Oof, it's been too long. Blame theatre and me trying to avoid burnout, I guess. Sorry. :/ Schedules don't mean as much to me now that I'm trying to balance more of a load. I write when I can and that's not often enough.

Anyway! Here we have districts Two, with our girl Ita from Manda Louise and our boy Griffin from jessicallons-y, and Ten, with our girl Nairi from katsparkle13 and our boy Korry from SkinOfInk! Also a cameo in D2 with Atalanta from Acereader55 :)

Trigger warning for mentions of suicide in Griffin's POV.

DISTRICT TWO MALE: GRIFFIN AINSWORTH

"Sage, it's another Reaping Day!" my mother simpers at my younger brother from across the table. "In just a few years, you'll volunteer for us also, won't you?"

Sage freezes and glances at me nervously. I only stare down at my food, silently fuming at my parents. They think they've given up on asking me that… they've turned to the thirteen-year-old.

"Of course he will, our boys are brave. Winners!"

Try telling that to Max's gravestone, Father. He was brave, brave enough to escape the pressure of volunteering on his own terms.

"I might…" Sage answers uncertainly, "maybe someday?" He toys with his fork nervously as he speaks.

He won't. I'll make sure of it, our parents won't dig their claws into him. They won't ruin another one of us.

Mother looks at me for a moment, but her gaze moves coldly on. I was always too close to Max for her to try to harangue me into volunteering. I bet they think I'd pull the same stunt as my older brother… I was close to it for a while.

I down the last few gulps of my water hastily and start to back up from the table. This action is met with icy glares from both my parents and a worried look from Sage, one that says 'don't leave me alone with them'. I sigh. "May I be excused?" They nod, satisfied, and I exit the kitchen and make a dash for my room. Behind me, I hear Sage ask the same question and then hurry after me.

"Griffin, wait!"

I slow down so he can catch up to me, although all I want is to get out of my parents' suffocating atmosphere. "What is it, bro?"

"Today you're eighteen…"

"I've been eighteen for a few months now, actually. But I know- after today neither of us are going to ever think about volunteering again."

"Why do Mother and Father always ask me about volunteering but not you?"

I look my little brother straight in the eyes. "Because they think I'll steal a gun and find a way out of the pressure like Max did." He backs down, but still follows me into my room and sits on the bed as I pull on my shoes. "You okay?"

"What did you mean, after today neither of us are ever going to think about volunteering again?"

"I'm going to stop their incessant whining."

"But…"

"It's best for both of us." I won't have to deal with the pressure anymore, and they'll lighten up on Sage, too, which is for the best. While I'm gone, though, Sage will have to manage on his own- but I won't have to put up with any of my family or the other citizens of Two. My freedom is so close I can nearly taste it. And if I come back… if I come back I can make sure Sage doesn't have to even talk to our parents again if he doesn't want to.

And I plan on coming back, this isn't a suicide mission no matter how many people might expect that of me. And it isn't for my parents and their money, either.

I nod to Sage, who jumps off my bed and scrambles out the door. Time to head down to the square, see who else shows up. Plans of volunteering have been bouncing around school recently, kids from various training centers are all trying to scare each other off, but I know of at least five guys who plan to run, and seven girls. None of them know about me. That's the way I prefer, waiting in the wings as everyone else tries to claim the spotlight. The amount of attention on me was bad enough after Max…

I stride through the kitchen, trying to keep my appearances up. "I'm so proud of my boys!" Mother coos, bustling over to Sage and fiddling with his hair. Father nods coolly at us but says nothing.

I'm out the door before Mother can even try to turn her stifling, oppressive attention on me. After a few moments, Sage's scurrying footsteps follow me out the door. The sky is hazy, dark with smog and rainclouds that I can't really tell apart.

It's scary how accurately the district weather mirrors my mood. Polluted.

Not even the appearance of Sebastian, my close friend, brings me any more out of the funk. All I want to do is go home, lie in bed, stare at the ceiling, maybe cry. Not go to the Reaping, certainly not force myself through volunteering.

"Hey, man, you doing all right? I haven't seen you this down in a while," Sebastian's omnipresent smile wavers as he senses my mood. I shrug. "Well, let's get this over with. I want to see the catfight when the girls start to volunteer!"

