Hello again guys! This is officially the first reaping chapter for TCOA! I'm super excited to begin to write these tributes, and I hope you guys all enjoy it! I'm planning on doing two tributes per chapter, in the order in which I received them, so there might be a district pair in a chapter, there might not be. This will total up to 11 reaping chapters before we get to the pregames, so I'll try to get one out every couple of days if I have tributes to write. That is it for now, so I hope you guys enjoy this first reaping chapter!

-Livi

Goldena Powers

Aged 15

District 1 Female

Goldena was used to her brother waking her up, the sharp, heavy raps on her door a familiar sound after years of occurrence. Silvertongue never felt the need to actually check and see if she was getting out of bed, only settling for the bare minimum since he knew that Goldena tended to be an early riser.

She was indeed already awake by the time her brother had dragged himself over to her room in his attempt to wake her up, and she was just starting to get dressed as he walked away. Her morning routine didn't take as long as some girls, but it wasn't as short as the boys like her brother.

All she really did before heading downstairs in the mornings was wash her face, brush her teeth, do her hair, and apply deodorant. Plus, she also got dressed and applied a light layer of makeup before she was ready for breakfast. Normally, her father was already gone in order to get the school early so he could have some time to himself before the students arrived, and today was no different.

Mr. Powers was a history teacher at the local private high school, and Goldena was fortunate enough to have already taken the class under a different teacher. That way there couldn't be any accusations of being the teacher's kid and her father cheating and giving her high scores on every graded thing in the class. She despised when people thought that her intelligence wasn't earned. She was smart because it was easy for her to retain the material, and she was determined to be as genius as she possibly could.

Goldena wanted to prove everyone wrong who thought she cheated her way through life. She had earned her scholarships to school and the Academy. She had earned her spot at the top of the class and volunteer list. Yet there were still some who made fun of Goldena and her family because she and her brother had to take out tesserae to help their father pay the bills.

Her parents' divorce had been costly and the ink hadn't even dried on the divorce papers before her mother up and left for District Four, thinking she could get a better promotion as a peacekeeper there instead of in One. She hadn't seen her mother since the age of twelve, so it had been a couple of years since their family had been whole.

It was hard getting used to it at first. Not having money like they used to, having to take out tesserae just to be able to have more than one meal a day. To be fair, the cost of food was higher in One because most everyone could afford it with prices like that. Everyone who couldn't afford the cost of living in the luxury district just left.

The family stayed because Mr. Powers had a pretty stable job, and Goldena begged and pleaded to stay for school and the Academy. She considered it very lucky that she ended up getting her way because once she got a chance to stay in the environment she had been in, she thrived in it.

Her thoughts caused her to fly rather quickly through the steps of her morning routine, she moved as if her actions were ingrained in her muscle memory except for when it was time to style her hair. Simply because of what today was, Goldena was planning to do a little something more with her hair. Especially if she planned to do what she wanted this year.

She could already hear her brother beginning his slow process of making breakfast for the both of them, the clattering of pots and pans yet another familiar sound in the household.

Before her brother could accidentally burn down their kitchen, Goldena quickly wrapped up her hairstyle for the day and slipped out of her bedroom door, closing it behind her. For this particularly special day, she had chosen to do two dutch braids on either side of her head into a low ponytail. It was a fairly quick and easy hairstyle, but it looked good and made her seem prepared and professional.

It was a rather short journey down the stairs, and the kitchen was in view before Goldena even reached the bottom of the stairs. Silvertongue was facing away from her while bent over looking at something in a recipe book, so all she could see of him was his back, which was covered in a black cotton t-shirt.

Her brother really wasn't one to dress up for a reaping, or really anything somewhat related to the Capitol. He hated the idea of the Hunger Games and truly despised that his she was in training to possibly go into a Games. It was his last year of eligibility to be reaped, so maybe next year he wouldn't have as bad of an attitude about having to participate.

Goldena had a feeling that because her brother had already started breakfast without her, it would be something relatively simple. After a quick glance at the pan Silvertongue had on the stove that confirmed her suspicions, she offered her brother a kind smile and slid past him to the refrigerator.

The door opened with a slight yank, and Goldena enjoyed the cool air from the fridge before perusing possible things to add to their simple breakfast this morning. She only saw one item that would make somewhat a good combination, so she grabbed it and closed the fridge door before she let too much of the cold air out.

While Silvertongue was busy cracking eggs into a pan, Goldena grabbed two mismatched plates from the cabinet beside the stove and set them down onto the kitchen counter. She then turned to grab the container of cubed sausage and turned back quickly. She multitasked as she heard the sizzling of the eggs being scrambled in the cast iron skillet, pulling the lid open on the container as she grabbed a fork out of the utensil drawer.

While dishing a small amount of the cubed meat onto each plate, she heard her brother turn the stove off and she turned to notice him walking her way with the hot pan. She moved out of her brother's way, taking the opportunity to grab each of them a napkin, and then picked up her plate once he was done spooning eggs onto it.

