The streets of District 1 buzzed with excitement, every child wanting to prove their strength. The girls waited with baited breath as the Capitol woman's fingers danced over the papers in the bowl. After what seemed like an age she pulled out a slip and read the name "Devin Lytle". A tall slim girl with brown hair walked up to the stage. It was her last year, her last chance to compete and she had made that very clear, announcing to every girl in the district that if they even thought about volunteering this year they'd be better off dying in the area. They had obviously listened as none of them stepped forward to volunteer.

Then it was the boy's turn and the woman started her hand dance again. She snatched up a piece of paper and called out the name. "Tyler Brunsmen"

With a flash of his smile he made his way to the stage, ready to dazzle everybody with his deathly style; but he wasn't as lucky as Devin, there was a volunteer. A short boy with a big fro practically launched himself onto the stage to volunteer.

"And what is your name, dear boy?" The woman asked as a vengeful Tyler plodded back to his place in the crowd.

"Darren Criss." He announced, failing to hide the smile that was spreading across his face.

District 2 was just as excited, they were practically falling over themselves to volunteer as tribute. The two that managed to come out on top were a slight blonde-haired girl who had the sweetest smile named Alle-Faye Monka and a hench boy who seemed twice the size of his fellow tribute, his name was Joe Walker.

It was a different atmosphere in 3, none of them were really trained athletically and although all of them could outsmart their opponents it was just luck as to whether an opportunity like that would present itself. The two tributes were chosen. The girl, Meredith Stepien, looked as if she would be scared to death at the first sign of conflict. The boy, Corey Lubowich, seemed as if he would be able to withstand a bit of hand-to-hand combat, but his glasses made him seem weak and an easy target. There were no volunteers.

In district 4 the excitement was back, the last of the career districts, and although there were no volunteers the two that were chosen seemed happy with themselves. Jaime Lyn Beatty and Joey Richter, a little girl with giant dolphin eyes and a tall boy with a crooked jaw.

The tributes from 5 seemed reluctant at best. Arielle Goldman, a girl with wavy brown hair shuffled onto the stage, her head held high as she tried to look indifferent whilst tears were threatening to make an appearance. Brian Holden, a brown-haired boy clenched his teeth and looked as if he would start breathing fire over everyone.

At district 6 the tributes were a little girl who looked at if she'd usually be bouncing around everywhere, but instead was in complete shock, her name was Sango Tajima, and a boy who let absolutely no emotion show on his face the entire time, he was called Jeff Blim.

In 7 the tributes were Julia Albain and Dylan Saunders, they both seemed quite strong but other than that they were completely different. Julia had to have everything in order and know exactly what was happening, whereas if Dylan was more laid back, he would be horizontal. It was obvious that they weren't fond of each other as Julia had a worse reaction when Dylan's name was called than when her own name was read out.

District 8's tributes were June Saito, a smiley girl who put on a brave face when her name was picked and Joe Moses, a small 12 year old boy who wasn't quite sure how to deal with the situation.

The tributes for district 9 were completely different. The girl, Lauren Lopez, was a tiny little thing who seemed so fragile a gust of wind could knock her over and the boy, Jim Povolo, could only be described as a giant. The two of them standing next to each other seemed so odd, but he instantly took a protective role over her and she happily hid behind the giant.

In district 10 the girl tribute was called, Denise Donovan. She was tall with short blonde hair and she graced onto the stage with a kind of light indifference that could only be achieved by years of practice. The boy tribute, Brian Rosenthal was a lanky 12 year old boy who's eyes widened and he couldn't manage to get out anymore than "I...I just...I..." for the duration of the reaping.

The tributes in 11 were a crazy-eyed girl named Britney Coleman and a lanky boy called Corey Dorris. They both trudged onto the stage, minds racing, both trying to think of their strengths from years of harvesting.

The district 12 tributes seemed to have already given up. Lily Marks and Nick Lang gave each other solemn looks, certain that they had just been sentenced to death with no hope of getting through it alive.

The trains pulled into the Capitol and the tributes gradually made their way into the Training Centre. On their first night very few of them slept, they couldn't get used to the sudden luxury and vibrancy of the Capitol, plus the thought of parading in front of the whole of Panem made a few of them sick to their stomachs.