Sage scrambles on ahead to the check-in point, leaving Sebastian and me behind. "Okay, so now that the kid's gone, are you going to tell me what's really up?" He steps in front of me and walks backwards in order to hold my gaze.

"I'm gonna do it."

Sebastian blanches, reeling backward and almost knocking over a tawny-skinned girl. "Watch it!" she snaps.

"Sorry. Griffin, what? Are you serious? Are you mental?"

"I need to get out of here. Get the pressure off my back, and my brother's. This is the only way to clear my head."

"If you're planning on not coming back…" he trails off warningly. I don't meet his eyes. I'm going in there for myself. Is it selfish? Probably. Come on, I tell myself, have some self-esteem for once! But I can't just command my emotions.

Sebastian shakes his head in despair. "Come on, then, let's get you to our section before you think of something else stupid to do."

"In all honesty, the past four years of my life have been me doing stupid things and barely getting dragged out of them."

This time I'm the only person who can stop myself. And if that's my fatal flaw, I'm screwed.

DISTRICT TWO FEMALE: ITA BRECCHIA

The babble of people assaulting my ears makes it hard to decipher the actual mood of my environment, each person in line with me seems to have a different emotion concerning the events of the day.

"Ugh, can we just get this over with?" one girl seethes.

"Did you hear, Molly Maxon's planning to volunteer this year?" the breathless gossip of another butts into the conversation.

"I'm gonna do it." Out of nowhere, some idiot propels himself into my back, and it's only years of motion training and control that keep me from toppling over. I glare at the two boys who are talking, and the one who just knocked into me apologizes hastily before turning away. His friend, with spiky brown hair and green eyes, hardly even acknowledges me. I shuffle forward, trying to get out of their reach.

"I'm scaaared, Theo! What if I'm chosen?" That's a much younger voice.

Someone, presumably Theo, replies, "You won't be up there for long, too many people want to volunteer."

I hum a nameless tune in my head, trying to drown out the chaos of Reaping Day. Even my treasured music can't block out the disorder around me, and I'm relieved when the Peacekeeper calls me forward to have my finger pricked. It doesn't hurt, and I move on to the cordoned sections, ignoring the dot of blood on my thumb.

"Ita! Itaaa!"

I would know that voice anywhere. I scan the area, puzzled not to see him in the sections until, silly me, I remember he's not of eligible age anymore. In the audience area I find him, hanging half-over the barrier and waving at me. "Quartz!" I run over to him, nimbly dodging many of the other girls milling around.

"Good to see you. Is this your year?"

"It is indeed."

"And only seventeen? Impressive."

"I'm at the top of my game, when else? And there's always the possibility I'll injure myself either dancing or training before next year. I'm not afraid, why not go earlier than the rest?"

"Not afraid… sometimes you scare me, okay?"

"Aw, are you scared? I'm ashamed to have ever lost to you then," I retort wickedly, "And you lost your spot in the Games three years ago to that Tanner boy!"

"Hey, he made top five, it wasn't that bad!"

I roll my eyes. "Still." Quarts pulls a face at me and I smile at him a little. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the Victors filing onstage- they're about to start the ceremony. I start to move away, but Quartz grabs my arm. My first reaction is to jerk away more violently, but Quartz is my friend. Maybe I can break tradition for once.

"Agate's here," he whispers hurriedly.

"Yeah, so?" My eyes flick up to the stage and the woman who sits there with our only other mentor now, Tiberius Chan. It's been over a year since Colton Baxter's body was found in the Capitol.

"She was arrested recently," he hisses, "They found her and two other mentors in the Gamemaker Headquarters. I thought for sure she wouldn't be back by now!"

"They were where?"

"You heard me."

"I would have thought the punishments would be harsher."

"They are… maybe they weren't prepared to cause a big stir right before the Games? Not prepared, or just not equipped. Mentors haven't tried something like this before."

"Okay, whatever. I have to go, Quartz."

He nods understandingly. "Good luck."

Our escort steps up to choose the names. "Ladies first!" he says, and I'm proud of myself for finally remembering his correct gender this year. "Atalanta Fidella!"

