Valeria slowly opened her eyes after hearing her alarm going off, she looked out of the window in her room the sun was barely rising today was the day of the Reaping which she has always hated. Still she had some work to do in the fields and take care of the animals her adoptive family were all ranchers who kept their ranch working for a long time since she was old enough to be able to work Valeria always had to take care of the cows along with feeding the chickens and pigs that lived in the ranch. Valeria walked towards her closet putting on her hat, along with a worn pair of jeans and an old looking plaid shirt living in a poor district her family weren't able to have many clothes to wear.

The young woman started to head down towards her family's kitchen where her mother was already up and cooking breakfast for her two brother younger sister and her father. When Valeria was old enough her parents told her that she had been adopted but they never said who her real family was but they still treated her like she was their own Valeria went and sat down at the table. "Good morning hun." Mrs. Galloway said smiling at her family as they all started to come into the room, though Valeria could get the sense of dread from her voice looking at each of her kids as she handed each a plate of scrambled eggs fresh from their chickens.

When they were all finished eating Valeria got up and started to head out the door and went towards the barn, inside held three cows and two horses, in came her little sister and they both went to start milking the cows for the next few hours until it was close to the Reaping. Valeria went to take her shower first and then went to put on her red dress she had bought after working with another ranch a few months ago and got paid there.

One of the most dreaded days in Panem had dawned once again. Reaping Day. It was the day in which most of Panem's children feared their likely death, but Lana had a very different attitude towards it. She was ready to face it. She was ready to volunteer like so many in her district had before her. Both her own district, District 2, and District 1 were notable for producing volunteers and the dark haired seventeen year old girl knew it usually paid off too. It was no mystery that the two wealthiest and most loyal districts in Panem had the largest victor pools, after all. It was a single fact that, paired with their loyalty, managed to make even President Snow proud. Lana even suspected that had something to do with the fact nobody ever tried to contest the fact that the training of career tributes was technically illegal. She personally didn't think too deeply about it, however, knowing that only the end result truly mattered. Fame and glory. It was the ultimate prize of anybody loyal and Lana was no exception.

"You're going for it today aren't you?" Lana's mother asked as soon as her daughter made her way to the kitchen for breakfast. As was tradition in District 2 on Reaping Day, the woman had prepared an exceptionally fancy meal for herself, her husband, and their lone daughter. Even though she wasn't blood related they very much treated her like their own, having been unable to produce children of their own for years. It especially showed in the way they cared for her and breakfast on this particular day was further proof of it.

"Of course. I told you I would once I was seventeen. I am going to get up on that stage, go to the Capitol, and return here the victor." Lana responded to her mother between bites of her food. Knowing her chances were probably pretty good too, she put on a smirk and glanced at both her parents. They weren't about to lose their only daughter. Not today. Victory for her in the 74th Annual Hunger Games was looking pretty good. "As those in the academy would tell you or anybody, I've been doing quite well in my training." She assured her parents as she proceeded to finish up the rest of her breakfast. Trusting their daughter, they simply nodded before she left the table in order to get dressed for the Reaping.

Knowing she would have to fight through others wanting to volunteer, Lana simply slipped on a pair of sweat pants and a snug t-shirt. Dresses were always ideal for the Reaping, but they were a risky option for anybody striving to fight their way to the stage. Humiliation by losing her skirt wasn't something Lana was particularly interested in on this day so after cleaning herself up she reunited with her parents quite satisfied with her wardrobe choices. "I suppose now we just wait. Or we could always leave early to get a head start. Being near the front would help me immensely." She announced, taking a seat but then seconds later getting back up again. It hadn't taken her long to realize the sort of potential advantage she would have by being one of the first to line up in the girl's section. This certainly didn't go over her parents' heads either as they simply nodded and began out the door, followed by their daughter. If anything, they knew it was the beginning of what was potentially going to be a very intense and interesting day. They knew that if their daughter successfully volunteered she would be putting herself at great risk, but it was a risk nearly all proud District 2 parents were willing to accept.

When Valeria had finished her work around the farm she headed back towards her house, by the time Valeria had finished her work the sun was already up she guessed that it was around eleven O'clock which gave her some time to bathe and make herself look somewhat clean. "I'll be in the bath getting ready." Valeria told her parents as she headed upstairs where her clothes had already been set up for the Reaping, she turned on the water and looked at herself in the mirror there had been some dirt on her face Val took the washcloth that was on the counter and ran it through the water making sure to scrub it good enough that it was clean.

After finishing her bath and getting dressed Valeria was dressed in a short white dress and headed down the stairs to see her family waiting for her. "Ready to go?" Her father asked looking to his daughter who simply shrugged she didn't want to leave it was something she dreaded every year. "As ready as i'll ever be." Val said sarcastically with a shrug. Valeria walked out of their house possibly for the last time, in the farm across from her family's she could see her neighbors leaving the house as well, for the most part the walk to the justice building for District Ten was quiet for the most part.

Valeria jumped slightly as she felt a hand resting on her shoulder and looked up to stare at the boy her age and smiled it was Garric Valeria's only true friend. "Hey there Vally." The nickname he gave her for so many years at first when she was younger hated being called that. "You know I hate being called that." Valeria said trying to sound like she was annoyed. "That's why I keep calling you that," Garric said with a laugh and nudged her.

