Hey, guys, it's SnowLucario again. In case you're wondering, I write the top author's note before the chapter, and the bottom author's note after the chapter. My stories have a total of 1,876 views at the moment, which seems a pretty decent number. My empire is growing by several percent every day.

I have also opened a forum, entitled "Labyrinth Speculation". Feel free to speculate about who will win, or what else may happen. No spoilers, please! I will not confirm or deny anything until the chapter in which _ dies is posted.

Anyway, let's get on to the story!


District 5

The first person to visit Savanna was her mother, Kathy, a perky woman of fifty. She had her graying hair tied back in a bun and a somber expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, Savanna" she said. She tried to comfort her daughter, but Savanna was a million miles away, in a world of her own.

How on earth could she expect to win these Games? She was only fourteen, after all. People that young rarely won, if ever. The only exception had been a kid named Teren from District 9. And, honestly, he'd gotten really lucky. The Careers never even paid attention to his five in training, and he managed to sneak through to the end, betray his ally, and beat the last two Careers in the final battle.

No, Savanna wouldn't win. She was just kidding herself, and so was anyone else who thought she had any less than a 95.83% chance of dying. And Savanna couldn't get her mind off of this thought until the Peacekeepers came in.


Ira, on the other hand, had a lot of things to think, and talk, about.

His mother didn't come in. Somewhere in her mind, she thought that Ira was the reason her husband had cheated on her with another woman and left her for another family. If only Joseph had never left, Helen Wilson might still have loved her son. But she didn't. At least, not enough to go say goodbye to her son right before he went off to his death.

Neither did Cole, his elder brother, whom he had never gotten along with very well. His other brother, Ezra was happy to say goodbye to him.

"Sorry for not volunteering for you" Ezra said.

Ira didn't know how to respond to that. He hadn't wanted Ezra to throw away his life for him. That was just what had to happen. One of the Wilson twins would be going into the arena either way, most likely never to make it back home again.

"It's all right" Ira said back. Because really, what else was he going to say?

The last person to come in was Jack, his best friend, just like his brother. They exchanged some goodbyes, and then the Peacekeepers came in, saying that his time was up and he had to get ready to get on the train.


District 6

Apollo's goodbyes were very somber. Kiva and Casey spent most of their time simply hugging him and sobbing, and Kiva promised that if Apollo managed to win, they would buy the world's largest apple strudel. The Peacekeepers seemed sad to break this group up, but, unfortunately, this was just what had to happen.

On the other hand, Vixen only had one person to say goodbye to her: Jack. They spent most of their time talking about how sad it was that they were both orphans, and Vixen was seeing red. She just hated the Capitol and Peacekeepers so much, it was like a virus in her bloodstream. After all, that was largely what had been responsible for her parent's deaths. Then again, she might not have met Jack if that had never happened. But she couldn't think about that right now. She was just focusing on saying goodbye to who she did have with her right now, and preparing for the upcoming Hunger Games she would be competing in.

The Peacekeepers Vixen hated so much came in, signaling that her time was up.


District 7

Berry came in to say goodbye to her boyfriend.

Conker was still kind of hungover, and he couldn't keep himself from vomiting all over the place during their conversation. This was how it went:

Berry: "Sorry, Conker. Good luck in the Games".

Conker: BARF.

Berry: "You've been drinking way too much, my beau".

Conker: "I-BARF-don't-BARF-want-BARF-to-BARF-die!"

Berry: "With any luck, you won't. You've still got a chance at winning. Just do your best, okay, Conker?"

And it was five minutes of that, as Conker continued throwing up. There was no getting him to say anything else.

When the Peacekeepers came, they seemed all too relieved, but also worrying about how he'd handle himself on the train.


Isabella's parents were both dead. She really saw the paramedics she worked under as her family, and had even called one of them "Dad" one time, which was pretty embarrassing for her. Luckily, the EMT had been forgiving of it, and he even saw it as flattering.

The EMT, who had always been a father figure to Isabella, did not come. She was truly alone with her thoughts. They were the only things saying goodbye to her.


District 8

Miri's parents, Skye and Max, were in the Justice Building with her. Miri was clutching Kai to her chest, dreading the moment, a week from now, that she would have to let him go.

"Why did you have to enter the Games?!" Max Ellara boomed. Miri's father did not approve of her entering the Games, and had always been trying to discourage her from doing so. But his efforts had never amounted to anything. His daughter was just so determined.

On the other hand, Miri's mother was very supportive. Skye approved of Miri's decision to be an outer-district Career, but she had never really approved of her pet turtle.

"If only you could get rid of that stupid Kai. He doesn't do anything" her mother said.

Her husband looked at her angrily. After all, that wasn't why they were there. Not to rant about how they hated Kai, but to say goodbye to Miri.

"Good luck in the Games, sweetie" Skye said.

It seemed all too soon when the Peacekeepers came in to escort Miri onto the train.


Vair's family came in to say goodbye to their son, brother in Velvet's case, for what would most likely be the last time.

Avitus, Vair's father, was a man who resembled a full-on rocker dude, with his mullet and everything. He seemed to care more for his daughter than his son, but that didn't really offend Vair too much. After all, he was the uneducated one.

"Sorry you got reaped" Avitus said.

Vair just nodded. He knew that, even with his physical prowess, he was unlikely to win. There would just be too many strong Careers to go up against for the victor's crown.

Vair's mother, Dusky, was an olive-skinned woman with black hair, who barely resembled Vair's more Indian complexion. She was very intelligent, and could probably tell right now what her son was thinking.

"Just go straight for the Cornucopia, Vair" Velvet was saying. "You know that you can get in and out fast enough that you'll have a decent weapon. Use that".

Vair said, "I think that I have a chance. I'll definitely do my best".


Stupid autocorrect! It kept making it "Fair" or "Varies" instead of Vair! The creator of Vair had better be giving me some props for this. Because this is hard work, you know, changing the name every time.

Just kidding. Declan42, I'm hoping that you're reading this.

After this, just reapings and goodbyes for Districts 9-12. In case you're wondering, I have yet to write those. I don't write a chapter until I have posted the previous one. I don't want to be cruel like that, and it'd also just be inconvenient for me.

My stories have a total of 1,907 views as of 8:05 AM on the morning of August 16. Good work, guys.

All right. SnowLucario is out.