A girl with white-blond hair bursts out from the seventeens, from exactly the area I was headed towards. I jump back, biting my tongue to keep from cursing aloud, as the girl storms the stage. "I can do this," she mutters under her breath desperately, "I can do this!" She's planning to claim the spot early, and no one else sees it. They're going to hold tradition and wait for the right moment.

I charge forward, bursting past Atalanta and bearing heavily to the stage. "What?" she wails behind me, and out of the corner of my eye I see her pale hair flip side to side as she runs after me. "No, that's my spot!"

It's mine, silly girl. I run with long graceful strides, my dancer's training coming into play even as Atalanta gains on me. We're neck and neck when I vault onstage… just ahead of her.

There's an outcry from several eighteen-year olds, but I'm already accepting the microphone from our escort. "I'm Ita Brecchia, seventeen years old. Thank you for the opportunity."

He nods at me happily and moves on to the males' bowl. "And our boy tribute for this year, one Serestus Tarquin!"

I recognize the boy from my classes in school, he's relatively quiet and relatively bad at training. He still manages a confident walk onstage though, because it's obvious he won't be up there for long. But this time, unlike me, there aren't any rule breakers. "Are there any volunteers?" There we go- a chorus of desperate boys. I watch curiously as a horde of them come up to the stage, shoving and fighting for the coveted spot.

One of them breaks forward, scrambling messily onstage and pushing his hand hastily through his hair.

"And what's your name, young man?"

"Griffin Ainsworth," he offers his name between heavy breaths, his eyes darting around nervously like he's still afraid of someone taking his spot. I straighten my back and hold out my hand to him. He takes it with a strong grip.

He seems fairly average though. I think he'll be a good ally… look at me, already thinking past the delicate strategies of the Capitol week.

Stay in the moment, Ita, and you'll be all right. Stay calm, stay strong, stay poised. I have to hum a song to myself to keep my racing mind under control.

DISTRICT TEN MALE: KORRY FALDERS

"Korry, come on man, wake up!"

"Hnngg?" I blearily blink open my eyes, a slight headache pulsing behind my eyes. It takes a few minutes for Fae and her other friend Camden to come into focus. "Where even am I?"

"At Cam's house, calm down. The party last night, remember?"

I grin as best I can with the lingering hangover and fuzzy tongue. "Oh yeah. Guess I didn't make it home? How much did I drink?"

Fae rolls her eyes. "You only managed to mooch two off the other guys here. You're such a lightweight, Korry, seriously."

I wink at her. "'Seriously' doesn't apply to me at all, Fae, you know that." She sighs and sticks her tongue out at me childishly.

"Korry, time to get you home, bro." Camden hauls me to a standing position and I find that my head doesn't spin when I stand. Good. My parents would kill me if I came home hungover, and on Reaping day? I'd be double dead. Too bad I guess, but it's better to just avoid it.

Camden leads Fae and me to the door but stops there, needing to get ready for the reaping himself. Fae, on the other hand, already looks ready to go, her makeup fixed from last night and her dress nice enough for the reaping. At least by my judgment, but girls at the merchant parties are really the only people I see in dresses.

Fae stays at my side as we walk down the street. "So how's your family faring?"

"Pretty well, I mean not exactly that well but better than others, I guess."

She sighs. "Are they both getting their wages?"

I hesitate before shaking my head. "Neither of them. The field workers can't manage to give the full pay, they say it's because of seed shortages…" Just on cue, my stomach rumbles, reminding me that I haven't had a full meal in three days now. Fae looks worried.

"Maybe I can help?"

"What, offering me money for a kiss?" Fae blushes furiously. I grin, rolling my eyes at her. "We've established this, I'm not your man whore."

"Well duh," she snaps back teasingly.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you liiiiked me!" I joke back, nudging her shoulder with my own.

"What are you, five? I don't like you, dork," she replies forcefully even as she goes a little red. She never could take a joke, I laugh to myself.

We reach my street and Fae's stride falters. "I should get back to my house," she says, "You know, stuff to do." I nod goodbye to her and walk the rest of the way to my house in silence.

"Mom? Dad? I'm back!"

