And here's District 2! haha not all my updates will be this quick, i just happened to have both 1 and 2 already written :P

Mason Stone POV

"Sequence five, again!" My father shouts. "Thrust! Side cut! Backhand side! Overhand! Overhead backhand!"

I perform the sequence flawlessly as Penelope performs the required blocks, but we've been training since sun-up and I can feel my arms getting heavy with the sword in my hands. My father opens his mouth to shout some more commands but I Interrupt. "Dad, that's enough" I say breathlessly as I shake the sweat out of my messy brown hair.

My father Robert looks like he's about to yell, but then his face transforms into a bright smile. "Of course son, of course. You've done well, both of you. And think about it this way, after today's Reapings you won't ever have to train again!"

I laugh and put an arm around my dad's shoulders. He's right. Next year I'll be 19 come Reaping day so I'll be done with the Hunger games; and good riddance. But truth be told, I didn't start training because I wanted to ready for the hunger games. No-one who gets reaped in District 2 goes in anyway, there's always some hotshot out there who thinks he's better than the rest of us and volunteers. I started training so that I could protect my younger brother Thom.

It's so unfair. We live in a society based on appearance and strength. So when my brother was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy that caused his body to become weak and frail, he became ostracised and bullied. I started training to protect him, because I couldn't stand to see him get hurt. The most unfair thing? Is that there already exists a cure for it. But those selfish pigs at the Capitol keep it under tight lock and key, and they're not even willing to spare a single drop for the districts. It's disgusting.

Penelope breaks me out of my reverie with a light smack on the head. "Wake-up you Goose, for the first time in 5 years we have the whole morning to ourselves. Let's do something fun before the Reapings start."

I nod my assent and we take a light stroll through the park where my dad trains us. It's really close to my house so it's incredibly convenient.

Maybe It's because this will be my last Reaping so I'll finally be free of the Capitol's cruel tradition, but I start to think about my life and where I want to go with It.

I don't really have any friends other than Penelope. It's because I'm so defensive of my brother. It disgusts everyone around us that I could care for a weakling. Even my sister is ashamed of Thom. She's part of the 'popular circle' at school, not that I care about that, but I swear Samantha is the one who always tells her boyfriend and his mates to bully Thom. How she could do that to her younger brother is beyond me. Penelope – on the other hand- Is very sympathetic to our family and Thom's situation. I think that's what I love about her.

But I could never tell her how I feel. I'm sure that it would push her away, and I can't handle losing my only friend. So I force myself to Ignore the way her long blonde hair seems float in the breeze, or the way her lips curve when she smiles. Crap I'm thinking about her again, I shake the thoughts out of my head and focus on something else.

"Something on your mind?" she asks casually.

"Not really. Just thinking about some stuff" I reply vaguely.

"Fairs enough. Well what would you like to do?"

"Not sure, maybe we should just head over early? I'd hate to miss out on the show."

District 2's Reapings are the most lavish celebration of the year. After the names are called out there are fireworks and confetti flying around. It's like a bloody parade. Penny shrugs her shoulders signifying that she doesn't mind. Then an evil grin appears on her face. "Last one there's a rotten egg". And with that she whips past me.

I waste no time sprinting after her, a giant smile plastered all over my face. We dodge and weave through the streets, avoiding pedestrians and cars alike. Horns honk and people yell but we don't care. I'm actually catching up to her. I might look tall and lanky with my long arms and legs but I'm still quite built, and very quick. Penny might be lighter and weaker, but she's a lot more agile than I am. Through the straight runs I can catch up slightly, but I always lose ground through the curving side-streets.

Before long we have the main square in our sights and the two of us are neck and neck. I take a moment to glance In her direction to see If I'm getting ahead, but Its right at that moment when I'm not watching the ground In front of me that I step on the most cliché of objects. A banana peel. My arms windmill as I try to keep my balance but I just have too much forward momentum and I slip, my body flying horizontal in a superman-like pose. Luckily I recover with a barrel roll, but by this time Penny has already won. I'm not fussed; I can always lie and said I let her win.

We walk out together and take our respective places before the podium. Already we can see that this year's decorations are more garish than ever. We don't have to wait long for the 'performance' as I'd like to call it, to begin. Honestly, I'm so distracted by all flashing light effects and pyrotechnics which were clearly the work of District 3 engineers that I barely pay attention to what our escort is saying until she calls out the name of the male tribute.

"Thom Stone!"

Upon hearing that name I freeze up, but await the telltale sound of someone volunteering. The Square is silent. This can't be right. I watch the fear on my brother's face as my mum and dad slowly walks him up to the podium. I can see that my mum is devastated and so is my dad, he's just hiding It behind a mask of emotionlessness. This can't be happening. There's only ever been 1 year when there hasn't been a volunteer from District 2 and that was because the kid's parents started screaming and shouting with joy that no-one on the stage could have heard anyone volunteering even If they tried.

I notice the looks of disgust on everyone's faces around me. Do they truly hate him that much? They would let him go to die? My hopes are raised when one of my sister's friend's raises his hand to volunteer, but the guy next to him grabs his arm and rips it down before the kid can do so.

It's hopeless. My little brother is now fighting to make it up the stairs to the podium, if he can barely do that how is he meant to last a second in the games? I can't bear to watch. Tears stream down my face. I know what I have to do. I have to do the same thing that I have been doing my whole life; protect my little brother. "I volunteer!"