They always ate breakfast in silence, well of course when they had breakfast. Some days they couldn't afford to or simply didn't have the time to. Her brother disliked having to look after her just enough that he rarely interacted with her anymore. From her brother, a hello in the morning was rarer than a compliment, and both occurred only a couple of times a year if she was lucky.

Silvertongue's hate of caring for her was outshined by his hate for another thing that didn't seem like it would end in the near future. He absolutely despised the Hunger Games, particularly the aspect of Careers volunteering to make a show of murdering children. Goldena wasn't as bothered by it, but she would admit that he did make a point about murdering innocent twelve year olds. Her brother even made it a point to question why Goldena was enrolled in the Academy, making it seem like she was a bad person for wanting to train without even knowing if she was actually going to end up becoming a volunteer or not.

By the time she was finished gobbling down her eggs and sausage, Goldena had made an important decision regarding her day. She was going to volunteer to be the District One female for the Hunger Games this year, no matter what her brother and father thought. She wanted to bring home the glory, prove her brother wrong, and maybe get a chance to see her mother again on the Victory Tour, when she won of course.

The last scrape of her fork against her plate signified to her that she needed to get up and probably head out for the day. It wouldn't be a good image for One's future female volunteer to be late for the reaping in the first place.

She placed her plate on the rack in the dishwasher and her fork in the utensil bin. Silvertongue would most likely start it later when he got finished. Goldena took a deep breath in before opening the front door, ready for whatever was going to happen in the next few hours.

It was about a fifteen minute walk and then a short bus ride to the town square, so Goldena was there just in time to be at the front of the line for when they started taking role on who showed up. It was the most unpleasant part of the reaping, getting your finger pricked with no gentleness in mind. Thankfully it only took a few seconds and then it was over.

The line started moving after a few minutes, and since she was towards the front, she was one of the first people to get to line up in those squares that become dreadfully crowded once everyone is in attendance. Goldena chose her spot to stand wisely, towards the front corner closest to the aisle so she wouldn't have to fight through a sea of people to get out of the square and volunteer.

The square for her age filled up over the next fifteen minutes, and shortly after that, they were ready to begin the reaping. They played that amusing video from before the Mockingjay rebellion, the Capitol not bothered or changed enough to make a new one. The escort for this year was relatively new, only earning her job after the year of the 77th Hunger Games. She did admittedly look a bit strange, but her purple hair was easy to get used to after seeing it for the last three years.

The video concluded after a short amount of time and it was finally about to be Goldena's moment in the spotlight. Her muscles flexed and relaxed as she stood on her toes watching the escort walk slowly to the glass bowl containing hundreds of names of girls from the District who were eligible.

The woman's hand slowly reached into the bowl, almost as if she was taking her time to purposefully psych Goldena out of her plan to volunteer. She wasn't going to let a slow Capitol lady prevent her from succeeding. Finally, after an age of waiting, it was her time to shine. The escort did her slow walk back to the microphone and pulled open the little slip of paper slower than a snail could have done it. She cleared her throat and Goldena took her chance before the first syllable of the reaped girl's name was out of her mouth.

"I volunteer as tribute!"

It was obvious to Goldena that the Capitol woman wasn't pleased that she hadn't read the name, but it might not have been as obvious to others. She strode confidently to the stage and climbed the stairs with ease. Her proud smile could now be seen by all who were watching and she never let up her gaze, even as she responded to the questions of the escort.

"My name is Goldena Powers, and I plan on being District One's newest victor this year."

Her statement caused an eruption of applause from the middle and lower class citizens of the district, while the rich citizens looked less than pleased that an Academy student on a scholarship no less had been the volunteer for this year. Goldena didn't care what those snobs thought.

The one thing she did look back to see was her father and brother's reaction. Silvertongue looked outraged, as if he had been betrayed by his own blood and hadn't seen it coming. The look on her father's face though was what made her rethink her recent actions. Mr. Powers looked like his whole family had been murdered in front of him. The only other time Goldena had seen this expression of his was when he and her mother got divorced and she left the district immediately.

She just hoped that they would eventually forgive her for what she had chosen to do, no matter in life or death.

Vincent "Vince" Wright

Aged 18

District 7 Male

Vince was used to waking up in sweat-soaked sheets, the nightmares from the rebellion a recurring event. They came and went, but this week they had been the worst of the year so far. He wasn't the type to wake up screaming from a nightmare, but the trauma from the flashbacks was still there.

The nightmares he was plagued with were a reminder of just how badly the Mockingjay Rebellion had harmed his family and his relationships. Both of his parents were killed by rebels and he could still remember the look in his mother's eyes before she was shot in the head in front of him. He was also haunted by something recent, an old flame of his that he found out was a rebel in hiding. He was forced to confront her and he fatally wounded her when she tried to attack him upon confrontation.

