A/N: Hi! I'm back. Sorry this took so long, life got crazy and then school started a week ago. I hope that you like this chapter, and I'll see you at the next A/N!

Brilliance Graykind, 17, District 1

The night before the Reaping

Brilliance Graykind sliced the head off of the last dummy. He'd been training for at least two hours with no breaks. He had to be at his A game to be prepared for the Games.

"What are you doing training the day before the Reapings?" someone asked.

Brilliance whipped around to see who it was. It was Satin Winder, his fellow volunteer and socialite extraordinaire. Honestly, he didn't know how he would be able to stand mingling with that many people. He supposed he would have to, once he got to the Capitol. Or maybe not. Satin might be able to do it for both of them.

"So that I can be at the top of my game when we get to training. Why aren't you training?"

"Because it's the day before the Reaping! You know, most of the time the chosen volunteers get the day off to just have fun. You've been to some of the parties, haven't you? Almost the whole Academy is invited."

Brilliance scowled. Satin knew that he never went to those parties, and she knew that he was only invited once. He declined the invitation.

"I prefer to not waste my time fooling around. There's only one way to win, and that's by training, not partying."

That was a jab at Satin. He knew that she loved to be social, and whenever there was a party, she was front and center. But somehow, she was still better than him. It might have been because she was a year older, and had more training. Or she just might be naturally skilled. Whatever it was, he knew that Satin didn't get chosen to volunteer by partying.

"Well, you must come to the celebration tonight. You're the chosen volunteer. If you don't come, it will look bad and you won't have the support of the district." Satin retorted.

Brilliance sighed. Now he had to go. Networking was what he was good at, and Satin knew this. She was baiting him, waiting to see what he'd do. He knew that she picked up more than it seemed.

"Fine. I'll go, but don't expect me to have fun or anything." he said.

Satin laughed. "Ok then, I'll have a special sulking corner just for you. The party starts at eight, and goes until the last person leaves. It's at my house, don't be late!"

Brilliance put on his most charming smile, and said, "Thank you, Satin. But don't you worry, I won't be in a corner. I'll be networking the whole time."

Satin grinned. "I expect nothing less from you Mr. Graykind."

Brilliance supposed that he should go along with her charade. He bowed. "I'm glad to meet your expectations, Miss Winder. Now, I'm afraid that I must take my leave. I will see you tonight."

"I'm looking forward to it." Satin walked away, and Brilliance let out a sigh of relief. Honestly, he didn't know how she did it. Yes, he was good at talking to people, and yes, it could be charismatic, but it was really an act. He hated the Games, and he only saw it as a necessary evil. The Capitol was an enemy in his mind, because his mother had died of a rare mutt bug left over from the Dark Days. If the Capitol really cared about the districts, they would make sure that all of the mutt bugs would be obliterated. But that was a problem he could deal with later- when he was Victor of the 80th Annual Hunger Games.

Brilliance continued training until he noticed that it had started to get dark. That was odd. It was early July, why would it be dark this early? Then he glanced at the clock. It was 8:45 already.

"Shit." he cursed, and ran out of the training room. The only people left were him and the janitors who would lock up, and even they left at nine.

Brilliance ran to his house in the middle of the district. His family wasn't rich like others, but they were fairly well off. His father, Champion, was the overseer of one of the diamond mines, a job that pays well, but doesn't exactly make you rich- or make you a part of high society. His two siblings were older than him- Lovely was twenty-one, married, and had a son that was one year old. His other sister, Splendor, was nineteen, just out of the Reaping age. She actually had her name drawn last year in the Reaping, but of course there was a volunteer.

Brilliance slowed down as he got to his house. What was coming over him? Why was he so concerned with Satin's party? He was normally punctual, but he just didn't care that much about the party. If it were something actually something important, he would be ten minutes early. But a party? That was only good for networking. And all the people at that party he already knew. He knew that it would only be the teenagers, no adults. For one, no adults were Reaping age, except for the eighteen-year-olds. And most of the guys were pissed because he, a seventeen-year-old, got the volunteer spot instead of them. But it wasn't his fault that he was dedicated. He'd been training since he was ten, all with the goal of eventually volunteering and raising his family's station in life. Since a lot of the district was rich, he got looked down upon, excluded. But he didn't care. The people who judged him for his dad's job weren't people he would want to be friends with anyway.

When he entered the house, his sister Splendor was on the couch watching some Capitol reality show.