Brian Holden through a vase across the room, Britney ripped her sheets up and Sango left everything in her room completely untouched, she curled up in a ball against the wall an laid there, mind racing, for the whole night.

The next morning the tributes were plucked and waxed, pulled apart and stuck back together again. The sleepless tributes were woken earliest whereas the careers who managed to have a lovely sleep were woken up last, they had all been able to take pride in their appearance back home so there was nothing much for their prep team to do. With Devin they just had a conversation about the essential need for a good pair of red heels and quickly touched up her make up.

Once they had been prepped, the tributes got into their outfits for the parade.

District 1 were dressed in gold with hints of red. Darren's gold suit was lined with a rich red that made his bold stature stand out and Devin's gold dress seemed to play a trick with the lights for when she moved, flashes of red would dance across her dress making her impossible to tear your eyes away from her.

District 2's outfits were a pure power couple. Joe's suit looked as if it was made of steel and somehow managed to make him seem even bigger than he already was and Alle-Faye's slick silver dress made her look elegant with a dangerous edge, like the strange steel beauty of a decorative knife, ready to strike at any moment.

District 3 paled in comparison, it was as if their stylists thought they weren't worth much effort. Corey was wearing a black suit with wires coming out of it everywhere making him look like a distressed robot. Meredith's dress was short and designed to look like a circuit board, she looked stunning in it but compared to the way the other girls shimmered in the light with their ever-changing dresses it was nowhere near as memorable.

District 4 didn't seem like much to look at at first, but when the light hit them it was magical. Joey's suit was a dark blue, excentuated by little flecks of white which, when caught in the light, made it look like waves crashing against his body. Jaime's dress was dark blue with black netting covering it, pretty simple until she moved and it gave the illusion of the sea flowing over her body.

District 5's outfits could only be described as bright. Both Brian's suit and Arielle's dress were fitted with thousands of little bulbs, the glow of which hid Brian's stern expression and Arielle's look of a rabbit caught in headlights.

District 6's outfit didn't make sense at first. They were both wearing shimmering green numbers with gold flecks in them, but when the light was shining on them and they moved it looked like the view from the train, whizzing past the green fields.

District 7 were in simple brown outfits. It became apparent that they were trying to focus more on their dynamic than there outfits as Dylan's nonchalant smile irritated Julia to no degree which just made him chuckle and annoyed he even more, to the point when she actually started an argument with him halfway through the parade.

District 8's costumes were colourful and cute. Joe was wearing a patchwork suit which seemed to dwarf him and make him seem younger than he was. June was wearing a patchwork halter neck swing dress which, coupled with her bright smile, made her look extremely adorable.

District 9's golden green outfits were similar but had completely different effects. Jim's suit somehow managed to elongate his limbs and, especially next to Lauren, his legs looked as if they went on for miles. Lauren's dress was short with a tutu skirt and made her seem smaller, younger and the most innocent thing in the entire world.

District 10's outfits used a lot of cow hide. Brian was done up like a cowboy and looked just like a little kid, eyes wide, taking in the whole scene. Denise's dress was complete cowhide, it was very loud but her personality shone through and it was a look that only she could look beautiful in.

The outfits for district 11 had a simple premise, flowers. Corey's bright suit was an explosion of colour, the delicate waves of colours made it seem like a flower was bursting out of him and the suit was cut to show off his strong stature. Britney's dress was green and slim, showing off her toned body, but her hair was gelled up around her face to make her look like a flower; with someone like Lauren or Sango it would look cute, but with Britney it just made her look more crazy.

Finally district 12 rolled in and their outfits were a simple black. Nick's dark suit blended in with the background so he seemed ninja-like, giving him some hope for the games. Lily's little black dress shimmered in the light, giving the impression of coals about to burst into flames, a burning fury, something to make the sponsors think twice before writing her off.

This was kind of a set-up chapter, I couldn't think of a way to show these parts from everyone's perspective without it dragging on for too long.

After this it will be in a more story-like format, pwomise :)