes we just got to meet. What did everyone think of them?

I also want to apologize for taking so long to get this chapter posted, work has been hectic this last week and I've been pulling 16 hour days to help get caught up. Because of that this will be the only chapter I post this week but I should be back on my normal two chapter a week cycle next week so look for the next one to drop on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Now on to a few questions.

1. What did you think of the chapter?

2. First impressions of the tributes we met?

3. Favorite?

4. Least Favorite?

I had planned to write another small intro chapter for the new Master of Ceremonies but after reading it I decide to fold it into the reaping chapter so that's coming with the next update as well. For those of you who read my last story, I'll be following the same format this time with one small change. I dropped the remake center chapter and folded the districts into the parade and the reaping so both of those chapters will have 3 districts instead of the normal 2. Other than that it's the same so I'll only have 1 Reaping chapter like last time.

Thanks for reading and as always please review and let me know what you think. If you have a suggestion or complaint please feel free to PM me and I'll see what I can do about it. This is especially true for those who's tributes I just wrote, if I messed something up please let me know so I can fix it. Otherwise thanks for reading and I'll see you all at the next update :D