Valeria smiled at her friend the walk to the justice building made things somewhat better, she followed the other girls in her age group to be signed in, Valeria looked around seeing her younger sister doing the same thing which was her second time going through the Reaping. "Finger please." A peacekeeper said Valeria held out her hand as the peacekeeper took her hand and pricked a small needle to it drawing out her blood Valeria then went to the line with the other girls and stood there quietly.

For once Lana saw a great advantage in living fairly close to the District 2 Justice Building. It allowed her to access it quickly and easily in the case of the annual Reaping. It, of course, was a pretty huge deal in District 2 where children who had been training for years would finally take their chance at honour and glory. Lana herself was determined to do this and wasn't about to let any of the others get in her way. This was only made clearer as she gave hard cold glances at the other girls who had begun arriving behind her. Among them was at least one familiar face: Amy. "going for it too this year I presume?" Lana asked the larger and slightly older girl whom she had spent time training with. She acknowledged Lana's words and simply nodded. This put a smirk on Lana's face. There could only be one female tribute this year and she was determined to make it her.

Once signed in with the Peacekeepers as was customary every year, Lana positioned herself within the section for seventeen year old girls. Certainly the sense of segregation that occurred at the Reaping was technically less strictly enforced in Districts 1 and 2 as there was always somebody eager to volunteer, but by this point it was simply traditional. Tradition was always something important to the Capitol as Lana very well knew. Of course, this tradition only minutes later was accompanied by the usual protocol of a Capitol escort making an appearance and a short speech. It took a few seconds for Lana to recall the flaming red haired escort's name as Junia. Once she began speaking though, Lana listened even if she did know much of the Capitol's propaganda off by heart now. If anything, it simply served as a reminder to her as to why she intended to volunteer. The video that followed definitely helped in that mindset as well.

"This is the moment I'm sure you've all been waiting for! The moment we determine our District 2 tributes for the 74th Annual Hunger Games! As usual, we'll start with the ladies. May the odds be ever in your favour!" Junia finally announced once the Capitol's propaganda video ended. Unlike what was protocol in the other districts, Junia barely managed to put her hands near the transparent glass orb before each of the girls began trying to shuffle their way to the front. Lana knew she was fortunate already to be so close, thus she shoved some of the others behind her and stepped out to the side, fully exposing herself. She glanced around for several seconds before finally opening her mouth, about to scream out the words that would have been dreaded by parents in any of the other districts.

"I volunteer as tribute!" Lana finally bellowed out just before a pair of Peacekeepers proceeded to escort her up to the stage where Junia and the recent victors of District 2 were present. She knew that at least one of them would be mentoring her, or two if she was lucky. It was well-known that District 2, along with District 1, had such large victor pools that they could often send along two mentors for their pair of tributes. Lana didn't dwell on this for too long though before Junia made her announcement for the boys to get their tribute. Just as with the girls, each one began struggling to the front until finally a single boy stood out and bellowed the exact same words that Lana had just moments earlier.

"Well there you have it, our District 2 tributes for the 74th Annual Hunger Games, Lana Viano and Mason Hua! May the odds be ever in their favour!" Junia announced once both tributes were firmly on stage and had given their names. This was met with immediate applause from all the proud families and wannabe tributes from District 2. It was perhaps the most damning evidence that the reapings in both Districts 1 and 2 were much different from those in the rest of Panem where only dread and sorrow were typically expressed as parents were forced to part with their children.

Once all of the potential Tributes from District Ten were all in front of the Justice Building, came District Ten's Capitol escort a man with bright blue hair and a goatee which was also the same color Kestrel looked down at all of them and smiled. "Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the 74th Annual Hunger Games!" He bellowed out cheerfully, which made Valeria roll her eyes seeing how excited he was probably to see some young kids die in the arena. Valeria looked over towards the boy's section to see her friend mimicking him and couldn't help but laugh, she stood there quietly as tradition Panem's National Anthem started to play a few minutes later came the same old video that they played every year about the Districts rebelling and how the Capitol punished them by making The Hunger Games.

Once the video had finished Kestrel made his way to the podium once more looking back at everyone once more and smiled. "As tradition lets have the ladies go first." He announced, Valeria clearly started to get stressed out when she had to put herself in for tessera several times over the winter when they didn't have much of anything to make it through the winter due to it being very harsh the last several years. She ended up losing count how many times she had to do it, however she never allowed any of her younger adopted siblings to take it up, Kestrel dug his well manicured hands into the clear glass ball which had every child's name in Ten, he then pulled up the small strip of paper containing the name. "Valeria Galloway!" Kestrel said with a bright smile, at the voice of her name Val stood there frozen her eyes going towards her friend and then she heard her family's scream.

Before Valeria could do anything she felt hands grabbing her arms and looked up to see peacekeepers escorting her towards the stage. Valeria stood on stage clearly trembling her eyes met a woman in her forties only one of the few Victor's from District Ten's history. "Now for the boys!" Kestrel announced as he said his name Valeria stood there and was suddenly shocked at the name that was announced as well. "Garric Redpath!" Kestrel said with a smile, her eyes going towards her best friend slowly made his way towards the stage.

"Our Tributes for District Ten Valeria Galloway and Garric Redpath may the odds ever be in their favor!" Valeria and Garric were both escorted into the Justice Building Valeria stood there quietly until the door suddenly opened her little sister and brother came running in, along with her parents, they all pulled her into a hug her mother then pulled off her necklace and handed it to Valeria. "Keep this, it was my mother's." She said to her daughter Valeria took it and put it on her neck and nodded. "Thank you." She said softly wiping some tears off from her eyes as the peacekeepers came in to escort her to the train.