"Bril, what are you doing? You look like you just ran here." Splendor commented.

"That's because I did. Satin Winder's party was supposed to start at eight, but I'm late because I was training. I was running, and then I realized that I don't really care about the party and slowed down. I'll get there when I get there." he said in response.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down mister. You mean to say you, who only has like two friends, got invited to Satin's party? She's one of the richest people in the district!"

Brilliance bristled. Splendor always treated him like he was the same introverted ten-year-old that he was when he started training. Sure, he only had two friends, but that's because he didn't want more. He was casual acquaintances with most people his age, but not friends, because most of them were snooty and stuck up, or overly friendly. (Satin fell into the latter category)

"Yes, I got invited, because I'm the chosen male volunteer. I don't know if you forgot or not, but here we are."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he regretted them. Splendor was nothing but nice to him, even when he was in a bad mood.

Splendor laughed. "You're funny when you try to be mad."

Brilliance gave in and laughed with her. "I suppose I could have said that better."

Splendor waved it off. "It's fine, little bro. Just have fun tonight, ok? None of this networking business, just let loose and have fun. You only get to be the volunteer once in your life. Have a couple drinks, whatever. I've been to those parties, they're amazing. Just don't have too much fun, kay?"

"I'm not sure what you're suggesting," he said, knowing very well what she was suggesting, "but don't worry, I won't have 'too' much fun."

Splendor laughed again. "Well, have fun, but shower before you go. You stink."

Brilliance made a face at her, but he went upstairs to shower and get ready for the party.

Rowan Mildberg, 18, District 11

The morning of the Reaping

About five o'clock in the morning

Rowan Mildberg woke to the sound of a scream. It came from his sister Aster's bed. He quickly got out of bed, being careful not to wake his younger brother, Cedar, and padded across the dirt floor of his family's cottage. He felt around in the dark for Aster's bed, and once he found it, he tried to find Aster. Not that it was hard, for the bed wasn't that big, but Aster wasn't either. Once he found her, he realized that she was shaking, and tears were running down her face.

"Hey, Aster, are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

Aster jerked awake. "Where am I? Rowan? Rowan!" she yelled, panicked.

"Shhhh, I'm here, I'm here. What's wrong?" he asked, trying to calm her down so that she wouldn't wake Cedar.

Aster visibly relaxed, evidently relieved that she wasn't wherever she was in her dream.

"Oh, Rowan, it was awful! I had gotten Reaped, and then I was suddenly in the arena with no training, and then all the Careers were chasing me! You were there too, but you ran off without me and I was alone and I didn't know what was happening! When you woke me up, the Careers had formed a circle around me and were making fun of me and-" Aster cut off, and began sobbing into his shirt.

Poor Aster. It was her first year being eligible for the Reapings, so of course she was nervous. This was Rowan's last, so with luck he won't be chosen- though that means that some other boy will- and he won't have to worry about the Hunger Games anymore. At least, not for himself. Though this was his last, it was Aster's first, and his brother, Cedar, was fourteen, having already been through two Reapings.

Rowan glanced around the cottage, only to find out that both of his parents were gone. That meant that it was past four, because the orchards of Eleven waited for no one. And also because they opened at four thirty and people got whipped for being late. Rowan was the one who got Cedar and Aster ready for the day. Three days of the week, they went to school, and on the other four they worked in the orchards with their parents. Well, not exactly with, but around their parents. But not today. Reaping Day was a national holiday in Panem, meaning no one worked. Except for the people in the orchards of Eleven. And the grain fields in Nine. The Capitolites still had to have food, after all. And the quotas were set in stone. On Reaping Day, the adults had to go to the orchards early and work until the Reapings, whereas the kids stayed home to get ready. Ah, the strange rules of the Capitol.

Rowan glanced outside at the coming dawn. It wouldn't be time to wake up Cedar for a good while yet, and Eleven's Reapings weren't until six o'clock in the afternoon. Got to let the Career districts get their beauty sleep. Plus, the Reapings tended to go late rather than early, so they probably wouldn't start in Eleven until seven. Which gave the children of Eleven, who never had a day off, an entire morning to play with each other before they had to go and get ready for the Reaping, which usually meant that they ate a meager lunch at noon, ran around for an hour, bathed, and then got ready. It would have been fun, if there wasn't that rain cloud looming overhead that was the Reapings.

"Rowan?" Aster said, distracting him from his thoughts.