He sighed and swung his legs out of bed to stand up. Getting ready in the morning wasn't usually difficult, he just needed to refresh himself from his rough night. Vince did so with a cold shower and the rest of his morning steps, including brushing his teeth and applying deodorant. For his hair, he styled it with a little bit of gel and some gentle brushing.

Once he was ready for the most dreaded day of the year (luckily it was his last), he went to wake his sister up. Valerie enjoyed sleeping in, but somehow also was one of those girls who insisted on a forty step morning routine. Vince didn't understand how she managed to do it, but she did it every single day without fail.

He walked out into the hall in his clothes for the day, a nice shirt and some khaki pants, and went to open Valerie's door. It squeaked a little bit, alarming Vince just slightly but it didn't wake Valerie. She was still asleep from what he could see, her chest moving up and down with each breath she took. He stepped closer and shook her gently by the shoulder.

"It's time to get up Valerie. You need to get ready for the reaping today."

She responded with a groan and opened her eyes to look at him. Valerie pouted and sat up, making Vince aware that he had done his job and it was time to vacate the room so that she could get ready.

While Valerie did what she needed to upstairs, Vince worked on getting food prepped for a light meal in the afternoon and a slightly heavier dinner. He hadn't gotten his paycheck yet, so there wouldn't be enough food for breakfast for at least a week or two. He was making a bit of a salad type thing with wild greens, berries, and nuts for their afternoon snack and was going to butcher some rabbit to roast for dinner.

Once both meals were for the most part prepped, he placed them back in the fridge and started gathering his belongings so he could grab them and go when they got back from the reaping so he could make his shift on time. Vince worked with the peacekeepers as a detective and helped with most smaller cases, although sometimes he desired to get a chance at the bigger ones so he could get a raise to help pay for more food or fixes around their old house.

Just as he was setting everything he needed for the day on the table by the front door, Valerie made her appearance coming down the stairs. He felt kind of bad at how much time he spent at work, leaving her at the house by herself, but he kept telling himself that the overtime would be worth it someday.

His sister was wearing her favorite dress, the green cotton one with white embroidery on it with her most worn pair of brown sandals. He remembered the day their mother bought her that dress, she didn't take it off for two days she loved it that much. The memory made Vince miss their parents even more and he sniffed as a tear welled up in his eye. Blinking it away, he offered a partial smile at her and didn't look to see if it was returned.

Opening the front door, he mumbled, "Let's go Valerie."

He heard her footsteps behind him, so he didn't look back at her to make sure she was following him. The walk was peaceful, his sister walking behind him and not involving him in conversation like she used to back when their parents were alive.

The pair were lucky enough to have kept their childhood home, located only a few minutes from town square. They had seen the peacekeepers beginning to set up for the reaping a few days ago, and now it made Vince realize that it was real, his eligibility would be hopefully over after the events planned for this morning.

As soon as they reached the square, they split up, Valerie going to the line of girls waiting to have their attendance marked with a prick of the finger, and Vince going to the line of boys. The line was moving fairly quickly, and soon it was his turn to be pricked. He was used to it, the dull feeling in his finger familiar from the past couple of years. After he was released, he headed to his square of boys and chose a spot that he hoped wouldn't box him in too much.

Much like he had dreaded, he started to feel boxed in as the green haired escort introduced that terribly boring video from before the Mockingjay Rebellion. Luckily, it was only a few minutes long and it ended quickly enough.

The escort sounded odd for a man, his voice high pitched enough to make Vince cringe on the inside a little whilst listening to him talk. Soon enough, the squeaky man reached into the girls bowl and picked a slip of paper. He walked back to the microphone, opened the paper, and said something that would change Vince forever.

"The female tribute for this year's Hunger Games is Valerie Wright."

Vince's eyes widened with shock and he whirled around, trying to get a glimpse of his sister as she walked up to the stage to accept her fate. Now was the time for a quick decision on his part, and he made it in a milisecond.

While Vince had been finding his sister, the green haired man had already grabbed the slip of paper containing the boy who was reaped. He hardly had a chance to open his mouth before Vince burst out of the crowd, shouting "I volunteer!"

He ran up to the stage and skipped steps while climbing up the stairs. His panicked glance cut to his sister who was pale and looked as if she was still processing what had happened. The adrenaline was still rushing through his head as he answered the questions from the green haired, squeaky escort.

"My name is Vincent Wright."

The escort and the crowd oohed over the prospect of a protective older brother volunteering for his sister, but that wasn't what Vince was focused on. From this point on, his every thought and action would be about getting Valerie out of the Games alive and well.

We had some very enthusiastic volunteers for this chapter, so what do you guys think of them? I hope I wrote them well in the eyes of their submitters and thank you to sherazade96 and AstralKnight98 for Goldena and Vince respectively. Please feel free to check out the blog to see the tributes, timeline, and sponsor point shop. Thank you guys so much for reading and I will hopefully have another chapter out later this week!

-Livi