District Ten:

Conium's POV:

"Come on, Conny, we need to do our chores before the Reapings! You promised me that you would escort me to that party after the Reapings! Otherwise, mom and dad will never let me go without you!" Danaus whined. Danaus was my little sister. Well, not really little anymore. She was fifteen years old now, but I would always think of her as that little girl who would go skipping around the fields while I chucked mud at her.

We were the well known Maculatum family. We owned one of the most successful family run ranches in the district. We were kind of out in the middle of nowhere, however, so Danaus never got her "social" time unless one special event was happening in town. I never really cared. I was a bit of a loner. I preferred our herds of cows to people any day. However, Danaus was asking me to go mingle and she knew I could never say no to her.

"Let's go then," I said. She giggled and pulled me along. I grabbed a horse and rode out to the herd of cows. I needed to get them back in the barn, while Danaus needed to milk the ones that were all ready in there. I rod out and caught up to them. Then I started circling them and leading them towards the barn. My horse, Wisp, wanted to go faster, but I had to slow her down so we didn't outrun the cows. Then my dog, Lapin, came running out to help with the herding.

After an hour of herding I finally got them into the barn in one piece. I glanced in the barn and saw my sister getting them in the proper stalls. I sat down outside the barn and leaned back. She wanted to get up early and do chores, so she could finish the rest by herself. I did the hard work!

I picked an herb that was growing off the ground and started nibbling on it. It was pretty tasty for not being fully grown. I had learned a lot about edible plants and stuff since I was usually out on the fields. I would get hungry and wouldn't want to ride all the way back to the house. I knew everything that was edible, non-edible, medical, and poisonous in District Ten. It was a pretty nifty skill.

Danaus came out and saw me lounging about. "Have you been sitting there the entire time!" She yelled. I just nodded and walked back to the house. I heard her little huff of frustration and she followed me. I went into my room and quickly changed. I wasn't going to shower since I did that yesterday.

I walked into the bathroom and washed my face off. I looked in the mirror and rolled my eyes at myself. I was so stupid looking sometimes. I had dark black hair and light brown eyes. I was pretty short for a seventeen year old, but had muscles to make up for it. My skin was super tan and rough from always being outside. But the thing I hated was that I was missing both my front teeth. I got kicked in the face by a horse once when I was little.

"Are you ready yet, Conny?" My sister asked. I rolled my eyes again. She was the only person who called me Conny. My name was Conium and if anyone else but her called me "Conny" I would rip them in two.

"Yeah, yeah, Sissy!" I said. I walked out and she looked quite nice. An electric blue dress that made her eyes pop.

"That dress is a bit short…you should probably go change before dad kills you." I scolded. She just laughed.

"He can deal with it, as can you! I'm a growing woman! If I want boys to start taking an interest in me I got to put myself out there," she said.

"Fine, put yourself out of there, but you don't have to put your breasts out there too," I joked. She just laughed and slapped me lightly on the shoulder. I escorted her down the stairs.

"Now Danaus," I heard my father say. I wanted to say I told you so, but I didn't. My father was the main breeder of our farm. He was always at home and was a bit of the mother hen of the family. He had the same light golden brown hair as my sister and her green eyes. I inherited my dark hair and eyes from my mother. My mother was always about town and knew all the juicy gossip and secrets. Yet, she somehow learned how to get everyone's secrets without telling any of hers and ours. My sister inherited that from her too, but I had never picked up on that talent.

"Now Daddy," my sister mocked.

"Are you really wearing that?" he asked.

"No, she wore it down the stairs and was planning on changing down here," my mother interrupted. I snickered but tried to stay serious.

"I could always go in my birthday suit," she mocked. My dad had to stop her from taking it off right in the middle of the kitchen. The sad thing is she would have too, just to prove her point. She was so stubborn sometimes.

"Fine, wear the dress! Let's just go!" My dad said tiredly. Our family had some of the weirdest interactions ever. We quickly ate breakfast and were out the door.

We hopped into our car and my mother started driving. We had enough money to own a car, which was a luxury most people didn't have. We made it to the town square and parked right outside of it. I went to my seventeen year old section and waited.

Our mayor took the stage. He bugged me quite a lot. Half the time he didn't have a soul…wait…could you only have a soul only half of the time? Maybe he rented a soul every now and then for special occasions, like marriages and funerals.

Then our escort took the stage and I rolled my eyes. She was new to the job and new to our district. She couldn't be older than twenty and she was perky. Gosh, perky people bugged me sometimes. Maybe I should say perky people bugged me when it really wasn't a time to be perky. She lightly took out a name from the girls' ball.

