So, I've decided to do Pre-Games chapters, because I really love writing about tribute's home life and because I think it will help you get to know the characters better. I've decided to do them in groups, so it'll go District 1 and 2, then 3 and 4 and so on. The reapings will be like that too. This chapter is District 1 and 2 and I hope you enjoy it, tell me what you think!


District 1 Pre-Games

Tatum Royale (Got her name right this time)

I walked down the long, cobbled street of District 1 "Tatum!" Someone suddenly shouted.

I turned around to see my best friend Cecelia, waving at me.

"Hi Cece!" I replied, running towards her.

"Where are you going?" She asked, it was unusual for me to be in this part of the district when I wasn't visiting Cecelia. I didn't come here very often.

"I was just going for a walk." I replied.

Cecelia nodded. "Come inside, Mum's just made cookies!" She said. I happily followed her inside, her mother was the best cook I had ever seen.

I walked into their small house, it was just Cecelia, her mother and her younger brother living there. And they weren't exactly rich.

"Oh hello Tatum!" Cecelia's mother said as I walked inside.

"Hi Mrs. Crescent," I replied.

Cecelia and I sat down at their small wooden table to enjoy the delicious cookies her mother had made.

"So, the games are soon aren't they?" Cecelia asked.

I nodded, my mouth full of cookie.

"You were planning on volunteering weren't you?" She contined, worriedly. She was very opposed to the games and didn't want me in them.

I shrugged, "I was going too but after they announced the Quell twist I decided I didn't want to, and anyway there's always next year." I replied, ignoring the worried glance Cecelia was giving me.

"I'm so scared of the quell twist, what if I get reaped? Then Kaleb will have to go into the games as well, and this year nobody will volunteer." Cecelia said, Kaleb was her ten year-old brother who she was very protective of.

"Don't worry, you won't get reaped and I'm sure there's someone out there he wants to volunteer as a family." I replied.

"Hopefully," Cecelia said, but she still looked scared.

I checked my watch and gasped. "Sorry Cece but I have to go," I said. "Thanks for the cookies," I added to Mrs. Crescent before rushing out the door.

I rushed down the street and started to head up a hill. I passed house after house and many factories as well.

Eventually I arrived outside the Training Centre, it was a big, imposing building that towered over me. It was time for the Training Class.

I pushed open the big doors and rushed inside. "You're late," the trainer said as I ran inside and took my place.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"Don't worry about him, he's in a very bad mood today," the boy standing next to me said. It was Dakota, my boyfriend.

I grinned to myself as the trainer went on about what we were doing. He spoke in a monotone and I could feel my concentration wavering.

Eventually he stopped talking and let us all go about our business. I followed Dakota to the knife-throwing station. We were both considered to be the best throwers in the Training Centre. He was planning on volunteering the next year.

After spending over an hour throwing knives, the trainer announced that training was over. I breathed a sigh of relief and wiped my sweaty forehead. Then I followed Dakota outside.

"Nice throwing out there." He said

"Thanks, you too," I replied, he put his arm around me as we headed back down the hill.

"It's a nice view from here," he said as we made our way down the hill, you could see almost all of the districts, from the mines to the factories where we made luxury items for the Capitol.

"Well, bye, I'll see you tomorrow. Remember to meet me at five at the park!" Dakota said as he turned and walked down his street.

I smiled at him and waved, continuing to walk back to my house. The houses around there all looked similar, in similar shapes and sizes. This was where most of the District lived.

I eventually arrived at my house and pushed open the door.

"Tatum! Where did you go?" My older sister Iris snapped as I walked through the door.

"Sorry Iris, I went to Cece's house before training." I replied, angry at her for snapping at me. Why did she care where I went? I was old enough to look after myself.

"Thank-god, I thought you might have got kidnapped or something like that," she said, putting an arm around me.

I pushed her arm off. "Your only fours years older than me, your not my mother." I told her.