Ayame Wolfe POV

Could today possibly get any worse? Its Reaping time, but it's not as If my parents haven't been reminding us for the past week and a half. You'd think that having 3 children die in the hunger games would make them calm down, but no. They're still just as in love with the bloody event as ever they were, perhaps even more so this year. Because now that I'm 15, I have to follow our family 'tradition' and volunteer for the games. Last year my brother Zane let them down. He was all ready and set to volunteer, but he pushed himself too hard in a training session the week before the games and injured his leg. My parents won't accept anything other than perfection so they allowed him to sit those games out on the proviso that he volunteer when he's 18, that's If another one of us sibling's doesn't win first. To this day I'm still not sure If Zane hurt himself on purpose or by accident.

Koda's death hit all of us hard, but especially Zane and me. Koda was my little baby brother, reaped for the hunger games two years ago at 12 years old. My parents were overjoyed that one of their children had been Reaped, 'It was a sign that he was destined to win' they said. In fact they kicked up such a stink when he was reaped that he made it to the podium before anyone could volunteer for him. Not that they would have, but there's always someone willing to show off. After he was brutally murdered our view on the games was changed forever. I used to love it too, and so did Zane, but now we can't stand to see kid after kid killed for amusement. Do I think Zane hurt himself on purpose so he wouldn't have to volunteer and die like Koda? It's possible. But he won't ever tell me and I would never ask, the Wolfe blood makes us too proud for that.

"Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!" I hear my little sister Sapphire call from the other room.

I doubt that she heard. Our mother isn't exactly a model parent. In fact the reason she had so many kids was to Increase the chances of one of our family winning. Fame and glory, that's all the woman is after. My father isn't so bad, but he's still very fixated on the games. He's the one who undertook all of our training; making sure we were ready to follow in the footsteps of our dead brothers and sisters. He's pretty observant as well. I think I get my brains from him, because mum is as thick as a tonne of bricks. He probably suspects that I might try to injure myself like he suspects Zane did, which is why I've been on house arrest for the past few days. No school, no friends. Just Me, him and a dusty old book on different roots, flowers and vegetables that I've never even seen before, let alone eaten. I'm glad because it shows that he does care; he actually wants us to survive the games, whereas my mum is just concerned with us winning.

"MUMMY!" my sister's wails get louder.

"Shut up Saph I'm cooking you breakfast! Keep yelling that way and you'll starve" my mum replied from the kitchen.

Sapphire huffs and crosses her arms, I can hear her as she turns to go back to her room "I'll cook you for breakfast".

Man that kid is creepy. She's just like my mum though, obsessed with the games. If our parents let her, she'd probably volunteer this year if she could. I turn to my dad and ask him if we can quit I with the study. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. He nods and gives me a kiss on the forehead, a little tradition that he has whenever one of us is volunteering. He gets up and follows after Saph, most likely to calm her down and get her to breakfast.

I take a deep breath and exhale as I leave my house. There's another little tradition that we do in our family. I walk down the cobblestone path that leads from our back door to a little clearing on our property. I kneel on the soft dirt and reach out a hand towards the gravestones resting there. The first Is Emerald, my oldest sibling and the first of us to volunteer for the games. There's a photo of her on the mantle at home. She was my mum's favourite.

Funny how we don't think about these things until it's too late, but that's probably why my mum barely cares about us, because she's afraid of being hurt, like she was when Emerald died.

Next I pay my respects to Cliff, my oldest brother. He would have been 18 now. He volunteered the year before Koda was reaped. We weren't really that close but he was still my brother.

And finally, Koda. A solitary tear escapes as I trace his name with my finger. For you Koda; for you I will win these games.

After a few minutes in silence begin making my way back to the house to say my final goodbyes. It isn't a sad farewell. My mother is as distant as always, but now I notice the few times where she sneaks a glance at the photo on the mantle. My dad hugs me and tells me that he'll be watching over me every step of the way. And then little Sapphire walks up to me with a sneaky grin on her face. "You better not die too quickly" she tells me. I guess that's just her morbid way of saying good luck. I hug her too and then leave for the Reaping.

I like getting to the Reapings on time, and today it's even more important. I centre myself and prepare for the scariest moment of my life.

The male tribute's name is called and I recognise the sick kid in the year level above me at school, when he shows up that is. Surprisingly no-one volunteers for him. Not even one of the older kids who I know are just itching to get into the games. I look around me and see the visible hatred on everyone's faces. Suddenly a shout of "I volunteer!" breaks the silence. It's the guy's brother, Mason I think.

I release a breath that I hadn't realised I'd been holding. I'm glad he isn't going in to the games. There's just no way I could have brought myself to kill that kid, even If I thought I was putting him out of his misery. The older boy takes his place up on the podium, visibly trying to hold back the tears that are streaming down his face.

And now it's time for the female tribute to be chosen. I feel my heart start to beat faster in nervous anticipation. I'm ready for this. No matter whose name gets pulled Its my time now. As much as I hate the thought of killing someone, I have to win so that no-one else in my family needs to be sacrificed again.

"And the female tribute is... Penelope Slate!"

Mason up on the podium lets out a bloodcurdling scream. It's so chilling that I nearly forget what I'm meant to do. But before anyone else can, I step forward. "I volunteer!".

I make my own way up to the podium, and as I take my position, Mason mouths the words 'thank you' to me. I honestly don't know what that's all about but I nod in response anyway. Best to let him think I saved her on purpose. You never know when something like that might come in handy In the Arena.