"Korry?" My dad calls out to me, "Where have you been?"

"Relax, Iren, he's fine, I'm sure."

Both of them file into the kitchen, smiling at me. I grin back, turning to Dad. "I was just out with Camden and Fae late… by the time I realized how late it was the path home would have been dangerous, so I just crashed at Cam's place." He nods hesitantly, but my mother accepts the story without question. There's not much else for her to do, really, she's always too focused on her work to keep an eye on me. I do get some attention for disappearing all night, though. Attention from Dad, that is. And I don't want to get them too worried. Worried isn't good, but happy is good.

I go up to my room and pull on a clean blue t shirt and beige trousers; it's warm outside but I don't have any better clothes that fit. Splashing some water on my face and in my dark brown hair, I head back downstairs where my parents hardly acknowledge my presence.

"I'm off to the square, let's hope the odds are in my favor!" My loud voice makes both of them jump a little and I'm inwardly sort of happy that I've surprised them. It was funny.

"We'll see you later, Korry!" Dad calls.

"Bye!"

I stroll out of the house and back down the street, Fae long gone although her footprints are still visible in the dust. I shove my hands in my pockets and whistle to myself, a tuneless song that's vaguely familiar. The noise cheers me up; to make myself laugh I start making funny rhythms and sliding pitches until I start chuckling and can't hold it up anymore.

As I pass by a street corner near the center of town, I catch the eye of some patrolling Peacekeepers. They glare at me, and I automatically try to walk a little straighter and stand a little taller, but I laugh at myself and then tip an imaginary hat in their direction. It's Reaping Day, they can't do anything to me.

"Get on to the Square," one of them, a big gruff man, barks at me, "the ceremony is about to begin, you're not allowed to be late!"

"Have a little fun!" I shout in reply, jauntily moving past them and into the crowds surrounding the square. I look around for Fae after I sign in, but there's no sign of her. I see Camden, but since Fae's our only connection and I don't know him well outside of the party circles, I don't approach him. He's just a name to give to my parents when I need an excuse for something.

"Hey, Korry!" A few of the guys in the sixteens section call over to me; I vaguely recognize them from around town so over I walk and greet them.

"How are things?"

"Eh, fine," one of them, I think his name is Josten, shrugs and points to the stage, "That's a bit of a downer though!"

I nod and laugh, joining them in the cordoned-off area. It's a good enough place to be. There are people who are willing to laugh with me, what other comfort can I want?

DISTRICT TEN FEMALE: NAIRI GREY

"Mom? Dad? Can Oliver walk with us to the town square?"

My father glances up from a letter he's been writing. "Of course, you'll have to go get him from his house, but he can certainly walk with us."

"Thank you!" I giggle, excited, and dash towards the door to find my friend. Once outside, I don't even realize I'm barefoot until I feel the rough grass and clay dirt beneath my toes. I dodge a few of Dad's sheep and skirt around Mom's herb garden, then I've reached our gravelly dirt road and I'm home free all the way down the street.

"Oliver! Oliver!" I sing out all the way to his house. By the time I reach the door, he's already heard me calling his name and flings it open to greet me. I collapse into his arms, breathless. "Do you wanna walk with me and my parents to the square?"

"Yeah, sounds fun!" He grins and pushes me off him a little ways; I turn around to leave, grabbing his hand to drag him with me, when he pulls away. "I have to ask my grandma Sage first, my parents are out herding today. Wait a second, ok?" I nod, laughing at my own forgetfulness, and plant my feet on the front porch step as Oliver disappears back inside his ramshackle house for a few moments.

I screech in surprise when he reappears. "You scared me!"

"Obviously I did! You should see your face!"

I stick my tongue out at him and then rush back to the road, Oliver following closely behind me. "Are we going to the square now or to your house?" I point ahead in reply to his question, motioning to the garden and the sheep ahead of us. "Your house then."

"I've got Oliver!" I cry, bursting through the front door.

"Nairi, you'll break the door down if you continuously slam it aside like that," Mom reprimands gently, pushing the creaky thing back into place behind me.

"Well, I haven't done it yet, so it'll be fine."

"You'll keep thinking that as long as the habit persists."