I stormed off to my room, angry at my sister. She wasn't the boss of me, and why did he care about me so much? We were close but she was always too over-protective. It became annoying after a while.


District 2 Pre-Games

Konnabeth Welsh

"So, Panem was founded over 150 years ago, by a colony that survived what was referred to as "The end of the World"." I whispered quietly to myself, flipping through the pages of the book. I yawned as I stared at the clock on the wall, 11 o'clock.

"Better get some sleep," I whispered again, turning off my torch and placing the book underneath my bed.

I was learning, since I couldn't go to school during the day, I taught myself at night.

"Kons? Are you awake?" I heard my younger brother, Slate, whisper to me, Kons was my nickname.

"Yeah, but why are you? You should be getting sleep, you don't want to be too tired at work tomorrow," I replied.

"Your awake and you have to work too," he pointed out.

"I know, but just try and sleep," I replied.

"But I can't." He said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because, I'm worried about the reaping, what if one of us gets reaped?" He asked.

I sighed to myself, I was also worried about the reaping, we had a greater chance at getting reaped, then most people in the district, there were five of us, plus we had to take out tessarae, unlike most families in the district.

"The reaping isn't for days, stop worrying about it, it's very unlikely that we'll get reaped and anyway, someone would probably volunteer," I replied.

Soon my eye's were closing and I was fast asleep.

"Come on Kons, you gotta get up," I heard my fifteen year-old brother Jove, say.

"Alright, I'm getting up," I groaned, rolling out of bed, the sun had only just started to rise, but the rest of my family was already eating breakfast.

"Finally your up," my father said, as I walked in.

I ignored him and went over to get some breakfast, it was the same as always, toast. I sat down next to my older brother Schist and started to eat my small breakfast.

"Well, your father and I had better get to work," my mother said tiredly, standing up from her seat. We were what the rest of the district called, lower-class. We were a lot poorer, we couldn't afford to train or go to school and we worked in the mines or factories.

Our parents walked out the door, leaving just us inside.

"Well, I'm going to get ready to go to work as well," Schist said, pushing away his plate.

I stared around at my brothers, wondering if they were going to get up and go too. All they did was stare moodily at their plates.

"I guess I'll go too then," I sighed, picking up my plate. I didn't look forward to work, it wasn't something I enjoyed.

I walked back into the bedroom to get dressed. I was closely followed by Slate and Chert, who both shared a room with me.

"Alright, are you guys ready?" I asked after getting dressed, they both nodded. We emerged from our room to find Jove sitting at the table.

"Took you long enough," he said.

We walked out into the early morning, not very far away, in the valley, lay the main town of District 2, even from here I could see that the streets were crawling with people. Behind the town loomed a huge mountain where most of District 2 worked.

My village on the other hand, comprised of five streets and not many people, the streets were almost empty as everyone had already left for work, this was the poor part of District 2.

Together, we walked down the worn path to the quarry, the one we walked down almost every day.

"Your late," A woman said crankily when we arrived.

"Sorry," I replied, looking at my feet. I shuffled off after getting my name marked off and my job assigned. In our village, almost everyone from 12 up worked at this quarry.

"Well, lets get to work," I sighed, taking Slate's hand as we walked to the stone-shining building. The stones were taken from the quarry to the building, we had to polish them before they were sent off to the factories.

I quickly took my place at a bench as the conveyer belt started up, and the stones sailed down. I began to get into a rhythm. Pick up the stone, polish it, put it down, pick up the stone, polish it, put it down.

After a lunch break and another afternoon of work, a was shining what felt like my millionth stone, when the supervisor announced that it was time to knock off.

I sighed in relief as I put the stone down, my arms ached. I hated work.


So what'd you think? And who did you like better? I loved both tributes and think they Will be great in then games, the next chapter should be up soon. And if you hadn't already guessed these chapters are set about a week before the reaping and are just about the tributes daily life.