"Yeah, Aster?" he responded.

"Do you think that I'll be Reaped? Be honest."

"No, Aster, you won't get Reaped. Your name was only in the bowl once. Remember, you didn't take out any tesserae, so there is one chance in thousands that you will be Reaped." Rowan tried to sound sure, but he was trying to relieve his doubt as well as hers.

Aster looked slightly relieved, but she still argued.

"But Primrose Everdeen was Reaped in the 74th Hunger Games, and she only had one slip in the bowl. And I don't have an older sister to protect me and volunteer for me like Katniss did. Cedar has you, but I don't have anyone." She burst into a fresh bout of tears.

"Rowan?" a voice called sleepily.

Aster immediately stopped crying. She never liked to cry around Cedar, for whatever reason. Maybe it was because Cedar was close in age to her, and enjoyed teasing her for being sensitive.

"Yeah, Cedar?" Rowan responded.

"What time is it?"

The Mildbergs didn't have a clock, as most families in Eleven didn't, and so because of that they kept time by the sun. The sun hadn't even come up yet, but Rowan estimated it was about five o'clock.

"Sunrise hasn't started yet, but it's probably about five. Why?" Rowan asked.

"I wanted to know if I had to be up yet." Cedar stated matter-of-factly.

"No, Cedar, you don't have to be up yet, kids aren't out playing until eight. This is the one day that you get to sleep in."

"Is Aster up?" Cedar asked.

"Yes, I am." Aster said quietly.

"Ok, then I'll be up too." Cedar decided, with a note of finality in his voice.

"It's fine Cedar, I'll be going back to bed now anyways, I'm tired." Aster said. She sounded tired, that bone-tired that came with being twelve and working at five thirty in the morning most days. Rowan had never lost that sense of exhaustion, and soon would have to be up and out to the orchards at four thirty.

Cedar decided that he would still stay up, regardless of what Aster was doing. They had a strange bond, Cedar and Aster, and Rowan still couldn't make sense of it.

With Cedar up, Rowan got everything ready for the day, and warmed up some leftover oatmeal from the previous day. Aster still hadn't fallen asleep, even though she tried, and so the trio of siblings waited until all the other kids were up to get ready for the day.

Once all the kids in the 'neighborhood', which was really just a collection of cottages, were up, Cedar and Aster ran outside to play with their friends, while Rowan and the other sixteen plus kids were hanging out and talking. In Eleven, you weren't really considered an adult until you made it past your last Reaping, so even Rowan, being eighteen, didn't have to go to the orchards yet.

The day passed fairly quickly, with all the kids running from house to house and playing the whole morning. Even Rowan and his friends joined in on the fun. Eventually, the time came to get ready for the Reapings, and all of the kids trooped back to their houses, dirty but happy. One by one, Rowan, Cedar, and Aster got ready for the Reapings, with Rowan and Cedar stepping outside when it was Aster's turn. Once they were all outfitted in their Reaping best, they joined the crowd waiting for the finger prick. By the time they got to the front, Aster was shaking with fear.

"Hey, Aster, it'll be fine. This is your first year in the Reapings, and it's a one in thousands chance that you'll be Reaped." Rowan reassured her, and she seemed to calm down, at least a bit. She bravely stepped forward for the prick, and joined the rest of the twelve-year-old girls in their section. Cedar went next, and didn't glance back at Rowan when he went to join his friends. Rowan took a deep breath, and stepped up to the table.

A/N: I hope that you guys liked this chapter, and I hope that I did the math right in Rowan's POV. Please tell me if I didn't lol. Thank you to Loveableheart for Brilliance, and thank you to Pengu54324 for Rowan. Next chapter is the Reapings, and I'm incredibly excited. I actually need more tributes, escorts, and mentors. Surprisingly, I still haven't gotten all of them. I can make escorts/mentors on my own, but I need other people to make tributes. Please submit whoever you can. Also, I've hit 20,000 words! Thank you to the people who have reviewed, I really appreciate you guys, and thank you to everyone who has submitted, or even just read this little story of mine. You guys give me the motivation to keep writing. Thank you. On to the questions!

1. Who did you like better, Brilliance or Rowan? Why?

2. Who do you think has a better chance of winning? Why?

3. Is there a specific thing that you want to see in this SYOT? If so, what?

4. Do you have any questions for me?

I hope that you like this chapter, and please submit characters if you can. Love you guys!

-Annabeth