"Natalie Swan!"

A girl from the fifteen year old section walked to the stage and I almost gasped. She looked exactly like Danaus. She had her hair, except it was pulled back into a pony tail, and the same tan skin. The only difference was the eyes. Danaus' eyes were always so full of life and sparkled green. Natalie's eyes were grey and looked empty. No anger or sadness…just empty.

No volunteers and I felt my heart break a little. Part of it was because that could have been my sister up there, and the other part was because I would have to watch this girl most likely die in the Hunger Games.

"Conium Maculatum!"

I did what I always planned to do if I got picked for the Hunger Games. I kept a straight face. I walked up to the stage calmly and all I could think of was that I was glad my sister wasn't picked. Now I would have to deal with this girl who looked so much like my sister. I internally smiled to myself. I was so glad I had learned about the edible plants and especially the poisonous ones. That would be invaluable in the arena…if they had the same type of plants we had.

I shook hands with Natalie. Her emotionless eyes stared straight into mine. Was she acting too? Was she concealing her emotions or did she really feel nothing? I tried to think how I was going to get around this awkward situation and only one solution came to me. If I couldn't beat her, I would just have to protect her.

Natalie's POV:

I walked into the dingy room and slumped onto the couch. There was so much wrong with this picture. I had always planned escape and now I was trapped as ever. Ever since I was little I had wanted out of this district…I even had a plan! Well, kind of…but it didn't matter now. If I lost the games, I was dead. If I won, I was the Capital's puppet and would never be free. The second my name was pulled out of that ball my life was over. I was forever trapped.

My father walked in and I just stared at him. I wasn't angry with him, but it was extremely awkward. He taught me everything I knew about animals. How to hunt, kill, and cook them. He taught me how to tame them, love them, and take care of them. He taught me how to herd them. However, ever since my mother died…he just hasn't been around. Too busy with his own grief to see other people are hurting I suppose.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," I replied. He came over and patted me awkwardly on the back. We stayed in the awkward silence for awhile.

"Well, I better go. Your dog might be eating all the livestock." And then he was gone. I almost laughed. What an awkward thing to say when you saw your daughter for the last time. When I was younger, I rescued a stray wolf. He called it a dog, but it was a wolf. Her name was Athena. A black wolf who I loved very deeply. Her and I were going to escape one day. Well, not anymore…

Then my best friend came through the door. My neighbor, Ann Kingston, had fire in her eyes. I was not a bit surprised. She was such a fiery spirit. We didn't have any tears.

"I'm going to see you soon," was all she said. We hugged and then she was gone. I sat down and thought. I wondered if any of the other tributes did that after the goodbyes were done. Did they ever just sit down and think? I would see her again…I knew I would.

My thoughts went to my district partner. He seemed blank…emotionless. Of course, I probably seemed the same way…was he acting like I was? Maybe we could be allies. All I knew was I didn't want a huge alliance. One or two people tops. What would my strategy be for the arena? Well, most likely stay out of the way. Possibly take a few risks but I would most likely want to stay out of the spotlight. I sighed and buried my head into my arms. I had no idea what I was doing. I always wanted to escape…now I was stuck here. Waiting to be moved to the next cage.

That's when I decided to take my first risk. Maybe I could still escape. This would be the biggest risk I had ever taken, but it was worth it if I could pull it off. I positioned myself to be ready. I grabbed a decorative vase and stood by the door. Fifteen minutes later, it opened. I smashed the vase into the first Peacekeepers head and he slumped to the floor. I rushed out the door and sprinted down the hallway. I could hear the other Peacekeepers right behind me. I had taken advantage of those few seconds where they were shocked and didn't do anything, but I doubted I would get another chance to catch them off guard.

I sprinted into the nearest door and slammed it shut. I then took one of the vase shards and lifted up one of the old wooden boards. I quickly scrambled onto the small space that was beneath the board and pulled it back down on top of me. I heard the door slam open, since I was right by it, and waited. Maybe they would give up. I heard them shouting. Furniture was up heaved. They got farther and farther away. Then I took my chance. I shoved the board up and sprinted out the door. I ran down the hallway.

Then I felt a blinding pain shoot throughout my body and everything went black.

Review! Haha oh gosh, see what happens when I get so bored doing the normal reaping! I randomly write an escape scene! I don't even want to know whets going to randomly happen in the next few Reapings! I mean, think about it!

District Six, President shoots someone.

District Seven, the tributes start to hate each other.

District Eight, the place gets lit up and people die.

District Nine, a guy gets kicked in the no no square

And now this. Its only getting worse haha! So review so I feel inspired to write more and we can be done with the Reapings!