Dad remembers Oliver and goes over to shake his hand. "I haven't seen much of you recently, Oliver! How was the end of the school year?"

"I've seen Oliver plenty recently, how haven't you?" I blurt out, before remembering that Oliver and I work more together with the animals, so of course I see him more. "Sorry, sorry."

"It was… fine, I suppose, although a bit hard to stomach. The Capitol propaganda and all, and Grandma always tells me different. The whole village tells me different," Oliver shrugs off the questions of school and glances at me nervously. I grin back at him. I haven't had to go to school in ages now, my parents took me out and told the officials that I couldn't learn right or something. Then they said to me and the village, that they took me out because they didn't want me to hear the Capitol propaganda.

I don't know, maybe both reasons were right.

"Is your grandmother walking with us?" Mom asks Oliver.

He shakes his head. "No, she isn't feeling especially well."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that! We'd best be off, though. Come on, girls!"

She leads the way outside, and my younger sister Birdie and I follow close behind. Oliver tails me, and Father stays behind all of us.

Halfway through the walk, my feet start to drag and so do Oliver's. Birdie starts to complain about being tired, so Dad lets her ride on his back. Lucky, she's only seven. She can still do that.

"I don't want to keep going," I mutter, "And we have to go to the Reaping, ugh."

"It was odd enough that you were almost excited to be on your way earlier," comments Mom, "That you almost embraced the hype of the day."

"Don't worry, why would I do that?"

"A very good question," Dad says sternly, and the conversation is over. I walk beside Oliver in silence, trying to focus on making my feet keep moving forward, and send quick little glances at him every so often. Once, I catch him doing the same thing; our eyes meet and I see that he looks scared. It gives me the overwhelming urge to hold his hand or something equally comforting.

It takes us two hours to reach the main city of Ten, and my feet are aching. When I mention it to Oliver, he only sighs. "Yeah, and we have to stand for another hour now!"

"What? Why?"

He glares pointedly at me. "The ceremony?"

"Oh yeah."

After checking in, Oliver and I part ways and I go to stand with the other girls. I don't know any of them in my age group, our village is small and the only other fourteen year old is Oliver. I don't see many other kids or teenagers, honestly.

I start looking around, tuning out all the chattering people. I feel lonely, here in an almost foreign place surrounded by unfamiliar people and noises. I like the wild, where I run through the grass and say whatever I want…

"Nairi Grey!"

What? I whip my head around, my long brown hair hitting the girl beside me in the face. "Sorry," I whisper.

"Nairi Grey?"

"That's me," I say uncertainly. What's this? What? I've been… reaped? "Reaped…" I whisper.

My legs are almost too shaky to make it onstage, but I think I manage. Looking out on the crowd is harder. I see Birdie's crestfallen face, Oliver gnawing his lip, my parents angry and confused. The first tear slides down my cheek and I swipe it away, determined to not cry- or if I do, to make it silent.

The escort moves on. "Korry Falders!"

I can pick out poor Korry right away. He starts suddenly in the sixteens section, flinching backwards in shock. He's identified himself now… but he shakes off the fear and strolls up beside me with a smile plastered on a face. His eyes, though, are still the picture of shock. The same feeling I have.

We go through the motions, shaking hands, facing the audience, trying not to cry. I feel more tears roll down my face.

Don't cry. For Birdie, okay, Nairi? Don't cry.

Too late. I'm crying.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: I AM COLLABORATING WITH IMMYROSE, JAKEY121, AND CASHMERE67 ON A MAJOR PROJECT- WE ARE CONTINUING JAKE'S THE 13 GAMES WITH DISTRICT EIGHT. EACH OF US WILL BE WRITING FOR SIX TRIBUTES, AND WE NEED MORE SUBMISSIONS STILL! THE INFO IS ON JAKE'S PAGE, GET TO WORK ON THOSE TRIBUTES OK FRIENDS?

And thank you all readers for waiting this patiently for an update! FFN went through a bit of a lull, hopefully that's done and updates/reviews will get back up to speed :)

Question time!

What did you think of these four? Who was your favorite?

We've been through twelve tributes now, any overall favorites yet, or predictions on alliances?

And as always, tell me what you thought :D